A shrill alarm cried out. Sky Shaymin Ariel finally had enough and slammed her fist on it. She lifted up from a new layer of dust, shattered metal and plastic parts, then retreated it back under her covers. She went back to sleep.

"Ariel? What is this?"

She pushed her velvet covers to the side. Shaymin Mei loomed over her head, glancing back and forth between her eyes and the alarm.

"You could've just changed the alarm," Mei sighed. "Come on. You're late. And I'm not going to believe you're sick again."

"What is there to even do?" she asked.

Mei's face twitched. "Uhm, eat breakfast? Get to studying? You're already late, and I don't plan on deducting study time first."

"You eat enough for two already, bitch."

"Hey!"

Land Shaymin Mei ripped off the velvet blankets. Ariel's eyes were already open, unblinking and dry. White fur stuck up across her body. Her limbs were sprawled out and tangled.

"If people knew this is what we looked like, all of Lao Shen would be embarrassed," said Mei.

Ariel's eyes glimmered as she pushed herself up. Mei stepped back from her glare. She seemed to lose some of the nerve she used.

"Fine," Mei said. "Come for breakfast or not, your choice. But we have a visitor today."

Out of pure spite, Ariel grabbed the corner of her covers and tore them back up over her body. Mei hopped down and walked for the door.

Ariel slept a little longer. After, she lay awake for an hour. Whenever she reached up for the corner of the blanket, a lack of a reason to get up shoved it back down.

Mei's stiff, hard footsteps came through the door again. Ariel didn't move.

"Ariel, didn't I say we have visitors? They're coming in twenty minutes. You need to get ready."

"Why do I need twenty minutes to get ready?" she groaned.

"It's a special guest. You need to wear formal-wear."

"Why didn't you tell me? Just make them wait till later or something."

"Ariel, just get ready."

Mei walked back out of the room. Sky Shaymin Ariel stayed still for a moment, then pushed up to standing. She hopped off of her bed with the covers still over her, leaving them trailing onto the carpet. She considered her outfit first, but took a whiff of herself and stepped towards the water pit.

Ariel didn't soak for very long; she'd already sat idle for a while. After drying off, she tended to herself in front of a long mirror on the wall. She used all seven of the brushes sitting underneath of it on a mat to straighten out. She made it sleek, shiny, and sharp like Mei liked it to be.

A thought occurred to her after she finished and looked away from the mirror. Her formal clothes might not fit anymore. After a recent growth spurt, she outgrew half of her wardrobe. She wouldn't be able to match Mei's expectations. All she could manage in the end was a basic, gold necklace.

Ariel pushed open the door and stalked down the thin hallway. Political visits often happened in the throne room, but she heard movement and muffled talking down below. Whoever was visiting had to be on pretty good terms with Lao Shen, definitely special guests.

Ariel made her way down sparkling, marble stairs to the first floor. Cream walls displayed pieces of artwork she never looked at. Water ran around a square, wooden pillar in the dead center of the room.

Land Shaymin Mei sat on a cushion next to a Simisage in the right corner of the room. Her fur had been prepped just like Ariel, with the addition of a gold bracelet around her arm. Mei happened to glance back and made eye contact. She raised her paw and told him to wait for a moment in a fake, polite voice.

Mei sped-walk to the stairs as Ariel walked down. Anger complimented her frown.

"What are you doing? Where's your gown?"

"It doesn't fit anymore," Ariel hissed back.

"Ugh, dammit. Right. Fine. Just, be on your best behavior. Come."

Ariel walked over with Mei. The Simisage's eyes rolled to the side to look at her without turning his head.

"Ariel," Mei smiled. "Meet Mr. Yan Bolin. His son, Mo Bolin has agreed to your marriage proposal."

"What?" she spat.

"It's nice to meet you, milady," Simisage said, smiling. "This is just an informal visit. Mo came to meet you in person. I told him to wait outside so we could get acquainted. He's excited to meet you both."

"You may bring him in now, Mr. Bolin," Mei said.

"Of course."

Simisage pushed on his knees and huffed as he stood up. He walked for the wooden front door to the building and pushed it open.

"Mei, what?" Ariel hissed.

"He's the mayor of one of our worst cities," Mei whispered. "It'd help a lot. Just at least give it a shot."

"Why don't you give it a shot?"

"He's just a little too young for me."

"And I'm not? It's a two year difference."

"Shush."

Pansage Mo wearing a white button-up shirt answered Simisage's waving arm. Entering, he gazed around the room, clearly enamored by the money behind it all. The wooden pillar and water leeched his focus away as Simisage guided his walk.

"Mo," Simisage said. "This is Lady Ariel."

Ariel watched his expression as he gave her the once-over, disgust dotted with surprise.

"Oh…" he muttered. "Uh, hey…"

Ariel turned to walk away. Mei stepped forward and stepped on her paw.

"Ariel," Mei said. "Stop. People are counting on you."

Ariel balled her paw up into a fist. She fired a held-back punch right for her nose.

"You guys ever wonder what we're even doing?"

Sky Shaymin Ariel rose from her back to sitting. Mienfoo Robin stayed lying on her back while Galarian Ponyta Nadia stayed on her side. Ariel's view shifted to include both the clear blue sky and the ocean. The grass hill overlooking it rolled like waves from breeze moving out to sea.

"What about it?" Ariel asked.

"I mean, we want to be explorers, but no one does that anymore," Robin said. "I mean, it'd be different if we said we were going to become bounty hunters. That's, like, an actual thing. Especially if we became governmental bounty hunters. That'd be way more stable."

"Explorers don't just do bounty hunts. They also find things and help people," she said.

"It's just the wrong generation," said Nadia. "We were just born too late. Maybe we're all just running from stuff together.

"Just shut up," she huffed. "We're not running from things."

"If we were being totally realistic, we wouldn't be," said Robin. "Ariel, you've got skills. You could be in the arena. And yeah, we could all be bounty hunters together here in just a few years. That's realistic, and it's great. But being explorers just…"

"I didn't train all these years to be fucking livestock for show on TV." Ariel's voice started to break. "I trained to be an explorer. No matter how hard it is."

Robin and Nadia fell silent. Ariel turned and stormed off.

Ariel rushed down the hallway past a series of doors. Her footsteps sent deep tremors through the floorboards. Her eyes focused down.

"Hey, are you alright Airy?"

Sky Shaymin Ariel stopped in her tracks and looked up. She had stopped walking in front of Flareon Light's door. His vibrant blue and white eyes disappeared behind his blinking for a moment. His soft paws pushed open the door a little more. His tail trembled like it always did when he thought hard to himself.

"Oh, hey," she said. "Yeah."

"I can tell, though," Light said. "What do you need?"

Ariel stepped forward and threw her arms around him. He hugged back with barely any pressure as his arms shook. His long fur felt softer than most blankets.

"Want to watch a movie?" he offered.

"Sure."

Sky Shaymin Ariel found herself back on a couch sitting next to him, staring up at a TV screen. Flareon Light snacked on a small plastic cup of pudding with a spoon. Ariel stared at his still face until he noticed.

"How do you stay so… ridiculously calm?" she asked.

"What do you mean?" asked Light.

"I mean, I figured you'd be sort of keeling over at the stress by now. Of everything."

Light looked down. "Well, I just need a moment to quiet down. Doesn't matter if it's even actually quiet. All it takes is to keep it in perspective."

Ariel's heart slowed down when she got closer to Light. Defenses down, she let her shoulders drop and took in more air to see what it tasted like; vanilla.

"I've got to make it back home to you."

A white, sparkling curtain under Land Shaymin Ariel's white paws seemed to stop her from falling down. Underneath it, a blue, shining orb with water and huge patches of green floated in the void. White wisps and streaks of color failed to cover up the shape of Lao Shen outlined in green.

Ariel gave herself a moment. She put distance between her and what she saw. She couldn't be all the way up in space like she thought she was. She needed a logical answer to shut down her onslaught of fear.

"Mystery dungeon," she told herself. "Right."

Ariel got enough of a handle to stand up wobbling. Her arms and legs vibrated. A few steps in front of her, Land Shaymin Mei lied out with her eyes closed and limbs sprawled out underneath. Ariel's first step closer resulted in her bumping her nose against the strange floor. She slowed herself down and kept her balance walking over. Her center of mass felt like it shifted lower.

Mei's eyes snapped open. She rocketed to her feet.

"Hey," said Ariel. "You alright?"

A short roar shook the air. Rayquaza's head rose from underneath, and its body followed, phasing through the curtain. New ribbons of orange light whipped around from its ears. Sharp, green princes grew on its jaw, and strings of the same orange light swung through the air from them. Black contrasted orange bulbs of light along its body. Its serpentine body surrounded them.

"For years, I have called Scions to this land in my service to unite warring nations," Rayquaza's voice faded out to the distance. "Never before have I seen results like Lao Shen. Your bastard family keeps bringing it to ruin, Chingyangs. The White Star must be kept on Mount Ài."

"Why?" Ariel asked.

"I have observed the dealings of Acuity through my Scions. His existence is unnatural. I must observe him."

"You tried to have me keep him prisoner. And I-" Ariel choked up and swallowed. "I nearly did. Why? What could be so unnatural that it justifies manipulating someone?"

"He was not born like you. Just like the other, they are her shadows, and she is theirs'. I'm afraid of what is happening, but I know he has a role in it."

"Light's kind, gentle. Sure, he's immature, but he's just a teenager. So am I." Ariel glanced at Mei. "And you both took my childhood away from me. And call it as stupid as you want to, I'm about to do the exact opposite of what you want me to because I feel like it. I'm taking Light down myself, and we're leaving."

"I'm sorry," Mei said. "Ariel, please don't make this difficult."

"I'm taking Light and we're leaving."

"Then we will punish you."

Rayquaza's body vanished into nothing. Ariel's eyes darted in random directions looking for it. She blinked and it vanished.

Yellow veins sprouted up across Land Shaymin Mei's body. They overtook every inch of her body as it changed. Her form grew larger; her legs grew longer and her head rose as she changed into Sky-Forme.

"Everyone in the world knows about it," Mei said with a deepening voice. "The more Scions appear, the more danger the world's in. Even just one can signal that a nation's about to collapse, a global shift of power. With Light, Hannah, and me or you, that means a global catastrophe is on the way, the likes of which has never happened before. I wanted you to be Empress Chingyang because you were chosen to be the Scion… But, instead, you want to join a death march going right into danger instead of weighing your options."

"I already cut off the puppet strings," Ariel said quietly. "Stop trying to swing them."

"Fine. But I'll at least make this fair."

Yellow veins sprouted and shot across Ariel's body. She blinked in surprise. As she transformed into Sky-Forme, she breathed a sigh of relief.

Mei still had the edge in height. Ariel felt her angry breath warm the top of her nose. It felt pretty stupid, but she hated that she always looked down on her.

"What?" Ariel asked. "Does controlling me make you feel better about killing our parents?"

"They had it coming," she said in monotone. "And you're starting to remind me of them. It doesn't matter if I have to kill you right here. I won't let anyone stand in the way of world peace. Not even the people I love."

Mei swayed and turned around. Ariel did the same.

They walked the distance apart from each other they always did for training battles. In her opinion, it was always a little too close for her taste.

A gentle buzz invaded Ariel's ear. She didn't feel how she usually did. A nauseous feeling riddled her body with weakness.

"Hey," she said. "You're having Rayquaza give you more chi, aren't you?"

"Yes," Mei answered, turning back around. "I am."

"That's not a fair fight."

"It's not a fight. It's a punishment. I only let you take this form to stop it from being a beating."

"Can't believe I ever bothered trying to reason with you," Ariel muttered under her breath. "Even a little."

"I can't believe you ever thought you were fast."

Mei charged forward flying. Ariel blocked a punch with her right. The impact shot all the way down her arm to her back. The difference in power they were given became clear as day.

A jab hit Ariel's face. Her head reeled back. Mei bashed her with her shoulder. Ariel spun around and kept upright.

"You always cheat out of everything, don't you?" yelled Ariel. She put her body weight behind a right punch for her face.

Mei grabbed her fist with her left and slapped her. A punch in her gut brought her down to the ground. While her eyes faced the ground, Mei uppercut her forehead. Ariel landed on her chest. Mei snagged the green fur on her head and pulled Ariel's face up.

"Just look at yourself!" Mei spat. "We're supposed to be idols! Examples! The ideal! All you did is fuck around instead of trying to change yourself for the better! Why couldn't you just shut up!?"

Mei punched Ariel right in her forehead. Ariel landed on her back. Mei stepped forward and growled.

She went silent. A cold feeling nestled into her chest.

A stream of red ran down the side of Ariel's face. Mei leaned over. Ariel's eyes were closed.

"Hey…" Mei said. "Get up. What the hell… What the hell. Get up. Get. Up!"

Mei ran above Ariel and touched her shoulder. A fire lit up in her stomach.

"Ariel. Ariel. Get up! Get up! Hey, somebody help!" she screamed.

"What's the matter?"

Mei turned back towards a deep, smooth voice.

A Dragonite with striking, white eyes stood with his arms behind his back. His eyes were half lidded, mouth pressed into a neutral line. His wings seemed to loom over his smaller body. He seemed small for a Dragonite.

"She shut up, didn't she?" Dragonite asked. "Isn't this what you wanted?"

"Who are you?" asked Mei. "What? No! I need help!

"Finish it," he said. "You've been eating away at her for your entire life. You're already fat on her power. Why stop now?" He took a step forward. "You'll never see eye to eye. Isn't taking the only thing ever given to her away the only peak left for you?"

"Shut up!" she yelled. "I don't even know you! Why are you here?"

"I was curious. I came to test out my son's reaction when I killed your sister. You've almost gone and made my arrival here unnecessary."

Mei's eyes opened. The white eyes and distant expression should've clued her in faster.

Light's father was a Dragonite. More than that, Light's father was an Acuitan warlord.

Ariel still drew in breath. She seemed unconscious, but she could take a concussion if that's what she had. The Dragonite in front of her revealed himself as the most immediate threat to her life.

"I find it hard to believe either of you thought you could call yourself Scions," said Dragonite. "Trying to change history when you can't even get a grip and choose what you want to do already."

Sky Shaymin Mei rushed forward. She punched the Dragonite's chest. Wind exploded from her paw and sliced at her own fur. She waited for the green light and wind to fade to see how he responded to the attack.

Dragonite's arms were still folded behind his back. He stared down at her with a dark undertone over his eyes weighing on her skull. His skin didn't even budge. She hit an unbreakable wall, and it didn't even need to defend itself.

"What can you give me that's more valuable than the information I came to get?" he asked.

Dragonite slapped her arm away. The motion flung Mei's entire body away with it. As she rolled on the curtain of light, pain silenced her voice. She gasped for air.

Mei struggled to keep her head up. When she lifted her head, the Dragonite stood over Ariel. The shock and adrenaline shoved her body forward. As Dragonite raised his arm, Mei couldn't tell if he moved as slow as he seemed to be. She crossed her arms as he slammed his hand down.

A metallic surface banged against Mei's forearms. Her arm must've bruised in an instant from the impact against the gold, metal gauntlet on his arm. A sharp, pointed blade stuck out the end of it. It went between her arms and barely stopped in front of her face.

"And now you rush to her aid," Dragonite's eyes sparked. "Perhaps you're worth some study after all."

"Why are you doing this?" Mei demanded. Her voice strained from the pressure on her body, even though he barely leaned into it.

"You don't have to overcomplicate this."

Mei's left arm gave way. Either a muscle or a bone snapped. Adrenaline spared her from pain. She grabbed it with her other arm and used it to push back against the gauntlet. The blade inched closer to her face.

"Does protecting her now feel like redemption for you?" Dragonite asked gently. "I have to commend your strength, though. It's a miracle I even feel any resistance."

Mei growled through the pain. ""Why are you here?" Mei growled gasping for air. "What…do you know?"

"You!"

Dragonite Lancelot's eyes turned up and to the side. "You..."

Mei reeled back. An object from behind shot forward right past her and slammed into Lancelot. He flew back a few paces with his arms behind his back again.

Lopunny Luke landed just next to Ariel. He bent down and stole a quick glance, but part of his attention never left the Dragonite.

"What the hell, Mei," Luke breathed. "She's not going to make it. Dammit."

"It was bound to happen eventually," said Dragonite. "Killing family just makes you that much more of a Chingyang. It's sort of like Luke getting here too late. It's just what you always do."

Lancelot's eyes turned up again. He went as still as a statue. Mei stared in anticipation of his next move.

Luke had gone still. He paused in the middle of looking up. Mei grew confused at the eerie stillness. They both froze in place. As far as she could tell, they weren't even breathing.

A green butterfly floated down a few steps in front of Mei. She jumped back out of an abundance of caution. Its wings sparkled like they were a liquid made out of light. It descended and hovered flying in a small circle. A trail of glitters faded in the air behind it.

"And so, you have guaranteed the world on a path to ruin. You live the rest of your days trying to be as like your sister as much as you can. You will be unable to make up for her strength, and the Peacekeeper destroys the world once again."

"What… are you?" Mei questioned. "What just happened to them?"

"I am a promise-keeper. In order to fulfill my duties, I must insist that you restart this encounter and keep your sister's life."

"Restart? What happened to them? And what do you mean 'keep her life'? She's not going to die. She's fine… She's still breathing."

"You don't understand. The Rayquaza's new powers manipulate chi. When you struck her with them when she was already weakened, you ruined the chi pathways around her brain, along with permanent damage from the impact. Even if she lives, she'll never wake up again. You already killed her."

Mei's heart fell. "No… That can't be right. She's strong."

"She's mortal like everyone else."

Mei covered and clawed around her mouth. A pit grew in her stomach. How could she of all people get caught up in the moment and make a mistake like this.

"She can still be saved."

The words brought Mei back from the brink of the abyss. She honed in on them.

"What?" she demanded.

"You must sacrifice yourself. There will only be one opportunity. If I use my powers any more, the Peacekeeper will notice and kill us all here. Unfortunately, I lack time to explain."

"What do I have to do?"

"You will do battle with your sister, and you will let her carry more chi than you. She will strike you down by accident instead. Lancelot Acuity will grow curious about the events and will follow and observe instead of entering to do battle. If there is any other outcome, he will come and slay her."

Mei wondered how this butterfly could talk, or what it even was. To her, its presence felt like a person. It had the young, dry voice of a tired woman, one that gave advice. It could be a Scion's power.

"Alright," she said. "I will."

"Victory is not guaranteed. I cannot predict whether or not Ariel will be too distraught to go on, or if the Wayfarers can slay the Rayquaza with such serious wounds. Furthermore, should Lancelot choose to enter the field, it means certain death for all on Mount Ài. However, there is no alternative. Do you love your sister?"

"Yes."

"So you accept then?"

"I do."

"I see. You must take great care to finish this very quickly. If Lancelot Acuity enters, it is over."

Mei would have to take her by surprise for just one time. Ariel wouldn't use an attack powerful enough to kill unless it was to defend against another attack. Mei had never driven her to even use more than half of her strength in a battle before. She usually shrugged off attacks like they were nothing. This would be the hardest fight in her life.

"You always cheat out of everything, don't you?"

In the blink of an eye, Mei was back.

Ariel charged towards her again. Mei would have to block this attack, then somehow make the next one finish her. Time didn't permit for any more than that.

Mei hardened her gaze. She understood why this had to be the only way. Lancelot Acuity planned to kill Ariel. He'd only stop if something more interesting happened for him to watch. She didn't know much of what just happened, but she knew it was real. She'd act on it.

As Ariel swung, Mei dipped under her arm and shoved her to the ground. Even though Ariel had been knocked onto her back, she kept her arms up to defend herself. Mei built up energy in her paw to feign a finishing blow. Ariel copied the action to defend against it.

Mei switched the amount of Rayquaza's chi flowing in their bodies just before impact. Mei let the blow hit her straight in the chest.

The pain flew past as Mei slipped away. She couldn't see past Ariel's dumbstruck face. Mei had one breath in her left to say everything

"It's not, your fault. I… planned this. Stay… alive."

Mei's voice fell into a whisper. Ariel adjusted and caught her as she collapsed. Mei's eyes rolled shut as she fell on her back onto the strange curtain of light underneath them.

Ariel realized how hard her attack struck. She lost her breath, her stomach dropped.

"Mei?" asked Ariel. "Mei? Hey, get up. Mei?"

Ariel heard noise coming up behind her. She took three seconds for it to click and turn her eyes away from Mei's still face.

Two legs covered in brown fur bent down next to her. Ariel pulled her vision back and saw Lopunny Luke standing nearby, frozen in place.

"Ariel," Luke said, "listen. I need you to take deep breaths, okay?"

Ariel could only take fast, shallow breaths. A burning sensation creeped up on her arms. Yellow veins of light stretched up to the tips of her paw as they trembled.

"Ariel, breathe."

Flareon Light's claws scraped against the rock underneath him. He took it slow as his breath steadied. He stood up to turn around and check on the others.

The ground below them had been charred black. In Slowking Chad's arms, Manaphy Jewel wrestled out of his grip and looked at his face. Chad smiled weakly back at her. As Light gazed down on them, he noticed they seemed to be free of wounds for now. They lied on the ground out of exhaustion, not from any pain.

He concluded they'd be fine if he turned his attention and ran up the slope. His paws stung with every step, and he lost his breath after a couple steps. He barely made it.

Stars riddled the empty night sky. Light looked up when barren rock greeted him, but he didn't find anything. His gaze fell, looking for clues.

Multiple pokemon were sprawled out on the ground, Cinccino Hannah and Audino Agatha as two of them. A Luxray and female Meowstic laid unmoving on the ground nearby. Light wobbled over to them. He stepped on a hard flake of some object. He lifted his paw and blinked as the sheen of a metal shard locked on to him. A trail of them led right to Agatha. Light followed it.

"Crap…" Light hissed under his breath. "Hey, Agatha?"

Agatha pushed up with her arms, but she couldn't stand. She anchored her upper body with her right elbow as Light walked around towards her front. She slipped off the large, gold earring from the strand of her ear and tossed it on the ground.

Light stepped away from the ring as it grew. The ground underneath it shifted and started to change colors, as if it was liquid being stirred. It settled on pitch-black.

"Luke went after her," Agatha said with a raspy voice. "I don't know what's going on, but I feel like something happened. You need to go get her."

"Alright," Light said. "You'll be okay?"

"We'll be fine. Go get her."

"Thanks."

Light looked through the portal. He made sure he filled up on air before jumping down.

He landed on his stomach. As soon as he fell through, he felt dizzy. Energy coursed through the air like tingling water on his skin.

The place he landed reminded him of where they had fought Lugia. He found himself in a grassland that seemed to stretch to infinity. Flowers of all different colors grew pointing straight up to the bright blue sky. Despite the lack of clouds and clear blue sky, Light couldn't see the sun anywhere. A gentle, constant breeze pushed and pulled his fur.

He took a few steps forward. The soil felt like fur: soft, dry, and strange to be walking on. Through the bright flowers and perfect sky, it looked too lonely of a place for anyone to want to live.

"Ariel!" Light called.

A wind from above replied. It forced him to look down and cover his face. Light slowly looked back up when the wind's pressure eased on his body, afraid of what he would find.

Sky-Forme Shaymin Ariel floated in front of him. She answered with a blank stare.

Light decided to reach out with Candor using the eye contact they had. He was reluctant to, but he needed to know.

Ariel felt numb, deep in thought. She only reacted and came down out of pure instinct. Light held up his paws facing up. Ariel flew lower and rested her paws on top of his. Light gently tugged her down to the ground.

"Airy," Light whispered. "Talk to me. What happened?"

"Mei tricked me," she answered. "She tried to fight me, but switched our powers at the last second, right before I hit her. I don't know where she is."

A lump grew in Light's throat. He swallowed.

"What happened to Rayquaza? Where did it go?"

"Its body disappeared. That's what happened when me and Mei became its Scions. With its body gone, it gives us its full power."

"'Us'?" he asked. "As in, both of you?"

"Yeah. Both of us, somehow. I learned things."

"Tell me," he pushed.

"It was afraid of you." Ariel's eyes seemed to brighten. She appeared more and more present. "It wanted me to stop you from becoming Reshiram's Scion at all costs because you'd have special powers. Raqyquaza suspects that you're… some kind of weapon."

"A weapon?" he asked, confused. "How? Why?"

"The Acuitan blessing, Wilderbeast gene, and Candor would all combine if you became a Scion. With all of them together, you'd have abilities. Mental abilities that haven't ever existed before. No one in the world would be able to contest you. Not even other Scions."

Ariel's grip on Light's paws tightened. His grip tightened without him realizing.

"You're too dangerous," Ariel whimpered. Tears collected at the bottoms of her eyes. "Light, you're capable of doing things that really shouldn't be done to people."

"I won't do them." he said. "I won't become a Scion... I promise."

"When the whole world is at stake, I just… Can't take any risks. They're not mine to take."

"Don't you remember the beach?" asked Light. "I fought Reshiram, to the death if it wasn't for you saving me. Don't you trust me?"

"I'm scared. I can't change how I feel."

Light stared down. "You're scared of me?"

"I'm not scared. But I-"

"That's enough."

Ariel let go of Light's paws and stood on all fours. Light glanced to his sides.

Both of their stares landed to the side of them. A white stone glowing with a pulsing heartbeat of light floated above their heads,

"I will not have you thinking my Scion is some monster. I grow tired of how easy you are to manipulate. Chingyang. And I grow tired of your manipulators. If this continues, all of Lao Shen will be thrown into bloody chaos."

"You know what you're capable of, don't you?" asked Ariel.

"Yes. We are capable of baptizing this world in holy light. At first, I figured we would have to burn a nation with history like Lao Shen's to the ground, but now I see that it can be turned into a paradise in honor of all those who fought. I cannot stand to watch Lao Shen being in strife because of this outside force."

"This is bigger than Lao Shen."

"I don't even think it's bigger than you. You're just steps away from ruining your country and relationships out of fear that someone else gave you. This is painful to watch."

Ariel opened her mouth to bite back, but no sound came out as she turned to Light.

Tears streamed down Light's cheeks. They dampened the fur all over his face. His arms trembled and felt so weak, he couldn't bring them up to his face to wipe them away.

"I'm sorry," Ariel whispered. "You're not a monster."

"Then," he sniveled, "why are you afraid of me? I mean, I know I look freaky and stuff, but I thought you were fine with that."

"I'm just trying to protect you from having something dangerous. You're not 'freaky' at all, okay? And I'm not scared of you. I'm scared of what could happen."

"This doesn't have to be this complicated," the stone remarked. "But I'm curious how far you'll push yourself to 'protect' him, Chingyang. Why don't we find out?"

Glass prisms blossomed underneath Flareon Light's paws. He let go out of surprise. Sky Shaymin Ariel reached out to him. Her paw stopped against a glass wall. Light's body froze in place with his paws clasped together.

"I need you to test her willpower. Can we make another arrangement?"

"Yeah, fine."

Ariel turned around hearing a new, deep voice. She shifted her balance and side-stepped a red, hot projectile flying for her head.

It bounced off of the glass, teardrop-shaped prison. After a quick, certain check, Ariel faced the enemy.

A dark, ragged black cape with tears at the edge of it floated in the soft breeze. A Charmander flipped off its hood from over his striking, blue eyes. His flaming tail swept over the flowers and grass behind him and lit a short wall of fire. A strange, curved silvery pole stuck out of the ground inches from his feet.

"I've killed your kind before," he said.

Charmander grabbed the pole. A shining, white wire grew and revealed it as a bow. A flame grew on top of the wire as he pulled it and aimed in her direction. It cast a red shadow over his eyes.

"Let's see what you're about, then."

Ariel recognized the bow from books; Sacred Treasure Pinaka, thought to have first shown up in history in Pataliputra. Arrows it loosed were filled to bursting with chi. Anyone who tried to pull the string without having the chi pattern needed to use it would most often lose the limb they tried to pull it with.

What's more, Ariel could sense their "arrangement". His body filled with Reshiram's ocean of chi. A Scion wielding a Sacred Treasure; she almost chuckled at the stupidity of it. This guy could do a lot more than influence history. She didn't imagine anyone having this sort of power.

Ariel's instinct led her to charge closer. Even being a Sacred Treasure, a bow wouldn't be as effective up close. She flew and landed on her legs, shooting in different directions to avoid getting shot at.

"Obvious," he mocked.

Charmander aimed his bow off to the side. Ariel didn't register it in time and flew right in front of where he stood and aimed. She crossed her arms to try and take the hit. She cried out and flew back, tumbling on the dirt.

After two seconds, Ariel regained her balance, but didn't know whether or not she should stand up. He hadn't pulled very hard on the bowstring. Her arms already had a red tinge and dirt sprinkled on them. If it hit her head, she would be down.

"Not allowed to run, either," Charmander warned.

Charmander loosed a quick arrow in the glass prison's direction. The pointed top of it shattered and dusted the grass below.

"We've all got to fight for something, after all," he said. "Let's see what you can do."

A fire ignited in Ariel's chest. She stood up and charged forward with all the speed and strength she could muster up at once. Charmander already aimed towards where she had fallen. Ariel zipped close to him.

Charmander's arrow flew off course. Ariel pushed wind at his foot to make him lose balance. The heat of the arrow singed the fur on her face. She got close before he could fire again. His tail swept the grass and created a wall of flames in front of him. Ariel punched at his face. He ducked in the flames and struck her right in her stomach. She lost her breath. He kicked her in the gut again.

She kept on her feet. Ariel staggered forward to keep close. Charmander punctured the ground with the bottom of his bow and left it standing to free his claws. He spun around and whipped her face with his tail.

Ariel kept walking forward. She didn't hide drawing back her arm for a decisive strike. Charmander didn't seem to have a plan for her ignoring the searing burns. He took an uncertain step back as Ariel swung.

Charmander blocked it with his right arm. He stepped back again, further away from his bow stuck in the ground, and grimaced.

White light gathered in his claws again. Ariel punched against to overpower him.

She lost out. Her fist flung behind her as her body flew back. The heat might've burned her limbs away if she hadn't been blown back

Ariel rolled and tumbled right where she started. As she stood back up, the light in front of her grew. Charmander drew the bowstring further back. Glancing back, she saw the glass prison rested two paces behind her. She didn't want to move, even though her instincts screamed at her to dodge out of the way.

Charmander fired the arrow. Ariel closed her eyes and clenched her teeth. She couldn't use a move in time to counter.

The arrow whistled as it flew. Ariel expected it to end with silence, or a violent explosion. It ended suddenly.

She cracked open her eyes. The arrow stopped in mid-air in front of her and fell to the ground. A wire of light still connected it to the bow. Somehow, the arrow didn't spark a fire.

Charmander's gaze softened. He yanked back on the bow. The arrow and wire flew back to him. They both disappeared before reaching him.

"Oh," Charmander spoke. "I see. That's what happens when it comes down to it. I think we're done here."

The sound of glass breaking cut the air behind Ariel. She spared a glance to turn around.

In that short second, the Charmander disappeared. Ariel continued to look around until she could be sure he was gone, then turned around.

Flareon Light lied out on his back on top of a pile of clear, glass shards. His eyes were closed and his breathing steady, as if he were asleep. Sky Shaymin Ariel floated over the shards and wrapped her right arm behind her back. His shining, blue and white eyes fluttered open. His limbs curled closer to his chest.

"I'm sorry," Ariel said.

For some reason Light seemed drained. He tried to rouse himself awake from sleep, but fell back into it. Reshiram must've had more influence than she thought it did. It's as if it had some level of control over his body's chi.

The white stone floated up over Ariel's head. She hadn't even caught her breath fully yet. If it wanted to fight, she'd die right here.

"I find it strange fear was the reason behind all of this," the voice said. "I suppose it's only natural. My Scion is powerful. You fear being controlled again."

"What do you want from me?" Ariel hissed.

"Let us make an arrangement. Swear to protect my Scion and I will spare Lao Shen."

"I was going to protect him anyways. Including from you."

A flash of light blinded Ariel for a moment. She blinked rapidly until her vision cleared.

The glass shards beneath them disappeared. Next to Light, Land Shaymin Mei laid out on her chest. Ariel touched her forehead. She slept.

"Her bones took a lot of repair work. If you two aren't careful going forward, I'll let you burn Lao Shen to the ground all by yourselves. I'm leaving for Abuja."

The stone shot up in the sky, growing into a large fireball before it faded in the distance. An invisible weight lifted from her shoulders seconds after. Even the air cooled.

Sky Shaymin Ariel wrapped her arms around Mei and Light and held them close.

Two white orchids bobbed up and down under the stiff breeze and a rush of wind. Dirt dusted their petals.

A gaping hole in a cave roof let morning sunlight invade, and a Dragonite fly down inside. After he landed on a patch of short grass, he scraped his feet on the hard soil. He wondered how those two flowers managed to grow here. Chingyang Temple had changed.

"I'm confused, why aren't you going after them?"

Dragonite Lancelot turned around to the cave entrance. A Piplup with a brown leather jacket draped over his back and sides stood idle a pace away.

"I'm interested in the Chingyangs," he answered. "Both of them are technically a completely new class. I need to observe."

"If that was the case, wouldn't you just take her?" Piplup asked.

"I can't. Especially not when Robin Hood is so close-by. I'd have to pull half a dozen arrows out of my arms if I did, and there's no one to use Pinaka. Barely any reward."

"Ah, I forgot. I guess Robin Hood would put you on edge, huh?"

Lancelot mentally skipped past his joke."And just why did you come here? You haven't moved around like this in a while."

"You're not the only one studying. Just tell me, what makes all of this worth it?"

Lancelot stayed silent. Piplup folded his arms.

"So what makes him so special?" Piplup asked. "What did you figure out?"

"Chance. Bound to work eventually."

"Oh really?" Piplup tapped his foot. "After all the help I gave, you couldn't come up with anything better?"

"We have different limits on technology than in your time," he argued.

"That may be true, but I do think you're spreading yourself thin. And it's all because you can't decide on what the 'Ultimate Scion' really means. Power has so many different definitions, and you're getting tripped up cause you can't choose one."

"Then what kind of power do you think is best? Combat?"

"Eh. Well, it's obvious who the Ultimate Scion is. But as for second-best… I might have to think about it. Who are the other best ones, and why…"

Dragonite waited to hear his opinion. It could be valuable in making his decisions going forward. Piplup's eyes and face stayed still.

"Marciel is very powerful," Piplup said finally. "Kite, too. Ariel and Mei seem to have good potential. But, I do have to say, only one Scion could take over the world right now if he wanted to. And he's too busy with… other things."

"Yes, well, his job is important," he said. "All of their jobs are."

"In your opinion. Still, Marciel's bound to make a move himself since Reshiram's going to Abuja. He always does when something happens on his turf. When that happens, getting a good place to watch will be impossible."

"I have things to do, anyway. Don't you?"

Piplup's face darkened. "Yeah. I do."

"Then let's get back to work."

Piplup stared through Lancelot. Lancelot stepped to the side when he walked straight forward past him. He stared at the patch of grass and two white orchids.

"I could learn a lot from these flowers," said Piplup. "There's only one ray of light hitting them, and they use it to survive."

He grunted and turned around.

"They made a deal with Celeste," Piplup said. "Mei knew you'd sit back and watch if something you didn't expect happened."

Lancelot's eyes shivered as he turned around. "Why didn't you stop her?"

"Either way, one of them was going to die. This way, I could save Mei."

"Why bother?"

"It's personal. But, anyway… Oh."

Lancelot noticed something flying at the back of his head without needing to look. He leaned his head to the side. He grabbed a leg and threw the pokemon over his head down to the dirt.

A Lopunny pushed on his forearms trying to stand up. Lancelot looked up at the Piplup for directions.

"Whatever you do," said Piplup without turning around, "just don't kill him," he sighed.

"Ad-"

Dragonite Lancelot clasped around Lopunny Luke's head and lifted him up. His feet kicked against the ground. Lancelot winded back and threw him at the cave wall. The impact scattered large chunks of rock and a cloud of dirt. Any noise Luke made drowned out in the impact.

Trying for intimidation, Lancelot clasped around his neck. The golden blade on his gauntlet would pierce his neck if he moved.

"Where's the shooting star?" he asked. His grip allowed Luke to breathe enough to answer.

He expected a retort of some kind, but nothing happened. Luke's hazel eyes stayed still, sturdy with contempt. They sickened him to no end. The utter disrespect from silence happened to be a pet peeve of his.

Lancelot slashed his eyes. Combined with a cold, sick feeling that washed over his body, Luke managed to kick him back. He bolted for the cave entrance. No one gave chase. A large weight pinned Dragonite down in place. He turned his head to the side to get a glimpse of what.

Metal rods and blades of different shapes and sizes maimed both of Dragonite's wings. Piplup walked up next to him. He looked up at his face.

"That was just a warning," said Piplup. "Next time you do that without a good reason, I'll kill you on the spot."

Lancelot shouted as the blades all yanked back. He fell to one knee and grit his teeth. Red droplets rained down on his sides. Piplup walked past him, a step away from the edge of the shower. As he left, Lancelot broke the silence with a pained groan. It reminded him who he was dealing with. He should've been more careful for now.

A trail of red specks led out of the cave. He got away.