Marinette: Tikki (Ledian), Wayzz (Dottler), Longg (Vibrava), Rainn (Surskit), Nooroo (Larvesta)
Adrien: Plagg (Meowstic), Neufchâtel (Skitty)
Chloe: Kirlia, Floette, Mawile
At the end of the day, patrolling probably did not do much. Sure, it worked; they had run-ins with Team Prismillion every few weeks and managed to snag back their share of pokémon. But it wasn't like they could be in every city in Kalos all the time. They had misses more often than hits. No, patrolling was about more than that. It was a chance for Coxyclaque and Mistigrix to get together. It was a chance for them to regroup and rethink and be the superheroes they were meant to be. It was a chance for them to goof off and talk and be the normal teenagers they were meant to be. It was a time when they were at peace.
And that peace was currently being interrupted by one Chloé Bourgeois, better known to all of Kalos as Marchioness.
Marinette had known Chloé since they were in école élémentaire, and in all that time Chloé has been nothing but a spoiled rotten brat. Marchioness is no different, expect now people look up to her, expect something out of her that Marinette doesn't think Chloé has. But Coxyclaque has never met Chloé. So Coxyclaque has to grin and bare their new companion.
"Talk about boring!" Chloé complained for probably the fifth time that day. "Aren't we supposed to be doing something cool, like doing interviews or robbing banks?"
"You mean 'stopping robbing banks'." Mistigrix supplied. He must have the patience of a Sage, because not once has he shown any sign of getting frustrated with Chloé.
"Whatever."
"This isn't all fun and games, Marchioness." Coxyclaque said, nearly hissing out the superhero's name in an attempt to stop herself from saying her real one. "We have a job to do. We don't know when Team Prismillion could strike next."
"So why are we doing this at all?" Chloé asked. "Why aren't we being proactive and hunting them down?"
"How?" Was Misitigrix's helpful answer. But it was an honest one. They talked about it probably every other patrol, and they still had no idea how to hunt down where Team Prismillion was actually coming from.
But it wasn't the answer Marchioness was hoping for. With a huff, she jumped down from the Prism Tower to the streets below, using psychic energy to cushion her fall. Then she stormed off.
"Sorry about her." Misitigrix said. "I know she can be a handful."
"Why are you apologizing for her?" Coxyclaque said. "She's a big girl and can do it on her own."
"She won't." He said it with so much certainty that Coxyclaque would have been surprised if she didn't already know it. "But I guess you can say it's because I feel bad for her? I mean, when this first happened to us, I had you. And you had me, right? But Chloé doesn't really know how to…have people?"
That last part ended like a question, like even Mistigrix wasn't sure how best to defend Chloé.
"She doesn't know how to be kind and she's never had to deal with consequences. The only way she knows how to hold people's attention is to act out. She needs to learn. Not just how how to be a better person, but how to be a kinder person." Mistigrix said. "And I don't think there's anyone better for the job than you, my lady."
There was a gentle buzzing in the back of her head as she felt Tikki's presence, as if her partner was trying to tell her that he was right. And maybe he was. But Marinette knew Chloé better than anyone.
Coxyclaque was shaken out of her thoughts by a scream in the distance. She glanced up at her partner, but he was already on his feet, his Meowstic ears standing up and rotating around as he tried to catch the sound again. It was kind of cute…
"Over there!" He exclaimed, pointing down Estival Avenue. "And moving! It's a…herd of Gogoat?"
What? That hardly sounded like a Team Prismillion strategy. Still, Coxyclaque wondered at how many Gogoat Shuttles had been taken during the siege…
"Got your Snag Balls?" Coxyclaque asked.
"Of course."
"Then let's go."
They made up the plan as they went along. Mistigrix would try to keep them penned up with Light Screens and Reflects, but Coxyclaque would be doing the catching, using Swift and Agility to stay above water. Or grass, in this case. It was simple, effective.
It was familiar, like the first time they had been heroes together.
But that all went out the window when they saw Marchioness there, sitting at a cafe's outer seats and watching the stampede come close, a smug smile on her face.
"You two are late." She complained. "Let me handle this."
She stood, and Coxyclaque could feel the psychic aura spark in the air. Thick psychic shields spread around her, ensnaring around the stampede and holding them in place.
"That Reflect won't hold forever." Mistigrix pointed out. "Let's go, my lady."
"Right."
"And what about me? I did all the work here!" Marchioness said.
Hardly. Coxyclaque still had to do all the catching. She reached for a Snag Ball and tossed it at the nearest Gogoat.
It didn't even break open. It just bounced off the side, aggravating the grass-type even more. But that was impossible. Even a Snag Ball would attempt to capture it, unless…
…Unless the pokémon wasn't even captured to begin with. Ride and rental pokémon were bred to be used by anyone, they couldn't be constricted to just one original trainer ID. No original trainer, no reason why the Snag Ball would snag.
Coxyclaque put two-and-two together, and it took every once of willpower not to just Double-Edge Marchioness to the ground.
"Disarming Voice?" She asked, her voice trembling with rage. "Marchioness, do you know Disarming Voice?"
"Of course I do!" Marchioness scoffed.
"Confusion, too?"
"Of course!"
"And you wouldn't use it to, say, scare a group of Gogoat shuttles into stampeding down Estival Avenue?"
Finally, Marchioness kept her mouth shut. But that was all the confirmation Coxyclaque needed. Her blood was starting to boil.
"You little BRAT!" Coxyclaque screamed, letting out years of pent-up aggression into one shout that could have been its own Disarming Voice. "Do you realize what you could have done? You could have hurt someone! You could have gotten the pokémon hurt! And why? Because superheroing wasn't the break you wanted it to be? Well I'm sorry, Chloé, but it's high time you learned that the world doesn't revolve around you!"
"Coxyclaque…" Mistigrix said warningly. But Marinette did not care. This was a long time coming.
"You think just because your mom was a Queen and your dad's the mayor that you get the do whatever you want? Treat people however you want? Do you think that's going to last long when you go up against Team Prismillion? I've seen them, I've fought them! They're ruthless, and they not going to go easy on you just because you're rich!"
"Bug…"
"Look around you, Chloé. Everyone in this city, everyone in this region is working hard to accomplish their goals! They're not going to beg and bribe their way into becoming a Queen or a Champion! Even if you did become Queen, I'll much rather listen to the lowest-paid Janitor in Prism Tower. At least they're honest. It's high time you learn to take some responsibility for yourself and your pokémon."
"My lady!"
Coxyclaque jumped at Mistigrix's sudden voice. It was then she realized that Marchioness had changed. Her position was slack, her head cocked to the side, and her eyes glowed an eerie pink.
"Are those your true feelings?" Two voices poured out of Marchioness; one recognizably Chloé, the other unrecognizable. "Very well. We never needed you. We never needed anyone."
Psychic energy filled Magenta Plaza as the Reflect changed from single sheets of psychic energy to a full barrier. The Gogoats were quick to start their stampede again once the psychic energy binding them dispersed, preventing Coxyclaque from doing anything as her partner was tossed to the ground and Marchioness took to the skies.
"We'll show you what we're really capable of." Marchioness said.
Coxyclaque tore her attention away from Marchioness to focus on her partner. She tried to rush towards him, but found herself colliding against the barrier.
"What are we going to do?" Mistigrix asked as he pulled himself to his feet. "What's happening with Chloé?"
"I…" Coxyclaque said. "I don't know."
Okay, so she hadn't really been the kindest superhero in that moment. But she really didn't expect Chloé to do this!
"We can't just leave her like that!" Mistigrix said.
"I know."
"I know Chloé can be a little—you know?" Mistigrix said.
"I'll try and talk to her, keep her from spreading this barrier any further. You…go find Korrina. She knows something about Bond Phenomenons, she might know what's going on." Coxyclaque said.
This was her responsibility, and she was going to fix it.
To Korrina's knowledge, no one ever knocked on the doors to the Tower of Mastery. If you were going to the Tower of Mastery, it was because you were invited. Otherwise, you would be stopped by the fortress of fences and outer wall.
Then again, the whole reason Korrina was there to hear the knock at all was because someone had stolen something from the Tower of Mastery, yet another thing she thought was impossible. Grandpa had told her about it after the excitement of her gym battle and the new hero saving the day at the Pokémon Center. Korrina was sure that was why Team Prismillion was in town at all. Grandpa wasn't too sure. After they figured out what was stolen, they had agreed to keep it under wraps for a bit, with Grandpa keeping vigil of the Tower during the day while Korrina stayed there at night. She had just finished her cool down yoga routine and was planning on curling up in her makeshift bed and binge-watching some episodes of "Detective Pikachu" when she heard the knock.
With both of these impossibilities, Korrina wasn't entirely sure who to expect. Somehow, a superhero was the most and least surprising answer.
"Mistigrix!" She gasped.
"Sorry, I know it's late, but I need to talk to you." The superhero said.
Had Professor Sycamore finally talked to the two about Bond Phenomenons like he said he would? No, that wouldn't make sense. Even if he had, there was no reason for Mistigrix to show up this late, on his own, with his aura so frayed. Still, Korrina stepped aside and invited the superhero in.
"There's something wrong with Marchioness." Mistigrix explained.
"Isn't she Queen Audrey's kid?" Korrina asked. "Wouldn't it be weirder if there wasn't anything wrong with her?"
"No, that's not what I mean! Something's wrong with her Bond!" Mistigrix said. "One moment she was fine, then Coxyclaque yelled at her, and I'm not saying she shouldn't have done that, but then Chloé…it was like she wasn't even Chloé anymore. She was talking about something strange, and now all of Estival Avenue is in a barrier!"
"Oh, so you need me to break the barrier with you?" Korrina asked.
"No! Don't you know anything about Bond Phenomenons?"
"I do, but all my knowledge's theoretical." Korrina said with a shrug. "I've tried making a bond with my Lucario before, but unless I have a—"
Korrina stopped as the answer hit her. A Keystone. A Keystone that would allow someone to create a Bond with their pokémon.
A Keystone that happened to go missing right when Professor Sycamore's class visited.
"Chloé!" Coxyclaque cried. "Look, I'm sorry I—"
"Silence." There was that voice again, the voice of two people in the same body that echoed with psychic energy. "Saying your words kinder won't change their meaning."
Was it that obvious that's what she wanted to do?
"Yes, it is." Marchioness answered. "Nor does it change that it is shared by everyone in this cursed region. They must be made silent."
"Y—you're not going to change their minds that way!" Coxyclaque cried.
"No, I won't. I never will."
Then another voice spoke, so quiet and small that Coxyclaque barely recognized it.
"They were never going to give me a chance." Chloé said.
A shockwave of psychic energy knocked Coxyclaque off her feet. Her head brushed up against the barrier before slamming against the pavement.
"Tell me, hero, how would you feel if you had 67,413,000 thoughts of 67,413,000 screaming against you?"
"W—what?"
"You don't get it. Of course you don't. You've had nothing but adoration." Marchioness said. "Let me give you a glimpse."
All of a sudden Marchioness was in front of her, placing her hands on her head, and a cacophony of noises filled Coxyclaque's consciousness. She couldn't make them all out, but she could feel their intention. Some angry, some bitter, some dismissive, some pitying…
Coxyclaque shook out of Marchioness's hold. She found herself gasping for air as her head began to clear, as if she had been drowning in those thoughts. Maybe she had been.
Marchioness only gave her a sad look.
"Easy for you. But I cannot turn it off. I am feeling. I am emotion. I am embrace." Marchioness said. "And I will keep my master safe."
"Chloé…"
No. There was something about that combination of words that rang familiar…
"Kirlia, is it?" Coxyclaque asked.
Marchioness glanced at her from over her shoulder. Seems like Coxyclaque had guess right, this was more Kirlia in control than Chloé. Coxyclaque forced herself to her feet, her hand sparking with energy as she stored up a Silver Wind.
"I am sorry for what I said. Just because I was angry doesn't mean like I should treat you the way you treat everyone else." Coxyclaque said. "I'm sorry for you, and I want to help you. But I'm not afraid of you. And I'm not going to let you hurt this town any more."
The fight began.
"So you think that Chloé stole the Keystone?" Mistigrix asked.
"She seems like the most likely culprit." Korrina said. "I mean, why else would the Keystone go missing on the same day her class was invited to visit the Tower of Mastery, and how else could she have formed a Bond Phenomenon that same day?"
"But Chloé's not—"
A thief? No. As much as he wanted to defend Chloé, he knew that he couldn't say that. She had never hesitated before to do something awful to get what she wanted, and who wouldn't want the recognition of a superhero?
Still…it wasn't like he wasn't going to defend her period.
"I imagine the reason she's freaking out right now is because the Keystone just isn't enough to actually facilitate that Bond." Korrina continued. "Not to mention, Kirlia isn't a fully-evolved pokémon. She's probably struggling to uphold it just as much as Chloé is."
"Okay." Mistigrix said. "So I just need to get that Keystone away from her and she should go back to normal?"
"Well, as normal as someone like her can be." Korrina said. "You'll probably lose Marchioness as an ally, though. Sorry about that."
"That doesn't matter right now. What matters is helping Chloé." Mistigrix said, holding back a growl. That anger at the slight quickly gave way to hesitance. "Still…I have no idea how we're going to face her."
One of Korrina' Lucarios, the one that had stared at Adrien the entire time he was at the Tower before and had stared at Mistigrix the entire time now, stepped out from behind Korrina and stepped forward.
"Lucario?" Korrina asked.
The Lucario let out a cry towards Korrina, but continued to stare down Mistigrix. Korrina was stunned for a moment, but she gave a sad smile and a tight nod towards her pokémon.
"Lucario wants to help you." Korrina said. "But he wants you to prove yourself first."
For a moment, Adrien was stunned. But he felt the Plagg part of him, the Mistigrix part of him, start to surface. This was exactly the rematch he had been looking for.
Under ordinary circumstances, bug types should have the advantage against psychic types. Both Marinette and Chloé had learned that as early as école élémentaire. But fairy types had not been discovered then, and Kirlia always had a knack for shrugging off Tikki's stronger attacks even when she was a Ralts and Tikki was a Ledyba.
Besides, this was far from a normal fight.
Marchioness fought with an uncharacteristic stillness, warding off Coxyclaque's Comet Punches with Reflects and Light Screens. When Coxyclaque managed to claw her way through them, she was knocked backwards with a Psychic. Even her stronger attacks like Struggle Bug and Double-Edge only seemed to do so much against the psychic type superhero, and a Psychic could easily repay the damage Coxyclaque managed to do back at her.
There was no advantage here, and Chloé had never been a bad trainer by any means.
Coxyclaque managed to get up from a particularly brutal Psychic attack, only to find herself staring down a Future Sight.
"It's a shame." Marchioness said. "If Chloé had never looked up to you, wanted to be you, then none of us would be in this situation. But perhaps it is for the best. Once you are put to sleep, she'll never have to compare herself to someone as weak as you again."
There was nothing she could do. The blast hit square on, and Marinette could feel Tikki leave her mind as she fell…
A moment later, Wayzz popped out of his pokéball.
There wasn't a pokéball on the market that could hold a pokémon in a pokéball if it didn't want to be there, everyone knew that. And humans, at least the Marinette-like ones, had long figured out that pokémon could remain partially aware of their outer surroundings while inside their pokéball. In Wayzz's case, the Dottler knew something was wrong when he could no longer feel his trainer's energy in the cosmos, as if a star had beens snuffed out.
He pieced together what had happened fairly quickly, and turned to its source, giving off a soft growl.
"Ah." The thing that was not quite a Kirlia said. "You too want to keep your trainer safe. I can respect that. But I will not back down from a challenge, and your trainer had already proved not up to the task."
Maybe that was so. And Wayzz knew he was a lot weaker than Tikki. Still, if there was something he could do to protect his trainer, he would.
He felt the light of evolution, the aura of determination, engulf him. His outer shell shattered, giving way for Orbeetle wings. He could not let this moment go to waste. Wayzz reached for his trainer, reaching out for Marinette's light, and willed himself to ignite her star.
Lucario had no changed his strategy much between their fights. Even if it did know that Adrien was Mistigrix, why would he? He had won last time. But Mistigrix was ready this time. Lucario was a fighting type, sure, but its steel typing gave it more resistance towards psychic attacks, so he had to make his attacks count.
But Lucario was fast. For every hit that Mistigrix managed to land, it managed to return two more. Psychics were countered Power-Up Punches, Shadow Balls countered with Aura Spheres. He wouldn't be able to keep up at this rate. He had to do something.
A Future Sight, a part of his mind that sounded suspiciously like Plagg supplied. It would take time to charge, but it would return the damage ten-fold. It was worth a shot.
He closed his eyes, concentrated, and saw the future.
The sight was interrupted by a swift punch to the stomach. Mistigrix was tossed aside, the wind knocked out of him, but it did not matter. He had already seen his victory. The psychic energy of not just one Psychic, but of two more in the future, accumulated at his fingertips. Lucario attempted a Quick Guard, but it was too late. The attack hit on, and tossed Lucario to the sidelines.
"Lucario!" Korrina gasped.
The battle was over. While Korrina tended to her pokémon, Mistigrix managed to pull himself back to his feet and focused on healing himself. He had his Lady to thank for the Sitrus and Oran berry macarons.
"What an incredible bond you have! What amazing power!" Korrina said. "So what do you say, Lucario? You really want to travel with him?"
"What?"
"I was surprised too when Lucario suggested it. But I can feel Lucario's passion. It's quite apparent that you two make a truly incredible team!"
Korrina ducked back into the office space, leaving Mistigrix to stand dumbfounded. Lucario…really wanted to become his pokémon?
When Korrina returned, there were two things in her hands.
"This Keystone will let you power up a Bond for a short time. Lucario should have a type advantage against Kirlia. Just be careful not to overdue it!" Korrina said. "And this…you defeated us fair and square, so you should have it."
She presented him with the Rumble Badge.
"Wow…I don't know what to say!"
"Save it until after you save your friend!" Korrina said.
Right, of course. He still had to help Chloé and his Lady.
He turned to Lucario, his Lucario. The Keystone felt red-hot in his hands, like iron in the forge, but it was not uncomfortable. He felt Plagg's presence leave his mind, and he felt himself become the Aura Pokémon.
When Coxyclaque woke, she felt…different. It was the same kind of feeling she felt the day after a migraine; suddenly aware that she was not as in much pain as before. Suddenly aware of the energy that surrounded her, not quite Tikki's but not unfamiliar either.
Suddenly aware of how to defeat Marchioness.
Coxyclaque raised her hands and began to charge energy, not bug-type but psychic. It was the same steps she used to raise a Light Screen, the same steps Marchioness had used to turn that Reflect into a barrier. But this was different. It was an Expanding Force, a move designed not to keep someone safe but to strike back.
The Expanding Force spread to the reaches of Marchioness's barrier and then beyond, shattering the psychic energy like glass. It hurt Marchioness too, knocking the psychic superhero out of the sky.
"Wh—what?" Marchioness asked, her voice wavering.
Time for something new. With a wave of her hand, Coxyclaque refashioned the dead psychic energy left over into something new. Shadow Balls, dozens, hundreds, swarmed around Marchioness.
"I'm sorry for you, Marchioness." Coxyclaque repeated. "And I want to help you. But I'm not afraid of you."
By the time Mistigrix got there, there wasn't much left to take care of. The barrier had already been destroyed, Chloé had already detransformed, and his Lady had already saved the day. Xerneas and Yvetyl…his Lady was so cool.
Speaking of, his Lady looked different as well. It was almost as if someone hadn't quite remembered what Coxyclaque had looked like. Red dress and black buttons were replaced with black dress and red buttons, the ends of her scarf more of a cape that looked like a dome against her back.
"You've…changed." Mistigrix breathed as he saw her, too tired from running all the way from Shalour to Lumiose with Lucario's ExtremeSpeed to think up a proper flirt.
Then again, Mistigrix knew he looked different too. He could see the white of his costume replaced with black, could feel the Lucario ears—smaller and fuzzier than Meowstic's—sticking out of his hair.
"So do you." Coxyclaque said. "But now's not the time to talk about it."
Right. Chloé. It was a lot easier to talk about how cool their new costumes looked rather than have to face her. But it turns out that Mistigrix didn't have to. Chloé was gone, with only the Keystone and a pink hair ribbon where she used to be, glistening in the moonlight.
Marinette: Tikki (Ledian), Wayzz (Orbeetle), Longg (Vibrava), Rainn (Surskit), Nooroo (Larvesta)
Adrien: Plagg (Meowstic), Neufchâtel (Skitty), Lucario
Author's Note: Writing this emotionally-intense, action-packed chapter to the soundtrack for the Kirby Cafe was a trip.
I actually really like Chloé. She's probably my favorite character in the series. She was the only character with a real arc and making real progress to her goals, and Queen Bee was a lot of fun as a team member who was simultaneously very cunning but also fully embracing violence. Astruc saying that she didn't deserve the redemption arc (after spending a season and a half creating one for her) and turning her into an antagonist again was probably what made me give up on expecting anything good from the show. But that's the thing about characters: they have arcs. They're supposed to get better over time. They take chances, make mistakes, get messy, do all the things the average episode of The Magic School Bus teaches you. Sure, sometimes characters do get worse as the story goes on, but that's because that's not the story the author wants to tell. If you're not satisfied with their growth, that's your job as a writer to fix, not set the character back to square 1 and fill her spot with an identical character with a similar name, as if the last three seasons never really mattered. That tells me that you aren't invested in not just this character, but any of your characters nor the story you're trying to tell.
So, can Adrien Mega Evolve? Probably? He'd need to know about it first. But then again, wouldn't the opposite be true as well? Couldn't Korrina create a Bond?
Thus concludes act 1 of our story. Originally my plan was to take a month off to stay ahead of the writing curve, but because I've been so inconsistent with uploading times, I've decided on a compromise. I'll give you the first chapter of act 2 on the usual upload in a couple weeks (hopefully) before I take that month off. It'll be a lot more fun than this chapter was, I promise. Marinette's going to wear a pretty dress, it'll be great.