It was times like this that Diablos wished, more than anything, that he could be seated upon an ornate throne of some sort, slouched against one of the arms of the elaborate chair, with one hand placed against his temple and maybe a thumb hooked beneath his chin. Such a pose would best illustrate his sense of dismissive boredom mingling with a cold gaze as he observed events unfolding before him.
Unfortunately, he was currently lacking in the body department, and the form he presently took lacked the limbs that could be molded into the described posture, even if the other factors could be arranged. Therefore, he was forced to content himself with the mental image, although this thought process was raising a few red flags that Plasma was possibly rubbing off on him more than was reasonably acceptable.
Perhaps sharing a consciousness with the electric ghost was starting to take a greater toll on his psyche than anticipated. The experiment they had attempted the previous week had proven to be a very interesting failure. Although Plasma was able to take on one of the Spiritomb's souls within himself, this arrangement curiously did not allow Diablos to outright possess him, nor was he able to utilize any of Plasma's abilities. Rather, it gave him a shared presence of sorts within the Rotom's mind, and allowed him to essentially 'see' through Plasma's eyes, and retain the information acquired in this manner.
In a way, it was precisely how he normally was able to function within other hosts, Force remaining the most notable example. When not controlling the Riolu's body, he was nevertheless able to flit in and out of his consciousness at will, and provide subtle nudges and direction to the subconscious mind, without Force being conscious of the fact. He had done this to great effect within the Solaceon Ruins, and when forced to reveal his presence, he had been able to communicate to Force's conscious mind as well, with no one else privy to the exchange.
Taking a backseat to Plasma's activities had proven fruitful and mutually convenient. Whenever the Rotom disappeared within his television set to watch whatever show had caught his interest, Diablos was able to share consciousness, and therefore watch the show with him. Plasma found this preferable to any alternative, because it meant he wasn't pressured to spend time outside his TV to interact with his Spiritomb guest, with the bonus that Diablos was able to communicate with Plasma at will, rather than waiting for the Rotom to emerge. This allowed for far more efficient discussions and information sharing, because Diablos didn't need Plasma to explain every menial detail just to get a basic grasp of what he was talking about.
Although now the Spiritomb was beginning to question whether it had been wise to allow Plasma to marathon superhero cartoons for the past two days. A wonderful relief for boredom in the absence of other things to occupy his interest, but it left him with a peculiar number of mental images he was starting to apply to his everyday existence, whether appropriate for the situation or not, such as the aforementioned dramatic posture during a plot-crucial junction.
No matter. It was unfortunate that Diablos had not been able to directly observe the events unfolding within the Eterna Forest, but that didn't mean he was oblivious to them. As he had explained to Force and Iris the previous night, he was intimately aware of the whereabouts of all his soul fragments, no matter how distant or fractured they may be. Even the tiny shard within Force, or the improperly bonded piece within Shadow resonated with him clearly, and with enough focus devoted to the task, it was a simple matter to isolate those signals for even greater insight.
The Spiritomb's jagged mouth curved into a small frown at the thought. No, that statement hadn't been entirely true. The third fractured piece of the original gift was different than the others. It had not given him any information regarding the being that it had bonded to, yet as far as he could tell, this should be considered impossible.
It was endlessly frustrating. Without memories to aid him, and the seeming lack of individuals with knowledge of his history, discovering the limits and conditions related to his abilities was overall a matter of trial and error, and testing those limits was even more difficult, with the absence of those willing to serve as a test subject.
His soul fragments had, among other things, the ability to amplify the abilities of the one it had bonded to. In exchange, it allowed Diablos far more access to the individual's mind and body than otherwise available. Through this access, Diablos would be able to sense the individual's desires and little glimpses into the role their inner darkness played in their life. As a delightful side effect, the presence of the soul would amplify the darkness in their heart. His presence called to that darkness, and the fragments were no different in that regard.
Even the improperly bonded piece within Shadow's heart allowed Diablos insight, however small, into the manner that the shard was fueling him. Darkness slept inside every heart, and his fragments nourished this darkness and fed off the excess. Yet the creature bonded with the third piece of the original gift lacked this darkness. It was as if it had no will of its own, yet was driven by something nonetheless. Some sense of duty...but no true darkness to drive them.
Worse was that he had become aware that all three shards of that soul had come within range of each other simultaneously, yet he could not access any of them. Force's piece was too small, Shadow's was improperly bonded, and the third was somehow immune to his attempts to probe its mind. He could almost perfectly relate to Plasma's occasional gripe about poor cable reception, just knowing that he was missing something fantastic, yet unable to tune in to the show.
How irksome.
His best bet now was to guide Plasma to that area of the forest, so that at least he could visually assess the situation. Unfortunately, Plasma had gotten badly separated from the others and had a hopelessly poor sense of direction coupled with the single worst attention span that Diablos ever had the misfortune to encounter. It was legitimately easier and less frustrating to just let the Rotom figure it out on his own than to confuse him further by trying to give directions.
The only consolation he had at the moment was that his theory regarding the stone from the Solaceon Ruins was becoming more credible. Originally, he had suspected that the retrieved stone would offer a lead of some sort regarding his past, or aid him in breaking some of the seals placed on his powers, but once provided with the opportunity to examine the stone at his leisure, he found that it failed to resonate with him. That suggested that the true factor at the Ruins had been Force, and not Diablos' presence within him.
Plasma had witnessed the reaction the stone gave off when Force became agitated, so it seemed that he had been on the right track. The stone had little, if anything to do with him, but a great deal of affinity with Force. This needed to be studied further. That peculiar quadruped...Astrid, as she had called herself, had known something. Ideally, Diablos needed information from her. Although Plasma's short attention span had not allowed him to notice anything odd, Diablos was far more perceptive, and noted that of all the Pokemon within that group, Astrid had been the only one remotely worried about Force carrying the stone around with him.
This did not bode well, in Diablos' mind. He was well aware that the stone carried an untold amount of energy within it, and one of the reasons he had Plasma go with them was to neutralize that energy if necessary. He was no fool - he knew most individuals could not handle a severe spike in energy without it taking a tremendous toll on their mind or body. That was why he had urged Force to adapt to his soul fragment at a slow pace.
If the Riolu was tapping into that power subconsciously when agitated, then there was no telling what might arise as a result, especially if Shadow remained in close proximity to him. Even if Shadow didn't turn against him, the stress of remaining in his presence might push Force over the edge of stability.
That was why Diablos had turned all his focus to the signals from those three soul pieces. He had to monitor their energy and life signals, a feat well within his means. Even without memories to confirm it, he had an extremely powerful instinct to preserve their lives at all costs. Something within his core was warning him that the loss of any of those soul fragments would be devastating.
Perhaps fate was listening to his thoughts, because at that moment, a nameless sense of dread flashed through his mind, and his spiral pupils dilated until they were little more than pinpricks of yellow within his eyes. The spheres of light orbiting his gaseous form constricted into a tight circle, focusing their energies more intensely within the main core, providing Diablos with an even narrower range of focus, dismissing all other pings within his mental radar to instead examine the feedback from a specific fragment.
The life signal within one of three fragments was weakening rapidly, expending what little power remained in the fractured soul to preserve the wielder's life, but it wouldn't be enough. Diablos scowled deeply. If either the fragment's energy or the life of the wielder expired now, the fragment would be lost, and whatever creature had bonded with it lacked inner darkness, meaning that the soul had been given nothing to nourish its energy. The dying creature had seconds of life left, if even that.
Fortunately...it was in the presence of the two remaining pieces of the singular whole. If the fragment was pulled free of its wielder before expiring, it should be drawn to the one of the other two, intent on merging back into one. And then he would be in a prime position to regain control.
The Spiritomb's yellow pupils glinted, and his species' trademark jagged grin returned in full force. He would take whatever steps were necessary to ensure that his investment was returned to him.
Astrid stepped away from the fallen Sigilyph, the spring in her step indicating overall indifference to the fate of the enemy Psychic-type. The creature was still twitching a bit, but its movements were becoming feebler, and the barrier surrounding Force and Astrid had disappeared.
"Everyone else okay?" Astrid wondered, her tail wagging playfully. Shadow gave a weak nod. The uncomfortable buzzing in his head had faded at some point, and he was once again able to sense things around him without needing to focus intently.
"Overkill much?" Force asked blandly, gesturing towards the bested Sigilyph. Astrid shrugged, and the Riolu scowled. "You really don't give a shit, do you?"
"Force!" Iris chided, although her reaction seemed to be less about his choice of words, and more the tone he was using. The aura Pokemon was clenching his fists, and glaring at the Absol.
"Hmm...no, not really," Astrid replied after taking a moment to consider his question. "I'm a predator or whatever. Feeling bad for my prey's not really an option if I want to eat, you know?"
Force scowled, the aura surrounding his body flaring up more intensely, prompting Shadow to hastily take another step backwards, even though he was at a more than adequately safe distance. "And you're planning to eat the Sigilyph?" he challenged.
"Ew, no," Astrid answered bluntly. She cocked her head at the Riolu, looking amused. "You have a weird way of saying 'thank you'."
"You didn't have to be that vicious!" Force burst out, clenching his fists. "All we had to do was incapacitate it to get out of the barrier! There was no reason to - AHH!"
The Riolu's eyes bulged and he collapsed to his knees, clutching his head with both paws. Iris let out a small shriek of horror and dashed over to the aura Pokemon, only to be intercepted by Astrid. The Absol darted between the two, nearly bowling Iris over when they collided.
"You're overdoing it with the stone!" Astrid said firmly. "I told you it's too much for you to handle. It's overwhelming you because of your emotional state. Calm down and take that off!"
"Shut up!" Force snapped, and then he gasped again as another wave of agony shot through his skull. Shadow cringed. He could almost literally see how the pain and energy coursing through the Riolu's body was slowly taking its toll on him. It reminded him unpleasantly of his first few days as an Espeon. The constant headaches, frustration, and discomfort that slowly tortured him, no matter how much he tried to endure it.
"Oh, you're just being stupid now, give it here," Astrid grumbled, stepping towards the Riolu. Shadow abruptly felt a surge of discomfort spread through his gut and he gasped, clutching his chest instinctively. Astrid blinked and turned towards Shadow in confusion, but the feeling passed almost as quickly as it had come. Despite that, the Espeon found his gaze inexplicably drawn towards the fallen Sigilyph's body, as if his attention had been forced there against his will.
His breath caught in his throat.
Before his eyes, a small green sphere was emerging from the Sigilyph's body, tiny tendrils of black lightning crackling along its surface. As soon as it had lifted free of the psychic's body, the guardian's body went completely still, and there wasn't even a hint of mental activity coming from its direction. It was as though the Ruin guardian had simply ceased to exist, leaving a subtle void in Shadow's mental radar.
Iris and Force seemed to register the shift as well, because they both turned towards the Sigilyph with matching expressions of alarm, and the green sphere flew towards Force, phasing into the Riolu's body before he had time to even register the sphere's existence.
Force grunted, his body twitching, and his red eyes widening again. "Wh...what is this...?" he panted, clutching his chest where the sphere of light had touched. His breathing pace accelerated rapidly, and his eyes began wavering, as if unable to remain focused on anything, yet drawn to everything simultaneously.
Astrid recoiled from the Riolu, her expression baffled. "...is he having a seizure?" she wondered in a loud whisper to Iris.
"Force?" the Kirlia whimpered, extending her paw towards the Riolu pleadingly, as if begging him to anchor onto her.
"What is...this power...?" Force panted, his red eyes glazing over, unable to acknowledge the Kirlia's outstretched paw. He laughed humorlessly, a desperate, almost hysterical sounding giggle. Shadow shivered at the sound, fear spreading slowly through his body like an icy chill.
Astrid's gaze flicked towards the bracelet around Force's wrist, which was glowing intensely at this point. Her green eyes widened and she swung her head towards it, bringing the blade-like horn around to strike at the bracelet.
The Absol let out a gasp of alarm as her movement halted mid-swing, and it took her several seconds to figure out the reason. Despite how swiftly the Absol had moved, Force's paw had caught her horn in an unyielding grip, miraculously not getting cut in the process. Astrid growled and pulled in the opposite direction, attempting to tug her horn out of the Riolu's grasp, yet found herself unable to.
"What's the big idea?" she demanded, her eyes flicking to meet Force's, and then she froze in place, her eyes widening slowly into an unmistakable expression of fear. The Absol's fear terrified Shadow even more than anything he could describe. Up until now, she had showed a number of different expressions and moods, but even when shocked or confused, the Absol had always given off the impression that she was in control of the situation. That impression had just been crushed to bits before Shadow's eyes.
Yet even without standing where she was, he knew why she was scared. It was the same mind-numbing horror that had been spreading through his body ever since the Sigilyph had been downed.
"I should ask you the same thing," Force answered. There was no mistaking that tone. Cold amusement clung to each word like an icicle stuck to a tree branch, melting slowly and letting each icy droplet descend upon the recipient. "I do not require your assistance to neutralize this power."
The Riolu flicked his wrist with enough force to pull Astrid off balance, releasing his grip in the same motion, so that she stumbled away from him.
Iris let out a small yelp of shock, and Shadow's jaw clenched. Gleaming yellow eyes gazed towards Shadow, the same eyes that had haunted him for the past month, and that he had stared down just a week ago, in the bowels of the Solaceon Ruins. The mere sight of the eyes made every muscle in his body tense, and hatred surged through him.
"You...Diablos," Shadow hissed, practically spitting the name.
"Shadow," the Riolu murmured in return. "Such an unfortunate habit of running into one another in this form, hm?" he mused, studying his body idly. Iris was fixing him with an unambiguous death glare, and Shadow could practically feel the energy crackling through the Kirlia's body.
"Get. Out. Of. Him."
Shadow flinched at the barely restrained fury within the bipedal psychic's otherwise soft and demure sounding voice.
"That's a very impressive order, my dear Iris, but do not leap to any conclusions about my intentions," Diablos answered pleasantly. "Force was on the verge of becoming overwhelmed by the power he was inadvertently tapping into...if anything, it's quite fortunate that I was available to step in, otherwise the results could have been disastrous."
"I won't ask again," Iris said, her pink eyes narrowed at the possessed Riolu. "Get out."
"Oh believe me, I have no intention of lingering within him. You lot are far too hostile on the subject. However...I've grown weary of the hassle of having a fractured soul. Shadow, your heart is home to a piece of a greater whole. I'll be taking that back now."
The Riolu smirked and extended his paw towards Shadow, who tensed, unsure what to expect. The Riolu's paw began to shimmer with a faint black aura, and his yellow eyes glinted.
At that moment, Astrid lunged at Diablos, snapping her teeth at his arm. Diablos spun with alarming agility, sidestepping her with ease. Before Astrid could register what had happened, the Riolu conjured a powerful sphere of aura into his paw and hurled it at the Absol's feet. The sphere exploded with incredible force, and Astrid tumbled across the grass, yet somehow managed to shift her body weight and land on her feet, her claws digging into the grass, her green eyes flashing dangerously.
"I won't allow anyone to interrupt this again. You want a piece of me? Wait your damned turn," Diablos hissed. Shadow growled and his gemstone flashed brightly, discharging a powerful psychic force towards the Riolu.
Diablos reacted immediately, pointing his paw in Shadow's direction, and a powerful wave of blue flame erupted from the ground in front of him, colliding with the opposing psychic energy until it was completely neutralized. Shadow stared at the Riolu with horrified disbelief. Even after all this time spent training and perfecting basic use of his psychic attacks, his power stood no chance against Diablos.
"Do you think you're the only one who's gotten stronger?" Diablos murmured, raising his arm and displaying the bracelet at the wrist. "You knocked this thing free when we last faced, don't you remember?" The Riolu's mouth curled into a grin, and his words sounded smug and gleeful. "With Force's aura boosted this much, I can predict everything you try to do!"
"I told you to get out of him!" Iris snapped.
"I can't!" Diablos retorted, and scowled at the Kirlia with such intensity that she blinked. The Riolu's expression softened slightly before continuing, the amusement vanishing from his tone. "If Shadow leaves my range, the fragment in Force is trapped there, just like last time. I need to reunite the halves to withdraw it entirely, and I refuse to risk Force's life by returning control to him when under attack. He can't handle this amount of power...but I can."
"But-" Iris began, but Diablos cut her off with a swift gesture.
"Trust me this time, Iris. I will ensure Force's survival here," he said softly.
"Why the hell would you trust him?" Shadow snarled, his black fur bristling with barely contained rage. "He killed my parents with your mate's body!"
"...what?"
The question had been spoken by Astrid, blank shock flashing across her face. Shadow winced. He had momentarily forgotten that Astrid had been present, or that the Absol had known his father.
"You're the one? You killed Echo?" Astrid demanded, narrowing her eyes at the possessed Riolu. Diablos glanced her way indifferently, and opened his mouth to deliver some sort of taunting retort, but something must have drawn his attention, because the Riolu blinked, an expression of concern flashing across his face.
"Iris, get us the hell out of here," Diablos said quietly. The Kirlia blinked in confusion. "This is escalating too fast. It's going to turn into a kill-or-be-killed situation, which neither of us wants. Get us out. Teleport. Now."
"The hell you will!" Astrid growled, and her eyes glowed with intense red light. Iris gasped, and actually seemed too scared to even think of fleeing. However, she closed her eyes in focus a second later, but nothing happened. Nervously, she re-opened her eyes, and bit her lip.
"Wh-what do we do?" she asked anxiously.
"Stay out of the way," Diablos answered crisply. His yellow eyes flicked between Shadow and Astrid, and he stepped away from the Kirlia, a cold smirk of amusement returning to his face. "A cornered rat will bite the cat, they say...how appropriate. Cornered by an Espeon and an Absol."
"That makes you a rat," Shadow retorted.
"Funny story, actually. You remember what happened the last time I was cornered by two Pokemon simultaneously?" Diablos wondered, flashing a meaningful grin in the Espeon's direction. Shadow set his jaw to keep from spitting a stream of curse words at the Riolu. He knew that Diablos was trying to get under his skin, but the sad part was that it was definitely working. "For another amusing parallel, they were a male and a female...and the male had a ridiculous type-disadvantage against the female."
Astrid's blade-like horn crackled with electricity, and a bolt of lightning fired from the blade towards Diablos. The Riolu sprang backwards nimbly, forming a sphere of energy within his paws and hurling it back at the Absol. She stood her ground and flicked her head, her blade cutting the sphere in half, the two pieces spiraling away on either side of her.
Shadow's gemstone glowed and he launched a condensed sphere of psychic energy at Diablos, only to have it countered by another aura sphere. He growled. Diablos hadn't been lying - his power was much stronger than it was last time, and even stronger than when Force had been fighting alongside him against the Sigilyph.
Astrid charged at Diablos, strafing left and right with incredible agility to dodge the Riolu's projectile counterattacks. Once she was close to him, she pounced, only for Diablos to drive a glowing fist into her torso, knocking the wind from her and interrupting the attack. He then spun and delivered a powerful kick directly to her face. The Absol yelped, blood dripping from her nose as she staggered backwards, her green eyes burning with aggression.
"So sloppy," Diablos said, clicking his tongue disapprovingly. "Such straightforward tactics are useless here. I can predict all your moves. You'll have to pick up your game if you want to fare better than Shadow's-"
The Espeon flung himself at Diablos, abandoning all sense of self-preservation in favor of inflicting the maximum amount of pain he could with his claws and teeth. The blood was pounding in his ears so hard he thought that he might pass out, but he didn't care. As he sank his teeth into the Riolu's arm, he received a sudden thrill of satisfaction, and the taste of blood in his mouth sent another jolt of delight through him. He tightened the grip of his bite, wondering for a moment whether this is what it was like to be a predator. He had hunted before, mostly as an Eevee, but had never received much enjoyment from the actual kill, even if the meat usually tasted fantastic, so he had never experienced such a wild, almost feral pleasure from blood itself.
Diablos hissed in pain, then maneuvered his assaulted arm sideways, dangling Shadow in front of him, and then drove his free paw into a very specific, particularly vulnerable section of Shadow's body. Unsurprisingly, the Espeon released his grip on the Riolu's arm, and collapsed to the ground, writhing in pain.
"Still struggling with your emotions, I see. You draw admirable power from them, but your actions remain too impulsive," Diablos murmured, gazing down at Shadow with cruel amusement. "Anger does not benefit the loved ones you've already lost, so fighting with rage in your heart for their sake is hollow."
"Shut up!" Shadow spat, but he was in far too much pain to even focus on a more productive form of retaliation. Astrid acted on his behalf by lunging at the Riolu, but Diablos caught her horn with his paw again, catching her by the throat with his other paw, and forcing her head sideways by turning her horn. His yellow eyes burned into hers, and she choked as his paw slowly throttled her.
"You're the same way," the Riolu whispered to the struggling Absol. "You attack me with anger, but the power of your darkness doesn't come from your emotions...quite the contrary, it seems...how interesting..."
"Stop it!" Iris shrieked, and Diablos flinched, looking up at the Kirlia, who was positively shaking with emotion, her tears leaking tears profusely as she looked upon the scene. "L-let her go! P-please!"
Diablos returned his eyes to the Absol, and opened his paw, releasing the grip on Astrid's throat. The Absol gasped loudly as she found herself once more able to breathe. The Riolu waited for a moment, then drove his glowing paw into the side of the Absol's skull, causing her to collapse to the grass lifelessly. Iris gasped, but Diablos knelt by the fallen Absol, inspecting the quadruped's neck for a pulse. Once satisfied, he straightened and nodded to the Kirlia.
"She'll live, but that should have disabled the Mean Look," the Riolu stated dismissively, turning his attention back to Shadow. The Espeon growled, but refused to make eye contact. The pain in his lower body was gradually subsiding, but he still felt physically ill.
Diablos pointed his paw at the downed Espeon, and black aura flames engulfed his paw, a similar energy forming around Shadow's body. Immediately, waves of discomfort swept through him. It was a horrible sensation, like having something wriggling around inside his chest and being drawn out through a tiny hole.
"Stop struggling," the Riolu ordered softly, his yellow eyes gleaming. "I'm simply taking back what I tried to give you so long ago...that's it..."
The aura Pokemon chuckled softly, and from the corner of Shadow's eyes, he could see a small green sphere emerging from his own body, much like the one he had seen down in the Ruins, and again just a few minutes ago coming out of the Sigilyph. This sphere also crackled with black tendrils of lightning, and Shadow gasped in pain as the sphere traveled over to Diablos and became absorbed into the Riolu's body.
The Riolu stood unmoving for several moments, and then the yellow eyes glowed more brightly than ever, and black aura surrounded his body, like an eerier version of the blue aura that he had been wielding earlier.
"There, there, that wasn't so bad now, was it, Shadow?" Diablos sneered, kneeling down to Shadow's level and lifting his chin with one finger, forcing the Espeon to meet his gaze. Anger gnawed at the pit in Shadow's stomach, yet his body seemed frozen by the Riolu's gaze, leaving him unable to do anything to resist, or even look away.
"Get away from me," the Espeon hissed through gritted teeth. Diablos smirked.
"Forgive me, but you're just such an object of fascination to me," the Riolu whispered, stroking Shadow's cheek condescendingly. "Drawing so much power from your emotions, yet oblivious to your own darkness. No one will interfere this time...look at me..."
"Piss off," Shadow snarled.
"Hohoho..." Diablos' laughter was a condescending chortle this time, and his yellow eyes gleamed. "Your mind resists...your emotions rise up to protect you...but emotions are fleeting...your defense will crumble without a hardened will. That is why psychics hone their focus...a moment's distraction will cost them...oh? Now you're trying to tone out my words...but without the source of provocation, your emotions will drift away like the ocean's tide."
Shadow gritted his teeth, his silver gemstone glowing intensely. It was taking all his focus to ignore the Riolu's words, and yet there was an element of truth within them. He could feel something probing at his mind, scratching at the metaphorical door that A/C had described to him. If he opened it to unleash a psychic assault, it would render him defenseless afterwards, yet if he didn't attack, then he could only hope his mental stronghold withstood the invasion.
A strange tingle in the back of his mind coincided with his tail twitching, and his eyes widened as he recognized the sensation. At that moment, Diablos yelped in surprise, jerking his paw away from Shadow's chin and breaking the eye contact. Very slowly, the Riolu turned his paw over and pulled out the small object embedded in his paw.
It was a small, green leaf with worn razor edges. Diablos studied it with a vaguely amused expression, then rose to his feet, turning towards the source of the attack.
"Get away from my brother," Leaf growled. It was clear, even from a glance, that the time spent within the forest had not been kind to the young Leafeon. His soft brown eyes were narrowed, but his leaves and sprout were drooping, betraying just how fatigued he really was, and as expected of whenever he was sunlight-deprived, he was looking incredibly grouchy.
"Picking a fight in such a state," Diablos chuckled, turning towards Shadow with amusement. "And I thought you were hopelessly impulsive."
Shadow growled, but he grimaced in pain when he tried to get to his feet again. Leaf's eyes flicked towards the Espeon before refocusing on the possessed aura Pokemon, who was regarding him with cold amusement.
"Fine...I'm game for this. Iris!" Diablos called out, drawing the Kirlia's confused attention. Slowly, the Riolu reached to his wrist and carefully unfastened the bracelet, then tossed it to her in one fluid motion. Iris caught it with a bewildered expression, uncertainty shining in her eyes. "Plasma seems to have lost his way. Aid him in returning home, then return here to pick me up. As for that, I need to isolate it from Force for a short time, and expend the excess energy still within him before withdrawing my soul."
The Riolu turned his attention back to Leaf, smirking, but when he spoke, he was still addressing the Kirlia behind him.
"Don't worry. I won't hurt them much. Just a friendly little spar, yes?" Diablos murmured, and his eyes glittered.
