Diablos could hardly have asked for a better development.
Experimentation had proven fruitful, and it appeared that learning how to control intangibility was much like learning to ride a bicycle, as the adage goes. A skill that one never truly forgot how to perform, even with the passing of time and a lack of recent practice.
Diablos had been cautious at first, determining how much focus and effort was required to turn his tangibility on and off at will, and how long it took for gravity to take hold of him once he was no longer beneath a solid surface.
That was around the time when he realized he could negate gravity's pull on him. Like any ghost, he retained the ability to hover in mid-air, and with some practice and effort, he could drag himself in any direction he pleased.
However, the Keystone base remained an obstacle. It could phase through objects much like the rest of him, and he had no issue with hovering, but he still felt hindered by its existence, as though it was a weighted anchor attached to him. It could be moved with him, but the strain of its weight prevented him from moving swiftly. It was a frustrating discovery, but not one that surprised him.
He wondered if perhaps even that hurdle could be overcome with time and practice. If one trained their body by carrying a weight through an obstacle course, at first, the weight would be a significant handicap, one preventing them from moving as quickly, jumping as high, and would continue to sap them of strength and energy with each passing moment they carried it. But the more that person trained with that weight, the more they would become accustomed to these drawbacks, and as their muscles and willpower strengthened, the weight would cease to be a burden. What had once been impossible would eventually become simple, and the individual would emerge much stronger from the ordeal.
Battle would likely remain an area he would want to abstain from for the time being. Mobility and intangibility were blessings beyond measure, but to engage opponents with his Spiritomb form would be unwieldy at best for the time being. He lacked the maneuverability and speed to fight many opponents, and he was not sure how durable his Keystone, or even his main core, would be under such circumstances. It was best not to take unnecessary risks with his main form.
Diablos phased through the attic floor, and continued downwards through the second story's floor as well, emerging on the ground level. The house was silent, all but abandoned except for the occasional life form crawling beneath rotten floorboards or in the darkest corners of dusty hallways.
He had no present desire to leave the Chateau itself. A change of scenery would be welcome, but to act so rashly at the first sign of regaining power would be immeasurably foolish. He may be able to become intangible, but it did not turn him invisible, and with his movements bogged down by the Keystone's weight, there was almost no chance of going around the forest unseen. The Chateau was more than just a building surrounded by superstition. It was a defense for him in his helpless state, and would remain a defense until it could no longer serve that purpose. Now that he had a reliable host to wander the forest, he could begin to extend his reach to the rest of the region, little by little.
The jagged grin faded, inverting itself to become a frown instead. This was the biggest problem with lacking his past memories. He had so little ambition to drive him, no concrete goal to be focusing his efforts towards. He had the mind of a schemer; he could deduce that much about himself, and his knowledge regarding inner darkness had somehow remained intact. Perhaps such thoughts and abilities were instinctual, and even amnesia or memory seals could not fully remove his brain's foundation.
However...the fact remained that his powers and memories had been sealed. The glowing pink runes carved into his Keystone were likely to be the cause - Kaito had said something about how such runic seals were placed upon Spiritomb to contain them. However, it seemed that the language they were written in was a lost language with no reference point. Even Plasma's research (before he lost interest in favor of watching a new television series) had uncovered nothing.
On the other hand...Diablos had broken the seal on some of his basic ghostly abilities simply by absorbing soul energy. It was impossible to replace the soul he had lost in the forest the other day, but the energy had replenished his power. If he continued to harvest souls in this manner, perhaps the day would come when he could break the remaining seals by force.
"No, that would be most unwise," Diablos murmured aloud. It was a tempting prospect, but the sheer number of sacrifices that would be required would make it an unsustainable model. Furthermore, his allies had noble ambitions and morals...they would never stand for him acting in such a ruthless manner for his own gain.
Besides...the souls he had been absorbing from the efforts of the forest conflict had been deficient in darkness. He needed to harvest, not souls specifically, but the darkness contained within those souls. The sacrifice of a life was not needed, but there had been no need to waste what was already available. It would be far more efficient to gain sustenance from fewer souls, each with significantly stronger darkness.
Patience was a virtue that he needed to continue practicing. So long as he was not completely helpless in the attic of the Chateau, there remained hope for him to restore his power and memories. So long as he had a few Pokemon on-hand to possess and seek out the sustenance he required, he could wait.
The Spiritomb settled down on a wooden table in the center of one of the large, first-floor rooms. Several pieces of furniture decorated the room, and as the malevolent spirit swept its yellow-eyed gaze around the room, it focused briefly upon one of the leather chairs, its upholstery stained with crimson.
"So this is the room where Force nearly perished," Diablos murmured, observing the stain with detached fascination. As a ghost, he never bled, although his hosts and opponents seemed to. The yellow, spiral-shaped pupils contracted, and his jagged mouth curved into a scowl. The last thing he wanted right now was to reflect on his failure again.
A pulsing light from the corner of his vision drew the Spiritomb's notice, and he turned to give the source his full attention. Laying on the floor beside the table was the bracelet Plasma had fashioned for Force's use. The marble-like stone embedded in the center of the bracelet was glowing with a faint, pulsing light, similarly to how it had reacted to Force's emotional state back in the forest.
Diablos narrowed his eyes at the flickering stone. Kaito had explained to the group that this particular stone was probably a Lucarionite, a Mega Stone meant to be wielded by Force's evolved form. Diablos' prior examination had already determined that the stone did not resonate with him, and Force was still in Johto. In the absence of other Pokemon, there was no reason for this stone to be glowing like it was now.
Just as this thought crossed his mind, the front door of the Chateau creaked open. Diablos froze in place, convinced for several moments that he was imagining the sound, but it was soon accompanied by a low droning sound, not unlike the noise Zee's wings made when he was hovering in place. However, Diablos knew from experience in a Beedrill's body that the hornet species lacked the means to physically open doors.
To the Spiritomb's further bewilderment, he heard a voice speaking softly, not quite a whisper, but soft enough that he could not make out any of the words. This was followed by more buzzing sounds, discrediting his assumption that a Beedrill was not the source of the droning sound.
"Plasma, quick question," Diablos spoke internally, calling through the soul fragment occupying the Rotom's body.
"What's up?" Plasma chirped promptly. Such an immediate response subtly indicated to the Spiritomb that Plasma was not currently engaged in one of his television shows.
"Is everyone in Kaito's group still in Johto? Do a head count."
"Okay! One...two, three...four..."
Diablos winced internally. Knowing Plasma as he did, the Rotom was going from room to room in the house Kaito was staying at, while loudly, and without context, counting the number of Pokemon present. He concluded this partially on the fact there was no pause between the numbers 'two' and 'three', indicating that two Pokemon had been in the same room, so those were probably Iris and Force. If Iris was present, then there was no way that anyone in the group had come back to Sinnoh yet.
"Just four!" Plasma finished brightly. Diablos paused for a moment, quickly trying to recall how many Pokemon he expected to still be at the Johto house. He was not factoring in Sorin or his Flareon companion, as he was already aware that they had left again since Kaito's big meeting.
"I see. I don't imagine you have occasional guests dropping by the Chateau, unannounced?" Diablos wondered.
"Nope! Wait, you mean someone's breaking in?"
"I hesitate to call it 'breaking in' when they use the unlocked front door," Diablos replied dryly. He could hear the sound of paws walking across the wooden floorboards of the front entrance, the steps sounding wary and uncertain. Considering the reputation of the Chateau, he wasn't ready to rule out the possibility of someone breaking in as part of a dare.
His jagged mouth curled into a small grin. Regardless of the visitor's purpose, they were almost certain to walk into this room. It was the first room one would see upon walking into the house, and if someone had entered the house for the sake of a dare, it was ideally positioned for the person to retreat for the door if they lost their nerve.
A wisp of blue flame burst into being just outside the door, casting an eerie blue light along the walls, and illuminating many of the shadows strewn about the room. Diablos squinted against the unexpected light, and saw the shape of a quadrupedal Pokemon make its way into the room, only for it to stop short upon noticing the swirling mass of purple and green flames that made up Diablos' core.
"Good evening," Diablos offered pleasantly. The flame wisp moved to the side a little bit and intensified in strength, casting enough light to illuminate most of the room with the bonus of no longer being directly in the line of the Spiritomb's vision.
The Pokemon standing before him was a majestic creature. Its sleek body was covered entirely in golden-white fur, and over a half dozen long tails fanned out behind its body, adding a bulkiness to its silhouette that contrasted with the rest of its physique. It had glittering red eyes, presently narrowed warily at the Spiritomb before it.
"One of the unexpected guests is a seven, eight, no, nine-tailed fox," Diablos internally reported to Plasma.
"Naruto broke into my house?!"
"Oh? Do you know them?" Diablos wondered blankly.
"Wait...never mind, it's probably just a Ninetales," Plasma said, in a tone suggesting that he had just found out Christmas had been cancelled. Diablos decided not to question the matter further in favor of focusing on the new arrival. The fox Pokemon had yet to say anything, and it stood rigidly in the doorway, fixing the Spiritomb with an unwavering glare.
"Come on in, don't be shy," Diablos said, grinning a little. The Ninetales didn't say anything, nor did its expression falter. "Don't worry, I won't bite," the Spiritomb chuckled.
The nine-tailed fox took a breath, as if working up his nerve, and then boldly stepped into the room, although it stuck to the outside perimeter of the room, keeping as much distance as possible between himself and Diablos.
A buzzing sound from behind the Ninetales drew Diablos' attention, and he spotted the now-familiar features of a Beedrill, although this one was definitely a bit older than Zee was, and judging by the pitch of its buzzing tone, it was a female. It entered the room soon after the Ninetales, but followed its lead by sticking to the outside perimeter on the other side of the room, its wings droning loudly.
"Diablos, I presume," the Ninetales stated, and Diablos immediately picked up on the coldness within its tone. There was a definite vibe of hostility already brewing below the surface, yet Diablos was making no effort to delve into the quadruped's heart and mind.
"Oh? You know me?" Diablos asked, unable to keep the surprise from his expression. "How interesting...and who might you be?"
"Do you not remember me?" the Ninetales asked, practically growling the words.
"A guessing game. How refreshingly childish," Diablos sneered, but his expression softened as he chuckled. "Very well, I'll play with you."
The Spiritomb's yellow eyes gleamed with interest as he studied the multi-tailed fox. There was so much information already available, courtesy of Plasma supplying the species name, and Zee's chat with Ariana earlier. He wouldn't even need to pry too deeply, but in any case, his objective was not just to identify the Pokemon, but to determine its significance.
"Let's start with the basics," Diablos murmured, his jagged mouth curving into a wicked grin. "I have no recollection of you, yet you can identify me. Therefore, you most likely know someone who knows me. You came into this room from the start, but my associates do not yet know I've relocated, so you are probably not in league with any of them."
The Ninetales said nothing. The wariness in his stance had lessened, but there was no doubt that his guard was still up. Even his eyes had relaxed, allowing Diablos to see them clearly for the first time. They had a mesmerizing, almost hypnotic quality about them, but at the same time, they were like a void, utterly absent of feeling, as if the Ninetales was numb to the world around him.
Diablos' grin widened. "Your initial demeanor was hostile, but again, I have no recollection of you. On a hunch, you are probably acquainted with someone I've wronged. The list of those who resent me while also knowing my name is delightfully compact. You know Shadow, don't you? No, don't answer, I can still do better. You are no child, so the hostility may be more personal. A friend of Echo or Rio's, yes?"
The Ninetales still was silent, his eyes now narrowing defiantly at the Spiritomb. Diablos observed the fox's manner with visible amusement, before finally beginning to laugh. It began as soft chuckling, but slowly rose into full-blown laughter, the sound cold and malicious.
"Our association goes beyond that, doesn't it?" Diablos pressed, his grin widening so much that it nearly stretched across his face. "If you were 'merely' acquainted with one I've wronged, you would not have come here and identified me so readily, nor asked if I remember you. Since I can't remember you, then our association goes back to a time I can't remember...the time before I was sealed. Your eyes are empty of feeling, and you are adamantly refusing to show outward emotion even as I dissect your layers. An impressive effort, but that is where your mistake lies."
Diablos chuckled again, and the Beedrill shivered subtly at the sound, but the Ninetales' expression remained neutral.
"If you know me, then you must know of my ability to read a person's heart. The emptiness of your eyes and impassive front reveal precisely what they exist to hide - that you are afraid of me," Diablos continued, his smile widening triumphantly. "To fear me so readily suggests that you are conscious of your inner darkness, and determined to resist its allure. You possess above-average control of your emotions, but they still strain to break free in my presence. Your poker face is impressive, yet your stance is too rigid and guarded, and undermines your effort to appear at ease."
Diablos laughed softly, and his eyes gleamed.
"Your companion is an even easier read. Her expression is baffled, and her demeanor awkward. Coming here was not her idea, and I daresay she has no personal incentive to confront me. That must have been your idea...but for what purpose might that have served? I wonder...Vengeance is the form your darkness takes, isn't it, Renard?"
The Ninetales inhaled sharply at the sound of his name, his red eyes widening in a momentary loss of composure. Diablos grinned wickedly, forcing the Renard to relax his stance, although he still clenched his teeth, all but growling.
"Wasn't this a far more entertaining result than if you had simply told me your name when I asked?" Diablos sneered. The souls orbiting his core increased speed, until they briefly resembled a solid ring of light instead of individual spheres.
"Enough games!" the Beedrill burst out suddenly, her wings roaring to match the forcefulness of her tone, and she jabbed one of her foreleg stingers accusingly at the Spiritomb. "Are you influencing our territory war?"
"How assertive of you to ask, Bee-Bee," Diablos murmured, turning his attention to the female hornet. Like Renard, the Beedrill twitched noticeably at being addressed by name. "Let me be frank with you, deary...I despise this territory war. It is an ugly conflict locked in an endless cycle. It will only end when one side has been eradicated. At present, the Hive has the overwhelming advantage in numbers, but the underdog forces of the Resistance have passion and hope driving them to fight on...and that is where I benefit."
"What do you mean?" Bee-Bee demanded, her wings buzzing aggressively.
"If the number of Hive soldiers was dramatically decreased, they would undergo a shift in mindset," Diablos continued softly. "Self-preservation is a powerful instinct...but so long as they have strength in numbers, Hive soldiers will believe their lives are but a drop in the bucket, and will engage their foes recklessly and die pointlessly. The Resistance values their cause, but do not have the numbers to sacrifice themselves so needlessly. Living to fight another day takes priority over pointless death. Some may still choose to die to ensure that the others survive. That is all their darkness can manage from them...but it is sufficient for the remainder, who will carry the dreams and wishes of the fallen to the next battle."
"Does this have a point to it?" Bee-Bee buzzed impatiently.
"Is it not already evident?" Diablos chuckled, his eyes glittering. "So long as the Resistance is willing to fight for their cause, their inner darkness will push them to survive and continue to fight. Every ally they lose makes it even less likely for the rest to give up, because they've sacrificed too much to just quit. Meanwhile, the Hive squanders the lives of its troops, and as the members of the Resistance grow stronger and more determined, the Hive soldiers have stagnant mindsets preventing them from evolving to properly combat their opponents. As of now, you are the only one that does."
"Me?" Bee-Bee repeated, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"Indeed," Diablos chuckled, his gaze lingering on the yellow stone attached to the hornet's center abdomen, between the Beedrill's head and lower body. Even now, the stone was pulsing gently, much like how the Lucarionite had been glowing shortly before the arrival of these two. "You fight for the preservation of those you care about. Your home, your family, and your friends. Every loss you suffer only inspires your fighting spirit to burn stronger. What you are ultimately willing to do in pursuit of this goal...hahaha...that's the real question, isn't it?"
"That's enough," Renard ordered sternly, stepping forward, as if coming between an ongoing argument.
"Spare me your feeble intimidation," Diablos sneered. "At least have the confidence to make eye contact if you're going to try such a thing. It's so easy...look at me."
Renard's eyes widened in alarm, even as he subconsciously obeyed the command. Red eyes met yellow, and the Spiritomb's grin widened triumphantly.
"Relax, this won't hurt you," Diablos murmured softly, his eyes glowing intensely. "I only require a little. Open your mind...let your defenses fall away like waves rolling on the sea...yes, like that...I merely wish to see what you know of my past. Show me your memories..."
Just as the last of the Ninetales' mental barriers crumbled before his gentle invasion, Renard's eyes abruptly glowed with an intense, ethereal blue light, startling Diablos into breaking eye contact. The moment the connection was severed, Renard recoiled, shaking his head as if to physically dislodge the Spiritomb from his mind. At the same time, his legs nearly collapsed out from under him, forcing Renard to awkwardly adjust his stance in order to keep his balance.
Bee-Bee darted over to the unsteady Ninetales, buzzing a flurry of inquiries and concerns for her companion's condition. Renard was breathing heavily, as if he had just finished a burst of strenuous activity, his eyes slightly unfocused. Diablos scowled, observing the multi-tailed fox through narrowed eyes.
"It seems that you possess several unnatural abilities. How intriguing," Diablos murmured, and his smile gradually returned. "But from the looks of things, even briefly using those abilities takes a toll on your body. As your energy wanes, your mind will likewise suffer, and your emotional control will slip. Either you will exhaust yourself repelling my mind, or you will succumb to the allure of your darkness in order to protect yourself. Even with my current power, confronting me directly is not an easy affair."
Renard growled quietly, all while struggling to stand upright. Seeing her companion in such a state, Bee-Bee buzzed aggressively, turning and readying her foreleg stingers, her red eyes focused intensely upon Diablos.
"Oh? Do you mean to declare yourself my opponent?" Diablos asked, unable to hide his amusement at the situation. "How whimsical. I had hoped to resolve this confrontation without violence, but so be it. I will dismantle you, but do not fret. I will ensure you don't suffer unnecessary pain..."
