The Starstorm duo still lacked ideas for how to convey their happenings to Arashi's parents, but on heading back through town on the way to the sheriff's office, their attempts at thinking something up didn't amount to much when they saw Nez, Kaminari, and Niles all peacefully conversing on the edge of town. Quite fast they were pausing and taking notice that one of the younger ones had changed forms again.
"Oi, Arashi! Is that you?!" Nez called happily.
Niles and Kaminari both blinked in surprise, while Astrid and Arashi both exchanged quick glances, the Dartrix's feathers fluffing out just a bit.
Nonetheless, Arashi was quick in brushing it off and responding, "Yeah, it's me! I evolved!"
The Frogadier went running up, and the others weren't all that far behind.
"I like this form, too! It's a lot cooler!" Arashi chirped.
Nez chuckled and knelt down a bit, giving him a high-five that Arashi happily returned. Kaminari started grinning, and Niles seemed rather happy.
"My, I had almost forgotten what a Frogadier looked like," the Inteleon remarked, crouching down and giving Arashi's head a pat. "It suits you nicely."
Kaminari chuckled. "Oh, I was happy to reach that stage, too. You'll get a lot more use out of this one than the last, that's for sure."
Arashi giggled, his grin stretching across his face. Trixie too had her shifty grin, and Charlie gave her a nudge to keep her from making any snide remarks.
However, Niles was instantly more intent on the rips and splotches on the bag Arashi carried, eyes narrowing at it. Astrid's feathers fluffed out some more.
"Oh, my," the Inteleon remarked, carefully feeling of the severed red-stained strap with concern entering his countenance. "What happened? Did a wild one give you trouble?"
"Well, they obviously came out fine," Nez cheerfully remarked. "The two of ya are quite the team!"
The Starstorm duo, however, shot each other some uncertain and awkward looks, Astrid trying yet again to bury herself in her feathers to no avail. Lila and Charlie both gave them some very pointed looks, and the older ones easily picked up that something was amiss while Veeko and Rina shrunk back a bit.
"H-he wasn't wild," Astrid said quickly.
"Hm? Who?" Niles inquired, gentle but prodding.
"Azure the Golisopod," Arashi haplessly answered. "You know that letter we got, someone asking specifically for us?"
The Inteleon's eyes narrowed even more, and Kaminari and Nez picked up fairly quickly too.
"Did ya get ambushed?!" Nez exclaimed, looking surprised.
"… Yeah," the Frogadier answered. "He's one of Salem's, too."
At that, three different sets of eyes were yet again shooting wide
"What?!" Kaminari shouted, her fingers twitching a bit. "One of Salem's laid a trap for you two?!"
"He sure did," was her son's reply. "Apparently he's buddies with Zariel and wanted revenge for her, too! It sucked!"
Three alarmed glances travelled around the older ones, Niles with calculating eyes and Kaminari looking stoically furious.
"Spill it, you two," Niles said, looking at both the Dartrix and Frogadier. "Don't leave out a single detail."
They did so, Arashi getting rather awkward on explaining how Azure had impaled him and Astrid getting very uncomfortable when describing what Azure had done and said afterwards. Nez's jaw dropped open in shock, Kaminari's fists clenched, and Niles' gaze turned icy.
"No wonder that oversized pest and burn-happy ruffian are friends," the Inteleon remarked with disdain.
"This is the second time that's happened," Kaminari noted, shaking her head. "And you two have lucked out on both occasions."
Astrid quickly looked at the ground, and Arashi laughed uncomfortably. It was true- the evolution spots had basically saved the both of them each time. It hadn't been strength or power keeping them going, that was for sure.
Niles gave the Dartrix a pat. "You didn't tell us, and you don't have to, but yes, we know your evolution was likewise unpleasant."
She wasn't expecting such, but wasn't all that surprised either, and nodded without making a sound. A few out-of-the-loop glances came from their friends and the little ones, but they kept silent.
"You two aren't going further than the lake until this settles down some more," Kaminari declared. "It's too dangerous. You easily could've gotten killed if anything had gone differently, and now Salem has probably painted even bigger targets on your backs."
Almost instantly, Arashi got a dismayed look and opened his mouth to protest, but Niles hushed him just as fast.
"Your mother is right," the Inteleon quickly said. "The risk isn't worth it."
Astrid wasn't protesting it at all, but her comrade started looking downcast in any case, letting out a sad whimper. Nez knelt down and gave him an understanding pat, but the Frogadier still wasn't very happy about it.
"Oi, lad, it's for the greater good," the Nidoking said gently. "Nobody wants to see ye and Astrid in the headlines as another set of victims."
Arashi sighed, still not wanting to accept it but doing so nonetheless.
"Hey, now we can all be useless posers together," Trixie jested softly.
Astrid looked up and gave her a little smile. Arashi did so too, albeit much more downcast.
Nonetheless, whatever the circumstances, Team Starstorm's operations were put on hold. Arashi blatantly didn't like it, and Astrid had to admit that she too was a bit sad to stop so abruptly, but she also had to admit that the older ones were right. As much as she wanted answers, throwing themselves at death's door was far from the most desirable way to go about getting them. For the time being, it wasn't worth it.
The sheriff's office was updating the wanted posters by the end of the day with the gathered details, and shortly both Azure and Zariel had their own posters beneath Salem. Kaminari also mended their bag to at least look presentable, which, if nothing else, was somewhat of a relief. Even if the Starstorm duo wouldn't be going on any missions any time soon, Arashi still liked to carry it about, which Astrid couldn't help but be slightly amused at.
The Frogadier giggled slightly when the two of them went strolling up the stone steps to town the next morning, for he still donned it.
"Is it really that fancy…?" the Dartrix playfully inquired.
"It sure is!" Arashi replied without missing a beat. "We might not be going anywhere, but we can still look legit!"
That much was fair, she figured.
It didn't take long for them to find Lila, Charlie, and Trixie, for they weren't far from the top of the steps. Trixie looked excited over something while Lila was nonchalantly nodding and Charlie shrugging at whatever the topic was. The Croagunk came darting over the second the Starstorm duo appeared on the last step.
"You guys! Someone answered me!" she cried happily.
"You don't know that yet," Charlie said to the contrary.
Trixie ignored him, and Lila only shook her head with a hapless smile.
"A-answered you…?" Astrid inquired in confusion, tilting her head to the side.
"The bottle!" Trixie answered. "Y'know, that one I sent off where I told them to hug a cactus, Charlie didn't wanna help me throw it, so I got Arashi to swim it out farther instead~?"
That sparked Astrid's recollection, and Arashi started grinning.
"Oh, yeah!" the Frogadier exclaimed. "Someone sent one back?"
"I haven't opened it yet, but it's there by the water!" was the answer. "We gotta go see it!"
"Lead the way!" Arashi concurred.
The Croagunk had no issue doing so, and shortly the five of them were following along behind her while she grinned and giggled mischievously to herself.
"I'm gonna laugh if it's your own bottle washing back up on the shore," Lila remarked, getting a shifty look from Trixie in return.
"Or if it's someone's drawing of a Croagunk getting pecked by angry Pidgeys," Charlie added.
Trixie ignored that remark, still grinning and giggling.
The water's edge outside of town was still nice with its calm waves and cool air, even if it was as far as they could go, and Astrid figured that maybe… maybe taking a break from expeditioning wasn't so bad. Things until then had been rather fast-paced for the most part, mostly one 'adventure' after another, and maybe if they wound down for a change, it'd be better for everyone… The risks of getting impaled again were certainly much lower too. As much as she wanted answers, and as glad as she was for the little bits she got out of Azure, she didn't want to have another run-in with one of Salem's cronies anytime soon if there were more of them akin to the two they'd already met.
… Or the Beast. It hadn't directly shown its face (or lack thereof) in quite some time, and for that, she was glad.
Nonetheless, lodged in the mud near the lake's perimeter was indeed a bottle, the message of which they could easily tell was different than the one Trixie had sent due to the piece of paper inside looking much fancier with colorful fringed edges far more frilly than anything their friend would touch. The Croagunk sprinted over and picked it up, tearing the cork out and retrieving the paper as fast as she possibly could while the rest caught up with her.
"What's it say?!" Arashi happily exclaimed.
Trixie grinned as her eyes scanned it and turned it around for the others to see. The writing was also a great deal prettier than their friend would bother with.
"To whomever told me to hug a cactus-
"I'm a Ghost-type, so I will gladly do as requested (and phase right through it). To you, I say, if I ever find out who you are, I'm going to lay a Curse on your entire family for the next eighteen generations, you brainless buffoon. Have a nice life while you still can."
Astrid and Charlie both seemed a bit uncertain about the veracity of the message but nonetheless weren't too fond of it, Lila wasn't fazed at all, Arashi grinned, and Trixie seemed as thrilled as thrilled could be.
"I like this Pokémon~" the Croagunk chirped, rolling it back up. "I wanna meet them~"
"You are terrible," Charlie remarked, rolling his eyes.
Even if she was terrible, Trixie took it as a compliment and batted her eyes while giving a happy gasp.
"They have your same sense of humor," Arashi noted, smiling.
"W-who says they're joking?" Astrid shyly mused. "M-maybe-"
"Pardon me, you five; can I ask where I am?"
Another voice cut her off, one that wasn't familiar but at least sounded amiable. All five of them perked up and turned around to see the source of it- a Delphox peering down at them with bright and inquisitive eyes, hands clasped together. Behind her were dissipating what appeared to be glowing cracks in the air, a rather odd sight in any case.
… Astrid was instantly on guard, her feathers fluffing out and eyes going wide. Salem was someplace in the Fennekin line, and moreso, something about this visitor didn't set well.
"Outskirts of Tranquil Town," Lila answered before anyone else, studying their visitor. "Are you lost?"
The Delphox chuckled, unfurling her hands and wiggling her fingers a bit. "Oh, no, it appears I'm in the right place if that's so. I just wanted to be certain."
Charlie, however, couldn't help but ask, "You're not Salem, are you? I know we're not supposed to assume things, but…"
"Oh, don't be ridiculous!" Trixie said to the contrary, not too bothered. "If this was Salem, we'd all be getting burnt to a crisp right about now! She's just asking for directions!"
"Well, it's gotta be hard being a Delphox or Braixen right now, but it's a valid question," Arashi mused.
The Delphox, however, laughed, looking amused and utterly unbothered at the inquiry. Her eyes fell on Astrid as she replied with a smirk, "Oh, you're absolutely right about me. I haven't set this place on fire because I don't want to torch Astrid yet."
Right as the words left, Lila, Charlie, and Trixie let out pained cries of distress and fell in a limp heap on the ground, their eyes closing and bodies not moving hardly at all. Astrid made a small squawk and Arashi let out a startled shout at the sudden happenings, immediately trying to rouse them back awake to no avail.
"You guys!" the Frogadier exclaimed, giving Charlie a shake, "What's wrong?!"
Astrid only fluffed up some more and stared in horror at their visitor, her eyes briefly darting between their fainted friends and back to the Delphox before them, who still stared straight at her.
Locking gazes with their visitor made something very apparent- there was something odd about this Delphox. Her coloration was standard fare for her species, not at all a Shiny variant, but even so, her eyes were entirely dyed an uncharacteristic purple. Not just the irises, but the whites as well carried a violet coloration as though she'd covered her entire eye with purple lenses… but no, they weren't lenses, that much was obvious too. They narrowed at the Dartrix.
"What did you do?!" Arashi hollered in dismay. "You can't be serious right now! You're Salem?!"
"Precisely," was the flippantly nonchalant answer. "Future Sight comes in handy for knocking out pests. Your friends aren't dead, but I make no guarantees they won't be.~"
Only a hesitant intonation left the Frogadier, who also started looking uncharacteristically frightened. Astrid barely dared to move a muscle, trying her hardest to sink into her feathers.
Their visitor laughed. "You gave Zariel hell, and then you trash Azure? And you make use of the evolution spots I'd told them to keep off-limits? I'll admit I underestimated you, but I think it's high time I have my turn now."
"What's this all about?!" Arashi unhappily demanded. "Why are you-!"
Salem reached behind her and retrieved her wooden wand from her tail, the tip immediately bursting into flame with an unnatural purple color at the middle of the fire. The smoke it gave off was purple too, and even without the fright of Salem, the Salem herself, standing before them, something about it felt disorienting. Evidently, Arashi noticed it too, for he paused and blinked a few times. The Dartrix backed away some more, but Salem only laughed again.
"You sure do love to ask questions, don't you, Arashi?" Salem mocked, still staring straight at Astrid. "And you do too, Astrid.~ At least, when you're not cowering behind your partner here that does all the interacting for you. So if you wanna know how I know your secret, and why it is that I'm so enamored with you, let me ask you something."
The Delphox edged closer and knelt down a bit, holding her burning wand almost directly in front of Astrid's face and wearing a snarling smile. The Dartrix tried to back away some more, but felt a hidden rock in the mud under one foot and flapped her wings to keep from tripping over. She wasn't taking her eyes off of this visitor for one second, even if she so badly wanted to glance for the town perimeter to see if somebody, anybody was aware of their predicament. Arashi was likewise tense, his gaze shooting between Salem and Astrid as if not sure which one he should've been most concerned about- his friend receiving threats, or the one leveling threats at them.
Salem chuckled maliciously, staring the Dartrix straight in the eyes. "… Do you think you're the only human here?"
Astrid whimpered and shook her head. "N-no, I kn-know there have been o-other incidents-" she stammered, voice hardly above a whisper.
"No, you moron," Salem cut her off, voice almost a growl. "I mean literally right here. In this area. In our little circle. The three of us still conscious."
The Dartrix blinked, unsure of the connotations, and Arashi likewise went blank.
"What're you saying…?" the Frogadier uncertainly inquired.
"That I understand this little brat better than anyone," Salem amusedly snarled, eyes still boring into a very uncomfortable Astrid. "We're in the same strange situation, Astrid. I'm a human too."
Astrid's eyes couldn't possibly have gone any wider, and Arashi was much the same.
"W-wh… w-what…?" Astrid stammered out, voice barely audible.
Arashi's mouth hung open. "You're kidding!"
"I'm not," Salem brushed him off. "I used to be an amnesiac little Fennekin too, being told to save the world. What a joke.~ There's nothing to save."
The only sounds escaping Astrid were little gasping sounds. Words had completely failed her; she couldn't find any to utter no matter how hard she may have tried to think of them. Salem's smirking countenance looked somewhat distorted by the swirls of heat bending the air around her wand, and her narrowed eyes were nothing short of sinister, making Astrid all the more uncomfortable with them locked on her. They practically glinted with mirth.
"And then I find out, in the middle of trying to destroy that pathetic gleaming dragon that tried to guide me, that someone else was sent because I failed my purpose?!" Salem laughed, her voice dripping with sardonicism. "Get real! The only failures I see are the gods standing in my way, and this little ball of fluff they summoned! You'd think I'd taught them a lesson, but clearly, they need a better reminder of who this entire damned universe really belongs to, and it's not them! It's us!"
Salem's grip on her wand tightened and she jabbed the burning flame into Astrid's chest, eliciting a squawk of pain. It burned straight through her feathers and singed her skin, making the Dartrix bat it away with one wing while frantically scurrying backwards to avoid another blow if one was coming. It hadn't been an attempt to seriously hurt her, that was for sure, since the damage was minimal but discomforting nonetheless. Unless all the headlines were fake somehow or another, Salem had far more power than that…
"Hey!" Arashi cried, darting to his comrade's side and looking exasperatedly at Salem, "Who is 'us?!' What's your deal?!"
Salem chuckled, taking her wand back. "That would be me, a certain Beast I'm very close to, and the rest of my comrades. Ultra Space is practically ours already; we're not stopping now. And once we get this one… Let's just say, I'm gonna introduce you to someone that can do a far better job at nixing your inhibitions than I can once she latches onto you for a few seconds. You're too shy and cautious to be useful now, but I know from Zariel and Azure that you're capable of doing some serious damage. We'll have our fun, don't you worry."
Astrid didn't like any of that, not one bit. She whimpered again, her own eyes narrowing. "I-I'm not j-joining you," she asserted as best she could.
The Delphox shook her head, flicking her wrist holding the wand just a bit. "That's adorable. I'm not asking you, sunshine- I'm giving you a heads-up. You think I gave any of my temporary subjects a choice? I know you've met a Rhyperior and a Clefable- ordinarily very nice Pokémon, but they didn't even know I was there before they wanted to wreck everyone in sight."
The both of them that Salem addressed were taken aback again, Astrid blinking in utter silence.
"So it is you behind the crazy incidents!" Arashi exclaimed pointedly.
"Of course it is," Salem brushed it off, smirking without a care. "And the both of you are about to be the same!"
Salem stood up while cackling madly, the flame on her wand blazing much bigger than seconds prior and practically engulfing her hand. That didn't bode well, not in the slightest…
Yet, fast as lightning, a certain Greninja rushed up behind the Delphox with what looked like a blade formed of pure darkness in one hand, going straight for Salem's throat. Salem, however, whirled around and held up her wand, stopping Kaminari's Night Slash dead.
"Mom!" Arashi cried, looking relieved and a hint of grin creeping back into his countenance.
"Oh, Arceus above…" Astrid croaked, not thrilled at all.
Kaminari wasn't fazed; a Water Shuriken formed in her other hand which she also tried to slice Salem's neck with. It was close, but only severed a few strands of fur before the Delphox jumped back, a little trail of purple smoke following. A flurry of the same stars of sharp water followed as the Night Slash in turn dissipated, but Salem Protected herself in all directions with a purple shield of energy.
"Careful, now," the Delphox laughed, "I'm not someone you want to get close to!"
"You're a fool," Kaminari brushed her off, fixing her tongue-scarf a bit so as to avoid breathing in the remnants of purple smoke.
BAM!
The second Salem's Protect faded, a concentrated blast of water shot out from someplace farther off towards the cliffs, ramming straight into the side of her head and exploding.
"Hng-!" the Delphox cried, caught off guard.
Kaminari didn't waste time, a Water Shuriken forming in both of her hands which she threw at Salem, then another, then another, with blinding speed. Salem didn't bother dodging them, for there were far too many to dodge, but instead loosed a Shadow Ball at the Greninja which Kaminari darted out of the way of.
"You two, get out of here," Kaminari said quickly, glancing at the younger ones. "Get as far away from her as possible. We'll come for you later."
Salem giggled, regaining her composure and shaking some moisture from her fur. "Oh, that's cute.~"
Crrrrrack! Rumble!
The ground started shaking slightly, and looking up revealed the reason why- Nez slamming into the ground to cause an Earthquake. The fissures jutted straight for Salem, who still smirked but growled a bit. At the same time, a certain Staraptor dove down from up above, but another energy barrier stopped both Nez's Earthquake and Ace's Brave Bird before they could do any damage.
"What kind of 'Mon are ye?!" Nez hollered, far more angry-sounding than either of the youngsters could ever suspect. "Attackin' these two little ones! You oughtta be ashamed!"
"This is something I never thought I'd see," Ace noted, retreating further back.
The Starstorm duo, however, heard the fluttering of more wings behind them and whirled around, but were relieved to find the source was a certain Vespiquen with a Swoobat beside her.
"Do as your mother says," Reina said calmly but firmly, taking up the fainted Lila and Charlie in her arms. "It is not safe for you here."
"I just started delivering letters for y'all's team, and I don't wanna stop because Salem did y'all in," Lucy added, the prongs of her tail gripping Trixie carefully.
Reina and Lucy both turned and left the scene with their fainted friends, while Astrid and Arashi gave each other frightened looks. Without saying a word, they glanced at the others apparently engaging Salem, then back at each other, and nodded. Astrid swooped up her partner and flapped her wings as fast as she could, heading eastwards along the water and towards where Craggy Crossroads apparently was. She didn't look back; it would only be a distraction to slow her down. Arashi, however, couldn't help but do so.
"Oh, go on, go on!" Salem hollered wildly, eyes full of utter madness, "YOU CAN'T ESCAPE ME!"
With a sadistic snarl, she cast a Flamethrower from her wand, a bright blaze of red and purple. With a frightened cry, Arashi spit a Water Pulse in hopes of subduing it a bit, but a Snipe Shot from someplace off in the cliffs did far better at fizzling it out than he could. Astrid winced, feeling its heat even as she outpaced it and it dissipated.
"Arashi, is this real?! I'm not just imaging things, am I?!" the Dartrix cried haplessly.
"I wish!" Arashi exclaimed, glancing up at her.
A mad laugh from the Delphox rang out, along with the sound of another fiery blaze flaring into existence and another concentrated burst of water following. Neither one of them looked back to see what the happenings were.
"Go for the trees!" Arashi said, scanning over them. "If we land inside the tree cover, we can get lost in the dungeons! I don't know exactly where they are, but it's a much better chance at losing Salem!"
"I'm on it!" Astrid affirmed, still wide-eyed. "I think your mom and dad have this covered way better than we can do!"
Arashi started smiling again, albeit still with uncertainty. "Well, at least Salem was brazen enough to attack us out in the open and close to town!"
That much was true, Astrid couldn't deny.
The Delphox in question, however, looked as happy as could be, only giving the Starstorm duo a quick glance over her shoulder before Protecting herself from an Aerial Ace and Water Shuriken again. "Go on, amuse me.~ I don't have the advantage, but I'm not worried. I'll scorch the lot of you, burn that damned forest down, and find those two runts when they start screaming! Nothing I haven't done before, ahaha!"
The ones facing her didn't doubt for a second that she meant every word she said, for she laid down a fiery blaze on the ground around her that easily scorched the damp ground underfoot. Purple smoke wafted in the air around her.
Ace let out a sigh, steadying himself for a moment after his attack getting blocked. "What's with that smoke?! I can't see straight when I get near her!"
"Don't breathe it in," Kaminari called back, another Night Slash forming in her hand, "I don't know how she's doing that, but it's a problem."
"Is she tryin' to make us crazy, too?!" Nez proposed, setting off another Earthquake.
Salem only giggled, as flippant as could be. The cracks in the ground shot straight towards her, and Kaminari rushed her with another Night Slash, but the Delphox deftly danced out of the way of Nez's attack and threw off Kaminari's with another Flamethrower. The Greninja's blade of blackness quickly faded and was replaced with a larger Water Shuriken to shield herself with as best she could, while Salem had to Protect herself from another Snipe Shot. A cloud of steam erupted, and Kaminari jumped back to avoid the rest.
"I wasn't trying, but if it happens, it happens!" Salem shouted, smirking as wide as she could. "I can't wait to see the look on those runts' faces when I get ahold of them!"
"You are sick!" Ace hollered.
Salem didn't care at all, for she only laughed while readying another purple-tinted inferno at whoever struck her fancy to attack next. If she'd taken damage, it wasn't showing.
Astrid, however, quickly descended back to the ground outside the trees, the quarreling figures looking comparatively tiny in the distance. Salem's blazes were easily spotted, and even from afar, the air around her was dyed a slight purple tint.
The two of them rushed in, giving one quick glance backwards.
"She's out of her mind," Astrid remarked, still not quite believing it, "She got sent here before me and turned into that?! Urgh, this is such a mess…!"
"As far as humans go, I'm pretty sure I know which one I like better," Arashi said, shaking his head and quickly brushing aside a stray branch from a bush.
"What the hell did she get sent here for?!" Astrid cried in frustration, skittering along as fast as her legs would go. "There had to be some reason! I'm sure the gods or whoever wouldn't just set someone like her loose for no reason!"
However, the two of them were quickly coming to a dead halt.
Crackle!
A lantern-like glow from a spiked ball illuminated their otherwise dimmed surroundings, the vaguely humanoid shape attached to it made of black wires tied together in strategic places slinking into view. Sparks shot up and down its form, easily filling the air with jolts of its electrical energy.
It had been awhile, but Astrid recognized the Beast easily. Her heart sank in her chest, and her beak dropped open with no words. Some very choice, colorful words ran through her head, however, but even if she wanted to vocalize them, none came out.
Arashi instantly put together her description with the creature standing in front of them, and the bolts running along its body made him stop dead too.
"Is… that…?" the Frogadier breathed uncertainly.
"Whatever questions you have, I can answer them," came the oddly metallic voice. "But, for the time being, you'll have to forgive me."
They didn't have to time to make sense of what that might mean, for the next second, the creature before them was holding what looked like a nest of lightning bolts in its hands. It Discharged them straight at the Starstorm duo, and there was no avoiding them.
Still utterly silent, Astrid and Arashi looked at each other and quickly clutched each other's forms as if, somehow, that might mitigate the attack. There was hardly time to even be pained by the shower of sparks before their vision was going black and senses failing.
