"Don't hurt them too bad; just do what you gotta do," Astrid said, her eyes scrutinizing all three of their foes. "They aren't crazy, so we don't have to knock them out… unless it comes to that."

"Pfffft! I'll knock you out!" Kaede shrieked, stomping her feet.

In seconds, the Chikorita was swishing her leaf back and forth with a positively furious expression, several razor-sharp leaves glowing into existence and flying off through Clyde's wall of Light Screens at them with each motion. Astrid flapped her wings and swooped up her partner into the air along with her while Raijin dashed aside, the Razor Leaf barrage slicing into the dungeon wall behind them.

"Kaede, get that Dartrix on the ground, and Clyde, keep her there!" Jaws shouted, casting a dirty look at Astrid.

"Hah! Good luck!" Arashi called back, getting a smirk and aiming an Ice Beam down at the antsy Chikorita.

Nonetheless, the underlings of Team Wily did as Jaws said, turning their attention up at Astrid and Arashi. Arashi's attack would've sailed straight into Kaede, but yet another Light Screen from the Meowstic next to her blocked it out. The Chikorita giggled with a dastardly look on her face, holding perfectly still while Clyde was covered in a white glowing aura.

"Raijin, can you bust through those Light Screens?" Astrid called down to her other comrade.

"Probably!" was the answer.

Both Jaws and Clyde didn't seem too concerned, even when the Xurkitree was promptly covered in a crackling nest of lightning bolts.

"'Bust through' my shields?" Clyde snickered, looking skeptical at the idea. "Oh, come on, you've gotta be- what the hell!"

Crrrack!

Raijin did exactly that, however. The Discharge he launched might not have made contact with Team Wily with the shields in the way, but very quickly, the Light Screens were shattering and dissipating back to nothing. Clyde was certainly taken aback, as was Jaws, but the latter still didn't seem particularly unsettled. Arashi spit a Water Pulse down at them, which both the Mawile and Meowstic jumped out of the way of, but an Ominous Wind from Astrid couldn't be avoided by all three of them. Even so, while Clyde let out a distressed cry at the move, his white glow transferred to Jaws and gave him a Helping Hand.

The Chikorita, however, while disgruntled, still wasn't moving, but rather seemed to be taking in quite a few bits of sunny yellowish energy from her surroundings. "Daaaaamn!" Kaede cried, still standing perfectly still but her eyes giving the Meowstic a side glance. "We haven't ever seen your defenses fade that fast!"

"Luckily I can make more pretty easily," Clyde brushed it off, albeit looking slightly annoyed.

Shielded or not, Jaws made a rush at Raijin and leaped up, smashing the Xurkitree with an Iron Head (while also being careful not to lose an eye on Raijin's spikes).

"Ah-!" Raijin cried, flinching at the force and twitching a bit in surprise. "Sheesh, that hurt…!"

Still, a sudden flurry of sparks coursing along the Xurkitree's wired appendages made the Mawile jump back, but Astrid likewise was bracing herself on seeing Kaede charge up a Solar Beam aimed straight at her and her partner. Immediately, Arashi's grin turn frightened and Astrid's feet turned loose of him to get him out of the way.

She may have doubly resisted the move, but Astrid certainly felt it, at least- the intense barrage of sunlight was overwhelming to her senses even from the tiny Leaf Pokémon firing it off. It didn't hurt, but the blindingly bright energy obscured a Psybeam from the Meowstic that sent her clattering to the ground seconds after, try as she might to regain her composure and stay up with frantic flaps.

"Well, at least it isn't too sunny in here!" the Frogadier remarked reluctantly, crouching down.

"Nghhh…!" the Dartrix grunted, scurrying back to her feet as quick as she could.

However, whether she wanted to move or not, she shortly found that impossible, for Clyde stared her down with a Mean Look that kept her in place. A purplish glow on the ground below her wouldn't turn loose, no matter how hard she tried to yank her feet up or flap her wings. A heavy, unamused sigh escaped her beak, while Arashi shot a Water Pulse at Jaws. Another Light Screen went up that nullified it, which Raijin turned his attention to next.

"Oh, don't worry! I'll beat the hell out of you, too!" the Mawile hollered, giving the Frogadier a flat look.

An Energy Ball from Raijin probably would've struck Jaws too had the Mawile not darted out from behind Clyde's quickly shattering shield, but nonetheless, the Light Screen vanished. Astrid, still unamused, opted for an Ominous Wind to hit all of Team Wily if she couldn't move, but her only successful target was Jaws on account of Clyde blocking himself and Kaede out of its reach. A few snickers came from Kaede as her leaf happily waved about, while Clyde turned a Mean Look on the Xurkitree next.

"Oh, come on!" Raijin protested, likewise getting locked in place while aiming another Signal Beam.

A Sucker Punch from Jaws moved fairly fast, but Arashi's Quick Attack, while not very effective, was likewise fast. A pained groan came from the Frogadier as Jaws' fist pounded into his chest, but the Mawile likewise drew back a bit on getting slammed by Arashi. Still, with a target close by, Jaws whirled around and bared his fangs, Arashi getting wide-eyed and quickly leaping backwards to avoid being Crunched.

"Whoa there, buddy!" came a cry of protestation from the Frogadier. However, a quick glance to both of his comrades made another shout follow. "Wait, am I the only one that can still move?! Sheesh!"

"Aim for that Meowstic! He's a pain!" Astrid declared, looking pointedly at Clyde.

Kaede giggled at their frustration, swishing her leaf and sending a Razor Leaf barrage through their shields that two of her targets couldn't avoid. Astrid let out a small growl as the Light Screens went shattering again under Raijin's Signal Beam, then promptly whipped up another Ominous Wind to strike all of the opposing team. The Chikorita shrieked a bit and nuzzled closer to Clyde, trying in vain to shield him from the damage with her leaf as a pained look spread across the Meowstic's face. A few less-than-enthused sounds escaped Clyde, but still, a white glow covered him again before transferring to Jaws, who seemed annoyed but not particularly concerned.

"Well, you lot are a pain, too!" Kaede protested, then looking pointedly at Raijin, "Especially you!"

"The only response I think appropriate to that is 'sorry, not sorry!'" the Xurkitree shot back, an Energy Ball forming between his hands.

Perhaps a Mean Look would've locked Arashi in place next, but a Water Pulse to the Meowstic's face stopped whatever was coming. Clyde whimpered, stumbling a bit but getting steadied by Kaede's leaf while the Chikorita apparently went to charging another Solar Beam. Astrid shook some leaves loose and sent a Razor Leaf at the Mawile, but at the same time, she quickly got a frightened countenance as Jaws rushed her next and slammed her with a Helping Hand-boosted Iron Head that she was completely incapable of avoiding. One of her wings was coated in a metallic glow and she tried to hold up a Steel Wing to lessen the blow, but still, Jaws' attack elicited a distressed squawk. She tried to hit him with her wing, but it wasn't particularly successful as he jumped back out of her reach with her feet still stuck to the ground. Clyde tried to put up another Light Screen to block a Water Pulse from Arashi, but at almost the same time, an Energy Ball smashed it to bits and shortly the Meowstic was limp on the ground while the two Starstorm members locked in place found themselves free to move.

"Yes!" Arashi cheered, grinning.

Another shriek escaped Kaede on seeing her comrade downed, the Chikorita frantically jumping up and down before her gaze darted between the opposing team for a Solar Beam target.

Jaws growled. "Don't you celebrate! You aren't going anywhere!"

With a Helping Hand or not, Jaws wasn't backing down, and instead turned his attention on the Dartrix before Sucker Punching her.

"Ngh…!" Astrid grunted, definitely not fond of his steely fist slamming into her and definitely feeling its effects.

Kaede turned her attack on Raijin and let the solar energy fly, but Raijin evidently didn't mind too much, for instead he shot back with a Signal Beam that rather easily overpowered it. Yet again, Kaede was shrieking and darting out of the way, dismay crossing her face.

"WHAT?!" the little Leaf Pokémon cried in protestation, her leaf frenetically waggling back and forth. "That's my strongest attack! Not fair, not fair, not fair!"

She wasn't charging another one, but her flicking leaf was setting off a barrage of razor-sharp leaves again that flew at them. Astrid struck out with an Ominous Wind, Jaws getting a bothered expression while Kaede yelled in protest and hunkered down as if such would protect her.

"Hey, you guys started it, so you can't complain!" Arashi declared to the contrary.

Astrid couldn't help but think that 'unfair' would be her and Arashi hiding behind Raijin and her telling their new comrade to Discharge Team Wily as hard as he could. Surely, that would qualify as unfair, but no, she was sure that she and her comrades were all in agreement that such would be ridiculous overkill.

An Ice Beam at the Chikorita sent her darting across the room, still screeching in frustration while sending a leaf barrage from the one on her head. "Ugh! Everything was rainbows and posies several minutes ago, then these schmucks show up!"

"Don't worry yet, Kaede!" Jaws called to her, shooting a quick glance her way.

The Mawile's eyes fell on Astrid again while Arashi avoided Kaede's Razor Leaf and Raijin tried to hit her with a few Energy Balls, the Chikorita shouting in protest all the while. The Dartrix's wing hardened and soon, she was flapping up to dodge Jaws' Iron Head and slamming her own Steel Wing into him.

"Gyah-!" the Mawile cried, stumbling.

*No, no, NO!*

There was the ethereal voice again, rather close and sounding upset. The Starstorm trio perked up, as did the conscious ones of Team Wily, the latter getting some very confused expressions and pausing with blank looks on their faces.

*This was NOT supposed to happen!*

At that, what looked like several purple wisps left the members of Team Wily, Kaede hunkering down again with a shriek and Jaws blinking. Astrid's eyes followed the wisps, her comrades likewise following suit, and an array of more of the wisps emanated down from their surroundings. They seemed to whisper, if a mere purplish fog could whisper, but quickly, the reason became obvious when the ethereal tendrils consolidated around a rock that seemed to leap up from the ground. It was cracked down the middle with two dots on either side, resembling something of a face… a very odd face, befitting of an Odd Keystone. The wisps swirled in a circle around it, two green eyes opened, and a green mouth curled down in a frown.

"What… is that?" Raijin inquired, studying it with sparks preemptively held in his hands.

"We are Spiritomb!" the ghostly conglomeration declared, its voice more like a chorus of voices that just happened to utter the same thing. "And you three… you three are terrible!"

Astrid's eyes narrowed, the Dartrix flicking one of her leaves out of her face. "H-hey, I'm the one that says things are t-terrible," she said flatly, uncertainly eyeing their new company. "And I-I'm not too happy to see you."

Spiritomb growled, practically staring holes through her if looks could kill. "Oh, we were happy to see you lot, but not anymore!"

"Alright, what's going on here?!" Arashi exclaimed, crossing his arms and still smiling, albeit rather pointedly. "Did you possess Team Wily and bother everyone else?!"

Team Wily's standing members seemed to snap back to their senses on hearing their name and turned their attention on the ethereal one, Kaede whimpering and Jaws frowning.

"We did, yes!" Spiritomb declared, glaring at the Frogadier next. "It's been 500 long years of imprisonment! We finally managed to wriggle out, and of course, we wanted some friends! A lot of Pokémon came wandering close, but these three here, Team Wily, were lovely company after we lured them down and took control of them, but then you lot show up and start beating them up!" The ghostly mess jumped up and down with its keystone, still seething, but its mouth curled up into a smirk thereafter. "Oh, we'll have you know we weren't imprisoned for no reason, and after we defeat you too, all six of you can stay with us forever! We'll have a lovely time! Yulaaaaah!"

The mess of spirits appeared to be preparing another attack, but rather than preparing to engage it herself, Astrid still scrutinized it with an unamused face. "Y-your only weakness is Fairy, and you're quite a problematic collective if what you said is true…" she flatly noted, then looking at her Xurkitree comrade, "You wanna do the honors?"

"Fine by me," Raijin affirmed, the sparks fading.

An Ominous Wind from Spiritomb would've struck them all, but when Raijin took on a bright rainbow glow, the glowing green smirk quickly turned into a frown. All four of the other conscious expeditioners were shielding their eyes from the brightness, the ghost looking dismayed.

"Hey, now, let's not be hasty- eeeEEEEEeeeeh!" the conglomeration protested in vain.

A blindingly bright pulse of rainbow energy collided with Spiritomb, and rather quickly, its apparitional body was dissipating back into the rock it came from… at least, most of it.

One tiny wisp lingered outside for a bit. "Hey! You guys! There's 108 of us, don't you think-!"

Jaws growled, and if looks could kill, much less kill a ghost, his glare probably would have.

"Yulaaah! Fine! You win!"

The lingering wisp vanished too.

Astrid stalked up to the keystone, picking it up with one foot and studying it for a second before ramming it straight down into the ground and clumping another mound of dirt over it. "Stay there," she said, looking peeved and packing the dirt tight. "We don't need another malicious collective running around."

Her comrades knew exactly what she was referring to, but Jaws and Kaede didn't think much of it either way.

The Mawile let out a sigh of relief, easing up. "That was nuts," he remarked, glancing about the other occupants of the room. "Kaede? You feeling alright?"

"M-hm," the Chikorita replied with a nod, though she got a flustered look moments later and went bounding over to their team lead. "I told you we should've used the Escape Orb!" she shouted, knocking Jaws with her leaf. "I told you! I told you! I told you!"

Jaws got a haplessly dismayed look himself and tried to fend off Kaede as she kept swatting at him with her leaf, a chorus of "I told you!" repeating all the while. Astrid's feathers fluffed out, the Dartrix completely unsure of what to make of their antics, and Raijin wasn't making a sound either. Arashi, however, got an awkward grin and darted over, haplessly trying to stop the Chikorita's tiny onslaught. Nonetheless, the Frogadier grabbing her seemed to calm Kaede down, even if she looked as though she debated going after Arashi next for a few seconds. Nonetheless, Kaede was darting over to Clyde next and poking at him with her leaf, though the Meowstic wasn't responding.

Jaws gave the Starstorm trio a tired but thoughtful look. "Thanks for that," he said amiably. "We owe you, big time. I wasn't counting on having to battle a collective of 108 spirits when we came down here."

"Hah! All that matters is that you guys are alright!" Arashi laughed, giving the Mawile a pat on the back. He cast a glance at Clyde though, then somewhat uncertainly added, "Er, relatively speaking, anyway!"

Jaws chuckled, not seeming too bothered. "Oh, he'll come around," he brushed it off. "Astrid, Arashi, and Raijin, was it?"

"Yup! That's us!" Arashi happily answered.

The other two merely nodded, Astrid still fluffed up.

"I'll remember that," the Mawile laughed before striding over to his fainted comrade and (very carefully) swooping him up in his gaping maw. "Are you guys from the Crossroads? That's where we're based; we're heading back now that this is resolved."

"We are, yeah! We're new in town; nice to know someone else in the area!" Arashi cheerfully replied, getting an excited look. He glanced back at Astrid and Raijin and exclaimed, "Isn't this great, you guys?! We got friends!"

Astrid fluffed out some more, yet again thinking that perhaps her partner was a bit too eager to call anyone that they had a conversation with a 'friend,' especially after just coming out of trying to fight them. Nonetheless, both she and Raijin gave some quick, albeit wordless, nods. Jaws fetched Team Wily's bag from the corner and pulled out some sparkling gold coins, which at first Astrid and Arashi tried to forego taking on account of the rescue effectively being a by-product of what they'd come to do in the first place (and the fact that no official rescue request had been made with a reward listed), but Jaws insisted regardless, claiming that being saved from possession by a mischievous, scheming spirit collective deserved some kind of acknowledgement.

Shortly they were exiting the dungeon and stepping out into the bright sunlight, their surroundings seeming fairly craggy and withered, much like a place a wild Houndoom would roam or a Mandibuzz would nest. The ground was a mix of sandy and grassy, reddish rocks and cliffs making up most of the scenery with a few yellow sandstone streaks among them. Far off in the distance to their west, things turned more lush, but further off to the east, the landscape turned even more barren. Still, what looked like a beaten path met them, which the Starstorm trio assumed must have been the way to make their return. Team Wily definitely seemed to know, for Jaws and Kaede immediately started down it, and the other three followed along.

Astrid quickly found out that Team Wily apparently had their own bubbly extrovert, for Kaede didn't shut up for almost the entire trip back, asking them any question she could think of. Of course Arashi didn't mind and welcomed it, but Astrid stayed fluffed up for quite some time and Raijin went tapping his fingers together contemplatively. Within minutes, Arashi was explaining that he and Astrid- or rather, mostly only him alone- were from Tranquil Town and had just joined the Coalition (much to the amazement of Kaede and Jaws), Astrid was telling them that she was amnesiac (but not the causes thereof), and Raijin was explaining that no, he was not just a very odd Rotom form or wildly eccentric Ditto but rather an extradimensional organism (minus the details of why, exactly, he was on their world). Clyde's vibrancy returned around halfway between the dungeon's end and the edge of town, and Kaede was rattling off all the details to him next. Jaws shot Astrid a knowing smirk, his eyes falling on the exuberantly conversing ones for a second before going back to the Dartrix, and they didn't need to exchange words to know they were both stupefied by their comrades' abilities to talk for days with complete strangers.

Nonetheless, once they returned, town was bustling again as it had been yesterday, and the teams said their cheerful goodbyes before parting ways. Dren was up on the ceiling keeping watch as he had been previously and was sure to greet them on their return, while Adnea was hard at work in her room with several pens gliding across the pages of her books and yet another floating open in the air before her. The researcher made a quick note of Spiritomb's shenanigans in one page, but didn't seem fazed in the slightest.

Rush gave them all a high-five when he, Rozen, and Lazuli returned, eager to hear about the turn of events, while Cinder shot them a death glare and strode away without a care. Still, their first mission was a success, and being able to relax afterwards was a welcome thing.


… At least, until after dinner when Arashi went bounding out again, Astrid and Raijin haplessly following along to see what he was so eager to go do.

"We gotta go see Delphi! I wanna see what she does!" the Frogadier cried, darting through the streets almost too fast for his comrades to keep up.

"H-hey, it's not like she's gonna disappear…!" Raijin said haplessly, skipping after the Frogadier as fast as he could go. "What's with the hurry?"

"Because!" Arashi brushed it off, grinning all the while. "Maybe she will disappear! Or maybe she'll close up for the night!"

The latter sounded reasonable, Astrid thought, but she had some serious doubts that, unless Delphi was somehow spirited away to the Distortion World or something else equally ridiculous, she wouldn't be disappearing.

Still, once they bounded up to the tent, it certainly appeared that Soul Aria was still open, for the beaded door was parted and practically beckoning them in while a Volcarona (with an obvious Ditto face) and Wobbuffet (obviously a female from the red lip coloration) came venturing out. Arashi slowed down, practically coming to a screeching halt that nearly made his comrades smash into him, and got a handle on his excitement.

"To be fair, I'm curious too," Astrid softly noted, studying the tent.

"This does sound like something useful…" Raijin concurred, tapping his fingers.

Arashi was the first one to stride in, followed closely by Astrid and Raijin. The Ditto outside, however, gave the team a glance before Transforming into a form that almost exactly resembled Raijin's, except with a missing head spike replaced by an ever-obvious Ditto face.

"Xeno!" the Wobbuffet cried in surprise. "You can't just steal someone's special form like that!"

"Oh, you know how I am, Karma!" Xeno brushed her off with a voice very much different than an actual Xurkitree. "I see something new, I mimic it!"

Nonetheless, on the inside of the tent, the Starstorm trio had to pause for a second, for quite oddly, they didn't seem to be in the same place… It was definitely the beaded tent door behind them, as well as the streets of the Crossroads outside, but the room was noticeably larger on the inside than it looked to be from the outside. Their surrounding walls were still blue and there appeared to be a partition in the back that they couldn't see, but in the middle was a table draped in red cloth that a certain Delphox sat on the other side of with a smile on her face. Astrid blinked and fluffed up at their unexpected surroundings, and Raijin twitched in surprise with his gaze darting around.

Arashi, however, got a starry-eyed look as he always did when excited and shortly exclaimed, "Whoa! This is crazy! This looks like a completely different place!"

Delphi chuckled at their reactions. "Oh, you're noticing the spatial oddities," she said. "Isn't it exciting? Magic comes easy to a witch like me!"

That certainly shed some light on what was up. Still, Astrid could only blink, completely unsure of what to make of it.

"… Duly noted…" Raijin's voice trailed off as he still studied both the Delphox and the shop's interior.

"I like this place," Arashi happily declared.

"No need to be shy," Delphi amiably noted, beckoning them over. "We all know why you're here. Come a little closer.~"

They did so, Astrid and Arashi hopping up on the table, the Dartrix still fluffed up and silent as could be, while Raijin still kept a bit of distance, looking uncertain of how to approach a Delphox that wasn't a murderous pawn.

Delphi smiled at them. "A basic prediction will run you 300. Is that agreeable?"

Astrid and Arashi shared a glance and nodded at each other.

"Wonderful!" chirped the Delphox, holding her wand up in front of her face and igniting the tip. The flame wasn't particularly intimidating, for which the Dartrix closest to it was thankful, but after a moment of staring into it, Delphi put it down. "Hm, it's a bit fuzzy at the moment…" then looking over her shoulder, she called, "Stellar!"

At her call, the back curtain rustled a bit and out poked a Shinx, which Astrid assumed was the 'Stellar' in question.

"Stellar, bring me the cards," Delphi instructed before turning back to the Starstorm trio and grinning. "They'll shed some light on what was, is, and will be."

They certainly had no objections, even if they had no idea what 'cards' she referred to. The Shinx vanished momentarily behind the curtain again, then came traipsing back out with a deck of cards held carefully in his mouth which Delphi retrieved and began to shuffle. Astrid watched with intrigue, catching small glances of embossed patterns and delicate details on them that certainly piqued her interest as to what they entailed. Her feathers began to deflate as she observed.

"Now," said the Delphox, "before we do this, what is your intention for this session? In other words, what will I be predicting for you?"

The Starstorm trio shared glances.

"W-well, I think there's a pretty obvious question we all have…" Astrid mused.

"Go for it," Arashi concurred.

"If we're on the same page, you're definitely right…" Raijin likewise agreed.

Astrid nodded, then looked back to Delphi.

"About your interference with Void, yes~?" Delphi chirped before the Dartrix could say anything.

They were all taken aback for a moment, as none of them had breathed a word about their dealings to anyone but each other or their comrades within Coalition HQ walls. The Delphox before them didn't seem fazed at all, for she still smiled at them seemingly without a care in the world. Raijin twitched a bit at the mention, and Astrid went fluffing up again.

Delphi, though, chuckled. "Oh, don't be alarmed.~ I am a psychic, after all! That's why you came to see me, isn't it?"

Astrid deflated again, albeit not completely. "Y-you're right. We w-wanna know about Void."

"Lovely," Delphi said, spreading the cards face-down on the table. "Let's start by assigning you all a Major Arcana. Who wants to go first?"

Arashi immediately put his hand in the air. Delphi chuckled and set to scouring his mind for a bit, before seemingly instinctively reaching down to the deck and removing another card that she showed to him: a deep purple sky in the background with a calm blue sea in the front that a silhouette, not quite resembling any particular Pokémon, dipped one foot into while lots of small stars and one very large golden star glittered overhead. It was quite a pretty and serene sight.

"You're the Star," Delphi noted. "The Star represents realization of the endless possibilities in life, feeling connected to the core of your being, and throwing away whatever beliefs may have been holding you back. You know who you are, and you're reaching for the stars."

The Frogadier nodded. "That's me, alright!" he enthusiastically agreed.

Delphi's nonchalant gaze turned on Raijin next. "Let's find yours next, Raijin."

The Xurkitree nodded, and she did the same, quickly scanning his thoughts over before reaching down and swiping up another card. It was another figure, but a robed one, with one hand reaching up towards the dark sky and another pointing down at the ground. A table in the foreground held what appeared to be a silver cup, silver sword, golden wand, and a golden pentacle symbol. It looked rather esoteric.

"You're the Magician," Delphi explained, then pointing one claw at the table holding the four objects, "As you can see here, the Magician has everything he needs to make his goals a reality… it's just a matter of using these tools well. You can see here by the arms pointing in different directions that the Magician is a conduit between the spiritual and physical realms… or, one might say, an emissary between two worlds."

Raijin studied it for a moment, then likewise nodded. "… I see."

Delphi's eyes fell on Astrid after. "And that leaves you, Astrid.~"

Astrid wanted to sink into her feathers, but she didn't make a peep as Delphi combed her mind next. Deftly, Delphi reached down and retrieved another card from the spread, which depicted a silver-armored silhouette standing in what appeared to be a golden chariot drawn by two other quadrupedal figures that resembled Pyroars, but it was impossible to tell for sure what they were. There was a large wall in the background, and a starry crown on the rider's head.

"And you're the Chariot," said the Delphox. "As I'm sure you can tell, the Chariot is a brave warrior. He- or she, in your case- knows how to steer towards the right path to take and knows how to make decisive calls. This card represents taking action rather than merely hoping things will pan out as you'd like them to, and so long as you stick to the direction you know is best, you'll succeed."

Astrid blinked for a second, then too nodded. That had been exactly what Necrozma had warned her not to do- be passive and hope everything worked out. It made sense to her.

"So with that, let's get on with the reading," Delphi suggested, giving the cards another quick shuffle as she added the three she'd taken back in before spreading them out again. "I'll have you pick three. Astrid, go ahead and choose the first one. Pick whichever one you feel drawn to, whichever feels like a good choice."

The Dartrix did so, looking them over and then tapping one with her foot. Delphi withdrew it and laid it face-down in front of the spread-out deck.

"Same for you two," Delphi said, looking to Arashi and Raijin.

Arashi picked one, which Delphi laid on one side of Astrid's, then Raijin, the other card being placed on the other side. Delphi gathered the rest up and set the deck's remnants to one side, then flipped the chosen cards over. The one that Astrid had drawn depicted a heart with three silver-embossed swords jabbed through it; the one Arashi drew depicted a robed figure surrounded by nine floating golden cups; the one Raijin drew was upside down, but depicted another hooded figure sitting under a tree with what looked like a fluffy cloud holding out a golden cup while three other cups sat on the ground.

Delphi studied them intently, apparently trying to piece them together, but went back to grinning shortly. "… My.~ How interesting.~"

"What do they mean?" Arashi inquired, looking them over inquisitively. "Is it bad?"

Astrid couldn't help but be a bit alarmed at the one she'd drawn- it seemed far more grim and macabre than she would've liked at face value.

"Bad? I wouldn't say so," the Delphox replied, not too bothered. "Let's start with Astrid's. The sword suit represents intellect, our thoughts, and the processes by which we put our thoughts into action… very fitting that you would draw one, Astrid.~ The Three of Swords that you see here symbolizes separation, heartbreak, and, shall we say, cutting straight to the heart of the matter."

The Dartrix whimpered with wide eyes; two of those three aspects certainly had not been a pleasant thing to hear and the last was questionable. Arashi gave her a slightly dismayed look too, and one of the Frogadier's hands was giving her wing a pat moments later.

"Don't be too put off by that; there's still two other cards here in the spread," Delphi chuckled on seeing her discomfort. "Let's look at Arashi's. The suit of cups entails feelings and senses of connection… again, very fitting, seeing as those two things come easily to you.~ The Nine of Cups indicates feeling satisfied with your life, getting what you want, and a strong sense of purpose."

Arashi's face lit up on hearing that, and his hand that wasn't on Astrid's wing balled up into a triumphant fist that he put in the air. "Hey! That sounds great!"

That certainly assuaged the Dartrix after hearing such a terrible meaning for the first card. Raijin perked up at the positivity too.

"It does, doesn't it?" Delphi chuckled. "Now, let's look at Raijin's. This is another cup, and it's reversed. A reversed card isn't necessarily a bad thing, but specifically, a reversed Four of Cups would entail avoidance of someone that's very important to you."

The Xurkitree nodded, touching his fingers together contemplatively.

"Those are the components, but we have to put those together to see the entire picture," Delphi amiably noted. "Rest assured, you'll have triumph in some regard, but it's not going to be fun or pleasant. All three of these cards together do entail what you'll be experiencing as a team, but those cards that you specifically drew affect you more than anyone else. In other words, you'll all be feeling separation, triumph, and avoidance, but to different levels. Astrid might wind up separated from those close to her, Arashi might be proud of your overall accomplishments, and Raijin might be avoiding someone that isn't necessarily Void herself, but you all can't overlook the bigger picture. You have to stay focused."

They all nodded, thinking it over for a second. Astrid tried thinking of in what ways that could manifest, and aspects like 'grief' and 'separation' definitely didn't seem to entail anything pleasant. The sword suit might have been fitting, but if a card with such a specification had been the one she was drawn to…

However, Delphi picked her wand up again and ignited it, staring into the tip. "Let's see here if it's clearer…~" her voice trailed off as she gazed into the future. "It is!"

"Oooh, what do you see?!" Arashi exclaimed, staring at the flame himself albeit to no avail.

The Delphox chuckled. "They're a bit disconnected, but they're clear. I see a very frightened Dartrix in a cave backing into a corner with wide eyes; I see another Delphox- Salem, obviously- making a mad dash through a forest and calling for someone off in the distance; in another is a Mega Charizard Y that Raijin is attempting to down with some lightning bolts; and in the last… there's a very downcast Decidueye staring at the ground and completely ignoring a smiling Greninja trying to get her to say something, which would be Astrid and Arashi."

Arashi got starry eyes again at the mention of evolving, and Astrid seemed intrigued too, but regardless, the turn of events that Delphi described made them all perk up.

"Who's Salem calling for?" Arashi inquired. "And why's Astrid sad in the last one? Can you tell?"

Delphi gazed some more, then answered, "Let me see… It sounds like Salem is saying 'Remi,' but the voice is a bit drowned out."

That caught their attention too, and Astrid and Arashi both looked to Raijin, who gave a twitch of discomfort.

"That's a deadly combination…" the Xurkitree's voice trailed off.

"As for the last one… I can't see much more than that," Delphi noted, the flame going out.

They didn't like not having closure on it, but they had to accept it nonetheless, though Astrid was definitely confused as to what could make her completely ignore her partner. He may have been far more conversational, but to completely ignore him while he tried to reach her was a bit ridiculous.

However, the Dartrix piped up with something else, sounding likewise uncertain about it. "That Mega Charizard must be Zariel…"

Both she and Arashi shared some awkwardly uncomfortable looks. Their lives certainly would've been more peaceful without both Zariel and Azure, but Zariel with a Charizardite Y was a disturbing picture indeed. If anything, the fact that Delphi saw Raijin and not them dealing with her made them feel a little better, but still, Astrid figured that for all they knew that could have merely meant Zariel had already charred them both and their Xurkitree comrade was next.

"Mega Evolution makes an already aggressive Pokémon more aggressive, right…?" Raijin inquired, tapping his fingers together.

"Sure does," Arashi answered. "Heck, even a nice one can fly off the rails depending on the species and circumstances."

Raijin nodded. "Duly noted."

Delphi, though, gave another playful giggle and lit her wand again, staring into it. "Let's look at something else a little closer, shall we? Let's see how your next few missions will go."

That was certainly agreeable too.

"Hmm…" the Delphox hummed, gazing at whatever was visible that the rest couldn't see. "Oh, dear! Starry Peak is a definite no-go! You'll get wiped out and meet some horrible creatures there!"

Yet again, they were all perking up at the prediction.

"And let's see… Ah! Sunken Cavern won't be kind to you either," Delphi continued. "I see shaking walls, shaking ground, and all three of you are very scared. Be on your guard if you go there."

They nodded, casting each other some knowing glances. Delphi gazed a bit more, but shortly, the flame on her wand went out and she put it down.

"That's all you need to be wary of for now," the Delphox said. "But as always, if you have any other matters to be addressed, I'm here.~ Why don't you come back when you've evolved to a more intimate reading, dears~?"

She giggled, giving Astrid and Arashi both a pat, to which the two of them blushed.

"We will," Arashi said nonetheless.

They gave her the coins necessary and strode back out, but not before the Delphox called, "Have a good day before your impending demise!"

Silently, they all hoped that wasn't part of any prediction, but nonetheless, once back outside, they shot each other some knowing looks.

"We can do this," Astrid said softly but firmly. "That's all that matters… we can do this."

Two nods answered her, the Frogadier giving her a pat on the wing with a grin. Of course, they might have been mulling over the prediction and their individual parts, but nonetheless, they were all resolved to not lose focus.

Of course, deep in Ultra Space, a certain Nihilego was mulling things over too, feeling a bit upset at her lack of another ultimate weapon… but she wouldn't be losing focus either, nor would the poisoned underlings she commanded with her sweetly metallic voice.