Before we get started, it's my deepest regret to inform you that Nintendo's president, Satoru Iwata, has passed away on July 11th, with details released a little before I posted this chapter. He died fairly young for today's world (55 seems young to me, honestly), so it's unfortunate to hear such news, as a lot of Nintendo games and events occurred thanks to him. While I can't really offer much, I'd like to dedicate this chapter as a small tribute, as I believe Iwata did assist with working on Pokemon titles with his programming works, including Pokemon Gold/Silver/Crystal and Pokemon Stadium, if I've read other tribute posts correctly and it's not misinformation. Not the point; he's done a lot of great work and we're all sorry to hear of this. May he rest in peace, and a quick "thank you" for his service to the games industry, as well as warm wishes for his loved ones.

So, this chapter is severely overdue, and my biggest apologies for that as well. No excuses, I'm just busy with life and have to pick and choose which story chapters get updates.

This is a pretty long chapter, and probably the longest one yet including all of my notes, so set some time aside to read it. Quick reminder: italics indicate inner thoughts that interrupt narrative flow. Lots of new characters show up, along with a shocking revelation. Enjoy!

...

[Greninja]

Heavy banging sounded at our door early the next morning. Too quickly, I shot up from the bed, forcing myself from Chesnaught's heavy arms, hitting him in the face.

"Ouch."

"Sorry." The banging sounded again. "We're up, we're up!"

"Practice begins soon," grunted a gruff, unfamiliar voice. "Get to the Main Hall. Be ready."

Heavy footsteps plodded away from the door. Rolling from the bed, I slipped into my new clothes that we were given late last night, which included a warm blue shirt and thin matching pants, both with simplified crests of the empire. After that, I pulled my usual robes over them. Chesnaught, however, tugged the covers back over himself and rolled over. Sighing, I poked at his buried form.

"You heard him. We're going to be late for sparring."

"It's freezing," came his muffled response.

"Yes, but we'll get used to it in time." I shook him. "Come on, it takes you longer to get ready than me."

"No, come back into bed and let's stay warm here together."

"Chesnaught."

"Aw, come on."

"Fine, I'll leave you here." I tapped my foot and thought for a moment. "But when they send you packing back home, King Nidoking will be disappointed to learn that we couldn't uphold the alliance he strived to forge."

A heavy sigh was emitted, followed by Chesnaught poking his grumpy head out from the covers. "I hate it when you do that."

"Use reason?"

"Yeah." He laughed as he threw off the rest of the covers and started to put on his new undergarments, nearly identical to mine besides size, and then the armor. I grabbed a few pieces and helped him put the rest on. "Thanks."

"You're welcome." He kissed my cheek. "Ok, come on, we're late by now."

"I can think of worse things to be."

Opening the frozen door, I stepped outside and turned to wait for Chesnaught. Instead, I blinked and suddenly a blue robed figure appeared. With just a gasp, I readied a water blade and pointed it, as the hood flew off to reveal Alakazam.

"Easy there, good sir," Alakazam held up a hand, though his voice was unwavering for someone at the other end of a weapon. "It's only me."

"Wait, where'd you come from?" Chesnaught asked as he came out.

"Sorry, I thought Machamp had mentioned that I do that. Teleport." Within a flash, the mage vanished before our eyes. "He loves to bring that up with other people," Alakazam called, and we glanced back into our room to find him waiting inside. "You forgot to make the bed."

"We're running late for training," I explained.

"Oh, no problem."

Walking out and pulling both of us close to him, Alakazam smiled. In another flash, we were suddenly in the Main Hall of the palace. Chesnaught and I broke away from him, gazing around the room.

"That's incredible!" Chesnaught beamed at Alakazam, who shrugged and nodded.

"It's kind of second nature for me, so I guess I forget how impressed others can be by it." He chuckled. "And look at that, you went from running late to being early."

"Thank you very much." I bowed to the mustached mage. "That was kind of you to come looking for us."

"Oh, I can't really take that credit. Your friend Delphox wanted me to make sure that the two of you were up and ready."

"Wait, Delphox has been up?" Chesnaught scratched his head. "I mean, he gets up faster in the mornings than either of us, but I didn't think we slept in that late."

"You didn't. Froslass woke him up early to start training."

"They're training right now?"

"Yes." Alakazam brushed his mustache. "Come to think of it, I better be getting back to them." He frowned and glanced upward. "Hopefully, Froslass hasn't gone overboard with their practice."

"What would you consider overboard?"

"Uh…"

[Meanwhile]

In a room of ice-crafted mirrors, Delphox rolled away from a burst of repulsive purple winds. He clenched his teeth and glanced at two of the mirrors, both of which displayed Froslass's wide grin.

"This is not the type of training I had in mind!" Delphox whirled around and hurled a fireball out of his wand, which flew off through the empty air.

"Too bad!" Ice Shards soared across the sky and pelted Delphox, who yelped from the barrage. "The Iceberg Empire is vast and easy to get lost in. Opponents will try to use that to their advantage. So! You'll need to do your best to counter that, and the knights will probably be reliant on you more than themselves!"

"W-Why?"

"Because you're a mage!" Froslass giggled and clapped, still missing from Delphox's sight. "And mages are better at covering wide areas."

"While you have a point, I still think there are better ways to go about this."

"Aw, what's wrong? Scared of more Ghost attacks?"

"Actually…yes!"

"Tough luck for you!"

Again, a gust of dark wind rushed through the air. Delphox cried out as it smashed the ice all around him.

[Greninja]

"…I…I'm sure your friend is doing fine, honestly." Alakazam laughed nervously and scratched behind his head. "Anyway, I—"

"Alakazam? That you?"

The group turned as Machamp made his way through one of the archways, walking into the room.

"Hey there, newcomers!" He grinned to Chesnaught and I, waving. "Can't wait to get started with you today."

"Yes, excellent," huffed Alakazam before either of us could respond. "If you'll all excuse me—"

"Wait, what's the hurry, Alakazam?" The knight frowned and shot his…the mage an inquisitive look. "You had enough time to spend with them, but nothing for me?"

"No, I just…" Alakazam shook his head. "Froslass is alone with Delphox, and I really shouldn't just leave all that work to her or—"

"Work? She loves it!" Machamp folded his arms. "Come on, you could just spend another minute around us."

"Why? Just for you?" His demeanor grew colder by the second, completely directed to Machamp. His face, however, was the opposite, redder. "Is that what you'd like?"

"Aw, come on, not that again—"

"It's on your mind, not mine," snapped Alakazam. "Maybe if you put some substance behind your thoughts, we…forget it." He shook his heads, and then pocketed them. "I don't need to wait around and be insulted."

"Most people would be flattered to know—"

"Then most are gullible, lonely, or just as crude as you are!"

"…Al—"

"Don't." Alakazam shook his head and folded his arms, as if holding himself together. "Just…let me be, Machamp."

He turned back to Chesnaught and I. Fortunately for me, my tongue covered my tightly closed mouth; my boyfriend was not quite as lucky, looking as though he were sucking in air. As obvious as it was, Alakazam hardly reacted to it, instead just trying to grin, but instead grimacing at us.

"My apologies to leave you both on such a sharp note. I do hope that we'll be able to spend time together later."

Sliding out two spoons in each of his hands, he winked and teleported away. Machamp let out a heavy sigh and shook his head.

"He's unbelievable."

Chesnaught glanced at me for support, to which I only shrugged. "Um, we weren't too off—"

"Oh, please don't think less of him," interrupted Machamp. "That was all meant for only me to hear, and I pressed him."

"It's fine, really," I insisted.

"We were just…wondering what that was all about."

"…Right, of course." Machamp forced a smile, but let it drop quickly and sighed. "Well, a few—"

"More minutes and the others will be here, very good, Machamp," bellowed a gruff voice, matching the one we heard earlier.

Looking past Machamp as he spun around, we watched as a…giant tree-like creature stomped across the hall. He wore a piece of silver armor, but most of his white body was left freely exposed, with bushy green hands and stubby feet totally visible. Machamp saluted as the large fellow came over to us. His pale purple eyes surveyed Chesnaught and I, too awed to follow Machamp's salute.

"Impressive that new runts like you two could be ready so quickly," he boomed. "And somehow managed to not get lost on your first day in this huge of a palace."

"Uh…we had…help, sir," I managed.

"That's obvious," the tree…yeti huffed. Neither Chesnaught nor I could pick up on his sarcasm, if either statement had been spoken in such a manner.

"Permission to speak, General Abomasnow?" Machamp eyed his superior with uneasiness.

"What, to defend these two?"

"They're new, sire—"

"So? That excuses them from showing respect? That allows them to lazily be guided around this palace—?"

"We weren't guided," I cut in. "We were taken here directly."

"Yes, by one of the mages, obviously." General Abomasnow shook his head. "One flies, and the other teleports. And that's without their usual assortment of magical assistance. Of course one of them would get you here so quickly."

"Beg pardon, sire," Chesnaught started, "but were you hoping that we wouldn't get here in time? We're meant to foster the alliance between our kingdoms. I don't ask for kindness, but one would imagine that you're looking to outright overturn the decision your emperor made with our king."

My eyes widened at Chesnaught's…direct attitude with the empire's general. He wasn't quite like that with anyone else before. Even the general himself was taken aback, while Machamp's mouth fell open.

"N…Not at all!" Abomasnow coughed. "I'd never go against his grace." He shook himself down. "At any rate, the two of you best be ready for training with our troops. We're expecting you to fall in easily."

"We'll do our best," promised Chesnaught. "Better yet, twice as well."

"That remains to be seen, but at least you've got vigor."

"He certainly does, sire!"

From the distance, a trio of bears made their way into view. They were led by the tallest, a polar bear with an icy beard and silver armor, with blue tints and fabrics woven into it, and a long ice club in his hands. A daunting giant panda followed him, with darker silver armor than his counterparts and two, sheathed katana poking out from behind him. In tow behind the two was a shorter brown bear, carrying a lance, a halberd, a glaive, a war hammer, and a sword-staff in his vambrace covered arms.

Lightly, Machamp waved as they strolled over. "This is our resident bear bundle," he introduced. "Big fellow is Beartic, dark eyes there is Pangoro, and buried behind those weapons is Ursaring."

"You know, we're fully capable of introducing ourselves," snapped Ursaring, who tilted the weapons too far forward and hobbled around to regain balance.

"Forget our roll call, tell us more about this alluring newcomer," purred Pangoro, his eyes settled on…Chesnaught.

…What?

"Oh, uh, this is Chesnaught," Machamp raised his hand to my boyfriend, as Chesnaught's eyes widened and mouth dropped open a bit.

"Such a cute little guy," cooed Beartic, which…did not fit the deep voice that emitted the line.

"Hoho, think I know who I want my sparring partner to be," chuckled Ursaring as my cheeks flared up.

"No chance, I saw him first," contended Pangoro.

"Relax, you two," laughed Beartic. "There's plenty of him to go around."

"Uh, no, there's not." The three turned their heads down to me, raising brows in…amusement?! "Y-You can all keep your distance from him, thank you."

"And who is this brittle critter?"

Brittle?!

"That's—"

"My name is Greninja," I intervened before Machamp could take their attention from me.

"And he happens to be my boyfriend," added Chesnaught proudly. I whirled around to see him beaming at me.

"…Is that all?"

We jumped and spun around back to the bears, as they smirked in satisfaction.

"Of course that's all! That's all you should need to back off!" Clenching my fists, I quaked in anger at the triad.

"Check it out, the quivering little froggy has some fire in him," mocked Pangoro.

"How adorable, he must be really defensive," Beartic…chirped. "Listen, petite frog, unless you're married to that handsome hedgehog, he's fair game."

"N-No, I'm not," argued Chesnaught, shivering back a few steps.

"They are pretty close, these two," added Machamp. "None of you should—"

"Wow, is that Machamp giving us lectures?" Pangoro laughed. "How's your dating life going again?" Machamp shuffled back a bit, annoyed but unnerved. "Same old story, huh?"

"And what if it is?" The knight folded his lower arms together. "At least that makes more sense than what you three have going on."

"Excuse you?" Ursaring huffed. "The 'thing' we have going is a mutual three-way relationship, and it happens to work out just fine."

"Though adding a fourth would be a delight," mused Beartic, still eying Chesnaught.

"Three should satiate you clods," came the monotone voice of Weavile. A few seconds later, she rounded a column and into sight, bow across her back.

"As if this was any of your business?"

"Don't make it that way." Weavile's lowered eyes were more threatening than if she were glaring.

"Surprising update," announced a new voice, "Weavile will smash heads that continue to underestimate her."

Dashing in was a red and white penguin, with…some type of a sack-like tail?

"Delibird." Weavile nodded to him and folded her arms.

"Chilling delivery," Delibird joked. "The others should arrive shortly, general."

"Shortly indeed."

Abomasnow pointed across the hall, where a pair of…oh, frogs, walked over to the rest of us. As least, one seemed like a green frog or toad, while the other appeared to be a very large tadpole. Both wore lighter armor than Machamp or the bears, with their arms and legs mostly exposed. The pair set their eyes on me and scurried over, each one studying me from either side. Neither spoke for a few minutes, instead just observing my discomfort.

"This is the Poli duo," informed Machamp after neither made a presentation. "The shorter green fellow is Politoed, while the bulky blue one is Poliwrath."

"Everyone knows who we are," muttered Poliwrath, with…no visible mouth, as he waved the other knight off, eyes fixed on me. "Who we don't know is this tall and handsome fellow."

"Um—"

"Hey, back off, Poliwrath," cut in Politoed. "I saw him first!"

"And what makes you think he'd be interested in you?!"

"Because we're both a little more mature than a tadpole, for starters!"

"Oh, please! You're jealous because he's clearly already watching me more." No, I wasn't. "After all, I'm the one who saw him first."

"You're both wrong," barked Chesnaught. "I saw him first."

The two stared blankly at Chesnaught. They glanced at me, then to each other, and back to my knight.

"Just what do you care, anyway?" Politoed placed his hands on his hips. "He's not even your type."

"He happens to be my boyfriend," growled Chesnaught, which…didn't deter either of the frog knights.

"You think that means anything?" Poliwrath laughed. "He's probably just holding onto you until he finds someone better."

"No, I'm actually really interested in him," I defended.

"It's fine," chuckled Politoed. "You've got to keep him believing, we get it."

"What are you even on about?!" I snapped, throwing my hands into the air. "First the bears, now you two, who's next?"

"What's with all of you?" Chesnaught joined in. "We're both taken. Find someone else to lust after."

"They should, but they're not going to," explained another new voice. We turned to watch a short, though heavily armored, blue sea turtle. His face was covered in a darker, rock-like mask, matching his bulky shell. "We take what they can around here. Carracosta's the name."

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Winter's harshness teaches one many things," interrupted a purple and white stout that walked from behind Carracosta. "These lessons differ greatly from those that the arctic regions teach." She had long fur covering over her arms, almost like whips. Her silver armor was lighter as well, with nothing on her arms or legs, as well as kimono-like robes beneath it. "And isolation in solitary lands can easily madden one."

Chesnaught and I glanced at one another, and then back to her. "Uh…"

She giggled. "Sorry, I have fun messing with new folks like that. I'm Mienshao."

"Nice to meet you, miss…" I started and coughed, noticing the red eyes lower. "…Mister Mienshao?"

"Not bad," he complimented. "It took the rest of these louts much longer to realize it."

"I still confuse you for a female."

"Of course you do, general." Mienshao sighed and lowered his head.

"So, what did you mean, with all those, uh…words?" Chesnaught scratched his head.

"Oh, that." Mienshao chuckled. "Just me being silly and going for the philosophical—"

"He meant that they're lonely and just prefer it to get with whoever, considering how anyone could freeze at any moment out here," interrupted Carracosta.

"Well, I was trying to put it more delicately, but—"

"You're always too damn delicate."

"Wait, what was that about?" Chesnaught was teetering between confusion and worry.

"The Frozen Fields beyond the palace," explained Carracosta. "You probably saw it on your way in, though probably didn't recognize it. Vast white, nothing but the cold region that just goes on north. Eventually, you should hit the sea, but if you get lost out there, well…" He shrugged and lifted his flippers. "And we have assignments that require us to go out there. Some resources the town needs are out there. So, rather than wait around to see who comes back and who doesn't—"

"Soldiers will just have flings with whomever and not develop attachments," Mienshao finished for him. "Yes, yes, brutal tales for breakfast, thank you very much, Carracosta."

"You're welcome."

"That's…awful," murmured Chesnaught. I grabbed his hand tightly.

"Relax, we haven't lost anyone within two years," soothed Mienshao. "And the longest anyone's been lost recently was a few hours!"

"Technically, it's only been a year." Carracosta sighed. "Remember that one fellow from town—"

"Ok, but we haven't lost anyone," insisted Mienshao. "And I blame his friend; she shouldn't have let him go alone."

"Wasn't she ill?" Machamp scratched his chin. "Didn't he need to get those herbs—?"

"Seriously not helping calm them down, Machamp!"

"Sorry."

"If you want calm, I've got just the knight for the job!"

This next voice made me pick up my head. He…sounded familiar, somehow. Turning, I watched a large and bright blue salamander be guided in by a taller…blue…duck.

No. He can't be here.

"Meet Quagsire," he introduced, not noticing me right away. "He's the most relaxed guy I've ever met."

"Hello," Quagsire sluggishly lifted an arm.

"Call him what he really is," snapped Ursaring. "Lazy."

"Maybe a bit," yawned Quagsire.

"Ursaring, if you really want to test…" Unavoidable. His red eyes caught sight of me and suddenly the focus was gone. Memories flashed back into his eyes, as they already had mine. "…Greninja?"

"Golduck." I wanted to spit the name out and never use it again, but I already knew that I was far from able to do that.

"W-What are you doing here?"

"Obeying my king, and now my emperor." I folded my arms. Glaring should be easier than this.

"Oh." Golduck scratched the back of his head. "Well, you look as fantastic as—"

"The day you left? Better, actually."

"Um." Chesnaught! "Am I…missing something, Greninja?"

"Hello there," he already started to try to show off that friendly side. "I'm Golduck."

Not with him, you're not.

"He was my first boyfriend." Chesnaught's face fell, his eyebrows raised. "Until he up and left me."

"Greninja—"

"Don't. Even. Start." My heart raced as I maintained the glare, easily now. Hands shook, either rage or fear. Didn't matter. "You don't get to finesse out of this one."

"Come now, I would never—"

"Take off on me? Leave me in the middle of the night, without any kind of word otherwise?"

"Hey, I did bring it up with you—"

"Once." I'd give him no quarter, just like he had given me. "About two weeks before you vanished."

"It was fair."

"It was cruel."

"That much was unintentional," he tried. "I really did enjoy that night we shared, truly, no fault on your part—"

"Of course it wasn't me. I didn't trod off, scared of facing what really mattered."

"I went on to become a knight, you should be proud!"

"I'm proud that I didn't mourn you for longer."

"Enough." The blasted general finally stepped between us, as if he would be able to stop me. "Greninja, yeah? Angry now? Good. Save that for practice and learn to channel it, use it."

I'll use it with my blade, and channel that straight through your beady purple eyes.

"Aw, it was just getting good," laughed Pangoro. "Swimmers are going to have a great show coming up."

"Keep it up, chubby buns," mocked Golduck. "I might stay out of the water just for you."

"Who the hell told you that name?!"

"Ah, save it," Abomasnow intervened again. "Golduck, you've got practice in the water today, along with the rest. Pangoro, you need to learn more discretion."

"Yes, sire," they reluctantly managed.

"Right then. Ground knights, to the practice field," Abomasnow directed. "Chesnaught, you're obviously with them. Greninja, you'll be with our water knights, as they teach you more combat maneuvers in the pool."

"You're splitting us—?"

"Correct." There was a hint of delight that made me ready to lash out at the general at any given moment. "He's more than capable of swimming adeptly. You're not. Water types can also use the environment around them, whereas you'd need to focus on actually breathing underwater. Is that clear, Chesnaught?"

"…As ice, sir."

"Splendid. Let's go, everyone move! We've wasted more than enough time already."

General Abomasnow led several knights across the hall, with Machamp and Weavile waiting on Chesnaught. He still held my hand, and gazed down at me with his big, dark eyes. Scooping up my other hand, shakily, he tightened his grip. Golduck slid over to him.

"So, you're a friend of Greninja's?"

"His boyfriend, actually," corrected Chesnaught.

"Oh." Golduck lowered his eyes and nodded. "Well. Your tastes have changed, Greninja."

"Yeah, they've gotten better," I hissed. Shrugging, Golduck walked away from us. Under my breath, I admitted, "I should have come up with something more witty."

"So," Chesnaught exhaled and I whirled around to him, "that one time you tried to tell me about your first love and choked—"

"Chesnaught, I am so sorry, I didn't expect him to be here. If I had, I would have—"

"Calm down, Greninja." He smiled and pulled me in to place a kiss on my head. "I wouldn't be thrilled to see my ex either."

"Maybe, but yours isn't actually here." I nibbled on my tongue.

"True." Chesnaught softly rubbed my hands with his; he was still smiling at me, but there was a moment that he glanced past me. "Will you be—?"

"I can handle him." My eyes narrowed at the duck, as he waited near the entrance, letting several other knights pass.

"Actually, I was going on a broader scale and wondering if you'd be fine without me?"

"Ah. Um…yeah, I think so." He nodded and paused; it took me a moment to register. "Wait, are you ok without me around?"

"Honestly, I'd feel better if we were together, but if you're fine, then I'll be ok."

Chesnaught wrapped his arms around me and we embraced. My still racing heart sank a bit, and I heard his hammering away against me. Pulling back, I reached up and guided his face to my lip and tongue. Waiting to watch his grin grow, I then leaned in and pressed against his lips, kissing him tightly. My tongue brushed against some of his fur at first, and then he slid his against mine. Barely breathing against him, I pulled him in closer, resting my hands along the back of his head. He rested one arm around my waist, stroking the side of my face with his free hand.

Machamp cleared his throat and we untangled from each other quickly. Our cheeks lit up and Chesnaught nervously smiled, looking at the other flustered knight. Weavile had stopped watching, and instead picked at her claws. Slowly, he waved to me and trudged after them, the three disappearing across the room.

Heavily exhaling, I walked over to the palace entrance, intending to surge past Golduck, who had waited the whole time. Of course, he caught up a second after I passed him.

"Really needed to affirm that you moved on from me, huh?" He huffed.

"What?!"

"Come on, like that kiss wasn't intentionally time."

"Get over yourself, Golduck!" I pivoted to him as we both halted. "If you weren't here, I would have kissed him the same way. I love him, which is easily more than you could give me."

"You loved me once."

"A harsh lapse in judgment," I snapped and stormed off. "One that I learned from!"

Stomping out onto the bridge, the other Water Pokemon—and Delibird—nervously watched me. The only one that didn't seem tense was Quagsire, who I strode next to.

"Can you explain how this works?"

"Hmm. Well, we're just waiting on everyone to get here."

"Well, we're all here." I glared back to watch Golduck wink at me, and then hurry over to the other end of our bridge line up. "So, then what?"

"Someone else is coming for today's training."

"Oh, someone's late?"

"Nope. He's waiting for us first." Quagsire yawned. "He should be popping out soon."

As soon as the words left the salamander's lips, bubbles formed in the water before us. Suddenly, a burst of waves shot up as a dark figure fired itself from the water and over us. Crashing down on the bridge, I stared in awe at the emperor, garbed in almost platinum armor. He turned as the water dripped from his figure, flapping his flippers to shake some off quicker.

"All seven of you are here, good," Empoleon nodded. "Then we may begin our sparring. First, just to make sure, everyone met Greninja?"

"We could do introductions again, or chat more," suggested Poliwrath. I glanced over to watch him wave at me, rolling my eyes in response.

"You can ask him more later. Practice is essential, especially for him." Empoleon scanned each of us quietly. "Delibird, you'll be my opponent."

"More like target," murmured Carracosta as the red penguin shakily stepped forward. His tiny form compared to Empoleon's made me inclined to agree with the other knight.

"S-Sire…" Delibird gulped. "I-I still ha-haven't learned p-proper techniques to—"

"Have you been tutored on new attacks?"

"Y…Yes."

"And practiced them?"

"No."

"Delibird…"

"Yes, sire."

"Good. Then, we'll begin." He turned back to us. "The rest of you, observe."

With that, Empoleon jumped off the other side of the bridge and back into the water. Delibird shook himself off, sighed, and jumped in after him. Everyone along our side of the bridge jumped backwards into the water. Following them, I jumped under as well.

Waiting until the bubbles blew away from around me, I gazed around, spotting some of the other knights floating in the water. Below us were frozen ice structures, carved to simulate underwater environments. Some were simple stones; others mirrored ruined structures. Still, some were shaped like reefs, which I didn't expect to run into many up here.

Across from us, Empoleon floated and waited as Delibird swam across from him, eyes barely opened. He shook his head and glared ahead, ready to challenge the emperor.

Opening his sack, Delibird unveiled a glowing sphere from within. He aimed it at Empoleon, who merely floated down onto an iced rock.

Throwing his orb, Delibird carefully watched as it neared Empoleon. The emperor simply waited for it to get close, and then smacked it away. Shocked, Delibird watched his ball explode several feet away from the fight.

Shaking his head and folding his arms, Empoleon waited still. Flustered, Delibird traced a circle with his flippers in the water. A stream of bubbles formed and Delibird blew forward, creating a Water Pulse.

Undeterred in the slightest, Empoleon just waved his wing and knocked the pulse apart. He shook his head, and then glared at Delibird, who flailed around.

Swiftly swimming forward, Empoleon spun around, using his beak to drill at smaller penguin, who failed to swim away from the attack.

Spiraling upward, Empoleon flung Delibird from the water and back up to the surface. He shrugged and paddled up above the water as well. The other knights swam up after, and I followed.

Resurfacing and climbing onto the bridge, I watched Delibird cough out puffs of water, sprawled, gasping for breath. Empoleon outstretched his wings and sighed.

"You'll need to practice harder than that, Delibird."

"Of…of course, sire," panted Delibird.

"Seriously. One hit, that's kind of—"

"Awful. I understand, emperor, sir."

He dragged himself back over to the rest of us in line, still coughing a bit. Empoleon sighed.

"Well, I had hoped for a better demonstration, but today's practice is about knocking your opponent out of his element, in this case the water. Or her, but Weavile and Froslass are not present, so—you get it."

"But…sire, each of us is just as capable of fighting on land as in the water," I pointed out. "Couldn't the fight just continue on land?"

"Hmm, you raise a fair point." He glanced down. "Delibird, shall we continue?"

"Please no. Everything hurts still."

"And there's your answer, Greninja." The emperor returned his attention to me. "While we're capable in both environments, if we take too much of a beating in one, we'll likely be unable to continue in the other, thus being vulnerable to our opponents. While Delibird could get back up and try to fight with me, his chances of success are dramatically lowered than they were beneath the water."

"It's also advantageous to learn fighting off opponents that might be more skilled underwater, but less so on the land," added Carracosta.

"Excellent point," agreed Empoleon. "Now, who's next…?"

"If you'd like me to learn, sire, I suppose there's only one way." I stepped forward, perhaps still looking to exhaust my anger from earlier. Folding my arms, I did what I could to avoid even looking at Golduck.

"Right then," consented Empoleon. "And your opponent will be…Quagsire."

The sluggish knight stepped forward and smiled to me as I dropped my arms. Studying him, I checked for anything that proved contrary to his appearances and attitude; there must have been a reason that Empoleon chose him.

"When you're both ready, jump into the water," directed Empoleon as he dragged Delibird back.

Walking to the edge of the bridge, I glanced down at the pool below us. Turning to my left, Quagsire strolled up and waited.

"Ready when you are," he murmured with a lazy smile.

"Same, let's go." I leapt into the water and heard Quagsire crash into it before me.

Swimming further down to crafted pillars, I spun about and watched as Quagsire floated around, spinning around and practically enjoying himself in the water.

It's a trick, I thought. He's just waiting for me to exhaust myself, I'm certain of it.

Preparing a Water Shuriken, I waited for him to slow before throwing it. He continued to flow around, spinning in place and happily flailing around.

Sharply, he stopped and forced himself down furiously. Crashing onto an ice pillar near him, a tremor launched across the water and vibrated around me.

Shaking, I swam back from the pillar as it shattered from his Earthquake. Glancing back to him, he was slowly paddling over to me.

Quickly, I launched a Water Shuriken at him, to which Quagsire ducked under and swam forward. Materializing another, I watched and threw it, only for him to dodge it again.

Nearing an icy rock, Quagsire flung himself down again, smashing it with his body. Again, everything vibrated around me and I had to swim backwards to avoid ice shards that broke from around me.

Trying to return my attention to the salamander, he had already swum close to me. Twisting his tail back, he whirled it forward and slammed it right into my chest.

Even though the water slowed the impact, I still flew back and crashed into a wall of ice behind me. Sharper bits dug into me and I reached for my back. Pushing from the wall, I spun around and noticed it went on for a bit, larger than other structures and with its own stalactites hanging above me.

Quagsire floated behind me, preparing another attack. My heart raced as my eyes tightened. Twisting around, ignoring my sore back, I threw out a Water Shuriken.

As expected, he evaded the first, and I followed up with a second. He advanced on me again, evading the Shuriken. Readying my last one, I spiraled it out and Quagsire dodged it again.

Perfect.

His tail curled back and he whirled it around. Swimming down, I slipped under the shadows and disappeared from his sight, as he waved his tail at empty water. He blinked in confusion, searching around for where I had gone.

Swiftly, I swam behind him and roughly kicked him into the icy wall. He crashed into it head on and I watched as the stalactites shook. Helping them, I threw another two Water Shuriken out, cutting them free.

Too late, Quagsire gazed up as the icicles rained down upon him, crashing into him and pushing him down further. After the barrage ended, he floated in place for a bit, shook himself off, and tried to swim up.

Giving no quarter, I threw another two Water Shuriken at him, these two connecting and slicing him. Quagsire coughed out and, slowly, his body stiffened.

For a moment, I waited, but my heart hammered as I shivered. A minute passed and he still wasn't moving. Paddling over to him, I grabbed him and swam up for the surface.

And then it hit me—his tail came from behind, crashed into my back, and flung me above the water.

Rocketing from the pool, I flailed around and paddled to the bridge. After coughing, I climbed back on and shook myself off. A sharp ache surged from my back, hurting more now that I had returned to land.

In moments, Quagsire and the other knights returned to the bridge as well. I pushed myself up to at least my knees and heaved. Slowly, the salamander walked over and plopped himself down before me.

"That was…great work," I managed out. "I didn't…even consider…you faking it."

"It wasn't completely fake, actually," he softly explained. "You did a good job with the icicles and I thought I was done. But…you didn't finish me off."

"We're not…actually fighting," I reasoned. "I could have killed you…but we're not really enemies."

"Actually," Empoleon rang in, "we were expecting you to go to that limit. I would have sent two knights over to hold you off from the finishing blow. It's how we normally end battles, mine being the exceptions, usually. My fault though, I didn't quite explain that."

"Sire, I'm a ninja. I'm trained…to assassinate." I shook my head. "If you wanted me to finish Quagsire…he would have been dead."

That silenced the emperor for a moment as the other knights muttered to one another. Quagsire shifted a little in his seat, but didn't move; instead, he smiled at me, relieved perhaps.

"Well then." Empoleon cleared his throat. "Thank you for…not only your restraint, but your willingness to save a life over taking one. That's…much less common around this empire."

"No offense, but…you might want to change that," I suggested.

"Perhaps we should." He nodded. "Next two, fight only to surface your opponent."

Quagsire hopped up and helped me up from the ground. He guided me over as Carracosta came to balance me up on my legs again. We watched as Golduck and Poliwrath jumped into the water next, and the other knights dove in to watch their fight.

[Chesnaught]

Following Weavile and Machamp through a corridor, we emerged from a room that led back outside. An arena was carved out on the ground before us, mimicking a worn battlefield in appearance. Trees, rocks, and plenty of ice were structures that coated the ground, with a fence half my height around the area.

"Right, all here?" Abomasnow glanced around and nodded. "Good. We'll split into teams of four then."

Four? There were only seven knights…wait.

"Beartic, Ursaring, Pangoro, with me," the General summoned the bears over to him. "You four, to the other side. And here," he tossed a light blue flag to Machamp while taking out a dark blue one. "First team to either bring the flag back to their side or eliminate the opposing force wins this session. We start at the icicle shattering."

My teammates sighed as they made their way across the field. Marching alongside them, I gave them quizzical glances, waiting for someone to read me. Instead, they all frowned and gazed at the ground, shoulders slumped.

"Why do you guys look like we've already lost?"

"Because we probably already have," muttered Weavile.

"How?"

"Abomasnow almost always pairs us up like this," explained Mienshao. "Bigger, stronger, and offense heavy knights on one side, supposedly meeker ones as target practice." Sh…he dragged his sleeve-like fur along the ground, making a messy trail in the snow. He noticed after a minute and groaned. "Sorry guys, I did it again."

"Just cover it," I suggested and kicked some snow over it. "Ok…it's obvious that we walked here, but, at least it doesn't lead straight to us."

"It doesn't really matter," mumbled Weavile.

"They preplan this everytime," continued Mienshao. "Pangoro or another Fighting type against Weavile, Ursaring is annoyingly persistent against me, and they use Beartic to hold off whoever the strongest is on our side, usually Machamp. With the General in play, that'll just make this quicker."

"We have three Fighting types on our side," I contended. "We can win this easily."

"I'd agree, but with the General, they're going to use a Hailstorm to their advantage," clarified Mienshao. "Beartic suddenly becomes faster in it, wallops Machamp, and then zips over for me. Ursaring stalls me for just long enough, and then I get pounded. Every. Single. Time."

"But you and Weavile are really fast." I shook my head as we trudged behind mounds of snow and rocks. "One of you just needs to get the flag."

"We used to rely on that, but Pangoro learned all of my routes," murmured Weavile. "He knows which way I'm taking before I do. And I'm better at fighting juggernauts from a distance, not up close like with more realistic sized targets."

"They don't know me though." The other three turned their heads and raised brows at me. "What? If they think they're going to be dealing with the same strategies as usual, they've got another thing coming."

"No offense, Chesnaught, and I'd agree otherwise," Machamp intervened, "but you'll be going up against Abomasnow. And you haven't exactly gotten that used to the cold just yet."

"Who decided my opponent?"

He shrugged. "No one, but considering that they know…" Pausing, Machamp smacked his face. "Wow. No wonder Alakazam berates me so often over smarts."

"Wait, what?"

"To throw them off, we'll run each other's routes," I explained.

"But…we practice them in order to work properly with our individual positions on the field." Mienshao dropped his arms again. "That's why we usually don't switch them."

"Who came up with that? I know the Emperor wouldn't approve."

"…The General." Weavile scratched down a rock in annoyance.

"Right. So, how does this normally work?"

"Well, with just the four of us, it's simple," described Mienshao. "Weavile takes the forest route, Machamp goes along the rocks since there's less snow, and I usually take the center with the snow mounds."

"Ok, then this time, you'll take the forest," I directed. "Machamp, you'll take the snow mounds. And I'll travel through the rocks."

"You're pitting me against the General?" Weavile scoffed. "What did I just tell you?"

"The General's going to be an immobile target," I gathered. "His plan is to have the three of you fall before anyone gets there. But he thinks that I'm going ahead for the flag, since I'm new and will haplessly wander up to him."

"But what if they do expect you to make changes?" Weavile folded her arms.

"That's where you come in," I revealed. "You'll be the most critical component."

"Look, I'm fast, but taking down the General or even just nabbing the flag will take time."

"That's your final goal." I smirked. "Your first objective is to make sure all three of us advance safely."

"…What?"

"Put your bow to good use. Snipe them from vantage points to help us."

Smirking, Weavile nodded and readied her bow. Machamp drew two swords in his upper arms, and slammed his lower fists together. Mienshao picked out two thin knives and kept them concealed under his long fur.

"Those are…?"

"These? Kabutowari." He unveiled one and gazed over it. "They're believed to be able to rip open helmets and break skulls, but that would require a lot of force."

"Then why…?" I left the thought in their air as Mienshao darkly grinned.

A sharp shatter rang out from the sky. I whirled my head up to watch ice shards cascade down over the field.

"Whenever you guys are ready," Machamp stuck the flag behind two larger rocks.

"Let's go." I pulled out my broadsword and moved ahead.

Everyone made his or her way forward together, but spilt up as we reached a wide enough part of the arena. Mienshao nodded and walked toward a patch of trees, while Machamp steadily strolled up the middle. Glancing back at Weavile, who formed an icy arrow and nodded, I went toward the stones. Hail began to rain down overhead as I marched onward, with my armor taking hits from the ice chunks.

If Mienshao were the quickest, he would most likely run into his opponent first. Pangoro would be waiting along the other side, while Beartic would be ahead of me.

Instead, as I slowly made my way forward, Ursaring jumped from the rocks nearby and swung down with his war hammer.

Quickly, I rolled away, lifting my broadsword to counter his next swing. The impact quaked through me as I staggered back.

"Huh." Ursaring looked me over. "They assumed that you three would change spots, but I was meant to face Mienshao."

Damn it, they knew my plan.

"No matter." Ursaring lifted his hammer again. "Sorry, cutie, but I guess I'll have to knock you around a bit."

An arrow whizzed past me and sliced one of Ursaring's arms, catching him off guard. He fumbled with his weapon and staggered back.

Seizing the opening, I punched him in the gut and knocked the bear back with the flat side of my sword. He crashed into a rocky wall and crashed to the ground.

Ursaring's war hammer flew off and smashed into some rocks, knocking chunks off of them. Quickly, I scooped up a smaller stone and aimed as Ursaring stood up.

"Yield."

"You think a pebble and your stupid sword will stop me?"

"No." I glanced above him at a pile of stones along a cliff that were poorly held in place by a tiny rock at the end. "But I don't have to."

Tossing my stone, I knocked the other one above him, which loosened. Ursaring glanced up too late, as an icy arrow knocked into the small stone, sending the others pouring down over the bear knight.

Grasping my sword tightly, I waited for him to move again, but only his stomach rose and fell. Nodding, I advanced along my path, making for a break in the rocks.

Standing between them and peering through, I watched as Machamp jumped back from Beartic's massive swipes. The polar bear pulled out his icy club.

"Just hold still, Machamp," he growled and smashed down.

The four-armed knight dodged the blow, but its impact shook the ground around him, causing Machamp to slip over the ice under the snow mounds. Beartic raised his club again.

Leaping out, I shouted out and growled at Beartic. He spun around and swung the club down for me, which I rolled away from.

Firing back up, I thrust forward with my sword, but the club was large enough for Beartic to twist into a parry.

Pulling back, I sliced forward again, but he leapt back from the attack. Quicker than I expected, he ran forward and smashed down with the club again.

Rolling back, the quake from its force made me trip on the ground. Jumping up, I barely managed to guard myself as Beartic zipped in front of me and threw a heavy punch, forcing me back again.

He then opened his mouth and shot a ball of ice into the air. I glanced up and jumped back as icicles crashed down from the frosty orb.

Several bits of ice sliced at me, with my armor taking a good number of his, but some penetrated and cut at my under-armor and clothes. Staggering, I forced myself back up and turned as Beartic raised his club again.

Once again, a well-timed arrow flew out and knocked into Beartic's icy beard. He blinked and scratched at it, confused.

Swiftly, Machamp slid forward and delivered a Low Kick to Beartic's legs. The massive bear toppled over and crashed to the ground, yelping out in pain.

Hurrying over to him, I steadied my sword as Machamp raised his fists. Though breathing steadily, Beartic didn't budge.

"Nice work," I complimented.

Machamp grinned and laughed. "Thanks! You know what they say about being bigger and falling harder!"

Another arrow whizzed between us and I jumped back. "Hey, what's her big idea?!"

"She's trying to get our attention," clarified Machamp. "Which would be…Mienshao!"

He hurried through a snow bank and I chased him as we entered a cluster of trees. Glancing around, Weavile rocketed another arrow past us.

"That way!" Machamp beckoned me after him as he followed the direction the arrow flew in.

"How—?"

"I've worked with Weavile a few times, I learned how she communicates."

He pulled branches aside and allowed me to pass before following. We rushed around another throng of trees to find a thin clearing, where Mienshao slid under Pangoro's heavy fist.

"If you just give up, it's less painful," taunted Pangoro.

"Funny." Mienshao twirled around and whipped him with the long fur-sleeves. "I wanted to tell you the same thing."

Baring his teath and growling, Pangoro reached back for his katana, which had fallen from him. Glancing back in confusion, he forgot for Mienshao for a moment.

And that would be all the ermine needed. Thrusting a palm into the panda's chest, Pangoro coughed and tried to turn back around. Deftly, Mienshao delivered a Jump Kick up at Pangoro.

Stumbling, Pangoro collapsed into a crowd of trees behind him, sliding to the ground.

"Good call, Chesnaught." Mienshao twirled his kabutowari and smirked. "Pangoro was much easier to deal with. I must confess, I thought I needed help for a bit, but it worked out in the end."

"Um…great." I shook my head. "Anyway, let's get to Abomasnow."

The others nodded and we surged ahead, pushing out of the mini forest and back near the palace. Abomasnow's figure was covered in a distance from us, with a heavy hailstorm still raging around the arena.

"We have to get to him!" Waving my teammates forward, we forced ourselves through the raining hail, buffeted by more rough balls of ice. "Hang in there!"

As the words tumbled from my mouth, a heavy blizzard blew at us, pelting each of us with clods of snow and ice. Battering us backwards, I could barely see ahead as Abomasnow's figure launched another wave at us.

Just before another pile of snow smashed into me, I watched Weavile zip over and slice at the General. Smacked in the face, I fell over and hit the ground, clawing to get the snow away from me.

Coughing and pushing myself up a bit, Machamp abruptly lifted me back up. A long sleeve of fur brushed over my face and wiped the slush away, revealing a giggling Mienshao.

"Come on!" Machamp tugged me forward and we ran over as Weavile back-flipped from the palace wall, dodging a rugged body bash from the General.

Whirling around, the General jolted back at the sight of us, one too many Fighting types for his liking. Nevertheless, he buckled down and raised his arms to attack with another Blizzard.

Slashing his arms down in a dark wisp, General Abomasnow jumped a bit as Weavile sliced again at him. He grabbed her arms and lifted her from the ground.

"Enough from you!" He rumbled.

"Enough, period."

She kicked away from him and dropped to the ground. Digging through some snow, Weavile tugged up a dark blue flag and held it up.

"Apologies, General," sneered Weavile as she tossed the flag at him. "But you lose."

Letting his bushy arms fall, Abomasnow remained silent for a moment, eyes widened. He shut them and nodded, and then looked over to the rest of us.

"Congratulations. You've won."

Gathering the unused weapons on the ground, he nodded at us again. "That will conclude our current session. We'll resume training later, with the other knights as well."

Each of us nodded as he marched back inside, and then smiled to one another. Weavile slung her bow behind her back and stretched, while Mienshao cheered and Machamp patted me on the back. I laughed, but then shivered as a gust kicked up around us.

"All that fighting, all that armor, and you're still cold?" Mienshao tilted his head.

"Can't h-help it, I guess." I tried to chuckle, but chattered my teeth instead.

"Better get you over to your boyfriend to warm up," joked Machamp.

"Yeah, as long as the ex isn't making him more steamed than…" Weavile started but then clamped her mouth shut as my face fell. "I…sorry, Chesnaught, that was stupid."

"It's fine," I forced out and shook my head. "Maybe I-I should go calm h-him down."

Truthfully, I tried to push Golduck to the back of my mind, but my heart kicked up again at the thought of him around Greninja. Bidding the other three farewell, I lumbered into the castle, rubbing a few sore aches as I made my way back to the Main Hall.

Suddenly, my heart felt a heavy longing for him, and I sped up to find him, hoping to see him waiting for me back inside. Stumbling a bit, I stubbed my leg along the corner of the wall, clutching it tightly and hopping around. I stopped and gently rubbed it, feeling heavier from the pain I sustained from the practice before.

Pushing myself up and forward, I lumbered onward once again.

...

Apparently, I'm not done making myself cry hard enough.

Uh, what's first…? Oh, well, Delphox had that humorous scene with Froslass. Everyone has to go through training day, no exclusions. And yes, Delphox has Fire attacks that he can use against Froslass's Ice, but he's not really thinking clearly with the spooky vibes going around. And Alakazam knows it, too.

Speaking of, Alakazam and Machamp! It's…they're not even trying to hide it, huh? Don't mind that bubbling tension or anything there. What could possibly work up Alakazam so much that he flips out like that? And to the point where Machamp gets unhappy? I wonder what's going on there! (It's coming up next time, mwahaha!) So yeah, new pair to look out for!

…Ok, ok, fine, I held off long enough. Golduck. Yep, he was Greninja's first boyfriend. Surprise, Chesnaught isn't his first, nor is Greninja the first for Chesnaught. More surprises, Golduck is even taller than Chesnaught and walked out on Greninja a while ago. Whoops, chance encounters with exes suck. Now, personally, love triangles can be aggravating, since it's usually, "Oh gosh, love interest A is so perfect. But, oh, so is love interest B! How will I, C, ever choose between the two?" Bleh, typical. Not that I'm doing much better, but I figured that Greninja not being doe-eyed over Golduck was a good approach. This wasn't his complete showcase yet, since Golduck may be even more flirty than any of the other Empire Knights, so…look out for more tall duck shenanigans.

Ooh, onto the other knights! Beartic, Ursaring, and Pangoro up first, since I was excited to use all three bears. I had no idea that Beartic was so huge, so that was a bit of a fumble for me. But, they still worked as the overly perverted trio, interested in Chesnaught. While Greninja's love interests are more…prevalent, he's certainly not alone in attracting unwanted attention! The choice of Pangoro was inspired by several bits of fan art with him paired off alongside Chesnaught, sometimes romantically. Ursaring and Beartic were the bonus package, but make sense as well.

But what, more perverted flirts? Yes, Poliwrath and Politoed! Unlike the bears, who share a relationship with each other and their prey, the Poli duo isn't so kind to one another, even bickering over who saw their eye candy froggy first. Gosh, so much more to reveal, why do I do this?

Aside from all of those annoyances, we have more knights. Mienshao is my attempt at a monk-warrior type, though I wanted to avoid the stereotypical proverb spewing those types usually have. And yes, he's a girly looking fellow too, not by just appearance, but wardrobe choice too! Nothing wrong with that, but his fellow knights are…well, easily caught off guard by appearances. Poor Greninja almost fouled that up, and even Chesnaught mistook him for it afterwords.

Along with him was Carracosta, the bluntest of the bunch. While others would sugar coat or hide the harsh sides of their Empire, Carracosta opts not to, instead informing others of the underlying dangers within their homeland. Surprise, horrors under the luster. Also, Quagsire, the most laid back knight on the line up. Though most assume him to be lazy or weak, he's actually quite powerful. Book covers. Don't judge them.

Ah, and the return of Delibird from the opening chapter! I've been waiting to drag him back in. He's a great messenger, but poor at fighting. (Only naturally knowing Present certainly doesn't help matters.) Having him fight Emperor Empoleon was to demonstrate both his lackluster combative skills, and Empoleon's superior fighting strategies, ruthless as they may be. In fact, there's a pretty cold exterior for…well, everyone in the Iceberg Empire. …Ok, pun totally intended. But yes, Greninja, the assassin of the knights, had more restraint than the rest. Crazy, twisted stuff.

Finally, we can't forget the oh so lovable General Abomasnow. He's a far cry from Rhydon: not particularly friendly with his troops, super strict, harsh to even allied newcomers, bullies who he considers the weaklings, and cutthroat in combat. Yeah…not a nice fellow, but an ice fellow instead. (I'm sorry, my puns are crap, I know.) Though, while he's pretty rough on his troops, there's fairly good reason: some end up dying outside of the city's boundaries. More on that later though; at least the mere mention of upsetting Emperor Empoleon will fix Abomasnow's attitude. And, in spite of his rough efforts, he admitted defeat fairly after training.

Gracious, that was a lot about the newcomers; I introduced a lot of them, huh? Yikes. Anyway, other nice stuff, besides frog-hog kisses: Alakazam and Machamp are actually pretty friendly, and it was fun using both of them. And Weavile, finally, got to showcase more action and attitude; I've been waiting to slide her into a cool character building place. And though he enforces tough methods, it was also nice to show that Empoleon is open to change; glad that I could include that too.

That's all for now. How will Chesnaught and Greninja do going forward, with such annoying new obstacles in the way? How rough was Delphox's training? (Spoilers: very, lol.) And just how will so many new players contribute, if all of them even matter? (Hey, not everyone can be main character material.) More questions to be answered in the coming chapters.

Enough from all that reviewing nonsense on my part. I'd love to hear some reviews or messages from you folks! It's been a while, so I hope you're still following! Comments and criticisms are totally welcome, as are any and all questions. But I've taken far too long, so congratulations on surviving the new longest chapter! That may be broken in the future, but enough for now. Thank you again!