The halls of the guild were silent and dark. Forms of all ages laid in their beds, some snoring, some simply taking heavy breaths. It was a night like the rest, or at least how it has been recently. Not a creature should have been awake, yet this was not the case. Despite the late meetings and his general exhaustion throughout the past few days, the Guild master could not find the time to relax. Tossing and turning, his mind raced. His thoughts were stirring with too many worries. They had been so easily controlled by the Kricketune. If it wasn't for the help of Jake, who knows what may have happened. This didn't reassure him, it only brought about more stress. The Zorua's illusions allowed him to mess with the physical senses, and his Charm ability could mess with the mind, make them obey. He had already demonstrated his capability with just his illusions, now he has shown he can use both at the same time. What could happen if he were to combine them together? Would he be able to mess with someone's perception of time? He could outright force others how they feel, so this was certainly a probability.

If Jake wished it, he could defeat and eliminate them without any issues. If he wished, that is. He wasn't evil, and he certainly wasn't violent. However, he was chaotic and wild. He was dangerous. Dragonite's thoughts turned to what they all agreed on, then back to those powers. The only thing keeping the Zorua from harm was the possibility things could get worse. The Dragonite sat up, shaking his head rapidly. None of the guild were fully willing to trust Jake, even though he clearly didn't have bad intentions. Dragonite knew Jake wasn't a bad person. Strangely, Dragonite felt Jake would understand their caution if they told him. However, he would then almost certainly do something crazy out of spite and inanity. The risk to the world was far too great, but until they knew more, they could do nothing. He had Squared look into the powers as well, even outright asking if he know anything due to his connections. Squared only knows what he has been provided, and he still doesn't know about the prophecy yet, which they hoped to keep it like that if possible. The only thing they knew was from Ayrill's translations, which was slow goings. It said something about an ally turning to evil, and the fact the Kricketune wanted Jake alive was a bad sign. The dragon let out a quiet sigh, slowly shaking his head. There was simply too much at stake to leave in the hands of toddlers. If they could remove their powers safely, then that's the best-case scenario. Jake would be resistant, as would the others without a doubt. They seem to be trusting Jake more and more each day. His childish tendencies have really helped the five of them form a strong friendship, and that was a problem. If they trusted Jake over him, who knows what might happen. Dragonite knew he couldn't split the group apart very easily, or for very long. He had too many duties to properly stick with them. Really, only Even and Rhett were able to consistently watch them, and it took the two together to keep an eye on them. Splitting them apart while not leaving Jake on his own wasn't going to work, was it? He'd have to be given a harmless task or something.

Dragonite put his hand to his forehead. His head pounded somewhat, a minor headache had set in. There were so many things they needed to do and learn. If they couldn't figure something out, the world was in trouble. Dragonite sighed, laying back down. His eyes were wide open, but he could still see nothing. He had another long, early day, and he needed to rest. He had to trust Ayrill would eventually find something out. He closed his eyes and did his best to relax and sleep. When the sun rose and set, more meetings were held. Not much could be said or done at them, but morale had to be kept up somehow. This seemingly unending cycle continued for weeks. Seemingly, that is. Many days had passed since their last important meeting, but that was about to change.

The Guild master's office was darker than normal, the torch barely being lit by blue fire. The blue flames cast a mysterious and beautiful blue light on everything, but it was far less bright than normal fire. It was a sudden meeting Ayrill had called, they didn't have time to light it properly, so Dragonite had simply opted to use his mystical dragon flames to light the torch. Even hadn't even gotten out of his pajamas; a simple silken nightcap which rested gently on his head. His fur was ruffled and unkept. Everyone was miserable, having been woken up at such an awful time. They even managed to wake up the kids, including Jake who was the heaviest sleeper of them all. Luckily, they were all ushered back to bed without incident with the explanation being an emergency meeting which didn't concern the kids. Th office was dark, cramped, and everyone was almost falling asleep on their feet. Ayrill cleared her throat. The sudden noise was barely acknowledged by the guildmembers. Teal- and purple-colored bags sagged under her eyes. It was clear she hadn't slept that night.

"I apologize for the sudden wake up call, but I was doing some research through the night and found something interesting." She stated. She turned to the desk, grabbing a piece of paper. The writing was difficult to read, messy in her haste to copy it. The low lighting only further added to the difficulty. However, she knew what it said and read it without falter.

"The power of mystical energy, one born from gods beyond our realms, dissipates and returns to which it came when the host falls." She stated. The others looked at her in confusion. They didn't quite get it, their minds still far to groggy to think straight. Dilen gestured wildly, begging her to elaborate. Ayrill seemed to get the message and explained.

"It was text explaining what happens when the powers are removed. I guess more powers like this used to exist in the world and handed to their chosen. Anyway, what this means is that we know what will happen if any of them die. It also means we know we can safely remove Jake from the board." Ayrill stated. Some mumbling was heard from the guildmembers before they shook their heads. This news woke them up. They could finally, safely get away with removing him. However, a horrible realization befell them as they realized they somehow had to act on what they were planning. None of them were willing to do the deed. They all figured the day would never come when they learned how these powers worked. For this to be so suddenly thrust upon them was shocking. Their resolve was already weak, and now it would truly be pushed. Dragonite sighed. He least of all wanted to live with the guilt. Jake was one of children he adopted. As chaotic and crazy as Jake was, there was no way he could willingly cause harm to the Zorua. Ayrill seemed to understand everyone's feelings and stated as such.

"I know it's difficult, but the world depends on this. We can't leave him here. We can't let him be a bad influence on the others, either. He's too powerful, too uncontrollable, and too close to others who are at least equally as powerful and dangerous. I-I volunteer myself to do the deed. I am a bit less attached to him than most of you, so it will bother me less. Just give me a few days' time and he will be out of the worlds hands." Ayrill stated. Her voice cracked a bit, but she cleared her throat. The others looked at each other, clearly feeling very guilty about it.

"Th-then I will leave it to you." Dragonite stated. He was out of breath, a lump in his throat formed which caused him pain. This was it, then. In a few days' time, Jake would be no more. It hurt, but it had to be done. Dragonite repeated this to himself over and over, yet he couldn't convince himself this was right.

"This isn't right." A voice told him. He shook his head. He was so tired he was starting to hear voices. He had shaken his head quickly, then slowly, but ultimately stopped as it only made him dizzier than he already was. The blue light flickered as everyone began filing out, before the mystical fire was snuffed out on its own.


A bright light? Is pretty. Warm too. Pretty red, orange, yellow lights. It's a warm rainbow! Oh? Who's this? It look kinda like me, but big. Hey, is something wrong? Huh? Run? Why? Oh? Where're you taking me? Huh? Wha's going on? Why is thi' buildin' falling? Why's there screaming? Magnezone? Wha's going on? I wanna see the big me 'gain. Don't worry? Okay, I won't, but why? Where'm I going? A place to live? But wasn' that my home? Or no? I live with Ms. Marrowak? No, nuh anymore, right? Um? A strange whooshing feeling washed over the small bunny girl as she suddenly found herself lying on a soft hay bed, her friends quietly snoring beside her. She sat next to Jay, who was next to Star, then Ray, and then Squared. She sat up, shaking off some of her bedding that had gotten caught in the fur by her ears. She vaguely recalled the dream she had previously, though it felt distant, like she had viewed it from a distance. She didn't know what was going on, but maybe it meant something. She tapped the side of her head, deciding to remember this. She could ask someone when she was ready to get up for the day. Smiling, she curled up, relaxed. Soon enough she was asleep once again, quietly snorting in a deep, peaceful slumber. Eventually the time came when she woke up for her day. Her friends yawned and stretched beside her, ready for the day. "Maybe we cuh'do another miffon? Yeah! The las' one gettin' berries to the café was so fun! We got tah eat some pie too! Then our badges glowed. It was weird seeing the badge turn pink, but really cool! I like the color. I wis I was pink since it's such a pretty color. The adults said this meant we were 'Normal Rank', wha'ever that mean. I don't 'member. Heehee, I like pink. It my favorite! Uh, color, nuh food. Hehehe, I can't eat oh drink pink. Hehehee, drink pink! Drink pink, drink pink! Heehehehee! Ah well, time for th'day! Heeh!" The young bunny didn't fully understand how many things worked. In all fairness, many of the adults didn't understand either. They knew what they did, but not how they worked, trusting they would work as intended. The bunny stood up with her friends, walking out and having some breakfast. Her usual breakfast meal was an Oran Berry donut, a Big Apple, and a strange almost fuzzy looking veggie the adults called 'broccoli', but it tasted good to her which was more than enough. Even Jay, as a carnivore, seemed to enjoy it. Was it Jake, or Jay? There were too many names to keep track of, she'd have to ask what to call him. For now, he'd be Jay. This thought led to the vague recollection of her dream, something she wished to bring up. Swallowing a chunk of pastry, she dabbed her mouth clean before getting the attention of the adults.

"'Cuse me?" She asked. Dragonite turned his head and gave a loving smile.

"What is it, Nera?" He asked.

"I had a weird dream." She responded.

"Oh, what was it?" Dragonite responded in a slightly higher pitched tone. He had as much interest in this as a parent has in their child's dreams, so not a whole lot, but more than nothing. Nera went on to explain what she saw, and how she didn't really understand it. The dream was still quite fresh in her memory, but as fragmented as the dream already was, most of it would get lost in translation when told by the young child. Regardless of the quality, the end message seemed to ring out loud and clear to the adults, who awkwardly stared at each other. Jake let out a cough, loudly clearing his throat for a few seconds before speaking.

"Does it bother you?" Jay asked. Jay, with his goofy and childlike mind, could understand Nera just a bit better than the adults, knowing what to ask before jumping to conclusions about anything. This was something the other kids noticed when they were all playing together. Nera thought for a moment, putting her paw to her chin and tapping on it like she had seen some of the adults do. This was something Jake found utterly adorable and somewhat amusing, having to turn to hide his smile. Finally deciding on her response, she shrugged.

"I dunno. Nuh really?" Nera responded. She didn't understand enough to be bothered that badly. She wondered if she had said something bad, but before she could ask, Jay had interrupted.

"If- Ahk-hmm, sorry. If it isn't a problem, then I think it's fine. If you have a nightmare again, no. I mean, if you have a nightmare because of it, just be sure to tell us-I mean an adult. Even telling me would be fine. Just wake me if you have a bad dream, okay?" He stated, trying to be gentle towards the end. His naturally loud voice made him sound odd, almost insincere, but that was how he typically was. Nera nodded, unsure of what to think.

"Did-did I say some'ng bad?" She asked. A sad look rested on her face. Several voices rang out, assuring her it was fine.

"It's just, complicated? A bit difficult to explain, at least. I'm not sure how much I can explain. Anyway, it's something I'm sure you'll understand better when you're older." Jay responded. She tilted her head but shook away any confusion. Jake was always honest with the others if he could be. The promise he made to not lie or keep secrets unless it was necessary still held true. When Jay said something was a bit complicated or hard to explain, usually he was right. He even went so far to attempt to explain what data storage was when Nera asked about what Squared was talking about. This, of course, went over all their heads, but the attempt was made. This honesty made Nera trust Jake quite a lot more than she might have otherwise.

She wished she could show him something neat, sometime. He's helped the four of them and shown them some cool things he could do, after all. Jay's been super cool, like a big older brother, but not older. Maybe she could make him some food. Dilen had shown them a few tricks after they asked nicely, something everyone was somewhat surprised with. How did Jay put it, "play to his ego"? She didn't know what that meant, but she learned a few neat things about cooking. Yeah, she decided, that was what she would do. Then she realized she still didn't know i it was Jay or Jake.

"Hey, Jay? Jake?" Nera questioned.

"Uhaungph?" He responded. Seemingly defying the laws of physics, Jake had just stuffed an entire donut into his mouth, whole. There wasn't any room to chew, and it didn't seem that the donut should have even fit in the first place. However, it seemed the only ones who noted the anomaly was Squared and Ayrill, who were too disgusted to bring up the fact. Jake would certainly have found it amazing and hilarious had he known. Forcing an entire donut down his throat, mostly whole, the adult in a toddler's body miraculously didn't suffocate as the large lump traveled into his stomach.

"Ow. Anyway, what is it, Nera?" Jake questioned, tilting his head somewhat.

"What d' we call you 'gain? Jay or Jake?" She wondered, tilting her head as well as putting her paw on her chin. Jake smiled widely, finding her mimicry of the adults completely adorable. A human toddler was adorable, but a bunny toddler was too much. It took him all his willpower to not squeal and shriek in the absolute adorableness that was Nera the bunny toddler. Taking a few deep breaths before he answered, he closed his eyes and held back some laughter.

"Jake. though if it's too confusing, you can call me either. I don't mind either way." Jay responded, smiling widely with an open mouth, showing several chunks of donut stuck to his teeth. His head was tilted at a somewhat deep angle.

"If if's fine, okay!" Nera states, slurring her words slightly as she spoke too quickly. Jake crunched up, feeling and looking like an arrow of cuteness pierced his body. So many Pokémon were so adorable to him, a part of his human mind for the most part. The other adults found Nera adorable, but less so than Jake had. Still, no one would deny how cute the five of them could be at times. Nera tended to be seen as the most adorable to most of the adults, being both the youngest. Soon breakfast was finished, and Nera headed to the running field. Manny was going to time her again, then she'd get a nap. Last time she was at six laps, but she hoped she would improve from there. Merrily hopping and skipping down the hall, she nearly bumped into Ray as she wasn't paying enough attention. However, her speed helped prevent any collision. Ray was heading to class. Math, she noticed. She didn't like math. Into the colossal room considered a large battlefield and racetrack, Manny was already inside and waiting.


"O-okay. R-ready?" Manny questioned. Nera nodded, getting into position. She was going to break her record today, she felt. Her heart was pounding in excitement, she wanted to jump for joy, but she shook her head. She had to concentrate.

"G-gg-go." Manny stated, flying up and away as quickly as he possibly could. This, of course, was useless as the winds created still flung him into a wall on the far side of the room. He was used to it, or getting used to it, at least. Seeing the exhausted form lying on the ground, he slowly wandered over to her. Slowly for him and Nera of course, as his slow pace was still quite a fast jog for most others. The fast bug flew by the side of the tired bunny, who was breathing heavily. She really had pushed herself this time, that much was obvious. Having to wait around for a minute, the Yanma flew to a small wooden pole stuck in the wall. It was a perch made for him back when he was supposed to have this power.

Manny thought about what it would have been like if he had gotten it instead. Being used to traveling quickly meant he would have less problems traveling. As he could fly, this would have meant he wouldn't trip like Nera so often did, skittering and slamming into the wall like Nera so often did. He always made sure to have some bandages around after the first time it happened. Manny shook his head. He couldn't be thinking about that. He wasn't going to wallow in self-pity. The others might be afraid or ashamed of being weaker than the kids, but not him. He already knew he was one of the weakest in the guild. he isn't even the fastest, Argonil was. Their powers changed very little to him.

All that changed was what he had to do. He knew he had to do what was right. He had to train Nera and make sure she and the others were prepared for the battles ahead. This was Manny's strongest suit, what kept such a timid and easily scared bug at the guild. It wasn't his speed. Sure, his speed helped when scouting during explorations, but others would still be better and likely even faster. Manny's greatest strength was understanding his weaknesses. Being the weakest member gave him perspective that the others did not. It made him far wiser than the rest, even if he had a hard time showing it.

While waiting, he thought about the plans the others had made for Jake. Ayrill was mostly sure about what would happen to this power, so they were planning on taking him out on a mission and claiming something happened. He couldn't let that happen. The other guildmembers would understand, he was sure. He would have to warn Jake about it, apologize as well. After training he could do that, he decided. A quiet groaning came from the bunny girl as he quickly rushed to meet with her.

"H-hello. H-how did-d you do?" Manny asked. The Buneary's face was beamed, wider than it had ever been. She had clearly broken her personal best by a large margin.

"Ten!" She stated. From his estimates, she did a lot more than that. However, she could only really count to ten, so this wasn't much of a surprise. They had reached the limit of what they could do until she learned to count higher. Manny buzzed in a joyful, happy sound.

"G-great j-job, N-n-n-n-n-era!" Manny stated. He shook his head, focusing. He could usually focus to keep his stutter under control better, but with how badly his mind was distracted he let it slip somewhat. Nera didn't seem to notice or care, letting out a large yawn. She curled up and fell asleep on the floor. Carefully picking up the little girl, he headed into her room and placed her on the bed second from the left. Only Jake slept in the same bed with any sense of consistency, choosing the far left as his own. It almost felt like there was a reason for the kid's weird habits, but he couldn't quite place what. They often ate in the same pattern as they slept. Is that why? It probably was just an arbitrary detail which had very little significance in the grand scheme of things. Yeah, Manny decided, it was probably just a silly detail which signified something, but nothing extremely important. Quietly, Manny flew out of the room. He had to warn Jake. In the main hall, Ray and Star were being taught by Ayrill, while Seya was standing by some chairs along with Rhett. Flying up to his companions, Manny asked a question.

"Oh h-hey. H-have you s-s-seen J-juh-Jake?" Manny asked. He took a deep breath. He was nervous, but he wasn't going to spend time looking for Jake if he wasn't at the guild at all. No, that would be more suspicious than his stutter being bad. Rhett shook her head.

"No, I was actually going to go find him. Pretty sure he's in the library right now. You wanted to see him, too?" Seya asked. Manny looked to the ground, nervous. With a sudden breath, he nodded. Rhett seemed surprised.

"I-I was going to see him, too! Hey, maybe we can see him togeth-er. Or, uh, you know what, maybe not?" Rhett stated, her voice raising significantly higher near the very end. What was she planning? Manny shook his head. He had a suspicion about it but wasn't going to say anything yet. He looked at Seya. The look in her eyes told him exactly what he thought, and it seemed they were on the same page. It seemed they were all on the same page.

"I think it's fine if we all go together." Seya stated.

"A-agreed." Manny stated. This nervousness was exceedingly bad for his health. He took another deep breath, trying to calm himself. He was disobeying the Guild master, but so were the others. He'd be fine, he was sure of it. They all would, right? Rhett seemed confused, but reluctantly agreed. To the library they went. Jay was looking at a book of filled with Unown runes. Jake looked up, hearing the familiar buzzing of Manny. To his surprise, Seya and Rhett followed in after. A strange group that was. They headed up the steps towards him.

"Hey, Jake. We need to discuss something, guild stuff, so it has to be done privately." Seya stated. She was clearly nervous about something. Rhett bounced up and down.

"Yeah! Oops, I mean, yeah." Rhett stated, shrinking in embarrassment as her loud tone turned some heads their direction.

"Well, Squared's in one of the rooms in the back doing some research on something. Was there anywhere you had in mind?" Jake questioned. They nodded their heads, leading Jake to a small, mostly empty room. It was clearly a supply closet of sorts. However, as soon as Seya closed the door Manny tapped a few points on the back of the wall, opening a tunnel to somewhere. Jake hesitated, but ultimately went with them. Down the unlit corridor, Rhett's ability to see in the dark came in very handy as they wandered. Soon a dim light shone ahead. As they approached, the light didn't seem to get much brighter. When they reached what was at the end, Jake was surprised. From the tunnel, they walked into an extremely large room. Crates on the far left and right corners were stacked in twos, lining the walls for a short distance. The room was lit by a cool bioluminescent blue moss dotted in key areas.

"This is an emergency shelter. It's where we evacuate Pokémon during storms or other disasters, such as when the Golem attacked." Seya explained. Jay nodded, still a bit surprised by the room. It was massive, easily able to hold the entire town's population and more!

"Hello?" He called out. His voice echoed somewhat, but all it really did was cause the moss to grow brighter.

"The moss absorbs sound and uses it as energy, some of which is let out as light, as you can see." Seya explained, gesturing towards the walls. A big goofy smile formed on Jakes face. This was honestly interesting to him. Strange things like this had always fascinated him somewhat, more as an adult than as a kid, though. Jake shook his head, however. He needed to know why they were there and asked as such. The three of them shared glances, before Seya spoke up.

"The guild has had plans for you... Big plans..."


Ray and Star were staring at a piece of paper, trying to figure it out. It was just basic math, but this was a bit harder than anything than had done previously. They had just learned to count to fifty, so they now had some tough math to do. The two of them were the oldest physically, and thus were required to do harder questions.

"Thirteen plus seven." Ray thought, mouthing the words. The numbers were big and weird to him. While far from being stupid, math was very clearly not his strong suit. English wasn't either. He was quite advanced with history, however, being several years ahead in that aspect. He had to be, he felt, if he wanted to work at the Dragonite Guild as an explorer. If he wanted to be an explorer, though, he needed to be able to do this math. He could figure these questions out, he knew. He just needed a bit of time.

"Uh, three and seven make ten? But ten and thirteen, no. That's wrong. Uh, hmm Thirteen, fourteen, and fifteen when you add three to thirteen. Right, then there's five more. Sixteen, Seventeen, Eighteen, Nineteen, Twenty. Twenty? Okay." Ray thought to himself. Writing down his answer, he moved to the next one. He glanced over to Star, who seemed to be staring at the paper absentmindedly. He seemed to be doing as poorly as Ray was.

"Next. Uh, oh. Uh, seventeen plus eleven? Ugh. Uh, eighteen is one. Nineteen is two..." His thoughts continued until he managed to reach an answer he was satisfied with. This continued until the two of them had finished. They were mentally exhausted, needing to take a nap soon. Ayrill looked over their tests, marking something down before handing them back. It took about a minute. Ray had managed to get six of the ten right, as had Star. He smiled widely. He was doing better than he had previously. The two of them were dismissed for a long nap. Ray yawned widely, exhausted. Nera was there, sleeping soundly. Ray was glad he was done learning for the day. Nera would be in class next, and she and Jay would probably be learning to read.

Jay had all but given up on it, stating it was obvious he couldn't learn it due to their brains being too weird, or something. What was it, again? "Pokémon as a whole think different" he said? Ray shrugged, not truly bothered by it. Ray didn't get why their brains were so different, but Jay said that being from a different world made him have a weird brain, since it was so different than everywhere else. It was complicated, but Ray understood that Jay was different and thought different, that's all he needed to know. He closed his eyes and drifted off to a deep slumber, ready for some training with Cole. Soon enough the time came when he woke from his nap. Star was still clearly asleep, and he knew better than to wake Mr. Grouchy Rocks from a nap. Nera seemed to be gone as well.

Silently, he headed out and down into the room where Cole was waiting. He had to sit underneath a large pool of acid for as long as he could. He had been holding his breath even better, getting up to well over fifteen minutes in the last one. He was excited to see how long he could last. He improved each time, so hopefully he would reach sixteen minutes! Ray stepped into the bath, not even feeling the acid. It was like a warm bath to him, not even singing his fur at all. Wading deeper, he sat down, entering a cross-legged pose. He closed his eyes and meditated. Cole advised that moving as little as possible would help his breath last longer, and that was what he would do. Ray sat down, closing his eyes and thought. He was being trained by Cole, the famous Treecko explorer of the Dragonite Guild! A few months ago, he would have said he wouldn't be there for several years. He knew he'd get in eventually; he'd try and try again if he failed, but for it to so soon was thrilling! Every day was a dream come true!

His parents were famous explorers, too. Well, they used to be anyway. They had gotten hurt in a large fire in Dune Town. He came from a long history of explorers, dating back to before the outlaw thingy many years ago. He barely remembered anything about the fire that took his parents. Star would probably remember it better, as he was a bit older. Stars parents might be alive, though, Marrowak stated this, though she said he shouldn't worry about it too much. If they return then they return, she said. No one really knows who or where Stars parents are, though. He was just left on the doorstep of the building one day, a while before any of them met up. Squared was just weird. He just showed up, completely lost and confused. He said he had a 'neural network error' or something? Ray had no idea what that meant, but he knew Squared lost most of his memories from before aside from an occasional flash of something. All that they knew was Squared was a kid like them. Ray's thoughts continued, chaining together in cohesive, if strange and random, directions.

Eventually he felt his lungs start to hurt. Recognizing the feeling, Ray surfaced. He looked towards Cole, who simply nodded, showing Ray a piece of paper with his time on it. He had done it, by quite a large margin as well! Twenty minutes, fifteen seconds was a huge improvement, all because he stopped swimming through the acid. Ray was smiling, excitedly tackling Cole with a hug. Ray was always enthused when he improved himself in some ways. Acid splashed onto the Treecko. His eyes winced slightly, but otherwise he didn't react. Ever the stoic, Cole quietly pushed Ray away. Ray realized what he had done and sputtered and mumbled for a bit, embarrassed by his outburst. Ray bowed deeply, letting out several apologies. Ray, as always, was quite respectful, though he was a bit enthusiastic with his training. Cole couldn't help but feel his lips twitch into a slight smile. Ray walked to the field and began working on his martial arts abilities. He had some control over his aura, but with enough focus he could do much more. He almost is good enough to use force palm! Given some more training, he bet he could even use Aura Sphere, something most Riolu can't because it's too taxing on their body. With him, though, he was tough enough he knew he should be able to when he's stronger and more skilled. Until then, he honed his instincts and aura.


Star yawned, stretching his arms widely. Looking to the sides, he noticed both Nera and Ray had woken and left already. Not too surprising, Star knew how tired he was, Ray was an overachiever so of course he would get up earlier, and Nera had already been asleep. With a final yawn, Star stood up. Dragonite was going to show him a few moves like dragon dance. He doubted he would figure it out right away but being abler to move faster combined with his already immense strength would be useful. He wouldn't need Nera to carry him anywhere if he could learn it. Still, having the others around did make fighting easier for him. Even Jake, who didn't have a power directly useful in combat, was still weirdly capable. He even showed star a few things he could do, like tearing chunks of rocks from the ground to act as shields from incoming projectiles or causing a minor earthquake to trip up foes. If it wasn't for him, no one would have guessed Star could direct his power to a wider or smaller area as he wished. Plus, he was extremely fun at times, when he wasn't being annoying or weird, or both. Squared was kind of a mix of the two, but slightly more okay. Probably because Squared was smart, he knew how to not be annoying. He was fine with Nera. She was energetic and dumb sometimes, but he liked that, oddly. He wasn't entirely sure why, though. He shook his head. He was getting distracted. He had a dragon to watch. No matter how long it took, he would get stronger. He'd be the strongest, so his parents could find him. He didn't know who they were, just that they were out there, and that was enough. Pressing forward, Star acknowledged Dragonite with a nod. The dragon smiled, slowly nodding back.

"Ready to observe?" He asked. Star simply stared. Taking that as a yes, Dragonite stretched him limbs, readying himself. he shifted his feet in an almost circular motion, twisting his left leg in front of his right, but suddenly jerked them back to their original position. He did it again, only his right leg went in front. Once he jerked them back, nothing seemed to happen. Star was visibly confused by this.

"Why did nothing happen?" Star asked.

"You have to do it quickly. I was doing it slowly so you could see the motions. In full, it looked like this." Dragonite stated, doing the move properly this time. At the proper speed, the strange shuffle did look like a dance of some kind. Star nodded, mimicking what he had seen. He ended up nearly tripping but had managed not to fall. The small rock monster kept practicing the draconic shuffle until he felt he had the moves right. Next came the hard part, channeling the energy required to use the move. This part would take up most of their time, they both knew. Still, Star was determined to learn. He did the shuffle, concentrating on his energy. Much like with rock throw, he focused on conjuring that mystical energy, but in a different way than he usually did. An hour passed, and with little success. Star felt his stomach gurgle as he was getting hungry. It was still a way away from lunch, but the kids needed their snacks. Heading to the dining room, he silently noted being the first there. The room was quiet, peaceful for a time. That is until Jake came around, loudly talking to Nera.

"Sometimes I really hate her. I can't read these things. My brain doesn't work that way." He stated. Nera nodded her head, smiling. It seemed Jake was more than a bit frustrated by Ayrill trying to teach him to read. Reading was easier than Star thought initially, so why is a fully grown adult struggling? It was like Unown runes to him or something. He was pretty sure that's how Jake described it, anyway. "Different world, different brain" is how he summed it up. It made sense, in a way. Who knows how different humans were from Pokémon, anyway? Still, something annoyed Star more than usual. Star wasn't sure why. Maybe it had to do with Nera? Star wasn't sure yet, so kept it to himself. A few moments later Ray showed up, shortly followed by squared. A few apples were placed neatly on the table. Something light, but still tasty. Sitting down, the children ate their snacks, thoroughly enjoying the taste of the juicy red apples. In a few hours it would be lunch, until then he would continue with learning Dragon Dance. After that he was going to practice a few other moves like rockslide. Star knew that would be far easier than Dragon Dance. He just had a few things left to get right. He had been practicing it for far longer than Dragon Dance, after all. Once the snack was consumed, he headed down to the Power Room, as the children called it. Power Room, Large Training Field, and the Pain Chamber they had all decided on calling them. Dragonite was there, waiting for his return.

"Okay, ready to try again?" Dragonite asked. Star folded his arms indignantly.

"Of course." Star responded. He was more than ready for this. Give him a few months and he'd have it figured out, no problem. Then when he grew up his parents would easily find him. There's no way they couldn't.

"Okay, remember, focus the energy flowing around your body. It should feel like a warmth rushing through your body." Star nodded. They had been over this more than once before, but Star didn't mind. He felt he was smart enough to know that it took effort to learn new things. He was willing to put in this effort to achieve his goals, anything it took, no matter how long it took. He was going to learn how to use the move, and he'd be acknowledged by everyone as the greatest and strongest, so his family would find him and acknowledge him as the greatest and strongest. However, he had to work for this, otherwise it wouldn't be worth it. He had to prove beyond a doubt that he earned it, so no one could accuse him of laziness. He was going to work for it, he promised himself. No shortcuts, he told himself. Nothing was going to stop him.


It didn't make sense. Squared knew a lot of things, but this didn't make sense. No, it made sense, but he didn't get what it meant. This prophetic statement wasn't a prediction, but a riddle. Perhaps it was both, but why? Why couldn't oracles be a bit more straight forward? To ensure things never got figured out? This was an extraordinary pain the CPU. What did this riddle prophecy even mean? He couldn't ask Ayrill, since he wasn't even supposed to see this. Nera wouldn't be much help, and Ray might tell on him. Jake wasn't bad at riddles; he would have to help him with it. Squared knew without a doubt Jake would want to hear this, anyway. Going over the words once more, he dug deep into his processors once again.

When the shadow falls, darkness rises

If the shadow shatters, all will fall

Shadow's strength is life

Shadows corrupt, haste will take hold

Shadows to hold, haste shall soon falter

He didn't get it. It was gibberish! This was just one part of the entire gibberish, too! Ugh, it was nonsense. Maybe Jake can't do anything, either. Still, he had to figure this out. Jake would be back to the library soon, he knew. Squared would have to ask him. He couldn't tell anyone else, aside from maybe Star which would do very little good in solving this gibberish puzzle. A knock on the door snapped him out of the trance he was in.

"Yes?" He questioned.

"It's me." The voice responded. Perfect timing, he thought. Utilizing a portion of his psychic power, the Porygon opened the door a small amount, closing it behind his friend as soon as he was clear. Jake looked at Squared with a lot of worry.

"You're unusually riled up. I can practically see the gears in your head smoking." Jake joked. Squared looked towards his friend and began a small rant.

"That's because the oracles who wrote this stuff thousands upon thousands of years ago thought it'd be funny if they wrote everything in riddles. Sure, why not? It's not like anyone will ever count on this weird prophecy to survive. It's only the fate of the world, let's make sure no one can figure out what in the world I was saying! It's as if they wanted everything to go wrong!" Squared shouted. The Zorua stood still, shocked by his outburst.

"Yeesh, sorry?" Jake questioned. Squared sighed.

"No, it's- I'm sorry. It's just frustrating. I have memorized everything I could get my psychic powers on. Most riddles are easy to deduce, but this makes no sense. If I use synonyms, I am left with several trillion possibilities. I didn't mean to rant, I apologize. I was just, blowing off steam for lack of a better term." Squared stated, bowing down.

"It's fine. Just show me this riddle and I'll see what I can do." Jake responded. Indeed, it looked like gibberish. The best guess Jake had was that the first "Shadows" in a few referred to himself. Thus, if he fell, it meant the darkness, evil in that case, would rise. However, he didn't know what it all meant, as he didn't think he'd be corrupted. He could use illusions to stop himself from even needing to be there. Perhaps it meant something else? Corrupted, changed, broken to the point of not being recognizable?

"So, you're saying, when you fall, evil will rise. Holding on means the world will live, but 'shattering' will end it. Makes sense so far. But what about haste?" Squared asked.

"Nera." Jake responded. This was not an angle he had thought of, however it was entirely possible. The two seemed to agree on this, however. Jake was going to be badly hurt, and Nera would save him. However, if he wasn't, Nera would 'falter'. The two of them didn't exactly like that, but if that's what it took to keep Nera alive, then it would have to be that way. Jake didn't know how he found this prophecy, however. When pressed, Squared didn't exactly elaborate. This told Jake all he needed to know.

"Well, make a copy and return it, Ayrill won't be happy if she knows what you've done." Jake stated. Squared cringed, mentally doing a facepalm. He forgot he could make a perfect copy! Grabbing some blank papers, it took less than a few seconds before an exact copy was made. Jake nodded.

"If you find something weird, I'll be out here, verbally translating some Unown runes for Dragonite." Jake stated. Squared nodded, watching as Jake headed out once again. This left squared barely past square one, but it was a start.

"Okay, next bit. Haste to harm or hide will fail. Mind the mind or find the mind is darkness. Shadow the corrupted, the bastion of final hope. Okay, no more today. It's too much. Ugh. I think I shall take a break for now." Squared stated. Whatever this was, he would have it all translated by sundown. The hard part will be figuring out what everything is. Haste was Nera, but to harm? Harm, hurt, pain, getting hit hard-oh. Harm must be Star. Hide? Hidden away, not there, missing, or possibly gone? No, none of those work. It's impossibly tough- Hide, leather, durable outer coating, it had to be Ray. Nera to Star, or Ray will fall? That made more sense, but how? Fall literally or fall figuratively? Nera to Star, in what ways? He could only hope time would tell, as there were still far too many possibilities.

Squared was mostly confident he was this 'mind', but 'the mind is darkness'? As far as he was aware, he wasn't evil. Still, perhaps he would omit this to the others? No. There might be another possibility he wasn't thinking of. He had to show Jake at some point. Shadow was Jake, and corrupted meant injured. That means when he's horribly hurt, he's the last hope of the world? That was far more straight forward than the others. A glance at the future revealed some truly bizarre sentences. Squared sighed, knowing it was going to be a long day.


What an amazing day this had been. He had some fun with some Pokémon, ran from the police, and caused mass havoc everywhere he went! Even the meeting when it was nearing a full moon wasn't a bother to him. He was happy as someone like him could possibly be. As he arrived at the usual portion of the sand swept wastes, he noticed one of his allies was missing.

"Where's-"

"Out. Now, let's get to the point right away. We have some information regarding the Zorua. In a few days from now, he is to be eliminated by the guild on the day of the full moon." The purple wisp stated. This was a surprise to the majority, but not the pale Zoruark, who simply shrugged.

"I know about that. I say we send in the Super Smash Bozos over there." He stated, pointing to three figures, laughing at his own taunting. A quick dark type with a sharp, icy stare and even sharper claws, a lizard thug whose shed skin hung around his ankles, and the aggressive red sandy crocodile looked mildly offended.

"Is that truly necessary? Surely one of them would suffice-"

"We can't coordinate fast enough, as you should be aware. If any of you fail, then it will be too late. The full moon rises, and that is our deadline. My powers will corrupt him far easier when the moon is full. Anything less and he has a chance. We can accept nothing less." The purple wisp responded. Two of the three grumbled, not happy at the prospect of working with each other. The other simply stared at the ground in silence.

"Do not let me down. If you are able, eliminate the four others. If you find yourselves unable to accomplish this, then you know exactly what you should do. Remember the plan and stick to it." The purple wisp stated, suddenly disappearing.

"This was the quickest meeting ever. Hahah! I love it! I should have some time to go back to town and cause a bit more mayhem before the day's over! Hehehahahah!" The Zoroark laughed, disappearing into the night. The Kricketune looked at the others leaving, deeply bowed. A moment later he rushed off and left the three team members to do as they would.

"Well, at least I get to sink my claws into some action." The Weavile stated. She held her claws up to the moonlight, smiling wickedly.

"Stay out of the way and we'll do fine, Eva." Krookodile growled.

"Oh? Do you not want me to break a claw, Krood?" Eva questioned.

"No. I want you to stay out of my way." The moon was high in the sky, lighting up the scene of the two dark types quite well. It was good they were in the middle of nowhere, or they would have been spotted quite easily. With how much bounty was on each of their heads, none of them could afford to be reckless. That didn't stop most of them, however. All of them viewed their bounties as a badge of honor, working to raise it even higher than any of the others. It was a game to the vile group.

Eva laughed harshly, stating "Let me have some fun, will you? Unlike you, I like to play with my food. Besides, this Zorua seems quite interesting. I'd never heard Arcana compliment anyone, after all. Krickitune's glowing review of his ability only made me more curious. I am just dying to see what the fuss is about. What about you, Scar?" Eva stated. The Scrafty sighed, kicking up a bit of sand. A deep scar ran across one of his cheeks, cutting deeply into his mouth. Without a word, he nodded.

"Oh good, then let's not waste time. Tomorrow we make our way for the Dragonite Guild. Don't be late." Eva stated in a sing song tone. This was going to be an interesting day for the three of them, and they were all looking forward to it.


/ / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / / /

There are around 3 or 4 different perspectives here. Thus, we gain some insight on what everyone thinks of each other! So this is mostly filler, but some plot stuff happens, and backstory, too! Honestly, I have some idea as to where this will go for once! Somehow... Anyway, this was mostly to provide a bit of filler as I planned things out a bit, and to help explain a few things which will happen in the future so they don't just come off as sudden and rushed story beats. Gotta provide a bit more foreshadowing than a single line, after all.