Ch.97: The Forgotten Sky Zone! Home of the Idol of Origin!

The occupants of the Wasteland braced themselves as the airship rose through the swirling, multicolored vortex in the sky. From all sides, the storm surrounded them as if the ship sailed in the center of a tornado. Vibrations and shockwaves shook the ship side to side, back and forth, up and down. The sky variant of a powerful earthquake.

"Hold her steady, Jones!" Arid yelled, clinging for dear life to the railing.

"A-Aye, Captain!" Jones yelled back, desperately gripping to the ship's wheel.

The collective Team Ravenfield held onto each other on the main deck. Gwyn, Ambrosine, and Alex followed Flint's example and managed to tie themselves to the ship's masthead for extra security. The rest either held each other or gripped onto whatever was bolted down into the ship.

Wes groaned and covered his mouth. "I-I'm getting airsick."

Garret flinched. "Keep yourself together, Wes. We'll ride this out soon enough."

"H-How long will that be?!" Ella yelled with her legs coiled around the railing.

Ava glared up at the vortex. "The storm's getting stronger near the top. We might be nearing the end soon."

Ambrosine groaned, keeping her hands gripped around her security line. "This isn't good for my heart." She looked down at the security ropes and noticed they were briefly rising in the air. She wanted to write it off as the intense vibrations knocking them up, but they almost seemed to be floating before plopping back on the floor. "Hmm?"

The intercom buzzed from Jones' control console. He used the arms on his shoulders to reach down and grab the mic. "What is it?"

"We've got everything secured and bolted down below deck, but barely. What's going on up there?" Banama yelled.

"Just stay put and try not to move around too much. We'll be out of the storm before you know it." He put the mic back and continued focusing on keeping the ship stable.

The gravity generators pushed as hard as they could against the storm, fighting back against the pressure slamming down on the Wasteland. As earlier indicated by Ava, black storm clouds with multicolored lightning floated above them where the magic permeated strongest. Without a doubt, it was the exit into the new dimension.

Jeffery squawked as the storm clouds came within range of the crow's nest. "Breaching! Breaching!" He grabbed a tarp and covered himself as the masthead pierced through the clouds.

Everyone covered their heads as the ship began its passage into the new dimension. The storm swallowed up the masthead, traveling down to the sails, and soon found its way around the airship. The ships' occupants tensed up as the strong magic tingled harmlessly through their bodies. When they peeked through their arms, they found themselves within the black clouds, yet they weren't nearly as obscuring as they expected. They could all see each other just fine with the help of the crackling magic surging through.

Once the hull of the ship finally passed through, the vibrations ceased. The trembling and quaking pounded through everyone faded out, returning them to a sense of normalcy. After a few seconds of waiting, everyone untensed themselves and sat up to fully observe their surroundings.

"Oh my," Willow gasped. She held her paw out as a bolt of multicolored lightning zapped past her. The bolt passed through her foreleg, yet didn't leave a scorch mark. "It kind of tickles."

Garret stood up and glared. "The passive magic in the air has taken on a visible form. This world…it carries the same energy as the ten keys, but magnified in presence. This entire world was created from the idol and matured through several millennia without Pokémon interference."

Tony picked himself and Indigo off the floor. "Fascinating. Totally worth having my organs liquified."

Wes stood up, still shaking from the skyquakes. "Ugh…I'm just glad we're not being attacked by killer magical beasts or whatever." He looked around. "Still, there's so much magic in the air that I can barely tell where to start looking."

Garret squinted. "I can kind of sense a strong focal point of magic in the distance." He pointed right of the airship. "Jaime, we need to go that way."

Arid picked himself up. "Roger. Jones, take us to the—" He looked at his helmsman and frowned. Jones gripped tightly to the wheel, struggling to crank it with a panicked look in his eyes. "Jones, what's wrong?"

"C-Captain, something's wrong with the steering. The gravity generators aren't responding normally."

"What? Why's that?"

"I don't know. It's like something's wrong with the ship, but it was working just fine a moment ago."

Willow walked up to the stairs. "What's going on up there?"

As Ella finally untangled herself from the railing, she turned to Wes and shot him a puzzled glare. "Uh, Wes?"

"Hmm?" He glanced at her. "Something wrong?"

She pointed at herself. "Your…hat's floating."

"Huh?" He looked up and saw his prized fedora levitating away from his head. He yelped and pulled it back onto his head. However, just as he did, his paws slipped away from the floor. He scrambled, lightly scratching into the boards as he floated an inch off the ground. "What's going on?!"

Griffin dug his claws down and glared. "Is the gravity here lighter?"

Ambrosine looked at the security lines again and saw they were rising off the floor, but they weren't dropping like last time. "Even if the gravity was lighter, things shouldn't be just floating up unprompted like this."

Indigo grabbed onto the railing as she started rising off the floor. "Maybe there's something above dragging us into the sky."

Alex glared up for a moment, then his face twisted into a horrified expression. "Don't tell me…"

Flint winced. "I don't like the way you said that."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out a coin in his fist. He held his arm out, took a deep breath, and opened his fingers. The coin slipped from his palm and flew up, disappearing among the clouds. That alone prompted the Scrafty to throw his back against the masthead and tightened his security line. "The gravity's not weaker here. It's exactly like our realm's gravity!"

Gwyn gasped. "Wait, are you saying…?!"

The Wasteland breached through the clouds, and everyone's eyes widened in horror at the mountainous terrain of black rocks above their heads. Clinging harder into the ship, everyone screamed in unison:

"The ship's upside-down!"

Upon passing through the portal, the Wasteland had entered a world completely inverted in orientation to their realm, where what was once the sky was now an endless range of mountains and gray earth. With the gravity generators still set to raising the ship, they were instead pushing the flipped ship toward the earth. The further they moved away from the vortex, the stronger the dimension's gravitational field took hold over them.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" Everyone clung to the ship as it became fully susceptible to the inverted gravity and plummeted toward the ground.

Jones dug his clawed feet into the floorboards and cranked the wheel. "I can't reorientate the ship!"

"Isn't there something on here to save us from capsizing?!" Arid yelled.

"I never anticipated we would be flipped a hundred eighty degrees in an instant! They don't teach this shit in boating school!"


The Desert Beasts below deck found themselves floating the air, feeling the ship suddenly being turned over. Supplies came loose from the floor and bounced around in the air while the crew flailed about trying to hold onto something.

"This isn't how I wanted to die!" Tyrone screamed.

Drake plunged his katanas into the wall to anchor himself. "We need to fix the ship upright!"

"How are we supposed to do that while we're plummeting to our deaths?!" Malcom yelled.

Lyra dove for Banama and hugged him for dear life. The Raichu glared and pointed at Ray, who was holding onto the laser cannon controls. "Ray, do you think you can maximize the power of the cannons and force the ship to flip itself around?"

Ray pulled himself back into his seat. "Theoretically, yes, but it could drain all the power if I attempt that. There's no guarantee it would work, either."

"It's better than dying!"

"Fair!" He pulled himself into the seat and strapped himself down. "Call the captain!"


Back up top, everyone anchored themselves to the ship and covered themselves against the high winds rushing into them. Gusts of dust and crackles of lightning shot around the ship. Eventually, they started to pick up speed, causing their bodies to press into the ship's floor.

Ava growled, trying to pick herself up. "W-We need to do something!"

"Like what exactly?!" Tony yelled.

"You're usually the one coming up with oddball schemes!" Ella snapped.

"They don't usually involve me being stuck in a careening airship!"

"This is not the time or place to be arguing!" Gwyn yelled while holding Flint and Ambrosine in a death hug.

Arid crawled up to the ship controls when he heard the intercom buzz. He reached up and plucked it off the receiver. "Captain speaking! How's everything below deck?"

"Captain, it's Ray! Banama said I should fire the laser cannons at max power and generate enough force to flip the ship around!"

"That's insane! There's no way that would work!"

"The alternative isn't looking any favorable, Captain!"

Arid groaned. "Point made. Do what you can!" He hung up and pulled himself toward the stairs. "Listen up! Ray's gonna try and blast the ship back into position! He's going to need all the help he can get!"

Garret pushed himself off the floor and glared. "I could use a Warp Pad to give an extra push."

Wes picked himself up, too. "S-Same here!"

Ava grabbed the railing and stood up. "Ella and I can stabilize the ship with our telekinesis and assist!"

"Not like I have a choice!" Ella yelled as she stood.

Arid summoned up black sand around his gauntlet. "Along with a little extra power from me, we might be able to save ourselves from a crash. Everyone else, brace for impact!"

Everyone grabbed hold of the ship and tensed up. Wes and Garret dove off the ship and rocketed themselves up to the hull with Warp Pad while Ella and Ava flew within their psychic fields. They braced themselves against the wind pressure wrapping around the careening vessel, nearly sending them flying in the updraft.

"Whoa!" Wes formed a Warp Pad above himself to stop. "This is nuts!"

Garret swooped by and snatched Wes by the paw. "Pour everything you can into your spell, son! We need to give this ship a good kick!"

"Aye, Dad!"

Ava and Ella dove parallel to the falling ship. Nodding to each other, they extended their hands/paws at the ship and grunted as psychic energy flared from their eyes. The psionic field wrapped itself around the main body, but the physical strain hit the duo hard. The combined weight plus the speed of the fall made it difficult, if not impossible, to catch the ship and drag it to a stop. Though their minds were unprepared to handle the burden, they flooded all they could offer and attempted to spin the vessel upright.

Wes and Garret bounced around the sky to build up momentum, angled their bodies, and rocketed straight into the hull. They stretched out their hindlegs and delivered powerful dive kicks with magic flaring from their paws. Giant Warp Pads appeared from the impact, and the father-son duo threw a flurry of kicks into it, transferring the shock into the ship to spin it back into position.

The hull hatches opened on the same side as the Ravenfield duo. Laser cannons poked out and aimed straight down. Magic crackled across the barrels, channeling into a focused point at the tip. Upon reaching critical build up, the cannons fired powerful wide beams, slamming the ship with the intended recoil.

The combined efforts caused the Wasteland to shake once more. Team Ravenfield and Arid gripped onto tightly to the ship with their heads low. Jones kept standing at the wheel, cranking it with the flow of the recoil. He cranked up the power of the gravity generators on the one side to assist with the flipping.

"Jones!" Arid yelled.

'I'm giving it everything I've got, Captain!" he yelled back.

Wes and Garret increased the ferocity of their attacks, striking harder and faster into the giant Warp Pads. Ella and Ava growled as sweat dripped down their faces. Their psychic energy blazed fiercely off their bodies, and the veins in their foreheads tensed with their concentration. Ray continuously poured all he could through the laser cannons, pushing them to their maximum efficiency.

"Come on…come on!" Wes shouted.

"Keep at it, son!" Garret yelled.

"I'm…going to pass out!" Ella growled.

"We're almost there! Keep it together!" Ava encouraged.

Though all parties felt the strain of their efforts, it wasn't without results. Slowly, the ship's hull tilted back. A gradual shifting that brought the ship out of its hundred eighty position, now reaching back at a hundred thirty-five, soon to be a complete ninety degree rotation.

Jones continued turning the wheel, and he gasped with relief as he felt the internal mechanisms ease up. "I'm getting control back!"

Arid, now hanging at a ninety-degree angle, looked at the fast-approaching ground and gasped at the closeness of the mountains. "We're not going to stop in time! We're going to crash!"

Jones' eyes widened. He looked around at the controls and the airborne Ravenfield group. Seeing how close they were to impacting the earth, he grabbed the intercom and flipped the dial. "Attention, everyone! We're about to crash! Brace yourselves!"

Hearing Jones' call, the airborne Team Ravenfield ceased their efforts and dove back onto the ship, Wes and Garret joined by Flint's group, where the Flareon wrapped his Guardian's arms around them. Ella and Ava landed back on the ship with Ava shielding the Espeon under her arms.

Jones dropped the intercom and pushed up the gravity generator controls. "I'm going to steer us to safety, Captain! Hang on!"

He gave the wheel a hard spin as the generators flared up across the hull. Though the ship wasn't perfectly upright, Jones steered into the mountain range, avoiding the jagged peaks. He slammed the hull into the slope and turned with the angle. The ship raced down across the mountain slopes, scraping up the gravity generators and sending the Wasteland flying down like an unmanned toboggan.

Everyone screamed as the ship made small hops off rocks in their path, which translated into them bouncing off the floor and crashing onto their faces. They smashed through rock spires with pieces of the hole being ripped off across the rough terrain. It bounced off mountain slopes, suddenly throwing them in a new direction down the path.

Jones stomped his foot down and cranked the wheel as hard as he could. "YAAAAAAAA!"

Though damaged, the gravity generators heeded Jones' request and sparked to life one last time at full blast. The ship made a sharp turn across the slope and darted into a patch of spires. It crashed through the front cluster, but the last jump from the generators offered the much-needed brakes the Wasteland desperately sought.

The ship slowed to a crawl in the rock spires before coming to a complete stop. The hull waned across the uneven surface and tilted onto its left side. Fortunately, the nest of spires pressed into the hull and offered the counterbalance to keep its barely docked in place. The ship groaned from its new scars, but remained standing against all odds.

Jones, standing paralyzed at the wheel with a death grip over it, collapsed onto his knees with a heavy sigh. He wiped his brow of briny sweat and laughed awkwardly. "S-See? I told you I had everything under control."

Everyone on and below deck lay sprawled out across the ship, someone looking sicker than others. Even Arid ended up getting thrown off the quarterdeck and landing with the others. Gwyn lay atop Flint and Ambrosine, her eyes spinning inside her skull. "Look at all the swirly clouds~…" She went limp and fainted.

Arid massaged his throbbing head. "Where…did you even get your sailing license, Jones?"

Griffin heaved himself over the railing, looking greener in the face than normal. "If I live after today, I'm…never flying in an airship ever again!"

Indigo helped herself and Tony to their feet, patting the nauseous Dewott on the back. "I wouldn't make promises too soon," she groaned. "We need to do that again to get out of here, remember?"

"…" Griffin hung his head. "Suddenly wishing I was fighting another zombie horde…"


With the Wasteland heavily damaged from the crash, the combined groups of Team Ravenfield and the Desert Beasts continued their journey through the new realm on foot. Indigo carried Callie on her back, keeping her secured in her shadows. Garret led the way, honing in on the faint position of the idol across the spectrum of magic flooding the atmosphere.

The large group took in the sights around them, from the prismatic lightning shoot from the storm clouds to the imposing black rocks towering above them. The gray earth molded against their feet like a firm clay. Partial bits of the sky revealed themselves through the storm clouds, spotting its dark blue hue.

Flint's eyes shimmered in awe, his attention flying from one sight to another. "This is incredible. An entire dimension hidden within the skies of Mysto! Unconquered and unexplored by Pokémon kind for thousands of years. Imagine the kind of materials that formed under these intense conditions. Think of the potential to cultivate this land for the future!"

Gwyn giggled. "Flinty, you're drooling."

Willow grimaced and kept her head low. "I don't know about the rest of you, but this place gives me the creeps. This entire dimension was twisted under the effects of the idol?"

Garret glared. "No one could've predicted what the idol was capable of all those years ago. Because Apollo disposed of it, it vanished into myth. If I had to guess, the idol is giving off an intense radiation that warped this pocket dimension over the several millennia. I don't think even Apollo could've predicted something like this happening. If he did intend to just keep it in a handmade pocket dimension, the idol radiated its power to encompass all of Mysto. This entire dimension could be the size of Mysto."

Ella frowned. "All that power, and it had to go somewhere."

"Magic mutated Mysto's land over the last five hundred years due to interference from Pokémon. Perhaps the region sensed the wills of the many and created biomes to suit the many. This…Sky Zone is just an expanse of power. I can't begin to imagine what Mysto would look like if the idols' power assimilated with the region."

Arid grunted. "Then how about you focus on getting us to the idol instead of flapping your lips?"

Garret smirked over his shoulder. "Patience, Jaime."

"The longer we take, the sooner the shadows will catch up to us."

Graham looked back. "Though, it doesn't look like they've come through the portal yet."

Indigo shook her head. "I don't sense them, either."

"Unless they're using that cloaking spell that bypassed our detection range," Tony reminded. He walked backwards and widened his artificial eye. "Though, I don't see much of anything aside from the ominous, prismatic portal in the sky."

"Don't…underestimate them," Callie whispered. "Apollo's no fool. If this dimension was designed by him, he has enough of an idea what to expect despite the thousands of years of change. He is a man driven by a singular purpose. We have not a moment to waste."

Tony glared at her. "Don't be so dramatic. We're not letting them lay a fingertip on it."

"Don't say I haven't warned you."

Banama glared. "Have we come up with a plan for when we get the idol?"

Alex crossed his arms. "The idol's power is too tempting for most mortals. It's why Apollo was the only one allowed to wield it."

Tony raised his hand. "Technically speaking, he was granted usage of it because he was the only one strong willed enough and knowledgeable in magic to properly wield it. I can't say much for the corruptive tendencies, but a skilled magician should be able to wield it."

Garret nodded. "In that case, I'll use it."

Wes hastened to his side. "But Dad, I thought you didn't want to mess with that power."

"I never wanted to go looking for the idol, but my damn curiosity got the better of me. Besides, I'm older and wiser than when I first learned of its existence. I'll just banish the shadows and see if I can undo the corruption left behind on Mysto. After that, I'm destroying it."

Ava's eyes widened. "Destroy it?"

"It's way too powerful to continue existing."

"But you can't destroy magic. It's the gods' power!"

"Maybe not, but I can send it somewhere so that it's completely unreachable to everyone. Us, the shadows, the entire plausible multiverse if necessary. No one should have that much power, and it certainly can't exist for someone else to take and misuse."

Griffin crossed his arms. "I'm in agreement. Destroying it is for the best."

Gwyn frowned. "Don't you think that's a little extreme? That power could be useful. There has to be a way to make it safer."

"Do you have a solution?"

"Um, well…no, but—"

Garret sighed. "I'm sorry, Gwyn, but this is for the best. We can't guarantee someone won't try a stunt like this again."

She looked away, rubbing her elbow. "I suppose…" Flint curled his tail around hers and leaned against her. She sighed and curled her tail snuggly around his.


Team Ravenfield and the Desert Beasts poked their heads over a ledge and peered down the deep canyon ahead. Unstable rock bridges arched over the divide, crumbling piece by piece against the high winds. Spires grew over the canyon floor mixed with the soft gray earth. Pillars of rock connected the two walls together, some having broken from years of erosion.

At the end of the canyon was a massive tunnel the spiraled inward, leading to a naturally-sized cave entrance.

"Is that where the idol lays?" Ambrosine asked.

Garret nodded. "I can sense it much clearer from here. We're getting closer."

Graham glared. "It seems like a bad idea for all of us to go in at once. We don't know if the cave's unstable or not."

Arid nodded. "He's right. The Desert Beasts and I will stay outside and guard the entrance."

Willow glared. "As strong as you are, there's no way you can hold your own against the Shadow King or his heralds."

"I don't need to beat them, though. I just need to buy the rest of you time to find the idol and use it." He nodded at his crew. "As soon as it looks dicey, you have my permission to flee for safety."

Graham shook his head. "Sorry Captain, but we don't abandon our own. I didn't risk my neck saving you from corruption to turn tail and flee now."

Banama punched his palm. "We're with you to the very end. Always."

Arid sighed and shook his head. "You all are as stubborn as ever." He stood to full height and clenched his metal fist. "Very well. We'll stand and fight! For Team Ravenfield!"

"YEAH!"

Garret smiled. "Heh."

Arid glared at him. "What's so funny?"

"Nothing, nothing. Just…Just thinking your old captain would be proud of the man you became."

"…" He closed his eyes and huffed. "Don't bother sending a message for me. I'll tell him myself."

"That's what I figured."

Gwyn walked up to Indigo and held her hand out. "I'll…carry Callista with me. She's in better hands with us than helping with the defense."

Indigo frowned. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "I'm sure. I'll be fine."

"…" Indigo undid her shadows and helped the withered spider onto the Mew's back. Gwyn summoned up vines from her fur to strap her down. "For a sheltered demigod who acted like a child, you've…matured more than I expected."

Gwyn adjusted Callie on her back and smiled lightly. "I had some great friends to help me." She walked back to Flint and Ambrosine.

Tony approached and hugged Indigo tightly. "Please stay safe. Don't do anything stupid. Just run if you need to."

Indigo gave him a quick peck on the lips and smirked. "Eh, dying's not on my to-do list, so I'll make sure of it."

He chuckled and pulled away from her. "See you later."

"Naturally."

All of Team Ravenfield gathered at the foot of the ledge and looked to each other for inspiration. They each shared a determined look before facing down the canyon and leaping onto the slope, sliding their way to the bottom.

Arid approached the ledge and watched them disappear into the valley of spires. He sighed and turned his back to the canyon. Even if I die here, I'm not leaving this plane until that bastard shadow fears the name of Desert Beast.


The combined Team Ravenfield ventured into the underground tunnels, keeping their hands to the wall as they navigated the dark. Wes lit a partial bit of area with his rings while Tony generated controlled lightning in his palm. Garret continued to lead the way, his focus intense and unwavering.

"The idol appears to be deep below the surface. Stay alert, everyone," Garret advised. "We don't know what secrets are hidden in this realm."

"You mean aside from us basically walking through this place blind?" Tony asked. "We can barely sense each other down here. The magic in the air is way too thick. How are you even seeing the idol?"

"Years of training. You'll get to my level in your own time."

Griffin dug his fingers through the wall and rubbed the dust between them. "The rock is chalky. No wonder this place looks so withered. I'm surprised it's still standing."

Ava gazed at the ceiling. "Why did the idol transform this realm into this state? Of all the possible outcomes, a ruined mountain range seems…normal, despite the somber atmosphere."

Ambrosine glared. "If this place was conjured by the Shadow King when he was still mortal, perhaps it manifested from his feelings. An ominous, gloomy wasteland seems about right for his dour attitude."

Ella raised her brow. "You'd think he'd put more effort into keeping people away from here."

"Climbing fifty kilometers into the sky wasn't exactly a day-to-day task the last thousand years," Flint said.

"I know, but I would've put in a little more to spice things up. Deadly traps, giant cursed beasts, a lava moat—"

"You've been adventuring with us for too long," he said with a smirk.

She smirked back. "Hey, it's not an adventure without death-defying thrills, am I right?"

Wes laughed. "Ain't that the truth!"

Alex shook his head. "Quell the enthusiasm until after this ordeal has been put to rest."

As the group navigated the tunnel, Gwyn lingered in the back, gripping to Callie's harness while her eyes wandered about. The withered Ariados sensed her discomfort and whispered, "Scared of a monster popping out?"

"No," she mumbled. "Just…thinking about what we discussed earlier."

"…" The witch looked down. "My offer still stands."

"It's a lot to think about."

"Are you having second thoughts?"

"I'm having doubts." Gwyn reached inside her satchel and pulled out a small, cylindrical capsule marked BRB. "Your shadow will be difficult to kill since she lacks a physical body. Though this new Naturae Fruit I designed is powerful, it's not particularly lethal to shadows."

"That's why I offered a way to handicap her."

"Still…"

"You have nothing to lose, and just as much to gain. You're the only one who wins out in the end."

"But you'll pay with your soul."

"I can't be redeemed for my actions. I've accepted my fate. Besides, you hate me, don't you? Why do you hesitate to comply?"

"It's like I told you: I was raised better than that." She put the capsule away. "I'm not sure how I feel afflicting you with such torment."

"You won't be the one afflicting me."

"I am by association."

"Then why did you show me how to contact your witch teacher?"

"…" She sighed. "Because it meant I could save Flint's best friend."

Callie nodded. "I'm a damned soul, Gwyn. My sins are numerous. Though I seek atonement, I cannot escape my fate with the demons. It's out of my reach."

"Hmm…" Just as Gwyn opened her mouth, her ears flicked up. She stopped and looked up, detecting a scratching sound from the ceiling. She held her hand out, feeling the dust land in her fur. "Did you hear that?"

Callie squinted. "That…didn't sound like naturally occurring erosion."

"No, it didn't."

"Hey Gwyn!" The two witches looked ahead to Flint waving at them. "Come on, you're lagging behind!"

Gwyn jogged over and whispered, "Flint, I got a bad feeling about this place all of a sudden."

"Gwyn, we're fine, don't worry."

"Didn't Ambrosine say this place may have manifested from the Shadow King's feelings after he killed Dougal? I don't know, but…I have this feeling. We're walking blind down here, not to mention just survived a boat crash. Aren't we supposed to be playing it safe?"

Flint frowned. "Gwyn…" He glared and turned toward the group. "Hey guys, stop!" The group did as told and looked toward the Flareon. "Dad, are you absolutely sure there's nothing down here with us?"

Garret looked around. "As far as I can see, it's just us. I can still sense a few of the Desert Beasts outside the canyon, for as faint as their auras are. If there was something down here, I would've seen it by now."

"You're thinking too small, Ravenfield," Callie wheezed. She coughed and covered her mouth. "Think about it. This entire dimension was created through thousands of years of the idol's magic festering. This entire dimension was conjured by that very power, and its aura extends so much around us that you lot can barely see each other's auras in front of you."

Garret glared. "What are you saying?"

"If there was some sort of magical defense in this place, it came from the dimension. Ergo, it came from the idol's magic."

The group fell silent for a moment, exchanging worried glances. Though Callista was hardly a trustworthy ally at the moment, she wasn't one to put her life at risk in her weathered state.

Ava glared at Garret. "Do you sense any erratic shifting in the air?"

Garret closed his eyes and concentrated. "No. Nothing. The air's as wild as ever. I can sense the idol's concentrated power, but nothing else in the atmosphere."

The group tensed up as a thunderous cracked ripped above their heads. Chunks of stone fell from the ceiling and crashed down around them. Everyone backed into each other, pulling out their weapons and taking their stances.

"So, either we're all being paranoid inside an unstable cave system or…" Ella started.

"Something's camouflaging inside the atmosphere," Garret finished with a growl.

The group shuffled furthered down the tunnel, keeping their eyes peeled for any movement in the dark. Ambrosine corralled herself in the center of the huddle, trembling against them while preparing a healing spell. The rest raised their weapons or charged a spell, ready to fire down on anything that may sneak up on them.

Soon, however, they reached the end of their path. As Garret shuffled his paw forward, he felt the ground drop off under him. He used an Area Denial to keep everyone from accidentally backing over the drop off. "Stop," he whispered. He pointed down, where everyone could see the cavernous pit before them.

Griffin knelt down and glared at the darkness. "Can't even see the bottom."

The group tensed as more debris crumbled from the ceiling. Alex shook his head and shoved through the group. "We're wasting time. I'll investigate first."

"You sure?" Garret asked.

"I've held my own clinging to the side of a mountain once. This is nothing." He sat down and threw himself over the drop off, gripping into the edge. "Keep an eye out for me." Slowly, he started his climb down, digging his fingers and feet into the wall's grooves.

Willow peeked down. "Alex, be careful."

He looked up and winked at her. "Relax, I know what I'm doing. Nothing's going to catch me off—"

A deafening screech bellowed through the confined tunnels, seizing up the group as they covered their ears. Alex covered one side of his head and pressed the other into the wall to block the sound, yet it seemed to grow louder from inside. The noise sounded as if it was coming from all directions, a chorus of unholy apparitions singing a song of death.

"What is that?!" Alex yelled. He glared at the wall, still covering his ear, and saw something shimmering off the surface. A pair of red eyes with slitted, purple pupils. "Oh…shi—YAAAAAH!"

The screeching ceased, and the Ravenfield group looked as something tackled Alex through the wall and carried him into the air in its talons. "What the what?!" Wes gasped.

"Mystic Beam!" Flint fired a quick burst at the ceiling, lighting up the cave and nearly clipping the creature.

In the brief exposure of light, an image scarred itself into their eyes. To their shock, it was a Honchkrow made of stone. Its eyes blazed a bloody red with the same energy trailing off its wingtips like crystal. The claws of its talons were red crystal, clutching into Alex's shoulders.

The Scrafty glared up at the creature. "What is this thing?"

"That looks like…Dougal?!" Tony gasped.

Ella shrieked. "Dougal? But that's impossible. He should be dead or something, right?"

"That's not actually Dougal," Griffin interjected, leering at the airborne golem as his magic channeled through Endless Regret's blade. "That thing is filled with unquenchable rage. I can't believe I didn't sense it earlier, but I can feel the wrath radiating out of it."

"What does that mean?!" Ambrosine shrieked.

"It means this dimension really was twisted from Apollo's emotions when he created it. Every strong emotion he felt in the moment, manifesting into this." He glared over his shoulder. "And it's not the only one."

The group looked back as more of the Honchkrow golems passed through the tunnel walls like ghosts. Each one radiated with the same vile aura as the first, targeting their wrath at them. They lurched their heads forward and let loose another piercing shriek that shook the tunnel.

Garret growled as he pressed his ears down. "I can barely concentrate over that heinous aura they're releasing!"

"Does that mean you can't sense where the idol is?!" Wes yelled.

"No, but I still know the general direction!" He glared down the drop off. "Problem is, it's that way."

The golems ceased their shrieking and advanced toward the group. Gwyn shook off the dizziness and lunged forward. Slamming seeds into the ground, she pushed the golems back with a wave of tree roots. They retreated into the walls, passing through them like regular air.

"We don't have time to play it same now!" Gwyn yelled.

Willow glared. "She's right. We'll have to go in blind and hope we find the idol!"

Garret groaned. "Guess we have no choice. Alex, did you get all that?!"

The Scrafty kicked his legs up and smashed into his captor's face. It released its grip, and Alex dove into the murky depths of the cave. "Loud and clear! Let's move!"

Garret waved the group and yelled, "Jump, now!"

The golems launched out of the walls and floor, but Team Ravenfield took the leap of faith and dove into the darkness below. The golems dove after them like arrows of blood red light, revealing the numerous tunnels splitting off at the bottom.


"AAAAHHH!" Gwyn, Alex, and Griffin spilled out from a tunnel and crashed into an open cavern. Gwyn slid on her stomach to prevent Callie from getting hurt.

"Ugh, feeling…sick again," Gwyn groaned.

"Tell me about it," Callie hissed.

The piercing shrieks of the golems alerted the trio and ailing witch. Griffin quickly picked up his sword and fired off an Exosus Release just as several golems passed through the walls, obliterating them to dust. Their eyes widened as the dust and spiteful energy conjoined on each other. The golems quickly retook solid form, stretching their wings and letting loose their deafening cries.

"Oh, that's just perfect!" Griffin growled.

Alex kicked up a stone and launched it through one of the golem's heads, taking it out of the air. "They're still made of rock! We'll keep smashing them until they stop twitching!"

Gwyn summoned her grass swords to her hand before asking, "Griffin, can't you absorb that energy? You said it yourself that it's pure malice and hatred, right?"

He glared. "There's a whole lot of it, more than most mortal Pokémon could bottle up."

"Are you saying you can't do it?"

"When did I say that?" He spun his sword and lunged at the decapitated golem as it tried reforming its head. He impaled the creature and raised it high over his head as the energy seeped from the blade to his arms. "This might take a while! Hold them off!"

Alex and Gwyn stood back-to-back as dozens of Honchkrow golems spawned from the walls and ceiling around them. Alex smirked through his tense expression and raised his fists. "How long would you say is a while?"


"HA!" Ava struck her palm into a golem and burst its chest to pieces. She flipped over a blade wing strike and slammed her knee across her attacker's face, sending stone fragments flying. She stepped back and clenched her teeth as both golems started reforming. "They just won't stay down."

Ella released psychic shrieks in the air, rattling the golems' stone bodies until they exploded from the intense frequency. She spun Daybreak around herself, smashing up golems diving into her. "What is with Ravenfields and blindly jumping into dark, unexplored caverns?!"

Willow charged through a horde, slicing and dicing up stone in one smooth stroke. Once she reached the other side of the horde, the golems fell apart over the ground. "You followed them down, too."

"Because I've come to accept that death is an illusion, and my life is an endless thrill ride perpetuated by those treasure hunting nutjobs I call my closest and dearest friends!" She spun on her back, dodging a wing strike, and slammed her hindleg into the stone bird's face.

"Are you saying you're hating this or loving this?" Willow asked, decapitating another golem.

"I'll let you know when I finally take that vacation I desperately need!" She slashed Daybreak across the air, conjuring a fierce wind that threw the golems into the wall. Unfortunately, they passed through it unbothered.

Ava quickly darted to the wall, channeling magic and psychic energy into her palm. "HA!" She struck firm and swift. A psychic shockwave ripped through the wall and split it open. Ruined golems came flying out of the cracks, their bodies ripped apart and broken down to dust. "Run, while they're still reforming!"

Ella and Willow sheathed their weapons and followed Ava down another tunnel as the Honchkrow golems picked themselves off the ground.


"Go faster, go FASTER!"

"Stop screaming at me, woman!"

A whole flock of Honchkrow golems chased down Tony and Ambrosine. Tony used his Quick Step to triple his speed, barely keeping above the stone birds' top speed. Meanwhile, he had Ambrosine hooked under his arm while she clung to his waist like a life preserver in the torrential oceans.

"Can't you use Light Speed or something?!" Ambrosine yelled.

"Have you gone that fast before?!"

"Well, no, but—"

"Then I'm not risking you having a heart attack!" He pointed over his shoulder. "Lightning Shot: Lotus Bullet!"

The myriad of lightning beams lit up the tunnel behind them and riddled the pursuing birds of fury. However, much to his dismay, they powered through and healed off the damage with the surrounding rock. Two golems split off from the back and dove from high above, cloaked in a fierce red aura.

"Incoming!" Tony shielded Ambrosine as the golems exploded against the ground and threw the pair forward in the blast wave. Tony took the brunt of the landing and rolled with fall before springing back onto his feet. "Quick Ste—"

"Duck!"

Tony knelt down, barely dodging several stone feather projectiles. Seeing the rest lining up for another way of shots, he powered on his Quick Step and took off running again. The golems fired off their stone blades, shooting with such precision and accuracy that Tony had to alternate between checking over his shoulder and sidestepping projectiles trying to rip his heels open.

"There's too many of them!" Ambrosine yelled.

He glared back. "Sorry about this."

"Wait, wha—AAAAAAHHHHH!" Ambrosine curled into a ball as Tony tossed her into the air, briefly diverting the golems' attention to her.

Tony spun around and backflipped three times before catapulting into the air. "Dragon Thunderclap!" He clapped his hands together and blew the golems apart in the thundering shockwave. They crumbled to pieces as the shock passed over them.

With their pursuers finely broken down into gravel, Tony dove back onto the ground and leapt forward to catch Ambrosine in his arms. She tightly hooked her arms around his neck and snarled. "Don't ever do that again!"

Tony snickered. "Seems you've truly fallen for me—" Ambrosine punched his shoulder. "Ow. Okay, right, no time for banter." He hastened his pace and made a sharp right into the next tunnel.


After the Ravenfield men crashed down through the tunnel, a flock of golems emerged from the walls and divebombed onto them. Garret spun on his back and kept the golems at bat with an Area Denial barrier. As he held them back, Wes and Flint recovered from the fall and darted around the barrier.

"Infernius!" Wes fired a fireball through a few golems, knocking them out of the air.

"Guardian, smash them to pieces!" Flint commanded. His Guardian sprung to life and delivered a flurry of brutal punches that rendered half the stone crows to dust.

Garret leapt into the air and kicked down the remaining golems, smashing their heads across his paws. Those that remained intact passed through the floor upon impact and fired right back at the Jolteon puppet like crimson rockets. "Divisio Regulae!" He swiped his paws across the air, forming an X-shape of distorted space. The golems passed through it, phasing out of the dimension briefly. "Release!" Garret undid the spell, instantly severing the golems to pieces.

"Warp Pad!" Wes ricocheted across the cave, tackling through a dozen more golems. "Lumios Storm!" He spun into a ball and showered the cave with dozens of light arrows, piercing through the golems' wings and taking them out of the air.

Flint's Guardian raised its guard as several more swooped by, slicing into the crystal humanoid with their bladed wings. He glared over at his father and yelled, "How far away in the idol from our position?!"

Garret impaled another golem with his foreleg and ripped it in half. While suspended in the air, his eyes rapidly flickered all over the place before locking onto the faint source of concentrated magic. "It's a little further up ahead! We must be closer!"

Wes bashed his skull into a golem's head and kicked it away. "No time to waste! After the idol!" The Ravenfield family raced off down another tunnel with the golems in hot pursuit.

Flint stopped briefly and slammed his paws down. "Crystallo Growth!" A wave of crystal erupted from the ground and crashed against the golems. The crystal morphed around their bodies and held them in place. They couldn't pass through it like the rest of the cave. "That'll hold them for a moment!" He turned and followed after his family.


Outside the interconnecting tunnels, the Desert Beasts lay waiting among the rocks, keeping their eyes peeled for any enemy forces. Arid paced back and forth behind cover, occasionally sneaking glances at the canyon. A bothersome grimace gradually formed over his face.

"Nervous?" Graham asked as he sharpened his dagger.

Arid groaned and stopped pacing. "Anxious. Nothing about this feels simple. I just have that bad feeling like the worst has yet to come."

Graham nodded. "I get that, but try not to worry yourself over it. We've tangled with plenty supernatural horrors. They shouldn't underestimate use."

Arid shook his head. "Even still, I can't shake this omen—"

"Uh, Captain?" The Darmanitan and Gallade looked up at the rocks, where Indigo and Leigh had themselves perched. Indigo's shadow arm twitched and surged with darkness. "We've got company."

Arid motioned for the rest of his crew to stay low before peeking out behind the rocks. To his surprise, out in the open, was the Heralds of Darkness, alongside Nightmare, Zaros, and the remaining shadow crew of their airship. There was no sign of the Shadow King among them, however.

"What the heck?" Graham mumbled. "They're not even trying to ambush us? Do they think so little of us?"

Arid growled. "It's a diversion. The Shadow King's somewhere nearby." He glared over his shoulder. "He might have gotten around us already."

"Brilliant deduction, Captain." Arid and Graham's eyes widened as the notorious Watchog, Zaros, stood between them, leering down at the captain's turned back. "Also, you're correct. Nothing like killing some fodder before the main event, right—"

Arid punched the ground and tried to impale Zaros with a sand spike, but the Watchog instantly vanished. Soon after, a blinding yellow light shined from the other side of the rock cover. Recognizing what it was, he punched the ground again and broke up the rock into sand. "Desert Beasts, with me!"

Aeternus' fearsome Particle Eraser blasted through the rock in its path and completely disintegrated the rock cover. It tore off a chunk of the cliff and sent Life Particles scattering into the wind. Aeternus let up on the spell and smirked at the neat path he carved out before him, smoking with pale yellow magic burning off the ground.

"Well, that went about as smoothly as I expected," Aeternus said. "A shame, too. Some of them could've made great shadow beasts." He shrugged. "Oh, whatever. I say we continue our romp and join our glorious king down in the underground." He put his tentacle forward, but Voss grabbed his shoulder and stopped him.

"They're not dead."

"Eh?"

Just then, the ground cracked open beneath their feet. The heralds, Zaros, and Nightmare jumped out of the way as a whirlwind of sand burst out from below, sending hardened sand blades all over. Aeternus casted a barrier in front of them to stop the projectiles, sneering at the sandstorm.

"Why can't fodder know their place?" he asked.

"Because we're not as weak as you think!"

All around them, the Desert Beast burst out of the ground and opened fire with their guns. Callista spawned her shadow arms and used them to absorb the bullets. Voss reared his sword back and sent a wave of shadow fire across the earth, but the Desert Beasts jumped out of the path.

Callista hissed. "How annoying. Do they really think they can take us on by themselves?"

A giant sand fist burst from the ground and dove on top of their heads, but Nightmare fired a focused dark beam that obliterated it, filling the air with sand. They looked forward as the ground crumbled before them, and Arid rose out alongside two sand clones of himself, one of regular sand and the other of shadow sand.

"It doesn't matter if we can beat you or not," he said. He pulled himself onto the surface and raised his metallic fist. "What matters is holding you off until the light can shine once more! We'll stand and fight to the bitter end!"

The heralds, Nightmare, and Zaros looked amongst each other before turning their spells and weapons on the surrounding pirates. The Desert Beasts pulled out their weapons while the shadow crewmen raised theirs, too. Arid tensed up, but didn't falter. His sand clones, showing more ferocity in their expressions, stepped forward as sand billowed around them.

Aeternus smirked, lighting up the tip of his finger. "You have no idea what you're up against, Arid of the Sand."


With his trusted heralds and henchmen holding off the ambush party above, the Shadow King managed his way down the canyon unseen. Having felt the idol's power once before, it took little time for him to lock onto its unique magical signature amongst the clouded atmosphere. Specifically, he could sense three distinct auras heading toward the idol as of now.

"Chaos has ruled this world for far too long. The chaos of magic, the chaos of society, and the chaos of the gods." He clenched his fist. "We live too idle of lives, accepting a chosen reality when we're setting ourselves up for our own destruction. Within the shadows, the drive to exceed and go beyond will cease to exist. No more conflict, no more ambition, and no more magic. A world self-sufficient on cold order. This is for your own good, mortals."

He kneeled down and took a runner's stance, holding himself by his fingertips and stretching his right leg up against a spire. He focused on the idol's location, sensing through the currents of its magic in the air to find the shortest path ahead.

"The light brought strife to my life, now I save you from the gods' malevolent light." He kicked off the ground and vanished with a flicker of speed, destroying the ground behind him.

Nothing will impede his quest. No Ravenfield shall stop him from ending the cycle of chaos.