The tension at the beginning of the fight lasted for only a split second; for no discernible reason, Aurelio leapt into the air and swung his arm as if he was performing a slam dunk on an invisible basket. Luca was shocked when, at the top of the swing, there was a dull tnk that told her he had managed to intercept something—and all at once, Luca registered what had happened. With a subtle flick of his tail, the Drapion had launched a tiny poison stinger towards her, and Aurelio had saved her.
In the meantime, the Drapion had wasted no time in dropping low to the ground and rushing forward. Aurelio rushed to intercept the instant he landed, but despite the Lucario's shocking speed, the Drapion greeted him with a long sweep of his barbed tail.
Aurelio braced his right shoulder and took the impact, sliding a few feet across the dusty ground before he managed to stand his ground. Once he had stopped sliding, he gently placed his left paw on the Drapion's tail.
To Luca's shock, the carapace around his paw behaved like it had been hit with a baseball bat, and the tail was smashed away. Luca had seen a force palm for the first time, but unfortunately, it wasn't nearly as effective as Aurelio surely hoped: although the Drapion's tail was forced away, the dark/poison-type only used it as rotational force to spin his main body towards Aurelio. Somehow, Luca was reminded of a bear trap being sprung as the Drapion seized Aurelio's arms with large claws, restraining him.
The Drapion reared back its head with triumph, and to Luca's horror, his teeth were cloaked in flame—a feat she had only seen performed by Dante. She recalled Aurelio's explanation about how dangerous flame was to him, and Luca's heart spurred her forward: she had to save him.
Despite her urgency, Luca stopped herself. A small mote of fire had materialized just behind the Drapion while he was distracted. Perhaps Kai would be able to save him in her stead.
After Luca's moment hesitation, she was horrified to watch the small mote of flame disappear. The Drapion bit down onto Aurelio's face with a harsh sizzling noise. Upon the impact, a bone-chilling crack rang out as Aurelio's paw delivered a solid uppercut to the Drapion's chin, lifting him into the air; Aurelio had managed to perform a counter—and given how grievous the wound used as fuel was, it must have been unimaginably potent.
It was a single instant, but it was exceptionally eventful. The Drapion landed hard and crumpled, completely unconscious and limp. Conversely, Aurelio wasn't looking much better; he was standing, but he held both paws to his face and snarled with pain, his upper lip curled back to reveal black gums. Wispy smoke pushed out from underneath his paws and he stumbled back, apparently blinded by the pain.
"My flames are disabled!" Kai reported from Luca's side, loud enough for Aurelio to hear.
"Mm—Rgh," Aurelio struggled. He was unable to defend himself, blinded and in pain as he was. As if on cue, a purple ghostly shape rose out of the ground behind him. It was a Mismagius, angrily glaring from under the wide-brimmed hat its species was known for. Purple ghostly flames ignited above its head, and Luca knew that it was about to douse Aurelio in them—and that it might mean his death.
"Aurelio, dodge to the side!" Luca shouted.
Before she even finished the sentence, Aurelio had already dove to the right. Although he didn't manage a graceful landing since his hands were still cradling his face, he managed to both duck the ghostly flames and roll to his feet, ready for more instructions. The burst of flame dissipated harmlessly long before it reached the cart.
"Get back, let Mudsdale take over!" Luca continued, remembering that she was meant to avoid using names.
Thom finally moved forward, and Aurelio disengaged. The Mismagius allowed it, but in the downtime, it began glowing with pink energy. The unconscious Drapion began glowing with the same energy, and to Luca's horror, he pushed itself up and readied itself to fight again, his tail swaying menacingly. However, by the time both of them were again ready to fight, Thom was already approaching them. Once he was close he reared back and, with a grunt of effort, slammed his front hooves down onto the ground.
The impact was impossibly strong, causing a deafening explosion of dust and earth. In an instant, both Thom and the pair of agents disappeared into a smokescreen of earth. For a moment, Luca turned her attention away from the fight and down to Aurelio. Looking closer, she could see that his snout had gaping, sizzling holes in it—and surrounding the holes, his fur had been burned away.
Luca watched as Aurelio reluctantly pulled a paw away from his face. Holding it out with the palm up, water began condensing in his fur. Once it was properly wet, he returned it to his face and rubbed it all over. Within only a few moments, his wounds had closed—though his fur hadn't regrown—and Luca realized that she was witnessing what Tabunne the Audino had done to heal her so long ago. Life dew, she seemed to recall the technique being called.
Another explosion rattled the earth, and Luca found her attention returning to the fight. "You OK to continue?" she asked, not taking her eyes off the cloud of dust.
"Right as rain," Aurelio sighed. "Thanks for taking over while I was out of it. Vulpix, are your flames still disabled?"
"Yes. I'm dead weight, unfortunately," came Kai's voice.
"It's fine," Aurelio said. "He's managed to knock out the Drapion again."
The dust was finally beginning to clear. Sure enough, there were two upright shapes and one unconscious Drapion. As it cleared out, however, Luca could see that Thom was cut to pieces; deep lacerations covered his body with red streaks, and although he stood ready, it was with the tension of a wounded Pokémon.
"I wasn't sure, but it's been long enough," the Mismagius's voice came from her silhouette. The smirk was audible. "But none of you can hurt me, can you? With the fire disabled, you only have ground, normal, or fighting-type moves."
Frustration and fear emanating from Thom: he had known it was only a matter of time before she realized, but he was dreading it all the same. He didn't respond, only grunting and lowering his form in preparation for an attack.
"I'll take over, Mudsdale," Aurelio called as he walked forward. "Well done."
"Are you sure?" the Mismagius challenged, summoning a mote of purple flame as Thom relaxed and carefully backed away. "Even if you have an unexpected move, I've yet to be touched."
"Even without Aura, you can't fool a Lucario," Aurelio said, stopping at a comfortable distance. "That technique you used to heal your partner was pain split. That was half of your strength, taken out in an instant—and I had time to heal properly. Surrender."
Suddenly, the ghost-type's face twisted with anger. "The fact that you'd think I would ever surrender shows how much you don't understand what's going on," she spat. "You're asking me to doom the world."
Aurelio emanated something Luca was very much not expecting: anger. "You seriously trust the Legendary that was so evil Arceus descended just to banish him from reality that much? Did you even briefly consider that he may be lying to you?"
"And have you considered that he might be right? What if you saving that Riolu results in this world's end?"
"...You're indoctrinated," Aurelio concluded, bending his knees in preparation to spring. "And you need some sense beaten into you," he finished, dashing forward.
The purple flame that had been hovering above the Mismagius was released into a spray of flame. Aurelio side-stepped it without much effort and continued, and she prepared and fired two more. This time, he was forced to stop his forward moment and focus entirely on dodging the sprays of flame. The Mismagius kept up the pressure, continuing to fire rapidly, and Aurelio circled around her ducking and weaving with surprising agility, taking no more than glancing blows from the flame.
It was almost a dozen dodged flame bursts before Luca noticed a mote of flame appear just above the Mismagius. It was normal flame, not the purple sort used by the Mismagius, and after a moment of hovering, it spun and expanded. In an instant, it created the same whirling vortex of fire that had killed Sarin—though this time, it surrounded the Mismagius. It began to close on her, and with an annoyed grunt, the Mismagius descended into the ground.
"...I'm already disabled again," Kai reported. "My bad."
"Just watch closely for her reappearance, everyone." Aurelio said.
Luca watched carefully. However, against her will, before long the adrenaline had left her. The fever pitch of battle turned to the anxiety of waiting, and soon, Luca was exhausted. Somehow, the anticipation was more grating than open combat.
As they waited, Aurelio's posture relaxed. He stood tall with a strange serenity about him, as if he was meditating. He was facing away from her so she couldn't know for sure, but the way his head was angled, it seemed like he probably had his eyes closed.
To her right, on top of the cart, Kai stood proud. Despite the fact that she was apparently unable to use any flame attacks, she wasn't hiding.
To her left, Thom stood on the ground below. He was making a valiant effort at standing ready, but Luca could tell that the cuts were bothering him. She hadn't seen what had caused them, but the Mismagius didn't have anything sharp, meaning it must have been some strange, unexpected move. She would have to remember to ask about it afterwards.
Luca was horrified as the Mismagius silently materialized just behind Aurelio, already reeling back to prepare for an attack; Luca had let her mind wander, and she barely had enough time to gasp, let alone properly warn him.
To her surprise, Aurelio turned. With a flash of a paw across the Mismagius's face, he sent her reeling. The Mismagius shrieked with pain and moved away in an attempt to escape, but Aurelio kept up the pressure, continuing to relentlessly swipe at her.
The Mismagius was covered by blood seeping from dozens of slashes across her body by the time she finally lost the strength to continue. She collapsed mid-stride, all ability to float and pass through walls gone.
"...H-how did you know?" the Mismagius's voice came from her crumpled form.
"It's not exactly strategic to share that, is it," Aurelio sighed, the tension of the fight leaving his posture. "Especially if you're going to be coming after us. All I can say is rethink your allegiance when you wake up."
The Mismagius graciously accepted the implied offer and passed out, letting her head fall to the ground.
All together, the four of them let out a sigh—a release of the tension from combat. Even though she hadn't done anything at all, Luca suddenly felt very lethargic and sat where she was standing on top of the cart.
"Well, we made it," Aurelio said, walking back towards the group. "I'm sorry, Mudsdale, but I'm afraid I can't heal you. I only know a water-based method."
"I'll be fine as long as I don't have to move quickly," Thom grimaced. "I imagine we should leave as soon as possible."
"If you can manage. We can bring you up to speed as we go as well."
"OK," Thom nodded. He made his way back to the front of the cart and backed into his harness. "Strap me in?" he asked, turning an eye back towards Luca.
"Oh! Yes," Luca said, hopping down. She brought the strap around, but it was going to be sitting directly on top of a particularly deep cut in Thom's flesh. "Is this OK?" she asked, touching just to the side of the cut. "It's going to be rubbing on it."
A single massive eye looked down at her, sparkling with some strange amusement. "It's fine, don't worry," Thom said.
"OK," Luca said, tightening the strap before turning towards Aurelio. "Before we go, can I check them for marks?"
"Hm? Oh, yes." Aurelio motioned for the cart to go ahead. "We'll catch up, and then we'll talk."
Thom nodded, and with a creak, the cart moved forward. As it left, Kai watched them from her perch on top of the mound of goods. She reclined there, with passive eyes. Somehow, Luca felt that she had the exact same expression during the fight.
"I'll take the Drapion," Aurelio said, making his way over to the unconscious dark/poison-type.
Moving to and kneeling over the Mismagius's body, Luca placed a paw on the ghost-type's neck. It was solid, with all ghostly nature gone, though it felt strangely spongy for a living creature. It was also unmarred by the mark that Isle had shown her, so Luca kept searching.
It took her a few minutes to thoroughly search her body, and although there were a few moments where she thought she saw something in the thin, messy scratches left by Aurelio, she eventually found the genuine mark. It was on the back of her head, hidden beneath the wide-brimmed hat shape that topped it. Like Isle's it appeared to be an eternally fresh wound, all but oozing blood.
"Found one," Luca called, standing up. "You?"
"Not yet," Aurelio responded. "But I still have a lot of places to search."
"While you search, can I ask about how angry you got during the fight? You don't seem the type to me."
Aurelio sighed as he searched the Drapion's carapace. "This Drapion's Aura is repugnant. He works for Giratina not because of any ideals, and not because he believes he's doing the right thing, but because it gives him an excuse to murder and torture. He even receives support to do so. But her," Aurelio continued, with a vague gesture towards the Mismagius, "I can't sense her Aura, but my impression is that she's a good Pokémon, horribly warped by indoctrination. Taught to find joy in her evil work, and to work side-by-side with the likes of this Drapion. It's just... disgusting."
"...So you were angry with the situation, and not with her?"
Aurelio pushed on the unconscious Drapion, rolling him over before continuing his search. "I was angry with her too," he admitted. "She's hardly blameless. We're all responsible for our own actions."
"Do you think she's irredeemable?"
"Of course not. That's why I told her to reconsider her allegiance when she woke up." Aurelio suddenly stood and turned towards Luca. "I think I found the mark. Here, on the base of the tail?"
Luca leaned over to look. "Yep, that's it. They were both marked."
"Interesting. It's quite the haunting design, with the eye."
"Mhm. It doesn't really look like the real thing."
"Well let's catch up, if that's all you needed to check."
Luca opened her mouth to ask him to wait because she had more questions, but she closed it as he jogged away. With his Aura reading, he was obviously aware that she had questions, but he was leaving them for later regardless. Luca followed, soon rejoining Thom's cart.
"Back," Aurelio reported as he dropped out of his jog and kept pace aside the cart. "Ready for an explanation, Mudsdale?"
"Can't wait how you'll make all this seem sane," Thom said, not bothering to turn his head back.
"We'll try. Riolu, do you mind if I summarize for you?" he asked, turning to her.
Luca was briefly baffled by his use of her species name until she realized that she had, up until now, used a false name when around Thom. He was doing his best to respect that. "Go for it. And my real name is fine at this point."
Aurelio acknowledged her with a nod. "This Riolu, Luca, was not a Riolu less than half a year ago. She came through the dungeons from another dimension, and is therefore essentially a stranger in this world. Now, more relevant to our situation, a cult managed by Giratina is hunting her down for her perceived offense to the dimension. It has surprising influence, to the point that Luca has no idea who she could trust. Thus, the lies she told you."
For what felt like an eternity, the only sound was the rattle of the cart as Thom visually struggled with the information he had been given. When he spoke, he spoke with confusion: "And you're sure? That that's what's going on?"
"I am, yes," Aurelio confirmed. "You'll need some time to process, so why don't we address something else? Luca, you're burning with questions. Go ahead."
"Oh! Um, for starters, the wounds on the Mismagius. Do you have claws?"
"I do, actually. Here, look," he offered, holding out a paw as they walked. Sure enough, when he flexed, small black claws appeared from his paw. "They're small and uncomfortable for me to use, but unlike the rest of my paw I can make them dense enough to hit ghost-types."
Luca looked down at her paw. "...Do I have claws?"
"Nope. What else?"
"Are you not able to heal Thom because he's a ground-type? Also, if you can heal, why was poison such a threat?"
"That's correct. As for the poison, I may be able to heal injuries, I cannot heal damage cause by poison, nor cleanse it."
"How did you know that the Mismagius was behind you? If it's fine to share, I mean."
"I might not be able to feel her Aura, but I can still feel others," Aurelio said mischievously. "You all had very acute feelings about her reappearance behind me. Next?"
"Next, I think I remember reading about disable. From what I recall, it only affects a single technique. Why was Kai unable to use her fire at all?"
"I'll answer that one," came Kai's voice from the back of the cart. "That has to do with how I learned to wield my flames. For Pokémon like me, there's generally two ways of learning. The more difficult and slow method essentially consists of starting from scratch each time you attempt to learn a new elemental move. The faster method, the one that I've chosen, is to get an exceptional understanding of a single technique—in my case, will-o-wisp. Every time I use a flame-based move, I'm starting with the wisp before molding it into what I need. My moves come a bit slower, as if I learned them from scratch I could summon, for example, a whirl of flame immediately, but I know more of them than I would otherwise."
"Oh, but with one disabled move, you're essentially cut off from your other techniques, right?"
"Correct."
"What did you mean, 'Pokémon like me'? Fire-types?"
"Fire-types, water-types, electric-types. Maybe ice-types as well, I can't remember."
"I didn't actually know any of that," Aurelio piped up. "Is your method of learning more common?"
"How should I know?" came Kai's voice. "Between Luca and I, I'm the one that's actually been in Hollyhead all my life."
"Fair."
"Last question, I think," Luca said, continuing. "I get if you don't want to talk to me, Thom, but what move were you cut up with in the dust? I'm just curious."
Thom huffed. "Some sort of grass attack. Sharp leaves."
"Magical leaf, I'd wager," Aurelio said. "I must say, I was quite surprised with how prepared they were. Each of them had flame attacks without being fire-type, and the Mismagius also had a grass-type move. Most Pokémon don't bother with that kind of variety. If we didn't have the numbers advantage that allowed me to heal myself, we probably would have lost."
No one seemed to have any interest in saying anything further, so they continued walking in silence. Luca let out a sigh as she walked. She hoped that things wouldn't be so awkward for the rest of the trip.
Back at Harvest, Lann the Sceptile meandered between the open buildings, taking his time. It was late evening, meaning that most of the many grass-types of Harvest were preparing to sleep in sync with the sunset. The midday celebration of Harvest was delightful, and it routinely warmed his heart, but when it came down to it he much preferred the lazy, relaxed feeling afterwards.
He kept moving in no particular direction, enjoying the air. The flowers gave it a light, pleasant scent, but even then, he wasn't soothed. It had already been a few weeks since his meeting with Isle, but the information he learned continued to violently swirl within his mind. It was great news that Luca and Dante had survived to be sure, but somehow, it only put into perspective just how many Pokémon under his care didn't.
What bothered him the most, however, was that it didn't change anything. Absol was still staying in Harvest, meaning he was staying as well. Thus, he couldn't help—or even know what was happening. It was unbelievably frustrating, but he didn't have much of a choice.
Lann huffed. He was riling himself up again. He kept walking, trying to push it out of his mind.
Half an hour later, once the sun had properly set, he figured that it was about time to turn in. He found his way back to the small building just aside the main square—one of the only structures with four walls and a roof—and approached the sturdy door. He pushed, and it swung open silently to reveal an empty room, save for bedding. Absol wasn't home.
He couldn't know for sure since he was only able to remotely sense Pokémon that his instincts interpreted as hostile, but she was probably at her favorite reflection spot. Lann closed the door and left the empty home before moving south.
Lann continued, leaving town and entering the forest surrounding. He made his way to a particular tree branch just near the border, and as he approached, he could see the familiar white shape of Absol reclining upon it. The branch pointed back towards town, and any leaves or branches that could obscure her view had been long since hacked away. Absol herself watched the town, something in her eyes that Lann couldn't remotely place.
"Absol," Lann said, grabbing her attention.
She ripped her gaze from the town and gazed down at him. "Hello."
"May I?"
"You may."
Lann flexed the muscles in his legs and jumped just high enough to land on the branch behind her. It moaned under the weight of two large Pokémon, but it didn't break. Lann sat and leaned against the trunk.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Absol mused. "Supernaturally so, even."
Lann looked past the dark-type to the town below. The remaining lights had long since been extinguished, leaving the town bathing only in soft moonlight. It looked dramatic and beautiful in its own way, but as a dark-type, Absol was likely seeing something very different from him. When the flowery meadow was reduced to nothing more than dark shapes, he much preferred the sun.
"...I'd feel more relaxed with more light," he said, skirting the subject. "Though I suppose that's the difference between our types."
"It's not a town of dark-types that's turning all of them off. I suspect it has less to do with your type and more to do with your battle-filled past. Night means chaos."
Although Absol was not looking at him, Lann shrugged. She was likely correct, but he didn't know what to say in response.
"...Well, I think it's beautiful," Absol continued.
"I'm glad. But how are you feeling otherwise?"
"In general or right this second?"
"In general."
Absol paused before her response. "I feel sick," she admitted. "Staying still and relaxing has been nice, but it's so unfamiliar to me. Not a day goes by that I don't feel useless."
"It gets better. Trust me."
"I suppose you would know."
"And you're certain that you want this? Now that we know Luca and Dante survived, we could—"
"No," Absol hissed suddenly. "...No," she repeated, more softly. "We agreed that we need to stay here."
"...OK."
"Are you reconsidering?"
"If I were free to, I would go help them. But I'm not."
"I'm not your jailer, Lann," Absol said, turning back to look him in the eyes for the first time since he arrived. "If you truly wish to leave, you may."
"Noted."
Absol turned back to look down at Harvest. "How about you? How are you feeling?"
"Truthfully? I'm mostly worried about you."
"OK, but really."
"Really."
Absol shifted in place. "Hmph. Well... I appreciate it. But really, I'm able to hold down the fort. You can go if you need to."
"My place is with you."
"What's gotten into you?" Absol said with a coy smile, once again turning back. "You're not normally this mushy."
"I have no excuse, I'm afraid."
"Mmm," Absol hummed, pushing herself to her feet. "Well, why don't we continue this inside?"
"This?"
Absol jumped to the forest floor and silently began padding towards Harvest. With a flick of her tail, she beckoned him to follow—and feeling a bit hot behind his ears, Lann followed right behind her.
