The fight was utterly exhausting for everyone involved. As soon as they saw the unconscious Hydreigon get stacked onto the equally unconscious Yveltal, everyone joined Lucario in falling onto the floor. Without the adrenaline coursing through their systems, no one had the strength to keep standing.

The Mew was the single exception. With a flash of light, she turned back into a shiny Treecko, looking around at the other explorers to try and gauge who saw her transform.

Deep down, she knew everyone did.

After a few minutes of mostly-triumphant silence, Blizz managed to gather enough energy to rise back up to his feet. "So what's the plan now?"

"We will need to escort Hydreigon to a prison," Scizor answered through deep breaths. "Specifically, the one in Nova Town, as the prison in Tenea City is presently not reliable."

Kibo rose as well, looking at the two unconscious dark types. "Does this mean we beat them? The husk stuff should be over?"

"It would appear so-"

"Alright, that's fucking enough!" Lucario yelled, signaling to everyone that he was conscious once again. "We won that fight, and the only thing I wanna hear until we get back to the guild is how badass everyone was! No husk shit, no legendary shit, nothing. Understood?"

The four members of Team Terrae all rose to their feet, letting out a "Yes sir!" in unison.

Team Apex was not as organized, with Blizz holding out a thumbs up, the Prince giving the guildmaster a glare, Rune nodding, and Kibo giving out an "Alrighty."

With the apprentices' confirmation, Lucario turned back to Xerneas, who still stood there like a statue. "You get back, got a lot of shit to deal with."

The same blue glow from earlier surrounded Lucario and Xerneas, as the latter slowly transitioned back into an orb of light that shot into Lucario.

As this was happening, a small beam of energy shot out from Lucario towards Hydreigon. Despite being unconscious, he began the same process, as Yveltal returned to him.

Mira watched with her mouth open, and had to physically restrain herself from breaking the guildmaster's command.

Angel did not bother restraining herself. "How'd you do that?"

"Worked with this bastard for years. I know how to fuck with him," Lucario explained. "Now everyone shut up. I don't wanna spend another night in this city, so as soon as everyone's healed we're going back to Nova Town." He threw Hydreigon over his shoulder, and opened up his own guild badge.

Without waiting for confirmation, he activated the warp, causing all fourteen of them to vanish from the dungeon.

The walk back to Nova Town was a long one, and despite the exhaustion no one could really resist asking each other about everything that was happening. Mew remained a good distance behind the group, making it abundantly clear she didn't feel like joining the discussion.

So in lieu of her, Fanita became the center of attention.

"You are expecting us to believe that you had a change of heart after kidnapping Blizz on Hydreigon's behalf?" the Prince questioned.

Fanita didn't back down, floating backwards so she could face the Prince. "And how would you have even known it was Hydreigon without me? Not to mention, you guys seemed to be in a difficult spot when Leaf and I came along."

"The fact that you came to our aid neither absolves yourself of your past crimes or proves that you can be trusted," the Duke pointed out. "You were observing the entire fight, and decided to not intervene until the final moment."

"Having reserves in a battle is important," Fanita argued. "What would have happened if Leaf and I got caught up in that big attack?"

"Hmph..." Both the Prince and the Duke walked ahead, knowing she was right but not wanting to deal with her any more. As such, Fanita slowed down a bit, letting Blizz and Leaf catch up to her as they were in the middle of a very insightful conversation.

"Bro you think it could register me as a projectile?" Blizz was wearing Leaf's glasses over his own goggles. A part of Fanita was impressed that he got them to stay on.

It didn't last for long though, as Leaf took them back and returned them to their rightful position on his face. "Well, it's not designed to determine the trajectory of a Treecko, but I can definitely update it to do that. But do you actually get launched often enough to-"

"Ahem." Fanita cleared her throat, getting the two's attention.

Blizz smiled at the Misdreavus. "Yo, Fanita, been wanting to talk to you."

"While I am extraordinarily busy right now, I suppose I could make some time for you."

"Awesome. So why'd you come and help us? Like, don't get me wrong, definitely appreciated it. Knew you'd come around and all that stuff, just wanna know why."

"She did it because it was the right thing to do," Leaf said confidently.

"Oh, that was definitely it." Fanita laughed a bit, before turning back to Blizz. "And perhaps if that was hypothetically not the main reason, it would have something to do with how Hydreigon appeared to have been specifically targeting former humans, and would have come after me eventually."

Blizz looked at her guild badge. "And that's why you joined the guild too?"

Fanita's expression faltered for a moment. "It was a matter of convenience."

"Got it." Despite his words, he gave Fanita a knowing smirk.

When they actually got to Nova Town, Lucario and Scizor split off to take the still-unconscious Hydreigon to the police station. Blizz wondered how they'd actually make a jail cell capable of containing the god of death after how easy it was for the eight of them to break out, but actually asking that would violate Lucario's "No questions until we get back" rule.

So the explorers returned to the guild on their own. It was afternoon, but after everything the ten of them went through today, plus the several hour walk back from Tenea, no one had the energy to do much else but crawl to their beds and collapse for the night.

In his no-longer-dead exhausted haze, Blizz noticed that Mew didn't enter the guild with them, but was way too tired to go look for her. He decided to make it a tomorrow problem.

The next morning, Lucario was either kind enough to not wake them up normally, or they managed to sleep through it. Blizz didn't really know which of the two it was.

He did know that he and the rest of the humans managed to sleep through announcements, and that the explorers seemed to have left for the day, leaving them more or less alone.

Despite this, talking about what the hell went on yesterday in the main room felt wrong, so they commandeered the dining hall instead.

As they settled into their seats, Mew approached the group, still with the same Treecko disguise. She wordlessly took a seat at the far end of the table, across from Ride.

While she was the most pressing concern on everyone's mind, she kept her head down and didn't say anything, whereas the second biggest thing on their minds was a bit more talkative.

"So you guys fight legendaries like that all the time? And the dungeon had so many strong ferals... Oh, does Lucario go with you guys a lot?" Leaf's eyes sparkled as he fired question after question at any of the explorers who would pay attention to him.

The Prince quickly grew tired of this, and fired off a question of his own. "...You stated you come from approximately the 2060's?"

"Oh yeah! I think."

"That places us at approximately a 150 year range then." He let that revelation hang for a moment, before realizing it might not be true, turning to the fake Treecko at the end of the table. "Unless you have anything to add?"

She looked up from the table, and shook her head.

The Umbreon slammed a paw down on the table. "You have betrayed our trusts, allowed us to be captured by Hydreigon's henchmen, permitted Blizz and Kibo to perish, and only when you were in danger did you even consider revealing your true form. Please, enlighten me as to why you should even be allowed to stay here."

"Prince, calm down," Mira said, before turning back to face Mew. "Can you tell us your story?"

Her eyes drifted back down to the table as she took a deep breath. For the first time since they got out of the dungeon, she spoke.

"I'm a Mew." Her voice was filled with a dreary resignation.

The Prince blinked a few times, before taking another menacing step forwards. "Would you care to elaborate in any way whatsoever?"

"I… Mew's have the ability to transform themselves," she continued. "I wanted to hang out with you guys, so I transformed into a Treecko."

"And the name Zar is fake, right?" Fanita asked, staring through the Mew.

Mew gulped, her eyes still glued to the table. "Yea. I- most legendaries don't have a real name, since there's only ever one of us. I made it up on the spot."

The Prince sighed. "Blizz was the first to introduce himself. This is why you refer to yourself as Zar?"

"Yea…" She sounded almost as embarrassed about that as she did about the whole 'lying to them and concealing her true identity' thing.

"Wait, so you're not actually a human?" Leaf asked, backing away from where the Mew was sitting.

The Mew's response came slowly, forced out through choked breaths. "I... don't know."

"How do you not know?" Kibo asked, cocking his head. "That's the only thing all of us knew for certain when we woke up."

"I just don't remember..." She rested her head on the table, letting the Treecko disguise fade.

"Humor me for a moment, how old are you?" The Duke asked. "An estimate would be sufficient."

"...A few hundred years. I just... the first thing I remember is waking up surrounded by other legendaries. But... the memory's so faint, and now I can barely hold onto it, and I don't know how-"

The Prince shot a Shadow Ball over the Mew's head, startling her. "Stop. You are not allowed to cry until you have finished answering our questions."

Blizz dashed forward, positioning himself between the two Pokemon. "Hey Prince, what the fuck was that?"

"We need to treat her as a threat until she has proven herself otherwise," he answered curtly, before turning back to face the Mew, who despite his edict was still crying. "You have no recollection of being a human, yet you were able to recall information from the human world, most notably the avalanche that is connected to Blizz's past. How did you know this?"

"I-I-I read the papers on you guys before I set myself up in the cavern," she admitted. "I... knew all of your stories before I actually met you guys."

"There are papers on us?" Rune asked nervously.

"It's... I'm sorry I can't tell you guys-"

Despite Blizz's best efforts, another Shadow Ball grazed the Mew's fur. "That is not the correct answer."

"But if I tell you guys you'll-"

"She is correct, you are not to press the issue further."

The ten humans all pivoted around to look at the Pokemon who just walked in. Scizor placed a claw on the end of the dining table, with Lucario a short distance behind him.

The Prince's eyes narrowed as his irritation settled on a new target. "Would you care to explain why I am not allowed to inquire as to how she knows about our past?"

"You can ask her whatever the hell you want about all the shit she's been keeping from you," Lucario stepped in. "But apparently it's kinda fucking important you guys don't remember anything."

That was not the reason any of them expected, causing the room to go silent for a moment. Mira broke it first, her interest in learning more overpowering the stunned silence. "Why's that?"

"We received-"

Midway through Scizor's explanation, a flash of pink lit up the dining hall. When the light faded, the Mew was nowhere to be found.

Fanita just laughed to herself. "Such an amateur."

The Prince's eye twitched at Fanita's carefree attitude, but was fully aware there wasn't much he could do to chase down a Mew, so he resigned himself to sitting back down at the table.

Scizor only paused for a moment, before continuing his explanation.

"As I was saying, we received intelligence from Beheeyem's Guild, whom we've been cooperating with to understand the husk crisis. We believe we have identified how it functions."

That news managed to dispel any discomfort from Mew's sudden disappearance, replacing it with curiosity.

"The device we recovered from the battle zone is nearly identical to the one brought to us by Team Vindicate-"

"You're welcome for that, by the way," Fanita gloated, looking right at the Prince as she spoke.

"...In any case, the device, while damaged from the battle, has a nearly identical structure to the one we have been studying."

Mira nodded, solemnly. "Then that means-"

"That motherfucker did all of this, and didn't even have the decency to not basically kill himself so we could ask what the hell is wrong with him," Lucario finished.

"…Yeah, that." It wasn't how Mira would have said it, but the message was close enough.

"He did not kill himself, however as far as we can tell Hydreigon has become a husk," Scizor corrected.

"If he were the one who made it, why would he not have some countermeasure to its use?" The Duke asked, looking over the antennae.

"Oh! I can answer that!" Leaf shouted, jumping up on the table. "They have a delay functionality, near the on switch! Once you flip it on, it takes 30 seconds to start broadcasting the stuff that makes you a husk!"

The Prince looked at Leaf in disbelief. "…That is an atrocious protection mechanism."

Scizor sighed. "I do not know why Hydreigon decided to do this, or how he constructed these antennas, however I can say that if that man is anything like the Hydreigon that used to be a member of our team, it is perfectly in character for him to consider a 30 second timer an adequate backup plan."

"Hey can we go back to the thing though?" Blizz asked. "What's up with the antennae?"

"We have begun referring to them as conduits," Scizor reported. "When activated, they channel the abilities of the legendary Pokemon Azelf, Uxie, and Mesprit."

"Willpower, knowledge, and emotion…" Mira whispered to herself. "So it drains those aspects from Pokemon?"

"Unfortunately, no. As you all should know by now, increased aggression is a symptom of a husk transformation."

The gathered Pokemon nodded.

"The conduits function by amplifying these aspects, not eliminating them. It feeds each element into each other, strengthening their effects on the afflicted Pokemon. As such, we have referred to this process as resonance. It creates a self-amplifying loop that rapidly heightens a Pokemon's willpower, knowledge, and emotion."

"But then they all just stop?" Kibo asked, trying to understand.

"Yes. There is an upper limit to what any Pokemon can endure, and this mechanism is designed to push its victims well beyond it. At some point, a Pokemon's brain will simply shut down, creating the husks you have become familiar with."

"The resonance…" Mira spoke to herself. "But do you know why we're immune?"

Fanita laughed, floating towards the center of the room. "It's not the hardest question. Each aspect amplifies another, right?"

Scizor opened his mouth to speak, but Fanita kept going anyway.

"What happens if you remove a part of the chain?"

The realization dawned on some of the humans sooner than others. The Prince and Mira put it together instantly, while Angel and Leaf didn't have quite as much intuition.

"We don't have any memories, so it can't affect us," Rune summarized.

Scizor nodded. "That was… the conclusion we came to. I would recommend that until we have confirmed that there are no more active conduits, you refrain from probing further into your human lives."

Blizz stared straight ahead, considering Scizor's words. He was definitely still very much an amnesiac, but he did have that one memory come back to him— was he in danger now?

But he definitely went through husk dungeons after that. That was… god, the Guilded Games felt like so long ago now. He was probably safe though, right?

"That is the extent of the information we have," Scizor concluded. "While we still have yet to figure out how to reverse the husk effect, striking down Hydreigon should be considered a victory for you."

Lucario's eyes widened as he looked at his assistant. Was he really going to…?

"As such… And with the guildmaster's approval… I will offer Team Apex and Terrae a two week vacation."

That was… not what Blizz was expecting, but still definitely not something Scizor offered very often.

"Naturally, this is under the condition that Absol confirms the disaster has actually passed. However, as it stands we have no indication there are any other Pokemon-"

"Take the fucking time off," Lucario interrupted. "You bastards got sent here from Arceus-knows-where and lost your memories just to clean up a mess that we should've prevented in the first place."

Fanita made a fake pout. "And Leaf and I don't get-"

"You two are still on probation," Scizor reminded. "Vacation days are out of the question until it is lifted."

"Aww…" Fanita floated downwards in disappointment, before turning to face Blizz. "I hope you and your friends enjoy the break then."

"Thanks…?" Blizz wasn't particularly good at deciphering Fanita, and he really had no clue how much irritation and/or malice was hidden within that sentence.

"Alright fuckers, that's all."

With that, Lucario and Scizor left the dining room, leaving the humans alone.

"So where are we gonna go guys?" Angel asked excitedly. "So many cool places we can actually go see…"

"By so many, you mean Gremis Keep or the Cascian Archipelago?" the Duke clarified.

"…We never asked them about how they summoned Yveltal and Xerneas…" Ride whispered.

"Well… oh, we could go see one of the different continents!" Angel offered, completely ignoring Ride.

"That would be almost a week of just sailing though," Mira pointed out. "We'd only be there for a day before turning back."

"Oh…" Angel deflated.

After a few hours of discussing various vacation ideas that ultimately amounted to nothing, the humans split up as the other exploration teams started trickling back in from their missions.

Blizz volunteered to go into town and restock their supplies, letting his teammates take some time to rest. Sure, he was one of the two Pokemon who literally died during the fight, but that was yesterday and Xerneas' magic seemed to do its job pretty well.

So here he was, just after sundown, hauling a bag full of Reviver Seeds up the road back to the guild.

"…Hey, Blizz?"

Blizz pivoted around, and saw a shiny Treecko behind him who was definitely not there five seconds ago.

"Yo, Zar, was wondering when I'd see you again." He slowed down, inviting the disguised Mew to walk alongside him. "What's up?"

"I… wanted to talk. I'm not sure I could in front of everyone else."

Blizz nodded, taking a left off the road. "I get it. Prince can get a little heated sometimes, promise he probably doesn't mean it though."

"Right…" Mew followed Blizz, coming to a stop at a clearing that overlooked the canyon.

Blizz set down the bag of supplies and laid down at the ridge of the canyon, letting his feet dangle off the edge. "So uh… where do you feel like starting?"

"Umm… From the start, I guess." Zar took a deep breath, as if she had rehearsed this exact moment. "I'm a Mew, a legendary Pokemon."

"Rad."

"And I… wanted to meet you guys, which is why I transformed into a Treecko."

"Following you so far."

"And I needed to…" She trailed off mid-sentence, observing Blizz's blank expression. "You're really not mad about this?"

Blizz just shrugged. "Ehh, think I sorta get it. Still confused, but like, you didn't lie to me earlier right? The whole 'come and help us' thing?"

"I… didn't mean to. When you guys got arrested, they knocked me out and I turned back into a Mew. I'm… not sure what happened, but when I woke up I was in the middle of nowhere, being dragged around by a Mudsdale. I knocked him out, but couldn't find the rest of you guys anywhere."

"Yeah, that's fair, we were in a random police station out in Tenea City. Probably would've taken you forever if you didn't know where to look." Blizz relaxed for a moment, before sitting back up. "Wait, how do you always manage to find us though? Like, in dungeons or how you did five minutes ago?"

"That… It's easy because you guys are human. You guys are so different from everything else around, I can… feel it. All of us can."

Blizz looked back down at himself. That sorta checked out with the stuff he learned from Leavanny. "…Wait, who's all of us?"

"Oh, uh… all the other legendaries."

"So like, Xerneas and Yveltal could too?"

The not-Treecko sighed. "They're… different. It's hard to explain. They're technically the youngest legendaries, after the last Xerneas and Yveltal…" She shuddered. "They're not with us any more."

Blizz blinked a few times. "…How the hell does the god of death die?"

"I don't really know, I wasn't paying much attention back then. I know Lucario and Hydregion made a pact with them before they died though, and now the next Xerneas and Yveltal are being raised by those two."

That explanation created a lot more questions, but none of them seemed particularly relevant right now.

"Right, so that was why Yveltal was cool with the whole Hydreigon wanting to turn everyone into a husk thing?"

"Probably? I really don't know…"

"Ehh, it's all done anyways." Blizz laid back down, looking up at the slowly darkening sky. "Can't believe that whole thing is finally over."

"Err... yea, your story is over, right?" Suddenly she sounded a lot more uncomfortable.

"I mean, story never ends, right? We're just gonna keep doing more and more badass stuff. But saving the world's definitely a hard one to follow up on."

"Blizz... do you know what happens to humans once they're done?"

Blizz lowered his goggles, looking back to the Mew. "Once they're done?"

"If you came here for a purpose, and that purpose is... you know what? Nevermind."

Blizz stared at Mew for a few more seconds, before shrugging. "Well alright then." They lingered for a moment, before Blizz picked the conversation back up. "So uh, you still gonna stick with us? Now that the whole Mew thing is out?"

"Well... everyone seemed pretty mad at me..."

"Okay one, it was just the Prince who was really mad, and the Prince gets mad at everyone. Like, everyone. Two, I can bring them around— you're still our friend, right?"

"Yea, but-"

"Plus, what better way to find out if you were actually human or not than by hanging out with 10 other humans? And if you actually are one of us, then that'll mean Prince has to apologize to you, and that's always hilarious."

Mew's eyes began shining, the first time Blizz has seen them that way since before their arrest. "You... really would help me out?"

"Hell yea I would." He got back up to his feet, extending a hand to Mew.

There was a brief flash of light, as she dropped her Treecko disguise. If her eyes shined when she was a Treecko, they were practically glowing now. She floated up to Blizz, and shook his hand once again.

"Welcome back Zar."

Tears slowly fell from Zar's eyes, as she proceeded to tackle Blizz into a hug. "Thank you guys... so much..."

"Would you care to explain to me why you have brought her back to us?" The Prince was practically fuming as he stared at Zar, who made no attempt to conceal her true identity now.

Sure, she used the Treecko disguise to make it into Apex's room without arousing suspicion, but now that the doors were closed and no one was looking inside she didn't feel the need to hide herself.

"Kinda already did. She apologized, I said she could join back with us, she accepted," Blizz explained from his spot on his bed, not bothering to even stand up to deal with the Prince's tirade.

"She has betrayed our trust entirely, and she cannot even confirm that she is human. This is to put aside the point that she is a legendary Pokemon who has and will continue to hold secrets from us."

"Remember what you said, like, three months ago?" Blizz asked. "That you'd defer to me on like, team leadership stuff?"

"That is an extremely generous interpretation of-"

"Well here it is. I'm telling you Zar won't betray us any more, trust me on that."

"And what of the secrets she is still keeping?"

"She's gotta have a good reason to, right?" Kibo asked.

Zar nodded. "I have to keep some things hidden for now, like why I disappear. But as soon as it's safe for me to-"

The Prince sighed, cutting her off. "You are not supposed to be interacting with us, and your vanishing acts are a stunt designed to mislead your overseers, presumably other legendary Pokemon, from noticing your disappearance from whatever your duties may be."

The room went silent as everyone turned to look at the Prince. He took in the stares for a moment, before elaborating.

"After discovering her true identity, I took it upon myself to perform some cursory research alongside the Duke and Leaf. Between the existing records, and Lucario's testimony of his interactions with Mewtwo at the Guilded Games, it is clear that it is socially taboo for legendary Pokemon to interact with mortals. And since we can no longer attribute Zar's odd behavior to an attempt at betraying us, it left only one conclusion."

"That's… exactly right…" Zar admitted.

The Prince gave a smug smirk to the other members of Apex, before going back to grilling Zar.

"Now is there any reason why you could not have told us this earlier?"

Zar floated upwards, nodding vigorously. "Yea! If they found out I was with you guys, they'd drag me back, so I had to cover things up."

"And that brings me to my final point," the Prince said, circling around the Mew. "Why did you seek to join us specifically?"

Zar's energy from before vanished as she gently descended back to the ground. "I... thought if I hung around you guys enough I would finally figure out if I actually used to be a human. And the stuff you guys do is so awesome..."

"Hmph." The Prince stepped backwards, surveying the Mew one final time before turning to Blizz. "I see no reason to trust her until she reveals all that she knows regarding our circumstances. Which appears to be a considerable amount."

"Wouldn't getting mad at her now just make things worse though?" Kibo asked. "She's a heck of a lot stronger than us, and said she'll tell us stuff as soon as she can. It'd be better to keep her around for that, right?"

The Prince looked back over the rest of Team Apex. "...Zar has demonstrated that she only cares about what captivates her extraordinarily pathetic attention span. She is wholly unreliable, and even putting aside questions of her misleading us, would make a poor teammate, despite her strength."

He paused, feeling everyone's gaze centered on him.

"...However, I failed to anticipate that Fanita would undergo a change of heart, or that Leaf would turn out to be an extremely technically intelligent human. Therefore..." He took a deep breath, carefully considering his next words. "I will abstain on the vote of whether Zar rejoins us."

The room was filled with silence, as the three explorers tried to figure out what that meant for them.

"Does that mean you don't want her on?" Kibo asked, which only seemed to irritate the Prince further.

"It means that I will defer my judgment on this to the rest of you. I do not wish to be bothered further." He walked to his corner of the room, curling up on his bed with his back to the others.

"I don't really think this was a vote in the first place," Rune commented. "Just us trying to explain that she's not evil."

"Sounds like he's okay with it though," Blizz said, looking back to Zar. "Told you I could do it."

"Right... Yea! I'm on the team again!" Zar did a flip in the air, before transforming back into a shiny Treecko. "Can't wait for tomorrow!"

She jumped back onto her bed, and despite her previous energy, managed to fall asleep within moments.

"...She's still really strange," Rune commented.

"Only marginally more so than the rest of you," the Prince retorted from his position in the corner.

Kibo looked over the five of them, and just smiled.

A/N: Hope that answered some of your guys' urgent questions.

So like I've said before I've been pretty busy this summer (and some new stuff going on since then) so I'm gonna be taking a short hiatus to rebuild my buffer. Next chapter release date is tentative, we'll see what it actually looks like.

Ch 27: Changes in Latitudes, Changes in Attitudes - 8/12/22