Chapter 17: Loathing


As far as anyone was concerned, the Rosethorn Guild would be back in Solemn Meadow on business purposes for the next few days. As soon as their trap worked- or as soon as they admitted it had failed- that "business" would be done, and they'd be on their way.

And at that point, Ashen would be free. Free to crawl back to his parents and continue moping about uselessly as they worked around him.

They were of course overjoyed when he'd returned, and said he'd be hanging around for a few nights. Mom acted as if he'd been gone for years, not just a few days. She'd insisted the trio join them for dinner and spend the night. They both vigorously declined the latter, as it was necessary for the trap to work, but Rex took them up on the former.

And all throughout dinner, all Spritz could go on about was how jealous she was. She drooled with envy when she heard he'd gotten to spar with the legendary Team Bunker. One by one, she'd dragged every detail out of the quiet child.

But he didn't dare tell them about the aftermath. If he did, what would Spritz think? Would she be scared off from her own dream? Would she run back to the farm, tail between her legs?

Could he risk doing that to her? But by staying quiet, he risked leading her right into Bristle's cold contempt.

As usual, his situation was impossible.

In spite of their absolute defeat at Team Bunker's doing, his parents had nothing but pride. That same empty, pointless kindness they'd always show him, in spite of doing nothing to earn it. That same cursed kindness that had led him down this road.

All of these thoughts ran through the somber's child mind as he sat alone for the first time in days. Moonlight poured in from the single window in his room, the shutter thrown open wide. It illuminated the small attic space, his bed in the center and toys strewn throughout.

A certain crate of toys in the corner had caught his eye as soon as he'd walked in. The toys from his ruined den. The ones he'd abandoned up on Flak Mountain. Mother had dragged them the whole way down, just for him.

He sighed wistfully. That odd kindness he'd been shown was the least of his concerns right now, anyways.

He shifted his paw under his torso and cradled the Scanner Orb close to his chest. His fluffy collar concealed it beneath him. If Strife popped up, he just had to smash it and pounce him with a fire fang. Helioptile and Roselia were hiding outside. They'd be in the window in an instant, and it would all be over. Even the elusive trickster wouldn't be ready for such a treacherous blow, right?

But something gnawed away at him nonetheless. He still didn't understand what this had all been for.

Some stupid, crazy part of him still thought that Strife might be his friend. Maybe that had been their plan all along. To take advantage of his loneliness.

But the part of him that still wanted to believe in Strife screamed that this was wrong. That he couldn't just betray them- not without even talking to them first. Without trying to understand.

When the time came, would he be able to smash that orb?

His paw instinctively flexed around the orb at that thought. The orb. Where was the orb?!

He shot up in a panic, circling around his bed in desperate search for the orb. It had vanished right out from under him.

An eerie rolling sound broke the silence. He spun around to see the scanner orb rolling across the floor on the far end of the room.

"Ta-da! Neat little magic trick, huh? Kee-hee-hee!" Strife's voice snickered quietly, twirling through the air around him. It echoed around the room, obscuring the source. The phantom was clearly on guard.

Ashen's heart sank. The plan had failed already? Did he cry out anyways? Their invisible, immaterial foe would surely be gone the instant he cried for backup.

He remembered a set of questions Rex had given him. Things to ask if Strife found him before they'd set their trap. Not knowing what else to do, he swapped to those. "W-who are you, really? What do you want from all of this?" He barked in a panic.

"Oh please," Strife laughed, "You can skip whatever script the human gave you. We both know you're not any good at sticking to the script."

He winced with guilt at that reminder. The last they'd "met", he had ditched the plan and bailed on Strife without any warning. But Strife's sigh echoed throughout the room in response.

"Relax, burning child. I'm not mad at your little improv act. In fact, I'm quite happy," Strife grew serious.

Ashen gulped. At this point, he wasn't sure whether or not that was a good thing, or a cause for alarm.

"I told you, this was about forcing people to make choices. Making people change, grow, evolve. While you may have... altered my plans, plans can easily be adjusted. Sometimes those on-the-fly adjustments even prove to be better than the original script." He giggled.

"But people. People are not so easily adjusted. And despite that, you made a choice for yourself. You changed, if only a little!" He heard a small clap as Strife's excited voice grew close to him. "So fear not, burning child! Far from angry, I'm quite proud of you!"

There was a dripping irony in being praised for the virtue of stopping a crime spree, especially by the one who had instructed him to do it in the first place. But in spite of that, Ashen knew at that moment that he wouldn't betray Strife. Not here. Not now.

HIs head drooped low. "Why did we do all of this? I know 'change'," he quickly added, before Strife could repeat himself. "But people were scared. People got hurt. People lost their homes. Dad lost his fields. If the slightest thing had gone wrong," he shuddered, starting to cry. "I- I could have killed everyone!" he cried out in a hushed tone.

He wanted so much to scream. But he couldn't get too loud. If he did, the delvers in wait would charge in and cut the conversation short.

"You have skepticism far beyond your years, burning child. I watched the whole thing. I made sure every scene played out in order. And had anything gone wrong, I would have put an end to it."

Ashen's brow furrowed in frustration. He stood up, intending to stare at the phantom through teary eyes. But he quickly remembered there was no face to glare into. So he settled for staring frustratedly at the ceiling.

"You would have just… saved the entire village? Just like that? Everyone? And there was no way it went wrong?" he asked skeptically.

"Yes."

Ashen's face snapped back to where he thought the voice was coming from. He growled through his tears. "Then why did you let people get hurt? Why did you let everything burn? Why did you let dad's fields burn?!"

Anger was not a normal emotion for him. But this drove him nuts! All of the harm he'd sewn at Strife's behest- the puppeteer could have put an end to it all at any moment? His supposed "friend" had let all of this happen?

Strife's voice grew further away again, as if he sensed it was unwise to be in Ashen's striking range. "Burning child, there is no struggle without the potential to lose. Nothing is gained in a certain victory. It cannot feed anyone's spirit, nor will it help them grow. Were the villain of our show to be so harmless, this whole charade would have been worth nothing.

"We gave our audience something magical. All the benefits of catastrophe- the beating of their hearts as adrenaline coursed through their veins, the harrowing tales they'll tell their children, the push they needed to make changes in their own lives- All without any of the risks. The wonderful illusion of a struggle with no true stakes, like children caught up in the heat of a game.

"Look what they gained for it! That renewed energy which courses through them all. The opportunity to reinvent a town which has stagnated for generations from the ashes of the past." His usual eerie cheer relaxed for a moment. "The epiphany of an old man, that his routine had become a bleak reality. Sterile fields in which not only himself, but his family, found no nutrients to grow. Now from these fertile fields of ash, something new can finally emerge.

"And what was the cost? A few scrapes and bruises? A couple of burnt homes?" he asked sarcastically. "All of that will be forgotten in a few months. But what we've placed in their hearts in return… That was priceless.

"Be proud, burning child. For every stride they've made, you are responsible."

The moonlight streaming through attic window illuminated Ashen as he sat, "alone" in the room, gaping at the ceiling in disbelief. Bathing in the moonbeams, the illusion finally broke for him.

It was madness. Fine, maybe Strife's game had a few good outcomes. But to claim he could have seen all of this coming… To claim he single-handedly assured that nothing went wrong.

Ashen couldn't believe it any more. If the puppeteer's foresight and powers were truly that godlike, the self-loathing choice of a single, moping child couldn't have disrupted them.

He nearly choked on the realization, coming to terms with the fact that it was never under control. Strife was just throwing things at the wall and hoping something good came out of it. Using his impressive powers in a desperate bid to keep his gambles under control. But in spite of his god complex, he was no god.

Another sigh echoed through the room as Strife saw his dismayed stare in the dim light.

"I don't expect you to understand, burning child. Greater Pokémon have failed before you to grasp it. And it's not like I came to take you back, or anything. Keep making your own choices, little one. In truth, I've merely come to bid you adieu."

"You're leaving? For good?" Ashen's neck anxiously snapped back down from the sky. For the first time he remembered he was supposed to be bait for the lunatic. If Strife left for good... He had no idea what would happen to him.

"Our contract is complete, child. And I have a new show to attend to. But I do have a word of advice…" He hummed with amusement. "I'd recommend not telling the frustrating one or the human about our little chat. I can make no promises what they'll do if they learn you didn't try to catch me." He snickered.

Ashen's ears went flat and he gave a feeble nod. The Helioptile was at least civil to him, but he had no doubts that Roselia might turn him in just to vent her anger.

Then his ears twitched, and something tugged at his mind. Something off… His eyes shot wide.

"D-did you say human? You mean the Helioptile?" he asked.

"Oh? Did I let that slip? Oops… Kee-hee," he muttered with mock innocence.

Ashen's mind raced with curiosity at the revelation. Humans… he'd only heard about them in stories, but they were almost always the good guys. Now he was second-guessing everything the Helioptile had said and done.

But a tinge of concern also tugged at him. Strife had let that detail slip very deliberately. He had some strange, vested interest in that Helioptile. And letting Ashen know this secret was very clearly part of his new game.

His thoughts were interrupted by the scanner orb hovering into the air from where it had rolled into the door frame. It hung there, bobbing back and forth. Ashen eyed it intently, grateful he finally had something physical to look at.

"Sorry about this, by the way. Don't like to deprive people of choices. And I'm quite curious what you would have done," Strife hummed. "But one surprise was enough for me, for the time being. It's time I get going. Your story from here on out… it's yours to write!" Strife laughed eagerly. "Oh yeah, and one last thing. Don't worry yourself about the frustrating one."

He nearly asked, but his brain snagged the memory. That was Strife's name for Roselia.

"She intends to run off tomorrow and chase a ghost. The zealot is not merciful, and the frustrating one intends to meddle in her business. I suspect she will not survive the encounter. The human won't betray you, and thus your part in our play will be erased. You will be free."

Ashen's fur prickled up on its ends. Roselia was going to die?

His "freedom" didn't even cross his mind. The only thing he could think about now was that look of self-loathing on her face. That single passing stare, forever burnt into his memory.

"Well, have a good life, burning child! Adieu!" Strife gave his final call.

Suddenly the scanner orb fell from the air, breaking Ashen's trance. He dove forward and just barely caught it between his paws, stopping it from shattering on impact.

His heart started to beat again as all of this new information swirled through his head. He could barely drag himself back to his bed, orb in tow, and lie down just to take it all in.

Strife, the utter madman, was proud of him. And now he was gone for good.

The Helioptile was a human. He always had been.

And Roselia… The cruel Roselia was going to die tomorrow.

For whatever reason, that was the only one that mattered to him. The rest was so distant. But this was so imminent.

She'd hit him, insulted him, and threatened him. A kind word had never come out of her mouth. And perhaps he'd deserved it. He'd done something awful, after all. But she'd been like that to everyone, hadn't she? He'd seen the way she treated the Helioptile.

He didn't have slightest reason to care. And yet the thought of her dying gnawed at his heart and mind, like possibly the most significant thing he'd ever stopped to think about.

There was one thought in particular. One horrible, haunting conjuration of his own imagination, that he just couldn't shake. An image of her dead on the ground, body crumpled and withering, and her face forever frozen in that awful expression of hatred.

That was it, the expression. That was what was haunting him. And with a small gasp, he finally remembered why.

He'd seen that expression before. On a sunny day, in the reflection of still water. Staring deep into his own dejected eyes.

She hated herself. And she was going to die, drowning in that self-loathing.


Breakfast was always family time in the Eevees' household. The end of Umbreon's night, and the beginning of Leafeon's day, it was one of those liminal times where they could all come together. In the evening, they would trade places and everyone would enjoy dinner together as a family.

But admittedly, these meals had never done much for Ashen. With Umbreon ready to fall asleep after a night's hard work and Leafeon eager to start his own day's labor, there was often a rushed atmosphere. And what did he have to contribute to their conversations, anyways?

This morning had a less rushed air to it, though. No one seemed quite as eager to get the meal over with. They had barely settled down by the time a knock sounded from the door frame.

"Come on in!" Umbreon called heartily. She was unsurprised to see Rex and Bristle push through the curtain.

As soon as they were in sight, they both shot Ashen a questioning stare. Swallowing his fear, he shook his head ever so slightly. They could never know.

"I had the feeling you two would stop by, so I made sure we had extra. Please, take a seat," Umbreon reassured them both with a warm smile.

"I don't have the time," Bristle said bluntly, that bitterness still sealed behind her eyes. "I have to get out to Flak Hollows for a job today. But Helioptile and Flareon are free to do whatever they want."

Rex rolled his eyes. "Well if I have her majesty's permission, then I wouldn't dream of turning you down." He gave Umbreon an amicable smile. Savoring the distance from Bristle, he walked over and sat on one of the empty mats beside the table. Leafeon gave him a nod of acknowledgment, and with a thin vine filled up a bowl of greens and carrots, shoving it down the table towards him.

"I'll be back tonight," Bristle said, still lingering in the doorway. Then without another word, she was gone, the curtain swinging uneasily in the empty space.

Was that the last time he'd ever see her? Ashen winced as the intrusive thought pierced his head.

"Ooh, Flak Hollows! That's one of the new ones, right?" Spritz asked eagerly, chewing her own breakfast. She looked at Rex for confirmation.

He just shrugged. "Uh, sure?"

"You don't actually have any idea, do you?" she giggled at his expression.

He smiled and raised his arms in surrender. "Guilty as charged."

"If it's the one I'm thinking of, it popped up a bit northwest of here a little over a month ago. Talonflame told me all about it." She beamed. "It's a bit off the edge of a small settlement along the mountain's base."

Umbreon tilted her head, giving Bristle's supposed recruits a curious look. "If she's going up there for a job, why aren't you two going with her?"

Rex snorted. "Well you see, some jobs are just so incredibly difficult that only someone as insanely awesome as Roselia could ever handle them," he jeered with dripping sarcasm.

But she couldn't handle it, Ashen thought. That awful image of her corpse hit him again, and he barely stuffed it down with a wince.

There was an awkward silence following Rex's non-answer. After a moment he broke the mood.

"In all seriousness, she's a bit of a stickler about not bringing the kid on too hard of a mission. So I'm staying with him today while she handles this one," Rex fibbed, nonchalantly returning to shoveling down his salad.

Umbreon smiled, a hint of relief in her eyes. "Well, I didn't quite expect such caution out of her. But I suppose she's rising to the responsibility. I'm glad she's taking your safety seriously." She nuzzled Ashen affectionately. But he could barely process it right now.

"You think she would have let me go?" Spritz asked with a mopey face. "I would have loved to see Flak Hollows..."

"It's not too late to catch up and ask her," Leafeon offered. His face had remained firmly buried in his bowl for the entire conversation.

Spritz shook her head vigorously. "No, dad! I told you I'm not leaving until everything is done. Though we are getting close. Maybe just another day or two..." She fidgeted excitedly.

A day or two... In a day or two, Roselia's guild might not exist anymore. How would Spritz handle that?

Lost in thought, Ashen bit into something charred. His eyes focused, and peering down his snout and into his bowl, he saw that he had scorched most of what remained of his meal. He'd puffed out a bit of flame without even noticing.

That was what he did now, after all. Burned things. Burned his whole life around him, all in some desperate bid to fix himself. And now Roselia was going to do it too.

He saw it again. Her face, drenched in agony and hatred, pasted onto a torn and decaying body.

He flinched so hard this time that he banged the table and knocked his own bowl over, spilling out the burnt leaves for all to see.

The conversation halted as every pair of eyes honed in on him. Even Leafeon finally looked up from his meal. Then they all glanced down at Ashen's ruined breakfast in concern.

Flustered, he scrambled backwards. "I- Wh- May I be excused?" he shouted in confusion.

Umbreon's gave him a very worried look. "What's the matter Mumble, dear? Are you okay?"

But before he could answer, Leafeon interjected. "If you need to," he said shortly.

Umbreon cast him a questioning glance, but he was focused on Helioptile. They locked eyes in a knowing stare.

But Ashen didn't catch any more than that before he had sprinted out the front door.

Like a cruel, cynical melody, these thoughts still sang unendingly through his head. That horrible, horrible bitterness behind her eyes. Was that how he always looked? He could never run from this. If he didn't do anything, if he didn't try, he knew these awful thoughts would never leave.

He had to go after her. He had to stop her.

He started to race through the village. The few Pokémon about turned and stared at him, never having seen the child move with such zeal before. There was no northwestern path out of town. Had she gone straight through the woods, or did the western path, towards Flak Grotto, split off somewhere? He ran for the latter.

What would he even be able to do? He'd never talk her down, and there was no way he was strong enough to beat whatever zealot Strife had warned him of.

With his type advantage and her lingering injuries from their scrimmage with Team Bunker, he could probably physically stop her. But if he did that, there was no doubt she'd turn him in to the enforcers. And then his family would suffer.

The only winning answer for him was to let her die. And yet it was the only answer his head wouldn't let him entertain. At the slightest thought of it, that awful sight raced back to him.

He bounded down the road, right past the dirty trench that now marked the village's bounds. A path. There had to be a path somewhere. But all he ran past were burnt trees, dead bushes, and a lot of frightened ferals, fleeing deeper into the scarred woods in his wake.

He skidded to a stop. What was he doing? She was long gone, and he had no idea where to. He'd missed his chance. And now that bitter, hateful look was the last he'd ever see of her.

"You're going the wrong way, you know!" someone called after him in an exasperated voice.

Ashen turned to see Rex scrambling towards. Catching up, he stood up on his haunches and caught his breath. Then he gave Ashen a tired look.

"You know, I don't get you, kid. She's treated you like shit at every possible opportunity. So why do you care if she wants to stomp around in a pissy mood?" he asked.

"Something is- she's..." Ashen muttered, trying to find the words. He himself could hardly explain why he cared. Why should he care. He dropped his head. "I saw her break the other day. Maybe... maybe there's a reason she's like this. Maybe she doesn't deserve to- to- "

He cut himself of. Didn't deserve to what? To die? To hate herself, like him? Even he wasn't sure how that sentence ended.

Rex gave a heavy sigh and shook his head. "Got some advice for you, kid. You can't fix broken people. Don't bring yourself down trying."

Ashen's heart sank. Then it sank further when he realized he'd just received the wisdom of a human. "Y-you mean we really can't do anything? We can't help her?"

Rex shook his head again. "Nope. You can't change people like that. Not unless they want to change themselves. And in case you haven't noticed, she has no intentions to change. She's had every opportunity to learn a lesson, and she's spit in the face of it every time."

"But what if... what if something really bad was going to happen to her?" He kicked at the dirt nervously, about ready to cry. He couldn't warn Rex about her fate without revealing he'd spoken to Strife, but... what if that changed things?

He looked up in response to Rex's silence and saw the lizard side-eyeing him. "Like what?"

The Flareon whimpered, realizing he had to expand his lie. "I dunno... Sometimes I can just tell that something really bad is going to happen, alright? And I know something really bad is going to happen to Roselia today."

"That's called anxiety." Rex rolled his eyes. "And I think with you, we can skip the professional diagnosis."

Ashen shut his eyes and tried to calm down. But he just couldn't. He was going after her. He knew that much. He had to try. This was one situation where he couldn't possibly make things worse, right? She was going to die.

When he opened his eyes though, Rex had a defeated look. He gave another sigh. "Alright, we can follow her. But "— His face grew stern— "watch her reaction carefully. You're doing this because you're concerned about her. So when she insults you for it, remember that. And keep that in mind the next time you want to go out of your way for her."

Ashen nodded meekly. He'd endure any abuse she could throw at him, if it saved her life.

Rex reached into his bag and unfurled a piece of parchment. Ashen quickly recognized it as his father's map. "Leafeon lent me this and marked the path. You ran right by it."

Rex pointed into the woods fifty feet behind them. Ashen had to squint to make out the faintest evidence of a wandered path between the burnt husks of trees.

"Looks like it's barely maintained, so expect a lot of trekking through the woods. We need you to be back here for tonight, so let's get a move on."

Ashen nodded, filled with more conviction than ever before, in spite of his trembling. Maybe he was a fool to defy the human's wisdom. But this was the only way to free his mind from that crippling fear which had taken hold.


Flak Hollows.

Bristle had never explored the dungeon before. It was very new after all, and most of her work had been pretty local to the three villages. From what she'd heard of it though, it was quite tame. The perfect hiding place for this Hoopa character to escape from their pursuant.

She earned guarded looks from the settlers as she passed through their pitiful excuse for a settlement. Little more than shallow dens dug into the riverbanks, and a simple hut or two on stilted foundations. She wouldn't be surprised if the villagers were all half-feral. She swore a Delphox bore its fangs at her as she passed.

Beyond that pitiful hamlet laid the first foothills of Flak Mountain's north-eastern face. And supposedly, this narrow trail would lead directly to the mouth of Flak Hollows, a maze of tunnels that descended beneath the mountain.

Or at least, the trail would have been narrow. Something or someone quite large had seemingly come through recently, bulldozing a wider berth through the brush. She had to keep a close eye where she stepped, lest she trip on the trampled remains of an unfortunate bush.

Bristle brimmed with a morbid sort of excitement as she approached the dungeon. Finally, a true lead on finding Strife and fixing her failures. Finally, freedom from the lowlifes she'd surrounded herself with. If she could just bring Strife to justice... then she might be able to face her mother again. Then she'd be able to show Thorn that she wasn't a total waste. She was just... slow to bloom, was all.

A horrible creaking and a series of thuds grew in the distance. Bristle paused and braced herself as she realized whatever had widened the trail was coming back. She began to hear voices approaching. Ones she quickly recognized.

"Wow, what an utter surprise," Thorn's moaning pierced the woods. "A perfectly ordinary D-Class dungeon. Sure am glad we wandered all the way out here, explored it three times over, and interviewed a bunch of ferals while bloody dungeons are disappearing. Definitely wasn't anything better for us to be doing."

"They weren't feral, dear. Fairly sure one of the rookies came from this settlement," Brutus's unmistakable boom replied.

Bristle dove into the brush in a panic, blending perfectly into the heavy greenery. She couldn't face her parents now. Not yet. She crawled in deeper to clear her father's wide berth.

"Ferals, rookies... what's the difference?" Thorn laughed. Bristle caught a glimpse of her grin on Brutus's back as the titan passed her by.

"Be nice to the rookies, dear," he croaked.

"Oh, fine." She batted his head playfully with a bouquet. "There's some promising ones among them. Some of them do fight like ferals though," she added in a mutter.

Bristle waited a few minutes for her parents to clear well out of sight before returning to the path, now even more desecrated than before.

Her parents were surveying Flak Grotto? Strange. It wasn't often that the top-ranking team was sent to survey a D-Class dungeon.

And dungeons disappearing? That was important. Bristle sorely missed getting wind of the Crest's news from her mother.

She shook her head and continued along. She could worry about that another time.

The hill continued to intensify, until suddenly she was passing by steep faces. Eventually, the path led right up to one such face, with a massive hole descending underneath it at an angle. A warm glow emanated from within.

If her parents hadn't found this Hoopa, were they already gone? Or were they hiding, waiting for her specifically? Either way, the next step was obvious. She began her descent.


Flak Hollows Quadrant 4

Flak Hollows was proving to be an exceptionally normal dungeon. Something Bristle greatly appreciated after some of her recent escapades.

The worst thing she could complain about was that it was exceptionally labyrinthine. Dozens of narrow tunnels of dirt and stone, that often came together in wide, ventricle chambers that would branch back out into a dozen new paths. Even with her expertise in exploration, she was quickly growing lost.

The whole dungeon was bathed in a warm, orange glow by the magma flowing behind the walls. Light spilled out from shallow cracks that only rarely allowed the sizzling ooze to spill out into the chambers. This feature left her expecting to be dealing with fire types yet again, but to her fortune the sparse apparitions she'd faced were more of the mineral sort.

Bristle had her vines wrapped around the neck of a fake Mawile, strangling the life out of the apparition as it feebly clawed at her. It was hard, with her vines cut so short. But all the same, the apparition melted away to goo and she relaxed her scowl.

She glanced around the large chamber she was in. One... two... three... Fourteen exits. Thirteen, counting the one she'd come from. Hoopa had definitely chosen a good dungeon for hiding. But the problem was that even she couldn't find him. It was near impossible to search every quadrant in full and not get lost, but she ran the risk of passing him by.

Well, if she passed him by, she'd just have to delve the dungeon again. And again, and again. Over and over until she found him. That was what she'd do if she had to.

She heard the sound of clattering rocks down one of the paths as a single small stone bounced down the wall from an elevated tunnel. She crouched in a guarded stance, staring up in preparation for a new apparition.

But what emerged was far, far worse.

"Holy shit, we actually found her," Rex said to Ashen with complete awe. "I seriously thought we were gonna to starve to death in here."

But the Flareon ignored him. He was staring down at Bristle with quivering legs and a look of desperation.

"I- you- why are you here?" Bristle demanded, too flustered to even form the words. How had they caught wind of this? This was supposed to be her ticket to escaping these idiots, and now it was all tumbling down. Again.

"Beats me." Rex shrugged, casting her a bitter scowl. "Ask the kid."

Ashen leapt down from the tunnel and crawled up to her pitifully, legs trembling and tail dragging through the dirt. He forced himself to look her in the eyes. His were full of fear.

"Roselia... are you- are you okay?" he whimpered.

Was she...

This idiot child had not followed her all the way here, just to ask the obvious. She refused to believe it.

She curled her lip at him in disgust. "Are you kidding me? That's why you're here?" She let out a groan. "No. No, I'm not okay. I've ruined everything, and now I need to fix it," she hissed. "So do me a favor and get out of my sight so I can work!"

The kid shrunk back nervously. But he didn't turn and run back to the other lowlife. He didn't leave her be. He didn't even look away.

"Can- can we help you fix it?" He looked up at her tearfully.

She blinked at him, face frozen. Stunned by the audacity.

That blank expression quickly twisted into a hateful look. "Can you help me fix it?" she sneered. "You caused my problems in the first place! And you-" She turned her frenzied snarl to Rex. "You've done nothing but make them worse at every chance you've gotten! You want to help me fix it? Then leave. Go far away and never talk to me again. I don't need you anymore, criminal. And I definitely don't need you!" she spat up at Rex.

Ashen looked like his heart broke at that moment, tears flooding his mangled face as he gaped at her with a pitiful desperation. As if she needed the sniveling child's pity.

Rex, on the other hand, seemed entirely unsurprised by the hateful rant. With an eyeroll, he leapt down into the chamber and put a claw on Ashen reassuringly.

"Fine. That's fine by me," Rex frowned at her. "You have an escape orb, right? I spent the one I had on Team Pride. Let us have it, and we never have to talk again. Deal?"

Bristle flung her bag open in an outrage and wrenched out her only escape orb. It didn't matter. She wasn't leaving here without Hoopa anyways. Three stubby vines held it out to him, the rest writhing between her petals in frustration.

Rex reached out to take it before Ashen's yell interrupted them. "No! Y-you have to come too," he pleaded, trembling in terror.

"Shut up," she hissed at him. "You will sooner kill me than make me leave this dungeon with you two. So just get out of my way."

Rex sighed and looked at Ashen pityingly. "Sorry, kid. But I told you so. She's never gonna change. Let it go."

He reached out to take the orb again.

"NO!" Ashen screeched.

He reared up, and in a panic-stricken motion, swatted the orb clean out of her bud.

Stunned silence filled the chamber, save for the clatter and then low rolling of the orb across the stone.

Rex and Bristle both stared at him, stupefied by the sudden the conviction.

And then, a loud thwack broke the quiet.

Bristle's sucker punch sent the kid reeling to the floor. She loomed over him, face pouring with fury. "You worthless little wretch! How dar-"

She howled and stumbled back as a deep, stinging pain cut her face. She caught herself from tripping over dirt, and gaped in disbelief.

Rex stood in front of the child with claws curved out front of him, dripping with a green ooze.

"I TOLD YOU TO STOP HITTING HIM," he roared. "I have had ENOUGH of your shit. I don't give a damn what your issue is. We're not taking any more of your abuse! Get the god damned orb, kid." Frills and claws both stretched out wide, and a nasty snarl on his face, it was perhaps the first time he'd looked intimidating.

Bristle growled, entering a fighting stance and letting her short vines spill out. She had taken enough. This was the breaking point. These two had done nothing but make her life worse since they'd entered it. They'd followed her here uninvited, nearly ruined her first opportunity to get her life back on track, and now they wanted to start this?

Fine. If the Helioptile wanted a fight, she would give him one. There came a point where words couldn't do any more. There came a point where all that mattered was who came out on top in the end. The point where you were enemies- and that was all the justification you needed.

Locking eyes with Rex, it was clear he felt the same. That he was just itching to fight her.

Now the only question was who made the first move.

She would never be second.

She jabbed her bud forward and launched a flurry of poisoned thorns, mimicking her mother's favorite surprise move.

Rex flashed to the side with a quick attack. His weight slammed against her as he pounced and dug his claws deep into her side. They both fell to the ground.

She howled with fury more than pain and rolled with him. Her bud reached around his back and her crippled vines coiled tight around his arms and tail. Jerking him to the side, she managed to land on top of him with her vines pinning his limbs to the ground.

"Had enough already?" she hissed like a snake. But the burning spite in his eyes said no.

Rex slammed his mouth shut and his throat convulsed like he was about to vomit. He chewed something in his mouth before spitting it out, right in her face.

The glowing gunk splashed across her head, coursing electricity through her. She grimaced and bore it, unfurling a few of her roots into the floor to ground it. She felt Rex slip out from under her while she was blinded.

The charge lasted longer than she'd expected from one of his thunder shocks, but after a moment it faded. He was standing upright across from her with a smug, toothy grin.

That ingrate... She hissed and tried to jump to her feet, only to realize she was tangled up in something sticky.

Bristle glanced down at herself and gaped in horror as she realized she'd been coated in a thick, mucous-like substance that was tethering her to the ground.

Electroweb?! How had he-

Galvantula. That traitorous little-

"Had enough already?" he mocked back at her, a bitter grin on his face.

With a wild scream, she let a larger thorn grow within her bud and swiped across the thickest part of the goo that tethered her to the ground. She nicked herself in the process, but she didn't care.

With that oversized thorn still poking out of her bud, she dove forward and swiped it twice at his head. Rex dodged them in a panic. But while his wide eyes were fixated on the bladed arm, she clocked him upside the head with the other bud.

Rex reeled backwards, wincing and clutching the side of his head. But in that moment of hesitation Bristle was already firing another volley of poison stings at him. A few of the thorns nicked his head as he dropped onto all fours beneath them. Then he pounced.

Bristle prepared to catch his attack midair, when he turned around. A blue light flooded his tail as it enlarged thrice its normal size and swung out towards her.

Caught off guard, she thrust both buds in front of her. Dazzling gleam- dazzling gleam- dazzling gleam-

The dragon tail slammed into her chest as her fairy source failed her yet again. A wave of pain spread through her entire back as she collided with the wall, collapsing in the mouth of one of the connecting tunnels.

Ashen yipped from the center of the chamber. He watched the pair brawl in terror, not daring intrude, or even knowing who to help. There was no reason for this. He just wanted them all to leave.

Bristle's vision blurred briefly from the impact, but she shook her head, dragged herself to her feet, and screamed again. She would not lose to this inept idiot, no matter how many surprise tricks he pulled out.

Rex sauntered slowly towards her. He was bruised all over, his face was bleeding, and he moved like a zombie. And yet, he was cackling.

"I finally get it," he laughed like a maniac. "Pride. Course I wasn't feeling prideful while I was still taking your shit. This right here is my pride. Not taking anyone's shit!" He stopped in front of her with a smug grin. "Unlike you, I'm making progress. You done yet?"

In answer, Bristle turned and quickly fired a shadow ball into one of the magma-filled cracks in the wall behind her. The stone around it shattered, shooting out a geyser of molten rock and shrapnel.

Rex tried to quick attack away, but wasn't prepared for the insane maneuver. He dodged the stream of magma only for a chunk of searing stone to slam into his chest and knock the breath out of him.

Rex howled in pain as his body skidded across the floor and into the tunnel, peeling scales off of his back. He rolled to the side and threw the stone off of him. A pit formed in his stomach as he looked down. His chest was entirely black and purple, charred and bruised beyond recognition. Most of his scales were gone, exposing seared skin and deep gashes. Just breathing was agonizing.

Bristle winced instinctually. She'd just needed to make some distance- she hadn't been prepared for that maneuver to be so brutal.

The magma spilling out from the wall immediately began pooling towards her. She rolled away from it, dragging herself unsteadily to her feet as it flooded the mouth of the tunnel and began spilling out towards the central chamber. Ashen slowly backed away from the tunnel's leaking mouth, wide-eyed.

But Bristle ignored the growing puddle of molten rock and charged towards Rex. She slammed her bud down on his scarred chest, earning an ear-piercing yelp, and shot her vines around his limbs.

"You done yet?" she growled, glaring down in a manic rage.

"Yes! Yes! I yield! Get off of me you fucking psycho!" Rex wailed and writhed in pain.

"Hmph!" Bristle growled and let him go, getting up on her wobbling feet.

Bristle turned for the first time to realize the magma pool was slowly but steadily expanding towards them. It had already sealed their tunnel off from the larger chamber. Ashen stared woefully from beyond the sea of death, the escape orb under his paw.

Meanwhile Rex laid collapsed on the ground, waiting for the dungeon's magic to hopefully repair his broken ribs and seared-off skin and scales. Or at the very least, relieve his excruciating pain.

Eventually he noticed the encroaching hazard as well though. Resentfully, he grimaced and dragged himself upright with a pained moan. Hunched over and clutching his near-fatal wound, he cast her a hateful glower.

"Congratulations, you won! Do you feel good?" he wheezed at her with a look of contempt. "Do you feel like you accomplished something, hitting a child and nearly getting me killed? Did it make you feel better? It didn't, did it?" he jeered between pained coughs.

The rambling was clearly hurting him further, but his eyes burned with a vitriolic spite that overpowered any pain.

Bristle jabbed a bud at him as she passed by, making him wince at his burns again. "Shut. Up."

Without another word, she marched down the tunnel away from him.

No, it didn't make her feel better in the slightest. In fact, she felt worse now. Now her frustrations were mixed with adrenaline, and the reminder that turning on those two now didn't undo all of her mistakes. It was too late.

She stopped. She could hear him behind her. She turned to see him limping slowly after her, still cradling his healing wound.

"What part of leave me the hell alone do you not understand?" she demanded, stomping a foot furiously on the ground.

"This tunnel only goes one direction, asshole!" he yelled back. "And the other side is slowly filling with molten goo, thanks to your total jackass stunts! I will happily leave you at the first fork."

With a huff, Bristle stormed ahead, leaving Rex to limp after her. She heard him muttering something about the kid and tuned him out.

How had fate forced her, time and time again, to suffer his presence? She wasn't trying to get anything out of him anymore. She genuinely just wanted to get away from him. And yet, he was still here.

The tunnel stretched on for far too long. She gained some good ground on him while he was seriously injured, but over a few minutes the dungeon worked its magic, and he was whole once more. And from that point on, he followed twenty feet in her wake. Which as far as she was concerned, was still far too close.

Just a single split and she'd be free of him... Her frustrations grew as the tunnel went on and on.

Then she heard it. Like a low siren in the distance, a high-pitched noise echoed down the tunnel from behind. A series of low booms sounded in turn.

Bristle turned and looked cautiously down the tunnel they'd just come through, past Rex doing the same behind her. The sound became louder- the blasts more frequent- until Bristle finally realized what it was: screaming.

She saw flashes of movement in the distance and steadied for a fight. Flashes of light- glimpses of red and green- the rumbling and rolling of earth as portions of the walls caved in. And then- they flew into view.

"AAAAAIYYYYEEEEEEEEEE!" A small pinkish figure raced through the air, twirling around, dodging and screaming in terror. In a flash it zipped between the two of them by, disappearing down the tunnel ahead.

Before they could process that though, its pursuant followed. A massive Pokémon, an unsightly splash of greens and deep reds, it was impossible to make out. Every third step it would warp forward in a flash of red light, making it hard to even look at. It hurled shadow ball after shadow ball towards the pink figure as it flashed forward through the hall, never landing a single hit, but shattering the walls in its wake.

The huge creature teleported right past the duo, disregarding them entirely in its blind pursuit.

"Shit!" Rex yelled, leaping aside as boiling stone collapsed where he'd been standing, spilling more burning ooze into the chamber. The monster had left destruction in its wake, and magma gushed from the collapsing walls all around them.

Rex dropped onto all fours and bounded after them, if only to escape the collapsing hall.

And Bristle was already running. Whatever this was, she had no doubt it was related to her job here.

The tunnel finally broke into another large chamber, with another dozen branches splitting off like veins into the heart. The pink figure danced by the ceiling here, desperately evading a relentless assault.

It was a small, impish creature, with two large horns. Golden rings adorned its body. A species Bristle had never even heard of before.

"What is going on here?" she yelled demandingly at the two as she burst into the open space.

The hulking figure finally stood still in the center of the room, as they launched a volley of attacks at the sky, paying not the slightest mind to the Pokémon she'd passed or the destruction she was sowing.

It took a minute for Bristle to recognize the distorted figure as a Gardevoir. She towered several feet too tall, and an eerie red mist orbited her body. Serrated gauntlets ran down her arms, climbing up a spine-like cable to connect to a heavy red visor across her face. The glassy screen nearly obscured her face too much for Bristle to recognize her.

Bristle dropped her stance, dumbfounded. She'd never been too close to her mother's co-worker, but she could still recognize an elite. "F-Faith?!" she called out in awe.

"Crazy lady wants to kill Hoopa! Delvers, help!" the pink figure yipped as it narrowly dipped under a shadow ball. The projectile slammed into the ceiling, loosing a rockfall. He yelped as the resulting rain of stone pelted him to the ground.

Faith didn't even turn to acknowledge Bristle, blinking across the room in a flash to dig like a ravenous feral through the rubble burying Hoopa.

"Be not afraid. This demon will be gone soon," her distorted voice echoed through the room.

"Heeeeeeelp Hoopa!" the imp cried out desperately, trying frantically to pull himself away from the deranged Gardevoir.

There was no time for thought- only actions. So Bristle let her gut lead her. From an eerie glow within her bud, and slammed into Faith's back as she dug.

The Gardevoir let out a hiss, and sent a side-eye Bristle's way. But otherwise, the direct hit barely seemed to phase her.

The momentary distraction was enough though. Hoopa pulled himself free from the rubble and in a zip disappeared down one of the connecting tunnels.

Faith didn't spare Bristle a second thought, and began warping after him, firing an indiscriminate volley once again.

Bristle didn't hesitate either- she sprinted after the duo as fast as she could.

That left only one person in the ruined chamber of collapsed walls and oozing magma: a very, very confused Rex.


What the hell was going on?

Better question yet- why was he running towards it?

Rex weaved back and forth down the tunnel, sidestepping the collapsed walls and pooling magma the monster had left in her wake as he raced down the tunnel in pursuit. He could see Bristle sprinting ahead of him, but the two lunatics had disappeared into the distance.

Something in his gut screamed to keep pursuing them. It was that crazy part of him again- the one that kept wanting to get involved in all of this. The part he couldn't explain.

He could care less if Bristle died doing something stupid. And while his heart went out for the imp, there was no way he could save them from that... thing. Especially with the escape orb still in Ashen's paws. Hopefully the kid had used it by now and would meet them outside.

So what exactly were his stakes?

Something golden glimmered down the tunnel. Bristle ran through the wide arch of the quadrant boundary ahead of him and he watched the walls converge to swallow her, before reopening back into the same tunnel. He dove through it next, emerging shortly behind her in a new place.

They landed in the back of a short dead-end tunnel. At the mouth of it, it opened up into an enormous spherical chamber. Over thirty such dead ends had to be intersecting it from every angle, lining the curved walls all the way up to the ceiling. The dome of holes felt like the inside of some enormous insect's nest.

In the center of the room a massive sinkhole fell into the earth, an eerie black haze seeping out from it.

And there, in front of the rift, was Faith, a clawed gauntlet wrapped around the struggling Hoopa's neck as she strangled the life out of him.

Bristle's shadow ball slammed into her again. She winced and the imp managed to drag her claws apart enough to free himself, zipping up towards one of the ceiling tunnels in a panic.

"Enough!" Faith growled.

In a flash of light, she was towering over Bristle. A clawed arm shot out at lightning speed and grasped around her neck, lifting her off the ground.

"F-Faith?" Bristle choked out, fear in her face, "What are you doing?!"

There was no recognition in the Gardevoir's eyes as she stared coldly back, her claws constricting tighter around Bristle's neck as her legs flailed weakly in the air.

Rex leapt into action without thinking. He needed to get her away from them. He pounced, tail glowing with the light of his newfound pride. With every bit of force he could muster he swung it towards her.

She effortlessly caught it in her other hand, the dragon energy dissipating on impact. Without even looking at him, she threw her arm back and thrust him at the wall. With a sickening thud, he smashed into it and collapsed onto the ground in a heap, no air in his lungs and vision blurring.

Then she and Bristle disappeared in a flash of light, and reappeared hovering in the air by the ceiling. Like tossing garbage, she spiked the delver at the floor.

The ground shook at the impact, as a sickly green ooze broke out of Bristle at every impact like the guts of a squashed bug. Through sheer tenacity, she clung faintly to consciousness, but her collapsed body was barely moving.

The pests disposed of, Faith's eyes scanned the ceiling, searching for Hoopa. Suddenly, his little hands were coiled around her neck.

She hissed and growled like a caged animal as long, shadowy claws dipped into her chest like fingers sifting through water. She shook frantically, trying to shake him off, but the persistent imp held tight as her convulsions flailed him behind her.

Rex watched this unfold through flickering vision. On the ground, he saw the splattered mess of Bristle stirring. Somehow still willing herself on, he saw her feebly drag out an Oran berry from her bag on the floor beside her and practically stuff it into her face.

The act registered in his dazed head, past the violent ringing of his ears, and he felt himself carelessly wrenching his own bag open and tossing items aside as he desperately tried to find his own. As soon as his claws sank into it, his head collapsed forward, chomping down.

Across the room, Faith roared and vanished again, teleporting her and Hoopa to the far wall. Thrusting herself backwards, she slammed into the wall, crushing Hoopa between her and the hard stone. With a feeble cry, he let her go and fell to the ground.

Bristle found the strength to drag just her head and one battered bud upright, and fired off a pair of poisoned barbs. They sank into Faith's back as she moved to chase Hoopa down, earning a genuine groan as they imbued their poisons. Faith's neck snapped, turning her maddened gaze to the Roselia.

Rex tried to drag himself upright to help, but immediately collapsed right back down. He could feel his body slowly repairing itself. But it wasn't fast enough.

Muttering curses Bristle began ejecting thorns onto the ground around her in a panic. But Faith left her no time to prepare- with two blinding flashes she was already towering over them. In spite of Faith's speed, her feet sank down right into the spikes Bristle had just laid out and she leapt back with a yowl.

A smug grin flashed on Bristle's battered face at the successful bid to keep her away. But that smugness vanished immediately. The titan blinked backwards and threw her arms out, a dozen lights like firecrackers appearing behind her and sparkling through the air at Bristle. She looked furious behind her visor.

With a blink of white light, Bristle was suddenly a few feet away, staring confused at where she'd just sat. Hoopa had taken her place among the bed of thorns, grimacing as the lights exploded across his body leaving whitish scars.

Rex finally managed to get on his feet, and ran towards them without the slightest idea what he could do to help. But instinct had taken over, and instinct refused to be a spectator.

Hoopa's eyes opened again, and immediately shot wide. Faith was forming a shadow ball between her claws to follow-up on her first attack.

Pulsing with adrenaline, Rex's speed tripled, and moments before she could fire he slammed into her arm with a quick attack. The weak hit threw her arm off enough that her attack dissipated, and Hoopa quickly rose back into the air and flew off in a panic again. Rex barely managed to land on his feet below her.

Faith's eyes shot between them all. First Hoopa with a frustrated look, and then Rex and Bristle each with an angry scowl. She finally seemed to settle on them, turning away from the imp.

Rex tried to run and draw her away, but in an instant her claw was pinning him to the ground by his tail. He felt her jagged fingers curl around it and she lifted him from the ground. Then with a flash of light, they were on the other side of the room. Hoopa and Bristle both stared back in dread, knowing they couldn't stop what was about to happen.

She raised him high into the air by his tail and-

SLAM.

She smashed him into the ground with all her might. He desperately wished it had knocked him unconscious. Instead he was left too beaten for conscious thought, but still in full experience of the crippling agony that ran through his body.

He could barely process the fact that he was high in the air again. But he could recognize the floor flying towards him again, as though the sky itself were crashing down.

SLAM.

And he was out cold.

Faith held the Helioptile up and stared at him, confirming he was out of the fight. With the nonchalance of a discarded apple core, she tossed his body to the side, letting it fall limp on the ground.

Bristle hardly had time to gape in horror at the monstrous display. In a flash, Faith's claws were curled like tendrils around her neck as she stared into the former delver's eyes with betrayal. There wasn't a hint of recognition looking back.

Faith pinned her against the wall, and jabbed the other claw into her chest, digging into it like dirt as she squealed in pain. Faith's eyes were fixated on Bristle's face, scouting for the exact moment she would black out.

But before the deranged delver could seal the deal, an inky pool had formed on the ground behind her. Before she noticed it, the wave of shadows rose up and poured down over her, knocking her to the ground and sending Bristle tumbling from her gasp, wheezing for air.

Hoopa emerged from the mass of shadows, the darkness slipping off like ink. He looked down at Faith with terror, as she glared up at him from the ground with hatred.

In another flash of light, she was upright, hovering over the rift with an impatient expression.

"Enough of these games!" she cried. She thrust her gauntlet down over the rift. A single eye-like protrusion opened in the palm of her hand and bathed it in a deep red light.

Her entire arm trembled. And then so did the entire chamber.

"NO! Stop her!" Hoopa cried in horror. He flew towards her, but a blast of light from the other palm sent him careening to the side to dodge. Rex lay unconscious on the floor, and Bristle's feeble poison sting fired out far too late.

The entire room shook as the black mist of the rift erupted into a geyser, billowing out like a stream of spirits, and being absorbed directly into Faith's gauntlet.

"Eternatus shall embrace you all," she decreed.

From the hole of the rift emerged the floor. The rift sealed up entirely, leaving a mundane slab of dirt and stone where it had once been. Bristle gaped in disbelief. Then the walls collapsed around them like waves, and all went dark.