Chapter 23: Baring Your Fangs

Null staggered along the Observatory's northern hallway, his head slowly bobbing up and down. He had just about made it to the main assembly area when something fuzzy brushed against the scales and chitin on his foreleg. Null flinched, groaning hoarsely.

"Oh, Null. I'm so sorry!" Tessa squeaked. "Are… are you hurt? Nobody even thought to let Comfey take a look at you. Here, I'll bring you back."

Null exhaled forcefully and tapped the base of his helmet against his chest. "… I'm fine."

"You don't seem fine."

"… just more headaches. I'm used to them," Null muttered. He brushed the corner of his helmet against his right shoulder, huffing loudly. "… if anything… I should ask… how you're doing."

"M-Me?" Tessa fidgeted with her scarf. "I'm… I'm fine. Really!"

"… you don't seem fine. Is it… the human again?"

Tessa flinched and looked away. "It's not something you need to concern yourself with." She placed a paw against his foreleg and her aura feelers stiffened. She fixed her gaze on the side of Null's helmet. "What were you thinking going after Vulpix like that? From the sound of things, that Bewear could've really hurt you!"

"… everything was fine," Null rasped. "… our guildmates… had already weakened her. She was… completely focused on the human. I snuck up on her easily…" He shook his head again, huffing quietly. "I tried… to tell someone. Couldn't find the Guildmaster… or Braviary…"

That was a lie, of course, but it completely fooled Tessa, since it prompted her to bite her lip. "So, you thought the best alternative was to run after them? Ooh, do you have any idea how lucky you are? If… if something would've happened to you, I…"

Null turned away from her. "… please. We don't… know each other well. You don't need… to be nice to me… out of courtesy. You can just… ignore me… like everyone else."

Tessa winced at this. 'But I don't want to ignore you,' she thought. "Will you at least answer one thing for me?"

"… haven't I answered enough?" Null grumbled. "… I'm tired." Tessa looked at him with pleading, puppy-dog eyes. "… tch. Fine."

"Why did you go rescue Vulpix?" Tessa asked. "He's done nothing but make fun of you. Nobody would've blamed you if you didn't do anything."

Null looked down at the ground. "… I don't know."

Tessa frowned. "What do you mean you don't know? Surely you were thinking something."

Null hissed and shook his head about, striking the nearby wall. Tessa took a cautious step back. Null turned his cold, gray eyes on her, making her heart race. "… I just don't know… okay? I saw him… the human… he ran off. And then…" He touched a claw to his helmet. "… there were voices. Hundreds of them… yelling at me. 'Follow him!' they screamed."

Null leaned his helmet against the wall. "They got so loud… I couldn't block them out. Eventually… I just went to the forest… without even thinking. That's when… I saw the Bewear… and leaped into action…"

Tessa glanced one of her aura feelers out of the corner of her eyes. It twitched, as if acknowledging Null's statement. "I… I don't understand," she muttered.

"… you don't have to. It's not your problem…"

Tessa frowned. "But if there's a problem, you shouldn't have to face it alone. We're guild mates! I even offered to let you be my teammate."

"… and I already said... I'm not committing to that. Look at me. I'm not… the type of Pokémon… a sweet little girl… should be around," Null muttered. "Assuming I even am a Pokémon to begin with. No one… has any idea what I'm supposed to be. Not Magearna… not Braviary. The Guildmaster says… he can't even read my mind. They just… called me Null… because they literally couldn't think of anything…"

"I'm sorry," Tessa whispered.

"… why? You didn't… do anything wrong…" Null wheezed.

"Even still, I'm not going to turn my back on you based on appearances," Tessa said. "Look at Vulpix. He thinks Lycanroc's a bad guy because of the way he acts. I don't want to stoop to that level. I want to help you. Because you've been helping me cope with my stress. It's only fair."

Null let out a long sigh. "… you really… want to know… what's wrong?" Tessa nodded. "These voices… they're always popping up. I can't… block them out. This… this thing…" He rattled his helmet. "… it hurts. It always hurts. I can feel it… weighing on my head… weighing on my shoulders…"

He staggered forward. "But sometimes… the headaches get bad. My head… it starts to pound. Then I hear them. Voices… echoing around… in my head. Too many… to make out… what they're really saying." He shook his helmet about again. "I can… kinda make them be quiet… when I do this. But it… barely helps."

"Have you gone to see Comfey about it?"

"… what do you think?" Null growled. Tessa shrank back, fidgeting nervously again. "… sorry. That was… uncalled for…" He exhaled loudly. "I couldn't… feel anything… that Comfey did. Magearna thinks… this helmet… is the problem. Says it... emits its own aura. One that masks… everything around it. She said the aura… is unnatural…"

Tessa brought a paw up to rub one of her aura feelers. 'Is that why these guys can't stop twitching around you?' she thought.

"But I can't... break it," he growled. "I've tried… but that just makes the headaches worse…" He coughed three times.

"Are you okay?" Tessa worried. "That doesn't sound good."

"I just... need rest," Null wheezed. He walked toward the residential quarters. "… please don't follow me…" he muttered.

"Wait." Tessa ran up to Null's side. "Listen, um, Vulpix is kind of out of commission for a bit. Would you, y'know, be willing to do some assignments tomorrow… together?"

Null turned to look at Tessa with his heavyset eyes. "… I'll sleep on it…" And then he walked away.

Tessa sighed. Her shoulders slumped. 'Some week this is turning into,' she thought. 'Vulpix's totally gone off the deep end and he's going to drag me down with him.' Tessa winced. 'It's the aura training fiasco all over again. The longer this goes on... the worse it's making me feel.' She glanced down the empty hallway. 'I know I haven't known him long, but if I could just get Null to agree to partner with me... maybe I could stay here. Maybe I wouldn't feel like I've been backed up into a corner.'

A shudder ran down her spine. 'Mom, what would you think of all this if you were here? Would you offer me a shoulder to lean on? Or would you tell me this is all my fault? That I wasn't focused or disciplined enough... and I deserve all this crap Vulpix is putting me through?"

She bit her lip. 'Ooooh… I've been so wrapped up letting Vulpix drag me places. I'm not any closer to figuring anything out where Mom went. I mean, sure, she's keeping a Pokémon safe. But if what Vulpix said about viruses is true, can she really do it on her own?' Shivering, Tessa brought her paws up to her shoulders. 'If Mom's out there alone, then the Prism Virus could get her. Just like it might've gotten to Gallian. I can't lose her like that… right?'

The slow beating of wings snapped Tessa out of her thoughts. She turned around and a lightbulb went off in her head. "Oh, Volcarona!" she called. "Are you heading to the veterans' quarters?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah. Comfey wants me to rest up," Volcarona replied. "Why, do you need something?"

"Um… I don't suppose I could come downstairs with you and see my mom's room, could I?" Tessa requested.

"Am I going have to watch you if you do?" Volcarona asked.

"It's, uh, part of the rules isn't it?"

"… eh, I guess it can't hurt too much," Volcarona sighed. "But I'm just warning you… I may conk out on you." She turned and flew toward the stairs. Tessa followed after her, descending into the dimly-lit veterans' quarters. The dark blue hallways gave way to the occasional opening leading into a room. Volcarona rounded the corner and flew over toward a glowing orb. She hovered next to it while Tessa proceeded in through the doorway.

The last time Tessa went in her mom's room was when she asked to speak to Milotic in private. She didn't pay any mind to the room's condition. This time, however, she stiffened upon entering. 'This doesn't look right,' she thought. 'This place is totally torn up! Papers… books… everything's strewn about so carelessly. It's not like Mom at all.' She took a cautious step forward, over a book that lay face down on the floor. 'Milotic said nobody has touched her room since she left. Could Mom really have left it like this?'

Her brow furrowed. 'Hang on. Gallian did show up here a few days ago. Maybe he did this? No, Serperior said Gallian hadn't done anything.' She shuffled forward, stopping at a pile of papers scattered across a rainbow carpet. Tessa knelt down and picked the papers up, only to frown. Most of them had doodles drawn on them.

'Are these… feathers?' she wondered, flipping through the pages. As she did, the doodles steadily transformed from feathers, to a large, bright-red bird with a golden outline. Tessa squinted. 'There's some stuff written here? 'Rainbow Wing… summon her… use the scarf…' Huh?'

She flipped to the last drawing, which just consisted of massive amounts of black scribbling with the words "Save him," and "It's not too late. Get the ash," repeatedly scrawled on the page. Tessa reflexively brought a paw toward her scarf. Images flashed through her mind, showcasing the numerous times she had seen one of her parents wearing the scarf back when it was in one piece. Tessa frowned and dropped the papers back to the floor. She wandered over toward the desk. The light was much darker in this part of the room.

"Um, hey, Volcarona? Think you could detach that luminous orb and bring it over here?"

"Zzznnrkk… hrrrkkk… huh?" Volcarona sputtered, jolting to attention. "Oh. Sure." She detached the orb and flew it over to Tessa, who accepted it and placed it on the corner of the desk. A frown immediately returned to her face. The first thing she noticed was giant blotches of spilled ink. The stains had dried up, so her attempts to rub them away proved futile. She lifted the orb up and hovered it over the desk.

A cursory examination revealed a map of the Horizon Continent. Her gaze went toward the top-left corner and settled on a large X. Tessa noted the phrase "temple?" scrawled underneath it. Before she could question the sight, she spotted an identical mark at the bottom of the map. 'I wonder what these are for?' she thought.

Her gaze drifted toward the right side of her mom's desk, where more papers lay strewn about. It was another set of doodles. This time, however, Tessa couldn't tell what they depicted. She lifted one of them up and rotated it. All she could see was a thick blue circle, with some bits of white in the center. She immediately recalled the bedtime stories her dad told her about magic portals. A deep pang of sadness tugged at her heart from the thought, prompting her to set the drawing down.

Tessa flipped through the pages. The same doodle was sprawled out repeatedly. Only each subsequent drawing had more jagged lines. The "eye" in the center became steadily more difficult to discern. Eventually, Tessa discovered rough patches in the pages, as if someone had scratched at them with nails or claws. At this point, large red splotches showed up in the drawings.

'Did Mom start bashing her pen against the paper?' Tessa wondered. 'And what are these lines around her drawing?' She squinted, trying to follow the different connections between the lines. 'It kind of looks like the Unown language Dad showed me pictures of… but it's not the same. There are no eyes.'

Tessa reached the bottom of the drawings and froze. She found herself looking at a picture that Magearna had taken. 'I remember this. This is after Gallian got promoted to apprentice rank,' she recalled.

Gallian sat dead center in the picture, a silver guild badge nestled in his chest plume. A slightly-younger Tessa hugged his side. Their mother stood behind them, a slight smile tugging at her lips. And next to her was Incineroar. The rainbow scarf around his neck sparkled in the picture, as did the platinum guild badge pinned to it. He gave a thumb's up toward Tessa.

… or at least, that's what she imagined he was doing. Because his right arm was obscured by a massive blot of red ink, just like some of the doodles she held in her hand. She and Gallian had similar red spots covering parts of their bodies. And a trio of claw marks ran across the picture.

Tessa grit her teeth. 'But if Gallian didn't do this, then…' She pressed the photo to her chest. 'Mom. What's happened to you? I can't even imagine what you're dealing with right now.'

"… I think you oughta get a move on there, pardner."

Tessa stiffened at the sound of Braviary's voice. It was much graver than his usual tone. He walked into Prisma's room, examining the papers and books scattered about the floor.

"Ain't no good coming from poking around here, hoss," he said. "Nothing but memories left, I reckon."

Tessa winced and looked down at the floor. 'Hadn't Vulpix said something about finding Braviary suspicious? No, don't think like that. He's totally nuts. He thinks half the guild's out to get him.'

"I just… I just want to know what happened to Mom," Tessa muttered. "I miss her… I want her to be here with me." She looked up at Braviary. "Did you see her when she left?" He nodded slowly. "Did she tell you anything? Anything at all?"

"Tessa…"

"Don't call me that!" Tessa snapped, before throwing her paws over her mouth. "Oh… s-sorry… I didn't…"

"Look, I don't think it's best for you to dwell on the subject," Braviary said. "Lucario was mighty steamed about something the night she left. I reckon it was the angriest I ever done saw her since the day the two of us met."

'What… Mom was angry? But, she seemed so relaxed when she brought me to Sylveon's house,' Tessa thought. 'That doesn't make any sense…'

"And she done said something about going away fer awhile and not to bother looking fer her," Braviary said, scratching his head. "I don't exactly remember the specifics."

Tessa frowned. 'But Mom told me she was doing a quick assignment!' She pursed her muzzle. 'I mean, that turned out to be a lie. But why would she say something different to Braviary? Or… is Braviary lying to me right now?'

Braviary tried to give Tessa a reassuring smile, but all it did was make her fur stand on end. "Why don't ya head on back upstairs? It's been a heck of a week. Ya need yer rest, pardner." He gestured toward the doorway. Tessa slumped over in defeat and trudged out, passing by a sleeping Volcarona. She ascended the stairs and returned to the main level.

Tessa paused in the middle of the assembly area. 'That's odd.' She glanced toward the wing leading to the dining area and found light streaming out of it. Tessa walked over to the east hallway. As she did, her aura feelers twitched, followed by her ears.

"… I mean, can you believe that little runt? He gets clobbered by a crazed wild Pokémon and he's got the stones to blame me! If all humans are like him, then they're a bunch of dills."

'That sounds like Lycanroc! But who's he talking to?' Tessa crept forward until she approached the cusp of the wall of light spilling out from the dining area.

"Kweh heh heh! That sure sounds like the Snowy we know, don't it?"

"Yeah, the guy's nothing but a grade-A loser. If it weren't for that prissy Riolu following him around he'd be lying at the bottom of Clayback River right about now."

Tessa's aura feelers shot up. 'Team Fang? What are they doing in here? Oh, gods, did Lycanroc let them in? Was Shane actually telling the truth?' Her eyes narrowed. 'And what did Jangmo-o just call me?'

"Hey now, don't be hating on the poor sheila like that, mate," Lycanroc said. "After all, she must've pissed off the Tapus pretty badly to get shackled to a guy like Snowy. I feel bad for her."

"Seriously?" Sneasel scoffed. "I didn't have you pegged as a softie."

"I ain't soft, mate," Lycanroc growled. "I'm letting you two dipsticks take all these berries, ain't I? That's sticking my neck out a ways considering Snowy's got a vendetta against me."

"And we totally appreciate it, dude. We haven't had a decent meal in ages," Jangmo-o chirped. "These berries are berrytacular!"

Smack!

"What have I told you about making up words like that?" Sneasel hissed. "It ain't cute and it makes you look like a wimp."

"S-Sorry, Sneasel," Jangmo-o muttered.

Tessa grit her teeth. 'He let them in so they could steal our food? But why would he do that? No one in the guild thinks he's bad except for Vulpix. Does this mean he was actually right?'

"You mates are a riot," Lycanroc said. "Like I said before, I don't really care. You can trash the place, for what it's worth. Serves these dumb blokes right for letting a cur like Snowy walk around like he owns the place. I don't want our continent going down the drain, but I ain't working with that mangy Vulpix. Espeon and Umbreon can tear this place apart. I'll just lay low and be the top dog in whatever's left of the world."

"Kweh heh heh heh! I like your thinking. You oughta join up with us. We'd make a great team," Sneasel cackled.

Tessa started to turn around. 'I'd better find Braviary again… quickly!'

"Forget it, mate. I work alone. Where do you think the whole 'lone Lycanroc' expression comes from, anyway?" Lycanroc scoffed. "I'm gonna knock Snowy down a peg for spitting on my pride, and then go after the rest of those lousy enabling guild 'mons. Starting with the creep in the helmet."

Tessa froze with one of her paws resting on the wall.

"There's a Shelmet in this guild?" Jangmo-o gasped.

"No, no, no," Lycanroc said. "There's this... this thing that walks around with a giant stone helmet over its face. I mean… I don't blame it. If some god had hit me with an ugly stick that bad, I'd want to hide my face from everyone, too. But I ain't got a clue what kind of Pokémon it is. I just know it makes a Muk look like an attractive mate!"

"Kweh heh heh heh! Sounds like one sorry 'mon," Sneasel cackled. "You oughta let us take a crack at it. We could use a bit of a morale boost."

"Ha! My pleasure, mates. Why not make a little sport out of it?" Lycanroc said. "First one to knock that ugly bitzer's lights out gets first cracks at Snowy."

Tessa had balled her paws into fists, gnashing her teeth. 'Grrr… how dare those jerks!'

"Riolu, are you okay?"

Tessa ignored Steenee's tired mumbling and stomped forward, her eyes burning. "Hey!" she barked, raising up her fists. "What do you crooks think you're doing!"

"Meep!" Jangmo-o dropped the berry sitting in his mouth. "S-Sneasel… it's Miss Prissy-Pants!"

Lycanroc held up a paw. "Easy there, sheila. Ain't looking for no trouble here. I found these two passed out from exhaustion. Figured they could do with a little food, that's all. Ain't that what you guild 'mons are all about... helping folks out and all that jazz?"

"Don't lie to me. If you really found them passed out, you should've brought them to Officer Magnezone. Because they're a couple of outlaws!" Tessa spat. "And I heard what you said about us! I can't believe you'd act like this after we let you in here out of the goodness of– agggggh!"

Tessa yelped in pain as a series of rocks pelted her body, knocking her to the ground. Lycanroc's crimson eyes glowed and he shook out his mane. "You've got things backwards there, sheila. I wanted to try and do good by you folks. But your dumb friend Snowy went and drove a stake right through my pride. And I never forget a slight... no matter how small! Anyone who crosses me gets roughed up! That's how I roll!"

He glanced over his shoulder at Team Fang. "Good news, mates. I think I'm taking you up on your offer. How's about we christen the occasion by kicking the daylights out of this sheila here?"

"Kweh heh heh! Why that sounds positively wonderful," Sneasel cackled. He rubbed his claws together and they hardened into steel. Just as he was about to run Tessa down, however, a stream of glistening, multicolored leaves funneled out from the hallway. Sneasel threw his claws up and slashed them to ribbons.

"Eh? So, you brought backup," Sneasel growled. "Figures you don't have the spine to stand up to us on your own."

Steenee appeared and helped Tessa out from the rock pile. "Are you okay, Riolu?"

"Fine, but we've gotta stop these guys," she growled. "They raided our food supply."

Lycanroc rolled his eyes. "Please. You mates don't need all them berries. And dills like Snowy don't deserve 'em." He planted his paws on the ground and scooped them upward. More rocks appeared in front of him and arced toward Tessa. Steenee stepped forward and whipped the petals on her head around, sending out another volley of glowing leaves. The leaves sliced through the rocks effortlessly.

But Senasel and Jangmo-o took advantage of the opening Lycanroc made. Jangmo-o charged down Steenee while Sneasel disappeared into the shadows. Tessa hollered seconds later, as Sneasel barreled into her from behind. Steenee turned around in surprise, only to end up on the ground next to Tessa, the result of Jangmo-o swinging his glowing-blue tail around and clobbering her in the gut.

"Owww! Unnngh," Steenee groaned.

"Heh, how do ya like them apples? We've picked up a few new tricks since our last scrap, runt," Sneasel cackled.

"Yeah?" Tessa's eyes narrowed and she rolled to her feet. She charged down Sneasel, raising a glowing fist. "Well, you're not the only one, tough guy," she barked, whirling her arm around…

… only for Lycanroc to step in at the last moment and take the blow right in his plume of chest fur. He stumbled back with a grunt, only to flash Tessa a fang-filled grin. Both of his paws glowed brightly and he brought them crashing down onto the top of Tessa's skull. A loud gasp of air escaped her. Tessa crumpled to the ground, gripping her head in agony.

"Sorry, didn't quite catch that? Was that supposed to hurt or something?" Lycanroc taunted, rubbing his chest plume with a paw.

"C-Counter?" Tessa whimpered, stars fluttering around her vision and a harsh ringing filling her ears. "But how–?"

"What can I say? I'm a 'mon of many talents!" Lycanroc said with a laugh. He looked over to see Steenee steering Jangmo-o away with a stream of razor-sharp leaves.

But she didn't stay up for long. Sneasel positioned himself behind Steenee and unleashed a gust of frigid wind. Steenee squealed in pain and stumbled forward. Jangmo-o skidded to a halt. His tail brimmed with blue dragon energy and he once again brought it around, socking Steenee in the side. This knocked her into a nearby stack of crates. They collapsed on top of her. Jangmo-o waited for a second, but the pile didn't stir. He turned to Lycanroc, a grin plastered on his face.

"Nice try, sheilas, but you're outnumbered and outmuscled," Lycanroc sneered. He turned, hocked up a large loogie, and spat it onto Tessa's back. "C'mon, mates. Let's blow this lame little outfit."

"… hey!"

Team Fang turned around and Lycanroc's smirk widened at the sight of a Vulpix standing in front of them on shaky legs. "I was wondering when you were gonna show, Snowy."

"Kweh heh heh heh! You don't look so good, Snowy," Sneasel cackled.

"Yeah, look at his eyes, boss. They're all red and puffy!" Jangmo-o teased. "Is widdle cwybaby Vuwpix sad we hurt his special fwiend?"

Shane drew his lips back into a snarl. "I was right! You are a thug," he said, but his voice cracked while making the accusation. Shane looked right down at the ground, his face going red with embarrassment.

"V… Vulpix!"

Shane spotted Tessa crumpled up on the ground. "Don't be an idiot! Go get help!" she begged.

Lycanroc snarled and whirled around, flinging up several more rocks to bury Tessa. She rolled to her right, wincing as the room spun about. The rocks struck the ground next to her and shattered harmlessly.

"Run, Vulpix!" Tessa shouted. She staggered to her feet, trying her best not to hurl, and lunged at the bewildered Lycanroc. Blue energy encased her paw and she smacked him right in the chest, knocking him back into Sneasel.

"Rrrrrrrgh! Don't let him run off!" Lycanroc roared, falling to the ground. Tessa quickly backed off, fearing another Counter. She glanced at the knocked-over crates and her heart soared at the sight of some oran berries. Tessa scampered toward the crates, scooped up two oran berries, and downed one. Her vertigo quickly subsided and her strength returned to her.

"Help! Help! Thieves in the guild!"

Shane sounded off like a squeaky claxon. Seconds later, a howl of pain sounded. Tessa's eyes widened.

"Yeah. How does that feel, loser?" Jangmo-o's voice resonated through the hall. Tessa tried to run in Shane's direction but Sneasel's form blurred into her from the shadows, knocking her to the floor.

"Oh no you don't," he hissed, icy air gathering around his face. "Consider this payback for those swimming lessons at Clayback Riv– mmmrrrrrrrrrrgh!"

Sneasel's eyes bulged out as Tessa forcefully clamped his mouth shut. He was forced to swallow the ice that he had gathered up. His eyes watered from the frigid air constricting his larynx. Tessa's right paw flared up with blue energy and she backhanded Sneasel across the face.

"Idiot!" Lycanroc snarled, flinging a rock barrage at Tessa. "Taunt after you've gotten your licks in! That's battling 101, mate!"

Panicking, Tessa curled up in a ball around her other oran berry. The rocks peppered her back, drawing a pained squeal. She ate her other oran berry and immediately got to her feet. Lycanroc brought up his fists, ready to face her down. Tessa took a step forward, only to disappear in a blur of motion. Lycanroc swung his paws in her direction, but ended up only hitting air.

"What the–?" He swung his head back and forth, only for his eyes to widen. "Oy!" He lunged at Sneasel and hurled him to his feet. "She bailed on us with Quick Attack! Don't just stand there… get her!" He shoved Sneasel forward and lumbered after him.

No sooner did Sneasel and Lycanroc reach the end of the hallway then a resounding clang echo throughout it. Lycanroc found himself tumbling back down the hallway. He ended up sprawled out on the floor.

Sneasel looked up, his jaw hanging open. "Wh... what are you supposed to be?"

"… Null."

A masked, metal-coated head slammed into Sneasel. Sneasel careened backwards. His momentum came to an abrupt stop when he crashed into Lycanroc. Null turned around slightly. Togedemaru and Trapinch had Jangmo-o pinned to the ground. The former was sitting atop him, digging her spikes into his scales.

"Owie! Owie! Stop! Uncle! Uncle! I give in!" Jangmo-o squealed, his eyes tearing up.

"Yeah, Togedemaru's got some personal space issues," Trapinch muttered. "Good luck getting her off you."

"Ahem?" Togedemaru's cheeks sparked with electricity. Jangmo-o yelped as the current ran down his body. "You want to come here and say that to my face?"

"Please don't! Please don't! I can't take any more of this," Jangmo-o whimpered, only to squawk like a bird as Togedemaru nuzzled him with her spikes again.

"Quiet, you crook," she hissed. "Hey, human. Any luck getting the Guildmaster?"

"I'm trying!" Shane whimpered. "Wake up! Wake up! Can't you tell we're under attack out here?!"

Null turned back around to see a barrage of frost-coated rocks flying right at him. He narrowed his eyes and again hardened his helmet into steel. He ran forward, bursting through a few of the rocks. But he couldn't keep up his charge. The metal dissolved off his mask and the remaining rocks struck his head and torso. Null staggered backward, hissing in pain.

"You made a big mistake taking us on two-on-one, ugly!" Sneasel spat. "Only thing those beady eyes of yours are gonna see are stars. Kweh heh heh!"

Tessa jumped out from behind Null, her paws brimming with bright blue energy. "You leave him alone!" she roared, speeding down the hall. Lycanroc stepped forward, a grin appearing on his face, and braced himself. But Tessa suddenly banked toward the side, leaving Lycanroc staring down Null's frost-coated helmet.

Null conjured up air around his right foreleg and shot an air spear at Lycanroc. While it didn't really hurt him, it made his attempts to Counter dissipate. This allowed Tessa to strike Lycanroc's chest with an open palm, knocking him back into Sneasel. The two ended up atop one another. Tessa and Null ran forward, the former's paws alighting blue once again. Lycanroc groaned and picked his head up, only to blanch in the face of the charging duo.

Lycanroc reached back and grabbed hold of Sneasel. "Huh? H-Hey… what d'ya think you're doing? Put me dooooooooooooooown!"

Sneasel found himself sailing through the air, limbs flailing about in all directions.

Tessa screeched to a halt, falling on her rear. The base of her tail struck the floor, sending a jolt of pain up her spine that made her eyes water. Sneasel beaned her in the head, knocking her flat on her back. He continued his trajectory forward, but Null was ready for him. Null raised a glowing foreleg up and batted Sneasel aside with his claws. Sneasel smacked into the wall and slid to the floor on his belly.

"Kweeeeeeegh… pr-pretty birdies…" he muttered, drool seeping out of his mouth.

"Rrrrrgggh, you two are a couple of useless blokes," Lycanroc growled, glaring at Sneasel. "Doesn't matter. I can take you one-on-one, freak. You ain't so tough!"

That is sufficientary, Null. I can take things from here.

With a wheeze, Null stepped to the side, revealing Magearna. She had one arm pointed at Sneasel and the other at Lycanroc.

"Oy, yer the science sheila, ain't ya? Ha… I'd just like to see ya try getting yer licks in on m–"

Two beams shot forward. One of swirling metallic gray that struck Sneasel in his gut, knocking him out. The other being a steady stream of ice that washed across Lycanroc's body, freezing him solid where he stood. Tessa staggered to her feet, fighting to hide a smirk at the sight of Lycanroc's widened eyes darting about in his icy prison. Null walked over to Sneasel and pinned his down with a foreleg.

"Did you just use Flash Cannon and Ice Beam at the same time?" Tessa gasped.

Correct, Magearna replied. Awhile back I ran a diagnosticary on my processors. I found out that I could overclock my motherboard to one hundred and fifty percent efficacy, allowing for dualmentary attack implementifying.

"In laymon's terms, she reprogrammed herself to use two attacks at once," Togedemaru mused, shoving Jangmo-o's equally-frozen form into the hallway.

You know, it sounds one hundred percent more scientific the way I say it, Magearna grumbled.

Shane staggered into the room. His face was so flushed, one could mistake it for that of a fire-type Vulpix. "Couldn't… get the Guildmaster… up," he muttered. Tessa frowned at him. "What? I did what you guys wanted me to do this time. It's not my fault the Guildmaster could sleep through the end of the world."

Negative. Fact: I am an automaton. Fact: I do not sleep, I recharge my circuits.

Heavy, metallic footsteps echoed off the stone floor. The arranged guild members all backed up against the walls. Metagross walked forward, flanked by a trio of floating magnets.

"Officer Magnezone?" Trapinch gasped. "Wait… Guildmaster, did you already know this was happening?"

KZZRRT… Metagross brought to my attention that the guild was being robbed, Magnezone announced. I take it these are the perpetrators? He pointed to the immobilized trio of Team Fang.

"Yes, sir. I found them raiding our pantry. Who knows how many berries they ate," Tessa exclaimed.

Very well. Magnezone turned to two Magneton deputies. Break the ice and immobilize the culprits with Thunder Wave, please.

"Um, is that really such a good id–?" Shane started to ask, only to watch the ice around Lycanroc and Jangmo-o shatter. Seconds later, electricity crackled across their bodies, rendering them stiff as boards. Magnezone and his deputies then hefted Team Fang into the air using their electromagnetism.

"What the–? Lemme go!" Lycanroc snarled, his body twitching from the paralysis. "This is all Snowy's fault! He's the bad egg here!"

That is a distortion of the facts, Metagross declared, stomping over to Team Fang.

"Hey, don't make me out to be the bad guy here. You guys were caught red-handed," Shane growled. His statement came out as a hoarse squeak, eliciting giggles from Togedemaru and Trapinch.

Fact: after I stopped the human's argument with Lycanroc, I sensed a change in his thought patterns, Metagross announced. Fact: careful analysis led me to conclude Lycanroc would bring trouble into the guild. Fact: Lycanroc intended to foist the blame onto the human and get him expelled from the guild. Fact: Midnight Lycanrocs are confrontational in nature. Fact: they hold irrational grudges. Metagross glanced at Shane. Fact: the human drew Lycanroc's ire with his comments.

Shane tensed up. "Wait… what?"

Warning: do not interrupt my explanation, Metagross growled, eyes flashing blue. Shane whimpered loudly, tails drooping. Fact: I established a mental link with Lycanroc's mind to spy on him. Fact: I discovered him meeting with these outlaws in Aeon Town. Fact: they discussed raiding our food stock. Conclusion: inform the authorities and use the opportunity to test you apprentices.

"Wait, this whole thing was a set up?" Togedemaru gasped.

"What?! You told us this place was easy pickings!" Sneasel snarled, trying to work through his paralysis and glare at Lycanroc.

"I… I didn't… but that don't make a lick of sense!" Lycanroc growled.

Hypothesis: there will become a time when you apprentices have to face difficult odds without a true leader present. Conclusion: use the outlaws as a test run of your abilities to work as a team under pressure, Metagross elaborated. Either you would subdue the outlaws or Magnezone would arrive with backup to defeat them. Based on the results, I calculate my plan was a success.

"And what would have happened if we ran into problems and Magenzone couldn't get here fast enough, huh?" Togedemaru asked.

Fact: the berries that Team Fang ate had rotted. Fact: they should begin to experience symptoms of food poisoning in thirty seconds.

Jangmo-o's eyes widened. "You're kidding! Those berries tasted perfectly scrumptious."

"That's… because… the Guildmaster… had me use Sweet Scent… on them…"

Everyone turned and watched Steenee stagger back into the hallway, gripping her side in pain.

"You were in on this?" Tessa gasped. "But look at how banged up you got!"

"Heh… I was supposed to… discover everything… and wake you guys. But… you kinda beat me to the punch there," Steenee explained, chuckling weakly.

"Owwwwwiiiieeee!" Jangmo-o suddenly groaned. "Sneasel... my tummy… it don't feel too good."

"Rrrrggghh… sh-shut up… Jangmo-o," Sneasel moaned. "Nobody… cares…"

Lycanroc's face turned pale. "This… this is an outrage. Do you hear me!"

Save it for your fellow inmates, criminals, Magnezone stated. Let's move out, troops. He turned and carried off Team Fang. Lycanroc locked eyes with Shane.

"I hope you're happy, Snowy! You got what you wanted. Whoop-de-doo," he snarled. "Savor it for now. Because I swear… I'm gonna break out of yer stupid jail. And then… I won't rest until I've strung you up by your fat, ugly tails!"

Lycanroc managed to fight through the paralysis and spit right on Shane's face. Shane hissed and rubbed his face against his shoulder.

"You ain't no hero, Snowy! Ya got that?" Lycanroc shouted as Magnezone's squad carried him toward the stairs. "Yer just a stupid kid with a big ol' mouth! Yer gonna get what's coming to ya, Snowy! No one crosses me and gets away with it! Do you hear me? No one!"

Enough talking, prisoner.

A spark of electricity flashed along the stairwell, followed by a loud howl from Lycanroc. An awkward silence fell over the guild members.

"Well… uh… I guess we oughta clean things up a bit?" Trapinch suggested.

"Can't it wait until morning?" Togedemaru groaned, yawning.. "I need my beauty sleep! And I'm a bit mad at the Guildmaster, quite frankly."

I had my reasons for acting as I did. Order: I will handle the cleanup of this wing. You are to all return to bed,Metagross said. And you, human, should expect a tongue-lashing from Comfey for leaving your bed.

"Oh, he's going to get more than a tongue-lashing…"

Shane's tails jolted stiff and he looked up to see a very unamused Comfey floating in front of him. "What did I tell you? Twenty four hour bed rest at a minimum! And here you are, running into a battle when your spine isn't even fully healed." Her eyes narrowed at the sight of fresh bruises on Shane's back. "And you got hit in the back again!"

She shook her head. A psychic force hefted a yelping Shane into the air. "Well, you'd best start crossing your digits and praying you didn't do any permanent damage," Comfey declared.

"Wait!" Shane pleaded. He froze in midair. "I just… I just want to know one thing." He turned to look at Tessa and Metagross. "Was… was Lycanroc telling the truth?"

Tessa's snout stiffened. She shut her eyes and nodded. "Yes, Vulpix. He really wanted to help us with this Prism Virus situation… until you insulted him. I told you that Lycanrocs can hold grudges, but I guess you weren't listening... as usual. Your big mouth turned him against us. So, congrats. You were right in the end. I hope you're happy."

Fact: in insisting that Lycanroc was an outlaw you created a self-fulfilling prophecy, Metagross stated. Fact: I will address this with you in your disciplinary session once you have properly healed. He turned his back to Shane. Assuming you can even be healed at all.

Comfey levitated Shane out of the room. His whines grew progressively softer until no one could hear them. Following Shane's exit, the rest of the guild members started to make their ways back to their lodgings.

"… that was… pretty harsh back there…"

Tessa froze in the middle of the assembly area and glanced back and Null. "Don't tell me you're actually defending him. He's been a total jerk to you!" she said.

Null looked down. "… yeah. I just… don't think… he means bad. He's just… frightened of me. Just like… he was frightened… of Lycanroc."

Tessa bit her lip. "But… he sure didn't sound frightened. He sounded… more like a know-it-all. And he doesn't have a reason to be scared of you. You're a nice Pokémon! You're…"

"… Riolu… I appreciate it. But… look at me…" Null walked forward, giving Tessa full view of his patchwork hide, emphasizing the mosaic of fur and scales. "… I don't… give off… a very inviting… first impression."

"So? Mom always told me not to judge another Pokémon by its looks… or even its aura," Tessa said.

"… okay…" Null muttered. "But Shane… wasn't raised that way. He… certainly wasn't raised… as a Pokémon." Tessa stiffened and her gaze fell to the ground. "He's just reacting… to the sight… of something… bigger and scarier… than him."

"If… you want him to change… you need to provide him… with a good example… of what he should do," Null continued. "… be his… role model… or something…"

Tessa bit her lip. "For Vulpix? I…" She shook her head. "Sorry… no. That's asking too much of me. I can't be a role model."

Null sighed. "… tell you what. Why don't… we talk it over more… during some assignments… tomorrow?"

Tessa's expression brightened up. "You mean it?"

"… you could do… with a good distraction. G'night," Null said. He shuffled toward his room, wheezing loudly.

Tessa ran forward and embraced Null's right hind leg. He cringed from the contact. "Thanks, Null," Tessa whispered.

"… whatever…" Null muttered, and then walked back toward his room.

Tessa yawned and retreated to her room. She flopped down on her pillow and rolled onto her back. Her muscles began to ache. Tessa's eyelids fluttered closed. Her head lolled to the right. She glanced a portion of the full moon shining through a crack in her window.

'Wait… since when does the moon glow purple?'

And now that this chapter's up, I can give a bit of trivia. This episode is an inversion of, coincidentally enough, the 6th chapter of the Explorers games (Team Skull). While both involved shady characters linking up with the guild, in this instance Lycanroc was a good guy, until Shane got involved. In contrast to Explorers, where guild members rally to support the player and partner, Shane's actions turned a number of guild members against him.

I swear, I didn't intend the numbers to actually line up like that. Happy accident. But, yes, this was a bait-and-switch. Probably not the most clever one, but I had fun with it. And I hope you did too. The episode's not quite done, though. So...

Next time: after the day's events, our heroes find themselves with one question on their minds: where do we go from here?