An update on my birthday? Sure, why the heck not. Just a couple of quick notes, since I can't respond to guest reviews via PM. MalevolentSin, glad you're enjoying things so far. And for anonymous, stay tuned. I won't leave you hanging.

Now then, onto the final update for 2017!

Chapter 27: Shattered Psyches

~Moonrise Marsh~

Shane and Tessa hollered in fright as they slid through what could only be described as a natural water slide. It zigzagged past several large rocks, before taking a sharp drop off a small ledge. They careened out of the tunnel and fell onto a very large, rubbery lily pad. They bounced about multiple times before coming to a stop.

"Urrrrrgh… my aching everything," Shane groaned.

Tessa slowly got to her feet. "I think we made it to the marsh," she announced, surveying her surroundings. Several floating wooden planks extended in different directions from the lily pad. They either led to other lily pads or some small wooden shacks sitting on large rafts made of bark. Above them, a dense fog obscured any signs of how far underground they were. Tessa could barely make out a few trees up ahead. Some had luminous orbs hanging from their branches.

Shane wobbled about on the lily pad. He looked around at the bubbling, dark-gray swamp water spreading out across the marsh and grimaced. "Blech. Looks like Pacifidlog got visited by a Garbodor horde." His snout wrinkled and he threw up a forepaw. "And everything smells moldy and mildew-ridden like my grandma's house." He glanced at the nearest tree. "It's gotta be these trees. Are those mold spores growing on them instead of leaves?"

"If I'm remembering correctly, it's a fungus that grows in damp environments," Tessa said. "But who cares about that? We have to find Null." She approached the edge of the lily pad and stared down into the swamp. "You don't think he sank down when he landed down here, do you?"

"Well, he's pretty dang heavy, so I wouldn't be surprised," Shane said. "Let's just find Oranguru first."

"Vulpix! We're not ditching our teammate like that," Tessa growled, glaring defiantly at Shane.

Shane rolled his eyes. "Glad to you see you've got so much concern for him but are willing to leave me petrified in the middle of a cave."

"I had a brain fart, okay?" Tessa harrumphed. "It happens."

"Please, we both know it was intentional," Shane scoffed. "Whatever. Look, from what you told me, Oranguru's a psychic-type, right? So, he could probably help us find Null. We're not going to get anywhere by ourselves. Especially with this fog."

"Okay then." Tessa stepped onto one of the planks, arms crossed. "Where should we look for Oranguru? Do tell."

Shane stepped off after her, shoving her to the side and nearly sending her into the swamp. "Isn't it obvious? Try knocking on all the shacks and see who answers," he said, ignoring the scowl Tessa gave him. Shane continued along the planks toward the closest dock. He approached the nearby house and rapped the door with his forepaw. "Hello, anyone home? We need some help."

The door opened up, revealing a shabby-looking fin. "Hiya, Relicanth," Shane greeted as the door opened a bit wider. "I'm with the Horizon Guild. My teammate and I are looking for Oranguru. Do you know where to find him?"

Relicanth yawned loudly. "His shack's in the center of the marsh." He shifted his position a bit, allowing Shane to notice a gaping hole in his house giving way to the swampy water beneath it. Relicanth backed into the swamp and disappeared underwater. Shane started to proceed forward, when he heard splashing behind him. He looked around and saw Relicanth was now bobbing in the water next to the dock.

"Go along those planks over there," Relicanth said, pointing a fin forward. "It's the second dock you encounter."

"Thanks," Shane chirped, before flashing Tessa a cocky grin.

"Don't mention it. But I oughta warn you, whatever you need Oranguru for, you're probably not going to get anything out of him," Relicanth said. "He rarely leaves his hut for anything. I swear, it's been months since I last saw him."

Tessa's jaw stiffened. 'That doesn't sound good. The Guildmaster wouldn't just send us for no reason, right?' Her brow furrowed. 'Unless this is a test of some sort. Oh gods, please let it not be a test.'

Relicanth disappeared into the swamp and Shane hopped onto the planks. "You coming or not?" he called, walking off into the fog. Tessa jogged forward to catch up with him, but had to slow down in order to avoid slipping off the planks. This was one of the few times she found herself wishing she had extra legs for greater traction.

After a few minutes, the duo arrived at the dock Relicanth directed them to. They found another small shack. This one had an odd structural combination of mud and wooden planks. In fact, the roof looked like it could fall right off the place. "Jeez, how could anyone stand to live here?" Tessa wondered.

"Different strokes for different folks, I guess," Shane said, drawing a confused look from Tessa. "It's a human expression." He walked up to the door and knocked on it. "Oranguru? It's Team Radiance. We're here to take you to Sunflower Meadows," he called.

Shane stepped back from the door, expecting it to swing open. Nothing happened, however. Shane knocked on the door a bit harder. "Yoo-hoo, Oranguru! Your friend at the Horizon Guild sent us. Come on and open the door," he declared, his tone growing a bit more impatient.

The door suddenly swung inward, causing Shane to fall through the doorway onto his side. "Oof!" he grunted. Shane grimaced from soggy wood brushing against his chest. He looked up and found himself staring at a big, white orangutan. He had a lot of gray patches in his fur, and heavy bags under his eyes. Oranguru appeared to be wearing a purple shawl over his shoulders, but on closer inspection Shane realized it was actually part of his fur.

"Hello," Oranguru whispered. "Please, come inside. You must be tired."

"Um, actually, sir, we were wondering if we could ask a favor of you," Tessa said as she stepped inside the hut. Shane had already walked over and sat down on a small, raggedy carpet. "See, our teammate–"

Steam rose up from the other side of the room. "I just finished boiling some sitrus and mago berry tea. Would you care for a taste?" Oranguru said.

"We really don't have the time to–"

"Sure, why not?" Shane chirped, giving Tessa the smarmiest grin he could muster. She glared at Shane in response.

"Ah, an excellent choice," Oranguru said. "My mate and I do so enjoy picking out berries from Mellath Bog. You would think that murky wetlands would be awful spots for berries. But, surprisingly, the trees there seem to produce these ripe, firm babies." Oranguru sighed and held up a swollen oran berry. Shane started drooling.

"Though, I must admit, my beloved mate and I haven't been up for venturing into the bog as of late," Oranguru continued, while Tessa tapped her foot on the ground impatiently. "Something seems off about the place. It's probably those doggone kids causing trouble with the wild Pokémon again. Why, back in my heyday, we would go about leaving treats for them in dungeon spaces. I even had a pen pal in Twilight Forest, if you can believe that."

Shane flashed his pearly whites at Tessa. "Having fun yet?"

"Stop sounding so smug," she seethed.

"Whoa, nice alliteration there, wordsmith. Bravo," Shane said, voice dripping with sarcasm. He turned away from her at the sound of footsteps. Oranguru approached them with a tray holding three clay bowls. He set the tray down on a log serving as a knee-high table.

"Oranguru, please, I just need to talk to you about my partner Nu–"

"Go on, try the tea," Oranguru suggested, pushing the tray toward Tessa.

"Yeah, come on, Riolu. We're this guy's guests after all. Wouldn't want to be impolite, would we?" Shane added. He leaned over and lapped up some tea, ignoring Tessa's exasperated expression. "Hmm, it's very sweet, but it's got a bit of a kick to it."

"Yes, yes, of course," Oranguru said, nodding slowly. "That was actually my lovely mate's idea." He raised up a hand and started pantomiming with it. "Just a single drop of tamato berry will make the tea invigorating," he said in a high-pitched voice. "Of course, the first time I tried it she had actually spiked the tea with quite a lot of tamato berry. I could barely feel my mouth for the next week." He shook his head. "Never did think of a way to pay her back for that little trick."

"That's all well and good, sir, but there's a matter that I could really use your help with," Tessa said, fidgeting nervously with her paws.

Oranguru slowly sat back in his wicker chair. "You seem rather tense, child. Go on, try the tea. It should help."

Tessa bit her lower lip. 'Good grief. Just how dense is this old fella?' she wondered. 'Easy now, Riolu. You're supposed to treat your elders with respect, remember? And you don't want to give Vulpix the satisfaction of seeing you annoyed.' She reached out grabbed the last remaining bowl from the tray. Tessa sat cross-legged on the floor and proceeded to drink the tea.

"It's pretty good," she said.

Oranguru smiled. "I'm sure that will make my darling mate quite happy," he said. "Now that we have partaken in some tea, please, tell me what troubles you, child."

Tessa's eyes lit up and it was now Shane's turn to look annoyed. "Oh, you don't need to worry about her. She's perfectly fine," Shane said.

"Actually, we're missing one of our teammates," Tessa said. "He ran off while we were still in Tethys Tunnel."

"Ah, yes." Oranguru stroked his beard. "Never a wise decision. Why, I remember the first time I was in Tethys Tunnel and made the foolhardy decision to run along part of the path. I hit the brook leading to Moonrise Marsh and tumbled right on down. Sprained my ankle pretty badly. But, oh, my wonderful mate nursed me back to health." He shook his head. "If only the Tapus didn't constantly rearrange the tunnel's layout. We wouldn't have problems with you youngsters having accidents."

"Right," Tessa mumbled. "Anyway, we think he's somewhere in the marsh but the fog outside is really thick. We're not sure how to look for him. So, we were wondering if maybe you could use your psychic abilities to sense his aura for us?"

Oranguru nodded slowly. "Well, it's been a little while since I've given the ol' brain a workout like that. Mostly I just do these old sliding box puzzles I bought from a traveling Greninja merchant. Now that is quite the tale–"

"And we would totally love to hear it once we're travelling through the bog," Tessa cut in. "But right now, we really need help finding our teammate."

Shane shook his head in disbelief. 'How could Guildmaster Metagross possibly be friends with this guy? He's the very embodiment of wasting time. Maybe he's gotten slow with old age?'

"Very well," Oranguru said. "So, what kind of Pokémon is your friend?"

Tessa's expression immediately blanched. A grin wove its way onto Shane's lips. "Um… err… well…" She poked her index digits together.

"We don't know because the guy's some sort of messed up experiment," Shane said, earning a frown from Tessa.

"You do not know?" Oranguru parroted. "Hmm, that is rather interesting. I vividly recall my youthful days when I encountered a Pokémon species for the first time. There was always this sense of mystery and intrigue. Let me tell you about the time I first encountered a Decidueye…"

"Maybe later," Tessa interjected. "Isn't there anything you can do to help us?"

Oranguru sipped more of his tea. "Well, do you know his typing?"

Tessa's gaze fell to the ground. "N… no," she squeaked.

"The guy's a total freak of nature," Shane said. "Canine body like mine. But his front two legs are like an insect's mixed with a bird's. He's got a fish's tail and this massive stone helmet covering his head and neck. Frankly, I'm not even sure he's a real Pokémon."

"Shut up, Vulpix. You're not helping," Tessa seethed.

"Now, now. No need for harsh words," Oranguru said, waving both hands. "We can solve this problem together. Why, my lovely mate and I are quite the problem solvers. Just the other day, we had an issue with the door falling off its hinges. They had rusted over, you see. So, we took some metal coils we had lying around and used them to anchor the door to the inside wall. Quite the solution, eh?"

"Would you be willing to help us search for our friend, then?" Tessa asked. "I know we're supposed to be helping you out, and you don't like to leave your home, but I'd really appreciate it."

"Well, I suppose it would get the old heart pumping a bit before we set out into the bog," Oranguru said, knees popping loudly as he got to his feet. "Chances are, if your friend just wandered through here without any sense of direction, he ended up on one of the small patches of wetlands we have here." He started shuffling toward the door. "They're a bit deeper into the marsh."

Tessa jumped to her feet. "Great! C'mon, Vulpix, we'd better get moving."

Shane huffed out some frost. "I said I'd take you to Oranguru so he could help. I didn't say anything about scouring this place in search of Null."

An exasperated expression overtook Tessa's face. "Seriously, Vulpix? We're supposed to be doing this as a team."

"Yeah, then take it up with Null. He's the one who ran off," Shane harrumphed. He then yipped in fright as a small psychic force brought him up to his feet.

"It is not polite to argue with a nice, young lady like Riolu, here," Oranguru chided. "Come along, child."

Shane scowled and trudged along after Tessa. "She's not my friend," he muttered. They exited onto the dock and it bobbed in the water, sending Tessa stumbling forwards.

"The wetlands are due north of my house," Oranguru said. "But there's also a patch to the northeast." He beckoned Team Radiance toward him, where two sets of floating logs led off in different directions. "How would you prefer to split this up?"

Shane stomped off toward the rightmost path. "I'll go this way," he said. "You two can go north."

"Oh no you don't," Tessa growled. "You should take Oranguru with you."

"Why? I can handle myself," Shane said, eyes narrowing.

"Because I don't trust you to actually look for Null," Tessa said, crossing her arms.

Shane rolled his eyes. "Well, bully for you. I'm still going by myself." He turned and walked away. Tessa quickly lost sight of him in the fog.

"It would seem you and your friend are at odds," Oranguru observed. "Did you consider talking out your differences? That's what always helped my mate and me when conversations got a bit heated."

"I'm pretty sure that's what led to our current situation," Tessa said, rubbing the bridge of her brow. "Come on, let's start looking for Null."

'Man, if I had a fire-type move like a real Vulpix, I could get this stupid fog out of the way,' Shane thought, cautiously proceeding along the path of floating planks. He could barely make out a small patch of light ahead of him, but the fog obscured his view. 'This is such a waste of time. Obviously Null doesn't want to be found. Why can't Tessa just take the hint and move on? What, has she got a crush on that thing?'

Shane shuddered at the thought. In the process, one of his hind paws came down on the edge of the wood and slipped backward. Shane slid onto his belly, yipping in surprise. His hind leg partially dropped into the swamp, causing him to grimace. "Ugh, gross!" he whined, hoisting himself back to his feet. He looked over and inspected the leg. A thin layer of gray slime covered his fur.

Groaning, Shane continued along the plank. The ball of light grew closer, until Shane could make out a luminous orb hanging from a large wooden stake that someone had planted in the ground. The orb illuminated a small island littered with crabby gray grass and patches of damp, equally-gray sod.

"How could anyone stand to live in such a dank, depressing place?" he wondered. "Actually, it's kind of the perfect place to go if you don't want to be bothered." His snout wrinkled. "If only it didn't smell like a pair of used bowling shoes." He approached the end of the dock and stepped off it. The ground squelched under his paws. Soft, sticky mud surrounded Shane's paws, making him grimace.

"Yo, Null! You out here?" Shane shouted, looking around. "C'mon, you big loon. Riolu's worried about you. Stop messing around. We've got Oranguru and we want to leave this place sooner rather than later." He swiveled his head about the wetlands. All he heard was swamp water lapping up against nearby wooden planks. His ears folded against his face. "Great. We're never going to get out of this stupid swamp at this rate. I should've taken Oranguru with me. Then I could've just ditched Riolu and finished this mission on my own."

He walked further into the wetlands. His gaze fell to the ground as he tried to stick to the patches of grass. Of course, they were just as soggy as the dirt. So, every one of Shane's steps created a splashing noise louder than the creaking of the docks. "Null! Where are you?" he shouted. "Man, this is useless. I'm going to shout myself hoarse at this rate."

A rasping, wheezing cough sounded. Shane jolted to attention. "Th… that you, Null?" he stammered. "Come on. Quit hiding and get out here already." Loud squelching footsteps sounded, and then a bulky outline appeared in the fog in front of Shane. "There you are. Jeez, what got you so riled up that you just took off like that?" Shane said, frowning. "Whatever, I don't care. Riolu's waiting for us. Let's go and try to meet up with her."

Shane got no response. Instead, the squelching noises got faster. The outline in the fog rapidly thickened. "Um, Null? You okay, dude?" Shane said, stepping back hesitantly.

A loud roar answered Shane, sending a shiver racing across his body. Shane had no time to process what was happening. Out of the fog appeared Null, helmet glowing with a metallic sheen. He charged headfirst into Shane, knocking him across the wetlands. Dirt and swamp water caked Shane's body.

"Agh! W-What the… Null?" Shane croaked, looking up. Null fixed his beady gray eyes on Shane and hissed angrily. Shane's eyes widened. "What is your problem? It's me… it's Shane!"

Null charged toward Shane. "You… beast!" he snarled. Shane scrambled to his left, squealing in fright. He dodged a swipe of Null's glowing talons. Null struck the ground instead, splattering dirty water against his chest.

"Oh, come on!" Shane hissed. "Who put you up to this, huh? Tessa? Braviary? Why does everyone have such a problem with me? I haven't done anything wrong this whole mission!" He opened his mouth and shot a blast of frosty air forward. It hit Null, who staggered backwards, hissing.

Null thrashed his head about, rattling his helmet in the process. "Beasts… must be… destroyed! Do it… do it! Destroy them!" Null shouted. Next thing Shane knew, a sharp blade of wind grazed his side. Shane gasped and hopped backward, wincing in pain. Null's helmet once again hardened into metal and he began charging Shane down.

"Stop it, you crazy freak!" Shane cried, turning and running away. His smaller stature easily allowed him to stay clear of Null. "Help! Help! I'm being attacked by a raving lunatic!" Shane screamed. But in looking back at Null, Shane misjudged his stride. His forepaw struck a patch of mud and slipped out from under him. Shane ended up sprawled out on his belly.

Shane's eyes widened in fear as Null shouted, "Get rid… of the beasts! That's why… we're here. It's what… we must do!" Shane turned around and shrieked as loud as he could. The sound waves missed Null, however. Null collided with Shane moments later. The force from the blow sent Shane reeling across the wetlands.

The ground slipped out from underneath the lower half of Shane's body. Shane started sliding into the water. He desperately tried to dig his forepaws into the wetlands to pull himself back up. But he failed to get a proper grip. In a matter of seconds, the remainder of his body slid into the water with a small splash.

His entire world went dark. Shane jammed his eyes shut and puffed out his cheeks, struggling to hold his breath. Slimy reeds suddenly brushed up against his backside. Shane couldn't help but gasp in surprise. Swamp water rushed into his mouth. Shane started to thrash about, utterly uncertain how to use his four limbs to propel himself up. This proved a poor decision. His struggling only succeeded in getting reeds ensnared between his tails.

Shane forced himself to swallow the swamp water and tucked his head into his chest. He felt himself sinking deeper into the swamp. 'I've only got one shot at this!' he thought. Shane tried to push the sensation of the slimy water and reeds out of his mind. He concentrated as hard as he could and then released a burst of psychic energy directly below him. The lack of traction underwater resulted in the attack rocketing Shane upwards.

He broke the surface of the water and took in a huge gulp of air. Unfortunately, he couldn't get close enough to the wetlands to pull himself ashore. 'Come on, Shane. Doggie paddle! Doggie paddle like your life depended on it… because it totally does!'

Shane started sweeping his legs forward and back. Much to his delight, the movement managed to propel him forward. However, he didn't make a lot of progress with the swamp reeds getting in the way. He craned his neck up and took in another deep breath.

A blade of air whizzed past him, slicing the tops off several reeds. Shane rapidly blinked swamp water from his vision. He could just make out Null's blurry outline positioned on the surface of the wetlands. Null paced back and forth, shaking his head and snorting. He quickly gathered more air around his foreleg and launched crescents right at Shane, who yelped and ducked underneath the surface. The wind blades grazed Shane's mane, taking locks of wet fur with them.

Shane resurfaced and immediately started swimming to his right. 'There's got to be some other patch of land I can climb onto. I have to get away from this guy!'

"What… are you waiting for? Get him!" Null snarled.

He threw his head to the left. "But… but he's my teammate. I don't… want to… hurt him."

Null then thrust his head back to the right. "He's… one of them. We exist… to eliminate them. He made fun… of us. This… should be child's play!"

Null groaned in frustration. More air gathered around his foreleg and he slung it toward Shane. Shane took in a big breath and submerged himself. All the while, he continued paddling forward. The surface of the water rippled from the explosive air. Shane's breath quickly escaped him as a stream of bubbles. He resurfaced, tilting his neck up to try and see in front of him.

Shane heard a loud hiss and the sound of creaking wooden planks. He didn't dare try to look at Null, for fear of leaving himself open to an attack. Null was clearly trying to follow him. Sure enough, another blade of air rushed past Shane, nicking the back of his neck.

'Gotta hurry… gotta hurry!' he thought. Shane's heart hammered in his chest and his legs ached from opposing the weight of his soaking-wet fur. He maneuvered himself into a set of reeds. Seconds later, several of the reeds behind him fell apart. A ripple spread through the water. Null roared loudly.

'Is he getting closer? Maybe I should turn around?' Shane thought. 'No… everything hurts. I can't keep this up much longer. I've got to get back on land… even if it's right where Null is.' He peered through the reeds, praying for some sign of approaching land. Shane's heart fluttered at the sight of a luminous orb dangling from the branch of a rotting tree. It illuminated another patch of wetlands.

'Oh, thank god! I'm almost there. I'm going to get through this,' Shane cheered. He took a deep breath and forced himself to paddle harder. A groan escaped his muzzle, nearly causing him to swallow a mouthful of swamp water.

"I don't… want to… keep chasing… him!" Shane heard Null yell. "Make this stop!" Null groaned.

Seconds later, Null shouted, "He's exhausted… this is our chance to strike." Shane redoubled his swimming efforts, and the edge of the wetlands soon came into view for him. He spotted what looked like a drier patch of land and steered himself toward it.

Shane glanced to his left and noticed that Null had slipped out of his view. He couldn't see any nearby floating planks, either. 'I should be in the clear,' Shane thought. He approached the wetlands and, with considerable effort, scissor-kicked with his hind legs. This drove him upward. Shane refused to take any chances. He opened his mouth wide and sank his fangs into the ground.

Grass and mud filled his mouth, making his eyes water as he tried to fight the urge to gag. But it provided him with the traction needed to hoist the lower half of his body out of the swamp. Shane released his grip and staggered forward, before collapsing on his side, panting heavily. Every muscle in his body burned.

"There… you are!"

Null's furious roar sent Shane racing to his feet. Shane looked to his left and spotted Null racing out of the fog. His helmet had turned to steel once again. Shane turned tail and ran in the opposite direction, ignoring the intense pain shooting through his legs.

"Tessa, get over here! I'm being attack by Null!" Shane cried. He tried to focus on where he was running, but the fog made it difficult to see a path forward. Shane's eyes widened and he had to skid to a halt as he realized he was approaching the edge of the wetlands.

'No, no, no! There's got to be a plank or a dock around here somewhere,' he thought, looking about in a panic. But the clanging of Null's metallic helmet grew steadily louder. Shane turned to cut to his left, but Null had already anticipated this. Shane found himself on a direct collision course with Null. He turned to his left and opened his mouth. But in his fatigued state, all he could manage to do was cough up a couple of clouds of frosty air.

Shane screamed in terror as Null's mask bashed against his head. The blow upended him, immediately knocking him out. His unconscious form slid back across the ground, picking up mud, until Shane's head and neck dangled over the surface of the swamp. Null raised a foreleg, gathering air between his talons.

"One more blow… and he's gone forever," Null muttered.

"Null! What are you doing?"

Null heard Tessa's cry too late. He thrust his foreleg forward and an air crescent rifled toward Shane.

"Null!"

The blast struck Shane and knocked him back into the swamp. Tessa sprinted toward Null, a look of confusion spread across her face. Null turned to face her just as she threw a small seed at him. Next thing he knew, a smoky-pink cloud enveloped him. Null wobbled about before collapsing onto his side, snoring loudly.

Tessa looked over to see Oranguru lifting Shane out of the swamp and lowering him onto the ground. He knelt down and placed a paw on Shane's side. It flashed pink, sending waves of psychic energy pulsating across Shane's body. Moments later, Shane coughed up a mouthful of swamp water.

"It seems we got here just in time," Oranguru said. "Yes, this is just like the close shaves my lovely mate and I ran into back when we lived near Glyphic Falls."

"Uunnnnnggh," Shane groaned. His eyes slowly creaked open. "W… what happened?" He looked up at Oranguru. "Are we… in Sunflower Meadows?" Shane sat up, blinking rapidly. "Wait..." His gaze fell on Null's slumbering form. Tessa knelt beside Null, rubbing his side with a paw.

"Are you serious?" Shane growled. "You're paying attention to him? That psycho just tried to kill me!"

Tessa flinched and looked up at him. "Vulpix, it's not his fault."

"Oh, of course. How silly of me," Shane said, narrowing his eyes at Tessa. "You're absolutely right. Null's perfectly fine. I just decided to go for a nice, refreshing dip in this nasty-ass swamp!"

"Actually, the swamp water really isn't that bad if you know where to swim," Oranguru mused.

"Shut it, gramps!" Shane barked. He whirled back on Tessa. "Alright, fess up! Someone put the two of you up to this, didn't they? Who wants me snuffed out? Braviary? The Guildmaster? Lycanroc?"

"You don't understand," Tessa said. "Null… he can't help it. He hears voices."

Shane bared his fangs. "Are you kidding me? That's your big explanation? Well, I'm not buying it. Pokémon aren't schizophrenics. The guy's just a dangerous freak!" He glared at Null. "For all we know, he could've picked up the Prism Virus!"

"He's not infected," Tessa said, stepping defensively in front of Null. "I know you don't like to think about other people's problems, but Null told me that when he gets his headaches he starts hearing a bunch of voices. The same thing happened with Bewear in Dewdrop Woods. The only reason he followed you was because these voices yelled at him until they overwhelmed him."

"Shut up!" Shane screeched, smacking the ground with a foreleg. He grinded his teeth together. "You don't get to defend him. Not after what he just did to me! He deserves to stay here and rot with these moldy trees. He's not a Pokémon… he's a freak of nature!"

"You shut up!" Tessa snarled, balling her paws into fists. "Maybe if you had taken the time to actually be nice to him, none of this would've happened." She looked back at Null. "I was talking to him after Lycanroc got arrested, you know. He said he doesn't blame you for the way you act around him. Why can't you just do the same thing?"

"Because I nearly drowned thanks to him!" Shane thundered, snorting out water droplets. "A little teasing will never measure up to that."

"And I nearly drowned because of you on our very first assignment!" Tessa shouted, her fists flashing blue.

Shane's left eye twitched and a vein bulged out of his forehead. "Are you saying this is my fault?"

Tessa crossed her arms. "Well, you certainly haven't done anything to help the situation."

Shane's left eye twitched again. "Alright, that tears it!" he bellowed. Shane sprinted toward Tessa, face contorted in rage. Tessa's eyes widened, but she backed up right into Null. A stream of slush washed in front of her. Tessa slipped and fell onto her belly. Seconds later, Shane barreled into her. The two canines tumbled across the ground. Their momentum carried them to a mud pit, which they fell into with a large splash.

Shane got the upper hand and pinned Tessa against the ground. Tessa thrashed about underneath him, but Shane had pressed his forepaws down on her arms, preventing her escape. "Let… me… go!" she screeched.

Shane responded by pushing Tessa's head into the mud with his neck. He leaned down and sank his fangs into her ear. The taste of iron filled up his mouth as Tessa wailed in pain. Shane let go of her ear and pushed harder against her.

"You don't get to tell me what to do anymore! I'm through listening to you!" he hissed, spitting a mouthful of blood onto Tessa's neck. Shane pulled his head back and smacked Tessa across the cheek. He opened his mouth wide and coated Tessa in chilled air from head to toe. Tessa cried out in frustration and struggled even harder. But her energy quickly faded as Shane's attack encased her in a thick layer of ice.

Once he was certain he'd frozen Tessa solid, Shane lumbered to his feet, howling angrily. For good measure, he doused the mud puddle surrounding Tessa in snowflakes, freezing it over. Shane walked over and scooped up Tessa's item pouch. "I'm taking this," he declared, "and I'm going to bring Oranguru to Sunflower Fields myself. When I'm done, you can bet I'm telling the Guildmaster all of this. And then the two of you will get kicked to the curb where you belong."

He reached into the pouch and produced a sparkling orb. "Here. Unlike your stupid friend, I'm actually generous. When you thaw out, you can use this to buzz off." He rolled the orb over to Null's sleeping form.

Shane turned and stomped over toward Oranguru. "C'mon, we're leaving."

"Are you sure about that? Don't you want to wait for your friends to recover?" Oranguru asked. "It is not wise to rush into Mellath Bog by your lonesome. I remember the first time I made that mistake…"

"Don't care," Shane said. He pointed his snout forward. "Get walking. Now!" Oranguru looked back at Tessa and Null. Shane shoved him with his snout. "I said get moving!"

Oranguru lumbered forward, sighing. Shane gave his former teammates one last scornful look before storming off after Oranguru, shaking bits of mud off his pelt.

Well, isn't that a happy note to end things off on? Sometimes you just have to hit rock bottom before things start to pick up. With that said, a big thank you to those of you who have showed your support so far. I hope you'll stick around, because there are plenty more ups and downs to come in 2018. Until then, a happy and healthy new year to all of you. And if you're reading this sometime in the future, mind sending me some winning lottery numbers?

Next time: Mellath Bog, feature a certain infamous Totem Pokémon.