With as few members as were present at the compound, there was no need to gather up in the central hall and stand around in the cold. While the chief's office was much smaller and warmer, the city's power grid had been out for some time now, and the shadows cast by the candles were starting to mess with Panne's vision. The migraine that had settled behind her eyes certainly didn't help much, either. The most reliable light was the one cast by Floatzel's Connection Orb as he leaned his face into the call. And even then, the blue glow flickered precariously, teetering on the brink of failure.

Around the table sat what few members of the Society were present at the compound. Floatzel was on the end, flanked by both Ampharos and Mawile. Archeops and Kadabra were just across from the candles. Jirachi hover somewhere above the center of the table and drifted about. And of course, her and Vallion. Pelipper had also found a seat with them since he didn't have an office to get back to anyway. Swirlix wanted nothing to do with this crisis and went back to bed, which was mostly par for the course.

"What? Speak up already, the storm's making everything all scratchy!" Floatzel sat up in his big chair, turning his ear to the gadget in his hands. The feminine voice on the line demanded something, to which he shook his head. "No, you can just call him yourself after this. He knows how to use a gadget already, and Panne could-" The voice spoke over him, muddled with static and distortion. Their chief groaned loudly before he put the gadget down and slid it across the table towards Vallion. "I guess Altaria wants to talk to you now. Good luck with that quality, though."

The Servine hesitated, slowly wrapping his vines around the gadget to pull it closer to his face. A pokemon's blurry image immediately filled the orb's width, making him wince back in surprise. "Vallion! Why'd you go and make me worry for so long? I've barely slept a wink since I heard you got back to the Society! I should have just called sooner! Why do you look so beat up? Did you get into a fight?! You don't even remember how to fight!"

"I- I don't think it's that compli-"

"Don't you dare do any fighting until I get there! We'll get this whole memory business sorted out before anything else goes wrong. I swear, I would have flown over there myself if it wasn't for that typhoon! You're all too young to be dealing with things like this. You always get into trouble too young, you know that? I guess you wouldn't anymore." Altaria gasped into the receiver. "Send me over to Panne real quick!"

Vallion seemed rather eager to pass the dragon along. The Braixen made sure to turn the volume knob an extra few notches down. With her ears, she really didn't need that thing to be blaring to hear Altaria's blabber over the static. "Panne! I can't even begin to- Are those bandages? And a healing looplet around your neck?! You two have been getting into fights! Nasty ones, at that!"

"Don't- Just don't worry about it." From across the table, Floatzel pointed a finger to the gadget, pointed towards the clock, and brought the same finger across his neck with a frown. Panne rolled her eyes. "Really, actually do not worry about it. We already got enough people doing that for you, we don't need any more. You kinda called at a bad time. Can we sorta cut it short and get back to you later?"

Altaria's grainy face scrunched up with discomfort. "You better call back soon, alright? I feel so out of the loop that I'm gonna start plucking feathers soon. And you should call the others, too! I'm sure Volcarona and Dedenne would want to know what's happening! Maybe Mismagius, too. I really don't know about him, but he'll probably complain if you don't. And seriously don't get into any more trouble until everyone's together again!"

"Yeah yeah yeah. We're kind of dealing with some stuff here! Time sensitive!" Floatzel spoke up for her, gesturing for the gadget back. Panne slid the orb back across the table and rubbed at her temples. He caught it and put his hand over the power switch.

"Time sensitive?" Altaria scoffed. "You forget to wake up for morning assembly at least once a week! Make sure you're letting Ampharos help out as much as he can, will you? I know how badly you want to be the dependable leader type everyone looks up to, but this is a serious situati-"

"No time for this lecture BYE!" As Floatzel flipped the switch, the blue orb fizzled out into darkness once more, and the candlelight reigned supreme across the room. The air was particularly thick as the silence fell. Panne squeezed her eyes to fend off the throbbing feeling, but it didn't do much good. She felt like a helpless child again, like she'd been dragged around by the ear as Pops scolded her for whatever trouble she'd caused around the village. Whether it be the weight of her soaked fur or the mental weight on her shoulders, it was hard to not feel oppressed. All that was left was to argue her case.

After having enjoyed the few seconds of peace he'd earned, Floatzel raised his eyes to the rest of the table. "Alright. Tell us what the deal is, from the top this time. Spare no details. What's this about a boat?"

Hydreigon was comically large for the table they were settled beside, but their expression was unnervingly severe, especially in the limited light. "There are several stages to my plan at getting Vallion's memories back, but it involves going to the Grass Continent, and there are larger obstacles in our way than just distance. The abomination lurking outside is what I'm talking about. It seeks to harness the incredible properties of his human soul, and nothing can be done for his amnesia with it skulking behind us. Worse yet, it's feeding on surrounding souls while we wait. The longer we're stuck here, the stronger it gets, the more difficult it will be to repair Vallion's mind. Thus, we leave by ship."

"In the typhoon, yeah. We'd be leaving in as turbulent of waters as possible. It pretty much cannot get any worse than it is right now." Floatzel shook his head. "So ridiculous. Really, how much more powerful is it really going to be by the time the storm passes? Will it really be that unmanageable?"

Vallion shot up in his chair. "It's not about how difficult it is to fight! It's about the pokemon we're sacrificing by waiting! If that thing wants my soul so bad, then it's going to follow me no matter what. That's the important thing here. If we were proactive and left the city now, it'd be forced to react and follow us. There's really no way we can predict what it's going to do otherwise."

Ampharos, who had been sitting quietly and drinking an entire pot of coffee like it was a mug, spoke up. "If we follow the pattern of its killings, there will probably be a fourth or fifth victim by the end of this hour. There's already been some efforts to evacuate some pokemon to certain shelters so that the storm is more manageable. Perhaps that's also the key to minimizing the damage caused by the Spiritomb?"

"I mean, the Society can run around all day and night trying to 'minimize' damage, but we're dealing with some serious stuff here." Archeops ruffled his feathers, his round eyes glistening in the candlelight. "If Panne got beaten by the ghost even with Hydreigon around, them it's definitely no joke. There's a very real chance we could get picked off if it catches us off-guard again. But it's true that sitting here doing nothing isn't going to do us any favors, either. I like what Vallion said about being proactive, though I don't really like the sailing part. I wouldn't really know what else to do. It's not the worst idea I've participated in, at least."

"Not the worst?! It's an absolutely terrible idea!" Pelipper squawked from the opposite end of the table. "I have no idea what you guys have been smoking! Even the largest, sturdiest ships I got would probably get smashed or capsize the second you took them off the docks! And even then, the larger vessels are all privately owned anyway. My rickety charter boats aren't going to get you anywhere near Grass Continent."

Hydreigon lowered his heads. "Privately owned? Can't you just borrow a single one, what with your status? The Expedition Society is a world-renowned guild, surely it can pull some strings. This is an important, life-saving mission, after all."

A brief hiccup of silence and pursed lips ensued, which was eventually ended by the sound of Mawile's disinterested voice. "The nobles have been getting pretty uppity as of late, so I don't know. And that was before this new crisis smacked into the city like a wrecking ball. Getting them to cooperate now, and as fast as we need them to, would be an incredible pain."

Floatzel muttered under his breath, too quiet for most of the table to hear. "Ugh. I hate the nobles."

"I might know someone to ask," Archeops said. "That Toxicroak who lives by the power plant owns a fairly decent galleon-type deal, and he owes me a favor. I mean, and it's certainly no steamboat, but it does come with a crew at least. It's the best shot I can think of right now."

Jirachi let out a little gasp. "Oh, I know that guy! Yeah he'll probably do it. Especially if we pay him pretty well. He likes money more than he likes evaluating risks."

"Wait a second here, so we're actually doing this? We barely even discussed how dangerous this is! We've got to have other options, right?" said Floatzel, his chair squeaking beneath him as he readjusted himself.

Ampharos clicked his tongue and hummed. "We either wait or we don't. There's not much more to it. If the key to Vallion's memories is on Grass Continent, we're going to set sail no matter what. It's just a matter of weighing how dangerous this Spiritomb could possibly be to how dangerous this storm currently is."

The water type's eyes shifted about the room. His hands fidgeting, he turned to the quietest member of the Society. "Come on, Kadabra. You've got a little bit of clairvoyance in that head of yours, don't you? Work with me here will ya! Please tell me this storm is going to let up soon."

"I'm not really all that good at it! You're barking up the wrong tree!" Kadabra waited for someone to speak up for her, but that feverish quiet and fallen over them again. She huffed and closed her eyes. After some moments of concentration and a few twitches, the psychic type just shook her head. "Nope. It's wet for as far as I can see, which isn't as far as you probably want. I did see a boat, though."

"Of course you did," he sighed.

"Well I'm definitely not letting you fools do something so heinously dangerous by yourselves," Mawile said and shrugged, quickly glancing between Ampharos and Vallion both. "If I can't stop it, I might as well join along. Strength in numbers, right Floatzel?"

"Kyogre's fins, I work with lunatics."

Hydreigon nodded their heads. "Perhaps, but there's no shortage of bravery. All that's left is to set the plan in action. Things will be more clear once we know whether we have this ship and crew or not. Then we can pack and plan accordingly, given we have time. That was why I was so hasty this morning. We should discuss what we'll need to bring..."

It was honestly pretty astounding. Panne was prepared to fight tooth and nail to convince the others about this plan, but it just seemed to roll over into everyone's favor naturally. Vallion in particular seemed to completely deflate in his chair at the news. At the beginning of all this, he was so tense that his tail had gone rigid and face was pale. Now he'd sunken four inches lower beneath the table and looked like he was struggling to even stay awake. He was so sure that nobody was going to be on his side that it visibly disarmed him when fleeing the city was the general consensus. Of course, Pelipper and Floatzel just happen to be a fairly loud minority.

"I guess we better get to it," Archeops said with a heavy sigh as he hopped up from his seat. "I'm sure as hell not going out there alone, by the way. Not after what that ghost thing tried to do to Pelipper. Who of you is gonna come with-" Vallion immediately raised a vine, and got a dismissive wing in return. "Okay. Sorry, but not you. Pretty much literally anyone here but you. Didn't you just get attacked? Why would you want to go back out there?"

The Servine stumbled over his words. "I know this is Hydreigon's idea and all, but it's my fault any of this is even happening. I feel like I should take responsibility, especially after you all agreed with the stupid plan. I didn't think anyone else would bother."

"Val. It's okay." Panne tried to smile at him, but it was probably hidden behind her forearm as she held her head. "We're okay now. This is our family, too. We look out for each other. I just didn't do a good enough job of remembering that before I almost got the both of us killed."

"Well you're both here, and mostly unharmed anyway. I'd say you did a fine job!" Ampharos produced for her the very reassuring smile she had already failed to give to Val. The Braixen looked away, ears pointed backwards.

It was eventually settled that Archeops would go see the noble with two others tagging along. Floatzel, who was still as hesitant as ever; and Jirachi, on the condition that they got to play in the rain, despite the gale-force winds. It wasn't exactly the most well-suited squad for wading around in a storm, and certainly not for fighting the demon, but the errand wouldn't be too demanding if everything went smoothly. They left in short order. Pelipper followed their exit a little while later, blaming a lack of breakfast and not the awkward stillness of the air. Now, there were only a handful of them left. They sat in the stagnant silence together, a collective weight pressing down on them. At least it was warm.

Mawile let out a soft chuckle. "This is much more complicated than I thought it was going to be. I suppose Vallion's never been the type to get into simple trouble, though."

"We've got brief moment yet to rest. I think we should take it easy for the time being." Ampharos eyed the empty hall for a few moments before he got up and settled himself in his old chair, leaning back as far as it would allow. It honestly seemed like he'd been waiting to do that this whole time. "Let's just relax. Maybe we could chat a little. For as much talking as we've been doing, there's still so much to say. Now's probably the best time to get some answers if you had any questions."

"I was actually wondering something. It's been bothering me for a while," Kadabra spoke softly at first, but cleared her throat and turned towards the dragon nestled up to the side of the table. "Hydreigon. What are you?"

Their middle head tilted in response. "What am I? A Hydreigon, I suppose. Am I supposed to be something different?'

"No, that's not what I-..."

As Kadabra trailed off, Mawile picked back up on the question. "You seemingly know a lot more than you should, Hydreigon. The Harmony Scarves, for instance. Or just humans in general. And you act so strangely but always seem to know what's going on. I've come to known some pretty knowledgeable sages in my travels and I've never quite seen any as...particular as you."

"Ah! That. I suppose I haven't gone over that yet. Well, there hasn't really been time until now, and nobody's had the chance to ask." The dragon cleared their throat, the corners of their mouth curling upwards at the chance to explain yet another obtuse mystery. "You're right to consider me abnormal. Physically, I appear to be an above average-sized Hydreigon with nothing substantially unique in the slightest. Aside from my species, I am particularly unremarkable. Forgettable, even. But I have lived through countless centuries and bore witness to dozens of world-changing events, my memory and knowledge spanning countless lifetimes. As far as names are concerned, I'm sometimes called the Voice of Life."

Voice of Life. Panne's lips repeated the words, but they still rang so uncomfortably in her ears. The gears in her head started to turn. It was just an off-handed thought at first, but as she stared at that dragon her face contorted with a mixture of surprise and confusion. Titles like that don't come out of thin air, and she had heard that exact cadence of phrase before. "Voice of Life? Do you mean like- like the Tree of Life? Like with Xerneas?"

"Hm. I suppose Vallion really didn't tell you about me, did he?" Hydreigon almost seemed offended for a moment. Just the slightest twitch of expression, then it was gone. "You have the right idea, anyway. It's a discussion that I don't think we have the energy for at the moment, but I am indeed connected to the Tree of Life. An avatar, if you will. There are quite a few humans I've personally known over the years, as well. Summoned a majority of them myself. Hopefully that would help explain why it seems like I know too much about some very obscure subjects."

"You knew the other humans?" Vallion's eyes went wide. "There are other humans that live in this world besides me?"

The dragon gave him a sharp nod. "There are none who are actually human in body, mind you. They are all like yourself, noble souls intertwined with the form of a pokemon. There hasn't been a true human around in a very, very long time. I mean, since you. The old you." They stared into space, as if revisiting long-forgotten moments between blinks. "You few are such interesting little creatures. There's never a dull moment with a human around. I know the situation you're in might seem quite serious, but it's just so unique and exciting to me! Who else could this have happened to?"

The Servine looked down at himself, parsing his unfamiliar body like he so often did since the incident. Maybe he still didn't believe that this was really him. "I guess you're right."

"I do try to keep tabs on the humans that are still around, just in case situations like this arise. One of my favorites got into a great deal of trouble some few years ago. He was a Serperior then, but originally was a Snivy that I had summoned as an emergency precaution from when Dark Matter...Well, the Bittercold at the time. It was an emergency to say the least. He actually got into a conflict with another human of all things! But it ended in blood. He just barely scraped by, and has since refused to tell me what happened, even now."

Hydreigon paused, their nostrils flared as they exhaled sharply. "I wish I could have been there. Not to stop the fight, but to at least to try and mediate it a bit. I hope Alexander's injuries are doing better these days. It's been more than a year since I last saw him."

It was one blow after another, but Panne didn't dare mouth what was on her mind now. Her whole spine quaked as the mightiest of shudders ran from her shoulders all the down her body and out her tail. Alexander. The Serperior that they met at Poliwrath River. The Serperior that tore her chest open and left her bleeding out on the ground. He was one of their favorite humans? And what did Hydreigon even mean, acting like they didn't know what happened? It's not like there's a handful to choose from just hanging around Water Continent! If they really were keeping up with all the humans, there's no way they wouldn't be able to put two and two together! Unless..?

Unless Hydreigon was trying to play them for fools?

Completely oblivious to the intensity that had just filled the room, Vallion pushed his curiosity another step further. "But you're going to help me get my memories back, right? That's why we were going to Grass Continent isn't it?"

"You know, it's actually kind of an incredible stroke of luck-or maybe a cruel twist if fate-that you of all humans had your memories stolen," With another explanation came another glad smile on the dragon's face. Yet now, that grin seemed like it could hide so much more sinister intent. "In any other circumstance, this would have been an extremely dire situation. There are a lot of precious things locked up inside the heads of pokemon that can vanish into thin air in a moment's notice. Everything they ever imagined, and every moment they ever experienced, can be lost in the blink of an eye. But not quite all of it is ever lost all at once. In fact, it's mostly like what happened with Panne and Mew."

Even though her response was simple, the Braixen very closely examined how she was about to say them, desperate to not give away her suspicious train of thought. "How is it like that at all?"

"Impressions!" they cheerfully replied. "The impression of the life that was once lived ripples on through the surface of the pond of fate! Somewhere in the incomprehensible fabrics of reality echo your memories as you once knew them. When Panne naturally collapsed back into Mew's being, there remained enough parts of her in the universe that still lived on. You used the Harmony Scarves to anchor those remnants to a body of their own, as is the purpose of the leaves on the Tree of Life. But Harmony Scarves aren't what we're going to be using here."

Hydreigon gestured with their two other heads, bringing them together like a kiss. "The reason Panne faded was because she was essentially a copy of Mew, given a new body and sent forward into the future to fight Dark Matter in another age. There could not be more than two instances of the same pokemon, so once that battle was all over, her existence collapsed back into the most stable version of itself, much like how the layers of a pond will separate when it finally calms. On the other hand, Vallion is a human. The Vallion who sits with us now is the only Vallion that ever was or will be. We cannot duplicate something that is not even from this world. But it's fine! All we need is something of yours that you left behind when you launched into the future!"

"...What is it that I left behind?"

"Your remains, of course."

At the disgust that suddenly flooded onto the Servine's face, Hydreigon quickly continued their spiel. "It's like I said! Your soul cannot be replicated or changed, so how else do you think it was possible to send you this far into the future? Mew only needed to give up a piece of themselves, but you had to leave your entire body! This was the only way. But bones are only bones, after all. Even if they used to be yours. You are truly here with us now, so don't be fooled by the sentimentality when you are living a fact."

"That's still really morbid," Kadabra noted.

They shrugged with their two other necks. "Perhaps. There are many realities that sound much worse than they are. I mean, take a step back and look where we are now. Our current situation is a little more morbid than Vallion leaving his old body in my opinion. It's just like how a Dwebble exchanges its shells as it grows larger. The world beckoned him to save it again, so he merely answered the call. And he came with you, Panne."

"Yeah, I know. I was there." Panne wasn't really listening anymore. Apart from the throbbing pain that encircled her skull, thoughts of a greater plot began to unravel themselves, filling up what little mental space she had left. What if Hydreigon was here for revenge for what happened to Alexander? What if there was something more she wasn't supposed to be seeing? The machinations of a petty immortal, slowly creeping up from behind Vallion while he is at his most vulnerable? Everyone else in the room seemed so engrossed with the dragon's words that they didn't even stop to think that an ancient creature like that might still not be the good guy. It's not like Xerneas was ever a particularly kind and loving deity! What would make the Voice of Life any different?

She couldn't tell whether it was a good thing or not, but she did notice that the Spiritomb wasn't exerting its influence on her at all right now. Her throat was admittedly dry but otherwise crystal clear, as were her thoughts. This wasn't a nasty trick of the mind to try to turn her against Hydreigon. No random spikes of emotion, no unnatural voices suggesting things inside her head. She was very much lucid and rational right now, and that was what made the dragon more frightening then even the ghost.

"I...I should probably go get ready." The Braixen tried her best to avoid as many eyes as possible as she stood from the table. The churning feeling in her stomach had been cranked up to ten, just from the motion of walking to the exit were enough to nearly cause her to heave. The warmth in the air felt sickly and suffocating now. It didn't even feel safe in here anymore.

"Make sure to take it easy! Tonight is going to be tough!" Ampharos called out after her, his voice bouncing into the vacant hall as she hurried away.