I swear can I make this story any weirder? oh my gosh. I guess we'll find out soon.

Oh by the way what happened to Marlun and her new girlfriend haha that's probably a question I need to answer in the near future

(To those of you asking, why is Ghetsis suddenly being given dimension that makes him look less like a psycho villain with very little development? Because I was like but what if Ghetsis was more 3-dimensional... what would he look like... what kind of thing would he turn into...
To be fair, we all saw Cyrus. So that's kind of what makes you go, N is saying Ghetsis has all these beautiful, pure dreams, but if so, why does Asha feel like N's "Mother" (yes this is Lucaro's mom! Oh my gash!) has not simply left the Palace? Why did Ghetsis make Filloma feel so ostracized if he's actually this morally upright person apparently? WELL LET'S FIND OUT)

Chapter 18: Lost in the Skies

Marlun

After a long, fruitless search where we ran around Bermuda Village and found actually zero clues, Iris and I met back up at her parents' cave. I was about to find myself a nice little walking stick and traverse the very edges of this stupid region in order to unearth my best friend, but then my dragon-raised girlfriend stopped me. She stepped into her home and came out with a fat hairband. I had no idea, of course, how a hairband was going to save poor sickly weak moody pale Filmy, Filmy who can't even make herself a bowl of cereal without thinking the Plasmic Dukedom are gonna steal her spoon while she's got her back turned.

I must say, I know extremely little about these Dukedom weirdos, but if she's wracked up that much PTSD due to their interference, well I can't really say any good things, like at all, of them.

Then of course there's the fact that N failed to protect her and now they're both just flat out missing. Scamp was mewling in my bag at this point, but of course I don't know pokemon, so I had no idea what my stupid little skitty was saying. I liked to think he was missing Filmy, but he could've just been tired of sitting in a backpack all day.

While I was struggling to come up with a single solution to Filmy's disappearance, Iris casually pulled up her massive pouf of hair. Then before my eyes I watched as she tugged it together like a massive curtain and carefully, steadily braided it down to a rope that glided past her back.

This would have been surprising on its own. Her hair did not look nearly as malleable as it turned out to be.

But this was by far completely insignificant when compared to what her hair had been used to hide.

My mouth fell straight open. You could've fit a whole lot of food into it. "Iris, pray tell, are those wings for real?"

Her brows quirked, and with a giggle, she replied, "No, not really. If they were for show, I wouldn't be hiding them from everyone all the time, now would I?"

Okay so my cool girlfriend who was raised by dragons had literal wings spouting out of her shoulder blades.

Clearly Filmy has no taste in girls if she thought this one wasn't gonna be The One.

"Dude... how did you get those?"

Iris shrugged. "Very long story. Now let's get ourselves a vantage point."

It's been an arduous few days of searching through the air, landing on the ground when Iris tires (which is unfortunately much more often than we'd like), searching again, and then lukewarm puddles of dreamless sleep. The first time we got this whole plan concocted, Iris put her cute little nervous hands around me, then WHOOMP we were thrown up above. Her wings held us aloft, and where her anxious fingers wavered, I clung tight to my adorable girlfriend's superpower.

Man if only Filmy was this eager to embrace her own weird power. I mean she can basically talk to plants. And pokemon. All I can talk to are stupid humans. Really unfair.

With our heads in two separate directions, we gained a perfect full-circle vantage. But it's really too bad we couldn't find anything to show for it. I mean, perfect full-circle vantage. And yet nothing. No Filmy. No weirdo N. No oddly-shaped plants that might lead us to my best friend's location.

It's not like we've hovered in one single area either. Iris took us slowly in a circle around the outer copse of Unova, on the typical league trail a trainer takes while working it up to becoming a worthy challenger. No Filmy—Though to be fair, she didn't have any pokemon, so it's not like she'd be all that into the pokemon trainer thing.

Oh gosh I really screwed this up. Professor Juniper kept calling, and every time my phone buzzed I acted like I couldn't get to it in time. Then one time while up in the sky my phone freaked out and then I freaked out and then—well—my phone skidded out of my pocket. And landed in the lake we were flying over. And now I guess I have one less problem. Or maybe it's one more.

We've camped out in forests and caverns, whatever suspicious places we can't fly over.

Now the days are blurring together and I'm losing my freaking mind. My best friend is radio silence and I'm the one who dipped on her to go ask out some girl. Some, okay, incredible dragon girl with dragon parents and also inexplicable dragon wings.

But the moment I turned around, she was gone. Yes, she's annoying. Yes, she grinds my freaking gears. But she's still my frustratingly wonderful best friend.

"Maybe it's her moral compass," I mutter into my knees after we've made our camp and the hush of night has fallen. A fire flickers by us. Iris must've made it while I spaced out in a bleary daze. "Maybe she saw something really bad, and so she went to investigate—because she's that stick-up-her-butt type—and... trouble befell her. And N's not all that strong-looking, so then they... then they..." Kidnapped? Were they kidnapped?

I groan into myself. Never gonna know.

Our encampment tonight's in this cute little shaded spot where two hills intertwine. I did, in fact, take this to be A Sign, but so far if it is one, I've got no reassurance for it. But the hills are soft and we've spread Filloma's pink blanket across the ground, and she would be utterly pissed if she knew (which is why she'll never know and I'll have to painstakingly pluck all the stickerburrs out of it whenever we finally locate her). This is the meaning of true friendship.

The fire is a small distance from the blanket, as a safety measure, but its heat still radiates against me. Iris is the one who rubs some sticks together to make it happen, but I keep peeking over my knees and wondering if she's actually gonna use literal dragon breath to make it spark one of these nights.

My girlfriend sidles against me once she's done with preparations. I gaze up to the heavens and murmur, "The stars are beautiful tonight." Twinkling little reminders that there's still something bright out there.

"Yeah. They are." Iris's honeyed-brown eyes sparkle with their luminosity.

I lean up close to her and whisper, "There's something even more beautiful right here, though."

"There is?" she squeaks, and her leathery dark dragon wings flutter with surprise. Is she allowed to be this cute? "It's... It's the... uhhm... the field?"

"No, you goon." I poke her cheek. "You."

She gasps. "Oh!"

"I can't believe you didn't see that coming."

Shaking her head, she lets out a breath as her hair falls over her face. "I really didn't though. B-But, um, thank you."

We've packed all the essentials—she's in a zip-up pair of footie pajamas that are designed after this monster pokemon garchomp with navy blue skin and a mean, shark-like snout. She's expertly cut holes into the back to allow breathing space for her wings. Now that I think about it, she must have to specially tailor every single garment she wears to make sure her wings don't get all bungled up in it. I wonder how much pain she'd feel if she failed such a measure.

Golly, what a weird thing to be curious about. I let my hands fall into my lap and stare out over the expanse before us. "Still no Filmy today. You sure you wanna keep helping me search?"

Iris nods, her braid bobbing. "Yeah. If I stop helping you, I don't know if you'll remember to eat, or at least drink." I flush and look away. It's true that she keeps having to remind me before I pass out and possibly freaking die on this stupid search.

"I'm just worried about her," I mutter. "She's not the type of person to disappear. I mean, yes, she'll go hide someplace when she gets sick of you, because of course I chose the most difficult person in the world to be my childhood friend, but... she wouldn't leave for no reason. She'd... She'd tell me." I hate it, I hate it the moment my speech hiccups and I hesitate, and that question, would she?, falters through my mindscape like a stray gunshot.

And then it's all I'm thinking about. My skin's gone numb, my head crunching under the frigid clutch of a brain freeze.

I swallow the trepidation, try to laugh it off. "Man, wouldn't that be funny if she was just hiding from me this whole time, and that was the reason we couldn't find her."

"That would hurt." Iris looks away, into the distance.

I try to follow her line of sight; she's watching the land that we haven't seen yet, but there's this point, far off, nestled in the peaks of clouds, where she's looking so fiercely that I can't quite mistake it for the sleepy village below it, or the cliffs that lead up to it.

"What's that?" I whisper. She jolts so hard she rolls onto her back, her wings fanning out beside her.

"Oh, it's just... a special dragon place."

I lay down next to her. "Okay, tell me about this special dragon place." This could get a lot more intimate if she knew what she was saying, but something tells me she won't take it. What can a girl do.

Iris's brow furrows. "It's a big, like, super big tower. It's so big that we can hardly even see it from here, because it's trying to reach the heavens. Apparently it's where people of old met with the gods of our realm, and they were said to be all-powerful dragon pokemon. Reshiram, The White Queen of Flame, and Zekrom, The Black King of Lightning."

"Dang... Why haven't I heard any of this before now? Sounds pretty cool."

She gazes into that penetrating heavenward point like she can't bear to let it go unseen once more. "My parents told me the stories have been lost to most humans. They stopped caring, or they forgot the means of hearing them." Her hand reaches out, as if on its own, struggling to grasp the tower of our gods. "I've wanted to, ever since I learned the stories, try to speak with them. I want to know why I have lived this life full of suffering. I want... I want to know if there's a purpose, or if I was a mere unlucky girl."

I shut my mouth before I can say something thoughtless, something inconsiderate. These... These pinching sensations sort of wash up within me, and my throat burns, and my stomach whirls about in a hurricane of—I can't even describe it.

I can't even begin to imagine what Iris could be talking about. It must be related to why she has her dragon wings, maybe why she was raised by dragons too.

"D'you think the gods would know where Filloma went?" The moment I say it, my voice has gone soft, and it rolls over the gentle fields.

There's a fumbling shudder in Iris's face, something that starts with a shadow and disappears suddenly as she turns to face me. "I don't know. Better than we do, probably."

"Then maybe... maybe we should try to commune with them." I continue before I can stop myself—"And then you can ask them why you've suffered."

Her eyes widen. "I suppose I could."

"Just think about it." I close my eyes as I lean into the blanket. The rocks beneath it jut into me. This isn't a great blanket for travel, but it's all we have.

This could be a huge detour I just proposed, but it's all we know.

Iris's voice lumbers over me. "I'll, um, take the first watch." She breaks for an out-of-place chuckle. "I like this one, by the way." Her finger touches around my tummy, indicating my shirt.

This one's orange. It reads "I will raise you/Like a phoenix!" and has the legendary bird ho-oh on it. He's got on a bright blue collar and leash.

"Yeah, my parents travel a lot, so they bought me one of these things while on a business trip to Johto. I have an entire empire of terrible pokemon tees that look just a teensy bit off-brand."

Iris's giggle. "That's amazing."

"Sure feels that way when it's you saying it."

Then I promptly turn over and fall asleep. It's too bad, really. I'd almost gotten her to flirt.

Filloma

"There's still something I need to do before we leave."

Asha and N had stared at me as if I really did transform back into a shaymin.

Why? The zoroark sputters. Why would you want to dally?

I shake my head. "I need to speak with Colress one last time." My gut wavers, heaving, and again I experience this sensation of—electric arcing up my veins. "I don't think I will gain another chance like this again."

N stands up with me. He towers over me, like a shadow, or maybe more like an idiotic brother. An idiotic brother who is sometimes, rarely, helpful... "I can lead you to him. I know where his laboratory is. I saw him on my way here, so he must have gone in that direction."

"Wonderful. Let's go now and get this over with." Oh, if only I had my cardigan. I'm not telling N that I'm cold.

At the thought of it, a fringe of pale green lichen spills from the tree's boughs and dribbles over me, crafting a second cardigan oddly shaped in such a way as if to purposely resemble my old pink one. I test it, moving my arms, and it sticks with me, protecting from the breeze.

N comments. "If you were cold, you could have—"

I raise a hand. "I don't want your shirt."

His brow furrows. "Okay, Filloma." I ignore the wince in his tone.

The sun is falling to our backs. Soon we'll lose the light and our journey will grow that much more arduous to begin. But I must see that stubborn nerd one last time.

N shows me the way to the window he apparently opened in order to get to me faster. We have to rush past the wreckage of my testing facility, then he helps me up and into the gap to the Palace. He follows soon after, easily shimmying through the window—for a moment I wish I had a phone so I could steal a photo of him half in the building, his legs swimming in air.

Then it's down a long, empty hallway. There are no dukes out. Perhaps they're praying or something about the sins of hurting me. That last duke we had spoken with had been so afraid of even touching me. Apparently Ghetsis didn't even rescind the rule after I escaped. I don't know how I should feel about that.

At the end of the hallway, there's another turn, and then—a pair of steel doors. N moves to my side and knocks politely. There is no response. I roll my eyes and kick the door—it faintly moves off its hinges, allowing us entry.

"He didn't bother to lock it," I inform N. "He never did."

We go inside. The lights are off, and there are no windows. Only a true hermit to the likes of the man we're searching for could withstand such a fluorescent headache.

"Colress," I call out, "we're leaving soon. Where are you?"

No reply, but I catch the scree of a door on its poorly-tended hinges.

"Colress," I try again, pretending that my voice did not waver.

The flicker of a flashlight. Glasses flashing in the shadows.

Carefully the light is trained onto our feet, so as not to blind us. In the burn of the light I can vaguely make out his labcoat, his angular form.

He stays some few feet away from us, then says quietly, "So it worked."

"Yes."

"I had a feeling your newer, bigger cage was not built to withstand elements other than your own. More cost-effective, and all. The blasted bird apparently requires all the funds he can get. I haven't seen him for weeks."

"Weeks," I utter. N moves as if to pipe up and Colress shushes him.

"Yes, weeks. I told the dukes that he mandated they test your powers and would not count it as hurting you so long as they did not kill you. A very easy bunch to fool, they are. Now I am going to tell Ghetsis—if the man ever returns—that they acted without my permission. Who is he going to listen to? We shall find out then."

"G-Goodness, Colress," I mutter, "what about your own self-preser—"

"These hands have caused all that could be desired. I am tired."

I cannot stop myself from saying it. "So you just sit around in the dark all day now?"

"Yes, precisely. And I sleep a great deal, something I've overlooked for however many years." A hand fidgets to his glasses; he murmurs, "I wasted years of my life on malforming a poor girl's very existence. Then months on perfecting the process of binding pokemon powers to human bodies. Then years on..." He hovers, pausing. The eyes within his glasses are roving—caged animals. Caged pokemon. "You are going to the Dragonspiral Tower, are you not? I hope you find the answers you've been seeking, Filloma. And look out, if you unearth Ghetsis. Our last trial involved perfecting a means of reversing your condition. I do not know what it is you desire, but I hope you discover it before he locates you.

"And, Natural—I advise you do not keep stepping on her toes."

"I did not plan to," he mutters.

"Thank you, Colress," I say, and I reach out to him, and he moves back, swallowed up within his own darkened chambers.

The flashlight flickers off; I catch a glimpse of his voice one last time, lingering for just moments before his presence deserts us:

"I wish I could say I am sorry."

And something sails through the air that I instinctively catch. A poke ball. A poke ball with an elgyem inside.

All I can think of as we leave is how terrible those last words are.