Here we go! The penultimate chapter of this series is finally finished! Sol and the ninetales finally meet, muzzle to muzzle. How will this encounter turn out?

When my vision clears from the teleport, I look around to see a very familiar forest. Not just because I saw something similar in the memories earlier, but I myself have memory of this place, though vaguely. I also note that evening has come, the shadows starting to lengthen.

"This…is near where Nana 'found' me," I say out loud, slightly stunned. "Why bring us here? Isn't this farther away from her home?"

"She instructed me to bring you here instead of escorting to her home for a reason," the xatu replies. "Something about 'returning to where it all began', I think?"

"Where it all…began?" Kevin mutters, reminding me he was still here, standing alongside Eve. "Then, this is where Sol was born?"

"Yes, in a manner of speaking," he replies. "However, I cannot say more here. I must go tell her she has more company than expected."

The xatu disappears in another teleport, leaving the three of us behind. Kevin finds a stump to sit down on, but Eve slides up to me.

"Sol?" she asks, tentatively. "Are you sure about this? I mean…what if she's hostile to you? Just because she asked to see you doesn't mean she will be friendly…"

I hesitate as well; she brings up a good point. "If she was openly hostile to me, then why did she put me with Nana in the first place?" I try to rationalize. "And she wouldn't dare try something with witnesses, right?"

"If she's as powerful as she claims, that may not be enough…" she counters.

"A ninetales' power comes from their illusions and their curses, both of which have no effect on me. I might be able to shield the two of you in some way, possibly…"

"But if it comes to a battle…do you think you can fight another Pokémon that has hundreds of years on you?" she asks. "She could confuse us quite easily, so it would just be up to you."

"Quite preceptive of you," a telepathic voice interjects, making all three of us whirl. From the shadows of the trees, a lithe figure steps out. Fur glistening in the pale moonlight, nine tails wave slightly as if in a breeze. Even I can feel the power emanating from her, and to be honest, it scares me. "Greetings, you three. My name…is Mystia."

"White fur…" Kevin mumbles in awe. "Is she a shiny? Or is it age?"

"I understand your curiosity, young Ranger, but I am here for one thing only," she replies mysteriously. "Young ninetales, Sol was it? I am surprised you have the courage to face me. Overcoming many tough decisions, and painful losses."

"How do you know my name?" I ask. "And the things I've been through?"

"I would prefer if you use your mental voice, out of respect of present company," she replies snidely. However, she pauses, noticing Eve curl a ribbon around Kevin's ankle. "Or…whichever you prefer," she amends. "Actually…"

Her tails fan out, and a pulse of foxfire emits from her body, forming a circle around us. "There," she finishes. "Now everyone can freely understand each other. As for your questions, young Sol, ever since you evolved, I have been following you through the ancestral memory."

"Ancestral memory?" I reply, caught off guard. "So, were you the one blocking me from seeing certain things?"

"Yes," she replies simply. "You're surprisingly adept at 'reading the stars', as we call it; especially for someone so young. Thankfully, I've had many more years of practice; otherwise, much of the mystery would have been lost."

"Mystery, you say…" Eve interrupts, a tinge of disgust in her voice. "Sol was in such distress over trying to find you, and you were leading him along the whole time!"

"Of course," Mystia replies, unfazed. "If he wishes to know the truth, he has to earn it, not merely see it in my memories. Speaking of…" Suddenly, she crouches low into a battle stance. "Fight me! Prove your desire to know the truth, one on one!"

She waves a paw enshrouded by foxfire, causing another wave of pressure. It slips over me without issue, but Eve and Kevin are somehow forced back and out of the circle. Thankfully, they aren't harmed by the flames, but find themselves unable to re-enter as the flames form into a barrier.

"Sol!" I hear Eve cry in panic, outside the field of translation. However, I block her out, and focus on my opponent; I cannot afford to be distracted now. All the training she has given me up until now comes to mind, and I brace for the battle of my life!

She beckons toward me, with a paw, prompting me to make he first move. With a growl, I launch forward and swing my tails, metal coating them in an iron tail. There's a resounding clang as they strike her own tails, also coated in the same energy, and I shake off the recoil to bound away. She smirks and I feel a psychic pressure in my mind, muddling my thoughts (imprison). Most of my moves feel…slippery, like I can't quite grasp the concept of how to use them.

"Just to make things more interesting…" she taunts, that smirk never leaving her muzzle. I ignore her and focus on what I can do. Recalling my fight with the houndoom, I pull shadow energy into my mouth and launch a shadow ball at her. She easily dispels it with a burst of extrasensory, but her eyes widen in shock as I appear behind it, colliding with her in a full take down. She skids slightly from the impact and is forced to dodge another shadow ball instead of blocking.

"To land a hit on me…" she mutters. "I guess I'll have to get serious!" She bounds forward and strikes with iron tail, just as I did before. I attempt to block with my tails, like she did before, but I can't bring the energy up and her hard tails impact my soft ones and break through. The move knocks me back, making my head ring for a moment. Trying to shake off the effects, I fail to dodge another extrasensory, which only makes my head hurt more.

I leap away for a moment, but she keeps pursuing. Taking a chance as I bound away, I inhale deeply, like I used to when preparing to enter the ancestral memory. Suddenly, my mind clear and my senses sharpen (calm mind). I also feel something stirring inside, wanting to come out. Giving into the instinct, I blink as a green ball of energy forms in front of my snout, launching forward and taking her by surprise as well (energy ball).

Despite not being very effective, it still knocks her back and cuts off her pursuit. I use this chance to take another deep breath, and again feel the energy welling up. This time, I find the earth under my paws seem less substantial than before, and with a few swipes I vanish underground (dig). Tunneling a short way, I burst up underneath her before she can dodge, landing yet another hit.

With a heavy thud, she lands hard on her back, tails sprawling. I shake the dirt from my fur and brace myself, just in case she gets back up. After a while, she starts chuckling. The barrier around us lessens enough to allow Eve and Kevin back in, as she rolls back to her feet.

"Truly amazing, young one," she comments without preamble, still chuckling. "It's not too often somemon manages to land a blow on me, let alone three. And to learn two new moves through the ancestral memory…you've earned your right to the truth."

Before I could say anything, Eve jumps into the conversation. "Before that, who exactly are you, and how do you know Sol?"

"As I said before," she replies calmly. "My name is Mystia. I am a nine-hundred-year-old ninetales, and so am nearing the end of my days. As for how I know Sol, well…" She smirks. "I found him shortly after he was 'born', but I couldn't be bothered to raise him myself. So, I asked Firedancer to do it for me."

"ENOUGH!" I growl; I can tell she's hiding something. "You said you'd tell the truth, so stop beating around the bush! What are you to me?"

"Better yet, why don't I show you!" Foxfire ripples across her form, before everything around us fades to black. The four of us stand amid the stars, and I recognize the scenery immediately.

"You brought us into the ancestral memory?" I ask, dumbfounded.

"Only the two of us are in the ancestral memory; the others are merely seeing an illusion," she replies mentally, only to me. "If those not of our species come in contact with us while projecting or concentrating, they risk being cursed. That's not the point, though. You know why we're here, right?"

I nod, closing my eyes for a moment to reach out into the multitude of stars. Like before, a single star lights up, blinding us all before fading into a familiar memory. The three of us see the frozen figures of a ninetales and a human reaching for his belt, which only contains one ball; Mystia is oddly absent.

"As this is my memory, I cannot be present," her voice echoes about the area.

"I…recognize the trainer," Kevin interjects. "He matches the description of Henry Johnson, the trainer who disappeared ten years ago."

"That is does," she replies. "That's because it is him. He thought he could challenge me, and with a single Pokémon at that. However, things do not go as he planned."

Suddenly, the scene begins moving. Henry throws out the ball, and the salamence appears. I can't hear the command, but the ground starts to move violently, headed for the ninetales.

"Earthquake, I think," Eve comments. "Should be super effective-" She stops as Mystia jumps into the air and over the attack. "That's…not possible…"

Mystia's voice laughs. "And why not? It's a ground-based attack; if I'm not on the ground, it can't hurt me."

The salamence breathes out a torrent of purple flame, but Mystia dodges again, this time sweeping her tails over the dragon Pokémon in the process. A very thin layer of foxfire slides over them, just like it did when I cursed the manectric.

"We call it Tail Curse," Mystia's voice replies without preamble. "It can inflict paralysis, confusion, and/or blind on the opponent, but fades once switched out. Not as final as a proper curse, but useful in battle."

Henry stares dumbfounded at his Pokémon, confused as to why it's acting so odd. Mystia capitalizes on his hesitation and unleashes a powerful Fire Blast. When the fire fades, the dragon is unconscious. Henry returns his Pokémon, fully chastened. However, Mystia didn't quite let things lie.

"I will admit," her voice states. "I was trying to goad him. To engage an opponent like me with only one Pokémon was foolish, and I wanted to emphasize that fact for the future. However, I didn't anticipate his reaction…"

Sure enough, in his outrage, Henry reaches forward toward the retreating ninetales. As such, he grasps her tail instead, and I felt the air grow cold in response. Mystia whirls on the poor boy, and I can see the power coalescing around her and Henry. Even from afar, I can hear Mystia's intonation.

"You may think you're this great and all-powerful trainer, but you're really nothing more than an arrogant little kit," she spat. "In fact, that's exactly what you will be, when I'm done with you!"

Through the foxfire surrounding him, I watch as Henry takes on a very familiar form; the same one I saw in my reflection when I was young. It all but confirmed Kevin's suspicion, as well as my own dread. Because as a ninetales myself, I realize the implications behind that fact.

As the memory draws to a close, we fade back into reality, and the real Mystia reappears. "As you can see, Sol was a former human before my curse got him. And I'm sure he knows, ninetales curses cannot be broken by our kind. Only those with much more power can break it."

No one speaks up, the reality sinking in. I let my tails droop slightly, not wanting to dhow my own dejection openly. However, I notice Mystia remains calm.

"However…" she interjects suddenly, "I have a proposition for you, Sol. Thanks to some connections I've gained over the years, I have a couple options for you going forward. Or backward, as the case may be…"

"What do you mean?" I ask, confused.

"If you so wish, I can have you sent back in time, to just before the curse was placed upon you. It would be up to you to stop me from cursing the past you. However, doing so will erase everything that has happened up to this point, as well as your current self."

As I ponder the implications, she reaches into the bushes behind her, producing a crystal with a flame flickering inside. It looks sort of like a fire stone, but not quite. "Or…you can stay in this life, and I can grant you my power. I would rather pass on my Ember to a young 'mon like you, instead of passing away for old age. You will gain all the knowledge and power I've garnered in y lifetime, and easily become the strongest ninetales in the region. But beware: being that strong is what brought individuals like your former self after me in the first place."

"So…which choice will you take, young one?"

...And cliffhanger! Don't worry; this will be a proper one this time. I just wanted to stop here to make some of the bonus chapters easier to connect. Stay tuned for the epic finale!

Take care, everyone, and may your Ember never fade!