Chapter 25: Where the team meets their contact.
Finally Team Purple reached the summit of the highest place on Mt. Steel. No trees or other sign of vegetation anywhere. Only rock stratum as the eye could see and caves inside the mountain sides of individual size scattered.
It was way colder up there than it was on the ground, and colder than the last time they were about this high in this dungeon.
"Does this mountain end here?", Mo asked the others.
"I guess?", Aaron answered. "That friend of Amy and Axel must be here somewhere."
"I hope.", Mo said quietly.
The team looked around to see if they could find any Pokémon or clues about who their are looking for. Except Charlotte, she just laid on the ground and did what she did best.
"Helloooo!", Mo called out into the air, trying of anyone would answer. His only answer was his own echo calling back.
" Helloooo!", Mo tried again, only to get the same result.
"Is anyone theeeeerre?!", Mo called out this time. Same response, this time with the new phrase.
"I don't think this will work.", Aaron finally said to him. As Mo turned around to him, he could see it was bothering his friend.
Mo turned to the mountain side one more time.
"You idiot mountain!", Mo shouted out of frustration. It would be a long day if they had to search for someone who may or not may be hiding in a wide open area. And Mo began to have thoughts the one they are looking for is not here.
"What was that, you idiot!?", it echoed. It wasn't neither Mo or Aaron's voice. It was a high, wicked and female sounding voice.
The two where confused of what they just heard. Both looked at Charlotte, still peaceful on the cold rock floor.
As they looked at her Mo noticed it was getting quiet dark very fast. It was still not noon and they day was quiet cloudless by now. There should be no reason of the weather to darken, even on this mountain.
Mo, Aaron and Charlotte looked up. There was on one behind or above them. The day just turned into night! What was day a minute ago was now a starless, moonless darkness.
"Aaron.", Mo said while trying to stay calm. "I don't get frightened by the night and dark place, more like the opposite, but this is creeping me out."
"Be gone from this place!", the same female voice from before ordered them, echoing through the mountain side.
"Mo! Hold me!", Aaron told him in fear and grabbed Mo with his ribbons, pressing him again his face. Charlotte joined them also and clenched on Mo's other side of his body.
Mo heard wing flaps. Whatever it was, it was coming closer.
Mo didn't paid attention as something huge flew right over them and as it came disappeared.
"I will not hesitate!", the voice told them. "Leave!"
It was quiet unlikely for Mo, but whoever they where dealing with right now could the one Amy wrote about.
"We are Team Purple, from the Adventure Guild! We are friends of Amy and Axel!", Mo called out to the voice while Aaron still pressed his side against his cheek. "Do you know them?!"
The huge being flew over them once again, but this time stood in mid air, floating above the group.
It was a tall Pokémon, shaped like a bat and wings beautiful like the night sky. It had bright, red, eerie eyes and parts of it's wings, tail and head seemed to be made out of gold, shimmering like stars. It resembled something Mo once saw in a fairy tale book his mother read to him a long time ago. The sight of it both fascinated and intimidated him.
This strange and majestic Pokémon was looking down to them in silence.
Aaron let go of Mo, as did Charlotte. Trying to avoid eye contact with it, Mo slowly walked to their team bag and began to search for the letter Amy gave to him. He finally found it, unfolded it and showed it to the bat like Pokémon, hoping it could see what was written in this darkness.
"Amy told us to come here. She and Axel are probably in danger and she wrote to seek your help.", Mo explained what was written, trying to be brave.
The bat like Pokémon looked at the letter while Mo was explaining. It read the letter Mo held carefully. After a while, which felt like an eternity for Mo, the mysterious Pokémon spoke again.
"This is bad. This not good at all.", it said worried. "Please, forbid my behavior before. There are not many I can trust right now."
Aaron and Charlotte also stepped closer to the now friendly but still strange Pokémon. Mo folded the letter to put it bag in their bag later.
"Who are you?", Aaron asked, still a little scared by it.
"My name is Lunala! I am the queen of the night!", the Pokémon introduced itself in all it's pride.
When she said these words Mo remembered the old tale. He thought it was only a myth, a legend. But like the Origin Stone this one seemed to be true as well.
"The Moon Bringer?", Mo spoke.
Aaron gave Mo a confused look over what he just said. What he called her.
"There is this old tale.", Mo began to explain to Aaron. "The beast that calls the moon. She, who devours light, bringing the darkest night over the brightest day. It is her. She is the night, the moon, the darkness."
"Where does Team Red know you from?!", Aaron asked, not quiet believing what Mo just told him.
Mo asked himself the same question.
Lunala hesitated at first to answer.
"We met some time ago during one of their missions. It was destiny we met, foreseen eons ago, and made possible by Arceus himself.", she told them.
"These kids sure know much more than they seem to.", Mo reckoned.
"And if what you told me is true, knowledge will be their doom if we don't hurry.", Lunala told and flew higher into their air above Team Purple. "You wait here! You three are still needed! I'll be right back!"
With that Lunala flew away out of the team's sight, but it still remained night around them.
Silence. Only the wind blowing through the mountain side could be air.
"Do you think we can trust her, Mo?", Aaron asked and broke the silence.
"I don't know. But what else can we do?", Mo answered and turned around to his team mates. "We came far and there is still much to do. Too much. And I'm not willing to go home now. Not now."
Charlotte rolled forward to Mo and patted his fake head.
"Don't touch me.", Mo ordered and slowly turned to her.
After a short while Lunala returned to them. She was now wearing a huge, brown bag around her neck and it dangled in front of her torso. The bag was big enough for Aaron to use it as a sleeping bag if he was four Sylveon.
"Where did you get so a bag?", Aaron asked her and tilted his head as he did.
"At the huge bag store?!"
"No time to explain!", she told him. "If we want to save Axel and the others we need divine guidance. We need to contact ..."
Lunala paused dramatically for a moment.
"Arceus himself."
After hearing this MO began to feel cold, dizzy and extremely stressed all the sudden. THE Arceus?! Mo had many questions to ask.
Meanwhile, Aaron was rather confused about hearing this from Lunala, not knowing what to think about it, and Charlotte didn't seem to give a single care.
"Arceus ...! But ... but he lives on Destiny Tower! You know where that is?! Do you know how far that tower is from HERE?!", Mo replied to Lunala and became more and more frustrated while he was talking. "AND do know how tall this tower is?! There is no way I'm going to going to climb that tower!"
"But what about Axel and Amy?", Aaron asked and looked at Mo worried.
"That is why I got his bag.", Lunala answered Mo.
Mo did not quiet understood what she meant, and so did the others.
"Get in the bag.", Lunala ordered them, sounding both casual and strict at the same time.
"Why?", Mo asked.
"We're going to fly there.", Lunala explained to the team.
With that said Aaron was incredibly exited, Charlotte still didn't give anything to it, and Mo was still stresses as he could be. Maybe more than before.
Lunala lowered herself so Team Purple could get in her bag more easily. She was now slightly floating above the ground. Aaron wasted no time and, with slight problems, entered her bag. He lifted himself up inside it and his head and forelegs were looking out. He waited eager for Mo and Charlotte to join.
"Isn't there another way?", Mo suggested. "Aaron, you know how I feel about highs."
"Well ...", Lunala began to explain, starting to get annoyed. "There ARE other ways to get to the top of his tower. If you don't mind swimming for miles and miles and climbing up Destiny Tower yourself."
"That's not an option to me either!", Mo told her.
Lunala floated closer to the Mimikyu and looked down to him.
"You are wasting precious time. If you don't want to come, then don't. I need at least one of you three to come with me. This attitude should not come by someone who calls himself an 'adventurer'.", she told him rather harsh.
Mo knew she was right and he felt both angered by this and hurt in his pride.
Then, Mo felt someone grabbing him from behind. Charlotte, who put her log aside, lifted Mo with both of her hands above her head and turned him around 180° while doing so. Before Mo was able to protest or ask Charlotte what she was doing she threw him in a high arc right into Lunala's bag. Mo landed uncomfortable with his fake head first at the bottom of the dark bag. It smelled very leathery.
"Mo? You okay?", Aaron asked him. He looked away as he did because Mo was exposed at the moment.
Mo did not answer to this and tried to get up again.
As he tried to Charlottes log landed right on him, followed by Charlotte herself also climbing into the bag and just like Aaron popped her head out of the bag to 'see'.
Mo used Charlotte's log as a stepladder to also look out of the bag. He just barely managed to get himself high enough to see.
"Are you ready?", Lunala asked the team.
"Is there still time to get out?", Mo asked Lunala, wanting to get out again.
Instead of answering, Luna flew higher into the air. No, there wasn't.
"Let's go!", Lunala announced and with a sudden high speed left the summit Team Purple was standing on a few moment ago, flying though the air, higher and higher, above the mountain top.
Aaron cheered in excitement and lifted his ribbons and paws into the air, Charlotte just smiled pleasantly, and Mo wasn't having anything of this. He did not scream. He let it all sink in as they passed the mountainsides and steady flew north-west.
"Oh, I'm not having it.", Mo announced and sunk back into the depth of Lunala's bag due to both the force of her flying speed and to Mo not feeling so well.
"Pikachu-guy, you're not going to vomit inside there!", Lunala told Mo as she noticed Mo felt sick and went inside. "Do it outside if you have to!"
"Alright.", Mo answered dazed and not really understood what she just said.
He sat down in a corner and tried to calm himself. Due to the shaking of the bag and the fact that between him and the ground were just fabric of questionable origin and who knows how many miles made him just more nervous. He closed his eyes. Deep inside, Mo wished it was all over already.
Not much time passed when Mo felt something poking his actual face. Mo was dizzy but still immediately know what or who it was.
He opened his eyes again and saw Charlotte, laying or her belly, directly face to face with Mo. Mo was surprised he did not noticed her being so close. Mo turned around, not to look at her.
Shortly after, Charlotte hugged him from behind, holding him tight. Very tight. Mo did not know if she wanted to comfort him, if she was nervous as well or because of what happened yesterday, what she told him, what she did. This time Mo did not protest. He was just happy to have someone by his side when he not felt good.
That, and if the bag ripped open and he would fall out into the abyss, he'll take someone with him.
"You're missing a lot!", Aaron joyfully announced down to them. Mo and Charlotte were down there, doing not much for quit some time now. "You can see so much out here! All from a perspective so less Pokémon will ever see themselves! You can even see where the curve!"
The last time Mo heard Aaron so excited was years ago when he evolved.
Mo got curious and peeked out for a moment, with Charlotte still holding on to him. He did not bothered this time. Mo let her hang on to him.
Because of Lunala's nature of bringing the night wherever she goes, it was hard to see thing underneath them. Mo tried to but could not share Aaron's excitement. A trait Mo was envious of.
Mo made a strange sound, a mix of disappointment and nausea, and sunk back into the bag. Charlotte softened his fall.