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Chapter 37
Begin Anew
It had been one month since Team Vendetta had been taken to Shirra by Vantis. It had been a single month, in which the three had been forced to live on this island, where they could not fight the Plagued Ones. A month, where they had been attempting to live a "normal" life, as Len had requested.
So little had changed. The island was still exactly the same as it had been the very first day the team arrived. The two caretakers of the team still served as surrogate parents. The other citizens of the island were still as easy going and unimportant to the friends as ever. The multiple transports on Shirra still refused to let the group leave the island. The team was still as near supply-less as they had been upon being dismissed from the Fellowship.
So much had remained the same. And yet, at the same time, so much had changed as well.
At the moment, Terron, Zekra, and Novus sat at a large wooden table, enjoying their breakfast with the Sylveon, Glaceon, and the Eevee daughter in their company. Most days started like this for the team, unless something came up, such as one of the adults having to run an errand. But that was a rare occasion, as the adults really seemed to make an effort to start off their mornings with the team and their one child, most likely because they were trying to be good parents to them.
"So, how are you four doing this morning?" the Sylveon asked.
"I'm doing alright," Terron answered. "I think I had a weird dream though, where I was with this Totodile and we were in this Mystery Dungeon cave with a bunch of electric Pokémon. And, I think I was yelling at him for some reason. I'm not really sure. It's kind of blurry."
"Hmmm, what an interesting dream there," the Sylveon mused. "But why were you in a Mystery Dungeon? That's a very odd place to be."
"Uhhh… I think I was going on some kind of mission," Terron said, searching his brain in an attempt to better remember his imaginative adventure. "I don't really remember… but I do remember yelling at him because I was sick of his attitude. Don't really remember what about his attitude I didn't like, though."
"Huh, I see," the Sylveon said. "For some reason, I was expecting you to say something much more bizarre and surreal. Probably because all of my dreams are always like that; they don't really center well on reality too much."
Terron chuckled a little and shook his head.
"And how are you doing, Novus?" the Sylveon then asked.
"I'm well," the Quilava answered simply. "Unlike Terron, I did not have strange dreams of sorts."
"Same for me really," Crystelle chimed in. "Just a boring old void of sleep. Kinda fits today really, since I'm not going to do anything all that special. Unless one of my friends comes over and asks if I want to play or something. Otherwise, it's just going to be a boring day with nothing to do. Eugh."
"Hm, I see, Novus. And, you could always go with your father to the store today, Crystelle," the Sylveon said as she looked upon the Eevee. "I'm sure he would appreciate your help, seeing as how you don't want to be so bored."
"Yes, it would be nice to have an extra paw in helping someone carry back the groceries I need to purchase from the store," the Glaceon added with a grin. "It will help you stay occupied today, I'm sure."
Crystelle started to pout at the thought of having to go on an errand, but didn't say anything otherwise. The Sylveon let out a quiet laugh before looking over at a particular Zorua.
"And what about you, Zekra? How are you doing this morning?" she asked.
Zekra peered up from her plate of what appeared to be fried Magikarp, a chunk of meat still hanging out of her mouth. When she saw that she was being addressed however, she shoved the piece into her mouth with a paw and hastily chewed the flesh down. Seeing this surprised Terron, since Zekra never really seemed too enthusiastic about talking with the adults. She would always take her time if she ever had food in her mouth, as if she wanted to delay talking to the adults for as long as possible for some reason. But not this time.
"Oh, I'm fine," Zekra answered. "I'm good. But, I've got a question to ask both of you."
The Glaceon and the Sylveon gave her slow nods.
"You know how you guys were mentioning that Greninja a while ago? Well, I was wondering if anyone ever figured out why it's on this island," Zekra said.
The two Eevee evolutions blinked and stared at Zekra for just a moment.
"Well… yes, actually," the Sylveon replied, awkwardly rubbing her head with one of her ribbon-like appendages.
"Really?" Zekra asked, her eyes brightening.
"I ran into him a couple of days ago, to be precise," the Glaceon then spoke. "I was simply purchasing meat from the butcher, when I crossed paths with that Greninja by complete accident. Well, somewhat. I didn't actually speak with him directly, but I was ordering what I wanted in the store, when I saw that Greninja come inside with this enormous bag that he proceeded to dump onto the butcher's counter. And inside were… all of these carcasses. These bloody, fresh carcasses, as if they had just been slain minutes prior. There were at least a dozen, some even as big as myself. The sight was rather shocking and I was about to flee in terror, but then the butcher gave the Greninja a sack of coins, and that Greninja left without a word. And then the butcher so casually took all of those corpses to the back of the store."
"Soooo, the Greninja works for the butcher shop?" Zekra then asked.
"I thought the same myself, but the butcher told me otherwise," the Glaceon spoke. "He told me that the Greninja is actually a mercenary , and that he simply hired this Greninja to collect some more meat for him, since his regular hunters were all out that day due to sickness. He had said that the Greninja happened to be visiting and had heard of his problem and offered his services, for a price of course. And I'm sure you can guess what happens from there. So yes, we now know what this Greninja is."
"A mercenary…" Crystelle remarked.
"Yes," the Glaceon said. "Though, I'm not sure why he would come here if he was looking for work. Shirra is a rather peaceful place, and mercenaries… they only tend to arise in areas that are filling with chaos."
"I suppose that's rather true," Novus stated. "It is rather odd that a mercenary would come to an island where its services might not be needed."
"Exactly," the Glaceon said. "That's why it baf-"
"Does he have a name?" Zekra then asked all of the sudden.
The Glaceon tilted his head slightly as he looked back at the Zorua. Everyone else also brought their gazes to her.
"Hmm, I'm sure he does, but I don't know what it is," the Glaceon replied. "And neither did the butcher."
"Hmm, nameless," Zekra said as she nodded to herself. "Interesting. And, that was the last time you ever saw the Greninja?"
"Yes, it was," the Glaceon said with an unsure nod. "I don't really have any interest in running into him again, though."
"Why not?" Zekra asked.
The Glaceon eyed her with an odd stare.
"You seem very interested in this Greninja, Zekra," he then said, as if it were merely an observation and nothing else.
"Well of course!" Zekra said, not even bothering to finish chewing her food. "This Greninja sounds very mysterious, so naturally, I'd like to know more about him. I mean, that's Pokémon nature. I'm surprised you're not so curious about him, too! Mercenaries have the most exciting lives of any Pokémon I know. And what about his secret powers? Wouldn't you want to know what they are? Wouldn't you want to know what those abilities are? Wouldn't you like to know why there's this Pokémon no one's really seen before on this island? It's fascinating stuff I tell you."
Zekra munched down the meat that was still in her maw before giving the Glaceon a sly smile; a smile that seemed so fit to her.
"I suppose so…" the Glaceon said, somewhat uneasily. "But remember, don't go looking out for that Greninja. Just because he seems friendly doesn't mean he is friendly. There's something very unsettling about that Greninja. So please, stay away from him. I don't want you getting hurt. You can promise me that, right?"
"Oh yeah, I promise I won't go looking out for the Greninja," Zekra said with a nod as her smile disappeared. "I just wanna know more about him is all. But yeah, I'll stay away from him. Yes I will."
Terron had to resist rolling his eyes. It was incredibly obvious that Zekra was lying. Whenever she spoke of the Greninja, she always spoke of him with such zeal. There was no way she'd actually leave the Greninja alone if she could find more about him and obtain his abilities. Terron was very well aware of Zekra's true intentions, though he wasn't sure if the adults also knew. After all, he understood Zekra far more than anyone else. Or, perhaps this was also because Zekra would actually go on long rants to him and Novus at times about wanting to find the Greninja to get his abilities.
Either way, he knew what was really going on in Zekra's head, but chose not to say anything.
The rest of the morning carried on without much excitement, and before long, the six had finished their breakfasts. Upon having that done, the three then decided to go about their next plan of the day; wandering around Shirra. It was always something they did since their first day on the island, and yet somehow, it never seemed mundane. There was always something new to find, even if they went to the same place they had visited the previous day.
The team bid the two caretakers a farewell as they exited the house and stepped onto the dry dirt of the outside, peaceful world. A world filled with dozens of palm trees sprouting toward the clear blue sky and a vast ocean that surrounded them. A world filled with so many peaceful, easy-going Pokémon, who were completely unaware of the true nightmare plaguing the world.
A life so different from the life that they truly craved.
It didn't take long for Terron to find himself reminiscing in his days in the Fellowship. He remembered how his days were filled with an endless amount of labor as he did his part to stop the Plagued Ones, no matter how small that part was. He remembered the dungeons he had crawled through before he learned the horrifying truth of what a particular dungeon was capable of. He remembered all of the dangers his various missions brought and the many battles he had. He remembered his teammates that stood by him, their companionship being the one thing he cherished most of all.
And then he remembered how it was all taken away from him in an instant. And how he was left with almost nothing and was promptly abandoned by the very organization he put his all into.
But, Terron didn't dwell on that. He had lost so many things, but he still had so much left. He wasn't letting anything drag him down anymore. He was starting over.
He was ready to forge his own path, without the Fellowship. Terron looked upon his two friends before him, both of them waiting for him to suggest where to go for the day. He saw their true selves shining in their eyes, no longer swallowed by a monstrous abyss of despair. They weren't hollow shells anymore; they were his teammates again. His friends.
And when the Cubone saw that, he knew they were ready too. Everyone was ready to begin anew.
The Cubone started to smile as he felt his conviction grow stronger within him.
"Hey, I wanted to talk to you guys about something today," Terron started to say. "But, somewhere in private, where absolutely no one can hear us. You guys know any good places for that?"
"The best place I can think of for that is the cliffs that overlook the ocean," Novus suggested. "No one ever goes there from what I've seen."
"Yeah, Novus is right about that," Zekra added in. "I'd say to go to the little caves around here, but I see Pokémon go inside those sometimes. And everywhere else has at least one Pokémon going by it. So yeah, cliffs are the best place if you want complete privacy."
"Alright, we'll go there," Terron said before looking over at the Zorua. He lowered his gaze a little as he remembered what had happened a week prior with Zekra. "You don't mind that, do you? I mean…"
"No, it's fine. It's fine," Zekra said carelessly. "I don't really care about it anymore. Cliffs don't bother me."
"If you say so," Terron said with a nod. "Well, let's get going then."
Without another word, the Cubone lead his friends to their desired destination. All three of them were silent as they treaded through the island, passing by so many Pokémon who were out and about that morning. Some were heading down to the shoreline with families that the team visited frequently. Others were going in and out of various stores with supplies in hand. Then there were those Pokémon who simply wandered through the streets, seemingly aimlessly, just as the team was.
And yet, not a single Pokémon gave much of a regard to the team. Not that the team minded that, of course. They never had any intentions of trying to make any sort of friends with anyone on Shirra. They had been in far too much despair for that, and even now, they still didn't wish to craft any bonds. They had one another, and felt that was all they needed. Besides, they knew that if they formed camaraderie with anyone, they would no doubt have to explain the existence of the Plagued Ones in time, something that the team very much wished to avoid. The three had no idea how someone would react if they found out that there were countless swarms of Pokémon-turned-abominations that spread through the land like a virus, corrupting or killing everything they could get ahold of.
Then not only that, but the team worried that they would also have to explain to the new companion that they themselves were becoming the very demons that were plaguing everything if certain circumstances were met. Perhaps they could somehow avoid explaining the inevitable transformation, but even still, explaining a horrifying truth that was being hidden from most of the world was something they wanted to avoid, unless absolutely necessary.
So when no one in the streets regarded them, the three did not feel anything and simply carried on. The ones walking amongst them were better off not knowing anything about the group.
After walking for so long, the group finally made it to the cliffs that Novus had recommended. They climbed all the way up to the very top until at last, they were high above the rest of the island, overlooking the ocean.
The three sat down in a circle and let out a collected, relieved sigh. Novus and Zekra then looked upon their leader, waiting to hear what he had to say. Terron stared back, the words in his mind arranging themselves to be spoken.
Terron stared at his two companions for just a moment longer before he finally broke the silence that held all of them. He didn't feel any anxiety wash over him as his words started to leave his mouth; there was no reason to feel it. His persona made sure of that.
"Alright, so we've been here on this island for a while," Terron started to say. "A month, I think. And, we've been doing pretty much nothing this whole time. We've just been sitting around, wasting our days away, when we could be doing other things that have so much more meaning and purpose. So, I've been thinking-"
He was going to continue, but then, Zekra suddenly started chuckling under breath. Terron stopped talking as he and Novus shot the Zorua very confused glances.
"Tear, Tear, Tear. Stop trying to turn this into some cheesy rousing speech," Zekra said, shaking her head as she managed to compose herself, but still kept her amused grin. "We know what you wanna say. You wanna get off this island and go fight the Plagued Ones, don't you?"
Terron frowned, the bravado in his heart abruptly dying as annoyance took its place.
"Well, thanks a lot for ruining my well-thought-out speech," Terron deadpanned. "I really appreciate that, Zekra."
"Oh, come on! It was so obvious that you were going to say that you wanted to escape from here!" Zekra cried, her grin only becoming wider. "I mean, what else could you have to say? That you want to go to the beach? That you want to go kill some random wild Pokémon so you can get a new skull? That you wanna go Greninja stalking?"
"Yes, because clearly Greninja stalking is the most important thing to do right now," Terron said. "You know, so you can become a ninja and scare random civilians with your stealth powers. Seems very important to me."
"Just what exactly is a nin-"
"Will you two children stop this nonsense?" Novus cut in, growling under his breath. "Terron has a topic he has brought up, and I'd like to listen to it. So, cease the meaningless bickering and continue, Terron."
Zekra rolled her eyes at the comment, but otherwise, did as Novus asked and kept quiet. Terron let out a sigh, somewhat relieved for Novus's intervention, and tried to remember what he wanted to talk about again. Zekra had done a fine job of distracting him.
"Alright, getting off the island. Yeah, that's it," Terron said, nodding to himself before looking back at his friends. "Yeah, I want to get off the island and go fight the Plagued Ones again. I've wanted to do this for a while actually, but I knew that getting out of here right away wasn't exactly a good idea. Since you know, we were all going pretty insane for weeks."
"We weren't that bad," Zekra stated.
"Um no, we were," Terron corrected, shyly rubbing his sleeved shoulder. "I mean, I was half tempted to go join the Plagued Ones because of how bad I was. And Zekra… you tried to kill yourself. It's pretty obvious that our psyches weren't in the best conditions at the time."
"Then I had wanted to abandon you two, so I suppose my own psyche could be questioned as well," Novus then added ruefully.
Zekra's gaze fell a little and she let out a short sigh of regret.
"Okay, so maybe we were all going kind of crazy before, but we're all good now," Zekra said as her gaze lightened up a bit. "I mean, that's why you're telling us about how you want to leave now, right?"
"Exactly," Terron smiled. "I mean, I can tell you guys look a lot better than how you were when you first got to this island. And, I feel a lot better myself. Because you see, I don't want to go fight the Plagued Ones again if we're broken as both a team and as individuals. That's guaranteed failure. If we want to have any chance of winning this war, we've got to be in the very best condition we can be. So as much as I hated staying here, I knew we couldn't just leave right away, because well, we needed to get over our problems first. Which I think we've all managed to do now. For the most part."
"Yesssss," Zekra said with glee, rubbing her paws together. "Time to get off this stupid island and rip apart some Plagued Ones! Yeah!"
The Zorua proceeded to get to her feet and frolic about happily. A very eager grin was apparent on her face.
"Going to go put an end to those things! Oh, I can't wait!" she cheered. "Heheh, Erebus, you will be no match for us! No match for the bone-twirling Cubone, fire-starter Quilava, and the illusion-master Zorua!"
Terron couldn't help but laugh at her enthusiasm. Though, he never had any doubts that Zekra wouldn't want to fight the Plagued Ones again.
"I hate to be the one to question such zeal," Novus started to say, causing Terron's attention to wander toward the Quilava, "but Terron, you do know what will happen if we attempt to leave, don't you? You are aware of we must do if we are to leave, don't you?"
Terron's smile faded as a more thoughtful expression came over him. Yes, he knew what Novus was trying to say. If the three of them were going to leave this island, they would have to do so without the caretaker's knowledge. They would have to completely abandon the ones who had been taking care of them for just about a month. While Terron wasn't exactly attached to the two adults nor their child, he did feel a twinge of regret strike him at the thought of having to leave them. He knew that the family really did care about him and his friends, and leaving them would surely break their hearts.
But even still, Terron knew what had to be done. He knew he couldn't let that get in the way. He and his friends had to get off the island. They had to escape and fight the Plagued Ones. They knew things that no one else did, and they had to put that knowledge to use. Staying on this island, no matter how great anyone's intentions were, couldn't justify that Team Vendetta had a more important purpose in life right now.
"I know," Terron said quietly, his gaze burning into the Quilava. "I know what we have to do. But, we don't have a choice. We've gotta do whatever it takes to get out of here."
Novus smiled at seeing Terron's dedication, as if he were proud to hear the Cubone speak such bold words.
"Very well then," Novus spoke. "You have my support in your cause."
"And mine too!" Zekra said happily as she came bounding over to the Quilava's side. "If that wasn't obvious enough already! But first, how are we getting off this island? Are we going to do some awesome escape thing? Are we going to somehow brainwash someone to get us off here? What have you got?"
A confident, sly smile broke out on Terron's face. One very similar to Zekra's own mischievous smiles. He looked straight at the Zorua, that grin seemingly growing wider.
"You're getting us out of here," he answered. "With the Deception Amulet. You could fly us out of here or ferry us out of here as a Lapras. Doesn't matter which, but you are, once we get that amulet. That's how we're leaving this island."
Zekra quickly shook her head.
"Um Tear, I don't know if you've noticed this, but I've been searching for that thing ever since I got it taken away from me," Zekra started to say. "Okay, well maybe a few days after it got taken away since I was being all depressed and stuff for a while, but still. I've been looking for it for weeks, and I haven't found it. I mean, I've done a lot of things. Tore apart the house without making too much of a mess when the adults weren't home, pretended to be one of them so the other would give it to me if I asked, tried to find some kind of Luxray that could help me, and all kinds of stuff. None of that stuff worked. So, what gives you the idea that the three of us can find it when I couldn't?"
"We don't have to do anything," Terron answered. "I highly doubt the three of us can find it when you couldn't. But… who said we had to? Who said we couldn't just… hire someone to find it for us?"
Zekra stared at the Cubone for just a moment, trying to figure out what was on his mind. It only took a few seconds for her mind to piece everything together.
"The Greninja!" Zekra cried. "Of course! I mean, he's a mercenary; you gotta have lots of skills to be one. I'm pretty sure locating hidden stuff is one of those skills. Yeah! We can ask for his help!"
"And we do have money to pay him, so that's not an issue," Terron stated. "All we have to do is just find him really, which shouldn't be too hard, I think."
"This sounds like a very fine idea, but I do see a bit of a flaw in your plan," Novus then said. "And it's simply this; what if the mercenary can't find the amulet for us? What if it's not one of his talents to find hidden items? What then?"
"Well… we'll just have to think of something else," Terron answered, knowing full well that he couldn't think of anything better to say. "We just need to put faith in this current plan for now. We'll think about what to do if we fail later, because right now, we just need to focus on succeeding. We're never going to succeed if we don't have some faith in our current plan. If we let ourselves think we're going to fail just a little bit, we will fail, and we just can't have that. We can't."
Novus let out a quiet sigh.
"You truly are putting so much hope in this," the Quilava said. "This single idea that may not even work… I can only hope that all goes well."
"It will," Terron stated firmly. "It has to. And like I said, if it doesn't, we'll just think of something else. We'll keep trying until we get off this island. But for now, we just need to believe that our current plan will work and put our all into it."
Novus slowly nodded, saying nothing more. Terron looked upon his teammates, seeing how they were taking everything in. Zekra was smiling eagerly, seemingly twitching in anticipation and ready to bolt at any second. Novus was smiling as well, though with a much sadder smile, for he probably still had doubt in his heart over the current plan. But, despite this, the Cubone could tell that Novus was ready to follow through with the plan.
Terron got to his feet.
"Alright then," he said. "Let's go get our money and go find that Greninja. If there's anything you guys need to do, now's the time, since we're leaving the second we get that amulet back."
"Nope, I'm good," Zekra replied. "I've got nothing to say to anyone here. Let's just get out of here."
She then proceeded to take a few steps forward before looking back at the two, wanting to initiate their plan as soon as possible. Though Terron could tell she wanted to simply go down the mountain by herself, he could see that she didn't want to leave behind her friends in her haste. She was trying to be patient, despite her obvious zeal.
"I agree with Zekra," Novus then stated. "Let's go."
With a nod, Terron went forward and together, the three carefully trekked down the mountain. And then, when they had managed to reach the very bottom, the team made their way to their home, their convictions burning within their hearts so strongly.
When the three came to the house and were about to open the door, someone else opened the door and stepped outside; the Sylveon. When she saw the three, she seemed very surprised to see them and stopped in place. The group stopped in front of her, knowing they couldn't do much since she was blocking the door.
"Oh, back so soon?" she asked them. "I could have sworn you only left about an hour ago."
"Yeah, we are," Zekra said, her voice suddenly becoming hollow and slightly bitter. "We came back, because we decided that we wanted to buy something and came to get our money for it."
"Oh, I see," the Sylveon said. "Huh, you children never wanted to buy anything before. What did you want? Perhaps I can simply give you some of my own Poké to help pay for it."
"Some plush toys," Zekra answered. "Because they're adorable. And maybe some books. Stuff like that."
Terron glanced at the Zorua, finding it very strange for her to say the word "adorable" with such a monotone. It sounded very empty. Yet, he tried not to act like it was out of place and played along with Zekra's words.
"Yeah, wanted to get some comics for me," Terron said.
"And a map of the island," Novus added in. "That way, we can see what other places we can visit in our own spare time."
The Sylveon looked upon the three Pokémon, staring at them with a very curious gaze. Terron and Novus returned blank stares, saying nothing. Zekra also did the same, but there was a certain glimmer of agitation and hastiness in her eyes, like she was going to spring at any moment. As much as Terron wanted to lightly shove Zekra to make her seem less hostile, he didn't do anything, since that would simply make things more suspicious. He'd simply have to deal with how things were for the moment.
"Ah, okay then," the Sylveon then said, now starting to smile. "Well, go on and get your money then and buy your little trinkets. I'll see you three around. I have to go visit someone right now."
And without another word, the Sylveon stepped away from the door and went on her way. The three watched her disappear into the distance for a few moments before Terron brought his annoyed gaze to Zekra.
"You just couldn't look a little mellower, could you?" Terron asked her.
"No, because I'm not going to pretend I actually like the Pokémon who keep us imprisoned here," Zekra answered, her tone still bitter. "You know, those Pokémon who took away my precious amulet. I'm not going to pretend I'm fine with that. Especially when they're blocking the way to our freedom. Literally."
"Even when it makes you look suspicious and potentially ruins our plan to get the very freedom you want?" Terron returned.
"Tch, whatever," Zekra scoffed. "It doesn't matter. She's gone. Now if you need me, I'm going to get the money."
The Zorua quickly turned away from Terron and went into the house, an aura of unpleasantness still about her. Terron shook his head and let out a groan, but didn't say anything further. It wasn't something worth arguing or mulling over.
"I need to retrieve something myself," Novus then said. "If this truly is the last time we're visiting the house, then I want to bring with me a particular belonging."
"Go ahead," Terron said.
With a nod, the Quilava disappeared inside the house as well. Terron waited in silence, simply waiting for his two friends to return. Moments later, the two came back, both carrying items in their maws. For Zekra, it was the sack of coins. For Novus, it was his mini Reshiram. He set it in front of the Cubone.
"Can you hold this for me?" the Quilava asked Terron. "I believe your pockets are a much more convenient way to carry it than in my mouth."
"Sure, I don't mind," Terron replied.
As Terron took the stone statue and stuffed it into an empty coat pocket, Zekra dropped her bag, allowing everyone to hear the clinking of the coins within it.
"I checked how much we've got, and we've got about six thousand Poké in there," Zekra said, her voice sounding more like her usual self. "I think this is just about enough to get some mercenary to do a pretty simple task for us. Probably more than enough, if you ask me."
"Well, hopefully," Terron said as he picked up the bag with his paw and also put it into one of his many coat pockets. "Now we've just got to find this Greninja, wherever he is…"
"I suggest we search within the main section of town," Novus said. "After all, if I were a mercenary, I would be there since that's where I will most likely find those who acquire my services."
"I guess that makes sense," Terron shrugged. "Alright then, and one last thing before we get going."
Terron looked over at Zekra. She stared back with a curious gaze.
"I wanted to ask if you could show us what the Greninja looked like before we start looking for him," Terron said. "It'd make it easier if Novus and I knew exactly what he looked like."
A more bashful expression overcame Zekra as she looked down and rubbed her paw into the dirt beneath her feet.
"I don't really know," the Zorua said quietly. "I mean, I only saw him for a few seconds, and I'm not exactly too good at turning into things that are just memories. I could if I had my necklace, but you know…"
"You can't always rely upon your amulet," Novus said to her. "There will always be a day you will not have it. So, consider this moment a way to grow stronger, without the amulet's help."
"But…" Zekra tried to say.
"You will get your amulet back soon, but for now, you must try to use your own power," Novus said. "You have it; you simply need to unlock it from within you. The amulet never would have allowed you to do such if such potential had never been there in the first place."
"He's right," Terron then said. "I mean, you've turned into Pokémon that weren't with us and you didn't need the amulet's help before. Like, when we were saving Impetus. You turned into a Drifblim, even when we hadn't seen one for hours."
"Or when I saved myself from that cliff…" Zekra muttered more to herself than the others.
"Yeah," Terron said. "So, go on, Zekra. You can turn into that Greninja. I know you can."
Zekra glanced up at her teammates for a brief moment before nodding with a more determined gaze. She took in a deep breath and then closed her eyes, searching through her memories until she found the mercenary she had seen for such a short time. And then, she put all of her energy into turning into that one Pokémon.
A familiar pink light covered Zekra's being and she started to change. Terron and Novus smiled as the Zorua's outline began to morph into a completely different shape and form.
When the light faded seconds later, there was a now a Greninja before the two, towering high above them. It looked upon the two with a blank expression for just a moment, and then, it crouched down so that it could look at the two Pokémon at eye-level. It sighed in a familiar Pokémon's voice and somehow smiled.
"I did it," Zekra said. "Yesssssss."
"Well done," Terron said as he reached to pat Zekra's head.
Zekra swatted Terron's hand away from her before he could touch her.
"Don't touch me," Zekra said. "It might break my focus, and it already takes so much concentration and energy to keep up this form…"
Terron sheepishly nodded, noticing the ripples of her illusion light flowing through her form. Terron and Novus continued to look at the copy of the mercenary for a few more seconds, trying to remember everything they could before they finally told Zekra she could stop. When that happened, the false Greninja let out a loud and exhausted sigh before collapsing onto the ground. Her form immediately shifted back into a worn-out Zorua.
With a proud smile, the Cubone now caressed Zekra's head, seeing that the gesture would no longer distract her from her task. Zekra weakly smiled back as she started to pant.
"So that's what a Greninja appears to be," Novus remarked. "What an interesting Pokémon. It truly does resemble a Toxicroak in some ways. But, judging by its appearance, I would have say it doesn't share the same elemental affinities as a Toxicroak."
"Really?" Terron asked. "Well, what do you think is his type?"
"I would have to say he harbors two types," Novus answered. "Specifically, the water and darkness affinities. The water elemental is rather obvious by the colorings and the skin appearance. The darkness affinity however… that is less certain, but I see it in the eyes. The ones who hold the dark power in their hearts have a special sort of glint in their eyes, if you want to say that. It's rather difficult to explain, but I see it in all of the ones who are of the affinity that belongs to the night."
"Huh, interesting," Terron remarked. "You sure it's not just Zekra you're seeing though? I mean, she's still a dark-type whenever she changes."
"No, I'm certain it's from the Greninja," Novus answered. "In every form Zekra has taken on that didn't harbor the dark element, the special glimmer was not there. She truly did have the appearance of one that isn't of the dark affinity."
Terron nodded, finding he had not much else to say in regards to the subject. Zekra was slowly getting her energy back, and in just a moment or so, she'd be fully recovered and able to walk again. Then, the three of them would be ready to go along with the next step of their plan and find the mercenary. Then, it would only be a matter of time before they could finally leave the island.
"Terron, I hate to be the one to continue to question you, but there is something in your plan that I don't understand," Novus then said.
"What is it?" the Cubone asked.
"When we leave this island, what exactly are we going to do?" Novus asked. "How are we going to go about fighting the Plagued Ones again, when we can no longer be a part of the Fellowship?"
"Actually, the plan is to go rejoin the Fellowship," Terron stated plainly. "The Nestati one that is, since it's the closest one that isn't Dusk Mines."
Novus seemed to be completely stunned at the remark. He appeared to want to say something, but it was Zekra who managed to say something first.
"Wait, wait, wait," Zekra said, managing to get to her feet. "You want us… to join the Fellowship again? How are we going to do that when we got kicked out? They're going to see these marks on us; they're not going to let us back in. I mean… I'd like to go back… but I don't know if they'll let us back in."
"They'll let us in," Terron answered firmly. "We just have to convince them is all. But-"
"Hey wait a minute… why do you even want to go back to the Fellowship?" Zekra then asked, suddenly realizing something. "I thought what Yimtri said to you, when he was trying to kill you, really got to you. You know… how we shouldn't tell the Fellowship about the secret about the Plagued Ones or whatever. I mean, I don't know whether I believe him or not after everything that's happened… but you, you sure seemed to believe him. Why the sudden change?"
"Yes… I share the same thoughts as Zekra," Novus then spoke. "You seemed rather convinced of the Sableye's words after he nearly slit your throat. Like you suddenly forgot that he has deceived you countless times, since the day you met him from what I have been told. And now you are suddenly acting as though you have forgotten those words…"
Terron grit his teeth as he looked away for just a moment. It seemed he had to better explain his intentions and thoughts more. They all needed to be on the same page.
"We're not actually rejoining the Fellowship," Terron started to say. "Sort of. I mean, the idea is we're going to try and become members again, but we're going to be doing something else too. We're going to be looking for answers. Answers that I think the Fellowship is hiding from everyone. Answers that I think will help us beat the Plagued Ones."
"Oh, so that's what it is," Zekra realized. "But, why don't we just go try to find those pins Yimtri was talking about instead? I mean, it could take us a long time to get any kind of answer out of the Fellowship… if there even is something being hidden. Could be a lie, or maybe some kind of thing going on in his head because he's so paranoid. At least with the pins, we kind of know it's a real thing. Because I can't think of a reason for why he'd lie about those things. And, if we found them, then I'm sure we could take on Erebus, since we'd be protected from the transformation."
"That would be a good idea, but there's just one little problem with that; we don't know enough to do any of that," Terron replied. "We don't know where to start looking for these pins, or what they even look like. And not only that, but we don't even know how to get to Erebus so we can fight it. We might know more than a lot of Pokémon do right now, but it's not enough information. And, we probably won't learn anything new, because I get the feeling that Yimtri isn't going to tell us anything anymore. The only reason we got answers out of him last time, is because we got lucky. But we're never going to be that lucky again. Plus… I'd rather not go see him right now. I'm still disgusted by a lot of things he's done, or hasn't done. I don't want to deal with someone like him right now."
Zekra nodded slowly, starting to understand the reasoning behind Terron's plan. Novus, on the other hand, wasn't quite so. He began to frown.
"And yet despite how much you loathe him, you find it in your heart to believe what could very well be lies," Novus said flatly. "Do you not see the contradiction in that?"
"Yeah, I see it," Terron said quietly.
"So then why do you want to follow what you know has a very good chance of being nothing but fabrications of the truth?" Novus then asked. "Why do you believe someone, who has lied to you so very much? What is the reason?"
"Because I saw the truth in his eyes when he was telling me those things," Terron answered. "You can't lie when you look that desperate and terrified. You just can't."
"I'm fairly certain you can," Novus countered. "Desperation can make one do many things, such as being able to manipulate words so that it truly does appear you are speaking the whole truth when it is nothing but a lie."
Terron curled his empty paws into fists.
"Well that's not what happened," Terron said firmly. "I get why you're doubtful, but it's true. I believe that there's something going on at the Fellowship, and we need to find out what it is. Because if we don't… what are we going to do anyway? We can't just go search for the pins like I just said. This is the only option we've got right now. It's the only option that we can actually follow with without being completely lost."
Novus continued to stare at Terron, not saying anything. Terron returned the stare.
A few seconds passed before Novus looked away.
"Fine then. I will accept your choice," the Quilava spoke. "I won't believe the Sableye's words like you and Zekra have, but I will believe in your choice and follow it."
Terron released a relieved sigh.
"Okay," he then said. "Do you guys have any other questions before we find that Greninja?"
Zekra and Novus both shook their heads.
"Alright, then let's get going," Terron said with a placid smile.
With a nod of agreement, the three then made their way toward the much more populated section of town. Once they entered the area, the three split up as they searched about the area. They hoped that by doing so, they'd be able to cover more ground faster than if they were all together. However, after half an hour passed, and the three met back up at their designated meeting spot, and they found that neither of them had found their mercenary.
Seeing this was discouraging, but the group didn't give up quite yet. Instead, they made their way to a new location, at Zekra's request; the beach she had originally seen the Greninja at.
Terron and Novus doubted that the mercenary would re-appear there, but they still went along with the idea since they couldn't think of anywhere else to look. And so, they followed the Zorua to the section of the shore that she had seen the Greninja.
When they got there, they were surprised to find that there were no Pokémon were in the area. They could see other Pokémon farther off in the distance along the coast, but it was still quite a ways from the section of the beach they were in. The three were going to question why this was, but then they saw why.
Sitting on a somewhat large rock that rested close to the shoreline, was the very Greninja that they were searching for.
He was gazing out into the horizon, his black goggles hanging around his neck. He didn't even seem to notice that there were Pokémon near him.
Terron and Novus stood there, now able to see exactly what was so unsettling about the Greninja. The Pokémon's eyes appeared as though they were empty and he didn't appear to be blinking at all, as if he were in some sort of trance. The Greninja didn't look threatening to them, as they had encountered far worse creatures, but it still sent a chill down their spines to see such a vacant stare. Then also, the Greninja being a water-type probably also added to their unease.
Zekra, on the other hand, didn't share the same reaction. Instead, she started to grin eagerly and ran toward the Greninja.
She only ran for a couple of seconds before the Greninja turned his head toward her. Zekra came to a stop, but still kept her gleeful smile upon her face. The Greninja blinked and continued to stare at her with his usual blank gaze. Terron and Novus choose to remain where they were, not sure what they wanted to do.
"Hello there! My friends and I have been looking for you!" Zekra said to the Greninja.
The Greninja kept staring at her, saying nothing.
"I heard you were a mercenary from some Pokémon," Zekra explained, somehow not unnerved. "And, I was just wondering if it was true, since we kinda wanted to hire you to do something for us."
The strange Pokémon was no longer was sitting on the rock. He was now right in front of Zekra, crouched down so he could talk to her at an eye-level. He had somehow managed to close the distance between them without there being a blur of movement. Zekra flinched, but she didn't back away.
"Why do you want to hire me?" the Greninja asked, somehow speaking clearly despite having his tongue wrapped around his neck. "If you really know who I am, then you shouldn't be speaking to me , child."
Zekra grit her teeth as she glared at the Greninja.
"We need you to find us something that will let us get off this island," she answered. "Because we don't actually belong on this island. We don't even have parents; just Pokémon who pretend to be ours. We need you to find this item, because we have more important things to do in life than stay somewhere we don't belong. We don't care what you are or what anyone says about you; we just want you to help us get out of here."
"You're not going to ask me to simply whisk you off Shirra?" the Greninja asked. "You just want me to find you this item?"
"Yeah, we can manage getting off the island by ourselves if you just find us the item," Zekra answered. "We don't need your help with getting us out of here. We just need you to find the item, because someone hid it away from me and we can't find it by ourselves. And, I need that item."
"And what exactly is this item you want me to find?" the Greninja asked.
"A Deception Amulet," Zekra replied. "It's a purple stone on a string. Looks like a necklace. It should be somewhere nearby the house we're staying at."
The Greninja became quiet. Though he seemed to show no emotion, Zekra could have sworn that she saw a quick glimmer of surprise in his eyes. He narrowed his eyes before holding out one of his webbed hands.
"Fine. You don't seem to be like ordinary children. I'll find this amulet for you ," the Greninja spoke. "But, for three thousand and five hundred Poké. In advance."
Zekra nodded before looking over at Terron. She called over to him, where the Cubone hesitantly made his way over. He stopped at Zekra's side as he carefully counted out the proper amount of money before looking over at the Greninja. He was staring at Terron, his gaze still as unnerving as before. But, Terron reminded himself that he had no reason to fear, and dropped the golden coins into the Pokémon's hand. The Greninja curled up his hand and stood up, his shadow looming over the two smaller Pokémon.
"I'll be right back," the Greninja spoke. "I need to store this away. You can stay there until I come back. Then I'll help you find your precious amulet."
Without even waiting for a response, the Greninja took off, faster than lightning. He disappeared into the distance in an instant. Terron and Zekra stared at where they last saw him, baffled by how quickly he had run off. It was almost as though he had vanished into thin air by how quickly he moved. Novus joined the two children's sides.
"It seems that worked rather well," Novus stated. "Now let's hope that Greninja will come back and actually help us."
"I'm sure he'll come back," Zekra replied. "But huh, what an interesting Pokémon. I almost didn't think he could talk because of his tongue scarf thing."
"Yeah… that's a really weird thing to have," Terron commented. "I wonder how he even eats when he's got his tongue like that."
"Maybe that secret Greninja village is to help them learn how to do that," Zekra suggested. "Like, it teaches them how to do basic stuff again."
"Well that would be an interesting school to see," Terron chuckled.
And then, without warning, the Greninja was back in front of the group, towering above them. All of three of them let out a yelp and backpedaled at the sudden reappearance of the mercenary.
"Ahh! How do you do that?!" Zekra cried, trying to compose herself. "How do you move so quickly?! Without me noticing you?!"
"I have my ways," the mercenary spoke.
"Like what?" Zekra asked, becoming very interested in the topic.
"Ways I'd rather not speak of right now, since I believe there's a particular task I need to carry out for you right now," the Greninja stated.
"Oh, right," Zekra said, suddenly remembering why the Greninja was with them in the first place. "Well, maybe later? I'd really like to know about how you can move so quickly."
"Perhaps," the Greninja said dismissively before looking out toward the town. "Now, show me the area you want me to search."
Zekra lead the way as the Greninja and the rest of Team Vendetta followed after her. As they walked, Terron noticed how quite a few Pokémon they passed by would give them very strange glances. Or specifically, they would stare at the Greninja, and then look toward either him or Zekra. Terron knew it was because they were probably concerned as to why two children were with this mercenary. But, he didn't care about that.
Let them look at us. Terron thought. We're getting off this island soon anyway. They won't be seeing us again.
Eventually, the four came to the home that Team Vendetta stayed at. Zekra stopped in front of the house and pointed to it. The others stopped and looked upon the home.
"This is the place," Zekra said. "I've tried searching for it myself, but I couldn't find it. You can find it though, right?"
The Greninja took the goggles hanging around his neck and put them over his eyes. His eyes couldn't be seen through the black lens.
"I have had clients who asked me to find particular items for them," the Greninja spoke as he continued to survey the house, moving his head slowly in a line. "There were treasures buried deep inside misery dungeons that the clients could never obtain because they were too weak. There were precious mementos that were stolen from clients by thieves. There was even a time I was asked to raid a ship and steal an entire horde of evolution stones."
The Greninja then stopped moving and stared straight ahead at the middle section of the house.
"I always succeed in locating the item and delivering it to the client. Because of this," he said as he tapped the side of his goggles.
Before anyone could say anything, the Greninja quietly entered the house in a flash and disappeared inside. And then, before the children could even question what he was doing, the Greninja returned with a particular item in his grasp.
The Deception Amulet.
The three stared up at the Greninja, completely speechless. He had managed to find the item so quickly, when Zekra never could after searching for weeks. Terron managed to find his voice a moment later.
"How did you…" he started to say.
"X-Ray Specs," the Greninja answered as he removed the goggles from his eyes. "It lets me see through structures and locate hidden objects, as well as hidden Pokémon. I can already locate hidden items with a sufficient amount of success, but these goggles make things a lot easier."
"Where did you get those things from?" Terron asked. "I've never seen them on the market anywhere."
The Greninja's eyes no longer seemed like a void. There was a very distinct glare now forming in his stare, his eyes flickering with malice. Terron cringed at the sight.
"A… client gave them to me as part of his payment," the Greninja hissed. "Yes… that client… grryeeehhh!"
The mercenary let out a very loud, high-pitched screech. Terron imagined it was supposed to be a threatening croak of sorts, but to him it, it sounded more like the snarl of a demon.
"Don't bring him up again. Ever," the Greninja said with such venom in his voice. "Understand? Don't you ever."
Terron hastily nodded. The Greninja continued to cast Terron a dark glare until finally taking in a deep breath and composing himself. The vacant expression once again overcame him as he looked back at Zekra.
"Anyway, I found this under the floorboards in the dining area," the Greninja then said. "They were fairly easy to spot."
The Greninja handed the necklace to Terron, who then proceeded to carefully tie the amulet around Zekra's neck. Zekra began to smile widely as she felt the amulet's power pulse from within the jewel. At long last, she had the amulet once more. She could once again be the all-powerful Zorua she loved being so very much. To say that Zekra was ecstatic was an understatement. She seemed so overjoyed, that Terron and Novus feared she would faint right on the spot.
When the Greninja saw that all was well, he started to leave, moving at a more casual pace than the lightning speed he had displayed earlier.
"Thank you!" Zekra called to the Greninja. "We really appreciate your help!"
The Greninja didn't say anything. Instead, he continued to walk forward, not even looking back at the three. But, Zekra wasn't concerned about this, because she was far too excited about something else.
Terron, Novus, and Zekra all looked at each other, all of them wearing very thrilled grins. They had done it; they had gotten the Deception Amulet back. After staying on Shirra for a month, they could finally leave. They finally could leave to go stop the Plagued Ones. They could finally accomplish what they had always wanted to do for the longest time.
"Alright Zekra," Terron said, unable to keep the glee out of his voice, "this is it. Whenever you're ready."
Zekra nodded eagerly as she closed her eyes and started to picture a flying Pokémon that could get them off the island. The images came to her mind so clearly and instantly.
But, before she could change, something else came to mind. She opened her eyes and looked back at where she had last seen the mercenary. She could still see him walking away in the distance.
"Actually… there's one thing I want to do before we leave," Zekra said.
Terron and Novus followed her gaze to see what she was staring at. It didn't take them long to figure out what was on her mind.
"You really want to learn about those Greninja abilities, don't you?" Terron asked.
"Yeah! They could be pretty helpful!" Zekra reasoned. "I mean, you saw how fast that Greninja could move! Just imagine what other kind of stuff he could do! They'd probably help us out a lot in all the stuff we'll have to do after we get out of here."
"Alright, fine," Terron said. "Just try and make it quick, though."
Zekra let out a triumphant laugh before bolting for the Greninja. Terron and Novus looked at one another.
"I highly doubt that the mercenary will let her copy his abilities without wanting a fee of some sort," Novus stated. "After all, I would not do that if I were a mercenary and a species apparently so rare as himself. I would no doubt charge someone if they wanted to copy any of the abilities that took me years to learn."
"Yeah, I kinda figured that too," Terron sighed as he took out his sack of money. "Guess we'd better go catch up to her."
The two went forward to reunite with their friend.
But the two had only taken a few steps forward, when a blue beam suddenly shot from behind them and hit the ground in front of them. A large ice crystal quickly formed in the spot, followed by several more crystals that quickly spread out around them, in a half circle, blocking off their path.
Terron and Novus stopped and turned around.
There, standing a few feet away from them, was the Glaceon and Sylveon that had been taking care of them. The Glaceon had a thin coat of ice covering him, making his fur appear to be like tiny icicles. Crystelle was hiding behind the Sylveon, as if terrified of the situation.
Terron and Novus grimaced, knowing exactly what was going on. They found themselves frozen in place as their insides became cold, as if they had actually been struck by the ice.
"How did you know we were going to be here?" Novus asked.
"Because… after I saw you three wanting to get inside the house this morning… I saw what you wanted to do," the Sylveon said quietly. "Especially since you never buy anything for yourselves. So when I saw you wanted to buy something… just after we told you about that Greninja being a mercenary… I saw what you three were really up to."
Novus didn't give a reply.
"I never should have told you about the Greninja… I should have known better," the Glaceon sighed.
"We're leaving," Terron said, putting away his sack into a pocket. "We made that choice a long time ago, we just didn't act on it because we weren't ready. But now that we are ready, we can't stay here anymore. We just can't."
"I know that you truly care about us," Novus began, "but, you need to let us go. As much as we wish to be able to stay here, we have something we need to do, and only us. I know it's difficult, but you must. Please, try to understand. Let us go."
"Why? What do you have to do?" the Glaceon pleaded. "What's so important, that you have to abandon not just us, but Len's request as well? Did you truly enjoy working with the Fellowship that much?"
Terron and Novus glanced away from the adults, knowing they couldn't give that answer.
"Well?" the Glaceon asked yet again.
The two remained silent. The Glaceon sighed and hung his head in shame.
"Why can't you two say anything?" the Sylveon asked quietly. "Why can't you tell us? Is it because you don't like being with us?"
"That's not the reason," Terron answered as what felt like a needle punctured his heart. "You did nothing wrong. We'd like to stay, but we just can't. We have to go."
"Then what is it?!" the Sylveon cried. "Why can't you just tell us the reason?!"
Terron grit his teeth, trying to stay strong and not submit to their begging. He looked over at Novus, and then quickly shifted his eyes at the ice that was in their way. Novus gave a subtle nod. Terron looked back at the Eevee family.
"Sorry, but we can't give you the reason," Terron said. "I'd really like to... but I can't."
Novus then turned around and blasted the ice wall with a stream of red-hot flames. The second the ice melted into a puddle, Novus and Terron ran out of their icy prison and headed toward Zekra as fast as their legs could carry them.
"Zekra! We need to go! Now!" Terron shouted at the dot in the distance that he knew was her.
He looked back, and as he expected, he found the family chasing after them. They weren't that far behind him and Novus. Instinctively, Terron reached for a bone club attached to his coat, but then stopped himself when he realized what he was doing.
"No… I can't fight them," Terron realized. "I just can't… they don't deserve it."
Instead, he tried to run faster. He and Novus continued to run, never looking back again.
But then, yet another ice wall formed before the two of them, once again trying to stop the two from getting away. Novus didn't even need Terron to say anything.
A fireball flew from his mouth that impacted the ice a second later, instantly creating a large gap in the barrier. The two leapt through the hole and once again continued running. It wasn't long before the two were able to spot Zekra running toward them from a short distance.
"What's going on?!" she cried, oblivious to the situation. "Why are we suddenly in such a hurry to leave?!"
"Because the family!" Terron shouted. "They found out we're leaving and they don't-"
A sudden cold struck Terron's leg and Novus's, rendering them immobile. The two looked down to find that their legs were encased in ice and that it was gluing them to the ground. Horrified, Novus quickly shot a small pillar of fire at Terron's feet while he attempted to warm up his own body temperature so he could thaw himself out.
Terron looked back to find that the adults were so close to them. Any second now, they would catch up. Novus wouldn't be able to free the two of them in time, and Zekra wouldn't be able to change fast enough to get them out of there. His heart raced in a panic while his leg stung with a searing pain as the ice continued to stick to him.
He had to think of a way out of this. He and his friends had to get off the island.
Only one option was coming to his mind, and though Terron didn't want to go along with it, he knew he had to. It was the only choice he could think of that would work that didn't seem barbaric.
He had to tell them the truth.
But before he could get himself to do it, Zekra suddenly caught up with him and Novus and jumped over them. She landed behind them and crouched into a low position as she watched the caretakers near them. Her eyes were ablaze with a bright light, and her amulet was burning with its own light.
The family stopped as soon as they saw her. They cringed when they saw how vicious she truly looked. As they gazed at her, disturbed by what they were seeing, Novus and Terron broke free from their icy bonds and turned around and uneasily glanced at Zekra. Terron could have sworn he saw very faint black streams oozing off her body.
"We're leaving," Zekra snarled. "What part of that don't you understand?"
"All of it…" the Sylveon said. "Why do you want to leave…?"
"That's none of your business," Zekra snapped. "Now, let us go. Or else… I'll show you exactly what this Deception Amulet makes me capable of."
Terron frowned uncomfortably at the remark. He knew that Zekra was quite violent and wasn't exactly fond of the caretakers, but he didn't realize that she could be so merciless. Yes, he too wanted to leave, but not through violence…
"Can you just tell us why you want to leave, at the very least?" the Glaceon asked.
"Will that make you want to let us go?" Zekra then asked.
"Maybe," the Glaceon said with a bit of uncertainty. "You don't need to give me a very detailed explanation; a simple one will do. Just let us know what's going on. Please."
Zekra continued to glare at the Glaceon, her eyes still bright with her power. A few tense moments passed, where no one moved or said anything.
And then, slowly, Zekra stood straight up, no longer in a hostile position. She looked back at Terron, all of the ferocity in her eyes gone.
"You want to say it, Tear?" she asked. "I think you'd be able to explain it better than I can."
Terron gave a slow nod as the two of them looked back at the family they were trying to abandon. He saw the anxious concern on the adult's faces, as well as in the little Eevee. He saw the supportive gazes of his two teammates.
He took in a deep breath and sighed. He had to phrase what he was going to say next very carefully.
"Zekra, Novus, and I need to leave this place because we have something we need to take care of back on the main land," Terron explained. "We… need to go stop something that's been causing problems. And, we're the only ones who can do that… because we know something that no one else does. We would tell someone else about it… but we can't, because… it has to stay a secret. You can't know, the police can't know… not even the Fellowship can know."
"Are you sure you can't tell someone else?" the Sylveon asked. "This secret you're talking about seems so important, and it sounds like such a burden for you children to have to carry that all by yourselves."
"It'll be painful to keep it a secret… but yes, no one else can know," Terron admitted. "Just my friends and I."
"But we know what to do," Zekra then said, her voice for once not filled with indifference towards the adults. "We're not lost; we know what to do with all of this knowledge. We've got a plan to take care of things, and an awesome leader to guide us through it."
Zekra glanced over at Terron and gave him a small smile. Terron smiled back.
"But, you're just children," the Sylveon reasoned. "You're not even that much older than Crystelle here. You shouldn't have to do this. I mean, you could have more experienced-"
"I understand your concern," Novus cut in. "I know that you think that Zekra and Terron are less experienced than ones who are working within the Fellowship. And to an extent, you're right. However, they are not weak by any means. If they were truly so, then the two would not be where they are now. Working for the Fellowship is a taxing experience. You spend days on end, tirelessly working for a single cause in every way you can. Many of your missions will have you travel through such perilous, twisted places known as Mystery Dungeons. Other missions involve such long journeys to accomplish a single task, even if it is seemingly trivial to the Fellowship. And then more involve tracking down criminals, who range from petty thieves, to ruthless killers. If you are not strong enough in the Fellowship, you will succumb to a fate you truly wish to avoid. And it's not even death that we fear sometimes…"
Novus seemed to struggle in keeping his fire contained. Terron knew it was because he was thinking about the plaguing process most of the team was going through.
"But no, these 'children' are still here among us, because they're strong enough to keep fighting," Novus then said. "I would even say they're not children anymore, because of how much they've grown since I first met them quite some time ago. Do not worry about their well-being; they can take care of themselves. They've proven it with the very fact that they're still alive and standing with us. And even if they are still considered incompetent, they have me with them. I'm an adult, and I can easily take responsibility for these two for you. I will take care of them, and make sure that nothing happens to them. I promised a friend that I would, and I refuse to break that promise."
The Sylveon appeared to want to say something, but seemed at a loss for words.
"So please, let us go," Terron said softly. "Let us take care of what we need to take care of."
The Sylveon and Glaceon glanced at each other with uncertainty. Then, they started to whisper something to each other, so that the team couldn't hear what they were saying.
And then, after a long minute passed, the two parents looked back at the three Pokémon they cared for. They each wore a sad smile upon their faces.
"We really love you three. We do," the Glaceon said. "Even though you were never our actual children, and you never had interest in wanting to stay here with us, we really did enjoy you being here. You are wonderful Pokémon. But… we see that your happiness lies elsewhere, and you have something you need to take care of. And staying here is simply making you miserable. Even though it pains me to say this, I will say it.
"You three can leave. You can go now. You don't need to stay anymore."
Terron felt like he wanted to cry as a powerful warmth flooded his heart, but he kept himself together.
"Thank you," Terron said, his voice barely above a whisper. "Th-Thank you…"
The Eevee family then made their way toward the team and stopped before them. The Glaceon wrapped his paw around the group's necks the best he could, while the Sylveon held each of them in a tight embrace with her ribbon-like appendages. Crystelle, despite being so small, also tried to hug the team and managed to have some success.
Zekra's eyes filled with water as she started to tremble.
"What's the matter, Zekra?" the Sylveon asked.
"It's just… I haven't exactly been all that great to you guys," Zekra explained. "But… despite me being so hostile, and threatening to attack you… you guys still care about me. Like… like my real parents did. It… it just makes me…"
Before Zekra could say anymore, the Sylveon started to gingerly rub Zekra's head with one of her appendages.
"It's alright," the Sylveon said. "You don't need to say anything anymore. I understand."
Zekra closed her eyes and smiled as a few tears streamed down her face.
The six continued to stand there, wrapped in the group embrace for a while longer before the family finally separated from the team.
"Take care of yourselves," the Glaceon said with a smile.
"And, maybe you can come back and visit when you're done," Crystelle then said meekly. "I know I didn't spend a lot of time with you guys, but it was still nice having you around. So… come back soon, alright?"
"We will," Terron assured.
Terron glanced over at Zekra, finding that she was no longer crying. The second that their eyes met, Zekra understood what to do. A violet light flooded out of the amulet around her neck and covered her being. And then, an instant later, a Flygon stood where the Zorua once was. She bent down and let Terron and Novus carefully climb onto her back. When they were comfortably seated, she slowly lifted off the ground and began rising high into the air.
And then, after giving the Eevee family one last glance, Team Vendetta left the island.