Frukkshin cast a curious glance towards Ohm. "So what you're trying to tell me," he said with a pause before continuing, "is that you, Irukan, and Bancho went for a walk earlier today. And a wind, cold enough to put a sheet of ice on the streets might I add, swept through with no warning?" The Rapidash gave a snort and put his eyes back forwards. "I'm calling bullshit."

Ohm took a moment to mull over the statement and nodded. "Like it or not, that's the truth." he said. "I don't get it either." He cast a somewhat suspicious look towards Flocon, not totally convinced that everything would turn out okay.

Flocon took a moment to think before shaking his head and grunting, he looked up the street and remarked, "Hey, there's a taxi." The sight renewing his energy.

Frukkshin hailed them down and they in turn slowed to a halt, the racket created by wheel on cobblestone silencing as she did so. "Aye." she said in reply.

"Can you take us to the coastline along La Troisieme Quartiere?" Frukkshin asked, he didn't seem impatient, but almost excited about something as he spoke rather quickly.

The Mienshao nodded and two of them climbed aboard.

"Eh, Frukkshin, you're not coming up?" Flocon asked as he peered over the sides.

The Rapidash looked up at Flocon and gave a short chuckle. "There's no reason to conserve any energy this time." he replied.

Ohm leaned over and said, "Swallow your damn pride, I should remind you that you need to conserve your energy now more than ever." He was trying to be vague as to not arouse any suspicion from the driver of the cart. Though she didn't seem to acknowledge his statement as she accepted her payment. Ohm simply assumed that this was hardly the first time she overheard some odd conversation.

Frukkshin took a moment before sounding a short, "Right." and clambered aboard with a small pout strewn across his face.

Giving him a confused look as the cart began to move Flocon asked the Rapidash, "Why the long face?"

Frukkshin shot him a scrutinizing look before dropping it and muttering, "If that was on purpose…" his voice trailed off before he finally said, "I just… Well, I don't like being idle for long periods of time." Even now he seemed to be shifting his weight on occasion.

Ohm leaned back and gave the Rapidash a cocky grin and told him, "Don't mind Ninetales, he's just horsing around." And gave a short chuckle.

Frukkshin gave him a flat and unamused voice before stating, "When I die, both of you are going with me…" As he settled into the cart.

Flocon gave the Rapidash a concerned look. Not fully understanding what could possibly be bothering him.

Scenery rolled by the group. Flocon laid down for a moment. He could never really explain it but there was something about this part of the city that just gave him these odd vibes. He gave it a very scrutinizing look as they passed, not at the pokemon but at the buildings themselves, before muttering some incoherent words and resting a bit.

Frukkshin gave him a confused look but decided against saying anything as the sight of their destination began to ebb into his view.

Leaning back for a moment and hearing the rickety cart roll along the cobblestones, Ohm let out a sigh. He seemed a bit tense but he didn't say anything about it, choosing to instead focus on his breathing.

The cart slowly came to a halt as the driver informed them, "We're here."

The three took a moment to realize that she spoke. The cart creaked in relief as they disembarked one by one.

Flocon looked around, it was a strange sight to him, the coast of Galet was surprisingly clean. To his left jutted long wooden docks, lined with ships of varying size along either side. Pokemon moved in and out of these ships with boxes, talking to others and unloading them at a spot, just for another pokemon to come pick up the same box. To his right stood some seaside shops and storage built into the walls.

But that wasn't what he was interested in. Flocon ran through the crowd of pokemon to view the ocean. Its waves lolled to and fro. The sound of each wave crashing into the cement wall filled the air.

He let his nose take in the scent of saltwater as he was lightly sprayed with the briny water. Some of it found its way into his nose, he flinched as the saltwater stung him, but that wasn't enough to disenchant the sight in his eyes.

Ocean as far as the eye could see, and all these ships speaking of untold lands. What lies across it? What lands might I one day see if I were to travel? The thought of adventure crossed his mind and, even if it were for a moment and nothing more, his fears and worries melted into the endless sea. He laid down with his front paws draped over the side as he let himself relax.

Ohm and Frukkshin exchanged a glance. "Just wait until he sees the beach." the Rapidash said with a warm smile.

Ohm nodded as he watched the Ninetales become enamoured with the sight. He let a smile cross his face, something about it didn't seem right, but he smiled nonetheless.

Flocon looked out but felt something, a pang in his thigh. He got up and shook it out and soon enough the mild discomfort faded. Taking some time to look at the spot with some confusion, Flocon looked it over a few times before shrugging and bounding back to the other two. "This is amazing." he exclaimed as he looked around in wonder.

Ohm cleared his throat and in a slightly raspy voice replied. "I never really tire of the ocean itself, but this isn't exactly what we wanted you to see." he coughed a bit more and scratched at his throat.

Looking over to the Ampharos with a bit of worry strewn across his face Frukkshin asked, "Are you feeling alright, Ohm?"

The Ampharos took a few moments to respond before regaining his composure. "I guess my throats a bit sore today is all." he replied. He was nonplussed about the situation as he began walking, motioning for the other two to follow him.

It wasn't long before they descended a staircase dusted in particulate. Reaching the bottom of it, Flocon felt sand flow between his paws. The gentle beaches of Galet stood in front of him as he yipped in glee, bounding through the sand and coming to rest at the beach front.

The waves rolled up to his paws and he instinctively backed off from them, seemingly confused by them. He sniffed the ground in a bit of curiosity only to be surprised when they rolled back up to him.

Frukkshin couldn't help but chuckle and remark, "He's like a child sometimes, eh Ohm… Ohm?" The Rapidash looked over with concern as Ohm appeared to be choking on something.

"Ohm…?" Frukkshin asked as he neared the Ampharos with some worry.

Ohm looked away and retched twice before vomiting. Frukkshin's eyes went wide as he saw blood stain the sand. The Ampharos staggered forwards and fell to his knees. "Ohm!" The Rapidash exclaimed as he turned in a panic towards Flocon, who appeared to have difficulties standing.

Some sort of pain wrenched Flocon's hip and he began to whimper in a panic. Frukkshin ran over to him and looked around as he tried to figure out where the source of the attack was.

There was hardly a pokemon in sight though a few bystanders left in a panic. Flocon found his footing but only barely as an aneurysm in his hind leg sent searing pain through him. He yelped as the vessel threatened to burst.

Ohm managed to weakly call out as he got to his feet, "They have to be nearby."

Frukkshin looked around before nodding. "That may be true, but where?" he considered how they might be hiding themselves. But he came up with nothing.

Flocon stood up and remarked, "There has to be a-" he was cut short as he fell to the ground as blood began to seep from his mouth as well.

Frukkshin's expression darkened before he looked at the sand. "There's a way to find them, hold your breath you two." he instructed them and not a moment later he used his legs to slam the ground, sending a flurry of fine sand particles into the air.

As the dust wafted through, covering everything in a fine coat of sand there appeared to be a strange figure that was invisible before. It was oblong as it floated in the air. The three turned their attention to the strange pokemon.

There was a moment of deliberation on both sides before a wave of static blasted the sand particles off the form. Frukkshin grunted as he immediately blasted a Flamethrower in its direction. But a wave of electricity managed to arc through the hot plasma and directly back into him.

Reeling back in pain as it… bounced off his helmet? Frukkshin stood in confusion for a moment. Instinctively glancing around and shuffling to the side, Frukkshin accidentally stepped into some run-off blood.

It was but a moment when the blood shot up from under him, he dodged out of the way as it left a small cut on his leg. As he touched the ground he momentarily investigated his body, noticing that the blood he stepped in was still stuck to him.

Frukkshin paused for a moment and said, "You can't use whatever trick that is on me, can you?" he let out a huff as he prepared to kick up more dust.

Ohm stood up, pain shooting down his entire body. He started instinctively sparking in pain and soon enough, the pain that flowed through his blood began to fade. "I see," he remarked as the unintentional interference he was creating seemed to stop the pain. "I'm not sure what you're doing, but I know how to stop it."

Ohm looked toward the crumpled and bleeding figure of Flocon and looked around, he waited patiently and heard Flocon groan as he struggled to his feet.

He saw Flocon flinch and launched a Thunderbolt as Frukkshin kicked up a new cloud of dust revealing the figure. Flocon was struck head-on by the intense plasma but whatever momentary protection it gave him far outweighed the negatives of leaving him to fend for himself.

He saw it visibly stagger before fading away once more Flocon ran to their sides to regroup, making sure to glare at Ohm. There was a long lull as the three of them stood still yet ready to lunge at a moment's notice.

It was then that Flocon yelped in pain. Frukkshin looked over to see that a knife had found its way into Flocon's side. In fact, he saw a group of daggers pointed at them.

The trio realized that there was no way to avoid the onslaught of strikes. All but one.

In that very instant Frukkshin's flames began to flare into overdrive, but something about them was different. The color changed from a fiery orange and moved up the electromagnetic spectrum to a brilliant green, increasing in energy as he hyper oxygenated his blood, in a maneuver only called Blastburn-Y.

He reeled back and spewed a Flamethrower that threatened to burn both Flocon and Ohm from five feet away. A fire so intense that it heated the metal to its curie point nigh instantaneously. Ohm grabbed Flocon and the two lunged through the opening created as the aerial knives began to fly. They narrowly avoided all but a few which carved crimson gashes along their sides.

The three left a trail of blood in the sand. Their breathing was heavy from the blood loss as Frukkshin began to glance here and there in search of the enemy. The knives landed strewn about the ground

Frukkshin tilted down to the ground and waited for something to happen. Ohm was faced the other direction trying to keep an eye on Flocon who was trying to look for them as well.

Flocon was desperately searching for some sort of hint, some clue to find them. They can't just be invisible, there has to be a trick that we're not seeing. He thought as he leapt out of the way of a needle that shot from the ground. It's when he saw the sheen of metal from it that it started making sense to him. Magnetism! He must be using some form of magnetism Frukkshin's helmet, knives, blood, needles, all four have iron! He then knew from extrapolation that they were using some variation of the same trick to hide themselves.

He looked around his mind for an answer. But how? He thought as they were forced to dodge another onslaught as pins shot into his hip. Wait. Light can bend around a reflective surface, is it possible that they're using a collection of tiny, mirror-like particles?

As if to test his theory he told Frukkshin, "If you can get a good hit on him with a Flamethrower, we may be able to win."

Frukkshin, without turning his head, told him, "Perhaps. But how do we find them?"

Ohm gave him the answer, "It's simple." He lunged for a knife and flipped it into the air.

The magnetism took hold as the tip of the blade turned toward their foe. Frukkshin didn't hesitate to launch a Flamethrower.

Just as expected: the particles of iron fused to the flesh of the now revealed Magnezone, the heat causing some issues in his ability to levitate.

The Magnezone beeped in anger as it said, "Just because you found me, doesn't mean I'll lose."

Flocon, Ohm, and Frukkshin showed heavy injuries as the loss of blood began to take its toll on them.

Frukkshin panted as his fire began to red-shift. Flocon and Ohm looked on in horror as he collapsed from exhaustion.

Ohm and Flocon exchanged a short glance. Magnezone attacked, sending a Gyro Ball in their direction, the duo lunged in opposite directions.

Flocon took the shot and fired a Frost Breath directly towards their assassin. The Magnezone couldn't dodge, but still chuckled a bit.

Ohm looked back in horror as the Gyro Ball landed a direct hit on Frukkshin. Sending his limp body backwards.

Flocon completely froze up as he saw this. Oblivious to the impending Thunderbolt fired in his direction.

Ohm rolled into the beam and took the electric shock. "And we won't either." he exclaimed in pain as he used the source of energy to arch his back and fire a concentrated stream of purple fire. The flames wreathed the Magnezone in a searing pain, it was something that seemed to surpass fire, biting directly into his metallic flesh.

Flocon lunged from just behind Ohm to fire the Aurora Beam that would take them out for good. The Magnezone tumbled to the ground, the heat shock crumpling his metallic flesh. He was dead on impact, there was no doubt among any of them.

A few moments passed, then a few more as they tried to catch their breaths. Flocon went over to Frukkshin and tried to stem his bleeding.

Ohm walked over towards him and asked, "Aren't you going to worry about yourself?" he set a fin on the Ninetales arm as he worked on trying to stop his own blood. He remained this way until he noticed that Flocon seemed to have himself covered. In every spot where a wound once stood was now covered in ice. "Clever." He said.

Frukkshin struggled awake after a few moments. He looked himself over to see that his bleeding seemed to have subsided. Finding his footing, he looked up to see Flocon and Ohm seated on the ground.

Flocon looked up to see the Rapidash find his footing and said, "I guess this could've gone better." he chuckled weakly as he got up.

Frukkshin couldn't help but eye the Ninetales curiously. "Do you feel okay?" he asked as he spit out a bit of blood into the sand.

Flocon smiled as he helped Ohm up. "I've been better, but I've been worse." he said, seeming a bit nonplussed about the situation as a whole. "I'm just glad to be alive right now."

Ohm weakly muttered something under his breath before finally saying, "We should get to a clinic. Maybe try and get back later today."

Frukkshin nodded as he slowly hiked up the stairs, Ohm and Flocon not far behind him.

Flocon busied himself with some thinking as they walked, That had to be another member of Requiem. What do they want with me? he gritted his teeth in a mix of anger and frustration, his entire body tensing slightly. Though that face soon faded away as he looked up at his two companions. The Modern Crusaders, all of them… they're risking everything for me. Tears began to crawl down his face. I want to help them, But I'm just… so damn useless. I can hardly fend for myself, I only weighed them down in that fight…

It wasn't long until they had found a clinic nearby. But something happened.

Flocon's limbs felt heavy. His vision began to tear at the edges. Everything seemed to go silent.

He found himself suddenly in an empty room. "Where… am I?" he asked aloud to no one in particular.

The light above him was blinding but he could see that to his left and right was a window and a door respectively. Flocon found himself laid upon a metal surface. Had he passed out? He did. When? When did I pass out like that? he thought. I won't put too much thought into that, probably easier that way.

He decided that wherever he was, he was safe. At least for the time being. He laid there, not voicing a word. Something he seemed to be doing a lot of recently.

Hello once again, I'm just popping by to tell you that the one mystery project I've been working on is ready to be uploaded. It should started either today or tomorrow considering that the holidays are coming up.

As a side note, there's likely to be a few edits to this story soon, either this week or next week to fix some formatting issues and general grammar. So if you see a couple updates, just know that it's not a big deal.

On that note, see you in another two weeks.