Previously, in Pokémon: The Lost Child, Prinplup and Grovyle had just defeated a Mightyena with the power of their teamwork. However, when he was defeated, Mightyena told them about a duo of Pokémon, Plusle and Minun, who wanted a double battle. Prinplup and Grovyle accepted, but were quickly overwhelmed by them. Prinplup and Grovyle now knew they still had a lot to learn about team attacks.
"Did that power up the move?" Grovyle asked.
"It doesn't look like it did unless there is something I can't see," Prinplup responded.
"We have been trying to replicate that helping hand move that those two pulled off for hours with no luck," Grovyle said in frustration.
"Could it be possible that neither of us can do that?" Prinplup asked.
"I guess that could be possible. If that is true, though, then we are stuck where we left off."
"If we can't replicate their team moves, then we can always learn our own. I am sure there has to be something," Prinplup replied.
"Perhaps I am not sure where to even start though," Grovyle said.
"Prinplup, Grovyle, is that you?" some voice called out from the distance.
Prinplup and Grovyle turned around in the direction of whatever was calling for them. They saw Magmar limping on the ground with his body covered in bruises and damage. It looked like he was barely able to walk. It was quite an unsettling sight to see what could have happened. "Is this the same Magmar?" they both wondered.
"Please help," said Magmar, after getting those words out collapsed on the ground.
Prinplup and Grovyle rushed to his aid as quickly as they could. They laid Magmar down and gave him food to help him recover. All the while, they were hoping that he would recover perfectly fine.
"So Grovyle, do you think this is the same Magmar?" Prinplup asked.
"It seems very likely. He knew who we were and I only recall us meeting one Magmar," Grovyle said.
"If so, it brings up the question of what happened to him and what he is doing here far away from his village," Prinplup asked.
"That's a very good question. I have no idea."
Magmar started waking up from his state while saying, "Hello, who's there?"
"Magmar, thank Arceus, you are fine," Prinplup said.
"So it wasn't a dream; they are all gone," Magmar said.
"Huh, I don't get it. What exactly happened?" Grovyle asked.
"No, it can't be. I should have let them kill me." Those words for Magmar caught the two off-guard quite a bit. What could have possibly happened to make Magmar think that he was better off dead?
"You can't talk like that, Magmar. Tell us what happened, please," Prinplup asked.
Magmar took a deep breath, tried to collect his thoughts and eventually started talking. "Alright, so it was just a normal day in the village. I was helping one of my friends get some food. Out of nowhere, I heard this massive horde of Pokémon coming. At first, the entire town thought it was those Poochyena raiders again, so we got ready to fend them off. It quickly became apparent though that these were something else entirely. There were many Pokémon with strength far beyond any of us. We didn't stand a chance." Magmar stops talking to collect his thoughts.
"I dread to hear what happens next," Prinplup replied.
"Trust me when I say that this gets worse," Magmar said.
"Well, I'm ready to hear anything," Grovyle replied.
"We were all decimated. The village was on fire. Pokémon were being massacred by the hundreds. After not too long, there was nothing left. I tried to help, but after some time, I was forced to just run, but my little brother, Magby, couldn't run fast enough and I had to watch as he was consumed by the flames. As far as I know, I was the only one who survived that, and I have been just running and running ever since."
"I, I, I am so sorry, Magmar. That is truly horrible. What could have possibly done this to you," Prinplup asked.
"I don't know. The attackers had so many Pokémon that I couldn't make out a leader, and also I can't recall much of what happened. My memories are all blurred."
"What can we do, Grovyle? What should we do?"
"I am not sure if there is anything we can do to help Prinplup. I don't understand why there was such a massive attacking force at your village, of all places."
"I wish I knew. I have been questioning the same thing for a while now as well."
"What just happened to you, Magmar, is awful. You need to sit down and rest for a bit," Grovyle said.
"It often feels like I just can't do anything anymore. All I have been able to do is just run and hide. I can't even step into another village because it gives me flashbacks of what happened: the burning, the fire, the death," Magmar said while curling up in terror.
Prinplup takes Grovyle away to talk to him privately, asking, "Man Magmar, has changed quite a bit. He is almost nothing like what I saw before."
"Yeah, this experience has shaken him up pretty badly, I can tell. Our lives haven't been perfect, but neither of us has experienced anything like that," Grovyle responded.
"I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that is the case," Prinplup said.
While they were talking, Grovyle was catching some faint noises of rustling grass that were getting louder by the second. It was like something was approaching Grovyle. He stopped the conversation to look around, which Prinplup was confused about, asking "Are you okay?"
"Something is coming this way, and it smells like danger."
The two looked around quietly, the noises of the grass and someone approaching getting louder and louder. Eventually, Grovyle could catch a faint glimpse of what was coming their way. The shadow got ever bigger until Grovyle could see that it was trying to attack. Grovyle got out his detect as quickly as he could, and he felt a powerful sword slash hit him. Grovyle regained his footing and saw what it was. It was Aegislash.
"It's you again," Grovyle said.
"If it isn't Prinplup and Grovyle, I remember our last encounter. I seem to recall you only won due to some last-second help," Aegislash replied.
"Wait, you can talk," Prinplup responded.
"I don't tend to speak often. I am here to do a job. I would recommend that you don't stand in my way or else you will need to be eliminated," Aegislash said.
Magmar got one look at Aegislash and it instantly sent him into a panic. He was crouched on the ground breathing heavily, "No, it can't be, it's you. You were one of them. How is this possible?"
"What are you talking about, Magmar?" Grovyle asked.
"You were one of the people when my village was burned to the ground."
Before the three even had time to react, Aegislash charged toward Magmar, getting out his sword and attempting to slash Magmar. Magmar was barely able to dodge out of the way of it. Prinplup and Grovyle jumped in front of Aegislash, ready to defend Magmar with all the options they had.
"Well, it seems you have picked your side. Now you will die," Aegislash said.
Aegislash charged forward, getting his sword out and slashing. Prinplup used his metal claw to block and counter the attacks. Grovyle was using his leaf blade to also try and get some hits in, but everything they were using barely scratched him. Magmar was trying to help where he could, by getting in a few flamethrowers, which were noticeably hurting more, but not enough. Aegislash was far beyond any of their power levels.
"Why did you do it? You killed my family at home and now you want to kill me?" Magmar shouted.
"It's nothing personal, kid, I have a job to do," Aegislash said.
Aegislash pulled off a risky gambit that he was banking on working. He threw several shadow balls into the air and then jumped up to launch them to the ground. Creating a massive storm of shadow balls, the three tried to dodge them. Prinplup and Grovyle tried to pull off one of their team attack moves by Prinplup creating bubbles that he would launch at Aegislash while Prinplup launched his water gun at Aegislash. Aegislash, however, was able to effortlessly dodge out of the way of all of them.
Aegislash jumped into the air and then landed behind Magmar. Prinplup and Grovyle quickly went over to attack Aegislash directly with their metal claw and leaf blade, but after only a few hits, the Aegislash just vanished. They turned around to see that Aegislash was battling with Magmar and was beating him badly. Aegislash quickly got the upper hand and stabbed Magmar in the chest with his sword, dealing a fatal blow.
"Noooooooo," Prinplup shouted while starting to cry. Aegislash had created a substitute to lure them into a trap, which worked. They fell for it, and now they've lost a friend. However, Prinplup, from the sheer anger that was created, started glowing and both knew what this meant. He was evolving. Prinplup quickly evolved; now he was a darker shade of blue, had this giant crown-like thing on his head, and bigger and sharper claws.
"Empoleon," Grovyle said, in aw.
Empoleon rushed up to Aegislash, cloaking himself in water and charging at an insane speed. Empoleon then got out his powered-up metal claws and started slashing Aegislash with them. Aegislash had lost some health by creating that substitute and was unprepared, so he was getting hurt pretty badly. Aegislash was able to get a quick slash in with his sword, which stunned Empoleon enough that he was given time to retreat.
Empoleon quickly rushed to the mortally wounded Magmar.
"Are you still alive? Please tell me you are okay. Maybe I can do something," Empoleon frantically said.
"It's too late for me now. Congrats on evolving Empoleon and I hope you do soon as well, Grovyle," Magmar said, his voice gradually getting weaker as he was slowly dying.
"No, this can't be happening," Empoleon cried.
"It's over for me now I am glad to have met you too, but maybe this will finally end my suffering," Magmar said as he started dying from the wounds. He died shortly after uttering his last words. Empoleon sat there holding his dead body as Grovyle stood there comforting him. Grovyle was upset as well, but he didn't show it as much.
After a bit, the two conducted a funeral for Magmar. All of his friends and family were just killed, so they were all he had left. Empoleon and Grovyle buried him next to a tree and sat there mostly crying.
"The Brotherhood will pay for what they have done," Empoleon said.
Meanwhile, Aegislash has arrived back at the Brotherhood's base.
"My master, your command has been completed," Aegislash said.
"So that village had no survivors?" his master asked.
"None whatsoever; there will be no one to expose what Magmortar had," Aegislash replied.
"Excellent work. Now I have a new assignment for you. Make sure to listen carefully."