Welcome to the final part of the prologue! This is a larger chapter than the last two, hooray! I hope everyone has been enjoying this story so far, I can only hope that it'll improve as time goes on. As always, I hope you all enjoy this chapter!


Internal Mystery

Prologue Part 3

No More Worries

The four pokemon waited most of the night for the keldeo to return to consciousness but it was not long until Pam and Chanah fell asleep and later so did Nymphia and Mat. The sun rose and a new day started. Everyone woke up at more or less the same time. It was only while having breakfast that the keldeo started to wake up, he was wiggling and complaining in his sleep. Pam was keeping an eye out for keldeo while everyone else ate their breakfast so as soon as it started to regain consciousness she told everyone. The three other pokemon rushed into the room with high hopes and as they entered the room they saw the keldeo with a painful expression on its face. He groaned and rolled around a bit in his sleep.

"I'm going to shake him until he wakes up," declared Mat as slowly walked up to the pokemon.

In response, Channah stomped her feet and replied, "you shouldn't do that! Let him have his sleep! He needs it."

"Go for it." Nymphia casually replied as she shook her head, "it honestly might be better, he's gotten enough sleep. Plus the quicker he wakes up the better."

Mat started to slowly walk up, hesitant to touch the pokemon he instead poked him with the blunt end of his shell. The only reaction the keldeo gave was a groan and a bit of fidgeting, at this point it was probably half awake but too lazy to wake up. The dewott continued to poke, he soon gave up as it appeared to not be very effective and never bothered to shake the pokemon like he said. Mat turned around to find Pan and Nymphia with a confused expression and Channah with her face screaming that she was mad at him for poking a fellow pokemon in its sleep. Mat casually walked away from the sleeping pokemon and got a snack for Pan before thinking of any other ideas.

"Y'know there is a way to wake him up. Like literally right this instant," Nymphia casually stated.

"Is there really? We should try it right away!" Channah proclaimed, ecstatic to meet Nymphia's last friend she hasn't met, the cobalt Pokemon Kyle.

"Pam can shock him awake but she'd never agree since she might get nervous and put a little too much power into the thunder shock." Nymphia replied in a disappointed tone.

Pam was nervous to admit to what the sylveon had said but it was true. The Pikachu could only sheepishly reply, "b-but it is true! I-I..."

"That doesn't matter, just do your best to weaken the thunder shock as much as possible. You'll only need a small amount," Mat impatiently demanded. "Right now we need results. Something is obviously out of place and I can't quite figure it out."

The pikachu obeyed Mat and walked over to the now cozily sleeping pokemon. She stood still for a second, clutched her hands, heart shaped tail up high and used thunder shock. The cobalt Pokemon had quickly risen from its sleep; widened eyes and a loud yelp.

"Rise and shine Kyle." Nymphia said as she sighed.

"Gah!" Kyle the keldeo yelled as he sat up, "is everyone alright?!"

"Yes, we are all fine," calmly replied Pam. "We have new friends here too and an interesting story for you!"


In no time at all, Nymphia and Pam finished explaining their story as well as introduce the two new guests as they sat around the keldeo who had just woken up.

"So I guess nothing awful has happened since I've been gone for a few days," Kyle said as he let out a sigh of relief. "I can't deny nothing strange has happened to me too. Like I explained before leaving, I traveled far east from here, until I believed that I would find end of this region. Everything was fine and traveling through the mountains was filled with ease. That was until I stumbled upon a very young dedenne who happened to be called Danny."

That name rung in Mat's head as his whole attention fell onto Kyle. He looked fixedly at Kyle as words could not come to mind. Mat was a generally at ease pokemon but anything he discovers that connects to his memories had some sort of effect on him, it was like some sort of feeling horror or dread overwhelming him. It was like he remembered somebody he's never met. Channah only continued to listen, no strange behaviour just her leaf wagging. For some odd reason, even though they both came from the same situation they both had polar opposite reactions.

"Oh! I know who you're talking about," the chikorita exclaimed as if a light had just turned on. "Yes, yes! I know him from my, uh... Yeah, my memory!"

Mat couldn't explain it but he felt like he badly wanted to go find Danny.

"You might wonder what happened next," the keldeo continued, hesitant finish his explanation. "It was all going well. I was going to bring him here last night since we weren't too far away and he was completely alone..."

Everyone anticipated to find out what happened next as the room fell silent. Kyle couldn't finish his story; lowering his a little and avoiding eye contact. He was incapable of admitting what happened. It seems like Kyle was quite the pride-filled Pokemon, not only did he look powerful but it seems like he's overcome many things for a young pokemon.

"I guess I'll have to spit it out for you then," Nymphia said out loud. "Considering you fainted, were injured, did not bring back the dedenne and you can't admit what happened. It seems as if you were attacked by some pokemon and lost the battle. This world is filled with other pokemon who are evil and battle-thirsty and since you're a pokemon with a reputation of being powerful, I guess you were at the wrong place at the wrong time."

Kyle only lowered his head further.

"If what Nymphia is true, it shouldn't matter! It's just one loss, no biggy!" The chikorita said, trying to comfort Kyle.

"Unlike most of us, Kyle takes battling very seriously and taking even a single loss really demoralizes him! But he's still an incredible and strong Pokemon as every!" Pam also said as encouragement.

Mat made direct eye contact with Kyle and said, "wasn't Danny there with you? If he's not here, then that could only mean he's still out there."

A few seconds later Klye raised his head and replied, "I know. I tried but I couldn't help him..."

"But you failed and now he's out there and in danger!"

"I know, I know! I just couldn't save him..."

"But you failed and now we have to go after him!"

"That's enough Mat!" Channah cried.

The room became silent and the tension was high. You can feel the heat coming from Mat and guilt coming from Kyle. The keldeo had its eyes to the floor and the dewott visibly demonstrated his frustration.

"I have an idea," Nymphia proposed as she broke the silence. "Let's just go after the culprits tomorrow. If we have a plan and more us there, then we should be able to get that dedenne back."

Pan quickly agreed, "your idea sounds splendid!"

Channah also came into agreement, "I think that could work! A few of us going can definitely make a diference!"

"But you must let me go too," insisted the keldeo. "This is my fault, it's my responsibility to take care of this. Don't worry about my health, I'll be fine by tomorrow morning."

Mat quickly joined Kyle, "I'm going, I have to."


The rest of the day passed by like a blur as they prepared for the expedition the following day. The sun rose and it shined brightly. by the door the dewott stood there ready to leave as Kyle approached the door. Mat was standing at the door waiting for him.

"Mornin'."

"Good morning, " replied Kyle.

"I see you didn't have any intentions of leaving with everyone either..."

"Yes, I know it might not be the moral choice but this is all my fault. Afterall, I would not like to drag my friends or guests into danger, even if they might find us missing and become startled. And I know there's chance of budging you either." Kyle replied, feeling guilt crawling up him.

"Alright, let's go."

The Duo left the house without much trace. Kyle had a plan to trace his steps back and hopefully find any clues to locate the pokemon who had attacked him.

"So, can you repeat the details from yesterday?" Mat asked.

"Alright, please listen carefully," the keldeo replied. "We will be against a trio of pokemon. But do not fear, only one of them are capable of battling or at least I felt had potential. I wasn't able to catch their name but I know that the pokemon was a victini. He might have been absent in the height department and strong on the friendly side at first. But he is a notable adversary!"

"It is the victory pokemon after all." Mat interrupted but shocked a pokemon like it would be mischievous.

"Furthermore, they do not seem like the type of pokemon to ambush you like in a monster house but rather battle head-on."

"So they'll knock on our door, asking for a battle rather than blowing your house down? Sounds absolutely fine for me!"

An hour later, Mat and Kyle were able to reach the cave entrance where Danny was last encountered. The duo decided to quickly scan the area for any hints or clues to trace the dedenne's whereabouts. Pokemon rarely passed through the area so any signs of anything unnatural could have been from the day before. After several dedicated minutes of searching passed and no clues turned up so Mat decided that he would scout some of the area outside of the scene. The dewott quickly spotted a trail of half eaten berries in a straight line.

"Hey Kyle, check this!" Mat shouted, "it seems like neighbor-friendly enemies have left us something."

Kyle ran over to Mat's location and replied, "I doubt any pokemon passing by would leave something like this. The berry trail seems to continue where we were going to continue afterwards. By now it is clear that our enemy lies ahead, are you ready to face a powerful foe?"

"Let's just get this over with." The dewott muttered.

The duo once again continued their journey as they continued on their course. As their walking continued, the forest had become denser every minute and it eventually began to block some of the sunlight.

A sudden rattling sound came from a nearby bush, the sound had abruptly stopped the two pokemon. The sound was constantly stopping as quickly as it began. Kyle signaled with his head to quietly approach the bush. Mat simply nodded and tiptoed towards the location of the sound, behind Kyle. The keldeo swiftly approached the bush without a sound and used cut! The bush was instantly split into two parts as the top half fell on the ground, revealing a dedenne sleeping behind the bush! When Mat spotted the sleeping dedenne, he was relieved to finally see his cousin once again. On the other hand, you don't just find pokemon in tall grass, randomly in caves or by cutting bushes, right? So something felt very out of place, as if Danny was meant to be sleeping there...

"Let's grab Danny quickly and go!" Mat said as he reached towards the dedenne.

"I understand that you must be in a rush but I would like if you could just quietly sit down please." Proclaimed a mysterious voice from above the forest.

"I don't care. I'm leaving with Danny, right now!" Mat shouted looking towards the sky, trying to pinpoint the location where the voice came from.

The small figure started to lower from above the trees, revealing itself to be a vicitini as it laughed, "oh how you wish."

"Y-You!" Kyle hesitantly yelled.

Before Mat spoke, he cleared his throat and asked, "why're you doing this to Kyle and Danny?!"

"Oh was that that dedenne's named?" said the victini as it returned the question. "It was quite the racket. So one of my buddies decided to put it to sleep using hypnosis."

"But that doesn't explain why you're still here," angrily shouted the keldeo. "I mean after yesterday you..."

The victini chuckled before saying, "well you see, I needed to use Danny as bait to lure you here. As you already know from experience I am a powerful pokemon, of course and I would like to every single inch of this world to know that. You might be wondering, why did I bring you here? I must prove that I am the ABSOLUTE strongest and I will defeat you again, further proving my strength..."

"This is senseless and I will not let you have what you want!" Retorted Kyle.


The chikorita slowly woke up that morning after the sun rose. It quickly became apparent that Mat and Kyle were missing! Channah quickly stood up from her bed, still feeling tired but the fear snapped her out of it. She panicked and ran towards the other room where she met Nymphia packing a bag that hung from her side.

"Please get ready, we're leaving as soon as possible." Nymphia calmly said to the panicking chikorita.

Channah just stood there confused and unsure, there was not much she could do to prepare so she waited for Nymphia. As soon as the sylveon had packed a few berries into her pouch, the two were ready to go. Nymphia had explained to Channah as she was packing that she did not want Pam to come along, she was a very young pokemon and unprepared for danger. As soon as the other duo exited the door, as large area far away was engulfed by flames and tall beam of smoke reached for the sky.

"Ahh! C-Could that be them?!" Channah asked in complete terror.

"I-I have no clue." The sylveon responded, "If there's that much smoke coming from one area, there's action. C'mon, that's gotta be them!"


"GAH! Do you not understand this single pokemon's power Mat?" Cried Kyle.

Right now Mat was riding the keldeo like a ponyta, hovering above the burning forest. Right in the nick of time, Mat grabbed Danny and hopped onto Kyle as ordered which soon left them in this sticky situation. It was a wobbly ride but they hovered over the forest that burned below them using aqua jet which also helped extinguish a bit of the fire. Kyle soon started to focus on extinguishing the fire by hovering over it as the victini simply watched them for amusement. Kyle was soon finished cooling off the fire which was the least of Mat's worries, since he was afraid of being so high off the ground. The aqua jets lowered in power and they smoothly landed onto the ground.

"I don't wanna do that every again." Groaned Mat as he slowly dismounted.

"We should be grateful for staying in one piece! That was his over heat attack, we have witnessed his true power but there is still much more!" Cried Kyle.

The dewott put the still sleeping dedenne on the floor as he watched the victini slowly walk up to them with a mildly entertained expression. Hands behind his back and a large grin, the victini casually walked in their direction without hesitation. Its power was something to be reckoned with!

"My name is Nick, remember that please." The victini said, grinning as it slowly continued to approach them.

"My apologies, I didn't receive the names of you and your buddies before I was knocked out," Kyle replied in a sarcastic tone. "Speaking of which, did they decide not to show up?"

Nick giggled as he replied, "well I told my pals that I'd catch-up to them before leaving. They put the dedenne to sleep using their psychic powers, as a prize if you could return to me and become victorious. I had a feeling you'd come back for a rematch, so I've waited since then just to dishearten you even more! Just or the sake of my enjoyment. Even if I had to wait for days!"

The "V" shaped ears on the victini's head started to quickly glow and engulf in flame, it was charging its v-create attack! With only a split second to react, Kyle pushed Mat out of the way before Nick flew towards and just barely miss. In the brief moment the victini passed by them, Mat felt a tremendous wave of heat. The fire soon burned out and soon Nick watched the pokemon with a large grin from above. Kyle turned towards the victini floating in the air, he stood facing it in a battle position. Mat only cowardly back-awayy, there was nothing in his power he could do...

The area was once a forest filled robust vegetation. But in a matter of seconds, it was all burned to the ground from the sheer power of the victory pokemon known as Nick. A few feet away, Mat stood as he watched a pokemon battle unfold and his cousin Danny laying next to him. In the middle of the disaster Kyle the colt pokemon desperately fought the victory pokemon with all his might! Kyle used hydro pump at Nick but it failed to connect as the victini flew into the air. As a counterattack, Nick used zen headbutt and it was super effective on Kyle! The keldeo flew back towards Mat, just inches away of sliding into him.

"A-Are you alright?" Asked Mat pitifully, feeling guilty for not helping Kyle who was trying to save him and his cousin.

"Yeah, I'm really feeling it..." Kyle struggled to sarcastically reply. "According to my calculations, I can keep it up and land two more powerful hits, it should be enough to score victory."

The dewot gulped and replied, "great and then this'll be all over... Go get'em champ."

Kyle dashed back towards the battle field. The two pokemon looked injured with some mud, scratches and somewhat tired expressions on their faces. This time They had a fair fight and the keldeo was able to truly prove its strength!

"I am impressed of your quick progress," proclaimed Nick. "But to be honest from one pokemon to another, I could not get this far by playing fair."

The savage victini retrieved an oran berry and consumed it by barely chewing it! In a matter of seconds it was nearly back to full health!

"Y-You!.." Kyle cried.

"Guys, guys! H-How about, uh, I dunno. Let's call it a day?" Offered Mat, trying to flee the battle.

The two pokemon ignored Mat's request. Kyle took a large leap as it hurled itself towards its enemy with sacred sword. He was able to land a direct hit on Nick but it was visible that the attack had a smaller affect on him than his aqua jet and hydro pump attacks. As Kyle fell back towards the ground he was left in a vulnerable position, with a large opportunity for damage, Nick's ears were quickly engulfed in flames and he soon bashed Kyle with v-create. Kyle was sent flying towards the earth at rapid speed!

"Argh, I-I'm sorry, Mat and Danny... I, r-regret, so much." Kyle muttered as he fainted.

"Hey, come one Kyle! You gotta get back up!" Mat desperately pleaded.

In the distance Nick's laughter could be heard. There were no options left for Mat; either lose in battle or run away. Except he couldn't choose that second option, how could he leave Kyle behind and run away with Danny, if he could at least out run a victini.

The victini patiently stood a great distance away from Mat, its deep blues eyes searching for his. Every time he thought of running his eyes darted to the fainted keldeo which only twisted his stomach. On the other hand, the thought of fighting gave him a reckless sense of exhilaration. He understood that being a coward could be accomplished very easily but everything inside him told him that it was the wrong decision. On the other hand, standing his ground felt like his only option, even though it could turn out to be very regrettable.

In an instant Mat withdrew his scalchops and darted towards Nick with an expression that showed frustration and eyes that would make any pokemon shiver. The victini had little time to dodge as Mat ran up to him and used shell slash which only made contact with half of his target's belly as the rest of it sliced the air. The attack was super effective and must have landed massive damage as Nick's smile turned upside down. He quickly flew into the sky and prepared to launch his searing shot attack. Ideas ran through Mat's head like leaves following the wind as he had only seconds to come up with a plan before he would get hit by a devastating attack.

"I am going to enjoy this more than I should." Nick laughed as he unleashed his searing shot attack.

By then, Mat's only plan was to dodge the raining inferno. It was like trying to dodge fiery meteorites that came from the sky. Three of them came nearly consecutively, Mat was able to dodge the first one but the second ball of inferno landed near with an explosion, sending him flying onto the ground. The third part of the attack was about to make direct contact with Mat but he made a reckless decision: he withdrew his scalchops, jumped towards the attack and sliced the ball of fire into two pieces. It was a fancy performance and rash decision that was for the better.

Mat smiled as looked at Nick with an arrogant smile, boasting to himself about how awesome his successful plan was. The unexpected strength from this newly met pokemon made the victory pokemon unhappy. They had only met and yet this pokemon opposed his power and did not look like a threat, Nick felt as his only the best could challenge him. The victini suddenly flew towards the dewott with his v-create attack and with the dewott's guard down landed a direct hit! The powerful attack sent Mat flying a few feet away and falling besides one of the many burnt trees. Even though it was a fire type move it was still very powerful. Mat was down for the count but only for a few seconds and with every inch of power in him he stood up again but now with without ease. He had put more weight into one leg and held his scalchops a little more clumsily.

"Now do you see that when you face the reality of the situation it is no longer funny." Proclaimed the victini floating above the area where he hit Mat.

Nick waited for a reply as they stared each other down.

"What's the matter, meowth got your tongue?"

Mat waited a moment to finally reply, "ah no, no. Just y'know... Wasting your time to catch my breath. Gimme a moment will you please?"

"Why you..."

The victini retreated higher into the air as he prepared to use another searing shot attack! There was no more time to waiste and Mat had no chance of taking any more damage! Ideas desperately raced through his mind as he tried to think of a way of hitting Nick even though he was in the air.

"Time is up" Shouted Nick as he prepared his searching shot attack quicker than Mat expected.

There was no time to react! As Nick began to unleash his attack, he tried to find move that somehow hit him even in the air. All of a sudden, the dewott instinctively took a deep breath and launched a water pulse attack as he exhaled! It surprised Nick and landed a super effective hit, canceling his searing shot! The victory pokemon started to descend to the ground awkwardly and stars spinning around its head. It turns out water pulse had also made the pokemon confused!

A sudden thought made Mat's head spin; there was an opportunity to win! Nick landed on the ground, barely able to stay still as his eyes filled with swirls. The victini began to rashly charge his v-create attack once more! Mat decided to take this opportunity and defeat this villain! He lunged towards the victory pokemon as it was aiming his v-create attack. With one last effort, both Pokemon charged at each other for the final blow! At rocket-fast speeds, Nick flew towards Mat hoping he'd land a direct hit. Mat quickly stopped running and sidestepped in place and the victini was unable to correct its aim! In an instant, Mat struck using shell slash as Nick flew by him which sent him crash landing further ahead and fainting the pokemon!

In victory, the dewott smiled and looked at the area where Nick crashed before flopping onto the floor from fatigue.


"There they are!" Cried Channah in terror as she ran ahead of Nymphia and towards Kyle and Danny.

The two of them were resting on the ground, Danny apparently still asleep and Kyle gaining the strength to unsteadily speak.

"D-Don't let him, get away!" Kyle desperately cried at Mat.

The three pokemon watched as the victini began to slowly limp away. Mat was relying on one leg to lean on and breathed heavily. Instead of keeping an eye on the enemy, the dewott only waved towards his friends with a glee-filled expression.

"What are y-you doing?" Kyle cried once again. "He did all of this, d-don't let him go!"

Mat began walking towards Nymphia and Channah.

"Here's an oran berry for the MVP." Nymphia proudly said as she grabbed an oran berry from here bag using her ribbons and tossed one to Mat.

Mat caught the oran berry without replying to Nymphia. Without looking at anyone else, he could tell that Channah had a worried look on her face and that Kyle was furious with him. With his scalchops, Mat cut the berry in two pieces. With one of the halves he threw it to Nick after calling his name and ate the other half for himself.

Channah immediately yelled, "Mat, what do you think you're doing? You, you!.."

"Looks like a pretty noble decision, you sure it's the right one?" Nymphia calmly asked.

The dewott ate the berry and replied, "it's a difficult decision. Honestly, it'd be easy to forget about it but you should show your enemy that there's another way, show them the good within other pokemon no matter how corrupt they are. Besides he's just a boy, I bet that I demoralized so much that it'll discourage him to continue anymore naughty behaviour!"

"W-Well, if you put it that way. I guess I shouldn't bother arguing with you. As long as we are all safe and together then I'm okay with it." The chikorita said as she sighed.

"Yeah, there's no need to worry anymore," Mat replied as the sound of his own words gave him relief. "We may not know why we're here. We had a few awful days but now it feels like the puzzle pieces are all in place. No more worries."

There were countless questions left as mysteries to the group but they didn't let it further complicate their day. It was hard to explain but the newfound pokemons felt finally at home soon enough. From then on, only fun and mysterious adventures awaited the newly born group of friends...

"Oh gosh, we forgot about Pam! Meh, she'll be alright." Nymphia randomly blurted, breaking the triumphant atmosphere.