Author's Note:

I've tried to put off writing one of these as long as possible, but this chapter bears a little explaining. First, an apology for the delay - a wild life appeared and KO'd all my free time, and this chapter was particularly difficult to get right. But, now that things are settling back down, I expect to make much more progress on this.

Second, a warning: several characters suffer severe injuries in this chapter. I tried to keep it relatively clean, but some readers may find it disturbing.

This chapter is a major turning point in the story so far. It came out a little shorter than I intended, but I'm happy with it. I hope you enjoy it.

"One who creates so much," spoke the Shadow, "what name have you for me?"

Then did the Original One know awe, for here was a thing not of His willful creation.

"I have no name for you, o' Shadow," He answered, "for you were not meant to be."

"A glorious morning to you, guildmates! The day is upon us- squawk!"

Swellow fluttered backwards as Artemis lunged towards him with a savage growl. It was a good effort, but the he soon realized that few things could evade an angry Artemis.

"Swellow, I'm going to kill you," she snarled, pinning his wings to the ground. "This is our one day off. What in Arceus' name made you think waking us up was a good idea?"

The unfortunate bird struggled vainly for several seconds before replying. "I was just- ack! That hurts!"

Artemis ignored Swellow's protests, instead pressing her claws harder against his wings. "Yeah, I really don't feel like hearing it. Darkrai, can you open the window for me? I wanna see how well this bird can fly."

"That's quite enough."

Artemis and I both turned toward the source of the sound. A large, stern-looking talonflame stood in the doorway, his pidgeot teammate close behind. He eyed the three of us disdainfully as he strolled into the room.

"Aelius," Artemis greeted him, "how nice of you to join us. Swellow here just seemed so eager to start the day bright and early, we thought he could use a little flight over the lake." She smiled broadly. "Care to join him?"

Somehow, the fiery bird managed to pour even more scorn into his expression. "I am not your friend, Absol. I tolerate your presence as a member of this guild, and shall extend that courtesy no further than that position requires." He stepped closer, eyes fixed on Artemis. "To put that in words you would understand, that means I will not tolerate your disrespectful attitude. You will refer to me by my species name, as is proper. You will release my teammate at once. And you will not display such open hostility in the future, especially when my team is simply fulfilling the duties assigned to us by our guildmaster. Do I make myself perfectly clear?"

"Oh, yeah," she replied, her mad grin only widening, "perfectly. In fact, why don't you step a little closer so I can show you just how well I understood that?"

"Alright, let's try to have this conversation end without one of you killing the other," I interrupted, placing myself between Artemis and the talonflame. "Artemis, please let the suicidal bird go. Swellow, what is it, exactly, you needed to tell us?"

Swellow stumbled to his feet as Artemis begrudgingly released him. "Thank you, Darkrai. At least you can be reasonable, unlike your leader." He shot Artemis a quick glare, which she returned with a vengeance. Swellow gulped nervously before continuing. "As I was trying to say, the Guildmaster has requested that all teams attend this morning's briefing. She has a special announcement to make that the entire guild needs to hear, and I was asked to summon you two." He brushed himself off with a wing. "And isn't there an old saying about not attacking the messenger?"

"I've never really been one for following tradition," Artemis quipped.

Talonflame narrowed his eyes. "Yes… that much is abundantly clear." Turning to leave, he added "This little incident has delayed us - morning brief is no doubt already underway. Come, Swellow. We will discuss your… disappointing evasion skills after the briefing. Artemis, Darkrai, I suggest the two of you make yourselves ready quickly. The Guildmaster will not be pleased if she has to delay her announcement for the sake of a single lazy team." He trotted briskly out of the room, Swellow and the pidgeot following close behind.

"I'm going to kill them," Artemis muttered as they left.

"You say that every day," I pointed out with a yawn. "Come on, we'd better get downstairs."

Gathering my equipment from its resting place against the wall, I looped the crimson explorer's scarf around my wrist. The last part made me pause as I realized I hardly even noticed the cloth band anymore - the motion of tying it off each day had become a reflex. Had it really only been two weeks since I joined the guild? In that short time, the various routines of life in Shimmerlake had become just that - routine. Everything from the faces of the other recruits, to the nightly meals, to the regular trips with Virgil across the lake had become familiar so quickly, I couldn't help but find it a little disturbing.

I shook my head in frustration. Over the past several days we'd trekked through over a dozen dungeons, and while our missions had rarely gone according to plan, we 'd somehow managed to avoid any major disasters like our first two jobs. I'd even managed to improve my aim with the iron thorns, though the spikes could only do so much damage and I was forced to let Artemis handle tougher opponents. Yet despite our relative successes, we'd still come no closer to catching the zoroark or discovering what had happened to me. Aside from a handful of small-time bandits, criminal activity in the area had all but evaporated - good news for the local pokémon, but it left us with no leads towards the mysterious outlaw. It hadn't done much to improve my mood.

Adjusting the pack of thorns around my waist, I followed Artemis down to the guild's ground floor. Frustrating as it was, there really wasn't anything to do but wait for the zoroark to make his next move. Right now, I had more pressing matters to worry about… like the shouting match erupting in the guild's meeting hall.

"You idiot!" Sev hissed, bladed tail flicking angrily behind him. "All you had to do was deliver the berry shipment to the guild! By the legends, how could you possibly manage to screw that up?"

Zen growled at his fuming teammate. "Yeah, well nobody told me there'd be a friggin' onyx hidden by the road! Who cares if the berries got smashed? I'm just glad I made it back in one piece!"

"Always excuses with you, Zen! How you manage to find trouble in even the simplest of tasks is beyond me. Clearly, I was mistaken in thinking you could handle this on your own-"

A sharp, whistling blast cut their argument short. Reuniclus floated above the two, arms folded in annoyance. "That's quite enough, you two!" he snapped. "You are members of this guild, and will behave as a proper exploration team, not a pair of bickering hatchlings!"

Guildmaster Torterra, who had remained silent up until this point, laughed softly. "Alright, Reuniclus. I think they get the idea. Sev, I understand you're frustrated with Zen's failure, but mistakes happen. That's the risk you take when you split up your team, and it's up to you, as team leader, to take responsibility for that."

Sev's hissed softly. "Even when one's teammate is a thickheaded imbecile?"

The Guildmaster chuckled in reply. "Especially then. Though, if that is truly the case, I can't help but wonder why you sent him alone in the first place." Turning to the zangoose, she continued "Zen, as for you, I suggest being a little more cautious in the future. You know as well as I do that the ferals have been getting more aggressive lately. Even a simple delivery run can be dangerous."

Zen nodded remorsefully. "I understand, Guildmaster."

"That settles it, then. Team Nemesis, you'll be going to Leavanny's Orchard to replace the lost berries. Team Gladius, can you handle their mission today in addition to your regular duties?"

"Of course, Guildmaster," Talonflame replied. "We'll get it done."

"I'm sure you will." Noticing our arrival, Guildmaster Torterra motioned us over with a single massive foreleg. "Ah, Team Exile. Sorry to disturb you on your day off, but I thought it important you hear this. Reuniclus?'

The diminutive psychic rose into the air once more. "As you are all no doubt aware, the Lifegiver's Festival is little more than a week away. While preparations are going well enough, barring a few lost shipments of goods," he glanced briefly at Zen, "there has been a last minute change of plans. The outlaw Zoroark is still at large, and the Guildmaster and I fear he may use the festival as an opportunity to cause havoc. In light of this, I reached out to the other guilds, asking if any of their teams wished to attend the celebration."

"We hoped that having a few extra teams in Shimmerlake would deter him from trying anything drastic," the Guildmaster added. "The reply we received was... more helpful than we anticipated."

Reuniclus nodded. "Indeed. While Lucario's Guild is unable to spare anyone, we did receive word from Wigglytuff's Guild that one of their teams would be more than happy to join us." He motioned to the small, pink envelope he held in one hand. "According to this letter, Team Fragment set out from Treasure Town two days ago, and will arrive the morning of the festival. I expect you all to treat them with the utmost-"

Whatever Reuniclus said next was drowned out as the room erupted in excited discussion between the guild members. Dewott's team, which was closest to us on the edge of the crowd, seemed particularly energized by the news.

"Oh my gosh oh my gosh oh my gosh!" Cleo screamed, literally shaking with excitement. "Team Fragment's coming here!" Unable to contain herself, she lept into the air, spitting a cloud of smoke and flames over the heads of her startled teammates.

"Woah there, Cleo," Dewott cautioned, grinning at the chimchar's antics, "Tone it down a bit. Nobody will be visiting our guild if you burn it to the ground before they get here."

"Y-yeah…" Chess added, taking several steps back from his fiery partner. "A little less fire would be great."

Artemis chuckled as we approached the group. "So I take it you three are excited?"

"Excited? Of course I'm excited!" Cleo answered. "It's Team Fragment! They're heroes!"

"Who's Team Fragment?" I asked bluntly, earning a shocked stare from Cleo.

"Who's Team Fragment? Everyone knows about them! How could you not know who Team Fragment is?"

"He's got amnesia, remember?" Chess chided her. "Why are you always so forgetful?"

"Oh, look who's talking, Mr. I-Can't-Tell-A-Qualot-From-A-Sitrus-Berry!"

"Hey! That wasn't my fault! It was only because you-"

Dewott shook his head in amusement as their argument dissolved into a series of insults. "Sorry about that," he said, turning to me. "Team Fragment's an inspiration to all of us. I'm pretty sure it's why those two joined the guild in the first place."

"It's fine, so long as someone actually tells me who they are," I replied.

"Team Fragment's an exploration team from Treasure Town," Artemis explained. "Real famous. A couple years back, something went wrong with the flow of time, and they fixed it. It's a… pretty crazy story, if what I heard is correct."

"Something went wrong with time?" I asked. "As in, hours and minutes?"

"Kinda." Artemis shrugged. "It's… hard to explain. Whole sections of the world just froze. No wind, sun never rose, falling debris just suspended in the air… it was creepy, and nobody knew what was causing it."

"We got pretty lucky around here," Dewott added, "only had one little freeze, along the eastern coast. From what I've been told, other places got hit a lot worse. Whole towns just… stopped." He fell silent for several moments, then, much more quietly added "I knew a couple of dratini who lived on the coast. One of them got caught when the freeze hit. She just…" Dewott shuddered. "Let's just say everyone owes Team Fragment a lot for what they did."

Artemis nodded solemnly. "Especially if the story I heard is true. Apparently, their leader - a charmeleon named Kellyn - was actually a human from the future or something. Came here to stop the collapse of time and got turned into a pokémon in the process."

"Hey!" Chess interrupted, his fight with Cleo apparently subsided, "I heard their leader has amnesia like you, Darkrai! Maybe he'll know something that can help!"

"Maybe," I answered, not really paying attention. That name… Kellyn. It sounded familiar. Almost as if… I shook my head. The only thing I'd get from straining my memory was another headache. Chances were I'd just heard the name before I lost my memory. It was a little bit of a stretch to think this famous exploration team had some connection to my past.

Either way, they'd be arriving in about a week. I'd get the chance to ask them in person then.

After a brief stop by Quartermaster Galvantula's den to collect our team's salary, Artemis and I set out for Shimmerlake Village. Despite having been at the guild for some time now, I'd never really had an opportunity - or reason, for that matter - to visit the village itself.

Shimmerlake Village was built into the roots of the Golden Tree, a short distance from the docks and guild entrance. A narrow cobblestone path wound its way underneath the tree's immense roots, which arched overhead at just the right height to allow even the largest pokémon to pass underneath. Many of the buildings we passed took advantage of these roots, having been built against, around, and sometimes into the enormous wooden tendrils. It was as if the entire tree had been grown specifically for the convenience of the village's residents, an impression that was reinforced as we reached the village square.

The square was a wide plaza, ringed on all sides by the Golden Tree's towering roots. At the far end was a large pond, ringed by stones and backed by an intricate, wood-carved mural. The square bustled with activity as various pokémon wandered about, talking and visiting the shops built into the surrounding roots.

"Alright," Artemis began, rummaging around in her pack, "I've got some things I need to take care of today, and I'd rather not have to tow you around like a baby kangaskhan." She tossed me a small sack of coins. "There's your cut of our pay - go buy yourself something nice and meet me back here in an hour." Slinging her treasure bag back over her shoulder, she started across the plaza.

"Hey- hang on a second!" I shouted after her. "I have no idea where anything is around here!"

"So?" she shouted back, never slowing her pace. "You're an explorer now. Explore!" With that, she vanished into the crowd.

I sighed and pressed a hand to my forehead, silently wondering why I continued to put up with the half-insane absol. Still, there wasn't much point in just waiting around while Artemis did whatever it was she was doing, and I like to think I can at least find my way around a small village without getting lost, so I made my way to the edge of the square and began browsing the shops there.

A few minutes later, I'd realized that this was, in fact, a village market, and as such catered more to the daily needs of villagers than the whims of bored exploration teams. At least half of the shops were farmers' stalls selling various kinds of produce, while others were run by craftsmon selling tools and general goods. Cutlery and freshly grown apples are all well and good if you don't work for a guild that provides them, I suppose, but they weren't exactly going to make the poké leap out of my coinpurse either.

"Darkrai!"

I turned at the sound of the familiar voice to find Meowstic rushing towards me, a heavy cloth sack thrown over one shoulder. He threw himself against me in as much of a hug as the little guy could manage.

"Hey there," I greeted him, smiling at the energetic psychic. "What are you doing here?"

"Auntie Weavile asked me to pick up some stuff for dinner," Meowstic explained. Judging by his tone, it was clearly an assignment of the utmost importance. Struck by a sudden realization, he glanced around at our surroundings. "Where's Artemis?"

"Good question," I replied. "She said she had to go do something and ran off."

Meowstic giggled. "You don't know where anything is, do you?" My annoyed glare was met with more laughter.

"Alright, wise guy," I said, arms folded, "if you know so much about this place, why don't you tell me where I should go."

"Hm…" Mirroring me, the tiny psychic folded his arms and thought, a serious expression on his face. "Well, most of the shops around here sell food and stuff. A lot of the teams like to go to Milotic's plays, but there isn't one showing today… oh!" He leaped into the air in excitement. "We could get pies!"

"We? Why do I get the feeling you're trying to get me to buy you sweets?"

"Awwww. Pleeeeeeeeeeease?"

I couldn't help it. I laughed. "Alright, you manipulative little furball. Lead the way."

Several minutes and a surprisingly large portion of my guild pay later, the two of us were sitting on a suspiciously bench-like outcropping in one of the Golden Tree's roots, munching on what the vendor had called "pecha pie" - a sugar coated, almost nauseatingly sweet pastry filled with pink syrup. Meowstic sat beside me, his face and fur covered in the sticky filling. Devouring the rest of his treat, he leaned back and sighed contentedly.

"That was really good…" he mumbled dreamily. "Thanks Darkrai."

"Yeah, yeah, you little parasite." I nudged him playfully, only to pull my hand away covered in syrup. Wiping it against the bench, I added "You might want to consider washing that off before you head home. Just a thought."

Meowstic groaned. "Yeah, Auntie Weavile will probably kill me if she sees me like this." He shuddered. "Or worse, give me a bath." He slid off the bench, grabbing his sack of supplies as he did. "What're you gonna do?"

"Not sure." I shrugged. "Anything else around here to do?"

Meowstic shook his head. "Not really. There's just the importer and a whole bunch of little shops."

"Importer?" I asked, curious.

"Yeah. They buy things from all over the world and sell 'em here. Some teams like to go there for rare stuff, I think. Orbs, scarves, and these weird little TM thingies."

"Wait, rare stuff?" I looked at the little meowstic as an idea began to take shape in my mind. "Like berries?"

"You're absolutely sure you have none in stock?"

The shopkeeper, a pushy kecleon who'd tried to sell me at least a dozen different items within the first five minutes of my arriving at his store, nodded sharply. "Yes, positively certain. Unfortunately, that's a fairly rare variety of berry, not grown in these parts. I can order some from my suppliers, if you like, but that will cost extra and take several days to arrive."

I sighed. "Alright, fine. How much for five?"

"Let's see," the kecleon began flipping through the heavy book on the counter. "Market price, plus shipping and delivery, minus a little discount I can arrange for a heroic and upstanding explorer such as yourself…" he smiled a little too broadly. "Three hundred poké should cover it!"

I stared at the shopkeeper for several seconds. Three hundred poké was pretty much all of my remaining pay, for five berries. Still, considering what they were for… I tossed the money onto the counter. "Fine. It's a deal."

"Excellent! I'll have your order delivered to the guild as soon as it arrives. Now, can I also interest you in my fine selection of technical machines? I have one for a move called Snarl you might find very useful-"

"Out of my way! Exploration team business! Coming through!"

Breathing a sigh of relief at being spared from another long-winded sales pitch, I turned to see Artemis come barreling through the crowd, knocking several startled pokémon aside in the process. The explorer's badge pinned to her chest glowed a vibrant green. "Darkrai!" she shouted as she approached, "Come on! We gotta go, now!"

"What's going on?" She was breathing heavily, and her treasure bag was still open - she had obviously rushed here in a hurry.

She motioned toward the glowing badge. "Urgent rescue request, just came in. Something happened to Team Nemesis, and we're the closest team. Come on, Virgil and Audino are already waiting by the docks. I can explain on the way. Move it, Darkrai!"

I nodded and followed her as she sprinted down the road out of the village. The crowd, evidently having learned from her previous charge, cleared a path. True to her word, Virgil was pulled up alongside the dock as we arrived. Audino sat on his back, hastily rummaging through a small white pouch. Virgil shoved off without a word as soon as we leaped aboard. This was no leisurely swim - the old gyarados launched himself across the lake at breakneck speed, throwing up a thick spray of water as he shot over the water's surface.

"What happened?" I shouted over the deluge, clinging to one of the ridges in Virgil's armored hide.

"Not sure!" Artemis yelled back. "All we know is that Sev and Zen got into some sort of trouble up at Leavanny's Orchard!"

"Rescue requests are sent by badge," Audino explained, eyes fixed on her supply pouch, "so we can't send that much information! We got word a few minutes ago that their team sent out a call for help, and that one of them was injured! They aren't in a dungeon, thankfully, so you two should be more than able to handle whatever happens!"

I ignored her comment and kept my eyes forward. Rather than the normal docks, Virgil steered towards the river's outlet from the lake, gaining even more speed as he met the current. In a matter of minutes, we'd lost sight of Shimmerlake. Leavanny's Orchard came into view a few moments later.

The orchard was built along both sides of the river, joined by a simple wooden bridge. Rows of trees lined the riverbank, their boroughs heavy with a variety of berries. An eerie silence hung in the air as Virgil pulled up along the orchard's modest dock. The gyarados looked around warily at the deserted farm.

"Be wary," he cautioned, scanning the area. "There is a foul scent in the air."

"You're telling me…" Artemis muttered, padding cautiously onto the dock. Audino and I followed suit. "We'll bring Sev and Zen back here as soon as we find them." Virgil nodded, and we set out into the depths of the orchard to find the downed exploration team.

We didn't have to search long. Steered by her uncanny intuition, Artemis led us directly to them… something I almost regretted.

We found Zen propped against a tree, his teammate bent over him. Sev whipped around as we approached, hissing desperately, only to freeze as he saw us.

"A-Artemis? Darkrai?" The seviper's eyes were wide with shock, and his body was covered in several long cuts.

"Don't forget about me," Audino said flatly, shoving past us. "What happened?"

"I… I don't know," Sev began, still curled protectively around his teammate. "They hit us from nowhere, and Zen... Zen shielded me…"

He drew back, slowly, to reveal the zangoose's prone form. A long, bloody gash wound around his torso, his arm was bent at an odd angle, and one of his long talons had been completely snapped off. Despite the severe injuries, he seemed to be in surprisingly good shape - the wound on his chest seemed partially closed, and several smaller injuries had obviously already been treated.

There was still a lot of blood.

"This isn't a dungeon, so the reviver seeds wouldn't… I- I did what I could with the berries, but... no hands…" He looked at his unconscious teammate. "Don't you dare die, you idiot," he added quietly.

Audino scanned him up and down. "You did well, Sev, all things considered. There's not much else I would've done here. Help me carry him back to the shipping dock."

The seviper nodded shakily and, with Audino's assistance, began to carefully lift the injured zangoose. I moved to help, but Artemis reached out to stop me.

"No, Darkrai. They can handle Zen. We've got to catch whoever did this."

"She's right," Audino added. "I'll get them to Virgil and meet up with you once they're taken care of. Go!"

I nodded and, closing my eyes, reached out around me for the familiar dark energy, rising silently into the air as it enveloped me. For a moment, I almost felt sorry for whoever was behind this - without a dungeon to restrict me, I had every intention of ruining their day with every last ounce of power at my disposal. Artemis seemed to share this sentiment, and prowled purposefully further into the orchard.

We silently made our way between the trees, alert for any signs of danger. For several long minutes, we saw nothing - the orchard's well-tended rows of trees stretched on in all directions, quietly rustling in the breeze. I had begun to wonder if the unidentified outlaws had fled the scene when Artemis froze, dropping into a low crouch. She crept forward, cautiously peering around a nearby tree, before motioning for me to follow.

In the clearing in front of us stood a simple cottage, thatched with an intricate weaving of leaves and vines that made it seem more a natural part of the landscape than any artificial structure. Its apparent owner, a tall, slender leavanny, was backed against its outer wall, while a gigantic pangoro towered over her. The brutish pokémon was clad in several thick patches of leather armor, and wore a malicious grin spread across his face as he glared down at the frightened gardener.

"Alright, little lady," the pangoro growled, "don't make this difficult. I'm havin' a real bad day, ya see, and I really don't feel like lettin' you waste my time. Now tell me where yer hidin' the berries, and I won't hafta break yer pretty little arms, got it?"

"P-please," the leavanny stuttered, "I don't know what you're talking about!"

The pangoro roared, shaking the trees with his anger. "Don't try ta pull a fast one on me, ya little insect! I know those explorers was here fer a shipment of sitrus berries! Where are ya' hidin' them?"

A new voice spoke up. "Please, Leavanny. Whether you like it or not, we are taking those berries, and I'm afraid we just don't have the time to play games. Tell me where they are, and nobody gets hurt."

The zoroark stood nearby, arms folded in annoyance. He carried a ragged brown bag slung over one shoulder, and his long, reddish-black hair was frayed and riddled with debris. One of his claws was stained with Zen's blood.

"Zoroark, w-why are you doing this?" Leavanny sobbed. "I don't understand! Elder Marowak-"

"You know nothing about the elder!" Zoroark shouted. He stood for several seconds, shaking in rage, before turning away. "Pangoro. We need to leave before another exploration team arrives. Do what you have to."

The pangoro's grin broadened. "With pleasure."

Leavanny screamed, and we leaped into action. Summoning an orb of darkness in front of me, I threw it towards the pangoro. It slammed into his side and sent him stumbling, while Artemis followed close behind with a flurry of blows. The brute roared once again, swiping at Artemis with a series of clumsy blows that she evaded with ease.

I turned away. Artemis could handle the pangoro, it seemed. I had a more important target - the zoroark who, on seeing us attack, had turned and fled into the trees. Forced to scramble for footing amidst the roots and assorted debris that littered the orchard while I simply glided over them, the outlaw couldn't hope to outrun me. He soon realized this and a moment later seemed to split into three separate figures that ran in several directions.

I smiled. It would take more than a simple illusion to escape me. With a flick of my wrist, I sent a wave of energy rolling along the earth in a broad arc in front of me, sweeping the legs out from each of the duplicate zoroarks. Two vanished the moment the pulse hit them, while the third tripped and slammed into the ground. I swept down on him, seizing him by his throat and slamming him into a nearby tree.

"No more running," I growled, glaring at the terrified outlaw, "no more games. Who are you? What did you do to me? What do you know about me?"

"I... did nothing to you," he choked, struggling weakly against my chokehold, "know nothing about you. I just-"

"Liar!" I snarled, tightening my grip. "Who am I?"

He gagged for breath. I watched, saw the panic in his eyes turn to sheer, mindless terror. I didn't loosen my hold until, with a last, desperate effort, he threw a blast of illusory light in my eyes. Startled, I stumbled backwards, releasing my grip on him. When my vision cleared, the zoroark was gone.

"No!" I shouted, glancing around for the outlaw. He was nowhere to be seen. Furious, I lashed out at a nearby tree, shattering it with a blast of dark force. Bits of wood and bark shot in all directions, deflected around me by an unseen force. I floated there for several long seconds, breathing heavily and watching as the shadows around me swirled in response to my anger.

Slowly, I got my emotions back under control. As much as it would've pleased me to level half the orchard in search for the zoroark, I had more pressing matters to deal with. With one last angry snarl, I turned and flew back towards the cabin, determined to vent my frustrations into the remaining outlaw.

I found Artemis and the pangoro still locked in combat when I arrived. The outlaw had lost several of the heavy leather plates he'd been wearing, and his fur was riddled with injuries. Artemis, however, was obviously tiring, and winced every time she put her weight on her front left leg. The fight hadn't gone completely her way, it seemed, and her opponent knew it.

Moving with surprising speed for something his size, the pangoro lunged towards her, forcing her to leap aside to dodge the blow. She landed on her injured leg, and it gave way from under her. Seeing his chance, the pangoro flashed an arrogant grin.

"Ya know, that little horn of yours is gettin' real annoying, Absol," he taunted. "Why don't we change that?"

Artemis struggled to her feet, but it was too late. Time slowed to a standstill as I saw the pangoro lunge for her, grabbing her horn in one hand as he drove his fist into her side. Pouring every ounce of power I had into my limbs, I rushed towards them as fast as I could.

I wasn't fast enough.

I watched in agonizing slow motion as Artemis collapsed.

I saw the pain and fear in her eyes as she realized she had lost.

And I heard with horrible clarity the sickening snap of bone as the pangoro tore the horn from Artemis' head.

Artemis screamed. I rammed into the pangoro a second later, sending him stumbling backwards. Seemingly unfazed by my attack, he swung a massive fist at me with a mad laugh, Artemis' severed horn still clutched in his other hand. I ducked beneath the blow, a bit too slowly, and he managed to clip me on the top of my head. A bright flash shot through my vision, and the world around me tilted dangerously.

As I stumbled backwards, I caught a glimpse of Artemis' prone form. It was… bad. Where her horn had been was a jagged nub of broken bone, bleeding profusely. Her eyes were wide and unfocused, and she was breathing in short, jerking gasps. It was entirely possible she was dying.

And I knew exactly who was responsible.

With a savage yell, I poured all of my anger, all of the pain I'd seen in Artemis, all of my fear and hatred, into the air around me. I threw every last ounce of energy I had at my disposal into a single, destructive wave of darkness. It tore across the clearing, barrelling into the pangoro with the force of an avalanche. He flew through the air, slammed into a nearby tree hard enough to crack its trunk, and fell to the ground.

Rising slowly to my feet, I stared down at the unconscious outlaw. For a moment, I wondered if I'd maybe gone a bit overboard, and that perhaps I should've saved a little strength, just in case. A moment later, though, I decided that wasn't really important, and instead wondered why the world had just fallen on its side. As my vision blurred, I saw a vague pink blur rushing towards us, accompanied by a voice that seemed to be calling my name.

Then everything went dark.

"To the esteemed Guildmaster Wigglytuff,

In the past several months, our guild has encountered an outlaw of unusual skill and ferocity. This individual has caused great harm to several of the pokémon under our protection, and has eluded capture despite the efforts of our best explorers. Under normal circumstances, we would mount a full expedition to bring this criminal to justice, but increasing instability in the local mystery dungeons has forced us to direct our attention elsewhere.

I understand that your guild is no doubt hard at work maintaining order in your own region, but we must ask for assistance in this matter. We have reason to believe the outlaw will attack us during the upcoming Lifegiver's Festival, and would like to ask that you send a team to help protect against attack until the festival's conclusion.

I know this is a lot to ask, but this individual has proven extremely dangerous and difficult to catch. Our best witnesses describe them as a "shadowy figure, with long hair, dark fur or skin, and piercing blue eyes."

If you cannot lend support, I understand - these are trying times. If nothing else, I ask only that you share this description with your explorers, and let us know if they have any information about this outlaw.

Safe travels and bountiful discoveries,

Secretary Reuniclus, Torterra's Guild

P.S. I hope you can make the trip here one of these days. This old explorer misses her prodigy, you know. -Terra"