In the last adventure, the group traveled to the three Lakes in order for Pelame and Pugno to unlock their Alpha Bloodline powers by virtue of a blessing from the Lake Guardians. They did this while on the run from Weavile. Once the blessings were obtained, the group finally reassembled after splitting up. It was then that they learned of Grovyle's fate, that he had become Darkrai's top soldier.
Chapter 9 – The Comet Approaches
"Mark my words, Alpha Bloodline," Weavile seethed. "I will wipe you all out single-handedly!"
"There's no need to overwork yourself, Weavile," Darkrai said, approaching her. "Grovyle is on our side now; he'll be a great help to our cause."
Weavile secretly seethed Grovyle's name, though she'd never let her leader know how she felt. "But you have to admit, he's not entirely flawless," she said, not doing too good a job at hiding her animosity. "After all, you had to go to a lot, and I mean a lot, of trouble to get him to work for us. On the other hand, I willingly embraced the Dark Blessing when it was given to me."
"That's not what happened at—" Arbok started, only to be silenced by a Demon Orb to the mouth from Weavile.
"You didn't need to ask me to work for you," Weavile continued.
"That's true," Darkrai admitted. "However, he keeps a level head. You don't."
"Why would any of us need a level head to conquer the world?!" Weavile asked a bit louder than she intended. "You, of ALL Pokémon, should know that the world doesn't belong to the smart! It belongs to the strong!"
"It belongs to the capable, Weavile," Darkrai said. "I am the only one in the whole world of Pokémon capable of ruling. The world belongs to me. However, you will all be rewarded for your help once my ambitions have been satisfied. Rest assured of that."
With nothing else to say, Darkrai left Weavile's company to resume infecting Pokémon communities with the Dark Blessing.
"Arbok, Drapion, I'm glad you're here," Weavile said, addressing her team. "I've come to an important decision." Arbok and Drapion were all ears. "I don't need you two anymore. Team AWD is disbanded. Give me your badges."
Arbok and Drapion were taken aback. Their badges levitated into the air by Weavile's command, then disappeared into nothingness.
"But, Lady Weavile,…" Drapion started.
"Shut up, maggot!" Weavile said.
"But we just want to help you,..." Arbok started.
"What makes you think a completely perfect Pokémon like myself needs your help?!" Weavile snapped. "I am the very definition of perfection! I am Darkrai's top soldier! I am actually even better than him! I will be the one to rule the world! You hear me?! I, BLOODSHED, WILL RULE THE WORLD!"
"Lady Weavile, get ahold of yourself!" Arbok responded.
"My name is Bloodshed now!" Bloodshed retorted. "You two get out of my sight before I wipe you out of my world!"
"Lady Weav— I mean, Bloodshed,…" Arbok started. Bloodshed then chased her former teammates out of the castle chamber she was in. "And don't let me ever see you again!" Bloodshed then returned to her room. "Grovyle, you will not take my place."
The past three nights had given Pelame a lot of trouble. This night was particularly unkind to her after hearing the news she had. Yet another friend lost to the Dark Blessing, the same thing menacing her as she slept. How much suffering was that stupid thing going to cause? Would it ever stop, or would it really overtake the world and corrupt it to fit its intended design? The more she thought about it, the colder she got. She snuggled up against Pugno and Blessing to try to get warm, only to end up making them both colder.
"Hey, are you okay?" Pugno asked, waking with a start.
"No, I'm not," Pelame answered. "The Dark Blessing claimed Grovyle by force, because Darkrai force-fed it to him. But the one that's within me snuck into me when Darkrai demolished Treasure Town. I've already felt its effects. Remember when I screamed at Blessing, Fahrenheit, and Celsius? And when Blessing kept acting reckless while we were receiving Alpha Blessings from the Lake Guardians, I was just about ready to go off on her again." She looked into Pugno's eyes, an expression of fear adorning her face. "Pugno, I'm scared. I don't want to turn evil."
"You won't, Pelame," Pugno assured. "I'll help you as much as I can."
"So will I," Blessing said, having overheard the conversation. "After all, I conquered that stupid Dark Blessing, and look at me now! But, boy did I suffer before I got it under control. That's the kind of torture no living thing should have to go through, and it's bad enough Grovyle had it forced into him. Well, I won't lose another friend to that damn thing. Pugno and I will help you; that's a promise!"
"Thanks, you two," Pelame responded, feeling a warm feeling in her heart that made her stop shivering. "Good night."
"Good night, Pelame," Pugno and Blessing said, getting back to sleep at once.
Pelame awoke first the next morning. She was as joyful as could be, and she knew that today, she'd find more Alpha Shrines and take the next step to fighting back the Dark Blessing. Nothing was going to ruin her day today.
"Hah, caught up to you at last!" shouted Bloodshed triumphantly. Like Pelame thought, nothing was going to ruin her day today. "Ready to die yet?!"
"Never!" Pelame retorted. "Leave me and my friends alone!" Pelame was joined by all her friends, ready to defeat Weavile easily.
"Attack!" Weavile shouted. Pelame was attacked by Weavile, and then by all her friends.
"Do you understand now?" Pugno asked in a sinister tone. He began to exude an evil aura. "We serve the correct side now."
"You're too weak to be allowed to live in our world any longer, Pelame!" Blessing taunted. "Lady Bloodshed, on your order."
"Kill her," Bloodshed said simply. All the Pokémon did as told, Bloodshed joining in the massacre.
"Hi, my name is Pelame! Nice to meet you!"
"Coward!"
"Wimp!"
"Chicken!"
"Pansy!"
"Go home, loser!"
"Quit infecting us with your loser germs!"
"Loser!"
The crowd of familiar Pokémon Pelame had grown up with chanted "Loser" over and over again. The farther she ran, the louder the taunting got. Finally, she bumped into Pugno.
"Oh, Pugno! Thank goodness!"
Pugno looked back to face her. "Who are you? Never mind, don't tell me, you look like a wimpy loser! Go away, wimpy loser!"
The empty black scenery suddenly changed into the Guild's Audience Room.
"The Guild accepts no wimps!" said Guildmaster Wigglytuff.
"Off with you, coward!" Chatot taunted.
Pelame ran upstairs to the Guild's Bulletin Room, where she bumped into Loudred.
"Yeah, you'd BETTER run, CHICKEN!" he taunted.
"Chickens can't be Explorers!" Sunflora added.
The Guild Crew joined together with Pugno to chant "Chicken! Chicken! Chicken!" as Pelame ran out crying.
?: Do you want a friend?
Pelame: I have friends.
?: No you don't.
Pelame: Yes I do.
?: Do you really?
Pelame: Yes I do!
?: Then why did they kill you?
Pelame: They didn't!
?: But they did. You're in the afterlife now.
(? reveals himself as a humanoid dark mass. He is the spirit of the afterlife.)
Spirit of the Afterlife: Come with me.
(He grabs hold of Pelame. She tries to wriggle out of his grip to no avail as he takes her under the ground. The temperature rises to a fever pitch and Pelame's fur catches fire.)
Pelame (pained): No! Let go of me! Someone! HELP ME! I DON'T WANT TO GO TO THIS AFTERLIFE! HELP ME, PLEASE!
SotA: But you do belong here. Calm yourself.
Pelame (in full teary panic): No! I want to live! I want to see my friends again! Pugno, Blessing, Kelvin, Grovyle, Celebi, Dusknoir, Wigglytuff, Chatot, Bidoof, Loudred, Sunflora, Diglett, Dugtrio, Chimecho, Corphish, Croagunk, where are you?!
?: Pelame, calm down. It's not so bad down here.
(Pelame looks forward to see Loyal standing in front of her.)
Loyal: It's lots of fun being dead. Join us, Pelame.
(Loyal catches fire and melts into the ground, as does Pelame.)
You would have never seen an Eevee be so sad in your life. The poor thing was all alone, not a friend in the world. The poor creature had nothing on her mind but pain. Do you have pain on your mind? What are you thinking of now? What are your thoughts of? Are they happy? Or are they sad?
"Pelame, why aren't you with the other Pokémon?" asked a strange figure.
"They'll hurt me," Pelame answered sadly. "They always do."
"Then they're not worth your time. Play with me then." The figure took Pelame's paw.
"No. I don't want to play! I want to be left alone! I don't want to get hurt!"
"But you won't get hurt. I'll protect you."
"Will you really?"
"Of course. I can protect you, because I am you. You will be me."
Pelame looked at the figure. It was herself, except for the eyes. The eyes were completely dark purple, and an evil aura came out of them, as well as the rest of her body.
You would have never believed before now how loud an Eevee could scream. The poor thing was terrified beyond all reason, resigned completely to fear. Her scream resonated throughout the world. Can you hear it? What are you hearing now? Are you hearing children playing outside, or are you hearing something else? Is it a pleasant sound? Or does it hurt your ears?
"Well, at least I can stand today," Blessing said, noticing it no longer hurt her to stand up. She tried walking, but only managed to limp. "Though it would be nice to be able to walk normally again."
"You're coming around quickly, Blessing," Kelvin said. "Just remember not to push yourself too hard. That beating you received from Weavile added some time to your recovery. And don't take those bandages off." Kelvin teleported away to somewhere unknown.
"Chimecho, he needs a Team Badge," Blessing said, addressing Chimecho. "Kelvin's a part of Team Space-Time now."
"Well, congratulations!" Chimecho responded happily. "I'll get started on the badge as soon as I can!"
"This is for you, Chimecho." Kelvin said, reappearing with the Explorers Badge Kit in tow. "I went back to the Guild to get some supplies. Luckily, Darkrai's goons missed a few spots when they ransacked the place."
"What was that?" Pelame asked, having just awakened. "What happened to the Guild?" However, as soon as she asked that question, she began to get dizzy again.
"Another unprovoked Dimensional Scream?" Pugno asked, waking up to this sight.
Pelame's vision blacked out, causing her to have another Dimensional Scream vision.
"The Demon Comet is approaching," Darkrai declared from what appeared to be a castle's throne room. "Tomorrow, it will be within the planet's atmosphere."
As soon as the vision ended, for some peculiar reason, another one started up immediately.
"The Demon Comet is almost here," Bloodshed monologued. "If Darkrai thinks he'll be the ruler of the world tomorrow, he's got another thing coming. I, Bloodshed, will show him!"
And yet another still came to Pelame upon her recovery from the second vision.
"Only now, have I truly won."
"Back in the future, when we were tailing Pugno and Grovyle," said the Sableye captain. "We never saw Pugno have any more than one Dimensional Scream vision at a time."
"In all my years, I've never seen anything like this," Dusknoir noted.
"I wonder if this is part of Uxie's Alpha Blessing," Pugno wondered. "His gift was complete restoration of our Dimensional Scream abilities."
"But even still," Dusknoir said. "Three consecutive visions are highly irregular. Would either of you know about this?"
"All we know is that Uxie's gift makes the Dimensional Scream work independently," Fahrenheit said in response to Dusknoir addressing him and his wife with that question. "With his gift, a member of the Alpha Bloodline doesn't need to touch anything in order to trigger the Scream, nor does it require the presence of a trusted partner, though those methods still work, and the latter method serves to provoke the most helpful visions. All that would be needed otherwise is a strong mind, free of all outside thoughts. One only needs to focus."
"But I wasn't doing that," Pelame said. "Those three visions just came to me despite everything you just said. All my friends are here, I think I rolled over Pugno when I woke up, and I had a lot of things on my mind, not the least of which was my nightmare last night."
"That, too, isn't normal," Celsius responded. "And that reminds me; what were your three visions of, Pelame?"
"Well, the first one wasn't really out of the ordinary," Pelame started. "Darkrai was just monologuing as usual. My second vision was Weavile, calling herself 'Bloodshed' for some reason, doing exactly the same thing. But the third vision was the strangest one. I didn't even see anything in that last one."
"Did you hear anything?" Dusknoir asked. "I've known some of Pugno's visions to only have sound without any imagery."
"I didn't hear, either," Pelame answered. "Well, I didn't hear in the sense of my ears picking up the sounds. It's more as though my mind heard it; the words spoke directly to my mind. It said, 'only now, have I truly won.' No voice said it; it just seemed to be a message sent directly to my mind. But it felt like my heart and soul were hearing those words, too. Do those words mean anything to anyone here?"
"No," Blessing said as dryly as possible. "Why would they have any meaning, unless Darkrai's planning on saying that when he thinks he's won?"
"There's something else about those visions that confuse me, though," Pelame continued. "The first two mentioned something called the 'Demon Comet.'"
Fahrenheit and Celsius perked up immediately. "Pardon me?!" they both exclaimed. "Did you just say 'Demon Comet?'"
"Yes," Pelame answered. "I'm thinking that's what my vision was of right before we went to the Grey Theatre."
Fahrenheit and Celsius suddenly took the group into a nearby cave and sealed the entrance with an Alpha Guard.
"Did the visions say how close it was?" Fahrenheit asked, clearly afraid.
"They said it would be in the planet's atmosphere tomorrow," Pelame answered. Fahrenheit and Celsius both looked as though something terrible was going to happen. They knew now was the time to let them all in on the story.
"Everyone, we have something you need to hear," Celsius addressed of the whole group. "We now know what's to blame for what's been going on. Everything from Darkrai's power spike, Bloodshed's personality shift, and Pelame's unprovoked visions. It's the fault of the Demon Comet."
"The Demon Comet is a comet from outer space of unknown origins," Fahrenheit continued. "It comes to this solar system once every now and then. Astronomers have never been able to pinpoint an exact time range; once, it had supposedly visited just one month after its prior visit to that. And after that, it came back after five years. But now, it's back after twenty-eight years. We hoped to have seen the last of it, and for good reason."
"Whenever the Demon Comet passes through this solar system, it brings about chaos and death. Any Pokémon susceptible to evil becomes entranced by it, and motivated to do evil things. And it's not visible until it enters the planet's atmosphere, which would be when it would be too late."
Pelame thought of the Grey Theatre actors. This explanation made a lot of sense to her.
"Any Pokémon infected by the Dark Blessing," Celsius continued. "They become more powerful. The Demon Comet gives a giant power spike to anything Demon-type, at the cost of their sanity. It also makes him or her resistant to purification, which is why we didn't dare try to Purify Pelame last night, for fear of the catastrophic consequence should our suspicions of failure come true. The Dark Blessing residing within her, though it's not visible now, is as potent, if not more, than the one possessing Grovyle. If she is truly the Chosen One, an attempt to Purify the Dark Blessing out of her now, with the Comet so close to us, would be much too risky."
"However, it doesn't make purification impossible. There's still hope for Pelame, Grovyle, and even Bloodshed."
"But what about Blessing?" Kelvin asked. "Shouldn't she be purified?"
"No," Celsius said. "There's no need to purify her, since she did exactly that to the Dark Blessing within herself. It's a part of her now. Plus, she also receives a power spike from the Comet; probably the only benefit of that thing."
"But there's one more part to this story," Fahrenheit continued. "And this is the most troubling. It's been said that if a wielder of the Dark Blessing manages to call the Demon Comet down to the planet's surface using the bell situated atop the Grey Castle's highest turret, the Dark Blessing will put an end to life itself."
"That's what Darkrai's planning, then!" Pelame cried. "He's planning to call the Demon Comet down to the planet using that bell! He thinks it's going to give him the power to rule the world, but it isn't! And Bloodshed doesn't know this, either, even though she's planning to betray him!"
"If that's the case, we won't allow that!" Pugno rallied. "We just need to find this Grey Castle by tomorrow and take Darkrai and Bloodshed out!"
"Sounds doable to me!" Blessing said. "Leave Bloodshed to me!"
"And don't forget about us!" Chatot said. "Guild, does Pelame have our support?!"
"HOORAY!" the Guild crew shouted in response.
"I will assist you, too," Dusknoir offered. "I've come to appreciate the world thanks to Grovyle. I won't allow it all to end on Darkrai's unknowing whim!"
"We're with you, Lord Dusknoir!" said the Sableye soldiers.
"And in Grovie's place will be me!" Celebi added. "We'll get him back while we're at it! We'll save Grovie and the whole world all in one go!"
"Sounds like we're ready for one hell of a rumble," Blessing noted. "Shall we get going, then?"
"Not yet," Kelvin said. "Pelame and Pugno still have Alpha Blessings to receive."
"That's correct," Celsius added. "They can't take on Darkrai, especially when he's powered up by the Demon Comet, as they currently are."
"But we don't have the time for that!" Blessing said. "It's already turned from morning to the afternoon, and the Comet will be close enough for Darkrai to call tomorrow! Can't they afford to miss a few of those Alpha Blessings?!"
"No, Blessing, they can't!" Fahrenheit said grimly. "They won't even be able to enter the Grey Castle as they are! An aura generated by the Dark Blessing protects the castle, repelling all who try to enter. Only skilled Alpha Bloodline members and those infected by the Dark Blessing can enter the castle!"
"CRUD!" Loudred bellowed. "WE can't enter?!"
"Hey, hey, even if we can't, we can still help!" Corphish said.
"We could secure the grounds so they can enter, by golly," Bidoof suggested.
"Not to sound rude, but we can't waste any time!" Pelame suddenly snapped. "Pugno, let's go track down the remaining Alpha Shrines! We can't let Darkrai win!"
"Right behind you, Pelame," Pugno answered. Without another moment wasted, they teleported away.
"Well, now what?" Blessing asked. "At least those two got their priorities straight, but what should we do?"
"Simple," Kelvin answered. "Track down the Grey Castle. It never stays in one spot for more than a day. Once we find it, we can alert Pelame and Pugno to its whereabouts. If we stay on its grounds, we'll be transported along with it when it moves again."
"We're doing that, then," Chatot said. "All right, let's get to work!"
"HOORAY!" shouted the Guild crew.
"What did you just say?" asked Lopunny, keeping her guard up. Arbok and Drapion had Team Charm seemingly cornered in the middle of the Mystifying Forest.
"Is it so hard for you to accept that we need your help?!" Drapion said, getting frustrated with the beautiful trio of Master-rank Explorers.
"Please, we're begging you," Arbok said, starting to sob. "At least, I am. Our boss is going crazy! She thinks she can betray Darkrai and snatch the Demon Comet from him! But she'll be killed if she tries that, and we don't want her to die! We want her to go back the way she was, back to being the thief with standards! Please, help us!"
The three members of Team Charm didn't know what to make of the scene unfolding before them. Team AWD wasn't known for being so sentimental. At least, Weavile wasn't, but it also wasn't like Weavile to rename herself Bloodshed and disband her own team. The three deliberated with each other about what to do. Soon, they came to a decision.
"We can't help you," Medicham said.
"However, we know someone who can," Gardevoir added.
"Follow us, and we'll take you to them," Lopunny finished.
"Oh, thank you so much!" Arbok and Drapion groveled. "You don't know how much this means to us!"
Suggested music for this chapter:
Bloodshed's Theme – Seymour's Ambition (Final Fantasy X)
Pelame's Nightmare – Jiha Kyokai (Neon Genesis Evangelion OST)
Explanation of what the Demon Comet Is- Time Compression (Final Fantasy VIII)
Off to Save the World – Frog's Theme (Chrono Trigger)
