Fear. It is fear that drives the great King Justyn to desperate measures. A prophecy predicts that Pokémon like the Hiwaka girls will bring destruction and division to the great peace Justyn has created.
Justyn is nothing if not merciful, however. Darien escapes his cell, and makes his way to face the king, explaining his heritage. Justyn elects to contemplate the meaning of the revelations Darien has given to him. Darien can do nothing but await Justyn's decision.
Darien waited in the guestroom overnight. Every time he thought about Serena and the other girls of Hiwaka, a pang struck his heart. In his mind, he knew he did the right thing in going alone, but he still felt bad about leaving the girls behind. Especially Serena.
"Master Darien, King Justyn will see you now," Madeline said. Darien nodded, getting to his feet. Madeline watched him uncertainly. Even though he was typeless, she still felt it was important to care for him. And now, she felt the young Riolu was in pain.
"Is there anything I can do for you?" Madeline asked.
"No… I don't think there is…" Darien said. Madeline cooed, and approached him cautiously.
"Are you sure? You… I can't stand this… you just look so pained…" Madeline said.
"No… you can't help… it's Serena…" Darien said. Madeline started tearing up.
"It's a girl?" Madeline asked.
"Yes…" Darien said. Madeline knelt down, and stroked Darien's head. Darien looked up at Madeline, before tapping her gently.
"Oh, right… King Justyn…" Madeline said.
Justyn looked down at Darien as he entered the room. Madeline followed behind him, smiling over his shoulder. Justyn smiled upon seeing the pair, before shooing Madeline from the room.
"With all due respect, your Majesty, I would like to remain by this Riolu's side," Madeline said.
"Hm… I will allow this… Darien, your name was… I will overlook your typeless heritage. On one condition… you must first prove your righteousness of heart," Justyn said.
"That, I would be fine doing. What task is it that I must do?" Darien asked.
"North of this Regal Town is the Legendary Shrine. This name is a bit of a misnomer: the Shrine is a collection of shrines to honour the Pokémon of legends. Among them is the Eon Shrine, dedicated to Latias and Latios. Latias is the deity of pure heart. If she looks upon you with kind eyes, then I will consider you as legitimate," Justyn said.
"…I accept your challenge," Darien said. Justyn bowed politely.
"Um, sir… may I have permission to accompany this Riolu to the temple?" Madeline asked.
"Madeline?" Justyn asked.
"I care about him… please, Justyn, I want to help him!" Madeline said. Darien looked up at her. He really wasn't sure what the fuss was all about.
"…I don't see why not. Madeline… for your protection, I request that you bring along some of the bodyguards," Justyn said.
"Surely Darien would be sufficient?" Madeline asked.
"He may be, but I'd feel better if you had someone else protecting you," Justyn said.
"…All right. Chibouk, Giac and Aaron, then," Madeline said.
"Those three? But… they're new! You're too important for three rookies and a random Riolu," Justyn said.
"You say that, but we'll be fine! The Legendary Shrine is perhaps the most peaceful place on the continent!" Madeline said.
Darien was packing the little possessions he had been given when Madeline entered the room, followed by a Horsea, an Abra and an Aron.
"I'm guessing these are the Chibouk, Giac and Aaron you mentioned?" Darien asked, looking up.
"Yes," Madeline said simply. The Horsea, Abra and Aron approached Darien cautiously, looking him up and down.
"…You're right, Maddy. He doesn't look scary at all," the Horsea said.
"Are you sure this is one of the Typeless ones?" the Abra asked.
"How does anyone even tell?" the Aron asked.
"See? Told you!" Madeline said, smiling. Darien nervously grinned, as the three Pokémon came closer, rubbing up against Darien. It wasn't until Abra nervously put his arms around him that Darien realised what it was they were trying to do.
"…Is this your apology?" Darien asked cautiously.
"Of course!" the Abra said, stepping back.
"Anyway, introductions. I am Chibouk, and I'm good at hitting small, far away targets," the Horsea said. "…Not much else, though."
"My name is Giac, and I am an expert telekinetic. Problem is that I can't exactly hurt anything unless I throw them at a wall or something," the Abra said.
"And my name is Aaron. My parents sucked at coming up with names, and I can't take damage. I also can't really deal any," the Aron said. Darien looked up at Madeline.
"So… this is one of those quirky band of misfit type deals?" Darien asked.
"I like these three boys. Justyn… not so much. I've told him I can train these three… let's just say that they didn't inherit the IVs everyone wanted," Madeline said.
"…You have a big heart, you know that?" Darien asked.
"I've been told," Madeline said.
Darien set out that morning, determined to rescue the Hiwaka girls without delay. Giac was telekinetically moving Aaron along, while Chibouk was practicing his shots. Darien led the group silently. Chibouk looked over at him curiously.
"So is this what separates the Typeless from normal Pokémon?" Chibouk asked.
"No… he's just a little annoyed," Madeline said. She turned to him, and put one arm on his shoulder uncertainly.
"So… who's your mate?" Madeline asked.
"Mate? I don't have one…" Darien said.
"Don't give me that! I know that look anywhere! You're upset about a girl," Madeline said.
"Of course I am! The Hiwaka girls are all locked up for no good reason! But I don't have that kind of attraction to them…" Darien said.
"To none of them?" Madeline asked.
"No… After what happened to Melly, I don't think I could love someone that way again… especially with the fact that I knew them for about a day before their home was destroyed," Darien said.
"Not never again, Darien! A whole bunch of girls jumps to help you out, and you feel nothing for all of them?" Chibouk asked.
"Well… there is one girl… the first one I met… but…" Darien started.
"Shrine's just ahead," Giac said lazily, pointing at the Legendary Shrine.
The Legendary Shrine was massive. It comprised of several large temples, each one made of a different material. There was gold, silver, crystal, ruby, sapphire, emerald… really, the list could go on. Madeline led Darien towards a building with a beautiful, soul-like colour, tinged with red on one side and blue on the other. She stopped short of the entrance.
"Darien… this is your quest. You must be the first one to step inside," Madeline said. Darien nodded, and stepped foot inside.
"Whosthere?" a dark voice asked. Riolu jumped, and watched the inside of the temple. Several shapes revealed themselves: a whole horde of Sandile, Krokorok and Krookodile!
"And then you guys come immediately after, right?" Darien asked, looking at the group of Sandile. Madeline entered the room, and immediately backed out.
"Any of you three able to do something?" Darien asked.
"Ground types," Aaron said.
"Dark types," Giac said.
"Let's give it a shot…" Chibouk said. Chibouk reared back, and shot a blast of water to the back of the group, hitting a Krokorok. Darien rolled up his sleeves, and got to Force Palming everything in range. Chibouk did a good job at thinning out the rear lines, but no one else was really helping much.
"Can anyone help?" Darien asked, in a panic. Madeline tried kicking a Sandile, to no real effect. Giac looked around for something to throw. Aaron jumped forward, and bit several Ground attacks. Darien sighed.
"Just our luck… we bump into the worst Pokémon type to fight…" Darien remarked.
Darien… great Riolu. Your girl needs you. Use Reversal! an oddly quiet, beautiful voice said. Despite the chaos, Darien heard it clearly. He channelled in all of his power, and blasted back. The foes were sent spinning in a half-Fighting, half-Dragon display.
"Wait, Dragon?" Darien asked.
"That was awesome, Darien!" Madeline said.
"Makes us look useless," Giac said.
"We kind of were…" Aaron said.
"Don't feel bad, you two! You're just not suited to fighting Sandile. If they weren't Ground, you'd have been amazing, Aaron," Chibouk said.
"Dragon?" Darien asked again, looking around. The large, cavernous temple, now free from Sandile, now housed all sort of beautiful relics of the same material as that found covering the temple. In the room's centre was a raised dais, with a beautiful orb in its centre. Darien approached it with care.
Go ahead… touch it… the voice urged. Darien leaned forward, and respectfully complied. The instant he did so, two bright lights, one blue and one red, appeared in front of him. Emerging from them were Latios and Latias.
"Latias? Latios?" Darien asked, looking between them.
"No need to sound so formal, Darien! We're Luna and Artemis!" the Latias said, shooting up to Darien, and presenting the top of her head. Darien looked down at her in shock.
"Wha… huh?" Darien asked, looking between the Latias and the Latios.
"...Don't mind my sister. She gets easily excited. You can call me Latios. So… what brings you to our domain as it was overrun by Sandile?" Artemis asked.
"Oh… we came here because Justyn asked me to prove my kindness of heart. It's to acquit my friends of the crime of being 'Typeless'," Darien said.
"Never heard of Typeless ones," Artemis said gruffly. "Then again, never heard of Justyn, either."
"Oh, you're pure of heart, all right! I think I could bless you pure of heart a million times if you'd let me into it!" Luna said.
"Like I said… she's not exactly the brightest bulb in the shrine. But she is good at what she does… if she thinks you're pure of heart, then I do, too," Artemis said.
"Thank you, Artemis… now what do I do about Luna here?" Darien said.
"I told you to call me Latios. But about Luna… do you have a girl companion?" Artemis asked.
"The entire Hiwaka group?" Darien asked.
"Any of them… love interests?" Artemis asked.
"What? No! Why does everyone keep asking that?" Darien asked.
"…I refuse to dignify that with a response. Well… Luna's probably not going to leave you alone, so I guess I'm coming with you until Luna clears up her act," Artemis said. He turned around, picked up the orb from the centre of the room, and turned back to Darien.
"So… where can I find this Justyn?" Artemis asked.
Justyn looked up, to see Madeline accompany Darien into his royal room. Behind him were Chibouk, Giac and Aaron, alongside Latias and Latios.
"Darien… when I told you to go get the blessing of Latias, this isn't what I had in mind…" Justyn said.
"I apologise for the behaviour of my sister. She's not the brightest Psychic type in the Parthenon. Now, tell me more about this 'Typeless' situation," Artemis said. Justyn looked liable to do his business indoors.
"The great fortune-telling deity Xerneas himself gave the prophecy that Typeless ones would bring great discord to the unity of our peaceful society itself. I cannot take the risk-" Justyn started.
"You can't take the risk that five Pokémon… all unevolved, did you say?" Artemis started.
"No: one evolution total out of a possible… two, four, six… eight potential evolutions," Darien said.
"OK… where I come from, Dark-type, that's considered plenty harmless. If there's really someone who's going to ruin your brilliantly thought out lifestyle, you tend to wait until they can be considered a threat. Not start when they've barely levelled up!" Artemis said.
"Yeah! You call yourself pure of heart? You release Darien's friends right now, or Artemis will Lustre Purge you into oblivion!" Luna said, glaring at Justyn.
"Darien!" Serena cried out. As soon as Justyn had brought out the Hiwaka girls, Serena had rushed forward, hugging Darien so tightly he thought he was going to white out. Madeline and Luna immediately looked between each other and her.
"Ahem… to the five of you… I am sorry… I should have thought through my reaction to the prophecy. In attempting to be a just king, I have seen injustice run rampant… what have I done…" Justyn said, bowing to the Hiwaka girls.
"Yeah… you'd think you'd have thought of that sooner…" Amy said.
"You're… you're just…" Lita spluttered.
"Who even voted for you?" Mina asked, eliciting quite a few stares, especially from Madeline and her rookies.
"Calm down, sisters… you don't need to be so hard…" Serena said.
"Serena… this Dark-type arrested us for existing. Honestly, I think I'm going easy on him!" Lita said.
"We'll discuss this later. For now, we ought to rest, and come up with a plan. After all, both of our homes are kind of razed," Darien said, interrupting both arguments.
"Hmph. If you say so," Lita said, leading Amy and Mina away. Madeline hurriedly rushed forward, so that she might escort them to available rooms. Justyn turned to Luna and Artemis, who both gave him a 'you brought this on yourself' look.