Summary: Human turned Pokémon have suddenly started disappearing without explanation. Their teammates and loved ones are left to scramble about in worry and wonder as to where their missing friends may be. However, the arrival of Celine, a newly human turned Pokémon, suggests that the Pokémon world is in danger once again. As she sets out on her journey, she is blissfully unaware of the darkness that follows her and her team…
-x-x-x-x-
Chapter 22: The Tower of Geoma Part 2
- Tower of Geoma, 2nd Floor -
Drexel eyed his surroundings as the group ascended from the stairs. The walls were a deep blue with light blue crystal chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. There were random puddles of water scattered about the room. And, while Drexel was hardly bothered by it, Fiona and Aldous were bothered by the harsh humidity in the air.
The psychic feline was the first to complain about it, "It's so hot in here! Isn't this supposed to be the water level? I expected it to be cooler."
"Perhaps these are the conditions that water-types favor?" Fiona suggested, glancing over to Drexel for some form of confirmation.
Much to her annoyance, he just shrugged. With a puff, she examined the room further. "We better find the stairs before this heat drains away our stamina."
"It's already stolen mine," Aldous groaned, collapsing to the ground dramatically. "Just leave me behind… Tell Lizette that my last thoughts were of her radiance!"
"Oh no you don't," Drexel growled, yanking the feline off the ground by his tails. "I am not delivering any dramatic speeches to your girlfriend."
Aldous huffed and folded his arms. "I'm dying of heat, you bully! The least you could do is show some concern for your friend!"
Drexel rolled his eyes and dropped the psychic feline. Aldous landed unceremoniously on the ground with a small yip. He recovered quickly, sitting up and rubbing the back of his head as he glared at his frog-like friend. With a small grumble of displeasure, he got to his feet and was about to follow after his two comrades when he felt something grab his tails.
His yowl of pain caused the fairy and water/dark types to spin around. Aldous was trying to yank his tails away from the pinchers of a clawitzer. With an angry snarl, he yelled, "LET GO OF MY TAILS!" He grabbed the water-type, using his psychic to forcefully remove the pincher before throwing the pokémon away from him. Just for extra measures (and mostly because of how much pain his tails were currently in), he threw a shadow ball after the water-type pokémon.
He snorted, satisfied with the explosion that followed shortly after. He spun on his heel and strutted past his comrades.
Fiona hurried after him. Aldous was rubbing his tails as he walked. "From the looks of it," she said, "it'll be fine. If anything it's just going to be sore for a while."
"I figured that much out," he grumbled.
Drexel was close behind them. He was examining their surroundings once more to see if there were any more enemies nearby. With a sigh, he sped up to pick up Aldous. He put the psychic feline on his head and continued on with their expedition.
Aldous gazed curiously at his friend.
"You were complaining about the heat," Drexel said with his eyes locked ahead of him, "and since I'm not sure if walking will hurt your tails any further, just sit up there and rest until we find the stairs."
Aldous grinned at the pathetic excuse, but said nothing. It was nice to know that his friend did care after all - even if he was a lug-headed idiot half of the time.
It was halfway through their exploration when Drexel paused all of a sudden. Aldous looked down at him curiously. "What's up?"
He didn't answer. He was more focused on the strange feeling that was overtaking him. Something was wrong. He couldn't put his finger on it, but he knew there was something off. It couldn't have come from their mission because there were no enemies near them or even in sight, and both of his comrades were either sitting on his head or floating beside him worriedly. With that knowledge in mind, he concluded that it had to be an outside influence that was making him feel this way.
He looked back in the direction of the stairs that brought them up. "What's wrong, Drexel?"
Drexel turned to Fiona. There was concern written all over her face. "I don't know," he responded, looking back towards the pathway they'd just come from. "Something's off, and I don't know what it is. I have this terrible feeling in the pit of my stomach."
"Oh, that's wonderful news," Aldous commented sarcastically. "Please tell me it has nothing to do with us."
"I don't think it does," Drexel said. "…I dare say that it might be from something else."
Fiona shuffled around nervously. "Something else? Like what? Do you think it has…anything to do with the other teams?"
At this, Aldous' ears perked up in alarm. "Something bad happened to the other teams?"
"I don't know," Drexel answered. "I hope not. Let's keep going."
His bad feeling intensified as they walked on. Looking back on it, he desperately wished that he'd found a way to remain in contact with the teams while he and his team were on their mission.
He resisted the urge to shake his head. It was just a bad feeling, right? He couldn't let that distract him. He needed to focus on his current mission and fix whatever was wrong with the tower.
However, he found it odd. There were little to no pokémon on this level. He caught glimpses of poliwraths, croconaws, and clawitzers, but that was it. None of them moved in to attack him or his team.
The rest of their journey remained uneventful. They found the stairs to the third level, and without wasting a single second, ascended.
"I'm kind of surprised," Aldous murmured. "None of those pokémon attacked us. Only one did, and that was because he thought my tail was dinner!"
"That is quite odd," Fiona nodded. "They did see us, didn't they?"
"Most of them were half asleep, I think."
"But," Fiona continued, her tone suggesting that something was wrong, "even if they are half asleep, they attack. Many pokémon have done it to us before. Awake, barely awake, or half asleep, they still attacked us. And usually it's when we pass them that they attack us."
Drexel frowned; he had an idea. Aldous voiced his thoughts seconds later, "Maybe what's wrong with Spiral Tower has reached this far."
The idea didn't appeal to either of his comrades, much to Aldous' surprise. Both either frowned or showed no excitement. Aldous thought it was a good thing. He jumped down from where he sat and stood in the way of the two pokémon. "Why am I the only one who's happy about this? Strategically speaking, each fight that we avoid is another fight we can reserve our strength."
"Because," Fiona's frown deepened at the thought, "it just shows how far the sleeping curse as really spread. We've heard of a few cases farther than this, but it never affected this many pokémon in a single area, or at least not to my knowledge. It's unsettling. It really makes you feel like you could fall victim to it at any second."
Aldous' ears flattened against his skull. Drexel walked past him. "We need to move. The more time we waste, the more liable we are to the attack."
-x-x-x-x-
- Tower of Geoma 3rd Floor -
As the team ascended to the third floor of the tower, they could immediately feel the change in temperature. It was hotter than before, much to Aldous' discomfort. But, despite the heat, the level was colored towards its respected type of pokémon like the previous levels. Ruby chandeliers hung from the ceilings while fire crackled along the sides of the red stonewalls.
"It's hotter here than it was in the last level!" Aldous huffed. "But at least we know what caused the humidity in the last level now."
"Let's go," Drexel urged. He pressed on forward, not wasting a single second. He wanted to get off this level as quickly.
Much like the last floor, there weren't many pokémon awake. Most of them were asleep, but the ones that were awake were overly aggressive.
Drexel suffered the blunt of the attacks against their team. He would ignore the protests from both Fiona and Aldous as he jumped in front of them to protect them from attacks. He snorted as he defeated another pokémon. "This is too easy."
"Don't get cocky," Fiona softly scolded as she floated up beside him.
He winced when she placed a leaf-like hand on one of his burns. He was hoping that she didn't see it, but he knew that she did.
"They're not aiming to defeat you single-handedly," she surmised, "they're most likely ganging up on you with attacks that they know will affect you in the long run."
"Heh, these burns won't stop me," he chuckled.
Aldous, who'd been silent for most of the journey around the third floor, scowled. He was growing angrier with each fight that his friend refused help. They had run out of Rawest Berries some time ago, so there wasn't any other ways to cure the burns Drexel endured. He had never expected for his friend to be so careless against their fire-type enemies. Apparently his scolding's had gone through one ear and out the other.
His anger finally burst when he saw Drexel preparing to attack an oncoming pyroar. He jumped in front of the water-type, startling him, and conjured up a shield to protect the group from the stream of fire the pyroar unleashed. Once the attack was finished, the shield lowered and Aldous used his psychic ability to lift up the fire-type lion and toss him to the far side of the room. Upon hitting the wall there was an explosion as Aldous' eyes flashed. When he was certain that the pyroar wouldn't be getting up, he continued to walk forward.
He was ignoring the protests of his leader as he continued on.
"You're our tactician, Aldous!" he yelled. "I could have seriously hurt you had I not stopped the instant you jumped in front of me! You're lucky that-"
"Lucky for what?" he questioned. "I have been telling you to stop fighting for us, Drexel. You are part of a team, and as a leader I expected you to know that much. But instead you continue to be selfless and insinuate these fights on your own accord. I cannot keep feeding you Oran Berries. We need them for our final battle as much as we need you."
He spun around to glare at his leader. "You're right. I'm just the strategist - the tactician - for this team. I'm aware that it's in my paws to make sure that we all reach the final level safely. However, if I keep letting you go headfirst into these fights, then I am not doing my job properly."
He turned away. "You're not the only pokémon on this team, Drexel. There is me, and there is Fiona. We are perfectly capable of defending and attacking too."
Drexel opened his mouth to yell at him further, but Fiona stopped him. She shook her head. "He's right, Drexel. Let it be."
"I'm going ahead," Aldous said. "I think I might see the stairs, but I want to confirm. Fiona, stay here and make sure that he doesn't do anything crazy. Go slowly. Don't waste any stamina running after me."
He took off without another word. Drexel growled as Fiona giggled. "You know he cares about you, right Drexel? Don't be angry with him. I think he finally had enough of watching you do all the work."
"I'm just protecting you two so that you guys don't get hurt!"
"And I appreciate that," she said, "but we can fight too. I understand that you are the most fit member for this level, but don't forget that we are a team. We are not defenseless. I've noticed you've been on edge since that earlier proclamation that you've felt off."
The ninja pokémon frowned. She continued, "Nothing bad will happen to us. We've worked as a team and made it this far together."
Drexel said nothing. He'd never say it aloud, but he was nervous. He kept thinking back to the other teams and how they were doing. He was aware that it wasn't his responsibility to worry over them, but he couldn't help but feel attached to the other human turned pokémon. Rumi and Celine were just like him; once regular humans brought into an unfamiliar world in which they were tasked to save it.
The bad feeling in his gut was still there. It was the main reason that he fought through the hurdles of pokémon. He needed something to keep his mind off of this strange feeling. But because he was so focused on getting rid of said feeling, he never noticed the anger building up inside his friend. He was just glad Fiona didn't press the matter.
"So how does it look?" she asked Aldous as he ran back. "That was rather quick."
"They're right up ahead! And better yet," Aldous smirked as he put his paws on his waist proudly. "I defeated the pokémon who tried to stop me. Now come on!" he insisted.
As they approached the stairway, Aldous paused and reached into the bag to pull out Oran Berries. He handed them to both Drexel and Fiona. For the third time that day, he turned to examine his teammates seriously.
"I'm fairly certain the next floor is our last," he said. "We never saw the colors, or any signs of a fourth floor to this tower. Which is why I conclude that the next floor is most likely the room holding the orb that we're looking for. From experience we know that it's also going to be guarded by a pokémon. We can try speaking to them, but with the state of this tower, I'm not sure if they'll be in the right set of mind."
He turned to the stairs. "So, I implore that we keep these berries close to us. I will keep the bag securely on my person, and I will stay in the back while you two fight up front. I will hand out any berries that we may need. I will also jump in and attack if the situation calls for it. And Drexel," he eyed his leader, "do switch in and out with Fiona. You're breakable like the rest of us. So, when you are feeling tired and need a short break, switch out with her. Same with you Fiona."
"Right!" She nodded her head.
The two of them looked to Drexel. Their leader sighed and nodded. "Fine. Are we ready?"
"I believe so," Aldous smiled. He moved out of the way for Drexel to climb the stairway first. After a moment of eye contact, Drexel went forward with Fiona following closely behind. Unseen by his teammates, Aldous winced slightly as he began climbing the steps.
He pressed his paw gently over his left ear. Hidden fairly well by his tucked in ear was a deep gash.
-x-x-x-x-
- Geoma Tower, 4th Floor -
Drexel was the first to enter the large room. Behind him entered both Aldous and Fiona, both of whom were staring at the room in wonder.
The room was littered with shining diamonds. They were mixtures of light blue and pink, both of which shimmered beneath the bright rays of sunlight that poured in from the large window sitting in the back of the room. Resting in front of the large window was a stand. Floating above the stand was a cracked tri-colored orb. Resting above this stand, which set off a few alarm bells in the back of Aldous' mind, was extremely large purple diamond chandelier.
While Drexel and Fiona walked along the dirt path up to the orb, Aldous remained near the doorway. His eyes were locked on the chandelier. He sensed there was something off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It certainly didn't look like a pokémon, but why did he feel that particular aura coming off of it?
"This must be the problem!" he heard Fiona declare. "The orb is cracked, but what the heck are we supposed to do to fix a cracked orb?"
Drexel, surprised to hear no theory coming from Aldous, turned to see the feline hadn't budged from his spot. "Aldous?"
Aldous' eyes widened. "MOVE!" he yelled.
Fiona and Drexel exchanged confused looks. Fiona turned around and opened her mouth to speak, but before she could, both Drexel and herself were flung to the other side of the room by Aldous' psychic power. Landing where the two pokémon once stood was the purple chandelier.
It twitched before rising off the ground. Aldous backed away, but got into a fighting stance as the pokémon stretched itself out. Two ribbon-like structures flowed out behind it gracefully as its red eyes flashed.
"Who dares to enter my tower?" it spoke, revealing the pokémon to be a female.
"Who are you?" Aldous asked.
The pokémon regarded the small feline standing in front of it. Without warning several carbinks flew out from the rock formations in the room and pelleted Aldous with rocks. Caught unsuspecting, he endured the full brunt of the attacks.
A hydro pump immediately set the carbinks flying. Drexel ran past the larger, somewhat surprised pokémon with Fiona in tow. He slid in front of his unconscious friend and shielded him from view. Fiona went past him to check on their teammate.
"Aldous!" Fiona whispered anxiously as she shook the unconscious feline. There were several deep gashes all over his body.
He groaned and opened his eyes slowly. "Hey," he chuckled weakly.
"Aldous, hang on," she said, tears in her eyes. "You'll be okay!"
"Forget about me," he murmured, looking at Drexel. "Protect him…"
"Who are you?" demanded Drexel.
The large pokémon eyed him. "I am Diancie," she spoke. "I am the Guardian of this tower and the treasure in which it protects. The likes of you are not welcomed."
Fiona shot her head up. "Wait, if you're the Guardian, then please listen-"
"SILENCE," Diancie's voice rang. The larger chandelier pokémon didn't look pleased at all. "I said that you are not welcomed in this tower. I suggest you and your friends leave immediately."
"We're here to help though!" Fiona insisted.
"Help? How will you help? You will destroy it if I let down my guard!"
"But we didn't come here to destroy it!" Fiona pleaded. She paused when she noticed Drexel shift his weight. From the looks of it, he was eying the shadows where she could see something glinting. Her suspicion was answered when several carbinks emerged from the shadows.
She looked around them in a panic. Why wasn't this pokémon listening to her? She leaned over Aldous instinctively to protect him.
"Fiona," Drexel whispered, "protect him. Get to shelter. I will handle this."
"But, he said-"
"Don't argue with me; just keep him safe and out of this battle!"
Fiona whimpered slightly, but didn't press the matter any further. She lifted the cat pokémon into her arms and moved behind a rock where she placed him gently. She peeked over the rock to watch Drexel summon water shurikens around him.
Drexel felt better when he knew that she was away from the battle. With those two out of the way, he could fight the pokémon in front of him. Just thinking about what this pokémon did to his friend was enough to make his blood boil. Water shurikens formed around him as he watched his enemy. If Diancie refused to listen to reason, then he was going to beat reason into the pokémon.
He launched the shurikens at the carbinks when they attempted in move in on him. Seconds later he swiftly sidestepped out of the way of a beam of purplish light. He recognized this attack and growled. He dodged another beam of moonlight before sinking into the shadows. While Diancie searched the area for him, he used the shadows to circle around Diancie. He jumped up from the shadow, and before the rocky/fairy pokémon had the chance to react, slammed his leg into the pokémons back. The impact sent the pokémon flying to the other side of the room.
While Diancie recovered, she used psychic to lift up boulders and fling them towards Drexel. He countered each one of them with his shurikens, dodging the debris as he dashed towards the pokémon with his fist raised. However, before he could even come close to her, her eyes flashed and he barely managed to dodge the sharp rocks that jolted from the earth.
As he stumbled back, Diancie floated higher into the air where she was surrounded with little shards of diamonds. The diamonds shot in his direction after she moved her hand towards him. A burst of water pulsated from his mouth, hitting the diamonds and destroyed them while he regained his footing.
Diancie smirked. "Not bad. Not many have withstood my array of attacks like you have."
"I'm flattered," Drexel said, sliding his hand to a small pouch on his leg, "but flattery will not make me stop. I will defeat you and I will restore this tower!" As he finished his sentence he quickly swiped a black ball from his pouch and threw it on the ground in front of him. Smoke exploded all around them, effectively masking his movements as he moved in closer to Diancie.
Having sensed his rapidly approaching presence, Diancie surrounded herself with jagged rocks. She believed that it would protect her from his attacks.
However, Drexel had figured she'd try something like that. He jumped into the air and shot more water shurikens at her. She let out a painful gasp, but in return, shot diamonds where she believed he was. He winced as a few of the diamonds cut through his skin. He landed not far from her, but didn't waste a second as he ran towards her jagged rock defense. He jumped over it, horror written all over his face when he saw the smirk on Diancie's face. Crap! He thought as a ray of moonlight sent him flying through her defenses to towards the other side of the room.
The attack was quickly followed up with a herd of diamonds all aimed on him. He let out a cry of agony as the diamonds pierced through his skin. Unable to move, he watched through half-lidded eyes as Diancie picked up rocks around her and threw them at him.
Suddenly it broke into a million pieces. He cocked his head slightly to see what caused the sudden explosion. Standing not far away from him with petals whishing around her angrily was Fiona.
Her eyes were narrowed into thin slits as she glared at Diancie. Her hands were balled up into fights at her side. She looked like she was resisting the urge to let out a stream of curses at the rocky/fairy pokémon.
Unfazed by the angry garden pokémon, Diancie asked, "Are you now challenging me?"
"As a matter of fact," Fiona said through gritted teeth, "I am." Without further ado, her eyes flashed and the petals flying at her flew with great speed towards Diancie. Diancie chuckled, not bothering to move or protect herself. She was confident that the attacks would do nothing against her.
It came to her surprise when the attack actually hurt. She let out an agonizing cry of pain as she stumbled backwards. She had no time to recover as vines wrapped around the jewel pokémon. She was slammed repeatedly against the ground until Fiona finally released her through throwing her away from the group.
Diancie groaned as she lifted herself from the ground. She settled her eyes on the form of the garden pokémon as she walked towards Drexel. With a sudden burst of anger, she released a brilliant light, and then she begun rapidly spinning, taking on a metallic coat as she crashed into Fiona. She heard Fiona take a sudden intake of breath before she was sent flying.
"Not bad," Diancie said for the second time that day, "but you're going to need to do better than throwing flowers at me in order to win. I will tell you both once more: leave my tower!"
Drexel murmured out Fiona's name as he struggled to get up. Fiona was also struggling to get up, the super effective move affecting her entire body. They exchanged looks; was this the limit of their strength? Were they honestly unable to defeat this pokémon?
"W-we can't…do that," Aldous' weak voice echoed. The pair of injured pokémon immediately looked over to Aldous. He was limping out from behind the rock that Fiona had gently placed him behind. "We…have a mission here," he said, "and you won't stop us from completing it!"
The jewel pokémon regarded him silently from where she floated. "Admirable for one so small, but my mind will not falter."
"Then we'll make it falter," Drexel's voice answered. Diancie examined the ninja pokémon as he slowly got to his feet. From the corner of her eyes she could see Fiona making slow progress over to Aldous.
The proclamation made her smirk. They were going to make her falter? "As amusing as your tall tale goes," she said, a hoard of diamonds surrounding her once more, "you will never be able to make me falter."
The diamonds were shot towards Fiona and Aldous. Since Fiona hadn't seen the attack even coming, Aldous took it upon himself to jump in front of his friend and summon up a protective shield. While they defended themselves against the storm of diamonds, Drexel barely managed to dodge a ray of moonlight from Diancie.
As if to make things even harder for him, several carbinks appeared. However, they ignored him and rushed for Fiona and Aldous. The two teammates, despite being injured and sore, were forced to switch between who was attacking and defending against the carbinks. This allowed Diancie to turn her full attention on Drexel. The latter left uncertain if this was a good thing or not. He didn't ponder on it much though, as he dodged each attack flung at him to the best of his ability.
For a while this stalemate worked. It was only until a stray diamond cut through Aldous' shield and into his ear that the battle shifted. The protective shield around them collapsed as he held his bleeding ear. The unrelenting smaller jewel pokémon took this to their full advantage. Even Diancie noticed this, and begun directing more diamonds at the group. Fiona did her best to protect the two of them while attacking, but it was beginning to prove itself too much for the duo.
Upon seeing this, Drexel tossed several water shurikens at Diancie to gain her full attention. It worked. Diancie glared at Drexel and started summoning waves of diamonds, boulders, and beams of moonlight. Each attack aimed to hit and knock Drexel out. He managed to dodge each one barely, but his eyes were locked on Fiona and Aldous in worry.
"WATCH OUT!" he screamed when he saw a group of carbinks levitating a large boulder off the ground. Fiona, from Aldous' side, watched in growing horror. She tried summoning more petals or leaves to attack, but, to her horror, was unable to.
Drexel dashed passed Diancie, summoning more water shurikens and aimed them at the boulder. However, Diancie, tossing another boulder in his path stopped him. He growled at Diancie, and shot a look over to see his teammates just as the boulder came down. "ALDOUS! FIONA!"
All of a sudden there was a bright light that emitted from Drexel's mega bracelet. It blinded the carbinks and Diancie; the latter bring up her arms to shield her eyes from the light. The light encased itself around Drexel and the spot where Fiona supposedly was.
The light exploded the boulder, revealing both Aldous and Fiona to be fine. Aldous was hunched down behind Fiona, using his uninjured ear to block out the blinding light in front of him. But, if he were to look, he would see Fiona as she was lifted off of the ground.
Her form began to change. Her frame became a little taller and kept its slender shape. The floral around her neck became smaller, and extended over her chest. Instead of its reddish hue of flowers, it was a rainbow gradient that now colored the floral. It was a testament to each possible color florges could become. Roses bloomed from her floral-like hair, keeping its rainbow-like color. Leaf-like gloves bloomed over both of her slender hands, a white staff with a flower (like the flower that her prior forms carried) on top of the staff appearing in her right hand. Two almost transparent leaf-like wings appeared on her back. The lower part of her body split off into two, giving her a pair of slender white-colored legs. From the floral around her waist a green split skirt appeared with diamond-shaped, rainbow-colored trims. Green leaf-like boots appeared on her feet with a diamond appearing on top of the boots.
When the light vanished, she landed on the ground gracefully and snapped her eyes opened. She twirled the staff in her hands before slamming it down in front of her, her transformation into a mega florges now complete.
Aldous stared at her in awe. He directed his attention to where he last saw Drexel, his mouth dropping to the ground.
Drexel was no longer a pokémon, but a human. He had short, dark brown hair. He was wearing a dark blue t-shirt with a smaller black hoodie vest with white trims. He was also wearing black pants with a pair of matching black shoes with white trims. There was a brown belt hanging off of his right hip with a small bag attached to it. He wore no accessories, well, minus the slightly glowing mega bracelet. When he opened his eyes, they were still the same color as the eyes he had as a greninja: red.
Still dazed by the transformation, Drexel stumbled into the wall and leaned against it for support. Finally, when the dizziness went away, he sighed. He had a splitting headache. What had just happened?
"Ugh," he groaned, putting his hand on his head. "Why do I feel like I was just hit by a truck?"
The memory of what was going on around him made him snap back to reality. He shot a look in the direction of where he last saw Fiona and Aldous, and boy, was he surprised with what he saw. With his mouth gaping, he stared at Fiona. "F-Fiona?"
Diancie, who was more confused and frightened than she let on, growled. "Who are you?" she demanded, "and what has happened to the greninja that was just there moments ago?"
At first, her words didn't sink in as Drexel glared at her. A second passed, and her words finally sank in. He looked down at himself and gasped. Wait, he thought as he stared at his hands, I'm a human again? But how?
He shot a panicked look to Fiona. What if she didn't recognize him? By the looks of it, she looked more shocked than anything. There was a flicker of recognition in her eyes, much to his relief. From behind her he noticed Aldous. He looked like his eyes were about to pop out with how wide they were.
"Enough of this!" Diancie declared, a hoard of diamonds appearing around her again. "I care not for who you are! You are a trespasser and all trespassers must be annihilated!"
Sensing the beginning of another fight, Drexel got into a fighting stance. He tried summoning his trademarked water shurikens, but grew horrified when he realized that he was defenseless.
Diancie smirked as she launched the attack. The hoards of diamonds that once surrounded her were now directed towards Drexel. However, before they could even reach him, Fiona jumped in the way and deflected each diamond away with her staff.
Once the attack was ceased, Fiona held it in front of her protectively. "Sorry, but I won't let you harm him."
"Hmph, it would appear that I must dispose of you first then," Diancie snorted, calling forth more diamonds.
Drexel eyed the fairy/rock type. There was something off about her. He hadn't felt anything off about the chandelier pokémon until now. Now it was calling out to him, pleading for him to save her.
He directed his attention over to the tri-colored orb. Was it possible that its crack caused this pokémon to become corrupt? That has to be it, he thought. If I can somehow fix that crack, then this pokémon might return to normal!
"I need you to cover me," Drexel whispered. Fiona eyed him suspiciously from the corner of her eye.
"Why? What are you up to?"
"That orb," he continued to whisper, "I have a feeling that if I find a way to fix it, then this battle will be over. Don't you feel it? There's something…off about this pokémon."
Fiona nodded. She did feel something off about the pokémon after she completed her transformation. It was an odd, but new feeling to her. It was like she'd become sensitive to the other pokémon in the room. She could feel Aldous' pain and the surprise and fear rolling off of the tiny jewel pokémon fluttering about Diancie nervously, but nothing stuck out more than the strangeness emitting from Diancie.
She grimaced at the idea of letting a defenseless Drexel make a run to the orb. "It's far too dangerous – especially now that you seemingly have none of your powers."
"Which is exactly why I'm asking you to cover me."
"I don't think that this is-"
There was a sudden explosion near Diancie, causing the two to stop in their argument. Aldous, one ear dripping with blood, but standing in a fighting stance, was summoning another shadow ball in the palms of his paws.
"Go!" he yelled. "Quit yer bickering and GO!"
Drexel, nodding his head approvingly towards Aldous, darted out from behind Fiona and towards the tri-colored orb. Displeasure washed over Fiona's face towards Drexel's actions, but followed him nonetheless. She used her staff to deflect any attacks coming from the carbinks; occasionally stopping to summon magical leaves or energy balls to attack the pursuing carbinks.
Diancie, noticing where Drexel was heading, turned to attack him when another shadow ball exploded by her. She turned angrily to see Aldous grinning at her. He already had another shadow ball charging up between his paws. "Thankfully your attacks aren't very damaging," he mocked, "so I'm still itching for a fight!"
Angered by his mockery of her strength, she flew at him. She picked up boulders and shot them at Aldous. He countered each one with a shadow ball. He winced each time the debris hit him, but still stood. It was taking everything in him to continue standing and fighting, but he wasn't about to let Diancie sabotage his teammates from completing their mission. So, with great determination, he continued to stand and attack.
More boulders were flung at him, and he countered each one up until Diancie was practically on top of him. He dodged each physical blow she sent at him. With a screech of anger, she summoned up jagged rocks from the earth. He yelped, barely dodging the attack. He stumbled away from the rocks, but fell not soon after. Blood was coming from the fresh wound on his leg.
Diancie stalked towards him. Fury flashed in her eyes as she plucked boulders off the ground, smirking as she was about to crush him.
Aldous felt relief wash over him as he watched Drexel grab the orb. There was a blinding flash, the sound of rocks crumbling, and finally, darkness.
When the light died down, both Fiona and Drexel were back to their previous forms. Fiona was stumbling around a bit after being reverted back to her normal self. Drexel, on the other hand, was clutching the tri-colored orb in his hands. The crack that had been there was now gone.
When the disorientation finally passed, the duo looked over to the spot that Diancie and Aldous were last seen fighting. Drexel nearly dropped the orb in his hands, his eyes widening at the sight. Fiona collapsed onto her knee, her teary eyes locked on the spot. She was shaking her head in disbelief. "No…"
What stunned the two pokémon was the sight. Large boulders now covered the spot, seemingly crushing both Aldous and Diancie under its weight. There were no signs indicating that either pokémon had escaped from the rubble. Even the carbinks were gone.
Drexel carefully placed the orb back on its pedestal before running over to the boulders as fast as he could. He kept muttering, "No, not Aldous…" as he attempted to move the boulders. Finding himself greatly lacking in strength, he was unable to move the boulder. He collapsed to his knees, staring at the boulders blankly. Aldous, his best friend and group tactician, was gone.
He could hear Fiona wailing behind him. He was beginning to fall into the darkness of despair when he heard an unfamiliar, but gentle voice behind him. "Why are you crying?"
Surprised and ready to attack, he jumped to his feet and spun to meet the small, pink pokémon. Startled by his sudden movements, she backed away. Drexel just stared at her. She looked an awful lot like the large pokémon they'd just been fighting, but she was significantly smaller.
"Who are you?" he choked, barely able to hold back his tears.
She regarded him silently for a moment. Finally, with a smile, she said, "I am Diancie. I am the Guardian of this tower, and the protector of the Orb of Geoma. Pardon me for asking, but are you the one who has saved me from the corruption that overtook me?"
"You're Diancie?!" he cried out. "But you're… just a small fry! You can't be that big pokémon we just fought!"
She huffed and put her hands on her hips. "Small fry? I'll have you know I'm one of the strongest pokémon out there! The form you just fought was my mega form, though…" she tapped her chin thoughtfully, "it was corrupted because of the crack in the orb. You broke the curse on me when you fixed the orb! So thank you very much!"
"But all I did was grab it…"
"The light from this," she pointed to his mega bracelet, "was absorbed into the orb and repaired it. So, really, all you needed to do was hold it!"
She spun around happily, completely ignoring the sullen florges that floated to Drexel's side. Her eyes were locked on the boulders in front of them. Diancie stopped when she noticed the depressed florges and examined the spot.
"He was a brave one," she spoke. "Extremely brave to take me on in the shape he was in."
Fiona looked at her hopefully. "Do you have an idea if he's safe?"
Diancie shook her head. "No, I'm sorry."
Suddenly she stared at the large window. "Your friends need you. The fight has only just begun, my friends."
She looked back to them. "I understand this loss is hard, but you must not let it bring you down! Make haste, human, for the other chosen ones are in need of your assistance!"
Drexel, his face devoid of emotion, nodded. "Let's go," he said to Fiona.
"I wish you nothing but the best on your journey," Diancie smiled.
He didn't respond. He just walked away. Fiona silently thanked Diancie before running off to catch up with him. Diancie's smile grew as they disappeared down the stairway. "You'll love the surprise waiting outside the tower for you, human. It is my way of thanking you for saving our world and this tower from a horrible fate."
-x-x-x-x-
- Outside of Geoma Tower -
Drexel was staring off into the sky. Any fight that he had in him before was now gone. His mind thought of how Diancie emerged from the wreckage fine, but not his friend. It angered him that the small pokémon was happy and content with her freedom, but not have the slightest clue if their friend was fine.
It tormented him. He didn't want to believe it, but chances were that Aldous was dead. If he was alive, then he was certain that Diancie would've shown them. But to know that the legendary pokémon didn't have the slightest notion had sucked out any hope that he had left of his friend's survival.
It tormented him further when he would look at Fiona. Because of their close bond, he could feel the waves of despair rolling off of her. Her eyes were blank; she was like an empty shell just doing things that anyone commanded of her. He understood why she was so sad. She'd known Aldous since the two of them hatched. They'd practically been friends their entire lives.
He shifted his stare away. They still had one more mission to complete. They still needed to regroup with Celine and her team and help them defat the Dark Army once and for all.
"Are you up to it?" he asked without much thought.
She looked to him curiously. At first she was confused by what he was asking, but realized what it was he was asking moments later. She lowered her gaze. "I'm still coming," she murmured. "I just…need some time. Is that all right?"
"Yes," he said. "Take as long as you need." Fiona smiled gratefully and levitated away from him.
Suddenly, a large orb of light appeared in front of Drexel. He yelped out in surprise and jumped back in preparation for another fight. He paused when nothing happened.
As the orb became more transparent the contents inside of it became visible. Drexel's mouth dropped to the ground as he immediately recognized the small form. "Aldous?"
Aldous' unconscious form descended on the ground, and with a pop! the orb vanished. Drexel and Fiona were at his side in seconds. As they looked him over, they found none of his previous wounds. It was only when he started to stir that they stopped and waited patiently.
"Ugh," he grunted, sitting up, "what the heck just happened?"
"ALDOUS!" Fiona screamed happily. She brought him into a tight hug. "You're okay!"
"Too…tight," he choked. She released him, rubbing the back of her head apologetically. "And of course I'm alive. What the heck did you think happened?"
The psychic feline watched as both of his friends either chuckled weakly or looked away. "…Okay, seriously, what happened?"
"Drexel fixed the orb," the flower-like pokémon murmured, "there was a flash, and we were back to normal, but when we looked for you or Diancie…"
"Diancie!" the meowstic shouted as he jumped to his feet, "where is she?"
"She's fine." Drexel folded his arms, settling his gaze on the large window with a knowing smirk. "She returned to normal once the orb was fixed."
Aldous perked up at the words. "Then that means that the Tower of Geoma has been restored? The natural disasters will cease?"
Drexel nodded. The feline jumped to his feet excitedly and danced around. As victorious as they were in that moment, they knew that the real fight would only be beginning.
After a moment of enjoying their victory over the tower, Fiona cleared her throat. She looked off into the distance, silently telling her friends that it was time to move on. Drexel put a hand on her shoulder reassuringly and nodded.
"Let's get going," Aldous said from behind the couple. "We need to return to Team Cosmic's base."
This has to be the longest chapter that I've written for the entire story... Anyway, I hope you enjoy the long chapter! I hope to have part 2 of Team Solar Spiral's up soon! Please leave a review of what you think so far! :)