Zen was too lost in thought to realize where he was going, a common occurrence for the Bisharp, but still a hassle to deal with. The island was quite expansive, and whenever this happened Zen would normally shrug it off and use the chance to explore as he made his way back out, using the Mountain as a guide point.
This time, Zen had found himself in a part of the forest with abnormally thin trees, about as thin as his arms, and they grew to the same size as normal trees. The temperature had dropped, and the soil was crumbly, almost... rotten.
"This is... odd..." Zen said to himself, now also realizing that he still held Kane and Eva under his arms. "Kane won't last long in this temperature. I should probably get him out of here."
Zen looked through the foliage for the Mountain, but wasn't able to see it from there. He carefully placed Kane and Eva on the ground and pulled on a tree to see how strong it was. He gripped its trunk tightly and was fascinated when it deformed in his grasp, as well as when it took back its original shape once he let go. He tried to see how much of his weight it could bear, but the moment he tried to pull himself up, the entire tree bent over as if it had no support at all, like a pool noodle.
"These are so absurdly weak and entirely void of the toughness of a tree, but they seem to be very much alive..." Zen thought out loud. "Regardless, it will be impossible for me to climb to a higher vantage point in this section of the woods. How... How exactly did I get here?"
The Bisharp lifted his unconscious companions, picked a direction, and walked. It was sort of difficult to walk, since he sunk into the ground a little with every step, and with the sky almost dark, it was getting more difficult to see. The chill of the night bit harder here than normal. Zen began to worry about Kane's safety, and decided to sprint.
With how much the Bisharp's greaves sunk into the ground with each step, it was possible that sprinting actually made him slower than if he was just walking! It didn't help that he couldn't tell where he was going, either.
"Where the hell am I?" He growled.
Zen, now fed up with the forest, placed Kane and Eva right next to each other and tried to cut down some of the trees to build a shelter to stay in for the night, or at least until they woke up. He used Slash on one of the trees, causing it to splinter and shatter where he sliced it. The tree fell, and once it hit the ground, the rest of it shattered into chips. Zen cursedcussed under his breath and grabbed Eva and Kane again.
"This is just great! Lost in a part of the forest where the trees are malleable, but will shatter when any amount of force is used against them. Fantastic!"
After running in the dark for a little while, Zen felt something watching him. He gave it no mind, thinking little of it, but became alert when he heard something moving around him. He couldn't risk Kane and Eva by staying to figure out what it was, so he trudged on. Eventually, the sounds grew closer and closer, confirming that the Bisharp was being followed. Zen cleared his mind and focused, listening for when whatever was following him would be close enough for him to take out easily.
He sped up in order to force his pursuer to match him, and waited a minute or so before abruptly slowing down and changing direction, just to pick his speed back up again. This went on until Zen was certain his pursuer was expecting his next move, and made the mistake of closing the distance just enough for Zen to have an idea of where they were. In two swift and concise movements, Zen tossed Eva into the air and fired a Dark Pulse to his right, shattering through several trees and tearing through the ground.
"Hmph. That should do it." Zen said to himself, catching Eva as she fell back down. He walked over to where he fired his attack at, curious to know who it was, and was surprised to find nothing there, other than the shattered wood.
Despite the cold biting at him, Zen's intrigue overpowered his need to get out of there, and he decided to investigate the area a little more. It was too dark to see, as if there was anything to see, but when Zen was about ready to head on out again, he accidentally kicked a small, round object. He reached for it and felt something with the same texture of an Oran Berry.
"A Berry? Out here?" Zen asked himself, breaking it in half and feeling it's juice ooze on his hands. "And it's surprisingly full, too..."
Could whatever was following him somehow have evaded his attack, and left this berry on accident? If that were true, Zen would be somewhat worried at the prospect of a Pokemon capable of such a feat. The Bisharp was sure he lured the pursuer close enough for his attack to easily land, and he found the idea of him being a failure on his part to be laughable at best. He was about to toss the berry and be on his way when a sudden, overpowering aroma invaded his body. Sweetness, bitterness, spiciness, even sourness and savoriness, hit Zen all at once.
"I-Is that... the Oran Berry..?" He asked, keeping himself from drooling. "No, what sort of berry is this?"
His immediate instinct was to devour it and see for himself, but a part of him warned that that was a bad idea. Unfortunately, it didn't take much for that part of him to be shut down by the desire to eat this berry whole. With the savagery of a beast, Zen scarfed the entire berry into his mouth and swallowed it whole, coughing and choking a little since he didn't bother to chew it.
The taste was just as fantastical as the scent; almost every flavor a berry could have was dancing around on his tongue. A warm sensation traveled pulsed throughout his body. Once he finally got past the punch of the berry, Zen held his head in shame of his actions, but was relieved that the only other Pokemon around were still unconscious.
"Wh-What's gotten into m- G-GAAAAHHHHGGGG!" Zen dropped to his knees, clutching his chest as an intense pain shocked his system.
Eva and Kane were on the floor, still blissfully asleep, while Zen was in utter agony. He could hear his mind screaming and his body aching as dark aura was drawn out from his body, and his pained screams filled the forest. With everything inside of him now burning, his body feeling as if it was overflowing with his own aura and moments away from bursting, and the darkness and bitter cold of the night were the last things he experienced...
...Zen blacked out...
Rio woke up groggy and half asleep. His body was somewhat sore, and he felt like he might've had a dream and was annoyed he couldn't remember any of it. The Lucario yawned and stared at the morning sky, tinted red and orange. Shortly after, Kora and Minerva woke as well. Kora stretched out his body and yawned, and Minerva just laid in the same spot and stared into the sky.
"Uhhggg, my back..." Kora groaned. "The ground was so soft when I went to sleep, why is my everything sore?"
"Maybe we shouldn't have slept outside, my back's as stiff as a rock," Minerva said.
Rio sat himself up and stretched his arms and legs. "To be honest, I don't feel much different than I did last night. My chest does feel a little hot though..."
"Well, look on the bright side, this is probably the first time I woke up at dusk! Maybe it means something good will happen today?" Kora said with a grin.
"Firstly, it's dawn. Secondly, what does wakin' up early gotta do with what happens durin' the day?" Minerva asked, lightly jabbing the fox in his side and standing up.
The trio snagged a few berries and went inside the tent. Rio folded up the blanket Diana lent him and placed it next to the entrance to the garden, noticing that Diana was still asleep, and that Kai and Mia were nowhere to be found. Kora noticed a note attached to a tied-up cloth next to Diana, and motioned for Minerva and Rio to go on ahead without him. He quietly tip-toed towards his sleeping mother, grabbed the cloth, and looked at the note.
"If you wake before I do, I've left you three some macarons to snack on~!
Love, Diana.
P.S. Try not to get into any fights, Sweeties!"
"I should ask Minerva what this says..." The fox muttered to himself, opening the cloth to reveal a bunch of macarons. "Ooooooooo!" Kora popped a biscuit into his maw, and placed the note in his mane. He caught up to his friends before they went on one of the forest paths, snacking on another macaron.
"Alright, hopefully no one else will be at the springs this early. Once you get in the water, Rio, you won't want to leave it!" Kora said with an excited smile, handing some of the macarons to Rio and Minerva.
"I'll have to take your word for it. Lead the way." Rio replied, returning a smile. As they went down the path, a small, ominous chill crept up Rio's spine. He had a strange feeling that something bad was going to happen, but dismissed it. The jackal finished his macaron and tried to shake the feeling off, following behind Minerva and Kora.
A little while down the path Kora remembered that he had that note. He wiped his paws together to get the crumbs off and reached into his mane to get it. Once he had it, Kora tapped on his feline friend's head and handed it to her.
"What's up?" Minerva asked, grabbing the note from Kora's claws. "it's just a note? Ooooh... right."
"What?" Rio asked.
"I never learned to read." Kora answered with an innocent smile. "Not a lot of things to read on an island, after all."
"Ya mom left these macarons for us and asked we didn't get into a fight." Minerva told Kora as she finished reading the note. She crumbled it up and tossed it back into Kora's mane.
"Wait, how come Minerva knows how to read then?" The Outlander questioned.
"I wasn't born on the island, Blue. I've only been here like, ten years." Minerva replied. "I don't really remember too much off the island. I've been in the guild's care for a long while, and they did a pretty good job at not tellin' me shit."
"Then…" Rio tapped his chin, turning back to Kora. "Why don't y-"
"OOOOOH! Hold that thought, we're close to the springs!" Kora excitedly interrupted Rio and walked faster. Rio looked at Minerva, getting a shrug. Rio tried to remind himself to ask Kora about it later. Well, it's not that important, but he was still curious about it.
As the air got hotter and more humid, the trio finally arrived at the vacant hot springs. The springs were basically pond-sized pools with rocks of varying sizes all along the edge. A torrent of bubbles could be seen rising up from the bottom of the spring, causing the water to have an opaque whiteness to it. There were three pools in total, all of different sizes, and there was a small waterfall cascading from the larger pools to the smaller pools The trees around the area had more vibrantly colored leaves than elsewhere in the Valley, which only added to the serenity of the springs.
"Before we go in, I wanted to add something to the water." Kora mentioned, pulling out three roses, one red, one white, and one light blue from his mane. He plucked the flowers from their stems, and threw them into the largest spring, and watched as they flowed down the waterfalls into the lower springs.
"What are those supposed to do?" Minerva asked, wondering how Kora got his paws on those flowers in the first place.
"I dunno, I keep forgetting to ask my mom why she does this whenever we come here. I think it's just to make it look fancy!" Kora waved his paws over his head. The fox and feline both jumped right into the largest hot spring. Rio, however, slipped and fell inside. The heat of the water hit him so suddenly that he scrambled back out of the water. Minerva and Kora snickered at the Lucario.
"Are you ok, Rio? It might just be me but you look quite heated at the moment." Kora joked. Minerva and Rio both booed his pun.
"How is it that I'm always tellin' ya that ya jokes suck, and yet you never improve?" Minerva teased. Kora rolled his eyes and stuck his tongue out at the Meowth.
"Maybe 'cuz all you ever say is that they suck, and whenever I use a good one you punch me into orbit!" Kora replied, splashing Minerva.
"I don't remember hittin' ya when ya made a good joke! I only hit ya when ya deserve it!" Minerva retorted, splashing Kora back.
"But you didn't hit me this time, which means you liked this one!" Kora cheered.
Rio, with much more caution this time, eased himself back into the water. Now that he wasn't falling in face-first, the spring felt much more soothing to him. Their soreness seemed to melt away, and a look of pure relaxation was present on each of their faces. It was a much tamer form of bliss than when they tried the fresh pies, but maybe just as peaceful.
"Ahhhhh. I could stay here all day~." Rio said with a relieved sigh. His two friends nodded.
"If it weren't the fact that other Pokémon use 'em, I'd never leave 'em~." Minerva stated, her head laid just barely above the water.
"Yeah, this is pretty great!" Kora agreed. He had taken off the large blue gem that held his mane in place, and it spread out like a very large fan. Kora managed to get some of it trapped in his mouth and had to spit out some of his own hair. For a moment, Rio thought he was talking to a sentient wig. Unfortunately, the trio wouldn't be alone for long.
"Well, here we are!" a voice spoke from the woods. "Maybe the hot springs can loosen you up, right Zen?"
Kora groaned and sank into the water, probably unaware that his lustrous mane still gave him away. Minerva opened her eyes and angrily floated beside Kora and Rio. He couldn't tell why his companions were getting so bothered by the voice they heard, until he saw who it belonged to and who was accompanying her. Rio and Minerva laid their eyes on Eva, Kane, and Zen at the same time those three saw them, and an equally distasteful groan emitted from the two groups.
"Oh goddamnit..." Kane groaned.
"I could say the same damn thing..." Minerva said, glaring at the three. "Why doncha head into one of the lower pools so I don't gotta think about ya any longer than I have to?"
"We'd actually prefer this one. Since it's more than big enough for the six of us, it should be fine." Eva said halfheartedly. She then pretended to have just seen Rio. "Oh! Are you the Outlander? Wow, it's crazy running into you here!"
Kora then suddenly rose from the water, gasping for air and spreading the hair from his eyes. "H-How about you guys don't? We got here first, so we have first dibs on this one!"
"It's a huge pool, jackass! The hell do the three of ya need all this room for?!" Kane aggressively replied, plopping himself into the water and forgetting how hot the water was. To save face, he stayed in and toughed it out.
Eva and Zen also got in, although the latter had an air about him that read as 'borderline furious.' It was normal for the Bisharp to look unfriendly, but he had a coldness to him that nearly froze the springs. To make everything more unnerving, he kept his deathly gaze on Rio. After giving the three who just arrived one last look over, Kora shut his eyes and allowed himself to enjoy the springs, but Minerva and Rio were starting to get a bit antsy.
"Hey Rio," Minerva whispered to the jackal, "I'm gettin' the feelin' that we should leave, like right now."
"Yeah, I'd really hate for us to get in another fight with these guys. Also, I think Zen has been glaring at me this whole time." Rio whispered back, taking a quick glance at Zen to prove he was right. After a long moment of silence, Minerva finally decided to get out of here.
"Well I'm all rested up, I say we get outta here boys!" She said, quickly dragging Kora and Rio out the water.
"Wha- aaaaaawwwww..." Kora groaned. "Hold on, lemme get my hair thingy." The fox shook the water from his fur and reached for the large crystal ball, but accidentally pushed it instead of grabbing it. He attempted to grab it again, but it rolled away from him before he even got close to it.
"C'mon, Kora! Hurry it up!" Minerva rushed the fox, somehow already dry.
Kora was getting close to the crystal ball, but whenever he was just about to grab it, it just scooted away from him! It probably looked like he was kicking it or pushing it with his paws, but he was starting to get frustrated at this point. After chasing the ball to the other side of the spring, Kora pounced at it, hoping that he'd finally catch the stupid thing!
Unfortunately, when he reached his arms out and tried to close his paw on both sides of the ball, either it jumped out of the way or he accidentally swiped it pretty damn hard, because the ball shot to the side and crashed into the back of Zen's head, bounced high into the air, and slammed down on the top of the his head!
Everybody was speechless. Both at Kora somehow being so inept at grabbing a giant ball that he chased it around a spring, and also at Zen's lack of an immediate reaction to being hit that hard in the back of the head. The Bisharp kept his head submerged for a worrying amount of time, and Kora tried to creep into the woods after finally grabbing his crystal ball.
"Uh, Zen? You ok buddy?" Kane asked, cautiously placing a hand on Zen's back. The second he was touched, Zen smacked Kane's hand away and rose his head from the water. His face didn't change, but there was a menacing red glow in his eyes.
"Do not touch me." The Bisharp said, freezing the Scrafty in fear. Zen lifted himself out of the water and turned to face Kora, who went stiff. Minerva and Rio hurried over and stood between Zen and Kora.
"H-Hey, it was an accident! I get that you're having a bad day, but whatever it is you're about to do isn't-!" Rio was interrupted by Zen pushing him out of the way. Several feet out of the way.
"Cool it, Zen!" Minerva said firmly. "It can't've hurt that much!
Zen responded by grabbing Minerva by her head and lifting her up to his face. "Stay. Out. Of. My. Way." He ordered, tossing Minerva behind him.
Zen faced Kora, and a look of pure dread washed over the fox's face. He couldn't get his body to move. He desperately wanted to get the hell out of there, but it felt like he was trapped in a very handsome, Zoroark-shaped rock. Zen raised his hand and an intense ball of malice and rage formed in front of his palm, which drew out a terrified scream from Kora. The fox shielded his face with his arm, and it seemed like he was about to be blasted to smithereens, when Eva grabbed Zen's arm and stopped him.
"Zen. That's enough." She told him, not letting go of his arm. Zen glanced over at the Zangoose and his anger seemed to increase a hundredfold.
"Unhand me at once." The Bisharp demanded, but not trying to free himself at all. Eva refused, and even Kane decided to help her by grabbing Zen's other arm. "You both are going to regret this."
"Make me, Metalhead." Kane challenged Zen's warning. "You've always been a hardass, but what the hell is up with you today? It's like you've been nothin' but pissed since we saw you this mornin'!"
"Weren't you the one getting at me for being excessively rough with Kora? Aren't you being a bit of a hypocrite now?" Eva pointed out.
"I will... destroy... the both of you..." Zen grumbled. a burning sting caused Kane and Eva to recoil and let go of his arms. Darkness began to rise from his body, a black flame that caused the air around the springs to grow heavy, and a sinister red glow appeared around his body. "I-I will..! I... will..!" Zen grabbed his head and started to shake and stumble in pain, choking on his own words and scratching at his helmet.
"Wha-What's g-going on?" Kora stuttered, peeking from between his claws.
"I got no goddamn idea! He's never done this before! A-And what's that black stuff... aura?" Kane replied, starting to regret acting tough earlier. "I-Is it supposed to be that dark?"
"I-It's... I-I-I..." Eva froze up, her paws violently shaking and sweat dripping from her face. A familiar and horrifying dread crept up her back as she stared at the black flames engulfing Zen, and the piercing red glow in his crazed eyes. Kane tried to get her attention, but nothing seemed to work.
Zen exploded with darkness, the sinister aura taking the form of a roaring fire of darkness around him. He stared forward, emotionless, until he focused his eyes on the three that pissed him off in the first place. A maniacal grin stretched on his face, and his body stance changed to match. His normally collected and high-and-mighty nature was replaced with that of beast, and what was more terrifying was how well it suited him.
"Z-Zen?" Kane said, swallowing his fear long enough for him to speak. "A-Are you ok?"
"..." Zen looked at Kane and started chuckling to himself. "Hehehehehehe... HAAAAAAAAA-HAHAHAHAHA!" The fiendish laughter was a clear sign, along with the darkness and red glow, that Zen was not himself.
Kane got himself ready to fight, but was worried when it looked like he was going to be the only one fighting. Eva was still frozen, Kora was having some sort of panic attack, and Minerva and Rio weren't anywhere to be seen. The Scrafty knew he barely stood a chance against Zen when he wasn't a crazy beast, even with Eva fighting alongside him. But, he wasn't gonna let that stop him from protecting Eva and snapping Zen out of whatever this was! It was probably the adrenaline, or just his nature shining through, but Kane decided to make the first move.
"Well?! Come at me, freak!" Kane shouted, stomping his foot on the ground and unknowingly drawing out his own aura. Zen closed the gap between him and Kane in the blink of an eye, slamming his knee into Kane's stomach. The Scrafty fell to the ground, his vision now blurred and his body numbed by the pain coursing through it. Luckily, it was enough for Eva and Kora to snap out of it. Eva grabbed Kane and ducked out of the way, and Kora pushed both of his paws out, a red ball of flame burning in front of them.
"Incinerate!" Kora shouted, firing a powerful bolt of fire and Zen. The attack was dense, and powerful enough to push Kora back just by firing it. It struck Zen in his chest, and it sent the Bisharp back several yards.
"G-Gah..." Zen muttered, clutching his head, despite the attack hitting elsewhere. "Th-That hurt... Hahaha... HAHAHAHAHAAAAA!"
"That looked like it hurt!" Minerva said, suddenly popping out of Kora's mane and startling the fox. "Maybe, keep doin' that!"
"When did you... Nevermind. Can you help me fight him?" Kora asked, getting an affirmative nod from his companion. Rio finally showed himself too, carrying a branch that was about the same size as he was. "Oooooooo, nice stick!"
"It worked the last time I was fighting him, since I can't actually fight... Hopefully this doesn't turn out as bad as last time..." Rio muttered that last part to himself, standing beside Kora and readying his branch. Zen laid his eyes on the Outlander and frowned.
"It's you. Agh, I DESPISE everything you stand for, SCUM!" The Bisharp spat. "How DARE you show up and survive a battle against me?! ME?!"
'Ah, I see. This is gonna be even worse than last time,' Rio thought to himself, accepting the amount of hurt he was about to be put through.
"Alright, since he seems to want me dead, I guess I'll go in and thwack 'im with this branch, and you can do that fire thing you just did," Rio told Kora before turning to Minerva. "Hey, you feel like getting knocked around senselessly for a while?"
"Goddamnit..." The Meowth groaned. "Fine! But ya owe me a pie, fox!" Minerva pointed at Kora before getting beside Rio and preparing herself to fight.
Zen rushed in and tried to Slash at Rio, who got pulled down by Minerva and was used as a springboard so she could uppercut the Bisharp. Once he was airborne, Zen was hit with another Incinerate by Kora and got blasted out of the sky. Rio swung the branch as Zen landed, but he barely got two swings in before the branch was broken with a swift punch.
Zen grabbed hold of Rio's arm and crushed it in his gauntlet, causing Rio to yell out in pain. Minerva hurried over and kicked Zen in the side of his helmet. Zen grabbed his head again and glared at Minerva and Rio, charging the two down in blind fury.
"Sorry about this, Rio!" Minerva apologized.
"Sorry for wha-aaaaAAAAAAHHHH!" The Outlander was grabbed and thrown high up into the air, with Minerva still holding on, taking them safely out of harm's way. Another blast of fire struck Zen, courtesy of Kora.
"Scum! All of you, SCUM! Why won't you just stand there and allow me to EVISCERATE YOU?!" Zen yelled, throwing his palms forwards and firing a Dark Pulse. The attack was quicker than Kora was ready for, he couldn't counter it. He raised his arms to block it and braced for the impact.
"Dark Pulse!" Kane yelled, his attack colliding with Zen's before it could reach Kora. However, the explosion still blew the fox back. "Can you finally chill the hell out?! This is startin' to piss me off!"
"You again? Wait... where is-!" Zen was struck in the back by Eva's Crush Claw, but he looked mostly unaffected by it. "There you are..." The Bisharp slammed his elbow into Eva's chest, knocking her on her back. Zen was about to kick her when he was suddenly knocked over by a Lucario crashing into his back.
"Sorry again, Rio!" Minerva shouted, wincing as the jackal crashed into Zen's back.
"Why... me..?" Rio muttered, his head spinning. It took a moment for him to realize where he was and he quickly sprung to his feet.
Zen was face down on the ground, unmoving. Rio sensed danger and quickly helped Eva up, the two getting a good distance away from Zen just as darkness exploded around him. Zen slammed his fist on the ground and stood up, facing the other Pokemon. He held his head with one hand, the other pointed at Rio. For a brief moment Rio felt something different, like from when he and Zen first fought.
"M...Move!" He shouted, firing a Dark Pulse at the Lucario. Rio jumped out of the way, narrowly avoiding the attack. "I-I almost... got.. it..! K-Keep... fighting..!" The Bisharp strained to say, falling to a knee.
"Zen!" Eva exclaimed, joined by Kane.
"Don't worry, Metalhead!" Kane told Zen before turning to Kora and the others. "We gotta knock more sense back into him"
"Don't tell me-!" Minerva was about to snap at the Scrafty, but Rio nudged her and shook his head.
"Now really isn't the time!" The Outlander quickly scolded the feline.
Zen stood back up, his movements more jagged and forced. He was trying to control himself, the darkness slowly getting weaker and weaker. Despite that, he still packed a punch. Zen rushed forward and struck Eva, knocking her to Kane, and tried to fire a Dark Pulse at them. Rio was able to pull Zen's arm away, but got punched in the gut as a result. Minerva grabbed Zen by his legs and spun him around, throwing him skywards.
"Incinerate!" Kora fired another attack at Zen, but it was counteracted with a Dark Pulse. The two attacks exploded and shrouded Zen in smoke. A moment later, another Dark Pulse parted the smoke, aimed directly at Kora.
"Dark Pulse!" Kane again stopped Zen's attack with his own. After that, Kane felt someone grab onto his tail, and saw Minerva standing behind him. "D-Don't you dare!"
"I'm darin'!" She yelled, quickly spinning and throwing Kane towards Zen.
The Scrafty wasn't ready to do an attack, so he and Zen painfully butted heads and came crashing back down to Earth. Both Pokemon hit the ground, but Kane was in the most pain. He cussed under his breath as he rolled off his back and tried to stand.
"I really hate you..." He glared at Minerva, who pretended to be innocent.
Zen stood for a moment but wasn't stable enough to stay balanced. The Darkness around him began to waver, and the red glow around him and in his eyes began to fade. He began to breathe rapidly, and although it seemed he was almost able to shrug the strange influence off, he raised his arm up one last time and prepared another Dark Pulse.
"M-Move! Get out of the way" He warned, his attack aimed at Kane. "Hurry! It's already-!"
Zen's attack fired mid-sentence, ripping through the ground on it's way to Kane. The Scrafty tried to jump out of the way, but his body was too beat up and he fell. Kane tried to fire his own Pulse, but couldn't charge one fast enough. Seconds before the attack hit him, a bolt of fire collided against it. Kane shielded his face from the smoke, and felt someone pick him up from the ground. Rio stood there, smirking at him before focusing back on Zen.
"Hah... Hah..." Zen panted, his arm falling to his side, his body falling forwards, and the black aura dissipating. Relief washed over everyone in a welcome wave. Kora completely dropped the serious face he put on, a fatigued smile replacing it before he fell to the ground, Kane and Rio let out pained groans as their adrenaline seemed to wear off and the aches of battle fully set in, Minerva was trying to get Kora up, and Eva walked over to Zen.
"Oh my god..." Kora groaned, refusing to stand back up. "It's too early for all of this!"
"Quit whinin', we won! And you didn't even have to get roughed up like us!" Minerva replied, flicking Kora's ear.
"Yeah, thanks for that." Eva snapped, sounding more aggressive than she intended. "I-I mean, thanks for helping us..."
"Shit, is 'pissed' the default response ya got for anythin' Kora does?" Minerva asked, not getting a response from Eva.
"How's Zen? Is he back to normal?" Kane asked once the worst of the pain subsided.
"He's definitely out cold, so I guess?" Eva replied, lifting up Zen's arm and letting it go, watching it fall back to the ground like a rock. Kane and Eva got up and were about to lift Zen off the ground when the Bisharp suddenly shot awake and jumped to his feet, surprising everyone, including himself. He looked at his friends, then at Rio and the others, then himself. He moved his limbs and twisted his body, but didn't feel any pain.
Zen opened his mouth to speak, but wasn't able to find the right words. Eventually, he landed on something he was planning on saying later. "I accept your offer to join your team."
With Zen so suddenly waking up after fighting everyone at the springs, and him blurting that last sentence out, Eva and Kane almost couldn't believe what they heard was correct. They looked at each other, then back at Zen.
"Y-You're serious?" Eva asked.
"Like... serious serious?" Kane added.
"Is there another kind of serious?" Zen asked sarcastically, turning towards the woods and walking in that direction. "In fact, there is a serious matter I'd like to discuss with the both of you. Let's go."
"I... Ok! Sure!" Eva said, confused but still happy at how this turned out. The three hardly even waved goodbye to Rio and the other two, the most any of them got was Zen shooting a glance at Rio.
Before they spoke on what had happened, Rio, Kora, and Minerva hopped into a hot spring and mellowed out some. Well, as much as they could after that mess of a morning.
"So... that was something..." Rio stated. "I'm assuming something that doesn't normally happen either?"
"Absolutely not! I've never seen anythin' like that before!" Minerva replied. "That was aura, but I've never even seen aura before! I didn't think I could!"
"..." Kora remained mostly silent on that matter, a vacant look in his eyes. He instead pitched in with a different topic. "Those guys didn't really say thanks before they left! Eva... yelled at me first."
"Awww, don't worry about it! They looked like they were in a rush anyway! Maybe if we run into them again, and don't end up fighting for the third time, they'll thank us properly?" The Outlander assured Kora. "For now, I'm gonna let this spring wash away all my pain... again..."
After a good soak, the trio were back in tip-top shape and left the springs. They headed back to Kora's place, feeling the need to tell Diana what had occurred. When they walked into the tent, the trio were quite surprised to see Zen conversing with Diana. The Bisharp hardly paid them any mind, and stood up.
"I believe these three can tell you what happened in greater detail." He said, walking towards the exit. "My memory is still foggy."
"Wait, Zen!" Diana said, but her call was ignored.
"We will discuss this further, later." The Bisharp replied, giving Rio a glance before leaving.
Diana sighed, but gave her son and his friends a smile and greeted them.
"Good morning, Sweeties! I heard you had quite an eventful morning?." She said.
"That's one way to put it." Rio replied.
"Zen went all crazy and tried to kill us," Minerva added. "And by us, I mean Kora."
"Kora? Why?" Diana asked, turning to her son and grinning at him. "You weren't cracking jokes at him, were you?"
"No, actually. I accidentally hit him with my crystal ball thingy." Kora replied. "I was trying to grab it, but it kept slipping out of my hands and I think I knocked it into Zen's head? I don't think I even touched it to be honest..."
"And after he hit Zen, Zen got wrapped in this black fire and attacked Kora!" Rio added. "He tossed me and Minerva aside like we were nothing!"
"A black... fire? You mean a black aura?" Diana asked, tensing up for a second. "Did... Did all of you see it?"
"Yeah! It was intense! And there was a red glow around his body and in his eyes, too!" Minerva answered. Diana's smile wavered for a second, and she gave off a more serious demeanor than before.
"Th-This isn't good..." She whispered to herself. She put back on a smile and looked at Kora and Minerva. "Excuse me, but would the both of you mind heading to the Square? There's something I need to tell Rio."
The cat and fox looked at Diana for a second, reading that this was very important and waving goodbye. Rio sat down in front of Diana and gulped, a sense of nervousness filling his body.
"What's wrong?" The Lucario Outlander asked. Diana let out a sigh and the air smelled of sparks and electricity.
"There is a slight possibility that Zen was possessed. And if that possibility is true, then there is another slight chance that the Pokemon behind it is an adversary that I laid to rest about two decades ago. A deranged, evil scientist by the name of Maxwell," she explained. "He was a monster and worked with the literal devil, but my team and I took care of them ages ago."
"Well, it can't be him then, right? Y-You defeated him!" Rio gulped, failing to keep his fear from showing.
"We did, I'm more than certain of it. However, with them being as powerful as they were, the idea of either of them coming back to life isn't far-fetched," Diana said. "I'm going to look into this further on my own; you aren't ready to be fighting someone strong enough to do something like that to Zen, let alone Maxwell, if it is him."
Diana stood up and her motherly demeanor returned, giving Rio a sweet smile and placing a paw on his shoulder. He felt comforted by her touch, a small smile finding its way on his snout.
"Once you get into the swing of things, I'm positive you're going to be a better hero than I was. This Outlander stuff is only difficult at the start, I promise!" she told the Lucario, pulling him into a snug hug. Rio felt his face redden as he returned the hug, not sure if he should put his arms around her back or her mane, but quickly deciding to just go around the mane.
"Th-Thank you. I'll do my best!" Rio said confidently, letting go of Diana and heading for the exit. His confidence lasted until Rio was outside, seeing Minevera and Kora had already left. It was difficult to tell what exactly he was worried about, simply knowing those kind of people and monsters existed, or idea that he might have to deal with something like that.
"No, Diana said she'd be the first to know about something like that," Rio shook his head. He brushed his paw on his chest, light static dancing along his fur. "She's already going to look into it, maybe I shouldn't worry so much?" Try as he might, he couldn't shake that worry away.