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Isle of Armor

The problem of leadership is inevitable: Who will play Arceus?

-Johtoian sutra

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"Klara, a word?"

"What is it, sensei?"

"The Association tells me that two new students will be arriving today. Wait at the port until you see them arrive."

"Yes, sensei."

...

Casey and Marvin saw the Isle of Armor from their Flying Taxi. Small and forlorn, the Dojo sat nestled against a range of bushy hills, and white cliffs against dark seas. Beyond the isle was a great veil of mist that reached from north to south as far as the eye could see: the Girdle of the Sword and Sheild. Beyond the Girdle was another range of miniature and unexplored islands, barren and devoid of Pokemon. The Tower of Darkness lay within the Girdle itself, an obscured shape.

The Taxi landed at a narrow pad before the Dojo, where a single woman stood, expecting their arrival. Casey felt as though their arrival sparked distrust, although for what reason she could not fathom.

"Oi, you two. I'm Klara, your senior sparring partner! We've been waiting for you."

"Did Miss Woodhall tell you we were coming?" Marvin asked. "We have important business here, Association-level."

"I don't know any 'Miss Woodhall,'" Klara said, ingesting a tablet of semuta, a drug that, combined with certain musical/lyrical tones, caused heightened awareness and extreme euphoria. "But when Sensei Mustard tells you to go and meet someone, you do." She chewed anxiously. "Well, come in and make yourself at home. This Dojo is the best place to be when the you-know-what hits the fan." She turned, strode back to the Master Dojo.

...

Inside the training complex, Casey saw young men and women battling with Pokemon, or fighting with their bare hands. A dozen Rorian Commandos were performing sit-ups with a massive log across their chests, while an instructor with some of the most colorful vocabulary Casey had ever heard hit them with a whip. Klara noticed Casey staring, and explained what they were doing.

"Oh, don't worry about going through that. Those Rorians come with their own instructors for private training on the island. Meatheads. We call the log they're using 'Old Misery.' Mustard has a good relationship with the Grand Bashar, so everything the Rorians do isn't our business to condemn. Besides, the training certainly works for them." She scoffed. "Compared to the prison training facilities in Almia, this place is a holiday for them."

At the end of the training floor, an immensely aged man sat cross-legged on a tatami mat. "Welcome, young masters!" he called. "Are you here to discover yourselves? Have you become lost in this world of creature comforts? Do you wish to recover your primal urges?"

"Nope!" Casey said. "We're here on Association business, not for training. You see, we want to know if you've found an old-looked sword or shield lying around. Also, have you seen a boy named Henry around?"

"Henry?" The old man's lips curled into a smile. "Ah-h-h-h-h...I am Mustard. I know who you are, Pokedex Holder. Let's not be hasty. We on the Isle of Armor have not learned to fear quite so much as you mainlanders have. The Darkest Day came and went, and we trained like any other day. We do not know of a Rusted Sword or Sheild, but if you wish to stay here and search for them, treat the Dojo as a second home! We are all brothers and sisters here."

Mustard stood, took out a Master Ball. "Kull wahad!" he exclaimed. "I am profoundly stirred by your presence, Pokedex Holder. This Elohim will either become the iday katab, the hand of the scorpion that strikes once, or the anamilan bariyya min al-dam, the fingers clear of blood that strike quickly, depending on how you train it."

He sent out a small, bearlike Pokemon, one that commanded none of the majesty that Casey would expect from an actual spirit-being. "This one I found in a distant land. It is of Elohim-kind, but it has not stepped outside the Dojo much. I think that if it would bond with a mighty trainer whose strength we can trust, it would break out of its self-imposed shell in this age of the mundane and material. It is called Kubfu."

"Sensei!" a blond man in a top hat cried. "I thought you said that you would give that Elohim to the trainer who passed all three Master Dojo trials! Why give it to an outsider who you have just your eyes on instead of a favored student?"

"Because she is an outsider, Avery," Mustard said. "And also the fact that she and her companion are children. Do not underestimate the valor and wit of the young, for they are sharp and quick to flourish. The Bibliographer told me that your name is Casey Sheild. What say you to my offer, child of the West? There might be more good in accepting it with courage and wisdom, blended in measure."

"That's very nice," Casey said, surprised at the sudden offering. "But I already have six Pokemon! I'll get disparaged in the field if I take this Elohim."

"I see..." Mustard said, stroking his beard. "Avery, would you summon the boy? He should have flushed the poison out of his body by now."

Avery slipped away, and brought back a boy robed in linen. "Here he is. Looks to be in remission; the possession might not have gone away."

"Henry!" Casey yelled, hugging him. "I didn't think that we would see you right when we got here! I'm so glad you're alright! How did they find you?"

"He washed up yesterday with his Pokemon," Mustard said. "He was suffering from something terrible. His skin was yellow, he was cursing a blue streak, and the tendons in his arm were ruptured. We took him in and treated him with our hidden arts. He's made a marvelous recovery, and even got back the use of his arm. Still, he had a troubling incident of something that seemed like possession. I do hope he will stay healthy."

"Then all that's left to do is find the Rusted Sword and Rusted Sheild!" Marvin said. "We'll give them back to Zacian and Zamazenta, and destroy Eternatus once and for all!"

Casey grabbed Henry's arm, handed him Kubfu's Master Ball, and started to run out of the Dojo. "Come on! Time for us to sweep this island and find what we need?"

"But, Casey!" Henry protested. "I still have...um, I'm in remission, not recovery. There's a thing inside my head, a dead man trying to get back to the living world through my body." Now Henry's voice became fell. "And why shouldn't I let him? We couldn't destroy Eternatus when we had the chance, and it was my fault! I refused to give the Rusted Sword and Sheild! Yes, I remember it clearly! It was not the poison or any alphabet-soup disorder. It was a conscious choice!"

"I know," Casey said. "And you know too! I know you get all worked up about the Rusted Sword and Sheild. Don't let that thing come back and haunt you because of something you can't control! Tell that memory to leave and never come back!"

...

Henry swallowed, went into the recesses of his mind. There, the ego-memory raged, trying to overcome his Willpower and gain control over Henry's body. "Stop resisting! I, Volo, the Dark Lord's anointed, have unfinished business! Step aside and make your strong walls crumble! Bear no arms against me!"

"No! Leave and never return!"

"I am Volo! You cannot-"

"Leave and never come back!"

"Never!" Volo screamed. "I am a part of you now, Henry Sword!"

"Leave and never come back!"

Volo continued protesting, but his boasts grew small and tinny. The ego-memory fell back into the deepest parts of Henry's consciousness, escaped from ego-space but powerless. He would remain a horrid thing, lurking in the dark, thinking nasty furtive thoughts until he could strike again. But now he was gone. Not cured, but better.

"That was a mental battle to remember!" Mustard said. "The time has come for you to find the two relics you are searching for: reflecting is for after a battle. While in combat you think of only that battle. May Arceus bless you and spread your descendants over the land!"

"Sensei!" Avery said. "We have a shuttle coming in! It's the Vice Chairman of the Association, Pokedex Holder Moon!"

...

"You found Henry?" Moon said, kneeling on the tatami mat next to Mustard. "Time to call off the patrols. Whatever brought both these Pokedex Holders here must have plans greater than we can imagine. I am here only on a simple quest: to find fresh morning sap from the creosote tridintata bush to synthesize and hopefully mass-produce a cure for the toxin that young Henry Sword was exposed to and treat other patients."

"Sap from the creosote bush?" Henry said. "You found a cure?"

"Yes," Moon replied. "Others are suffering from the effects of the toxin, although it seems to be a miracle that you recovered unscathed."

"It must have special properties on the Isle of Armor if you deign to come here," Mustard said. "We gave Applin nectar to Henry, but it was only partially effective. You can find creosote bushes in the Forest of Focus." Mustard snapped his fingers. "Avery, use your skills to help the Vice Chairman."

"Of course," Avery said. "Anything for the Association, my lady."

Klara came into the Dojo again from the training grounds outside, flanked by exosuited Rorian Commandos. "We got a skycopter coming into the area, one that never registered its flight! Looks to be military-grade. How are we to respond, sensei?"

"Hail them in," Mustard said, standing up. "I wonder what they come to our island for! Whoever they may be, we will welcome them with open arms."

.

Author's note: Oh sh*t.

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Monorail to the Crown Tundra

Summer will end, and childhood as well.

-the Legends of Arceus

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Hop looked at the passing tunnel through the mountains north of the Crown Tundra, thinking in the language of dreams. Alive as dreams were alive, more real than real...for a moment, at least...that long magic moment before he awoke.

He saw the plasteel of the train, and thought that fantasy was silver and scarlet, indigo and azure, obsidian veined with gold and lapis lazuli. Reality was plywood and plaz, done up in mud brown and olive drab. Fantasy tasted of malasada and honey, cinnamon and cloves, Bounsweet sugar and rare red meat and wines as sweet as sugar. Reality was tofu and beans with ashes. Reality was the strip malls of devastated Wyndon, the smokestacks of Motostoke, a parking garage in Hammerlocke. Fantasy was the towers of Atun-Kaah, the ancient stones of Old Kalos, the halls of Jublife. Fantasy flew on the wings of dragons, reality on Flying Taxis.

He thought of the Gym Challenge, of his hope of besting his brother. But now, as Leon lay suffering and all of Galar groaned under the strain of recovery, he thought: Why do dreams become so much smaller when they can become true?

I read fantasy to find the colors again, I think. To taste strong spice and hear the song that the sirens sang. There is something old and true in fantasy that speaks deep into our immaculate souls, to the child who dreamt that he would hunt in the forests of night, and feast beneath the hollow hills, and to find love forever south of Hisui and north of Beulah.

"Hop!" Marnie said. "Casey sent us a message: she reached the Isle of Armor and found Henry!"

"Well, isn't that just peachy," Bede said. "Looks like they only have to search a small island for the Rusted Sword or Sheild, while we'll be stuck for weeks combing a frozen wasteland."

"Yeah, about that," Hop said. "Why would Tercano send a couple of kids, no matter how skilled, on a crucial mission to defeat a supernatural threat? Shoudn't he have sent more of his own operatives?"

"He must have a contingency strong enough to risk us going alone," Marnie said. "I heard him saying something about using atomics on Eternatus. Heh...I wonder how that will go over in the next meeting of the Great Convention." She puffed her chest out, and started a mock initiation of Bronze's voice. "Well gosh-by-golly, Mr. Representative-from-another-universe, I didn't want to blow the moon to kernels, there was just a giant insect that I needed to squash, and I sent a bunch of kids off to find the artifacts that could have helped me do it cleanly."

"Maybe he has a soft spot in his heart for cripples and bastards and broken things," Bede said. "Because that's what we are, isn't it?"

"Bede!"

"So what? Once you've accepted your flaws, no one can use them against you. Hop, stop going off-a-dreaming! Boys are meant to grow up and become functioning adults. Marnie, stop worrying about Piers. He'll be fine. I understand that sudden death would be so terribly final, but life is full of enough possibilities as it is. Life in this world is no more significant than a grain of sand in the open Orreian desert."

As the wallscreens announced that only thirty minutes remained in their trip to the village of Freezington, Hop stood and gestured at Bede with an accusatory finger.

"No! I will not listen to you! You may want to cut out my tongue, Bede, but that proves not that I am a liar, but that you fear what I have to say! I will not walk alongside you, a progressive ape! I will not walk along your dusty path, denoting this and that by this and that! I would rather stir the unseen with a glorious song, in which all harpers and singers might choose forever their part of the Original One's limitless sub-creation! Your life is a counterfeit, machine-produced, a false seduction of the already-seduced!"

"What rubbish is this?" Bede sneered. "Don't want to give up your fairy-tales, do you? Come here and settle this like a man, you frail, poorly educated, vainly wishing half-wit-"

The compartment door slid open, and a girl ran in, closed it, then looked about as if for cover. "Please, help! There's a rather persistent old man after me!"

"Old man?" Hop said, rolling up his sleeves. "Don't worry, we're trainers. Here, wear Bede's overcoat, and the scally cap I got from my mum before I left for Wedgehurst. Hide your face with the collar!"
...

Soon, the sliding door opened again. A massive, olive-skinned man dressed in full thermigear with a set of paragoggles hanging around his neck burst into the cabin, saw the trio. "Hey, you kids! Have you seen Nia? Peonia? A pretty girl about your age! I know she was headed this way!"

"Come to think of it," Marnie said. "She went into the car behind this one."

The man pushed past them. "Alright, thanks!"

"Dear Arceus and the Prince and Power of Time!" Hop breathed. "He looks like Rose!"

"No, not at all!" Bede said. "Why would you think such a thing? Shut up!"

Peonia put down the collar around her face. "Thank you! Y'see, I was on my way to take a trip to the Crown Tundra to see if I could catch any rare Pokemon at the Max Lair, just for fun. Thankfully, I missed out on the Darkest Day while riding the lines, but at that time, the old geezer that is Peony, my father, got wind of my scheme and decided to come with me. Then he started calling it an 'adven-tour' to 'discover to truth behind the strange sightings of legendary Elohim in the Crown Tundra,' and put together a plan of his own."

"Your father?" Bede said. "At least he's covering the travel expenses. So, you decided to bail?"

"Yes. He-"

Peony emerged from the cabin behind the trio, saw his daughter. "There you are! No need to run away from me! We're going to have loads of fun in the Crown Tundra!"

The two went away to the rear of the train. "Amusing," Marnie said. "I feel a bit sorry for that girl, but we have a mission to complete. It seems that we are always getting caught up in outrageous business, small or large. I wonder if things are going more smoothly for Casey."

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Isle of Armor

The only time a man can be really brave is when he is afraid.

-Hisuian proverb

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The skycopter landed on the eastern curve of the island, and Mustard assembled a troop of sixteen trainees and Commandos to greet them. They approached the vessel, saw the doors open to the interior.

Casey saw movement, called out. "Hey! Welcome to the Isle of Armor! What are you doing here, anyway?"

At the main control panel, with arms across their chests, stood Sordward and Sheilbert. Wiry and feral, their hair cut, looking like wild Lycanroc, they were covered with dried blood from their hands to their shoulders. "You must be Casey Sheild...and Henry Sword!" Sordward said in a voice that was most unlike what Casey remembered him sounding like. "What a stroke of luck that you were the ones who came to meet us on this island!"

Sheilbert's lips curled into a thin smile. "She looks like a feisty one, Cypress. I'll bet the experiments will yield striking results!"

Henry stepped back, noticing something oddly unfamiliar in their dark eyes and faces. The deadly pair uncoiled their arms, like snakes preparing to strike. "Stun only, Emrett," Sordward said. "Well, only the wife and the children. Kill the others." He laughed. "We want to talk with you, Henry, Casey...and maybe toy with you a bit, until we get our schemes into motion. You can't possibly know who we are, but we have so much potential. You'll just wait and see that."

Not caring what they meant, Henry sent out his Pokemon. Sordward launched himself forward, and Twiggy swung its branch at the man's torso. The impact was solid and should have crushed his chest in, but Sordward only winced, grabbed the branch from Twiggy's hand, and threw it into the sea. Henry staggered away. Sordward didn't even appear bruised!

Emrett-Sheilbert launched at Henry, and Twiggy was too slow to throw its other weapon. A Rorian Commando sent out a Charmeleon, which launched a flare of fire at the attacker's chest. There was a flash of exploding fire that threw Emrett back and into Cypress, setting them both ablaze. They got up again, fire consuming their military clothing as they came forward.

Mustard stepped back, and some less fortuitous students ran away. This eerie couple spouted strange words, and seemed invincible to conventional attackers. "Back! Back to the Dojo and regroup!"

Emrett launched forward with superhuman speed, grabbed a trainee by the neck. His eyes bulged out, astonished. Sheilbert-Emrett lifted him off the ground, struggling to no effect. Cypress glanced dismissively at the young man, then Mustard. "Is this someone special to you?"

"Yes, but-"

Emrett's gaze didn't waver from Henry's as he twisted his wrist in an offhand gesture and crushed the trainee's neck, tossing him aside like a bit of garbage. He sprawled on the ground, twitching.

Casey screamed, began to cry. "You didn't have to do that! Who are you?"

"We are Jonathan Rowell Cypress and Emrett, returned from ego-space beyond the grave!" Sordward-Cypress said, to Moon's absolute horror. Emrett laughed, a rasping squeak like an unoiled hinge. "What do a few dead piles of human rubbish matter? We came for you, Pokedex Holders!"

A Rorian Commando charged, but Cypress blocked his electrablade strike, turned, placed a knee on his back, and crushed his spine. Another trainee, with a brave but foolish yell, had his Scyther slash at Emrett's neck. The moment he moved, Cypress caught him by the neck, broke his larynx. Emrett took a blow from the Pokemon, but the cuts seemed to only be on the top layer of his skin, and with hardly any blood. "Shall we judge your worth first, Pokedex Holders? Or do we need to kill all the others first?"

As soon as the Scyther fell to Emrett's knife, five Rorian Commandos rushed forward, howling. The two possessed men fought like a pair of dust devils, crushed heads, breaking bones, shattering people and Pokemon against the ground. "This is your chance to escape!" a Commando said. "Get back to the Dojo! Now!"

"Stop trying to interfere!" Cypress said. "These are our battles, damn it! Kids, come here. We promise we won't hurt you...yet."

Henry didn't want these people to fight for him, but Mustard and Moon were already dragging him away. Avery psychically lifted up the blades of several fallen warriors, threw them at the demonic duo. The blades pierced their skin, and the force of the onslaught was enough to drive them back to the skycopter. A cut below Emrett's eye nearly had nearly severed his cheek.

Casey and Henry saw an opportunity, sent out Lancelot and Raboot. "Meteor Mash! Flamethrower!"

The attacks collided with the vehicle, which exploded into magma-laced shrapnel. Sordward-Cypress and Sheilbert-Emrett went flying, screaming as they flew into the sea amid a hellish inferno. The two seared bodies floated above the waves for a moment, thrashing, before sinking beneath the dark water and into the mist of the Girdle of the Sword and Sheild.

Henry saw eight bodies, all dead or dying. Casey sobbed, and Moon pulled her in close to the folds of her dress. "Mustard, Henry," she said through tear-filled eyes. "Run as fast as you can back to the Dojo. Don't stop until you contact my husband about this! Something very bad has happened. Something very, very bad."

...

Luckily for Emrett and Cypress, and sadly for the rest of the world, being underwater without needing to breathe makes the entire affair of swimming rather easy, and cold water easily heals burns when combined with a supernatural healing factor.

The two men washed up beyond the girdle, landing on one deserted island. "That was unfortunate," Cypress said. "We were not able to capture any of them. But it seems that we have arrived at our destination."

"Yes," Eternatus said. "Even I was surprised to see that Henry Sword and Casey Sheild were at the Isle of Armor. Of course, once I learned of it, such a change of route was necessary. Now the wife of Bronze Tercano knows that you have returned. This moves our timetable to a much smaller scale, but still a manageable one. You will find the entrance shortly."

Soon, Emrett found a rusted bolt-hatch, covering a plasteel entrance gap. The two descended into the hidden outpost, and found it fully powered and operational. Watcheye drones buzzed, lights shone steady, and along the labyrinthine halls, nutrient vats bubbled. "Good. How long will it take to clone, say, a dozen talented individuals?"

"One day, if I impregnate them with a beneficial ego-memory. The weapon is ready, however. We only require you to make bodies for yourself to activate the clearance permissions for the launch."

At that moment, Cypress realized what the weapon was. "Project Tartarus! More than five thousand vessels, lying hidden where no one would expect them. When they activate, our enemies will crumble in the sudden fury of our attack."

"Very nice. Now, there is an Association fleet approaching me with atomic weapons. Please, work as quickly as you can!"