Ch.60: Thunderous Storms Blowing! The Miracle Lightning Bolt Strikes!

"Well, this is certainly an unexpected surprise."

Team Ravenfield was setting up camp out in a light drizzle before the rains picked up later. It was getting dark out and Tempest Valley was a few hours away, so they took to camping to get their energy back up. There was a village nearby and it would probably be better to take shelter inside a motel or something, but Griffin assured them that the storms won't affect them. Plus, it beats spending more money on room charges.

The gang was doing their own thing to pass the time and rest their legs. Ella was inside her tent with the flap open, laying on her belly as she focused on some small marbles lay out in front of her. Gwyn had a tarp set up over her workstation while she performed her usual experiments on her berries. Flint was reading a book while under her tarp, laying on a blanket to keep the wet grass off of him. Tony was off to the side, firing off Lightning Shots at some rocks he set up, trying out new ways to perfect his accuracy. He tried some handstands, making himself dizzy, and even with his eyes closed.

Griffin and Wes were engaged in a sparring match, clashing Endless Regret with Wes' Septem Gladii Virtutis. The seven magical sword constructs would orbit around Wes until he commanded them to strike. Griffin's blade withered away at the blades due to its magic absorbing properties, which made great practice for Wes to maintain steady energy into the blades. Wes has been meaning to perfect this spell, so training under a professional swordsman was a good call.

However, training got interrupted a moment ago when Griffin received a call from his crystal ball. As usual, it was from Holly and Mack, calling to catch up on things. Griffin was used to the random calls, but this one caught him off guard when they introduced the third face.

Griffin casted Endless Regret back into his personal arsenal and sat down. "Fernando Mangas…I wasn't expecting to see you with my friends."

Fernando laughed awkwardly. "I was just as surprised when I found at they were your friends, too."

Wes popped over Griffin's shoulder and grinned. "Fernando, buddy! What are you doing with them?"

Holly explained for him, "Fernando got himself kidnapped by some cultists, so Mack and I, plus a Delibird friend of his, tracked him down and sprung him free."

Mack snickered. "Wasn't he lucky? He would've been skewered if we haven't come along! Though, the party wasn't as exciting." He groaned sadly. "It's not as fun beating people up when they barely know how to fight back." He resumed snickering. "Oh well, at least I got some enjoyment out of it!"

"So, you three are working together?" Wes asked curiously.

"Yes," Fernando confirmed. "I realized it would be beneficial in our long trek to the Swamp Zone. We got a big lead on the Shadow King's tomb." The Monferno rubbed his chin. "I might take us a month or so to reach our destination."

Flint closed his book and walked over to join in the conversation. "How much have you found out about the Shadow King?"

"Not much. I've already covered this with Hal earlier. All I can say is that you six need to be careful. You've faced the head of shadows a couple times, but don't take those victories for granted. Sooner or later, the shadows will regain their full power. For now, they're biding their time until they beat you to the idol." He pointed seriously at Wes. "Do not let those keys out of your sight!"

Wes laughed. "Oh please, I would never do that!"

Flint shot a deadpan glare at him. "Need I remind you of our first meeting with Tony?"

"Like I said, I would never do that!" Wes repeated with a forced grin forming. Flint rolled his eyes.

"Well, I can count on you," Fernando said. "Still, remember to watch your backs. Those cultists gave me some bad vibes about the Tribe of Shadows."

Holly crossed her arms. "How far on you all, anyway?"

"We're nearing Tempest Valley, a day from our current location," Griffin stated. "We're heading out later tomorrow and will head into the temple the day after."

"Key number four, in the bag!" Wes exclaimed.

"Four keys already?" Holly chuckled. "You're making progress."

Mack smirked. "I guess we shouldn't take up your time. We've got ground to cover, too."

Griffin nodded. "Right. You all take care."

"Same to you, Griffin," Holly said.

Griffin waved his hand over the orb and ended the transmission. He stuffed the orb back into his coat and faced Wes again. "Shall we continue?"

Wes rubbed the back of his head and grinned. "Actually, let's take a break. We've been at it for an hour and I'm feeling pretty hungry." He faced the others and shouted, "Hey, what do we have for dinner?!"

Ella shrugged, not taking her eyes off the marbles. "We have some meat we can cook up." She glared and pressed her paws against the ground as she focused harder on the marbles. "Come on…come on…" They lightly flickered with her psychic energy and got a light roll out of them, but the connection died out. She groaned and slammed her face into the ground. "Great…"

Wes dove through his tent and came back with a cooler in his teeth. "Still havin' trouble with your psychic powers?" he asked.

"I thought they would recover sooner than this. Ugh, how badly did I strain myself?" she mumbled into her pillow.

Griffin sat on the ground, legs crossed, and closed his eyes. "These ailments don't always heal naturally, Ella. It may require a bit more to recover your psychic abilities."

"So, I basically crippled myself? Cheery…"

Even with his eyes closed, anyone could tell Griffin rolled them. "Don't be dramatic. You still have them, they just need an extra push to be released. Your situation is similar to Wes' condition, only yours will eventually come back."

Wes stopped setting up the grill to shoot a glare at him. "Gee, thanks for making me feel sad!"

"I'm not sure that warrants thanks…"

"Well, I'm saying 'thank you' anyway!" He started up the grill and got to cooking their dinner.

Tony decided to call it quits on his training, too. He walked over, maintaining his cool posture. "Eh, don't worry, Ella. You don't need your psychokinetic abilities to be awesome. You still got your sass and wit."

Ella smirked. "Trying to flirt with me now?"

"Well, I wasn't trying to then…want me to now?" he asked with a flirty grin.

Ella chuckled and looked away. "In your dreams, Casanova."

Tony shrugged. "Whatever. I've got my eye on another pretty lady, anyway."

Flint shot a glare at him. "And who are you talking about?" he asked in a warning tone.

Tony smirked. "Not your girl, Romeo," he whispered, making the Flareon blush in embarrassment and retreated back. "Anyway, like I said, don't worry about the psychic thing, El. As long as you keep to your wits and a cool head, you'll be as awesome as ever."

Ella smiled warmly. "I appreciate the confidence boost." She sighed and stuff the marbles back into her bag. "I'll try again tomorrow."

Tony stretched his arms out and faced the sky, letting the light rain pelt his face. "Now this is where I've always wanted to live! Did I mentioned I absolutely LOVE the Storm Zone? I feel like I'm in my natural element out here. The winds blowing through my fur, the rain hitting my face, the thunder resonating in my ears…"

Gwyn took a syringe and injected a berry with a serum, then said, "Have you been to the Storm Zone before, Tony?"

"When I was younger, back when we still had money to the Sapienti name. Before Cheri was born, too. It was great. I think we went to a water park when I was five."

"A water park in a zone with lightning constantly shooting?" Gwyn muttered aloud. She was naïve, she admitted, but even she knew that sounded like a safety hazard.

Tony grinned at her. "Storm Zone has safety measures for that, Green."

Gwyn smiled sheepishly. "Heh, should've figured."

"Let me tell you, it was a blast! When I discovered my talent for Storm Magic, I was hooked on this place! I begged my mom time and time again if we could live out here. Maybe a nice house on the mountains where we could see the lightning up close."

Ella folded her forelegs under her chin and grinned wryly. "I've been to the Storm Zone a couple of times myself. Not sure I have your enthusiasm for it, but I get the interest."

"Yeah, if we could've lived out here, things would've been better. Just me, Mom, Cheri…and not him…" he bitterly ended with grit teeth.

Griffin opened one eye and narrowed it curiously at the Dewott. "That's a harsh tone right there."

"Oh, shut up…" Tony grumbled.

Ella stepped out of her tent. "You're referring to your dad, aren't you?"

Tony smiled bitterly. "Tsk…dad? He lost the respect to be referred to as such…"

Griffin had both eyes open as he observed the Dewott's anger. "Should I ask?"

"Oh right, I don't think we've told you," Wes said aloud. "Tony's father abandoned him and his family when he was ten. Since he left without much warning, they were forced to move into Fuego Village for a place to live." Wes narrowed his eyes. "Tony…didn't take it well, as you can see."

"And for good reason!" Tony barked. "That bastard abandoned us and didn't even try to provide for us when he was gone! No money sent over to keep our home or support ourselves! My mother couldn't find a well-paying job at the time, then we end up getting caught in a shitty part of the Fire Zone that was hurting her!" Tony huffed and glared to the side. "But, you know what? I don't even care. It's not like I had any good memories of him even when he was around."

Wes smiled awkwardly. "Come on, you don't really mean that."

"My mother said it herself. He was horrible at being a father." Tony crossed his arms and kicked the ground lightly. "Neglectful, too." He narrowed his eyes lightly. "He never cared about me…never showed it. If my mom did see a side of him that says otherwise, he never showed it around me." He closed his eyes. "He just…never loved me."

His friends stared at him with low eyes. Ella placed her paw on his shoulder. "I'm sorry, Tony…"

He sighed and held his hips. "It's…whatever. The only nice thing I can say about that bastard…at least he wasn't an abusive asshole. My mother clearly cared about him." He shrugged. "Sometimes I wonder for myself if that's true."

Ella smirked with mild annoyance. "I…sort of get where you're coming from." She shook her head. "Don't give yourself a migraine for nothing."

Wes patted Tony's shoulder. "Yeah! You got us and what remains of your family! We don't do sour looks in this team!"

Tony blinked, then grinned to himself. "Right. Oh, and Wes?" He flashed a smirk at him. "Weren't you in the middle of something?"

"Middle of what?" His eyes widened in alarm, then he raced back to the smoking grill. "CRAP! Please don't catch on fire!"

Tony snickered lightly, then sighed in content. "Yeah, what am I working myself up for?" He rubbed his hands together. "Forget about the past! I'm focusing on filling my stomach in the present!" He ran over to get some food. Ella chuckled while Griffin rolled his eyes again and resumed meditating.

Thankfully, their dinner wasn't badly charred and was well cooked. They sat under Gwyn's tarp and ate their dinner with lively chatter and potential planning for their encounter with the Storm Mage. Expectedly, Tony was looking forward to clashing with a professional of Storm Magic. If they decided to do another team battle, Ella decided to stay out since close combat might not work in her favor.

Gwyn continued working on her berries as she ate. She looked around and saw the rain was coming down harder. "Storms picking up." She flinched from a loud strike of thunder that made her fur stand on end. "Eep! The tents will hold up against this, right?" she asked worriedly.

Flint smiled reassuringly. "You have nothing to fear, Gwyn. The tents are waterproof and sturdy against the wind. We should be fine." His hat nearly blew off his head, but he pressed it back down. "I don't think I share your same optimism about the Storm Zone, Tony!" The Dewott snickered.

Griffin closed his eyes. "I have much experience dealing with the storms of this zone. Anywhere else, a hurricane would be devastating. Out here, though, it's rather mundane after a while." He pulled a canteen out of his jacket and sipped on some water. "I've grown used to them myself."

Wes chewed on some steak as he watched the rain fall. He let his attention wander off the conversation for a moment when his ears started twitching, picking up an approaching sound. "Hmm?" He looked around curiously.

Ella cut through some of her steak when she noticed his curious searching. "Looking for something?"

"Thought I heard something."

Tony chuckled. "All I hear is raindrops."

Wes shook his head. "No, it's not that. I hear…running. Quick running. Closing in on our direction." He narrowed his eyes. "And I sense…a malevolent presence coming from there as well."

Now interested, the magically sensitive of their group focused on where he was staring. Approaching quickly from far away was a dark aura tainted with evil. A normal magic aura, it was not. It was one they recognized all too well.

Wes stood up and glared seriously. "Shadow aura…"

Griffin growled as he pulled out Endless Regret. "Well, fancy seeing one this far out. I was beginning to wonder when they'd send their cronies after us."

"Yeah, but it's only one," Tony pointed out. "That either means they're low on forces…or one was all they needed."

Griffin set his sword over his shoulder and walked towards the approaching source. "I'll dispose of them in one swing."

Tony's eyes glanced down, then he grabbed the Grovyle by the wrist. "Hold it, Hothead! Look at your feet!"

Griffin glared down, then jumped back as a wave of decaying grass approached him and the others. They cautiously moved back as grass, trees, and bushes decayed with the wave of death. Their plant expert, however, crouched down and picked at the decaying grass.

Gwyn held some between her fingers and looked it over. Much to her friends' surprise, she took a bite out of it, tasting the composition. "…just as I thought. It's poison."

"Why would you eat that?!" Ella shouted.

Gwyn smiled at her. "Oh please, do you know how many times I've accidentally poisoned myself over the years? I've developed a high tolerance for this stuff. If I get sick, I'll just whip something up later." She moved her tongue around, then gagged. "Doesn't mean it's delicious…" She glared. "The poison's spreading from a source."

Griffin spun Endless Regret before pulling it behind him. "Get out of the way." Gwyn shrieked and ran to the side as Griffin channeled his magic through the blade. "Exosus Release!" He swung and blasted a wave of vile energy into the forest.

The dead flora incinerated on the spot, blazing towards their target with great speed. The dark aura they sensed vanished under the raw flow of magic, but they didn't believe it was dead yet. Despite there being a wide scorched path that was once all grass and trees in front of them.

Wes focused his senses on the surroundings, then threw a sharp glare to his left. "There!"

The team dodged toxic green daggers from out of nowhere. Hitting the ground, they sent off the same toxic aura that killed more of the grass. After landing, Gwyn slammed her hands down and mutated the grass into twisters of vines that struck for the closest foreign aura she could feel. She felt the vines snatch their target, letting her wrap the attacker into a thick cocoon of plants.

"Griffin, before they escape!" Gwyn ordered.

Griffin rushed for the vine trap with Absolute Zero and stabbed into it. The grass fear coated and filled with ice in mere seconds, freezing it solid. He pulled the blade out and jumped back. "Let me guess, another of the Anguis Organization's goons?"

Tony grinned with annoyance. "Aeternus has a thing for using others as pawns."

Flint glared. "What should we do with them?"

"I don't know about you, but I'm killing this bastard," Griffin stated casually as he readied Endless Regret. "Any objections?"

"Just one."

Griffin's battle instincts allowed him to block the spear of poison that pierced out from the ice. Endless Regret syphoned off the magic, giving Griffin a close look at the make-up of magic. Mixed with the toxic green was darkness. Shadows.

Griffin glared at the crumbling trap. "A possessed pawn."

The sphere broke apart, freeing the assassin. The Purrloin, Lithia, wearing a red bandana around her neck and three golden earrings in her left ear. She wore a black leather jacket, gray shirt, and jeans. She had her right set of claws extended out, coated in the toxic green magic. Even her eyes glowed the same color, matching her wicked glare towards them.

The magic users of Team Ravenfield noticed something off, though. They saw the shadow aura, implying she was under the influence of a shadow, but her fur color and everything were perfectly normal.

She smirked at their confusion. "Team Ravenfield…I see you're not caught up with our latest work in the Anguis Organization. What do you think? Don't I just look powerful?"

Most of them kept their guard, but Tony, as usual, decided to mess around. He held his chin and smirked back at the Purrloin. "My, my, what a fine kitty you are. You do indeed look strong, my dear. And quite beautiful-"

Lithia slashed her claws and sent a poison arrow raid at him. Tony countered with his Lightning Shot: Lotus Bullet, shattering the arrows. "Do not play mind games with me, Sapienti. I will not fall for your tricks."

"What tricks? Can't I compliment a clearly psychotic woman on her physical attractiveness?" he asked cheekily.

Griffin glared. "What are you up to, Sparks?" he whispered.

"Shh." Tony continued, "I assume Aeternus sent you to kill us and take our keys."

The Purrloin glared. "You're correct."

"Well, unfortunately, I'll have to deny your request. I happen to like breathing, you see." He shoved his hands into his pockets and smirked. "You're more than welcomed to try, though."

The Purrloin grinned. "You fool." She raised her claws. "One slash of my claws and I'll have you on your knees. Your insides will rot and decay."

"We've dealt with possessed pawns before, my lovely," Tony flirted. "No offense, I'm sure you're a talented and strong woman, but we've dealt with far worse."

Lithia's grin shifted to an angry state. "That cocky attitude of yours will get you killed. What you see is the enhancements given to me by Lord Aeternus and his assistants. I am not the host of a shadow. We've merged even closer than any other possession has offered. Minds not suppressed, but bonded into a powerful entity."

Flint glared. "Aeternus is experimenting with the shadows?"

"Exact-!" She paused for a moment, then glared at Tony in outrage. "You made me say that on purpose!"

Tony looked at his fingers with a smug grin. "You're cute, but kind of an idiot."

Lithia snarled, then bit back her anger as she smirked. "Tch…why should I care? You're all as good as dead." She raised her poisonous claws. "All in the name of Lord Aeternus and our allegiance to the darkness. I'll finish off where the others failed."

Wes glared and took his stance. "You're not taking our keys. And you won't be killing anyone today."

Lithia laughed through her teeth. "Don't make promises you can keep!" Kicking off the ground, she launched herself with incredible force.

"Split!" The team jumped in separate directions and evaded her deadly claws. Wes, with his Star Amulet active, spun on his paw and wrapped himself in light. "Lumios Storm!" Light arrows sailed for the poisonous cat.

The Purrloin detected the magic immediately and sliced down the arrow barrage. She returned the attack with her own poison arrows, which Wes reactively dodged through them. Lithia intercepted him during mid-dodge and went for his underbelly, but the claws passed through him the second Wes transformed into a shadow, curtesy of the Amulet of Umbra.

Lithia was then caught off guard by an orange fist flying through Wes' incorporeal body and striking her in the face. She dug her feet in to keep herself anchored, then blocked rapid fire punches from Flint's Celestial Guardian. She grunted from the impacts before smirking boldly.

"Your fists will break before my claws do!" She swiped her claws and staggered the Guardian's arms before plunging them into its chest.

Flint flinched and grabbed his chest as his magic aura reacted to the Guardian's wound. "Argh…!"

Lithia laughed. "Celestial Guardians as powerful as their user's aura, but they're still extensions. You may have all this armor to sponge damage, but I can still hurt you!" She twisted her claws into the Guardian.

Flint winced in pain, then glared at the Purrloin through the eyes of the Guardian. "Time…HALT!" The world froze and became monochrome. The Guardian carefully pulled itself off the claws, much to Flint's relief before he growled. "I'm ending this now."

The Guardian cracked its knuckles, then went ballistic on the frozen cat. It pummeled the unmoving form for ten seconds before Flint called it off. Time resumed, sending forth all the collected damage into one staggering collision. The Purrloin's body contorted against the stress of the combined punches and sent her flying across the ground.

Griffin rushed after her with two of Exiled Souls. He spun the daggers and leapt forward to stab her through the head. He, however, quickly blocked claw swipes as she landed on her feet. He glared as her damage was completely healed off in seconds. No traces of the flurry of punches.

Lithia pressed against the daggers, showing off her teeth in a grin. "Superior healing, as well. And that's not all I got!" She retracted her right claws and pressed her fist against his chest.

He growled as a compartment into her wrist opened up and fired an explosive wave of toxic green against him. He maintained his stance as he was pushed back from the blast. His magic aura fought off any toxic aura that tried to seep into his skin, but it burned a hole into his shirt.

"This is what you could've had if you chose your sides wisely, bounty hunter," the Purrloin taunted.

Griffin patted off the smoking mark, then settled his glare on her. No fury or anger, just a simple glare that expressed indifference. "I'm no one's experiment project. If you want to turn yourself into a freak of nature, be my guest." He twirled Exiled Souls between his fingers. "I'll just disassemble you again."

Lithia went for another attack when roots suddenly shot out against her chest. "GAH!" She slashed through them, withering them away, then spun on her feet and unleashed an omnidirectional wave of poison arrows. Flint guarded Ella by having his Guardian punch down the arrows while Wes and Tony dodged them. Griffin hid behind an emerged Endless Regret.

As for Gwyn, she rushed through the arrows with her whip protecting her. Lithia lunged at her and sliced her across the cheek. She smirked in triumph until her victory fell as Gwyn grabbed her by the wrist and kicked her legs out from under her.

She landed on her back with Gwyn pinning her arms down. "Grr…you're immune to my poison?!"

Gwyn stuck her tongue out cheekily. "It's more of a high tolerance. Magic or not, I can cure any poison!"

Lithia growled, then pulled her legs back and struck Gwyn in the stomach, knocking her off. She flipped backwards, onto her feet, and slashed out more poison arrows. "Doesn't mean you're arrow proof!"

Gwyn used her whip to deflect the arrows again, though they were coming much faster than the previous ones. Some slipped through the whip's fast defenses and struck her in the arm. She flinched, then retreated back immediately as the swarm kept coming.

Lithia, still keeping awareness of her surroundings, ceased firing on the Mew and turned to block Tony's electrified Razor Shell. The electrically charge blades pushed down on her claws. The Purrloin glared before pushing back with greater strength.

Tony smirked. "Hey, you are pretty strong!" He felt his heels pushing through dirt. "Maybe too strong…" Lithia pushed his blades back, then went for a stab on his body. "Light Speed!" He sped out of her way and reappeared behind her while delivering a swift kick to the back of the head.

She stumbled forward, then turned with a slash of her claws across the ground, sending forth a wave of poison. Tony used the Dragon Thunderclap and dispersed the poisonous wave, then dodged a surprise strike of her claws.

Wes came to his aid with Warp Pad and kicked from the right. Lithia blocked with her arm while simultaneously kicking Tony in the jaw. She reached for the Umbreon's ankle, but he kicked off to put distance between them.

Tony rubbed his aching jaw and groaned. "I know the clown's smart, but I didn't think he could make cannon fodder such pains in the ass."

Lithia crossed her claws. "Oh, you haven't seen anything yet." She pierced her claws through the ground.

The team waited a moment before the ground rumbled and burst open. They gasped as a toxic darkness breached through and shifted in shape like that of the shadows. It took the form of thousands of snake heads, connected to the same mass of poison.

Lithia pulled her claws out and threw her head back as she cackled. "Nightshade Snakur!" She swiped her claws down, commanding the mass of poison to pursue her enemies. They struck with lightning speed.

Ella, while keeping her composure, jumped behind cover as fifty snake heads struck near her. "A little overkill, don't you think?!" She focused on the poison serpents, but couldn't psychically reach them, or even produce a weak telekinetic shove. "Ugh, come on! Give me something!"

Griffin slashed through toxic serpents, then threw a weapon at Ella. "Make yourself useful with this!"

She stopped the weapon under her paw, then grinned when she saw it was actually the Pride of Leones. Perfect defense and offense. "Nice!" She kicked the weapon and held it by the inner straps. She hid her head under it as the poison snakes dive bombed her. She smirked as the shield bounced them off from the impact. "Not psychic abilities, but this shield is awesome!" She stood on her hindlegs, spun on her left leg, and chucked the shield into a cluster of snakes, decapitating them.

Flint's Guardian punched through the snakes as they came at it and its caster. Flint mentally commanded the Guardian to catch the shield, decapitate another group of snakes, then tossed it back to Ella. "Alright, Time Halt!"

Time froze once more. The Guardian punched at several snakes, then formed a large Blockade Reflector over its wrist. Once time resumed, the snakes exploded into liquid, splashing over the shield and keeping Flint free of poisoning.

Lithia slashed out a crescent blade of poison towards him. The Celestial Guardian smashed through the crescent and shattered it, but the pieces reformed into miniature poison blades that shot for Flint again. Thinking quick, he had his Guardian chuck a rock across the field. "Verto!"

The Guardian had placed a mark on the rock, allowing Flint to swap places with it, making an ungraceful landing on his back, and let the rock take the blunt force of the poisonous blades.

Lithia brandished her claws together and hissed at the Flareon. "You won't escape!" She commanded more snakes to chase him down.

Flint's Guardian reappeared around him and defended against the approaching snakes. The Flareon flinched as poison nearly splashed on him. It burned the ground like acid.

Tony was surrounded by the hissing poison serpents. He crouched down, hand pressed against the dead grass, and waited for the strike. They lunged, then he used Light Speed. He dashed through the slowed poison and jumped in front of Lithia. He grabbed her by the arm and threw her towards the poison blob. He snapped his fingers and resumed normal perception.

Lithia blinked, adjusting her senses, then screamed as she flew into the poison mass. Tony spawned electrical orbs in his hands. "Fulmen Scattershot!" He threw dozens of electrical orbs around the poison blob. Once enough were set up, Tony raised his fingers. "Now burn!" He snapped her fingers, triggering everything with the field of electrical orbs to light up with electricity.

The poison snakes stopped their assault on the rest of the team and hissed out in pain from the electricity. Their sentience ended, reverting to lifeless poison that plopped on the ground.

Tony jumped back as poison splashed near him. "Anyone want to bet that all that did was make her angrier?"

The poison mass exploded, spraying toxic green all over the dead grass. They jumped back to avoid touching it. Emerging from a large puddle of it on the ground was Lithia, who seethed with rage. Her fur was singed from the electrical onslaught.

Ella smirked uneasily. "That was a safe assumption."

Lithia swung her tail around. "All of you will die by my poison!" She snapped her tail, exploding off the fur on the pointed end and revealing an axe head. Shadows then surrounded the blade, then transmuted the shape into a larger axe head. Black steel with toxic green aura dripping off the edges.

Gwyn shrieked. "What kind of modifications were you put through?! You're barely a Pokémon anymore!"

Lithia cackled with her paws in the air. "You ridiculous fools! I'm beyond you lowly, mortal creatures! Lord Aeternus has blessed me with power far beyond what I could imagine!" Her grin turned crazy. Her irises glowed with the same intensity as her aura. "My poison will rot and burn you all! And with the power of this new darkness, I shall be the one to bring down the enemy of the Shadow King!"

Wes glared. "Your modifications don't scare us! You're outmatched!"

Lithia laughed through her teeth. "Someone needs to wipe that cocky attitude of yours away!" She swung her tail and fired a dark blade of poison. As it passed over the dead grass, it burned away everything into dust.

"That thing's radiating a strong poison!" Gwyn shouted.

They avoided the blade, but Lithia kept sending out more at them as they attempt to flee. Gwyn slammed her fist down and used dozens of vines to smash apart the blades. They did so, but the immediate contact with the blades caused the vines to wither to dust. She growled. "I can't defend against them forever!"

"Don't have to!" Wes jumped onto a Warp Pad and bounced around until he was behind Lithia. "Mystic Burst!" He exploded with the powerful magic, then socked her in the cheek with his right foreleg. "Infernius!" He inhaled and blasted the enhanced fireball in her face.

Lithia wrapped her claws in toxic darkness. "Inferior mongrel!"

Wes caught the claws between his paws, but realized his mistake. The claws were spreading poison over her paw and up his forelegs. He used a Warp Pad to blast himself away from her. He took off his jacket and saw the poison had stopped up to his shoulder blades.

His eyes drooped a bit. "G-Gwyn…please tell me…y-you have an all-purpose antidote…"

"Hang on, Wes!" Gwyn rushed for him, but got blasted off her feet by a wave of poison. She gasped as a toxic green shadow arm grabbed her in midair. She winced as the poison burned at her skin. "Uh…g-give me a minute!"

Lithia smirked. "Not as immune as you boasted!"

Gwyn reached around for her bag, then pried her arm free with a berry in hand. Red with green splotches and about the size of a walnut. "I've got something just for you!" She popped the whole thing into her mouth, chewed, then swallowed just as the shadow hand completely enveloped her.

Lithia laughed. "Taking a snack before I crush you to death?!" She raised her brow as green light pierced through the hand. "Wait, what is…?" Red tendrils burst through the hand, with bony white, arrow-shaped barbs at the end. They punctured into the hand and, shockingly, started sucking up the magic that composed it. "What is this?!"

After slurping up enough magic, the tendrils retracted back into the hand before exploded off Gwyn with just a swing of her arms. Her body was red as raspberries, with her fur appearing a bit spikier. Her long hair floated overhead, transformed into the tendrils that sucked up the hand's magic. Her tail developed a barb much like the tendrils, only shaped like a sickle.

Flint gasped at her newest transformation. "What the heck is that, Gwyn?!"

Gwyn giggled excitedly. "Ever heard of lychee fruit? This is my Leech Berry!" Her barbed hair tendrils aimed at Lithia. "I can suck up magic from various sources…and use it for this!" With one swing of her foot, she struck the ground and sent forth a massive tremor of earth that blasted Lithia off her feet. "Energy that I turn into strength!"

Flint's jaw dropped in disbelief, but Ella set it back into place for him. "That girl and her mother have oddball imaginations."

Lithia crashed face first into the ground, shrouded in a thick cloud of dirt. "Ugh…these guys are no joke. They've got each other covered. What's the best way to disrupt their synergy?" She held her chin, then smirked deviously as an evil idea came to mind.

Gwyn ran over to Wes and helped him sit up. "I can also do this. This might hurt a bit." She jabbed two tendrils into each foreleg, making the Umbreon wince. He then looked in surprise as one set of tendrils sucked up the poison from his skin while the other set pumped something in its place. "My body can adapt to poison quicker in this form. I'm administering antibodies to counteract any lingering poison."

Wes grinned. "Gwyn, you are officially the most awesome Mew ever!"

She held her cheeks and squealed from the praise. "Aw shucks!"

Tony smirked, then looked around for Lithia. "Now, where were…?" He narrowed his eyes. "Uh, where'd she go?"

After Gwyn finished with Wes, the Umbreon stood up and closed his eyes. He sensed around the area before pinpointing that the Purrloin was fleeing…towards the nearby village. His eyes opened wide. "Guys, she's heading for the village!"

Ella growled. "Why?!"

"She's getting desperate," Tony explained. "If she can't kill us, she'll put us at a disadvantage. She knows we won't let her poison anyone."

Griffin glared. "Then let's hurry!" The team raced after the poison maniac.

As they ran, overhead in the clouds, dark storm clouds were trailing behind them in the sky. A figure in a yellow concealing robe rode atop the leading cloud while a group of gray-blue robed figures followed behind. He narrowed his eyes at them.

"Team Ravenfield…you've finally made it."

Team Ravenfield raced to the village as quickly as they could. Even in the downpour of rain, they could hear screaming from the village. They picked up the pace and sped towards the community slowly approaching their line of vision.

They saw the toxic shadow hand swipe away approaching defenders, knocking them through houses. They traced the arm back to Lithia, who cackled with glee. "That's right! Feel my wrath, you worthless peasants!"

Wes growled. "If I knew we were getting ambushed, I wouldn't have suggested camping so close by!"

"Less loathing, more smashing!" Ella shouted. She grabbed hold of Pride of Leones with her teeth and chucked it straight for Lithia.

The Purrloin caught the advancing shield with her shadow arm. She smirked at them. "You made it, little heroes! Now do your jobs!" She fired poison arrows at a pair of Growlithe stricken with fear.

Tony closed the distance with Light Speed and snatched the two fire pups up. He stopped and dropped them. "Scram, now!" he ordered. They fled with fearful whimpers. Tony glared at Lithia in disgust. "Oh, this is just wonderful! You want to burn down an orphanage next?!"

"I might consider it." She slammed her paws into the ground. "Nightshade Snakur!" The blob of poison formed out of the ground and fired off poison snakes towards the fleeing villagers.

A Mandibuzz covered her two Vullaby children for protection, but were saved by Flint's Guardian as it pounded the snakes into inert goop. It then pressed its hand against the Mandibuzz, placing the Verto mark, then swapping Flint for her and her children. The family raced off out of danger.

Wes pointed digits between his team. "Ella, Tony, Gwyn, Flint, get everyone to safety! Gwyn, you make sure no one's been poisoned! Give us some cover! Griffin, you're with me!"

The team broke into formation. The rescue team helped the villagers get to safety while pushing back against the poison snakes. Wes and Griffin aimed for Lithia.

The Purrloin smirked villainously. "Good, good…now that I've divided up your attention…" She slammed her paws down and created more toxic masses. Snakes flew out towards the fleeing villagers with bared teeth. "I wonder how long you can keep this up!"

"Go to Hell!" Griffin pulled out No Peace and slammed it down, but she dodged. Griffin spun the war club with a narrow-eyed gaze locked on her. He swung the weapon into the poison blobs and disrupted their form temporarily. This agitated the snakes into attacking him. He pulled out Quicksilver and pulled the sheath off with his teeth. His movements blurred as he sliced the snakes with perfect precision.

Wes jumped between rooftops and dropped down behind Lithia while she was distracted. He kicked her in the back, then used TerraSlash. Lithia covered herself against the rock projectiles as they sliced up her skin, healing off the damage faster than it formed.

"You fool! I am invincible!" She aimed the hidden weapon in her wrist and fired a concussive blast of poison into Wes. Thanks to his aura and the newly acquired antibodies, he felt no threat to the poison's ill effect. It still knocked him back from the explosion. Lithia laughed loudly. "Stay down, mongrel!"

"I see one of the side effects was a touch of insanity!" Lithia got a taste of No Peace's defense breaking properties as Griffin bashed the club into her side. She coughed out blood as the club rattled and cracked her bones. With a might heave of the club, Griffin punted her through several huts.

Lithia, laying in a living room, picked herself up and growled. Her poison was beginning to spread more rapidly, coating and burning away at everything she touched. Her eyes were sickly and bloodshot, with even the blood glowing green. "Didn't you hear me? I'm…invincible!" She swung her tail and fired as massive blade of poison.

Griffin deposited No Peace and Quicksilver, then sliced down the middle of the magic blade with Endless Regret. The air was tainted from its lingering presence. "Ravenfield…I distinctly remember you and Sparky mentioning this Aeternus' flair for the insane…"

Wes slowly joined his side. "She's getting drunk on power. Her magic has been corrupted. Tainted. I've seen what Aeternus would do to his subordinates." He glared uneasily. "I can't imagine what else he's doing…"

Griffin spun Endless Regret as he waited for Lithia's next move. "You're the one with the antibodies. Take her out and I'll end it."

"On it!" Wes rocketed forward with Warp Pad and met the crazy Purrloin head on with Mystic Burst active. Their balled-up paws collided, matching physical strength. "Do you even realize what you're doing?!"

"Who cares?! I want to see these lowly mortals DIE!" Poison shadow tentacles sprung from her back and wrapped around Wes tightly. "Poison for everyone!" She slashed furiously at the air and fired a shower of poison arrows.

As the rescue team help everyone evacuate, Ella caught the approaching poison shower from her peripherals. "Incoming!"

Flint's Guardian punched down the arrows while Gwyn slapped away any it missed with her tendrils. She glared at some poison snakes that lunged for her, so she jacked her tendrils into them and sapped away their limited magic reserves. Her barbs glowed in the same toxic green.

"Here's your poison back!" She fired the poisonous aura back at them. It pierced through the snakes and even some of the blob shape. The energy burned through rock and wood.

Tony, while firing Lightning Shot, glanced at her curiously. "Magic Redirection, too?"

Gwyn stuck her tongue out playfully. "I'm playing with my DNA here! Might as well have some fun with it!"

Ella held Pride of Leones up as poison snakes lunged at her. "That's great and all, but focus on keeping the villagers safe!" Her eyes flickered with psychic power, but it proved just as ineffective as before. "Rotten luck…" She bashed the snakes away, then dodged their attempted bites.

Tony aimed his fingers. "Lightning Shot: Double Barrel Shockwave!" The twin lightning beams pierced through Ella's attackers and obliterated the center of the poisonous blob.

Lithia jumped between houses as Wes and Griffin pursued her on the ground. She fired poison arrows all across the village, hoping to score a direct hit on the fleeing Pokémon. "Oh yes! Scream! Panic! Suffer! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Griffin glared. "And here I thought Mack had issues…" He pulled out One For All and created ten light swords around him. "Put that training to good use, Wes!"

Wes jumped in the air, then clapped his paws. "Septem Gladii Virtutis!" His magic extended out and forged seven magic sword constructs. He landed on the roof and fired two of them at Lithia.

Lithia created more poison from her body and blocked the swords. "Get a taste of my aura!" The shadow toxins molded around her and transformed into a large serpent- or rather, a hydra. Multiple heads with Lithia at the center of the body. She cackled, paws on hips in a rather haughty manner. "You treasure hunters will die by my poison!"

Wes recalled his blades, then spun them around his body like a carousel from Hell. "Personally, not the biggest fan of death by poison! Too generic!" The orbiting blades slashed into her poisonous barrier, slowly cutting in towards her.

Lithia threw her arms out and summoned two shadow hands. Wes stopped sawing through and blocked the hands with two swords each while two more sliced the wrists off. He took hold of the seventh sword in his teeth and, with Mystic Burst activated, slashed through the whole poison hydra, which sent the top flying off from the force.

Griffin leapt overhead and fired light swords down on her. She couldn't dodge them, taking the full brunt of all ten impaling her body. She growled as shadow tendrils formed out of her back and chopped the blades into dust. Her wounds sealed up, then she looked up to face Griffin when she suddenly took a fist to the face.

"Ira Dei: Four Destructive Fists!"

The punch blasted her down into the street and continued applying force even after hitting the ground, suffering through four punches stacking over each other. Her face caved in, bones cracking under the pressure.

Wes flipped in the air and channeled high tier magic in front of him. "Mystic…BEAM!" The purple magic beam fired down and added to the Ira Dei's damage, obliterating the street into a crater.

Even after that, when the smoke began to clear, Lithia picked herself up and healed the damage off. She reset her arm back into socket with no visible discomfort. She smirked proudly at them. "When will you learn?" She slashed poison blades at them.

Wes and Griffin slashed through them with their weapons with no difficulty, but they were running out of ways to put her down. "I need a lucky shot on her!" Griffin shouted, quickly trading out One For All for Endless Regret again. "I'll burn her to a crisp if I have to!"

While the rescue team got everyone out, Tony quickly looked back and saw Wes and Griffin still haven't put the insane Purrloin down. "Tch…I'm gonna help them!" He sprinted to their aid with his Razor Shells active, charge with electricity.

Lithia opened her wrist compartment and fired a dose of concentrated poison into them, blasting them in the air. "Tell me! How does it feel to burn against the wrath of my poison?!"

"I'll say this much!" She screamed as twin electrical blades slashed across her back. "You're definitely a toxic nuisance!" Tony taunted.

Lithia sharply turned and matched his blades with her claws. "Finally getting the idea, Sapienti?!"

He smirked. "Please! I can run circles around your damn poison!" Electricity and toxic streaks of matching flew off their incoming blows as they pushed harder against their weapons. "We're in my element now! I can take you all on my own!"

"Still a fool!" A shadow fist rocketed from under and struck him in the chin. It grabbed him by the ankle and bashed him into the houses. "I'm not afraid of your lightning! Nothing can harm me! I'm invincible!"

Tony aimed his fists at her. "Impetus Pressure!" The pressure wave fired through her. She coughed out green glowing blood that burned the ground. "Yeesh, is your blood toxic, too?"

"Lord Aeternus assigned me to end you miserable pests!" She laughed and furiously slashed at him. "You will rot! All of you will rot!"

Tony blocked the oncoming attacks with his scalchops, gritting his teeth. She's getting more and more relentless! His body glowed with his magic, forming static around him. I'll get a clean shot off and end her with a Thunder God's Wrath.

He went to form the start up to his powerful spell when he and Lithia heard a sudden cry. "Look! Up there!"

This halted Lithia's attacks to stare up in curiosity, as did Tony. They both noticed the rain stopped, yet there was a black thundercloud forming over the village. Tony has seen many storm clouds in his life and he has never seen one so…menacing. It was black like a smooth piece of obsidian.

Lithia glared suspiciously at it, then glared at Tony. "Is this your little plan? A bolt of lightning?"

"That's…not mine," he admitted.

"It's the Storm Hero!" they heard one of the villagers cry out with joy. "He has come to save us!"

"Storm Hero?" Tony repeated in bafflement. He looked back at the cloud and sensed the massive of electrical power that was charging in the center of it. Oh shit…

Lithia didn't notice, too busy focusing on killing Tony. She raised her claws over his neck. "Storm Hero? Bah! What a load of crap! I'm not afraid of lightning!"

"Your funeral! Literally!" Tony summoned a Ventusphere and slammed it on the ground, blasting each other apart and throwing the Dewott away from the storm cloud's target.

Lithia jumped up and laughed as poison surrounded her, blissfully unaware that everyone was keeping her distance from her for newfound reasons. She was even more unaware of the light that grew in intensity on her. "I don't know where you are, Storm Hero, but you stand no chance! Bring down your best lightning bolt! Strike me down with Arceus' wrath! Punish me with the storms conjured by Rayquaza!" Poisonous shadow hands formed all around her. "This world will drown in my poison! All in the name of Lord Aeternus and the Shadow Kin-!"

A flash of light sprung from the clouds and collided down into the Purrloin. Through her darkened form behind the lightning, Team Ravenfield and the villagers listened as the cat screamed out in agony. The lightning sprayed out and darkened the streets. All were illuminated by the intense glow of the electricity, staring with awe and, perhaps, a twinge of fear.

The lightning bolt only last five seconds, yet they felt like hours for Lithia. Standing in the crater of the bolt, which sparked in the aftermath, she weakly walked forward as her will refused to let her drop. Her fur was singed, revealed the mechanical upgrades to her legs, arms, and tail. The bolt blackened her bare skin with burn marks all across her. Her skin, even with her healing factor patching it up, crumbled in flakes of ash. Her jaw was fixed into a near permanent, dropped expression.

Tony picked himself up and stared at the burnt Purrloin in disbelief before gazing at the crackling thunder cloud overhead. "What…in the world…?"

"P-Poi…P-P-Poison…" Tony looked back at Lithia as she forced herself to approach him, claws raised with a weak glimmer of poison coating them. "M-Must…n-n-not…f-f-fail…c-c-can't…i-i-invinci…ble…"

"Hey, poison cat." Her eyes widened as she felt a spiteful force behind her, raising its sword. "Forget about me?"

She tried to turn, but Endless Regret impaled through her damaged body. Her pain receptors were too mangled to feel the attack. She gawked in stunned silence before lighting up in a blaze of blood red aura. Her body blackened further with the burning hatred of the Hatred Anima, sapping away at her anger and malice and transferring it into Griffin.

The Grovyle, after draining her of her final moments of rage, pulled the sword out of her and let the lifeless body fall over. She didn't even resemble a Purrloin anymore, but rather a charred pile of experimentation gone wrong. He grunted and waved Endless Regret down, shaking off loose ash clinging to it. "Finally…"

Once the threat was eliminated, Team Ravenfield regrouped with each other. Gwyn's form reverted to normal as she asked, "Tony…did you do that?"

He shook his head, still staring up at the clouds with narrowed eyes. "No…it was that Storm Hero everyone kept screaming."

Just as he said that, the villagers grouped back into the village and raised their hands out to the storm cloud. "Thank you, Storm Hero!" they cheered.

The team glanced at each other, offering confused shrugs, when five robed figures landed down near them. The head of the five was a Druddigon, wearing the same gray-blue robes as the others. He stepped forward and held his hands out to gather the villagers' attention. "People of Heavy Rain Village! On behalf of your hero, we would like to give our sincerest condolences for the destruction brought to your homes by these unforeseen circumstances. My associates here will provide the means to flush out the remaining poison and to restore what has been lost."

The villagers applauded their show of charity, leading the four other robed figures to walk around Team Ravenfield and meet with the head of the village regarding repairs. The team still shared confused glances with each other, though Tony's attention was occupied on the sky.

The Druddigon finally faced Team Ravenfield and bowed to them. "I would also like to give our thanks for your attempted efforts to stop the fiend."

Ella held the back of her head and looked to the side awkwardly. "No trouble, but…this may have been partially our fault just for being so close by."

"We know this wasn't your intended purpose." The Druddigon bowed to them again. "Your services and actions are well-appreciated. It's good to see young folk like you who have a valiant sense of honor."

Wes grinned sheepishly. "Oh…stop it!" His eyes lit up expectedly. "Does this mean we get a cash reward, by chance? Services aren't cheap, you know-!" Flint whacked him in the back of the head, visibly annoyed with his brother's greed.

The Druddigon smiled wearily. "No cash reward, but perhaps a place to rest yourselves. You've journeyed far…Team Ravenfield."

The team's eyes widened in unison. Ella raised her digit and asked cautiously, "Um…the hell? Are you a mind reader?"

"We were expecting your arrival for quite some time. You've come much sooner than my master expected."

Wes raised a cautious brow, feeling just a tiny bit suspicious. "What do you mean by 'Master?' Someone we should know?"

"I don't expect you all to have met him, but I know you've come to Tempest Valley in search of him." Seeing they were still acting cautious, he sighed and shook his head. "Allow me to be more direct…the Storm Mage is expecting your arrival."

That was all they needed to relax, though Tony seemed to still be preoccupied on the sky as the storm clouds shrunk. Flint went on to ask, "So, you've been expecting us to come challenge him for the key? I wasn't aware the mages took on apprentices."

"There's a lot to the order that protects the keys, but perhaps this isn't the place for such discussions. It is late and you all deserve a place to rest. You may stay in our temple, free of charge."

Wes tapped his chin. "Well, we're pretty okay with sleeping outside-MMPH!" Ella slapped her paw over his mouth.

"Does that come with warm baths, comfy beds, and delicious meals?" she asked, adding a flutter to her eyes.

Druddigon laughed warmly. "Of course. Our accomidations, I'm sure, will be to your liking."

Ella removed her paw from Wes and patted his back. "Change of plans! We're staying with this guy!"

"It's a little late for traveling, though," Wes reminded.

"Not to worry," Druddigon brought up. "We can conjure storm clouds that'll make the trip much faster. Masters of the storm know how to ride the currents and take the easy path for travel."

Wes blinked in consideration, then smiled at the others. "Well, if there's no objections…"

Flint grinned. "How can I say know to sleeping in a warm bed?"

"I'm sold!" Gwyn cheered.

Griffin shrugged. "I don't really care either way."

Everyone looked to Tony, who was still staring up at the small storm cloud that hovered over them. He then glared as the cloud took off back to, what he presumed, the rider's place of residence. He felt some sparks fly off his whiskers from slight tension.

"Tony!" He blinked and turned towards Ella, who waved her paw in front of his face. "Temple? Free stay? You in?"

He stared at her for a moment, then grinned brightly. "Oh sure, I'm in! Sleeping out in a storm sounds great and all, but I can't deny the promise of beds!"

Druddigon smiled. "Excellent. We'll gather your belongings from your campsite and head off to the temple."

"It's this way," Wes said as he led the group and storm apprentice back to the campsite.

Tony kept smiling until he walked behind the party. The fake expression dropped to its true form. The lightning thief glared at the sky again and watched as the dark storm cloud left his sight. He clenched his fists as suspicion shaped into his glare.

That lightning bolt…felt disturbingly familiar. He glared ahead, gritting his teeth in irritation. I swear…you better not be who I think you are…