Arc One: Mystery

Chapter Thirty: Failing


"You can do this. You can do this. You can do this."

That phrase went on repeat in the Rilo's head as he ran through the paths of Treasure Town.

He hadn't had the best night when it came to doing his job. He only had one to do tonight: Watch over Eve, and make sure she stays safe.

And yet as simple as it was, he still had to find a way to mess it up.

He shook his head. He couldn't think like that. It's not like he did a bad job, he just...had no idea that it would work out the way it did.

It was just so crazy to him. Felt like a weird dream. Then again, much of what's happened within this week could be labeled the same as well.

Still, the thing that made it different from the rest was that he wasn't there. He had to sit on the sidelines this time around. When Red and Eve were telling him and Crush what had happened when they were getting treated, Lucas couldn't imagine how stressful it had been to get inside and grab that flute. He wished he was there to help them, because even after they explained what happened, he felt like there was more to it other than running into Scar and the other Zoroark.

But Fighting-Types aren't strong against Ghost-Types. It was for the best he stayed here, after all. He wasn't going to be any-

"No! Stop thinking about it!" He yelled at himself.

Right now, the mission is to follow after Team Forever and help them drive these Wild Pokemon away.

He...he can do it.

No, he can do it.

He will do it!

The Emanation Pokemon needed as much encouragement as he could get, even if he was the one who was giving himself the pep talk.

The Pokemon kept running, but he was starting to hear noises coming up ahead. Now, he really has to focus. Team Forever may need his help with somemons.

He'll be ready.

He has to be ready.

No! Will! He will-

"Gahhhh!" He yells again, but this time, it's not because of him getting angry at himself, but because of a surprise Pokemon that attacked him from behind.

Lucas' body smacked down onto the dirt hard. His first reaction was to spin around and toss the Pokemon off. He does so with ease, but that's only because of the small size of the Pokemon, which is a Caterpie.

Ok, warm up against a Bug-Type. No problem.

He spins his arm around in a small circle, getting ready to use Vacuum Wave. That Caterpie was good as toast.

Lucas focused on his target when he fired his shot. It looked like it would have hit if not for the quick thinking of the Caterpie, who then fired String Shot at the Rilo.

Lucas also was a quick thinker and dodged it as well. He then started up another Vacuum Wave as the Caterpie charging up as well.

"Just hit it!" He said under his breath. "You...will hit it...NOW!" He yells as he tosses his attack, and this time, it lands.

For a moment, Lucas wears a grin over his face. He took out that Pokemon easy. He should had ran when he still was happy, but now he sees the Bug-Type coughing from the dust cloud.

And the worst part, it doesn't look that bad. Doubts flooded the Rilo's head. Why does it still look fine? Fighting moves are strong against bugs, aren't they?!

The bug in question then shot another String Shot, and Lucas, in a panic, blocked it with his arms. He then realized that his two arms were tied together as the Caterpie charged at him.

Lucas continued to be panicked as he tried to dodge, and while he did avoid the Tackle, he lost balance thanks to a lack of arms he could use and rolled on the ground.

He could, however, feel the silk begin to break. He just had to ripe them out of it and he use Vacuum Wave to...would it even knock it out.

Again, the doubts came back, and as much as he wanted to put his hands on his head, he could not, adding more fuel to the fire.

He has to break out of the silk. It's from a Bug-Type, it shouldn't be this hard.

Again, the Caterpie tossed himself onto Lucas, but this time around, he put up his sticky hands to 'catch' the Pokemon. Lucas barely managed to stay on his two feet from the impact, but when it was his turn, he put his arm down on top of the Caterpie.

Sure, it did mean that he lost balance again, but that was the cost of pinning his opponent down. Speaking of, it was looking out of breath, and Lucas' hands were about to be freed.

Lucas wasn't going to waste this moment when he felt this good.

His side was then hit by a small, yet hard shell. Again Lucas was tossed to the side as he tumble on the dirt path. He went onto all four of his limbs and looks to see a angry Squirtle staring him down.

But Lucas wasn't scared, even when he saw another two Squirtle come from behind the first one. He got up to his feet as he convinced himself that he's going to take all four Pokemon out, and then carry on with his mission.

He closed eyes, took a deep breath, and then noticed that one of the Squirtle had a pink color over itself.

The Tiny Turtle Pokemon went inside of it's shell out of fear, but then it was tossed at the Caterpie, taking it out in a snap as the shell went into a pile of boxes, causing it to be buried underneath.

Lucas's jaw was open. He wasn't expecting Team Forever to be behind him, unless it wasn't Daisy.

Sure enough, a white Vulpix came onto the scene and used Icy Wind against the other two Pokemon. They both went in their shells and retreated away from the Vulpix, but towards the Rilo.

Finally, Lucas was going to get back in the fight. He got another Vacuum Wave ready to be fired as his two targets got closer and closer. Lucas fired at the one on the left, but before his attack could hit it, an Ice Beam got the Squirtle from behind, freezing it inside an ice cube.

Lucas looked at Eve. He wanted to be happy he wasn't alone. Happy that Eve was somehow strong enough to keep moving and be able to defend herself.

But it didn't. Lucas didn't feel that when he saw her. Seeing that she's here just made him mad in a way. Ray said for him to go out here while Red and Eve stayed behind to recover, and Eve did not look like brand new.

He growled and yell "What are you doing here?!"

He jumped out of the way of a Shell Bash when Eve answered him. "Red ran off, and Ray went after him. I...followed him, but then I sensed multiple Pokemon going where you were, so I thought I'd help you out."

She charged up her Ice Beam and said, "Get out of the way so I can freeze him-"

"I got this, Eve!" Lucas shouted. "You can go back."

"...W-well, I'm already here, so-"

"I can do this Eve, believe in me for once!" Eve's Ice Beam faded away as she wondered where that came from.

Lucas on the other hand, decided to use Focus Palm against his foe. He dashed as fast he could at the small Pokemon.

He didn't need help. This is something he will do himself.

The Squirtle tried to, but it couldn't get out of the way in time. Lucas pressed his palm against the shell, and it sent the turtle flying into the same boxes that the first one went into.

Lucas smiled as his tail wagged happily. He defeat an enemy, and that felt good.

That felt really good.

He was about to turn and face Eve when he heard something break. His ears twitched as he turned and saw a pillar of water hit him right in the gut, sending him off his two feet, and onto the ground.

He looked at the source of the attack and saw the Squirtle with the biggest smirk he had ever seen.

"Gahhh!" He heard from Eve as she was hit by the Squirtle that was trapped under the pieces of wood.

That just made him feel worse. His first job, to protect Eve, he-he has to do that too.

He went on his knees and was about to get on his feet when a String Shot pinned him down. Lucas was more horrified as more and more String Shots were keeping him from moving.

He tried to move his arms, use his claws, even tried to kick at it, but it was no use.

From the corner of his eye he saw more Caterpies appearing from where he was going to go. From his other corner, he saw the Eve was also starting to get hit by the silk. He couldn't just let that happen, though. He had to break free. Come on, do that...'thing' he did back at the Ground Temple.

He tried to dig deep. Tried to find it buried inside of him. That drive that felt like he had all the power in the world. But he couldn't find it. He was only left with himself...and it's not like he could do anything useful now.

Just as a small tear appeared, a Thunderbolt did as well, shocking the two Water-Types until they dropped to the ground with spirals over their eyes. Caterpies were flying in the air before they crashed onto the ground.

Lucas looked and saw that it was Team Forever was coming to their rescue. Again, Lucas couldn't help but feel mixed.

Crush went right next to him and used her second jaw to grab him. "Sorry about this in advance." Crush says. Lucas closed his eyes as he felt Crush's teeth were digging into the silk and a little bit into himself. Thankfully, it only felt like a pinch, and soon he was taken out of the silk mess.

Once he got on his two feet, the silk around was noticeably much easier to take off. Crush went off to help Eve get out as Lucas saw that most of the Pokemon were running away, back towards to forest.

He then felt a hand on his shoulder and looked. Daisy had a smile on her face. "Good to see you on your two feet, Lucas. But I think this will be over soon." She said, looking much better than before.

Lucas looked up at her confused. "Huh, what do you mean? They're all leaving?"

"Maybe." She answers. "Wigglytuff just told me that the Pokemon seem to be falling back into woods, forests, anywhere that isn't here. My guess is that the Wild Pokemon are going to be staying away from us...for a while at least."

Lucas looks out and sees one last Caterpie turn and look at him before being chased away by Zack, who goes after them to make sure they stay gone.

Lucas was bummed out. He could have done it. He knew he could...he just didn't.

Daisy seemed to noticed that Lucas looked a bit down, so she then said, "Hey, don't beat yourself up. It's late, and we could all use some rest."

She then looks at Eve and floats over to her. Eve was just trying to shake off any remaining silk when Daisy asked her, "You doing alright?"

"Could be better." Eve says quietly. "Do you...know when Mom's coming back?"

Crush, Lucas, and Eve all have their eyes on the Gardevoir. "Well, she said that there will have to be Pokemon outside this town to make sure we don't get surprised attack by the Wild Pokemon. They aren't stupid, but I would imagine that the police force would be guarding while Ray and Wigglytuff stay on stand by. She said she was by the Apple Woods, so I'd guess she shouldn't be that long."

Eve sighs. "Thank you, I'm just glad she's alright."

Daisy reaches for her badge as Crush reaches for her bag. "Seems I have to add more bandages to you, Eve."

The Alolan Vulpix looks down. "Sorry, I didn't-"

"No, it's fine. You don't have to apologize for anything." Crush says. "I'm sure you had a reason to leave the Guild, and that was to help out Lucas, right?"

Eve tapped her front paws. "Well, in a way, yes. But the real reason I came out here was because Red running off because he heard somemon in need."

Lucas is wide awake as he remembers that small line during the fight. He then asks, "What?! Where?"

"By the Kecleon Bros Shop." Daisy says before Eve could answer. "I just got off the badge with Ray. He said that Red needed a little backup when he went to help out an Eevee. They're fine now and or going to head back to the Guild, but you're going to have to get a lot more healing supplies Crush."

"That's fine." She says. "It's not like it would be easy for anymon of us to sleep tonight." She looks at Eve and says, "Do you think you can make it to the Guild?"

Eve nods as Crush then puts the bandages back in her bag, but she takes a couple of Oran Berries for everymon. She starts to give them to her team members when she looks for Zack.

"Uhhhh, where's Zack?"

"Chasing off Wild Pokemon." Daisy says. "I'll let him know we're heading to the Guild."

Lucas sighs as they make their way back home. He was glad everything is winding down now. The Wild Pokemon may have gotten the best of him, but next time would be different.

Tomorrow morning he wants to wake up, and have a sparce with Red. Just like they did when he first met him. Try to get better at fighting. To improve...he doesn't want to be the odd one out anymore.

I mean, Red's always been the one to really do his best to be a pusher. He wants to be able to stand on his two feet and hold his ground, just for once.

He was glad he was on a team, he really was. It made him feel stronger, especially with Red. In a weird way, he had the feeling that the Raboot looks up at him...for a moment at least. Now it feels like the roles have been flipped.

Lucas feels even better when fighting side by side with Red...but after what he's heard, and what has already happened...he feels like a weaker half. The weakest link of the team...that has to change...

Lucas was too caught up in his thoughts that he forgot to mask how he felt on the outside. Crush wasn't looking, but Daisy and Eve could tell that something was troubling him. Daisy wanted to take a peak inside his mind, but she looked at the Fox Pokemon, who seemed to know what the Gardevoir was planning.

Daisy then decided to just head back home, regroup, and if the time was right in the morning, ask the Riolu about it. The two of them locked eyes again and this time nodded in agreement. This could wait. Right now, everyone needed to-

Everymon's ears perked up when their heard something yell, and then crash into something. Daisy tried to see what had happened, but Lucas had an idea. And he didn't like it.

He dashed forward as fast as he could. He heard the noise too and he knew where it came from. Near the Kecleon Shop, and Eve said...

He ran even faster when he heard something else. Something flew past him, and he stopped, expecting to see Red.

But it wasn't him, it was just Ray, the Pokemon who went to Red for back-up.

He looked dizzy, but Lucas was sure that the others could take care of that. He had to see what was going on with Red.

He then heard somemon grunt. Lucas focused on what was ahead of him. And that's when he saw it. Tied up in the mists of some large vines was a Raboot.

On instinct, Lucas charged up a Vacuum Wave, ready to try and break it's grip on his teammate. But before he could even get prepared to fire his bullet, the vines dipped down to the ground.

Before launching the Fire-Type away.

Lucas heard Red scream his lungs out, and it sounded so frighten, so in pain, so...helpless.

"No, no, no, no, no, NO!" Lucas pushed over some of the debris out of his way. He needed to follow Red. He HAD to.

He was having trouble getting stuff out of the way in such a rush, that he kept messing it up. He was panicking and not thinking straight at the worst possible time.

He then went to lift a large piece of broken wood when it was lifted with a pink glow. Before he could realize it was Eve, she had already grabbed his paw with her mouth as she pulled him with her to the woods.

"Come on, Lucas. You got to run!" She said with a tone of fear in her voice, even if she didn't use her month. The Rilo could tell that Eve was just as stressed as he is. I mean, she did just get the flute with Red.

Lucas then tried his best to regain control of his leg's movement as he could feel Eve running faster and faster. Eve was still hurt, how was it so hard for him to keep up with her?

He then heard tree branches break apart, and that was enough for him to get another kick start. He was starting to go so fast, that he was the one bring Eve along. "What do you think is happening to Red?!" Eve asked. "What Pokemon can just toss him around like that?"

Lucas was too panicked to answer that question, and that left Eve to figure out it herself. Well, was going to, because she just felt a tug that pulled her up. Over a fallen tree Lucas just jumped over, and Eve was a moment too late to ready herself.

When she landed on the ground, she went to tell Lucas to slow down a bit so she could catch her breath, but she was pulled off her feet by the Rilo's force, causing her to slide onto the ground as Lucas lost his grip on her.

Lucas stopped in his tracks as he saw what he did. "Eve!" He yelled as he turned back around to help her up. "I'm sorry. I just have to see what happened to Red."

"I-it's fine." Eve says. "I feel good. You can just go. I can catch up with you no problem."

Lucas turned his face away from the Vulpix as he ran deeper into the forest, but pictures of Eve were in his head. He knew she wasn't 'good'. Her bandages were only getting more thorn up, and blood was starting to reappear.

He wasn't keeping her safe...

But he still listened to her and went forward. It felt mean to leave her behind, but he has to see Red again. Because if it's who he thinks it is, then...don't think about that.

Lucas tried to sense for aura around him, but it all felt the same to him. Nothing stuck out to him, so he kept running deeper into the forest. He looked back for a moment to see if Eve was catching up, but it seemed that she was still catching her breathe.

His ear then heard something. It sounded like something was slithering on the ground and trees, like a snake.

But vines would also work too.

Fear was really starting to get to the Rilo. There was no way that it wasn't going to be Zygarde who was doing this, was there? He's been after Red for sometime now, but would he really just send a multitude of Wild Pokemon to attack a town just for him?

...Well, Red may have caused the Mystery Dungeons, but this felt like a little too much, right?

Either way he cut it, the point was clear: Zygarde had Red, something that he could not let continue.

There were a few more branches that he had to hop over, but for better or worse, he felt like he was getting closer to the Order Pokemon. Lucas found himself slowing down as he started to feel more Aura in a smaller area, but he was also gripped with fear.

Every step he took made him more scared than the last. That was one thing he really liked about Red. Whenever the Emanation Pokemon was unsure or frighten, Red would try and reassure him that things were going to be alright. He'd do the same to Red if he was feeling down, but there was something about Red that just felt more...powerful.

He felt empowered every time Red tried to cheer him up. He just had this drive that was impossible to ignore. Somemon who just wants to do the right thing, even if it can be hard. Sure, he could be a wreck at points, like thinking about Eve nonstop, or not listening to Ray (because that's probably what happened), but that's just it.

It's always about the Pokemon he cares about. He doesn't want to be a villain because he never even wants to do anything wrong. He wants to remember who he is, sure, but he's not the kind of mon to pass by somemon in need. He's like a torch that tries to lead the way. Somemon to look up to...

...

Perhaps it wasn't the best time to be thinking that.

And he was right, because a hidden branch managed to miss Lucas' sight. Once his foot smacked it, he landed onto the ground.

"Gah!" He let out as he tried to get back up. But then he noticed that it wasn't a branch that tripped him, it was a vine. A vine with a haunting, green color around it.

Lucas didn't want to look up, but he didn't have a choice. Once he did, he saw Zygarde sitting up high and mighty as the Rilo was down to the floor. The Rilo might as well be incased in ice, because not a single muscle moved on his body as the huge Legendary stared down at him.

"...Lucas?..."

That broke through to Lucas as his eyes shot over to the mon who said it. There he was, Red. All tied up in Zygarde's grasp, and his Aura felt all around the vine, even on the ground he was on.

That made Lucas jump back, because he noticed that some of the blood was on his fur. Probably came from Red, which did not help him at all.

"Well, it took you long enough, Riolu." Zygarde said as if he was on top of the world. "I knew it was only going to be a matter of time before you showed up."

Lucas, shaking like a leaf, said, "L-let Red...go..." As he raised his fists.

The Zygarde, even with a lack of a expressive face, somehow look more unimpressed, though it might have been thanks to his emotions that Lucas was getting from him, or lack there of.

"Do you honestly believe that I, after this stupid Raboot caused these distortions to appear across these islands, endangering hundreds of lives of innocent Pokemon, would put him back down and let him go as if he didn't do all of that?"

Again, Lucas was struggling to find the right words to say.

"You should be grateful that you got to see him one last time." Zygarde stated. "I could already be back at the core fixing this mess, but I've allowed for once last reunion before his time comes."

"..."

"Well, are you going to say thank you. Perhaps try to stop me? Or are you-"

"P-please..."

Zygarde had all eyes on the Rilo, who had stopped shaking, but yet tears were starting to run down his face. Zygarde would have smiled if he had teeth. He wanted to see what the Rilo's last attempt would be.

Lucas dropped to his knees as Zygarde heard the Pokemon breaking down.

"You have one last chance." He said. "Make it count."

Lucas couldn't even bare to look up at the Pokemon anymore. He almost just wanted to go back to his nest, back at a time where things were always going to be alright.

But this was for Red.

"P-please let him go." He said quietly. "I'm begging you...I need him. He means so much to me, and to others as well." He gasped for air.

At that moment, he wanted to cry out, but he held it in...for now.

"Red, since the day I met him, just wanted to help Pokemon out. I wasn't willing to help Eve the very first time we saw her without calling the Guild because I didn't I could do it. but after that, I know I have a partner in him."

"A-and it's great. He's somemon who may not seem like he wants to talk, but he just fun to be around. We talk, we poke fun at each other, try to cheer each other up. It's mostly him that does that, but in the end, I feel complete with him. He's somemon who has my blind side. Makes me feel stronger than ever before. Like I can do it, e-even if the odds are against me."

Lucas let out a stream of tears as he lifted his eyes to look Zygarde dead in the eye. "Please let him go. You can't kill him. Not when he doesn't want to be a bad guy, not when there's another way to fix this. Why can't you let him live?!"

And that's when he felt it. For a second, the aura in Zygarde had a change to it, as if he wasn't purely a death seeking machine, and was considering the actions he was taking.

If only it lasted longer than a moment.

"You only feel that way about him because you're useless without him." He said. "Having him carry you through the fire gives you the false sense of strength."

Lucas was hurt by his remarks and said, "N-no. I-"

"Then do it." Zygarde stated. "Make an Aura Sphere right here and prove me wrong. Show me you don't cling to him just because you can't do anything."

Lucas shock his head. "It's not about me being...weak, i-it's about letting Red go. I'm begging you to-"

"I will not do so and you know it." Zygarde said. "I know I gave you a chance, but it was only to see how low you were willing to go. I'm no villain. He is."

"But we have the Flute of Aura with us!" Lucas cried out. "He was the one who got it out of the Ghost Temple. He risked his life to get that, so can't you use that to stop all of this."

Again, another moment where it felt like Zygarde was thinking, though this was shorter than the last. "He only did so because he knew it would save his self fish skin. No other reason."

Lucas was getting mad. "How could you just brush it off like that. He wants to help us. Help you! Why can't you see that?!"

"Because I know that the time to use the flute is gone. Even if you play it, it will do nothing to stop this. The only way to stop this is to put him to death."

"But why?! What does that do to help save the core other than act as his punishment?" Lucas begged.

Suddenly, Lucas heard the vines get tighter around the Raboot. On instinct, he yelled, "Stop!"

Zygarde did, but not because he asked. "See that. What you just did tells me all you want is just to get him back and nothing else. Maybe I should kill you with him."

Lucas was silent. He just got played. He did want Red back, but it was for so much more. He didn't want Red free because that was what he wanted. He wanted him free because he knew the Red didn't have to die. That he could still help other around the island. That he CAN play that flute and stop this maddness.

Zygarde had to be wrong. He had to.

A cold wind went past Lucas as cyan lightening shot at the Legendary Pokemon, who just barely managed to summon vines to block the attack. His aura started to glow as he was getting brighter and brighter.

"Good bye, Riolu." He said. Lucas shot onto his legs and dashed at him.

"NOOOOO!" He screamed as he reached out. But it was unless. Even jumping towards them did nothing as the giant being disappeared from his eyes.

Lucas fell onto his knees as the world came to a halt.

Zygarde was gone. Red was gone. He failed to protect Red. More tears appeared.

Memories of the short time he had with the Raboot was running nonstop in his brain. He wished it was all some kind of stupid nightmare he could wake up from right now. But it was real.

Kneeling on the ground, with trees and dirt broken up from all the vines, and with the blood making it feel like he was on syrup, Lucas couldn't do anything.

...

He...lost...

... Lucas began to cry as he heard Eve behind him. He knew that she was going to try and comfort him, but not now, it was too soon for him. He just lost his-

Eve bit Lucas' paw, and did not let go. This caused the Rilo to be dragged across the dirt. Lucas had no idea what Eve was doing, but now he was hurting in two different ways. But her emotions...they weren't crushed or sad, they were...desperate?

Lucas felt Eve stop. He then tried to take Eve's mouth off of his paw.

"DON'T TOUCH THAT!" Her voice ringed in his head. That only made the Rilo even more confused. What is she doing that could possibly have her bite his hand.

Then, he felt something inside of him. Something odd as if it was coming from Eve herself.

"Grab a Reviver Seed from my bag after this." She said as she started to lighting up.

She then said something else, but he wasn't sure what. It was hard to keep track of what was going on right now. She then howled as the light was starting to take over Lucas. What was she doing? Is she...teleporting?! But that wouldn't do anything. She doesn't know where the core is, right?

But that didn't mean anything now. The light was too bright, and he closed his eyes. And just like that, the two of them vanished away. There wasn't anything left.

That was until another group of Pokemon arrived a little too late to the scene.

Daisy and Zack both had Thunderbolt ready to be fired, but the Gardevoir noticed that there wasn't anymon here. She went to say stop, but Zack was already firing his beam, which just hit the ground, doing almost nothing to the already destroyed land.

"Wait, where's Eve and Lucas?" Crush asked. "Didn't you just say..."

But she stopped when she had a look at Daisy face. It wasn't a pleasant look as Daisy looked completely wrecked.

"They're...They're gone..." She said. "Z-Zygarde must have taken them..." She dropped to her knees and punched the ground in frustration. "I could have gotten here sooner. I could have helped them, but I messed up...again..."

The two teammates looked at each other before looking at the Gardevoir again. They wanted to say that it would be alright, that they'd come back no problem...

But they couldn't say that, because they didn't know if that was true. All they could to was pray to Arceus that Team Adventure would somehow get back safely.


Everything was moving far too fast for the Rilo to keep up with. He was hopeless just seconds ago, yet now he's confused by Eve, who seemed to know exactly what to do.

The only thing he can really recall was what Eve said at the end: To grab a Reviver Seed from her bag. Once the light went away, he opened his eyes to look for the opening to her bag.

He trusted whatever Eve just did with her fast thinking, but now he had to do his job fast as well. He tried his best to dig through all the supplies before finally finding the seed.

He then went to place it inside Eve's month. But as he closed it, he finally noticed what was going around him.

This...was weird. The area which the two Pokemon were in looked like a glass prison the color of dirt, yet the entire place had a yellow and neon glow that made sure you could see what was around you.

Still, that was the only way he could describe what was going on, because it felt like he was getting confused by everything around him. The flat ground even had veins and lights would flicker as if it was a heart beat.

Lucas looked behind him to see if there was something less confusing over there. It was a bad idea, because there was a wall made from the same stuff as the ground. There was an opening leading deeper into this place, and besides was a pinned Red, and Zygarde was right next to him as his vines held him firm.

"Zygarde?!" Lucas yelled, but he covered his mouth, hoping that the Order Pokemon didn't hear him.

The Legendary didn't seem to notice in his fifty-percent form, so Lucas could take a sigh of relief-

His back was smacked by a vine as he was hit towards the Pokemon. He rolled on the hard ground as he finally stopped, but once he did, he was tied up by multiple vines, and was pinned against the wall with Red.

"HOW IN THE NAME OF ARCEUS DID YOU FOLLOW ME?!" Zygarde yelled. "The core isn't something mortals like you can enter unless you are allowed by somemon like me, though I would never let you in here after what you did."

All the thoughts rang in the Emanation Pokemon's head. This was way too much for him to take in. He was at the core?! How in the world did Eve teleport here?! How did she know how to get here. She didn't have a vision, did she?

Then, Lucas' body was being crushed by the tighten of Zygarde's vines. "You should have taken my mercy to let you live, but I guess now that you're here, you might as well die with your friend."

The air was leaving Lucas as he turned to his side. He saw the Raboot, still knocked out, with blood marks all over him, with any bandages that were once on him were now long gone. And as it got tighter and tighter, Lucas focused on one last attack.

One last ditch effort to turn the tables. He had to get Red out of here. He wasn't going to break his promise. He couldn't let him down. This was it!

Lucas screamed as he managed to get his arms out, and he used the most powerful Focus Palm he's ever done before. All of it went into the vine as the shockwave felt like he made a sonic boom. All of his energy went into that one attack.

And it did nothing.

The vine had little reaction to his attack, and Zygarde...well, he was laughing. "That's what you call an attack?!" He said.

Lucas was scared for his life as a second vine appeared. The vine then flew at the Rilo at Mach speed. And all Lucas could do was take it.

His upper body was crushed by the attack, as the vine made a dent in the wall. Noises could be heard as if something had broken. "Now that was a real attack."

When the vine moved away, there was Lucas, inside a dent of his own. Zygarde thought he was dead before he coughed blood up weakly as Lucas' aura was nearly gone.

"Wow..." Zygarde said impressed. "You actually lived through that. But you won't be for much lon-GRRRRRR!"

A cold feeling ran up Zygarde's spine. He was caught off guard and dropped the two Pokemon. Lucas grunted as he fell and Red was still KO'd. More vines were summoned as Zygarde turned around to face his new opponent. "For crying out loud, who is it this time?!"

Lucas opened his eyes to see Eve wide awake, but look scared half to death. Lucas wanted to help her out, but he wasn't feeling very good at all. He could only hope that she had a plan.

She had more time than he thought as Zygarde waited to make his move. It seemed as if he was trying to remember who the Vulpix was, which was odd, because the two of them had never met.

"You..." He said to Eve. There was more silence as the Zygarde did nothing.

...

"...You...YOU ARE A MISTAKE AS WELL!" He yelled.

All of his vines then shook the world as he slammed all of them down on top of the Vulpix.

Expect it wasn't on top of her. He didn't feel anything but his vines. He had a horrible idea as he turned around and saw that the Vulpix was next to the Rilo, then she teleported again to the Raboot.

And that's when he lost his cool.

He used Dragon Pulse, and Eve wasn't willing to teleport this time, but used Protect to guard herself and her friends, but the impact of the beam sent her, Lucas, and Red flying.

They all landed on the ground separated as Eve called out to Lucas. "Hold onto me, because your life does depend on it!"

Every bone in Lucas' body did not want to move, but through his will power, he managed to crawl just enough to grab Eve. Eve used Psychic to drag Red closer to her.

She then went to teleport inside of the opening, but as her Aura flew there, it hit a wall that stung her. "GAHHHH!" She yelped as she looked ahead.

Lucas wondered what happened, as he opened his eyes, and saw that where Eve seemed like she wanted to go was deeper inside of this place, but there was a heavy cloud of fog in the way.

Fog that seemed to be from a Mystery Dungeon. The word, 'No.' was going on and on and on inside of Eve's head.

The core was corrupted by a Mystery Dungeon. Dots were starting to form in her head as she realized some things, but she had to get inside of there now.

But half of her didn't want to go in. That would make them trapped inside until they found a way out, and Zygarde was breathing down their necks right now. Not to mention that it was still a Mystery Dungeon.

But the other half knew that it had to be done. Any idea from this point was a bad idea, she just had to pick the least harmful one. But she had to get in there with everymon, but move could she use?

It couldn't be Psychic. Moves like those didn't work inside of these things, she just tried that.

Then, on the ground, she saw a shadow. She didn't even look up, as Zygarde dropped all of his strength into one last vine smash.

And he felt it. Life was actually at the bottom of his vines, and better yet, it was fading away.

He had done it. Those Pokemon were dead at last. He lifted his vines in victory as he yelled to the sky.

"Brother! I finally did it! The problem has finally been killed off!" He laughed. It was a great feeling to end this annoying game at last.

Deep down, he did feel sorry for the Raboot, especially that his friends had to perish as well, but then maybe he shouldn't have dragged them into this mess.

...He stopped though. The feeling inside of him. That feeling of corruption. It...wasn't gone, as if he didn't kill them. But that was ridiculous. He just did that. Maybe it took time for it to go away? But he couldn't shake that feeling off.

He looked at the dust cloud where he had attacked. Yeah, there they were, on the ground-

Expect it wasn't a them, it was an it. He had crushed a stuffed doll into the ground, something that was never alive to begin with.

That feeling then overtook him as he realized that he had fallen for a Substitute, and he could have stopped them from getting away, but was...was...

He let out an earth cracking roar as he vented his frustrations in one long scream.

After his premature yelling, he went into the Mystery Dungeon. He felt the corruption around him again, and it seemed even stronger to him, making it harder to avoid. But a Pokemon like him wasn't about to fall to that. Not when he was so close to his goal.

To...to...To stop the core from breaking! Yes! That was his goal...

It was...just getting harder and harder to remember it as he went deeper and deeper inside.


Lucas was in pain. Great pain, but he still held onto Eve as she went further into the maze. His legs were dragging across the ground. He was surprised that Eve had the power to carry him and Red.

...Red...

He opened his eyes to see the Raboot. Eve had the two of them on her back, one facing one way, the other was facing another. Still, Lucas may had been crushed, but he still had enough strength to lift his head so that he could see Red.

He was in bad shape, no surprised there, but he didn't look that much worse than Lucas did. He could feel his back crying out in pain. He felt like he just landed on nails.

Or spikes...rather not think about that anymore.

Eve then took a turn, which Lucas finally noticed. In fact, he felt her move left and right often. She wasn't going fast, teleporting was probably too much for her to do now, but with what little he could sense from her aura, she felt uneasy.

Wait, was Zygarde still on their tail? What even happened to them? He had blacked out when the shadow appeared, but now they're moving again.

Just another question he had to ask Eve. As if he didn't have enough of them already.

Suddenly, she stopped. Lucas prayed it wasn't because of them being caught, but he had a nice surprise when Eve fell onto the ground. Well, I guess it wasn't that nice, but it could had been worse.

"Can you...get off please?.." She asked.

Lucas followed her and sat up as Eve carefully put Red aside. She then opened her bag to grab supplies as Lucas took many deep breathes.

"I know you have a lot on your mind." She said. "Just wait, I'm grabbing berries for you and me, and then a seed for Red. We'll talk after that."

Lucas would have answered if he didn't feel so beat. An Oran Berry was the only thing he needed right now. Really, anything that would make him feel better would hit the spot, even if it was crushed.

Eve pulled her head out of the bag, and she had leftovers from an Oran Berry around her mouth. She used Psychic to bring another one to Lucas, who gladly took it and ate it as fast as he could.

After the first bite, Lucas spoke, "Ok, can we rewind for a second. Are we really at the core? And how did you teleport all the way here?"

Eve looked him in the eyes. "Yes, we are at the core. I'm sorry I fell behind, I could have probably done more if I had gotten there sooner. After he disappeared with Red, I tried to think of anything that I could do. Teleport came to my mind, but I had no idea where in the world it could be."

"But you teleported to the Ghost Temple. What was the difference?" Lucas asked.

"Teleporting is...weird to say the least. When I want to go somewhere, I think about where I want to end up, imagine that I'm there, and then move my aura to that location. There's a strange feeling that helps me through that's hard to explain, but the difference was that I saw where Red was, I had an idea of what the place looked like and what direction it was in. None of that was true with Zygarde."

"But then I thought if I could use Copycat. I could use his Teleport and hopefully appeared right where he did. That just meant I just to power through to get here, which took everything I had. And here I thought I wasn't going to teleport that far in a long time. The things you can do when you have no choice, am I right?" She laughed a bit, as thanks to the berries she ate, her energy was getting stronger.

But Lucas didn't share the same feeling. He had finished his berry, but he didn't feel any stronger. Was it because he...

"Are you ok Lucas?" Eve asked.

Lucas didn't pay attention to her. He was already preoccupied in his thoughts. He...didn't do it.

He couldn't save Red...twice. He didn't get to him in time, and his all-out attack didn't do a thing.

And that didn't even include the fact that he hadn't even been able to beat a Wild Pokemon. A stupid Caterpie!

"LUCAS!" He heard Eve yell at him. His face shot up and he saw that her paws were on his shoulders as she looked worried.

She put her chest on his chest and felt his heat beating like crazy. Did he black out again?! Well, he was breathing really fast.

Lucas then closed his eyes. Tears were being made as he was overtaken by grief. He did nothing. He saved nothing. He...he was-

"Don't think that!" Eve yelled again. "You aren't useless." Yet, those words didn't help the Rilo. In fact, it was because of those words that he cried even more.

"Yes I am, Eve." He said as he cried. "I am useless. I haven't been able to...do anything." Eve backed away to give him some space.

She could tell that Lucas wasn't going to stop. "It's because of me that we're all in this mess." He said. "I wanted Red to make an exploration team with me, and yet I haven't been able to help him out whenever he needed it most."

"Lucas, that's not true."

"YES IT IS!" He yelled. Eve was scared of the Rilo. It felt like he could throw a punch at her if she wasn't carefully. "I haven't been able to help Red or you anytime you needed me. I've been the weakest one out of the three of us. You both have powers that can tip the scales in your favor, and I always am the first one to fall. Back when we went to Apples Woods, you saved me. Back at Ocean's Island, Red and Bolt saved me. I couldn't make the jump from that trap, and I almost trapped Red at the Ground Temple because I fainted. I couldn't even go to the Ghost Temple because I wasn't strong enough."

It then clicked for Eve as she remembered what Lucas was saying back at the Guild. He said he felt like he wasn't strong enough to help protect Red. She thought that the tournament had helped him, but it only seemed to just add to the list. She had practically said, "Yeah, you are weak. You can get stronger by going to this tournament." And she felt awful about it.

Lucas curled into a ball as he put his paws over his head. "I hate it. No matter how much I try to get stronger, it never seems to be enough. How can I save you guys if I can't even save myself from a Wild Caterpie? I couldn't even beat that Wild Caterpie." Lucas stopped talking and continued to cry harder.

Eve then realized that's why he wasn't happy when she showed up. He wanted to prove himself that he could do it, but he...

She shock her head. No, she wasn't going to let him think like that. "Lucas, it's not your fault we're in this mess. No mon in the world could had predicted that this is what would happened. You did the right thing inviting Red to join you."

Lucas sniffed. "It doesn't matter. I use you guys as crutches every single time. I can't fight off anything because I need you both..."

He lifted his head, and his eyes were flooded with tears. "You guys are everything to me!" He shouted as tears appeared in Eve's eyes. "You're the only Pokemon I have now. The only Pokemon that I feel like I belong to. And the day I lose you two...I...won't be able to save any of you, and that just makes me a terrible frie-"

Eve had heard enough and she gave Lucas a hug. She was crying, and she was touched as well. Lucas had a good heart, he just didn't believe in himself anymore.

"Don't think like that." She said. "I want to keep you safe. You and Red are...special to me as well, and you are strong. Don't tell yourself otherwise. You never let that take you down before, and you didn't just now. Zygarde just slapped you in the face, and you were still awake after that. You had convinced Red and Team Forever to keep going, and you helped me calm down!"

"My mom was the only Pokemon that could do that, but you did that too. You are strong Lucas, just in different ways. Don't ever forget that. You make us stronger too, because you're no pushover. We're a...a..."

She stopped as she hugged the Rilo tighter. Lucas had to admit, this was much better compared to the vines trying to kill him. Instead, it was Eve cheering him up...or trying to cheer him up. Her fur was so soft, and the cold temperature put him at ease, cooled him down if you will.

"Promise me you won't doubt yourself." She said. "I know how that feels. To feel like you can't do anything right and there's nothing you can do about it. It's not a good place to be. So please listen to me when I say that. You. Are. Strong."

Lucas wanted to believe her. Now that his head was more clear and calmed down, he could remember those things. He wasn't as useless as he thought...but he still couldn't.

He still wasn't enough... But maybe...he could put a pin in it. Forgot it about it and let it slide...for now...

There was too much stuff going on right now. He couldn't listen right now, but maybe he could fool Eve that he was fine again.

"O...ok, Eve...I'll...try to remember that." He said quietly as his tears slowed down.

Zygarde was right. He wasn't strong, and maybe he did care about his friend because he made him feel stronger. But that was it.

Strength.

He was glad there was somemon out there that cared about him. That listened to him, and tried their best to help him to better himself. Eve had that pain that she didn't want to see anymon else go through, and Red wanted nothing but everymon to be safe. And Lucas...tried his best as well.

It was clear that they all worked the best when they were together. They were stronger fighting side by side.

They were a team.