"I did everything my mother told me to do. To figure out what's right and wrong. I prayed. And since I didn't get an answer, I'm going to take my best guess. I don't know how they'll react to me, but I must fight for my homelands."

"You don't have to do this. What happened to you was... a long time ago. And thanks to her, they'll be good. I promise."

"I'm starting to think that your promises suck, Luke. I can't sit around and do nothing anymore. I have to do something. And you're not really strong enough to stop me anymore."

"I will try."

"Oh please."

Audino Agatha sat up in her bed. On a Saturday, she didn't have school. She remembered it as she woke up from her dream; her unnatural, vivid dream.

Her family's dreams were a main source of their fortune telling. Unlike normal ones, the line between real life and illusion blurred, sometimes, to be seamless.

A Cinccino with a sharp, deep blue mask fought with a Lopunny. The blue sky had an outline like the inside of a cave, so she doubted it was anywhere in the real world. A cold chill passed through her body as she thought about the scale. It had to be in some sort of distorted reality like what Alondra explained; or, a normal weird dream.

Agatha didn't see much of the fight, but explosions from their attacks sent dark soil into the air like trees. She decided that she would just tell Alondra later and see what she thought.

Today, they were going to the Old World again. Almost everyone was free, but Alondra insisted they keep a team of four. Selina and Annette were going with them today. They were both principals, Annette of her own school, and the added pressure field a small fire in her limbs. They acted mature in public, but she heard them talk about old bar fights as if they used to be criminals, strong ones.

They would leave in the afternoon, so she had nothing to do this morning. Agatha reached by the side of her bed to put on her prosthetic feet, for no particular reason. She pulled her arm back and rolled the rest of her body back on her bed and closed her eyes.

After a while, Mightyena Claire stepped up to her bedside. Agatha turned over and looked at Claire.

"What?" Agatha whined.

""I'm sorry," Claire said. "I didn't mean to barge in. I was just worried you might be sick."

"I'm fine."

"Okay. Food's downstairs whenever you like."

"Mmm."

Agatha turned her back to the rest of the room again as Claire left back down the ramp. She didn't feel like getting up, and instead tossed and turned between wanting to sleep and not being able to. Once she started to get hungry, she put on her prosthetic feet and walked down the ramp to the first floor. Claire already left to work, but pancakes, still somehow warm, sat on the short table.

After eating with lots of syrup, Agatha went back to bed.

She wanted a TV in her room, but settled for using her phone. She found a few free books to read to kill some time.

After a while, Agatha got a text message on the top of her screen.

"We're coming over now." - Selina

"OK" - Agatha

Agatha grabbed her gold earring and put on the white cloak. When she put it on, she noticed small fuzz from the edge of her sleeves from a small tear in the cloth. She would have to fix it later. Ten minutes wouldn't be long enough to learn how to sow. She finished by putting on the rubber coverings over her prosthetic feet and going back down to the first floor.

Agatha continued to read with her phone resting on the short table until a knock boomed on her door. She got up and unhinged it, opting to politely pull it back to open it.

Espeon Selina, Lucario Annette, and Meowstic Alondra all peered in. Agatha's face twitched from having so many eyes on her all of a sudden.

"Uh, hi," she blurted.

"Hi," Alondra repeated. "We're ready when you are."

Agatha noticed Lucario Annette holding a long, black object over her back with a strand keeping it there. There was a clear handle and a separation after the handle ended.

"A katana?" Agatha asked. "What?"

"Oh, no," Annette answered. "This is a blunt weapon with a sheathe. Old reliable."

"What…?"

"It's made out of a material that stores a pokemon's energy through the handle. As soon as I unsheathe it, it explodes in all directions unless I swing directly in a certain direction. That's why it has a sheathe."

Agatha thought about it in terms of engineering. It was a simple idea, but a dangerous weapon. The sheathe could pop if too much energy was stored and hurt people badly, and it also had a limit to how much power could be used at once.

When battling, she wasn't sure what it meant. But with how much precise estimation the weapon suggested, she must have been using it for a long time. It was a bit weird that she worked with kids while knowing how to use something like it.

"Do you want to buy some sort of weapon to help?" Alondra asked. "There are certain dangers."

Agatha didn't particularly want to mention her prosthetic feet. After she adjusted them, they technically classified as weapons. Probably not a good idea.

"I'll be okay today," she said. "Let's move a little and head out."

They parted and gave Agatha a path out of the house. She hunched over a bit. All of them followed her as an invisible weight crushing her shoulders down.

Agatha tossed the ring on the grass and watched it expand. Green and brown colors formed inside, from huge, long slopes of distant mountains.

They looked similar to her dreams. She didn't say anything, and hid her reaction. She jumped down first without a word, walked forward on damp grass for the others to have room, and took in the view.

Green grass sloped up and downwards over the horizon. A steep hill led down into tangled foliage in front of her, and a wall of trees and bushes with thorns blocked the path behind. Beyond the tangled foliage, a quiet forest stood idle.

Agatha gazed out while Alondra grabbed the ring and brought it to her. She took it from her without looking away.

A dull outline of a rock wall loomed in the sky, just like in her dreams. She almost recognized the exact appearance, but not exactly.

Agatha tried to shape in her mind how to move to get to the place in her dream. The rock wall appeared like she was looking at it from the side. Her eyes traced the angle she had from her dream, and fell on a rocky mountain past the forest.

"I want to go there," Agatha said, pointing.

"Okay," Alondra said. "I'm not detecting anything between us and that location. It'll just be a walk."

"Good."

Agatha scanned in front of her and found a grassy path down into the woods. Selina and Annette followed close behind. She kept her head low as rays of sunlight went through the trees and illuminated some mushrooms and small flowers with bugs on them. Agatha kept her arms up and close to her from the sights of beetles and worms on trees.

Agatha jumped and jogged away when she saw a bee on a tiny, white flower. Although the others didn't comment, she kept tension in her mouth looking back at them as they continued.

After another minute of walking, a buzzing sound went from one of her ears to the other. Agatha hunched over with her hands on her head. As the bee flew away, she stood up and glanced over her shoulder.

"No one's judging you for being brave," Selina said. "Even if you're scared, keep leading."

"Yeah," Annette said. "Besides, there's a ton of them here... It's kinda creepy."

"It's okay," Agatha said. "I'm fine."

"We know. Let's keep going."

Agatha continued to lead them through the maze of trees. They constantly stepped around vines and tree roots as obstacles.. The obstacles made it take effort for every step. It slowed them down.

"So, anyone have a guess why there's a giant wall of rock in the sky?" Annette asked.

"No," Alondra said.

"Nope," Selina agreed.

"Welp," Annette sighed, "definitely not the laws of physics I remember."

"Likely just reality being messy," Alondra said. "There's probably stranger things that we'll find."

A small electric force shocked Agatha's head. She rubbed her arm. It was a familiar feeling, but she just didn't expect it.

"I feel tingly," Agatha said.

Agatha glanced back when she heard them stop moving. They all stared back at her with full attention.

"Are you okay?" Selina asked.

"Uh, yeah," she nodded. "Well... You know how I told you we're fortune tellers?"

Yes," Alondra said.

"Well, it's like a feeling that's getting set off... Like, uhm... How you don't taste anything till you have food. I feel like I have food."

"What does it taste like?" Annette asked.

Agatha focused and let ideas go into her head. Her next thoughts came naturally.

"Like someone's been living here alone for a long time," Agatha described. "There's a lot of... Heartbreak here. It's from grief... That's all I can tell."

"No person should be in the Old World for a long period of time, other than us," Alondra said. "It shouldn't be possible, even though I believe you."

"How long were they here for?" Selina asked.

Agatha let an answer come to her.

"More than a lifetime."

"More?" Selina questioned. "Odd… Annette."

"Right," Lucario Annette nodded. "Alright, let me take the lead walking if we get any surprises. There's something going on here. And honestly, I've been picking up some of this grief from the aura here. The rest of what you said is probably true, too."

"Let's get to that vantage point and leave for the day," Alondra said. "Thanks for speaking up, Agatha. This place might be more dangerous than I thought."

"Uh, okay," Agatha muttered.

Audino Agatha waited and let Annette take the lead. She noticed Meowstic Alondra and Espeon Selina started to walk a lot closer together just behind her.

As they continued, she became a little more jumpy, although now she was able to suppress her reactions to the bugs. The grass started to thin out along when the path sloped upwards and blended into dark rock.

Although the rock path grew steep, they were able to walk the whole way. It was a very short mountain, almost like a hill, but the view of rolling green hills stayed large and intimidating.

They reached the top. A small clearing opened up to them. Agatha recognized it as the place in her dream; as clear as it was back then. The others took notice of dents in the rocks and loose soil scattered around them. They wandered in small circles while Agatha just feasted on the fresh air.

"This looks kind of recent," Alondra said.

"Happened last night."

Agatha zipped around. A Lopunny appeared behind them on the path up. she backed away from him. He stood still with a straight back and his hands on his hips.

"You got my message to come here, right?" Lopunny asked.

Annette and Selina pushed Agatha back and got in front of her. Alondra joined them in darting up to protect her.

"He's weird," Alondra blurted.

"What?" Annette asked.

"I think he might be a Scion... Maybe. I can't tell. Reality's distorted around him…"

"Who are you?" Selina asked.

"My name is Luke," Lopunny said.

"Luke who?" she pushed.

Luke pushed his lips together and grimaced. For Agatha, she wanted to know more things than his last name.

"Well, uh, I can tell you other stuuuuuuff..."

"You will tell us everything," Annette threatened.

"I'll explain, okay? First, I'll talk about what this place is. Long story short, I made it. With some help."

"A Scion's help?" Alondra asked.

"Yeah. That's why I know. But anyways... It's a controlled mystery dungeon that was made so no person inside ages. I made it to keep someone in here while she was waiting for someone."

Luke got down on his left knee. Agatha watched with her arms still close to her chest. His explanation so far didn't make her any more comfortable, and this definitely didn't help.

"Agatha," Luke said. "I need your help. And all of you. I need as much help as I can get."

"Why?" Agatha asked.

"Well, you guys know about Reshiram. We could be looking at something similar."

Luke looked up at them with his hazel eyes. It put her off. He was acting like he knew her.

"A person can still become a Scion when that Legendary species is crazed," he said, "and they become something called a Conqueror. They're very dangerous. I can't let that person in here become a Conqueror."

"Even if you were telling the truth," Agatha said, "what would we do about it? I saw you in my dream. We can't do anything like what you or that Cinccino were doing."

Annette, Alondra, and Selina all seemed to pause and glance at her. Agatha kept staring, trying to read his face.

"I've got my reasons for how I know you can. "

Agatha paused to think. Annette and Selina were still in front, but their stances weren't as rigid with Luke being on a knee with his arms to the side.

"If you help," Luke said, "I'll lend a hand with Palkia. Point you in the right directions. And I'll explain all the stuff like how I know your name and things. By next week, I'll have a plan and it'll be ready to go."

Meowstic Alondra walked up behind Agatha and whispered. If it weren't for her ears, she wouldn't have been able to hear.

"We're more likely to randomly fall in a pit of lava before we find a lead," Alondra whispered. "I don't trust random strangers, but he knows things."

"Okay," Agatha said to Luke. "We'll come back here in a week. If you plan on keeping your promise. But first, you have to answer some questions in advance."

"Sure," Luke said.

"How did you know me and Alondra's name?" Agatha asked.

"I keep track of Scions. At least, ones I know about."

"Why?"

"Don't really have a reason not to."

Agatha decided to accept the answer. There were tons of reasons that were all probably true, considering they all seemed to have the same goal. It wasn't as creepy when he put it out in the open.

"Why is this so urgent?" Agatha questioned. "If this Cinccino has been in here for a long time, why is it a problem now?"

"I made a deal with her," Luke said. "I'd rather keep that part private, but she's in a kind of hibernation that's ending soon."

"And why us to stop it? Why not professional battlers? Or ask the police or... something else?"

"I've got reason to believe that you're one of the only people that can do it."

"O-kay."

Agatha watched as Lopunny Luke stood back up. He put a hand on his chest.

"I promise that I'll help you with Palkia after this is over. And I'll also teach you how to use that ring in a more focused way. Sound like a good deal?"

Agatha touched her earring without thinking about it.

"You can do that?" Agatha asked.

"Yeah, I can."

Espeon Selina and Lucario Annette looked back and down at the short Audino. There wasn't any opinion in their eyes. They simply stared while waiting for her answer. Luke resorted to staring with his wide eyes on full display.

"Alright," Agatha said. "Deal."

"Alright," Luke said, smiling. "One week. Around this time. Come with everything and everyone you've got."

Luke stood up, then snapped his fingers. A large gold ring formed out of thin air behind his body.

It was obvious from what Alondra said that he wasn't necessarily a Scion, but he suggested she could control where they go here. That meant he knew something about how to bend reality itself. That prospect alone made her shiver.

Luke turned around and stepped through the ring into a snowy, mountainous landscape. It closed behind him. A small chill from the ring's direction hit Agatha, but it faded into warm, comfortable air again.

Selina and Annette let out deep breaths. When Agatha turned around to Alondra, she realized that she had been shaking. Agatha was the only one still calm.

"That was a real person," Annette said, "didn't you say we'd be the only ones here?"

"The Old World has connected points to ours," Alondra said. "Even for the havens of Legendary species, there are real world locations that they correlate to. Anything's possible..."

"Did I make the right choice?" Agatha asked.

"That's a matter of opinion."

"I know you said that we should explore in smaller teams," Selina said, "but this is an exception, right?"

"Absolutely," Alondra answered. "I think we should go home and start whatever preparations we can. I feel this place is closed off, so there's nothing more to do here for now. And now that he's our first lead for where to look, we should devote our attention to making sure we're ready."

Agatha responded by unwinding her ear strand to take the gold ring off. She tossed it on the ground and watched the green colors form into grass. She turned around when she realized they went silent.

"Do you want to share about this dream you mentioned?" Alondra asked.

"You know enough," Agatha said, turning back around.

"Well... Fair."

Agatha felt their eyes on her back. She hopped down, already tired out from talking so much.