A bright, orange sun sets along the horizon, and warm blue waves breeze onto the sandy shores. Overhead, the little krabby and water types slumber in the porous cliffs. This half of the grass continent is green all around, however, some still choose to sleep away during the colder season. Unfortunately, explorers like Cole are nary given such luxury..
The Quilava sits on a mound of sand, chin his hands, as he stares out into the Sea. Maybe he'll see an old friend out there, maybe something else will happen other than the sun going down, but as the sun begins to vanish only darkness comes.
"C-Cole?"
He can hear someone hopping along the sand. He recognizes the accent anywhere, and sighs, strapping on a faux smile.
"Bidoof." Cole glances at his fellow. "Been a bit, are you worried about me?"
Bidoof takes up a seat next to him, splaying himself out on the pearly sand like a fat, lazy Meowth. He too, looks out towards the Sea, trying to see whatever it is Cole is looking for. Alas, he too turns up empty handed.
"I mean, golly, folks dont see ya anymore since you officially graduated." The explorer says, continuing to ogle at the waters. "I used to think you were busy taking care of little bluey all the way up until Chatot told me about…erm…you know."
Bluey, what a name for a Prince of The Sea who will become feared in a generation or two to come. He didn't give the boy a name, he just called him Manaphy until he could properly think of one. If given enough time, he probably would have named the poor prince-to-be after someone near to his heart. It would've made two people with the same name to leave his life.
It is at this same beach he met his friend, and lost his blue boy.. Poor thing left him crying, screaming, but it was for his own good. Cole cannot raise a kid, not while there is so much for him to work through.
After a long pause, Cole sighs.
"Do as I do: don't think about it too much."
"Yeup." Bidoof nods his head. "Sure can do it, Cole."
"Besides, Bluey is better off out there than over here, I doubt a fire-type is meant to take care of a water-prince like him." His eyes scan the horizon to the far right where an alcove is hidden along the porous rocks. "I told Lapras to keep an eye on Manaphy for me. I may not be his dad anymore, but I'd like to know how he's doing sometimes, helps me sleep at night.
"Oh, sleep, speaking of." Bidoof's happy go lucky voice tones down by a single octave. "You heard of all the guys falling asleep lately? It happened to Marill and the boys and…"
"The kid's fine."
Bidoof looks at him in disbelief. Here goes.
"His nightmares are gonna stop, they'll be okay." Cole feels the fire on his crest flicker and he quickly reignites it, trying to keep his confident mask together.. "I told you in the letter that someone wanted to talk to me, someone dangerous. We made a deal, those sleeping spells will stop if I agree to see him in person."
He came to him in his nightmares, first in the disguise of someone else, which he quickly undone as a way of showing his hand. The person spoke of things only they knew of, drawing on their collective experience as travellers across time. His words were the first comfort he felt in a long time.
This person has a plan, he told him, a plan he can only speak of in person. The curses were him reaching out in search of a person like him, and will end as soon as they can speak. He struck a deal with the shadow What he could possibly lose?
"That doesn't sound good, C-cole! Are you gonna be safe?"
The sun sets in its entirety, and a deep purple sky twinkles overhead.. The stars are out in full swing, glistening over the Sea's shining surface. Cole turns to his only friend, holding his hand firmly.
"I will be. I've beaten down Regigigas and his posse all on my lonesome, well, with a little help." Cole sprinkles in a nervous chuckle. "If I don't return here in a week, you start looking for me, got it?"
"I got it, bud." Bidoof nods gleefully, slipping his paw out of the quilava's hands. "Don't you worry. If anything goes wrong, you bet me, Sunflora, and the entire guild's gonna-"
His mouth hangs open, his eyes shut tight, and Bidoof falls onto his side in a slump. Cole scurries off of his makeshift chair to check for the little guy's pulse. Bidoof is sleeping.
"Well, well, Cole."
He whips around and sees a purple phantom hovering in from the direction of town. She lowers a cloth appendage, adjusting her shadowy hat to light up her visage. Her eyes are pink and yellow, and her w-shaped smile is oddly disarming. She hovers towards him without a sound as his mane ignites with anticipation.
"Oh please." She holds out a hand. "I couldn't have thee running thy mouth amok. I put your darling under a sleeping spell, he will awake fine come the morning - no nightmares attached."
"Who are you?" He looks the hatted phantom in her eyes.
"A mutual friend." She motions to whence he came, up the shadowed path leading to treasure town. "Come along, darling. You shan't keep the Knight's left hand waiting, he is an impatient one"
"And who is this left hand?"
She laughs a very distinctive, almost playful laugh.
"You've met the prince in your dreams. Don't tell me you don't know his name? 'Tis Prince Dark-"
The entire world rocks and shakes around Masters. He feels something belly up inside, but miraculously keeps it down. He is somewhere on the back of their Rapidash. Lucario sits above him, leading the steed along a rocky, rainy river. Without a chance to gather his bearings, Whiskey senses the Typhlosion stir to life, and shouts.
"Sire Lucario, your friend is awake!"
Lucario turns around, glancing at Masters who lays slump across Whiskey back. Without even asking how he is, he shoves a bottle into Master's hands. Masters takes it, and slowly creeks himself upright, sitting side by side with his companion. Finally, he takes a sip, and the dark-type mending Colbur courses through his undead body. Where did he get this? Nevermind this.
"Where are we, Luc?" Masters speaks. "We were just in…"
"You've been out for a day, 'M. I've been keeping you juiced and our ride going the right direction." Lucario reveals the pink badge he has taken out of Whiskey's mane. The diamond in its center points further downstream, which through a misty rainfall, reveals two large mountains forming a canyon. "Been raining all day, sorry if you're soaked. I don't have the money to buy an umbrella."
His fire typing has seemingly singed off most of the light rainfall. Getting his bearings together, he adjusts his hat, thankful it's wide enough to keep the rain from dousing his head of flames.
"I don't just wear this for the looks." Masters says, pointing towards it. "What about you? Where are we going again?"
"The people in halfway rock said it was "that canyon", we didn't waste our time asking even more questions.." Lucario raises a bottle. The navy blue of Chesto whirls around inside it. "I stole this from the tavern Lapis Town, me and the horse here have not slept since."
"How long was I out?"
"No more than a day, Sir Masters." Whiskey speaks up, his galloping pace slowing as he carries them along a rocky riverline. "If thy worry about me, please save it. Lucario's potion has kept me in good strength. And if what he says is true, then keep yours for what lies ahead."
Masters peers past Lucario downriver to see two mountains flanking the stream.. Looks like a canyon alright. The badge in Lucario's hand continues to point straight towards it. Someone, whether it be Louisa or another, is there - and if they are lucky, a gear as well.
The rain begins to pick up pace. He can hear the raindrops come crashing down, tapping the brims of his hat like hailstones. Lucario does not seem perturbed in the slightest, looking forward to his goal with determination. He would not be dragging Masters' unconscious body this far this quickly if he was not certain another gear waits for them ahead.
Lightning flashes overhead. The rain becomes even worse and worse. The stream begins to gush with excess. Whiskey begins to buckle, and his footsteps plant themselves firmly on the river's rocky edge.
"Good sires, I cannot bring you any further." Whiskey says, looking back at the two. "The road ahead has become too slick. I shan't carry you further. It is too great of a risk."
"Yeah, that's fine, 'M and I can walk." Lucario slips off of Rapidash's back, which Masters follows suit. Lucario takes a swig from the Chesto brew, then hands it to Whiskey. "Chug this while we're gone."
Whiskey takes it into his mouth, then sits by the river's edge, right under a gnarl tree whose branches blot out the oncoming rain. Lucario takes another look at the badge which still points the way they're going, and waves a momentary farewell to his steed.
"Come on, 'M. Let's go."
Lucario leads the way, and Masters follows. The rain occasionally makes it past his giant hat, swatting his greasy, undead fur with water. He could have done with a bath in all honesty but this was no environment for a fire-type. He can still feel where Bisharp tore into him with a soft scar where the Night Slash hit. Worse than the rain or wounds, is this headache throbbing at the back of the Typhlosion's groggy mind.
"Luc." Masters stammers out. "What's your plan?"
"The plan is we punch the daylights out of whatever badge-wearer is up there. If they have a gear, then good, if they don't then whatever." Lucario pins Whiskey's badge to his ragged red cloak. "We can ask whoever's there, I'm sure they will happily tell us if they have a time-thing on them."
"That does not seem the brightest plan, though I don't know if I could come up with better." Masters speaks, rubbing his temples.. "If this fails then I can try the scream. It's worked twice, no reason for it not to work again."
"Fair enough." Lucario grumbles. "You still good from earlier? What was that all about trying to puppet me back at guild?"
Masters thinks. He holds the piece of cloth rolled up in his hat, the familiar symbol hidden in the feather makes him still for a moment.
"The Scream said I was gonna get cut up real bad. It was a hundred percent right the last time it activated, and we barely avoided you becoming roast." Masters brings his hands down, folding his arms. "It showed me the move was coming, it said the move was gonna hit me, so I used you as a shield. Thanks to that, we got them."
Lucario laughs. His dumb, brass teeth shine their message back at Masters.
"Warn me next time you use me as a shield." He grins, teeth shimmering. "That's gotten us, what, our third Gear? Maybe you can use that to predict Halfway Rock's lottery."
"You guys have a lottery?"
Lucario continues laughing, leading himself and Masters further into the canyon. The rocky shores at this point are replaced by thick, dark pillars. Basalt. The last time they saw things like these they weren't exactly friends.
"Are you still good?" Lucario's tone sharply changes as he climbs his way over the hexagonal cliffside, making little footholds for Masters with the occasional Steel-type infused punch. "I don't care if you're in a fighting mood or you're not, I need to know if you can survive one."
"If it means us getting another gear-"
A loud, tremendous flash interrupts them. Lightning strikes above and far. Both pokemon look towards the explosion, watching as a body of something careens down the cliffside. Standing there are three figures.
The tallest of these is holding something in her claws, and Lucario's eyes grow wide, letting out a guttural, and terrible scream.
The armored Luxray pounces down, its metal body smashing right into Dexys. It raises its teeth, pinning her to the hexagonal floor as lighting rages across its body. The Zoroark grabs a stone from her surroundings, and right before his teeth sink into her shoulders she jams the chunk of basalt into its mouth.
It screams. Its teeth crunch down on the rock and turn it into dust. It goes for another, but Dexys is faster, tearing into their metal armor with a shadow claw and causing it to pounce away from her.
And other than leaving a three-clawed mark around its armored neck, she did nothing to it. Its mail is going to be impossible to get through without Halcion's raw strength. Doffing her fighting-type disguise, Dexys leaps onto her feet, facing the thing staring down at her.
"I believe you have the wrong interloper." She tells the Luxray. "I don't pose a threat to you, leave me!"
It lets loose a terrifying roar. Thunder booms from above, and a bolt of lightning strikes the Luxray, electrifying its metallic shell. Glowing with energy, it bolts towards her, both of them knowing a slight graze would spell an electrifying end.
Dexys bounds away from her stone. She sees the figure of Halcion and the Prinplup boy below, both watching her flee from this monstrous warrior. The Haxorus says something to the water boy then shoves him aside, and books it right up the cliffside, tearing into the stones with powerful leaps and strides.
She lands below. She hears it land next to her, and ducks, watching its red hot gauntlets cut into the stone above. It bares its teeth, screaming into the outsider's face.
"Those who don your badge shall face the Knight's judgement! It doesn't matter who you are, the Sea's meddling clings to you!"
The Sea. When Dexys arrived here she woke on a beach and assumed a new identity, and after ages of wondering she rediscovered who she was with the help of her new partner. This thing knows what she is.
"Hal!" Dexys cries out to the approaching Dragon-type. "Help me!
It rips its claws out of the stone. Dexys takes a deep breath as it raises its fangs. Dark, sinister energy builds on the tips of his teeth, and as it comes down, she responds, spewing out a stream of hot, purple flame. She hears it roar, sees it writhe, but it manages to power through the fire, sinking a devastating Crunch into her arm.
As she lets out a shriek of pain, the flame spewing from her mouth turns cold, and ghastly. Wisps of Malice spew from her and rake into Luxray's body. She manages to rip her arm free as she tumbles down the cliffside, the electric-type overhead, reeling and screaming from her one good attack.
She hits the ground of an alcove hard. Gripping her arm, she immediately squishes herself into the nearest corner, trying her best not to let her ghostly ichor leak out. The basalt pillars quake overhead, and she takes a deep breath.
The thing lands right in front of her, its frenzied, red eyes looking all around, teeth gnashing and covered in her ichor. It turns towards her alcove, practically locking eyes with the Zoroark, then is caught by surprise by the Dragon-Type..
Halcion grabs it by its armor, raking her claws in between the plates of its armor as it thrashes around, its lightning infused body failing to send a single pulse through the dragon's scales. The dark energy builds in its teeth once more, and it shouts.
"Hands off a knight! What are you doing, you fool!"
It sinks its teeth into her shoulder, ripping into her armor and her cape. She scream, grabbing it right by its armored head, swinging its body round and round with Reversal till she whips his body straight into the rocky pillars. A loud, horrible crunch sounds ahead. The bent, armored figure of the Luxray hits the ground by her feet.
But Luxrary is still going, thrashing, refusing to accept defeat. It sinks its teeth right into her heels, putting Halcion to its knees. A blood curdling roar bellows from Halcion's throat, and she seizes the Luxray by its head, slamming it in a powerful Outrage
The Basalt cracks as Halcion continues thrashing its body against the rocks, turning it more and more into an amalgam of black fur and metal. With her final slam, she rakes the metal body of the Luxray across the ground, tossing it into the river below where it hits the water, vanishing into the roaring stream.
Halcion goes to race towards the river, but her wounds catch up with her. She falls to her knees and expels a deep, quivering breath. She looks into the alcove, looking at the Zoroark in her eyes.
"You can come out." Halcion breathes. "I don't bite."
Of course she can see Dexys. Her illusion wears off the second she starts to move, peeling an imaginary layer of dark stone as she crawls out of her den gripping her torn up arm. Halcion gives it a single glance, then reaches into her cloak, brandishing a shining Reviver Seed.
"Take it, he got you good."
Before she even relents Halcion throws it straight at her. The Zoroark catches it with her good hand, pops the seed into her hand, then chews. The mint-tasting energy floods through. Feeling returns to her arm as the wounds the Luxray inflicted plug themselves back up.
She gives it a quick shake, feeling spry, and well for someone who had nearly gotten done in by an armored madman. Dexys leans up against the surrounding basalt, watching Prinn slowly meander up the cliffs towards them. They have a moment, at least until he gets here.
"Hal, he said something about your Knight."
"I know, don't think I heard him screaming?" A restrained laugh slips out of her. "We got all the time in the world to talk about the repercussions of destroying a living fossil, I just wish I didn't…mess up his armor…"
She spits down the cliff into the river below.
"Could've had a trophy…"
Dexys looks down, barely managing to spot the yellow blip of a Luxray's tail sticking out of an unrecognizable mass. She has seen Halcion use Outrage before, this however…she sounded…
"You don't think Zekrom sent-"
"Shut up, Dexys." She cuts her off. "I love him, I love you, but I'm not blind. I honor him in my own way, which doesn't involve trying to rip out the throats of everyone not from this world."
Oh good. She is still the same Hal, no sudden heel-turns to be observed. Dexys stands up, peering up above to where she was going. The badge on her chest still points the same direction. The rain starts to clear, becoming the same mist it was an hour prior. She keeps her senses peeled when-
Clink.
Something races past her, causing all her fur to stand on end. Halcion doesn't seem to notice the mist creeping past them, rising up towards an opaque sky. A figure emerges from the mist.
A bird clad in a large hat. When it gestures to behind Dexys, it turns to her, and smiles contently. It shuts its eyes, then leaves this world in a gust of wind. Looking where it had pointed the mist leaves, and reveals something.
A hat, the spirit's hat with a glowing thing inside of it.
"Hal." Dexys' eyes widen. "You want to see this."