Chapter 5: The Palace of Reflections (Part 1)
Daniela awoke from her slumber with a groan. Just laying on the mattress proportional to her size, placed on a bed frame strong enough to hold her weight. Not wishing to leave it, as it was now more comfortable than it was when she laid onto it last night. Random thoughts about anything flowed through her head. At some point, she thought of how crazy that dream about seeing Andrei, Joina and The Queen of Battles exit the screen of the biggest TV in The Junes Department was. But it soon dawned onto her that as fictional as that scenario seemed, it wasn't fictional in her life. A realization that led to her remembering about the fact that those three were now expecting her company in The Alternative World.
Just great. Now the Dragonite had a reason to lift herself from her suddenly very comfortable bed on a Saturday morning. A reason that was soon accompanied by another reason, loudly stated by a growl of her large belly. That demanded food, after barely being fed during the last dinner it consumed.
These two reasons were more than enough to make the dragon-type sit up onto her bed. She then grabbed her phone from its spot on the bedroom's only nightstand, unplugging it from its charger. Checking the time on its lock screen. A certain Eevee smiling at her as she did so, being the photo Daniela decided to set as her phone's lock screen. And the Dragonite frowned at him.
As it was 13:12. And she was supposed to meet Andrei and the other two at 14:00. Fuck.
The dragon-type groaned. In under an hour, she had to move herself away from the comfy bed underneath her butt, eat breakfast and get to The Junes Department Store. Or she could be late on purpose…No! No matter what, Daniela would never make herself be late somewhere on purpose!
Meaning that the Dragonite walked towards the department store with a hastily made sandwich in her mouth while carrying a big brown bag, after not having bothered to apply any sort of makeup to her face.
The dragon-type was the first one to arrive in front of the TV, 10 minutes before the group's intended meeting time. Andrei was the second one to arrive, 5 minutes before that time. The Queen of Battles caught the two childhood friends chatting when she made herself present 2 minutes before the group's intended meeting time. And Joina walked up to the three at exactly 14:00.
"So, we just go through the screen?" Daniela asked the group, her snout pointing towards the massive TV that was as tall as her.
"Yup!" The dark-type confirmed, alongside a nod. "You should go in first, though. After all, Persona-less Pokemon can only access The Alternative World when a Persona user is nearby one of its access points, and only one of us would enjoy getting crushed by a Dragonite landing in The Alternative World." She then explained, as her signature grin appeared onto her face.
"Fair enough." The Dragonite replied, before looking around. To make sure that only witnesses to what she was about to try would only be Andrei, Joina and The Queen of Battles. Seeing only their eyes look at her, the dragon-type pushed her right arm into the screen of the TV in front of her. Although she expected it, Daniela was still surprised to see her right hand phase through the screen of that TV.
She then bent forward, pushing the upper half of her body into the screen. Making it go into a tunnel made up of a pattern of alternating black and white rectangles.
A certain Eevee blushed as he watched the Dragonite push the rest of herself into the TV. As before and during that, he got a good look at her fat ass. Andrei felt a bit bad about taking advantage of the situation the dragon-type was in, but at the same time, he had accepted the lust he felt for the Dragonite.
"You're welcome~" A certain grinning Nickit told him. Who intended to make Daniela go into The Alternative World for a third reason, as well. That reason being letting a certain horny boy see her ass. Alongside two horny gals, as well. Joina was obviously one of the two, but the other one was a surprise. Yet the dark-type could swear she spotted the Riolu glance at that Dragonite ass for a few seconds, before looking away.
"E-erm…T-thanks, I guess…" Andrei replied, not really knowing how else to in such a situation.
"You can thank me by confessing to her whenever you are ready to." The Nickit responded, before facing the TV. "Now, be a dear and go after me and queenie over here, alright?" The dark-type stated, while making sure that only Andrei and The Queen of Battles could see what she did next.
That being leaping through the screen of the TV, while screaming: "After all, ladies first!"
The Riolu leapt through the same screen immediately after the Nickit's massive tail wasn't present in the store. After hesitating for a bit, the Eevee leapt after the three girls.
And fell through the tunnel of alternating white and black rectangles. Landing right in front of a certain dragon-type. A certain dark-type on his right and a certain fighting-type on his left. While a certain psychic-type faced all of the four teenagers.
"So, I presume this is the Daniela you two girls mentioned yesterday." The Gardevoir plainly stated, while looking at the face of the Dragonite that went by that name.
"That'd be me." The girl named as such replied. "And I presume you are Ion, the Gardevoir that I heard about from Joina."
"Yes." The man that went by that name replied in a short and plain manner.
"As there is no Palace holding anyone hostage today, you four are free to do whatever you wish…" He then started to speak, before squinting his eyes at Joina and The Queen of Battles.
"…Within morally reasonable bounds." The Gardevoir concluded. His eyes then stopped squinting, therefore making his face return to a resting bitch face.
"Ahhh, so no orgy?" Joina asked, her signature grin plastered onto her smug face.
"Well, you can go ahead with that as long as I don't have to participate, and I am not here to witness it." Ion replied, as Daniela and The Queen of Battles simultaneously scrunched their faces while Andrei blushed at the thought of doing it with the Dragonite.
"Why the fuck would you even suggest that?!" The Riolu screamed towards her Nickit ally, making her giggle. As a certain Eevee looked away, in an attempt to hide his blush from the group. But both Daniela and Ion noticed it.
"I just thought it'd be funny to ask!" The dark type explained herself between small giggles, before winking at the fighting-type.
"Well, it really wasn't funny." The dragon-type continued what the fighting-type started, while crossing her arms around her chest.
"It was for me!" The jewellery wearer replied, after her giggling died out.
"We all know that your sense of humour is not…Similar to ours." Daniela replied to that statement, abstaining herself from telling the Nickit that her sense of humour is worse than of everyone else in the group.
"So? As long as I'm entertained by it, I'll force it onto yah." The dark-type replied, making the dragon-type she was speaking to sigh. Who was then surprised to see Joina gasp.
"Entertainment! Ion, I almost forgot!" The Nickit stated after gasping, before starting to frantically search for something in her bag. Only taking a few seconds to pull out three books, and place them on the yellow plain underneath her paws.
"These are for me, I presume." The Gardevoir for whom the books were meant for stated.
"More shitty romance books?" The Queen of Battles stated, while glancing at the cover of the book closest to her face together with Daniela. The Riolu was surprised to see what the title of the book was.
"A history book?!" The now surprised feisty girl asked the one who put that history book on the yellow plain alongside the other two books.
"Yep! So that Ion over here can learn all there is about the history of our world!" Joina replied, while grinning once more. As the book her friend reacted to was titled 'The history of our world: In a bit more depth than a brief history of it'. Written by a Pokemon that went by the name of Antoine Dubois.
"Well, that's a very thoughtful gift, thank you." Ion stated in response to the explanation about one of the books meant for him. But his gratitude was not present on his face or in his voice, although he truly had it.
"And that's just one book out of three! Hopefully you'll also enjoy the other two!" The Nickit told the Gardevoir that was grateful while not showing it. She then watched the psychic-type pick up the pile of books, then look at the front and back covers of the books. Spending a few minutes to both read the text present on them and notice the visual details they had.
"He is more than welcome to do as such…" The Dragonite of the group joined into the conversation. "…After we spend some time around The Alternative World."
"But of course. I'm at your service." The Gardevoir plainly replied to her statement, as his pocket dimension appeared. Into which he placed the books, before it vanished.
"So, what Palaces do you think we should crawl through, Gardevoir in my service?" Joina asked the psychic-type, while grinning at him.
"It depends if you wish to try something harder, or simply have a light experience of how Palace Crawling is." Ion plainly explained on what his recommendations depended on.
"Well, it isn't like I'm going to change my battle doctrine too drastically from the one I've practiced until now. After all, I do not have a Persona. So, unless Andrei wishes to do something easier in order to get a hang of his Persona, I'm fine with whatever." Daniela replied to the explanation of the Servant of Igor.
"Lets…Lets go do something harder." The Eevee joined in on the conversation, after being flustered for a while by the thought of going at it with his crush.
"Are you sure you wouldn't prefer something easier?" The dragon-type asked her Eevee friend, while looking down at him.
"I'm more than sure, Daniela." The normal-type replied, before looking up at her face. Flashing her a smile, before looking at Ion.
"Very well." The Gardevoir plainly stated after the new members of the team made up their minds. "Then, I do have a location in mind. But before we go to it, I'd like to try to get another ally on the team before we go to that location."
"Do as you feel is right, Ion. Just don't take too much time, alright?" Joina told the Gardevoir, before he snapped the fingers of his right hand. Teleporting away.
He soon appeared at his destination. Velvet blue surfaces met his feet and eyes as he walked down a hallway, the blue doors of which could be differentiated from its velvet blue walls by being cyan blue. Behind each door, Ion knew that there was a Velvet Chamber. Each being differentiated from the Velvet Room simply by each acting as a bedroom for Servants of Igor.
The Gardevoir looked at the seemingly never-ending hallway stretching in front of him. While knowing that behind him, only a few steps behind his back, not even a door separated the Velvet Library through which Pokemon could arrive at the Velvet Cafeteria and Velvet Bathroom. The psychic-type made a mental note to put the books he got from Joina in the Velvet Library later, as to let other Servants of Igor enjoy them alongside himself. Making this mental note while walking towards, and knocking, on one of the cyan blue doors. One of the few doors that led to an occupied Velvet Chamber, many of the other Velvet Chambers being vacant.
"One moment, hun!" A feminine voice replied to the door knocking. Not even a minute later, the door was opened from the inside. Prompting Ion to look down.
At the face of a short Delphox, who was now looking up at the face of the Gardevoir that had just knocked at the door of her bedroom. Shorter, wider and chubbier than the average Delphox, her big yet not overexaggerated rack resting on her belly. A sight that always made Ion blush, and his blush deepened in that moment when he realised that her body wasn't covered by clothes. Which wasn't strange, considering that clothes weren't needed to cover anything because Mother Xerneas made each Pokemon body be able to cover/reveal any private parts at will. But this was the first time the Gardevoir saw her not wearing clothes.
"…So, what do you need me for, hun?" The Delphox asked the psychic-type standing in front of her, silently looking down at her.
"Ah! Yes, well, I wish to explore The Palace of Reflections with a team of four strong Travellers, and we could use your services, Brix." Ion replied to her question, while going back to his usual demeanour. He had to remind himself that the Delphox in front of him was not chosen as a sixth member for Team Bitches (At that moment, he didn't know that it had rebranded itself as Team Truth Seekers.) because of his crush on her. Nope! She was chosen solely for her amazing healing abilities. Though, the Gardevoir couldn't lie to himself, spending time with Brix was a bonus.
"The Palace of Reflections? Are you sure? You heard the stories, didn't you?" The fire-type replied, concern present in her voice and on her face.
"I did." Ion truthfully replied. He really did. Stories from other Servants of Igor that had visited The Palace of Reflections, which spoke of enemies that were exact replicas of those who told those stories. Not to mention the oddity that the Palace posed with its lack of a captive when it appeared, and its lack of a reference to a suppressed desire in its name. "However, I have overseen the battle prowess of two of the four Travellers. And although that is not the case with the other two, one of them is a Dragonite. Who tend to be strong, even if untrained in the art of combat." The Gardevoir continued. As the mysteries behind that odd Palace made him more than willing to uncover them.
"That might be the case, hun. But you have to remember that the enemies will be as powerful." Brix replied, having a point.
"That will be true, yes." The psychic-type agreed, with a nod. "But they can simply each fight the enemies that are not their exact replicas. Not to mention that your exceptional healing powers will help."
"They might, hun, but a replica of myself could also heal the enemies." Brix made another good point in response to the statements of the Gardevoir.
"Perhaps it could. But we could focus on destroying it before it heals any of the other enemies." The psychic-type explained in response to the second good point his crush made. "Not to mention that the probability of it being unable to replicate your healing abilities, or of it being unintelligent enough to use your healing abilities, exists."
"…Alright, hun. But if anything goes wrong, we are immediately leaving the Palace, alright?" The Delphox replied to his argument, before turning around. Her back now facing Ion as she made her face look forwards instead of upwards. "But first, I must cloth myself, hun. Could you wait for a bit, while I do so?"
"Of course." The psychic-type plainly replied, before taking a few steps away from the door of Brix's Velvet Chamber.
"Thanks a bunch!" He heard the fire-type state a thanks after he left. The door to her Velvet Chamber was then closed from the inside.
After a few moments, Brix emerged from her Velvet Chamber. A sparkling dark green dress now covering her body. Its skirt almost touching the floor beneath it, making up for the lack of cloth on the shoulders and top side of the breasts of the Delphox wearing it.
"So, you're going for defence over flexibility this time?" A blushing Ion plainly asked her. This question being asked in the first place because most of the clothing the fire-type brought with her in Palaces wasn't just for show, being infused with her Delphox magic in order to provide certain perks when worn. Or else she wouldn't go clothed into Palaces, not wishing to ruin beautiful clothing in them.
"Well, I'm probably going to be targeted a lot after my role is revealed to our enemies, hun. And I don't feel like dodging continuously today. So, better make myself able to take more hits, instead." Brix explained her reasoning for wearing her dark green dress.
"Good thinking. Now, let me introduce you to the Travellers I have been interacting with recently." Ion replied in his plain style of his, before snapping the fingers of his right hand.
Teleporting the two Servants of Igor on a certain yellow plain, close to a certain group of teenagers. Daniela raised her gaze from the letters being displayed on her phone, forming the sentences of a book. Joina stopped her constant back and forth walking. Andrei stood up from the spot he laid his stomach onto. The Queen of Battles stopped punching and kicking the air. All four of them were now looking at the two Pokemon who had just teleported next to them.
Especially at the Pokemon they never saw before. The Delphox that they immediately identified as the ally Ion spoke of bringing on the team.
"Well, welcome on the team, beautiful!" The Nickit of the team greeted Brix, while flashing her a grin.
"You really didn't have to call her that." The Riolu of the team stated, while crossing her arms.
"Why? Is she not beautiful?" The jewellery wearer asked her feisty friend.
"That's beside the point." The Dragonite of the team joined in the conversation, replying before The Queen of Battles got the chance to reply herself.
As the three girls discussed the morality of addressing someone by their physical appearance on the very first time facing said Pokemon, the Eevee of the team made his way over to Brix. Stopping right in front of her, before looking up at her face. Meeting her face, looking down at his.
"Welcome to the team!" Andrei then welcomed the Servant of Igor, a cheerful gaze on his face.
"Well, your allies do seem to be rather lively, hun." The fire-type replied, a smile appearing on her lips. "I'm sure it'll make Palace Crawling rather fun, hun."
"We'll have to see about that…" The normal-type replied, as the cheerful gaze from before faded away.
"Anyways." The Queen of Battles loudly stated a few seconds after the statement of the Eevee. Making everyone else present look at her. "Lets stop wasting time, and get on with this harder Palace."
"Queen, there is no reason for us to hurry." Ion plainly told the Riolu in response to her statement, while maintaining his signature resting bitch face. "This Palace is not holding anyone hostage."
"So what?! I came here to have some action, not lay around all day like a lazy Pokemon!" The fighting-type told the psychic-type in response to his explanation.
"Well, only if the others agree with you." The Gardevoir told her, before looking at the rest of the group.
"I have some other things I wish to do today, so, I wouldn't mind getting on with it." Daniela agreed with The Queen of Battles.
"Same goes for me, hun." Brix agreed with the Dragonite.
"I want to follow Daniela wherever she goes…" Andrei stated, before bolting away from the Delphox he just spoke with. Stopping right next to the legs of the dragon-type.
"Well, whatever I want doesn't matter in a democracy where everyone else wishes for the thing I don't want." Joina stated, while looking at the faces of those present. "So, lets just get on with it."
"Gladly." Ion stated, before snapping the fingers of his right hand. Teleporting everyone in front of The Palace of Reflections.
The teenagers that were part of Team Truth Seekers recognised the black building in front of them. After all, each one had some sort of experience with it in The Real World.
"Hey, is it just me, or does that look like the Palace of Reflections back in Youth's Park?" Joina asked the group, while not realising that all of its teenagers just had that thought.
"It sure does bring bad memories…" Andrei stated, making the Nickit realise that she wasn't the only one who realised how similar the entrance of the Palace was to something present in The Real World.
And it also made a certain Dragonite snort.
"Because you kept getting lost in it. I had to rescue you from it at least five times." Daniela stated after snorting, making her Eevee friend embarrassed.
The Queen of Battles remained silent, although she also recognized the establishment.
"So, this is a recreation of something present in your world." Brix remarked, in response to the informative statements of the teenagers.
"Which has an identical name." Ion remarked after the Delphox, in his plain way of his. While obviously unable to determine the difference in capitalisation the two names had when it came to the word 'the' through speaking.
"That seems to be the case, y-yeah." Andrei stated, while looking at the entrance of the Palace that he recognized as a mirror maze found in a park of Orbaj Town.
"And it is a case we should start exploring." The Queen of Battles stated, before running into the Palace.
"Wait!" Ion shouted after her, but it was too late. The Riolu had already made her way inside of The Palace of Reflections.
"Lets go find her in that dangerous Palace before she gets into too much trouble." The Gardevoir then stated, before floating after the fighting-type.
The rest of the group followed after him. And together with him, they found The Queen of Battles in the very first room of the Palace. Simply staring at her reflection into one of the many mirrors present in the room. As mirrors covered every single surface of the room, now displaying reflections of the group. Andrei shivered at the sight of the many mirrors and their reflections: This recreation of the Palace of Reflections was just as bad as the original, to him.
"Huh. This is a rather peaceful welcome, for a supposedly hard, dangerous Palace." Joina remarked, while walking up to one of the mirrors. Before proceeding to admire her reflections present in that mirror and the ones closest to it.
"The enemies have been reported to appear after a while of exploring." Ion plainly explained in response to that remark.
"Then we should probably get moving, and explore as much of this place as possible before we have to fight them." The Eevee boy replied, while his mind was clouded by all the not fun memories he had of its equivalent in his homeworld.
"But I wanna fight some!" The Queen of Battles added, looking displeased at the idea of exploring a Palace without fighting against the Pokemon it generates.
"You will, don't worry." Ion assured the Riolu, as the group started to walk into the Palace.
The start of the exploration was accompanied by a lot of admiring of reflections and bonking into the mirrors into which those reflections were present. The admiring being done by everyone but Andrei, who was the sole one to keep on smacking himself against mirrors by accident.
Further into the exploration, the first horde of enemies made itself present. It did after the group of six walked into a room larger than the rest. The moment its members set foot into it, all of their reflections in the mirrors started to grin at them. Although only Joina was grinning, and some of the Pokemon in the reflections had to change the positions of their heads in order to be able to grin towards the group. Then some of the mirrors shattered, and enemies emerged from them. Leaving behind holes, through which dark blue smoke started to make its way into the room. Making a group of enemies appear. That was formed by better-looking versions of the members of The Truth Seekers. One better looking clone for each member of The Truth Seekers.
Daniela widened her eyes. So, this were the Palace enemies Joina mentioned yesterday.
"Well, would you look at that, queenie!" Joina loudly stated, while grinning at the clones. "Now you have some enemies to fight!"
"Enemies that will absolutely decimate you!" The clone of the Nickit replied even louder, while grinning at those the members of her group, including herself, were clones of. "As we are better than you in every way!"
"As if you are! I am the best version of myself!" The Queen of Battles shouted out a very inspirational statement, before lunging towards the dark-type that was not on her side. Attempting to land a punch on her.
The Nickit turned around, and let her thick tail take the punch. As it turned into golden dust, her hind legs struck the Riolu with a kicking motion. Sending her flying towards the mirrors behind Daniela, who caught the struck girl between her hands. Not letting the fighting-type get smacked against mirrors.
Right afterwards, Andrei Quick Attacked himself through the clone of Joina. Making her explode into Mystery Powder behind him, before the clone of The Queen of Battles threw herself onto his back. Making him fall onto the floor in a bear-rug position, now enduring the smacks of her punches against the top-side of his head.
At least, in the few seconds that it took Ion to grab a hold of her with his Psychic powers. The Riolu was suddenly enveloped by a pink light, created by the Gardevoir that outstretched his right arm towards the clone. The power of which pushed the body of the Riolu upwards, away from the body of Andrei. And into the ceiling, leaving a hole in it as her body passed through one of the mirrors forming it. Making even more dark blue smoke get into the room.
The clone of a certain Dragonite was not so pleased by this series of events, and took out her frustration by Thunder Punching the Gardevoir unprotected by his signature Protect. Revealing why he usually does not participate in battles, as his body fainted before it went through one of the mirrors of the wall behind him. Leaving a hole in that wall. Through which even more dark blue smoke made its way into the room.
"ION!" Brix screamed as she watched the Gardevoir go through a wall made out of mirrors. The Delphox started to run over to the hole he left behind in that wall. Her advance was stopped when she tripped, because her right foot pressed onto the long skirt of her dark green dress instead of pressing onto the floor below it. Her tripping made Brix fall face first onto the floor.
Right after she fell, the fire-type felt herself being grasped by a Psychic grab. Before the Delphox could use the fact that she is also a psychic-type to her advantage, her body was raised and pushed through the same wall Ion was sent through. In fact, making contact with the wall in the exact same spot the Gardevoir made contact with it. Enlarging the hole his body made in the wall, as the body of the fire-type was wider than his.
The pink light enveloping Brix disappeared, yet she was still floating mid-air. In a dark blue space, in which brown rocks of varying sizes, and Pokemon of varying species, floated all around her. There were also Pokemon that were not floating around the dark-blue space, and instead, doing various activities on the rocks big enough to host them. With her Servant of Igor powers, the woman could sense that almost all of those Pokemon were made out of Mystery Powder. The reason for the word 'almost' being used to describe the Pokemon she sensed being Ion. Who was the only Pokemon in close proximity to Brix that was both unconscious and not made from the golden dust that went by the name of Mystery Powder.
After going over her initial shock, created by suddenly being thrown into the place beyond the mirrors, Brix extended her left arm towards Ion.
In one of the many rooms in front of the mirrors forming The Palace of Reflections, the first encounter of Team Truth Seekers against the enemies of the Palace continued. The clone of Ion that pushed Brix out of the battle field found himself being split into two halves by a Riolu Quick Attacking through his stomach. While the Dragonite who unleashed the fury of The Queen of Battles, by placing her onto the floor, decided to fight against her clone. In the meantime, a certain Eevee managed to stand up. Doing as such while watching Joina use her very weak form of the move Protect in order to protect herself from an Ember attack the clone of Brix shot towards her.
Andrei then felt pain start in the right side of his body, that almost instantly transferred itself into the left side of his body. A familiar feeling to the Eevee, as he has battled against many users of the move Quick Attack during PE Classes. Based off his training, in a split second he was looking to his left. Immediately registering that place as being where his attacker should have been located, after making contact with the right side of the Eevee's body in order to zoom through it. The initial point of contact being determined based on where the pain left behind by the attack started.
True to the Eevee's prediction, the Pokemon who just Quick Attacked through Andrei was to his left. The tail of also an Eevee faced Andrei, as the one who attacked him was none other than his own clone.
So, it had to be this way, huh. Andrei jumped out of the way of an attempt of his clone to hit him with a Double Kick attack. After landing onto the floor, the Eevee Quick Attacked through the backside of his clone. He then turned around just in time to see the resulting explosion of Mystery Powder.
"PERSONA! The Glamorous Adventurer, show your glamour to our enemies!" Joina suddenly shouted out, attracting the attention of Andrei and Daniela. Just in time for them to see the jewellery wearer remove the centre piece of her jewellery arrangement: The big, pink ruby encrusted into her forehead. And the result of this action, the summoning of The Glamorous Adventurer. Just in time for the busty Diancie to be hit by an Ember attack of Brix's clone, instead of the Nickit behind the Persona.
"With pleasure!" The Diancie shouted out right after being summoned. Before making the jewel encrusted in the space between her breasts extend itself into a long, sharp spike, by performing the move Piercing Love. Its tip going through the chest of the Delphox clone, emerging out of her back. The spike then retracted itself into the chest of The Glamorous Adventurer, bringing with it the enemy. Who then got grabbed in a hug by the Diancie, before she implanted her lips onto the clone. Performing the move Draining Love while the Delphox struggled, biting at the rocky body of The Glamorous Adventurer. Her bites made some damage, yet not a lot of it and she was quickly turned into a pile of golden dust. She didn't stand a chance.
Unfortunately, getting distracted in a fast-moving battle has consequences. As Daniela was painfully reminded, while getting hit in the face by a Thunder Punch right as the Delphox was getting impaled. The Dragonite got sucker punched into being affected by the status condition paralysis, while falling onto her back. Her body making a hole through the mirrors acting as the floor of the room she was fighting in. Through which it fell, into the dark blue space below it. Seeing the underside of the floor get further and further away, before suddenly stopping. Floating in mid-air, while surrounded by dark blue.
Ion opened his eyes, and instantly got disoriented. The last thing he remembered was being punched into unconsciousness by a clone of the Dragonite that has just joined Team Bitches (Again, the Gardevoir was unaware of the name change of the team.). Now, he was floating in some dark blue space, alongside boulders, enemies and his crush. Brix! She was pointing her right arm towards him when Ion opened his eyes. An arm that went limp almost immediately, considering what the Delphox did with it: Charging up an overly effective Heal Pulse, then shooting it towards the Gardevoir. Her arm going limp in the process, under the pressure of such a process. Some healers that quickly healed their patients as such sometimes lost the limbs they charged up Heal Pulses into.
"Brix. I told you to not risk your limbs like that again. But thanks." Ion told her, before starting to float towards Brix.
"I'm sorry, I just saw you so badly hurt and my first instinct was to heal you as quickly as possible!" The Delphox explained herself.
"It is fine. I'm grateful for the heal." The Gardevoir told the panicking Brix.
Before the fire-type could even think of a reply, the two Pokemon heard the sound of something shattering. The two immediately made their faces face the direction from where it came. Just in time to see Daniela enter the same dimension the two Servants of Igor entered a while ago. Falling from the floor of the room eerily floating in the same spot of the dark blue space, while connected to hallways leading to other rooms. Both those hallways and those other rooms did the same thing, the two pretty much viewing the layout of the Palace from the outside.
The hole made by the body of the Dragonite was right underneath the hole made by the body of the clone of The Queen of Battles. A clone that, until the moment of the formation of the larger hole, swam her way towards the hole her body made. Until the gravity present in the room it lead into attracted the Riolu clone, making her fall. Through the smaller hole, and into the larger hole. Finding herself once again in the dark blue space, this time around on the stomach of a fully paralysed Dragonite.
Daniela hated it here. Since the start of the battle, all she did was trade blows with a clone of herself. Barely managing to damage her constantly dodging and blocking body. Not like Daniela could judge her clone for doing as such, considering that she did the exact same thing in between her attacks. But her clone seemingly did everything she did a tad better. An observation that became even more true when that stupid Joina got the attention of the real Dragonite, giving the fake Dragonite a chance to knock down Daniela. And paralyse her, of course. A thing that has only, what? A 10% chance of happening after any performance of a Thunder Punch move?
The Dragonite hated feeling so useless, yet her uselessness wasn't even being caused by her. But by her enemy being a slightly better version of herself that got so fucking lucky with a Thunder Punch attack, that only landed onto Daniela because that stupid Nickit decided to shout so Arceus-damned loud!
Oh, and now the clone of The Queen of Battles landed onto her stomach. Fantastic! The dragon-type sure loved getting punched constantly in the stomach, while unable to do anything about it or scream because she was fully paralysed!
But someone else did something about that pest. As indicated by the fact that the Riolu was suddenly enveloped by a pink light. An enveloping light that pushed the clone somewhere out of the sight of the paralysed Dragonite. Somewhere that was visible to the Pokemon who grabbed the clone of The Queen of Battles with his Psychic powers once again, Ion. The somewhere being into a faraway boulder, that turned into multiple smaller boulders as the Riolu smacked against it. Her front side getting turned into golden dust on impact with the boulder, the remaining half of her body now very slowly floating towards the dragon-type. The part of which that used to be her front side now removed, revealing the golden cream interior of all enemies present in all of the Palaces of The Alternative World.
The feeling of paralysis surrounding Daniela was joined by the feeling of being held in the grasp of Psychic powers. As the two psychic-types near her joined their powers to envelop, and push around, the big and heavy Pokemon that was the Dragonite near them. Doing as such immediately after Ion sent the Riolu pestering the dragon-type away. Therefore, Daniela felt and saw herself being raised towards the hole her fall made. Going through it, and back into the chamber of mirrors she had tried to fight in. Although unable to see her or the chamber anymore, the two Servants of Igor made sure to push the body of the Dragonite towards one of the walls of the room. So that her body didn't go through the hole it made once more, when she was eventually lowered onto the floor of the chamber. When the pink light enveloping her disappeared, the girl was still paralysed. Fucking status condition inflicting moves.
Daniela was so quickly retrieved to the room she fell out of, that not a single action was done against her clone yet. But the remaining parts of the body of Ion's clone were turned by The Queen of Battles into Mystery Powder.
"Oh, my inferior version came back." The Dragonite made out of golden dust remarked.
"You're the inferior one, you-" Andrei started, before Quick Attacking himself towards the cheap imitation of his crush. Thanks to the rather large distance found between the two, the Eevee was unable to zoom himself into, or through, the clone. But his performance of the move Quick Attack made him traverse most of that distance, and he immediately leapt to the air the moment his performance of the move came to an abrupt halt.
"-BITCH!" The boy finished the statement he started before commencing his attack. That should have ended with his head colliding against the chest of the Dragonite. Only for her to swat the Eevee away with her right arm, sending him flying through the wall her left shoulder faced. Andrei made a hole in the wall he passed through it, from which dark blue smoke entered the room.
"Serves him right! The only chest he should touch is mine!" The Glamorous Adventurer very unnecessarily shouted out, lowering her popularity in the team even more.
"If you can stop being a whiny bitch, then you should start draining our opponent already!" Joina shouted to the whining Diancie, making her groan. A groaning of annoyance and not protest, as the Persona obeyed her order. Starting to float towards her enemy, while The Queen of Battles started to run towards the exact same enemy. The Riolu was faster, being the first one to reach the Dragonite.
She was met by an Aqua Tail, that she easily leapt over. Doing as such before catching the Fire Punch meant to strike her body between her arms. Touching a punch covered by fire hurt and burned, but it was better than being sent through a wall. Knowing that the Dragonite would attempt to strike again, The Queen of Battles hurled herself upward, letting go of the hand she was pressing her arms against in the process. Behind the Riolu, those watching this battle unfold saw the clone Thunder Punch the hand of hers that was performing the move Fire Punch. A Thunder Punch that would have landed onto the fighting-type, if not for her manoeuvre.
The Riolu fell towards the floor, her hands held together tightly. Landing onto the head of the Dragonite, turning it into Mystery Powder as her hands grabbed hold of The Queen of Battles. Who struggled in that grasp, biting at the hands holding her. Distracting the clone of Daniela enough to allow The Glamorous Adventurer to sneak up onto that clone. After silently floating above the two fighting Pokemon, the Diancie silently floated towards the back of the dragon-type. Who suddenly felt the sides of her stomach be held by cold hands, and their owner against her back. Then the feeling of being drained of energy, when the Diancie started performing the move Draining Love, her lips planted onto the back of the Dragonite.
In response to the awful feeling that is feeling your energy be drained away, the clone let herself fall flat onto her back. Before the Diancie could react, the two made a hole in the floor beneath them. Falling into the dark blue space found underneath the floor made out of mirrors. Now, The Glamorous Adventurer, the clone of Daniela, and The Queen of Battles (as the Riolu was being held by the Dragonite when she let herself fall into the dark blue space) were outside of the chamber of mirrors.
"I'll go grab the Eevee. You two go help The Glamorous Adventurer." Ion plainly told Joina and Brix, before floating into the dark blue smoke that has taken residence around the wall through which Andrei entered the dark blue space found around this mysterious Palace.
The Gardevoir promptly arrived at that wall. By floating towards the presence of the Eevee, that he could feel with one of his Servant of Igor abilities. Until he gently collided against the wall separating the chamber of mirrors from the dark blue space surrounding it.
Andrei panicked when he found himself being thrown into…Wherever he was. A panic that intensified a bit when he felt himself being grabbed by Psychic powers. A feeling that was familiar to him, someone who had fought against skilled psychic-types before. And a panic that immediately died when the Eevee saw that his body was being pulled towards the hole through which his body went, and not another direction. Soon enough, the boy found himself in the grasp of the Gardevoir, who made sure to make the normal-type float all the way into his green hands.
"Erm…There's no need to hold me, sir." The Eevee stated, in an attempt to prompt Ion to let go of him.
"It is best to hold Pokemon that need or do not need to be held, than to not hold either, when the status of those Pokemon is unknown." The psychic-type replied, before placing Andrei onto the floor.
In the dark blue space, The Glamorous Adventurer continued to suck the life energy of the clone of Daniela. Not being too fond of this, the Dragonite replied violently while withering away. After throwing away the Riolu she was holding, the clone used her arms to rip apart the two arms of the Diancie, as their hands were holding the sides of the dragon-type's stomach. And before The Glamorous Adventurer could react to her arms having just been ripped away from her body, her neck was grabbed by the dragon-type. Which, after attaining this hold, used it to swing the body of the Diancie away from herself. Finishing the swing by putting a lot of force into the hand holding the neck of the Diancie, turning it into Mystery Powder. Pretty much beheading The Glamorous Adventurer, but not killing her.
During this violent response, The Queen of Battles reoriented herself to face the very slowly falling Dragonite. She then started to swim her way towards the clone. Yet a Pokemon swimming in a place where everything floats, while not being used to such an environment, cannot go as fast as when thrown.
However, a Pokemon that floats most of their lifetime can easily go fast in a floating based environment. That is why The Glamorous Adventurer quickly took her distance from the dragon-type that just ripped apart her arms and head. Parts of her body that immediately gravitated towards the centre of gravity the rest of her body made for them, when she willed as such. Taking residence in the places they should be, but not connected to the body. Similar to a stone golem formed from plates of stone hovering close to eachother.
Brix and Joina made their way to the hole through which the Diancie and Riolu were forcefully taken into the dark blue space that surrounded the layout of the Palace. Just in time for the Dragonite that did the taking to fly out of the hole, then whip her Aqua Tail performing tail towards the two girls.
Joina leapt backwards as Brix was sent flying by the Aqua Tail attack. The sent flying Delphox stopped her approach just shy of the same wall through which Andrei was sent outside of the chamber of mirrors. Doing as such with the Psychic energy she was preparing to be used to grab a hold of, and then move around, The Queen of Battles and The Glamorous Adventurer. By grabbing a hold of herself, instead.
The Nickit then leapt towards the Dragonite, quickly performing a Quick Attack. Ending the performance of that move by landing behind the Dragonite, the hole in the floor and the dragon-Type now being behind the dark-type. The clone of Daniela also got herself a hole in her stomach in the process.
Right after Joina landed on the floor, her Persona emerged from the same hole the Dragonite just did. Immediately planting her lips on the back of the dragon-type, to the dismay of that dragon-type. Making her attempt to grab the back of the Diancie with her right hand.
The Nickit turned around just in time to see the attempted grabbing. Prompting her to leap onto the grabbing hand of the Dragonite, with her teeth. By performing a Bite, Joina sank her teeth into the hand of the clone, while those teeth were coated in dark-type energy.
Whatever, the Dragonite still grabbed onto the Diancie. A Nickit barely mauling her right hand couldn't stop her from stopping The Glamorous Adventurer from kissing.
The Diancie was yanked away from the back of the Dragonite. The Glamorous Adventurer replied to this sudden separation of herself from the back of the clone by extending the pink jewel found between her breasts into a spike. Stabbing through the wings of the girl pretending to be Daniela.
"Master, let go! I'll catch you!" The Diancie shouted, before making a ball with her hands right above the pink jewel that was now extended into a spike. She then smashed into it, shattering a portion of the spike that was connecting her body to the spike stabbing into the wings of the clone. Who, now unable to fly, proceeded to fall like a boulder into the dark blue space found underneath her feet.
Thinking that a living (?) and overexaggerated interpretation of her lust and desire to be a heroine could be trusted, Joina let go of the arm she was holding with her teeth before its owner proceeded to fall. And she was right, as she was immediately grabbed by that living (?) interpretation. Who then gently placed her back onto the floor, just in time to see Andrei, Ion and Brix walk into her line of sight.
"Queenie is beneath the floor, alongside the clone. The clone is badly hurt, though." The Nickit announced to this group.
"I'll take her from there. Brix, go and heal the original of her paralysis, in the meantime." The Gardevoir plainly stated, his face still resting in a bitchy way, before activating his psychic powers.
The Delphox nodded, then went into the dark blue smoke. Walking towards where she felt the presence of the paralysed Dragonite.
Underneath the feet of her team mates, The Queen of Battles swam towards the spot in which she made herself acquainted with the dark blue space she found herself in. After traversing almost half of the distance, the Dragonite made herself present. This time around with a crystal spike stabbing through her wings, rendering them useless. Even if she removed it, she couldn't fly with wings that had holes in them. That being the reason why the clone started swimming towards her next target, the Riolu. Who was more than willing to fight an opponent bigger than herself. However, because a certain psychic-type grabbed a hold of her with his psychic powers, the fighting-type was brought to the hole created by the Dragonite clone without the two touching. As neither possessed long ranged moves while the Gardevoir made sure to make the presence of The Queen of Battles avoid the enemy presence found en route.
The Riolu was not too pleased about ultimately being held by the Gardevoir.
"Let go of me, you fucking pervert!" She screeched, while struggling. Ion immediately complied, and let her feet touch the floor.
"Alright, but it is best to hold Pokemon that need or do not need to be held, than to not hold either, when the status of those Pokemon is unknown." The psychic-type explained himself, after letting go of the Riolu.
"Fucking excuse…" The Queen of Battles muttered in response.
In the meantime, a certain Delphox reached a certain Dragonite. That after getting her mouth forced open and the juice of a Cherri berry forced down her throat, was finally back into action. Finally, she could show her capabilities after being taken out in such an unlucky and embarrassing way!
After The Truth Seekers regrouped and collected the loot created by the Mystery Powder that was left over from this skirmish, that is.
End of chapter 5: The Palace of Reflections (Part 1)