Hello. Not QUITE as long as the previous, haha, but still an important chapter. I've properly passed 500,000 words on A03 as well! Half a MILLION words! In just a year and a half, not bad, eh?
To Setech. Father Dusky sounds terrifying, and I love it.
And thanks to the suggestion of just_a_lump_of_metal I have a new poll! It is the following:
What has been your favourite dungeon/adventure so far?
With that. Let's begin.
Pyroar strode forwards confidently.
With his tail lazily flipping back and forth, he walked with a brazen demeanour while Morpeko scurried along with him, head slightly downcast but sheer relief emanating off him.
Learning of the shortcut was a lucky break sent by the legends themselves it felt like and with Pyroar having to leave Towny Town very quickly as the guild began to close in, both had been preparing for the fight.
It may have taken an hour or so to convince Pyroar that sneaking away was better than trying to fight several outlaw-tracking teams head-on was the wiser choice.
Confident he could take whoever came for them, Pyroar hadn't been too happy to scurry away like a mouse—and even less impressed when they got lost.
Shortcut might have been better worded as 'underground maze' for all the twists and turns within it. They couldn't even find their way back out, let alone find their way forwards, taking what had to have been several days.
However, this could have proven fortuitous. Disappearing completely for several days may throw their trackers off, that was what Morpeko hoped for at least.
Pyroar was still itching for a fight. And when Morpeko's ears twitched, and he suddenly dashed into the trees to their left, Pyroar's grin widened considerably.
He continued walking for a bit. Morpeko liked it when they put a little bit of space between them just in case of friendly fire.
Which was a fair point if anything.
Pyroar continued walking until the voice finally came, as all teams were the same. No one took a cheap advantage and tried to injure him from behind.
"STOP!"
He didn't stop, not immediately. He took a few more steps, listening to the sounds of paws on the ground before gracing them with his attention.
One such pokémon gave him a genuine bit of surprise. The meowth and shinx were whatever, but a litleo of his own stood glaring at him with a rather impressive amount of hatred.
Almost like he knew him.
Pyroar smirked. "Hey, Mane."
Mane, thusly named so far, blanched briefly. There was that tiny bit of hope that asked for Pyroar not to be his brother, but there was no question of it now.
His little brother returned to snarling at him, so Pyroar said. "Shacked up with some guild pokémon? What would mother say?"
"Nothing worse than she said every day!" Mane shouted back, already bursting into flames.
"Stand down Pyroar," Shinx warned, sparking threateningly. "You are outnumbered and outmatched here."
"Outmatched? Yet I only see two Fire-types here," Pyroar said, laughing at his own pun.
"You get one chance, Pyroar," Mane spat. To his credit, Mane could pack quite a bit of verbal punch into his words. If it was possible from a litleo, Pyroar was sure Mane's words would knock him dead from how much hatred there was there.
"What?" Pyroar said, gasping scandalously. "I get Stranger Named by my own flesh and blood? By my precious little brother that I still call his name, Mane, oh, is it too much pain for you to play this game?"
"Stop RHYMING!" Mane shouted, beginning to lose any sense of restraint. He knew Pyroar would not give up.
Fire was already crackling in Mane's maw while the claws of the meowth had extended. Pyroar was fully aware of the notoriety of this team, but he wasn't going to roll over and play dead just because they might have saved the world.
By placing gears into a tower? That took no strength.
Pyroar tensed, ready to strike first and strike hard when a lance of electricity shot out from behind Team Ion. For a brief moment, Pyroar thought Morpeko had actually chosen to be proactive for once, but he was harshly disappointed when fire and what looked like coins followed it.
The electricity hit him in the face, the fire his legs, and the coins smacked his nose, all of which causing him to step back from the assault on his body.
"Wait; what?" One of the first losers yelled before the scuffle of approaching feet found Pyroar's ears.
He blinked, seeing double.
"We're here to help, Team Ion!" Meowth of Team Isotope declared dramatically, turning to nod at the gawking trio.
"We'll bring this baddy down," Litleo said, her glare a warm glow compared to the furnace Mane had been giving him.
"Because that's what we-AH!"
Pyroar was not the kind of pokémon who calmly stood around, letting enemies chat all they wanted as they got ready to fight. Eying Shinx as both the closest and most annoying based on the zap he gave his face, he breathed his Flamethrower right into her, no restraint.
Shinx's scream cut the air as she staggered back. Unlike a feral Fire-type who would instinctively restrain some strength out of fear of overexerting themselves, Pyroar's flames were relentless. With Shinx unprepared to brace her Power to avoid the worst of the flames, her fur burned as did her skin.
Team Isotope immediately collapsed into a panic. Litleo rushed to Shinx to try and tackle the flame out while Meowth jumped back, almost getting lit up herself.
The meowth of Team Ion quickly fell into action, and with a Cleanse Orb, he was able to put the fire on Shinx out.
By the time Team Ion had recovered from the arrival of Team Isotope and Shinx's injury, Pyroar already had Meowth under his paws.
With his claws out and digging into the back of her skull, Pyroar smirked at the four remainings. "Well, looks like I have a handy little hostage."
"Don't. You. Dare," Litleo said, itching to rush forward.
In response, Pyroar pressed her head firmer into the ground. "I could have some fun with her."
Mane, face burning into utter disgust hissed. "You think we'll let you take her?"
"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice," Pyroar replied, easing the pressure on Meowth's head. "You've got a badly injured pokémon right there." He nodded to Shinx, whimpering on the ground. "Those aren't just superficial injuries either, everyone who actually knows a thing or two about fire can tell."
Mane and Litleo tensed their jaws. They did know. They could see the damage better than Rai or Scout could. Shinx needed help, she wasn't strong enough, and she hadn't been prepared to brace for that hit.
And Meowth was pinned under Pyroar, and he could do the very same and so much worse.
"Your nobility will win," Pyroar said, as the unburned shinx glanced to the burned one, "won't it? You could do the smart thing and attack, still wouldn't get you anywhere in the long run and I will hurt her if you do."
"You are absolute scum," the meowth of Team Ion said.
"I could say a lot of the same about you, Scout," Pyroar replied, smirking in a way that was painfully similar to Mane. Except there was no kindness in his eyes or cheekiness to his smirk. It was jagged and cruel.
"I'll get her some help," Scout said, speaking lowly to Rai and Mane. "You're both stronger than me."
"I'm not letting him take her!" Litleo yelled and made a mistake.
She charged Pyroar, flames spilling from her mouth as she aimed to burn his mouth shut.
Pyroar's paw smacked Meowth in the back of the head before he sprung off her, headbutting an unprepared Litleo in the head before knocking her up and roasting her in the air.
As a Fire-type, she wasn't as injured as Shinx was, but she still crashed onto Team Ion all the same. Barely five seconds that took, faster than what Team Ion were prepared for. Pyroar turned and snatched Meowth up by her scruff and dashed off as the yelling started behind them.
As much as he would like to fight them now, he wanted to have SOME fun with the game of cat and mouse. And splitting up Team Ion was only smart. He was a cocky bastard. Even Pyroar would admit that.
But he had a reason to be cocky.
Meowth, stunned from the blow to her head, didn't really react as he ran off as shouting roared up from behind them, bouncing left and right in his jaws.
As Pyroar began to make his escape, Team Ion recovered from the shitstorm that had occurred.
"Go after him," Scout said, pulling Rai and Mane to their feet and shoving them forward. "I'll take care of these two, save Meowth!"
They nodded and raced off, letting Scout rush to Litleo's side as well.
"Don't worry about me," Litleo coughed, trying to get to her feet. As a Fire-type, and being more prepared for the attack, her fur was more singed then burned through. She roughly pushed him back when he tried to help her up. "Help Shinx dammit!"
His Treasure Bag had been knocked away in the panic, and Scout quickly grabbed it, ripping it open to find what he had. The bushes behind them rustled as something moved through, but neither was focused on that.
"Okay, Shinx." Scout knelt by her side. The panic and various explosions hadn't left her in the best position, somewhat curled up around the worst of her burns. "Eat these," he said, gently opening her mouth to place in a broken part of an oran berry. Once that was done, he also fed her a rawst berry.
These were a lot more serious than the annoying burn status condition, and Shinx definitely couldn't walk.
He glanced at his Treasure Bag briefly before looking to Team Isotope's own. "Sorry about this," he said, emptying it on the ground.
Litleo, who had only just managed to stand up without falling over, winced as Scout sliced the Treasure Bag open. "What are you doing!?"
"I'm not big enough to safely carry her," Scout explained, turning back to her, "and you are in no condition either. Here." He quickly tossed the same type of berry over to her as well. "We're going to roll her onto this, and I'll drag it until we find some help."
"Another team should be close by," Litleo said, after eating. She wobbled to Shinx's side and gave her a gentle pat. "Oh… dammit, Shinx I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault," Shinx whimpered, trembling. "I shouldn't have let my guard down."
"You shouldn't have jumped in," Scout muttered. Part of him intended to say it too quietly for them to hear, but part of him didn't, and Litleo gave him an angry look.
"He's right," Shinx said, pawing Litleo's leg. "We should have listened to Clefable."
Litleo scoffed but turned around sharply, trying to stop either of them from seeing the tears welling up in her eyes.
"Can you help me with this?" Scout asked, carrying the sliced-up bag to set behind Shinx. "We don't want to move her too much; four paws are better than two."
"Y-yeah, okay." Litleo composed herself, but she knew when she turned, the tears were still there.
Scout counted down and together they slid Shinx onto the Treasure Bag Mat, Shinx only wincing slightly from the jostling.
"Okay," Scout said, hooking his claws into the cloth near Shinx's head, "do you know where anyone might be or are we going to have to go right back to Towny Town?"
"You got a map?"
Scout revealed it and marked their spot. "Okay," Litleo said, peering down. "Team Battle Dance should be around here somewhere; this is their area. Hopefully, they're back where we came and not… up ahead."
Going the way Pyroar had gone was not an option they wanted to take, so Scout and Litleo began the path backwards, Scout dragging Shinx along the road and Litleo making sure he didn't walk into anything.
Being accompanied by a shinx and litleo messed with Scout's head, and he needed to blink several times to shake the insane fear that it was Rai who was injured behind him.
"If Pyroar could do this to her, he could do it to Rai," a traitorous thought in his head hissed. Scout's stepped a little faster, nearly outstripping Litleo despite her not needing to drag anyone.
But as they walked, Litleo talked to Shinx, did her best to keep her distracted from the pain of the burns and snapped at Scout constantly not to go over as many bumps.
"It's a dirt path," Scout snapped back after the fifth time. "There's nothing but bumps!"
"He said butt bumps," Shinx giggled, lolling her head. "A world saviour said butt bumps. That's funny. You're funny."
"As I'm told," Scout replied, flatly.
He and Litleo shared a concerned look.
"I'm going to start blasting stuff in a minute to get attention," Litleo warned. She'd been yelling out for Team Battle Dance the entire time. "LILLIGANT? HAKAMO-O? EXCADRILL?"
"Litleo?"
A far quieter, but not quiet, voice announced itself and Litleo gasped in relief. From a curving path came two pokémon.
"Lilligant, thank the legends."
"What's? OH!" Scout barely had time to blink before Lilligant was upon them. "Meowth what has happened to Shinx!?"
"That's not Meowth," the other pokémon, Hakamo-o, said as Scout stepped back from Shinx to let Lilligant come closer.
"We were told to shadow Team Ion to make sure that they'd be okay and Pyroar wouldn't get away, and we thought that maybe we could help so when they found Pyroar we jumped in and he attacked Shinx and kidnapped Meowth and Shinx is so hurt, and I don't know if Meowth is okay and-"
Hakamo-o grabbed Litleo by both shoulders and said. "Calm. Down. Breathe." He waited until she had taken three breaths, interrupting when she went to speak an avalanche again. "Slow down."
"Team Isotope jumped in when my team and I, Team Ion, caught up with Pyroar," Scout explained, much more coherently. Hakamo-o looked sharply to him, eyes asking if he had asked for Scout's input before he reconsidered those words and swallowed them.
"And he attacked Shinx and took Meowth!" Litleo said, finishing up.
"Shinx is in in a bad state," Lilligant said, leaning up from where she had been looking the injured pokémon over, breathing soft light onto Shinx to ease some pain. "She needs to be taken to the guild quickly."
She looked to Hakamo-o.
"What?" he asked, glancing between everyone. "Why me?"
"Excadrill is underground and could return in five minutes or five hours, while Meowth has been taken. Perform Dragon Dances and take Shinx back to the guild, you know you have more endurance than I do. And Kadabra is too far ahead for me to reach for a teleport."
"You're a Grass-type," Hakamo-o argued back. "Pyroar would roast you."
Lilligant gave him a deeply unimpressed look until he cracked. "Alright, you could probably confuse him better than I could beat his ass."
"The rest of Team Ion are on his tail," Scout offered. "And I'm going back too."
He still looked unhappy, but Shinx's wellbeing prioritised type advantage here.
"Me too," Litleo said, turning back.
"Not at all," Scout snapped, "you're still injured as well."
"MY friend!"
"Wouldn't be in this mess if you didn't jump in like that," Scout retorted, eyes narrowing intensely. "I'm sorry if you think it's harsh but you coming along isn't going to help when WE need to run as fast as we can."
"He is right," Lilligant said, "you've done enough."
Once Hakamo-o began dancing up a storm, Lilligant twirled around as well. With himself boosted by a Dragon Dance and Lilligant with a Quiver Dance, Hakamo-o took up the cats he had to deal with while Scout and Lilligant rushed back the way they came.
"You are quite fast," Lilligant said as they rushed. Even with herself magically boosting her own speed, Scout was keeping pace. "Have you eaten a Quick Seed or something of the like?"
"Good idea!" Scout said, on all fours. "Maybe I should, but I might go too far ahead and lose you."
Surprised that this wasn't boosted speed, Lilligant privately agreed, and they ran on in silence, with only Scout giving another brief explanation of anything Lilligant may have missed when she was looking Shinx over.
Rai and Mane hadn't allowed Pyroar to give them the slip. With him firmly holding onto Meowth, neither risked trying to snipe him and instead focused on just keeping up with him, hoping to tire him out.
But he had just as much stamina as they did, even carrying someone. The forest path began to shift to a rockier one before the forest abruptly ended and they ended in a series of hills.
It was perfect for them. Rai and Mane backed Pyroar into a corner on a cliff-like hill, leading him to turn back to them, holding poor Meowth in his jaws.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," she sobbed, just hanging there in Pyroar's jaws.
"Let her go, Pyroar!" Rai demanded, sparking threateningly.
Pyroar had a mouth full of meowth, so he didn't respond with words. Simply crooked an eye as if to say. "Like I'm a sucker?"
Meowth tried to struggle for a moment, and he shook her like a ragdoll. Drops of blood dripped from the back of her neck, and she went limp.
Satisfied with that, Pyroar dropped her onto the ground and pressed a paw back on her head, hitting the bite wound on purpose. "I don't know about that," he said, smirking. "I might be having too much fun to bow out now."
"You were always too good at mothers lessons," Mane growled, mohawk engulfed in flame at this point.
"Mother, brother, at this rate you're gonna say father as if he pissed on your grave."
"You know, I envy Rai's relationship with his sister," Mane said, eyes lot leaving Pyroar for a second. "At least she told him she was leaving."
"I never expected you to be the kind with abandonment issues," Pyroar drawled. "So daddy liked me more than you? I thought you'd be happy we left you behind. I sure was," he laughed.
"I don't know who was happier," Mane replied, "me or Glaceon to see you gone."
That. That actually touched a nerve, and Pyroar's claws came out onto the ground, and Meowth. "Do you really want to play this game, my worthless runt of a brother?"
"According to your wanted poster, you're worth 12,000 Poké. I reckon that'd pay for a few night mates since no one would want to touch you for any less."
"You're pissing me off, Mane," Pyroar warned. "And I do remind you I have a fragile little meowth under my paws. Does it remind me of YOUR little partner? I guess you would know how much it costs for a Night Mate since you're partnered with one."
"Now we're getting childish." Mane rolled his eyes. "But, well, I guess mothers lessons didn't stick so much anyway. You were the favourite, so it meant you got all the attention. From a Shadow Pokémon and a filthy coward, bravo Pyroar. Bravo."
Pyroar snarled and began to take a step forward.
Mane's mouth filled with flames as Rai prepared to discharge. Both of them had been watching Meowth where Pyroar was watching Mane—seeing the subtle movements and the look in her eyes when she went ragdoll.
Right as Pyroar's weight began to shift, she moved. Twisting out of Pyroar's hold and away from him. He jerked, eyes split between two targets before a third had made itself known.
She slashed out, slicing his leg while Rai and Mane unloaded as much firepower as they could onto Pyroar.
"Idiots."
Pyroar's paw came down, and everything changed again. He was not blind to Meowth's idea. He had been counting on it.
The slash to his leg was not as planned, but she still tried to bolt for it. Avoiding the attacks from the two first-stage pokémon with ease, Pyroar sniped Meowth in the back with his Flamethrower boosted by a Hyper Voice, causing a shockwave of flame to blast Rai and Mane off their feet while Meowth went sailing.
Pyroar moved to press the advantage, but a Shadow Ball passed harmlessly through his body but distracted him.
A spiral of leaves glowing with energy came moments after, but he matched that in the air with Flamethrower until the ash began to pile and the battlefield had changed.
Growling at being interrupted, Pyroar barrelled forth, letting loose a mighty roar. Empowering that with Hyper Voice caused another shockwave and Pyroar took to the right, aiming to run along the path still followed by the trees.
"Dammit!" Scout swore, getting to Mane as Lilligant rushed to Meowth. "Are you alright?"
"FuuuaAARGH!" Mane yelled, forcing himself to his feet too quickly. He stumbled from the headrush.
"Meowth is in bad shape," Lilligant said, picking up the smouldering Meowth in her leaves. "I can't leave her like this."
"We can handle him," Mane snapped, trying to remember how to see forwards.
"This day is going awfully," Rai groaned, getting up slowly but less dizzily.
"Okay, here's the plan," Scout said, tossing some oran berries to his partners. "You two pull yourselves together. You." He looked to Lilligant. "She's got to get help, just go." Lilligant nodded and began to race off. "I'm going to slow him down."
"Wait!" Rai said. "You're not strong enough!"
Scout gave him a bland look and Rai stumbled on his words. "That is, I mean, I, that."
"You can't beat him," Mane said, speaking Rai's words for him.
Scout smirked. "I don't have to beat him; I just got to keep up." He pats Mane on the head. "And I'm the toughest one here. I'll catch up and hold him in one area, but please. Please. Don't take too long."
Then, Scout was running.
He relinquished the Treasure Bag to Rai and Mane as he didn't have access to Quick Attack like them and needed every bit of speed he could manage. Chewing down an oran berry in advance for what was coming and palming a single Blast Seed, he was rushing.
"He IS fast," Mane said, once he'd swallowed. Pyroar had already disappeared, but Scout was almost out of sight himself.
Rai swallowed and nudged Mane. "Let's go. Not Quick Attack, we've got to trust that Scout can handle himself until we can catch up."
"I don't like this," Mane grumbled, as the pair broke into a run but not a sprint. "It's Scout. He-"
"Survived the Dark Future longer," Rai reminded, "got himself out on his own terms and DID fight Dialga. Pyroar? We'll be laughing when we catch up." He grinned convincingly, to himself perhaps.
Mane was not as optimistic as Rai, and they ran off in silence.
"More of you?" Pyroar groaned as Scout nicked his tail, causing the larger feline to slide to a stop, leaving gouges in the soil from where his claws dug in. "That's, what, one meowth, one shinx, one litleo I've already taken down. And now, AH!"
Scout wasn't going to let Pyroar just talk and build up some fire, he slashed Pyroar's nose, aiming for his eyes but Pyroar recoiled before he could properly connect.
"Oh you've got some claws," Pyroar growled, rubbing his nose, as Scout flicked his right arm, the claws on that paw lengthening into sabres coated in purplish darkness.
Then, Scout was upon him.
Pyroar was fast, but not nearly as agile, and took a strike from the Night Slash. He paid it back twice as hard by slamming Scout in the gut with a paw and blasting him point-blank with Flamethrower.
Scout nailed him in the jaw with his other paw, knocking it up and shut and causing the fire to go into Pyroar's nose. The pain for that blinded the larger feline with tears for a moment, and Scout slashed him three more times before a shockwave sent him flying back.
Scout collided with a tree before the follow-up Flamethrower sent him straight through it.
Pyroar, panting for breath by this point, glared furiously at the smoking tree stump before huffing and turning away.
He jumped as Scout launched himself out of it and slammed his paw into Scout's head, pinning him to the ground for a brief moment.
A cavalcade of fire and electricity forced Pyroar off Scout as Rai and Mane arrived as backup.
"How are you up already?" Pyroar spat, glaring at Scout. He'd sent the scrawny through a tree, but the meowth hardly seemed phased. Pyroar's leg ached from that previous meowth's attack, slowing him down that tiny bit.
"You are small fry compared to Dialga and Guardian," Scout replied, forming his Night Slash again and glaring into Pyroar's eyes. Pyroar found his gaze affixed for a moment too long and he wasn't able to react in time before Mane slammed into his chest and knocked him back, Rai shocking him once Mane was clear.
Pyroar gasped as he was battered, Scout followed up the attacks with his Night Slash, but Pyroar had shaken his attempted Hypnosis off already and caught Scout by the face and slammed him into the ground.
He tried to incinerate Scout, but Mane and Rai were right back in his face, knocking him back step by step.
Pyroar forced distance between them, and his whole body began to burn with an orange aura. He roared and slammed his front paws into the ground, and an orange shockwave blasted out in every direction, passing from his body to the ground, and then tearing the land apart.
The shockwave knocked the whole of Team Ion over and tore the ground up, sending sharp stones and twigs into them in the process before the orange aura swept over them and sunk into their limbs. Scout landed atop of Mane and quietly slipped the Blast Seed onto his paw pad.
Bulldoze, somehow Pyroar knew the move.
And he was more than prepared to take advantage of it, blasting Scout and Rai back and leaving just him and Mane.
Mane groaned and shifted, he hated Ground-type attacks, trying to get up before a paw slammed on the top of his head. Pyroar leaned in. Had this been anyone else, he'd end them be done with it. But Mane was a little too special to be so impersonal about it all.
"You're weak," he hissed, pressing down further. "That's why I was the favourite."
Mane growled, but it was more like a groan. "And you're… stupid." Mane lit his paw holding the Blast Seed, and it detonated.
Turning his paw around right before it blew, the blast of heat and force struck Pyroar right in his unprotected stomach and mostly avoided Mane due to him being pressed into the ground.
The force still knocked him up and out of the divot he'd been pressed into, but it was hardly compared to Pyroar.
Pyroar crashed to the ground a few meters back, eyes-rolling. He fell to his side, underbelly's fur burnt off and bleeding.
With Rai and Scout only just getting up now, Scout ran to Mane to pick him up while Rai sparked dangerously, approaching Pyroar who was trying to remember how to work his limbs.
Rai didn't speak. He knew it was pointless to tell Pyroar to give up now or to mock his victory, as Pyroar was still conscious. He'd knock him out, THEN would gloat.
Charged up with electricity, Rai's cheeks and tail sparked, and he pressed that part within him to discharge it all into Pyroar.
Electricity crackled, but it wasn't Rai's.
"AHH!" Rai screamed, head getting harshly knocked to the right as his whole body was slammed into by a spinning wheel of darkened electricity. He briefly saw Manectric before he saw darkness.
"RAI!" Scout screamed, dropping Mane and running forwards. Whether it was to the attacker or Rai himself, he didn't know.
"Pyroar!" the new arrival, Morpeko, yelped as the meowth ran for him with murder in his eyes. Pyroar sprang to his feet and sailed over Morpeko as he cowered low. Scout, too fast and too distracted, couldn't move in time and Pyroar pounced on him, knocking him onto his back and pinning him underneath the far-larger feline.
Mouth smoking, Pyroar forced Scout down harder, making sure the meowth would not even dare to try anything.
The only reason he didn't bite down immediately was Morpeko's frustratingly sensible voice. "You can't kill him," Morpeko said sharply, "not a member of Team Ion. They will NEVER let us get away then. We'll be chased forever."
Positively vibrating with repressed anger and instinct, Pyroar held Scout down as Morpeko looked to Mane.
Mane. Utterly frozen as the battle suddenly changed from imminent victory to imminent defeat.
Morpeko, having followed Pyroar the entire time since he vanished into the trees, had waited his chance. He was a coward, anyone would state that, but a powerful one.
Rai was unmoving from a single Dark Aura Wheel, cheap hit it may have been.
Scout was pinned under Pyroar, inches from the maw of death.
Mane was the only one left, Team Isotope was injured and that Lilligant was also long gone.
"You're done, Mane," Morpeko said, quietly. "No one's coming to save you, back down and leave now or else we'll have to hurt you and them."
Mane glanced between Pyroar and Morpeko, trying to work out how he could force Pyroar off Scout before Morpeko could intervene, or Pyroar could attack Scout.
"Mane, please," Morpeko said, "I can only control him so far, and I can see he's right in the brink of snapping and killing your partner."
Scout, who was beginning to struggle, hissed. "Get OFF of me!"
"Shut UP!" Morpeko yelled.
"Get OFF!" Scout yelled, struggling harder. Pyroar's drool dripped onto his face, burning hot. Scout's pupils were widening and contracting and his paws, despite his arms being pinned by Pyroar, were flexing.
Drops of black were pooling around his paws, and Scout's eyes flickered. "NOW!" With strength unknown to even himself, Scout forced his arms up as his claws extended into sabres.
Pyroar gave a groaning gasp as six Night Slash blades pierced his chest. Mane, immediately taking advantage, forced Pyroar off Scout with his Fire Blast before barrelling straight for Morpeko.
Morpeko yelped and dove for cover, but he was too far from cover. Mane charged him, spitting Ember's and Morpeko closed his eyes, cheeks sparking.
"GYAH!"
Morpeko unleashed electricity and blasted Mane back. "Oh, that's right," Morpeko breathed, relieved. The siblings got their species from their mother, but their strength from him.
Emboldened by the success, Morpeko stomach grumbled, and his eyes narrowed. His whole body changed to a darker version of himself, and he wrapped himself up with Dark-type electricity, barrelling for Mane with the same Aura Wheel that had one-shot Raigeki.
Mane, who was dealing with the painful consequences of trying to charge an Electric-type that was charging, waited for the last moment and leapt as hard as he could.
The burning aura around Morpeko still seared his underbelly, but he evaded the worst of the hit. Landing, he tried to fire again, and a stream of sparks flowed from his maw as Morpeko turned around, leaving a charged gouge in the ground as he did so.
The fire interfered with the spinning aura and destabilised it. Mane leapt clear again as Morpeko rolled out, switching back to his normal form and blinking in surprise.
Scout slammed into him, knocking them both sprawling over each other. Mane looked up sharply as Pyroar returned to the scrap, having tussled with Scout briefly before knocking him back.
Mane went to edge around Pyroar, but Pyroar was done with playing around. He came right for him, eyes narrowed and mouth burning with fire.
Scout, falling into combat with Morpeko, jumped and skirted around as precise, but relatively weak, jolts of electricity went for his feet.
"Stay… still," Morpeko huffed and popped a Shadow Ball Scout tossed at him.
"No, you," Scout said, forming a Night Slash with his right paw. He sprinted for Morpeko but opened himself up to a concentrated discharge.
Scout blocked it with his claws, but the dark sabres shattered under the strength of the electricity. He reached Morpeko but was headbutted, and Morpeko jumped into a spin, forming an Electric Aura Wheel.
He spun into Scout like a buzzsaw, but Scout caught Morpeko with his paws, holding the Aura Wheel back even as it tore at his paws.
"Used to electricity. Used to electricity." Scout repeated in his hand. "Rai zaps me all the time. Used to it. Used to it. USED TO IT!"
But Morpeko was shockingly strong, and Scout buckled. His jaw rang painfully as did his nose as Morpeko hit him face first, bouncing up and flying over them.
"Rumble!" Morpeko shouted. "Swap places!"
Pyroar wasn't listening until Morpeko lit up with electricity, his whole body quirked and then he was running to Scout as Morpeko dropped down to Mane.
Morpeko shocked Mane, but Mane began to walk through it even as his limbs quivered and heart raced. "I'm. Not. Him," Mane forced out, step by step. Morpeko's eyes widened, and he took a step back, hesitant for a just a moment.
Mane pulled on his Power and forced a Quick Attack through his spasming muscles, launching himself onto Morpeko and biting down with as much force as he could, filling his mouth with fire.
The manufactured Fire Fang caused Morpeko to scream, and Mane drank in the sound before pulling again and forcing the fire in his mouth to shift to a Fire Blast, detonating point black and ripping a chunk of Morpeko's skin off, burning as they disengaged.
Pyroar, rampaging at Scout again, was faced with a much scrawnier opponent. As well as a much more agile one.
"Stop moving," Pyroar rumbled, missing Scout again. Scout kicked up some dirt in his eyes, snapping a little more of Pyroar's control away.
Not bothering to reply, Scout ran for the Treasure Bag by Rai, as Pyroar tossed his head around to remove the dirt. He pulled it away from Rai quickly, as to not make him a target, and slipped it around his shoulder, digging into it quickly.
"There," Scout whispered, dropping the Treasure Bag as its weight would only slow him down. He palmed a Sleep Seed and reengaged with Pyroar.
Scout was adept at switching between using two and four legs at any given moment, but with his left paw focused on holding the seed, he couldn't drop onto four as readily as he'd like.
And Pyroar was almost as fast.
It was rather terrifying, really, to have an enraged, imposing and towering over him, pokémon aching to rip out his throat but Scout managed as well as he always had. Ignore, repress, forget.
His Night Slash held the worst of the Flamethrower at bay as Scout charged Pyroar, leaping over a weaker Bulldoze and sliding along the loosened ground even faster.
Pyroar batted him brutally with his paws once he was close, but Scout punched him in the throat at the same time. Spinning to on all fours before springing back up to two, Scout slammed the paw holding the sleep seed into Pyroar's gasping mouth.
Pyroar burned the seed to ash and breathed the smoke and fire into Scout's face.
Gasping for breath, Scout staggered back as his vision swam and his plan completely backfired on him. The seed was too destroyed to put him to sleep, but a wave of tired swept over him and caused him to sway.
A Fire Blast from Mane stopped Pyroar from tearing into Scout and Mane ran over, drops of blood on the scuff of his chin.
"That worked on you," Scout complained, wobbling.
"I'm very offended you just said that," Mane growled, knocking him on the head. He ran to the Treasure Bag and returned with a heal seed.
Morpeko sniped Mane in the back for his split of attention. Pyroar then set Scout and Mane both on fire.
Pyroar approached from one side, Morpeko from the other.
"Any ideas?" Mane asked, dragging himself up.
"Be the anime," Scout replied, also getting up. "Previous evolutions always win there."
"I… ugh," Mane sighed as they got lit up with fire and electricity.
Not wanting to lose the advantage they had been wrestling back and forth with this entire time, Pyroar charged into the smoke left behind, even as Morpeko yelled. "DON'T!"
Scout, laying over Mane as he had protected the other with his own body, dropped to the side, letting Mane headbutt Pyroar in the jaw like he was pressing his neck to an alpha predator and screeching. "BITE ME IF YOU DARE."
But he didn't say that, because actions speak louder than words.
Mane tackled Pyroar onto his back and briefly pinned him before Pyroar's considerable bulk easily threw the smaller litleo off him.
They both rolled to their feet, and Pyroar slammed his paw into the ground, barely flashing orange at all before the ground shook. Mane lost his balance, and Pyroar pounced, aiming for the neck with claws and teeth ready to rip and tear.
Scout bit his tail.
Pyroar gasped before flicking Scout up, as the meowth was scrawny and light. He raised his head and breathed out a stream of flame bright enough to make the sun look impotent.
"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!?" Pyroar demanded as Scout landed, charred and burnt but on his feet.
Scout replied without words, as like Mane, he knew that talking was quiet at this point. He drove his claws, merely extended and flashing white, into Pyroar's face, piercing his cheeks.
Scout also headbutted him, using his koban to hit even harder and pulled, leaving deep scratched in Pyroar's face. Mane hit him in the eye with an Ember, and Pyroar staggered back, as Morpeko jumped over again, Aura Wheel blazing and aiming to take them both out.
A bolt of extremely accurate electricity knocked Morpeko in his hangry form out of the sky.
"That's enough out of you," Rai said, standing back up. He had been unconscious for an amount of time he wasn't sure, but Pyroar's last Bulldoze had snapped him awake.
Morpeko landed with a satisfying smack on a tree and fell back down onto his back. Rai joined the beaten and bloody Scout and Mane against Pyroar.
"How are you three still? How are you three? How are you? How are? How? How? How!?" Pyroar roared out, booming loud and causing the area to shake. His eyes went red. "Die."
Pyroar attacked, and it was different.
Team Ion were forced to scatter before the flames incinerated one of them on the spot. Pyroar had dropped any sense of restraint.
Dangerous, this was. Extremely dangerous. Pulling at his Power so harshly would exhaust him in moments, even do considerable damage to his body that wasn't prepared to channel this much force.
But Pyroar had stopped caring.
"Pyroar!" Morpeko yelled over the chaos, the roaring, the explosions and blast of heat. Team Ion had run for it to put space between them, but Pyroar chased after, inaccurate but powerful. "STOP! STOP!"
Morpeko ran after them. He couldn't let Pyroar get himself killed at this point. All this time. All this work he'd put into him. He sparked dangerously, knowing Pyroar would react to it. "STOP NOW!"
Pyroar stopped and looked at him. For a brief moment, Morpeko was relieved his control still worked. Then his eyes widened.
Pyroar's flames reached him in the split of a second.
As did Mane's.
Even as Morpeko put on That Voice and sparked in That Way, Pyroar didn't care. He had enough. It didn't matter how many times Morpeko had shocked him, teaching him to obey his father. It didn't matter how much that had hurt until his body naturally shied away from it. It didn't matter how much Morpeko had conditioned him with pain and fear until he automatically followed his words, no matter how he felt on the matter.
It didn't matter anymore.
An optimistic soul may have seen Mane's addition to the attack as a brief moment of solidarity between brothers, mutually turning on the one that had hurt them both so much. But no. Mane only wanted to see the attack through.
The Fire Blast/Unrestrained Flamethrower combo sent Morpeko through the side of the forest he had hid for so long in, and he did not come back out.
Then, Pyroar turned back to Team Ion.
Rai flashed with electricity, so dangerously similar to Morpeko in Pyroar's head and he attacked him first. Fire and lightning met in the air, passing through each other.
Scout tackled Rai out of the way, getting shocked himself, but there was no one to save Pyroar from the lance of lightning striking him in the face. He recoiled with a howl and Mane followed up, knocking him off his feet with his Fire Blast.
Pyroar fell, but only for a moment.
He returned to his feet as Scout was upon him. Claws brimming with darkness and eyes even darker, Scout speared in in the chest before grabbing his face and peering into Pyroar's eyes.
The fire in Pyroar's mouth flickered, but he wavered for a brief moment. Scout dropped down, and Rai and Mane nailed him with a double Thunderbolt/Ember Barrage, and Pyroar finally went down.
Rai shocked him again just to make sure.
"Oooh, thank god," Scout groaned, falling back. "I'm going to sleep," he slurred. He hadn't managed to eat the heal seed and still had the sleep seed in his system. He was asleep in seconds.
"H-hey," Rai said. "Don't go to… he's already asleep."
"He's got," Mane panted, wheezing for breath and coughing out smoke, "the right. You already did." And then Mane dropped as well. Both of them were burned and bleeding.
"But I can't just…" Rai looked between the three downed pokémon in desperation. "I… ugh. I don't have the dexterity of you, Scout. Get up!" He wandered over and nudged him. "Please."
Scout mumbled something and frowned.
Rai groaned, he looked to Pyroar. Not exactly sure what to do.
"Holy… shit." Rai's ears flicked, and he turned, gasping when he saw Ara approaching. "Lilligant was right. Just follow the path of utter destruction."
"Oh… good," Rai said, with a responsible adult here, he would be allowed to faint too. Ara's expression changed, and she shouted something as Rai swayed as everything went dark again for him.
Arashi looked between the four unconscious pokémon and sighed. "It's going to be one of those days," she sighed, pulling an object out of her shoulder bag.
The medical wing of the Clefable Guild was superior to the Wigglytuff Guild, but no one in Team Ion would dare say that out loud.
Chimecho would find out. And they would be punished for such a betrayal.
It made sense as well, as the guild was designed around arresting criminals, injuries were much more anticipated with two chansey and a comfey being the main medical staff on hand.
After Ara had found them, later on, they learned that Lilligant had run across her and Ara had hurried along to help. A little late to the party, but soon enough that Rai was grateful. She made sure to disable Pyroar and then contacted Kadabra of the guild with some curious orb-like item called a Query Orb.
Scout might have thought it was a precursor to the Connection Orb if he had been awake to see it.
Pangoro and Nuzleaf, who were accompanying Kadabra, were able to gather up everyone that needed gathering and the group warped back to the guild after Ara took a brief glance around to see if she could find the purported Morpeko.
Finding no one, they arrived back, and Team Ion were taken to care while Pyroar was taken to the prison medical bay.
The room wasn't exactly filled with privacy, and the three were set close to Team Isotope. The hour they woke up, Clefable came to see them.
Then the yelling began.
"Why did you send Team Isotope after us?" Scout, the most sensitive of the three, demanded right away.
"Are Shinx and Meowth even okay?" Rai, more focused on their injuries, asked.
"Pyroar might have gotten away because of that," Mane, more focused on how badly that messed them up, growled.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence," Litleo snarked from across the room. She was the only one well enough to wake up and talk after the yelling.
"You shut up!" Mane snapped.
Clefable raised her hand placatingly. "Team Isotope were supposed to follow you, yes," Clefable admitted, there was little to be gained for lying. "But were not supposed to interfere unless you were in danger. They were supposed to report to Team Stunshock, not jump right into the line of fire." She cast a frightful Look at Litleo, and she ducked into her bed.
"Why did you send them after us?" Rai asked. "Was it to keep us safe or catch Pyroar or what?"
Sighing, Clefable took a seat. This was her guild. She didn't have to ask. "Insurance, mostly. With your Litleo being related, there was the concern of his involvement in this. But, mostly, it was to ensure Pyroar didn't get away. You were able to find Pyroar quickly when no one else could, through a shortcut we did not know about."
All three of them stilled slightly. They hadn't told Clefable, obviously, about Liepard's shortcut, but Team Isotope sure had.
Clefable didn't miss that but didn't comment on it.
"Regardless of all that, you've brought Pyroar down and brought him in alive. I am aware that the Wigglytuff Guild takes a 90% tax on apprentice earnings, but we do things a little different here. You'll get 50% of the bounty, and you can inform Wigglytuff or Armaldo or Chimecho, whoever, who they can talk to if they want to complain about that."
"What about Morpeko?" Mane asked, surprising Clefable. "You got him too, right?"
"…No?" She glanced to Team Isotope, eavesdropping, and they also looked confused.
"Fuuuck," Mane groaned, falling back. "All that work and he got away? Maybe he just ugh."
"Ara said nothing about Morpeko," Rai said, quietly. He wondered how his sister missed that. Or, perhaps, if Morpeko hadn't been as downed as they had thought.
Clefable promised to take a look around for him.
After that Comfey chased Clefable out of the medical wing and the two chansey began rigorous work of undoing a little more of the injuries that Pyroar had left them with.
It was not as severe as their time in Amp Plains, nothing had ever quite reached the level of that event, but even with the healing powers of the nurses, they were informed they had a few scars under their fur. Along with patches of thinner fur where the burns had been worse.
After a couple of days of rest and talking with Team Isotope who seemed to flip between normal and hero-worship depending on the hour, the light of day, and smell of food, Clefable came back to see them.
An abra floated with her.
"Greetings," Abra said without preamble. "You may refer to me as Abra, the representative of the Psychic Network of the Clefable Guild."
"When you're awake that is," Clefable said, nudging her.
Abra turned, still floating, with her eyes shut. "What if I told you I'm still asleep?"
"Then I wouldn't believe you," Clefable replied. "As you snore like a snorlax."
She turned back to Team Ion. "This is Kadabra's sister and, as she said, Psychic Representative of the guild. We've alerted your guild of your success and Chimecho, I believe?" She glanced to Abra, who nodded. "Wants to relay a message."
"Here and now," Abra said, "as Chimecho is expecting questions. She is here with us in mind, she will be able to hear you through me, but I will have to relay her words to you."
"Uh, okay." Scout was the first to speak. "Hey Chimecho, how's everyone going?"
"Chimecho responds," Abra said. "Everyone is going well, there's a great deal of excitement at the moment thanks to your news, maybe a little bit of sadness as well. But everyone is happy for you. I hope you're doing well."
"That's good to hear," Rai said. He, like Scout, was feeling a little awkward to talk to Chimecho through Abra. "What did you want to talk about?" he asked, thinking it best to get to the point.
"Chimecho responds. Ah yes, the Guildmaster and Guildmaster Clefable were speaking about teleporting you back to Treasure Town, as Alakazam is somewhat indisposed at the moment. But the Guildmaster wanted to give you three a break first as an initial reward for your success. We can still bring you back if you'd prefer, however."
Team Ion all shared glances and had a quick conversation. Scout was leaning in favour of getting home sooner, but Rai and Mane both preferred the idea of having a nice walk back to town.
"We'll make our own way," Rai answered, "if that's alright."
"Chimecho answers. Not a problem at all. Chimecho giggles. You take your time recovering, and we will see you all when you get back! Ooh, it'll be such a celebration. It's been a long time since someone's graduated from the guild, what a party those are…"
Abra cleared her throat before Chimecho could really begin to deviate. "Chimecho says. Ah yes, well, I'll leave you to it. Team Sunrise will be happy to hear of this, I am sure. They are currently returning from Blizzard Island, Scizor is in some urgent care, but we are expecting a good recovery. He is quite strong. Alright, I can feel Abra getting tired, yes I said it, tata."
"By Chimecho. Give everyone our best."
"Chimecho says. I will." Then Abra retreated from the linking of their minds. She floated down slightly, a little tired, before rising back up. "I believe I'll go take my nap."
"Thank you, Abra," Clefable said, and Abra floated away. "Very helpful siblings, they are," she sighed, nodding to Team Ion. "Well, that's about everything I came in for. The offer to teleport you back will remain open if you change your mind."
Clefable bade them a good day and left them to their own devices.
The members of Team Ion all shared a smile before Mane crawled into Rai's bed and Scout, after a moment of considering, also joined him.
They were recovering well, faster than Team Isotope, and each was excited to have a proper time to relax and revisit some of the nicer places they had been too on the hunt.
"Not Pollen Town, though," Scout said. There was no disagreement there. That one could be skipped.
Team Sunrise were in the middle of the sea.
Saniya, beaming brightly in the Psychic Network had been noticed by Chimecho shortly before they exited Blizzard Island, or Orb Central according to Striker.
Their exhaustion and hampering hadn't much slowed them down. This was a team of pokémon who specialised in saving, whether it be the whole world or the pokémon in it.
Striker and Sean carved a streak through any pokémon foolish enough to try and assault them, and Saniya and Guardian warded off most that even thought of it.
Guardian was still able to command his shadow for Shadow Sneak even holding Scizor and Saniya, when not focusing on the Psychic Network, blasted rocks and leaves from his shoulder.
When they exited the dungeon, Alakazam was there waiting for them.
He had been requested by the guild to be on standby had Team Sunrise needed an urgent teleporter. He had agreed, for a price.
Teleporters were not a cheap commodity, which was why the guild didn't employ one long term. But it did mean the cost was even sharper when they did require one's services.
Knowing that the more pokémon being teleported was longer and more difficult, and crossing the sea was no short jump, only Scizor was taken by Alakazam, the rest of them trudging the rest of the way to Lapras to be carried back.
He had immediately given the four of them Aqua Rings.
"These won't do much," Lapras said as the four sagged on the frost beach. "But it'll help overnight." It was too late for Lapras to start the trip, and he too was a bit tired from the trip, leaving the four to make camp for the night.
It was partway across the sea at the end of the next day that Saniya got a message.
"Scizor is alive," Chimecho explained, across the Psychic Network. Even her mental voice sounded exhausted. "He is not out of the woods by any means, but Chansey and I have stabilised him. He will need to be strong to survive."
"He is," Saniya thought back, having difficulties. The mental speech was always trickier for her; the control and delicacy it required was often beyond her overeager Power. "If you saw what we did, what he's managed to survive, he's got to be strong."
"I believe you."
It was on the afternoon of the day after that Chimecho contacted them again. "Scizor made it through the night. He's not conscious, but this was the hurdle he needed to pass."
And again at dusk the same day. "Team Ion have captured Pyroar!" Chimecho beamed, positively thrilled even through her exhaustion. It almost physically lifted Saniya with her own delight at hearing that.
"Team Ion caught Pyroar!?" she half asked half stated, out loud, which caused a ruckus on Lapras' shell.
He threatened to toss them overboard.
"Make us walk the plank, matey?" Sean arr'd like a pirate. He got blank looks for it.
"This is fantastic news," Saniya thought back, very carefully. "Do you know when they are going to get back?"
"Team Ion have been given a break from their work," Chimecho answered, "and they've elected to walk the way back. But, on that topic, I may as well share that you as well have been given a break."
"Pardon?" Saniya said, both in thought and out loud. "A break? What and where and why and what?"
Striker and Sean began whispering over this new development as Chimecho answered.
"Scizor is fine, and there is nothing more that you can do for him, he should recover from this point. And, well, Alakazam informed Guildmaster Wigglytuff, Armaldo, and myself of your condition. Knowing he doesn't exaggerate, it was agreed that unless you also need medical aid, you can take a break as well."
"We should be okay," Saniya said. Her wings were okay now, and they had eaten and rested over the last couple of days. "Well, okay! Uh, I mean. Okay. Cool, thank you. I'll let the guys know, and we'll see you when we see you!"
"Take care."
"So," Saniya said, turning to explain, "we get some time off too! Woo!"
Excited, they discussed a few interesting options that could be explored until Lapras piped up.
"You know?" he began. "We are actually close to the leyline I follow to the Hidden Land. Perhaps you'd like to visit Dialga? He's a little lonely nowadays."
"Lonely!?" Saniya gasped, horrified. "I knew he liked us."
"Master Dialga is lonely?" Guardian asked, concerned. "How do you know this?"
"I visit Dialga myself," Lapras explained. "I'm not always at the beach, after all. I travelled back there a couple of weeks ago, and Dialga came to see me. We got to talking. Dialga didn't say they were lonely, but I felt the lack of companionship there. Don't tell Dialga I said that, though."
"Hmm."
"We should go," Striker said, nodding. "Dialga did so much for us; visiting occasionally won't do any harm."
Sean frowned a bit but didn't huff or make any verbal rejection to the point. He remembered bright and clear how the last visit to Dialga went, but part of him wondered if that story is what stopped Guardian from asking to visit as well.
He refused to feel guilty over the matter, especially after Scout revealed he had been able to speak to Dialga. That Dialga knew he was there the whole time and said nothing.
"To the Hidden Land?" Lapras asked.
"To the Hidden Land!" Saniya, Striker, and Guardian chorused. Smiling happily at the decision, Lapras adjusted his course.
Unlike the trip to Blizzard Island, which required some Lapras Secrets to make in any sense of a reasonable time, the path to the Hidden Land was passed down in his blood for generations. Since Dialga first locked the realm away one-second difference to the rest of the world, only a single small path could breach the sea of time, and only Lapras' family had been given the knowledge of crossing it.
But legendary pokémon could find ways in as well. It would have angered him to learn that Darkrai had found a way in without permission, but Lapras did not know of that.
Soon enough, Lapras appeared to be flying within the air itself and their surroundings blurred to a magical azure before the air snapped, and the Hidden Land appeared in view, titanic and floating in a gap in time, in the split of a second.
Temporal Tower floated in the far distance. Serene and whole, it appeared to be a little less ramshackle than the last time they were here, Dialga continuing the repair work in the absence of others.
A sky-splitting roar nearly spooked Sean and Striker off Lapras' shell, requiring Guardian to snatch them both up and causing Lapras to shake with laughter.
"Did you KNOW that was going to happen?" Saniya demanded after her heart stopped beating a million miles a minute.
"Perhaps," Lapras said, still giggling a little. He nodded forwards, was a blue speck dropped from the tower and began approaching them. "Dialga detected my entry last time. I believe they have some way to tell when someone enters the Hidden Land. Hopefully, a failsafe so none can damage the tower again.
It was a relief that they didn't have to traverse the dungeons again, but that spook had given all four of them a nasty flashback to Primal Dialga, and none of them departed Lapras' shell immediately upon first docking.
"Dialga is not going to do it again," Lapras soothed, nudging them off with words. Saniya left first, shaking it off. Followed by Guardian who was still holding Striker and Sean.
Waiting close to Lapras, Team Sunrise stood with not a small amount of tension as the speck grew wider, larger, and more Dialga-like.
Gliding majestically in the air like a lizard dinosaur horse made of metal, time, and concise annoyance, Dialga approached.
"Team Sunrise," Dialga rumbled. The legendary was larger than the last time they had been here, but still not quite as large as the Dialga they had known before. "It has been a while."
Thankfully not large enough, or perhaps still mindful enough, not to roar everything in a literal sense of a caps lock.
"Master Dialga," Guardian said, bowing and dropping Striker and Sean into the dirt. "It is good to see you again."
"What did I tell you about the Master thing?" Dialga grumbled, stomping closer. Every step felt like it shook the world. As this entire subspace was just one island, that may have been true.
"That I shouldn't do it," Guardian sighed. "Yes, Master Dialga," he added, perhaps a little cheeky.
Dialga gave him an unimpressed stare before snorting. "So. What brings you four here? Lapras claim that I am lonely or something?"
"Yes," Saniya said, brightly. She felt Lapras' glare on the back of her neck, and she smiled, very proud of herself.
Dialga snorted at Lapras who had the decency to look a little abashed. "If you're here, you might as well rest before you depart. Answer me, what have the four of you been doing?"
Concealing smiles at Dialga's obviousness, Team Sunrise minus Sean regaled Dialga with their time since they had left. Dialga largely listened to their stories without speaking, but it did glance at Sean many times.
"And then Alakazam was there and zipped him away, and Chimecho kept us up to date, and we get a break, so Lapras said you were lonely and so we came here!" Saniya finished, having done a great deal of the talking, but not all of it.
"That was… a lot," Dialga said, although it wouldn't admit that it had zoned out most of what Saniya had just rattled off. She spoke awfully quickly, and Dialga didn't have the benefit of interfering with time to make her more bearable.
Time was still too unstable to mess with, even specifically Saniya's teleports were toeing the line.
"What about Riolu?" Dialga asked, finally finding the time to address Sean directly. "I am not certain if he is simply being polite and letting you." He gave Saniya a Look. "Talk or is just quiet. But I would have expected thanks by this point."
Sean blinked. "Pardon?" he asked.
"A thank you," Dialga replied, rumbling. They were a little offended but wouldn't directly say that. "For reviving you. I've heard whispers of Palkia's whining and whinging for several months now about an impact to space. Reviving you was something of a risk to myself if Palkia learned of it. Yet you only give me cold looks."
"I… did thank you," Sean said, very puzzled. The rest of Team Sunrise and Lapras were all staring in confusion as well but towards Dialga. "When Shinx, Litleo, and I came to talk to you. I understand we were a little rude, but I DID thank you."
"I have not seen anyone besides Lapras since Striker, Saniya, and Guardian left," Dialga answered, firmly. "I have no idea of what you speak of."
"No," Sean said, voice rising to a near-squeak as horror began to grip him. Guardian was looking sharply between everyone. "Lapras?" Sean turned. "You brought us here, and we talked to Dialga."
"Yes." Lapras nodded. "I did."
"When did this happen?" Dialga demanded.
"About three months ago," Lapras answered.
"I have no knowledge of this," Dialga insisted. "I have not seen any of Team Sunrise since you left, I only know the name due to being told by Lapras."
"No!" Sean said, voice hitting a near yell. "We came to talk to you! We met you at the Rainbow Stoneship. You could see Scout! And you told us that you WOULD not revive him, because of some shit with Palkia. Scout had to be revived by Darkrai."
"The meowth is revived?" Dialga thundered. "No wonder Palkia has been trying to enter the Hidden Land. It must be furious."
"You TOLD us!" Sean yelled. "And then you told him! The only thing you offered was to remove Scout's memory from Shinx?"
"Remove?" Dialga spluttered. "Remove memory? I am a Dialga. I control time, not the mind. How, by any stretch of the idea, could I interfere with one's memory? Even that of a being, formally, removed to time? Perhaps I could preserve such a memory, not remove. You make no sense!"
Sean looked to Striker and Guardian and Saniya in horror. "We've got to get back to Treasure Town," he said. "We had a nightmare the night we stayed here." He turned to Lapras, who wore a grave expression. "Everyone, right?"
Lapras slowly nodded.
"We've got to alert the guild. Darkrai was here."
Dun. Dun. DUUUUUN.
Yeeep. It was Darkrai the WHOLE time. How WOULD Dialga remove a memory? How would that make sense? Maybe, as it said, preserve the memory of someone lost to time, but not erase. That makes no sense, not in the surgical precision requirements such a thing would need.
But, how disturbing. They were not asleep when they first met with 'Dialga' they didn't go to sleep until afterwards. Darkrai could only make illusions in dreams beforehand, how could it make one of Dialga in the real world…?
Also, Pyroar! Wooo! Team Ion have DONE it. Morpeko just might have gotten away, that's a bother, but they completed their job! That's great! Yay. Woo. Hooray… ah… good times.
Most of this chapter was a battle, like Chapter 14, but I think this one is leagues better because the fight had a point. It got pretty brutal there as well, but they're tough.
Mane's still got some shit to work through.
Also, if you can make sure you vote on the new poll! It's on my Fanfiction account, but you can only see and vote on it if you have an FFN account, so no worries if you don't.
Okay? Okay. Hope everyone is safe.