Guardian looked up at the sky as he began the long trek.
There was no time to waste, and once Sean was given a reluctant clear from Audino, he gathered him up in his arms and began to make their way.
"Good luck," Rai said, walking with them to the end of town and a little beyond. Hillcrest had been welcoming for the short time they were back here.
"To you as well," Guardian replied.
"We'll be alright," Mane said, as Sean was casting them worried looks.
"Sorry, just worried about Her and all."
"We won't fight any indeedee," Rai replied confidently.
"Or let her steal our stuff," Mane added, Treasure Bag tied firmly to him.
Sean nodded to them. "Stay safe."
"You too."
And Team Ion and Sunrise, both depleted, parted ways. Rai and Mane returned to the hunt, while Guardian took a quick seed and began to float their way back to Treasure Town.
Sean wasn't the happiest to be carried like a blushing bride all the way back to town. Neither was Guardian, really, so he convinced him once they were away from Audino to let him walk on his own for at least a couple hours each day.
"I'll get cricks in my neck," Sean said, once Guardian had set him down, and he stretched, cracking bones and rubbing his neck, where the bandages weren't.
"Better than bleeding," Guardian warned, keeping a close eye on Sean as they walked for any signs of dizziness or exhaustion.
"They've stopped bleeding," Sean replied; that was why Audino had even let them go in the first place. Whatever the sword had done, it didn't seem to last forever, thankfully, and his cuts finally clotted and stopped bleeding. The chest one was then able to be healed by Audino's mystical powers, while the neck one was only able to be closed, so the bandages were told to be left on.
Sean had the sword, still. It was wrapped in cloth and placed within a new bag, and tried to be forgotten. Unfortunately, he was having similar issues controlling his aura as a riolu; occasionally, he just flared up and sensed things around him.
It was different, melted, changed, corrupted even. But behind all the layers, he could still see Keira in the bag next to him, and his heart ached.
"It's weird seeing a nice audino," Sean commented instead of talking about that. "Considering what started all this."
"He's pink," Guardian said sternly. The frankness of the comment twitched at Sean's lips before he snorted.
"I don't know why," he laughed as Guardian gave him a puzzled look filled with concern. "The way you just said that was really funny."
"…hmm."
"I'm not delirious!"
"If you say so."
Sean nudged Guardian, very happy he was no longer a tiny little speck compared to the towering Ghost-type. He was still significantly shorter, but he'd be at least Striker's height now.
"I can't believe I evolved," Sean said in wonder, staring at his paws. They were about the same, just bigger. He clicked his paw spikes together, admiring the gleam.
It reminded him for a nasty moment of the colour of the sword, and he had to swallow an expression of distaste, lowering his paws from each other to swing by his side.
"It is incredible," Guardian said, happy for a change of subject. "I remember when I evolved from, uh, duskull to dusclops."
"Or from dusclops to dusknoir?"
Guardian glanced away.
"Guards, it's okay."
"I don't fully remember that," Guardian admitted. "And, so I'm curious. How did it feel to evolve? Especially coming from a human's perspective? I asked Wartortle, and his answer was fascinating."
Sean considered it for a moment. How did it feel?
"I'm not really sure," Sean said. "Not that I can't put it into words, it's more…one moment I was a riolu and the next I was a lucario. I didn't really feel anything…."
"Really?" Guardian said quietly. "That's curious. Most pokémon describe a great surge of energy; some can even narrate how it felt for their body to change."
"I guess I was just a bit too distracted at the time," Sean chuckled mirthlessly.
"Ah."
"But…hmm. I guess I can describe a bit of it. Maybe it is just something I'm having trouble describing because my human mind has no real idea of what it would be like."
Sean closed his eyes, letting the wind ruffle his fur and the sun light up his handsome lucario face. "I actually closed my eyes before I evolved. I'd run the whole night hoping that by the day, I'd evolve in the light. I had a feeling I knew why the Silver Bow was making me tingle; I just wasn't sure if I was ready. That or the rollcall orb." He smiled, eyes still closed.
"Then morning came, and I… didn't evolve. I thought I was just mistaken, so I was ready to just keep fighting and running, but I was so tired. My eyes closed for just a moment."
"Then…I just remembered. It was like…flashes of the times when I first met everyone. Met my friends. How I felt. It was like I was there again, for just brief flashes. Striker, you and Scout, Saniya, Mane, then Rai. When I opened my eyes again, the pain was gone, and I felt energised again. It was like I could see farther and do more."
"Thank you," Guardian said softly. "That's… that's quite an experience."
"Not going to tell me off for closing my eyes when in front of danger?" Sean grinned.
Guardian's eye rolled. "I should, but you'll make an excuse about being hurt and needing to be treated gently."
"You're right," Sean laughed.
"I know I'm right. I always am."
Not long after, Sean stumbled, and so Guardian picked him up again and continued floating along, ignoring protests until Sean settled down and fell asleep.
Dusknoir were not fast pokémon, even with a quick seed to energise him, but they had stamina like nothing else. Even as night fell, he pushed on. He wouldn't make the whole trip without rest; he wasn't allowed to do that if Striker couldn't push himself like that as well.
But they'd make the trip as fast as they could. Because who knows what may be on their tail?
Striker breathed a sigh of relief as he and Azelf spotted the big Wigglytuff Guild head in the distance. "Almost there," Striker breathed, hopping along faster with Azelf keeping pace.
"It has been some time since I have been around others," Azelf said, a flicker of nerves in their steely voice. "Will I be expecting crowds and questions?"
"I'll bring you to Armaldo quickly," Striker said. "The guild is at the start, or end really, of town, so we don't need to go through any crowds. The guild tends to be a high traffic zone, however."
"I will endure."
The sight of Treasure Town never failed to bring a smile to Striker's face, one that Azelf noted, and he took a relaxed breath of air. "Almost home."
Azelf floated slightly back, coasting Striker's shadow as they entered town. It wasn't that they were nervous. It was that they were anxious that people would start asking a million and one questions with the looking and the grabbing.
Azelf knew that the others felt similar. Uxie travelled out to Misty Banks, the nearest town to Fogbound Lake, while Mesprit went a bit further due to not many townships lying close to the Northern Desert.
She planned on crossing through a few smaller towns spreading the word as she made her way to Yellow Petal Town, then Blackstone Village to reach the Clefable Guild.
They all felt a bit nervous about appearing out of nowhere and offering solutions. There was a reason the legends largely avoided the spotlight these days.
Uxie was considering making the trip to Shaymin Village if he could. Otherwise, they were trying to spread out as much as possible while still being close enough to relay useful information.
The Lake Trio shared comforting words as Azelf followed Striker to the crossroads and up the steps. As feared, pokémon did stop and stare at the pokémon none of them had ever seen before, but Striker commanded respect, and no one stopped to ask intrusive questions.
Azelf glanced around in fresh wonder as they entered a building. Last time they had left Crystal Lake, the ruins of humanity were all the shelter pokémon tended to have. But this was a full-on storied building, carved into the rebuilt cliff.
They admired the woodwork with a critical eye, searching for splinters or shoddiness, but the wood was sanded and prepared against a salty breeze and stormy weather. They delighted in lowering to the ground and rolling down the slope and beamed as they rose up, a little dizzy.
"What a novel day," Azelf said, pleased, Striker smiled at them, and the two continued further down the guild, opening up into a wide room with many interesting things to explore.
A shop shaped like a croagunk was most curious, but Striker gestured to the left instead of right, and Azelf decided to visit later.
"Armaldo," Striker said, opening without knocking. Armaldo was already waiting for him with two chairs, nodding to Azelf as they entered.
"Azelf," Armaldo said gruffly. "I am Guildmaster Armaldo. It is good to meet you."
Azelf inclined their head, choosing to float over their chair rather than sit as Striker sighed in relief, resting his weary legs.
"Well met," Azelf replied. "Grovyle has explained the situation at hand as understood. Uxie and Mesprit are currently travelling to key locations."
"Where?" Armaldo asked, happy that skipping pleasantries was happening.
"Uxie is heading to Misty Banks and is considering going further to Shaymin's Village if it would be more adventurous. Mesprit has said she will head to the first town she sees, but Grovyle has given her an idea to head to Blackstone Village to rendezvous with the Clefable Guild. However, she will not be able to make such a trip quickly."
Armaldo nodded. "We are grateful for the help," he said. "The situation as it stands is difficult to make sense of. Something seems to be going on, but we are left in the dark about it. If anyone knows, with the collapse of the Psychic Network, no one can tell us."
Azelf nodded. "Uxie has been welcomed by Misty Banks," they said, blinking. "Quite well, in fact. A little too well, perhaps." They could feel Uxie's sheepishness. "The pokémon of this time rely quite strongly on this network. We will endeavour. As it stands, Uxie predicts they will have questions of you shortly."
Armaldo sighed, preparing for politics. "Very well. Grovyle, thank you, you can go now. Celebi returned recently and would be happy to see you, I'm sure."
Striker stood and bayed his goodbyes and left to find Saniya. As much as he enjoyed time on his own, he'd missed her.
It'd be a nice surprise if he gave her a hug unwarranted, he decided.
Saniya was not in town today, rather she was floating about at the school. The school was held four times a week, and Banette was the only teacher.
That was cause for concern enough in some people's heads. To Saniya, she worried more for Banette. She hadn't stopped trying to get Spinda to sell her 'The Good Stuff' since the two of them had tried it when he served it to Keira.
When Banette wasn't teaching, she was often at Chansey's Daycare. Helping Chansey manage the little hellions with her unique mixture of crass and strange rules.
Still, Saniya wasn't concerned about that. No, the kids were impervious little monsters who chanted around campfires where Saniya was the marshmallow. They could handle Banette.
She wasn't concerned about that, no, but she was still concerned.
Difficulty had Treasure Town gripped around the throat. It was a difficult difficulty to determine. Pokémon were closer than ever, doing more to help each other out since Torkoal made his big speech. But there was a stiffness to it all.
Xatu's cloudy expression was even more lost than usual, gazing out into the sun in concern as he wondered where his son was.
It often took a bit to rouse him and bring him back to the present to do his job.
As the kids were among the biggest patrons of his treasure determining service, they noticed. They chattered about weird Xatu and his weirdness.
It would be okay, but the Kecleon Brother's were more generous than had been in written history; most kids got at least something free each day to fill their bellies or cheer them up. Kangaskhan made sure to offer hugs to everyone who looked like they needed one and to everyone who didn't as well because she was very equal opportunity like that.
Electivire took them out jogging with Vigoroth before collapsing and becoming an attraction to climb on and see what they could plug his cables into. Apparently, if you plugged it into Vigoroth, he went all red and puffy, and both of them got mad and weird.
Duskull was creepy as always, and there was no change there.
When Chansey needed a break and Banette wasn't enough, Marowak hosted big training days in the dojo, and the kids accidentally broke down a wall, revealing another dungeon that they stormed in groups to his horror.
Everyone was being nice and kind and helpful and fun, but kids were kids. They were innocent and dumb, only they weren't.
Saniya could see the pinched smiles and tensed necks in the town, and she knew the kids could too. They didn't really talk about it, at least not around the adults, but it was likely being spoken of, nonetheless.
There was something she was doing. Kids needed to be kids. She was never a child, even at her youngest, and she and the others had preserved Scout's carefree innocence for as long as they could, even in the situation that they were in.
But Striker hadn't got to be a kid, and she didn't even know about Guardian but doubted it.
Saniya believed kids should be kids, and so, she led the expeditions. She brought them farther than just Beach Cave or Marowak's training dungeon. It was sad in the sense that they had no parents she needed to ask, but they had carers who were…happy to get an easing from the ravenous horde.
They only tied her up and set her on fire three times, so she wasn't sure what the big deal was. Kids were fun, and she had the energy to match theirs.
It was important to Saniya, after all, to preserve that. It's why they had fought as hard as they had.
Returning to town with a gaggle of youngsters all worn out, Saniya was rewarded with her hard work by surprise. She saw Striker and sighed dreamily, he was chatting pleasantly with Ursaring, and she could stare at him looking all cool for hours.
Ursaring noticed her and pointed her out, and Striker turned to her with that cool half-smirk that he defaulted to, and she squee'd.
"Miss Celebi?" Grookey asked. "Is that your boyfriend?"
Saniya blushed. "Well, you see," she didn't get a chance to continue as leafy green arms clasped around her from behind, and she felt like she might die.
Striker was hugging her!
The kids immediately started giggling, and Grookey looked most happy at being right. She didn't have the heart to say that they were just friends, but she was working on it.
This probably meant it was working if he was hugging her on his own!
Saniya wriggled around in his hold and hugged him tightly. "Strikey!"
Striker smirked at her, patting her back as she buried her face in the crook of his neck. "It's good to see you too."
"Clearly," Saniya giggled, pulling back to beam into his eyes. They were twinkling, and she loved it. "Good news, I have magical powers and can purify Shadow Pokémon with Sean!"
"No surprise there," Striker said, and she blushed under the praise. "I've got the Lake Trio to help us with communication, Azelf is here now, and the other two are travelling to nearby towns. Mesprit is even travelling to Blackstone eventually, and she'll pass through the Hillcrest area."
"Outstanding!" Saniya cheered. "We're almost back together again." She sniffled and hugged him again. "I've missed everyone."
"Me too," Striker replied, hugging her firmly for a moment before the snickering of the kids pulled him out of it. He quickly righted his cloak and tried to look cool, but the image was forever shattered. Striker the Thief to Striker the Huggable One.
Which Saniya coined herself in her mind as she grinned at the kids. "Who wants to hug Grovyle?"
"I DO!"
Striker yelped as he was covered in children very quickly, Saniya floating back and cackling maniacally. It was a good day. A really good day.
The Lake Trio were an invaluable help to the situation.
Once word could be spread from point a to point b without needing flying pokémon to ferry letters, Armaldo's headache began to lessen. Rather than send Uxie to the Shaymin Village, he had a better idea.
He did have to answer twenty (thousand) questions about it, but Uxie was agreeable. Heading towards the Pokémon Exploration Team Federation headquarters, Mesprit was still to head for Blackstone as soon as she could, stopping in towns to provide some needed word on the situation to worried pokémon.
It felt like two hundred pounds were taken off Armaldo's aching shoulders when Azelf straightened up. "This is Scizor. Are you there, Guildmaster Armaldo?"
"Thank fuck," Armaldo growled. Azelf transmitted that across, Uxie's bored tones not enunciating the depth of that swear appropriately. "Scizor, have you received Uxie at the Federation?"
"We have. He has explained the situation with great depth," Scizor replied. "We would like to express our thanks for this boon; the situation has been highly complicated with the collapse of the Psychic Network."
"Do you know why it happened?" Armaldo asked.
"I'm afraid I do not." Azelf's words were flat, but Armaldo could imagine Scizor's tone himself. "There was some hope that perhaps you would, but I see that isn't the case."
Armaldo snorted mirthlessly. "I don't know why this town seems to be the centre of the world at the moment, but we're as much in the dark as anyone."
"The last word sent across the Psychic Network?"
"That Meowth of Team Ion had been kidnapped, yes."
"It would not surprise me if you were the centre of this regardless."
Armaldo sighed, rubbing his temple. "It wouldn't surprise me either," he groaned. "Is there any idea if the network can be raised again?"
"We've determined something entered the network, somehow, and acts as a transmittable attacker attacking the minds of people who enter. Whatever it is, it is still there and attempts to rout it have not been successful. We are currently working on a new angle of attack to try and purge this thing."
"What could enter the Psychic Network like this?"
"I have no idea." There was a pause. "Uxie has no idea either," Azelf said on his behalf.
Armaldo nodded, annoyed. "We have the trio to commune with at least."
"Indeed. Once again, we have the cleverness and bravery of the Wigglytuff Guild to thank."
"It was Grovyle who did it."
"Part of your guild."
"Part of R…whatever."
"He chuckles," Azelf said. "At least, that's what Uxie said, and I'm repeating it."
Armaldo rolled his eyes; the Trio had a bit of sass to them, as did absolutely everyone around him. "Alright, aside from that." He and Scizor, along with the three leaders of the branch, discussed well into the night plans and numbers, rounding out ideas and arguing a great many things.
After a few days, Scizor made an announcement. "I am going to Treasure Town. The others are more than capable of managing, but I have a feeling it will be the centre of things again. It's what Lucario would do, so I am going. You will still be able to contact me through the Lake Trio once I arrive."
It was a day of stale winds, the day everyone began to arrive at Treasure Town.
Well, not everyone. Guardian still floated along a quiet path, carrying Sean in his arms. A slavering horde of monsters trampled everything to mulch between their thoughtless feet far away.
A betrayal hung rank in the air, a scent of pain and regret being washed by the salty breeze of the sea, and no one noticed.
Soft, pink-fuzz feet stepped onto the ground, beaten into familiarity as two fresh pairs of eyes stared up at the looming Wigglytuff Guild in awe.
"That's YOU!?" Espurr beamed, excited and waving his arms as he ran up to a step. "Wow!"
"Calm down," Marowak demanded, thonking him on the head with his bone. Espurr teared up and pouted at him, but Marowak was unmoved by such displays and thwacked him again.
Rhythm smiled fondly at them as they squabbled, looking up at his home for so many years with quiet melancholy. There had been no other place to go, so why not here?
Because everything could be turned against them here? No, Rhythm had an idea that didn't sacrifice everything for the sake of his weakness.
He sent his companions to Spinda's Café to refresh as he walked to the guild alone.
"Pokémon Detected! It's Wigglytuff; let him in," a bored voice brightened up a little, and Rhythm smiled down the grate at Flaaffy. He entered the guild with a whistle and stopped on the first floor to say hello to everyone.
Team Glee immediately started cheering and swept the rest of the pokémon into a cry of joy. Chimecho was not here. She was elsewhere.
The racket brought Armaldo out of his brooding corner, and without a word, he dragged Rhythm down into the depths of the guild.
"You're here," Armaldo said as Rhythm smiled and waved to Croagunk. "About damn time."
He dragged him into the Guildmaster's chambers, all prim and proper with a desk and everything. Armaldo did not sit on Rhythm's throne.
Rhythm beamed at Azelf. "Azelf, it's been too long," Rhythm said happily.
Azelf bobbed their head and smiled at him. "That it has been, Wigglytuff." Azelf left the window they liked to feel the breeze through, the broken window that it was, and looked over Rhythm with a sharp eye. "You have been changed by hardship since the last time I saw you," they said bluntly, and Rhythm's smile wavered a little.
"Things have happened," he admitted, but the smile still clung to his face stubbornly. Because he was happy, happy to be back and to see them both. "But we persevere!"
Azelf nodded. "Your will remains unchanged," they said approvingly. "If not brighter than before." Satisfied, they gave Rhythm his personal space back and floated back to the window.
Armaldo watched the display with blatant curiosity. "Good to hear, Junior," he groused. "There's quite a situation to start catching you up on."
"I'm aware of the Psychic Network," Rhythm said. "I was the one who had asked for that final message to be sent out before something attacked the network."
Armaldo nodded, pleased he didn't need to spend half the day playing narrator. "Good. Grovyle had the bright idea of recruiting the Lake Trio, remembering their mental link to serve as a backup network." He said this like it was a bad thing, but Rhythm was well-used to Armaldo's tone of voice.
Azelf nodded to this as Rhythm smiled. "He was quite convincing," they said. "He's come a long way since the thief I once encountered."
"He has," Rhythm said softly.
"In other news, Celebi has finished learning the art of purification."
Rhythm blinked, his heart did a final flip. "Pardon?"
Armaldo gave him a curious look. "Celebi…has returned from her training with the other Celebi and, alongside a human, may be able to purify Shadow Pokémon." Rhythm's mouth fell open. "You weren't aware of this?"
Rhythm's eyes had gone shiny. "You… you're not joking?"
"..." Slowly, a frown made its way over Armaldo's face. "We were made aware of this by Team Sunrise's encounter with Giratina. Celebi contacted Chimecho to let her know they had found a way before she left to learn this art from the other Celebi. Chimecho was to pass this along to Team Ion to assure you would capture Soothe rather than anything else."
"…Trill," Rhythm sniffled, and Armaldo's stern expression shifted into something softer. "Soothe."
"Maybe," he said. "We need to find them first and have Sean, or any human, but Sean is the only one we have access to with the network down."
Rhythm felt boneless; this was the best news he'd heard in his life. He had always…always held onto the hope he could save her one day. He'd poured over every book he could find, asked the most learned and quirky of pokémon, always clung onto the dimming hope that one day he could free Soothe from whatever had dared to take her from them.
And now it was here. She could be saved, Trill as well. The monster who had them, whoever she was, wouldn't win. Couldn't win.
Armaldo saw the visible change of Rhythm's determination cross his face, but Azelf was left breathless and shaken from the power that filled the room. Not merely a resurgence of will, but a complete recreation of it.
For the first time in what felt like years, and perhaps it was, Rhythm the wigglytuff, Leader of the Team With No Name smiled.
"We did not cross through many towns," he said confidently. "But the goal was always to take her in. I know Soothe is fighting back in her own way. She was writing us those notes that Team Ion were receiving from 'Victory'."
"You knew that," Armaldo stated, not asked.
Rhythm blushed a little. "…yeah, Shinx and Litleo are very angry with me."
"As they should be," he said sternly. Rhythm nodded, guilty, but the flame did not dim within him.
"As they should be," Rhythm confirmed. "It's not right of me to have lied, and I will do everything in my power to make up for that. That is what I am here now for. To do everything I can."
"You can start by taking back leadership of the guild," Armaldo said immediately.
"No," Rhythm refused, pausing him. "As long as the enemy has Trill, I can't have a position of power."
"The town…will look to you either way," Armaldo forced out angrily.
"And you will stand to stop me from misusing it," Rhythm replied. "Teacher, you've always been able to guide me right. But I'm too stubborn, and now that we have a way to save them all, I'll be even weaker to those manipulations."
Armaldo glared at Rhythm, but he just stared back, wanting to balance an apple on his head. His stomach growled, and his face drooped. "Oooh, I'm so hungry." Then he fell flat on his face and fell unconscious.
"You-RHYTHM!" Chitin yelled, stomping around to pick him up. "You cannot just faint on me to win an argument, Rhythm? Rhythm!?" He tried shaking the conked-out wigglytuff, but nothing happened, just another stomach growl. Sighing in physical pain now, Armaldo stuck him under one arm and began to stomp his way to the stores.
"You get all that?" he asked Azelf, who nodded.
"They're aware."
"Good." And left in a huff.
Not-Guildmaster Wigglytuff was back! Scizor would arrive tomorrow.
It had been an awkward day and a half. Soothe did not release her wand, nor was her other hand far away from the hidden spike she carried.
Something Trill was aware of. He'd gifted her those spikes himself and knew very well what they could do to someone. Her inability to relax heightened his own nerves, pain and blood between them that Scout found himself in the middle of.
Scout himself wanted to crawl away and hide in a tree trunk or something. What little ease of working together he and Soothe had managed to dredge up between them blew away with the wind as soon as Trill joined their party.
Scout was angry at Soothe for suggesting they leave Treasure Town to their fate and also felt a mixture of emotions towards Trill. He was beyond relieved that Trill was alive, guilty at that both for feeling like he was responsible for his death as well as guilty because he knew from Soothe that being a Shadow Pokémon could not be pleasant.
He was also upset that Trill couldn't look at him for long, compounded by Trill debating whether to help the town or not. The town he'd lived in for nearly two decades, raising and training team after team and becoming beloved pillars of the town.
The guild took his death the hardest, but the town was hardly unaffected by the loss of Trill. Treasure Town, everyone knew everyone so closely that any loss was harshly felt.
That Trill would hesitate to help them at all spoke volumes about what being a Shadow Pokémon was.
It wasn't that Scout was an idiot. He could be pretty dumb at the best of times, but he wasn't an idiot anymore. He recognised that this was the Fallen's plan to draw them out. A small, aggressive part of his brain hissed that Shadow Pokémon couldn't be trusted, but he ignored that as best as he could. Soothe might lie to him to get him on her side, but Trill?
'He lied to your face in Blackstone Village,' the voice whispered, and he couldn't banish it entirely.
Scout missed the times when he was exploring with Rai and Mane, blind to the coming difficulties. When he thought he was Sean and that the world made sense in its senseless way. It wasn't long after Mane joined the team that he started seeing how much he didn't have control of anything.
It was fitting, in a way, for something entirely out of canon to happen to finally show him that it wasn't what he thought, not that he had listened. If he could go back….
Well, he couldn't. They were here now, and they had to work with that.
"Soothe tells me you are learning combat skills from her?" Trill asked, pulling Scout out of his own thoughts.
"If Substitute counts as combat, yes?"
"Very good." Chatot ruffled his feathers. "Back in the day, Soothe, The Guildmaster, and I made an exceptional team of spelunkers, capable of taking on all who stood between us and our goals."
"Nine times out of ten, that goal was a perfect apple," Soothe said, cutting down Trill's grandness with flat truths. "Hard to tell who salivated over them more."
"You or Rhythm?" Trill shot without hesitation.
Soothe snorted at him. "I much prefer razzberry anything."
Scout glanced at them curiously. "You like perfect apples?"
Trill opened his beak to deny all but Soothe nodded. "He sure did. Pretended like he didn't, though, so Rhythm didn't feel like he had to share."
"She speaks filthy lies," Trill assured Scout.
"What about that time the guild heard you and Rhythm get drunk on perfect apple cider?"
Soothe laughed. "I remember hearing about that; Timber couldn't get through the knock-knock joke fast enough to tell me that."
Trill ruffled his feathers again, looking like he wanted to shield his face but resisted the urge. "The Guildmaster is very persuasive," he began.
"Oh yeah," Soothe said knowingly. "Tell us about what he convinces you to do."
Trill opened his beak but then narrowed his eyes at her, detecting something playful to her tone. "I think we will discuss the tauros incident instead."
Immediately, Soothe's good humour vanished into an aura threatening severe bodily harm if things were to continue.
Trill, being a psychopathic Shadow Pokemon, continued on without hesitation. "Oh yes, what a sunny morning that was," he reminisced, ignoring her building glare. "It was not Soothe's morning, afternoon, or evening I'm afraid. We woke up to find a group of zigzagoon had deemed Soothe herself a viable spot to sleep on, and she was covered in them."
"Stop," Soothe demanded; Scout was fighting laughter.
"After chasing them off and swearing eternal vengeance." Trill did not stop. "We began our day, fighting a contagious case of the giggles. Truly, when Rhythm begins to laugh, it's hard to avoid being drawn into it."
"He convinces you into a lot of things," Soothe growled. "I don't even want to start imagining what." It wasn't working, as Trill continued on with just a single ruffle of his feathers.
"Afternoon came, and so did the cottonee." Soothe groaned. "A roving cloud of them, it was a stiff wind last night after all, and they were shedding somewhat in the spring weather. They themselves did not roost on her like the zigzagoon had. However, a tremendous amount of woolly fluff did."
Scout snorted softly.
"We had no idea Soothe aspired towards being a flaaffy, or perhaps lopunny in the winter would be more accurate."
Soothe had crossed her arms, her eyes assuring him she'd gain vengeance for this.
"What about the tauros?" Scout giggled.
"Ah, yes, well see, it was a cold spring, and the mareep had not been kind to this one particularly tauros who desired a soft pelt for the cold nights."
"Oh no."
"Yes. Well, Soothe had come to enjoy appearing like an altaria using Cotton Guard and was not keen to relinquish her afternoon spoils. It was so sad that the ensuing conflict knocked them both into the river and washed it all away."
They glanced at Soothe, who stared back, most unimpressed. "I was going to make scarves out of it for us all," she sniffed.
"Sure you were," Trill drawled.
"Surprise-surprise, I was nice once upon a time."
"Hmm, I'd need proof of that."
"Shut UP, Trill."
Tril cracked a grin. "Well, next story. The game of-"
"Don't you dare."
"Hopscotch."
Soothe groaned and pinched her nose as Scout turned eagerly to Trill.
"Did you know audino cannot accept defeat, leading to a game that lasted for three entire days?"
"What? How?"
"Apparently, you shouldn't bet your entire Treasure Bag on a game against cheaters."
"I won that game!" Soothe said loudly. "I just had to wear them out first."
"It was a group of banette, and they were feeding off your frustration."
"I still wore them out."
Trill shook his head. "Somehow, she did."
"I'm kinda amazing."
"You're kinda trash."
"How DARE you say that to my face?"
"That's your face?"
Scout wasn't sure whether he should be smiling like a loon or running for the hills. He'd never heard Trill speak with such sass before, but then again, he'd not seen Trill interact with Rhythm in private very often.
Hearing stories was fun, though.
"Do you have any stories about Trill and Rhythm?" Scout asked Soothe. Apparently, she'd been waiting for that.
"Oh, do I!" Soothe said, mood flipping from looking ready to start massacring things. "Alright, gay cat, listen up as I tell the tragic tale of Trill the Songbird, wooer of a flock of swanna!"
"He what?"
"Must you?" Trill said, pained.
"You called me trash, time to prove why 'I know you are, but what am I'?"
"How juvenile," Trill sighed, the only adult in this entire enterprise.
"You asked if this is my face."
"Well, is it?"
Soothe narrowed her eyes. "Okay, so, the day was yellow or whatever. It was all rainy, and Trill was sulking like a child because Rhythm wasn't giving him any attention…."
All things considered, it was a pretty good day. Pity, it couldn't last.
Rhythm was not the first to arrive. There was another, a day before him.
Blossom stumbled forwards.
She couldn't remember the last time she'd sat down. Probably a day or two ago when she tripped and fainted off the road and laid there for who knows how long.
She'd run to Yellow Petal Town and said all she could with a raw throat and breaking heart. They didn't listen. They didn't listen to the torn sunflora scrambling into town and screaming about the END IS NIGH!
Really, part of her understood why no one listened to her. She was a wreck, deranged even. But her friends had died for her. Died. To get her out to spread the word.
She'd only distantly picked up on the Psychic Network collapsing, and thus her goal changed from widespread warning to a straight path to her home.
She had to get to Treasure Town. It was always the centre of things now. She had to get there before the Fallen did. She had to get there and warn everyone. No one would listen to her. They didn't know her; she was too frightful to look at now.
But they would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would. They would.
They had to. She had to be believed. She could not allow what Jet and Boom did to be in vain.
So, she ran. She ran so far and so long that if it weren't constantly sunny, she might have burned her sun stone out and devolved into sunkern.
She wasn't sure if that could actually happen, but there were rumours. She knew in her head lay the sun stone she'd used to evolve into sunflora. She could draw Power from it, and doing so had caused her leaves to curl before. She remembered the feral attack on Treasure Town, drawing so much from the stone she was afraid she would devolve.
She hadn't, and so that was still just a myth.
Her body had healed somewhat from her disastrous attempt to find Pyroar's killer. How bitterly ironic that he was alive again. Mane would be horrified. She hated to be the bearer of bad news, but there was no other choice. She had to reveal this evil before it was too late. She'd gotten away with this for so long, too long.
Blossom swore that The First Fallen would fall again. And to do that, she had to get to Treasure Town. She cut through dangerous dungeons, roughed it along wild paths and did not stop until she physically fainted from overexertion.
But she did it. She ran from Blackstone Village to Treasure Town.
Blossom wept as she felt the familiar track in the dawning light of the early morning. She'd walked this so many times with so many friends.
There was great luck as there were pokémon searching the path to the residential district. Blossom didn't encounter them; she wasn't close enough yet. Rather, she found her saviour.
"MELODY" Blossom cried, startling the chimecho carefully examining a tree.
"Goodness!" Melody yelped, recoiling from the tree and glancing around in panic. "Wha…Blossom!?"
Melody's jaw dropped as the sunflora staggered over to her. She was ghastly to look at. Sap that had scabbed over across her body, cuts that hadn't healed and had clearly begun to grow infected. Leaves torn, torso heaving for breath, petals wilting, head shrinking in places. But her voice.
"What…happened to you?" Melody demanded, floating over to her as Blossom fell to her knees, halfway between sobbing in pain and sobbing in relief.
"Melody!" Blossom yelled, reaching up and grabbing her once she was close enough. "You have to listen to me! Jet and Boom are dead!" A fresh sob broke out of her chest, and she wept against Melody. "They died to save me from Indeedee. Indeedee! Mayor Indeedee of Blackstone Village is an ancient Shadow Pokémon that wants to kill! She has an entire underground building filled with cages of Shadow Pokémon, she has RAI's father, and Mane's brother was killed by her, SHE WAS THE KILLER, and he's come back as a Shadow Pokémon too, they destroyed the Clefable Guild, and we have to warn EVERYONE!"
She pulled away from Melody. "Come on, we have to get to town!"
"Wha, bu, Blossom, you're injured!"
"I don't care!"
"Blossom," Melody snapped, pulling her back with a psychic pull, the touch causing Blossom to instinctually recoil. "Let me just…" She began to glow, passing soft light across Blossom's wounds. "Just calm down and breathe."
Blossom took heavy, harsh breaths that hurt to listen to.
"You believe me, right?" Blossom asked desperately.
"Of course I do," Melody soothed. "Have you told anyone else?"
Blossom blinked. "I…of course," she said, relaxing under the light. "The people in Yellow Petal Town, I don't think they believed me. I looked like this screaming at them after all."
Melody didn't respond.
"I told everyone that I could along the way," Blossom said. There was something…she then spoke a lie. "I got a few pokémon to believe me, though."
"That's good," Melody hummed.
"It is…."
Blossom felt her eyes weighing. "Melody?" she whimpered.
"Shh," Melody hummed. "Just go to sleep."
Blossom tried to fight it, but it was all crashing down on her all at once. She managed to raise her head to meet Melody's eyes, but the chimecho was looking away in shame. "How long?" she whispered.
Melody pursed her lips for a moment. "…years," she admitted. "But it's okay. I won't let her hurt you. You'll be safe, I promise."
Tears struck Blossom all over again at the agony. "Melody," she whimpered again. "Please."
"You'll be safe," Melody whispered, pressuring the Hypnosis stronger. "I promise. I will not let her hurt you. I'll buy your safety."
"Everyone…else…." Blossom was losing the battle.
"I'm sorry," Melody whispered as Blossom's eyes closed. She closed her own and took a heavy sigh. She was correct to have insisted to Armaldo that she lead the search in tracking down the orb. It let her watch the road to town for any wayward sunflora to come stumbling in.
She levitated Blossom gently and carried her out of sight. She took her to her secret stash and placed her between a glimmering orb and a severed arm, shackling Blossom to the wall.
She picked up the orb. "I have her," she said.
"Finally, some good fucking news," the voice on the other end snapped, the vitriol causing Melody to flinch. "She tell anyone?"
"Yellow Petal Town," Melody replied. "But said that no one believed her. She added that she'd convinced some people, but it was awkward. I think she'd realised what I was doing and was trying to deflect."
"Any detail on these 'people'?"
"No."
"Whatever."
"…Can I?" Melody asked. She hated the feeling of Hunger, and Blossom was right there.
"…sure," The First Fallen crooned, and Melody sighed in relief as the orb glowed, the madness bubbling in the back of her head and bottom of her belly receding to a gentle simmer. "I'm glad to have someone who can actually do their job. What would I ever do without you, Melody?"
Melody smiled a pained smile.
"Any news from the guild?"
"Saniya has returned, and Torkoal has made a big speech on sticking together against adversity and asking for help. I believe people suspect the four that Runerigus turned, but they have no proof."
Soft laughter came from the orb. "Sounds about right. Well, they'll hold on until I get there, okay?"
"We're keeping a close eye on them."
"Hold steady," the Fallen said, and Melody nodded. "Excellent. Keep that arm safe for me, okay?"
"Of course. If I do so…."
"Yes, Melody?"
"I…I want Blossom to be safe."
There was silence from the orb, and Melody felt her nerves raise.
"If that's what you want," the Fallen said, causing Melody to sigh in relief. "I know we can count on each other. Keep that arm safe, and you'll keep her safe. I promise."
Melody smiled. "Thank you. I will not let you down!"
"You never have. Alright, I'm tired of wandering about in the dirt. I'll start making my way to Treasure Town immediately. See you in person soon, Melody~"
The connection orb fell inert, and Melody sighed, wondering what she was doing. She cast a sad look on Blossom and began to heal her injuries. She'd be most upset when she awoke, Melody knew, but it had to be this way. She took the arm away from Blossom's immediate location and concealed it in a safer part of her hideaway.
As a final precaution, she affixed her spare delphox chain around her torso. It was rare to need to use them, mostly for outlaws who had to be healed before being taken to the prisons. It wasn't as powerful of a disabler as the cells were, but it'd do the job. She couldn't risk Blossom getting out.
With one final look of sadness, Melody left her there and floated back to the path before anyone could realise she'd disappeared. "You'll be safe," she swore under her breath. "I promise."
With joy comes pain.
Who...thought this might be coming? I've tried to lay out all sorts of quirky little hints. Three big ones, really and one overall thing.
First and foremost, the joke. Scout's 'belief' that Chimecho is evil. It's a joke, he doesn't believe it, but I do love to conceal things in comedy. He was right, and maybe he does believe it more than he realises….
Secondly was Chimecho's position in the guild. Despite being so many things. The nurse, the cook, the manager of the teams help with the bookkeeping, their representative in the Psychic Network, and who knows what else, she's just an apprentice, having refused to be given an actual position multiple times. Just a bit odd. Her reasoning was entirely true, though, she wants to remain 'one of the guys', and by being Sunflora's roommate for the past few years, she gets to hear everything.
The overall thing has been whenever we've seen Chimecho's POV, there's often been a bit of tension there. Like when she was caring for Cara and began to go on a really nasty internal rant before calming down. There was also when she blasted Jirachi when he looked too much into her. And another when she was searching through the Network a little later and met a mind that 'soothed' her. Hmmmm.
The last one was also the first one. Alllllll the way back in Chapter 8, believe it or not, during the Truth and More Truth Game. They agreed to only tell the truth, no lies, even as jokes. When she finished her story, they asked if she had died. She said yes.
;)
Before we even knew Shadow Pokemon were a thing.
So, yes, Chimecho has been a Shadow Pokémon throughout the entire story. She's maintained her sanity by connecting with Indeedee across the Psychic Network and getting that Hunger soothe that Indeedee gives to people to get them to work for her. For most of the time, she's normal, regular, genuinely helpful. But she's been telling Nelia everything because she buys that safety with secrets.
Nelia knows everything about the town and the people inside it. All their defences, all their security, everything.
So, that's fun. So much fun.
Things are really heating up now.