PMD: Warped Skies

by Team Ion

Playing the part of the hero sounded fun at first, until he took a meaty punch to the face. Stranded in a world reminiscent of a game he once knew, a human-turned-Meowth struggles to retain his humanity while filling the shoes of the game's protagonists. However, this is not a game. Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Explorers, SI-OC/Isekai. Cover by Bograbbit!

89. The Gathering Shadows

As much as things were different, they remained the same.

It was good to see the guild again, holding high and firm and strong. A vanguard against the sea, a pillar for the rest of the continent to stand on.

Cara knew there were stiff talks at the federation about the individual power of the guilds on the Grass Continent. They said that HAPPI wanted more regulations, more things done in a 'proper' way, and more accountability. More control is what Cara heard.

Gengar, Archeops, and Xatu played by their rules, but Cara did not. He imagined that was why he was an advisor and respected contractor rather than someone offered authority within the organisation.

Or perhaps Keira's critical nature had rubbed off on him, and he felt the need to continue her distrust of corporations.

He never understood that. Never understood why she seemed to resent some of the things she had built. How her face had the most minor of changes when a new 'Team' introduced themselves in that fashion.

Team Ion. Team Reach. Team Mindfire. Team, team, team.

Maybe that was why she liked Paradise. Maybe she didn't like anything.

It was those questions that lingered in Cara's mind months after their final parting. The things he didn't ask, or just things she hadn't answered.

He wondered if the strange empty feeling he felt knowing she was gone was what she had felt, those forty or so years ago, when he disappeared.

He imagined so. She did care for him in her brutish, rude, unfriendly way. He was the number one fan, and he'd never truly outgrown that. Even as he adjusted to her personality and dealt with her abrasiveness. He never stopped admiring her.

He wondered what she would do in this situation as he walked up to the guild and was let in through the funny security system, with the collapse of communications potentially across the world. The Psychic Network had been partly inspired by her aura flares, at least at the very initial crux of the idea.

Would she unleash it all and replace the system? He doubted she had the power to even do that, but if she could have, she would have. Until it burned her out and then even past that point. She'd try and carry the world again.

He wasn't going to do that.

He knocked on the door politely, one of those small things Keira wouldn't have done. He nodded in greeting; it was tugged open by what could be mistaken as the wind. Unable to resist just the smallest showing, he was still her student. He closed the heavy doors behind him; with the gentle touch of that status move, he turned into an offensive presence.

Letting the blades fade, as this was no fight, Cara nodded to four pokémon. "It is good to see the four of you," he said, seriously. "Shall we get to business?"

They moved through everything that had already been sent between the Lake Trio to confirm everyone was working with the right information. Once that was passed, Cara turned to Saniya.

"How does it work?" he asked directly.

"It works by pulling and peeling at all the extra stuff," she answered. "That's how Celebi showed it, between insults and euphemisms. Uncover the extra, burn away the taint into the dungeon, reveal the core holding onto them. I can't remove that, though. Only a human can do that. I can just make it easier on them. Reveal it in the first place."

Cara nodded, satisfied with the explanation. "Have we made efforts to get contact out of the continent? The other humans?"

"It would take a long time for one of us to fly over," Azelf pointed out.

"What about Lapras?" Rhythm asked, eyes turning to him. "It would…certainly take some time, but it isn't a bad idea to send him for help." Cara nodded, and Armaldo considered it.

"He had not been considered," he said slowly. "Trade routes by sea are only a few in number, others not being drawn up yet."

"It would take some time for him to move nonetheless," Azelf said.

"But better late than never," Rhythm said. "It's hard to say when Riolu will make his way back here. We could have time still, and letting Team Go-Getters know would be useful. They are the closest to here."

"I could try and go find him," Saniya pointed out. "It'd take me just a day to get to the area."

"Then finding him would be a challenge," Armaldo replied. "The area around Hillcrest is quite vast, and you have no guarantee you'd find him. There are countless crooks and crannies and likely dungeons that have not been charted either."

She frowned but nodded, waiting to see what others would have to say.

"It's an option," Cara said. "But until we have a need for it, that's not a priority."

Armaldo coughed.

"Yes?" Cara said, concerned.

"There is a lingering possibility that members of the town have been turned into Shadow Pokémon," he said.

Cara blinked. "You didn't think to mention this?" he demanded.

"We have no proof," he grumbled. "If we could do as we wanted, imprisoning these four would be the first priority, but legal issues are in the way."

"Fuck that," Cara said. "If you have any reason to suspect someone is a Shadow Pokémon, do NOT allow them to go as they please."

"We have NOT," Armaldo retorted. "Members of the guild are in position at all times keeping an eye on them."

"Who?"

"Wynaut, Wobbuffet, Octillery, and Swanna."

"And why do you have reason to believe that they may be?"

"The four disappeared under mysterious circumstances a few weeks ago. The most likely perpetrator, a pokémon none of us recognised but apparently is known as Runerigus, was found posing as a statue. It was driven off, and then they each began to return, denying memory of what happened to them but all acting…off since."

Cara calmed down slightly. "Ah. So, very uncertain evidence."

"Right."

He glanced at Saniya. "Is there any way you…?"

She shook her head. "It already has to be manifesting for me to do anything about it. I can't sense it or anything."

He sighed. "I don't like a situation like this."

"This is what I've been dealing with," Armaldo said flatly. "Thank you for coming to share the stress."

"You're welcome."

Rhythm bit his lip and glanced to Azelf. "Any thoughts on what to do?"

Azelf nodded. "Send Lapras out. Regardless of humans or not, having allies feels more secure in this unknown situation with unknown threats and stakes. It will eventually give us an understanding of whether these events are widespread or if it is only the Grass Continent suffering this blackout. As I understand it, the networks are separate?"

"It works by piggybacking," Saniya nodded. "It's really hard to get across the sea because there's generally no one there to connect to and hop-skip-jump to the next."

"Chimecho managed it once," Rhythm said positively. "But it took a long time and effort to manage the precision."

"Why isn't she here?" Saniya asked.

Armaldo snorted. "Wanted to head the search for the orb," he gruffed. "And insists on remaining 'just an apprentice'."

Rhythm smiled fondly. "I think she values being friends with those she cares for more than being someone who is separated from them by position."

Armaldo rolled his eyes; that was what she had said to him too.

The five pokémon continued to discuss the problem at hand. Cara felt that Shadow Pokémon had to be dealt with immediately.

"I understand I'm from another time to you all," he said, frustrated. "But forty years isn't that long. Shadow Pokémon are a threat regardless of who they are. I'm not saying we just kill them! But you cannot leave them where they are."

"Torkoal-"

"There are no excuses!"

"We need to trust-"

"Wigglytuff," Cara said firmly. "There is a line between optimistic hope and realistic consequences. If they are, and we can save them, they would be grateful. If they aren't, at least we're taking precautions."

Rhythm frowned, but Cara had slowly won Azelf and Armaldo to his side. Saniya seemed to be abstaining from showing opinion, just waiting for him.

He nodded. "Very well. They will not be treated harshly. And if they are and this causes an incident, we are to take them down alive. Do you understand?"

Rhythm's eyes met Cara's as the weight of his words pressed on the room. To leave a shadow alive was a tremendous risk, and his mind flicked to Keira's regrets, knowing she had to slay them, for there were no other options available.

Regrets that weighed heavily upon her.

He slowly nodded. "It should be only the two of us who will take this risk then," he said.

Armaldo scoffed. "Calling us weak?"

"No," he replied. "I am the one to have pushed this matter, and Wigglytuff is the one to demand this compromise. The weight of our actions must fall on us. It is not a matter of strength."

Mollified, Armaldo glanced to the others, who nodded. Rhythm put a smile. "I want to offer them a chance first," he said.

"Not around others," Cara warned.

"Not around others," Rhythm agreed.

"We will be close by," Armaldo said, glancing back to the paperwork.

"I'll be around," Saniya said, fluttering to the window. She glanced back. "Good luck, okay? Need help? Just shout, I'll be there in a jiffy." She exited by a window.

Rhythm and Cara shared a look before nodding and leaving the natural pokémon way.

Even though Cara absolutely wanted to leave by the window as well, time was for Serious Scizor, not Carefree Cara.

Pokémon stepped out of their way as they marched out of the guild. The game faces of action followed, pushing anything and everything away.

Cara hoped he was wrong; he truly did. But misfortune had a habit of taking advantage of hope and trust, and he'd prefer emotionally hurt and offended pokémon to a pile of bodies any day.

Rhythm hummed something self-soothing as they went.

)(*&^%$# !~! #$%^&*()

"This can't end well."

"You shouldn't have taught me."

"I should threaten to skin you."

"Trill won't let you."

"He's right about that."

"I hate this whole 'group decisions' thing. Things were better when I was a tyrant."

"For you, maybe."

"Exactly."

Soothe had her face set in one of her three standard looks of murderous intent. This was expression three, the look she held when things were not going her way, and she wanted you to fear for your safety.

Scout wasn't sure when he got over his gnawing fear of Soothe. Maybe she just felt a little like all talk? Threatening but not actually dangerous?

He wasn't sure, but he didn't mind. "If Indeedee is here, then they could run into her," he protested. "I am not just going to do nothing." He shot a filthy look at Soothe and not Trill. The decision of whether to warn the town still hadn't been made, but the wait was making his claws itch.

The idea had come to him from a dream, and he'd woken suddenly, causing his scary shadow companions to both tense up significantly. "I've got an idea!"

"Is it breakfast?"

"No! I can send a Substitute to find Rai and Mane! Tell them what's going on, and they can go warn the town!"

Soothe had been rather wary of the idea. "If Indeedee finds it, who knows what she'll be able to get out of it?"

"She already knows we're in this area," Scout protested. "Doesn't this make sense?"

"I don't like any risks when it comes to her, and you don't even know if your Substitute can go far enough to find her."

"What if I also sent one to Treasure Town?"

"It wouldn't last," Trill answered. "They can only go for so long before whatever Power you gave them runs out, and they fade."

"Oh." He frowned. "Well, I can still surely find Rai and Mane and Rhythm?"

"Hm."

Trill took his side, and Soothe was annoyed, uncomfortable with shifting plans even like this. She stopped arguing, however. It was an idea, at least, better than what they had.

And so, Scout was set to focusing on creating a stronger Substitute. One that could go a little more than just an hour or two.

"This is going to exhaust you," Soothe grumbled. "And you won't even know if it works or not."

"I'm always exhausted," Scout replied.

"At least you can sleep," Soothe muttered. The lines under her eyes were beginning to fail to be hidden by her fur.

Scout glanced at her and then away. "Yeah," he said bitterly. "Sure."

He took a breath and closed his eyes, focusing, focusing, pulling, pulling, words, words, away, away.

He opened his eyes when he felt an impact and realised he'd fallen on the ground. In front of him, casting its own shadow, a clone of him stood, blue-furred and smug-faced.

Scout pushed himself back to his feet, neither Soothe nor Trill even thought to move to help him up, and Scout glared at the clone. "Go on," he said.

The clone smiled mysteriously and then spun around and raced off Sean-style, arms behind its back and head tilted forwards.

"You Naruto run?" Soothe said as if this was a new and terrible disappointment.

"How do you even remember that?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I had a lot of time to just write down my entire life story and everything I could remember. Didn't have much else to do, and I clung onto the memories of being happy." She said it so casually he almost didn't blink.

Trill glanced between them before turning to Scout. "Have you not been sleeping?" he asked gently.

A muscle twitched in Scout's jaw. "Would you?" he asked forcefully, maybe a little more than he intended to.

Trill appeared unperturbed. "I understand that Shinx is an early riser; you always struggled in the morning." And hadn't been here. "I had noticed you'd been rising fine; I suspected you'd simply gotten used to the routine."

Scout slowly shook his head. "I doze at best," he said. "If you're concerned about me eavesdropping. I do hear a lot of what you two have been chatting about, but I don't really remember it."

"You need to sleep." Soothe rolled her eyes. "If I was going to hurt you, I'd have done it already."

Scout bit back a comment that the jury was still out on whether she would do anything to him or not. Exhaustion was loosening his tongue, however, and he found himself growing heated.

"I don't know what kind of person you were, Soothe," he snapped. "But I know enough that you were the kind to fantasise about being a pokémon, being a hero, being someone who saves the world. Well, I had to live that. And there are things that anime and games glance over when it comes to that stuff!"

She gave a slow blink at his outburst.

"No," Scout said, as she didn't respond. "I don't sleep. None of us do. Sometimes we're so on edge and nervous that someone stays up all night just to keep watch. Even though we all know it's safe, we're still petrified something is going to happen. Twice. Twice we had to put everything on the line to save the world, and now it's happening a third time and not even Dark Matter!?"

He was breathing painfully heavily. "I can't even go out in Treasure Town at night on my own. When it's all dark and quiet, I just flash right back to that day, that nightmare, and remember that I almost took Darkrai's offer because I thought there was nothing else I could do."

"Well, you're welcome," Soothe said stiffly.

Scout shook his head. "You don't get it. You're not the only one traumatised…ugh, why am I even blurting this out now? I'm really tired."

He sat down, holding part of his head. The Shadow Pokémon shared a look and some silent communication.

Well? Soothe's expression seemed to say.

What? Trill's eyes returned.

You know the punk, do something.

What was that about faking emotions and lying to myself?

Really? Now?

Yes now.

They just glared at each other as Scout slipped into unconsciousness on the ground, weary and exhausted and strung out to the point he just turned off.

He dreamed of playing with Rai and Mane and everything being okay.

Elsewhere, the town left long behind them, a shinx, luxio, and litleo prowled the hilly region for any sight or sound of their missing partner.

Three of them this time, along with another two search parties elsewhere. Pokémon had caught up to Team Ion in Hillcrest and revealed that they had heard the plea for aid and had come to help track down the wayward hero.

Among the pokémon that had arrived, Rai recognised a familiar face.

"Luxio!" he cried, delighted and ran to his sister. Arashi beamed at him with a rare smile and laid her head on his neck as he nuzzled her.

"Hey, Shinxy," she said softly, giving him a lick on the ear. "I've rounded up a couple mon and have come to help you. No sign of Meowth?"

His cheer passed into melancholy, and he shook his head. "Afraid not. And, uh, there might be another problem at paw too."

Arashi had brought a totodile and a krokorok.

Krokorok immediately winked and clicked his tongue at Mane, who was taken aback for a moment.

Rai seemed to not notice and immediately took the four aside to explain the situation.

"If this is too much, I won't blame anyone for backing out," he said kindly, once having expressed the potential danger that Sean had encountered.

Krokorok stretched provocatively and smirked. "Doesn't sound like much of a problem, to be honest," he said confidently.

Totodile was a little more perturbed. "Indeedee? Really?" he said, frowning thoughtfully. "She seemed alright."

"You've met her?"

He shrugged. "Lived in Yellow Petal for a while, did shows all around from there to Towny Town. That's where I met this one." He nudged Krokorok, who winked again. "Never really met her, though, but we all heard about her. Being around forever and being really helpful."

"Interruption: Greetings," a metallic voice rang out, startling Rai out of explaining why she was not helpful at all and set an assassin on Sean and, oh yeah, Team A.W.D is apparently working for her.

Rai and Mane spun to see a heavy metang float in, two more pokémon edging in behind them. Team Ion's remnants immediately brightened. "Metang!?" Rai asked excitedly.

"Confirmation: It is I."

"And us," the other visitors said. But they weren't Beheeyem and Electrike.

"Is that…Team Tasty?" Mane asked.

Swellow puffed up importantly as Wurmple nodded eagerly. "We weren't too far away when that call went over the network," Wurmple said pleasantly.

"So, we hopped to it right away!" Swellow declared. "We did a sweep of the area first but didn't find anything. So, we came here to see if anyone had gathered for this noble endeavour!"

"I can't b-believe Meowth got kidnapped," Wurmple said sadly. "But w-we'll help find him!"

Rai sniffled. "Thank you," he said. To be honest, they were never super close to Team Tasty or any of the other teams that weren't affiliated with the Wigglytuff Guild. But it meant a lot to him that they were here to help.

"Inquisitive: Would you mind repeating what has been divulged here?" Metang asked.

"Where's the others?" Mane asked, frowning at Metang. For a mostly expressionless automaton, they sure did shrink down sadly for a moment.

"Explanation: We…have separated."

"Wha?" Rai asked, stunned. "Wha…why?"

Metang's eyes flickered. "Statement: That is what I would like to know!" they snapped before cooling as Team Tasty flinched. "Apologies: I am burdened with questions with no answers. Beheeyem chose to leave the team of his own volition. Electrike and I were lost without him, ultimately separating in kind to seek our fortunes elsewhere. I shan't ever forget our noble deeds together, but it is time for a new chapter."

A little sad at the notion of their sorta-maybe rivals having broken apart, Rai explained the situation to the newcomers as well, aided with Mane's helpful comments and additions.

"Like what I said to these guys," Rai said once he was finished. "This could be a really dangerous situation."

"Fear not!" Swellow said bravely. "Team Tasty never backs down from a challenge."

"Y-Yeah," Wurmple stuttered, although it was more of a natural stutter than one of nerves. "

"Declaration: We will not be deterred by vile threats."

"That's all well and good," Arashi said. "But now we have to factor in the risks of having a bigger reach."

Mane nodded, a little flat-eared. "Having you guys here to help is incredibly helpful, but it's now more likely we'll run into this threat as well. Soothe on her own was a tumultuous maybe, but now we've got to factor in Indeedee."

"So, we split into three groups," Krokorok said lazily. "The dandydile and I, your sis can go with you, and those three showed up as one, so they might as well work together."

They shared a group look of consideration.

"If, uh, Indeedee a b-big threat maybe two g-groups?" Wurmple suggested.

Ara shook her head. "We're not going to cover much ground, and we obviously need to find Meowth and Audino sooner rather than later. Again, anyone is welcome to leave, but if you're staying, you're accepting the risk of this. Three teams is a good idea."

"You sure you are right to be the only group as just two?" Swellow said dubiously, glancing over the first and middle stage pokémon.

Krokorok smirked a crocodilian smile. "I took all of Team Sunrise at once and got away. I'll be fine."

Rai and Mane blinked. "Wait…that was YOU!?"

He grinned. "Heard of me, have you? I must say it's unusual to be spoken of for my prowess…in battle, I mean." He winked.

"Grovyle and Riolu would not shut up about it," Mane grumbled.

Krokorok's grin only grew wider. "Knew I left a lingering impression. Always do."

Even Team Tasty seemed to recognise him now, and both blushed and glanced to the side. Striker ranted when he got a little tipsy.

"Anyway," Totodile said happily, forming a water ball under his feet and beginning to drift around. "Sounds like we're in a bit of a time crunch, time to get supplies and got on out there?"

The seven other pokémon nodded and left for Hillcrest's bazaar with a promise to meet up at the welcome sign to Hillcrest Town.

Once orbs, seeds, and everything else had been gathered, all the pokémon getting something of a discount once it was understood who they were and what they were doing, the eight pokémon regrouped and discussed the plan.

"We saved Riolu…Lucario," Rai said, pausing for a moment to adjust. "With a rollcall orb. I think it's a good idea to use them."

"Carefully," Krokorok said. "She'll probably suspect it this time, and if she gets her hands on them…."

Rai paused, not having considered that the enemy could, in fact, steal a keyed orb and activate it.

"Each of us should only pair one group," Wurmple suggested.

"Compromise: Team Ion keys the mud duo." Totodile looked vaguely offended at being referred to as mud, but Krokorok had the opposite reaction. "They key us, then we key Team Ion."

The suggestion was considered. "When would w-we use the orbs?" Wurmple asked.

"Yeah, if we 'see' Indeedee, we don't want to be summoning more?" Mane said.

"We could probably take her," Krokorok said, admiring his claws. "Shadow Pokémon or not, she can't stand up to everyone."

"So, that's the idea, summon everyone? Why not key the orbs to everyone then?"

He stopped admiring his claws. "Well, if she catches someone by surprise and murk's them, we obviously need to not get everyone else killed. What we got to do is each group key one more person with their orb on another team who isn't holding the orb. If they disappear, the others know to use their orb and get that group out of there."

"This is getting confusing," Rai complained. Krokorok extended his hand for the orbs and made a complicated list of actions that the other pokémon had trouble following, except Wurmple and Mane, thankfully.

"There," he said.

"Done?" Rai asked hopefully.

"I get it," Mane said.

"M-Me too," Wurmple said.

"Good. Repeat it to me," Krokorok asked, and when they did, he nodded. "Fucking fantastic. Alright, mission Save The Bosses Kid is away."

He began to march as Rai frowned. "What did you just say?"

Once they split up, it was tackling the perilous dangers of the Hillcrest mountains. There were mystery dungeons about, small ones hidden in small alcoves. And Soothe could be hiding in any one of them. So could Indeedee.

Rai was happy to see his sister again. The two of them chatted about what they had been up to while Mane admired Rai from behind and kept a sharp eye out for anything important.

He also repeated their encounters with Indeedee in his head. He believed Sean, but it was still hard to imagine without having experienced his ordeal themselves.

She was evil? Was she always or did someone kill her and turn her into a Shadow Pokémon? He thought about Team Voyage having gone out looking for his brother's killer, and two complex thoughts cropped up.

Could the killer have been a Shadow Pokémon? Could they have turned Indeedee? Or was she perhaps the killer?

And what happened to Team Voyage? Sassy Sunflora, boisterous Loudred, and easy-going Corphish. They'd gone there…and they'd gone to find his brother's killer.

Were they hurt?

And if they were, was it because of him?

He tried to shake these thoughts away. He and Azumarill had done a lot on the matter of blaming themselves for things outside of their control. It wasn't his fault Mother had been evil; he hadn't done anything wrong and couldn't have done anything different to have been treated better.

It wasn't his fault that Father didn't care about him, it was okay to have wanted it, but he was better than them. He had Rai and Scout now.

It wasn't his fault Pyroar had been killed. Arresting him did not make him culpable. Whoever had done it had done it themselves, it was their fault, and there was nothing, nothing, nothing.

He believed Azumarill; he believed Rai and Scout when they told him they loved him and deserved to have it. He believed it.

But the thoughts were so hard to ignore. He wanted them gone. He was happy now; he was fine now; why did he still have these thoughts? Why couldn't they go away? What was wrong with him? Had Mother broken him so much he couldn't be fixed?

For a moment, Mane felt like he was a few months old again, cowering and trying to hide from Mother.

He almost didn't hear Rai calling him. But he sure did feel it when Rai tackled him.

"Oof," Mane grunted as he was suddenly on his back, in the grass, Rai on top of him. He wasn't hiding in the corner in the dark; he was under the shining sun. Rai was saying something; he didn't understand it at all, the words too quick for his frazzled mind to register.

He felt the meaning, though and immediately wrapped his paws around Rai and pulled him against his belly, burying his face in Rai's fur and taking long, deep breaths.

Arashi looked away a little awkwardly. She'd never seen something like that happen before. It seemed to happen so suddenly, but then again, neither she nor Rai was paying attention to him, so who knows?

Mane just zoned out entirely, even when Rai tried to ask his opinion on their current argument about whether storms tasted differently in other places.

Ara didn't get it, the weird look on Mane's face like he was far away from here. Rai, however, seemed to understand immediately and dropped his argument with Ara to go to Mane's side. He tried a few words first, but when Mane failed to respond at all besides a quiver, his tail tucking, Rai just jumped him.

That seemed to break whatever was going on, and Mane zoned in and pulled her little brother against him. To her relief, he didn't start crying or anything. He just pulled Raigeki as close as could be for a few long moments.

"Thanks," Mane said gruffly as he slowly pulled back and began to detach from Rai.

"You okay?" Rai whispered, electric-yellow eyes glimmering in concern.

"Not sure what happened there," Mane admitted. He did know; he had those moments occasionally. Scout had them too that one night they walked back to the bluff late at night when no one in town was around anymore. He wasn't sure what triggered it, however.

"Was it because I was ignoring you?" Rai asked worriedly. "I'm sorry, I won't-"

Mane leaned up and licked at his jaw and then his mouth. Scout had shown them the latter. "It wasn't that," he assured him, smiling. They were still on top of each other, Rai not eager to pull back and Mane quite content to leave him there. "I was…just thinking about…Team Voyage."

Rai's eyes widened, and he understood. He closed his eyes in sadness before opening them. "Let's not count anything out until we know for sure," he said, Mane nodding.

Rai licked his nose, leaving a tingle from the little static buzz his tongue left before he smiled at Mane, and Mane smiled earnestly back.

Rai then got a cheeky look in his eye and leaned in to whisper. "I should probably get off you before my sister begins to make assumptions."

Mane flushed, realising Arashi was still there and pointedly not looking at them. He rolled Rai onto his back so he was on top and fluffed some mohawk out of his face. "Thanks, babe."

Rai giggled at him as Mane recovered. He knew Mane valued his 'look' around other people. While the soft, tender Mane was cute, Rai loved the cocky, cool one just as much. They were both Mane, and he valued it all.

Arashi finally stopped staring fixedly at a leaf and turned to them. "I have determined there are no threats in the area."

"Thank you, Arashi!" Rai beamed. She smiled a smile that twitched when she looked at Mane but then firmed up again.

Mane, however, was staring out past her, a frown beginning to etch onto his face. "I don't think you looked…hard enough." Was that…a meowth?

Ara immediately spun to where he was looking and paused as well, Rai freezing up as his eyes tracked theirs.

"Cat got your tongue?" Scout asked with a teasing grin. His voice was…a little different, enough that Rai and Mane didn't immediately bolt to him. "Fair enough, this isn't really me, so don't tackle me. Or attack in general, please."

"Wha?" Rai asked, entirely lost. Ara's fur crackled with electricity, ready to attack a moment's notice.

Scout's features shifted into an apologetic one. "I know this is probably confusing, but I need you to listen to this message."

"You're not real?" Mane asked, eyes squinted, and head turned on his side.

The meowth seemed to pause and consider. "I've learned Substitute," it said. "Soothe was able to teach me. Using it, I've been practising to see what I can do with it. We worked out that I could possibly send a message out, although I don't know if the clone will be able to find you in time or if you won't just tackle it immediately. Or attack it because it talks weird and not quite like me."

Mane gave a disbelieving snort, defaulting to some flavour of amused. Rai just stared.

"I guess…I don't know how long a message I can make, so I'll get the important stuff out of the way first. I miss you. I miss you so much. But I'm okay, Soothe…she was scary at first, but she's 'alright'." The Substitute gave those quotation marks Scout enjoyed confusing people with.

"Alright?" Rai faintly echoed.

"She's working to stop a dangerous Shadow Pokémon, and she thinks I'm part of the 'Fallen's' plan. Furthermore, and please listen to this, she says it's Indeedee. Mayor Indeedee from Blackstone Village. I wasn't sure if I believed her, but this gets crazier, Trill…you know Ch-Chatot. That same Chatot. Kabutops was a Shadow Pokémon and when Trill died…."

Rai and Mane both gasped sharply.

"She took him to Blackstone, so he'd be safe, Indeedee can…gah, there's too much to say I haven't even begun on who Soothe really is. Trill's alright too; he's with us now. Indeedee is in the area, and she's super dangerous. So avoid her. Please don't fight her. Please."

The Substitute shivered.

"Trill's told us she's sending an army of Shadow Pokémon to attack Treasure Town to bring Soothe and me out of hiding. I think we need to warn them, but Soothe is against it for her own…reasons, and Trill hasn't decided yet. But if you guys can get the warning back, at least let Rhythm know that she does not have Trill anymore. What do you know? That's why he stepped down as Guildmaster. Pity he didn't tell us that."

The Substitute frowned before it faded. It shivered again. Its purpose was nearly finished.

"At the moment, this is all I can do. Rai, Mane, I love you two so much. Stop looking for me. I'm safe. I'm safe."

Rai stepped forth. Then another. Mane ran. They both ran to the Substitute and carefully pulled it into a hug. It wasn't him; it didn't have his warmth or scars or the crooks that were comfortable to lean in. But it smelled and felt like him for just a moment. Just a moment.

Before it was gone.

Arashi stood stoically as the Substitute faded, Rai and Mane's faces wet with tears.

"Do we believe it?" she asked.

They nodded

"Are we doing what it says?"

Another nod.

She sighed. "Summon the others then; we gotta let them know what just transpired. And work out what's happening next; I don't fully trust the prisoner of a Shadow Pokémon even if she did teach him a new move."

)(*&^%$# !~! #$%^&*()

Armaldo glared, Cara stared impassively back.

"Public disturbance," he began stiffly. Cara nodded, not denying that. "Town is in an uproar."

"The town is safe," Cara said.

Armaldo snorted. "Nothing is safe anymore, it seems."

Rhythm was not here; he was busy in town calming people down with Saniya and Striker's assistance.

"You did not do that well," Armaldo sighed. Four pokémon. Four angry, offended pokémon. That in itself made Armaldo almost lean towards believing that this was definitely the right course of action. The anger was understandable, but the offence made him wary.

Or maybe he was too pragmatic, and other pokémon didn't quite see it the same way. They had been taken away from their friends and family, and now that was happening again.

And paperwork. Rhythm had been most sly and cunning in turning down retaking the position of Guildmaster. It meant Armaldo still had to sign everything.

"Junior used to burn my stuff," Armaldo said neutrally, staring at the vulnerable-to-fire pokémon.

Cara's mouth twitched. "Did he now?"

"Somehow, he always did something useful by it, so I couldn't be mad."

"Did he now?"

"I miss the times he used to burn my problems."

Cara laughed. "Suppose you trained that out of him?"

"Unfortunately," he drawled.

Cara's expression slowly morphed into a smirk of sorts. "If I didn't know any better, you would be liking me to take that as a threat of sorts."

Armaldo signed a paper without doing more than a quick glance over it. "Nothing of the sort, Scizor."

"Pity, I'd like to test my claws against your carapace."

A signature went squiggly. "Why?"

"I haven't had a truly good fight in some time. I don't regard my final bout with Lucario to be good."

"Was arresting those four not enough entertainment?"

"You look stiff and bored," Cara replied. "Endlessly doing paperwork."

"Are you goading me?"

"Is it working?"

The pencil snapped.

Cara smirked. "It's working," he said, nodding to himself.

"Why would you want to fight me?" Armaldo asked.

Cara quirked an eye. "The mentor to Guildmaster Wigglytuff? I was before him, but I've done my research ever since I've been acclimating to the times. A very impressive student of Armaldo the Explorer."

"That what they call me now?"

"Indeed. Because Wigglytuff insisted and all the books were changed."

"Little brat." Armaldo looked for another pencil. "Why not duel him? He could use some practice; he's gone soft in this position."

"That's why," Cara said. "Because you're going soft as well."

"The people would say differently."

"Wigglytuff is dealing with the people. I'm here. Aren't you curious? You fought alongside Lucario even and helped defeat the mighty Palkia."

"I did little," Armaldo snorted.

"So modest," Cara snorted back.

Armaldo stared at a piece of parchment he was too bored to even read. The sun was overcast today, but the day was still young and fresh, and he was sorting paperwork.

"The Guildmaster really shouldn't be the paper mankey," Armaldo sighed. "It was easier when Rhythm was still in position, somehow. And I know it was easier on everyone when Chatot held the position, as he had a knack for paperwork. I find it tedious."

"So, I win?"

Armaldo shot him a sharp look. "Counting your money at the table isn't a good look, Scizor." He was standing up, and he loomed over Scizor. "…the beach, in twenty minutes, no items."

Cara beamed at getting his way and skipped out as Armaldo went and grabbed Chimecho and Flaaffy and told them to start the paperwork.

"Wha? But I can't sign!?" Flaaffy protested, alarmed.

"No one actually looks at the signatures," Armaldo said, propping him down on the big chair, which he probably liked. "Just that it's filled in. Wigglytuff used to add cheerful notes, and there was no issue found."

"Probably because he was Wigglytuff," Flaaffy groaned, but Armaldo was already leaving.

He glanced at Chimecho, who had been doing a good job of avoiding everyone the past couple of days. "Well…you've done this before, right?"

"I have."

"Cool." He pulled out his comb and began to look gorgeous. "Get started on that, k thanks."

Chimecho's eyes narrowed briefly on him before rolling and getting started as requested.

By the time Armaldo had put things in order and stomped down to the beach, Cara had made a sandcastle.

"If you were Lucario, you'd smash that thing as soon as you appeared," he said.

"I'm not a childish bully," Armaldo grunted.

"Implying she was?"

"Implying?"

Cara gave a half-laugh, half-scoff. "Okay, did you chat to Bidoof on the way down for some trash talking tips?"

Armaldo didn't address that, walking past Cara, his heavy tail sweeping the sand and uncovering dried coral and twigs.

"You wanted a fight," Armaldo grunted, turning his head back towards Cara. Cara's pincers snapped. "Afterwards, you better tell me why you wanted this now. And you better make this worth my time."

Cara grinned. "Some conditions. We're not fighting to knock each other out, just until we're ready to call it. This is more of a warmup for your old carapace than it is for me."

Armaldo scoffed. "Tch. You're older than I am."

"By about sixty years," Cara grinned, ducking his head slightly as he felt energy tingle along his powerful body. "But I was frozen for over forty of that; you're more grizzled."

"That explains why you're so impetuous."

"And why you're so grumpy."

Armaldo's tail fell flat and heavy against the ground. That was as good of a sign as any. Cara fell into his vs Keira stance, half-step back, one pincer opened as swords materialised around him for a swift block, he started on the defence against an opponent like this.

Chitin felt it right to start soft and easy. His tail clubbed the ground, and as Cara stepped back, forming a defensive stance, the ground shook, the sand vibrating, and the sandbanks afar began to collapse onto the beach.

Sand wasn't the most stable footing in the best of times, and Cara stumbled for balance. Right into a sticky line of web catching his left pincer. Armaldo snapped the one out of his mouth and swiftly had it wrapped around his own pincer, pulling with too much strength for Cara to resist.

As the scizor was thrown towards him, Chitin prepared his other claw for a devastating blow aimed to punch a dent in Cara's armoured body.

Despite being thrown off balance and then yanked off his feet, Cara did not lose his zen, and his wings extended, buzzing rapidly to gain control of his flight. He couldn't resist Chitin's strength, but he didn't need to.

A pincer flashed steel grey as Chitin's shone pure white. Their weapons, so unlike other species of pokémon, other types, struck against each other. Chitin's strength vs Cara's power.

They bounced off each other as the force snapped the wet, and Cara's left-wing glinted steely silver as he slid by Chitin, striking his left wing with a loud clang.

Cara grinned as he gave a harsh right turn, his weighty body swaying around as he flew back onto the ground, carving up some sand with his movement. He couldn't fly forever; some might say he shouldn't be able to fly at all with his metallic carapace. He ignored them and flew anyway.

"First hit," Cara said, pleased with himself.

"Not bad," Chitin nodded, feeling the buzzing remnants of that strike along his body. He stomped with a foot and a glimmering azure spire shot up from the sand, blasting it into Cara's eyes and blinding him before a second one emerged from under his feet and clubbed him in the chest.

Cara yelled out in pain as he was rocked by the blow, but he didn't fly far before another web snatched his leg, and Armaldo spun almost gracefully on the spot, swinging him down and into another summoned Stone Edge, smashing into his powerful body with a thunderous clang.

The web stretched but didn't break as he was bounced up again, and Chitin prepared to do it a second time, expecting to be slammed down into a heavy rock to stun Cara more than the first rock did.

What he didn't expect was for Cara to pull his foot up sharply until he could wrap the web around his pincer and then pull.

He wasn't pulled off the ground, but he had to brace rather than calculate where the next rock had to rise to hit Cara, giving the scizor time to snap the web and land unstruck on the ground.

Then, Cara was upon him. He was fast for a scizor, pincers punching like bullets on Chitin's sturdy frame. He was significantly bulkier than Cara with a stony carapace. Still, Cara's metallic one was generally stronger on a pound for pound basis.

One advantage, however, was the thickness of his armour protecting his internals better than Cara's thinner, stronger armour, and he could weather even this bullet-fast punch with just grunts.

His claws flashed green, and he struck out sharply in a cross pattern, matched by Cara's own duplicate of his attack. A smaller rock formed between his claws, and he slammed it down onto Cara's head, right as the scizor's head flashed silver as well.

It was what Chitin would have expected. The student of Lucario should be smart enough to use an attacking move like Iron Head for a quick defensive helmet.

But in the heat of battle, one's thoughts were not so clear. He was caught with a hiss as his rock broke, and then a pained grunt was torn from his chest as Cara headbutted him with that metallic helmet, successfully knocking him back.

Another String Shot was quickly spat, but Cara deflected it. Chitin's tail thumped the ground and rock it again, but he leapt right as he saw the tail falling, pincers flashing steely grey now. His eyes reflected the blue of the ocean, and his open mouth formed something else.

A swift jet of water struck Cara in the face, forcing him to close his eyes for just a moment. In the process of leaping at his enemy, he was unable to stop. As his eyes opened, his pincers were matched by Chitin mimicking his move this time.

The gleam in his eyes asked how that felt before their clash blew Cara back.

He landed and cut another line in the sand, pulling himself to a stop with his pincers and getting sand gummed up all in them. "Ugh." He shook his pincers, but it was too late; the sand was in and wasn't going out. The ocean looked awfully nice now.

"Not getting tired, are you?" Chitin asked.

Carapace laughed. "Now you're having fun."

That was good, he smiled. No need to play too carefully now; they were sufficiently warmed up.

The swords appeared around Cara again, but this time they rotated him before pointing and descending into him. His muscles firming up, a boost of strength amping him up, and his eyes flashed an engaged red for a moment before slight bits of steam coming from the gaps in his armour. This wasn't like mega evolving and risking melting, but the added heat could be a little bit of an issue if he amped too much.

It was why Keira had insisted he learn how to copy some other scyther's move from another time and place. She was too good at concealing her worry; he grinned fierce and proud as Armaldo raised an eye.

"Modulation? Alright then." He gestured for Cara to bring it, and Cara grinned almost maniacally and brought it.

Wings buzzing violently, Cara zoomed in with swords forming all around him, crashing into each other until they became firm and real. Chitin's tail dug into the ground.

They had reversed positions, Chitin playing defence and Cara going on the attack.

A silver claw struck home, scratching off his chest as Chitin's arm diverted Cara's at the joint. A sword crashed down, and then seven of them did all at once, striking through Chitin multiple times as the scizor spun and struck again.

Chitin caught his arm that time, but the steam blew, and he overpowered the heavier pokémon, forcing his arm back and crashing into his chest.

Chitin gasped as the wind was knocked from his lungs, and he scrambled to grab the smaller pokémon in a beartic hold.

Cara again proved he was too strong, and rather than being held, he tried to suplex Chitin. Chitin's heavy tail had anchored him, but sand gripped little, and it flowed like water as he was finally diverted from his position and slammed face-first into the sand.

His tail descended again and hit Cara in the abdomen with a direct-contact Earthquake, removing the air in his lungs as well as his entire body rattled.

Chitin began to crawl forwards, not able to easily stand. He went for the water as Cara tried to remember how to breathe again.

He'd taken harder hits from Keira, though, and he grabbed Chitin's tail before he could even touch the water and, with his amplified strength, threw him into the air with a cry of exertion.

His wings spread.

Chitin's web nearly hit him in the face, but he leapt forwards and then zoomed into flight, punching the sand inches below him to throw himself up. Spinning to disorientate the bigger bug, both of Cara's pincers shone. One silver, the other one black.

A sabre extended from one, melting into a bigger, meaner version of his pincer very akin to his mega forms appendages as the other one was raised in front of him to smash through the generated stones Chitin threw down at him.

He flew through the barrage, and metal cracked on stone as he swiped Chitin's chin, knocking him even further into the air. The kinetic change caused Cara to begin to fall, but he planned for that.

This time, however, Chitin did snatch him with a web.

"Ah!?" Cara gasped as he felt a tug at his abdomen before his arms were pulled from the speed he was thrown, flying up with a yell and the cry echoing far as Chitin began to rotate in the air, spinning Cara faster and faster and faster.

He snapped his own web at the key moment and threw Cara at breakneck speed at the first Stone Edge he had summoned before, smashing it into dust with the force of the impact.

He finally began to fall down towards the ground and his wings, not for flying but more fins for swimming, readied themselves as he mapped out his path down.

Cara groaned, his amped strength literally being knocked out of him from the blow. He rolled to his feet and rubbed his head; there was a bit of blood. He frowned and looked up as the heavy pokémon was descending faster and faster. New swords formed and sunk into his body to regain that increase in strength, which was needed as he quickly faced a stone fain.

Big stones, little stones, glowing ones, and even sharp ones were raining down. Cara had to punch concerningly fast to catch all the ones flying for him, cracking them into shards or puffs of dust, his arms aching from the heat of exertion.

A web near the dungeon tugged Armaldo forth, and rather than go for the beach, he crashed into the water. Cara winced; the beach could not be very deep.

Yet his impact did not blow up a massive wave; he slipped into it as easily as a psyduck to water.

The smile had not faded from Cara's face, even as some blood glimmered down his crimson exoskeleton.

He waited, the patient hunter, until Chitin re-emerged.

The normal ground was pretty stable and ate up small motions that only certain keenly-built pokémon could detect. The beach, however, was a little more sensitive, and Cara felt Chitin coming from below him than he might have otherwise.

A battalion's worth of swords came down as a shield as the sand exploded like the ocean didn't, and the swords shattered into dust, Cara faring a bit better.

A web snatched him before he could go far and slammed him into a generated rock. His pincer caught the pointier tip before Chitin could throw him like a ball-with-chain and crunched the stone. He pulled himself down to the ground and grabbed onto the web with both arms, and pulled. The web stretched but did not break as his strength met Chitin's.

Before Chitin could have broken the web, now he was locked into a fierce game of tug-of-war that he couldn't release either claw else Cara's strength would pull him off his feet.

Cara grinned, maintaining the pressure as more swords appeared and sunk into him, amplifying himself even more. Chitin cursed as he rapidly felt the pulling game end, and he was tugged, one arm yanked forwards.

He threw his other claw at the web to break it, but he was already knocked off-kilter, and Cara's sword struck through his neck. Thankfully, they weren't real, nor were they trying to kill each other, but the impact was not appreciated even for his thick neck.

What was worse was then Cara's pincer clubbing him in the face. He felt his nasal holes begin to bleed as everything in his head felt like it had just been grabbed and jiggled violently. A third blow went right into his chest, a literal Brick Break that cracked part of his exoskeleton and knocked him flying through the sandbanks below the trees and burying him.

Cara breathed a sigh of relief, then gasped as the whole beach shook. Underground Earthquake, he cursed and stumbled and flailed for balance before a shockwave left him stinging and half-buried in sand as it got into everything.

Chitin emerged from in front of him, meeting some swords and cracking through them to Dig-Tackle Cara into the ocean.

A generated sword provided a platform for Cara to brace against as his wings beat, trying to take off. He succeeded and merely smelled the water.

Then a web caught his leg and slammed him into the tide.

Cara's whole body stung as salt got into everything as well, and he gasped as the tide receded enough for him to breathe, get up, and begin trudging up the shore.

Chitin watched him approach, breathing heavily and stepping back. Cara moved out of the wave's embrace and then grinned. "Damn," he said happily.

Chitin actually grinned as well. "I see the stories said of you are no exaggeration."

"And I see what tempered that wigglytuff's strength," Cara said, impressed. "Call it there?"

Chitin nodded. "I'm about beat," he said.

Cara groaned. "You hit like a machamp."

"I hit like a machamp? You cracked my carapace." He rubbed the golden part with a big crack in it, though.

Cara winced. "Sorry about that."

He shrugged. "Nothing some gel, a few orans, and some Chimecho can't patch up. Give me a couple days, and I'll be fine."

They chatted as they walked back up to the guild. To Chitin's surprise, he felt really good. His blood had roared in his ears, and his muscles burned, and his body ached, but it was all a good feeling; a grin had carved across his face scaring young children.

"So, why the battle?" Chitin asked.

"You looked like you needed some time out," Cara replied with a shrug. "And if that meant I could test my pincers against you, all the better."

"Who do you think would actually win between us?" Chitin asked, amused at the answer rather than annoyed at the presumption.

"I have the type advantage," Cara said immediately.

Chitin snorted. "Hardly means much when you're at our level."

"Any advantage, however small, is still an advantage," Cara retorted. "Especially in close matches."

They exchanged playful jabs at the others' strength and boasts until they reached the crossroads.

"Such a place," Cara sighed happily. "Guild one way, a town the other, beach another, and a café bar if you're indecisive. I like this. It's where I met Keira again, and she was so happy she only playfully bopped me on the head."

"I heard it brought you to your knees?"

"Hey! I had just come out of the deep freeze."

"Still."

Cara might have gone into the café, but he had just brought in two of the entrepreneurs who ran the place, and he felt he may be testing his boundaries. He wasn't Keira who'd saunter in and either make everyone hate her or love her by the evening and not mind either way.

Chitin carried on for similar reasons. Their duel hadn't brought attention, likely as Rhythm was still talking to the town.

Still, he felt rather energised and positive again after what had been a series of very hard days and weeks. He hardly minded doing the paperwork, but he considered to himself that maybe he should take a break every month and take a mission in a dungeon somewhere.

Rhythm had done his yearly expeditions rather than anything else, and Chitin knew he hadn't been entirely happy about all that.

Either way, he was grateful to Cara for doing this. He wouldn't tell him that, but he was. And by Cara's pleased grin, he probably presumed he'd helped anyway.

The bastard.

)(*&^%$# !~! #$%^&*()

Treasure Town stood firm, singing their song.

Its people together, strong all along.

Its people united its people as one.

It's people divided; however, She's won?

Wait, that's wrong; that cannot be true.

Brother loves sister and friend trusts friend?

Blossom is here; oh no, there were too few.

Sister hates brother, and friend turns on friend.

Treasure Town stands, guided by heroes.

The clock's running out, dropping to zero.

Yes, they've arrived; not all is yet lost.

Speak now heroes, do not be quashed.

It's never too late.

Just ask for help.

Saniya groaned. Things had taken a turn for the worse when Rhythm and Cara had gone on a little arresting spree.

She did understand, but hoo boy, did it make people mad. Shouts about Torkoal's speech were common around the guild for days. On one hand, she really admired the conviction the town had to trust.

Another part of her was angered by it because they had trusted Guardian so easily and turned against Scout just as fast. She poked at her explorer's badge a lot, feeling the want to ask it for advice.

But it was just a pretty item that spoke of her rank, nothing more….

She was impressed with Rhythm, though. He had a silver tongue when he wanted to, and soothing assurances that it was simply a safety matter and that people were still free to visit them and such kept the worst of it from broiling over.

She was set to keep an eye on most of the days, ready to catch even a hint of a crackling purple aura. She wasn't sure if she could do anything about it; Celebi hadn't known either. But if it did, she might be able to pull it away before anything really bad happened.

The four were put in separate areas of Team Magnazone's base. Delphox enchantment couldn't entirely seal Shadow Moves, unfortunately. Still, it was a heavy cage, and they were kept safe and secure.

It was difficult avoiding questions as to why they had to be locked up, however. They didn't want to incite fear or curry rumour in case they weren't. Gossip could do a lot of damage and while leaving it to a mystery wasn't really much better, Sunflora's lackeys kept an ear on things, and no big word of Shadow Pokémon was being shared.

They denied being Shadow Pokémon. Even with Torkoal's message of hope and asking for help. Even with Saniya revealing that they could do something about it once Sean or another human arrived. There was a tired fear in their eyes that left her aching for them.

Tensions were rising.

A week and a half passed before one of them finally broke under the pressure. It was Swanna, screaming for her children before something just…devolved in her; she went rampant, purply energy crackling and blasting everywhere.

The magne-pokémon flipped out and attacked back with deadly electricity, eventually knocking her unconscious with Saniya's cries not to go any further.

She managed to move some of that horribly slimy energy away. It tried to latch onto her, she felt, and tried to sink into the bodies of the magnemite, the walls, anywhere it could. She waved her fingers, called upon everything Celebi had told her, and gathered it all up into a hateful little ball and fled to Beach Cave.

If there were any questions about why she had a rotten purple orb held before her like it was poisonous, she didn't hear them. The energy sunk into the ground of the dungeon with a visible shudder, and she ended up throwing up in the ocean.

It wasn't as bad as Celebi made it out to be, but she feared she'd only really touched the very edges of the taint.

Eyes did not leave the four after that. Swanna was stunned when she woke up and asked Saniya, once, why she was still alive.

"I meant it when I said we had a way to help you," she said firmly. Swanna didn't believe her; she could see it in her eyes.

She refused to bring a letter to Spinda from Wynaut and was shouted at for it.

Octillery's voice was as slimy as that shadow mess she had thrown into the dungeon, trying to sway them into letting him go. That he wasn't the same as them.

Things were tense indeed, as rumour spread of why the base was closed for a while as that cell was repaired, Swanna being moved while she was unconscious. They weren't allowed visitors anymore.

Things were tense.

And it'd just take one bad moment to really stir things up.

Weeks passed before that happened.

"Home," Sean said, relieved.

"Home," Guardian said, nodding.

As fast as quick seeds were, Guardian simply wasn't fast enough to cross that distance quickly and without any rest. They took dungeons when they could, but there was only one reasonably good shortcut dungeon.

The world was a big place otherwise, and Sean slowed them down a bit with his condition what it was. He did a lot of resting regardless but walked when he could. He had healed well; severe blood loss was one of those things that even pokémon didn't bounce back from in just a couple days.

It wasn't surface level stuff like most beat-up pokémon were left with.

Guardian cooked him some meat to help, and Sean managed to get it down. He wasn't as bad as Scout was about it, at least.

They arrived at a town that wasn't a smoking cavern more reminiscent of the Dark Crater dungeon than a homely town.

"We made it," Sean breathed, racing up the stairs to the guild, Guardian lagging behind. It wasn't quite dusk yet, but it was getting close, and the guild was closed for the day. He shouted down the tunnel. "OPEN UP; IT'S AN EMERGENCY!"

Guardian had reached him by the time the gate opened, and they swiftly made their way down to the bottom level.

"Meh-heh, what's…Riolu?" Croagunk said, the one to have heard his cry and lifted the gate for them.

Sean panted, ignoring the stares. "Armaldo. Now."

A few of the other guild members who had come together just for recreational activities were looking at him curiously, worriedly, even as Dusknoir and…a lucario appeared physically okay.

"R-Lucario?" Rhythm had poked his head out of the Guildmaster's Chambers to see what the racket was about.

"Wigglytuff," Guardian said smoothly. "Splendid, we have a paramount emergency and must be discussed now." He was approaching with Sean, and Rhythm pulled back, leaving the door open for them.

The rest of the guild looked at the closed doors.

"Ever feel like we're a little left out of things?" Marill asked to general murmuring agreement.

"What is it?" Armaldo demanded, looking tense. Scizor was playing a game of checkers against him before they had been interrupted with Rhythm in his room. Not every meeting was a serious war meeting, and Azelf was currently having a pre-dinner nap in one of the bedrooms.

Sean looked to Guardian. He could explain, but Guardian had a smoothness, an assuredness, to him that always sounded better than whatever he'd blurt out in a rapid need to do something now.

"Evil has made its face known once again," Guardian intoned gravely. "Whilst searching for my son, Sean has encountered a wicked entity. One who calls herself The First Fallen."

Cara gasped sharply before swearing. "Fuck. You cannot be serious?"

Guardian nodded regretfully, and he stood up and began to pace. "Keira…Keira told me about them only once."

"Who?" Rhythm asked, suddenly strained.

"Indeedee," Guardian answered. "Of Blackstone Village."

Eyes went to pinpricks at Rhythm, and Chitin immediately thought of Team Voyage.

"This wicked entity has agents," Guardian continued. "One of them, a dangerous and tragic creature that was once Violet, the spirit trapped in Circh, has likely been destroyed."

"She saved me," he said softly.

Guardian nodded. "And I will be forever grateful for her strength to do so. To resist Indeedee at this crucial moment."

"Spirit?" Chitin asked, a little strained as well. "Described?"

"She was a runerigus," Sean said, expecting that to mean anything. Which it did. Chitin closed his eyes before nodding to continue.

"Another is a weavile, potentially the same who leads Team A.W.D, but we cannot be absolutely certain of this. And…" He glanced at Wigglytuff, who held a very sad smile.

"And Trill," he admitted, Sean and Guardian straightened up in shock. "I know Soothe warned me in advance. To avoid this threat taking advantage of my power as Guildmaster, I stepped down."

"You knew it was Indeedee?" Sean said quietly, dangerously. But Rhythm shook his head.

"Soothe refused to tell me who 'She' was. Only that she was in the first place."

Sean let out a hard breath and nodded to Guardian to carry on.

"She severely injured Sean with this." He brandished the silver sword and cast a regretful, even nervous, look at Cara, who was frowning at the sword.

"She dug up Keira's grave," Sean said, and Cara froze. "And melted her body into a sword."

"Mithril," Cara said numbly. He took a half step and nearly fell over before racing over and snatching the sword.

"Careful, it's dangerous!" Sean yelled, but it was too late. Cara had already tried to crunch it with his pincer, and it cut into his carapace like it was made of straw. He hissed and recoiled, dropping the sword, the blood fading into the metal in moments.

"Someone has made a very big mistake," Cara whispered; his eyes had gone wide and blank, staring at nothing with a deathly expression.

Sean wiped his face as well; it made him sick to be around the silver sword. What was worse is that he could feel it pulling at his aura at times, which was why Guardian had been charged with keeping a hold of it.

Rhythm had gone pale under his fur, and Chitin was cursing softly.

"After Sean escaped with Violet's…sacrifice." Sean bowed his head. "The wounds dealt to him left him unconscious for the better part of twenty-four hours, in which Weavile attempted to assassinate him, leaving us with the 'regards' of The First Fallen Indeedee."

"So, we have a madman about," Chitin growled.

"Mad?" Cara hissed. "This is sick. Keira told me, once, about the First Fallen. She had to kill them all, but they were all the most vile Shadow Pokémon she had ever encountered. Horrible monsters who had embraced what they had become and led a war of terror on the world. What made her the Legendary Lucario has been forgotten but really, I don't blame anyone for wanting to forget that time if it was even a hair as bad as she made it sound."

He turned to Sean and Guardian. "But you say she missed one?"

Guardian didn't know. "I can't say if this is a member who escaped or a twisted copycat. But she calls herself the First, and thus I would wager she too has embraced whatever twisted rot has corroded her from the inside out."

Cara was trembling, and his pincer was bleeding without stopping.

"You'll need to bandage that," Guardian said firmly. Cara pulled his pincer out of sight. "The wounds dealt by the blade reject attempts to mend them. Only time and pressure seems to work until the effect fades.

Cara gave a stiff nod and tore a drape off the wall, and wrapped it around. "There. What do we do next? Who else does she have?"

"If she came from Blackstone Village…who knows?"

"Did Soothe tell you anything else?" Guardian demanded of Rhythm.

He shook his head. "She gave me a letter that she had obviously written filled with disturbing demands. I suspect she was trying to scare me into believing her about this; she doesn't seem to think that I'd trust her by her word." Cara snorted, and a frown touched Rhythm's face before he brushed it off.

"If we didn't already know Runerigus was a Shadow," Chitin said lowly. "But now we have to question them."

"Them?"

He glanced at Sean but explained anyway. "Runerigus, under Indeedee's directions, I assume kidnapped and murdered four townsfolk, each of whom have been found. We didn't know if they had been harmed or not as we did not know she was a shadow, but it was suspected, and the four were eventually placed into custody."

"Good thing too," Cara said lowly.

He stiffly nodded. "Yes. Since then, they have expressed shadow qualities that put the matter to rest."

"You didn't hurt them, did you?" Sean asked, alarmed. "Saniya, I, we can-"

Chitin raised a claw. "They are simply in custody. Saniya has returned having learned the skill and has been invaluable in…everything lately."

"Okay." Sean rose up. "Let's go help them."

"Sean," Guardian said cautiously. "It's late, and you're still not back to full functioning."

"I don't care," Sean said. "They need help, and I can help them! I'm leaving anyone in the same situation Violet was in for any longer than I have to!"

"Then I am ordering you to stop," Guardian snapped; Sean paused, surprised. "Just…just tonight."

"I…"

"Sean, don't rush into things," Guardian pleaded. "We can start tomorrow, but please don't do anything rash tonight."

He frowned, troubled. Violet had died for him, died for him, died for him.

She was so kind and gentle and strong in Circh.

He sighed. "…okay, fine. I'll do it tomorrow."

Guardian relaxed, relieved. "Thank you."

He walked to the corner of the room and leaned against it tiredly. It was nice to be eye-level with more people; he didn't feel as small. In some small ways, he also missed it; change was never easy.

Sean ended up waking Azelf and asking them to relay this information, and Azelf swiftly told Mesprit about Blackstone.

"I believe Mesprit should turn back," they said. They twitched. "She thinks not."

"The vantage…." Azelf's eyes narrowed. "It's valuable."

Azelf, we need to know what's going on. I'll be careful, the most careful you've ever seen. I can fly or go invisible if I need to. Trust me, please.

Do not fall for any whimpering tricks in the path, Azelf warned firmly. See anything, and you play defence and run.

Fine. Alright, I hear you loud and clear, over and out, boss.

Listen to Azelf.

You like intel, Uxie!

Not at your risk.

I'll be fine.

Uxie informed the federation, and they began sending out flying pokémon into the main pathways pokémon took to get to that area. The road to Fissure.

All the while, an indigo-feathered bird with a brilliant red crest flew as fast as he could towards Treasure Town.

He had been flying swiftly beforehand, carrying vital information that Scout had sent out at great effort and possible risk.

But then he spotted them.

An entire horde of crackling rotten energies.

And only the tail end of it. They were running out of time very soon. He had to get to Treasure Town. He had to get to Treasure Town. He had to.

He had to.

)(*&^%$# !~! #$%^&*()

Days after sending the Substitute.

"Trill," Scout said; Soothe referred to them both by name, and that barrier had fallen. "I can't wait any longer; we have to know what to do."

By Trill's word, they were heading the opposite direction to where Indeedee had been. With no other plan except to put distance between them and her. He didn't know if his Substitute had done anything at all.

Scout was alone with two Shadow Pokémon.

The forgotten member of the Team With No Name, and the Guildmaster's Second. What a time to be alive and breathing and not stabbed or sliced apart. He still couldn't sleep, not helped by their bickering.

Trill didn't respond.

"He's right," Soothe drawled. "Not that I don't mind, since the longer you take, the less likely it'll be to make a stupid decision. But I'd like to know."

"And my answer will satisfy you both?" Trill asked sharply. "That whatever I decide will be the decision, no argument or defiance?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," Soothe said. "You're not the boss; you're the tiebreaker."

"Humph."

"Please," Scout said.

A flicker crossed Trill's face, and he sighed. "There is no other option I can think of. Going to Treasure Town ourselves is a mistake we cannot make. We have to hope that Scout's Substitute delivered the message."

Scout closed his eyes in pain as Soothe beamed. "Solidarity between old friends." She raised her hand for a fist bump, one that Trill simply stared dubiously at until she lowered it. "One time, I swear you could actually do it," she complained, but she was pleased with getting her way, nonetheless.

They both turned to Scout, who still had his eyes closed.

"I measured the risks and rewards," Trill said stiffly as Scout's silence was beginning to unsettle him. "The town is strong, and it would not be a complete massacre. People will escape."

"Is that all it is to you?" Scout snapped. "Numbers and pros and cons?"

Trill blinked slowly.

"Doesn't knowing them factor into this at all?" Scout demanded. "The guild looks to you as a teacher, even a father. There are children there. Hundreds of pokémon that have gone through disaster after disaster, and we're just going to LEAVE them?"

"Scout, there's little we can do to change the scales," Trill replied stiffly.

"Fuck you," Scout spat. "We could warn them. We don't have to fight!"

"We won't get there in time to make a difference," Soothe pointed out. "Treasure Town is too far away."

"You're saying we're going to be slower than a horde? Even you, who can fly?"

"A horde of Shadow Pokémon? Yes."

"That…that DOESN'T MATTER!"

"It does matter," Trill said stonily as he was stiff. "It may be callous to rate this in terms of numbers, but it is all I have to rate with. I do not know what Indeedee wants with you two, she never told me, but she also wants me. The three of us, walking right into her hands. If Rhythm is there, without me to hold over him, he will not have to hold back."

"He won't KNOW that," Scout yelled. "He'll still think she has you. Why would she bring you to a battle he was in?"

"I…trust Rhythm."

"Scout, enough," Soothe snapped. "The decision has been made; you can't change our minds."

"This is what the Shadow does to you, doesn't it?" Scout said bitterly. "It makes you stop caring."

That touched a nerve.

"Do not PRESUME to speak for me," Trill snapped, flapping angrily. "Holding onto those I cared for is all that I have."

"I thought it was only numbers you had left," Scout snapped.

A twitch caused Trill's face to change for a moment, and Soothe slowly began to stiffen. He took a deep breath to calm himself and breathed out a misty breath tinged with lavender. "I recognise that you are upset," he said, somehow less impassioned than the stone-faced bird he was before. "Thus, I think it is appropriate for discussion to cease until you have calmed down."

"Me?" Scout growled.

"You," Trill replied.

"…She killed Loudred and Corphish," Scout spat. "And you're just going to let her kill the rest of them."

That was the wrong thing to say.

Soothe hissed and darted back, eyes flashing as a Protect barrier appeared between Scout and Trill, fast enough to block a savage strike from Trill.

"Fuck, Scout!" she yelled as he recoiled. "You've set him off!"

"What did I do?" Scout yelled, darting back as Trill let out a furious avian screech and flew over the Protect, body shining with light.

Scout took a sharp blow to the stomach that knocked him rolling, Trill bouncing back and swooping into the air, carrying a shining arc before coming around for a follow-up attack.

Soothe stepped between them, eyes flashing green, and Trill slammed into another Protect at high speed and bounced off, a little dazed.

Only for a moment, something had happened to him.

"Trill, I'm sorry, calm down!" Scout yelled, clambering back to his feet.

"He's not listening," Soothe growled, glaring at the purple aura beginning to crackle around him. "Scout, a word of advice. Two things can cause a Shadow Pokémon to lose it. The Hunger and pissing them off beyond all regard."

"So, this is MY fault?" Scout yelled, claws coming out as Trill began to circle them.

"Yep," Soothe said grimly. "I think he's going into Reverse Mode. Whatever you said really must have hit a nerve if he snapped that quickly. I'm not surprised though, he loves that guild like nothing else."

"If he loved it so much-ARGH!"

Trill, tired of circling them, flapped his wings, and a repulsive blast of crackling purple energy flew around the Protect Soothe formed for herself and blew Scout away.

Trill immediately swooped, aiming to take advantage of the rolling meowth as his wings shone white before turning a steely grey.

"Bang." He was knocked spinning with feathers flying as Soothe pistol shot him with Dazzling Gleam.

"Stay back!" Soothe shouted at Scout as she closed the distance between her and Trill. "I'll handle him."

"Don't." Scout spat out grass. "Don't hurt him!"

"Shut up," she snapped, forming two blades on his forearms and swinging out. She sliced into Trill's wing with one and cracked the other one over his head. A brief line of blood appeared before melting darkness swallowed it up, and the wound disappeared.

Trill keened and slashed forwards rapidly, sliding under her guard and striking through Soothe's chest with a deep cut. Scout shouted out in horror but Soothe turned with him, grabbing him by the talon and planting her palm in his chest.

A sharp crack cut the air as she blasted him point-blank, breaking his leg as he was torn from her grip. As he flew, her own wound appeared to be melting. It was much deeper than the one she had dealt to him and took longer to seal, but not much blood was able to fall before the wound had melted away like nothing had happened.

Scout quickly decided she was right and scampered away to hide as the two Shadow Pokémon did battle, the violent strikes from Trill being matched by Soothe's grim resolve.

Despite Trill's loss of senses to the Reverse Mode, he was striking with deadly skill and precision, feinting attacks and playing mind games, finding ways around Soothe's powerful Protect with speed and cleverness, cutting wound after wound into her body.

They faded away before his next volley was able to come, and she gave it back in kind, blasting him with sparkles and striking out with her blades and spikes.

The stream of oily blackness was almost perpetually leaking from both of them, wound after wound being delivered and the Shadow infection surging forth to protect its hosts, sealing wounds. Trill got a lucky strike in, carving into Soothe's neck with both talons at one point.

It cost him as she was able to grab him, and the blast she hit him by could be seen from the other side of his chest, the Dazzling Gleam striking partially through him.

Soothe gagged for breath, clutching her neck as his talons were torn through. A lot of blood fell that time, and she actually added her Heal Pulse to the mix. The Shadow regeneration repaired the lethal damage to her arteries. At the same time, her Heal Pulse restored the other cuts as best as she could, buying time for the rest of it, a flickering Protect even forming around her for extra protection.

Trill hacked up glitter and blood for a few moments before pulling himself up woozily and taking flight again. Both of their wounds were taking a little longer to heal, Scout, noted in anxiety. He wasn't sure if it was because of the severity or something else.

Soothe had mentioned the Shadow Regeneration before; she mentioned it could be taxed. At least, Indeedee was able to tax hers. Soothe had never fought another Shadow Pokémon, she admitted. But besides not bothering with Shadow Moves, she doubted it'd be that much different.

Maybe more than she had anticipated, as Trill wasn't going down even as his breath began to heave. He mimicked her own Dazzling Gleams if she tried it from a distance, and his superior agility and speed meant he could dodge what she had to block.

As skilled as she was with Protect, using it was still a drain to a degree. More so than Trill's barrel rolls and arcing swooping strikes.

Soothe's eyes were going darker.

The green that shone past all the horror was dimming but more stark against the darkening of the rest of her eyes. To Scout's horror, Trill was still leaking the Shadow essence, and it was flowing readily into Soothe. Was the wound that severe that he was still healing from it?

Whatever was going on didn't stop Trill from swooping in with talons stretched again and wings shining pure white. Soothe brought both hands down to the ground and created a massive wall that Trill slammed into before rising to one knee, ending it and slashing out with a gripped iron thorn.

It cut through the blackness and cut a splash of red out. Trill flapped furiously, and a shadowy wind blasted over Soothe, but that was ineffective against a fellow shadow. She was able to slash out again, this time adding a sparkly oomph, cutting a glittering mark in Trill's chest, grabbing his wing in the process.

The mark remained as shadows swam urgently across much of his body, leaking and splashing down onto Soothe's arms and soaking in. A grin was beginning to stretch across her face and not stopping, and Scout saw it, and he quailed.

"Soothe," he whimpered softly. It was quiet or supposed to be; both of their heads snapped to meet his eyes as one in a most disconcerting way. Then, Trill pecked a hole in her hand and tore himself free of her grip.

Trill's eyes were entirely gone. They were just pools of blackness that bled black tears that brought to mind every terrible creepypasta that he, or rather Soothe, had ever read. His body was half shadow now, trailing a pathway of what reminded him of viscous black blood in his wake.

Trill was swooping for him, bringing back a stolen memory of a magpie swooping him as a child. Scout recoiled, raised his paws, but faster was his cry matched with the force of something in his throat, chest, belly. "TRILL STOP!"

And he did.

Somehow, someway, Trill simply froze. There was no wand trickery; he froze and glided over Scout, who had also frozen up, and nearly collided with him before Soothe tackled him over Scout.

She pinned the no-longer-struggling bird to the ground and raised a hand clasped in that awful blackness up viciously before plunging it down. Scout screamed as her hand plunged into his chest far deeper than any feather. "SOOTHE STOP!"

She didn't, and he nearly attacked her before an eruption of that dark energy knocked him to his knees.

The ground beneath Trill had spiderwebbed with darkness crawling all through it, spreading a desperate grip for a few awful seconds before it shivered and began to retreat, being sucked back where it had come.

Trill's body.

Or, rather, sucked through his body.

Scout stared in horror as Trill convulsed violently on the ground as what seemed like several bodies worth of black sludge was expelled from his body, then dragged back through it like a perverse straw and…into Soothe.

She held him down for a few seconds longer until he gasped a sharp breath and began hyperventilating, Soothe slowly rising from him and backing off. Scout pushed past her to get to Trill.

"Trill! Trill! Trill!" Scout cried, latching onto him and looking him over for panicked injuries. "I'm sorry, I-don't. Please-I. I don't. Wh. Are you? I-hurt? Are you hurt!?"

He blinked at him in blanketed shock for a moment and looked down at himself; he was fine. He was fine. He looked up, past Scout, to Soothe.

She stared back; blackness was still crowding her, swimming around her hands and eyes, but it was fading, and slowly a smile was cracking across her face like an open wound.

"Trill?"

Confusion marred his face. "I can…feel?" Tears began to fill the chatot's eyes. "I can feel?"

Scout stared uncomprehendingly for a long moment; he looked to Soothe for an explanation as to WHAT the FUCK just happened.

She was grinning. It was a scary smile. Filled with righteous self-satisfaction, a grim amusement, and a near-hysterical glee cavorting across her face. To be on the other end of that smile, he wondered how Trill didn't just fly away.

"Trill?" Scout asked as a dawning idea began to occur to him. "F-Feel?"

Trill trembled violently before wrapping his wings around Scout. Unlike before, this was a hug. A real hug. Not the stiff, distant clasp of acquaintances seeing each other again, but the hug from Guild Dad.

"Trill?"

"I don't know how?" Trill said as he pulled Scout close and marvelled in the lightness of his heart and chest. An old scar that never physically existed, pierced through by Kabutops' scythe, faded to little more than a memory. "I think she undid it."

"I did," Soothe said and then roared. "I FUCKING PURIFIED YOU!"

She burst into what could only be described as maniacal laughter as Scout gazed astonished at him. "I know what it is!" she yelled to the heavens. "I know why you want us, you curly-horned sadist FREAK!"

She lowered her gaze to Scout as something he'd never seen in her eyes blazed brightly. It was angry. It was vindictive. It was almost even hateful. But it was beautiful. "You made him stop," she said intensely. "You told him to stop, and he did. And then, I took it out of him. I ripped that corrosive thing out of him. I did it! I can purify people! It makes fucking sense; I was never killed to become this. I absorbed it somehow. I can absorb it out of others. INDEEEEDEEEEE! YOU'RE FUCKED NOW!"

She laughed hysterically as Trill embraced Scout, and Scout finally hugged him back and cried with him. Somehow, someway, they had gotten Trill back.

And the world shined a little brighter.