Alright…
So, the previous chapter was rough. It's okay if you hate me a little or a lot; I hate me a little for it. BUT! We know things are not yet lost. And I enjoy that one figure of speech; it's always darkest before the dawn.
The tunnel was dark, cramped, and filled with the sounds of running and crying.
The attack was so fast. Brutally quick. People had been lost.
Armaldo, as the architect of the tunnel, had ensured it could fit even pokémon like himself, but he still had to keep his head bowed as he walked. Himself and Ponyta were the final two pokémon to leave; Torkoal had stayed behind.
Ponyta wasn't making any sounds, and Armaldo was tensed, waiting, waiting, waiting.
Then, a cataclysmic eruption shook what felt like the entire world. Ponyta whimpered, smacking into a wall as dust fell and rocks clattered. Pokémon screamed and cried, and Armaldo pulled a breath. "Keep going!"
He had braced on a wall, hoping it wouldn't just cave in on him. The shaking did not stop, the echoing crash of stones collapsing onto stones. There was no going back now; they could only go forward into what might be another trap.
He had not been blind to the battlefield. He had watched as the rampaging shadows simply ignored Chimecho. They didn't do that…except for their own.
He had to keep his mind of the present, pushing forward in hopes that people would be gathered there safely once they exited on the other side. Most of the town had been evacuated, surely there couldn't be more Shadow Pokémon waiting.
It took hours with the congestion of the crowd to get through the long tunnel. But no fiery doom came from behind them, Torkoal's sacrifice having worked to stop the monster who wore the skin of an indeedee.
At least for the time being.
To his relief, there was, in fact, a large collection of pokémon all stunned and waiting around. No attacks had fallen upon them. Perhaps Chimecho…?
No. He couldn't think of that. He had to focus!
"People!" Armaldo barked. "Begin to line up. We have to determine who's missing." Not if anyone was missing, just who.
The anxious pokémon turned to him. Some with that one last bit of hope, others with the deepening scowls of those expecting someone better.
Expecting Torkoal…or Rhythm.
His eyes burned; his claws had dried blood on them. His-
Stop. Thinking. About. It.
Whispers of what had occurred had been passed to those who had fled earlier. Disbelief was flickering through the town; pokémon were looking to pokémon and asking if it was true. That Guildmaster Wigglytuff had-
"Are the children safe?" Armaldo continued, forcing his lungs to work even as everything wanted to clench down and collapse. His voice strained for a moment before pokémon parted and gestured, calling a name.
Chansey.
"I have them," she said, her voice as stable as his way. Level, but strained to the point that it was clear she was fighting to remain calm. Behind her huddled a lot of young pokémon. Some had parents and were with them; others were Chansey's charges. Banette's too, where was she?
A trio of children, in particular, were sobbing. In the haze of battle, Armaldo hadn't counted faces, but they were the same three that Rhythm had carried up to the guild before throwing into the arms of Xatu and Electivire.
"She's not here," a weak, broken voice whispered. In the grieving silence, it might as well have been as loud as a whip crack.
Armaldo spun and stared at Sunflora, staring blankly back the way she had come. "I've begun to count everyone." The word was a weighty one. Sunflora knew everyone in town. Literally everyone. If there were missing people, she'd know.
"…where did you come from?" Armaldo managed; that was good. She was okay. Well, clearly not okay. But she was safe.
Or was she? Why had she shown up now out of nowhere? His eyes narrowed as suspicion couldn't help but flare up in his mind.
That was not the expression that Team Voyage's blossoming young explorer Sunflora wore.
"I was the first to come to warn you," she whispered. "Indeedee killed Loudred and Corphish. I ran back to town. When I got here, I ran into M-Me-Chimecho first."
An ache settled in his chest.
"So, she was?" he asked.
Sunflora nodded. Like a fire on a grass field, that information spread through the town. Another Shadow Pokémon! One of their own, for how long?
"…" Armaldo breathed out a hard breath, only barely avoiding grabbing his head. This was too much; it was too much. How was he the only one standing? Where were Team Sunrise, Azelf, Rhy-
His left eye watered, a tear slipping out before he could hold it back. It was not followed by another, but so many eyes were on him.
"Where is Wigglytuff?" someone finally called, refusing to believe it.
"He's…gone."
"I don't believe it!"
"We saw it."
A muffled choking sob passed a few lips. Guildmaster Wigglytuff, the pillar of Treasure Town.
Elder Torkoal, the founder and leader.
All they had left was Armaldo.
And not every eye looked okay with that.
"What do we do!?" someone, Charmeleon, called, pushing past a few pokémon to glare up at Armaldo. "Machoke is hurt! People are hurt and scared. What do we do?"
Armaldo took a deep breath. "Azelf," he called. "Where are you?"
"I am here." Azelf rose from where they had been kneeling with some injured pokémon. "I have passed every word to Uxie."
"What is going on in that end?"
"Chaos," Azelf admitted.
"Get a teleporter here," Armaldo barked.
"A teleporter cannot move the entire town." Azelf blinked.
"No. But we have children and injured parties who must get out of here before something else happens." His eyes were roving the edges of the town, trying to track a hundred different things at once. Was Sunflora' okay', was that a member of the town, was that tree a hiding spot?
Azelf nodded. "I believe Scizor has shouted at everything to stop," they said. "Perhaps he can wrangle some control."
"Let me speak to him," Armaldo said, stepping up to Azelf. They nodded, requesting Uxie to push the matter.
"Scizor is busy shouting and threatening people with swords," Azelf explained.
"Dammit. Once he can speak, interrupt. Him. Me. I don't care; we have to speak."
He stomped over to where the injured pokémon were being treated as best as they could at the time. Charmeleon had returned to Machoke's side after what he had said, hovering worriedly over his partner as Machoke breathed. He was unconscious; a bloody rose bloomed on his chest from where that barb had struck him.
Armaldo had seen it happen, only able to order him taken away before closing the spot it had caused. Their bastion had grown smaller every few moments as more and more people were badly injured, clustering together as the stragglers were picked off one by one.
He'd never experienced something like that before.
He never wanted to again.
He planted himself nearby. There were two big targets, but, as harsh as it was, the children were more likely to endure if an attack came than pokémon already injured.
To his deep horror, there were unconscious kids here too. Grookey and Magby lay close to each other; their chests were moving thankfully.
"Armaldo," Azelf said, finally coming up to him as word came through.
"Scizor there?"
"Yes."
"Scizor. I'll give you verbal coordinates as to where we are. This position is unsafe and needs to be evacuated immediately. We have injured and children who need to be moved immediately."
"I understand that. Give me the coordinates. We only have two teleporters on hand at the moment. However, not everyone can be moved. How unsafe is it?"
As Armaldo gave the coordinates, he explained. "Chimecho was a shadow pokémon spy. She knows where this location leads. Torkoal has made a sacrifice to destroy the entrance, but I am not convinced there isn't danger here at the moment. Regardless, Indeedee duelled and…killed…Wigglytuff. I do not know how long it will take her to reach this location with the apparent injuries she received, but if she does arrive, it'll be a slaughter."
"Understood. Kirlia and Claydol will arrive momentarily. I'll give you time to warn the town; I expect some tension to new arrivals. Have you determined who is missing?"
"We are on our way to that." Sunflora was under a lot of eyes, and she was moving like a doll, counting who and what. "Approximately thirty injured pokémon, sixteen of them being severely injured and in need of urgent medical attention. Two children are also injured."
Azelf didn't speak for a moment, as apparently Cara needed a moment. "Understood. Armaldo, we will not be able to evacuate everybody. You'll need to start moving the town to a safer spot."
How? Armaldo wanted to ask. They wouldn't listen to him. No, they'd have to.
"Consider it done," he growled. Azelf nodded, the connection going inert.
"People!" Armaldo shouted, people jumped. "Good news and bad news. The Federation is sending teleporters, but they are limited in capacity, and after the children and the injured are taken, we have to move."
Question began to bubble up, but he ignored them, as a good leader should, and began to stride into the middle of the townsfolk. "Rest assured that you will-"
Armaldo roared out as a sudden barb of dark lightning speared him in the spine, collapsing onto his front as his body seized and stopped working for a moment, crashing down like a big rock overturned.
The townsfolk reacted well to this.
As certain skilled pokémon immediately moved to action, Guardian and Striker, the sudden rampage of the town, pokémon screaming and tripping over each other to run away from the direction that attack had come from buried and knocked them back.
People began to run, but Saniya and a few exploration teams darted in the way, holding the crowd back from collapsing and running into the wilderness to become easy prey.
"STOP BEING MINDLESS MAREEP, AND SETTLE!" Saniya bellowed, a psychic pulse snaring over two dozen pokémon and lifting them up. "If you always react like this, you'll get yourself KILLED out there! SETTLE THE FUCK DOWN, AND DON'T RUN OFF!"
Blades broke the underbrush to reveal nothing to Guardian's baleful eye. "Where?" he growled, fingers twitching erratically.
Striker joined him, and they carefully stepped out of the 'safe circle' to look about.
Nothing except track marks and overturned dirt as a something, or two by the looks of the tracks, had run off.
Armaldo was groaning, pushing himself up with his claws as his back smoked. He managed to push himself up and grabbed at his chest; a starburst had appeared on his front, along the chink in his armour. It was a deep nasty orange, and blood was trickling.
Saniya, satisfied after seeing the others able to handle the crowd, flew over to him and immediately began to move her hands in a complicated manner, drawing out what was the remnants of a shadow attack that had left the lingering burn and began to apply a watery dew in its place.
He was gasping for breath, which began to ease as she worked on him. "Thank you," he muttered. The wound was not healed, but it'd do for now.
"What the fuck was THAT?" Charmeleon demanded, braced in front of Machoke. "Who did that?"
"They're gone," Striker muttered.
"GONE?" Charmeleon yelled. "HOW DO YOU KNOW THAT?"
"It would be foolish to remain," Guardian rumbled, fingers still twitching erratically, looking like they wanted to choke something. "They took their shot, and it failed."
"That was a shadow attack!"
"They're already here!"
"LET US GO!"
"Nowhere is safe, is it?"
"You're such…panicky pokémon," Armaldo growled, his head, and now his chest was aching. "Take a moment. Breathe. CALM DOWN!"
"That's rich coming from the guy shouting at people!" Charmeleon called back. "Why are there already Shadow Pokémon here! You know, don't you?"
He could make a guess, but he didn't need to as it was not a question.
"BECAUSE CHIMECHO TOLD THEM!" Charmeleon bellowed. Sunflora whimpered. "Who else is a Shadow Pokémon!? IS IT SUNFLORA!?"
Eyes had drifted off her, but they spun back as Sunflora looked lost and helpless under the eyes.
"Where's Granbull?"
"Spinda's acting weird!"
"Armaldo is sabotaging!"
"Dusknoir always knew too much; how do we know he isn't?"
"SILENCE!" Armaldo bellowed. "Stop speaking baseless accusations. Was this NOT what Torkoal spoke against?"
"Well, Torkoal's dead!" Charmeleon shouted back. "So is Wigglytuff! So is SO MANY people! What are we going to do if WIGGLYTUFF couldn't beat that psycho!?"
"We are going to get you somewhere safe," Armaldo began, shaking.
"Machoke is DYING," Charmeleon crying. "How LONG IS THIS IS GOING TO TAKE!"
"I AM GIVING YOU THE ANSWERS!" Armaldo's tension snapped. "FOR ONCE IN YOUR FUCKING LIVES, LISTEN TO FACTS! Why is it that EVERY TIME something happens, you all fucking panic? You don't think for yourselves. You just wait around, hoping someone else will tell you what to do. WELL, I AM TELLING YOU WHAT TO DO!"
"NOBODY LIKES YOU!" Charmeleon screamed. "WHY SHOULD WE CARE WHAT YOU HAVE TO SAY? CHATOT DIED TOO, AND YOU REPLACED HIM! NO ONE WANTED YOU AROUND!"
Armaldo snarled low and dangerously, but Charmeleon hardly cared.
"Is this a bad time?"
Their heads snapped to the new voice, shy little Kirlia shrunk near Claydol, who was watching impassively.
"Not to interrupt your screaming match, but we're ready to move the kids and injured," she said.
Armaldo jerked his head at Charmeleon, who was with the injured and didn't say a word.
No one approached him as he just stood in silence.
"This is a lot of kids." Kirlia winced. "It's fine; I can do this."
Claydol planted themselves in the middle of the injured group and began to hum, a deep sound that raised gooseflesh under fur. Long-range teleportation took time, effort, a lot of focus and physical contact. So, the working pokémon began to carefully move the injured so that they were all touching.
"Directive: As many on me as well," Claydol said. The more contact points, the less likely something would go wrong.
"If this place is dangerous," Kirlia whispered to Chansey. "Could some pokémon keep an eye out on me? Attacking teleporters is a popular strat for some brands of psychos."
Chansey nodded, corralling the kids with a game of hokey-pokey to get everyone holding onto each other, a shaky song being called out into the silence left by the argument.
Team Sunrise, Poochy, Ebony, Glee, Slacker, Flame, and Flick all kept guard of the teleporters, ready and waiting for another attack.
Thankfully, it did not come, and the rising anticipation that lifted chests as a show of great Power rose up. A blinding flash of light, and then they were gone.
Unfortunately, a travel of that distance and numbers would put both of them out of commission for a couple days.
Thus, Azelf floated to Armaldo. "Scizor has given us a location to travel towards," they said quietly.
Armaldo's stony face didn't react at first before he blinked. "Alright, people, we have a location to move towards. This is a very large group, our movements will not be discrete nor quick, and there are dangers in the woods."
He paused for a moment. "The group is too large to safely escort in time. Speed is of the essence, as is safety. Thus, under the guard of the various teams here, we will travel in close groups. Sunflora, to me, I'll need your assistance in finishing my idea."
Sunflora looked up and drifted over, feeling the weight of eyes upon her. "How can I help?" It was a small word, almost desperately pleading.
"You know the town best," he said. "For best safety, balancing out who goes with who and how many."
She nodded and began to discuss the matter as edgy pokémon began to calm down enough to accept being pushed back towards the others. Safety in numbers, not blindly running out into the woods. Embarrassed thanks were given from some.
Armaldo was aware that asking her help was dicey at best and affected the people's trust in him even more. Charmeleon had said it, though. No one liked him here anyway. He wasn't going to start trying to appeal. He was all they had left, something he could see as Saniya was whispering to Guardian and Striker.
It hadn't escaped his notice that Sean had moved away from the injured pokémon as Claydol began to ready to move. He was awake, a little dazed, and was being filled in on what was going on.
Partway into his debate with Sunflora, Saniya and Sean approached.
"You have the look of an idea," he said as Sunflora looked up to them in a blanket of relief and shame.
Saniya met her eyes once before they both glanced away. Ah, that's right, Saniya was reasonably close to Chimecho as well.
"Guardian and I were planning it already," Sean said quietly. He was aching everywhere. "Go to Giratina for help."
Armaldo considered it before nodding. "Just the two of you?" The two purifiers they had.
A nod from them.
"Very well. I am on emergency preservation focus, but I acknowledge that dire aid is needed. The sooner we get it, the better."
Saniya glanced down guiltily. "I feel…bad. The two of us…."
"Can help in other ways," Armaldo said tiredly. "If nothing else, you two need to be safe. To save…those were turned. Away from here is safe."
Here is unsafe. Here is a place that needs all the help it can get.
She still looked guilty. "I…."
"There's nothing better you could do," Armaldo said, trying to be comforting but possibly just sounding insulting instead. And he realised that. "By that, I mean…focus on the bigger picture."
"Legends are meant to be good at that," Saniya said softly. "I was meant to be good at that. At some point, I caught feelings."
"And we love you for it," Sean smiled, managing a smile. He was still processing what he'd been told. It was hard to believe, if just because how?
Saniya managed a smile of her own before it faded. "Okay. You gotta promise you you'll stay safe and be okay?"
"I thought I was a big gross bug?"
"You are. No one's allowed to squash you but me."
Chitin rolled his eyes. "Get going already. I have work to do."
Saniya glanced to Sunflora, and Sunflora glanced back.
"… I'll help you if you need?" she asked.
Sunflora's eyes seemed to grow even sadder, and she shook her head. "Melody didn't turn me." Just broke her heart.
"I mean, I can help you with her if…."
Sunflora didn't know, and her expression said as much. Saniya nodded. "Stay safe, everyone. Where do we meet you?"
Armaldo gave her the location by a whisper, and Saniya nodded, floating back. Sean stepped with her, and they walked back to Striker and Guardian to say goodbye.
"Be. Safe. Okay?" Saniya asked, hanging onto Striker by his neck.
"We'll do our best," Striker replied. "Don't get into any trouble yourself."
Sean clasped Guardian's hand for a long moment before Guardian pulled him into a hug. "Good luck," he whispered.
"You too," Sean whispered back.
"It's hard to believe you're about eye-level with me now," Striker said as Sean turned to him.
"Might even get taller; who knows, I might still have more time to grow."
Striker smiled, closing his eyes. "Don't take too long, okay? We only just met up again."
Sean nodded. Hugging him too, Striker patted his back.
"Guards, you've got to make sure that everyone is safe. Imagine they're all Scout, okay?"
"Hard to imagine," Guardian rumbled. "But I'll try."
She smiled. "That's all we ever ask." She embraced his head. "We won't be long, hopefully."
"I'm sure you'll count the minutes."
"I will," she giggled.
"Not long then. See you later, rather than goodbye?"
"I like that. See you later, Guards. See you later, Strikey."
They both saluted her, and she giggled, taking Sean's paw in her hand. "Ready?" she asked.
"About as much as I can be."
"Hold onto your giblets them."
And they disappeared.
She awoke to the sounds of distant chatter, moving rocks, and the pounding of blood in her head.
A push of force pressed stones away from where they were jamming her most uncomfortably. Soon enough, the First Fallen crawled out of her own cremation pit, the ash of her body scattering into the soft breeze and blowing into the sea.
She fought to remember everything she could. Everything up to Torkoal's last act of defiance. Then just scatterings of agony as everything burned, whether it was seconds that had stretched to feel like hours or actual hours of pain as she cycled in and out of consciousness, she couldn't tell.
It did not matter, however. For she stood once more and the sounds of the graveyard fell silence, the wind itself shuddering as the demon awoke and survived.
Turning to look down the hill, she could see the collected Shadow Pokémon she had spent months and years training and breaking to her will, as well as the fresher ones who had either wandered off or remained with the group, jittery and liable to lash out at the smallest moment.
None of them had maintained full self-awareness after the massacre of Blackstone Village. Truthfully, she was a bit let down by that. She thought she'd guided them well and had high hopes for at least a few to maintain themselves.
Yet, it seemed that none of them had. Ah well, it didn't really matter, but she'd have liked to chat with a few just to see how they felt about her true nature after all these years.
Rumble and Kogeki were hardly good conversationalists, and Tempo was just all stiff and prim without much fun to her. Either way, none of them were here. She had sent them to their own project while leading the rest to the town.
The area was not completely barren of comprehensive speech, however. Dear Melody was approaching her with a guarded expression of relief, an emotional state belying nervousness and worry.
She didn't believe it for a second. Below them, both bubbled realer emotions, but she wouldn't address them so soon.
"You've woken," Melody said carefully.
Nelia popped her back with a grunt. "Bit of a nap," she said, shaking off more of the ash that Torkoal had incinerated parts of her body too. To his credit, after going through the slaughterhouse that was Rhythm, his final attack had gotten reasonably close to a level of lethality even she might not have been able to endure.
She shouldn't have let him speak, that was a classic villain monologuing mistake, but she hadn't been thinking clearly by that point. She accepted that one was on her and requested forgiveness of the bubbling miasma that curled lovingly around her mind, poking through her very soul.
It did not hate her, at least, that she was sure of. She enjoyed the feeling of the taint within her for a pleasurable moment before deciding to address Melody.
"Well, that sucked," she said conversationally. She threw an arm around Melody, pulling her towards her so that she wasn't just embracing air. "Did you see when Rhythm split me in half? Haven't received a pounding like that since that one aggressive steelix."
Melody's sheer discomfort expressed how she felt about this conversation and closeness.
"Ahh…dear. That was a bit of a cock-up; I really didn't expect the whole friendship and unity thing to hold up so well under hordes of rampaging monsters. They really organised well, didn't they?"
"I…suppose." Stiffness, didn't care, nothing was worth anything. Tiniest glimmer of pride of being part of a group so flexible, even against Her.
"Nuking himself to bury the path too, for an old mon, he was quick to think up the only practical solution." She stared at the collapse for a long minute, a poke of pink stuck out, a reminder of the hole she'd proverbially buried Rhythm in. "I have to give some respect to that. Unburying that will take too long, and the others won't be dumb enough to attack most of a town without backup."
"So…what is the plan of action?" Melody asked daringly.
"We're gonna get a big group of Shadow Pokémon." She raised a hand. "Then capture a big group of non-Shadows." And the other. "And then put them in a room until they sort out their little business." She smushed her hands together like she was scrubbing them vigorously against terrible stains.
Melody didn't quite respond.
"Tough audience, I guess." Nelia rolled her eyes. "Do you have the goods?" she asked, glancing at Melody through the side of her eyes, a grin curling at her mouth.
At that, Melody straightened up. "I-yes." From behind her, she called up something hidden away from the aggressive shadows, a long, thin package wrapped in gauze.
"Ahh, Melody," Nelia crooned, reaching forth to grasp her prize. She unwrapped it like a gift she had been eagerly waiting for and marvelled at the dehydrated, essentially mummified, arm. "I've been around for what the scholars call a Fuck Tonne of Years, and I must say you're definitely my favourite person in history."
Melody preened at that, as much as she didn't want to. The acknowledgement of one so powerful was exciting, even if it left her feeling dirty in a way that no amount of water could scrub.
Nelia continued to marvel at Darkrai's severed arm, feeling along the scaley skin, staring curiously at skin flakes on her fingers like she was considering tasting it before frowning at the idea. She observed the clean slice that had severed it with something resembling pride. "Aww, Scout's first dismembering." She smiled. "That we know of at least."
Melody swallowed her disgust before it could bubble up and allow the indeedee to sense it. "May I ask…?" she began, not sure if she should. Even saying that, however, was enough of a question.
"No," Nelia crooned, looking all the world like she had found her perfect cue to play billiards with. "But I'll answer anyway. I have so few peers, you see. Shadow's that are truly akin to myself are…well, they aren't. I would have liked to imagine Darkrai was. After all, the legends were supposed to be immune to the touch of Shadow. And the only other one that might deserve such a role is playing the part of a renegade at the moment."
At that reminder, however, she perked up. "Ooh, I do wonder. Keep an eye out for Soothe and Scout, won't you? Part of the reason for my trip here, other than retrieving this gift." She stroked the arm. "Was to run into them. It's rather important."
"Both of them?" Melody asked. It was daring to do so, but Nelia appeared to be in a good mood despite her recent cremation.
"Tee-hee-hee. Oops, probably shouldn't have said that," she giggled, slapping her cheek with Darkrai's claw-like she was crying ', Oh No'. It was horrifying.
"My apologies," Melody said swiftly. For many years she had not known an inkling of fear about the one who called her Indeedee. She was a saviour, someone to ensure she would not hurt anyone. Her guide to live a life that was taken from her by that bestial manectric.
All she had to do was tell her the gossip. As a close confidant of the Clefable Guild, Melody had assumed she was simply leaking trade secrets to a rival and little more. She couldn't believe her own folly, why she hadn't pressed to understand more about it all.
Now she understood. Understood to who she had solved her life to. The stinking smoke lingering over Treasure Town clouded everything; every breath was a reminder of what she had done for her own survival.
Was it worth it?
She gifted the Fallen with her terrible prize and tried not to think about it. She wasn't liable to compassion anymore. It had served her ironically well as a nurse. She was not perturbed by certain grizzly elements of the work that had stopped Chansey from taking the role of Guild Medic before her.
She could listen to their screaming and not be bothered by anything more than the noise and ensure that they would be okay because she was proud of her skills and would never accept shoddy work done.
The lingering Hunger was a solved issue, and her newly-founded psychopathy only improved her skills as a healer. It had been so easy to get into Blossom's circle of trust, despite that circle being smaller than most would realise. She simply had to say the right things at the right time and continue sharing a room with the other girl.
At what point along the way had she found a memory to care for in return?
She could still remember, after all. What it was like to care. To love. In comparison to what she used to be, Melody knew that Blossom was a faint reflection of it all. She felt like Blossom belonged to her in a way, but she wanted to see her succeed, be happy. She had wanted to want that and had let her go when the time came.
Was that right? She could have argued the point, tried harder to divert Team Voyage's path from tracking a killer for the sake of a friend to something suited to their team's overall interests.
Of course, Indeedee was a monster.
So was she.
She just hadn't wanted to admit it. Because to admit that Indeedee was twisted was to admit that she was too.
The silence that had taken Treasure Town taunted her with those thoughts. Because there was nothing else to listen to.
Nelia watched Melody partway through her introspection, still fixated on the arm. It had to be secured properly and protected for the right time, prepared for its noble purpose. She couldn't wait. One more piece to her puzzle to replace the one Sean had stolen.
That was annoying.
She still had three things left to get, and one of them was needed first.
"We'll be paying someone a visit soon," Nelia said, finally giving an answer to their direction from here. "Gotta move the horde before the newcomers revive. Don't need to see how they felt about all this." Rhythm would revive. That was…potentially problematic.
"I'm done lazing about," she continued, beginning to descend the steps. "Come along, Melody. You're going to be very important for the next step or two."
Melody began to float after her as Nelia's mind raced. Things had gone well as well as not well. Well enough, however. It was still up in the air if it would go better, but she hoped that the threat and display were enough to pull her old buddy out of hiding.
Soothe was such a nostalgic kind of person, after all.
The Day Trill Was Purified
"Are you certain you're okay?"
"Once again, Meowth, yes. I'm fine."
Soothe was watching the amusing reversal of roles as Scout fussed over Trill like a concerned mother hen. They'd finished hugging it out, moved onto crying, then more hugging before whispering to each other for a while before Scout was even willing to step out of the fussy old bird's space.
He had expressed a flicker of concern for Soothe, too, when he had noticed she was still there, standing around like she wasn't awkward. Because she wasn't. She was never awkward.
Her answer was accepted a lot easier than Trill's, something he came to use. "Enough, Scout. You accepted Soothe's answer; why not mine?"
"I'm just…ah!" Scout hugged him again. "That was the scariest thing I've ever seen, and I have seen a lot of scary things. Primal Dialga. Maybe-Rai summoning a horde of puppets to attack me and Mane. Darkrai's everything."
Soothe crossed her arms, not sure if she should be offended or not.
"When she reached into your chest…."
"I'm fine," Trill repeated, softer this time. Scout had patted him down for bleeding or massive gaping holes and continued to find nothing. "Whatever she did, didn't actually involve tearing my chest open."
"Didn't feel like it either!" Soothe called loudly, inserting herself into this conversation in the smoothest of all manners.
She shivered briefly for reasons she couldn't place
"And you know what it's like to stick your hand in someone's chest?" Scout asked, between dubiousness and horror.
"Yeah. So?"
"That's the worst thing I've heard you say."
"You're not going to like it when I say 'hence' or 'sure' then."
Scout narrowed his eyes on her, detecting humour, and that was always a double-edged sword from Soothe.
Whether it would be offensive, a pun, an offensive pun, or bizarrely funny.
Or just fall flat. Which felt scarier when they didn't.
Even if he'd just insult her for a terrible taste in comedy.
Scout couldn't quite place when his fear of Soothe changed, but it was probably around the eleventh time she made a cutting comment about someone else's character.
"He's fine, Scout," Soothe said, looking Trill over. "I shot him with some healing rays, and he didn't scream like the first time."
"It's just…hard to believe."
She snorted. "We're the Shadow Pokémon here. Or, one's former, I guess." The way she looked at Trill. For the first time, her eyes were truly bright, there was…happiness there and something grimmer and darker, beaten down over years and years and years to the point it was too painful to ponder.
"I don't want to jump to conclusions so swiftly myself," Trill said, shaking his feathers. Scout couldn't help but smile. The odd cadence to Trill's voice was gone; he sounded like himself again. It was a small thing like that which convinced him more than the disco light show, and all the screaming had. "However…."
He glanced up at Soothe, and she met his gaze before they both glanced away. "Yeah, it is hard to believe," she muttered, clenching a hand before spreading her fingers, staring at her palm. "How did I even do it? Actually, on that topic, how did you do that?" she asked Scout.
"Me?"
"Yeah, you." She stared at him unblinkingly. "You told him to stop, and he just…did."
"I do not have a perfect recollection of my actions after I was lost to rage," Trill admitted, shuffling in place. "However, there is a sharply fixated point. A command to 'stop'. And so I did."
Eyes turned to Scout, who looked all the world like he was going for the record of most uncomfortable person ever.
"Do you have any idea?" Soothe asked Scout seriously. He shook his head.
"I would imagine that this is something quite important," Trill said stiffly. "Gives a tangible reason why Indeedee may be after you as well. Why you know what you know."
Scout rubbed his arm, feeling ashamed for things he could not place. "I think…this isn't the first time I've done something like that."
Soothe straightened up as Trill hopped over to Scout. "Explain if you would?" he asked.
"In Amp Plains," Scout said, frowning. "When…when we were getting attacked by Manectric's lackeys, I yelled at them to stop as well. And they did. Only for a moment, though. I never thought anything of it; there was too much going on."
"That's…interesting," Trill settled on, the word taking some time to form; perhaps he had changed the word.
"Real interesting," Soothe said a lot easier. "Hm. Controlling the psycho's had been a problem. She never could control Pyroar, nor me. And you can't really control the feral ones at all; they do whatever the fuck they want."
"So…you think I'm just a weapon she made?" The thought left him feeling sick. He'd wanted to focus on Trill being saved, but they were talking about this instead. Keira's words came back to him, but she was gone, and he was here.
"Probably," Soothe said, almost popping her lips on the word.
"Great."
"Scout, don't take this to heart," Trill said, going into a rare old mood of his. Guild Dad Mode. "Regardless of your past, you are you now. It does not matter what the schemes of madmon set in motion; what matters is what you have done, who you have chosen to be."
It was a little cheesy; Scout might admit that to Soothe, but it helped, and he smiled. "I…thanks. You're right; I know I shouldn't focus on thoughts like that."
"We don't know if it's true either," Soothe said. "Just to pile onto the happy support hour." Her tone was as comforting as a rusty nail sticking out of a floorboard. "But, you know, probably is about on track."
Scout sighed. Oddly enough, his annoyance towards Soothe helped set aside the ill-feeling to focus on her. "A barrel of sunshine you are."
She gave him a finger gun. One, which has seen what she did with those, caused him to flinch and dart out of the way. She snorted at him, it was no pistol shot, and Scout huffed as even Trill withheld a laugh as a cough.
"Okay," he said. "New topic. Treasure Town. Trill, have you changed your mind."
Soothe's eyes rose in disbelief. "Oh, you're not actually trying that, are you?"
"I…I suppose it has," Trill said.
"Oh, you're not actually trying that are you?" she repeated, thrice as dangerously.
Scout stood with Trill as he rose his beak and ruffled his feathers. "In light of what just happened," he began.
"Something you can thank me for, you're welcome for returning you back to life by stopping you from hurting Scout and ripping out the corruption out of you. You know, you're welcome for that Trill."
Trill couldn't hold back a wince from hearing that. "Ah…I didn't actually thank you yet, have I?"
"I don't remember hearing it. Could be wrong though, it's not like these giant ears don't hear everything around me."
"Soothe…."
"No, no, I get it. I'm just-"
"Don't finish that sentence." Trill's voice was clipped. "Please. I could never tell it to you before, but the loss of you haunted us both all this time."
"Not sure if you're trying to make me feel better about trying to kill you both…."
His features softened into a mixture of sadness, regret, guilt, and empathy. "I allowed myself to believe Rhythm had killed you partially because the idea of you suffering in that state at all was too much to bear. We didn't speak about you. Shame clouding both of us."
"Wow, you really do know how to make that sound so nice and good. Tell me more about how I fucked you two up? Did I ever tell you that you were one of my favourite characters from the game? I liked the dorky tax bird who wasn't as bad as he seemed."
"Similar to yourself," he said softly, staring at her as she half-turned away from him. "We installed the security grate as a memory to you."
"Something that happened in the games either way."
"Something we did for you."
"Nothing I did matter, okay?" Soothe snapped. "Literally nothing I did change anything. The game's plot still happened. I could not have existed, and nothing would have been different only you two wouldn't have been suffering from guilt for twenty fucking years!"
She panted, clamming up as she realised she'd spoken more than she had ever meant to. More about how she felt than she had meant to.
And she hated the way Trill's expression softened into a look of real sadness and sympathy. She hated it so much she could rip his feathers out and drag her thorn down hi-
She twitched and shook her head, cursing herself for losing control of her emotions even for a moment. Intrusive thoughts were bad, worse when it was a literal force inserting them into her head.
Trill didn't know what to say or do to convince her others, he had feelings and emotions but no words to put them to.
"The times we had were happy," Trill managed, just not thinking out his words in advance. "The happiest times of my life were when we were together."
"Ugh." She sounded like she was ready to gag. "If you dare say 'I love you', I will vomit."
He didn't roll his eyes, she was just trying to distract him, and he was wise to her tricks. "My life was better for having known you," he said softly. She stilled. "You can say you made no difference, and I know nothing I can say here will just change that thought you have of yourself. But you and Scout told me of this story you experienced, characters you had grown to care for even if they 'weren't real'. I would choose this over that. If I had the option to go to that possibly simpler world and forget all this, it would not even be a consideration."
She turned slightly to him. "You don't know what you're saying," she replied. "That world has no Indeedee."
"And I'd still choose this one."
She recoiled. "How can you say that? You've BEEN around her?"
"And I have been around you."
"It would be selfish."
"I'm not saying I would erase one world for another. And even if that was the choice, it would be the same."
"Any sacrifice is worth destroying her."
He slowly shook his head. "That's what she wants us to believe," he said.
"You're so wise now that you're purified," she said in a tone only the most bitter it could be. Before he could reply, she shook her head. "We're not discussing this. What we're doing is starting to move. If Scout and I can purify, then we can do something after the fact. You win, alright. Let's start moving south. Because we're going to have a lot of people to help very soon."
She began to walk, not waiting on them.
Trill turned to Scout as he stared after her, lost for words. "…I spent only a few long months around that monster. To be in her presence is to be sapped of hope. And to be a Shadow is to be numb as well. Don't… don't judge her, please. It's remarkable she's still even a fraction of herself after all this time."
"What…what was she like before?"
Trill smiled a sad, nostalgic smile. "It's hard to explain because, on the surface, she's exactly as she used to be. After so long, that in itself is…something. However…did it seem like there was something missing to me recently?"
"Yeah." Scout nodded. He couldn't put a word to it, but there was 'something'.
"That's what it's like. In addition, buried under the walls of spite and defiance, she wears like a shield could be…ah. I don't even want to imagine the pain she may be refusing to acknowledge. Now that I've heard her speak of sacrifice, I don't even want to fathom it."
Scout couldn't really put an arm around his shoulders, so he just stuck close to Trill as they walked after Soothe, the audino never looking back at them once until it was time to stop for the night.
As usual, Soothe did not sleep that night.
/
"I have an odd topic for the night."
Soothe, and Trill continued to eat as Scout announced that, but they did turn to give him attention.
"Are Shadow Pokémon zombies?"
Soothe coughed on her noodles as Trill cocked his head. "What is a zombie?"
"Uh…like a reanimated corpse."
"Oh." He considered for a moment. "Yes."
"Now hold on," Soothe said, putting aside her bowl. "Zombies remain dead. As has been proven, Trill is alive again. I don't think you can unkill something to make it alive."
"Zombies also make more of themselves by killing other people."
Trill gave Soothe a look that said the matter was closed, and she couldn't really argue against that one.
"Okay. Part two."
"I'm not a zombie, Scout." Soothe rolled her eyes. "I never actually got killed to become this. It just happened."
"Well, zombie bites also can turn."
"I'm not a zombie!"
"It sounds like you're a zombie," Trill said placatingly.
"I'm 'infected' at best. I can control myself. I don't feel the urge to eat brains. Although it's beginning to happen now."
"Would she notice if she got killed and turned?" Scout continued to wonder, heedless of Soothe.
"Yes," Trill said, a touch of strain entering his voice. Speaking of a lot of things in a single syllable without saying any of them. Scout's humour faded as he realised this was actually probably really offensive.
"Sorry," he said.
"As long as we agree I'm not a zombie, you're forgiven."
"Fine, you're not a zombie. That honour goes to parasect."
Soothe, and Scout shuddered in unison. Trill shook his head. "Goodness, I'd forgotten that you both had that ridiculous fear."
"It's not ridiculous!" they said in unison.
"Possessed by a mushroom-"
"Blank white eyes-"
"Really creepy-"
"How can you-"
"Enough!" Trill barked. "They're people like you and I. Creepy people, true, but not deserving of this ridiculous phobia!"
Chastised, Scout apologised again while Soothe just crossed her arm and turned away with a humph.
/
"I can't believe it. Chatot likes puns?"
"Oh, come on, if you're even a little bit me, you love puns!"
"I do," Scout confirmed. "But one of us has to be outraged, and you're encouraging this. Good grief, you two are the rawst."
There was a moment before they both snorted, and Scout couldn't hide his grin behind a glare of annoyance either.
"I can't believe I have to enDurin this," Trill sighed.
/
"What do you even remember of 'your life'?" Soothe asked curiously. "Because, you know, I have secrets I'd rather not have out in someone else's head." As then, Indeedee would know them too, maybe. She wasn't sure, and every idea seemed terrible.
"Well, uh…." Scout scratched behind his ear as he thought. "To be honest, not much. I know I, you, grew up in Victoria." An expression twitched on Soothe's face, like a smile but not quite. "And…yeah. I remember feeling concerned that I couldn't remember my mother, but I guess that's why. I remember a bunch of pokémon and other kinds of media's. Not much about your actual life, though."
She nodded. "That's good to know. And it does make sense, I think. When she ripped it all out, she was probably just looking for what I knew that was important. And pokémon goes into so many different kinds of media's that it all just got grouped together."
"You sound like you know what you're talking about."
"Do I? Good."
/
"What is…the best number?" Trill asked.
"Oh, here we go," Soothe groaned.
"The best number is seventy-three," Trill said importantly.
"I told him the reference years back," Soothe groaned. "I thought I was clever. I didn't know what I was doing; he brings this up all the time. And I haven't been around for years!"
"Why is it the best number?" Trill continued, seemingly deaf to Soothe's complaints.
"Nooo!"
"It is the best number because…."
Soothe clapped her hands over her ears, which didn't help at all, while Scout fought to keep his face neutral and interested.
/
"If you don't mind a nosy mons curiosity," Trill said, hopping along next to Scout as Soothe whistled a jaunty tune. "I was wondering when young Shinx told you of his feelings?"
"Wait, did you know about that back then?"
"Scout, please," Trill sniffed. "As the head of intelligence for the guild, it is my business to know as much of the goings-on as possible."
"What he means to say is that he was probably blindingly obvious, and there was a betting pool running," Soothe said loudly.
"There was not a betting pool!"
"How much did you bet?"
"…ahem. Anyway."
Scout gave him a flat look that led Trill to nervously ruffle his feathers, but he decided to answer because it was a nice memory. "Well, they freaked me out after I came back from oblivion by both flirting with me. I'd already seen that they were together and figured…." Well, he didn't finish that sentence. "And then they made it rather clear. Took me a bit of time to adjust to the idea. I'd avoided really thinking about it before, yes even with Mane on the team."
He nodded. "I suppose that's fair enough. When did you…tell everyone what you told me in the dark time?"
For a moment, he didn't quite realise what Trill was asking, then he knew. The memory was clear despite being part of a paradox. Scout swallowed as a pang of phantom guilt came back sharply. "I, uh…told them all once I was revived by Darkrai. Or, actually, after I realised you…."
Trill nodded. "I'm glad."
Scout smiled sadly. "I am too. It really marked a change for me. It was really difficult to do, I'd thought about it so much, but the idea to tell anyone, even you, just made me so afraid."
"Because of me," Soothe muttered, inserting herself into the conversation.
Scout frowned. "What about you two? When did this come up between you?"
"I told him on the road to Blackstone," she answered. "I figured Indeedee would in an effort to do some stupid manipulation."
"However, she never could explain why she hadn't told us before," Trill said heavily. "Despite two years together and many opportunities."
Soothe's face twitched, and she turned away.
Scout knew it wasn't really his place to say, but he also knew that Soothe wouldn't. "She told me that it was because of the trauma Indeedee did to her when she told her," he said.
Soothe spun a dangerous glare on him, but he pursed his lips and stared back.
"I see," Trill said softly. "And that affects you…?"
"I guess I have a shadow of that trauma, so the thought of trusting anyone with that knowledge that caused her so much pain…."
Trill nodded. "I still wish you could have told us, Soothe."
"What does it even matter?" she demanded. "You can't change your own past; Cel made that clear."
"Cel?" Scout asked. "Saniya?"
Soothe scoffed. "Yeah, Saniya, whatever."
"You called her Cel?"
"Sue me, I'm not the best with names when I'm focused on surviving. She named me Soothe, so that's hardly a better name."
"Soothe isn't your name?" Scout gasped, eyes going wide as Trill also made a sound of disgruntlement at this being revealed now.
Soothe blinked at them. "What kinds of psychopaths did you think I had for parents? Naming a child Soothe? That's giving them a knife in the rattle bottle and setting them up to be a serial killer."
"What's your name then!?" Scout asked.
She frowned. "None of your business what I used to be called; I'm not a Night Mate like you, Scout."
"I. Am. NOT!"
"Either way doesn't matter. My name is Soothe."
"It's not Victory, is it?"
She sighed. "No. Now drop it."
"Why won't you tell us?"
The look on her face shifted for a moment. From a glare of annoyance to a questioning look, as if she too didn't know why she wouldn't just say it.
"Just…drop it."
Trill nodded to Scout, and so he did. In light of Trill's purification, it was a handy excuse to have the risk of getting too upset and going into Reverse Mode. Scout didn't want to test out his suggested abilities against Soothe. That seemed like a bad idea all around.
And so, they kept walking.
Despite how frivolous a certain group of pokémon seemed to regard travel, dimensional crossing was not an easy task even within their own relative realm.
Giratina was a busy pokémon. Rest was not a biological need for an entity such as itself. It drew sustenance from its own realm and was an entity of perpetuality.
For eons, it had toiled, maintaining the balance of reality and ensuring as much stability as it could muster.
Slowly, however, since humanity had died, the balance had begun to shift. It was not Giratina's place to intervene, only to maintain. And intervention was a difficult endeavour as well. To find the time was even harder.
It was a slow go. In the need to maintain its sanity, for nothing could endure the ravages of existence of this length without something, Giratina set aside eons of memory as it felt its mind beginning to grow burdened by the passage.
To delve into the old was risky, to be distracted for far longer than anticipated or be drawn entirely into experiences so long forgotten that it may not even notice it was merely reminiscing. So much time was spent simply maintaining the world.
Maintaining the scales that were beginning to tip.
So slowly that it was unnoticeable, only on reflection and careful study could the difference be spotted.
Giratina was pulled out of its musings as something heavy landed on its back. "Hello Palkia," it rumbled good-naturedly.
"Hi!" Palkia said, tail lashing back and forth as it laid on Giratina's back.
"Are you hiding from Dialga?"
"Maybe."
"Why?"
"I might have stolen something."
"Why?"
"Because."
"Because why?"
"Why not?"
A loud roaring gave an answer, but Giratina answered anyway. "That's why."
"Save me!"
"No, you can save yourself."
Dialga came through a temporal tunnel in a rage, his usual state when entering the Reverse Distortion. "WHERE IS PALKIA?" he roared, doing a good impression of the loudness of his previous self.
"I'm here!" Palkia raised a hand from where he was crouching behind Giratina. "Uh, I mean, I'm NOT here."
Dialga descended upon Palkia in a fury and tackled him through a floating island, and they began to fight. Giratina watched it with only partial attention. Compared to the fights he'd seen in the past from the Dialga and Palkia, this was a playful scrap.
Palkia through Dialga into a building and broke it with a Spacial Rend.
Really, Giratina was kinda proud. They'd succeeded where nothing had before in building some sort of bond between Dialga and Palkia.
Dialga bit Palkia's hand and dragged him down a furnace.
Shaymin came flying up to Giratina in a flurry, screeching about their garden being destroyed, and Giratina nodded. "Alright, cut it out."
Immediately they both stopped.
"Makeup."
"Make out?"
"No! Makeup."
"Fine." Palkia gave Dialga back what he'd taken, a large glowing crystal and Dialga accepted it with a huff.
"Do it again, and I'll take everything you ever love away from you."
"You mean you'll go away!?"
"What?"
"What."
Dialga narrowed his eyes as Palkia stuck his tongue out at him and flew off.
"I fear what Palkia is picking up from the mortal pokémon," Giratina sighed as Dialga shook his head.
"Thankfully, we know it's a joke."
Giratina smirked behind its mask and nodded. "Of course." They wondered when the peace would be broken next and turned to begin gazing through bubbles.
"Giratina?" Dialga asked, uncharacteristically quietly.
"Yes, Dialga?"
"I think…is that Saniya?"
Giratina looked up sharply before everything went pink.
I missed writing some of the more lighthearted stuff.
Not a lighthearted chapter exactly, but Rhythm is right. Hope will endure.