September 8th, First Year

No matter the instance, no matter their opponent, no matter the environment nor the stakes at hand, there was always a sensation that accompanied the chance to battle. The tightness in their throat. The sting of their flexing claws. The warmth on their face. Jaku glared at the figure opposite her, their tail lashing. "There you are," she growled. "I was wondering when you would finally show up."

The thing across from her certainly resembled a person. A human, maybe. A smudge of silver and white obscured in clouds of smoke and flying embers. Emmet. He spoke with his distorted voice almost as if mocking her. Low hums. High trembles. Almost as though he were actively taunting her, begging her to make the first move.

I should be able to understand him… so then why can't I? She quickly chalked it up to her new body. Maybe her mind worked a little differently now, but she could still recognize the man across from her as a threat and so too the members of her teams. And now he decides to appear and close me in. No. I don't think so.

"You shouldn't stand against him," Mespirit's voice nagged. "He's here to capture you. He has a full team and more. You don't. You're acting alone here... What are you going to do if you lose?"

"I won't," Jaku retorted under her breath, readying herself for a battle. She leaped across the scorched field, her claws splayed. She'd been a second too slow. Emmet quickly dodged out of her way, kicking up any loose sand and dirt he could as he put space between them. Between? Why is he avoiding me? Jaku spun and slid in the dirt, using the spines along her tail to slow herself down. "Coward!" she snarled. "Get over here and face me!"

Humans were weak to fire if she could even consider it as a weakness. Jaku dug into the undergrowth and with a deftness from practicing the move in time rifts, tossed a ball of ignited timber and debris straight toward the man. In a flash, large stones erupted from the ground and stopped the catapulted fireball only a pace short of its target. The move still had its intended effect. Almost immediately, wild flames began to lick through the tall grass, encircling Emmet within a dense cage of fire and smoke.

"Going somewhere?"

Emmet shouted and finally reached for the pokéballs at his belt. He tensed and instead made a strange motion with his arms, pointing one finger at her. A large shape ambled past Emmet, drawing so close in a matter of seconds that Jaku stepped back so as to not get trampled. It quivered when it saw her, its long ears sticking flat to its neck.

"…Master."

The pokémon before her was tall and lean-muscled, its matted black fur bristling in the light of the flames as it stared down at her with its icy blue eyes. It called for her again, its voice softening as it gently approached. "Master, it's me. You remember me, don't you?"

"…I don't." And my fight isn't with you, she silently added. She moved forward at the same pace as the black pokémon, dipping low to duck under its feet before lunging at Emmet again. That attack connected as her claws sliced through his outstretched arm. Warm blood settled into the webs around her fingers. She dug in, using her other hand to grab into his clothes.

A horrible yell ripped through the clearing, beating out the sound of the roaring flames as Emmet struggled desperately to tear her off. Good. He's getting exactly what he deserves. And now for the finale. She clawed her way onto his back, preparing to sink her teeth into his skull and shatter it like a fragile grape. Humans were nothing but bags of meat without the help of pokémon after all.

Claws bounced off of her back before a pair of paws wrapped around her neck and belly and pulled her loose. A leg struck her side the moment she had been pried off, sending her skittering across the clearing. More of her own pokémon began to group around Emmet, a handful forming a protective circle around him while the others slowly began to advance on her. She kept low to the ground.

Her Mandibuzz was in the lead, nonchalantly crossing the waves of errant flames to confront her. "Back off, my friend." He stopped a pace short, raising one set of curved talons for her to see. "I don't want to fight you."

Jaku sneered. "Too bad. Should've thought about that before you decided to join him." It was strange hearing her own pokémon talk for the first time. It wasn't jarring, nor was it eerie. It was… almost familiar in a way. She began to bristle. "You're all traitors! How dare you stand against me!"

"Against you?" Raptor cocked his large, thin-furred head, eyeing her as though had uttered something nonsensical. "We're not fighting against you. We just want our trainer back… That's you if you couldn't tell."

Before Jaku could retort for the overgrown bird to can it, the black pokémon from before edged past it. "Let me handle this, Oss. You protect Mr. Emmet."

"I'm more effective-"

"Physically," the black pokémon muttered. "Not mentally. I'll take over."

Fine. I can work with that. Easy prey if it's slower than me. Jaku slid forward, preparing to hack at the pokémon's tendons before being forced back with a claw swipe that tore at the ground. The strange pokémon copied her stance, laying low as it carefully approached.

"I'm not your enemy, master! Look at me! I'm your friend!"

"Some kind of friend it is; turns its back on you when you're injured and works to help capture you when it's at some other trainer's mercy. Don't believe a word that it says."

She did not recognize the Zoroark across from her but a shiver of apprehension rippled down her spine as she realized that it was copying her movements step-for-step. If she tried to leap, it would bar the way. If she tried to crawl around it, it would close in on her. It almost seemed to predict which moves she would use, almost always performing a perfect dodge before parrying. The creature was strong. Very strong. Strong enough that Jaku had to reconsider fleeing.

"Ah, so now you're listening to me. A wise decision. Flee while you still can. Don't forget. He has your old team which may be stronger than even this Zoroark."

Mespirit has a good point. Better to flee considering that Lilith hasn't been sent forward just yet. She sneered. "Fine. Have it your way. I'll be back." She kicked up a cloud of dust as she leaped over another of flames… only to be stopped as the Zoroark caught her in the chest and sent her straight onto her back.

"…Going somewhere?" it mocked sadly. "Come on, master. We don't have to fight. We can talk about things like civil pokémon." It approached closer, curtaining her off from Emmet once more. "I don't want to fight you. I just want to talk. We all do."

"More petty words. He must have them well-trained if they can dream up such a convincing lie."

"Stop distracting me! If you're with him, you're against me. That's all that matters-"

"Why do you think he's against you?"

"You're working with the man that nearly killed me!" Jaku exploded, her animosity beginning to rise. "Of course! Of course, you would try to lie to me! You went with him after his little attempt on my life a week or so ago."

Jester bristled, his expression twisting into one of dismay and horror. "I would never harm you! Never! And he didn't hurt you! Nobody did!" Zoroark backtracked. "Well, we don't know who hurt you. We were kind of hoping that you would know."

"I suppose I woke up in a pool of my own blood because the stars aligned just right, hmm? As if I wasn't already told who had attempted to kill me!" She took a threatening pace forward, the scales along her hands and feet beginning to burn. "You'd better get out of the way before I turn you into a casualty."

"Something's not right with you," Jester growled, matching her stance. "You can't intimidate me. I'm your partner for goodness sake. I don't know what happened to you, but we weren't there!" The Zoroark blinked. "Oh wait. There's an easier way to do this. Hold on."

"Wha-"

Jaku had blinked and suddenly, Jester was far closer than he ought to have been, his blue eyes glittering. The forest blaze around them had dissipated, replaced instead by a calm mountain clearing shaded in sagebrush and mesquite trees. Its ears perked up. He glanced back at her and then at a cloud's shadow far in the distance.

"This is either a diversion or a distraction. Break free."

"Did you just transport me?" Jaku hissed.

"You are in immediate danger. You need to attack the Zoroark and escape."

"Something is not right here." His tone was fearful. Confused. He turned himself in a circle, his nose twitching. "Is somebody else here? Where's that weird voice coming from?"

Is this really just a distraction, Jaku grumbled. She attempted to pinch herself back into reality only to stare at her hands with futility when nothing changed. She put away her claws. "That's Mespirit. And I asked you a question-"

"That is not Mespirit, whatever it is." The pokémon peered down at her. "Just don't listen to it. Listen to me instead. I'm your friend, remember?" It paused. "No… you don't remember me." It then stood to its full height. "No matter! You may not remember me but I'm still your friend! So is Lil & Oss. You nicknamed me Jester."

The Zoroark held out a large paw for her to take, his fanged teeth bared in a friendly smile. Jaku did not take it. "Let me out of this illusion," she demanded. "If you're really my friend and my pokémon, you'll do as I say."

"You didn't raise us to obey you like that," Jester countered. "We have minds of our own. And I can't let you out of this illusion until I can figure out what's wrong with you." At Jaku's growing hostility, Jester backtracked even more. "You're not acting like yourself."

"What? You think just because you said that Emmet didn't do anything just means I'm going to believe you? How stupid do you think I am?"

"Not stupid enough to just jump to conclusions. Who told you that Emmet killed you?"

"Mespirit."

"In the flesh?"

Jaku paused. "They spoke to me through my mind like they've been doing." Mespirit hadn't appeared to her in a fully fleshed form. That was odd. "That is Mespirit-"

"It's not."

"How can you be sure?" Jaku countered. "You decided to just work with Emmet and to my recollection, the man is literally trying to kill me. Who else would attack me while I was comatose?"

"Not him. I was with him before you even got attacked. All of us were." Jester took a seat on the dusty rocks, adjusting his mane on his back as he laid his head on his paws. "I think you're confused. Do you remember what happened after you got injured?"

He's trying to be civil. A part of Jaku screamed at the lack of action, the part that was still stuck on the taste of Emmet's blood on her scales. Another part reasoned for her to listen. And I can't break out of here unless I work with this great brute.

"Last thing I remember was being gutted by an alpha Goodra," Jaku grunted. "That's it."

Jester shuddered. "Then you missed out on a lot while you were gone. According to Lil & Oss, Emmet was the one that got you to Jubilife in the first place. I wasn't there for that, but why would he do all that if he was just gonna turn you into a pincushion later on?"

"…He did?"

"Yeah. There's more behind it, but you'd have to ask Lil or Oss to tell you. Emmet? He's been really nice to us. He takes care of us, feeds us; hell, do you think Lil or Oss would just put up with him if he planned on hurting you? I could've torn him fifty different ways from Sunday, master! Give us a little more faith."

Jaku faltered. Jester was picking out a bunch of points in her logic. If that had been the case, why would the man make an attempt on her life? He couldn't use the gears and from what she had told him in the past, nobody except her would be able to use them.

"See? That's the kind of logic I like to see!" Jester cheered.

"What?"

"You're thinkin'! Uh, maybe you've forgotten but we Zoroarks are really good at reading minds."

"…Well, that's not mildly alarming at all," Jaku responded sarcastically. "So are you satisfied? Can I break out of here now?"

"Not yet. Just- you know- you don't think it's weird that you're suddenly a pokémon now? You're just gonna gloss over that?" Jester backtracked. "I mean, it's nice that we can have an actual conversation now," he mumbled, adjusting the bulk of his mane, "but I'd rather talk to you when you're not- you know- actively going crazy."

"I'm not going crazy."

Jester raised an eyebrow. "There's something talking to you inside your head and instead of being rational, you just seem to listen to it like it's no big deal. You didn't even question whether it was the real Mespirit. What's up with that? And before you talk, no, it is not Mespirit that's talking to you like some meddling ghost-type pokémon."

"How would you know?"

"Mespirit is a deity," Jester emphasized as though he were speaking to a Zorua cub. "Mespirit wouldn't stir up lies and tell you to do dangerous things like attack me! And why would Mespirit be talking to you anyway? Don't you think they have better things to do than sit on your shoulder all day and talk into your ear?"

Jaku sat down heavily. That was a good question. Why would Mespirit be interjecting itself into her life? Maybe it was a bit peeved at her taking the Time Gear. She paused. The deity's voice, which had until that point been a constant nagging sense in the back of her head, had all but quieted. "… So if it's not Mespirit, what is it?"

"I don't know. I don't know what it is, but just drowning it out is exhausting. I think it's a ghost, but I don't know what attacked you. That could have something to do with it." After a moment, Jester moved closer, one black paw a hair away from her foot. "Master? Can you promise me something?"

"…Depends."

"I'll have to end this illusion soon and when I do, the voices will kick back in. Promise me that no matter what it tells you, you'll keep trusting me and the others. Lilith? Raptor? Mr. Emmet too. I don't know what it is, but maybe if I can ask the right questions to Mr. Emmet, he'll know how to help you."

"And you're sure that he didn't hurt me?"

"Absolutely sure," Jester responded without missing a beat. "As a matter of fact, nobody knew what happened. That's an explanation for a different time. When you're less confused. Maybe if I get a certain berry, it might help?"

"It might."

"So you trust me?"

"Don't push it," she warned him with an extended claw. "Geez, when did I raise my supposed partners to be such pacifists?"

Jester grinned. "You didn't. You raised us to use our heads before our teeth and claws. Sorry, but I'm gonna have to push it, master. You need to rest and think about what I've said. It's for your own good. I hope you can forgive me."

Something heavy collided with the back of her head, the impact sending her forward into the mud. The sound of crackling flames sprung to life in her ears. A warmth spread throughout her body like being wrapped in a thick blanket. I'm being captured again, aren't I? The blazing forest fire around her darkened as though something was holding a veil over her eyes. She was inside of a pokéball. Impossibly small and compact. Surrounded. She gave an experimental tap on the inner shell. The pokéball rocked once.

"Break free!" Mespirit's voice called. "This is all a trap! They want to deceive you! Don't let yourself be fooled!"

But Jaku held still. "I… I can always break free," she murmured. She twisted around, viewing the muted environment around the pokéball with both abrupt fascination and slight claustrophobia. The pokéball rocked a second time.

"They wish to hurt you! I have told you before, foolish champion! Do not let yourself be caught!"

"I don't want to listen to you right now." Jaku settled on her side and curled up in a ball, feeling oddly comfortable with the growing darkness that edged in alongside her. Do I trust Jester? Do I trust Emmet? Do I believe either of them for that matter? A worming sense of apprehension and cowardice prickled at her gut. I need to think for a moment. A long, long moment.

The pokéball rocked for a third time and finally grew still. As Jaku began to fall into an uneasy sleep, sparks flew from the top of the capsule and things began to move once more.

September 12th, First Year

"Can you… repeat that… again?"

Across from him, Ingo sat with a slouch, his weathered hands clasped together. "It would seem that these two incidents are connected to one another. Your initial theory about us having a human attacker would be correct."

Hours. It had only been hours since Emmet had returned back to Jubilife and now he sat across from his bed bound brother. His bed bound brother that had been dragged back to Jubilife by a heavily dented Chandelure smelling of sea salt and sunbleached kelp. "Someone attacked you."

"I did not see who," Ingo added. He didn't look at Emmet. He instead stared at the window, his eyes both staring and sightless. "It happened far too quickly to see anything."

Emmet grimaced, balling his fists in his lap. He hated seeing his brother like this. Injured. Scared- even if he wouldn't admit it. Tense. "Are you… are you okay?" he asked softly.

"No, but I will be. I have to be. I have responsibilities-"

"Cut that out." Emmet grasped the bridge of his nose between his index finger and thumb. What else could go wrong? What else could impede the tracks? What other significant disturbance would slow him on his tracks to get back to his and Ingo's home station? Almost everything, his intrusive thoughts led in. He sighed.

"I presume you caught them."

Emmet started. "What?"

"Miss Jaku? I presume you have coupled with them. Their tracker on my Xtransceiver shows that their dot is now aligned precisely with yours."

"That is… complicated." He wouldn't roll down his sleeve and expose his heavily bandaged arm. The wounds still burned. To his chagrin, proper disinfectants were rare in Hisui. He would worry a lot more about the imminent infection if not for the fact that his brother's reputation warranted a shipment of disinfectants from the Ginkgo Guild, free of charge. "I have them, but they are… in great need of repair."

Emmet carefully reached for the Leaden Ball that weighed heavily on his makeshift rope pokéball belt. It hadn't moved since she'd been caught. Since her Zoroark had tricked into being caught. He wouldn't admit it, but his opinion on Zoroarks as a general had shifted a notch higher after it had taken the lead. Any later and Emmet had the feeling he would've come out with a few worse things than arm lacerations.

"You've managed to derail and capture them?" Ingo whispered. "Fascinating."

"I wouldn't say derail," Emmet muttered. "Something is verrry wrong with them. They fought their own team." He left out the part where he himself had been lunged at twice.

"Did they win?"

That got Emmet to chuckle. "No. They became trapped in an illusion. Their Zoroark did all the work." At his side, the pokémon in question gave a proud huff before gently pulling the pokéball from his waist, cradling it in its large red claws. "Ingo. My theories."

"I did not forget, though I am unsure who would be set on attacking-"

"How did you survive?" It was sudden, full of disbelief, stress, and panic. Emmet's mind was only a fraction of a second away from bursting like a sealed boiler. His brother- Ingo- had died. Technically? Physically? Somebody had intentionally lured him out and attacked him and had sloppily attempted to impersonate him. "If you knew that it was not me, why did you go?"

At that, Ingo sheepishly ran a hand through his hair, again not meeting Emmet's eyes. "I was hoping that I might get a visual on the culprit. I was wrong. I assumed that I would be able to catch them and put an end to their charades. I apologize for worrying you."

"I will need a better apology than that."

"Your mockery will not inspire more guilt, Emmet. I am alive… somehow. I would presume it is through the same forces that kept our unconscious friend alive. Have you managed to get anything out of them yet?"

"No. No, they have been decommissioned since I captured them." He carefully took the pokéball from the Zoroark and with a hint of hesitation, lifted the metal latch. A flash of teal light lit up the room. That was different. Pokéballs did not emit teal light; only red light. He dwelled on that thought for only a moment before letting his eyes fall to the subject at hand. "Does that answer your question?"

Ingo sat forward, gingerly reaching toward the huddled shape at the foot of the bed. "This is… Miss Jaku?" he croaked. He tapped one finger against the spiky length of her spine, quietly pointing out the scars along her wrists, legs, and throat. They matched Ingo's almost to a 't' despite Jaku being smaller. "They match."

"Affirmative."

Jaku did not move nor did she stir, the faint flame at her tail tip flickering a rusty red as though the ranger was seconds away from withering. The Zoroark carefully lifted its trainer up and off the bed, protectively stowing them away in their large mane. Seemingly content, they curled up around Emmet's feet, a silent challenge in their eyes. And then they sneezed.

Claws clicked on the hardwood floors. A light began to burn brighter inside the Zoroark's mane. A large webbed paw emerged, five shattered black claws scrabbling for purchase as the owner pulled itself free of its hairy prison. The pokémon in question coughed, turning this way and that before focusing on what it was standing on.

Emmet cleared his throat. "You are awake." He instinctively recoiled as the child-sized lizard turned to look at him.

Jaku then scrambled back, a hoarse hiss filling the room as she squinted at him. She then paused, glancing at Ingo and then at Emmet, confusion clear as day in her eyes. But this time, she did not attack. Rather, she kept close to her Zoroark's side, eyeing them warily like hiding prey.

"She cannot understand us, I think," Emmet elaborated. "She can understand her Zoroark who will be translating what we say. A minor inconvenience at best."

"Why is she still a pokémon?"

"That is unknown. Zoroark?" The black fox pokémon dipped its head toward its trainer. After a moment, it gave a visible shrug, putting one paw over its eyes and another over its ears.

"They don't know?" The zoroark nodded.

"Hmm. Do they have any ideas on who the culprit could be?"

A pause. Another shrug.

"That does not help us very much," Emmet grimaced. "Do they know how to turn back into a human? How they became a pokémon in the first place?"

This time, the pause was much longer. The two pokémon 'talked' back and forth in a manner of unknown expressions and sounds before finally, the Zoroark turned back to Emmet. It gently nosed around in his pocket before pulling loose an errant time gear. It presented the object to its trainer which began to trace large circles in the floor with their index claw.

"More time nonsense. Of course." Emmet peered closer. "A perimeter?" He blinked. "Distortions. But no distortion opened up over Jubilife Village which means that- "

"In order to switch back, our passenger must make haste to the nearest distortion," Ingo finished for him. "Distortions do not have a timely schedule. But perhaps, there is one distortion that may help."

Emmet grimaced. "I know which one. I can take them, but I do not want to leave you alone. Especially not after today. If Burr was attacked here, then so can you. I do want to return and find you…" Dead. Deceased. That was the word Emmet was looking for but his mouth refused to form the word again.

"That's why I'm here!"

Emmet flinched as a familiar face waltzed into the room, taking a seat in a stiff-looking wooden chair. "Captain Zisu."

"That's me. Ingo told me what was going on. I had a hunch but now my suspicions are a bit clearer. Not to worry. There will be a guard around him around the clock. There's at least two standing outside your door, warden."

"Ah? I did not notice them. Thank you, Zisu."

Emmet felt a twinge of jealousy worm itself into his chest. He took a deep breath. Ingo was grown and so was he. His brother had postured the possible protection of a larger power- possibly by Dialga or Palkia or maybe even Arceus if the all-creator was a part of this train wreck. He had to take a step back. His brother was injured and his frenemy was stuck as a pokémon. He certainly had his work cut out for him.

He excused himself from the room, noticing with mild irritation that the two pokémon bound to him were now following along slightly behind him. It helped that the ranger's pokémon were assisting him without question. If he called upon their Mandibuzz, he might be able to switch them back by day's end. He knew his next task; escort the ranger to Lake Verity, change them back to a human, and then verbally berate them for being an idiot. Oh, and then scalp them for information regarding his brother's attacker. That would certainly help.