This chapter introduces some new characters designed for the rewrite. There's been a few mentions of them made through the story, the biggest of which being the scene where Team Sunrise are wrestling the energy out of Vigoroth and Marowak talks about them.
Just mentioning that in case.
Keira treated Team Sunrise and Go-Getters to drinks after they returned from Circh, Sean got a patronising glass of apple juice and had to sit through a few minutes of light teasing.
Something bubbled and brewed in Keira's mind over the evening and continued even as everyone else went to sleep. She thought about Cara as the pain in her legs stopped her from sleeping, the chill chilling through to her bones and making her think of Blizzard Island.
After a couple of restless hours, she couldn't sleep and rose early. Only to find Armaldo awake as well.
"Good," he said gruffly. "We wished to talk to you and I was wary of attempting to rouse you."
"Fair, I do tend to kick in my sleep," Lucario yawned, stretching and letting bones crack. "What's up?"
He gestured to the doors of the Guildmaster's Chambers and stepped inside. It was as messy as always with treasure chests overturned, the broken window was still broken, two doors at the back, and the overly large throne in the centre.
"Sweet place," she said, glancing about. "Messy but intentionally messy. The throne is a bit much, though."
"Welcome, Lucario!" Wigglytuff beamed. "Thank you for coming, friendly-friend!" He raised his arms in joy, and the air itself seemed to break upon his enthusiasm.
"Okay." Lucario raised her hands. "Calm it down."
Lucario frowned when she felt the effects of a mute orb go up. The ear-popping sensation was unmistakable.
"What is it that you want?" she asked, guarded. She was no stranger to meeting self-assured, important pokémon. She didn't like it when secrecy was involved, however. And mute orbs were rarely a sign of a good time in her experience.
"Your arrival is unexpected but is fortunate for us," Armaldo said, stepping up to stand by Wigglytuff.
"Alright. Start talking to clear up this 'I am looking seriously evil' before I start blasting," Lucario warned.
"Oh!" Wigglytuff gasped. "My apologies, Lucario." He glanced to Armaldo. "You didn't say this would be private?"
"My apologies, Guildmaster. And Lucario." He nodded at her. "We've got a potentially dangerous situation about, and we were hoping you would be able to help."
That sounded a bit better, but she still didn't like it. "Alright. I'm willing to listen, but why the mute orb?"
"It's a precaution," Armaldo answered. "There is a lot of sensitive information that is going to be discussed."
"You don't trust your own apprentices?" Lucario raised an eye.
"It's not so much that," Wigglytuff answered, sighing. "Although I truly wish we could explain to them all what is going on. Instead, it is the danger of our potential enemy learning of our information."
Lucario didn't seem impressed.
"Will you let us explain first?" Armaldo asked with a constant growl in his voice.
"Very well," Lucario said, waving them on. "Make my day."
"We do ask that you agree to keep this to yourself," Wigglytuff added.
"Anything I hear I will tell to Scizor," she said without hesitation. There was only a moment before she received a pair of nods. "Go on then. Dazzle me."
And so, they told Lucario of Darkrai. How he sought to end time and how pokémon came from the future to avert the disaster he had caused. She listened quietly until they reiterated the point.
"Darkrai is almost certainly continuing his plans," Wigglytuff explained. "Recent information that Team Sunrise obtained points strongly in that favour."
"That being?" Lucario asked.
"Shinx and Litleo of Team Ion and Riolu of Team Sunrise met with Dialga on the matter of Meowth's erasure from time," Armaldo explained. "It told them there was no hope and offered to remove the memory of Meowth. Meowth has explained since he was revived with you, that Dialga could see him. But we recently learned that Dialga has no memory of this occurrence, nothing at all and that the same night they stayed in the Hidden Land, everyone had a nightmare."
Lucario nodded slowly. "And you say Scout was revived by Darkrai?" She called him by his name. Because everyone knew it. "An odd thing, but I could believe it."
"You could?"
Lucario nodded again. "I've met a few darkrai in my time. The first was just a wanderer, the third was a prick but a fun one to fight. The second one was an exceptional hero against all who painted him the villain. That darkrai managed to fight Dialga and Palkia at once for a time and bought enough time to calm them down… hmm."
Her eyes were distant for a moment, thinking of another time. Another place. She blinked it away. "There's a couple of flaws with the story you are presenting to me," Lucario said. "First off, I know you aren't telling me everything. Unless you are just easing me into this, which is no need, you'd better tell me."
"There is, but we-"
"Secondly," Lucario said, interrupting him. "Evil legendary pokémon are super rare. They don't tend to last very long. More often they are just upset over some annoying grievance they throw a temper tantrum about. However, thanks to the reduction of the power gap of legendary's in this world, such things don't happen nearly as often. Which is nice."
"What do you-?"
"Thirdly… well, actually I don't really have a third one. You're going to have to tell me much more before I can give you any help. How do you know all this?"
And so they told her. Told her what Scout told them. Every detail shared.
"This is difficult to believe, I know," Wigglytuff said, "but there has been proof of the matter. Meowth, Scout, he has a perception of the world that is… unlike any others."
"He claims to have 'played a story' that our world is represented by and because of that he understands events that have happened and are to happen. He knows things he can't possibly know otherwise and no explanation other than his word on why have even begun to make sense."
Lucario frowned. "You're telling me he's isekai'd into our world?" she asked. Those words meant nothing to Wigglytuff and Armaldo.
"Uhh…?"
"Normal average everyday person dropped into another world," Lucario answered, rolling her eyes.
"You… know of this?"
"A-are you?"
"Eh." Lucario waved a paw in a so-so manner. "I'm not average by any means, but you could kinda consider me such a thing. Heh, what Felix would say if he saw me now…" she smiled, looking far away again.
"So you… also have this perception?" Armaldo managed.
"Nah." Lucario shook her head. "I've played video games before, of course, but that was ages upon ages ago and nothing like this. Nah, Arceus said this is an alternate universe that got split off and stuck around because it was unique, with the whole no-human thing."
At their befuddled expressions, or really just Armaldo since Wigglytuff seemed to be following, she changed the subject. "We're not here to talk about me and the annoying secrets of this world. You're saying the meowth has got some insider knowledge of things? Well, I haven't seen that before, which is interesting, but I could definitely believe something like that."
She shrugged. "Even if it's not what he thinks it is. He seemed human to me, maybe he just got some 'divine' knowledge and his mind filled in the blanks?"
"He's not, actually, human," Wigglytuff pointed out.
"Really? He went for a handshake."
"He did THINK he was a human, however," Armaldo said. "Riolu, specifically."
"Okay." She raised her paws. "Things are beginning to get complicated in a way that we don't need to focus on. Assuming I believe you, what's next?"
Unable to drop the point completely, Wigglytuff said. "It was his information that led us straight to Scizor. Where no one else could find him." The words 'not even you' were not verbally said but hung brightly in the air.
Lucario raised an eye but couldn't actually muster a retort to that one.
"Fine," she sighed. "Darkrai is a supreme evil grandmaster of all things bad. What do you want ME to do about it?"
"Uh…." Wigglytuff blinked. "Well, since you were here, we were kinda hoping you would help?"
Lucario shrugged. "Unless Darkrai is suicidally overconfident or he's a LOT stronger than he should be, then he won't be coming anywhere around here while I'm around."
"That's a bit overconfident of yourself to say," Armaldo retorted.
Lucario smirked. "Maybe" She glanced out the broken window and nodded. "Look. I'm here for my own reasons: Scizor, that riolu, and Team Ion. I'll stick around for a while, but I'm not going to loiter here forever waiting for something to happen. If something does happen and I can do something about it, I will. That's about all I can offer you, I don't know where Darkrai is and nor will I be able to find him."
"If that's all then we'll gratefully take it," Wigglytuff said, giving a kindly smile.
Armaldo wanted to ask about Lucario trying to sense him, debated it for a moment, and then just did so. "You are supposed to be one of the most powerful aura users in the world," he said. "Able to sense pokémon trapped in the madness of dungeons. You started Rescue Teams on that principle. Is there no way you could detect Darkrai?"
Lucario levelled him with a look cold enough to freeze Scizor all over again. "No," she answered. "There are a lot of things said about me, Armaldo, and the vast majority are not true."
She raised her paw, aiming it at him like she was to create an attack and launch it. He tensed, Wigglytuff did not. Nothing happened.
"I cannot control my aura," Lucario stated plainly as if it was not the embarrassment that it was. "I still have it. And thanks to my age, my aura is ridiculously powerful. But I can't use Aura Sphere. Aura Sight. Aura Purge. Any of the fine-tuned stuff is beyond me. The only thing I can do is a Bone Rush." She formed one. "And that was with months of training fresh off evolution that was supposed to fix that problem before I broke myself all over again."
She shook her head, the useless tassels swinging with her. "And my ability to sense pokémon in dungeons is a different story. Times where my aura flares and I cannot control it and I detect every fucking life form across some random distance. If Darkrai starts loitering in a dungeon for weeks at a time, maybe I will pick something up randomly. I assure you I will tell you if I have anything to tell."
She looked back to the door, feeling rather done with the day and wanting to go and annoy Scizor for entertainment. She was not polite enough to wait to be excused, but she did have something else she wanted to say.
"There is one thing I do believe you should keep in mind," Lucario said, turning back. "Where is Cresselia in all of this?"
"She should show up eventually," Wigglytuff said, knowing what Scout had given them.
Lucario nodded, accepting that. "When she does, I want you to keep something in mind. If she's like the cresselia I've personally met, then she'll be single-minded in her desire to destroy Darkrai. It won't matter what she has to do to pull it off. I'd keep that in mind when dealing with her."
And with that, she walked out. If things really were going to get bad again then… then she owed someone at least a little help.
Legendary Lucario Keira the Awesome woke Sean up early and dragged him out to commit to something truly heinous. An idea he had never been forced to endure for its frank disregard for his enjoyment of life.
Training.
Due to unique Lucario circumstances, Team Sunrise were allowed to release Sean for the day while they worked for coin. Team Go-Getters finally bade their goodbyes, needing to set off across the continent to Evertrail Town as a big call for help had been sent out and they felt they were the best fit to see it through.
Keira was happy to take things easy. Sean deserved it. Especially after the beating she gave him.
Except when she didn't want to take it easy, such as now.
"Straighten your hips, tough for a furry, I know," Lucario said. "Copy my pose." She was on one foot - flamigo style.
"I'm trying," Sean groaned, wobbling.
"Try harder."
Sean toppled over, and she sighed, "You are really bad at this." She poked him in the back of the head with one of her staffs.
"Why do you think I only know what I know?" Sean grumbled, snout in the sand.
"Probably because you're human and you don't really know the process about learning new moves," Keira said, sussing him out immediately and accurately.
"Oh… yeah, that."
"Inexcusable," she declared, pulling him up and propping him on his feet again. "Okay, back from the top."
"Could you at least explain what and why and what?"
Keira looked puzzled. "I didn't do that already?"
Sean was vehement with his retort. "NO."
They stared each other down. His hot glare cascaded against her indifferent puzzlement. "Hm. Odd. Well, alright." She dropped from standing right to sitting, jolting herself. "Basically, we're starting off easy streets by teaching you something you should have naturally picked up at some point by now anyway. Endure!"
"Endure?" Sean asked.
She nodded. "Right. And if you repeat my words as if you're only half-listening, I will clap your ears." Sean gave a nervous laugh. "I'm not kidding."
"I believe you."
She nodded, satisfied for now. "Endure is an interesting little move. You do know how our Power inherently protects us?"
Sean nodded. "I think so. Striker and Guardian have talked about it. It's why fire attacks don't just… burn you up, right?"
"Right." She nodded. "But there are ways to use that inherent protection for more intentional things. Endure and Protect are like… two sides of the same coin. Protect forms you an outer shield which can generally block pretty much anything."
"But it's brittle?" Sean asked.
"Right again. You did do your research, didn't you?" He blushed a little. He hadn't set off on his journey at the first chance and took extra time to prepare for his adventure. "Protect is strong, but once it begins to break, it tends to break all at once, and then you've burned a lot of Power and still got hit."
"I'm not as clear on Endure, though," Sean confessed. He was wiggling his toes, feeling the sand and listening to the waves as Lucario enlightened him.
"Endure is more of an evolution of that natural protection," she said. "Part of it is psychosomatic, you don't actually need to tense your muscles, but it's a good way to get into that headspace and often becomes a habit."
Sean nodded, following for now.
"Endure works by blunting an incoming attack, dispersing it across you relatively harmlessly. You still take the hit, but the damage is reduced. It's not a Protect, and a Protect isn't an Endure. You can break a Protect, even without Feint, but you can't really overcome an Endure."
She nodded sharply. "The strongest users can even keep standing on top of an attack that SHOULD, by all rights, have knocked them out, just managing to cling on. That's advanced, we'll start with simpler stuff."
Lucario stood back up, and Sean joined her. "Now, you're in luck for three reasons. You've got me as a teacher, and I know Endure. You're a pokémon that naturally can pick it up. And, most specifically, you're a riolu. The furry choice gives you an edge here."
"Why?" Sean asked, dry as the sand. "Because of aura?"
She gave him a point. "That's the one. Now, aura can only go so far, but even without it's possible. You're just controlling a different aspect of yourself."
She began having him use Copycat on her, mimicking her use of Endure before giving him light hits. Barely even taps, but from her they'd still bruise, letting Sean get accustomed to the feel of using Endure.
They practised this for a few hours until he had quite a few welts and asked for them to stop.
"I was wondering something, Lucario?" Sean asked, rubbing a bruise.
"What's going on in that little furry's head?" Lucario asked. To his credit, Sean had stopped blushing when she teased him. He understood Scizor a lot more, Lucario relieved you of self-conscious behaviour before long, because she'd seize on anything with merciless gusto.
"You said we were an… eight when we fought you but sevens on our own? I was wondering what exactly that meant?"
For all her caustic behaviour at times, Lucario was largely alright to be around, and he was curious about the ancient pokémon.
"Eight as a group, yeah," Lucario answered, nodding. "I'd rate you specifically as a… hmm. Striker and Guardian are definitely high seven's, and Saniya should be an eight, but the whole mess with her kinda brings her down I think. You're tough, but I think six, you are definitely not as strong as them but how much is tough to say since it comes in gradients."
"I was able to knock you back," Sean pointed out.
"True." She nodded, accepting that. "Which is pretty impressive bar none." Surprisingly she didn't try and deny the point with claims of going easy or something.
"But what does it all mean?" Sean asked.
Lucario smirked at him. "It's so very human to be so interested in numbers and statistics," she chuckled. "Or maybe I'm just saying that because you are one. You're not the first to ask, but most of the ones to even know about my list were the other humans, so… bias I suppose."
They were on the beach. Not exactly sparring, as Lucario found it difficult to pull punches that much for Sean's relative delicacy. But they were practising at least a little with the uneven, sandy, surface.
"It's just a little thing to amuse me," Lucario said, deciding she would share this with Sean. "I get bored sometimes and rank random things in my head. One of my favourites is my Power Chart." She shook her head. "Not the inner Power that we pokémon and certain humans draw our abilities from, just strength and skill and power in that general sense."
"I hope eight is a high number," Sean said, doing a kick and spraying sand into the tide. It was lost to the water instantly.
"Oh it is," she nodded, tassels jangling as she did so. "It's out of ten, you see. The first five levels are… not really worth discussing, so I'll summarise."
She raised a paw. She didn't have five fingers, so she had to count several times. "One is for the non-combatants who also can't fight, babies and sickies and such. Two is like basic child, you can do a little but not much."
"Three is your average fit individual, plenty of pokemon fall around here and the next stage. Four is where you'd rate a lot of shopkeepers and stronger pokemon who still don't make fighting their job. I'd say four and five are where most towny pokémon fall into, they COULD fight, but not exactly well, if they had to. But why would they have to?"
Sean nodded, understanding.
"Five is where your basic guild apprentice falls. The next ones are a bit more interesting, and I'll say who I reckon goes where, as I go up."
Lucario sat down, cross-legged as she was tired to trudging back and forth on the sand. "Six is like your starting-out exploration team to moderately experienced. Probably most of the teams in Treasure Town and most of the guild apprentices are here. I put you here because while you are definitely a bit more trained than many pokémon, you're not THAT strong in actual combat."
"I guess that's fair," Sean nodded. "I only ever really use Force Palm and Copycat, to be honest."
"I noticed," she replied, dry as the sand they were sitting on. "I hear you took on Dialga though, so maybe seven is fairer, but I can't say for sure."
"Couldn't really do much to it," Sean admitted.
Lucario snorted. "It was Dialga. What did you expect? Eat a violent seed, use Swords Dance, and one-shot him? This isn't a game, kiddo."
Sean looked a little uncomfortable, so she moved on. "Seven is where things get rather interesting. Well trained AND reasonably powerful to boot. The rest of your team goes here, Eight is something special we'll get to. I think maybe one or two apprentices at the guild might be here, I've heard good things about Sunflora and Croagunk. I reckon Team Ion as a group would probably be here too."
"You don't think they're as strong as us?" Sean said, pleased.
She gave him a crooked smile. "Well I've actually fought you, so I've got one side of the experience. I'm doubtful three little kitties are quite a fair match for four saviours, but hey? Could surprise me. I'll try and fight them too if they ever decide to show up."
"Hopefully they won't be far off," Sean sighed, smile slipping. The situation was probably dangerous, they needed to know.
"Hopefully. Well. Keep in mind that I attribute these rankings to individuals. Team Sunrise being an 8 as a whole means a single 8 could probably take you on in a fair fight. Eight's are about as strong as a normal pokémon can hope to become, and it takes a long time for them to get there. I'd wager Wigglytuff and maybe that Armaldo fella is around that level."
She smiled, a proud one at that and added, "Scizor too I can say for sure, although he's a bit weakened thanks to his deep freeze. At his peak he's an eight as he's a normal pokémon that got there, he's sort of the whole basis for my list in the first place."
She smiled, glancing up. It was nice to hear her speaking nicely about Scizor and Sean smiled too. "Eight is also where I put legendary pokémon at a baseline. They are just stupidly strong on a basic level, but a lot of them can still be beaten because they rely too much on pure power. That's not so much in this world since legends aren't nearly as strong, and they know it. So, they hide."
She shook her head. He wanted to ask, but she was already moving on. "Nine is a special place to be at. You don't really get here by normal means. Legends that aren't the Big Ones that train tend to fall here. Other pokémon at this level are hardly normal. They are either exceptional in other ways, have access to mega evolution plus excellent training, or both."
"And so ten is like… Dialga and such?" Sean asked. "And you, I guess."
Lucario smirked at him. "Nah, I rate myself a nine. I'm stupidly strong, but I'm hardly a physical god… well." She quirked her head slightly. "Not normally." Her gaze fixed on nothing for a moment before she glanced at her knapsack. "Hm."
Sean skirted back as she opened it up and unloaded it. He had seen the avalanche of items once before, and he saw it yet again as that tiny sack unloaded a couple hundred years of knickknacks and curious onto the sand.
One such item was an old, diamond-shaped, necklace. Lucario picked it up and observed it for a few minutes.
"What… is that?" Sean asked, carefully stepping forward over the river of junk.
"Catch." She tossed it to him, and he flailed about trying to grab it. Smacked him in the nose before dropping into his paws and Lucario laughed at his expression.
"What is this?" Sean asked, rubbing his nose and looking at the object. It was old, it was dusty, it's string was worn and even dissolved under his paws poking at it.
"Open it up," Lucario said, giving a twisting motion with her paws. He did as she directed and the middle split, allowing him to take the cap off.
Lurking within was a rainbow, teardrop-shaped, crystal. Within the crystal shone a strange symbol, a curved diamond with three rows in the middle of it.
"That is an Awakening," Lucario said. Sean didn't react as she had hoped, just glanced up at her curiously, one of his ears flopping. After waiting a moment longer, no penny dropped, so she explained. "That will allow me to mega evolve. Or, anyone actually, who CAN mega evolve."
"Oh!" Sean said, voice rising an octave as his ears shot straight up. "Wow, this is… valuable. It's a mega stone?"
"Nope." Lucario shook her head. Sean marvelled at the Awakening a bit before she gestured for him to return it. "Cap on first," she warned, and he replaced it. Holding the contained Awakening, she explained. "It's basically a cheat. I, or another capable pokémon, could touch it and mega evolve without a mega stone, keystone, or even a trainer! That's a good… and a bad thing."
"A bad thing?" Sean frowned. "Why? Does it do something else?"
"How much do you know about Mega Evolution?" Lucario asked.
"Not much," Sean admitted. "With trust and bond and the right objects, a pokémon can temporarily attain a stronger form?"
She shrugged. "That's the gist of it, yeah. What they don't say is that the power boost by Mega Evolution is rather… intense. For some pokémon, it's even extremely painful until they can balance it out. That's what the trainer human boy/girl/whatever is for. They mostly act as a balancing force, that's what the keystone is for I believe."
She gave him a serious look. "It's very easy to lose control with that power even WITH a trainer. Imagine what it's like without one… without ANY buffering?"
"Oh." Sean's voice was very soft.
She nodded. "Yeah." Lucario replaced the band in the contained Awakening and looped it around her neck. "Well. I got to admit something. Now that I've shown it to you, I have a feeling I'll reach a situation where I might need to use it." She gave him a scary smile. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that. And if it does? Have a sleep seed on hand. The last time I lost control, well, let's just say we needed to remake a few maps."
He nodded quickly, Lucario poked at her new necklace before shaking her head. "Well, anyway. That's my little judgement list. Ten's are your greater legendary pokémon. Dialga, Palkia, Giratina. Maybe Lugia. Pokémon like that."
"And you if you use that?"
"I dunno, to be honest," Lucario answered. "I haven't used an Awakening in a long time."
"Lucario!" a high and happy voice squealed, cutting the tension like a razor blade. Twice as sharp and three times more deadly, Saniya came zooming in.
She stopped right in front of Lucario's face, causing her to blink as the air blasted her in the eyes before Saniya began to talk.
"So, we finished up and I was talking to Cara because I thought 'You know who I haven't seen recently? Scizor' and I went to bother Chimecho about it, and she was happy to let me in with only a few threats of bodily mutilation, and so I was talking to him about stuff and shit, and you know the stuff?"
Lucario nodded.
"Yeah. So, I was talking to him about random junk that went into my head, and he seemed to be following, and we laughing and joking, and he reminded me about a word. See, when we first got to know Cara, we asked him stuff about you because you're all famous and junk."
"Yeah?"
"And he was all like. 'Lucario doesn't like that image other pokémon make of her. Hates it. In fact, hate isn't a strong enough word and all that," Saniya had said this while putting on a gruff tone more suited to Armaldo than Scizor.
"He's right but go on."
"Yeah, so I said the word Deplorahatred, and he got hit in the head with a stick and was THAT YOU!?"
Lucario blinked slowly with each eye out of coordination. "I am going to say maybe."
Sean, on the other hand. "What?" he asked, blinking repeatedly.
"Deplorahatred!" Saniya repeated.
"Yeah, I… remember that."
"YOU remembered that?" Saniya gasped. "Well, why didn't you REMIND ME?" She then gasped. "Oh. Azumarill has been coaching me through not yelling everything. Uh… why didn't you remind me, an old friend of mine?"
"Well, Scizor said it was probably her who hit him."
"Jury is out about that," Lucario countered.
"It wouldn't be if you would just talk straight."
Lucario laughed at him.
Saniya brushed his inclusion off and turned back to Lucario. "Well? What do you think?"
"I think that's a fun word," Lucario said. "What kind of things do you find deplorahatredable?"
"Ooh, I like that." She rubbed her chin. "Armaldo being a big gross bug. Not being able to see Giratina anywhere. Oh! I know. So, new storytime." She leaned onto Lucario's shoulder and began to babble.
"Back in time,… in the future… that doesn't exist anymore. Back in the… a while ago… to come… to never… so I was talking to Giratina about Soothe not fixing things, and they were all like. 'You shoulda left it to me anyway, grr, I've got something a'cookin', and I wasn't so sure."
"I could believe Giratina speaking like that, yes." Lucario nodded.
"They totally do. So, we mentioned that the old antimatter eggplant brought Sean over to us?"
"Yup."
"Yeah. Giratina was something contacting a Giratina from another world and did some sort of reverse/distortion, chain looping… thing. They never really told me much, but that Giratina brought Sean into their world and shunted him to ours through a bunch of mirrors so that he wasn't caught by Primal Dialga's nasty reality-freezing web annoyance."
She scoffed. "That was so annoying. I could never meet Giratina as they couldn't leave their own world or Dialga's trap would get him. HOW Dialga even had the mind to do that, I have no idea. I guess it didn't lose everything right away, and always was kinda cunning in that bestial way. But anyway, Giratina told me we were going to have a human to fix things and the last two humans did that SO WELL it seemed like a sound idea."
"Yeah, you're not wrong." She nodded to Sean. "He worked out."
"Right. And we love and tolerate him for it. But!" Saniya extracted herself from Lucario's shoulder and poked her nose. "Giratina was INCORRECT in their information."
"If you pick my nose I'll be very upset."
Saniya removed her finger. "They made me look FOOLISH! I looked awful, my first impression made for the group and I had incorrect information. Oh, how it tarnished my beauty and wisdom in front of them. They might have listened to my genius plans more often if I hadn't arrived with such an airheaded look."
"I feel like we would have questioned the jellybean idea regardless," Sean said.
"LIES!"
"You poor, sweet, thing," Lucario said, shaking her head disapprovingly at Giratina's actions. "How do you even manage?"
"With a great deal of therapy!" They shared a self-loathing laugh.
"But… yeah, Giratina was told by the other Giratina that we'd be getting a Gabriel. Not a Sean. So, I looked silly, going in with the wrong name and all."
Lucario smiled and went to speak before pausing. A frown creased at her brow for a moment, and she glanced to Sean. "Hm."
"What?" he asked. She was looking at him that odd way again. She'd done it a few times, he thought it was just sizing him up for their talk the other day.
Lucario shook her head. "Nothing. Nothing… nothing."
"If it's something you should tell me!"
She met his eyes, red on red and they both considered each other.
"I have a bad feeling you already know what I'm thinking," Lucario said slowly.
"What is it?" Saniya asked.
"Well, for starters, I knew a Gabriel," Lucario said. Sean wasn't fast enough to grab Saniya before Saniya grabbed Lucario's face.
"WHAT?" she bellowed, spittle flying.
"Thanks for the shower." She wiped her face and grabbed Saniya. "You know how to swim, right?" She dunked Saniya in the sea without waiting for an answer.
The sea bubbled before Saniya exploded out, sand and seaweed went flying. It all somehow missed Lucario and hit Sean instead, splatting him in the face and knocking him over.
"It shouldn't be so… bizarre," Lucario said as Saniya spun herself dry and formed a little dust devil from the speed. "Gabriel is hardly an uncommon human name… except the Gabriel I knew DID have a connection to Giratina, I swear he did." She frowned before outright glaring. "That bloody bastard stole the cookies, and I got blamed! I KNOW IT WAS GIRATINA. I fucking know it."
She growled in anger, at unfair punishment, at cookie-stealing jerks. The sand around them seemed to shake slightly.
"And it was hardly even one time, either. I wouldn't have known any connection if Gabriel didn't have that weird pendant. It was just like the other orbs, Dialga and Palkia's, I am certain! It felt similar! Ugh." She tapped her head. "This is literally ancient memory; I can barely remember it."
She glared. "If I ever see that Giratina again, I will laugh at it for nearly dying and having to be saved by a shaymin. You hear me! LAUGH!"
She growled again but then shook it off. The sand around them stopped trembling. Lucario rubbed her face and then turned back to them.
"Sean… you're probably a poor sucker who got snatched by an uncaring bastard just because it didn't want to give up its cookie stash dispenser. But hey?" She shrugged. "You still saved the world, so props to you."
Sean blinked in surprise, he really hadn't expected a revelation like this. "Oh… uh… cool?"
She nodded. "Chosen Ones are overrated, I can assure you of that. You're strong on your own."
Deciding that was a good thing, he smiled. "Thanks. I've long wondered why I was taken… it's weird to think it was purely random," he admitted. "But at the same time… I was just a regular kid. Normal…ish family, was just starting my journey. Heh, I didn't even have my starter. I was just heading off to Hearthome to get a plane ride to Twinleaf Town when I got taken."
Lucario stared at him all over again. "Sinnoh," she said flatly.
"Yes?" Sean said, a little startled.
"Where did you grow up?"
"Just a small town."
"If you say Solaceon Town I am going to throw you in the ocean next."
Sean went pale. "Um."
Lucario stared at him.
He stared back. His eye began to twitch. "K-" he began to squeak.
Lucario's gaze bored into him. "What is your last name?" Her voice almost cracked.
Sean furrowed his brows. "Wow, no one's asked me that before. I guess because pokémon don't have last names? It's Connolly. Sean Connolly."
Lucario's expression was a mask. Something flickered, but it was too dark, too dim. She closed her eyes and sighed, cracking a smile. "How old were you again?"
"About sixteen, I think? Maybe seventeen now?"
"He said four years, so he was about twelve when he left," Lucario muttered under her breath, doing mathematics for the first time in quite a while. "That could be…? Ugh."
"Lucario?"
"Why am I bothering with math?" she asked. "You're that kid from school, aren't you? The one that used to hug me with the stickiest fucking hands I've ever encountered."
Sean gawked at her, mouth dropping open in weeks-long dawning horror being confirmed in front of his eyes.
"KEIRA!?" Sean shouted. "FELIX'S KEIRA?"
"YES!" she shouted back. Sean staggered back as Lucario, as Keira, immediately started pacing angrily. "Oh my gosh. Oh. My. GOSH!"
Far away, Sunflora sneezed as someone took her catchphrase.
Saniya rapidly looked between the two in stunned confusion as Keira stomped about. "I cannot believe this. I CAN NOT BELIEVE THIS." She tossed paws at Sean. "Grabby hands. Mr Grabby Hands is HERE! The fucktonne minuscule chance this could possibly have occurred is so low it could be nothing less than divine FUCKERY!"
She pointed right at the skies. "Sean was a year or two younger than Felix!" She spun back on him. "WEREN'T YOU?" she thundered.
Sean nodded, unable to speak.
"That means… math, math, math! Felix was about eighteen when I died. But you're around seventeen, so he'd be nineteen now. YOU ARE AWAKE AREN'T YOU, YOU FENCE-STUCK-HOOP-RIDDEN–PONYTA-FACED-BASTARD!?"
"What? What? What?" Saniya was stuck on repeat.
Keira spun back on them. "Gabriel is Felix's older brother."
Saniya's eyes widened, and she slowly turned to Sean, creaking her bones as she did so. "You… k̸̛n̢͜ew͘͡ a Gabriel?" she uttered, lifting him up with her mind and the sandbanks far back began to collapse, the tide receded and feared to return as Saniya's gaze turned beyond words.
"I didn't know Felix had a brother!" Sean squeaked. "We weren't exactly friends! I only knew Felix because I liked…." He glanced at Keira.
"Oh th-… I'm the reason you're- ARGH!?" She blew a hole in a rock formation.
"Oh no… I want to die," Sean squeaked, voice several octaves higher.
Saniya could very easily grant that wish at the moment. However, she dropped him and gave an unearthly scream before warping away, leaving the smell of the number six in her wake. Keira glanced at Sean but couldn't look for long.
"Mr Grabby Hands," she uttered, grabbing her ears and pulling them down. "Mr Grabby Hands. Of all the humans Giratina could have… your hands were always sticky," she accused, an unfair amount of judgement in those words. "Always. Every. Single. Time."
"I'm sorry," he managed, still high-voiced.
Keira took a very deep, very necessary, breath and then let it go with the exhale. She took another one when the urge to snap things bubbled back up.
Eventually, she did compose herself. "Well. I knew something was up." She glared at the sky. "I don't believe in premeditated events or some big grand 'plan'. I've met Arceus, I highly, HIGHLY, doubt it has anything like that in mind, or the ability to even do it. What I DO know is that Arceus is a bitch, and if it could have done this to me, I bet it would have."
She glared at Sean for a moment, but then her gaze softened. "But I doubt it. Giratina took you most likely just because it could, and with it hanging around Solaceon Town… you really were just in the wrong place at the wrong time."
"I was actually leaving a second time," Sean admitted. "I wanted to give my parents another hug and couldn't talk myself out of it, so I walked back. Two days into my journey, and both of those days, I mostly spent where I began. I actually remember someone else was nearby when I got grabbed."
Keira smiled at him. It was an odd little smile, nostalgic and happy and bitter all at once. "I never really thought I'd meet anyone who actually knew who I was… in the way that is different to how everyone else knows me."
"If you're here," Sean began. "And you've been here for… so long, what happened to Felix?"
Keira's expression was not a mask, she couldn't hide this. "I don't truly know," she said, very softly. "That's why it sucks to die mid-fight. You don't know what happened to everyone else. I want to believe that he got out. That he fucking slaughtered Ghetsis for what he did to me… but also I hope he didn't. I hope he just escaped. He's not the kind to hurt others like that, and I hope he didn't become one after he lost me."
Keira looked so very sad that Sean had to try and shift her attention. "I watched you in the league battles," Sean said, a little shyly. "I remember Angie was cheering for both of you."
"Pfft." She smiled a little. "That's so long ago I can barely even remember… I evolved in one of them, right?"
"In the Kanto one. Against that Charizard."
"Right." Keira nodded, her eyes turning away from a cloudy regret to something more akin to what he knew her like. "Traded a weakness to Flying for a weakness to Fire. Didn't help."
"And that Latios in the Johto one…"
"That sucked, yeah. Heh…." She stared at Sean a little more, knowing what he was doing. "Well, today has been a very strange day, and I'm very tired. Shall we go back?"
"Sounds good."
They were silent for a few minutes. "I'm not going to ask about…" Sean began and didn't really know how to finish it.
"Thanks. I don't really want to talk about it."
"I was wondering something, though?"
"Shoot."
"I only thought I might have heard the name Keira from Scizor. I meant to ask your name earlier but kept forgetting or feeling awkward. But you seem so open about it with others, why not your own?"
Keira gave him a smirk. "Well, technically by my rights Keira isn't my name, it's just the name Felix gave me. But… the real reason is just that I know I'll get those annoying 'ArE YOu HuMAn?' Questions again, fucking Dimitri, and it'll spread like wildfire if I mention my name out and about."
"Gotcha."
They made the rest of the trip in silence. It wasn't exactly a relaxed walk, but it wasn't uncomfortable.
Saniya was acquitted on charges of arson the next day, and someone else got to have a nice surprise for once.
It was not Team Charm.
Team Celestial returned to town.
Braixen smiled brightly as the top of that big Wigglytuff guild head appeared in view in the distance. "We're almost home," she said to her partner, and her brother.
Grovyle.
He didn't so much reply in words as he did in body language, eyes set on the goal but there was an anticipation in his body that Braixen could see. She grinned at him. "Not much further!"
The road was still just as it always was and a few townsfolk travelling to and from the residential district or school area paused upon seeing them.
"Celestial!" Machoke laughed. "Bout time you got back! So much has been going on, I won't keep you. You'll see Spinda's joint on the way to the guild, you'll love it. He started that bar at last."
The crossroads indeed looked different. The watering hole was the same as was the signpost, but there was a cheerful Spinda's Café sign nailed down in front of a hatch leading underground.
They didn't examine it long, glancing between town and guild.
"We should say hello to the guild first," Braixen said, sighing as she knew exactly what her brother was thinking about. "And he might not be at the dojo."
Grovyle nodded. "Fine." And joined his sister on the final leg of their journey.
The Wigglytuff Guild counted many in their number. Most were graduates, such as Ponyta of Team Flame, some were apprentices that worked in and around the guild proper, and rarer few were the graduates-to-be.
There were only two teams at the moment. The legendary Team Ion who had saved the world, sent out into the continent to resolve some bitter parts of their most infamous member's past.
The other was Team Celestial, sent to the Sand Continent to uncover the secrets of an underground complex of dungeons that had been uncovered to be positively brimming with treasure. Every continent and nearly every guild had converged on that.
Grovyle carried a hefty backpack stuffed with the most valuable treasures they had claimed in the name of Wigglytuff's Guild, along with a few rolled-up scrolls they had made of the area.
They approached the totem polls and the infamous grate of the guild. Braixen flashed a smile. "Want to step on together, maybe confuse Diglett?"
Grovyle shrugged and went along with it, holding onto each other as they placed their feet into position.
"Pokemon Detected! Pokemon… oh, very funny."
Braixen stifled a giggle.
"WHAT IS IT, DIGLETT?"
The booming voice of Loudred, ah they had kinda missed it.
"There's two… wait. Wait! Is that- we have Grovyle and Braixen! Grovyle and Braixen! Is that you, Celestial?"
Braixen leaned over and waved. "Hi, Diglett, we're back!"
"IT'S TEAM CELESTIAL!" Diglett yelled, clearly having taken lessons from Loudred.
"WHHAAAT!? OPEN THE GATE, QUICKLY!"
"That's your job!"
"RIGHT!"
The gate clanged as it was hoisted up quickly because.
Something was coming.
The guild rumbled ominously as if something was bashing on the walls beneath, trying to get out.
Grovyle's eyes caught something odd. The roost of the upper entrance to the guild was spotless. He didn't have much time to consider it before a pink blur emerged.
This was not Saniya, this was Guildmaster Wigglytuff.
"GUYS!" Rhythm yelled in land-shaking excitement and slammed into them both with a hug that defied how much strength his body should be able to output. "YOU'RE BACK!"
He might have sent them all sprawling but Rhythm always had excellent control over his strength and they merely rocked in place.
"You'rebackandI'msohappytoseeyouandsomuchhashappenedandohmygoshyou'rebackIcan'tbelieveitI'msohappyyou'realrightIwasworriedyouwerehurtandIcouldn'timagineneverseeingyouagainandyou'rebackaaaaaaaa!"
"Hahahaa, Guildmaster!?" Braixen laughed, hoping for a positive return but not expecting him to be this excited. "It's so good to be back, how has everyone been?"
"Who's grave is that?"
The excited buzz of energy immediately vanished at Grovyle's words. Having been on the left, Grovyle's eyes continued scanning the guild even as the Guildmaster hugged them excitedly. He had let Grovyle go after a second, continuing to hug Braixen as he rattled off words without breathing.
This had given Grovyle the chance to look to the left of the guild where a small grave sat overlooking the sea.
"Grave?" Braixen asked, confused as Wigglytuff just lost all his strength. She wound up having to steady him as he seemed to go boneless as she followed her brother's eyes.
She looked blankly at it before looking back to Wigglytuff's whose expression had lost everything it once held.
"Guildmaster?" she asked, terribly softly. "Who…?"
Here lies Trill
Rest In Peace
l will always remember you
They stood in front of the grave. Grovyle's expression said nothing, somehow even less than Wigglytuff's.
Braixen's eyes scanned the words. She blinked. She read them again, reading them again and again until they made sense.
They never did.
The siblings of Team Celestial and Guildmaster Rhythm spoke for the next couple of hours while sitting by Trill's grave.
Admittedly, Braixen did most of the talking between her and Grovyle. She cried. Rhythm cried. Grovyle stared out over the sea with a pensive expression.
Eventually, it was Armaldo who came across them as he stomped out looking for Wigglytuff.
"Team Celestial," Armaldo said neutrally as he made his way out of the guild to find them sitting by the grave. He glanced to the grave, then his eyes focused on the grovyle.
Striker was well-known around town and Striker had heard the occasional muttering about another grovyle. It didn't irk him to be talked about, except for when their scars were compared in gossip.
Striker was battered from living in an inhospitable time where even loneliness could destroy you in moments. His body carried the marks of difficult battles, heroic victories, and painful defeats.
Armaldo himself had been an outlaw in a difficult time and had gone through the prison rehabilitation and had seen many rough customers in his day.
Even then, Grovyle of Team Celestial took him aback.
It was difficult to describe the young pokémon in accurate terms. The degree of scarring he had across his body spoke of years of hardship and Armaldo nearly demanded to know if this had happened during their graduation test.
However, he could tell after a moment that most of those were older scars. Much older.
To Armaldo's greeting, Braixen looked up. Grovyle had heard him coming and was already watching with a tense spine, his eyes scanning Armaldo as he towered over them.
"Yes?" Braixen asked, her tears had dried since but her eyes were red and puffy.
Armaldo looked between them and Rhythm who was just sitting by the grave, he had looked up when Armaldo made himself known which Armaldo was relieved to see. Normally, Rhythm took minutes to respond to even being touched when he was sitting out here.
"Come inside," Armaldo asked, turning back to the entrance. "Chimecho has reached contact with Team Charm and they wish to ask something of you."
Braixen touched Rhythm's shoulder. "Do you want to stay a little longer?" she asked gently.
Rhythm sniffled but then shook his head. "No," he said, pulling himself up. "We. We got a p-party on standby for w-when you two got b-back. B-But I guess I c-could talk to my old f-friendly friends."
Braixen gave him a soft smile and Grovyle stepped around Rhythm's other side, wordlessly helping his sister brace Rhythm to help him walk back into the guild as if they were just walking together.
When they reached the lower level, Armaldo took Rhythm off and left Team Celestial to greet their old friends.
"It's great to see you again!" Diglett said, popping out of the earth. He and his father hadn't joined long before Celestial had left on their graduation mission but they had seemed cool even if Grovyle was more than a little intimidating.
"Guess WHAT?" Loudred boomed. "You two were gone so long the world nearly ended and we got another grovyle! He's got scars too, not as wicked as Luno's though."
Team Celestial, Braixen and Grovyle, brother and sister were perhaps not in the best of moods to entreat light hearted talk like this, but Braixen pushed a smile on her face nonetheless. "Another?" she asked.
"Meh-heh, we all thought Luno had returned when he first turned up," Croagunk said, giving a lazy wave from his shop. "He's from the future too as it turns out, but we'll save that til later. It's good to have you two back around, the place hasn't felt the same without you."
Braixen glanced to her brother, the named grovyle Luno. Luno hadn't reacted much to the topic of another grovlye around, it's not like he was the only grovyle in the world after all.
"Well, we can't wait to meet them!" Braixen said positively. "And, uh, well we'd love to catch up but we learned that, uh…."
Croagunk's eyes became sad as Loudred and Diglett glanced down and away. Chatot had been close with everyone in the guild, being the mother hen for everyone. Losing him had rocked the guild in ways no one had prepared for.
Guildmaster Wigglytuff was still a mess. The lines under his eyes told them that he barely slept, and how could he when it was Chatot who sang him to sleep every night? If Armaldo hadn't turned up, no one could imagine what state the guild would be in at the moment.
And for all the good that Armaldo brought, bringing back order and direction while managing the logistical side of the guild, he wasn't popular. Loudred especially couldn't get past Armaldo 'replacing' Chatot and after many arguments just tried to avoid interacting with him at all possible. Armaldo was all of Chatot's negative side, the demanding, the authoritarian, the bad guy to the Wigglytuff's good guy, but lacked the positives.
Chatot listened, he was polite and understanding, he cared for the apprentices and did his best to help them even when that help was not always appreciated. Armaldo was none of that and no one doubted he was only here for Wigglytuff's sake. That was understandable, respectable even, but he was not Chatot.
The guild functioned but something felt missing and murmurs were made between Loudred, Corphish, and Sunflora about whether it really was time to take the test and move on.
"So, err, Sunflora's out on a mission but she should be back tonight," Loudred said, hoping that at least would brighten up Braixen's deeply sad expression.
It did help a little and Braixen smiled. "That's good, how long do you reckon Chimecho will be?" She was thinking about something, glancing to her brother with a considering expression.
"Dunno, I can get you if you'd like?"
"Well…."
"Team Celestial?" Armaldo barked as he returned from delivering Wigglytuff. "A word." He jutted his head at the Guildmaster's Chamber.
When Armaldo had led Wigglytuff to Chimecho, he found her in her little office with her eyes closed and mouth wordlessly mimicking words being shared over the Psychic Network.
"Here he is," Armaldo grunted and she opened her eyes and smiled.
She nodded and Armaldo stepped out, letting Wigglytuff come in to touch his paw to her forehead.
"Velvet?" Rhythm asked.
He grinned when he heard the faint echo of Medicham snapping, 'She's the ONLY one you're that happy to hear from?'
"What have you been up to?" Wigglytuff asked happily, slipping into a simpler time. "And why are you reaching out now?"
Team Charm had come to Treasure Town shortly after word of Trill's death had spread. They had slammed into Rhythm with tears and hugs and stayed with him for two weeks.
However, he couldn't keep them chained down where he was and he sent them away with promises he'd be okay.
'Incredible discoveries of course,' Velvet the lopunny said. 'You remember that old key we found? No idea where it was supposed to go.'
"The one shaped like an unown?" Wigglytuff asked, tilting his head.
'Indeed!' The clap of her paws could be heard through the network. 'That's the one. We found the keyhole. You still have it, of course?'
"Mmm." Wigglytuff didn't look too sure. "Dunno."
'WHAT?' Medicham shouted. 'You lost it? Rhythm!'
'Ah well,' Velvet giggled. 'I suppose we'll have to lure him with our gift another way.'
"Gift?" Rhythm bounced.
'Oh yes.' And there was Gardevoir's voice. 'A gift that shows our bond. What was it again?'
Wigglytuff smiled fondly at the memory. "Perfect."
"Lalalala, Perfect Apple!" Wigglytuff danced. As he danced, thoughts returned to his head. "Mmm. Key!" he shouted and danced off into his room.
He zipped by Armaldo talking with Braixen and Grovyle. Armaldo sighed as Rhythm's speed by his desk tossed all the papers into the air and then onto the floor.
"Here we go!" Wigglytuff called and did a cartwheel back out and finished with a triple backflip. "Tada!"
He gave the jazz hands and then poked Chimecho's head.
Team Charm clapped. Chimecho said you did a triple backflip. I see you haven't lost your agility,' Velvet chuckled.
'Surprised too, since we hear you've just been cooped up doing nothin,' Medicham said. She received quick, sharp, glares from Lopunny and Gardevoir and clapped a hand over her mouth in shock.
Wigglytuff's artificial cheer dimmed slightly. "Well,… you know how it is?" he said, a little awkwardly. He fiddled with the key for a moment. "I've got the key here."
He passed it over. It was shaped like an Unown K. Such a thing had amused Wigglytuff for years, as he understood the language now. Not at the time, however, he only learned it later as a member of the team with no name.
He refused to think of who had taught him.
'That's splendid, do you remember where the cave was? We're at the door, staring at the pretty runes.'
"Sure do!" Rhythm said. "You want someone to drop it off?"
'We'd like you to drop it off if possible,' Velvet replied. 'And, of course, to join us in exploring its depths.'
"Really?" Wigglytuff asked, suddenly soft and almost fragile.
'We want you to come with us,' Lopunny said, simply and plainly. Yet the words caused Wigglytuff to physically recoil backwards, taking a step.
"What?" he asked.
That reaction was not promising, but they were Team Charm. They were not to be deterred.
Gardevoir was the one to lay down the law. 'The matter is simple, Rhythm,' she said softly, and with steel that would not yield to anything. 'We found this key as a team. As a team of four. It is the last mission of Team Charm, the true and complete one. We cannot, we will not attempt this mission incomplete.'
'She's right,' Medicham added. 'And that's that. You've got to come with us.'
"But…." Wigglytuff looked between them, a warring expression of hope and reluctance on his face. "I… I can't, I'm sorry. Not now, there's too much going on I can't leave the town for so long."
That's when Armaldo stepped back in. "Hardly for a long time," he said, Alakazam walking beside him. "You'll be getting ported over by Alakazam and back once you're done. Shouldn't be more than a day or two, right?"
Wigglytuff's eyes filled up with tears. "Bu-bu-but."
Armaldo walked up to him and grabbed him by the shoulder, steadying him. "You need a break. Go with them, enjoy yourself, forget what's going on. I can handle things."
Wigglytuff sniffled. "But I shouldn't leave you to…." He trailed off before chuckling weakly at himself. "To keep doing exactly what you've been doing this whole time."
He stared at his feet, and Armaldo gave him a gentle shake. "Rhythm," he said, quietly just for them. "You need this. You need this. Don't be difficult."
Rhythm held his gaze for a long time. Few pokémon could, as Armaldo's gaze was a harsh thing indeed, but Rhythm had never known it to be anything more than wisely cranky.
He smiled. "Alright."
Armaldo nodded, satisfied with himself. "Good." He raised his voice and called out loudly. "Alright, Team Celestial? Get in here!" The duo entered. "Make sure he enjoys himself."
"Huh?" Rhythm asked.
"Is it alright if we come with you?" Braixen asked softly. "It might… do us all some good." She smiled weakly.
Luno the grovyle nodded when Rhythm glanced at him but his gaze lingered on Armaldo as the massive pokemon stomped out.
Rhythm took a deep breath and smiled. "I would love to have you with me. Girls?" he called to Chimecho to translate over. "I'm bringing some friends."
'Bring whoever you want,' Chimecho repeated for Velvet. She then smiled. "They consider it a challenge."
Chimecho's eyes slowly dimmed and she blinked her connection to the network out, immediately focusing on Braixen once the spots had cleared.
Braixen swept over and immediately hugged her. "I've missed you so much!" she said, Chimecho looking surprised before melting into a smile.
"It's been too long, Twila."
Twila the braixen squeed and then, beaming, said, "We've got so much to tell you! Oh, but I guess we'll need to catch up later."
Because the guildmaster was excited again. Rhythm danced them out of the guild to start getting ready.
Team Sunrise knew of Team Celestial.
There had been no secret of the extended guild. Striker had been compared to Luno before and Sean especially was aware of the duo that called themselves Celestial, having a few more months with the guild than the rest of his team.
Needless to say, they were looking forward to meeting the pair the other apprentices occasionally talked about.
When Guildmaster Wigglytuff came crashing into the town, thrusting another grovyle and a braixen around and saying Team Celestial was back, that was their cue.
"Team SUNRISE!" Rhythm yelled, shaking with excitement. "LOOK!" He pointed to a dizzy braixen and unsteady grovyle. "AAH! We're going to Aegis Cave and it'll be so exciting!"
"H-Hello," Braixen said dizzily, trying to remember how to stand.
"Greetings," Grovyle said, eyes falling onto Striker.
Striker stared back.
Townsfolk around began to watch the two as the grovyle pair sized each other up. Striker found himself having to look up, the grovyle everyone knew the name of was taller than him.
Striker had been raised in the Dark Future where food, water, and sunlight were all rare commodities. He, perhaps, did not grow to his full possibility due to it, being of a shorter and more slender composition than a grovyle like Luno.
That didn't irk him in the least, he didn't feel like he had to straighten up his spine and stare defiantly back at the other grovyle.
Luno was taller and more severely scarred than he was. Not that Striker was particularly jealous of that, or anything at all! It gave Luno a rugged exterior, almost threatening if it weren't for his posture.
He stood somewhat behind his partner, his sister Braixen. Luno's eyes were a deep purple compared to Striker's eyes flecked with hazel.
They were silently examining each other for any faults or weaknesses.
Saniya had frozen in time as she saw two grovyle sharing the same air.
Sean glanced nervously to Striker and then at Braixen. "Hello! Welcome back, we've heard so much about you." He extended his paw.
Braixen took his paw with a bemused smile at the pawshake. "I wish I could say the same, I'm Braixen."
"Riolu," Sean replied. "We're Team Sunrise! We're part of the guild too. Dusknoir, and this-"
"A GIRL!" Saniya squealed, after being entranced with Luno for a solid three minutes. "Oh my gosh, I thought we were going extinct! MY NAME IS SANIYA I AM SO HAPPY TO MEET YOU WHERE IS SUNFLORA? SUNFLORA WE HAVE GUESTS!" She zoomed around Twila like a pink hoola hoop.
Saniya shook a rock she picked up and said, "Hello, operator? We have two grovyle here, I thought that was illegal. We're not bound to the rule of one? OAK KAY!" And threw the rock into the stratosphere. "Weeeeee~"
"Please do not mind her," Guardian said, floating in before Saniya could bomb their reputation any harder. "She is, what you may say, insane."
"Only on days with an A in them!" Saniya called.
"And what day is it today?" Guardian asked.
"THIRD DAY!"
"She's harmless," Sean insisted. "Just excited."
Braixen's eyes were a little wide but she blinked when Saniya mentioned Blossom and relaxed a mite, shouldering it away with a surprised sound as Guardian was a lot more composed. "It's nice to meet you too," she said only a little overwhelmed.
She shook it off and turned to Saniya. "You're friends with Sunflora too? It's been way too long since I've seen her." She glanced to her brother and Striker still staring each other down. "Um, have you seen Vigoroth around by the way?"
"I HAVE!" Saniya declared and then teleported with a bang and sent a blast of wind from the little implosion she had caused.
Braixen blinked several times as both grovyle jolted from the sound.
"Oh boy," Sean sighed, backing up. Everyone in town wisely began making space. It actually surprised Sean. Everyone knew Saniya could be loud, but generally, they didn't recognise that space was needed for her inevitable return.
He learned why they were making space a moment later. Braixen, standing next to her brother, took a single large step away from him. Wigglytuff, watching their meeting go down, giggled, and also made space.
Saniya burst back into existence with a burly white monster attached to her, immediately being blasted apart like two magnets. Saniya flew into Striker while Vigoroth slammed into Luno.
Striker staggered but didn't fall as Vigoroth and Luno cut a gash in the ground but somehow didn't get knocked into a pile of fur and scales.
"Oooogh," Vigoroth groaned into Luno's chest. "Did someone get the identity of the scolipede that hit me?"
"It was a celebi," Luno answered and Vigoroth hummed.
"Oh! Thanks, Luno!" And then he paused, glanced up, eyes widening.
"LUNO!?" Vigoroth gawked, eyes widening like bowls. He received a single nod before he suddenly whooped, grabbed the grovyle in a bone-crunching hug and spun them around a few times before tossing Luno in the air and catching him.
"TWILA!" Vigoroth cheered, spotting her next. She smiled widely and opened her arms and braced as he slammed into her next, still carrying Luno as if he didn't weigh a thing.
"YOU'RE BACK!" Vigoroth continued spinning the two of them until everyone was solidly dizzy and Rhythm was laughing his non-existent pants off. "I CAN'T BELIVE IT! IT'S SO GOOD TO SEE YOU! I'M NOT DREAMING AGAIN, AM I? QUICK, BITE ME!"
To no one in town's surprise besides Team Sunrise, Luno bit Vigoroth on his offered arm. And not too gently either.
"Ouch," Vigoroth said, sounding positively delighted. "You're really here!" He then teared up. "Oh mon, I've missed you two so much. You gotta tell me what you've been up to! YEAH!"
When Marowak told Sean that Vigoroth had too much blood, he had been concerned for several weeks. He was beginning to get it now.
"And guess what?" Rhythm said still vibing in place. "We're going on an exploration! To Aegis Cave! It'll be so mUCH FUN!"
"To where?" Sean asked keenly.
"Yes," Striker agreed, finally looking away from the other grovyle. "You three? As in them and you?"
"Yes!" Rhythm bounced in place. "My old team, Team Charm, invited us to Aegis Cave! We're going to explore it at last! Team Celestial are joining us! Ooooh, is it going to be a race! I bet they'll want to race!"
"Can we come?" Sean asked swiftly. They'd all heard of Team Charm. They also needed a break from Keira. "A whole new unexplored place could be fun, right guys?"
"Right." Striker nodded, eying Luno again.
"Oh my gosh, a NEW OLD PLACE?" Saniya gasped. "Guardian will LOVE IT!"
The energy was high and positively charged today.
"It does sound like a jolly good time," Guardian agreed. "Pity that Team Go-Getters took off, a match between the four of us could have been fun."
Sean cocked his head. "Although, question. Are Team Celestial joining you, Guildmaster, or?"
Rhythm paused and rubbed his chin. "Hmmm, that would be too many wouldn't it."
Having started picking fur out of his mouth, Luno said, "We can manage on our own." And glanced back at Striker.
"It's like, eight on two," Sean said, uncertain.
"OooOOOH!" Rhythm suddenly gasped. "I have an amazing idea! DO YOU WANNA COME WITH US?" he asked Vigoroth.
"YES!" Vigoroth yelled back with equal energy.
"AWESOME!"
"SICK! WHEN?"
"NOW!"
"YEAH!"
Luno continued picking fur out of his mouth as Braixen just started collapsing with giggles. They shared a conspiring look behind Vigoroth's back that Rhythm caught and winked at them. Vigoroth winked back thinking it was to him.
"You're going to have to join us then," Braixen said lightly. "The Guildmaster already has a team."
Vigoroth laughed. "That's gonna be rough on them!"
Grovyle gave a smirk. "Look forward to it."
The challenge set, the teams decided, and the townsfolk already preparing bets on who would win, Team Sunrise and Celestial, plus Vigoroth and Wigglytuff, set off to join Team Charm at Aegis Cave.
Where nothing would be frustratingly tormenting at all.