Shout-out to WyldClaw! Thanks for the reviews.
Okay, welcome to Part 2, for real this time.
The deep scratches along her sides had been soothed with carefully-applied Potions, a few medicinal berries had dulled the pain somewhat, and her wounds had been bandaged, gently but tightly holding her ruined wing in place and ensuring no more blood leaked out. And the gel of her Luxury Ball was, as always, the perfect temperature and indescribably comfortable.
And yet Kriesh didn't feel any better.
The realization that, were it not for the Heralds' manipulations, she and her flock would have been stolen by Team Flare brought unwelcome memories of her captivity, the pain and terror and shame roaring back. And the guilt at being unable to protect Medicham from Bringer-Of-Visions ravaged her like a hurricane would a small town. She'd been helpless, pinned to the ground and forced to watch as the Absol coerced the desperate, pleading Medicham into effective servitude. The memories kept playing over and over, tearing at her mind just as badly, if not worse, than those horrible nights spent trying to seek comfort in her small cage, with only Evan and Onyph's quiet snoring for company.
But what hurt the most was the understanding that Marcus and his team were just soldiers in a war to stop the end of the world - and that she and Medicham were the only two who knew about it. And so they would have to manipulate their Trainer and their friends, unable to even tell them the truth. Kriesh couldn't help but feel even more helpless than in the clearing.
Medicham had entrusted her with leading this team. She was meant to protect them. Not use them for her own purposes. Not like Onyph had used her.
Kriesh did not get much sleep that night, and what sleep she did get was plagued by nightmares she had once thought quelled.
In a Luxury Ball to the left of Kriesh, Medicham sat alone, straining her ears to listen to the faint snoring of Marcus and the faraway chirping of some Flying-type Pokemon, anything to block out the thoughts that lay unwelcome in her head.
I'm still not strong enough.
I did everything I could.
It wasn't enough.
It wasn't even close.
And now…now she was being forced to work for the Heralds. To obey Bringer-Of-Visions' every whim. Her base instincts had chosen that over memory erasure. But sitting here now, it was hard to decide what was worse.
At least with her memory erased, all the mental pain would be gone.
Her physical wounds still remained, her left leg and right arm practically useless, and she knew Kriesh's wounds were just as bad, if not worse. No amount of distraction could remove the fact that without a Pokemon Center their wounds would take time to heal. As such, Marcus and his parents had decided it would be best if he headed out after breakfast tomorrow, which would get him to the nearest Pokemon Center in Couriway Town by midmorning.
All that remained was to get a good night's sleep before then. But Medicham knew that as soon as she went to sleep, nightmares would come.
Staying awake, though, was its own form of torture. At least sleep would deliver her from those unwelcome thoughts.
Medicham sighed. The day had started out so well. Before the clearing, everything was going fine. She'd seen her old friends again, had fun with her new ones, and, for once, had been able to momentarily forget her past and look forward to the future.
Now she could not, for now she was not in control of the future. Bringer-Of-Visions had been right. She was nothing more than a puppet, once again dangling on the Heralds' strings, carrying out their instructions. Medicham had been excited for her Trainer's ascension to Gym Leader. But now the Heralds had made it part of their plan. Now she could not watch her Trainer smile at the prospect of rising to that place of honor without seeing Bringer-Of-Visions' triumphant grin as well.
Medicham leaned back, ignoring her right arm's protest. Marcus and his family had numbed the pain as best they could with Potions. As far as anyone but Medicham and Kriesh knew, a gang of vengeful Ice-types had jumped them in the clearing. The lie hurt, but much to Medicham's shame, it was nothing new.
"…dicham?"
Medicham sat bolt upright, suddenly aware that she was not in her Pokeball.
"Medicham?" The voice was clearer now. It sounded as if it were emanating from all directions, echoing and echoing around…wherever she was. Medicham looked around.
Trees. Snow. A massive stump. And blood, unimaginable quantities of blood. The snow was scarlet, the tree trunks were awash with red, and as a snowflake floated gently down onto Medicham's tongue, it tasted like freshly-shed blood.
"What is this?" Medicham asked quiveringly. "Who are you?"
"Calm yourself," the voice said soothingly. "You are still in your Luxury Ball. This is but a dream."
"It doesn't feel like a dream," Medicham insisted. "Who are you?"
"You may call me the Whisperer," the voice responded. "Now, I believe I know your next question. 'What am I doing here?' The answer is that I brought you here, or at least your dream-self. I suppose I am the ruler of this place."
"And what is this place?"
"Your dream," said the Whisperer. "This is the place the Tree of Dreams has summoned forth for you. Though I suppose you'd rather have a more concrete answer. Let me put it this way: this place is simply one of many, many parts of the Dream World."
Medicham frowned. "The Dream World? I've…heard its name before. I've heard stories. They say, when Pokemon die, good Pokemon go to the Dream World, and bad Pokemon go to Distortion."
"I have heard that tale as well," said the Whisperer. "It is undeniably false. When you die, good or bad, you go to Distortion. The Dream World is where Pokemon's dream-selves go when they sleep, and depart when they wake."
"Then why do you dwell here?" Medicham asked. "And why bring me here?"
"I dwell here because here is where I wish to dwell," the Whisperer responded. "And as for why I brought you here, well…to answer that, let us take a short walk."
To Medicham's right, a hole opened in the side of the massive tree stump and bright light shone through, illuminating the surrounding scarlet clearing. "Go on," the Whisperer urged. "It won't bite."
Slowly, reassuring herself that this was just a dream, Medicham stepped through the hole.
She emerged on a lush grassy hill, covered in brightly colored flowers and surrounded by blue sky and fluffy white clouds. A thick brown root snaked under her feet. Medicham's eyes rose upwards, following the root to a massive oak tree, branches splayed out and disappearing into a crown of leaves. Purple vines dangled from the treetop, and beams of light shone from the center of the tree, visible even in the sunlight. The tree itself was shining before Medicham, so brightly that Medicham had to blink for a few seconds before her eyes began to adjust.
"Welcome to Yggdrasil, the Tree of Dreams." Medicham nearly jumped as the Whisperer's voice came from behind her. Quickly, she looked around, realizing that the hole had closed. Behind her, and indeed all around her, the hill continued downwards further and further until it disappeared into clouds. Almost at the bottom, Medicham could see a small wooden bridge, stretching from the hill into the clouds, seemingly connected to nothing.
There was no sign of anyone but her.
"This is the center of the Dream World," said the Whisperer. "When you sleep, you do not decide your dreams. Instead, the Tree of Dreams analyzes your thoughts and either places you in an existing environment or creates a new one. There are several large 'general environments' that many Pokemon and humans are sent to. These environments are the most common places for dreams to take place in. There's a forest, a mountain, a sea…there's even a spooky manor house, because for some reason a lot of dreams involve traversing through spooky manor houses. Other dreams require more specialized environments, such as yours."
"I've dreamt a lot about...being on a mountain," said Medicham uneasily.
"Yes, Rugged Mountain is a common place for Fighting-types to go," said the Whisperer. As the Whisperer spoke, the hill under Medicham seemed to surge upwards, rippling out of proportion. The Tree of Dreams bent away, disappearing in an eruption of surging earth. Medicham glanced around wildly as the beautiful grassy hill reshaped itself under her feet, as the fluffy clouds shifted and multiplied to cover more of the sky, as great pine trees and rocky cliff faces burst into being. Now she was standing on hard-packed brown dirt, surrounded by green bushes and gray rocks, and as she noticed upon a turn of her head, Pokemon.
The mountainous area she was now in was heavily populated. Everywhere Medicham looked, she could see Pokemon of various types, ranging from the more common Machop, Geodude, or Aron lines to rarer Litleo, Nosepass, or Mienfoo lines to Pokemon she hadn't even seen before. A fat black and yellow Pokemon unleashed a rain of blows on a cliff face with tightly clenched black fists; a strange rocklike Pokemon, somewhat similar to a Kingler but with a far flatter shell, slowly moved across the landscape; a Flying-type whose entire body glinted silver in the sunlight and, by Medicham's guess, was likely Steel-type as well flew overhead. All these and more came within Medicham's sight.
A pang of sadness washed over Medicham at the sight of a Camerupt rooting in the bushes, smoke billowing from the miniature volcano on its back. It was then that the form of what was obviously a Trainer walked up to it, laying a hand gently on its back. Come to think of it, several Trainers populated the area, striding amidst the Pokemon with interested stares or no reaction at all.
"It must seem strange," said the Whisperer. "But their awareness of one another varies from being to being. Look over there; that squat Pokemon with the hammer as large as it is? That's a Tinkaton. The Flying/Steel-type in the air is a Corviknight. The two are natural enemies. But they cannot see each other, and so they are at peace."
"And what about the Trainers?" Medicham asked.
"Those whose dreams revolve around Pokemon see the Pokemon," said the Whisperer. "Those whose dreams do not, well, do not."
Medicham's eyes swiveled towards one of the clearly aware Trainers. This one was awash in an odd black aura, fluctuating around it as it stepped through the area, a Pokeball in hand, eyeing the surrounding Pokemon with interest in its eyes.
"That," said the Whisperer with a sigh, "is a product of one researcher with more ideas than sense. A Professor Fennel in Unova developed technology that allows awake Trainers to access the Dream World and interact with its denizens. This can result in a Pokemon being caught through its dreams, which has all sorts of difficult side-effects; being instantly transported from your own region to another, for example. Caught without a chance to battle for the privlege, for another. And since Trained Pokemon are in here...well, the Dream World somewhat messes with the whole 'already caught' thing, and so there have been multiple cases of accidental Pokemon thievery through the Dream World. I make an effort to remove Pokemon unwilling to be caught in such a manner from these Trainers' views, but the sheer number of Pokemon does make it difficult."
As the Whisperer spoke, the Trainer threw his Pokeball at an unaware Mienfoo. Caught completely off guard, the Mienfoo had no time to struggle, and the ball quickly indicated a successful capture. Grinning, the Trainer picked the Pokeball up. Lifting a finger to his forehead, he pressed an invisible button and disappeared with the Mienfoo's Pokeball in hand.
"So you control the Dream World?" Medicham asked.
"No," said the Whisperer. "I am merely its caretaker. Yggdrasil is the controller. While I can exert some measure of control, I am by no means the master of the Dream World."
The Whisperer sighed. "I can, however, change your location. This place is not...relevant to you right now. Give me a second…ah, there we go."
The rugged cliff faces suddenly shifted, tilting and rumbling inwards, smoothing themselves out as they did so. The trees and bushes sank into the earth as all of the Pokemon and Trainers disappeared from sight. More cliff faces leaped outwards, slamming together to create four walls and a roof overhead. The stone shifted into a tan material that appeared to be wood. The earth beneath Medicham's feet rose up into a red mat covering the floor. She was standing on one side; on the other side, a Toxicroak crouched, glaring at her, teeth bared in a snarl and blood-red claws extended.
"Defend yourself," the Whisperer advised.
At that, the Toxicroak lunged, covering the length of the mat in a second. Startled, all Medicham could do was shift out of the way with an Aura Dodge. The Toxicroak twisted, stabbing forwards with its left claw glowing purple. "Pure Power: Aura Strike!" Medicham cried, aiming a swift punch at the Toxicroak's open midsection. The Toxicroak's claw raked at her shoulder even as it doubled over from the punch. At once Medicham could feel poison begin to throb through her veins.
"Pure Power: Aura Sweep!" Medicham cried, lashing out with her right leg. The Toxicroak toppled over, legs knocked out from under it, but it rolled with the impact and rose with a Poison energy-enhanced uppercut that narrowly missed Medicham. The Toxicroak pressed, slashing and jabbing with its claws. Medicham blocked some blows and dodged others, looking for an opening.
At last, the Toxicroak overcommitted to a strike and stumbled as it failed to connect. Medicham at once hurled herself forwards. Another Aura Strike drove into the Toxicroak's right cheek and sent it staggering sideways. Quickly, Medicham summoned a pair of Aura Blasts and flung them, one after the other, into the Toxicroak's stomach.
But as the Toxicroak rose to its feet once more, it didn't look damaged at all, and moved with the same grace and speed it had exhibited at the start of the fight. Worse, Medicham could feel the poison burning at her.
Come on! That should have at least hurt it!
Medicham snarled in fury at the sight of the Toxicroak standing tall, glaring at her. Mockingly, it seemed, its eyes glinting in the light of the surrounding chamber. She blinked, and for a moment it was Bringer-Of-Visions' eyes, lit with triumph, with gloating satisfaction.
With a battle cry, Medicham charged forwards to meet the Toxicroak. The Toxicroak surged forward to meet her, claws outstretched. As she neared the incoming Poison/Fighting-type Pokemon, Medicham leaped into the air, pouring Aura into her outstretched leg. "Pure Power: Aura Finisher!"
The Toxicroak suddenly blurred forwards, leaping at Medicham with a fist covered in Dark energy. It slammed its fist straight into Medicham's stomach before she could even react, and its claw sunk in deep. A searing pain burst through Medicham's torso, punctuated with another burst of poison.
A second passed, and then the two Pokemon flew apart once more. Medicham landed on her back with a huff. It occurred to her now that she hadn't heard her opponent make a sound. Slowly, she looked up to see the Toxicroak crouched and ready to continue the fight, still not looking damaged at all.
How? I'm hitting this thing with everything I've got, and it's still up?
Poison searing every inch of her body, Medicham hurled herself forwards, rage building in her mind. She'd had enough of this Toxicroak shrugging off everything she could throw at it.
"Pure Power!" she screamed, pouring Aura into both fists as she lunged at the Toxicroak, barely noticing that it wasn't even moving. "Aura Strike Pummel!"
One fist slammed straight into the Toxicroak's face. Another went to its chest, then another. Fist after fist, glowing bright blue, drove into the Toxicroak's body, pounding and pounding without care towards where they landed as long as they landed somewhere. But still Bringer-Of-Visions' bright red eyes stared back at her. Medicham let out a primal scream and sent a surge of Aura straight into her right fist as she flung it forwards, driving it straight between the Toxicroak's eyes.
She didn't care that the massive eruption of Aura blasted her backwards, her wrist exploding in pain, most likely broken. She did not care about the poison that fought her attempts to keep conscious. She did not even care about the spots of blood that adorned her knuckles. As she landed hard on her back, she twisted, looking with anxious eyes, seeking the fallen body of her foe.
But Toxicroak still stood tall. Uninjured, staring down at her broken body.
Medicham felt tears of humiliation begin to well, hot against her face. All of her power had once again not been enough. First Emma's Aromatisse, then Bringer-Of-Visions, and now this. She'd thought she was strong. But she could not hide from her own weakness anymore.
She didn't know whether it was the poison or her wounds that took her into the embrace of unconsciousness. But when she opened her eyes again, she was once more surrounded by darkness. The pain had gone, the poison's grip released. She looked around to see the blood-spattered snow once more, the scarlet clearing spreading out around her.
"I have seen better from you." The Whisperer's voice invaded Medicham's mind once more. "You've always been quite adaptive. Making use of your impressive repertoire of attacks, forming plans on the fly to overcome seemingly impossible odds. What happened to that improvisation?"
Medicham stood, glaring at the bright red trees around her. "What was the point of that?" she asked furiously. "How was I supposed to win that fight?"
A telepathic sigh was the Whisperer's answer. "The Toxicroak was not meant to be a challenge. It was meant to be a simple test of skill. Your Aura-based attacks were ineffective; everything else would have worked as intended. Especially your supereffective Psychic attacks. I expected you to recognize that, and adapt. But your frustration overwhelmed you. Blinded you to the possibility of adaptation."
"I…" Medicham knew the Whisperer was correct, and yet could not help but try and defend herself. "I saw-"
"I know what you saw," the Whisperer interrupted. "And I know you fell prey to the same impulses against her as well. Too much anger from a loss simply leads to more losses. Such a spiral can only be overcome by acceptance of one's strengths and weaknesses."
"So I'm just supposed to accept that I'm not strong enough to protect my team?" Medicham asked indignantly.
"I did not say that," said the Whisperer. "You walk a path that will lead to many dangerous obstacles. But any obstacle can be overcome. Look back on that fight. You had the capabilities to beat that Toxicroak. You simply did not utilize them."
Medicham sighed, defeated. "What do you want from me?" she asked.
"It is not what I want from you that matters," the Whisperer answered. "It is what I want for you. Simply put, Medicham, I want you to succeed. And I know you are fully capable of success, provided you recognize what it takes to achieve success. Let me put it another way; did you know that the Medicham line has two different Abilities?"
"I…guess I don't," Medicham admitted with some embarrassment.
"Pure Power, the Ability you gained, enhances Aura," said the Whisperer. "The other Ability is Telepathy, which enhances the mind in a similar fashion. Medichams with Telepathy often fight more like Alakazams, whereas Medichams with Pure Power often fight more like Lucarios. The truly strong Medichams are the ones who fight with versatility, blending both Aura and Mind. And I would like to aid you in achieving such strength."
"Why?"
"Because of your story," said the Whisperer. "You have suffered, Medicham. Suffered in a way that others couldn't imagine. And yet you have persevered. I have been watching you for a while, and I do not wish to see you fail when you have overcome so much. So this is my offer: I will grant you knowledge. Knowledge that will give you an edge you would not otherwise possess. I ask nothing in return but a ready ear. Do you accept my offer? If you do not, I will not trouble you any further. There are no strings attached, no hoops to jump through. What do you say?"
Medicham thought for a moment. But only for a moment.
"I accept."
"Serena?"
"Yes," said Medicham telepathically, trying to find the right words to justify it and ending up basically echoing Bringer-Of-Visions. "She's…got Seeker-Of-Endings, and then she has that Inkay that Professor Sycamore told us about, and she has her Eevee-"
"…that can evolve into Umbreon," Marcus finished. "Yeah, that'll work. All right, we'll find Serena, and we'll talk to her about it…just as soon as we've got you and Kriesh healed up."
Even as Medicham voiced her agreement, she had a bitter taste in her mouth at Marcus's quick and easy agreement. A part of her had hoped that he might not agree. That she could still find a way to keep the Heralds away from them. But the other part of her knew that if Seeker-Of-Endings wasn't chosen, another Herald would wind up at the Dark-type Gym, one way or another. And the first part of her, the resistant part, had to admit that Seeker-Of-Endings was the best option.
They'd left the house about an hour ago, to goodbyes from Sarah and James along with reminders of the weekly check-in. Currently, Marcus had Drapion out walking beside him. The large, menacing-looking Pokemon seemed to be an effective deterrent; once or twice Medicham had seen a couple confident-looking wild Pokemon step out of the bushes, spot Drapion, and quickly scramble back while still trying vainly to look confident. And they'd passed a young-looking Trainer on the way whose hand had flown to his Pokeball but stopped instantly upon seeing the powerful-looking Drapion. He'd backed away sheepishly, pretending that he was looking at something else as Marcus and Drapion passed.
As Marcus's attention strayed from Medicham and locked back onto the path before them, Medicham relaxed and turned to stare out of her Luxury Ball once more. Her eyes searched for something that she'd been seeing for some time, and found it fairly quickly.
Someone was following them. Had been since about ten minutes after they'd left the house. And Medicham had a sinking feeling she knew who it was.
Of course the Heralds would send somebody to make sure Marcus was on the right track.
Not for the first time, Medicham prayed Drapion would see as he scanned the bushes for incoming threats. But he was paying more attention to his front than his back, and so he did not see.
Medicham would have warned Marcus of their tail. But if she was right and it was a Herald, that would only bring problems. So she kept silent as they crested a ridge and saw Couriway in the distance. It wouldn't be too long now until Medicham and Kriesh would be ensconced in the Pokemon Center. She couldn't deny she was looking forward to the comfort of the place.
But that was in the future. For now, Medicham continued to watch the trail of swishing grasses that indicated the path of their tail. It was now approaching a spot that had less grasses; Medicham eyed that spot with intensity, waiting to see the stark white fur of an Absol emerge from the bushes.
But it wasn't white fur that emerged. Instead, their tail sprang swiftly from one side of the miniature clearing to the other so quickly that Medicham's eyes barely caught it. But what she saw was not an Absol, but the purple-and-yellow spotted fur of a Liepard.
And there was only one Liepard Medicham had seen in the past few days.
But if this was truly that Liepard, why would she be following them? Perhaps for revenge? Did she seriously think she could tackle them all by herself?
Regardless of why, now that Medicham knew their tail wasn't a Herald, she could alert Marcus to the possible threat. With a swift telepathic message, she delivered the warning.
At Medicham's words, Marcus stopped walking. Drapion looked up at him in puzzlement. The trail of shifting grasses stopped as well.
"Left and behind, Drapion," Marcus told him. "Pursuit."
Drapion spun, unleashing a No Escape that instantly arced towards the hidden form of Liepard. A yowl split the air as Liepard sprang from the bushes, tucking and rolling to avoid the flying rays. A flurry of rays came from her own mouth, intercepting Drapion's attack in midair as Liepard rolled to her feet. A feline grin came to her face.
"Mon ami," she said. "We meet again."
Drapion crouched. "Ah figured we hadn't seen the last 'a ya."
Liepard began to purr. "Please. I do not come for revenge. Ce temps est fini maintenant. I merely came so that I could be with you."
Drapion's expression was laden with surprise even as he tried to maintain his menacing demeanor. "Ah'm warnin' ya. Get away from mah Trainer."
"I have no interest in your Trainer," Liepard insisted. "My interest is in you, mon ami."
"An' why is that?" Drapion growled.
"Because you have proven yourself strong," Liepard responded. "Parfait pour moi. Your strength makes you attractive. Much better than that faible of an Abomasnow."
Medicham couldn't help but stifle a laugh at the face Drapion was making. The spikes on his body began to glow with energy as he gathered himself. "Ah ain't interested in anythin' like that," he growled. "Especially not with ya. So unless ya want a repeat 'a yesterday, ah suggest ya leave."
Liepard's smile did not fade as she stepped backwards into the bushes. "One day I'll figure out how to pierce through that thick armor of yours," she said. "One day I'll reach that soft center I know you have. Jusqu'à ce que nous nous revoyions."
Drapion let out a sigh of relief as Liepard disappeared from view. Marcus, too, untensed. "Good work, Drapion," he said. "Let's keep going."
But even as Marcus recalled Drapion and resumed his walk towards Couriway, Medicham saw hints of Liepard's fur in the grasses, saw them resume their swaying, and realized that she was still following them. At the very least, she didn't seem to intend any harm, and so Medicham did not alert Marcus again. But she could tell that this was definitely not the last they'd seen of the mysterious Pokemon.
The clearing felt empty without Medicham and Kriesh, even with the half-dozen beings occupying it. It didn't help that Marcus and Kamado were off to the side, the former working to teach the latter how to manipulate rocks. Marcus had already gotten Kamado a Luxury Ball, to fit with the rest of the team, and now had told the rest of the team to practice amongst themselves while he worked with the young Tyrunt.
Drapion was engaging with Houndoom; Marcus had made it clear that with them both on his team for the Dark Gym, he wanted them to practice against each other. At present, Houndoom was continuing his training with Solar Beam, attempting to remove his reliance on his Power Herb. The Dark/Fire-type had managed to get the time it took for a normal Solar Beam down quite impressively; so impressively, in fact, that now with the Power Herb it fired practically instantaneously.
Marcus had gotten Drapion an item to match Houndoom's; along with Kamado's Luxury Ball, Marcus had bought a fairly expensive Black Sludge. As Marcus described it, the Black Sludge reacted with Poison energy, causing it to slowly heal Poison-type Pokemon but cause pain to all other types. He could feel it now, reducing the pain brought on by the Fire-type attacks Houndoom was throwing at him.
"Flame Tongue!" Houndoom barked. Drapion raised a thick chitin-covered arm between him and the incoming energy, activating Battle Armor in the process. The flames slammed into the chitin, and though Drapion's arm flared with pain the chitin absorbed most of it.
"So what do you think is going on?" Houndoom asked.
Drapion shot a quick glance to the side to see Cloyster and Trevenant, the former attempting to counter Leech Seed with well-timed Spike Flurries. "About what?"
"You know," said Houndoom. "Something about what happened yesterday…just doesn't feel right."
"Yeah," said Drapion. "It ain't like Medicham an' Kriesh ta get so badly hurt by a few wild Pokemon, even if they got jumped."
"And…look, it's obvious something happened to her in that forest," said Houndoom. "I mean, before she left. She didn't want to go in at first, and when we reached that clearing…"
"She did seem out of it," Drapion admitted. "Perhaps it happened ta her in there?"
"Maybe…" Houndoom said. "It could have something to do with…"
He trailed off. Drapion glared at him. "Somethin' ta do with what?"
Houndoom sighed. "Look, I…I know we were supposed to leave Medicham alone with her old friends, but…I guess I might have been standing a little close, and I overheard a few things. She was asking about the day she came there, and…well, the Graveler mentioned Absols. And I saw her sigh. Pretty sad-sounding sigh. Like…maybe she was regretting something. Whatever it was, the stuff about the Absols seemed to trigger it."
"Or maybe she just didn't like what she heard," said Drapion.
"Possibly," said Houndoom.
"Anythin' else?" Drapion asked.
"Oh, she introduced us," said Houndoom. "And there was something about an Ekans…oh! And a swarm of your kind. Do you know anything about the 'Swarmlord'?"
Drapion lunged. Completely unprepared, Houndoom didn't have time to dodge before Drapion's right claws clamped around his throat and slammed him into the ground.
Drapion leaned in close, his voice a menacing whisper. "Never say that name again," he snarled. "Never. Ya understand?"
Houndoom nodded rapidly, eyes wide as he tried to draw breath.
Drapion released Houndoom. The Dark/Fire-type rose, eyeing Drapion nervously. Drapion let out a low, irritable snarl, shaking his head. "All right, let's keep goin'."
"You sure?" Houndoom asked. "Because-"
"Let's. Keep. Goin'." Drapion's voice was laden with ferocity.
"All right," said Houndoom warily. "So…okay, I'll do another Solar Surge, and you block."
So they flung themselves into their training once more. But for the rest of the session, Houndoom was noticeably more careful, and Drapion slower.
"Your Pokemon are all healthy," said the Pokemon Center nurse. "Good job taking care of them on the way over, by the way."
"Thanks," said Marcus as he grasped both Medicham and Kriesh's Luxury Balls. "It was more my parents, though."
The nurse smiled. "Well, send them my gratitude. Those wounds could have been much nastier without their help."
With a nod of acquiescence, Marcus departed the Pokemon Center.
By now it was midafternoon. The sun had not yet dipped below the treetops, but its bottom edge was approaching the topmost leaves. Marcus was quick to move over to an unoccupied bench and sit down heavily. He stretched his legs out, letting out a content breath, and released his team onto the grassy patch between the bench and the roadway. All of them looked up at him expectantly.
"So," he said, "it's time. Sure, Valerie said not to spend the entire time preparing, but I think getting started quickly is the best option. Medicham, you mentioned Serena as a possible Gym Trainer?"
Medicham stole a quick glance at Kriesh, but the Fearow's expression was unreadable. "Yes," she said telepathically, making sure everyone could hear it.
"Last I checked," said Marcus, "she was heading to Alola with her friends. So if we're going after her, that means we're heading to Alola. Any of you ever been to Alola?"
A chorus of negative murmurs accompanied multiple shakes of heads.
"Neither have I," said Marcus. "It'll be interesting. Definitely a change of pace. But…I took the liberty of looking things up. There's a weekly boat from Kalos to Alola, but it seems to have left a couple hours ago. There are other faster but more expensive methods of transportation, but we've got three months; I don't think we need to rush our trip to Alola too much."
The murmurs this time were far more affirmative.
"So," said Marcus, "while we wait, I was thinking maybe we try and catch a new team member or two. We do need four Dark-types, after all. The quicker we have those four, the quicker we can start training the new ones up. With Drapion and Houndoom, we've got a good matchup against Fairy-types and, to an extent, Bug-types, but Fighting-types are a major problem, so we're going to need to cover that weakness. A Dark/Fighting-type could be fairly good for the team, so I think we're headed off to Cyllage. From what I know, there are Scraggy and Pancham in the area, both of which would make good additions."
"Cyllage?" Cloyster asked. "Wow, isn't that where you caught me?"
"And it is where my egg was created," said Kamado.
Kriesh frowned.
"So, Kriesh, I've had an idea," said Marcus. "It's…going to be a little weird. But I was told that you…well, there are specific Pokemon that are capable of using a move called Fly. It's a move that allows Pokemon to concentrate energy in a specific way to allow someone to…um…ride them. While they fly. And…well, I bought a Fly TM. So…I mean…"
"I don't see why not," Kriesh muttered, sounding somewhat distracted. Medicham was quick to translate.
"Great!" Marcus grinned. "Let me just…get the TM real quick…"
"Connie."
"What?" Medicham looked over at Kriesh.
"Right, you weren't there," said Kriesh. "Trevenant, Houndoom, you were there as well, weren't you?"
"What are you talking about?" Cloyster asked. "I remember Connie. She was the Dark-type Trainer we fought in the Tournament…wait a minute."
"You fought another Dark-type Trainer?" Kamado asked.
"Yeah, we fought Connie, but I'm not talking about that," said Kriesh. "Remember? After the match, when she and Marcus were talking? She said-"
"-that she was heading to Cyllage!" Trevenant finished. "Medicham, tell Marcus!"
Medicham did so as quickly and efficiently as she could. Marcus's eyes widened and he pulled out his Pokedex, scrolling through it as fast as he could.
"Galar…Galar…boat to Galar…leaves from Cyllage in three hours!" Marcus turned towards Kriesh. "All right, Kriesh, we're going to Cyllage, and we're going now."
He pulled out the Fly TM, a white disc that glinted in the sunlight. Kriesh stretched her beak forward, allowing Marcus to touch the TM to it. At once her eyes widened and she took a step back, her breathing increasing in rapidity for a moment before slowing back down.
"Ready?" Marcus asked.
"Ready," said Kriesh with a nod. "This…this feels strange, I won't lie, but…I think I'm ready."
Marcus recalled the rest of her team. "All right, I'm going to get on you slowly. Squawk if it hurts in any way."
Gingerly, Marcus stepped to Kriesh's side, raised his leg, and stepped over Kriesh's body. He sat down, grasping both his hands on Kriesh's shoulders. "Let's go," he said. Kriesh spread her wings. Flying energy erupted from her back, forming into a set of straps that wound tightly around Marcus, securing him to Kriesh's body. Marcus jerked slightly in surprise, then smiled giddily as Kriesh began to rise into the air, wings flapping.
"Which way?" Kriesh asked. Medicham echoed the question telepathically.
"Left, and straight on until we reach the mountains!" Marcus cried a lot louder than necessary.
Kriesh lunged, hurling herself up into the sky with Marcus on her back. Marcus let out an involuntary gleeful cry as the Fearow streaked off to the west, leaving the town of Couriway behind them.