When I arrive at the Ginko Guild's meeting spot, I'm not surprised that there's no sight of Volo. It's about a day before we're scheduled to meet, but I'm a bit anxious to hear if Volo knows about the state of the sky. I'd stayed in the Crimson Mirelands long enough to gather up all of the wisps, if for no other reason than I would have arrived even earlier.

I move to sit down at my usual spot but stop in my tracks when I see a note nailed to the log. The paper is folded on itself and the outside has 'Leah' written on it in Volo's flowing script. I look around for anyone else, then my curiosity gets the better of me and I tear the note free of the nail and unfold it.

As you might have noticed, the sky is having some issues at the moment. I'm working with the Galaxy Team's best and brightest, and I have no doubts that we'll be able to get things back to normal. In the meantime, you should make your way to Jubilife Village. Even though most of the Survey and Security Corps are away, it's still the safest place in Hisui at the moment. Plus, I believe I saw your missing purple ball in the basement of Galaxy Hall, so now would be a good time to retrieve it. Please don't cause too much trouble for the villagers while you're visiting. I'm sure they're under enough stress at the moment.

-Volo

I read the note again, trying to remember if Volo ever mentioned someone named Leah. It takes me a minute, but I finally remember that's the name he said he'd given the Galaxy Team when he'd first gotten my clothes for me. I try not to think about the fact that one of those outfits is now unsalvageable and instead read the letter for the third time now that I know it's actually addressed to me.

Volo telling me to go to Jubilife Village is a bit of a surprise, but I can understand the logic. If what he says is true about the missing corps, then it's possibly the only opportunity I'll ever have to enter the Galaxy Team's base of operations. While it seems like a lot of risk for a single wisp, the idea slowly starts to grow on me. The note said to not cause any trouble, which just seems like Volo is pointing me toward being able to do something to inhibit the Galaxy Team for the first time, which is incredibly tempting. Plus, if for no other reason, I have to admit that I'm curious about seeing what the sprawling city of Jubilife is like in the past.

With my mind made up, I just need to decide how much I need to hurry. I know that Volo could make the trip from here to Jubilife Village in under eight hours, but I suspect that it'll take me a bit longer since I don't know the path. It's tempting to head there straight away since I don't want to risk arriving after their Security Corps returns from wherever they are. The downside of that means that I would be entering the village in the middle of the day, eliminating most of my advantages. That, plus the fact that I found Volo's letter earlier than he probably expected, makes me decide that it's probably safe to wait for tomorrow, though I do still want to get most of the way there before resting for the day.

With my mind made up, I do one final thing before I leave the Ginko Guild's meetup spot, namely asking Hana to pull the nail out of the log. The last thing I want to do is forget that it's there and sit on a rusty nail in a few days.


After more than a month of practically no sign of civilization, the sight of Jubilife Village seems wrong somehow. While the Pearl Clan's settlement had consisted of a scattering of tents, Jubilife Village has dozens of permanent buildings, most of them lit up in the gloom of the night. Even the streets are illuminated by street lights, and judging from the steadiness of the lights, powered by electricity instead of fire. It hadn't been something I'd really thought about, but I would have assumed that they didn't even have electricity here in Hisui.

Somehow, the thing that strikes me as the oddest about the village is the wooden fence that surrounds it. Back home there was almost no boundary between human cities and nature. Given the potential dangers of Hisui, I could understand if there was some separation between the two, but the Pearl Clan had absolutely nothing to keep Pokemon out, showing that it was safe to do so. With that in mind, the large walls around the Jubilife Village make it seem less like they're trying to stay safe and more like they have something to hide.

Eventually, I realize that I should get a move on instead of just standing on a hill staring down at the village. Between the dark of the night and what Volo said about there being fewer people in the village, I doubt I'll get spotted, but there's no reason to risk it either. Still, a little insurance doesn't hurt. Turning toward the ghost Pokemon behind me, I ask, "Can you two cause a little mischief in town? Just enough to make sure they don't notice me."

Aliss cackles excitedly at the idea and while Ricky doesn't seem nearly as enthused, he nods as well. I give the Mismagius and Drifloon a small wave goodbye as they float away, then return my attention to examining the village. It only takes a few seconds to pick my destination, as I can easily sense the wisp that's somewhere in the large building at the edge of town. I only have to wait a few minutes until the night is lit up by purple flames that appear on the roof of a smaller building on the opposite side of town. I take a moment to admire Aliss' handiwork before asking Hana to get us closer with Shadow Sneak.

The moment my feet return to solid ground, I start looking for an entry point. I'm not sure how long Aliss and Ricky will be able to keep the Galaxy Team distracted, and I don't want to risk them having to do it too long anyway. Unfortunately, there aren't any doors in the back of the building, so I'm forced to peer through the closest window. The room inside appears to be an extremely messy office, with paper strewn all around the room, but the most important thing is that there's no sign of movement.

We once again use Shadow Sneak to get into the room and I hold my breath for several long seconds to be as quiet as possible. I almost jump back out the window when there's a sudden noise, but I manage to keep my nerves and stay still as it registers that the sound was a snore. Slowly peering to the other side of the room, I see two Pokemon sleeping in habitats that are clearly built for them. While I have no idea why a Rowlet or Oshawott would be in Hisui, I don't waste any time thinking about it as I quickly make my way to the door on the far side of the room.

The doorway leads to a long carpeted hallway with two large staircases going up and down. After making sure that the hallway is empty, I hesitate for only a second longer before rushing down the stairs toward the feeling of the wisp. The layout of the building's basement looks identical to the ground floor, though only a few of the lights are on, giving me hope that I won't run into anyone else down here.

Conveniently, I can feel the wisp in the room with the only open door on the floor. I give the room one more cautious check, then sneak in when I don't see anyone. My eyes immediately find the wisp on the far end of the room and I take a second to wonder how no one has noticed it in the middle of the clearly well-used room. Speaking of, I allow my curiosity to get the better of me and look around the room instead of heading straight for my objective. It only takes a second before I notice what's on the table right next to the wisp and stiffen.

Pokeballs.

They're not finished, just hemispheres on a table, but they're completely unmistakable. I rush over to the table and my legs start to shake when I see that I wasn't wrong.

How are there Pokeballs here? I had always been taught that they were a relatively recent invention by Silph Co in Kanto. I hadn't even asked Volo about them since I assumed they didn't exist in this time. Speaking of Volo, there's no way that he doesn't know about them if he's been dealing with the Galaxy Team. Why did he never offer me any Pokeballs? Getting around Hisui would have been so much easier with a full team of Pokemon. Why woul-

"Who are you? What are you doing here?"

My head snaps up toward the doorway where I see a serious-looking woman with short blue hair. Her face is oddly familiar but I'm too shocked to even try and figure out why. My nerves get absolutely no reprieve when I notice the sword sheathed at her waist. Her lips get even thinner when I don't answer.

I put my hands up and back away from the table, still trying to stumble for words. I've barely taken a step when I feel a familiar chill in my chest and I realize that I've backed right into the wisp. Whether because of the stressful situation or something else, something about absorbing this wisp is different from anything I've experienced before and my vision begins to swim. I have to slam my hand on the table to keep my balance, making the unfinished Pokeballs go flying.

The sensation abruptly ends and something clicks in my head. Suddenly feeling much better, I look up and find that the woman has taken a half step toward me.

…Except the room's other occupant isn't a woman.

Why did I think they were a woman?

Standing not even fifteen feet away from me is the one person I hate more than anyone.

Cyrus.

I don't even wonder how or why he's here. If I could get to the past, then so could he. And of course he would join the precursor to his own organization. I bet he's even leading them.

But I can stop him. Right here. Right now.

I slowly pull Hana from her sheath, not taking my eyes off Cyrus for even a moment. He's a bit slower on the draw but unsheathes his sword as well. I don't know why he's not using his Pokemon, but I won't complain in the slightest. Not wanting to give him a moment to think better of it, I quickly cross the room and swipe at him with Hana.

To my complete surprise, he doesn't miss a beat and causally parries the blow. With an expert-looking flourish, Cyrus almost rips Hana out of my hand, but her tassel keeps her firmly in my hand. When the maneuver doesn't work, I think I see a flash of a frown on his face, but it's gone so fast I think I imagined it. I quickly tighten my grip on Hana and press the attack, though more carefully this time.

All of my preconceptions about my skill are soundly dismantled over the next few minutes, as our gap in skill is extremely evident. The longer we fight the more frustrated I get. I can't fathom why the leader of Team Galactic is so good at sword fighting when he's probably only been in the past for as long as I have. Even more enraging is the fact that it's not even my fault that I'm losing. The Battlemaster taught me how to fight against Pokemon, but Cyrus clearly has experience fighting other humans using swords.

After he parries another one of my strikes, both of us take a step back as we disengage our weapons. By wordless agreement, we take a small pause, allowing me a small opportunity to catch my breath. Cyrus doesn't sound the least bit winded when he speaks after a few seconds. "You have some skill with a blade, but you will not win this fight. Surrender."

"Never," I spit. "You killed Gwen."

For the first time, Cyrus' expression changes from being completely neutral and he sneers at me. "I don't know who that is."

I charge him with a wordless scream.

My frenzied attack is blocked with enraging ease, but I'm shocked back to clarity when I notice that Hana is glowing in my hand. Cyrus appears to be equally surprised and backs up again, eyes darting between me and Hana suspiciously. The glow becomes brighter and brighter until I eventually realize that there's a second shape emerging from Hana. As the glow fades, I discover that it's another sword that's an exact mirror of the one that I'm holding, the only difference being that Hana's blue tassels have turned pink.

I hesitantly pluck the new sword from where it floats in the air in front of me with my left hand. The tassel immediately wraps around my hand and I slowly grin. All of the practice the Blademaster had me do with fighting with my left hand suddenly makes sense. I dash toward Cyrus again, swinging both blades and immediately putting him on the back foot. With Hana guiding my hand, the transition to fighting with two weapons at the same time is practically effortless for me while Cyrus suddenly has much more difficulty parrying.

Even still, the best that I'm able to do is to make a shallow cut on one of Cyrus' arms. While I can't help but smile at finally hurting him, he scowls as blood trickles down his arm. In the blink of an eye, he bats aside the sword in my left hand and returns the favor by stabbing me in the shoulder. Even the tassel warped around my hand isn't enough to keep my grip on the hilt as my shoulder is wracked with white-hot pain.

I stumble backward, dimly aware that the blade that I dropped has started floating between me and Cyrus. I shakily hold up the blade in my right hand while trying to remember which pouch contains the Roselia petal enchanted with Life Dew. I'm afraid to take my eyes off Cyrus as he tries to fight his way through Hana's blade, so my left hand is left to blindly search for the correct pouch. When the pouch that I open has something hard inside of it, I almost move on to the next one but then hesitate and grab it instead.

"Conversion 2," I breathe out and immediately feel different.

The last time I used Conversion 2, it made my body heavier and my skin metallic. This time is the opposite of that and I suddenly feel light and airy. Even the pain in my shoulder fades away as a comfortable chill washes over my body. I slowly bring up my hand into my line of sight and find that I can actually see through my hand.

"What have you done?" Cyrus slowly asks and I can't help but laugh at the bafflement and worry in his voice. My voice has been similarly changed by my transformation, and my laugh sounds like a haunting giggle with an odd echo to it. The noise makes Cyrus take another uncertain step back, making me giggle even harder. It takes me a few seconds to get a hold of myself and then I finally re-grab the sword floating in front of me with my left hand. Interestingly, I have absolutely no problems grasping Hana despite the transparent state of my hand.

This time when I approach Cyrus, I don't even bother defending myself against his sword since something tells me I don't need to. Sure enough, his blade passes right through my arm and doesn't accomplish anything beyond leaving a slight tingling sensation. Hana, on the other hand, doesn't have any issues finding her mark and I'm able to stab Cyrus right in the leg while he's reeling from his failed blow.

The injured leg gives out and Cyrus falls to one knee, leaving me standing over him triumphant. My exultation vanishes in a moment when the leader of Team Galactic shouts, "Abra!"

Before I can even think about finding the Umbreon eye enchanted with Mean Look or even simply stabbing Cyrus to finish the job, he vanishes in a flash of light. For a while I stand there, unable to do anything other than stare at the spot on the wooden floor that's been stained with the blood of Gwen's killer. I want to have Hana follow him with Shadow Sneak, but it would be pointless. Nothing can outpace an Abra when it comes to quick Teleports.

Disbelief slowly turns to rage and I begin to scream out every profanity I can think of. Unsurprisingly, that doesn't make me feel better. After a few seconds, I think of something that will improve my mood and I find the pouch on my belt that has seen the most use. I practically crush the Chimchar paw in my grasp as I begin to cast.

"Ember... Ember… Ember. Ember. Ember! Ember! Ember!"

With every casting I pivot my body, sending the small fireball conjured by the spell to hit a different part of the room. I start out slow, but the castings come faster as I become more gleeful to see my handiwork beginning to engulf the basement. I'm dimly aware that I must look like a madwoman or a cartoon villain as I stand in the middle of a burning room laughing maniacally, but I don't care. Burning down the headquarters of the real villains will be a loss they won't easily recover from. Cyrus may have escaped but the blow I've dealt to his organization might be fatal all the same.

I likely would have burned through the entire enchantment of the Chimchar paw in my fervor, but I eventually stop when I feel one of Hana's blades vibrating violently in my hand. The feeling snaps me out of my pyromanic episode and I realize that the heat of the fire is beginning to feel stifling even through the chill that my transformation brought. With a huff, I return the Chimchar paw to its pouch. "Alright, get us out of here."

It barely takes a second for Hana and me to slip into the floor and enter the void. I frown slightly as I float through the darkness. I can vaguely remember hating traveling through the void, but I can't imagine why. The cold and dark feels comforting in a way that I can't quite describe. In fact, I'm almost reluctant to leave when we slip back into the real world.

The hill that Hana deposits us has a clear view of the Galaxy Team's headquarters and I smile at the sight of smoke already rising out of the building's foundations. I spend almost a minute admiring the view before sighing and deciding to leave. I'm sure that saving as much of their building as possible is going to be the Galaxy Team's priority, but I don't want to take any unnecessary risks if a group of them decides they want revenge.

A glance up at the sky reveals that it's still broken, but I shrug and don't give it another thought. Volo had said that he was going to fix it and I'm going to trust him on that. That does mean that I won't be able to give my report right away since he's clearly still sorting that out. Plus I'm sure that my actions will mean that the Galaxy Team will keep him busy even after he's done saving the world.

With a report out of the question, I fall back to the only other thing I've done in Hisui. I'm not sure if it's Conversion 2's doing, but my ability to sense wisps seems greatly increased and I can feel one that I somehow know is more than a mile away. I point with one of Hana's swords in the direction of the wisp and say, "Shadow Sneak in that direction." When Hana vibrates lightly in my hand instead of starting the move, I add, "Now."

Even though the vibrations stop almost immediately, I still frown as I get the sudden feeling that I'm forgetting something. As I slip back into the void, I shrug off the feeling.

If I can't remember what it is, it can't be that important.


A/N: Thanks to Star (quarknova on this site) and Cavik for betaing. Next up is Chapter 11: Grim Undertaking