Team Gazer had proven to be quite the entertaining companions.
"Inquisitive: What is the value in watching this?" Beldum asked. Of everyone in the crowd, only they ended up getting splashed by Totodile at the climax of his dance.
"Thank you," Totodile said, bowing to individual pokémon. "Thank you. Thank you. Not you." He did not bow to Beldum. "Thank you." Nodded to Electrike who whistled.
"Declaration: I am offended."
Beldum got splashed again, and so they had to leave quickly before robot violence occurred.
The plus of walking their way back meant that activities that Team Ion hadn't been able to enjoy before, due to their haste of finding Pyroar could be enjoyed now.
They were in no rush at all to get back to Treasure Town, so the seven of them took their time enjoying the towns and villages they passed through. Ara had Scout tie a rock to Rai's tail and instructed him to build up muscle in the fifth appendage.
In Rivers Bank, the seven of them joined a local competition. The rules were simple. The first team to catch Cutiefly won. And Cutiefly was to be treated gently. Those were the only rules.
Obviously, attacking everyone else happened immediately.
With three pokémon to a team, Ara could not join Ion or Gazer and decided to work entirely on her own, putting her nose up at any other team.
Rivers Bank was a very small town, so there wasn't a whole lot to break, which was lucky when Graveler decided to explode and took out three different teams. All to give his partners a better chance.
Cutiefly, unlike the others, was beholden to absolutely zero rules and he had a very good time turning everyone against everyone. With a wink and Attract, he destroyed the teamwork of four separate teams.
One may wonder why he would subject himself to so many pokémon trying to capture him. No one but the officiators of the competition knew that it was Cutiefly's idea in the first place and he revelled in the chaos.
But it was also the culture of the little town and brought in plenty of pokémon for this twisted fairy's game.
Ultimately, Cutiefly fled into a dungeon and with Team Gazer butting heads with Team Ion, neither of them were able to enter in time before a team consisting of a fennekin, vulpix, and espeon got in ahead of them.
Ara alone managed to pursue it.
It was the first team who won, with Ara wandering out an hour later all confused. "I swear they navigated that dungeon better than I've ever seen," Ara said, staring after the winning trio in something resembling actual respect. "Hit me with a combination attack too." She winced.
After continuing on, and Scout nearly falling into the Thousand Falls, he swore that someone tried to push him in, Team Gazer challenged them to their own little competition.
With both of them still licking their wounds after the slobber knocker in Rivers Bank, they put off the battle for now and instead moved towards an old dungeon in the area. By this point, Rai could hold his tail up even with the rock. So, Ara had a bigger one tied to it.
"Moss Cavern has got a lot of dead ends," Beheeyem warned. "Collapsed dead ends. The dungeon feels like it's going to fall on your head at any time… perfect for us!"
"Sure," Scout said, unsure.
"There's this really fun treasure at the end too!" Electrike said, hopping around excitedly. "We got it once, but someone else got it too! It's a Joy Seed!"
"Declaration: It appears this dungeon regenerates its treasure." Which was fair enough, being that items appeared scattered through dungeons all the time.
"And how do you want to do this?" Ara asked, behind them as always but never too far. "You can't go in at the same time, or you'll be regarded as a team of six. The dungeon won't like that."
"Yeah, I don't really want to see what it'll do," Rai shivered, thinking of his first venture through the Hidden Land.
"You can go in first," Beheeyem said. "Just to be fair as we have done this dungeon before."
"So. I'll wait at the entrance and whoever comes out first, WITH the Joy Seed, is the winner?" Ara surmised. She got assent to those stipulations.
"You don't already have a Joy Seed, do you?" Scout asked, eyes narrowed.
"…Nooo."
Ara held her paw out, and Beheeyem grumbled and handed it over.
Scout shook his head. Not even surprised Beheeyem hadn't even attempted to lie, he had noticed it when he first came, and it was same now. Pokémon weren't natural liars.
"We should hand ours over too," Rai said, very helpfully.
Scout, straight-faced, handed it over without hesitation. Mane gave Rai a side-eyed look and Scout a small smirk. Team Gazer glared as Scout shrugged in an oh well fashion.
With the cheating stymied at the source, they were ready. Beldum kept count, as no one would be better at ensuring a fair amount of time had passed than them, and once the fifth minute was reached, they headed in as well.
It was an old dungeon with many frustrating dead ends and a lot of Rock-type and Grass-type pokémon. Besides some nasty geodude and an encounter with a vileplume that poisoned Scout, there weren't many issues for Team Ion besides geography.
It moving on them and attacking, many rocks being geodude, was somewhat irksome.
The head start did give them the edge over Team Gazer, however, and Team Ion claimed the Joy Seed first, exiting the dungeon all fluffed up and pleased with themselves.
Rai chatted with Ara, and Scout and Mane also took some time to themselves while waiting for the other team.
"I think we should just go," Mane said, only joking a little. "It'd be hilarious to see Beheeyem's face though."
"I wonder what Beldum would say," Scout giggled. "Declaration: You are rude pokémon."
"Declaration: You are also unobservant."
Scout jumped immediately upon Beldum's unamused voice reached him. Mane did not, having seen them coming. Scout levelled him with a betrayed look, so Mane licked him on the nose to fluster him.
"So," Ara said, walking over with Rai. "Team Ion exited first with the Joy Seed."
"Yes," Beheeyem grumbled. "We gathered that."
Electrike didn't accept this. "We demand a recount!" he declared, stomping a foot and sparking.
"We do?" Beheeyem whispered.
"I thought that's what you were going to do," Electrike hissed back, trying and failing to be quiet.
"No," Beheeyem groaned.
"Statement: That will not be necessary," Beldum rescued them. "A race with a handicap on us proves nothing. There is only one competition that will prove the true superior of us."
"Saving the world?" Rai asked innocently cute. His sass was not appreciated, and he gave a subtle wink to Scout and Mane.
"No," Beheeyem scoffed. "Beldum has the right idea. We still have not had our battle!"
"Name a time and a place," Mane said, striding up and walking past Team Gazer, rubbing his tail against Beheeyem as he did so. "We'll take you on any time."
"Right here! Right now!" Electrike said, but Beheeyem hushed him.
"We all must be at peak condition, with no exhaustion or dalliance that anyone can use to claim a handicap. No, we'll battle tomorrow morning after everyone has rested."
"If that's what you want," Rai said, nodding. He looked to Scout. "What do you think?"
"I think," Scout said, stepping over to Rai and Mane himself, "you're on. We won thanks to Corphish before, but we're all stronger now and have Mane." He turned to grin at Team Gazer, gone was the nervous meowth that couldn't battle that they had met as, a time that felt so long ago now. "Tomorrow morning then."
It was agreed.
"There's one thing that will make this a true test of skill," Ara said, the next morning as they were gearing up to fight. She turned to Scout. "Drop the bag."
He blinked at her, and she nodded at Beheeyem too. "That one too. Drop the scarves. Drop. EVERYTHING. If you really want to prove who's the strongest here, you're going to be playing entirely on equal playing fields. No items."
She was met with a bit of protest.
"Half my role is managing items!"
"Without seeds and berries, someone could be seriously hurt."
"I want to eat orans!"
"Sis is right." Rai quietened the argument, nodding to Ara and then glancing to Scout. "Could you take this off?" he asked, holding his neck out and presenting his scarf.
Scout hesitated before nodding and began to untangle them, removing his Joy Ribbon and even the Silver Bow from Mane. He enjoyed feeling the Silver Bow again, it left certain tingles on his paw pads.
Team Gazer also relinquished their items, leaving everything for Ara to protect and absolutely not pilfer through for the best items when they were all tired and injured.
"I'll keep a watch on the battle," she said, taking the role of officiator. "I'll decide if someone ought to be taken out of the fight since this is a friendly battle we don't want anyone actually hurt. You ready to rumble? Okay? Okay."
It was a nice clearing they picked for their fight. Nice now, it was going to be torn up a little. Team Ion took the side to the right of Ara, and Team Gazer took the left. With a bubbling stream not too far away and trees crowning this area as a lovely glade, it was time to sing the song of pokémon.
"Rai," Ara said, catching his eye. She twitched her tail a few times and winked, he smiled back and nodded before composing his face in a battle-ready stern stare.
"Okay… both teams ready?" Ara called. She received determined nods from every participant, besides Beldum as nodding required their entire body to headbutt the ground.
"Have fun you six. FIGHT!"
Muscles had been tensed, claws were twitching, eyes were narrowed, and noses were twitching.
With Ara's call, the battle began in an immediate blaze of elemental activity. Electrike and Rai both lit up with electricity and tried to snipe another, Beheeyem was Rai's target while Electrike was aiming for Mane.
Both arcs of electricity clashed in mid-air as the Electric-type's battled for dominance.
Mane breathed a storm of Ember's right at Beldum as Scout dashed ahead, a great deal faster than what he had shown way back when. He was also aiming for Beheeyem, remembering what the Psychic-type did the last time they fought.
Beldum intervened, however, and Scout's claws melded with darkness, clanging against Beldum's metallic body. Unlike the last time, however, this was no mere Scratch attack but a super-effective Night Slash, sending a blade of darkness through Beldum and affecting them a great deal more than they were expecting.
Still, Beldum taking a double hit from Scout and Mane gave Beheeyem the time to channel his Power and throw out a grand, shimmering, cage of bizarre energy, twisting their agility and speed against them.
"Dammit," Scout blurted as Beldum suddenly spun on him like a spinning top and crashed their body against his chest. It was awfully familiar, and he didn't much appreciate the super-quick Take Down.
Scout went flying, and Mane tried to run up but found his legs weren't obeying like normal, it felt like he was trying to run through water and Beldum turned on him as well.
Mane's mouth lit up with flames as Beldum rocketed at him. He received a head-tilting strike from Beldum, but detonated his Fire Blast at point-blank range, blasting Beldum back as well as a drop of blood fell from his temple.
Rai and Electrike's beam struggle broke when an explosion sent Beldum through it, and Rai charged Electrike. They were of similar speed and contesting each other prevented the bizarre effects of the Trick Room from affecting either of them.
Rai tackled Electrike and knocked their heads together, scuffling on the grass but neither trying to shock the other.
Beheeyem, torn between Rai and Mane elected to assist Electrike and charged Rai. Adding him into the mix affected the matchup. Rai wasn't slowed, but Beheeyem was ridiculously faster.
He snatched Rai off Electrike and tossed him into the air, sending a telekinetic blast up at him. Rai matched it with a Thunderbolt, but Electrike took advantage of that and jumped into the discharge, powering himself up and lancing Rai out of the sky with a follow-up Thunderbolt.
The two members of Team Gazer shared a confident nod before a blast of Embers forced them apart. Beldum, however, came charging back, charred and hurting but still very much in this. Mane let himself fall to the ground to avoid the blow, no number of slow limbs stopped the pull of gravity, and he could fall at the same speed.
Right into Scout's range.
He had bit his lip when Beldum smacked against him and had used that blood to form a handy Shadow Ball, driving it paws-first into Beldum's eye.
Mane rolled around the other way and yelled. "Watch out!"
He prepared a Fire Blast but Beheeyem snatched him up from afar with his Psychic, throttling him in the air and pulling his mouth away from Beldum who was shaking it off.
Electrike took another Thunderbolt for Beheeyem from Rai and Rai growled. "I can't get around his ability," he snarled. Rai was a famously good shot with his electric attacks, having them diverted was frustrating.
Scout raised his Night Slashes and took another bone-bending Take Down but slashed through Beldum again.
"Demand: How are you still conscious?" Beldum said, voice afflicting a measure of frustration unusual to their normal flat tone.
"I'm just getting started," Scout said, rubbing his mouth. His eyes burned into Beldum's single eye and his koban seemed to reflect an unusual amount of light for a moment.
Beldum was unaffected by the attempt at dominating their mind but then was hit by a barrage of embers. Scout followed him and blasted him yet again with a Shadow Ball, knocking Beldum up. It hadn't put them to sleep, but his Hypnosis had still slowed them down enough.
"Cobalt!" Beheeyem yelled, speaking their name for the second time today. He raised his hands to direct his focus and telekinetically pulled Beldum back, out of the way of Rai's Thunderbolt.
"Dammit!" Rai yelled, growing more frustrated with his misses. Electrike spun around and shook his rump at Rai to taunt him further.
"Volt!" Beheeyem yelled sharply. With Beldum out of his range, Scout had launched himself forward at max speed, jumping into a pouncing leap right before reaching Mane's part, clearing the disabling effects of Trick Room.
Beheeyem tried to catch Scout off reflex. Your regular meowth was a Normal-type after all. He knew it was different for Scout, but instincts won over reason even for a Psychic-type.
Scout's Night Slash crippled his leg and snapped his natural floating ability, and he hit the ground.
Mane bellowed out a bombarding yell, knocking Volt off his feet and giving Rai a clear shot to unleash a Thunderbolt on the entirety of Team Gazer.
Scout was collateral damage, but that was expected at this point. Rai knew and trusted Scout's toughness by now.
Fighting through the pain of being zapped, Scout formed another Shadow Ball on Thoughtlight and knocked him flying, towards Rai and Mane. They hit him together, a mutual Quick Attack right into Thoughtlight's belly.
Thoughtlight flew out of the Trick Room and crashed through the branches of several trees. Ara trotted over to where he fell as the remaining members of Team Gazer pulled themselves together.
The Trick Room was quivering at this point, and Cobalt knew they didn't have much time before it failed entirely. "Directive: Cover me," they said and flew for Rai, the only one not particularly winded at this point.
Rai took a heavy load of steel right to his chest and was knocked out of the Trick Room as well. Scout and Mane prepared their super-effective attacks on them, but Volt was able to zap them both and send them twitching to the ground.
"Looks like Beheeyem is still in this," Ara determined, as Thoughtlight was not going down so easily. He was slow out of the Trick Room and could see it beginning to collapse, he began to build the Power to reinstate it, but Rai came running around the edge of it to meet him.
Rai was the closest thing to an official leader of Team Ion; it was only right he takes on the leader of Team Gazer mon-a-mon.
Thoughtlight dropped his concentration for Trick Room and instead focused everything on stopping Rai in his tracks, snaring him with as powerful of a Psychic he could do without actually trying to break bones.
Rai felt the air in his lungs get forced out when his whole body clamped down in mid-air, and he wheezed a breath back in, physically struggling against the weight of the Psychic might crushing every part of him.
He yelled out and sparked with electricity, but Thoughtlight would not let go even as lightning arced down his arms.
His fingers were constantly flashing from the will he needed to restrain Rai and he dearly hoped Volt or Cobalt would notice and aid him soon. Team Gazer fought best as a team, after all.
Rai's mouth went entirely black, and his fangs burned with Dark Energy, and he bit through the Psychic with a Bite. Thoughtlight gasped sharply as suddenly Dark Energy began warring with his Psychic control and his arms shook as Rai writhed in the air, snapping at invisible strings.
His back paws touched the ground, and his claws extended, digging into the grass as his tail also flexed before slamming straight down, glinting metallic for a second.
Ara watched with a proud smile.
Rai rooted himself in the ground and tugged until Thoughtlight's control snapped, breaking out of the Psychic on his own.
Thoughtlight groaned out and sagged briefly, it took an unfair amount of focus to hold someone down and breaking it gave him a splitting headache.
Rai gave him other pains to worry about as he slammed into his stomach, after charging himself with electricity. The makeshift Spark dazed Thoughtlight and Rai finished him off with a crack of thunder.
Scout and Mane were handling their fight as a team. The Trick Room had begun to fail entirely, robbing Cobalt of their crushing speed. Their Take Down still hurt, but Scout was agile enough to avoid him and keep him away from Mane, giving Mane the space to fight Volt from afar.
Ember's crashed with Thunderbolt's in the air, sending static electricity and burning flames everywhere. Mane couldn't quite charge in as electricity hurt from any distance and Volt was just as fast and slightly more agile than him.
Scout's claws raked lines in Cobalt's metal body many times, but he lacked the oomph to take the beldum out. His only option was to build a Shadow Ball, but Cobalt was aggressive enough to prevent him from getting the time needed to really build one.
Both duos were at a stalemate until Scout glanced to Mane and made a decision. "Hey!" Scout yelled, slashing Cobalt away. "Switch!"
He ran to block Volt's Thunderbolt with twin Night Slash's, giving Mane the time to breathe and turn on the charging Cobalt.
Scout was still zapped as blocking lighting with things attached to him didn't work like it did in the anime's he thought he watched, but his steps were undeterred, walking through the lightning to an increasingly-distressed Volt.
"What even are you?" Volt yelled over the sounds of his discharge petering out.
"I'm tougher than I look!" Scout answered before pouncing.
Mane blasted Cobalt out of the air with a Fire Blast and then did a second time just for good measure.
Cobalt's eye was blinking different colours, not unlike Thoughtlight's fingers, in distress. "Alarm. Alarm. Alarm." They repeated, not saying anything more.
Scout crashed against Volt and took another shock for his troubles but pinned the electrike and his eyes burned into him as well. Volt felt a lot different to the steely wall that Cobalt had presented, but no less tricky, being a sparking channel of activity.
Scout would never claim to be a master of Hypnosis, but it did the job well enough to daze Volt with some extended use, and he pulled himself off him, staggering back. Volt was blinking dumbly and trying to remember what foot he used to walk with as Scout called upon the Shadow Ball he couldn't manage against Cobalt.
Right as Volt began to spark, Scout unleashed it on HIS face for a change.
Volt dropped.
Mane stepped back from the blinking Cobalt, deciding that he'd gone far enough. Ara trotted over as the beldum tried to rise and tackle again.
"Defiant Challenge: I am not yet finished. Face me, coward, or feel my wrath!"
Mane turned on them. "You asked for it."
Ara wisely stepped back and let Mane blast Cobalt again, coughing out smoke after he did so. He was tapped, and so was Cobalt. They were still blinking, trying to rise, but Ara put a paw on them. "Enough," she said, forcing them back down. "You've lost. Accept it."
Cobalt beeped something angry at her, but it was no word she could understand.
Scout stumbled over to their bags and began divvying up restorative items for everyone. Beldum was able to eat through the second hole in their head and did so in absolute silence.
Flush with victory, Mane trotted around the defeated Team Gazer only a little dickishly. "Looks like we won," he said, highly pleased. "This is like… the last right of passage. Dreadful opening exploration, Beach Cave/Amp Plains? Check. Handsome kitty? Check. Beat Team Gazer? Check."
"Yeah, laugh it up now," Electrike warned, groaning as he tried to stand steady. "We'll win next time!"
"Indubitably." Beheeyem nodded, rubbing his head. "A victory for Team Ion, today perhaps, but there is always tomorrow."
"You can't be thinking of fighting us again, tomorrow?" Rai groaned.
Beheeyem and Electrike glanced to Beldum, but they didn't do the Team Gazer norm and add in their own two-poké as well.
"Beldum?" Beheeyem asked, rubbing a bruise on his stomach. "Are you okay?"
"Statement: I am not in any mortal peril."
"That's… not really what I asked."
"I am fine," Beldum said, giving no preface to their words beforehand. Their eye swivelled to Beheeyem before swivelling away. "Annoyance: Your mothering only further cements you as the parental figure of Team Gazer."
Beldum's attempt to bait Beheeyem didn't work, for once, and only incited more concern.
"You okay, Co?" Electrike asked.
"Statement: Beheeyem already asked that."
Team Ion, and Ara, watched this exchange in silence. Ara started snacking on an oran berry herself. She rubbed her tail on Rai's, giving it metallic glints now and then.
"Well, I'm asking now!" Electrike exclaimed.
"Frustrated Retort: Stop asking."
"Cobalt," Beheeyem said, worried.
"Fine!" Beldum yelled. "Emotional Tirade: It's my fault. It's always my fault. My uselessly limited movepool has waned your battle prowess and interfered with Volt's speed by focusing on Trick Room. Extrapolative Analysis: We are slow in dungeons, hardly the great explorers we set out to be, and time and time again has shown only I am the issue."
"Cobalt that's hardly your fault," Thoughtlight said, after taking a stunned moment. He had never heard so much from his friend. "When you evolve, everything will sort itself out."
"Demand: And when will that be?" Cobalt asked, an edge of emotion still in their voice. Their eye swivelled towards the ground, downcast. "Miserable Statement: It has been years and years and nothing. No victory, hard-won or not, no amount of fighting and training. No hope with Luminous Spring. Nothing."
That caught Scout's attention. "Hey, uh… not to interrupt," he said, interrupting. Team Gazer all looked up with the realisation they had shown some drama outside of their team. Rai and Scout looked a little uncomfortable, Mane was just zoned out.
Ara continued to munch on food, taking an apple out of Team Ion's Treasure Bag.
Beheeyem rubbed his face, he was aching all over, and this was only reminding him of it. "My apologies," he said.
"No, don't… I was just wondering about Luminous Spring?" he asked, glancing to Rai. "I don't think I ever actually asked about it. For… reasons, but that's a real place?"
Rai nodded. "You know of it then?"
"Do pokémon go there to evolve?"
"That's correct," Beheeyem said, answering in Rai's stead. "Although several years ago the spring simply… went dark. No pokémon has been able to evolve. We first came to the Grass Continent in search of a place for Beldum to evolve, as Luminous Cave on the Air Continent also went dark."
"And pokémon cannot evolve other ways?" Scout asked, highly puzzled. "I could have sworn I've seen dungeon pokémon evolve, and plenty of already-evolved pokémon are in them. They can't ALL be pokémon initially trapped there, right?"
"No," Thoughtlight said, a little puzzled in kind as to why Scout didn't know this. "Natural evolution remains a path, but no one knows what triggers it. Pokémon need to achieve some condition to naturally evolve, for some pokémon that condition has been determined. A specific item, or area, or even state of mind or time. Most others, however, live their lives not knowing when, or if."
Thoughtlight sighed. "However, areas such as Luminous Spring are known to work on request rather than asinine, unknown, conditions. The loss of these places, however, has left pokémon like Beldum frustrated, their species is known to be an exceptionally difficult pokémon to naturally evolve, and no other way has been figured out."
"We always were adventures and treasure hunters!" Volt piped up. "And the Grass Continent has lots of mysteries, but we did initially sort of come here for Beldum."
Beldum's eye swivelled again. They knew this, of course, it was no secret. Still, frustration emanated from them continuously.
Scout wet his lips, recalling what he knew that others didn't. "I think… if I remember right," he stressed the word and Rai and Mane's ears flicked. "Luminous Spring… and I suppose Luminous Cave were affected by time going to shit, that WAS happening years in advance after all. With time fixed, maybe the spring is active again?"
Silence dominated the clearing.
"Are you… how would you… no, you would know, wouldn't you?"
Scout nodded, fairly sure. He recalled it wouldn't work for him or Rai. Or perhaps it'd just be him and Mane, Rai never travelled through time after all.
"Isn't Mystifying Forest close by?" Mane asked, raising a paw.
"I mean… yeah, it is," Ara confirmed. "How… interesting that this would come up now," she added, giving Scout a lingering look.
Scout was genuinely clueless as to this but played it off coolly. "Well, I mean, it's worth a shot, right?" he asked, glancing around to everyone.
Team Gazer took a moment to huddle together and discuss backup plans in case of this being an insidious trap and if such a venture would be worth it.
It was quickly decided, however, that they would indeed give this a shot.
"Well," Ara said, getting to her feet and stretching out. "As the one with the map, I'll lead us."
"Hang on," Scout said, "the six of us just had a battle."
"And?" Ara asked.
"We need some time to recuperate," Beheeyem said.
"Nonsense. Pain is just weakness leaving the body!" She zapped Scout to prove it.
"Argh," Scout yelped, jumping up and dropping back down.
"See?"
Five pokémon all glanced to Scout on the ground, whose foot was twitching slightly.
"Oh please, Rai's shocked you harder than that. I know. He's told me." She said this in a very strange way and gave Scout a whole new look of danger before shaking her mane and pointing them forward. "Get up and get going. If you can talk, you can walk."
The threat kicked them into gear and taskmaster Ara was followed with some space between her and the rest of them.
"Your sister is mean," Electrike whispered.
"I heard that."
He eeped and ducked back behind Beheeyem. "Protect me, daddy!"
Beheeyem groaned and felt that old headache come back. "How much will it cost for you to just electrocute him anyway?" he called.
"Electrocute means 'to death' you know?" Ara replied.
"Yes. I know."
"Heh."
Mystifying Forest would still take a couple of days to reach. Team Ion, having gone mostly north from Treasure Town in pursuit of Pyroar, had passed the forest by a considerable margin. From where they had battled Team Gazer, however, the forest was due slightly northeast from their location. They had neared the ocean before diverting towards Mystifying Forest.
It felt right for Scout to be heading there. It was the location of the graduate exam that was the expected test, and he did want to visit the spring if just to confirm it was active again and let the pokémon know they could evolve there again.
"They are! That's amazing news! Oh, the Guildmaster will be delighted to hear it!"
Chimecho basically flew out of her room and bumped immediately into Armaldo. He didn't make a sound as she grunted from the impact, knocked back as if she'd just ran into a wall.
"Are you alright, Chimecho?" he asked in that gruff way he spoke to everything. She privately thought it was a touch of awkwardness.
"Oof," she groaned. "Oh, I'm fine. I have excellent news! Team Celestial have docked in Capim Town and are on their way back to the guild! The Guildmaster will be delighted to hear this, oooh, it may even come better from you. Would you like to come with me?"
Armaldo nodded and together they entered the room with the tacky throne.
"Hiya!" Wigglytuff chirped. "What can I do for you, friendly Chimecho?"
She looked up to Armaldo who opened his mouth. "We have received word that Team Celestial have docked in Capim Town," he announced.
Rhythm's eyes grew wide and round and his mouth popped open but no sound came out of him at first. Then he inflated and made an excited shriek. "Ooooh myyy goooosshh!" He immediately began to dance.
With Armaldo, pulling him into a sudden jig as Armaldo cursed, "Gah, Wigglytuff!"
"Sorry not sorry!" Rhythm sang with a beaming grin so bright it balked Armaldo's complaints and he allowed Rhythm to dance him around. "I can't wait to see them again! Oooh, they can meet Team Sunrise AND see what Shinx and Litleo have done and meet Meowth! So many friends to meet! AAH!"
He would deny it if she ever brought it up, but Chimecho was certain she saw just the slightest smile on Armaldo's face at Wigglytuff's joy at the news.
She quietly excused herself, a small smile on her face. She couldn't wait to tell Blossom, they'd both missed Twila sorely. A teasing smile lit her face as she imagined how Vigoroth would react, wondering if they should keep that as a surprise or something.
With ideas in her head, she floated off.
With Pyroar defeated and no known reason for them to dawdle, the two teams happily made their way to Mystifying Forest, recovering from their fight over the next two days with some healthy snacking.
Team Gazer just could not let the competitive edge go, and when they arrived, a new challenge was writ.
"Whoever gets to the end first wins!" Electrike said.
"And we'll be entering first, this time," Beheeyem added.
"You've already been here," Mane pointed out.
"And you'll have a fourth member," Beheeyem retorted, gesturing to Ara.
"I'm bored now, can we just go in."
"Declaration: Eat our dust." And Team Gazer rushed in.
"Do you think we should just let them win?" Scout asked.
"Never!" Rai yelled. "We will destroy them every single time!"
"I think Rai's going crazy," Mane whispered loudly to Scout.
"Seems so," Scout whispered loudly back.
Rai pounced on Scout. "Hey! He said it first!" Scout protested.
"And you are so much easier to pin," Rai replied and licked Scout's nose, flustering him.
"Please get off him," Ara said flatly. Rai blushed and did as he was asked. Ara needed to take a moment to not kill someone. "Let's get through Mystifying Forest without being weird. You." She flicked her tail at Mane. "You're going to lead; this is a heavy Grass-type dungeon. You." She poked her tail at Scout. "Are going to be separated from my brother."
"Does that mean I get to be with Rai today?" Mane teased.
She crackled with electricity. "No. Lead. From the front."
Mane rolled his eyes and bumped Scout. "Well, you heard the taskmaster. Let's play nice."
They entered after a few more minutes of waiting. Ara positioned herself in the middle with Rai at the very back, separating him from the other two.
She wasn't in the mood for inside jokes and flirting slowing them down. Rai was in agreement, wanting to beat Team Gazer.
With the group somewhat split into two, it was a pair of duos who took on the feral pokémon. Scout and Mane used fire and claws to ward off any foolish oddish or ninetales that sought to destroy them.
Ara and Rai, on the other hand, combined their electricity to show any pokémon seeking to mess with them that electricity hurts and that it was hardly worth it.
As they went, she also continued showing Rai tail tricks. He had graduated from wearing a rock on his tail to carrying one, the star-end curled around a rock. He dropped it fairly often when he was distracted, however.
Still, it was helping as she was teaching him something.
"Okay!" Ara called an hour into the dungeon. "You. Litleo. Swap with me."
Mane glanced back, surprised. Rai had taken a few hits from an exeggutor's Barrage, but he insisted he was fine. Guarding Rai with fire was more important than her ease of mind, and she pushed him back and began leading herself.
Scout was not allowed to join them and had to awkwardly keep up with Ara. She moved quickly, almost like she wanted to get away from him, so he had to run to keep up.
"You don't… like us very much, do you?" Scout asked after a few minutes of this. He had hit an exeggutor with Shadow Ball, so he hoped that was enough clout to start resolving this.
"That's… I would not say I dislike you," Ara said, after a moment of hesitation.
Scout glanced at her, curiosity warring with consideration on his face.
It was Ara, in the end, who forced out a breath and began talking again. "His relationship with Litleo isn't the easiest to accept due to the history there. I knew his mother as well." A snarl bit at her face before she suppressed it. "But, I can see he's good for Rai."
She glanced back at Rai and Mane smiling at each other, almost casually knocking ferals away from them. The picture of confidence that someone who knew them years ago would have trouble imagining was them today.
"He is," Scout said, smiling back at them as well. They noticed and shot him a grin each. Feeling warm, he turned back to face the front, Arashi watching him out of the corner of her eye. There seemed to almost be a smile at her face but not quite. "It wasn't easy at first, but I couldn't imagine not having Mane with us."
"I know Rai can make his own decisions," Arashi said, tone remaining firm and somewhat distant. "It's why I left."
A frown plucked at Scout's features, he couldn't quite be polite enough to force it away. Rai didn't like to speak about his family much, the only things he'd said of Arashi were glowing praise and yet he still hadn't liked to talk about her much.
"You left too early," Scout said, feeling bold enough to say it. He saw Arashi's head turn and her features harden but he didn't back down. "He was too young to be left on his own."
She stared at him, almost dangerously but not quite. "To your people, maybe," she said after a time. "It was what my family did," she concluded, looking forwards again. "Wild pokemon have their own cultures."
"Rai's not really wild though," Scout pointed out.
"He hatched wild, and I know that spark never left him. I can see it in everything he does."
"He doesn't act like you, though."
She cracked a smirk. "Thank fuck for that." As Scout blinked in surprise, she hunched and then relaxed her shoulders. "I'm not the nicest person, I know that. There were lots of reasons why I left that I don't feel like going into. He's tough, he saved the world." And despite her words, there was a heaviness to them.
"...you lost years of his life though."
She almost flinched. The beginning was there but she suppressed it.
She didn't answer him, didn't agree with him, just silence drifted over them broken only by the crackles of energy behind them.
"...you're good for him too," Arashi eventually said. "I'm glad he has people willing to say and do the things he wouldn't want to. Shouldn't have to. Thank you for that."
He nodded to her, and she nodded back. "Alright," Arashi growled, "enough talking. Let's hurry up."
Thankfully the tension between them eased a bit, and Team Ion reached the end of the dungeon.
"Careful," Scout said as they left the winding pathways and the sky above could be seen again, a much nicer colour than what lurked through the thick leaves that covered the sky in the dungeon. "There might be a pitfall up ahead."
There was, in fact, a large hole in the ground. Not covered up, however. They easily avoided it and made the last few steps, entering Luminous Spring.
Three pokémon panted for breath in front of them.
"We," Beheeyem huffed, gasping for breath, "win."
"Victory," Electrike wheezed, laying on his side.
Beldum didn't have lungs but they had slammed halfway into a tree and hadn't extracted themselves yet. "Powerful Declaration: Victory for Team Gazer!"
"Victory for Team Gazer!" the other two chorused before falling into a coughing fit.
Rai sighed, sparked a little, but congratulated them all the same. "Damn. Good job though, we both had a few good advantages here, but you won fair and square."
"Yes," Beheeyem managed, still gasping.
"Declaration: Let us all recount our team motto. All of us."
"I don't think so," Ara said.
Beheeyem and Electrike got up. "I am Thoughtlight of Team Gazer!" he began and nearly fell over. "These are my compatriots, Volt and Cobalt! We seek to uncover the past!" He paused and glared at Team Ion. "Do it."
"You seek to uncover the past?" Scout said, uncertainly.
"Explore the future!" Volt yelled.
"Explore the future," Rai acquiesced.
Cobalt was pulled out of the tree by Thoughtlight. "Declaration: And protect the present!"
"I'm not saying it," Mane said. Team Gazer looked to Ara in unison.
She shocked them for absolutely no reason.
"We're actually here for something important," she reminded them.
"I don't remember that," Electrike said. "Isn't this so we can be lauded as the ones who brought back evolution?"
"Technically, that was us," Scout pointed out, giving a wave.
"Technicalities," Beheeyem said, brushing that off.
"They're in a mood, aren't they?" Mane whispered to Rai, who nodded back.
"Let's take a look," Scout said, stepping forward. He liked to give good news for once, so he really hoped that he wasn't going to crush Cobalt's hopes and dreams.
The path to Luminous Spring from the exit of the dungeon wasn't long, and soon the smell of moss, the soft sounds of water, and a widening landscape heralded their entrance.
Luminous Spring was a simple pond. Rocks that worked all the way down into the water dotted the edges far away, and the water was a mixture of blues and greens, flowing together in a dance of natural colours.
There was no stunning light shining down on it, however, and Scout knew that was an important part.
"This is what it was like before," Beheeyem said, quietly. "There's supposed to be a light here."
Beldum floated in silence, and it was Scout who walked forward first. He eased himself into the water and began to swim out.
"Wait, can you swim!?" Electrike asked in a surge of panic.
"He can," Rai insisted, and Scout proved his bucking of the cats-vs-water trend by paddling out like a dog.
The water was cold, he didn't like that. And it didn't move much either, leaving a layer of grossness on the top, staining his fur a murky green. He kept his mouth tightly closed and breathed out hard with his nose to stop any water going up there.
"Okay?" Scout yelled. "If there is something supposed to happen, I'd really like to not look like Saniya and look foolish."
He waited, everyone waited, something flickered in the distance and then it was like the world blinked something out of its eye. Light began to beam down from above, cascading onto Scout and lighting him up like an angel.
"Those that seek awakening," a disembodied voice spoke, coming from every direction at once. It was soft, gentle, and very kind. "The resumption of time has brought light here again. If you seek evolution… come forth."
At the shore, the assembled pokémon all began talking at once.
"Oh, wow!"
"It's really back?"
"D-Declaration?"
"Scout come back!"
"Wait does he want to evolve, though?"
Scout, for his part, was not interested. "Seeker of awakening?" the voice called regardless. "Do you seek this path?"
"No!" Scout called sharply, beginning to paddle back. "I just came out to make sure the spring was going to work."
The light flickered once as he swam back before the voice spoke again. "Curious," it said. None of the listeners could determine if the speaker was male or female. "It seems that evolution is barred to you for reasons beyond the norm."
"Yeah," Scout said, reaching shallower water. "Because of travelling through time, right?"
"… There is an influence of the distortion of space, yes. Why that should be… time travel, you say? Yes, that would do if the time you travelled to no longer exists… ah yes, that makes sense."
Scout reached the shore and crawled out, shaking himself off like a dog and spraying everyone else. "S-sorry," he said when he got many unfriendly looks.
"It is not just you," the voice continued, Mane frowned. "This distortion is greater than one. The litleo and the shinx, they too are barred from evolution."
"Wait?" Scout said as Rai and Ara recoiled. "Rai never time travelled. Why would HE be barred?"
"I do not know," the voice answered. "Yet the same distortion lurks around him. I have no answers to give, I am merely a vessel for enlightenment. If none are here to welcome evolution, then I shall go."
"Wait!" Beheeyem called, stretching their hand out to the light. "We do have someone here who wants to evolve." He turned to Beldum, who had been awfully silent through all of this.
Beldum's eye swivelled between their partners before floating forth. "Seeker of awakening, this is Luminous Spring. Do you seek to evolve?"
"Declaration: Yes."
"You do not need anything more to evolve. Seeker of awakening, once this action has begun, there is no diverting its course. Are you sure?"
"Resolution: I am."
"Very well. Seeker, we shall begin."
The light grew blindingly bright, and everyone had to avert their gaze. The light of Luminous Spring erupted further than just the clearing, it beamed an arc of pure light into the skyline, presenting the action far and wide.
Pokémon began to talk about what they had seen and what it could mean.
As the light faded and everyone was able to look again, Beldum was no more. In their place floated a larger pokémon. With a pair of arms similar to what Beldum had looked before, now attacked to a disk-like body, two red eyes peered forth with a spike jutting forth like a nose.
Metang was now here.
"C-Cobalt you evolved!" Beheeyem said before bursting into tears. "I'm so proud of you."
Electrike cheered and ran circles around the sobbing Beheeyem. "Cobalt! Cobalt! Cobalt! Cobalt!"
Slowly, Cobalt floated forth. They felt around, lifting their arms curiously. Beldum had been a mostly-unmoving girder of steel, Metang, however, had a little bit of dexterity.
"Declaration," Metang said, reaching the sobbing Beheeyem. "I can… hug you now." And so they did, Beheeyem gasped as the metallic arms nearly broke something and that stopped the crying at least.
"C-Careful you're strong!" Thoughtlight wheezed, and Metang adjusted their grip a few times.
Volt jumped onto Cobalt's back. "You're so big now!" he cheered. "I can nap on you now!"
"Query: And why would you want to?"
"Why not?"
"That's a pokémon."
"And so are you!" Volt jumped off and landed on the ground. "This is awesome! YEEEAAH!"
"Seekers of awakening?" the voice called, cutting through the festivities. "Are there any others who seek the light of evolution?"
Thoughtlight glanced at Volt, but he shook his head. "Nah, I want to evolve like Thoughtlight did. Spontaneous. Uh, no offence."
"There is none to take."
Volt didn't glance at Rai and Ara as he said that.
"I'm good," Ara said, also declining.
"Very well," the voice said, beginning to dim.
"Wait!" Scout called, and the light only flickered. "If… if it's alright could I ask you some questions?"
"I am… unused to questions," the voice replied. "And I can tell you I likely will not answer."
It wasn't a refusal to the asking, however, so he went for it. "Are you Xerneas?"
"I cannot answer that."
"Cannot or will not?"
"I cannot answer that."
Scout breathed out a sigh and nodded. "That's fair enough." He was pretty sure of it.
The light began to dim, and the seven pokémon discussed leaving. This was their last excursion before Treasure Town, so they had no reason to dawdle any further.
Before they could leave, however, the light returned brightly.
"This is not my place," the voice spoke, emanating from everywhere at once with some sort of physical weight. "I am a neutral participant, taking no side. But… I am aware of the change to time." They knew, thanks to Saniya and Dialga, that only pokémon who were legendary pokémon were sensitive to the changing of time.
"There is one thing I must give a warning to you." Scout felt the weight focus on him and knew it was speaking directly to him. "You knew of the distortion of yourself, that is clear, but… you may not know what this truly means."
"Will you tell me?" Scout asked, nervously.
"This distortion created by this paradox is not additive. It is not one, two, three." Scout, Rai, and Mane each felt the number hit them as the voice spoke. "It is multiplicative. One. Two. Four."
Scout went the colour of ash underneath his fur as the implications hit him. "There… there are at least four other pokémon like us," he said.
One. Two. Four. Eight. Sixteen. Thirty-two. Sixty-four.
And that was assuming Soothe wasn't around as well.
The voice was also quiet after Scout spoke of how many pokémon were also causing this distortion, but then it spoke. "Palkia is a powerful pokémon, the deity in control of the fabric of space. Once, it would have had a surplus of strength to deal with a distortion like this, but since the Great Sacrifice its power along with all the others has been weakened. It may take… direct action against those it deems responsible."
Scout sucked a deep breath in, pulling his ribs into definition as that image hit him. "And what if someone would take advantage of this distortion and make it worse?" he asked.
"Impossible. No one would cross Palkia so foolishly.
But what if? He looked to Rai and Mane who were looking as ill as he felt. "Darkrai. That's why he revived me, to tear the distortion open so much more."
The clearing was dead silent.
The light began to dim. "I am a neutral party," it said with a degree of hurriedness. "No other pokémon here with to evolve, so I will go."
"Wait!"
"Hang on!"
"You know more about this!"
"Don't just go!"
The light faded entirely; the presence was gone.
Scout turned to the others. "We have to get back to Treasure Town now!" he said. There was no argument, and they left in a hurry.