PMD: R&D

by Jusmove

The Absol guild isn't known for amazing expeditions, ace bounty hunters, or even adequate rescue operations. No, Absol's is known for the loud explosions and mad laughter echoing from behind closed doors.

30. Hollow Garden - Part 2

Chapter 27: Hollow Garden - Part 2

Clement ran.

He bounded through the forest, trees and bushes a blur in his peripherals. Whatever ferals tried to stand in his way were crushed with the might of his horn, coated in harsh steel. He sprinted up hills, slid down ravines, and if he couldn't climb a stone wall, simply broke through it and kept going.

He had to keep going. Cold focus pushed his arms and legs to make tracks.

It felt like a day since he had been in here, with no sign of his son, mate, or their other charges. The strange facsimile of night time had washed over the forest, and despite his desire to keep moving, he had forced himself to rest for a few hours. Above all else, he was a professional, not some greeneyed amature. He wouldn't get sloppy because he made the mistake of not getting enough rest.

Although, even professionals had to admit when they were low on options, and the Mawile began to see how fruitless his efforts seemed. His only plan so far had been to run towards the central tree, miles away and miles tall, in some hope that perhaps the others would meet at the landmark, or that he could meet someone on the way; a crude and ineffective plan, of course. He hadn't seen anyone except annoying Fairy and Grass types. For all he knew, they were hundreds of miles away, and he would never be so lucky as to randomly cross their trajectory.

He wouldn't stop, of course. He had to find them. They were okay, He knew they were okay.

They had to be okay. He kept running.

"So determined. So ruthless. So lost."

A voice echoed from what seemed like right behind him: quiet whisper, like a fine mist.

Instinct took over. He skid to a halt to bend down, and lashed out his horn with a nasty Crunch. Nothing. He stayed low, but a guttural growl emanated from his second maw.

"Who's there?" he called, as his eyes dissected his surroundings. The white and green forest got broken down into blind spots, points of entry, and advantageous terrain.

"You don't hesitate to bare your fangs...yet your eyes are dim. Lit by the middling embers of a recently rekindled flame. A hero, who just picked up their torch again, I wonder?"

"Stop speaking in riddles and answer me," he stated as he rotated in a slow circle. The voice never left the premises.

"Yet...your eyes are gentle too. Perhaps a hero no more...a protector? But, where are the ones you are meant to protect?"

"I don't have time for this. Leave. Now."

"Will you accept help, protector? The voice of one of your own rings out close by."

Clement stopped on a dime. Help? One of his?

"Do you know where one of my group is?" He asked, just above a murmur. "Who is it? What have you done with them?"

"Will you trust me?"

"If you lay a paw on them so help me Arceus-"

"They are safe. No harm has or will come to them, so long as you cooperate. Will you trust me?"

He shut his eyes and inhaled slowly. Gentle words surrounded the clear threat, but he couldn't risk the chance that they really had one of the kids or Opal. As much as he wanted to reject them outright for the obvious trap, he had no other leads right now.

Honestly, he had been walking into traps left and right the past few days. He imagined that Opal would just tell him to suck it up and deal with it when he got there. After all, what good was a trap if you just knocked out the ones who set it up?

Arceus, he needed to stop thinking like her.

"Fine. I'll cooperate," he said.

"You will head east. Face away from the large tree and continue on. I will guide you."

They gave good directions.

Too good. The voice knew his surroundings in uncanny detail, from the distance in meters between destinations, down to the exact number of stones at the base of a tree he should turn left at. It even had the decency to warn him of any surrounding ferals that stalked through the trees.

Not that he necessarily needed the warning, but it did allow him to allocate some focus to consider the nature of this trap. He noticed that it led him towards progressively denser surroundings; trees packed tighter together with less open space, and rough terrain marred by stone outcroppings that would make it difficult to maneuver. He kept his guard up, but continued to heed the instructions without a word.

An hour later, the voice had led him to a strange sight. At first, he thought he had walked to the entrance of a cave. He realized the truth from the streaks of rich brown and the gnarled surface; he had been taken to an opening in the side of a gargantuan root. Perhaps an offshoot of the ones that connected to the main tree, its height dwarfed any of the surrounding trees. Even from here, he could tell how spacious it seemed to be.

The Mawile stepped closer and hopped up into the root. Light streamed through gaps in the twists of the thick root, but his eyes still needed to adjust to the dimness.

"The items you gathered along the way. Leave them in the open."

"...Of course," he murmured. He saw this coming.

He dropped what few items he had gathered in a pile right in front of him in the open. He took off his Parry Brace, the only thing to stay with him when he arrived in the Dungeon, and made sure to slowly bend down and place it on top of the pile, then took a big step over it.

As soon as he walked over, the tongue on his second maw shot out for a split second to slurp up the Brace and into its jaws. The voice didn't seem to notice.

"Continue onward. Your charge awaits you."

He turned left, where the hollowed root he stood in formed a path that sloped downward. He followed, cautious with every step. The sound of his footsteps bounced around the stone root walls as he maneuvered around the thick coils and knots that impeded his progress.

Anxiety gnawed at the back of his mind. Every corner, every shadow, could hide an ambush. Within this dark place, against an unseen enemy with every advantage over him, he could only fall back on his hunter's instinct. The shadows could hide enemies, but he could make use of them to break eyesight if needed. His small size meant the thick root curls could be used as cover, and as long as he stayed mobile, he could find a more favorable position.

He could do this. As long as he stayed focused, he could do this.

The slope leveled out after a few more minutes of walking, presumably now underground. Thankfully, life in Thistle hadn't completely domesticated him. His eyes had adjusted to the almost pitch black as it would for any other Mawile in a cave. So, when the warm glow of light washed over a root wall ahead, and a faint muffled sound hit his ears, he jolted in surprise.

"-lp. I'm chafing! Anyone!?"

Clement sprinted forward, but skid right before the corner and peeked his head around, still wary. His eyes widened in shock.

The root opened up into a much wider area, ceiling high. For a reason he absolutely could not comprehend, a bunch of house lamps were scattered along the ground, along with light strings strung up haphazardly along part of the walls that jutted out. A working generator puttered way back in the corner that everything connected to.

Movement drew his eyes to the center of the room. Bound with rope to a wooden chair, and blindfolded, sat a very familiar Spinda who squirmed in her seat.

"Clara!?" he yelled on impulse. She jolted up at the sound of his voice, and whipped her head around to find it.

"Mr. Clement? Is that you!? Ohmigosh yes!"

"Where...how..." questions fought in his head to be answered, but he shook his head and focused."Never mind. Are you hurt? Don't worry, I'll get you out of there."

"Yes please! Ugh, and they said they wouldn't be rough. Don't you know fur and rope don't mix, you jerks!?" She called out, and kicked her legs in frustration.

Clement's eyes creased at the mention of "they," but he got his answer soon enough as a form shifted in the shadows behind Clara and stepped into the light. He slipped into a fighting stance, horn faced to the side, at what he could now identify as a Scolipede. His eyes were locked on the large bug as they slunk from behind Clara and stepped out and over a pair of desk lamps to stand just beside her.

"Hello protector. Thank you for following my instructions," she said, voice wispy and low. He had to strain to hear her, even with very little noise in the room. That whisper also seemed very familiar.

"So you led me here." He adjusted his stance and started to inch his way around the room, where he might use some of the curled up roots on the ground as cover. Scolipede mirrored his actions, and the two rotated around each other slowly. He stayed mindful of the lamps scattered around to not trip.

"I did. And as promised, you will be reunited with your companion. As you can see, she is unharmed."

Between them, Clara scoffed, and jerked her body up and down to make the chair hop and turn towards the general direction of Scolipede's voice.

"Excuse me? Unharmed? Girl, you were way too rough getting me in these ropes, I've had an itch I haven't been able to scratch for the past two hours, I can feel a splinter in my toe, and-"

She cut herself off with an 'eep' as Scolipede bent down towards her foot to remove a tiny stone splinter with her mouth, and spit it out.

"...Okay thanks." Clara maneuvered the chair to face the center again. Clement blinked, then balled his fists.

"Why did you capture her in the first place? She's no threat to you."

"We've been instructed to apprehend those who would impede our plans here. This Spinda in particular did battle against my Master, and we expected more of you to follow us inside."

"Then it sounds like you won't be so kind as to just let us leave."

"Kindness is not off the table. You have cooperated thus far, I beg just a bit more of your patience."

Scolipede stepped forward, and bowed her head a bit lower.

"I can tell you are wise, and seek to avoid unnecessary conflict. Agree to lay down your fangs and let us contain you. You will be kept safe and fed until our work here is done. We can negotiate arrangements for your comfort."

Clement fought down a bemused smile. In all his years, he had never had an outlaw tell him to give up and be captured so politely before.

It was almost endearing. Too bad his patience ran thin hours ago.

"I'm afraid there's been a misunderstanding." Clement pulled his horn forward to spit out the Parry Brace, coated in a light layer of saliva, and put it over his wrist.

"I didn't come here to interfere in anyone's plans. If I had my way, none of us would even be here. And I certainly didn't come here to negotiate with you."

Clement frowned at Scolipede. A roar bellowed from his second mouth, and it launched backward to rip a piece of root right from the ground and held itself high in the air above him. Without moving a muscle, his large maw clamped down, and crushed the stone root into pebbles. They clattered uselessly to the ground.

"You are the one who needs to negotiate with me. For why I shouldn't lay you out cold for having the audacity to so much as touch one of my clients."

He stalked forward. Vox lifted her head, expression unchanged.

"Know that we are prepared to use force if necessary, though I had hoped to avoid th-"

Clement heard enough. He shot forward and leapt into the air, going into a somersault to whip his horn over his body to slam down.

He reached the apex of his jump right before something slammed into his side and knocked him across the cavern. He grunted as he hit the ground, and one of the lamps rolled as he slid against it.

"Mr. Clement? What happened, are you alr-woaaaaaaaah!"

Clement lifted his head just in time to see something pull Clara's chair from the center of the space and into the darkness along the sides. He jumped up to make a break towards her, but got knocked off course when his jaw got clocked by that same force.

From the specific way the pain throbbed, it seemed eerily similar to a fist. He had learned how different impacts felt on the body. This time, he managed to catch a faint glimmer out of the corner of his eye, though he couldn't tell what it was.

He shook his head to refocus, and glared across at Scolipede, who took slow steps toward him. The shadows cast by the myriad lamps on the ground lurched ominously along the curled roots as she approached. Her mouth moved as if she said something, but her voice was so low that he only caught the words "hold" and "together."

Before he could properly understand what was happening, something clamped down on his jaws and pulled him up into the air. His limbs flailed for a bit, before his arms got locked in some kind of force that held his body up in a vulnerable T-pose.

He looked left and right. Pink, ephemeral arms restrained him, with a sharp cutoff just beyond the bicep. They were incredibly muscular, and pulled his arms so taut that he had to clench his teeth in pain.

Scolipede's slow gait increased into a jog, and when she had enough momentum she leaned her body forward into a wheel that soon picked up speed. One of the lamps got trampled and cracked as she zoomed through, and used a jutted root in the ground to bounce up towards Clement.

He yanked his arms to try and break free to avoid the Rollout, but the strange floating arm's grip were too strong. Plan B, then. The red sheen of Bide coated his body, and he set his jaw right as Scolipede's Rollout barreled into him full force. White hot pain erupted across the front side of his body, and a full ache permeated his stomach as he got sent flying backwards. He coughed as he landed on another lamp, the glass shards dug into his back.

A groan left his mouth. That hurt.

Time to walk it off. He pushed himself to his feet after only a second to breathe, and looked ahead to see Scolipede continue to bounce around the cavern and ping off of the environment. His eyes followed her as she pinballed around, until her trajectory locked on his and she shot towards him.

Pink blurred at the edge of his vision, and he just managed to duck under the left hook of one of the arms. It dematerialized right after it missed. Stone shards flew from where he just stood as Scolipede crashed into the ground and kept rolling. Another heavy fist slugged him in the side of the head and sent him rolling, but he used the momentum to get some speed and start to run around the perimeter, where the curled roots provided cover.

Although he could avoid the Rollout well enough, these floating fists were another thing entirely. They played dirty. Even when he kept his arms up to guard his face, they would always sneak in and hit his sides, and if he let his guard down for even a second to steal a glance at Scolipede's location, that left him wide open for a direct hit from anywhere.

No matter how good his stance, he couldn't defend against an enemy that could attack from literally anywhere. They exploited his blind spots with ruthless efficiency that actually tested his endurance.

Wait...blind spots...

Maybe defense wasn't the play here. From behind a boulder that jutted from the ground, Clement turned so his back faced the boulder and shielded his head with his arms, which left his stomach completely open.

As expected, a fist materialized in front of him and went for a strong jab at his vulnerable belly. Clement twirled out of the way. Cracks spiderwebbed on the rock from the force of the punch, and the fist disappeared soon after. A plan bubbled in his mind, and he took off at a jog, wary of Scolipede.

He couldn't stop the fists from attacking him, but he could give them a target to aim for. With all his battle experience, he mulled over the most compromising position he could put himself in to guarantee a cheap shot, and got an idea when Scolipede ricocheted off the wall and straight towards his head.

Her spines just brushed against his back as he flung himself to the floor stomach first, and made sure to swing his horn to the side so his back was wide open. Clement counted to two, and then wrenched his bigger mouth back up to clamp down.

Unlike before, something did catch in his mouth this time, and he clamped down hard with Crunch on the fist shaped object lodged in his mouth. His teeth glowed hot red with the released energy of Bide to make for a truly devastating chomp.

"Fu-aagh!" He heard a deep, pained yelp from somewhere above him and glanced up. The limited light from the many lamps scattered on the ground meant the ceiling had been shrouded in shadow, however he noted how roots trailed off of the wall and disappeared into the darkness.

An enemy above, then?

They had the advantage of shadow, but he had light sources all around him to solve that issue. Clement looked down and saw two desk lamps; a plain one and one shaped like a Magicarp. He took the plain one because he would have hated to break the cute one (he'd have taken it home if he could), and chucked it up in an arc towards the ceiling.

Its glow traveled with it and illuminated the ceiling above, allowing for a brief glimpse of the rows of roots above, as well as his second assailant. The sudden loss of their cover must have spooked them, because they hopped away to a further root where he couldn't see them. Clement persisted however, and grabbed more lamps to throw up to try and build a mental picture of the roots above.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Scolipede grow bold and make another pass at him. Her body rotated a mile a minute. She zoomed straight towards him, right as he tossed another lamp up. The light gave another quick glimpse of the second enemy, and his eyes tracked the direction they hopped away. The sound of Scolipede digging tracks alerted him to her only feet away, and he pivoted to a widened stance, back facing her.

With his legs bent and far apart, Clement glanced over his shoulder at Scolipede, and opened his second jaw wide. Right before she hit, he opened his maw, and chomped around her. The sudden momentum pushed him forward, but he capitalized on the force and used it to spin around.

After a few rotations to build momentum, Clement opened his mouth at just the right moment to fling her from his jaw and into the air. He aimed for where he predicted the other enemy would be, and let out a satisfied huff as he heard a deep impact and a gruff voice yell on the way down.

All four arms of a Machamp flailed as they fell from the roots above. They had a rough landing that broke several lamps, and they rubbed their head with one of their arms.

Clement wasted no time.

He bolted forward towards the vulnerable opponent. They snapped out of their daze and got to their feet in a boxing stance, and only now, Clement saw their arms glowed with a strange pink light. Bouncing on the tips of their feet, the Machamp threw out jabs at the air. To his mild surprise, pink fists appeared in midair and punched with the same motions that the Machamp swung with.

"Oh. So you're the one..." murmured Clement in slight agitation. Bide coated his body again, and he kept his head low and arms high as he rushed towards Machamp. The fists grazed his fur as he bobbed and weaved, and he flicked his wrist with the Parry Brace when he got close.

Machamp's expression of cold focus mirrored his own, and he could tell right away that this wasn't just some jumped up goon. The strikes he threw at range were rapid and unrelenting, but up close the change became instant; strong, precise strikes designed to knock out in one blow, each with the potential to be followed up with a phantom fist in a blind spot.

A smart, powerful opponent. His favorite.

He also stood over twice as tall as Clement. His second favorite.

"Hold..still..." rumbled Machamp as Clement dipped through his legs. By the time he turned around, the Mawile had already scaled his back and backflipped off his shoulder. He saw a fist form in the air next to him, and it clashed against the Parry brace right as he brought it up. Power surged through him when it hit the tiny shield it generated.

He landed and sidestepped a frustrated fist that slammed into the ground. thene put his foot on it to get leverage to twirl up and smack Machamp into the face with Iron Head. Machamp reeled back.

He responded with a salvo of punches, clearly angry. Each fist generated a phantom strike a second after, weaved in between that hit from all sides. Not once did Clement ever go on the offensive. His feet danced along the wires and roots, not to dodge, but to keep Machamp guessing as to when he would strike. The Parry brace had a short time before it could generate another shield to absorb a hit again, so he activated Bide the old fashioned way and turned the pain from the strikes that slipped through his dance into strength.

Back and forth, unstoppable blows against an unbreakable object. For every twenty punches Machamp threw out, Clement responded with one devastating hit that sent the larger pokemon reeling each time. A few minutes in, Machamp's swings got less frequent as his breath grew more labored.

"How...how are you still..." huffed Machamp, two arms up in a block while the other two threw out haggard punches that barely phased Clement.

"You should be on...the ground...out cold."

"If it's any consolation, I do feel all of this. Maybe try hitting harder."

Machamp groaned, and took a few big steps back. Clement could tell he had almost reached his limit. Beyond Machamp, he saw the head of Scolipede pop up behind a root, and stagger out on wobbly legs. Machamp risked a glance back at her.

"This guy won't go down. He's a monster!"

Monster. He'd be sure to tell Opal that.

"Can we just go with plan C!?" he asked. Scolipede nodded, and Clement wondered what that meant.

Machamp seemed to sigh in relief, and then surged forward with renewed energy. His arms swung around to hug himself, and four phantom arms materialized to grapple Clement in a vice grip. He squirmed in the arms, until he heard a loud thump behind him.

Heavy steps thumped around him until their owner, a Swampert, padded into view.

"You think you can...take him too?" ground out Machamp through clenched teeth. Clement glared up at Swampert, who looked down with an impassive stare. He could feel the grip of the arms loosen as Machamp became more strained, so if he timed it just right, he might be able to slip free with one good push and-

Swampert put his hands together and spread them apart. Between them, a large pink hole formed. Big enough to fit him in, he realized as the arms started to lift him towards the swirling portal.

He redoubled his struggling. His legs kicked and his maw jerked around to try and get leverage, but the arms held firm, and pushed him up into the portal. He closed his eyes as bright pink light washed over him. Gravity lurched and shifted to something unrecognizable.

It took a few moments for him to realize that his limbs were no longer constrained, and he immediately jolted forward only to go into a wobbly, airborne spin. Clement's eyes blinked open just in time to see a hole that led out to where he had been close right before him.

His mouth slowly opened in complete confusion at what just happened, and it only opened wider when he heard Clara's voice right behind him.

"Aw, darnit, they got you too?" she said.

He turned his body around, rotated awkwardly due to there being no gravity, and saw her swim in the air towards him, a can of soda in one paw.

"Wh...huh?" he murmured, floored at his surroundings. Within a pink and purple void that had no apparent boundaries, they both floated amidst the most random collection of items he had seen.

Picture frames, rugs, potted plants, a lot of lamps, and other objects one would find in someone's house floated serenely all around them, so cluttered that he had to push away a wicker basket that bumped against his face.

Clara coasted closer, reached a paw out to snag another drink from the air, and came close enough to bump against his fur.

She held the soda out to him. He stared at her with a blank look.

"…What in…is this…that Swampert…?"

"Ah, so that guy showed up? Yeah, makes sense. I was all just minding my own business, looking for you guys, when I got jumped by that big Swampert. Scolipede showed up a few seconds after and told me I would be "safe until the end," whatever that means...then I got stuffed in this weird floaty place."

"So he can..." Clement bit his lip, groaned, and rubbed his hands hard into his forehead.

How was he supposed to know something like this was even possible? Now both of them were captured, and all because he slipped up one time...

"Woah, hey, it's alright! No need to be upset, here maybe this soda will make you feel be-oof!"

Clement cut her off with a strong hug and held her tight.

Was it professional? No. Did it eradicate whatever respect and distance he built up over the past couple days? Most likely.

Did he just want to keep her safe because it's his job right now to make sure these kids make it out of this alright? Of course.

"I'm so sorry you had to go through this alone," he murmured. "I thought I could get you out, but they caught me off guard. I didn't want to let you down."

"Aw, Mr. Clement!" Clara adjusted her arms and smiled down at him. Due to the almost two foot size difference, it was difficult for him to tell who comforted who. "That's fine! Personally I thought you did great. I heard all the fighting from in here, and you sounded super badass!"

"Language," he said on impulse. His eyes widened when he processed what she actually said. "I-I did?"

"Plus, this isn't my first rodeo in a weird psychedelic floaty place. At least this time there's cool stuff around." The bigger bear pushed off of him to do a little backflip and giggled. She left her soda, which spilled some drink in zero gravity, so he grabbed it and held it awkwardly as his body drifted.

"When was the first time?" he asked.

"When Lumi and I got sucked into a Keystone and zoomed to go meet Dialga. Which reminds me, when we get the Echo Orbs back, I'll need to call them when this is over. I have so much to talk about."

Clement did a double take. Dialga's name hit him in the gut harder than any of the punches before.

"You...what? You need to do what with...Dialga?" he asked in very slow, careful words. The cheerful Spinda didn't seem to pick up on his nerves.

"Call him. Chat. Shoot the breeze. Like I try to do every day or so."

"Why do you need to do that?"

"I don't need to, I just like to. We're friends!"

"..."

"Well...at least that's the vibe I'm getting. Sometimes they'll say something that makes me go "hold up what did he mean by that," but then he'll say something else that's like "maybe they're not going there," and I can respect that too. It's honestly amazing they're even talking to me, but with a Legendary I'm not sure what signs to look for with...anything other than friendship."

She looked at him with an innocent tilt of her head.

"Y'know what I mean?"

Clement's jaw fell over the course of her tangent, until both mouths were wide open in shock. With a show of restraint that would put most Meowstic to shame, he sucked in a deep breath, put both hands together, and pointed them at her.

"Clara. Listen to what I have to say very, very carefully..."

The loss from the last fight had already bled from his mind. Clement prepared himself for another kind of battle.

---

When Pad's portal finally closed, Cole blew out an exhausted huff of air and fell back on three arms. Sweat glistened off his skin, and the pain from the bruises sustained by that Mawile started to throb along his body.

"Oh...Oh Mew..." He breathed. "He just wouldn't...go down."

A low chuckle emanated from Pad's throat, and the Machamp glanced up with a tired glare.

"What are you laughing at?" he huffed. "Did you enjoy sitting back while we got trounced by that guy? Ugh..."

He leaned his head back and called out in the cavern.

"Vox, how are you holding up?"

Rather than a verbal response, Cole heard the unsteady pitter patter of her steps on the stone. Not that he expected one. Frankly, the speech she gave to Mawile was the loudest he had heard her in months.

After a few moments, Vox stepped into view, head drooped and breath heavy. He noted the scratches along her carapace, as well as bite marks where Mawile had clamped in between her plating. She lumbered her larger body down against the side of a root. An imperceptible huff escaped her mouth.

"...We face an eclectic foe," she whispered after a few seconds. "I did not expect such strength. A great protector indeed..."

"I agree. I thought that, based on how harmless the Spinda was, we could at least knock out Mawile and have fewer variables to consider moving forward. But it looks like containment is the next best option," responded Cole. He looked up at Pads again. "Will you be able to keep both of them secure? I know it gets strained when you hold onto living things."

Pads shrugged, and reared up on his hind legs to stretch, then loped in a quick circle to test movement. When he stopped in front of Cole again, he clenched both his fists tightly, and seemed to be more exerted than normal.

Cole got the unspoken message: he could hold them, but he'd have to keep his focus.

"Alright, just stay steady and let us handle things. The last thing we need is you overworking yourself and our guests popping out at an inopportune time. If we play our cards right, maybe we can use them as bargaining chips."

The Swampert nodded, and reclined into a frog squat. From across, he caught Vox's gaze on him, and waved a tired arm her way.

"When you catch your breath, do you think you could give us an update on the current situation? We should be aware of the other's movements, and I think it's also time to make a report to Mauve."

She gave a slow nod. No movements were made in the next few minutes, which Cole used to lean back on his hands, grateful for the reprieve. From his side, he saw Pads open up another portal to reach inside, although the sound of raised voices blared from the opening. The shouts lasted only a few seconds before Pads got what he needed and closed it, but it sounded intense.

Their guests must be angry at their capture. He couldn't blame them.

He caught a tossed Oran berry without looking, and bit in, grateful as the healing juices flowed through his body. Ads rolled another berry towards Vox, as well as a light pink orb that gave him a headache just to look at: a Spatial Pearl. It unnerved him how it looked to expand infinitely, despite never growing past fist size. She reached her head down and plucked the berry into her mouth, and after she finished, picked the pearl up into her mouth as well.

For most of them, all it took to release the pearl's energy and awaken their gifted powers was to crush the pearl in their hands or paws. Vox had a slightly different method, but considering how the gift manifested in her, he supposed it made sense. With the orb in her mouth, Vox bit down on it like any other berry, and after some resistance, chomped down. Cole winced at the sight, sure that it must have been akin to biting down on glass, yet Vox never seemed phased by it.

The orb shattered, and pink flecks burst out from it and flew straight into Vox's mouth. A pink glow emanated from her mouth, as well as from her eyes, so bright her pupils could no longer be seen. She seemed to settle into a trance, the same one she fell in when she located the Mawile.

"...What do you see?" he asked after a few moments. Vox's ability didn't have much battle application, although in situations like this it was crucial for keeping the team a step ahead. He waited patiently for her sight to give her what she needed.

"All is as we had expected since our roll call last night," she murmured after some time. "Boon follows two of their number towards the far western root. From the north, Mauve and Aurum follow two more closely, towards the same destination it seems. I foresee an altercation."

"Are there any more besides those four that we need to worry about?"

"No. We have the numerical and tactical advantage."

"...Alright. Let's get a call up and going."

"...A moment..."

She exhaled. Her mouth opened slowly. Cole and Pads watched with wide eyes as, with every breath she took, her very presence seemed to expand outside of her body. Invisible, but there all the same, and somehow more. In the back of his head, he heard her breaths, quiet and almost unnoticeable at first, but soon as if she stood right behind him.

An unsteady grin grew on the Machamp's face. Out of respect for eachother, they didn't pry too deeply into their past lives, although he wondered if it was fate that gave Vox her name, or if she simply chose a new one once she realized her gift gave her voice more power than it ever had before.

When she next spoke, her voice came from in front and all around him. It sent shivers up his spine. A shared glance at Pads showed that the Swampert felt similarly. An ethereal whisper as gentle as leaves, but with a firm pressure on the back of one's mind.

"...Connection established. Attention all. May I have your attention?"

---

Mauve heard the call as she leapt across the branches, high above the patch colored forest floor. Behind her, Aurum's squad hopped along branches as well, all six of the Falinks orderly as they made large jumps along the trees, perfectly in sync so as to not accidentally land on eachother.

She alighted on a thick branch and when the brass joined her, she held a claw up to tell them to wait. Their serious expression showed they heard the call too, and they raised one of their small shields to send a message to the rest of their troops. In an instant the others halted where they were and stayed perfectly still. Aurum's brass nodded up at her, and she nodded back.

Mauve crouched low on the thick branch she stood on. She squinted and stole a glance at their quarry ten meters below them; the Espeon and annoyingly persistent Scrafty they had been trailing for the past hour. They had them in their sights, but an ambush had not been their directive, so she refrained from a direct confrontation. That didn't mean she wouldn't keep tabs on them as she continued to her next objective.

Their pace remained steady, slow enough that Mauve and Aurum could move and talk at the same time. She motioned for Aurum to match her pace, and responded, confident that the distance would mask her voice.

"Aurum and I are here," she stated.

"Good. Boon, are you there?"

Silence.

"Boon, if you are able, please sound off."

A few seconds passed, then some shuffling could be heard on the other end.

"Huh-wha? Oh, uh, yeah I'm right here..."

Her Master's voice came through loud and clear over Vox's connection, but Mauve frowned. He sounded more distracted, and not in his usual jovial way. Something weighed on his mind.

"We have an important update to make, and thought it a good time to touch base with everyone," explained Vox.

"Cool. Great. Uh, Mauve, you can lead this one."

"Of course," she said. "What is your report? Have you three made progress on your assignment?"

"Good news on that front," Cole's voice rumbled through. "We were able to capture the two interlopers who were near our position. The Spinda served as adequate bait for the Mawile, so we won't have to worry about the-"

"You said you caught Mawile?" Boon's voice cut in abruptly.

"Yes. He was too strong to defeat, so we had to compromise with keeping him in Pad's storage."

"Ah...okay."

"Is there a problem?"

"Nope! No uh...problem. Good work. I'm sure he was real tough. Say, he wouldn't have happened to say anything or...actually nevermind."

Awkward silence reigned for a few moments before Mauve spoke up again.

"Good work you three. As for our end, Aurum and I have traveled counter clockwise and successfully created portals to the eastern and northern roots, as you requested Master. Once we have portals to each of these locations, you will have easy access to those 'gates' you spoke of and be able to use Meowstic to open the way to the Keystone."

She made sure to keep the strain out of her voice. It required conscious effort on her part to maintain multiple portals over long distances, but as long as she remained frugal with the energy and refrained from cutting more, she could keep them up.

"Atta girl Mauve! I'm trailing the kid and his friend now, so we should be at the western gate soon. You can meet up with us and cut a portal to the others so this doesn't take all day."

"One more thing. We came across an Espeon and Scrafty on our way down from the northern root. They seem to be on course to intercept at the western root. Aurum and I are prepared to engage and remove them from the equation, then we can meet with you and-"

"Don't engage."

"Pardon?"

"Just...don't fight Espeon. I don't think..."

Mauve pursed her lips and looked down at the Espeon in question as Boon trailed off. Perhaps he worried about her strength; of the two, Espeon seemed to take the lead in dispatching the ferals here for the more vulnerable Scrafty, and she did so with worrying efficiency.

"I understand. She is strong. Would you rather we just trail her towards the root, and ambush her together with you once she arrives?"

"Or...okay how about this. Can you just lead them off course? Long enough for us to do what we need to do, then give them the slip to double back to cut a portal?"

Did he...fear Espeon? No, that didn't sound right. Boon didn't fear anything. So then why did he seem so against a direct conflict with her?

Questions to ask later. As always, she was sure he had his reasons, so she would simply trust him for now.

"Very well. Aurum and I will draw their attention elsewhere, and then rendezvous at the western gate after approximately twenty minutes. Will that suffice?"

"Yeah, that should be good. Just remember, distract, but try not to engage. I just have a...bad feeling about that one."

"Cole, have your group make their way towards the eastern root. I believe that is closest to your current position. If all goes well, we should end up there to activate the final gate."

After a round of affirmatives from everyone, the presence on the back of her neck dissipated, signifying Vox had cut her connection. While not what she expected. Mauve had her orders, so she focused on fulfilling them to the best of her ability.

"We need to keep them occupied," she murmured, trying to find the best angle of approach.

"Aurum have plan," spoke Aurum. "Imperative that Mauve get attention by kicking Scrafty in head, then lead back to Aurum who has surprise."

They gestured to the satchel around Mauve's shoulder.

"Require pearl for surprise."

"If you're planning to use your ability to go up directly against Espeon, don't. It's not meant to go up against strong opponents."

"But specialize in holding ground, and taking time. Also, safe for Aurum, no risk. As Boon asked."

"...Fine," she said after some consideration, and reached in the bag. " And I'm not against it, but why is kicking Scrafty imperative?"

"Would Mauve rather kick Espeon?"

"I...I don't think so, but-"

"Then is imperative. Imperative to piss them off and make them want to chase you. Aurum goes now, Mauve figures out, then leads to clearing we pass along the way here."

Aurum snatched a pearl within its shield, and the platoon step-turned in an orderly fashion and made double time along the branches in the opposite direction. Mauve watched them go with a frown, but turned to continue stalking the ones below.

If she had to piss them off, she needed to time it perfectly.

---

"Van, tough guy, if you whip your head around anymore it'll come off," said Opal. Close behind her, Van prowled along the forest floor, mindful of the roots and shrubbery. He had a spike in his hand that he held out protectively as he scanned their surroundings, presumably for cheeky ferals who could be hiding behind bushes or tree trunks. His other hand held up the baggy skin on his legs.

She couldn't really blame him, but it did make their pace slower than she would have liked.

"Sorry Ms. Opal. Just uh...bein' thorough. Don't wanna get jumped again, you know how it is."

"Uh-huh, alright," she murmured. Still, she slowed her pace so she walked side by side with the younger Pokemon, and eyed the spike he gripped in his claw. She squinted at its design; a red metal rod with a pointed, pink tip. She had seen his Seeker Spike, that one had a bit more heft to it, but this one seemed slimmer, its function unknown to her.

"Hey, what's up with you and spikes?"

"Huh?"

"I notice you use those more than any other item. You got good aim, I'm just wondering why those are your speciality. They're pretty simple, all things considered."

"I guess that's what draws me to 'em." He flicked it up and caught it. "I like simple, means there's a solid base to build off of. Plus, nobody else is really messin' around with spikes like I do at the guild."

"Ooh, a specialist I see. It's always fascinating learning more about you Absol apprentices, so much mystery." she giggled, and lightly batted him on the arm with her tail.

"Although, and you wouldn't hear me saying this, but some hunters, especially old school ones, might call you and yours cowardly."

"Really? Why's that?"

"Well, you obviously know the stigma around Dungeons, but for some, that extends to items too. Generations of pride, ego, and a tinge of distrust means that many hunters prefer to fight with natural means rather than need to rely on items to get the job done. The other guilds didn't have to deal with it too much, but I remember it was frowned upon if you brought in a mark and you just used a Petrify Orb, for example."

"Huh..." Van frowned in thought, before he shrugged. "Sucks to be them, I guess. Who gives a damn how you did it, if the important part is gettin' bad mon off the street? I got better things to worry about than what people think of how I fight, like making something they can't help but want to use."

Opal smiled, and opened her mouth to respond, but her ear twitched as she sensed something strange in the air.

A shift in its current blew a warning across her fur. It told her to look up. She did.

In freefall from the tops of the trees, a Weavile with a proud red crest and fierce orange eyes descended towards them with a wand pointed directly at her. Opal didn't even have time to shout a warning before a blast of air burst from the wand and slammed into her at high speed. A surprised yowl escaped her mouth as she got blown back into the treeline and into the brush.

"Ms. Op- aw Mew dammit not you!" she heard from up ahead. Opal cursed and scrambled to get out of the prickly half-stone bush. Anger surged through her; she heard Van's deep voice yell out in pain.

She burst out of the treeline and saw Van in a crouch. The Scrafty clutched his head in pain, and she skid to a stop in front of him. Weavile glared at them from across the way, and held Van's treasure bag firmly in a claw that glowed bright pink, for some reason. Van stumbled forward and raised a fist at her.

"What is it with you and kicking the shit out of people!?"

In response, Weavile shrugged, and pulled out a quick seed which she promptly bit into. She dashed away, and not a moment too soon, as a volley of telekinetically charged rocks, branches, and whatever other random forest debris Opal could scoop in her grasp got launched towards where she had been. She cursed, but then sprinted forward, Van right behind her.

Opal's paws pounded the ground as her eyes locked onto Weavile, who had scaled the trees in record time and leapt across branches with annoying agility. The typing meant Psybeam was out, so she improvised; a halo of decently sized rocks on the ground formed around her, and she charged them up to launch at Weavile with enough power and precision to snap the branches she leapt off of.

Of course, the Weavile always managed to twirl away at the last second. After a few more shots, Opal groaned as she realized exactly why this particular Weavile seemed so skilled.

"Why the hell is there a Shade in here? Did Gala send them after us? I thought we had more time..." she grumbled under her breath. Beside her, Van huffed and puffed to keep up with her sprint, but made a questioning sound.

"Shade? What's that, why would they be after you?"

"It sounded like you knew this one," she said. She might have answered the question if they weren't in a chase. "Can you tell me anything about her? Anything to look out for?"

"Uh, yeah. She's hella strong, and you see how her claws are glowing? That means she can cut portals and jump through 'em"

"Portals? That's a new one."

"Yeah, she used them to break the first Keystone, after she beat the crap out of me and Lumi and-"

What.

"Wait." She took her attention off the chase entirely and snapped her head to Van. "She did what to who?"

Van's voice caught in his throat, and a look of pure fear plastered over his face, though she couldn't understand why. That didn't matter, she had heard him perfectly well. Now that she thought about it, her son did mention a Weavile who beat him, and suddenly a whole lot of things started to click into place.

A Weavile who broke out of prison. A Weavile who started this whole mess. A Weavile who had laid claws on her boy.

"Oh I'm gonna have fun with you." A grin cut across her face at the words, and she banished her orbiting rocks in an instant. That nice, hefty stone birch log a few paces ahead would do just fine.

And that one. Ooh, and that one there!

A wicked giggle escaped her lips as thick stone logs floated next to her in a pink glow, primed and ready to be launched like missiles. She saw Weavile glance back and for a brief moment, a disturbed look of panic shook her otherwise stoic features.

It was delicious.

"Get back here, little bitch!" she yelled. Her large ears flew back from the force of the log that she jettisoned through the air at Weavile, who yelped as she leapt across the trees right before it hit. A resounding crash echoed throughout the forest as the log impacted the tree and sent a chain reaction of them falling over. Not that Opal particularly cared, as she already had another log aimed.

"Why are you running!? WHY ARE YOU RUNNING!?" In the back of her mind, the analytical part of her brain questioned why Weavile seemed to want to run away from the beginning, she doubted that she came here just to steal Van's bag. However, this reasoning got largely ignored in favor of the euphoria that came with toppling another set of trees and making this little worm dance.

Weavile's graceful jaunt across the top branches became more haggard, steps less steady, and Opal grinned as she lined up the shot that she just knew would hit. Right as she was about to let loose, Van rushed ahead of her, thin spike ready to throw.

"Finally, an opening!" he cheered. Opal's bloodlust cooled just a smidge and she blinked.

She had forgotten he was even there for a second.

With a flick of his wrist, the spike flew from his grip and arched up towards Weavile. It scored a direct hit on her back. Opal did a double take as Van's body seemed to glow bright white, before he disappeared from beside her.

A flash above brought her attention up where he threw the spike. Her eyes scrunched in surprise as Van reappeared above in a similar flash, claws dug into Weavile's back. His sudden weight threw off her balance, and he reared back a fist to slug straight into the back of her head that sent them both tumbling from the tops of the trees.

Weavile fell quicker, head-first towards the ground. Opal lined up the last log just right and sent it, certain that she couldn't twist her way out of this one.

The sound of ripped fabric rent the air. She saw a quick flash of pink before the log flew right past where Weavile was supposed to be, and straight out of the treeline towards a wide open clearing.

From above, Van yelped as he continued to fall, straight down into the multicolored rip Weavile tore right in the middle of the air. Opal's frustrated expression turned to one of concern, and she picked up the pace. On instinct, she reached out with telekinesis to try and bring Van to her, but her psychic grasp slipped off of him like butter.

"Van!" she called, before he fell straight into the portal. His scream cut out the moment he entered it.

Thankfully, she didn't have to wonder where he went for too long. Her eyes locked onto a blotch of color up ahead, in the pale white and green clearing. In front of another multicolored rip in the air, closer to the ground thirty meters ahead, Van and Weavile laid splayed out on top of each other, both seemingly a bit dazed.

For a moment, she was grateful that she hadn't just lost Van, but then her eyes caught on the log she had thrown just seconds prior, now headed straight for both of them. In an instant, they scrambled off each other at the sight of the log and jumped to the sides as it zoomed past them, and straight into the second portal.

Opal's ear flicked, and she looked backwards and up at the first portal, only a few feet behind her. She saw the tip of the log pop up, and its momentum sent it sailing vertically upwards into the air.

Now, Opal had only been able to process a small portion of the events that happened in the last few seconds, but she did know a few things; Weavile still needed to be punished, Van needed to be protected, and she really liked this log in particular. It had character and tenacity, both things she valued. So without thinking too hard about it, she just plucked it up from the strange portal it popped out of and kept it moving towards the field ahead.

She jogged up next to Van, who squared up a few meters across from Weavile. The other dark type backed up as she approached, and Opal smirked at her wary expression.

"What's wrong? Where'd that confidence from earlier go? Come on, fight us." She frowned and leveled the log, more than twice her length, at Weavile and stalked forward. "Fight me. Show me the look you had when you beat my son, I want to see it nice and clear before I rearrange your face."

Across, Weavile's eyebrows twitched in confusion, and she waved her claw. The rip in space to the right of them zipped itself up as if it were never there.

"...I don't know your son, Espeon. I have no quarrel with you, personally," she responded in a stiff, scratchy voice. Van stomped up beside Opal, and huffed angrily.

"Cut the crap mon, don't act like you forgot what you did to us at Match Quarry!"

"But that was..." Weavile's eyes widened as a look of realization dawned on her face. "Wait. He is..." Which then turned to deep concern as she glanced back at Espeon, the feathers on her ears flicked back in trepidation. After pursing her lips, she shook her head, and then placed a determined step forward.

"Everything I have done is to prevent a greater threat, your son was unfortunately in the wrong place at the wrong time. And regardless of what happened, right now, I cannot let you continue to interfere as you have been. I will not let you go any further."

Her words made Opal scoff. With a flick of mental effort, she slammed her stone log on the ground so hard it made cracks spider-web in the alabaster ground.

"You? And what army?"

Pppsssssh!

A shrill sound rang out, followed by more in rapid succession. Opal's ears folded against her head when she heard them, and she saw pink lights start to flash from the treeline.

First one. Then five. Then twenty. Then a multitude of countless flashes of pink flared up all around them, lighting up in a wave that Opal tracked with her eyes as she rotated protectively in front of Van.

The sounds picked up in frequency, so much so that she almost didn't notice when the ground began to shake. Softly at first, but then escalated into a steady rumble, like the rhythmic march of many Pokemon.

Then she saw black and gold dots start to pour from the treeline all around them, and that description seemed more apt. Van pointed at the dots with a shaky claw.

"What...in the hell is that?"

A wave of small black Pokemon, what she now recognized as Falinks, surged from the treeline and charged from across the clearing towards their position. She couldn't count how many there were, but the cacophony of their battle cry promised well over a hundred. Their shields covered their faces, and their horns extended out like an approaching spiked wall.

Weavile looked at Opal with a blithe look, and pointed at the approaching force of little, angry soldiers.

"That army," she stated, then jumped back. She rent the air with a claw to rip open another portal and entered it. Opal only had time to swing her log at her in vain before it closed in an instant.

"AURUM! CHARGE!" roared out the collective voices of the battalion of Falinks.

They spread out to cover more ground, numbers seeming to grow. Opal nudged Van to make him move from his dumbstruck stare, but grimaced when she saw Falinks approach from behind as well. The wave of gold and red sped to surround them on all sides, and the two pressed close together as they converged.

"Uh, wh-what's the plan here!?" blurted Van, seeker spike held out defensively.

"Stay close and stay calm. We'll find a way out of this," reassured Opal, who wielded her log back in preparation for a swing. Her words were steady, but internally her mind whirled as she tried to make sense of the situation. Something about Weavile's words and her behavior nagged at her, like something wasn't quite right.

She knew how ambushes worked, and being led to one wasn't all that strange, but it was how it all started in the first place that bothered her. As the first line of Falinks charged, she replayed the start of the chase over and over to see if she missed something.

"Van, here they come. I need you to let me know if any get too close on your side. Can you do that for me?" she asked.

"Y-yeah. I think so…"

"Don't worry, you're strong. I know you can do this." She stole a glance over her shoulder to try and reassure him, and grinned at how he huffed and jumped on the tips of his feet to lighten up.

He'd do fine. She turned back to the wave of Falinks in front of her, only a few meters away now.

Their yelling grew annoyingly loud when they entered her strike zone, but as soon as they did she yelled back and made her log swing forward with a horizontal swipe.

A swathe of Falinks got bowled up and over in a satisfying way, and she made for another pass, cutting another in their ranks. If she recalled, this species was most dangerous up close, so as long as they kept them at length, they should be fine.

She went for a third swipe, and some of the ones who had been hit already wavered like refracted light and phased out in a pink flash.

The sight almost made her lose concentration.

"Ms. Opal, are you seein' this!?" Van called out from behind. She risked a glance backwards, and saw similar flashes of pink from the few that his spike had managed to hit.

"What is this? Some kinda...Substitute? Or an illusion, maybe?"

"Whatever it is, just keep attacking. Here, switch!" she commanded when she saw them getting a little close on his side.

They switched places, and Opal continued her assault, now more annoyed than before. Now that she looked closer, the movements of the Falinks seemed almost too simplistic; they made no actual moves besides charging straight ahead, and whenever she knocked over a line of them, more would replace them instead of strategizing around her.

What was this? Why send an enemy that could only take a few hits? Besides the numbers advantage, this was about as difficult as popping a bunch of angry balloons. Either they had been severely underestimated or-

"They're stalling," she murmured, and her eyes grew wide at the realization.

"Huh!?"

Of course. Weavile forced them to go back the way they came, and aimed to keep them here playing with this large group of Falinks. She said she wanted to stop them interfering, which meant the goal was never to fight, just to prevent them from going where they needed to.

Which meant they had been on the right course the whole time.

"That little...Van, get ready to run!"

She swiveled to face where they had entered the clearing from, and aimed her log lengthwise at the wall of Falinks. With a psychic burst, she shunted it forward so it blasted straight through them to create an open lane to run through. She started to pant a bit with all the mental exertion, but shook it off and yelled out.

"Now!" she yelled back at Van, who nodded and booked it after her through the open space. Opal levitated her log, now a bit harder due to the strain, and the two dashed back into the thicket.

She heard Van start to huff from the constant sprint, but he kept up well enough. The rumble of an entire battalion of soldiers still chasing them through the trees served as a good motivator.

"YOU WILL NOT ESCAPE AURUM!" rang out over a hundred voices.

"What is with...all these freaks...?" panted Van as he made tracks.

"Keep those knees high boy, we don't have time to waste! Besides, there may be a lot of them, but I think they're all sharing the same braincell. So all we have to do is outrun them."

They continued to run with the swarm of Falinks hot on their trail. Opal swung her log to knock down the trees behind them to try and slow their pursuers, but they were nothing if not relentless, and jumped over any obstacles that fell in their way. Van threw his spike backwards repeatedly, but for every one he knocked over, three more would rush forward. They had to fight for every inch of their lead, and the exhaustion started to weigh on them as the minutes ticked on.

Opal grit her teeth as she pushed her legs harder than she had in years. Something in her gut told her that she was only moments away from something crucial, and she would miss it if she didn't push harder.

This certainty gave her tunnel vision, so much so that she didn't process how a surge of life had brought parts of the stone forest to life; previously white trees started to bleed away to rich browns and greens, and the bed of marble wildflowers scattered across the forest floor blossomed blue and flickered in an unseen wind.

She pulled ahead, cleared one more line of trees, and entered a grove, coated with flowers. On the far left, the lack of trees allowed a view of what seemed to be the tip of the gargantuan root connected to the main tree, touched down in the center of the field of flowers.

Several pokemon stood around a strange glowing fixture at the tip of the root, but her eyes zeroed in on her son at the center of it, Damia not far from him.

Her heart leapt at the sight of them, and she almost called out, but the figure standing right next to Lumi made the words catch in her throat.

From across the field, Noivern locked eyes with her first.

She went still.

---

When Boon first took that kid's (Lumi. Right, gotta remember that) pearl necklace, he had mostly done it for shits and giggles. It had also, to a lesser extent, served to get some leverage over the Meowstic so he would be more inclined to cooperate.

He didn't think he had ever regretted a decision more fiercely than when he first held it in his talons.

One night, he decided to chug a full liter of Fireblast Pecha Whisky, just to see if he could. He proceeded to remain stuck in his room for the next two days while Mauve spoon fed him persim berries as the hangover ran through his head like a herd of Tauros.

Doing that three times more would be preferable to holding this damn thing for a second longer. All a hangover did was split your skull and make you regret being alive.

The pearl?

The pearl forced every thought, question, and doubt he ever had about his broken soul directly in front of him. It attempted to breach his current reality with one he had no recollection of, sharp spears of regret and pain and love and joy and promise and warmth and friends and acceptance and promise and comfort and safety and adventure and promise and triumph and failure and promise and clouds and hope and purpose and promise familyteamtogetherand-

I promise we will always be together.

He didn't know that promise. He didn't know these thoughts or impulses. Like vessels with no substance, all they did was highlight the holes in his shattered psyche that he had convinced himself he didn't need filled in and he hated it.

Hated that his dreams were splotches of half-baked ideas and concepts that had no form, hated the errant doubts about his own person that he valiantly strove to forget through drinks and diversions, hated how Darkrai taunted him with a truth he had to pretend he didn't want.

Couldn't bring himself to hate his patron, who wrenched him from the brink, and restored him as best she could. He remembered agony, confusion, and gentle words in a strange place. Recalled her love for him. So when she gave him his purpose, he didn't ask too many questions, content instead with the freedom that came with having one.

But when he saw Espeon, across a field of white flowers that slowly had their color restored to them, the questions just came right back. The look in her eyes pierced him with the sting of a promise he never remembered making.

And he always tried to keep his promises.

"Mom!?" yelled Lumi next to him. His shout pulled him from Espeon's stare, and he actually took a look at just how quickly everything had derailed.

"Oh shit..." he murmured. He tried to take stock of the situation.

Mauve had arrived a few moments earlier, prepared to cut the portal to the other gate (intentionally not making eye contact with Lumi), which was probably the only thing that had gone to plan. She stood off to the side, prepared to dash ahead at the new arrivals, and was intercepted by the Dragonite who had been traveling with Lumi. They bared claws and fangs across from each other, and Boon was honestly surprised someone could match Mauve's "I'm going to kill you," glare so easily.

Seconds later, a Scrafty ran like his life depended on it around the bend, followed by an entire contingent of Aurum. Boon knew at a glance what their plan had been, and that it had apparently failed. He didn't know exactly why, but he felt that the bigass stone log Espeon held in her psychic grasp had something to do with it. The way she whipped the log to point at the army without breaking her glance with him confirmed that theory.

A tense standstill ensured, everyone a hair trigger away from a fallout. Boon cringed; he had tried to avoid something like this. They had gotten two of the four gates, and the last two were only moments away, they couldn't afford to take any losses in an altercation. He tried to think of a way out of this, and glanced down at the Meowstic who seemed ready to jog over to-

"His mom? Well I guess that confirms that..." he thought to himself, remembering the night he spied on them eating dinner. While that did complicate things again, it also made him look at the Meowstic in a new light.

As was becoming a pattern, this kid might have the answer to all his problems.

"Pssst. Hey," he whisper-yelled down at Meowstic. The cat flicked his golden eyes up, and Boon dug out his pearl necklace from his fluff to idly twirl around a talon.

"Don't forget our deal," he said with a smirk to mask the discomfort in looking at the thing. "We both need to open the gates."

Boon made sure to raise his claws up near his head when he spoke, to signal that he wouldn't stop Lumi's advance. Lumi frowned up at him, but did as he hoped and walked down the flower field towards Espeon. Along the way, he called Dragonite from her stare down with Mauve. After a few moments, the dragon sent a deep, rumbling snarl Mauve's way, but stomped off to join Lumi. The Scrafty got called over too, and soon it looked like the Meowstic had everyone in a huddle.

Espeon never stopped looking at him. He did his best to ignore her, and motioned for Aurum to come this way instead.

A round of psshhst sounds burst through the air as a wave of pink denoted many of Aurum's clones dematerializing. The large black and gold mass that dominated the far side of the field had shrunk to just the six core members of Aurum, who marched past the conversing group towards Boon. He nodded, then looked over at Mauve and motioned for her to come his way.

She did so, and he stepped forward to place a talon on her mouth to stop the inevitable "I'm sorry Master," he knew she would say.

"It's fine. We'll deal with it. We can make this work," he said. She blinked, but nodded, and he removed his talon from her mouth. Aurum joined them, not nearly as contrite as Mauve, and looked up at Boon expectantly.

"Espeon strong," they stated. Boon shrugged.

"I did warn you. Although I think you just wanted an excuse to go full army mode, and forgot how it makes you individually weaker," teased Boon.

"Baseless assertion."

"Are we...sure we should let them converse like this?" asked Mauve with an uneasy glance towards the four across the field. "They could be planning something."

"They definitely are, but we need them to talk. I'm banking on your little boyfriend explaining he needs to work with me to open the gates to accomplish what they came in here for. That way we can avoid any fighting."

All six of Aurum shot their heads at Mauve at the word 'boyfriend.' She walked over and kicked Boon in the shin without a word.

It hurt. He felt proud.

"And when your tenuous alliance ends when we open the last gate, what then?" she asked, back to business.

"Then we shift our focus to the Keystone, and deal with them when they get in the way," he answered, eyes struggling not to flick back over to Espeon.

The answer didn't seem to appease Mauve, who crossed her arms and looked up at him with a frown.

"What?"

"...You are acting strange. More than usual." She looked out over the group. "Why does that Espeon bother you so much? Do you know h-"

"Nope. No. Never met her in my life. I don't know her," he replied, perhaps too hasty based on Mauve's perplexed expression. Boon suppressed a sigh and pointed to a spot next to the now shining and active gate crystal.

"Hey, can you do me a favor and cut that portal? Let's get everything connected."

"As you wish."

Boon watched her walk over and slice the air. A rip opened that had a perfect view of the third gate just a few steps away. Thank goodness Mauve trained so diligently to hold portals as well as she did. If not, this whole process would have taken so much longer.

The three of them waited for the group across from them to finish their discussion. The tension in Boon's chest mounted all the while, and made his tail jerk around in agitation. Eventually, Lumi led his group over with a determined look on his face. They all stopped a few meters away from him.

Boon slapped a smirk on his face and put his claws on his hips.

"So, what's it gonna be? You gonna play nice and honor your end of the deal?"

Lumi held out an open paw, head tilted expectantly. Boon knew exactly what he wanted and suppressed a sigh of relief when he tossed over the necklace. When the Meowstic caught it, he shifted his gaze to Mauve.

He pointed at her, specifically the stolen bag around her shoulder, and grinned.

"That too."

Mauve didn't visibly react, although Boon could tell by the slight hitch in her breath that she had been caught a bit off guard. Still, she removed the strap from her shoulder, and tossed the bag over to Meowstic with a disinterested gaze. Lumi held her state as he handed it to Scrafty, and then looked back at Boon.

He nodded. With a tilt of his head, Boon invited Lumi to lead the way towards the portal. Looks of distrust were sent his way by the Scrafty, and outright hostility by the Dragonite, as they followed him along. Aurum marched along after them, and Mauve followed suit, after some deliberation.

Which just left...

"Lucent."

The name ripped through his mind and rooted him to his feet. The headache came back, along with a sickening feeling that welled up in his chest. He didn't need to turn around to know that Espeon approached from behind.

Boon didn't look down as she came up beside him, and looked past her when she planted herself firmly in front of him, eyes wide and wet and hurt and lost and dont look dont look dont look-

"Lucent. Look at me," her voice held a stern edge, but he didn't miss the slight warble.

Boon sucked in a breath and tried to step around her. She blocked his path.

"Please. Look at me."

"I don't know who the hell you are," he wanted to say, but the words felt like poison even before they left his tongue. He'd let the others go ahead specifically so they wouldn't see if something like this happened. It would make his headache even worse if he had to actually explain what any of this was.

Espeon tried to take a step towards him.

He blinked, and she was behind him. A shudder escaped his mouth, and he hurried towards the portal, fully aware that he had left her to stare at nothing.

The sickening feeling doubled, but he suppressed it with a smile as he stepped across the threshold and walked towards Lumi, who already stood next to the third gate. His feet squelched on moist dirt, and he turned towards a large lake that spread out to their left, the third massive root reaching over the water's surface to touch down right on its shore. At this point, life had begun to retake their surroundings, environment a perfect hybrid of stone and lush forest greenery.

Not that he particularly cared about the environment, he had a couple more pressing things on his mind.

"Alright, ready to work your magic again, kid?" he said as he moved to step beside Lumi. The Meowstic had his gaze on Espeon, who slowly trudged through the portal, but Boon snapped his talons in front of his face to refocus his attention.

"Hey, eyes on the prize. Remember what you came here for," urged Boon.

Lumi glared at him, but turned towards the gate and placed his paw on it. Boon joined him, and placed a claw on the crystal to jumpstart it with a spatial pulse.

By now, it seemed the kid had gotten a better grasp at whatever he did to the gates that made them functional again. His breath came out more calm, his motions less jerky, and more confident. It had become obvious to Boon that Lumi was something like him, touched as well by some other power, but he couldn't exactly tell what.

Maybe he would ask his patron about that later.

Regardless, the crystal on his palm became warm to the touch after a few moments. Its dull, lifeless surface had been energized into a healthy pink glow. His talons started to sting, and he wrenched it back with a grumble.

Fairy type energy this time, figures.

He watched as a wave of color pulsed out from the gate and outwards to the rest of the forest. The lakeside they were on glimmered as the water started to reflect the myriad colors that began to pop up around them; new shades in the flowers, trees, and reeds in the immediate area. More importantly, a surge of color started to travel up the length of the stone root, no doubt sending this pulse of life straight back to the central tree.

Boon sniffed, and briefly marveled at how crisp the air now felt. In the very beginning, when the forest had only been made of dead stone, the air had no circulation and made the climate seem dense and stuffy, like walking into an old museum. Now, the growing abundance of actual plantlife already made the air feel less heavy. Natural smells even started to pervade the air.

Boon took a deeper breath in, and let it all out in a satisfied huff.

"You smell that, kiddos? That's the smell of progress right there!" he said. A glance showed that the other Pokemon seemed interested in the change of environment to varying degrees; even Dragonite and Mauve set aside their glaring competition to give the surroundings a cursory glance.

The only exception was Espeon, who stayed focused on her son the entire time. Boon watched as, with eyes still shining blue, Lumi stepped away from the gate and took careful steps towards the lake. His head scanned across the shore, as if analyzing something that only he could see.

Curious what the deal was, Boon plodded over and tapped Lumi on the head, jolting him from whatever power made his eyes shine.

"Hey, you zoning out or something?" asked Boon.

"No, I'm just..." Lumi trailed off as he looked all around them. "...I think there's something here. Or, was here. Something strong, I think it watched over this forest."

"Like a strong feral?"

"I didn't recognize it from anywhere, so I don't think so. Maybe more like...a Legendary?" Lumi looked back up at him and tilted his head. "Tall, four legs, lots of antlers. Like a Sawsbuck but not really. You know anything about that?"

"Xerneas." Espeon's voice answered behind him. Boon glanced over his shoulder and saw her approach Lumi, who looked at her in confusion.

"Legends say it can bring life, and that it likes places where there's a lot of it. But if that's the case, I don't see why it would want to hang around a place that was dead when we got here."

"Xerneas huh...?" Lumi rubbed his chin in thought. "I wonder why we haven't seen it yet though. Could...wait."

Lumi dug in his satchel and pulled out a notepad and pen, then started to write as he spoke aloud.

"Could something have happened to Xerneas that caused the aether in this place to get all screwed up? Can something like that even happen? I don't know if there's a connection between Legendaries and Dungeons, but if there is then that would explain why-"

His musing got interrupted by Espeon, who lightly bonked him on the head.

"If only you put that analytical mind of yours to good use in school, then you might have actually known what its name was in the first place." She grinned. "I never had a school and even I knew."

"I-it slipped my mind, geez! Besides, it's not like we spent a lot of time talking about Legends in class, and I swear they made it boring on purpose..."

"You're surrounded by books and information at the guild, right? Educate yourself one of these days."

"Aren't you at least a little impressed that I could see something that isn't here?"

"I already know you're amazing, so I expect more from you," she said with a grin, and whipped him gently with her tail. Lumi turned away from her with a huff, but Boon could tell he had a small smile on his face.

Just witnessing the small interaction made Boon feel a bit lighter. For some reason, it made his chest warm to just watch these guys...talk, and he didn't consider himself to be too sappy.

The warmth dissipated when Espeon turned her attention on him, and frowned.

"What, the thought of a Legendary give you cold feet, or do you just want to drag this out and waste time, Dungeon Master? Tell your Shade to get us to the next area before I make her do it."

Whatever vulnerability that had been there before had been replaced by thinly veiled anger and impatience, like she suddenly couldn't stand to look at him any longer than she had to. It threw him off enough that he stood there speechless for a bit before he regained his wits enough to manage a response with a hasty smile.

"Dungeon Master? Glad I got some fans, I-"

"Shut up." And she walked right past him. Boon had no choice but to watch her go.

From an objective standpoint, he knew that he still technically had the upper hand, but he couldn't shake the feeling that somewhere along the way he had lost some control over the situation.

"Hey, what's that thing you said? 'I like that look on your face, you don't wear it often?'" spoke up Lumi. Boon turned to look down at his smug grin.

"Well, right now you look completely lost, and it's making me very happy."

"...Keep laughing, kid," murmured Boon, a headache already starting to form. It doubled when he saw Espeon go over and threaten Mauve with that log she had carried with her this whole time, and he hurried to go over before she actually used it.

"Hey. Little bitch. Do your job and open the next portal," demanded Espeon. She had walked right in the middle of a staredown between the four other Pokemon that had developed, and pointed her log (now mostly made of wood) right at Mauve's face. To her credit, Mauve stood her ground.

"I don't take orders from you Espeon! I-"

She didn't get a second warning. Espeon swung the log back and shot it forward at record speed. It was only due to his good reflexes that Boon managed to teleport over, shoot an arm out, and hold it in place before it impacted Mauve's head within the next two seconds.

Espeon's baleful glare burned the side of his head, but before she could reaffirm her psychic grip, Boon ripped the log away from her and threw it behind him, up into the air. While holding her stare, he pooled spatial energy in his claws, and swiped up at the log.

A pink line of energy cut across the air, shot up towards the log, and sliced it clean in half. At the moment of impact, the very space around it seemed to fracture and split like glass, until even that seemed to shatter as well. The sound of a broken mirror rang out as pieces of the wood rained down, cut in perfect ninety degree angles. As the pieces fell, Espeon faced him fully and he heard the growl in her throat, body low and prepared to move. He kept his features neutral, even as he sensed the others tense up around them, but inside he had begun to get exasperated.

She was starting to push him.

"We've stuck around here long enough. Let's go to the final gate." He addressed Mauve without looking. The rip of the portal tore open, yet he held firm in his staredown with Espeon, whose glare turned more and more hostile. It shook him, more than it ever would otherwise, as if a part of him very much disliked that this Espeon was seriously fed up with him. It shook his resolve.

Lumi saved him when he came up beside his mother, and gently ushered her towards the portal. He whispered something he couldn't hear, but it got her to start moving after one last glance at Boon.

One by one the others followed suit. Boon held back to make sure Espeon didn't try anything else with his followers, and Lumi seemed to have the same idea. When it was just them, Boon allowed himself to exhale, and pushed Lumi on towards the portal. The Meowstic yowled lightly in protest, but continued on, and together they stepped across the threshold.

The final gate rested at the tip of a wide plateau that overlooked a good portion of the forest below. A breeze ruffled the scarce bushes and flowers, and in the distance the central tree could be seen clear as day, a pale arboreal titan amongst a now lush and verdant forest, with only stray patches of stone here and there.

When they stepped out, they were met with this view, as well as two sides that had started to form on the left and right of the gate; on the right, the rest of Boon's team glared across at Dragonite, Scrafty, and Espeon, who responded with equal hostility. An unspoken ceasefire had been established, ready to be broken at a moment's notice should either side wish for it.

Boon and Lumi walked right through the middle towards the gate. No more words needed to be said, everyone knew what had to happen next.

When they stopped next to it, Boon placed a claw on the crystal's surface, eager to be over with this phase of the plan and hopefully get as far away from Espeon as possible, but Lumi seemed to hesitate. The Meowstic glanced over the assembled Pokemon, and wilted as if he didn't find who he was looking for. The ones behind him seemed to get a little antsy too.

Better to put a plug in that, both for now and once their 'agreement' came to an end. Time for his leverage.

"What's the matter kid, missing something? You know you're my pal, so I'll give you a little encouragement."

He snapped his talons.

"Bring the Spinda out," he ordered. He couldn't resist the grin that formed at the surprised looks of the opposing Pokemon.

To the side, Pads nodded, and opened one of his portals to reach inside. After a bit of digging, he grabbed hold of something and pulled it up. A spotted, furry leg emerged from the portal, and the Swampert yanked the rest of it up to reveal the Spinda they said they captured before, who now yelped and dangled in Pad's grip.

Boon's ears picked up another concerned yell from within the portal, but Pads closed it quick enough that he didn't think anyone else noticed.

"Clara!" yelled out Dragonite. Blue energy began to coat her body, and she started to rush forward towards Pads. Boon nodded at the Swampert, who pushed the Spinda roughly to the ground and held her there with a heavy hand. Spinda winced in pain, but stilled at the feeling of weight on the back of her neck. Pads leaned his head down and the glow of Water-type energy pooled in his mouth, ready to release it point blank on her at a moment's notice.

Dragonite roared out in rage and attempted to fly forwards to slam him with Dragon Rage, but got restrained by Espeon and Scrafty. They tried to tell her to calm down for Spinda's sake, and only barely succeeded in holding her back while she fumed.

"H-hey, call him off, now!" blurted Lumi, ears flattened at the sight of Spinda on the ground. Boon waved Pads down, and he lessened the pressure he put on the bear's back, but still kept the move at the ready. She grumbled into the dirt with a low whimper.

"See how nice I am? I didn't have to tell you I had her, but I'm reuniting you with your friend anyway! All you have to do is finish this last gate with me, and you can have her back all safe and sound. Easy right?"

Boon scanned the expressions of Lumi's group; Espeon and Dragonite sent livid glares in his direction, while Scrafty had a wary eye on Pads specifically in case he hurt Spinda. The smugness had completely vanished from Lumi's face, replaced with a neutral frown. He held Boon's stare for a bit before he sighed, and placed his paw on the crystal.

The process began. With the aether flow from the other three, this crystal didn't require as much work to get up and running. It took the least amount of time to manipulate this crystal into production, and yet it seemed to drag on forever. Silence had overtaken the plateau. Tension on both sides had reached a boiling point, and everyone stood at the ready for what came next.

They finished, the crystal glowed warm, and pink. Boon and Lumi stood back, and watched as color burst outward from the ground to fill in the last remnants of stone and bring Hollow Garden's revival to completion. They looked outward, and a wave of foliage, greenery, and color bloomed across the entire landscape in the strongest pulse of life yet, all the way to the horizon.

The large root was the last to surrender its petrification; its gray, lifeless stone a stark contrast with the rest of the beautiful forest. Boon saw color gather at its tip where it connected to the gate, and began its restoration. Slowly at first, but like a lit fuse, color traveled with increasing speed along its length across the miles and miles towards the main tree.

Everyone watched as it closed in on the tree, the last act before this forest, the Leyline, would finally awaken from its stone slumber.

Seconds stretched on, the root pulsed with life, ready to deliver its payload to the colossal, alabaster oak.

It connected.

The sky exploded.

A burst of color so bright it almost burned his retinas lit up the tree and the entire sky above it. The corona of fantastic hues flared up everything above and forced him to raise a wing to block the sight and shut his eyes. A loud crash of sound and a tremor shook the entire forest, and wind buffeted his wings hard enough to push him back a few feet on the plateau.

Underneath the roar of power that emanated from the tree, another sound could be heard that became more noticeable as the clamor died down: a pained, low groan that grew in intensity until its deafening wail assaulted their ears and split the air with its cry.

No anger accompanied that cry. No pride or even strength. Whatever made that sound did so out of pure agony. An unnerved shiver lanced down his spine which stayed even when it faded away.

When he deemed it safe, Boon lowered his wing to stare out into the distance. The tree had changed. In the place of the stone monolith in the shape of a tree, now stood a gargantuan oak with a crown of leaves that burst outwards and shimmered with color; vivid reds, greens, pinks, and orange served as a beacon that could be seen from everywhere in the forest. Its trunk had taken on a noticeable golden hue, and glowed lightly with power.

And at that moment, Boon had a very good idea of where to go next.

He looked at Lumi. The Meowstic's face glowed with determination towards the tree as well. By the look of it, it seemed he reached the same conclusion.

"Looks like it's a race then," murmured Boon. He leaned down to get right up in Lumi's face, and flashed his fangs.

The kid didn't flinch.

"My advice to you? Forfeit while you can. You've been a good sport, kiddo. I would hate to have to put you in your place if you get in the way."

"Let her go," responded Lumi. Boon blinked, but then shrugged.

"Sure thing."

Boon looked over at Pads, ready to give the order, but paused at the grimace on Pad's face. Each of his team looked at the Swampert in concern as his body seemed to convulse, so much so that he had to release his hold on Spinda in order to hold his head tight. She didn't waste any time and scrambled forward to the other side, into the protective embrace of her friends.

"Hey, what's the matter?" called Boon. His stomach started to sink as he ran through all of the possible things that could make the Swampert scrunch his face and hold his head in pain.

He really hoped it was some kind of super delayed hangover or something, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be that lucky.

Pads audibly groaned in pain, and staggered forward onto one knee as he clutched his head. Cole reached out with an arm to steady him, but the sound of a crackling spark drew their attention up. A flash of pink flickered in and out right next to Pads, and it grew stronger each time it did so.

"His storage, somethings going wrong!" warned Cole, who now had two hands on the Swampert's shoulder to try and calm him down.

"Damn it, try and move him somew-"

Pad's warbling cry cut him off. He shook his head harshly, and scrunched his face as if he held a weight that had become too much. After one last loud crack of sound, Pad's couldn't take any more, put his hands together, and ripped them apart with haste to form a portal between them.

A billow of smoke poured out of the portal, along with what looked like shattered fragments of furniture, broken items charred beyond recognition, and most notably, a plethora of flaming desk lamps that fell out one after the other.

Everyone's attention fixated on the cluttered pile of charred and destroyed wreckage that grew larger as Pads emptied out his portal. The look of pain and exhaustion on his face slowly eased as he released all of the horrible junk.

Then a Mawile, yellow fur stained gray with soot and smoke, fell out of the portal and onto the trash heap. The small Pokemon clutched a blast seed in his paw that got flung from his grip as he tumbled from the debris.

Mawile landed roughly on his back, coughed, and groaned in pain. He leaned up enough to rub his head, which gave Boon a view of his face.

His vision fogged.

"Are you scared?"

"Yes. I don't…I don't know if we can…"

"Hey, didn't I promise I'll be right there with you? Trust me, we'll be fine!"

Boon blinked. Mawile stood across from him, eyes wide and locked on his own. He didn't seem to register the shouting that had started, or how Meowstic tried to pull him away while Mauve tried to block his path.

Mawile took another step.

"Bounty hunters? You serious?"

"I-I know it's dangerous but they travel and meet a lot of different people. Maybe we can find what happened to your memories and-"

"Where do we sign up? That sounds badass!"

Boon blinked again. A skirmish had broken out between the two sides, but it might as well have been a faraway dream. Mawile stood only a few feet away from him, and held an arm out as if he were a ghost.

He took another step.

"You want to be friends with me? Um, well, in that case…my name is Clement. P-pleased to meet you!"

"Hah, don't sweat it! And I don't remember much, but I know my name is-

Lucent?"

The name fell from Mawile's lips like a forbidden whisper, yet to Boon he might as well have shouted into his ear. His lips trembled, and his breath came out in short bursts. Mawile reached up to try and touch the Noivern's chest, like he was some ephemeral treasure that would disappear if he so much as looked away.

The tips of his fingers brushed against his scales. Boon blinked.

When he opened his eyes, Mawile lay ten meters away, back on the ground, hand clutched to his chest in pain. The plateau had gone quiet, the entire battle held on pause as everyone looked in his direction.

He glanced up and realized his arm stretched out in front of him. Blood stained the tips of his claw.

A wet clod of anger and sorrow lodged itself in his chest and he saw red.

"...Shut up," he murmured. "Shut…shut up!"

He yelled straight at the downed Mawile, who winced and brought his head up again. Mawile reached an arm out towards him.

"Lu-" he coughed "Luce-"

Boon's foot on his chest silenced him, the distance no more than a blink away for him. He brought his head so close to Mawile's, their snouts touched, and his whole world became the other's eyes.

"I DON'T KNOW WHO YOU ARE!" he screeched inches away from Mawile's face.

The words left his mouth and it felt like an admittance of murder. Those vulnerable, hopeful eyes he looked into widened. Then wavered.

Then broke.

Tears pooled at their edges. He made Mawile cry. He hated himself so fucking much for that and he didn't know why. He just knew it hurt it was wrong he wouldn't do that he shouldn't do that not to himwhyhimhewouldneverhurthimthatwashepromisednothimnothimgodwhyhim-

"S-stop-please stop cry…FUCK!"

Boon slammed the ground and roared. Wild, purple energy overflowed from his eyes, and he reared up to his full height. With the tips of his claws steeped in his gifted power, he wrenched the air in front of him with the only thought that he just needed something, anything, to give him space from these Pokemon.

His power ripped space like paper in response. A multitude of purple tears sundered the air above them. Ferals that had been sought out across space, themselves constructs of dimensional alteration, were ripped from wherever they had been and pulled through the portals to fall from above. Shouts of alarm rang out from those in Lumi's group as Morgrem, Hattrem, Tsareena, and others dropped from the sky on top of them.

That should keep them busy, at least.

He turned to face his own team, and pointedly ignored their stares. With only vague awareness of his own movements, Boon grabbed the closest satchel he could and dug around until he found a Spatial Pearl, then shoved it towards Mauve.

"Cut one as close to the tree as you can, then close it right after."

"M-master-"

"Do this for me, please," he rasped, voice hoarse. Mauve took exactly one second before she gave a determined nod and crushed the pearl in her claw, then turned to set to work.

Her eyes had reflected worry, concern, and surprise, but never a hint of doubt. He'd never appreciated that about her more than right now.

Mauve jumped up with her glowing claws out, and tore the air in front of her down the middle, ripping open a good sized portal that all of them could comfortably squeeze through. Her sharp voice urged the others on, their unsure feet spurred into action towards the portal. She made sure each of them hopped through, and only spared a glance back towards Boon before she too went on ahead.

Boon made his way to the portal, but couldn't fight off the glance back at the struggle behind him. The summoned ferals had succeeded in pushing back the other group; Lumi's ears were fully unfurled, and he raised his arms to maintain a wide screen of light between his team and the hoard of approaching Pokémon. It provided cover as they slowly made their way down the plateau, perhaps planning some sort of retreat.

Somehow past all the chaos, he locked eyes with Lumi once more. Back when he first met him at the bar in Rowshore, Boon had been surprised at the conviction in those eyes once he'd goaded him enough. The Meowstic had seemed naive and a bit dull at first, but that all seemed to be a pretense for the sheer passion that lay in wait.

Right now, that same passion inflamed those wide, brazen eyes, sharpened and honed to channel squarely on him. He saw no anger or frustration in them, instead he saw something that made him just a bit more concerned.

Lumi wielded a promise in those eyes, to make things right however he saw fit. No matter what.

Boon turned and walked through the portal.

---

Heartbeat quickened. Breath hitched. Sweat matted fur.

Unease roiled and churned into a festering ball of anxiety, and a dark call grew louder and louder until it broke through the throngs of unconsciousness and demanded action at once.

Vert opened his eyes.

He released a shaky breath. The ceiling of the infirmary greeted him, along with a silence that couldn't quell the alarm bells that clanged in his head.

Living amongst the constant chaos of his guild, one would think his disaster sense would have dulled over time, overused as it is. Yet, if anything it just made him more sensitive to looming disaster, and it had never been so clear and loud as right now.

Something bad would happen. He needed to move.

An attempted push sent a jolt of protest through his whole body, and a wince escaped his mouth. His head throbbed, his forelegs felt numb and sore, and a sharp pain in his back almost made him cry out.

He felt like garbage. Still, his sense compelled him to push past the pain and, with agonizing slowness, lean his body over the just-too-small infirmary bed. He teetered over the edge until eventually falling in a mess of gangly limbs, white fur, and pain.

Still, Vert had been named Guildmaster for a reason, present indecency aside. He needed to make sure his guild was safe, and that thought gave him the strength to roll onto his stomach, crawl towards the doorway, and use the side of the wall as a crutch to push himself onto four wobbly legs. The end of the hall might as well have been miles away, yet he put one foot in front of the other and started his journey.

Along the way, a strange sound started to flit through the air. He had to get a bit closer before he realized that music flowed through the tent flap that led out towards the main hub of the Development wing. His brows furrowed as the resounding movements of an upbeat waltz blew through the tent flap, and he pushed his head out of the flap to see what caused the commotion.

His half lidded eyes squinted even further at the sight.

"The hell...?" he murmured.

Someone had turned the Development Wing's round main room into a ballroom. Dim light steamed along the floor by scattered luminous orbs that floated in the air. Blue streamers hung from the second floor railings, and white ribbons seemed to flow off of any object they could be tied to. A thick, purple curtain hung from the ceiling and draped along the floor, enclosing the room in a dark and warm atmosphere.

The pluck of violin strings and chime of a piano added to the ambiance. As Vert brought his gaze to the dance floor itself, he saw what looked like almost all of his apprentices engaged in some kind of waltz. Whether they tripped over their feet or glided along the floor, all of them had smiles on their faces, and Vert's own anxieties were briefly assuaged by the sound of light laughter. He heard it less and less as their hiding had gone on.

Bell stumbled a bit and laughed as Garland had to hold her up with his head and some of his legs. The Furret Abigail hopped happily in a circle, arms interlocked with his Zorua, Quilava, and Buizel apprentices. Somehow, the Meowth and Heliolisk, Luster and Valence, had even been convinced to do an awkward two-step off to the side. In a well lit corner all the way across the room, apprentices he didn't even know were musically inclined plucked or picked at their instruments in steady cadence to the waltz they helped create, every mis-played note a cause for smiles.

And in the center of the whole thing spun Purl and Esther, donned in a top hat and flowing gray gown respectively, and decked to the nines in ribbons. They picked up the pace as the music reached a crescendo, and when it reached a final bombastic note, Purl stood on his hind legs and picked up Esther by the sides to hold above his head. Everyone else also held a last pose for a second before it ended.

He watched Purl set Esther down, give a brief nuzzle, and then turn to address the room.

"A beautiful performance, my stars! You're making this Satin Festival one to remember! I'd like to give a special shout-out to my lovelies in Dynamo for helping with the lighting and touching up those poor instruments from storage."

Light applause ensued from all gathered, and those who spent most of their time in Dynamo gave a mock stage bow in response.

"Now, this portion of the event has concluded, but fret not! There shall be more dancing later! In the meantime, please make your way to the Dining Hall for a special feast provided by Bio, a-"

As Purl's eyes scanned the room, they finally landed on Vert's peeked out from the tent flap, and he stumbled over his words in surprise.

"O-oh my God- and, um, the very first Absol Guild Beauty Pageant! Don't want to miss it, soooooooo get going. Now," he urged.

The congregation of apprentices started to file out of the tent flap to the right. Meanwhile, Purl cut across the group and made a beeline straight for Vert. The Absol backed up as the Sylveon rushed in and wrenched the flap closed behind them with a feeler.

"Vert! What are you doing up, you're supposed to be resting," hissed Purl, eyes creased in worry. He walked around Vert's form and looked up and down his body, then clicked his teeth in disappointment.

"Dammit, you've messed up your bandages too. You realize Pandora will literally kill you if she sees you like this. How are you even moving right n-"

"Purl, there's no time." Vert leaned down to make sure he had Purl's attention. "Something bad will happen. To the guild. We need to make sure everyone is safe."

"Something bad? Wait," he gasped. "It wouldn't be my Satin Festival would it? I've spent the past three days making sure it was safe and fun!"

"I don't think…wait…three days?" Vert blanched. "What do you mean three days? That doesn't make sense."

"Well, yes. We've been working on this for the last three days. During that time you were…indisposed. From your trip to the Mist continent to deliver those relief supplies to Beheyeems guild."

Vert blinked, and then sat down heavily on his haunches. Just now, he recalled everything; unveiling his nexus, revealing himself to Beheeyem herself…

"…Haxorus…" he growled, and looked down at the ground. He had been caught off guard and barely put up a fight. Suddenly he found it a bit more difficult to face the rest of his guild.

Purl cooed in sympathy, and gently pat one of Vert's paws in encouragement.

"Oh, don't look like that. From what Brook said, you actually were successful in delivering the supplies! And, aside from you, nobody else got hurt."

So Brook and Pepin were alright. That thought did lift his spirits some, and he nodded. Another thought barreled through his head.

"Where are Lumi's parents? I need to ask how their trip to Hollow Garden went," he asked. To his surprise, Purl frowned, and glanced off to the side.

"What's wrong? Are they resting, perhaps?"

"They're…still out there. They haven't come back yet." Purl's voice remained tentative, although the way his ears flatted on his head showed his clear concern.

"I don't understand, you just said it's been three days. They should be back by now. Unless…" Wait, just how long had they spent in the Leyline? Vert's eyes widened in bewilderment as he realized they must have been in the Dungeon for at least a day, which shouldn't have been possible in the first place.

"We're all worried but…well there's just not much we can do," Purl continued. "With them gone and you unconscious, it was all we could do to put on this little party to try and keep ourselves in high spirits. I know it might seem a little pointless, but Pandora urged us to do it, and I stand by her decision wholeheartedly."

"Where is Pandora?"

"Probably resting in your room right about now. She's been working really hard to help put this all together and make sure everyone is doing okay, so I pushed her to go lay down," he explained. Vert nodded, and pushed himself with a grunt to his feet.

"I need to go speak with her."

"Wha-hey! Didn't I just explain why that's a bad idea! Vert just-"

A scream cut through the air. Loud, angry shouts followed shortly after.

That horrid, dark feeling dug into Vert's mind like daggers, and he limped along as fast as he could, heedless of Purl's protests to go lay down. He pushed through the medical flap, and then hung a right to enter the flap that led to the main room.

Inside, bedlam.

Pokémon in red scarves swarmed in from the entrance, and shouted at his apprentices to get on the ground. They were scared, caught off guard, and unsure what to do as they were harassed in their own home.

Vert didn't hesitate.

He walked right into the center and faced the growing number of Haxorus hunters that entered his guild. It didn't take long for them to switch their focus to the higher priority target right in the center of the room. A semi circle of trained hunters, each with a move ready, stood in front of him, ready to act.

In the center, spearheading the charge, stood a large and imposing Charizard. Flames spewed from his nostrils as he stomped forward and pointed at Vert.

"Absol. You and your guild are under arrest for crimes against the Bright Continent, and all of Pokémonkind. Come quietly," he ordered.

Vert scanned all of the angry faces ready to beat him into submission, and then looked around the rest of the room. Many of his apprentices struggled on the ground, eyes wide and fearful. A thump on the right turned his attention to Purl, who complained as a Croagunk dug his knee into his back to keep him down.

The sight sent a spike of fury up his heart and made him sick to his stomach. Most of all, he hated how even if he was stupid enough to fight right now, he might be the biggest liability here right now, in his current state.

Instead, in a move that made the hunters cry out a warning, Vert turned around to look at all the gathered apprentices, and raised his voice enough that he hoped those in other rooms could hear.

"Everyone. Please don't resist. Struggling will only make it more painful. We will get through this. Trust me."

Saying those last two words sent a fresh wave of self-loathing through him. It doubled when those nearest apprentices gave tepid, hesitant nods, and actually did as he commanded.

He wished he could offer more than encouraging words, but they were low on options right now. For their own safety, he wouldn't let them fight and potentially get hurt.

Vert turned around and lowered himself to his forelegs to serve as an example. When it became clear that he would offer no resistance, Charizard gave a derivative snort, and waved a claw his way.

"Start detaining them with dampeners, beginning with Absol. The rest, do a sweep of the entire facility. Keep an eye out for Whimsicott, our intelligence suggests she may be more likely to put up a fight."

His subordinates responded with a round of affirmatives, and a row of them spread out to search the other rooms, and forcibly detain any who stood in their way. In front of him, a Monferno and Riolu approached with a metal binding to attach to his neck.

As he held his head up to accept the binding, movement at the main tent flap caught his eye. He couldn't quite tell, but he thought he caught the glint of a Thievul's smile before it closed.

It didn't particularly matter, he had other things to think about. Like how the dark, anxious pit of his disaster sense had now alleviated. The horrible thing it warned him about just came to pass.

Their time in hiding had ended. They were caught.

---

A/N: I finished my Masters program in the time it took to write this, lol.