Riven awoke to a mind-splitting headache, drool running down the side of his mouth, and a room with red walls decorated with designs of Fennekin and other assorted fire pokemon. There was a faint smell of cinnamon in the air as well. He noticed he was lying in a bed below another and with a quick glance across the room, noticed an identical one to his next to two rather large windows with the blinds closed. A functioning human would recognize this was a pokemon center rental room, but his train of thought was a jumbled mess and didn't quite seem to register where he was at the present moment.

"Wow, you're already up!" Said a chestnut haired nurse as she walked in. She was a Joy, but that was mostly a general term trainers used to describe the ones that worked in pokemon centers. Contrary to what most trainers believed, they weren't identical. The term just made life easier, and the nurses didn't seem to mind.

She shined a light into his eyes, examining his pupils.

"My you recover fast. Most people are down for days with a wound like that, you sure you're not some kind of pokemon?"

While that statement was mostly a joke, it made him tense for a second before relaxing. "I think I'd realize I was a super powered creature if that was the case," he smiled back, laughing even if a bit delayed. "It's not like I can shoot dark pulses out of my fingertips and form blades with my hands, right?"

"Right," she chuckled back before easily shifting the tone of the conversation. "You gave the people outside the center quite a scare."

"Wait, center? As in Pokemon center?" Riven repeated, unable to recall when he'd walked into a center at all. I thought this was a hospital. "The fu- I mean how did…? When did I do that?"

The nurse gave him a small, comforting smile. "I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't remember. You were a bit delirious and were white as snow from all the blood loss. We were going to give you a transfusion but there was no medical records on file. Luckily you somehow recovered enough to not need it. What you do need is some iron supplements though, the blood loss was substantial and you might still feel weak. Your entire shirt was soaked in blood, what happened to you?"

Riven should have been more concerned about nearly dying in public for the umpteenth time, but was more distraught at the notion that yet another shirt was lost to the combination of suicidal shenanigans and outclassed tussles with very strong pokemon. His wallet was no longer on the tier of "starving-Orran-child", but he still couldn't help but frown. Being poor might leave someone, the mentality won't though. "Fought a pokemon off," he muttered plainly, still frowning.

"You can't just say that so easily!" The nurse gasped. "Don't tell me you fought it by yourself!?"

"More or less," he shrugged, groaning as the motion jarred his sensitive back. "Got some help from my blades… That also happen to be sentient and classify as a pokemon. Did you know what happened to the Doublade I had with me? Red blades, yellow eyes?"

The woman looked slightly fearful. Not surprising, ghosts unnerved Joys at best. The more malicious and rarely seen ghost types could strike fear in even experienced trainers. For a living weapon the effect was doubled.

"It's in the pokeball on the table," she said, pointing. "That ghost scared us straight, though it was damaged pretty badly. With the attacks recently, Honedge and their evolutionary line have been under suspicion, and that Doublade of yours is… intimidating, to be honest. I guess the trainers weren't lying… The color of those swords really do look like someone dipped steel into a pool of blood. Scary…"

They have no idea, Riven mused mentally. "Yeah, he gets that a lot. Wait. Was he already in the pokeball or did someone put it there? Because if they did, we're going to have problems," he glared sternly.

I fought that bastard with my own blood, sweat, and tears damn it. He's my pair of psychotic sentient swords.

The nurse shook her head. "No, it was already in the pokeball. From the trail of blood you left, I'd say you were at a pokemart before you passed out in the pokemon center. We did get a call from about twenty different people saying they saw a man walking sluggishly around with a huge cut on his back and bleeding on everything. The cashiers were so shocked they forgot to charge the fee for the items you bought. What kind of pokemon did you and your Doublade fight? The gash on your back was extensive."

"Scyther," Riven lied, gripping the bridge of his nose as his migraine pounded in his skull. Any medically trained professional would recognize that the cut had been far too clean to be a Scyther's jagged chitin blade, but they couldn't necessarily force him to tell the truth. Victim rights, heh. "Managed to drive it off, but it slashed me in the back and hurt my pokemon pretty badly. Those x-scissors are nasty. I was trying to get him to the center, I guess? It's hard to remember. Ngh."

He groaned, holding his head.

"Are you all right? You've been holding your head since we started talking." She came over and examined him again, checking for fever and other signs of illness. When at last she noticed his hair, her eyes narrowed, seeing something was off. "That's odd. I swear your hair was fully black yesterday. Now it has a large streak of white in it. Did you somehow dye it overnight?"

Another shrug. "I can't remember most of what happened when I got to Shalour, honestly. Could be I did something nonsensical like dye my hair while I was off dying, but I'm not even sure how long I've been here." Closing his eyes when the pain intensified, he held his head in his hands.

"Is the migraine that bad?"

"Mmm. Feels like someone's driving a stake with a width of a building into my skull," he explained while rubbing his temples.

"Would you like me to bring you some medicine for your headache?" She asked. With a nod, she left the room, leaving him alone.

He ran a hand through his hair and settled back onto his pillow, sighing as the headache numbed slightly. Going to need to buy more black hair dye. Diancie stone shattered too. Need to find a replacement. If I keep going off like I did back there I'll have a head full of snow hair soon enough… and probably a cracked mind. Actually, snow white hair looks pretty cool… His brain throbbed again. Damn it, is this what a hangover feels like? People actually do this for fun? What are they, insane?

Joy returned a few minutes after, handing him a glass of water and some pills, along with the iron supplements. He took them and felt his migraine lessen. "Thanks. By the way, Nurse Joy, I have a small concern."

"Mmmm?"

"I'm not a trainer. I can't really be here," Riven said. "I don't have a license to show you. How much do I owe you? My wallet is-"

He reached out with an arm to grab the bag on the table-

She grabbed his wrist gently and returned it to the bed. She let go of his hand and held up a scolding finger. "You were wounded and had a pokemon, that warrants exceptions. No buts about it, mister. Now, lunch?"

Riven was about to object, but decided against it. "That'd be good, thank you." It's been a while since I've had pancakes. Wonder if they still have that pecha jelly with maple syrup?

He was out of the center in two days, much to the astonishment of some of the people who'd seen him when he'd been walking around like a zombie two days prior. While recovering, he managed to strike up a few conversations with some of the trainers. The good thing about being a mercenary(and getting a haircut) was that it helped his interpersonal skills far more than he anticipated. Curiosity about the training world in Kalos also served to make him listen with earnest.

The training atmosphere in Kalos was different than in Hoenn, with an emphasize on style and finesse rather than the more laid back "flowing" attitudes Hoennites had. The spirited nature of the younger kids hadn't changed, though. They were still as zealous as ever.

It made him smile. If a little.

When he left the center, he emerged to a town built along the coast, with a long stone bridge connecting the two sides of the city. In the distance he could see the Tower of Mastery, near the sparkling crystalline waters of the ocean. People walked up and down the bridge, with many couples staring out at the ocean, pokemon enjoying the view along with them. The feel of Shalour was very peaceful, almost like Dewford, if it had been a little more populated and built upon a slight incline along the coast rather than on an island.

Deciding to go to the beach on a whim after being bed ridden for nearly two days to stretch his legs, he juggled the pokeball in his hands, a slight bit hesitant. Trainers hung around the beach, playing with their pokemon in the sand. Some martial artists practiced on the sand with their own fighters, running drills and jogging laps up and down the shoreline. Martial arts had a heavy presence here from what he'd read at the Lumiose library.

Riven looked down at the pokeball in his palm and pushed the center button. Figuring what the hell, he released Efrain from the ball.

The shiny Doublade emerged in the air, floating idly above the water. He was released facing the water and hovered around to face Riven. The human tried to discern what the ghost was thinking, but with no face and only eyes to go by, it was pretty difficult. He crossed his arms, then asked, "How are you doing?"

I'm dead, Efrain replied dryly.

Riven gave him a look. "You fucking serious. Really?"

You put me in a ball, the ghost stated. Forgive me if I'm a slight bit perturbed by that. Being caged is not enjoyable to me.

"I honestly don't even remember when I did that," Riven admitted, squinting as he thought. "Besides, the virtual reality in the pokeball isn't too bad, it's easier this way in populated areas. People get nervous these days when you're carrying around visible weapons, pokemon or not. I don't want police getting suspicious."

Yellow eyes peered back at him.

"I'm actually a wanted terrorist in my region."

…Oh. Efrain turned around slowly. Well then.

Riven held in a shit eating grin.

I still don't like being in a ball, Efrain complained. His sashes twitched and yellow eyes scanned the surrounding area, pupils shrinking as they faced the sun. Why are we near the coast?

"Why not? I did spend most of these past two days in a bed because you almost killed me. Some relaxation isn't totally uncalled for. Nearest town with a center was Shalour regardless. Geosenge doesn't take kindly to strangers, and the Graveyard was close to here anyway."

Two days? It's only been a few hours at most, the ghost said, confused.

"Ah, you've never been in a pokeball before. They're designed to slow the flow of time for pokemon," Riven explained. "Took me a while to understand it and don't even try to ask me how the damn things work because I've no clue. Days will seem like hours, and months only seem like weeks. It's so pokemon don't get bored, probably. I imagine spending days in a ball with nothing to do would be incredibly dull. Also, it's strange talking to you like a person."

I am a person, Efrain corrected. Riven could almost hear the frown in his voice. I just happen to be dead and have swords and a sheath for a body. I'm still Efrain and have very human annoyances.

"Must be strange then. Dying then coming back, I mean."

It is an interesting process, the ghost mused. I don't recommend trying it, though. Dying hurts when you can remember it.

"How'd you die?" Riven asked, dreading the answer.

I was stabbed in the groin, gut, lung, neck, both legs, and chest, Efrain said, as if reading from a book. And in the toe.

Riven winced. "Yeah, I can see why that'd hurt. Least it wasn't something shitty like infection. Dying while smelling your limbs turn to cheese isn't pleasant. I'd rather get stabbed, it's over quicker."

Indeed. However, had I died anywhere but the Graveyard, I would have become an empty ball of gas with no memories. Probably. I'm… not really sure if I'm lucky because of that. Eternal rest or an existence of a life I'll never live again. Maybe it's easier to forget? Being stabbed through the groin isn't something I'd be eager to repeat.

"Don't know about the other part, and I hope I never do, but that's a good question," Riven agreed, flinching again at the prospect of getting pierced through there. "Being a pokemon might not be as bad as you think."

Says the one who is more of the latter than the former, the ghost shot back. I wasn't a hybrid, unholy abomination like you.

"Oh look, I smell hypocrisy. Says the pair of swords that can talk. We're little abominations together." The human gave a short snort. "Part of it is still your fault though. If you hadn't tried to suck my life force like some kind of soul vampire, I'd still be fairly regular. At least I believe so. The hell did you do to me? If it's too complicated to explain, ghost magic is fine too. Makes things easy, I don't have to think so hard and just chalk it up to bullshit."

I'm sure you do that often. It's not "ghost magic", you simpleton. The Doublade hovered slowly up and down, sashes swaying in unnatural ribbons of motion. I presume it was that I nearly killed you?

Riven looked unimpressed. "That's even worse than ghost magic. You're not even trying, are you?"

Ignoring him, Efrain continued, if your power hadn't erupted when it did, you would have succumbed to me. Your instincts and bloodlust took over and responded to that. They were latent in you and awakened afterwards, I guess. Those of the dark fight harder than most to survive. I didn't notice it much when I was alive, but they really are a resilient type. They'd stop at nothing to slay their enemies. You are much the same, dark prince. Although… your bloodlust is far more frightening and driven than any creature of the dark I've ever fought. I'm dead and our battle made my steel rattle—those thoughts and feelings are malevolent to an absolutely frightening degree.

"Humans are despicable beings," Riven sighed, looking down at his hands. "And I'm human first, the strange dark type comes second. Pokemon don't hate and wish to kill quite like we do. I'm not surprised, really."

So you don't deny this part of yourself? This joy for the kill? Efrain questioned. Aren't people generally uncomfortable with this side of themselves?

Riven stared out at the sea absently, taking in the salty breeze. "People shut out parts of themselves they don't want to see." A hand reached out, then came back in a clenched fist. "From what a friend told me, I'm more of the 'other' than the other two parts of the soul. I am the part that people shut away. It's what dark types are. I just try to rein it in more than most, even if that thing in my head wants to cut loose, desperately so. My hands aren't clean, Efrain. My world was a disaster- I… I guess it was only natural it produced rejects like me. Although, it was similar to yours, wasn't it?" He smiled at his pokemon. "That's why you chose me as your opponent, not because of what I am."

The ghost said nothing, but Riven could feel the unspoken agreement through the silence. He shrugged, holding his hands out, palms facing the sky.

"I suppose it doesn't matter now though. It's all ashes of the past. Here and now I'm your trainer, er, user? You're a weapon and a pokemon. Huh. Makes things difficult. Besides, how the hell do you coordinate what you see with your split eyes like that? Isn't it disorienting?" Riven tried crossing his eyes while moving forward, nearly tripping.

This is why sometimes I wish I didn't remember what it was like to be human, Efrain grumbled coarsely. Being able to relate to a Kecleon is disconcerting.

"I see." Riven held his chin in a hand. "Well then, since we're here, mind if I test you for a bit? First as a weapon, then as a pokemon. It'll take a while to get you into the swing of things, since there are names for every move now. You might not even realize you've already used some of them. So, is that fine with you?"

Efrain dipped in the air to show his approval. I am the swords that will carry you to victory. Just don't put me in that ball again or I'll reveal the depraved hilarity of your dreams.

Riven's glare was incendiary.

They're highly entertaining, Efrain continued, cackling lowly. Killer Skitty who can bite a man's face off. Very interesting.

"Nosy bastard. We going to do this or not? I've- we've got things to do."

Yes, prince.

Grabbing the handles of both crimson blades, Riven clicked his tongue, testing their weight and feel. "Name's Riven. I'm not a prince here, just a mercenary trying to find his way. I'm no one, so stop calling me prince. That's annoying."

Fine then, no one, Efrain replied.

Smirking, Riven fell into the sword's dance stance, swinging one of Efrain's swords at the water. The motion and power of the swing was boosted by Efrain's own strength, creating a slight razor wind that cleaved through an approaching wave and continued for a few feet afterwards.

Nice balance between blade and handle, Riven noted, taking several more swings at the air, kicking up sand from the small slices of wind.

Trying something new, he aimed his attention at an outcropping of rock along the beach. Swinging swords at rocks was one good way to give blacksmiths and other metalworkers an aneurysm, but since this equated to magic biometal, common sense was really up in the air right now.

Still cut through without a problem.

Excellent cutting ability… Efrain's blades might never need sharpening. That's good to know, means no dull edges during combat. That's… pretty amazing. Pokemon truly are something spectacular.

He ceased the practice after several more tests. Holding Efrain outwards then gently tossing him up into the air, Riven grinned with unusual excitement. "You are damn sharp. Those are some utterly nasty edges you've got. Are all Doublades this effective? You cut through solid rock in a straight line without even dulling. That's impressive."

Efrain gave him the ghostly equivalent of a shrug with his sashes. Maybe I'm just that good?

Riven rolled his eyes and was about to start practicing again when he felt envious stares boring into his back like spears of contempt. A group of teenaged kids whispered among themselves, pointing at Riven. More specifically, at Efrain.

A couple seconds were needed before things clicked in his mind, at which point Riven wished he could fly away. Efrain was a shiny pokemon. Trainers got absolutely rock solid from seeing a shiny. Hard as diamond if the pokemon was halfway decent and not some run of the mill Tentacool. These trainers got more excited by encountering a shiny than they did seeing a girl naked. Which should have been disconcerting had the general age of most of them been post-pubescent. Since this was only the third gym though, most were pretty young. Still, Honedge and its evolutionary line were rare enough to train, but a shiny one could make all sorts of boxers and panties go flying into orbit—didn't matter if they were twelve, or fifty.

The group of trainers came up to him and began to ask him all sorts of questions about Efrain, with some of the richer kids even asking him to trade for a full team of pokemon in exchange. One offered a bloody keystone for him, which was astounding to say the least. Denying their requests as well as bets and wagers, they challenged him to a couple of battles instead, grumbling about life being unfair.

Riven humored them, choosing to let Efrain get into the swing of things while practicing the names of the moves as they battled, mostly letting the ghost do his own thing with sparse help from him. The Doublade was stronger than their pokemon by a significant margin and experienced no trouble defeating them. Years of combat experience as a knight must have helped, since even fire types couldn't catch him with those tricky close range pursuit teleports.

Content with a picture at least, the kids took off, leaving Riven and Efrain in the midst of a nicely trashed to hell shoreline—complete with scars in the ground, blood littered everywhere, and patches of glass from stray fireblasts. Typical signs of a battle really. Want to know where a trainer fought? Look for glass or scorch marks, you weren't officially a trainer until you've caused at least a couple of officials' heart attacks in property damage estimates.

"You did well for your first trainer battle," Riven said to Efrain, who was floating idly beside him again. "Nice job too, you didn't accidentally or purposely kill anything. Did leave one hell of a mess though. Can't help it with bladed pokemon, I guess."

A shame, Efrain chuckled darkly. Hmmm, I thought human trainers and their gladiator-esque mock battles were ridiculous but-

"They're kind of entertaining, aren't they?" Riven finished. "Yeah, that's why pokemon follow trainers so readily. It's fun smashing your opponent face first into the ground without having to worry about murdering each other. Satisfies your twisted thirst for violence and your pitiful human sensibilities at the same time too. Like a nice little ball of contradicting shit you can't find in a perfect balance anywhere else—that you also get to beat the living hell out of. Bonding at its finest. Pretty great."

Now I'm starting to believe why you're a wanted terrorist.

Neither could say another word as a blue orb of energy flew at them. Without hesitating, Efrain cut it in two with a shadow claw, both sides of the sphere splitting into two and exploding in the sand with enough force to send the grains twenty feet into the air and in every which way.

A wave of the grains swept over trainer and pokemon, giving both an earthy shower.

Riven spat out sand as a blonde-haired girl with an extremely long ponytail came running up to them both, frantically apologizing. A Lucario calmly trotted behind her, the glow of Aura sphere vanishing in its hands slowly until it was no longer present.

"I'm sorry! We were training and the attack went awry. You're not hurt are you?" The girl asked Riven, who looked fairly irritated. The ghost next to him appeared roughly the same.

"No, I'm just dandy," Riven answered through grit teeth, still spitting out spare sand grains.

"That's good then. I'm lucky your Doublade saved-" The blonde gasped in astonishment and disbelief as she caught sight of Efrain up close. "Wow… a shiny Doublade. That's amazing! The color of his swords are blood red! Scary, but amazing!" Her eyes lit up like stars while the Lucario behind her had its face buried in its paw.

Somehow, seeing a sassy Lucario was more hilarious than anything Riven had seen in the past week. A muffled giggle escaped him. "You're Korrina, aren't you?" He asked, noting the extremely long hair and rollerblade attire.

She blinked, abandoning her spontaneous gushing at the shiny. Seriously, it was like they were Murkrow who'd seen their first crown. Korrina smiled, bright green eyes full of energy. "That's me! How'd you know? It usually takes people a while."

"You can't go anywhere in Lumiose without seeing your face somewhere," Riven replied. "You're always on those giant television screens on the south side."

"Oh, yeah. I forgot about that." She reddened a little, but the color faded quickly. "Sorry about the aura sphere, Lukan usually doesn't lose focus like that. He saw you and he shot it at you without thinking. I'm so sorry!" She started scolding her Lucario, who didn't really seem to care all that much.

Ignoring the fighter's nasty glare, Riven shook his hair and clothes off. "It's fine, training accidents happen. Lucarios don't seem to like me much, for some reason. I'm used to it."

"Lukan doesn't really like anyone," Korrina laughed, teasing the aura pokemon with a scratch behind the ears. He grumbled at the gesture but leaned into it regardless. Then she turned back to Efrain with a predatory grin on her face. He actually had backed away a slight bit and seemed just a bit reluctant to go near the gym leader. Pawning over him, she spoke, "I saw some battling going on here, was that you?"

Riven pointed at his pokemon, passing the blame like a politician. "Mostly his handiwork. I didn't really assist too much. He's still getting used to things."

"It's a male?"

"His name is Efrain and- well, it's a long and depressing story, you don't really need to hear it. It's not that interesting either, anyway. So dull." That earned him a dirty look from his pokemon. "Put me to sleep within minutes."

"I'll take your word for it then," she said, grinning fiercely. "How about a battle then? Your Doublade and my Lucario? Efrain isn't too exhausted from the battles is he? If he is well then that's too bad."

Riven held in a snicker. She's goading him. She's goading him! Is he going to fall for it? Is he going to-

The Doublade eagerly accepted, sliding both blades across each others' surfaces, sparks flying from the force of it.

He did, Riven mused, then regarded Korrina. "If I win do I get a badge out of this?"

Korrina smiled at the joke as she retreated a distance away to give room for the battle. "I guess we'll see!"

The fight proved to be fairly interesting—a result of Efrain's typing making the Lucario's strongest attacks useless, even if they had a same-type attack bonus. Watching the fighter struggle against the speed and pincer attacks Efrain employed was highly entertaining its own right. Aura spheres came into contact with Efrain's blades, all but passing right through as they split apart near him. Riven could compare it to seeing two magnets repel each other. The attack never really made contact with Efrain, but seemed to be deflected or bounced off, similar to what psychic attacks did to him.

They seemed to be evenly matched, with the Lucario's own steel typing make it more resistant to physical attacks than normal. Its quick reflexes also allowed it to dodge Efrain's attacks, but not without some degree of difficulty. Korrina stood there, impassively calm as she watched the battle unfold.

Riven raised an eyebrow, examining her. There wasn't any way she hadn't been in this very situation a thousand times, she was a fighting type gym leader, and third in the traditional circuit. Ghosts were uncommon at this point, but not unheard of. There had to have been something she had up her slee-

A flash of brilliant multi-colored light shone from the top of her right hand, reacting with a stone on the gauntlet the Lucario was wearing. On its surface it displayed a helix of color; the symbol of mega-evolution.

"Okay, Lukan! Let's do this like we practiced! Mega evolve!"

A tether of light linked trainer and pokemon as a sphere of energy enveloped the fighter, and from it emerged a mega Lucario. Its faux ears had grown longer, turning into what seemed to be tails, and grew several more spikes along the shoulders and arms.

It moved was surprising speed as it broke through the energy shell. Energy pooled into the Lucario's hands, with wisps of purple fumes rising from the gap in between its hands. A dark ball of ghostly energy formed quickly afterwards, blasting towards Efrain. Just managing to avoid it with a timely pursuit, the shadow ball flew into the water several yards ahead.

When it did, an explosion that could destroy a decently sized building launched water high up into the air, raining down rivulets of water down upon the beach.

Riven gawked.

One shadow ball. ONE. Not even a STAB move either.

Sure he'd seen Steven completely trash that kid back in Lumiose, but he was holding back something considerably. And given the guy was a champion, he expected such power from the Metagross. But a third gym leader with a Lucario whom had barely kept pace with Efrain up until now?

Holy fucking shit.

The battle didn't last too long after that. Mostly because Korrina didn't want to destroy the beach, and Riven obliged. The beachgoers were getting a slight bit grumpy about getting showered with sand, water, and equally irritated Krabby. The shoreline had gotten infested with them in short order because of the explosions. Seeing flying crustaceans was pretty amusing, though.

"That was a great battle, even if we didn't get to finish," Korrina said, as the two walked along the beach, pokemon behind them. She offered to show him around the Tower of Mastery, since he figured why not. It also didn't hurt to gather more information about mega evolution. That kind of power… Just thinking about it in the hands of a deranged asshole made him shiver.

"A gym leader trashing the beach would be very frowned upon by the League. You made the right decision. Trainers get so engrossed in the battle that they forget property damage is a thing," Riven said.

"You're not a trainer?" Korrina wondered, raising a brow. "You command your pokemon like one, and Efrain's incredibly strong."

"I used to be," Riven smiled ruefully. "Not anymore though. Things happened and I left that life behind, it wasn't for me, I guess?"

Korrina looked downcast upon hearing that. Riven felt kind of bad for lying that way, but he couldn't tell her he was a mercenary that was also being labeled as something that amounted to an international terrorist. She was a gym leader, and they tried their best to keep trainers encouraged—to motivate them to realize their dreams.

Sadly most of them quit. Even in Hoenn, a majority of them stopped training if they failed to beat Norman. Then they became rangers or researchers. It was probably the same here.

The rest of the way was spent in silence, but when they came to the tower, Riven was taken aback by the size. The sight didn't render him a useless, gaping mess like his first time seeing Lumiose did, but it was impressive. The way there was interesting enough and more still when the massive doors opened, revealing a stone interior with a giant statue of a Lucario in front. There were rows of stairs leading up to the top. There were people meditating and practicing with their fighting pokemon, all of which gave Riven nasty glares. Especially the Mienshaos and Lucarios. Efrain rattled in response.

Korrina walked him up, giving him a rundown of the place. Apparently it had been built where the first mega and keystone had been found, and thus the first known mega-evolution. There were intricate carvings and depictions of Lucario and other pokemon, showing the legend of the discovery.

They entered a room near the top, where Korrina's grandfather stood. Riven twitched upon looking at the man's strange choice of… hair. While hilarious, it was inappropriate to laugh. A Blaziken reclined lazily against the wall, opening an eye to see who'd arrived.

The young man next to Korrina looked more intrigued by the Blaziken than by anything he'd seen so far.

"You fond of Blazikens, son?" Korrina's grandfather asked, smiling. "They're powerful pokemon and companions."

Riven cleared his throat, apologizing. "Sorry, I just have a Combusken back home. She's an energetic little thing. Loves to fight. Your Blaziken just reminds me of her. Sorry for staring," he said, to which the fire type nodded.

"That's okay, hah. He loves the attention anyway." Gurkinn grinned. His Blaziken snorted steam and grunted, closing its eyes again. "Came to see the tower, eh? And with my granddaughter too! How was the battle?"

"You knew we battled?"

"Naturally," Gurkinn replied. "Korrina doesn't give anyone personal tours unless they've battled first. I know for sure she doesn't bring in boys just because, right?"

The blonde girl flustered, waving her hands around. "Of course not! Lukan had a battle with his Doublade. It's a shiny too, so beautiful!"

Gurkinn chuckled, pointing to behind Riven. "Is that why it's hiding behind you, son?"

He nodded in response. "Efrain isn't too good with people fawning over him. Hurts his dignity I guess? Does it hurt your dignity?"

The Doublade wrapped a sash around Riven's arm. The human keeled over slightly, scolding him mentally.

Don't soul suck me, you shit, Riven complained.

Don't insult my honor, geezer, Efrain shot back.

Riven remembered the streak of white the nurse pointed out and scowled. I am not old.

Yes, you are. You're older than everyone here put together, including me, so stop lying.

"Having a nice conversation?" Gurkinn wondered, bemused. "You're making strange expressions."

"He's being difficult," Riven replied, slapping the sash away. "Ghosts are handfuls." He squinted at a carving of a pokemon behind the old man, adorned with a crown and a dress, a cross shaped blade in its hands. "What is that?"

Gurkinn turned around. "Oh, that's Diancie—another pokemon that achieved mega-evolution in this very place. Its form is beyond beautiful and can create diamonds with its hands. Truly a magnificent pokemon."

Diancie… Is there one here? "Did it leave any of its diamonds behind?" Riven asked.

"That's a bizarre question. But yes, there is a deposit of them below the tower. They're quite a sight to behold. Are you interested in stones?"

"Something of a hobby, yeah," Riven acknowledged. Which wasn't untrue either. Lately stones had been very prominent in his life. No, his life revolved around them, to be exact. Ancient artifacts too. God, he was turning into Steven. Maybe rock collecting was a disease.

Korrina's grandfather led them back down the god forsaken rows of stairs into the underground portion of the tower, which had been there since before it had been built. How long it was there had been estimated to be in the thousands. Ancient, by this world's standards.

Coming to an antechamber illuminated by a shining pink glow, a cluster of pink stalagmites rose from the ground. Beautiful, jagged lattices of glowing rock, just like Gurkinn had said. The only problem was that just being in the room made Riven feel sick to his stomach.

Korrina saw him lurch and brought him out. "Nathan, what's wrong?"

He was sweating profusely, legs trembling just from standing a mere five minutes inside. "Too much exposure…" he whispered, holding in his desire to vomit. "I don't feel… don't feel good in there."

The gym leader exchanged a look of concern with her grandfather, who looked just as perplexed as she was. Lukan, on the other hand, was far from it, crossing his arms with a hmph.

"Did you eat anything that didn't sit well?" Korrina asked. "You look ready to hurl."

"I kind of do want to hurl," he admitted, holding a hand over his mouth. "Forcefully too. Shit."

It took thirty minutes for him to regain his composure before he tried going back in. Upon doing so, the feelings came back full force as the light from the crystals seem to burn his very skin. Six minute of being inside and blood started to flow out of his nose. Having enough, the other two hauled him away from the antechamber when he couldn't stand up anymore. They put him in another room adjacent to that one, listening to his request to get a few samples from the cluster instead.

While recovering in the room as his head swam, Efrain hovered over him.

Fairy energy. Disastrous to dark types. Do you have a death wish going back in there?

"I didn't expect… a reaction… like that," he gasped out. "I felt like I was on fire and my intestines were being ripped apart. It's getting stronger."

Yes. A mild nosebleed is fortunate. What will you do when you become as susceptible to fairies as other dark creatures?

Riven picked himself up slowly, wobbling to his feet. "Cry, probably. Then cough up blood while I'm at it."

Groggily examining the room, his mind processed the images carved upon the walls at the pace of a Dunsparce. Then, as if a dam had been opened, the flooding waters of realization came crashing in.

"I've seen these markings before," he whispered, running up to the walls as he traced his finger along them. "I know I've seen them."

They were the exact same geometric lines he'd seen on the clothing of the people that the azure sphere had shown him. In the center of the room, the lines met at one point, forming a depression in the wall.

Almost… spherical. A lock, perhaps?

Glancing above, there was a depiction of a Claydol, followed by rays of light from atop the heavens. Below, there were figures that looked like people seen sitting in a sea of flames and raging seas. All along the circular room, the same scene was playing out, again and again, between the geometric markings.

The sight was almost haunting.

Out of place and carved neatly into the very bottom of the wall, an ancient language spelled out a phrase.

Gurkinn and Korrina returned, holding fragments of the stones. Riven shot back towards them, eyes wide. Pointing to the wall, he nearly shouted. "What does this say?"

The old man pursed his lips, and thought. "From what I remember... Linguists said it says-"

"Says what?" Riven all but demanded. "What does it say?"

"Hold on. It mentions-"

"-to follow the protectors of the divine," Korrina finished. "Which lead to the end of legends."

Will revise for grammatical inconsistencies and spelling derps later.

Yes. I was late by a day. I should change the approximate update time window to +/- a week. What can I say? 17 units, 20 hrs of work a week, and midterms do that. Next week I have another damn round of those demons as well as like 2 papers due, not counting homework and work as well. Next chapter might release a few days later than a week, two weeks if everything goes to crap. Ah well. Did I mention my bike broke and I have to walk forty five minutes from home to campus about four times a day? Yeah...

Real life, son!

Sol: I updated last week at 3:44pm PST. At 1pm EST, I was working on Sunday. There's no way I updated then.

Update time should be renamed update day, as any point in the day can still be classified as "today". Can't always get them up on the dot, as much as I'd like. Also, timezones are important.

Was the pun in the previous chapter necessary?

Yes.