Not So Ordinary

by BTJE

Meet Zenith, an ordinary Umbreon that's living his normal life in Kingdra High... until a Vaporeon called Cleo comes along, revealing a huge secret. How will he cope?

35. Chapter 35

NSO Chapter 35

I don't own Pokemon.

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The sun had set on the fourth day of the week-long staycation, and bright stars were now twinkling in the night sky. Most of the students were outside, exploring the resort and partaking in its extensive range of nighttime activities. However, the same could not be said about a pair of Pokemon who were holed up in their room. Sitting on their shared bed, the Water and Dragon/Ground-type duo were staring intently at a phone screen that they held between them. A video call showed Apollo in a secluded part of the resort, his flaming tail illuminating his face and his dark surroundings. Zoey was sitting on a foldable chair, her background a generic retail storeroom with a busy Julley flitting in and out of the video frame behind her, hard at work.

"Okay, everyone's here. You guys have been at the resort for four days now. I presume you've gathered enough information about Sylvie's routines?"

"Just as you asked us to," Apollo started. "It's been the same for the past three days, and no changes today either. They leave the main resort building at around 10 in the morning and head into the forest, spending around two hours there. I would follow them, but you know how bad I am around wood, especially in forests." Apollo hugged his tail to his body self-consciously, keeping the open flame as close to him as possible even though nothing around him looked particularly flammable.

"I followed them into the woods once Apollo asked me for help," Cleo picked up where Apollo had left off. "They go further into the woods, past the small clearing in the middle of all the trees where they hold archery courses. Deeper in, there's this small flat area of dirt hidden by some ferns, probably made and left behind by previous guests. Anyways, they have a picnic there using food from the resort's breakfast buffet, as well as other... things." Cleo visibly shuddered at the memory of the actions she had witnessed over the past few days. Liquifying herself to spy on them had not been not worth it.

"My turn," Gayle took over as Cleo buried her face into a nearby pillow. "After the picnic and... things,"

Cleo's muffled screams could be heard in the background, her shouts suppressed by the thick foam she was pressing her face against. "they leave the forest and head back into the resort for lunch. Sylvie takes that muzzle thing off Zenith so he can eat, by the way. After that, they both go to the beach, where they do more... things..."

More screaming in the background. On one of the days that Gayle was spying on Sylvie and Zenith at the beach, Cleo was swimming in the ocean, oblivious to their presence on the white sands. One look back at the shore, and she saw things that she could never unsee.

"...until we're all called back into the resort for our collective dinner. Again, the muzzle is taken off Zenith. Then they go back into Sylvie's room, and that's their routine for these past few days."

There was a moment of silence as everyone stared at Zoey's profile, the Glaceon deep in thought, processing all the information that she had heard. It took her quite some time to think of something to say due to the slightly distracting atmosphere of a bustling convenience store. Meanwhile, all the others waited awkwardly as they idled around, trying to pass the time while they waited for a response.

"Okay. First off, good job everyone. You guys did great. I think you've gathered enough info for me to work with. So far there seems to be no change in Sylvie's daily routine, which is good. This makes it easier for us. I've considered all the choices if you guys want to rescue Zenith with the least amount of attention drawn to yourselves. The forest is ideal for a sneak attack, but Apollo might accidentally start a fire and the trees provide cover against aerial support from Gayle. Attacking Sylvie and Zenith in the resort would be counterproductive to what we're trying to achieve, so there's just one option left: Ambush the both of them when they're at the beach. According to the maps of the resort you sent me, the beach is quite far away from the resort building, so there's less risk of attracting unwanted attention. It's an open area, so Gayle has maximum mobility, as well as being both far enough from the ocean for Apollo to battle safely, and close enough for Cleo to utilise the ocean to her fullest potential. Before the ambush, Cleo can hide herself in the ocean. Gayle, is it possible for you to hide in the sand?"

"Piece of cake. I've been doing it ever since I was a Trapinch."

"Great. Apollo, no offence to everything you've done to help us get to this point, but Julley made it clear for me to question your loyalties, just in case."

"None taken. Your logic makes sense to me."

"Okay. Are you completely on board with this plan? If you are, make a promise to keep this entire plan a secret and never tell any other student outside this video call about it."

Apollo placed one clawed hand over his heart and the other in the air. "I, Apollo the Charmeleon, solemnly swear to keep this a secret and never reveal it to anyone else in this school."

"Good. While Gayle and my sister are lying in wait, your role is to make sure that no one else is on the beach before Sylvie and Zenith step onto it. This will prevent Sylvie from calling in reinforcements to help her. Try your best to keep teachers out of this too. We'll do this quickly, and a lack of witnesses means no one else will have to be involved." Another moment of silence as Zoey thought for a while.

"Listen closely now. When no one else is on the beach, and Sylvie and Zenith are in a relaxed state doing their things, this is when both Gayle and Cleo will take them by surprise. Use any means necessary, but make sure that Zenith and Sylvie are separated from each other and incapacitated at the end. Get the muzzle off Zenith, then deal with Sylvie. It's a simple plan. Stick to it, and nothing should go wrong-" Zoey was about to explain further, but was interrupted as the storeroom door in her background slammed open with a 'BANG!', Julley dashing into the room and whispering into the Ice-type's ear.

"I'm sorry guys, but McDonphan's ending my break early. There are way too many customers, and too little staff right now." A reluctant tone could be heard in Zoey's words.

"But it's like… 10:55 pm!"

"Yup. That's the beauty in working for corporate megachains. Probably shouldn't have signed that contract… Anyways, I have to go now. I'll text you tomorrow." With that, Zoey disconnected, her profile disappearing from the video call. The remaining two participants, Gayle and Apollo, stared at each other awkwardly as they processed the plan that Zoey had just dropped upon them.

"Well… there's a firework show starting soon and…"

"Go, you goof. You're gonna miss it. Just remember to rest up okay? Tomorrow's a big day."Gayle smirked at Apollo's sheepish expression, blowing at the screen.

"Thanks a bunch. Well, see you tomorrow, gals. Love you, Gayle!"Catching the kiss, Apollo ended the video call as he left the chat room. Holding the phone in her claws, Gayle's eyes darted to her side, trying discreetly to read the mood around the Vaporeon-shaped pile of blankets that lay beside her. Failing, she gave up and closed the curtains for the balcony, deciding to hit the sack.

Cleo had lost interest in the video call as soon as her sister left, curling up underneath the bed's soft blankets. She tried as hard as she could to not think of Zenith's current state, but it was almost impossible to do so, with tomorrow approaching so quickly. She missed the Umbreon, and his willing rejection of her to Sylvie hurt her in ways, in places that she never knew. Hearing Apollo and Gayle's goodbyes didn't help her feel any better either, even though she tried her best to hide her waves of resentment from the happy Vibrava that snuggled into bed beside her. She wanted to feel happy for Gayle, happy that Gayle had found someone that made her happy when spending time together, but her 'break-up' with Zenith had left a worse impact on the Vaporeon than the others knew about. Zoey had Julley, Gayle had Apollo. No one could empathise with her, causing burning jealousy to stir within Cleo whenever she interacted with the four Pokémon. Each time, she pushed the negative feelings down into the pits of her stomach, where it bubbled furiously underneath a cheery and bubbly attitude.

Cleo got off the bed. She made her way to the room's toilet, mumbling the word to Gayle, who gave a sleepy grunt of acknowledgement. She shut the toilet door behind her and locked it, before stepping into the bathtub, curling up into a ball with her tail wrapped around her. Ever since Zenith's absence, this position was the one she found herself in the most. Her tail mimicking an embrace provided some comfort amid her current predicament. Mimicking all those loving hugs she received from Zenith, but never really thought about till now. As Cleo let loose her suppressed emotions, she wished she could have received one more hug from the Umbreon.

Less tears were shed than she expected. Only a few droplets ran down her pale blue cheeks, creating a small puddle as they splashed onto the bathtub floor. Staring at the pool of salty tears, Cleo realised that there was a part of her that prevented her from shedding any more tears, whispering softly but firmly to Vaporeon. It whispered to Cleo, asking her to stop wallowing in her sorrow, asking her to stay strong for Zenith, just as he always stayed true to her.

Well, true for the most part- STOP IT!

The more Cleo thought about it, the more she realised that the little voice within her was right. No more playing the self-pitying, over-reliant Vaporeon anymore. She had proved to Zenith that she was strong, that she could take care of herself.

Now to prove those things to herself.

Getting up from her pity ball, Cleo exited the bathroom, wiping away the last few traces of tears from her face. She got back into bed, pulling the blanket back from an asleep Gayle, the Vibrava's chest rising and falling gently with every breath. By now, Cleo's exhausted mind was shutting down for the day, preparing to get enough rest for the next. Eyelids heavy, Cleo no longer resisted their weight, the darkness of slumber dragging her down into the realm of dreams.

-Time Skip-

The day passed by in excruciating slowness, with each minute leading up to the ambush feeling like an hour. There was still no change in Sylvie's routine, which the three of them appreciated, but were still on high alert for any changes or complications in their plans. While Cleo begrudgingly kept a tab on them in the woods, Gayle continued their previous conversation with Zoey through text.

.

Zoey

Online

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Gayle: Finally got your number. No changes in routine so far.

Zoey: Good. When they reach the beach, use your element of surprise. They'll likely be too shocked to react, and it might be easier to overpower them. Make sure that they have no forms of escape or alerting others. Only after all that is done then you start with Zenith's mask.

Gayle: Got it. But what if Mrs Sal catches us?

Zoey: Tell her everything. You might still get in trouble, the situation may not get any better, but it's always best to get the adults in on this if they are actually interested in what you guys are doing. But I know that Sylvie has been doing things like this for as long as I've known her. Adults have been notified of her actions multiple times, but nothing's changed. I'm afraid to say that you guys are on your own.

Gayle: Thanks for everything.

Zoey: Good luck.

.

Time started to speed up now as the moment drew closer. Lunch was finished in a flash and before she knew it, Gayle had buried herself in the sand, her entire body covered in the grains save for her two antennae, their colour blending in perfectly with the environment, as well as being short enough to avoid detection. A few metres away, Cleo was swimming in the ocean waves as they crashed rhythmically onto the shore, her invisibility in water giving her the perfect hiding spot. Both were waiting for Sylvie and Zenith to step onto the world-renowned beaches of Palossand Resort. Gayle's antennae acted as a radar and would notify her if they sensed a newcomer on the beach. The Vibrava was also wearing a tiny earpiece, which she was using to communicate with Apollo, who was supposed to notify her about Sylvie's current whereabouts and actions.

"Any sign of her yet?"

"None so far. She's still in the main resort building. She's staying in there much longer than usual. Do you think she might be- nevermind. She's coming, on your ten."

Gayle had already sensed the duo's presence, her antennae alerting her to their position as soon as their paws touched the sand. From her position in the ocean, Cleo watched Sylvie through hatred-filled eyes as the Sylveon led Zenith across the beach, both of them each carrying a mat and towel on their backs. Finding a suitable spot, they laid their mats next to each other. Neither of them seemed to be bothered by the lack of Pokemon on the beach since it was already like this for the past few days whenever they showed up. Apollo didn't have to do much, no one wanted to witness Sylvie and Zenith's acts of 'passion'. The Charmeleon was currently sitting on a bench some distance away from the beach, trying to act nonchalant to avoid attracting suspicion. As for Mrs Sal, she was on the opposite end of the resort, helping some students at the arts and crafts table. The three of them were in the clear.

But what Cleo couldn't clear from her memory was the scene happening in front of her. She had seen it multiple times before, when scouting out with Gayle and had hated it. But now, as she lay in wait, time seemed to slow once more, dragging out every single excruciating second of it that she had to witness.

Sylvie and Zenith lay on the mats that they had laid out, but none of them seemed to be enjoying the cool sea breeze, or the warm tanning rays of the sun. Instead, they were staring intently into each other's eyes. Sylvie made the first move, leaning towards Zenith and pressing her lips against his. Cleo watched in disgust as the two before her began another make-out session, this one more intense than the one they had in the forest. They lunged towards each other, wrapping their limbs around one another in a large embrace. Frisky paws were caressing any part they could reach, and the duo rolled around on the sand, mats forgotten as both their tongues and bodies battled for dominance. Cleo pushed down another rising wave of anger, forcing herself to stay calm as she watched Zenith's paws travel down to Sylvie's ass. The water surrounding Cleo seemed to pulse with her strong emotions as two smacks were heard, followed by a moan.

Stay cool, Cleo. It's not time yet. You'll have your revenge soon.

Cleo battled the urge to attack the both of them right now, although she was considering giving in to it.

Cleo, control yourself! Gayle said to wait for her signal! We only have this one shot to attack them when they're at their most vulnerable!

Yeah, but what does 'most vulnerable' even mean anyway? Attack when they're out of breath from their five-minute-and-counting makeout session, or wait until they take it one step further THEN attack?

The Vaporeon's paws were twitching restlessly as she swam up another wave to make sure she didn't miss Gayle's signal, even though she wasn't sure how much longer she could avert her eyes from the 'main attraction' before she had to claw them out. Couldn't Gayle just give them the go-ahead already? Cleo flicked on the water-resistant communicator that Gayle had given her and spoke into it.

"Hey Gayle, Cleo here. Can we just attack them now? I don't think I can watch much more of this."

"Hang in there, Cleo. We just need to wait until-"

Gayle's sentence was involuntarily cut off from Cleo as a sudden strong current whipped the communicator out of the Vaporeon's paws, dragging it deeper into the ocean, further and further away from the shore.

"Shit! Come back here, you little-" Cleo immediately turned and sped after the drifting communicator, determined to retrieve it no matter what. It must have cost Gayle a pretty penny to be able to get her claws on these cool pieces of tech, and Cleo was not going to deprive Gayle of one just because of her poor grip.

On the other end, Cleo's irritated tone was abruptly interrupted by the swishing of the ocean currents. Gayle heard Cleo swear, followed by the sound of powerful tail strokes, which slowly grew fainter and fainter.

"-after they stop kissing. Are you there, Cleo?"

No response.

"Looks like we're going to have to stall. You ready, Apollo?"

"Yeah. Let's do this."

Just as Apollo replied, Sylvie and Zenith separated from their kiss, both of them gasping for the oxygen that they had been deprived of from the last ten minutes.

"Now!" Her wings a blur, Gayle shot out of the sand, flying at top speed towards the duo laying on the beach. Her wings made no sound as they beat the air, and with Sylvie and Zenith staring at the horizon, panting heavily, neither of them noticed the Vibrava approaching them from the rear. As Gayle flew, her green wings took on a metallic sheen, her already tough wings becoming even tougher. From the week she had spent with Apollo in Battle Camp, she had honed her skills until her Steel Wing was powerful enough to knock a Pokemon unconscious in a single blow. With that move at the ready, Gayle aimed herself at the back of Sylvie's head, determined to end the fight as quickly as she had started it.

About a metre away from Sylvie, Gayle curled herself into a ball, her steel-like wings spread wide open, edges angled directly at the Sylveon. The Vibrava started to spin rapidly, becoming a small, spinning ball of hurt, all of which to be brought to a certain Pokemon in three… two… one…?

Just mere centimetres away from her target, Gayle felt a warm, pink glow completely envelop her, stopping her cold in her tracks. Confused, Gayle uncurled her body, her wings returning to their normal hue as she looked around, trying to find the source of interference that held her in place, no matter how much she struggled to break free.

"Gayle, Gayle, Gayle…"

The Vibrava snarled at the silky-soft, dulcet tone of the words, and even more so at the Pokemon who had turned around to speak those words. Sylvie had a smug, triumphant look on her face, whereas Zenith's expression was unreadable, the muzzle covering all his facial features except for his eyes.

"...did you really think you could take me by surprise? I have eyes and ears everywhere. It wasn't hard to discover that little plan of yours, and it was even easier to prepare for it."

"This doesn't change anything! I'll still beat you into the sand, once I get out of this Psychic!" Gayle continued struggling, but her efforts remained futile.

Gayle cringed as tinkly laughter assaulted her ears.

"Oh, silly, silly Gayle. If you haven't realised by now, the Psychic's not from me. In fact, I'd like you to meet a few of my friends."

"Gotcha!" Cleo put on a burst of speed, shooting forward through the water to wrap her paw around the communicator, which had been swept into a tall forest of kelp by the swift current, where it had gotten tangled up in the long, thick stalks. Pulling the communicator out of the kelp, Cleo swam up, her head breaking the surface of the choppy ocean. She looked towards the shore, and the noises coming from the still transmitting communicator seemed to confirm her fears.

"Crap. I gotta get over there. Fast!"

Back on the beach, the pink glow that held Gayle floating in the air vanished, causing her to face-plant on the sand. Wiping the small, gritty particles off her face, Gayle realised that she had company. A Milotic, Roselia and a Gardevoir stood around Gayle, forming a circle with Sylvie and Zenith to surround the Vibrava. Gayle noticed Apollo wrapped tightly in the coils of the Milotic, staring at her through apologetic eyes. "I'm sorry," he mouthed. "They overpowered me."

Analysing her current situation, Gayle had to admit that the plan was not going as 'simply' as Zoey said that it would. But it was too late to text the Glaceon for advice now. She had to think on her feet, figure out a way to turn the tides in her favour. All she had to do was to get the muzzle off Zenith. Judging from the Umbreon's aggressive stance, it was more than likely that he would not be going down without a fight. It would be tough, but they had to at least try, right?

Keeping her body close to the sand, Gayle closed her eyes and concentrated, while Sylvie laughed at what she assumed to be the Vibrava's defeated posture. The laughing soon stopped as the ground started to quake under the Sylveon's feet, a small grumbling turning into a roar as the ground started to shake vigorously, unbalancing Gayle's surprised opponents. As the five Pokemon wobbled around, trying to keep their footing on the unstable ground, Gayle seized her chance. She shot off the ground, snatching Apollo out of the Milotic's slackened grip and carrying him out of the Earthquake's range.

"Thanks for the save, but that Earthquake won't last for long. Where's Cleo?"

Gayle directed her goggle-like eyes towards the shore, enhancing her telescopic vision until she saw a familiar frilled figure zooming towards the shore, leaving a frothy V-shaped trail of seafoam in her wake. Even though the figure was speeding towards the shore, it would take a minute or two before she could get here.

"We're going to have to buy her a few more minutes."

"So. Two of us against five of them. No sweat."

"Exactly. Just watch out for Zenith. He's fast." The Earthquake had stopped by now, Sylvie and her friends still stumbling around dizzily. Gayle started flying around them, picking up speed as she circled the five Pokemon. Her strong wing beats sent sand flying up into the air, getting sucked into the wind vortex that was being created. The more Gayle flew, more and more sand was sucked in, until the whirling sand formed a thick enough layer that the vortex looked solid enough to touch. As Zenith shook off the last of his dizziness away along with the other Pokemon beside him, they found themselves in the middle in a raging tornado of sand.

Joining Battle Camp with Gayle made Apollo familiar with all of her moves, including the few combo moves that they had come up with during the seven-day course. He breathed a steady stream of flame at the sand-filled vortex, creating a Fire Spin along with the Sand Tomb. The fire's heat seeped into the middle of the ring of moving sand, and it was beginning to take a visible toll on the Pokemon trapped in it. Steam began to rise from the Milotic's body as the layer of water on her skin started to slowly evaporate, making the air more humid than before. Rivulets of sweat were running down all of their faces, and some of them seemed to be on the verge of collapse from the heat. Holding Sylvie close to him, Zenith charged up a Dark Pulse in his mouth, eyes scanning the revolving pillar around him, searching fervently for a flash of green and black.

Apollo gasped, stopping his fire as an explosion sounded out from inside the Sand Tomb, and a wounded Gayle was blasted out of the vortex she had created. As Gayle was out of action, the wind slowly slowed to a stop, and the heat slowly disappeared along with it. All that was left was the sand, but it had changed.

Apollo's fire had another effect besides affecting the Pokemon in the vortex. As the Charmeleon fed more and more flames into the Sand Tomb, the heat trapped in the sand combined with the high temperatures of his fire had melted the sand to form a thick cylinder of glass that had the five Pokemon trapped again.

Apollo looked down at the Vibrava that he had caught hurling through the air. Luckily, there was only a large bruise forming on the side where the Dark Pulse has struck her, but that single move had dealt enough damage to ensure that Gayle wouldn't be in fighting shape for a while. Zenith really wasn't pulling any punches. Cradling the groaning Vibrava in his arms, Apollo faced his opponents, the tinkling of broken glass signalling that they had broken out of their temporary prison… before turning tail to flee from the beach.

Sylvie gave her friends a confused look, the similar expression visible on their faces as well before all of them burst into laughter. Zenith stayed silent, his muzzle preventing him from speaking, scanning his surroundings warily, suspicious about Apollo's hasty retreat.

"Look at those two! Running away like cowa-AAH!" Sylvie's mocking words turned into a high-pitched scream as she was tackled by Zenith, the Umbreon flinging her onto his back and diving away from the others. A second later, a huge wave crashed down onto the beach, barely missing the Umbreon and Sylveon, who watched as the other three Pokemon disappeared from view as the wave crashed down on them. As the rest of the seawater was washed back into the ocean, Sylvie's three friends were gone, and standing in their place was a seething Vaporeon.

"Let. Him. GO!" Cleo roared in frustration and hatred, and the ocean seemed to explode, sending up spray as multiple tendrils of water shot out of the surface of the sea, all of them targeting Zenith and Sylvie. The Umbreon leapt and dodged around Sylvie, evading tendrils while using moves to get rid of the tendrils near the Sylveon, who also tried to hold her own against Cleo's onslaught. However, Cleo wasn't playing around anymore. The longer the battle was prolonged, more and more tendrils shot out of the sea, all of them converging on their targets. Even with the combined efforts of Sylvie and his speed, it was almost a matter of time before the inevitable occurred. A tendril snagged Zenith's hind leg as he dashed, sending him sprawling across the sand. Without Zenith, it wasn't long before Cleo got ahold of Sylvie too, the Sylveon shrieking as a tendril wrapped itself around her waist, hoisting her up into the air.

More tendrils wrapped around Zenith's limbs and body, wrapping him up so tightly that the only movable part of his body was his chest, which rose and fell with each breath. The same thing was done to Sylvie, but she was held high in the sky, while Zenith was brought face-to-face with Cleo.

"Oh, Zenith. What did she do to you?" Cleo dropped her tough-girl facade, worry replacing the steely glint in her eyes. Her paws were brought up to the muzzle, searching for a stop, a button, a... anything that would release the evil contraption from Zenith's face.

"Cleo! You're finally here!" Zenith shouted out. Well, lone, cloudy Zenith shouted out. Happiness flooded through whatever system he had as the sight of a familiar, beloved face. However, the rest of his consciousness didn't seem to feel the same way. Giant subconscious Zenith narrowed his eyes, hackles raised at the Vaporeon and the silhouette of a shadowy orb started to appear in its mouth.

"No!" Panicking, lone Zenith rushed at the rest of his subconscious, slamming against a leg with his flank in desperation. It didn't seem like much, but it was certainly enough to redirect his subconscious's current attention. 'Remember Cleo!" Lone Zenith shouted with all his might at the humongous figure that towered over him, but it was no use. Lone Zenith found himself running away from his subconscious, the multiple interfused Umbreons that it was made up of snapping at his heels. As lone Zenith ran, a miniature Dialga appeared by his side, hovering in the air.

Zenith! You do know that it can't remember who Cleo is, right? You're the only part of your subconscious that does remember her, so the only way to restore your own memory is to rejoin your subconscious. You just have to wait for the right time to do so.

"When is the right time?" Lone Zenith yelped as he ducked, feeling warm, rancid breath on the back of his ears as he avoided a bite from an attacking faceless Umbreon.

You'll know it when you know it. Good luck! With a flash, the small Dialga disappeared, leaving Lone Zenith alone once more, fleeing into his mind's endless mindscape from the rest his subconscious.

Legendaries. Don't you just love them?

A growl of annoyance escaped Cleo's gritted teeth. She had been examining Zenith's muzzle, and yet there was no sign of any mechanism to release the contraption's grip on the Umbreon's face. She ignored the smug look on Sylvie's face as she continued to work on the device, but she could feel her mental hold on the water tendrils weakening with every passing minute. It took a large amount of concentration and energy to maintain her multitasking, and the Pokemon she 'held' in her grasp certainly didn't seem like going down without a fight. Sylvie and Zenith, as immobilised by the water as they were, Cleo could feel both of them writhing around madly, trying their hardest to free themselves.

"Gayle! A little help here?" The Vibrava, now recovered, had been standing with Apollo at the far side of the beach, staring in awe at Cleo's amazing hydrokinetic acts. At the sound of her name, she was jolted into action, spreading her wings to zoom to Cleo's side, ready to help in any way she could. Apollo just remained where he was, hugging his tail close to his chest, staring in the direction of the ocean for any signs of Sylvie's three missing friends.

"What do you need, Cleo?"

"Help- remove- this- from- Zenith," Cleo was now sitting on the sandy surface of the beach, holding her head, brows furrowed in deep concentration. Every word she spoke was strained, the articulation requiring almost all of her mental concentration in her already busy mind. "Hurry!"

Hearing the urgency in Cleo's words, Gayle took off as fast as she could, flying past Zenith to reach Sylvie, who was still held up high in the air.

"What is that thing on my brother's face? And how do you get it off?"

"Why should I feel obliged to tell you in the first place?"

"I suggest that you should if you currently prefer your pretty little head still attached to your neck."

"...fine. That thing's a love Muzzle. To get it off, well... it can only be removed via a vocal password from me." A smug smile crept its way onto Sylvie's face, irritating Gayle to no end. Talking was getting her nowhere. maybe it was time for intimidation. Coating her wings in a Steel Wing, Gayle perched on the water tendril, pressing her diamond-shaped wings against Sylvie's neck, so close that she could feel and see the Sylveon gulp.

"I'm not going to repeat my previous threat. Get the muzzle off Zenith. NOW."

Sylvie sighed. "Such brutal methods. But it looks like I have no other choices. The password is... sucker."

"Wait, sucker as in-CLEO WATCH OUT!" Gayle instinctively ducked, a Hydro Pump narrowly missing her head. From the corner of her wide range of vision, Gayle noticed a few green shapes hurtling through the air, towards the back of the Vaporeon sitting on the beach. Luckily, Apollo was there in a flash, carving up most of the Razor Leaves into harmless shreds. However, some managed to slip past his defences, slamming into Cleo's back at alarming speeds. The Vaporeon cried out in pain, falling face forward as she was caught off guard by the surprise attack. With her concentration fully broken, the water tendrils lost their solidity, obeying the natural laws of gravity and physics, returning to their original liquid state. The large amounts of seawater fell onto the shore, turning the sand soggy. Free of their bonds, Zenith and Sylvie were released from the tendrils, falling onto the soft, waterlogged sand with a squelch.

Gayle was shocked at how the tables had turned a second time, this unexpected turn of events leaving her disoriented as she tried to comprehend what to do next. She tried to rush to her injured friend but was hit by an Ice Beam in the wings, sending her careening off course to crash on the pavement that separated the beach from the rest of the resort. Smacking onto the cold, hard surface, there she lay, groaning as Apollo rushed to her side again, now with a Vaporeon slung over his shoulders.

Sylvie looked towards the direction her assistance had come from, where a Gardevoir was standing on the long back of a Milotic, using Psychic to levitate a Roselia in the air. All were sharing the same smug look that Sylvie wore on her face.

"Well, looks like we've really taught them a lesson they'll never forget, right Zenith?"

"We have to help them! They're hurt badly! Why won't you listen to me?" Zenith yelled at his giant subconscious counterpart. It had stopped chasing him in order to respond to the surprise attack by Sylvie's friends and was now curling back into a sleeping ball, the danger seemingly gone. In a fit of rage at his current helpless state, Zenith struck out harder against his subconscious, charging up a Dark Pulse and sending it flying. He was still surprised that he could still use his moves even in his smoky state, but he wasn't one to look a gift Mudsdale in the mouth. More Dark Pulses and Shadow Balls were hurled at his subconscious, the multiple Umbreons that the moves connected with crying out in pain.

If a weak slam against the leg already made his subconscious angry, it must be absolutely infuriated now. Zenith could tell, leaping backwards to barely avoid a lightning-quick lunge in his direction. His subconscious' face and body was writhing, struggling mess of faceless Umbreons, all of them straining forward, snapping their jaws to try to bite a chunk out of the Pokemon before them. Zenith held a steady, defiant gaze with his subconscious, starting at where its eyes should be as the both of them got into an attacking crouch, tensing up the muscles in their hind legs.

"If I'm going to be stuck 'loving' Sylvie forever, might as well take a few of you guys down with me," With a guttural roar from both sides, large and small Umbreon leapt at each other, both intent on destroying the other.

"Zenith? Oh yeah, you can't speak. Well, the pheromones should be permanently circulating in your bloodstream by now. Looks like we don't need this thing anymore." There was a click as a hidden button was pushed, and an automated voice spoke out.

"Please enter the vocal password."

"Oral." Another click and the muzzle detached itself from Zenith's face. He pulled the contraption off his snout, storing it in one of the pockets in his utility belt for safekeeping.

"There we go. The gas you inhaled should be able to keep you in your current state for about… eight, maybe nine years. How are you feeling?"

"Perfect. So what do you want to do now?"

"Well, for starters…" As Sylvie chattered on to Zenith, another Eeveelution was being jolted awake by the bumpy ride she was having on Apollo's shoulder. An unconscious Gayle was in Apollo's arms while she was on her shoulder. Apollo, carrying two injured Pokemon, was the target of all three of Sylvie's friends, ducking and jumping to avoid attacks. But as hard as he tried, Apollo wouldn't be able to dodge all these combined moves sent his way. As he leapt upwards to dodge a Petal Blizzard, he failed to notice a blue fanned tail swinging towards him. It smashed against his side, sending the Charmeleon and the Pokemon he was carrying flying.

Cleo hit the damp sand again, the impact knocking the wind out of her. Her vision was spinning, and while her senses recovered, she surveyed her surroundings dazedly. On her left, Gayle lay in a crumpled heap on the sand like her, and it looks like the Milotic, Gardevoir and Roselia had chosen to finish her off first. Thankfully, Apollo had gotten back up on his feet. He stood in front of Gayle, trying his hardest to keep the three of them at bay. And on her right was…

The ocean. If she could just reach the water, she could heal up and get back into the fight. Slowly but surely, Cleo crept towards the waves lapping the shore, wincing as the keeping her body as close to the ground as possible, trying to avoid detection.

"...and finally, I think we have a few things that need taking care of before we can get started on those plans. Things like..." Sylvie trailed off as she searched the beach, eyes scanning every nook and cranny until her gaze landed on who she wanted to find. Cleo, who was creeping towards the ocean, freezing in place when she heard Sylvie stop talking. There was a brief moment where Cleo and Sylvie's eyes met, and Cleo knew she had been discovered, booking it towards the water as fast as she could. However, it wasn't fast enough. In her already injured state, Cleo was no match for Zenith. The Umbreon caught up to her in no time at all, pouncing on Cleo and sending her crashing to the ground. Cleo flailed and struggled wildly, but it was useless against the pinning pressure of his front paws on her back.

Sylvie slowly sashayed over, bending down to Cleo's level, but forcing the Vaporeon's head upwards for her eyes to meet her own.

"Let's start with you first, shall we? And when I finally remove the main opposition, perhaps I'll be more merciful and let your friends off." Sylvie motioned for Zenith to keep holding her down, charging up a white light in her mouth as she did so. Cleo's eyes widened in fear as she felt the heat radiating from Sylvie's soon-to-be attack. She had considered the consequences of she had lost the fight but had nothing this severe.

"Keep her steady, Zenith. This move is so amazing, it will literally blow her mind." A small chuckle from Sylvie at her own joke as the light between her jaws slowly grew bigger. She was toying with Cleo, and the Vaporeon knew it, drawing out the last few moments of her life left, enjoying the smell of her fear scent. Cleo tried to call the water towards her, but all her energy had been drained from the earlier fight, and her mind was now filled thoughts for a quick nap.

"Zenith," Cleo lifted her head to try to look at the Umbreon, but was unable to as the pressure applied on her back increased. "Please… Zenith. The real you has to be in there somewhere. Fight it!" She managed to croak out before her head was forced roughly to the ground, the slam finally sending the Vaporeon to dreamland.

And fighting it Zenith was. As he leapt at his subconscious, he charged up multiple Dark Pulses, detonating them under his belly. Umbreon jaws snapped at thin air where he once was as Zenith rocketed high into the sky. He had no idea what would happen if he or his subconscious was defeated, but it didn't matter to him anymore. While airborne, Zenith twisted his body as he plummeted towards the ground, aiming at a pink ringed Umbreon that was located on the top of his head, planning to strike it with all his might.

But instead of paws hitting solid flesh, Zenith was taken by surprise when his paws seemed to enter the targeted Umbreon, along with the rest of his body. As he did so, the Umbreon's rings turned from pink to blue, and a pair of crimson red eyes opened where a blank face once was. But as quickly as the transformation occurred, it reversed at an even faster speed, with Zenith leaping back out of the Umbreon, bringing its changed features with it. Detonating another Dark Pulse, he retreated, leaping away from Umbreon jaws to safety. After distancing himself from his large opponent, Zenith caught his breath from his hasty getaway, as well as took some time to register what he had just experienced.

It was like diving into a deep pool of warm honey, a sticky sensation that slowed his movements. In the midst of the pink mist that surrounded him, Zenith saw a pinprick of blue. As he got closer, he felt himself slowly grow into what felt like a new skin outside his own one. Finally reaching the light, he opened his eyes and found himself surrounded by faceless Umbreons, They were snapping at his direction, but none made contact, seemingly hesitant to attack one of their own. Recalling any forms of memories, Zenith found that he still retained his memories, in addition to a couple new ones that popped up when remembering. There was the one where he was losing badly to Kurt, along with the time that Sylvie had been knocked out by an Ice Beam/ Bullet Punch combo in a match against… shiny haters? And the other time when he was fretting about Sylvie's willingness to test his… growth potions? This wasn't right. With every memory with Cleo in it, the Vaporeon was missing, replaced by Sylvie. The memories were also different from the originals, coming up with new scenarios to fill in the logical gaps that had been exposed with Cleo's removal.

However, as Zenith hid under a ridge he found in his mindscape, he reflected on those memories and noticed a running theme in every single one of them. All those were related to the times that he had felt feelings of worry, or anxiety. Somehow all of those Umbreons seemed to represent his primal emotions, and they had been 'hacked', the memories they contained altered in order to make him prefer Sylvie to Cleo. If this was happening to all those Umbreons in his subconscious, the one that must be affected the most should be the one in charge of love. Control that, and Zenith should be able to rid himself pf the gas Sylvie was pumping into him. In theory. Sure, it was a half-baked plan full of flaws, assumptions and logical leaps, but what else did Zenith have to lose at this point?

With that thought, Zenith stepped out from behind his hiding spot, running at his subconscious again, but this time charging with all his might like a raging Bouffalant. A simple tap against the leg probably wouldn't do it. His smoky feet made no sound against the surface of his mindscape even as he ran, so the faceless Umbreons didn't manage to sense his presence until it was too late for them. Dodging a clumsy swing, Zenith rammed himself into the nearest Umbreon, delving from body after body like a Gyrados leaping its way up a waterfall, reliving all sorts of memories as he sifted through them, looking for the right ones. It took him a while, experiencing many mood swings as he switched from emotion to emotion, but he eventually managed to find the one he was looking for, located where the heart would be in an actual Umbreon. Unlike the rest, this Umbreon didn't attack him, and had eyes, although they were closed. It was curled up in a ball, an expression of discomfort visible on its face. A bright pink light was pouring out of every crevice in its body in a sort of mist that filled its surroundings. It was flowing out of its rings, mouth, and even from under its closed eyelids.

This is the one. Zenith jumped as the tiny Dialga appeared again, hovering over his shoulder.

Oh. I wouldn't have noticed. What gave it away, Sherlock? And why weren't you helping me just now?

I'm a Legendary, Zenith. I'm only here because your life interests me. I don't have to do anything for you.

Keep saying that. Now if you excuse me, I have a body to take back. Zenith leapt into the glowing pink Umbreon, Dialga staying back to watch as he disappeared completely into the curled-up body.

… I feel like I've been shoehorned in.

The in-body experience with this one was different from the other bodies Zenith had entered. The entry process was even slower, like a pool of treacle that clung to his fur, slowing his progress towards that familiar blue light down to a crawl. More pink mist was swirling around him than ever, trying to curl around his limbs to drag him away from the light, deeper into the pink depths.

Battling off the mist and moving upwards at the same time in slow motion was tough, but Zenith eventually managed to make the long climb/swim to the blue light. Like all the other times, the blue light was emanating from a hole hardly bigger than his head. Grasping the sides of the hole, Zenith stuck his head through, feeling the familiar sensation of taking control. All memories popping up had reverted back to their pre-altered state, with Sylvie nowhere in sight.

Slowly, the bright pink glow surrounding the curled Umbreon faded, turning into a dim blue colour. However, the pink mist was still present, and it had caught ahold of Zenith's hind limbs, threatening to pull him out from the blue hole.

He was back, with full control of his body. But for how long?

Zenith was forcefully thrust back into the real world, but he had no time to celebrate. Recalling recent memories, he brought himself up to speed on the current situation. By now, Sylvie had reached the end of her self-initiated countdown. Just as she was going to fire the glowing white ball into Cleo at point-blank range, Zenith utilised his Dialga-nerfed time powers, leaping off Cleo's back to kick Sylvie in the chest, trying to get the Sylveon as far away from Cleo as possible. The ball of white light was fired wildly into the sky, soaring through the air in a lazy arc as gravity took ahold of it. As it headed towards the ground, it split and fragmented itself until the sky was full of tiny diamond-shaped crystals of light, the telltale shape of a Dazzling Gleam.

Zenith analysed the situation as he considered his possible options. Sylvie had now hit the sand, sputtering out grains in surprise and confusion. Unfortunately, Zenith had kicked her out of the range of her own attack, which was descending upon both him and Cleo in a deadly shower. With his power nerfed, there was not enough time for him to get Cleo and himself to safety. Tackling Cleo to the sand, Zenith hugged her, making sure that every part of her body was sheltered under him as his back faced the upcoming attack.

The attack was a brutal one, hundreds of tiny razor-sharp shards embedding themselves in Zenith and the sand around him. The super-effective move ripped right through skin and flesh, eliciting a grunt of pain from Zenith, whose damaged pain receptors dulled the normally excruciating pain, preventing Zenith from bearing the full brunt of the pain and passing out.

Zenith quickly grabbed the sides of Cleo's face with both paws, directing the surprised Vaporeon to look into his crimson eyes, rid of their previous light pink sheen.

"Okay, Cleo. I'm not sure how much time I have. I'm going to get you to the ocean. Do whatever you need to do, but remember to rinse me out. In and out. Got it?" Everything was a blur for Cleo, with Zenith's sudden change of sides to hasty instructions shoved in her face. All she could do was nod dimly, remembering Zenith's instructions to decipher later.

"Good. I love you. Now go!" Zenith forcefully pushed Cleo in the direction of the ocean, which she stumbled blindly towards. As soon as her paws came into contact with a wave lapping the shore, Cleo overcame her stunned senses to realise the situation at hand, turning tail and leaping into the ocean, another more focused Dazzling Gleam nearly missing her head as she swam into its depths. Meanwhile, Zenith reached towards his back, pulling out two of the tiny shards that stuck themselves in there. He winced, raw flesh stinging as it was exposed to the warm, salty sea air of the afternoon. He decided to leave the rest there to avoid bleeding out too much from his wounds, and looking like a pincushion, staggered back in hours feet to meet a fuming Sylvie.

The expression on Sylvie's face was one of angry bewilderment, struggling to understand Zenith's recent actions. "What did you do that for? You let her get away!"

"That was the point, Sylv-slut." Zenith's tone was cold, dripping with contempt as he addressed the Sylveon before him. "We both know that my heart belongs to Cleo. I never could, and never would truly love you. Just give... it... up..."

Zenith lurched to one side, a front paw collapsing as the strength in his limb faded away, too weak to support his weight. He was panting heavily in exhaustion as rivulets of blood oozed out of multiple puncture wounds, which were slowly widening from his every movement. The sand around him was starting to turn an ugly shade of maroon. As Zenith felt more and more of his energy seep out of his body along with the red liquid, his vision grew increasingly hazy and unfocused, seeing two copies of Sylvie walk towards him, unable to concentrate on her expression. He was losing too much blood and needed to heal, fast.

"It's a pity, love." Thin, pink tendrils wrapped themselves around the shards protruding from Zenith's back. Sylvie didn't even need to use that much force. The shards sliced smoothly through flesh as they were pushed deeper into his body, forcing Zenith to the ground.

"We would have made a great couple." Every shard in Zenith was sharply twisted, causing the Umbreon to cry out in pain beyond what his damaged pain receptors could dull. Shards were then extracted from Zenith as slowly as possible, Sylvie smiling sadistically as open wounds filled up with blood.

"But you just had to resist me, go back to someone who's way below our league. Now that I can't stand. And look at how choosing that decision went. There's hardly anything left of you to love. Not even your friends can save you now." Behind the Sylveon, Apollo and Gayle, both bruised and battered, were retreating from the three pursuing Pokemon, bombarding the both of them with attacks.

"Great. Now the rest of the day is wasted on waiting for you to die so I can dispose of your body and move on. I could make this quick…" Zenith could feel a claw travel slowly along his neck, dragged along his skin hard enough to leave a mark, but soft enough so no blood was drawn.

"... but what's the fun in that? But if I'm going to be completely honest with you, Zenith, it's really a shame to see you go. I didn't want to have to kill you, but you know too much, way more than the others. I can't let you free to run around with that sort of info. Oh well, I guess there's plenty more fish in the sea." Sylvie pulled out the last of the shards, enjoying the squelch as it was removed before the sharp blades dissipated into light, leaving no traces of their existence.

Zenith lolled lifelessly to one side. He could feel the multiple punctured organs within him beginning to fail, but he saw something from the corner of his peripheral vision that put a small smile on his face.

"Well… there's more… than just fish… in the sea…" Zenith managed to cough out with what remaining breath he had left, leaving Sylvie staring in surprise as a column of water crashed down on the beach upon the Umbreon, surrounding and suspending him in the clear, blue water pillar, resembling a specimen in a stasis tube. The painful sting of seawater on wounds was absent, but he could instead feel the familiar healing effects of an Aqua Ring work its magic upon his body, slowly but steadily restoring him back to prime form.

Meanwhile, the water level of the ocean seemed to drop significantly, the waves receding so far back that some parts of the seafloor were visible. All of the disappearing water seemed to be sucked into a giant sphere of water hovering above the surface of the ocean. The sphere was fairly large, about the size of a hot air balloon. As it started twisting and pulsing, Sylvie and her friends stared in shock as the sphere moulded itself into a hulking figure, its shadow completely dwarfing the four Pokemon as it towered over them.

"Stay away from him!" A roar from the giant Vaporeon sent mild tremors across the entire beach, unbalancing the Milotic, Gardevoir and Roselia that were charging towards her. Cleo batted them away effortlessly with a humongous paw, watching as the trio soared into the sky. It was said that seeing a flying Milotic would instantly quell any hostile thoughts that one had, but Cleo wasn't having any of that. All she wanted to do was to get Sylvie as far away from Zenith as possible.

Hurtling through the air, the three female Pokemon considered their choices. Sure, they may get beaten into a pulp if they continue their fight with Cleo, but they would definitely suffer a worse fate should they abandon Sylvie and the Sylveon win the battle. Activating her psychic abilities, the Gardevoir surrounded herself and the nearby Milotic in a pink glow, using Telekinesis to zoom themselves back to the beach. The Roselia, way too far from the Gardevoir's range, continued to fall.

Mrs Sal sat at the Arts and Crafts Workshop section of the resort, admiring the painting that she had just completed. One teacher chaperoning over a few hundred students was near impossible, so the Salamence had decided to spend the rest of her 'break' trying to unwind. Setting the painting on the top of her pile of completed canvases, she let out a contented sigh. It was nice to relax for once, especially when her entire life revolved around teaching others how to battle. However, the once peaceful, tranquil silence of the workshop was broken by the sound of splintering wood. Looking back, the Salamence found a Roselia that had appeared out of nowhere, sitting dazedly in the middle of broken and torn pieces of canvas, obliterating the entire pile of artwork despite her small frame. As the Roselia covered in still-drying paint scurried off into the woods where Mrs Sal could not follow, the Salamence's sharp mind, which she had planned to let it rest for the duration of the trip, reluctantly began to turn its gears again. The Roselia clearly came from a fight. She normally didn't care about things like those, being a teacher of Battle Training and all, but a battle that sent a Pokemon flying through the air like that? Now that was a fight that she had to break up.

Zenith floated in the little pillar of water, his head in a little oxygen bubble to give him the air he needed to breathe. He could feel the Aqua Ring accelerating his healing, torn organs and skin slowly patching themselves together.

Okay, Zenith. Cleo took a deep breath, preparing herself for what she was going to do next. She had deciphered Zenith's instructions by now but still had her doubts if it would or not.

Here goes nothing. Time for a full-body rinse.

The Umbreon in question was trying to force himself to calm down, to not panic. He knew what was coming, but in the end, had no time to react to it. All he felt was a rush of water entering his nose and mouth, but before his instincts for self-preservation kicked in, the water was gone, gushing out of his body back into the water that surrounded him.

In that time frame of barely two seconds, water was forcing its way down Zenith's windpipe and oesophagus, running through his digestive system, sloshing around in his lungs. Water also entered Zenith's body through cut blood vessels in wounds, speeding throughout his entire bloodstream. The dense pink gas lingering in Zenith's lungs diffused into the water, along with the pheromones circulating in the blood, ridding Zenith of the poisonous gas completely. With its job done, the water left as quickly as it entered.

In his subconscious, smoky Zenith could feel the pink mists disappear from abound his limbs. The hole he was looking out of vanished, along with the view of his mindscape slowly fading from his mind's eye.

Feeling his strength return in small, gradual bursts, Zenith tried to look out of the water column to make out the battle that was raging around him.

Sylvie dodged water tendrils and paws, spitting out Dazzling gleams and Swifts, but all the projectiles just seemed to sink into the body of the giant Vaporeon, floating around in the water that it was made out of before vanishing a while later. It didn't matter anyways. Taking down Cleo wasn't her primary objective. Setting her eye on her target, Sylvie breathed a stream of bright blue flame at the sand in front of her, the Mystical Fire quickly turning the sand into glass to create a smooth, transparent path leading straight to the water column.

Cleo could see what Sylvie was trying to do, and she would have none of it. She raised a giant paw, ready to smash the glass Slip and Slide down the middle, but as she tried to bring the paw down, she realised that it wouldn't budge at all. The liquid surface of the entire limb was encased in a thick sheet of ice, preventing any form of movement from her shoulder down. The rest of Cleo's 'body' was sharing the same fate, courtesy of an Ice Beam from the Milotic. Watching Sylvie get closer and closer to Zenith, Cleo tried to shapeshift the remaining liquid around her into another form to escape from the ice that was now invading and encapsulating her entire 'body', but she found out that the water would not obey her. It was almost as though there was some sort of psychic barrier conjured up by the Gardevoir to surround her mind, blocking her mental commands. With the ice growing thicker by the second, Cleo was trapped in her own creation, watching helplessly as events continued to unfold before her.

"I'm sorry that it had to come to this, Zenith," As Sylvie picked up speed on her glass slide, her body started to become outlined with a faint golden aura, glowing brighter as orbs of energy were being absorbed into her body.

"But if I can't have you, no one can." The golden aura morphed into a massive star in front of the Sylveon, which she sent flying at the water column.

In the column, Zenith looked out at the blurred muffled, water-refracted scenes playing out in front of him. The last of his puncture wounds were starting to close up, and he was thinking of a plan as fast as his pheromone-hungover mind would allow him. Sylvie had to be stopped, there was no doubt about that, but the Sylveon would never stop hounding him until one of them was dead. He knew too much, and there was no way Sylvie could let him survive in his recovered state. The only way out of this predicament seemed to be to just kill Sylvie, but Zenith didn't like the idea of murder. As wicked as Sylvie was, he could never live with the Sylveon's blood on his hands. But if he didn't kill Sylvie, she would continue to make his life hell until she achieved her goal.

Oh, Dialga. Please advise me in making the right choice.

You won't need my help.

Wait, why-

The star smashed into the water column, glowing bright yellow before detonating. The immense power of the Last Resort shattered the pillar, showering water everywhere, as well as flinging Zenith high into the air. Sylvie squinted, shielding her eyes from the blinding light of the explosion. She ran towards the sea, accompanied by her friends as they tracked Zenith's descent, the Umbreon plummeting towards the ocean surface. There was a smile on Sylvie's face as she watched Zenith fall, waiting for the painful, life-ending smack of a body hitting the ocean at high speeds. However, the smile turned into a snarl of annoyance as she spotted the Umbreon charging up a Dark Pulse between his paws, planning to detonate it to negate most of his fatal fall damage.

"Get me to him."

With both the Gardevoir and Milotic focused on helping Sylvie, Cleo felt the mental lock on her mind disappear. With her regained control over the water, Cleo gathered whatever remaining unfrozen water that surrounded her, enough to form two water tendrils. It wasn't as much as she expected, but she took what she could get, hammering at the ice around her with all her might. The ice was thick, so it took Cleo quite some time for her to break herself out of her giant frozen Vaporeon 'suit', smashing the ice sculpture into smithereens in the process.

Emerging from the melting wreckage, Cleo watched in horror as Sylvie leapt into the air, with an aided boost from a Psychic.

Zenith held the Dark Pulse above the gaping wound in his chest, exposed flesh flapping in the wind. It really was a shame for his just recovered body to be injured so quickly, but he forced away his guilt at ruining Cleo's attempt at healing him, as well as the stinging pain of the hole in him. As he focused, waiting for the right time to use the dark orb in his paws, a pink and white blur collided with him from above. The Dark Pulse dissipated, Zenith's concentration broken by the newfound pain of pink paws landing on his bare ribs, and the resounding cracks that followed. Sylvie wrapped her feelers around the Umbreon's limbs to anchor herself to his body, increasing the speed of their descent towards the ocean. Throughout the fall, Zenith was completely restrained by the tendrils, unable to protect himself or fight back against Sylvie's flurry of attacks, the Sylveon pummelling, scratching and biting any part of him that she could reach. Her moves, firing at point-blank range, were cutting through skin and piercing what remaining flesh he had left, every slash accompanied by an enraged shout from a ranting Sylvie.

"WHY!" Slash. Muscles severed, a paw now limp in the crushing grip of the tendrils.

"WON'T!" Swipe. Capillaries and arteries sliced in two, sending up violent sprays of crimson blood that matted white fur.

"YOU!" Slash. Scratch marks indented into the bones of his rib cage, more and more of them appearing as claws raked on the hard tissue, trying to get to his heart.

"DIE!"Another sharp swipe, and the vision in his left eye turned black.

Cleo watched droplets of blood flying upwards in gushes as the duo fell in the opposite direction, before hitting the ocean surface with a giant smack, slowly sinking beneath the choppy waves. Seeing the decreasing amount of bubbles floating to the surface, the Vaporeon snapped out of her momentary shock. She shoved her way past Sylvie's friends and dove into the water, swimming at top speed towards the point where Zenith and Cleo had crash-landed.

It was a bloodbath-literally. The water was murky, stained red with blood as Sylvie released her grip on Zenith, but still continuing her relentless attacks even as the Fairy and Dark-type drifted deeper into the depths. Cleo shooed away the schools of Washiwashi and Sharpedo that had gathered around the brutal fight, but was forced to retreat to avoid a Dazzling Gleam in her direction, the sharp bright shards missing her by a hair's breadth, spearing the bodies and even the thick hides of the unlucky fish Pokemon swimming around, their now lifeless bodies drifting through the water.

Zenith couldn't feel anything anymore, and not because of his damaged pain receptors. He was used to break the impact of him and Sylvie hitting the water, and he was pretty sure all of the oxygen had been knocked out of him. Blood was flowing out of every part of his body, and water was flowing in to fill up the remainder of his lungs in his desperate attempts to breathe. Sylvie, deciding that she had accomplished enough, pushed off Zenith's body to ascend, floating upwards to the ocean surface.

However, through what seemed like some sort of divine intervention, a bolt of lightning arced through the sky, hitting the ocean surface and spreading out over the water. As though it was meant for her, Sylvie was the only living thing near the strike point, just about to surface from the ocean for a gasp of air. A billion volts of electrical energy shot through the Sylveon's body as she came into contact with the electricity conducted by the water. The current flowed through Sylvie's paw, passing directly through her heart and out of her body, instantly killing her in the process. She floated on the surface for a while, before rapidly taking on water, sinking quickly and piling on top of Zenith's body, pushing him further down into the ocean.

By some miracle or curse, Zenith was still alive, but he knew that he wouldn't stay this way for long. He was too winded, too weak and too wounded to push Sylvie's corpse off him, much less swim to save himself. Most of his muscles were torn apart, rendering most of his body limp, unresponsive and useless. Coupled with multiple organ failures, his fate was basically unchangeable. As Zenith continued to drift down deeper into the depths of the ocean, watching the sunlight from above the waves slowly diminish, the Umbreon noticed a familiar shade of yellow standing out against the literal sea of blue, and an instantly recognisable set of frills that belonged to the Pokemon that he loved.

Zenith was blacking out, his brain starting to fail from a lack of oxygen. However, the sight of the distant Vaporeon allowed him to find enough energy, drawing it out from unknown sources to perform one final action.

The shoals of fish and other marine Pokemon had scattered after the Dazzling Gleams, leaving Cleo by herself, searching the vast expanse of ocean before her for Zenith. It was empty as far as the eye could see, blue stretching in every direction she looked, with the exception of the pitch dark depths. Cleo just felt like screaming in frustration and worry as her searches yielded no positive results. There were no tracks, no traces for Cleo to follow. How on earth was she supposed to find-

Cleo.

Said Vaporeon 'jumped' in surprise upon hearing Zenith's voice, and in her head no less. Turning in the water to try and locate where the voice was coming from, Cleo was startled for a second time as she rotated counter-clockwise to come snout to snout with a pale, translucent, blue figure of an Umbreon.

"Zenith? Is that really you? You had me worried sick! I thought that you may have… wait. You're blue… which means you're using Psychic! Which means you're still alive! Lead me to your body, and I can still save-"

Cleo's words were cut off as Zenith wrapped his paws around her, embracing the Vaporeon in a hug. He squeezed her as tightly as he could, burying his face into her frills. It seemed like so long since he had actually hugged Cleo, even though they had only been apart for a week, and would give anything to let his hug last forever. Cleo, on the other hand, was confused by Zenith's actions. In situations like this, when the both of them were concerned about his life being on the line, he would immediately be trying his hardest to help Cleo to save himself. The only reason why he would have time to hug, to act so calm and composed… was that he had no time left. A knot of dread twisted in her stomach as realisation set in, pushing away the hope that once filled Cleo. She pushed Zenith's paws away from her, grabbing him by the cheeks to look the Umbreon in the eyes, similar to what he did to her a few minutes ago.

Cleo, I-

"No. No no no! You can't die here! Not now! We've hardly been together for half a year! There's so much we hav- we can do! There's must be SOMETHING-"

I'm sorry, Cleo. I've thought of everything. Even if you can swim fast enough to reach my body, there won't be much left to save. Sylvie's damaged me too badly. I wish we could've spent more time together. Cleo was choking up, her tears unseen as they mixed with the saltier ocean water.

"W-w-what am I going to d-d-do without you? I knew we were moving a little too fast, but… I'm seriously in love with you, Zenith. Please don't go."

Zenith shared the same feelings as the Vaporeon, but the only reply he could muster at this point was a warm, quivering smile, blinking furiously to prevent himself from bawling like Cleo. He rummaged around in his utility belt, pulling out a disc from one of its pockets to pass to Cleo. It was the size of a small plate, and solidified in Cleo's paw as she reached out to take it.

I love you too, Cleo. I wish that there was another way, I really do. Zenith's Psychic projection flickered momentarily, the blue Umbreon flickering in and out of view like a TV show with poor reception. It looks like I don't have much time left. So, Cleo… Zenith through back to just a few days ago, before all this Sylvie stuff happened, on that one day he was back in school, with only one thought on his mind at the time.

...what do you want to do?

There was the selfless Zenith Cleo knew and loved very, very much. Holding back tears, she brought herself closer to Zenith, their lips meeting in a slow, passionate kiss, paws wrapping around each other to hold their partner for one final time. There they were, floating in the ocean, lips locking in a loving embrace, their anxieties melting away momentarily as they savoured the last few moments that they had together.

Thank you, Cleo.

Cleo broke off from the kiss to look back at Zenith, paws tightening their grip around him as she felt parts of him starting to slowly fade away from under her touch.

"For what?"

For... everything. You are a good girlfriend, and I was so lucky to meet you. And in the future, if you want, you can always make someone else feel as lucky as I do now. I wouldn't mind.

Cleo couldn't help but give a good laugh despite the grim and depressing situation. Leave it to Zenith, who was almost already gone, to worry about her possible future relationships. Burying her face into the Umbreon's shoulder fur, she increased the grip of their hug, holding as much of Zenith as possible as the Umbreon's body started to fade under her touch, from the pads of his feet upwards, until the feeling of his head, which was nestled on top of hers, vanished.

In the inky depths of the ocean, the blue pairs of light blinked out of existence, plunging the ocean back into darkness.

Mrs Sal flew in circles above the sea, scanning its choppy waves for any signs of the three students that Apollo and Gayle hold told her disappeared underneath the waves. Noticing a frilled head break the surface of the water, Mrs Sal swooped down to meet the Pokemon. Nearing the Pokemon who was putting up little to no resistance against the strong currents, her limp body being tossed around easily by the waves. As she got closer, tears could clearly be seen streaming down the Vaporeon's face. Coupled with a grief-stricken expression, and how everything about the Vaporeon just seemed to exude an air of defeat, Mrs Sal no longer hoped for the best. The worst seemed to have already happened. Mrs Sal offered the Vaporeon a lift back to the shore, but the only response she got was a shake of the head and a trail of bubbles that the Vaporeon left in her wake as she sped towards the shore.

Cleo swam as fast as she could, prying her reluctant gaze away from the spot where Zenith had been slammed into the ocean. Her mind was fuzzy, and as she blinked against the tears blurring her vision, with the wind whipping her face, the only coherent thought Cleo had was to get as far away from here as possible. But as Cleo's legs and tail churned harder and faster, her heart felt like a rubber band, one side connected to the very same spot she had been looking at, stretching itself to its limits. With the aching pain in her chest, Cleo tightened her grip on the disc that Zenith had gifted her as she neared the shore, where many students had gathered, their curious gazes all fixated on the Vaporeon. Gayle and Apollo rushed forward to help Cleo as she washed up on shore, collapsing onto the sand in exhaustion. Mrs Sal landed on the beach soon later, picking Cleo up gently in her claws and placing the Vaporeon on her back, the crowd stepping back to clear a path for the Salamence to make her way into the centre of the resort. Cleo lay on Mrs Sal's back, feeling the rhythmic movements of the Salamence walking slowly lull her to sleep, the heat radiating from the body heat of the Dragon/ Flying-type a pleasant and relaxing sensation against her cold body.

A single tear made its way down Cleo's cheek as her eyelids closed shut, succumbing to sleep.

She would come to terms with the mixture of emotions within her when she awoke, but there was one thing that she could proclaim with absolute confidence and certainty:

All the time she had spent with Zenith, all the experiences that they shared, all the fun, the goods and bads they went through together had truly made her life...

Not So Ordinary.