Posted April 30th, 2024

Chapter Summary

Those with great responsibility deserve great power, correct?

Libra Riolu's POV

Torrents of sand, rocks, and grit tumbled around us as I and the Froakie fell. Rushing winds pushed against my back; I stretched my paws out to try and stop my crashing descent. I couldn't believe it. A-chan and I got caught in a trap from Wicked Blow.

As I dropped off the mountain, a chunk of rock bashed into the back of my head. The world went dark.

In light's absence, I felt it once again. The horrid memory of Devolution: my body transforming from that of a Lucario back into a Riolu. Just like before, the pairs of tassels on the sides of my head merged. A throbbing ache barreled throughout my skull. The spikes of silver and tin, sank back into the depths of my chest and my forearms, and I screamed out in agony. My limbs, and entire body shrank again with a violent crush and pulse. I cried out as my steel elemental typing escaped my very bones. Blinding onslaught of pain coursed through me, just like when I became a Riolu again.

With a gasp, I rolled over to the side, my limbs trembling. Holy Volcanian… why must I remember that!? I opened my eyes and took in the clay mountain ground below me covered in orange-yellow rocks and dust. That was the past, I won't have to ever go through that again. I staggered off the floor and saw the mouth of a cave before me. The darkness of the maw consumed all, a Mystery Dungeons might at work.

Beside me, in a ball of his white back bubbles lay a sprawled out Froakie, A-chan. His eyes spiraled as he mumbled to himself and sat up.

I shifted over to A. "You okay?"

"No," he groaned.

"Hey!" I trudged over to him.

A blinked as he clutched his arms and back. "Glad we survived the fall eh, Libra?"

"Yeah," I replied with a stretch. "Where are we?"

The Froakie rubbed his nose and peered side to side. "Brittlesand Sierra… Probably the bottom floor."

"Oh for Lugia's gale!" I gasped. "We need to go, come on."

A bolted upright and practically flew towards the cave entrance. "We've got to get back to Rosario and Hatchet!"

"I know!"

The Froakie pointed at the mountainside we fell from. "They're up there, and it's definitely not safe!"

I got up and caught up to him, then we rushed back into the mouth of the cave. My paws crushed back into the rough grit of the mountain and I sighed. As I felt the crunch of soil, my eyes scanned the halls of the Mystery Dungeon. There was nothing for the moment, no items, no Pokémon, just the empty still land."There's barely time to waste fighting anything in our way," I growled. "No matter what."

The Froakie beside me pointed ahead. "We can't afford to be careless though, come on."

My Gold-rank badge twinkled in the refracted light of the sun. "I'll call for help." I pushed at one of the wings on the triangular badge. I pray the waters above, the request actually went through out here.

"Rescue Team Federation of Constellation Sands. How can I help ya?" a deep rumbling voice came out of the small speakers.

I cleared my throat. "Team Blue Heroes, located in Brittlesand Sierra Floor One," I explained. "Wicked Blow presence in the surrounding Mystery Dungeons. Requesting assistance."

"Understood, take care," the voice called.

A flashed me a thumbs up."Nice work, but we aren't gonna wait for 'em!"

We had to hurry. Hurry, through these Mystery Dungeons. That's always what we're supposed to do. And I couldn't even escort two adult Pokémon with A. I buried my paws against my throbbing temples."I can't believe I failed them!"

"You didn't fail them," A replied, also nursing his head with every step we took.

"I did fail them, just like I failed Team Sharp Claw, like before the Disruption, all those years ago."

"How?"

My ears folded back."I was supposed to make sure that they got to Bristberg safely. I couldn't focus when they talked about ferals wrong like that. Our family shouldn't be taken lightly. Oh, and saying Sentinels are useless, what do they know?"

"Yeah that was ridiculous. But what do you mean you couldn't focus?" the Froakie asked. "You dealt with that Monster House and pushed them out of the way of the trap just fine."

I groaned as my back ached. Lingering pain from the fall and our battles caught up to me despite the natural healing powers of the Mystery Dungeon. "Rosario's attitude pissed me off, I can't believe they're really a former Pokemon trainer. But it didn't matter, I still shouldn't have said that stuff."

A crossed his arms before he spoke."You didn't say anything wrong. We've got to switch gears to our new objective."

"But I'm still such a failure as a leader."

"You didn't fail them, you couldn't have known that would have happened Libra…Let it go. We're still Team Blue Heroes, through thick and thin."

I nodded as we clambered up the sandy Mystery Dungeon staircase. "You're right. I won't let it distract me further."

A grinned back at me and ruffled my shoulder. "We need to make sure we take care of Wicked Blow when we see 'em."

Once again we ventured further through the winding maze of halls.The mountain up weren't anything like the ones I've seen on the Water or Air Continent, just a ton of sand all across the ground. Sparkling dry air, pebbles, and dirt filled the top barrier of soil, and wafted into my nose. Beyond the rough mountainside, the dusty ceiling above rumbled. Something was happening.

Along the subtle rises and dips and winding maze an aura slowly and steadily drummed. There's still that powerful Pokémon up ahead, somewhere. Thunderclap every single step, just like before.

Two subtle bits of aura, of regular feral Pokémon moved back and forth somewhere nearby. Mystery Dungeons made it hard to exactly tell what direction Pokémon approached from, so it wasn't like aura gave us perfect foresight.

I peered in a branching room and spotted three more entrances right nearby, mountain walls and stone in between. And Pokémon were coming. From the left, a Jigglypuff and a Fletchling made their way to an alcove beside us.

With a breath, I pulled the fighting-type mana for Force Palm into my paws, while A readied up a Water Pulse. The red energy pooled across my body while the dark blue spear of water wavered in the air beside the Froakie's hands, both aimed at our potential enemies.

The two feral Pokémon glanced at one another and then backed away from us. The Fletchling flew away toward the mountains, while the Jigglypuff waddled further from the path next to A and I.

I couldn't help but sigh as we hurried past them and into another room. Good thing we avoided that fight. The room we found ourselves in had stairs. We rushed up the last light-yellow staircase of Brittlesand Sierra and made it back to the beginning of Needlemaw Peak, where the massive imprint was in the ground.

My nose twitched as I scoured the ground and shook my head. "Where'd that drill and those chains go?" I grumbled as I walked past it. "Along with the massive hole in the Manaphy damn ground!"

"The trap must have magically repaired the soil." The Froakie beside me shrugged.

An electrical pulse trembled from above, further into Needlemaw Peak.

"Libra!" A's voice echoed through the narrow halls. "What's going on?"

I winced as the shocks slowly dissipated. My fur tingled from the new polarity in the air. "I'm not too sure, but let's keep going," I explained as I shuffled closer to him.

"Yeah!"

Just a few pathways stood in front of us. We took the one with disturbed soil, it looked traveled, with faint footsteps in the ground. My tassels and nose sensed a soft bit of faded aura and I swallowed as we slowly crept around a corner to a new area of the mountain. This led to a small room with a knocked out Spinarak.

Eventually further through the same floor of the Mystery Dungeon, A stopped dead in his tracks and pointed to the left. My eyes followed his trembling hand and I found the fainted limp body of a Revaroom. no essence of draconic or electrical energy on them this time. Hatchet and Rosario didn't put this feral in.

"If those two didn't do it-" I pondered aloud.

A cut me off. "P-probably Wicked Blow. I'm not sure those two are ready."

I grumbled at the thought. "Me neither."

The Froakie adjusted his bubbles."Hatchet is Linus's younger brother right? How'd the Axew end up so foolish?"

"They did spend the last six years apart, when Linus left home."

"Left home, oh yeah. Now that I think about it, I wonder how Team Sharp Claw is doing?"

"That's a great question, maybe we can find out later."

"But waiting 'til we get back to the League will take forever!" A fake cried.

I clenched my fists. "Waiting… I don't know why but this reminds me of Wei Forest."

"Libra."

"What if we got separated in there?"

"Libra, come on."

"What if Young Master Xuě Zeraora was older? What if she was stronger?!"

"Libra!"

"What?"

The Froakie placed a hand on my shoulder and put another hand on his chest."I believe in Hatchet and Rosario. Try not to think about it, okay? I know it's hard but please."

I still felt like such a disappointment, but for him I gave him a wry smile."Okay."

"Thank you."

We continued throughout the darker, more red-orange and brown mountain, finer sand still scattered about the ground. Sharper, more jagged stones lined the insurmountable peaks above.

Like before there were no conscious Pokemon in this area. Rather none that approached us, as I noticed a fleeting trace of aura as we entered more and more rooms around. In the path before us a Pawmo and a Buizel, laid unconscious along the floor, a pile of a rock-type and ground-type moves all around them.

Definitely wasn't Hatchet or Rosario. Maybe other ferals took this Pawmo and Buizel out… Or maybe Wicked Blow. I shuddered as A and I hurried down the hall past the knocked out Pokémon into another room.

The Froakie paused and I stopped in my tracks and studied our surroundings, a narrow passage of orange-clayish wall, carved straight off the mountain. A slight indent on the stones, one from a three-fingered claw drew me in toward the left portion.

"A Pokemon attack?" the Froakie asked.

I sniffed at the wall. "There's traces of draconic energy on it… And fresh."

"It could be from, a feral Pokémon, or Hatchet, or Volcanian forbid, Wicked Blow."

"That's not the only odd thing about this wall, the pattern on it. These bricks are kinda weird."

"Look at this bricklaying, the techniques are quite fascinating." A ran a finger along the wall, in between each ridge and line of the sealant.

I sniffed as a strong staticy aura bolted through the mountain. Shimmering crackles lit up through the air, all the way from one point on the walls A and I stood in between. "Some Pokemon, perhaps the ancients of this land-"

"Near Hunter's Plains, Electro Sun Mountain Range," the Froakie reminded me.

"Yeah, those Pokemon, they made this in the past." I took a couple of steps toward the sparkling wall, small whips and whirls of yellow plasma danced along its surface.

"There's some Pokémon on the other side," A said and clenched his scarf. "Feeling their aura like this makes me almost regret Master Dodrio's training."

"Then I'd be one of the only on our team who understands how it feels to sense powerful Pokémon."

A waved a hand. "I mean our co-captains, Silas and Aerith are Keepers."

"That Salamence and that Comfey are also like quite a few years older than us, they've seen worse."

"Yeah but I haven't! It's scary as all Voidlands Libra, the anticipation is killing me!"

"Not even Yoshiko or Austin have wimped out that bad." I ruffled my neck fur. "Those two are out at Leader Magearna's seminars and doing their part. Even further away from home and the League's help."

"Yeah but those two are lucky… They didn't devolve, they got to stay as a Groyvle and a Charmeleon… They're stronger than us. Libra we're good, but there are Pokémon that we can't handle. I've felt their aura nearby."

"I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared shitless too. It's an asset for us as we don't have a Keeper presence and can sense basically everything."

"Define asset?" His hand pointed to a raised portion of the wall, the bricks lifted straight from the surroundings. Near the bottom chunk of stone, an opening waited.

"Probably the powerful Pokémon aura I…" I paused. "No, we felt earlier."

The Froakie nodded as he grabbed the base of the brick protrusion. "We warned Rosario and Hatchet about them and Wicked Blow. But we have to be careful ourselves. There's reinforcements from the Rescue Team Federation coming soon, but we don't know how long that could take."

I sighed as he pushed up the wall part of the way up, and I placed my paws on the other end. "Maybe a team from our League is nearby?" My question strained as I pushed up on the heavy stones, my arms and upper body trembling.

"There were a few teams that were supposed to go on missions in the areas close by," A added while his grip nearly slipped, the wall almost taller than my crouching height. "Like Team Aegisdrip, Whitelight, and Sharp Claw."

With a roaring rumble, the bricks swung upright and another part of the wall slammed directly into my hip.

"What in Kyorge's rings!?" I screamed, as the stones threw me into the Froakie and we crashed onto the other side of the wall.

"You think I know!" He screamed back as he tumbled under the bricks along with me.

Behind the wall was a world I never imagined, one dark, humid, and packed to the brim with dust and grit. Gentle orange light bathed my eyelids and I groaned.

With my chin firm on the ground I watched as A crawled off the floor.

"Up we go, doggy."

"Thanks, A-chan."

"Thought I told you to stop calling me that." We both said at the same time.

I laughed and rolled my shoulders.

A giggled as well as he stretched.

We're so stupid. As my joints cracked, I got to take in more of our surroundings: an orange-clayish mountain merged with a dark grey cave, and what was within that cave. More and more of the darkness was illuminated bit by bit from torches along the walls.

The Froakie beside me gasped. In the depths of the cave, towering above us were particular narrow towers, minarets.

My eyes studied more of the area. The building in the center was a light beige mosque, with gorgeous black stone doors, their massive weight and height evident in the droning thud as it shook back and forth above the opening.

In that opening I saw the stripes of a few Legendaries represented by Zodiac Taurus: Zygarde and Groudon.

"This style of mosaics," A called out. "The composition of the various crystals and gems used in each color seems familiar."

I nodded. "It's a style that dates back about two hundred years ago, from the Water Continent. South of Serene Village."

He rubbed his chin. "Maybe it was made by our ancestors?"

Deep inside a Mystery Dungeon, toward the very top floor, this structure was hidden away.

"This is a Mana Temple…" I gasped. "An elemental key and lock of mana could rest here."

"By Kyorge!" the Froakie yelped, his eyes wide with fraught. "What can we even do?"

"I'm not sure."

"We're not Keepers."

"We could guard the outside?" I offered.

A sighed as he crossed his arms."The least we can do for the others."

The beige building before us, a Mana Temple, was full of magical grandeur. Spiraling brick designs I recognized from Legend Eclipse ordained every centri of the mosque and two surrounding minarets. But we just sat outside, unmoving, and useless.

Go inside.

A voice… One from the depths of the Mana Temple called, directed in my head.

"What?" A yelled. Directly in A's head too.

"How are we going to do that?" I asked.

You are special.

"Special?" Like what those Ditto said back in Wei?

The Master shall explain why you are special.

I blinked. "The Master?"

One of great honor.

"Honorable," the Froakie beside me said, his eyes closed in what I presumed thought.

I shook my head."That doesn't exactly narrow it down."

A counted on his fingers before he nodded. "Sounds good to me."

"Wait," I held out my paw. "There's a weaker aura here… Other Pokémon."

"It's not Rosario and or Hatchet's…"

In that moment a blade of wind flew toward A and I. I vaulted off the ground with a flip while the Froakie hopped away. "It's ours!" a pair of voices cackled from in front of us.

A Butterfree and a Wishiwashi in solo form rushed out from the sides of the Mana Temple, with black and white stripes on their scarves. Wicked Blow.

"Step aside," A ordered as he narrowed his eyes.

"Make us!" The Wishiwashi barreled toward the Froakie and I in her Schooling-form with a Waterfall. With a slight turn she zeroed in on me in a cloak of frigid rushing water, straight from the ceiling.

I weaved out of the way and collected fighting-type mana from the air. It sparked into my grasp and I bashed my paw into the Wishiwashi's side with Force Palm. The blow of red energy sent her reeling to the ground but she floated back up with a roar. I thought that would have leveled her more, but she barely flinched! Shoot, not strong enough!

A's wing blades of Aerial Ace bashed into part of the Butterfree and pushed him to the side. Not fast enough!

It seems like you need some help, Guardians.

The voices were probably not heard by the Wishiwashi and Butterfree, as they moved back toward the doors and charged more attacks.

I glanced over at A and dusted off my shoulder.

Do not fret, you shall be awarded your deserved power. It is only fair, as you are doing your duty.

They're gonna help us? A snap crackled throughout the cave as time seemed to stand still. Everything was bathed in a shimmering yellow energy, unlike an aura or mana from an attack. What was this power? The voice of the Mana Temples? How? The sound echoed even as a gentle light, a familiar white light slowly drummed from my chest. No, our chests, the Froakie across from me, was also bathed in warmth. A familiar empowering heat. From within our own bodies.

What's going on? My limbs ached for a second as they shifted in size, in density, and in strength. Pure fighting-type mana, untainted by the Disruption poured through my veins and I took in a shuddering breath. Oh. I know what this is. After five long years. Finally, Evolution again! With a roar, the steel-type energy that belonged to me flooded through my being. Aura whirling, I was once again a Lucario. Two tassels, iron spikes on my forearms, and proper everything else. I wagged my tail as I flexed my new muscles, amazing!

A torrent of water flew in wild splatters and splashes as A's size increased, and he was once again a Frogadier. He grinned as he patted his extra bubbles, and longer limbs.

Now take care of your duties, Guardians.

Time was not on our side forever and the Wicked Blow Pokemon were unchained from their stasis.

The Wishiwashi yelped once she regained control of her body."What! They got replaced by a Frogadier and a Lucario?" The congregation of Wishiwashi voices trembled. "But the two were just in front of us!"

The Butterfree scattered a few scales as he flew toward the ceiling."These crazy League freaks evolved during the Disruption! Let's take 'em out and get out of here!"

"You're part of the reason I devolved!" My slightly deeper growl echoed through the area."Wicked Blow scum!" I slammed the Wishiwashi with my Force Palm.

"What!?" she screamed.

The massive spike of red energy shot through her entire being this time and tore her Schooling-form façade into pieces. "This is my true power!"

Wishiwashi's now small white body slammed into a wall, and the impact knocked her out into a pathetic heap.

"Holy Mewtwo," the Butterfree gasped as he flapped his wings. "Don't think you'll get off easy!"

In a flash, an Air Slash battered into my side. The three curved sky-blue slices of energy knocked me off balance but in that moment A flew. With huge sky-blue swords of Aerial Ace, the Frogadier jumped toward the Butterfree and launched at him. A's attack cut through the Butterfree's body in a flash of flying-type power, and sent his body crashing to the ground, unconscious.

The Frogadier landed beside me and glanced at the ceiling. "You okay?" His voice was a tad deeper now, just like before.

We're so back. By Kyrogre's grace, am I dreaming? I shifted my hips and flashed him a thumbs up. "Right as rain!"

A held out his palm to the open doors. "I have like a million questions. The most important is; can we go inside the Mana Temple? As Sentinels?"

"I guess so," I replied and took a step forward.

Remember what we said, you two deserve this. You are performing your Guardian duties, unlike some others who are inside.

"Others inside?"

Some of which are alive, some of which have passed. Regardless, you know what you must do. The Master is waiting.