Disclaimer: I don't own anything that doesn't belong to me.
ANNA's satellite immediately located Kieran at Loyalty Plaza. Since there was no way the taxi would be able to keep up with them, Julie and ANNA raced on ahead with Carmine and Briar on Scar and Viola in hopes that they would be able to reason with him while the others caught up.
"What is he thinking?!" Carmine demanded. "Why would he steal the masks?"
"Maybe he wants to give them to Ogerpon himself to try and curry favor with her?" ANNA suggested.
"But Teal Mask incomplete," Julie pointed out. "Nyo Crystal Cluster. Wouldn't it make more sense to wait until mask finished before stealing?"
"At this point, the only way we can know what he's thinking is to speak to him ourselves," Briar said in concern. "Maybe we should have intervened last night. He must think we abandoned him."
"But grandpa explained everything!" Carmine protested. "So why? It makes no sense!"
"Unfortunately, humans are far from rational beings, and Kieran's own actions as of late have been extremely troubling," ANNA pointed out. "While his own actions surely make sense to him, it is doubtful they will to anyone else."
"So he go Pidgey," Julie concluded.
"Hey, you can't talk about my brother like that!" Carmine protested.
"But nyou do all time," Julie pointed out.
"Yeah, I'm his sibling, I'm supposed to!"
"We are coming up on Loyalty Plaza," ANNA reported. "And-" She blinked, startled. "What is that?"
The ground surrounding the shrine to the Loyal Three was glowing ominously. Numerous fissures had formed in the earth from which baleful red light emanated. Black Tera Crystals were jutting out of the ground, with the majority clustered around the shrine. Kieran was standing before the edifice, ordering a Poliwrath to smash it.
Briar gasped. "What is he doing?! He's going to destroy the shrine!"
"How dare he! He didn't even ask if I wanted to join him!" Carmine griped.
Scar and Viola reared back, hissing in alarm at the sinister aura surrounding the Plaza. "That scent…" Scar snarled.
"This energy…" Viola gasped.
"We don't like it!" They cried.
"What is that?" Briar asked.
"There are crystals down there… Does… This have something to do with what happened back at the pool?" Carmine asked in alarm.
"… Perhaps," ANNA murmured, scanning the area. "My satellite is having difficulty parsing this data. There is plenty of Tera energy, and tachyons, but not in a configuration I have ever seen before, and it seems to be almost drowned out by what I can only describe as… Concentrated malignance."
"Malice," Julie snarled, hair standing on end.
Briar blinked. "Oh dear. I actually felt the capitalization. I'm guessing this is, as you said before, 'bad juju?'"
Julie nodded fiercely. "The baddest!" She frowned in confusion. "But… This makes nyo sense. We nyot home, and it nyot Blood Moon. How can Malice exist here?"
"Whatever the reason for it being here, it's here, and we have to get down there and get Kiki out of it, he's right in the middle of it!" Carmine insisted.
ANNA frowned as they swooped down towards the Plaza, the filters overlaying her vision indicating that the malevolence seemed to be partially coming from Kieran rather than the other way around. "I'm not so certain he is the one in danger."
"Kiki!" Carmine shouted the instant they touched down, rushing towards her brother, only to recoil the instant she stepped on the glowing soil. "Oh Forces of Nature, this feels… Awful! Kiki, you have to get out of this, this feels all sorts of wrong!"
"Really? Feels fine to me."
Kieran turned around and Carmine gasped, because…
He looked completely normal. No glowing eyes, no demonic voice, nothing to indicate he was being corrupted or possessed or affected in any way by the miasma around them.
And that somehow made it all the more terrifying.
"Well, whatever it is, it's not fine, Julie and ANNA say there's something seriously wrong-" Carmine started.
"Oh, so now you decide to listen to what they think," Kieran snarled.
Carmine blinked. "Kiki?"
"Last I checked, you hated them for being outsiders, and for being stronger than you, and for always being right," Kieran growled. "And I thought you were an idiot for that… But now I see you had the right idea all along. Especially since you seem to have found common ground with them: all of you seemed perfectly fine abandoning me without a second thought!"
Carmine flinched. "What?"
"Kieran, we're sorry we didn't intervene last night, but we didn't-" Briar started.
"Oh, this has nothing to do with you not stopping grandma from sending me to bed last night!" Kieran snapped as Poliwrath glanced at him, awaiting further orders. "Well, okay, maybe a little… Poliwrath, keep breaking the shrine, I didn't say to stop."
"If you say so, boss."
The Poliwrath smashed the shrine with a Brick Break, breaking one of the statues, cracking the stone, and knocking off several pieces of it.
Beneath their feet, the cracks grew slightly larger, and the malefic light increased.
"Kieran, stop, you're destroying a valuable historic monument!" Briar protested.
"Without me!" Carmine complained.
Kieran snarled. "Right. Of course that's what you care about. A memorial for cowards and liars. That I'm doing something without you. Here's a newsflash, sis, we may be related, but that doesn't mean we have to do everything together! Distortion World, I'm starting to even wonder if you are my sister, considering all the lies people have been feeding me my entire life!"
"Kiki… What?!" Carmine gasped.
"Kieran, what is this about?" A concerned ANNA asked.
"Kiki, nyou need to stop, nyou're making things worse-" a very worried Julie said, glancing at the ground.
"Right, because I'm a dumb chump too stupid to know anything about anything because I'm just a kid?!" Kieran shouted. "You think I'm gonna listen to a word you say? Especially after you strung me along and kept talking down to me?!"
The sisters blinked and exchanged confused looks. "Julie has nyo idea what nyou're talking about."
"If I talked down to you, it was not my intention, is simply that I am vastly more intelligent than almost everyone else on this planet," ANNA said apologetically.
Julie sweatdropped. "That nyot really help case."
"You know exactly what you did!" Kieran angrily accused Julie. "You came in here acting all cool and aloof and pretending you cared about me, then you pretended to be oblivious to my feelings and acted all hard to get, and then, when I finally confronted you about it, you're conveniently a lesbian! You'd think I'd have learned after the last half-dozen times!"
Julie blinked, dumbfounded. "Nyah?"
Carmine facepalmed. "Oh Origin, this is Lacey all over again… Kiki! Just because a pretty girl talks to you and is nice doesn't mean they are either interested in you or are pretending to be interested in you! We've been over this!"
"Wait, he thought he had a chance with Lacey? Didn't he know she was a lesbian?" A confused Briar asked.
"As we've already established, Kiki has TERRIBLE gaydar!" Carmine snapped.
"And you, Miss Briar… You claim you're our teacher and that you care about us, but ever since you first heard about these two, you kept talking about them nonstop!" Kieran said angrily, pointing at the twins. "I bet you wish they were your students, don't you? Cool and interesting kids from other times to teach, instead of boring old regular folk from this one!"
"That's not true at all!" Briar protested. "I mean, yes, I wouldn't mind if they were my students, but that doesn't mean I wanted to replace any of you or that I valued you any less!"
"Actually, miss Briar, I kind of have to agree with Kiki a little here," Carmine admitted. "You did talk about them a lot. It, um, got a little frustrating. And made some of us feel self-conscious."
Briar was aghast. "I… I did? Oh, Carmine, Kieran, I… That wasn't my intention. I'm so sorry!"
"… Oh. That other reason nyou mean to us," Julie realized.
"… Yeah. Sorry," Carmine muttered, looking embarrassed.
"Oh, so you'll apologize to her, the outsider you spent the last couple of days bitching about, but not me, your own brother?!" Kieran shouted furiously.
"I'd be happy to apologize if I knew what I was apologizing for!" Carmine insisted.
"No you wouldn't!" Kieran insisted. "You never apologize for anything you do to me! Not the insults, not the teasing, not the constant disparaging remarks about my browser history or what I spend my money on or my fanfics-"
"That's because all the latter stuff is creepy as hell!" Carmine protested.
"Oh please, like I'm the only one in the house to have a lot of The Ogre's Tale memorabilia!" Kieran snarled.
"You have a shrine to O-PEN! A stalker shrine!" Carmine yelled back.
"It's not a stalker shrine!" Kieran retorted defensively.
"You have tons of illicit photos and pervy fanart and freaky effigies made out of garbage she supposedly threw out that you bought online for way too much money!" Carmine pointed out.
"… Yeah, kind of wishing we'd shown up a few seconds later, did not want to hear that," Hohma complained as he, Aliquis, and Ohara arrived. He took in the sights before him. "… Or maybe that we never got here at all. What the Distortion World is all this?"
"Bad juju!" Ohara hissed, hair standing on end.
"Right, thanks for clarifying."
Kieran did a double take when he saw Aliquis. "Wha-Aliquis?! You're alive?!"
"I… Always was?" Aliquis said, looking confused.
"I was half convinced you were a mannequin!" A flash of anger passed through Kieran's eyes. "Or were you lying about being paralyzed as well? Pulling another one over the poor gullible local boy?"
"No, I really was frozen by existential dread," Aliquis insisted. "But I'm better now. Mostly. Well. I should probably see a therapist…"
"I have heard the one Arven is seeing is doing wonders," ANNA informed him.
"And you!" Kieran yelled, pointing at Ohara. "You and Julie were screwing with me the whole time, weren't you? Pretending to hook up yesterday and flirt and ride through the sky together while laughing at the stupid lovestruck local?"
"But we… Did hook up yesterday?" The confused Ohara said. "In fact, I've never even said hi to Mewstress before a couple days ago."
"Nyou should have, would've saved a lot of time," Julie told Ohara with a smile, causing her to blush. Kieran also turned red, but not for the same reason.
"And you!" He shouted, pointing at Hohma. "… I… Can't actually think of anything you did, but that just means you didn't do anything to me yet!"
"I have no idea what's going on," Hohma said deadpanned.
"Kieran appears to be unleashing years of pent-up anger and frustration, which seems to be having an adverse affect on the environment," ANNA said, pointing at the ground.
"Oh, knock it off! 'Ooh, I'm ANNA, a really smart robot girl from the future, I'm so much better than everyone else, everyone look at how smart I am, beep boop!'" Kieran jeered mockingly.
"That sounds absolutely nothing like me," ANNA said. "For one thing, I would never use a contraction. For another, I would never say 'beep boop,' that is highly offensive. Finally, I am not a robot, I am-"
"NOBODY FUCKING CARES!" Kieran shouted.
"Kiki! That's enough!" Carmine yelled. "Apologize this instant!"
"Why should I? You never do!" Kieran yelled.
"Of course I have-"
"All the times grandma or grandpa or the caretaker or Miss Briar made you apologize don't count!" Kieran interrupted. "When have you ever apologized on your own?"
"Well, that's… I… What about…" Carmine stammered, looking confused, and then dismayed. "I… Surely I must have… Right?"
ANNA frowned. "Kieran. You are angry at all of us-"
"Except me," Hohma spoke up.
"Give it time," Kieran snarled.
"But what does any of that have to do with your current actions?" The techno-organic girl pressed. "Why did you steal the masks, and why are you destroying the shrine to the Loyal Three?"
"Oh, now you ask," Kieran sneered. "Okay, how's this? I listened to you all talking with grandpa last night. I heard everything."
Carmine gasped. "Everything? Then-"
"That's right! I know the whole story!" Kieran exclaimed. "How our family helped Ogerpon and her master hundreds of years ago! How the Loyal Three are nothing but thieves and murderers! How the whole village revered them as heroes anyway… And how our family did nothing but lie and lie and LIE and are still lying! How grandpa told you to keep lying to everyone, and to me!"
"But, Kiki," Carmine protested. "I told him no! I said that everyone should know the truth, including you-"
"Liar!" Kieran accused.
"No, really, I told grandpa off and made him promise to tell you everything in the morning," Carmine insisted. "He said he tried to talk to you about it today, but you wouldn't open the door or answer the phone or take breakfast."
"You're still lying!" Kieran insisted.
"Kieran, I don't understand, you said you were listening in on everything, so why-" the confused Briar began.
"Kiki. Did nyou listen to whole conversation, or stop listening after grandpa say we keep secret from everyone, including nyou?" Julie asked, struck with a sudden realization.
There was an awkward pause. "I don't see why that should matter," Kieran said defensively as everyone groaned in exasperation. "I knew how it was going to go-"
"Oh for the love of… Are we really using this hackneyed old trope?" Hohma complained. "A misunderstanding and falling out caused by someone conveniently failing to get the whole context of an eavesdropped conversation?"
"Looks that way," Aliquis sighed.
"Kieran, we assure you, Carmine is telling the truth," Briar pleaded with her student. "All of us witnessed her stand up to your grandfather for your sake and everyone else's. It was very brave of her."
"And hot!" Julie added, causing Carmine to blush.
"I don't believe you! Everyone lies to me! Why should now be any different?!" Kieran demanded.
"Kieran, we are not lying," ANNA insisted. "I can even show you footage from last night to prove it."
"Yeah right, you probably edited it to make yourselves look good!" Kieran said disbelievingly.
"I am incapable of doing that. It is against my programming to lie or deceive in such a manner, much like my sister," ANNA reminded him.
"Which is exactly what a liar would say!" Kieran claimed.
ANNA paused to contemplate this. "… Regrettably, that is a logical point. If you truly will not allow yourself to trust any of us, then there is no rational argument any of us can use to change your mind."
"Yeah, it's like talking to someone on an online forum," Hohma realized. "The more reasonable you are, the angrier they get."
"But why did you steal the masks, and why are you trying to destroy the shrine?" Briar asked.
"And can someone please explain what the heck is going on with the ground, it's really freaking me out," Aliquis pointed out.
"Malice!" Julie hissed. "Darkest magic from home. Blood of Demon King. Shouldn't be here. Is!"
"Wait, hang on, there's a Demon King now-" Ohara stammered.
"Long story! Explain later!" Julie snapped.
"So, it's… Like, corrupting him or-" Hohma guessed.
Julie shook her head. "Nyo. This all him. He just making it worse. And if it gets too much… If he destroy shrine… We standing on top of grave of very evil Pokémon. Dead nyot stay dead for long."
"What, zombies?" Aliquis asked in dismay.
"G-g-g-ghosts?" Hohma asked nervously.
"Nyeither of those."
They sighed in relief.
"Worse."
They gulped.
"Kiki, did you hear that? You're going to wake the dead or something!" Carmine yelled. "Literally! You might literally wake the dead, because that's apparently something that can happen now! How is this my life?!"
"More lies!" Kieran denied. "This is why I took the masks! All of you are nothing but liars! None of you are worthy to hold them! None of you deserve to give them back to Ogerpon! But I do! I'm honest! I'm strong! I know what it's like to be shunned and alone, something none of you can possibly-"
"Kieran, my sister and I are literally not of this world, we are the only ones of our kind in this era and are constantly reminded of that fact every moment of every day, so we absolutely know what it's like to feel alone even when surrounded by others," ANNA interjected.
"And I'm trans," Ohara spoke up.
"Wait, really?" Hohma asked in surprise.
Ohara blinked. "Yeah, you didn't figure it out? I thought I pretty much spelled it out when I talked about what I said to my younger self."
"Oh… Oh wow, yeah, in hindsight that makes perfect sense," Aliquis realized.
"We had no idea," Hohma said apologetically. "I mean, you look… I-I mean, whatever procedure or meds you've been using… It, uh, it's really working out for you."
"Thanks!" O'Hara said happily. "But also, I think Mewstress's spell helped me get the rest of the way. For the first time in my life, I think I actually love myself."
"That's great!" Aliquis said. "And also, really sad."
"Happy to help!" Julie chirped.
"Shut up! None of you can possibly know how I feel!" Kieran whined.
"Kiki, you're too young to hit this stage of being a teenager, you haven't even reached puberty yet!" An exasperated Carmine pointed out.
"I have to!" Kieran insisted.
"You have not," ANNA confirmed after a quick scan.
"Shut up! I'm gonna tell everyone the truth about what really happened all those centuries ago and how grandpa and all of you have been covering it up, and how the Loyal Three are phonies and Ogerpon's the real hero, and I'm going to start by destroying this testament of lies! That and the masks will prove to Ogerpon I'm worthy of her, that I'm the only one she can count on, that only I can love her the way she deserves-"
"No, you cannot."
Everyone started, realizing Gardevoir and Ogerpon were now in their midst. "Wh-what? Where did you come from?!" Carmine squawked.
"The Crystal Pool. We were there, same as you," Gardevoir explained. "We just missed each other."
"Oh. Wait… Does… Does that mean…" Carmine asked hesitantly.
"That we had our own experience? We did," Gardevoir confirmed, glancing at a very unhappy-looking Ogerpon. "I… Will not speak of what I saw, but my mistress… Well. You can probably guess."
Everyone grimaced. "Oh. That's…" Aliquis stammered.
"Our condolences," ANNA said softly.
"It's… It's really you!" Kieran gasped, eyes sparkling. "You're here! Ogerpon!"
"Yeah. It's me," Ogerpon said wearily, Gardevoir translating for her.
"This is perfect! You can watch as I destroy this memorial to the monsters who killed your master, and then I'll give you the masks, and-" Kieran said giddily.
"I don't care about the shrine."
Kieran blinked. "Wh-what? But… But it's glorifying a bunch of murderers, murderers who took everything from you-"
"Your village is full of iconography glorifying them," Ogerpon said tiredly. "If I really cared about that, I'd have destroyed the shrine and all the other stuff myself." She paused, then admitted, "Well, all right, I suppose I did take no small amount of petty pleasure in co-opting the Festival of Masks for my big reveal, knowing full well the amount of grief the influx of tourists would cause the town-"
"I KNEW it!" Carmine shouted.
"But really, I feel like I deserve at least that much… Anyway, yeah, I killed the three of them. Does it hurt that people still worship them? Yeah, but… Honestly, I try to think as little about those three as I can. It wasn't… It wasn't a good period of my life. I can barely even remember doing it, I was just… So ANGRY… It was… Terrifying." She shuddered. "Killing them didn't make me happy. It didn't change anything. I've tried as hard as I can to put it behind me, and to not lose my temper like that again, but… Well, you read my manga. You know I didn't succeed as well as I might've liked."
"If you try not to think about it, then why did you write it down?" Briar asked.
Ogerpon shrugged helplessly. "It's my life story. I may have embellished a little here and there, but overall, it's faithful to my journey. Every journey has its start, no matter how awful. Though… Yeah, I don't exactly enjoy having to watch that moment being replayed in every new adaptation. Probably a good thing I always wear a mask, so nobody had to see how I really felt. In my defense, I never expected to become this popular."
"But you were so cool!" Kieran gushed. "You were so strong, nothing could stop you-"
"If that's the lesson you took from my story, then you missed the point completely, just like everyone in this village… And all those people I thought were my fans," Ogerpon said bitterly. "Yes, I'm strong. Yes, I've defeated countless adversaries. But it's also caused countless heartache, cost me people I thought were my friends, forced me to continue wandering with no place I could call home for decades at a time." She sighed. "I thought things would be different this time. I thought that if enough people knew the truth, if they heard the story from my perspective, it might change their minds. They might finally accept me. That's why I wrote the manga in the first place. That's why I came here, where it all started, to unmask myself, and to reclaim what's rightfully mine."
She gestured in the direction of the still smoldering Kitakami Hall. "And look how that turned out. Gardevoir warned me this might happen. I didn't listen. I thought that, after all this time, people had changed. I was wrong."
"But… People have changed!" Ohara protested. "I mean… Yeah, the people who formed a mob were awful, but… I'm sure there's lots of people out there who embraced your story and don't care that you're actually a Pokémon! We certainly don't!"
"I think it's actually pretty cool, I've never heard of a Pokémon writing a manga before," Hohma spoke up.
"You may be right," Ogerpon admitted. "But not enough of them, and not here. Now I'm not sure where I can go, where I'll be safe, but it certainly isn't here, and I don't know if the place I thought I could call home is safe anymore either. All I want now is to take my masks and disappear. Wouldn't be the first time I've had to leave everything behind and start over."
"But you don't have to go anywhere!" Kieran insisted. "You can stay here! With me! I'll protect you!"
Ogerpon shook her head. "That's sweet of you to offer, but-"
"After all, once you're my Pokémon, everyone will leave you alone and know I'm not someone to mess with!"
Everyone paused. Ogerpon's eyes were wide. Gardevoir's eyes narrowed. Carmine facepalmed. "Oh, Kiki…"
"What?" Kieran asked, confused. "Why is everyone looking at me like that?"
"Kieran," Briar said hesitantly. "Did it occur to you that perhaps Ogerpon might not want to be caught?"
"Why does that matter?" Kieran asked. "Humans catch Pokémon. Pokémon get caught. We throw balls at them and make them our friends so they can never ever leave us! That's how the world works!"
"… I have failed you as an educator," Briar realized.
"That's… I mean… I think it's a bit more complicated than that…?" Hohma asked uncertainly.
"Now that I think about it, I suppose there may be some ethical quandaries about trapping sentient living things in balls and forcing them to fight for you," Aliquis admitted.
"I'm pretty sure they want to be caught," Ohara said. "Well. Most of the time. I think."
"Yeah! So why are you acting like what I want is a bad thing?" Kieran demanded. "All of you have done it! Every single one of you!"
"There is a difference," ANNA insisted. "While I will admit even my sister and I have captured unwilling Pokémon, it was usually because they were a threat to our friends or ourselves, and we tried our best to de-escalate the situation beforehand. You are refusing to take into account Ogerpon's feelings simply because they do not match your view of reality."
"That's not true! Ogerpon wants to be with me, right Ogerpon?" Kieran asked Ogerpon pleadingly.
"Um. No? Not really?" Ogerpon said awkwardly.
Kieran stared. "I don't understand."
Ogerpon scratched the back of her head awkwardly. "Look, kid, I've been around a long time, and while I've made plenty of human friends or at least acquaintances, there's only one man I loved enough to want to spend the rest of my life with him. Well, the rest of his life anyway. And while I've met plenty of great people and trainers since then, none of them can really match up to him in my heart. To let myself be caught again feels like it would be betraying his memory, though I'll admit I have been tempted a few times and I guess I might be willing if I met the right person."
"Then-"
"But it's not you," Ogerpon interjected. "You don't value me for who I am. You don't take my feelings into account. You failed to understand the point of my story. You're just like all the other so-called fans who think they're entitled to me just because they've invested so much of their lives into my work, the ones who are working right alongside the angry townspeople who want to kill me just so they can get a piece of me. You don't want me, you don't love me, you love the idea of me, the version of me you've built inside your head, the one which will never and can never live up to reality.
"Also, you stole my masks and are projecting your desires onto me, you've been ranting and raving like a lunatic for the last several minutes and blaming everyone else for your misfortune and denying anything that doesn't conform to your worldview and are apparently about to inadvertently revive the three Pokémon I hate more than anyone else but refuse to admit it. Plus, Gardevoir's read your mind and checked out your fanfics-"
"You said you can't read unsolicited material!" Kieran blurted out.
"She can't, I can," Gardevoir said with a hint of smugness.
"So I know about your shrine and your SI/Ogress AKA me stories and the body pillow and the doujins, so add that all together and that's kind of a lot of red flags." She shrugged. "And all that aside, I don't even like humans that way, and even if I did, you're way too young. And the wrong gender."
Kieran started trembling as everyone else murmured in agreement.
"I know this isn't what you wanted to hear, but this is how it has to be," Ogerpon said apologetically. "So, if you could please just give me back my masks I would be very appreciative. I'll give you another autograph, let you take a picture of me, you can take whatever signed memorabilia you want… Pretty sure I've got a few first editions and movie posters around somewhere-"
"How… Could you…" Kieran whispered, shaking.
Carmine groaned. "Oh boy, here we go…"
"Kieran, please-" Briar started.
"How could you… Lie for her?!" Kieran shouted at Gardevoir.
Everyone stared at him. Carmine facepalmed. Gardevoir blinked. "What."
"There's no way Ogerpon would say any of those things!" Kieran insisted, pointing at the very confused Psychic. "Which means you're deliberately mistranslating for her!"
Gardevoir and Ogerpon exchanged bewildered looks. "That… Is absolutely not what is happening here."
"Kiki, sister and I understand Pokémon," Julie spoke up. "That is what Ogerpon say-"
"Right, because I should totally believe a liar like you!" Kieran snorted. "I'm not gonna fall for it! I'm gonna save Ogerpon from all of you, and if you get in my way…"
He held up a Pokéball. "I'll make you regret it."
Poliwrath glanced back and forth between his trainer and the shrine. "Does… Does that mean you want me to fight them, or should I keep smashing this, or…?"
"I didn't say you could stop!" Kieran shouted.
Poliwrath sighed and went back to work.
"Kieran, please, stop this!" Briar pleaded.
"Kiki, this isn't what mom and dad would want!" Carmine begged her brother.
"And how would you know what they want? They're dead!" He yelled.
"Because I just talked to them!"
Kieran did a double take. "Wh-what?"
"We just came from the Crystal Pool! We were there to find a Crystal Cluster to complete the Teal Mask, and while we were there, all of us experienced visions!" Carmine explained. "Julie and ANNA saw their mothers, Ms. Briar saw her ancestor, Ohara saw her… Younger self I guess, Hohma and Aliquis… Well, I don't actually know what they saw-"
"And you never will," Hohma said.
"And Ogerpon must've seen her former trainer, and me… I saw mom and dad," Carmine croaked, tearing up. "And they wanted me to tell you-"
"Shut up."
"Kiki-"
"Shut. UP!" Kieran shouted. "This is way too far, Carmine! You really think I'd believe something that ridiculous? I stopped buying into the Crystal Pool myth days ago! It's all just more lies to trick people into believing in stupid fairytales!"
"But it really happened-" Carmine protested.
"Oh yeah? I've been going up there for years and they never show up, but somehow you all go up there and just happen to see them? You really think I'm dumb enough to fall for that?!" Kieran shouted.
"I do not know why they never appeared all the other times you went there," ANNA said. "The only reason we experienced visions was because while running analysis on the pool we inadvertently drew the attention of-"
"Oh shut up, you stupid robot! Nobody cares what you have to say! You should never have come to this country in the first place!" Kieran yelled at her.
"I am honestly starting to feel the same way," she grumbled.
"Kiki, that's enough-" Carmine started.
"Poliwrath, Hydro Pump!"
"Huh? Okay, if you say so," Poliwrath grumbled as he turned away from the shrine and fired an incredibly powerful stream of water at Carmine's feet, causing her to yelp and stumble backwards. "Never really liked her anyway."
Everyone gasped. "Kieran!" Briar cried.
"Have I ever mentioned," Kieran snarled, shaking with rage. "How much I hate it when you call me that stupid nickname?"
"… You're sure he hasn't been corrupted? At all?" Aliquis asked the sisters.
"Nyo," Julie said.
"It is all him," a disgusted ANNA confirmed.
Aliquis nodded. "Oh. So he's just being a complete brat. Got it."
"Enough of this!" Gardevoir snapped, eyes glowing as she raised a hand. "This has gone on long enough. Little boy, it is long past time you took a nap-"
She gasped and cried out the instant she attempted to exert her influence on Kieran's mind, the malevolent light emanating from the ground around him suddenly growing bright enough to pierce her eyes. She collapsed to her knees, screaming as her mind was suddenly flooded with images of three shadowy figures with glowing eyes, a blood moon, a… Peach?… And what she could only describe as the face of purest evil.
"Gardevoir?!" Ogerpon exclaimed.
"Ngh… I am sorry, Mistress," Gardevoir grunted in pain. "It seems I will not be the one to retrieve your masks after all. Something is… Very wrong here."
"Okay, seriously, the obviously evil aura all over the place isn't setting off any alarms in your head?!" An incredulous Hohma yelled as Carmine, shaken by the fact that Kieran had actually tried to attack her, fell to the ground.
"If you say it's bad, then it must be good!" Kieran said stubbornly, to everyone's frustration.
Ogerpon growled. "Dammit… I'd hoped I wouldn't have to fight anyone to get back my masks, but if it's really come to this-"
"No."
Everyone looked at ANNA in surprise. "Sister?" Julie queried.
"Ogerpon, Kieran's sanity is already hanging on by a thread. For you, the source of his obsession, to turn on him may be the breaking point," ANNA pointed out. "In addition, your reputation at the moment is far from pristine. If a child runs into town shouting that the big nasty ogre beat up all his Pokémon and robbed him, you will lose any chance you have of winning back the public."
"… And what makes you think I even want to win back the public?" Ogerpon asked bitterly.
"If you did not, then why did you write your manga in the first place?" ANNA queried.
Ogerpon hesitated, then glanced down. "Fair enough. But then-"
"I will deal with Kieran," ANNA declared.
"What?!" everyone cried.
"ANNA, are you certain that is wise?" Briar asked in concern.
"Given the current situation, I believe it is the best option on hand," ANNA said. "Of all of us, only Julie, Carmine, and myself stand a chance of beating Kieran, and I think we can all agree a fight between siblings would be disastrous right now."
"He… He actually attacked me…" Carmine whispered, horrified.
"You know, a couple days ago I would've been offended that she didn't think I had what it takes, but now? Yeah, I can see it," Aliquis admitted.
Hohma and Ohara nodded. "We're not anywhere close to Mewstress's league," the new cat girl murmured.
"But why nyot Julie?" Julie demanded.
"Like Carmine, he views you as someone to blame for his perceived suffering, whereas I have not contributed as much to his mind," ANNA pointed out. "In addition, am I correct in theorizing that you may know a way to deal with this… Malice?"
"…Nyeah, there might be something…" Julie muttered. "Can't get rid of it easily, especially with Kiki there in middle… Might be able to mitigate it until he out of there. Then… We see."
"My dreams lately have been plagued by visions of you haunted by three great darknesses. They will come for you, and soon. Very soon. You will fight valiantly against them, but you will fail… Unless you use my darkest spell."
Julie gritted her teeth. Mother's darkest spell… Is this the disaster she was warning me about? It may not be too late to keep things from getting that far. God Beasts, please don't let it get that far…
"Very well. Kieran," ANNA said, turning back to the angry boy. "Would this be acceptable to you? A battle to determine possession of the masks?"
"Sounds good to me!" Kieran sneered. "And I want that crystal too! The Teal Mask is no good if I give it to Ogerpon unfinished!"
"And would I also be correct in guessing that you would find it incredibly disrespectful to you if I held back, like Julie did against your sister?" ANNA asked. "Enough to, hypothetically speaking, increase your anger levels enough it would make this outpouring of Malice even worse?"
"You were holding back?!" Carmine shrieked at Julie.
Julie nodded. "Nyeah. Nyou wanted nyour Pokémon still alive, right?"
Carmine blanched at this.
Kieran burst into harsh laughter. "She beat sis that easily while holding back?! Distortion World yeah, I want you to come at me full force! I refuse to be looked down on or not taken seriously anymore!"
"Full force?" Briar asked in alarm. "But, ANNA-"
"Miss Briar, as you are well aware, my sister and I agreed we must never use our Pokémon's full power in an official battle unless it is an emergency," ANNA told her. "Your student has become increasingly unstable and even tried to attack his own sister. In addition, so long as he is standing in the vicinity of that shrine, this buildup of malevolent energy will only increase. I would say this counts as an emergency. May I have your permission to engage him at full power, for the sake of expediency if nothing else?"
"… You have it," Briar lamented, already looking like she regretted this. "Kieran… I'm sorry. I can't protect you from what's coming."
"I don't need your protection!" Kieran scoffed.
"You may think differently in a matter of moments," ANNA said, eyes glowing and visor turning opaque. "Your chances of defeating me while I held back were already close to zero since there is only one trainer who has ever beaten me, and you are nowhere near her level of skill… But at full power, they are absolutely zero… Is what I would say if the laws of probability didn't dictate that it is actually impossible for anything to be 0% or 100% possible, so suffice to say that your already meager chances of victory are even smaller now."
Everyone stared at her blankly.
"Too long!" Julie yelled at her. "Trash talk nyeed to be shorter and in language people understand!"
"But I was speaking in a language people understand," the confused ANNA replied. "And accuracy is important."
"I don't care how strong you say you are!" Kieran bragged. "This is just like one of my fanfics! I'm going to force everyone to see the truth and catch Ogerpon and make her love me, and I can't lose, because I'm the hero!"
"That is incorrect, as I shall demonstrate," ANNA said. "Battle routine set: execute."
The compartment in her hip opened and ejected a Pokéball, which she snatched out of the air. She clutched it, circuit patterns forming on the surface. "Releasing limiters. Dispatching Almighty."
"I am here!" The Palafin declared as he emerged.
Julie tugged on Ohara's sleeve. "Come, nyeed to find spell components!"
"But what about the battle?" Ohara protested.
"Already knyow outcome, nyot as fun to watch when nyou already knyow how it ends," Julie said dismissively as she pulled her away.
A Water-type? Dipplin has an advantage against it, but Poliwrath is stronger, so… "Poliwrath, use Brick Break!" Kieran declared.
Poliwrath charged forwards, hand glowing as he prepared to strike Almighty with a karate chop.
"Almighty, execute Plan F."
"Roger."
The Palafin returned himself using Flip Turn, throwing up a splash of water in his wake as another Pokéball was ejected from ANNA's hip port, discharging Selena who received the karate chop to her head full force…
And didn't flinch. She smiled coyly at Poliwrath, whose eyes widened in disbelief right before shooting pain surged up his hand into his arm. "Hmm? Sorry, did you attack me? I didn't notice."
"She didn't even flinch! But Meowscarada are weak to Fighting type moves, aren't they?" An astonished Hohma exclaimed.
"They absolutely are," Aliquis confirmed.
"Selena is indeed weak to Fighting moves," ANNA explained. "But when the difference in skill and experience is this vast… It might as well not exist. Floramoon, and make sure not to damage the shrine."
"As you wish, Mistress," Selena purred, winking at the terrified Poliwrath. "Do you know how to fly?"
"I-I can't learn that move!" He protested, breaking out in a sweat.
Her grin grew wide, eyes glowing as circuit patterns formed all over her body. "Doesn't matter."
She struck the Tadpole Pokémon with Flower Trick, the resulting explosion causing fresh flowers to blossom from the ground as fireworks burst into the air, one of which was Poliwrath, screaming as he was bombarded with consecutive bursts of magic and flower petals.
Ohara paused in her gathering of sticks to look up at the display, awestruck. "Pretty!"
"Heh, sister likes to show off sometimes," Julie chuckled.
Kieran's jaw dropped, as did Poliwrath as the Pokémon smashed into the ground with a thud, completely knocked out. "Wh-what… How… You… You cheated!" He protested lamely.
"I remember you consenting for me to use my full strength-" ANNA began.
"Those commands you called out! Those aren't real moves!" Kieran yelled.
"No, they are not," ANNA agreed. "They are code phrases I have trained my Pokémon to recognize. They will know moves to use, while my opponents will not."
"That's cheating!" Kieran yelled angrily.
"No, it is strategy. I would not be the first trainer to use such a tactic," ANNA corrected him.
"Wait, I thought you weren't able to lie," Hohma pointed out.
"I am not lying," ANNA insisted. "I am merely utilizing alternative names for my Pokémon's moves. It is hardly my fault if my foes have not done their research on me or cannot deduce their meaning from context."
"Return!" Kieran snapped at Poliwrath, calling him back. "Let's see if a quad type advantage will have more of an effect! Go, Yanmega!"
The ancient dragonfly emerged from his ball, buzzing seriously.
"Huh, those bigger back home," Julie commented dismissively.
"Use Bug Buzz-"
"Selena, return. Dispatching Almighty," ANNA interjected, switching her starter for her Palafin, now in Hero mode.
"Once again, I AM HERE!" Almighty bellowed boisterously, the red soundwaves washing over him with little effect.
Nothing?! He should still have taken SOME damage! Kieran thought, gritting his teeth. Maybe it's time I use Dipplin… "Yanmega, return! Dipplin, I choose you!"
Yanmega was swapped out for what appeared to be a candied apple with two large yellow leaf-like eyestalks with small black pupils, a tall, thin protrusion similar to a horn or an antenna, and a green tail with a yellow-green underside with two leaf like features sticking out of the back.
"Who's that Pokémon?" Hohma wondered.
"Maybe some regional variant of Applin?" Aliquis suggested.
"Close, it's actually an Applin that has evolved after exposure to a Syrupy Apple, a regional specialty," Briar explained.
"Dipplin: the Candy Apple Pokémon," ANNA recited. "The head sticking out belongs to the fore-wyrm, while the tail belongs to the core-wyrm. The two share one apple and help each other out."
"… Now I kind of want a candy apple," Ohara admitted as Julie patiently showed her how to carefully leave a bunch of twigs, leaves, grass, and herbs together into tiny fetishes. (No, not that kind.)
"Maybe later," Julie told her.
"You might not want one so much after this one is finished! Use Syrup Bomb!" Kieran ordered.
"One for All," ANNA commanded.
"Mistralton Smash!" The Palafin bellowed as he shot forward with a Jet Punch. Dipplin barely managed to throw a large glob of syrup into Almighty's face just before he got hit with a water-powered uppercut that sent him flying into the sky and might have pulverized him completely if the hero had used a smidge less restraint. Almighty lit the syrup off his face and smiled. "Delicious!"
"How…h-how are you… So strong?!" Kieran stammered, barely remembering to return Dipplin before he could splatter against the ground.
"I have trained my Pokémon much more than you have yours, as well as enhanced them with nanomachines and genetic optimization," ANNA explained.
"Then you ARE cheating!" Kieran shouted irately.
"No, no, we talked about this on the plane, it's only cheating in the same way as using Pokémon with Pokérus, held items, great IVs, or special Egg moves could be considered cheating," Aliquis corrected him.
"As in, it's cheating if you're a whiny shit or 'purist,'" Hohma said disparagingly.
"And even so, I endeavor not to use such abilities to their fullest extent in official battles," ANNA explained. "However, both you and Ms. Briar gave me permission to go all out, so here we are."
"Then you've been conspiring against me from the start!" Kieran angrily accused Briar.
"I really haven't been," she said tiredly.
This isn't good… But no! I can still win, even if she is cheating! After all, I'm the hero! Kieran told himself. "Come on out, Cramorant," he decided, dispatching the seabird. "Now take to the skies! That Palafin may look like a superhero, but it can't fly!"
"You are correct," ANNA conceded. "In addition, Almighty is more of a physical fighter, so his long-range capabilities are somewhat limited, and as a flyer, it will be easier for Cramorant to dodge them.
"That is not, however, something which matters to Viola. Almighty, return. Viola, Electro Drift."
As the Palafin returned himself, Viola shot past, launching herself into the air in the form of a spinning electric ball which smashed into Cramorant, immediately knocking it out of the sky.
"Still nyo code name for that attack?" Julie asked as she and Ohara began planting the fetishes in a ring surrounding the Plaza.
"Considering that Viola is the only one of her kind in this era and the only one capable of learning this move, I do not feel there is a need," ANNA replied.
Julie rolled her eyes. "Sound lazy to Julie."
"Hush."
"N-no… I won't… I won't lose!" Kieran insisted, shaking with anger and more than a little fear as he recalled Cramorant, who had been electrified so badly all his feathers had been reduced to ash. "Go, Gligar!"
"I see. You are counting on Gligar's immunity to Electric moves to protect it from Viola," ANNA observed. "And because it is a Flying type as well, Almighty will be less effective against it due to his lacking much in the long-range department."
"Th-that's right!" Stammered Kieran, who actually hadn't thought of that.
"There is one flaw with this plan, however," ANNA said as she gestured for Viola to come back and pulled out a Pokéball. "While he doesn't have much in the form of Special moves…"
She threw out the ball, once again dispatching Almighty.
"I am here! Again!"
"That does not mean he has none. Almighty, Hadouken."
"Plus Ultra!" Almighty bellowed, forming a massive blue energy ball between his gloves.
"Oh shit… Gligar, dodge it!" Kieran frantically yelled at his very intimidated Pokémon.
"He cannot. Aura Sphere never misses," ANNA pointed out.
"Then… Use Rock Tomb defensively!" Kieran yelled, thinking quickly.
Gligar dove down and struck the ground with one claw, causing giant rocks to burst out of the soil around him to form a stony defensive wall.
"A clever tactic. But insufficient," ANNA said as Almighty threw the Aura Sphere at the rock wall.
The stones didn't stand a chance. They weren't broken so much as vaporized by the sheer strength of the attack, which barely even blunted the amount of damage Gligar took, more than enough to knock him out.
"No!" Kieran cried in disbelief. "How… How is this happening?! I'm the hero!"
"No, I am!" Almighty pointed out.
"He has a point," Hohma admitted.
"I don't think that really counts, I mean, there must be at least some bad guys who have a Palafin… Right?" An uncertain Aliquis wondered.
Almighty laughed. "As if a true hero would allow himself to be caught by those who lack justice in their hearts!"
"And Gligar is resistant to Fighting moves!" Kieran insisted lamely.
"As I said before, with enough experience and skill, type advantage means little. Kieran, I have defeated more than half your team and lost none of mine," ANNA pointed out. "As I said before, your chances of winning now are almost 0%."
"A hero doesn't care about the odds! He wins anyway, because the narrative is on his side, even when logically speaking he shouldn't be due to the author writing themselves into a corner, which is totally something that's never happened to me!" Kieran insisted, angrily recalling Gligar. "Here we go again, Yanmega!"
"Almighty-" ANNA started.
"Use Giga Drain!" Kieran ordered quickly.
Buzzing his wings, the spikes on Yanmega's back glowed green and fired beams of energy which shot through the air and pierced the pink symbol on Almighty's chest, causing him to gasp. "No! How did you know that was my weak spot?!"
"It is? I mean, of course it is! It's so obvious!" Kieran rallied quickly. "Drain every last drop you can, Yanmega! After all the fighting he's done, he must have lost some of his stamina!"
Yanmega nodded as energy started flowing up the tendrils he'd injected into Almighty and into his body. "Yeah! I'm feeling energized already! There's so much power here…" He blinked, beginning to wobble in the air. "Maybe… Too much…"
Kieran blinked. "What?"
"No… I don't understand…" Yanmega rasped. "This power… It's more than any one Pokémon could have accumulated in a lifetime! It's like a power that has been cultivated across generations, passed down from hero to hero, stockpiling strength across time as the torch is passed from one champion to the next!"
Kieran stared. "No, seriously, what?"
"That's right! The power of a hero's heart… Is INFINITE!" Almighty declared, flexing his muscles and deliberately pumping even more energy into Yanmega, who cried out and was sent flying back, the cords connecting them severing.
"Really, WHAT?!" Kieran yelled.
"… When did this turn into an anime?" Aliquis wondered.
"I think it always was," Hohma replied.
"By the way, Gardevoir, thank you for translating all this so we can actually understand what's going on," Briar thanked the Psychic.
"You're welcome."
Ogerpon, meanwhile, was scribbling in a notebook. "Assuming I'm not blacklisted from the industry, have to disappear, and start all over again as an even more reclusive mystery mangaka… I have such an amazing idea for a new story. We have to interview ANNA and her sister when we get the chance."
Julie screamed in excitement and hugged an equally excited Ohara. "Sister! Nyou hear?! O-PEN make manga about us!"
"This is one of the most incredible things that has ever happened to me," ANNA stated placidly.
"No! NO! Ogerpon is coming with me! She's gonna write about ME and make my fanfics canon!" Kieran yelled furiously.
"That will never happen. Almighty, it is time to end this. One for All," ANNA commanded.
"Virbank Smash!" Almighty bellowed as he shot forward with Jet Punch.
"Why does he yell the name of a different Unova city every time he does that?" Ohara wondered as she and Julie placed the last of the fetishes.
"It is a tactic intended to confuse his opponents and make them second-guess themselves and their trainer's orders, when in reality he is just using the same technique every time," ANNA explained.
"Oh, I see."
"It is not the same move every time! There are subtle variations!" Almighty insisted. "For instance, sometimes I use my left flipper!"
"Yanmega, dodge it!" Kieran cried frantically.
And then, to everyone's astonishment, he did.
"What?!" Almost everyone cried.
"Nyah?!" Julie and Ohara squealed.
"Nani?!" Almighty exclaimed.
"This is… Unexpected," ANNA remarked.
Yanmega started laughing insanely. "…Ah… Aha…AHAHAHAHAHA!" He cackled as he started chaotically zipping through the air, leaving red and green motion blurs in his wake. "The power! The POWER! All that delicious energy I absorbed, that crystallized power cultivated across generations, now MINE… I've never felt more powerful! I feel like I can defeat that Palafin! No, his entire team! No, EVERYONE'S teams!"
"Curses… Is this how I am to fail my sacred duty? Not to my nemesis All for 108, but a random trainer's Pokémon?" Almighty grunted.
"Are they… Are they doing a bit?" A bewildered Hohma asked.
"I feel like we're missing a ton of context here," Aliquis commented, scratching his head.
"Oh nyeah, it long story, explain later," Julie said, clasping her paws together, rubbing them a few times, and meowing, causing the tips of every fetish to ignite, a soothing scent filling the air and causing the malefic light to diminish slightly.
"Must… Know… More," Ogerpon murmured as she feverishly filled page after page of her notebook, her tongue sticking out and making her look adorable in a way that made Gardevoir coo.
"This is great!" Kieran cried in delight. "This means I really am the hero! At the last minute, just when all hope seemed lost, a completely unexpected twist of fate with no foreshadowing whatsoever turned everything around so I can win, just like in my stories!"
"That is called a deus ex machina, this is not quite that, and that is a terrible writing technique," ANNA replied.
"It is not!" Kieran said stubbornly.
"No, it is," Ogerpon spoke up, causing him to bluster and turn red and pretend she hadn't said anything.
"Yanmega, use Air Slash! With your improved speed and agility, there's no way he can hit you now!" Kieran commanded.
"I could still use Aura Sphere-" ANNA pointed out.
"He's too fast for that now!" Kieran bragged.
"That is not how Aura Sphere works. At all."
Kieran ignored her, grinning gleefully as Yanmega zipped around wildly, flinging Air Slashes at Almighty from all angles, the Palafin grunting as he was bombarded by the wind blades. "Curses… My own power, turned against me… This is the price for my hubris…"
"It is not," an irritated ANNA said, losing her patience. "I grow tired of this. Almighty, return. Viola, Electro Drift."
"Yanmega, dodge!" Kieran commanded.
"Yeahaha! I'm too fast now! Nothing can touch me-" Yanmega bragged as he flew chaotically all over the place right until Viola smashed into him, her targeting software allowing her to hit him with perfect accuracy, immediately knocking him out.
Kieran's jaw dropped. As did Yanmega. "What?"
"Yeah! Good job!" Hohma cheered.
"Only one more to go!" Aliquis agreed.
"No, that was the last one, he only brought five Pokémon," ANNA informed him as Kieran stared at the defeated Yanmega, dumbstruck.
"Oh. That was anti-climactic," Hohma muttered.
"Didn't you guys talk about how weird it is that so many trainers don't have a full team of six Pokémon on them at all times on our first day here?" Aliquis recalled. "I distinctly remember hearing that while I was in the depths of my existential dread."
"Oh yeah, I remember now," Hohma remembered. He paused "… And none of us have actually gotten around to taking that advice to heart, apparently."
Aliquis nodded. "We really should do something about that."
"Woo hoo! Sister win!" Julie cheered. "Nyot that outcome was ever in doubt, of course."
"Well, I was kind of worried for a second when Yanmega got that power boost," Ohara admitted.
Julie scoffed. "He nyowhere nyear strong enough to beat Almighty. And even if he did, what, he supposed to beat rest of team all by self?"
"I suppose that's true," Ohara admitted.
"Well done," ANNA told Viola, gently petting her as she returned to her side. "Kieran. You surprised me. I had anticipated only requiring two Pokémon at the maximum to defeat you, and I wound up using three instead. You fought-"
A rock smashed into her face, cracking her visor and nearly putting out an eye.
"Shut up! JUST SHUT UP!" Kieran screamed at ANNA, red in the face, as everyone stared at him in horror. "You, you cheated! You're a bully! A cheating bully who picks on trainers weaker than you-"
He was interrupted when a livid Julie slammed him into the shrine, cracking it. "And nyou mean, nasty boy!" She yowled at him, irate. "Thief! Selfish! Entitled! Sore loser! Cruel! Blame everything on others and whine about how mean they being when they nyot do what nyou want! Want sister to go all out, then blame her for winning! We nyo longer friends! Ogerpon nyot love nyou! Ogerpon nyever love nyou! Nyobody love-"
ANNA gently put a hand on Julie's shoulder. "Sister. That is enough."
Julie glanced up at ANNA, tears in her eyes. "But he… He hurt you!"
"And I am already recovered," ANNA assured her, gesturing at her visor and eye, which had already repaired themselves. "You see? No lasting harm done. Nor is there any need to do lasting harm to Kieran."
"… Fine," Julie growled, reluctantly letting go of Kieran. "Hate stench of Malice anyway, and he reek of it."
ANNA glanced down at Kieran, who glared up at her with resentment and anger and not a hint of gratitude. She had not expected any. Many people despised being rescued deep down, because it reminded them of how small and weak they really were, especially if it was by someone they despised. "Kieran. You have lost the battle. Please hand over the masks."
"No!" Kieran growled. "They're mine!"
"No, they are Ogerpon's," ANNA told him. "Which you already know."
"She can have them back, just as soon as she-" Kieran started.
"Kieran."
Kieran stopped talking.
"You have lost the battle. It is time to return the masks," ANNA stated. "It is the law that if a wager was established at the start of a battle, all parties must abide by the terms set. Even hardened criminals abide by this rule. Are you telling me you are worse than a hardened criminal, Kieran?"
Kieran clenched his teeth and glanced at everyone else – the people he'd been shouting abuse at only a few minutes ago – for help. All he got were cold stares in return. "M-Miss Briar? Come on-"
Briar sighed and shook her head. "She's right, Kieran. The law is the law. I thought I taught you that much… Then again, it seems I didn't do as good a job as I thought I had."
"S-sis?" Kieran pleaded.
"I don't even know you anymore," Carmine whispered, looking broken.
"… Ogerpon-"
"No," Ogerpon said bluntly. "Give her the masks and go. I never want to see you again. Consider your membership in my fan club canceled, and you're definitely blacklisted from all future events."
Kieran shook angrily, having the gall to look betrayed. He cried out, punched the shrine, then angrily threw the four masks at the ground and ran away, sniffling and wailing.
"Kik-KIERAN!" Carmine shouted, trying to stand up, only to collapse again, still not fully over the shock of Poliwrath's attack.
"Should… We go after him?" Hohma asked uncertainly.
"Do we want to?" Aliquis asked doubtfully.
"I do not believe our chasing after him will resolve matters," ANNA said wearily. "Nor am I, admittedly, inclined to do so at this moment. I suspect we will run into him again soon. It is not that large a country, after all."
"He may make trouble for us," Julie commented. "Tell villagers how mean girl beat him up and take masks."
"At this point, I am uncertain I care," ANNA confessed. "I am growing quite sick of Kitakami. The sooner we leave, the better."
"… I'm starting to feel the same way," Carmine admitted bitterly.
Ohara sighed. "I wish it hadn't come to this… Was this our fault?"
"I know for a fact it's mine," Carmine commented soberly. "That was… Awful. I don't know how we can ever recover from this."
"Do not be so quick to give up just yet," ANNA told her. "All siblings fight. I know that the rift between you and Kieran may seem insurmountable, but that does not mean your relationship is beyond saving."
Julie nodded. "Yeah! Julie always forgive ANNA in the end, even when she use all hot water from taking long shower!"
"You rarely use the shower anyway given you clean yourself with your tongue, and when you do shower you always clog the drain," ANNA complained.
"Nyou not need shower either! Have self-cleaning magic micro machines!" Julie retorted. "Why nyou take so long?!"
"… Sometimes a girl likes to feel hot water pouring all over her chassis or run through her microfilaments…" ANNA muttered, looking embarrassed. "We do not have showers like that back home, we have evolved past them, which in hindsight I am not certain was the correct thing to do."
"I'm sorry for my brother," Carmine apologized to Ogerpon.
"Trust me, he's not the worst fan I've ever had to deal with," she said wearily. "Not nearly as bad as the guy who ran me over with his truck, locked me in his basement while he helped me 'recover,' and forced me to try and change the story in the way he wanted."
"No, Kieran is definitely worse, I've seen his fanfics, at least the other one had a proper understanding of grammar and literary theory and actually knew how interspecies sex worked," Gardevoir told her.
"Oh. I stand corrected," Ogerpon commented. "Your brother is the worst fan I've ever had to deal with."
Carmine grimaced.
"At least we have finally retrieved the masks," ANNA said, picking up the masks. "At long last, they will finally be yours once again, Ogerpon."
Ogerpon smiled in gratitude. "Thank you so much. I owe you… More than I can possibly say. Adding you to The Ogre's Tale and maybe even giving you your own spinoff, if not a completely new series altogether, is the least I can do." She frowned. "Assuming that's even still an option, after this."
"Can we be in it too?!" Ohara asked excitedly.
"I'm sure I can fit you into a panel or two."
She squealed ecstatically.
"And now that Kieran is gone, the malevolent energy seems to be reduced… Though it is not going away," ANNA noted in concern.
"Yeah, what are we gonna do about that?" Aliquis asked.
Julie frowned and scratched her chin. "Well, stakes hold Malice in check for nyow. Still nyeed to quell, and figure out how it got here in first place. Shouldn't be possible, supposed to be limited to my world. Anyone got starmetal or wood from Tree of Life? Julie fresh out."
"Regrettably, I left my meteorite collection back home," ANNA said, a remorseful look on her face.
"Grandpa might?" Carmine said dubiously. "He has all sorts of odds and ends he uses to make masks."
"Is it safe for us to go and check?" Hohma asked anxiously. "Are you sure the undead Loyal Three won't crawl out of the ground and go around eating brains the minute we leave?"
"No, of course nyot," Julie chided him. "Demonspawn nyot eat brains."
Strangely, this did not reassure him.
"Should be okay so long as stakes remain and nyobody with lot of hate in heart steps in here," Julie continued. "And shrine stay intact. Good thing Kieran didn't break it, or we all doomed."
Cracks began spiderwebbing from the spot Kieran had punched. With a shattering sound, the shrine collapsed completely.
Everyone stared. "Oh poop," Julie said just before there was a terrific explosion.
Meanwhile, in Alola…
Nemona sighed blissfully as she lay in a pile of incredibly cute, cuddly, very affectionate Pokémon who adored her the minute she leapt into their habitat and started playing with them. Now that she was far from the stressful and toxic environment created by her family, surrounded by people who loved her unconditionally, was gifted a new prosthesis made by the girl she loved, and her nanomachines no longer needed to work overtime breaking down gene cleanser, her transformation had accelerated leaps and bounds as if to make up for lost time. Her hair had grown back and then some, her fangs had lengthened and sharpened, her organic eye was now almost completely a cat eye, stripes had begun forming on her skin and face, and she now had feline ears and a tail.
And that was just on the surface! Her prosthetic eye's readout helpfully told her that her bones had been reinforced to the point they were practically made of metal now, her organs had multiple redundancies, her already greatly extended life expectancy had tripled, and she had these really cool glowing circuit line patterns on her skin which didn't actually do much but looked super rad.
She felt whole again. Complete. Happy.
Seriously, she couldn't believe how happy she was. It was like every cell and circuit in her body was singing with so much joy she felt like she was going to burst.
She wanted to… She didn't know what she wanted to do! She wanted to keep lying there being cuddled by these wonderful Pokémon – many of whom also had suffered abuse, the poor dears, she wanted to hug them so bad, so she did – while basking in the artificial sunlight of the vast indoor set of biomes making up the core of Aether Paradise, but there was so much else she wanted to do to! She wanted to hug her new moms! Swim laps in the ocean with Mom's partner! Fly through Ultra Space on her new sister! Fight either of her moms on the amazing flying stadium which they just happened to have because Mama was filthy stinking rich and could just do that apparently! Explore Alola! Compete in a new League! She wanted to run and dance and sing and fight and fuck!
Oh, wow she really missed her girlfriends. She felt the tiniest bit sad at this, only to quickly get over it due to just how ebullient she was, her (apparently literal) sex drive revving up at the thoughts of all the things she was going to do to the twins or let them do to her the next time they saw each other.
"Having fun?"
Nemona glanced up at her new parents, who were smiling at her happily over the railing of a nearby elevated walkway. A part of her wanted to leap onto the walkway and hug them and purr and scent mark them. Another part of her didn't want to budge. She was soooo comfortable.
"This place really is paradise," she said blissfully.
"Well, it's about to get better," Selene said, eyes twinkling with delight and a little mischief. "You've got a visitor who's come a long way to see you!"
Nemona blinked. "A visitor?"
A familiar scent tickled her nose.
Squealing in delight and startling her cuddle buddies, she immediately leapt onto the walkway, tackling a very startled Penny to the ground and nuzzling her affectionately. "PENPEN!"
"… Yeah, probably should've seen this coming," Penny murmured, blushing as Nemona kissed her enthusiastically and Selene and Lillie laughed at them.