The sound of crickets chirping filled the night as the group walked on a path next to the Enchained Forest, much to Infernape and Gengar's chagrin,
"Arrrrgh. Why the fuck are we walking so late?"
"I know, it's midnight, we should be asleep." The two complained as they continued down their path. Ampharos nervously piped up,
"Try not to yell so loud, you'll attract a bear or a wolf or some other scary creature."
"Come on guys," Gardevoir joined in, "You were the one who insisted we go early."
"Not this early! I meant like 1:00 pm like normal people." Gengar snapped. Aggron laughed at the back and forth.
Infernape suddenly felt unnerved, like he was being watched. The others felt that same unease as they slowed down. They looked into the Enchained Forest and it felt like it was staring back. The infinite blackness hid some untold evil that was everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Ampharos finally stated what was on everyone's mind,
"Guys, I think there's something in there."
As if on cue, blue vines shot out from the forest, moving as though they had a mind of their own. Before they could react, the vines already tangled Infernape and Gardevoir.
"WHAT THE HELL!" Infernape yelled as he was effortlessly dragged into the darkness. Gardevoir followed closely behind him, yelling in panic as she disappeared into the forest. Aggron told Ampharos and Gengar to,
"Get down, Now!" and grabbed the vines that tried to capture him. The vines started moving on their own and wrapped around Aggrons's hands. They pulled him towards the forest and Aggron pulled against their grip. Aggron, however, was losing and was slowly getting dragged into the forest, his feet creating a wave of dirt on the ground. More blue vines grabbed Ampharos and yanked him into the darkness. Before he was dragged away, Ampharos yelled at Gengar,
"RUN! GET HELP!" before disappointing into the woods, screaming in terror. Aggron finally lost his footing as more vines enveloped him and he was dragged into the forest, leaving Gengar by himself. The vines tried to grab him but he just made himself incorporeal.
"Welp, they're dead. Goodbye, adios, au revoir! Best of luck to you guys!" Gengar declared to the darkness as he turned to walk away. He stopped himself before even taking a step, as he took a brief glance back into the trees. Gengar stared at it for a minute, closing his eyes and cringing at himself. Eventually, he sighed, threw his hands into the air, and said, "Fuck it," before sprinting into the forest.
He ran and jumped over stumps and fallen trees, using the moonlight to navigate through the forest. Searching for any sign of his allies.
"Stupid trees, where is everyone?" He then had an idea, it was stupid but it was worth a shot. He yelled at the top of his lungs,
"OH NO! I AM LOST IN THE WOODS AND ALSO AM CORPOREAL NOW!" Surprisingly, the blue vines returned and tried to capture him. He just smirked and became incorporeal again. This time, however, he used the vines as a guide, following them closely as they returned to their owner. Gengar's eyes laid upon a large figure. The figure was covered in the blue vines that had captured Gengar's comrades. The figure turned and laid his eyes on the ghost type, what Gengar wasn't expecting was that the figure's eyes were filled with fear. The figure started waving his 'hands,' yelling,
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! IT'S DANGEROUS OUT THERE!" Gengar stopped,
"You gaslighting bitch! You kidnapped a bunch of people!" he yelled as he prepared for battle. The Tangrowth shook his head,
"I was saving them. They would've been killed if I hadn't saved them."
"Sure, buddy, and I'm the king of Atlantis."
"Gengar, is that you?" A female voice asked as Gardevoir came out from behind Tangrowth with no sign of restraint or brainwashing afflicting her.
"Gardevoir, can you please explain to me what the hell is going on?" Gengar demanded and Gardevoir obliged.
"While Aggron, Ampharos, and Infernape were in recovery, a murderer set foot in the forest. He's been tearing his way through the population of the forest. The only thing consistent about the deaths is that they occurred at night and all the victims' throats were slir, so that's why Tangrowth grabbed us. Luckily, they managed to find someone to help find the killer. So once it's morning, we can go home." Gardevoir explained, Gengar just listened with a blank expression. He blinked and shook his head,
"Okay, so, there are are a million problems with dumbfuck's logic." He said.
"Hey!" yelled Tangrowth, "Take that back!"
"Alright, you're dumb."
"...HEY!" snapped Tangrowth. Gardevoir groaned in frustration as the rest of the group caught up. After calming down, Tangrowth showed them a massive tree that they could rest in. After finding their beds they finally got some sleep, well, most of them. Gengar sat up awake,
Thinking to himself. He looked over to Infernape and the others. Shaking his head, he attempted to clear his mind. This was a vacation for him. A little break to relax, chill, and take on some minor gigs. The group might as well have been the staff at the luxury hotel he was metaphorically living in. This…this was just him protecting the staff. Yeah, that was it. They were giving him a good time and he didn't want the vacation to end just yet. Of course, it was that simple. That was all it was. He didn't need to worry.
As the morning sun rose, Gardevoir awoke to two voices coming from outside the tree, one of which was Tangrowths, and one that was strangely familiar to her. It was low and gravelly with a southern accent, like the narrator of a western cowboy movie. Gardevoir rubbed her eyes as she tried to remember where she had heard that voice. She stumbled to the exit and she saw Tangrowth and the second figure. He was reptilian and had a long neck. Two crests were on his head and his yellow eyes had red rims. Six yellow seeds went down his back, leading to a large, leaf-like tail. Her eyes widened as she recognized the figure. She gasped, but quickly covered her mouth and hid inside the tree. She shook her head,
"Calm down, it's fine. It's just one of your childhood heroes standing within two meters from you, stay calm."
"Is there someone in there?" The voice suspiciously asked Tangrowth.
"Oh yeah, just some people I saved from the killer." Gardevoir took one last breath to relax and stepped out to see her idol.
"Hi, I-I am Gardevoir, it's an honor to meet you, Sceptile." She greeted as she bowed. Sceptile shook his head,
"No need for the formalities, I'm just doing my job." He said. Every word he spoke demanded respect and authority, yet it never felt like he looked down on you. He outstretched his hand for Gardevoir to shake. She did and Sceptile did take note of how tight her grip was. Infernape and Aggron woke up next and were confused about the fuss.
"Gardevoir, what is going on? Who is this." Infernape asked. Gardevoir was shocked that he didn't know who Sceptile was.
"I can't believe you guys don't know him. He, Swampert, and Blaziken saved Hoenn! They were the ones who arrested Absol. They saved thousands of lives on their quests." Sceptile smirked at the psychic type,
"Well, well, looks like I got myself a fan." Gardevoir blushed,
"W-Well, I feel like everyone should know about the good you have done." She muttered in embarrassment. Infernape chuckled as Gardevoirs sudden bashfulness,
"What's the matter, wanna look cool in front of your hero?"
"S-shut up! You're embarrassing me." She fretted, covering her face. Another voice piped in from within the tree,
"Don't worry, you're doing a pretty good job of that on your own." Gengar mocked as he emerged from the tree. However, he froze when he saw Sceptile. His face contorted into a smile but he was panicking on the inside.
Sceptile had a vague feeling in his gut. He had never seen this Gengar before and yet, he felt like he should know who he is. Perhaps Blaziken would know more about this. She was more involved in the investigation than he was. Still, he'd hold onto his suspicions, for now, he didn't intend to make enemies here.
Gengar outstretched his hand quickly, trying not to appear suspicious,
"Hi, how are you?" Sceptile shook the ghost's hand and simply replied,
"Hunting down this murderer," Sceptile then addressed the group, "Listen up, we've got ourselves a serial killer. I would encourage you all to stay here until I am sure it's safe. If this is who I think it is, then I cannot afford to take risks." The group nodded in agreement, now was not the time for needless risk. However, as it would turn out, they wouldn't have a choice.
Gardevoir was sitting by herself on a branch on top of a tree, having used her psychic powers to get there. She made sure she could see the tree where they were staying. Her mind wandered as her thoughts went back to Sceptile. She sighed in wonder as she thought of his exploits.
"I can't believe I finally got to meet him. He's so modest and kind and his voice is just as awesome as in the shows." She silently gushed fond memories of her childhood, watching Sceptile on the television through the morning until she went to sleep. Memories of watching him in wide-eyed awe as he effortlessly defeated the bad guys. The nostalgia gave her a warm feeling inside her. She asked out loud, "I wonder if he'll let me train with him?" She then began to backtrack in her head. The day Infernape called her out on her behavior was still very fresh in her mind. Does she deserve to become a Senshi, one of the most prestigious organizations you could possibly join if she had that stain on her record? Was her ego too much and she would end up leaving an ally and letting the villain succeed just to say she saved a life? But then again, what about her sisters?
Gardevoir was the oldest of three sisters. Her father was an immigrant from Kalos who eventually married her mother and settled down here. They moved into their newest home and then had her, followed years later by Tsumi and Fushigi, a Kirlia and Ralts respectively. They were young, about eight and five years old, and, at that age, she had looked up to the Senshi as heroes, watching the interviews and the video, which admittedly told a much more squeaky clean version of the events, which was fair given how violent things could get if the battle between Venasaur, Charizard, and Blastoise against Mewtwo was anything to go by. In any case, the Senshi inspired her to try and become a hero. Now her sisters were at that age and she wanted to be their hero.
She shook her head and started to use her powers to descend from the tree. Now was not the right place for this discussion. She needed someone else's opinion, probably her parents.
Only her powers didn't activate. She yelped as she fell from the branch and started to tumble down, getting scratched by thorns and sticks. She grabbed around trying to latch onto any stick or branch to stop or slow her fall. She managed to briefly grab a branch but it snapped under her weight and speed. She slammed to the ground, a crack echoing through the forest as she screamed in pain. Her yells were silenced by a hand clasping onto her mouth. The hand tasted like cold, hard steel, with a hint of copper.
"Tsk, tsk. Lucky you, just the right place at just the right time," said a voice, that was filled with arrogance, appearing to enjoy this. The figure let go of Gardevoir's mouth and revealed himself. He was a tall, red, and gray figure who looked like he was wearing armor. His head had the blade of an ax sticking out. Two additional u-shaped blades stuck out of his sides. Gardevoir felt an overwhelming sense of fear, it was like staring into the eyes of the grim reaper.
"Let me go, please!" Gardevoir begged as a blade emerged from the murderer's wrist. He shook his head as he approached her,
"No no no no no no no no. I haven't had my fun yet." He smirked condescendingly. Gardevoir tried again to scream but he stomped her head into the mud. Gardevoir tried again to use her powers but they weren't working. Fearing the worst, she struggled even more.
"If you're wondering why you can't use your psychic attacks, I used disable." He bragged.
"Disable? But that only disables one attack?!" asked Gardevoir.
"Not with proper training. I can shut down an entire type," said Bisharp, raising his blade to finish the job. Gardevoir shut her eyes as she prepared for her demise.
A leaf scrapped the cheek of the murderer as green vines reached out to grab him. The murderer sliced up the vines with ease and turned to his victim only to find that she was nowhere to be found. He heard something being thrown at him and jumped out of the way. A yellow sphere landed and exploded into a huge miasma of spores where the murderer once was. A green figure emerged from the cloud with anger in his eye.
"Well partner, bout time you showed your face around here." Sceptile provoked as the leaves on his arm became razor sharp. His opponent scoffed as he unsheathed his wrist blades as well,
"Oh really, do you even know who you are talking to?"
"Indeed I do actually, Bisharp, age: 34, born in Weskrin on November 24th, 2224. You were banished from your hometown and since then, you have been on a nonstop rampage throughout Nihonera." Sceptile stated as he approached Bisharp.
"Wow, it looks like someone did some research, good job." He patronized, clapping his hands slowly.
"Indeed I have. Good to know you ain't a dumbass. But enough talk, let's have ourselves a hog killing time!" Sceptile insulted before he lunged at Bisharp and slashed at him with his claws, Bisharp's eyes glowed before leaning his head to dodge. Bisharp then grabbed Sceptiles hand and smirked confidently.
Vines reached from the dirt, picked him up, and slammed him into the ground. Bisharp gasped in pain, wondering how Sceptile could do this. Grass-type attacks were…oh no. Sceptile had outsmarted him, he used a normal type attack to fake out the disable. He could only use it again after five minutes were up so now, he was stuffed. Bisharp roared as he kicked up. He slashed at Sceptile in a rage. Sceptile easily dodged each and every attack. Bisharp fell down and swiped at Sceptile's legs, knocking him down onto his back. Bisharp slashed at him but it was blocked, slashing his arm, and countering by controlling a tree root and slamming it into Bisharp's chest. Bisharp flew across the air and decided that enough was enough and retreated.
As the effects of the attack wore off, Sceptile recovered and spat,
"Coward." before turning to Gardevoir, carefully wrapped inside a pile of leaves.
He uncovered Gardevoir and the bag he hid with her. Sceptile opened the bag and pulled out a large tub filled with a light pink substance and hydrogen peroxide. He used the cap of the peroxide as a cup and filled it to the brim, warned Gardevoir that,
"This is going to sting, but it's gonna clean your wounds." and poured the liquid onto her skin. She hissed in pain as Sceptile poured more hydrogen peroxide onto her wounds, after that, he scooped up a small blob of the pink cream and started to gently rub at the minor scratches and bruises, which were healed almost instantly. Sceptile then shot a seed into the ground, which immediately grew into a berry bush. He ground up a few of those berries into a paste and he fed it to Gardevoir.
She had a larger wound on her head, hidden within her hair, only being noticed because of the blood that stained it. After he stopped the bleeding with cotton balls, he rubbed the pink substance onto the wound and then wrapped it up with a bandage. "This gel attracts the repair cells in your body and gives them a temporary boost. It's fast but it will still take a while for this to heal, so I'm wrapping it in a bandage to be safe. If you get light-headed, let me know immediately. You most likely also have broken bones so I'll have to take you to a hospital, there's nothing else I can do for you right now."
He explained as he rummaged through his bag and pulled out a piece of candy. Sceptile was about to give Gardevoir the treat but he noticed her expression. Her eyes were wide in admiration, a smile unconsciously forming on her face. Sceptile snapped his fingers,
"Hey! I know you're a fan but I would rather you not stare at me like a deer in headlights." That snapped Gardevoir out of her trance and she apologized.
Gardevoir and Sceptile were walking, Gardevoir leaning on the grass type for support and Gardevoir took the time to ask,
"Why did you join the Senshi?" Sceptile took a moment to respond.
"Why do you need to know?" He questioned. Gardevoir sighed in self-pity,
"I've... made some stupid mistakes in these past couple of months and every time it just ends with my friends getting hurt. I want to be someone that people look up to just like I did to you, but last time I did that, I almost lost my friends and now I don't know what to do." She confessed, self-hatred in her voice. After a bit of silence, Sceptile began,
"What happens in the past doesn't define us. Arceus didn't make us perfect and we'll make mistakes every now and again. What matters is what we do moving forward. Forgiveness ain't somethin' that can just be given. It has to be earned. Alas, it ain't all about sunshine and rainbows. People die in our line of work, and those who seek fame and glory will be the first to go."
Gardevoir nodded and began to think to herself about her future.
As the two arrived back at the tree, Infernape rushed out to see his friend,
"Oh my god! What happened? All I heard was you screaming and Sceptile told us to stay here." He said with panic in hius voice. The others came out of the tree soon after and Gardevoir explained everything that had happened, excluding her conversation with Sceptile.
"Did you make sure if any bones were broken?" Gengar asked. Sceptile stared daggers into him,
"Why do you need to know?" He interrogated fiercely.
"No need to give me an attitude, I just wanted to know if my comrade was alright." Infernape raised an eyebrow, Gengar had never been this considerate to any of them before except him, so why now?
Aggron gritted his teeth in anger. What about her family? Did that murderer even care about them? Was he even aware of what her death would do to her family? Aggron started to walk away, grabbing Sceptile's attention.
"Where are you going? Hey!" he yelled before following after him. He then ordered Infernape and Ampharos to escort Gardevoir to the hospital, to ensure that all her injuries were fairly minor.
Hours later, Ampharos had been waiting for an update on Gardevoir's condition. Infernape was pacing back and forth in the hall, stress written all over his face. Soon a doctor, a Ninetales left the room with a clipboard and a concerned expression. Infernape saw her and ran over to her. Ampharos stood up as well.
"Okay, so she is stable but she needs surgery, her sternum and several of her ribs were broken." She informed, double-checking her clipboard. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened?" Ampharos explained the events that transpired to the doctor. "Well, at least she's safe now, there's a hotel close by and the hospital will pay for your stay until Gardevoir recovers." She said, though she did notice Infernape staring at her, "Did you need anything?" She asked. Infernape snapped out of his haze and apologized,
"I'm sorry, i-it's nothing." Ninetales chuckled before returning into Gardevoir's room. As she left, Infernape went back to staring at her until she disappeared from his line of sight. Heart shapes appeared in his flame crown. Ampharos was confused at Infernapes behavior,
"What are you doing?"
"NOTHING!" Infernape immediately answered, louder than he wanted to. The other people waiting all looked over at Infernape who apologized before rushing off to hide in the restroom.
He closed the door behind him and went towards the sinks and buried his face in his hands,
"You're such a child, Lee." He chastised to himself quietly. Infernape's thoughts then began to think back to Pangoro. He started back into the empty stalls and walked into one of them. Infernape sat down and pulled out a deck of cards that were hidden in his head flame. He randomly picked three cards and placed them face down, from left to right, they were organized into past, present, and future.
He turned the card on the left over and it revealed the Eight of Cups card upright, representing escapism, abandonment, and withdrawal. Infernape sighed to himself, tired of seeing the eight of cups. He then turned the card in the middle which revealed the Hermit card reversed, again representing withdrawal and isolation. Finally, he revealed the third card, representing the future, and his heart stopped. It was the Death card upright. Infernape quickly put the cards away. He mentally panicked as the memories came back.
Memories of hate, disgust, and anger, all unfairly directed at him. He walked out of the restroom, wiping his eyes with his palms. It was happening again. Fate was going to prop him up before taking it all away from him with merciless aggression. He knew it was too good to be true. But how would it hurt him? Was Gardevoir going to die? Were the others in danger? It wasn't fair! He was the one destined for failure, why would they be punished?
He tried to calm himself, telling himself that he had survived Pangoro, against all the odds. He should've died there and he didn't. If he was destined to fail, then that meant he should've been killed. But even with this reassurance, it failed to truly comfort him.