I have another finding to report on the space core. In addition to Dreamweaver, the vast reservoir of energy within it, I've found something else. Something that almost feels... alive?

I'm not sure if that's the right phrase to describe this. What it is is some sort of... nigh encyclopedic array of knowledge. Of this world. Of seemingly countless worlds beyond ours. Information on every pokémon, even those consigned to myths and legends. Details about realms where pokémon don't exist. Worlds where pokémon are instead creatures beyond comprehension dubbed Ultra Beasts. There are even records of pokémon forming civilizations similar to our own.

The rational side of me wants to dismiss this as some sort of fantasy wrought by the space core's power. But the knowledge can be relayed to me as if I was conversing with another human. If I ask the space core questions, this encyclopedic entity provides me with logical, factual answers.

Is there truly a living soul within the space core? Or is this... some sort of artificial construct beyond even my wildest comprehension?

UPDATE: I asked the construct if I could name it and it said I could! It just gets stranger. I've gone with "Zodiark" for now, in reference to the zodiac. It fits well against Dreamweaver, in my opinion.


Still holding Nikki, Yuna flew to Grishi's side. The toxtricity managed to swing herself out of Yuna's grasp and grab hold of the edge of the large rock. She pulled herself up but stayed on her stomach.

"I don't see anything," Nikki whispered. "Where's this ground-type beast, huh?"

The rock trembled, as did the ground beneath. Grishi's gelatinous body flickered blue. "There!" He pointed to the right. Then he levitated Nikki beside him.

"Gah! Hey!" Nikki's hands and feet twitched. "Why's everyone yanking me around? I'm not a ragdoll, damn it!"

"Quiet!" Grishi hissed. His gaze stayed focused to the right, where a herd of bouffalant ran away from... something vaguely sawsbuck-esque. If the sawsbuck looked like it was made of pottery and had a giant bowl on its head. A bowl filled with brown crystals that looked like a clump of dirt covered in grass.

"That's gotta be it," Yuna mumbled. "But I've never seen a pokémon like that before." Her tail crinkled. "What is it?"

"Ting-Lu," Grishi replied. "Strange pokémon. Brought to life from bowl on head." He shook his head. "Colors not right, though. That because Whisper?"

"Yeah." Some of the other Whispers had strange color schemes. Not that Yuna had a normal frame of reference here. She'd have to take Grishi's word for it. Ting-Lu continued to stomp across the ground a few hundred meters away. Cracks and fissures ran through the dirt. A couple of small trees splintered and fell to their sides.

"It's not paying us any attention," Nikki whispered. "Let's try and take a shot at it from afar."

"Ground-type," Yuna whispered. She glanced at Nikki, recalling the whole kerfuffle with fighting Chernabog. "Nikki, do you think you should let us take the lead here?"

The toxtricity frowned. "I said shoot from afar," she muttered.

"Right. But as long as we're together..." Yuna flinched when the ground rumbled yet again. Unfezant and tranquil flew away from Ting-Lu, squawking their alarm.

She didn't want to keep Nikki out of things, but it wasn't safe. Yuna fidgeted nervously. She was being polite, unlike Gene.

"Maybe have her search for Leo?" Reshiram offered. But Yuna knew that would just upset her.

"Okay." Nikki scooched back across the rock. "I'll wait. See if I can find an opening to Boomburst him."

Yuna stayed silent. Did Nikki really have the range to pull that off? Maybe if she or Grishi could knock Ting-Lu into the air. But did Yuna even have anything to strike the Whisper effectively?

"Think that's my cue." Shaymin hopped off Reshiram's head in the back of Yuna's mind. "Time for a mini adventure. Shoot me out of a horn like I'm a dreepy."

What? Did he have any idea how fast dragpult horns could fire?

"Relax." Shaymin hopped in place. His mossy fur fluttered with excitement "Rayquaza's taken me skydiving before. I know fast."

The mental image was too much for Yuna to bother verifying with Rayquaza if it was true. "Okay," Yuna said to the others. "I'm going to shoot Shaymin. When you see some grass move, uhh I guess we attack?"

Grishi said nothing. Yuna assumed he had no objections. Her core sent green light up her right shoulder into one of her right horns. The sudden weight change told Yuna Shaymin was in position.

Ting-Lu had its back toward them, spreading cracks through the dirt with every step. It was time to act. Yuna concentrated on her right horns. After tensing a moment, a green streak soared forward.

"Go!" Yuna raced after Shaymin. Green rings encircled the miniature green comet careening toward Ting-Lu. The rings descended on Ting-Lu, showering it in green light that quickly faded to mist. The smell of grass clippings quickly filled the air. Now in sky form, Shaymin flew out of the mist, brimming with green light.

"Keep striking from a distance!" Rayquaza said. "Seed Flare doth lower the fiend's defenses to your ranged strikes, Princess!"

That was simple enough now that Yuna had Dragon Darts. She prepared to fire when a sudden heaviness dragged her down from the air. She hit the grass with a startled squeak. And a grunt further ahead suggested the same thing happened to Shaymin.

"Is this, nrrrgh, Gravity?" Shaymin's voice was strained. Yuna struggled to pick her head up out of the grass... which tickled her ectoplasm while the ground shook.

Up! Up! She had to get back into the air somehow.

A sudden spark of inspiration led to two spectral wings emerging and pushing against the ground. It launched Yuna just high enough to dodge the Earthquake before she landed in a dirt patch. Shaymin, on the other hand, grunted in pain several meters away.

Ting-Lu fixed its attention on Yuna. Purple static fanned out of the crystal dirt mound on its head and formed Zodiark's masked face.

"So, you finally pulled back the curtain." Their voice was as distorted as ever. "Even in a dragapult shell, I know it's you, Yaldabaoth. Back to your usual pattern of hostility."

Ting-Lu reared up again, but green Seed Flare rings flew in from behind and struck it. It stumbled. Zodiark's facial projection flickered. Ting-Lu spun around. Yuna decided to follow Shaymin's lead. Even stuck in the grass, she could still attack. If she angled her head right...

"You are the one bringing chaos and suffering to this world," Zodiark continued. "Just as your past interference led to a world filled with suffering."

Yuna fired dreepy-shaped blue energy spears. Ting-Lu stomped a fore and hind hoof against the ground. Mounds of dirt sprouted up in front and behind it, stopping both Yuna's Dragon Darts and another Seed Flare that Shaymin had fired from the opposite side of the field.

"How predictable." The silhouette of Zodiark's head phased through a dirt wall. "Like refusing to acknowledge your own failures."

Suddenly the dirt mound was flying forward. It was going to crush Yuna! The dragapult tried to go airborne but couldn't. She did the next best thing and rolled right. Despite her triangular head slowing her movement, Yuna got out of the way. And when the dirt mound passed her by, the world crystalized and everything slowed to a crawl.

Just like before. The pressing weight wasn't there. Yuna quickly shot Dragon Darts from her horns. When the time stop wore off, Yuna was forced to the ground once again. But the Darts caught Ting-Lu by surprise. Then Seed Flares struck it from behind.

"Why press this attack? What do you think you'll accomplish?" Zodiark's face flickered in and out from around Ting-Lu. "The more you force this Whisper to strain, the greater the risk you place on this facility."

"I don't, nnrrgh, believe you." Yuna pushed against the ground. Why was this infernal Gravity lasting so long? And where the hell was Grishi?!

"You should." Zodiark's wheel-shaped mask turned into a hexagonal panel. "The core helps with the dome's integrity."

Ting-Lu turned... and ran away from Yuna.

"He's bailing!" Shaymin cried. Grass shuffled several meters ahead of Yuna as Shaymin came to regroup.

"What do you think will happen to all the people here if a part of the dome breaks, Yaldabaoth?" Zodiark asked. "It seems this Whisper wants to break it. What will you do? If you keep fighting it, you may be the one to break the dome instead."

The silhouette faded away. Gravity's intense weight subsided. But Ting-Lu was already bounding south, kicking up grass and dirt. There was a rock wall stretching out along what had to be the edge of the Terarium. And Ting-Lu had its head lowered like it was going to try and ram it.

"Shaymin!" Yuna called. A stream of green light shot into her core. Then Shaymin reappeared on Yuna's head while she flew after him.


Leo flew as fast as his scyther wings could carry him. Which was pretty quick, all things considered. Fast enough to zip past grass, shrubbery, and trees toward a downward slope that led to weird stations made of glowing white cubes.

He dropped to the ground the moment his suspicions were confirmed: Onion Hair had come down here. The scyther's eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

But how did he spot Onion Hair so easily? The sky plate, maybe? A literal bird's eye view...

Leo walked forward. Onion Hair had put six poké balls into a red and white cylinder. Soft light bathed them.

A healing machine. Like what Pokémon Centers used.

The scyther blinked. Those terms had popped into his head. It was almost instinctual.

Must have heard it from Alder.

Leo kept moving forward. Something about the way Onion Hair watched the healing machine didn't sit right with him.

"... Change tactics." Onion Hair was talking to himself. "Ceruledge's aggressive. Lot of offense. Need to find a way to slow him down. Incineroar's Intimidate. Then pivot with Parting Shot out to Grimmsnarl. If I can Trick a Ring Target onto him..."

Ceruledge? Leo's eyes widened. Onion Hair was going to go after Gilgamesh again? He lost last time! And this guy had no idea Gilgamesh was a Whisper. That was too dangerous!

The healing machine turned off. "Finally!" Onion Hair gathered up the poké balls.

Leo had to act fast. But what could he do? If he tried actually talking to Onion Hair, he might freak the kid out.

... Except Onion Hair already heard Gilgamesh talking.

"Ah, screw it." The scyther sped down the slope. He jumped into the air.

"WAIT!" Leo cried, flying over a metal arch and landing beside Onion Hair on the edge of the white cube platform. "You can't go after Ceruledge again! He'll hand you a giant L for sure!" He held up his scythe arms.

Onion Hair jumped, dropping the two poké balls he held. As he bent down to pick them up, he kept his eyes trained on Leo. The scyther noticed the heavy bags under his eyes... and an increasingly empty look the longer Onion Hair made eye contact.

"Talking... pokémon..." Onion Hair stood up. He was practically looking past Leo. An indifferent expression settled across his face. "This doesn't involve you. Stand aside. I'm the strongest trainer in this place. That means you've gotta listen to me."

Seriously? Leo raised a brow. This guy had to be at least a little bit younger than him.

... Or younger than he felt with four of his plates, anyway.

"Can't do that." Leo widened his stance. "Ceruledge has something that belongs to me. I'm gonna take it back."

"Then you can have it when I'm finished beating him." Onion Hair started forward. "I don't care if you can talk. I'm in charge here."

Leo sidestepped right, holding up his arms. "You can't battle him."

"I can and I will." The empty look in Onion Hair's eyes turned to scorn. "What are you going to do? You're one scyther. Do you even have a trainer?"

"I don't." Leo's wings buzzed nervously. "But I'm totes strong. And I think... sending your pokémon at Ceruledge again so quickly after losing to him is a major fail."

"Don't you dare speak for my pokémon!" Onion Hair snarled. There was a hint of... frenzy in his eyes. "I understand them plenty! Just like I understood the ogre!"

He tapped a clenched fist against his thigh repeatedly. "Strong trainers make strong pokémon. My pokémon are strong. Because I'm strong."

He wasn't looking at Leo, though. It was almost like Onion Hair was talking to someone else. But who?

"I'm the strongest person here." Onion Hair's fist tapped against his thigh faster and faster. "I'm beating Ceruledge. You can't stop me. Ninetales can't stop me..."

Leo frowned. Ninetales?

He sidestepped Leo and ran onto the grassy field. "I know what I'm doing!"

The kid was surprisingly nimble. But Leo was faster. He flew past Onion Hair and hovered in his path. "Then use me as your pokémon instead!" the scyther begged.

Onion Hair skidded to a halt. "You can't be serious." He tapped his heel against the ground repeatedly, kicking up a small divot in the grass. "Even Terastalized, Ceruledge still has fire-type attacks. You'll get torched."

"Nah, I'd win!" Leo insisted. Sure, he hadn't directly fought a Whisper before. But he had four plates. His powers were growing. Why else could he change into other pokémon?

"Typing's still important." Onion Hair shook his head. "You don't have a trainer. So, you haven't had real training. You're not strong enough."

"I've trained plenty." This was going nowhere. And every second wasted talking was time for Gilgamesh to do... something. Or the other Whisper that he left Yuna and Nikki to deal with. "I'll prove it to you! One-vee-one me!"

There was a flicker of that earlier madness in Onion Hair's eyes. Then an eerie smile crept onto his face. "Okay, yeah." He was tapping his fist against his leg again. "Fine. I'll show you how out of your depth you are by knocking you out. Then you can't get in my way."

Onion Hair had already pulled a poké ball out of his hoodie pocket and tossed it to the side. A dragonite emerged, stretching his arms out. He looked at Onion Hair, then Leo.

"Battle time," Onion Hair said. He hunched over, resting his right arm on his right knee. "Get set."

Dragonite nodded. His expression sharpened. The beating of his wings intensified.

"Strike first! Extreme Speed to the chest!"

Leo's eyes widened. He has—

A scaly shoulder slammed into the scyther's torso. Leo barely had the time to fold in his wings before hitting the grass and rolling to a stop, bracing himself with his arms.

"Follow up. Breaking Swipes. Down, then side."

With a roar, blue energy shrouded Dragonite's arms. A few flaps of his wings closed the gap with Leo. He rolled right, dodging a downward swipe of Dragonite's right arm. But Dragonite followed up swinging his left arm sideways.

Leo pooled energy into his arms and raised them up. His X-scissor clashed with the Breaking Swipe.

"Regroup," Onion Hair said, still hunched over. The order came with a flash of that frenzy in his eyes.

(Right! Back!) Dragonite broke away, flying back to Kieran's side.

Sighing in relief, Leo righted himself. His arms felt... weaker than earlier. It must have been the Breaking Swipe. Gah, there were so many moves to keep track of! And only ones with types matching his plates were clear in his mind.

"Give up." Onion Hair had his eyes locked on Leo. "You're already looking shaky."

Leo held his arms at his sides. "I'm just getting started."

Much as Leo dreaded showing any of his serious power, he was at a disadvantage as a scyther. He had to change tactics.

"Extreme Speed! Grab him!"

Not again! Leo shot higher into the air. Dragonite passed underneath.

"Thunder straight above!"

He has Thunder?!

(Okay! Up!) Lightning crackled in Dragonite's arms. He hurled a large bolt skyward. Leo barely managed to spin out of the way.

Finally, an opening! Leo rained Air Slash blades down from the air, just like he'd seen Noctum do time after time.

"Take it! Then retaliate with Thunder!"

Wait, what?!

Dragonite crossed his arms over his face. The Air Slash blades forced him to land, but he stood tough and hurled another lightning bolt. Leo couldn't end his own attack in time. The scyther plummeted from the air in a burst of sparks, crashing into the ground.

Nothing had hurt Leo like this before. He shakily propped himself up.

"See? I told you." Onion Hair hadn't broken his stance the entire time. That frenzy returned to his eyes. "You're not strong enough. Stand aside."

"N... no..." Leo couldn't give in here. He finally had enough power to do something. He couldn't stumble at the first hurdle like this!

His wings buzzed slowly. A soft, sky-blue light surrounded him. The lingering pain from Dragonite's Thunder faded.

"He's Roosting!" Onion Hair cried. "Extreme Speed now!"

Leo was a bit further from Dragonite compared to the start of the battle. Which gave him enough time to run left and dodge Dragonite's shoulder.

"Follow up! Breaking Swipes, double right!"

(No move!) Dragonite growled, blue energy returning to his arms. Leo kept running across the grass, however. This wasn't the time to stand around. He had to stay on the move— no, Leo had to change forms.

Stop thinking about types. Leo's scyther feet swished through the grass. Dragonite was gaining on him in the air.

"Redirect! Extreme Speed when you're close enough!" Onion Hair shouted.

If Dragonite was expecting him to keep running, then Leo had to act now. He skidded to a halt, focusing on the plates swirling around inside him.

Water... water... WATER!

Thin wings and bladed arms gave way to a shell and shoulder-mounted cannons. Cannons that Leo aimed at a startled Dragonite.

They fired dual water bursts large enough for the recoil to send Leo onto his back. A startled holler told him the Water Spout hit its mark. Leo rocked himself back and forth to get to his feet. He found Dragonite lying in a rapidly muddying puddle closer to Onion Hair than earlier.

The boy's stance had broken. That frenzy had given way to shock, followed by a panic. "Get up!" Onion Hair shouted, pointing at Leo. "Getupgetupgetup! Thunder! Blastoise are way slower!"

Leo couldn't let that attack get off. He bent over slightly to account for the recoil, then Water Spouts gushed from his cannons. Dragonite was too busy gathering lightning and could only widen his eyes before getting drenched. He slid across damp, muddy grass, flailing his arms and legs around. His roar of protest grew steadily weaker until his arms and legs flopped by his sides.

The blastoise shambled forward a bit, keeping his cannons trained on Dragonite. He only relaxed when, after several seconds, Onion Hair dropped to his knees.

"No..." Onion Hair stared down at the grass. There was a vacant look in his eyes. The same one Leo thought he saw when Gilgamesh was gloating after his win outside the school.

"Not fair," the kid mumbled. "It's not fair... not fair... not fair!" Onion Hair smacked the grass with his fist repeatedly. "Why? Why do you keep getting in my way like this?!"

Leo frowned. "What are you talking about?"

"It's you..." Still on all fours, Onion Hair looked up. His eyes were still empty. "That ninetales who humiliated back home. You're doing all this to me!" Onion Hair's right eye twitched. "I bet you're the one controlling Ceruledge, too!"

Dragonite managed to stumble his way back to Onion Hair's side. (Kieran?) Wincing, he leaned over to try and pick his trainer back up.

"Huh?" Kieran blinked at Dragonite. "Oh, right. You should rest for now." He took out Dragonite's poké ball and returned him. "Guess I've got to heal him again." Kieran's grip on the ball tightened.

"I don't know any ninetales," Leo insisted. How much did he really want to tell Kieran? The kid wasn't in a good frame of mind.

"I don't believe you." Kieran got back to his feet. "You can talk. Ninetales and Ceruledge can talk. You're all related."

The blastoise looked down. "Well, Ceruledge is someone I'm trying to stop. Because he has things that belong to me. And they're powering him up." He shuffled back from Kieran and turned to look out over the grassy fields. "I'm from a different world. Ceruledge has helped make a mystery dungeon linking my world to your school. And I have to seal it off before it's too late."

Kieran looked confused. But Leo would take that over the earlier emptiness. "I don't want you fighting Ceruledge because you could get seriously hurt. Same for your pokémon."

"But he didn't do that when we battled outside of school." Kieran fiddled with the lock of hair dangling from his forehead. "All he said was he wanted someone to give him a real challenge. And kept talking about weapons to collect..."

Now that was strange. A Whisper who only wanted to have a good battle? Weren't they all vicious daemons who went on rampages?

... But the only person Leo had seen Gilgamesh attack was that Paradigm Lieutenant back in his world's Iron Island. And even then, he left the victini that emerged alone and went into the rift.

Leo lazily kicked his leg back and forth along the grass. "Okay, maybe Ceruledge isn't harmful. It's still not your fight. I won our battle."

"Yeah. Yeah, you did."

The blastoise winced. Kieran was trying to guilt-trip him. Why else would that have sounded so depressing?

Then again, Leo's performance against Kieran was far from flawless. And Gilgamesh had both dark and ghost-type, on top of the fire-type stuff that a ceruledge could usually do. Leo didn't have fairy-type at his disposal. He'd have to rely on water and flying. And it was a lot to keep track of.

Maybe a trainer could help me out here?

Sighing, Leo turned around. "I guess... we could work together?"

Kieran started fiddling with that dangling lock of hair again. "Like, you want to be my pokémon?"

"Well, you can't catch me." Leo shook his head. "And... you'd have to keep this a secret."

"I can do that." Kieran kicked his heel against the dirt repeatedly. He looked over Leo's shoulder, toward the middle of the Terarium. "What kind of secret?"

Perhaps this wasn't the best idea. But screw it. Leo was already taking big risks separating from the others. What was one more?

He shifted back into his cosmic arceus form. "This is what I really look like. I can use pretty much any move that's bug, fighting, flying, or water-type. But against that ceruledge, only two types make sense. And that's where I need you to help me out."

"Any move?" Kieran's eyes widened. He looked down, rapping his fist against his thigh. "Wowzers..."

"I don't know what happened to you with Ninetales," Leo continued. "You don't seem like a bad guy. Maybe a little crazy with all that strength stuff." But hopefully this could snap Kieran out of that. "I'll look past it. So, you in?"

He extended a foreleg to Kieran, who blinked at it.

"Are you... asking me to shake on it?"

"Was thinking more fist bump, but if you want the boring option—"

Kieran tapped Leo's raised hoof with an open palm. "C'mon. I think Ceruledge is hanging out in the center of the Terarium. We'd better hurry."

Leo bucked a startled Kieran onto his back. "Four legs are faster than two," he said, then galloped off across the field.


It wasn't hard for Igneous and Scarlett to find Gene and Widget. The shadowy mewtwo and miraivally were floating over streets full of people fleeing away from the mall. Widget kept shooting Thunderbolts that would suddenly come to a stop against open air, then Gene would punch through Shadow Balls.

"What about the people down there?" Scarlett flapped her wings. "Shouldn't we be helping them?"

"Dunno. Don't you guys think it's weird that the pirates aren't actually attacking anyone?" Starlene countered.

Igneous was at a loss. It was too much happening at one time and every time he tried turning on his X-transceiver he was met with Gene bickering with Gilbert.

"We'll get answers the direct way," the grovlazzle said. With several flaps of his volcarona wings he sped through the air to catch up.

Just like Starlene said, however, no one was firing on him. Even the initial volley he and Scarlett weaved through to distract the pirates had died down. Just what was going on?

He reluctantly turned the X-transceiver back on.

"... Still be here!" Gilbert scoffed. "You could whisk zese stupid so-and-sos away in seconds."

"And incite a mass panic in the process!" Gene growled, tail lashing at the air. "Just tell me what you're up to and I won't blow up your command ship."

"Ah, mon petit kitty cat." Gilbert tsked through the radio. "Always lacking in ze genteelmonly ways. Perhaps you should try asking nicely. Or sending ze flowers."

Another Thunderbolt crackled through the air. Igneous finally saw a hint of a barrier, which parted long enough for Gene to sling a Shadow Ball through. But it quickly vanished. If it had hit anyone, Igneous couldn't tell. And there were no screams, either.

"Hey!" Igneous stopped a couple of meters behind Gene. "What are we doing just floating around here for?"

"Trying to get through these obnoxious barriers," Gene said. "Your timing's impeccable. Summon that crazy sword of yours. Maybe your freako powers can get rid of the shield."

"Okay, but why?" Igneous said.

Sighing, Gene pinched a brow. "Because cloaking and disrupting our comms wasn't part of the deal."

Widget sputtered. His thrusters stalled for a moment and he dropped from the air with a squawk before hastily recovering. "I'm sorry, what?

Embers crackled around Igneous' leafy tails. "The hell do you mean? You're saying you planned this?!"

"Oh, this wasn't my idea. It was Boy Wonder's." Gene flicked his right arm dismissively.

"Who?" Scarlett fluttered in place. Though her nervous tone of voice told Igneous she already had a hunch.

"Shimmer." Gene's tail lazily swished back and forth. "To make his mom look bad, he wanted the pirates cause some property damage without actually attacking anyone." He rubbed his snout. "Except us. Which is what I negotiated." His expression soured. "Where'd the dweeb run off to, anyway?"

There were so many things wrong with Gene's claims that the grovlazzle didn't know where to begin. "We came here to investigate spreading distortion! You were going to put us in the line of fire for... for..."

"It was you who fired ze first shots at us!" Gilbert countered through their disrupted comm line. "We were all set for ze simple smash et grab but zen you made with ze shooting of our faces. Plus, ze anomaly wasn't part of ze deal."

"But you had the cloaks up first!" Widget said, still glaring at Gene. Igneous was miffed with the shadowy mewtwo, but also found Shimmer's convenient disappearing act incredibly suspicious.

"Oui, because mon capitaine detected ze anomaly before we set out for ze raid!" Gilbert replied.

Igneous wings buzzed in surprise. Blackskull had known about the anomaly the whole time? Before Team Bastion found it? Just what the hell were these pirates?!

"As soon as mon mateys have ze last of ze electronics mon capitaine needs, we make with ze leaving!"

"Then we stop fighting!" Scarlett said, fluttering her small wings nervously. "If we shoot ships out of the sky, they could crash down on the city and anyone who's below us!" The dragonair pointed her tail down. There was a park with assorted corviknight, pidgeot, braviary, staraptor, and groups of squawkabilly carrying large flying carriages. People were shoving their ways into them.

"And besides, the anomaly's back in the middle of the mall." Igneous looked over his shoulder. The static wasn't visible, so it thankfully hadn't gone past the destroyed roof. "Looked to be growing quickly. We ought to find the others and figure out how to deal with it."

"Oui! Zat is a vonderful idea!" Gilbert exclaimed. "In fact, ze last of ze crew has reported back. So, allow me to make with ze sweetening of ze pot!"

"The hell does that mean?!" Igneous said, but the connection to Gilbert went dead. Before the grovlazzle could ask Gene what the next steps were, bright blue flashes lit up the midday sky. Four large space pirate ships appeared, each surrounded by a glistening blue barrier.

"Gene, what did you do?" Widget said, eyes darting around.

A large projection appeared above the ship closest to the quartet. A black-scaled tyrantrum head gazed down at them. The gemstone in place of their right eye glistened.

"A fair morrow, Herbrides scallywags!" Tyrantrum's projection bellowed. "This be Cap'n Blackskull, scourge of the galaxy! And five-time reigning runner-up in Hoenn Digest's semi-annual homemade butterscotch pudding competition!"

At first, there was silence. Then, one or two screams from down on the ground turned to ten. Then twenty. Then hundreds. People redoubled their efforts to get into the flying taxis, or sprinted through the park to get as far away from the mall and the nearby town square as possible.

"On behalf of me crew, I'd like to personally thank ye fer contributing yer machines to the Blackskull Buccaneers!" Blackskull continued, his gemstone eye crackling with amber energy. "We'll be sure to take good care of 'em, won't we lads?"

Raucous cheers filled the air from the flying ships.

Igneous hovered closer to Gene. "Was this part of your plan?" He leveled his claws at the shadowy mewtwo.

Gene held up an index finger. "Give it a sec."

"I'd say to take the losses up with yer insurance, but I don't think ye landlubbers cover space pirate raids!" Blackskull said, before his holographic head roared with laughter. "If I were ye, I'd go banging on the palace doors of yer lackadaisical queen and useless Radiant Guard! Where even are they, hmm?"

Okay, that certainly sounded like something they'd script to make Isola sound bad. Maybe the pirates had gone back to the original deal?

... Igneous was still going to ream Shimmer a new asshole when he got hold of the ponytales.

"Now then, as fer ye resistance blokes." Blackskull gazed down at Igneous and the others. "I think ye oughta be hustling yer bustles. That there rift be looking a touch unstable, if ye catch me drift."

As if on cue, a circular wall of purple light raced out from the mall. Igneous scales burned against his back when the light rushed past him.

Smaller purple rifts burst open between the ships and the ground. Fresh screams rose up as rows of trees in the park suddenly sprouted berries large enough to snap said trees at their trunks and send them crashing into the ground.

Blackskull looked around at the other ships "Fall back, me hearties! We be late fer our monthly team-building yoga class at Sandygast Saul's Meditation Station!"

"You're leaving?" Gene's shoulder crystal sparked. "What about no hurt civilians?"

"Bah, fine!" Blackskull's crystal eye glowed. "Ye want some help? I'll give ye ol' Iron Beak Barbarossa!"

As the flying ships vanished one by one, a blue, circular portal opened over a street where a crowd of pokémon were attempting to flee from the rifts opening in the sky. A large, robotic cramorant flew out, beak wide open, and swallowed everyone up.

Scarlett flew in front of the others and was about to protest, when she saw Barbarossa flying away from the rifts. Her bauble flashed pink. "Starlene says they're okay." She paused. "I think."

"Great." Widget's voice cracked. He nervously rubbed his forelegs together. "But what do we do? Go after Yuna?"

"No." Gene held his hand up. "Find Cyril and the others. I can get a bunch of these folks evacuated." He cracked his knuckles. "It'll be a piece of cake."

Igneous was still mad at Gene. But that could wait for later. And with the pirates gone, their communications should have been back online.

"Cyril, you there?" the grovlazzle asked. "Where are you?"

"... out... but... thing..."

Static garbled the cosmic zoroark's response. Igneous' breath caught in his throat.

"No..."

"What's wrong?" Widget's cheek bolts turned slowly in their sockets. "You don't think it's the anomaly messing with our X-transceivers, do you?"

Igneous shook his head. They were supposed to be on the periphery of the city. If they were far from the anomaly portal, then...

"The last time my line went dead, it was because Xeromus showed up! And that means they're in trouble!"

The grovlazzle's wings ignited. "We have to try and find them now!"

"Iggy, wait!" Scarlett called, but Igneous shot off to the west, leaving a trail of embers behind him.