Twin Colors

By tremor3258

Chapter 15:

Paradox


The strange Misdreavus looked around, looking very angry at being there. There was an aura of killing intent, and Mei's first thought was it had been hurt badly, somehow. It was ready to hurt back.

That was swallowed by the second thought as its power rolled out. Ghost-type, obviously, in its rendition of curses, spite, and longings gone unfulfilled, the spiritual side of bridging two worlds. It promised deep tombs to be entrapped in and houses long abandoned.

Once Mei had a chance to brace herself against the torrent there was something else there too. It felt like cotton candy that had gone off. Deep bioluminescence and doors built into hills. Hundred-year stays that passed in an hour. And something that never, ever, forgot discourtesy and sought redress, forever long, for how many generations to earn revenge.

And it was all wrapped up in a bizarre feeling of rejection.

Like it had been all weekend under stress, she tried to poll the Knight's experience. This time, it came up blank. Something this wild had never been part of her experiences. With nothing left to go on, Mei had nothing, and stood as a whimper escaped her lips.


Rose had found the battle commentary disappointing, mainly gibes towards Aliquis. She'd wandered to the edge of the courtyard in the shade rather than try to shift the narrative. The grass was still damp from the morning rain but she had a towel.

Azucena and Rose could at least work on their focus. Aliquis's strategy was indecipherable, but he was a powerful trainer. Following the flow of energies and maintaining during it seemed more useful than knocking someone's style. He certainly had to have some motive, but no one was trying to pick it out.

Meditating, she felt it first rather than saw. All the things that lay in anticipation in the dark side of the moon. Light was thrown only to take advantage of the shadows. The confidence to turn the illusion of victory into reality. Vicious, but appearing deceptively soft.

Underneath was a different current, strong, but not as noticeable. The cackle in the belfry, glowing eyes deep in the forest. Fear, unknown, and thriving on both.

There was a stench of something else, but she couldn't put a name to it. It seemed to vanish as she closed it. The winds held no answers, but there was a swirl around of caution and someone approaching.

She opened her eyes, and it resembled a Misdreavus, or at least an oversized caricature of one. Someone who had never seen one of the little ghosts had been asked to draw one, and somehow it had come to life. The Ranger had been tasked a few times to gently encouraging one of the little fear-eaters to find somewhere else to haunt. Whatever this was, it wasn't one.

There was a crackle of static and she looked over. Alamy and Resistor were there, looking worried.

"Are you alright?" Alamy asked. Resistor twisted her head to the side in questioning.

"That Pokemon shouldn't be here," Rose declared.

Alamy nodded, surprising Rose a little. "It doesn't like where it is," Alamy said, and she shivered. Azucena whimpered a little in response. Whatever your channeling method, this had enough power to express to all of them.

The Pokemon let out a scream, as the stealth rocks dug into it, more of surprise than pain – it was a trainer battle. The aura of antipathy felt even stronger afterward, and Rose didn't like the way it was glaring at Nemona.


"Aliquis, do you know what you have?" Nemona asked. The sun had gone out of her body language, leaving only the calculating, razor-sharp mind of a Champion behind.

A Champion who was having to confront something she almost never did: regret on her match preparations. Aliquis's style was unusual, and he was a little under her in raw power, and she'd packed all her Pokemon items away. A half-dozen items floated to mind she really wished Dusknoir had equipped, and that was the top of the list.

Aliquis tried hard, even if he wasn't the rival that made her stretch herself and improve. She admired his spirit. He didn't mind if she went all out, even if went badly for him. No items was just a discrete way of evening things out; they were hard to spot during a match. She hadn't considered that there was a way she could lose this if she went flat out.

She grinned a little at her internal wordplay. Aliquis beating her was a Paradox. Now he had one. Aliquis was glaring for some reason, but he finally responded to her question.

"Of course – it's a ghost Pokemon. Isn't it great? We met a little while ago, it was already strong but wanted to get stronger," he said. The Flutter Mane chittered, a deeper, larger version of a Misdreavus cry.

Except it wasn't. What it was, and how to safely find a real home for them, was still a question without answer for Saba's strange Pokemon. Nemona wasn't supposed to talk about them, but they weren't supposed to be here either.

"Aliquis, how long have you been with that?" Nemona asked, changing tacks. Stealth rock had caught it by complete surprise. If it hadn't expected traps, it couldn't have seen many high-level battles.

"Oh, a couple days. I sent the challenge right after I got it. Cool, isn't it?" Aliquis said, beaming.

She glanced at Salvatore, who shrugged. Nemona was pretty certain it wasn't in response to her question, but the thought of whether or not the match should proceed.

She had seen how aggressive the Paradox Pokemon were in their environment, and this one was in a strange place. She could feel the stress and anger coming off it. It'd been a while since she had seen a Paradox, but this did seem angrier than she remembered.

It was an alien aggression too. Pokemon had a need to compete; it was wired into Nemona as a battle trainer too. This was more a wild Pokemon needing food, or territory. Pokemon had to do bad things to each other without trainers sometime, another reason catching wasn't her favorite part of training.

Her joy was battle, but she was student council president. She was well aware over a hundred people were spectating the match. Aliquis had strong bonds with his Pokemon typically, but how much could this one be relied on? Even Florian had trouble connecting with Paradox Pokemon, for the few that had been temporarily captured for research.

Would it be angrier if they stopped the match? Most trainers and Pokemon would be. She didn't like it, but she had to do the safe thing.

"Aliquis, I don't know if it told you. Or if it could tell you this, but every one of its kind was released from a master ball. They don't seem to know how it all works for us and Pokemon, and they were imprisoned on top of it. Are you sure you want to use it here?" Nemona asked.

The background babble grew in response. Nemona shook her head, dizzy, unable to follow it. Dusknoir reached down their bond at her request and deadened her perspective outside Aliquis. It helped her focus, but she still couldn't hear what Aliquis said over the noise, though she saw his lips move.

The Flutter Mane looked back and forth, irritated at the confusion, and suddenly screamed. What could be cute on a Misdreavus wasn't on something human-sized, and the courtyard plunged into shocked silence, except for a few murmurs from dedicated ghost trainers, who were more used to their actinos.

The Flutter Mane gave a deep chuckle, turned towards its trainer and growled, its back tendrils waving. Aliquis put his hands down to his side, and the Flutter Mane turned back around.

"Are you that worried, Nemona? Don't worry, our combination will absolutely amaze you!" Aliquis said confidently. She smiled at that. She couldn't not like it when someone gave their all.

"Though what kind of bluff is master balls, plural?" Aliquis asked.

Don't! Nemona suddenly heard in her head as she opened her mouth to respond. Dendra had tapped into her Medicham. She shrugged, instead. This was very not a mochi situation. Florian or Arven might be able to talk this out. Or Penny could bore Aliquis into stopping.

None of them were here. She was a long way from La Primera still, but she was still a Champion. And Aliquis seemed confident. She nodded at Salvatore to continue.

Salvatore hesitated, glancing behind her. Nemona wasn't the best at interpersonal byplay – a lot of it was boring – but he clearly briefly conferred with the other teachers.

Salvatore brought his hand down to keep going.


The big Misdreavus started summoning power right away, and Dusknoir hesitated, before the wrappings on both unarms loosened, letting shadows start to spill down.

Dendra squirmed and yelped putting a hand to her mouth in pain. She'd bitten her tongue to stop from shouting advice.

Even with the pause it was astonishing Aliquis's combination was ready before Nemona's. The Shadow Ball formed, and the afternoon sun seemed to diminish to a point as it drank in the light. What conversation remained was devoured to silence before the Ball's spiritual weight.

Even as Nemona's Dusknoir lengthened her being into a Shadow Sneak, she was too late – the slow sturdy Pokemon vanished into the ball of darkness. The roar of pain from Dusknoir carried clearly in the still air.

When the Shadow Ball abated and light returned, Dusknoir's wrappings were deflated and lying loose on the ground, bits of darkness scrabbling around her core. Aliquis's jaw dropped down in shock as the strange Pokemon flew in a circle, pleased and humming to itself. Nemona had her hands up, covering her face from the force of the Ball. When she dropped them, it was the most downcast Rose had seen Nemona.

"Was that excessive force?" Alamy asked. Even in imbalanced matches, one hit knockouts were rare. Dusknoir also looked… dead. Redead.

"I've seen this Dusknoir knocked out before, that's just what she looks like when she can't hold together," Rose said, grimacing.

"And?" Alamy prompted. She and gotten some insight into her friend when she needed some prompting to continue.

"Last time she was knocked out, she'd taken out three of Professor Saguaro's Pokemon first," Rose said. At the downcast look on Alamy's face, she hastily added. "Those were better type matchups."

Neither really felt better.


The forehead on the not-Misdreavius glowed and it grimaced, turning to glare at its trainer with spite-filled eyes.

"Relax, we talked about this! That's the life orb recharging from bond stamina to give you that extra oomph," Aliquis soothed. Shooting another distrustful glance, the Pokemon turned back to face Nemona, who was considering her next move.

"Guess Shadow Ball worked out. I was thinking Poltergeist, but my new buddy got tetchy about it," Aliquis said conversationally.

"Did he just say his partner refused a move selection?" Victor asked, concerned. He'd been fuming about the luck some trainers had with their talent, but the ghostly exchange had shocked that out of him, and his body language was timid. His Nacli rumbled support, and tried to look brave.

Pome whistled a question. Not that he would question his trainer, but this Pokemon was clearly experienced. "It's not a – well not just a human hubris thing about being dominant. That sounds like disobedience under battle bond," Mei said, her teeth gritted. Something about being near that thing had frozen her and frayed her nerves. The thought of it running wild had spurred her back to life, if only to be ready to flee.

"Not that people are supposed to credit or blame one Pokemon in a match, but this may be an exception?" Trigo said, not getting it. Mei idly wondered if on top of Paldea's other oddities, they didn't get what Mei had thought was the 'normal' destructive fallout when a Pokemon/human relationship utterly broke down.

"A little disobedience doesn't mean there's going to be a full rejection," Dendra said. It would have been more reassuring if Miriam wasn't fumbling with her travel case to get it unlocked and at her partners.

"Did Nemona flinch?" Poppy stage-whispered, wide-eyed. From the way Nemona ducked her head in the trainer box, she heard it.

"Just bad habits, I hope," Dendra tried to reassure. Poppy looked doubtful.

"Nemona, you have ten seconds left for your choice," Salvatore reminded her.

Nemona selected a ball and tossed it down, revealing her Greninja. The Pokemon immediately assumed a stance with a hand seal, shadowy kunais starting to form in the air around it for Nemona's Dark Pulse variant.

The Misdreavus variant huffed, rainbow light starting to form a pattern before it. It was fast off the mark, but the Ninja Pokemon had been working with a trainer for a while. Her speed and abilities had been honed for trainer battles on top of the power from their bond.

Even with that, she barely got her kunai formed first and thrown. The other Pokemon's eyes widened in surprise as the blades arced towards it. It tried to shoot what it had before it was ready, most of the light dispersing into background physics. The kunai exploded around it, a flash of noise and deep shadowy thoughts, though only noise made it through the barrier this time.

Aliquis's Pokemon drew back, hissing, surprised by the emotional shock Greninja had delivered. It listed to the left as dark shadowy energy bled away from its shoulder. One of the kunai had given a clean cut. Underneath the shadow, its gaseous makeup had some turbulence. The sort of 'bruise' equivalent from hits during trainer matches for a ghost.

Greninja and Nemona both breathed a sigh of relief in making the shot even as they started gathering energy again. Their opponent however, screamed in frustration, and zoomed back over towards Aliquis, going into the trainer box.

Greninja dropped her shadowy kunai, them dissolving into wisps of darkness on hitting the ground, as the ghost left the field.

"Aliquis, your Pokemon is out of bounds," Salvatore said firmly.

"Just a second – what is it?" Aliquis asked, as his Pokemon growled quietly, and the two fell into discussion. Greninja looked at Nemona, who shrugged.

"Professor Miriam," Zania said, "The Pokedex app is returning a blank entry, not Misdreavus." Surprised, the others crowded around Zania (their phones were still recording) to see. It wasn't a blank, or a not found – it just was an entry page without any information at all, every line just a null dash.

Miriam and Dendra shared a look until Dendra broke away with a shrug. "It's a sealed entry," Miriam admitted, "That's a variant from Area Zero. They usually don't have good attitudes and they're fierce, so that area is protected. I don't know how it got out."

"Did Nemona say 'released'? Where are they from?" Mei asked. Nemona had said 'master ball' confidently and that made no sense. You could find the schematics all over the 'Net, because the synthetic crystals in its matrix were extremely delicate and expensive, requiring large labs to create.

Even then, Leagues never produced every many, even given the expense. They were imprisonment instead of partnership, an ironclad lockdown instead of forming a bond first. They were the last resort to protect settlements from rampaging Pokemon. Only the most respected trainers were given one to use with their judgement.

When the Knight had been champion, there'd been less than a dozen in wealthy, damaged, Kalos. Nemona had said like someone had enough master balls to capture a breeding population.

"We don't know," Miriam said, shaking her head.

"Oh, you were doing great! You just got startled, it's not a power problem," Aliquis said loudly. "I think Shadow Ball would have been better there, but you stopped most of it anyway when you did a Moonblast instead."

"Ignoring the move is shame on a trainer, but that's a flat-out replacement," Victor said, alarmed.

"Oh, fuck," Dendra said clearly. A critique of appropriate language for professors was not coming from Miriam, as she was struggling with her travel case. The lock wasn't designed to be quick to open and she was fighting it.

Victor's Nacli rumbled and tried to brace. Pome stepped forward bravely as Kieran and Poppy started tapping their Poke balls, deciding their opening. Even Coche was tense, but Trigo put a calming hand on it to stop his Oinkologne from moving forward.

"I take it back on wanting his gifts," Victor said, shaking a little.

"You've seen a breakdown up close?" Mei said.

"Three. I can't deny there can be problems with partnering to win battles for money," Victor said.

"Aliquis!" Nemona called, "If it isn't following your orders, you should recall it for now!" She shifted to a defensive stance, and her Greninja resummoned Dark Pulse.

"Oh, just a minor disagreement," Aliquis assured, but the modulation had gone out of his voice, "We'll get back to the battle in a second." The aura of malice around the Pokemon pulsed again causing cries in the onlookers.

Mei risked it, and opened her inner eye, and let out a moan in dismay. The bonds between them were visible and cancerous, sickly purple fragmenting off the bond lines and riddling both of them with strange boils.

Miriam flinched at the sound but was astute enough to follow Mei's inner sight. "Oh, it's not disrespect, he's tranced," Miriam said in dismay. Mei swallowed; her throat dry. Hearing it aloud was much worse, and she could easily edit her sister into where Aliquis was standing.

His energetic body language had dropped away by now too. He was still smiling as his eyes dulled.


Nemona had revives in her pack, of course, among many items she'd picked up shopping or as small rewards for jobs during her travels. But Salvatore hadn't called the match yet, and healing items weren't allowed during a match outside held items under normal rules.

She had no excuse; she had fumbled Dusknoir badly there. She sent another mental signal of apology to her coalescing partner. It had been a bad hit, she would need hours of rest to gather the energy to put herself together without the boosts in a Revive to jumpstart their connection.

Maybe it was arrogance. For more than half her career, no one had been able to challenge her. Most insulted her for it. Florian was now beyond her, as she had predicted gleefully when they met. And, if they did doubles, Kieran usually won. Arven was getting close enough she was having to start being careful. But that was pretty much it.

She wasn't used to being on the backfoot against someone she didn't know. All her knowledge of tactics, her estimates of her opponents; trainer and Pokemon, and faith in her team's abilities had one answer. Dusknoir and Shadow Sneak was her team's answer to a blisteringly fast fairy/ghost. Greninja and her at full output had barely managed a glancing hit.

Nemona suddenly needed some help for why people reacted the way they did. Power and partners, she was astute. She'd seen Florian with Koraidon enough to see what a 'normal' (and even accounting for Florian, it looked weird, but it worked for them) Paradox bond looked like. This one looked unhealthy. And Flutter Mane was clearly upset.

She didn't want to win on a judge decision. Maybe if she waived the penalty it would help Aliquis and Flutter Mane?

She opened her mouth to try and coach an argument for that, when the Flutter Mane suddenly snatched its Ultra Ball away and swallowed it. Aliquis looked blankly down at his hand.


"Where's Rose?" Mei asked nervously, looking around. She didn't see her in the crowd, and the power coming off the court overwhelmed other ways of searching. Mei thought she had seen Rose's phone still in the air, so she was still in the courtyard. Rotom phones weren't dedicated enough to keep filming if their assigned partner just left them.

Of all the next steps in a breakdown, swallowing the Ultra Ball wasn't what she had predicted. There was no crunch or shatter after it had swallowed, so it wasn't a dramatic way of breaking the bond. It wanted to keep with Aliquis in some way.

Mei remembered the fear on Rose's face as the presence had come closer and closer. It was the death of personality approaching and she couldn't stop it. Even if Rose's memories were thankfully absent, Mei did not want her to see this so soon.

"Oh, you didn't like that ball?" Aliquis said dully and pulled a gleaming dark blue orb out of his pocket. He held it up, bracing it with his other arm. Light flared, gathering out of the air into the Tera Orb as a breeze suddenly flowed out of it, as if the energy was displacing reality. Aliquis was used to it, but he could barely hold on. The muttering in the crowd picked up afresh.

"Is that what they look like?" Mei asked Trigo, who nodded.

"How's this one?" Aliquis asked. The fae ghost flitted around him, darting faster than a non-trainer could follow. It was peering curiously at the energized Tera Orb, taking it in from all angles.

"Wait, no, don't I keep this one?" Aliquis said, starting to put it back into his pocket. The strange Misdreavus growled, eyes flashing, force whipping up around it. Aliquis's friends stumbled backwards nervously. The Pokemon was outside the barrier, and nothing was mitigating its energies.

"Aliquis, deploy a new Pokemon," Salvatore commanded, still sounding calm. Mei was looking forward to language class at this point, he was a true orator.

"Or you'll lose the match," Salvatore threatened, enunciating each syllable to make sure it was unmistakable.

"C'mon Aliquis, don't let me win on a technicality," Nemona urged.

Aliquis's face darkened. "No, I don't want to lose to Nemona, ever again. I'll keep getting stronger, and so will my partners – take it!" he commanded, holding the ball out.

The oversized ghost sniffed it, and then popped the orb into its mouth and bit down.

There was a brief screech as the outer material tried to hold, before a glass-shattering crunch echoed off the courtyard walls. The strange light of the Tera Orb spilled out of the surprised Pokemon's mouth. It looked around frantically as glowing crystals surrounded it, summoned out of Paldea. A wave of light washed over the crowd, seemingly all colors, none, and pure white at the same time. The Misdreavus was completely obscured.

Mei grimaced and held her hands to her temples. The pressure that had been there from malice was replaced with sheer pain. Her vision smeared with rainbows; images grown hazy. She briefly saw the courtyard abandoned and ruined, a stricken Skiddo lying on the ground before her. The pain intensified, and it was replaced by an empty large room, encased in shining dead steel.

The light faded away and the pain eased up, but Mei staggered, nearly retching, barely able to stand upright. It was already fading, but it had been worse than the trainer shock on day one. Pome reached out a claw nervously, and she felt the heat of his bond, the little Croc Pokemon reassuring it was still present. Mei managed to send a brief twig of connection down in response, but her head was spinning too much for anything more

"Mei, what happened?" Miriam asked, stopping fighting with her case.

"You didn't see that?" Mei asked, risking looking up – her balance still felt shaky. Her eyes widened at what she saw, and Mei didn't bother waiting for an answer, bending down to try and not to throw up and pretend she didn't see anything.

The Misdreavus had already been huge for the species, double a normal one and almost as tall as its trainer. It towered over Mei, who could hit 128 if she stretched. Now, Aliquis didn't even come up to the creature's amorphous skirt. It had double or tripled in size again, and roared triumphantly before looking over itself, preening.

There was a series of gasps and shouts of surprise from the crowd, with people starting to step back towards the courtyard's exits.

The pain had passed enough Mei could stand, but the impossibility still stood before them.

"I can't be seeing this. I've lost my mind. There are no particles here," Mei babbled.

"I think we all just did. Tera Orbs are made of Herba Mystica?" Zania asked, backing up on Magney.

"Why is everyone tall!" Poppy complained.

The Titan Pokemon roared with a fierce battle cry. The crowd's muttering ceased, and people slowly took more steps backwards. Mei would join them if her legs worked. Pokemon and humans made do with thoughts and impressions with each other rather than direct communication. Stronger trainers could get a better idea of even wild Pokemon across different species, or those with unusual talents like the twins.

Even without experience, every trainer in the courtyard knew in their bones this Misdreavus wasn't a wild Pokemon looking for an ordinary match. It wouldn't stop at a knockout.

The crowd started to part, a definite trend to put more space around Aliquis. It was like the tide going out, though with some eddies to avoid drawing attention at Salvatore or Nemona.

Mei was still locked up. She had felt incredible power when the Misdreavus roared. It was tainted and had bad beginnings, but it was still majestic. Parts of her were urging her to try and claim it, to test herself, and other parts were screaming she needed to leave. There were some parts that worried about the panic, but they were almost ancillary before her own fight or flight response.

She was no Champion. That was being hammered in again, and the Champion she might have been had no experience here. She didn't dare make a first move. She would simply be swatted.

Victor's lips moved in a silent curse next to her. He was braced against something, with his Nacli quivering, fighting something invisible. Pome looked back and forth, confused. The invisible force that ghost was putting out wasn't, somehow, the right expression for him. She had no answers for Pome.

Salvatore recovered his wits almost immediately after the roar. He gestured for the few people still near him to go for the nearest exist. Most of Narnaja's faculty were genuine Aces, and he stepped forward where others fled.

"Aliquis, your Pokemon has been eliminated from the match per the agreed upon rules. Using moves outside prearranged tutorials off training courts is a violation of school policy. Withdraw your Pokemon at once. This match will otherwise be called for Nemona," he said calmly, but projecting his voice to the crowd.

"Oh, no, the match isn't done," Aliquis said tonelessly, but it still echoed off the walls somehow, and in people's souls. The Misdreavus gave a deep chuckle. Its previous deeper-pitched cry almost sounded human at its size as it spun to face Nemona. Glowing shards assembled around its front, before folding together in a set of glowing trapezoidal rocks in midair.

Nemona and Greninja were still ready, and called more kunai up in preparation to counter. The trapezoids spun, then like a magnet with filings, all aligned in one direction – at the referee.

Shouting in surprise, Salvatore pulled a Poke ball as the Power Gem projected energy beams at him. To his credit, he almost threw it in time. There was a flash as the lasers impacted, steam rising from the grass around him where he had been knocked backwards.

The Misdreavus yelled as the brace of shadowy Dark Pulse kunai exploded against it, but the impacts looked tiny against its larger size. There was something going on as an Ability or typing; the damage seemed too minor for super-effective hits.

Between the yell, the flinch of Dark Pulse, and one of the teachers being blasted, the crowd broke. People started streaming towards whatever exit was closest. Spurred on, people started calling Pokemon to try and flee faster, or to make a path. A few risked fliers out of the courtyard, but a general melee started to break around the doors.

The Rotom phones started to follow their owners, and the Misdreavus laughed, conjuring fire to knock some out of the air.

"Just a straight match, not for the school archives. No worries about the ref stoping us, so we can keep going, Nemona," Aliquis said in a loud montone. The giant Pokemon nodded and its body billowed, becoming more gaseous. It floated around Aliquis and condensed, pulling him into the air inside it. With a malicious laugh, it conjured up another set of Power Gems, starting to pick the remaining phones like skeet.

That done, it turned to where Nemona was still standing in the trainer box and growled. Nacli stumbled backwards and Mei quivered. She could feel it looking at her, and hungry. She wasn't the right taste – it seemed hesitant – but there was enough of her to be a snack.


"Professor, I can't get the court barrier back up on my own!" Nemona yelled, "What do I do?" Rather than attack, she'd been trying to bring the court barrier back up, but without Aliquis participating, Misdreavus's attacks passed right through.

"We need to keep it away from the crowd, can you buy time?" Dendra called. Greninja gave a nod and response and conjured a water shuriken, throwing it at the ground. The water exploded into a cloud of vapor, briefly hiding Nemona's section of the field in mist.

The stand-off broken by the mist screen, the Flutter Mane stopped hovering and rapidly conjured a Moonblast into being, hurling it into the mist. The silvery sphere impacted in the middle and glowed, drawing in the spray before exploding in a flash of light, forcing onlookers to shield their eyes.

When the flash was done, the lines of Nemona's trainer box were obliterated. The ground was scorched and the clay of the court had cracks radiating out. There was no sign of Nemona, and the Paradox Pokemon gave a satisfied nod. It started to look around hungrily and Dendra winced at the force of it.

"Up here!" came a call from above. Dendra looked up along with the remaining onlookers near the trainer's box. The oversized Flutter Mane growled as Nemona waved down at it. Her shoulders were clutched delicately in a Kilowattrel's talons. Wind gathered around the big flier's winds, and two deliberate flaps sent the gathered power in a double salvo at Nemona's opponent.

The blasts exploded against its head, and it grimaced and fired a barrage of Power Gem back. Nemona flapped upwards to get distance, but feathers hung scorched in the air from a glancing hit. The Kilowattrel steadied and flew around to prep another attack.

"Almost forgot she had that," Dendra said absently, not drawing a Pokemon yet. In other situations, a ghost/fairy would be an exciting opponent for her, but there was too much collateral risk here, and her type put her at a big disadvantage.

Miriam tapped Dendra's shoulder and growled, "I love this case dearly. Dendra, would you smash it for me?" she directed, holding the travel case for her Poke balls out.

"Zania, you need to get down now," Poppy directed. Zania nodded and, wincing, shifted off the big Magney. Its two front Magnets spun to lock in position forward and light started to gather between them.

Dendra nodded and brought her Hitmontop out. A punch too fast to see sheared the lock off the case. The crack of metal brought the Flutter Mane's attention back from trying to snipe Nemona in the air. It dropped low and charged towards the cluster of teachers and students, but suddenly drew back as a black blur jumped in front of it.

The blur resolved into a muscular Grimmsnarl, fist crackling with pink energy as he prepped a Spirit Break. Nemona simultaneously was readying another Dual Wingbeat behind to catch the Flutter Mane in a pincer.

The Flutter Mane stuck its tongue out and made its body transparent, showing Aliquis floating limply within it. Screeching, the Kilowattrel pulled up, slamming the gathered energy into the court instead, doing more damage to the clay.

"The body's still there, go!" Kieran shouted. It was a bit cold, in Dendra's opinion, but he wasn't wrong. The Flutter Mane shifted its 'skirt' back in response, pushing Aliquis to be embedded in the front of its chest.

Kieran frowned and the Grimmsnarl roared in frustration, punching the ground to bleed off the energy he had gathered. He somersaulted backwards and started setting up a Light Screen in a transition Dendra had to give top marks to. Behind, there was a roar of cracking air, and a beam of metallic light split the sky, nowhere near the Flutter Mane.

The Flutter Mane laughed triumphantly, and, just to show off, floated Aliquis around inside it to showcase how quickly it could maneuver its hostage.

"I nearly shot him!" Poppy wailed from behind Dendra.

Kieran walked up to his new teachers, sweating from the effort of what he'd just pulled.

"I don't have Incineroar today but can at least do screens. Does anyone have something very precise and ranged?" Kieran asked, concerned.

"Everyone not League-certified stay back," Miriam said calmly as she clipped her Poke balls to her belt. She had that gleam in her eye, but she was in control of it. She glanced at the fighting near the doors. "Though I don't think escape is possible yet," she continued. She left one in hand and threw it to call out her Glalie.

The Flutter Mane spun around, looking at Nemona above, but then down at the forces assembled there. It paused to think a moment, then stuck its tongue out and then conjured flames, shooting a Mystical Fire at the crowd still headed to the exit.


Alamy looked over at Rose as the Misdreavus suddenly broke from the field to yell at its trainer. The small aroma girl had suddenly started sweating. Azucena jumped off her lap and braced herself. A headache suddenly blossomed in Alamy's head, and she put a hand to it in confusion.

"It's pushing," Rose said, and suddenly winced, and pulled her necklace off over her head. It was glowing a dull purple. Alamy looked at Rose's chest and could see a small burn where it had rested against the autumn uniform necktie. The Triad symbol slumped and softened.

"It's pushing and it's very bad at it," Rose said, trying to sound cheerful. She winced again, and squirmed, reaching into her pocket to pull out blackened pieces of papers. They had a faint purple glow and were breaking apart into ash at Rose's touch.

"So much for this skirt," she looked down and frowned at her necktie. Her other Poke ball shook and Ivy came out as well, hackled and hissing.

"I don't deserve you two," Rose said. She was gritting her teeth, whatever headache Alamy had seemed to be affecting her. Alamy could smell rotted flowers, and she reached out to touch Rose's hand lightly.

At contact, the smell cleared of rot to a fresh-cut field, but the pressure against Almay's head intensified. Resistor chittered angrily, then hit Bandwidth's release button. The duck emerged, quivering, but didn't try to retreat.

The pressure eased and the still glowing necklace dulled and cooled. Rose gave a small, thankful smile to Alamy. The sense of pressure swung away, and the smell cleared. It felt like a spotlight had shifted off them, as Alamy tried to put an analogy too it.

"Trying to fit a round peg in a square hole," Rose muttered, letting the ashes fly away as the purple glow faded.

"We're not the fit it is looking for?" Alamy asked, "Like the wards still caught it, but it was wrong to get in. I felt a headache as well." Rose nodded.

"It's got some willpower, but not against all six of us at once. I guess the two of us being separated highlighted us. Sorry," Rose apologized. Alamy shook her head.

"There's something still twisted up in it; maybe it was trying to pull fear from us for power. I'm not great at ghosts. Poor Aliquis," Rose continued, and shuddered.

"If Mei's right about herself, I hope she's alright," Rose muttered.

"She is with the teachers," Alamy pointed out, "I do not think it will try again with so much crowd, but if we were apart from each other, I do not think it could get in."

"No, not awake, certainly not all three that's us together," Rose assured her, and reached out to pet her partners.

"So that's what happened," she muttered. Ivy and Azucena looked worried.

"This happened before?" Alamy asked.

"Or something like it. Not this Pokemon, either. I don't remember, but it should have a harder time not that we know we can push it off, right?" Rose promised, directed to her partners. The two nodded.

"If this thing has a taste for human batteries," Alamy began but her comment was cut off by an ear-splitting noise of something cracking, and a flash of light washed over them. Alamy felt like she could taste every flavor at once on her mouth briefly. Her vision blurred, the ground shifting to dead metal under her hands. She looked up, they were even enclosed in it, light pulsing on circuits instead of veins.

Rose gasped, and Alamy looked at her – it was still her face, but with long ash-gray hair. A spiked gold crown was set in it, and she was wearing what looked like ceremonial white and red robes. Her eyes were nearly black, with only a few specks of green dancing in the depths.

She looked shocked, and she put a hand over Alamy's grip on her arm. Alamy looked down and saw flesh again, but wearing spiked leather cuffs and dark gloves instead of the Naranja uniform.

Her vision cleared, back to early autumn Naranja, and suddenly she could hear screams in the background. Alamy flinched as something impacted near them, small bits of dirt and stone raining over them.

"Alamy, punk isn't a look for you," Rose said seriously, her eyes dull, then she shook her head and seemed to come back to herself. "I'm not interested," she hissed, looking back towards the court. Azucena chittered in worry.

"Not interested, you Dynamaxed Pokemon?" Rose finished, voice rising in alarm. The Pokemon was a lot bigger, but didn't have the red cloud of Galar particles for Dynamaxing.

Alamy realized someone was missing from the view and looked around. "Professor Salvatore!" she called, but he didn't respond, lying against the ground several meters away. People had cleared out of the area, and the two near the wall were the closest remaining.

There was a crack of lighting and flare of fire to the left – fights were breaking out in the effort to get away. A further snap and crack came from the strange ghost Pokemon as it used a rock move on the hovering Rotom phones.

"I hope that's just because they're ghosts and it's not smart enough to cut us off," Rose muttered. She glanced at Azucena, who nodded as something passed between them. Both put their palms on the ground. There was a crackle and Alamy could smell forest again. The grass that had been neatly mowed around them suddenly shot up in a rush around them, growing to over a meter before stopping.

Rose and Azucena slumped as the smell of the woods cut off, breathing hard, and Rose starting to sweat. The ground suddenly crumbled by Alamy's hands, dry and exhausted. Alamy inanely felt a bit sorry for the lawn. This wasn't encouraging a few seeds in a garden. The two had probably burned the soil up.

Rose reached into her purse for a water bottle, opening it and pouring it over a grateful Azucena before taking a sip of what was left. "I think I got that wide enough to cover the Professor near the track. It should make it safer to check on him."

There was a burst of heat, strong enough to feel like the sun, going off near them, followed by another deep cackle. The screams and sounds of combat intensified.

"We cannot leave him injured like that and helpless," Alamy urged quietly. Rose nodded agreement, and the two started creeping forward.

"You're not supposed to put yourself in danger in rescue," Rose admonished quietly. She didn't try and slow Alamy or stop herself, though.


Miriam's eyes tightened, and Glalie grimaced as he used the Ice Shard he's been prepping between his horns to instead propel himself. He sped far faster than he was supposed to, interposing himself before the students in time.

The flames washed over poor Glalie, but his presence and power interposed, the flames washing into him instead of the students. Miriam closed her eyes as she felt the strength flow out of her as the Face Pokemon's stamina broke, and she quickly recalled him. She opened her eyes to see the Flutter Mane looking directly at her with a glare. It very deliberately looked where Glalie had been and launched a follow-up Mystical Fire at the same spot, setting sparks amidst the short grass.

The Paradox Pokemon roared, and Miriam's mind filled in it was angry at being denied its opponent. That was very possibly unfair to the Flutter Mane, but she couldn't help it. Misdreavus fed on fear – did this thing hunger for the fear of death?

"Nacli," Victor croaked nearby. Miriam turned to see the little rock Pokemon scotting on the ground, leaving salt in a circle around Mei and Victor. As the circle completed, Victor relaxed and Mei breathed deeply and coughed, looking surprised. She stumbled backwards several feet and rubbed her legs.

If she thought the Flutter Mane had been angry before, now she knew what murderous intent looked like on the species. "We need cover!" she shouted. This thing was too fast, and in too many places. She had spent too much time on the court.

Dendra didn't vocalize but her Hitmontop was already racing forward, spinning on his head. Feet and hands glowed steel as the Handstand Pokemon raced through the side of the Paradox Pokemon's body, too quickly for it to adjust Aliquis.

Even if it couldn't deliver as telling a blow, the precise flow of energies Dendra managed, aided by the Technician ability, were telling. Part of the Flutter Mane's skirt was simply dispersed, the rest looking wobbly.

Dendra was an utterly obtuse muscle brain, and Miriam felt as Dendra's dear friend she was qualified to say that. Dendra liked loud and brawling personally, but she was familiar with almost every battle style and could replicate them if needed. She could wield her partners' power like a scalpel. Miriam felt another surge of admiration for her coworker, which she tried to tamp down. The timing wasn't appropriate. Miriam threw her Maganium out. The big Pokemon pawed the ground and looked apprehensive.

The Flutter Mane roared and looked away. Miriam hoped for a second it would drop Aliquis, but it was able to tighten itself back up and fire a Moonblast towards the spinning Hitmontop. Hitmontop fled towards the emptied part of the courtyard past Aliquis's trainer box, but the sphere caught up to him. Miriam had to close her eyes against the flare, she could see the light on her eyelids.

Dendra shuddered and held a Poke ball out, recovering her partner. "Great job," she murmured, sweat starting to pour off her. In a match, trainers had an idea about each other's limits, but Dendra had to dig deep to prevent injury here. She had bought time for Miriam to prepare, and Miriam hoped it hadn't cost her friend too much.

Miriam nodded at her Meganium. It popped away in a puff of smoke, leaving a small stuffed Rhydon doll in its place. Now she just needed to decide if she could risk a leech seed.

"No, you can't let up at it!" came a scream nearby. Miriam turned to see Mei pointing, aghast.

The Flutter Mane cackled as multi-colored energy streamed out of Aliquis, who was looking noticeably thinner around the face. With a flutter and crackle of purple and pink energy, the Flutter Mane's skirt reformed and it waggled its eyebrows triumphantly.


The intent was still there, but the warding circle was enough she could breathe and start to discern it. She had shouted a warning before she realized what her mouth was doing, but she got her wits in time to not slap her hands over her mouth. She'd been right and she was behind screens.

If she had a natural aptitude for ghosts, she hoped it didn't end like this. Her metaphors were all plants, and she could feel an intent like a parasitic vine. Ever flower had thorns, every thorn a mouth, and every mouth was feeding. And that weird cancerous bond weakened momentarily, then flared back to unnatural life.

It seemed to have a life of its own, outside either partner, but it was mainly driving the Misdreavus. She had four Elite trainers in front of her, and was in some small manner of protection. She could try to do something.

"Don't look at them, look at me," Mei said, projecting as much fierceness as she could. Pome squatted by her and tried to look as menacing as possible. This has worked on a Gym trainer's Shuppet somehow…

The giant-sized ghost turned over and tilted its head quizzically, before making a disappointed face. Mei could feel it try to focus on her, but it was blunted. It shifted its gaze slightly to glare next to Mei.

"I thought it wouldn't like the salt circle," Victor said, standing there. Mei looked down, and Victor's little Nacli looked smug but slightly worn from dispensing so much salt. Between the craters from missed attacks and Nacli, this lawn had had it.

"I think it wants more fuel cells," Mei said. The intent coming off that thing was fierce. She could feel the energies roiling that thing, but it was all wrong, just taking and taking. It was looking for something specific too – she wasn't quite a fit for it. This thing must need generalists like Nemona or very specific specialists for optimum 'taste'.

"Not me. I've never had a Pokemon send such disgust at how unappetizing I am," Victor said, smiling weakly. Nacli chittered smugly.

"It wants to pluck more people?" Miriam asked for confirmation. Mei nodded. There wasn't really time to explain.

"No! Keep looking!" she demanded. She pushed against the intent and was suddenly sweating. Pome leaned against her leg, offering what support he could. This was worse than that damn tree.

"Osu! You two stay close then," Dendra ordered, then glanced at the crowd then winced.

"All of you stay close," Miriam amended, "Kieran, Poppy, we need to plan. Mei, can you keep that thing's attention?"

"Maybe briefly – can you send something forward?" Mei asked weakly. She struggled to ramrod posture and failed.

"Eyes here, ghosty!" she yelled. The ghost glared and started to inhale, a Shadow Ball forming, before it suddenly shifted as a dark blur cuffed its side. It briefly roiled around the impact site but looked mainly okay – whatever that Pokemon had done to itself, it had tremendous bulk for a Misdreavus to shrug off a Sucker Punch so easily.

It was also starting to realize how much power it had. It kept forming the Shadow Ball instead of getting skittish and launched it at the group. Miriam concentrated briefly, and the little stuffed Rhydon doll twitched and jumped in the air, intercepting the Ball.

The doll dropped to the ground, lifeless and drained of any remaining color, looking old and sun-bleached for a moment. Then it cracked and exploded in smoke, the billow clearing quickly to reveal a tired Meganium.

Poppy ran up beside the teachers, but her face was tear streaked. For once to Mei, the part of Poppy that was the small, underdeveloped girl exceeded that of the elite steel trainer.

"I nearly shot him!" she said again, voice filled with fear. The Magnezone next to her looked more downcast than Mei had thought possible for an inorganic Pokemon. It even managed to spin its magnets despairingly.

"It's okay honey, it's not fighting fair," Dendra said kindly, but distractedly. She had her Hawalucha out, and the two were judging the situation. Kieran stood and looked grim.

"I could try Flying Press to bypass the ghost, but I don't know how tight its grip is when it's not repositioning, or if it would phase through Aliquis," Dendra said after a minute.

"I can try a leech seed, but that doesn't react as strongly on raids, and I don't know if the drain is strong enough to distract it," Miriam said. Her Meganium had popped into the shadowy space of another Substitute.

"It would probably just let the roots reach Aliquis," Mei heard herself saying.

"Do you know what it did there? That wasn't quite a move," Kieran said, but his focus quickly moved off her. He sighed, recalling his Grimmsnarl. He grimaced and put his Hydrapple down.

"Hold that behind the screens for now," Miraim adviced. He nodded.

The gaze of almost all those trainers on her was a lot to take, but she was supposed to be in stadiums someday. She had been a Champion, even.

Also, all of them combined weren't as bad as that mutated Misdreavus.

"I don't know Misdreavus, but it's feeding somehow, like a parasitic vine. And behind the intent… its power dipped," Mei said, "You need a proper specialist or someone like Nemona who's a bond expert." Where was Rose? She was the sensitive one.

"That bond wasn't… poisonous, I know poison. Almost like it was metastasized. It may not be the first time, but the first I've ever seen. You're the best knowledge we've got, sweetie," Miriam said, "Dipped like its stamina was flagging?"

"It still has the Life Orb," Dendra said.

"Like the channeling output dropped out, but it wasn't long," Mei said, and then hissed. "It's doing it again!"

It spent longer doing it this time, and she could feel the channeling drop. The others nodded as well. The power had certainly flagged.

Miriam huffed, and green light shone out of the Substitute. The power drop stopped, the Misdreavius moving backwards, and pushing Aliquis forward. Miriam had done a warning shot, however, expecting this. The ghost conjured fire in response, and the Meganium looked downright nettled when it repeated after another Substitute cracked.

"Well, it's attacking its trainer, that must affect the channeling," Kieran theorized.

"Stop hurting him!" Poppy demanded.

"We're on new ground," Miriam said, and glanced over and winced. "Stupid, stupid Miriam," she muttered, "Can anyone deal with the fire?"

She pointed and everyone followed the line to see the sparks had started to catch the grass. Now smoke was building between them and the crowd still pushing at the exit.

Kieran recalled his Hydrapple for a Politoed wearing a snappy heavy vest, which croaked and exhaled. Clouds suddenly formed overhead, starting rain from its ability. Mei looked nervously at the salt circle.

A ball of water started to form in the Politoed's hands, but Victor interrupted.

"It's a small fire, my Quaxly can handle it," he said, and winced as lightning dropped out of the clouds into the crowd in a textbook Thunder. Other lighting and water seemed to concentrate from the clouds over the crowd.

"If the riot doesn't," he added, but he recalled Nacli anyway and moved off. His steps hitched after he stepped out of the circle, but he braced and called his Quaxly out and continued.

Mei shivered. Without Nacli present, the anti-ghost effect of the salt wasn't being reinforced. The Misdreaveus's presence and the rain were fighting to remove the protection first.

Mei shivered as she felt the weight of that thing start to fall on her. They needed more faculty, or time for a plan, or some hero who could just win. Pome looked at her nervously, pointing at the rain, but she shook her head.

"I know it's not your favorite, but whatever ghost you have I need now," Mei apologized. Pome nodded and stayed clutched on her stocking.

The clouds suddenly twisted overhead, a pulse of wind and the joy of flight suddenly overriding the calldowns of water and lightning from the other students. Nemona's Kilowattrel dived through the clouds, and they followed, caught in their wake. She was still clutched in its talons, and a cylinder of air and rain formed behind her.

The big ghost gasped in surprise as Nemona pulled up at the last second, but the Hurricane continued– and the eye of that vortex was big enough Aliquis could fit in the middle. The storm tore at the big ghost – Nemona had used the boosted wind and rain to aim the move perfectly.

Nemona pulled out of the climb and Kilowattrel angled lower as the natural winds reasserted themselves. The Misdreavus burst free from the cyclone looking disheveled and clearheaded. No luck on dazing it with the column of air. The Power Gem that tracked Nemona's flight was as precise as her own attack had been.

Nemona had been expecting it, and Kilowattrel dropped her low enough she was able to absorb the impact with the ground without having to run it off. She landed right near Miriam and Dendra, even as the lasers struck Kilowattrel. She held a Poke ball out and recalled him, cupping the ball in a hand for the moment.

When her arm was down, she was smiling, though her eyes were taut. "Sorry, I was reviving everyone," she said breezily and with forced cheer.

"Good hit," Dendra said, "Everyone press on it now!" The little Substitute hopped in place as the Meganium behind it started another Giga Drain, and Politoed conjured a weather ball. Dendra's Hawalucha's 'helmet' gleamed with silvery steel, and even Poppy readied another flash cannon, though her hands were covering her eyes and the Magnezone was aiming low.

The ghost growled, and a pulse of light rained out of it, a cone mainly directed at them. The light screen took some of it but was starting to waver. Politoed jumped before his trainer to take some of the brunt. Hawalucha went flying backwards as another Substitute cracked, leaving an exhausted-looking Meganium.

Poppy's Magnezone shrugged it off, but her Flash Cannon fired wide and to the left, digging a trench into the court, nowhere near the Flutter Mane.

"Hey! Cheat! Fifth move! This isn't in a Tera Den!" Nemona said accusingly.

"Wowsers, no, that's bad," Kieran said. The others turned to look.

"What if the power wasn't dropping because Aliquis was fighting the sync, but it dropped it in battle to switch to something its moveset to something more useful than Moonblast against a crowd?" he speculated.

"That's impossible," Miriam said automatically, "You're left vulnerable without trainer protections as the partner. And given how the battle thrill on both sides in a battle, trying to break the link before an opponent can cause a lot of damage and trainer shock -oh dear," Miriam stopped. Of course, if the Pokemon didn't care about its partner…

"Has anyone seen Rose?" Mei asked again. She prayed her sister wasn't another fuel tank for this thing.

"I saw tall grass growing from up above – it covered a chunk from the wall to where Salvatore landed. There was a trainer and two faint ones there," Nemona said, "Nice work, even if they didn't have enough energy to cover the background debt. The groundskeepers are going to have to really fertilize this year."

If it had been Rose and Salvatore, it should have been at least two strong presences, as bright as battle sync was compared to pet owners. She must have slipped free, as lightly as she could move. Mei sagged with some relief, they'd be able to laugh about her phone being shot down later. She tensed again, there was another surge of hunger – they'd waited too long.

"Kieran!" Mei snapped. Kieran looked back around, and Politoed hurled a conjured Weather Ball down field. The Flutter Mane moved to dodge and growled angrily back, a Shadow Ball launching out. With crossed arms, the tough Politoed shook it off.

"Even with the assault vest, he can't take many more," Kieran said.

"We need to keep up a stream of attacks – once the students are safe, we should have other faculty coming," Dendra said.

"But I only trained to hit the Pokemon, not miss parts! I don't want to hit Aliquis!" Poppy wailed.


There was a follow-up blast of fire, fortunately not near Rose and Alamy. The grass Rose had shot up was already drooping. It was probably flammable by now, dried out. It was an old Grass trick, using the natural Pokemon abilities over a move itself, but normal biology had more sway as a result compared to conjured grass.

Rose could nearly move like a shadow through this terrain, but Alamy rustled behind her. On top of that, they were too close for Rose to feel confident she could mask her presence. Some fairy types and almost all ghost types were excellent at sensing life energy. This cover was really for their peace of mind.

Normally, it wouldn't be far to where Professor Salvatore landed. Even moving low, it didn't take long to reach him. The grass hadn't shot up under him to where they had a small clearing. Both girls let out breath they hadn't realized they were holding when they saw he was breathing. Keeping low and out of view, they couldn't see the big Pokemon, but they could feel its ire. And they could hear the occasional chuckle and sound of moves.

"Professor?" Rose called, but there was no reaction. Alamy went to shake him, and Rose's hand struck out to grab her before she could.

"That's risky on the neck and back," Rose explained. Alamy's face stopped clouding over, and she whispered an apology as she caught her first reaction.

"It's a natural thing to try and wake him," Rose said, waving it off.

"I should know better, I took first aid at trainer school," Alamy admitted.

"His partners are out too," Rose observed. She gently picked up the Ball that had been in his hand and put it on his belt, but it showed no reaction.

"I cannot imagine one of the teachers having such a poor relationship that his team would leave him here otherwise," Alamy said, "Can we feed Revives to them then? I have four."

"I only have two," Rose admitted, blushing. They were expensive and she had been buying training restoratives instead of trying to stock up.

They held one each to a ball at random. There was no reaction. Rose even tried waving one under Salvatore's nose, but he didn't twitch. That was a long shot. Even trainers' physiology didn't usually react to Pokemon medication.

"They are not just too tired to battle then," Alamy said, worried.

Rose said, "I have components for a stretcher in my main pack, but they don't fit in my purse." Ivy pawed and mimed biting at some of the grass, but Rose shook her head. The grass was already dying. Trying to reinforce it into stretcher poles was beyond them.

Resistor and Alamy shared a look, and Resistor shook her head and Alamy cringed. Bandwidth sighed.

"I am not strong enough to help carry him," Alamy said. Rose winced. Alamy was good for a pet trainer and they had been sparring for the last while. Rose had thought past the fact Alamy wasn't a battle trainer and didn't get the enhanced abilities.

Alamy risked putting her head up, and then ducked down into the grass. "There is still fighting going on by the closest entrance," she reported.

Rain started falling from the sky. Rose disbelievingly held out a hand and looked around. The clouds were only overhead.

"There was fire earlier, this will weaken it," Alamy said, even she held her face up to let the rain wash over, seemingly subconsciously. Rose glanced at Resistor, who gave a sly smile.

Rose had managed to cram a blanket into her purse's opening. It took a lot less time to pull it out than it had to stuff it in, and the six worked to spread it to keep Salvatore warm and at least somewhat dry.

"There are plenty of Elites out there, and more coming," Rose said, trying to keep focused on first aid. It was harder than she wished it was. She could feel that Pokemon, and the pressure it was exerting was calling her and her Pokemon to challenge it. It was so much stronger she could fight the feeling easily, but just staying here felt inherently wrong.

There was a crack, and the wind and water suddenly flowed up for a second. The two looked to follow, and saw Nemona dive through the clouds, dragging the fury of the heavens after her. She glanced in their direction; she was too far up to see her expression, but Rose could feel a probe.

"Dragons, that lady makes it look easy," Rose said. Ivy sighed in admiration.

"I wish we could do something," Alamy said in frustration. Resistor's eyes were shining at the brief glimpse of Nemona's Kilowattrel.

"We can't move him, and we shouldn't abandon him," Rose said, with forced calm, and she rose her head again, "And the entrances are still blocked by what I think is the local Quagsire and a Drednaw going at it, so we can't get help. If we keep him from drowning in this rain, we're contributing perfectly well."

"You are still not a good liar," Alamy observed. Rose shrugged, and let her frustration show. Alamy's expression softened.

"We might get one attack off from surprise, but what could it do the teachers can't? I'm reasonably certain we would survive one hit with the trainer bond, but we'd be completely drained like Salvatore. For any follow-ups, we'd been completely exposed," Rose said.

"We could have tried to escape. If you had insisted, I would have no chance. We moved forward and we are helping," Alamy said, also trying to convince herself.

A ringing shimmer broke out and light passed over their heads, a Dazzling Gleam would be Rose's estimate. All six reflexively ducked.

"And you were right that righteous trainers don't always have long careers," Rose noted, but lightly. Alamy giggled nervously in response.


"Dusknoir is all right to battle, and we can try to Shadow Sneak Aliquis out. Poppy won't have to attack," Nemona said confidently. This was the second time Dusknoir had managed to recover – not being able to land direct hits was leaving them conversely more open.

"You weren't fast enough last time," Kieran said. He was feeding his own Grimmsnarl a revive.

"I won't make that mistake again," Nemona insisted.

"I didn't think our Champion would," Dendra said. She closed her eyes in pain and recalled the Aqua-breed Tauros she'd been using to keep the Misdreavus busy. She shook her head. The Light Screens had shattered again and Dendra was pushing her team to the limit to try and keep someone out.

But the limit had been passed. "That's it for him," she said flatly. She'd already revived him twice. Miriam nodded and called her Eelektross forward to start Coiling. That caught the Flutter Mane's attention.

"Even if Dusknoir can reach into another ghost, can she pull Aliquis out before she gets Shadow Balled?" Mei asked. Nemona's response was to hold up an Assault Vest.

"Nemona shouldn't be in this fight!" Zania burst out, angry. Kieran and Nemona turned to look at where Zania was next to Trigo, hanging back with their Pokemon. She looked deadly serious. Mei had to admit her sister had a point – Zania's makeup did an amazing job holding up in water.

"I've got enough in me to keep going through a few more knockouts," Nemona assured.

"No, you're the student council president. Stop the riot! They're getting trampled!" Zania demanded.

Nemona blinked and looked over at the struggle. It had thinned out a bit, some people had been pushed back and were kneeling on the ground or just sitting blankly.

"Oh, that's bad?" she asked. She shook her head. "Right, they had no preparation and are just in a scrum. They're scared, right?" She looked around for confirmation. Zania took a deep breath and then nodded calmly.

"You just worked that out?" Trigo demanded incredulously.

"I know not everyone likes to battle like I do," Nemona pouted, looking down. Zania glared at Trigo, who thought furiously.

"But you did give a great speech, to all the students, trainer or not, at the start of the term!" he said after a minute.

Dendra and Miriam looked at each other, and over at Kieran.

"She's right," Miriam said flatly.

"Nemona, you're an amazing battler, but we need your other skills as a person even more know. Get them organized so backup can get here," Dendra said.

"It's getting ready to heal again!" Mei warned. Aliquis was all sharp angles by this point, the ghost had fed so much. She had no idea what shape he was in besides 'alive for the moment'.

"We still need a plan," Miriam said. Her Eelektross uncoiled, power strengthened from the move and coated itself in water to dash through the ghost's flanks. Growling in pain, the Pokemon sent a Shadow Ball exploding against the floating serpent, who shook her head but was still in it.

"Mei, can you try again? If I can get another coil, maybe we'll be fast enough…" Miriam proposed.

"I'll try, but all this exertion is making it harder to keep attention – there's some other trainers that fit better it's thinking about snacking on," Mei warned.

"It keeps looking over at the students when it can," Victor seconded. His Quaxly quacked nervously.

"I saw that," Miriam said, and looked around.

"If you have to, I'll back you all the way," Dendra promised. Miriam smiled tightly.

"We're all too offense oriented, we need more debuffs," Kieran fretted.

Pome tugged at Mei's leg. "Fire Spin's in no shape to trap it yet," Mei said regretfully. Pome sighed and looked down.

"Get the screens back up, how long for the rain?" Dendra asked. Kieran said nothing, staring as Miriam's Pokemon delivered another glancing hit. Another Shadow Ball exploded against it, but the electric Pokemon remained upright, sparking defiantly and hissing.

"Kieran!" Dendra barked. Kieran started.

"Wowsers, twenty more seconds if no one in the crowd does it," Kieran said.

"Get the screens back up and keep Eelektross covered. She can't take more of those – go Nemona," Miriam said firmly. Nemona nodded and called her Combat-breed directly under her.

"See if anyone wants to help," Dendra said. Her head hung low, admitting weakness. She couldn't keep this up.

The ghost saw Nemona's move and cackled, light starting to form.

"No, look here," Mei tried, then growled in anger. "It's too hungry. I'm not registering," she said.

"I'm taking responsibility," Miriam said cooly. Her Eeleketross jumped in the air, a living lightning bolt.

The ghost stopped summoning a Dazzling Gleam and flew backwards instead, sticking its tongue out again. Trigo and Zania saw an opening and made a dash to follow Nemona for what help they could give.

The Eelektross hissed as she reached the top of her arc. She was trained well for Supercell Slam, in the confines of a court. The ghost had simply moved too far for her to connect.

Miriam held the Poke ball up and recalled her before she could suffer the pain of the crash. The health professor hissed in pain as the charged electricity bled out of the ball and into her arm. As the sparking started to subside, she brought it close to her lips.

"It's not your fault," she whispered as an assurance. In a white-knuckled grip, she put the Ball back in place on her belt. After a few more seconds, the sparking ceased. The ball quivered briefly and went still. Miriam clutched her arm after she released the ball, grimacing in pain.

"Is she okay?" Victor asked. Miriam just shook her head in response. Pome stamped his feet in frustration.

"We need a sniper build," Kieran fretted, "But we can't with the phones down." His Grimmsnarl finished putting up screens and looked downcast.

"Maybe Corvi? If the claws can reach through? Can they?" Poppy was still fretting over attacking.

"I think I'll add more raid tactics to the course. I could use the refresher apparently," Dendra said. She fed her Blaze Tauros a revive as the rain cleared, sparks jumping off his mane. Dendra staggered but pointed forward, the big bull pawing the ground, heat rising from his body as he prepared.

"Dendra, he's at his limit," Miriam warned.

"I know," she said quietly.

"It's still not fighting like a raid. I've seen those in Paldea. It keeps shifting its focus," Kieran analyzed.

The Misdreavus indeed had floated back over and was headed towards the students again. Dendra interposed her fiery Tauros, heat spewing from his horns.

"It's not fighting us, it wants to fight Nemona first," Victor realized. People turned to him.

He continued, matter-of-factly, "Every time Nemona moves, it follows."

"It is a trainer Pokemon still," Mei said.

Laughing, the ghost Pokemon summoned fire against fire, conjuring fire balls down on the Tauros. As it charged forward, it pushed Aliquis forward again and laughed harder as Tauros had to divert to the side. A Shadow Ball follow-up knocked it out. Kieran's Grimmsnarl leapt out to try and grab it, and the ghost moved backwards, still laughing.

Dendra's legs went out from under her, and she slumped to sit on the ground. She she shook her head; she had no endurance left to try to channel to her partners.

"Do you think your Nacli could bind it?" Miriam asked.

"That salt circle helped, but it would take a more complex design to push it out completely, and no way it could keep it in. Even if it cut down the Misdreavus's powers, it could just float out – trapping ghosts takes experts," Victor said.

"Well, I'm sticking close to you, as bad as it seemed to think Nacli tastes," Mei said.

"What happens when Aliquis… can't channel more life to it?" Victor said, changing his word choice as he saw Poppy's expression. Her eyes welled with fresh tears anyway, she knew a euphemism.

"We're not letting that happen," Miriam said firmly, "Dendra, I know Kieran's down to dragons, and you're down. I think we need to put all our faith in Hypno."

"Hypno isn't nearly fast enough to get in close enough to guarantee a Hypnosis. Even if you put everything into him when you were at full form. And you can barely lift your dominant arm to try and throw him in close. He'll get a Shadow Ball before he can finish swinging the focus," Dendra said, having to gasp for breath three times.

"Can we wait for others?" Victor asked, looking over. The riot now had a distracted air to it as Nemona was speaking.

"No idea when they'll get here without our phones," Miriam said, "Poppy, can you cover."

"I don't know," Poppy said nervously.

"They're not asking you to hurt Aliquis," Mei assured, her eyes still on the ghost, who was cheekily staying just past Grimmsnarl, "Just can you block so Miriam can set up?"

"Oh? Oh!" Poppy said, looking at her Magnezone, who bobbed.

"Magney can go out and get its attention – it doesn't like steel. Then we throw Hypno behind to start the move, and Magney moves out of the way. A trainer wouldn't fall for it but this might for a few seconds. If it goes to sleep, we should be able to clear Aliquis or get a clean hit," Miriam said, holding her arm. Poppy nodded, looking more determined.

"I wish we could just get that thing to throw him up," Mei said, and looked at Victor, "You said it thought you were disgusting, you think…?"

"Absolutely not," Victor said, "And that's more Nacli than me." He patted the Poke ball and then pulled it off his belt, considering.

"Do not feed your Pokemon to that ghost," Miriam said. Nacli popped out of his ball, looking stricken. The two looked at each other in consideration.


Alamy ducked her head down again. "It did something, it's reformed since I last looked," she reported. Rose raised her own head in response. Both their ears had started ringing – the Pokmeon had been pushing out again and they kept an eye on why.

Bandwidth quacked at his trainer nervously and tugged Alamy to get down. "I appreciate the concern, but we need to keep an eye out," Alamy said. The duck sighed

"I don't know Misdreavus's moves well. Maybe it's Dream Eating one of the Professors' Pokemon? It looks a little like when Azucena is draining," Rose analyzed.

The pressure eased off – there were sounds of another Power Gem going off. Salvatore relaxed, still unconscious. "I guess we were all in the edge of that. This can't be good for him," Rose fretted.

"There are not enough attacks for all five Elites," Alamy said, listening. Her fists balled in the mud – both their uniforms were wrecks at this point.

"I hope everyone's okay. They were all over there," Rose said.

"There is a good chance," Alamy began hesitantly, "Based on what your sister said earlier, that it could be trying to get her like it was you."

"Mei isn't very good at listening," Rose said in black humor. Alamy snorted, despite the situation.

"She had plenty of people with her to help, and I think it would hit the same problem. There's been plenty of ghost channeling, but it got those Moonblasts off too quickly to not be part fairy, somehow," Rose said. She rocked back and forth.

"There's enough power to level most of a city between the five of them. What could be the problem?" Rose asked.


Nemona jumped with her Tauros into a clear spot in the middle of the riot and had him bellow. He did so enthusiastically. She didn't take him out much anymore for combat, since her new team for Florian, and he was happy to get a chance to show off for his trainer.

Nemona felt the hairs on the back of her neck raise, and she looked behind to see Fairy light gathering. It was outshone after a moment as a living lightning bolt jumped in the air, and the Flutter Mane backed off. There was her passion, and she'd rather be in it.

But she was good at this, too.

She'd spent some time when president writing out some speeches as part of her fixing the disaster of paperwork Giacomo had left behind. If she was prepared, she'd have more time to battle later, after all.

She was still surprised she had been put forward by the student body, but Penny had explained this summer that everyone figured she was unlike Giacomo as possible in personality. People were so strange. Sometimes fun to puzzle out, but strange.

"Everyone!" she called, and with a mental gesture had her Tauros slam his horns, knocking out a Drednaw blocking the entrance. Its opponent, a Clodsire, got pulled back before she could direct Tauros into it.

"I know you're all worried, but the teachers can't give their full attention if you're still here! We're all students and we want the best for each other!" Nemona announced. The students looked at each other hesitantly, and then down in shame.

"If we can file through the doors slowly, the professors are keeping it busy. Is there anyone who can help?" Nemona asked.

"I would, but my team would just be torn apart!" One voice shouted. There was general agreement. Nemona looked around – there were bruises and a lot of people clutching what looked like impromptu bandages. Some people had sat down as the fighting had stopped, and weren't looking up.

"Does anyone have any Pokemon that can heal or is taking medical training?" she asked. There were a few raised hands, and Nemona clasped her hands together, eyes sparkling, as she put her best into it.

"Help the people and Pokemon who can't stand. The doors aren't blocked anymore, so let's form a line – I'll be on the edge in case any blasts come!" Nemona ordered. The crowd started to move forward, queuing as some broke away, with nervous glances towards the ongoing fight, to deploy Chansey, Slowbro, and even a Clawitzer equipped with heal pulse, bathing injured Pokemon and people in the light.

Nemona waved to direct traffic and make space for the injured.

"You really meant all that, didn't you?" Trigo asked, having arrived at the edge of the crowd.

"Of course!" Nemona said, "Or I wouldn't say it."

"I stick my foot in my mouth almost as much as Mei – I'm sorry for earlier," Trigo said.

"What? Oh, I'm not bothered. Figuring out people takes me a little longer than most people, is all, and we're in a hurry," Nemona said, and shrugged, looking around.

"I don't know how many were here, though. Has anyone seen Professor Salvatore?" Nemona asked, already moving on.

"I don't think I saw Rose or Alamy pop out of the tall grass," Zania said, "But it's hard to tell with the rain."

Nemona pointed at random to one of the students with a Slowbro. "Finto!" she shouted, having memorized the student lists. The STEM student looked around, a bit shocked to be singled out by Naranja's fiercest student.

"Can you go with these two to where that patch of grass is? Professor Salvatore was hit," she said. Zania and Trigo jumped a little at being volunteered – they looked behind where a fire vs fire battle was ending with Professor Dendra's other Tauros going down, but then nodded.

Finto looked at the grass patch, and chuckled evilly, "Yes, if we keep by the wall and conceal our presence from their eyes most bright, we can come upon him without the enemy knowing out whereabouts." He rubbed his hands together. Zania and Trigo shared another look.

"Thanks!" Nemona said brightly. Finto started off. Zania and Trigo stood there for a second, so Nemona made little shooing gestures with her hands. Reluctantly, they started after.


Magney charged forward, magnets sparking as it conjured a fresh Light Screen. The hostage-taking Pokemon looked at it dismissively, focusing back on the crowd, and grimacing as the chaos began to die down.

"Definitely a fear-eater," Miriam said.

Mei shuddered but tried to keep moving. Regardless of what Miriam had said, Victor and her had kept discussing the idea. She was helping lift Nacli into Pome's widened jaws, with the poor little Rock Salt Pokemon closing his eyes as he tried to be brave.

The little rock-type squirmed. "Not the Fuecoco, the big ghost over there," Victor assured him. After a headpat, the Pokemon settled down. Mei grinned and Victor looked away, but her face fell after a second.

"His name is Pome," Mei said tightly.

"Pome, then," Victor allowed.

Magney fired a Flash Cannon, the beam of solidified light cracking the air as it displaced and flew overhead out of the city. Mei vaguely wished a Squawkabilly was somewhere downrange, given how loud Paldean taxis were, and felt ashamed of herself.

The ghost spun sideways and hissed, before straightening itself and roaring defiance. A Shadow Ball formed before it and the Light Screen flared and held, leaving only a remnant to hit Magney, who shuddered at the eldritch energy but continued. After a moment light flared around it – Poppy had given it a Leftovers to help keep it up.

"Now?" Miriam asked. Kieran shook his head. The Champion was their best expert on timing this with his double battle experience.

"Drag him back a little this way, Poppy," Kieran said. Poppy nodded, sweat dripping down. She was trying to get close without hitting so Aliquis wouldn't be hurt again. Making sure the ghost didn't just think the hits would miss was taking a lot of concentration.

Magney skidded to a stop, sparks flaring against its bottom as it reversed direction. Another halved Shadow Ball slammed into it, making the side-eyes rattle in their sockets, but it gamely continued shifting, as its item still helped.

"Little more," Kieran urged.

"Maybe I should have just given a Sitrus," Poppy said. She didn't want her friends hurt. Not like a match with getting rattled or bumped, but hurt hurt, and this ghost kept trying. It was really mean.

"This works I'll buy Magney all the berries it wants – though don't ask me to watch it eat," Miriam said. Poppy shuddered and nodded.

"We're not going to get enough force to hit at this range," Mei declared from where they were working, looking at how close Magney is getting. She knew how heavy the Nacli was now, and Pome couldn't exhale that much heat.

"I can't believe we thought this was worth trying," Victor said. Pome waddled, happy to do something besides help support Mei's mental battle. Nacli chittered, nervous, and eyeing the Feucoco's teeth.

Mei wasn't completely on board with this plan either but wasn't going to admit it. It let them at least appear to be contributing. And it kept Pome and her a further distance from that thing.

"And your crocodile is starting to drool," Victor said flatly. Mei licked her fingers where she'd held Nacli.

"I can't blame him," Mei admitted, "This is really high-quality salt."

Dendra was keeping an eye on them while Miriam and Kieran did real work. She was too exhausted and intrigued to stop them, and it kept them out of danger and close-by if they needed either of them to distract the ghost

"You're turning your Pome into a potato gun to launch a Nacli down that thing's throat?" Dendra asked, again, for clarification.

"We should do something," Victor sighed, "And Nacli's resistant to fire, and Pome's Fire Spin is more of a hot breeze."

"I'm leaving this out of the legend," Mei admitted, and Victor snorted.

Another Shadow Ball hit, and Magney struggled weakly to get back up on its magnetic cushion.

"NOW!" Kieran said, tugging on Miriam, "Now! Now! Now!"

Miriam grimaced but said nothing as she concentrated. Dendra had reminded her she didn't pitch with this hand, but the throw was worse than she had feared. Hypno ended up three meters behind Magney, and facing the wrong way.

Poppy put her hands to her mouth as Kieran groaned. Gamely, Hypno turned around swinging his pendent as Magney went down. They were far enough apart the Misdreavus rose farther away, even as its eyes fluttered some, the Hypnosis didn't take. Triumphantly, the ghost started conjuring another Shadow Ball.

Miriam got the ball back in time to recall Hypno before the Shadow Ball landed. The Flutter Mane glared at them, and then purposefully turned to face towards Nemona again.

"It's just too fast," Kieran said, throwing his Hydrapple ahead. The syrpents hissed, sticky syrup splattering as the apple landed, coating the Flutter Mane. Hydrapple retracted all of his heads and began spinning in place, gleaming steel as he threatened a Gyro Ball.

The Flutter Mane stopped briefly, considering.

Mei picked up Pome and Nacli, borrowing a bit from Terpsi to have the strength. The Fuecoco tried to whistle around the salt block in his mouth.

"I think this is our shot. Before it just decides to float over the Hydrapple," Mei said, heart thudding in her throat. Victor grabbed onto help support Pome.


"They are still going one at a time. Miriam isn't using her right arm anymore," Alamy said. Both girls were now consistently peeking over the grass, ignoring Bandwidth's desperate quacks.

"At least Mei and Victor are okay – there's no mistaking that hair at this distance," Rose said. Mei still wasn't having much luck taming the Tangela her hair had turned into, and Victor's hair was light enough to stand out in the rainbow that were human follicles.

"They must be waiting for someone," Alamy proposed. The two winced and sank back down, having seen a blaze Tauros going down hard again. How Dendra got the spirit to keep reconnecting, on top of how many stimulants it must be taking, was beyond Rose.

It wasn't the only thing that she was having trouble figuring. "They're fighting so strangely, it's like they want that thing to dodge," Rose said.

"But they're keeping at it so hard. Professor Dendra must have had a dozen knockouts, counting the ones we have seen," Alamy said, picking up and hugging Resistor.

"She has incredible spirit to be able to keep going," Rose agreed.

"I have to get stronger," Alamy said suddenly, gesturing around. "I cannot help fight, or bring peace, or heal here," she listed, "I may as well be home in Kalos listening to a riot there." Bandwidth perked up a little at that but patted her with a wing.

Rose reached for her necklace and grimaced when her hand clutched air. She'd put what was left of it in her pocket. She looked at her Pokemon, and Ivy jumped in her lap so she could do something with her hands, letting the soothing scent out of his fur.

Her Pokemon were confident she would do their best, and Rose could see the same on Resistor. "You can make Resistor beautiful here," she offered.

Alamy's head snapped up at that, and she smiled.

There was a loud thump and their Pokemon protested as they were dumped from their laps, the two popping up to look above the grass again. The thump was by the doors, and a shiny black Tauros was now in the middle of the riot. Nemona was on his back, and he lowered his horns and easily flipped a Drednaw at the doors themselves, causing a second thump over the sounds of battle.

What they couldn't follow was Nemona's speech – they got the uplifting tone, but also only every fourth syllable or so. The two sank back down and sat next to each other, depressed.

"Why are people so determined to fear her and make her something ugly? There is so much good in the world and people sometimes just seek to spread the worse…" Alamy trailed off.

"Everyone who's confronted on it seems confused and can't cite anything. She has been nothing but helpful," Rose said, frustrated, "I am trying very hard to not assume something is off in Paldea."

"You think it is your job if so," Alamy stated.

Rose went for her necklace again and then rubbed her eyes. "I've been given a lot through no effort on my own," she said, picking words carefully, "You've had basic history, and we talked a little on this. I think it's everyone's job. I know battlers are supposed to help guard society. But everyone can do more than just force, if you see something wrong. I was always taught you should do something."

"The romantic ideal of the wandering trainer," Alamy agreed, "Free and with your beloved partners and the open road, walking the path of the just."

"It's something from my mother I still completely agree with, and that list is shortening rapidly. I want to live and be with Pokemon, you don't need evil to exist to be a battler. We're not here to be heroes. Humans and Pokemon need each other, that's why we're here," Rose said, "But sometimes correction is needed."

Alamy put a hand on Rose's shoulder. "It is not an easy philosophy to live, but I wish to be strong enough to live it," she said, looking over at Resistor and Bandwidth, who looked around for someone else, slightly spoiling the effect.

"Battler or not is unimportant. There is plenty we have already done and can do," Alamy continued.

"I want to do more, I want these two and anyone else I meet to do everything," Rose said fiercely. Azucena flexed and Ivy rubbed against her leg. She patted him automatically and looked at Professor Salvatore.

"This is still something that makes the world better. I wish it felt like enough," Rose said.

Ivy suddenly hissed and the other Pokemon looked over. Rose and Alamy scrambled to get their feet under them, staying low, as they and their Pokemon moved to interpose themselves between whatever was coming and Professor Salvatore.

"Rejoice, for your chains have fallen from you! Liberation has come!" a purple haired boy, older than Rose or Alamy, pushed through the crackling stalks as the grass continued to dry. A Slowbro, the pink-headed variant from outside Galar, followed genially behind with a nervous looking Trigo and Zania.

Sometimes the inanest things were the first you thought of. "Drama department?" Rose asked.

"STEM, actually. Name's Finto," the student said, giving a slight bow. He looked over at Professor Salvatore. "Does he lie close to death?"

"We have seen no sign of blood, but we have not examined for bruising. We did not want to risk moving him," Alamy said.

"His Pokemon are completely out too," Rose added. That made the boy wince.

"Heal Pulse can restore stamina to the weakened, but not after the bond breaks," he muttered. There was a crack of something exploding nearby and he reflexively ducked.

"You two look terrible, are you okay?" Zania asked. Alamy and Rose looked at each other. As much moving around they'd done squelching, they were splattered with mud.

"In comparison, absolutely," Alamy said, pointing at the Professor.

"Can you move him without him shifting?" Rose asked.

"I hate to use psychic powers with so many Shadow Balls being thrown around, but it may be the safest option to move him and his team now that Nemona is organizing an exit," Finto said.

"Why is this battle going so long?" Alamy asked.

"That ghost has a hostage," Trigo said.

"What?" Rose said surprised.

"Inside it – it got big and sort of moved around Aliquis after it swallowed its Ball and ate a Tera Orb. Did you two miss it?" Zania asked.

"We were still recovering from the visions. All we saw was a big Pokemon afterward," Rose admitted.

"Visions?" Finto said, surprised. He looked closely into their eyes – he was holding back but Rose could feel the urge to battle start to rise as a tide from a few seconds.

"Your pupils look fine, but you should get checked for concussions later," Finto advised.

"Don't just do that!" Rose said, quietly but fiercely.

Finto blinked, considering. "Really? Ah, your accent. Most people in Paldea can hold it quite a while before a challenge reaction," he said.

"Add that to the list," Alamy said wearily. That also made Zania and Trigo nod, though Finto look confused.

"Is that why they're fighting so strangely?" Rose said, turning around and rising to look again, even as Zania and Trigo hissed warnings. She saw Magney go down in a clatter like a rack of pans falling over. She reached blindly and patted Alamy's arm, who stood up enough in time to see Hypno appear and be hastily recalled as the ghost quickly moved out of range.

"Dendra's finally given out," Rose announced grimly. There was a sharp intake of breath behind them from the impromptu medical team, who also rose up to see despite their earlier protests.

Giving a fierce battle cry, Kieran's magnificent Hydrapple appeared on the field, spinning in place. The Misdreavus stopped retreating and roiled in place, its body billowing.

"It's so fast it shifts Aliquis around any time there would be a solid hit, blink and it's there," Trigo said.

Alamy and Rose looked at each other, then down at Resistor and Azucena. Azucena sighed, but then flexed and nodded, still game despite what was going to happen. Resistor copied the latter gesture and started polishing her bicep. Bandwidth put his head in his wings, and Ivy looked jealously at Azucena before the latter two were recalled.

"You two look like you're about to start something," Trigo said.

"Alamy, don't," Zania urged.

"Not me?" Rose asked, not really paying attention. She was looking at the moonscape left of the court's surface for what would be the best route.

"You're a battle trainer that sees an opportunity for a match in front of you. Normal common sense doesn't work," Zania said. Rose giggled in acknowledgement.

"That thing cannot be allowed to escape rehabilitation," Alamy said fiercely. Zania bowed her head at that.

"If Miriam's Hypno is too slow, what can you two do?" Trigo said.

"The most important thing in Multi or Double Battle is timing, and we were training together this afternoon. Poppy and Miriam weren't," Rose said.

"Rose has Resistor's pre-trained attack pattern," Alamy added. Resistor nodded.

"To drive a poisoned dagger into your enemy, you should strike from closer," Finto advised.

"He's right, but we need to save our energy for as much powder as we can instead of growing more cover. I could barely move after the last one. Run on three, start when it turns?" Rose asked. Alamy held up a fist in preparation, ready to raise digits. It trembled a little, and Rose took her other hand, so she could feel Rose's own shaking.

"To prepare for your weaknesses is the beginnings of true strength, but fortunately, you need not rely just on that today," Finto said, and gestured at his Slowbro.

"Oh, Yawn?" Rose asked hopefully. Every status they could throw that might connect was something.

"It may just drain Aliquis or flee in a drowsy daze. And here as a medic, I fear retaliation with the Professor here," Finto pointed out, "No, this is a move from your specialty. I taught it as a bit of a party favor, but he should be finished switching out….. any time now Brook – now!" Finto said with a delayed flourish.

The Hermit Crab Pokemon smacked his lips, and then stomped his foot. A tangle of grass shot forward, past the girls and forming an archway of knotted grass that stopped halfway to the ghost, gleaming with elemental energy. The Misdreavus turned briefly to glance, then shrugged as the attack petered out without hitting it. No great energy coming from them compared to the trainers before it.

"Go!" Finto shouted over his Pokemon's yawn, worn from the exertion, "Before it slays the dragon!" The two girls nodded and started running with their Pokemon underneath the tall Grass Knot's knotted strands.

"And I thought Mei was the crazy one," Trigo said.

"I think she is. But whatever Rose has, I think it's catching," Zania shot back.

"Heroism is a dangerous strain of disease indeed," Finto said genially. Brook nodded and fell asleep where he stood.


I must be brave, I must be brave Alamy thought to herself. It was so easy to talk about virtue, Yveltal rain down on Team Flare forever. To deride others, to call others ugly to hide your own weaknesses. She had not realized before arriving, but Paldea was her chance for redemption. That Resistor could begin to forgive her was more than she deserved, and perhaps someday she would be brave enough to confront the poor lessons in her past.

If they survived this.

She could feel Rose shaking, still clutching her hand as they moved forward. Would she have gone forward if Alamy wasn't here? Alamy grinned. She may have held back. They were perhaps the wrong kind of good influence on each other. Running away would be sensible, or the excuse of helping to move the Professor. Except all the pain that was being caused. Was the vision where it would lead? She could not know, and that was less important than the now.

The Pokemon did not turn, as it finished Kieran's ace – the dragon-apple burned in the colors of an aurora from the fairy powers pitted against it, Gyro Ball being a poor absolute defense. What had driven a Pokemon to such anger?

They only had a little way left to go, and she looked at Resistor. To say something in the time they had left, she hoped, to give heart.

Time instead slowed around her as she made eye contact with her beloved partner. She could feel her pulse in her ears, and the jitter and static of her weak and earnest connection with her first partner coating her body. Her heart thudded in her chest, and her thoughts and body felt slow, and clunky, like her soul was a bad WiFi signal away from the rest of her.

She could feel, like leaves blowing to stick to her in a fall storm, a sudden question ahead of her, and Rose's steps started to slow. Another heartbeat and the leaves blew away as her friend resumed speed, and very forcibly the Galarian kept looking forward.

Rose had said she wouldn't try to influence Alamy on the question. Even with their lives on the line, where every extra bit of power could count, she was holding to that. Alamy had to admire the principle, but wasn't sure she could have done the same.

But that strong desire to let it remain Alamy's path alone was perhaps the most weight Rose could add to Alamy stepping through. The confidence Rose had in herself and Alamy. There'd been plenty of carefully coached social engineering to convince people to battle-sync throughout Alamy's life, but this felt more real than all of them. The world buzzed in her ears. On offer was a vast array of feeling and understanding that would change her forever if she took it.

And on the edge, it paused, as physically she continued to look at Resistor. The clearest thought that ever connected them came through their link, here at the precipice.

You won't be the same. I will love you anyway, but it won't be the same, the Pichu thought at her, as clear a communication as a trainer could have. True to that promise, Resistor glowed, swelling with pride and more, but that didn't stop Alamy's decision.

Alamy said yes to the world, and it answered. A thousand hidden circuits in being human lit up as her heart tied to her companions. A great well that everything her willpower gave her partners was a mere raindrop to the thunderstorm she could now offer.

She flared and glowed and didn't have time to consider what of her would remain or what she would grow into, as they had run out of cover.


Rose had a long few days, so she hadn't decided if her difficulty speaking in battle-sync was a flaw in her dance with her partners. She was regretting it now, to say something at the end to her partners or Alamy. She deserved congratulations. Or maybe the promise of a match.

That felt more appropriate.

She had tried to keep herself away from influencing the decision. She was so excited it was going forward, but this was Alamy's entire life changing on her answer. There were no takebacks, and it deserved consideration – Rose had made the choice twice over now and didn't regret, but it was a metamorphosis, even as dyed into Pokemon as she had been before.

But Alamy made the choice for her life, as long as that might be. Rose could feel the charge up her arm as the world of Pokemon fully welcomed Alamy. She grinned for her friend, despite what they were running toward.

Anything was probably smarter than to keep running. But Aliquis was in there and the teachers were losing. Two fledgling trainers weren't much on those scales, but they could help, a little. She couldn't turn around. She didn't dare turn around.

She slid in the mud on what was left of the court to a kneeling position. Azucena nodded at her as Rose lit every vine she could, everything she could manage to channel, as fast as Azucena could drink it in.

The Petilil jumped and spun. Everything she could manage, for every bit of Stun Spore she could produce, there was no holding back. The two of them weaved a pattern in the air, aiming high to catch the big Pokemon.

Alamy came to a halt next to her, holding up a Poke ball. Resistor glowed, trailing sparks as she ran forward, and they were matched surrounding the empty Poke ball, the physical anchor of their bond. Rose hesitated half a heartbeat, and then clasped her hands around it with trainer speed. Azucena fell from the air and started clapping, going into helping hand as the two lent everything they had left to another trainer.

Aided by the Poke ball, that miracle of bonding, she could feel Alamy's sensations laid over her own. Alamy's bonds had been faint before, mere sparks. But now this was lightning, corralled into tight distinct lines with her partners. Resistor, riding it as fast as she could go. Bandwidth, surly and a weight to the side.

Rose could feel her own as well, and wondered what Alamy was getting. Azucena pushed with the desperation of the wildborn. Ivy, surly at not being able to help directly, focused his ire on the Misdreavus. Rose reflexively tightened her bonds to serve as a conduit, trying to match the circuit, the vines pushing together.

There was a faint sense of amusement, ringing from the Poke ball, before charges of the same polarity moved along the bridge on multiple circuits. Rose's vines were pushed open so they could breathe and the petals dance. But charges crossed along, using the dancing blossoms to cross the air gaps. Grass and light weren't the best additions to lightning, but Resistor drank in as much as she could all the same.


Mei and Victor fireman carried Pome, as the little Croc desperately tried not to swallow the delicious, delicious salt. Hydrapple could only grind away at the fringes of the big Pokemon. Without Aliqiuis, the clash in their different move-forming speeds would have let Hydrapple burrow right through the heart of the ghost for a knockout, Mei estimated.

Another froth of dazzling gleam and Hydrapple went down, the spin stopping and the apple falling backwards as the syrpents sprawled out, defeated. The big Pokemon chuckled again, victorious, and Mei could see its head moving before it focused in Nemona's direction – with the walking wounded most of the remaining.

"Now?" Victor asked. They were still twenty meters from the thing. With hauling thirty kilograms of Pokemon, even trainer boosts weren't making them sprinters. Neither Pokemon having ground speed to offer wasn't helping.

Mei opened her mouth – it wouldn't work, but they could recall Nacli and say they tried, when she felt a spike of energy. Grass, through a strange filter, though the pattern was familiar after the last few days with Terpsi. Grass spourted and knotted, forming a canopy, extending out of the underbrush where Salvatore had been hiding.

Two people ran out along the tunnel – probably Naranja students and probably female, but they seemed to splattered in mud to confirm. A wave of powder took the air, and the ghost whirled and laughed contemptuously, forming a quick Dazzling Gleam to blow it away.

"It's facing away," Victor said, pulling forward, and Mei had to follow, or admit she wanted to give up. To Victor. It wasn't happening.

Spores ignited to nothing in the air, one after another – it was clear it wasn't going to hit, but the (probable) girls skidded to a halt in the mud, holding up a Poke ball together. A yellow bolt dashed along the ground from them. More rainbow lights sprayed from the Misdreavus towards whatever was coming, but it traced a zig-zag path. Somehow, a spore cloud was in the way for each Gleam that tried to hit the Pokemon – Mei could see the tail at this distance that it was probably a Pikachu. She jumped up at the ghost, cheek sacs glowing.

The Misdreavus gasped and glowed – lightning running over its form, and the follow-up Shadow Ball it created was visibly much, much slower to start building, even as the Pikachu fell back towards the waiting arms of the two, and the set were enveloped in the Shadow Ball.

Whatever those two were thinking, they'd done it, and the Titan was slowed. Someone was saying something behind them, but she couldn't it over her and Victor screaming to Pome for a Fire Spin. A blast of heated air built in Pome's throat, until with a pop, Nacli burst free, rumbling in a panic, propelled by the force towards the ghost.


"[Beautiful!]" Alamy shouted in Kalosian. Rose could see the paralysis take effect as Resistor used the remaining electricity from the boost to push herself back towards them. Both held their arms up as Resistor flung towards them – the formless nature of her opponent didn't give her much precision in her jump. She spread herself out so they both caught her. The glow around her faded, leaving the larger, and yellower form of a chubby Pikachu where a Pichu had started.

"Lovely, wonderful, too pretty to not use," Alamy panted, snuggling her first partner. Her chest was heaving with the effort they'd thrown into it. Rose was a little more use to the drain and kept an eye on the Midsreavus. It stared back, with bloodshot eyes, and a Shadow Ball started to form, slower, but still fast by normal trainer standards. The void blossomed, obscuring the Misdreavus's eyes.

They were shin-deep in churned up mud, and this was Rose's second great burst in a short time. She couldn't even lift her arms with any speed as she shoulder-checked Alamy down into the mud and threw herself on top as a shield. Azucena leapt on top of Rose to do what she could, chittering it had been a good run. Ivy popped from his ball a few seconds later. The new battle trainer and her partners wouldn't be hurt for following Rose's bravado, if she could help it.

Alamy and Resistor yelped in surprise, but her eyes flitted at newly enhanced speed as she looked up to see the Ball forming. Rose started to whisper an apology but Alamy smiled, and clasped Rose's side with surprising force.

"Non," she said, before finishing in Paldean, "I accept the risks." She pivoted, and Rose couldn't keep any bearing in the mud, pushing her down next to Alamy so both were equally exposed. Rose closed her eyes as the darkness folded around them, the last thing she saw was Bandwidth very reluctantly stretching his wings.


"PULL!" Mei shouted as the mutated Misdreavus kept immobile after the void of a Shadow Ball exploded against the ground. Even if it was slower to form, it was just as monstrously powerful. Whatever volunteers Nemona had gotten were crazy to risk the follow-up attack. Nacli continued to rumble in dismay as he flew through the air, propelled by all the heated air Pome could concentrate.

Nacli smacked into the big Pokemon's back, and then, glowing white, kept going after a moment's resistance. The Misdreavus turned, and Mei was sure for a second, they were about to get their own Shadow Ball, even as Pome stood forward bravely to defend his partner.

The Misdreavus took a deep breath, and then hiccupped. Its eyes unfocused and it flew higher into the air, hiccupping more, still having small bolts of static running over its body.

"It's getting away!" Poppy shouted.

A few seconds later, as if to mock Poppy, it stopped, and looked at the ground, hiccupping some more. Its expression was greener than a normal Misdreavus gray, and it belched. Its skirt flew open, and Nacli and an unconscious Aliquis fell out towards the ground.

Victor and Mei were the closest trainers and they started forward. Mei, now unburdened by Pome, sped ahead thanks to Terpsi. She held her arms up and braced. Nacli, more compact, fell through her arms to smack into the mud, splattering Mei. Before she could react, Aliquis fell into her arms and she sagged, under the weight. There was no good footing.

The Pokemon overhead belched, and looked down, surprise giving rapidly away to fury. It howled, not even a normal cry, forming another Shadow Ball. Mei could feel it – it was anti life, the taking away of all things, purified Ghost. She locked up again – she couldn't see a way to evade or counter it, and Aliquis was completely helpless before it. She had saved him. For perhaps a second or two.

Hooray.

A pink streak flew in the air, a spark next to the oversized Misdreavus, and then suddenly entropy and the void were blown away, by the shining assurance of steel.

"TINKIE!" Poppy roared, voice echoing off the walls. Light dimmed as her Tera Orb outshone them all. "GIGATON HAMMER!" Her fears were gone with Aliquis out, and now this was just a Pokemon to stop, and she gave her all.

The pink streak resolved, and giggled, as it briefly disappeared behind a mass of crystal. A shiny cute fluffy thing exploded from the Tera crystals, barely visible next to the Misdreavus, even with the large silvery axe hat over its crystalline body. Her hammer, though, was visible and gleamed with energy. The Misdreavus belched, and tried to move, but was interrupted by paralysis.

And Poppy's Tinkaton brought the hammer down. As the hammer connected, every trainer in the yard could feel in their bones, a spike of steel, the purest in Paldea. The impact drove away the remaining clouds Politoed had summoned, and as fast as Tinkie had risen in the air, the Ghost fell even faster.

The same fury that had felled many a Corviknight claimed another victim, but Poppy's aim was true, and the Ghost impacted the ground away from Mei, Victor, the rescued hostage, and poor weary Nacli. Even though the ground was muddy, there was a crack, dirt flying in the air, then dust as the impact dug through to the deeper layers not yet moistened.

When it cleared out, Misdreavus was still big, but only a meter and a half big, and its eyes had rolled back in its head, unconscious. With one clear strike, the terror was over.

"And that's what you get for being a meanie!" Poppy shouted, the aura fading around her back to normality.

Mei gave an exhausted smile to Victor. "We're teaching her quips this year."


Two examples of "If it's stupid and it works, it's not stupid." Tell me they're not related. Though whole bunch of perspectives in this one, so I subscribe to the philosophy, clearly.

Incidentally for everything nearly going to hell, this was marked as file 13 for me internally due to Chapters 8-10 being a multi-part.

Nemona got the dark pulse flinch again. Flutter Mane wasn't really prepped for a trainer battle being different than a wild encounter, despite Aliquis's other talents.

This isn't the sort of thing that beats those accusations in universe that Nemona is super lucky, though.

Also, fortunately for Aliquis Flutter Mane apparently read the Smogon builds. Flutter Mane isn't using a move in the official sense with the drain but the more 'species' expression of ghost energy to feed, Pokedex style.

"Who learns heal pulse? Okay, Gardevoir, Chansey, not surprising. Slowbro? Huh. Clawitzer, wait, Clawitzer?" - the writing process at work.

Meet Finto, who's just an emphasis that yes, Naranja students are weird.

Nemona read Rose mainly, with Alamy and Salvatore as the two weak trainers. Even battle trainers aren't much without their Pokemon, and Salvatore's were out too. And Alamy is Rose's friend, not Mei's. Mei hadn't included her in her mental math.

The Instructors' movesets are pretty aggressive – most don't have any setup, debilitating, or trap moves 'loaded' usually.

I don't mean for this to get too dark, so just noting humans are less resilient than Pokemon is very true, but the humans of Pokeearth aren't aware of 'our' Earth humans, who they would think are incredibly frail. Also, medical technology is very good.