Rei groaned when he heard hurried knocks on the door. "Ugh… Who…?" He said, straightening himself and stretching.
"Rei!" Akari's voice boomed. "Commander Kamado wants both of us in his office ASAP! Let's not make him wait!"
The tone Akari was using seemed more worried than usual, and that's why Rei didn't take as long as he normally would to get up and ready himself.
Before long, all four of them were ready to go out.
"I'm so tired…" Quilava groaned.
"That's what happens when you evolve!" Luxio chuckled. "You'll have to deal with that for the whole day!"
"Ugh…"
Rei chuckled and opened the door, finding Akari impatiently waiting for him on the other side, accompanied by Pikachu, Mime Jr. and…
"Yoooo! It's you guys again!"
Buizel.
"What are you doing here?!" All of Rei's Pokémon exclaimed.
"Joined the girl here, duh! Free food and shelter in exchange for following a human around? That's a heck of a deal!" She said matter-of-factly.
"I'm as surprised as you are, Rei." The girl sighed when she saw the boy's look.
"Anyway, come on. We have to get to the commander's office quickly." The girl urged, walking towards the Galaxy Hall, Rei following close behind.
Once they reached the commander's office, they found that Adaman and Beni were talking to Kamado about something.
Beni? What is he doing here?
The moment they noticed Rei and Akari entering, Beni immediately turned around. "Rei! Akari! We have a situation here!" He yelled.
Adaman chuckled and turned to face them too. "Let me explain."
His face turned a bit more serious. "Lilligant, our clan's Lady of the Ridge is on a frenzy."
Akari gasped while all the Pokémon (except Mime Jr. and Buizel) groaned, Rei himself barely managing to hold his own sigh.
"And that's not all! Arezu knowingly kept all this from me!" The leader exclaimed.
"L-Lady?" Rei asked.
"Yes. There are only female Lilligant, which makes this honored one our Lady of the Ridge." Adaman explained before sighing. "But this is not the time for cultural lessons! I'd like to find out just what Arezu was thinking, but she's nowhere in Jubilife Village."
"Last I saw her, she was at the Wallflower polishing off a big ol' plate of potato mochi." Beni added. "Not that I blame her. My cooking is simply irresistible, after all."
"If Arezu of the Diamond Clan was somehow involved in that situation with the raging Ursaluna of the Pearl Clan, it could lead to the two clans going at each other's throats again!" Kamado exclaimed.
"And that wouldn't be good…" Akari mumbled.
"Tell me, Commander. If we do end up in a struggle with the Pearl Clan, what will your people do?" Adaman asked Kamado, to which he turned around, looking somewhere on his desk.
"We would be forced to remain neutral…" He mumbled.
"Meaning what?" Adaman asked again. "If we were to show support for one side, it would put us at odds with the other. We came here to create a home for ourselves, not to take part in tearing the land apart." The leader blurted, before sighing.
"Right, of course. After all the work you've put in to get us to treat one another as equals and keep us from fighting, I suppose it's not surprise you'd refuse to intervene if trouble were to break out again…" Adaman realized.
Kamado stood a few more seconds looking away before turning to Rei and Akari. "Rei and Akari, perhaps you have some idea how we might address this situation?"
Akari hummed in thought before shaking her head. "No idea…" She said.
"Ursaluna?" Rei suggested.
"Ursaluna too?" Adaman exclaimed. "So he and warden Calaba found you worthy as well? That's perfect! Ursaluna should be able to sniff Arezu wherever she's gone."
He seemed to think something before speaking again. "If you are strong enough that Ursaluna deemed you worthy, then you should be ready to quell Lilligant's frenzy as well!"
"No. No. NO." Pikachu said.
"Not again!" Eevee groaned.
"Chill! What's wrong with that?" Buizel asked.
"You don't want to know." Quilava flatly replied, rubbing the part of his body where Kleavor had wounded him, before shivering.
Adaman ignored the Pokémon's painful memories as he smiled. "I'll head to Lilligant's seat then: Brava Arena, it's called."
He turned towards the door. "If you'll excuse me…"
With that, Adaman walked out of the office, closely followed by Beni, leaving the Commander alone with Rei and Akari.
"Listen well, Rei and Akari. You must quell any Pokémon that could cause harm to the people in Hisui." Kamado explained. "Always remember: we came here to make a new home where we could live without wars or strife."
Both the girl and Rei nodded, before turning away to leave. As they exited the Galaxy Hall, Akari seemed to catch on to Rei's thoughts about having to fight another noble. "Not keen on quelling Lady Lilligant, are you?" The girl chuckled before shivering. "Me neither…"
"I swear we're going to get killed if we continue like this…" Eevee groaned.
"I still don't get yall's problem…" Buizel spoke.
"Oh, you'll see in due time…" Pikachu told her.
Once they reached the gate that lead to the exit of the village, the group took notice of a familiar face.
"Aha! There you are!" Alec exclaimed, walking towards them. "I've been looking for you."
Rei didn't like the amount of papers he had on his hands. "Why is that?" Akari asked.
"Well, I followed your advice of comparing the fur I found on the clearing with Captain Zisu's Zoroark, and you'd never guess what I found out!" He whispered, showing the papers to them.
In between the big amount of poorly drawn sketches and letters, there was a small drawing of the fur Alec had found and some weird letters.
"What… means?" Rei asked.
"This means that we were right. The fur is from a Zoroark."
Both Rei and Akari's faces went pale. This time, the girl was scared not because of the revelation, but because she knew exactly where that Zoroark was.
"This… is bad." She said.
"Don't… say…" Rei added.
Alec nodded, putting the papers back on his satchel. "I'll go and inform Commander Kamado of this immediately. You should be careful out there. We don't know what a Zoroark is doing in the Fieldlands, so until we do, don't risk it too much."
"T-Thank you, Alec." Akari said as the doctor walked away and left them alone. They set off towards the Crimson Mirelands with a gloom look on their faces.
"Shit…" Rei muttered.
"Oh, so you can't talk but know how to say that…" Akari rolled her eyes. "I agree. This is getting out of our hands."
Akari then sighed. "Don't worry though. If we're lucky, the Commander will just double the guards around the different areas of the region. It's not like it's such a big deal!" The girl reassured, but Rei wasn't too convinced.
"We can only hope…" Eevee sighed.
"Dude, why is everyone so freaked out?" Buizel asked.
"We'll explain to you later." Pikachu replied.
It was a long and tense walk until the Crimson Mirelands came into view, followed by the sight of the main camp, where a guard waited for them.
She perked up when she saw them, getting closer to them. "You must be looking for a girl that set out not too long ago, right?" She asked then.
"Yes. Arezu, of the Diamond Clan."
The guard nodded. "She must have been eating some of Beni's potato mochi, since I could still smell it on her." She explained. "That reminds me! I've seen mistress Calaba riding around on that Ursaluna she serves, digging for treasure underground. I wonder if Ursaluna uses his sense of smell to suss out where treasure might be…"
"Hopefully we'll find some of that!" Luxio said.
Akari nodded. "Okay. Thank you."
The guard did the same gesture as the girl turned to face Rei. "Let's call Ursaluna."
Rei nodded, taking his flute out. He played the melody to call the noble before looking around.
Shortly after Rei was done, the group heard loud steps coming their way before Ursaluna appeared and stopped in front of them.
"Arceus, you're huge!" Buizel exclaimed.
"Hm, just wait…" Pikachu mumbled.
"Hello, children. Did you need me?" Ursaluna asked.
Akari took a step forward. "We must find Arezu of the Diamond Clan. She smells strongly of potato mochi. Is that enough for you to help us find her, or would you need something more?" She asked the noble.
Ursaluna began sniffing the air before looking back at them. "The smell you are talking about is very strong. I can follow it without any issue. "
After that, he crouched down slightly. "Get on. Let us find her."
Akari looked at Rei. "Ride." He simply told her.
"Okay, back to the Poké-ball, I suppose…" Quilava muttered. "I wanted to battle a bit…"
As the Pokémon were recalled to their respective devices, Akari and Rei got on Ursaluna as he raised his nose again and sniffed, turning to the direction of the noise.
"Hold tight." He warned, sprinting shortly after.
As the two passengers held on for dear life, Rei heard the girl yell something over the whooshing of the wind. "Why does every noble have to go this fast?!"
After a few minutes of sharp turns, quick stops so that Ursaluna could sniff Arezu's trail, and a few gags from Akari, the noble slowly stopped running.
"We have found her." He spoke.
True to his words, a small distance ahead, Arezu was sitting on the ground, her leg stretched as she put on a pained expression.
The two quickly got off Ursaluna as they thanked him and ran to see what happened to Arezu.
"Oh, Rei and Akari. How did it all go with Ursaluna?" Arezu asked, groaning a bit.
"Goodness, nevermind that!" Akari exclaimed. "Are you okay?"
"Don't worry about me. Now, do tell me."
Akari sighed with a shake of her head. "We calmed him down. There's no need to worry anymore."
"Arceus, she's really stubborn…" Quilava commented.
"Funny you are the one saying that." Pikachu chuckled.
Arezu nodded. "Thanks a bunch. But how did you two find me all the way over here?" She asked.
"Ursaluna… tracked." Rei said.
"He tracked me all the way here by the scent of the potato mochi I ate? That Ursaluna sure is something…" Arezu laughed. "He really is something else. I know he's descended from one of the Pokémon that were blessed by almighty Sinnoh, but wow!"
There was a pause, in which Arezu's head fell as she looked at her leg. "My luck has run out, as you can probably tell. I got chased by a Pokémon and sprained my ankle really bad as I was running away. It's almost like the world wants to punish me…"
"Oh, come on. Don't exaggerate." Luxio rolled his eyes.
"How are we going to help her though?" Mime Jr. asked.
"I dunno. She's a bit too big to carry ourselves, y'know what I'm saying?" Buizel added.
"In any case, it's not like we are going to be the ones carrying her." Eevee smugly grinned, glancing at Rei.
"Yeah. Not like someone is going to appear out of nowhere and-" Pikachu tried to say.
"Ahh, there you are. Arezu, right?"
"You gotta be kidding me."
From behind them, Calaba and her Bibarel partner walked towards the group. "Oh! Warden Calaba!" Akari exclaimed.
The elder human walked next to Arezu, as she began sweating. "M-Mistress Calaba! Uhh… I-I didn't-"
"I owe you an apology." The warden interrupted her.
Everyone seemed shocked to hear that. "She what?!" Quilava exclaimed.
"I treated you with disrespect, thinking you were just some whelp from the Diamond Clan." Calaba explained. "I'm sorry for that. I should have treated you better."
Arezu seemed pretty much stunned by her words. "Huh? But…"
"It's not your fault that Lilligant became frenzied nor that my Ursaluna was so enraged. You were trying to help them both, weren't you?" The Pearl member told her.
Calaba shook her head with a sigh. "I didn't even have the courtesy to listen to you. You'd think that someone who's lived as long as I have would be more patient."
Arezu stood silent for a while before she once again looked downwards. "It's okay. I didn't do a good job explaining myself either. Ursaluna only started acting weird when he got too close to Lilligant and smelled her perfume. She was already frenzied by that point, so I'm sure that's what caused it."
Calaba gave a subtle nod. "Ah, so that explains the strange powder I found on Ursaluna. It must've been powder from Lilligant."
"Wait. Does that mean it's contagious?" Akari exclaimed.
"It may be. It's most likely because of Lilligant's own body, however." Calaba explained.
"Aww… I wanted to become a frenzied noble! Grow three times my size and go all feral mode!" Luxio joked.
"I'm sure your dear Beautricia wouldn't have liked that~" Eevee cooed, making Luxio blush slightly.
The warden's face then turned a bit more serious before she looked at Arezu's ankle. "But enough of that. What happened to your leg, dear?"
Arezu looked to the side, towards a big basket. "I was gathering ingredients to make balms. But I fell and sprained my ankle."
She looked at both Rei and Akari before her gaze fell back on Calaba. "See, the reason I went to Jubilife Village was to get help for Ursaluna and also learn about crafting." She explained. "But while I was there, I bumped into professor Laventon, and he told me about the balms you used to quell Kleavor, so I thought I'd make some for Lilligant using her favorite foods…"
She smirked. "You Galaxy people know all sorts of things. I'd like to learn even more from you, really."
"Well, then we'd better take care of our lady and get all this mess resolved first!"
Everyone jumped at the sudden voice that spoke behind them. It turned out that Adaman had snuck behind them without anyone noticing.
"Why does everyone just not make noise when walking?!" Eevee yelled.
"Adaman!" Arezu exclaimed as the leader walked closer to her.
His face turned into a scowl. "What were you thinking doing this all by yourself?" He reprimanded Arezu. "Did you think I couldn't help you?"
The leader then sighed. "Though, no one would blame you for thinking so. Not much of a leader am I? I've never even seen almighty Sinnoh with my own eyes. And I failed to imagine that Lilligant might have become frenzied too…"
"Don't say that…" Rei heard Arezu mutter.
Adaman simply shook his head and then looked at Rei and Akari. "Listen up, you two! I'll take the balms that Arezu made and meet you at Brava Arena."
"H-Huh?!" Akari exclaimed.
"Now?" Rei added.
"We didn't even get a warning!" The girl yelled, before clearing her throat. "We wish to help, but we haven't even trained our Pokémon!"
"We have evolved! We don't need to train!" Luxio exclaimed.
"Aren't Lilligant grass types? I'll burn through that noble faster than lightning!" Quilava added.
"Yeah! And if we are in trouble, we can just run!" Pikachu finished.
"Oh, boy…" Eevee sighed.
"Are they always like this or…" Buizel asked her.
"Boys' thing, I suppose." She replied.
"I doubt you'll have any problems. Lady Lilligant is just as strong as Kleavor, so there should be little problem." Adaman reassured. "And since this isn't your first time anymore, I'm sure you know what to expect."
Rei and Akari looked at each other, unsure, before Rei finally sighed. "Fine…" He groaned.
Akari widened her eyes slightly before rolling them. "If you think so…"
Adaman smiled and nodded. Calaba, Who had stood silent until now looked back at Arezu. "Don't you worry, Arezu. Akari and Rei will calm Lilligant, and that will be that. Things should settle down."
The warden then looked at the duo. "Head to Brava Arena, Rei and Akari. That's where Lilligant's seat lies." She told them. "Arezu will be taken care of. My dear Bibarel and I will make sure she reaches her lady."
"Yup yup!" The normal type spoke.
Rei and Akari nodded. "Well then. We'll see each other soon. Make all necessary preparations quick. I'll be waiting." Adaman told them before walking away.
As Calaba tended to Arezu's wounds, Akari turned to look at Rei. "Well. Who would have thought we'd be doing this again, hm?" She half laughed.
"Certainly not me… " Pikachu rolled his eyes.
"Well, at least it's not a huge stone monster!" Eevee exclaimed.
"Yeah. It's a huge grass monster. And we are two electric types and a water type, by the way." Luxio added.
"Don't ruin the fun! " Quilava yelled. "Come on, Poké-human! When are we leaving? I'm not getting my belly scarred this time!"
Rei chuckled at that comment. "Come on." He gestured to the girl to follow him.
Akari simply shook his head and walked after him, looking at her Pokémon. "Will you all fight?"
"Duh! Not missing this!" Pikachu replied.
"I don't know what we'll be fightin', but I always wanted to test myself against a big and strong grass type." Buizel added.
Akari looked at Rei. After he realized she wanted a translation, he quickly nodded. "Okay…" She sighed. "Are you ready?"
"Meh…"
"Same." The girl laughed. "Come on, let's not make Adaman wait." Before she walked, she stopped in her tracks, looking at Rei.
"Rei, please, try not to go back to the village with an open wound in the back of your head again, okay? Alec won't like seeing more 'miraculous healing'." She warned.
Rei laughed, modding. "I try."
The girl sighed. "Let's go."
"Off to battle!" Pikachu added.
As the group reached the familiar stone stairs, Akari and Rei silently gazed up at their destination. "I still don't feel ready…" The girl sighed.
To be honest, Rei didn't either. But what was there to do? Adaman and Arezu were counting on them. And plus, it couldn't be much harder than Kleavor, right?
With a sigh, Rei began walking, followed by his Pokémon and then Akari. They found that Adaman was patiently waiting for them at the end of the stairs. "I take that you two are ready?" He asked.
"As ready as we could possibly be." Akari replied, with Rei nodding.
The leader nodded. "Lady Lilligant is a sight to see, even in her frenzy. Behold her and be grateful."
"I hope we didn't keep you waiting."
Everyone turned around and saw Calaba, her Bibarel and Arezu walking up the stairs towards them. "How can she even walk up the stairs? She's 90!" Pikachu commented.
"Huh?!" Buizel yelled.
"You didn't know?" Luxio asked.
"She wasn't with us when Calaba told us." Eevee told him.
"Ooh, right."
The discussion ended when the three stopped in front of them. "All it took was one of my poultices to get Arezu's leg all patched up." The elder human said.
"Calaba, ma'am, I'm deeply sorry we've had to lean on your help so much, especially as we are of different clans." Arezu told her.
There was a long pause before Calaba spoke again. "Arezu tried to solve the whole situation herself. I daresay she bit more than she could chew and caused some trouble, but her heart was in the right place." She replied.
Arezu smiled at that before she turned to face Rei and Akari. "Listen!" She exclaimed. "The Lady of the Ridge, Lilligant, is like a dancer! Always in motion, always darting about! You'll want to get real close and learn how to dodge her moves!"
"That's right." Adaman nodded. "If you keep on dodging, she might tire out, and that'll be your opening! That's when you can bring out your Pokémon and show your might! Don't let me down!"
"We won't!" Akari replied, confident.
"Yeah!" Rei added.
"Let's show that Lilligant what we're made of!" Pikachu laughed.
"Flesh…?" Mime Jr. said.
The Pokémon stopped talking for a small while. "Does he always take everything literally?" Buizel asked.
"Sometimes…" The electric type sighed.
"Come on! Let's not waste time!" Quilava pressed.
"Wait!" Akari exclaimed.
"What's the matter?" Arezu asked.
There was a pause as Akari grabbed Mime Jr. from her shoulders and handed him to Arezu. "Would you mind taking care of Mime Jr. while we do this?"
As Rei and Akari walked up into the Arena with the balms they had been given, the sun shining on them, Rei glanced around. The arena was a simple flat area at the top of a mountain, some ruined pillars decorating the area, and trees bordering the cliffs.
There didn't seem to be nothing at first, until there was a sudden yell. "Guys!" Luxio yelled. "Over there!"
As a figure jumped onto the arena, the group could see the noble glowing in the same light as Kleavor, her body not having changed in size, but still very bright to look at directly.
The moment the Lilligant let out a feral screech, Akari, Rei and the Pokémon were on the move.
The first thing they did was throw the balms at the frenzied noble, and it seemed to work, if just barely. However, the Lilligant soon began doing what seemed like…
A dance?
"What is…?" Eevee tried to say, but before she could finish the sentence, the Lilligant ended her little dance as she leaped upwards a very high distance and began plummeting downwards, straight towards them.
"MOVE!" Akari yelled.
"SHIT!"
The group barely managed to scramble out of the way of the attack, but the big energy shockwave still hit them all, sending them down to the ground, pain flaring everywhere.
It seemed Lilligant didn't feel like stopping, because she began doing the same rhythmic dance before attempting the same attack again.
This time, they had enough time to dodge out of the way and start with their own attacks. "Pikachu, Thunder Shock!" Akari called. "Buizel, Aqua Jet!"
"Eevee, Swift! Luxio, Bite! Quilava, show her what the Distortion world feels like!" Rei added.
"Aye!" They all yelled in unison before a barrage of attacks were fired.
The Lilligant gracefully dodged all of them with her dancing.
"What?!" Pikachu yelled.
"Now I see what y'all meant…" Buizel groaned.
"How do you dance out of a move's way!" Luxio added.
On cue, Lilligant began spinning in her place, faster and faster, before jumping again, doing a few flips, and stomping on the ground, with the attack's shockwave once again sending the group down to the ground.
"How are we supposed to beat her?!" Quilava angrily shouted.
The group tried their best to land a single hit on the noble, but there was just no way. Lilligant always managed to swiftly get out of the way of the attacks before retaliating back.
However, Rei had a plan. When Lilligant jumped in the air to try and hit them again, Rei called out to Eevee. "Eevee! Swift!"
"In the air? How did we not think about that?!" She yelled before doing as he asked and launching the projectiles at the noble.
It seemed it had worked too well, as Lilligant's trajectory was changed by the impact, and was now headed straight for Akari.
The girl barely managed to give a step back before the Lady of the Ridge quite literally crashed an inch away from her face, the force of the attack sending the girl flying away…
Down a cliff.
Rei watched horrified as the girl hit the ground with a loud this before rolling down the hill. His body didn't move. It couldn't move.
"Rei! Get out of there!" He heard Eevee yell at him.
With a swift move, he quickly jumped out of the way of the attack, running towards the spot where Akari had fallen.
He saw the girl laying in the distance, and Rei quickly looked around for a way to go down the cliff, but when he found none, he instead decided to climb down, rushing to Akari the moment he was on the ground.
The girl's body was covered in bruises from the fall, and her nose and left side of her head were bleeding, staining her hair and handkerchief.
"Help!" Rei yelled, hoping anyone would hear him. "Fucking… HELP!"
Adaman and Arezu rushed towards them, all the Pokémon closely behind. It seemed the battle had been completely forgotten.
"Arezu, grab her legs. We'll take her to our settlement. Quick!" Adaman ordered, grabbing Akari.
Arezu simply nodded and did as instructed, before quickly carrying the girl somewhere. Rei was frozen in place, but he quickly managed to shake it off, at least temporarily.
The group ran towards what seemed to be the Diamond Clan's settlement.
Rei sat outside of one of the many tents the Diamond Settlement had. Adaman and Arezu had taken Akari inside the tent, so he guessed it was a medical tent.
All the while, he simply stood there, looking to the ground with one of his hands on his forehead.
"Rei, for the love of Arceus, you know it wasn't your fault." Eevee repeated yet again.
"Eevee, you've said it at least twenty times." Luxio sighed. "Don't you see it's not working?"
"And what am I supposed to do? Leave him like that?"
"Ugh, why every time we fight a noble someone ends up gravely injured?!" Quilava groaned.
Rei was about to answer. He was about to tell them how it was his fault for having told Eevee to use Swift. How it was his fault that Lilligant fell just in front of Akari and how it was that what sent her flying down a cliff.
But alas, someone came out of the tent, accompanied by Akari's Pokémon. "Hey Rei." It was Arezu.
"Akari is okay. A few cuts, bruises and contusions, and slight blood loss, but she'll be fine by the afternoon." She reassured.
Rei didn't comment or even turn to look at her. Arezu sighed and sat down next to him. "Rei, we saw the attack hitting Lady Lilligant and how she changed her trajectory. It wasn't your fault she landed in front of Akari. You didn't know that would happen."
The fake human let out a pathetic groan as he fought to keep the tears out of his eyes.
Arezu just gave him a light pat on his back. "I'll leave you alone. You've got a few hours to do whatever you see fit."
And with that, the Diamond Clan member stood up and walked away, leaving Rei and the Pokémon alone. "How's she looking?" Luxio asked Pikachu.
"They put a lot of bandages on her, but the humans kept saying she would be fine." The electric type replied with a sigh.
"Geez, I think I understand why y'all were so nervous to fight that Pokémon…" Buizel added.
"She was very strong! Her attacks too!" Mime Jr. chimed in.
"You're not helping…" Eevee muttered before turning to Rei. "Come on, let's get out of here. We'll come back later to check on Akari, okay?"
Rei didn't reply, but weakly nodded before standing up. He reasoned that there was no point in dwelling on that any further. The past was the past and everyone kept reassuring him that Akari would be fine, so why worry that much? Hopefully the girl wouldn't hate him after.
Maybe he shouldn't have thought that.
Following the Pokémon, Rei got out of the Diamond Clan's settlement, finding himself just next to the Solaceon Ruins.
"Huh. We're back here…" Quilava hummed.
"How you feeling, Ocko?" Luxio asked Rei.
"Meh… Better, maybe. I don't know…" He simply answered.
"We should take your head off this." Pikachu suggested. "I don't know what you guys usually do, but I'm sure it's not overthinking."
"We could train… " Eevee said. "We should try and make ourselves faster if we want to stand a chance against that Lilligant."
"I thought you'd never suggest this!" Quilava exclaimed, his flames flaring.
"Yeah, we have to become faster. Maybe we could race?" Luxio spoke. "From the entrance of the ruins, to the wall with the inscription and back. Over and over."
"You think that'll be useful?" Buizel questioned.
"Better than waiting for Akari!" Pikachu exclaimed. "Come on, who's first against me?"
"I'll try! " Buizel shouted." Just running or something else?"
"What if you try running with Quick Attack?" Rei told them. "You'll be training your speed and endurance at the same time."
"Hey, nice idea!" Pikachu replied. "You know Quick Attack, right?"
"Yuh uh!"
"Then we're up! Come on!"
The two Pokémon readied themselves for their race, positioning themselves just on the entrance of the ruins.
"Okay, when I say go, you go, okay? No agile style to keep things fair." Rei explained.
"Okay!" Pikachu yelled.
"Agile style?" The water type asked.
"Akari'll explain another time. Now, are you ready?"
The two Pokémon got to their positions. "Set?"
Pikachu smirked at Buizel, who smiled back. "Go!"
With a pair of Quick Attacks, the two Pokémon bolted away and into the ruins. There was some time where none of them were visible until they came back, Pikachu having a noticeable advantage.
The winner, of course, was the electric type.
Buizel fell onto the ground, panting hard. "Ugh… My fatass should'ave worked out more instead of being lazy all day…" She groaned.
"Well, that's what we're here for!" Rei chuckled. It was true the activity was helping him clear his head.
"I'm next!" Quilava exclaimed.
"I'll go too." Eevee added.
After preparing themselves and the countdown finished, Eevee and Quilava disappeared for a short while before Eevee quickly stopped at the finish line, Quilava coming a few moments later.
"How are you so fast?!" He exclaimed.
"I have a lot of experience with running away." The normal type shrugged.
"Okay, who's next?"
"I'll do it!" Luxio said.
"I wanna try too!" Mime Jr. added.
Everyone looked awkwardly at each other. "Mime Jr… You have to know Quick Attack." Pikachu told him.
"Aww…" He visibly deflated.
Rei rolled his eyes. " Okay, just one race with just running. "
"Yippie!" The small Pokémon jumped and readied himself.
"Don't be too harsh on him." Rei whispered to Luxio.
Once the disguised Zoroark gave the signal for them to start, Mime Jr. immediately ran… if it could be called that. The point is, after a long "race", which was mostly Luxio walking after Mime Jr., the psychic type was the winner.
"Yay! I won!" He cheered.
"Hey, that was pretty good!" Luxio told him. "You should train more for the next time we do this."
"I will!"
"Okay. Now, who's up for another round?" The electric type told the group.
"I'll go." Rei said.
"You? Okay, sure!"
As Rei got into position, he made sure no one was around and crouched. "No Quick Attack."
"You don't know it? Aw…" Luxio fake whined.
"I'll count this time." Eevee said.
Once Eevee signaled the start of the race, Rei bolted as fast as he could, something that was hard when trying to run like a human. Still, he was fast enough to keep up with Luxio.
Once they reached the end of the ruins and went back, the two were very tied, and it seemed that the race would be decided by luck.
At least until Rei caught a glimpse of Calaba walking towards the ruins, just in his path. The warden widened her eyes as she saw Rei running straight at her, but he was unlucky enough to trip on one of the tiles of the floor, falling face first on the floor, just on the entrance.
As Luxio chuckled at his (undeserved) victory, Rei groaned and stood up, facing Calaba. "Would you be so kind as to tell me what you were doing running around like that?" The warden asked him.
"Uh…" What could a good excuse be? "Endu…rance train?"
The warden frowned. "Training? Here?"
Maybe running around inside important ruins wasn't a good idea after all. "Sorry…" Rei apologized, rubbing the back of his head.
Calaba sighed and shook her head. "It's okay. There's nothing in the ruins that could be damaged apart from the walls, and I doubt you touched those. But try to find other places to train next time, if you would."
Rei nodded and waved goodbye before gesturing at the Pokémon to walk away from the ruins.
"You know, in hindsight, training here wasn't the best of ideas." Pikachu said.
"Who could have thought?" Quilava rolled his eyes.
"It could have been worse. Imagine if Rei didn't have his illusion on and Calaba saw a Zoroark sprinting at her."
"She would have gotten a heart attack, for sure." Luxio chuckled.
"What do y'all mean?"
Everyone turned to look at Buizel. "Riiiight… You don't know." The normal type muttered.
"Don't know what?"
"Dude, how do you not know? You literally heard Ocko speak to us a few seconds ago." Luxio asked.
Buizel seemed to still be confused.
"I'll show you." Rei said. "Over there. We can keep training in that area."
The group made their way to a huge flat area filled with mud pools with a few Pokémon in them. "I don't want to get even close to that mud…" Eevee shivered.
"It's just some mud." Buizel rolled her eyes.
"Okay, Miss water type." Eevee replied. "Not all of us can clean ourselves as easily as you."
"Bah, you just scared."
As the two bickered for some more time, Rei made sure the area was clear before turning to his group. "Okay, we'll keep racing here, around the mud pools. Going in circles with Quick Attack or just running."
He then turned to Buizel. "You want to know why I can talk to you and understand you?"
"Yeah?" She replied.
"Okay, then get in position."
When Rei dropped his illusion and revealed himself to Buizel, it was clear she didn't expect something like that to happen, as indicated by the wide range of colorful vocabulary used.
Nonetheless, Rei was the winner, and he immediately reapplied his illusion before it was too late.
"Okay, I really didn't expect you to be a Pokémon." The water type told him. "Much less one as scary as that."
"Well thank you! Cool to see all the Pokémon I show this too are this direct." Rei rolled his eyes.
"Well, you could have been ugly instead of scary."
"Good point. And thank you I suppose."
"Can we get back to racing? " Quilava interrupted. "I want to go again."
"Let's go then! I'm gonna beat you hard!" Luxio replied.
"We'll see about that!"
Some intense running hours later and it was already mid afternoon. All Pokémon were panting from exhaustion, and Rei realized that maybe running under direct sunlight hadn't been a very good idea.
"I can't move…" Pikachu groaned.
"Ugh, my legs…" Luxio whined.
The rest of the Pokémon simply let out pained moans and cries as they laid on the ground. "Well, at least we trained, right?" Rei half chuckled.
"We better be faster than that Lilligant now, or I swear…" Quilava exclaimed.
"Wait, wasn't Akari supposed to be better by the afternoon?" Eevee suddenly said.
"I am NOT walking all the way there right now. It ain't happening." Buizel quickly said.
"Let's rest until we can all feel our legs again and then we'll go." Luxio suggested, to which everyone agreed.
"Well, hello Rei!"
Rei flinched as he turned around to see Volo and his two Pokémon just behind him.
"What the-? How does he always find us?!" Pikachu yelled.
"We were just passing by!" Gible said.
"We have been sharpening our skills in combat before we saw you here." Togepi added.
Rei simply sighed and greeted Volo with a tired groan. "You've been working out hard, I can see!" The merchant chuckled. "I heard about what happened with the Lady of the Ridge. It makes sense you'd want to be prepared for the next time you fight her, isn't that right?"
"How you-?" Rei began, but Volo interrupted him.
"Word spreads fast, Rei. I also know about Akari's condition. Poor girl…" He shook his head.
"Well, we were simply passing by and wanted to greet you. Keep up the good work, eh?" The merchant gave Rei a few pats in his shoulder and walked off, with Gible and Togepi waving at them.
"I'm getting bad vibes from that guy." Buizel commented.
"You're not the only one." Eevee sighed.
After a few minutes of resting, everyone was ready to set off, and they began making their way back to the Diamond Clan's settlement.
As they made their way back to the tent where Akari was, they found out that the girl was speaking to one of the Diamond Clan members, seemingly thanking them for helping her. She wore a bandage in place of her usual handkerchief, and another one on one of her shoulders.
Pikachu and Mime Jr. ran towards her, startling the girl as she barely managed to catch them both in her arms. Buizel simply walked at a much slower pace.
"Woah, hey!" Akari laughed. "I haven't been gone for that long, have I?"
"Glad she's alright, not gonna lie." Luxio smiled.
After the Pokémon were done showing how glad they were that their partner was okay, Akari turned to look at Rei. "You all look exhausted. Have you perhaps been training without me?" She smirked.
She was clearly not too fazed about having survived falling off a cliff.
"Sorry…" Rei said, looking away from her.
Akari looked genuinely confused at his words before she widened her eyes. "I hope you aren't saying you are blaming yourself for what happened."
The girl sighed as she saw Rei flinch slightly. "Rei, let me make this clear. You are not responsible for my injuries. Yes, you told your Eevee to use that attack, but you didn't know what would happen after."
Rei was about to reply, but Eevee beat him to it. "Listen to her, please."
Rei still didn't seem too convinced, but simply sighed and nodded.
"Good. Now, let's get back to Brava Arena!"
Rei's look told the girl everything she needed. "Why are you looking at me like that? We have to quell Lady Lilligant!" She exclaimed.
"Maybe you shouldn't be so rash." The group flinched at the sudden voice. Adaman, once again, had snuck up behind them and surprised them once again.
Akari rolled her eyes and sighed with relief. "What do you mean, Adaman?"
"Well, while you were recovering, your friend Rei has been training his and his and your Pokémon's endurance." The leader explained.
Rei widened his eyes. He saw us?!
"He what?" Akari questioned, her voice full of confusion.
"Just as you heard. Now, my recommendation would be for you to rest and try to quell Lady Lilligant another day, but I'm sure you'll not do that, hm?" Adaman chuckled. "I must say, asking you to quell a frenzied noble without any previous warning was not a very good idea." He apologized.
"You don't say…" Quilava rolled his eyes.
"I won't ask you to immediately try again, but if you do, you know what to do and what you should avoid doing." Adaman finished. "And be careful! We don't want anyone else thrown off any cliff!"
Having said that, Adaman entered the tent where Akari was previously in and disappeared from their view.
The girl then turned to look at them. "Is that why you all look this exhausted? You really trained while I was here?"
"Yup." All the Pokémon said, with Rei modding.
"Without me?" Akari yelled with exaggerated anger. "How could you?"
Rei rolled his eyes. "We race." He told the girl.
"Race? Like… race against each other? Why?"
"Get faster. Avoid Lilligant."
"Oooh! I see." She nodded before looking to the sky. "I'd say we have a few hours until dusk comes. How about we prepare ourselves properly until then and after we try to go for Lady Lilligant again?"
"Train? Again?!" Pikachu yelled.
"But I'm beat! I can't train again!" Luxio groaned
"Quit whining! That running was nothing!" Quilava huffed.
"Maybe for you! Some of us are still unevolved!" Eevee replied.
"Meh. I could still run a few miles more or sum…" Buizel shrugged.
"I really wish I could understand what they were saying…" Akari sighed. "Come on, let's go. I still feel a bit dizzy, but I'll get over it. Where did you all go to race?"
Rei looked concerned to hear that Akari was willing to try and train while not being fully recovered, but he had a feeling he wouldn't be able to talk her out of it.
Once the group made their way back to the area filled with mud pools, Akari let out a confused sound. "Scarlet Bog? Odd place to train, but I'm not one to complain." Akari muttered. "And you say you've all been simply running around to get faster?"
Rei nodded. "Hmm… Well, then I'll race too!" Her face fell when she realized something. "Wait, you all are Pokémon."
"She's so smart, oh my Arceus…" Pikachu rolled his eyes.
"We've been partners long enough to know when you're criticizing me." Akari replied, making Rei widen his eyes.
"Your face makes me think I got it right." The girl chuckled. "Hey Rei. What do you say if we both race?"
"Huh?" He replied.
"I want to test how fast I can run. But no tricks!" Akari said.
Rei smiled and nodded. "Sure!"
The two got to position. "Okay, I'll count! We'll race to the other side of the area and back!" Akari told him.
"Three! Two! One! Go!"
The two ran away from the starting point, headed towards the opposite side of Scarlet Bog. At first, it seemed like an easy race for Rei. He was far too convinced he was going to win as he ran towards his goal, reaching it a few seconds before Akari did.
Once he started going back though, he turned his head back to smirk at the girl, who was still a good distance away from him. He realized it hadn't been the best of ideas when he tripped on a rock and fell face first into one of the mud puddles.
As he spit some of the filth that had gotten into his mouth, he heard Akari let out a satisfied chuckle as she passed him.
Rei groaned and tried to get out of the puddle, but the mud was too dense and sticky, so it took him a lot of time to do it, and after he did, he saw that a lot of it was stuck on his uniform, which meant it was in his fur.
Ugh… I'm gonna have a hard time getting this off.
Nonetheless, he tried catching up to Akari, but it was too late. By the time he reached the finish line, he had lost.
"You should look forward next time." Eevee laughed.
"Shut up." Rei groaned.
"Let's leave it as a draw, since it wasn't fair, okay?" Akari said, trying to hold her laughter.
Rei rolled his eyes and nodded. "Now come on, let's get that mud off your uniform." The girl added. "There's a river over there we can wash your clothes in."
"Or I could just help you, y'know." Buizel deadpanned.
"No need, but thank you." Rei replied.
Akari signaled him to move after her as she made her way onward, and the group arrived at the river shortly after.
"Okay…" Akari began. "The river is a bit deep, but it shouldn't be a problem to-" She was interrupted when Rei ran back and then forward, jumping into the river with a big splash.
"Or do that…" The girl sighed.
As Rei got out of the water, she saw his uniform was now completely clean. She then realized something. "Oh, right. I forgot you're not wearing actual clothes…" The girl face-palmed.
The disguised Zoroark climbed out of the river and started shaking the water off him, wetting all the Pokémon that were too close.
"Hey! " Luxio yelled.
"Watch where you do that! Water is not cool!" Quilava added.
"Yeah, what he said." Pikachu sighed.
Akari only smiled as she looked around, making sure there wasn't anyone nearby. "So what do you want to do now? I'd like to train some more, but if you want to try to fight Lady Lilligant now, it's also fine."
Rei thought about it and looked up, seeing the sun was still a small distance away from the horizon. They still had some time.
"Train."
Akari nodded. "Very well. Let's ready ourselves for the fight."
It had been a long while of running around, dodging attacks, and more. As the last Sun rays peeked over the horizon, Rei and Akari stood at the entrance of Brava Arena yet again. Mime Jr. had been told to stay on the sidelines, the small Pokémon letting an 'aww' before complying.
As the group looked at each other, their faces full of determination, they entered the arena once again.
This time, most of it was covered in a thick fog, and Rei could barely see in front of his nose.
"Be careful. The Lady of the Ridge could be anywhere." The girl warned.
As they carefully made their way into the center part of the arena, there was suddenly a strong gust of wind that almost sent them flying back.
It turned out that the fog was spinning in a tornado of unknown origin, and whatever it was, it was slowly dispersing the fog.
Once the wind died down, the group could see the responsible.
Lady Lilligant stood a small distance away from them, as she did a pirouette and landed just in front of them, doing a pose as she glared at them.
"Alright Rei! Let's see if our training paid off!" Akari yelled, with Rei nodding, full of determination.
Before they could even take their balms out, Lilligant was already in the air, her attack aimed at them.
"Incoming!" Luxio yelled before everyone jumped out of the way.
"Alright! Let's show that noble what we've learned!" Quilava exclaimed, letting out a chuckle.
"Pikachu, Thunder Shock! Buizel, be careful and use Quick Attack!" Akari yelled.
"Okay!" The two yelled.
"Our turn!" Rei exclaimed. "Swift, Thunder Shock and Flame Wheel! Keep her distracted!"
And with that, all Pokémon went into battle, launching their respective attacks at the Lilligant, but just as last time, the noble simply did another pirouette and dispelled all of their attacks.
At least, that was enough for a balm to make its way to the noble and hit her, causing her to flinch and turn at the thrower, in this case Rei.
"Not so fast now, are you?" He taunted, feeling the frenzied noble's face frown slightly.
Once again, Lilligant began spinning in her place before jumping upwards and landing, sending an energy wave everywhere.
However, this time they were ready.
As quick as they could, they ran away from the landing point and taking advantage of the momentaneous stunned state the noble was in, Akari and Rei threw as many balms as they could, with Quilava managing to hit an Ember.
It seemed that the noble didn't like that, and let out a feral screech before doing another spin in her place as a green orb of energy began forming in between her hands.
"Buizel, don't let that hit you!" Eevee shouted.
Lilligant once again sprung into the air, throwing the Energy Ball at the group of Pokémon, who managed to dodge, if just barely.
"Thanks for the warning, Veevee!" The water type replied.
"What did you just call me?" The normal type replied.
"No time for that! " Pikachu yelled, dodging a Poison Powder.
"Eevee, agile Quick Attack! Distract her so she doesn't see Quilava coming in with a Flame Wheel!"
"Okay!"
Eevee zipped away from the way of another attack and began doing circles around Lilligant, who struggled to follow her path. It was perfect for Quilava, who hit her square in the back before jumping back.
Lilligant, whoever, looked like she expected that, and leapt into the air, and before anyone could react, sent another blinding shockwave at them.
As Rei groaned and stood up, he took a look at his team. They weren't tired yet, but definitely worn out, while Lilligant still seemed perfectly fine and ready to keep going.
Him and Akari looked at each other, asking a silent question. What's the plan now?
Rei looked at his Pokémon again. No matter the attacks they fired at the noble, as long as she saw them coming, she could simply spin and make them disappear without a trace.
How powerful was her dancing?
…
"Idea."
"What? Did you come up with a plan?" Akari asked.
Rei nodded. "Really?! What is it?"
"Watch."
Rei slowly made his way towards Lilligant, throwing a balm at her to get her attention. There was a staredown before the grass type readied an Energy Ball to fire at him.
Okay. If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
When he saw the ball flying at him, he remembered what the Lilligant had done before and jumped away the same way she did, landing a small distance ahead.
Everyone watched confused as Lilligant tried the attack again, only for Rei to dodge in the same way. And again. And again. And again.
Seeing how it didn't work, the noble sent a Poison Powder his way, and Rei knew he couldn't just jump out of that, so he tried another strategy.
Coating his body in ghost type energy, he spinned around as fast as he could, the powder doing the same around him, creating a small tornado that eventually dispersed, without Rei having been poisoned.
"Hey, nice moves!" Buizel cheered.
"That's your plan?" Akari exclaimed. "How is it… working?"
As Rei continued to "dance" away from the Lilligant's attacks, he could feel her getting progressively more angry. It was when she was solely focused on hitting him that Rei yelled. "NOW!"
A flurry of attacks hit the Lilligant's back, making her scream before balms followed suit.
After a few seconds of what could only be infernal pain for the noble, she let out a loud scream as yet another shockwave sent them all flying back and to the ground.
The noble's calm face had now shifted into a raging look as she glared at them. It seemed she was now more inclined for a direct approach as shown by one of her petal arms glowing white and her running towards Eevee.
"Not again!" Eevee yelled.
"Eevee, listen! Try to dodge it just like I did! Dance!"
Eevee was about to reply, but the speed at which Lilligant was approaching her didn't let her do that. Just as Rei had done before, Eevee gracefully jumped away from the Rock Smash, making the noble hit the ground as she quite literally growled.
"Nice one! Keep doing it!" Pikachu cheered.
"Everyone, you know what to do! Attack and if you have to dodge, dance!" Rei yelled.
All of the Pokémon let out cries of agreement as the boy turned to Akari. "Let's dance." He smirked.
"I don't know how this is working, but I'm impressed. Let's do it, Rei!"
Everyone began throwing attacks at the noble, as she futilely tried to land an attack on them, to no avail. It seemed she was starting to realize how annoying her dancing was.
Nevertheless, Rei and Akari kept throwing balms at Lilligant, seeing how, slowly, they seemed to be doing something.
After a while, Lilligant screeched again, jumping high into the air and blasting them all back. However, this time, they managed to stay on their feet.
"She's getting weak! " Quilava shouted. "Let's finish her already!"
"Yeah, she's starting to annoy me with all this jumping." Buizel added.
"That's because you weren't there to face Kleavor!" Pikachu told her.
"Come on, Rei! This is the final stretch!" Akari yelled over the sound in the arena.
Just as Rei was about to shout more orders at his team, Lilligant then jumped yet again, sending another energy wave at them, and then another, and another, and so on.
They could withstand one of those attacks, but a lot of them continuously was too much to handle.
"I'm going to end up flying away again if we don't do anything!" Akari said to Rei.
"Ugh! Trying!" He replied.
The fake human looked around, trying to come up with something, until he took notice of a tree that was loosely hanging on from all of Lilligant's attacks.
"Someone! Cut down the tree and send the trunk under Lilligant!" He yelled to the Pokémon.
They too looked at the tree before Quilava quickly rolled towards it, his Rollout giving it the last push it needed to break and roll towards the battlefield.
Lilligant was too distracted with her jumps to pay attention, so with everyone's combined efforts, they slowly pushed it towards the grass type and left it under the spot where she landed.
When she jumped up in the air again and then fell down, she landed on the tree trunk, her weight making it roll and her tumble and fall down to the ground.
"NOW! ATTACK!" Rei commanded, throwing balms at Lilligant.
Every time she tried to stand up, she was either sent back down by a balm, or an attack, which only made Lilligant scream in pain.
Rei and Akari kept throwing balms at the noble, until she closed her eyes and let out another energy wave, sending all Pokémon away.
Lilligant tried to stand up, but ultimately ended up tumbling again and falling to her knees, her expression exhausted and defeated.
"Do the honors?" Akari asked him, giving him the last balm.
Rei picked it up and sent it flying towards the Lady of the Ridge, who could only watch as the projectile hit her, causing her whole body to be engulfed in bright yellow light.
"Close your eyes, Buizel!" Luxio warned the water type before it was too late.
Just as with Kleavor, the energy that once surrounded the noble turned into a giant explosion that blinded them all, even when not looking at it.
Rei once again swore he saw the same figure as last time running away from in between the trees, but he couldn't make out who it was as the light's brightness reached its peak and forced everyone to cover their eyes.
"HOLY ARCEUS!" Buizel exclaimed.
"Yeah, imagine looking at that directly!" Pikachu replied.
Once the light died down, Rei dared to look at Lilligant again, seeing her back on her knees, panting, her regular grassy colors having returned to her. Mime Jr. quickly ran towards them, jumping onto Akari's arms.
The grass type slowly stood up, looking at them.
"Where…?" Her soft voice called out.
"Brava Arena." Luxio replied.
"You were frenzied and we helped you snap out of it." Quilava added.
"Frenzied… " The grass type hummed. "Dear goodness, it truly felt awful! Hopefully I have not caused you too much trouble."
Rei's gaze unintentionally drifted to Akari. "What? What is she saying?"
Rei just shook his head and turned back to Lilligant. "You kind of threw that girl off a cliff." Eevee said.
"Yeah, and almost killed us by trying to jump on our heads." Pikachu deadpanned.
"..." The expression the noble put was a mix between horror and confusion at the group being that direct.
"But hey, your dance moves are rad." Buizel spoke.
"Thank you. And thank you all for freeing me from that horrible state." The grass type nodded. "You all are really valiant."
"Bah, not that much. We just happened to have someone that knows how to improvise." Pikachu shrugged.
"And who might that be?" Lilligant asked.
Everyone pointed at Rei. "Why are they pointing at you?" Akari asked.
"Dunno." He lied.
"I must think that is your partner. What may his name be?"
"Rei." Rei replied, causing Lilligant to widen her eyes.
"Pardon? Did you just-?"
"Yeah, he can understand us." Eevee filled in for her.
"The girl can't, so don't try." Pikachu added.
Lilligant seemed confused, but still nodded in understanding. "Well, this will just make things easier."
She walked in front of Rei, peeking at his half opened satchel, a part of one of the plates visible. "Just as I thought…" Lilligant hummed.
She stepped back and towards one of the taller trees bordering the area and gracefully leaped towards one of the branches. When she came back down, Lilligant carried a green colored plate, more vibrant than the Insect Plate. She handed it to Rei.
"This is the Meadow Plate. For your valiant efforts, I reward you with this treasure as a token of my thanks. May it aid you in your quest."
Rei nodded and took it, stuffing it in his satchel.
The grass type nodded again. "And once again, thank you for saving me."
"No problem." Rei told her, nudging Akari.
"Hm?" The girl asked him, not having understood anything.
"She thanks."
"Oh! You're welcome! Glad to help." The girl bowed slightly.
"Rei! Akari!" A voice yelled from behind them.
The group turned around to see Adaman, Arezu and Calaba, all three running to see what had happened.
"You… did it!" Arezu half chuckled.
"Hey." Adaman said, prompting the two to turn to him. "Thank you. You two didn't just save Lilligant. You saved Arezu as well. I appreciate it."
"First Ursaluna and now Lilligant! You two are amazing, you know! Being frenzied didn't suit Lilligant one bit. I'm so happy she's back to her graceful self." The other Diamond Clan member cheered.
"It was nothing, really." Akari shrugged. "We just wanted to help."
There was a small pause, in which Rei took notice of Lilligant showing the Pokémon some of her dancing.
"Arezu!" Adaman suddenly said. "You still owe someone an apology."
"Huh?" The member exclaimed, turning to the leader.
"Oh don't worry about it." Calaba waved her hand. "A young one like her is bound to get caught up in trouble from time to time." She smiled.
"Remember what's in the Solaceon Ruins? 'All lives touch each other lives to create something anew and alive'. There's wisdom in those words… I imagine they're the teaching of almighty Sinnoh itself." The elderly human told them. "Of course, I'd completely forgotten about them until a certain pair of people helped me remember."
Adaman nodded. "We owe you one, ma'am."
Calaba nodded too and turned to Arezu. "Don't try to solve everything by yourself, Arezu. You're a warden. Of all people, we should know how to stand in solidarity with others. It's our job to stand side by side with Pokémon, after all."
Arezu looked down. "Yes, I know. I'm sorry…"
"Well, I can hardly start yelling at you now after Calaba wrapped all that up so nicely!" Adaman laughed.
"Just one more thing, Arezu. I know you were trying to do what you thought was right, and I approve of that. But from now on, do it without keeping things from me, agreed? Other than that, no need to change a thing."
Adaman suddenly frowned in thought. "Well, except maybe to put in some training! If anything else happens to Lilligant, I need you to protect her like the warden you are!"
"I understand…" She replied.
"Let's work together to keep the Mirelands safe, Arezu." Calaba said. "I'll be sure to inform Irida that both the Diamond Clan and Galaxy Team helped save Ursaluna."
Finally having finished the talking among themselves, Calaba turned to look at both Rei and Akari, who had been waiting patiently (at least Akari) for them to finish. "You two did well, Rei and Akari. All our different groups finally joined hands to work together today." The Pearl warden told them. "I admit, it was fun for me, but now it's about time I be on my way."
"Listen!" Adaman boomed. "You know me, I'm Adaman, leader of the Diamond Clan, and I worship almighty Sinnoh, the ruler of time. Time is all about change, and we can't live in fear of that. We can only help the time we live in to change for the better. Something tells me helping you folks out will help me do that. I'm looking forward to it!"
"Thank you for everything, Akari and Rei." Arezu nodded. "I think I'll stay and talk to Lilligant for a while."
Saying that, she approached the noble, the Pokémon getting out of her way. "What happened, Lilligant? How'd a kindhearted Pokémon like you end up all frenzied, huh? Though it's not like I'm perfect, I hid and kept things from you, and couldn't even keep you safe. I'm real sorry about everything…"
The Lady of the Ridge let out a small smile. "It was not your fault, Warden Arezu, and you know that…" She sighed, shaking her head.
"Well, I believe it's time we go and report back to Commander Kamado." Akari interrupted. "It's been a long day, and I skipped half of it!" She chuckled.
Adaman nodded, turning to walk away. "See you next time!"
"Goodbye!" Calaba added, walking after him.
After they were gone, Akari gestured for the Pokémon to follow her as they left Arezu and Lilligant alone.
"Phew, that was a blast!" Pikachu chuckled.
"Weird no one evolved this time. " Luxio rolled his eyes.
"If only I could make sense of what Loppuny told me…" Eevee shook her head.
"You'll get it soon." Quilava told her. "But hey, did you see how I burned that noble? I felt so powerful!"
"You sound like a pyromaniac, dude." Buizel laughed.
"Today's battle was far less dangerous than Kleavor's, am I right?" Akari told Rei.
"Yeah…" He replied, remembering how he got thrown into the air.
"Hopefully we'll find the cause for the frenzy of the nobles soon." She sighed. "Come on, let's get back to Jubilife Village before it gets late."
As the group reached the Mirelands Camp, they were about to talk to the professor, who was speaking to one of the guards, before a familiar voice called them.
"You're a real wonder!"
Everyone turned around to find Volo accompanied by his two partners coming towards them.
"Seriously?! What kind of joke is this?" Pikachu exclaimed.
"I saw light disappearing into the space-time rift. Quelled another frenzied Pokémon, have you?" He chuckled.
"We did do that, indeed." Akari nodded, making Volo hum.
"We still don't know what's causing the lightning that frenzies these Pokémon… But you two! You just go on rescuing them without even a hint of trepidation!" The merchant added.
"Thanks?" Rei said.
"If you keep up this way, you might even change the entire course of history in Hisui here! And I definitely want to to be in the books of someone like that! Let's keep in touch, friends!" Volo exclaimed.
"Okay, please tell me I'm not the only one to whom that sentence sounds weird." Eevee asked.
"Nope." Luxio replied.
"I'm with him and it still sounds weird." Gible sighed.
"For now, we'll have to part ways. See you soon!" Volo waved, walking away.
"Goodbye!" Akari called. "I swear, it's very hard to understand him the more we speak to him."
After that, they reported their adventure to the professor, and he decided to ask for details as they made their way back to the village.
"How is it looking?"
"We didn't want to risk getting too close, but we couldn't find any trace of your pup or his Eevee friend."
"This is insane! If the humans of this settlement find out that we're here…" Rei's sister groaned.
"They will not. It is not the first time I have done scout work in this place." Alpha growled at her.
"You've done this before?"
"Mhmm."
As they waited for the last volunteer of the party to come back, Alpha couldn't help but feel annoyed. It was clear his pup wasn't in the settlement, but he still felt the urge to look again.
"Wait here. I will look around myself."
"Wait what?" One of the Zoroark exclaimed.
"You?! Are you sure?" Rei's sister asked her father. "You're too big to just turn invisible."
"My illusions can go much further than that."
As Alpha swiftly turned himself into a Glalie, he made his way to the edge of the human settlement, made almost fully of pink colored tents.
The guards didn't pay him too much attention, only giving him a glance if he got too close, but nothing else.
After a long while of pacing around, he found nothing of interest, and he was about to turn around to head back, at least until he heard something.
"So that kid is really something, hm?"
Alpha turned to the sound of the voice, finding who he had known to associate as the Clan's leader, next to another member, possibly of high rank.
"He is. I truly cannot understand how he can be that good with Pokémon…" The leader hummed.
"For a stranger that fell from the sky, he truly is good!" The other member told her.
"After what he's done for Kleavor, I think I am beginning to gain some trust in him."
The two kept bickering for some more time, but Alpha had heard enough. It wasn't a good guess, but everything lined up. Stranger that fell from the sky, good with Pokémon…
That had to be his pup.
"So? Did you find anything important?" Rei's sister asked him when he got back.
"I am certain he has successfully blended in with the humans, and is slowly gaining their trust." Alpha explained.
"Woah, really?" One Zoroark said.
"That's kinda cool." Another added.
Rei's sister sighed with relief.
"I do not know anything else, but we can come back another time." Alpha stated, walking away from the settlement. "Let's go before someone sees us."
As Rei and Akari reached the village, heading for the Galaxy Team headquarters, Beni approached them. "So you've found her by the scent of my mochi?" He asked them.
"We did." Akari nodded.
"Of course you did. When you have my level of skill, your handiwork can be recognized from a mile away. Remember to be thankful for getting to eat such masterful mochi when you come for dinner later." He said.
"I'm not going to say anything because his food is delicious." Pikachu shrugged.
The group entered the big building and headed for the top floor, where Kamado waited for them. "So you successfully calmed Lilligant."
Rei nodded. "Excellent. There may well be times where the Galaxy Team will be forced to fight against Pokémon, but it is all for the sake of creating a new home for ourselves, free from what and strife!" The Commander told them.
"A stranger falls into our world from a rift in space-time… The frenzies are induced by strange lightning that, which likewise falls from that very same rift… But you have no connection to the lightning, right Rei?"
I knew it was a bad idea to let them keep thinking that. Rei shook his head.
"Despite that, we may need to investigate the rift itself to prove your motives are beyond impunging."
"I knew it wasn't a good idea to lie!" Eevee groaned.
"Now, go get yourselves some rest. You've earned it."
As they turned around, the Commander said something else. "Oh, and be careful. Alec informed me about a possible Zoroark roaming around the Obsidian Fieldlands. Be prepared for the worst when you visit that area."
All of them got out of the commander's office, and Akari seemed to catch onto the fact Rei was nervous. "Don't worry, Rei. Earning Commander Kamado's trust is not something easy for anyone." She then leaned in closer, whispering. "You didn't actually come from any rifts, so you should be good. And I doubt he'll look into the matter of 'the possible Zoroark' too much, like I told you before."
Rei shakily nodded.
As per usual, Laventon was waiting for them sitting at the Wallflower. Rei and Akari sat in front of him, and the Pokémon eagerly awaited Beni's food.
Once the potato mochi was served to them, everyone immediately prepared to dig in.
"Now, this is the life, eh? Enjoying tasty potato mochi with friends, sharing the latest finding from our Pokémon research, and topping it all, a good night's sleep…" The professor laughed. "Truly, who could ask for anything more?"
I really wish my sister could be here with me right now. This is a thousand times better than being an Alpha!
Well, if we don't count the part where I almost died, but who cares about that?! Free human food!
"I could not agree more, professor!" Akari added.
"Heh, well said, my girl! At the rate you two are going, you'll have the Pokédex completed in no time!"
As the three conversed, laughed and overall had a good time, Rei almost felt sad when they had to part ways in order to sleep.
Nevertheless, he was still exhausted, so that was mostly what convinced him.
Once the door was locked and his illusion uncasted, Rei comfortably sat down on his bed, sighing.
"Does anyone want to talk about anything? Or just go straight to bed? Because I know for sure what I want." Luxio commented.
"I mean, what is there to talk about?" Eevee shrugged. "Nothing too interesting happened today. No one evolved, Rei didn't find out anything else about that 'ancient hero' or the task he's supposedly been fated with, and I for sure haven't figured out anything about Baby-Doll Eyes."
"There's something I'd like to talk about, actually." Rei interrupted.
"About what?" Quilava asked.
"I don't think I've told you this, but both times we've been fighting the frenzied nobles, there's been a figure that's been watching us do it, but when I try to look at it, it just runs away." The Zoroark explained.
"A figure?" Eevee questioned. "What kind of figure?"
"I don't know. I've never seen it fully."
"You think someone's spying on us?" Quilava asked.
"I'm betting everything it's that Volo! There's just no way!" Luxio exclaimed.
"I thought that too, but if it was him, how could he move around that fast with that big of a backpack?" Rei told them.
"He could just take it off." The normal type stated, matter-of-factly.
"It's still too small for him to be the one behind it." Rei tried not to slap his face at Eevee's statement.
"Ughhhh! I don't have the willpower to think about this now!" Luxio groaned. "Next time you see it, just tell us and we'll follow it!"
"Yeah. Let's just go to sleep."
As everyone adjusted their position to prepare themselves to sleep, Rei could only think about his current situation.
It had been just a few days, and even if he hated it, he was starting to miss his pack back at the Icelands. How did his father react to finding out he had fled? Was he even trying to search for him, or did he simply not care?
Why would he if I'm not even really his own pup?
That thought appeared too quickly for him to suppress. What Scar told him once again came to mind, and he tried to stop any tears from appearing.
You'll eventually be sent to the Icelands by Cyllene, Rei. When that happens, take the chance to ask, but please, don't overthink it. Nothing good ever comes from that, especially at night.
And with that, Rei closed his eyes and drifted off, thinking about the cool dance moves he had performed against Lilligant.
Bad timing to have a future Typhlosion in the team, huh?
Anyway, this took probably ages to release, but I'm sorry to say this may be the new rhythm at which chapters will be released. Don't have too much time, and allat.
As always, if you enjoyed the chapter, leave a comment! They always help a ton.
(Note! I have fixed the other chapters, removing duplicate paragraphs and such)