He's a fraud, a mere fake. What makes him worthy of their power? They're a threat, all of them, a challenge to me. What makes them so special, that they receive abilities that they should be unworthy of? I will discover the reason why.

In a largely acclaimed television studio, a female reporter sat on a wide couch, interviewing a woman about the recent catastrophic event that had happened just yesterday.

The woman that was being interviewed was extremely beautiful, not just to herself but to those around her. She had golden eyes, perfect light blonde hair that gracefully fell past her knees, passed only by the long white dress she wore that extended past her feet. As a final testament to her beauty, she wore a crown made from golden leaves, placed delicately on her head.

"Now interviewing, Lady Aurora!" said the reporter, facing the camera. "As the richest person in the history of the world, she is also one of the biggest philanthropists this world has known. To go into all her achievements would take far too long for this session, so you can watch a recording of a previous interview linked on our website. Now, onto today's main discussion."

The reporter shuffled through her note cards, looking up towards Aurora.

"As you may know, there was a devastating catastrophe that happened yesterday at Pine Orphanage for Successful Children, the orphanage you personally funded. The details of said event are murky, but sources say that multiple Ultra Wormholes opened up around the orphanage, the cause of which is unknown. Following the Fracture, an evil, otherworldly Pokémon from a species known as Ultra Beasts appeared, intent on destruction. From there, the only thing we know is the appearance of multiple Accursed, which most likely would have attributed to the damage. What we do know is that while there were multiple injuries, there were no casualties. To start off, I would like to ask about your thoughts on the situation."

Aurora considered the question. "It is truly a shame that such a disaster took place at what should be a sanctuary for those who lost their parents. This travesty will not go unnoticed, and I will work to make sure that the lives of those affected are brought back to order."

The reporter nodded solemnly. "A touching statement. Under your care, I believe these children will be able to find peace. For the next question, do you believe that this travesty was because of the Accursed?"

"As you said yourself, there isn't enough data to be sure of much. However, I believe that the fault lies in the Ultra Beast and the Ultra Wormholes, why no one seems to understand what's causing them is slightly baffling. As for the Accursed, they seem to have at least minimized casualties."

The reporter nodded, showing no sign she'd believed the Accursed were responsible for the damages or hated them in general.

"Do you believe the Gloom Republic should be held responsible for their failures in responding to the situation?"

"Yes," said Aurora. "I do believe they should be held responsible. And while we're on the topic, I must ask, what have they done for our fair region? Everyone is always talking about how good they are, focusing on all the good they're doing. Which leads me to ask, what good have they done exactly?"

The reporter's eyes widened, but she quickly kept her face neutral. She knew better than to cross this woman, she remembered what happened to the previous reporter.

"This Gloom Republic claims it's protecting people from the scourge that is Pokémon, and fighting against the Accursed, agents of said Pokémon. However, when a Pokémon threat actually appears, they're nowhere to be found. Instead, it's the Accursed that appear on the scene."

The reporter opened her mouth, quite recklessly. "We have no evidence-"

She cut herself off, shaking her head. "Of course, Lady Aurora, which does raise some questions. How do you believe this should be addressed?"

"For starters, they have spent too long as the head of this region. They should learn to step down when they are not needed. They should do a better job against apparent threats. As for me, I'll be doing my part helping those in need, in a way the Gloom Republic cannot."

The reporter nodded. "Thank you for answering our questions, Lady Aurora. Unfortunately, our time today is up. We hope to see you on our show again, it's always a pleasure to have you."

"Of course, thank you."

Aurora stood up, her dress and hair trailing behind her as she walked. The reporter watched her leave, a sense of awe on her face.

Suddenly, a burly man in a black suit, black glasses and an earpiece tapped her on the shoulder. At first glance, he seemed to be a Gloom Agent, but his expensive suit made him out to be one of Aurora's bodyguards.

"Yes?"

"I recall you contradicting Lady Aurora earlier, do you have anything to say about that?"

The reporter's eyes widened. "N-no! I-"

He tutted at her, shaking his head. "No excuses. No one contradicts Lady Aurora."

Aurora left the building, walking towards her personal car as her bodyguards flanked her, trying to keep the crowd of reporters at bay. The bodyguard from earlier exited the building soon after, catching up with the others.

"The reporter has been dealt with. It seems she'll be taking a week long break from the job."

Aurora didn't respond, which was expected. She went into her car, her bodyguards standing around her. There were all sorts of threats towards Aurora, despite her reputation as a national hero.

The interior of the limousine was very comfy, with luxurious seats and all sorts of commodities. There was a long plush couch circling around a table, and a singular small couch facing the table as well. Aurora took a seat on the longer, grander couch, next to a much younger girl.

The girl sitting next to Aurora like her. She however, had much brighter eyes and long silver hair. She was wearing a blue dress with gold trimmings that cut off just above her ankles.

Also present on the smaller seat was a short woman with black eyes and a short black ponytail. She was wearing very formal attire and had a briefcase along with many papers. Her name was Coral, one of Aurora's most important attendants.

"Welcome, Lady Aurora," said Coral. "That was an absolutely amazing interview! You truly are this region's savior! With so many catastrophe's happening, it's a blessing to have you. What will you have me do first, Lady Aurora?"

"See to it that you send enough money to Restore Corp to fully repair Pine Orphanage. Where are the displaced children from the orphanage?"

"They're currently staying in nearby shelters, three different ones to be exact."

"Set up three different meetings for each shelter between today and tomorrow. Send them money as well, two hundred thousand poké to pay the expenses of caring for the children."

"That shall be done. Anything else?"

"Not for now."

Now that Aurora was done speaking, the girl next to her turned to speak.

"Now that you've publicly opposed the Gloom Organization, what's next? No doubt, they'll be after you."

"It's very simple Mel. They're plenty of people who are willing to protect me from the Gloom Organization, the only threat they pose to me is one of status. As for getting rid of them, I don't have to be the one to do away with them. I can always count on others to do the work for me."

"You mean, the Accursed?"

"Yes Mel, I do mean them. Everyone hates them already. As long as the public cannot tie them back to me, I'll be safe. With the Gloom Organization out of the way, everyone will turn to me for salvation, as they should. After all, the Gloom Organization only feeds them empty promises."

"I wish to meet the Accursed myself," said Mel. "They possess abilities, one of them has one which is similar to my own. The reasoning behind this I will find out."

Just then, the speaker system within the car turned on as the driver's voice was heard.

"Pardon me, Lady Aurora, but the sirens are going off. Should I continue to our destination or take another form of action."

""Stop the car, I believe Mel wants to go off and attend to something."

The car slowly came to a stop on the side of the road. "Of course, have a safe and pleasant trip Lady Melusine."

Melusine got out of the car, saying goodbye to Aurora. She felt the air around her, feeling the energy particles shift and flow. She could feel a form of energy gathering around a particular area in the city. Yes, this was what she'd been sensing for the past few days.

And it was a sensation she did not like.

Heyden and Ali were once again being pursued by the Gloom Organization. This time, they found their path blocked by a huge Rhyperior. The Pokémon gave a roar as it crashed its fists into the ground, creating an eruption of earth and rock to shower down upon the two Chosen.

Ali closed her eyes and focused, creating a shift in gravity that paused the rubble in mid-air as Heyden surrounded himself with energy, his arms glowing red as he did so.

The Rhyperior charged forward, the ground itself shaking as it ran for them. Ali shifted both her and Heyden into shadows, passing through the Rhyperior and appearing behind it. Using this opportunity, Heyden released an explosion of energy, sending it sliding backwards as the ground around them exploded.

The Rhyperior gave a roar as it slammed its feet into the ground, creating multiple stone pillars to shoot out of the ground. Heyden leapt away from one of them, shooting a burst of Dynamax energy to propel himself away from the attack before shooting multiple lasers at the Rhyperior, forcing it to block the attack.

Ali on the other hand, countered the Stone Edge by crumbling the pillars into dust using intensified gravity. Afterwards, she created multiple shadows around her, sending them forward to rapidly strike the Rhyperior.

Even with these multiple attacks, the Rhyperior didn't seem fazed in the slightest. It punched a fist into the ground, ripping a chunk of earth and throwing it at Heyden. Heyden countered the attack with a large beam of Dynamax energy, the red aura around him diminishing significantly.

"I need to charge up for another attack!" shouted Heyden, moving backwards as he summoned more particles towards him. "Can you hold that thing off while I do that? Or don't, depending on whether you want to-"

Ali ignored the rest of his sentence, firing more shadows at the Shadow Pokémon before phasing through the ground, dodging another attack. She then reappeared behind the Rhyperior, sending a larger barrage of shadows at close range.

The Rhyperior gave an ear-splitting roar, causing Ali to stumble backwards as she narrowly dodged another attack, forcing her to turn into a shadow to avoid the attack. Coming up with an idea, she focused her power as the Rhyperior threw another devastating punch.

As the strike came towards her, she opened a warp gate directly in front of her. The Rhypeior's arm passed through the portal, appearing as another warp gate formed directly behind it, causing it to punch itself directly in the back of the head. Ali leapt out of the way, the Rhyperior almost falling on her.

Behind the Rhyperior, Heyden stood, his body glowing red from all the Dynamax energy he created. His arms coursed with power as an intense light began to form, the Rhyperior getting to its feet and charging for him.

"You've spent too much time in this world. Now do me a favor and die already."

Before the Rhyperior could reach him, Heyden fired a gigantic laser, blasting the Rhyperior back several meters as the ground beneath it was razed. As if that was enough, Heyden dashed forward, the energy surrounding him powering up his movement. He slid to a stop in front of the fallen Rhyperior, his right hand glowing as he performed a powerful uppercut.

"See you never!"

While his fist never hit the Rhyperior directly, the explosion of Dynamax energy that followed certainly did. All the stored Dynamax energy was fired in a large blast around his fist. The force behind the explosion was enough to launch the Rhyperior into the air, destroying the ground beneath Heyden. The Rhyperior hit the ground with crushing force, destroying the road around it and causing a giant sinkhole to form.

"Is all this destruction really necessary?" asked Ali, looking at the scene around them. "I know I'm not native to this place, but it just seems so wrong. Maybe this is why the public seems to hate us so much."

Heyden shrugged. "Don't think about it too much. After all, if it weren't for the Gloom Organization, none of this would've happened. They're the ones who are trying to kill us anyways. And while this may not hold true forever, I most definitely do not want to die now."

"Right," said Ali, looking away as she pulled down on her long sleeves.

Heyden sighed. "Look, I get that we've only known each other for two days, and most of the time has been spent trying not to die and me making arguably good jokes. And I understand that you're probably a lot older than me-"

"I'm not as old as you're probably guessing right now."

"I mean, maybe? You look like you're forty. Maybe fif-"

"Thirty-two, thank you very much."

"See! We're learning so much about each other now! I'm seventeen by the way and could use a lot of advice on how to navigate through senior year. It's especially hard when your school no longer exists due to Ultra Wormholes, never liked school anyways. I think my time is better spent fighting villains than solving logarithms, you get my drift? Wait, do people your age speak like that?"

"No, we don't use recent generation slang. We also speak to our elders respectfully."

"Fair point, but we're kind of in the same boat here. Thus, I see you more as a friend and not an authoritative figure. We should probably go by now. As beautiful that giant hole with the big scary Shadow Pokémon is, it won't do us any good standing here. Our best bet is to find other Chosen and get a safe space to rest."

"Maybe you shouldn't be using the max output of your ability on every threat we face."

"True, but my powers aren't as dangerous or draining as yours. How are you holding up after creating that warp gate? Cool trick by the way."

Ali didn't answer. In truth, using her powers like that was a hazard to herself, but she didn't want to talk about it. Annoying as he was, Heyden did tend to worry about her. Maybe he could read just how bad her mental state was at times, or maybe he was just compassionate. However, she didn't want to make any friends, especially in a desolate place such as this world, where any could potentially die at any moment.

"It's nothing, let-"

She never got to finish when an explosion of red energy appeared before them, sending powerful winds whipping towards them. As the energy faded, a girl was standing in front of them, having seemingly appeared from nowhere.

Heyden was instantly on alert, red energy beginning to surround him. "Whatever animosity you have toward us, I suggest not acting upon it. Who are you?"

The girl had long silver hair and golden eyes, as well as an exquisite blue dress with gold trimmings. It was Melusine, having traveled quite a distance to reach them.

"Who I am doesn't matter to the likes of you, fraud. How did you obtain your powers?"

Heyden paused for a moment, then began to laugh as his power stopped growing. Melusine gave him a hard stare, not moving as Heyden began to wheeze from laughter.

"Oh, that's funny," he said, his laughter subsiding. "I would've said you're jealous if I couldn't read your emotions so plainly. I see how it is, you have powers similar to mine. My Energy Sense tells me you're pretty much overflowing with Dynamax energy."

Melusine didn't react, but Heyden only smiled. "Two can play this game buddy. You didn't expect me to figure you out so quickly. You're Chosen as well, by Eternatus. That's how you knew I was as well. Which begs the question, what makes me a fraud? After all, you're not the one who decides the people Eternatus chooses."

Melusine stepped forward, her eyes fixed on him. "Why would Eternatus choose you? Why would Eternatus grant you power, why did any of the Legendary Pokémon impart their power onto anyone?"

Heyden shrugged. "I don't know, Maybe Eternatus decided I could be a hero this world desperately needs before everything goes to hell. Maybe Eternatus saw something within me that it saw in itself. Maybe Eternatus was bored and said, 'screw it, let me just choose some random guy and make his life interesting'. Or maybe Eternatus just wanted to piss you off. Looks like someone fell out of its favor, if you ask me."

"You think you're so funny, don't you? You have no right to wield Eternatus' power, especially if this is who you are. What purpose do you serve? How do you make the lives of other people better? Instead, you simply use your power to destroy and do whatever feels right to you. You have no place here, fraud."

"Kind of a bit discriminatory, don't you think? And rude as well, I guess Alika was right about people my age having no respect. And to answer your very rude question, I do have a purpose, surprisingly. In fact, I have two missions, neither of which I'm sharing with the likes of you."

"I don't know what she sees in you, in any of your kind. I could destroy the Gloom Organization if I wished for myself."

Ali stared at the girl, unsure of what to do in this situation. She felt that the girl seemed familiar, as if she'd seen her on a news program the last time she had access to a TV screen in this world.

"Aren't you Aurora?" asked Ali. "The rich philanthropist?"

Heyden scoffed. "She's a lookalike. You can tell by the silver hair and the attitude. The real Aurora isn't someone you want to be around."

"What did you say?" growled Melusine, energy beginning to gather around her.

Heyden reacted similarly, his body glowing red again. "Even without being near somebody, I've learned to read emotions through people's expressions, body language, and other minute details. She may enjoy helping others through excessive donations, but she has a much more dangerous side. Probably will get everyone killed one day, but hey, we're all going to die anyway. Whether by old age or getting murdered, doesn't really make a difference."

Ali nervously glanced at Heyden. She knew that he and Melusine definitely didn't like each other from the moment they met, but Heyden was pushing things way too far.

"You'll take back what you said," threatened Melusine, her voice dangerously low.

"Here's the thing, Aurora groupie. To me, you're just another bully, believing you're better than everyone else. But here's the thing about bullies, they don't like it when someone else has power."

Melusine didn't answer, instead, she dashed forward, gauntlets appearing on her hands. Heyden leapt backwards, avoiding the multiple punches she threw at him.

Landing on his feet, he created a shockwave of Dynamax energy, which Melusine absorbed, adding to her own power. Without pause, she dashed forward, unleashing a flurry of energy charged blows.

Heyden chose to stand his ground, putting his arms up as he blocked the blows to the best of his ability, some of them striking past his defenses. Melusine spun around and landed an explosive kick, knocking him backwards.

Ali moved forward, but Heyden held up a hand, rising to his feet.

"Don't worry, I don't need someone to step in for me. I'm not powerless here anymore."

Melusine walked towards him, her gauntlets glowing. "No, you are powerless here. Your power doesn't impress me, it's fake. You can't win against me, not when I can absorb all of the energy you output."

Heyden smiled as she ran at him, her fist raised. "Who says you're the only one who can do that?"

An explosion of Dynamax energy surrounded Heyden, blasting everything around him in his usual destructive way. Melusine, caught by surprise, wasn't able to absorb the attack in time and was thrown back, hitting the ground and rolling to her feet.

Heyden leapt to his feet, his hands glowing as he surrounded his fists with energy. Melusine scoffed at the way he copied her technique, bringing up her own fists.

The two of them began to throw punches at each other, Dynamax energy crackling through the air. Heyden proved surprisingly adept at dodging Melusine's attacks. However, Melusine threw too many punches for Heyden to find an opening.

Switching tactics, Heyden ducked beneath a punch and fired a burst of Dynamax energy, the attack going nowhere as Melusine simply absorbed it. He leapt away from another attack by directing an explosion of Dynamax energy beneath him, flying upwards and landing multiple meters away.

"Will you keep on running away?" asked Melusine. "Just like you're running from the truth?"

"I don't need to prove anything to you. I know that I'm one of the Chosen, and that's enough for me. Now why don't you hurry up and fade away?"

"As if-"

There was an explosion of red feathers between Heyden and Melusine, causing both of them to leap back to avoid getting hit. As the feathers disappeared, a man stood there, two wings on his back fading away.

The man staggered to his feet, appearing half drunk. He looked to be a priest, wearing a black cassock and a neat bolero hat. However, normal priests didn't drop out of the sky like that.

"I was waiting for one of you to kill the other so I could kill the remainder, but you both were taking far too long. Which one of you wants to die first?"

Heyden shook his head. "I'm sorry, but I don't want to go to heaven just yet."

The man looked at him with a cruel smile. "No boy. When I kill you, you don't go to heaven. My name is Abaddon Faust, disciple of Giratina, granted powers by the Angel of Death, Yveltal. The Gloom Organization sent me on a mission, to fulfill my role and bring death upon the Chosen."

Heyden gave a wise nod. "Mind giving me your address, social security, mother's maiden name-"

Abaddon dashed forward, wings sprouting from his back. Heyden leapt out of the way as he fired multiple lasers at him, missing most of them.

Ali sprang into action, creating multiple shadows that twisted across the ground and reached for Abaddon. The man flew into the air, avoiding the attack.

His eyes settled upon Melusine, who had yet to join the battle.

"What's wrong, not going to fight?"

She didn't respond. This man, while being of the Chosen, was also part of the Gloom Organization. Didn't the Gloom Organization despise the Chosen? Clearly, they had ulterior motives.

Coming to a decision, she leapt into the air, an explosion of energy coming from beneath her feet. She slammed into Abaddon, throwing him to the ground with another explosion of energy.

Abaddon easily recovered, throwing bolts of red feathers at her. Melusine leapt forward powering through the attack, but immediately felt something wrong as the feathers touched her.

"Too slow girl," chided Abaddon as she came a meter short. He sidestepped a laser beam from Heyden and flew into the air, only to crash down as a field of gravity surrounded him.

Melusine dashed forward with explosive speed, her initial momentum allowing her to briefly fly through the intense gravity.

"What did you do to me?" she demanded, launching multiple punches as the gravity returned to normal.

Abaddon only laughed as he brought his wings in front of him, blocking multiple of her punches. He opened his wings and lunged for Melusine, his eyes black as his irises glowed.

Melusine sidestepped him and grabbed his arm, using his own momentum to throw himself into the ground. Heyden followed up with a charged attack, firing a giant beam that Abaddon flew away from.

While he was in the air, his wings glowed as he fired a giant laser of pure red energy, tracing it around the ground as Heyden and Ali dodged the attack, with Ali disappearing into a shadow as she did so.

"You… you wield the power of Giratina!" he shouted, his fury growing. "Why, why would the lord of the Distortion World choose a random woman over me!"

He dove towards Ali, spinning around as his wings surrounded him. Now that he was in close range, Ali opened another warp gate, sending him through and causing him to crash into a building.

"Damn you woman," said Abaddon, getting to his feet. "Would killing Giratina's champion be sacrilegious? I've already been abandoned by one lord, must I be abandoned by another?"

"Sounds like your father left to buy the milk," said Heyden, charging his Dynamax energy. "Too bad."

"So be it," said Abaddon, facing Ali. "Your companions can die."

"As if I'm going to die to an edgy priest!" shouted Heyden, firing a Dynamax Cannon.

Abaddon didn't flinch. He rose into the air and used Oblivion Wing, sending a beam of red energy and creating a massive explosion that knocked Heyden backwards.

Before Abaddon could recover, Melusine used the opportunity to strike him in mid-air, throwing him to the ground and landing on him.

Her gauntlets glowed as she threw a series of punches, red energy exploding from each blow. This time, Abaddon didn't guard with both wings. Instead, he fended off the attacks with one wing before using the other one to grab Melusine.

"Now perish."

His wing glowed brightly as Melusine was surrounded in red energy, her life being drained. On the other hand, Abaddon's injuries were quickly being healed, the life energy he was siphoning boosting him.

Melusine gave a roar as Dynamax energy exploded off of her, blasting Abaddon several meters before he crashed through a building. She fell to the ground, red lines coursing all over her body. The lines faded just as quickly as they had appeared, but Abaddon's attack had left her weakened.

Abaddon came out of the rubble, flying towards Melusine. Heyden leapt in the way, throwing him to the ground and blasting him with Dynamax energy at point blank range.

"I didn't do that for you!" called Heyden as he aimed a charged kick at Abaddon.

Abaddon blocked his kick and threw him to the ground, blasting an Oblivion Wing at him. This time, the attack hit him dead on and threw him to the ground, causing him to fall unconscious as his life energy drained away.

"Now, to end-"

"Stop!" shouted Ali, her voice louder than ever before as she appeared in front of Abaddon. "Don't hurt him, nor the girl! Or else…"

"Or else what?" asked Abaddon. "You can't defeat me, I can recover any damage I've taken simply by landing an attack. Your powers have barely developed. Even if I chose to kill you wouldn't be able to muster enough power to defeat me. Even if you did manage to kill me, the outcome would be less desirable."

"I'm the Chosen of Giratina, the one you choose as a god. I'm sure Giratina wouldn't be very pleased if… I ended up dying because of you."

"What are you saying?" asked Abaddon, becoming aware of the sharp object in her hand.

"I'll do it myself if I have to," said Ali, her voice unwavering.

"You don't have the courage to," said Abaddon, taking a step closer. Ali moved backwards, moving the sharp piece of metal closer to her chest.

"This world has taken too much from me," said Ali, her voice filled with sorrow. "If this is what it takes so others may live, then so be it."

"Maybe it doesn't even matter!" shouted Abaddon, growing more and more irritated. "After all, it was Yveltal that saved me! Maybe Giratina wasn't the one who sent Yveltal, perhaps it came of its own accord."

However, his next actions didn't matter. Melusine exploded forward, landing a powerful kick before creating another explosion of Dynamax energy to propel herself away from Abaddon's wings.

Out of options, Abaddon began to charge up another Oblivion Wing, but Ali acted faster. A storm of shadows exploded around her, plunging everything around her into darkness.

When Abaddon's vision cleared, he found himself in a shattered space. Chunks of debris floated around him at various angles while everything else seemed to be an empty void. He looked around him, confused about where he was.

He took a step, no sound emanating from his footprints. Slightly disturbed, he took another step, and then another. He broke into a run, the scenery unchanging. Despite how short the platform he stood on seemed, the distance between him and the edge seemed to never change.

He punched his fist into the ground, picking up a piece of concrete and throwing it. The piece of concrete flew just out of arm's reach before suspending itself in mid-air. Abaddon tried reaching towards it, but he seemed to just barely reach it.

Abruptly, the void around him exploded into shards of glass, fading into shadows and disappearing. He was back in the ruined street, the signs of the battle evident around him. However, everyone was gone.

Heyden woke up in a soft and luxurious bed, feeling extremely weakened. Sitting up, he found himself in a very lavish and expensive room. He felt the carpet beneath him, finding it to be soft and high quality. There was a private bathroom down one door and an empty walk-in closet down another door.

Getting to his feet, he looked outside the window. He raised his eyebrows as he saw an expansive compound with many well designed buildings and perfectly trimmed grass.

Turning around, he realized Ali wasn't in the room. He opened the door and left the room, finding himself in a long and well decorated hallway.

"Excuse me," said a voice behind him.

Heyden jumped and turned around, his hands glowing. He calmed down when he realized it was just a young girl, maybe a year older than him.

"I'm sorry to startle you. You just seemed a bit confused, that's all. Do you need anything?"

"Yeah, I need a lot of things actually. First of all, where am I?"

"You are in the guest wing of Aurora's mansion. Lady Melusine brought you and one of your companions here. Both of you were unconscious."

Heyden nodded. "Gotcha. Quick question, does Melusine look a lot like Aurora?"

"Yes, why do you ask? Surely, you've met her, considering she decided to bring you here."

"Well, I met a very rude girl who refused to introduce herself, so it may have been here."

The girl glared at him, her anger rising as Heyden insulted Melusine. Heyden was not unaware of this.

"Anyways," said the girl, turning around. "Lady Aurora would like to speak with you and your companion in few days' time. She unfortunately has her calendar full for today and tomorrow. In the meantime, feel free to stay and explore the guest wing. You'll find every necessary commodity and more in this place, feel free to summon one of the workers here. Your companion is staying in the next room to your right, don't go into any of the other rooms. Have a good day."

With that, the girl turned and left, leaving Heyden alone in the hallway.

Heyden went to where Ali was staying and knocked on the door. He received no response within a few seconds and knocked again. Frowning, he opened the door carefully and crept in.

Ali appeared to be sleeping peacefully, but Heyden could tell she was distressed. He didn't know what had happened after he fell unconscious, but he could tell it wasn't good.

He turned around and left the room, closing the door behind him. Once again, he was powerless to do anything to help her. Melusine's words began to echo in his head. Him, a fraud? He'd show her.

Abaddon sat in an empty bar, enjoying a bottle of wine. Everyone else who'd been inside had been forcibly cleared out, he needed his alone time.

Unfortunately, his alone time didn't last very long. A Gloom Agent burst into the bar, heading straight for Abaddon.

"Excuse me sir! I was instructed to give you this communication crystal!"

Abaddon took the crystal from the agent and waved them away. The agent gladly turned around and ran away, knowing just how scary Abaddon could be. Abaddon took a long drink of wine before activating the crystal. In front of him, purple smoke erupted as a shadowy figure took form.

"Oh, it's you," said Abaddon, recognizing the faceless figure. "The guy who kept shouting at us last meeting about us not belonging in the Consumer's council or whatever, like I care that much. What was your name again?"

The figure gave an annoyed sigh. "Can you stop acting like a child for once in your damn life, Abaddon? Do you have no sense of responsibility? All you do is drink your damn problems-"

"I get it," said Abaddon coldly. "I don't need another endless tirade from you. I failed to kill the Chosen."

"Of course you did."

"Don't jump to conclusions just yet, they chose to escape. Giratina has a Chosen."

The figure on the other end was silent for a moment. "Next time I contact you, you better be sober."

"I know exactly what I saw. One of the Chosen there was Giratina's champion. They even went as far as to create a pocket Distortion World. A simple one that distorted space to create long stretches of distances that seemed much shorter."

"No, this can't be right! The last person to be chosen by Giratina was during the time of the Original Chosen!"

"Two of them also had powers similar to that of Eternatus, which would mean two Chosen of the same Pokémon."

"That's not possible either," said the figure. "There can only be one champion of each Legendary at a time! What are you playing at Abaddon?"

"I only speak the truth. The fact that there are two champions of Eternatus, especially a highly skilled one, is bad enough. If the Chosen of Giratina is able to fully utilize the ability of Distortion, things could get a bit more difficult."

"I see. You are to come back, we have other missions to pursue. You and Andras are to head south into the Outlands. We have evidence that one of the Tapu's may be hiding there."

"Of course," said Abaddon, giving the figure a mock bow. "Your wish is my command, Void Caller."