Chapter 5; Awaken Captain Kid

Location; Aqua Place, Yongen-Jaya

"This is bad." Aqua said before Professor Burnet said. "And to make matters worse, we can't help them."

"Why?"

"There is some kind of interference, so we can't send people into that other world."

"So it is just me?"

"Yes, but Kangofu has told us that you are very skilled and will be able to help them."

"I will give it my all."

"Go let me go over some details." Professor Burnet said before she gave Aqua more information. As that was happening, Aqua Pokemon looked around the house. Brionne found the bedroom. Fletchinder found a closet with more clothes inside. And Phanpy found a card with a note that said. "Phantom Money." That all then met up with Aqua, who had just gotten all of the information. "Ok, we'll call you when we have more information." Professor Burnet said and Kangofu said. "And if you need anything just call me. Ok?"

"Ok, goodnight Professor Burnet and Ms. Kangofu." Aqua said, ending the call. Then her Pokemon showed her to the bedroom and Phanpy gave her the card and note. Aqua was too sleepy to wonder what it was about, so she put it into her wallet and after getting ready for bed. That night she tried to get a good night's sleep.

Location; The Velvet Room

For Ren, he woke up in The Velvet Room again. Caroline then said to him. "...About time you've come. On your feet, Inmate!"

"Our master wishes to speak with you. It's for your own sake that you take his words to heart." Justine said before Ren got up and grabbed the cell bars. Igor laughed before saying. "First off, let us celebrate our reunion."

"Can we skip the small talk, and explain what happened to me?"

"Oh…? You've awakened to your powers– and special one at that. Your rehabilitation can finally begin."

"My power?"

"There is no need to understand it all for the time being. You will be training the power of Persona, which you have awakened to. Personas are, in other words, a "mask" – an armor of the heart when confronting worldly matters."

"What do you mean?"

"There is no need to worry. You will learn when the time comes. By the by… have you come to appreciate the Metaverse Navigator?"

"The what-navigator?"

"Using it will allow you to come and go between reality and Palaces."

"Palaces?"

"...I bestowed it to you as a means to train you as a thief." Igor said, dodging Ren's question. Then Caroline said to Ren. "The Metaverse Navigator is a gift from our master! You better take care in using it, Inmate!"

"Devote yourself to your training so that you may become a fine thief." Justine said before Igor said. "It must be disheartening to make use of the Metaverse Navigator alone. Should there be others who would prove beneficial to you, I will grant it to them as well. This is all for you to grow as a most excellent thief…" Then the bells started to ring. Igor smiled and said. "Looks like our time is over, but before you go I have a warning. Don't trust the girl you met, she will lead you all to ruin."

"Wait, what about Kangofu senpai?" Ren said as he woke up in his own bed.

Location; Leblanc, Yongen-Jaya

After Aqua woke up, got ready for school and gave her Pokemon the only food she had. She went over to Leblanc and saw it wasn't open. She was going to leave, but the door opened and Sojiro said to her. "What are you doing here?"

"Just get some food and meet up with Ren before we have to go to school together."

"Why?"

"Ms. Kangofu said that you should repay kindness with kindness."

"Your mother sounds naive."

"Ms. Kangofu is my legal guardian, not my mom. And she is not naive. She just believes you should be nice to people, especially if they help you with something." Aqua said before her stomach growled. Sojiro sighed and said. "Have you had breakfast yet?"

"No."

"Then come inside, I'll make you something."

"Why thank you uh?"

"I'm Sojiro."

"Thank you Sojiro." Aqua said as she entered the room. After Sojiro made her curry, he said to her. "Here is some curry."

"Thank you Sojiro." Aqua said as she took a bite of curry. After a few seconds she said to him. "Oh, man. This is better than Rook's curry."

"Rook?"

"A friend from back home. The most popular dish of his homeland is curry. He even taught me how to make all kinds of curry."

"Really?" Sojiro said, touching his chin. He then smiled and said. "Then tonight, You come back and make some curry. If it is good, I'll hire you."

"Well I do need to make money, so you got a deal." Aqua said, giving him her right hand. Sojiro took it and Ren walked down the steps. "Hello Kangofu senpai. What are you doing here?"

"Just getting some breakfast and please call me Aqua."

"Oh, well. We better get going to school." Ren said as he grabbed an apple. "Don't be late this time." Sojiro said as they both left Leblanc. As they were going to school, Ren finshed his apple one the first train and while they were waiting for the second train. They heard some of their classmates talking about a girl wearing their school uniform, but had a 1 instead of a 2 or 3, with red hair and a red ribbon. On the train, they saw the student with a ribbon in hair get up from her seat and said to an old lady. "Please, take my seat. My station's coming up."

"Are you sure? Then…" The old lady said as the student moved from her seat. The old lady was going to take it, but a businessman took it instead. The student then said to the businessman. "Excuse me, that seat was for this lady…" The businessman didn't respond, because he was asleep. Ren then to her. "Want me to "wake him up"?"

"It's all right. I can understand his position as well. I'm sorry I couldn't be of any help."

"It's all right, dearie. Don't you worry." The old lady said before she said. "Please allow me to carry your luggage, at least." The old woman agreed and she held the old lady's luggage. And after a few minutes, the train reached their station. The student gave the old lady her luggage back and left the train. She caught up to Ren and Aqua and said to Ren. "Pardon me… Thank you so much for earlier."

"It was nothing."

"Speaking up when I offered my seat on the train is not nothing. You're a second-year at Shujin Academy, correct?"

"Yeah, and my friend here is a third-year student at Shujin."

"Well, I am a first-year there myself. Thanking you totally slipped my mind back on the train, and I didn't want to be rude to my senpai. Please, excuse me!" She said before she left them. As she left, Aqua was looking at her and Ren said to her. "What is wrong, Kangofu senpai?"

"First just call me Aqua, and secondly I have a feeling that something is wrong with that girl."

"It didn't feel or see anything was wrong. Could have it be your imagination?"

"Yeah, it must have been my imagination. Anyway let get to school, before you get in more trouble." Aqua said as they went to school.

Location; Shujin Academy, Aoyama-Itchome

Throughout the day, Ren and Aqua were doing normal class things. Listening to the teacher, taking notes, getting homework and ignoring the rumors about Ren. It wasn't until school was over that Ren, who was trying to go home, saw Kamoshida talking to Takamaki, who was trying to leave school too. "Hey there, Takamaki. Things have been pretty dangerous lately with all those accidents."

"Sorry, I have a photoshoot today. It's for the special summer issue, so I can't afford to miss it…"

"Hey, now… Being a model's fine and dandy, but don't work your pretty little self to the bone. You mentioned you weren't feeling well, right? Something about appendicitis?"

"Yes, I keep planning to go to the hospital, but I'm too busy… Sorry to worry you."

"You must be lonely too. I feel bad for keeping your best friend at practice so often. Oh, and… be careful around that male transfer student. He's got a criminal record, after all. If something were to happen to you…"

"...Thank you. Please excuse me." Takamaki said before she left Kamoshida, which made him mad. As Ren left the school, Ryuji met up with him at the gate and said. "Yo."

"What's up?"

"I wanna talk about that castle from yesterday. Hey where's Kangofu senpai?"

"It looks like she's on the roof. She must be feeding her Pokemon?" Ren said, pointing to the roof, showing Aqua. Ryuji turned back to Ren and said. "Ok, I just want to talk about that castle from yesterday. I tried telling myself it was all just a dream… but I couldn't do it. I can't act like nothing happened. It's all connected to that bastard Kamoshida, after all. I wanna find out what's up with that place, no matter what. And y'know, you're the only person I can rely on for this stuff. So, you in?"

"Sure. What next?"

"Nice! Okay, glad we're in this together. I think we should just try and retrace our steps from yesterday. In the meantime, you're walking to the station, right? Let's go together. Lemme know if you notice any other weird buildings on the way." Ryuji said as he walked away. Ren didn't think Ryuji was a bad guy and followed him. After Aqua was done on the roof, she exited the school, she saw Ryuji and Ren talking with one another. Ryuji said to Ren as Aqua walked up to them. "Is it smaller than we think it is?"

"Think what is?" Aqua said, catching their attraction. Ren said to her. "We are looking for the castle."

"But we can't find it." Ryuji said and Aqua said. "So you two have been tracking your steps."

"Yeah, but it hasn't work. Do you know how you found the castle?" Ren said and Aqua thought for a moment before saying. "I do remember it was the same walking distance you would take from the train to this place."

"And we tried that already." Ryuji said, lowering his head. "But there were two things I also noticed." Aqua said and Ren said as Ryuji raised his head. "What were they?"

"While the area around the castle looked real, they were all fake and the only people I saw were only in the castle." Aqua said and Ryuji said to Ren. "Where do you think a place like that is?"

"Why don't you just check the map on your phone?"

"I already did that. I didn't see anything like it around here. Huh? Phone…" Ryuji said before Aqua said to him. "Do you remember something?"

"Yeah. Ren had a navigation app thingy on, back then?"

"I don't remember that?" Ren said, pulling out his phone. Ryuji took it and Ren said. "Sure have at it."

"He needs to learn some manners." Aqua said before Ryuji said to them. "What's this eyeball-looking thing?"

"I don't know." Ren said and then Aqua said. "Didn't you install it?"

"No, it just showed up on my phone when I got here. And every time I try to delete it, it comes back." Ren said and Ryuji said, opening the app. "Weird app. …Oh wait, this is it! I knew it—it IS a navigation app! There's even your search history! Oh man, I'm such a genius! Let's try using it."

"I don't think that is a good idea." Aqua said but Ryuji didn't listen and said. "It will be fine." He turned on the app and it said with a female voice. "Kamoshida… Shujin Academy… Pervert… Castle… Beginning navigation." Then a red wave hit them and more waves appeared. People around them disappeared and the castle reappeared.

Location; Castle of ?

"Look! It's the castle from yesterday!" Ryuji said not noticing that Ren's outfit turned into the same one he had on yesterday, and Aqua's watch had turned into a gauntlet. Ryuji then ran to the door and they followed him. He then turned to them and said. "We made it back… That means what happened yesterday was for real too… Yeargh! Those clothes…"

"What about our clothes?" Ren said as they looked at they're clothes and saw the changes. Ryuji said to them. "That happened last time too, huh!? What's with those outfits!?"

"I don't know, but I like it." Ren said before Aqua said. "It does suit you."

"What's going on here!? This makes no effing sense at all…" Ryuji said before Morgana appeared from behind the corner. "Hey! Stop making a commotion."

"Ah… You!?" Ryuji said before Aqua said. "It's good to see that you are ok Morgana. But what are you doing here?"

"The Shadows started acting up, so I came here wondering what it could be… To think you guys would come back to the entrance when you barely managed to escape." Morgana said before Ryuji said. "What is this place? …Is it the school?"

"That's right."

"But it's a castle!"

"This castle IS the school. …But only to this castle's ruler."

"The castle's ruler?" Ryuji said, not having an idea. Aqua had an idea and said. "He must be talking about Kamoshida."

"Correct. It's how his distorted heart views the school."

"Kamoshida… Distorted… Explain it in a way that makes sense!" Ryuji said, still confused and getting angry. "I shouldn't have expected a moron to get it…" Morgana said getting Ryuji more mad. Aqua had an idea and said to him. "Ryuji, what I think Morgana is saying is that this castle is how he see the school."

"That's the little kid version, but it's close enough." Morgana said before they heard a guy screaming in there. They all looked at the castle and Ryju said. "What was that!?"

"It must be the slaves captive here." Morgana said, like he heard it before. Ryuji then said to Morgana "For real!? Oh, shit… It's for real! We saw other guys held captive here yesterday… I'm pretty sure they're from our school."

"Most likely on Kamoshida's orders. It's nothing out of the ordinary; it's like that every day here. What's more, you three escaped yesterday. He must have lost his temper quite a bit."

"That son of a bitch!" Ryuji said let his anger out a little. Aqua then said to him. "Ryuji calm down, before you attract the guard."

"But this is bullshit!" Ryuji said before he rammed the door, but before he hit it, Fletchinder came out of his Pokeball and grabbed the back of Ryuji's shirt. Ryuji then tried to grab him and said. "What are you doing!?"

[You are going to get us caught. So calm down!] Fletchinder said letting go of Ryuji and flew to Aqua. Morgana then said to Ryuji. "You sure have an axe to grind with him."

"Hey, Monamona!" Ryuji said to Morgana and he said to Ryuji. "It's Morgana!"

"Do you know where those voices are coming from?"

"You want me to take you to them?"

"Please Morgana, we need your help." Aqua said and Ren gave her a look. Morgana thought for a moment, then said to them looking at Ren and Aqua. "...Well, I guess I could guide you there. But only if they come with us."

"Let's go." Ren said and Aqua agreed too. Morgana smiled and said. "It's settled then!"

"For real!? …Thanks guys." Ryuji said before Aqua said. "It's no problem, Ryuji."

"All right, let's do this. Follow me!" Morgana said as they followed Morgana to the same vent they escaped from last time. "This is our infiltration point." Morgana said before Ryuji said. "Ain't that where we escaped out of last time…?"

"That's right. Not barging in through the entrance is one of the basics of phantom thievery."

"How're we supposed to know about that stuff…?"

"I'll make sure to teach you as we go. Come on, follow me!" Morgana said before he jumped into the vent. Fletchinder was next and then Ren and Aqua jumped in. After Aqua helped Ryuji up, he said to them. "So, uh… sorry for dragging you into all of this… But I just can't forgive that bastard Kamoshida doing whatever the hell he wants! Really though, thanks for coming along. I owe you two big times!"

"It's fine, just please be quiet while we are walking around." Aqua said as they crawled through the vent. "Man, this place is as creepy as always." Ryuji said, looking around the room. Morgana then said to them. "Mm-hm. Now, make sure you do exactly as I say, all right?"

"Ok." Ren said before Morgana got ahead of them. "...Follow me!" Morgana said as they went to the jail cells. As the past threw some areas, it would change form a castle, to the school then back to the castle. Ryuji was still confused, but they didn't have time to think about it, if they didn't want to get caught. They did have to stop as a guard blocked their path to the dungeon. "Shoot… I had a feeling there would be guards here…" Morgana said before Aqua said. "So how are we going to sneak past it?"

"There is no way to sneak past it. We're going to have to start fighting our way forward."

"F-For real…?" Ryui said and then Ren said. "So how do we fight?"

"I'll teach you all the basics of battle for now. You'd better not forget all of this. If you remove the mask a guard has, you'll momentarily break the control that the Palace ruler has over them."

"What happens if we succeed?" Aqua said as Fletchinder got ready for battle. "If we succeed, the enemy will be caught off guard, allowing us to jump in and perform a preemptive attack." Morgana said before Ryuji said. "So we wanna get the jump on them and make the first strike… Okay, got it!"

"Uh, you know you're just going to be watching, right? You and Aqua don't have a Persona… But anyway, let's go!" Morgana said and Ren nodded yes. Ren then quickly got behind the guard and removed its mask. It turned into one of those jackolantern. Ren and Morgana used their weapons to cut it down quickly and silently. As they moved through the dungeon, they noticed that all of the people weren't in the cells. "Why ain't anyone here…? Dammit , they were here before! Where'd they go!?" Ryuji said, looking at a cell before turning to Morgana. Morgana said to him. "Quiet down! They might have been transferred with whatever was in the castle last night."

"Then, they were moved further in…!" Ryuji said before running ahead. "He is going to get us in trouble isn't he?" Aqua said before Ren said. "Probably." Ryuji then returned and said to them. "Crap, I can hear footsteps coming! Lots of them!"

[Then we need to hide!] Fletchinder said before Morgana said. "Don't panic." He then moved over to the door that looked like it was and wasn't there. Aqua then said to Morgana. "Morgana what is that?"

"I'll explain later. For now let's head into this room. We should be able to hide there until they leave." Morgana said before they all ran into the room. As they entered the room, Aqua's watch flashed a small light flash, but they were busy running into the room to notice. "The Shadows won't come in here." Morgana said before the same dog that had the rock around it neck appeared behind Morgana with his right front paw glowing like a claw, going to hit. Ren quickly grabbed Morgana and the dog missed him. Ryuji then said as the dog growled at them "I thought Shadows wouldn't come in here!"

"Those aren't Shadows! They are Pokemon!" Aqua said as the rest of the dog's friends came out of hiding, but they were ready to attack. "Fletchinder, Brionne help us calm down this Pokemon." Aqua said letting Brionne out of her Pokeball. Both of them nodded and went over to the Pokemon. Ren then said putting Morgana down. "So are those your Pokemon?"

"No, they must be wild Pokemon."

"What's the difference?" Ryuji said and Aqua said. "It means they aren't part of my family, and can be part of someone else's family."

"Ok, so what are their names?" Ren said before Aqua said. "While the dog that attacked Morgana is called a Rockruff and the other two are uh…?"

"You don't know. Aren't you from the same world as them?" Ryuji said annoying Aqua. She turned to him and said with a mean look in her eyes. "Look here Ryuji, there are at least over 1000 Pokemon and I haven't seen most of them." She then pulled out her phone. "That's why people made the Pokedex, so that people could have information about Pokemon they don't know. Rotom, can you help me and them I.D. those Pokemon?"

"You got it." Rotom said flying out of Aqua's hands and went over to the Pokemon. First was Rockruff. "Rockruff, The Puppy Pokemon. This Pokemon intimidates opponents by striking the ground with the rocks on its neck. The moment an opponent flinches, Rockruff attacks." Next was the bug. "Nincade, The Trainee Pokemon. It grows underground, sensing its surrounding using antennae instead of its virtually blind eyes." And last was the blue cat. "Shinx, The Flash Pokemon. This Pokémon generates electricity by contracting its muscles. Excited trembling is a sign that Shinx is generating a tremendous amount of electricity."

"Thanks Rotom." Aqua said as Rotom landed in her hands and she put him away. Morgana then said to them and Brionne grabbed some Pokemon food from Aqua backpack. "Those must be some of the creatures that were causing a bit of chaos last night."

"Do you know if there are more in the castle?" Aqua said and Morgana said crossing his arms. "I don't know. I was outside when I heard the guards running around the place."

"Can we stop talking about Pokepets?" Ryuji said before Aqua said to him. "Pokemon."

"Whatever, and talk about how this area is safe?"

"The reason this area is safe is because there is a lack of distortion here, meaning the ruler's control over this area is weak." Morgana said before the room turned into a classroom. Ryuji then said, looking around. "Is this a classroom!?"

"Now do you understand? This place is another reality that the ruler's heart projects."

"This is Kamoshida's reality? Shit makes no sense at all!" Ryuji said before Aqua said to him. "Here Ryuji I have an idea on what is going on. Basically because the school lets Kamoshida do whatever he wants, he thinks this school is his castle, but he still doesn't have control over the teacher and the class they teach. That is why this area is a safe room."

"You are picking up whatever this is fast, Aqua." Ren said and Aqua said to him. "First, thank you for calling me by my first name. And secondly, I don't know why, but it just makes sense to me. But I do wonder one thing, how is something like this made?"

"It is because of one's distorted desires." Morgana said, as the humans turned their heads to him. Morgana then continued. "Like Aqua said, because he thinks the school is his own castle. Plus having his desires distorted creates what I call a "Palace."

"So, it because like this because he just thought of it like that!?" Ryuji said before laughing. He stopped and then yelled. "That son of a bitch!"

"You must really hate this Kamoshida guy." Morgana said to Ryuji and Ryuji said to him. "Hate doesn't even cover how I feel. Everything is that asshole's fault!"

"What is his fault?" Aqua said as she and Ren wondered what he did to Ryuji that caused him to get so angry. Morgana turned away from him and said. "I don't know what happened between you two, but don't let your emotions get the better of you. His lackeys are everywhere inside. And while I don't know about your gauntlet, I know what's going on with brown hair clothes."

"His name is Ren. And P.S. I'm Aqua and the loud one is Ryuji. And what's up with Ren's outfit?" Aqua said, telling Morgana their names. Morgana then said to them as they all looked at Ren's outfit. "That's also because of this world."

"More stuff that makes no sense…" Ryuji said, lying on the wall. "Anything distorts according to how a ruler pleases within his Palace. A school can turn into a castle like this, after all. In order to prevent such distortions, one must hold a powerful will of rebellion. Your appearance is a manifestation of that. It's the image of rebellion that you hold within." Morgana said before Ryuji said. "Uuugh, I'm so fed up with all this! I'm more curious about you than Ren's clothes! What the hell are you anyway!?"

"I'm a human– an honest-to-god human!"

"No, you're obviously more like a cat!"

"This is, well… It's because I lost my true form. …I think."

"You think?"

"But I do know how to regain my true form. The reason why I snuck in here was for a preliminary investigation of those means. Well, I ended up getting caught though… Besides, I've been tortured by Kamoshida too! I'm gonna make him pay for sure!"

"What is this, a video game? This is seriously crazy…"

"If we're gonna keep going, we should hurry along. I'll be counting on your skills this time too, rookies. Got it?"

"Don't worry, I'm not gonna force it all on you. I thought it might help, so…" Ryuji said before he pulled out a pistol. This freaked Ren out, but not Aqua, because she had never seen a gun. Ryuji then said to them. "I brought this just in case! It's a model gun though, so it only makes sounds!"

"That's a toy." Morgana said before Aqua said. "If whatever this is a toy, it would be safer if you stay here with the wild Pokemon."

"No way, I want to find the others and save them. Not hide and wait for you to come back." Ryuji said, getting a little angry. The Pokemon heard the interconversion, and after hearing what Ryuji said, the wild Pokemon were on his side. They all joined around him and Shinx said to them [We feel the same and want to help too.]

[Looks like they want to come alone too.] Fletchinder said, landing on Aqua's right shoulder. Aqua then said to him. "Nice job Ryuji, now the wild Pokemon want to come with us."

"Is that good? You know strength in numbers?" Ryuji said before Morgana said. "Now when we are trying to be sneaky."

"Still they shouldn't stay here alone." Ren said as they all turned to him. Aqua then said to him. "Ok then, what is your plan?"

"Morgana and I will take the front line. Aqua, you and your Pokemon will make up the middle line, you three will take down anything that gets past us. And Ryuji, you will stay with the wild Pokemon in the back line, you guys will make sure we have an exit incase we need to run."

"Ok, but I'll have Fletchinder with me and Brionne will be in the back with the others, so they have some portection."

"What about Rotmon and Phan?" Ryuji said to make Aqua turn to him and said. "If you mean Rotom and Phanpy, I can use them."

"Why not?" Morgana said and Aqua said to him. "Because Rotom isn't a fighter, and Phanpy is still too young to fight. So we just have Fletchinder and Brionne."

"That's fine, now lets see if we can leave now." Ren said as he put his ear to the door. The others put their ears to the door and on the other said they heard the guards talking to one another. "Hm, I thought I just heard something move over there… Guess it was my imagination…"

"And what of the slaves and those animals?"

"They're all in the training hall. I'd assume they're screaming in pain by now."

"Very well. By the way, I heard we may have intruders around. Stay on your guard." The guard then all left and they all exited the room. "Did you hear that?" Morgana said and Ren said. "Yeah, we need to find the training hall."

"I think that's just a little further ahead. Let's go!" Morgana said as they ran further down the dungeon. "That training hall's up ahead right?" Ryuji said as they entered a new area of the dungeon. Morgana said to him as they kept their guard up. "Yeah, it's a little further. Make sure you watch out for any guards along the way." And it did take long for them to run into some guards. Aqua then whispered to Morgana. "So can we dodge them?"

"No, it'd be impossible to dodge all of them…"

"Then what do we do? Should we try and take them down like before?" Ryuji whispered to Morgana, who whispered back. "It's not that simple. We still have a long way to go, so we should be conserving energy."

"I-I see… Sorry… Dammit, I wish I could fight… I'd at least be able to help out a little bit… But all I got is this toy from earlier… I'm such a loser." Ryuji whispered, before Aqua whispered to him. "Hey, you are not a loser. Besides, I can't fight either, so we need to help them find a way to beat those guards."

"Ryuji already did." Morgana whispered before Ryuji whispered to him. "How did I do that?"

"Just give Ren your gun."

"Ok, but it just looks real, it doesn't shoot anything…"

"I see… Well, there is a way…" Morgana whispered to Ryuji as Ryuji gave the gun to Ren. "Okay, we'll use that to take down the enemies!" Morgana said, catching the attention of one of the guards. "Nice going Morgana, you just told them where we were hiding." Aqua said before Morgana said. "It will be fine, let's do it, Ren."

"Not like we have a choice." Ren said, jumping over the guard and ripping off its mask. As the guards turned into plant monsters and tried to get their bearings, Ren said to Morgana. "So what's the plan?"

"Just point the gun at a Shadow and fire!" Morgana said and Ren did, Ren thought nothing would happen, but it fired a real bullet and it hit one of the plant monsters, destroying it. Ren and Ryuji were surprised. Aqua and the Pokemon covered their ears because they had never heard a gun go off before. Morgana smiled and said. "How about that!? Surprised?"

"Yeah…?"

"There are plenty of instances where rapid fire's going to be more useful than swinging your knife. Of course, you can run out of ammo because its ammo capacity is limited in battle, but using it all up does more good than letting it collect dust! Now I'll finch this with my weapon." Morgana said before pulling out a sling shot and fired a metal ball, destroying the other one. Ryuji rushed out of cover and said to them. "Whoa! Did that toy gun just shoot real freaking BULLETS!?"

"This is a cognitive world. As long as our opponent sees it as real, it becomes such. It's a good thing it's realistic-looking."

"...I don't get it."

"In this world, if it looks real to the enemy, then it is real, is that right Morgana?" Aqua said as she and the Pokemon got out of cover. Morgana smiled and said. "That's close to it. You really are picking this stuff up fast."

"Thanks, and Ryuji, you did a nice job on bringing the gun."

"Thanks, Kang– oh Aqua. I wasn't sure whether or not to bring it at first, but I'm sure glad I did."

"We're definitely lucky to have the additional firearm in our arsenal. I must say, well done—even if it was just dumb luck that it worked here, now lets move on." Morgana said going ahead. "I'm starting to not like that cat." Ryuji said a little mad. Morgana heard him and said. "I am not a cat."

"Ok, you two be nice and please try to get along." Aqua said as we all followed Morgana to a door with a sign over it. Morgana said, looking at the door. "All right, this is it!"

"Kamoshida's… Training Hall of Love? What kind of bullshit is this!?" Ryuji said, letting his anger out. "Are you going to keep you cool?" Ren said, looking at Ryuji, who nodded yes. They entered the room and heard weird noises. Ryuji then said, looking around. "Those noises… Where's it coming from…?"

"I think they are up ahead." Aqua said, going ahead. Once they all got feather into the area they saw two different cells. On the right side it had all kinds of Pokemon in a big cage, on the left had the male slaves, who were tied onto a volleyball net, being hit by the guards. They all saw that scene, and even though Aqua was disgusted by the sight, she and the Pokemon were trying to open the cell with the Pokemon. The others were watching the scene and Ryuji yelled. "Dammit! This is bullshit!"

"How many times do I have to tell you to keep your voice down!?" Morgana said to Ryuji. Ryuji didn't listen and said to Morgana. "But this is beyond messed up!" He then looked for a cell door. Ryuji then yelled as he grabbed the cell bars. "How do I open this!?"

"Stop it…!" A faint voice said inside the cell. The voice was one of the slaves. He then said to them. "Leave us alone… It's useless…" That surprised Ryuji, before another one said. "If we stay obedient, we won't be executed like you guys!"

"You're telling me you wanna stay in a place like this!?" Ryuji said before Morgana got an idea. "Wait a minute… Were you planning on taking these guys out of here?" Morgana said to Ryuji as Aqua and the Pokemon had made a plan. Ryuji said to Morgana. "We can't just leave them here!"

"How stupid can you be?"

"What!?"

"These are only humans in Kamoshida's cognition. They aren't real humans that have entered from reality. They're different from you three and the Pokemon."

"Cognition…?"

"It means there's no point in saving them! They're different from the real ones in the real world. You could say that these are extremely similar-looking dolls."

"The hell!? Why's it got to be so complicated!? So the school's a castle, and the students are slaves… It's so on point that it makes me laugh. This really is the inside of that asshole's head!" Ryuji said as Aqua and the Pokemon started their plan. Morgana got a closer look at slaves and said. "Still, this is horrible. It must mean he treats them as slaves in the real world too."

"In the real world too? Wait, I know these guys… They're members of the volleyball team– the one Kamoshida coaches for!"

"They must be physically abused every day… There's no way they'd be so beat up normally."

"Don't tell me… They're going through similar shit in reality!?"

"Most likely. I mean, this proves that Kamoshida thinks of them as slaves."

"So it might be for real… I heard that Kamoshida's using physical punishment. They're just rumors, but… If they're true, wouldn't this be something to report to the police?"

"Bass on what the slaves said. I can only guess that Kamoshida has found a way to keep this quite and ruin the lives of who ever tells anyone." Ryuji then said, pulling out his phone. "I'll use these guys as evidence. If it all goes well, we can take down that asshole Kamoshida! ...Huh? It's not working!? We can use the navigation app, but the camera's a no go!?"

"A navigation app?"

"That's what we used to come here. What about yours?" Ryuji said to Ren. Ren pulled out his phone and said. "All I can use is the navigation app."

"What about your phone, Aqua?" Ryuji said as Rotom flew over to them and said to them. "Besides the Pokedex app, every other app on this phone is unavailable to be used. Also Miss Aqua has finished most of the work freeing the Pokemon."

"What!? Don't free them!" Morgana said to Aqua, but she didn't listen. Rotom then said to them. "It's no use. Miss Aqua doesn't listen to anyone when she starts one of her plans."

"I just need a little time to memorize their faces, then we can go home." Ryuji said, looking at the cells. Rotom left them and Morgana was going to say something, but Ren stopped him and said. "They want to do this."

"But…!"

"No buts. And since Aqua has that side covered, let's help Ryuji with the other cells." Ren said as he and Ryuji looked at the other cells. "This is a bad idea." Morgana said as he waited by the exit. For Ren and Ryuji, they were even more disgusted after seeing the other two cells. The second cell had three slaves begging for water on a treadmill that had water at the front, a spikey grinder at the back and it was going very fast. The third cell had a guy tied upside down from the ceiling, get hit in the face with a volleyball cannon every five seconds. Aqua then said to them as she raised her hand. "Are you guys ready to run?"

"Yeah, we're ready to go." Ryuji said before Aqua lowered her arm and then Fletchinder used Steel Wing on the cell bars along with Rockruff using his paw move to cutting the top and bottom, so that the Pokemon could escape. "Now we run." Aqua said as they all ran with the Pokemon. This escape caused all guards to be on alert. The human and Morgana were ahead of the Pokemon, so they were the first to run into Shadow Kamoshida and his knights. Shadow Kamoshida said, looking at them. "...You knaves again? To think you'd not only make the same mistake again, but free a bunch of weird animals. You are all hopeless!"

"The school ain't your castle! I've memorized their faces real good. You're going down!" Ryuji said, stepping in front of them all. As Ryuji caught Shadow Kamoshida's attention, Aqua, her Pokemon and the Pokemon they met in the room helped sneak the Pokemon to the exit. Shadow Kamoshida saw them, but didn't care and said to Ryuji. "It seems it's true when they say "barking dogs seldom bite." How far the star runner of the track team has fallen."

"What the hell are you getting at!?"

"I speak of the "Track Traitor" who acted in violence, ending his teammates' dream. Oh, I can only imagine the pain of the others who were dragged under with your… selfish act."

"Ryuji, what is he talking about?" Ren said as most of the Pokemon were already outside and running away. Shadow Kamoshida then said to Ren. "What a surprise. So you're accompanying him without knowing anything at all? He betrayed his teammates and crushed their hopes, yet he still carries on as carefree as ever."

"That's not true!" Ryuji said before Aqua joined them and said. "I agree with Ryuji. I am sure he was trying to help his team, you are the one that ruined it."

"I am, with Aqua, you need to be stopped." Ren said, getting ready to fight. As Morgana got ready to fight too, Aqua dragged Ryuji, who was very surprised to see Aqua and Ren take his side, behind the remanding Pokemon. Shadow Kamoshida smiled and said. "What a tragedy… You blindly trusted this fool, and he's led you right to your deaths. Hurry up and dispose of them. I can't stand their stench." The knights then attacked them. They attacked and Ren and Morgana blocked them. Fletchinder took those changes and used Steel Wing to cut the knights down. But one of the knights hit Fletchinder with its sword, causing him to crash land next to Aqua. She then picked him up and said. "Fletchinder! Are you ok!?"

[Yes, but that really hurts.]

"Then get some rest." Aqua said as she returned Fletchinder to his Pokeball. Then more knights appeared, and were going to overrun Ren and Morgana. Rockruff was tired of sitting on the sidelines and jumped into the battle. The knight that was going to attack Ren, turned to see Rockruff not only saw it paw glowing, but it had made copies of itself. The knight swung his sword at the copies, hoping to hit Rockruff, but he missed and Rockruff hit the knight in the head. Nincade saw Morgana having a hard time with another knight and flew over to the knight and attacked it with a yellow-green bite attack. That gave Morgana the chance to take that knight down. With the Pokemon's help, Ren and Morgana were able to fight off the knights and the Pokemon, but Shinx, who was waiting for his friend, was able to escape. And soon the knight started to outnumbered them. Brionne used Bubble Beam to push the knight away from Aqua, Ryuji and Shinx. Nincade was knocked down and Morgana was blocking the knight's sword from cutting Nincade in two. For Ren and Rockruff, a knight kicked a very tired Rockruff away and just as a gold knight was going to step on Rockruff, Ren covered him with his body, but couldn't move thanks to the force of the gold knight. Ryuji saw what was going on and fell into despair. Shadow Kamoshida smiled and said to Ryuji. "I bet you simply came here on a whim and ended up like this. Isn't that right?"

"No…"

"What a worthless piece of trash, getting emotional so quickly… How dare you raise your hand at me. Though it was only temporary, have you forgotten my kindness in supervising track practice?"

"Wasn't no practice–it was physical abuse! You just didn't like our team!"

"It was nothing but an eyesore! The only one who needs to achieve results is me! That coach who got fired was hopeless too… Had he not opposed me with a sound argument, I would've settled it with only breaking his star's leg."

"…What?"

"Do you need me to deal with your other leg too? The school will call it self-defense anyway!"

"Dammit… Am I gonna lose again? Not only can I not run anymore… the track team is gone too because of this asshole…"

"Then why are you laying down in defeat?" Aqua said, stepping in front of Ryuji. Ryuji looked at her as she said to Shadow Kamoshida. "There is nothing wrong with Ryuji, he is ten times stronger than you. And everything you just said proved two things, you are weak and pathetic."

"What was that?"

"You are too weak to reach your goal, so you knock down all around you so that you look like you are on the top where you have fallen from. And think you're better than everyone because of that, which is farther from the truth. You are nothing more than an old man that is equal to a team grunt and we are going to stop you." Aqua said as she and Brionne got ready to join the fight. "Wait." Ryuji said getting up and walking in front of her. He then said to Shadow Kamoshida. "She's right, you are nothing. All you think about is using people… You're the real scumbag, Kamoshida!" Ryuji then got closer to Shadow Kamoshida. Shadow Kamoshida then said to his guards. "What are you doing? Silence him!"

"Stop looking down on me with that stupid smile on your face!"

"You made me wait quite a while." A male voice in Ryuji's head said to him as Ryuji started to rave in pain. As the other didn't know what was going on, because they didn't hear the voice say. "You seek power, correct? Then let us form a pact. Since your name has been disgraced already, why not host the flag and wreak havoc? The "other you" who exists within desires it thus… I am thou, thou art I… There is no turning back… The skull of rebellion is your flag henceforth!" Then a burst of blue flames appeared on his face, followed by a black skull mask. The gold knight saw this and said to Ryuji. "Hmph. What can you do? Cower in fear and watch!" The knight then raised his sword and was going to kill Ren and Rockruff. Ryuji then removed masks and released blue flames that knocked Shadow Kamoshida and his guard back. When it was over, Ryuji was wearing a black thug outfit, with a red tie, yellow cloves, a bracelet like Aqua and Ren's bracelet and had a pirate captain on a ship and had a cannon for a right hand. Shadow Kamoshida then said looking at Ryuji. "Ugh… This one as well?"

"Right on… Wassup, Persona… This effing rocks!" Ryuji said as Ren and Rockruff got up and they all joined Ryuji. Ryuji then said to them. "Now that I got this power, it's time for payback… Yo, I'm ready… Bring it!" They all got ready to fight. "Ngh… Don't mock me, you brat!" The gold knight said as he turned into a red knight on horseback and the other knights turned into demotic horses. The red knight then said to them. "What troublemakers that bother King Kamoshida with trifle matters!"

"Kamoshida's Cognition ain't changing right? Then I'll act like the troublemaker I am! Let's do this, Captain Kidd!" Ryuji said as Captain Kidd fired electricity out of his cannon at the red knight. That attack did great damage to the red knight. Shinx then decided to join the battle and attacked one of the horses by covering its body with electricity and hitting it. That attack also did great damage to the horse. Morgana then said to them. "Looks like electricity is their biggest weakness."

"But there are too many for me and Shine to hit all at once." Ryuji said before Aqua said as Brionne stepped forward. "It Shinx and I have an idea. All we need is a lot of water."

"Of course, water conducts electricity, but where are we going to get that much water?" Morgana said before Aqua said before she crossed her arms. "Leave it to use. Let's go, Brionne!"

[Yeah!] Brionne said as she crossed her arms too and the jewel on Aqua bracelet started to growl. As they both uncrossed their arms and made a wave motion from left to the right. "Now watch as we call forth the power of the mighty sea." Aqua said, as a light exited from Aqua and entered Brionne. Brionne surrounded herself with a mysterious power and then unleased it. "Go Hydro Vortex!" Aqua said as Brionne summoned a giant wave of water that swallowed the red knight and the horses. Brionne then swam at great speed and made a whirlpool that hit all of them. Once it was over, the red knight and the horses were on the ground that had a pool of water. Ren then said to Aqua. "What was that?"

"A Z-Move, we can talk about it later." Aqua said as the red knight and the horses got up. The red knight then said in a weakened state from Aqua and Brionne Z-Move. "I am… a loyal subject… of the glorious King Kamoshida… So why… am I losing!?"

"It just proves that Kamoshida ain't anything special. Blast them away… Captain Kidd!" Ryuji said as Captain kid fired electricity from his cannon. The electricity spread through the water and hit the red knight and all of the horses, destroying them all. So all that was left on Shadow Kamoshida's side was just Shadow Kamoshida. On the other side, Ryuji and Brionne were tried and as Ren grabbed Ryuji and Aqua returned Brionne to her Pokeball. Morgana said, looking at Ryuji and Aqua. "Whoa… So not only does Ryuji have potential too, but Aqua has even more power then I thought…"

"Even if you apologize now… I ain't forgiving you!" Ryuji said to Shadow Kamoshida. Shadow Kamoshida then said to him "I told you that is my castle. It seems you still don't understand…" Then Ren's classmate Takamaki appeared, but she was just wearing a purple two piece bikini and cat ears that looked like a crown. "Wh– Takamaki!?" Ryuji said before Morgana said. "Wha… What a meow-velous and beautiful girl… She is prettier than you Aqua." Aqua then punched Morgana on the top of his head. Ren then said as Morgana rubbed his head. "Relax Ryuji, that isn't Takamaki. It must be his cognition of Takamaki."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I saw them earlier and while he tried to hit on her, she ran away from him."

"Shut up! My princess wants to be mine. Because this is MY castle– a place in which I can do whatever I want. Everyone wishes to be loved by me. …That is, everyone besides slow-witted thieves like you. Clean them up this instant!" Shadow Kamoshida said before more guards appeared. "We're outnumbered… Let's scream before we get surrounded!" Morgana said as a black tentacle wrapped around them. It then pulled them out of the building. The tentacles then whipped Shadow Kamoshida into a painting of him, destroying it. The knight then ran after their king and outside they all turned to see the person in red controlling the tentacles. The person in red dropped them and flew away. "Who was that?" Ryuji said as they all got up. Aqua then said to them. "That was the person in red, the one that brought me to this world. I also don't know why the person in red saved us."

"Can we talk about it later, because I don't remember changing into this."

"It looks good on you." Ren said as the Pokemon start talk to one another. Ryuji then said to Ren. "Uhh… Should I be happy about that? …Then again, it ain't as bad as yours."

"I hate to stop the guy talk, but shouldn't we find some cover?" Aqua said before they heard a guard say. "Put this place in lockdown, we must ensure King Kamoshida's safety."

"What about the intruders?"

"Let them go, King Kamoshida safety is more important than those low life's."

"Low life's?!" Ryuji said getting made. Morgana then said to him. "Be quite and count ourselves lucky."

"How are we lucky? Kamoshida is going to screw us tomorrow at school…"

"That's quite sharp of you! …For being an idiot. Relax. The Kamoshida in reality can't possibly know about what happened here. A Shadow is the true self that is suppressed– a side of one's personality they don't want to see."

"...So we're okay?"

"Did the Kamoshida in reality remember about the execution?"

"He didn't seem like he remember what we did to him the last time we entered here." Aqua said before Morgana said. "There you have it."

"All right! Now that we know that, all we got to do is–" Ryuji said, but was stopped by Morgana as Morgana said. "Wait. I guided you as promised. It's your turn to cooperate with me. That's why I was super nice about teaching you idiots everything."

"Really, I thought you were being nice." Aqua said and Ryuji said. "Also why do we need to cooperate with you?"

"Don't you remember? I originally came here for an investigation. I need to erase the distortion from my body and regain my real form! That's why we must delve deep into Mementos and–"

"Whoa, hold up. What're you going on and on about? We never said anything about helping you cut." Ryuji said, surprising Morgana. Morgana then said to them. "Huh? Don't tell me… Are you not going to repay the hospitality I showed you? Especially you two! You're going to up and leave, even though you're already part of my master plan!?"

"We love to help, but we have to deal with Kamoshida first." Aqua said before Ren said. "And let me think about it."

"Wha– The nerve! Is it because I'm not human? Because I'm like a cat? Is that why you're making a fool of me!?"

"We're busy! Thanks for everything, cat. You've got guts being a cat and all! See you around!" Ryuji said as the human ran to the exit. Morgana then yelled at them. "Hey! What the hell!? Ugh, seriously!: Why're you wrapping this up like everything's all hunky-dory!? Oh hell no! Get back here! Grr...GRAAAGGHHH!"

[Please stop screaming Morgana.] Nincade said to Morgana. Morgana turned to Nincade and said. "What are you still doing here?"

[While, one of my friends is still in the castle, so if you are going back in, I'm coming with you.]

"What about Rockruff and Shinx?"

[They are going with the humans.] Nincade said, pointing to where the humans Ren and the others disappeared. Morgana then said to Nincade. "While I am glad you are helping me, we need their help."

[Ok, but let's wait a little. If they need you, they will come back.]

"I like the way you think. Ok, we will wait a little, but not here. Let's find somewhere to make camp for tonight." Morgana said and Nincade nodded yes. As they found a spot to camp, a good distance from the castle. The Pokemon were all running far away from the castle, trying to find somewhere safe to make camp. But they were still scared that they didn't notice one of them falling behind. That Pokemon was a fox that had black fur, but had red fur on its paws. It soon fell and as it got up the person in red walked up to it and said with a female voice. "Are you ok?"

[Stay away from me!] The Fox said growing at her. She didn't show any signs of fear. She let out her right hand, which was covered in a black fog and said. "Don't worry, I am more than happy to help you and the other Pokemon."

[Are you trying to trick me?]

"Trick the Tricky Fox Pokemon, Zorua. I would never do that. All I want to do is help, and nothing more." She said as she gave Zorua her right hand. Zorua hastened, but still took her hand. She picked him up and said to him. "Now let's meet up with the others."

[Ok, but what is your name?] Zorua said before she smiled and flew to where the Pokemon were going.

And done. On a side note, the cognition people will speak like a Shadow, because they are close to what a Shadow is. Also I thought Shinx was a dog bass Pokemon, not a cat bass Pokemon, so that was all on me.