The Doomed Sprout
Chapter 26
When Fen had woken up from that dream, she'd expected to be asked questions about what happened, and whether or not she'd attacked the Honorable, questions like that. But the current atmosphere was much, much worse than anything she'd anticipated, and none of it was directed towards her, instead, everyone was trying to protect their home from a near-constant onslaught of Commons. From one singular strong Pokemon to an endless wave of small ones, the Sprout wasn't getting any time to rest and prosper.
Fen looked at her side, staring down the frightened Zoroark. Unlike the Cylan she'd been used to, something seemed radically different with him, as he was no longer hiding his emotions and barely said a word. It was his time to shine, his responsibility as a leader and the one able to hide this town once again… so why wasn't he doing anything?
«...Cylan? Your orders?», politely asked the Nidoran, nudging his side and taking him out of his trance.
«O-oh, yeah, uhm… I'm still a bit shaken from the dreamscape, would you mind helping me figure this out?». Cylan rubbed his head in anxiety, his illusion wavering slightly.
So he knows about the dream? Huh, oughta talk to him about it later… «Yes, of course. I'd say we get the illusion back up around the Sprout first, then figure out which situation the town is in, where they need help, et cetera». She looked at the Shinx who was barely standing. Apparently, she'd been running a lot. Come to think of it, were they any Shinxes before, aside from Lumin?
...Right, Lumin.
«Hey, you!», she shouted, making the Shinx jump in surprise.
«Gah! U-uhm, what is it… Fen, right?»
Fen nodded, deciding not to ask how she knew that for now. «Do you know where the Shinx that was here went? He should've been hurt like us… He goes by the name of Lumin»
The Shinx blinked at her, before looking away, embarrassed. «That Shinx is too dangerous right now. He's in the Grotto side… sorry, just go to the statue at the center of town, then look for the side with the markings»
Fen gave her a quick nod before dashing off, feeling surprisingly energetic. «W-wait!», yelled the Shinx behind her, too slowly for the rushing Nidoran to catch.
«What's going on?», asked Cylan, appearing completely out of his depth and shivering.
«Megan, what's taking you so long?», asked an approaching Eevee, before freezing upon seeing their town leader, up and awake. «I… You're back! Oh, thank Arceus, please get that illusion back up, we need it!»
Cylan quickly recognized Sera, awkwardly shuffling closer to her, much to her confusion. Still, the Zoroark then entered a focused state, as energy started emanating from its fur, the light warping as the illusion was being recreated.
Seeing the Honorable getting to work, Sera took a sigh of relief, falling down as she realized she'd finally be able to take a break. Megan poked on her side, however, appearing worried.
«I think your friend is going to see Lumin», she muttered. «The Nidoran?»
The cream Eevee let out a frustrated yell, before standing back up and dashing to meet them both. She'd not even been able to internalize the Pokemon she was missing so much was finally back, only to rush head first into danger!
Upon seeing the large jolts of electricity sparking above the walls, Fen got a horrible feeling about the situation her friend was in. There were no other Pokemon here, no one to assist him with protecting this side. Surely even if he was a Common, they'd still defend this side of their town with him, right?
After climbing to the top of the wall, she froze in her tracks, mouth agape at the scene she was spectating. She'd been doing her best to avoid causing or seeing any death in this world, hoping to be a bringer of life instead. Of course, Lumin wasn't following her ideals, being a hunter first and foremost, but what she was seeing now was nothing short of carnage. The usually lush jungle had trees strewn around on the ground, with various splattering of colors coloring the grass, and various Pokemon were lying unconscious all over the devastated field. At the center of this destruction was a Pokemon she could barely recognize as Lumin, except with constant bolts of electricity radiating from him, and an unusually fierce expression visible on his face.
Fen shivered, her mind trying to understand why he was in such a state. No one would be dumb enough to approach someone with such ludicrous energy radiating out of him, and, she presumed, his aura is likely incredibly potent as well. There were no conscious Pokemon around to fight him, and there were also no Shinies on sight…
...Oh no.
Amongst the trees, stuck between the branches and leaves, Fen could see a Furret lying completely still, his side scorched from what could've only been an electric shock, given nothing else burned. Throwing caution to the wind, Fen leaped down from the wall, quickly rushing to Amy's side and finding his stockpile of berries, giving him first aid to the best of her abilities. The Furret could only grunt in response, barely breathing as is.
«Don't talk. Focus on healing. I take it Lumin's hit you somehow, was it accidental?», Fen quickly asked, before adding, «Grunt if yes, don't say anything if no»
Amy tried talking, but only gibberish came out of his mouth, before losing consciousness. She wouldn't get any answers from him. Turning around, she looked at Lumin, afraid of the danger he seemed to be at the moment.
«It was stupid for me to think I'd always be able to reign you in, huh», she sighed, as the Shinx noticed her presence, slowly walking towards her.
«You know, I've kinda enjoyed our time together. You weren't one to complain, instead you were just curious about everything, and I…», she paused, giggling. «I kinda hated always being the one to explain, but I miss it»
Fen turned to look at her friend, only now noticing that he was no longer staring blankly at the rest of the jungle, but being solely focused on her. «O-oh, ermh, I don't… I'm not a threat, remember? I can barely fight!», she shouted, trying to run before getting caught in the branches of the very tree she was standing on. «W-wait!»
Lumin tilted his head in confusion, before moving closer, the constant electricity he was producing slowly burning off the leaves of the tree. Fen began to panic, shaking off the branches before a gigantic gem suddenly flew in between the two of them, levitating in the air.
«H-huh?». Fen's surprise didn't last long, as she grabbed Amy's unconscious body and kept moving, quickly dragging the both of them away from the scene and doing a detour to reach the walls again. Looking back over her shoulder, she wondered what this gem was, as Lumin seemed completely focused on destroying it with his raw electrical power, instead of ignoring it.
«Hey, over here!», shouted a voice which Fen immediately recognized as Sera's. Looking at the source of the call, she quickly noticed the shine from the Eevee's fur, half behind a broken part of the wall.
«Sera! What the heck is going on!», shouted the Nidoran, quickly dashing to meet her, before stopping in her tracks as she noticed another Pokemon near her. «D-Diancie?»
Sera appeared surprised, seeing Fen recognizing the strange gem Pokemon. «Yes, but how… Whatever, not important. We need to get out of here, Lumin's out of his mind!»
«My gem is sturdy, but it'll break if I don't continually give it energy. I second this decision!». Diancie's voice was hesitant, her breath raspy, as if she was already at her limits.
Fen simply nodded, preparing to leave as...
The thunderbolt fell from the sky, blasting all three of them around. Fen, confused, slowly regained her senses as she made sense of what she was seeing. Lumin was above her, and so was the ceiling… no, she was upside-down, stuck to a part of the wall with her spikes lodged into the wood. Strangely, the Shinx seemed to have noticed her but chose to continue to a different target, the Diancie on the ground.
«W-what happened?», Diancie groggily complained, before letting out a surprised yell seeing the Shinx so close to her. She instantly created three small gems, quickly throwing them towards Lumin who effortlessly dodged while charging up another electrical shock. Seeing the incoming attack, Sera leaped from the side in an attempt to tackle Lumin. Sparing only a glance towards the Eevee, a beam of electricity shot from his tail, hitting her squarely in the face as she let out a yelp.
«Lumin, quit it! What's gotten into you!», Fen yelled, unable to free herself. Lumin's ear flicked, and he turned around, tilting his head at the Nidoran.
«I'm doing what I've been told to do», he replied with a hint of confusion, before discharging his energy against the fleeing Diancie, who let out a surprised cry.
«That is IT!», Diancie lashed out, before summoning a gigantic gem in front of her, throwing it at high speed towards her opponent, whose face appeared completely unchanged while simply dashing to the side, letting the huge projectile barrel through the wall, missing Fen by a hair. Diancie fell on the ground after that, struggling to keep herself levitating after having used so much energy.
«...Wow, you suck at this», Fen muttered in her breath, before shouting to get his friend's attention. «Hey! Lumin! Stop! Who's been telling you to attack the town?»
Lumin covered his ears, before mumbling «..Hurts. I can hear you fine, Fen!»
«Oh… Sorry». Fen simply stared, not expecting him to listen. «Uhm… Mind answering me, then?»
«I wasn't attacking the town». Fen noticed a small pout from the Shinx's expression, giggling over the absurdity of it all before frowning again, reminding herself of the current situation.
«What is all this, then? You clearly attacked me, Sera, and others. And that wall didn't crumble from regular Pokemon either!»
Lumin looked at his surroundings, his blank expression slowly turning into one of… shame? «..I'm sorry», he simply said. Fen could've sworn she heard a whimper, too. What the heck was going on?
«Well, uh… You're fine, just don't do it again? Just… what were you doing, then?»
«Protecting the town, but it's hard to control my power today», Lumin replied, letting his tail shoot out a huge spark and hit a part of the wall which immediately fell over, singed. «Then they left, but I stayed on guard»
Fen tried to represent the situation in her mind. Lumin must've woken up in the middle of the attack, and not realized he'd obtained the Archon's energy, she thought, So using his abilities kept hurting his surroundings, and maybe the other Shinies as well? But then…
«And why attacking me? And Diancie?»
Lumin tilted his head in confusion. «I did not attack you»
«..Then explain why I'm currently upside-down, stuck on a wall, talking you down so you don't kill off the Pokemon who just saved me from you?»
He looked at the Diancie on the ground, then back at Fen. «...What?!»
The Nidoran sighed, switching gear. «Who or what were you attacking, right before the first gem got in your way?»
«An Archon!», Lumin replied instantly. «And then a bigger Archon stepped in, so I decided to focus on the bigger one!»
Fen's mind raced over Lumin's knowledge of Archons existing, trying to translate his perception of the events. «So… you felt someone with a little bit of the power of an Archon, and attacked them, then saw someone with more power?»
Lumin nodded, adding to it. «It's an Archon's role to seek and fight other Archons!»
She sighed, looking to the side. «And I don't suppose you feel any of that power with Sera?»
Lumin flinched, realizing he'd wounded the Eevee, muttering another apology.
«Hey, Lumin, listen… What you're feeling isn't an Archon's power. It's just the power of different legendaries acting out independently of… Well, they're just doing their own things, and don't know anything about Archons. Let's go with that». Fen stared down the Shinx, making sure he was listening. «You aren't going to fight us, because we aren't part of that stupid Archon battle royale, okay? The next time you feel that power, just ask me about it»
Lumin nodded, head hung low. She still had no clue why he was so obedient to her, but at this point, she'd stopped caring about the why. Calming herself down, she finally got herself free from the wall with Lumin's help and carried all the wounded she could find back to the medical post.
It took another hour, but eventually, all the Commons attacking the town either fled, got lost in the illusion, or were taken down, Lumin's assistance being both a great help and a great fright for all the Shinies evacuating the battlefield whenever he got close. Fen couldn't blame them though, that was the right move.
Fen and Diancie ended up both in the medical post, doing their best to treat the wounded, though no one was in critical condition this time, not even Sera or Amy. While caring for them, the Nidoran heard the news of the Shinx family being reunited. She wished she'd been there to see it, or to learn about where she was found, but who was she to complain? She simply hoped that this sister of hers would be easier to deal with, at least.
Seeing the moon shining high up in the sky, Fen took a deep breath. One thing at a time, as always.