Chapter 20

It was early one morning. Mark was finishing his match in Round 2, while Golly, Trenor, and Bonnie were tasked with retrieving some of the Infinity Gems since they were free.

"Okay, let's see here..." Trenor sighed, looking at the diagram. "According to this, the Normal Infinity Gem should be in Lumiose City. But the issue is that it's the power source of Clembot, the robot that acts as the substitute Lumiose City Gym Leader for Clemont."

"Wait, hold on! My brother has the Infinity Gem as Clembot's power source?!" Bonnie gasped. "How in the world did he survive all those traps just to get to it, then set up a defense system that we, along with Ash and Serena, mostly got through unscathed, but a demonic monster can't get past it at all?!"

"My guess is that it didn't have any help, so it had a much harder time getting through because it could be outnumbered. Besides, the fact that Voidlie and her two partners had it means they managed to get through once!" Golly theorized. "Still, I have a feeling we're going to have to deal with some of those demons at some point..."

"Alright, let's get to Lumiose, then," Trenor stated as they saw Hoopa appear and form a ring portal. The three trainers went through the portal. Golly seemed prepared to handle the situation, and Trenor was determined to get part of the cure. However, Bonnie seemed to regret something, but she and Dedenne stayed quiet.

"Alright, you know the side entrance?" Trenor asked Bonnie, who tried to remember where it was. But Golly simply wanted to bust it down. "Okay, Golly? We need to remind ourselves that Clemont most likely amped up security since the Team Flare incident. If we break that door down, we run the risk of setting off an alarm!"

"Yeah, David might be way smarter than Clemont, but my brother isn't an idiot," Bonnie sighed, facepalming. "He learns from his mistakes. Take two of his battles with Ash: in the first one, Pikachu used Iron Tail, which made Diggersby—who was a Bunnelby at the time—catch the move, but that left him vulnerable to Electro Ball. During the battle in the Gym, though, Bunnelby learned Wild Charge to counter Pikachu when he tried that again."

"I see, so breaking down the door would likely set off an alarm..." Golly groaned. "Yikes, I almost screwed us over..."

"It's okay. Anyway, follow me." Bonnie opened up a vent, and the group climbed through it, making their way to the hallways, where they were spotted by 20 Magneton. "Dang it, busted..."

"I got this!" Trenor exclaimed while holding a brown Cherish Ball, sending out Landorus in its Incarnate Form. "Landorus, keep them busy!" Landorus nodded and faced the group of Magneton.

The trio continued forward, finding themselves in an area with lasers. "Lasers now..." Bonnie sighed. "Clemont isn't pulling any punches here..."

Back in Sevestar...

"Lucario, let's finish this with Flash Cannon!" Mark commanded, swinging his right arm to the side as his Mega Lucario launched a silver laser projectile toward Bruno's Hitmonchan.

"Hitmonchan!" Bruno shouted, "Use Fire Punch to break through it, then follow up with Mach Punch!" Hitmonchan charged forward, blocking the Flash Cannon before leaping up to deliver a finishing Mach Punch. But Mark's Lucario ducked under the attack and unleashed a close-range Aura Sphere, finishing off the Hitmonchan.

"Geez, Red wasn't kidding about these Elite Fours from other regions!" Mark panted in exhaustion. "I still can't believe I needed two Pokémon to go down just to weaken Machamp enough to finish the job..." He glanced at the scoreboard: Urshifu (Dark), Quaquaval, Hisuian Decidueye, Kommo-o, and Flamigo had all been knocked out in this fight. It had been a very close match.

After shaking hands with Bruno, Mark headed back to the suite, hoping that Trenor, Golly, and Bonnie were doing okay with the Lumiose City situation. At least now, he, Insey, and Minami could focus on a few of the Infinity Gems...

"Okay, having that many lasers should be a crime!" Golly whisper-yelled, breathing heavily. "How many were there, anyway?!"

"Best not to think about it..." Bonnie sighed, as the lights in the room suddenly turned on, revealing they were in the battlefield area. "And here we go..." They noticed a robotic version of Clemont approaching them—it was Clembot, the robotic substitute and guard of the Lumiose City Gym.

"I had a feeling you specific intruders would make it in, but I didn't expect you to be one of them, Bonnie," Clembot stated, his robotic face showing irritation. "You three are not welcome here..."

"Yeah, well, I hate to break it to you, Clembot..." Trenor sighed. "But we're going to need to borrow your power source. We can bring it back, but we have a very good reason—if you'll let us explain, Mr. Clembot."

"My power source?" Clembot gasped, realizing they were after the Infinity Gem that powered him. He lowered his head before glaring with glowing red eyes. "Over my broken body."

"Alright, let's try to be reasonable here!" Trenor exclaimed as Mudsdale and Dusknoir stepped forward, blocking an electric shock laser from Clembot. "Okay, then—violence it is. Great..."

Clembot's left arm retracted, turning into a blade, as Golly charged at him. Both narrowly dodged each other's attacks. "Okay, the robot didn't go down from my first attack, dammit." Clembot then charged up and used Extreme Speed, which surprisingly packed a punch. "Ow... Okay, so Extreme Speed—a Normal-type move from a robot powered by the Normal Infinity Gem—packs a punch. No surprise there... Geez, that hurt..."

"You really think you can beat me easily in direct combat?" Clembot questioned. "I already eradicated the monster that tried to steal the gem last time..."

"Wait, what...?" Bonnie gasped, trembling as the siblings were shocked. "You... you already killed the demon that was trying to get the gem...?"

"Affirmative, and let me tell you, it barely stood a chance," Clembot sighed, glaring at the three trainers. "You don't stand much of a chance either, but very well—give me your best shot."

Bonnie then launched a Zap Cannon towards Clembot, who blocked it with Protect. Trenor took advantage of the opening and used Earth Power.

"Come on, Clembot, I don't want to fight you. We just need to borrow the Infinity Gem, and I promise we'll bring it right back..." Bonnie tried to reason with the robot. "We really don't want to fight you... you're still my friend..."

"I'm sorry," Clembot sighed as his eyes glowed red again. "I cannot allow you to do that." Clembot charged forward, aiming his blade at Golly's stomach. But just before the strike landed, Golly became see-through, glowing faintly blue.

"Oh yeah, did I forget to mention I can turn into a ghost at will?" Golly stated angrily as she floated out of the blade's path. She then turned back into a corporeal form and unleashed a point-blank Judgment into Clembot's chest, destroying the robot entirely.

"Clembot!" Bonnie cried out, rushing over to the remains of her robotic friend. "Clembot... no..."

"Golly, what the hell was that for?!" Trenor shouted. "Do you realize what you just did?!"

"He just tried to stab me. If I couldn't turn into a ghost at will, I might not have survived..." Golly sighed. "He clearly wasn't planning on letting us leave alive. I had no choice..."

"Maybe, but don't you remember what the Ghost Infinity Gem's defense system is?!" Trenor exclaimed, and Golly gasped as she recalled.

"The Ghost-type Infinity Gem of this world summons the soul of the deceased being you wronged the most. You have to get their approval to access the Infinity Gem without a fight. If they don't find you worthy, they will fight you, and they tend to be extremely powerful."

"Oh no..." Golly sighed. "That's going to be a massive problem if self-defense kills aren't an exception..."

"Well, at least we don't have to worry about the demon, it seems..." Trenor sighed, remembering that Clembot mentioned dealing with the demon. "I have a feeling we won't be so lucky with the ones in the future..."

"Let's go now..." Golly sighed as Hoopa made a ring portal to return. "Let's go." Trenor returned Landorus, who had finally reunited with them, and was about to step through after Golly when he noticed that Bonnie and Dedenne weren't right behind them. Bonnie held the Normal Infinity Gem, tears still in her eyes.

"We're really sorry, Clembot," Bonnie sobbed. "We didn't want you to die like that..."

"Time to be a friend in her time of need..." Trenor sighed as he walked over to Bonnie and patted her on the back. "Bonnie, I... I am so sorry. He really didn't deserve what happened to him. Considering we were intruders going after his power source, even if we had a good reason, he technically was in the right to defend himself. I'm guessing he was an amazing friend despite the different sides?"

"Y-yeah..." Bonnie sniffled as Dedenne nodded, while Trenor began picking up the remains of Clembot's body. "Huh? What are you...?"

"I'll talk to David to see if we can bring Clembot back, make him as good as new," Trenor explained. "It'll be like nothing ever happened to him. Just try to be strong, for Clembot's sake, okay?"

Bonnie let out another sob but quickly composed herself. She stood up with a determined look, the tears beginning to slow.

"Okay, I'll... I'll be strong..." Bonnie said as she followed Trenor back through the portal. As the portal closed, two figures in red cloaks—one smaller in size but floating in the air—walked over to where the ring portal had been.

"So that was the version of Golly who befriended Ray and the others back home..." The taller one sighed in disappointment. "Hopefully, she can still prove that not every version of her easily turns into a cold killer to those in her way..."

"Yeah, and that void trio situation... I think we both know what happened there..." The smaller, slightly chubby one groaned. "At least she has a life in this world."

"Agreed," the tall one replied. "Well, let's get going, Rai. Something tells me they're going to need some help getting more of those Infinity Gems." The hooded figures then pulled out a teleportation device and vanished from the scene.

(Note from Ultimate Goomba: And that's the first Infinity Gem down! Certain parts are being handled differently than in Sevestar Prince: Darker and Love and Despair, as you can tell! Now, I know the people who read Ray's stuff on are going to have a LOT of questions. I'll try to address them later, okay?)