"Sho…Wally…"

The words that came out of Millianna's mouth the moment she saw her childhood friends before her eyes after so long were breathtaking. If the situation wasn't so perilous, she'd undoubtedly would be more than overjoyed seeing the two boys alive and well after all this time. However, given how they had some bizarre collars around their necks, and their faces contorted with sickly grimace, their should-be jovial reunion was more of a brazen nightmare for both parties. This was not how they imagined their reunion to be.

Sho stepped up, his heels partially rocking from the overwhelming dismay coursing through him. "Millianna…it just can't be…" He muttered low, sounding justly mortified. "Why…why are you…?"

"Milly…what are you doing here…?" Wally asked, his sentence broken with horror. "…you…you can't be here! You've get out of here!"

"W-what-?!" Millianna's heart skipped a beat at his plea. He sounded more concerned than she had thought, and that wasn't his style. This was bad if Wally had turned out like this of all things.

"You have to listen to us!" Sho pleaded. "If you don't, then you'll be-!"

Suddenly, both their collars lit up briefly. A violent, painful shock went through their bodies as the Organic-Link Magic equipped into them was making them react to the disobedience to commands. Their knees buckled as they cried out in pain before their friend's very eyes.

"Sho? Wally?!" Millianna panicked, seeing the devices on their necks. "W-what's going on here?! What are those things?!"

"Body Link collars." Kagura grimaced, giving them both a crude death glare. "Looks like they're being forced to fight just like the rest of them."

Millianna gasped at the revelation, turning towards her guildmate. "Then we need to get them off! Hurry!"

"Yes, I know." Kagura brought up her sheathed Archenemy sword, taking a stance as she was ready to strike. "I'll try to make this as quick and painless as I can. Bear with me! Pawniard, Metal Claw!"

"Understood!" In front of her, her Pawniard spread her legs and crossed her knife-like claws. The tips glowed a metallic gray and elongated before she swiped them apart, darting straight for the two.

Millianna's breath hitched. "Wait, no! Don't do it!"

As desperate as her plea was, Kagura's Pawniard was already going through the motions. He closed the gap on the two aching mages with intentions to aim for the collars as per warned. However, when Sho opened an eye to see her dart for them, he didn't have the will to endure the pain of the collar any longer. He gnashed his teeth and swiped his arm across, enveloping Pawniard in a light just when she was within arm's reach. When the light faded, she was nothing more than a card that dropped to the ground in front of him, much to Kagura and Millianna's shock.

"Meow~! Kagura, your Pawniard!" Millianna shrieked in pure shock, turning towards Sho. "Sho! What are you doing?!"

The guilt Sho felt strained his mind as much as his larynx from being shocked. "I'm sorry…they're making me. If I don't, I'll…"

Wally bit his bottom lip as he lifted his right arm, which turned into a polygon cannon. "You gals gotta run! Now!"

Millianna was in too much distress to process everything happening around her. One moment, a gun sound fired, and the next thing she saw, a sheathed blade bisected the sets of sleep bullets aimed for them. Kagura stood before her distraught guildmate with a searing glare fixed on them.

"Millianna, focus!" Kagura bellowed angrily. "If we don't do something, we'll end up just like your friends here! Now look alive! We've got company!"

Millianna snapped back to reality when she saw the numerous Pokémon surrounding them. She was right, it wasn't just Sho and Wally's misfortune she had to worry about. She had to worry about her own skin and the inhabitants around them. "Right, okay!" She clenched her fists tightly as she prepared for battle. 'Sho, Wally, hang on! We'll get you guys out of here. We won't be slaves again! Not to anyone!'

Nearby, the familiar predicament continued as Lyon and Meredy were forced to square against Ultear. Seeing the daughter of his late master did very little to assure Lyon comfort; Meredy unable to find it easy to fight her adoptive mother. Her Misdreavus didn't look in the least bit sorry, rather, she looked pleased seeing a matchup like this.

"Hehehehe! Oh boy, what a reunion this is!" Misdreavus swooned carefreely. "I knew you'd be surprised, but I can practically taste your anxiety!" As she licked her lips, the central red bead on her necklace glowed faintly. "It's delicious…"

Lyon was able to get over his initial shock fast. Frost manifested between his hands as he reached out towards Misdreavus, instantly enveloping her in ice. "How's about you have something cool to quench your appetite instead?" He dryly sneered.

"Ultear, are you okay?!" Meredy stepped up, looking woefully concerned.

Ultear responded with a nod. "Yeah, I'm okay. Thank you. It was a smart move to freeze Misdreavus so that she wouldn't-!" Her sentence was cut off when the lacrima collar lit up, sending a painful shock through her body. Ultear clenched her teeth and lurched as she nearly buckled her knees in pain.

"Ultear!" Meredy panicked.

"What's going on?! Is it that collar?" Lyon spotted the collar around Ultear's neck, immediately connecting the dots. 'That has to be some kind of Organic-Link. How can that be?'

Not wanting to go through the pain, Ultear gnashed her teeth together as she shakily reached up behind and used her magic. In an instant, all the ice around Misdreavus evaporated, setting her free, much to her opponent's dismay.

"Ah, that's much better. Phew! Was actually pretty cold for a second." Misdreavus sighed. "Well, looks like you mean business, but let's see how that works against this!" She reached out a hair bundle towards them. "Use Flash Forward!"

Ultear immediately pivoted, turning a hand towards Lyon and Meredy as the palm glowed. "Both you…look out!"

Around Lyon and Meredy, a multitude of orbs appeared in a flash over their heads, seemingly in endless numbers, and all of them having reflective surfaces to show their trajectory's wary expressions. However, neither were going down without a fight.

"Ice-Make: Dragonfly!"

"Maguilty Rays!"

Lyon and Meredy launched dynamic shots of dragonflies made of ice and yellow blades all around them. Their spells connected with each orb, making the attacks cancel out and make magical particles scatter upon impact. Glistening blue and yellow sparks rained down around them until both sides let up.

Misdreavus darkly smirked. "Hehehe! Great opener! Now let's up the ante, shall we?"

The predicament was no different around the entirety of Nirvana's inhabitance. Every corner, any Pokémon that wasn't knocked out was taking to battle against the threat to their new home. Some of the laxer Pokémon that weren't all that competent in battle took liberties with taking the injuries to alleys or away so they wouldn't create a traffic jam for the ones that stood a fighting chance. But the numbers kept piling up as mages like Jura was manipulating the earth to create constant rock walls to block them all off. Even when they did, they still had to get through mages like Bickslow and Evergreen as dolls fired beams and scattered dust ignited like powder to keep them in line. Bacchus was breezing through rows of them bare-handed when they broke the line.

When a Cacnea jumped in midair to strike Laxus from behind with a glowing bright green Needle Arm, her world went black to moment a backfist met her face, sending her off into the sea of Pokémon brazen enough to approach the Guild Master. Seeing that he was once again surrounded, he brought his hands overhead and charged static to where electricity swelled his muscled.

"Lightning Dragon's Jaw!"

He bent his knees and brought his hammer fist to the ground. In an instant, the electricity diffused into the earth, seemingly fading beneath the surface. In a matter of seconds, the entire area beneath his feet roared with lightning exploding from down under. Numerous Pokémon were caught up in the blast wave, all screaming in agony while some were hanging on, such as those with Sturdy or Abilities making them better handling Electric-type attacks.

As the electricity in the vicinity was dissipating, it revealed a larger perimeter around Laxus. He also took notice how the hue centered around him was also starting to fade away. 'Looks like Electric Terrain expired. But the numbers are starting to go down.'

"Hrah! You're mine!" A Piloswine charged from behind Laxus, his two tusks glowing bright blue and lengthening into two icy spears, via Ice Fang.

Laxus didn't need to turn around to issue his command. "Manectric, Flamethrower!"

As the Piloswine closed in, a blue and yellow blur jumped over Laxus's head and landed in front of the Piloswine's path. Manectric spread his paws as he opened his mouth, showing broiling fire superheating before it launched in a boisterous stream into the unfortunate Piloswine. Flames swallowed and engulfed him, making him drop to his side the instant the flames dispersed.

"Rather noisy, isn't it?" Laxus casually chimed.

Manectric harrumphed. "Don't have to remind me. Hm…?" Suddenly, the hairs all over his body began to charge. Static crackled around his body as he was picking up a strong electrical energy…one that wasn't his Trainer's.

"Hm? What's up?" Laxus saw his Pokémon's condition, though he looked fine. Was he getting angry over something?

Manectric couldn't understand it either, but he couldn't suppress the strong trail of ions around him. "Where is this coming from?" He scanned the numerous Pokémon around him. None of them were Electric-types, so that had to mean one thing. His gaze fell towards a particular direction and felt his hair tug in that direction. 'So there, huh?' He sprinted off without warning, leaving Laxus surprised.

"Hey, Manectric!" Laxus reached out to him, but he was already running. "Tch, guess we're doing this now." He darted through the street, following his Pokémon's trail as static crackled around his body as well.

'He must be onto something. He responds very easily to me when I'm around.' He thought as he turned his body into lightning, weaving through the copious of Pokémon to avoid exerting anymore of his energy. 'Something must be producing a lot of electricity to attract his attention…and I can bet it has to do with the Pokémon being all nuts around here.'

Unlike the others, Shiin was able to find breathing room up on a rooftop. He scouted below, examining the battles happening around him. It seemed like members of Sabertooth were still battling against Shou's Pokémon, while Jellal and Bellona were quelling the likes of the former Oracion Seis members. Compared to how the likes of Blue Pegasus' members were faring, they were more well-off at handling their current predicament. However, this didn't mean anything to ensure their victory.

'Against all these creatures, there's a significant gap in numbers.' His eyes darted towards Jura. Who was engaged in battle against a Rhydon. Despite Jura's palm strike, the Rhydon's Defense was high enough to hunker him down, allowing him to counter with a Hammer Arm that struck Jura in his abdomen, sending an airwave through him that knocked him off his feet and slide away. To say the sight rattled the foreign mage would be an understatement.

'All these various Pokémon, and even the likes of a Wizard Saint struggles.' Shiin furrowed his brow as he saw the ongoing strife that many of mages were enduring. 'All of these were Pokémon trained by other humans. They must know what they're doing. If the course doesn't change soon…' He noticed a flash in the corner of his eyes. 'Hm? Is that…?'

Not far from him, he saw a streak of lightning beam through the gaps of Pokémon, following a Manectric. He recognized the Magic Power signature.

'Guild Master Laxus? What purpose is he serving by regrouping?' His eyes widened in realization. 'Unless there's a lead. In that case…' Using his Requip, he requipped his staff into his right hand, pointing it at his feet. A blue magic seal appeared beneath him before fading. He lifted himself through the air and followed in Laxus's direction.

'I must investigate. If this relates to the source, it will be suppressed…with extreme prejudice!'

Mest and Gajeel appeared out of the blue, the bottom of their soles touching metal grating. It was remarkably dark, that was the first thing Gajeel and Pantherlily noticed.

"The hell you bring us this time?" Gajeel grunted. "Can barely see a thing."

"Looks like it's the inside of the palace, just like he described." Pantherlily noted.

Mest put an index finger to his lips, shushing the pair. "Sssh! Keep it down. They'll hear you." He turned towards the edge of the grating that lied a few meters away from them and proceeded towards the railed edge. Gajeel and Pantherlily turned towards each other and exchanged looks of suspicion before they followed Mest's lead and filed towards the railing.

Upon looking down, Gajeel's eyes widened with surprise. "What the hell…? Is that the machine you were telling us about?"

"Yeah, it is." Mest confirmed.

The trio stood on the upper grating levels that overlooked the main floor's operation. The massive machine Mest, Nic, and Erza saw earlier was still operating with yellow, green, and red lights flourishing inside the forcefield that kept it safe from harm. The tubes connected to the canisters were producing electricity, which meant the Pokémon were off break. Managing from his station in front of the monitors was Octavius, his focus on the regulation levels of the output being kept even and strong.

"That's the Pokémon you told us about?" Gajeel whispered.

"Yeah, sure is. No doubt about it." Mest confirmed. "We're not careful, we could be hypnotized and under its spell. Then we're all screwed."

"A Pokémon that's able to pull off a powerful hypnosis…you really think that's the reason?" Pantherlily inquired.

"All the evidence we have points towards it. Just look. Hypnotism, and that machine it's regulating. Not to mention that all the Pokémon are brainwashed…it's almost too coincidental, don't you think?"

Gajeel furrowed his brow, connecting the dots. "I think we follow, but why us?"

"The last time we were here, we were almost caught. They'll most likely be on higher guard this time around and might have already identified who we are. If that were the case, they would have set up a countermeasure of sorts for them specifically. Besides, from my understanding, everyone else is wrapped up in their own fights. This was the most ideal solution."

Gajeel crossed his arms. "Makes sense. Ole' Titania and Luminous are wrapped up in their own business. So, got a plan?"

Mest glared down at the machine. "First thing's first…we've gotta stop that machine."

Underground, far from the eyes of the public and business above, the industrial maze that was currently up and running had numerous humans running the machinery and doing labor. Many of whom were mainly men wearing lacrima collars to keep them in line. Thanks to it being underground, it was fairly cool, but that didn't mean the conditions were any better than a standard factory.

One of the numerous workers finished hauling a wheel barrel of crystalline lacrima material from the bottom of a cavernous mine all the way to the top. He wiped sweat off his forehead and sighed. "I gotta take a leak. Be back in a few." He informed his colleagues as he walked off.

"Be careful. Anymore than five minutes and that collar will go off." A coworker reminded him.

"Yeah, yeah. I know." The worker knew the drill. He didn't want to end up like the other guy from the other day that suffered constipation. He walked off towards the back of the factory, which was the closest spot where there was a restroom facility. He walked to the left side where there was a marked men's restroom. He walked inside, where he passed through the rims of the door that had a red sensor light. It was a timer to help measure how long someone would be inside. An extra feature to ensure productivity ran on schedule. When he saw an open stall, he exhaled. "Thank god, I was holding it in for…"

Just as he was a few paces away, he felt a small rumble beneath the concrete flooring. He looked down at his feet as he felt it intensify. "What the…?"

Before he realized it, concrete uprooted as a long red and black snout shot through the floor, meeting his gut. He crashed into the ceiling with a loud thud, landing on his stomach once he came back down to earth. Krookodile slunk out of the sizeable hole and turned around. Proceeding behind him, Vanessa crawled out, with Sophie in tow.

"Are we…in the factory?" Vanessa blinked twice. She looked around, noticing how cramped their environment was. She noticed how there were rectangular mirrors above sinks that looked like they could use a good bleach clean. She then noticed the bathroom stalls on the opposite end. 'A restroom?' She noticed the rows of urinals further away. 'A boy's restroom.'

"Did we come up in the right place?" Sophie's question was the personification of confusion.

"Not sure. I'm certain that we should be within the factory's vicinity at this point." Vanessa turned towards the exit. "Let's go. Be cautious, everyone."

Krookodile turned to look down at the unconscious man. He picked him up and threw him into the open stall, his legs spread as he leaned towards one side "Stick around." Krookodile gruffly snorted, shutting the stall door.

Vanessa slowly pushed against the metal of the door and peeked out, checking to see if the coast was clear. When she saw the area was vacant, she ushered Sophie and Krookodile towards an adjacent corner and peeked around. The sounds of numerous men amongst machinery making noises made it definite that they were in the right place.

'This must be it, the factory where they produce those Human Cubes. Now we just gotta shut everything down.'

"Look at all that equipment." Sophie muttered, eyeing the large facilities and multitude of compartments connected my metal grating. "Nic's Pokémon did say that the machines they were using on this island reminisced of PokéEarth technology, but I didn't think it'd be anything like…this."

Vanessa furrowed her brow. "That makes two of us. Not even sure where to start."

"I say we tear the nearest machine apart, and then all of them after!" Krookodile answered, his surprisingly loud voice kept low in an aggressive whisper.

Sophie cocked a brow. 'Is all of his solutions practically hitting everything?'

"We need to at least look around first so we know what we're dealing with." Vanessa insisted. Using her aura like radar, she kept a scope of anyone close by. "We need to hurry, someone's heading this way."

The three rushed along the wall, taking them to underneath the high grating behind large crates of shattered lacrima shards that were too small to be compressed into cubes.

However, high on the ceiling, a spherical lacrima was positioned, monitoring its surroundings.

…

Inside her office, Aphrodite was lazily leaning back into her office chair, one leg kicked up and using her desk as an ottoman, and the other crossed over. She lazily had one eye open and fixed on the collage of holographic monitors that was the security lacrima planted around every available corner. Even though she was technically doing her job, that by no means meant that she was enjoying herself.

"Ugh…feel like I'm gonna break my back if the air gets anymore stale." She complained aloud, even though she was the only one in the office. "Seriously, at this rate, I'm gonna die of boredom before I age any further."

She reached over to her side, where a small bowl of Cheri Berries was set aside for a sensual snack. She lethargically picked up one in her claws and flicked it into her mouth. The spicy berry did wonders for her fiery taste buds. If she was going to die of boredom, she at least wanted a sated appetite.

"I thought ordering humans around would feel more entertaining, but it just feels like work." She eyerolled. "Well, guess it still beats my last gig. Still smells like smoke either way, though. Hm…?" In the corner of her eye, she saw something on the very corner of her multitude of camera monitors.

Rather than sit up and check on it herself, she moved her leg over and used her foot to pinpoint on the lacrima on her desk. Her toe tapped on the corner and enlarged the image. Though it was faint, she saw the corner of the camera showing two young women and a Krookodile darting out of sight of the others.

She cocked a brow. "Well now…this should be entertaining."

Octavius was currently monitoring the steady power levels the six containers were putting out. He had to admit, it may have seemed a bit much to extract more electricity than what was necessary to run the forcefield around their prized machine, but with the security breach from before, it was best to tie up loose ends.

Speaking of a certain loose end, Mest teleported to the bottom level, reappearing on the opposite end of the barrier. In the corner, obscured from sight, Mest made sure to keep a sound distance from the barrier so he wouldn't trigger the alarm. He crept around the corner and saw the Malamar still focused on the screen.

'Good. Looks like he hasn't noticed me. That must mean they hadn't had time to amplify security since the last breach.' Mest was mentally pleased. 'If I can manipulate his memory and get him to override the codes for us, we can reverse this machine.'

On the grates above, Gajeel and Pantherlily were staying out of sight. They saw Mest being within range for his magic to work its full effect.

"Once he gets him to shut down the barrier, we turn that oversized crockpot into scrap." Gajeel noted.

"All we have to do is wait." Pantherlily muttered.

Mest narrowed his eyes as he focused on Octavius. Everything was silent – save for the constant static and the sounds of clicks the monitor's readings made. Mest didn't take his eyes off the overturned squid as he was trying to mold the necessary memories to make him take down the barrier.

Several seconds passed, but the Malamar was still focused. After a moment, his squinted eyes widened slightly as he paused.

'It's working. Now we just need to make him put in the code.'

Octavius seemed puzzled…but the Malamar was anything but such. His beak closed shut and curved slightly upwards, or…downward? Something equivalent to a smirk. His chuckles were made audible. "…so, you like to play mind games, don't you?"

Mest flinched. 'What…?' By the time he picked up on it, a bright purple light illuminated his shadow. He looked up just as he saw a purple sphere lit up and fired three beams at him that he teleported away from at the last second. The beams struck the ground, generating a small burst of kinetic energy that was visible to everyone in the secluded chamber.

When Mest reappeared, he was on a knee, looking back where the blast had almost struck him. "How did…?" He looked back at Octavius, the Malamar scoffing, much to his displeasure. "That should have worked…"

"Really now, did you actually try to use mental powers on a Dark-type?" Octavius mockingly laughed. "You human mages aren't bright, but resourceful, I'll admit."

Mest clenched his teeth, knowing they were compromised. "Guys, quick! Cut the cables!"

Gajeel and Pantherlily shot down from the grates above, the latter in his Battle Mode. Gajeel brandished an Iron Dragon's Sword in one hand, while Pantherlily broadened his Musica Sword. Mest hastily teleported above Octavius with a small dagger as all three intended to go with their backup plan: Secure by force!

Octavius's eyes squinted further. "An ambush? Cliché."

As if on cue, a bright purple and orange glint shined behind the three. They all caught on at the last second just as more purple beams shot at Mest, while a spiraling wake of flames went for Gajeel and Pantherlily. The former teleported, whereas the latter two pulled away; Pantherlily used his Aera Magic to maneuver easier. They all regrouped on the ground several meters away from Octavius, who looked halfheartedly amused by their efforts.

'The hell did those attacks come from? Huh…?' Mest glanced over his shoulder, noticing the figure floating out of the shadows. His eyes widened upon recognizing the Duosion guard, though unlike before, he seemed to be completely expressionless. What's more, there was some kind of pink brace that had bright white LED lights between the slits that went around the top of his head's membrane solution.

Behind Gajeel and Pantherlily, the Torkoal guard sauntered out into the open; though his eyes were blank, he seemed just as dazed as his colleague.

"Reinforcements, huh?" Gajeel scoffed.

"So they did anticipate company." Mest grunted, clenching his fists.

"You humans are too easy to read." The trio turned back towards Octavius as he mocked them. "Though Pokémon aren't adept to human calligraphy, you're like an open book. Did you honestly expect that disabling the forcefield and the machine would be that easy? Come now, the humans of PokéEarth can think better than that."

Mest gnashed his teeth at the insult and tightened his fists. "Tell me, are you the one behind this?"

Octavius glared directly at him, smirking wider. "And, if I am?"

"Then tell us, what's the meaning behind all this? What the hell do you think that you're doing to the Pokémon?!"

Octavius hummed, cocking a brow. "I see. Perhaps Oh, right. Formalities." He took a tentacle and brought it in front as he dully bowed. "You can call me Octavius, though you humans know my species better as Malamar. And such an honor it is to have you make it all the way here."

The three could taste the dry sarcasm from him. He continued. "Now then, as for your inquiry, I'm afraid that I cannot say. Why bother showing my best hand when it's a lot easier to keep it close?"

"Tch, guess we'll just have to beat it out of you, won't see?" Gajeel scoffed, his right arm turning into an iron column.

Malamar snickered. "I'd be careful if I were you." As he spoke, the translucent spots on his body began glowing, emitting an ominous but powerful ray.

Mest gasped. 'Is that…?!' He quickly covered up. "Gajeel, Lily, get away!"

Before Gajeel could advance, he caught the warning and used the column to cover his eyes. The hypnotized Torkoal used this to expel another blast of spiraling fire at Gajeel, this time landing its mark. Swirling flames engulfed the Iron Dragon Slayer that trapped him in place.

"Gajeel!" Pantherlily shouted.

Mest grunted low at their predicament. 'Can't get close with these guys on our case. Gotta get rid of them so we can destroy those conductors!' Looking over at the Duosion flanking him, he knew that it wouldn't be easy to fool Octavius. And the problem was that if he brought out Kirlia, he'd be under the effects of the machine. Which meant…

"Gajeel, I'll take care of these guys! You and Lily disarm that machine!" Mest shouted.

Even though the flames roared around him, Gajeel's enhanced hearing made out what his cohort said. "Got it!"

Mest grunted before he teleported out of sight, taking the Duosion and Torkoal with him. With the latter gone, the Fire Spin's momentum ceased and gave Gajeel a clear visual of Octavius. The Malamar's hypnotic rays ceased, though Gajeel knew better than to be anywhere close to them.

"So much for your company. Guess it's just you and us now." Gajeel remarked confidently.

Despite the opposition, Octavius still seemed amused. "Well now, isn't this a precarious position I'm in. But luckily, I'm a 'mon that knows how to anticipate." As he spoke, he moved a tentacle closer towards the control panel, tapping a singular button that caused the system to brake. Once the screen flashed green, the six canisters standing up cut off their electricity that ran through the chords.

All six doors suddenly slid open, allowing a Raichu, Electrode, Flaaffy, Luxio, Eelektrik, and Heliolisk to step out. Each one had eyes devoid of any free will as they turned ominously towards Gajeel and Pantherlily. They slowly filed before him, standing between them and Octavius.

"I have no need to waste my precious energy on you…but do please try." Octavius mused. "It'll be more sporting for me before I add more puppets to my collection."

…

When Mest teleported, he found himself in an open chamber that sat within the palace. He saw that the vaulted ceiling was a pure white, with ornate paintings of Togetic and Togekiss on the reinforced stain glass between the arches. Three large chandeliers resembling golden Chandelure dangled from the top, though instead of flames, they were white light lacrima that glowed through the translucent fixtures, illuminating the columns of various Pokémon along the walls in its radiance. The room practically preached eloquence, despite how baren it was aside from the velvet carpet they were on.

Taking a glance at his surroundings, Mest knew they were nowhere near the machine. 'Okay, good. Looks like we've got some distance between us. Now then…' He saw the Duosion and Torkoal in front of him, both looking as possessed as before. 'If my Memory Control can't override hypnosis, there's only one thing to do.'

He pulled out a Poké Ball, throwing it. "Kirlia, go!"

The capsule flung skyward, popping open to reveal Kirlia as he stood on the tips of his feet against Duosion and Torkoal.

"Hate to do this, but we've gotta shut down that device and that Malamar." Mest declared, glaring harshly. "Hypnotized or not, you're going down!"

Vanessa, Sophie, and Krookodile managed to keep their profiles under wraps, or as close to such a possibility. Their sense of caution couldn't have been any higher than it already was; in Krookodile's case, nonexistent. But despite his confrontational behavior, he was compliant with Vanessa's lead and used his scope vision to cover where Vanessa's aura sensory couldn't. It really helps having a set of keen eyes in a place with unnatural lighting.

They were keeping an eye out while simultaneously traversing the factory. Though it was within its shadows and out of sight, they were at the very least noting the major industries that were set up like factions with rows of grated belts transferring crystalline products to the next station. What's more, all the people that were operating everything seemed to be exhausted – an aspect in their aura that Vanessa could distinguish.

As they were wandering around, taking note of everything, Vanessa furrowed her brows. "With how large this place is, you'd think they'd have a layout for certain areas."

"It's an underground factory. I'm certain this place wouldn't be offering tours if they didn't." Sophie half-joked. "It's fine, I'm keeping track thanks to my memory." She turned towards a set of metal grated stairs. "Over there. We haven't checked there yet."

Vanessa closed her eyes, focusing on her aura for reconnaissance. It was frustrating to her that her sensory was obscured to such a degree with all this metal around. Her clairvoyance hadn't been this hazy since their venture to Alvarez on the ship. Some areas like the factions themselves were blocked entirely. Thankfully, she could tell there was nothing ahead of them. They hurried towards the stairs, which carried them to a higher platform with storage units underneath them.

Their perspectives gave them a view that overlooked the factory. With a full view and safe from wandering eyes below, they could see everything.

"It's even larger than I imagined." Vanessa admitted. She knew the Poké Ball Factory north of Laverre City was big, but this had to be at least three times that size, maybe four! 'How could such a place be put underground at this scale?'

"Vanessa, look." Sophie pointed to the far reaches of the factory, where they saw men hauling crystalline fragments in wheel barrels up an incline to the first major industry port. "Looks like the production starts there."

They all briefly watched the process from their perch. They saw lacrima fragments leave the first plant on a conveyor belt in large fragments. They watched them get transferred to the next plant, where they came out in the shape of cubes, yet the size of Poké Balls. They then saw them being transferred across the belt to a processing plant where they came out with finalized details, before finally stopping at the final plant, where a massive crate stuck out of the other end where they were stored.

"What the hell do you call this?" Krookodile scoffed annoyingly.

Sophie hummed, processing everything she saw and read throughout the factory. "It looks like the production starts when the lacrima are wheeled from those mines to the first plant. They put them on the belts there."

"And it looks like they're molded into cubes in the next facility." Vanessa figured, eyeing the ongoing Human Cubes leaving said facility to the next. "And the next one looks like that's where they do all the modifications."

"Which leads to the final facility. I think that's where they're all boxed up and stored to be shipped off in that crate." Sophie finished.

Vanessa nodded. "Yes." It was a silent notion, but she looked past the current crate that was being loaded to where there was a large metal garage door. She saw at least four massive units that she had to assume were put on hold due to the chaos happening outside. 'With that many, they could capture an entire country's worth of mages in one sweep.'

Krookodile turned his attention elsewhere. "Look!"

The girls turned to where there was another platform that sat on the opposite end of where they were. They couldn't see as well compared to Krookodile, but they could make out the six men that guarded what looked like a stationed office. There was metal grating that led to a platform, which then led to metal stairs leading to the floor level, where there was a door on the side – something that didn't go unnoticed by Sophie earlier.

"What facility is that, you think?" Sophie inquired.

Vanessa furrowed her brow. "If I had to guess…that must be where whoever is in charge is overlooking the whole operation." She stated. "Possibly someone who's connected to this king."

"Well, at least now we know how it all functions. So where do we start?" Sophie inquired.

"We need to shut off their machines first. If they require electricity to operate like they do in PokéEarth, that'll make them vulnerable to magnetic fields." Vanessa held up a Poké Ball. "Magnetic fields that Magnezone can generate."

Sophie nodded. "Kadabra is able to produce alpha waves. He can make them malfunction."

"Magnezone will hit the processing plant first. Sophie, you should hit the control room. That's the source of all the machine's power." Vanessa turned towards Krookodile. "And Krookodile…you do your thing. Break all those Human Cubes, and don't leave a single one intact."

"Now we're talking!" He grunted.

"What about you, Vanessa?" Sophie inquired about her guildmate's part of the plan.

Vanessa kept her eyes set on the small office within her line of sight. "I'm going to the source of this operation. If all else fails, shutting down whoever is in charge will shut production entirely."

The three understood their assignments. No further explanations were needed. Vanessa and Sophie brought out their Poké Balls as they prepared for their parts to terminate this accursed factory, once and for all.

The most recent crate's door creaked shut, with a middle-aged mage moving to fasten the metal latches on the side of the door. With the massive haul secured, the dozens of stationed workers that worked in loading all the boxed cubes watched as the long, heavy crate pulled out by an automated machine that was a cross between a truck with an extended forklift backend. As soon as it pulled out, they awaited the next one to be brought in to load up.

Amongst the many mages, a lanky male with an eyepatch over his left eye grimaced. "Is the shift almost over? Feels like my back's about to snap like a twig from all this lifting." He grumbled.

"You haven't done a lot of lifting, haven't you?" Another, younger and bulkier mage questioned.

"Never had to. From where I came from, we left the heavy work to the guys who couldn't use magic in our community. That's pretty much the only reason why I learned magic to begin with."

"Wow, if that ain't ironic." Another mage mused, folding his arms. "The only reason you learned magic, yet that's the reason we got our asses here."

Another mage groaned. "This better be the last crate we're loading up. These shifts are so long that I can't tell if it's still morning or-"

A loud, heaping crash was heard from outside the facility. Everyone inside cringed in shock when the sound of heavy objects smashing and eruptions vibrated beneath their feet. "GRAAAAAAAAH~!" If that didn't startle them, the menacing roar that followed made their spines shiver. Their exhaust was replaced by anxiety.

"The hell was that…?" One mage was bold enough to walk over to the black rubber blinds and pull them apart. The moment he did, he saw a chunk of metal fly into the wall beside him. "What the-?!"

To everyone's shock, they saw the vehicle transferring the long crate had a massive rock spike going through its underside. The cargo it was carrying was pushed over, torn apart with boxes of fresh Human Cubes presumably cracked or shattered. In the center of this carnage. The human that was operating the vehicle was laying unconscious nearby at the feet of a Krookodile that was biting boxes and metal chunks off the cargo, tearing it all apart.

"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, FRAGILE POKÉ BALL KNOCKOFFS! KROOKODILE IS GONNA GRIND YOU UP, TURN YOU INTO DUST, AND SWEEP YOU TO THE TRASH HEAP WHERE YOU BELONG!" Krookodile violently cried out. He roared as he pivot away from the stacked cargo at the door. With a harsh slam of his tail against the stone floor, he sent a wave of Stone Edge that shot beneath the four carriers. A massive, blue-glowing precipice shot up beneath, piercing through the center and toppling them over. Hundreds of boxed cubes were destroyed upon contact, while far more followed suit when the crates smashed into the ground.

"Shit, the cargo!" A mage cried out.

"Quick, sound the alarm! Protect the product!" Another mage panicked.

"Hurry, before Mistress Aphrodite has our hides on a wall!" A mage cried out as he rushed for Krookodile, with many more following his lead.

"Huh?" Krookodile heard the footsteps and turned around. "Really?! You wanna go?! THEN BRING IT!" He didn't hesitate to swing his tail, knocking three mages off their feet at once, sending them into other oncoming mages. Those who didn't fall to the domino effect had to suffer either being smacked by his thick tail, or worse, getting bit by his insane jaws and thrown like scraps.

…

On the opposite end of the factory, men were still loading their large clumps of recently mined lacrima onto the conveyor belt. As one guy was placing his haul onto the belt, he noticed how the belt slowed down, creaking and jerking to where it was barely moving.

"Huh? Hey, what gives? A jam?" The guy looked completely confused. He banged the belt in annoyance. "Hey, move, you big piece of crap! We've got a quota to meet here!"

Unbeknownst to the facility's inhabitants, they were too busy with trying to figure out the problems inside that they didn't realize the massive floating disc that floated beside the belt's circuit box at the base of the structure. The Magnezone's electromagnetic field was so strong that the machinery around him was losing function altogether.

…

"Facility 1, what's going on over there?" A mage shouted through a Communication Lacrima that was inside of a walkie-talkie, similar to what the police had. When he tried reaching out to the other facilities, all he got on the other end was static.

"Something's up! We're under attack! Look!" Another worker pointed out towards the carnage that was literally erupting from where the cargo shoot was. The sounds of breaking metal echoed as bodies of mages already on the scene were sent flying.

Another mage looked down at the lacrima that was a few short inches from being aligned with the cube-shaped press for the molding process. Before it reached its point, the belt stopped completely. No, more than that. The gears all around gradually creaked to a stop, and the factory equipment altogether started to shut down. Emergency backup lights were flickering on and off to indicate the malfunction happening.

"What the hell?! Everything's shutting down!" A mage cried out. "Quick, somebody go get the Mistre-agh!" Before he could finish, he felt a sharp pain inside his head. It was excruciating that his body lost strength and he fell to his knees.

It wasn't just him that was suffered a sudden headache. The numerous men around him voiced groans and confusion as they felt their brains pulse with an agonizing feeling. Some outright fell to their sides in fetal positions to alleviate the discomfort.

"Gnnngh…huh?" One of the guys barely kept an eye open through his pain, but he could make out a yellow humanoid with a spoon in his hand. "The heck are you…? A Pokémon?"

Kadabra kept his focus on the spoon, producing alpha waves constantly to keep everything unstable. When he closed his eyes, those powers amplified even more, making the range of his psychokinetic powers fluctuate. Everyone nearby cried out in agony as machines produced sparks and started smoking. Some lacrima that powered the machines ultimately shattered under the stress.

"Apologies to you all, but I'm afraid that this operation of yours must come to a halt. For my Trainer's and friends' sake." Kadabra humbly declared.

…

With all the primary machinery malfunctioning and much of the able workers running around to various points to fix these uncanny mishaps, the confusion was the perfect opening Vanessa and Sophie needed. The two watched as men from the mines ran across the factory to ward off Magnezone or Krookodile, while staying hidden behind the small cement building that the office sat atop. Once the coast was clear, the two looked to each other and nodded.

"Ready?"

"Let's do it."

Vanessa pivoted and darted up the metal stairs. Sophie turned and snuck around the building to where the control room was out of sight. The former didn't waste any time as she escalated towards the top. Her aura picked up six signatures in front of the facility ahead of her. 'There's guards stationed. That has to be the boss they're guarding.'

The moment she sat foot on the platform's rooftop, she was in sight of the six men that were stationed in front of the door.

"Hey, look! An intruder!" A guy shouted.

"Heh…a sexy one at that." Another mage huskily smirked.

Another guy scoffed. "You jackass, you wanna have fun at risk of getting your throat shocked off?! Look, she doesn't have a collar!"

"How'd she get in?!"

"Forget it! Quick, stop her!"

The five other mages followed suit with the protocol and readied colorful magic seal. They all fired various forms of magic at Vanessa, ranging from ice, to stones, to bright purple energy blasts; they all closed in as the Pularis woman brought her arm up.

"Aura Guard!"

She manifested a teal aura barrier around her, blocking out the wake of the combined attacks. With the shield defending her, she pulled out a Poké Ball and tossed it. "Goodra, go!" The capsule flung overhead, bringing out Vanessa's trusty Goodra as she stood off to the side, her large green eyes fixed on the objective.

"I'm ready, Vanessa! Let's give them a piece of our minds!" The Dragon Pokémon boldly declared.

Vanessa reached her arm out as she made a command. "Ice Beam!"

Goodra opened her mouth as she channeled icy blue energy into a condensed sphere. She lurched forward, expelling three zappy beams that raced across the platform's top, partially freezing the flooring beneath. The six mages were too distracted with their attacks failing to avoid the icy rays that struck them. An eruption of cold mist plumed upon impact, before they all emerged as frozen heaps.

"Good work." Vanessa praised her Pokémon before she started towards the door. She walked up towards the entrance and stepped off to the side to allow Goodra to open it for her. And by open, that meant using her long horns to punch the hinges off, making it shatter with a crippling thud.

Inside the office, Vanessa walked in to find the office being eerily quiet. She saw the lights overhead were still on, and there was an office desk, and yet the occupant was nowhere.

'That's strange. I sensed something here earlier. Did the alloy really cloud up my aura that bad?' Vanessa didn't think highly of such an outcome. Misdirect or not, her sensory was second to none. She looked around for any other visible clues, but the only other thing inside the office was the holographic collage of security cameras, most of which had long gone static from either Magnezone's electromagnetic waves or Kadabra's alpha waves.

'Security cameras?' She furrowed her brow. She closed her eyes and focused on her aura once again. She saw the aura within the footprints that she saw earlier all around the room. 'Still fresh…I just missed them. Where did they…?'

At that moment, she came to a realization. She saw the aura footprints traced back down the stairs, heading towards a particular direction. "Sophie!"

…

With Vanessa doing her part in securing the presumed head honcho around here, Sophie moved closer towards the door that was stationed at the base of the platform. When she got in front of it, she noticed the sign that read 'Do Not Enter – High Personnel Only'. If that wasn't a dead giveaway, she didn't know what else would.

'This must be the control room. If there was anyone inside, Vanessa would have picked up on it.' Sophie narrowed her eyes. 'Right, here I go!'

Sophie jutted the handle and opened the door. To her surprise, it was unlocked, but didn't dwell on it and instead went into the medium-size room. When she entered inside, she noticed immediately how dark the room was. The only sources of light that she had were the red glowing lacrima between ventilation ducts that were besides various machines lined up. Each one had various functions and labels, but rows of them were set up so that it resembled a miniature library.

Sophie turned left and right, seeing numerous switches and knobs that even her trained memory couldn't count. "This is what a control room looks like?" She questioned aloud. "I wonder which of these is the master control panel? Then again, wouldn't it be better to trash the place like Krookodile said we should do anyways?"

Just then, the door behind closed shut, along with the sound of a lock clicking. Sophie turned around to find her only way in closed behind her.

'Did it close by itself…?' It could have been her subconscious experience, but she got a bad feeling about all this. It was only when she heard the sound of a seeping gas was her worries confirmed. When she turned around, she saw a thick purple blanket of thick gas quickly fill her surroundings.

"Wha…what is this? Gas…?" She realized that she inhaled some, immediately coughing. Her face started to blush purple as toxic bubbles expelled from her skin. Her strength began to deteriorate from her body all of a sudden as she barely caught herself from leaning too far left.

'What is this…poison?' She thought in her coughing fit. 'A poison gas? It's…too hard to breathe normally.' With what strength she knew she had left, she pivoted and moved closer in the direction of the door. But the gas was so thick that it had it hard to see. 'This is bad, if I don't escape soon, I just might…'

"Oh? What's the matter? Out of breath so soon?"

Sophie gasped. She wasn't hallucinating, right? She heard that voice loud and clear in the toxic fog surrounding her. 'Someone here besides me?' She balled her fists. "Who's…there?" She wheezed.

A mocking laughter echoed as a silhouette flowed through the gas. With it being so dark, Sophie couldn't see well. But she could have sworn she saw a tail and feelers slithering behind one of the panels. Whatever it was, it was fast.

"I'm so bored. Please entertain me, you pretty little human…do that, and I just might let you live."

Sophie didn't like where this was going, but her brain told her to focus on escaping. She backpedaled until she bumped into something that felt like a metal door. She immediately felt for a handle and tried to turn it, but it wouldn't budge. She tried pushing, but then started kicking the door by force. But even that wasn't enough. It only chipped at her stamina as toxic bubbles expelled from her.

"Hahaha…your struggles are so amusing. How's it feel to be trapped? To unable to escape? Is it suffocating? Perhaps more so…intoxicating?"

Sophie leaned against the door and looked out at the purple haze. Her eyes slowly widened when she saw the silhouette of something reptilian standing up. And it was huge. She was already out of breath, but the visage assured her that she was not alone.

"Who are you?" Sophie muttered defensively.

The silhouette's periwinkle eyes squinted, her mouth forming a smirk. Rather than answer, she mockingly chuckled at Sophie's plight. The blonde knew she was being played with, but with her poisoned, she didn't have time to call her out.

'Damnit! Open already!'

Just then, a brutal force whipped the door, causing Sophie to pull away as the door slammed to the ground. In her shock, she was snared by a teal rope-like energy that immediately pulled her out of the room and the gas into open air. Next thing she knew, she was on her butt as she could breathe factory air. Still foul, but better than where she was a moment prior.

"Are you okay, Sophie?" Vanessa asked, looking genuinely concerned.

Sophie turned around, recognizing her saviors. "Vanessa…Goodra…"

"That was close. Looked like they set us up." Goodra worried, seeing the purple gas diffuse around the door's entrance.

Vanessa looked at the gas with concern and back towards Sophie, noting how purple her blush was. "You're poisoned." She reached back for her supplies, pulling out an Antidote. "Here, take this. It should help with the poison." Wasting no time, Vanessa began spraying Sophie's body with the medicine. Slowly, the toxic bubbles faded away, and Sophie's skin complexion looked normal.

"Thanks, Vanessa." With strength to stand, Sophie was back on her feet.

"Ugh, well, so much for that." The three heard a very dry tone from the darkness of the control room. With the purple gas dispersing, they watched as the silhouette that Sophie saw a minute ago come to light. The oversized Salazzle slowly crept out and stood on her hind legs, towering at a height that dwarfed even Goodra by a few inches.

Vanessa furrowed her brow, shooting a glare. "We were watched from the beginning."

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Hello~, wasn't that obvious? How else are we supposed to keep a tight leash on this place?" The Apostle scoffed, putting a hand to her hip as her tail whipped the air. "But enough flattery. I'm called a Salazzle, but you can call me Aphrodite." She mischievously smirked. "Pretty alluring name, don't you think?"

Her commentary aside, Vanessa pulled up her PokéDex to analyze the Apostle.

"Salazzle, the Toxic Lizard Pokémon. Salazzle lives deep in caves and forces the Salandit it has attracted with its pheromones to serve it."

'A toxic lizard? That would explain the poisonous gas.' Vanessa noted. She then noticed something else. 'But, this size…it's nearly twice as what a Salazzle should be. Is that gene or diet disorder?'

Aphrodite shrugged. "Meh, that tool said enough. True, Salandit are easy to use and all, but they're not nearly as helpful in this environment as manpower." She darkly smirked. "Speaking of which…"

Vanessa, Sophie, and Goodra found themselves surrounded by numerous men, numbers well stockpiled into the hundreds. They all had lacrima collars around their necks.

"Nothing personal, but it'd be a huge hassle to cover this up if you got out. So here's my ultimatum: You can either willingly work for me, or…well, the blonde over there knows the story." She shot a look at Sophie before turning on her heel and crawling away. "I'm heading back to my office. Let me know when the mess is all cleaned up."

"Yes, Mistress!" All the men shouted sternly. Many began charging up their long-range spells, while others with more physical-based magic enveloped their bodies. One mage in particular used Chain Magic and shut the control room's door tightly.

The three girls had their backs to one another as they saw the numerous opponents that were slave-driven to stop them. They knew they had to comply, or risk being punished.

"Sophie, listen." Vanessa began instructing. "We need to stop her. We'll take out these grunts first. The less manpower she has, the more vulnerable she'll be."

"No, Vanessa." To her shock, Sophie objected. "Listen, we need to cover all our bases. I'll handle Aphrodite. You just keep her grunts at bay. Your Aura Magic is more adept at long-range, which is what we need to buy space."

"But Sophie, what about the poison? If you get poisoned like that again…"

"I know, but I can do this, Vanessa…trust me."

Vanessa frowned heavily. She didn't want to admit aloud, but she was growing more hesitant by the situation. She knew Sophie was right of course about her magic being best suited for sensory and long-range. Besides, Sophie had a great memory. She would know better than to fall for a trick like that again…hopefully. The pressure was enough to make her wary of the best course of action, but for the moment, they had to act fast.

After what felt like an eternity of debating her intentions, Vanessa ultimately relented. "Alright then. Just be careful."

Sophie nodded. "I will."

"Get them!" The numerous grunts around them began charging with their spells ready.

Vanessa glared as she swiped her arm across. "Goodra, Muddy Water!"

Goodra glared at the oncoming mob as she summoned brown swirling water from around her, Sophie, and Vanessa. The spiraling wave gathered momentum before expanding outwards, washing over all the grunts with the force of a tidal wave that mowed all of them down at once. The excess brown water flowed along the floor level, flooding the area over a given range. Any electronics outside Magnezone and Kadabra's range were short-circuited and diffused. The only exception was the chained door to the control room that looked untouched.

With an opening, Vanessa coated her right arm in teal and summoned oval platforms of teal aura that led to the office platform above. Sophie gave one more nod to her before she climbed the platforms and rose to intercept Aphrodite, leaving Vanessa and Goodra on the ground.

'Sophie…' Vanessa didn't dawdle anymore. She coated her other arm in teal and waved it across, creating a barrier of aura that blocked numerous long-range spells from mages that managed to overcome the Muddy Water's wake.

…

Aphrodite was sauntering up the metal-grated stairwell towards her office. She looked down and saw the entire floor level being flooded by murky, brown water. She groaned angrily. "Great. Now I have to worry about mold and calling for engineering when this rolls over."

"Wait!"

Aphrodite heard the cry and turned around. She saw Sophie race up teal energy platforms and jumped onto the stairwell. "Eh~? What's this? Back for more? Or are you just that attracted to my pheromones?" she dryly chimed.

Sophie frowned, unamused by her plight. "You're not going anywhere!"

Aphrodite eyerolled with a loud groan. "Neither are you. Love to have gal-pal chats with ya, but this whole job is a lot of work, so let's just get this over with." She got on all fours and opened her mouth towards Sophie, expelling another thick layer of Poison Gas that whiffed the area. Out of caution, Sophie backpedaled to avoid the gas and watched it cloud up her vision of the stairs before her. She looked above and, to her shock, Aphrodite was scaling the vertical wall of the platform rather than take the rest of the stairs.

'She's a sneaky one!'

"Hold up!" Sophie heard footsteps behind her and turned around, seeing a couple of grunts that escaped Goodra's wake running to intercept her. "That's as far as you'll go, little miss!"

Sophie pulled out a Poké Ball, tossing it. "Araquanid, hold the fort!"

Araquanid emerged from his capsule, his frame just large enough to fit the stairwell's width. He hissed as he shot glares at the men that were taken aback by his interference. "You wanna get to Sophie? Well, you're gonna have to survive drowning before that happens!" He hissed defensively.

"Keep any oncoming company occupied!" Sophie ordered, before turning back towards the clouded stairwell. She took in a deep breath before diving up the stairs through the toxic cloud.

"Is she insane?!" A grunt exasperated.

"Mistress is gonna make her into a corpse if she's that desperate." The other grunt sneered.

Araquanid hissed aggressively. "Don't even speak of her!" His body expelled miniature flying grubs that swarmed the stairwell, via Infestation. The swarm began crawling down the metal stairs, causing the oncoming grunts to panic. One of them was so startled that he stepped back out of caution. The other, however, didn't have the common sense to avoid it and had hundreds of tiny grubs eat their way up, causing him to ache and itch uncontrollably. So much so in fact that he lost balance entirely and tumbled down the stairs into the other guy, flooring both into the water.

Aphrodite scaled the wall towards the top, not at all fazed by the men that were unconscious or frozen over from before. She would have somebody get that later. As she was standing up to reach for her door, she heard the sounds of labored breathing and grimaced. She glanced over her shoulder, seeing Sophie standing a few meters away, breathing like she was held underwater for a long time. Otherwise, no signs of poison traced across her face.

"Tch…you're becoming more annoying than entertaining." Aphrodite turned around, towering over Sophie. "Seriously, I've got a show to watch, and I'd rather not be part of it."

"Sorry…but we need to shut down this product management." Sophie rebuffed.

"I can see." Aphrodite put a hand to her hip. "Your fortitude is truly breathtaking, why, if it wasn't for the ventilation system we have, I would have died of asphyxiation by now because of it!" She had a thick level of exaggeration in her tone.

Sophie paid no heed to her commentary as her mind was in its own race. 'So she's a Poison/Fire-type. In that case…' She reached back, pulling out a Great Ball. "Finneon, go!" She tossed the blue and red-accented Poké Ball, sending out her Finneon to do battle. "I'm counting on you, Finneon."

"Don't worry, Miss Sophie. I promise, I won't let you or the others down!" Finneon declared.

Aphrodite sighted dejectedly. "So it's really come down to this, hasn't it?" She was outwardly composed, but her thoughts ran back to when she was back in her old home. Namely, a certain area in Alola where images of a hiker and Marowak doing dances stuck out to the point of cringing. Thinking about it now made her body stiffen. "I refuse to look like a fool again…to do unnecessary work!" As she was lamenting, her body started absorbing light particles around her.

Sophie blinked, looking confused by the phenomenon. "This didn't happen before…"

The light brought in eventually exploded, surrounding Aphrodite in an orange, empowering aura as she raised her head with a dark smirk. "Now…it's your turn to be the fool."

Gajeel squared against the six Electric-type Pokémon before him, all whose vision lacked any form of light. Amongst them, Octavius was hidden behind, tending to the control panel without a shred of worry on his face.

"Let's level these numbers a bit." Gajeel scoffed, pulling out two Poké Balls. "Aron! Shieldon!" The two Rock/Steel-types called out immediately emerged from their capsules to stand in front of their Trainer. Together, they grunted and reeled back for battle.

Amongst the hypnotized minions, the Luxio glared harshly, his Intimidate Ability activating. All at once, Gajeel, Pantherlily, Aron, and Shieldon had a blue aura scale down their bodies as their Attack dropped from the gesture.

"Choosing Steel-types to counter Electric-types, huh?" Octavius mocked. "Hope they know suitable Ground-type moves, otherwise, this will be over quick."

"Oh, it'll be quick alright." Gajeel retorted, smirking. "As quick as I'll turn your tentacles into sashimi!"

In a blur, the Raichu and Heliolisk shot at Aron and Shieldon. Raichu weaved back and forth. When it looked like she was about to punch, she veered to the side and struck with her tail. The Feint made contact, but to little damage. The Heliolisk spurred in a swift Quick Attack head-on with Shieldon's metallic face, only for a similar unfazed reaction.

"Grrr…you'll have to hit way harder than that!" Aron belittled, holding his ground.

"He's right! We Rock-types do not break under these puny attacks!" Shieldon scowled.

Behind, the Electrode and Luxio both crackled with static around their bodies, a red aura rising up their bodies to indicate their Special Defense rising from the Charge. The Flaaffy swung his tail around as purplish orbs generated around the tip. He swung his tail, projecting the Confuse Ray at Aron.

"Oh no you don't!" Gajeel taunted. "Aron, Iron Head!"

With Raichu so close in range, it was the perfect opening that Aron needed. His forehead shimmered a deep metal as he lowered it, bashing Raichu directly into her stomach and sending her flying into the Confuse Ray. The orbs flashed brightly before fading away. In place was a dazed and disoriented Raichu. Seeing this made Gajeel scoff.

"Like that? Sucks when you're the ones confused, isn't it?"

"We need to shut down that forcefield and machine." Pantherlily reminded.

Gajeel frowned. "Yeah, I know. You focus on that. We'll buy you cover so you can do that." He saw the Eelektrik fly after him directly, his circular row of teeth glowing bright white for Crunch. Gajeel reeled an arm back and manifested a column of iron. "How's about you eat an Iron Dragon's Club!" He jutted his arm forward, extending the club into Eelektrik's mouth. The eel gagged as the back of his throat throbbed from raw iron forcibly sending him careening back past the other Electric-types. None of them flinched at the sight, simply because of the hypnosis they were under. They only focused on offense, as per ordered.

"Get going!" Gajeel ushered.

"Right!" Pantherlily activated his Area Magic and took off into the air over everyone. His target was clear: The conductors for the forcefield.

Octavius snickered. "I think not." He jutted a tendril out, ushering the hypnotized Electrode to crackle static in front of its body into an orb. Said orb unleashed a narrow, electrical beam at Pantherlily's back, which gradually closed in on him.

"Shieldon, intercept with Ancient Power!" Gajeel ordered.

Shieldon grunted, still holding his own against Heliolisk. His body gave off a white glow, which molded into a spherical energy in front of his face. With Heliolisk at point-blank range, the sphere shot the lizard off his feet into the air; more accurately, in the direction of the Charge Beam's wake. The beam ended up hitting him as the Ancient Power detonated, creating an eruption of smoke with dense static flourishing.

"Thanks for the assist!" With the smoke as his cover, Pantherlily glided away, leaving Gajeel and his Pokémon to focus.

The Raichu turned around as she wagged her tail cutely, her Tail Whip managing to cover Gajeel, Aron, and Shieldon in blue descending aura that dropped their Defense. The Luxio then charged straight at Gajeel with yellow static crackling around his body. Gajeel recognized it as Spark. He wasn't taking that risk. He punched the ground harshly, causing an iron column to jut up in front of Luxio, who met it head-on and reeled his head back in pain.

"Aron, use Rock Tomb! Shieldon, use Take Down!"

Aron's body was surrounded by a white aura, which flourished silverish-white energy orbs overhead in the shape of a ring. The ring then became rocks that he telekinetically lobbed at Luxio, who was still stunned by the head trauma. His already dazed mind was hammered by hard rocks, steering him back with each painful lob until he was in the open. A blue aura enveloped him to reduce his Speed, as per the secondary effects of the move. As he was recovering, he got a rude awakening when Shieldon's head - surrounded by a forcefield of golden energy – bashed into his side, sending him flying back amongst his peers. Weak, red static enveloped Shieldon as he suffered the recoil effects of using his move, but he shrugged them off.

The Flaaffy let out a cry as he expelled cotton from his soft, wooly mane. The spores drifted into Aron and Shieldon, cloaking into them and sticking around them. They both grunted as the Cotton Spore harshly reduced their Speed.

"What the…cotton?" Gajeel was confused, but he didn't have time to ponder before the Eelektrik sprung out of nowhere with a vengeance. He saw him charge head-on with a Headbutt, but cloaking his arm in iron scales, Gajeel met his bash with an even harder block. "Nice try, thunder fish!" He swatted his opponent away, giving him open room. "You're gonna have to hit a lot harder than that if you wanna take down this ironclad guy."

Meanwhile, Pantherlily glided for the machine surrounded by the barricade. He clutched his Musica Sword tightly before lengthening it.

'It looks like it operates on a triangular system. If I cut off just one of them, it should destabilize the shield.' His brow furrowed. 'Well…only one way to find out!'

He brought his blade up high, positioned over one of the large conductors. With a mighty battle cry, his elongated blade was brought down to cleave the structure. The moment the blade met the conductor, bright green static discharge and conducted up the blade into Pantherlily. The Exceed let out a pained grunt as he felt his body going numb.

"Gnnnngh…! What's…happening…?" He strained through the pain. "It feels…like my body is being leached on…"

Unable to take much more, he ultimately pulled away from the pillar. The pain and the drainage ceased for the time being, but he still felt numb and very heavy. What the hell did he just hit?

"Did you like it?" Pantherlily perked up and whipped around, seeing Octavius a couple meters away from him, floating off the ground at equal elevation. "It's a special safety precaution we've installed for this little treasure trove. It's made of special stone that makes it impervious to magic. Not just that, but I've taken the liberty of engineering them to absorb magic upon contact. In other words…" His smirk deepened. "I'm afraid your mages and your magic are nothing more than fuel for our cause."

"Damn you…!" Pantherlily wasn't taking this lying down. He rushed after Octavius with his blade ready. "Don't blame me if you lose some of your tentacles in the process!"

Octavius scoffed. His body flashed white before multitudes of him duplicated around him. Pantherlily cleaved into the one directly in front of him, but it turned out to be an illusion. Looking left and right, he saw that he was surrounded by numerous Malamar clones. His snickers echoed like a symphony amongst his clones.

"It knows Double Team?!" Pantherlily didn't have time to dawdle. He brandished his sword and used its length to cut his flanks. Each time, the clones were struck down, making puffs of smoke that dispersed. He swatted left and right, clearing away as many as possible…

But he didn't think to keep his head up.

Before he realized it, the real Octavius was perpendicular to Pantherlily, manifesting a blue sphere in front of him. He expelled a Psybeam straight down that caught the Exceed's attention at the last second. The attack made impact with his head, sending him plummeting towards the ground with a thud.

The ruckus didn't go unnoticed by Gajeel, who turned to see his partner struck down. "The hell?! Lily!" He gasped before he was forced to evade two Electro Ball aimed directly for him. He pulled away, sliding on his heels with his hand on the ground. He turned back towards the hypnotized Pokémon, visibly pissed. "Bastards…!"

As Lily was trying to find the strength to stand, he realized that he lost grip of something. "My sword!" He saw that it was a few feet away and went to retrieve it, but Octavius intercepted him, making him take a fighting stance. "I am a trained soldier. I will have no qualms with fighting you head-on if I must!"

"H'oh, oh! Why, for a feline, you sure have the heart of a Pyroar. I admire that." Octavius mused. "However, I have a better idea…" As he spoke, his translucent lights on his stomach lit up.

Pantherlily's eyes widened. He gasped…but it was too late. He was within range of the alluring lights and quickly felt his muscles relax. His dark eyes gradually lost their light…

"Rather than fight me, you're more useful fighting for me."

Meanwhile, the Luxio and Eelektrik were both enveloped in yellow electricity, bolting at Aron and Shieldon respectively. The two Pokémon were too slow to act, causing them to he struck head-on by powerful, electrical charges that pushed them back harshly. As they reeled in pain, Gajeel brandished an arm morphed into a sword and swung across, forcing the hypnotized Pokémon away.

"Hey, you guys okay?!" he called to his Pokémon.

"Gnnngh…yeah, I'm good!" Aron winced.

Shieldon shook his head, looking partially dazed. "Ergh…those non-Rock-types had the nerve to deter me like that!"

Gajeel could see they took damage. It didn't help that their Defense was dropped before. He glared back at them and grunted. "Then let's see them get past this…" He took in a dense breath before opening his mouth wide.

"Iron Dragon's Roar!"

A metallic tornado gushed out of his mouth, metal shards spiraling and decimating the ground as it tore towards the six Electric-types. That's when the Electrode rolled in front of the others and positioned itself like a post. The loud, roaring tornado met the ball with blunt force. The entire chamber rumbled as the wake of the tornado's impact.

After Gajeel finished exhaling, he closed his mouth as he watched the energy of his attack disperse. Suffice to say that what he saw made his red eyes widen. "What the…?"

Despite the flooring torn apart, the trench created stopped in front of Electrode, who didn't seem at all shaken up by the attack. In fact, it looked completely unfazed; of course, its expression didn't convey.

"What?!" Aron gasped.

"It withstood his roar?! That's impossible!" Shieldon exasperated.

"The hell just happened…?" Gajeel trailed off as his ears picked up the shimmer of a blade. His breath hitched before he pivoted, catching the falling blade that was aimed to cleave him. To his shock, it wasn't by a Pokémon, or a mage…but by someone he knew.

"Lily…?!"

Pantherlily spoke nothing as his eyes were devoid of any emotion. His stance broke soon and he pulled back, standing against Gajeel with a stalwart disposition. To say Gajeel looked flaberghasted was an understatement.

"What the hell…?"

A malicious laughter caught his attention. They turned towards Octavius, who floated up behind his minions. Gajeel's eyes slowly widened when he started piecing the information together.

'Don't tell me…'

"You see? You mages are so easy to manipulate. It's almost criminal." Octavius chimed.

Gajeel gnashed his iron teeth, his glare sharpening. "How bastard…!"

"Might want to waste your breath on trying to save your friend…" Octavius advised, smirking wider. "Or, would you rather join him? He looks content, don't you think?" He reached a tentacle out. "How's about you show him, Lily?"

The hypnotized Pantherlily held up his Musica Sword against Gajeel, who balled his fists in anger. It was one thing to deceive someone. He learned that from playing double-cross with Raven Tail. But even so, manipulation was a moral line that he would never cross. Seeing his friend being toyed with made his blood boil with anger.

"I swear…I'll snap you out of it!" He snarled. "Just hang in there for me, would ya!?"

"Don't worry…you'll join him soon enough. As will the rest of this planet's mages." Octavius warned.

A mage charged straight ahead with an arm coated in steel. He reeled back the appendage and braced to strike Vanessa from behind, but what he and many others didn't account for was how relaxed she was as she struck a loose stance, her forearms crossed.

"Nugatory Burst!"

In the blink of an eye, all the surrounding mages were swallowed by pillars of teal aura that blasted them from below. The impact was so controlled and fixated on the enemy to where individual pillars lit up the entire factory to a point that even the overhead lacrima lighting the vicinity were dimmed. Vanessa's expression didn't fade, nor did she show remorse as the numbers dropped drastically in one go. Bodies dropped simultaneously around her with loud thuds.

At that same time, the Aura Mage was sensing the others around her. Where she could not see, her aura could sense, albeit to a degree. Vague as it was, she could feel Krookodile's aura going on strong; the rampage and sounds of dense shattering in the distance clarified she had nothing to worry about.

'Looks like we're tying up those lose ends. Magnezone and Kadabra should still be doing their part and keeping the operating people and machines at bay. That just leaves…' She glanced up to the platform above her, knowing who was fighting the Apostle. 'Sophie…'

"Vanessa!" Goodra warned.

Vanessa heard her warning loud and clear. She turned and saw a multitude of long-range spells being fired at her from the grated bridges above her. With a swipe of her hand, she created another teal forcefield that took the spells.

"Dragon Pulse!" Vanessa ordered. Goodra opened her maw, channeling multicolored, draconic energy to a single point. She expelled it in a dense beam with a dragon's head at the end that roared as it arched into the air, aimed for the mages overhead. The attack met its mark, exploding upon impact with the mages that were blown off their high ground.

The sounds of melee and bedlam echoed across the factory, reaching every corner of its vicinity. The earful was loud and clear to Sophie as she and Finneon stood against Aphrodite, whose aura flared around her body dominantly.

The Salazzle scoffed at the cries of her henchmen's disarray. "Tch, such good help they are. Supposed relying on men isn't part of my recommendations if all they're good for is putting one in the sac."

While she was casual about the ordeal, Sophie remained cautious of her opponent's sudden empowerment. 'That's new. I haven't seen any Pokémon that could do that.' Even with limited experience, she was aware enough to know that much about Pokémon. 'Does this have to do with her size as well? She isn't some ordinary Salazzle…'

"Well now, guess I can make this work. I've been cramped in that damn office for a while, so I could use a workout." Aphrodite got on all fours, her maw opening wide. "Hope you like your Finneon extra crispy! Flame Burst!" She expelled a searing fireball that shot across the platform, barreling straight for Finneon.

Sophie reached her arm out to command. "Finneon, Water Pulse!"

"Right!" Finneon nodded before using her wing fins to flutter herself into the air. There, she congregated vapor into a sphere of blue water that she aimed at the oncoming fireball. She launched the attack with pinpoint accuracy, colliding in the middle before the two attacks imploded. Vapor and heat erupted to create steam that bloomed everywhere, obscuring everyone's surroundings.

With their vision blocked, Sophie narrowed her eyes and glanced around. She knew how Aphrodite played, and if that meant anything, it was that she had to expect sneak attacks. 'She likes to use bogs as cover to get the upper hand. If I had to guess, she would…!'

Just then, she heard a small sound from behind her. Her eyes widened. 'There!' She saw what looked like a gush of purple liquid shoot out in a dense stream through the steam. She careened her head back and pulled off to the side before adjusting her footing. With an index finger to her forehead, memory chains began linking.

"Memory-Make: Burning Soul!"

With a fusion of Natsu's Fire Dragon Slayer Magic and Vanessa's aura magic, a magic seal in front of her expelled ethereal, teal flames that blazed in the direction of the liquid attack. The ethereal flames met the pavement, making a blue flame that illuminated the steam. Sophie saw a blur brush by and moved her arm in an arch, making the flames veer out and slowly engross envelop a perimeter. Though the flames didn't physically burn, they still gave off heat that caused the steam to rise and disperse to a lower pressure area.

Aphrodite looked around, finding herself within the boundaries of the aura flames. With no cover, she scoffed before opening her mouth, poisonous, purple gases leaking from her maw's sides.

'It's that poisonous gas again.' Sophie realized. She knew it would be bad if that attack met her and Finneon. "Finneon, get ready!"

"I'm always ready, Miss Sophie." She assured.

Aphrodite hissed as she got on all fours, expelling another layer of Poison Gas that blew in Sophie and Finneon's direction. Both braced themselves before Sophie's pupils dilated.

"Now, Finneon! Gust!"

Finneon's wings glowed bright blue as she jumped into the air once more. She flapped her wings repeatedly and created a powerful windstorm that blew in the direction of the oncoming gas. The gas was blown away, much to Aphrodite's shock.

"What…?!" The large Salazzle was lost in shock before she realized the wind was still heading her way. She felt the breeze against her body, but didn't budge.

'Poisonous or not, it's still a gas…and all gases can be filtered with air.' Sophie thought.

Standing her ground, Aphrodite opened her eyes narrowly, seemingly catching on. "I see…clever girl, you are."

Sophie raised her arm up into the air. "Rain Dance!" Finneon ceased her ongoing windstorm to lift her body towards the ceiling. With a soft hum, the humidity in the air made dark stormclouds that circled over the platform's roof. The clouds quickly began to drop water, making a condensed shower over their heads. Gradually, the teal flames that bordered them were shrinking, being replaced with puddles that rippled with the flowing rain.

Aphrodite looked up towards the clouds, her brow furrowing. "Great, just what I needed…more water."

With her arm still over her head, Sophie attacked. "Memory-Make: Shower of Thunderous Swords!"

The clouds overhead started thundering, crackling heavily with static like a thundercloud. The next instance, dozens of swords made entirely of shaped lightning rained down onto Aphrodite. To defend herself, she opened her maw and expelled another condensed blast of purple liquid. Though while her shots were enough to stop their momentum coming down, they did at least throw off their trajectory, piercing the ground around her. One after another, the lightning blades stabbed the platform around Aphrodite.

She saved herself from a direct shot, but now she had a new problem.

"What the-?!" All around her, she was surrounded by lightning blades that were very close to each other. In the middle of all them, she found no clear way out. 'She used that attack to trap me…damn! She's cleverer than I give her credit for.'

Sophie reached out at Finneon. "Now Finneon, use Water Pulse!"

Finneon opened her tiny mouth, generating another sphere of water like before. However, because of the ongoing rain, the sphere was double its original size. She careened her body forward and expelled the pulse in a watery airwave through the air towards Aphrodite. With nowhere to go, Aphrodite stood in place and was struck by the attack. A large eruption of vapor erupted everywhere, with static flourishing from the lightning blades that discharged in the wake.

Sophie and Finneon stood their ground, despite the air making their skins tingly. They ignored it and watched the vapor dissipate, gradually revealing their opponent.

"Did that work?" Finneon inquired.

Sophie furrowed her brow as she remained cautious.

When the mist faded, it revealed Aphrodite on all fours, her body literally steaming from the heat she gave off mixed with her dampened frame. She grunted heavily as she slowly levered herself onto her hindlegs, her aura still going strong.

"Okay…I'll give you credit. That one actually had some bite towards it." She begrudgingly admitted. "But you know, I ain't just some ordinary Salazzle if you haven't figured that out yet."

"Yes, I can tell. It's that aura you give off, right?" Sophie pointed out.

Aphrodite clapped her hands slowly. "Bravo. Good on you, using your eyes like that." She shrugged. "Anyways, not entirely sure myself how I got this aura. Just came to me one night when I was sleeping. But this strange aura gave me a bigger body and power…and apparently made me a Totem. Oh, that's right. Probably not too familiar with where I'm from, aren't ya?"

Sophie wasn't sure if she was playing games with her, but she was at least aware of where this was going. Erza explained their ventures through Alola clear. She recalled her saying something about these 'Ultra Beasts' that had a similar aura around them.

Aphrodite continued. "Well, being a Totem, it became my 'responsibility' or whatever to watch over the area. I didn't mind at first…but then I had to get part of this ridiculous routine where this volcano-haired warden made me part of some stupid dance ritual for these trial-goers." She shuddered at the memory. Posing off to the side with a bright smile amongst the Alolan Marowak and hiker. It was supposed to be part of the test, but it was more like a sick nightmare for her. "I swear, I can still hear that music and those movements in my dreams…it's such a tremendous pain in the ass! And I couldn't get out of it because apparently it's part of my 'obligation', or some kind of crap those damn Marowak and Salandit were spewing." She facepalmed in annoyance. "Ugh…I didn't ask for any of that, for real. I was so glad that another Totem came when he did. When he challenged me for the position, I just up and threw it at him and ran off!"

Sophie's eyes widened. 'That would explain her lazy demeanor.'

"So you were forced to work as part of an obligation to your position?" Finneon summarized.

"You guessed it, guppy. Though I guess it's pretty ironic, huh? Becoming an Apostle and what not. But hey, this beats my last gig by a mile. And I don't have to lift a finger…" Her smirk darkened. "Well…unless someone steps out of line. The mages do all the heavy stuff, and I 'manage'. Ta-da, you know how our system works. Aren't you so Arceus-damn lucky."

Sophie didn't have anything to say as her brow furrowed. 'So she was a former Totem…who was dragged into an obligation that she never wanted to be part of.'

"Oh, right. And speaking of help." Aphrodite looked down as she pulled out a watch. She watched as the holographic 18:59 eventually turned to 19:00.

BEEEEEP! BEEEEEP!

A loud buzzer echoed through the factory twice. Vanessa and Sophie's parties that were in the midst of doing their tasks paused as they heard that buzzer loud and clear.

"Eh? What?" Krookodile snarled.

"What's this alarm? Are the control panels operating remotely?" Magnezone inquired.

"Vanessa?" Goodra looked towards her Trainer for answers.

Vanessa furrowed her brow heavily as she closed her eyes. She tried sensing aura around her again. Though it was still limited thanks to the metal, she could sense numerous clusters that were gradually building up around them. She knew what was coming.

At that instant, a huge metal hatch opened on one side of the factory. The door slid up like a garage, revealing numerous other mages that looked fresh and in shape. Unlike the lot that Vanessa was handling, these ones were in full health.

"Reinforcements?" Vanessa muttered.

"Well now, ain't this good timing for the shift change." Aphrodite mused. "And to make it more interesting…" She reached back and pulled out a lacrima that looked a lot like a walkie-talkie. "Listen up, Second Shift! First ones to snag all these intruders gets a month-long holiday!"

That seemed to have had an immediate effect on the reinforcements as they instantly straightened up. They all picked up their pace and started running through the factory in dozens of numbers in the direction of the facilities that were under attacks. Many charged for Krookodile head-on, who welcomed the challenged. Others like Magnezone found himself barred by mages readying spells without hesitation. Kadabra was unable to keep his alpha waves at max output for long and found reinforcements closing in on him, much like they were around Vanessa and Goodra. More men gathered around the metal stairs that Araquanid took root in, which the water spider vehemently hissed to deter them.

Sophie looked down at the sight with wide eyes. The numbers they had to deal with before were a lot, but then add to that this? She saw Vanessa and Goodra in sight, and they both were firing beams of teal aura and draconic energy in every direction to keep a distance and sweep the frontlines. As much as she worried, she turned back towards Aphrodite to focus on her end of the deal.

"What. You seriously thought I only had that much manpower to work with?" Aphrodite scoffed. "The factory's gotta keep running, and humans aren't really machines. That's why I have a whole other lot for the other 12 hours. Now, where were we…? Oh yeah, that's right. Turning you into my slaves!" She got on all fours and expelled another thick cloud of Poison Gas.

"Finneon, Gust!" Sophie ordered. Finneon's wing fins glowed once more, flapping them and expelling a windstorm that blew the gas away. The wind swept through the rain into Aphrodite once more, but she only buffered briefly as the lukewarm winds were weakened by her empowering aura.

"You forgot about our little counter against your toxic gases!"

"I can see…then what about a counter for that counter?" Standing on her hindlegs, she glared at Finneon. "Torment!" She let out a loud, antagonizing hiss at Finneon. A faint red hue appeared over the fish's frame with red tick marks before they faded away.

Sophie blinked. That move was a new one. "What happened?"

Aphrodite smirked. "Trust me, you'll find out." Toxic gas fumed in her mouth again as she let out another bog of Poison Gas at them once more.

'She'll know that we'll repeat the same trick if she keeps using Poison Gas.' Sophie frowned. "Finneon!"

"Right!" Finneon flapped her wings…only for nothing to happen. Not even a glow. "Huh? Wait, what happened to my Gust?" She flapped herder, but nothing came out. Not even a breeze. "Something's wrong…my move won't work!"

Sophie gasped. "What?!"

Aphrodite darkly sneered.

With the toxic cloud quickly closing in, Sophie looked between the distance between the cloud and Finneon. She knew she had to do something, and fast! Though she could have recalled her to her Great Ball to help better escape the poison, her rationality was swept by impulse as she took off towards the fray.

"Finneon!" She leaped into the wake, grabbing Finneon and turning around just as the Poison Gas swallowed them both.

Standing amongst the numerous mages impeding her space, Vanessa closed her eyes focused on her Magic Power. Teal aura condensed to a singular point behind her and molded into draconic heads. "Aura Hydra!" Three large, serpentine structures of aura rose up and arched down onto the oncoming fray. The impact of the thick, solid matter was like getting like with an Iron Tail. They barreled across the ground and ploughed down dozens of mages that were unfortunate to have not dodged.

With Vanessa so focused on the battle, she was taken aback when she smelled something toxic. 'This smell…poison?' When she looked around, she didn't see any mages using anything like that. So where was it…?

Here yes widened when she looked up to where Sophie was. A thick, poisonous gas bloomed within a small raincloud. "Sophie…!" Her subconscious sensory picked up on it fast. Her friend was in trouble.

"I know, but I can do this, Vanessa…trust me."

Vanessa frowned heavily. Her normally relaxed expression was starting to show distress. 'Sophie, I want to believe you…but, is it too soon?' She picked up on an oncoming spell and turned to fire a compressed sphere of aura to meet the spell of spiraling light. A bright flare exploded that blinded everyone who was too close.

'I'm sorry, Sophie…' She made up her mind. "Goodra!"

"Yes, Vanessa?" Goodra questioned.

"Be ready, we're about to do it!"

Goodra's eyes widened. "You sure?"

"We don't have a choice. We need to level these numbers and the equipment!"

Goodra nodded. "Right, then let's go!"

Vanessa hummed as her body expelled high volumes of teal aura that materialized. The teal burst swallowed Goodra, whose own indigo energy was flourishing through the power surge. As the teal aura was taking shape, slick indigo armor started covering the makeshift body as it towered to proportions beyond what the other mages had anticipated.

"W-what the heck are they doing now?!" A mage exasperated.

To answer his question, they all awed as a humanoid structure towered above them. Standing on two legs was a teal, ethereal giant with flowing hair. However, on top of standard plating, there was a thick coating of indigo ethereal energy with glowing, light purple spots. These spots were on either side of the thighs, her waist, and on her cheeks. The indigo energy tugged the body, but was extremely thick where the tail and horns resembling Goodra flowed behind her. The stomach and groin area also grew thicker to compensate for a stronger base. In the chest area was Vanessa, alongside Goodra, their teal and indigo aura respectively fused and coursing throughout the transformation.

"Aura Guardian – Goodra!" They both announced.

The other mages looked completely stunned, some even backpedaled out of fear. However, some didn't hesitate to take the initiative.

"Hey, c'mon! It's just a bog target now! And you know what they say! The bigger they are, the harder they'll fall!" A mage insisted. "C'mon, hit it hard!"

Most of the mages followed his lead and began charging up magic spells, all being long-range. Elemental and spiritual spells were fired simultaneously all over the Aura Guardian. Neither Vanessa nor Goodra were fazed as the ethereal entity they were in took the attacks. However, to everyone's shock, the thick indigo aura covering the teal body absorbed the blows. What's more, attacks such as leaves and ice and other physical matter was sliding off the armor slowly.

"W-what…?" The mages were speechless. None of their attacks even made a dent in the thick, slimy, ethereal membrane.

The Aura Guardian followed Vanessa's head as she turned around, swinging her huge tail across. Waves of mages were blown away by the force. Nearby equipment and pillars were instantly crushed by the force of the sweep, leading to a series of cave-ins and collapsing structures around them.

While Vanessa and Goodra were taking care of their business, the Poison Gas on the platform diminished. Sophie was on a knee, her clothes damped by the rain, but she didn't mind. However, a purple blush enveloped her face as she coughed toxic bubbles. Luckily though – for her at least – she was able to save Finneon, who was wrapped in her cloth to act as a mask.

"Are you okay, Finneon?"

"Y-yes, I believe that I am…!" When Finneon looked up, she looked shocked to find her Trainer's condition. "Miss Sophie…why?"

"I…I'm not sure either." Sophie coughed from poison. "Everything in me just…told me to protect you."

Finneon's eyes widened. Flashes of when Sophie gave up her memories surfaced once again. This wouldn't be the first time she saw her Trainer proving how self-sacrificing she was for her friends.

"Well, ain't that just damn noble of you." Aphrodite sourly praised. "Color me impressed. But that was pretty stupid of you to take my poison like that."

Sophie sourly snorted. "I've seen stupider."

Aphrodite opened her maw and lurched forward, expelling another slick gush of Venoshock that darted straight for Sophie. When she was about to brace for the attack, a giant ethereal tendril intercepted the attack, slicking off the armor without so much as a dent.

"Huh? What now?!" Aphrodite turned towards the tendril's owner, which was a massive Goodra-like humanoid giant. "The hell did that thing come from!?"

"Vanessa…?" Sophie trailed off as the horn tendril snaked around her and Finneon. They were pulled off their feet and brought closer to the ample chest area, where Vanessa had genuine concern on her face.

"Sophie, are you alright?!" Vanessa called out, her tone forced.

Sophie blinked. "Vanessa…yeah, I think so. Just…got poisoned again. She used a move that stopped Gust from working, so the Poison Gas kept coming."

Vanessa had an idea of what she was talking about. "That must have been Torment. It's a move that prevents the target from utilizing the same move in consecutive fashion." She frowned. "She played us."

Sophie wasn't sure how to respond, but she picked up on something that was starting to show. Even though she hadn't known Vanessa for very long, it was something in her gut just screaming at her that something felt off about her that fell to worrying about her.

Even though this wasn't the right time, she didn't want to leave the feeling congesting their efforts. "Vanessa…what's wrong?"

"What do you mean?"

"Vanessa, I know my experience is substantially limited and all, but I'm not blind. I can tell…you're shaken by something."

"Sophie, we'll talk about this later.

"There might not be a later for us if you keep worrying about me to where you can't do your part!" Sophie snapped curtly. Her green eyes peered into Vanessa with no hesitation.

Vanessa's expression didn't change, but that blank stare was all the confirmation that Sophie needed. An uncomfortable silence fell between them as the Pularis woman tried to think of what to say to keep focus, but in her mind, all she saw Sophie's unconscious state after she sacrificed her memories.

Sophie continued. "Vanessa, if it's something I did, I'm sorry if it-"

"No, Sophie…" Vanessa muttered, cutting her off. "It's…not your fault. Not directly, at least."

Sophie blinked in confusion.

"Ever since you lost your memories, I know things haven't been the same for anyone. And I know I said that myself and everyone would do our best to look out for you. But,

"Joey?" Sophie's eyes gradually widened.

"You've started getting your confidence and assurance back. Too fast if I'm being personal. I was just worried…that I would be losing my best friend again."

Sophie stared with a newfound epiphany. Looking at Vanessa's deep frown, she could tell that she was dead serious with every word spoken. The reason she was worried about her was because they weren't as close as they were before? She never pegged Vanessa to be the jealous type, but looking back on their recent interactions, the signs were subtle. The times she told Vanessa about the things she and Joey did when they hung out surfaced, and how Vanessa kept a straight face and didn't seem to mind. Clearly that wasn't the case.

'I see…so that's why.' Despite how guilty she felt, Sophie couldn't help but smile. "Vanessa, look at me."

Vanessa did as told, her blue eyes fixed on the long-haired blonde.

"It's okay to worry about me. I really appreciate you thinking of me like that. But I should – no, I need – to tell you. I'm okay, really. Sure, I admit, I was feeling very stressed out because it felt like I had to live up to expectations of others, but I learned that I can just go at my own pace. I'm not…" She paused to cough poison once more. "-not the same person I was before. And I don't have to be. Just having Finneon, Kadabra, Araquanid, Joey, and others like you around is enough to give me piece of mind."

"Sophie…" Vanessa mulled.

"I really am grateful that you're my friend, Vanessa. But you're forgetting something important. Even if I'm facing these dangers, I'm not alone."

"She's right!" They all heard a familiar voice and looked down at the stairwell. Floating in the air was Kadabra, firing a Psybeam at the mages that were surrounding the Aura Guardian's feet. "Lady Sophie means much more to us now than she ever has before! Whatever hardships she may endure, we'll ascertain that experience together!"

Araquanid harshly snarled, lunging at a mage with glowing sharp fangs, via Bite. He whipped his head up and threw him down the stairs, knocking other men over like bowling pins. "My Trainer gave her life for us! If anyone dares to threaten that, I'll drown them and eat them alive!"

"I know Miss Sophie may seem daring now," Finneon softly spoke, looking at Sophie's poisoned condition. "But that's because she cares about us. It truly is a beautiful trait of hers."

"It isn't just you at my side, Vanessa. It's okay to share that space." Sophie assured. "So please…have a little more faith in me."

Vanessa was speechless. She was so worried for Sophie because of her now limited experience. She wanted to be there to help her every step of the way, but at the end of the day, Sophie still got the say with what to do with her life. She did have a point though, she wasn't going to grow if someone was there holding her hand the entire way. She would know, that's how she gained experience through her own battles. She wasn't walking this path alone, but at the same time, in case she fell back, it wouldn't be just her who could catch her. Joey would be there, and her Pokémon. All of them.

'Who would've thought I was being this selfish…' After what felt like an eternity, she humbly snickered. "You're growing up so fast, it scares me." She grinned. "Just promise me one thing."

"What?"

"Be sure you know what you're doing."

Sophie grinned. "I do. I know what I can do to end this with Aphrodite."

Her confidence in her friend restored, Vanessa reached back, pulling out another Antidote. "That case, this should be all you'll need." She sprayed into her aura, and the medicinal chemicals dissipated through the body. They traversed up the Goodra-like horns and flowed into Sophie on contact. The instant the medicine met her skin, the poison died off, returning her skin pigment to normal. "If you mean what you say, you won't fall for that again."

"Got it. Kadabra! Araquanid!"

Both Pokémon heard their Trainer's cry, immediately stopping to follow her up the stairs. Vanessa and Goodra proceeded to set Sophie and Finneon back down as the Rain Dance ceased, revealing a drenched platform that the Trainer/Mage landed on. Finneon stood in front of her, with Kadabra and Araquanid flanking her sides.

Seeing the numbers against her, Aphrodite cocked a brow. "Oh, gonna face me with more numbers, are ya? I'll just poison them, too, you know."

Araquanid hissed aggressively and readied to attack, but an arm stretched out from Sophie impeded his path. Sophie stood confidently against the Totem with no sign of wear. "I know what it's like, being told how to live your life. But at the end of the day, the only one who gets to manage your life is you. A close friend of mine once told me something important…"

"And that's okay. But don't let that stop you from wanting you to be in charge of your life."

"The only one who's in charge of your life, is you." Sophie recited what Joey told her that night.

Aphrodite snorted out her nostrils, eyerolling. "Well, it's a bit too late for that now. Got all this shit I have to manage now. Besides, the heck you gonna do? Report me?"

"If you really don't want this, then I know what I have to do." She fixated on Aphrodite, as her hand held up a Poké Ball. "I'll catch you."

Aphrodite's eyes widened. She, as well as Sophie's other Pokémon, were caught off guard by such an outlandish statement. Did she really say that out loud? Did she declare that she would catch her in order to make a point? The Totem Salazzle didn't know what to say as she registered this in her mind. But it didn't take too long for the notion to finally pass.

"…you…" Her mouth contorted into a crooked smile as she snickered. Said snicker turned into an uproarious laughter as she leaned back. "HAHAHAHA! Really, now? You, a human, actually daring to catch a Totem like me!" She yelled in her laughter.

Sophie didn't retort. Her expression was all she needed to convey her point.

"When Aphrodite calmed down, she looked excited. "Oh, this is definitely going to be entertaining. I'd like to see you try!"

"GRAAAAH~!" Krookodile swatted his tail like a mace, sending another mage flying into debris of fragmented lacrima and laminated cardboard torn up. He turned around and opened his jaws wide as the fangs glowed and extended, via Crunch. He bit down on a piece of the metal shipping container closest to him and tore it off like it was paper, much to everyone's shock. It pays to have jaws strong enough to crush cars. He pivoted and threw the metal as spells were heading his way, using it as a blockade that stopped the attacks cold.

"LET ME TELL YOU SOMETHING, SLAVE-DRIVEN MAGES WORKING IN HORRIBLE UNDERGROUND INDUSTRIAL CONDITIONS! YOUR SHIFT'S OVER! GRAAAH!" Krookodile roared vehemently as a dense red aura shot up, his eyes glaring bloody red.

Numerous mages panicked before, but more were being cautious. None dared to approach, which left Krookodile to lunge for them. The mages relying on long-range spells fired hastily, but Krookodile sped past them and closed the gap.

"OUTRAGE!" He instantly started slashing, kicking, and swinging his tail frantically. Any nearby personnel was immediately brought down in one fell swoop. It didn't help them that Krookodile's Attack was maxed out due to Moxie. Everything was leveled around him as he rampaged. From the people, to the cargo, even to the equipment; any Human Cubes that would otherwise be intact was stamped out as soon as he steamrolled and swung his way through the wreckage.

"Flash Cannon!" Nearby, Magnezone conjured silver light and fired it in a condensed beam across him. Mages beneath were caught up in a bright, flashy shockwave that blew them onto their backs in pain and agony. Magnezone floated over them, glaring down with a bright red lens glowing.

"Sorry about this…but you'll be grateful when this is all over."

"FIRE!" Whatever mages were left were getting desperate. They fired low-tier spells up towards Vanessa's Goodra armor and watched as their attacks didn't do anything. They only dissipated or slicked off the ethereal, slimy surface, much to their horror.

"Goodra!" Vanessa shouted.

Understanding, Goodra nodded. "Right! Let's go!" She bared her long, large horns atop her head as they glowed bright green. As she activated her move, the horns on the Aura Guardian copied her, making long, bright green tendrils brim with power.

"Power Whip!"

Goodra swung her head around, dragging the horns around into nearby structures. Facilities in the wake of these horns were smashed into, the metal and concrete shattering to debris that went flying. The conveyor belts got off track and eventually slowed down as the gears began smoking and crackling static. With another brutal slam of a horn, the belts connecting facilities were smashed into the ground, erupting into explosions.

"B-but how?! All the equipment is magic resistant!" A mage yelled, before getting swept off his feet.

The Aura Guardian turned and careened her head around, the horns extending and swinging around in a long arch. Large structures and metal were obliterated as they passed through. The factory's rained metal and destroyed equipment as any remaining mages ran for their lives for the way they came, hoping to escape this disaster zone.

Standing strong, the Aura Guardian was unfazed. Vanessa looked more certain than ever as she was doing her part with nothing weighing her down anymore. 'Maybe Krookodile was right…it's easier to level everything.'

Aphrodite got on all fours with her maw wide open, expelling another Flame Burst that sped towards Sophie and her party.

"Kadabra, Psybeam! Finneon, Water Pulse!" She commanded.

"Right!"

"You got it!"

Both respective Pokémon concurred and gathered energy in front of them. Kinetic energy turned into a blue, streaky beam, while a sphere of water shot straight ahead. The two attacks met the fireball in the center, creating a brief swirl of hot pink, fire, and water before it all imploded. Steam burst out everywhere and engulfed the area around the combatants.

Aphrodite rudely scoffed. "Another steam cloak? This ain't a sauna, you know." She was so caught up in her taunting that a pair of large eyes glimmered behind her. She didn't realize before it was too late.

"Araquanid, Bite!" Sophie shouted.

Araquanid hissed violently as he sprung through the steam, using it as cover to close the gap on the distracted Totem. His fangs glowed before he clamped down on her tail, sending waves of pain through her body that the Totem aura couldn't absorb.

"GAH!" Aphrodite felt pain. It didn't help her when Araquanid lifted his head and threw her into the air. She went sailing and crashed on her back with a loud thud.

"Lady Sophie, now!" Kadabra shouted.

Sophie nodded. "Just what I was thinking!" She pulled back her arm and threw a Poké Ball. The capsule spun through the air as it closed in on Aphrodite, eventually hitting her stomach area. It opened and turned the Totem into red energy that was drawn inside the container. It closed shut and dropped to the damp rooftop.

Everyone watched it carefully. They saw it shake once…but that was all, before the Poké Ball shattered to pieces and returned Aphrodite to her upright position.

"Not enough…" Sophie grunted.

Aphrodite hissed angrily. "Nice try, but you'll have to do better than that! Poison Gas!" She opened her mouth, expelling another thick bog of purple clouds that closed in on Sophie and the others.

Sophie didn't say anything as she glared at the oncoming intoxicating vestige. The poison cloud slowly came between her and Aphrodite, seemingly swallowing all of them in its poisonous wake.

"Hahahaha! What's the matter? Ran out of steam to avoid my poison? Or did you just give up?" Aphrodite taunted.

"Memory-Make: Field of Frozen Dreams!"

The voice caught the Totem by surprise. She looked down, noticing small plants sprouting beneath her feet, overtaking a large area of the platform's roof. The hardened buds quickly opened, revealing a very chilling pollen that felt like an Icy Wind from below. Aphrodite hissed at the cold wake striking her underside and toes.

"Gah! Chilly!" She exasperated, looking back at the poison cloud. "The hell's going on!?"

The Poison Gas still fumed around, making it hard to see her opponents clearly. It was only when it started subsiding did she see a wall of psychokinetic energy coming from a spoon did Aphrodite realize what happened. The poison cloud was divided around Sophie's team, with Kadabra at the forefront using his Confusion to redirect the flow.

"Now, Finneon! Water Gun!" At Sophie's command, Finneon opened her mouth and launched a dense spray of water that blasted a hole through the faded poison cloud.

Aphrodite's eyes widened. With her lower half chilled and frozen, she wasn't nimble enough to react fast enough. The attack met its mark, spraying her with force strong enough to make her stammer backwards while hissing in annoyance and retort. Even though the Totem aura raised her Special Defense, the move was still super effective.

"Let's try this, now!" Sophie held up another capsule, but unlike before, it was a Great Ball. She remembered that it had a higher success rate than Poké Balls, so it had to be more effective. She chucked it with a strong swing that went straight into Aphrodite's face, making contact and drew the Totem Salazzle inside once more.

They all watched the capsule drop to the ground again. They watched it shake once, then twice, then a third time…

'We're nearly there. Just a little more…' Sophie stared expectantly with what's to come.

However, before the capsule could click, it shattered to pieces as Aphrodite emerged yet again. She let out an angered hiss as she reeled from almost being caught. Sophie bit her bottom lip at how close their efforts fell over.

"Okay! Now I'm really pissed off!" Aphrodite exasperated. She opened her mouth and lurched at them. She unleashed another Venoshock that streamed through the air at high speeds into Finneon. Unfortunately for the fish, the Poison-type attack was a little too quick for her, sending her flying back.

"Finneon!" Sophie exclaimed.

"You and that guppy are getting on my last nerve! You really wanna catch me that bad? I don't see you trying hard enough!" Taunting their efforts, Aphrodite opened lurched forward, expelling another round of Poison Gas that clouded their way.

'Just a little more!' Sophie swiped her arm forward. "Kadabra, Confusion!"

"Right away!" His eyes glowing bright purple, Kadabra held out his spoon and focused his psychic powers. As the Poison Gas drew closer, he used kinetic waves as a wall and maneuvered the gas around them, sparing his allies from being poisoned.

With cover from Aphrodite, Sophie paced over and kneeled to Finneon. "Finneon, are you okay?"

Finneon winced as she struggled to get up from her side. The attack was strong, very strong. But she was able to pull through…barely.

'That Salazzle is strong. Finneon barely handled that. If she takes one more like that…' Sophie furrowed her brow as she glared up towards Araquanid. "Araquanid, get ready!"

"Don't even need to tell me!" He sneered, ready to pounce.

"N-no…not yet." Finneon strained, catching their attention. She slowly started getting up on her own, though she genuinely struggled. "I…can still keep going."

"Finneon?" Sophie blinked.

Finneon fixed herself upright with a determined expression. Flashes of Sophie's recent save flashed in her mind. "You…have always been such a kind and responsible woman…who always looked out for us. Now…" Her glare hardened. "It's my turn…to repay the favor!"

At that moment, Finneon's body erupted in a bright blue, shining light. The bright visage beamed through the toxic cloud, giving it a violet hue that Aphrodite saw.

"The hell's going on now?!"

Kadabra looked back, his eyes widening. "Miss Finneon, you're…!"

Araquanid didn't say anything, equally as shocked.

Sophie's eyes glazed with shock as she watched Finneon's body being engulfed by this light. She stepped back as she watched the fish's body gradually get bigger and change shape. She started developing long feelers, and her wing-like fins expanded. It also looked like she was growing a tail.

The light enveloping her eventually exploded, revealing Finneon's new form. As she emerged, she had a body that was still primarily dark blue scales. Her eyes were a deep pink, with her face and eyelids being a bright blue. Her butterfly wings that were her fins had moved from her tail end to her sides, acting like pectoral fins now, with bright blue edging that gave off a neon blue light. A band of bright blue scales ran vertically in the center of her fish body. To finish the ensemble, she had pelvic fins and a tail with a deep pink spot at the tip.

When she emerged, the evolved fish let out a tranquil hum as her wings lit up, giving off a light that pierced through the gas.

Sophie gasped. "Finneon…you've evolved!" She pulled out her Poké Dex and began analyzing,

"Lumineon, the Neon Pokémon. They traverse the deep waters as if crawling over the seafloor. The fantastic lights of its fins shine like stars in the night sky."

"Lumineon…" Sophie muttered the new name for her evolved fishy ally. Lumineon looked back at her, her dark pink eyes glimmering with certainty.

Aphrodite blinked, looking mildly stunned by the sudden revelation. "Huh…flashy. But just because you're no longer a guppy, doesn't mean you aren't fish fry! But first…" She turned towards Kadabra. "Torment!"

She let out a loud, agonizing hiss aimed at Kadabra. The offensive scowl had Kadabra enveloped in a red hue as tock marks appeared around him. The psychokinetic energy he was giving off steadily depleted, making his eyes widened. "My move…!"

Aphrodite sneered before she opened her mouth once more, expelling another blast of Poison Gas to envelop everyone.

Sophie frowned heavily. When she was ready to act, Lumineon suddenly moved forward in her stead. "Lumineon?"

"It's fine, Miss Sophie. Just watch." Confident, Lumineon faced the oncoming gas cloud with no worries. "You won't poison my friends again!" She flapped her four wings as they gave off a luminescent shine. A bright green wave emitted from her body that turned into a massive hemisphere that surrounded her peers. As the poison cloud closed in, the gas diffused through the barrier, having no effect.

"What?!" Aphrodite exasperated.

Kadabra gasped. "Miss Lumineon, is that…?"

Sophie blinked before she realized that it was a new move. She pulled out her PokéDex once more to check the move. "Safeguard?" She looked back at Lumineon with awe. "Lumineon…you learned Safeguard!"

Lumineon smirked. "I've said it before. You've been doing nothing but look out for us, Miss Sophie. This…is just my way of protecting you."

Aphrodite's eyes squinted with spite at the inconvenient surprise. "Okay, now I'm really not amused anymore."

"Neither are we." Sophie retorted, reaching for a Z-Crystal. "You're creating products that are endangering mages everywhere. We're shutting this whole operation down now…and you with it! Lumineon!"

Lumineon nodded. "Right. As you wish."

Sophie inserted the Waterium-Z into her Z-Ring with a loud click. She crossed her arms in front as the insignia for water appeared and instantly drew in light from everywhere. Recalling the needed pose for the particular Z-Move, Sophie moved both her arms in wave-like motions from one side to the other. An aqua blue aura ignited around her body that arched overhead and enveloped Lumineon. The Z-Power caused a large body of water to emerge behind Lumineon that built up like a wave ready to strike.

Aphrodite defiantly hissed as she lurched forward, expelling a dense Venoshock that seared through the air with high volume.

"Lumineon…HYDRO VORTEX!"

Lumineon hummed loudly as she flapped her wings, sending the flood through the area. The wave met the Venoshock, creating an acidic burst upon impact. However, despite the Poison-type attack's force, it barely slowed down the torrent that swept up Aphrodite. The Totem Salazzle found herself submerged and off her feet within a body of water, unable to move, let alone breathe.

Lumineon's eyes glinted bright blue as she swam through the makeshift sea. Her body unleashed a bright blue torrent that she swam through that Aphrodite reflexively attacked with more Venoshock. The liquid was strong, managing to dilute some of the volume down, but Lumineon and Sophie cried out with all their might, bulleting through and spearheading around her. The Apostle found herself unable to escape the momentum caused by the growing vortex around her that Lumineon coursed through. Gurgled cries were heard as the swell swallowed her entirely.

The vortex swerved about across the platform's top. The office area was unable to support the pressure of the Z-Move and collapsed. Everything inside shattered or shut off as it was swept up in the wake.

After a minute, the flood in front of Sophie and her Pokémon dialed down to flowing waterfalls down the sides. All that stood before them was Lumineon and what remained of the office area. The men that were defeated earlier were swept away by the tides and laid at the decimated ground level. Lumineon flapped her wings and gracefully settled on her pelvic fins on the damp ground.

A short distance from them, Aphrodite was on her stomach, groaning as her Totem aura was still flaring, but very weakly. She was trying to push herself up, but it looked like she didn't have the strength to perform such a task.

"How did she survive that?" Araquanid questioned.

"She managed to minimize the damage with her Venoshock." Kadabra pointed out. "But still, even with that and her special powers…I'm at a loss for what to say."

Aphrodite groaned as she struggled to stand. Though she was still conscious, much of her momentum earlier was lost. She could barely lift a claw. Sophie saw this and stagnantly frowned. The blonde silently walked up past Lumineon, who was quick to join up with her as she walked closer until she was a few meters away from Aphrodite.

As soon as her vision blurred back to functional, the first thing she saw was Sophie. She looked so composed and serious, but she was too tired to scare. She knew this was her defeat. "…tch, well this is embarrassing."

"I can only imagine." Sophie bluntly stated.

"Yeah, I bet you would. Just finish it already."

"I told you, that's not what I'm aiming for." Sophie rejected.

Aphrodite turned away, scoffing. "Tch, seriously? I just tried to poison you, did you forget?"

"No…my magic gives me a great memory. And I know that you have difficulty believing that I won't put you through something you don't want to do. But that's another thing someone taught me. You can always make new memories, as long as you're willing to stop looking over your shoulder."

Lumineon swam forward. "I can vouch for her. Miss Sophie will treat you well."

"You really wanna catch me, don't you?" Aphrodite paused to glance over at Kadabra and Araquanid. The two looked ready to act if she made the wrong move. She'd rather not suffer another drowning experience or alpha waves giving her a migraine. She looked back at Sophie, a short silence falling as she saw how serious she looked about her convictions. After a moment, she closed her eyes and snorted. "…tch. If you're gonna catch me, at least let it be in something colorful." She venomously spat.

Sophie blinked and she reached back for her supplies. She held up a Heal Ball and presented it towards Aphrodite. "Will this suffice?"

Glancing up, Aphrodite eyerolled. "Could be worse."

Sophie hummed in acknowledgment. She tossed the capsule and watched it fall and plop on Aphrodite's head. The capsule dragged her inside and closed shut. They all watched the container shake once, then twice, and then a third time…

Sophie waited to see if Aphrodite would try and put up on last tussle to get free.

Click!

The sound of a click never felt so relaxing. Sophie blinked twice before she caught up to reality. Walking over, she bent down and picked up the Heal Ball that contained her newly caught Salazzle. "I promise, you won't be wasted."

Lumineon smiled. "Congratulations, Miss Sophie."

Sophie turned to her, smiling. "It was thanks to you, Lumineon." She looked past her to the others. "All of you."

Kadabra and Araquanid looked contently at their Trainer's praise. The latter was about to rush forward to embrace her in his water bubble before Kadabra gripped a leg.

"Not the best time for that." He lightly scolded.

Aloud rumble was heard behind them. When they turned to look over the factory, everything was leveled. It didn't even look like a factory, so much that it resembled more of a smoking scrapyard. Vanessa and Goodra were still in the midst of destroying the primary facilities, while Magnezone was unleashing blasts of Flash Cannon at any resistance and secondary equipment that was in one piece.

"Well, looks like that's that for the Human Cube production." Sophie chimed. "At least we stopped any further production."

"Yes, that's true. But we may have more work ahead of us. Who knows how many Pokémon out there have those aside from the islanders?" Kadabra noted.

Vanessa was looking over the carnage she created before her eyes caught a glimpse over at the platform Sophie was on. "Sophie!" She moved the Aura Guardian over across the vicinity until it towered in front of the blonde. Now that she was closer, she could see the confident smile on Sophie's face,

The blonde winked. "Like I promised, I knew what I was doing."

Vanessa's expression changed to a small grin. Seeing her friend well and assured with her company around was like a wave of relief for the Pularis women. It was hard to believe that she was actually anxious for her safety a couple minutes ago. Yet here she was, healthy and well.

"Looks like Finneon wasn't the only one who evolved." She chimed, acknowledging Lumineon.

Sophie snickered. "Isn't that obvious?"

With the area in shambles, structures were flooring as mechanical equipment was smoking. Even though their part of the task was done, they knew better than to stick around in an environment like this.

"We should get out while we can." Sophie insisted.

Vanessa nodded. "Good idea. Krookodile!"

The control room was opened, with Krookodile emerging with chunks of metal and wires still leaking static. With all the men defeated, he found extra time to chew up some equipment. Hearing his Trainer's call, he spat out the debris and scoffed. "Alright…time to split!" He bent his knees and dove into the concrete ground, using Dig to burrow his own means out.

Vanessa deactivated her Aura Guardian. Dropping to the ground, she recalled her Goodra and Magnezone, whereas Sophie recalled her Pokémon altogether. The two girls jumped into the hole and evacuated back underground to each topside.

Meanwhile, with the facility in shambles, the men that were knocked out before started coming around. The ones that ran off or hid from the carnage slowly reemerge. Out of all the things that got their attention, their sights were set on the open hole that fell to darkness.

"Look…a way out!"

"Are we free now?"

"I don't see Mistress anywhere…let's split!"

As if in mutual agreement, all the able-bodied mages made way towards the hole created in the ground.

The Duosion created a purple orb on front of his body and fired three beams at Kirlia. He vanished thanks to a quick Teleport, evading the explosion's wake and appeared in midair before the Duosion.

"Magical Leaf!" Mest commanded.

Kirlia twirled his body in midair, summoning glowing green leaves that spun around. With a twist in his hips, he projected the leaves like projectiles at Duosion.

The fellow Psychic-type remained stationary as the attack headed his way. Instead of dodging or countering, a pink, transparent forcefield manifested in front and took the special attack. The leaves struck the shield, but they emerged from the other end half their normal size. The smaller-scale leaves were only enough to buffer the Duosion only slightly with little damage.

Mest's eyes widened in shock. "It knows Light Screen?!" He didn't have time to worry, because he saw the hypnotized Torkoal rolling his way on his axis, cloaked in a wheel of fire that left the majestic carpet charred as it trailed along. Mest teleported just before impact, making the Flame Wheel lose momentum. He reappeared on one of the chandeliers overhead, looking down at a safe distance from the hypnotized pair.

With time to think, he tried to relay his thought process on their predicament. 'This isn't good. We're not getting anywhere like this. With that Light Screen up, Kirlia hardly won't be able to inflict much damage. It doesn't help either that his attacks aren't very effective against Psychic or Fire-types from the start.' He scrunched his brow. 'It would be easier if I could manipulate their memories, but that hypnosis they're under…it's way too strong.'

He thought back to when he tried using his Memory Control on Octavius earlier. It was extremely rare to find others able to bypass his effects, save for the incident with Lysandre. It was so traumatizing that not a single person could forget. Now there was a hypnotic power that was strong enough to bypass memories altogether to act on the controllers will. It was as terrifying as it was frustrating for him.

'Damnit…what do we do now?' As he thought about his next move, he realized the Duosion glanced up and spotted him. 'Crap!'

The Duosion fired another Psyshock that beamed through the air. Mest teleported at the last second, evading the beams that struck the Chandelure-shaped chandelier. Shards fell to the ground as the ornament dropped towards the ground. It crashed loudly, sending violet-stained glass everywhere that Kirlia was forced to evade by teleporting. Torkoal was in front of Duosion as he had a Protect barrier up.

As soon as the glass settled, Mest appeared on the ground a safe distance from his opponents. "Kirlia, use Calm Mind, now!"

"Okay!"

As Kirlia prepared his move, the Duosion's hypnotized eyes glinted bright purple with a small energy wave. As Kirlia was focusing, Duosion suddenly sped around, his gelatinous exterior grazing Kirlia's body before the red aura emerged.

"What the-?!" Mest watched as Duosion quickly pulled away, having his body flourish a red aura that increased his Special Attack and Special Defense. Meanwhile, Kirlia didn't get anything from it. To say they were stunned would be an understatement.

'The heck was that? I've read about this before…' Mest thought for a moment. 'Wait…was that Snatch? That's a move that steals a Pokémon's beneficial status move if I remember. So it took Kirlia's Calm Mind and gained power instead. Great.'

Torkoal opened his mouth and lurched towards Mest. He fired a Fire Spin that funneled through the air until it met its mark on him. Mest grunted in pain as the flames swirled around him, keeping his space tight and snug.

With him constrained, the Duosion manifested multiple orbs of energy. Each orb had a bright green glow that buzzed much like an insect. He projected the Hidden Power at Kirlia while his target was trapped.

"Look out!" Mest shouted.

Mest spread his legs as he prepared to teleport…only that he couldn't. He found himself instead still inside the fires containment, much to his horror. "What? I can't teleport…" He saw the orbs heading towards Kirlia and realized what this meant. "No!"

The Hidden Power bolted into the Psychic/Fairy-type, bombarding with strong orbs that burst upon impact. The smoke flourished through the flames and pinned Mest in place. When the smoke cleared, Kirlia was on a knee, grunting in pain as he clutched his sides. The attack was strong for sure.

'I couldn't escape. Is it because of this Fire Spin?' Mest grimaced at the revelation. 'Great, just what I needed.' He felt his body ache as the flames brushed his side, most likely from the binding damage Fire Spin did.

"Kirlia, can you get up?!" he called out.

Kirlia grunted, trying his best to stand up. "Gnngh…I…think so…"

Mest frowned heavily. 'This isn't looking good. I can't teleport out of these flames, and if we use Calm Mind again, that Duosion might take it to get stronger. Think Mest! There's gotta be something you can do to fix this.' He started cycling through his head of everything he had on hand. 'Think! What do you…wait. That's it!'

He reached back and pulled out something from his pocket. He looked down at the object in his palm, which looked a lot like a smooth, ovular stone. It was primarily teal, but it had a bright white center that reminded him of dawn's early morning rays.

'I still have this to use.'

"Mest." Mest was minding his own business when he heard the familiar voice call to him. When he looked over, Erza was there.

"Huh? Yes, what is it? Something you need?" He asked.

Erza shook her head. "Not exactly. I heard that your Ralts evolved into Kirlia recently." She smiled. "Congratulations."

Mest sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Thanks…though really I was surprised myself. I didn't realize Ralts could evolve so suddenly."

Erza chuckled. "You'd be surprised. Certain Pokémon are easier to raise than others. I remember that it took a while for my Fletchinder to evolve into Talonflame. Compared to the others, her evolution was the most straightforward.""

Speaking of evolutions, they both turned towards the sound of thuds from the pillar beside them. They saw Mest's Kirlia bang his head repeatedly against the wooden base, as if bored out of his mind. Of course, this only brought Erza's curiosity to light.

"Is he usually like this?"

Mest groaned. "Unfortunately. Been that way since he was a Ralts. Not sure why though. Maybe he suffers migraines and hitting his head eases it. Though I fail to see how that's productive."

"I see. Then how about this?" She reached back, pulling out a peculiar stone that caught Mest's interests.

"What's this?"

"It's a Dawn Stone. Apparently, it helps certain Pokémon evolve. My Cloyster and Aegislash evolved from stones, but none of my other Pokémon benefit from that. I've seen this used before. It's supposed to help Kirlia evolve too into a strong Pokémon…" She furrowed her brow. "But apparently only if they're male."

"A Dawn Stone, you say." Mest took the stone and inspected it in his hand. The bright light in the center of the teal amber really caught his eye. He looked back at Kirlia, who was too busy putting a dent in the pillar with his head to pay heed. "I'll keep that in mind. Thanks."

He knew that the stone was important. He just didn't realize it until now how much he needed it. 'Guess there's no other way.'

Kirlia staggered back up to face Duosion and Torkoal. Both Pokémon glared at him as they charged up their attacks. He stood readily, knowing that he had to do something.

"Kirlia!"

"Huh?" He heard his Trainer's call and turned around. "What is it?"

"Here…TAKE IT!" With a powerful chuck, Mest threw the Dawn Stone straight into the air. It went up beyond the Fire Spin's reach, looking like an emerald glint in the air that Kirlia ogled at.

The Duosion and Torkoal fired their attacks while Kirlia was distracted. Their Psyshock and Fire Spin closed in. Kirlia teleported and evaded them, making them exploded in a swirling fire and purple implosion that dispersed quickly. In the air above, Kirlia reappeared in front of the stone, ready to touch its bright light.

"Okay…let's do this!" He reached out and touched the stone. The moment he did, a bright blue light came from the stone that clung to his body, causing him to shine brightly over Mest's head.

Mest watched with wide eyes filled with awe as Kirlia accepted the stone. Immediately, the differences were showing as Kirlia's body was starting to look more humanoid and robust. His thin limbs lengthened and grew thicker, with the horns atop his head starting to mold into a large crest.

The glowing figment dropped to the ground, twisting repeatedly until it punched the imploding energy flare, immediately putting it out. The light exploded, leveling out all the energy around it. Striking a pose in a charred circle was a white, bipedal Pokémon that had rounded hips with strong legs. He had a thin green torso with sharp, red horns that stuck out the back and chest. The arms resembled a lot like tonfas with extended, blade-like elbows. His head resembled a gladiator's helmet with a white face with spikes on the side, red eyes, and a teal head crest.

The newly evolved Pokémon gracefully stood up, facing forward with piercing red eyes. "I'm ready." He sternly noted.

Mest was taken aback by this evolution. "Kirlia evolved…" He pulled out his PokéDex, hearing out this new form he took.

"Gallade, the Blade Pokémon. Because it can sense what its foe is thinking, its attacks burst out first, fast, and furious."

'So his powers made him a great anticipator in battle…' Mest scanned the information on Gallade, his eyes widening at something. "Are all these your new moves?!"

"It'll be okay now." Gallade assured, crossing his elbows. "Don't worry…I'll end this quick."

The opposing Duosion prepared his move, as did Torkoal. Gallade remained still as he used his psychic powers to anticipate what they were thinking…nothing. As he expected, their minds were a total blank from the hypnosis they were under. But that didn't stop him from bursting after them at high speed.

The Duosion fired another Hidden Power, whereas the Torkoal unleashed another Fire Spin. As Gallade rushed in, he sidestepped around the spheres and flipped over the fire funnel with speed and grace. He bridged the gap with a swift lunge and appeared in front of Dusosion, his right arm pulled back as the elbow extended in glowing bright green. With a swift cleave, he cut into Duosion's body, making a dense energy cut go through the body. A critical hit.

"That was Leaf Blade." Mest realized, before his sides stung from the flames.

Gallade landed on the ground, facing away from Torkoal. The coal-eating turtle groaned before he was enveloped in flames and spun like a wheel as his target's back was turned. However, Gallade teleported without a second thought. The Torkoal kept going, bashing into Duosion while the latter was barely recovering.

As Torkoal diffused his flaming body, he looked around to find any sight of Gallade. However, his hypnotic mind didn't register the shadow looming over him that drew closer. With his left arm glowing bright white, Gallade came down on Torkoal's shell, slashing him into the carpet with a thud.

He pulled away and stood on his feet once more. He looked between Duosion and Torkoal as they both slowly got back up. "You're both under the influence of another. Don't worry…" He held up his blade arms, crossing them as they extended. "I'll clean the slate for you!"

The Duosion and Torkoal readied another Psyshock and Fire Spin. Gallade didn't hesitate to use Teleport, quickly disappearing before emerging between Duosion and Torkoal. The two hypnotized Pokémon caught on and turned towards him…only for him to use Teleport again. The two were unable to halt their own attacks as they struck the other, swallowing Duosion in a broiling fire funnel, whereas Torkoal was blasted through the air by the Psyshock, thudding and sliding away.

Gallade appeared closer to Mest once more, looking completely composed. Not once did he show this level of skill when he was a Kirlia. To say Mest was impressed would be a huge understatement. 'I had no idea that Kirlia could turn out like this. He's completely composed.'

Gallade glanced back at him, briefly meeting eyes with him. Mest didn't say anything, but he had a feeling of what he wanted to convey. "…do it."

Gallade turned back forward. "As you wish." He spread his legs as he aimed for Torkoal. He started running up to him, lowering his head as he charged. The closer he got, the brighter his crest shined. It gave off a bright blue light and generated a forcefield as the kinetic energy it gave off radiated like ripples.

As soon as Gallade was within range, he bent his knees and shot head-on into Torkoal just as he stood back up.

"Zen Headbutt!"

His crescent made contact with Torkoal's body, making an airwave upon impact. The force of the piercing ram was so strong that it shot Torkoal through the air. As Duosion was unable to move thanks to the Fire Spin, Torkoal's body slammed into him as he kept going. Both smashed into the closest pillar, denting a crater so deep that the top half gradually cracked apart from the bottom, toppling over with a loud thud. Both Torkoal and Duosion slumped to the pillar's base, their eyes brimming with swirls.

With the battle over, the Fire Spin surrounding Mest faded away. Now free to move, he was stuck in awe at his Gallade's skill, smirking. "Well…how about that."

Gallade turned around, walking back towards him with a straight face. "Sorry for the wait. Are you alright, Mest?"

"Yeah, I;m fine. Thanks." He grinned wryly, realizing the irony of the situation that just happened. "Guess all that time hitting your head really paid off after all." Mest mused.

Gallade hummed. "I have a thick skull. Was just frustrated because I couldn't use it until now."

Mest silently hummed in agreement. With their opponents defeated, he looked towards them with a frown. "Well, at least we don't have to worry about these guys for a while. We should probably still help back and help Gajeel."

"While I do agree, there's the matter of that device and me being a Psychic-type." Gallade bitterly reminded.

"Oh yeah, that's right…" Mest frowned heavily. He almost forgot about that. He could always return Gallade to his Pokémon Ball, but if they still needed to fight, what could they do then? He looked down at the defeated Duosion, noticing something that caught his eye. "Huh?"

"What is it?"

Mest kneeled down, looking at the brace that was still intact on his head. He furrowed his brow as he saw the lights were still on, despite the damage its owner took. Thinking back, he got an idea.

"I have a theory…"

The sounds of metal colliding repeatedly went through the chamber. Sparks flew between Gajeel and Pantherlily as the two were parrying blows. Gajeel's arms were iron jagged swords that he used to parry and intercept Pantherlily's advances. He knew firsthand from training just how strong he was with his Musica Sword, but now things were different now that he was acting to Octavius's will. The Exceed was forced to try and kill his partner.

Gajeel swung again, meeting Pantherlily's blade for the umpteenth time. Sparks flew like a festival between them as the latter's strikes were more ferocious, but more so that Gajeel was trying to play on defense. He couldn't actively try to hurt Pantherlily, not when he wasn't in the right state of mind anyway.

They collided again, with Gajeel gritting his teeth. "C'mon, man! Snap out of it already! Don't you dare tell me that you forgot!" He ached for a response, but all he got was a rapid slash that he parried by crossing his iron swords. The force was so strong that it pushed him back by a foot. 'This isn't working. He's completely out of it.'

Meanwhile, with their Trainer preoccupied, Aron and Shieldon had no choice but to hold their ground against the onslaught of Pokémon attacking them. The Raichu beamed into Aron with a Feint straight into his face, which he tanked without issue. Shieldon stood his ground when the Heliolisk shot at him with Quick Attack. But what both didn't realize was that this was a feint but itself. As soon as they pulled away, they were wide open for Mareep to expel more balls of cotton that rushed after them, leaving them stuck in place as blue aura enveloped them, reducing their speed harshly once more. They were wide open for Luxio and Eelektrik to close the gap and barrel their fangs and head into both of them.

Both Pokémon let out pained cries at the onslaught they were forced to endure. It didn't help that Luxio and Eelektrik's attacks caused them both to flinch, making them unable to counter.

Octavius let out a crude snicker. "Now this is just turning sad. You all came in with such bravado. Where did that all go?" He let out another mocking laughter just to spite his enemies. From Gajeel's twisted scowl, he could tell it was working.

'Crap! We aren't getting anywhere like this!' Gajeel pulled away, narrowly avoiding the edge of Pantherlily's blade. As soon as he got a safe distance between them, he pressed his heels on the ground and balled his fists. "You're really gonna make me do this, aren't you?"

As expected, the hypnotized Pantherlily's only response was him lunging at him.

"I'll make this as painless as I can. Just hang on!" Gajeel clenched his fists tighter as his skin turned to solid, dark iron. Shadows emerged from his body with a tint of silver in them as his eyes lost their pupils. "Iron Shadow Dragon Mode!"

Octavius cocked a brow, humored if not surprised. "Oh? What's this?"

Pantherlily closed the gap and made a broad slash that Gajeel saw coming a mile away. He turned into shadows and evaded the horizontal cleave. Pantherlily stood upright and looked around for his opponent, unable to see him in the low lighting the facility provided. He then felt a crushing force on the back of his head that immediately floored him. Standing over him, Gajeel emerged from his shadow form with his fist held out. The blow was so hard that it knocked the Exceed's blade out of his hand. He glanced over as he went to retrieve it.

"I don't think so!" Gajeel summoned iron cuffs from the ground that anchored Pantherlily's wrist. When he tried reaching with the other, it too was incapacitated by an iron cuff bolted into the ground. He tried to budged them, but even with his brute strength, the restraints had him anchored good.

"Sorry pal, I'll be back soon." With that, Gajeel turned towards the battle. He saw Heliolisk and Electrode readying lightning to fire. As the two fired a bolstering Thunder and Electro Ball respectively at the slow Aron and Shieldon, Gajeel shot a barrage of iron kunai drenched in a shadowy aura. The iron intercepted the two attack in the center, acting as lightning conductors that took the hit for his Pokémon.

"Using your iron like lightning rods…well played." Octavius commented.

"You haven't seen anything yet!" Gajeel morphed into shadows and snaked clean through the Electric-types. His top half solidified with his left arm pulled across, morphed into a dark iron, jagged blade aimed for Octavius's back.

The Malamar's eyes widened. 'So agile!'

"Say goodnight, you upturned calamari! Iron Shadow Dragon's Sword!"

Gajeel went for a horizontal slash into Octavius, who only had wide eyes at the oncoming attack. Just before the attack struck, however, the Malamar's body glowed before it vanished like an illusion. This caught Gajeel by surprise as he looked around, finding duplicates of Octavius standing or floating around him.

"Are you kidding me?" he exasperated. "What's the matter? Afraid to fight head-on?"

"Hahaha! Please, like I'm that dense. You clearly don't give me enough credit, do you?" Octavius chimed, his clones echoing around the Dragon Slayer. "Perhaps you've forgotten, but it's easier to win if you keep your best hand as close to you as possible. And do you know what a human-trained Pokémon's greatest weakness is?"

Gajeel's eyes narrowed, refusing to answer.

"I'll tell you: Their independence. They rely so much on commands from humans. But what if that human lost that ability?"

Gajeel's eyes widened. He made a harsh swipe across, but only ended up clearing away a half dozen clones. His ears were playing tricks with him. With his back turned, he caught a smell from behind and pivoted, but by then, tendril arms were covered and purple energy that jabbed at his neck.

"Throat Chop!"

The tentacles jabbed Gajeel's ironclad throat. Even with the defense, the impact was fairly harsh. Gajeel lost his second wind as he felt his esophagus feeling like it was punched in two. He backpedaled unsteadily, gagging as he clutched his aching throat.

"Gajeel!" Aron shouted.

"What happened?!" Shieldon yelled, startled.

Malamar chuckled, towering over Gajeel. "I'll tell you…they become stagnant pawns. You earn their trust through your reasoning and your apparent guidance. But what good is a loyal soldier that will listen, if the general isn't able to give orders?"

Gajeel wanted to retort, but all he did was cough. Not even a roar could get through his throat. It was like all aspects of sound left him completely. 'The hell?! I can't talk! What the hell did that Malamar do to me?!'

Octavius chuckled as he pulled away. "You're an agile one. Let's fix that, shall we?" He pointed a tentacle at him, to which the Flaaffy responded. He aimed his tail at Gajeel and produced yellow rings of electricity that connected with him. An electrical forcefield ripples as static crackled around him, stunning him as the Thunder Wave met its mark.

'Crap! Now I'm paralyzed!'

"Not very useful if you're stunned, are you? And you can't roar, which means you're virtually worthless." He swiped a tentacle across. "Put him out of his misery, would you mind? I'll recondition him later when the paralysis wears off."

The other Electric-types that were focused on Aron and Shieldon turned to Gajeel on command. Electrode unleashed a beam of electricity in conjunction with Heliolisk unleashing another blistering beam of lightning. Paralyzed, Gajeel was forced to take the onslaught of voltage that coursed through his body. He gawked in pain as his voice was completely hoarse.

Just when the attacks seemed to have ceased, the Luxio ran up and bite him with glowing fangs. A super effective hit that he felt run through his shoulder. The Eelektrik then pounced and wrapped his body around him, constricting around his neck and gradually started to dwindle the Iron Shadow Dragon's stamina.

Over and over, the Pokémon's onslaught was merciless on Gajeel as he was too stunned to act. Add in the binding damage he was taking, on top of the repeated assault; he could feel his ironclad scales becoming sensitive and uncomfortable.

"Why you…!" Aron wanted to move, but he was so slow now that it was impossible to get there in time.

Shieldon growled angrily. "What do we do now?!"

Octavius uproariously laughed. "You can't speak, you can't move! You humans try so hard to be dominant, but your society is so fragile that it's that easy to put you under! A human who can't direct his Pokémon…is worth much less than the Pokémon itself."

Gajeel continued silently crying out as the electricity poured through him. He gnashed his iron jaws together and strained with every fiber in his being. 'Then I guess…it's a good thing that I prepared for this, huh?'

It was subtle, but while he was curled over, he started moving his hands. His right hand was balled and flexing out his fingers, which he pressed against the back of his left hand. This didn't go unnoticed by Shieldon.

"Huh? Hey, Aron, look!"

"Eh?" Aron's large blue eyes locked onto Gajeel, noticing his bizarre hand gestures. "Hold on, is that what I think it is?"

The two paused as they saw Gajeel repeating the gesture again more forcefully. They turned towards each other, finally acknowledging what their Trainer was asking for. Aron stepped up, glaring harshly.

"Then how's about this!" A brief glow appeared around him as distorted ripples appeared overhead.

Octavius looked up, looking visibly surprised. "What?!"

From the ripples, multiple gray rocks dropped down like rain around Gajeel. Thanks to Double Team's increased evasion, Octavius was able to weave around falling stones easily. Out of the many Electric-type attacking, only Heliolisk and Eelektrik were able to fully escape the bombarding boulders. The others were unfortunate enough to suffer pummeling by the attack from above. Though, the attack's strength wasn't as much as it should have been thanks to Luxio's Intimidate earlier lowering Aron's attack.

'About time!' Gajeel smirked, pulling himself away from the distraction. He cringed briefly as he felt the effects of the paralysis still kicking.

Octavius uncovered, looking ahead bewildered at what just happened. 'How can this be? Did the Pokémon act on their own? No. Something's off here.'

Shieldon turned towards Gajeel, seeing what he would ask of him. When he saw Gajeel's gesture, he saw his one hand's fingertips dip and close as he rammed it into his palm. Shieldon nodded in understanding. "Right! Here we go!" He turned ahead and went charging for Electrode.

As the Electrode was rocking back and forth to dislodge from the rocks piled on it, it looked forward and saw Shieldon heading straight at it with a forcefield around the head in a steadfast charge. It was slow, but that didn't make it any less painful upon contact. The Take Down struck dead center, making Electrode roll away in a pained daze. Shieldon cringed in pain from the recoil damage he received, but he was able to shake it off, albeit almost losing his footing.

Seeing this bizarre motion, Octavius looked piqued. "What kind of relationship is this?" He looked back at Gajeel with surprise. 'That human just now…it looked like he gave out a hand signal. Wait…could it be?'

A small smirk crossed Gajeel's face. 'Looks like that training's paying off.'

"You want us to learn what now?"

Aron voiced both his and Shieldon's thoughts. The two were standing in a clearing in the middle of the forest that sat just outside Magnolia. It was a clear day for training outdoors, otherwise they'd be complaining if it were raining. Gajeel agreed of course, since it'd be a pain if they all started rusting.

"What do you mean by learning these 'hand signals'? I thought we'd be learning stronger moves!" Shieldon complained.

"Listen, I don't like this anymore than you do!" Gajeel retorted. "But after what happened back against that cowboy ninja guy, I'd rather not go through another instance like that again."

He thought about his battle against Decker, how his Mute Magic and swift, stealthy movements made him a nuisance. Even more so when he was able to cut off all vocal communication with Gajeel and his allies present at the time.

"I get it. It makes sense. If you want to take a stealthier approach, having visual commands would be more effective and vocal commands." Pantherlily commented. "That's a good base to cover, especially this early in your Pokémon training."

Aron grunted, recalling the struggle he had to put up with back then. "Gngh…guess so. As long as it means I don't have to be your personal shot put again." He still wasn't letting go of that time Gajeel threw him. He made sure his Trainer got the message from that Headbutt.

Shieldon scoffed. "This all sounds complicated. Why don't we just battle like we always do?"

"Hey, do you wanna lose because of a misunderstanding?" Gajeel countered, managing to silence the prehistoric Pokémon. "I know you think it might be hard, but this is just in case. Besides…" He dropped to a knee, putting a hand on both their heads. "Believe it or not, you're my Pokémon. And I'm doing my part as a Trainer to look out for you."

Aron and Shieldon paused and turned towards each other. Gajeel was normally tough, but also fair. Mostly grumpy and serious, especially during training when he wanted to get stuff done. But seeing how genuine he was with what he said shook them up to their rocky-iron cores. Their resentment to this idea of adaptive training simmered ever so slightly.

Shieldon closed his eyes, bashfully huffing. "W-well…guess it wouldn't hurt to try. I'm a Rock-type after all, so I'll hold my own."

"Yeah, sure. What he said." Aron relented.

"Sorry I'm late!" Arriving to the spot was Levy with her Klink. In her hands were several sizeable textbooks that looked rather heavy. Unsurprising though, she was handling it just fine.

Gajeel turned towards her, smiling happily. "Hey, Levy. How was the trip?"

"It wasn't bad. The library wasn't that busy today, so I got what I needed." She admitted. "Oh, and I got what you asked for. Here." She handed Gajeel a few textbooks, with titles and pictures that looked like they related to the training he was going to do.

"Thanks, I appreciate it."

She smiled sweetly. "No sweat! It's great seeing you work so hard to make them stronger." She pumped her fists excitedly. "Right, then we'll join you too."

Gajeel didn't hesitate. "Works for me." He turned back towards Aron and Shieldon. "You guys ready? The important part of all this is…if you guys can't hear me, you better be damn sure you're looking at me."

Gajeel lost track of how many hours it took for him to get all the hand signs right for his Pokémon. It took even longer for them to fully understand what each one meant. But despite the long, agonizing training with lack of voice commands, the results were finally showing as Aron and Shieldon were responding accordingly to each gesture given.

'Guess all that time learning those weird hand signals was worth it after all.' Gajeel smirked. He pulled out a Full Heal and began spraying himself. The medicine began working its magic as the paralysis slowly began fading away, making him more mobile again.

Taken aback at first, Octavius recovered and scoffed. "Your fancy sign language won't save you from becoming my eventual puppets!" He jutted a tentacle out, forcing all the Electric-type Pokémon to start charging their Electric-type attacks.

'Oh no you don't!' Unable to call out still, Gajeel vented that frustration into a fist that he slammed into the ground. Several iron columns erupted and crossed one another around the six Electric-types, pinning them within its vicinity.

All at once, they all unleashed their Electric-type attacks, ranging from Electro Ball, to Thunderbolt, Thunder, and Spark. Despite their best aim, however, the iron columns surrounding them conducted the electricity.

"What's this?!" Octavius exasperated. "He's using his iron as a conductor…and a cage?!"

'That'll hold them. Now then, time for the fun part.' Gajeel turned towards Aron and Shieldon once more, giving them hand signs. He crossed his arms first, then followed by pointing directly at Aron, much to their shock.

"Wait…are you serious?!" Shieldon exasperated.

Gajeel nodded firmly, his metallic eyes saying all the reassurance that they needed.

Though he hesitated, Shieldon got over it and turned towards Aron. "Alright, here goes…" He spread his legs and glared at his companion. "Swagger!"

A red aura enveloped Shieldon first, before overtaking Aron. The aura faded, only to be replaced by another thick, red aura that sharply boosted Aron's attack. His eyes, however, turned red as he looked dizzily around.

Gajeel quickly appeared behind him, using yet another Full Heal to cure Aron of the confusion. When he looked back, he saw Gajeel make the same gesture as he did before, pointing at the trapped Electric-types.

"Let's go! Rock Slide!"

Distorted ripples appeared over their heads. With the iron columns brimming with electricity, they were vulnerable inside as the gray boulders came crashing down. All of them emotionlessly looked up before they were bombarded by rocks that hammered away. The chamber shuddered from the force of this attack. Octavius was forced to veer away as to avoid any stray boulders that would have fallen in his direction.

When the attack subsided, the dust eventually settled. To the surprise of everyone, the increased Attack from Swagger paid off for Aron. The Rock Slide struck all the grouped Electric-types, with all of them sprawled on the ground with swirly eyes with open maws. They were all knocked out.

"It worked!" Shieldon cheered.

Aron snorted. "Now we're talking!"

Octavius looked surprised at his fallen aids. He never expected such a revelation. "Inconceivable…this wasn't part of the plan." He turned towards Gajeel, now visibly pissed. "You're really forcing my hand, aren't you?"

"Heh…took you this long to realize?" With a cough, Gajeel's voice was finally coming back. Though his throat was sore, he was at least able to speak once again. "Wasn't my first time where communication was flawed. That's what you failed to account. You really think that us humans are easy pickings? Well let me tell you…" He rammed a fist into his open palm. "We in Fairy Tail…don't ever give up on each other!"

Aron stomped his stubby heel on the ground, resonating with Gajeel's speech. His eyes glimmered with tenacity. "That's right! Now…time to show you just what we're made of!" He roared out, his body enveloped in a bright blue glow.

"Huh?! Aron!" Shieldon gasped.

Gajeel looked stunned as well, growing silent.

Octavius floated in place, watching the light illuminate the opponent. "You can't be serious…"

They all watched in awe as Aron's tiny frame began to grow more robust and edgier. His frame grew ridges, with the armor looking thicker. His limbs grew as well, with the toes growing three claws on the tips.

When the light exploded, in place of Aron was a new Pokémon. The Pokémon in question was a quadruped, stocky, armored creature with a dark gray body. The back was covered in segmented iron armor, each with a high ridge and dark holes on either side. Several flat protrusions hung on either side of his underjaw area, where two sharp teeth were visible. On each leg were metal bands; with the top being gray while the lower ones were silver.

Opening his sky-blue eyes, the evolved armored creature let out a loud roar to assert his new appearance. Suffice to say that he looked more terrifying than before if Shieldon flinched.

"Aron…did you just evolve?" Gajeel picked up his PokéDex, analyzing his new Pokémon.

"Lairon, the Iron Armor Pokémon. Lairon tempers its steel body by drinking highly nutritious mineral springwater until it is bloated. This Pokémon makes its nest close to springs of delicious water."

Gajeel blinked, genuinely surprised by this revelation. "Not bad…let's see what you can do!"

Octavius sneered. "Impressive…but I won't give you that chance!" He created a sphere of blue energy and fired a streaky beam at them. "Psybeam!"

Gajeel reached his arm out. "Shieldon, give us cover! Ancient Power!"

"Right!" Shieldon's body gave off a bright glow, turning into a silver sphere that he fired at the projectile beam. The two attacks met centerfield, creating a smoky surge that obscured everything between them.

With the smoke as cover, Octavius flashed before multitudes of himself shot out and spread around them all. Using his Double Team, he covered all the angles around Gajeel, Lairon, and Shieldon. They all glanced around to see them all look alike.

"This trick again, huh?" Gajeel scoffed.

Octavius sneered. "I'll make you understand just how senile your vision is to ours!" His translucent body began brimming lights from all the clones. His Hypnosis waves shone like spotlights that were shining on all three. With all of them radiating the light, it was impossible to tell where it was coming from.

"I…feel sleepy…" Shieldon grimaced.

Lairon grunted, trying to fight the urge to loosen up. But even he was losing ground.

Gajeel stayed still, his eyes closed so as to avoid the direct rays.

Meanwhile, Octavius was hidden amongst his clones. He was behind Gajeel, his smirk widening as he knew this trick wouldn't fail him. It never had. 'Any second now. They'll be under my trance. Just like the rest of them-!'

BAM!

The force was almost instant. Octavius felt something hard strike his abdomen, where his lights were brimming. With the wind knocked out of him, it took him a second to register the outstretched iron column sticking out from Gajeel's leg as he was looking away. "But…how…?"

Gajeel roared as he pivoted on his other leg, swinging Octavius around within the momentum through the illusionary clones. They all faded away as he swept by and was slammed into one of the giant conductors around the forcefield. With Octavius wedged between the column and the conductor, Gajeel didn't have to worry about getting shocked like Pantherlily was.

"Did you forget? Nothing can escape a Dragon Slayer's nose!" Gajeel scoffed. "Saw that coming a mile away!"

Octavius grunted as he tried to wedge himself free. He grunted angrily as he raised his tentacles as they shined purple. He jabbed Gajeel's column with Throat Chop, sending pain through his nerves. But the Iron Shadow Dragon was locked on.

Holding up his Z-Ring, he inserted a Steelium-Z. He glanced over at Lairon, who nodded in understanding. The latter roared as he took his position.

"What now?!" Octavius exasperated.

Unable to speak for the time being, Gajeel instead crossed his arms, while keeping his right leg column out to pin Octavius. Light from all around faded as the Steelium-Z emitted a silver light that enveloped his body that transmitted into an arch over Lairon. The Z-Move's power coursed through him.

'That evasion you got will be a pain…so let's hit you with something that even you can't dodge!' Gajeel thought. 'Do it…Lairon!'

"GRAAAAAAH!" Lairon careened his head up and let out a roar so powerful that it shook the air. He jumped into the air with amazing strength, paralleling himself with the pinned down Octavius. His body aligned, he began spinning like a massive silver drill, ready to strike him down.

"CORKSCREW CRASH!"

He bored through the air with all the might he had in him. With Octavius's abdominal light blocked by the column, he couldn't produce any hypnosis to slow him down. He could only gape his beak and scream in horror and irony as the drill met its mark.

The impact was instantaneous. The force crushed Octavius into the conductor, causing the entire top of the structure to explode and shatter towards the ground. Static ran through the entire structure uncontrollably before it flashed on every side, the circuits and magically engineered hardware shutting down. The forcefield flickered on and off around the massive machine, before it eventually settled on fading away. Octavius fell amongst the debris, crashing into the ground with a loud thud around the heavy fragments.

With him out of commission, Gajeel felt the tension ease in his throat. He grazed the skin of his jugular before realizing what happened. Smirking, he looked on as his opponent was taken down.

"That's how we do it." He sneered.

Meanwhile, Pantherlily was still struggling to break himself free. Though he tried his hardest through his trance, his body suddenly jerked, his eyes returning some light. He blinked several times, realizing that something was off. "Hey, what's going on?" He looked down, realizing he was cuffed. "And why am I in cuffs?!"

"Guess you're back to normal. That's good." Gajeel chimed.

Pantherlily's eyes widened in surprise. "Gajeel? What happened?"

"Relax. That overgrown sushi platter put you in a trance…looks like kicking his ass was the only way of snapping you out of it."

Pantherlily looked past Gajeel, seeing the debris pile where Octavius laid, his eyes brimming with swirls. "I see…thanks for that. I apologize for the inconvenience."

Gajeel smirked. "Don't mention it."

In a moment, Mest and Gallade teleported to Gajeel's side, the latter's head guarded by the Duosion's brace from before.

"You sure took your sweet time, didn't you?" Gajeel taunted.

"Sorry. They were more trouble than we anticipated." Mest reasoned.

Gajeel didn't chastised on the matter, instead turning his attention towards the unfamiliar humanoid beside him. "Mind telling me who he is?"

"Relax. This is Gallade. He evolved from Kirlia during our battle." Mest turned towards Gajeel's Lairon, who wasn't too far away. "And it looks like I wasn't the only one who had an evolved Pokémon of my own."

Gajeel noticed the pink brace on Gallade's head, cocking a brow. "The heck is that?"

Mest glanced at his Gallade. "I was wondering that myself. When we first came here, Kirlia suffered a lethal kinetic mind wave. Our guess was that machine had some kind of psychokinetic pressure effect on other Psychic-types. But that Duosion we fought earlier wasn't affected." He furrowed his brow as he glared at the brace. "Looks like my hunch was right. That device helps Gallade withstand those psychic waves if he isn't suffering already."

"It's rather tight, though." Gallade complained, touching the sides of the bands hugging his forehead.

"It auto adjusts on contact. Guess it's a safety feature." Mest figured. "Now then…"

The group turned their attention towards the debris of the conductor, where a certain Malamar was laying amongst its wreckage. The squid was clearly in a daze, half-conscious even. His squinted vision faded in and out of perception as figments towered over him.

"Seems like…I was overturned this round…" Octavius muttered jokingly. "I haven't been this topsy-turvy since I evolved…you could say that I was upright?"

"It's over. You've lost." Mest coldly scowled. "Tell us about this machine, right now! You are the one behind this charade, aren't you?!"

Octavius opened his beak to talk, but stopped himself before any words could come out. He blinked and saw how serious and life-threatening Mest was towards his claims. And yet, despite how he should be afraid, the Overturned Pokémon's beak curved into a smirk.

"Hehe…hehehehe…hahaha!" Octavius started chuckling, getting louder with each breath.

"The hell is he laughing at?" Lairon grunted.

"Maybe that last shot knocked his last screw loose." Gajeel sneered.

Bearing little patience, Mest leaned in closer. "What's so funny?! You think all this is just a sick joke?!"

Octavius quelled his laughter to finally talk. "My apologies. It's just…well…it's so ironic that you think I like sick jokes."

"What…?"

"Don't get me wrong, crude humor itself is but fine Honey…though, I find it to be the most humorous to believe that you humans think that your perspectives are the right ones." He paused, allowing everyone to look quizzically at him. "'It's all fun and games until somebody gets hurt'. You really think that I'm that ignorant to a moral? The fact that you think this full-scale operation is just one big joke for my twisted amusement shows just how much you know. You see this as a game where you think I'm the final boss and things just magically work themselves out soon after my downfall? If you really think this is the endgame…then I think you just fooled yourselves."

Mest gritted his teeth, narrowing his eyes. At his behest, Gallade stepped up, extending his elbow into a blade that was inches from Octavius's face. "What does that mean, exactly? Tell us, what are you trying to accomplish here?"

Octavius's smirk widened. "You really wanna know?"

As everything around them was crackling from the static, Octavius was explaining something. As he spoke, Gajeel and Mest's eyes slowly widened, their pupils shrinking to the size of salt grains. The color of their skin paled as though they had just seen a ghost.

"…what just you just say…?" Mest breathed, barely processing what he just heard.

"You heard me. Did that finally turn your merry world upside-down?" Octavius taunted. "You really thought that I was a psychopath, I can't compete with him. I'm just part of the grand agenda…but still, it's so humorous to think that just because I can manipulate others on a whim that you choose to point those fleshy fingers at me. Now that's a good joke." Octavius broke out in another mocking laughter. "You all played yourselves! That's how easy it is to use humans! The scope that you see everything through…is far smaller than you think."

Gajeel and Mest exchanged horrified looks. Their eyes said it all: They were played.

"This is bad." Mest muttered. "This is very bad. Where the hell is Nic?!"

The outside breeze flowed through the massive, melted hole that took up the entire wall of Quinlan's eloquent chamber. The cool air quickly solidified the molten rock, turning it to smoother slips of stone that kept the remainder of the chamber wall intact.

Nic stood on the ground several meters in front of Quinlan, his Charizard at his side. His frown was deep and serious as he glared at the smirking king.

"Well now, seems your reputation upholds you…you always do have such remarkable entrances." Quinlan mused.

Nic didn't respond, instead glaring unamused daggers at his opponent.

"I suppose that formal introductions are in order. I am this province's sovereign. My name is Quinlan Zel Vansley IV, but my peers call me King Quinlan. And may I say that it's quite an honor to finally be meeting you face-to-face like this, Nic Pularis. I've heard much about you. Both you and your so-called guildmates' ability to cause a ruckus means no bounds. You've certainly made a heavy number on my beloved Pokétopia. You truly are a force to be reckoned with."

Nic and Charizard continued giving the silent treatment. Their eyes spoke all the words they wanted to say, which was nothing to help saturate Quinlan's sugarcoating.

"You've done well getting this far, but now I ask you…exactly, how do you intend to stop me?"

"You done talking? Or am I gonna have to bring you out myself?"

Quinlan raised a brow. "What are you talking about?"

Nic sighed out his nostrils. After the day he had, he was done beating around the bush. He pointed past Quinlan towards the curtains behind him. Charizard understood and opened his maw, unleashing a bolstering, broiling Flamethrower that shook the entire room. Quinlan's eyes widened as the wake forced him out of the way as the flaming beam closed in on its target.

Just when it looked like the blaze was about to incinerate the wall, an invisible force exploded outwards, deflecting the flames in several smaller streams that melted through the ceiling and other walls. Furniture like the bed was incinerated in a matter of seconds. Walls had holes of molten rocks bleeding out and gushing onto the floor. Yet, the drapes remained untouched.

As Charizard's flames settled, the Flame Pokémon scowled.

"I'm done playing your game." Nic scowled. "So lose the façade already."

Quinlan's eyes were wide, but he didn't move. He seemingly got over the shock and returned to a calm disposition. However, unlike his neutral frown like before, it was a dense frown as he scoffed. Suddenly, his eyes shined bright blue as he turned stiff as a statue.

Behind the drapes, another set of bright blue eyes beamed intensely. Even through the thick fabrics, a series of red, green, and blue colors went off as a silhouette with a large head lit up.

Seeing his piercing glow, Nic glared daggers while standing his ground. "So…you're the one behind all this."

Sorry for the delay, but here's an update for March! Hoped you enjoyed!