Watcher of Arceus - Path of the Immortal

by The Shadow Master of Weapons

Watchers, the direct descendants of Arceus herself, sets of twins born with her power. Born in pairs, these twins were meant to bridge the gap that had come between humans and pokémon, one a gifted human, born beside a pokémon. Inseparable immortal twins, the godchildren wandered the world. But now, a single pair remains. Full summary inside. Reboot of Watcher of Arceus.

62. Chapter 62 : Champions

Watcher of Arceus

Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon. Only the idea and OC's.

Author Notes:

-X-This will be used for scene breaks and for when the story switches to another character, but it does not mean that a new section of the story has started.

~xXx~ This will identify where each paragraph breaks.

"Human Speech" 'Character Thought' {Pokémon Speech}

Co-author: Catsithx

The following is a total and complete Reboot of the story "Watcher of Arceus".

~xXx~

Chapter 62 : Champions

Just off the coast of Kanto, a light house had stood for centuries, but was easily overlooked in the modern day. The small island dock only had a few boats present, and the light house on the small island being the only notable structure. The group of people on the island hurried inside as dawn began to break and light was starting to show.

Hurrying inside and down a staircase hidden underneath a large counter, the group of people were in a rush down into what could only be described as an ancient stone dungeon. Although older electric lights were installed showing that it had some level of technology, the place still felt out of time. Gathering in a large stone chamber, some people were already cleaning off old analog computer screens and were pulling some keyboards, and microphones out of large rusted metal crates.

Two of the men quickly moved into the center of the room, allowing the others to work unimpeded. While they were concerned about recent events, they remained silent while the four screens that had been set up turned on. The old systems were slow to boot up, but the slow pace only served to continue to agitate them two men given recent events. A ringing made everyone tense for a moment while the one possessing the vibrating phone pulled it out and handed it to two men in the center of the room.

One of the two men took the phone and set it to video while allowing the other man to look over it as well. "King Faraday, I am glad to see you have not been apprehended. And I see King Marith is with you," The man on the screen stated as they looked at the two men.

"Mr. Ren. I am also glad to see that you have managed to stay ahead of things. This turn of events was certainly unexpected. I had thought that if D had not made such efforts in the first year of her escape she would have lost her chance, but it would appear that she was merely biding her time. Her announcement through Japan however was... rather unique," King Faraday stated slowly.

"There is no doubt that her announcement was targeting us directly. She named our founding father, something that even we had been forced to scrub from history alongside the lies of the demons in order to operate effectively. Either we have a long term breech of security that she has been exploiting for years before her escape, or she has some other knowledge of past events," Mr. Ren stated over the phone.

"There is also the possibility of reincarnation, as she so readily stated herself. That strange news event from two years concerning the demon, Thomas... or Soular as it suggests, also hinted at the aspect of reincarnation. Two of the demons have now publicly admitted to it in some way and it might explain a few things. Rebirth... reverting to the state of an infant to grow up again. It does explain how they vanished so thoroughly in the past. Although I had been reluctant to admit to such a scenario, we know that Dahlia often used the truth to great effect, and she has rarely lied before," King Marith stated slowly, clearly biting his tongue.

"But this fanciful tale of our founding father cannot be any further from the truth. Her passion for hating us and causing issues within our numbers is a constant. Although not the greatest of our Kings, the founding father Gorion was still a great saint and devotion to the cause was his very life, even before he took up his divine role. For her to tell this story beside Arceus, surrounded by the churches... Any attempts at being welcomed among the people right now are gone. Together with the last demon, they are trying to bring ruin to the world. Kanto is still recovering from the trauma of that explosion, and the site remains in quarantine even now," King Marith stated greatly annoyed now, only for the room to grow brighter as the electronics of the room were finally all turned and starting up proper.

"As problematic as this event is, we unfortunately have greater concerns. I have confirmed that three of our Kings have been arrested so far, King Devlin among them who may be in critical condition. I have concerning reports that the Johto Order has been suffering a power struggle from within for years now, but King Delvin has been keeping things in check. . . At least until his possible betrayal. I do not have confirmed reports, but I believe that Samuel has finally made his move to take up the Crown of the Johto Order, by force," Mr. Ren stated.

"How is it exactly that he has not been purged prior to the events at hand. We have known that he has been a problem for years now. First, there was the incident northwest of Olivine City with that temple he tried to hide from everyone, as well as his methods of attempting to access it. Then there was his personal attempt to detain the demon alone with his personal guard when the demon entered the temple for almost five days. We could have killed them with that fall he took, but instead Samuel's action allowed him time to recover. To say nothing of the blunder at Cameran Castle. And then there were his many outbursts since then. Disobedience from such a high-ranking Knight who has taken an oath to defend everything we stand for should not have been given so many chances for as many problems as he has caused. All of these signs point to pride and betrayal," King Marith stated rather angrily.

"Despite his growing ill reputation, his father was the single greatest historian we ever had with a near perfect memory, something that he shared with his son Samuel. Had Samuel not been so familiar with our records before that fire that destroyed almost two hundred years of records that were still being digitally transcribed and backed up before hand, I'm sure we would have had a tighter leash on him. King Devlin insisted that he was too important to be killed, his memories of those records too pristine to risk losing in the search for anything to help us try and find out what the demon had been up to. A decision I'm sure he currently regrets," Mr. Ren sighed loudly.

"How many of the other Kings have made it to safety?" King Faraday asked.

"Seven, including yourselves have been confirmed to have made it to unlisted safe houses. Dahlia appears to have supplied the Japanese National Counsel with detailed information on every safe house that had a digital footprint. It was smart of us to have back up plans such as these, but we still cannot fully verify their integrity right now. Two of the Kings for certain are currently dead, three are confirmed in custody, and four remain unaccounted for. All six of our princes currently being groomed for Kingship are in custody and we have yet to hear any intel relating to Coria. I can attempt to make arrangements for you talk to with the remaining kings, but things are complicated at the moment," Mr. Ren stated.

"I want King Justine to head the next meeting. Is she in such a position to be able to do this?" King Faraday asked.

"To my understanding, she will potentially be in a position to be part of a meeting in the next hour or two, after she has finished her next treatment," Mr. Ren replied.

"Have her lead the next Counsel. And make sure that everyone knows that she will be leading the Sinnoh Order in my stead if I am not present," King Faraday stated.

"What exactly are you planning?" King Marith quickly asked.

"Dahlia offered us an invitation to see Arceus herself. Much like Coria, my mind is strong, and while I am no psychic, there has yet to be a psychic able to influence me even without a tiara. If I am not available, assume that I have made arrangements to allow myself to be captured and taken to Alto Mare. I'm going to make sure that at least one of us accepts that invite and judge the situation for myself. I will need some time to prepare extraction, however. They will have to move me to and from Alto Mare, and I need to make sure I'm in control of how they do this. It may also give me a chance to rescue Coria. Even captured, she should be preparing quite a report for us," King Faraday stated.

~xXx~

Even after just one night, less then twenty-four hours after Dahlia's announcement, the news of who the knights were and the mass arrests of knights all over Japan was causing a massive scene. A few thousand arrests in the first day, and bulletin boards full of faces of other high-ranking knights plastered all over Japan. the knights had gone from shadowy organization to the biggest headline in the news.

While the attack in Cameran Castle within the Kingdom of Rota had been bad, the continued small-scale attacks across Japan against dozens of well-respected people, and three major companies at least only continued to hurt the public's view of the Knights, branding them as terrorists. With the final straw of an armed assault planned against Alto Mare being made very public, and Dahlia's announcement of how their order started, the Knights lost any chance of having good relations with the public now. Discussion of the Knights was on every news station, talked about more directly then any of the recent major criminal syndicates in recent times and none of it was good. While there would no doubt be some number of shipping problems throughout Japan, Dahlia also had a plan for that.

While Dahlia was making arrangements, Latias and Latios were hard at work with Morag and a few of the other lucarios trying to find out why the lucarios had their aura interrupted. While no longer entirely silenced, their aura senses were still weakened. Latias and Latios had tinkered around with the crystals in the city and tried to amplify their aura to counter whatever was interfering with their aura. Only Morag and the most aura sensitive lucarios stayed in Alto Mare for any length of time while the two of them continued to work on how to improve the situation, as well as trying to find the source of the interruption in the first place.

The lack of clear aura was taking a major toll on many lucarios, including Rebecca who needed some time in the Lucario Kingdom where her aura was unaffected. Thomas couldn't blame her, having lost some senses himself just a meager two years ago for a while. If being in the Lucario Kingdom helped, he had no qualms with her staying there while they attempted to figure out why Alto Mare was affected. Unfortunately, Latias and Latios couldn't find anything that would be interfering with the lucarios.

-x-

Xent just grumbled again, having been dressed up well above his usual, but he was starting to get used to it. Once more he wore the same suit as before when meeting with Sarah's parents, although he was still a little under dressed compared to Verna and Sarah. Even when compared to Dahlia, Thomas, and Radara, all of which wore some of the best suits in all of Alto Mare, he still wasn't sure what to expect. On top of that, the half dozen rangers and two lucarios present were better dressed than usual, something that wasn't even done for the Japanese National Counsel.

A large yacht with three smaller escort ships was approaching Alto Mare, and Dahlia insisted that all of them greet the new comers. Even as the ship approached, there was a certain air about it that just screamed a higher class of person was onboard, and people had started to gather as the yacht had started to approach the pier. At last, the ship docked and boarding ramp was extended before a group of four men dressed in full suits with tactical belts disembarked. After them came two more men and then a woman started to walk down the ramp.

The two men were also in suits and seemed to be more than just body guards, but both were carrying briefcases and still made sure that the path was clear for the woman. Head up high, a strong confident walk, and perhaps a small scowl on her face, there was no doubt that this person was in charge. Dressed in an elaborately decorated green dress lined with golden accents in the design of a rayquaza fully illustrated around it with. With a large top knot that appeared to have a crown of gold and silver pins set through it in an ornate pattern giving her a very noble appearance. Slow with her approach, the woman looked over the group, scanning each of them present.

As she approached, Dahlia gave a full formal bow along with Thomas and Radara. As instructed, both Sarah and Xent gave their own respectful bows. The woman remained still for a moment before giving her own slow bow, and as she rose, so did Dahlia.

"Juliana Trinity, or perhaps you would prefer your proper name in this environment. Dahlia was it? Is that just Dahlia, or do you have a proper surname?" The lady asked, reaching up and snapping her fingers. Instantly, the man on her stepped forward. Setting down one briefcase while opening the other, the lady gestured her hand towards it.

"Exactly as ordered. Its not the size that I expected, so I have to ask, who this is for?" The lady stated.

Dahlia just smiled a little. "Dahlia will do very well from now on. And I thank you greatly for accepting this invitation, Miss Asagi. I also apologize for this great disturbance, but as you well understand, the Knights could no longer be allowed to go unchecked. That is part of the business I wish to discuss today. But yes, this lovely outfit is not for myself," Dahlia turned towards Xent.

"Xent, step forward please," Dahlia stated and Xent just gave her an unsure look. As Xent stepped forward, he got a good look into the briefcase now. On display was a suit of some kind. Black, with red accents, gloves, shoes, what he had assumed was an undershirt, socks, and possibly even a set of boxers, he was left confused.

"Dahlia... what's going on here?" Xent asked, a little concerned, not noticing the shadow was that rushing along the ground towards them.

"I should leave that to Darkrai to expl-... Ah, here he is." Dahlia stated as Darkai slowly rose up from the ground. Several people gasped in surprise, some backing away even from the shock of seeing Darkrai for the first time. Miss Asagi and her guards seemed however entirely unfazed.

"Apologies for my tardiness, sister. Arrangements to help my champion had to be made," Darkrai stated while turning and giving a formal bow to Miss Asagi before looking up and over the briefcase. "Ah, such fitting craftsmanship for my request. Perfectly suited to make it official." Darkrai grinned with a lightly echoing laugh in his voice.

Xent looked over the suit a bit more, giving a slow gulp at Darkrai's laugh. "Well... two years of training and a lost arm later... I guess it was inevitable. Did champions typically have formal clothing to represent their legendary?" He asked.

"Champion?" Miss Asagi asked looking to Dahlia.

"There were times in the past when each of the legendary pokemon active in the world might have taken up a personal assistant of sorts, a champion to help aid their ways and cause. During their time as champions, they would help perform tasks to help them directly with their involvement with the world. And should they survive and grow old, they often became speakers for our ways and words. Most survived, but I will not lie. There have always been dangerous tasks that we would request help with. We have never abandoned an honest champion who remained to true the cause and at least attempted to provide us the help we requested, but there have always been dangers," Dahlia explained as Darkrai lifted the suit up to take a better look.

"Yes, yes beautiful craftsmanship. Sturdy, elegant, graceful... more than enough for my champion to stand out and yet discreet enough to fade away into the shadows at a moment's notice," Darkrai continued to laugh a little, before closing the briefcase. "I assume that Dahlia has already made arrangements for payment, or is that detail left unfinished?"

"I trust in Juliana's bank accounts, despite her "retirement" from the office. It will of course take a little time for those things to adjust, but I know that I shall be paid in full for the suit. It is yours to do with as you please, but I would advise not taking it into places where you expect him to fight personally, rather then just with his pokemon. Mending it will not be cheap, even if being able to easily clean it was taken into consideration," Miss Asagi stated and Darkrai quickly took the briefcase.

"Then come my champion. We should make sure it fits," Darkrai stated, before grabbing Xent and practically dragging him along.

As Xent was whisked away, Dahlia returned her attention to Miss Asagi. "I will allow Darkrai to introduce Xent properly later, but for now allow me to instead introduce you to my brother and sister. This is Thomas and Radara," Dahlia stated, motioning to the side where her siblings both gave a formal bow once more.

"Welcome, Miss Asagi," Thomas stated.

'We eagerly hope that with the Knights of Arceus being dealt with, we can return to a more sociable arrangement between our two families.' Radara continued.

"I too look forward to these bonds between our families being renewed. It was a shame that the Knights had risen to power in the first place, but as they say, hindsight is often twenty-twenty. I have no doubt that I am as much marked for death as yourselves by their order, and this just does not suit me. I must say however that when you discussed escape with me years ago and asked for help, I had expected an entirely different outcome. So much for hiding it would seem. But, I know you. This was not your first choice, and we both know of the dangers of this path. If this path has been chosen, then the alternatives must've been worse," Miss Asagi stated.

"And such is the way of the Asagi Family, always looking far into the future and into the business of next year. As much as it pains me to say this to you of all people, but I cannot discuss that at this time. Not here, not with you right now. I will let that gravity of that statement alone speak of the alternatives. Just know that what happened in Kanto was... a taste of what might happen if we do not take steps and return to the public," Dahlia said slowly, looking down to her sigil.

Giving it a small rub for strength as well as be given a small mental push from Verna, Dahlia took a deep breath before returning to a smile and giving another deep bow. "And for my final introduction right now, I would like you to meet my wife, Verna. We bonded greatly during the time of my escape. She is one of the reasons I still draw breath right now, and I would to introduce her to the ways of business. Already introduced to our legendary family, she wishes to become a speaker for the words of my mother, and would be an excellent fit to help join our two families," Dahlia added and Verna stepped forward.

Verna gave a deep bow before slowly rising. 'It is my pleasure to finally meet a business partner of my Dahlia with high renown and grace. I hope that my presence does not intrude upon anything you wish to discuss, but I know that I can be most helpful in helping to fully reconnect our two families.' Verna stated.

"There is much business to discuss... including my efforts to reclaim my company. While I do seek to take back what I have built, I sadly will be unable to take back my position in full with the other obligations I must not abandon. There are few who I would consider seeking a partner to help me with in this matter, but I personally think that the Asagi Family can benefit greatly in a potential partnership for a limited time between Trinity Shipping and your own businesses. With your assistance, we can hopefully minimize the damage to the supply chain throughout Japan, with the credit of course being given to the Asagi Family until such time that I can make more permanent arrangements to care for my business," Dahlia stated.

"Yes, that is going to be of major concern. Isolating the actions of the knights from the rest of Trinity Shipping will be a long process, but I do look forward to this opportunity to disrupt the Knights' capabilities. They have held my family hostage long enough. We both stand to profit from this in things well beyond financial compensation. Safety, a return to our proper places without the leash of the Knights around our necks, and of course the renewed relations between our families. I'm very much looking forward to this new opportunity," Miss Agasi smiled a bit.

"I am happy to hear this. If you follow me, I have made arrangements for you come to and personally meet my mother Arceus. And there is much to show you on the way," Dahlia said, stepping aside and motioning for Miss Asagi to join her. Her guards quickly moved behind her, and some of the rangers lead the way, leaving Thomas and Radara behind with a few rangers.

The two of them knew that their first meeting with Miss Asagi had to make good impressions, but for now Dahlia would dealing with Miss Asagi until the afternoon or possibly evening on her own aside from a proper introduction to Arceus. As Sarah approached, one of the ranger's pokedex's dinged. The ranger whipped out the pokedex before rushing towards Thomas.

"Mr. Thomas, sir. You've instructed us to keep you updated on certain topics. I believe this qualifies," The ranger stated while handing his pokedex over to Thomas for a moment.

"How recent is this report?" Thomas quickly asked, rather concerned.

"In all the confusion of dealing with the Knights here in Alto Mare and then Dahlia's announcement, it heavily overshadowed his disappearance. We're only just now getting confirmed reports that he is definitely missing right now," The ranger noted, Sarah now getting rather worked.

"Thomas... what's going on?" Sarah asked.

'Hurk Handlerz is currently missing, possibly for three or four days now... No one has seen them, no one has heard from them, they've missed several interviews and meetings, their home appears to be a mess.' Radara stated, only making her comment to Thomas and Sarah though.

"That can't be good... Oh Xent's rubbing off on me, I've got a bad feeling about this all happening too close together," Sarah sighed loudly.

"I can have a few men at the station start collecting and looking over the news reports and ask about the police reports so far," The ranger stated.

'I hate to say it myself, but I think we know who was assisting the Knights. Who else could have blinded the aura of the lucarios and aura users? While Dahlia busies herself with reconnecting us with the Asagi Family, and Xent is occupied with being named a champion, we could use this chance to figure out why Hurk is missing.' Radara stated.

'We should get him something for the event. As much as he still has to grow, he has come a long way since we first met him. Although it might have been wise to wait a bit longer, we don't have the luxury of time right now. Despite that, this is still an event worthy of celebration of a sort. No grand festival, Xent and Darkrai certainly aren't the types for that, but still something of worth to him to enjoy.' Radara added.

"If it won't interfere with other duties, ask the rangers to look into this for us. We'll be there shortly. We should check in with Latias and Latios and see if they have had any luck in finding out why the lucarios had their aura blinded. After that, we spend a little time looking for a gift for Xent in honor of championship," Thomas stated, turning towards the museum, and then towards Sarah.

"I'm hoping that whatever it was, they can figure it out soon. Not having that added sense is a little jarring after having for years now. I know that they've found a way to help strengthen our sense of aura here in Alto Mare, but what could interfere with it? And why was it only here in Alto Mare?" Sarah asked.

"I can't even begin to explain that," Thomas said, hoping that Rebecca was doing better in the Lucario Kingdom right now.

'I am sure she is fine. Hammah believes that the aura guantlets she is making will help and Rebecca should have her own pair soon.' Radara said, leading the way to the museum.

"I hope so... just thinking about her losing a sense that we have been working on for years... only to have it taken from her," Thomas said slowly, Radara giving a small nod.

"Let's go figure out what we can about Hurk right now," Sarah said.

-x-

Latias and Latios had failed find an answer to why the lucario's and aura guardian's sense of aura was disrupted. With no answer to give and not even being sure what to look for, they were trying anything they could to figure it out. Without answers though, the group left a rather agitated Latias and Latios alone. A short trip through town to look over potential gifts for Xent and giving the Rangers a moment to get the requested files, the group was heavily undecided on what Xent might appreciate.

Heading to main market square for a moment to find something for Xent, Zai quickly went her own way and knew exactly what she looking for right now. Easily finding a bakery, she rushed up to the windows.

Zai looked over several cakes in the bakery window, constantly looking over them at different angles. Her interest quickly drew the attention of the bakers who came out. "Ey! Ey you!" The man started rather loudly, only for Zai to reach to her chest and quickly take the badge that she had been issued and held it up. A tiny hologram appeared over it showing who Zai was along with a few notes about her. The baker easily recognized the badge, calming them down but leaving them unsure what to do.

"Can I help you?" The baker asked. Zai quickly nodded and made a motion to call him over. She lightly tapped the glass in front of one of the cakes, a large double layer and highly decorated cake with a label in front of it showing it was a rather fancy chocolate cake with lots of fruity frosty and decorations.

She made sure to be gentle and not break the glass, just point out the one she wanted, and then allowed an illusion to appear beside it on the glass. She "grabbed" the top and bottom of the illusion and stretched it. She stretched it to be almost two feet tall and looked at it, before shrinking it down some. Looking at it again, she shrunk it a second time so it was closer to maybe a foot and a half tall this time, and pointed it to the baker.

"You... want a larger cake?" The baker asked. Zai quickly nodded before looking back to her illusions. She quickly went back to the illusion and then added a large chocolate bar to get her point across further, before looking to him. She pointed to the baker and then to chocolate.

"You want a chocolate cake? A tall chocolate cake?" The baker asked.

Zai quickly nodded and held up her badge again, before pointing to the door to come in. The baker seemed a little concerned before nodding and opening the door. Zai moved into the bakery and began looking for the catalog. Finding it easily, she went over the catalog in a very quick fashion before finding their chocolate cakes. Zai carefully looked over the selection, even holding a claw on the first of the chocolate pages while flipping through the others.

She looked through the whole thing before finding their custom cakes page. Her eyes quickly lit up with a sly grin before pointing the page out. "We do a lot of custom cakes..," The baker stated, still unsure what was going on but easing up a bit seeing how well behaved Zai seemed to be. Although he knew about the special guests of Latias and Latios, it was his first time dealing with them. He was starting to warm up to the idea that maybe he had misjudged the supposed trickster and troublemaker rumors that surrounded zoroarks seeing how well behaved Zai was.

The tall chocolate cake illusion now appeared on the counter, but Zai now also added a comically large price tag to it that she grabbed and held up. The tag only had a few large dollar signs and a question mark on it though, but the question was clear. "It would depend on what all you specifically wanted. A generic one that size might be a few hundred, but if you want better chocolate or batter, the price could quickly go up to around a thousand. And extras, like decorations, added spices, flavors, fruits, or toppings would quickly add up," The baker explained.

Zai nodded eagerly, the tag changing some in her hands. On the top was the first number, a meager three hundred pokedollars with a dash and then a second number of 2500 pokedollars appearing below that. "It would be somewhere in that range yes, maybe a little more if you went all out or wanted it larger. And we'd need advance notice on the order and payment up front. Might have to order a few things as well, so make sure you let us know well in advance,"

Zai nodded eagerly again thinking about it before there was sound of splintering wood, a scream and a thud, and then Zai's world went dark. "What just happened?!" The baker yelled out as Zai let her illusions vanish and slowly lowered her hands in annoyance. Zai suddenly snarled loudly as she quickly reached up and scooped whatever was on her face all off with her claws.

"That foot stool of ours just snapped! I'm so sorry!" Another voice called out as someone picked themselves up off the floor on the other side of the display counter.

"Why did you pull it out!? I thought I told you to leave it in the back, I didn't like how it looked," The baker sighed.

"I didn't want to bother you while you were dealing with the zoroark. You seemed okay with them being here and you're boss and looked like you had under control. I just had to get two things of our specialty cream filling for a delivery and there was none left the back. I've done it dozens of times before with a simple step stool," The other person quickly stated as Zai turned to look in the window where her barely visible reflection showed her almost covered head to toe in cake.

As she stepped out of the bakery, the others quickly noticed her and rushed. "Zai?! What happened?" Sarah stated in shock as the baker was looking over her. Thomas rushed up quickly after with a towel that he had bought in the market upon seeing her and quickly draped it over Zai. She reached up and scooped up a little bit of of the cake off her face and tasted it at least before taking the towel and quickly scooping the rest of the cake off as best as she could.

"Not her fault... she was surprisingly well behaved asking about cakes. One of my staff knocked a cake off the main display onto her." the baker stated.

"I'll take her back to the gardens and then meet you at the ranger station after I make sure she's in the gardens and safe," Sarah stated.

'Thank you for attempting to help our guest. Did she attempt to order anything?' Radara asked, even giving a small bow for the assistance, as well as putting up a large barrier around Zai. While the towel had helped pull the majority of the cake off of her, as soon as she was presented with a chance to shake the cake off of her, she quickly fluffed up her fur and then did it. A good chuck of what was left of the cake on her was quickly and aggressively tossed off of her.

The barrier was splattered with a lot of cake before the splattered cake was gathered up into the open towel that Thomas was holding still.

"She was inquiring about a rather large chocolate cake and prices before she was covered in cake. We were interrupted before she could do more than get a rough estimate on what what she might want. Look, I can offer a discount for this. It is fine if I just write up a gift card for this and pass it off to the tribute trays at any of the churches or temples?" The baker replied, pulling up a trashcan from the front of the store and allowing Thomas to put the cake into the can.

"It was an accident correct?" Thomas asked.

"I told her not to... er, her being one of my staff, not to use the step stool we have at the moment. It snapped under her and she knocked the cake off the counter onto your friend here," The baker explained.

'Then it sounds like an accident to us. Please, don't worry yourself about this. If she wants a cake later, we have no concerns about paying full price for quality. Your business deserves credit for its work or it would not have grown so large and respected.' Radara stated.

"We'll be back later to let Zai try this again, we're looking for something for a friend in honor of being chosen for something. She wanted something chocolate right?" Thomas asked.

"A three or four tier double chocolate cake," The baker replied, the others looking to Zai.

"That seems... a bit excessive. Xent doesn't really like parties that large and that much cake seems like a lot for him to enjoy, even with us," Sarah asked a little confused, knowing that Xent didn't really care for large parties.

Zai just grumbled. 'You all stay out of that. I know what kind of cake I want and why, and this is for me to figure out! You stay out of it until I ask for help.' Zai said still a bit irritated. 'Just … I need a bath again!' Zai whined before walking off, leaving the others a little confused.

"Thank you for trying to help her. We will return later to see if you can assist her properly," Thomas said as the others all moved to follow her and make sure she made it to the gardens without incident.

-x-

Entering the Ranger Station at last, there was something of a commotion going on upstairs and a lot of unusual talk, but as soon as Thomas and the others entered, they immediately had their full attention.

Guided into the back to a small conference room, with a few tablets and dozens of documents were already waiting for them. A few rangers were right there also looking things up as well as they entered.

"According to the reports, Hurk has been missing for at least three days, maybe four at this point. News of what's happening here in Alto Mare easily over shadowed things all over Japan. Police are counting it as a missing person incident. He had an apartment in Pewter City that was found ransacked. Everything in the kitchen seemed heavily out of place, even the fridge and stove had been dragged out of place towards the dining room while the chairs and table in the dining room were dragged towards the kitchen. Beyond that, the rest of the apartment just had things generally knocked over," One of the rangers stated offering the reports over as Thomas and the group were guided in.

"Many residents of the same apartment complex say that they swear there was a small earthquake a few days ago, but only residents of the building make this claim. They say that the entire building was shaken for a few seconds, but nothing else in the city even hints at an earthquake and nothing was reported. The building's owner has been forced to order a full inspection of the building at this point after a large group of residents all got together and told the owner to get the building inspected or they would withhold rent for safety concerns," The Ranger continued.

"And so far, there is nothing official to suggest that anything happened in the city since the Pokelantis incident. There's been some unusual reports filed by Hurk in the days leading up to his disappearance though. I've got a report here that two tires on a car near him were blown out while he was sitting on a bench that one of the legs snapped on at the same time. Police wondered if someone tried and failed to shot him on that one. Here's one about him being involved in a car accident, but once again police think that he was targeted by someone. The front wheel came right off and the axle looked like it was torn off," The ranger continued as a second and third ranger came in with a few more reports.

"That's not all. I've got three reports here about incidents, all odd and no leads. One involves a set of store front windows shattering behind him and the glass pelting him along with two displays almost toppling onto him as he fell backwards. This one is about some kind of … well that the police reports say and I'm quoting here, had a dump truck's worth of misshapen paintings and sculptures dumped on him in a tunnel. And this last one is incomplete, the police can't even begin to figure out what happened. They only know that the elevator he was taking up to his apartment somehow ended up sideways in the elevator shaft. That might explain why the residents of the apartment building banded together to force the owner to do a full inspection," The second ranger stated.

"Police were actively considering giving him an escort to the events he was expecting to attend to this month while they try to figure things out. They don't know if he's just unlucky because they can't find any definitive signs of someone trying to kill him, or if he's just in a world of weird and highly unlucky right now," The third ranger stated.

As reports were laid out on the table and the rangers didn't really have any thing else to add based of what they could find right now, they just laid the reports out on the table for Thomas and the group to review.

As Thomas sat down looking over things with Radara, one of the rangers approached a little cautiously. "Say... um, while you have a minute, Mr. Falston... Can you answer a question for us?" One of the rangers who brought in some of the files asked.

Thomas looked up a little confused. "Is... something else wrong?" Thomas asked, fairly confused by the ranger's tone.

"We had a small incident of sorts before you came in. Rick, one of the aura guardians, and his younger brother Luke are here. And then Mana came in, asking for them with a riolu in her hands. She kept her aura voice rather public, and then Luke started shouting out in excitement. It was something about the riolu being Rick's and Luke being an... uncle now?" The ranger asked.

'If you are asking about whether or not humans and pokemon can reproduce together, then yes.' Radara replied while still looking over some of the images.

"Its very rare, but not impossible. And far more often than not, it is the female pokemon getting pregnant from it if it does happen. Like with all other pokemon though, the eggs the females lay will always be the species of the mother. And what humans call egg groups, specifically the human-like egg group does apply here," Thomas added, before finding a picture of major interest.

Instantly, Radara turned and Thomas held the picture at an angle for them both to see it. It was an evidence photo of a strange object taken from Hurk's apartment in Pewter city. 'That is a very bad sign.' Radara stated very worried now.

"What's going on?" Sarah asked, still in a bit of shock over what Thomas and Radara just explained. The sudden shift in tone and worry however was enough to make it clear that something far more important was happening.

"I need everything need related to this evidence photo. There's a chance that this object came from some place very dangerous," Thomas quickly stated standing up. "We need to make arrangements to go to Pewter City and quickly. How fast can you alert the officials in Pewter City that we need to be there in person?"

"Woah, hold on a minute? What's so dangerous that you need to be there in person? Pewter City isn't exactly the safest place right now. There's a lot of trainers who have gathered there who were denied entry into the Kingdom of Rota after it was public that they were after Mew and the other legendary pokemon," One of the rangers stated.

"There's a good a chance that this object wasn't made here, on the world that you know. And if it did come from the other side, then that means that crystals trying to isolate the breech around the prison have either failed or its far worse than we thought," Thomas explained.

'We call the place the distortion. And if left unchecked, the distortion would swallow up and destroy the world that our mother created. The entire planet could start suffering explosions like that in Kanto or worse.' Radara stated firmly.

~xXx~

Hurk tumbled through the rift, toppling over himself a few times before landing hard, upside down and partially inside a now smashed wooden crate. He took several deep breathes, only to reach out and catch his shiny lopunny that had as much of a rough landing as he did.

Both were out of breath, bruised, and lightly bleeding some, before Hurk just burst out laughing. His lopunny was slow to climb off of him before helping him up as the machamp came up to them. [Looks like you had fun on the other side.] It laughed, offering them both water bottles. [But if you come out of that side laughing, then that means you might be worth something after all.]

As Hurk righted himself up, he quickly took the offered water bottles and passed one to his lopunny. Checking his outfit, he double checked the body cam that he was wearing on his chest, and the even the necklace one he had to make sure that both were still working. "How long was I on that side? What'd you call it again?" Hurk asked as a blaziken and a lucario quickly jumped through the rift as well, but both had much better landings then Hurk and his lopunny.

The blaziken was still breathing just as hard as Hurk, taking the chance to calm down as the rift behind them finally closed, the lucario moving over to quickly take a seat. 'Still hate that place... It like it goes out of its way to piss me off!' The lucario barked loudly in their heads.

[Drop it. That place is not out to get you specifically.] The blaziken panted before standing up slowly, and looking over as the machoke passed out some more water bottles. [Is the footage intact?] He asked taking one of the offered water bottles.

"Camera's are in tact. Phone looks good. So does my pokedex... won't know about the footage specifically until we check it on a computer," Hurk stated, trying to pull some footage on his pokedex, but it was blurry.

'I will review it and prepare it for your up coming interviews. You'll be happy to know that despite the troubles in Alto Mare with the Knights of Arceus, your disappearance has still caused quite a stir. You've only been over there for just three days, but the people are concerned about so called heroes of all kinds going missing right now.' Alakazam moved forward and the devices were carefully taken from Hurk to be set down on a table.

A sudden stir of air around all of them drew all of their attention and the lucario, blaziken, and machamp all quickly moved to kneel. Before Hurk could ask though, he found himself and his lopunny both forced to kneel as well. There in the shadows, a figure began to appear. Towering over the rest of them, nearly twice as Hurk was when standing up straight even, the large figure stepped slowly into the light.

Hurk had to do a small double take, at first questioning who was really before him before realizing that something was different. Arceus was in the room, and their power was clearly felt over them as it walked into the room. Large red eyes with a bright green outline and a gray neck and under belly, and a golden cross around its it mid section, but something was different.

There was no white on this Arceus as it moved forward, its entire body golden instead, and the cross that adorned its midsection seemed to glimmer with a very bright aurora like steam over them. "Welcome Hurk... You have now proven that you can survive on the other side. My investment in you continues to prove its worth," The voice was potent, like a nearly booming echo over them as the figure moved forward.

"Confused by my appearance?" The voice continued. "Rest assured, I am not that imitation residing in Alto Mare. I will have this world as is my rite. That false god might have had an army of champions to her cause of her own blood last time, but history seems to favor me this time. She has knowingly allowed the petty masses to try and overthrow her rather than show them what true god is. And without an army of those half gods at her beck and call, she will need to champion others, and I will meet them with my own. The difference however shall be that I have power to give my champions while she struggles to even hold herself together."

Looking carefully over each of them gathered before their form, a powerful light blinded them as another series of small round stones fell from the golden cross around their waist. Barely clacking against the floor for a moment before rising up, the small marble like stones floated up and moved over to a table by their side, carefully being set down. "And now I am free of that prison, I am no longer required to guide you to places where the wall between worlds is thinned so that you can find the treasures I had crafted on the other side. I am free to make them myself."