Chapter 16

Idolized Failure

Mystic was completely unable to sleep the entire night. She just blankly stared at a wall while her husband breathed soundly in his sleep while holding her. So much was racing through her mind right now. If watching over the entire kingdom wasn't enough, now the Jagorii had taken Starshine hostage and sunk what would have been Mardol's new flagship. She couldn't tell anyone though, that would just put everyone in panic. She also wasn't too much in the mood to hear more outbursts of Nixie's and Rose's feelings if they were to have found out. She did the only thing she could at the time. She lied. Told Psyche and Nixie it was private business involving trade routes having to be rerouted due to high robberies on the road. Luckily for her, they believed it.

She began brainstorming a bunch of ideas to try and get the Princess back and attempted establishing PsyComs (Psychic Communications) with her. But she couldn't risk doing anything right now. She wasn't sure where Starshine was nor what was happening to her. She was also aware that she couldn't hide this forever. Even if everyone was rescued, the flechinder made it clear that only four more pokemon survived the attack, two of them being Flint and Starshine. The truth couldn't be hidden from the public forever, and that's exactly what she feared: their reaction.

No doubt the city would go in revolt, riots would break out, and much, much more. A lot of the pokémon in Mardol were already unpleased with the Princess having current power, she was too younge and lacked political experience. When it came down to it, the Princess tried keeping everyone pleased, but she could only please so many people until one point she eventually started going against other people's wants. Her authoritative values were outweighed by the want to cater to every individual and have most tax payers' money supporting military power rather than helping the community. It was considered contradictory.

For those reasons, pokémon would riot. If they found out Starshine was taken in by the Jagorii, she would be labeled dead. She had no one to give the throne to, and even though Mystic was the one who filled in for the Princess's role during her absence, she still hadn't branched out enough to gain reputation from the citizens. Rykon currently had the most influence over the people of Whitestone and had the highest likeliness of claiming the throne if the Princess was ever to die without a rightful descendant to take her spot.

Mystic realized sooner or later, she'd have to let out the truth. Delaying it any longer would only cause more issues. She wasn't sure how she was going to do it, but breaking the news was going to be one of the hardest parts.

The remaining Jagorii ship carelessly sailed back to its mainland. The crew had drank recklessly in celebration of capturing the Princess. The sun had just rose to start the coming of a new day. What was a usual recipe for a happy day wasn't quite so true for a group of specific pokémon. Sitting inside four individual cells were the survivors of the attack. Starshine, Flint, a joltik, and a pancham.

The joltik was around Flint's age, she seemed just as on edge as him too. She nervously looked around the room, fidgeting with her limbs anxiously. The pancham was visibly angry. He kept his arms crossed while switching his glare from the ground to Starshine. Flint was pacing back and forth trying to keep his head clear and telling himself everything would be fine, though he lacked the faith to believe his own words. Starshine sat there almost lifeless staring at the ground.

Footsteps could be heard approaching them, catching everyone's attention. Entering the room was Razor, the scizor who had bad blood with Flint. That seemed to be his only interest when he entered the room as his attention was brought to him while he walked over to his cell.

"Look at you, just rotting in your own grief and paranoia behind these bars. Arceus, you have no idea how much it aggravates me how politically correct Jagorii tries to be. If I could of had things my way, I would have removed every limb from your torso by now and had found a way to keep you alive. I would love to hear nothing more than to hear you beg for me to take your life. But don't worry, in future time, I'll have my wishes come true."

"Is this all you came here to do, just threaten me while I'm behind these bars?" Flint asked.

"No, I came to talk, to let you truly know how much you fucked up my life. Everything changed shortly after our last encounter."

"That reminds me, how did you even escape? We thought the oddish would have made way with you."

"That was your third mistake: putting my fate in their hands... or the lack there of."

"Third?"

"The first was my arm, the second was leaving me alive. Now, before you defend your actions, let me explain. The oddish decided it was best to let me live the rest of my days as a one-armed freak, a warning for trying to control their small society. I played along, and decided to leave... until nightfall, that is. You see, that's when they were the most vulnerable, they weren't expecting me to come back. I slaughtered each and every one of them, I stained my blade in many layers of blood. And you know what? I don't regret it. Not one bit. I felt nothing."

Flint clamped his teeth. "How could you just kill all of those innocent lives without a care in the world?"

"Innocent? Please, anyone who wants to live in a country run by spineless leaders aren't innocent, they are the exact reason a country would fail. Collapse, even. I actually have a back bone, so I'm not afraid to stand up for what I believe in. All those oddish did was play the victim, and pokémon like the Princess pampered them with rights that took from other hard working citizens. That doesn't help a single thing, that weakens the already crippled land they lived on. I wanted to make a stand in Mardol, I would have weeded out the weak and made it a land worth living in."

Starshine intervened. "What kind of mentality is that? A big focus of the Fourth Light was being a moral figure against the Dark Legion. Your beliefs, they're so flawed and you fail to see a full picture of what's actually going on. Weed out the weak? That's exactly what is happening in Zerith."

"There's nothing wrong with that, they're the greatest military power right now because their army consists of pokémon who aren't weak, they kill everyone who isn't strong and leave this world to exist for the superior species. Such a mindset is nearly flawless."

"Yet you join the Jagorii?"

"I'll admit, it wasn't my first pick, they stumbled across me and offered to help me. I accepted in hopes to grow stronger after already being struck down, and that's exactly what they did. They evolved me and taught me how to hone my potential. They even shared their beliefs with me, and now I understand. I understand why the Jagorii are better than the Dark Legion.

"The Dark Legion is focused on killing off the weak and creating a world of nothing but strong pokémon. The Jagorii, though, they're much more different. Did you know that the first followers of the Jagorii were originally part of the Dark Legion? They were the pioneers to this new ideology. The world is full of potential, they strive to take these weaker pokémon and form them into stronger beings, they train them to be better than they once were. But there are still pokémon out there who are still weak, who still will never be adequate no matter how long you train them. Those pokémon are nothing more than liabilities. We will cleanse this world, leaving only the most worthy.

"That's not even the full extent of their upcoming reign, there is so much work that has yet to be done. Jagorii is a progressive nation, constantly adapting and improving, constantly becoming a bigger threat in this world. Hell, you didn't even know what those hand cannons were! We have more technology on par and above par with that. Being a scizor, I only have one weakness, but they've already began working on something to negate the effectiveness of fire against me.

"Arceus, I can't wait till after this meeting. I know what they're going to talk about and I'm fully aware of how the Princess will respond. After that, you're all free game - ours for the talking. Most importantly, you," he said while pointing at Flint. "After this meeting, I'll find the most excruciating way to kill you, but not until I kill that eevee as well-"

"You're not going to lay a fucking claw on her!" Flint shouted as puffs of smoke exited his mouth.

"My, my. Touchy subject? Have I ever mentioned how fun it is to squeeze pokémon under the weight of this merciless steel?" He asked, clamping his claws as if to demonstrate.

"Shut up!" Flint snapped.

"The way their guts are forced through the mouth and the sound of them choking on it all, it's so... amusing."

"We don't have time for your empty threats," Starshine said.

Razor turned around and approached her cell. "Oh, Princess, you all have plenty of time. It's honestly not like you have much else to do while you're out here. Hmm, I wonder what the Emperor has in store for you after this ordeal. You know, he is pretty familiar with Tenebris, told me a couple stories too. The things he... did to you."

Starshine was quick to glare at him. "You don't know shit. And even what you do know has been mostly fabricated from that liars mouth anyway."

"I hardly believe that. Tell me, what was the hardest part about being raped?" Razor said, slowly leaning closer towards her cell. "Was it his dic-"

Razor was cut off as a mystical energy pinned him to a wall, obviously catching him off guard. Quickly, two pokémon standing guard tried to intervene. "Who the fuck do you think you are to just come in here and attempt to torment us? You can say all of the shit you want, but just know you've been lied to about so many things. You haven't even met Tenebris, never had a personal connection with him. You talk about us not knowing the full picture of what's going on when you're still oblivious to what Tenebris truly has planned. You only play the role of a pawn being easily bribed with nothing more than power. Your power will be your biggest downfall, revenge will be your end."

Starshine released her psychic grip on the bug. The guards tried helping him up, but he signaled them not to help. After picking himself up, he dusted himself off. He hadn't much more to say, so he decided on leaving them for now. After all, he was more than confident about the conclusion to an upcoming meeting.

The room was silent shortly after Razor left. After a few seconds, Starshine left out an audible sniffle, a single tear trailing from her eye. She didn't want to appear weak in front of those that followed her, but Razor's words brought memories she just wanted to forget. All of her confidence was destroyed in just the mention of one of various incidents involving Tenebris. It wasn't too long until her emotions got to the best of her, leaving her a sobbing mess.

The joltik and Flint said nothing, just sat in the room in pity. The pancham rolled his eyes out of irritation. "You know, he's right about a lot of things. And I've realized it, Princess. You just aren't fit to be a leader. You're terrible."

"I know..." was all she said through her cries. "I failed... all of you... everything I worked for was for nothing. Everything I endured was for nothing but to remind me of the hell I lived in."

"For the love of Xerneas, get over yourself. Crying isn't going to solve anything."

"I know that-"

"No, shut up. It's honestly just fucking insulting to go from someone as great as the Queen to be given someone as- as- as untalented as you! It was a mistake putting you in the throne!"

"I couldn't do anything about that!" Starshine screamed as a few more stray tears flowed down her face. "I never asked to be put in charge of tens of thousands of people, I never asked for my mother to die from some rare disease, I never wanted to be the Princess in charge. I wanted one of my siblings to take the throne, they were more deserving at the time. You don't know how hard it is to constantly try making things right just to always receive negative backlash time and time. again. I tried so hard trying to keep this nation stable, but all I do is fail. I'll never be a great leader, especially now that we're being taken to Jagorii... This is the end of the line... for all of us."

The room was silent for a few minutes. A void began forming within Flint's chest. The thought of never returning to see Rose again shattered his heart. He couldn't imagine how she would even handle the news. He wanted to be optimistic, find some way to escape, but he knew it wasn't possible. It was just an unobtainable hope the other three seemed to share.

The pancham turned away from Starshine. "I feel no pity for you, and I hope your death will be just as horrible as the rest of ours."

It was a new day on board the cruise ship Tesla had boarded, on the agenda was the second part of the tournament. There were now sixteen fighters left in the tournament, meaning eight rounds would be fought throughout the day.

Tesla observed the crowd, a lot of pokemon seemed to be really entertained by fighting. He found it ironic as a lot of these pokemon are also trying to hide from the fighting that was provided by Zerith. He also noticed most pokemon were being good sports as he saw some of the pokemon who lost their battles cheering on the pokemon they had lost to. Others were voting against the pokemon who defeated them.

The battles seemed just as intense as the previous ones, just having slightly more skilled fighters. The roster also tried their best at rolling out type advantages and disadvantages, though Tesla had a disadvantage with his prior fight.

It was now the dawn of the seventh round when Tesla was finally called to the mat. He went to his respects position and began stretching his legs. He took a quick minute to look up at his opponent and froze in place. Approaching the mat was Kindle, she looked just as happy as she usually did. Well, until her eyes had met with Tesla's.

"Well, shit..." Tesla mumbled to himself.

"Begin!" The couch shouted.

Within seconds, Kindle had launched three fireballs. Tesla jumped over the first one and sidestepped the second one. When he went to dodge the last, he noticed it unnaturally curve towards him. That's when he realized it wasn't a fireball, but was instead Kindle using flame charge. Tesla's side was slightly seared from the impact, but he didn't have much time to complain about it as Kindle had no intentions of stopping her attacks.

Tesla's orb glowed brightly as electricity began building up. In a swift motion, Tesla slammed his tail in front of him in hopes of hitting Kindle. She gracefully hopped in front of it, landing behind him, and turned around in time to charge into his side. Tesla winced as she rammed into his seared wound and was then thrown a few feet away.

After recovering, Tesla had to think quick in order to defend himself from Kindle's barrage of attacks. In utter distress, he closed his eyes and shot a beam from his head. Opening his eyes, he saw it made contact and caused Kindle to trip. She looked around confusedly trying to get back up, but failing.

His confuse ray had done its job. Tesla took this moment to turn the tables on the battle. He planted his feet into the ground and began charging up a fair bit of electricity within his wool. Once he stored up enough energy, he shot off towards the unexpecting fennekin. His head rammed bluntly into her side, and as he connected his attack, he unleashed a surge of electricity throughout her body. She was sent flying across the battle area, landing roughly and skidding to an abrupt stop.

Bits of electricity would periodically be seen dancing across her body while she picked herself up off of the ground. Tesla patiently waited for her to get back up while eyeing her with a look of pity. He could tell Kindle was close to reaching her limit. She hasn't always been a fighter, but the fact was that he was more skillful and tactful at battling than she was. Tesla also still had his eviolite, Kindle would still have to dish out a lot more damage before she even brought Tesla down to her current physical condition.

Their eyes met again; this time, Tesla saw something in her eyes. It was a fire that was fueled by every negative emotion she had towards him. All of the weight of his actions of leading her on and using her, as she put it, had all boiled inside of her, creating a type of rage he hadn't really expected out of her. Suddenly, Kindle lit an inferno around herself as she flew right into him.

Tesla was taken aback by the sheer speed that the little fox was capable of reaching. While Tesla was still skidding to a halt, Kindle had jumped in his direction, spinning herself in the air as her claws retracted. She landed quite a painful scratch on Tesla as result to her falling and spinning. After her attack, she jumped back into a safe distance.

Tesla gritted his teeth to coax the slight pain he felt. He stared back at Kindle, seeing that she was practically out of breath. Tesla had no intentions of losing the battle, but he also had no intentions of finishing Kindle off right then and there. Looking back in her eyes, he saw that fire slowly dying.

I may not be able to be an outlet for her love, he thought to himself, but I will be an outlet for her anger. She's obviously still hurting from the truth, and to an extent, I guess that's understandable. Now though, now she's just angry at me, and I could understand why. She needs this, she needs to let her anger out on me.

"Are you just going to stand there or are you going to fight me?" Kindle spat, still out of breath. "Don't make this easy on me."

Tesla began siphoning more electricity into his orb. While doing so, Kindle charged at him yet again at an incredible speed. Before she reached him though, she tripped over her paws falling rather dramatically onto the ground. She put a paw to her head in hopes of soothing her migraine that Tesla's confuse ray had caused earlier. She noticed she was still on the ground and looked up at Tesla who tried hard to stifle a laugh. Looking around, she saw that the crowd had a similar reaction, causing her checks to heat up in embarrassment.

The humility seemed to only refuel her anger, which in turn fueled her inner flames. She let out a growl before pouncing towards Tesla. His eyes widened as he attempted to intercept her attack. He swung his electrified tail towards her, but Kindle had predicted as much. She clamped her fangs tightly around the base of his tail, drawing out blood.

Tesla winced in pain, but discharged the electricity from his body into Kindle's in hopes of her releasing his tail. She showed no mercy, her teeth only tightening as she embraced the pain. The fennekin followed up by hurling a hot ball of fire directly onto his tail, most likely burning the flesh. Tesla cried in pain and had to think fast in order to get Kindle off of him. He jumped into the air and swung his tail violently away from him.

The force was enough to send Kindle flying, but she wasn't going down without a fight. As she was flung off, she made sure to tear some flesh along the way. Both of the pokemon hit the ground rather painfully. Tesla looked back at his tail, his body in too much shock to register the pain. Kindle could still taste the metallic flavor in her mouth, she began gagging a bit from the unpleasant taste.

"You're fucking crazy!" Tesla yelled at her.

She didn't feel like replying, she still somehow found energy to keep fighting, and she was ready to continue the onslaught. The crowd seemed a bit hesitant, wondering if things had maybe gone a bit too far, but no one seemed to have spoken up regardless. Before the battle could continue though, a voice broke through the crowd.

"There's someone in the water! We need to help 'em!"

Suddenly, the crowds attention was drawn to the commotion over the side of the ship. There was indeed a pokémon floating aimlessly in the water, their body barely clinging to a log of some sort. A pidgeot flew from its perch and snatched the helpless pokémon out from the water and set them safely on the ship. Kindle and Tesla now found interest in what was going on.

"Is that a... dark type?" One person had asked.

"Is it dead?" Another asked, prodding the still figure.

"It wreaks of Zerith, throw it back in the water," a third pokémon demand.

"Everybody calm down and back up," the pidgeot said, spreading its wings a bit. "Give it some room. The ship's medical team will be here shortly to take care of the poochyena."

Suddenly, Tesla's shock wore off and the pain had hit him like a train. His muscles tightened and he dropped to the floor, convulsing in pain. Kindle looked at him worriedly. Just because she was mad at him, didn't mean she didn't follow her moral judgment. As she saw the medics arriving, she ushered one to help Tesla.

The audino medics took the two pokemon on stretcher bearers towards the ship's infirmary. As they left, Kindle glanced over at the poochyena. A knot had formed in her gut, remembering her last encounter with a dark-type pokemon. Frostbite. It sent a chill down her back, but she did her best to block out the thoughts.