Rei woke up to his body aching everywhere.
He groaned before realizing it probably had something to do with the fact he had fought a noble yesterday, and that there wasn't a considerable injury on the back of his head where the pain was focused on.
The rest of his team didn't take too long to begin stirring either.
"Ugh, whyyyy? " Luxio groaned. "Akari didn't even show up…"
"Because she's probably sleeping to recover from falling off a cliff yesterday, remember?" Eevee told him.
"Well, our Poke-human got thrown in the air and survived, so I don't see the problem." Quilava added.
"Our 'Poke-human' is a Pokémon, as the name implies, so of course he would survive!" The normal type sighed.
"I almost didn't, but okay. " Rei rolled his eyes and stretched, standing up. "Hey, wouldn't it be funny if we were the ones that woke up Akari today? "
"I was about to suggest that." Luxio laughed.
The group stood up and did their morning routine, readying themselves for the day and then exited Rei's headquarters.
"Okay, but where does Akari even sleep? " Eevee asked. " After all this time we didn't even ask her? "
"Kinda forgot when we have to be moving from place to place without a break every day." Quilava rolled his eyes. "Let's just ask that guy over there."
Rei guessed that by 'let's' he meant him.
The guard perked when he saw Rei approaching, and waved at him. "Hello, Rei! Up early today, I see!" He beamed. "What brings you here?"
"Searching… For Akari."
"Akari? She must be still sleeping in her headquarters, especially after yesterday! Though I'm surprised she isn't awake. She usually comes to wake you up around this time."
When the guard realized Rei was still looking at him, he seemed to realize he had to be a bit more specific. "Oh, you mean where her headquarters are?"
Rei nodded. "They are just over there, three doors away from yours."
After thanking the guard and saying goodbye, Rei walked towards Akari's quarters, and hoped he got the right one before knocking on the door.
There was no response for a while before he heard a groan on the other side. Footsteps sounded louder and louder before the door slowly opened, revealing Akari.
Rei almost didn't recognize her, with her unbrushed hair and missing her handkerchief and uniform, her clothes now resembling something similar to what Rei had first appeared in the village with, adding onto the fact she had her eyes half closed from having just woken up.
"Rei? What are you…" She asked before a yawn interrupted her. "What time is it?"
There was a pause as Rei tried to guess what time it was. He didn't know how humans called each hour of the day, or if they even did.
"Morning?"
She sighed. "You don't know, of course." She suddenly widened her eyes. "Wait, was I supposed to have woken you up already?"
Rei nodded. "I must have overslept… This injury of mine really exhausted me…" The girl muttered.
Rei winced slightly. "Would you like to come in? I wouldn't like to have you waiting for me outside."
"Ooh, yes, please!" Luxio said, entering through the door.
Akari chuckled. "I'll take that as a yes." She gestured to the rest to follow, and Rei entered behind her.
Her headquarters weren't too different from Rei's, though it was a lot more filled than his. There were shelves full of small sculptures, letters scattered around the tables, some cooking equipment laying around among other things, and of course, the fulton in the middle of the room, Akari's three Pokémon still asleep on it.
"Make yourself at home." Akari smiled at him, before nudging the sleeping Pokémon. "Come on, time to wake up!"
"Urgh…" Pikachu groaned.
"I don't wanna…" Mime Jr. added.
Buizel was still asleep.
Akari sighed with a shake of her head. "I'll work on that later. Would you like some coffee? Or… Chesto berries, I suppose? I think that is the right berry…" Akari offered him. Rei wasn't very sure what that 'coffee' was, so he decided to ask.
"Cof… fee?"
"Do you want some?" Akari asked. "Do you even know what coffee is?"
Rei shook his head, prompting the girl to sigh. "You better not start running around after trying it." She joked, but Rei wasn't sure what the funny part was.
Akari seemed to realize that, so she explained it to him. "Coffee is a drink that acts like Chesto berries for Pokémon, but a bit more potent. Most Galaxy Team members wouldn't be able to start off their day without it."
Oh, okay.
"Can… try?"
"Sure, just let me prepare it first." She then looked at the other Pokémon. "Do you guys want some juicy Chesto berries instead of the boring coffee your friend's gonna drink?"
"Yeah!" Quilava exclaimed.
"Free food? Count me in!" Luxio added.
"But I wanted to try that coffee thing…" Eevee muttered.
Akari headed off to get some sort of instrument before putting some water and weird powder in it. She then lit up a fire and placed the recipient on a metal tray above it.
"I'll go and change into my uniform. If it starts boiling give me a shout. And do not touch either of the metal utensils, okay?"
Rei nodded and the girl disappeared behind a corner of the room, leaving Rei and the Pokémon alone.
"So do we just wait?" Luxio asked.
"I guess. How do we know when that… thing is boiling, though?" Rei wondered out loud.
"I don't know. We'll just wait and see." Eevee shrugged.
There was a while of nothing happening, and Rei began getting bored, looking around Akari's quarters, finding nothing of note.
Suddenly, the weird recipient began letting out steam, and there was some sort of bubbling sound coming from it.
"You think that's done?" Luxio asked.
"I know how boiling water sounds. I'm pretty sure it is." Quilava stated.
"Akari!" Rei called.
"Coming!"
Akari, now wearing her uniform, rushed to the boiling metal recipient and put off the fire, before grabbing some sort of fabric piece and two cups.
She poured some really dark brown liquid onto both cups before leaving the recipient somewhere else and grabbing another two, one with some white powder in it and the other one with something he couldn't see inside, and also the Chesto berries for the Pokémon.
"That's coffee?" Eevee flinched. "I think I don't want to try it anymore."
"Yeah, it looks really weird. " Luxio added.
Akari took notice of Rei's confused expression before laughing. "Yeah, I know. It doesn't look too good, does it? Don't worry. Few people actually enjoy pure coffee like that."
She opened the tall recipient and poured some white liquid onto both drinks. "This is Miltank milk, imported straight from one of the best farms from the Johto region."
She put some of the powder in her coffee with a spoon before looking at Rei. "Do you want some sugar? It'll make your coffee sweeter, if that's how you like your drinks."
Akari, I never drank anything other than water.
He shrugged. "Don't mind."
"Okay, I'll put a teaspoon of it in your coffee, and you tell me if you want more."
After doing that, she handed Rei a small spoon and told him he had to stir the coffee. While she gave the Chesto berries to the Pokémon, he was busy doing as Akari said.
"That's enough, Rei. Don't want you to spill anything!" Akari told him before stirring her own drink.
Rei grabbed the cup of coffee and went to take a sip. "Rei, that coffee is steaming. Blow some air on it so it cools down before drinking." Akari stopped him.
He tilted his head slightly before doing as instructed. When steam stopped coming from the drink, he went to try a sip.
He found that the coffee tasted bitter, but the 'sugar' and the milk seemed to make it a bit less strong. Overall, he found out it wasn't that bad.
"Do you like it?" Akari asked him, and he nodded. "Glad to hear that. But make sure you don't drink it before going to bed. You won't sleep well if you do."
He didn't even know how to prepare the drink, so he just nodded and drank again.
The two spent some time talking about their recent mission, while they had that quick breakfast.
Before long, however, it was time to go to the Galaxy Hall and see what the day had in store for them.
"I swear, if it's another noble, I'm committing a crime." Pikachu groaned.
"Hey, but that's a bad thing!" Mime Jr. gasped.
"He doesn't mean it literally." Eevee replied.
"Oh, I really do."
It wasn't too long before they were inside the building, going upstairs towards Kamado's office. They found him looking at some papers on his desk before his gaze lifted to look at them.
"Rei and Akari! Perfect timing!" The commander shouted. "I have a new task for you."
"We're ready, Commander." Akari nodded.
"That's what I like to hear." He picked up a paper from his desk and handed it to the duo. It seemed to be a map of the Obsidian Fieldlands and the Crimson Mirelands, on them drawn tens of arrows and lines, some with question marks or some notes.
Both places where Rei had been.
"I want you to investigate the Zoroark Alec reported last time. It seems that it is roaming around, and it doesn't stay in one place only, as Alec has found more traces of Zoroark fur in some areas of the Crimson Mirelands, particularly on Scarlet Bog."
Rei's face immediately fell.
You have to be kidding me.
"That's…" Akari began. "Are you sure that fur is from a Zoroark too?"
"Yes, I am!"
Alec came walking from the stairs behind them, eating an apple. "The same fur that was stuck on those bushes. No room for error."
Akari immediately winced. "Okay…"
She turned to Kamado. "So what do you wish for us to investigate exactly, Commander? The Fieldlands and the Mirelands are very big."
"Those maps I gave to you have the most likely paths that Pokémon could have taken. Investigate those areas and the surroundings." Kamado stated.
"And if you manage to see it, don't try to catch it. Come back as fast as possible and we'll reevaluate." Alec added.
Akari looked between the map and Rei before sighing. "Okay… We'll do, Commander."
"Is something the matter?" He asked, making Akari immediately perk up.
"No, Commander! I'm just… tired from the injury from our last mission." She lied.
"I see… Well, you two are dismissed. Report back here at the end of the day with your findings, if any." The Commander waved them off.
"And good luck!" Alec finished as he went on to speak with the Commander about something they didn't manage to hear.
The group exited the building with a neutral face and in complete silence.
"We're screwed." Luxio said.
"I don't need a translation for that one." Akari added.
Eevee groaned. "Ugh! How did that Alec guy find more of your fur?! Is he actively looking for it? " She yelled in frustration.
"I'm pretty sure he is." Quilava sighed.
"I suppose this has to do with the fact our guy here is the Zoroark they are looking for?" Buizel asked them.
"Yeah, that's exactly the problem." Eevee answered.
"What are we supposed to do now?" Akari asked, turning to Rei. "Did you have a plan for this?"
Rei shook his head. "Didn't even… know… how… come… village."
Akari face palmed. "For the love of-... Okay, it's fine. We'll just have to act as if we were investigating, but tell the Commander there wasn't anything to note."
"Lie… Commander?!" Rei exclaimed.
"Do you prefer to tell him the truth? That's also an option."
Rei shut up.
"Figured you'd choose that." Akari shook her head. "Come on, let's get ready and-"
"Hey! Hello, you two!"
"Mighty electrical herooo~"
The group turned to the source of those voices, finding that Beauregard was walking towards them with a friendly wave, and beside him…
"Who are you?" Eevee asked the Pokémon that hopped towards them.
Whoever they were, they looked like a big white and slightly pinkish ball of… silk, maybe?
"What do you mean? You don't recognize me?" The Pokémon asked.
"Wait, Beautricia?" Luxio exclaimed, making everyone widen their eyes.
"Yup!"
"Rei, Akari, look! My dear Beautricia evolved into a Silcoon last night! Isn't she beautiful?" The guard laughed.
"I don't think she's a Silc-" Akari began, but was interrupted by Luxio jumping just past her and landing next to the bug type.
"You're beautiful!" He squealed, nuzzling into her. "And even more cuddly now!"
"Aww… Thanks!"
"It seems no tips from Rei were necessary!" The guard smiled. "I just can't wait to see my dear Beautricia as a gorgeous Beautifly!"
Akari opened her mouth to speak, but then closed it. "You know what? I won't be the one to tell him."
Rei wasn't sure what she meant, so he didn't try to ask about it.
"Speaking of, you two looked like you'd seen a ghost when I first saw you. Is something wrong?" Beauregard asked them.
"It's nothing. We just have a… complicated mission on our hands, that's it." Akari explained.
"Ye…" Rei added.
"Oh, well then I better not waste any more of your time! I'll be in the same place as always in case you need to find me, or, well…" The guard glanced at Luxio and Beautricia. "You know, they want to see each other."
Akari smiled when seeing them before she nodded. "Alright. See you next time, Beauregard."
"Bye."
"Love you." Luxio said.
"Love you more." Beautricia added.
"Okay, you two, come on! We've got stuff to do!" Pikachu told them, managing to finally separate them.
As the group (and Luxio) waved goodbye to the two, they reached the shop area, where they bought some supplies for the day before heading off to the Fieldlands.
"Okay, what should we do?" The girl asked as they arrived at the camp. "Which place do you want to start with?"
Rei took a look at the maps. The Fieldlands' was mostly marked with a big circle around Grandtree Arena with only a few more 'possible hiding spots' marked, while the Mirelands' had more lines and circles, along Scarlet Bog, Brava Arena, and question marks over lines pointing upwards and to the Diamond Clan settlement.
"Arena?" Rei suggested.
"I was going to suggest that too." Akari nodded. "Okay then. Should we call lord Wyrdeer?"
"Ye."
"Do you mind if I try playing the flute? I should practice the melody a bit."
"Sure."
After a nod, Akari took out her Celestica Flute, ready to play it.
The melody that came out of it was slightly off tune, but it seemed to be enough, as the noble didn't take too long to arrive at their location.
"Good morning, children." The noble greeted them.
"Not too good for us…" Eevee muttered.
"Lord Wyrdeer, we need to go to Grandtree Arena for an investigation. Would you please take us there?" Akari told the noble.
"Of course."
And with that, Wyrdeer made his way towards their destination, and they reached it in barely over ten minutes.
After thanking Wyrdeer and watching him go away, they walked the stone stairs that led to the main arena. They found that Lian was standing next to Kleavor, his Goomy beside him.
Akari and Rei looked at each other, wondering if they should interrupt, at least until the warden turned to look at them.
"Akari? Rei? What are you doing here?" The boy asked, before turning to Kleavor. "If you'll excuse me, Lord Kleavor."
"Go ahead."
Lian approached them, waiting for an answer, his Goomy shivering slightly when recognizing them. "We have been tasked with investigating some areas to see if we can find a… specific Pokémon. We decided to start with Grandtree Arena first, though we didn't know you and Lord Kleavor would be here." Akari explained.
"Yeah, that." Rei added.
I wish I could say more than two words.
"A specific Pokémon? What Pokémon is it? It must be important if you must investigate."
The girl looked at Rei apologetically before sighing. "The Commander believes a Zoroark may be roaming around the Fieldlands and the Mirelands."
Lian widened his eyes. "A Zoroark, you say? Well, that's a matter of great importance! If you wish to look around the arena, go ahead. I am about to finish speaking with my Lord."
"We understand. We'll wait here."
The group didn't manage to hear what Lian talked about, but they did see him coming towards them a few minutes later.
"There we go. Rei, Lord Kleavor wishes to speak to you."
Rei raised a brow. "I don't know either." Lian shrugged. "Anyhow, I will be on my way. Goodbye!"
After waving goodbye to the warden, Rei turned to look back at the arena, finding that Kleavor was indeed waiting to speak to him, his eyes locked on him.
"Why would Lord Kleavor want to speak with you?" Akari asked. "On second thought, I may have an idea why."
"It'll be okay, Ocko." Luxio reassured.
Gulping, Rei walked towards the arena, the rest of the group following behind.
Once they reached Lord Kleavor, he simply looked at Rei without taking his eyes off him. " We meet again, Rei of the Galaxy Team. "
Rei didn't reply. "Lord Wyrdeer told me you could understand us Pokémon speak. Is that true?"
He flinched before slowly nodding. "Hmmm… I see…" A long pause.
"On another note, my warden has told me your group is investigating the traces of a Zoroark."
Rei nodded again. "Such a strange place to wander to, hm? So far away from the Icelands…" The noble exaggeratedly hummed.
"You know?" Eevee raised a brow.
Kleavor shrugged. "Know what, young Eevee? I am just an elderly noble, what could I possibly know?"
There was another pause. "Nonetheless, that wasn't why I requested your presence. I wanted to thank you for helping Lady Lilligant yesterday. It is not easy to hit her with attacks when she is dancing."
"It was nothing, really." Quilava smiled.
"We were just trying to help!" Luxio added.
"No Quilava, it was something." Pikachu rolled his eyes. "But if I had to go through all that madness to help that noble again, I'd absolutely do it."
Kleavor nodded. "I am glad to hear that. For now, I will leave you alone so you may carry out your 'investigation' in peace."
He turned around and ran away from the arena, somewhere into the forest.
Akari turned to Rei. "Did he say something important?"
Rei turned to Akari. "He knows." He simply replied.
The girl looked at where the noble had run off to. "Well, I'm surprised he didn't find out sooner. He's a noble after all."
"Okay yeah, but that still doesn't solve the problem." Eevee rolled her eyes.
"Anyway, what should we do now?" Akari asked. "Maybe we could look around for evidence of you having passed through here so we can get rid of it?"
"Sure."
"Alright. Then I'll look around that way, and you look that way. And please, make sure you don't cross any bushes."
The next half hour was spent on the duo looking around for anything that confirmed that a Zoroark (Rei) could have been in Grandtree Arena, but nothing.
"Nothing either?" Rei shook his head. "Well that's good, I suppose. Let's look for the next location."
"Wait!" Pikachu exclaimed. "Didn't you get thrown into the air? Why don't we check the spot where you fell?"
"That's a damn nice idea!" Quilava said.
"What did Pikachu say?" Akari asked.
"Look… spot… I fell."
"Spot I fell… Oh! Where you got launched by Kleavor? How could we have forgotten that?!" Akari then turned to look at her partner. "Nice one, Pikachu!"
The electric type let out a smug smirk. "What would you all do without me…"
"Okay, smartass. How 'bout you shut up and move it to whatever spot you are talking about?" Buizel rolled her eyes.
After an angry look from Pikachu, they marched towards what Rei thought was the area he got injured in. It wasn't too long before they found dried traces of blood on the ground and on some trees' crust.
"Okay, I think we're here." Akari shivered.
"Arceus, how much blood did you lose?!" Eevee yelled, horrified.
"My head was half open. What did you expect?" Rei sighed.
"Let's look around. We should look around the trail of blood."
They spent a few more minutes following Rei's footsteps, before they reached what had once been Alec's camp. The trail ended there, and the only thing they managed to find was a few more strands of fur stuck on some branches.
"Well, this is something, at least…" The girl sighed. "Come on, let's go to our next destination."
They hadn't found too much in any of the spots that were marked in the Fieldlands, and so, it was time to walk to the other area, that is, the Crimson Mirelands. That map had more possible spots to search for, so they would most likely take longer to examine everything.
As they made their way towards the Mirelands, they began discussing a good way to get rid of anything they'd find.
"We can't simply toss it out somewhere. That will just make things worse if anyone were to find it…" Akari hummed.
"I could just burn it." Quilava suggested.
"What if we find something you can't burn?" Eevee added. "We have to have a plan in case that happens."
"Maybe we could bury it somewhere? " Mime Jr. said.
"Anyone could uncover it." The normal type countered.
"What if we throw it into the sea?" Pikachu tried to say.
"Any water type could accidentally cause it to resurface." Buizel replied.
"What if I just eat it? It's just fur." Luxio hummed.
"Gross…" Rei shuddered.
"Well, do you have any other ideas?"
"If you can't think of any way to get rid of the evidence, don't get yourself worked up over it." Akari interrupted. "We'll cross that bridge once we get to it."
The Mirelands Camp could already be seen from their position, and the group almost choked when they saw who was there.
Alec.
"What is he doing here?" Akari asked, walking towards him.
Once they were close enough for Alec to notice them, he waved at them and motioned them to come closer.
"What are you doing here?" Akari asked.
"Hey, hello to you two as well!" The doctor laughed. "I'm here to help you with your investigation. After talking with the Commander, I didn't have anything else to do, so I suggested I should help you!"
The doctor raised a brow after he saw everyone's expressions.
"Okay, I'm knocking him out." Eevee readied herself to use Swift, but Luxio quickly put one of his paws in front of her, shaking his head.
"Erm… Thank you for the offer, but… We can manage ourselves!" Akari smiled, but it was clear she was nervous.
"Nonsense! An extra pair of hands always comes in handy!" He answered.
It seemed they weren't going to get rid of Alec anytime soon. "I bet the Poke-human is telling Alec about him." Quilava stated.
"I bet Alec finds out somehow before he does that." Pikachu added.
"Shut up! Both of you!" Eevee snapped.
Akari sighed. "Okay then…"
"Great! So, did you find something in the Fieldlands? One of the guards told me you were going there before."
Rei and Akari tensed a bit more. "Unfortunately, no."
"Oh, that's a shame." Alec seemed to buy that. "Hopefully we'll be a bit more lucky in the Mirelands. Now, come on. Let's go!"
Alec turned around and began walking away. Akari whispered something to Rei. "You can use your illusion ability like that, right?"
He nodded. "Why?"
"If you see something that looks like a clue, try to hide it with one, if possible."
Rei widened his eyes and nodded. "Nice…"
"Hey! You two coming?" Alec called.
The group looked at each other before setting off towards the field that awaited them. They all went to Scarlet Bog, as, according to Alec, that was the closest area where clues could be located.
"Okay!" The doctor exclaimed once they arrived. "Let's split up to search for clues faster!"
No! I won't be able to hide anything from him if we do that!
Akari seemed to catch on to his face. "Wait, we shouldn't do that."
"What do you mean?"
"Uhhh… Because…" Akari tried to think of any excuse. "Because it's better if we stay together! That way, we'll be able to check each part of the bog carefully without missing anything!"
Alex hummed in thought before shrugging. "Well, if you think that'd be better, sure, let's do it. I'm just tagging along, so whatever you two say!"
"I don't like this…" Eevee muttered.
"I can clean you if you're still scared of the mud." Buizel told her.
Eevee's look turned fierce as she glared at the water type.
"I wouldn't joke when she's stressed." Quilava said to her. "She may not look like it, but she's strong when she's angry. Did we tell you about that alpha Kricketune?"
"What alpha Kricketune?"
And so, while Luxio and Quilava told the water type the story of their first fight against an alpha, the humans looked around the mud of Scarlet Bog, searching for any clues of a Zoroark having passed through there.
It didn't take too long for Rei to spot some of his own fur floating in the mud. He turned around to make sure Alec hadn't seen it before focusing and casting a small illusion to hide the fur, just as the doctor turned to face him.
"Something there?" He asked.
"No." Rei replied, showing him the 'empty' mud puddle.
"Okay. Remember to keep your eyes peeled!"
The moment he turned away, Rei carefully grabbed the fur.
Ugh… It's muddy…
He removed as much mud as he could before hiding the fur in his scarf. Hopefully, it would stain the cloth and not his own fur.
They continued looking around for more traces of a Zoroark, and Rei somehow managed to see each and every one of them before Alec did, which meant that once they were done, Alec scratched his head with confusion.
"Huh… I'm surprised there's nothing here." He spoke.
"Yes… Weird, right?" Akari said, exaggerating her tone.
"Well, let's keep looking around other areas."
As they made their way out of Scarlet Bog, Rei couldn't help but sigh with relief.
"Wow, this Alec guy really isn't attentive to anything…" Pikachu commented.
"I literally saw him looking at some fur and he missed it. And he's a doctor?!" Luxio added.
"Humans sure are weird…" Eevee laughed.
"Our next spot is Brava Arena. You wouldn't have happened to come across anything there when you fought Lady Lilligant, did you?" Alec asked.
"Not that we noticed. Though we were more focused on other things at that moment."
"Understandable. But since that's over, let's look around the arena again."
The arena was, to say the least, a mess of burnt leaves, and fur not just from Rei, but from the rest of the Pokémon as well, all of that added to dirt, grass and natural terrain scattered all around. They would have a really hard time finding anything there.
Which was exactly what they needed.
"Who would have thought chaos would help us?" Quilava wondered out loud.
"That's why I always kept my part of our den messy when I lived there!" Luxio added.
"Why does it not surprise me?" Eevee groaned.
"Hey, what does that mean?"
Rei heard Akari sigh when she saw the mess that the arena was, turning to Alec. "Do you think we'll be able to find something in this chaos?"
"Well, my dear Akari, of course we will! I'm not a Pokémon doctor just because I gave myself the title!" Alec replied, crouching down and looking intently at the floor.
The girl frowned. "Right…" She said with gritted teeth.
Alex paced around Brava Arena, looking down to the ground in search of clues among all the mess. It wasn't long before Rei went back to trying to hide anything incriminatory, and he had to admit, it wasn't as easy as he had thought at first.
"Hm, it sure is hard…" Alec muttered before looking at the group. "Why are you not helping?"
"Oh right, we are supposed to be searching for fur in what was a war zone a day ago." Pikachu rolled his eyes.
"Let's just act like we're looking for something." Eevee sighed.
"I can do that alright!" Buizel smiled.
And so, it once again began the search for Rei's obviously present traces. Though, this time, it was a lot harder than usual, even when he actually tried to search for them.
He managed to hide a few clues from Alec's sight, but he wasn't fast enough to hide all of them.
"Aha!" The doctor exclaimed, looking at the newly found fur.
"Shoot." Eevee groaned.
"See? So that Zoroark was here!" Alec exclaimed.
Akari cursed to herself before turning to the older human. "Well, h- it clearly wasn't here while we were fighting Lady Lilligant, and we didn't see any fur laying around when we came."
"So it must have come after you were done… Maybe last night?" The doctor suggested.
"Maybe…" Rei muttered.
That was obviously a lie, but they needed to confuse Alec, and by extension, Kamado, as much as they could.
"Well, then we should keep moving to our next spot…" Alec frowned in confusion when looking at the map. "The Diamond Settlement? Well, at least we'll have it easy there. We can just ask!" He chuckled.
The group began making their way towards the Diamond Settlement, and Rei shivered just thinking about what brought him there the first time.
Thankfully, Rei remembered he was just going there to ask the residents of the settlement if they had seen a Zoroark.
Yeah, that managed to calm him down a lot.
"Come on, Rei. Calm down. Nothing's going to happen! There's no way they know anything!" Eevee reasoned.
That was what actually calmed him down.
Sooner than any would have liked, the blue tents of the Diamond Clan became visible. Once they were close enough to be seen by one of the clan members, she motioned them to stop.
"Halt! What brings you here today?" She asked.
"Yes, hello, we are Alec, Akari and Rei from the Galaxy Team, and we would like to ask the Diamond Clan members if they have news about a certain Pokémon having passed through here." The doctor explained.
"A lot of wild Pokémon make their way over to our settlement every day. You'll have to be a bit more specific." The member deadpanned.
"Sorry. Have you seen any Zoroark wandering around?"
The clan member raised a brow. "A Zoroark? Aren't those supposed to live in the Icelands?"
"Yes, but we have proof that one of them is out of them and roaming the Fieldlands and Mirelands."
The clan member thought for a while before shrugging. "It's weird that a Zoroark is out of that frozen wasteland. No, I personally haven't seen one, at least that I know. If it did come here, it was most likely disguised."
"What's that about a disguise?"
Everyone turned to the source of the voice. It was Adaman, followed closely by Arezu. "Leader Adaman!" The clan member immediately got into a straight posture.
"Yes yes, hello." The leader then noticed Rei and Akari standing next to Alec. "Well well well! If it isn't you two! I actually wanted to talk with you."
"Huh?" Rei exclaimed.
"You did?" Akari added.
Alec chuckled. "Well, it seems the task of questioning the Diamond Clan will fall on me!"
"Questioning?" Adaman interrupted.
"Leader Adaman, these three Galaxy Team members claim there is a Zoroark roaming the Fieldlands and Mirelands."
"A Zoroark?!" Arezu immediately paled.
"That's…" Adaman began. "Unusual."
"We know. We are trying to investigate why a Pokémon is so far away from its own habitat, and we believe it could have come near the Diamond Clan settlement. We wanted to check whether anyone had seen anything suspicious." Alec told them.
Adaman hummed in thought. "That's quite a big predicament…" He muttered. "You have my full permission to ask any questions needed,...?"
"Alec, Leader Adaman."
The leader nodded. "Arezu, would you be so kind as to take Alec to talk with the guards while I speak to Rei and Akari?"
"Of course!" The warden nodded. "Come with me."
Alex nodded again and turned to face Akari and Rei. "We'll meet here when you're done, okay?"
"Okay." Akari told him before the doctor and Arezu walked away.
"So you two are following a rogue Zoroark's trail, huh?" Adaman asked them with a smirk.
"Yes, but it's not much of a trail. We've just found some fur scattered around some areas." Akari explained.
"Well, that's better than nothing, I suppose! Now come on, after me."
The group looked at each other and shrugged before walking after the leader.
Adaman took them to one of the bigger tents, presumably his, and motioned everyone to enter.
The inside was what anyone would expect out of a clan's leader. Different portraits of different humans dressed similarly to Adaman, added to a few expensive looking artifacts on shelves. There weren't only fancy objects, though.
Despite what everyone thought at first, the inside of the leader's tent was disorganized and messy, full of various kinds of objects laid out everywhere. Not as messy as his own quarters were, but more than what Rei thought a leader's tent should be.
It seemed that their surprise was apparent, as Adaman chuckled. "Bet you didn't expect something like this from a clan leader, did you?"
"It looks surprisingly… normal?" Pikachu said.
"It's cool!" Mime Jr. added, mouth agape.
"Wait, we've got visitors?!" A new voice exclaimed.
"Wait, Heinrich!"
From somewhere, a ball of brown fur zipped across the room, stopping just in front of Rei, tail wagging.
An Eevee, excitedly looking at him.
"Hi! Oh my gosh, this is the first time in so long anyone ever came here!" He excitedly yelled, eyes darting around each member of the group.
"Heinrich, why did you-" From the same place the Eevee had come from, another Pokémon appeared. A Leafeon. "Wait, visitors?!" He gasped in a similar fashion to the Eevee.
"Goodness gracious, there's two of them!" Quilava gasped.
The Eevee proceeded to walk towards all the Pokémon, saying hello and repeatedly stating how they were the first people that had come inside Adaman's tent in a really long while. The Leafeon, albeit with a bit more self control, did the same.
Adaman couldn't help but laugh. "I see you've already met those two pesky troublemakers."
"These are your Pokémon partners, I presume?" Akari asked, crouching to pet the overjoyed Eevee.
"They are! The Eevee is called Heinrich, as a tribute to one of my ancestors, but Leafeon didn't seem to like a name, so he is simply Leafeon." The leader explained.
"Heinrich sounds like a name for a really old person." Luxio muttered.
"Speaking of nicknames, shouldn't we think of one for ourselves?" Eevee added.
"Well, your friend here already has one, remember?" Buizel reminded, pointing at Luxio. "Given to him by his 'friend'."
The electric type blushed slightly. "Shut up! It's cool, okay!"
"Of course it is…" Quilava laughed.
"Another Eevee!" Heinrich left Akari's grasp and ran towards the normal type. "It's been forever since I've seen another one like me!"
"Wasn't Leafeon an Eevee before?" Mime Jr. asked.
"Yeah, but it's been soooo long since he became a plant! He used to play with me all the time, but now he just stays under the Sun being lazy all day!" The other Eevee whined.
"It's called 'photosynthesizing', and it's something I have to do so we can play together for hours every day whenever we aren't following our partner." Leafeon sighed. It was clear this wasn't the first time he had to explain that.
"Isn't sleeping enough?!"
The grass type rolled his eyes. "Forgive him. He still needs to grow up a bit. My name is Leafeon, nice to meet you."
"Hi!" Everyone replied.
Adaman clapped his hands, snapping everyone's attention to him. "Alright, I believe it's time we begin with what I brought you here for. But firstly, would you like some tea?"
"Sure!" Rei said, eager to try more human drinks.
"If it's not a bother…" Akari added.
"Oh, not at all, don't worry." The leader smiled before disappearing to get the drink prepared.
Playing and talking filled the leader's tent as both Rei and Akari waited for Adaman to come back, Rei constantly gazing at the playing Pokémon, being envious of him not being able to do the same.
All the Pokémon were introducing each other and running around, all but one. Heinrich had found out he liked being pet by Akari a lot more than running, and Rei could hear the small normal type purring in delight.
Rei looked at Akari, trying his best puppy eyes.
The girl frowned with a look that screamed 'really?'. "No." She simply said.
"Aw…"
"Come on, really?" Eevee frowned.
"Sorry for the wait. Here is the tea!" Adaman suddenly appeared, carrying some cups filled with a steaming liquid.
He left them on a small table and Rei could see said liquid was green colored and a bit transparent. Remembering this morning, he blew some air before taking a sip of the tea.
It didn't taste of anything too strongly, but it wasn't bad. In fact, Rei found out he liked this drink more than the coffee he had drunk that morning.
After taking a sip, Adaman left the cup back on the table. "Very well, let's talk."
His expression turned serious. "I suppose you must be wondering why I've asked you to come here."
"We are, yes. Is it something important?" Akari asked.
"You could say so. I simply wanted to discuss how you both have been doing with your search for the plates."
Rei nodded and opened his satchel. He took out the four plates he carried and showed them to Adaman. He grabbed them and took a look at them. "Hmmm… Amazing! You already have four of the plates!"
He gave them back to Rei. "It's amazing… To think a descendant of the Ancient Hero is right in front of me… Or even two of them!" He mused.
Rei couldn't help but look away. I'm not any hero's descendant… I'm just a Zoroark…
"This leads us to my next point. Rei, do you even know the legend of the Ancient Hero?" The leader asked.
Rei shook his head. He remembered Wyrdeer telling him about it, but Adaman obviously didn't know that, so he had to say no. He was also too shocked at that time to pay attention to it.
He still was. Finding that one was a descendant of a hero of a legend while being a Pokémon was nothing short of stunning, and it did raise a few questions.
"Let me tell you the story then." Questions he'd have to ponder another time, as Adaman was about to start.
"As the legend in the Old Verses goes, there was once a hero, someone that, just as you, Rei, was searching for the eighteen plates, scattered all across the Hisui region. He wasn't just a mere person. He was one of the strongest Pokémon wielders of the time, and so, the hero bravely fought across the land, befriending the ancestors of the nobles we all know today."
"All of them?" Akari asked.
Adaman nodded. "Yes. The nobles aided the hero in their journey, and thus, he was able to find the eighteen plates, each imbued with the essence of one of the types. The hero's ultimate goal was meeting almighty Sinnoh atop Mount Coronet, and equipped with all the plates, he traveled towards the mountain."
Akari and Rei looked at each other. The Hero wanted to… meet a god?
"And the hero met almighty Sinnoh, correct?" Akari questioned. She was obviously really interested in the story, despite knowing what it was about.
"Not only did he do that, but he also valiantly fought against it, winning the battle. For that, the hero earned the deity's respect, and the Pokémon the hero befriended received a special blessing, thus becoming the first protectors of the humans and Pokémon of Hisui. The temple of Sinnoh, located in Mount Coronet, was later built to honor both the hero and almighty Sinnoh."
Rei took everything in, nodding slowly. It seemed that the legend was similar to what Wyrdeer had told him.
"That all?" He asked.
Adaman thought for a second. "Well, that's the most important part of the legend, but there's of course more."
"Tell." The boy insisted.
"Alright. The hero, after earning that title, went on to face a being known as the 'almighty unknowable'. It was the hero's strength which impressed the being and made it go back to its 'domain of no place'."
Adaman looked to the side slightly. "Don't ask what that domain is. I won't be able to answer."
The leader shook his head. "The point is, after that, no one knows what happened to the Ancient Hero. Some say that he disappeared, others that he perished in one of his battles, but nothing is confirmed. The blessed Pokémon the hero had befriended were taken care of by a now disappeared tribe called 'Celestica People', who watched over the blessed ones, or nobles, as we call them today. Those Pokémon later had descendants, four of which you two have already met. The Celestica People's role is now assigned to the wardens of the Diamond and Pearl Clans."
Adaman sighed and leaned back on his chair. "And that's everything, as far as I'm aware." He then smirked. "How would you rate my storytelling?"
Everyone stood silent for a long while, especially Rei.
"Is this why you wanted to talk to us?" Akari broke the silence.
"Well, yes. I believe that if Rei is actually the descendant of the Ancient Hero, he should know what the plates are for and what his end goal should be, don't you think?"
"But how can you be sure he actually is a descendant of the Ancient Hero?" The girl pressured. It seemed she had come to the same conclusion as him.
He was a Pokémon. The Ancient Hero was a human.
"It is the nobles' judgment, not mine." Adaman shrugged. "And if that doesn't clear your doubts, I'll let you know that Rei and the Ancient Hero have quite a lot in common."
"They do?" Akari raised a brow in surprise.
"We do?" Rei added.
Adaman nodded again. "You do. For instance, both of you have exceptional abilities with Pokémon, being able to earn their favor rather easily, and the most obvious part, being able to keep them under control outside of your Poké-balls relatively easily."
Rei looked at the now attentive to the conversation Pokémon, and they looked at him. You could say that…
"Oh, and how could I forget! The Old Verses say that the Ancient Hero appeared in one of the settlements of the time out of nowhere, and Rei dropped from the sky out of nowhere!" Adaman exclaimed. "Well, technically from a space-time rift, but you understand my point." He chuckled.
That caused both Rei, Akari, and their Pokémon to widen their eyes. The Ancient Hero came from nowhere?!
The boy turned to look at Akari. The girl turned to him as well with a surprised look. They had the same thought, apparently.
The Ancient Hero could have not been human…
That managed to stress Rei a bit further. If there was a possibility of the Ancient Hero being a Pokémon, it meant that there was an even bigger one of him being his descendant.
"Is there… something you're not telling me? You two look nervous."
Rei's attention was immediately snapped back to reality.
Adaman was worryingly giving the two a look. "It's nothing, Leader Adaman. We are just really shocked about Rei being a descendant of such a legend." Akari lied.
Rei nervously smiled and nodded.
"It's okay, I understand. A revelation like that is not something that can be forgotten easily." The leader smiled.
"I don't think the fact that the possibility of the hero being…" Eevee spoke, before she stopped and looked at Heinrich and Leafeon. "...you know what is going to be forgotten by anyone."
The two Pokémon didn't ask anything, understanding it wasn't their business.
"Is there a particular reason why you wanted to share this, apart from making Rei understand what he has to achieve?" Akari asked.
Adaman sighed, his face once again turning serious. "The path the Ancient Hero took is one full of hardships, setbacks, and even lost acquaintances. Be careful who you choose as your allies. Not everyone is who they seem to be." The leader warned.
"Ironic…" Rei muttered, just low enough for Adaman not to hear it. He turned to him and nodded. "Okay. Thanks."
The leader gave another nod. "Don't mention it." Adaman took another sip of his tea. "You can stay until you finish your drink, but I'm afraid I must go back to my clan duties after."
"We understand, Leader Adaman." Akari replied, taking another sip of her drink. "We won't take too long."
"Now, how about we talk about other non-legend things, eh? What do you know about that Zoroark you and your friend are looking for?"
Why does every conversation end up looping back to me?
"Well, we know it was in the Fieldlands and the Mirelands, but we don't know exactly where, or why it's here." Akari explained.
"Leafeon, what's a 'Zoroark'?" Heinrich asked.
"A dangerous predator of the Icelands. I'm surprised there's one here." The grass type explained.
"Oh, wow, I want to meet them!" The Eevee exclaimed.
All the Pokémon rolled their eyes while Leafeon sighed. "Of course you do."
"Are you guys siblings or something?" Luxio asked them.
"Yeah, you sound like siblings." Quilava added.
"I suppose you can say that. We've been together for a long while." Leafeon hummed.
"Oh! Maybe I should start calling you something like Leaf-bro!" Heinrich chimed in.
"Please don't. " The grass type winced.
"How about Brofeon?"
"That is arguably worse."
"I think you just have bad taste!"
"No, I'm pretty sure I am the one with good taste here."
There was a clear difference between these two Pokémon and Irida's Glaceon.
"Literally siblings." Buizel chuckled.
"Yup." Pikachu agreed.
"Well, even if that's not much, I trust you two will be able to find that Zoroark's whereabouts." The leader sighed, oblivious to the Pokémon's discussion.
Rei took a big sip of his tea. He should really ask Akari how to prepare it.
The three talked about some other casual things while they finished their drinks. Before long, it was time to leave the leader's home. Heinrich was clearly sad his petting session was over.
"It's been a nice chat, Akari and Rei. Hopefully we'll meet again soon!" Adaman waved goodbye.
"Yeah!" Rei said.
"We will!" Akari added.
And so, the group went back to where they had to meet with Alec, finding he was nowhere to be found.
"He must still be asking questions." Akari reasoned. "We should wait for him."
"How can he take so long? Are there that many humans here?" Mime Jr. asked.
"Probably. It's a big settlement." Eevee replied.
Then, silence fell over them. Despite them trying to avoid it, they couldn't help but think about what Adaman had told them. Rei now knew the full legend of the Ancient Hero, great, he knew what he was supposed to do with the plates.
Yeah, gather eighteen plates and then meet a God. Come on, Rei! You can do it! It's a piece of cake! He ironically thought.
And that wasn't the worst part. At first, he thought everyone was mistaken. The Ancient Hero was a human and he wasn't, so he couldn't be a descendant of him.
But now, Adaman said he appeared out of nowhere and had an amazing ability with Pokémon, comparing it to Rei's.
That opened the possibility of the Ancient Hero not being human, which meant that Rei could actually be his descendant.
How in the world has my life gotten so far from what I originally wanted to do?
Rei had left the Icelands to see the rest of the region, and while he couldn't say he wasn't doing that -meeting all kinds of Pokémon, new friends,...-, the price he was paying for it was too high for his liking.
He wished he could go back to the time where his greatest worry was passing Cyllene's test so that he would be able to stay in Jubilife Village, but alas, now he had to worry about meeting a God. And not just any God. 'Almighty Sinnoh', also known as Arceus.
It was too much for him.
Rei felt Akari's hand on his shoulder. He looked at her, and the girl smiled at him. Rei remembered that he wasn't alone in this. He had his friends with him, and even if he couldn't communicate with Akari fully, he knew she was with him.
"Thank you." He said.
"For what? I didn't do anything." Akari replied.
"Being… Here. Not telling."
"Well, that's what friends are for, right? I know that all this 'Ancient Hero' stuff is a lot to take in for you, especially knowing that there's a chance of him being a Pokémon, if Adaman isn't lying, but remember that you have me here. And if that isn't enough, remember you have your Pokémon as well."
Rei was taken aback by the girl's speech, but he couldn't help but flash a smile at her. It was true he missed his den, but he never felt so fulfilled there.
He had more friends than Eevee and Sneasel. He had human friends. He really wanted a mission to the Icelands just so he could visit his home and tell his sister about everything. Maybe even present her to Akari. He had a hunch the two would be good friends.
If he ignored the obvious language barrier, of course.
"Thank you." Rei said again.
"No problem."
Rei turned to glance at his Pokémon, only to find them looking at him with an evil smirk. " Don't you dare …" He warned.
The Pokémon simply laughed. Rei looked at Akari's Pokémon only to find them doing the same with the girl.
"Rei, you can understand them. Why are they looking at us like that?" Akari asked.
Rei deadpanned. "Better… not know." He replied.
"Aw, come ooon! Don't you think it would be funny to tell her?" Quilava teased.
"It would, but I don't want her to go through that." The disguised Zoroark sighed.
Akari seemed to pick on his reprimanding tone. "It's not something bad, is it?"
Rei shook his head. "Just… jo- joke."
She sighed. "Okay, if you say so..."
"There you are!"
Everyone turned to the sudden shout, finding Alec waving at them before stopping a small distance away from them. "Phew, you can't even imagine how many guards this settlement has…" He groaned.
The doctor shook his head. "So? Did you find out anything interesting?" Akari asked him.
"Unfortunately, no. No guards saw any suspicious activity, but they all said they would be on watch for it from now on." Alec sighed.
Rei sighed.
"Well, we should get back to Jubilife Village and report to the Commander, don't you think?"
"Ye." Rei said.
Finally, it's over.
"We've been at it a long while. A good rest will do us good." Akari nodded, and the group left the Diamond Clan settlement, headed for the Mirelands Camp.
The professor was both disappointed and happy to hear they had only found more Zoroark fur in the Mirelands.
It seemed he also thought that reporting to Kamado was a good idea. Hopefully he wouldn't press them too much about today.
They arrived back at the village before long, and waved at Beauregard and Beautricia before saying goodbye to the professor and walking towards Commander Kamado's office.
"You are back!" He exclaimed once they entered. "How did your search go?"
Alec showed the fur to Kamado. "We have found this in the Mirelands. Not much, but it confirms the Zoroark was indeed there. We also questioned the guards of the Diamond Clan settlement. They didn't see anything suspicious."
Kamado examined the strands of fur before nodding. "Very well. You've done enough for today, Rei and Akari. You as well, Alec. We'll get some other Galaxy Team members to look again so they can get a clear track. For now, you are dismissed."
"Aye!" Everyone exclaimed.
When they exited, Alec turned to look at them. "Well, it was nice working with you while it lasted. I gotta go back to my doctor duties, but hopefully we'll work together again soon!" He said.
"We feel the same. Goodbye Alec!" Akari waved, Rei copying her as they saw him finally leave them alone.
"It's not good they're sending other people to investigate, is it?" Luxio asked.
"We did all we could do. We'll just have to hope." Eevee sighed.
"I'm tired… Can we go home? " Mime Jr. whined.
"Well, Rei. We still have some of the day ahead of us! What would you like to do?" Akari asked him.
"Tea. Make?"
Akari frowned in confusion. "What?"
"Want… learn… tea."
The girl was confused for some time before she finally looked like she understood him. "Oh! You want to learn how to prepare tea?"
Rei nodded. "Okay, I can teach you! Just come to my home. It's easy, you'll see!"
The two walked to Akari's quarters, and after entering, they left their Pokémon to do whatever they wanted while they grabbed what they needed to prepare tea.
Akari left a weird porcelain container on the same spot she had used to prepare coffee, along with another, smaller bowl full of… leaves?, a spoon, a piece of cloth and some water.
"Okay, this is all you need to prepare tea." Akari explained. She pointed to the leaf containing bowl. "That is the tea, but you can't drink it like that. First, you'll need a kettle." She pointed to the bigger porcelain container.
"You first need to heat up the water by putting it inside the kettle, but don't let it boil. I'll help you with that, but I want you to try for yourself."
The girl went on to show Rei how to put the wood underneath the metal surface and after lit it up with the help of Quilava.
It wasn't long before steam started to come out of the kettle. "Okay, perfect. Now remove the kettle from the fire with the cloth."
Rei nodded and used the cloth to grab the kettle, putting it on the ground. He flinched slightly when he touched the hot porcelain, but he managed to do it perfectly.
"Now, use the spoon to get some tea into the kettle. I'd say two of them is enough. If you're wondering, you can buy the tea in the shop."
The disguised Zoroark nodded again, doing as Akari told him. After he was finished, he looked at the girl again.
"And now we just wait for a little bit. Then, just pour the drink into a glass. I'll bring you one."
Akari stood up, as Rei raised an eyebrow. That's it?
"Now, this smells like something I'd like to try." Eevee laughed.
"Me too!" Luxio added.
"And me!" Buizel exclaimed.
Everyone seemed eager to try the drink.
"I'm not sure if there will be enough tea for everyone." Akari laughed, leaving a glass in front of Rei and putting another one next to the Pokémon
Rei grabbed the cloth and poured some tea in his glass before he emptied the kettle in the other glass.
He remembered to blow some air before he drank some of the tea. It tasted good, and it seemed the Pokémon thought the same.
"Hey, not bad!" Quilava exclaimed.
"It doesn't taste like anything! How can you like it?" Pikachu added.
"I think that's the point of the drink." Eevee chuckled.
"Well, then I'll try some of that black sludge thing."
"Coffee." Luxio sighed.
"Yeah, that."
Rei rolled his eyes as he finished his drink before looking at Akari. "Thanks." He said.
"I'm glad to help!" The girl smiled. "Oh, but I'm sure you don't have a kettle in your quarters, do you?"
The boy shook his head. "Hold on, I think I have a spare one I could give you." Akari stood up before walking around her home, looking for something.
"Here it is!"
She showed Rei a smaller kettle, obviously old and a bit dusty, but still usable if cleaned first. "Buying one is expensive, and I don't use this one anymore ever since my mother gifted me the bigger one, so you can keep it!"
Rei hesitantly took it. "Don't be shy. It's for you! Just… Make sure to clean it before preparing anything. Who knows how much dust it has gathered." Akari laughed.
Rei nodded with a smile.
"Good. Now that's settled, is there anything else you'd like to do?"
"Training. Please, I need to figure out Baby-Doll Eyes already." Eevee said.
The disguised Zoroark chuckled before pointing at Eevee. "She train. Baby-Doll Eyes."
"Oh, okay! I'm sure I can help! Let's go to the training grounds!"
Rei had made a quick stop in his home to leave the kettle before heading for their next destination.
There was not a single human in the training grounds, not even Captain Zisu, meaning the group had it all for themselves.
"Okay, so I take your Eevee knows what to try, at least?" Akari asked, placing herself on the opposite side of Rei's.
"Ye." Rei nodded. "Eevee, go for it."
"Okay!" The normal type jumped in front of him.
"Buizel, do you want to fight?" Akari asked the water type.
She gave a quick glance at Eevee before shaking her head. "I'd like to keep my bones intact."
Eevee scoffed. "I'm not that scary."
"Yes you are." The rest deadpanned.
"Okay then. Pikachu, are you up for it?" The girl continued.
"Always!" He exclaimed, jumping in front of Akari, ready to fight.
"Okay, we are trying to help Eevee learn a move, remember that." Rei reminded the two. "Don't fight too hard."
"Whenever you're ready!" Akari shouted.
"Okay! Eevee, try Baby-Doll Eyes!" Rei shouted.
"Wha- Hey! I can't understand that! Pikachu, Quick Attack!"
Eevee tried to perform the move, just as Loppuny had explained to her before.
It didn't seem to have much effect on Pikachu's Quick Attack.
"Still not getting it, huh." Luxio deadpanned.
"Can you shut up?" The normal type replied, trying again.
Nothing. Pikachu's attacks didn't seem affected.
They tried the same thing, Pikachu repeatedly going for the hit and Eevee trying to counter it with Baby-Doll Eyes.
But nothing.
"I'm starting to feel like evolving into an Espeon is a better idea." Eevee groaned after a long while of trying.
"There's gotta be something you're doing wrong." Buizel commented.
"Oh, you don't say?"
It was clear nothing good would come if they continued like that.
"Let's leave this for another time, shall we?" Akari sighed. "We've been at it for a while, and both our Pokémon need some rest."
"Yeah, tackling Eevee got me beat!" Pikachu smirked.
The normal type glared at him. "I'm going to get my payback next time we battle." She declared making Pikachu flinch.
"Oh no, I know that face." Akari shuddered.
Rei laughed. "I don't want to leave yet! I want to battle!" Quilava exclaimed.
"Yeah! I want to too!" Luxio added.
"I wanna fight too!" Buizel suddenly yelled.
"I thought you didn't want to." Pikachu told her.
"Yeah, not against Eevee! That way, next time I have to fight her I don't get all the force of her revenge exerted on me."
The electric type gulped. "Should have kept my mouth shut…" He muttered.
"I wanna give it a go too!" Mime Jr. shouted, to the surprise of everyone.
Suddenly everyone wants to fight? Rei thought with a smile. I didn't think Eevee was that scary.
"Hey Rei, what do you say if we battle each other again? Two Pokémon versus two Pokémon! Do you think you can handle that?" Akari suggested.
Rei raised an eyebrow.
"Stupid question." The girl rectified. "But do you want to do it? I wanted to try and train Mime Jr. again anyway, so what do you say?"
Rei looked at Luxio and Quilava. "Ye."
"I'm going to come up with a nickname for when I evolve while you do that." Eevee commented.
"Wait, you're getting one?" Quilava wondered out loud.
"Yeah. You guys aren't?"
"Nah. I'm good." Luxio shook his head.
Rei rolled his eyes. "Maybe I could think of a nickname too…" Quilava hummed. "One that inspires fear in my opponents!"
"Sure, buddy…" Luxio laughed.
The two Pokémon entered the battlefield and readied themselves to fight, Buizel and Mime Jr. doing the same.
"Alright! The rules are simple!" Akari explained. "You have to knock out both opposing Pokémon to win instead of just one. Easy, right?"
Rei nodded.
"Then let's start! Buizel, Quick Attack! Mime Jr., Confusion!"
"Stop Buizel with a Rollout and Thunder Shock!" Rei yelled back.
The two Pokémon immediately sprung into action and Buizel yelled when she was struck by two simultaneous attacks and thrown to the ground.
"Hey, there's another Pokémon you two brutes can go for!" She shouted.
Mime Jr. was still readying his Confusion attack, firing it when Quilava and Luxio looked at him. "Take this!"
The same ring as last time flew towards the two. Quilava rolled his eyes and put himself in between the attack and Luxio. "Oh no! I can't dodge it! Whatever will I do?" He ironically exclaimed.
He immediately regretted acting that cocky when the ring hit him, as his body was immediately surrounded by a pale blue aura, just like the ring. "Got you!" Mime Jr. said before raising his hands in the air.
Quilava flew upwards.
"Hmph!"
As Mime Jr. began shaking his arms around, Quilava erratically flew in the air according to the small Pokémo's movements.
"WHAT?!" Luxio yelled as he heard the fire type screech in terror.
"LET ME DOWN!" He demanded.
"Okay!"
Mime Jr. stopped using his attack and Quilava stopped moving. However, since the force that kept him in the air was gone, he plummeted downwards with another yell and a grunt when he hit the ground.
Even Akari was surprised.
"Oops… May have been a bit overboard…" The psychic type chuckled.
"I'm going to throw up…" Quilava groaned.
"That's what you get for being cocky." Luxio rolled his eyes, helping him up.
"WOOOO! THAT'S MY MIME JR.!" Pikachu cheered.
"Okay…" Rei heard Akari mutter. "Let's try something new! Mime Jr., Confusion again! This time aim at Buizel!"
"What?!" She shouted, horrified and snapping her head towards the girl.
"Okay!" Mime Jr. simply said, using the move on the water type.
She yelped when she was hit.
"Okay, now throw her at Luxio! Buizel, you use Aqua Jet!" The girl added.
"Wait, you don't have to-"
"Get ready!"
The water type barely had enough time to cover her body in water before she was already flying towards Rei's Pokémon.
Not a chance.
"Quilava! Ember at Mime Jr.!" Rei shouted.
Without a second thought, the fire type threw a quick fire ball at the psychic type. It seemed that he still hadn't trained his resistance, since as with last time, he started yelling in pain.
Since he wasn't keeping Buizel in the air anymore, the water type began falling to the ground, shouting all kinds of curses.
"Luxio! Shock her! "
"Aye aye!"
Another Thunder Shock hit the water type, and then she hit the ground. As her muscles began twitching involuntarily, Rei couldn't help but smirk.
Buizel was paralyzed.
"Stop speaking like that! It's not fair!" Akari half whined, half laughed. "Mime Jr.-"
"OWOWOW! THE INFERNAL BURN IS BACK!" The psychic type screeched.
Akari sighed and grabbed his Poké-ball, recalling Mime Jr. "That's one Pokémon down…" She groaned. "Goodness, I better start doing something about this."
"YEAH THAT'S MY TEAM!" Eevee commended the two.
"And almost without getting hit! " Quilava added.
"I didn't get hit."
"Shut up."
"Well, let's not give up!" Akari said. "Buizel, try a Quick Attack!"
"Please, don't hit me too hard…" The water type pleaded before zipping towards them.
"Don't." Rei simply said. "Wait until she's close."
"I'm sure I can hit her." Quilava prepared to go for a Rollout.
"I know, but we need to get a sure hit."
" How? " Luxio asked.
His answer came when Buizel's paralysis kicked in causing her to trip on herself and fall to the ground.
"Now! Rollout!"
Quilava immediately zipped for a hit that would surely give them the win. However, contrary to what Rei believed, Buizel suddenly stood up. "Tricked!" She exclaimed as she prepared an Aqua Jet.
It was too late for Quilava to turn around, as he was hit with the full blow of the super effective attack and then sent rolling backwards, flying.
He stood there for a while before groaning and getting up. "I'm still-!"
That sentence was cut short as the fire type suddenly gagged before he ran away from the arena and behind one of the grounds' big building's walls.
Rei didn't know what exactly was happening, but if the sounds coming from that direction were something to go by, it had been too much flying for the fire type.
"I believe we'll count that as a downed Pokémon." Akari commented.
"Yeah." Rei nodded.
"Well, it seems it's me against you!" Luxio declared.
"A fair fight. So cool…" Buizel rolled her eyes.
"You can always give up."
"Oh, you're right."
Buizel raised her hands in the air before wincing. It seemed the paralysis had truly affected her now, mostly because she didn't seem to be able to put her arms back down.
Rei heard Akari let out a long sigh. "Buizel, return."
The Pokémon was recalled back to the Poké-ball, much to the girl's chagrin, but even then, she smiled at Rei.
"This was a nice battle, Rei! We didn't even stand a chance! I should really earn a bit more experience at fighting…" She commended.
"Meh, pure luck. " Pikachu huffed.
"You're just angry because we won." Eevee nudged him.
"Shut it."
"Though, I'm not sure whether it was truly a fair fight if I couldn't understand what you were saying." She added with a smile. "You checked your surroundings before the battle, right?"
Rei nodded.
"Okay then."
She looked upwards, towards the sky. The sun was really close to setting. He calculated they had at most one hour of daylight left. "I believe it's time we go have our dinner at the Wallflower! Come on, the professor must be there waiting for us!"
And with that, the group headed to get their food, not realizing that there had been someone intently watching the battle without them realizing.
"I'm really glad you two are helping each other this much!" The professor laughed. "Helping Rei evolve his Eevee before earning a bit of battle experience for both you and your Pokémon! All after having a day full of investigation! Nice work!"
"Thank you, professor." Akari sighed.
"Thanks." Rei added.
Rei and Akari had explained to Laventon what they had been doing ever since they came back to the village from their investigations in the Fieldlands and Mirelands, and the professor was all too happy to listen while they ate their food. It seemed that was enough to get the Pokémon back to good health. Even Quilava, who had thrown up just a few minutes ago.
Laventon also told them about his own day and his own investigations about Pokémon.
"I am hoping you two will be able to complete some research tasks soon, however. We really need the Pokédex filled as quickly as possible!" He said.
"Well, if Commander Kamado doesn't assign us anything special tomorrow, we could spend the day doing just that." Akari replied.
"But research tasks are so boring!" Pikachu cried.
"Do you prefer fighting another noble? Because I don't." Luxio sighed.
"I do!" Quilava interrupted.
"Stop."
"You'd rather spend the whole day with your little friend, give me a break." Buizel chuckled.
"Well, DUH! " The electric type replied.
"I want to fight again! Today was amazing!" Mime Jr. declared.
"Shut up before I burn you again." Quilava groaned.
Before long, everyone had finished their plates and stood up from their seats, ready to head home for the day. The professor waved them goodbye and wished them a good night, with Akari doing the same and commenting she was most likely going to look for more of the wisps.
Rei got inside his quarters and locked the door, uncasting his illusion and dropping on his fulton.
"Hiding all that fur was so tiring." He commented.
"That's your highlight of today? The investigation? Not the literal legend Adaman has told us?" Eevee deadpanned.
"I can't bring myself to question it anymore. I've just accepted it's my fate." Rei sighed. "At least that's going to help me see all the region, that's for sure."
"And you're not scared of being supposedly fated to meet a god? " Luxio asked him.
"I don't think I'm fated. More like subtly pushed. "
"Or not so subtly…" The electric type shook his head.
"Well, let's change topics." Rei quickly interrupted. "Did you guys think of any nicknames?"
"Not really… I want to take my time." Quilava replied.
"Maybe I have…" Eevee said. "But I'm not really sure."
"Go ahead. We won't judge." The Zoroark encouraged.
"Okay… " The normal type muttered. "When I was younger, I heard a human call another one something like… Uhhh… Rin? It sounds weird, but they said it was from 'the Kanto region', and I kinda like the name?"
"It sounds cool." Rei smiled. "Do you know what it means?"
"I think it's something like 'worthy', but take it with a grain of salt."
"Yeah, that suits you! Especially since you're really worthy of being our teammate, because we have really high standards over here!" Luxio chuckled.
Eevee rolled her eyes. "So you like it?"
"Yeah." The three replied.
"It's official then!" The newly named Rin smiled.
"Can't wait to have my nickname! It's going to be so good!" Quilava excitedly mused.
"Yeah, yeah. Come on, let's go to sleep."
As Rei switched off the lights, he laid on the fulton, his Pokémon next to him, and closed his eyes.
His mind immediately drifted to Adaman's story. He had to admit, if he was really on his way to meet Arceus, he was scared and excited at the same time, though he still didn't believe it too much. Unless they found proof the Ancient Hero had been a Pokémon, there was little evidence Rei could be his descendant.
Speaking of descendants, he once again thought about what Scar had told him. He promised himself he would ask, no, demand an explanation from his father, but otherwise, he would try not to think about it too much.
"Hey Rei. Are you still awake?" Rin's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"Yeah. What's the matter?"
"Listen… I wanted to thank you. For being my friend and for being with me since the start, and for helping me with a nickname. I really appreciate that." The Eevee told him, squirming a bit closer to him.
"Heh, no problem. It's not that of a deal anyway. And I could say the same about you! I still don't know why you wanted to come with me all the way from the Icelands."
"…"
There was a moment of silence before Rin took a deep breath. "Listen Rei. There's something I need to tell you. Something I've been wanting to tell you for a while now. Like, really bad. But I can't bring myself to do it, because whenever I do, something interrupts me. Or maybe I'm just… scared. Just know that when I evolve, I'll make sure I tell you, okay? I promise."
Rei raised a brow. "I… don't know what you mean or why you're scared, but remember I'll always be here to listen. Always."
"I … I'll always be with you too."
"Forever friends?"
"Forever friends."
Rei smiled. He felt just a bit warmer that night.
Man, I'm so sorry for the long wait (no, I'm not dead, I swear). I keep having less time to write every day (and when I do it's so little), but anyways, I hope you enjoyed! Leave any comments you'd like to say, they help a ton!