Chapter 166 – Other Guardians

Dungeons were supposed to be a Kiloan problem. What was it doing in another reality?!

Owen was far more alarmed than any of the humans. When they caught his gaze, some of their worries mirrored his, but he and Zena were the only ones who understood the magnitude of how bad this was.

"You know this?" Blue asked.

"Yeah. It's… We need to investigate it right now. It's—dangerous, depending on what's in there."

"How big of a problem is this?" Blue clarified.

"…Big? Very big? Huge. Just, huge."

Blue nodded, his jovial, lighthearted expression completely gone. All business. He stared at Red. "Go with them. I'm gonna make some calls."

Red nodded, then tossed a Poké Ball in the air, summoning Hardscale again.

"Um," said the pink-haired human, "did Charizard just talk?"

"Oh, s-sorry, I'm Owen! But I need to go now, um, bye, Duos!"

Duos looked dumbfounded.

Owen sped onward, following Hardscale as they passed several buildings at once. They heard a siren down below chirp once, quickly, as if to get their attention.

"Don't go that way!" called a human dressed in blue standing near a car that Owen guessed was with the police. "It's dangerous!"

"We know!" Zena called.

The human said nothing in reply, staring.

"Um, Zena, I think you're not supposed to talk to humans," Owen said.

"Didn't you a few seconds ago?"

"…We're bad at this."

They left the officer behind, passing over more buildings. The distortion was clearer now and about the size of a 'small' Dungeon by Owen's perspective, no more than a district wide. But for a place so densely populated, that was as if a Dungeon had swallowed up Kilo Village.

"What do we do?" Zena asked. "Go in, rescue anyone inside, and have Blue call some authorities so we can inform them?"

"I think so," Owen said. "First is trying to see if that Dungeon can be sealed. Then we can figure out damage control, and why it's showing up in the first place. It shouldn't have been more than a few kilos back home right now—did something happen? I haven't heard anything from Barky since last time…"

"It's not like he'll check in more than once every few moons from our perspective," Zena pointed out.

"R-right…"

They were getting close. "Land here!" Owen called to Red, diving to the streets. Zena landed next to them and he double-checked that Mu was still doing alright. Heading into the Dungeon was dangerous for her, but leaving her with Blue, she might wander off…

Red landed and tossed a ball, forming a Pikachu with a powerful aura that Owen instantly recognized. That was no normal Pikachu…

"Inside, things are going to be twisted around and changed in strange ways," Owen explained to Red. "It might be like a maze. What we need to do is go through each section and try to rescue as many people as we can. I don't… have my Badge with me that usually helps with this, but maybe I can replicate its power. I have the same thing that was used to make them, so…"

Red nodded and walked into the distortion without fear.

"He doesn't even hesitate," Zena murmured.

"Something tells me this isn't the first time he's been through… things." Owen held Mu a little tighter. "Listen, Mu. You need to behave and don't wander off, okay? It's going to be a little dangerous, but we'll keep you safe."

Mu stared at him with wide eyes, craning her neck faaaar back to look up.

"I'll do the fighting," Zena offered. "Hopefully this Dungeon isn't too dangerous. Come, Red's waiting."

They pushed through the rippling barrier…

The buildings had been twisted and warped at impossible angles. A simple three-story building had twisted into a corkscrew. A human dangled from a second-story window, aiming to drop into a bush below. Ahead, water pipes were contorted into something that reminded Owen of pasta in the central street. The street itself became more like an oblong checkerboard of grass and pavement. Several buildings lined up like soldiers shoulder to shoulder, closing in on once spacious alleyways with only a foot or so of leeway.

"So this is what a Dungeon would do to human architecture," Zena murmured.

Hardscale roared ahead, just around the corner. A black blob flew past their view and evaporated.

"No! How?" Owen whispered. "Wraiths?! But that can only mean…!"

"This is bad, Owen," Zena said. "Red isn't experienced with this sort of thing! His Pokémon can't handle wraiths!"

Owen flew forward and took a deep breath, preparing the best Flamethrower he could muster. With his Perceive, he detected four wraiths. No more seemed to be pouring in, so at least it wasn't a huge onslaught.

Three wraiths. One had dematerialized.

No, two. That was another. Owen couldn't Perceive what was doing that, but their bodies sizzled as if hit by a massive amount of energy all at once.

They rounded the corner just in time to see a bolt of lightning spearing the third wraith, dispelling it instantly. Its ominous fog seeped into the ground; Owen wasn't sure if it was returning to the Voidlands or lying dormant…

Owen fired at the final wraith. This one was sneaking behind a streetlight that had been curled into a spiral. Just one strike was enough to dispatch it.

"…Any more?" Zena asked, but then gasped and shot at the air. The Hydro Pump left Owen's Perceive range. When he turned to let his eyes do the watching, he saw a faraway, flying wraith plummeting down, dissolving before it could strike the ground.

"Nice shot," Owen remarked.

"Yaay!" Mu flailed her arms. "All gone!"

"All gone?" Zena asked.

Aside from distant shouts for help or rescue from citizens—not panicked, but alert—the twisted district was quiet. Calmer.

This was a weak Dungeon. Normal Pokémon could probably deal with them if the wraiths were few. A blessing in disguise, Owen figured.

"Do you think Mu knows they're gone innately?" Zena asked. "She is part Dark Matter…"

"Maybe," Owen said. "Mu? Are there no more monsters?"

Mu tilted her head, blinking. Her blue eyes scanned the streets. "Ah!" She pointed down the road and into one of the buildings. Mu wriggled out of Owen's grasp and landed on the ground. Owen reached for her and passed right through.

"What—"

Mu had disappeared. Some afterimage was all Owen could see. Maybe it was psychological but even his Perceive had been fooled for a split second.

"Oh, not again," Zena said.

Red grunted and pointed at the far building's window.

Mu was at the windowsill, staring inside. They hurried along and once Owen was halfway there, his Perceive pinged a human lying on the ground. He spread his wings and sped the rest of the way, landing heavily by the building. It seemed to be an apartment complex that had been twisted into an upside-down U shape. This was either the top floor or the bottom floor.

The building was filled with about five humans in various rooms. All but this one seemed unharmed, just trapped. This human was an elderly male pinned under a dresser, mercifully mostly empty. He was balding with only flecks of gray hair, lying on the former ceiling of the complex. He was trying to pull on a light fixture in the new floor to get out, but his clothes were caught on one of the dresser's knobs.

"Ah… ah, is someone there?" the man called, hoarse. "Ah, a Pokémon! Please, if… if you can, lift this. I can't take it off. It's hard to breathe…"

Owen was going to answer before remembering his species. He nodded and crept through the windows. They creaked and cracked—and one popped off. He winced. Too large, but he had to save this man first. The property was probably ruined anyway.

He put his claws beneath the bookshelf and gently lifted it. Mu crawled to the clothes and pulled the caught portion off the knob, which impressed Owen. Did she know, somehow?

This was a dense shelf. The wood was dark and had metal keeping it all together. No wonder it was so heavy. The elderly man had a few broken bones but it wasn't severe… still, he was old. Those could be big trouble for him.

After righting the shelf, he gently helped the man up. He had his full weight against Owen, and after figuring out the best position to carry him without aggravating any injuries, he picked him up and cradled him in his arms, turning back to the window. And paused.

Right. How was he supposed to get out? If only he had a working Badge for this sort of thing, but even his communicator wouldn't…

Would it?

He'd never thought to try.

Zena was at the window, though. He smiled gratefully and handed the old man over; Zena's ribbons helped with the transfer, and soon he was out.

"Oh, so beautiful," the man said, smiling at her. "Milotic, what a privilege to be rescued by one…"

Zena smiled awkwardly.

"There are a lot more we need to rescue, but the wraiths are gone," Owen said in feral to Zena.

She stared at him.

He'd forgotten. Zena didn't. know the language yet. He glanced nervously at the old man, then nodded at her and headed into the building.

The first order of business after this was settled: language lessons for Zena.

Blue flopped onto the couch and sank into the cushions. "Phew!" he declared. "I'm beat."

After Blue made his calls, he had come in to help with the distortion and rescue efforts. Between Owen, Zena, Red, Blue, and the local authorities, everyone had been safely evacuated, and with minor injuries at worst. They called it a miracle, but Owen knew it was luck from only having to worry about a young Dungeon. It might get worse. They would have to investigate again to find, perhaps, its core, or some way to seal and dispel it… but with the rescue effort alone, they could afford to wait it out and talk with the others.

Duos perched on the armrest, staring down at Owen, who took a seat next to the couch. He was glad this apartment was spacious enough to accommodate his wings. Perhaps it was for Duos.

"So, you talk human now?" Duos asked.

"I, er, I picked it up," he lied. The truth was… a bit much. This was easier.

"Cool. Human seemed boring and complicated."

"It is. But when you're working with human things a lot, you need more things to say. Human has that."

"Oh." Duos looked disinterested already.

Duos then stared at Zena. "Are you his mate?"

"Hm?" Zena offered another smile. She was coiled next to Owen, near a black mini fridge.

"She is," Owen said, "but she only speaks human."

"Whaa?" Duos leaned forward. "How? All Pokémon can speak to each other!"

Owen shook his head. "Where I've been, Pokémon lost that native communication in exchange for being a lot stronger on average. They're part-human. They don't need humans to help them be stronger; they're just stronger naturally."

"That's crazy… But how do they understand each other?"

Owen shrugged. "The same way humans do."

"Do they have Pokémon that talk like me?" Duos asked.

"Oh, yeah. I can speak to them, too, but normally we can't. They're like wild Pokémon here, without any human influence."

"Ohh… like, wild wild," Duos said. "Away from routes, where they stay away from humans?"

"Exactly."

"They're scary."

"They can be. But we're stronger."

Red was looking at his phone, frowning pensively. He flicked something in Blue's general direction and Blue's phone buzzed.

"Uh?"

Blue sat up just as Duos' caretaker entered the room with some green tea and snacks. Blue's expression went from tired to grave.

"You're kidding," he said.

"What's wrong?" Owen asked.

"Viridian was a bit of a fluke. These distortions are appearing in Alola and Orre, too, and in way bigger numbers!"

Owen blinked. "What? Orre—"

That wasn't a coincidence. But Alola…

"Why Alola?" he asked. "That's, uhh… those are those islands way off in the middle of the ocean, right?"

"Yeah. People are theorizing it's a new kind of Ultra Wormhole," Blue said, flicking through something on his phone. "But Orre, that's a weird one. Ever since they took care of that whole 'Shadow Pokémon' thing it's been pretty peaceful over there."

"Shadow… Pokémon…"

Blue quirked an eyebrow. "That familiar?"

Owen took a slow, steady breath, and then held his hand forward. He tried to draw deep, deep into what he used to have. What he knew he still had. Afraid to draw it, once, but now, with better control, maybe he could try to dig it out again.

Now that all the seals were broken… maybe he would be okay. Power never left the spirit. It should still be there…

A dark flame emerged from Owen's palm, flickering with light-absorbing embers and purplish smoke.

Duos flinched, feathers puffing out. The humans stared in fascination.

"Usually, Shadows are invisible unless they're using a move," Blue said. "How about that? Is that what raw Shadow Aura looks like?"

"I think so," Owen replied, bringing his tail forward. "Charizard flames are heat and light, but they're also ethereal. They reflect the state of their aura, too."

The once orange flame shifted to a similar, dark color.

"We're dealing with something like this right now. I don't know if it has the same effects or behaves the same way here, but if there is knowledge about this in Orre…" Owen looked at Zena. "We need to go there next."

"If you're gonna go there," Blue said, "you oughta take a look at Alola along the way. The flight from Kanto to Orre is brutal, but Alola's practically right at the midway point if you go that route."

"Alola," Zena repeated. "That's where…?"

"Most research into Ultra Wormholes is in Alola," explained Blue. "If anywhere can get you guys back home, it's that way. I already made a call or two. They can hear you out."

"That'd… be great, actually," Owen said. "How soon can we get a flight?"

"With the money you have? Probably tomorrow," Blue said. "Especially if you just go in the cargo."

"Huh? Cargo?"

Blue tapped on one of his Poké Balls.

"Oh."

Right. That was pretty convenient.

"Only problem is, usually they'd have a trainer to return you," Blue said, "and Zena, you said you're registered as the trainer?"

"That's how they did it," Zena confirmed. "It's a little odd, but I guess they never expected a Pokémon to be at human levels of autonomy like this."

"Ehh…" Blue shrugged. "I think once you start talking, people will make exceptions. Especially if we send word for it!"

"Oh, you… aren't coming with us?" Zena asked, curling slightly.

Owen could understand her apprehension. They were an anchor in an unfamiliar world. They'd be on their own again without Red and Blue helping. But…

"They need to stay here," Owen said. "There might be other Dungeons forming, and they need to be able to help the people where they form. Which reminds me…" He sighed. "I think… I'd like to go back to the Dungeon before we go to bed. Can you arrange a flight for us, Blue?"

"No problem."

"Red…" Owen nodded his head as if to bow. "Come with us? If this works, maybe I can get you something to help with future Dungeons, too."

Red nodded back and stood up.

"Duos," Owen said. "It was great meeting you again. I'm going to try to find the others on our team while I'm here if we have time… just to make sure they're okay."

"Oh, yeah!" Duos chirped back. "How's Tim?"

"He's doing fine. I'll tell him all about you." Owen smiled. "He'll be relieved. But he's… in another world."

"Oh." Duos' feathers fluffed down again. "Does he remember me? You sound like it's been a long time…"

"He'll never forget you." Owen nodded. "But he wants you to live a happy life here. Okay?"

"Then I will," Duos said.

That… that was enough. Owen took a slow breath, then let it out.

He'd return to spend the night if offered. He'd swap stories with Duos. But this… Yes. Even if he couldn't return, he was satisfied here.

With another weight off his shoulders, Owen squeezed through the doorway.

Time for another visit to the Dungeon.

"There it is," Owen said, spotting an even darker rift at the epicenter of the Dungeon. The pavement that had once been a street was darkened like burned canvas. Streaks of black crawled along the pavement in a starburst. At the center, two feet off the ground, was a rift—like a blanket had been torn open—leaking a reddish-black fog from the other side.

"I've never seen a Dungeon Core before," Owen said. "Anam usually sealed them, or at least… tried to."

"Is it usually hidden?" Zena asked.

Owen nodded. "Usually nobody can get to it. But with the right power, we can. And this Dungeon is also new. It probably didn't have time to form any barriers."

"You talk like it's alive," Zena said. "…Is it?"

"I don't know. It could just be chemistry but on a… distortion level. Over time, it puts up barriers, but since it's new, nothing's built yet." Owen approached the barrier and glanced at Red, who kept his distance and observed quietly. He'd summoned Pikachu and Hardscale to observe by his side.

"We seal it with Radiance, right?" Zena asked.

"Right. I can do that," Owen said. His hand curled and golden sparks shot from his claws erratically. He flexed his fingers again. The sparks became more controlled. Stronger, concentrated… They connected along his palm. He grasped at the newly formed rod. It extended into a spear that sizzled in his hand.

He aimed it into the rift. The darkness around it sizzled and sputtered violently, lashing out at them; Owen spread his wings and kept the others behind him. He held his free hand forward and put up a Protect shield, a brilliant gold color.

The rift stopped sputtering. Owen released the energy and relaxed his stance.

The air… was less oppressive. Wraiths probably wouldn't be able to come through. However, that distortive feeling the Dungeon left behind, the Shadows that had twisted reality with its negative energy, was still there.

Anam never tried to harness Shadows in that way. He feared that dark power. And perhaps, in some ways, Diyem did not want to fully cut off his connections to the living world.

But Kanto had nothing to do with their struggles. Owen wondered if he could command this Dungeon to close for good.

"Well," Zena said, "I think that's all we can do for now. I'm sorry that this town is distorted as it is, but…"

"Can I try something?" Owen asked.

"Oh?"

"It can't make it any worse. But if I'm right, I might be able to fix this."

Mu, struggling out of Zena's left ribbon, reached out to Owen and appeared to want, as Blue called it, "uppies."

"Later, Mu," Owen said. "One second. I just need to concentrate…"

Moments later, his other hand conjured a dark spear, this one cold to the touch and sapping the light.

He pointed it at the inert rift. It felt like a lock and key. Perhaps if he manipulated the energy in just the right way…

Zena and Blue were looking around like something was changing. Owen was too concentrated on the rift to look. "What's going on?" he asked.

"The distortion. It's… shrinking," Zena said.

But as Owen did it, the rift was becoming active again. Shadows seeped from the rift, awakened by the same power Owen channeled into it. His hand was getting cold. The distortions of the buildings receded at the outer perimeters. Some of it was damaged, even after they contorted back to their normal shapes, but it was much better than the twisted lands they'd dealt with before.

But the shrinking slowed the closer it got to the center. By the time the distortion was about a hundred meters out, it had slowed completely, countered by the reawakened rift. If left alone, it would expand again…

"It's not closing," Zena said. "But you shrank it, Owen. That's good enough… It'll be a big help to the town this way."

"Not yet," Owen said. "This is where I need to try something."

He wasn't strained yet. This was just Shadows. Before, it was just Radiance. Shadows controlled the distortion, but also fed into the rift; Radiance ate away at the rift, rendering it inert.

What if he did both at once?

Owen used his other hand, channeling Radiance a second time. His scales brightened at the wrist onward like yellow magma beneath orange rocks. It tingled and burned. Nothing he hadn't dealt with before.

The light fed into the rift, dissolving the Shadows with a ghastly hiss. And the distortion receded even more. Faster and faster. Fifty meters, twenty meters. As the minutes ticked by, Zena reminded Owen to breathe. Each pause made the rift grow a little more but it also restored his strength. Ten meters, five meters. Red stepped out of the distortion, followed by Zena with Mu.

"Bye-bye," Mu said, waving at the sky.

A strange feeling washed over Owen's back as the distortion passed over him next.

Sssssssttkk…

The distortion was coalesced into a tiny bubble. A whole Dungeon no larger than an Oran berry. Zena and Blue observed from either side behind him.

Owen grasped the sphere with both hands and crushed it like a glass ball. It warped and compressed like a balloon and the dark and light energies swirled around it like ink in water. Owen's hands trembled against the chaotic world he created in his palms. He pressed harder and harder, and then—

With a great whistle, then an ethereal POP! that stunned Owen's aura senses, the solid distortion shattered completely. Nothing at all was left behind, not even a trace of a portal.

It was gone.

The Dungeon was gone.

"Chaos in Viridian City as a strange distortion-like field appears right on the eastern side of the district!

"Shown before you now is what the strange bubble looked like from onlookers all around the city. This odd, water-like rippling atmosphere was filled with strange, dark creatures that were hostile to everyone who approached. Within the distortion itself, the buildings were twisted topsy-turvy, residents trapped within their own homes to defend themselves!

"Miraculously, the distortion disappeared in a matter of hours. Exiting the district after rescuing everyone inside was Legendary Trainer Red and some companions that we had not seen this cryptic traveler partnering with before! Some claim that the Charizard could be Hardscale after undergoing a completely new transformation!

"Red did not respond for comment."

The news went on and on, covering different angles of the distortion and all the speculation. Blue had pulled off a few evasive tricks to avoid the press, and they'd somehow managed to get back to Duos' place for one last night.

Owen had slept heavily and saw the reiteration of the news the following morning from his Poké Ball. It was a little muffled, but he heard the gist of what he wanted.

Even Zena experimented with her ball. When their spheres were close together, Owen felt like she was wrapped around him, and they were resting right next to each other. Was that technology of the ball, or something more innate? Owen wasn't sure.

"Thanks for letting us stay the night. It would've been brutal out there after what happened," Blue said.

"Oh, it wasn't a problem," said Duos' caretaker. "It's not every day I'm visited by someone my Pokémon had been missing for so long! Oh, I hope they get some good rest. It was such a busy day for them…"

Busy? After everything else, that was a great day. Owen hoped he could get more of those.

Mu, who had elected to rest near Red for the night, crawled over to Zena's ball and tilted her head. She crouched down and sniffed at it. The ball wiggled in response. Zena must have been listening in, too.

Owen was starting to feel the need to get out and stretch. He wasn't sure how long it had been. For all he knew, it could have been a whole day in the Poké Ball. But that might have been refreshing.

But no, the news meant it was just the night. His ball wiggled and he expanded his energy against the edge of the ball. It wiggled a little more, enough to get their attention, and he finally released himself.

His vision whitened and then returned to normal. Weight returned to his senses. He stretched his wings and tail, careful to avoid the furniture, and glanced down at Zena's ball. She still didn't emerge, but he'd sensed she was awake. Maybe she was just cozy.

With an entertained smile, he gently picked up the ball and tucked it under a wing. The ball wobbled gently and settled.

Mu crawled onto his thigh and under his other wing.

"Good morning," Duos' caretaker said.

"Morning," Owen said. "I think Zena still wants to—" Right he wasn't supposed to talk. Did he speak in feral or human?

The woman tittered nervously.

Yep, human.

"I've never met a talking Pokémon before, let alone three."

"Three?"

"Your daughter!"

"Oh! Was she… talking more?"

"Only simple words, but that's more than I've seen in any other Pokémon!"

Owen rubbed Mu on the head, nodding. "She's a fast learner. I think it's because… the Pokémon in my world were, uh…" Surely, he could think of an excuse mid-sentence. "Blessed with knowledge many generations ago. That just carried over ever since."

"How interesting…"

"Tsk. Well, sorry to say," Blue said, "but it doesn't look like we can get you a flight too early. This whole Dungeon business disrupted a few things at some airports. The ripple effect caused a bunch of delays. It's chaos over there!"

Duos' caretaker shook her head disapprovingly. "Oh, it can't be that bad…"

"Then…" Owen nodded. "That means Dungeons are forming in other places, too?"

"Mostly Orre and the nearby Unova areas," Blue said. "Makes it pretty complicated, though, with all the flights they do…"

"Right…" Owen nodded. Dungeons and wraiths were appearing in this world. That meant that somehow, there was a connection from the Voidlands to here. If they found another Dungeon… maybe they could return home that way.

But now they couldn't. If they did, this world would be in danger. At a much faster speed, too! And the opportunity Arceus gave them… They needed to use it to research, recover, train, and prepare with their extra time.

"I… think I know what I need to do," Owen said.

"You can't seriously think about going around the world to dispel every single Dungeon, can you?" Blue asked. "There are way too many!"

"I know. That's why… I want to find people like you two. Like you and Red. And… I need to test something."

"Eh?" Blue leaned forward. "Test what?"

Red also seemed interested, listening attentively.

"That… special transformation, that stone you had," he said. "I have something similar. It was given to me by Xerneas to 'awaken latent potential' in my species. I never used it yet, was caught off guard the one time I could have, but…"

"You think its power can dispel Dungeons?" Blue asked.

"No," Owen said, "but… we were chatting about it, right? Its side-effect is that it can make the Pokémon go berserk with that power. A human's spirit helps to keep them calm."

"That's true. Mega Stones aren't an easy thing to handle. To untrained Pokémon, they could seriously hurt someone. You need a lot of skill as a trainer to use one."

"Then that's where I'll put my power."

Red's eyes glinted with his interest.

"One of my powers is the ability to… confer it. To give it to other things like an enchantment. If you already have Pokémon that are capable of controlling a berserk state like I can, then you can handle this power. And it's exactly what can be done to dispel Dungeons and get this world back to normal."

"Ahhh, I see!" Blue smirked. "You aren't taking on this problem on your own at all. You're getting a team to handle it on their home turf!"

"Exactly." Owen nodded. "But I'll need to do some training. And I want a list of as many trusted trainers who have mastered Mega Stones."

"That'll be easy. Guess I'll be Mister Bookkeeper again, but I want my Pokémon to get some of that training, too. Red's not the only 'Mega Stone Master' in this room."

Red produced the large, orange marble from his bag and offered it to Owen. When he held it, Owen recognized a similar power within it. Not quite divine and self-sufficient like the one Owen had—this one needed a human catalyst to set off—but it would do. It could hold this power the same way.

Owen steadied his breath and let the Shadows and Radiance flow from his chest outward. Into his shoulders, wings, arms, and finally into the stone itself. The process was slow, careful, and took several minutes. The marble darkened, brightened, and mixed with a swirl of golds and purples.

The lights seeped into the marble and stayed there, glimmering and waiting to be drawn from. That was good enough. He handed the Mega Stone back to Red.

"If you do that transformation with him now," Owen said, "Hardscale can do what I did. Or, he has the potential for it. I'm… going to try to train him a little. Then I want to train others who can do the same thing."

"You're sure about that?" Blue said. "Seemed like you were in a rush last time…"

He smiled faintly. "Barky gave us a hundred days to a single day there," he said. "I'm going to try to relax, but… I want to be ready. And now that things are leaking here, too, somehow… all the more reason to defend my old homeworld, too. Right?"

Something about what he said must have resonated with Zena. The Poké Ball wiggled a little, nudging against Owen. He felt her support.

"Sounds like Zena wouldn't mind helping, either," Owen said. "Hope you don't mind the detour, Red."

But Owen could already see the glint in his eyes. Red understood his role in all this. Hardscale must have, too.

Owen still envied Hardscale for how lucky he was to get such a good trainer. But he had to push those thoughts aside for now. This was a blessing.

Kanto had its own protectors and its own stories. Owen's place to them now was to give them a boon to defend themselves.