Sarik the Squirtle's Story

Crimson's eyes widened as the Commander made his big reveal...the huge hulking bomb that was somehow hidden underneath the armor already protecting him. In the back of his mind, it made him wonder exactly what would've happened had he done enough to drill through the armor in the first place. But his mind snapped back to reality as he took in the scope of the situation. The power plant was rigged to blow. And he was rigged to blow. And that kamikaze spaceship was flying towards the city at an incredibly fast rate...and probably rigged to blow.

What could he do?

The Ground-Type Chimchar's mind raced as he glanced around, getting ideas and formulating a plan. Luckily, the stupid Ork had given him enough time in his monologue to effectively do so. His glance shot to the Power Plant first, noticing the lack of Orks (since they either left or were slain). Luckily, there weren't many Pokemon there either, but he could think of a couple that would be in there. Team Vitality mainly.

To the left of them was a very exhausted Lugia, having defeated her opponent in impeccable fashion. Kind of anticlimactic for who was supposedly the biggest and baddest of the Orks in the first place. All he saw him do was rain useless bullets on them. In fact, it made him feel much better about the lack of strength this Commander had demonstrated so far. But as for the Lugia, she was out of commission for what would likely be the rest of this fight if Crimson played his cards right.

To the right was the main battle raging, a fight the Pokemon were clearly winning. The number of Orks were once again downgraded to double digits, so it was really a last ditch effort for them. But only now was Crimson noticing the approach the Orks were taking, surprisingly being sneaky at their approach to lace bombs in the debris around them. Not only would the power plant go out in fire, but likely many parts of this desert, causing craters abound. Nothing permanent in damage, but it still was a risk for the combatants on their side as they could have a number of fainting Pokemon resulting from this...a number that could shift the tide of the battle in the Ork's favor if it was large enough. What was worse, the reconnaissance they got from that mysterious Pokemon (who was clearly Mewtwo) hadn't taken much action other than the initial impact.

And behind his main opponent...the massive ship that seemed destined to collide with Lumiose City. That was the biggest problem to deal with. If they didn't redirect the course of that hulking hunk of metal...well, a lot of people were going to be killed, simple as that. He couldn't allow such devastation to occur. These people didn't deserve that.

And that was what he did know. He didn't know if all the bombs were going to trigger on the command of the numnutz gloating in front of him or on the individual command of the many Orks around him. He didn't know whether Tag, Pert, or Meryl were or if Sarik had arrived yet. He had to work with the pieces he knew about. But he did have an idea on how to reach the pieces he didn't. He sent a mental message to the only individual he knew would receive it and transmit it to the rest of the Guild. And finally...

He stared at Commander Nog with fiery confidence as the Ork spat it's premature celebration. His gaze rested to resolution as he took action.

"You're so stupid," Crimson said as he tossed the Ork's knife in the air and snapped his fingers.

Almost immediately, the ground beneath Nog exploded outward. Had this been a regular Pokemon with standard strength, the blast of Earth Power would probably be enough to propel the big, fat Ork a couple yards in the air. But Crimson was slightly more powerful than the standard. Slightly being that the Ork would be practically launched out of a cannon from the force of the strike. As Commander Nog was sent into the air a thousand feet or so, Crimson used his leveraged advantage to launch himself into the air and meet him halfway, catching the knife he'd let go so that he could use Earth Power on the way. Their gazes met a good fifty feet from one another in mid-air.

"Bye!"

There was charisma still in the slight twinkle in his eyes and the slight wave with his left hand, despite holding the Power Bat in it. The left hand had already launched it's projectile towards the Commander, the very knife he had wielded against the Chimchar previously, aimed straight and true towards the neck of the brute. If Crimson could recall from the previous bits of fighting, these Orks weren't exactly known for their reflexes, especially after being disoriented from having the ground blow up beneath it and sent spiraling in the air. Nor were they the most agile creatures, especially being in the air with their blubbery build. Crimson had thrown objects much cruder with as much accuracy as he had in this toss and there was nowhere for Commander Nog to maneuver in the air except for down towards his fate. It wasn't a matter of battling strengths to Crimson...it was a matter of exploiting weaknesses.

And all he would possibly have time to do before the knife sliced through his neck, separating atoms in the process, and ended his life, would be to push that button.

---

And even if Commander Nog had the mental willpower (which all Orks had) and the durability to maintain possession of that massive red button he needed to blow up the Power Plant and possibly all the scraps of metal set to make craters out of the desert, the Crimson Guild would be prepped for it.

It all began with a Dedenne named Dee, who had just revitalized her body with a couple Leppa Berries when her whiskers vibrated and she heard the voice of her leader in her head.

"Dee, I need your help. The Power Plant is gonna blow up, the Orks are about to see the other Members off with a bang, and there's a massive ship on course for colliding with the city. Think you can do a thing or two about that?"

Dee almost snorted at the calmness of tone Crimson had used to send her an update. She would have if it weren't for the gravity of the situation, literally in one case.

"On it!" she shot him a reply before upping her output range to that of everyone in the Crimson Guild, to include the Mewtwo, the Lugia, and even Terrance. "To anyone that can hear me, Crimson needs out help! We need to evacuate everybody from the Power Plant before the Orks blow it up. Team Vitality is already on the move out of there, but this is a warning for those still inside. Make your exit any way you can!"

"Anyone still fighting the Orks in the desert, brace yourselves for an explosion of your own! He said there were bombs scattered across the battlefield. Protect yourselves in any way you can, but don't give up the fighting! You guys can still take them down!"

"Sunrise Brigade, it'll be up to you guys to divert the course of the ship descending on the city. If you have another one of those massive hurricane attacks prepped, use it! We're counting on you!"

The commands were issued. Orders were being directed. Dee hopped on the back of Siena and a fully recovered Gambit zoomed out of the Power Plant and beelined for the crashing Ork vessel. Team Vitality fled the Power Plant with ease.

"Ooooooh, fuck," Skyball let a curse slip out as he took to the back of Rubira, accompanying Lumi, "RIDE, RUBIRA! RIDE!"

"I'm bucking you off of me the moment we're clear," Rubira snapped back as she galloped out one of the many gaping holes in the Power Plant. Team Volt were safe from many massive explosions.

The only ones that were left in the ticking time bomb were the Ground-Types, who made their escape in the only way they knew how...underground. They all knew Dig, so they were safe from the destruction that could potentially rain down on the ground above their heads. One by one, each Ground-Type submerged into the dirt they were more familiar with, spreading outward from the initial location of the Power Plant.

Meanwhile, the fighters in the main battle heeded the warning of the Dedenne and went on with it. Any that knew Protect or Reflect used them respectively and would be completely unscathed from the explosions that could happen around them. Those that flew went straight up to avoid any potential bombs. Fire/Flying-Types were at a supreme advantage here, since they could avoid the bombs and attack the Orks without a hitch. Those that couldn't escape by a defensive means went all out offensively, unleashing the strongest effective moves they had to take care of as many Orks as they could before the bombs struck. And fortunately, they also had healers and boosters scattered among their ranks, buffing up those that chose to continue attacking with health and defensive build to better cope with the destruction.

"I'm going in!" Sarik called out to Pert and Meryl, who were quickly right behind him.

"We got your back!" Pert informed from behind, taking his left flank while Meryl took his right.

It started with Sarik boosting his defenses with Iron Defense while Pert unleashed a Thunder Wave across the battlefield, placing every Ork in Paralysis. The already slow Orks would become much slower as Meryl began unleashing her Sparks across their ranks, the added electricity fueling to her own power as she charred Orks from the inside out. Sarik would follow up with a Hydro Pump to tear through the many ranks with highly pressurized water while Pert accompanied his own efforts with a Discharge that spanned across the other side. Common knowledge: Water and Electricity didn't mix. As such, their combo made a rather deadly spread effect that would decimate through the Orks like cardboard.

And as for the ship...the Sunrise Brigade were already on the scene, unleashing their directional torrent of wind that was the Hurricane Maneuver again. This time, they aimed on the left side of the hull of the ship, trying to force the ship to their immediate right. The force of the incredible gales were enough to shift the shift's direction slightly, but it wouldn't be enough. Peggy and Edal needed some extra power to have it miss the boundaries of the city. They realized this and watched with dismay as the ship began to plummet closer and closer.

"It's not enough!" Peggy was shouting, "Ready another Hurricane Maneuver!"

But a shape zoomed into view, a singular Pokemon ramming towards the falling ship at full speed. Peggy, Edal, and the rest of the Sunrise Brigade looked up as they saw the form of a Togetic approaching.

"I GOOOOOOT THIIIIIIIIS!" came the almost warlike cry from Gambit as his body flashed white at a measured pace...the familiar signs of Metronome. No Pokemon used Metronome as much as Gambit did, but that was because few Pokemon could get lucky as much as Gambit could. He called to the ether of knowledge and pulled a random strike from it's expansive library. And out of all the moves the Togetic could've used against the massive hull of the Ork ship...

He used Heavy Slam.

The trade-off wasn't great. A Togetic wasn't nearly as heavy as a massive ship a few kilometers wide...not even by a long shot. But the force behind a Heavy Slam was enough to do exactly what it needed to...shift the trajectory. The final push was enough to send the hunk of metal away from the capital of the Kalos Region and careening to it's right. It would crash into a grassy plain, completely uninhabited by humans and clear of Pokemon. Aftereffects could be calculated later as it would likely cause incredible damage to the area it landed in as well as some heavy earthquakes in the city. But those were much better than being completely decimated by the hunk of metal.

When opposition had presented itself in the form of a singular psionically charged Ork, Zee had not remained to engage. Getting bogged down in a fight like that, staying still or even in the one area would leave him vulnerable to bullets, explosions and knives. Not to mention the Ork ranks were on the receiving end of a growing amount of firepower from the perceived locals, and standing in the center of that was far from appealing.

His sudden acceleration would have left a gust of air trailing behind him from the force. The barrier of energy that wrapped around him from all sides would bash those he flew near aside, tumbling dozens in a zig-zagging path to cause as much disruption as possible, but then he noticed that something had changed. Metal was raining from the sky. His head craned upwards even on his flight path to see the hulking ship still moving.

They didn't. They wouldn't. They-

No, there was no time for that. It must have just been damaged in the battle and was now on a crash course. Something that large hitting the ground would be absolutely devastating, and Zee couldn't get a safe grounding to try and stop it. There was no time for thinking clearly now, just action. The sooner he intervened the more lives could be potentially saved, and maybe once he was up there he could risk standing still.

Around ground zero, that being the place Zee was at that very moment, would have the unpleasant experience of being turned to paste as a massive psionic force propelled the armoured Mewtwo skyward, cracking the sound barrier to boot. Zee would have plenty of seconds to think about what he was doing as he hurtled upwards into the atmosphere. His barrier switched from all-encompassing to purely frontal, and it charged from a sphere to a sharpened point.

He was a psionic blade, flat and wide to cause as massive a split and penetration as he could muster, only expanding with each second. He passed under the Flying types in the air in moments and continued higher into the air, cutting edge extending hundreds of meters to either side of him. And then, impact.

The battering on his mind was unbearable. Almost immediately the solid, sharp blade he had constructed psionically felt like a blunt knife cutting at wood. Zee could not comprehend all that he experienced in those seconds of him passing through the ship. All around him there was horrendous screeching of metal being ripped and torn. Explosions rocked around him leaving a burning trail in his wake. If not for the armour he wore, hooked into his helmet that helped control the extent of his powers, he probably would have killed himself. It went on for what felt like minutes, but couldn't have been more than a dozen seconds.

Then all resistance stopped and he was met with the wonder of the world beyond, an empty space devoid of anything but blackness and stars. Everything came to a standstill to appreciate the wonder of what lied around. It was peaceful up here. There was no sound, no violence, just nothing. A reluctant sigh came from within the pokemons helmet as he forced his back to it so he could face the destruction he wrought on the ship.

Now in the freedom of space, far from the gunfire and danger from below, he reached out with both hands to force psionic energy into the hole he had left in the ship, pushing outwards to try and split it in two. Technically he was just trying to minimize the total damage it was causing, but by some luck he was working towards the same goal as those on the ground; divert the ship. However he was operating on a slight different scale to them. Once the ship was sufficiently split he took hold, digits curling inwards to grasp one half of the ship, and started to pull. Blood trickled down from his nostrils as psionic powers wrestled against the sheer momentum of something so large, trying to force it to come to a complete halt in space. He had never tried such a blunt and direct action with his powers before and it was rapidly taking its toll. For a second time, it was only the restraints his armour put on him that stopped him from killing himself, but it also stopped him from totally succeeding. Even with the great extent of his power, with all the exertion he spent punching through the ship he was struggling to have a big impact.

But he didn't stop.

He wouldn't.

The Ork Kommando Gobfang, another of the many orks that would perish on the world of Ruula. As the knife drove in the Kommando's neck he would then be flown into the air roaring wildly in mostly anger and less pain. However his end was met by his own knife separating the orkz head from his own body. Not moments afterwards the massive bomb on the brutes chest was ticking. It was not a normal explosive, it was a timed explosive like the ones back in the power plant. The Kommando Nob exploded in a massive ball of fire leaving not even gibs behind, upon his own destruction the rest of the bombs followed suite by detonating all across the power plant as one last gift for anyone still stuck inside the plant. However the destruction was the least of everyone's worries...

The shoddy ork contraption...the ship was on a ramming course to the planet. Everyone knew what would happen if it impacted, it would be a world wide extermination. The air would be ash, the grounds would be lava, the seas would boil away, and life would be at its brink. Knowing this the many Pokémon did their best to slow it down no matter how meager it was. Ramming it, slicing it in half, the ship began to glow hot red as it began to arrive past the atmosphere where all could see the massive flaming wreck about to cause everyone's destruction...

The skeis grew crimson from the heat, the sound of the ship encroaching the planet ready to bring down destruction. Fear...panic...despair...One being could feel it all.

"How irritating...These greenskins surly know how to annoy...As much as this planets destruction would be a nice sight to see...There is an artifact that would allow me to gather much more souls than one single planets death can provide...It can't be helped, I have to save these so called...'pokemon'..." The man who was once inside the Catacombs suddenly appeared from a small chaotic sigil that branded itself on the land as he appeared.

He looked up at the marvelous sight of the crude ship prepared to wipe out nearly all life on the planet. The Pokémon of this world was adorably trying to stop it in such a futile manner. It was funny for him, to watch the weak struggle against destruction. However he was not going to let such a valued prize be destroyed needlessly before he could find it. So he had to regretabbly save this planet for his own goals.

Raising his hand into the air, the unholy powers of Chaos flowed through his body as he began to bend and tear at the fabric's of reality. In front of the ship something was going on, reality was torn asunder as a massive hole opened up as the sorcerer ripped a portal directly to the Warp and watched the fruits of his labor.

The massive and crude ork vessel was being swallowed by the massive tear as it no longer was on an impact course for the surface. It was being dragged into the maws of the Warp slowly but surely. All the beings on the planet who could see this spectacle watched as such unholy power was used to save them.

Soon enough the ship was swallowed hole, of course the thousands of orkz still swarming the planet began to hoof it on mechanical walkers or on foot and they ran as fast as they could go to safety. The Sorcerer darkly laughed to himself as he simply eliminated the threat. "That should do it...Let the rabble deal with the survivors...Rejoice you ignorant masses for your deaths have been averted for now...Now I have an artifact to find..." The man laughed to himself as he vanished in warpfire to return to the Catacombs to continue his search uninterrupted.

At hearing the biggest and strongest Ork shout these dire warnings, Terrance damn near crapped himself.

"FULL RETREAT! THIS PLACE IS GONNA BLOW HARDER THAN MY EX-GIRLFRIEND! GO GO GOOOOOOO!"

There was a gait called the "roadie run" for when soldiers were running to another point of cover. What Terrance was doing was more akin to a terror-fueled sprint, like a certain archaeologist and a rolling boulder he saw in a movie once. A series of terrific explosions started to go off. "I thought I fucking disarmed those things!" cursed the Terran as he continued to run for his life.

The plant was lost...there was no saving it now. But as he promised the random civilian back in the city, if he could save one life today, he was gonna do it. Even if it turned out to be his own. But even that wasn't enough. As he hit the stairs to light and freedom, the loss of horizontal velocity caused a blast of shrapnel to tear into his back. If he had his ANDEE suit, none of this would have been an issue, but such stuff was only allowed to him when he was on duty...which he most definitely wasn't.

With a loud cry of agony, the foreigner bit the dust, just three momentum-fueled steps outside of the smoking field of ruins, lying alongside Belana in pain and exhaustion. He then groaned and spat it out. "Fuck...all the lights in the city are out...everything hurts...I guess that means I'm still alive..."

Crimson felt an inner tension relax as he watched the knife plunge into the neck of Nog and through it before the Ork was literally coated in flames from the bomb strapped to him. He'd played that perfectly, not even allowing a crater in the ground on the Commander's part. In the air was the perfect place to detonate since it was away from just about everyone. And the Chimchar felt satisfied by the results.

As gravity took hold of his momentum and he began falling, he felt the winds of the explosion rushing past him, not even giblets accompanying it. The bomb's strength had been enough to literally obliterate the Commander after he'd been slain. The ground steadily approached, but Crimson was feeling too much relief in one moment to do anything but morph back into his Fire-Type form. He looked like any ordinary Chimchar hitting the ground beneath him at a heightened velocity. But he didn't even care about that. He didn't even care that he nearly blacked out from the impact.

He was just relieved.

---

The battle was basically over. Without the looming threat of the massive ship causing planetary extinction and thousands of Orks disappearing from sight due to a mysterious cause, it was a cake walk. The Orks would try to escape, but most would get cornered and slain by the numerous Pokemon swarming the area. Thousands turned to hundreds, and hundreds to tens. That being said, there were simply too many of them to take them all out. It was easy dealing with the majority that were paralyzed from Pert's Thunder Wave. The ones that ran for the forest were given chase by many of the faster Pokemon akin to rabbits being swarmed by wolves. And even the mechanical walkers were no match to those that had an advantage over it, like a Fighting-Type or a Rock-Type. But there were some that slipped through the cracks undetected. A couple were fortunate enough to be behind a tree at the right time and were skimmed over. A few more fled in a direction few would think to travel and got away without notice. One even had the gall to book it towards the city, where no one would dare think an Ork to go. Despite their heavy toll of life (even for Ork standards), there were still survivors.

But the invaders knew what they were dealing with now. They wouldn't understand the complexities behind it, but they knew the wildlife on this planet were strong...strong enough to take their forces head to head if it came to it. Sturdy enough to withstand many a spray and pray from a rapid fire gun. Capable enough to deal damage back tenfold. Their only advantage was numbers and they no longer had that. They would have to play defensive...or else they were doomed to be a once talked about species.

Their destruction could not be denied, however. Lumiose City may not have fallen to pieces, but it was definitely in a state of disrepair. Fortunately, no major structures or buildings were sent toppling to the ground and it would be minimum a week to fix everything within the walls. On the other hand, the Power Plant that did provide light to the city was in shambles with nothing but a pile of metal remaining. It would be a long time before light would return to the infamous Kalos city once more, an issue that could prove to be disastrous if no back-up solution was found. As for the desert, it was left with a few holes from where bombs went off…nothing nature couldn’t solve.

In said desert, the Crimson Guild was reconvening, gathering fallen allies to revitalize and telling their tales and experiences. Not a single Crimson Guild member was killed in the Ork attack, they quickly discovered. A few had fainted and most were exhausted, but there wasn’t a single casualty on their side of the battle. And for them, that was a victory.

It would be Tag who would find Crimson lying in the sand, eyes closed. A wave of panic set into the Turtwig as he bolted over to the Chimchar.

“Crimson!” he cried, “C’mon, not like this!”

Crimson kept his eyes closed, but chuckled wholeheartedly, “Dude, I’m not hurt. I’m just…relaxing for a change.”

“Oh,” was all Tag said in response as he sat down next to his buddy, “I thought that Ork got to you somehow.”

“Eh…” Crimson recalled the fight he’d undergone, “I think I had it just about handled. Though really I think today was his day to die regardless of what I did. He blew himself up.” He peeked his eyes open, looking up at the late afternoon sun still kind of high in the sky, “They were seeking as much destruction as possible.”

“Well…” Tag surveyed the area around them, “I can’t say they didn’t do that. The Power Plant’s trashed.”

A small frown appeared on the Chimchar’s face as he went into thought about that, “Hmm…that’s not good. We should find a way to bring some temporary power to Lumiose City. Maybe the Electric-Types can do something.”

“Well, you can’t tell them to do anything when you’re napping like this.”

That caused Crimson to chortle, “You’re right. Help me up.”

Tag held out a paw, which Crimson took and pulled against to hoist himself to his feet. Together, they began walking towards the massive crowd of Pokemon that was gathering just outside the pile of metal that was once the Power Plant. Along the way, he took in the environment with his own eyes, noting the bunch of holes, the dozen or so Ork bodies that hadn’t found their way to being burnt to a crisp or electrocuted, but were slain by other means. A small plume of smoke was drifting up over Lumiose City, recalling the initial impact points made by the Orks. They probably had some destruction over there too, Crimson realized as he began planning out what he was going to do.

When the two of them arrived onto the scene, everyone was chattering rapidly and excitedly, talking about the battle they’d just fought.

“It was insane!” a Cubone was telling his Ground-Type buddies, “Friggin’ Butcher over there wanted to plunge headfirst into the Power Plant and he didn’t even notice all the bombs strewn about everywhere. I was like ‘Dude! Pay attention!’”

“I still cannot believe I cracked that ship in half!” Gambit said excitedly to Dee and Siena, “I Heavy Slammed that ship into two pieces…TWO…PIECES!”

“Right, but where did it go?” Dee crossed her arms and twitched her whiskers, skeptical as ever.

Gambit shrugged, “I dunno, but I broke it!”

Siena smirked, trying to hide her laughter.

“What?” Gambit glanced over to the Shaymin, “You know something I don’t?”

Siena said nothing.

A lot of the conversations Crimson was overhearing was about what had happened with the ship on collision course to Ruula. Whether they believed Gambit’s side of the story or whether they watched Mewtwo tear through the ship, it still didn’t explain why it had disappeared all of a sudden. No one could really provide a one hundred percent confident answer to the conundrum. One individual did suggest that maybe Palkia was watching them and stepped in, tearing a hole through space to intercept it. Most people agreed with that theory, but Crimson didn’t entirely buy into it. If that was the case, where was the Legendary now?

Questions could be answered later, he finally thought in resolution. Right now, they had to fix everything.

Crimson held his fist in the air, signifying that he wanted to say something. The ones who did see the small fist quickly shushed the others around them, the murmur that Crimson was about to speak ripping through the crowd of Pokemon before falling silent. He had long garnered the respect from this group he led and that was clear in this moment. He made a quick glance around for Mewtwo and Lugia, but didn’t find them. Tag was by his side. Sarik, Pert, and Meryl had all gathered behind him. He had everyone’s attention.

“Guys…I want to say thank you,” he began, looking around at the Pokemon in the crowd surrounding him, “Thank you for sticking by me and our quest to defend Ruula from those that wish to harm it. Thank you for signing to my cause over the year. And thank you for standing by me today. We all knew what could’ve been at stake and we were willing to risk everything, including our own lives, to preserve our way of life for as long as possible. So thank you.”

The roar of approval that followed those opening words made Crimson smile as he knew how much it meant to them. How much he meant to them. In many ways, he was an invader who brought his problems along for the world of Ruula to deal with. He was grateful for how accepted he truly was among them.

Despite this, he had to harden his words, “But we’re not done yet. Far from it, in fact. There’s still the aftermath to deal with. The Power Plant is in ruins. Lumiose City is in darkness. And even though we took care of as many of those brutes as we could, I get the feeling there might be more out there. So we need to prepare. And we need to prevent anything like this from happening again.”

“We must start with the humans of Lumiose City. They didn’t deserve what happened to them. They were victims to this crime. And we have to help them out in any way we can until they can help themselves. Help bring their city and its way of life to being as normal as possible. There’s a lot that needs power to work there and we have some of the power necessary to charge it.”

He turned to Lumi, Skyball, and Rubira, “Team Volt, you guys will have to lead this charge. You’re some of the best Electric-Type users I know. And speaking of…” he looked over his shoulder towards Pert and Meryl, “You two should also help out.”

“Piece of cake!” Pert flashed Crimson a smile and a voice of confidence, “We’ll do what we can.”

“Sure,” Meryl’s softer reply came after, “But only because of that pun you just made.”

Crimson’s brow raised, “What pun?”

“Having Team Volt lead the chaaarrrge?”

This brought slight bits of laughter from the rest of the Crimson Guild and much louder, squeakier laughs from Lumi and Skyball in particular. Crimson looked towards the ground, failing to keep a smile from crossing his face as he realized he missed that wordplay.

“Y’know…” he said, glancing back up at Meryl with a twinkle in his eye, “I think I know what festival will make you happiest.”

“And what’s that?” Meryl smirked as she shifted her legs to make herself more comfortable.

“A Pun Festival.”

“Oh Arceus no!” Meryl’s genuinely panicked reaction caused a greater stir of laughter from the crowd of Crimson Guild members.

And so the planning continued. The Crimson Guild would provide aid to the Kalos Capital by utilizing half of their able bodies to help clean up the area. Among that half were Pert, Meryl, Lumi, Skyball, and Dee leading the Electric Patrol, the troop of Electric-Types who would go around supplying as much power as they could to the population within the walls. They would be around until the humans could provide power and other support to the people. The others would help clean up the rubble and rebuild the buildings that were damaged in the fight, helping the UPL in those efforts until the city was shiny and new once again. A very small team of Fire-Types, led by Rubira, would take care of the fallen Ork bodies by burning them to ash and scattering their remains to the winds. The Sunrise Brigade would begin searching for any of the surviving Orks and swiftly taking them down so that they could no longer bother the planet or its inhabitants. Crimson, Tag, and Sarik would lend whatever help they would need towards their efforts.

As for the rest of them, it was business as usual. Try to find the Psychic Rebellion and thwart their plans by any means necessary. Help other Pokemon along the way. Find new places to explore and new adventures to go on. To Help, To Explore, To Protect…that was the Crimson Guild motto…that was the Crimson Guild way.

For now, they were fine. They had problems to contend with, but it could’ve been much worse.

There was a knock at the Treehouse door.

The bamboo door swung open, and a shiny Dartrix stood ramrod-straight. With an ever-so-posh voice, the Dartrix spoke as he bowed lightly, holding a wing out in front with a small towel draped in front. "Welcome, welcome. How may we help you? I am Jakob, the caretaker of the Treehouse, our humble home by the Wild, for the Wild."

"Who isss it?" The hissing voice of a Salazzle emitted from further inside. "Ooh! New visitors, darling?" The Dartrix's eye twitched and a vein bulged as Jolder's head poked out from behind him, and long slender fingers looped around and caressed the Dartrix's shoulders.

"Aherm!" The Dartrix cleared his throat sharply, which resulted in the Salazzle disengaging with a snake-like chuckle. "I apologize for that... display. What can we do for you?"

"Hello," the Pokemon standing in front of them greeted, but the way the word barely caught in his throat and the slight shuffle of his feet gave away the fact that he was a bit uncomfortable. But it seemed he had enough professionalism to hide any other telling signs of the fact. His brown eyes glanced from the Dartrix to the Salazzle and back again, almost as if he was analyzing their behaviors and trying to get a read on their personality. Meanwhile, if they were trying to do the same, they would take notice that the Squirtle had common footing in this realm of behavior. He was analytical and always seemed to be searching for something.

Behind him stood two other figures, both seemed much more native to the islands of Alola than the Squirtle did. One was a rather plump Togedemaru leaning against a tree and flipping a coin in his right paw. He seemed disgruntled, but didn't say anything. Next to him stood a Marshadow who looked shy and seemed even more uncomfortable than the Squirtle did.

"Sorry to interrupt whatever you two were...erm, doing at this hour," the Squirtle went on, gesturing towards the cloudy late night sky above them, threatening rain, "But may we come in? I need to discuss something important with you. All of you, by the way."

He stressed the word "all", implying he meant the rest of the Treehouse individuals that weren't there.

At-first, the comment about "whatever they were doing" only made Jakob's bulging vein intensify with his annoyance at the sultry Salazzle. However, at the mention of "we", the vein vanished almost instantly. "More than one guest? Splendid!" At the mention of an important discussion, one of the Dartrix's normally flat eyes opened with intrigue. An unusually sharp and intense eye contrasted with his typically posh demeanour. "What about?" The Dartrix asked as he stepped aside to let the Squirtle and whoever else enter. "Come, make yourself at home."

"Thank you," the Squirtle said politely as he stepped into the humble abode. The Togedemaru and Marshadow followed right behind, the former having no problems with looking around the place while the latter kept her eyes straight forward and her hands together, like she was scared to touch anything.

"Ya know," the Togedemaru's vividly aggressive voice proclaimed, "I've heard many a rumor about this place. I didn't know you'd made your little refuge look so fancy!"

"Yes, it is a vertable bed & breakfast for all Wild Pokemon. Our resident Synthesizer produced the material that the Jungle couldn't provide."

Inside the living room, an Alakazam lounged in a bamboo chair specifically tailored for a lazy-bones. The Salazzle snaked back into the kitchen. A pair of visiting Psyducks stepped down the stairs, looking quite content over a good night's sleep. For once in their lives, they didn't appear to have headaches. As the two Psyducks left after exchanging pleasantries, a Porygon-Z emerged from the Demonslayer shrine in the back room. "A squirtle?" Doc Holiday asked, "Not native to Alola. On some sort of business, it seems." His pointed snout turned to Jakob the Dartrix, "Thoth and North should be back shortly, by my calculations."

"I imagine you want to speak with all of us," Jakob nodded. "Can we get you anything to eat or drink?"

"I'm good. Thanks though," the Squirtle gave a small half-smile as he sat down. The Togedemaru was quick to raise a paw up.

"Watcha got on the menu?" he asked.

"House specialty," Jolder replied with a wink. "But we've got lots of berry drinks."

As the Togedemaru began relaying his order, the Squirtle turned to Doc Holiday, "It's a pretty nifty location you've got here. Why'd you pick it?"

"It is an excellent location out of reach from human contact. The cave opening is shaped so that it's difficult to spot from up high, and for those who can't climb up the mountain, we have our resident rock-climbing experts and muscle- Oh, speak of the devil!"

True to Doc Holiday's word, the Magneton and Night-form Lycanroc entered, carrying with them one leaf-covered satchel each.

"YOU DARE CALL ME DEVIL, COMPUTER WRETCH!?" Thoth bellowed. Without any communication, the Lycanroc handed the Magneton his satchel. North the Magneton headed into the kitchen to hand off the gathered ingredients.

"Yep!" Doc Holiday returned in stride with a gleeful look on his face. "You wanna fight about it?"

"WE SHALL CROSS FISTS LATER!" Thoth announced in a very scenery-chewing manner, "WE HAVE GUESTS!!"

"They wish to talk to us about something," Jakob shut the both of them up with his posh voice. "Now that we're all here, what business do you bring?"

"Right," the Squirtle shifted in his seat, leaning forward slightly, "Well, I guess I should introduce myself and my fellow members. My name's Sarik, and these two are Smoky aaaaannnndd..." he held that word as he turned around to glance at the somewhat offended Togedemaru.

"Barb!" he stated.

"Oh yes! I remember you two," Jakob chuckled as he made a deep bow, "My apologies, we've dealt with quite a few things over here."

"Right! Barb," Sarik turned back to the Treehouse, letting out a nervous chuckle, "As you can see, we're not exacty familiar with each other yet. But anyway, we are part of an organization caled the Crimson Guild. Have any of you heard of it?"

"It's familiar. I may have heard a tale or two when I was off Alola. Fellow wildlings doing jolly good things." Jakob responded. In reality, it was Radegast's stories, but not many wildlings were that keen on the founder being a human... at least until they met the human. Until Radegast returned for whatever reason, they were back with their typical stories on their founding: Doc Holiday and Jakob being the main partners.

Jolder and North shortly arrived with a few large plates between them. Three of them were covered in wooden bowls filled with garden salads with a mix of nuts and berries. Only some of them had strips of meat "acquired" by Jolder through "legitimate means". On the fourth plate was a large set of cups, all of them were filled with different kinds of freshly squeezed berry juice.

"What does the Crimson Guild want with our little Treehouse, if you don't mind me asking?" Jakob got down to brass tacks as the dishes were being distributed across the well-crafted wooden table.

Sarik examined the layout, nodding thoughtfully, "Nothing really. But if opportunity presents itself, I've got to say you have one of the most secluded spots in the Alola Region. It took these two to even find you guys and they barely knew where they were going. No offense, by the way." He added to Barb and Smoky.

Barb was in the middle of tearing through one of these bowls when he glanced up at the Squirtle and shot him a look. "Mmf...you try'n find a place you've never been before!" he said with a mouth ful of food.

"I have. Many times," Sarik answered back, "Do you stil have that flag Crimson gave you?"

"I gave it to Smokes over there," the Togedemaru pointed in her direction, not wanting to be bothered. Meanwhile, she held up the square cloth, folded neatly in her shadowy hand. She handed it off to Sarik.

"I see," Jakob replied, "Well, make yourself at home! The Treehouse is a place by Wildlings for Wildlings!"

Sarik's smile grew a bit bigger, "Much appreciated, but I'm taking off after this. I've got a school to run and every minute I'm away is a minute something's probably not being done. So I'll try to make this brief We'll see how far I get." He stood up from the comfortable chair he'd been sitting in and walked over to the waiting Dartrix, handing him the cloth.

"You don't have to do it of you don't want to, but could you guys be our eyes and ears for the Alola Region? We're trying to network ourselves so we can have at least one Crimson Guild branch on each region and we haven't started over here yet. All you'd need to do is hang that flag somewhere to where a Pelipper can see it and one of our own will swoop in and gather information you guys have collected about the wilding side of things down here. You guys already have a wilding safe haven set up here to begin with, so I'm safe to bet you guys hear about a lot of things that go on over here, right?"

"I think we can do that," Jakob and Vorpal exchanged glances. "We do get plenty of news all around the islands from visitors... Actually, there was something recent- something that could affect other regions in the future."

"Demonbreath," Vorpal nodded. "He's out there somewhere."

Sarik's eyes lit up, "And that was the thing I wanted to talk to you about. Any information you guys have on what you saw pertaining that...incident...would help us out greatly. We'd also like to know about the whereabouts of this "Demonslayer" we've heard about. Or maybe she goes by a different name...like, I dunno...Suros, maybe?" Sarik beaded around the bush a bit with that name, unsure if they would be familiar with the crew they knew a while back.

This time, Jakob exchanged looks with Jolder. The Salazzle's sultry eyes seemed to soften somewhat. After a moment of consideration, Jakob replied, "The Demonslayer sometimes comes here. There's a shrine to their achievement through that door there," the Dartrix jerked a thumb-esque feather to the back door under the stairs, "But we respect their wishes to keep their privacy. They've been through enough as-is." The pain of her own injuries distracted her somewhat from Radegast's terrible fate, but she still looked like she had a cloud drizzling over her during their last span of time in the Treehouse.

"As for what happened," Vorpal continued, "A human criminal group called the Regicide Crew had stolen a device that resurrected Pokemon from fossils. They had used it to resurrect Demonbreath of all creatures. The worst part is they've managed to take control of him."

Sarik curled his lip, "Take control of him? Like, they managed to capture him?"

Vorpal nodded, "They've captured a Necrozma to do it."

"Any clue on where they are and where they might be heading?"

"None." Jakob answered. In truth, they really didn't know. Nobody could know. "Last we heard, they've taken significant damage from the struggle, and hid out in the wide ocean to make repairs."

"Then we'll have to keep our eyes open looking for them. And if we see something, then...um, actually I'm not sure how we do this." Sarik looked down, deep in thought, "We usually have a flare system that can call the Crimson Guild to your location if there's serious trouble...like, world-ending trouble. But that's not gonna work considering how far away the Alola Region is to HQ. So..."

"Do they have anyone that's fast through the water?" Smoky suddenly proposed to Sarik, barely audible from her spot on the couch.

"No... wait..." Weyloran's clan was out of the question, and recently the Seven Clans had all but disowned their relationship due to... whatever was happening down there. That left... "Hmm..." Jakob glanced at Vorpal, who nodded in recognition. The Alakazam hovered from his seat and moved upstairs.

"I heard tell of an island that was being attacked by the Regicide Crew," Jakob said as the sounds of books being flung about could be heard from upstairs. "They managed to beat them back when a sympathetic human came by and taught them to surf via one of their tech machines." Radegast told this story as well in person. "Vorpal's getting a map. I'll see what we can do to make contact with them."

The Squirtle flared his brow a bit at the term "sympathetic human" but said nothing, "That'll work. In which case, all you'd need to do is send someone over to the Crimson Guild HQ to let them know something's going down. I can relay coordinates and even show you where it is if you happen to have a map of the Kalos Region."

"No Kalos map, unfortunately," Vorpal replied as he returned with several rolled-up strips of parchment. The largest of them was a map of Alola with markings around the ocean where smaller islands dotted the globe. The smaller pieces had more detailed maps of said smaller islands.

"Not many opportunities to go on a trip," Jakob joked as he beamed with pride, "Not when you have a home like this.

Sarik laughed in response, "Oh, I understand that. I happen to live on an island myself. Kind of far away from most places and I'm pretty tied down to my job running a school of soon-to-be Crimson Guild members, so I don't really get to go out much. But I enjoy what I do, much like you guys."

"We are kindred spirits then," Jakob raised a cup- the last one that was handed out. Many wildlings used the Treehouse as a safe house, so having a relationship like this was right up their alley. Especially since the Seven Clans... are doing whatever they're doing now. Smoky added to the acknowledgement by raising her own cup, albeit awkwardly. Although Sarik didn't have a cup to raise, he still nodded his head as an attempt to toast. Barb was too busy decimating his plate of food to take much notice in the conversation.

"I'll see if I can have a map sent over to you guys," the Squirtle said after a moment of thought, "At least while you guys are trying to get that island on board."

Vorpal seemed to take a special interest in the small, spherical, somewhat metallic rodent that seemed more like a wolf whilst chowing down. He remembered Barb from Radegast's and Jakob's story from their time on Ula'ula. Jakob was busy chatting with Sarik, so the Alakazam took initiative. Specifically, it was a Togedemaru with a Marshadow. Marshadows were... not exactly common, after all. "Aren't you the ones Jakob met before? I heard you guys were trying Feebas?" Even a lazybones like Vorpal, with his IQ of approximately 5000, knew that Feebas were unpalatable at-best.

Smoky gaped at the Alakazam, "Y-You know about that?"

Vorpal chuckled lightly, "Jakob told us about it, him and the Lo-" he caught himself, but trying to hide it would seem suspicious. Besides, the title wasn't universally known. What were the chances they would know it? "The Lord-Regent."

"The Lord-Regent?" Smoky repeated, recalling the encounter, "Is that what you call the human?"

"What human?" Jakob asked. The shiny Dartrix glanced between the three visitors, but shot a nanosecond of a glare toward Vorpal. The Alakazam shrugged apologetically.

"Hey, yeah..." Barb had been paying attention and turned towards Jakob quizzically, "Where is the human we met before?"

"Oh, that human," Jakob hooted a sigh.

Doc Holiday spoke up, realising the jig was pretty much up. "Normally we try to hide the fact that the founder is the Lord-Regent himself. It makes the whole "by wildlings, for wildlings" seem like a lie, you know?"

"Not many consider humans to be wild," Vorpal agreed.

"Plus it's a safe house from that Psychic Rebellion nonsense," Jolder hissed.

Now it was Sarik's turn to raise a brow, "You guys know about the Psychic Rebellion?"

"Oh yes, they really hate the Lord-Regent. It's why he came here recently."

Sarik leaned in, careful how to word his next sentence, "Sounds a lot like Radegast."

"Indeed," Jakob agreed, then for a beat, he nodded slowly, but suddenly he flinched in an epiphany. "Oh, you know about him too?"

Vorpal swatted Jakob over the head. "Duh, the Crimson Guild's an ally, my dude."

"Why didn't you remind me sooner?" Jakob asked incredulously.

Vorpal shrugged. "Laziness, I guess."

"At least you're self-aware." Jakob rubbed the back of his head with a feathered hand.

"Oh let me kiss it better," Jolder offered.

With a flash of annoyance on his typically professional butler-esque demeanour, Jakob bolted upstairs, dropping hidden leaf-knives as he scrambled. Jolder sauntered after him at a slow page.

"Um...aaaannnyyywaaaayyy..." Sarik said apprehensively, "We're looking for him as well. Last we heard, he was an active participant in that battle with Demonbreath. Anything he knows, we should know."

The house grew silent. The mood swiftly turned to a similar chill to when they were discussing Suros. Jakob and Jolder returned from their shenanigans.

Sarik felt the atmospheric change, his own gut filling with dread, "Uh-oh...that doesn't sound reassuring. What happened?"

"A lot's happened, actually." Jakob sat down. "The Seven Clans are in disarray... we think... the Regicide Crew's got that new power- like we said- and Radegast..."

Vorpal returned upstairs- this time he took a mere moment- and he returned with a map of the continent where Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, and Sinnoh were located. The map appeared to have been marked down in places by Radegast himself.

"He's got a lot of drive now," Jakob warned as he spread the map out on an empty section of table. With a single feather, he tapped down on a location in Kanto, labelled 'LEFT'. "By now, he may not be there anymore. There are a couple more places you could check if you're looking to find him," He tapped on a couple more areas. A location deep in the wilderness away from civilizations, labelled 'GRAV' and a location in Hoenn labelled 'HER'. That marking appeared to be more recent compared to others. "If he's been to both of them and left already, the trail would officially be cold, because he would be impossible to track."

"Understood," Sarik said, "We can work fast, then. Anything I should know about these places...or even about Radegast? I know he about disappeared after the Unova blast, so it's possible he could've donned a disguise."

"A disguise... I guess you could call it that," Jolder noted, albeit sombrely.

It was Smoky who caught the tone in his voice, "He's different now, isn't he?"

Jakob nodded. "There's a fire in his eyes now, and it's growing. If he's left to his own devices... well, I'll start feeling bad for the Regicide Crew, and the Rebellion."

Sarik stood up, staring out the window towards the rolling thunder in the distance, "Let's hope so. We could always use less bad guys in the world." He clapped his hands, "Okay, in that case, we better get searching. I'll let Crimson know where he's heading and see what we can do to find him. In the meantime, I hope you don't mind the company of Barb and Smoky. They're the current acting ambassadors into the Crimson Guild and they can handle the official business we may have so you guys don't have to."

"We can?" Barb looked up at the Squirtle, confusion in his eyes...maybe even a little bit of panic.

"I have absolute trust that you both can lead Pokemon interested in joing the Crimson Guild where they need to go. You know where the HQ is and I told you where the Sunrise Division was, so you should be fine."

Sarik started moving towards the exit, Barb and Smoky watching him go. With a renewed vigour, the treehouse caretakers got to work with the usual routine of handling guests. North and Thoth headed outside to perform some chores around the rest of the cave grounds, while the remainder continued to provide the tour. With Jakob at the helm, they were showed around, including showing them the different rooms and the like. When they got to Radegast's room, Jakob said, "This one's currently in use." It was true; it was where Metronome kept under wraps before and after Radegast was there.

"And also here's the shrine," Jakob opened the door into the back room on the ground floor. A series of chairs, benches, and cushions littered the area, with a single pedestal at the far back. Above the pedestal was a depiction of orange flame and blue ice meeting green hatred. On the pedestal itself lay a shrivelled-up Dragonite antennae. "We pay our respects to those who fell to Demonbreath here." He gazed at the poster- which had been woven in Mareeep wool and knitted.

"Wow..." there was mix of awe and remorse in Smoky's stare as she looked over the shrine and it's complexity. She knew the legend through and through, but she'd yet to see anything commemmorating such an accomplishment until now...only the words of legend passed between the wildings.

"Hard to believe he's back," Jolder muttered, "I wonder if Weyloran knows..."

"I'm sure she does. You could see the fight from every island," Jakob replied, "Maybe... we could contact them as well."

"We haven't heard from them since they left to meet with Absolute, didn't they?" Doc Holiday asked.

Jakob nodded, "Hope they're doing fine."

Vorpal flinched, an unusual thing to happen to such a borderline sleeping Alakazam. "You alri-" Before Jakob could finish the question, a shrill scream emitted from above them. With no time to waste, the Dartrix extended his wings and bolted once more upstairs.

Metronome, the Meloetta, burst from the door to Radegast's room, eyes wide and bloodshot. She nearly collapsed on the ground if not for the Dartrix's swift catch.

"Metronome!" Jakob cawed, "What happened?!" He barked an order for water, which Jolder snaked away to retrieve without a quip. "Vorpal! Any ideas?"

"I felt something," Vorpal said, "It was like, some chill down my spine... It didn't feel natural, but I don't think it'd be enough to cause something like this."

Jolder returned with a bottle of water, which Radegast had left behind. Popping the cap off, Jakob carefully fed the shivering Meloetta.

"Easy, easy," Jakob cooed, "It's alright, you're alright."

"It's n-not alright," Metronome cried, "She's s-s-still out th-th-there."

Jakob and the others exchanged worried looks. Metronome was always a kind and gentle soul when she lived here, and they did know about her little jail break with Radegast. This mention of a 'she' was something entirely new. "She?" Jakob asked, albeit with caution.

Metronome couldn't quite bring the words out. "Th-th-the Inhuman," she managed to say after a great amount of stammering. "I haven't f-f-felt that p-pressure ever since..."

Vorpal's face went pale as he came up with several theories, with a few of them having terrible implications on their connection to this event. "The one who captured you?" He asked.

Metronome nodded, and drank another gulp of water. "Did she..." Jakob couldn't bear the idea of torture, but given Metronome's reaction to such an unusual ripple, there were some things that just couldn't be denied. One look at such a fearful reaction from such a mythical creature, however, told the Dartrix that it had to be true. "Who is she, exactly?"

"An abomination," She managed to gasp after that gulp. "A true abomination."

"I don't think this is right."

"Of course it is. As long as those crystals are in the distance, I'm not going to let the kids outside."

"It should be safe! We're out here and nothing's happening to us. That awful purple rain has stopped falling. Don't you think they need some fresh air while they can get it?"

"How has the Sunrise Clan lasted as long as it has, Peggy? We don't take risks that could harm ourselves."

Peggy tossed him a look, "That's not what you thought when that crew of Pokemon came trouncing through our berry fields."

The Hawlucha growled, "That was different. They ran into us!"

"And it worked out!" the Staraptor flapped her wings excitedly, "And now we maintain a good life. Even do a good deed instead of just focusing on surviving. We help others survive now!"

"That's exactly my point," he started down the long hill that led towards the forest, "We're supposed to protect the young ones until they become strong and capable enough to defend themselves. What if they get caught out in the wilderness and that purple rain comes back? What if they fall into the ocean? Those waves are still too rough for swimming, even for those who are used to it! I'm not letting that happen. I refuse."

"Ray," Peggy's tone softened, "I know you care for these kids. But they need to experience some of the hardships the world has to offer. They need to know the kind of things they're going to be fighting against someday. That's one of the reasons why they're here. What's hiding them away in fear going to teach them?"

"That some threats...need to be viewed from afar," he sighed, "Sometimes there isn't anything we can do but watch and wait. I don't even know what that structure is or where it came from. But it's dark. It's menacing. I can feel a cruel, shadowy power drifting from it. I get this really bad feeling in my stomach. This is not something the kids should ever have to experience."

"But someone has to, right?"

Both Ray and Peggy turned to the sound of the new voice, their expressions lightening when they saw the familiar shape of the Chimchar they both knew well.

"Someone has to stand in the way of evil ambition when it presents itself," Crimson continued, "And more importantly, someone has to do something about the spread of darkness before it takes over the entire world. That fate...could very well fall on one of these kids. It could fall on anyone. Yes, it's important that they stay safe and grow strong without the threat of the world looming over them. But it's equally as important to teach them what those threats are, to show them what kind of power they can bring if left unchecked. And they need to be able to stand in front of it, whether they are ready...or not."

Ray's face fell, "Oh..."

Peggy's mood was also low, "That's so...grim-sounding."

"It's the opposite, actually," his smile never wavered, "It's inspiring. To see the smallest of creatures stand up to the biggest of foes. It doesn't matter if they have the capability to win or not. Sometimes, bravery is enough. Sometimes...all you need is an example to get the ball rolling."

The three of them stood quietly for a moment, listening to the wild whistle through the air, hearing the tall grass shuffling around them, looking onward as the desolately beautiful sight in front of them. Finally, Crimson broke the air around them.

"Any of y'all seen Sarik?"

---

"Yeesh. I can't imagine..."

"Imagine what?" Crimson raised a brow, "Me staring down the face of evil?"

"Well, yeah," Sarik nodded, "Specifically by yourself. You've never been so bold before."

"I've done that before!" he protested, "Remember Sithlok?"

"Well, you had your...well, Ultimate Form, to fall back on," the Squirtle reasoned, "This time, it was just you. Why'd ya do something so reckless?!"

"I had to," he looked down at the rocky ground they were walking on, "There's something that I need to show her. Something that'll take care of the real threat that's looming behind all of this."

"The real threat?" Sarik blinked, astounded, "Do you really think-"

"Was Neeko really the one behind the Psychic Rebellion?" Crimson pointed out.

"W-Well, no, but she-"

"And is Zane truly the one behind the Psychic Rebellion currently?"

"Yes! Definitely!"

Crimson shook his head, "No. See, you're only seeing what's in front of you. The 'what'. The 'how'. You're not paying attention to the 'why'. Why did Zane take up the mantle he did?"

Sarik didn't even have to think about it, "Because he wants to prove himself worthy again. He wants to prove that your defeat over him was a fluke. He wants to rub his victory in your face and watch your convictions crumble against you."

"Exactly," the Chimchar kicked a rock, "I made him the way he is now. Dr. Benson made Neeko the way he was back then. And I'm willing to bet someone made Melaine act the way she is now."

"How can you be so sure?" the Squirtle turned to stare at him, "I've seen the way these locals talk about this strange power. They say it corrupts them, through and through. It alters their mind and changes the way they think. I mean, you've gone through a couple of battles with that Dark version of yourself. You should know that the past isn't the only factor to take into account."

"I am aware," Crimson agreed, "But it is the root to every action and every reaction going forward. If I fought off my demons, she can fight off hers."

"Well...alright," Sarik finally sighed in defeat, "You just be careful, alright? If you're truly going this alone-"

"Hey now!" the Chimchar chuckled, "Who said anything about going it alone?"

"But you said-"

"I have to start this journey alone," he clarified, "That doesn't mean I have to end it that way. I have a plan in order. It's gonna involve a little improvising. But I think it'll end up making a better world than before."

"For the sake of this planet, I hope you're right," the Squirtle stopped, gazing down at the canyon below...the one where they had started their first adventure on Ruula just a few years prior. Back then, they were a team of explorers themselves. All they were worried about was exploring a new world with new experiences. Now, they were leading teams of explorers to do the same, teaching the Pokemon how to defend themselves from similar dangers they faced back in the day, all while trying to clean up a mess they had made. Oh, how far they'd come...

"So how strong is she?" Sarik asked.

"Ohoooooh, yeah she's strong. Stronger than perhaps even some legendaries. Her defense is near impenetrable. And she's got quite a few hidden tricks," Crimson said with a twinge of something in his voice. Amusement? Excitement? Sarik gulped in nervousness all the same.

"But she lacks technique. She's slow and bulky. And she relies solely on the powers granted to her to defeat adversaries. She'll be a tough one for me to beat, but the same will be true for her. Really, I think it'll all come down to who outlasts who."

Just then, a Dragonite swooped down in front of them, landing with gentle grace before looking towards the Chimchar. They both understood what this meant. It was time for Crimson to go.

"Alright. You know the plan. You've got the Power Scope. Just be ready at any time. You'll know the signal when I make it. It was nice to see you, buddy."

"Likewise, friend," Sarik waved at him as Crimson hopped onto the back of the Dragonite and took off, watching the two of them soar up through the clouds before disappearing above him. With that, he started to head back towards the Guild entrance.

He had to get things set up, after all.