The Lord-Regent Treehouse's Story

“Let’s see if you can try this on for size,” Vorpal entered the living room one morning. Hovering above his palm, he held up what appeared to be two smooth metal balls.

“How’d you get those?” Elder asked.

Vorpal jerked a head towards Jolder, who had also entered. “Sssuch sssweethearts,” she noted aloud.

Suspecting foul play- and not the attack kind- Elder merely snickered. Radegast glanced away from his work in the kitchen. “What’re those?”

“Meditation balls,” Vorpal replied, “The sort your human psychics use to hone their focus.” He then started turning the two balls around and around in one hand. “In your case, they’d be perfect to really test your control.”

Radegast nodded, but returned to the stew he was cooking. His gauntlet-clad hand carefully held onto a wooden spoon as it stirred the assortment of thick-chopped vegetables and whatever meat Jolder and the others managed to scrounge. “Thanks, man.”

“I’ll take them,” Elder extended his relatively tiny digits, and brought the meditation balls upstairs.

“Something troubling you?” Vorpal asked.

“You mean beyond the lingering shock of death,” Radegast chuckled in a forced way.

“It must hurt, really,” Vorpal replied, “You’ve always been one to trust a stranger… At least, to trust a stranger not to be so… I’m not even sure how to describe that human, the Marine.”

“He is an extremist,” Radegast added, “He cares deeply for his crew, but… I can’t help but feel anger whenever I think about him.”

“I think it’s understanda-“

“He’s like me,” Radegast interrupted. Vorpal paused, somewhat puzzled. “IQ of 3000 and you’re not sure why?” The Gallade smirked.

“There are differences.”

“He lives by his own code, he cares only for his own, and he’s got an ultimate goal- to live comfortably.”

“You do not kill people who get in your way.”

“Sometimes I wonder if I should have…” Radegast produced the stirring spoon with a bit of broth and taste-tested it. “If I’d struck back sooner, then maybe Maxin would…”

“The Psychic Rebellion are as numerous as they are egotistical,” Vorpal spat at the ground at the mention of their name. “By your stories, what you did was buy enough time for your Uncle to arrive to do some major damage. Tactically speaking, there wasn’t anything you could’ve done to create a better result.”

“Are you just saying that to make me feel better?”

“You need positive feelings to perform your abilities properly,” Vorpal replied.

“So yes.” Radegast continued stirring after finding the stew satisfactory.

“Is it working?”

“… Kinda…” The Gallade reached for a series of shakers made from bamboo. He sniffed each and dropped a dash of some into the pot.

“Not even Celebi can change the past,” Vorpal pat Radegast’s back, “Focus on the future.”

“Heh… Now I’m wondering how Skyva would feel about all this,” Radegast stirred.

“Lord-Regent!” Crystal entered, “How’s the stew coming?”

“Very well, thank you,” Radegast replied, “But what’s wrong with Radegast?”

“You are still the Lord-Regent to us,” Crystal replied.

“Yeah, but…” Radegast recalled a rather sobering encounter. He, Jakob, and Elder met up with a Skrelp messenger the day before.

—

“What’s the situation?” Radegast asked.

“To be honest, if they found out I went to see you, I’d be exiled,” The Skrelp chirped meekly.

“That’s not a good sign,” Elder cringed.

“While you have done an incredible service for the King of Depths in the past, this sacrifice has left a void among the Seven Clans, and we’re now in a turmoil. Between you willingly boarding the Olympus-

“Unintentionally,” Radegast added, “I didn’t know they were Regicide Crew.”

“Regardless, you boarded the Olympus. Despite intentions, the Regicide Crew has amassed a terrible power, and we have wound up weaker with the loss of the King of Depths. The remaining Six have placed blame at your feet.”

Radegast grit his teeth, but Elder spoke up. “He never asked for this shit. All he did was help wild Pokemon like us! What’s your problem?”

“Elder…”

“No,” Elder jabbed at Radegast, “You’re the kindest, most understanding human on this entire planet and he doesn’t deserve this shit from you Skrelp.”

“I’m just the messenger,” the Skrelp replied, “I’m only here because I’m one of the few who still like you guys.”

“It’s alright,” Radegast placed a hand on Elder’s head. The Gengar sniffled as tears formed in his eyes. “I’m sorry, I really am.”

“I know,” the Skrelp replied, “Friend-Elder is right, you are an understanding human… It’s just out of my control- or most everyone else’s.”

“How will this affect the relationship with Absolute and Weyloran?” Jakob asked.

“We’re planning to meet up and discuss this development and how we’ll take on the Regicide Crew going forward,” the Skrelp replied, “I know you and Absolute are on good terms, but I also know that Weyloran is on bad terms with your Demonslayer friend. Personally, I think the best-case scenario is that Absolute disowns any relationship with you.”

“I wouldn’t wanna make Absolute feel like she owes me one,” Radegast chuckled, “It really was no big deal.”

The Skrelp gave Radegast an odd look. “You’re too kind…”

“It just isn’t fair…” Elder huffed.

“Look on the bright side,” Radegast chimed as he pumped an arm, “There is one way we can all be friends again: We take down the Regicide Crew ourselves.”

—

The stew was well-received by the inhabitants of the Treehouse. After brunch, everyone split off on their respective duties and hobbies, while Radegast continued his training. This time, he worked with the meditation balls. They were difficult at-first, but after several hours, he had gotten one direction down perfectly.

At least once a week, Jakob would make his way to the berry farms on Melemele in order to exchange Akalan materials for the enormous variety of berries the Delibirds took care of. This time around, he was joined by Elder and Radegast, with his team in their respective pokeballs. Also with them was Doc Holiday.

“It’ll be a tight squeeze to stow away,” Jakob noted, “At least, a tight squeeze for a Gallade.”

“I think I’ll be alright,” Radegast’s slim, yet sturdy form seemed to fit nicely enough within an outside space. Elder melted into the Lord-Regent’s shadow to make more space, while Doc Holiday converted his projected form into a pair of meditation balls, which Radegast used as he left his other ones back at the Treehouse.

Arrival at Melemele Island couldn’t have come soon enough. Radegast’s lighter form was enough for Jakob and Doc Holiday to carry as they glided from the ship to a less populous section of the Hau’oli Port.

“We’re trading materials for berries, right?” Radegast asked, “Where are the materials we’re trading?”

“I’m carrying them,” Doc Holiday replied, “Similar to that Box technology, I’ve figured out how to condense matter into an electrical signal.”

“Doesn’t sound stable,” Radegast replied, having some knowledge of the concept from back when he met Doc Holiday.

“I can only handle a metric ton at-most,” Doc Holiday replied, “Any more and it could destroy me. I also can’t store a living thing- not without killing it from the shock, anyway.”

“Really doesn’t sound stable.”

‘It’s enough to get us what we need,” Jakob replied, “It’s also how we were able to synthesize the metals we used to reinforce the Treehouse.”

“Seems to me would be something a lot of wildlings would love to have.”

“It’s how we took care of the place while you were away.”

Radegast couldn’t help but smile as the Dartrix beamed with pride. “Thanks, man.” The Gallade replied.

The group darted between buildings, through fields of tall grass, as they avoided contact with humans. Radegast was already somewhat used to keeping away from his kind, but this time around it seemed a lot more imperative. Perhaps it was because from a distance, it looked like a Gallade carrying human technology. In a way, he seemed to look the part of a Psychic Rebellion member.

Jakob the Dartrix, however, led the way through well-practiced off-beat trails. They weaved through tall grass, between buildings, over fencing when no one was looking, until they made their way onto a narrow forest path unsuited for humans. Radegast had to crawl in order to avoid the mass of twigs that surrounded the path. Soon enough, they emerged at a short cliff face. After scaling and rushing past some tall grass, they found themselves on a level patch of ground overlooking a huge berry tree field.

“Here we are,” Jakob used a wing to dust off some dead leaves from Radegast’s body.

Radegast waved Jakob off and did it himself. “Thanks for the thought, though,” he chuckled, “Let’s get those berries.”

The Delibirds that worked the fields greeted Jakob with respective hooting. Radegast understood them perfectly, which still caught him somewhat off-guard. As they discussed business, Radegast pondered why Pokespeak was one of those things the Reginalds could easily learn compared to most others. Was it because of Reggie’s presence? Could the Aegislash’s radiating aura of souls ripple through the being of other Reginalds, passing down knowledge in subtle ways? That seemed incredibly silly.

“What news on Melemele since the green light?” Jakob asked. Doc Holiday, meanwhile, was synthesizing the materials he had brought along for trade. A number of Delibirds were gathering berries throughout the farm.

“We saw it- everyone saw it,” The apparent leader replied to the Dartrix, ”We wanted to ask you. Is it Demonbreath?”

Jakob hummed with a nod. “It’s been brought to heel by the Regicide Crew- a team of human sailors, which makes it an even greater threat.”

“Where is the Demonslayer? Can’t she do it again?“

“Not alone,” Radegast replied as he entered the conversation.

“Who is this?” The Delibird asked.

“The Lord-Regent I’ve told you about.”

“I thought he was a human.”

Jakob nodded.

“I see…”

Two crates of berries was delivered as Doc Holiday left the material- a series of pressurized wooden beams- in a neat pile. “These are living,” Doc Holiday nodded towards the second crate, “If you would?”

Radegast gripped the small crate with both hands- phantom fingers and all- and lifted it with relative ease. “I don’t think both will fit the ferry back.”

“That’s because you’re bringing one with you,” Jakob replied.

Radegast nodded, “Vorpal’s alright with that?”

“He already got all your stuff together,” Doc Holiday replied as he materialized Radegast’s stuff- all loaded up to his backpack and side pouch. As they lived at the Treehouse, Radegast and the others drank their Moomoomilk, most of their fresh water and most of their lemonade. As a result, the backpack was a lot lighter compared to before.

“I’d have liked to say goodbye to everyone,” Radegast noted.

“Come on back anytime,” Doc Holiday saluted with one leg, “You’ve got a lot ahead of you if you’re gonna be mastering fusion.”

Radegast threw on his thermal undershirt, as well as one of the tee shirts. The shirts poked outward on the front and back due to the red fins on his body. Radegast frowned at it, but everyone else laughed.

Elder used a claw to cut both shirts open to let the fins through. Radegast again frowned, but he too broke down laughing after a moment.

“Tell everyone I’ll be back,” Radegast extended a hand, which was respectively shaken by Doc Holiday and Jakob.

“You’d best hurry,” a Delibird noted, “We’ve checked the schedules. Next boat to Kanto leaves in a couple of hours.”

“Oop!” Radegast’s eyes widened as he bolted back into the brush.

“Good luck!” Jakob called, “We await your return!”

His memory flashed an image of the time he first ran away from home. This time around, it felt somewhat different. In a way, Radegast wanted to stay. However, the Gallade form was a constant reminder. That terrible laugh that marked as the last memory of his previous life. I’ll get stronger, and I’ll pay him back for what he’s done.

The large boat was within sight as he arrived at Hau’oli City. With Elder safely in his shadow, Radegast vaulted over the border fencing and retraced their previous steps through the city. This time around, he was somewhat rushing it. Therefore, he could potentially be spotted this time around.

(CONTINUED IN FUSHCIA CITY)

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."