The Eon Academy [S.S. Wishmaker Side-Story]

[[Desolate Divine]]

Spiritwater Episode 7: Onslaught

Spoiler:

”Ladies, if you can hear me, RUN! GET OUT NOW!”

“Is that Victini?!’ Jarena exclaimed, however Cassandra, already on edge from the talk of taking the fight to Agatha, didn’t hesitate.

“You heard him, let’s move!” Cassandra shouted, already painfully aware of what the warning was about.

As Cassandra sprang to her feet, she made for the fire alarm on the wall, slamming the large red button hard.

“Everyone out!” Cassandra shouted, hoping anyone near Section B would get the message that this wasn’t a drill. “Run for it! We’re under attack!”

There was a crash of broken glass behind them, as the trio ran for the door, not wasting time to turn around and see who it was. She felt a knot in her stomach leaving Sami, but told herself that if they stayed to help her, or try and get her out, they’d meet the same, if not some worse fate.

Cassandra felt her phone vibrate in her pocket, but didn’t have the time to try and get it out, as she darted through the hallways, not so gently encouraging people who were moving too slowly and blocking the passage out. A few moments later, the sliding doors to Heahea City came into view, and the trio focused on them, getting out into the street, and running for the first cover they saw, which was the main pier of Heahea City, or more specifically, the wet, muddy sand underneath it.

Not looking back, the trio sprinted for the pier, and dropped off the sides, taking cover under the heavy wooden structure. It was only then that Cassandra poked her head out to see what was happening. What she saw however, stunned her into disbelief. She looked on in shock as Violet joined her, wondering what could elicit this reaction.

“Is that… Giratina?”

Standing at four and a half metres tall, the dual typed Ghost-Dragon Pokemon was tearing at the building, ripping it apart as people continued to flood out. Despite having six legs, it had no visible arms, and instead stood on its rearmost legs, treating the building like a giant scratching post.

“Agatha has Giratina?” Cassandra asked in shock. Whilst their own experience in Shadowcraft made them a force to be reckoned with, Agatha seemed to be ahead of them, and despite being a former Elite Four member, the presence of Steven, Cynthia, even Jon, kept that fact from wearing them down. Giratina however, changed things….

Inside the hospital room where Abital and Avery both rested, Abital on a hospital bed, hooked up to heart monitors and an IV drip, and Avery with their eyes closed in a chair, Meir the Raichu was the first to realise something was wrong. Wanting to get Avery’s attention, he walked over to the chair, tapping his paw against Avery’s ankle, and letting out a small electric shock. Avery woke with a start, looking down at the Pokemon.

“Meir, what’s wrong?” Avery asked, groggy from the nap.

“Something’s coming…”

Before Avery could ask for clarification, the fire alarm began to blare, waking Abital who sat up, looking around puzzled.

“Everyone out!” called a familiar voice from Section B, though Avery knew it was neither of the two doctors present when they were there getting treatment for Abital.

Avery stood to their feet, and quickly began disconnecting the various monitors from Abital, who grabbed the cannula from his hand, and carefully but firmly pulled it out, wincing in pain.

“I’m sorry, but we gotta go…” Avery said to Abital, hoping that the few hours of actual rest would be enough for surviving whatever hell seemed to be going on outside. Abital nodded, scooping up Meir in his arms, as the pair fled the hospital.

As they emerged into the street, hexes were flying everywhere. Abital ducked at the last moment, feeling the rush of air as something rushed over his head, striking someone a few metres away. The accidental victim began to erupt in pink bubbles from their flesh. He looked back, feeling a pang of guilt, wanting to help, but rushed forward, knowing if he stayed to help, Avery would stay as well. Instead he rushed forward. He readied his Capture Styler, for when the opportunity arose. Avery looked over, seeing Meir carried under Abital’s arm, and the styler, and Abital saw the somewhat puzzled expression on Avery’s face. He quickly signed the word for ride, having his hands full and running making anything more nuanced difficult. Avery realised Abital was looking for a Pokemon to capture and ride, however, it only worked on Wild Pokemon, and there were none large enough to provide a ride in the city streets, especially with all wild Pokemon, like most people, fleeing the area.

As Avery looked over their shoulder to spot a Pokemon big enough, they noticed the one of the biggest Pokemon they had ever seen. Despite never seeing the Pokemon in person before, growing up in Sinnoh, they knew exactly what they were looking at.

Giratina.

Giratina roared before continuing its destruction of the hospital, as Avery grabbed two of their Pokeballs, and tossed them in front of them and Abital. Daybreak and Knautia materialised, as Avery grabbed Abital’s sleeve and pushed towards Daybreak.

“We’re getting out of here!” Avery shouted over the chaos, as Abital nodded, jumping onto Daybreak. Avery climbed onto Knautia, thankful that all but of their Pokemon but Gloria were large and quadrupedal.

The pair rode hard for a few minutes, putting some distance behind them, before slowing to catch their breath. As they did, Abital looked back in the distance, towards Giratina, the guilt obvious in his face. Noticing this, Avery spoke.

“Abital…”

The ranger looked over at his partner.

“It’s okay,” Avery said. “We’re safe, and that’s what matters.”

Abital went to sign a protest, but Avery cut him off, knowing that if they didn’t now, they would just be wasting time.

“There’s nothing we could do. We don’t stand a chance against those witches. We only just managed to get you on the mend, and even then, you’re still not at a hundred percent…”

Abital looked between Avery and the scene they had left behind, before signing a question.

“Where do we go now?”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

On the phone to Elesa in the storage room, Abbee heard the familiar voice of Cassandra shouting for everyone to get out, as the fire alarm began to ring.

”Abbee, what’s that sound?” Elesa asked.

“Sorry Elesa, I need to go. I’ll call back later,”[/i] Abbee said quickly, ending the call, and moving towards the door. She hesitated, however, when the sounds of screams erupted from the hallway outside. After a few moments she heard unfamiliar voices chanting incantations, and realised just how dangerous it was outside.

“S**t…” she muttered to herself, locking the door, and herself inside. She desperately weighed her options. Stay in here, and potentially get crushed when the building collapsed, and the way it shook and rattled, it seemed like that wouldn’t take too long, or go outside and risk being attacked by the intruders, who took little reasoning for Abbee to guess the affiliation of.

She opened her phone to send a message, and noticed a missed call from Dylan, a few minutes earlier, before it buzzed again, as Dylan’s name appeared on the screen. She went to answer but realised over the sounds outside, she’d need to yell to be heard, and would give away her position. She declined the call before sending a text.

"The hospital is being attacked, and if I talk, they might hear me. Locked myself in a storeroom outside Section B, however will be seen if I try and escape. Get backup..."

Outside the building, Violet and Cassandra looked in shock at the carnage that unfolded. Moments after they had taken cover, dozens upon dozens of hooded figures, accompanied by ghost Pokemon had emerged from the shadows, and began their assault on any poor soul who got caught up in the disaster-zone.

Some trainers sent out Pokemon and attempted to fight back, however were quickly brought down by various hexes and curses. A trainer with an Incineroar was turned into a bronze statue, as was his Pokemon, whilst a young woman and her Clefable seemed to have fireworks set off inside them, causing Cassandra to look away. When she could bring herself to look back, the only evidence of the trainer and Clefable’s prior existence was a scorched mark on the ground.

It wasn’t just those who fought back that were targeted. Those who fled and were either too slow or too unlucky suffered the same fate, and whilst Cassandra wanted nothing more than to help, she knew it was impossible. They had no time to grab anything before they fled the hospital. All their reagents and tomes were inside, and likely would be crushed when Giratina levelled Section B.

“Oh God, this is bad…” Cassandra muttered as she turned around. “They just straight up murdered that girl and her Clefable..."

She turned to see Violet and Jarena staring in eerie silence at the purple and green flower petals, sprouting from Jarena’s waist.

“Cass, she’s been hit!” Violet shouted, before scurrying in the sand towards Jarena, where she had fallen to her knees. “Help me stop this thing before it overtakes her whole body!”

With each passing breath, the hex that had struck Jarena took a further hold, turning her into a flower, as more leaves tore through her scrubs, and her hair began to turn cherry blossom pink.

Cassandra joined Violet in a rush, unable to undo the hex right now, but muttering an incantation in sync with Violet, that would hopefully slow down the progression of the curse. After a panicked minute of focus and chanting, they seemed to suppress it for now, and stop it before it had completely taken over her body.

“Oh man…” Jarena said in shock, looking over her now plantlike body. “Oh man, this is really freaking bad! These guys are insane!”

“Jarena, are you… alright?” Cassandra asked, not intending to be asking a stupid question, given her friend was a few petals away from being a flower, but needed to know if Jarena still felt healthy enough to get out of here.

“Not particularly,” Jarena replied, trying to remain calm, despite herself. “But, it could be worse… I could be a bouquet…”

“She’s well enough to get out of here,” Violet answered for her. Before they could continue however, all three turned to the edge of the pier, where out of the corner of their eyes, they saw a small form drop down into the sand beside them.

“Normally I’d say ’it’s great to see you all again,’ but it is a crappy time for reunions…” Victini said to the trio, trying not to stare at Jarena’s affliction, but failing. “I was watching the hospital, and saw a few groups getting into position. By the time I warned you, Giratina had appeared and…”

“It’s alright,” Jarena said. “We’re still alive. I mean, this is something we can fix, right?”

Jarena gestured to her now floral body, and Violet gave a shaky nodd.

“We’ve fixed worse over the last week,” Violet answered. “Problem is that we don’t have time to do it right now. The longer we wait here, the more likely Giratina or the witches find us. Our books are still inside as well…”

Cassandra hated the fact that Violet was right. They stood little chance of helping Jarena out now, and needed materials they didn’t have on hand, even if they could recite the removal spell perfectly from memory.

“Can you walk?” Cassandra asked, thinking she may need to be carried.

After a failed attempt to stand on her now stem-like legs, Jarena struggled to her feet, before losing balance for a second, and being recovered by Violet, who helped her remain steady.

“I think so…” Jarena answered uncertainly. “This is so weird…”

“Honestly, our best bet is to get out of here for somewhere safer, and see if we can recover what we need from the wreckage. Otherwise, they’ll sweep the area, and we’ll be sitting Psyducks out here…” Victini noted. “Come on, I know a way out…”

Following Victini’s lead, they waited for a break in the attack, where their attacker’s were ganging up on an old woman with a Delcatty. The woman got struck by a curse, causing her to turn into wood, as the Delcatty looked on in horror at her trainer, before being struck by another curse, causing its skin to decay, leaving a collapsed pile of bone and fur on the pavement.

They ran north, and after a few minutes, heard a familiar voice call out.

“Are you alright?!” Dylan shouted, as he felt his phone buzz with Abbee’s message.

“We’re okay,” Cassandra replied, referring to herself and Violet. “But Jarena got hit. We managed to slow the curse down, but it’s starting to slowly progress again…”

“I thought there were more leaves than before…” Jarena said, forcing a weak, sarcastic laugh. Dylan however didn’t seem to respond, as he stared at his phone, his face pale.

“Abbee’s trapped inside…” Dylan said, looking to Victini, who he had noticed was with Triad. “She thought you had left Mossdeep with these guys, and only found out today that you weren’t with them…”

Victini’s eyes widened in horror as he realised why Abbee had been there when she was.

“She came to the hospital to try and find you!” Dylan yelled at the Pokemon angrily. “She didn’t want you out here with nobody watching your back!”

“Dylan!” Cassandra said, understanding why he was so angry, but having a soft-spot for her former partner. However, she didn’t get a chance to finish her sentence.

”I’ve screwed up. I get it…” Victini said quietly, telepathically so Dylan could understand. ”I promise, I’ll get her out…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****
“So fill me in on this curse…”

Jon stood by his motorbike on the eastern end of Heahea City, on the phone to Steven. It had been a few hours since Cassandra had identified the curse, however Steven had been in meetings with other squads most of that time, and had only just returned Jon’s call. In the last few hours, he’d been investigating some warehouses on the eastern end that Steven had noted had discrepancies between different versions of plans, which could indicate a hidden room. However, he had found nothing.

“It’s nothing that Triad has ever seen before. A hybrid curse,” Jon explained. “Apparently it is impossible to blend two curses together that retain their individual effects, but whoever left this one did…”

”And what were the effects?” Steven asked.

“It would turn someone into a Shroomish, whilst making them a mobile drone for Agatha. Whoever left the curse would see through the eyes of the person it affected,” Jon explained. “Triad said that they’d know if somebody had visited Section B under that effect, and nobody has. However, we were lucky to get it early. If this were going on without us knowing…”

”It would be a disaster…”

Jon grunted in agreement, before continuing.

“I have a plan. I’m going to come up with some false intel. A script. And leave it with Triad. Then, if they find somebody in Section B under this effect, they can leak the intel, and we can use it as a trap…”

Before Jon finished explaining his plan however, he heard a door slam open on Steven’s end of the line, and muffled, yet worried voices speaking.

“Steven, what’s going on?” Jon asked. There was a pause for a moment, before Steven replied.

”Heahea City Hospital is under attack. It’s Agatha. Unsure of how many followers. But she has a Giratina…”

Realising just how dangerous of a situation they were in, Jon hung up the phone, before getting Latios’ Pokeball out. He let the Eon Pokemon out, before climbing onto its back.

“Fly us high, and I’ll explain on the way,” Jon said quickly. “As high as we can, without the air getting too thin.”

Latios began to ascend, slowly pointing upwards until he, and by extension Jon, were perpendicular to the ground, Jon being held in place by Latios’ telekinesis. As they got higher, and cleared the buildings, Jon looked towards the hospital where Giratina was tearing it to pieces, and people, the size of ants, scattered.

Jon knew that they needed help at the hospital, and as strong as Latios was, Giratina was an unknown, and he wasn’t sure Latios could handle it on his own. He explained the situation to Latios, and when they were high enough in the air that they were practically imperceivable from the ground, Jon stuck his hand into his riding jacket, and withdrew a gloss black, unregistered Pokeball. Holding it in front of him, Jon pressed the button as a light erupted from it, materialising in the form of a seven metre long, green serpentine Pokemon, which roared loudly, causing Jon to grimace.

“What do you want?” Rayquaza had asked, with little fondness in the question. Despite Rayquaza agreeing to Jon capturing it, back on Sky Pillar years ago, it still was not happy about the situation. It had made a bet with Jon and Cassandra back then, who wanted to capture it to keep it safe from the Hoenn Military. If it could beat them in a battle, the safest hands were its own, and they’d leave. If they beat it however, it would take that as a sign that they were stronger, and could protect it. And whilst Rayquaza didn’t want to come with Jon, it had given its word, and wasn’t going to break that.

The biggest wedge between Jon and this Pokemon however was Rayquaza’s own restlessness. Until the Deoxys incident, Jon would take Rayquaza to Southern Island to train it and give it some time outside of the Pokeball and exercise once every three weeks. Any more, and Jon would risk being caught with it, and declared an enemy of the state. However, when former Hoenn Minister of Defence, Mark Hill, had set his sights on Jon and the Eon Academy, Jon had to get Steven to hide Rayquaza’s Pokeball, knowing that Hill was watching Jon, waiting for him to slip up. As such, it was nine months between trips to Southern Island, and Rayquaza getting let out of the Pokeball, and whilst Jon did increase the frequency of his trips after Hill had stopped being an issue, Rayquaza, after three and a half years in Jon’s possession, was growing restless. This restlessness was a detriment to its own cause, as Jon wasn’t going to release Rayquaza until he knew Rayquaza was safe to be left unattended. In the last year, Rayquaza’s patience for Jon had grown thin, and acted out, which resulted in Rayquaza’s term under Jon’s care being extended.

“Because right now we have a problem that Latios and I can’t solve on our own…”

Rayquaza looked at Jon, and Jon was worried Rayquaza may try and refuse, or even bargain for its own freedom. However it seemed to sniff the air, and begin to growl.

“You know what I’m talking about?” Jon asked.

“It’s odour disgusts me…” Rayquaza said through the growl. Jon knew that it got territorial with other Dragon Types. The original plan the military had was to bring Lance and his Dragon Pokemon to Sky Pillar, to lure it back there after it left. And now, this territorialism was going to help…

“We need you to give it hell… We’ll come help when we can get there without witnesses tying you and I together,” Jon explained. “Latios will be in telepathic range to communicate…”

Rayquaza nodded, though continued to growl, as it looked down towards the hospital. Despite Giratina not being visible from this height, Rayquaza knew that was where its opponent lay.

“Send it back to whatever s**thole it came from…” Jon said, as Rayquaza, let out an excited yet agitated roar, shaking the windows of the buildings below, and darted down towards the hospital.

Jon and Latios descended, as Jon climbed onto his bike, and got the engine running.

“Fly above me, and clear a path if we need it…” Jon called out, before pulling the throttle on the bike, and letting out the clutch. The rear wheel spun for a moment on the asphalt, before gripping, and launching Jon forward, as he broke every speed limit on Main Street.

“Helmet,” Jon said, activating the voice control in his bluetooth helmet. “Call Peter Miller…”

Jon swerved between two cars, accelerating past them, as Latios shifted a car in front of him telekinetically to the empty lane next to it, allowing Jon to ride past.

”This is Miller,” said a voice in Jon’s helmet.

“It’s me,” Jon answered. “Check out the CCTV at the hospital. You know what to do…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

After leaving Memorial Hill that afternoon, Jimmy had flown back into Heahea City, stopping by a bakery to get some small cakes, and then, deciding to test the Wayfinder, had used the stone, without giving Jirachi a command, to teleport himself back to Wishmaker HQ. Upon arriving, he found Jirachi, waiting in the Panopticon.

The Panopticon was a medium sized room, with monitors on every wall, tapped into every outdoor CCTV camera in Heahea City. Despite not having proper access to these, Jirachi was able to connect them to the Panopticon, where Jimmy could view practically all of Heahea City.

Knowing Jirachi was still recovering from the work they had done at Wishmaker HQ the last few days, something that was slower than normal without a connection to the stars, Jimmy decided to spend the afternoon watching the CCTV footage in the Panopticon, hoping to either find one of the groups of witches attacking people in Heahea City before they got to their next target, or potentially follow them on screen from camera to camera, and try and either build some profiles on them, or potentially get an idea of where they were remaining hidden between attacks.

“Jimmy…” Jirachi said, as it sat on his shoulder, between bites of a cake. “Look there…”

It had been an hour since Jimmy had begun scrolling through the different angles of CCTV cameras, and was about to click onto the next, when Jirachi pointed something out. Jimmy looked at where Jirachi was pointing, and put his face closer to the screen.

In an alley, covered by the shadows of the buildings on either side of it, was a discrepancy. A colouring that just didn’t match.

“What is that…” Jimmy said, before there was movement on screen, and part of a face appeared. Jimmy realised that it was a person, in a dark, hooded cloak, which blended in with the shadows. However the discrepancy was bigger than just one person. He clicked onto another angle of the same alley, before manually increasing the brightness and contrast, making it easier to see. He looked in shock, as he counted twelve cloaked figures, eleven of them in hiding, stood waiting for the signal from the one closest to the end of the alley.

Pinning that angle on the screen, he opened a map of Heahea City on another monitor, keeping an eye on the camera footage, as those hidden in the alley began to file out. He checked the map, to see where the camera was, and realised it was a block from Heahea City Hospital…

“Oh no…” Jimmy muttered, before clicking onto other cameras in the vicinity. Two feeds later, he saw more cloaked figures. However, this time, something different happened. One figure, wearing a cloak but no hood, drew a black object from inside her cloak. Jimmy watched carefully as he retrieved his phone to warn the League, and realised it was an unregistered Pokeball, when light erupted from it, and the bulk of the screen space was taken up by a large, Legendary Pokemon, which under orders, began to attack the Hospital.

Jimmy quickly went to call Steven, however the line was busy, causing Jimmy to curse under his breath. He saw people begin to flood out of the hospital, and felt his phone buzz a few seconds later with an update, sent to him and all operatives in Heahea City.

“Heahea City Hospital is under attack…”

“At least they know…” Jimmy said, before standing to his feet, and looking at Jirachi. “How are you feeling?”

Jirachi’s brow furrowed, as it tried to figure out how to answer the question.

“I’m okay,” Jirachi answered. “But I'm still a bit tired. I haven’t had a connection to the stars in days, and all the wishes are making me a little more tired…”

Jimmy looked at the monitor showing Giratina using the hospital as a scratching post. Jimmy knew that his talents lay away from battling, in light of the operation being run by two regional champions, and without Jirachi, Giratina would be too much for him. However, he saw on screen around the hospital and its surrounding streets, more cloaked figures emerge, and unleash hell on those unfortunate enough to be present.

“Stay here, and get some rest,” Jimmy said to Jirachi. “I may need to call on you, but will avoid it if I can…”

“You aren’t going to fight that thing, are you?” Jirachi asked in shock. Jimmy shook his head.

“I’ll leave that to those better suited for it,” Jimmy explained. “But I won’t stand by and let people get hurt…”

Jimmy made sure he had his Pokeballs all clipped to his belt, before pressing the stone, causing him to teleport to Heahea City, where he had teleported from prior. He estimated that he was ten blocks from the Hospital, and called out Salamence.

“West,” Jimmy ordered as he climbed onto Salamence’s back. “They’re attacking the hospital…”

Salamence roared, before beating its wings and beginning to fly above main street, westbound towards Heahea City Hospital…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Luneth sat in the practically empty Heahea City Pokemon Centre, which despite most places in Heahea closing their doors, she was thankful they were still open. Whilst Luneth had a hunch her higher ups wouldn’t appreciate her waiting at the Pokemon Centre, whilst she was technically still on duty, she would be willing to argue that most people visiting the Pokemon Centre were those whose Pokemon were being treated from battles with the roaming Ghost Type Pokemon, or like Circuit, were recovering after being treated for hexes themselves, and their trainers could provide valuable intel. Additionally, with Glimmer working solo in the northern half of the city, despite Luneth’s protests, and Circuit out of commission while he recovered, this left Luneth with just under half her normal team, without her two strongest Pokemon. Besides, running into a curse she didn’t understand was what put her in this position in the first place.

It was an hour and a half before Circuit was given back to Luneth, at which point Luneth resolved to find the stall that she saw selling the masks. Circuit still needed some rest, but that was something that she felt she could handle under current circumstances.

She thanked the staff at the Pokemon Centre, before making her way out the doors. However as she stepped out into the street, she had not gone more than a few metres when she heard it. The chilling roar of something that, based on the sound it made, was likely huge.

Slowly, Luneth turned to the right, and staggered back in shock as she saw it. Visible down Main Street, attacking the hospital she had been at not even two hours earlier, was a Legendary Pokemon, she had recognised from artworks to be Giratina.

“Does Agatha have this much power? Even without witchcraft she could destroy us…”

Luneth couldn’t shake the thought, but despite herself, her first instinct was to rush in and help evacuate people. But her body had other thoughts, leaving her frozen in place at the sight of the terror less than a hundred meters from her. At its feet, were people scattering, as they were cut down by various curses or hexes. Luneth realised that rushing in, she wouldn’t get close to the hospital before she got cut down herself. Unless they didn’t see her…”

Running to an alley on the other side of the Pokemon Centre, she made sure nobody was watching, before gathering reagents from her bag, as well as Flan the Ditto’s Pokeball, and holding the reagents against her, before beginning the incantation. Her body began to shrink, snow white fur sprouting up, ears growing, until where a human had stood, instead was an Alolan Vulpix.

Luneth climbed out of the pile of clothes, now feeling somewhat calmer, but still on edge. From what she could see, though some Pokemon were targeted, they were largely the ones who either were used to fight back, or stayed by their trainers' side when they were killed. The ones who fled, and kept moving, were largely left alone, and this is what Luneth depended on.

Pressing the button of Flan’s Pokeball with her nose, the Pokeball opened, and the Ditto emerged, looking over Luneth in the form of a Vulpix, which it was by now used to.

“I’m going to see if I can sneak behind enemy lines while they’re distracted…” Luneth said to Flan. “Keep an eye on my gear, and stay out of sight. I’ll be back for it, and the rest of you…”

Flan nodded, as much as a pink blob could nod, before shifting shape into a Toucannon, and picking up the bag with its large beak. It flew into the air, before perching on the edge of a building nearby, as Luneth began to run towards the hospital.

Giratina seemed huge in her smaller Vulpix form, however, she told herself she’d just be scouting the area. Trying to get behind their lines, and learn what she could while they were out in the open, and not expecting someone to try and sneak past.

She kept telling herself this, as Giratina grew larger, the closer she got…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

“Going in there is suicide Victini!” Violet said to the Mythical Pokemon, though directing it partially at Dylan.

“Abbee would be the first to go in if it were one of you!” Dylan shouted back, however Cassandra interrupted.

“Jarena won’t last another half hour before she turns completely at this rate, and we need a Star Piece, as well as our tomes if we want to turn her back…” Cassandra said. “As dangerous as it is, we need to get in there…”

“Dylan, stay here and protect Jarena. We know where to find what we need to remove this curse, but if she is hit by something else on top of this, we might not be able to change her back,” Cassandra said, before turning to Victini and Violet. “The three of us will try and get in close, and wait for the right opportunity. From there, we’ll make a break for the hospital itself. Victini and I will get Abbee. Violet, get what you can from Section B…”

Dylan nodded, thankful that Cassandra was willing to go in there. Whilst he would go in there himself if that was the only option, he knew that he had a snowball's chance in hell of getting in himself, and getting himself and Abbee out without being cursed, or killed.

“Abbee is in a storeroom near section B,” Dylan explained, and Cassandra nodded, having an idea of which one Dylan was referring to.

“What sort of opportunity?” Violet asked, as Cassandra and Victini began to run back towards the hospital, Violet joining them. “Some sort of distraction? What if it never comes up?”

“Then I’ll make it come up,” Cassandra answered. “I’ll keep them busy while Victini goes in for Abbee and you get what we need for Jarena…”

“This is suicide…” Violet muttered to herself, but despite this statement, didn’t slow down at all.

The trio made their way to the side of the street, hoping to remain unnoticed, and Dylan watched as the group of witches began to cluster together, with the area of attack now emptied. He knew it would be harder for the three of them to get past now than it was five minutes ago and grimaced. He looked back over his shoulder to Jarena, who was having another petal begin to bloom.

“I’m going to try and buy Cassandra, Violet and Victini an opportunity by picking a fight,” Dylan explained. “Spread out the enemies numbers a bit, but part of that means luring them over here…”

Jarena nodded in understanding, as he continued.

“If you stay behind me, I’ll make sure you aren’t hit again. But if you try and run, they might get a clear shot at you…” Dylan explained. “Before I do this, do you trust me? Enough to not run unless I give the order…”

At first, Jarena was concerned hearing this, however remembered Jon’s description of Dylan, and how he handled himself during the Deoxys attack. Then her own conversation with him, when he was getting the Eon Academy property ready to sabotage, and how he had an answer to practically all of her questions of where the plan could go wrong.

“If it makes it safer for the three of them, I’ll trust you,” Jarena answered. “Do what you have to…”

Dylan nodded, before stepping forward, readying a Pokeball that Steven had given him years earlier.

“Sorry Jon,” Dylan muttered to himself. “I’m blowing a secret here…”

Dylan threw the Pokeball forward, as a silver and gold Metagross materialised in the middle of the street. Placing his fingers between his lips, Dylan let out a shrill whistle, that echoed between the buildings that lined Main Street, despite the noise. He noticed that the cluster of witches in front of the hospital were now looking at him and pointing.

“Hey! You lot of ugly f**kers!” Dylan shouted. “Come get some if you have the nerve!”

The group of twelve began to advance on Dylan, in addition to a dozen ghost Pokemon, as he raised his watch, and hesitated.

“Secrets be damned,” Dylan muttered. “It was kept for a moment like this…”

Before he pressed the button however, a new roar, familiar to Dylan and Cassandra, but nobody else, pierced the sky. Instinctively, Dylan looked behind him. In the eastern sky, heading westbound, and descending quickly, was Rayquaza, on a collision course for Giratina.

“Secrets be damned…” Dylan said to himself again, now feeling a lot better about pressing the button on his watch, as the group of witches got closer.

Metagross erupted into a chromatic light, emerging as its Mega Evolution, as Rayquaza passed overhead, and slammed into Giratina.

“Grab the debris, and use it!” Dylan shouted. “Don’t let them get close, and only pick them off if you can do it safely!”

Metagross let out a grunt, as from the hospital, eight sheets of metal that made up the exterior walls raised from the ground, and flew through the air towards Metagross.

“You might want to look behind you!” Dylan called out. Two of the witches glanced over their shoulders, seeing it, and yelling at their comrades to duck. All but two did, being struck in the back of the head and knocked out cold. However, not being particularly fond of killing wasn’t Dylan’s only reason for this. He didn’t want them seeing what he did next.

“Darkrai, you know what to do…”

Metagross held the eight sheets of metal in place between the attackers, and itself, and by extension, Dylan and Jarena, blocking the curses that were launched at them, and occasionally sending one flying into the cluster, causing them to scatter, before returning it to its position.

Without the witches realising, Darkrai had left Dylan’s shadow, and travelled as a shadow along the ground, before rising up in front of them, causing a few to stagger back in shock.

“Dark Pulse!” Dylan commanded, as Darkrai, slipping into shadows to dodge attacks and curses launched towards it, emerged again, and sent in all directions, a wave of pitch black darkness, knocking back some of the witches, and being super effective against all the ghosts present.

“You’ve picked the wrong battle!” Dylan shouted out, before being drowned out by the scream of Giratina as Rayquaza wrapped itself around the Pokemon, and began to squeeze…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Despite the tournament being over, Chris and Charlotte had to remain on the premises for another half hour, which had become standard since the S.S. Wishmaker incident. Since then, all major tournaments had cameras focused on trainers, their Pokemon, and even the audience, in order to identify potential cheating. Whilst these were watched heavily during the battles themselves by task forces assigned to keep the integrity of Pokemon battles, the grand final match was usually scoured with a fine tooth comb, in order to make sure that winnings and titles were given fairly. This seemed odd to the pair considering the match was a draw, however Justin pointed out that cheating could be used to force a draw, and by extension, cheat somebody out of what is rightfully theirs. As such, the trio waited, whilst fans in the stands refilled their drinks, went to the bathrooms, and some even left, knowing the result, and wanting to beat the traffic leaving, before Chris, Charlotte, and the other two contestants who made it to semi-final, who placed second and third, were summoned to the battlefield.

“You got enough space?” Charlotte asked in an undertone, as the commentator awarded the competitor in third their medal. Not expecting a tied grand-final, where both competitors had encouraged it to not be broken, the podium set up was normally only large enough for one person to stand comfortably. Charlotte and Chris however, shared it, leaving little with personal space, as Justin stood on the side of the battlefield, out of the way, watching with a grin.

“I’m fine,” Chris said, before deciding to see if he could rattle Charlotte in the moment before all attention was on her, with a somewhat tactless joke. “Surprisingly…”

Whilst the attention was off them, Charlotte, not so subtly jabbed her elbow into Chris’ ribs, causing him to be slightly winded, before he laughed, knowing that was the reaction he would get for that joke. Honestly, he was glad for it. Before he and Abbee dated, Charlotte was the one who would normally feel embarrassment for Chris when he was too shameless to feel it himself, and would hit him when he needed it. To Chris, this was a sign that despite his actions towards the end of last summer, things were becoming the way they were the summer before, with Charlotte at least, and likely Justin as well. And having known Charlotte the longest out of everyone at the Academy, he was thankful for that.

“And tied for first place…” the commentator began, though only holding one medal. “We weren’t expecting to need two prizes, so for the sake of formalities, we ask that the two of you share this, until we can get a second one made…”

Chris grinned, and at Charlotte’s nod, accepted the medal.

“Charlotte Jones, and Christopher Kingswood!”

“It was you who forced the tie anyway…” Charlotte said under her breath, causing Chris to laugh to himself.

The crowd cheered, and Chris looked around at the large monitors that were mounted on the edges of the arena, finding the image of he and Charlotte crammed onto a first place podium that was on screen amusing. However, before he could share this observation with Charlotte, the image on screen changed. At first, people didn’t seem to notice, as Chris looked around the crowd. However, slowly, people noticed, tapping their neighbours on the shoulder and pointing to the monitors.

On screen was what looked to be a news studio, preparing for a broadcast. Charlotte noticed as well, having seen Chris staring in shock at it.

“What’s going on?” Charlotte asked, however the news anchor, who didn’t seem to be prepared to go live when he did, gathered his senses and started talking.

“We interrupt this broadcast, with breaking news from the current situation on Akala Island, in the Alola region,” the anchor on screen explained. ”Less than a week after the mysterious clouds appeared, trapping all on the island and nearly causing the S.S. Wishmaker to crash into the Akala wharf, and the terrorist attack on the opening ceremony of the Spiritwater festival, which has continued as multiple smaller attacks on civilians in the days since, the terrorrist group, using what is believed to be the form of witchcraft known as Shadowcraft, have just launched an attack on Heahea City Hospital. The following live footage may be disturbing to some viewers…”

The screen cut to footage of a large Pokemon attacking a building which Chris and Charlotte presumed to be the hospital. As a Sinnoh native, Charlotte had heard the legends of this Pokemon, and seen artists renditions of it in museums. However she never thought she’d see it in the flesh.

“That’s Giratina…” Chris muttered, as Justin quickly walked out from where he stood on the edge of the battlefield towards them.

The crowd watched in stunned silence as below Giratina, hooded figures emerged from the shadows, and began to attack passersby with curses and hexes, leaving the lucky ones with all manner of ailments, and the unlucky as splattered or charred marks on the pavement.

“Goddamn…” Charlotte muttered in shock.

The news anchor continued speaking, however was quickly cut off by a sound from the broadcast at the hospital, that Chris and Charlotte both recognised. A draconic roar of something big.

Within seconds, a large green blur flew across the screen, attempting to grapple Giratina. Both Chris and Charlotte struggled to hide their shock.

“That’s Rayquaza…” Chris said in disbelief, as Charlotte looked between him, Justin, and those around them.

“We have to get out of here…” Charlotte muttered. She made eye contact with Justin, before nodding towards the corridor out of the stadium and into the green room. She whispered to Chris, “on my cue, quietly step back, and head for the green room…”

Chris nodded, as Charlotte waited for the attention of everyone on the battlefield to be completely on screen. The image shifted, as the camera operator spun around to where a group of witches were moving along a street, towards a young man behind a Metagross with shaggy brown hair.

“That’s Dylan…” Chris said quietly, and watched in shock as Metagross mega evolved. Jon had given them their mega stones for an emergency, and this was the first time they had seen one of them used…

“Now…”

Quickly and quietly, Chris and Charlotte stepped back off the podium, and brisky left the arena, heading towards the greenroom, where Justin met them by the corridor entrance.

“Things are bad in Alola…” Justin said to the pair as they approached him. Chris nodded.

“It must be really f**king bad if Jon’s using Rayquaza…”

The moment the words left his mouth, Chris’ eyes widened as Charlotte swore under her breath.

“It was an accident,” Chris said, as Justin looked between Chris and Charlotte, confused.

“What was?” Justin asked. “And what do you mean ’if Jon’s using Rayquaza’?”

Charlotte put her finger to her lips, gesturing to Justin to be quiet, however it clicked for Justin, as his jaw dropped.

“You mean to tell me, Jon has a Rayquaza?!” Justin hissed, as Charlotte sighed.

“At this point, he’s going to be seeing Rayquaza anyway, he might as well know…” Chris said to Charlotte, before looking to Justin. “Remember when Lance showed up during the hearing and talked about Hill approaching him years before to lure Rayquaza somewhere so they could kill it? And Hill had detained Steven because he objected?”

Justin nodded, not believing what he was hearing.

“Steven got out for a night, and got Jon to get there before Lance and Hill did, and capture it for its own sake,” Charlotte said, finishing the story. “He’s kept it hidden in an unregistered Pokeball since before we met him…”

“How do you two know?” Justin asked. “Do the others?”

“Jon told me, because he knew I was struggling living in Lance’s shadow. He figured if I got to train alongside a Legendary Dragon that Lance could only dream of, it might help me find my own feet. The reason he went to Southern Island every few weeks was to train Rayquaza,” Chris said, feeling a wave of guilt at his own words about Jon the year before. “Charlotte found out when she went with Jon to Southern Island to train Deoxys…”

“Abbee found out from Victini,” Charlotte answered. “The Diamond Ladies faked their deaths, and Jon recruited Cassandra Silvers to come help catch Rayquaza. Victini tagged along, and the pair of them battled Rayquaza alongside Jon. And Jon told Dylan once he moved in with them. Alyssa even gave Dylan Rayquaza’s Pokeball when Deoxys attacked, and Jon wasn’t there…”

Justin remembered the horrifying night, where the five interns battled what seemed to be a battle of attrition to keep Deoxys at bay. He was about to ask why Dylan didn’t send out Rayquaza, knowing a powerful Pokemon like that could have helped dramatically, however stopped himself. He had read the laws surrounding unregistered Pokeballs in his legal classes, and knew that the penalty for having one, containing a dangerous Pokemon, was incredibly steep…

“Jon didn’t keep it a secret because he didn’t trust you,” Charlotte said intentionally. “Honestly, there were times I almost slipped up and mentioned it, and wished I didn’t know. It was a burden. He just had no reason to burden you with it…”

“So if Jon is sending out Rayquaza, when he has Latios, as well as Dylan and Abbee there with Darkrai and Victini…” Justin said, realising the scope of Chris’ comment.

“Things are the worst he has ever seen…” Chris concluded, as Justin went somewhat pale. Charlotte however had a confused look on her face.

“What did you mean ’he’s going to be seeing Rayquaza’?” Charlotte asked, directing her question at Chris, referring to his earlier comment.

“What do you think it means?” Chris answered, staring at Charlotte intently. “We’re going to Alola…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Keeping to the side of the streets, Cassandra, Violet and Victini were unnoticed by the group of witches that Dylan had lured into engaging with him.

“He better not let Jarena get hit,” Violet whispered, annoyed that Dylan had decided to lure them over despite being tasked with keeping Jarena safe.

“He’s handled worse without casualties…” Victini said. “If it were anyone else, with the exception of Charlotte, I’d agree. But Dylan is rock-solid…”

As they got closer, they saw more witches scattered around the front of the hospital, attacking pedestrians.

“Violet, go to the left, and try to take one down. I’ll go to the right. Grab their cloak, and meet me inside…” Cassandra explained. Violet nodded, skulking to the left side of the street, and taking cover behind some parked cars.

“You don’t want some help?” Victini asked. Cassandra shook her head. Despite her cool and collected exterior, she was furious, and knew that it would take all the self control she could muster to stop at the one witch she needed to take down for a cloak.

Thankfully, every time it seemed Rayquaza had landed a painful blow, and Giratina screeched, half of the attackers would look to the rampaging pair, wondering if they could do anything to help without risking getting crushed by the two Legendary Pokemon, or eaten by Rayquaza. As the pair fought, Cassandra couldn’t help, despite herself, finding the exchange between the two Pokemon amusing.

“You have so many legs, and wings as well, yet you’re so slow!” Rayquaza snarled, as it dodged a Dragonbreath attack, before striking at Giratina with a Dragon Tail. “I’m almost embarrassed for you!”

Giratina took the attack, though didn’t seem to have taken it too badly, before roaring back, attempting to use Hex on Rayquaza.

“You’re embarrassed for me?” Giratina sneered. “You look like you should be slithering in the dirt, where you belong!”

Seeing a witch nearby somewhat more distracted by the fighting than their comrades, Cassandra looked for anything nearby that could help her, knowing that most combat spells without reagents were too weak to do any real damage. When she saw it, she felt sick.

The half decayed corpse of the Delcatty remained where it lay, a disgusting mixture of bones and fur. Seeing this, only stood to add fuel to the raging fury that Cassandra felt, and when the time was right, she leapt to her feet, charging towards the nearby witch, scooping up a handful of fur on her way. Whilst at first she had the nagging feeling that the fur may have been contaminated and cause the spell to not execute correctly, she quickly realised that would only serve to create side effects on the target, and began to hope that would be the case.

Cassandra was two feet away when the witch realised she was about to be attacked and turned around. Seizing the opportunity, Cassandra grabbed at the witches belt with her left hand whilst she was mid pivot, and yanked hard, pulling her off her feet and to the ground. Cassandra slid, crashing into the witch, and landing on top of her, already reciting the incantation. Before the witch could even respond, she had been turned into a Delcatty, looking at Cassandra in shock, as she looped the belt around her own waist that had come loose from the transformation, before grabbing the hooded cloak. Cassandra glared at the Delcatty, whose eyes flashed with recognition.

“You… you’re Cassandra Silvers… aren’t you?” she asked, Cassandra being her inspiration to start learning Shadowcraft, as Cassandra looked down on her in disdain.

“No…” Cassandra muttered, looking at her liberated belt and grabbing from one of the pouches that was labelled as ashes. “I’m your worst goddamn nightmare…”

Cassandra was surprised however, when the ashes began to glow, before she could even begin the incantation. Whilst she didn’t know if the glowing represented the hex she wanted, or another effect, she didn’t care, throwing them in the face of the witch, causing blindness and amnesia as expected. However the surprise was forgotten very quickly as she took in her surroundings.

Despite the urge to attack one of the witches who had their back turned to her, she knew that wasn’t why she had come back. Herself, Violet and Jarena ran because Jarena was hit, and they needed to get out of there. Now, herself Violet and Victini were coming back to help Abbee. However she had a thought. She made for the front door of the hospital, now blending in with the mess of attackers that were scattered in the street, however readied another transformation hex with unknown scales that were in one of the stolen pouches, and when she was close to the door, grabbing one of the witches nearby by the cloak, transferring the hex onto the cloak, which caused the witch wearing it to transform into a Dunsparce. Cassandra didn’t loosen her grip on the cloak as it slipped loose mid transformation, continuing her journey into the hospital.

Dylan had mentioned where the storeroom was, and Cassandra had a rough idea. She knew Abbee would have entered the hospital via the main entrance. Everyone but staff, Triad and high ranking operatives such as Cynthia used it, and there was only one store room between reception and Section B. As she rounded the corner, she saw the door to the storeroom, noting a set of lockers next to the doorway had toppled and were blocking the way.

“Victini, help me move this…” Cassandra said quietly, unsure if they were going to be overheard. Victini nodded, telekinetically grabbing the locker, and tossing it to the side, surprising Cassandra slightly. His telekinetic strength had grown in the last four years. As her Pokemon he struggled to lift more than double his own weight. The lockers seemed to weigh tenfold.

Cassandra quickly grabbed at the door handle, and realised it was locked.

“Abbee…” Cassandra said quietly. “It’s Cass. The coast is clear…”

Cassandra heard movement inside the room, before hearing the sound of the door unlocking, and Abbee opened the door.

“I didn’t know if it was clear and-” Abbee said, however Cassandra handed her a cloak, cutting her off.

“No time. Let’s get out of here…”

Abbee grabbed the cloak, noticing Victini was with Cassandra, putting it on, however stirred in alarm when an unfamiliar voice called out.

“Imposters!”

Cassandra looked down the other end of the hall, towards where Section B was and saw three cloaked figures, one pointing towards them. Abbee grabbed a Pokeball, as Cassandra readied a hex.

“Leave this with me…” Victini said. “Get out of here, and I’ll catch up with you…”

Before either of Victini’s trainers, past or present, could object, they saw the bay of lockers that had been blocking the storeroom door beginning to float in the air, before being launched through the corridor. Two of the witches dived to avoid being hit with it, however the third had no room to avoid it, being struck dead on by it, and the sound of bones breaking audible through the hallway.

“I got this!” Victini shouted. “And I can’t go all out in this cramped space with both of you here!”

The next thing to levitate was a large gas bottle that was labelled Nitrous Oxide, and Abbee broke the stalemate, grabbing Cassandra’s forearm.

“He’s right. He can handle this…” Abbee said, leading the way out of the corridor, as Victini launched the gas bottle, before using a Searing Shot on it. The walls shook as it exploded. Cassandra knew they were right. Despite the threat the witches posed, most of the damage they had done relied on the element of surprise. But head to head with a Pokemon like Victini, they were severely outclassed. However, Cassandra was disappointed they couldn’t reach Section B themselves, which meant that Jarena’s only chance of recovery now rested on Violet’s shoulders…

Instead of looking for reagents for her initial attack like Cassandra did, Violet had opted for spells requiring no reagents, to give herself the opportunity for a heavy hitting follow up. In the street, she had crept up on a witch, using a spell that required contact with both hands on the man’s temples, however would quickly flood his mind with various stimuli that were not there. She had seen him use a stone petrification curse on a bystander minutes earlier, and knew which pouch contained the granite powder required.

When the witch was stunned for a moment, she muttered another incantation as she ripped the cloak off his back, placing her free hand on the pouch, causing it to explode, sending granite powder into the air, before beginning another incantation, that she heard the man use before for the petrification curse, however included the modification incantation she had learnt earlier that week which would protect her from her own curses.

Unable to avoid the powder in the air, which was now actively cursed, the man began to scream, as like Sami before, he began to turn to stone, before toppling over as the ground shook from Rayquaza and Giratina’s fight.

As she made her way to a window on the side of the building which would put her on the opposite side of Section B to the main entrance, she couldn’t help but remember Cassandra telling her about the battle with Rayquaza.

“You helped beat that Cass?” Violet asked of nobody in particular, as she took in the size and power of the Legendary Pokemon.

She climbed in, and not even moments later two cloaked figures walked into the hallway, looking at her in shock.

“How did you get in here?” the witch asked. Violet took a gamble, knowing that her disguise may have failed already. She sighed internally, figuring she’d rather try and salvage the disguise plan.

“You think I’d share that with someone like you?” Violet sneered irritably. “I learnt camouflage charms in my first six months. Why waste my time teaching someone too lazy to teach themselves…”

Violet had never heard of a camouflage charm, however banked on the fact that the interrogator hadn’t either. She also banked on the fact that Agatha’s invitation would attract the worst sorts of people, and her anti-social attitude would be enough to convince them she was part of their group.

“Mind your tone-” the witch sneered back.

“Mind your own goddamn business!” Violet replied, raising her voice. “Surely you’re here because you have a job to do? Maybe do that before Giratina and Rayquaza level this place on all of us, instead of wasting all our time…”

Realising Violet had a point, with the building effectively being on a timer to destruction, the witch began looking through rooms adjacent to the hallway they were in, as Violet walked past, towards Section B.

She found the door, and after checking that nobody was in there, she entered, closing the door behind her. She quickly ran for her bag on the table at the end of the room, by the map of Akala, which contained all of their tomes, before going to the store room, and quickly trying to judge which reagents were worth the space in her bag, after getting the Star Piece needed for Jarena.

“We’re not supposed to be in here,” said a voice from behind her. She turned and recognised the same hooded witch that had pestered her before. “If you’re looking for the infidels, they’ve already left the premises…”

Thinking quickly, Violet realised that the infidels were likely her, Cassandra and Jarena. Equally quickly she responded.

“Yes, because I’ve spent the last minute here, just making sure there is nobody hiding…” Violet answered sarcastically, before looking comically close at one of the shelves in the cramped storeroom. “Nope. No infidels here. God, I’m glad I checked!”

“Listen, we have orders-”

“And what are my orders exactly?” Violet asked, raising her voice, and putting on the same tone she’d use to get her way when she had all the fame and fortune anyone could want.

“We are to flush out and capture the infidels-”

“You are to flush out and capture the infidels,” Violet answered back, cutting the man off again. “I was told to grab whatever the infidels could find useful to get their little hospital running again, on the likely chance you were too incompetent to capture them and they get away. Now tell me, how many have you caught?”

“We hit one but-”

“THEN WHY THE HELL ARE YOU WASTING MY TIME AND GETTING IN THE WAY OF ME DOING MY JOB PROPERLY WHEN YOU HAVEN’T EVEN CAUGHT ONE?!”

On the other side of the doorway, behind the witch that was proving to be a pain in her side, Violet spotted a white, Alolan Vulpix. However, knowing what these people were like, she didn’t let her gaze wander from the witch in front of her. The last thing she wanted to do was infuriate this witch, and he take it out on a Pokemon that had likely fled into the building to escape the carnage outside.

The building shook, as a globe in Section B shattered from the force, raining glass out on the ground.

“Now stop wasting my time, and let me do my job in peace, otherwise, I’ll petrify you myself, and put you on offer as the prize for whoever wins the fight outside…” Violet said. “Would you rather be eaten by Giratina or Rayquaza?”

There was silence as the man stood back, before muttering under his breath.

“What was that?” Violet snapped.

“I said I’ll be talking to Nicodemus about all this when we get back to the Megamart…”

He left, as Violet quickly gathered a few more items, stuffing them into her bag, before leaving the building, by the side exit, where she knew that hospital staff, ironically, took their cigarette breaks.

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Avery and Abital had taken refuge in the front courtyard of an old building on Main Street. It was the only one of its style, and had they had time to actually admire that, they’d realise it was probably heritage listed, and unable to be developed.

“We have no choice,” Abital signed. “No ship is getting out, and flying Pokemon can’t fly past the coast without being thrown back by the winds. We have to go inland…”

The pair sat on their respective Pokemon, considering their next move. Whilst Avery wasn’t fond of going inland, where they may be far from any potential help, and if caught, much more obvious and easy targets, they also knew that the city was barely safe. They had hidden in an abandoned building for the better half of a week, after being attacked in their own hotel, and within hours of reaching the hospital, that had been attacked by a large number of witches, and Giratina itself. The pair had seen Rayquaza descending from the sky, and whilst Abital thought it may be wild, Avery had enough involvement with the League prior to know that operatives with Legendary Pokemon were more common than people realised. They only hoped that whoever trained Rayquaza knew how best to use it.

Before Avery could respond, they heard Meir begin to growl, causing the hair on their neck to rise to attention, and they began to look around. Abital spotted it first. A witch, which had crept behind some dense bushes in the courtyard and was now less than six feet from them.

Normally, Abital used visual commands for Meir, however, these weren’t always ideal, if Meir wasn’t looking at him, or if he needed to give a quick command. Instead, Abital snapped his fingers, and Mier, who had been the first to know someone was there, reacted instantly, launching a Thunderbolt attack. It arced through the air, and the witch dived behind Avery where they sat on Knautia, putting the pair between himself and Meir.

Spooked by the sudden appearance, and now Meir’s fast attack, Knautia neighed loudly, before rearing back on his hind legs. Avery held on and quickly got control of their Pokemon, causing him to run forward the moment his front feet hit the ground, however, the witch had been opportunistic, having been readying a hex.

His mistake however was realising the opportunity was escaping him, with Knautia carrying Avery out of range, and deciding to launch it early, not knowing whether the curse would have its full effect with only half the incantation complete.

With Avery not in the firing line, Meir launched another Thunderbolt, which the witch dodged again, however having seen the three Pokemon present, as well as Pokeballs on both Avery and Abital’s belts, he realised this might be the best he could do, and chose to flee. Abital, on Daybreak, rode over to Avery’s side, before signing frantically.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I think so…” Avery grunted, however felt a wave of nausea rise up in their stomach. They quickly slid off Knautia’s back, before diving for the nearby bushes, as the minimal meal that they had at the hospital whilst waiting with Abital made an encore appearance.

“No, never mind…” Avery said weakly. “Definitely not okay…”

Avery’s mind began to race. When they had been cursed on the S.S. Wishmaker, it was that quick and painless that they didn’t realise what had happened at first. The whole world seemed to have gotten bigger. This however, had Avery concerned, wondering if this is how Abital felt the last few days. Then the realisation that the hospital, which was the only place they had known of where they could receive treatment, was on a quick trip to being levelled.

Avery looked up at Abital to voice their concern, however saw their husband’s eyes widen, looking at them in shock.

“What’s wrong?”

Abital signed, however his hands were shaky and Avery at first thought they had misunderstood.

“Daybreak?” Avery asked, having translated, before looking at the Pokemon Abital sat on, confused. Finally Abital said something else, which made them look down.

”Legs…”

Avery slowly glanced down, unsure of what they’d see, and felt their soul leave for body for a minute when they realised that the lower half of Avery’s body had been replaced with that of an equine Pokemon. One they soon recognised to be Keldeo.

“How stupid…” Avery muttered. “At least when the Diamond Ladies turned me into a Pokemon, they didn’t pick a Pokemon that would beat them senseless…”

Abital looked stunned, not seeming to process what Avery was saying.

“I guess that makes the honeymoon a bit awkward…”

This joke got Abital’s attention, as he signed irritably.

“This is serious! You could start growing tentacles next, or another head!”

Avery chuckled despite themself, and held up their hands in a placating manner.

“Sorry, just trying to lighten the mood. It’s not that bad…” Avery muttered, before having a realisation. “Why do witches insist on turning me into water types? Do they realise I don’t have one on my team?”

Abital rolled his eyes, knowing getting Avery to take this as seriously as he wanted them to was a lost cause. Instead, he tried another tactic.

“What should we do now?” he signed, hoping actual forward thinking would get Avery to stop joking around about their current situation.

Avery looked around, unsure of how far they could walk in their current state. They were on Main Street, and one of the crown jewels of Main Street was the Tide Song Hotel. If nothing else, they could seek refuge in the lobby.

“Let’s get to the Tide Song Hotel…” Avery answered. “Figure out the rest from there. No sense galloping too far ahead…”


************************************************** ************************************************** *****
Abbee and Cassandra ran from the front doors of the hospital, putting some safe distance between themselves and the two rampaging Legendary Pokemon, whose radius of destruction was widening with each passing moment. In the distance, they could see eight unconscious bodies, between them and Metagross some bleeding from wounds caused by blunt sheets of metal slicing through them, and others convulsing from Darkrai’s nightmare attacks.

“Over here!” called out a familiar voice, and the pair turned to see Violet, carrying a bulging and heavy bag towards them.

“You got it?” Cassandra asked, as she approached. Violet nodded.

“It, and every other goddamn thing I could get my hands on,” Violet said, before the trio ran towards Dylan, seeing Darkrai popping up from shadows to launch attacks on the remaining witches.

At a sprint, the trio got behind Metagross’ wall of sheet metal, having taken off their hoods so Dylan wouldn’t mistake them for the enemy, and avoiding being hexed themselves when Metagross and Darkrai’s targets realised they were not their allies.

Before Dylan could say anything to Abbee, they were interrupted by the sound of a motorbike engine roaring behind them, and Abbee looked to see Jon, pulling the brakes on the bike, causing it to screech to a stop, as he dismounted, quickly kicking out the stand, and joining the trio.

“Where the f**k did Rayquaza come from?” Jon shouted, before winking at Cassandra. He quickly looked at the situation in front of him. Despite there only being four witches attacking Dylan, more were coming from the hospital, having realised that their targets were behind the trainer with the Metagross, as did Ghost Pokemon, hoping to overwhelm him.

Jon looked to Abbee, who was with Violet, Cassandra, and who he realised was the cursed Jarena, who seemed more flower than human.

“Get them somewhere safe!” Jon said to Abbee. “We can hold these guys off for a while, maybe even scare them away. But it will do no good for you all to stay here! Protect them!”

Abbee nodded, before tugging at Cassandra’s sleeve.

“Come on, we need to find somewhere safe for you to treat Jarena, even if just for now…”

Cassandra nodded as Jarena spoke up.

“The Tide Song Hotel is nearby right?”

“The lobby should be safe for what we need,” Violet answered, helping Jarena to her feet. “But we can’t waste any more time…”

As Triad and Abbee left, Jon whistled, getting Latios’ attention, who materialised next to him, while he grabbed Jolteon and Nidoking’s Pokeballs, sending the pair out to form a line with Metagross.

“Nidoking, Earth Power to give us more cover! Jolteon, give them hell if they get too close!” Jon ordered, before looking at Latios. “Find the witches that seem to be most scared, and let Darkrai know to target them…”

Latios turned invisible, before entering the fray, Jon hoping that Darkrai, which was literal nightmare fuel, would be enough to scare away the bulk of the attackers.

Jon looked to Dylan, and realised Metagross had mega evolved.

“You used your key stone?” Jon called out, and Dylan nodded.

“You brought out the big guns…” Dylan retorted. “I figured, secrecy be damned…”

“You figured right…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

Luneth’s plan had worked practically flawlessly. In the form of an Alolan Vulpix, nobody looked twice as she scurried through city streets, seeming to be fleeing in terror, even when she entered the hospital. Shortly after entering the building, she followed a group of witches, and tried to remain out of sight, hiding under furniture that was now made easier by her smaller form, and listening in for information. For the first few minutes, all she heard was the sounds of Giratina, who was now being battled by a Rayquaza for no reason that she understood, and the sickening glee that the attacking witches seemed to show in the brutal attacks on civilians, which they shared stories about as they searched the building.

However, most of the information that Luneth gleaned, came from an encounter between the person in charge of the group she tailed, and another witch, who showed little mercy or consideration for the first. The first had thought that the room she was in was empty, and she proceeded to berate him for not knowing a camouflage spell, something she deemed basic. Luneth felt a little concerned hearing this, having never heard of one existing, and made a mental note to look into it later. However, despite the aggression and coldness of the witches voice, Luneth had to admit it sounded familiar. The angry witch made it clear to the one who had approached her to mind his own business, and that they didn’t have time to argue over petty things, with the building likely to come down on top of them.

Figuring that the aggressive witch was likely higher up on Agatha’s payroll, Luneth tailed her, into Section B, concerned that she seemed to know exactly where she was going. When she went for the bag full of tomes on the table, she considered trying to attack, not wanting them to fall into enemy hands, however knew that her current form was more suited for stealth and silence, not fighting. Then, the witch went into the storeroom, and began filling the bag with reagents, seeming to know exactly where each one was.

When she was pestered by the same witch as before, she exploded, and the exchange provided valuable intel to Luneth. The goal of the attack on the hospital was to capture infidels which didn’t take a genius to figure out the real meaning of. This place had been home to witches working against Agatha, undoing her followers' work in cursing people in Heahea City. Triad. And Luneth realised herself and Glimmer were considered infidels by that criteria as well. She wasn’t sure how to feel about the word being capture and not kill, figuring that based on what they were doing to civilians who had done nothing to them, she may prefer death to what they would do to those who actively worked against them if they got caught. Caught up in her thoughts, Luneth didn’t realise until it was too late, that the angry one had seen her, and quickly took shelter under one of the hospital beds. However, to her surprise, she continued to argue with the man who had been questioning her, and didn’t react to Luneth being there.

After the fight, the two went their separate paths, and Luneth chose to follow the angry one. She left the hospital via the main entrance, and Luneth realised what was going on when she rendezvoused with two more hooded figures.

”Violet…” Luneth thought to herself, and realised that it was Violet’s voice that was familiar. She followed the trio, realising that one was Cassandra, and a moment before assuming the third was Jarena, realised it wasn’t her. Black hair was visible from the sides of the hood, and she was half a foot shorter than the tall Diamond Ladies.

Her suspicions were confirmed when the trio passed a group of witches, most of whom were unconscious from a battle against a Mega Metagross, and a shadowy Pokemon she didn’t recognise, but caused her blood to chill at the sight of it. They removed their hoods, revealing to the trainer coordinating the two Pokemon that they were allies, and Luneth realised her suspicion was correct. Jarena wasn’t with them, but a girl a few years younger than herself, with glossy black hair and somewhat pale skin.

There was a brief reunion with who Luneth realised was Jarena, partially transformed from a curse, which esd interrupted by the sound of a motorbike. The rider dismounted, and Luneth recognised him as Jon Drake, despite the helmet, when Latios materialised next to him, after Triad and the girl with them left, leaving Jon and a boy Luneth’s age to fight off the coming way of witches.

Knowing that she, as a Shadowcraft user working directly against Agatha, was a target of this raid, she ran to follow the large party, the youngest of which, Jon had tasked with protecting Triad. Knowing there was safety in numbers, she tailed them, as they discussed going to the Tide Song Hotel…

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

We’re going to Alola…”

Charlotte couldn’t help but grin at Chris when he said that. She had been worried about the rift between Chris and Jon, knowing in particular Chris had been avoiding Jon’s calls and messages. The whole reason her and Justin were here was because Jon wanted them to try and help Chris. Something she didn’t even know if she could do. She knew Chris, and knew if he wanted to get his act together, he’d need a reason to do it. And the fact that he knew Jon, Dylan and Abbee were in Alola, in mortal danger, and was the first to volunteer to go there to help them, showed her he had found his reason.

“I mean, I want to go there, don’t get me wrong…” Justin answered, looking between the pair, settling on Charlotte. “But when you and I talked about going to Alola, those clouds and winds weren’t keeping everyone there. No planes or ships are taking the risk to get in there…”

Chris looked at the pair confused, though his suspicions about Jon confirmed.

“You guys knew Jon was on a mission there?”

Charlotte shot Justin a glare, wondering if she was the only one of the three who wasn’t going to let a secret slip that day.

“He told me when he let me know the summer program was cancelled,” Charlotte answered. “I went to Justin’s place and told him…”

“So if you knew he was going there on a mission, and wanted to go, why come here first?”

Charlotte glared at Justin again, knowing she couldn’t lie her way out of this.

“Jon wanted us to check up on you,” Charlotte explained. “You were dodging his calls, and he wanted us to make sure you were doing okay. Honestly, until the moment he cancelled the summer program, he had been holding out hope you’d come back…”

Chris looked away from Charlotte, too embarrassed to make eye contact with her, hearing her reasons for coming. Seeing how uncomfortable Chris was, Justin steered the conversation back on course.

“So how do we get to Alola?” Justin asked. “Because the usual ways aren’t going to cut it…”

“Lugia,” Chris answered, thankful the subject was off he and Jon’s rift. “We get flights to Mistralton City, and a train across Unova to Striaton City. It’s the closest we can get. From there, Lugia can fly us…”

“Lugia probably weighs about as much as the three of us put together…” Charlotte noted. “Do you think it could carry that weight on its back, while flying? I couldn’t carry my own weight on my back and travel that distance…”

“And what about those clouds around Akala Island?” Justin added. “We’d get battered if we went through them…”

“Heracross can throw over a hundred times its own weight. Literally five tonne. Just because we couldn’t, doesn’t mean a Pokemon can’t. And Lugia is much more well built than we are. It can handle it,” Chris said to Charlotte before turning to Justin. “And as for the clouds, I have two ideas. In mythology, Lugia can disperse large storms. So Lugia might be our best bet of actually evacuating the island. And if not, then we go underwater. Lugia in the wild spend lots of time underwater and can hold their breath for hours on end. If it creates a telekinetic air bubble and holds its breath, we will go underwater on one side of the clouds, and surface when we’re close enough to the island…”

Justin looked horrified at the concept of being trapped underwater in a bubble with a limited air supply, however Charlotte was convinced. She opened her phone, and began searching online. However her expression darkened as she read what the others perceived to be bad news.

“What?” Chris asked as Charlotte shook her head in annoyance.

“Soonest flights are tomorrow night. 9pm. Everything before then is booked…” Charlotte said, as Justin swore under his breath. Chris however, remained the same.

“Lugia is unconscious from the fight, and so is Deoxys, who we’ll likely need when the s**t hits the fan,” Chris answered. “Let's get a room at the Pokemon Centre, and send the pair of them in to recover there. We’ll spend tonight and tomorrow getting prepared, sleeping on the plane and train, and fly across as soon as we step off the train in Striaton City…”

“So what, three days until we can get to Akala?” Justin asked. “Can they hold out that long?”

“They don’t have a choice,” Charlotte muttered cynically. “We have no other way…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****

As the battle waged on between Jon and Dylan, and the witches who now set their sights on them for fighting back, and between Giratina and Rayquaza, nobody noticed a woman in her early twenties walk out from a side street. She was objectively beautiful, tall, with long black hair, and an attractive figure, walking pridefully towards the two rampaging Pokemon. Her appearance was a testament to the power of Shadowcraft, given the fact that at her age, she should have died nearly a decade prior from organ failure attributed to a very long life. The only indicator that there was something more than the eye could see, was the cloak she wore, though forgoing the hood, which marked her as one of the attacking force. Had Jon and Dylan noticed her, they would not have realised she was their prime target, Agatha.

She looked at the two rampaging Legendary Pokemon, Giratina seeming worse for wear. This angered her. Despite being an expert of Shadowcraft, she had been a member of the Elite Four for the good part of fifty years before her forced retirement, through her own skill with Pokemon alone. And whilst it appeared that this Rayquaza was simply a wild Pokemon that was acting territorial, it attacked a little too intentionally and with too much practise to not be trained.

Giratina on the other hand, had been in Agatha’s possession since shortly after her retirement, and knowing that the League would watch her every move if they knew she had the Pokemon, she had not been able to train it as frequently as she liked. Despite being stronger than when she caught it, it was still not much stronger than when it was wild, and this was becoming apparent. She had to intervene now.

Pulling a small vial from a pouch on her belt, Agatha smeared a red substance across her palm, before moving into Rayquaza’s blindspot, reciting an incantation. Arcanine blood.

Waiting for the right opportunity, she placed her hand on Rayquaza, having begun the incantation. Rayquaza roared in shock, before freezing completely still. Unlike Sami before, its flesh remained as is, however in an instant, it had gone completely still, falling to the ground, as Giratina roared in indignant anger.

“I had it under control, Agatha! You didn’t need to interfere!” the ghost Pokemon roared, desiring to achieve victory on its own.

“Really?” Agatha asked sarcastically, not even making eye contact with the Pokemon, irritating it more. “So you were just letting it choke you out?”

Giratina rumbled with a growl, as Agatha continued.

“We’re not here for honour, may I remind you,” Agatha sneered. “Your task here was to level the hospital, and it seems like Rayquaza did most of your job for you…”

Giratina roared, as Agatha looked over at the mostly destroyed Heahea City Hospital. Despite parts of it standing, there was no movement in the rubble. Anyone still inside was either dead, or would be in the coming hour.

“So who was behind this witchcraft hospital?” Agatha asked of Igor, one of the other witches who had arrived with her towards the end of the battle. “I presume we found them?”

“We don’t know,” Igor answered, trying to fake confidence in his answer. “They’re not our own-”

“Oh really?” Agatha asked, raising her voice. “They’re not our own? I never would have guessed!”

Igor went to speak, however knew interrupting Agatha when she was in this mood was a mistake that could prove to be fatal.

“The whole point of this attack was to destroy the hospital of theirs, and capture whoever was behind it, though I’d be content with simply having them killed. But enough of this…” Agatha said to Igor. “Make yourself useful and tell everyone to leave this pile of rot, and head for home…”

“As you wish…”

Honestly, Agatha was content that the centre was destroyed, however didn’t want to reward the incompetence, both of Igor and her own Legendary Pokemon, with satisfaction, and let everyone feel accomplished only completing half their objectives. Whilst she did want the other witches eliminated, right now, the destruction of this hospital would be enough to keep them from getting in her way.

One of Agatha’s followers, Willow, a young woman with light brown hair, approached Agatha with her report. Willow was higher ranking than most of the witches present. Equal in standing to Nicodemus, though Willow’s authority was in the research element of Agatha’s operation, Agatha seeing potential in her, but having a hunch she didn’t have the stomach for the sort of things that she needed to have done, which Nicodemus seemed to be able to handle. If this were the case however, Willow didn’t show it.

“Their witches were disguised as doctors, that’s why we didn’t identify them at first as they fled alongside the other medical staff,” Willow explained. “We thought they would attempt to defend the urgent care, but instead, they had fled the area. Rumour has it that a few of them were hexed, but there is no way to know for sure if we got all of them…”

“Forget about them for now, Willow,” Agatha replied. “After today, these people won’t even think of coming outside their homes. Let them rot. It will buy us more time…”

Agatha signalled to Giratina to follow her with a simple hand wave. It surprised those watching that she didn’t have Giratina kill Rayquaza, however Willow knew. The Stasis lock spell she used would fade if Rayquaza were injured, even slightly. The only reason that Agatha had used it, was due to the quick effect of the spell. Giratina was closer to falling than those watching realised, and had Agatha attempted anything that took longer to take effect as a trade-off for being more permanent, Giratina may have come off second best.

Rayquaza’s limp and lifeless body lay on the ground, and Jon watched from where he and Dylan battled, furiously. Before he could act however, black smoke appeared from the ground up, the exact same way that it did after the attack on the opening ceremony. Sure enough, a minute later, the smoke vanished, collapsing into itself, and all traces of the attacking force were gone, leaving only the destruction in their wake…