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

[[Desolate Divine]]

Spiritwater Episode 11: Ambush

Spoiler:

The clock on the Pokemon Centre lobby wall read midday, as Charlotte, Chris and Justin sat on the couches in the corner of the room. Their flight didn’t depart Goldenrod City Airport until 9pm, and for an interregional flight, they would be arriving at the airport at 6pm. However, their room rental at the Pokemon Centre ended at 11am, and despite getting a set amount of free stays per year as Pokemon Trainers, they were not going to waste one by holding onto the room for a few more hours, for the sake of a private room where they could leave their belongings.

“And you’re sure we can’t get an earlier flight?” Justin asked anxiously, directing his question at Charlotte, seeing as Chris had been silent for the last hour, staring at the Pokeball in his hand and obviously with something on his mind. Justin had figured it was either the rift between himself and Jon, or the fact that Abbee was on Akala Island, in the midst of it. Whilst Chris would never admit it, Justin had a hunch there were still feelings for her, not too far beneath the surface in Chris. “We should be at the airport in case they find space on an earlier flight…”

“I’ve called them and been put on a waiting list for if three seats become available,” Charlotte explained. “The chances of them becoming available that close to departure where we’d need to be at the airport are astronomical. We’re more likely to get a few hours notice, in which case they’ll call me.”

“So we should go to the airport just in case we get extremely lucky!” Justin argued, though Charlotte shook her head.

“The Goldenrod Airport is in the middle of a cellular dead spot, remember?” Charlotte answered. “We’d have no phone signal, and they’re not going to show what’s happening in Alola on the TVs there, or allow those sorts of news stories to go through their public wifi. They don’t want people seeing things that will stress them out before they get on a flight…”

“She’s right,” Chris said, surprising both of them by speaking. “Sure, it’d be great to get on an earlier flight if one happens to show up, but the chances are too low to justify cutting off any news that may come in just to wait on that chance…”

Charlotte nodded, as Justin leant back in his chair, understanding their reasoning but not satisfied, whilst Chris resumed staring at the Pokeball in his hand. An awkward silence permeated the group, before Charlotte sighed.

“Justin is right, in that we shouldn’t just stay here…” Charlotte explained. “None of us have eaten since last night, and we’re going to be in a rush from the moment we get off the plane in Unova…”

Justin nodded as she continued.

“Let’s get lunch, something good that will sustain us for a while, and get prepared. Buy whatever supplies might come in handy in Alola. Full Restores, revives, some food we can eat while we are travelling…” Charlotte said, standing to her feet. “Hell, if we’re smart about it, we might be able to pre book a ride from Mistralton Airport to the train station, and tickets to Striaton. Save some time and hopefully get there a little sooner…”

Thankful that they were doing something more than sitting and waiting, Justin was the first to rise to his feet, picking up his bag from the ground next to the table, and going to grab his phone, which rung with a message. Accidentally, Charlotte saw the name on the screen.

Candice.

“Does she know what we’re planning?” Charlotte asked, remembering how Jon had initially not told Alyssa about why he was competing in the High Seas Tournament four years earlier. Justin shook his head.

“Really, our reason for thinking things are too much for Jon to handle is because of something I didn’t know until yesterday,” Justin said, intentionally not referring to Rayquaza directly. “It’s not my place to tell Candice what you guys told me, and if she doesn’t know, she isn’t going to understand the gravity of the situation…”

Charlotte nodded, though Chris wasn’t as convinced.

“You know you might pay for that later, right?” Chris asked. “That’s assuming we all make it out in one piece…”

Charlotte didn’t get involved. She understood Justin’s reasoning, but Chris was right. If they went to Alola, and Justin was killed, she and Chris would have to be the one to tell Candice why, and why she was left in the dark.

Justin sighed.

“You’re right,” Justin said. “I’ll tell her everything once we get to Alola…”

Chris nodded, before grabbing his own belongings, and stowing the Pokeball that had held his attention for the good part of the last hour, as the trio left the Pokemon Centre.

Lunch was sandwiches from a small, family owned cafe, and upon realising this was as good a meal as any, the trio bought extras to go, stashing them in their own bags to eat for dinner that evening, or even lunch the next day.

“Where now?” Charlotte asked as they left the Goldenrod Department Store, stocking up on battle items such as revives. “It’s not even two yet…”

“I’ve gotta go put my motorbike into storage…” Chris began. “But before that…”

Chris’ words trailed off causing Charlotte and Justin to look over at him. He had seemed distracted all day, and now he wasn’t even finishing sentences.

“What’s going on?” Justin asked, as Chris looked between the faces of his two friends, both of whom were confused by his absent-mindedness.

“I’ve got somewhere I need to go,” Chris explained. “Alone. It’s just outside the city, but I’ll be back in time for check-in…”

Charlotte’s brow furrowed at the thought of splitting up.

“Chris, we need Lugia to get from Striaton City to Akala Island,” Charlotte said, her tone not hiding her thoughts of Chris’ wanting to go off alone. “If you get held up doing whatever you’re doing, it’s not like Justin and I can just go and you can meet us in Alola. We’re not getting further than Striaton City, and we’ve already wasted enough time having to wait for this flight…”

“Charlotte’s right,” Justin added. “Surely whatever this can wait until after everything on Akala Island is sorted?”

Chris shook his head, much to Charlotte’s frustration.

“We said it back at the Pokemon Centre; we don’t know we’ll all make it out in one piece…” Chris said. “I came to Goldenrod for more than just competing. And unlike you, I can’t just use a phone to say what needs to be said…”

“What, is this about a girl?” Charlotte asked, her temper flaring at the prospect of Chris risking their entire plan to talk to some girl that he hadn’t even mentioned to either of them, however it subsided when Chris shook his head. Justin however, had put the pieces together.

“Lance?” Justin asked, as Chris sighed.

“Yeah. Out of nowhere he reached out to me, and I have no clue why. I haven’t spoken to him in five years, other than for a second after the hearing last year,” Chris explained. “I want to know why now. After everything he has done, why does he all of a sudden want anything to do with me…”

“Chris, surely it can wait,” Charlotte tried reasoning. “You’ll have to come back to Goldenrod for your motorbike anyway-”

“He reached out weeks ago, and I figured there was no harm in putting it off until I was here. Now I am, and the answer is so close, I can’t just shelf it,” Chris said. “It’ll distract me when I need to be focused, and we might not make it back…”

There was an awkward silence between the trio, before Chris spoke.

“I’ll be at the airport at 5:30. I promise,” Chris said, before walking towards the Pokemon Centre, where his motorbike was still parked. “You two focus on being on time yourselves, and grabbing anything we might need for the trip…”

Knowing that once his mind was made up, there was no changing it, and the more time they spent arguing with him, the less time he’d have to see Lance, and get to the airport on time, both of his friends remained silent, as Chris walked away.

“I hope we aren’t making a mistake letting him go…” Justin said. “Even without considering the flights, we know how easily his headspace changes these days. If Lance is involved, I’m worried…”

Charlotte nodded, though remained silent. There was nothing she could say or do to change the situation. Only accept it, and do the best she could with it.

“Come on,” Charlotte said. “If we’re potentially diving to get past the clouds, I want a waterproof bag, even if Chris insists Lugia can keep us in a bubble…”

The pair walked in silence down one of the large main roads of Goldenrod City.

“You still get a good discount at Coronet Outdoor and Camping?” Charlotte asked Justin, as he groaned, remembering the commercial he featured in. “Their media team might suck, but honestly, their gear is the best…”

“Yeah, twenty percent,” Justin said. “There should be one in Goldenrod…”

The pair walked for a few more minutes, before Justin felt his phone buzz. He grabbed it from his pocket, however couldn’t read the text on screen with the sun reflecting off of it, so turned to one side, casting his own shadow over it. However, as he did, in his peripheral vision, he noticed something. A man, wearing a grey jacket, stopping very suddenly, and pulling his phone out of their own pocket, almost in response to his own movement.

Justin felt a knot tie in the pit of his stomach, and ignoring the message, he quickly put the phone back, before walking alongside Charlotte, saying nothing. However, once a few more minutes passed, he spoke.

“Don’t question me, just do as I say,” Justin said quietly and firmly, Charlotte noticing very quickly something wasn’t right. “See that statue over there?”

Justin nodded towards a statue of a Miltank, that was erected in honour of Whitney’s 500th win in the Goldenrod City Gym. Charlotte nodded in understanding.

“I’m going to have the selfie camera on my phone ready, and when I tell you, pretend to take a selfie with me…”

Not knowing what he was doing, Charlotte trusted his judgement, and after they walked past, Justin nodded slightly, stopping, as Charlotte joined him by his side, and he held up the camera to take the photo. In the background, he saw it. The same figure in the grey jacket from a few minutes earlier, and just like before, equally caught off guard.

“We’re being followed…” Justin said, as he began walking again.

“You sure?” Charlotte asked, shocked at Justin’s revelation. “Who’d be following us?”

“I have no clue…” Justin muttered. “But as soon as we round this next corner, run like hell. Whoever is in front leads the way…”

Charlotte nodded conversationally, as the pair walked towards a pedestrian crossing, turning left. As soon as they both thought they were out of visual range of their follower, they ran.

Charlotte took an early lead, though Justin after half a minute took it, both trainers regretting not getting the room at the Pokemon Centre that they could leave their bags in. The weight had already been exhausting after two hours of walking with their packs. Now it was excruciating.

Leading the way, Justin chose corners to round randomly, and at one point, when they were in a quiet side street, ran across the road when traffic was quieter, though still earning a blast of a horn from a nearby car, before moving into another quieter side street. He swore under his breath at the driver of the car, worried that the horn may have given away that they had crossed the road.

His pace slowed, getting exhausted from the sprint, as Charlotte took the lead again.

“Around here!” she called out, as they ran towards an alley coming up. They rounded the corner, running down the alley, before seeing something that caused Charlotte to swear angrily.

A dead end. They turned around to look at the entrance to the alley, and considered whether they had time to run back out, without finding themselves face to face with their pursuer, whoever they were.

Charlotte weighed their odds, before making the call. It was her decision that got them trapped here. It was her job to find a way out.

“Behind the dumpster!” Charlotte hissed, nodding towards a large metal bin that sat against the wall on their left. Both trainers rushed towards it, crouching down, and readying a Pokeball…

“Where’d they go?” Edward said as he passed walked down the street that the alley turned off. “I saw them turn down here?”

The male witch had received Agatha’s call, however, had been under the influence of certain less than legal substances, and missed the last flight to Heahea City before they stopped flights there due to the weather conditions. However, he knew others who had made it there, and when he found out Agatha had an important job for somebody in Goldenrod City, he was the first to volunteer.

“I thought you had them in your sights?” Maddi asked. She, alongside Edward, had missed her flight, however took the opportunity to get into Agatha’s good graces willingly.

“I did, but they’re gone!”

The pair stopped as they saw the alley. The street they were on was quiet, and they could see for hundreds of metres ahead, however couldn’t see either of their targets. The alley however, could be a dead end.

Following Maddi’s lead, Edward went into the alley, before rounding a bend, and seeing the brick wall of a nearby building at the end. On either side of the alley, sat a dumpster, the one on their left closer. Watching carefully, Edward noticed a shadow moving under the dumpster on his left, and grinned to himself.

“I know you’re there!” Edward called out. “Honestly, we don’t want to hurt you, but if that’s what it takes to make you come with us, we aren’t against it…”

Maddi grinned, having noticed the same shadow, and when there was silence, her smile grew wider.

“You have until the count of three to come out, and come peacefully,” Edward called out. “One…”

The shadow stopped moving.

“Two…”

Maddi began quietly reciting an incantation, readying a curse, as Edward began to walk towards the left hand dumpster.

“Three!”

Maddi watched, as Edward, after saying three, began reciting his own incantation, as he walked to the other end, to see who was hiding. He was blocked from her view for a moment, before being launched into the right hand side wall, hard enough to break a rib or two, before falling to the ground, wheezing for the breath that was knocked out of him.

“What the-” Maddi began, before walking cautiously towards the dumpster, however stopped dead in her tracks, when the dumpster began to float, before being launched towards her. She dived to the side, avoiding being hit by the projectile, though losing her concentration as the spell she had readied vanished, before getting back on her feet. She looked to where the dumper had been to see that instead of the two teenagers she had been tailing, floating a few inches above the ground was a red and blue, humanoid Psychic Pokemon.

Deoxys…

“Look out!” Edward shouted, however, hadn’t been watching his own back, and didn’t see Justin, who had armed himself with the lid of a trash can by the dumpster, bearing down on him, to slam his improvised weapon into the back of his head.

Maddi watched in anger as Edward fell limp to the ground, before muttering a quick incantation, and launching a dark orb towards Justin. They were told to take a hostage. They weren’t told they needed all of them alive…

Seeing the projectile, Justin threw the lid, which collided with it in mid-air, causing it to melt, before taking cover behind the dumpster, barely avoiding being hit by another identical projectile.

The distraction was all Charlotte and Justin needed. Being so focused on hitting him, Maddi had let her gaze wander from Deoxys, whom she hadn’t noticed had disappeared. Suddenly, she was grabbed by an invisible iron grip, which held her arms to her side, before lifting her into the air, and spinning her around a hundred and eighty degrees, placing her face to face with Deoxys who had teleported behind her.

“Who the hell are you, and what do you want with us?”

Charlotte walked from behind Maddi, standing by Deoxys, whilst Justin stood by Edward, making sure he was still unconscious, and that he hadn’t accidentally killed the witch.

Instead of answering, Maddi spat at Charlotte, however the projectile was quickly caught by Deoxys telekinetic grip, and launched back at her, splattering on her face.

“Let me ask again. Who are you, and what do you want with us?” Charlotte asked irritably. “If we don’t get any answers, Deoxys will have to get them out of you…”

Maddi grinned, though was bluffing, and hoped Charlotte wouldn’t see through it.

“I’m not going to tell you anything,” Maddi retorted.

‘Deoxys, she’s wriggling around a little too much for my liking,” Charlotte said, matching Maddi’s grin. “Hold her a little tighter…”

Instantly, Maddi felt the pressure holding her in place intensify, and her lungs struggle to hold air.

“You sure you don’t want to tell us?” Charlotte asked.

“What’re you going to do? Kill us?” Maddi wheezed. “You’d be punished for killing me even though I’m at your mercy, and you still wouldn’t get answers…”

“See, that’s where you’re wrong,” Charlotte said, her tone matter-of-factual. “There are no security cameras here, and no witnesses. Even your friend here is unconscious. So if the police find us with the bodies of two creeps, both with all their witchcraft ingredients, and we said we were attacked, and Deoxys accidentally killed the pair of you in the scuffle, we’d be pretty safe, especially given what’s happening in Alola right now…”

After a nod from Charlotte, Deoxys squeezed harder, as Maddi’s vision started to darken. After a moment it released again, but not by much.

“I ask you again, what do you want with us?”

Maddi grimaced, however knew that short of yelling for help, which would do them no good, there was nothing she could do. Edward was out cold, and she was at the mercy of Deoxys, whose lifeless eyes chilled even her blood.

“Our Lady sent us to snatch you,” Maddi said, and Justin spoke up.

“Agatha?” Justin asked. “Why? What does she want with us?”

“Jon Drake is being a thorn in her side, and actually has something she is after…” Maddi explained. “She thought if we had some of his students hostage, he might be inclined to cooperate a little more…”

Charlotte scowled at the thought, and looked at the witch floating in front of her with disdain.

“So not only will you stalk and attack a stranger at that geriatric hags orders, you’ll give up and spill the beans to your enemies?” Charlotte asked. “You really are s**t at your job…”

“Oh, I wouldn’t say so…” Maddi said, with a menacing grin.

“And why’s that?” Justin asked, as Maddi’s grin widened.

“Our job was to bring you in if we could, but about half an hour ago, our orders changed…” Maddi explained. “And honestly, we’re following them to the letter…”

“And those orders are?” Charlotte asked, her patience wearing thin.

“Keep you two busy, while my associates take care of your friend who went off on his own…”

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

"If Latios and Latias are invisible and trying to remain hidden the only way they can be detected is by smell and with telepathy, however even then, we can fix the smell part, and telepathy isn't likely. From what Latios has shown me, a person's mind is almost like their voice, in that sure, you can recognize the voice of someone you know if they speak to you, but if a person has never spoken to you, and you heard their voice, you wouldn't know who they are," Jon explained. "In the same way, unless a Psychic Type connects with Latios and hears a thought that identifies him, they have no way of knowing who he is. And if Latios hasn't telepathically made contact with any of Agatha's crew, it should be the same. They are safe in that regard, as long as they can control their thoughts..."

Jon and Willow sat in the kitchen again, discussing his plan for taking Giratina and Marshadow out of the picture, allowing Rayquaza to simply level the Megamart. He looked towards Latios.

"You can usually tell if someone is listening in to your thoughts right? As if something is touching your mind?"

Latios nodded, as Jon grinned.

"From now on, if you ever feel anything enter your mind, I want you to sing, on repeat, the Super Sylveon Smile Squad theme song until they're gone, and focus on absolutely nothing else..." Jon explained. "I get it's hard to not accidentally think about the one thing you're not supposed to think about, but do you think you could pull that off?"

Latios thought it over before nodding. Jon turned to Willow, who looked even more confused.

"I have a three year-old at home who loves it when Latios watches TV with her..." Jon explained, struggling to keep a straight face. "And of all the shows she watches, Latios seems to have a fondness for that one. But the point remains. Latias, if you want to make sure your thoughts remain your own, you should probably think of something similar to focus on at the cost of all else."

Latias nodded, and began trying to think of something that she could focus on, which wouldn’t give away her identity, but was something familiar enough to her that she wouldn’t struggle to focus on the small details. She eventually settled for the image of the Charmander she was friends with during captivity, before she lost the will to live…

"My thinking is this; a few years back for an operation, the League were going to use a Zoroark and its illusory powers to try and trick some people into believing a certain fabrication. Whilst we didn't end up going through with that plan, the League did see value in Zoroark trained specifically for that purpose, and spent some time raising a group of them. I'd say we borrow a few to set up some illusions. Mainly Latios hanging around somewhere that we can fight from and ideally set some sort of trap. The other thing is to find some way to convince them you have found a way off the island, or anything to make sure they don't think you've come and warned us," Jon explained. "Ideally this illusion of Latios will draw out their biggest hitters, Giratina, Marshadow, ideally both of them, and anything else disgusting they have hidden, and keep them busy. Between having them chase the fake Latios, and some operatives making life difficult, and a Rayquaza illusion to keep them on their toes, they should be a bit less prepared for when we take that opportunity to destroy the Megamart..."

Whilst Willow had no idea what to expect from Jon’s plan, given the fact he had known about Agatha’s own plans for less than fifteen minutes, this wasn’t what she expected. Granted, if all went right, it had the potential to work. But if it failed…

"If nothing else, what you've told me about Giratina and Marshadow being in Pokeballs gives us another edge. When Giratina appeared, I scoured the League's database for any trainers known to have caught Giratina, and got no results, which means that Giratina mustn't have been caught with a standard Pokeball. Otherwise it would flag it as being captured to the League, and we'd be able to see it's history with healing and such at Pokemon Centers," Jon explained. "If Agatha has them in Pokeballs, they have to be unregistered ones, which means that these two Pokemon have none of the protective measures that standard Pokeballs have to prevent trainers from capturing other trainer's Pokemon. The Pokeball won't automatically release it upon detecting the Pokemon's signature is already linked to a Trainer ID, because that Pokemon's signature isn't linked to anything. Really, other than whatever measures Agatha has used to protect them, there is nothing stopping us from throwing a Pokeball at either of them and possibly capturing them, just like any wild Pokemon, and no wall or barrier is completely impenetrable. I think we can figure out a way to get past whatever measures Agatha has placed to protect them..."

Willow nodded, understanding Jon’s reasoning. She had heard of unregistered Pokeballs, and knew they were highly illegal, however didn’t know the extent of standard Pokeball tracking, and how much of an opening Agatha had left herself.

"I wouldn't go as far as to call this a plan yet, but it has the beginnings of one," Jon explained. "But there is something we need to be clear on. Any element of surprise we have hinges on Agatha not knowing you came to us, so we need to figure out a way to convince her you haven't, and soon, and you cannot be seen by any of the enemy. So we have two options. The first is we place you under Eon Squad's protection as an informant, which means that you will remain here and we will ensure your safety, whilst attempting to work together to stop this geriatric old f**ker from succeeding. The second is we detain you and do what we need to to have you cooperate, which means means you will remain here anyway, just in a smaller room with s**tier food and less freedom."

Jon smirked.

"Both options involve you staying here and us working together. But for this to work, I need you to trust me and what I am fighting for, and follow instructions. If I tell you to jump, you ask ‘how high’," Jon explained. "The decision is yours. But I know which option I'd rather you pick..."

Jon turned to face her.

"So what's it gonna be?"

“Had me sold on Option 1 as soon as you mentioned it,” Willow replied. “Truthfully, me being on the frontlines at this point would be a death wish, so for all our sake, let me help you however I can from here. I don’t know who this Brianna Levine is or why she doesn’t want to lend more direct support for you and your team, but I can do that for you with whatever resources you’re willing to use. Whatever it takes to stay alive, really. I may not have as many spells memorised as Agatha and I may not have the kind of reagents on hand that she has, but with the spells I do know and with whatever materials you have on site that you’re willing to be used as reagents, I can make it possible.”

Jon nodded in approval, as Willow continued.

“Chances are good your Zoroark trick will work since you’re not known to have a Zoroark of your own, but this trick will likely work once and only once,” Willow told him. “Agatha isn’t omniscient, but she won’t make the same mistake twice once she learns how certain people behave, although right now she doesn’t know you’ve been made aware Latios is a target. She knows you wouldn’t leave Latios out in the open and undefended. This Zoroark… if you want to convince Agatha and her followers it’s really your Latios, they’re going to want to see you besides him, treating him and talking to him the same way you would treat your Latios, so do whatever you can to put on a convincing act. It would make sense not to be on the direct frontlines, but at least leave yourself open enough to be spotted from afar during the attack. I can’t guarantee Agatha will put Giratina and Marshadow into action, but it’s your best chance.”

“In terms of fighting them and capturing them, you’re likely the best person up for the task, but I may be able to help with this,” Willow offered. “If you have any flat stone tiles or stones with an even level surface that you can carry with you, I can plant a Xin Vertigo curse on the flat sides, and you could then carry that tile or stone with you to the confrontation. You could then throw or plant those into the arena where you battle them, and they will work like disguised anti-personnel land mines. If anyone steps on those, it will severely mind-warp them. I haven’t had the pleasure of experiencing it myself, but I’ve heard it feels like ‘your brain’s been yanked down your throat while the world around you implodes on your eyes.’ I imagine no Pokémon or human would be able to deal with that easily. There are other hexes I could use on these tiles, but I think Xin Vertigo would be the most effective.”

Willow knew at this point, she could not be much more of a traitor, however felt surprisingly good about it. If she wanted to stand any chance of making it off the island alive, Agatha had to be disposed of, and she was the best person to tip the scales in the League’s favour.

“But sure, let me know what you’d need for whatever plan you and your team have in mind…”

Jon grinned, however it was short lived, as he felt his phone buzz. He pulled it out of his pocket, and recognised Dylan’s callsign as the caller ID.

”Jon! We’re not going to get a better chance than this! We have to mobilise now!”

Jon had to pull the phone away from his head from the volume of Dylan’s voice, as well as the volume of whatever was happening outside. He heard an unholy roar of something far from pleasant, though didn’t recognise it as Giratina’s.

“What’s going on?” Jon asked. He looked up to see Willow looking at him, concern evident, and saw the door open, and Steven walk in, unsure of what’s going on. He quickly placed the phone on hands free, allowing Willow and Steven to listen in.

”I don’t know, but it looks like they’ve made some sort of monster,” Dylan explained. ”But it’s turned on them! It’s attacking the Megamart as we speak! At this rate, it will have the building levelled in minutes!”

Willow’s eyes widened hearing this.

“Agatha isn’t going to just let whatever this thing is destroy the Netherlink,” Willow whispered. “Giratina and Marshadow will be sent to handle this thing, and chances are, any surfaces or terrain it disrupts will trigger the traps…”

Jon nodded in agreement, before speaking to Dylan.

“Steven’s here, and has heard what you’re saying,” Jon said. “He can mobilise our people, but I’ll leave now, and be there as soon as I can!”

Jon ended the call, before looking to Steven.

“Are we doing this?” Jon asked. “I think he's right. We aren’t going to get a better shot…”

Steven looked up from his phone after pressing a button, as Jon felt his own buzz, with a message that was sent to all operatives.

”All operatives, move in on the Megamart…”

“We’re doing this,” Steven explained. “Are Triad here?”

“They’re in the field, and don’t have their phones with them,” Jon explained, as Steven grimaced. “I’ll make sure they get the message…”

Without skipping a beat, Jon pressed the forward button on Steven’s message, sending it to the last number he texted. Avery Miller…

Closing his phone, he looked to Willow.

“If you want to make up for what’s happened here the last week, get what you need to help take down Giratina and Marshadow, and meet me outside ASAP,” Jon explained. “We won’t be facing Agatha. That’s for Triad to handle. But Giratina and Marshadow are our problem to deal with…”

Nodding, Willow stood to her feet, making her way towards the door, knowing she left some reagents in her room. Ninety seconds later, she made her way out the front door, where Jon was waiting for her, motorbike idling, as he handed her a helmet.

“Shouldn’t we wait for the others?” Willow asked, nodding towards Eon Squad HQ.

“Steven will mobilise them. They have their orders, and I’ll give them more direct instructions when they arrive. But we need to get there ASAP,” Jon explained. “I have a plan, but it relies on making contact with Triad first, and even then, I can’t guarantee that will happen…”

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

Luneth watched in horror as the nightmare creature they had seen emerge from the trees, circled in the sky above the Megamart as it planned its next attack.

“What do we do now?” Jarena asked, looking uneasily at Hellshriek, which hadn’t seemed to have noticed them yet.

“Honestly, this might be the opportunity we have been waiting for,” Violet said, her tone dark. “This is the last thing Agatha expected and-”

Before Violet could continue, there was a flash of light, as a large grey and gold shape materialised on the ground. With all six feet, it launched itself into the air, as its black, spiked wings beat against the wind, lifting itself into the air.

“And now Giratina is occupied dealing with that,” Violet said, the last word filled with disgust at the creature that had appeared. All there watched in silence as Hellshriek, seeing its challenger, roared in bloodthirsty delight, before diving, and colliding with Giratina, causing both to crash to the ground, though Giratina turning intangible at the last moment, and falling into the ground below. They watched as a series of hexes that had been placed on the ground initially triggered, as well as some a small distance away, triggered by the shock of such a large Pokemon hitting the ground so hard.

Avery felt their phone buzz again, and saw another message from the same number. This one though, had no greeting or pleasantries. Instead it had one basic instruction.

”All operatives, move in on the Megamart…”

“Jon just said that the League are having everyone move in,” Avery explained. “There’s going to be a fight here regardless…”

“The question is, where do we work best?” Jimmy said. “We won’t be able to use the Wayfinder at this short notice, and we don’t know that the Wayfinder won’t be in their path…”

As if to accent the point, Giratina emerged from the ground, turning tangible again, and launching itself into Hellshriek, sending both of them tumbling away from the Megamart, destroying everything that was in their path.

Cassandra considered the question, though deep down, she knew the answer.

“Myself, Violet and Jarena have gotta be the ones to face Agatha,” Cassandra explained. “We brought Shadowcraft into the public eye, and we gotta assume that had we not, things may have turned out differently…”

“So what, you’re going in alone?” Jimmy asked, not liking where this was going. Cassandra shook her head.

“We all have a role to play in this,” Cassandra explained. “The three of us need to handle Agatha. Jon will handle Giratina and whatever the hell that is. But as for the five of you…”

Cassandra looked to Avery, Abital, Jimmy, Jirachi and Luneth.

“Agatha has something nasty cooking in there, and whatever it is, it needs to be stopped,” Cassandra explained. “We’ll keep her busy, but Jirachi and Luneth, whatever disgusting thing she has brewing in that Megamart, you two need to find it, figure out what it is, and get rid of it. Jimmy, Avery and Abital, you three cover their backs…”

Cassandra looked over to where the two rampaging Pokemon battled. Since Giratina had emerged from the ground, and launched Hellshriek back, Hellshriek had engulfed its tail in a shadowy aura, before whipping around and slamming it into Giratina, who was still stumbling from the last attack, knocking it back. Now struggling to regain balance, Hellshriek threw itself at Giratina, attempting to maul the Legendary Pokemon, as both tumbled back into the Megamart, levelling the rear quarter of it in the fight, whilst those spectating saw more hexes being triggered.

“Our safest bet is to wait until one or the other gets the upper hand,” Violet explained. “We know which areas have been cleared of traps, so can walk through them, but if Giratina and that thing keep going to and from the Megamart, we’ll get caught in the crossfire. Once one of them gets the upper hand, they should hopefully stay in one place…”

Jimmy nodded, before having an idea. One that Jirachi could help with, without exhausting itself.

“Jirachi, I wish for cloaks like what the witches wear,” Jimmy explained. “Three of them…”

“Sure thing Jimmy!” Jirachi said with a grin, which seemed out of place amidst the chaos they were witnessing. “Three super-sketchy witch-disguise cloaks coming right up!”

As Jirachi granted the wish, Jimmy activated his own pendant, shifting from Pikachu form into human form.

“They’ll be too preoccupied to notice we aren’t with them,” Jimmy explained. “At least, I hope so…”

He held out his arms, as the three cloaks materialised, falling folded into his outstretched hands. He gave one to Avery and Abital, before donning his own.

“In here Jirachi,” Jimmy said. “Stay floating, but hold on to the back of my collar, and stay hidden.”

The hood was deep enough that the Mythical Pokemon could remain out of sight. Jimmy looked to Triad and Luneth.

“There isn’t much we can do without turning you all back to human, and Luneth, since you turned yourself into a Pokemon, you won’t turn back with your clothes like when Jirachi transforms us,” Jimmy explained, before looking at Cassandra, Violet and Jarena. “And you three are probably best left as a surprise for Agatha…”

Cassandra nodded in agreement, as they heard Giratina roar once more…

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

Dylan, Abbee and Glimmer watched as Giratina roared, before disappearing from sight, and reappearing right in front of Hellshriek, however, with a shocking amount of momentum, striking the shadow Pokemon hard, and launching both of them thirty metres away from the Megamart, into what looked to be an abandoned construction site, Dylan figuring one of the projects in the development that began, but was ceased and never properly remove.
Abbee felt her phone buzz, and grabbed it, finding a message from Steven.

”All operatives, move in on the Megamart…”

“Steven says we’re moving in,” Abbee said, readying a Pokeball. “Jon has some scouts nearby, so we should rendezvous with them…”

Glimmer nodded, however Dylan’s focus was on the battlefield where Giratina and Hellshriek clashed. Specifically, a small building about two hundred metres from the Megamart, which had been caught up in Hellshriek’s first attack.

“Look at that…” Dylan said, pointing to the small building. Abbee moved to stand beside him, and placed her hand over her eyes to block the glare from the sun.

“What, the shack?” Abbee asked. Dylan nodded.

“That monster’s first attack damaged the area around it, and I’ve seen Giratina and whatever that thing is make attacks that have hit it as collateral,” Dylan explained. “But it doesn’t seem to have sustained any damage…”

Abbee couldn’t make out the details from this distance, and was feeling more on edge, the more she saw of the fighting.

“Look, I think we need to help the others,” Abbee said evenly. “We’ve received orders to mobilise. We’d be disobeying them by staying here…”

“Abbee, if we’re right, Brianna is just as much of a threat as Agatha, and we have a solid lead,” Dylan said. “Five minutes at the shack. If we don’t find anything substantial in that time, we join the others. Chances are we'll still be the first to arrive…”

Abbee looked at Glimmer, not sure herself.

“What do you think?”

Glimmer could see both sides of the debate. Whilst she had joined Eon Squad to take the fight to Agatha, having learnt what she did about Shadowcraft, and specifically, the role the diamonds Brianna purchased may be playing, she agreed that the situation was concerning.

“The League have plenty of other operatives to fight Agatha. We’ll join them as soon as we can, but I agree, we need to check the shack…”

Dylan nodded in agreement before looking at Abbee.

“We get to the shack, and spend five minutes there. After that, we join the fight…” Dylan said. “Deal?”

“Deal,” Abbee said with a nod.

Not wasting any time, the trio departed at a mild jog towards the shack, always taking care to have one of them watching the fight between the two rampaging Legendary Pokemon. Since the Shadow Force attack that they had witnessed earlier, Giratina had hit Hellshriek with Outrage, gaining the upper hand over Hellshriek.

As the group jogged, they stopped once, at Abbee’s prompting.

“What’s that?” Abbee asked, pointing towards the space in the air above an old fallen log.

Dylan looked over, and for a minute, was shocked to see, floating in the air, a white hand-drawn arrow, with a message above it.

”For our friends…”

“It’s a spell,” Glimmer explained. “A light illusion that is only visible to certain people the caster specifies…”

After Violet had determined that was the method Agatha used to unite all of her followers once they arrived on Akala Island, Jon had informed Steven of this, who had told Luneth and Glimmer during the early days of the operation. However, there was something familiar about this.

Glimmer followed the arrow down, and found a burrow that looked like it was made by a small Pokemon that went under the log. Kneeling down, she looked in, and saw the reflection of something shiny, far enough in that the flicker of light could only be seen from very close to the entrance.

She reached her hand in, and felt something smooth, though with rough edges. Glimmer grabbed it, and pulled it out, revealing the star piece, and for a brief moment, felt another presence in her mind.

“It’s one of Jimmy’s star pieces,” Glimmer explained. Dylan nodded.

“Jon mentioned Triad came out this way this morning to scout, and also hide some of these, in case we needed one,” Dylan explained. “That way we can access them, without risking Agatha pulling one off someone who is killed…”

Glimmer however, wasn’t paying attention to the second half of Dylan’s observation, as the familiar feeling she felt before suddenly clicked.

“That’s Luneth’s handwriting,” Glimmer said, more to herself, referring to the light illusion. “She went with Jimmy last night, but if she had have known that she’d end up this close to the fight…”

A worried look crossed Glimmer’s face, as she looked towards where the two massive Pokemon fought.

“I need to find her,” Glimmer said finally. “She is in her Pokemon form, and has none of her own Pokemon-”

“No,” Dylan said firmly, as Glimmer turned to face him, obviously angry at Dylan’s rejection.

“Jon is our commander, not you-” Glimmer began, though Dylan didn’t let her finish.

“Jon is our commander, and he commanded the three of us to look into Brianna Levine,” Dylan retorted. “If you’re right, Luneth is with Jimmy Kendo and Triad. She’ll be safe with them for the time being. Meanwhile, if this shack is protected by Shadowcraft, chances are, getting in will be difficult as well, so we need you here…”

“Luneth is a Shadowcraft wielder, who has actively worked against Agatha!” Glimmer protested. “She couldn’t have much more of a target on her back!”

“You said yourself that the League have plenty of other operatives who will be there to help soon, Jon included, and that we need to check out the shack,” Dylan said evenly. “If you want to go and find Luneth after we get the shack open, then fine, I get it. But we have a job to do, and if I could do this without you, I’d tell you to go now. But I can’t…”

Glimmer sighed in irritation, knowing Dylan was right. She hated that the last two days, every time they’d split up, things would get messy, even when Luneth was trying to avoid getting caught in the middle of things.

“Fine,” Glimmer answered. “We get the shack open, then I find Luneth…”

“Deal…”

It had taken ten minutes for the trio to reach the shack, and as Dylan had observed earlier, despite there being signs of damage around the small, derelict looking building, the building itself, while old and worn, didn’t seem to have sustained any new damage. Whilst there were cracks in the wood, they were old, from years of neglect and no maintenance.

“I knew it…” Dylan said, as he made his way to the door. Resisting the urge to grab the handle and twist it without thinking, he slowly placed his hand near it, and like the clipboard the day before, when his hand was close, a purple sigil began to glow.

“Over to you,” Dylan said to Glimmer, who quickly stepped forward, and inspected the door. Quickly, she began murmuring an incantation for the insight spell, which would allow her to understand the nature of the spells on the door.

She closed her eyes, and began to see various glyphs, relative to the spells on the door. Quickly, she discovered the curse on the handle that Dylan had stirred by placing his hand near it, was a Luxum Patibatur Curse, the same one Brianna had pointed Triad towards the day before. Had Dylan touched the door handle, all of his energy would have haemorrhaged out of him, leaving him unconscious if he were lucky. However there was another spell on the door, one that was familiar to Glimmer, but not in the way she knew it.

The other spell was a sealing spell, used to lock doors and lids shut magically. However, Glimmer deduced that because Brianna was coming here frequently, she didn’t want to have to remove the entire spell to get inside, and reapply it upon leaving, which seemed to explain the additional glyphs she saw surrounding this basic spell, and intertwined with the Luxum Patibatur Curse.

The glyphs appeared to be that of delay modification. A modification for a curse placed on a surface, in which it would make the primary curse dormant, and non triggerable, until another incantation was performed in the vicinity, which would arm it. However, what Glimmer noticed was that the modification seemed inverted.

She opened her eyes, and noticed both Dylan and Abbee watching her intently.

“Find anything?” Abbee asked, and Glimmer nodded, not dawdling as to not leave Luneth without her for any longer than she had to.

“There is a curse on the door handle that is less than pleasant, but also a sealing charm on the door itself, causing it to be locked. The curse is easy enough to remove under normal circumstances, but the sealing charm would be near impossible for me to remove,” Glimmer explained. “But whoever placed this curse, didn’t want to make too much work for themselves. So instead of just removing the curses when they arrive here, and replacing them as they leave, they placed a modification spell on both curses.”

Dylan nodded following so far.

“The modification spell is based off of a delay modification. Effectively reversed,” Glimmer explained. The way the spell is normally used, it will cause the modified spell to remain dormant until an incantation is performed. Then it becomes active. But in this case, the modified spell remains active, until the incantation is performed, then becomes inactive…”

“So if you knew the incantation, you could just make these two spells inactive, and we could walk right in?” Abbee asked. Glimmer nodded.

“But it’s not that easy. Think of the incantation like a password. It is set by the caster, and only they know it,” Glimmer explained. “Without knowing, I can’t just use the modification to make the spells dormant…”

“And you can’t just remove the spells either,” Dylan added, remembering Glimmer’s original comment. “You could remove the curse, but the sealing spell could only be removed by the person who left it?”

“Exactly…” Glimmer answered. Dylan however, was far from willing to throw in the towel. He seemed to gather his thoughts for a moment, before speaking.

“Okay, so let’s pretend instead of curses, we are talking about an electrical system,” Dylan said, surprising Glimmer a little, though Abbee understood why. Dylan was good with technical details, however only in fields he knew about. This was his way of making it easy for him to understand, and by extension, communicate his own thoughts. “The two spells are both light globes, hooked up to a power source…”

Glimmer nodded in understanding, as Dylan continued.

“And this modification is like a relay,” Dylan said, before realising he didn’t know if Luneth or Abbee knew what they were. “A relay is a switch that is operated by electricity. Like, if you wanted to install a switch somewhere for something with heaps of current, and didn’t want to run heaps of thick, expensive wire, you’d put a relay in that requires less current to activate, and run cheaper wire to that. The relay turns on or off depending on if there is current…”

“I suppose,” Glimmer said, somewhat understanding what a relay was, but not getting where Dylan was heading with this.

“In our case, the relay is backwards, so the spells are active all the time, but when the relay is triggered, it closes and makes the spells dormant,” Dylan continued. “Correct?”

“Correct.”

“And we don’t know what the trigger for the relay is?”

“No, we don’t.”

“Is there anything stopping us from adding our own relay?” Dylan asked. Glimmer considered the question.

“Technically, no,” Glimmer answered slowly, trying to consider what Dylan was proposing.

“So let’s say that we were to place our own relay between her one that stays open, and the spells themselves. Our own delay modification,” Dylan suggested. “But it’s normal. Instead of arming the spell and making it dormant, it makes it dormant, only arming when the correct incantation is performed…”

Glimmer’s eyes widened at the thought. Technically it should work. If she could place her own modification spell between Brianna’s modification and the spells that were placed, hers should take priority, causing the spells on the door to become dormant. However, even outside of this context, Dylan’s idea would allow her to effectively disarm any curse left on a surface, making them safe until they could be removed properly.

“How come I’ve never thought of that?” Glimmer said in disbelief. “Luneth hasn’t, and honestly, considering how everyone has been running around trying to disarm hexes left everywhere, I don’t think anyone else has…”

Dylan shrugged, as Abbee grinned.

“I guess if you have access to Shadowcraft that can do almost anything, you don’t need to think outside the box as often,” Dylan offered. “You see a curse, you use a curse removal spell, and it just works. You get used to it, and don’t realise how other spells can be used…”

Glimmer nodded, before using the insight spell again, to take one last look at the structure of the spells placed on the door. Keeping her eyes closed, she stopped the incantation for the insight spell, and whilst the glyphs were still visible in her mind's eye, she began the incantation for the delay modification, specifically placing it between the curses on the door, and Brianna’s own modification spell. After a minute, she stopped, opening her eyes.

“Did it work?” Dylan asked.

Like Dylan before, Glimmer slowly placed her hand close to the door, waiting for the glyph that appeared before on the door handle to reappear. She grinned when nothing appeared. She grabbed the handle and turned it, feeling it rotate, before pushing the door inward.

“I’ve got you into the shack…” Glimmer said to Dylan who nodded.

“Go, give them backup…”

Glimmer nodded, before making her way towards the Megamart, looking out for any sign of Triad, Jimmy or Luneth. As she left, Dylan beckoned Abbee.

“Come on, we got five minutes before we gotta help the others with the battle…”




Charlotte Jones, as drawn by johnrielduana