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

[[Desolate Divine]]

Still playing catch-up. Though, I am reading new chapters as they come out too. Some days I'm just slow at reading. XD

I've been enjoying the character you bring to the entire cast so far though! It's been very enjoyable getting to read these.even some of it just being a retelling. It's been fun!

Haha good on your for attacking it on two fronts. How far into catch up are you?

[Chakramaster]

Haha good on your for attacking it on two fronts. How far into catch up are you?

I'm in Season 3 "officially" so a little catch-up. Not too much though.

[[Desolate Divine]]

I'm in Season 3 "officially" so a little catch-up. Not too much though.

Oh wow, right in the thick of it haha

I tend to follow a pattern of a Season of personal growth before a season of high stakes conflict which puts that growth to the test. So Season 3 is the pre season 4 growth (or in some cases, regression)

[[Desolate Divine]]

Just chiming in again to say I am still alive and have every intention of continuing Spiritwater! Just so flat out at the moment, and when I do have a spare moment (which are rare) I tend to gravitate towards a hobby with instant gratification (like gaming or anime), as writing is delayed gratification, and I struggle to find motivation to use the only free time I have to do it.

Got a huge youth camp I am overseeing, where my group is taking close to sixty people. The last few weeks have been getting people registered, allocating them into activities, trying (and failing) to find transport to get our group of 60 there, all in addition to my normal 3 day a week factory job, doing uni, and running youth and young adults at my church. Whilst I am on track (and in some aspects, actually a little ahead), I am getting towards the end of semester with two huge essays due before this camp, and I still gotta organise things like who is in what tent, and who is driving who to the camp.

Long story short, June 13th, this camp is over, I am on university break, and youth group has one very easy week left before three weeks break. Will try and get an episode in before then, but if not, after then, we will be back to full steam ahead!

[[Desolate Divine]]

Spiritwater Episode 10: Endgame

Spoiler:

“Did you deal with that backstabbing scum?”

Nicodemus wasn’t even met with any form of polite greeting when he entered Agatha’s office in the Thrifty Megamart. It was shortly before eight in the morning, and Nicodemus had returned, having been sent to meet with, and kill, his former apprentice, before returning what Agatha believed to be hers by rights. The blood of Latias, which Boris had extracted, before running away with, leaving the corpse of Latias on the floor of Willow’s laboratory, using what he knew Agatha would want more than almost anything at this point for leverage. Or so Agatha thought.

“He didn’t show up…” Nicodemus answered. “I went alone, so it’s not like he would have panicked and ran…”

“Maybe he realised how much of a fool he was, and that we weren’t going to let him just apologise and walk away from this…” Agatha muttered, although it didn’t sit right with her. Something about this whole situation didn’t add up.

“Maybe we task Willow with tracking him down…” Nicodemus said sarcastically. “He is dealt with, and Willow can let her feelings out on someone else…”

As Nicodemus mentioned Willow, Agatha had a thought.

“Where is Willow?” Agatha said. “I heard she left the Megamart in hysterics after your idiot of an apprentice gutted Latias?”

“I don’t know…” Nicodemus answered. “I steered clear of her while she was likely going to be in a mood…”

Agatha had been doing the same thing. Being sick of arguing and knowing that Willow would hardly be what Agatha considered reasonable, she had gone out of her way to avoid the young witch until such a time as Latias’ sacrifice was nearing fruition, and when Nicodemus found the note on Latias’ corpse from Boris, her focus had shifted to finding him, and planning exactly what she’d see done to him. Despite this however, her gaze hardened on Nicodemus.

“Did she come back to the Megamart?”

“I… don’t know…” Nicodemus answered. “Nobody has mentioned seeing her…”

Agatha stood to her feet, before walking towards the door to her office, her calm demeanour betrayed by the pace at which she walked. She left the room, Nicodemus following behind, albeit trying to remain out of striking distance as he began to realise there was more to the missing Latias blood than Boris simply using it as leverage.

They arrived at the door to Willow’s laboratory, where she’d likely be at this time of the morning. Being one of Agatha’s senior followers, Willow was allowed her own sleeping quarters. In reality, because she had her laboratory, she was allowed to have a cot set up in there, instead of sleeping on thin mattresses on the cold floor with the majority of Agatha’s coven.

Again, betraying the calm demeanour she forced, Agatha, pounded on the door, and when there was no answer, opened it. The room itself was dark, and on the floor lay the dark shape of a Latias corpse.

“She’s not here…” Nicodemus noted.

“I can see that, you idiot!” Agatha snapped at Nicodemus, before walking towards the corpse. The little blood left in it had seeped out through the wound obviously made by the bloodletter, and had dried on Latias’ flesh. Agatha looked around the lab, before finding a scraping implement, and scraping the dried blood onto a sparkling glass dish, the cleanliness of which contrasted the dirtiness of the Megamart.

“Go grab me some charcoal and black ink…” Agatha said to Nicodemus, who didn’t hesitate in making his way to Willow’s supply cupboard, where all her materials were meticulously labelled and sorted.

When Nicodemus returned, Agatha snatched the reagents she had ordered, before placing some charcoal on the dish, and mixing it in with a stirring rod, before adding a small amount of black ink, and continuing to stir. Finally, when all solids seemed to have dissolved, she muttered a quick incantation. In a flash, the mixture lit up, before dimming again, the colour shifting, to a royal blue. Agatha looked at what was in front of her, exhaling deeply.

“This is the blood of a male…” Agatha said quietly. Nicodemus understood, however remained silent. “Latias are only female. Eon blood from a male would be that of Latios...”

Agatha went silent for a second, before swiping at the glass dish on the bench in front of her, sending it flying into Latias’ corpse.

“Willow turned your incompetent apprentice into a Latias, before killing him, and draining his blood!” Agatha screeched at Nicodemus, who took a step back involuntarily. “She wasted our time, and bought herself enough time to escape while we were trying to find Boris!”

“I assure you, I had no id-” Nicodemus began, however Agatha was having none of it.

“I told you to extract Latias’ blood,” Agatha said. “Not your half-wit apprentice, who fell victim to something as stupid as this!”

Nicodemus fought the urge to point out they both fell for the ploy, but knew that Agatha would not take kindly to it.

“It’s not like they can get off the island!” Nicodemus protested, as Agatha snorted with derision.

“Lucky for you…” Agatha said. “Your orders remain the same. Get Latias’ blood, and this time, don’t delegate it to some incompetent half-wit…”

“Willow is from Hoenn, which means Latias likely is from there as well…” Nicodemus protested. “Latias is likely the sister of Jon Drake’s Latios. They probably went to him…”

“Then you can get both samples…” Agatha sneered. “And if you fail me again, Giratina will have some fun tonight…”

Without giving him any more opportunity to protest, Agatha left, swinging the door open, leaving Nicodemus alone to wonder how exactly he would get the blood of not one, but two Eon Pokemon, both of which were likely under League protection.

He heard footsteps by the doorway, and looked up, expecting to see Agatha returning, however saw the short form of Aaron, one of the witches under his command, whom he had noted had a desire for bringing misfortune on those in the crossfire, that even concerned Nicodemus himself. However, something else Nicodemus had noted in Aaron was the sheer ambition he displayed, and he had a hunch this was why he was here. Under his right arm, he held an old, heavy tome.

“So you need to get Eon Blood?” Aaron asked, flashing a menacing grin. Nicodemus glared at Aaron, who seemed far too smug for Nicodemus’ liking.

“You know I would be within my rights to have you killed for eavesdropping on Agatha…” Nicodemus muttered, not in the mood for Aaron’s remarks when his own fate rested on getting the Eon Blood.

“If you do that, I won’t be able to get the Eon Blood for you…” Aaron replied with mock concern. Nicodemus looked at him in disbelief, before relenting. He knew his chances were hardly high of getting it himself.

“You have an idea?” Nicodemus asked, although his tone remained uninterested and bored. Aaron stepped forward, opening his Kammo tome to a spell labelled only as Endkath.

Nicodemus took the tome, before quickly reading over the spell. His eyes widened. The spell’s effects were drastic to say the least, and also irreversible.

“You’re mad…” Nicodemus hissed, however Aaron shook his head.

“Do you want the Eon Blood or not?” Aaron asked. “I’m willing to do this, and knowing Jon Drake, if I level enough buildings, Latios will come out to play…”

“Why ask me?” Nicodemus retorted, not hiding the suspicion he had in his voice. “You know what Agatha wants, and if you’re right, and you can get the blood with this Endkath spell, why ask me and let me take the credit? You’d be better off doing this on your own, and letting Agatha have her way with me, and filling the gap…”

“I considered it…” Aaron replied. “But look at the reagents…”

Nicodemus looked, and began to understand, whilst Aaron explained further.

“They’re hell to come by, but I know we have them somewhere in this s**thole, and Agatha would only allow someone like yourself and Willow to get them…” Aaron explained. “I’ve wanted this for longer than you could imagine, but could never get the goddamn reagents…”

Nicodemus looked between the tome, the young witch who stood in front of him, and the corpse of Boris the Latias on the floor. Realising he had no better option, he sighed.

“You know this will turn you into an abomination, and Agatha may not even be able to turn you back when this is over?”

Aaron laughed.

“Why would I want to be turned back?” Aaron asked. Nicodemus nodded.

“I’ll get you the reagents. You get me that blood…”

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

“Anything?” Abbee asked, as she placed the cup of coffee on the desk next to Dylan. Victini sat on her shoulder, as she sipped her own, before taking a seat.

They were in the room Miller had taken as his workspace for the operation, with Miller working on his large and impressive computer setup, and Dylan working on a laptop.

“Nothing yet…” Dylan answered. “Honestly, I hoped she was enough of an alcoholic that you may have spooked her, and caused her to order a bottle, but she hasn’t yet…”

The evening before, whilst Abbee distracted Brianna, Dylan had placed a flash drive in the room service computer of the hotel where Brianna was staying, which would transmit the screen of it to Miller. Whilst they all slept, Miller’s computer had recorded the on screen activity of the computer as a video file, which Dylan had spent the last hour fast-forwarding through, looking for an order of the white wine that the prepaid card used by Brianna had been used to order numerous times before in the year prior, though the card they knew about had only been used to cover accomodation at the hotel, and had no links to their room service. The orders that appeared on the screen would ideally reveal another card she had, and by extension, the alias that Brianna was using to stay at the hotel. However, Dylan had reached the end of the recording, and was now monitoring the live feed from the computer, which was mostly breakfast orders.

“And there’s no way you can just hack into the computer now that we have this flash drive installed?” Abbee asked Miller, who sat at his desk. He rolled back from his keyboard, figuring now was as good of a time for a break as any.

“I could, but it would give us away,” Miller answered. “Now that the flash drive is in there, I’d just have to use that connection to brute force my way in. However, from the poking around I’ve done since the connection was made, it was made pretty obvious that if I tried to force my way in far enough to get the information we need, it’d raise alarm bells, and the flash drive would be found…”

Dylan nodded.

“Our best bet is for her to make an order, and we spot it,” Dylan explained. “But we don’t know how many bottles she ordered last time. She might have ordered some before we got the bug in last night, and got three days worth…”

“And us looking through any way but what’s on the screen at a given time would tip them off?” Abbee asked. Miller nodded, however Dylan looked over at her, realising she had an idea.

“What are you thinking?”

“Well, the only way we can see without tipping them off is looking at what’s on the screen, and if we could see the last order she made, we wouldn’t even have to wait for her, right? The information would be there on screen with the order?” Abbee asked, as Dylan and Miller nodded in agreement. “So what if we make them do some searches for us?”

Abbee got her phone out, as Dylan realised what she was planning.

“Miller, how many frames per second is this stream?” Dylan asked.

“120. Same as the recording,” Miller answered, as Dylan nodded, figuring the stream would be clear enough.

“Think you could get us a direct line to the room service desk?”

Miller began typing furiously, before finding what he was after. A phone number that Abbee could use to dial the room service desk, without going through reception.

“Can you get me a copy of the room service menu?” Abbee asked Dylan. He nodded, before doing a quick search of the hotel, and opening a webpage, listing the bottle of white wine as $92.40. “Double and triple that price and write it down for me…”

Dylan nodded, following Abbee’s line of thinking. Miller scribbled the number, which Abbee then typed into her League-issued phone.

“Wish me luck…” Abbee muttered before pressing the call button. Dylan and Miller remained silent, as they heard the faint sound of the dial tone through the speaker of Abbee’s phone.

After a few moments, there was an answer from a young man who sounded to be barely older than her.

“Room Service, how may I help you?”

“Yes, hello, my name is Olivia Smith, and I’m not actually a customer of your hotel,” Abbee explained. “I’m actually calling from Nimbasa City, as my credit card has received multiple charges over the last fortnight for room service at the Crown Harbour Hotel…”

“Miss Smith, I’m sorry but this is something that needs to be discussed with your bank. There is nothing I can-” the clerk on the other end of the phone began, however Abbee cut him off. Dylan groaned at the pseudonym, however Abbee had a reason for it. Olivia was the most common first name from the year she was born, and Smith was the most common surname.

“I wasn’t finished…” Abbee said sternly, her tone hardening. “I am calling simply to confirm that the charges were to the Crown Harbour Hotel, and not some fraudulent entity using your establishment’s good reputation to do their dirty work. Once I confirm whether someone has stolen my identity and used it at your hotel, or simply used your hotel’s name for something less than pleasant, I will let the bank handle it…”

“Okay, well if you’d like to tell me the last four numbers of the card-” the clerk began, however Abbee cut him off again.

“I’m already having issues with charges being made to my card, and you want me to share the card number with a stranger on the other end of the phone?”

”Miss, the chances of me being able to use your card fraudulently with just the last four numbers are astronomical-”

“And the chances of someone fraudulently using my card with the amount of care I take are even less, yet that is happening,” Abbee answered back. “I will tell you the amount charged to my card, and if you believe that my private information is safe after sharing the last four numbers of my card, you can instead do the same to confirm that the charge is being made to my card…”

“Miss, I can’t risk sharing even a small amount of another customer’s card number to you,” the clerk protested.

“Yet you ask me to share it with you?”

The clerk remained silent, as Abbee continued.

“There are three charges. You could have searched them already by now…”

”Okay miss, what’re the amounts charged?”

“$92.40, $277.20, and $184.80,” Abbee answered.

On his screen, Miller watched in disbelief, as the clerk opened a search tab, and began typing in the amounts ordered, searching the last two weeks. Miller quickly took screenshots, as the clerk read out the last four digits of the credit card number, which Miller could see all sixteen of on screen, as Abbee continued to tell the clerk that wasn’t it. Once he had gone through all of them, Abbee ended the conversation, stating it must be another business using that name, before ending the call.

As she hung up, she grinned at Dylan, who was awestruck at the performance Abbee had just put on. He looked over at Miller, who was grinning from ear to ear.

“You found something?” Dylan asked. He nodded.

“A fair few names popped up on screen when he searched for that price, but one more than any other in the last two weeks…” Miller answered. “Julia Fletcher…”

“And her details were visible?” Dylan asked.

“From the card number she used, to her room number at the Crown Harbour Hotel…”

Dylan nodded, and Abbee spoke.

“Think you can find anything from that?” Abbee asked, before looking to Dylan. “I mean, she told you her name was Brianna Levine, when she was under the effect of that spell?”

“Even with her real name, we’re finding almost nothing,” Miller explained. “But from here, we have another payment method she used, different to the one that she withdrew cash with. And if nothing else, that’s another purchase history we can look over with a fine-tooth comb, and hopefully find another lead like this wine…”

Dylan nodded, as Miller began to pull up the purchase history of the card listed on the room service records.

“And it looks like this card is a big one…” Miller muttered as he quickly skimmed over the purchase history, before Abbee and Dylan joined him.

Dylan looked through, and saw in the time between Agatha’s call for all Shadowcraft users to join her in Akala, and when the charges for the Crown Harbour Hotel’s room service began appearing, there were eight purchases all from different jewellers across Kalos. And all of them were worth triple that of his car…

“Goddamn…” Abbee muttered, as she saw the various transactions, nearing over a million dollars. “What’s worth this much at a jewellery store?”

“Diamonds,” Miller explained as he looked at a window on another monitor, the website for one of the jewellers open. “Good thing about this is that diamonds this size are so rare and unique that even when they are sold, the listing remains on the website for all to see…”

Dylan looked over to see a listing with the price matched for the transaction listed in the history of Brianna’s prepaid card. It was almost half an inch in diameter, and sparkled brilliantly.

“She bought eight of them? Is she trying to snap her fingers and wipe out half of humanity?” Dylan asked, referencing a somewhat recent superhero movie.

“I don’t know,” Abbee answered. “But honestly, she wasn’t wearing anything too extravagant last night. She seems too smart to be drawing attention to herself by wearing such expensive diamonds…”

“Which means that this is likely for something Shadowcraft related…” Dylan said, as Abbee nodded in agreement. “She has something big planned, and these diamonds are part of it…”

“Triad aren’t on site today, are they?” Abbee asked, as Dylan shook his head.

“Given the argument between Jon and Jimmy last night, they’ve gone with Jimmy, to try and be the middle ground between the pair of them,” Dylan explained. “But Glimmer Tarot moved in last night after the meeting…”

Abbee looked at Dylan, puzzled by the name, as Dylan explained.

“Luneth Tarot, the one from the S.S. Wishmaker who picked up Shadowcraft afterwards,” Dylan explained. “The one Jon recognised from back then, who also warned the League about Agatha? She has a Shaymin called Glimmer, and Glimmer used Shadowcraft to turn herself into a human. She has been working with one of Steven’s squads, but transferred last night to join the front line…”

Abbee looked at Victini, who knew Luneth from back then, to confirm.

“He’s right. I wouldn’t want to turn myself into a human, but different strokes for different folks, and Glimmer found a way to do it,” Victini said verbally, only Abbee understanding him. “From what I heard, she is quite capable with Shadowcraft…”

Abbee nodded, before looking to Dylan.

“Let’s ask Glimmer…”

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

”Jon,”” Latios said telepathically. ”They’re here…”

Jon stood by the counter of the small kitchen in Eon Squad HQ. Whilst there was room for him to take an office, he had turned it down. He spent too much time out in the field, or working with other people in their space to need his own. Even back at the Academy, he did most of his work on a laptop at the small table in the kitchen. And whilst for most formal meetings, he would use a spare room at the villa, if Brianna’s tip off was right, and they had a deserter coming, one that Latios believed to be the trainer of his long-forgotten sister, Jon didn’t want to risk turning away an ally by taking them into a dark, unwelcoming room. At the same time, he wasn’t being naive about the situation.

Jon got out his league-issued phone and fired off a text to Glimmer, who had joined Eon Squad the evening before.

”They’re here,” Jon said to Glimmer. ”Meet me in the kitchen…”

Brianna had provided Abbee with the details of the circle of truth spell she had used when speaking to both Abbee and Dylan, and whilst Jon had given the details to Glimmer the night before, asking her to confirm it was what Brianna said it was, and be ready to use it the next day, forcing the truth wouldn’t be ideal, though he wouldn’t hesitate to resort to it. He could feel Latios’ sadness permeating through their telepathic channel, that after not having seen his sister for so long, and finally remembering her, they were forced to treat her with such scepticism.

”I will let them speak freely and unaffected by the spell on two conditions,” Jon explained to Latios. “Firstly, you sight share with me the entire time so I can see their emotions as well. Secondly, there is no telepathic communication between our side of the room and theirs. We can’t risk any intel escaping through a telepathic link. If your sister’s trainer wants to hear your opinion, myself or your sister can translate. If your sister wants to speak to you, it can be verbally. Agreed?”

”Agreed…” Latios said, thankful Jon was willing to take some chance on the pair.

”Bring them to the kitchen,” Jon said. ”Glimmer and I will be there…”

From where he floated above Eon Squad HQ, Latios had spotted the emotions of Willow and Latias before visibly seeing the pair themselves. As they got closer, Willow now visible with the spell having long worn off, and Latias trailing invisibly behind her, Latios sight shared with Jon, before flying towards Willow, and materialising in front of her. Willow flinched at the sight of the large Legendary Pokemon suddenly appearing in front of her, and for a brief moment, moved her hand towards her reagent pouch, however quickly stopped, when Latios didn’t advance any closer. Latios hadn’t reacted to the movement, seeing the emotion that drove it was fear. However Latios, and Jon by extension, could see the aura of joy from Latias, as she materialised herself, becoming visible.

The trio were thirty feet from the entrance at this point, and Latios let out a cry, addressing Latias, not knowing if Willow would understand.

“Jon will see you now, however has asked that we only speak verbally,” Latios said to Latias, however Willow nodded.

“Agreed…” Willow said, still unsure if she was making the right decision, knowing that it was only the least worst of her options.

It pained Latios to have to be so formal and stoic with his sister, and even more so to see her emotions shift at Latios’ coldness towards her. However, whilst he was sure they weren’t enemies, he didn’t know for certain that they were allies at this point.

Latios made his way towards the front door, telepathically unlocking it and opening it, leading the way for Willow and Latias to follow behind him. They entered the large entrance room, which had stairs on one side, leading up to the second and third floors, where Willow presumed those in the building slept, with various other rooms surrounding it. A large room that seemed to contain rows of lined up chairs was to her right, and a dark room nearby which seemed to be lit by various computer monitors, was on her left. Voices emanated from it, however Latios led the pair towards a kitchen at the other end of the room.

“It’s nice to see you again, though I wish it was under better circumstances…” Latias said quietly, her tone somewhat solemn. “I found you once, but you didn’t recognise me. The poachers must have hit you hard…”

“Hard enough that I didn’t even know I had a sister until last night…” Latios replied evenly. Before they could respond however, the trio entered the kitchen, where Jon sat, leaning against a bench and sipping on a cup of coffee. Latios telepathically closed the door behind them, as Jon gestured for Willow to take a seat at one of the tables, before taking a seat himself.

“I’m Jon Drake, and honestly, given the events of the last week, I’m not quite sure why I am owed a visit…” Jon said cautiously. He looked up at Latias, the wonder evident in his eyes. Jon couldn’t hide the fascination at Latios’ sister. He had always heard about various differences between the pair, the main one being that Latios tended to mature later than Latias, which explained the holes in the S.S. Wishmaker four years prior. However seeing the pair side by side intrigued him.

“My name is Willow. Willow Scalera,” Willow said taking a deep breath. She had never met him, however had seen him on TV over the last four years. He had a reputation for being a good teacher and an exceptional battler, however had a reputation for having little tolerance towards injustice, and had bloodied his hands when the need arose. She was unsure of how he would take this. She knew that it would be tricky to earn his trust, however to maximise her chances of survival, she’d need to do it, and do it quick, which left one clear option. Telling him everything…

As Willow went to explain, she was caught by surprise by the sound of the door opening, and turned to see a young woman enter silently, closing the door behind her, and remaining at the back of the room.

“This is Glimmer,” Jon explained. “I might be good with Pokemon, but if you decide to turn me into a Dunsparce, I can’t exactly do much to stop you…”

Willow understood Jon’s caution, and why he had brought in, she presumed, another Shadowcraft user. She continued.

“There are things you, the League, and anyone else that’s up against Agatha… things you all need to know…” Willow explained, hoping she wouldn’t be incapacitated the moment that Agatha’s desire for Latios’ blood was revealed. “For a while I was working for her. Agatha, through a spell I’m yet to learn, broadcasted some kind of Shadowcraft rallying message in the form of a dream to all Shadowcraft witches, promising power and opportunity for all those that came to Akala Island to help her. As someone who has been using Shadowcraft for a few years to unravel its mysteries, opportunities to learn and help a former Elite Four member were once in a lifetime chances. Against my better judgement, I decided to come, hoping it would be a chance to learn more powerful Shadowcraft.”

Jon nodded, understanding that not all would have viewed the invitation in the same way Luneth and Triad had. Triad had seen what Shadowcraft, and the power it offered, did to them. Jon figured there were plenty who hadn’t seen exactly what the power it offered would do to them, and would have felt the way Willow described.

“You’re probably wondering just why I had gotten into this in the first place…” Willow shrugged, knowing to the outside observer, practising dark witchcraft looked nefarious in nature. “Well, there were a few reasons. Power, for one thing. The ability to have powers like a Pokémon without being one for my own personal protection. But no matter what, I always made sure I controlled it rather than it controlling me and I reminded myself to always use it responsibly and in moderation.”

Hearing her own words, and remembering the damage done by the group that she had, until very recently, been one of the more senior members of, Willow shuddered.

“…And Agatha does anything but use it responsibly and in moderation,” Willow sighed, looking away for a moment before turning back to Jon. “I thought this would be like a school, or a training camp. Somewhat like the Eon Academy you run. But it’s not like that at all. It’s a pyramid scheme with Agatha on top, standing to benefit the most if what she’s trying to do comes to pass. She’s made herself unnaturally young, younger than even me. And the things she and her followers have done are atrocious. What happened to the people in Heahea… I never thought this is what I’d be seeing by coming here. I swear, I had no part in that, and when I learned what happened, I wanted nothing more than to leave. And then… and then they tried to sacrifice Latias. They wanted to extract her blood for an ungodly spell called ‘Netherlink.’”

Latias had then closed her eyes, and spoke verbally to Latios and Jon.

“It’s true. Willow knows more of the details to this grizzly spell, but they want Eon blood to speed it up. We need to make sure that doesn’t happen, or it’s going to be a lot of bad news…”

Jon’s eyes narrowed at Latias’ explanation. Agatha needed Eon Blood, and wanted to sacrifice Latias to do it. And now, the pair arrive at his headquarters. Willow seemed to notice Jon’s shift in expression, and realised very quickly why.

“They want the blood of both Eon Pokemon,” Willow quickly added. “The blood of one is useless to them. I didn’t come here to try and take Latios to spare Latias…”

Still sight sharing with Latios, Jon felt like Willow was telling the truth, however…

“Glimmer knows a spell that will make everyone affected by it tell the truth,” Jon said, conveniently leaving out Abbee’s observations of the extent of the spell. “I’d like for us to speak freely, but any more concerning comments like that, and I’ll ask her to use it…”

Willow nodded, understanding Jon’s concern.

“Agatha would torture me for eternity for telling you this…” Willow told Jon and Latios, knowing what she was about to reveal would make her a prime enemy of Agatha and her followers. “Netherclysm is… to put it simply, an almost apocalyptic event of extreme magnitude. It stems from a conduit channel spell called the Netherlink…”

Willow paused, trying to figure out how to articulate this for someone with no understanding of Shadowcraft. She even had no idea of the void before meeting Agatha.

“All Shadowcraft is performed by harnessing the void, a plane of energy and knowledge outside of this world. Those with strong enough minds and wills can peer into the void to learn more of how to manipulate it in the form of Shadowcraft, and every spell written in our tomes and used by those of us who use Shadowcraft was originally learnt by someone peering into the void,” Willow explained. “Agatha herself does this, which is how she knows so much Shadowcraft not recorded anywhere else. However the practise is dangerous, and those who peer in too deeply will be absorbed by it, and turned into pure energy…”

Glimmer tried to hide the interest that she had in this. She had enjoyed learning Shadowcraft, however also experimenting with spells, changing them to suit her needs. Even the very spell that she used to turn herself into a human was one she adapted from another, risking harm to herself to see if it would work. Now, she was hearing the truth of Shadowcraft and its source.

“The Netherlink is a conduit between our world and the void, and whoever controls the Netherlink, will have safe access to the energy and knowledge of the void, without the risk of being absorbed. Hell, they could absorb the void themselves,” Willow explained. “But Agatha is thinking of something even worse…”

Jon listened intently, not liking where this was going. He had come to Alola, worried that whatever Agatha had planned here could have an effect back home. And he had been right. Willow hadn’t said it yet, but the more she spoke, the more certain he was that his family back in Hoenn were in danger should he fail.

“If Agatha could use the Netherlink to learn how to control the void itself, she could then use it as a floodgate, to flood our world with the void itself, allowing it to permeate everything, and granting her the authority to shape and control it however she sees fit,” Willow explained. “She’d effectively be a god, able to manipulate everything around her to her will. She calls this the Netherclysm…”

Jon looked between Latios and Glimmer, the latter of whom’s interest was now replaced with shock and worry, visible to Latios and Jon through Latios’ sight.

“We have less than forty-eight hours to stop this. Halve that at least if they get Latios and Latias’ blood…” Willow told Jon. “Everything you’ve seen here this week, the clouds trapping everyone on the island, and the horrific things done to people who happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, will be miniscule compared to what she will do once the Netherlink is ready…”

“I know that was a lot to take in…” Willow told Jon, knowing she had been explaining a lot for the past few minutes. “And I understand if you don’t believe all of it, but I want to help you. Agatha betrayed me, wanting to sacrifice Latias with the intention of also going after Latios just to make this horrible travesty come into being a day sooner. I trust Latias with my life, and if her brother can trust you, then I feel you’re my best chance at stopping Agatha’s horrific plot…”

Jon was silent for a moment, however that was due to a telepathic conversation between he and Latios. Whilst he could generally understand basic emotions that Latios saw, he didn't have anywhere near the level of finesse and understanding Latios did, this ability being innate and completely natural to the Eon Pokemon. To Jon, Willow seemed sincere in her information, which was supported by the emotions Jon could see, though didn't understand as well as Latios did. Jon would occasionally use his thoughts to point out different auras he wasn't familiar with, and Latios would reply telepathically translating what Jon saw. Regret being the main one, and shame being prevalent, as well as a sense of drive. None of these would make sense if this were a trap. However, just because Willow was sincere, this didn't mean it didn't have the potential to be a trap. Willow could just be a pawn…

”What do you think?” Jon asked with his thoughts. ”Can she be trusted?”

“I think she is sincere…” Latios replied. ”But I know I have a stake in trusting her, so I will understand if this doesn’t sit right with you…”

"No, I agree. I think she is telling the truth," Jon replied. "That isn't to say she might not be being used, however I'm not going to throw her out and let Agatha capture her and Latias. Even if she is a pawn in something more sinister, there is not much we can do now but be prepared for that possibility..."

Jon looked at his coffee cup, before looking up at Willow.

"I was just going to offer you a coffee..." Jon replied, light-heartedly to what Willow had said, though truthfully, what she had just described terrified him, and he knew he needed to remain calm if he were going to try and think of their next steps. He lent back in his chair, trying to process all that he just heard. "In all seriousness, I was told you were coming, and where you were coming from before you arrived, but this isn't what I expected..."

Willow nodded in understanding as Glimmer made a grunt of agreement. Jon looked to the Shaymin-turned-human.

“What do you think of all this?” Jon asked, as Glimmer considered the question. She was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out her own thoughts.

“All of this talk of the void is new to me, but it aligns with what I do know of Shadowcraft,” Glimmer answered. “And honestly, if this is what Agatha has planned, it all makes sense. How she can have so many people in the city, causing problems, and it not detract from her goals? She is playing a waiting game, and buying herself time by keeping us too busy to go fight her head on…”

“This may sound absurd, but the best way of stopping this spell is… simply tearing down the whole building,” Willow told Jon, hearing Glimmer’s comment about fighting Agatha head on, though knowing this might come across as very blunt and brute force thinking. “The hex traps that are scattered around the perimeter and interior are like landmines. They can be brutal, if not fatal, if one makes contact with one of them. But disrupting the surfaces they are inlaid upon destroys them. It would mean ripping open the earth around the building, almost to the point of churning it like butter to ensure every hex trap is disrupted and destroyed. And it would also mean crumbling the entire Megamart to dust, which won’t be easy given the size of it. But… as you probably guessed, you would also have to face the entirety of Agatha’s legion of witches and Pokémon as they try to defend it, and they would ferociously defend it even beyond death. The cost would be heavy, but I just don’t see a way to safely enter to reach where Netherclysm is being prepared. Even a Pokémon or trainer willing to embark on a suicide mission would have difficulty with it…”

Jon nodded in agreement, though said nothing of their own plan.

"I believe you. Granted, at this point, I'm not entirely convinced you might not have been followed, or allowed to get this far for something neither of us are aware of, however, this information is vital, so it's worth that risk. I have a few questions of clarification," Jon explained. "I have the beginnings of an idea, however don't want to dedicate too much time to it if we can establish now that it's dead in the Spiritwater."

“Latias and I did what we could to ensure we didn’t have anyone following us,” Willow told him. “There are Shadowcraft spells that work like tracking beacons, but I made sure neither of us had anything like that. Besides, if they knew about us being here, both Latias and I would probably be dead by now.”

Jon nodded, grabbing a notepad and pen from the side of the table, and prepared to take notes.

"First question, how did you find this place? We don't exactly publicise the fact that we operate out of here," Jon asked, though having a hunch he knew the answer. Latios had mentioned last night sensing Latias on the island. Jon's hunch, that he hoped was correct, was that Latias sensed Latios here, and there wasn't some giant sign that Willow could have found without Latias, and that Agatha could potentially find. "And what else does Agatha require to perform the Netherclysm? Is there any way we can delay it by making sure she can't get something she needs?"

“It was me who detected Latios was here,” Latias had explained, speaking instead of using telepathy. “They were preparing to take my blood and I tried to telepathically broadcast to see if there was anyone I could reach out to for help. And that was when I felt the connection with Latios, my brother. I hadn’t sensed it before while being in a Pokéball, but after being out of it and trying to contact anyone within range, I felt his presence. We were reluctantly willing to go with a reasonable blood donation at first, but when it became clear they were going to kill me, Willow killed the reagent quartermaster’s apprentice to save me, and bought us some time to escape…”

“Bought time how?” Jon asked, his tone curious, although slightly concerned.

“I used a Pokemon transformation hex to turn him into a Latias, and drained his blood instead. Then left a note from him, saying he would hold it for ransom until they met his demands… And there was someone else…” Willow told Jon, only wishing she knew more about the mysterious woman she met for just a short moment. “I don’t know her name, but she knows you. She liked to slip in and out of the shadows, and she had distinctive silver hair. She mentioned she wasn’t with Agatha or the League, but I’m certain she’s a Shadowcraft witch like myself. She told me if we were to have any chance of surviving, we needed to find you, Jon Drake. After remembering your televised battles with Latios during the Pokémon High Seas Tournament and hearing news about the Eon Academy, when Latias told me you and Latios were here, she told me where to go, tracing Latios’s presence along the way. But without that guidance, I don’t think anyone would have found this place by accident.”

Willow wasn’t sure how Jon was going to take her response about the mysterious woman, but she had disappeared before Willow even knew her name. She wanted to know more about who she was, what her motives were, and why she was only an observer at this point…

"The silver haired woman is a witch called Brianna Levine. We have been investigating her, and she has told us the same thing. What we do know is she has her own motives, and we don't know whether they are worse than Agatha's. Unfortunately, she has made it abundantly clear how powerless we are against Agatha without her help when she chooses to offer it, and one of my operatives managed to trick her into admitting that her own motives will put her at odds with us eventually, so we can either accept the help she offers and risk creating a situation even worse, or reject it, and have more people die..." Jon muttered. "I was hoping that you being here means we are playing less into her hands, however if she sent you here, I don't even know any more..."

“Well, for what it’s worth, I doubt this Brianna Levine’s plan could be any worse…” Willow replied, understanding Jon’s apprehension. Things were difficult enough when accounting for two warring factions. Throw in a third party who seemed to have something to gain from the fighting, and things became even more confusing…

Jon nodded, before continuing with his next question.

"Next, what else does Agatha require to perform the Netherclysm?" Jon asked. "Is there any way we can delay it by making sure she can't get something she needs?"

Disposing of Agatha herself in the next forty-eight hours would be difficult, however if they could buy time by delaying the Netherclysm, then they could help their own chances.

“At this point, what it mostly needs is time,” Willow replied. “Agatha made sure she had all the reagents she needed before anything had even begun, and most of them were used to initiate the spell. The remaining reagents were placed besides the developing Netherlink vortex to be added at specific time intervals. Agatha wanted me to prepare them, like a nurse prepares surgical equipment for a surgeon. But she lied to me and told me the spell was to communicate with the dead and cross over into some made-up parallel dimension. No, it’s something far more than that. If I had known the truth, I would have-!!”

“They would have killed you, Willow,” Latias interrupted her, having seen how things transpired there while connecting with Willow’s emotions. “And it wouldn’t have stopped it, only delayed it.”

“You’re right…” Willow sighed, looking away for a moment before looking back to Jon. “Yes, there are three more reagents that need to be added. The crushed skulls of a Hydreigon are to come next, to be added roughly when there are exactly 24 hours remaining. The last two get added at the very end when the Netherclysm vortex has fully matured into its prime state. And those last two reagents are… the eyes of Necrozma… and heart of Eternatus. The Hydreigon skulls would be difficult but not impossible to replace. Those last two, however… there’s no replacing those, and I can’t even imagine what must have been done to obtain them. Destroy those and there’s no hope for Netherclysm at all. The spell will collapse upon itself if those last two reagents aren’t added soon after it reaches full maturity.”

Jon didn’t respond to this, but Glimmer instead.

“Where does Agatha get these sorts of reagents?” Glimmer asked. “I don’t think Necrozma has been sighted in this world in all but the most ancient history? Everything known about it is vague myth…”

“I wish I could tell you…” Willow said. “Honestly, the only idea I have is the void. The knowledge it contains is beyond supernatural. Perhaps from peering into the void, she was able to locate a deceased Necrozma, and summon it’s eyes to her? I don’t know…”

"Do you suspect there are others like you? Those who didn't realise what they were getting into, and if given an opportunity to defect, would?" Jon asked. "I'm all for levelling the place, and leaving it as a smoking crater, however if there are people who are victims in and of themselves, and too scared to leave, I'd rather avoid harming them if I can get away with it..."

“I don’t know, honestly…” Willow admitted, trying to think about the situation. “I’m sure they’re aware of the attack on Heahea City and I hope if there is anyone like that, they are preparing to abandon the situation, but… it’s difficult. Agatha is obscenely powerful and so are many of her followers. Igor does a lot of her dirty, nasty work and enjoys it, Aaron and his team are her scouts and surveillance, while Nicodemus is serving as her reagent quartermaster. Gail handles a lot of the additional tasks that Agatha herself just doesn’t have the time for. I know all of them and all of the witches that participated in the Heahea city attack wouldn’t dream of betraying Agatha, especially given what she’d do to them and their Pokémon if she found out about it and caught them. But I just don’t know if there are others that would act against her if they felt there was a chance they could stop her and survive…”

Jon grimaced. This wasn’t an ideal answer. It wasn’t enough to stop him from having Rayquaza level the building, but it wasn’t enough for him to do that with a clear conscience. He quickly forced this thought to the back of his mind, before asking his next question.

“Does Agatha have any Pokémon other than Giratina that could potentially take Latios and Latias down?” Jon asked. “In a real fight, Latios can handle himself against nearly anything. Giratina could be a pest, but on its own, I may be able to deal with it. But if there is anything else as strong as it, or even stronger, then we need to account for that.”

“Agatha owns Marshadow…” Willow nodded with a bit of a grimace, knowing Agatha would despise her even further for disclosing that she possessed that Mythical Pokémon. Jon cursed under his breath. “Beyond that, she exclusively focuses on Ghost Pokémon, which also serve her as her sentries and hidden agents, giving her and the other witches information about what the League is doing and what the civilians and tourists have been up to. They already know most of the people have hunkered down and they’re hoping to keep the League and everyone else on the defensive, long enough to complete Netherclysm without interruption.”

“We figured as much,” Jon replied. “She is keeping us at bay, and it’s working. I just hope we didn’t decide that we had to let bystanders be hurt if we wanted to stop her too late…”

Jon quickly scribbled some notes, before asking his next question.

“Do you know if Giratina is kept in some sort of Pokeball, or whether it remains in another plane until it is needed?" Jon asked. “This could make or break any plans we have.”

“Agatha keeps both Giratina and Marshadow in Pokéballs,” Willow confirmed. “I don’t know the exact types, however. All I know is she’s used them to deploy Giratina and Marshadow. At first I didn’t know why until later when I found out what happened at Heahea City…”

Jon breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, some good news.

“Lastly, does Agatha have any means of locating Latios and Latias via some sort of telepathy, even in short range?” Jon asked. “And if she can, do you know of any way you can use Shadowcraft to hide them from this ability of hers?”

“I doubt she does, or she would have found out about us escaping and I’d probably be worse than dead right now,” Willow replied with a bit of a grim look on her face before looking a bit more optimistic. “It’s not to say they’re not on the lookout for both Eon Pokémon, but I don’t think they have the means to track them that way…”

Willow knew Agatha didn’t have any Psychic Pokémon, but that didn’t rule out the possibility that other witches among Agatha’s followers had them. Trying to pinpoint where Latios and Latias were wouldn’t be easy, but she wouldn’t rule it out as being impossible. Part of her was thinking it would be wise to keep them away from the Megamart, even if she and Jon fought on the frontlines.

Still, she wanted to know what Jon’s thoughts were, just in case he had some clever ideas of his own that they could implement…

"Right now, I have ideas. Ideas which could make up a plan, but it is far from polished enough to enact it, though I know time won't be on our side, so we may have to come up with something, and commit to it sooner rather than later..." Jon muttered, as he attempted to organise his thoughts.

Willow nodded in begrudging understanding, wondering if she should have come straight here the evening before, instead of hiding in a Pokemon Centre overnight.

"I am thankful that if nothing else, Agatha has no simple way of tracking Latios and Latias. And this gives us some advantage. They are wanting them to speed up this Netherclysm, however if they will succeed within forty-eight hours, and Agatha is impatient and foolish enough to take a stupid risk and succeed a day earlier, it means we know what they are after, and roughly speaking, when to expect them," Jon explained. "My idea is that we launch our attack on them whilst they make their move trying to capture Latios or Latias... Don't get me wrong, they will be nowhere near the action, and at no more risk than they are now..."

Willow tilted her head in a confused glance at Jon as he, despite himself, grinned before they were interrupted by a knock at the door.

Jon looked towards the door, before looking to Latios. His eyes flashed, before he spoke to Jon telepathically.

”Abbee, Dylan and Victini…”

“Come in,” Jon called out. A moment later, the doorknob turned, and Abbee and Dylan entered, Victini sitting on Abbee’s shoulder. The pair looked surprised to see Glimmer here, but even more shocked at the unfamiliar face of Willow.

“We just wanted to talk to Glimmer, and heard she was in here,” Abbee explained, as Glimmer looked to the girl curiously. “But we can come back another time?”

“What’s it about?” Jon asked, before adding, “keep in mind present company…”

Willow sighed internally, however knew Jon was being cautious. Whilst it seemed like he had believed her, he had no reason to share confidential information with her. Abbee nodded, before continuing.

“Our mission last night paid off, and we found a purchase history,” Dylan explained. “Eight diamonds, all worth triple my car…”

Abbee turned to Glimmer, addressing her with the question.

“She wasn’t wearing diamonds when I spoke to her, and these are huge. All the same size and quality, so we figure she is using them for a spell,” Abbee explained. “Do you know of any spells that need reagents like this?”

Glimmer grimaced as she tried to remember if she had seen spells requiring diamonds as a reagent, before begrudgingly shaking her head.

“I only really focused on the spells that I could perform, and ones that require diamonds that are worth more than Luneth earns in a year are not something I can get my paws on,” Glimmer answered, before correcting herself. “-my hands on…”

Dylan nodded as Abbee held back a grin. As they spoke though, Willow realised that the two newcomers were likely investigating Brianna Levine, and listened carefully.

“I could dig out Luneth’s tomes when this meeting is over?” Glimmer offered, looking to Jon. Willow looked towards the commander, and noticed he was looking intently at her. He had noticed her investment in the conversation, and Willow began to worry she may have appeared to be listening for intel, unaware that Jon could see her emotions through Latios’ sight.

“Willow, do you know of any spells that require diamonds?” Jon asked. “Especially of that size?”

“Invisibility spells require diamond dust, however there isn’t a requirement on the size of the diamond. The more dust you have, the longer it lasts. I used one to escape last night…” Willow explained. “The fact she has spent so much on huge diamonds, instead of multiple smaller diamonds seems to indicate she isn’t trying to make herself permanently invisible though…”

“Agreed…” Jon muttered, however Willow was beginning to remember something. Not a spell itself, but something much deeper in the practice of Shadowcraft.

“Unless…” Willow muttered, as all eyes on the room turned to her.

“Unless?” Jon asked.

“Agatha mentioned this in passing when the group assigned to the spell to create the clouds trapping us here were beginning their spell,” Willow explained. “All Shadowcraft relies on energy from the void, which is manipulated to create the desired effect of a given spell. And a side effect of that is the void always gives more energy than is needed. This results in a discharge of energy, which usually dissipates into the environment…”

“Can this energy be converted into other forms? Like light, or electricity?” Jon asked. “Could Shadowcraft solve the climate crisis?”

“It couldn’t because of one key fact,” Willow explained. “The energy required by the Shadowcraft wielder to cast the spell is normally greater than that which is discharged. So when considering the net gain, it’s actually a loss. We’d be better off using electric Pokemon to charge batteries than relying on this…”

“So what does this have to do with diamonds?” Dylan asked, surprised Jon would take the discussion off topic to climate change.

“Whilst I’m certain Agatha doesn’t know how to do it, she mentioned this excess void energy can be absorbed and stored, however, the vessel needs to be a diamond. Nothing else can contain it, and the larger the diamond, the more energy it stores…” Willow explained.

“What makes you say Agatha can’t do this?” Glimmer asked, engrossed by the discussion.

“Because for the last week, she has had a dozen people maintaining the spell that holds the clouds, when if she knew how to store this energy, she’d have simply had all of us who were tricked into joining her use enough Shadowcraft to fill a diamond, and use that energy to maintain the spell…”

Abbee’s eyes widened as she realised what this meant.

“So effectively, a diamond is like a battery, and if someone does the right spell on it, it can absorb this energy that is released by using Shadowcraft, to be used for something bigger later?” Abbee asked, as Willow nodded, before continuing, forgoing the secrecy. “And Brianna has eight of them, potentially scattered around Akala Island, where for the last week, Agatha and her followers, as well as those on our side, have been at war with each other, casting spells left right and centre, and charging these things up for something huge…”

Willow’s eyes widened at the implication of this knowledge, now that Abbee had put the pieces together and explained it as bluntly as she had.

“I don’t know this Brianna well…” Willow said to Jon, before looking to Abbee. “But if your operative is correct, she could but just as much of a threat as Agatha…”

Dylan looked between those present, and then fixed his gaze on Willow.

“Is there a way we can drain the diamonds if we were to find them?” Dylan asked Willow, who considered the question. “Breaking the diamond maybe?”

“If you tried breaking it, you’d risk all the energy being released in one burst, which could kill you…” Willow answered. “However, you might be overthinking this…”

Dylan looked at her confused, before Willow nodded towards Glimmer.

“According to Jon, Glimmer uses Shadowcraft, and you guys didn’t heal as many people as you did without more people in your corner who can use it…” Willow answered. “If you find the diamonds, do what Brianna is going to do. Use the energy to perform Shadowcraft…”

Jon nodded in understanding, before looking to Glimmer.

“Triad and Luneth aren’t here, and we can’t rely on them coming back. We need to act now…” Jon said to Glimmer, who had been present for the discussion of the Netherclysm, and the little time they had left to stop it. “Go with Dylan and Abbee, and if you find a diamond, see if you can use it to dispel the clouds…”

“Jon, we haven’t got the first idea where they are…” Dylan said, however Jon shook his head.

“They’ll be scattered in a way that the whole island is having energy absorbed, and besides, even if you don’t know where they are, Brianna will,” Jon said, before filling Dylan and Abbee in. “Agatha’s plan will come to fruition in forty eight hours. Less if she gets what she wants today, and Brianna seems to always know just enough of what Agatha is doing to be able to lead us along…”

“She’ll be collecting the diamonds soon…” Willow realised. “If she has an idea of what Agatha has planned, and when, she’ll be wanting to get in first…”

Jon nodded in agreement.

“Exactly,” Jon confirmed. “You know where she is staying, and you have more information on her than you did a day ago. Tail her, and she’ll lead you to them. If Glimmer covers your back on the Shadowcraft front, you two can overpower any Pokemon she has…”

“And if this doesn’t work?” Dylan asked. Jon grinned.

“Then my name isn’t Jon Drake…”

The comment was made to be an assurance to Dylan that the fight was not lost yet. However, the words caused something to click, as his eyes widened. Dylan looked to Latios, who hovered at the side of the room.

“Latios, are you listening in to Jon’s thoughts?” Dylan asked, as the Eon Pokemon nodded in response. “Pay attention…”

Turning to Jon, who seemed confused by Dylan’s reaction, Dylan addressed his mentor.

“What’s your name…?”

“Jon Drake…?” Jon answered, obviously confused. Dylan nodded and looked to Latios.

“Was Jon being dishonest in any way?” Dylan asked. Latios shook his head, as Dylan grinned.

“What’s this about?” Jon asked.

“She said whilst under the effect of that truth spell that her name is Brianna Levine,” Dylan explained. “Levine isn’t an uncommon surname, but we found no Brianna’s. But I know why…”

Jon’s eyes widened, as he couldn’t help but grin. Willow looked at Dylan confused, and despite the animosity surrounding her presence, had to ask the question.

“Why?”

“Brianna is her middle name…” Jon said, scoffing in disbelief. “Even when I just started calling myself Jon Drake, I didn’t feel like I was being dishonest, because Jon was my middle name, and Drake was my wife’s surname…”

“So you think that if we were to look up someone with the surname Levine, but with Brianna as their middle name, we might find her?” Abbee asked. Dylan shrugged.

“If not, potentially somebody with Levine as a surname, with a daughter called Brianna, or with a daughter with Brianna as a middle name?” Dylan suggested. “She may be using her mother’s maiden name, but legally have her father’s surname. But honestly, if nothing else, this gives us a lot of avenues to look down, when we thought we had none…”

As Dylan referenced Brianna’s mother, Abbee remembered her conversation with Brianna, and what she had shared of herself whilst under the influence of her own lie-prevention magic.

“She told me whilst she was unable to lie that her mother was part of a coven of witches, and left before she was born. Her old coven hunted her down and killed her for leaving, and as she learnt Shadowcraft herself, she hunted them all down…” Abbee explained, before looking at Dylan. “For someone who was hellbent enough on revenge to do that, and also as proud as she is, I am almost certain you’re right. Levine is her mother’s last name…”

Dylan nodded as Jon looked towards Glimmer.

“Glimmer, go with them, and help them find these stones. Protect them if there is a fight with Shadowcraft involved, and if Pokemon are involved, let Dylan and Abbee protect you…” Jon explained. “I’ll talk with Willow some more, and come up with a plan of action…”

“Are you sure?” Glimmer asked, inclining her head slightly towards Willow. Her question wasn’t on whether Jon was making the right decision. It was whether Willow was safe for him to be left alone with.

“It’s fine,” Jon answered casually. “I’ve got Latios here…”

Glimmer nodded, following Abbee and Dylan out of the room.

The trio left Jon and Willow with their Eon Pokemon partners in the kitchen, as Dylan and Abbee led the way towards Miller’s office, where Glimmer had yet to visit. The trio entered, and Glimmer was immediately hit by the contrasting bright lights of monitors, in the room that was far too dark for Miller’s eyes to not be strained.

“Miller, we’ve got a few ideas…” Dylan explained, before correcting himself. “This is Glimmer, one of Eon Squad’s new recruits, and somebody capable of Shadowcraft…”

Miller turned from where he was working, after finishing a line of code, before nodding politely to Glimmer in acknowledgement, before looking back towards Dylan, knowing he likely had a new lead for them to follow.

“How specific can you do a search?” Dylan asked. “I know Levine isn’t an uncommon surname, but if we asked for specific other search fields, could you incorporate them into your scan?”

“I could, and honestly that’s the better way to do it,” Miller answered. “It means scans will not take as long as there are less fields that need to be checked before writing off an entry in a database as not what we are after. How specific are you wanting?”

“Try surname Levine, middle name Brianna…” Dylan said, as Miller typed it in, silently impressed that he considered that.

“Like Jon?” Miller asked, having seen Jon’s file enough to know it wasn’t his legal name.

“Like Jon…” Dylan answered.

A minute passed as the scan completed, yielding a few results, however, when Miller glossed over the files presented, he was able to establish none were her, due to things such as the people listed in the files having never been to Kalos, where Brianna was known to have been, or having had their records updated in the previous week elsewhere.

“Okay, try finding a woman marked as deceased, maiden name Levine, with a daughter named Brianna,” Abbee offered. Again, Miller searched, however found nothing. Dylan looked at Abbee before sighing.

“Last lead for now…” Dylan muttered before turning to Miller. “Try that search again, but instead of Brianna being the first name, it’s a middle name…”

The trio of field operatives huddled around Miller, as he pressed enter, and his overly powerful computer began its scan. They watched in anticipation knowing their time to figure out where Brianna might be going was limited, and having been approached by Abbee the evening before, she would be cautious to not be followed leaving the hotel. They had to intercept and tail her somewhere else, or even figure out where she was keeping the diamonds without doing that, and this was their strongest lead.

“I’ve got something…” Miller said, as a lone listing appeared on the screen. He clicked it, opening a file of a woman in her early thirties, with familiar silver hair. It wasn’t Brianna, however, this was definitely a relative.

“Carol Hanson, née Levine, born in Kalos in 1956, and killed under suspicious circumstances in 1988,” Miller explained. “Married Lawrence Hanson in 1979, and had a daughter, Amy Brianna Hanson in 1981. Then divorced Lawrence in 1983, taking sole custody of Amy…”

Abbee listened carefully, as everything that Miller said lined up with what they knew, except for one thing.

“If she was born in 1981, that would make her forty years old,” Abbee remarked. “She looks five years younger than Jon…”

“Willow said that Agatha has done the same thing. She looks like she’s younger than Willow, when really, Agatha is probably in her eighties by now…” Glimmer remarked, as Miller clicked onto Carol Hanson’s daughter's file.

On the screen appeared a photo which was taken from a driver’s licence, of a woman in her late thirties, with fair hair, and green eyes. Despite looking older, with different coloured hair and eyes, Dylan however was able to recognise her.

“That’s Brianna Levine…” Dylan said, as Miller quickly opened up the Kalos region passport database, quickly typing in Brianna’s legal name, Amy Hanson.

“She’s from Alola…” Miller explained. “I knew it. Shadowcraft can help in a lot of respects. But there are things she has to use her real name for…”

“What sort of things?” Dylan asked, however Abbee answered.

“Pokemon,” Abbee said. “The amount of identity verification needed for even a twelve year old to get their own trainer card is scrupulous. She would need to forge so many documents to be able to carry Pokemon on a fake name, and the penalties for any of those being discovered are steep…”

Dylan nodded, as Miller opened the Pokemon League Trainer Database, one of the few he was legally allowed to access, before searching for Amy Hanson. His eyes widened as he looked at the Pokemon registered to her.

“Check this out…” Miller said, as all surrounding her leaned in close to look at the six Pokemon she was currently carrying with her.

“Hydreigon,” Dylan said dryly, not being overly fond of the brutal Pokemon. “Delphox, Toxtricity and…”

“Spectrier?” Abbee asked, reading the last Pokemon out. “As in, the Legendary Pokemon Spectrier?”

“The system has a .01% chance of misidentifying a Pokemon, so it's likely it is…” Miller explained.

“Great. Not only does she have access to spells we don’t even know exist, and enough stored energy to do whatever she likes with them,” Dylan muttered. “She also has a Legendary Pokemon…”

Glimmer however, wasn’t paying attention to the Pokemon list, and instead, looking at the check-ins of her Pokemon.

“Check this out…” Glimmer said, pointing to one of the many screens in front of them. “Where Spectrier has been healed at a Pokemon Center…”

Dylan looked over, and noticed that on June 26th, 27th, 28th and 29th, Spectrier was healed at the Royal Avenue Pokemon Center.

“Willow, who Jon is talking to right now, was tipped off to find him by Brianna last night as she came from the abandoned Megamart, meaning she would have passed through Royal Parade. Except Brianna has been there every night for the four nights before then…” Glimmer explained. “Maybe Agatha’s ghosts were harassing her and she needed to heal her Pokemon, I don’t know. But at first I didn’t think it was a coincidence that Brianna was there when Willow left, and told her to come here, but based on this, maybe it was. Maybe Brianna was at Royal Avenue for something else…”

“She is definitely a creature of habit…” Abbee noted. “You think one of her diamonds might be on Royal Avenue somewhere?”

“Well if she is using them to absorb energy released by performing Shadowcraft, that’s probably the closest she can get to the Megamart without being attacked by Agatha and everyone in her party…” Glimmer answered, as Dylan nodded in agreement.

“We’ll head towards Royal Avenue…”

************************************************** ************************************************** *****
”They’re going to be late…”

Abital signed the words to Avery, as they waited, Abital tapping his foot impatiently, in the lobby of the Tide Song Hotel. He had been awake since the sun rose, unable to sleep worrying about Avery’s condition. He had just checked his watch, which read 10am, wondering if it was too early to be the Diamond Ladies' idea of first thing in the morning.

“I don’t think punctuality is the main concern in the middle of this, honey…” Avery said, rolling their eyes. Abital huffed, before levelling a glare at Avery. “Look, all I’m saying is don’t get too stressed out about it. Daybreak and the others coached me all of yesterday evening, and I can at least walk, trot and canter effectively. I can survive waiting a little longer before they change me back, if something more pressing has come up…”

Whilst Abital looked for any indication in their face that his spouse was lying, he found none, though still didn’t find his fears alleviated, despite Avery’s surprisingly calm demeanour about the whole thing. However, there was something Avery hadn’t referenced in their explanation.

”Is it spreading?”

Avery couldn’t help but grimace as they looked down at their hooves. They had intentionally not referenced that drawback of waiting too long. The curse, whilst slowed, was still spreading. It was now up to their mid-stomach, compared to just above their hips yesterday.

“It’s nothing to worry about,” Avery said, earning another glare from Abital. “Don’t look at me like that. Look, how about we go find that witch that did this, and then I can stomp them…”

Avery added the last part whilst slamming their fist into their hand, whilst Abital rolled his eyes, though signed, ”If you insist…”

Avery was half joking about stomping the witch that did this, however, the more they considered it, the more of a viable option it seemed like. They knew Abital was probably right. They likely had forgotten, or got caught up in something else. Meanwhile, Avery was running out of time, and despite the apparent slowness of the curse spreading, didn’t know if the spell that had been used to slow it down had a time limit. However, they didn’t know where they could find the aforementioned witch.

Avery looked over at Abital, who was looking at the screen on his Ranger Styler.

“Something wrong?” Avery asked, and Abital responded by shaking his head.

”Remember the Haunter I captured last night?” Abital signed, still managing to sign clearly despite holding the Styler, as Avery nodded. ”The Styler will temporarily GPS tag a Pokemon it captures for a few days, so we can monitor migration and habitats…”

He handed Avery the Styler, before continuing.

”Well the witches are almost always assisted by Ghost Pokemon, and this Haunter, which is likely one of them, returned to somewhere on the east coast of the island…” Abital explained, and once he had finished signing, Avery looked down to see the glowing dot where Abital had described.

“You think this might be their hideout?”

”I think we might have a chance of finding the witch who did this to you, and convincing them to turn you back,” Abital signed. ”But it’s dangerous. If they catch us, they could do a lot worse to us than this…”

“I’m well aware…” Avery said grimly, remembering the carnage they had seen at the opening ceremony, and in the smaller attacks over the last week. “But if nobody is going to help us, or keep us in the loop about what they know, we don’t have much of a better choice but to try and handle this ourselves. It’s obvious the League are working against whatever is going on here, so we’ll chip in where we can, or if nothing else, make contact and get someone to remind the Diamond Ladies that I’ve grown an extra two legs and a bright blue tail…”

The last comment took Abital by surprise, though he understood why. It was obvious that his spouse was losing patience with justifying why the Diamond Ladies hadn’t arrived yet, and this was simply adding to the annoyance of being left in the dark by Avery’s former associates.

“You’re not upset because you weren’t kept in the loop, Abital signed. ”Are you?”

Now that Abital had said it, Avery had given up on making excuses.

“I was on operative on the last big Shadowcraft mission, yet the Diamond Ladies, Jimmy and Jon refuse to even throw me a bone. I haven’t seen Jon, but I have no doubt he knows I am here…” Avery said bitterly. “I guess four years isn’t long enough to deem me as trustworthy, even though we invited both Jimmy and Jon to our wedding, and Jon had said he was coming before just pulling out without any sort of explanation. Then, I find out that I’m the last person to find out the Diamond Ladies were still alive, because they didn’t send any sort of sign. Makes me wonder whether the battle I had with her meant anything, or whether I was just being sentimental…”

Avery let out a huff, before continuing.

“It would just be nice to be included, since it feels like I’m just being left behind and painfully out of the loop…”

Abital patted Avery’s side, not being tall enough to put a hand on their shoulder in this form before retrieving it to sign.

”I wouldn’t be too hard on them. There’s probably a good reason why they didn’t invite us into whatever is going on. I mean, now that you mention it, Jon probably pulled out of coming to the wedding because of whatever the League is doing…” Abital said. ”I doubt they just neglected to bring us up despite our offer to help. That’d be stupid…”

“I suppose that’s true,” Avery said, though not completely convinced. “I suppose we better head east. We’re just burning daylight now…”

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

“I think this is it…” Jimmy said to his companions. In his Pikachu form, he stood in a large, flat open area off the path of Royal Avenue. He imagined that when witches weren’t terrorising the citizens and visitors of Heahea City, this place would be filled with people having picnics. It was an hour after noon when they had found this perfect spot for their plan.

“It’s good…” Violet the Furret asked. “But could we find something better?”

The plan had been to find somewhere to place the Wayfinder near the abandoned Megamart, where they knew Agatha was hiding, and transporting groups of six from Wishmaker HQ to the Wayfinder, effectively dumping an entire attack force on Agatha’s doorstep before she could mobilise a defensive formation, and use her own traps which likely littered the space around the abandoned Megamart. This space however was a little further from the Megamart than they had planned.

“The wild Pokemon don’t get any closer than here,” Cassandra the Eevee answered. “It could be because the Ghost Pokemon scare them off, or it could be that Agatha’s perimeter goes wider than we originally thought, and if it’s the latter, any closer is a risk…”

“Yeah, and having been cursed recently, I’d really like to avoid that happening again,” Jarena the Buneary added in.

“I haven’t been cursed, and I’d like to avoid it,” Luneth said in her Vulpix form, trying to sound light-hearted like Jarena, though her own anxiety about it was evident in her voice. She had joined them in visiting Wishmaker HQ to see Jirachi, and hear it out after Jon and Jimmy’s respective outbursts the night before. However, before she knew it, the others were planning reconnaissance missions, and whilst she felt okay watching from a distance the night before, the gravity of their situation was becoming more obvious as they realised just how close the traps around the Megamart may be. As they spoke about this though, Cassandra couldn’t help but feel like she had forgotten something important.

The group had teleported out of Wishmaker HQ, to outside of Eon Squad HQ where they had teleported from initially in the early hours of the morning. Whilst they didn’t see him, they knew Latios was likely watching. Before teleporting however, all of them had taken on their respective Pokemon forms, figuring they’d be less recognisable in them, and able to get around easier without being noticed. However, it meant the trek to where they stood now had taken hours.

“Honestly, I think Jimmy is right. This is the best place,” Cassandra said, before looking to the Pikachu. “How do we do this?”

“Honestly, Lucky does all the work,” Jimmy explained. “I’ll have it teleport here, but I think all of us together is more likely to attract attention…”

Luneth nodded in agreement. Whilst a group of Pokemon were less conspicuous than a group of people, they were still hardly inconspicuous. Whilst all of the Pokemon in their group with the exception of Violet the Furret were native to Alola, she knew that the only Pokemon native to the area they were in out of their group was Cassandra the Eevee. Every other one of them, if wild, would be somewhere else in Alola.

“Do all four of you know that light-illusion spell?” Jimmy asked, and all nodded in agreement. He had been the first to retire the night before, and the four witches had made sure they all knew it, knowing that this might be their only chance to hide the star pieces, which would be accessible to their allies during the battle who couldn’t risk actually carrying one.

“You think we should split up for a little while and hide some star pieces?” Violet asked, as Jimmy nodded.

”I’ll try and keep in the bushes, and keep Lucky there as well,” Jimmy explained. ”Let’s meet back here in about half an hour…”

He said about half an hour, as none of them had anything on their person that was capable of telling them the time. Whilst Jirachi, who had been given the codename Lucky that morning, as to not tip anyone off who overheard them mentioning the Legendary Pokemon, had transformed them into Pokemon, in a way that would allow them to revert to their human forms with their original clothing, allowing them to carry Pokemon sized wrist watches would be a giveaway they weren’t really wild Pokemon. The other idea that had come out of the discussion prior to leaving Wishmaker HQ was to make their wishes look like spells during fights, if they needed to resort to using Jirachi’s abilities.

The group split, with Triad and Luneth heading in a different direction each, Luneth heading west, Cassandra heading east, Violet heading north and Jarena heading south. Jimmy remained, and once he was sure nobody was looking, he focused his thoughts on the stone he wore around his neck.

”Okay buddy, you ready to join me here? Don’t make any noise when you arrive. We want you to be our secret weapon…”

”Aye-aye Captain Jimmy!” said Jirachi’s voice in Jimmy’s mind, as he made his way into some nearby bushes just outside of the area where they would set up the Wayfinder. A few seconds later, Jirachi popped into existence, before looking around.

“Psst. Over here…” Jimmy called out, getting Jirachi’s attention. Jirachi spotted Jimmy, before looking around and attempting to float towards Jimmy as casually as possible, before diving into the bushes with him.

“So this is it?” Jirachi asked.

“This is it,” Jimmy explained. “And right in the middle, is where you’re going to place the Wayfinder…”

Jimmy wished he could give more specific instructions as to where Jirachi needed to place it, such as ”next to that rock”, however the fact he couldn’t use descriptions like that was the reason this space was perfect for it. There was nothing that Jirachi could accidentally teleport a person into. There wasn’t even any real slope to it, so Jirachi wouldn’t have to teleport them into the circle a few inches above the ground to account for it. It really was perfect.

“It looks really good!” Jirachi said happily. “I’ll get to work making it…”

Whilst it took Jirachi hours to make the first Wayfinder, and Jimmy days to calibrate it, the whole process was sorted in less than half an hour, Jirachi now knowing exactly what to make, and Jimmy having a better understanding of how to calibrate it. It also helped that there was less at stake if the Wayfinder wasn’t calibrated precisely here. There were very few real obstacles around, all of which Jimmy was easily able to finetune out of the Wayfinders effective range, unlike the one at Wishmaker HQ, in which if Jimmy accidentally got the effective range wrong, whoever teleported to it risked being teleported into the nothingness of the space in the pocket dimension outside of the facility.

The others returned before too long, and the group remained as behind cover as they could, having Jirachi with them, and not wanting the Mythical Pokemon to be noticed.

“So it’s ready?” Violet asked Jimmy quietly, who nodded.

“As ready as it needs to be,” Jimmy explained. “It’s ready enough that we can mobilise a force here in less than a minute and a half…”

Violet nodded with satisfaction, before going out into the open, to attempt the light illusion spell, which would show those teleported there the boundary of the effective range of the Wayfinder, as Jimmy asked the next question.

“What about the star pieces?” Jimmy asked. “They hidden?”

“All of the ones you gave us are hidden and marked,” Jarena answered, as Cassandra heard what sounded like hoofbeats coming up the path nearby. “If anyone gets hit with some horrible curse, they can use it to get in touch with Lucky, so someone can help turn them back to nor-”

“We forgot Avery…” Cassandra said, realising what had been nagging at her, unable to not remember, hearing the hoofbeats and having Jarena talk about curses.

“Oh crap…” Jarena said, realising Cassandra was right, however now, hearing the hoofbeats as well. From the bushes where they remained hidden, they looked to the path, and were stunned to see Avery, looking more Keldeo than they did the night before, with Abital and his Raichu, Meir, sitting on their back.

“Avery!” Cassandra called out, as she emerged from the bushes, deciding subtlety be damned, having realised she forgot what she had told Avery the evening before. “I’m sorry, we got caught up in planning and-”

Cassandra stopped, as Abital jumped down off Avery’s back, withdrawing his Ranger Styler, as Meir followed behind him.

“It’s alright,” Avery said to Abital, recognising the Eevee, as well as the Buneary and Vulpix that emerged directly after. “It’s Cassandra…”

Jimmy waited for Violet to finish the spell, as Cassandra continued to apologise.

“I’m sorry, we’ll turn you back right away!” Cassandra said, noting that the curse seemed to slowly be spreading. “Violet is just doing something over there, but once she is done, we will remove the curse…”

Despite not understanding them like Avery, Abital understood enough based on Cassandra’s expressions and tone. She was apologising for forgetting Avery. Realising he was still standing between them, his stance hardly friendly, he stepped aside, inclining his head towards Cassandra, and signed an apology after pocketing his Styler.

“He says sorry for being aggressive,” Avery translated. “We’re all a bit on edge, and he can’t understand you, and didn’t know who you were…”

Cassandra nodded in understanding, as Jimmy and Violet emerged, with Jirachi remaining hidden in the shadows of the bushes in order to not be spotted.

“So I take it you’re all working with the League?” Avery asked, nodding towards the group. “You’re all incognito by the look of it… Jon too? I didn’t see him, but heard he was on the S.S. Wishmaker...”

Cassandra nodded, as Jimmy shifted somewhat uncomfortably.

“He has a squad he is commanding, and they will be taking the fight to Agatha as soon as they can,” Cassandra explained, though Avery looked at her confused. “We’re just setting up what we can here to help…”

“Agatha, as in former Elite Four Agatha?” Avery asked with surprise, as Cassandra nodded.

“She used some spell to make us, and every other witch here, have this dream, telling us to come here, promising power…” Violet explained. “Turns out she has been using Shadowcraft, probably since before we were born…”

Cassandra nodded, before adding to Violet’s explanation.

“We were worried by it, and a few years back Jon had Latios track me down to help him handle something,” Cassandra said, intentionally being vague. Whilst Jon had revealed the truth about Rayquaza to all present at the previous night's meeting, and it would likely get out before too long, it still wasn’t her secret to share. “Because of that, I knew where we could find him, so we tipped him off, and he tipped off Steven…”

Avery’s face fell a little, and Cassandra had a hunch she knew why.

“We wanted to call you in, honestly,” Cassandra said. “But Jon told us about your wedding, and how it was the weekend before the S.S. Wishmaker would depart. He didn’t want to call, and ask you and Abital to postpone your wedding for the sake of a mission, and knowing you’d have done that, I agreed with him. We wanted to let you have that…”

Avery was somewhat taken aback that Jon and Cassandra had excluded them from the mission for the sake of their wedding, having not considered that possibility. Feeling a little guilty that their initial reaction to being excluded was to question the trust between them, Avery changed the subject.

“So things are going to get intense soon?” Avery asked. Jimmy nodded.

“Honestly, we have a plan in place, and all it takes before we set things into motion, is us confirming they are at the Megamart…” Jimmy explained. “Once we know, everyone is under orders to be ready to attack the moment a good opportunity arises…”

Avery considered this, and their own current situation. They remembered how exhausted Violet and Cassandra were after removing the curse from Jarena, and realised the consequences if they were to remove Avery’s curse, only to be called to fight within the next few hours.

“Look, if you are all here on important League business, and might be needing to fight at a moment’s notice,” Avery said. “Don’t worry about me. I don’t want you unprepared for what could be a deathmatch…”

Cassandra grimaced at Avery’s decision. Technically, if Triad had have followed through with their word, Avery would already be back to normal, without knowing about the risk. And because they had forgotten about them, Avery was now the one who was being given the raw end of the deal…

“No, we’ll turn you back to normal…” Cassandra said. “We have four of us here, so it shouldn’t be anything too strenuous. Besides, let’s say we don’t turn you back now, and get killed in the fighting. You’re not stuck like this. You’ll turn into a Keldeo by next week…”

Jarena nodded in agreement, stepping forward to join Cassandra, as Violet and Luneth approached.

“There won’t be a better time than right now,” Jarena agreed. “Let’s do what we said we would…”

Despite meaning every word they had said, Avery was glad that Cassandra had disputed their decision to wait. Though they hoped this wouldn’t be a factor in an unpleasant fate for their friends.

“Alright,” Cassandra said to Violet, Jarena and Luneth. “Let’s get Avery back on their own two feet again. Ready?”

“Roger that…” Jarena said with a determined grin.

“Do it…” Violet confirmed.

“Better now than later,” Luneth agreed.

Whilst Triad had performed it enough times to be able to recite the incantation by heart, Luneth wasn’t as experienced in it, the spell normally requiring multiple people to facilitate the energy cost, and Triad quickly helped her remember the incantation, before they surrounded Avery, and began performing the spell.

Using Avery’s soul as the catalyst to serve as the template for their original form, the transformed lower half of Avery’s body began to melt away, reverting to Avery’s original form, as the curse was purged from their body. After a minute, the spell was complete, with all four participants of the spell feeling slightly short of breath, but knowing it wouldn’t take long before they were at a hundred percent again.

“I think after a little break, we can go take a closer look at the Megamart…” Cassandra said, however heard Avery’s phone buzz in the pocket of their pants which had only just reappeared, prompting Cassandra to wonder what happened to Avery’s phone when their lower half had been transformed…

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

Though Jon had a plan, he didn’t tell Willow immediately after Dylan, Abbee and Glimmer had left. Instead, he had shown Willow to her own quarters, though there was an unspoken rule that she was not to leave until he returned to get her.

“I need to inform my superiors about what you’ve told me. I can only do so much without their approval,” Jon had said as he and Willow walked upstairs towards the sleeping quarters. “After I’ve spoken to them, with their permission, I’ll fill you in on my plan…”

When Jon had told Willow he would show her to her room, she had expected it to be something in a similar vein to her accommodation back at the Megamart. A room that wasn’t a bedroom, but something else with a cot thrown in. She was shocked when he took her to a small bedroom, which seemed far more welcoming than a hotel room. It housed a comfortable looking queen-sized bed, with a flat-screen TV mounted on the wall, above a small unit containing a bluray player and a collection of movies to watch, though Willow doubted anybody here had time to watch a movie. The décor was floral, with a springtime motif in the interior decoration.

Willow couldn’t help but feel appreciative of Jon’s hospitality, giving her a place to stay that was far better than the lowly, beat-up bedroll that Agatha had expected her witches to use. In truth, Willow had only expected to be dealing with that arrangement for a short time, but it seemed indefinite until Agatha had gotten what she wanted. Netherclysm.

“Thank you…” Willow told Jon, not sure how else to show her gratitude. “I appreciate this… a lot. At first I was worried you wouldn’t believe me and I wouldn’t know what to do to keep Latias and I safe, but… I’ll do whatever I can to protect you, Latias, and her brother Latios. You have my word.”

After Jon left, he had made his way towards his own room, before calling Steven to fill him in on Willow’s intel, explaining that he believed her, and filling Steven in on the growing plan that he was hatching. It was nearly a half hour after when he finally ended the call, with Steven on his way, and Steven’s permission to tell Willow of his plan, given her role in it. Before he left his room however, he found a text message from Ford who was scouting the area surrounding the Megamart, having arrived in the early hours of the morning to find a vantage point and blend in, observing the area.

The message itself was a picture, of what looked like a centaur, surrounded by an Eevee, Buneary, Furret, Vulpix and Pikachu, in addition to a man with a Raichu. Upon zooming in on the photo, he recognised the centaur as Avery.

Whilst the only members of Eon Squad that knew Triad’s true identities were himself, Dylan, Abbee, and he presumed Glimmer, he knew that the Eevee, Buneary and Furret weren’t the reason for the message, but Avery the centaur.

Realising he couldn’t fill them in via text like he normally would, Jon instead opened the laptop that sat on the desk in his room, opening the League’s files, and finding that of Avery, where their most recent phone number was listed. He quickly typed the phone number in, before writing up a text.

"Avery, I apologise for keeping my distance, however I had hoped to keep the pair of you from getting caught up in this.

One of my scouts has spotted you and your company, and I have a pretty reasonable idea where you're all heading.

Can you please inform them of the following;

Eon Squad has located a deserter, who has provided the following intel:
-The Megamart is littered with mine-like traps that are fatal. If you are going there, go with extreme caution.
-Endgame is within 48 hours, however they will accelerate it by 24 if they get what they are after. We currently possess it, so they will come for us sooner rather than later.
-Endgame is bad. Apocalypse-level bad.
-Deserter has agreed to help. Using Wrecking-Ball's abilities, among other things, I am certain they are genuine. Will discuss this more later.

I will provide more details when there is a more secure method of doing that. If you still think there is benefit to infiltrating the Megamart, be extremely careful doing so.

Avery, please delete this message as soon as you have passed on the information, though save this number if you need to reach me.
R.J.M (J.D.)"

With the text sent, Jon pocketed his phone before returning to Willow’s room. He knocked on the door, feeling a wave of nostalgia to doing the same thing with the Diamond Ladies four years earlier.

“Come in…” said Willow’s voice. Jon entered to find Willow standing by the side of the bed, which looked like she had been lying in it. Latias floated by the window, looking out, to where Latios floated in the air, invisible, but detectable by his sister, keeping watch.

“My commander is on his way here, and has cleared me to share my plan with you…” Jon explained. “And if it is to work, we will both have a role to play in it…”

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

It was nearing 3pm when Aaron and his scouts walked down the path that led towards Royal Avenue, and from there, towards Heahea City. The power within him was growing, and he knew he couldn’t contain it much longer. He had wanted to make an epic entrance in Heahea City, causing havoc to scare the wits out of Willow and Jon, but knew he had run out of time.

Aaron’s scouts consisted of three witches. Tanya, a short yet stocky female, Cole, a stoic male and Vic, a lanky and scrawny male. Whilst they travelled as a semi-scattered group now, once they reached Heahea City, they would split up, and if either of them spotted Jon or Willow, they would inform Aaron.

However, as they got closer to Royal Avenue, the scouts were silently becoming more and more disturbed by their commander, and his constant twitching and fidgeting, alongside the disturbing smile that seemed to indicate he was going mad, but enjoying the descent.

“Aaron, what’s your deal?” Tanya asked, looking puzzled at him. “You’re acting weird. Is everything alright? You haven’t stopped fidgeting since we left…”

She was right. Aaron had performed the Endkath three hours earlier, knowing the spell took time to really take effect, and figuring that it would give him time to get into Heahea before the true nature of it was really revealed.

“And what’s with those markings on his hands and arms?” Vic asked. “I’ve never seen any spell like that. What is it?”

The markings were dark purple lines that seemed to follow his bone structure, however they had an unnerving glow to them. Aaron simply bowed his head, as his smile widened. He was out of time, and whilst he had an ideal way for this to trigger, if he couldn’t have that, he could at least have some fun with the scouts. It’s not like they’d be much use after the spell actually triggered…

“Sure, I’ll show you…” Aaron said, his voice dark and shadowy, taking the scouts by surprise. “It’s quite a neat trick…”

“Aaron, what the hell?” Cole asked, knowing that was not his normal voice, however Aaron just laughed, as the markings on his body began to lift off, and expand, surrounding him in shadowy tendrils, causing his form to shift.

Aaron began to grow, as his skin shifted colour and his skeleton seemed to distort, shifting in a painful manner. His arms extended, and his hands expanded outwards, forming large, powerful wings, as his spine stretched and thickened dramatically, giving him a long neck and tail, whilst his feet grew to be massive. After a few moments, the scouts saw their leader replaced with what appeared to be a Lugia, though almost eight metres from nose to tail, with dark purple hide, accented by a silver belly and ridges across its spine. It’s eyes glowed red, as they focused on the three scouts.

“Oh my God, Aaron!” Tanya shouted. “What did you do?!”

To him, the name was stupid at this point. A useless reminder of how weak he was before he held the power he now did. One that wasn’t even worth remembering, and didn’t represent how magnificent he had become.

“Hellshriek!” he screamed at them, though they did not understand the screech that he had used to bestow a new, fitting name for himself. Instead, they just saw the demon-like creature in front of them roar.

“What the fu-” Cole began, however didn’t get a chance to finish the sentence. Hellshriek had been holding this power for hours, and this transformation was merely the beginning. There was so much more he wanted to do, and the first was unleashing a Shadow Storm directed at Cole. Had he not been vaporised instantly by the deadly beam of purple shadow energy that struck him directly, he would have suffered far worse than the already lethal burns that Tanya and Vic, who were at least twenty feet from him, suffered from the wave of energy spilling out when it made contact with the ground after vaporising Cole.

The area surrounding it fared no better, with grass and trees that were blasted away from the sheer force. He grinned at the aftermath of the one, simple attack, at this point barely remembering who Agatha was. Why should he? He was the one with power, which meant he should be in control. And the world was simply there for the taking…

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

Avery read the message to those present, and the mood immediately dampened. Whilst spirits were high from Avery being restored to their former self, the fact that if they failed, the end of the world as they knew it would come to pass in less than two days had taken away any sense of accomplishment. One day, if Agatha got what she needed, though, Cassandra knew that the League would hardly let her waltz in and take it from them, whatever it was.

“So what do you think?” Jimmy asked the group. “Is it worth getting any closer for recon? We know they are there, and now, it looks like Jon knows what they’re planning?”

“Maybe we should regroup with the others…” Jarena said, with Luneth silently agreeing with them. Cassandra however looked at the Megamart that was in the distance.

“Honestly, I think we should try and get closer…”

“To what end?” Jarena asked, however Violet was the one to answer.

“She’s right. Our only indicator that we may be getting close to traps is the fact there aren’t any wild Pokemon in that area. But that could just be Ghost Pokemon harassing them into leaving. And our plan to trap them inside their own defences relies on us having a solid idea of where exactly they begin…” Violet answered. “And if we have more star pieces, it would help to have them hidden closer to where we will actually battle…”

“Star pieces?” Avery asked, and Jimmy spoke up.

“Star pieces imbued with Jirachi’s wish energy. Creates a warning of danger, and a telepathic link between whoever has one, and Jirachi. Also allows Jirachi to teleport them to a Wayfinder, or grant wishes in their vicinity,” Jimmy explained, nodding towards the one he wore around his neck. “Jon pointed out that if somebody on the attack team has one, and are killed, it could fall into enemy hands, so we have been hiding them where we think the attack will be, in a way that only our allies can find them…”

Though Jimmy didn’t allude to the argument the evening before, Avery could sense some tension in the silence of the others that seemed to indicate Jon’s pointing out of this concern may have either been less than tactful, taken badly, or both. Granted, remembering their time on the S.S. Wishmaker, being trapped in the room with Jirachi having decided that they’d all turn into Pokemon again as part of Jimmy’s plan, Avery themself was a little apprehensive, though made sure to not make that feeling visible.

“It sounds like a good idea,” Avery said, figuring that Jimmy had four years with Jirachi to train it, and hoping that things had changed. “Our plan was to find the witch who cursed me and stomp them until they changed me back. Granted, that’s now redundant…”

Avery turned to Abital.

“You okay if we tag along?” Avery asked. “It’ll be dangerous, but a small horde of wild Pokemon following someone in a Pokemon Ranger uniform won’t raise as much suspicion as them being on their own…”

Abital considered the question. Whilst he had been irritated that the Diamond Ladies had forgotten to meet with them and heal Avery, he was extremely thankful that despite Avery telling them to wait, they healed them anyway. And if his presence in a ranger uniform would help them achieve their goal, and bring Agatha down, then he was okay with that. He quickly signed a response to Avery, who grinned.

“He says sure, but no ranger uniform is going to stop people looking twice at Jirachi…“ Avery translated, nodding towards Jirachi, who whilst hidden in the bushes, had its head poking out of the front.

With their course of action confirmed, Jimmy distributed more star pieces to those present, as they made their way east, in a scattered group, getting closer to the Megamart.

The next half hour was spent testing the ground ahead for curses, and when they were completely certain it was clear, looking for hiding places for the star pieces. However, their mission was interrupted when they had regrouped, discussing where they thought the traps may begin.

Jimmy had been speaking, when a roar echoed through Royal Avenue, seeming to originate from a wooded area not too far from the Megamart.

“Hellshriek!” the roar said, with all present but Abital understanding. There wasn’t even a moment to question what the sound was, before the ground shook underneath them, and a wave of heat rushed past them, though having cooled enough between its point of origin, and colliding with them that it was merely uncomfortable. This however was concerning, given the distance that it seemed to travel.

“What is that?” Luneth asked, beginning to shake, though before anyone could answer, Jirachi spoke up.

“Over there!” Jirachi called out, pointing to the woods. Emerging from the top of the trees was a large shadow, which only became distinguishable once it was lit by the sunlight.

“Is that a Lugia?” Cassandra asked, however Abital shook his head, before signing.

“If it is, it’s far bigger than normal, and it’s colouring is completely different,” Avery translated.

“Abital’s right,” Violet added. “That may be some sort of mutant Lugia now, but I get the feeling it was created by Shadowcraft…”

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

”I’ve been doing some research,” Miller said on the phone to Dylan, as he, Abbee and Glimmer walked down the main path of Royal Avenue. ”And I have a rough idea of where she has been…”

“Okay, well we have no other leads than Royal Avenue, so fill me in,” Dylan said.

”The security footage of her speaking to you at the pawn shop, and outside the hospital after the attack, and when she spoke to Abbee in the Crown Harbour Hotel’s bar, all had some distortion preventing her face from being recorded. Likely through Shadowcraft. But I figured she wouldn’t be doing that all the time, otherwise it would raise suspicions of her by any underpaid security guard watching CCTV,” Miller explained. ”So I brute forced my way into the Crown Harbour Hotel’s security network, and stole all the footage I could from the hallway outside the room being used by Julia Fletcher…”

“I thought we couldn’t do that?” Dylan asked.

”We couldn’t if we wanted to keep the access we had, but with what you and Jon have told me, we don’t have time to be careful anymore,” Miller explained. ”Anyway, I got found and blocked in a matter of minutes, but managed to steal twenty four hours worth of recorded footage without them knowing exactly what I got, and I discovered something. I was right, she isn’t manipulating security footage all the time, and when she isn’t her appearance isn’t the same as her driver’s licence photo, or you and Abbee’s description of her. She’s using Shadowcraft to alter her appearance when she doesn’t want to be seen, but isn’t hiding it from CCTV…”

“You got a photo to send through?”

”By the time we end this call it will be there. But I ran facial recognition on her disguise, and used that to scan footage from the Pokemon Centre around the times she had healed her Pokemon there, and noticed she always approached it from the west…” Miller continued. ”Additionally, Hano Grand Resort which is south of Royal Avenue, has security cameras all over its property which extend across the beach on the south east corner and a kilometre or two of grassland north, and when I ran the same scan, she didn’t show up…”

“She said under the effect of the spell she isn’t working with Agatha, and Agatha won’t take someone like her lightly. So I doubt Brianna has been at the Megamart…” Dylan considered.

”Exactly,” Miller answered. ”When you take what we now know into account, there isn’t a large area where she could have been going. I’ll send through a map showing where we know she hasn’t been in the last week. Use that, and scour the highlighted area…”

Dylan ended the call, before addressing Abbee and Glimmer. It had taken twenty minutes for their ride to drop them off at the western end of Royal Avenue, and the trio had opted to go on foot, noting that a vehicle may arouse suspicion, and also prove to me an easy target. They had cautiously been heading east on foot, before Miller had called.

“Miller has managed to find the appearance she uses when she is being Julia Fletcher and track some of her movements when she is under that alias,” Dylan explained. “He’s going to send through a map of places he knows she hasn’t been, to narrow down our search…”

“What’re we looking for exactly?” Abbee asked.

“She’s been coming here most nights, and I think it’s because of how much Shadowcraft is being performed. Probably checking how much energy the diamonds have absorbed,” Glimmer explained. “So somewhere where a big diamond can be hidden without being found by some lucky person who kicked a rock out of the way, or a bird Pokemon that saw something shiny…”

Before anything else could be said, all three of them jumped in shock at the sound of a roar in the distance, towards the Megamart.

“What the hell was that?” Dylan said in shock, though Abbee and Glimmer both understood it.

“It said Hellshriek,” Abbee answered. “Whatever it is, I don’t think it’s good…”

The trio stopped in their tracks, looking in the direction the roar came from, as a shadow emerged from the trees near the Abandoned Megamart.

“That’s a Lugia…” Dylan muttered. “So what, they have Giratina, Marshadow, and Lugia?”

“Willow never mentioned a Lugia, and she seemed worried enough about Agatha getting what she wants that she wouldn’t just forget that…” Glimmer said, as Abbee looked in silence, seeing the difference between the Lugia flying into the air in the distance, the Chris’ Lugia. Not merely in size or colour, but sheer aggression, and the power seeming to emulate from it.

“You think Agatha sent that to get Latios and Latias?” Abbee asked, not wanting to be the one to say what they were all thinking.

“Honestly, I-” Dylan began, before noticing something. Hellshriek was flying into the air, but not towards Heahea City. It was flying back towards the Megamart.

Hellshriek was not aware of the audience it had, both in Dylan, Abbee and Glimmer’s group, the group with Triad, and even those who could see it from the abandoned Thrifty Megamart. Any awareness it had of self or others was now gone, as the Endkath reached its natural end. Turning the victim into a machine of pure destruction with no hint of the previous life visible anymore. And with destructive intent at the forefront of Hellshriek’s mind, the Megamart, which had been his home for weeks prior, filled with those he had called comrades, was now simply a giant target, waiting to be destroyed.

Hellshriek roared, before a dark purple orb of shadow energy appeared in it’s maw, discharging as a deadly beam, and hitting the edge of the Thrifty Megamart.

Dylan quickly grabbed his phone, and tapped the contact with Jon’s League-issued phone’s number.

“Jon!” Dylan said, forgoing handles in the rush. “We’re not going to get a better chance than this! We have to mobilise now!”



Dylan Squier, as drawn by johnrielduana.

[[Desolate Divine]]

Likely the last Episode I can do before my camp, but now we are practically where the RP got to, which means I am not relying on source material, and can write much more freely (and hopefully faster and more coherently haha)

But so keen to get to this point, and now keen to write the final battle.

Also, another surprise I've been waiting AGES to share is in there...

[Neo Emolga]

I’m getting there. I know I’ve been slow and I still have Episode 9 and 10 to read, but I should be all caught up soon.

It’s been a blast, love the way you’ve been capturing all the chaos of the RP! I know it’s tough and the RP was a little disjointed at times, but you’ve done a great job putting everything in a sequential and chronological order that makes sense and delivers everything in a fun and exciting way that’s akin to all the great non-RP content that came prior to that. The way you managed to link everything together is AMAZING, I would have had a struggle of a time trying to do that.

But definitely, I love how much everyone has developed in character over time. All the human characters and even the Pokémon characters themselves have such deep backgrounds and their own stories to tell now.

Keep up the great stuff, dude!

[[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

[[Desolate Divine]]

Spiritwater Episode 12: Rise

Spoiler:

Chris slowed the motorbike to a stop, putting it into neutral, before turning the key back in the ignition, and stopping the engine. Before him, a few kilometres outside of the Goldenrod City boundary, was the Johto Regional Medium Security Prison. The area surrounding it was dry, with little plant life outside of some short, stiff grass, and the occasional sounds of Pokemon in the distance.

Chris considered bringing his motorbike helmet in with him, however quickly dismissed the idea. Whilst he didn’t want it stolen from the bike, the prison was not on any main road, and the only people coming here would be people who worked at the prison, or other people visiting. Even if one of them did steal it, there were enough security cameras around to dissuade any potential thieves.

He removed his riding jacket, knowing he’d be asked to remove it for a search anyway, as well as his backpack, leaving them sitting on the seat of the motorbike, though didn’t do the same with his Pokeballs. Whilst he didn’t think his belongings would be stolen, everything he had left on the bike was something he, as much of an inconvenience as it would be, could replace. His Pokemon however, were irreplaceable.

Before he left however, he grabbed a piece of paper from his bag, carrying it with him to the visitors entrance. He stood by the door, before pressing the button for the doorbell. A loud buzz could be heard, and after a minute, a uniformed prison guard arrived, before speaking to him through the perspex window of the door.

“How can I help you?” the guard asked, slightly surprised to see someone as young as Chris at a prison, which whilst wasn’t maximum security, housed people who were still considered dangerous criminals.

“Visiting,” Chris said, before holding the piece of paper up to the window. The guard glossed over his visitation application, and once he believed it was legitimate, opened the door, inviting Chris into a small locked room.

“Before we go any further, I will need to confiscate any Pokemon, before performing a search on you. Then you will be escorted by another guard to the visitors room,” the guard explained. “The Pokemon will be stored in a secure place…”

Chris grimaced a little. The last thing he wanted was to risk his Pokeballs being locked in a safe, and the lock jamming, or electronic lock failing. Though he had another reason for not wanting the Pokeballs placed where they would be under standard protocol.

“I’m fine with handing them over, I get it,” Chris explained. “But could you potentially just hold on to the Pokemon? One of my Pokemon is a Lugia, and I’d feel much more comfortable if it were in reach of someone trustworthy at all times…”

The guard thought this over, as Chris asked another question.

“Is your entire shift in here?” Chris asked, as the guard nodded. “What time does it end?”

“It ends in three hours,” the guard answered and Chris nodded.

“So you won’t have any reason to leave this room,” Chris stated. “There is no risk of them falling into the hands of one of the inmates…”

The guard remained silent, considering it.

“Please, you’d be doing me a massive favour,” Chris pleaded.

Finally, the guard relented, nodding. Chris handed him his belt, which the guard donned.

“If anyone else arrives, I’ll place it in my desk draw in the office,” the guard explained. “But I won’t lock them up.”

“That’s fine,” Chris said, as he outstretched his arms, submitting to a search. Once that was out of the way, and the guard processed Chris’ application, the guard called for another, who entered via a locked door at the end of the room, and escorted Chris through a corridor towards the visitors room.

The voices of prisoners, despite none being in view, were echoing through the halls, as well as the shouts and whistles of the guards in whatever rooms they were in. Finally, Chris found himself in an empty room, with a television on the wall, showing news of what was happening in Alola, consisting of footage from the attack on the Heahea Hospital the day before. Round, metal tables were bolted to the floor, with bench seats mounted to the central leg of their respective tables, and Chris, at his escort's prompting, found a seat at a table, before waiting.

A few minutes later, the door at the end of the room opposite where Chris had entered opened, as a guard walked in followed by Lance. Unlike when Jon visited Lance, he wore no handcuffs or chains. Despite his concerning statement at the hearing for the Eon Academy, Lance had behaved himself the last three years, and as such, was allowed to accept a visit from a family member without any restraints. However, both guards remained at their respective ends of the visiting room.

Lance sat down opposite Chris, and looked at his younger cousin evenly. Despite technically being the same generation in their family, Lance was almost twenty years older than Chris, being the oldest of the cousins, and Chris being the youngest. As such, Lance had much more experience battling, albeit Chris’ abilities had increased dramatically over the last four years, whilst Lance had not been able to battle with any Pokemon in that time. Chris now wondered, given his own growth, and having Lugia in his corner, whether he’d beat Lance in a battle…

“I watched your matches yesterday,” Lance said evenly. “I’m not sure why you settled for a draw. It’s the first match you hadn’t won since you got beaten at Christmas.”

“Well considering I tied against the person who beat me at Christmas, I’d still say it’s an improvement,” Chris retorted.

“Maybe you would have beaten her if you didn’t fall victim to the theatrics…”

Chris couldn’t help but laugh at that statement.

“Fall victim?” Chris asked. “That was the most fun I’d had in months, and I didn’t lose to Charlotte again, so I’d hardly say that makes me a victim.”

Lance went silent, and Chris, despite his laughter at Lance’s comment, was on edge about this whole situation he was in. He had never seen Lance at his worst, prior to his arrest, and at the same time, wasn’t sure how different four years in prison had made him. He decided, with guards at either end of the room, he’d test the former Indigo Champion. However, part of this was a test for himself. Despite butting heads with Jon, he still felt like he couldn’t do that with Lance.

“I mean, Charlotte was forcing ties with Jon at the start of our second year at the Academy, and as of last summer, was able to beat him easiest out of all of us,” Chris said. “Honestly, I think you’d even struggle to beat her…”

Lance’s eyes narrowed on Chris for a moment.

“If you’re not trying to win, don’t waste your time, your opponents time, and your audience's time. Doesn’t matter how much fun you’re having,” Lance answered, his tone matter-of-fact. “That’s why I had Dragonite sent to you. Because it doesn’t deserve to be spending its days in a Pokeball because I’m stuck in here, and having seen your battles this last year, I thought you actually were going to be a trainer worthy of battling alongside it…”

“You mean the same Dragonite that you gave to those thugs to attack the Eon Academy?” Chris asked, as Lance’s expression darkened. “S**t, did you know I was there when you sent them?”

Lance remained silent, so Chris asked another question.

“Hell, why would you want me to take it, considering in the wake of your humiliation, I sought out the person who stopped your plans from happening, and got him to teach me? And then, when his reputation grew, I helped him teach his style of battling to other people, helping his fame grow while you remained here, slowly becoming forgotten…” Chris asked. “Because you think you can manipulate me or something? I know for sure Clair would have sent Dragonite right back if you sent it to her…”

Chris’ own eyes narrowed, as he said what was truly on his mind. The reason he didn’t want the guard to put his Pokemon into the standard storage location, but hold the Pokemon himself.

“Or did you do it, hoping I’d be stupid enough to bring Dragonite here, and you’d be able to get a hold of it, and break out?”

Lance locked eyes with Chris, speaking with a dangerous calm.

“Dragonite belongs with me, first and foremost. Nobody can argue that. I captured it as a Dratini. I spent months trying to find one, and I raised it to be one of the strongest Pokemon in Kanto. Stronger than even Legendary Pokemon. Dragonite belongs with me…” Lance answered. “But I’ve spent four years here, and have another eight before I’d even be considered for parole. I’m not that damn proud that I’d make Dragonite wait that long to actually have a life…”

This surprised Chris, having known Lance’s downfall was in his pride.

“What about your other Pokemon? Aerodactyl, Charizard, Gyarados and your other Dragonite?”

“They’re with other associates. I split them up. I didn’t want to give more than one to a given person, and have them benefit from the work I put in to raising the Pokemon,” Lance answered. “And I reserved Dragonite for you, because you’re already strong enough that taking on Dragonite isn’t going to get you recognition you haven’t earnt…”

“You really think that?” Chris asked, shocked at Lance’s praise. Lance looked at Chris evenly.

“As much as I hate the guy, Jon’s taught you well. All of you. I got permission to see the recordings of your battles last year, against the College of the North Wind,” Lance explained. “I’m not that blinded by my opinions of him that I’d deny any skill you have…”

Before Chris could answer, his attention was pulled to the TV, where on screen, Giratina was battling what looked like a Lugia, albeit far larger than his with black hide and purple scales.

”6pm local time: Giratina battles Lugia shadow monster.”

“S**t…” Chris muttered to himself as he watched Giratina slowly get the upper hand.

“Typical,” Lance muttered. “Rayquaza doesn’t show when I’m recruited to battle it, but Jon happens to be there and catches it when it appears to fight Giratina…”

Chris said nothing, not wanting to risk giving away the fact Jon had captured Rayquaza three and a half years earlier, as Lance continued.

“I’d bet anything that he’s there working for the League,” Lance continued. “He of all people happens to be there when there is some group of witches attacking everyone. Coincidence, my a**...”

“He is,” Chris said quietly. “And I’ll be going there to help him tonight…”

Lance smirked, and Chris couldn’t help but see the patronising gleam in Lance’s eyes.

“Your Lugia is strong,” Lance said. “But against that, Lugia would come off second best…”

“I’m not going alone,” Chris answered. “And between the three of us, we might be able to help shift this.”

Lance smirked, however Chris couldn’t help but notice the guard standing by the door where Lance had entered from, jolt upright, seeing something at the door at the other end of the room.

“Well, this is convenient…” said a voice from behind him. “You can’t bring your Pokemon here, which makes our job easy.”

”We have a 2319-,” the guard Chris had noticed tried to say into his radio, before being hit by a spectral projectile, causing him to convulse on the ground. Lance was already looking up at the figure entering the room, and Chris turned to face the new arrivals. By the door where he, and they had entered, the other guard lay face down on the ground, with a blade sticking from his neck. Chris went to stand, however the person who spoke muttered an incantation, as another spell appeared ready at his hands.

“We need to take you alive, but if it’s easier to just knock you out, we will,” he said, as he entered the room properly, being followed by three more people. All of them wore hooded cloaks, which despite looking ridiculous in twenty first century Johto summer, concealed most identifying features of their face. He turned to one of his companions, and nodded to the door by the convulsing guard. “Seal it…”

One of the witches walked past Chris and Lance, muttering an incantation, and placing a hand on the door, locking it with Shadowcraft.

“Now this actually works out quite well…”

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

Dylan and Abbee stepped inside the shack, which was dark, with no windows, and the only natural light coming in from the door behind them. Victini, who sat on Abbee’s shoulder, hopped down, and walked around on his own feet, as Abbee and Dylan turned on the torches of their phones.

The shack itself seemed to be from a previous era. In two corners were a pair of cots, though both had their mattresses and blankets rotted through and eaten by bugs. There was a small fireplace, though given Alola still had relatively warm winters, Dylan wondered who would actually light it, though realised when he saw the pot hanging on a beam over it that it was likely for cooking. The floor itself wasn’t surfaced, instead consisting of hard stone, with various small rocks scattered across it.

“I think it’s an old rest stop,” Abbee explained. “For people travelling across the island, before Royal Avenue and Heahea City were developed.”

Dylan nodded, and began looking around.

“We’re looking for a diamond, and it’ll be a big one,” Dylan explained. “We start in the obvious places, then start getting creative. Tapping on wall panels and stuff. Looking for cavities in the furniture…”

Abbee nodded, and the trio began to search the cabin, however considering how simple and bare it was, the few viable hiding places were found, searched, and exhausted quickly. They spent more than the five minutes Dylan had asked for searching, and when it reached ten, Abbee finally spoke up.

“Dylan, I think we might be wasting time here,” Abbee said. Dylan shook his head.

“Why would Brianna go to the lengths she has to lock this place up if she hasn’t hidden anything here?” Dylan asked, and Abbee nodded.

“I agree, she probably has,” Abbee answered. “But think about it. She knows just as much about Shadowcraft as Agatha, potentially more. If she were going to hide something, don’t you think she’d hide it with Shadowcraft so that we have a snowflake’s chance in hell of finding it?”

“Then we keep searching,” Dylan said, refusing to let this be the end. He knew they were close, and didn’t want to beat Agatha, only to have Brianna become a bigger problem, because he gave up too quickly. “She’s a witch, sure, but she isn’t omniscient. The best she could do is make it invisible, which means it's still here…”

Abbee grimaced at Dylan’s obsession with beating Brianna, and knew she had to snap him out of this.

“Who’re Eon Squad’s strongest battlers?” Abbee asked.

“Jon,” Dylan answered simply, not looking up. “Then us…”

“Eon Squad are forming the front line, with Jon likely putting himself in a heap of danger,” Abbee said. “And while he’s doing that, we’re wasting time searching an empty cabin…”

“Abbee-”

“What if one of our squadmates is killed?” Abbee asked Dylan, her tone intensifying. “Do you want that on your conscience? Or on Jon’s? Or what if Jon is killed, because we weren’t there to have his back? Do you want to be the one to tell Alyssa her husband died because we were chasing another lead? Or tell Lili that her dad is gone? I can tell you first hand, nothing is worse than hearing that…”

Dylan faced Abbee, though remained silent.

“We don’t know that Brianna is an immediate threat. We do know that Agatha is,” Abbee said, calming down slightly. “And we know that we have an opportunity to stop Agatha, and we aren’t there making the most of it. We need to go…”

Dylan sighed, and at this point Abbee knew she had broken through to him. However, the victory was lost, when she saw a shadow cross Dylan, as someone stepped into the doorway behind her, blocking the sunlight from outside.

Dylan looked up, and saw over Abbee’s shoulder, standing in the doorway of the shack, Brianna Levine.

“You really should have just listened to her, Dylan,” Brianna said coldly. “You were right though. Agatha might be close to her goals, but I’m closer to mine. And you had no chance of stopping me, but now I can’t let you escape. So you really should have just listened to her…”

Victini moved between Abbee and Brianna and growled, however Brianna simply grinned, flicking her wrist towards Victini as a pale blue light launched from it, striking the ground a matter of inches from his feet, and causing it to freeze. Victini looked up at Brianna, then to Abbee and Dylan.

Dylan held eye contact with Victini for a moment, and Victini understood what he was wanting. He began listening in to Dylan’s thoughts.

”Tell Darkrai to wait for my signal…”

“Lucky for you, right now, I just want to talk,” Brianna said. “I’ve had to keep this plan a secret for a long time, and it is so liberating to finally be able to share it with someone, without worrying about them getting in the way…”

Dylan scowled as Brianna with a mocking grin, gestured to Abbee and Victini to step back. Silently, she raised her hand, and beneath Abbee’s feet, eight pebbles that had been scattered randomly on the floor began to rise.

“Are these the diamonds?” Dylan asked. Brianna shook her head.

“The diamonds are scattered all over the island,” she said, before snapping her fingers, and causing each of the eight stones to float in its respective place, glowing based on the amount of energy stored in each of their corresponding diamonds. “These just allow me to see how much energy each of them has stored. And thanks to your little war with that old hag, I only need two of them…”

Abbee looked to see two diamonds glowing much brighter. The one corresponding to the diamond in the vicinity of the Megamart, and the one close to Heahea City. All the others seemed dim in comparison.

“And the one from Heahea City, I already have collected,” Brianna said, before withdrawing a small stone from her pocket. She held it up to the sunlight that was pouring through the open door, which reflected off and refracted through the large diamond. “Now all I need to do is collect the one from near the Megamart when it isn’t crawling with creeps and your people, and I can perform the spell…”

“What spell?” Abbee asked, as Brianna grinned.

“Opening a gateway to another world, and bringing a being into this one, under the control of myself, and myself only…” Brianna answered. “Necrozma, devourer of all light…”

Brianna ended the spell, causing the pebbles to drop to the ground, and Abbee to jump in alarm at the sudden movement. Brianna giggled at the sight, before walking outside.

“Come, I have something I want to show you…”

Brianna exited the cabin, and giving Abbee a nod, Dylan followed her, Abbee and Victini behind him. As he walked out, and knew Brianna couldn’t see him, he quickly slipped a Pokeball off his belt, holding it in his curled fist, and doing everything he could to not draw attention to it.

“What do you want to show us?” Dylan asked, although not in the mood for Brianna’s monologuing, curious to know more of her plans, and thankful for the time it bought, since it was becoming obvious that she would dispose of them when she grew bored.

Brianna grinned before gesturing to Giratina and its opponent, who it had taken the upper hand over during their fight, though still battled ferociously to maintain that.

“After devouring enough light, Necrozma would end this battle with no hesitation, and no struggle,” Brianna explained. “Beyond that, our world can’t function without light. The plants that provide oxygen need it to grow. Even our own bodies use it as a source for vitamins. Then there are all the other things we use light for. Imagine a road at night, with no headlights, streetlights, or even moonlight. Pitch black darkness…”

“You want to take away the light of the world?” Abbee asked shocked.

“I don’t want to take it away. I want to control it,” Brianna answered. “If one being could control the light the world has access to, the way people control access to food, water, medicine, they’d be the most powerful person to ever live. And with the energy stored in this diamond, and the one I’ve hidden near that geriatric b***h’s hovel, I’ll have enough to summon Necrozma, end this battle, and control all…”

“See, I don’t like that idea…”

The voice was a new one, that seemed to have Brianna taken by surprise. All three turned around to find twelve hooded figures emerging from either side of the shack.

“S**t…” Dylan muttered to himself, as he realised just how dangerous of a situation they were actually in.

Brianna looked across the group of newcomers for a second, before regaining her composure.

“I should have known she’d still have underlings in Heahea City…” Brianna muttered. The leader of the group of witches grinned.

“We came back not expecting to see our base of operations half destroyed, and Giratina trying to kill whatever the hell that thing is,” the witch said, as his smile widened. “And as we came back, wondering whether there was anything we could do to even help at this point, we overhear some cocky b***h monologuing, and basically handing us our golden ticket on a silver platter…”

The twelve witches began to move around their prey, surrounding them. Dylan looked down at Victini, who, once he had noticed Dylan’s gaze, tuned in to his thoughts again.

”When I move, tell Darkrai to hit the one closest to me, and Abbee to follow me…”

“So here’s what’s going to happen,” the leader of the returning raid party said to Brianna, before walking up to her. “I’m going to kill whatever the hell that thing fighting Giratina is. And I’m going to use the energy in that little diamond of yours to do it. Whether you hand it over now, or I take it from your lifeless corpse…”

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

“You idiot!” Agatha screeched at Nicodemus, as the ground rumbled from another stray attack hitting the Megamart. “The Netherlink is on the cusp of completion, and now we have a demon trying to collapse this place on it!”

Agatha struck Nicodemus across the head, hitting with the palm of her hand across his head, and staggering him.

“I’m sorry! He offered to transform himself to lure Latios and Jon Drake out!” Nicodemus apologised. “How was I supposed to know that he’d lose his senses?”

“Did you honestly think that he’d keep them if he held nothing else of his previous form?!” Agatha yelled, hitting Nicodemus again. “I should smite you here and now for disobeying orders!”

“Please forgive me!” Nicodemus pleaded, falling to his knees. “I’ll do whatever you ask, to the letter! Just let me make this up to you.”

Agatha sneed before kicking the kneeling figure.

“You’re lucky you have a use to me…” Agatha said, before looking in the direction where Giratina and Hellshriek were battling. “I need to protect the Netherlink, and I can’t have Giratina getting maimed or killed in this battle. You go and help it dispose of your mistake…”

Nicodemus’ eyes widened at the thought of getting close enough to either of the rampaging Pokemon to help. He looked up at Agatha, who thankfully had stopped hitting him.

“Surely you’d be more effective supporting Giratina?” Nicodemus suggested. “You stopped Rayquaza yesterday and-”

“We risk losing the Netherlink because of your mistake!” Agatha screeched. “Do you expect me to trust someone else to maintain it when the building is falling down around us?”

“No…” Nicodemus replied quietly.

“Then stop wasting my time and go,” Agatha said coldly, as Nicodemus rushed to his feet, before Agatha could change her mind about being so gracious with him.

The pair stood in an office at the front of the building, which in its previous life, was an employee break room. Nicodemus had ran for the front door of the Megamart, as Agatha made her way through the massive store itself to the large doors at the back which led to the warehouse, which housed the various offices on the outskirts. The large room was relatively empty, with most people who had been on the premises now outside, watching the battle between Hellshriek and Giratina.

As she walked through the large aisle between two racks, Agatha saw three hooded figures walk past the end of the aisle, before noticing her, and stopping.

“Get out of my way,” Agatha said coldly. “I’m not in the mood to have my time wasted…”

To Agatha’s surprise, none of the hooded figures spoke, and instead, a Buneary and Furret stepped out from behind them, staring Agatha down directly. Confused, Agatha didn’t have time to speak, before hearing the cry of a Pokemon from the other end of the aisle, behind her. An Eevee.

Shocked, she watched in disbelief, as in a flash of light, the three Pokemon shifted forms, turning human, and staring her down as they had her trapped. However, after the initial shock at what she saw wore off, she realised there was something familiar about the three Pokemon turned human. It wasn’t until she thought about their Pokemon forms that she realised.

“The Diamond Ladies…” Agatha muttered in disbelief. “As far as the world is concerned, you three are dead…”

“We know. We kinda planned that,” Jarena said casually. “Actually really liked it too…”

“Until some old hag started rallying people here…” Violet added. “Had to come out of retirement, which sucked…”

Cassandra looked at Agatha from where she stood blocking her escape via the route she came, and looked past Avery, Abital and Jimmy where they stood wearing their cloaks, to see a door at the end of the warehouse.

“She was heading for that door,” Cassandra called out. “You guys go see what’s there. We’ll take care of her…”

Cassandra forced the confidence into her voice, for Violet and Jarena’s sake, but also her own. Honestly, she didn’t know that they could beat Agatha, but wasn’t going to admit defeat just yet.

“Agatha,” Cassandra called out, and the woman who appeared to be at least five years younger than her, but she knew was old enough to be her great grandmother. “We’ve got a score to settle…”

Jimmy, Avery, Abital and Luneth, made their way towards the door Cassandra had referenced.

“Do we know for sure she was going this way?” Jimmy asked, however Jirachi answered the question.

“I don’t know what it is, but something bad is down here, Jimmy…” Jirachi answered. “I don’t think she’d be going anywhere else…”

“Whatever is in there, Luneth and Jirachi are the best bet at dealing with it, right?” Avery asked, and Jimmy nodded in agreement. “Then in that case, we find whatever this is, and make sure it’s safe to leave Luneth and Jirachi with. Then the three of us go back out there…”

Luneth looked up at Avery, who noticed the questioning look and explained.

“Most of the witches are outside watching the fight, but Giratina is getting the upper hand, and if things get hairy between the Diamond Ladies and Agatha, the moment they hear a fight starting, they will have them surrounded, and you two as well,” Avery explained. “So once we know you’re safe enough working on undoing whatever it is Agatha has been working towards, we’re going out there and forming a defensive line…”

Abital nodded in agreement, remaining silent. Whilst he wanted to verbalise his agreement, he knew that the only person who could likely understand sign language was his spouse, and right now, didn’t want to occupy them as interpreter for, relatively speaking, small dialogue. Avery would have enough on their mind when things got more intense, without interpreting for Abital.

They reached what looked to be a large meeting room, with various doors on all the walls.

“Right,” Jirachi said. “I can feel it coming from the right…”

Following Jirachi’s instructions, they entered a large office, where a middle aged witch had her back turned to them, staring at what appeared to be a huge vortex of swirling grey clouds that sat above the desk.

“My Lady!” Gail called out, not having turned around, and knowing Agatha and a select few were the only ones allowed in here. “What’s going on out there?”

Abital grabbed Meir’s Pokeball, quickly activating it, as the Raichu materialised on the ground in front of him. Hearing the noise, Gail turned, realising it wasn’t Agatha who had entered the room, and began an incantation.

Abital tapped his foot on the floor twice in quick succession, and Meir, well trained for non-verbal commands, leapt forward, crying out as its large tail gleamed a steely silver, before striking at Gail in the stomach.

Having battled against humans before, when Abital had dealt with poachers on the job, the attack was not hard enough to do any lasting damage, but simply knock the wind out of Gail, which for a witch relying on verbal incantations, was devastating mid spell. She gasped for breath, as Abital leapt forward, slamming his shoulder into her, knocking her to the ground. Before she could regain her footing, he rolled her onto her stomach, using one knee to hold down one hand, and one of his own hands to hold her own behind his back. Using one hand, he attempted to sign rope, which Avery understood.

“Lucky,” Avery said, having heard the codename during their trip here. “I could use some rope. And some tape too.”

Jimmy was thankful that despite being abandoned, the shelves in the warehouse of the Megamart still seemed to contain various products, and as such, instead of producing the items, Jirachi should be able to teleport them from somewhere nearby.

A coil of rope appeared in front of Avery, floating in the air, as well as some tape, which they grabbed, helping to bind Gail, placing her against the far wall where they tied her to a pipe for the small heating unit on the wall.

With Gail out of the way, all present stood around the growing vortex, which already extended to the high ceiling, and seemed to be wanting to grow further. On the table were various items, which Luneth deduced to be reagents for the spell.

“What the hell is this thing?” Jimmy asked.

“It’s called the Netherlink…”

Jimmy turned, readying Pikachu’s Pokeball, and was surprised to see someone standing in the doorway, short of breath, that he vaguely recognised. It wasn’t until Luneth cried out that he remembered.

“Glimmer!” Luneth said. “Thank God you’re here! But what’s the Netherlink?”

“The portal to the plane that is the source of all Shadowcraft,” Glimmer explained, catching her breath. “That Agatha means to use to control the energy of the void, and saturate all in this world with it, making her effectively a god…”

Avery looked between Luneth and Glimmer, and Jimmy.

“We can’t do anymore here,” Avery said to Jimmy, as Jirachi floated out of Jimmy’s hood. “Let’s go keep the Diamond Ladies’ backs clear…”

Not comfortable with leaving Jirachi with this Netherlink though knowing Avery was right, Jimmy nodded. He looked to Jirachi.

“Keep me in the loop with everything that happens,” Jimmy said to Jirachi, who despite their circumstances, grinned.

“Do I ever not?”

Jimmy nodded, before following Avery and Abital out the way they came. They exited through the door Cassandra had pointed out initially, and in the distance, could see that the Diamond Ladies were still talking to Agatha.

“There are three entrances to this warehouse,” Jimmy said, having looked over the plans that morning with Triad and Luneth. “The entrance from the actual store, the roller door which was closed when we got here, and now, the hole in the side of the building from the two Pokemon fighting out there…”

The entrance to the store was to the south, with the freshly made entrance to the warehouse to the north west, and the closed roller door to the north, near the hole in the wall. Avery nodded in agreement.

“There’s a line where there aren’t too many shelves, probably where the trucks could park and be unloaded, lined up with the roller door,” Avery explained, as Jimmy and Abital remembered seeing it as they walked in the warehouse. “That’s our defensive line. I’ll handle the southern part of that, and stop anyone sneaking in through the store itself. Jimmy, you stay in the northern part, and cover anyone using that hole to get in. That way you’re near Jirachi if you need to go. And Abital, you handle the centre, and give hell to anyone who tries to slip past the two of us…”

Jimmy looked at Abital, noticing he only carried one Pokeball, that of Meir, who was currently beside him.

“Can Abital handle the centre part with just one Pokemon?” Jimmy asked. Abital grinned, before signing a quick response, which Avery translated with a grin.

“He says you aren’t the only one with tricks up your sleeve...”

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

“Of all people to betray their own kind, I didn’t think it would be you three…” Agatha sneered. “I knew the League had traitors working amongst them, but why would you three side with them?”

Agatha, now that she realised just who had betrayed her cause from the very beginning, grew furious, even forgetting about the Netherlink she had been so intent on protecting a few moments earlier.

“Why would you side with the League, when their poster-boy tried to kill you? When they took away all that you had worked so hard to earn?!” Agatha yelled bitterly. “Why risk your own necks for a world that rejected you, to the point where your only option was faking your own deaths?!”

“To show them they were wrong about us,” Cassandra said firmly, though surprising herself with that statement, and even surprising Violet and Jarena as well. Whilst she didn’t necessarily hold a deep grudge against the world that rejected them like Agatha expected them to, she had simply grown to not care about that anymore. She had been content being separated from the world, living a peaceful life away from it all in the Starglade. Yet, when asked, and answered the way she had, she had only just realised maybe she did want to be a part of it all again.

“And to keep you from turning those who practise Shadowcraft without hurting people into the enemy!” Violet accused. “You ask these questions like you have some sort of sympathy for us? All of this is about yourself! It always has been! And you’d happily demonise every Shadowcraft user, after we’ve already given them a bad reputation, just for your own twisted means…”

“We’ve seen what Shadowcraft does to people. What it did to us. We were willing to trample whoever we had to to keep our fame and fortune. And looking back, it was all worthless,” Jarena added. “So what, when we hear of some old bag promising power to any Shadowcraft wielders who help her, you think we’d just do nothing? You're losing your senses Agatha!”

Agatha glared at the three of them, looking between Cassandra on one side, and Violet and Jarena on the other, finally settling her gaze on Cassandra, seeing her on her own and judging her to be the weakest link.

“When we lost it all, somebody had faith in us that we could own our mistakes, grow from them, and rise above them,” Cassandra said, her gaze locked with Agatha. “I didn’t believe him completely, and until now, I still didn’t. Own them, sure, grow from them, definitely. But actually rise above them?”

Cassandra couldn’t help but smirk. If a time traveller had gone back to when she was at her lowest, on the S.S. Wishmaker, and told her back then about this last week; saving people from various curses, fighting off evil witches who tried to hurt people for the fun of it, and now going toe to toe with the one at the head of it all, with the fate of the world resting on this, she’d have never believed it in a million years…

She knew she was getting ahead of herself, however, couldn’t deny the faith in herself and her two dearest friends that was growing as she said this.

“Today, the Diamond Ladies rise above their past! Nobody will be able to condemn us and have a leg to stand on,” Cassandra shouted. “And we do that by stopping you!”

Agatha grinned menacingly at Cassandra, despite her passionate words.

“It’s your funeral…”

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

“S**t…” Justin muttered, as he unclipped a Pokeball from his belt. The pair had found Chris’ motorbike parked out the front of Johto Regional Medium Security Prison, and gone to the visitors entrance, to find the door slightly ajar. Upon closer inspection, it was held open by a security guard, who lay dead on the ground.

“They probably pretended to be visiting, and once he opened the door…” Charlotte said, trying not to look at the mutilated corpse. It was unrecognisable of ever being human, appearing charred and melted. It still seemed to sizzle, indicating whatever spell they had used, it was only used recently. She had never seen a cadaver before, nor had Justin. Though Jon had killed the leader of the poachers that attacked them at the Whirl Islands, it was inside the boat, and he had made sure none of them saw it, though knew exactly how he had died, and the state he was in.

“Should we call the police?” Justin asked, though Charlotte grimaced.

“Even if we do, they’ll take too long,” Charlotte said, looking at the footsteps in the dusty path towards the door. “People have entered but they haven’t exited. There are no recent footprints leaving this door…”

“And they want Chris alive,” Justin added, to which Charlotte nodded in agreement.

“So they’re still in there,” Charlotte answered. “Though they’ll have no issue hurting him if he doesn’t come willingly. And he won’t…”

The pair stepped over the mutilated security guard, walking into the front room. To their left was a small office, and the main room itself had various posters on the wall.

’All visitors must surrender any Pokemon and personal belongings, before submitting to a body search, before visiting.’

“He won’t be putting up much of a fight…” Justin said morbidly, nodding to the poster. Charlotte saw it, before realising something.

“They wouldn’t have taken his Pokemon out of this room,” Charlotte said, looking to the small office on the side. She turned the handle on the door, and thanked whatever deity was watching over her that it hadn’t been locked. She didn’t particularly want to pat down the corpse of the prison guard.

“In here,” she said, walking through the door, and seeing a large, old looking safe at the other end of the room, which she determined would be where they store the Pokeballs of visitors. However, the safe didn’t seem to be closed. Justin entered the room, as she walked over to it, opening it and revealing it was empty.

“You don’t think they got his Pokemon do you?” Justin asked, however Charlotte looked once again at the safe.

“It doesn’t seem to have been broken into,” she said, before attempting to turn the dial on the front. It was hard to move, though it began to spin freely after a few attempts. “And the dial was stiff, which means it hasn’t been turned recently, because once I got it turning, it came loose…”

“So either, he took them with him, which is almost impossible,” Justin deduced. “Or the guard didn’t lock them up, which means they’re either here, or with them…”

Charlotte nodded, before looking to the desk, where a small TV sat on it. She approached it, before turning it on, and realising she was watching the CCTV feed from the visiting room. Chris and Lance sat at a table, with two hooded figures on either side of them.

“Look,” Charlotte said, calling Justin over, who quickly realised what they were watching.

After a moment, Charlotte began searching the room, whilst Justin grabbed the phone on the desk, dialling emergency services and asking for the police. Whilst they would take their time, it meant that he and Charlotte simply had to stall until they arrived.

“We’re at the Johto Regional Prison, just outside of Goldenrod,” Justin explained. “There has been a break in, and the visitation guard is dead. The attackers are holding those in the visitors room hostage, and will be attempting to abduct them. Send help immediately!”

Knowing that the operator would be telling them not to get involved, Justin left the phone hanging from its cradle, before helping Charlotte search the office, despite the protests of the operator calling out from the hanging handset.

Opening a drawer in a filing cabinet on the side of the room containing various pieces of paper, Charlotte heard a rolling sound, and quickly lifted some of the stacks of paper aside, revealing a familiar belt with six Pokeballs.

“Found it!” Charlotte said. “Come on…”

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

The sun was close to starting to set, as Jon and Willow arrived on Jon’s motorbike, having broken every single speed limit in place crossing the island. Latios and Latias had flown above the pair, as they sped through Heahea City, though with Eon Squad HQ being on the northern edge of Heahea City, with no direct route out of the city except down Main Street, it had taken them over an hour and a half to arrive. What they saw however, was shocking.

Both bloodied, Giratina and Hellshriek continued to fight, having decimated the landscape in their battle, as some of Agatha’s braver followers attempted to support Giratina in the battle.

“I don’t see Marshadow,” Willow noted, as she glanced over the battle. Jon nodded.

“She doesn’t know for sure we know about Marshadow yet,” Jon answered. “And it looks like Giratina is handling whatever the hell that thing is…”

Jon’s first thought was that it was some sort of Lugia, but the size and colour of it quickly dispelled that theory.

“It’s nothing natural,” Willow answered. “Some sort of sick creation of Shadowcraft…”

Jon nodded, before turning off the bike’s engine, and dismounting. Willow looked at him in some shock.

“Why are we stopping here?” Willow asked. “Every second we waste, is time that Agatha has to complete the Netherlink?”

“You said yourself that without Latios and Latias, she’d need two days. Even with them, still a day,” Jon answered. “Meanwhile, that Lugia thing is wearing down Giratina before I even step in the ring…”

“So you’re waiting for Giratina to beat it?”

“Not just that,” Jon answered, as he looked around. “I need to communicate with my allies who I believe are close to the Megamart, if not inside already. Last time I sent Rayquaza, it almost beat Giratina until Agatha got involved. I need to know that Agatha is preoccupied before we send in Rayquaza, otherwise she’ll just rock up and tip the scales…”

Willow nodded in understanding, as she dismounted the bike, removing her helmet. She was also all for this idea. If Agatha was preoccupied in whatever fight she found herself in, Willow fighting on the front lines became significantly less, albeit still, dangerous. Whilst she had no doubt she could handle Nicodemus herself, Agatha was on a whole other level.

“So how do we communicate with them?”

“They left something here,” Jon explained. “Something that I can use to communicate with them. If you can find it, I’ll tell you what it is…”

Jon knew Triad’s plan was to hide the star pieces, using markers only visible to those working directly against Agatha to reveal their location to any allies. If Willow could see the marker, Jon could say for sure she was safe, and reveal more.

“I got a message from one of my scouts before, who is currently getting into position closer to the Megamart to attack when the rest of the force arrived, with a photo of these allies at this very place,” Jon explained. “They were here, and they would have hidden them nearby…”

Understanding why Jon was being vague, but wishing he didn’t have to be, Willow nodded.

“You take the north side of the path, I’ll take the south,” Willow said, as Jon nodded in agreement, shocked that his partner in this final battle was none other than one of Agatha’s former lieutenants.

The sun lowered in the sky, as both trainers scoured their areas, Jon knowing what to look for, and telling Willow she will know for sure when she sees it. He honestly hoped she’d be the one to find it. Even if he did, and was able to communicate with the others, he’d still have that nagging suspicion about Willow, and didn’t want that sort of distraction, especially given his plan.

“I have no clue what we’re looking for…” Willow said to Latias after forty-five minutes of searching. “He talks about it like it's some sort of radio…”

“I doubt it is something that simple,” Latias responded telepathically, as she floated invisibly above Willow. “Maybe Shadowcraft you didn’t think possible? They have people who were removing curses all week at the hospital?”

Before Willow could respond however, she heard a familiar voice that sent chills down her spine.

“So the traitor returns…”

Willow turned to see the Gengar that had pestered her the evening before when she attempted to leave the Megamart. She glared at the Pokemon, who continued to hold its unnerving grin.

”I’ll deal with it…” Latias said.

”Don’t,” Willow answered. ”It doesn’t know for sure you’re here, and Gengar will be too difficult for you to stop…”

“I didn’t realise I had such a dedicated fan,” Willow said to Gengar with a patronising tone. Despite being annoyed by the comment, Gengar’s smile only widened.

“I’d say quite the opposite. Agatha was furious when she found out about what you did to Boris…” Gengar answered. “Fooling her, and wasting her time like that just added to the fury of your betrayal…”

“And you’re here to bring me back?” Willow asked, with audible contempt.

“Alive or dead, it doesn’t matter, as long as I bring back Latias…” Gengar answered. “And I think killing you would be enough to get her out of hiding…”

Willow responded by grabbing one of her Pokeballs, and sending out her Sableye. The Pokemon materialised, and sneered at Gengar.

“You really think that your Sableye would beat a Championship Pokemon?” Gengar asked.

“Agatha was a Championship trainer,” Willow retorted. “That doesn’t make you a Championship Pokemon…”

For the first time, Gengar’s grin turned to a scowl, and knowing she had rattled it, Willow gave her first command.

“Sableye, Imprison!”

Ever since considering leaving Agatha, Willow had been planning how she’d fight if she got caught. Not wanting to risk Latias in a situation like this, she’d come up with a quick plan that would give her an edge, and hoped her taunts to Gengar were right. She knew Agatha too well to believe she’d have let Gengar battle any way but exactly what she ordered. Now, Gengar would pay for it, battling without Agatha by it’s side.

Gengar had attempted to use Shadow Ball, however given Sableye’s Prankster Ability, Imprison had activated first, allowing Sableye to prevent Gengar using any moves that both Pokemon knew. And considering they were both Ghost Type Pokemon, that overlap was substantial.

“Now Sucker Punch!” Willow ordered, as Sableye rushed forward in a heartbeat, striking Gengar with its claws, before Gengar retaliated, this time with Sludge Bomb, as few of its Ghost Type attacks were working. Sableye took the hit, though shook the brunt of it off, as Gengar leapt forward, striking Sableye with Shadow Punch. However, this was exactly what Willow had planned. She had intentionally had Sableye get in first, to put Gengar on the offensive, and discourage it from using any status moves such as Spite.

“Payback!” Willow called out, as Sableye, now shaky on its feet, leapt forward, striking Gengar even harder considering the damage it had taken from Gengar immediately prior. The attack struck home, as Gengar was thrown back, and knocked unconscious.

”Nice work…” Latias noted.

”No time for that now,” Willow replied. ”If Gengar is here, others won’t be far away…”

Willow called Sableye back, before continuing her search, growing frustrated at what she couldn’t find.

”Willow, what’s that?” Latias called out telepathically. ”To the right…”

To the right, the trees became a little more dense, however in the fading daylight, Latias had seen a white streak of light contrasting with the darkening trees. Willow turned, seeing it, and knowing whatever it was, wasn’t natural.

“He said we’d know it when we saw it…” Willow said, albeit in a tone that anyone overhearing could assume meant she was talking to herself. She walked towards the streak of light, and as she got past the obstacles blocking her direct view of it, realised that it was an arrow and writing, written in white light that floated in the air.

”For our allies…”

Willow followed the arrow, looking at a small, messy pile of rocks that looked to have been placed naturally, and began pulling it apart, finding inside a red star piece. The moment she touched it, she felt a sensation in her mind, which immediately disappeared, like a phone being hung up.

“I think this is it…” Willow said. “Let’s get it back to Jon…”

It was after 7pm when Willow returned to the motorbike, where Jon had returned a few minutes earlier. The battle between Hellshriek and Giratina was slowing down, though Giratina seemed to have been restored by those present, using Shadowcraft to replenish its energy, and Hellshriek being on the fringe of collapse, and as such, battling more desperately and ferociously.

“I had no luck,” Jon said, his tone evident that he wasn’t thrilled about it. “What about you?”

Willow opened her palm, revealing the red stone.

“What is this?”

“Without going into secrets that aren’t mine to share, this stone was imbued with the power of an extremely powerful Pokemon, and allows some of its power to be used by the person holding it,” Jon explained. “Including telepathic contact with this Pokemon…”

“I felt something when I picked it up, but it got cut off…” Willow answered and Jon nodded.

“It probably didn’t know who you were,” Jon answered, taking the stone. “But it’ll know me, and I need its help…”

Jon held the stone in his palm, and felt a similar sensation to Latios’ own telepathy, albeit slightly different. Despite having not heard Jirachi, the sensation was almost like a different voice.

”Jirachi, it’s me,” Jon said. ”We’re here to fight, but we need your help…”


Justin Collins as drawn by johnrielduana

[[Desolate Divine]]

4 Episodes of Spiritwater left, and we are in the thick of it. That crept up on me.

Let's see if I can get those last three done before I get out of isolation, and go away this weekend...