[RP] Spiritwater – Tides of Witchcraft

[Neo Emolga]

Spiritwater’s End

Agatha, despite her precautions, was silently confident she would complete Netherclysm in its entirety before the League or anyone else for that matter was even aware.

Nicodemus, however, had gone too far in his attempts to gain Agatha’s appeasement, unleashing an uncontrollable terror that he had underestimated and had no control over. He simply assumed Aaron would have all the dark physical power he needed to cripple the League and anyone who stood in their way. But he never counted on the Endkath spell corrupting Aaron’s mind. After he saw what had transpired, Nicodemus couldn’t understand what the purpose of Endkath was. What good was a spell like that if it made the recipient completely mad and consumed with a lust for destruction? But only then did he realize that such a dark abomination of a spell was meant to destroy one’s enemies from within, and was never meant to be used in an attempt to empower one’s allies…

Hellshriek, as a Shadow Lugia, unleashed all hell on Agatha’s followers, killing the witches and their Pokémon with wanton, murderous desire. Even Amethyst, one of Agatha’s most cruel and heartless witches, was only able to wound and cripple Hellshriek before she was obliterated herself. It took a combined but exhausting team effort on behalf of Agatha’s followers, as well as Giratina and Marshadow, to finally bring the abomination down, but not at great cost. While the Thrifty Megamart had been spared, serious structural damage was done and two dozen of Agatha’s followers were dead, including Amethyst. In her anger and to make a statement, she had ordered for Hellshriek’s head to be removed, not only to ensure he was fully dead and wouldn’t spring back to life by some dark, unholy power, but as a statement and message to anyone who thought of going up against her and her band of witches.

Brianna Levine, however, had been taking careful note of what she had seen and heard and had witnessed the entire incident unfold. After suffering heavy losses from Hellshriek’s strike, Agatha and her followers were vulnerable, and there was an ample open window for Jon and his allies to possibly deal the deathblow to Agatha’s efforts. But that window of opportunity would not last for long.

She needed to alert both Jon, the League, and Cassandra’s team as well. Coordinating the attack with limited time to prepare was going to be their biggest challenge, but it was either now or never as she had concluded. Agatha was now like a king in check, and if they were careful and meticulous about how they played this advantage, it would mean everything… and possibly saving the entire world from Netherclysm.

Brianna decided to first inform Jon and the rest of Eon Squad of what had become of Hellshriek and the crippled state Agatha was in. If they attacked now while Agatha and her followers were trying to recompose themselves, it would make all the difference.

Willow, at first at crossroads of whether to truly trust Brianna or not, decided to heed her warning and advice. Working with Jon Drake, Abbee Strauss, and Dylan Squire, Willow had drawn a quick map of the compound, also relying on Latias’s memory for guidance and verification and laid out what kinds of Shadowcraft defensive measures were in place. She had pointed out all the traps and caution areas that she was aware about, although considering the nature of Hellshriek’s attack, not all of them would be intact, but she had no true way of telling what threats were still active. All she could do was take it as if everything was still dangerous.

Jon, deciding to handle this as tactfully as possible, decided he and the rest of Eon Squad would attack and use Willow’s map as a basis while Steven and the League’s compatriots would provide support in the assault. But it left one variable out. Triad, as well as the rest of the teams with them, including Jimmy, Luneth, Avery, and Abital. Jon had decided to make this a two-pronged assault, with him and his team striking down any surviving witches and their Pokémon into submission while Triad would find Agatha and put an end to whatever monstrosity Netherclysm consisted of.

In a way, Jon intended to finish the work that Hellshriek had started, only he didn’t intend on killing any additional witches or Pokémon unless he and his team had to. After all, with all the damage they had done, if they were to have any hope of lessening their sentences and punishment, forcing them to undo the damage they had done would be a start, if they were wise and realized there was little hope of them succeeding.

Brianna had warned Jon that Giratina and Marshadow, while slightly worn from the battle with Hellshriek, were still capable of fighting, although this was the one chance that Jon had to catch them in a weakened state. And Jon knew they needed to be removed from Agatha’s clutches if they truly wanted to make sure she would be unable to turn the tables around and make a comeback.

However, with Triad now as Pokémon and with Jon not having direct contact to Jimmy, Avery, or Luneth, Willow had decided to rely on Latias to find them and notify them of what was going down. Jon’s Latios would be the invisible surveillance for the main attack while Latias would inform Cassandra and the others about where Agatha and her most dangerous witches were hiding, as well as where Netherclysm could be found in hopes that it could be destroyed.

Using her psychic powers, Latias was able to track down where they were and once she found them, she was able to relay Jon and Willow’s message. What was supposed to start as a scouting mission had now become a do-or-die situation. Triad would need to stop Agatha at all costs. However, given the situation, Agatha would attempt to defend Netherclysm and its dark progression as it was the forefront of her nefarious mission. Triad knew they could not stop both of them at the same time, and they anticipated Agatha being an absolute nightmare to handle.

Cassandra’s message to the others was clear. Triad would focus all of their effort on stopping and suppressing Agatha, hoping to dispel and strip down her powers to the point where she was unable to fight any further, at that point Cassandra had intentions of having Agatha stand trial and very likely rot in prison for the rest of her unnaturally long life. Meanwhile, Luneth, with her insight on Shadowcraft, and with the help of Jimmy Kendo, his Jirachi, and with Avery and Abital, would carefully but thoroughly dismantle and destroy Netherclysm however they could. As they knew, it was unlikely Netherclysm could be swiftly and easily destroyed. So much dark, negative energy had gathered in one location. Not taking it apart carefully could see off a massive, catastrophic chain reaction that could potentially obliterate the entire island. Agatha, with her hands full in trying to deal with Triad, would not be able to defend the Netherclysm ritual at the same time.

Once both teams had arrived, Jon, Eon Squad, and the rest of the League had deployed their Pokémon and attempted to make best use of the situation that Agatha and her followers were in. Many of the witches and their Pokémon were already injured while those that weren’t quickly found themselves overwhelmed and outnumbered, barely able to get their Pokémon deployed in time before they took heavy fire. Many of the witches tried to cause Jon’s frontline to be stricken with various curses similar to what was done on the siege of Heahea, but Jon and the League had the power of numbers and a fighting force in rigorous shape while Agatha’s side didn’t even have a moment to catch their breath from Hellshriek’s devastating attack.

Nicodemus had realized his foolish decision was now costing them everything. He had attempted to call his witches to fall back and defend the Thrifty Megamart. However, Eon Squad and the League had worked around the compound’s Shadowcraft traps, and only then did he realize that there had been a traitor and informant among them, given Jon and the rest of Eon Squad insider knowledge about the countermeasures they had. Fields that had hex traps all over like a minefield were directly ignored while the few unprotected routes that Agatha’s followers used exclusively had become main targets for the assault and were easily seized. Though he was seething with rage, he knew this and the timing of their attack couldn’t be coincidence. There had been agents in the shadows working against them.

In the meantime, Triad, Jimmy, Avery, and Luneth had managed to track down the location of Netherclysm with Latias’s help, building as it lay tucked away in the manager’s office. Triad knew, once they started dismantling Netherclysm, Agatha would dedicate all of her destructive energy toward them. Instead of recklessly throwing everything they had at the dark ethereal apparatus, Luneth had advised that they dismantle it carefully and slowly, much like untying a massive knot as opposed to slashing away at it. Jirachi and Glimmer had attempted to use their power to suppress the chaotic ethereal discharge while Luneth used her Shadowcraft to carefully deconstruct it, much like carefully defusing a bomb. Where they could, Jimmy, Avery, and Abital pitched in, although once it had become known to Agatha and her followers that Netherclysm was being tampered with, they had switched over toward using their Pokémon to protect the others, covering them from the enemy witches and their Pokémon followers, all with the mission to defend the site however they could.

Agatha, ready to unleash her full fury upon Luneth and all those attempting to dismantle Netherclysm, had not noticed the hidden Eevee, Buneary, and Furret just waiting for her arrival. Despite all her dark knowledge, even she had not known that a witch could still cast spells even while in Pokémon form, having never attempted it herself. As a result, Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet were able to get the first strike on Agatha before she had unleashed certain fates worse than death upon Luneth, Jirachi, and Glimmer.

Almost immediately, Agatha found herself shadow-stitched by Cassandra while Jarena had cast silent scream upon Agatha as well, rendering her mute and unable to speak while the shadow-stitch kept her immobile. Attempting to make Agatha weak as well, Violet had cast blood plague upon her, siphoning the energy and vigor from her body.

But it had become apparent that despite these crippling spells, Agatha was aware her attackers were attempting to keep her alive rather than outright kill her as they had the chance to take it. And she was able to identify the sources of the spells, although she was not expecting her assailants to be Pokémon, and especially not seemingly helpless and arguably cute and simple Pokémon such as Eevee, Buneary, and Furret. But her assumption had cost her the opening play, but it didn’t guarantee her defeat. Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet did whatever they could in their power to weaken Agatha and strip her of her dark magic, although even with the three of them working together, it was only just enough for them to keep Agatha suppressed. But the three of them knew they needed to buy Luneth, Glimmer, and Jirachi, as well as the others defending them as much time as possible. Even if they couldn’t completely stop Agatha, keeping her busy and distracted was enough as long as it could last until Netherclysm was entirely destroyed and could not be started again.

With Jirachi as the captain, Luneth was his navigator, telling him how to use his wish power to sever ethereal links, dismantle the nether connections, and gently pull apart the complex construction behind the Netherclysm. Despite Agatha’s rage, Triad was keeping her suppressed while Jon and Eon Squad’s assault was keeping the rest of the witches and ghost Pokémon busy and preoccupied with defending the Thrifty Megamart. Nicodemus’s attempts to get the defending forces to reassemble and get back to formation was failing with more than half his force either killed or injured by Hellshriek or incapacitated from Eon Squad and the League giving them no quarter. As Jon put it, nothing about his attack force was displaying only “half measures.” As soon as opportunities presented themselves, Jon, Abbee, and Dylan used their battling prowess to rip into Nicodemus’s defensive line. And to further his dismay, Giratina and Marshadow were quickly overwhelmed from all directions by entire raid parties of Pokémon and were soon captured in Pokéballs. To him, it now looked like the deathblow strike was burrowing into the heart of their entire operation.

Meanwhile, Agatha, trying to undo the dispelling and crippling spells that Triad had persistently tried to lay down on her, was just barely able to break free of the Shadowcraft curses and attempted to strike back at Cassandra, Jarena, and Violet, but their small and nimble forms made it difficult in ways that she had not faced before dealing with humans. Even she soon realized the value in transforming one’s self to become an unsuspecting Pokémon like the three of them had become. But in her distracted frustration, she had not seen Brianna and Alisaie come up from behind her. Brianna had inflicted Agatha with numerous mind lapses, attempting to make her unable to remember how to cast Shadowcraft spells with this mentally-crippling amnesia. In a last ditch effort, Agatha attempted to use her adrenaline-level Shadowcraft to destroy Luneth, Jirachi, and Glimmer, but Alisaie had distorted her vision, and suddenly Agatha lost sight of her target, as if thrown into a distorted shadow labyrinth that only existed in the hallucinations and delusions of her mind. Though physically she was only about a hundred feet away, with Alisaie’s shadow labyrinth inflicted on her mind, she may as well have been galaxies away.

With five against one, Agatha was beyond overwhelmed and now she found herself physically, mentally, and even spiritually crippled and unable to defend the Netherclysm from being completely dismantled. Even her fellow witches, the few that remained, sacrificed everything to try and stop them, but Jimmy, Avery, and Abital intercepted all of their assaults using their own Pokémon and spent much of their energy to stop them. Eventually, the last of them and their Pokémon had fallen, and Agatha’s mission had failed like a deceased Tauros in the middle of the desert as the Mandibuzz descended upon the feast.

Agatha decided she would not allow anyone to delve into her darkest secrets, and confirmed that if she couldn’t have them, no one would, and that they would die with her. With her mental freedom barely hanging on by a thread, she had decided she would rather die in the fastest way possible, using just a sliver of Shadowcraft magic to trigger a destructive brain aneurism in her head. Rather than let the intruders break into her house of dark knowledge, the door was shut, and the vast dark libraries of her shadowcraft knowledge were plunged into the black void of death.

All they had left was Agatha’s body, and she had died just moments before Luneth and Jirachi had finally dismantled the last few pieces of Netherclysm. Now that it was safe, Luneth had destroyed and shattered the only remaining fragments and pieces, ensuring no one could ever pick up and continue Agatha’s work.

The War is Over

The survivors of Agatha’s campaign were forced to surrender. Some were more cooperative than others and realized the mistake in joining Agatha on Akala, while others were more stubborn to no avail. But in the end, Jon and the League had given them an ultimatum: undo the damage that was done to Heahea and those cursed by the attack, or suffer the consequences. While some of the witches outright refused and were quickly restrained and incarcerated, others had already realized the mission was hopeless and had decided to at least alleviate whatever sentence they were bound to face by cooperating. In a way, Steven and Cynthia were pleased with the fact that Triad wouldn’t end up having to work until exhaustion for months on end to restore everyone that was afflicted back to normal. There were even several civilians revived that were given up for dead due to their nearly wholly destroyed outcomes.

Among them, Nicodemus was the least cooperative, attempting to at least salvage whatever he could by keeping his dark secrets shut, thought not to the extent that Agatha had gone to. Jon had confronted a suppressed and restrained Nicodemus surrounded by allies of the League. Jon’s demand for Nicodemus’s cooperation to destroy the reagent storehouses was simply answered by Nicodemus laughing and spitting at Jon. And he quickly learned the severity of that mistake after Jon’s fist had fractured Nicodemus’s jaw and ripped out five of his teeth, making Nicodemus’s already hideous grin even more horrendous. While it took longer to trace down every last safehouse and storage cache that Agatha and her followers had prepared due to Nicodemus’s lack of cooperation, there was enough Shadowcraft aptitude in Cassandra, Jarena, Violet, Brianna, Willow, Alisie, and Luneth to trace every last remnant of dark reagents so that they could be safely and thoroughly dismantled. Only reagents that would be helpful to the recovery effort were preserved.

As for the recovery effort itself, what would have taken months for Triad to do alone was resolved in just a few days. Triad, Luneth, Alisaie, Willow, and Brianna everything they needed to purge and destroy the most vile of Shadowcraft magic Agatha and her posse had prepared. Meanwhile, while Jon had taken Giratina into his stead, Willow had taken Marshadow, feeling confident she could set the wayward ghost on the right path.

Very little of Agatha’s dark possessions were preserved as the truly dark and most wicked of her dark magic was destroyed and incinerated. Never would there be another Endkath or Netherclysm created. All the notes and records for those two wretched spells, in addition to many other horrendous dark works, were destroyed with their dark knowledge forever cast into the void. Much of the darker side of Shadowcraft had died that day while the branch of it that was used to heal and restore had been preserved.

Although the Spiritwater Festival was officially over based on the Alola calendar, simply having Akala back to normal with clear, sunny skies was enough for festivities to be held for another three days. The Alola Coast Guard had detained the last of Agatha’s uncooperative followers while the civilians, tourists, and members of the league were free and encouraged to come out of hiding to simply celebrate life once again.

Although understandably so, there were a few individuals who simply “had more than enough vacation” and were all too eager to go home.

New Beginnings

Rumor circulated that “Triad” was in fact the Diamond Ladies, and it didn’t take people long to see the resemblance once their involvement had become known. But much to public shock, after Cassandra confirmed it, she wanted to make something else known to all.

She wanted to start over.

While it was impossible to some degree, she had a new team. While Victini, Ninetales, Espeon, and Hatterene were long gone, she had her Frosmoth, Swanna, Purugly, Lilligant, Sandslash, and Ampharos now, all Pokémon that were either abandoned by their trainer, or their trainer had died with no one to take care of their Pokémon. The question remained. Could this team go from a darkened and melancholy past to a new beginning of glory? Cassandra believed the answer to that was yes and she wanted to prove it.

She wanted to make this new team the best it could be despite each of them having a difficult history and background. By now, after her efforts, only the most stubborn about her cheating and only the most ruthless were unwilling to forgive her despite everything she and Jarena and Violet had done for the people of Akala. But the way Cassandra saw it, those kinds of people weren’t worth the time and effort to try and appease.

Instead, she had decided to enroll in Jon’s Eon Academy herself, hoping to learn from the one who decided to give her and her friends a second chance not just at Pokémon battles, but at life itself. And while her situation would be different from new recruits, she wanted to know more about how the experts battled, and from what she had heard about Abbee, Charlotte, Dylan, Chris, and Justin. She wondered if, League permitting, she could enter the tournaments again, only this time with an all new gameplan.

Jarena found herself at crossroads, disappointed that Cassandra wouldn’t be joining her to return to Starglade and help the injured and sick Pokémon there. But as she thought about it, Cassandra’s decisions made sense. And Jarena realized that if she did go back there, her new team would have to be abandoned yet again, and just the thought of that made her sick to her stomach considering what had become of her old team and how she felt terrible letting them go like that. Despite how she enjoyed being a Buneary, she couldn’t do that and didn’t want to go down that path anymore.

Instead, she decided to follow in her friend’s footsteps, but with a different mission in mind. While she wanted to see how good she could become with the help of the Eon Academy’s advice and guidance, she wanted to win as much money as she could to help Pokémon wildlife conservation projects and to help Pokémon adoption clinics get the funding they needed to keep their operations going and find good trainers and good homes for all their Pokémon.

Lastly, Violet had decided at first to let Cassandra and Jarena do their own thing at Eon Academy and she would focus on a career outside of Pokémon battles. And it almost seemed to take hold for a few months before it struck her as being far too painfully boring and ordinary to tolerate given the fame and the whole world she had seen prior to this point. At first she thought she could get personal satisfaction by being a financial advisor, an investor, and real estate agent, but it was pale and shallow compared to the fanfare of what she saw before.

Her path led her back to her connection with Cassandra and Jarena, though she decided to use this new education at Eon Academy to see what she could truly be capable of. Maybe she could be a gym leader, or possibly one of the next Elite Four if the League was willing to let bygones be bygones. To her it seemed more compelling and intriguing than simply filling out spreadsheets on a laptop. Either that, or if she couldn’t find her way back to the League due to her past, she felt there was opportunity in law enforcement. She felt they could use someone like her and she liked the idea of bringing criminal scum down.

Meanwhile, Willow had decided to support Jon Drake’s efforts in providing protective support for Eon Academy, feeling that even though the worst offenders of Shadowcraft were gone and in prison, remnants of Agatha’s army may one day surface and find their way to Mossdeep, but she wasn’t anticipating that anytime soon. At the same time, her coming to Mossdeep would allow Latias to be reunited with her brother after many long years of separation.

Only time would tell what would be in store for all of them, but they could agree that the dark chapter to Akala’s troubled Spiritwater festival could be closed and was simply just a memory that would no longer hurt anyone else…