Willow Scalera
Eon Villa, Akala
Affected RPers: @Desolate Divine (Jon/Latios)

For a while, there was silence. Willow was beginning to think she had come too early, in which case she was beginning to ponder if she should just head back to the Pokémon Center and kill time in the waiting room. But she knew if she risked that and was discovered, Jon would never know what was happening, and that would cost everything to everyone.

All the while, Latios had been conversing with Latias. For a moment, she admired his politeness and could tell Jon had been training him well as both a battler and in terms of manners.

<Thanks, it’s good to hear from you again. Although I wasn’t expecting it to be under these kinds of circumstances…>

Then, Latias had looked to Willow, still waiting by the front door, unsure what to do next if no one opened the door. But then, the lock had been disengaged, much to Willow’s sudden surprise.

<I think we’re good. They’ll see us now in the waiting room.>

Willow nodded, and then reached for the handle. At this point, she felt she this may be the last bastion of hope she could put all her faith into. In her eyes, she felt Agatha and the others had betrayed her, willing to sacrifice Latias just to speed up the ungodly Netherclysm spell.

After opening the door and stepping inside, Willow and Latias had seen Latios. For a moment, Latias was almost overcome with emotion, ready to embrace Latios with a friendly hug after not having seen him for so long. But the look on his stoic face spoke for itself that this wasn’t the time for that. For a moment, Willow had recalled what Latias had seen just last night, and began to feel maybe she was wrong and whatever was troubling Jon and Latios had not worn off at all. Even to the point where the presence of long-lost family finally reunited was simply no cause for celebration. Instead, Latias’s wild eyes and cheerful smile had sunken into a saddened frown of disappointment, followed by a sigh.

Latios had led them to the meeting room as Willow looked around, her eyes surveying the villa’s décor and furnishings. It didn’t take them long to arrive at the meeting room, which appeared to be off-limits for most visitors. Upon arriving and stepping into the room, Willow had laid eyes on Jon, sipping coffee. She had seen him before on television, but this was the first time she had met him face to face.

“I’m Jon Drake,” he spoke, introducing himself. “I'd appreciate it if Latias could turn visible, that way I don't need to worry too much what she is up to...”

Willow had turned to around, and nodding, letting her know it was okay. While Willow knew only limited details about Jon, she knew he was skilled enough in handling Pokémon that he could win high-stakes elite tournaments and run an academy that was already growing quickly in reputation.

Latias had agreed to Jon’s request, removing the cloaking around her to reveal herself. To the naked eye, it seemed the red and white jet-shaped avian dragon Pokémon materialized out of thin air. She tried to smile, hoping to lend some optimism to those around her, although lately things had been very anxious and stressful. Ever since they had come to this island, it was as far from paradise as they could imagine despite the tropical environment around them.

“Thanks for inviting us in,” Willow told Jon, knowing it was going to be tricky to earn his trust, but she felt the fastest way to do that was reveal everything. No lies, no holding back the details.

“My name is Willow. Willow Scalera.” She had then taken a deep breath, not sure how Jon was going to take this, but she decided to at least try. “You probably don’t know me, but I’ve definitely heard your name multiple times and have seen some of your battles in action.”

“There’s things you, the League, and anyone else that’s up against Agatha… things you all need to know,” Willow continued, hoping she wouldn’t be tackled to the ground once she revealed how she came to be here. “For a while, I was working for her. Agatha, through some spell I have 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.”

“You’re probably wondering just why I had gotten into this in the first place…” Willow shrugged, knowing to the outside observer, practicing 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.”

“…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 ‘Netherclysm.’”

Latias had then closed her eyes, and spoke telepathically 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.>

“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 spell of extreme magnitude. It stems from a conduit channel called the Netherlink, which is a means to inherit the knowledge of the dead. Yes, everything, including their powers, abilities, and talents, which translates to a godlike power that surpasses legendary Pokémon many times over. Agatha has been spending the last seven years gathering the reagents, research, and support to make this spell possible. She also waited until Spiritwater was in its prime state, allowing her to seal a pact with these many ghost Pokémon who enjoy nothing more than this unchallenged freedom to harass and be a nuisance to everyone.”

“Agatha plans on using Netherclysm to reform the world,” Willow revealed. “In truth, she should have passed away from old age years ago, but now, she wants to use it and become one with it to turn herself into a self-proclaimed ‘queen god’ to purge out the weak, crippled, and helpless. Those who survive the first wave of this dark global transformation would live to serve, although many would be swept away to become simply dust, stone, ash, or whatever lifeless material the Netherclysm decides. And those lost would be dead, losing their knowledge and memories to the Netherlink to become Agatha’s to use at her discretion.”

“Most living creatures, humans and Pokémon, would not survive Netherclysm,” Willow explained. “The dark magic would envelop everyone no matter where they tried to hide, and even those that survive might do so only to become mutants and abominations, intended to be killed off or sacrificed if their short lifespans didn’t wipe them out first. The rare, ‘lucky’ few that survived past that might become new creatures, as long as Agatha felt they were strong, beautiful, intelligent, and worthy enough to preserve as she decided. But in the end, she would be the one to judge how this new, dark world would be, deciding what should exist to serve her and what should be sacrificed…”

“We have less than 48 hours to stop this spell from happening…” Willow told Jon, letting him know the urgency behind stopping this spell from coming to pass. “Agatha’s followers believe they will inherit some of this power and reign as Agatha’s subservient demigods, but I have my doubts most of them will get anything out of this. What you see around Akala Island… the dark skies, the wind currents and waves stranding everyone here, and the horrific things that were done to the people and Pokémon of Heahea… this isn’t even the tip of the iceberg if this spell completes.”

“They have small safehouse outposts scattered throughout Akala, but they’re currently using the Thrifty Megamart as their main base,” Willow told Jon, revealing their location. “That’s where Netherclysm is being prepared in the back manager’s office room. However, it’s heavily guarded, there’s hex traps everywhere, and there are ghost Pokémon always on patrol, lurking in the shadows. No human or Pokémon is going to stumble upon it accidentally. They’ll make sure of that.”

Willow tried to think of something they could do to solve this problem, but she shook her head after a sigh.

“This may sound absurd, but the best way of stopping this spell is… simply tear down the whole building,” Willow told Jon, 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.”

After taking a deep breath and sighing, Willow looked to the ground, deep in thought. She knew she had now completely betrayed Agatha by relinquishing this critical information to Jon, who would most likely be the greatest threat in the war against Agatha. His skill, knowledge, and influence was regarded highly among even Pokémon League Champions. And while there were still those that questioned his methods and means, there were very few that doubted his ability, or felt there was something nefarious about his end goals.

“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…”