Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Rising Spirits

Chapter 8, Part 3 - Retribution

Time itself seemed to screech to a complete standstill, the gentle breeze and swaying branches of the Dawnbreak Woods instantly tensing up as Alpha seemed to cast a shadow over everything in sight with his overwhelming presence. Both Trevor and Aiden remained completely still, their faces darkening as they contemplated how Alpha could possibly have found them. Percival, meanwhile, seemed comparatively less cautious as he relievedly floated straight towards the Gabite, then placed a hand upon his shoulder as if they were close friends.

"Ah, Alpha!" the Aegislash greeted jovially, "There's been a slight change of plans, there really wasn't any need to catch the human after all! Trevor is actually quite harmless; he's a complete softie! Let us call the assault off-"

With one fell movement, Aiden sent Percival hurling towards the massive trunk of a nearby tree, the two colliding with a great crash. The Aegislash dropped unconscious to the dirt below, his sleek hide now covered in a myriad of cuts and scratches.

"Percival!" Aiden shouted with a horrified expression. Alpha merely gave an indignant scoff and a sideways glance in response.

"A complete, gullible fool. You're served your purpose, so now you're back to being a nobody."

Aiden angrily glowered at the condescending Gabite. "Why're you here? What do you want with us?!"

"Isn't it obvious?" Alpha rummaged through his scarf, then pulled out a pair of crumpled fliers and held it high into the air. Plastered on one of the aged papers sat a giant illustration of Trevor sandwiched between the word 'WANTED' in bold and the highlighted reward of one-hundred thousand Poke. Underneath Aiden's smiling visage on her respective wanted poster was half the price at fifty-thousand. Alpha relished in the pair's surprised reactions towards their new bounties with glee. "I came to finish what I started, all by my lonesome."

"Look, we don't want any trouble-" Aiden paused, her eyes creasing in suspicion. "Wait... what do you mean by 'finishing what you started?'"

"You haven't figured it out already? Arceus, you're slow." Alpha dramatically placed a crooked claw onto his chest, his smile only widening. "I was the one who revealed your little secret about your humanity!"

Trevor let out a sharp gasp. "But, I thought Rin-"

"Rin?! Don't make me laugh. After you lot defeated that Groudon, all I had to do was hide at a safe spot and listen in to your little conversation with the Mythical. You two said some real interesting things, interesting enough to get the gears in my head turning. I figured that little talk was all I needed to turn the entirety of all the Lush Continent against you, and sure enough, I was right. From then on, it was only a matter of tracking you down, which this little idiot," Alpha offhandedly motioned towards Percival's limp body to the side, "was kind enough to help me with."

"But why?" Trevor protested, "Why all this? Why go through this much effort to turn everybody against me?!"

Alpha slowly shook his head condescendingly, his smug, shark-toothed grin never leaving his face. "You think I would pass up the opportunity to become the legendary hero who caught the world-threatening human? I'll be remembered in every history book for a thousand years!"

Aiden's entire body began to tremble, her paws balling into tight fists as her yellow eyes burned with unadulterated malice. "You..." she growled with barely contained anger, "You're the reason for all of this? All the shit we've been through these past months?!"

Alpha continued his cocky taunting as Trevor slowly began backing away, bracing himself for the inevitable explosion to come. Much to both of their surprise, however, the Scorbunny instead chose to cease her trembling, hung her head low, and clasped her paws together.