"Listen to me now. You're not doing the move properly."
"I'm doing exactly what you said!" the little Sylveon cried.
"Look. Look up here, at me." The mother spoke sternly and pointed to herself.
At long last, the vision was clear enough to make her out. The mother was a regal creature with a beautiful tiara of pink gems on her head. Her body was grey as stone, yet smooth and round, with a sleek figure but a young complexion. A short white dress adorned with a pink diamond covered her arms and body, while her lower half took on rocky form. This rocky half had a large pink diamond half sticking out of it.
"Follow me carefully, now," the Pokémon instructed.
The Pokémon tensed itself and tucked its arms together, cupping space between them as it drew them back. With its intense cry came a glow of white energy between its palms, which it then began to cultivate. The energy grew until a large sphere of light was held within.
"Wow," the little Sylveon said, entranced.
"Pay attention. You try it now," the motherly Pokémon instructed, after she relieved the attack.
The vision blurred the scenery to focus solely on the two Pokémon. The Sylveon copied the larger Pokémon's pose as best as she could, using her feelers in place of hands. Energy formed, but the sounds and sparkling energy was different.
"Focus on your feelings. You're still using Moonblast!" The Pokémon said.
"Ahh!" Sylveon squeaked.
The cry caused a lack of focus, and then an explosion went off. The motherly Pokémon was unharmed, but the little Sylveon had been knocked to the floor. She shivered and sounded like she was going to cry.
"Are you alright?" the motherly Pokémon asked as she reached out.
"I'm fine! This is just a setback!" the little Sylveon shouted and slapped their hand away. She got up and performed the motion again, though that only seemed to make the Pokémon frown at her. "What's wrong? I can't be weak and rely on others all the time. I have to be strong too. That's why you taught me all these moves, Diancie!"
"But you are missing an important part about this last move." Diancie shook her head. "Moonblast might seem to be an exceptionally powerful attack, but Return can be far stronger. However, Return cannot be used without a genuine faith in others. You will never progress and become any stronger unless you understand that. Let the Pokémon help you, and in turn, help them."
"But if I'm strong enough, I won't ever need their help. They can just leave everything to me!" Sylveon said.
"Then why are you training?" Diancie said.
There was a pause.
"You are nearly there, capable of many mighty powers. And of the rare fairy type species, many of these powers are exclusive only to you. Use those powers to just, help everyone. Spend your life making everyone you can be happy."
...
The group woke up all around the same time, rubbed their heads, stretched, and all other habits. Just like the past two prayers, an enormous flower had grown in the middle of the area, accompanied by a slumbering Shaymin nestled by its roots. They were used to it now, so there was little confusion about what had happened while they were unconscious.
"It's happened three times now, but no one's actually mentioned it. That's Sophitia in those visions, isn't it?" Lute asked.
"Huh? No, you mentioned it," Sophitia said.
"It does seem like it's Sophitia, doesn't it? They're learning fairy attacks from that Pokémon called Diancie." Infia tilted her head.
"Our Sophitia seems to be able to use those moves after seeing the memory as well," Phoenix stated. "But we cannot confirm it. I do not know if my visions differ, though. Until now, Diancie had not been named, nor had it been as clearly visible."
"Sounds like they're the same to me, 'cos that's what I saw, too. So does that mean you know Moonblast now, Sophitia?" Esther wondered.
"No, no I don't!" Sophitia gasped and stumbled away from them. "W-why does it matter?"
"It's an important part of your past. I did just promise you I was going to help you get it back, and I meant it," Lute said. "Naivie, do you know anything about all this?"
"Heck if I know! But I do know one thing. All of this stuff has to do with the Ancients, right? They're the ones who maintained this world. But Sophitia is not an Ancient," Naivie replied. She sat firm on the Sylveon's head. "I'm almost certain that she has nothing to do with any of this. I don't know what visions you're talking about."
"So you're not seeing them. Does the name Diancie ring a bell?" Kuri asked.
"Hold on hold on, don't I get a say in this?" Sophitia jumped between them. "Most of this doesn't make any sense. We pray, we get visions, I copy the Sylveon in those visions and learn a new move, and that's that. It doesn't really matter who those Pokémon are, whether it's me or not."
"But it seems so much like... what if it is to do with your past?" Lute frowned at her.
"It doesn't matter. What matters is who I am now, right? And there's nothing wrong with that. Nothing where I have to look into the past, anyway," she said. She slowly turned to the flower. "And who I am now is a person who decided to help save Aseria."
"Well said. To that end, some congrats are in order. You guys have only got one flower left to grow. One!" Naivie cheered and flew up high. Lute couldn't help but look away and groan at it, but everyone else dismissed the negative for smiles, so he went straight faced and paid attention. "The way you guys bumbled about and fell apart, I never thought you could do it. But here we are, on the crux of success!"
"You know what? I can get behind that. Where's our last target?" Esther said with a paw on her hip.
"You are eager? And not tired?" Phoenix joked.
"Hell yeah. If we can go and do that last one like, right now, we might as well get it over with!" She smiled.
"I'm hungry though." Infia rubbed her belly.
"We'll just take it naturally. No rushing into this since all the V-wave stuff stops working and all that," Sophitia said.
"Your final destination is in the northern reaches of Aseria. There's a large ocean to cross and a river that runs through a series of valleys, but the temple sits in the middle. In my time, you needed to be able to swim to reach it. You couldn't even get there by flying," Naivie informed.
"Underwater travel. Okay, that's a bit of a problem," Sophitia tilted her head.
"Nah. You guys will be fine!" Naivie cheered.
"In case you didn't notice, none of us are water types. And we breathe air, too," Kuri said, arms folded and eyes closed.
"You'll still be fine. A couple five-minute dips into seawater will be no problem for you guys. You've all done it before," Naivie snickered.
"Okay yeah I don't think me or Fluffy Cheeks can hold our breaths that long," Esther said.
"And... and... er-erm, my clothes," Infia scrunched herself up a bit.
"That too. Ah well, we'll figure somethin' out. Maybe that old bubble bunny knows something," Esther said.
"Old... bubble bunny?" Phoenix raised an eyebrow.
"Y'know, the old bunny that brought us up here!" she said.
"Azu," Lute corrected. He flinched as a vibration went off in his bag. He shuffled through to get to his badge, surprised to find a call coming through on it. However, the caller's name was withheld. "Huh? How is?"
"Answer it anyway. If they're calling off-duty agents, it has to be important," Sophitia ordered. The group gathered behind Lute as he activated the call, bringing up a holographic screen in front of them. To their surprise, Gen's face showed up, and she wasn't even looking at them.
"Lute, oh thank goodness. Is Kuri with you?" the Meowstic hissed. She looked a desperate as she sounded.
"Gen, hello. Yeah, he met up with us a little while ago," Lute said before the Chespin pushed him aside.
"Hi, what's up babe? You can't be missing me already," Kuri sang.
"Now really isn't the time for that you ass. I don't know what you did, but an enormous fleet of Spirle soldiers showed up here. I've only just gotten the chance to call," Gen whispered hard. Kuri's face immediately switched to one of terror. "I'm not gonna be able to drive them out. I'm talking a literal army of them. There are high points here."
"Do you know why they're there? What're they doing?" Kuri asked anxiously.
"I don't know, but they're definitely searching for something. I don't want to think the worst, but they might be looking for me. Regardless, get over here as soon as you can. They're trashing the place as we speak," Gen informed.
"Damn right I'm getting over there. Please stay hidden, hang tight. We're on our way," Kuri said.
Gen cut off the call before he finished talking, and then there was a pause. Kuri closed his fists and shook. The others could feel him grow more intense until he snapped, and he glared at everyone with gritted teeth.
"One of you ratted us, didn't you?" he shouted at the top of his voice.
"Ratted you?" Lute gasped.
"Gen's identity. It's meant to be secret from Spirle!" He stomped a foot. "It's meant to be secret from everyone! Did one of you tell King's Shield? Or Lassic?"
"You've been with us the whole dang time. No one's leaked anything," Sophitia replied angrily.
"You have no fucking idea how terrifying this is. Good gods, why- forget it. We're going to Angard, now!" Kuri ordered, and stormed off.
"Whoa hold up! But we're so close. How can—" Naivie said.
"Naivie, I know you don't give a shit about our lives. But get this now: if we do not save Gen, all of this will be for naught." Kuri pointed at the Carbink. She raised an eyebrow at him. "Princess Genesis is the only Pokémon left in the world who knows where the Mega Stone is."
"You think Spirle found out? And they're trying to get that from her?" Lute said. He had to jog after Kuri.
"They've been searching for her for decades now for that very reason. If they've figured out that she's been in Angard the whole time, then they won't pull any punches," Kuri explained. "We have to keep her safe!"
"But what does Lassic have to do with this? You asked us if we told him," Infia wondered. However, Kuri didn't answer.
That left Lute to focus and think for a moment. There were a lot of loose dots of ideas he had about this, but they all had connections. If he was sure of everything he knew, that is.
The group reached the village quickly by abusing the loop effect of the mystery dungeon – all they had to do was run in the wrong direction when the darkness took over, and they 'looped back' to the entrance. When they arrived however, things were worse than they predicted. Screams, cries, and fleeing groups of Pokémon made the group sprint into action.
"What the?" Lute cried as he skidded to a stop.
A familiar Golisopod scraped its claws against the floor as it swung and smashed aside an Ivysaur and a Lombre that had opposed. It roared into the air and then glared in the opposite direction, where it had to use its arms to block a fiery blast of energy. The attack exploded and shrouded it in dust.
Lute followed the attack's direction and flinched in surprise. Silver was there with a few strong Pokémon at her side. She spat a small flame in threat, keeping her eyes on the enemy. They glared at one another for short while, but were interrupted by the arrival of two other Spirle high points.
"I had a feeling this was going too well. Rhodeas, you insolent wretch! Listen to us and don't go running off on your own," Victoria said as she fluttered in front of it. It barely reacted. "Are you listening to me? Don't think just because we're winning that I'm not watching your behaviour."
"You know what happens when you get her mad, and you don't wanna get her mad!" Victor laughed aloud. He bounced up and down around Silver's group. "That goes for you palookas, too! You're really in for it, in case you didn't already realise!"
Silver tensed up. "This is such an aimless attack. Tell me, what's your real goal here?"
"Aimless? What, did ya think we were gonna keep lettin' King's Shield get on our behinds while going about our work?" Victor said. He screeched with laughter. "We're all set. Our mission for world domination is in motion. But for it to work, we need to get rid of petty little heroines like you!"
"I didn't take you for text book villains. World domination? That's got to be a joke," Silver lost her intensity.
"You see this guy here? You'll be at his mercy. He is the fruits of my research, the strongest of our superpowered Risen Pokémon! He'll destroy all our possible opposition on his own," Victoria explained. Her eyes squinted with excitement. "And don't think that you can manipulate him with your mortal feelings. He is my child! A good child who only listens to me and never fails."
"Are you sure about that?" Sophitia smiled cockily. "Last I checked, Lute sent that guy into overdrive!"
"Sophitia, Lute!" Silver gasped. "Wait, is that Kuri? What in the world is going on?"
"Oh yeah I'd love to stay and chat, but we've got a lot more important shit to deal with. So if you'll excuse us," Kuri said.
Victoria calmed down. "There you guys are. At long last, we found you. Do not think that things will go as they did last time. I perfected the kinks in Rhodeas' coding. He won't be losing to your little V-Pocket monster anytime soon."
"Look guys, we really don't have time for this. They must know about me, too," Kuri said quietly. He glanced back at everyone. "These clowns are here to stall us while they hunt for Gen. We can't let them waste our time!"
"I know that, but we can't go and leave them, can we? After everything Azu did for us," Sophitia said, looking around at the village. Habitats had been smashed to bits, flames raged, and she could constantly hear attacks going off followed by villainous cheers.
"If you guys really don't have anything to hide from me, then you'll leave this to Silver and help me out. A couple of poor villagers will have to wait," Kuri argued.
"The thing is, Lute really is the only one who can beat Rhodeas," Sophitia tensed up. "You know what? Screw it. We'll find a way. Kuri, go ahead and get to Gen. We'll catch up as soon as we can."
"And then you screw things up for me?" Kuri replied. Sophitia slapped his arm with a feeler and brought him close, and then slipped something into it. He snuck a glance, eyes widened that it was her King's Shield badge. Seeing that, his face tensed, and he nodded. "You better not be far behind."
"It's a promise." She shoved him away.
"I am a lady of honour and reason." Victoria came forward. "This doesn't have to come to vulgar bloodshed. I am giving you a chance to forfeit. If you don't, I will have to set him on you."
"You, a lady of honour? As far as I'm concerned, you reek of filth!" Esther spat.
"Reek?" Victoria said.
"Yeah. Reek. I've met Muk that smell better than you," Esther said as she confronted her. "I've heard about you, but I didn't think you'd be this despicable."
"Esther, wait—" Infia whispered.
"So what's this I hear about you being the one who made Infia? Doesn't that make you her mother? Shouldn't mothers be more respectful to their children?" Esther folded her arms.
"Infia," Victoria went quiet. She squinted at the Minun, who cowered behind Esther. "So that's what this is about. You're going to lecture me on why I should care about that worthless defect?"
"Worthless defect? Infia is a living Pokémon!" Esther shouted.
"Children should listen to their elders if they want to learn and be respected. Those that don't, grow up to be failures who die rotting on the streets. That Minun made its choice when it chose to defy me so," Victoria said with a tired sigh. "Silver, are these Pokémon really your newest King's Shield recruits? If these are them, then it's awfully pathetic, even for you."
"They're... yes, they are," Silver answered. She glanced back and forth between the two groups.
"Seriously? They're a team?" Victoria cried, genuinely surprised. "The worthless, defective, disobedient V Pockets, the spoilt little mascot, and—"
Sophitia shifted backward, concerned about the sudden silence when she was the one being looked at. Victoria spat in disgust.
"And whatever this sorrowful embarrassment of a species is. This is your team?" Victoria said. "If it wasn't for Lute's powers, the whole lot of you should've died a long time ago. But whatever. My perfect creation, Rhodeas, is here to give you that long overdue death that you deserve. For even daring to speak to me this way, I'm going to set an example using your corpses."
"So much for being honourable. You're a fricking coward!" Esther cried.
"Rhodeas, be a dear and give these Pokémon a good First Impression," Victoria said as she flew up and out of the way.
"Here it comes!" Sophitia shifted into a battle-ready pose. The others did the same before she even instructed. The whole group kept their eyes locked on the Golisopod.
Lute knew what to do here, but his confidence was shaky. He had already been proven to have lost his powers once, and he didn't know how they would function here. He just hoped that if he withstood the pain of that giant insect's attacks, he might grow strong enough to take it down again.
He kept his eyes on it and nothing else, his chest heavy and breath held for whenever it decided to move. It stared right back, its expressionless eyes and rigid pose overwhelming in presence. Thanks to his focus, he was able to see its foot twitch and shift the slightest inch backwards. He braced himself in response, and a small instinct in the back of his mind told him to use Quick Attack to dodge.
The instant Rhodeas moved, it shot forward with one claw held back behind it. However, Silver made her own move at a shockingly similar speed. The Goodra skidded into the ground and whipped her head around in a circle to throw the ponytail-like appendages from her head forward like lassos. One missed Rhodeas while the other snapped around its arm, bringing it to very sudden halt. There was a struggle and Silver was pulled forward a little, but a stomp of her feet and a feral roar later, she had Rhodeas totally pinned to the spot.
"What in the world? Let go of him!" Victoria shrieked.
"Don't you kids just stand there. Finish him off, now!" Silver snarled as she pulled hard.
"Infia!" Esther held a paw out. Infia linked paws with her, and the duo nuzzled their cheeks together to generate a blinding amount of electricity in an instant. They danced together with a brief few dance steps, and then Infia released Esther with a romantic twirl. By that point, the Pikachu was a crackling arrow of bolts, which were released in a huge, bright yellow beam.
Rhodeas let out a panicked gurgle right before the attack hit, and then roared aloud on impact, but its voice was engulfed by the explosion. It was left sizzling and spasming, but Silver wasn't about to let it go just like that. Using her appendage, she yanked it toward her and drew an arm back in the process. She caught it with a flame-infested uppercut of a Fire Punch to send it skyward, where she then released it from her appendage. She quickly threw up a beam of energy towards it, an attack that looked like a purple meteor.
"Rhodeas!" Victoria screamed just as Silver's Draco Meteor hit.
It caused an enormous explosion in the air, large enough to have everyone shield themselves and hold their breaths. Even when the smoke was brushed away, Rhodeas didn't come down. The only thing that fell around them were smouldering pieces of rock.
"Did she kill him?" Sophitia gasped.
"No... something tells me he actually might not have been alive to begin with," Phoenix said. He glared with gritted fangs. "But that Silver... she's way stronger than I ever pictured."
"You're tellin' me!" Esther squeaked.
"Enough games, Victoria. Come quietly and we won't have to break any more of your toys," Silver threatened. The Spritzee and the Swirlix gawked in shock the whole time, but snapped upon her words.
"You... you, you you you, you're all so annoying! How could you dare?" Victoria shuddered and rubbed her head.
"What's the matter? Got nothing left?" Sophitia joked.
"Yeah! Time for you to come down here and fight properly," Esther added.
The Spritzee only shivered with fury, and then suddenly froze. "We'll settle this the next time we meet, if you're even still alive by then. Come, Victor! We're getting out of here."
"Aww what? But I was just getting excited! I didn't even get to fight," the Swirlix whined. Her look intensified, and he flinched. "I mean- okay honey, I'm right behind ya!"
"Don't run, come back here!" Esther shouted, going on all fours to give chase. Silver stopped her however, and stood in the group's way. "Silver?"
"Treason is the bigger crime," Silver said. They could only watch as the two fairies disappeared into the distance, their fellow Spirle goons giving chase from the ground below. Minutes later, the Pokémon of the village returned, many of them injured, covered in dirt, and furious with Lute and the others.
"What happened? I thought this island was normally untouched?" Lute said.
Silver took a while to respond, and held up a hand to tell the crowd to remain quiet. She turned her back to address Lute and the others, and her assistant agents gathered beside her.
"About an hour ago, Spirle launched a massive attack on key locations across Aseria. Included in those were our bases in the Ministry of Science and Pokétopia," Silver explained. The group's eyes widened. "They knew how to get in, who was there, and what we would do to counterattack them during such an attack. The whole world has suffered losses today."
"But how? And if that happened, why didn't you call?" Sophitia cried.
"We did. Your communication was out of bounds. You were in the temples we ordered you to avoid," Silver stated. She shifted her head to silently order the Blaziken beside her. "On top of that, we managed to trace an unknown signal that was transmitting unauthorised data. It led us here, where we found Victoria terrorizing this village."
"Wait, are you accusing us?" Sophitia gasped. The Blaziken completely ignored her adversity towards them to pat her down and go through her bag. "Get off me! The heck do you think you're doing?"
"If you have nothing to hide, then you won't decline us searching you. It's a standard procedure. Every single agent got searched when this communication line was discovered," Silver explained. She looked unbothered by everything she said and did, and that annoyed the group to no end. Sophitia stood down anyway, and raised her feelers so they were out of the way.
"We're really doing this? First Kuri, now you guys, too? Does nobody trust us?" Esther complained as she obeyed.
Lute was nervous enough to sweat about the whole thing. Even though he knew in his heart that none of them would or even could betray King's Shield like this, he had a horrible feeling in the back of his throat. Gen's potential discovery, followed by their own comrades here to have a go at them? Even if all of this went his way, a grand scheme had been set in motion and he didn't understand any of it enough to say or do anything right now. It had to be that, the scheme of some super intelligent perpetrator that tangled them into a plot so complex that it had their allies suspecting each other.
The Blaziken searched him after it searched Sophitia, patting him down all over. He couldn't help but gulp when they started, and held his breath right up until they were done. He checked out okay, but the fire type didn't say a word as it moved onto Infia. None of them could betray King's Shield and work for Spirle. It just wasn't possible. If they had willingly done so, then they couldn't be heroes who could awaken the flowers. He had to believe that.
"Please be careful," Infia whispered. Her face was turning red with stress, and she shivered well beyond her control.
"It'll be okay, Infia. They won't find anything because we haven't done anything. This is fucking stupid, they let those High Points get away for this!" Esther said.
Once the group had been patted down, the Hitmonlee of the agents stepped up. He hovered a small device over each of them. It was some sort of metallic scanner which bleeped once a second and sped up when it detected anything made of presumably metal. It did so when it came to scanning their bags, which of course only led them to things like their badges or the jewellery on Infia's leg. Nothing incriminating was found.
Just when the anxiety was about to be over, the scanner went off when it wasn't expected to. All were confused as the Hitmonlee hovered it over Esther's face, and then her chest, where it quietened down. He put it over her face again, which made it pick right back up. Everyone looked at her in total confusion.
"Restrain her!" Silver shouted, and the Pokémon kicked into action. Blaziken and Hitmonlee pinned her to the ground in an instant.
"Wait wait wait what the hell gives? Get the heck off me!" Esther screamed.
"Esther, what?" Lute whispered.
"I dunno what the hell's up! This thing must be broken!" she shouted.
"But... that is impossible. They found something," Phoenix said. He was dumbfounded. "They actually found something."
"The rest of you are under arrest. You're coming back to Pokétopia for further investigation," Silver ordered. "Resistance will result in a license to kill. You've been warned."
"But this... this is... there has to be some kind of mistake. Esther would never—" Infia started to tear up.
"Silence. Now march," Silver ordered. Her agents held Esther up rather painfully, keeping her arms tied back and hung her from there. She squirmed, struggled, and shouted various profanity of course, but it was all useless. The Hitmonlee's grip wouldn't budge at all.
"But Esther is... no, she couldn't have... she couldn't be," Infia whimpered.
"It's better we stay quiet and obey, guys," Sophitia said as she put them down with her feelers.
"But Sophitia!" Infia cried.
"I know what this looks like. But trust me. You trust Esther, right?" she said. Infia moaned and looked down. She only shivered even worse. "We'll get to the bottom of this."