Sinners: Arc 2

A/N: Sorry for the delay. Sometimes things don't work out the way I plan them, heh.



As often happens with my chapters, this one ended up being much, much longer than I intended. Chapter 27 was supposed to start with Slash and Flannery meeting up and ending at Fallarbor. Flannery just wanted more time than I planned, lol. So I'm cutting the chapter into two (maybe three) and just uploading them one at a time. Hopefully this will get me back on my short chapter, fast update system again.



Hope you enjoy!



Word count: ~8400



*****



Chapter 27: Breaking Bonds







Around the same time as the Skarmory attack, many miles away, the Fallarbor survivor camp was in shambles. A series of powerful earthquakes had rattled the campsite, causing enormous rock slides and destroying more than half of the tents. With their supplies running out and dozens badly injured, staying put was no longer an option, and Saibara made the difficult decision to evacuate south. As dangerous as the desert was, it was safer than remaining in the rapidly destabilizing north.



Saibara walked briskly along the wreckage-strewn pathways of the camp, flashlight in hand, conducting a hasty headcount and lending a hand whenever he could. Hundreds of people were fumbling around in the dark, desperately packing their scant supplies on top of Pokemon who were just as frightened as their masters. He noticed a young man kneeling at the roadside, frantically trying to lift something. As Saibara drew closer, he saw that it was not some piece of heavy luggage on the ground, but rather a large Lunatone laying prone in the dirt, trembling weakly. He rushed to the trainer's side and helped the boy carefully lower the Pokemon back to the ground before he could drop it.



"What's wrong with it?"



"I don't know," the boy lamented, his voice ragged and near panic. "One minute it was hovering next to me and the next it was on the ground. It can't pick itself up, and our mental connection is just...gone!"



"Easy, son, easy, losing your cool won't help. Any strange symptoms in the past day or two?"



"Just these", the trainer replied, pointing at what appeared to be hairline cracks on the Lunatone's side. "They showed up last night. They're not cracks, they're some kind of markings. It's been acting a little weird ever since the monster attacked Fallarbor, but in the last day or so it's been getting really aggressive. Normally it's as nice as can be."



Psychic energy suddenly sparked between the tips of the Lunatone's crescent body, strobing rapidly and nearly blinding those looking directly at it. The Pokemon's eyes flew open, flickering rapidly over the faces of the two humans standing above him, the normally expressionless orbs seeming to glow with an internal and eldritch light.



"Lunatone, what's going on? Are you alright?"



The Pokemon responded by blowing a hole clear through its trainer's stomach, blood and tissue splashing onto the dirt. Saibara stepped back, reaching for a Pokeball, but he was dead before he could draw; the Lunatone flew off of the ground with almost instantaneous acceleration, and four hundred pounds of solid rock struck the old man's head at fifty miles an hour.



The mess was considerable.



Screams echoed through the night as human and Pokemon alike began to scatter in panic. Jagged bolts of psychic energy, almost unbelievably overpowered, shredded through the ash-filled air and left falling slivers of fused glass in their wake. Over fifty terrified and disoriented people fled into the ashlands, where they were quickly and brutally killed by the numerous corrupted Pokemon that stalked the pass at night. More than a hundred tried to escape into the mountains, and while this group had a bit more organization and sense than the previously mentioned victims, they fared little better; most of their bodies were never recovered.



The rest of the camp managed to rally after the initial panic, but by the time they'd managed to shatter the corrupted Lunatone's body (killing it for the sixth time), more than two hundred people had been slain. The corpses were strewn about in the dark, huge and bloody holes torn straight through them, and not a few of the survivors found themselves stepping in something wet and steaming and invisible in the dark.



Ironically, it was a Dark-type Pokemon that delivered the final blow on the Lunatone. The Shiftry belonged to Hector Pavlis, the often-ostracized stockboy of the Fallarbor Pokemart who had been all but disowned by his parents after letting his Seedot evolve. Most people in his situation would have fled for their own lives, or perhaps even laughed as their tormentors were cut down. Instead, Hector and Shiftry charged the Lunatone, risking their lives to put an end to the corrupted creature. Shiftry broke its hide open with an Energy Ball, put out its eyes with a flurry of Bullet Seed, and finally sowed Leech Seeds into its entrails.



The remaining survivors treated Hector and his Kaishakunin with something resembling respect, letting the young man take charge of the shattered group and lead them south. Unfortunately, his newfound acceptance didn't last long; half an hour later, another Pokemon, this one a Lairon, was corrupted. This time there was no heroic rallying or successful counterattack; hundreds of humans and Pokemon were savagely torn apart within minutes. Hector and Shiftry were killed fighting the monster, and the last survivors of Fallarbor fled into the desert, where they were picked off by Cacturne one by one.



The Lairon itself died when its bones transformed into steel, and a broken rib suffered during the battle suddenly became a jagged knife that shredded its insides. While its injuries were fatal, that did not stop the force of the veil from trying to resurrect it; the Pokemon was repeatedly resurrected, dying a slow death from its shattered bone each time, its agony only ending when the veil was dispelled.



Both the Lunatone and Lairon had been loyal and loving companions before this night, protecting their trainers with their lives and never harming a soul outside of Pokemon battles. To blame this atrocity on them would be dishonest. Free will was not a factor.



--------



Fortunately, the cave that Flannery was using for shelter was not far from where the corrupted Skarmory had attacked. Blaziken went in first, checking to see if anything had entered while they were away. After ensuring that their camp was untouched, he stuck his head back out and nodded for the others to come in, reminding Flannery to kick away any sign of their passage in the ash.



Once everyone was inside, Flannery picked up a thick black blanket and hung it between two long sticks that were propped up by the entrance. What little daylight remained was blocked off, leaving the cave in utter darkness. She turned on her Pokenav a few seconds later, its dim light barely cutting through the shadows, and motioned for Slash to do the same. He frowned at the cautionary LOW BATTERY: RECHARGE RECOMMENDED message and lit it anyway. Perhaps he would look into getting one of those nifty adapters when he got back to civilization, the kind that let any electric-capable Pokemon recharge the device. Until then, though, he was stuck with only a few hours of power with the light on, and only a few days of power if he conserved it.



"Why don't we just light a fire?" Slash asked, aiming the Pokenav's glow to examine the inside of the cave. "If you don't have any firewood, I've got a couple cans of sterno left. Low light, but better than nothing, and we'll be able to cook."



Flannery shook her head. "We can't start a fire in here. Even with the blanket, a fire would be bright enough to give away our location, and the cave's too small to disperse smoke. This'll be good enough."



Gardevoir looked into the inky darkness at the back of the cave and progged, but she detected nothing other than the narrowing passage that ended about thirty feet away. Still jumpy over the thoughts of Dark-types and corrupted Pokemon, she lit a psychic beacon (far brighter than the Pokenavs) and shone it into the back of the cave, verifying that they were alone. She sensed concern from Slash and turned to him, questioning.



"I think it'd be best if you don't use your psychic powers any more than you have to, Gardie."



It's okay, master. Without having to maintain shields around everyone, I can keep a simple beacon lit almost indefinitely.



"That's not what I'm talking about. I think that the corrupted Pokemon was able to sense your latent psychic energy the same way the Cacturne could. It was targeting you over the rest of us."



"Pretty sure he's right," Flannery interjected. "We've been watching them for the past couple nights. They'll eat pretty much anything, including each other, but the Spoink and Grumpig that lived around here were wiped out before the others. At first I thought that they were just going after them because they were easy prey, since psychic attacks are almost completely ineffective against them...but then we noticed that the monsters were actually being drawn towards Psychic-types, heading their way even if they couldn't see them. If you can suppress your power, I'd highly recommend that you do so."



After the Cacturne attack and their encounter with the Skarmory, Gardevoir was not going to argue. She extinguished the beacon and focused, dialing down her powers as much as she could. She even closed some of the doors that contributed to her energy, though she left enough open to be able to defend herself and maintain the communication and mating bonds. While the lessened sensory input made her a bit nervous, she was surrounded and protected by her pack, along with these new and powerful allies,. Psymakio put her faith in them the same way her teammates put their faith in her.



Once the concealment preparations were complete, Slash swung his heavy pack onto the ground and plopped down beside it. Gardevoir sat next to him (though not as near as she would have preferred), and the others joined her, lining up against the right wall of the cave. Crawdaunt, mindful of Gardevoir's earlier fear and the way he'd surprised her during the skirmish with the Skarmory, made sure to sit on the opposite end of the line.



Flannery reached to her belt, then paused. "I'm gonna let my other Pokemon out to get some food and some real sleep, alright? Didn't want to startle you by just whipping them out, especially since you look like you don't fully trust me yet."



Slash shook his head. "No, I trust you. We're just a little rattled after that thing nearly killed us, that's all." Gardevoir lightly progged him and found that this was only partially true; he was also afraid of the young woman discovering their mating bond. Slash had another secret buried deep down, but since she couldn't pry that far without powering up a little, she let it be. "Go ahead. Besides, I'm a little curious about your team, since I'll probably be fighting you once all of this is over."



She smiled and rolled her eyes. "Typical trainer, always thinking about the next badge even when the world's falling down around them." Still, she thought to herself, he doesn't seem as enthusiastic about it as most trainers. Perhaps he had a bit more sense than to put trophies over his team's well-being. Blaziken seemed to concur with her opinion, though she could tell that he was still a little wary of the group by the way he hovered as close to her as he could without looking a little too friendly. She gripped her Pokeballs and released a Magcargo and a Torkoal before sitting back against the wall on the opposite side of the cave, her Pokemon doing the same a moment later.



"You've only got three with you?" Slash asked, confused. "Why?"



"Well, I didn't know how bad things were until I got here. I expected this to be a rescue mission, not to fight against wild Pokemon that are as strong as trained Gym defenders. I left my Magmar and Ninetales with my apprentice, who I left in charge of evacuating Lavaridge. Also got a Ponyta, but she's too young to fight, so I left her with him, too. Don't worry, these three are more than capable of getting us through this place."



Slash nodded, briefly opened his mouth, and then looked away. Flannery recognized the look; he wanted to ask a question but was too nervous to bring himself to do so. Not exactly uncommon with new trainers, especially with the male ones, something which irritated her mate to no end.



"Relax, Slash. We're not going to bite," she said pleasantly, hoping that Blaziken would get the hint before he started growling. "If you've got a question, go ahead and ask it."



"That Torkoal...is he..."



"Recognize him, huh?" Flannery grinned and put an arm around the creature's heavy shell, the Pokemon's eyes closing happily as she stroked his head. "Yeah, he's the one, alright. Passed down to the eldest son of the family line for more than a century. He was hatched by my great-grandfather, fought for my grandfather when he was in the Elite Four, served my father during his tenure as Gym Leader, and since I don't have any brothers...well, looks like tradition's changed a little."



Though Gardevoir's psychic powers were too suppressed to easily sense the Torkoal's strength, Growlithe had no such difficulty. He could practically feel the power radiating off of the ancient Pokemon, even greater than that of Blaziken. The tortoise may have been old, but he was clearly not infirm. There was a very experienced warrior hiding behind that deceptively relaxed stance, and anyone who mistook his slow gait for a slow mind would be in for a nasty surprise



"I was tempted to leave him with my apprentice," Flannery continued, "but Torkoal insisted that he come with us on this little adventure. My father entrusted him to protect me, and he takes that duty very seriously."



Slash smiled at the old Pokemon, reaching out and brushing his shell with gloved fingers. Psymakio saw something like awe in her mate's eyes. "When I was a kid, I watched your father's Gym fights on television, and Torkoal was always one of my favorite Pokemon. Most trainers came damn close to pissing themselves when your dad sent him out. Damn, he was an amazing trainer."



The young woman nodded, feeling the slight pang of sadness that accompanied hearing someone mention him. "Yeah, he was."



Blaziken's urge to comfort his mate was so strong that he had to clench his fists hard enough to draw blood to keep himself from acting rashly. His eyes briefly flickered to Flannery's face, searching for tears and finding none. As he looked back at the other group, he found the Gardevoir staring back at him with uncomfortable curiosity. He had learned to shield his mind from the probing of psychic Pokemon, at least to a degree, but there was something about this Gardevoir that made him glad that she was burying most of her power. Their kind were unnaturally attuned to emotional output, and while that ability was typically limited to their trainers, it would only take one exception to cause him and Flannery a great deal of trouble.



Is something wrong? Gardevoir asked privately, careful not to include Slash in her communication. You seem troubled.



[I am troubled over the situation,] Blaziken replied quickly, not missing a beat. He was good at lying, a useful skill when one has a secret, and equally good at communicating with his packmates without drawing suspicion. He was forced to speak verbally since Gardevoir would not open a direct mental link with him (a wise precaution when dealing with strangers, he thought, slightly impressed), but would have done so even if she had; it alerted his mate and friends to be careful around this insightful Gardevoir without saying so out loud. [Up until tonight, we did not know that these monsters were once normal Pokemon. The knowledge is disturbing, I'm sure you'd agree. We need to know how they were transformed, and whether or not we are at risk of doing so ourselves.]



"What did he say?" Slash asked. "I've never worked with any Blaziken, so it'll be a while before I pick up the language."



He already knew, of course. Psymakio had not made a mental link with the Blaziken, since doing so might reveal their mating bond, but that was alright. The other Pokemon were capable of understanding the Blaziken's verbal speech, and relayed it back to Slash the same way they relayed Crawdaunt's mental speech to Psymakio. Asking Flannery for a translation was only a pretense, keeping his cards to close to his chest.



Without knowing it, both groups were engaged in a cautious game of cat-and-mouse.



"He said that he wants to know what's going on," Flannery replied. "So do I. At first I thought that the volcano's activity was just a natural catastrophe, but with the rumors of dragons running amok, these corrupted Pokemon, and the sighting of Aquas in the area, it's clear that something far more complicated is going down. You said that you knew something about it, right?"



"Yeah. It's a long story, though."



"We can't travel in the dark, and it's too early to go to sleep, so talk away. We can eat while you do."



"Good idea."



Slash and Flannery began unpacking their supplies, exchanging a few meals to get a little variety before handing food and water out to their Pokemon. Flannery noticed that while Slash had plenty of edible supplies, mostly boiled meat and vegetables that looked rather unappetizing, he was running low on everything else. The desert, of course. Just because the boy was good enough to make it through the desert didn't mean that it had been easy; he was on his last legs. Keeping an eye on the Gardevoir, she dipped into her mating bond.



[Blaziken...]



Gardevoir didn't show any sign of being able to read their bond, so Blaziken replied. [What is it?]



[What do you think? Can we trust them?]



[Do you know something I don't? I'm being cautious, but they haven't done anything suspicious that I've seen. Not yet, anyway.]



[No, but this guy seems almost...too determined, you know? Heck, I don't know if we could have made it through the desert at his age, and we were being trained by a Gym Leader all our lives. He's been going hard, and his team is running on fumes. What do you think he's after?]



Blaziken sent the mental equivalent of a shrug back to her. [I don't know, but perhaps we should give him a chance to tell his story before doubting it.]



[I know, but still, we should be careful. A trainer that skilled at his age is unusual enough, but one with a Gardevoir could be...risky for us. That's what you were trying to tell me earlier, right?]



[I don't think she can sense our bond, or she likely would have said something. But yes, we'll need to be careful, especially once she stops suppressing her power. I think that we should refrain from talking through our mating bond tomorrow unless absolutely necessary.]



Flannery gave a barely perceptible nod, still eying the Gardevoir and the unfamiliar team. They weren't speaking, not out loud, but they seemed to be...reacting, nonetheless. Smiles for no apparent reason, puzzled looks, raised eyebrows...all the facial expressions without any apparent dialogue. Flannery had a strong feeling that a silent telepathic conversation was going on. She didn't know much about Psychic-types other than what she had to know to fight them, but while it was hard to believe that a Psychic Pokemon could facilitate telepathy for an entire group, including a Dark-type and a human...it was still possible. She just couldn't know for sure without asking outright, and doing so would be rather abrupt.



[Yes,] Flannery concluded. [We'll keep our bond-talk to a minimum. Just promise me that you'll be careful with your silly overprotective reactions to everything, alright? I don't need you trying to disembowel the guy when he checks me out, or hug me just because I get a little...contemplative.] She smiled, unnoticed by the others. [Even if I want you to.]



[I understand. But once we're out of here...]



[That can be your incentive to rein in those protective urges, Blaze. Behave now...get rewarded later. I promise.]



Blaziken put his own meal over his lap, in case he had to hide something that did not need to be progged to be noticed. [Sounds good.]



--------



Once everyone was settled, Slash told his story from beginning to end, starting with setting out as a trainer and finishing with the Ashlands. He found that he had to be surprisingly cautious about what he told Flannery's pack; a great deal of the information linked back to the relationship between him and Psymakio. Still, telling his story was a relief, as he hadn't realized just how much he'd been through until he recounted it out loud.



Slash told them of his first days as a trainer, from leaving Oldale with Growlithe to defeating Roxanne and Brawly. Looking back, he realized that those were the last days he'd spent as a normal trainer, living a normal life. Though it had only been a few weeks ago, it seemed like a lifetime. Now he was coming to think that the trainer life he'd expected would never return. His feelings were mixed on that issue.



Then the insanity began. He told Flannery of his first encounters with Kiako and the horrific attack on the Slateport museum that had nearly killed him. She had never seen Kiako, nor heard of him, but she promised to pass the information on when she returned to Lavaridge (or whatever was left of it).



"I doubt that will do any good, Flannery. He was able to enter Slateport, kill at least three men, steal an ancient treasure, and leave without being so much as detected by the police. He's good at getting around quietly when he wants to." Slash considered briefly, then added, "even if the police could find him, they couldn't beat him. His Pokemon are powerful beyond belief, and his own strange powers are dangerous, as well."



"I wasn't planning on telling the police," Flannery replied. "I was going to relay the information to the Pokemon League, so they could send a team of elites after him. As strong as he is, I doubt he could handle three hunters, all trained by the Elite Four themselves, at the same time."



Slash wasn't so sure. From what Silver had told him, Kiako was stronger than the current Pokemon League Champion (hard to believe, but Silver himself was clearly of the same caliber as the Elite Four, so it could be possible), but it couldn't hurt to put a little heat on Kiako's trail. He told her that her idea was a good one and then continued his story, telling her of the artifact and its prophesy, along with the Pearls. Slash had expected Flannery to laugh at the idea of magical rocks and ancient kings, but she had not. She knew that legendary Pokemon existed, having seen one herself. She started to ask a question, but Slash stopped her with a raised hand.



"There's a lot to tell, and a lot of it's confusing, so let me get it all out before you ask anything."



He skimmed through his time in Mauville fairly quickly, recounting his battles with the Magmas and nearly being stabbed by a group of muggers (Blaziken had a feeling that Slash was leaving something out, but said nothing) and his subsequent friendship with Watson, who had saved his life on two occasions. When he got to his duel with the old Gym Leader, Flannery listened eagerly, her respect for Slash growing as he recounted just how close the battle had been. She had never fought Watson (or even met him in person, except for a few brief words at her induction ceremony), but her father had sparred with the old man on several occasions, and he had rarely returned home as the victor. Slash and his Pokemon had to be particularly gifted to hold their own against crime bosses and Gym Leaders that far outranked them in both sheer strength and battle experience.



The boy had been through much, especially for a new trainer, and handled both victories and losses with maturity beyond his years. Despite the chaos surrounding them, Flannery admitted to herself that she was rather eager to fight him, too.



Slash left out his encounter with the Aquas and joining up as a spy and eventual saboteur. While he might have no choice but to explain the situation before they reached Fallarbor, he would rather have more time to get Flannery to trust him, first. Instead he told them of his decision to head north and investigate the disturbance in the north, and began the most part of the story with the most pitfalls: the trek across the desert.



With Cacnea snoozing in Gardevoir's arms, Slash quietly recounted the horrific events of the first night, leaving out the Dark Core and his reduced lifespan, instead giving the credit of saving the day to his Pokemon (though he confessed to killing Cacnea's mother, albeit with a knife in this version of the tale). He did, however, tell Flannery of Gardevoir's vision, with as much detail as he could without revealing their mating, though the issue of Miyako and Quiero was tricky. After some hesitation, he decided to tell them everything, including the mating between the two ancient lovers, since much of the information was crucial to understanding the Shadow's origins. He considered not mentioning that Miyako was a Gardevoir, but since Rocket would eventually be going after Psymakio, the princess's "echo", there was no choice.



"Things were...pretty different back then," Slash muttered, not having to go out of his way to sound embarrassed. "That part of the vision certainly made things a little...awkward between me and my Kaishakunin."



"I can imagine," Flannery replied, not looking at Blaziken but keeping their mating bond open. That part of the story had intrigued both of them. Even if it was over a thousand years ago, the idea that two such lovers could live happily, mated and married and celebrated instead of scorned...a pipe dream, surely, but a nice one. She listened carefully to the description of Gardevoir's vision, at first skeptical (ancient kingdoms, bombs that forever fouled the land, and world-corrupting entities were far more unusual than legendary Pokemon), then curious, and finally believing when Slash finally explained what the Pearls did and what Kiako was after.



Any doubts she had vanished when the trainer mentioned Silver, someone with whom the Johto Pokemon League had contact with when Rocket fell (at least publicly) nearly twenty years prior. The involvement with Silver had been confidential information, known only to Pokemon League officials; Slash knowing about it meant that he was very likely telling the truth (or that Watson told him about it, but she doubted that). The Johto League lost contact with Silver when Rocket fell, but if he was still alive, he would know better than anyone if Rocket was still around.



"So Kiako Sensiari and Team Rocket want to get the Pearls and break the seal, because they think they can steal the power of this ancient King and use it for themselves," Flannery concluded. "But while they know more about the unsealing process than you do, they're completely unaware of this Shadow entity, and will inadvertently release it when they break the seal. And if they do, the world is pretty much fucked."



"That's how it seems." Slash breathed a sigh of relief. "You seem to be taking this pretty well. I know how crazy some of this stuff sounds."



She shrugged, smiling. "It's hard to be skeptical when you think about what some of the legendary Pokemon are capable of. You were probably too young to remember it, but about twelve years ago, there was a huge fire in Ecruteak City, in Johto, that killed almost a hundred people. But Ho-oh---the legendary Ho-Oh---descended from the sky and brought everyone back to life before flying away as quickly as it arrived. It was filmed live by a dozen news cameras, and everyone watching got to see it happen. And only those lucky people got to see it, because Ho-oh didn't show up in any of the recordings afterwards. The tapes weren't destroyed, but you couldn't see Ho-oh in them. It was like a mirage."



"I heard about that at the academy. Half the class thought the teachers were just messing with us."



"The Great Ones aren't called legendary because nobody believes in them...they're called that because of the feats they're capable of, and how very few people get to see them. Usually, anyway. There's a lot of Great Ones which have never had a confirmed sighting and are considered just as real as Ho-oh or Moltres."



Slash immediately thought of Jirachi, but this time he managed to keep his mouth shut. The double-sapphire necklace around Flannery's neck, shaped like a star, clearly showed that she was a Jirachian.



"So yeah, once you consider how incredible the world of Pokemon can be, it's not so hard to believe in something like this King, or the idea that Pokemon and humans could co-exist as...something more than battle partners. Honestly, the only crazy part of your story is the Shadow, and...well, when the evidence tries to eat you, it's pretty compelling stuff. I can understand why you'd be so desperate to stop these guys. But Slash, if you're right about the seal on the Shadow, then it's still going to break eventually, even if the Pearls are out of the picture."



"Yes," Slash confirmed, "although it would be decades, maybe centuries, before the seal breaks on its own. The problem is that more of these bad-karma hot spots---the generating points for the veil of the Shadow---will crop up as the seal weakens, and things like Chimney's eruption will start happening everywhere. The world might be destroyed before the Shadow is actually released, or at least civilization will be. Either way, it has to be stopped, and simply re-sealing it won't be enough. Neither will be running from one nexus to the next and trying to undo them, like we're hoping will happen here. Eventually we'll be overwhelmed."



"So what do you plan to do? Even if we save Rayquaza from whatever is attacking it and stop Kiako and his friends, things will still get worse."



"I'm...not quite sure. What we've heard is fragmented, because the man in Gardevoir's vision couldn't tell her everything he wanted to. But he did say that another storyteller would soon come and tell us the rest, and maybe then we can devise a plan. For now, though..."



Flannery and Blaziken exchanged a look and nodded at each other. "For now we can do nothing but reach Fallarbor and dispel the veil before Chimney erupts. Maybe save my town from being completely destroyed, as well as saving a Great One and all of northwest Hoenn. This is bigger than I could have imagined..."



She dipped back into her mating bond. [Blaze, if this is true...if this is far more than a mere volcanic eruption...if the world itself is in that much danger...]



[Then we can't just stand by and let it happen. You're right.]



"Slash," Flannery began, her voice low. "The Pokemon League might send hunters after Kiako. They might even believe that Team Rocket is still active and contact the other Leagues to investigate. But they will never believe that a godlike entity is on the verge of being released and destroying the world, even if me and Watson and Silver and a dozen others vouch for it. Unless the damn thing is released and they can see it with their own eyes, they won't help you. It's just too difficult to accept."



"I know. I didn't expect them to help."



"But we will."



He raised an eyebrow. "Flannery, you've got your own responsibilities. I can't ask you to abandon your town and help us. Not on the journey we're going on. I'd appreciate your help with the mess in Fallarbor, but I can't ask you to come with us beyond that. It's just too dangerous."



"To be brutally frank, Slash, I'm stronger than you are. Quite a bit stronger, judging from how much difficulty you had with that corrupted Pokemon."



Slash clenched a gloved fist, his fingers achingly cold."That may be, but we know what we're dealing with...at least, we know more than you do. Just telling you about what we've been through doesn't convey the danger enough. This corruption process, for instance...as far as we know, it's random, unstoppable, and nothing is completely immune to it. Half of us could wake up tomorrow as twisted monsters. Or maybe none of us would wake up at all."



Flannery hesitated at that. Most of the Pokemon that stayed in the pass had not been corrupted...most had either died from the volcano's effects, starvation, or the tainted monsters that fed at night. But judging from their twisted forms, the ones that were corrupted were from a variety of species, even if she couldn't recognize what they'd originally been. It would be horrible if Magcargo or Torkoal were corrupted, heartbreaking and horrible, but what if it was...



What if her mate was...



"I couldn't ask anyone to come with us on this...quest, I might as well call it that, as crazy as it sounds. Not even Watson, who's become as close to us as family. As much as I fear going on alone...I can ask no one else to take up this burden."



Slash pulled off a glove, holding his left hand up so that the flat light of both Pokenavs shone upon it. Needle-thin lines, black as the total darkness outside the cave, stretched from his each fingertip down to the first knuckle. Flannery instantly recognized them as the lines of corruption that had been on the monsters outside. The Pokemon of both groups stared at his hand silently, watching warily, as though Slash might change into a beast at any moment. Psymakio, who had seen the markings earlier and tried to deny what they were, could not help but look away.



"These appeared in the desert," Slash said quietly, "after I was touched by a servant of the Shadow. And they're growing. It seems that the closer we get to the nexus of the veil---Fallarbor Town---the faster they grow. The growth may stop once the veil is gone, but...it will not be the last veil that we travel under. I'm more vulnerable than most people, for reasons I'd like to keep to myself, but...if you come with us, someday you might find the same lines on your hands. Or maybe on your Pokemon."



(Is it just the veil?, Psymakio wondered to herself. She didn't think so. She hadn't noticed the marks until today, when Slash lost control of his powers after being restrained by Graveler. If they had indeed first appeared in the desert (apparently the outer edge of the veil), then they were tiny, barely noticeable...until today. Maybe the veil was helping things along, but she suspected that using the Dark Core was behind most of the growth.



"I know that things are worse under the veil," Flannery said, mirroring Psymakio's thoughts, "but the Shadow's influence is leaking out everywhere, isn't it? The effects might be accelerated here, where the land and sky are spoiled by its presence...but sooner or later the whole world will be spoiled, won't it? Won't make a damn bit of difference where we are or what we're doing, will it? It will find us and touch us, and it will happen anyway."



Slash was quiet for a long moment. "Yes," he finally admitted, "but it'll be a long time before that happens if you stay away from this."



"You know, you're starting to get on my nerves," Flannery said, a little more sharply than she'd intended. Slash glanced up, startled. "You know more about this mess than I do, I'll grant you that. And from what that vision told you, the burden of stopping the Shadow is on your shoulders. But you can't do it alone. As I said, I'm stronger than you. You might be skilled for your age, and your Pokemon are brave and powerful, but you're still just a rookie, both in terms of being a trainer and living in the real world. Destiny or not, you will die if try to do this alone."



Blaziken felt an elusive emotion, dry and bitter, trickling through the mating bond. It was close enough to anger to get his own blood up.



"I can see killing in your eyes, Slash. Killing is something you're comfortable with. Even if you're new at it, you're adapting to it quite well. But what about loss? Do you know anything of loss? What would you do if you lost one of your Pokemon? Or your family? Or your entire town? Could you handle that? You might think you know about responsibility, Slash, but you don't. You're still just a kid. Being a trainer is the closest thing to responsibility that you've ever dealt with."



There was a retort here, and a powerful one, but Slash remained silent. Even if Psymakio hadn't been holding back his anger, it would take much more than that to break his logic and make him tell Flannery of the other responsibility he had, that to his mate. "Those are my problems to deal with. What does that have to do with you joining us?"



"Because if you had that knowledge...if you knew the burdens of loss and responsibility..." Flannery shot him a glance filled with such fire that Slash nearly flinched. "If you knew how stupid it is to ask a Gym Leader to just go home while knowing that her people will die if the greenhorn kid hero should fail, then you'd keep your mouth shut."



Slash couldn't think of a retort to that one. He was speechless. He had thought of Flannery as a slightly clumsy and over-enthusiastic young woman, someone quite skilled but lacking the hard grit that most Gym Leaders had. Now, though...she spoke as her father had before her, with the molten melding of confidence, determination, and command that Maxie had heard from Watson shortly before being killed.



"Lavaridge will not be spared if the volcano erupts, and neither will it be spared if the Shadow is freed." Flannery's tone was cooler now, but her eyes still had that spark in them. "Going home is not an option for someone responsible for the lives of six thousand people. Tell me, Slash, why do you want to go on this quest? What do you want to do?"



"I want to stop Kiako and erase the Shadow from existence," he replied without hesitation. "No matter what it takes."



"No, you don't. Tell me what you really want. Honestly. Without the wannabe hero talk."



Wannabe hero, Slash thought bitterly. That was, frustratingly, an accurate description of him sometimes. He didn't care about the glory or fame of saving the day, but wanting to put the burden solely on his own shoulders was nearly as arrogant. It was also what got Psymakio nearly killed and cut his lifespan down to less than six months, tick-tock, tick-tock. "I want to go home," he admitted. "I want to take my Pokemon and just forget about all of this Shadow business and live somewhere safe, away from crime teams and deserts and volcanoes. Maybe even get back to the normal trainer life, if we could, or maybe not."



Flannery nodded. "And why don't you? It would keep them safe...at least, for a while."



"Because we have no choice."



"Wrong. You have a choice, just as I do, to risk your friends' lives or keep them safe by staying out of it. When you love someone, the choice is pretty clear, to protect them at all costs, even if protecting them is only a short-term solution, or even an ultimately suicidal one. But when you really love someone...when you care about more than them being alive to make you happy, and want instead what's best for them...then, Slash, you can understand why I can't just go home." Her eyes briefly flickered to Blaziken, then back to him. "You must put aside your own wants, your own pride, and think about how to serve them best. Even if it puts them in great danger...even if they hate you for it...you must do it anyway."



He knew what she was talking about, of course. Ever since he had begun his forbidden relationship with Psymakio, he had thought about simply running away with her, forgetting about Kiako and the Pearls and just trying to keep her alive and happy. But once the situation became clear...once he realized that even if they ran, the Shadow would eventually catch them...he had to make a very difficult decision. The path he'd chosen would not be kind to Psymakio...already he'd almost gotten her killed and broken her heart with his foolish pride, and more pain was certain to come her way. But it was still better than the alternative---hiding away, ignoring the world and its troubles, living a selfish life of happiness while the Shadow drew closer and closer and death became utterly inevitable.



So yes, he knew what she was talking about.



"Like you, Slash, I can put my own well-being aside to strive for a greater good. And also like you, I can try to keep others out of it, to bear the burden myself. But when I found something greater than myself...when I found my friendships, my loves, my responsibilities...the rules changed. I can't ignore this anymore than you could cry off your quest, even though both are what we want to do. As much as I want to see them safe and happy in the short term," she glanced as Blaziken, glad to see understanding in his eyes, "I want to see them safe and alive in long term even more."



"And the people of Lavaridge? How will they feel with you leaving them? How will they feel about the Flynn family, the lineage that founded the town, leaving them to fend for themselves?"



"The people of Lavaridge may hate me for abandoning them...and that's how they'll see it, no matter how I explain it to them and no matter who I put in my place...but it's for the best. For their own good, as arrogant as that may sound. Sometimes people, even those you love, don't know what's for their own good, and need to have someone do it for them. Like you."



She smiled a bit more genuinely, a mocking smile. No, that wasn't the right word. Teasing; her fire had become something like playful teasing. "I've known you for half an hour, and I already know quite a bit about you, Slash. You're smart, you're skilled, and you'd take all the world's suffering onto your own shoulders if you could. But unfortunately, you're also cocky enough to think that you actually can. That is why you desperately need help. Even the gods seem to think so, and for all you know, I might be the Jack of Diamonds or the Ace of Spades that's supposed to fight alongside you. I know that you're too kindhearted to ask for any help, or you'd have asked Watson, but you don't need to ask. I'm going to give it to you anyway. Whether you like it or not. It's for your own good, kid."



The line of Pokemon on the right side of the cave glanced over at Slash, expecting more disagreement at best and outrage at worst. Instead, he sighed dramatically, nodded, and slipped his glove back on. "Well, that was humbling. If you don't mind, miss, I'd like my nuts back, please."



Blaziken's laughter, loud and booming, was so sudden and unexpected that everyone else had no choice but to join in. Maybe this kid wasn't such an untrustworthy prick after all.



--------



A few minutes later, as Slash and Flannery were cleaning up and laying out bedding, talking about their plans for the next day's travel, Crawdaunt came to Psymakio. He made sure to approach her cautiously, not wanting to startle her (the thought of being struck by a panicky, instinctive Thunderbolt was not pleasant to contemplate), clacking his legs against the stony ground a bit harder than he had to.



[Hey.]



Psymakio smiled politely, hoping that he couldn't sense her pulse suddenly speeding up. Hello, Crawdaunt. Is something wrong?



[Yeah, it is.] He waved a huge, powerful claw at the blanket-covered mouth of the cave. [Out there, when that Skarmory attacked...I'm sorry I scared you. I didn't mean to.]



Her eyes flickered downwards, and her nervousness was quickly replaced by shame. You know that you don't have any reason to apologize. I should be thanking you for saving my life. If it had hit me instead of you, I wouldn't be here right now. Not in one piece, anyway.



[Still, I just want you to know that I didn't mean to scare you so badly. Next time I'll just knock you down with water or something. Gently, of course.]



Thank you. She looked up and smiled, genuinely this time. For saving me and for...indulging my phobia so much. I know that it can't be easy for you.



[It's easier for me than it is for you, I'm sure. Like I told you before, I know that your fear won't vanish overnight. Especially if big crabs don't stop pushing you into the dust. Don't worry, I'll be patient.]



Crawdaunt gave her a crooked smile and clattered back to join the others. Gardevoir noticed Slash glancing at her out of the corner of his eye.



Everything cool, Gardie?



Yes, master. Everything's cool.



--------



Half an hour later, the group was asleep, except for Slash and Psymakio, who were keeping the first watch of the night. The cave was shrouded in almost absolute darkness, the only light source being Flannery's Pokenav, set on low illumination to conserve power. The blanket draped over the mouth of the cave was still in place; the purpose of the watch was simply to distract anything that came bursting in long enough for everyone else to get to the back of the cave and prepare to fight.



On a normal night, the mountain pass would be full of the sounds of life, as the Skarmory and Spinda settled down for the night and the bugs came out to feed in safety. Tonight, however, the night was dead. Only the constant rumble of thunder (occasionally punctuated by enormous blasts that shook the ground itself) and the mangled screams of corrupted Pokemon came echoing from the darkness. There weren't many corrupted Pokemon, from the sounds of it, but enough to greatly worry Slash and Psymakio, who were not confident about their ability to defeat even one. Flannery had confided that while her team had successfully killed three corrupted Pokemon, including the Skarmory, they had only survived this long by avoiding battle whenever they could. Furthermore, one of the monsters (Flannery suspected it was once a Spinda, as ridiculous as that seemed) had nearly cracked Magcargo open like an egg with a single punch, and only her access to Gym Leader quality medicine had saved its life.



Master?



Slash glanced up at Psymakio, barely able to see her face in the dim light. He spoke through their bond, rather than risk being overheard. Yeah?



I was wondering if I could see them. Up close, I mean.



At first he was uncertain of what she meant, but the concern in her eyes quickly made her question clear. He pulled off his left glove, exposing his marked fingers. Strangely, they seemed easier to see in the dark, despite being absolutely black. Gardevoir gently took his hand and brought it close to her face, studying the lines closely.



These weren't noticeable before today. Not to me, anyway.



They were more like dots than lines at first. They've only started growing today, since we've gotten closer to the nexus of the veil. Guess you didn't notice them because we haven't had any time to really get close since that first night in the desert.



I'm not sure that it's the veil causing them, Psymakio said, voicing the idea she had earlier. The veil might be speeding it up, but their appearance and growth both happened when you lost control of your dark powers and turned to the Dark Core. Does the Core feel...corrupted to you? Tainted?



Slash dipped into his void and carefully examined the Dark Core, hanging at the top of the mental world, pulsing with a sickly purple-black light. It looked corrupted, but...



I can't prog it. At all. Not even with my dark progging abilities. It's just too...beyond me.



Psymakio fought off the urge to slip into her mate's arms, instead bringing his hand to her lips and kissing each finger. It's alright. We'll have time to worry about it later. Just...be careful, alright? I'll restrain you when I can, but...well, just be careful.



I will. I promise.



After a quick embrace, the pair separated and returned to their quiet, lonely vigil. Neither had noticed the sharp eyes watching them from the other side of the cave.



--------



To be continued.