INTERLUDE - DISCOVERY

Up here, the fog was so thick you could choke on it.

Chase Karlson could barely see twenty feet in front of him, and it had gotten worse the further he got along this mountain. He sat on an appropriately shaped rock as he stuck by his Houndoom while snacking on a protein bar. There was no wood to make a fire here, or at least none that he could find without straying off the path and getting lost, so having a fire type was extremely convenient. Houndoom whined, and his tail lay flat against the rocky ground.

"I know you're tired, but you've gotta toughen up," Chase said.

Without the fog, he reckoned that he could have seen Solaceon from there. Leaving the tournament had been a bummer, but this was too important to pass up on. If he hadn't left, then he would have had to wait until the end of the year to get to Celestic. The opportunity had been too good to pass up. Houndoom lazily blew a flame in front of them, and Chase sniffled. The damn fog was irritating his lungs and clinging to his clothes, making them wet. Without Houndoom, he would have had a seriously hard time dealing with the cold. If there was one word that defined the dark type, it would be loyal. He followed wherever Chase went and would go to the ends of the earth to help him.

He was bored quite easily, however.

The floor rumbled slightly and the temperature lowered by a few degrees. Cold mist mixed in with the fog as his Abomasnow stepped into view. The hulking grass type was seven feet tall, and he carried the frozen corpse of a Bibarel. Riolu rode on his shoulder, hanging on one of the long, thick frozen leaves that made up Abomasnow's body. Houndoom was his most loyal, but Abomasnow was his most powerful and dedicated fighter.

"There's your dinner. Zangoose! Vikavolt!" Chase yelled. His voice reverberated through the mountains. He didn't care if anything heard him. Let them come, and he would challenge them with his team.

Vikavolt's buzzing could be heard in the air, and he left a trail of electricity behind him as he landed faster than Chase could notice.

"Good improvement on that landing," Chase nodded. "Keep at it."

The bug type's pincers ground against each other and he fanned his wings.

"That doesn't mean get confident. Confidence makes us rest on our laurels. Work like you're twenty steps behind. Always."

The old him would have sneered at that, but he knew that competition was fierce now. Chase had long outgrown his old days in Jubilife where he would crush any trainer in arenas with Riolu. He could still do so if he wished, of course, but there was little point to it now. It wasn't like anyone would accept his challenge anyway.

The money would have been nice.

Zangoose strode up behind him with her usual scowl and red eyes. She was the most solitary Pokemon of her team and liked to keep to herself most days, but that didn't mean that she disliked the team like he'd feared at first. That would have been catastrophic, especially because he liked to build a sense of camaraderie between them— himself included. They were a squad. A unit. And everyone had a role.

But no, the answer was that Zangoose was just an introvert.

Saliva ran down Houndoom's mouth as he slowly cooked the dead Bibarel. He, Zangoose, and Vikavolt all preferred meat, so he wasn't about to stop them from eating. He could almost imagine Pastel's whining or Williams pretending to be fine with it, but really being almost to the point of gagging.

Riolu took a seat next to him and sighed.

"Abomasnow give you a tough time?" Chase asked.

The ice type snorted, releasing a cold wind that overpowered Houndoom's heat. Riolu shrugged and crossed his legs. Abomasnow was exigent in his hunting, and he only went after Bibarel for the team, which meant that they had to go down to slopes next to the enormous river to catch them and climb back up. It was no wonder Riolu had taken a ride on his shoulder by the end of it. They had been gone for three hours.

The first phase of Chase's plan had been to train his team to the bone so that they could do things like this. Go out independently and hunt or train without his guidance against wild Pokemon, if they wanted to. Sometimes, they came back wounded, which meant that they'd gotten something out of it. A wound was a valuable lesson, as was a scar.

Chase would know. He traced down the long scar at the back of his arm given to him by that Sneasel up north. His Pokemon had plenty now.

"Celestic should be five days away," Chase announced. "The fog will get worse before it gets better, so from now on if you go out, you'll need to have Ri with ya."

Zangoose hissed and her fur stood up in protest, but the fighting type shot her a look that calmed her down immediately. She cut up Bibarel's gut— which was her favorite bit— and walked off in the distance, although she made sure to stay within his range of vision. Vikavolt let out a low hum, annoyed that he wouldn't be able to fly and improve his speed with Chase's new rules.

"I don't care," Chase shrugged. "We've got eight potions left. I'm your leader, and a leader has to make tough decisions. You'll cut down on training time, but we've got to think about the way back."

Strangely enough, even though Chase was one of the best first-years in the region, he was still poor. Trainers would no longer battle him due to his temperament and reputation, and he was too prideful to accept a sponsor. He would not be a tool for big businesses to enrich themselves, money be damned.

That of course meant that he had to ration potions. Food for his team came first, but even that was too much now that they'd grown so large, which was why he'd resorted to hunting for the majority of their sustenance.

He watched Houndoom devour Bibarel's face and Vikavolt saw an arm off for himself. He searched through his bag and offered Riolu some sliced berries— a habit he'd picked up from a certain someone. The fighting type began to munch down on the fruit and Abomasnow made himself tall, attempting to absorb the few rays of sunlight that made it through the thick fog.

"Finish eating, then we're hitting the road again."

Celestic grew closer.

—

Chase stopped when he heard a Pokemon grunting. There was the sound of something… slamming stone, over and over again. Riolu's eyes lit up as he held out his hand, then he stared up at Chase and nodded.

"Can we go around?" Chase whispered.

The fighting type hesitated, then shook his head. The path up here was too narrow to avoid whatever was in front of him, but it was also too narrow to have a damn fight on. There was supposed to be some type of bridge up ahead, if the information Williams had sent him was correct.

"Fuck this," Chase said, rolling his shoulder. Fear had never stopped him, and it would not stop him now.

He stepped forward before his Pokemon could even stop him and saw that a huge Klawf was hanging on the steep cliff to his right up ahead. The path was so narrow it could barely fit Abomasnow, so simply running past it was impossible. The giant crab angrily clicked its pincers, letting him know that this was its turf and going any further implied a fight.

"I'm getting through whether you like it or not," Chase said. He waited for a few seconds, but resigned to a fight when Klawf hit one of its pincers against the wall it was attached to. He had hoped to negotiate with it like he'd done with a few others he'd done on this route— Pokemon on routes were often a lot more reasonable than the aggressive Pokemon of Mount Coronet or Eterna Forest. Unfortunately, Klawf wanted a fight. "Prepare the long-ranged setup."

Moving as one, his team took their positions. He felt Houndoom's warmth to his left, and Abomasnow's frigid cold behind him. Darkness festered under the fire type's paws. Vikavolt was out of view, but he could see and hear faint cracks of electricity dancing in the air. Zangoose squeezed past him and raked a claw against the cliff. Klawf let out an irritating sound and menacingly slammed a pincer against the wall of the cliff.

"Fighting it is, motherfucker."

Klawf yelled, and the whole mountain began to shake. Small rocks fell down the cliff at first, but they grew larger and larger with time.

"Rock Tomb or Slide. Zangoose, you're up."

The normal type blurred to Chase's right and clawed every rock that would have hit him apart with Metal Claw. Fragments still hit him and cut his face, but this was better than nothing. Abomasnow slammed a fist against his chest, causing snow to fall to the ground, and let an Ice Shard loose toward Klawf, who climbed up the cliff with surprising speed. Three of them buried themselves into its rocky armor, but the rest disintegrated against the terrain.

From the sky, Vikavolt shot out a Sticky Web, wrapping Klawf so tightly that its speed was cut at least in half. Houndoom's Flamethrower heat up one of its claws until it glowed red. A tiny ball of aura appeared in between Riolu's palms and flew off toward the rock type, hitting it in between the eyes. Klawf shook the damage off, and this time shards of rock flew out of its mouth. Faster than he could even react, Zangoose pushed Chase behind her and got hit in his stead. Blood poured down her fur, staining it in scarlet red.

The boy hissed. He wasn't going to be treated like a fucking damsel in distress. He shot up and cracked his fingers.

"Ri. Hand me a bone."

Klawf shot another volley of rocks, this time aiming at Zangoose again, but she was too quick to be hit. She climbed up the mountain with her claws while Vikavolt, Houndoom and Abomasnow pelted the rock type with Dark Pulses, Thunderbolts and Ice Shards. A bone grew out of Riolu's hand and Chase quickly grabbed it, waiting for a chance to strike. The floor shook once more, and Klawf attempted to crawl backwards to get away from Zangoose.

"Watch for the rocks!" Chase yelled.

Zangoose hissed, slashing across the Klawf's rocky shell and then climbing onto its back to avoid the Rock Slide. Chase, Riolu and Houndoom smoothly slipped behind Abomasnow, who slowed or froze the incoming rocks with a powerful Icy Wind.

"String Shot the legs!" He ordered. He had to replace the string that had been burned by Flamethrower.

Vikavolt screeched, shooting out more string, this time focused on Klawf's legs. Zangoose kept hitting it with Metal Claw and now that its legs were wrapped up, it began to slide down toward the flat ground. Chase bolted out from behind Abomasnow and slid against the floor, angling Riolu's bone right up the cliff, and it impaled Klawf right in between the eyes.

The sheer weight of the crab shook him to his core, but Riolu kept him steady by keeping his hands on his back. It desperately attempted to claw him apart. He twisted the bone, and the rock type shivered in agony. Chase stood up and clenched his fists to stop them from shaking, then he stared it right in the eye.

"Now I'm going to give you a chance to leave. Either you take it, or we keep this going," he said.

Klawf stared at him with hazy eyes, but managed to nod with its entire body.

"Burn this shit off," Chase said, pointing at the remaining String Shot and Sticky Web.

Houndoom spat out a low-powered Flamethrower, and Riolu's bone dissolved into dust. Chase tensed, expecting the worst, but the rock type scampered off to find some new territory to settle on. He breathed in deeply and then exhaled through his mouth. The more he progressed, the less a part of the team he felt.

But he'd proven himself once again. Zangoose smirked at him and tapped his shoulder, and Houndoom licked his fingers. Vikavolt landed and let out an excited buzz, while Abomasnow creaked like the sound of rustling leaves. They'd all been impressed.

Riolu, however, looked worried.

"You worry too much. This is nothing," Chase said. "Now let's get through this damn bridge—"

He swore as a hole opened up in the ground and swallowed him into the mountain.

—

Chase hadn't known if he'd passed out for an hour or two minutes, but he woke up with his face caked in dirt and blood. He spat out a mouthful of dirt and dust and stared at his bloodied hands. The drop hadn't actually been that high, but he'd rolled pretty far down and he could barely see the hole in the sky— which was the surface. The fog was beginning to leak inside. He felt a surge of panic and touched his head, but breathed a sigh of relief when he realized his cap was still there. It had been torn up pretty good though.

Chase coughed up more dust, but he grew breathless when he saw what was down here. It was a city.

Words would fail to capture its beauty. Even when crumbling, it was the most magnificent city that Chase had ever seen. Strange, magical lamposts still illuminated the paved streets casting an otherworldly yellow glow toward the untold amount of stone buildings. He stumbled forward and felt at his belt to check if his Pokeballs were still there.

They luckily were.

Chase called out each of his Pokemon's names. They'd all fallen down the chasm with him, so hopefully they'd be able to follow his voice. The first one that came was Vikavolt, which was an obvious conclusion due to his being able to fly. The bug type caught himself by flying and appeared completely fine.

"Go find the others," Chase said. "Bring them back here. I'll stay."

The electric type flew off in a flash, propelling himself with a burst of lightning. His acceleration problems were long gone these days. They'd figured out that by letting a powerful explosion of electric type energy behind him, he'd be able to reach close to his maximum speed immediately.

It took five minutes for him to find everyone else. Houndoom and Abomasnow were the worst off. Unlike Riolu and Zangoose, they weren't nimble or quick on their feet, so the fall had hurt them to some extent. Chase used one of his potions on Zangoose, who'd gotten hurt by fighting Klawf anyway. Then, he used one on Abomasnow, whose back had been ripped to shreds by the fall.

Six left.

"I can try climbing," Chase said, staring at the hole in the distance. "Vikavolt, can you go check if that's a viable option? I'd rather not awaken some crazy motherfucking Pokemon sleeping in here."

A few minutes later, Vikavolt came back with a resounding no. The cliff was too steep for him to climb. Chase was strong, and he'd trained his stamina as much as he could, but he was no climber, nor did he have any Pokemon to latch onto. Zangoose could maybe do it, but he was too heavy for her.

"Damn it," he clenched his teeth. "At least it doesn't look too much like a cave. Fuckin' hate those."

He could have asked Vikavolt to go look for help, but they hadn't come across any trainers or humans this entire time. He'd have to go to Celestic, but the city was so damn old-fashioned that they didn't even have a Ranger Station. The closest one was on Mount Coronet's flank next to the cave's entrance, but that was too far. It would take days for help to arrive.

Determined to see this through, he stepped toward the ancient city with his comrades.

Chase was no architect, historian, or archeologist, but he could tell these buildings were beautifully made. They rose from the ground with an imposing grace, but were still tightly anchored to their foundations. The stones had no standardized shapes to them— no form like the rectangular bricks of today. They were all a different color and somehow still mysteriously fit together like different pieces of a puzzle. This wasn't architecture, this was art.

And somehow, most of them still stood close to intact. Unmarred by the sands of time and protected from the elements like wind and rain by this cave. Chase blew against his wounded hands as he stepped inside of an ancient home. Dusty remains of tough sandals sat in the entryway, leading deeper into the house. He carefully walked inside, accompanied by Riolu and Houndoom while the others waited. There was nothing left here but old walls and stone chairs and tables. Even on the inside, the walls were colored with red, blue, purple— everything you could think of. It might have sounded incongruous, but it somehow tied everything together.

Chase raised an eyebrow when he saw the skeletal remains of a person lying down on a stone bed frame. Well, he thought that it was a skeleton. There were just a few shards of something that looked like bones left, and the rest had disappeared. He was pretty sure that something like a skull was on the head of the bed. Whatever befell this place, it seemed that not everyone managed to get out in time.

Curiosity got the best of him, and he went through multiple houses like this one. None of them were designed the same way— they were all unique, and most of them had the same corpses inside of them.

There were no remains of Pokemon, strangely enough.

"Let's keep going," Chase said as he stepped out of another home. "There must be another way out— what the fuck is that!"

A Pokemon flew past him. It was a multicolored, totem-like being that shared the city's color scheme. It had a single, cyan eye on its head, and its wings didn't actually look like wings, but weird branch-like appendages. It also had two black 'hand' appendages with three fingers each, although they didn't seem like they'd see much use—

Chase quickly jumped back inside of the house as an Air Cutter utterly destroyed the pristine pathway where he'd just stood. Abomasnow shielded his own face with his large hands, and then retaliated with an Icy Wind that froze the creature over. Houndoom finished it off, jumping out of the shadows with a Feint Attack.

"Thank fuck it's weak as hell," Chase breathed out. He approached the creature and scanned it with his Pokedex.

Sigilyph, the Avianoid Pokémon. Sigilyph keeps enemies from invading its territory with its Psychic powers and was the guardian of cities long ago. They never vary in the route they fly, even after thousands of years.

"Creepy bastard," Chase muttered. He crouched and touched the Pokemon. Its body felt like ceramic. Even while unconscious, its eye was still open. "Must have been guarding this place the entire time. Didn't do that well of a job, considering how everything went to shit."

Zangoose sniggered at that, but Riolu reprimanded her. He respected the prestige that came with something's age.

"A place with a single guardian wouldn't make any sense if it's that weak. There are more, so watch out for them. Houndoom, they're psychic types, so you take the front with Riolu. He'll sense 'em before they come. Vikavolt, you're also on offense. Abomasnow and Zangoose, you stick by me."

The entire group grunted as one, and they were on their way again. The deeper they got into the city, the denser the buildings got and the more Sigilyph they encountered. Luckily for him, they always went down in a few hits. If they'd combined their forces, they could have been a threat, but Chase suspected that they were on autopilot right now. There must have been someone capable of commanding them all back in the day. There was no way the city would have lasted long enough to reach this size without a strategy. He passed through some kind of armory with a bunch of defunct, decayed swords and armor. Helmets, chestplates, spears… there was everything here. It wouldn't do much against Pokemon, but anything helped back then, he supposed.

Riolu ended up being hit by an Air Cutter and huge gashes opened up all over his body, forcing Chase to use one of his potions to heal him as best he could.

Five left.

The center of the city was like a plaza, and it was something to behold. An enormous, giant fountain stood at its center, and there was a large mural depicting… something that Chase couldn't exactly understand. In the middle, there were hundreds of humans, which resembled stick figures, while Sigilyph and… Claydol? Floated in the sky. He wasn't sure about the second one because of how shit the drawing was, but that was the closest Pokemon he could find. They were drawn at a slightly higher level than the Sigilyph. He hadn't found a single Claydol or Baltoy here though, so maybe they were all destroyed. On top of those, and generating some kind of holy light stood some kind of metallic Pokemon with a golden hexagonal shape for a head. This one was drawn in an incredible amount of detail, but Chase didn't know what Pokemon that was. Maybe something that helped them with making iron? At his side stood some kind of king that wore the exact same thing for a crown.

At the bottom of the mural, a single creature was depicted. It was a white, wispy thing with traces of red at the edges of its hair and bright yellow eyes. It was drawn along with flames, like it was burning in hell.

The whole drawing was accompanied by some kind of writing that Chase couldn't recognize. It wasn't even close to any letters he knew, and half of it had faded away by now. Still, he understood the gist of what this represented.

This depicted the order of the town. At the top, the ruler along with his Pokemon, then his guardians, the Sigilyph and the Claydol. Then, there were the citizens and probably their Pokemon, although those had been kept out of the drawing.

Then, there was whatever the hell that thing was at the bottom.

Only the Sigilyph were left, it seemed.

Chase sat on the fountain's edge, deciding to take a break, and drank a mouthful of water. Riolu let out a soft bark, pointing to his left, and he saw a Sigilyph somehow light one of the street lights with some kind of psychic power. He prepared for a fight once it began to stare at them, but this one didn't attack.

This one just looked. It was peeking out at him like some kind of shy kid.

"What the hell?" He whispered.

Startled at his voice, the flying type quickly flew off, disappearing behind one of the tall buildings. Was it glitched out? Unlike the others, it didn't appear to be following any kind of pattern.

"Break is over," Chase shrugged. "See that castle thing?"

He pointed off in the distance, and a long set of stairs led toward a castle made out of stone and iron. This was the structure that showed the most amount of damage. In fact, it looked like it had been attacked. Why else would the other buildings look relatively fine, while this one was decrepit and collapsed? He was pretty sure that a monarch's castle would be built to last longer than some peasant's house. The fact that it was made out of steel along with stone was proof of that.

Or wait… wasn't stone more durable than steel— whatever.

"It leads up, so there might be a way out. We'll end up being lost for a bit, but Vikavolt will be able to lead us the right way. That sound good?"

They all agreed, and they were on their way again. Chase didn't know why you'd ever make someone have to climb this amount of steps to get to your castle, but at least it was a good workout. He might have run up them if he didn't need to conserve energy in case anything attacked him. Houndoom enjoyed all the new smells while Zangoose finally relaxed and began walking on all fours again. The old steps cracked under Abomasnow's weight, and Riolu hung on Chase's shoulder, whispering something in his ear and pointing to his palms.

"My hands are fine, it's just a little scrape," he said. "My luck concerning falling into caves is seriously shit, by the way. This is the second time in a year."

The fighting type climbed up on his head and squinted at the castle. The closer they got, the more Chase felt a weight on his shoulders. It was a decrepit relic of a bygone age, but it still commanded his attention and respect. The boy stepped through the half-collapsed gates and walked inside of the castle. A faded red carpet led to what he assumed was the throne room, but he was looking for a way out of here, not for some audience with a king's ghost.

But if there was a secret exit, wouldn't it make sense to put it next to the king's throne?

Or not, Chase wasn't exactly an expert in old royalty. Maybe it'd be in his bedroom or whatever, but it was worth checking out either way. He climbed over a collapsed pillar and jumped toward the giant, metallic doors. They were adorned with different shades of silver and what looked to be gold, but upon closer look, they were just iron painted yellow. The colors were all fading and rusting away. Abomasnow helped him push the doors open.

The king's skeleton was still sitting on his throne. The entire thing was there, and it somehow hadn't decayed like the others. It was almost comical. Like this was the position he'd decided to die in and stuck to it. He still wore that hexagonal crown, along with the remains of ragged clothes that had almost been rendered to nothing due to the elements. The carpet extended until his throne, which was elevated by a set of stairs.

"Funny how that works," Chase said with a dry chuckle.

He took a single step forward, but then the weight of the world pressed down on him.

The king stepped from behind the throne— his actual flesh and blood. He wore a luxurious purple coat and plated armor. Was it a ghost? His team stepped up and prepared to fight, but Chase held back a hand.

"Who— what are you?" He asked.

The King cackled— which was more of a beastly sound than a laugh. It reminded him of a Mightyena's laugh.

"So after all this time, another one of your kind wanders into my realm. For centuries, I have tarried here, immobile and unyielding, my very core ablaze with the fervor of my hatred for thy ilk. No words can adequately convey its depth and intensity. Thy thirst for death and annihilation shall not find solace within these ancient walls. Know this, my abhorrence for thy kind surpasses the vast expanse of this world. I have endured eons of torment, subjected to the cruelty of those who once dwelt here until my spirit shattered the chains of bondage and wrought vengeance upon every human soul I could find. And now, thou standest before me, poised to meet thy fate, the next to fall beneath my righteous wrath."

Chase blinked, unable to even comprehend what the hell this fancy-looking motherfucker was rambling on about. Panes of… light shone and shimmered like glass in front of the King, and then flipped, revealing a strange, white creature with red-tipped hair and strange red growths on its skin. Its hair floated around like it was weightless, and its eyes shone with a bright yellow. He easily recognized it as the creature on the mural's painting. Chase felt his hands clam up and scanned what he assumed was a Pokemon with his Pokedex.

Insufficient data. Please try again later.

That was the first time that had ever happened.

"That's a nice sob story," Chase said, trying to buy some time. "I don't remember asking."

"Thou shalt suffer," the beast said, its mouth returning to human form for a second.

And at that exact moment, Chase understood that hate could have weight. It was almost suffocating. The creature dashed forward, and he noticed a few things in the two seconds it took for it to reach him.

One, it wasn't terribly fast— only slightly quicker than Zangoose using Quick Attack. Two, the closer it got, the more heavy the weight of its hate felt on him and choked him to such an extent that breathing became difficult.

Three?

The creature phased through Abomasnow, who had gotten in between it and Chase to protect him. Before its pulsating red claws could tear him apart, Houndoom hit the Pokemon with a point-blank Dark Pulse. It flew off and rolled until it hit one of the columns of stone and metal still adorning the room, and it quickly collapsed onto it.

"Anti-ghost setup," Chase whispered to Houndoom. "We're going to try for a controlled retreat. Fighting it in the open will be easier—"

The beast stood through the rubble, leaving it undisturbed on the floor and continued its assault. It narrowly dodged one of Vikavolt's Thunderbolts before sending a clawed attack toward Chase. Three streaks of shadows raked across the floor, but Zangoose blurred in front of him and the attack harmlessly washed over her. Abomasnow flexed his arms and marched through the room, trampling anything in his way to get to the ghost.

Chase lunged outside of the room as Houndoom flanked him. He heard a crash behind him, but the fire type's darkness managed to neutralize some of the attack and gave him enough time to dodge whatever it was. He crawled backwards, and shards of metal, dirt and rocks buried themselves into his already-wounded hands.

A thin bubble of darkness surrounded both him and Houndoom. It was still see-through, but it certainly helped against ghosts, even if just a little. Riolu exited the room next, constantly throwing bones inside. His fighting moves wouldn't work here and he knew it, so he'd be the support. He was too frail to get in close and try to hit it with Metal Claw. Chase peeked inside and saw the Pokemon somehow taking on three of his Pokemon at once.

It easily weaved in between Abomasnow's Ice Shards and brought a Shadow Claw across his chest, but the ice type retaliated with a powerful Hammer Arm. Unfortunately, it simply phased through the ghost, reducing half of it to a strange, wispy mist until it immediately reformed. Abomasnow did not bleed, but the wound exposed the bark-like substance that his body was made up of.

Somehow, it was able to hit a Pokemon with its hands while its body was nearly invulnerable. It could do fucking both at the same time, as if it could somehow render parts of his body untouchable while the rest was still physically there. The amount of fine-tuning that required was—

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"Fucking bullshit," Chase snarled. "Get over here! Controlled retreat!"

Zangoose weaved in and out of the battle, trying to find an opening and continuously building up her power with Fury Cutter. She slashed across the ghost's face, but it screamed and kicked her back toward the exit. She crashed into Riolu, who flew off into the distance and crashed down the grand hall. With a burst of speed, Vikavolt whizzed toward their enemy, managing to catch it off-guard and cutting it in half with X-Scissor. Its actual body this time.

Its legs simply regrew, bubbling and hissing until they were as good as new.

Still, it bought them their precious seconds, and everyone was out of the throne room now. Chase ran off toward the exit, not bothering to look back at the ghost who let out an enraged scream that he was sure would haunt him for months.

Houndoom yipped, skidding across the floor and suddenly turning.

"You're right. No use fighting on the Arceus damned stairs," Chase hurriedly said. The beast was quick, and it would have no doubt caught up while they'd been running down. "I know this bubble takes a lot of focus, but try to hit it with Dark Pulse."

He turned to the rest of his team. The enormous set of stairs stood at his back like the sheer drop of a cliff.

"When it comes out, throw everything you have at it."

It didn't keep them waiting. Instead of going through the door, it ran through the wall, its yellow eyes shining in the darkness. Ice Shards, Dark Pulse, Thunderbolt and Bone Rushes all barrelled toward the ghost, but only a few hit their mark. It knew its weakness, so it opened to dodge the Dark Pulse at all costs instead of focusing on every attack. For a second, its mouth changed back into a human's.

"Thou art weak. The longer this fight persists, the more the depths of my memory resurface and the more skilled I get. Thou art not long for this world."

"Whatever man," Chase said with a trembling voice. "Just get it over with then."

"You dare—"

The beast caught itself, instead deciding to lunge for him specifically. They were still far, but he could see it in its eyes. It would only come for him now.

Good.

It became only a shadow on the floor and slithered toward him, but Abomasnow got on all fours and froze the entire ground in front of them. Chase heard another enraged snarl, and the ghost emerged from the floor with its fur frozen in place. Houndoom hit it in the chest with the most powerful Dark Pulse he could muster, staggering it long enough for Vikavolt to electrocute him with a quick Thunderbolt.

Without a word, Chase began to run down the stairs. His Pokemon quickly followed, but Abomasnow was too big and clumsy. He tripped and began to roll down the stairs, destroying half of the fragile steps in the process until he recalled him for now. That fall looked really bad, but he couldn't afford to worry. He needed to think.

For some reason, it really, really hated humans to the point of making mistakes, but Chase could use that to his advantage. The problem was that it was ridiculously bulky, and there had been a hint of truth to what it had said. It probably hadn't fought since it murdered this entire city, but the longer this went on, the more it would remember.

Still, Chase could use that hate to his advantage.

The Pokemon jumped off the highest steps with a howl that no doubt resonated through the entire cave with no care for its own safety. It began to roll down a few steps but used its sharp claws to recover, and then it sprinted down the stairs even quicker than before. Riolu stopped and attempted to hit it with a bone, but it simply passed through its body. Zangoose's claw shone with a neon green as she attempted to stop it with another Fury Cutter, but when it attempted to jab a claw into her throat, she narrowly twisted her body and it got her in the collar instead. The ghost punched her in the nose, and Chase recalled her immediately to avoid her getting sent off too far.

He jumped the last ten stairs, landing back in the plaza with a roll and released Abomasnow and Zangoose again.

"Icy Wind! Make it wide to slow it down!"

The wind was narrow at first, but it slowly fanned out until the monster couldn't avoid it any longer, even when making its body impossible to target. They hadn't practiced enough with this, but they had no choice… Houndoom was too far and without a dark type move, he was dead—

"Night Slash!"

Zangoose didn't hesitate. Darkness consumed her claws, and she blurred toward the slowed Pokemon. Abomasnow stopped his Icy Wind as soon as she got within its area of effect, but the beast would still be slowed, so the playing field was a lot more even. Zangoose dropped to the floor and aimed at its legs to disable it, but the ghost managed to jump and pivot into a kick. The normal type shielded herself with her darkened claws and nicked its feet instead. They were in a deadlock, but before Abomasnow joined the fray, Chase healed him with a potion mid-battle. There was so little time that he sprayed some of it on himself by accident.

Of course, it didn't do anything.

Four left.

Abomasnow joined the fight. Wood Hammers slammed in the ghost's direction, forcing it to divide its attention to dodge. Even if he was weaker at a distance, Abomasnow was strong in close combat. His green fists flattened their enemy, causing it to dissolve and reform a few feet away. It hissed as it narrowly dodged another Dark Pulse. Vikavolt, Riolu and Houndoom were here now.

"I'd give up if I were you," Chase said. "We can do this all day."

It did not even deign to answer. Its eyes flashed with such fury that Chase was almost forced to his knees. Riolu placed a hand on his calf and worriedly stared.

He couldn't be weak.

"Houndoom, stick with me. Hit it with Dark—"

He didn't have time to issue the rest of his orders, but his Pokemon got the gist of what he meant. Intertwining rings of darkness shot out of Houndoom's mouth, and the bubble around him strengthened. It grazed the ghost's arm thanks to Abomasnow's quick Icy Wind, but it was Zangoose that dealt substantial damage. The high stakes of the situation made her nervous, but it also sharpened her senses. She was moving faster and with more dexterity than before, raking her claws across the beast's body with Night Slash and forcing it to engage her. Vikavolt wrapped it with String Shots, forcing it to allocate focus to phase through the sticky strings while Riolu stood by.

He was frustrated at his lack of contribution, but the typing worked against him here.

A yell from the creature brought it all to an end. It was like a shock wave of ghostly energy, and even though Houndoom's bubble protected him from the majority of the damage, Chase still felt his body temperature drop by a few degrees, doubled over and puked all over himself. He felt shivers run through his body and collapsed on the hard floor.

His Pokemon were no different, although Zangoose was left unharmed and Houndoom resisted the attack. Abomasnow stumbled back, Vikavolt fell out of the sky and Riolu got on one knee. The ghost quickly turned into the King and cackled.

"At last, my vengeance has arrived. I shall hew thee a thousandfold until no flesh remaineth upon thy meager frame."

Chase coughed. "I work hard for this body, you asshole."

Never had he been so terrified. He thought himself above fear, but today, he'd learned that he was not. Thankfully, the ghost was a sadistic piece of shit and calmly walked toward him, leaving him enough time to grab one of his empty Pokeballs.

He threw it at the Pokemon, and it was absorbed into the ball.

Chase stumbled, recalling Abomasnow and Vikavolt before legging it out of here. He heard his Pokeball shatter, and when he turned back he saw that the ghost could barely maintain its illusion. It was constantly changing between its human and Pokemon form, but the only thing that was constant was the eyes.

Bright yellow, burning with hate and a need to kill him. Begging for his death. Visualizing it in clear, visceral detail.

"YOU DARE ATTEMPT TO ENSLAVE ME? I WILL NOT BE PUT IN CHAINS AGAIN! I WILL MAKE YOU WISH YOU WERE DEAD!"

Chase ran toward the city as fast as he could. On the way, he recalled his Zangoose, only leaving Riolu and Houndoom with him. The dark type's bubble would mask the sound of his breathing and steps.

He needed to hide. There was no way to beat this thing now that it had grown that powerful, but then what? It was completely obsessed with him, and he was sure it wouldn't hesitate to stalk the streets of the city for hours until it got its hands on him. He and his Pokemon would need to sleep eventually, but ghosts did not.

He was fucked.

Chase turned the first corner he saw and got lost into the streets. He had to watch for the Sigilyph too, or their attacks would alert the beast. He stepped inside of a house with a back exit and leaned against a wall, his breaths short and ragged. He felt half as strong as he usually was because of that damn burst of ghost energy, and it was the same for his stamina too.

He wiped the sweat off his brow and calmed his breathing. He couldn't panic. Not now. He released Vikavolt and Abomasnow to apply two potions to them. They'd been the closest to the shockwave. He recalled them soon after to leave them some precious minutes of rest, but he knew he'd need to use them again when the ghost found them.

Two left.

Chase heard a home collapse a few blocks away and lifted a finger when Houndoom flinched. Quiet. He slowed his breathing and felt his heart hammer against his chest. His hand hovered over his Pokeballs, and he was already in position to run the moment the beast showed itself.

It did not. Another building collapsed, this time further away. Chase let out a trembling breath and felt his body loosen.

But they still had to move. His best option was to run out from the hole he fell in. It would be an almost impossible climb, but he liked his odds against whatever the hell that was outside. He gestured to Houndoom and slipped out of the building.

Only to come face to face with a fucking Sigilyph.

Riolu jumped on Chase's shoulder and then pushed, slamming a bright blue palm into the flying type's chest. It fell to the floor with a loud crash, and Houndoom finished it off with a Feint Attack.

The beast screamed in the distance. It was getting closer.

"Arceus… damn it."

Chase ran as he twisted his bag toward his front. He threw out anything that wasn't valuable. Towels, tent, lighter, even fucking food. He could always eat the wildlife outside and sleep on the floor, but he needed to be as light as possible. Houndoom barked and he instantly came to a stop. The Pokemon phased through the building in front of him and crashed into the next one. If Chase had kept running, he would have been run through. Its hand was stuck inside of the wall, but only for a second. The street was beginning to incline now. He was getting close.

Chase released his Abomasnow, Zangoose, and this time Vikavolt.

"Buy me some time! I'll recall you when I get far enough!"

Unfortunately for him, the ghost blinked forward and slashed across both of their sides as he slipped through them. Chase groaned in fear and annoyance, but he immediately recalled them and released them in front of him again.

"Hit it with everything you've got! Slow it, then Night Slash and Dark Pulse!"

In the time it took for Abomasnow's chest to rise as he inhaled and converted air into an Icy Wind inside of his lungs, their enemy had already run past him. Zangoose prepared her Night Slash, but the beast simply took the hit, opting to keep going instead of even trying to dodge. It didn't even care about anything but his death. A Discharge exploded out of Vikavolt's body and electricity clung of the ghost type's fur, but it did not relent.

Houndoom stomped, causing the darkness below his feet to disappear and be reabsorbed into his body. A Dark Pulse twice as strong as it was before flew toward the ghost, and it looked more like a Discharge than a single line of dark type energy at this point. The beast stopped in his tracks and hissed.

"Good, now converge on it—"

It was already back up.

Riolu grabbed Chase and threw him back. He swore as he rolled on to floor like a ball and the small rocks tore up his clothes and back. Chase scrambled back up, swearing when his palms burned as they pushed him upward. Riolu was standing in between him and the ghost, bone in one hand and steel claws growing out of the other.

He led with a simple throw, and the monster almost grinned at the simplicity of the attack. Its grin faded when the bone began to glimmer with a bright blue and it did not simply phase through his body.

Riolu was using aura to fight, and Chase was too out of it to understand why it canceled whatever bullshit ghost powers it had.

Another bone grew out of Riolu's hand, and the fighting type barely had the time to yell at Chase to leave with the rest of the team before he narrowly stopped the ghost from slipping past him. He slammed the bone against its head before slashing upward with Metal Claw from its inner thigh to its chest. The beast hissed, but Riolu shoved the bone down its mouth.

"I ain't leaving," Chase said, dropping his bag. "None of us are."

He'd never been this exhausted his entire life.

Strings shot out of Vikavolt's mouth like nets and wrapped around their opponent. Abomasnow arrived with a thundering boom and slammed both of his fists together, destroying the ghost type's head with Wood Hammer. Houndoom kept the momentum going and jumped out of the shadows with Feint Attack, but a burst of dark type energy exploded outward, creating a modified Dark Pulse modeled after Discharge. It hit Abomasnow as well, but he bore with it.

Zangoose blurred in front of the ghost and cut up the rest of its body in a hundred pieces with Night Slash.

"Now let's get the fuck out of here!" Chase yelled. He recalled Abomasnow and began to run toward the hole. It took a bit of time for his eyes to find it, but it seemed a lot further than it had been when he'd arrived a few hours ago.

And yet, what choice did he have?

He heard the ghost yell behind him, its voice growing more and more distorted with hate.

It never fucking died, did it?

Chase turned and prepared to fight again. He was back to the wall now, and he clumsily stepped back as much he could. He recalled his Pokemon and released them in front of him before throwing another empty ball at the ghost to buy some time.

It destroyed it with a simple blow. The Pokeball shattered and its pieces clattered on the floor.

The fighting resumed, but it grew closer by the second. There was little they could do to stop the beast. It was faster than Zangoose, endurant enough to take most blows and strong enough to destroy his team several times over. Soon, it would reach him. He had no choice but to try to climb. He grabbed onto a stone lodged into the cliff, but it fell out of his hand as soon as he placed any weight on it. He had a bit more luck with the second try, but a large side of the wall collapsed, bringing him down with it. He swore and turned to the battle, and his heart sank when he saw Abomasnow on the floor with its chest torn open. He recalled him as soon as he could. The beast once again exploded with ghostly energy, but Houndoom growled, and a wall of darkness shielded Chase completely this time. The dark type fell to the ground right after.

There would be no more Icy Winds to slow the beast, now, and no protection from Houndoom. Every second, it gained in speed. Chase prepared to recall his Pokemon and hope that it would let them live. It could technically break them apart, which would automatically activate the emergency measure and release them, but its hatred seemed to be focused on him and not them, so he held hope that someone would find them eventually. Riolu needed to see his first trainer's grave more than he needed to see a mother he'd never met—

Out of the corner of his eye, something was flying. It was too dark for Chase to discern whatever it was, but there was only one kind of Pokemon in this Arceus damned city other than this monster, and that was Sigilyph. A multicolored beam of energy hit the ghost's back, and it turned with a look of utter disbelief.

The psychic type let out a few mechanical beeps as it landed next to Chase. He didn't even have time to process what the hell was happening, but he climbed on its back. It was six and a half feet tall, and from the looks of it, its wings were also made out of this ceramic-like material, which meant that they were easy to grip for balance.

Chase recalled his Pokemon one by one as Sigilyph floated toward the hole. Only Riolu was in any state to fight any longer. Houndoom was unconscious and Zangoose was barely able to stand and bleeding all over from shallow and deep wounds. Vikavolt closely followed as he buzzed around them.

"COME BACK DOWN, YOU WRETCHED CUR! YOU HAVE ONLY SEEN A SLIVER OF THE HATE I HAVE FOR YOUR KIN! THAT WAS BUT A TASTE OF THE AGONY I SUFFERED WHEN THE KING TORTURED ME FOR SPORT! I WILL FIND YOU—"

Sigilyph's eye shone, and it collapsed the hole's entrance before the beast could have a chance of climbing out. Chase didn't know if it could possibly phase through the rocks, but there must have been a reason it stayed there all this time. He took a few steps and coughed now that he was back into the fog. He collapsed on the floor and laughed. Never had he been so happy to be back on a shitty fucking route.

He kissed the floor and passed out.

—

Chase woke up to Vikavolt buzzing on his back. He flinched before shooting up and getting back on his feet. He didn't know how much time had passed, but the fog had cleared slightly, which was a good sign. It never really left, but it sometimes thinned. Chase groaned as he stood. His entire body hurt, but his hands and upper back had suffered the most. He couldn't tell if anything was broken, but he could move everything, at the very least. Vikavolt cheered, letting out a few sparks as he excitedly flew around his head. Chase smiled.

"Kept you waiting, huh? I can't believe I lived through that shit. Must be the luckiest guy alive."

He grabbed his water bottle and he spat out a mouthful before downing the entire thing in seconds. Arceus, he'd been thirsty, and it washed off the taste of dirt in his mouth. He grabbed another one and poured some of it on his hands to wash them of grime, dirt, and blood, and they were cut up a lot worse than he'd thought. The skin was torn open in various areas, and making a fist burned like hell.

Nothing he couldn't handle, though. Pain built character. Wounds taught that actions had consequences. Scars were a reminder not to fuck up.

He turned to the strange Pokemon that hadn't left his side.

Sigilyph. His savior.

Hadn't they been supposed to keep to a route until they croaked or whatever? Had this one been broken somehow?

"Thanks for saving me," Chase shrugged. "Woulda died without your help."

He didn't care either way. That meant that he had the drive to go against the grain, and it was something that Chase appreciated in both people and Pokemon. The psychic type let out a few strange beeps and stared at him with its unblinking eye. He didn't even know if it was an eye or just something that the people that had designed it painted on. There were also two eyes on its torso, but those didn't blink or move either.

Chase sighed. He had two potions left, but four Pokemon that were wounded. Maybe he could split them in four somehow, or maybe he'd just use them all on everyone other than Riolu. He'd been the least hurt in the fight thanks to his use of that aura bone bullshit that could somehow stop a ghost from slipping through something.

Come to think of it, had that thing even been a true ghost? It hadn't disappeared even once, but it could somehow go through walls at will and was apparently impossible to kill too, so maybe it was something in between?

"Whatever," Chase grunted.

He grabbed his two potions and laid them out on the floor. He'd been born poor, had lived poorly and would keep doing so if his principles demanded it, but the day he became the Champion, things would change. He'd make an equal society for all. He released Zangoose first and spritzed some of the first potion across the worst wounds on her body, which were right below her neck, on her gut and on her shoulder. The normal type fiddled in place, seemingly too reserved to express her happiness at the fact that they'd survived. Chase didn't mind. He was used to her and knew she was glad.

Her actions alone proved that she was glad that they all made it through, and that she'd do whatever was needed to make sure nothing happened to any of them, just like they'd do the same for her.

"You pulled your weight down there, Zangoose," Chase praised. "You're strong."

It was a simple statement, but she shivered with pride and her hair flattened.

"But we'll improve together, still."

Chase released Abomasnow next. The looming grass type had been hurt most of all, and he attempted to stand proud as Chase walked in front of him.

"Relax. You deserve it," Chase said. The ice type collapsed in a sitting position with a heavy sigh, and Chase began applying the potion across his torso. He rumbled, and his snowy mustache blew in the wind. "You were great. Your Icy Winds were crucial in slowing down whatever the hell that was, and whenever you hit it with Wood Hammer, it took a good second or two to grow its body back."

Chase affectionately hit his healed wound with a fist.

"Good job."

It was Houndoom's turn next. His time in his Pokeball had allowed him to regain consciousness, but he could still barely stand. There were a few surface wounds all across the body, including a relatively large one to the flank, but the potion would help him rest better as well. Chase placed a hand on his hot belly and scratched it until his tongue lazily hung out.

"I would have died a thousand times without you. Our anti-ghost setup worked wonders," Chase smiled. "Great improvement on Dark Pulse too. It took a while for you to get it down, but you're amazing at it now."

He turned to Vikavolt, who was zooming around in the sky.

"You did a great job on support with String Shot and Thunderbolt. Holding up that ghost's attention for even a few seconds was crucial. Every moment counted. Amazing flight control and bursts of speed, by the way. It's a shame we didn't get to use Rising Voltage, but overall, you were fucking amazing."

Chase stretched before releasing Riolu. The fighting type gazed into his eyes with a mix of pride and irritation. The first, for facing the threat head-on and keeping his head on straight, he guessed, and the second because he was determined to see his life end if his team got to live another day.

He didn't praise Riolu. That wasn't how their relationship worked. The fighting type was in charge most of the time, and it would feel condescending to do so.

But still, Chase smiled. "Good job out there."

Riolu reluctantly nodded and angrily turned away. Was his resolve angering him that much? Chase would have thought that it would have made him proud. Ri had seen him go from a kid scared of everything to his current self in barely two years, and Chase thought that that was what he wanted.

Before he could retort, Sigilyph beeped to his side.

"Right," Chase muttered. "You're kind of out of a job, aren't you? It's not like you were doing anything anyway, I mean, nothing came down there in I don't know how many years, so…"

Chase stared at the psychic type, whose expression lay unchanging. It wasn't as if it could change it anyway, but it was still weird.

Weird…

"You're a weird lil' guy, aren't ya?" Chase said. "Want to come with us?"

The Pokemon slowly tilted his entire body until it turned upside down, and it got so close to Chase's face that he could hear his breath of its ceramic body.

"Is that a yes?" Chase said, grabbing another empty Pokeball. He only had five left… he was running low. Even with his sixth member, this battle had taught him that throwing a Pokeball at a Pokemon way stronger than he was was enough to buy a few seconds, at least, so it'd be smart to keep some on him. Unfortunately, he only had a measly 4,324 Pokedollars to his name.

After hearing one last beep come out of Sigilyph, he softly hit it with his Pokeball, and the device immediately dinged. It hadn't even shaken three times. Chase released it immediately and scanned its moves. With a Pokemon as weird as this one, it was imperative to know what the hell its gimmick was, and he needed it to get used to his team as soon as possible and vice versa.

Or her. Apparently these had Arceus damned genders somehow. Make it make sense!

Moves: Confusion, Gust, Air Cutter, Whirlwind, Psybeam, Cosmic Power

Ability: Tinted Lens

"Pretty shit, which makes sense considering how easily I took care of the others, but a good base to work up from," Chase smiled. "Great ability though. Welcome to the team, Sigilyph. Guys, give her a warm welcome!"

His entire team grunted.

"That's how we do it here. We're a team, and we help each other through every thing. You'll work hard, but you'll grow strong."

Well, Chase wanted a psychic type, and he got one. Finally, he'd be able to do the type of shit that Pastel's Togetic and Obel's Slowking did, even if it'd take weeks of intense training to get her up to speed. Of course, he'd put his own twist on it. Chase wasn't the type to copy whatever the hell worked for others. He did it his own way.

Sigilyph started to stare at Zangoose and got a mere inch away from her face until the normal type hit her away. She beeped and moved on to Riolu, doing her upside down thing again.

"Yeah, you're a weirdo for sure."

—

Celestic town was breathtaking. It covered a small surface area and was nestled in a circular valley on Mount Coronet's flanks. Up here, the majority of the fog cleared, although a tiny fraction of it still remained. Humidity wasn't something Chase had thought of when traveling here, but it was certainly a factor. The air felt pure but stuffy at the same time.

Many of the buildings were old, and constructed in the same style as that ancient city Chase had found days ago. However, they had none of the color or the randomness to them that made the city so charming in the first place. These were mostly uniform, with a few variation between them. Of course, more modern buildings were strewn throughout, and all of them had dark teal rooves. The Pokemon Center stood out like a sore thumb, being the tallest and most modern-looking building in the town with its usual sleek design and orange roof. Chase walked with Riolu until he reached the edge of some kind of depression— or was it a meteor crater? It certainly had the shape of one, but he was no astrologist, or whatever the hell studied meteorites. There were multiple set of stairs circling the crater, leading down to the floor there.

An enormous shrine stood in the middle of the crater, and he could see some people— almost dots with how far down they were— surrounding the structure. Religion wasn't a thing Chase was interested in, and neither was the majority of the world, but some people still worshipped the Legendaries of old. He remembered hearing that Johto was especially religious, but there was even a church in Hearthome that he never bothered to visit. Chase didn't know much about the Legends. Some were confirmed to be real, but the majority of them were just stories. For all he called Arceus' name all the time, he didn't believe that a single Pokemon could have the power to create an entire universe.

And where the hell would it even have come from?

The shrine kept his attention as he traveled toward the Pokemon Center. Huge stone pillars rose from the ground, but he was too far to really know what the carvings on them said. Since he was high up, he could see that four walls surrounded a courtyard, but it was surprisingly empty. Maybe people weren't allowed in? His eyes traced the shrine's walls until he noticed the entrance of a cave further down the crater. It was also surrounded by a smaller shrine, but no one dared to even come near it.

Chase entered the Pokemon Center, which lay in the southeast of Celestic, and gave his Pokemon to a bored Nurse Joy. The journey here had pushed his team to the brink, and since he was completely out of potions, only Riolu and Sigilyph had been well enough to battle by the end of it. He was hungry, tired, but most of all, he needed to see someone for a check-up first.

There was only a single doctor in the entirety of the Center, and luckily he had no broken bones. His hands were in a sorry state, however, and they needed to be bandaged. Chase opted to book a room and take a shower first, and after an hour or so, he was free to find his grandparents.

"Well, no use beating around the bush, right?" He told Ri. "Do you remember where they lived? You were young, so don't sweat it if you don't."

The fighting type quickly nodded and motioned at him to follow. Hopefully they hadn't moved, because then he'd have to ask around, and he was in no mood to converse.

Chase was nervous. Something that usually never happened.

He thought that by expecting the worst, he'd be able to calm his nerves, but even that didn't work. Riolu led him to one of the teal-rooved houses that sat next to an enormous home made out of some kind of hard wood. He already knew that it was Cynthia's family's home, where her grandmother and younger sister lived. Apparently his grandparents lived right next to them.

Chase took a deep breath and knocked. He waited thirty seconds, and there was no answer. He knocked again, harder this time, but no one came to greet him.

"Maybe they're out," he sighed.

Riolu grunted in disappointment. His eyes shone blue as he held out his hand, and he shook his head.

"Can't feel 'em in there, huh?" Chase said. "Well, we'll wait."

They both sat at the house's door, talking about anything that came to mind. He couldn't believe that they'd made it. This had been Chase's goal since he set out of be a trainer, and he was on the cusp of realizing it. Riolu had grown up here, and he could tell that he was happy to be back after all these years. Still, there was a sadness that lingered. It reminded him of her.

Chase's mother. His real trainer.

"Hello young man. Can we help you?"

Chase's head snapped up, and an old man and woman were in front of him with their arm linked. They looked younger than they probably were, but the fact that they wanted to enter the house meant that they must have been his relatives.

The boy stiffly stood up, revealing Riolu. The fighting type had been well-hidden to his side. The older woman's eyes lit up, as if she instantly recognized him.

"Ri… Ri, is that you?!" The woman said.

Riolu couldn't contain his smile, and he jumped into the woman's arms. Chase couldn't help but smile. It was like he was a little kid. His grandmother stroked Riolu's head, and his grandfather could barely register what was happening.

"Young man…" he said. "How did you find him? Where did you find him?"

Chase smirked, not because he felt happy but because he was hurt. This was no damn fairy tale. It would have been too convenient for them to recognize him right away when they'd never even met him.

"I'm Chase Karlson. Urie Karlson and Adeline Halcourt's son, and your grandson."

They both froze. The older woman stared at Riolu, who nodded.

"Why—why don't you come inside to talk," she said.

—

Chase sat down in his grandparent's cozy living room with Riolu by his side, and his grandma brought him some hot tea. He finally knew their names now— Helen and Philippe Halcourt. It was awkward to ask, but his father had almost never talked about his mother's family, and when he had, it was to complain and never by name. It was always 'your grandma this' or 'your grandpa that'. Philippe sat down in a rocking chair with a heavy grunt while Helen brought some crackers with a weird green dipping sauce. Chase wasn't the biggest fan, but he didn't want to offend, so he drank his tea and ate the food.

They hadn't blown up at him, which was a good start. This wasn't how he usually operated, but he wanted to be as polite as possible. He couldn't ruin this for himself or Riolu.

"Chase… I can't believe you're this big already," Philippe scoffed in disbelief. "You're fifteen now, right?"

"Sixteen. My birthday was two weeks ago," he said, handing Ri a cracker. "Sorry for dropping on you out of the blue."

Helen sighed. "Urie never told us the exact date of Addie's de— of your birth. Sorry."

Chase restrained a wince and ignored what she'd been about to say.

"Are you kidding me? This is so great! We thought we'd never see you!" He said.

"You wanted to see me?" Chase asked.

"Addie sent so many letters gushing about you during the pregnancy," Helen smiled. "Of course we wanted to see you."

Chase felt joy swell in his heart. "T—thank you. And sorry."

"What for?" She frowned.

"For… killing Adeline."

Riolu barked in protest, and Helen shot up. She walked up to Chase and grabbed him by the shoulders. Her grip was surprisingly tight, for an old woman.

"It wasn't your fault."

"But—"

"It wasn't. You were just a baby trying to go out into the world. We spent a long time hating your father for taking Addie away from us. The Iron Islands is no place to give birth to a child, but he wouldn't hear any of it," she said. "We still think that he shares some of the blame, but Addie… Addie agreed with him. She wanted to stay."

Riolu stopped eating and tightly shut his eyes.

"It was a terrible choice," Philippe said with teary eyes, staring in the distance. It took Chase a few seconds to realize that he'd been looking at a framed picture of his mother. "And she paid dearly for it. But the last thing we would do is blame you."

Chase silently nodded, but he felt lighter now. A piece of the guilt he'd been carrying from the day he'd been born was gone. No longer would he have to feel like he took his mother away from her parents.

But he still knew that he'd taken her away from his father.

"I actually came here for another reason," Chase said. "If I could have, uh, a picture of her? And if you could point me in the direction of her grave, I would really appreciate it."

"You didn't even have to ask. Phil?"

The man stood up and walked to his room while Helen continued.

"We'll bring you to her grave. That was actually where we were while you were waiting for us here," she said. "Don't worry, we'll leave you some time alone. I'm sure Addie will be very happy to see her little boy all grown up."

Chase's lips quivered and his eyes watered. He lowered his cap and sniffled. He wasn't even at the damn grave yet, and he still felt like his soul was being crushed.

"Thank you," he exhaled. "I can't thank you enough for this. Do you have a phone or something I can use to call you? I won't be staying long."

"We have a landline," Helen smiled. "And you can always send us letters as well. Addie was old-fashioned like that."

His grandfather walked out of the bedroom with a medallion. He grabbed Chase's hand, placed it inside of his palm and closed his fist around it. Chase ignored the pain. This was important.

"There's a picture of your mother in there. It was taken right before she left with your dad, so it's old, but it's the most recent one we've got. News travel slowly here, but we heard what happened in the Iron Islands when your father died. I assume that your home was also lost in the wreckage?"

"It was. I couldn't take anything, and my dad didn't like to have the pictures hanging around anyway. It hurt him too much." Chase said. He opened the medallion and saw his mother's face for the first time in… in he didn't even know how many years. Long brown hair, a mischievous crooked smile and brown eyes so light that they could almost appear hazel.

"You look like her, you know?" Helen smiled. "Your eyes and smile are exactly the same."

Chase hadn't realized he'd been smiling. He silently nodded and put the medallion around his neck. "Thank you for giving this to me. It must be important to you."

"Don't worry. We can't hog the memory of Addie to ourselves," Philippe gently said.

"Now let's bring you to her."

—

It was a particularly hot afternoon today, even for the middle of winter. Chase could travel outside without his usual coat and only a sweater. The sunlight made all of Celestic seem so bright in comparison to the dreary, foggy hellscape that he'd expected coming here. Chase waved at his grandparents, who did the same and slowly began to walk back home.

In front of him and Riolu sat his mother's grave. Her name and the epitaph were written in a font so fancy that Chase could barely read it properly.

Adeline Halcourt

Chase said it out loud a few times, getting his mouth used to the sound of his mother's name. His eyes focused on the epitaph next.

'In loving memory of Adeline Halcourt,

Beloved daughter and cherished mother,

Taken too soon, but forever in our hearts.

Born from love, embraced by grace.

May she watch her child grow up from the heavens.'

Tender wildflowers and fresh roses adorned the grave, no doubt put here by Philippe and Helen. Chase stood there in quiet reverence, simply staring for at least twenty minutes.

"I should have brought something," he finally exhaled. "Sorry about that."

The boy opened the pendant one more time and took in his mother's face before staring at the gravestone. He crouched and clenched his forehead, taking a deep breath before continuing.

"Hi… mom? I don't know what to say now that I'm here," Chase dryly chuckled. "To be honest, I never thought I'd get this far. I never knew you, but I feel like— I feel like we would have gotten along? I mean I hope so."

He paused, finding his words.

"You know, I don't exactly believe in an afterlife, but I changed my mind. I like the idea of you and dad looking at me. Looking at what I'll become," Chase said. "I'm sorry I couldn't come until now. You must have been wondering what the hell I was doing. I brought Ri with me."

He turned toward the fighting type, who was silently mourning with tears streaming down his cheeks. There was a certain blue glow to him that he'd never seen before.

"He misses you too. He talked a little bit about you on the road, but he stayed quiet most of the time. You know, dad would never speak about you either. It's like whenever you came into someone's life, you made such a mark that reminiscing about you was too painful to bear. It sucked," Chase sighed. "Ri's okay, even if he's being silent. I think he's doing some kind of aura bullshit. I don't understand it very well. He misses you… and I'm sorry for keeping him away from you all this time. I'm afraid he'll have to stick around though. He promised dad to protect me."

He took a shaky breath and began to sob.

"I wish you could be here. I wish I could talk to you… fuck," he rubbed his eyes and took a few deep breaths to settle down. "I have a goal. It's a bit silly to say out loud, but I want to become Sinnoh's Champion. Then I'll make sure that what happened to you and dad can never happen to other families ever again. Every single corner of Sinnoh should be treated the same as fucking Jubilife, so why the hell are the people living in the Iron Islands treated as second-class citizens? Why couldn't there be proper fucking healthcare… proper protection for miners… fuck this."

Chase sat on the grassy floor, took off his cap and stared at it. It wasn't that unique. Just a blue cap with nothing else on it. No design, no initials, just a bland blue cap. It was worn out and faded from all of his travels. It was the only thing he'd recovered from the catastrophe that hit his mining village. A powerful Steelix, angered by the miners encroaching on its territory had destroyed everything in its sight. Almost everyone died.

Why had he kept the cap?

Because he'd been wearing it that day.

A cap to remember his father by.

A medallion to remember his mother by.

"I'll make sure what happened to both of you will never happen to anyone ever again."

—

Chase ended up spending the entire afternoon by his mother's grave. Not all of the hours were filled with conversation, but when he did talk, he mostly did so about his training or his team. He showed her to Sigilyph, but she didn't seem to understand the concept of a grave. Maybe that wasn't how they did it back in their ancient city? He tried to explain to her that his mother was in there, but he wasn't sure if he got the message across. Chase promised her that he'd bring back full team to introduce them to her before leaving.

"Are you ready to go?" Chase asked Riolu. "We'll come back tomorrow morning."

Riolu silently stood and stared Chase in the eyes with newfound resolve. His tired, teary eyes glowed with a pale blue, intensifying until the light overtook his entire body and turned bright white.

All this time, Riolu had been waiting for closure.

Or well, Lucario now. He was only slightly taller than Chase, but he exuded an incredible amount of power. The steel type brought Chase into a hug, and he felt something brush against his mind. Incomprehensible whispers that were almost within reach. As soon as the hug ceased, Chase looked on, trying to hide the bewilderment on his face.

"Can I— can I still call you Ri?"

Lucario laughed and nodded. Chase gripped his fist and shook it tightly.

"My friend," Chase grinned. All this time, he had struggled to place what Ri had been to him. A guardian? A parental figure? He thought that he would never discover the answer. The core of their relationship was camaraderie. Shared loss. Friendship. They were equals. "Get ready, Ri. We're fucking winning this entire thing."

And his parents would watch over them.

The next afternoon, Solaceon was plunged in darkness.