Chapter 10: The Midnight Killer Part 2.

"My name is Ry-...no, It's Fumeiyo. And this is my sister, Hana." The male Mienshao says, grinning at Natalie and Claire while putting his hood down. "We're the masterminds behind all of this, as you can see."

"Before we slaughter you though, we'll give you a little history on why we're doing this." Hana says, holding Fumeiyo's hand.

"When we were born, our mother and father loved us dearly. They would do anything to protect us and expected us to do the same...However, we did the exact opposite." Fumeiyo stares at his katana, seeing it reflects the light from the moon.

"You killed your parents?" Natalie says. The two Mienshao nod meekly, smiling widely at the two. Natalie gasps, staring in horror and petrification.

"We're tired of our parents disliking death. They never understood why Pokemon kills another innocent Pokemon." Hana says with a grimace look. "We understood those Pokemon wanted to set the poor souls free from this world. We know that they've went through horrible things in the past. My brother and I had seen others being bullied, lied to, hated by and betrayed. They deserved to be set free because of those horrible, horrible things."

"And seeing how folks dislike others being killed is just ungrateful." Fumeiyo says, gripping his sister's hand.

Natalie grits her teeth. "Maybe because they don't want others to die that way. And besides, most Pokemon kill innocent Pokemon for the joy of it." Natalie looks down. "I witnessed one of those monsters killing my guardian before..."

Hana glances at the Zorua. "You should be happy that your guardian is dead. Being free at long last."

"But not in this way!" Natalie whines. Hana walks towards the Zorua and slaps her, leading her to whimper.

"Shut it." Hana rubs her hand afterwards. "We already had this discussion before so there's no excuse for me to repeat it again."

Natalie glances at Hana. "So how did you two kill the Watchog and Raticate, anyway?"

Hana and Fumeiyo look at each other, smiling devilishly before looking at the Zorua. "Why thanks for asking." Hana says. "I use my Mythical Power to lure the two."

Natalie raises her brow. "Mythical Power?"

"Yes. It's a strange yet rare phenomenon that a Pokemon has when they're born. No one knows how a Pokemon obtains it so they call those powers 'Mythical Powers' for that reason. My Mythical Power allows me to talk into Pokemons' minds without anyone else hearing it. You may be wondering if that's the same thing as Psychic types reading minds or forming a telepathy call. For the most part, yes but I'm able to do the same to Dark types without using the move Miracle Eye. I didn't use it on you since I figured you'll try to stop us otherwise." Hana giggles softly. "Anyway, unlike any mind reading, this one allows me to easily persuade a Pokemon to do my bidding rather they like it or not. I call this Mythical Power, 'Mind Persuader'." Hana smirks. "After I lure the two to the location, my brother axed them off with his Weapon Mischief."

Claire raises her brow. "Weapon Mischief?" Claire asks, tilting her head confusedly.

"Ugh. All this explaining is wasting our time. Let's just axe you off since basically we told you everything." Fumeiyo says before kissing Hana on the lips. Hana kisses back as Natalie forms a disgust expression and Claire blinks from the sudden kiss.

"And you two are siblings. Sick…" Natalie grimaces.

Fumeiyo withdraws from the kiss, grinning as he points his katana at the Zorua. "We don't care. If a Wailord can mate with a Skitty, then why shouldn't we have some affection for each other?" Hana giggles from what her brother said.

"And to answer your question earlier about the Discharge, Shinx: I was able to train myself on dodging moves with pinpoint accuracy. Hence why I dodge it with no ease." Fumeiyo shrugs while smiling. "It does take a lot of practice and precision to pull it off though but at the end, it was worth it. Now to free you and that Shinx from this cruel world."

Natalie and Claire whimper from their potential deaths. This leads Natalie to scream loudly, causing one of the Beedrill cops to hear the scream.

"Did you hearzz that?" The first Beedrill asks, looking at the other one next to him. The second Beedrill nods.

"Yeah. Let'zz go check it out." The second Beedrill says. They tell the other Beedrill cops about the scream and scurry off to the location. Han notices the cops heading out of the village from the window.

"What in ze world?" Han says before exiting his house. The other two cops follow along.

"Detective! Wait up!" The two say.

Iris and the others wake up from the scream tiredly. "Huh? Who in the world screamed in the middle of the night?" Jimmy questions.

Anna flickers her ears. "That scream sounds like Natalie…Which means-"

"Natalie isn't with us!" Mark says, interrupting Anna as he points at the Zorua's bed. The gang all look shocked simultaneously.

"Neither is Claire." Ashen says, beginning to worry. Cerise heads out of the room as the five talk about the missing crew members. The blob looks out of the window and gasps.

"Um. You guys might wanna check this out." Cerise says. Iris and the others exit the room and look out of the window themselves, seeing Han and the Beedrill cops heading into the forest. Iris glances at the group of crime stoppers.

"I'm guessing that they must have heard the scream, too." Iris states, slamming her fist against her paw. "Which means, they're heading to Natalie's location."

Anna nods. "We've gotta follow them immediately." Anna says with a serious tone. Mark nods, rushing to go grab his bow.

"I don't want anything happening to Natalie so let's go!" Mark yells with anxiety in his voice. Iris nods and heads out of the house before Jimmy, Lucas and Mark follow along. Ashen is about to join in until he notices Anna growling deeply.

"I...I shouldn't have let them out of my sight…" Anna trembles. "I-I don't want those two to be killed or anything, especially Natalie. After hearing about her guardian, I feel bad for her a-and promise myself to protect her…T-to make sure that she doesn't-" Ashen hugs Anna, causing her to stop trembling as she looks at him.

"This isn't the time to blame yourself, Anna. We've got to go help Natalie and Claire, okay?" Ashen says softly. "I may be an idiot at times but I at least know what's important and what's not." Anna nods slowly at him, sighing as she calms down. Ashen then looks at Cerise.

"Cerise, you stay here and watch over the place. Alright?" Ashen suggests. Cerise nods firmly. Then Ashen and Anna head out of the house and into the forest along with the others. The Pokemon in the village exit their homes, including Ducktian. All curious and worried about what's going on, forming conversation after another. Cerise continues to gaze out of the window, filling himself with concerns and thoughts.

Meanwhile, Fumeiyo tries to slash Natalie. The Zorua yelps, rolling over and over from the slash attack. Hana has Claire pinned down by the neck, watching the two.

"Stay still, dammit." Fumeiyo says, swinging his katana.

"No!" Natalie yells before forming a Shadow Ball. Fumeiyo notices the attack and stomps on her back, causing her Shadow Ball to fade away. "Ah!" Natalie gasps, coughing out blood from the stomp. Fumeiyo then positions his katana against her neck.

"Huh...Should've done this in the first place. Oh well, time to rest in peace."

Natalie closes her eyes and winces. Claire whimpers and yells, "M-Mistress!". The two Mienshaos laugh in joy from their foul doings.

"Hey! Stop right there!" A male voice shouts. Fumeiyo and Hana see four Beedrill cops pointing their stingers at them. "Freezezz and put your handzz in the air where I can seezz them!" The first Beedrill says.

"O-Oh thank goodness. Please help us!" Natalie exclaims. Fumeiyo kicks her towards a random tree, causing her to cry loudly in pain.

"Mistress!" Claire yells loudly, groaning in pain herself.

"Hey! We said freezezz!" One of the Beedrills yells out. Fumeiyo laughs, looking at the Beedrills psychotically.

"Sorry but I prefer not to." Fumeiyo says before throwing his katana at a Beedrill's chest, sending him towards another tree. The Beedrill coughs out green-colored blood before Fumeiyo withdraws his katana with a string. The Beedrill falls to the ground, causing the other three to shoot multiple white needles at Hana and Fumeiyo: Pin Missiles. Hana giggles and tosses Claire towards Natalie. Then Fumeiyo gets in front of Hana and uses Protect, shielding him and her from the attack. The Beedrills continue attacking the two without hesitation.

Then Hana stares at the three Beedrills, her eyes turning red as she smiles. Please stop attacking us. Hana says in their minds. The Beedrills stop their attacks as Fumeiyo dashes towards them.

"H-Huh?" The third Beedrill says. "Why did we stop attacking?"

"I don't knowzz but that Mienshao iz aiming right for uszz-"

Han and the other two Beedrills make it to the location as they see three Beedrills getting sliced in half by Fumeiyo. The blood lands on the detective's face, causing him to stop immediately. He wipes the blood off and sees the three falling to the ground. Dead.

"Wh-What ze-" Han pauses as he sees Fumeiyo laughing loudly.

"Soon, you all will rest in peace from this damnation of a world!" Fumeiyo shouts as Hana's eyes revert back to normal. Han stares in horror as Iris and the others make it to the location. Fumeiyo turns towards Hana with a smile. "Looks like our cover is blown, sis."

"Heh. Might as well slaughter them all at this point." Hana suggests. "Genocide these abominations of living beings." Han points his stingers at the two.

"So it was you two who killed the two civilians in the Verdant Village!" Han yells. Fumeiyo grins deviously.

"You're damn right." The Mienshao confirms, swinging the blood off from his katana. Iris and the others notice Natalie and Claire being by the tree knocked out. Mark grips his fist after seeing his friend unconscious.

"Natalie! Claire!" The Riolu shouts. Anna growls deeply and looks at the two killers.

"What have you done to them!?" Anna demands.

"Heh. We've beaten them up a bit. Don't worry though, they're not dead…yet." Fumeiyo says with a smirk.

Anna growls more and tries to run towards the two but two Beedrills get her way. "We got thiszz, ma'am." The first Beedrill says before looking at the two Mienshaos.

"You two are under arrest for ze crime you caused in ze Verdant Village." Han says.

"Oh it's too late for that. We let your men rest in peace so what's the point on trying to arrest us?" Hana says casually. Han glances at the Mienshao.

"I figured that killerzz like you two would say something like that." Han looks at the two Beedrills. "Might as well go for self-defense." The two Beedrills nod and use Pin Missiles on the two Mienshaos. Fumeiyo uses his katana to reflect the attack back at them. One Beedrill dodges while the second gets hit, crashing to the ground. The first Beedrill charges at the two and tries to use Twineedle on them, his stingers glowing white.

Fumeiyo uses his katana to shield himself from the Beedrill's multiple stabbing. Then Hana's arm glows white and uses Aerial Ace on the Beedrill, slamming him towards the ground. Fumeiyo proceeds to kick the wasp hard towards the second one afterwards, laughing happily. Han glances and uses Poison Sting from his stingers; Tiny purple needles aim at the two. Fumeiyo uses Aura Sphere on the attack, having it collide to form black smokes. Fumeiyo comes out of the smoke and gets in front of Han, slashing him. Han tries to dodge the slash but his upper left wing gets cut off, leading him to scream in agony.

"Dammit. I missed." Fumeiyo says before slamming Han towards the ground. Han gasps, coughing as his back started bleeding. Lucas jumps from the impact.

"J-Jeez, see what they did to those Beedrills!?" Lucas says, trembling in fear. Ashen nods before Anna uses Flamethrower on Fumeiyo. The Mienshao notices the Flamethrower attack and uses Protect to shield himself. Then he jumps off from the detective, landing next to Hana.

"I suppose that you six want some too, huh?" Fumeiyo points his katana at the group. "Bring it on. I don't mind resting you all in peace!"

Iris and the others get in front of Han. "This guy is clearly insane." Iris states. Anna looks at her, raising her brow.

"Don't you mean those two?" The Ninetales corrects. Iris glares at the two Mienshaos.

"Exactly."

Han looks up, groaning in pain. "Th-This is police work. I advise you to not get involved and go get us backup." Han demands, coughing out green liquid. Jimmy looks at the detective.

"No need for that, detective. We've got to rescue our buddies so leave the rest to us." Jimmy says humbly. "And besides-" He then slightly turns to the Mienshaos. "We might as well be your backup." The Heracross winks at Han, leading him to sweatdrop.

Meanwhile, Cerise begins to worry about the crew and sighs stressfully. I hope that they're alright… He thinks. If only I could see what they're doing right now. Then a withered, soft voice can be heard in Cerise's head.

Z...ar...e… The voice says to Cerise, leading him to raise his brow.

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Zare? What? Cerise is confused by this until he closes his eyes, seeing a green vision of Iris and the others'. H-Huh? How...am I doing this?

Mark shoots his arrow at Fumeiyo. The Mienshao sees the bow and slices it in half. "Nice try." Fumeiyo says before dashing towards Jimmy and pushes him back with one hand. Jimmy slams against a random tree due to the massive force, coughing a bit. Iris grits her teeth and punches Fumeiyo in the stomach, sending him in the air. "Gah!" Fumeiyo then lands to the ground, covering his stomach. "That's...quite a punch." Hana comes to aid Fumeiyo as Iris cracks her fist.

"No one messes with my friends. Especially murderers like you two." Iris says, her fist being engulfed in flames. Anna growls and opens her mouth, flames shooting towards the Mienshaos: Flamethrower. Fumeiyo walks towards the group, raising his katana in front of him as it splits the Flamethrower in half. Ashen notices the tactic and gasps in surprise.

"What in the world? How did you do that!?" Ashen says shockingly. Anna stops using Flamethrower, noticing the robed Mienshao is still in one piece. Everyone seems to be surprised by the phenomenon.

"This Weapon Mischief allows me to split shooting range attacks in half along with reflecting them." Fumeiyo says before grinning. "Just try and handle the two of us."

Iris glances as Jimmy returns to the others, panting heavily. Iris looks at him cautiously. "You okay?" She asks in a concerning manner. Jimmy nods, giving her a thumbs up.

"A great force of push that was but it'll take more than just that to knock me out." Jimmy says, grinning deviously. Iris nods firmly before looking back at the Mienshaos.

"Alright. Me, Jimmy, and Ashen will handle the WM Mienshao while Lucas, Anna and Mark handle the other Mienshao."

Mark looks at Iris. "Why can't I handle him?" He asks.

"Sorry but I can't risk you facing against him. He seems to handle his weapon extremely well, especially on how fast he moves."

Mark sighs heavily. "Alright then." He puts his bow behind his back, getting in a battle stance.

"Alright. Let's go!" Iris yells. The gang all go to attack their perspective target.

Iris tries to use Fire Punch on Fumeiyo but he uses Protect to shield himself. Then Jimmy tries to hit Fumeiyo, swinging every punches at him. Fumeiyo dodges the punches then kicks Jimmy to the side. Jimmy blocks the kick with his arms, sliding across the ground. Ashen uses Fury Swipes on Fumeiyo but he dodges the attack and uses his katana on the Linoone. Ashen dodges the katana barely, resulting to a tiny bit of his fur cut off. He pants heavily afterwards. That was close. He says in his head before proceeding to attack Fumeiyo.

Anna, Mark and Lucas stare at Hana, unsure on when to attack her as she giggles. "What are you waiting for? Come at me. I have no weapon, unlike my brother." Hana says, taunting them as she spreads her arms out. "Not unless you want me to hurt your friends over there, hmm?" Anna glances at the Mienshao as Mark's fist slightly glows yellow.

Something doesn't seem right… Anna thinks.

"Hmm...bummer. And I thought you three would care about your unconscious friends." Hana forms an Aura Sphere in her hand and aims it at Natalie and Claire. "Oh well."

Mark grits his teeth and dashes towards Hana. "Not on my watch!" He yells furiously. Lucas follows him, his claws glowing white.

"Right behind ya, mate!" The Furret says. Anna's eyes then widen into realization.

"Wait! Mark! Lucas! Don't go near her!" Anna shouts. The Riolu and Furret jump towards Hana as she grins.

Gotcha. Hana turns towards the two, her eyes turning red. Stop where you are now. Mark and Lucas stop instantly, falling towards the ground afterwards. Anna grits her teeth.

"I have a feeling that something like this would happen!" Anna says before snarling, seeing Mark and Lucas struggling to move.

"What? Why did we stop?" Mark asks.

"I-I don't know, mate." Lucas says.

Hana giggles softly. Now Riolu. I want you to form another arrow and stab the Furret. Then stab the Ninetales and yourself. Mark forms another arrow by force and walks towards Lucas. Lucas begins to tremble as he sees the Riolu walking towards him.

"U-Um, Mark?"

"I-It's not me doing this! I swear!" Mark says, positioning the arrow at Lucas' stomach. "Something is wrong with my body!" Lucas turns to Anna.

"Anna! Help us!" The Furret whimpers. Anna looks at Hana, seeing her giggling as she controls the two's bodies. The Ninetales' eyes turns yellow and a yellow orb shoots out of her body, aiming towards Hana: Confuse Ray. Hana is doused by the ray and goes under the confused status, her eyes reverting back to normal during so. Mark is about to stab Lucas but stops immediately, regaining control of his body. The Riolu then looks at Hana and shoots his arrow at her but Hana moves out of the way, having him miss. Mark's eye twitches into frustration.

"But she's confused!" The Riolu pouts.

Lucas chuckles softly. "Well at least you didn't kill me, bud." He says.

Anna prepares her Flamethrower until she hears a scream beside her. She looks to see Iris, Ashen and Jimmy struggling to take on the psychotic Mienshao. Mark and Lucas look as well, seeing Fumeiyo grabbing Jimmy by the pincer and slams him to the ground. He notices the Linoone running towards him, his arm glowing white as he tries to uses Slash on him. Fumeiyo kicks Ashen away easily before slicing the pincer off from the Heracross, leading him to scream in tremendous pain.

Iris grits her teeth angrily. "You monster!" She yells in anger. Her eyes glow to a dark and light blue color. Her necklace glows white while she dashes towards the Mienshao and shouts, "Fire Ice Punch!". Fumeiyo grins, his eyes glowing white along with his katana. He dodges every fiery, cold punch Iris swings at him with ease. "Huh?" She continues, going even faster but Fumeiyo's dodging speed paces. She then stops, panting heavily afterwards.

"My turn." Fumeiyo says before kicking Iris away and dashes towards her. "Destructive Strike!" He shouts in determination. He slashes Iris a couple of times before throwing her in the air. His katana extends to a larger size and slashes her once more, sending the Dragonite crashing towards the ground with an tremendous impact. The Mienshao laughs in joy afterwards.

"A-Ah!" Iris screams, coughing out blood from the impact as Fumeiyo floats towards the ground gracefully.

"Iris!" The five Pokemon yell, becoming even more worrisome than before. Mark grips his fist and runs toward Fumeiyo, screaming as he tries to use Force Palm on him.

"Mark! No!" Anna and Ashen both yell. Fumeiyo notices the Riolu and simply kicks him hard against a random tree. Mark yelps in drastic pain during so. Ashen and Lucas then rush towards the Mienshao, both trying to stop him with Fury Swipes.

Fumeiyo just yawns and shoots Aura Sphere at Lucas then grabs Ashen and slams him to the ground. He holds him down with his foot while the Furret brawls all over the place.

"U-Ugh…" Lucas says, passing out due to the super effective attack. Ashen groans in pain, trying to escape from Fumeiyo's grasp but couldn't. Anna's eyes widen in shock as she sees her friends getting defeated.

She shakes her head in disapproval. "Leave my friends alone, you monster!" Anna cries, dashing towards Fumeiyo. The Mienshao is about to stab Ashen until Anna seeks her teeth into his shoulder, causing him to scream in pain. Hana snaps out of her confused state and sees Fumeiyo trying to get Anna off of him, slamming her against one of the trees several times. Hana then shoots Aura Sphere at Anna, getting her to let go of the male Mienshao. Fumeiyo then grabs Anna in time and yanks her towards his katana, stabbing her menacingly. Anna gasps in surprise, coughing out blood afterwards.

Ashen notices the stab and his eyes widen in terror. "Nooooo!" He cries out. Iris growls deeply, wishing continue fighting but her injuries is hindering her. The Mienshao grins, pulling his katana out as the Ninetales falls to the ground. She winces in pain as blood forms around her slowly, her body twitches during the process.

"Welp, looks like I've gotten someone to rest in peace." Fumeiyo says, seeing Ashen attempting to get up again. He kicks the Linoone down with ease, pinning him with his foot. "Don't worry my Linoone friend. You're next." Hana walks next to Fumeiyo, giggling softly. Ashen grits his teeth, tearing up.

"Y-You sick, crazy lunatics." Ashen says, his tone full of anger.

Hana frowns and slaps Ashen as he snarls from it. "We're not sick! We're killing Pokemon to set them free from this awful world! We're benefiting them, dammit!" She yells furiously.

"Benefiting them? How's killing them beneficial!? All you're doing is making things worse!"

"You're the ones making it worse. If you Pokemon appreciate someone for being dead, then this wouldn't happened!"

"We accept their deaths but not like this!"

Hana grits her teeth into frustration and punches Ashen repeatedly, her eyes widen in anger and insanity. "SHUT UP!" She screams, repeating the same words over and over as she jabs the Linoone. Soon, she stops and see the amount of bruises on his face, panting heavily as blood drips from her fist. She then looks at Fumeiyo. "Let him rest in peace. Slowly and painfully." Fumeiyo nods, stabbing the Linoone on the arm. Ashen screams in agony as Fumeiyo deepens the stab.

While Fumeiyo stabs Ashen's other arm, a flat blob forms on one of the trees, invisible as it seems to be Cerise's way of watching the fight. Cerise whimpers from the awfulness he's witnessing. "Oh dear. This...is terrible..." He says, a tear sliding down from his face.

Han looks at the situation and shakes his head. "T-Told you to not get in ze wayzz…" He says, panting heavily. "Nowzz...we're all going to get killed." Fumeiyo withdraws his katana from Ashen's arm and aims for his head. He's about to end him until a voice is heard.

"Don't...you...dare…" The voice says in a demanding tone. Fumeiyo looks to see the voice coming from Anna. She's slowly getting up from the ground, growling deeply at the male Mienshao. Blood drips from the spot she was stabbed in as she pants menacingly.

"What? But I stabbed you right where you'll die. How's that possible?" Fumeiyo says, shocked to see the Ninetales still alive. Hana becomes surprised as well, backing away a bit. Then Natalie and Claire slowly wake up to see the madness.

"H-Huh?" Natalie says weakly, groaning from the pain earlier.

Anna pants heavily. "I've been living in a dark cave for fifteen years. With no one to comfort nor help me. Do you wanna know why?" Anna says, her body slowly having an corrupted red aura around her. "Because they disliked my presence. They think I'm corrupted." Her voice beginning to sound eerie as she receives an image of an Vulpix staring angrily at the outside of the cave. "They think I'm a monster. To the point where even my family abandoned me. So I was a very, very lonely person...Until," Another image show the Vulpix looking at three silhouettes in front of her, feeling quite surprised by their presence. "I met my three friends. We've ventured together, across the seas and on land." Then the last image Anna receives show the Vulpix smiling happily at the Dragonite, Furret and Linoone; The Vulpix being carried by the Dragonite as they traveled in the forest.

"We protect each other at all costs. Hell, we've even made some new friends and allies along the way." The Ninetales' eyes glow orange, her earrings glowing white. "So seeing my friends in so much pain and agony, just makes me wanna kill you both for good!"

Anna then forms flames mix with dark energy from her mouth, Fumeiyo and Hana staring intensely at her. "My goodness. What...is she doing?" Fumeiyo says.

Hana notices the glowing earrings and gasps. "She's using her Mixturing Move! But I don't know what moves she's combining together!" Hana explains, backing away some more.

Anna tears up. "I care about my friends dearly because they help me become a better person. To prevent me from becoming the monster I used to be!" She says. Iris and Ashen stare at her, feeling quite speechless by her words. "From becoming this!" Anna screams in an eerie, corrupted tone. "Fire Dark Pulse!" She shoots the attack at the two Mienshaos, screaming with all of her might. The huge, dark-ish flaming attack aims at the two in a vicious and malevolent way.

Fumeiyo tries to use Protect but couldn't. "C-Crap. I forgot that I used that move three times during this fight." Fumeiyo says, gritting his teeth into frustration. The two then get engulfed by the attack, screaming in massive pain. Anna increases the power, adding the corrupted red aura around the Mixturing Move. The robe on Fumeiyo shreds off as he and Hana's bodies begin to dissolve into thin air. Soon, Anna slowly stops using her attack. The move fading away as she stops glowing completely, falling to the ground and passes out.

Iris smiles slightly. She use her Mixturing Move, finally...Thanks for caring about us, Anna… Iris sighs, remaining on the ground. Ashen crawls towards Anna, shaking her immediately.

"Anna! Anna! Please Arceus, tell me she's still alive!" Ashen cries, tearing up as he continues to shake the Ninetales. Anna coughs heavily from the shaking and looks at the Linoone.

"Don't worry, you idiot...I'm still...alive…" Anna says, smiling slowly. Ashen sniffles and hugs her, not caring about the blood being on him as he cries.

"I'm so sorry that I couldn't protect you."

Anna pets him on the head softly. "It's okay...I couldn't protect you guys to the fullest either...Even Natalie…" Anna then licks him on the head softly. "We all have our downfalls, Ashen...and that's okay…" She smiles weakly.

Ashen stares at her for a moment before nodding firmly. "Y-You're right...We do have our downs...So that's why in the ups, we'll get better. And that's exactly I'll do." He hugs Anna tightly. "I'll improve myself on protecting you and the others for now on. And I hope you'll do the same too, Anna...I mean it..."

Anna looks at him, blushing from the tight hug before Natalie and Claire rush towards her. "Anna!" The two yell.

Natalie tears up, looking at the Ninetales. "W-We're sorry about all of this...W-we were trying to help solve the case going on in the village a-and well…" She says, whimpering and looking off to the side. "It's mostly my doing...and my fault." Then she begins to sob. "Why it's always me causing all the chaos?" She closes her eyes as tears shower down onto the ground. "Why can't I do something that doesn't cause chaos for once!? Why!? WHY!?"

"Natalie…" Anna stares at her, sorrow spreading across her face. Claire goes to comfort the Zorua, telling her that it's going to be alright and rubbing her back.

Soon, Ducktian and his citizens reach the location, seeing Han and the others brutally beaten up. The crowd becomes disgusted by Han's missing wing and Jimmy's bleeding pincer. "Oh...wow...What, I, err...WHAT HAPPENED HERE!?" Ducktian demands, shocked and disgusted by what he's witnessing. Lucas wakes up immediately and tries to fight the air.

"Come on, mate! I still...have...enough...energy...in me…" Lucas says before passing out again. Everyone sweatdrops at the eye-patched Furret.

"Well that was weird." A Diggersby says in a confusing manner.

Han looks at Ducktian and sighs heavily. "Itzz...a long storyzz…" Han says in a stern tone.

. . .

Everyone returns back to the Verdant Village: The Watchog guards taking the Beedrill corpses towards the other side of the village while some take Anna, Jimmy, and Ashen to a medic home. Iris and the other group are surrounded by the crowd of Pokemon hearing their conversation. Mark and Lucas watch the crowd and smile at them while Han has about two Watchog guards beside him, both having his arms around their necks.

"I see. So that's what happened." Ducktian says, nodding firmly. "And the two killers names were?"

"Fumeiyo and Hana...They wanted to kill innocent Pokemon to let them rest in peace or some crazy shenanigan!" Natalie says, pouting.

"Sadly, we couldn'tzz arrest them due to the Ninetales obliterating them." Han says, panting a bit while having a bandage on his back. The guard pats him on the back as he winces a bit. "Easy there withzz the patting." The guard stops, nodding at the detective. "Anyway, look on the bright side: At least the village is safe from any murdererzz for now, thanks to that Ninetales."

Iris smiles softly. "Her name is Anna, by the way." She says. Han nods firmly.

"I seezz."

Ducktian sighs in relief. "Well, I would like to thank you for solving the case, detective."

The Beedrill shrugs. "Ehzz, it wouldn't be solved without the Zorua and Shinxzz. So thank them as well."

Natalie blinks in surprise. "R-Really? I...I helped?" She asks cautiously. Han looks at her and nods.

"Yeszz, you did. If it weren't for you and the Shinx, more folks would've been killed by those killers. You saved us. You and well, your friendszz."

The crowd cheers happily for the two, Natalie sniffling and beginning to tear up. "Finally...I did something good instead of causing troubles…" Claire and Mark go to hug the Zorua, everyone aweing at their cuteness.

Then Iris turns to Natalie. "Hey Natalie. Try warning us on what you're doing next time, alright?" Iris suggests. Natalie nods immediately.

"Y-Yeah. I will!"

"But in all honesty, thanks for leading us there to stop those killers, Natalie." Iris says, smiling warmly. Ducktian nods, agreeing with her.

Natalie hugs Iris' leg. "You're welcome, Iris." She smiles gleefully. Soon, everyone goes back to their homes.

. . .

The next day, Iris and the gang are packing their things and set them onto the ship. Ducktian, Han and some of the citizens watch them go. Jimmy, Ashen and Anna have bandages on their specific injured spots as Jimmy sighs heavily. He looks up at his tipless pincer with sorrow spreading throughout his face. "I don't think I can use Megahorn anymore..." Jimmy confirms, looking down. Ashen and Anna pat the Heracross on the back.

"It's alright, pal. You can live without it." Ashen says, shrugging awkwardly. Anna softly hits him on the shoulder.

"I don't think that'll make him feel any better." Anna says, sweatdropping.

"Oh...My bad then." Ashen shrugs, laughing nervously as he sweatdrops. Ducktian walks towards Iris, giving her some kind of phone-like device. Iris raises her brow, looking at the device confusedly.

"Huh?" The Dragonite says.

"It's a Caller. Allowing us to call each other from anywhere, anytime. It also can map the location on where you are, too. I figured after saving this village, you deserve something rewarding." Ducktian says with a smile. "Don't worry. I've got plenty of them in my office. Just take it as a gift."

"Um, but isn't Telepathy a thing?" Iris asks.

"Yeah. For Psychic types." Ducktian glances. "Do you have a Psychic type with you?"

"Well, no but-" Ducktian shoves the Caller in Iris' hand.

"Nah, take it. I would like to talk to you from time to time, if we get the chance to. You seem like a great person after helping us."

Iris sighs softly. "I'm really not though…"

Ducktian chuckles. "Say what you want about yourself, Iris. I know that deep down inside, you're something...special. I can't quite tell what it is, but it's...unique somehow..."

"..." Iris looks at him for a moment before speaking. "So until we meet again, this is farewell."

Iris looks at Ashen and nods at him. He nods back and heads to the wheeler, sailing the ship away. Ducktian waves at Iris and the others. "Be sure to call me someday!"

Iris shrugs, waving back at the Delibird. Then she walks next to Anna, looking across the sea. "I'm surprised that you're still alive after that fatal stab." She says to her. "Leading me to become more amazed by your power." Anna nods, looking down at the bandage around her chest.

"Yeah...I can thank my corrupted side for saving me." Anna says, sighing heavily. "And I also thank Natalie for healing me and Ashen last night because of my corrupted side taking awhile to heal...which makes me wearing this bandage pointless now thinking about it." She laughs nervously before being hugged by Iris, looking at her curiously.

"Thanks for saving us back there...and...thank you for caring about us...It...really means...so much to me…" Huh?

Anna nods and hugs back, smiling gently. "You're welcome…"

Iris then stops hugging her and looks at the sea. Why did I say that? I...I'm suppose to focus more on revenge, not friendship...What's going on with me…?

End of Chapter 10.