Chapter 19: The Truth and the Escape Part 2.

Cloyster Kingdom Arc.

...Everyone stands there for a brief moment, eyes contacting each other in quite the hectic exchange of glances. Iris and Anna glare at Cocoon and Sheer. Sheer and Cocoon scowl back with their brows lowered down to signify the two being prepared.

"Seize them!" Cocoon shouts, pointing his staff towards the gang. The Cloyster guards charge toward them, having their spears out and ready. Iris and the others remain still as they prepare their moves. Then the fight initiates.

A Cloyster guard tries to swing his spear at Iris but she dodges it swiftly. The Dragonite gets beside him and punches him with Fire Punch. The attack sends the guard towards another guard that attempts to harm Trent. As the two collide with each other, Trent jumps on top of the two and launches himself in the air after they pass out. He does a front flip and glides towards two other guards. The two spot him and get slammed into each other by the Lucario's paws, their heads nudge against their inner shells, causing them to get knocked out. He lands on the ground afterwards and jumps up and down slightly, panting a bit aggressively.

"Nice one, Trent!" Iris says before seeing another guard rush towards her and punching him in the face with no problems.

Trent looks at her and nods, smiling. "Thanks! Been practicing a lot with Saya when we were together. She wanted to made sure that she and I know how to defend ourselves." Trent replies before jumping on top of an intruding Cloyster guard, grabbing him by the shell and throwing him towards the wall in front of him. The guard slams against one of the Cloyster portraits and some tables, glass shattering being heard from the impact.

Iris nods. "That's good to know." Trent sighs in relief before smirking, forming a slight red aura around him as he continues the slight jumping and panting. Iris notices the aura and becomes curious, scratching the side of her head. Huh? Is he powering up some type of move or something? She thinks as she grabs a random guard's spear and smacks him with it.

Anna uses Flamethrower on a bunch of guards while Lucas and Ashen slash at the guards with their Fury Swipes. Cerise zooms past multiple of them with Extreme Speed, causing them to get blown away and crash into the wall. Cocoon grits his teeth, seeing his men getting defeated instantaneously. "Sheer, please do something!" He commands, seeing Anna toss one guard in the air with her maw and Ashen leap up in the air to slam the guard to the ground heavily.

"I am, sir. Just give me a moment, now." Sheer says calmly, eyeing the fight. He scans the area for a moment until he directs his eyes towards the Shinx using Discharge on a bunch of guards. The guards are caught into the electrifying attack, all of them screeching in pain as their faces melt. Sheer watches about ten empty shells drop to the ground, raising his brow at Claire while feeling a bit intimidated. He then sees the Shinx dashing towards him, preparing another red Discharge attack. Jeez, what in the name of Arceus is up with her eyes? The large barbed Cloyster thinks, his eyes beginning to glow blue. Claire jumps in the air and unleashes her Discharge attack at the two Cloysters. Cocoon sweatdrops and closes his eyes. Sheer glances at the Shinx, causing the Discharge attack to slowly fade away from Claire.

"Grr." Claire growls as she lands on the ground, gritting her teeth. Cocoon opens his eyes and sees Claire no longer attacking, having his attention be directed towards Sheer.

"Thank you, senator." Cocoon says.

Sheer smirks, turning his glowing eyes towards the others. "You're welcome." He replies before canceling the crew's moves. Anna tries to use Flamethrower on three guards but the flames barely push out of her mouth, causing nothing to come out. Ashen and Lucas try to slash at the two guards in front of them with Fury Swipes but their claws stop glowing and hit the guards' shells with no impact.

"Crap!" Anna and Ashen proclaim, seeing the guards rock their spears towards them. The three Pokemon jump back from the attack, the spears hitting the ground and forming a clashing noise. Anna, Ashen and Lucas has their backs against each other while eyeing at the guards.

Cerise and Zeke try to use their moves on the guards but the canine's Dragon Pulse fades midway from his mouth while the Cloyster's Aurora Beam doesn't form from his horn. "Huh?" The two say confusedly before being pushed by the multiple guards' spears. Iris' attack is being prevented as well, her wings not glowing white for her to use Aerial Ace as she grits her teeth at Sheer.

"Oh damn that move canceling black hole of a shell!" Iris shouts, backing up against Cerise and Zeke. Mark gets besides Iris as well, gulping.

"You know...I would use Force Palm on Sheer if it weren't for his cheap power." Mark says, glancing at the large barbed Cloyster. While this happens, Trent dodges some other guard's spear by doing a backflip, making his way toward Iris before panting heavily.

Cerise looks at the Dragonite in a concerned manner. "Iris, why couldn't I use my move there for a moment?" He questions the crystalline necklace Dragonite.

"Yeah, what gives!?" Zeke joins along.

Iris points her tail towards the large barbed Cloyster. "That guy is your reason why. He has a Mythical Power that allows him to cancel out other Pokemon's moves at will." She explains, turning her paws into fists.

"Ah, I see…" Zeke then looks at Sheer and the guards for a few seconds before immediately turning back towards Iris. "Sorry but what is a Mythical Power?"

"To put it shortly: Rare powers that any Pokemon can potentially be born with."

"O...kay then?" Zeke blinks a bit more confusedly.

"I'll elaborate a bit more on that later. Right now, we're in deep trouble because of that Sheer guy."

Sheer grins, seeing the gang all curled up into one bunch. Cocoon sighs in relief and nods at Sheer with a smile. "Well done, Sheer. You made them feel useless without the use of their moves." The shiny Cloyster says humbly.

Sheer laughs softly and elegantly before speaking. "Now then, you will all either surrender like the good prisoners you are, or face the deadliest consequences that'll potentially lead to your death. Your choice."

Norah frowns furiously. "YOU'LL KILL US EITHER WAY SO WHAT'S THE POINT OF HAVING A CHOICE!?" The female Cloyster shouts, holding her daughter closely.

"Hmm. You got a point there, m'lady." Sheer then looks at the guards and cocks his head to the side. "Go ahead and weaken them."

"Yes sir!" The Cloyster guards say obediently, floating toward the group. Everyone stares at them menacingly, struggling to fight back thanks to Sheer's MP.

. . .

Meanwhile in another dungeon area, Jimmy roams around from one corner to the next within a linear gray hallway. He looks around to make sure that no guards are present. No sign of guards here yet. He thinks to himself before continuing to move forward. He eventually comes across a path that leads to the right of the hallway and turns right. After a few minutes of running, he soon comes across the execution cell and rushes towards it. Bingo!

The Heracross makes it to the cell, seeing it closed and locked. He then punches the cell door hard enough to make it burst open and crash against the wall, leaving a crack behind it. He sees the wall crumbling bits of concrete as the door slides to the ground slowly, blinking in surprise and stares at his hands. "Wow...I'm that strong…" He says to himself before snickering softly. "Guess I'll have to watch my strength from now on." He walks towards the hay and gets on his knees, digging through them until he sees the Pokemon egg. He grabs the egg and gets up. Alright. Now it's time to head back to the others.

"Where do you think you're going, Heracross?" A male voice says in a low tone. Jimmy blinks before turning around to see five Cloyster guards being in front of the cell, preventing him from coming out. Jimmy sweatdrops uneasily.

"Okay...the hallway was empty when I was looking around. And when I found this egg, all of a sudden you guys appear?" Jimmy sighs, putting the egg down. "The creator of this story really needs to form a better way of letting this happen instead of 'quiet area to suddenly guards appearing after someone found something' scenario."

The guards raise their brows at the Heracross. "Excuse me, what the hell are you talking about?" One of them asks. Jimmy then dashes towards the guards and grabs one of their spears, slamming it against one guard and throwing it at another. The first guard yelps after being hit by his own spear, nudging against the wall beside him while the second guard ducks from the spear being thrown at him. The third, fourth and fifth guards try to hit Jimmy with their spears at once but the Heracross leans his head back from the attack. The spears almost touch his face before he breaks them all in half with a right hook.

The three guards gulp, sweatdropping at the Heracross. Jimmy smirks and punches the third guard in the face, sending him flying towards another wall as he screams. He then uses Close Combat on the fourth and fifth guards, punching and kicking them all over the place rapidly. This causes their shells to crack as Jimmy grabs the two by the tip of their horns and picks them up. The first and second guard, who still look alive enough to act, both try to form Ice Shards from their horns. But as soon as they try to fire their moves, Jimmy turns around to throw the two guards towards them roughly. The two guards ram into the attacking guards, all ended up crashing hard against the wall during the process. All four of the guards groan in pain before they pass out.

Jimmy brushes himself off and sighs heavily. "It's something that no one, including myself, would understand." He says, answering their question from earlier. He turns his attention towards the cell afterwards and heads back inside, noticing that the egg is no longer present. "Hmm?" He blinks confusedly, scratching the side of his head. "Where did the egg go?" Soon, the dotted egg slowly appears out of thin air only to fade away into nothingness. Then it reappears itself and disappears again. Then it continues the neverending loop of reappearing and disappearing within the same spot. Jimmy tilts his head slightly, staring at the egg in curiosity. "What on Solark is going on with the egg?" He sweatdrops, continuing to watch the egg repeat its constant cycle. He then walks towards it and picks it up, seeing it continue to reappear and disappear in his arms.

"Well then, today got quite weird and bizarre after witnessing that phenomenon." The beetle sighs, shaking his head. "No matter. Time to go meet up with the others!" The Heracross then turns around and rushes out of the execution cell.

. . .

In Sheer's room, Mat seems to be cutting the ropes off from Natalie and Exo with his spike. Natalie sighs in relief while Exo whimpers, having a worried look on his face. Tears are streaming down from the Cloyster's face rapidly.

"Thank you for untying us, Mat!" Exo whines.

"No problem, Exo." Mat replies before snapping the ropes off completely, freeing the Zorua and Cloyster.

Natalie rubs her wrists, sighing happily to her freedom. Exo moves around the room freely, laughing in pure satisfaction. "YES! I'M FREE AT LONG LAST!"

Natalie winces from Exo's shouting, putting her ears down. "Jeez, do you always have to be this loud and dramatic?" The Zorua asks, raising her brow at Exo.

Exo looks at her with a stern look on his face, standing tall in front of her. "You...have no idea on how betrayed I feel. The absolute filth from the bottom of the trash can that no-good senator has thrown at me." The Cloyster leans his face towards Natalie's, making her feel uncomfortable and sweatdrop. "There was nothing but backstabbing during that very moment!"

"Same here, Exo." Mat says, joining in the conversation as he looks at the door. "And it's all because of this plan he has, right?"

"Yes. If I recalled correctly, it should be in his-" Exo is then interrupted by Natalie firing a Shadow Ball at Sheer's first dresser. The dresser is hit by the shadowy ball and breaks apart, materials such as the ink container and quill being spilled on the ground as a result. The container's ink, in particular, splashes all over the ground and spreads throughout the wooden floor. "...dresser."

"You're welcome." Natalie says before revealing her delightful smile. Mat and Exo sweatdrop at the Zorua's action.

"I mean, I could've just...floated to the dresser and grabbed it."

"Nah. Sheer deserves to have his belongings trashed."

The two Cloysters envisage about the slate gray fox's comment before nodding. "Yep, you're right." Mat says, floating towards the broken dresser. "The thing is though, is the plan thingie okay?" Exo scans the dresser for a moment before seeing the paper casually laying down on the ground next to the dresser. He heads towards it and picks it up, flipping it over to see the checklist structure.

"Found it." Exo says sternly. Mat and Natalie direct their attention towards the Cloyster.

"Sweet." Exo hands the plan to Mat, allowing him to read off from the paper. Mat skims through the paper, nodding slightly along the way. "I see...So the last thing he needs to check off the list is kill the king and steal all of his pokedollars."

"Yes! Such a foul and greedy thing to do over pokedollars!"

"Hmm...I don't think he's doing it for greed. Because if he did, then he wouldn't have needed to check off Brisk's death like he did on the list. Something tells me he's doing this for something else...but I'm not sure what that is." Mat tilts his head slightly. "Though I'm not sure why he needs a Mega Stone for his plan, either."

The two Pokemon think for a moment as Natalie looks at the broken dresser to see the blue, reddish symbol Mega Stone on top of the pool of ink. Natalie hums softly and walks towards the stone, picking it up with her paw. "It's mostly cause of a deal he has with someone in this kingdom." Natalie says.

The two Cloysters look at Natalie, seeing the Mega Stone in her possession. "A deal?" Exo says with a puzzled look on his face. Natalie stares back at the two, beckoning her head in response.

"Yeah, a deal. I remember him mentioning such when I was spying on him. He said something about having his every wish granted after he completed the deal with that person."

Mat looks at the paper, glancing at it. "I see." Natalie sets the Mega Stone inside of her black fur and walks towards the bedroom door as Mat continues speaking. "And do you know who that person is, Natalie?"

"Not exactly, but I have a feeling that it may be that person I know of." Natalie opens her maw and forms a Shadow Ball in front of her, flinging it towards the door. The attack bursts the door open, having it and everything behind it crash against the wall roughly. Natalie looks at the two, allowing them to escape the room. "I'll tell you along the way. Right now, let's get out of here and hopefully tell your king about this. If you care about him and the kingdom so much, then he needs to know and fast."

Mat and Exo look at each other for a moment before staring at the Zorua and beckoning their heads. "Right." The two say. The three then rush out of the room with no second thought in mind.

. . .

Returning back to the center area, Iris and the gang are having trouble resisting against the guards: Iris shields herself from two spears attacking her at once, Cerise and Claire both try to push the guards away with their heads, Zeke and Mark attempt to punch the guards with their bare hands (or spikes in Zeke's case), and the other three do the same thing Cerise and Claire are doing. Norah and Brook continue to be behind the gang, holding Azure closely during the process.

"Dammit, if only I were able to use my Flamethrower attack. Damn you, Sheer." Anna pouts.

"Or me using my Discharge to obliterate these moronic mortals." Claire mumbles before suddenly coughs out blood onto the ground. She then winces in pain. "Oh no…" Due to this, one of the guards is able to shove Claire across the room with his spear. Claire rolls around for a bit before a reddish yellow wall stops her, blood trailing along with her. Cerise sees Claire against the wall and grits his teeth.

"Claire!" Cerise yells, not paying attention to the guard in front of him. This leads to him being shoved by the guard as well. "Ugh!" Soon, all the others are easily pushed away by the guards. They end up on the ground and groan uncomfortably, slowly trying to get up.

Iris' arms seem to be dripping red liquid as they land onto the ground, her panting from the spears attacking her. "We...can't do a single thing to these guys. There's too many of them and as much as I wanna use my moves, that damn Cloyster back there is preventing me from doing so!" Iris says, seeing Sheer grinning at her and the group.

"All of you can stop resisting and surrender now. It's never too late to do so." Cocoon says calmly.

"Or have the most pointless death a Pokemon could ever have." Sheer joins in, chuckling softly.

Norah squints her eyes at Sheer, letting Brook have Azure in his possession. Azure and Brook look at her in a concerning manner. "M-Mom?" Azure asks curiously.

"Norah, what are you doing?" Brook asks as well.

"I'm going to show Sheer a thing or two about harming our beloved kingdom!" Norah shouts out of rage. She dashes off without warning, leaving her father to widen his eyes in fear.

"NORAH, NO!"

Iris looks at the female Cloyster curiously. "Hmm?" She says confusedly.

Norah runs past the guards, dodging the spears swinging at her along the way. Some of the spears hit her, but only her outer shell as she keeps going. A guard gets in front of Norah and uses Icicle Crash on her, flinging several icicles he breathes out at her. Norah ducks from the attack and shoves the guard to the side, the icicles attack aiming at the group along the way. Everyone ducks as well, the attack hitting the wall while Norah dashes towards Sheer quickly. "YOU DON'T DESERVE TO BE SENATOR AT ALL!" The female Cloyster shouts furiously.

Sheer sees her heading his way and swings his barbed spike at her, stabbing her in the black sphere-like body. She gasps, seeing the spike underneath her mouth. She begins to cough out blood drastically, dripping some from her mouth. The gang has their eyes widened, Brook being the one terrified of what he witnessed. "NORAH!" He screams in a raspy tone.

Sheer shakes his head. "Oh Norah, isn't it? You're such a bold lady to pull off a stunt like this. Instead of surrendering like a good girl...you decided to resist like a bad girl." Sheer says before withdrawing his spike and toss her in the air with it, following along afterwards. Then two of his spikes on the side of his shell glow light blue, their length extending slightly while his body forms a light blue aura around him: Razor Shell. He smacks Norah with the move, sending her straight towards the group viciously. "And bad girls deserved to be disciplined!"

Iris gasps, seeing Norah heading towards her. "Shit!" She says, getting in front of the group and catching the female Cloyster. She grunts, her body shifting back a bit from the massive force being pushed onto her.

Sheer then descends down to floating altitude gracefully, Cocoon staring at him in shock. Sheer looks back, tilting his head confusedly as the blood drips from the tip of his barbed spike. "What? I had to do it out of self defense, sir." He says calmly.

Cocoon shrugs before looking back at the group. "Uh...R-Right." He says, his voice sounding a bit shaky. ...Why do I get the feeling that wasn't...right? Cocoon thinks while forming a worried expression.

Iris looks at Norah, seeing a pierced hole bleeding from underneath her mouth. The gang all gather around the two, especially Brook and Azure. Claire slowly looks up, curious as to what's going on as she crawls her way towards the others. "Oh Arceus please, no...Not my daughter. Don't take her away now. Not so soon, please." Brook says, tears beginning to slide from his eyes. "Why, Norah? Why would you do that?"

"I-I did it out of desperation...f-father." Norah says weakly, beginning to gasp. "I-I'm sorry…" Azure stares at her dying mother, seeing her gasping constantly as her eyes widen in terror. The Shellder starts trembling due to this.

"M-Mommy…?" Azure says, her eyes starting to form aquatic liquids. Iris and Mark look at the shaking Shellder as she continues to speak. "You...you won't go away, right mommy?" Azure then nuzzles against the Cloyster gently. "Please...don't go…"

Iris and Mark are petrified from what they're witnessing: A dying mother in front of her child. The two feel mixture of rage and sadness building up within their bodies. And it becomes apparent when the two have a flashback of seeing their close ones being maimed in front of them: Mark's sister, Carrie. And Iris' father, Drath.

Mark grits his teeth and turns towards Sheer. "You two are monsters!" He shouts, forming a fist. "You're willing to kill someone in front of their child just so you could have us surrender!? WHAT KIND OF RULER ARE YOU!?"

The guards back away from the group slightly, feeling uneasy and unsure of what to do about the situation. Iris looks at Mark, nodding firmly. "I couldn't have said it any better, Mark." The Dragonite says, letting Norah rest on the ground as she gets up and looks at the group of Cloysters.

One of the guards looks at the king, concern beginning to form across his face. "Um, sir...Are you sure that what we're doing is right?" The guard asks.

Cocoon looks at the group, seeing Brook and Azure being close to Norah while the others frown at him and Sheer. "Well...I think we should-"

"Continue to seize them or kill them if they resist." Sheer says, cutting Cocoon off. "Don't you see, king? This is their way of playing tricks with you and your men. They want us to suddenly feel bad for them because we badly injured one of the prisoners' mother. If we let our guards down, they'll surely use this advantage to escape and cause more chaotic mayhem in the kingdom."

Anna flickers her ears at what Sheer said and growls. "Oh please don't believe what he said." She says, staring sternly at the two.

Cocoon thinks for a moment before sighing. "Well...since I've known you for so long Sheer, I'll take your word for it." Cocoon says, leading the gang to burst into rage. "Go ahead and seize them while you have the chance."

"Um...s-sir-"

"It's an order, soldier." Cocoon demands, interrupting the guard. The guard looks at the others for a moment before beckoning his head and continuing to pursue the group. Sheer sighs in relief as the gang all glance at the guards floating close to them.

"You have got to be kidding me…" Iris says before forming a fist. "So not only we have to deal with fighting these guys without our moves, but we also have to deal with Norah dying because of Sheer!"

Trent shakes his head. "This isn't good…" He says, goes to look at Norah, Brook and Azure sorrowfully.

Zeke and Lucas nod their heads in a uncomfortable manner. "Yep." They both reply.

Iris snarls before looking at the crew. "What can we do? How can we stop Sheer and save ourselves from this fight?" She says. Everyone, except for Brook, Norah and Azure, thinks for a moment. Afterwards, Anna gasps into realization.

"I think I may know how." She says.

"Well spill the beans, mate! Because we're running out of time!" Lucas says, seeing the guards coming close to him and the gang.

"Okay so after observing Sheer's Mythical Power from time to time, I believe that it can only work on us if he's looking directly at us. Meaning we have to be in plain sight of him if he wants to cancel our moves. So the only way we can counter his MP, I believe, is to have one of us distract him while the others go to attack him from behind."

The gang thinks about the plan for a moment before agreeing with Anna. "That sounds about right, Anna. Since he isn't willing to reveal his weakness, assuming that he has one, we might as well go with that route." Cerise says firmly.

"I'll distract him." Ashen says, joining in the conversation.

"So will I." Lucas says, being next to Ashen. "I may be a scaredy Meowth but if my brother is willing to do something, I will too." Lucas looks at Ashen. "He is the only family member I have left, so therefore I'll be by his side regardless."

Ashen looks back and smiles. "Thanks, bro."

Anna looks at the two and sighs happily. "I suppose I'll help you two distract him as well. And as much as I wished to awe at that moment, I need to know who's going to attack Sheer from behind." Anna says.

"We will." Iris and Mark say firmly.

"I-I will, too." Claire says weakly. Mark looks at her, worriedness forming throughout his face.

"But Claire, you're too weak to fight now. I don't think that you can last much longer." Mark says concernedly.

Cerise nods and says, "Agreed. At this rate, you may end up killing yourself if you keep attacking. I noticed the amount of blood trailing from you and it's becoming more apparent the more you use your moves.".

Claire smirks at the two and replies, "Don't worry about me. I just want to unleash one more Discharge on that slick hole of a shell, that's all. I'll be fine.".

"Well...just be careful, okay Claire?" Mark says.

Claire chuckles softly before looking at Iris. "Iris, are you okay with picking me up along the way?"

Iris looks at her and nods. "Sure. Since it seems like you're willing to do this as well." The Dragonite replies before gripping her fist. "When I get my hands on that bastard, I'll be sure to attack him with all my might for what he did to Norah. In fact, I'll show him why he shouldn't have treated me and anyone else in this kingdom like crap." She then slightly turns towards the guards, seeing them be real close to her. She then picks up Claire, not minding her hands being covered in red liquid during the process. "Anyway, we're done planning. So let's execute it before it's too late."

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The gang nods and they all proceed to the plan, all of them rushing past the guards except for Cerise, Zeke and Trent. They remain by the Cloyster family's side. "We'll stay here to protect you three." Cerise says, smiling softly at them.

"Th-Thanks…" Brook says, staring at his beloved daughter gasping constantly. "It's going to be okay...Just breathe, Norah. Breathe…"

"I-It hurts, father." Norah says, whimpering in pain.

"I know...You can do this, Norah. Just hang on a little longer...for your father...for your daughter..."

The guards try to swipe at Iris and the other four but the five dodge them, Anna shoving one guard against the others while added. Sheer and Cocoon look at the five, both curious as to what they're doing. "Hmm…" Sheer says, staring at them sternly. Ashen looks at one of the guards' spear and snatches it from him, the guard getting vex and saying 'Hey!' in reply. The Linoone then throws the spear at Sheer, hitting him on the shell. "What the!?" Sheer flinches from the thrown spear, taking his attention towards Ashen, Lucas and Anna.

"How's that power going for ya, ugly?" Lucas says, sticking his tongue out playfully.

Sheer raises his brow at the eye-patched Furret. "Ugly? Are you calling me that? Because you're pretty much calling every Cloyster ugly since we look the same...besides maybe my king due to him being shiny but still."

"But we're not referring to the Cloysters. We're referring to you." Ashen says, chuckling.

"And even if we're calling your kind ugly, you would be the ugliest of them all because of that large spike of yours." Anna joins in, grinning at the large barbed Cloyster.

Sheer frowns furiously at the three Pokemon. "Why I never." He says before he ends up bickering them. Cocoon watches the senator argue with the three Pokemon, sweatdropping and sighing heavily.

In the meantime, Iris, Claire and Mark manage to get behind Sheer. They look at each other and beckon their heads, taking their attention towards him. Then Iris flies to the large barbed Cloyster while Mark dashes afterwards, Iris' tail being surrounded by red aura. Cocoon notices the three heading towards Sheer and says, "Um, Sheer.".

"My grandfather has more wisdom than you three combined. When it comes to insults and outright breaking the rules, that's where you'd lost the game already. Now please would you be so kind to accept your inevitable execution!"

"SHEER!" Cocoon shouts. The large barbed Cloyster turns to the shiny Cloyster.

"Yes, si-" Sheer is then interrupted by a Dragon Tail and Force Palm attack from behind: Iris' tail and Mark's paws blast Sheer in the air with their attacks, causing him to yelp. "AH! WHAT IN THE WORLD!?"

"Throw me towards him." Claire suggests to Iris.

Iris raises her brow at her. "What? Why?" She asks.

"JUST DO IT, MORTAL!" The Shinx growls, electricity begins to form around her.

"Uh...if you say so." The Dragonite flings Claire toward Sheer, the Shinx screeching loudly along the way.

"Take this, you disgusting waste of a shell!" Claire uses Discharge on Sheer, the red electricity beginning to roar towards the large barbed Cloyster. Sheer manages to look at the attack in time and cancel it, preparing his Razor Shell attack afterward. Shit… Sheer spins around to hit Claire by the side, sending her flying straight to the wall and crashing into it. Smoke begins to form from the impact.

Iris grips her fist. "Oh crap! Claire!" She yells. Sheer falls to the ground heavily, groaning a bit in pain. The Dragonite sees the smoke fading away, noticing the Shinx being knocked out and almost completely bloodied. She turns her attention to Sheer, seeing Cocoon lifting him up.

"Ugh, my apologies, sir. Got a bit carried away by those Pokemon's ignorance." Sheer says as he's being aided.

"It's fine, Sheer. Just be careful next time and listen." Cocoon replies with a warm smile. Iris and Mark immediately give Anna, Ashen and Lucas a 'hurry' look, tilting their heads towards the two Cloysters. The three nod and they begin dashing to the two: Anna's mouth starts forming flames from it and Ashen and Lucas' paws start glowing white claws. Iris and Mark dash as well, Iris having her fist engulfed in flames while Mark has his paws ready to use Force Palm.

Sheer notices the five Pokemon and sighs. "When folks think that giving up is nonexistent." Sheer says, his body remaining in the light blue aura. Cocoon sees the five Pokemon as well and backs away immediately, leading Sheer to spin around as soon as the five got close to him. "THESE IDIOTS BEING THE PRIME EXAMPLE HERE!" The light blue spikes manage to hit the five Pokemon multiple times during Sheer's spin, the scene occasionally shifting to each of the five being hit by the attack. After Sheer finishes his spinning tactic, the five are sent flying in different directions as they yelp.

Iris and Mark crash into a group of guards, which leads to them being held captive, Lucas crashes next to Claire as he groans in pain, and Ashen and Anna land into another group of guards that hold them captive as well. "U-Ugh!" Iris says, panting heavily. She then notices that Cerise, Trent and Zeke are feeling exhausted from fighting off the numerous amounts of guards floating towards them. "Oh no…"

"It's no use fighting now, intruders and prisoners." Cocoon says before more guards enter from another hallway. Iris grits her teeth, noticing a majority amount of guards are in the main area now. "A lot of my men are here now. There's no reason to continue fighting at this point. You are all outnumbered."

"...He's right." Cerise says, grunting uncomfortably. "There's too many of them for us to handle without our moves."

Dammit...There has to be a way to get out of this. Iris thinks. Ugh! We're so close to escaping!

"Now then...I will say this one last time: Surrender now or die." Sheer says firmly. "Your. Choice."

Norah soon stops gasping and tries to speak. "K-King...C-Cocoon…" She says weakly, catching everyone's attention.

"Hmm?" Cocoon replies in a curious tone, floating a bit closely towards the guard so that he could hear her.

"Pl-Please...j-just th-think...a-about your...d-decision…" She coughs out blood, whimpering.

"And why should I do that, prisoner?"

"Because the decision you're making is being influenced by a corrupted jerk!" A familiar female voice shouts, leading everyone to look at the voice's location. The voice happens to be Natalie, who's standing on the stairs alongside Mat and Exo.

The crew all gasp, seeing their beloved Zorua at long last. "Natalie!" They yell, feeling hope flowing throughout their bodies. Cocoon looks at the Zorua, raising his brow peculiarly.

"Who in the world of Solark are you?" Cocoon asks in confusion.

"Let's just say I'm one of the Pokemon you sent to the dungeon a few days ago." Natalie glances down at the king as Mat and Exo float in front of her. Cocoon looks at the two and becomes even more confused.

"What the? Mat, you found Exo, too?"

"Yes. He was trapped in that abomination of a living being's room." Mat answers, pointing his spear at Sheer.

Cocoon blinks for a moment before looking at Sheer, becoming very curious now. Sheer looks back and sweatdrops, shrugging. "I'm...pretty sure he's just messing with your head, sir. He surely has gone mad, especially after how he reacted to me earlier." Sheer says immediately.

"Gone mad? YOU'RE THE ONE THAT HAS GONE MAD HERE, YOU LYING SACK OF FILTH!" Exo shouts. "What Senator Mat said is without a doubt the truth, my king! He did trap me for all the wrong reasons! In fact, he trapped all three of us to be exact. Starting with me then Natalie and now, Mat!"

Cocoon looks a bit unsure, everyone looking at the five Pokemon curiously as they all say 'Huh?' and 'What's going on?'. Sheer sweatdrops once more, trying his best to remain calm. "Now sir, you and I both know that Exo is crazy. He could've been hiding in his room this whole time and the Zorua? She was helping him hide so that they and Mat could plot their evil scheme to sabotage your kingdom and rule it for themselves!"

Mark looks over at Natalie, picturing the Zorua sitting on the kingdom's throne with Mat and Exo by her side, Natalie herself wearing a big crown and laughing happily along with them. Being best friend of a queen...actually doesn't sound too bad right now. He thinks while blushing softly.

"Oh shut the hell up with your lies, Sheer!" Mat exclaims, glaring down at the two. Mark snaps out of his daydream from Mat's yell. "But if you need more proof than us just telling you...even though we really are telling the truth but words seem to not work well apparently, then here you go." Mat floats towards Cocoon, Exo and Natalie following along. Cocoon looks at him confusedly before being shown the checklist paper from Mat. "He's not the type of senator that'll protect you, your highness. In fact, he's the exact opposite of that."

Cocoon takes a look at the paper, his eyes widening in pure shock and terror. What grabs his attention the most is the checklist mentioning the assassination of Senator Brisk and him being killed off, leaving the king to drop his staff and slowly look at Sheer. "Sheer...what is this? Were you the one that killed him? That killed my best friend, Brisk!?" Cocoon asks, a bit of rage can be heard from him. "And you're planning to kill me afterwards!?"

Sheer gasps and shakes his head immediately. "Why sir, I would never do that to you! In fact, I don't even write like that and if I did then how would you know that it would be me exactly and not anyone else?" Sheer says innocently.

"Sheer, you've been my senator since I hired you a few months after Brisk's death. You showed me how you write on paper with a quill. So I know precisely that the checklist has the same writing as yours."

Sheer shrugs. "Okay but the checklist has the Mega Stone checked off...Where is that Mega Stone, hmm?"

"Right here." Natalie says, taking the blue reddish Mega Stone out of her black fur with a smug expression on her face. "Any other 'excuses' you can think of for your king, Sheer?"

Cocoon and the guards feel stunned by what they witnessed, Cocoon immediately glancing at Sheer angrily. Sheer looks away and gulps. "I...should've brought the Mega Stone with me." The large barbed Cloyster mumbles to himself.

"GET BUSTED, MATE!" Lucas shouts, circling his mouth with his paws to have his voice sound louder. Mat looks at Lucas in astonishment.

"Oh wow. I couldn't said it any better, man." Mat says, chuckling.

"Ha! I knew there was something not right about that guy after all!" Anna says, feeling pretty swell about herself.

"Same here." Ashen agrees.

"...Why Sheer? Why would you assassinate Brisk? Why would you want to kill me?" Cocoon asks in a angry yet sorrowful tone.

"..." Sheer becomes quiet for a moment before directing his eyes towards Trent, gritting his teeth. "Grab the Mega Stone, now!" He shouts.

Trent looks at Sheer for a moment before nodding. Cerise and Zeke look at him. "Huh?" Cerise says before being kicked in the face by Trent's foot, causing him to crash against Zeke. "Ah!"

"Whoa! What the!?" Zeke says confusedly before Trent dashes towards Sheer and the others. He bypasses the guards, jumping on one's head and slamming two other guards together with his paws. These are the ones that were holding Iris and Mark hostage as they let go of them and fall to the ground, knocked out. Zeke gets Cerise off of him, aiding him afterwards. "Are you alright?"

"U-Ugh...That was...out of nowhere." Cerise says, his nose beginning to bleed slowly from the kick as blood drips onto the ground.

Trent then gets in front of Natalie, who becomes surprised by his quick pacing. "H-Huh!?" Natalie says before getting uppercutted by the jackal's fist. She yelps, dropping the Mega Stone while in midair. Trent grabs the stone then spins around to punch the Zorua roughly in the stomach, sending her towards the wall next to Lucas and Claire. She slams against it, coughing out blood during the process. "GAH!" She gasps from the impact, the wall behind her forming a crack before she slides down and lands onto the ground.

Mark grits his teeth into frustration. "NO! NATALIE!" He shouts, his eyes widening from the attack. Natalie groans heavily in pain, struggling to push herself up from the ground. Trent takes his attention onto Cocoon and rushes towards him.

"U-Uh…" Cocoon says before being pushed by the Lucario. As he lands on the ground, Trent pins him down with his foot, smirking deviously at him. Cocoon becomes petrified at the Lucario and turns his attention towards Sheer. "Wh-What is the meaning of this!?"

Mat and Exo try to rush toward Cocoon but Trent slowly crushes the king's shell with his foot, causing him to yelp. "Step any closer to him and your king will be crushed." Sheer says, taking his attention towards the shiny Cloyster. Mat groans, gritting his teeth furiously. "Ahem...Anywho, you wanted a reason to why I'm doing this? Why I assassinated Brisk and now want to kill you? Well let me elaborate this to you as best as I can…"

. . .

Sheer closes his eyes and imagines himself in the past: When he was his younger, Shellder self who had a small barbed horn sticking out from the top of his head. The Shellder hanged around with his Cloyster grandfather, smiling happily as Sheer began to speak. "When I was young, life wasn't so easy for me before I reached this position. I didn't have a mother or a father. I was told by my grandfather that they were dead. Because of that, he was my only family member left." The Cloyster picked up the Shellder and hugged him happily. "As time passed by, my grandfather told me things that no one never dared to tell their child. Such as the harsh reality that rears its ugly ends and how in order to deal with it, you'll have to become that harsh reality itself."

A sigh was heard from Sheer before he continued. "I didn't realize what he meant by that...until…" The scene then shifted to the Shellder witnessing his grandfather's death, tearing up during the process. "He withered away…" The scene slowly transitioned to the Shellder digging a hole for his grandfather with his tongue, finishing the dig only to become a Cloyster years later and stare down at the grave. "He tried to tell me something before he died...but none of that mattered. It was only a matter of time before I knew...I wanted happiness. Because throughout my years with my grandfather, he was my last happiness."

Sheer then imagined himself being at the Cloyster Ceremony in Ster Town, where the king was about to speak to the crowd of Cloysters and Shellders in front of the town. A Cloyster nearby him being Senator Brisk was there for his safety. Being on one of the town's rooftop was Sheer, wielding what seemed to be a Weapon Mischief that looked like a sniper rifle. "So in order to get that happiness back, I'll have to take what my grandfather said into play. Be harsh on one's life to regain your happiness. And that I try to do to everyone in this kingdom by attempting to kill the king." Brisk noticed the Cloyster being on the rooftop before telling Cocoon to move out of the way. Sheer fired at the king before Brisk got in the way to take the shot, bleeding out immediately from his mouth as he dropped to the ground. The large barbed Cloyster then took off running as the crowd gathered around Brisk, Cocoon tearing up during so. "Of course, I missed the shot to kill him and killed Brisk instead. I ran away immediately afterwards before hearing the crowd screaming in fear. I was lucky that no one saw me besides Brisk himself."

Then the scene shifted to Sheer returning to Ster Town, seeing the king having a mopey look on his face. "After disposing my Weapon Mischief and waiting for a few months to pass, I returned back to Ster Town to see if he was hiring any more senators." Sheer and Cocoon was shown communicating with each other as the present Sheer continued his talk. "At first, he said no until I managed to persuade him to hire me as his new senator. With that, he did." The scene finally shifted to Cocoon announcing Sheer as the kingdom's new senator to Ster Town. "I figured that this'll be my chance to manipulate the king. Make him think that I'm as good of a friend as Brisk was…"

. . .

Sheer then opens his eyes to revert back to the present, staring grimly at Cocoon. "Now you may be thinking to yourself: What does the Lucario have to do with this if he wasn't involved in your past?" Sheer then looks towards Trent. "Well the answer is simple: He was involved...but a little later on when I was the king's senator for awhile. He helped me further my goal towards happiness and I thanked him for such. You can taste your part of the cake in this story now, Trent."

Trent grins. "With pleasure, Sheer." The Lucario says, taking his attention towards Iris. Iris, Natalie, Anna and the rest of the crew are quite tick off by the Lucario.

"Trent...Why? Why would you do this!? WHY WOULD YOU HELP THAT BASTARD SHEER!? YOU SAID YOU WOULD GO AND FIND SAYA AFTER YOU ESCAPED! HOW DO YOU THINK SHE'LL FEEL ABOUT THIS!?" Iris says in pure rage, gripping her fists.

"Ah...that story I told you about, huh? Well a funny thing about that story: I lied about it."

"WHAT!?"

Trent shrugs with a smug look on his face. "Well...partially anyway. The story was true about me having a girlfriend named Saya. It's the part of the story on how I got here that was a lie: I actually got into this kingdom by...entering it from behind the castle. I mostly needed a place to live since I had nowhere to go."

Iris raises her brow at him. "Wait, that sounded similar to your hurricane story."

"Yeah...except the hurricane story didn't happen. It was mostly that I got lost in the Zero Forest and captured by the guards here."

"Uh…"

"It's confusing to elaborate on how I even ended up here, to be honest. But let's cut to the chase here: After becoming prisoner here because of some dumbass law that prohibits different species from entering this kingdom, I told Sheer if he could help me escape. At first, he said no. Until I told him about this land that no one knows about...except maybe you guys because I'm about to tell you its name but whatever." Trent sweatdrops while chuckling. "This land is called the 'Land of Wishes'."

"The Land of Wishes? What in the heckles is this nonsensical, mate?" Lucas says, scratching the side of his head.

"Yes. The Land of Wishes is what you expect it to be: A land allowing you to grant any wish you so desired. And because of that, Sheer and I made a deal: If I find a Mega Stone that is a Lucarionite, then he'll have to kill the king and steal all of his belongings. That way, he could help me escape and I could lead him to the Land of Wishes."

"And of course, my wish...is to become almighty himself." Sheer says, staring up at the ceiling a bit insanely as everyone, except for Trent, gasps in surprise.

"YOU WANT TO BECOME A GOD!? WHAT!?" Everyone says, staring at Sheer in pure petrification.

"I thought you wanted your happiness back, Sheer! This is not what I had in mind about you regaining that at all!" Anna says, gritting her teeth.

"I do. From the bottom of my heart, I wanted to feel my childhood happiness be reborn within me after my grandfather died. All of those years dealing with nothing but grief. So I figured maybe becoming a god can mean my revival for happiness! Because the world had robbed me of it that day! And if I can't be happy anymore, then no one in this heartless world can!" Sheer then stares back at everyone, his eyes widens in insanity.

"Sheer! You have to earn happiness! Not force it upon yourself, dammit!" Ashen shouts.

"Especially if you have to become flipping ALMIGHTY in order to have it, that's definitely a no no. Life would be tough on us regardless of whether or not our happiness is gone! We just have to fight that toughness with kindness and generosity in order to earn happiness, not force our happiness to come to us by being harsh and cruel to others!" Anna says, snarling at the large barbed Cloyster. Iris looks at Anna, feeling quite touched and emotional by what she said.

Anna… Iris thinks, staring at the Ninetales before taking her attention back to Sheer.

Sheer seems be forming tears within his eyes, gritting his teeth. "SHUT UP! YOU'RE WRONG! EARNING HAPPINESS MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING COMPARED TO LOSING SOMEONE YOU LOVED DEARLY!" Sheer yells, tears sliding down rapidly from his eyes.

"YOU BLOODY IDIOT! LOSING SOMEONE YOU LOVED IS SUPPOSED MOTIVATE YOU TO BECOME STRONG AND EARN HAPPINESS THAT WAY! THAT'S THE WHOLE POINT, GOD DAMMIT!" Anna yells back, glaring at Sheer intensely.

Iris looks at Anna, gasping after hearing the words 'Losing someone you loved is supposed to motivate you to become strong and earn happiness'. She looks down at her paws, concerning thoughts beginning to form throughout her mind. Is...avenging my father really the answer for making me happy? For making...him happy?

"Gah! I'm sick of this chitchatting! Not like what I said matters anyway since I've pretty much caused a huge amount of burden on anyone I've met!" Sheer says, turning towards Trent. "Do what you must, Trent. Crush Cocoon, even."

Trent nods. "Will do, Sheer." Trent says, holding the Mega Stone up as he starts pressing his foot down, breaking Cocoon's outer shell and having his foot on the inner shell.

"Eeek!" Cocoon yelps, seeing the shell pieces flying off in different directions. The guards become alerted by their king being attacked as they try to float towards him. Some even letting go of Anna and Ashen during the process.

Trent as he smiles at them. "See this here? This is a Lucarionite. And I'm a Lucario...meaning this baby here can help me achieve Mega Evolution!" Trent says, seeing the guards getting very close to him. "MEGA EVOLVE!" Within a flash, Trent begins to glow light blue, blowing all of the guards away instantly. The guards all collide against the wall, even some against the exit door. Trent's fur begins to become a little longer as his tail turns a bit bushy. A second spike develops on each of his arms and feets. And lastly, the appendages on his head have extended its length to become separate from one another.

The gang all stare at the Lucario's transformation, aweing at it in surprise. "Whoa...This is my first time seeing Mega Evolution." Mark says, staring at the glowing Lucario in amazement.

"Me too…" Iris agrees.

"Me three…" Lucas joins in.

Soon, Trent stops glowing and shows his new appearance. His cream fur becomes longer than before, his body is engulfed in the red and blueish mixture of colors with his thighs and arms containing stripes, spikes are sticking out in front of his shoulders, and his tail is now the cream color rather than the usual blue before. Trent has Mega Evolved into Mega Lucario. The Lucario smiles brightly before saying, "Like my new look?". Then he slams his foot down onto Cocoon's inner shell, breaking that one into pieces as well. "Whoops. My bad."

"GAH!" Cocoon screams, his black ball-like head no longer floats and leans against the broken piece of a shell.

Everyone, except for Sheer, yelps from the shells being shattered. "HOLY SHIT!" Iris shouts, being quite stunned by how easily breakable the Lucario made the shell be.

Sheer sighs happily. "Great work, Trent. You're such an helpful companion, you know?" Sheer says a bit calmly.

"Again, glad to do this service for you, Sheer." Trent replies, squishing the shell like a bug while sighing happily as well. Cocoon winces, seeing his shell being destroyed by the jackal.

"COCOON!" Mat shouts, trying to aid the king himself until Sheer stops him.

"By the way Mat...I know that you were lying to me about that lady you said you didn't know of a few days ago. I just kept quiet about it because I didn't want to attract any kinds of drama between me and you yet." Sheer then looks at Norah, seeing Cerise and Zeke in front of her and her family. Cerise is covering his blood leaking nose as Zeke aids him. "Luckily for you...I gave her quite the treatment on her face."

Mat looks as well and sees Norah lying on the ground, her eyes blinking constantly as the blood underneath her mouth continues leaking. Mat's eyes widen in pure terror, taking those eyes towards Sheer. "I'm. Going...TO KILL YOU!" Mat shouts, wielding his spear in anger and rushing towards him.

Sheer prepares his spear as well, laughing a bit insanely while continuously tearing up. "WHO'S LAUGHING AND JOKING NOW, MAT!?" Sheer says, completely losing it at this point. Soon, the two have their spears colliding against each other, Sheer grinning deviously at Mat. "TRENT, KILL THEM ALL WHILE I HANDLE THIS JOKESTER!"

"No need to tell me twice." Trent states as he stops squeezing the shell, looking directly at Iris. "Let's start with you first, Iris. Since you're the one who felt so 'sorry' for me. Heh."

Iris widens her eyes, backing away a bit. Trent dashes towards Iris, getting in front of her and having his paws being engulfed in black aura with purple outline. The aura then took on the form of two big claws: Shadow Claw. "Uh!?" Iris says, unable to think at the very moment.

"Counter!" Trent shouts before swinging his Shadow Claw towards Iris. Iris tries to use Fire Punch to counter it but gets hit by the attack from the side, leading her to roll across the ground roughly. "D'aww, too slow." Iris eventually stops rolling, crashing against the vase and table. The table collapses onto her head due to the impact. Exo yelps and gets beside Lucas, staying away from the violence going on.

"U-Ugh…" Iris groans and tries to get up but gasps instantly from the pain affecting her drastically. What the!? Why does that attack hurt me so much!? She thinks before yelping in pain.

Trent then looks at Anna and Ashen, in which he notices a Flamethrower from Anna aimed right at him. "Huh. A Fire type move." Trent has an annoyed look on his face, the black aura beginning to fade away. He then forms a ball-like sphere on his paw, dragon wings beginning to develop from the sphere. "If there's one thing that annoys me the most in this world: It's fire." He then shoots the sphere towards the Flamethrower, the sphere slowly turning into a huge multi-colored dragon shaped beam: Dragon Pulse. "I despise them." The attack collides with Flamethrower, its power gradually increasing.

"Huh!?" Anna says confusedly. She's then hit by the Dragon Pulse attack, flying off into the air and crashing into a semi-chair that was in the area. Ashen grits his teeth, seeing Anna screaming in pain.

"Anna!" Ashen shouts before feeling Trent's presence near him all of the sudden. He turns to the side to see Trent besides him, looking up at the Mega Lucario in a bit of terror.

"You can join her, too." Trent says, grinning deviously and staring back at Ashen with his deadly red eyes.

Iris sees Anna struggling to move after the attack, gritting her teeth in frustration. Crap...he did a number to her with Dragon Pulse, too. The thing I'm curious about is: If Dragon Pulse is special and that other move, Shadow Claw, is physical...then how come Anna and I take the same amount of damage? Iris thinks. Unless…

Trent's paws become engulfed in black aura again, ready to swing his Shadow Claw attack at Ashen. "ASHEN, NO!" Lucas shouts, attempting to get up but grunts from the Razor Shell attack earlier. Trent then hits Ashen with the attack as Ashen closes his eyes. When the Linoone opens his eyes, he feels no pain whatsoever.

"Huh?" Both Trent and Ashen say, noticing that Trent's claws is phasing through Ashen.

"Oh crap...I forgot that Normal types are immune to Ghost type moves…" Trent says, facepalming. "I tend to always forget about it, apparently."

Ashen chuckles softly. "I can't believe you forgot about that being a thing. So much for a threatening fella you are, haha." Ashen says.

"Hey now, the Pokemon anime tends to forget about it too." Trent's claws begin to fade away.

"Yeah, you right."

"Now then, where was I? Oh right." Trent lifts the Linoone up, bringing him close to his face. "Now just because you're a Normal type, doesn't mean I can't beat the living fur out of you."

Ashen grunts, shifting from Trent's grasp. "Try using your STAB Fighting moves, then."

"...I don't have one." Trent sweatdrops.

"...Pffft!" Ashen shakes his head. "So you mean to tell me that you forget that Normal types are immune to Ghost moves and don't even have a Fighting move yourself?"

"I wanted to be different!"

"You're being way too different, honestly."

"Okay then. So what if I don't have a Fighting type move? I still have this!" Trent tosses Ashen in the air immediately while his tail begins to glow whitish silver. Ashen yelps before Trent launches himself in the air, spinning around to land an Iron Tail on Ashen. The attack forcefully sends the Linoone crashing into the wall next to Cerise and Zeke, causing Brook and Azure to yelp and flinch from the impact. Ashen gasps in pure agony, falling towards the ground and landing onto it. He's knocked out.

"BROTHER!" Lucas screams, wincing when attempting to get up again. Mark and Natalie shake in place from the menacing attack Trent caused on the Linoone.

"J-Jeez, that's po-powerful!" Mark says, backing away slowly.

Trent lands onto the ground swiftly, his tail ceasing its glow as he sighs in relief. "Indeed, it is. That's the power of my Mega Ability: Adaptability. It further boosts my Same Type Attack Bonus...or STAB, to greater power than before. And with me having used the move Work Up earlier…" Trent pauses for a moment to look at the knocked out Linoone. "My attack becomes strong enough to knock someone out with STAB plus Adaptability."

Work Up? When did he use Work Up ear- Iris stops thinking for a moment to remember her seeing Trent jumping up and down with red aura forming around him. The Dragonite then becomes furious while gripping the floor underneath her. That sneaky asshole!

Trent sighs in relief. "To put it simply: You're boned after one hit from my Iron Tail at this point." The Mega Lucario gestures his paw at the gang. "Come at me, if you dare."

Soon, Sheer smacks Mat's spear away with his and pushes Mat down, pinning him. Mat struggles from the pinning. "GAH! LET ME GO, YOU MONSTER!" Mat yells.

"After your death, of course." Sheer says in a casual yet crazy way. He then looks at Trent, seeing him looking fine and dandy. "How're things going for you so far?"

Trent looks back at Sheer, giving him a thumbs up and wink. "I terrified the living distortion out of everyone here. I'm doing just fine." Trent says before seeing the guards trying to get up again. "Erm, correction: I terrified most of them. Those guys didn't see my wrath yet."

"Well don't just stand there: Get rid of them!"

"Ok." Trent smiles casually, his paws preparing the Shadow Claw attack as he walks towards the guards. Meanwhile, Zeke and Cerise stare at the Lucario, seeing him walking by Mark as if he is a some object.

"Oh. My. Arceus." Zeke says before grabbing a hold of Cerise and shaking him panickedly. "WHAT DO WE DO MAN!? THAT LUCARIO IS LIKE SOME KIND OF MACHINE OR SOMETHING!"

"If. You. Would. Stop. Shaking. Me. I. Would. Probably. Tell. You. What. I'm. Thinking. Of-Gah!" Cerise says, feeling a bit dizzy from the constant shakes. Zeke stops and brushes Cerise off.

"Sorry there, pal. I'm just freaking out right now."

"Ugh...and it doesn't help when I have a bleeding nose, too." Cerise sighs. "It's fine though. But anyway, I'm going to need you and everyone else to take cover."

Zeke tilts his head confusedly. "Why's that?"

"I'm about to use a move that...may affect this castle and everyone around me."

"You mean like Earthquake?"

"...something similar to that, yes." Cerise lowers his brow, staring at the Mega Lucario tensely.

Soon, Jimmy arrives to the main area with the Pokemon egg being within his possession. "Hey guys, what did I mi-OH DEAR!" Jimmy yelps, seeing some of the crewmates being down and the king lying hopeless without his shells. "Wh-what on Solark happened here?" Jimmy looks at Cerise. "And what happened to you!?"

"To put it shortly: Crazed Mega Evolved Lucario was working with lust for happiness Cloyster all along and has pretty much powned the majority of us." Cerise says, beginning to glow a green aura as the ground underneath him begins to crack.

"Huh. Sounds like something crazy I had to deal with in the Noctis Forest...Also, is it me or am I seeing you glowing green and the ground is cracking beneath you?"

"The latter, Jimmy. So take cover because I'm about to use this move on Trent and it may affect all of us."

"Understood." Jimmy then goes by a nearest table and hides underneath it, hovering over the egg along the way.

As the guards get up, they see Trent walking towards them like a deranged maniac. "Hey guys. Who wants to be the first person to meet Mr. Shadow and his wife Mrs. Claw?" Trent says, lifting his claws up. All the guards gulp, shakingly lifting their spears in preparation.

"EVERYONE, TAKE COVER!" Cerise shouts, no longer trying to cover his nose.

Mark and Iris look at Cerise confusedly. "Hmm?" They both say.

Trent stops and look at Cerise. "Take cover for what?" Trent says.

"For this!" Cerise roars out loudly, the ground beneath him cracks as green light emerges from it. The ground cracks travel towards Trent, leading the Lucario to be alarmed by it.

"Uh Sheer...your MP would be real handy right now."

Sheer blinks, seeing the ground trail increase its pacing before the castle itself starts rumbling. "I-I'm not sure about that." Sheer says.

Trent looks at him. "Why!?"

"Because I don't know if that's a Pokemon move or not!"

"...Well shi-" Trent gets hit by the attack, crashing against the wall itself. The building's ceiling begins to collapse onto the ground, alerting Anna to get up.

"Ah!" Anna says, wincing a bit from the pain she received earlier.

"Anna! Get some shelter, quickly!" Iris shouts at the Ninetales. Anna nods with no second thought and rushes by Ashen side, shielding him. Mark rushes by Natalie's side and gets shielded by Exo.

"My shell will protect you four! ...I think." Exo says in a unsure manner. Mat sees Exo protecting the four by himself and pushes Sheer off from him. Sheer grunts as Mat rushes by Exo's side, helping him shield the four as well. "Thanks, Mat."

Sheer takes his attention towards Trent and goes to cover him immediately, grunting from the big rocks falling on him. Then Iris and Zeke get the bright idea to shield Norah and the others as well. Iris notices a big structure about to collapse onto Cerise and the others. "N-Not on my watch!" She gets up weakly and rushes towards the five, whimpering from the pain remaining within her.

"Aaah!" Azure screams in a innocent little girl tone, Brook holding her and Norah closely. Zeke looks up and notices the structure as well, yelping in fear. Iris makes it in time to punch the structure into pieces, groaning some more.

"Thank you…" Brook says. Iris nods and goes to cover the group along with Zeke. Cerise stops glowing and ducks down, putting both of his paws above his head.

"Let's get out of here guys, now!" One of the guards says.

"But what about the king?" Another points out, pointing his spear at Cocoon. Cocoon screams as he sees another structure falling towards him. He is close to being crushed until Mat comes by to save him in time, taking his sphere-like body and parts of his shell with him before the thing collapses. "Never mind. Mat got him."

"WOOHOO, MAT!" The third guard yells before yelping from another structure falling next to him. The guards burst the front door open and exit out of the crumbling castle.

Over at Ster Town, the Cloysters there notice a bunch of guards heading towards the gate. "Huh?" One Cloyster says in confusion.

"OPEN THE GATE!" One of the guards shouts at the two guards that are patrolling the front gate. The two look behind them and see a bunch of guards heading their way, opening the gate immediately. Then they see the castle beginning to crumble, becoming stunned and shocked.

"Oh my Arceus…" One of the citizens in Ster Town says, all of them staring in astonishment and terror at the crumbling castle. "What's going on with the king's castle?"

The folks in Cloy Town are noticing the castle falling apart from the foreground. "What the heck…?" One of the Cloysters says in Cloy Town, being next to another Cloyster and some Shellders. Other folks in the town stare at the collapsing castle, confused as to what's going on.

Both towns become curious and afraid of what they're witnessing, talking among each other about the situation...

To be continued…

End of Chapter 19.