Chapter 20: The Truth and the Escape Part 3.

Cloyster Kingdom Arc.

The castle finishes crumbling down and tearing apart, building structures from every angle turning into nothing but piles of mesh-mashed concretes. Over by one of the piles, Iris, Jimmy and Zeke shrug the pieces of white concrete off from their backs while grunting. The three then look at Norah and the others to see that they're still in one piece, Cerise panting heavily as blood runs slowly from his nose. Glad to see that Cerise and the others are fine. Iris thinks before turning towards her right, looking at another structure from a distance. She sees Mat and Exo shrugging off the pieces themselves, making sure that Cocoon and the other three are in good shape. She also hears Anna's voice and turns to her side, seeing her groan while on top of Ashen as she shakes the concretes off herself. Looks like everyone isn't too badly damaged from the collapsing. Good.

Mat turns toward Iris and the others, floating by their side immediately while carrying Cocoon. "Norah!" He exclaims, worriedness spreading throughout his face like a plague. Norah looks at Mat weakly, smiling softly.

"Oh Mat...You're always a warmth to my heart whenever I see you…" Norah says softly, whimpering afterwards.

"I-It's going to be okay, Norah. We'll get you out of this mess alive." As Mat comforts the female Cloyster, Cocoon stares at her, seeing the blood beginning to spread throughout her face and her gasping in a raspy, dying tone. The king grimaces at the imagery, closing his eyes and shaking his head in grief.

Zeke soon hears something and blinks. "Hmm?" He says, turning his attention towards another pile of structure a bit next to Mark and the others. He notices the structure moving forward slightly, some pieces falling off and landing on the ground. "Hey guys! I'm seeing something moving from that pile over there!" The Cloyster points, leading the others to look as well.

The structure continues to move for a moment until a fist goes through the structure, causing the pile to completely collapse. Azure yelps from the structure being demolished as dust forms around it. After the dust fades away, it reveals Trent and Sheer; Trent brushes himself off while Sheer eyes the group in a deadly manner, seeing them become tense and uneasy. "Well that was something I didn't expect." Trent says before wiping the concrete off from Sheer's shell.

Sheer nods firmly. "Yes. I didn't expect the attack to cause the castle to perish." Sheer replies back, closing his eyes. "...Maybe that might've been a Pokemon move, after all." He then looks back at the others along with Trent, Trent eyeing them deadly while still in his Mega form.

"Well well well. Ain't you guys lucky to survive that, huh?" Trent grins deviously, putting his fist against his paw.

Iris stares sternly at the Mega Lucario. "Yeah. I'd like to say the same for you as well." Iris answers, her fist being engulfed in flames during so. Sheer then lifts his face up in a judging manner, floating forward and eyeing at the group severely.

"This is it. You insignificant, ruthless Swinubs have managed to sabotage my plans and ruin the castle. Are you satisfied with the damage you've caused onto this kingdom, now?" Sheer questions, glancing at the crew.

Cocoon glances back at Sheer. "No. You're the one that caused the damage here, Sheer." Cocoon responds.

"Even though I wasn't the one that used the move that collapsed the castle?"

"I'm not talking about the things you didn't do. I'm referring to the things you did do. You manipulating me is the reason why the castle ended up in ruins." Cocoon frowns. "Also the fact that you're willing to kill me is only going to make this kingdom worse."

"Heh, good point." Sheer lets out a sigh. "I enjoyed our time working together, Cocoon. I really did feel like a higher power being alongside with you and felt somewhat close to you, even." The large barbed Cloyster shrugs. "But what can you say? It's all just business in the end, friend. A business that is a part of the harsh reality we're living in." Mat grits his teeth in rage, frowning at the two Pokemon. Soon, Trent jumps up and down and pants heavily, using the move Work Up as Sheer continues speaking. "And thus ends our lesson on why you shouldn't put your trust on anyone but yourselves." Sheer smirks delightfully, seeing Cocoon staring at him in rage.

Exo shakes his head. "What a disappointing soul that shell must have been." Exo says in a dramatic, preachy tone. "A soul lost within an endless, hopeless cycle of hatred."

Zeke looks at Exo from across the castle, seeing him nearby Mat and Mark. "The better thing to say is: Who's going to take on these two?" Zeke questions.

Iris looks at the Cloyster behind her, staring at him firmly. "I will." She says, forming a fist. Mark grips his fist as well, staring sternly at Iris.

"Let me join in, too!" Mark suggests.

Jimmy steps forward besides Iris. "I'll help her as well." He follows. "And don't worry about the egg. I handed it to Anna for her to protect it." Iris looks at the Ninetales, seeing her shield the Pokemon egg alongside Ashen. She then stares back at the Heracross and nods.

Lucas gets up from the ground and brushes himself off, huffing angrily. "I'll help too, mate! I wanna give that Trent fella a piece of my mind for what he did to my brother." He speaks before stretching his body. Mat looks at the four volunteer Pokemon, staring gazily at them for a brief moment before taking his attention towards Trent and Sheer.

"You might as well count me in on this." Mat spokes in a grim tone, lifting his spear up.

"Alright. What about Natalie and the others?" Iris asks curiously.

Natalie walks towards Claire, her forelegs sparking a red outline around them as if they were glowing lights. "I'll stay next to Claire so that I could heal her." Natalie answers, sitting next to the Shinx. Mat's eyes widen in surprise as he looks at the Zorua.

"You can heal others!?" The Cloyster questions eagerly. Natalie nods calmly, leading him to look at the female Cloyster. "Natalie...when you're done healing Claire…" He takes his eyes back onto Natalie, anxiety and concerns forming on his face. "Please...heal Norah."

Natalie looks at the dying Cloyster from afar, seeing her gasping more softly and softly. She then focuses on the Shinx, noticing the pool of blood she's under and gulping. "Well...I'm not sure on how long it'll take me to heal Claire...But once I'm done with her, I'll try to immediately heal Norah." She says cautiously to the male Cloyster.

Mat nods. "Thank you."

"As for me, I can't fight due to using up all of my energy on that attack from earlier. So I'll just protect the families behind me." Cerise says, panting some more. Zeke goes to pat the green, black canine on the back.

"And I'll be Cerise's helper, too!" Zeke proudly mentions.

Anna shrugs uncomfortably while having Ashen and the Pokemon egg in between her forelegs, holding the two close to her chest. "I'm full myself, having to take care of these two. So I can't fight those two assholes as much as I want to." Anna follows.

Exo looks at Mat and Cocoon, frowning furiously. "I want to teach that no goodie two shells a lesson as well, Mat!" Exo shouts, red fury forming throughout his face while in front of Mark, Natalie and Claire.

Mat looks at Exo, shaking his head. "Exo...I think it's best if you come help Cerise and Zeke protect the king and the family instead." Mat suggests.

"WHAT!? WHY!? DON'T YOU REALIZE THAT SHEER HAS DESTROYED OUR TRUST!?" Exo trembles intensely. "I WANT HIM TO PAY FOR WHAT HE'S DONE!"

Mat is about to continue speaking, but Cocoon interrupts him. "Exo...I believe it's best if you let Mat handle the situation, and protect me. You're more capable of being a defensive guard than an offensive one like Mat and Sheer. Sure, you're loyal...but I've noticed how much you struggled to be combative against your opponents." The king says, looking off to the side. "It's not like I don't want you to fight. It's just that as of this situation, I believe Mat is better suited to handle it than you can. After all, it is my fault for putting Sheer, a traitor, under the light more than my actual loyal senator…"

Cocoon… Mat thinks, feeling rather desolate for the shelless Cloyster.

"So please, help these two Pokemon protect me and the Cloyster family…"

"But sir-"

"That's an order, Exo. Please…" Cocoon cuts Exo off from speaking, Exo forming a rather convoluted and grim expression. Exo glances at the king for a moment before sighing heavily and nods.

"Okay, sir...I'll do it. For you...s-sir!" Exo then floats towards Mat, Cocoon, Zeke and the others. I lost my spear, anyway… Tears drip to the ground while he grits his teeth in rage and sorrow. He stops next to the two Cloysters, staring at Mat before nodding firmly. Mat hands Exo the shelless Cloyster before Exo continues to speak. "Mat...I just want to let you know…"

Mat blinks curiously at Exo. "Hmm?" He converses in a curious manner.

Exo sniffles, shaking his head as the tears flies off from his face. "Give it all you got on Sheer. Teach him a lesson he'll never forget! A lesson that'll guarantee the absolute respect the Cloyster Kingdom deserved long ago!"

Mat gazes at the Cloyster before nodding firmly, taking his eyes back onto Sheer and Trent. "Oh I will, Exo. I will." Mat then floats next to Iris, lifting his spear in preparation. Jimmy cracks his fist, preparing himself as well.

Lucas rushes off to Iris and the other two's side while Mark puts his hand on Natalie's back. "I'll make sure that none of those two get anywhere close to you. Alright?" Mark says firmly. Natalie looks at the Riolu as she lets her red paws touch Claire's body, nodding at him.

"Alright. Be careful, Mark." Natalie replies in a worried tone.

Mark nods back before rushing by the others, standing next to Iris. Natalie takes a deep breath and closes his eyes, proceeding to focus on healing Claire. The Riolu looks at Iris curiously. "So if I know how this Weapon Mischief thing works: The battle we had earlier ended because of the castle collapsing, right?" He asks the Dragonite.

Iris looks down at the Riolu and nods. "You got that very right, Mark. So your moves should reset its usage count by now." Iris answers.

"Sweet!" Mark smiles, his paws beginning to glow yellow. The five volunteer Pokemon stare at their opponents, all being in their battle positions. "Well it seems like it's five of us and two of them. Surely, this match would be a piece of cake."

Trent laughs deviously, stopping his jumping and panting. "I wouldn't say that, my pre-evo self. Because while you all were busy chatting, I used Work Up not once, not twice. But three times." Trent says. The gang all gasp in terror, the five Pokemon feeling quite pressured and intimidated by the strong Mega Lucario as he winks at them. "I thank you so much for that, by the way. Allowing me to have a chance at knocking you five out easily." The Mega Lucario smirks, leaning his body forward in a bit of an psychotic manner. "This battle will be over in no time."

Shit...What do we do now? Iris questions herself, her and the others stumbling into crisis territory of thinking. She then gasps into realization. "Oh right. I forgot that I have the Multiscale ability."

"Multiscale?" Mat asks in a confusing manner.

"Yes. Even if his attacks are powerful, I can still have a chance at tanking them." Iris answers, glaring at Trent. She sees him charging after her and the other four, her getting in front of the group. "So I'll take one for the team, okay?"

"I see." Mat nods. "Alright then."

Iris then turns to Anna, not focusing on Trent running quickly towards her. Mark raises his brow at Iris. "Uh…?" He replies curiously.

"And Anna," Iris pauses for a moment, having the Ninetales' attention. "I'm sorry." Anna gasps at the Dragonite's response, her mouth hanging slightly open to the apology before Iris turns to face Trent. She sees him trying to swing his fist at her and she grabs it, pushing the Mega Lucario back.

Trent slides back from the push, chuckling softly. "Nice timing. Better than the timing you had earlier." The Mega Lucario says as Sheer floats calmly towards the five, his eyes glowing blue. The five grunt at the Cloyster's MP, Mark's paws stop glowing yellow. "But let's see if you can time this!" Trent dashes towards the five immediately with no warning. The five back away a bit, seeing the Mega Lucario stopping midway in front of them before slamming his fist to the ground. He causes an massive wave that blows them away, the five Pokemon yelp during so. Trent's tail begins to glow whitish silver as he leaps in the air and uses Iron Tail on Iris.

Iris sees the attack and blocks it with her arms, wincing from the infliction she received from the attack. This leads her to be pushed further away from the other four as she lands on the ground and slides across it. Mark and the other three land as well, with Lucas being the one rolling around on the ground for a bit. J-Jeez, that attack hurts… Iris thinks, panting heavily as she recovers herself. We got to be cautious around this guy…

Trent takes his eyes onto the other four and dashes towards the Heracross. Jimmy runs after him with his Close Combat attack but didn't pull it off as his arms swing at a slow pacing. "Hmm!?" Jimmy exclaims before getting punched in the stomach by Trent's fist, sending him flying off and rolling all over the ground. The Heracross stops the roll with his nails, looking up to see the glowing blue eyes Cloyster smirking at him and the others. "Oh jeez, I keep forgetting about him!"

Mark and Lucas rush after Trent by the side as he walks towards Jimmy. "You're not harming our friend!" Lucas shouts, him and Mark coming close to the Mega Lucario. Trent sighs in relief before his tail glows again, him twisting his body around rapidly. The two Pokemon is hit by the Mega Lucario's Iron Tail, both yelping from the strong attack as they get blown back. "Oof!" The two slide across the ground, groaning and wincing from the attack. "J-Jeez, ugh...He wasn't kidding when he said he'd set up three Work Ups…"

"Y-Yeah…" Mark replies to the Furret, holding the side of his arm. "I-I can barely move at this rate." Natalie whimpers, hearing Mark's voice sounding like he's in drastic pain as she continues the healing process for the Shinx.

Trent looks at the three injured Pokemon for a moment, smiling in delight. "Oh you three are so entertaining to see getting hurt. Because you honestly think that you can take on a powerful Pokemon such as myself." He then slams his foot to the ground, causing it to crack slightly. "Well guess what, it's not happening anytime soon!"

The three Pokemon grit their teeth in frustration, staring at the Mega Lucario in petrification. Iris looks at Trent sternly, preparing to flap her wings. "I wouldn't exactly bank on that, Trent." Iris retorts before flying towards him. While that happens, Mat rushes towards Sheer with a battle cry.

Sheer looks at the Cloyster, seeing him ready to swing his spear. Mat attempts to swing the spear at him but Sheer blocks it with his, the two spears clashing against each other as a result. Sheer shakes his head calmly, seeing the male Cloyster trying to push the spear forward. "You're such a fool, Mat. Willing to have your life be taken away over those you 'loved' and 'cared' about." Sheer says with an grim expression.

"Those loved ones matter a lot to me. And if I failed to protect them, then I failed as a good person." Mat replies before pushing more forward.

"Hmm…" Sheer closes his eyes, sighing heavily. "Then you know how I felt when I lost my grandfather." He then pushes back with greater force, causing the spear collision to end before swiping his spear at Mat. Mat notices the swiping and blocks it, resulting to him and Sheer to continuously swing and block each other in a quick pace.

As the fight goes on, civilians and guards from Ster Town are watching the mayhem from a distance. Witnessing a bunch of clashing and booming noises as they converse with each other, saying things such as 'What's going on now?', 'I hope the king is okay', and more. Some Cloysters and Shellders from Cloy Town even join in Ster Town to observe the violence going on. Even the prisoners and other guards from the Zero Forest are next to Ster Town by the gates. Worriedness showers throughout everyone's faces as the fight continues.

Trent manages to kick Mark away from him, sending him flying off in the air. "MARK!" Iris yells, glaring at the Mega Lucario immediately before rushing towards him and swinging her fist. Trent notices the Dragonite's attempt at attacking him and dodges it.

"Aaah!" Mark screams, being unable to control his twirling body in the air. After awhile, he slams into the ground, groaning massively in pain. "U-Ugh…" He attempts to get up on his feet, wincing unpleasantly along the way. "I-I won't...g-give up. N-Not h-here...not n-now-Gah!" He whimpers and gets on his knees, covering his stomach with his arm. It's like being hit by two hard irons all at once...it hurts. So...so much. The Riolu pants for a bit, staring down at the ground for a moment. What can we do to stop Trent? Crud, I feel like I'm close to fainting…

Mark looks up to see that he's far from the fight, next to some other crumbled down structures. If only I had my Weapon Mischief right now, I wouldn't have much of an problem with this fight… As Mark looks around, he notices a bag and a bow next to each other. The two items are beside him, leading him to gasp in rejoice. Iris' bag! A-And there's my Weapon Mischief being next to it! The Riolu smiles and grabs his bow, hugging it as if it were a baby. "Oh I missed you so much, my bow friend!" He says before kissing the bow repeatedly, snuggling it afterwards. He then equips the bow, along with having the bag onto his back as well, noticing Sheer's torn down bed and dressers next to the structure. He didn't pay much attention to them as he runs back to the others.

During the fight, Iris continues her punches while Trent dodges them. Trent then pushes the Dragonite away with his paw, seeing her slide across the ground. Lucas and Jimmy have fully gotten up on their feet, the two panting heavily during so. Jimmy and Iris look at each other before dashing after the Mega Lucario instantly. While that happens, Lucas goes to lay down on his back and lifts his tail up, slamming it towards the ground to launch himself up in the air. Iris notices that Sheer is being distracted by Mat, taking her eyes back onto Trent.

"Mat is distracting Sheer. So this is the time to use our moves, now!" Iris says to the Heracross, her fist beginning to form flames around it. Jimmy nods in approval, cracking his fist and spreading his arms out to use Close Combat. As the two scream and get closer to Trent, Trent snickers before swinging his tail around to use Iron Tail. He hits Iris with the attack, causing her to gasp in pain and collide into Jimmy. Dammit! As the two hits the ground, Trent sees Lucas gliding towards him.

"Hiyaaah!" Lucas proclaims, having his foot sticking out to prepare his kick as he gets in an awkward karate pose. Trent sweatdrops and just grab Lucas' by the foot, lowering his arm down to slam the Furret to the ground. "GAH!" Lucas yelps, coughing up blood during the hard, forceful drop.

Trent nods his head and has his mouth pushed back, forming an uncomfortable expression. "Okay. That was awkward." The Mega Lucario says, looking down at Lucas.

Lucas lifts his arm up, shifting his head to the side, left and right. "Now I'll have you know, I was the best karate-fu master in the wor-" The Furret passes out afterwards, leading Trent to feel even more confused.

"...I have no idea on what I just witnessed."

Iris grunts as she tries to get up. "You witnessed Lucas being Lucas. That's all you need to know." She answers, putting her paw by the side of her arm.

Trent looks at her, raising his brow while showing an awkward expression. "I...see." Trent then takes his attention towards Cocoon and the others, grinning deviously. "Well since you four are injured, I'll be attacking them now." He dashes off immediately, running towards the seven non-volunteer Pokemon.

"NO!" Iris tries to go after him but winces due to the infliction. Azure sees the deranged Mega Lucario heading for her direction and screams in terror, noticing his paws be engulfed in shadowy aura.

"I got this!" Zeke says, getting in front of the six Pokemon. Cerise widens his eyes at the Cloyster, gritting his teeth.

"Uh, I highly recommend you don't risk that. He could hurt you as badly as he did to Iris and the others!" Cerise explains in a worried tone.

"I-I know what I'm doing, Cerise." Zeke's voice sounds shaky when he said that. I don't know what I'm doing. I don't know what I'm doing. I. DON'T. KNOW. WHAT. I'M. DOING! Then Trent attacks Zeke with Shadow Claw, leading him to yelp. "EEK!"

"Zeke!"

Trent has his paw against the Cloyster's shell, noticing that Zeke only moved slightly from the attack. "Hmm?" Trent wonders, tilting his head curiously. Why didn't he get blown awa- His thoughts cut off when suddenly winces in pain, backing away from Zeke. "What the hell!?" He rubs his paw gently, eyeing Zeke furiously. "Why was I damaged there!? I don't recall Cloysters having the ability Rough Skin before!"

Zeke blinks for a moment before coming into realization. "Oh. I'm alive because of my ability."

"Your ability?"

"Shell Armor. Allowing me to be immune to something that could oneshot me such as a one-hit KO move or boosted physical/special attacks that would normally knock me out. Speaking of which, you were hurt due to your physical attack being boosted. Mostly by contact, I should say."

"...I'm sorry, what?" Trent tilts his head in confusion.

Zeke sweatdrops and shrugs awkwardly. "Just think of it as a mixture between Unaware and Rough Skin...if that makes sense."

"I see…" Trent then takes his attention towards Natalie, seeing her healing Claire. "Welp, she has no one protecting her so…" The Mega Lucario takes off running without warning, grinning in delight. Mark returns back to the others and sees Trent heading for Natalie's direction, yelping in anxiety.

"Oh no you don't!" He shouts, forming an arrow by the side of his paw and rushes after the Mega Lucario. The Riolu shoots his arrow at Trent with his bow and Trent slashes the arrow with his Shadow Claw, taking his attention towards Mark. Trent runs towards him and clashes his Shadow Claw with Mark's bow, the two swinging at each other afterwards.

During so, Sheer pushes Mat to the ground with his spear, leading the Cloyster to groan in pain. He then take his eyes on Iris, seeing her trying to get up and prepare her used-to-be Fire Punch. "Not so fast, you pathetic waste of life." Sheer speaks, smirking at the Dragonite. Iris glares at him and snarls deeply.

"I would make you eat those words if it weren't for your damn Mythical Power!" Iris shouts, gripping her fist furiously. "TELL US YOUR WEAKNESS, ASSHOLE!" Natalie flickers her ears at the word 'weakness', opening her eyes and losing focus of healing Claire. She looks at Iris and Sheer, seeing Sheer laugh in a humble manner.

"Do you play me as a moronic fool? I would never tell my enemies about my MP's weakness, like I told you insignificant Piloswines before. However...I will tell you its name." Sheer winks. "Force Shatter."

"Force Shatter...What the hell does that name have anything to do with canceling someone's moves!?"

"Oh I don't know: I'm forcing your moves to not function, thus shattering any sort of chances you have to fight against me?" Sheer squints his eyes at the Dragonite.

Iris sweatdrops. "Oh…" That makes sense…

"Anywho, it's time to end this unnecessary combat."

Iris grits her teeth, still groaning due to her being in pain. "Iris!" Natalie shouts, catching the Dragonite's attention. "I know what's Sheer's weakness!" Sheer glances at the Zorua, squinting his eyes.

Shoot. Sheer thinks, looking at the Mega Lucario immediately. "Trent! Get the Zorua, now!" Trent flickers his ear and turns to Natalie slightly, going to rush towards her after pushing Mark away.

"Hurry and tell us, Natalie!" Iris yells, noticing Trent rushing towards her in a quick pace.

"It's his ho-" Natalie is interrupted by Trent's fist colliding against her face. Mark and Iris' eyes widen in shock and terror.

"NATALIE!" The two both scream the Zorua's name, seeing her zoom away from Claire and Mark and crash crucially against another structure. The wall structure collapses onto the Zorua, covering her. Mark grits his teeth in pure rage, his red eyes widening more as he glares at the Mega Lucario.

"You...Your powers may have scared me earlier. But seeing Natalie getting hurt not once but twice…" Mark pauses for a moment, preparing his bow and arrow as he aims it at Trent. "Just makes me want to put you down before you put her down!"

Trent looks at the Riolu and smirks. He dashes towards him and grabs Mark by the head. Mark gasps, looking up at the Mega Lucario. "Alright. Then how about I," Trent pauses his sentence as he forces the Riolu's head down, slamming him massively towards the ground. "Put you down, first."

Iris grits her teeth concernedly. "Mark! No!" She yells, seeing Trent remove his hand from Mark's face afterwards. Mark has his eyes closed and his mouth opened, unconscious and unable to move.

"Ugh...You two are just unstoppable monsters." Jimmy says, groaning as he gets up. "This is un-unacceptable!"

As Trent goes to focus on Iris and the others, Iris looks at Mark then Natalie's crash site, her mind scattering into thoughts. What to do, what to do...Natalie mentioned Sheer's weakness being something, but was cut off. She thinks, now taking her eyes onto Sheer, who's currently smiling at her and the others. What may that weakness be? Soon, she hears Claire's grunts and takes her attention onto the Shinx.

Claire groans and rubs her head with her paw, sighing heavily. "Wow that was...such an unnecessary and painful experience. Those guards really did damage me badly, after all." Claire says before sighing once more. "I'll be sure to use my moves cautiously whenever I'm under that injured phase again." She looks around to see the crumbled down messy area she's in, blinking in surprise. "Whoa there. Is it me or did I just ended up in another place? Thought I was in the castle." Then she instantly gasps in realization. "Never mind that. Mistress!"

She looks around, noticing Iris and the others struggling to fight Trent and Sheer off. "Where are you, mistress!?" She soon sees the collapsing wall structure that has Natalie in it, noticing the Zorua's tail sticking out from it. Mistress… Claire thinks, gritting her teeth in rage. Her presence even feels as though she's...dead. The Shinx growls deeply, glancing at everyone. "Who...harmed...MISTRESS!?" Claire questions loudly, slamming her paw down furiously.

Trent looks at Claire, raising his brow. "You mean the Zorua?" Trent asks confusedly.

Claire eyes the Mega Lucario, nodding firmly. "Yes mortal. Were you perhaps the cause of this? If so, you'll regret doing that."

Trent blinks at the Shinx and laughs loudly, shaking his head. "Great. Now I've got a Shinx trying so hard to threaten me."

Sheer looks at the Shinx while trying to focus on the others. "I wouldn't taunt her if I were you, Trent." Sheer suggests.

Trent stares at the large barbed Cloyster and rolls his eyes in sarcasm. "And why's that? She'll electrocute me to death or something?" Then he turns back to see the Shinx in front of his face. And in the air. "Uh." Claire smacks the Mega Lucario's head to the ground, cracks forming from the forceful slam's sight. As he tries to get up, Claire pins him down and forces him to look at her. "Ugh!" Trent groans in a uncomfortable manner, staring at the angry Shinx.

"You should've listened to your friend there. He was trying to save you from what I'm about to do to you." Claire says, staring into the Mega Lucario's eyes. Trent stares back and notices her soulless and empty yellow eyes, as if every flower in existence has turned into the color gray. "You see it, right? Emptiness?" The Shinx then creepily smiles at him, cocking her head slightly in a crazed manner. "And we all know that there's nothing beyond emptiness, hmm?"

Trent begins to tremble as he sweatdrops, his eyes widening in petrification. "Wh-Why do I feel-"

"Weak? Well my foolish lower power, that's because I'm using the Intimidate ability. Something that I should've activated long ago whenever I get into fights." Claire interrupts Trent as electricity begins to surround her body, with a yellow aura accompanying it. Trent grits his teeth in frustration, trying to move out of the Shinx's grasp but couldn't. "So since one of you decided it was a good idea to badly injure mistress, I believe that it's a good idea...to eradicate the both of you." Claire lets go of the Mega Lucario, backing away slightly. Afterwards, she charges towards Trent in a quick pace.

Trent gets up immediately and tries to back away from the Shinx, but she rams into his stomach with Wild Charge. "AH!" Trent screams as he's launched towards Sheer. Sheer notices the Mega Lucario flying towards and crashing into him, hitting the ground as a result. "Oof!"

Claire pants heavily, wincing from the recoil damage as the electricity and yellow aura fade away from her. She then gasps and widens her eyes, seeing a list of five words appearing in front of her. While everyone else can see these words, they themselves appear to be written in a more cryptic language and font. Through Claire's eyes, the words read as follows: Spark, Tackle, Discharge, Bite and Wild Charge. She's seeing her moves. "Oh. I guess I learned a new move and need to replace one. Hmm...I'll just replace this." She then closes her eyes, the word 'Wild Charge' rising to where the word 'Tackle' is. Then the 'Wild Charge' glows brightly before said glow fades away and shows the 'Tackle' nowhere in sight. Afterwards, the words disappear as she opens her eyes. "Not gonna need Tackle anyway."

Iris blinks confusedly at the Shinx. "Huh...that's strange." She says before noticing the structure Natalie is in starting to move. "Hmm?" The structure begins to burst, creating an hole. Natalie exits the hole, finishing her Shadow Ball attack and panting heavily.

"Horn! His weakness...is his..." Natalie falls to the ground, closing her eyes slowly. "H-Horn…"

"Mistress!" Claire rushes to the Zorua's aid. Mat looks at Sheer's large barbed horn, glancing at it.

"I knew there was something odd about that horn!" Mat exclaims, getting up from the ground and rushing towards his two opponents. Iris and Jimmy look at each other for a moment before following Mat. Sheer pushes Trent off from him and notices the three Pokemon sprinting towards him.

Shoot. They know about my weakness now… Sheer thinks as Mat swings his spear at his horn. Sheer yelps and blocks the spear with his, while at the same time noticing that Iris and Jimmy are besides Mat. "Huh!?" The two Pokemon throw their fists towards the large barbed Cloyster, him backing away from the punches immediately. That was close… "Grr." Sheer closes his eyes, his spear beginning to glow white. "I was so close to accomplishing my goal." He then opens his eyes, them beginning to glow white instead of blue. "I WILL NOT ALLOW YOU TO RUIN THEM!" He then moves his spear forward rapidly, screaming within a battle cry. "Stab Platinum!"

Sheer manages to hit Iris and Jimmy with his Weapon Move, jabbing them all over the place. The two grunt and block the attack with their arms as Mat gets out of the way of the rapid jab. Then Sheer slides across the two Pokemon, causing them to get blown away and roll all over the ground. "Iris!" Anna yells, her and the others feeling more worried than before. Iris and Jimmy grip onto the ground to stop their roll, panting heavily as they look up at Mat and Sheer.

"So that's your Weapon Move, huh? Well here's mine!" Mat exclaims before jumping in the air, letting go of his spear and allowing it to float above him. Then multiple spears begins to form around him, all positioning at their target. Sheer looks at the spears and grits his teeth, gulping in a uneasy manner. Mat fires the spears at Sheer, all aiming towards him in a intense speed. "Downpour of a Thousand Spears!"

"Oh bucket of icicles!" Sheer says before being hit by the multiple spears, yelping from the amount of damage he's receiving. One of the spears manages to hit his horn, leading him to scream in pain as one more spear sends him flying off into the air and crashing against a half wall structure that's next to Natalie and Claire. Claire drags Natalie away from Sheer with her mouth as Sheer groans uncomfortably. "U-Ugh…" His barbed horn is slightly cracked due to the Weapon Move, the spears fading away after hitting him.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Mat sighs in relief and floats towards the ground, Exo cheering him on in rejoice. "Woohoo! You showed him who's boss, Mat!" Exo yells excitedly, seeing Mat return to his normal floating altitude and form a singular spear. Mat looks at Exo and smirks, rubbing the side of his shell with his spear.

"I may have the shorter horn but at least I have the better Weapon Move, haha." Mat says happily.

Trent notices that Mat is being distracted and gets up. The Mega Lucario runs towards the Cloyster, but is stopped by Jimmy, whose eyes are glowing the colors gamboge (light brown) and dark red. "I believe that won't be necessary, you evil doer." Jimmy says as a magical horn begins to form on his actual bandaged horn. Iris and Anna gasp at the imaginary horn, shocked to see it being formed from Jimmy's head. Jimmy then punches and kicks Trent all over the place, jabbing him in the face as his scarf and arms glow white. "Close Horn Combat!"

Jimmy then delivers the final blow by smacking Trent with his horn, sending him crashing into Sheer. Sheer coughs out blood from the impact, him and Trent both groaning in pain. Jimmy's eyes, scarf and arms stop glowing as the magical horn begins to fade away. "Whoa…" Iris says, stunned by Jimmy's Mixturing Move. "So even without his horn, he can still use his Mixturing Move…"

"Does this means that you can use Mixturing Moves no matter what body parts you're missing?" Anna asks, continuing to protect both the egg and Ashen. Iris turns towards Anna, putting her paw against her face thinking.

"Seems like that's the case. But I'm not certain if the same applies for Weapon Moves." The Dragonite then shrugs. "Looks like we're learning something new about these things everyday, huh?"

Anna nods. "I couldn't agree more." Then Iris, Mat and Jimmy take their attention towards their two opponents, seeing them trying to get up from the structure. As the two brush themselves off, the three Pokemon approach them, Iris and Jimmy folding their arms while Mat lifts his spear up in preparation.

"It's over now, Sheer. You might as well accept defeat at this point. Because we know about your MP's weakness, we know about your plans, and we pretty much weakened you and your partner in crime there." Mat states, glaring at the two. Trent and Sheer look at each other for a moment before the two grin deviously at the three.

"Oh you simple minded fools...Even if you knew about my plans. Even if you knew about my weakness. Even if you weakened the two of us...Who said that we were defeated?" Sheer replies before spitting out blood onto the ground.

"Uh...we did?" Iris answers while raising her brow at Sheer.

"And? You think that we're defeated. You want to believe that we're defeated. But in actuality, you're the ones that are defeated because even if you defeated us, this kingdom is still a mess. And it's too late to fix it." Sheer sighs happily before staring at the sky. "Not everyone in this world can receive an happy ending. Because we all know that at the end, there's no such thing as a happy ending when it comes to death." Iris squints her eyes at him, backing away slightly as he grins at her. "Right?"

"That's why we create happy memories! To cherish them before we die!" A familiar male voice says in a furious, low tone. The group look to see the voice coming from Mark, his body surrounded by black, shadowy auras. The Riolu is panting heavily, holding his bow in one paw before tossing the bag he had earlier to the side.

"Mark!" Iris and Jimmy shout, both looking rather confused by the aura surrounding the Riolu.

Trent raises his brow at the Riolu, perplexed by this phenomenon as well. "Uh, what's going on with you?" He asks Mark in a very blunt manner. The others agree on what Trent said, all beginning to chat about it. Mark looks at himself for a moment, noticing the shadowy auras surrounding his arms before looking back at Trent.

"I have absolutely no idea. But what I do know is that I'm done with this fight. I'm done seeing my friends getting injured, especially her!" Mark exclaims, pointing at Natalie, who's being tapped by Claire. Mark then forms a fist, glaring at the Mega Lucario. "So now, I'm angry. Very angry. Well actually, I'm neither of those." The Riolu takes off running towards the Mega Lucario, screaming in rage. "I. AM. PISSED!"

Trent backs away a bit and shakes his head. "Some kids just never learn these days." The Mega Lucario then forms a Dragon Pulse from his paws as Sheer's eyes start glowing blue, trying to prevent the Riolu from using his moves.

As Mark looks at Sheer, an unfamiliar voice begins to speak in his head. "Steal his Mythical Power…" The voice says in a eerie and raspy tone, leading the Riolu's eyes to turn pure black as he stares at Sheer. Sheer's eyes soon stop glowing, leading him to feel odd.

"Hmm?" The large barbed Cloyster says in a confusing manner. Mark's eyes then begin to glow blue as he uses Copycat on Trent, allowing him to use Dragon Pulse back. Trent tries to fire his Dragon Pulse but couldn't, beginning to become perplexed as well.

"What the!?" He says before getting hit by the multi-colored dragon shaped attack, groaning from it. He collides with Sheer as the two bump against the structure. "Wh-What just happened!? Why wasn't my attack pulled off? And how was he able to damage me with a move, Sheer!?"

"I-I have no idea. I thought I was using my Mythical Power on him but apparently, I-" Sheer pauses for a moment to notice that Mark's eyes are glowing blue, leading him to gulp. "Um...Trent."

"Yes?"

"I think he stole my MP…"

"WHAT!?" Trent and the others all yell in surprise.

Mark glares at the two. "And not only that, but thanks to my Prankster ability, which increases my priority and gives me a chance to go first with any status move, I was able to use Copycat first on Trent's Dragon Pulse before canceling his move." Mark explains, gripping his bow as it glows white. "I'm glad to have pulled this off at the right moment." Then his eyes changes from glowing blue to glowing white. He looks at Iris and the others. "Quick, they can't do anything now that I stole Sheer's MP. Now's your chance!"

With no time to think, Iris and the other two look at each other for a moment and nod. The three dash off towards their opponent, Iris' eyes glowing the colors dark blue and light blue while Mat's eyes glow white along with his spear. "FIRE ICE PUNCH!" Iris shouts, her necklace glowing white as she punches the two against the broken down structure wall. The two gasp, yelping in pain before Iris grabs them and throws them behind her.

Jimmy jumps in the air and catches the two, slamming them into each other roughly. The two feel dizzy from the impactive slam, Trent receiving the most pain due to colliding against Sheer's shell. Then Jimmy throws them further into the air, leading them to scream as he lands on the ground. Mark and Mat launch up in the air, Mark forming three shining arrows onto his bow as Mat forms several spears around him.

Claire stares at the two enemies, snarling deeply. "Let me join in on this final blow, too!" She yells before shooting her red Discharge at the two. Trent and Sheer both scream in agony from the attack as Mark and Mat prepare themselves to use their Weapon Moves.

"DOWNPOUR OF A THOUSAND SPEARS!" Mat yells.

"TRIAD SPLINTER!" Mark shouts.

Then the two release their Weapon Moves: Mark's three shining arrows firing at the two with their glittering sparks while Mat's spears roar their way towards the two. The combination of the two Weapon Moves plus Claire's Discharge causes the two opponents to feel more infliction than ever.

Soon, a huge explosion occurs, causing black smoke to form from the attacks. The crowds at Ster Town become anxious and curious of the explosion, all going 'What!?' and 'Huh!?'. After awhile, the smoke begins to fade away as Claire stops using Discharge and Mark and Mat land on the ground swiftly. Mark's eyes stop glowing along with his bow. The same can be said for Mat as well.

Iris' eyes and necklace stop glowing as she and the others stare at the fading smoke, becoming cautious and curious. The smoke reveals Sheer and Trent passed out, leading everyone to sigh in relief afterwards. "They're down…Good riddance." Mat says to himself, panting heavily. Natalie heals herself in time before she and Lucas wake up from their knocked out state, her body ceasing its red outline.

"U-Ugh...What happened?" Lucas asks, rubbing the side of his head.

Claire sees Natalie being awake and gasps. "Mistress!" The Shinx says, immediately goes to hug the Zorua and nuzzle her instantly. "Oh I'm so happy that you're still alive!" Natalie sweatdrops at the nuzzling.

"I'm glad that I'm alive too, Claire." The Zorua says, sighing in relief. Then she takes her attention towards Sheer and Trent, seeing them passed out. Trent glows light blue, his tail beginning to shrink and lose its bushy features. The second spikes on his feet, arms and appendages also shrink, the appendages no longer separating from each other as well. Soon he stops glowing and reverts back to his regular Lucario form, his paw having the Lucarionite under his possession as a result. "Oh. And it seems like we took those two out, finally."

"Pfft, don't you mean me? I mean, I'd been doing all the dirty work on taking care of this two, right?" Lucas lies as he walks next to Trent and folds his arms in determination. Anna and Iris raise their brows at the silly eye-patched Furret.

"You idiot. I saw Iris and the others doing more combat than you'd ever done!" Anna shouts. Lucas looks at her, glancing sternly. Anna blinks for a moment before coming into an realization, sweatdropping. "I-I mean, of course you did some of the work, Lucas! Plenty, hehe…"

"What I thought, mate." He then looks away from the Ninetales as Anna exhales a huge amount of breath.

Soon, Mark's body stops being shrouded by the black, shadowy aura as his eyes stop glowing. At the same time, he begins to hear voices in his head. All of them are speaking at once, so much to the point where he doesn't understand a single one. Then the voices suddenly repeat his name several times. Over and over. Again and again. It's almost as if he's in a constant loop before Iris snaps him out of it by calling his name. "Hmm!? Yeah!?" Mark says, blinking confusedly at the Dragonite.

"I...wanted to ask: How did you do that?" Iris questions the Riolu, Natalie and Claire being next to her.

Mark looks at his paws and thinks for a moment, raising his brow. "I'm...not sure, honestly." Everyone becomes surprised by his answer, all beginning to converse about it.

"Huh...If you don't know, then I'm willing to bet on the fact that either you have a Mythical Power or you're going through some unknown powers like Natalie and Claire are."

"Honestly, I think that it's a Mythical Power. It has to be, since he's just now discovering it. Sure, it could be what Natalie and Claire has but as far as I know, what Mark has...isn't close to being related to what Claire has. At all." Anna converses, shrugging uncomfortably at the thought of what Claire did to those guards from earlier.

"I see." Iris smiles down at the Riolu. "Well little fella, you get to name it. Since you discovered its existence and all. So what will the name be, Mark?"

"Yeah! I'm curious to know!" Natalie says excitedly, leaning close to the Riolu. Mark thinks for a moment, and is about to speak until a voice within his head interrupts him.

"Name it Shadow Corruption…" The voice whispers.

"...Shadow Corruption." Mark confirms, leading the others to be surprised.

"Shadow Corruption? But why that name?" Iris asks. Mark shrugs uncomfortably, looking confused himself. "...Well anyway, I'm happy for you having an MP of your own. And well, this madness being over with, too." Iris smiles warmly.

Soon, grunting noises is heard, leading the others to look at its location. The noise comes from Sheer and Trent, the two getting up weakly and groaning unpleasantly. The group all become tense, Lucas yelping and running away from the two. He gets next to Iris, hiding behind her. "I-I only ran away bravely, o-okay!" Lucas says shakily.

Iris shakes head before speaking. "Man, we hit you two with a Mixturing Move, two Weapon Moves, and a Discharge. How are you not beaten, yet!?" The Dragonite exclaims. Sheer begins to laugh insanely, smiling widely.

"No. I refuse to be beaten. Not by some pesky outsiders of the Cloyster Kingdom. Oh nooo, I refuse!" Sheer yells, staring at the sky. "I! Am Senator Sheer! The highest power that will bring order and get his happiness back! Even if it means to take that of another! You will see. ALL OF YOU WILL!"

"Yeeeaaah...Looks like we arrived to see some crazy dude talking to the sky." A female voice says in a snarky tone, leading everyone to be confused as to where the voice came from. Soon, everyone sees a group of Pokemon arriving at the entrance of the crumbled castle.

The group consist of five Pokemon: A green bandana-wearing Sceptile, a Grovyle that wears a black cape, a Milotic, a cyclops-like creature with a red pupil and a yellow bouquet on the side of her head (Dusknoir), and a bipedal chicken-like creature with mostly a reddish yellow colored body and a red, black marble-like stone being on his right wrist like a watch (Blaziken). The Sceptile also has a marble-like stone much like the Blazikens' on his neck as a necklace, the color of it being mostly lime. The Sceptile seems to be carrying a green bag as well while the gang all blink curiously at him and the five Pokemon, tilting their heads in confusion.

"Why yes, Ebony. That's totally going on my crazy list." The Dusknoir says, giggling softly to herself. Ebony, the black cape Grovyle, raises her brow at the Dusknoir.

"Thought you already listed that before." Ebony folds her arms, taking her eyes back to the group.

"But a Pokemon being crazy while talking to the sky? That's a new one compared to a Pokemon being crazy while talking to the ground."

"Riiight…" Ebony sweatdrops.

"Um excuse me but...who might you guys be?" Iris asks cautiously. Trent looks at the five Pokemon, noticing that they're staring at him before he turns to the side.

Ah shit… Trent thinks, scratching the back of his head.

"Well I'm happy that you asked, ma'am." The Sceptile says before taking out his Caller from the bag, revealing it towards Iris and the others. He press a yellow button that wasn't present on a Caller before, it revealing an hologram of the words 'Savior Unit'. "The name's Mystery. The Grovyle is Ebony, the Milotic is Helena, the Dusknoir is Gonel and the Blaziken is Leon. We're a part of a special team known as the Savior Unit, working for the Official Protection government."

"WHAT!?" The gang all say in surprise, Lucas trembling a bit.

"Y-You guys w-work for the O-O.P. government?" Lucas asks in a shaky tone.

"Of course. My brother just mentioned that a second ago." The female Grovyle answers in a critical manner, folding her arms as if she's disappointed. "As much as we'd love to explain more about ourselves, we've got more concerning matters to focus on."

"Like what?" Iris questions, raising her brow. Mystery returns the Caller into his bag, the hologram fading away as Ebony points at Trent.

"Like arresting that criminal over there." Trent looks at the Savior Units, chuckling nervously and sweatdropping.

"H-Hi…" The Lucario says, waving shyly at them.

"Why hello to you too, darling." Gonel replies, crossing her arms together. "Been a naughty boy after escaping us, haven't you?" Everyone looks at the Dusknoir, raising their brows and sweatdropping uncomfortably.

"Oookay then." Iris speaks, taking her focus onto Mystery. "Why are you tracking him down?"

"Well you see-"

"For starters, he's a criminal. As I stated earlier." Ebony explains abruptly, interrupting the Sceptile. The bandana Sceptile looks at Ebony and chuckles softly, putting his hand onto her head.

"Right sis, he is indeed a criminal. A highly dangerous one, to be exact." Mystery then looks at Iris and the others, mostly focusing his attention on the Lucario. "This Lucario has committed a numerous amounts of crimes for several years. Those crimes include stealing, impersonating and even taking another Pokemon's life. Rather by killing them because he wants to or…" Mystery squints his eyes at Trent. "Killing them because of cannibalism. In which that is the ultimate forbidden thing to do alongside murdering another." Iris widens her eyes along with the others, all taking their attention towards Trent. Sheer raises his brow, forming an disturbing expression on his face.

"I didn't know that you eat other Pokemon!" Sheer says, feeling rather shocked.

Trent shrugs awkwardly. "Meat Product taste like garbage to me, okay!?" He exclaims, whimpering.

Iris looks to the side with an guilty look on her face, sweatdropping. "Well he's not lying about that..." She says to herself. The Savior Units look at her with raised brow, leading her to shake her head and paws immediately. "I-I mean, I'll still eat them though. Just that I personally don't like them, that's all. Not like I'll eat another Pokemon because of such, hehe…" She laughs nervously, scratching the back of her head as the Units stare sternly at her. "I'll just shut up now."

"Annnyway...we've been tracking this guy down ever since then." Mystery says, him and the Units taking their attention on Trent. Trent gulps and looks at Sheer, wincing uncomfortably.

"Sheer, I thought you jammed the tracking device on my back so that these guys wouldn't appear!" Trent yells, yelping in displeasure.

Sheer goes to immediately look all over the Lucario's back in a panicky pace. "B-But I did! I swear on Arceus himself that I did jam it!" Sheer answers before stopping to see the very, very small device blinking red on Trent's back. "Wait, wh-what!?"

Ebony smirks. "Seems like you didn't jam it enough if we could still see you on our radar, genius." The Grovyle states, her brother taking out the Caller again to reveal a grid-like map visible on its screen. It shows the radar flickering a red dot quickly, meaning they're close to their target.

Anna blinks in surprise. "What the? A Caller can do that!?" The Ninetales says shockingly.

"That's so cool!" Mark yells, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Yeah!" Natalie follows along, wagging her tail happily to the amazement.

The others begin to agree as well while Iris groans uncomfortably. I really wish Lucas didn't threw mine away now… The Dragonite thinks.

Ebony shrugs awkwardly as Mystery puts the Caller back into the bag. "Yes, but only the Pokemon working for the Official Protection can acquire these special kinds of Callers." She states in a bluntly manner, leading the gang to feel down.

"Well so much for me wanting to track down Exo's movement for fun now." Mat says playfully.

"Wait, hey! WHAT DO YOU MEAN BY 'FOR FUN'!?" Exo shouts, sweatdropping as Mat chuckles softly.

Iris then interrupts the two with a question. "Say, about that tracking device, I didn't see it anywhere on Trent's back at all when I first met him." She says, creating a good point.

"Well that's because Gonel managed to use one of her gadgets she created, the tracking device, to throw it onto his back during our last encounter with him." Helena explains in a soft, serene tone.

Gonel raises her hand in delight. "Indeed! I crafted that baby up so small to the point where it'll be hard to spot even on a Joltik!" Gonel elaborates joyfully. "However, it's not my only gadget I created." She suddenly forces her hand through her ghostly body and grabs a brown slingshot object. "I also craft Weapon Mischiefs such as this slingshot here and," She uses her other hand to dig something else out of her body, having an black shotgun in that hand. "This painfully to make son of a gun right here. Ha, gun. Pun totally not intended."

Iris and the others raise their brows at Gonel, Zeke blinking into curiosity. "Did she just grab those things from her body…?" He asks, looking rather confused.

Helena, Leon and Mystery sweatdrop at the Dusknoir as Ebony puts her hand against her face, shaking her head. "Oh boy, here we go with her rambling about her creations again…" Ebony says, sighing heavily.

Gonel then returns both of the Weapon Mischiefs back into her body, trying to grab something else. "There's also this bomb-like object that I'm in the middle of developing right now." Gonel giggles before taking out a notepad and a quill that has ink at the tip. "Whoops. Wrong thing to grab...then again, I do need to write down this situation on the 'Crazy Things Pokemon Do' list." The Dusknoir goes to write on her notepad. "Guy talking to the sky…" She talks to herself as she writes, the others sweatdropping at her.

Man she's weird… Ebony thinks, sighing once more. "Anyway, we struggled to find him ever since our last encounter, because the device wanted to cut on and off at random. You can thank those two for toying around with it." She then glances at Trent and Sheer as the Dusknoir finishes writing.

"I...see." Iris responds, nodding slowly.

After that, Trent looks up in the sky to see a quadruped, draconic creature with large red wings, red markings on his throat and on the underside of his long tail, and has mostly a blue body: Salamence. The Salamence also seems to have a marble-like stone strapped onto his forehead with a brown belt as he flaps his wings, looking to be forming flames around his mouth. Trent smirks deviously, sighing in relief afterwards. "Thank goodness my ride is here." He says calmly.

"Your what?" Ebony asks before the Salamence opens his mouth and uses Fire Blast on the group, the star shaped fire aiming between the gang and Trent. Trent grabs Sheer and backs away from the attack as it lands onto the ground, causing Iris and the others to yelp from it. They jump back from the flames, causing the Savior Unit to become alert. "Okay, WHERE DID THAT COME FROM!?"

Helena looks up to the sky, seeing the Salamence floating down towards Trent. "It must've come from that Salamence. It's heading towards our target." Helena answers, fixated by the flames separating the group from Trent and Sheer. "Seems like it used Fire Blast to separate us from the two." Helena shakes her head while closing her eyes. "Luckily for us and not for them: I'm a Water type. So I'll go ahead and put out the flames."

"Good idea." Mystery confirms, seeing the Milotic slither off towards the flames as he and the other Units follow.

Behind the flames, Trent sighs in relief and gives the Salamence a thumbs up. "Thanks for stopping by right on time. For a second there, I thought I was a goner when the Units arrived." The Lucario speaks, chuckling nervously. The Salamence nods firmly at him, giving him a stern look before taking his attention towards Sheer, who's looking quite anxious now.

"Trent, now's my chance to receive my part of the deal!" Sheer explains eagerly, floating close to the two Pokemon. "Let me join you on the Salamence too, please!"

Trent puts his paw against his chin, thinking for a moment. "Hmm…" He notices that the flames are beginning to wear down due to Helena spewing water on it, leading the large barbed Cloyster to fret.

"HURRY, TRENT! WE DON'T HAVE MUCH TIME!"

"Alright, alright. Just give me a second." Trent goes to whisper to the Salamence, the Salamence leaning the side of his head towards him. Then the Salamence mutters back into the Lucario's ear, looking at Sheer during so.

"WELL? WELL!?"

"Hmm…" Trent shakes his head as he hops onto the Salamence's back. "Sorry, Sheer. Lumani and my pal Skyrider here have been observing you from the Land of Wishes and they agreed that you're not worthy for your wish."

"WHAT!? WHY!?" Sheer's eyes widen in terror from the news, the flames behind him fading more and more.

"He's seen how aggressive and ruthless you are on wanting to achieve your goal. He thinks it'll end up backfiring not only on him but also his entire land as well. Basically saying, you'll bring destruction to his land due to your wish being too...risky, to be honest with ya." Sheer stands there, looking at the ground and becoming completely broken. As if everything around him begins to shatter into pieces as the Salamence, Skyrider, begins to flap his wings. "His decision, dude. Not mine." Trent then grins at him. "It was nice working with you, Sheer. But like you said before: You can't always trust everyone, hmm?" Sheer slowly looks up at the Lucario, a grim look forming across his face as the Lucario salutes him. "Cya later, Feraligatr."

Then the Salamence takes off flying as Sheer bursts out screaming, yelling from the top of his lungs. "CURSE YOU, TRENT! YOU'LL PAY ALONG WITH EVERYONE ELSE!" Sheer shouts, tears constantly streaming down from his face as Helena fully puts out the flames. "ALL OF YOU WILL PAAAY!" Sheer turns around and attempts to attack one of the Units with his spear before the Blaziken kicks the spear away, having it slide across the ground. Soon Gonel gets behind the large barbed Cloyster, wrapping her arms around him and trapping him. Sheer struggles to get out of the Dusknoir's grasp, grunting in the process. "UNHAND ME THIS INSTANT!"

"I don't think so, cray cray." Gonel responds in a teasing tone, giggling afterwards. Mystery notices Trent flying away on his Salamence in the distance, taking out his Caller and sees the rader still going.

"No worries, we'll track him down immediately and-"

"Annnd the radar stops beeping. We lost track of him." Ebony points out, interrupting the Sceptile. Mystery looks at his Caller and notices the red dot no longer present on the grid graph, sighing heavily.

"Maybe next time...Whenever we encounter him again." Mystery says, shaking his head before putting his Caller back into the bag.

"About time that 'highly dangerous criminal' takes that thing off from his back and breaks it. I'm surprised that he didn't get himself killed by a Magikarp with the way he tried to cover up his crimes. Seriously, why is this guy dangerous again?" Ebony puts her hand out while showing a 'Really?' look on her face.

Mystery shrugs at the Grovyle before taking his attention towards the others. "Well, we may have lost our chance at catching Trent but…" He pauses for a moment to look at Sheer, eyeing him. "At least we caught someone who tried to help that criminal escape. An accomplice, to be exact." Sheer glares at the Sceptile angrily before eyeing at the gang.

"I would've gotten away with it if it weren't for them…" Sheer says quietly to himself.

"Oooh he did more than just try to help that evil doer out!" Exo joins in the conversation in a dramatic manner. Mystery and the other Units look at Exo curiously.

"Oh? Such as?" Mystery asks. Exo goes to explain to the Savior Units about the madness Sheer had caused, the Sceptile nodding firmly. "I see. This Cloyster was capable of doing all of that, huh? And even used his Mythical Power as an advantage to let this kingdom be unstable." Mystery walks towards the large barbed Cloyster, eyeing at him. "You sir had dug yourself some deep holes. In other words, you're under arrest. And you have every right to remain silent as anything from this point on will be held against you." Sheer rolls his eyes before everyone hears Brook whimpering, taking their attention towards him and the other six Pokemon.

"Norah, please stay alive!" Brook yells, weeping in sorrow as he holds the female Cloyster close to him. Mat widens his eyes before dashing to the seven, everyone else following along.

"Please m-mother, h-hang in there!" Azure cries out, nudging against her mother's shell.

"I...I can't…" Norah says weakly, shutting her eyes slightly. Mat gets closer to her, gritting his teeth in anxiety.

"Don't say that, Norah. Just stay strong and fight this, okay? You'll make it." Mat replies, a tear beginning to slide down from his face. Sheer glances at Mat, shaking his head.

"See how it feels to lose your happiness, you fool…" Sheer speaks in a menacing tone. Mat looks at him, glaring menacingly himself before Norah catches his attention by coughing.

"D-Don't listen t-to him, Mat...You can find happiness in anything besides just your loved ones." The female Cloyster says, whimpering in pain. "I remember all the good times we had together...The fun and amazing moments. And even if we encounter negative moments such as these, we still pulled through with it. Together..."

Mat forms more tears as he shakes his head. "You'll be fine, Norah! Please!" He says before Natalie whimpers, immediately dashing away from Iris and Claire.

"Oh no way am I letting this lady die!" Natalie says, reaching towards the female Cloyster's location. She has her paws forming red outlines around them again, putting them onto the Cloyster's body. As she attempts to heal her, she notices that her body isn't forming the red outline unlike the others she had healed. Meaning, she's not healing her. "Hmm!?" The Zorua becomes confused before attempting to heal her once more. "I-I can't heal her!"

"What!? Why's that!?" Anna questions, concern filling throughout her mind. Natalie shakes her head in response.

"I-I don't know…" The Zorua whines, trying her best to heal her but continuing to not see the red outline on Norah. Claire walks towards Natalie, putting her paw on her back and shaking her head.

"Her time is already up, mistress." Claire speaks in a sorrow tone. "It is too late for her…"

Natalie and Mat look at the Shinx, both forming horror on their faces as Natalie continues the healing process. "N-NO! I REFUSE TO BELIEVE THAT! I CAN SAVE HER! I KNOW THAT I CAN!" Natalie shouts, tears streaming down. "PLEASE STAY ALIVE, NORAH!"

As the group all continue to stare at the situation going on, the Pokemon egg within Anna's possession begins to move. "Hmm?" Anna wonders, looking down at the egg. Norah weakly looks at the egg as well, seeing it crack slightly before glowing white. Everyone looks at the egg shining brightly and gazes at it in awe. "Whoa…" Anna says to herself, blinking in surprise.

Soon the egg hatches and stops glowing, revealing an amphibious quadruped creature with a blue body, light-blue underside, a blue fin on top of his head and a light-blue tail: Mudkip. The Mudkip blinks adorably, staring at everyone that's currently gazing at his attention. "Wow...I've never seen a newborn being hatched in my life until now…" Iris says, staring at it in shock.

"Same here…" Natalie replies to the Dragonite's comment, her and the others feeling amazed by the sight of the newborn Pokemon.

Norah gazes at the Mudkip and smiles weakly yet warmly. "Wh-What a relief...After everything I had to endure in this kingdom, I at least get to witnessed a newborn at the end…It warms my heart..." Norah speaks before coughing up more blood, gasping heavily. Mat grits his teeth worriedly.

"Norah!" The male Cloyster yells, more tears beginning to slide down his face. Norah looks at Mat and smiles warmly.

"You're so much better than my husband, Mat...Who left me after Azure was born...You supported me during that dreadful time...and I felt so many warmths because of it."

"Norah!" Mat leans his face close to Norah's, whimpering in sorrows. "Please don't…"

"Mat...Take care of my father and daughter. For my goodness sake, please...I wished I could've said these phrases before this happened...Mat, I-" Norah pauses for a moment to lean her face against Mats', pressing her lips against his gently. Mat's eyes widen as the tears continues its waterfall stream of depression. Norah closes her eyes during the gentle kiss, a single tear sliding down across her face. She pulls back from the kiss and sighs. "I love you...From the bottom of my heart, I truly...do…" Then the female Cloyster lies down on her back, no longer gasping for air nor breathing. Her body remains completely still as she forms a smile on her face, becoming nothing else but a mere corpse of someone dearly. Mat stands there, his eyes widening in petrification.

"NORAH!"

This leads Natalie to attempt to heal her once more, tears streaming down her face as sadness spreads across everyone. Even the folks at Cloy Town become depressed by what they're witnessing. "NO! I CAN REVIVE HER! I CAN DO THAT, RIGHT!?" Natalie yells, taking her attention towards Claire. "R-RIGHT!?"

"Mistress…" Claire pauses before patting the Zorua on her back. "Your powers can only heal your allies...not revive them." The Shinx then looks at the dead Cloyster, seeing Azure, Brook and Mat weeping in sorrow. "I'm sorry…" Soon Natalie begins to burst into tears, the red outline on her paws fading at the same time.

Iris grits her teeth and punches the ground, shaking her head. "Dammit!" She yells loud enough for the others to hear.

"Mommy!" The Shellder cries, weeping onto Brook's outer shell. The Mudkip looks at the situation going on before feeling uncomfortable and whining himself, tears streaming down immediately from his eyes. Mystery and the other Units just look down at the ground, shaking their heads. While this happens, Ashen begins to wake up from his knocked out state, groaning uncomfortably as he rubs the back of his head.

"What...happened?" Ashen asks before seeing Anna looking down. "Hmm? What's wrong with you?" He then notices the Mudkip and yelps. "H-Huh!? Where did this Mudkip come from and…" He looks around and sees everyone except for Sheer feeling down, scratching the side of his head. "Oh…"

"Ashen...A bunch of things happened while you were unconscious…" Anna answers, sniffling afterwards. "A bunch…"

. . .

"Your highness, you're WHAT!?" Exo shouts, looking down at the king.

"Yes. I'm turning myself in for the chaos I've brought upon this kingdom." Cocoon says in a firm tone, loud enough for the folks in Ster Town to hear it. "So I'm hereby resigning from being king of the Cloyster Kingdom." This surprises everyone in the town, leading to them conversing about the situation.

"But sir, you can't do this! We need your ruling in order for the kingdom to continue functioning!"

Cocoon looks up at Exo, sighing heavily. "Exo, it's my fault this kingdom was treated unfairly. From the rules to the favoritism. It was wrong of me to do such a thing because of the influences I received from Sheer. Not only that but my grief over Brisk's death was the main reason why I failed to treat this kingdom the way it was supposed to be treated." Cocoon then takes his eyes onto Iris and her crew, who are standing next to each other at the moment. He sees Anna having the Mudkip on her back as he continues speaking. "If it weren't for these nine entering my kingdom, I would've continued the kingdom the way it is, and Sheer would've further filled my head with his lies. I thank them truly for preventing the kingdom from becoming worse."

"No problem, mate." Lucas says calmly.

Cocoon then shakes his head. "But despite that, I doubt that'll give this kingdom some justice unless I was off the throne...In my eyes, this kingdom would never forgive me because of the damaged I've done to it over my emotions…"

"Sir…" Exo replies calmly before whimpering. Mystery walks towards Exo and Cocoon, having a concerned look on his face.

"Now Cocoon, correct? Are you certain about this decision? Because there's a chance that you may not see the light of day from the same imprisonment Sheer is about to receive." Mystery asks in a careful manner. Cocoon nods sternly, sighing sorrowfully.

"I don't care if I do. As long as it keeps me away from harming this kingdom and anyone else ever again, I don't mind them keeping me in...whatever imprisonment the government has in store for me."

Mystery looks at Ebony and the other Units for a moment, seeing them nod firmly at him. Afterwards, he nods back and stares at Cocoon, taking him off of Exo's possession. "Alright then. I suppose that we'll be taking our leave now."

"Wait, before you go, there's something I'd like to say."

"Hmm?"

Cocoon turns his attention towards Mat, seeing him staring down at Norah's body. "I would like to have Mat be the new ruler of the Cloyster Kingdom."

"WHAT!?" Exo and everyone else in Ster Town yell in shock. The crew and Mat all look surprised at the shiny Cloyster's decision.

"You deserve it, Mat. With the amount of hard work you had to go through to become a senator, the rewards given to Sheer instead of the one who truly deserved them, and even despite all the things I've done to you and the kingdom, you still cared about me…" Cocoon sighs and looks down. "Again, I wanted to apologize for everything I've done to this kingdom...including you too, Mat. I probably didn't pay you a reasonable amount of pokedollars, huh?"

"Yeah, you sure didn't." Exo mumbles, sweatdropping. Seriously, 5 pokedollars a week is just unnecessary. Might as well work at a lower paying job with that kind of salary…

"Anyway, I can understand if you or anyone at the kingdom wouldn't forgive me. Just take this opportunity as me making it up to you." Cocoon smiles softly. "And I would give you the crown and staff right now but...they're lost within the ruined castle. Apologies for that as well." The shiny Cloyster chuckles nervously before sweatdropping. Mat looks to the side for a moment before nodding.

"Alright...I'll take this offer then. It'll be tough since my love is gone and the kingdom itself still needs to be fixed but...I'll pull through. Like I always have." Mat says firmly. Sheer rolls his eyes at him.

"You will break just like I did. You will." Sheer replies to Mat, glancing at him. Gonel shakes the large barbed Cloyster for a bit, causing him to become dizzy.

"Shush." Gonel says in a stern tone.

Soon, Iris comes into a realization. "Say Mystery, you guys came from the Zero Cave, right?" She asks curiously. The Sceptile looks at her and nods.

"Yes. Why do you ask?" He says in a peculiar manner.

"Because I was wondering if there's a town that's beyond that cave. If so, I hope that town has a salesman giving away ships."

"Well that's a two yes for you, lady: One for the town, another for the ship." Mystery smiles at the Dragonite. Iris sighs in relief.

"Thank goodness. Mind leading us there? If you Savior Units are okay with that."

"Sorry ma'am but we're not esco-"

"Certainly. We wouldn't mind guiding a few lost travelers. After all, we are the Savior Units." Mystery interrupts the Grovyle, staring at her. "Right?" Ebony looks back and folds her arms.

"Sure, whatever you say, 'boss'." The Grovyle says in a sarcastic tone.

"Anyway, we would use the Caller to teleport us to our location since we'd visit it before. But sadly, the teleportation process could only hold five Pokemon at a time." Mystery explains.

"Wait, Callers can do that? ...Or is it just exclusive to you guy's Callers?" Iris asks.

"Oh no. All Callers can have access to teleportation after visiting an new location. But again, it can only hold up to five Pokemon to pull that off."

"Ah...I see." Iris soon turns towards Mat. "Well, I guess this is farewell…"

Mat looks off to Brook and Azure being close to the female Cloyster's body, sighing heavily. "Yeah. This is farewell."

"We hope you succeed at taking care of your kingdom, Mat." Cerise says. Mat looks at the canine and nods.

"Thank you. I'll be sure to take care of this kingdom along with Norah's father and daughter. I promise." Mat then takes his attention on Cocoon. "And sir…" He lifts his spear up to salute him, having the tip of it above his head. "The folks of this kingdom may not forgive you, but I do. Despite the many things you and Sheer did to this kingdom, I know that deep down you are a good person...That was just trapped inside of an enclosed shell of his own, never to open that shell again because of an incident that happened years ago…"

Zeke widens his eyes at what Mat said. "Whoa...That's quite deep." He says in astonishment.

Cocoon gasps for a moment before tearing up. "Mat…" He says in a sorrow tone, tears beginning to drip from his face.

Soon, Iris and the crew wave their goodbyes to Mat, following the Savior Unit on the pathway that leads to the Zero Forest. Iris holds the Mudkip in her possession as she looks at the Furret. "Hey Lucas, um…" She pauses for a moment, looking off to the side. "I wanted to say that I'm…"

"Hmm?" Lucas looks up at the Dragonite curiously.

"I'm sorry for how I acted earlier." The crew looks at her after she says that, Anna sighing softly.

"Well Iris, I-"

"DO NOT ACCEPT YOUR APOLOGY, MATE!" Lucas shouts, interrupting the Ninetales. "Your rude selfishness has led you down a path of neverending rage in my eyes! You treated MY work like it was some kind of trash! And then outright said we were useless to us when we took on those guards!" Iris squints her eyes at him and sweatdrops.

"Oh come on! I'm really being sorry for the way I acted! I know it was wrong and I feel foolish for doing such!"

"Nope. Not gonna forgive ya!"

"Lucas!" Then Iris and Lucas get into an argument as the others shrug uncomfortably at them. Mystery and Ebony watch the two chat and look at each other.

"Huh...This kinda reminds me of the time you and I had an argument over something I did." Mystery says, chuckling softly. Ebony sighs heavily.

"Don't remind me of that stupid moment of yours, please." The Grovyle replies, folding her arms. "That was such an embarrassment when you and I wanted the same berry, brother."

As the group continues on their path, Mat turns his attention to Zeke and hires him as a senator, leading him to be excited. He soon commands the guards in Ster Town to take Norah to the burial area and guide her family to live in his home. During all of this, he looks up at the blue sky and smiles softly, closing his eyes before thinking, It's over...It's finally over. I'll miss you dearly, Norah. But I know for a fact that I'll always cherish you within my heart...and my soul. Mat then puts his spear against himself, opening his eyes afterwards. Always…

. . .

Meanwhile at the Corruption Realm, everyone of the Supernova Gale seems to be staring at a huge display screen in front of them. The screen is being projected by Misstrike from her pure black eyes, the screen showcasing the crew and the Savior Units traveling on foot as Yuki begins to speak. "After observing these pests, this Sheer fella has been the most intriguing of them all." He says in a firm tone, being in the middle of the group. The Aegislash has his eye on the large barbed Cloyster, rubbing his ghost-like hands against each other while in his shield form. "He'll be a great addition to our organization, wouldn't you agree?"

Clemence nods. "Certainly, my lord. He's capable of putting that group in its place most of the time." She agrees. Everyone else begin to agree as well.

Alro scratches the side of his head. "Although, I am mostly curious as to how the heck Misstrike can show us this." Alro says, blinking confusedly at the Mismagius. Misstrike looks at the Malamar, sticking her tongue out playfully.

"Magic." The Mismagius answers with no problem, leading Alro to sweatdrop.

"Riiight…"

Dead Snow enters the conversation. "Back to the point, I'm convinced that the Riolu may be of interest to us now." The Glaceon says. Alro raises his brow at the Glaceon as Yuki looks at her in concern.

"And why do you say that?" Yuki asks.

"Yeah. Why would we want to be interested in that brat? Who almost killed me, no less." Alro joins in, folding his arms.

The red-wristband wearing Glaceon glances at Alro. "Well to be blunt with you: He has an MP that's...honestly as intriguing as Sheer's MP. Possibly more intriguing." She explains.

"Okay, so?"

"Look, even if you hate that Riolu, you can't deny the fact that his powers could be very useful to us."

"Errrm…" Alro takes his attention to the Aegislash. "What do you think, sir?" Yuki looks at the two and thinks for a moment.

"Come to think of it...she may have a point." Yuki confirms.

"WHAT!?" Alro shouts in surprise.

"Being able to steal another Pokemon's Mythical Power is something that'll aid us significantly...We need him to be recruited. Because with him on our side, we'll most definitely be invincible." Yuki nods, looking up at the bleak, dark sky. "Thus making it easier to achieve my goal." He then looks back at the group. "We'll ambush them when they enter the Zero Cave. That way, we can kidnap the two and possibly get the required MMs and WM I wanted. Understood?"

"But my lo-"

"I don't care if you hate him or not, Alro. His Mythical Power is too important to even reject this opportunity."

Alro then sighs heavily while looking down, nodding along with everyone else. "Yes sir." Alro and the others say in a firm tone. Clemence pats Alro on the back in a gentle manner.

"Oh it'll be alright. Surely you'll get along with the Riolu fella once we have him under control." The female Malamar says, smiling warmly.

"I guess…" Alro replies, staring at the display screen. Misstrike's eyes slowly change to their regular color and the screen itself began to fade away. Before it vanishes entirely, Sebastian sees Helena traveling with the crew and the Units, forming a concern look on his face.

Is that...? Sebastian thinks to himself before Nexus goes to tap him gently.

"Is something wrong?" The Toxicroak asks in a concerned manner. Sebastian looks at him for a moment before shaking his head.

"It's...nothing, really…"

End of the Cloyster Kingdom Arc.

End of Chapter 20.