Brutus stood vigil over a burning pyre, clasping his hands in a silent prayer.

He wasn't a particularly religious man, but the Pyre Vigil was a tradition that all rangers observed for their dead comrades. The bodies of the fallen rangers who participated in the cult suppression were gently laid inside the pyre and burned with spiritual flames, which were believed to guide and provide safe passage to the afterlife.

Even if you didn't believe in the mythos of the Pyre Vigil, most rangers still observed the tradition anyway out of respect.

When the sun finally rose and the smoke from the pyre ceased to rise, Brutus gathered the living rangers. "Samuel will return any surviving pokemon belonging to the fallen rangers to their families, and give them compensation. Merits will be assigned and awarded by HQ as soon as possible. Does anyone have any questions?"

"Yeah, I do." The person who spoke up in question was a grizzled man with many vicious scars lining his face. Brutus identified him as Rory Hirsch, a retired ranger who had served for more than three decades.

Rory puffed aggressively on a lit cigar, almost as if trying to intimidate Brutus with his display. "I want to know why the chucklefucks at headquarters decided to conscript local rangers to suppress the rift, instead of sending seasoned veterans from the ghost legion to deal with the cult. We obeyed the summons and came in force to fight, but you of all people should know that we're not equipped to deal with this shit. We lost a lot of good men today - good, patriotic men who work a shit job with shit pay just because they want to protect their region. Why didn't they send more of you?"

'Because Celadon is a political shit storm and HQ doesn't want to get caught in the crossfire between the resident great factions,' was what Brutus wanted to say, but he didn't dare to admit it aloud.

Even Sovereigns would age and eventually die, even if it took much longer than normal. The continued dominance of the Celadon Conservatives relied entirely on the existence of their leader, Sovereign Amadeus Belding, a truly distinguished trainer who had risen in an era of conflict and united the then warring families of Celadon. Under his leadership, Celadon was ushered into an age of prosperity and expanded at an incredible speed to become one of Kanto's eight capital cities.

The only issue… was that he was going to die soon.

The Celadon Progressives were a young but ambitious organization, and like sharks to the frenzy, they smelled blood in the water. Cracks had already begun to form within the various families making up the conservatives, and with the knowledge that Sovereign Amadeus would pass away soon, people were already beginning to scheme and plot behind the scenes to take advantage of his absence.

There was a common saying among the rangers in Celadon that both the conservatives and progressives hated the government. After all, both groups did their best to limit police recruitment, stifled the ranger corps, and actively reduced league oversight in Celadon. The only people who still bothered joining the police or ranger corps were either extremely patriotic, or had no other options.

However, this hadn't always been the case - places like Roko Square and the Veteran's Memorial begged to differ. There had been a time where veterans and rangers were honored and encouraged - but that time had passed.

As one of General Agatha's direct subordinates, Brutus was privy to the real reason behind the sudden shift in mentality.

Right in the heart of Celadon, a secret war between the conservatives and progressives was beginning to foment. Since Sovereign Amadeus was going to die soon, both great factions were gearing themselves up to engage in a bloody conflict for the control and reins over Celadon City.

Two tigers couldn't share a mountain - and with the rapidly approaching death of the biggest and meanest tiger, Celadon was like a juicy piece of steak ready to be carved up. Neither of the two great factions, whether that be the conservatives or progressives, wanted the league interfering. They wanted to limit the number of external variables which could affect their conflict, which meant the police and ranger corps had to go.

"HQ is short on qualified members," Brutus lied between his teeth without an ounce of shame. "Recently, the Distortion Cult have been sending more of their cells to set up in Kanto, and the Ghost Legion has been busy suppressing all the rifts they're opening. We don't have members to spare and we're spread thin right now."

"That's utter horseshit," Rory called out. He spat his cigar onto the floor and crushed it beneath his boot. "Even my thirteen year old son's ponyta can spew better shit than what you just said. I want the truth."

Brutus considered his options for a moment. "It's classified, I'm afraid. That's all I can say."

Rory looked outraged. He was about to continue his line of questioning when Brutus decided that soft tactics had failed, so he fell back on his military training.

"It's CLASSIFIED ranger! So stop asking stupid questions, and disperse! This is a direct order from your commanding officer! Am I clear?"

"It's very clear!" Fulton, the ice specialist, bit in quickly before Rory could fire off another retort. "We understand sir!"

Fulton grabbed Rory by his wrist and started dragging him off, ignoring his protests and motioning for the younger rangers gathered to follow him. They obeyed and followed, given his status as a ranger captain within the local Celadon branch.

From what Brutus knew, Fulton was a transfer who had been moved to the Celadon branch a few years back. He was technically a Johtoan given that he was born along the Sinjoh DMZ, but his father held a Kantonian passport. All of these things were mentioned within his file, which Brutus easily pulled up to read on his pokedex.

Thanks to his Dusknoir's proficient divination skills, Brutus had been able to enjoy a live feed of the battles taking place outside the rift even as he was busy destroying everything inside and trying to close the rift.

Brutus had been initially scornful of Fulton.

A three-star Ace at the Inherited who only went after puny External cultists? Someone like that deserved to be kicked from the ranger corps. Brutus had thought that Fulton was shirking his responsibility and minimizing the risk to himself. The fact that Fulton exclusively targeted External cultists initially gave Brutus the impression that he was a coward.

Unlike regular trainers who reached the External stage through their own efforts, these cultists were obvious beneficiaries of demonic aura, a type of variant aura combining the ghost and dark elemental types. The progression of demonic aura usually demanded grisly sacrifices to be made, but the benefit was that your growth speed would be boosted to absurd levels.

The Distortion Cult could afford to throw away the lives of External cultists like fodder precisely because it was so easy for them to raise more. Within a year or two, even an idiot could reach the External if they went down the route of demonic aura. However, trainers who used demonic aura would have unstable foundations. Even after reaching the External, their defenses would be weak and flimsy, and easily broken apart unlike a more orthodox trainer.

When Brutus had watched Fulton cut down dozens of External cultists in one strike each, he felt disdain for both parties. Fulton, for going after soft targets instead of letting his juniors get experience fighting. The cultists, because their foundations were so unstable that their auras collapsed under a single hit.

It wasn't until Fulton broke off to occupy the cult admin that Brutus revised his opinion of him.

Fulton had shown an admirable performance in delaying the admin. While Eliza was busy taking out the admin's pokemon, Fulton was able to delay the admin and stop him from going after other rangers nearby. Without his interference, many more rangers would have lost their lives, ace rangers included. Brutus noted that three newly advanced ace rangers had already been slaughtered by the cult admin before Fulton showed up to distract and occupy his attention.

The ice specialist looked to be an interesting person, and Brutus would definitely be keeping an eye on him if they ever met again.

Brutus felt something tug on his shadow, and turned to salute.

General Agatha's starter, a gengar named Baal, stared back at him with a creepy smile.

"Throw the admin to him," Brutus ordered his subordinate. "And you, Gavin, stay back. You're on loan, so I don't want to explain to your master why your soul ended up in Baal's belly."

Gavin paled, his intentions apparently having been revealed. "I just want a closer look man. It's General freaking Agatha's starter! Is it really going to eat me? I mean, it's a Sovereign's starter pokemon," Gavin continued jabbering, much to Brutus' annoyance. "Shouldn't the General have him kept on a tight leash?"

"I might consider actually telling Baal to eat you if you don't shut up right now," Brutus said darkly, giving Gavin a look. The man just didn't know when to stop talking, and it was clear that he was of a talkative sort. He's talking so much I can't even hear myself think.

"General Agatha wouldn't really let her pokemon eat me, would she?"

"She would," was Brutus' response. "I wouldn't test Baal if I were you. He doesn't like faeries, and you should know why."

"Ah."

Gavin had a sudden look of realization on his face. "So Baal is that pokemon."

"Yes, now shut up!" Brutus snapped, his patience fraying. "I don't want to hear another word out of your damn mouth, or I'll really sic him on you! Baal has probably swallowed a good few hundred thousand souls by this point, so adding another won't make any difference. Even your master wouldn't cross the General if she really had Baal eat you."

Samuel and Eliza stood to the side, watching the entire monkey show play out with great interest. The admin was still unconscious and lying on the ground. Brutus sighed.

"Toss the damn admin to Baal."

"Got it boss," Samuel replied snappilly. "Want me to toss in a few other souls as well? Baal might appreciate some more."

"Sure. He likes to gnaw on demonic auras. How many Inherited souls have you managed to seal this time?"

I should probably throw Baal a few snacks too, come to think of it. Brutus considered. It doesn't hurt to be on the good side of a Titled Pokemon.

Samuel clapped his hands and spread them out, manifesting a cage of psychic aura which showed several struggling souls trying to escape. The souls within howled, having realized what was about to happen to them. Brutus didn't pity them one bit.

"Five? That's not bad at all."

"None of them are anywhere near the peak of Inherited though, with the exception of the admin," Samuel said mournfully. "These are all newbie Inherited. They probably got boosted to that level by giving offerings as well. Oh well."

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Samuel sent the entire cage rocketing into the lazily waiting mouth of Baal, who swallowed it with an appreciative glint in his violet eyes. From within his belly, Samuel could hear horrifying screams of pain as the ace cultists were tortured to death and digested, and he wiped some sweat off his brow. Even after doing this many many times over the course of his career, he still wasn't used to seeing it. That's the appetizer, Brutus thought snarkily. Now for the main course.

The cult admin was being saved for last, and upon seeing him brought closer, Baal stretched his Chesire grin until it became uncanny, unhinging his jaw into an abyssal maw. He lazily hovered in place, waiting for Samuel to throw the man in.

This isn't even your main body, Brutus sighed. Can't you just move a few inches closer to feed yourself? We captured your food and everything. Do you really need us to put it in your mouth? You might as well ask us to help you chew.

'If you keep thinking like that, maybe I should ask you to help me chew,' Baal snapped back mentally at Brutus, projecting his voice. 'I'm not dining at some shitty fast food chain. This is a three course meal, and you guys are the ones serving it.'

'Who's the dessert?' Brutus wondered, projecting back to Baal. 'The aces Samuel captured are the appetizer. The admin is the main course. Who's the dessert?'

Baal smirked, turning his head to look at Gavin, who instantly paled. 'Didn't you answer that question yourself already?'

"Please do not eat our dear friend Gavin," Brutus said loudly instantly for everyone to hear, hinting for Gavin to skedaddle. "I don't think General Agatha will be happy to hear that you caused another diplomatic incident by eating a retainer from the Unseelie Court. In fact, I think she would be absolutely furious."

Gavin turned to flee and suddenly found himself frozen in place, bound by mystical manacles made from tortured souls. His shadow started wriggling as a mouth formed, and Gavin shrieked, as did Brutus and his subordinates, alarmed at what Baal was about to do.

Baal reared his head up, his form growing monstrous and twisted as the shadows nearby began to elongate and warp. An intense feeling of pressure and fear washed over everyone present as Baal unhinged his jaw further and further, letting Brutus see a myriad of tortured souls that were still being digested by the terrifying ghost. From within Baal's maw, the souls he had eaten screamed and wailed, and these sounds combined with the eerie ambience of the forest to create a blood curdling melody that shook everyone present. He's going to eat Gavin. Fuck.

Brutus was prepared to throw out his entire team to prevent what surely would be another major diplomatic event when suddenly, the chains released and Gavin found himself slumped on the ground. Baal snapped his mouth shut with a vindictive glare and then started sighing.

'You guys are such killjoys,' Baal moaned piteously. 'What's the point in having unlimited power if you can't abuse it? Rules this, rules that, you humans are just ridiculous. I've been telling Agatha for years that she should go terrorize the neighboring regions for fun, maybe get into a few fights with some fellow sovereigns like the old times, but she just doesn't listen! It's always league this, regional politics that, and blah blah blah. It's actually disgusting that you people live like this...'

Baal unhinged his jaw again, this time ignoring Gavin and devouring the cult admin in a single bite, swallowing him but not digesting him. Was there a difference? Certainly. For one, it meant his soul was still intact.

"You're going to eat him after General Agatha plumbs his soul for whatever he knows right?" Brutus asked, stating the obvious.

'No Brutus, I'm going to help him reconstruct his body and let him go live a happy life, get married, have kids, and become a productive citizen of the Indigo League. Are you stupid? Are you thick in the head? Of course I'm going to eat him!'

With that merry statement, Baal sunk into the shadow of a nearby tree and completely vanished, leaving Brutus and his subordinates alone. Gavin was still shivering from his near death experience.

Just another day on the job, Brutus thought mournfully. Now I have to go file paperwork.

Brutus turned to Gavin and kicked him on the rump for being a dumbass. "Your contract has expired. Good work on stopping the admin from escaping or whatever. You can go home."

Gavin gave him a weak nod and had one of his pokemon teleport him away. Brutus was similarly about to go home and shadow travel back to HQ with his subordinates when he noticed two more figures emerging from the ground, rising up out of the shadow he cast.

Not the hunter-killers. Fuck. I don't want to stick around to help them investigate shit. This is gonna take hours.

Brutus watched the two figures corporealize from the shadow, revealing two people he was very familiar with - Sekihara and Koda, senior members of the hunter-killer division who excelled in tracking and assassination. Sekihara wore a black trench coat and faceless mask, standing in stark contrast to Koda who wore a simple white blazer with a tie.

Koda was a swordsman with a life bound aegislash, while Sekihara was a sneaky sort who fought with electrified wires. Both were also somehow generalists, and Brutus didn't have the slightest clue why they joined the ghost legion.

Probably because their starters are ghosts, was Brutus' assumption. Koda had an aegislash, while Sekihara had a rotom. Brutus was not pleased to see either of them, especially as it meant he wouldn't be able to go home any time soon.

His face darkened. "What are you two muppets doing here?"

"We're here on the General's orders to investigate a disturbance in the Whispering Woods," Sekihara replied.

Something inside Brutus snapped.

"Are you clowns stupid?" Brutus bellowed, finally losing his temper. "Sekihara, use your fucking brain! We were tackling a rift! OF COURSE THERE WAS A BLOODY DISTURBANCE!"

"Please don't shout at my partner," Koda replied mildly. "I know you don't like him, but we're on an important mission right now, and it's crucial that we work together. Let's just talk this through calmly, okay? There's been a change in the situation. The general asked us to come here as quickly as possible to track a possible anomaly - which you definitely haven't sensed by the way, otherwise you wouldn't be shouting right now."

"Okay, I can be calm." Brutus responded, somewhat calmly. "Just tell me what you want. I'm too tired to be arguing anymore today. I've spent the last six months trudging through the shittiest parts of the distortion world, and the moment I get back home, I'm told I'm the closest legion commander to Celadon's new rift and that I have to suppress it. Right now, I'm basically dead on my feet. If you have something to say, just tell me."

Koda motioned for his partner to brief Brutus.

"The Silent Witch has broken free of her prison," Sekihara said bluntly. "The rift those cultists opened was close enough to her cage to destabilize it - after nearly two hundred years, the cage was likely already close to crumbling on its own anyways. Can you lead us to the exact area in which you found the rift?"

Brutus stared, wide eyed at Sekihara. "Are you shitting me?"

"The Silent Witch has broken free-" Sekihara began, preparing to repeat what he said, but Brutus quickly interrupted him.

"No, I heard you the first time," Brutus groaned, putting his palms to his temples. "This is fucked. Are you seriously telling me that the Silent Witch has broken free?"

"Yes."

"Is this the same Silent Witch that has a grudge against General Agatha because her master hunted her to the ends of the earth for nearly a century alongside a group of other sovereigns?"

"That is also a yes."

"You're kidding right?"

"Unfortunately, no."

Brutus thought about it for a second and just gave up on thinking about it. Not my problem anymore. This is out of my paygrade.

He was about to shadow travel home when he saw Sekihara tapping his foot impatiently, apparently waiting for Brutus to do something. "What are you standing around for? Aren't you here to investigate the release of the Silent Witch?"

"We need your help," Sekihara replied pointedly. "With identifying the location of the rift. We're going to dive into the rift first to check out possible disturbances, and then go examine the extradimensional prison the Silent Witch was caged in."

"Come again?"

"We need your help-"

"NO!" Brutus roared. "Stop repeating yourself! It's a rhetorical question! This is why I hate talking to you Sekihara! You're a fucking robot! The fact that your starter pokemon is a rotom just makes this that much worse! Koda, speak! I don't want to hear your partner say another word, or I'm going to actually lose it!"

Sekihara looked completely unfazed by the outburst, and tacitly stepped back to let his partner take over.

"Okay," Brutus breathed out, taking some time to calm himself down. Spending six months alone in the distortion world had definitely done a number on his psyche. My emotions are completely in disarray - I might have actually gone too deep this time into the distortion world. Shit. I'm gonna have to go to medical again for psychological treatment.

"Let's start over. Your request is basically impossible, since you want me to show you the exact area the rift is located."

"Yeah, what's the problem with that?" Sekihara spoke up. "You just need to point out the spot when we get near."

Whatever semblance of calm Brutus had managed to gather vanished instantly again.

Brutus could feel himself about to pop a blood vessel. "THE FOREST MOVES! They don't call this place the fucking Whispering Woods for nothing! Every tree in here is either a trevenant, or controlled by one! And within the domain of the Soul Tree, the very landscape of the forest changes by the hour! You're telling me you want me to help you find the exact spot the rift appeared in? You must be taking the piss!"

"Samuel, Eliza, let's go home!" Brutus stomped off, preparing to shadow travel.

"You'll be written up for this Brutus!" Koda shouted from behind. "All members of the ghost legion are required to render assistance to the hunter-killers under General Agatha's direct command, and you're no different!"

Fuck.

Brutus groaned and turned around, dragging himself toward Koda. "Fuck! I'll go with you. I'm warning you though, the trevenants here have probably already eaten every body, including the dead pokemon, and any bloodshed will have seeped into the cursed earth below. You won't find even a single identifying marker remaining."

"That's fine, we already know the exact location of the extradimensional prison the Silent Witch was sealed within," Koda said. "It's just the rift that we can't find. We know it's within the general vicinity of the prison's anchor to the material world, so you'll just have to point it out when we get close. Don't worry about the prison itself. Since General Agatha's master was the one to seal the Silent Witch, she gave her successor, and thus her subordinates - us - full access to the interior of the prison."

"Also, I'm sorry about my partner."

Koda bowed slightly, giving Brutus a nod of sympathy. "I know that Sekihara is a little difficult to be around, and you're no doubt tired from your deep dive into the distortion world. I'm just asking for a little patience here - it won't take long at all. Please work with us."

Brutus exhaled loudly, having come to a decision. "This is partly my fault too. I'm not usually like this - Sekihara, we might have our differences, but at the end of the day, we're still comrades in arms and subordinates of the general. Please accept my apology."

Koda's partner didn't say anything in response, but the small nod he gave indicated his acceptance.

Brutus closed his eyes and took deep breaths, trying to clear his mind. "Be warned - I'm still under the influence of the distortion world. I promise that I won't have any more outbursts like this one, but I'll be very volatile until I get back to HQ for treatment. I'll still go with you two to investigate the prison site and rift, but I need to send my subordinates back before we head out."

Eliza looked like she was about to fall over, so Brutus grabbed her and helped hold her up. Koda stepped to the side to let Brutus do his thing.

"I'll send you and Samuel back first," Brutus sighed, helping Eliza hobble over to the largest shadow they could find. The bloody holes lining her body were slowly healing, but they still leaked a disgusting yellow pus, and Brutus gagged at the smell.

"Sorry boss," Eliza whispered. "I don't think my body's gonna hold up for much longer. I think I'm gonna need to take a sabbatical after this. For like, at least a few months."

"I could probably get you a month," Brutus offered her. "But that really depends on the frequency of the cult's attacks."

"Even a month is good," Eliza replied. "Any vacation is good nowadays."

"Isn't that the truth," Brutus remarked bitterly. "I'll be with the hunter-killers investigating the escape or whatever instead of relaxing at home. Enjoy your holiday Eliza."

Samuel huddled closer to Eliza and Brutus called out his dusknoir, letting it sweep the both of them into the shadow. After confirming that they had fully disappeared, Brutus turned back to Sekihara and Koda.

"Can you try to make this fast? I really, really need a break."

"No." Sekihara said directly. Brutus twitched a little.

"How long is this going to take?"

"At least a month," Koda said awkwardly. "I lied a little bit."

"Shit."