“FREEDOM-” “IT HURTS-” “I’LL KILL-” “SO DARK-” “RELEASE-” “REVENGE-”

On and on the voices went, all speaking over each other as loudly as they could, dozens of voices blending together to create an agonizing cacophony of sound. N couldn’t pick out more than a word or two from a voice before it would be swallowed up, vanishing beneath the growing tide of pained and bloodthirsty cries.

“CAN SEE-” “THE PAIN-” LEAVE-”

Suddenly, the stone that Lucas had placed into the tower popped out on its own, jumping down onto the sandy ground and bouncing around like it was alive. The crack in the keystone oozed and frothed with a nauseating purple gas before suddenly erupting like a pot boiling over.

“END IT-” “FIND THEM-” “AGONY-”

The Pressure increased once more. Where with the instances N had experienced in the past had been like a sliver of the control that legends had on the world such as the sudden healing breeze from Suicune, this was something else entirely. It didn’t feel like it was influencing the world, but rather his mind. An unrelenting assault of vicious hatred and despair and apathy and suffering pelted his thoughts all at once, overwhelming him with the notion that the Pokemon in front of him was a threat. He could feel his heart rate increasing, his adrenaline spiking, panic setting in.

That feeling only got worse as the gas swelled up, funneling into an appendage of some sort that tried to escape from the stone as quickly as it could. The end of the gaseous form expanded, swirling about into a disk that quickly began to spin and fill with a series of sickly green orbs that glowed with a yellowish light. The space in the center of the disk was left open though, and the reason was quickly made clear when instead of yet more orbs, a face appeared. Or at least, what might be construed as a face. It was like a child had carved teeth out of the gas with no thought for lips, cruel glaring eyes being cut out with the same strokes of a blade. Left behind was the same green as the orbs, but there was no depth to the carving, nothing beyond the gas, just a crude mockery of humanity that distorted with every swirl of the fumes.

The left “eye” blinked closed, and when it opened once more there was a strange black swirl that quickly tracked everyone present. That must be how it actually saw.

‘YOU’LL PAY-” “INNOCENT-” “JUSTIFIED-”

The mouth didn’t move with its- their- words, but N did notice that with every voice he could make out, one of the orbs glowed slightly brighter for a moment.

The gas quickly approached him, as if to devour him, and his panic turned into a sense of doom, like there was no escape from the Spiritomb.

It stopped mere inches from his face and his knees buckled, setting him on his rear as the Spiritomb looked back, finding that its gas was still inside the keystone, at least partially.

“NO-” “TRAPPED-” “PRISON-”

They turned their gaze back to him, and he could feel their hatred growing. He heard the keystone grinding against the ground and the thud of it hopping forward.

The limit of their reach wouldn’t save him this time.

As Spiritomb lunged for him once more, he was swallowed up within darkness. He couldn’t breathe, couldn’t see, couldn’t hear. The hatred and despair had vanished, but the fear it had instilled within him still lingered.

Was that it? Had he died so suddenly?

Or, wait, wasn’t this more like-

All at once the Pressure returned, but so did the rest of his senses. He could see Spiritomb some distance away and a more familiar spirit much closer. He could feel the dirt beneath his palms and rear and a soft breeze tugging at his hair. He could hear… well, Spiritomb’s wailing was still too loud to hear much of anything else when compounded with the blood pumping through his ears. He gasped for breath, and forced himself to focus on the tiny ghost in front of him.

Mimikyu had saved him.

In a flurry of thought, he finally remembered that he wasn’t alone. Turning towards his companions, he found that Lucas wasn’t doing much better than him, Torterra was trembling so hard that a few leaves were shaking right out of his tree, and Rotom… he couldn't actually see Rotom, but assumed his phone was around here somewhere.

“Damn, wasn’ far ‘nough…” N somehow managed to hear Mimikyu groan out adorably.

Not far enough? He had just saved them, why-

The wailing got even louder, and when N looked towards Spiritomb once more, the face seemed to be dragging the keystone behind it in an awkward series of hops and skids and rolls that was far faster than the bumbling locomotion would suggest.

It was heading their way.

“Again! Get us out of here!” Torterra demanded of the little fae, but N didn’t think it was going to happen.

Mimikyu’s cute disguise was close to limp. Not quite as bad as when he had tried chasing down Darkrai, but he was barely holding on. Why, though? This wasn’t that great of a distance, especially compared to what he’d done in the past. Was it because he’d taken all of them with him?

“We’re gonna ‘ave ta beat it!” Mimikyu shot back, but it was obviously little more than blustering, like a small child proclaiming they would be a Pokemon Master.

Torterra was their strongest by far, and he was terrified.

Lucas quickly rattled off a series of claps and snaps that N couldn’t make heads or tails of, and Torterra looked at his trainer like the boy was insane. But Spiritomb was getting closer and they were running low on options, so the giant steeled himself and flung something at them. N watched as the projectile passed clear through Spiritomb’s gaseous form, but when the move hit the keystone it quickly sprouted out into the sapping vines of a Leech Seed, tangling up what little solid form was there.

Spiritomb stumbled, but was only slowed marginally. Leech Seed would drain it over time, and it didn’t seem like the spirits had any plan to remove it, but N highly doubted they would last long enough for it to have any real effect.

Mimikyu had finally learned how to use moves, but a cute little thing like his friend going up against a much more experienced Ghost type would only end poorly. How could they delay them? If they could just survive long enough….

But no matter how hard N thought, no matter how many plans he went over in his head, the only thing that changed was how close Spiritomb was getting.

“We… we need to run,” he finally said. Spiritomb was faster than he thought it’d be with a body like that, but it wasn’t fast. If they just made a run for it, they could probably get away.

But if they did run, they’d just be leaving Spiritomb behind to attack someone else.

They clearly weren’t in their right mind, if they even had a right mind with so many of them trying to do things at once. With a bit of distance between them, N was only just capable of thinking past his primitive fear and considering Spiritomb’s awful situation. So many different voices all vying to have their thoughts be heard…

“Maybe yer right,” Mimikyu quickly agreed, “if we can lead it back ta Hearthome then maybe Fantina can-”

“Apologies for the delay,” a new voice spoke up from right behind him, causing N to jump in fright. “And for that as well, lord N.” When N turned towards the voice, he found one of the Shadows was apologizing to him.

“You- when did-” N stumbled over his words as he tried to calm his racing heart.

“That can wait,” the Shadow dismissed. “For now, would we be correct in assuming that you wish for that Pokemon to be dismissed with as little harm done to it as possible?”

All N could manage was a nod of his head before Spiritomb wailed once more.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

This time, though, instead of the hatred and despair that they had started with, they let out a wail of pain as the keystone was struck by a shining blade, launched back towards the Hallowed Tower and away from N and the others.

A Pokemon familiar to N stood where the blow had been dealt. Thin red limbs sprouted out from its small black body, and its orange eyes were cast in shadow by an oversized helmet. The Pawniard gave Spiritomb a mocking bow, careful not to let the many blades protruding from its body scrape against each other.

“Will that be enough?” Torterra grumbled anxiously as he helped Lucas stand back up, apparently too relieved by the sudden appearance of help to question it.

Lucas, however, eyed the Shadow warily and the Pawniard with a curiosity N wasn’t sure he liked. Thankfully it only lasted for a moment before another wave of Spiritomb’s Pressure crashed down on them, drawing all eyes back to the collection of spirits.

“A Pawniard should resist any attacks, but I ain’ sure about the diff’rence in raw power…” Mimikyu hesitantly answered.

And it was impossible to tell at a glance. Pawniard were known for taking an absurdly long time to evolve, so being in its first stage didn’t necessarily mean it was on the weaker end of the spectrum. The fact that it had pushed Spiritomb back was a good indicator that there was some muscle in those thin limbs. But at the same time, there were no obvious signs on Spiritomb that they had actually been hurt. It was possible that injuries were present and just not visible from this distance, but given that most of it was made up of gas…

N turned towards the Shadow. “Are you sure your Pawniard can handle this on their own?”

The Shadow only raised an eyebrow in response.

“We are the Shadow Triad, lord N,” another voice spoke from behind him.

N managed not to jump that time, though it was a close call with the Pressure bearing down on him. The other two Shadows stepped into view before gesturing towards the battle.

That was… a lot of Pawniard. Quickly counting them up, N could spot six of them now, with the one that had first appeared taking the lead. The Shadows had an entire pack of Pawniard? And if they were obeying one, it must be close to evolving into a Bisharp…

“Ya got a full teams worth of Pawniard and nothin’ else?” Mimikyu remarked with a note of confusion in his endearing accent as they watched the pack leap into action. A flurry of blades gleaming with Metal Claw hacked away at Spiritomb’s face and keystone, their work quickly cutting Torterra’s Leech Seed to shreds.

“RETRIBUTION-” “PLEASE STOP-” “DIE-”

Though it pained N to see a Pokemon get ganged up on like this, even through the crushing fear that had a cold sweat soaking through his clothes, he couldn’t say that it wasn’t necessary.

It might not even be enough.

It was hard to make out details when the spirits were constantly under assault by the pack, but it seemed that for every few shining Metal Claws they suffered, Spiritomb struck back with a mess of dreadful energy. At times it looked like a Dark Pulse, other instances looked more like a Payback or Shadow Ball, but it was never quite recognizable as any particular move.

Nor would any of those explain how every time they seemed to suffer some sort of critical blow, they would suddenly perk back up as one of the Pawniard suffered an invisible attack.

“I had heard that you were perceptive, but it would seem that such rumors were faulty.” An unfamiliar voice spoke up, a strange combination of muffled and raspy and wet. Next to one of the Shadows an Accelgor had appeared. Taller than the Pawniard, but shorter than the Spiritomb, its head was hidden beneath a hot pink shell with black and green highlights, and whatever portion of its slender body might have been visible outside of the shell was wrapped up in blue strips of cloth that obscured any features beyond its arms. “With a foe such as this,” Accelgor continued, “we must not allow our masters to face danger.”

“We…?” Torterra looked around, eager for a distraction from the hatred.

“The pack is normally enough to fell any enemies,” Accelgor ignored the question, “however…”

As the battle wore on, and the pack’s attacks became more vicious, it was becoming clear who the victor would be.

Spiritomb was still raging on just as strongly as they had upon being partially released from the seal, and the pack was tiring. Having six of them in battle at once was making it a drawn out affair, but they’d only be able to go on for so long. Another wave of Pressure washed over them, but N must have been getting used to it because it didn’t strike quite as much fear into him, though it still sent a shiver down his spine.

“This is problematic,” one of the Shadows commented. “Lord N, do you or your companions know of a way to deal with this Pokemon? I am unfamiliar with it.”

N grimaced. “Mimkyu had suggested trying to get Fantina involved…”

The Shadows shared a look. “That will not do. Surely there is some weakness we can exploit?”

“Rotom has found a solution! Bzzzrt!” N’s errant phone called out, pushing the speakers as loud as they could go. “Rotom suggests you move out of the way!”

N turned to see what the Electric type was talking about, but halfway through the movement one of the Shadows tackled him to the ground. The tumble wasn’t pleasant, but he was thankful for it when he saw the absolutely giant ball of misty pink energy fly overhead.

His eyes tracked the attack. The pack of Pawniard jumped away from Spiritomb, and the spirits’ eyes grew wide in fright.

“ACCURSED-” “FOUL-” “STAY AWAY-”

They tried to hop out of the way, but it was too little, too late. The blast struck their face as they howled in pain, and N watched as the gas sank back into the keystone, the Pressure vanishing like a weight off of his shoulders as the last of the purple disappeared from sight.

As the adrenaline began to leave his system, he turned to look at their savior, another chill running down his spine.

Perhaps he’d been wrong, earlier. Maybe it wasn't the fear that had him shivering.

It could very well be the snow that was falling down on them as the sun’s rays were obscured by clouds.

“Rotom has saved the day! Bzzrt! You may begin praising Rotom!”

N let out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.

“Good job, Rotom.”

----------------------------------------

Lucas was confused.

When N had started talking to the Pokemon about some other Pokemon being stuck inside a rock for hundreds of years, he’d been concerned. A year was a really long time, let alone hundreds! He couldn’t imagine being stuck in some sort of time out for that long.

And when they’d reached the Hallowed Tower, well, it just sort of made sense that the Odd Keystone he’d been gifted went there.

But then the Pokemon stuck inside the stone attacked them out of nowhere, and he was in some weird pitch black thing for a minute before being teleported. Since when did Mimikyu know Teleport? That could be so useful!

And then some weird ninja dudes show up with a bunch of Pokemon he’d never seen before, and apparently they knew N? How could N know ninjas and not tell him! That’s like, one of the first things you should tell people! Lucas would definitely be telling everyone that he knew ninjas now. Well, maybe if he could do it conveniently without talking…

And then the ninja dudes fought the Pokemon in the Odd Keystone, and as they were losing Rotom showed up with a new Pokemon that saved them!

That was the most confusing part, really.

He knew that Rotom was a weird Pokemon, but how did Rotom know where to find a Pokemon strong enough to beat the Keystone Pokemon?

And, well, why did it look so weird?

He’d never seen a Ninetales in person before, but he’d seen them on TV, and the one that Rotom had brought them did not look right.

Maybe it was sick?

A Ninetales was supposed to have yellow, sandy colored fur and be super warm. He had read in a fun fact book that some Ninetales could cause droughts wherever they went!

This one though… its fur was sort of blue-ish grey-ish white-ish? It sort of shimmered like the snow covered ground when the sun came out. And it was cold, like winter had come early to Sinnoh. Though maybe that was because of the snowstorm and not the Ninetales. Unless the Ninetales was causing the snowstorm?

Maybe when a Ninetales gets sick instead of causing droughts they cause snow storms.

That sort of makes sense, right?

Either way, Torterra didn’t seem to be a fan. Which was fair, given the whole weak to Fire and Ice types thing. The poor guy was shivering even worse than Lucas was.

Lucas should probably warm him up… but he wasn’t sure leaving himself defenseless around a bunch of ninjas and sharp Pokemon and a sick Ninetales was a good idea. So instead of returning Torterra into his ball, he released his other Pokemon on top of Torterra’s shell, making sure to keep them away from Mimikyu as he climbed on himself.

“Bi.”

“Vee eevee!”

Bibarel and Eevee are furry, so they should help Torterra keep warm. And Togepi… well, honestly he just didn’t want the little guy to feel left out.

“Togepriii!”

Lucas smiled as Togepi got excited over the snowfall.

“Well we have to do something!” He heard N angrily shout from over where he and the ninjas were inspecting the Odd Keystone.

Hmm.

Probably best to stay out of that.

Maybe in all the confusion of the clean up they’d forget that he was the one who put the Odd Keystone into the tower.

Hopefully.