Mimikyu focused on that strange feeling inside of him. That shadowy cloak, the flesh on his bones, his Source.

It felt like it was getting easier to pull on it now. The threads of the cloth, the sinews of the muscle, unraveling faster with every attempt, rushing to fall apart and take on a new shape.

Not so much a distinct shape that anyone could see, but something new. Something dark and ugly and foul that he could feel, wrapping around his mouth, weaving into his lips…

These metaphors really get away from me sometimes. Do I even have a mouth? I mean I shove food inside and can taste it, so I must, right? A sense of taste would require that I have taste buds, a tongue.

It bothers me that I’m not sure of that.

The distracted thoughts had caused the move to collapse. The energy flowing back to its natural state.

Pulling on it once more, this time without the idle thoughts of the mechanics of it all, Mimikyu focused the Dark type energy into his voice.

“Hey ugly!” he called out to a Murkrow perched on the Lost Tower.

The bird looked at him with a glower, having fallen for the-

“Are you serious?” The Murkrow laughed. “Hey, hey guys! The little weirdo is still at it!”

More mocking laughter filled the air as a few spirits poked their heads out of the walls to look down at him.

Fuck! I can feel it happening! I know I’m using Taunt! So why won’t it fucking work?!

“You are very bad at this,” a voice laced with electricity informed him from behind.

“Why thank you, Rotom! I never woulda figured that out on my own, ya know! Here I was thinkin’ that I ‘ad it all down pat!”

I’m getting too worked up over this. Is being so close to the tower affecting my emotional state? Or maybe it’s just the lack of progress…

Although a considerable amount of time had passed since Cynthia’s departure, they hadn’t covered much ground. Part of that was probably due to their mental states after the events with Spiritomb, but it was mostly because Lucas had convinced everyone to stop by the Lost Tower for a bit for some training and exploration.

Mimikyu had figured he might as well get some experience with his moves, but… progress was slow.

“Rotom could give you some pointers if you’d like?” The flip phone buzzed, floating in front of him.

I suppose some pointers wouldn’t hurt. Not like I’m getting anywhere on my own.

“Ya know Taunt?”

“No, Rotom has never used Taunt. But Rotom was… acquaintances with someone who was fond of it. Rotom thinks Rotom has identified the problem.”

“Lay it on me, then.”

Rotom hummed. “To start with… your taunts are very weak. Perhaps they might work if you were trying to use it against a human who could understand you, like N, but not a Pokemon. You must have spent more time around humans than other Pokemon…”

Ha. More than you know…

“Somethin’ like that. What am I doin’ wrong, then? How do ya insult a Pokemon properly?”

“Well, for Pokemon that follow group behaviors, like that Murkrow, you might slight their superior. Something like Your Honchkrow is as cowardly as a Bonsly might work. While Honchkrow aren’t exactly known for being respectable, calling one into question is a sure way to infuriate their murder. You might tell a Lumineon that their scales are as captivating as a Magikarp’s, or a Crobat that they’re as slow as a Snorlax.”

Isn’t that just basic insults like I’ve been doing, though? I’ve already tried calling them ugly cowards and they just laughed. Or is it-

“Are ya sayin’ that the comparison to another Pokemon is the impor’ant bit?”

“Not in every case, but it certainly helps,” Rotom chimed. “If you call a Murkrow ugly, they won’t care because they assume you’re working on Mimikyu standards. But a comparison to something like a Feebas which is widely known to be ugly regardless of species actually means something to them. But beyond the lack of creativity in your insults, there is one other factor you aren’t considering. When you practiced your Shadow Claw against Torterra, how did he react?”

Crazy bastard just kept telling me to hit him again…

“He didn’ react much at all, I guess.”

“Exactly!” Rotom cheered. “Torterra is a bulky Pokemon, he can shrug off weak attacks easily.”

Ouch. Can’t exactly argue with that assessment, though.

“What does that ‘ave ta do with Taunt, though? It ain’ a damagin’ move, there’s no defense for it to cut through.”

“Are you sure about that? Just because there is no hide for claws to bounce off of does not mean that there is no defense. It just isn’t so obvious. Really, Rotom thinks you might have been successful already if not for your poor targets.”

What’s so special about some Ghastly and a Murkrow?

“What’s wrong with my targets?”

“Ghost types like you and Rotom, and especially Dark types, practically live for cruelty and taunts. It’s enjoyable. So when someone tries to use it against them, it has to pack more of a punch to have any real effect.”

Huh. So it’s like how Grass types are immune to spore moves and Dark types aren’t affected by Prankster? I wonder if it’s just Taunt or if that extends to other moves like… Embargo or something.

“You should try it with another Pokemon,” Rotom continued, “like that Zubat over there.”

Jerking his body to the left, Rotom indicated toward the treeline, where a single Zubat could be seen hanging from a branch.

A Zubat? I can probably handle that…

Mimikyu focused once more, pulling the Taunt from his source.

“Hey Zubat! You know you freaks are just-” what’s a rat-like Pokemon they would know “Bidoof with wings, right? You both have stupid teeth and are dumber than a box of rocks!”

“Shouldn’t you have said Rattata with wings? Rotom thinks it fits better.”

“You guys know what Rattata are?”

“You have very strange misconceptions.”

“Well I jus’ thought-”

Mimikyu barely registered the glowing wing coming at him in time to dodge out of the way.

“Shut up! You don’t know what you’re talking about!” The Zubat hissed at him, diving in once more.

“Rotom told you it would work!”

“Not tha time!” Mimikyu shouted as he hopped and ran and tripped over himself trying to avoid the infuriated Zubat.

Okay. Deep breaths. It’s just a Zubat, not like it’ll do serious damage, and besides, I wanted this. It gives me the opportunity to try this out for real.

A limb as black as night shot out from beneath the disguise, swiping up towards the Poison type with an eerie glow. Zubat whined as its tiny body was carved up by the Shadow Claw, leaving it dripping blood all over the grass below.

Hell yeah! I did it! I landed a-

Mimikyu felt the impact, but saw nothing but the blue sky as he landed on his back.

“You’re not so tough now, are you?!” Zubat mocked.

Right. First real battle. Shit. What was that, another Wing Attack?

Mimikyu forced himself back up, the disguise’s false head hanging limply, having saved him from harm just this once. Readying another Shadow Claw, his eyes scoured the air, searching for where his opponent had gone… only to see them flying away, back towards the tree line.

They’re just leaving? Was that a “point proven” type of thing?

“Rotom gave them a little shock.”

Mimikyu turned his gaze to the floating flip phone. “Why? I coulda taken them!”

“No you couldn’t,” Rotom instantly denied. “The Wing Attacks were just to knock you down, they were charging up a Brave Bird. Must have been an Egg Move or something.”

Oh. Maybe I couldn’t have taken them…

“Well… thanks then.” You never know who exactly you’re taunting when it comes to wild Pokemon, I guess. I can’t let that stop me, though. I’ve just been tagging along without a way to fight back for too long now. I need to actually learn how to fight. “Do ya think I could take on one of the Ghastly?”

“Do you think you can taunt them properly?”

“Well what if I tried ta…”

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

N forced himself to read the names of every gravestone and placard that they walked past as they slowly made their way up the Lost Tower.

Stolen novel; please report.

Here lies Sparky, the best friend I ever had.

Rest in Peace, Rapidash.

E–eon, a tr–

Some of them were more faded than others, though he was unable to tell if it was due to a difference in care or just the passage of time slowly wearing away at the stone.

Every step they took echoed across the room. With no Lucas, Rotom, or Mimikyu, it was quiet. Fittingly silent for a place where lost souls come for their final rest, but also strange given what they’d been told before making their way up.

A kind woman near the entrance had warned them that travelling beyond the second floor could be difficult without a Pokemon capable of clearing fog, and that while this was a place for those who had passed, many Pokemon had taken it on as their home.

Being the lover of Pokemon that he is, he’d instructed the Shadows to stay quiet so as to not disturb the tower’s residents… but there didn’t seem to be anyone around. He couldn’t hear whispered conversations, rustling, flapping wings… there were no signs of life at all, outside of their group.

He wondered if that had to do with the Ghosts that hid in the Shadows’ shadows.

Or was it only one Ghost? They had a pack of Pawniard between them, but there might be a single unique Pokemon for each of them. He’d only seen one Accelgor, and there had only been the one Ghost that he’d actually seen. He was sure he’d see the last one eventually.

Though jumping to that conclusion might be giving the Shadows too much credit. Their ability to track him down was impressive, but he didn’t know them all too well just yet.

Besides, in his eyes, it was just as likely that Spiritomb’s presence had been stained onto him, turning everyone who had been present into a beacon of that overwhelming negativity. The Pokemon of the Lostlorn Forest had been avoiding Mimikyu when they had first met, so it wasn’t unthinkable that something like Spiritomb would have a similar, if greatly enhanced, effect on the locals.

He didn’t think he would find the answer.

That was okay, though. If he really was disturbing the locals with his presence, he’d feel guilty, but… he needed the time to think, and as horrible as it sounded, this would allow it..

N was meant to be a king. The king. To take his rightful place at the side of one of Unova’s most prominent Legends and turn over this whole, awful system.

And yet, every time he runs into true power he falters.

The Alamos incident was less than ideal, but… understandable, he thought.

But Spiritomb? Far be it from him not to respect any Pokemon, but… for a moment there, he had been more afraid of them than he had Palkia and Dialga, and Spiritomb wasn’t even a Legend.

It might have felt like one, but if Cynthia had two of them sitting on her belt right now… well, he thought that was a pretty good indicator that it wasn’t nearly to that level.

How was he meant to bring Unova’s best and brightest to his side if he collapsed from being too close to Spiritomb?

“You seem troubled, Lord N,” a Shadow spoke up, breaking the silence.

“I am,” N replied simply, thinking it over for a moment before deciding to trust them with more. If they had his fa- Ghetsis’ trust, then they should have his. “I sometimes wonder… if I am truly worthy of the respect I am given. I preach the sanctity of Pokemon’s liberation, their freedom, and yet… Mimikyu is registered to a ball in my possession. I have been traveling with trainers partaking in the Gym circuit. And… well, you saw what I allowed Cynthia to do.”

He couldn’t afford to draw more of Cynthia’s attention than necessary. More of the League’s attention. Not when the initialization of their plans was moving from a time frame of decades away, to years, to seasons.

Keeping their attention elsewhere would save countless Pokemon later.

But did that excuse him for overlooking examples right in front of his face now?

It was a question as old as time, really. How many sacrifices are worth it for the greater good?

“Sometimes in life, there are things that are outside of our control,” one of them began. “If you are to question whether or not you are worthy… then you should be looking at how you respond to those events. Most would not bat an eye at the things you list off as if they’re sins, and yet you struggle with their weight. You do not yet have the power to enact the change which you seek, but you recognize the problems and seek to correct them, even if it will be a slow and arduous process. In my eyes, at the very least, that proves your worthiness.”

It felt reassuring, to hear that from someone else.

He was still worthy. There was no time for self doubt, not when he needed to march onwards toward that better future.

“Thank you.”

They carried on in silence for a while longer, paying their respects to all of the fallen Pokemon in the tower. When they completed their exploration of the floor they were on, they made to move up, but discovered that the woman from before had been right. There was a thick fog on the floor above, one that you wouldn’t be able to get through without tripping over something. Not wanting to desecrate the gravesite, N turned back, leading the way back towards the entrance. It was then that a Shadow spoke up once more.

“While we are alone, there are some things we should discuss, Lord N.”

“Such as?”

“Your new companions, for one. The Rotom can be worked around, but the boy… he is not someone you have spent considerable time with, like that girl from before. We had wanted to avoid revealing ourselves to him, and yet the regrettable encounter with the Spiritomb forced our hand. Someone who has not yet earned trust knowing of our presence is… troubling.”

That was true. He had trusted Ash and Dawn quite a bit, for humans anyway, and he hadn’t shared any details of Plasma with them. Dawn had met the Shadows, but it hadn’t escalated into anything problematic before they had parted ways.

Lucas, though, was seemingly going to be a travelling companion going forward. Somehow involved in whatever secrets Mimikyu held.

“It is troubling, yes,” N agreed, “but it is something that has already come to pass. We cannot change that it happened and truthfully I’m not sure what can be done about it. We’ll simply have to watch what is said around him and his Pokemon. Come up with some lies to distract him from the truth. He’s just a boy, it’s not like he’s some League investigator or anything. Should be relatively simple.”

The Shadows shared a look. “If that is your desire, Lord N, then it shall be done.”

“Though on that note,” N continued, “I was actually curious to learn more about you myself. If you’re going to be shadowing me for the foreseeable future, then I would like to know just who has managed to gain Ghetsis’ trust. He does not give that out easily, as I’m sure you know.”

“Of course, Lord N. Where to begin…”

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

Something was off.

Maybe he was just a bit on edge after the whole definitely-not-his-fault Spiritomb thing, but this scene just didn’t seem right.

“Terra!” Torterra grunted as he slammed his feet into the ground, the Earthquake destroying the terrain beneath Eevee’s feet and forcing him to get creative with his use of Quick Attack, launching himself up into the air instead of forward across the ground. Lucas was impressed with the quick thinking, as it allowed the Normal type to evade the attack almost completely.

Less impressive was the complete lack of a landing strategy that saw Eevee slamming face first into the ground.

With her partner for the training momentarily downed, Bibarel got Torterra’s attention with a Rollout to the face before quickly backing off. It probably wouldn’t last for long, but Lucas had never expected the Duo to win against his ace.

The problem with the whole situation was that no matter how interesting he found the training, he couldn’t keep his eyes off of Togepi. Every time he let out a little “priii!” or clapped along, Lucas found his attention instantly drawn to the adorable little guy.

He didn’t remember it being like this before.

Was he just a bit paranoid about the possibilities of Metronome now? Sure, that could be disastrous, but he didn’t think the cute baby would just start spamming the move whenever he felt like it. The Blizzard incident seemed to be a one off thing, at least so far.

It was like… like Togepi was too cute. Too endearing. And Lucas couldn’t figure out why. The rest of his team hadn’t seemed to pick up on it yet, so maybe he was just imagining it…

But he didn’t think that he was.

Something to keep an eye on.

Maybe N would know?

Oh! Or maybe the ninjas would know! He wondered if the ninjas were going to travel with them now. Wouldn’t that be amazing? Lots of people go on Pokemon journeys, but how many people can say that they’re the best trainer and they travelled with ninjas?

Neither of those had happened to him yet, but he was confident that they would.

Barry and Dawn were going to be so jealous.

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

Cynthia knew that Snowpoint was cold, but it seemed like her body forgot just how cold it truly was every time she came back here. Even in the back rooms of the Gym, while not exposed to the elements or the artificial ice rink where challenges were held, it was only a few degrees away from being able to see her breath.

She couldn’t let her discomfort show, though. Not when dealing with Candice. The girl must be part Ice type herself with the clothes she wore while walking around this place. A white button up shirt hugged her torso tightly while somehow hanging loosely around her forearms. A brown skirt left much more of her thighs exposed than Cynthia was comfortable with, but apparently that length was “totally in” now. She had a nice blue jacket with her… but instead of wearing it, like one should in the cold, she had it tied around her waist. Blue and white striped socks were slipped into brown loafers that definitely weren’t tall enough to keep the snow out when the girl took a step outside her Gym. Her black hair was bound into pigtails with a series of blue scrunchies, bouncing up and down as she jogged up to Cynthia with a smile.

“Hey, Cynthia! You didn’t tell me that you were coming! You are looking absolutely fabulous by the way. Are you here for a battle? I’m ready to beat you this time!”

Cynthia wasn’t sure how someone with such an upbeat personality had ended up as an Ice type specialist, but Candice had the skill required so she tried not to question it too much.

“No battle today, I’m afraid,” Cynthia denied with an easy smile, finding it hard to stay stressed when around her. “And I apologize for the sudden arrival, but some unexpected… opportunities arose today, and I figured you’d want to be informed sooner rather than later.”

Somehow, Candice smiled even wider. “Really? Oh, I love surprises! What is it!?”

Cynthia pulled the pokeball from her belt. “A new team member, if you’re willing to take on some extra responsibilities.”

For the first time Cynthia could remember, Candice’s smile turned into a frown. “You’re just going to give me a Pokemon? I mean, I’m sure one of the Gym trainers would love a new friend, but I prefer to hand pick my team…”

“I know it’s a bit unusual, but this is something I can only trust you with, Candice.”

And even with Candice, it was a tenuous thing. Even with the power that Cynthia held, this wasn’t a decision she could make on her own. She’d had to call Lance and Steven, get their input on the matter. Lance had been adamant about shipping Ninetales off regardless of her wishes, wanting to rid the League of any Fairy types they could, but she and Steven had managed to talk him out of it.

Because Mimikyu was right. As much as she and Lance might hate it, the Fairy type was now a thing in the League whether they liked it or not. Whatever, or more likely whoever, dumped all those fae around their regions had overwhelmed them with a number that simply couldn’t be contained, at least not in a time frame that made a difference.

So Cynthia had come to the conclusion, and had managed to convince Lance with the help of Steven’s calculated logic, that they should use this particular instance as a learning opportunity.

They certainly weren’t going to ask any of the other regions for information. N and his Mimikyu were a whole bundle of problems. And so a Fairy dumped in her lap that didn’t want to go home? As strange of an arrangement as it was, Ninetales had the chance to become their main source of information on the Fairy type. Their strengths, weaknesses, peculiarities, and behaviors. It was one thing to know a vague history of the infection and a general understanding of the type. To know of their charms and what to look out for. But first hand accounts of a living, breathing specimen that had been born that way would do far more for their understanding.

If they couldn’t contain the spread, then the next best thing would be to have an encyclopedic knowledge of how to counter them and treat those unfortunate enough to be infected. Perhaps, though they’d found the possibility to be highly unlikely, they’d eventually even find a cure.

Of course, once they’d agreed on that course of action it had become an argument of who should be doing such a thing, with Lance pushing for Lorelei and Steven for Glacia, but Cynthia knew that Candice was the best option.

She was the most isolated in the event that something went wrong. Any Pokemon that could be infected was far, far away, unlike in the case of the Elite Four members.

“Only me?” Candice raised an eyebrow. “What sort of Pokemon is this, then? A crazy strong Abomasnow from the peaks of Coronet?”

“Not quite. How do you feel about working with a language barrier? I’ve triple checked and your Medicham should be fine, but I was thinking that…”