CHAPTER 47

More mysterious than the creatures known as Pokemon was the universe itself.

The Creator formed it, and by extension, the planet we lived on. The Creations He made thereafter strode forth to do work in His name. Those Named Servants enriched the world further and filled it with beings and energies flowing aplenty.

Humans and Pokemon alike— we lived in this world, breathed its air, and walked towards the future. We were an intrinsic part of the grand scheme known as life.

We existed.

From the spiritual force dwelling in every living being to the elemental energies residing in the atmosphere and land around us, everything meant the world, too, was alive. It nourished us. It gave mortals bountiful yields from its earthly embrace. It offered power to Pokemon who could tap into its limitless well of energy.

And when the Creator and his Servants made our world, they left lingering influences on it.

They were Legends and Myths, deities of great existence. The world remembered that it had been shaped by such beings. Henceforth, the world acknowledged the significance of one's existence. It became a way of the world— not quite a law, but something observed.

Just like how stories and words gave rise to meaning and power, so too did one's role in the world. The greater one's existence, the stronger they became. The same was said of the reverse. The world allowed the beings who lived on it to accrue influence for themselves.

That begged the question, then…

What became the proof of one's existence?

It went beyond simply having a name or an identity. It was about having their presence known and solidified through achievements, to make their mark on the world and shape it.

The most common way was to physically become stronger. Pokemon fought, trained, evolved, and fought some more. They accumulated experience. They left traces of their power wherever they went. They constantly took in elemental energies from the world and used them as nourishment for their growth. Some wild Pokemon were more willing to go with humans because they understood they could grow faster and fight more battles with a trainer's help.

That was one way, but it was not the only method.

Worship. Stories. When people revered or talked about powerful Pokemon, it further cemented their presence and granted power. They became a part of the world's history itself.

Many years ago, during a time when Sinnoh still went by Hisui, there lived fearsome monsters in the wilds. These creatures were not just strong through constant fighting but from the hushed stories passed down through generations. Fear gave them unbridled power. Accounts of these monsters surfaced across Hisui's history and in other regions across the world.

They were referred to as Alpha Pokemon.

As years passed, that term was brought up and debated by historians. It shifted and was ultimately born anew. Today, we called such Pokemon Guardians or Rulers. These were titles typically reserved for the most powerful of wild Pokemon.

Some would prove troublesome to fight even for the strongest of trainers, but these Pokemon inherently understood that humans posed a greater threat than the old days. As human populations and cities grew ever larger, more of them secluded themselves in the deep wilds away from prying eyes. They were content to live and rule from their self-proclaimed territories, all the while taking in energy from the world itself and growing ever stronger.

Of course, none of this talk about existence and power equating to one another was known to the public. Each regional League and government kept such information strictly under wraps. All ordinary people knew was that there happened to be some very powerful Pokemon out there with fancy labels attached to them like warning signs.

I had come across a small number of Guardian and Ruler Pokemon before. Among them were old and powerful Fairies, and this Clefable I stared at now took her place on the list.

The weight of her existence was heavy. Clefable was suppressing her aura, but I could still feel it in the air and the land she walked on. She could not hide it from my Ability or instincts as a Fairy Specialist.

This was an ancient Pokemon. She had probably lived for over a thousand years, her life sustained and extended by the power of belief. She had dedicated herself to Mount Moon, and the mountain to her in return.

Internally, I found myself calculating how a hypothetical fight between us would go. This Clefable did not seem to have a lot of combat experience. Instead, I wagered her power lay more with the sheer magnitude of her Belief and the countless stories told of her and her clan over the years.

My Pokemon would win if we fought, but it would be a long and uphill battle here in the place she had lived for centuries. They would win handily against her outside.

It has been many moons since I last saw a human like you, Clefable mused out loud. The small and seemingly innocent Pokemon walked closer to me. One who treads the line between the worlds of human and Pokemon, much less that of the Fair Folk. How very curious.

She had called me Friend of Fairies earlier. Just as I could sense her status as a Guardian, she could sense that I was an Ability Holder.

The Clefairy line was known to be peaceful and particularly elusive even among Fairies, but considering the circumstances… I thought it best to tread carefully anyway, even if time was of the essence.

"It's an honor," I replied with a dip of my head.

Next to me, Brock shifted uneasily from one foot to another. His gaze darted between me and Clefable.

"Arin, what's going on?" he asked.

My eyes did not leave the Pokemon in front of me. "This is the leader of the Clefairy and Clefable here on Mount Moon… what the League would call a Guardian Pokemon."

I'd already had a near concrete suspicion, but judging from the way Brock's eyes widened, the existence of this particular Clefable was not yet known to him or the Indigo League. Otherwise, I would have expected Lance to give me some sort of warning before this operation ever began. The power the Clefairy had over this mountain made so much more sense with a strong leader to back them up.

Clefable made a small sound that sounded suspiciously like a laugh.

Greetings, newest leader of the Takeshi family, Clefable trilled. She was no longer communicating out loud but with telepathy for Brock's sake.

The Pewter Gym Leader's eyes widened further. He immediately copied what I had done earlier and dipped his head in a show of respect.

Satisfied, Clefable faced both of us with arms folded behind her back.

Long have I given orders through proxies. What your human League and the Takeshi family have dealt with before were the little ones under my protection, she explained, helpfully clarifying any questions we had. I did not deem it necessary to show myself. Agreements were made with none the wiser. No one was ever capable of identifying me in the first place…

She trailed off, eyes twinkling with indecipherable emotion as she looked at me.

Not until today at least.

"What… What should we call you?" Brock ventured to ask.

Clefable smiled, humming to herself.

I have never needed a name. So rare is it that I speak with humans in the first place, but if you must call me by something… then Mountain Weaver will suffice. It is a title I have not heard in a long time. Now…

Clefable, or Mountain Weaver as she had proclaimed, stared at us almost uncomfortably.

You and the unique company you keep have made quite a stir in the mountain. Among you, I sensed a Child of Dragons. Tell me, why are you here? For what reason have you sought out an audience with me and my clan?

The Child of Dragons was probably Clair, but that wasn't important. Hopefully this talk ended well.

"We apologize," I told her, "but it's urgent. I swear we meant no harm by coming here. We only seek to drive out the intruders here in Mount Moon, those who belong to a criminal organization called Team Rocket. We were hoping you could grant our allies safe passage through the mountain."

All at once, the atmosphere thickened with tension.

Clefable's face contorted into an ugly, furious expression so unlike the kind look her species was known for.

Yes, those humans in black… they dare walk through the sacred halls of our mountain uninvited. They reap by force the bounties of the earth and corrupt our land with unknown evil! They seek to find a way to this very cavern! Clefable hissed into our minds.

Her voice was so quiet, yet it sounded like she was screaming. I grimaced. Brock clutched his head.

I would purge them in an instant if I could, crush them between the walls or expel them from our sacred land, Clefable continued. If it weren't for that wretched, foul energy that protects them, I would have my way.

I refrained from clenching a fist in excitement. It seemed the Clefairy clan knew where the Rockets were hiding after all. That brought on a whole other slew of questions, but first…

"Then it seems our goals are aligned," I spoke up. "We want them gone as much as you do, Mountain Weaver. If you would be willing to get rid of the protections you have in place throughout the mountain, at least for our allies, then we could… expedite the process of removing the intruders."

You? Clefable questioned. You think you could drive them out?

"Not could," I corrected in a firm, yet careful tone. "We would."

As diminutive as Clefable's figure was, that was simply a deceptive appearance that belied her strength. She peered at me with eyes twinkling not with wisdom but unfathomable fury. Pressure leaked outwards from her.

I stood my ground.

A bold claim, she spoke slowly. You say that only because you do not know the evil that they are, the energy that I felt.

"What did you sense?" Brock asked in an almost hushed whisper.

I said it already, did I not? They have at their disposal an energy most foul, an unknown evil that I have never felt before. It is wrapped around those humans like a shield. It rejects the magic I have Weaved into the land and air. What or where the source is, it begrudges me to admit that I have not the faintest idea. But it must go. It is not welcome here.

Initially, I'd thought Clefable was talking about the drug Team Rocket had developed, but now it seemed like there was something else in the picture that we weren't aware of. Regardless—

"It doesn't matter. We'll get rid of them," I repeated. We'd cross that bridge when we got there.

Clefable stared.

Then you must show me. Speak not with empty words.

Fairy aura surged outwards from her.

Brock tensed, but we didn't need to worry quite yet. The invisible pressure Clefable was exerting over us felt more like a featherlight touch at this point. Something to test the waters. Without warning, it began increasing exponentially.

The air practically vibrated in my ears from the Beliefs that howled at me.

They went beyond a desire for her and her wards to stay hidden. They were the weight of Clefable's existence, the history of her struggles, and the reverent songs whispered from stories told in her name. Together, these Beliefs had let her live such a long and glorious life under the moon and stars.

You are but fledgelings, they hissed at us. Do not presume you can do what the sacred mountain cannot.

The Ghosts hidden in my shadow screeched back with defiant anger, but I held up a hand before they could come out and turn this into an actual fight. Clefable was only testing us.

I did not budge from where I stood. Neither did my Pokemon. We looked back at Clefable with unflinching expressions even as the air around us grew heavy. In my peripheral vision, I saw Brock standing tall with crossed arms. His stance was firm.

He might not have dealt with such a powerful Fairy before, but he was still a Rock Specialist. Rock was stable, steady, and deeply rooted much like he was right now. He understood the significance of this moment in earning Clefable's trust, and his spirit could not be shaken.

Something in Clefable's gaze shifted.

As fast as her power had surged, it died away and left a sense of nothingness in its wake. Clefable regarded us more carefully than she had before. Her eyes rested for a particularly long time on me.

I wondered if she, too, was calculating how an actual fight between us would play out. She must have come to the same conclusion as I had earlier because she finally gave a small, curt nod.

It seems there was some substance to your words after all, she readily admitted.

I did not relax, but I also tried not to sound impatient when I next opened my mouth. As riveting as this encounter had been, we had Rockets to catch.

"Might we come to an agreement then?" I asked.

When Clefable didn't respond right away, Brock took a cautious step forward. He looked a bit pale now that we were no longer fighting off pressure, but he still looked determined.

"Please let the people from the Indigo League pass through the mountain unhindered," Brock said in a clear voice, "and show us where the intruders are hiding in the mountain. We'll remove their presence here in return. If you cannot trust the League, then trust the name of the Takeshi family, we who have long negotiated with your clan."

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Silence followed.

When at last I thought Clefable would stubbornly turn us away, she finally spoke.

I will allow no large army to be brought in. We already tolerate so many humans passing through year-long.

Brock refrained from smiling, but I saw his eyes gleam. "Understood. We'll request a small number of people for backup then."

And you will remove the evil from our home. You have sworn it.

"Yes."

Then we have reached an understanding, Clefable said with an air of finality. Your people will be granted safe passage. I do not know exactly where the intruders lurk because of the energy that shields them, but I have grasped their general location. I will send you directly to the lowest floors.

"May we request the same for our allied forces?" I asked without missing a beat.

I wasn't too surprised to hear Clefable could move us from one end to another. This whole mountain was her territory after all. Now we just needed to use that to our advantage.

Very well.

Clefable beckoned to two Clefairy. It looked like she was bestowing some of her power onto them through holding their hands, but I didn't pay attention to them. My eyes drifted to the vast and empty space behind the whole Clefairy clan. It had been bothering me ever since I set foot in this cavernous space. I still felt like my vision was being blocked.

Suspicious.

"Behind you…" I trailed off, hoping my inquiry came off as polite as I intended it to be. "Something's there, right? Could that be what the intruders are after?"

Keen senses, Clefable remarked. I do not know if this is what they seek, but they should not possess knowledge of it.

My curiosity ate at me. I wanted to ask what it was, but I felt like that would displease Clefable. Surprisingly, the Pokemon made a generous offer.

I will show it to you, Friend of Fairies, but only for a bit.

I acknowledged her words with a blink of my eyes. The cavern had already shifted seamlessly by the time I registered it. Where there had once been empty space, a stone platform now rose from the ground. An altar, I realized. Objects rested on it, but one was far larger than the others.

Behold, Clefable whispered with utter reverence. The Heart of the Mountain.

My lips parted in shock.

Evolution stones were the products of high concentrations of elemental forces. They seeped into the earth, were molded and pressurized by outside forces, and took the forms we knew of as evolution stones. Exposure to such highly condensed energy allowed Pokemon to evolve, but only if they were ready to take in so much energy at once.

Moon Stones in particular were formed partly from the shards of meteorites. They were the night, the moon, the stars and everything in between, all the divine entities that we could not touch with our bare hands.

Countless numbers of those stones were arranged around the altar in a careful, almost obsessive neatness. They were as dark as the night sky itself and their depths endlessly vast. Yet even from this distance, I could see stars within them shining ever faintly through the darkness.

I wasn't surprised to see so many of them. Mount Moon was said to bear witness to frequent meteor falls. If they weren't first hoarded by the local Pokemon, then Moon Stones were aplenty here in the caves. People just needed to know where to look.

No, I stared at the thing those stones bordered.

It was a meteorite.

It was not simply a meteorite, but a gigantic one that put any in museums around the world to shame. It was ancient in all likelihood, yet it looked like it had freshly fallen with the lustrous sheen it still retained. My eyes traced the thin lines running across its inky exterior, marks born from a once-molten surface layer.

This meteorite — this massive Moon Stone — was glorious.

I almost felt drunk off the power it radiated.

In the corner of my eye, I saw my Pokemon gazing at the stone with expressions as mesmerized as my own. We were drawn to it like Mothim to a flame. I could understand now why the Clefairy guarded their home so zealously and why they stayed here.

Why live elsewhere when they could feast on such power every day?

I wanted to reach out and touch it, to feel for myself a power that transcended time and space—

And before I could blink, it was gone.

Clefable had winked it out of existence from us once more, though… judging by the look on Brock's face, he wasn't too surprised by the short experience. Most likely, it seemed he had long been aware of it. The Takeshi family must have kept this long-guarded secret for years.

My mouth suddenly felt dry. Very dry.

"The Heart of the Mountain is magnificent," I finally said, breaking out of my stupor.

Clefable looked at me and smiled.

It is, she agreed. You are now the only human besides the former and current head of the Takeshi family to hold this knowledge. Do not spread it. Know this: I care not who comes after our Heart. Be it these… so-called Rockets, ordinary humans, or your paltry League…

Clefable's eyes glittered coldly.

Should they come here, I will kill them all and offer their flesh and blood as a prayer.

I did not doubt it. I only responded with a nod of my head.

Good. Then be off now and remove those wretched intruders. These children will guide you and your allies. I have given them permission to open the paths for you all.

Brock was more than happy to follow said Clefairy out of the cavern, but I lingered.

"One last question: may I come back to visit this place?" I asked.

And the Heart of the Mountain was what I wanted to add, but Clefable already knew.

Her lips curled upwards into a most disconcerting smile.

Uphold your end of the bargain, Friend of Fairies, and you shall be more than welcomed here in the future. I will even allow you to partake in our rituals.

Well, didn't that sound promising.

My eyes shone brightly as I placed a hand over my heart.

"Very well."

Without further ado, my Pokemon and I walked over to where Brock and the Clefairy were waiting. I could feel the gaze of Clefable on my back long after we disappeared through the same starry passage we went through before.

I still felt it when we suddenly found ourselves face-to-face with the rest of the group.

Compared to how they were when we left them, everyone looked lively. Clefable must have already removed us as targets from the Beliefs clogging the earth and air.

"You managed to pull it off," Falkner remarked. Was it just me, or was that the faintest hint of an impressed smile tugging at his lips? He crossed his arms over his chest. "Are we taking the fight to Team Rocket now?"

"We are," Brock declared. He and I shared a brief look. "We'll fill you in…"

Any details about Mountain Weaver or the Heart of the Mountain were obviously left out. We only explained to them the agreement we had come to and the vague yet unsettling information shared with us.

Everyone looked tense when we finished.

"This unknown evil the Clefairy clan mentioned," Giovanni began with a troubled expression. He gripped the sleeves of his suit jacket tightly. "Did they not say what it was? I don't want us to get blindsided down there."

"No. They only mentioned that it was a strange energy they'd never seen before."

"Then we best move with caution from here on out," Giovanni decided, lips pressed into a thin line. "This sounds like we could be dealing with the same energy that formed the Team Rocket message on National Day."

An astute insight and one I was going to bring up myself. Sabrina had claimed way back then that the energy she'd removed from the air was strange. Her wording had since stuck with me and resembled Clefable's own thoughts. It wasn't too far-fetched to believe these two cases were linked.

Maybe the same source was even behind both.

"What are we waiting for? We should search for the Rockets now so that when backup arrives, they know where to go," Clair spoke up.

Bruno was studying the two Clefairy by our feet with a thoughtful expression.

"These Clefairy… you said they can create paths from one point of the mountain to another?" he questioned.

I nodded.

"Then let's send the League Trainers out to alert Lance about our plans. They can take the captured Rockets off our hands, and then the Clefairy can guide them back to where we are. The rest of us will scout ahead for the Rockets in the meantime," Bruno advised. He glanced around. "No objections?"

There were none.

"Then let's move."

One by one, Bruno's trio of Machamp unloaded the Rockets they were carrying as if they were cargo. They were passed off to the League Trainers among us. When they were ready, one of the Clefairy tottered over to the closest wall and twirled around.

A tunnel full of blinding light appeared. Clefairy motioned impatiently to the League Trainers before disappearing through the hole.

The other Clefairy didn't wait around. It skipped over to the opposite wall and clapped its hands. Another tunnel appeared, but this one was far more foreboding. I couldn't begin to see the end of its murky depths. Clefairy walked inside without batting an eye, and we followed closely.

It was a fast process. We were deposited into darkness after walking on a road of stars. Looker's Magneton had to light itself up with Flash again so that we could see. Now… now we were somewhere in Mount Moon's depths.

It was different here.

What I noticed first was how silent it was. A vast mountain like Mount Moon had an abundance of wild Pokemon. That was true even here in the lowest levels. There should have been Diglett or Dugtrio building colonies in the massive tunnels that Onix burrowed, or even distant sounds from said rock snakes plowing through the earth.

There was none of that. I couldn't hear anything besides the sound of our own breathing.

It was so eerily quiet, almost as if the wild Pokemon themselves knew that something was wrong down here.

We all looked at each other. In silent agreement, our small group gathered together into a tighter and more cohesive formation. The little Clefairy didn't leave but chose to stick around instead, following closely at my heels. I let out Silque from her capsule so that she could wrap us in a soundless barrier. Vel layered the whole thing in a bubble of his own so that we looked invisible to the naked eye.

With hurried yet hesitant steps, we explored.

None of us were willing to let our Pokemon stray too far given that the Rockets were inevitably close by. Clefable had said she would drop us off in their general location. That being said, this was still a maze of tunnels even without Fairy tricks at play. We had wild Onix and even the rare, occasional Steelix to thank for these underground sections.

Luckily, we had someone who spent a lot of time down here.

When Brock wasn't running the Pewter Gym, training, or spending time with his family, he was here exploring the depths of Mount Moon and mapping out new tunnels or changes in the ecosystem. He led us towards the most likely areas the Rockets would be camped out in.

We talked quietly on our way.

"Did you get any more information out of the Rockets we captured?" I asked, directing my question at the Interpol agents. We'd just peeked into a huge cavern and found it empty.

Looker stepped over a gap in the ground. "We did. The ones we got are all new recruits. They're mostly here as a menial labor force."

"Estimates varied between the people we interrogated, but their base here seems to have about a hundred members," Mint added.

That wasn't too bad in my opinion. The League had tackled larger Rocket bases before on their own.

"What about that… Executive they mentioned," Clair spoke up. She frowned. "Proton, was it? Did they have anything to say about him or the rest of their hierarchy?"

Looker and Mint shared a look.

"They said he was scary," Mint replied awkwardly.

Clair scoffed out loud. "Nothing else?"

"No. They didn't know much about the inner structure of their organization, but Looker and I believe there are probably more Executives—"

"Depending on how strong these so-called Executives are, that'll be a large concern," Falkner murmured, butting in.

None of us could refute that. We fell into silence afterwards, content to search in silence. Tunnels upon tunnels began to bleed into one another. I was impressed Brock could find his way in this labyrinth. Everything was starting to look the same to me.

The silence did not last for long.

"Wait a second—"

"Lucario found—"

Brock and Bruno stopped talking at the same time. With a quick gesture from Bruno, the Rock Specialist went first.

"That tunnel there on the right," Brock began, pointing with his finger. "That's new. I don't think it was made by one of the local Onix either. Most of the Onix in this particular part of Mount Moon are much bigger."

"And," Bruno smoothly followed up, "Lucario found faint traces of Aura nearby. People walked through here."

Our heads snapped toward him.

"Hostile?" Falkner asked.

A nod from Bruno was all we needed. We looked back at the tunnel Brock had pointed out and immediately walked in its direction. Every single one of us was on high alert.

We went into the tunnel with hands hovering near the Pokeballs on our belts.

The rustling from our clothes felt like it had been amplified a thousand times over in my ears. That was how hyper-aware I was of my surroundings as we walked through the tunnel. My biggest worry was running into roaming sentries or the like. Vel still had fairy aura around us that rendered our small group invisible, but I couldn't help but worry anyway.

Eventually, the tunnel widened out. It seemed we were coming up on a larger section of the cave.

Then I heard it.

Faint vibrations. Voices. The quiet clink, clink of metal against stone.

We didn't say anything to each other and quickened our pace instead. Looker's Magneton stopped using Flash, but we were not submerged in darkness for long. A bright light in the distance grew ever closer. Our eyes finally adjusted to the difference in lighting as we skidded to a halt.

"We found them."

I barely registered whose voice that was — Giovanni's, maybe? — because I was too focused on the scene we'd stumbled upon.

We stood at the entrance to an enormous cavern.

Shadows leapt across the walls from flickering torches and old lamps. Underneath their illumination, pickaxes and shovels were scattered haphazardly on the floor near large holes. On every side of the cavern, chunks in the walls had been repeatedly scraped away in attempts to unearth valuable resources. The signs of excavation were quite clear.

Huge crates were stacked on top of one another on another side of the room. I couldn't make out their labels from here, but quite a few of them had markings in white paint. I could only assume they'd put Fossils or Moon Stones and the like in there. My heart sank when I noticed Pokemon with telltale red eyes stationed around the cavern, ones that swayed unsteadily back and forth.

More drugged Pokemon. Meanwhile, Rockets were running around everywhere.

Uniformed members were tearing down tents and stuffing everything into duffel bags. Others were recalling worker Pokemon like Machoke and Graveler, and yet others were busy loading crates onto wheeled carts they could pull.

My eyes were then drawn to the green-haired man standing in the middle of the clearing. I judged him to be somewhere in his mid-twenties. He was clearly the one in charge from the way he was waving his arms around and gave out orders in a loud, commanding voice. It helped that his uniform was vastly different from the grunts surrounding him.

"Move faster!" he yelled. "Hurry up!"

He had to be the Executive known as Proton.

"They're leaving," Clair said out loud in realization. She said it again in a more rushed voice. "They're leaving! They might have gotten spooked because their members weren't coming back. We should strike first."

"Normally I'd say we wait for backup, but we might not have the time," Falkner agreed. "The forces we have here should be enough anyway."

"There are drugged Pokemon in there," Mint pointed out in as civil a tone as he could manage. "Who knows how many more they have in Pokeballs right now? We shouldn't go in without a plan. We can afford to wait a bit for the backup to arrive."

"I never said we should go in without a plan, but I do believe we should act soon," Clair insisted with blazing eyes. "There's a high-ranking member of Team Rocket right there! Perhaps we can flood the room with spores from your Vilepume, Agent Mint?"

"Too risky," I spoke up quickly, eyes darting across the cavern crawling with Rockets. "We don't know how those powders would interact with the drugged Pokemon in there. What if they end up becoming even more enraged and powerful?"

I'd already been thinking about doing something similar with my Dachsbun, but we had no idea what kind of adverse drug reactions would arise.

"It's a risk we might have to take," Clair argued back. "We can't lose them now."

Falkner was also scanning the room. "There's another entrance on the other side. We're going to have to block that off if we don't want them fleeing."

They would have gone on debating among themselves in fast, clipped tones, but then I realized we'd overlooked something.

"Can we even enter that cavern in the first place? What about the unknown energy?" I asked out loud.

Everyone stopped talking to stare at me. I hurriedly looked at my Hatterene.

"Silque, is there a barrier around this cavern?"

The Hatterene was already moving. She glided forward and peered in front of us with glowing eyes. Out of all the things that I expected to happen, I did not expect her to physically recoil. She usually remained so very calm.

Such evil, Silque whispered out loud to everyone with telepathy. I have never felt this before.

Bruno and his Lucario were quick to see what the fuss was about by focusing their senses with Aura. They, too, recoiled as if they'd been struck.

"I don't know what kind of energy this is," Bruno muttered, but it was loud enough for us to hear. "Some kind of psychic energy perhaps? But it's… not the same. It's repulsive."

"Analyze later," Looker said. "We're running out of time. We might have to move on our own since the League forces still aren't here. Can we break through the barrier?"

"Silque?" I prompted.

We don't have to, she revealed much to our surprise. This barrier is strong, but it was made for a single purpose: to keep the magic of the mountain out. Anything else can pass through freely.

That was interesting, but this wasn't the time for that.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Clair asked.

I opened my mouth to respond, but then Brock and I both froze. We stared into the clearing as a Nidoking stomped up to Proton. No red eyes. It wasn’t drugged. In its grasp was a large, four-winged bat struggling to break free.

Brock’s Crobat.

“What the hell is this, Nidoking?” Proton sighed. “We’re getting ready to move out. Get the other grunts in line and don’t show me your food.”

The Nidoking made an annoyed sound and shoved the Crobat in Proton’s face. Wings frantically sliced through the air, making the Executive hurriedly jerk his head back.

"Careful!" he barked out. "Jeez. Do you want me to catch it or something?"

Nidoking roared. Proton blinked several times in succession.

"What? This is Brock's Pokemon?" he asked with utter surprise. My eyes widened, and so did everyone else's in our group. He could understand his Nidoking.

Proton was— he was—

He was an Ability Holder?

"Fuck," Proton swore, rummaging around in his pocket. "How did they know we were here? Never mind that, we've got to get rid of this Crobat first— no, don't kill it!"

He hurriedly held out a hand when Nidoking moved to snap the bat in half.

“That’d be a waste. It’s an Elite Pokemon, right? I’m going to inject it with R2 and have it guard us on our way out,” Proton said matter-of-factly. He reached into his pocket. “Keep it steady for me now.”

“No!” Brock blurted out, stumbling forward in panic.

I slapped a hand on his shoulder. He turned back furiously, thinking I was stopping him but in reality—

“Get ready to move in. Close your eyes!” I instructed the others sharply. A similar warning was transmitted to Brock’s Crobat by my Hatterene.

We had no backup, but we couldn’t wait any longer. If the Rockets fled through the maze of tunnels, there was a high chance we’d lose a lot of them. Clefable wouldn’t be able to help us either with that ominous energy clinging to them.

I squeezed my eyes shut as Silque Teleported into the middle of the cavern inches away from Proton. Before his eyes could so much as widen…

The world exploded with blinding white.