Episode 20: The Lone Product of the Stars

A painful silence had swallowed the room long enough for Leos’ allies to become restless. After learning about Tapu Fini, the group headed back to Faernia Castle and were finally let free from Ariala’s business. Leos, Prem and Blossom were allowed to use her room as well, still as pink and well looked after as ever. Despite free from the troubling tasks that Ariala had taken on, none of them could bring themselves to say a word, all sat lifelessly in different spots in the room.

It wasn’t even the death of Tapu Fini that had irked Leos so much. He hadn’t been mature enough when the legendaries were worth his respect. He felt he had no emotional attachment to the situation – for however long he could remember, they were just gods that Faernians looked up to through prayers and begging.

It was what Ariala had said to him that kept him quiet.

“I apologize for getting you involved in this as far as you have. But please, do not concern yourself with me or the state of society any longer. You are still very young and have so much to learn. I want you to be free from such harsh duty, and live happily with your friends.”

Leos stiffened. It felt uncharacteristic of her, so patronising, so empty of honesty. His mother was clearly in mental turmoil, yet it felt as if she pushed him away from it all, like he wasn’t worthy, like he wasn’t a crown prince that would one day have to deal with harsh situations like this. Did she honestly think that he was going to sit on the side and ignore everything to frolic in the fields with his friends for the rest of the time?

“No. I won’t. Even if she thinks I will,” he told himself as he finally stood up off the bed. “That’s enough loathing. It’s time to study.”

“Leos,” Prem said. He looked like he wanted to say something. Leos blinked at him, but he stood down without a word.

“Blossom. You said you can get us into the Constellar church, right? We’ve got to get to the bottom of Master Lin,” Leos said.

“I knew this was coming.” Prem sighed.

“I see. You’re still shaken up by the fact that he was here,” Blossom replied, rubbing her chin.

“Ariala and the other royals are going to stop us from doing any investigating around here, so we’ll do our own attack elsewhere. Is their main church somewhere you can get us?” Leos asked.

“It’s in the Stardust Treasury. We can easily get a ride there. I can get us in, too. But what do you intend to do once you’re there?”

“Just find out as much information as I can. Learning about how these Pokémon use their powers would be a bonus,” he replied as he began to pack his books into his bag. “It’s pulling at strings, but Master Lin must be here for his own motives. There’s just no way that someone in his position would cooperate with Faernian royalty without personal gain. It just can’t be a coincidence that something this tragic happened at the same time.”

“If you’re hoping to get to the Stardust Treasury, you won’t get there easily,” a familiar voice said. The Purrloin with the feather hat was stood in the doorway, now only wearing a small band around her right ear with a single feather coming off it. She strolled in without a care for the bothered eyes on her, earning folded arms from everyone but Prem. “You said it yourself: Master Lin wouldn’t be welcome here. Why would there be transport going there?”

“You’re saying we’ll have to walk?” Leos asked.

“Not if I come with you. Pardon me for inviting myself, but there’s a reason I’d like to go there, especially with you all,” Purrloin replied with a bow.

…

“My name is Ida, the current commander of the Cat’s Brigade. Yes, that same Cat’s Brigade that revolted against the Faernian royal family sixteen years ago,” Purrloin said. She sat with her legs crossed and head resting on one paw, and half paid attention to the outside of their carriage. “Don’t worry, we’re not evil. That revolt was led by my husband, Charle. After Charle escorted Ariala to the Stardust Treasury, he said he learnt much about the truth of the royal family. He wouldn’t even share that info with me, though.”

“So you’re coming with us to see if you can figure it out yourself,” Leos said. Ida nodded and smiled at him.

“But wait, if Charle’s your husband and he’s against the Faernians- wait, your marriage is in trouble!” Prem cried.

“No its not, silly.” She giggled. “Charle’s not some villain. We married after he’d revolted, so there’s no warrant for us to oppose each other. On top of that, aside from the fact that I’m a little lonely while he’s away on a pilgrimage, I’d say our relationship’s the strongest ever. He loves me more than a girl he’s been chasing all his life.”

“Focus on topic please, Prem,” Leos said. “Don’t you have any hints of what Charle found out?”

“S-sorry, Leos! I was just worried,” Prem said, scratching his back. Ida sighed and looked away. She checked to make sure that the Mudsdale pulling the carriage weren’t eavesdropping. Certain no one was listening in, she leaned forward and urged the others to do the same.

“Between you and me, I managed to squeeze some hints out of him. Something to do with Ariala’s missing retainer, the hybrid called Vincent,” she mumbled.

“Mother doesn’t have any retainers other than Naomi, and she’s not missing,” Leos said.

“You sure about that? Surely you know by now of your Mother’s secretive agenda?” Ida said. Leos sat back and his heart became heavy. “Naomi is Ariala’s personal chaperone; all she does is escort the princess everywhere. Ariala’s real retainers were a Meowstic couple, but the male was a hybrid Pokémon. In all the years they served her, the only Pokémon that ever saw his form were those that fought him in battle.”

“A hybrid, a combination of multiple Pokémon.” He scratched his head.

Before he could ask himself a question about it, the whole carriage skidded to a stop and flung everyone to one side with a scream. The cries of the Mudsdale and the sounds of a battle brought them right to their feet, where they scrambled out to see what was going on.

Thankfully no one was hurt and they had clearly reached their destination, although they were a good hundred metres or so away. A large group of Pokémon were fighting against spectres; ghostly forms that resembled Pokémon species, but with a white, highly transparent texture. The Pokémon were gathered behind a knight a little taller than Leos, who was clothed so heavily in armour that its species couldn’t be deciphered.

“Those are Constellars!” Blossom cried. “I think the city is under attack from those spectres.”

“Aren’t spectres the products of Constellar magic, though?” Leos said. He shook his head and readied his double-sided Razor Shell. “Never mind. Follow my lead, you two.”

“We-we’re going to fight?” Prem said.

“Yes. We’re only doing what we do as citizens of Faernia. We’re fighting the spectres, though. So you don’t have to worry about hurting anyone.” He smiled. “Since they’re spectres, would you do the honours?”

Prem shuddered and moaned. “Okay.”

Ida had prepared her weapon of choice, a lengthy lance. She froze when Prem revealed his weapon: A dark blue orb decorated with a beautiful, spatial texture inside of it appeared in his arms, which allowed him to levitate. The orb floated in such a way that Prem could hug it to stay afloat, but the wings attached to his poncho flapped as if he was flying using them.

“What kind of powers are these?” Ida gasped. Blossom’s jaw was on the floor as well.

“Wait, I didn’t tell you guys that I’m a Constellar as well, did I?” Prem blushed. “I’m not very good, though. All my artes can do is weird stuff. But I can heal wounds.”

“We’ll talk about this later. Now’s the time to engage!” Leos pointed forward.

Several of the spectres had noticed them and came charging. Since he was at the front, Leos was the first to get hit by a spectre, a Raticate that tackled him. He let out a winded cry even though he blocked it with his Razor Shell, and tried not to panic as its enormous teeth gnashed away at his scalchop. He couldn’t stay balanced as he tried to rip his weapon away, but eventually retaliated with Water Gun.

Raticate was pushed a few steps back by the water, but remained on its feet. It let out an angered growl, but hesitated as Leos was already crouched on one hand with his Razor Shell holding him up. It attempted to take advantage by going in to bite him again, but he was prepared this time, and stood up to whack it as hard as he could with his weapon.

“Why now?” he huffed as he fell back over to one side.

Thankfully the Raticate had been knocked away in defeat, but his clash with that one enemy had drained him of breath and focus. He felt like a vulnerable liability, yet it would take all of his strength just to stand right now. Even when another spectre took notice and came running, he couldn’t bring himself to stand up at all. Ida slid in between them both and took on the enemy with her lance.

“You okay?” She Glanced back at him. Before he could reply, she pushed her weapon hard enough to floor the enemy, tossed it high into the air, and then stretched her nails out to enormous lengths. Fury Swipes, as Leos recognised it. The way she ripped into the ghostly figure to knock it down, and then caught her lance with a perfect pose was all he needed to see to know why she was the head of the Cat’s Brigade.

Still down and catching his breath, Leos scanned the battlefield to summarise the situation. No matter how many times they were hit, the spectres kept coming back for more, almost as if they weren’t taking any damage. Someone had to be in command of them, someone that wasn’t nearby, from the looks of things.

“Prem!” he called out. The Pikachu rushed to his side, flustered and covered in sweat. With a squeak and a mumble of words, he brushed some glittery dust off his spatial orb, which seemed to restore Leos’ energy a bit.

“I tried to calm down the spectres, but they’re really disoriented right now,” he said. “One of the Constellars back there summoned them. Some kinda psychic force making them go crazy is also stopping the Constellars from recalling them!”

“A psychic disturbance is disorienting them,” Leos muttered. He breathed in deep as he revoked his Razor Shell. “Blossom, Prem! We need to side with the Constellars. There’s no end to these enemies.”

“I can see that. They’re being powered from a long distance,” Ida replied, still standing guard over him. “So our best bet is to just charge through them and get to the city.”

“You’re that desperate to get there?” Leos asked, mentally prepared to do that anyway. Blossom returned from her conflict as well, and both were unharmed but panting.

“I’ve never had to fight a spectre before. They’re impossible to mimic, even for me,” Blossom said.

“We’ve got our opening. Charge with me!” Ida said before they were ready.

Leos coughed but followed after her, impressed by the way she ran right through the crowd. The order came so suddenly that he had to see if she was telling the truth or just being rash. But there was indeed an opening for them to charge through, a space between a few enemies and individual battles that was large enough for them to get through. Ida ran on all fours with her lance held tightly in her jaw, still having to use it to slash a few enemies, however. She put little effort into whipping her head with the weapon, almost as if this was something she had done countless times before.

With his focus fixated on her, Leos hadn’t noticed the armoured fighter from the side. He caught sight of them just before it was too late, and tripped up to stop himself from running right into their lance. The knight slammed their heavy weapon right onto Leos’ Razor Shell, and both bounced back with comical force.

“Wha-what? Why me, I’m on your si—” he said, cut short by eagerness to fight.

The knight pulled back and thrust at him to force him to defend himself with his scalchop. The knight never rested their weapon on Leos’, always pulling back to try a new slash every time he blocked. They smashed their weapons into each other a few times before the Oshawott fired a surprise Water Pulse attack with a free hand to separate the two.

“N-no!” Leos cried in his head. He fell onto one hand again as his body ached and lost all its breath. “No matter how hard I try, my body just won’t let me battle. Blast, I can’t move!”

For a brief moment, it was as if the entire battle had frozen around the two of them. The knight stared at Leos through its armour, while he stared back in fury. He fully expected to be finished off while he was on the ground like this. But nothing of the sort happened, and a brief glance at the rest of the battlefield unveiled that the spectres were being kept busy by the other Constellars. So what did the knight want with Leos?

“Master Leos.” Blossom popped up beside him. “I’ll use my Psychic to strip their armour. Permission?”

“Why do you need permission to do that? Just do it, defeat them for me!” he said. Prem soon popped up beside them to help Leos to stand.

“Very well. Watch this.” Blossom posed with one arm stretched forward.

Her body flashed with a pink aura, centred around the marble on her belly. With a thrust of her other hand, the same pink light outlined the knight and lifted them into the air. A struggled growl came from them as they fought back with twitched movements. “Wait, it’s not very effective? Someone, quick, strike them down!”

Leos had questions, but set them aside to force another Water Pulse attack out. An orb of water formed over his right hand, which engulfed the knight completely when he threw it. Once submerged, they fell to the ground, and Blossom’s Psychic attack was able to rip their armour off its body. Doing so burst the orb of water, but at least the Pokémon within was revealed.

“A woman? Wait, what?” Leos gasped. Now the battle was really at a standstill, all eyes stuck on the creature that emerged from within the armour. “Who or what in the world are you?”

The creature, a cross between an Oshawott and an Espurr, responded with a panicked shudder as she retrieved her lance and posed with it, prepared to protect herself. She had an Oshawott’s scalchop on her belly as well, which she used as a shield. Her ears, eyes, fur, and overall body shape was that of an Oshawott, rounded and slightly chubby. However, her fur was tipped with coils of grey fur like that of an Espurr, whilst her feet and hands belonged to an Espurr as well. Since he couldn’t see her tail, Leos assumed it was an Espurr’s as well.

“Speak of the devil – that’s Vincent’s spear!” Ida said. The hybrid refused to say anything, but she nervously glanced back and forth after she heard that.

“Wait. You’re on our side,” Leos said, regaining his composure.

“N-no I’m not!” she cried in her young and high-pitched voice. “I ain’t never seen an Oshawott with a two sworded Razor Shell before! Yo-you’re the freak, so I’m gonna stomp you!”

“My weapon? That’s just an ordinary Razor Shell. I input the energy for the attack in a unique way for some different results,” Leos said as he showed off the double-sided sword. He used his free hand to create a Water Pulse over his hand. “It just takes a bit of thinking outside the box. But you, you’re a special case.”

“N-no, not like this. Please, you’re just like the rest!” she cried and pointed her lance at him. Leos let up his attacks and raised his arms. “I’m just here to stop the bad guys! These spectres were causing trouble, and—”

“And I have a solution. I had an idea, and it’s confirmed, now that I’ve seen you,” he said, approaching fearlessly.

“Master Leos!” Blossom cried.

“Blossom, Prem, restrain her weapon!” he said. The duo immediately used their Psychic and Thunder Wave attacks to pin the hybrid down, making her cry out in panic. Leos could hear the commotion from the crowd around him as he walked. The spectres had suddenly started moving erratically, and the battle had stopped.

He kept his hands raised to try and settle her, but she still shut her eyes and scrunched up her face once he was close enough to touch her. He didn’t hesitate to clench down on her ears to keep them closed as tightly as he could. To everyone’s surprise, the spectres began to calm down after a few moments, and their movements stopped entirely. Keeping his hands over the hybrid’s ears, Leos looked around, jaw dropped by their realistic reactions of relief. “I knew it. Whoever summoned these spectres, relieve them right now!”

“Ye-yes!” several of the Pokémon called out. With a few prayers and an incantation, the spectres vanished into thin air.

“Leos, are you okay?” Prem cried.

Leos didn’t reply right away, fixated on the hybrid’s shamed appearance. She still scrunched up her face, knelt down and shivering as static fizzled over her.

“I wish you hadn’t used Thunder Wave so hard. Can you heal her?” He folded his arms. “My assumption was correct, thankfully. Espurr are known to need their ears to keep their psychic powers under control. It must have been her lack of control that made the spectres go crazy.”

“Wha-what? No way, it’s my fault?” She shot to her feet. She dropped her lance and scalchop, and scrambled to pick them back up. “Waitwaitwait, it can’t be my fault, I- I just—”

“Of course it’s your fault. You saw the spectres stop,” one of the Constellars shouted, and she cringed.

“Freaks of nature aren’t allowed into the city,”

“Who knows what’ll happen if we let the hybrid in?”

All sorts of derogatory lines started to fly around as the crowd disbanded, but a number of Pokémon stayed behind to impose some authority. Their comments quickly drove the hybrid back to the ground, and she burst into tears right there.

“I just wanted to be a hero!” she wailed. Leos tilted his head and shrugged to the others.

“Can I have a moment?” he asked. Her wails softened and she nodded. “You’re an interesting one. I’ve never met a hybrid Pokémon before. In fact, I just learnt about the aspect of them. Seeing you is getting me quite excited. A whole new world of possibilities has opened up!”

“Uh-uh, er, Leos?” Prem said, eyes widened. Ida giggled and Blossom sighed and shook her head, whilst the hybrid gawked at him, her eyes widened as well.

“Inconveniently, I’m in the middle of an important task right now. But will you let me try some experiments with you? There’s so much I wish to learn about you!” Leos said. His overexcited tone brought on a long moment of silence, and the hybrid blinked once. “Well? Will you accompany me?”

“I er, eep, I didn’t think I could- wait, is that really what you want?” She started to blush hard. Leos tilted his head with a hum. “N-n-no, I mean, it’s fine! You just want me to go with you, right? I’ll try!”

“Oh brother,” Blossom sighed and shook her head. Prem let out a squeak as well.

“You’re not seriously saying you like me, are you? Who would’ve thought that to get someone to like me, all I had to do was fight them with my armour off?” the hybrid said.

“I’ll reserve the judgement of whether I like you or not for later down the line. I just want to learn things about your physiology and potential,” Leos replied, making Prem sigh in relief. “Where did you ever get that assumption from?”

“Leos, are you serious? Didn’t Ariala ever teach you about how to talk to a lady?” Blossom said with a giggle. “Either way, this Pokémon is a hybrid. You heard the others; you won’t even be allowed into the city if she comes with us.”

“I um, could put my armour back on or something,” the hybrid muttered, playing with her hands.

“What does talking to a lady have to do with- you know what, no, don’t answer that,” Leos said. “What’s your name, if you have one?”

She stared at him for a moment. Despite having the face of an Oshawott, she still had the static appearance of an Espurr, which made her thoughts unreadable. “It’s Griselle,” she eventually answered with clear hesitation in her voice.

“Leos Aska, son of crown princess Ariala and prince Rune,” Leos replied, making the crowd of onlookers gasp. He gestured a handshake to her. “I suppose that position is suffice to enter with the hybrid? She will be under my group’s custody and watch constantly.”

“We’ll have to leave that to Master Lin, but,” one of the Constellars replied.

“Wait really? No way, you’re that Pokémon? No wonder you’re talented!” Griselle started bouncing. “Yes! It’s all the more important that I go with you, now. Yes, I totes need to! Please, take me with you, my prince Leos!”

“Good, you’re okay with it. Pardon me for having a bit of business to take care of first, but please bear with me during that time,” Leos said with a bow.

“It doesn’t matter, it’s fine! I know exactly who you are, my prince!” Griselle said. She ran right up to him. “My blade is your blade. Whatever you want me to do, just say the order. I’ll do it, my prince!”

“My prince?” Leos said slowly.

“He’s not your prince!” Prem barged in between them. “Don’t say things like that!”

“Yeah, he’s my prince! He just admitted it. And I accepted it,” she pouted.

“That doesn’t mean he has to. He just wants you for research.”

“That too, but if I show my devotion, I’ll become more. What’s it to you, anyway?”

“More than you’ll ever be!”

“Is somebody jealous that I already have attention?”

“Prem- what’s gotten into you two? Whatever, cut it out. Let’s get back to work,” Leos said.

“Yes sir my prince!” Prem and Griselle saluted in perfect tone and sync. Leos blinked at them both and then palmed his face.

“Why do I have a bad feeling about this all of a sudden?” he groaned. He dismissed the remainder of the battle to lead the way toward the city. “Never mind. I’m liking my luck lately, honestly. Being able to meet a hybrid Pokémon just after learning about them is something else. But Griselle, what were you doing here, anyway?”

“Being a hero. I saw those Constellars summoning spectres, so went to fight them and keep peace!” she said.

“Being… a hero?” He tilted his head. “I… don’t think aimlessly fighting spectres constitutes to being a hero.”

“Wha? It doesn’t?” she gasped.

“I mean, they’re quite far from the city, right? Or any city. Sure, it’s odd to have a bunch of Constellars summon spectres for no reason, but if they’re not causing any harm, what reason do I have to concern?” he said.

“Ah! Yes, you’re right. I er, didn’t think right. But then again, that’s because I don’t have a subordinate yet. Yes, that’s why I made that mistake,” she said.

“A subordinate?” he said, and folded his arms.

“Yeah! Every hero needs a subordinate. You know, that guy that tells ‘em where to go and all the juicy intel,” she said excitedly. “My prince, you’re really smart! If you can think that fast, you can be my subordinate!”

“Wait, that’s not fair! You’re supposed to be Leos’ subordinate, not the other way around. And he’s not your prince!” Prem cried.

Leos groaned. “Will you let that go already—”

“Either way, he’s the brains and the tech, I’m the brawn! All he has to order me. My prince Leos, I am at your service.” Griselle bowed.

“No, that’s no fair! You’re not allowed that kind of relationship!” Prem cried even louder.

“This again? Will you two quit it with the ‘my prince’ thing already? You’re both loud, whiny, children, that’s what.” Leos palmed his face.