Episode 15: The New Queen’s Desperate Struggle

 

 

“I just don’t understand. Why wasn’t I told facts so important?” Lucca rambled. He paced around the room restlessly while Mimia lay curled up in the centre, watching him. They were back in their borrowed quarters and it was past midnight, so the others were away and asleep. “Three races. The Pokémon, the Angels, and the Undine, all vying for Bestia in Heroica. Who would’ve guessed the Shining Warrior legend was actually this deep?”

“I do advise you to keep your voice down, My Lord,” Mimia spoke through a calm round of growls.

“This is mind blowing, buddy! Because we know there’s more to it than that. There’s me and you, the Revenants, who also want to return to Heroica. But then, Mother, Father, and Alver were all the previous Shining Warriors… do you know what this means?” Lucca rambled. He looked as if he was trying not to go crazy.

“You and Shelly, Chico Aska, are brothers. From the very same parents, no less,” Mimia answered, again through calm growls. He stood up and stopped Lucca from pacing with a paw. “Level yourself, My Lord. You must think what you intend to do from here.”

“You’re right,” he said after a deep breath. “Our mission stays the same. We need to complete the trials and restore Bestia to both Heroica and Reverie. If we can stop the three races from going to war, that’s a perfect plus.”

“And we have done that for the Van Akens. We must hurry before the others begin conflict,” Mimia replied with a nod.

“Tomorrow, we’ll ask Angel where to go for the next trial. For now though, I want to do some personal digging,” Lucca proposed, to which Mimia barked at him. “There’s no need to get worked up. I never really got to know my mother. If she really was this respectful genius like Gladys says, I’d love to know more.”

“Are you going to go again?” Mimia asked as Lucca began to pack away a few belongings.

“Only if they let me. There’s no need to push for this, but it might be the only chance I get to find out more. Why don’t you come with?” Lucca suggested. Mimia yipped happily, and then they were off.

Their room wasn’t guarded this time, so the night felt a lot more relaxed than earlier. Funnily enough, that made Lucca lighter with his movements, and the duo were a lot quieter. Not that he expected much difference between now and a few hours earlier, other than a few more guards around the throne room rather than on patrol.

That was until questionable facts started to show up. There weren’t any guards around, not even the glowing nocturnal Pokémon that strolled through the halls earlier. Lucca and Mimia were as silent as the palace around them, and grew unsettled as their light steps began to echo like loud chatter when they shouldn’t.

“What?” Lucca gasped. At the throne room doors, a platoon of soldiers lay knocked out. Mimia growled as they investigated, but was quickly disturbed. “These girls are… wounded doesn’t even begin to describe it.”

Lucca grit his fangs and glanced at the throne room. It wasn’t silent in there. He slowly slithered in, keeping one flipper ready to draw one of his swords. The light orbs were off, and the only noises were grunts of effort amongst a heavy thumping. He managed to shiver as a familiar chill slipped beneath his ruffles, ignorant of the humidity of the area.

“Not again…” he whispered.

That whisper caused the perpetrator to twist around. It was Crystal, and it was just like last time. The Piplup had a crazed, aroused glare in her eyes, and was covered from head to toe in dirt and damage. Before her were mushy remains of a grass type Pokémon, who looked as though they had been smashed and stabbed far more than necessary. Crystal hissed at him, to which he drew his weapons and braced for the worst.

He was right to, as Crystal flew at him faster than he could comprehend in this darkness. The sharp end of an arrow struck his blades so hard that sparks flew and lit the room for an instant, just enough time to make out a comical glee on Crystal’s face. He wouldn’t get to question it as she flew right into her next attack, another thrust that managed to cut his flipper.

“Ack- stop it—” Lucca grunted as he desperately defended himself.

Crystal was ruthless and fast. She was right in his face and struck him again and again with her beak and arrows. Lucca could barely make out where she was trying to stab him, and quickly rolled to the side to gain some distance.

The moment he did, Mimia howled as he tackled Crystal down. He barked at her, but she didn’t react. She barely let out a breath or a sound from the hit. She just stood back up and glared at the duo, her eyes aglow in the dark. Both Lucca and Mimia braced for the next attack, but it never came. Instead, Crystal stumbled, her eyes shut, and then she fell limp.

“Crystal!” Lucca gasped, and caught her. She was motionless, as if she had completely fainted. “It happened again.”

“Again?” Mimia’s eye widened. Lucca was about to explain, but something caught the Stufful’s attention. “There are more guards. They are on their way here!”

Lucca gulped, and slowly shook his head. Crystal was helpless in his flippers, and Gladys looked like she’d been through a grinder. “Mimia, take Crystal back to her room.”

“What’re you going to do?” Mimia replied in panic as Crystal was set on his back.

“Don’t question it, just go! Don’t tell anyone what happened here, and don’t let anyone see you, either. Go, go!” Lucca raised his voice and pushed the Stufful away. Mimia clearly didn’t want to, but sprinted away without looking back.

Now it was just him and the body. A few moments later, he could hear the footsteps of soldiers rushing towards him. He took a deep breath, raised one sword, and then slowly pressed it into Gladys’ corpse. When the soldiers came in, he made sure they could see him pulling that sword out, and glared at them over his shoulder.

 

…

 

Everything blurred after that, with only one thing clear: this was the worst morning of Lucca’s life so far. Mimia was able to get away discreetly, meaning he took the full blame for Gladys’ death. He could only watch solemnly from a distance as Shelly and Elise bawled their eyes out over the discovery.

It felt like almost every soldier in the palace had come out at the news. An army of them surrounded him and the Shining Warriors, while the family were allowed all the time and space they needed. After a lengthy mourning, he and the other warriors were thrown back into jail, but this time they were all watched by a platoon of grass soldiers.

As soon as it was clear they were going to be here for a while, Azu stomped over and punched Lucca in the face, throwing him out of his blurred trance. “Why did you do it? What the hell were you thinking?”

Lucca grit his fangs and almost retaliated. That punch surely left a mark on his cheek. He certainly felt it in his mouth. However, the moment he heard her tone and saw her face, that mood vanished.

“I don’t understand. We had a truce; everything was going our way. You had no reason to fight her. You promised me, Lucca!” Azu sounded like she was going to cry, and stumbled around like she was going to thrash. “Answer me already! What the hell was going through your head when you decided to murder her?”

Darn it, I haven’t thought that far ahead yet. Think Lucca, think! What excuse would someone as smart as Azu buy? Lucca tugged at his ruffles. Nervous gestures wouldn’t cut it. His chest was so heavy and twisted that it hurt just to be conscious. Azu’s desperation was only echoed by the silent but awkward glares of Crystal and Ruby, while Mimia and Brine wouldn’t even look at him.

“I wanted to find out about my mother. But when I got back… to the throne room,” Lucca struggled to speak. Shutting his eyes only made him envision Crystal’s frightening stare in the moment. Those glowing, navy eyes like wispy flames in the darkness, and the speed she moved at.  “I just…”

“You what? You what, Lucca? What are you trying to hide from me?” Azu raised her voice.

“It’s like I said before!” Lucca snapped and turned away. There was a pause for him to elaborate. “When I got there, she was preparing to leave. She was preparing to launch that attack on Heroica after all.”

At his words, Mimia half turned around. Even though it was his closed, torn eye looking back him, Mimia didn’t need to show he had much to argue. However, the Stufful said nothing.

“Does that justify killing her?” Azu challenged.

“If I’d defeated her again, she would only have waited until we left the island to try again. War would’ve started behind our backs,” Lucca was desperate as well. He crawled over and put his flippers at her sides. “Look, you have to trust me when I say—”

“Get your flippers off me,” she hissed and slapped him away. “I trusted you, Lucca. We trusted you. You said you weren’t going to kill anyone again. It had to be a queen, didn’t it?”

“Lay off him already,” Ruby finally stepped in.

“Ruby, don’t try to downplay this!” Crystal cried.

“I’m not going to downplay this. This was a totally shit thing to do at a totally shit time, I get it,” Ruby quickly raised her voice to quiet them. “But what good does ranting at the guy do right now? We’ve gotta do something now or we’re on a fast track to execution for sure. We can beat up this oaf later.”

“I was hoping I’d be free of propositions like that, but she’s right,” Brine reluctantly joined in. She lowered her volume. “Brute forcing our way out of this prison might not be the best idea, but it also might be the only move we can make.”

“I can’t—” Azu whimpered.

“Azu,” Ruby glared with her eyes open. Azu glared back, and that seemed to relay a thousand words. The Azumarill sighed and loosened up at last, but tears were still in her eyes, and her ears flopped to her sides..

“Shining Warriors!” a woman’s voice got their attention, followed by a round of lances tapped on the floor. The group faced the front, where the Roserade soldiers had made a formation to let three more Sceptile soldiers through. Shelly was there, but none of the group said anything. Shelly’s leaf was a deep blue. “You scoundrels are to stay here. We only want the murderer.”

The group glanced at the Brionne in terror as space was made for him. The instant the prison was unlocked, lances were thrust, and he found himself stuck in the middle of a tight formation of blades. Three blades rested right by his neck, while four other soldiers surrounded that formation and marched with him. A single move out of sync with their steps and the blades would press into him, delivering sharp spikes of pain. It was a struggle to keep up, torturous even, the longest and most painful walk through an area ever.

He was escorted back to the throne room, where Elise and a few other soldiers were waiting with even more Sceptile and Whimsicott. With a signal from Shelly, the blades were lifted, and Lucca’s flipper went straight to his neck to soothe it. Shelly seemed to wait for the soldiers, but they refrained from acting any further.

“I need to talk to Lucca alone, please. You said you would,” Shelly spoke up. The soldiers exchanged glances.

“With all due respect Your Highness, we cannot afford to do that,” one of them stated. “This drag of a male murdered Her Highness.”

“A-and… I… have to be here now,” Elise said slowly.

What’s Shelly planning? Lucca watched in confusion as the Oshawott pondered his thoughts.

“I guess it’s okay if all of you hear. You have to keep it private, though,” Shelly said, and shook his head. “Lucca… what really happened last night?”

Lucca’s face tightened. “It’s exactly as they saw. I met with Gladys again, and we—”

“No,” Shelly shook his head, and his leaf glowed an even deeper blue. “Her body was… I’ve seen you kill a Pokémon before. You don’t kill Pokémon that way.”

“If you don’t believe me, then I don’t know what to tell you,” Lucca turned away. There was a long pause until Shelly audibly gulped.

“It was Crystal, wasn’t it?” Shelly shuddered.

It took everything Lucca had not to give away his surprise.

“Mama was covered in… stab wounds. Like those from an arrow. You don’t stab your enemies. You also have a big cut on your flipper. Mama liked to fight with her feet, and she wouldn’t use her weapon on you again. And then there’s… Crystal’s… heart,” Shelly tried to explain, but he was holding back tears. Lucca’s face contorted all sorts, which only seemed to scare the Oshawott more. “I know weird stuff is happening with Crystal. Her heart doesn’t move, and she’s as cold to touch as a dead body. Ruby told me to keep quiet, but then this happens… My heart is telling me there’s something scary going on. Did it happen back at Girage, too?”

“Wa… wait, Shelly. What’re you saying? Are you tellin’ me someone else murdered Mama?” Elise said.

Is it really okay to tell him? He’s just a kid… but he’s figured it out this far. If he finds out I’m keeping stuff from him, it might hurt more. At the same time, having someone else to talk about all this might help me get to the bottom of it all. To top it all off, he is my younger brother… it would do well to be closer to him, Lucca shuddered with his thoughts. He gulped, shook his head, and slithered forward. “You mustn’t tell anyone else.”

Shelly gawked at him. “You mean?”

“I don’t know what it is, either. I did get up to try and murder Esther, but Crystal was there before me. She had a… maddened look in her eyes,” Lucca explained quietly. Shelly shivered hard. “I didn’t know what to do. All I could think at the time was that it was a nightmare. Letting her deal with the fact that she had killed a Pokémon was unthinkable, so I took the blame for it.”

“So it was Crystal who murdered Mama? The Piplup?” Elise asked desperately.

“I didn’t get up to kill Gladys, you know. I honestly just wanted to find out about my mother. I never knew her, but Gladys met her. When I got here, I found Crystal maddened again, and Gladys was already…” Lucca trailed off. “You mustn’t tell her. You two have to trust me.”

“But you don’t know what’s wrong with her. What if she murders another Pokémon? The Shining Warriors are murderers!” Elise cried.

“Elise, calm down!” Shelly demanded. The Steenee whimpered, but obeyed.

“I’m as perplexed and disheartened as you guys are. She’s so innocent and docile, it’s frightening to learn she has this dark side of her that’s suddenly coming out,” Lucca explained. “But this is also the first I’m hearing of her being cold and having a heart that doesn’t move. What’s that about?”

“I hugged her when we beat the Wishiwashi, and I’m sure of it. Her heart wasn’t beating, and she was as cold as a dead Pokémon. You don’t need to worry about why I know that… I know what a dead Pokémon feels like,” Shelly explained.

Lucca grit his fangs at that comment. “But she is alive and well. Fully functional, even.”

“Please tell me what you’re planning to do,” Shelly asked.

“This doesn’t change the fact that we’re the Shining Warriors. I planned to try and keep it secret from the others while we complete the rest of the trials. When we don’t have the matter of Bestia to worry about, it’ll be easier to focus on her and whatever’s happening,” Lucca explained.

“Lucca, she just killed my Mama. I can’t just pretend everything’s okay!” Shelly cried. “We have to do something!”

Lucca grit his fangs again, and slowly shook his head. “But what is there we can do? Until we know what’s actually going on with her, it’s hard to do anything. I dunno why she tried to kill Esther and then went after Gladys, too. Come to think of it, where is that Pikachu right now?”

“We had her stay in her quarters before we all went to the Shadow Palace. Kusha’s looked after her ever since we got back. Mama planned to return her to Heroica at the same time you all were gonna leave,” Elise explained.

“I doubt Esther has much more information, given she already sent the police after us,” Lucca pondered it. “Probably not in a good mood either, being cooped up in a room for all this time.”

“We’ve ruined her life, too,” Shelly sighed.

“What do you think you’re doing? Who’re you- argh!” a muffled shout came from outside the room, followed by a round of similar phrases, blades clashing and thumps. Everyone turned to the doorway as quiet fell. They flinched when the throne room doors were booted open and a group of knights began to pile in.

“What the?” several soldiers reacted, but were immediately thrown into harsh combat. The knights’ large stature compared to the grass soldiers made it easy for them to stomp all over them, but they stopped when they reached Lucca and Shelly.

“These guys again? What’re you doing here?” Lucca gasped. “That’s the other thing. They’re after Crystal for some reason.”

“But why did they follow us here?” Shelly cried.

“What’s going on?” Elise cried in panic.

“She’s not here. Where is she? The Piplup?” one of the knights demanded.

“Do not try to resist or defy. We know she is with your group!” another one added.

Lucca tightened his pose. “Y-you two, get out of here and get the others. I can handle this.”

“But you don’t have your weapons,” Shelly whispered worriedly.

“Stop muttering! Answer us!” threatened a knight, who gave a warning thrust with his lance.

“I don’t get it. Who’re they? What Pokémon are they?” Elise asked. Shelly and Lucca exchanged concerned looks, and then Lucca slid forward.

“We’re in the middle of an important meeting. You’ll have to wait your turn,” Lucca replied. If I can get to fight them alone, I can interrogate them to find out more. But the kids don’t need to see this.

“Lucca!” Shelly cried.

“I gave you an order. Go, just go!” Lucca shouted back at him. “Elise, you’re queen now. You have to take care of him!”

“Uh-ah, okay,” she squeaked.

The fight began with a lance thrust at Lucca, who flipped to the left to avoid it. He stood on his tail to retaliate, but a second knight thrust their lance, forcing him to bend his body to the right to dodge it. He could see a third knight rushing up from behind the two that just attacked, so he flipped backwards to steer clear of their assault.

“Elite knights, huh? You seem clumsy,” Lucca mocked them. While they growled and threw curses in response, he spotted Shelly and Elise sneaking around the side of the battle. “I don’t get it. You guys are supposed to protect Pokémon, right? Yet here you are trying to kill one of the Shining Warriors.”

“Our orders are none of your business. Tell us where the Piplup is or else!” the lead knight demanded.

“Or else, what?” Lucca folded his flippers with a smug smirk.

“You won’t live to regret it, punk!” the knight answered, and thrust his lance again.

This time, Lucca bent backwards so that he was underneath the lance. With his flippers firmly on the floor, he flicked his tail up as hard as he could to kick the lance right out of the knight’s grip. The weapon flipped through the air, but before Lucca could catch it, the other two knights rushed in with their lances bared.

From his handstand, Lucca spun and jumped over the first attack, and then caught the lance of the second. He twirled around it, and his added weight threw the second knight off-balance. The third knight hesitated from what he was seeing, giving Lucca the chance to jump off his shoulder.

“You make this too easy!” Lucca mocked as he caught the earlier lance in the air. The whole time, he was flipping and spinning with style, giving him all the leverage he needed to swing the weapon with great force as he landed. The three knights were knocked to the floor. The enemies promptly stood up however, and now surrounded him in a triangular formation.

Now that there was a short pause, Lucca nearly lost his balance. This lance was over twice his height, and its steel material was uncomfortable to hold or lift. He did his best to avoid showing that however, and planted the weapon straight up with both flippers on it. Seeing the knights’ hesitation, he taunted them with a cocky smirk again. Shelly and Elise had got away, too.

The trio came at him all at once this time. With both flippers latched to his stolen lance, the Brionne danced around their attacks by twirling and spiralling around the weapon. The continued thrusts were simple enough to dodge, but the weapon-less knight was now in his face, and kept trying to punch and swipe at him. Lucca eventually spun around his lance to swipe him with his tail, which knocked the knight back into a stab from one of his comrades.

“Shoot!” Lucca gasped at the friendly fire. That thrust pierced their armour with frightening ease, and the knight soon fell limp. The shocking moment didn’t deter the remaining two, however. They threw themselves back at him with shouts and curses.

“If the weapons are that strong, then,” Lucca growled to himself. He gripped his lance with both flippers again and brought up all his strength to swing it in a wide arc, managing to hit both knights and knock them back. They stumbled for a moment and then fell to the floor.

“Alright, start talking. Why do you want the Piplup?” Lucca shouted, doing his best to point the lance at their face. There was no response, not even a twitch, so he prodded their body. They were completely limp. “Seriously? This took them out?”

He discarded the lance and considered his options. First thing’s first, I need to get back to the others. Staying alone is a bad move.

He retraced his steps as best he could, but was quickly disturbed. The palace had transformed into a war ground between grass type soldiers and armoured knights. Thankfully, this meant he could slip by without engaging, but it put his heart rate into overdrive. All around were cries of pain and agony amongst the clash of metal, while defeated and wounded creatures lay at every corner. One wrong move and the attackers would turn on him, and he wasn’t sure if another battle with knights would go as lucky as earlier.

He managed to slip through the hallways, but not without losing a few furs. A skirmish between Sceptile and sword knights had him squeeze up against a wall to get past, only for a stray knife to land near him as he broke away. Seconds later, a knight fell to the ground in his path, but the Whimsicott were too busy fighting to chase him. Similar close shaves occurred moment after moment, each one keeping him a breath away from screaming, until he finally reached the staircase that led to the prison cells.

Just as he made a break to roll down the stairs, he finally yelled as two knights flew up them and landed in a rough heap right in front of him. He planted his flippers and prepared for the worst, until Brine appeared from the stairs, quickly followed by the others.

“Lucca!” Ruby called.

“Thank goodness, they let you guys out,” Lucca sighed in relief.

“Not quite. The knights just came down and broke us free. Shelly was behind them,” Azu explained. “What the heck is going on?”

“I’m asking you, but this isn’t really the place to talk,” Lucca sided with them.

“I don’t know what we’re supposed to do,” Elise whimpered. The others exchanged awkward glances and gestures. The leaf on her armband was as blue as Shelly’s earlier, while Shelly’s leaf had a hint of red.

“You need to do what Mama can do,” Shelly stated, and grabbed her hands. She gasped and stared at him. “It’s super hard right now. But if we just cry and be scared, it’s not going to end well.”

“But what would Mama do now? I’m not Mama, I was never close. I can’t replace her just like that!” Elise started to cry.

“Gods damn it girl, no one’s telling ya to. We just have to do somethin’ smart,” Ruby snapped.

“We need to get off the island. The knights are after Crystal, so if we leave, they should follow us,” Brine stated with folded paws. “Not the most preferable outcome, but it should at least stop this needless violence.”

“I’m really sorry about this,” Crystal whimpered.

“It’s not your fault. We can get to the bottom of this,” Brine replied. Lucca and Shelly exchanged the lightest of glances. “Elise, Shelly, where did they put everyone’s weapons?”

“Oh, over here,” Elise replied, and nervously led the way. A couple of doors down was another staircase, this time to a storage room. This one was separate from the rest of the palace in that the walls weren’t glass or transparent, and it was mostly dark. The room was devoid of knights or grass soldiers, so Elise had no trouble finding and opening a chest that contained everyone’s belongings.

“Huh? Well that was easy. They weren’t even guarding them,” Ruby raised an eyebrow. She gave her Parashelter a happy swing, at least.

“I imagine they were guarding everything originally, but then the knights took all the attention,” Azu said, clearly distracted by the room. “Not the best time to ask, but what is all this?”

“Er, it’s our recreational storage. This is where I pull most of my items from when I use the Treasure Orb. It’s here and my bedroom,” Shelly explained. At that, Azu started to take a look around. Sections of the wall dimly lit up when she got close to them, revealing all sorts of things hung up there. Weapons, tools, even pouches of berries and orbs. “The soldiers have orders to put all their spare stuff here so that I always have something to pull from.”

“So that’s how it works. Ya think if they actually lit this place up, you’d be able to see what you’re trying to get?” Ruby smirked.

“I don’t think that’s how it works… I can’t see through the Treasure Orb,” Shelly groaned.

“I’ll still get them to do it, by the way. That way you have help for the rest of your journey,” Elise assured. “But what do we do now? We can’t hide here forever, they’ll find us.”

“Gladys did say she was preparing a way for us to get off the island. Do you have any idea about that?” Brine wondered. “We can finish what she started, if she was making a boat or something.”

Elise hung her head as she thought about it. “A boat? Wait… she couldn’t have…”

The others stayed quiet to let her speak. She slowly looked up at them, and her face was a little pale. At least the blue on her leaf had dimmed.

“Something ringing a bell after all?” Brine put a paw on her hip.

“I think I know what Mama was planning to do. It’s not a machine, if that’s what you’re thinking,” Elise mumbled. “Um, I wonder if it’s my place to ask… I-I don’t actually know what to do to stop these knights, but they’re beating the soldiers. I can’t fight them, but you lads can, can’t you?”

“They’re trying to capture me! What’re you getting at?” Crystal cried.

“If you can help me stop the knights, I can get you off the island. I-I don’t know if that’s a fair trade or not,” Elise proposed.

“Your Highness,” Lucca said, getting her attention. His face was stern. “It’s not the most ideal circumstances, but you’re queen, now. You’re making the right choice, putting your Pokémon first. Technically this was our fault, and it’s our problem, too. So it’s only right we do something to stop the knights.”

“But how? If they catch me, who knows what they’ll do?” Crystal cried. Mimia barked at her, making her flinch.

“He’s right. That’s our leverage. We present you out in the open, and then we get away. They’ll be forced to chase us, so we escape them then,” Lucca explained.

“Wait a minute, we’re not going to walk through the ocean again, are we? A-and Kusha can’t carry all of us. Elise, what are you going to do?” Shelly asked worriedly.

“Posia,” Elise answered slowly. That seemed to silence Shelly completely. “I think Gladys was planning to lend you Posia.”

“Posia?” Azu put a hand on her hip.

“She’s a big, strong water Pokémon. I’ll take you to her after we fight the knights,” Elise clarified. “She can breathe the black water. She was helping us mine the Derris Ore, but we don’t need to do that anymore.”

“You don’t need to anymore?” Lucca questioned.

Elise shook her head. “I don’t want to do it if Mama was making weapons for war. I just want to help the Pokémon of Van Aken. That’s the right thing to do, right?”

Lucca replied with a sound, but an expectant look from Azu kept him quiet.

“Once we step out of this room, we’ll draw their attention. You lead us to Posia. That a good enough plan?” Azu said, facing everyone.

“Fine by me.”

“It’s scary, but we can do it.”

“It’s not fine by me!” Crystal squeaked. “Why do I have to be the bait? I don’t even like fighting.”

“It’s you they’re after. You don’t even have to fight. Just let ‘em see you, then run after Elise,” Ruby explained. “Like it or not, it’s the best shot we’ve got.”

Crystal grumbled miserably as she readied her bow in both flippers anyway. The group made sure the hallway was clear before they gathered outside to scout. A few defeated knights and soldiers lay to their left and right, but otherwise, all was quiet.

Lucca tensed up. It was too quiet. No shouts, and no visible conflict in the distant halls, either. Instead, he could make out groups of knights pacing up and down. The defeated grass Pokémon blended in with the vegetation in between the hallways of the palace, so it was difficult to tell they were even there. He glanced at the group, and they were just as wary.

“There’s no point in forcing fights right away. Let’s move,” he suggested. Mimia barked, and then the group were off.

“This way. Our docks are to the east of the island. Mama made a special exit to the palace as a shortcut,” Elise explained. She habitually skipped, to which the group jogged to keep up. They stopped at the end of the first hallway as three knights were approaching. Despite the glass walls, the knights didn’t seem to see them until they passed around the corner.

“Hit ‘em hard!” Azu ordered, and tackled one down immediately. Lucca was right behind her and slashed at their armour, while Mimia took down the third. The rest of the group jumped over while the knights were down.

Azu hopped away and held her staff defensively. The knights were surely going to follow, but the one she attacked didn’t so much as twitch. A quick look at the ones Lucca and Mimia attacked showed they were the same. Three armoured knights, seemingly defeated by blunt surprise attacks.

“What gives? Are they weaker?” Azu asked. Mimia barked at her.

“He’s right. I’ll take it over anymore hard fights,” Lucca translated. Azu nodded and they were off again.

“Down here,” Elise soon directed them to a junction. The floor was carpeted, but covered all over with marks and tears from the battles. The Steenee pondered options for a moment, and then used her sword to shred a section of the carpet.

“Whoa, is that okay?” Shelly gasped.

“We’d have to move all the bodies,” she pointed to the knocked-out knights and Pokémon all over it. “I’m not strong enough to move the carpet.”

“Sounds like our girl’s finally gettin’ it,” Ruby praised. Elise sighed, and then directed the group down a trap door.

“I’ve never seen this. It’s just like the door to the lab, though,” Shelly remarked as they descended a ladder into another dark room. Mimia had to carry Lucca down, and still landed with a thud. “E-er, are you two okay?”

“Stairs. And ladders. Pokémon’s worst inventions,” Lucca smiled sheepishly.

Down here was similar to the recreation room from earlier. Dark walls lit up as they got closer, only these didn’t have anything hung on them. Instead, rows upon rows of workbenches lined the room, while tools littered the floors and surfaces. In the direct centre, a large vehicle was being built, and appeared to be almost finished.

“Wait a minute, this is… a Tropius, isn’t it?” Azu asked, and laid a hand on it. It was cold like metal, making her flinch. “It’s a… machine?”

“A Tropius? You mean the Pokémon?” Elise glanced back and forth in confusion. “I think this was turned into a lab for some reason. It’s just supposed to be a path to the docks, though.”

“How many labs did Mama have? I knew there was one, but it was nothing like this,” Shelly remarked.

“I… I don’t know,” Elise hung her head.

“It appears far more was being developed for the war than we ever imagined,” Azu pointed out, still examining the Tropius machine. “It’s a vehicle in the shape of a Tropius, and it achieves aviation through the powering of several orbs.”

She tapped the chest of the machine to show what she was talking about, only for the whole room to rumble. Lights came on and the machine began to move, to which her eyes widened.

“Uh, Azu? What did you do?” Lucca asked.

“I didn’t do anything! Ruby, did you touch anything?” Azu gasped. The Tropius began to stand up tall and loom over the party. It lacked a head, with a neck that led nowhere, and its broad leaves were held up on a propellor. They began to rotate, but it wasn’t enough to make the robot airborne.

“Why’s it gotta be me? I wouldn’t touch any of this nerdy stuff!” Ruby retorted, and flared her back. “Whatever. If this thing wants to fight, then we’ll bring it down!”

“After everything that’s happened, I didn’t think we’d be fighting a robot today,” Crystal commented, aiming an arrow at it.

Mimia barked incessantly at it, but it didn’t respond at all. The propellers spun faster and faster until a heavy wind spread across the room, keeping the party held back. Everything on the tables began to fall scatter noisily on the floor. Soon the group had to shield their faces, and Mimia took to growling instead.

“What is it even doing? My arrows won’t work in this wind!” Crystal complained.

“And if I tried to reach that, I’ll be the one flying!” Lucca added. He had his swords stabbed into the floor to keep steady, and Mimia was latched to him whining.

“Guess it’s up to me!” Ruby cheered. She breathed fire, but it immediately dissipated into thin air. “H-huh? What just happened, my fire!”

“The wind’s putting it out!” Shelly cried. He and Elise were flat on the ground to stay steady, too.

“Tch, annoying thing,” Brine growled, crouched down. With a clench of her fist, a puddle of water appeared below the Tropius, which promptly erupted into a geyser. The water knocked it up to the ceiling, and a loud crash rumbled through the room. “Now, hit it, hit it, hit it!”

Mimia didn’t need to be told. As the propellers stopped and the Tropius toppled into the workbenches, he hopped up high and wrestled the robot by its neck. He slammed it front-first into the floor, where Ruby’s Flamethrower engulfed it. The two attacks resulted in a wave of electricity across Tropius’ body, followed by a crackling explosion.

“Mimia!” Lucca gasped, having to shield himself. Smoke billowed out of the headless Tropius’ neck, filling the ceiling with pitch black burning. Mimia turned out to be unharmed though, and instead started barking.

“Phew. It blew up, but all the metal’s still intact,” Azu remarked. “This is quite the remarkable piece of tech. It was to my understanding that the Van Akens were like the rest of Heroica, but this is pretty advanced.”

“Azu?” Lucca raised an eyebrow at her.

“I see… I see! How clever. The material in the wires simply transfers the runic coding of the orbs as an energy source throughout the device. It’s like wires, only it’s natural energy. However the core orbs themselves use Bestia to function, so they’re not sustainable, but they’re super energy efficient. Amazing, truly remarkable! The Van Aken scientists are worthy genius!” she rambled, poking and picking at the robot. “Even the design is convenient. It’s light and hollow as a boat, but its sheer size and shape gives it the leverage of a real Tropius. Such a thing could easily be used as a transport as well as for combat!”

“Azu!” Lucca shouted. She still couldn’t hear him, and continued to ramble and play with the machine. “Er… am I being ignored?”

“It’s impossible to talk to her when she’s like this,” Shelly slumped and smiled.

“Of all the times, though,” Brine scratched the back of her head. The sound of heavy clanking came from above, followed by a round of muffled shouts. “I think they’re here. No doubt they heard that battle.”

The group except Azu all turned to the trap door and ladder behind them, not surprised to see it flip open. A group of about four knights ascended from above.

“There’s that decoy we needed. You didn’t need to be the bait after all,” Ruby smiled at a worried Crystal. “Azu, c’mon let’s get it!”

“I’m not done here. Go knock some of them out or something, it’s not hard,” Azu replied without looking up from her work. She started dissecting the Tropius robot at some point, making everyone’s mouths drop.

“That wasn’t part of the plan!” Elise cried.

“And really not a funny joke, either,” Crystal added. Azu ignored them completely and continued to mumble to herself.

“There they are! Contact the others!” One of the knights ordered, and their comrade promptly climbed back up. The remaining three had axes and a sword, and confronted the group. “You’re ours, Piplup!”

“We are not doing this one today. Mimia, grab Azu, Elise, lead the way!” Lucca ordered.

“R-right! This way,” Elise called out and sprinted off.

“Hey wait-put me down! Ah- Mimia I’m not done here!” Azu cried and squealed. She flailed helplessly as Mimia attempted to carry her. “Alright fine I get it, I’m right behind you.”

“Stop right there!” The knight called out.

Further on through the lab, the lighting returned to the dim hall of earlier, only with less tools about or places to work. The area looked more like an underground tunnel than an advanced laboratory, only the hall was perfectly straight and the walls lit up as they passed. The whole time they ran, amongst their panting breaths, shouts and demands were yelled from the knights behind them. Even as he felt his stamina tested, their threats kept Lucca running.

How long does this thing go on for? He complained as his mouth began to dry up. He must have been sprinting as fast as he could for upwards of a minute or a few, and yet the hall barely changed. The end was nowhere in sight, and back where they came from was long gone, too.

“Shelly!” Azu shouted.

The Oshawott was the first to slow, and he whimpered in his effort to keep running. He was exhausted, and sweat rained down his face. The group all stopped for him, but that meant confronting the three knights who kept pace.

There were no words this time. The silver-armoured giants just came out swinging, and all aimed for Shelly at once. Azu was closest, and rushed to hold her staff over them both. The first attack was an axe, and it was swung so hard Azu’s body twisted to the side as she blocked it. The next was the other axe, which knocked her in the opposite direction. Both were hard enough to make her grunt. The last was the sword, which swung straight up. Azu’s staff was knocked right out of her hands.

“Shoot!” Azu hissed as her staff landed behind the group.

“Azu!” the others cried. Ruby flared up her back, but it was obvious she wouldn’t be fast enough. The knight shouted a curse as they brought their sword back down, and all Azu could do was cower and brace for the worst. Lucca didn’t hesitate despite, and threw himself into the knight in an all-out attempt to push to over.

The next moment, he let out a roar at the top of his voice. He didn’t know where that sword hit, but it hurt worse than anything he’d ever felt. No, it brought on an agonizing memory he believed he forgot. The indescribable burn in his side that simultaneously sapped away his energy in a flash and fuelled him with the adrenaline to do what he needed to do.

Every part of his body seemed to shut down besides those he needed in the instant. His vision blurred and the sounds of his friends’ worrisome cries were muffled. Everything besides his enemy was in black and white. With heavy breaths, he glared at the Kartana with maximum intimidation, and then leapt straight at them with both weapons pointed straight forward and a furious roar.

In the next moment, the enemy was a knight again. Lucca’s swords pierced their armour and brought them to the floor, yet he had no trouble tearing his swords out and giving the other two knights equal punishment. He threw his whole body into them, slamming them to the ground and delivering a brutal slash each. When they were down, he too fell on his side, and dropped his swords in a fruitless attempt to cover his wound.

“Lord Lucca!” Mimia shrieked over him.

Lucca couldn’t open his eyes. His body hurt so much that cringing this hard was the only way to bear it. He panted heavily in attempt to relax, and to his surprise, he soon felt the warmth of water around his wound. It stung enough for him to hiss, but it quickly subdued the searing pain.

“Wha… what?” he whispered. Brine was stood over him, and bathed his wound in water. Shelly was beside her using an orb. He couldn’t see what it was as the Oshawott’s paws were surrounded by light. “Shelly, Brine…”

“I get the feeling you’re all crazy. I’ve hardly been with you a few days and yet it feels like you all want to do reckless moves like that,” Brine complained. Lucca blinked dumbfoundedly at her. “I can control water, okay? And one of my moves just so happens to heal wounds. Shelly’s Health Orb is doing the gods work.”

“O-oh,” Lucca replied, and sat back. He caught a glimpse of Azu jaw dropped, but she stepped back and turned away when she noticed him.

“Is he going to be okay?” Crystal begged.

“He will be, but if we stay here too long, more knights will catch up. Can one of you carry him?” Brine replied impatiently.

“If that happens, we’ll fight ‘em off! Healing comes first,” Ruby snapped. Mimia barked at her, and then scooped up Lucca onto his back. Like that, he charged off ahead. “Oh er, I guess that works, too.”

“As long as he’s not bleeding, we can get him properly looked at once we get a calmer moment. I’m not about to let him suffer,” Brine reasoned.

“Promise?” Crystal asked.

“Girls don’t lie,” Brine smirked.

The group kept to jogging rather than sprinting this time, even though Mimia assured them he would be fine. Thankfully no other knights caught up to them, so they soon reached the end of the tunnel. There was no door, it was like a cave exit cleverly melded into the hills. Looking in from the outside, you couldn’t see the dark, mechanical walls, only the grassland surrounding it.

Just like Elise promised, the coast was in sight. A tiny collection of structures created a port, although there weren’t any boardwalks or ships, only strips of land that jutted out to sea where ships could presumably dock.

“That’s… strange,” Azu muttered. All eyes turned to her. “The inside of the castle was a proper warzone, but out here is as peaceful as ever.”

Lucca was confused until he took a proper look. Everywhere else on the island was as quiet and green as ever before. You wouldn’t believe that an army of knights had stormed the palace. I guess it could be that they’re all still inside the palace, but if that was the case, surely they would watch the exits, too? They don’t know about this one, but I can’t even see any around the perimeter.

“It is strange they’re not still following us, but the less Pokémon get hurt, the better. Let’s get you all to the sea,” Elise nodded, and continued on.

But then what was the point of that attack? Lucca asked himself. Come to think of it, they had a way to chase us across the sea, but let us go in the first place. Maybe because they couldn’t fight underwater, but then they still managed to learn that we were alive and on Van Aken, and then got here within two days.

Lucca’s face became intense, but doing so made his wound ache, to which he cringed and wiggled on Mimia’s back. Something’s very not right about all this. This seemingly unplanned storming of the palace, but then leaving everything else alone, to the point of not even chasing us outside. Are they trying to lure us somewhere?

Just as concerning was that no Pokémon came out to see them as they reached the port. This section was closer to the water than it appeared, with little huts and gazebos built right on top of soggy wetland. Some of the grass and trees even grew in the sea, with their highest points peeking out of the water. Elise took them to the water’s edge and knelt down, though she had a concerned expression.

“Everything okay?” Azu wondered.

“It is. I’m just worried if I’m doing the right thing or not,” Elise sighed. “I’m sorry. All I can think about right now is Shelly. And making sure the lad gets to do the Shining Warrior Journey.”

“I don’t really want to try and give advice, there. None of us are royalty or anything,” Brine pulled a face.

There was a lengthy silence, so Lucca carefully slipped off Mimia’s back, putting away the obvious concern with a raised flipper. “You’re putting a lot of faith in the Shining Warrior legend, aren’t you?”

“… It’s what I was raised to believe in. When Shelly became a hero, I knew it was real. Meeting you all was the confirmation,” she replied, rubbing an arm.

“It may be rich coming from me now, but I appreciate the faith. That you’ve seen it with your own eyes, I hope that reaffirms how hard we’re trying to save this world,” Lucca replied. He stood on his tail to give a bow with one flipper on his chest and the other behind him. “I’ll treat this as an order from royalty, to we who have visited your island. On my honour, I will do everything in my power to see this journey through. I will save Heroica, Your Highness.”

“Sir Lucca… okay, you don’t need to prove your conviction ta me anymore,” Elise finally smiled, and stood tall. “As Queen of Van Aken, I will do everything I can do to help the Shining Warriors. That’s an order now, and a promise to a strong young hero, me!”

“Elise,” Shelly trembled.

“This is oddly royal for you both,” Azu commented.

“Hee hee hee, I’ve gotta learn, don’t I? And mopin’ around all morning ain’t gonna fix it,” she cocked her head with a gleeful grin. The others were surprised.

“The sunlight finally gave her energy,” Shelly pointed out, and they all nodded and realised.

“I’ll do my best to calm the palace after I get back. I’ll look for Kusha and Esther, so I won’t be alone. Don’t worry about me,” Elise explained, and then walked into the water. She carefully pulled the leaf around her bracelet free, which was glowing green. “Let’s get you guys going.”

As she got to work, Azu began to visually ponder again, and swayed from side to side. “I’ve guessed a few theories, but I think it’s better to ask. What actually are those leaves you and Elise wear?”

“Oh yeah, me too. They always change colour,” Ruby added.

“They’re called Gospel Vibes,” Shelly began, and removed his headband to stare at his. It immediately returned to natural green. “They’re from a rare type of plant that only grows here on Van Aken, and reacts to changes in the body to change colour. The important figures of Van Aken have to wear these at all times because their colour gives away our mood.”

“So it changes colour based on how you’re feeling. I thought so,” Azu nodded.

“What does it mean when it’s blue? That’s what yours usually is,” Ruby asked. Shelly grumbled something as his flashed that very colour.

“We wear them because it allows the Pokémon to know when we’re telling the truth. They’re also customary for married Pokémon, to ensure a stable relationship going forward,” Shelly explained.

He slowed as Elise began to sing into her Gospel Vibe. With the leaf by her mouth, her song came out as whistle, but it had a soothing melody that sounded easy to remember. Soon after her song started, water began to flow around her, mostly out to sea, and in perfect time with her notes.

Almost like a musical stave had been drawn by ripples in the water, her notes began to appear on the surface as bright yellow orbs. The spheres grew along the stave, getting brighter and larger as the song went on, and flew out of the water once they reached the end. Elise stopped singing too, and quickly skipped back onto land.

“What’s going on? Is this some kind of magic?” Crystal whispered. “It’s beautiful.”

The stave swirled into a whirlpool, and from the centre of it, a shadow began to emerge. A Pokémon for sure, a round figure with large, bright eyes. Everyone stood back as it burst through the surface, sending a light wave over everyone.

“Ack-ah hey, watch it!” Ruby coughed and spat.

Half floating out of the water before them was a Pokémon the size of a small boat. Not big enough to be called a ship, but big enough to ferry the six of them with ease. It had a yellow marking over its eyes like a mask, and antennae with yellow orbs on the two tips. The rest of its body was blue, smooth, and fish-shaped, though its back fin looked powerful. It gave a peppy cry that sounded like a sonar that echoed throughout the area, even though its mouth remained underwater.

“I’ve never seen a Lanturn so big before!” Azu remarked.

“Figures a royal Pokémon would have a royal ride. Talk about putting on a show!” Lucca remarked. Mimia barked with him.

“Are you going to carry us across the ocean?” Crystal wondered.

“Her name is Posia, and yes they are,” Elise confirmed. She bowed to the Lanturn. “Posia, long time no see! I’ve got a big ask for you this time.”

The Lanturn merely nodded.

“These guys are the Shining Warriors! I want ye to follow their orders for a while, okay? Take them safely across the sea, and come at Shelly’s call,” Elise instructed. Posia nodded again.

“I feel like I’m lookin’ at a water type Angel,” Ruby grumbled.

“Huh? What does that thing have to do with me?” Angel replied without appearing.

“It totally looks like you! Big round body, needlessly oversized, doesn’t really say much…”

“Excuse you, you would know a thing or two about being big and round. Would you rather I comment on every little thing?” Angel snapped. The oversized Togekiss appeared and pointed madly at Brine. “And it’s not like this one listens to me, anyway!”

“Hey I’m here, aren’t I? I never said I wasn’t going to meet with the other heroes,” Brine argued.

“At least talk a bit more to point us in the right direction. Speaking of, where do we need to go next, anyway? It’s been constant since we got out of the Shadow Temple that we’ve not really asked,” Lucca replied.

“Hmpf. Fair enough, mister bossy,” Angel puffed out her cheeks. She took a few steps and pointed over to the ocean. At first there appeared to be nothing there, but shielding him eyes from the sun, Lucca could just about make out an island in the distance, faded by light. “That tall, grassy cone in the distance is the Seafoam Lightworks. You’re definitely going to have some fun there, and that’s where your third trial is.”

“Has any of this journey actually been ‘fun’ so far? I’ve lost count how many times one of us could have died,” Crystal hung her head.

“Well the name Lightworks sounds cool, so yeah, I think there could be something fun there. Plus, all the good food we’ve eaten is pretty fun if you ask me!” Ruby raised her head in glee. Mimia barked and growled at them all, making them all stop. “What, what? If this is about the corn cob I stole, I promised I’ll pay you back!”

“Behind us,” Elise mouthed off. From the hills came a collection of collection of caravans pulled by horse Pokémon. There was hesitation until the rallying cries of the knights echoed across the world over to them.

That’s what took them so long. They mobilised everyone and came at us all at once, Lucca shuddered as he watched the army of enemies appear from over the hill. From their distance, they were like a swarm of tiny bug Pokémon gathering out of a hole, only their collective rallying and metal armour shook the air with noise. “How are there so many?”

Crystal let out a scream and twisted to run, but Ruby stopped her, and the two wound up hugging. “Get it together, sis! We’re not gonna let you get hurt.”

“There’s no way you’re going back through that,” Shelly pointed out with a glance at the worried Elise.

“Why are there even so many? Do they really all just want Crystal?” Elise asked. Mimia barked twice at her.

“Mimia’s right, we’re not going to stick around to find out,” Lucca stated. He took one glance at Posia, who appeared unfazed. “Posia, I apologise for this, but we’re counting on you.”

“All aboard?” Azu glanced at everyone, who nodded.

It was a bit of a scramble to get everyone on the Lanturn’s back – its fishy shape was wide, round and smooth enough that there weren’t any holds besides the antennae. Ruby and Crystal were nestled at the front while the others sprawled out and hugged Posia as closely as they could.

“Wait, Elise, how will you get back to the island?” Ruby gasped.

“We’ll figure that out later. Posia, let’s go!” Lucca ordered.

Posia finally made a cry, an angelic cry that was already familiar to the tune Elise sung earlier. It was muffled as she splashed to kick herself away from the land, and then set off into a full swim. Her upper half remained above water the whole time, and was suitably flat despite the waves and splashing around them. Posia swam mechanically, keeping perfectly flat and balanced, yet maintaining an impressive speed as she tore through the water.

A quick glance back showed the knights weren’t following. They lined the coast, raised their weapons and shouted threats that were claimed by the distance, but they were harmless. Lucca watched them grow smaller and smaller as they got further away. He had to take a minute or two to finally calm and be sure they had no surprise way of following. Maybe I do still have potential to be right. They must’ve gotten to van Aken somehow, so why can’t they chase us now?

“Aiiieee, come on, enough for one day!” Crystal’s scream brought him back to the front.

There were ripples in the ocean not far ahead of them. Huge ripples that forced Posia to stop or risk diving into them. Though the Lanturn had plenty of space between herself and where the water was unsettled, the undulations suddenly snaked their way over and caught her. She gasped in panic, but her size seemed to resist any attempt the ocean made to throw her about.

“What’s happening?” Azu asked. “There’s a whirlpool beneath us!”

“Was this a trap from the knights?” Lucca gasped. There was indeed a whirlpool below them, but Posia’s swim speed countered it perfectly, and the group only suffered a rocky ride so far.

That was until the silhouette of another Pokémon appeared from below the surface. The group tensed, coughed, and readied their weapons to prepare. Bright, turquoise eyes glared, surrounded by a serpentine form that swam rapidly in circles to create the whirlpool that trapped them. A second later and the figure emerged, its body stretching and curving around the party to loom over them. It felt like a storm was brewing, complete with the deafening crashing of waves and bone-chilling rain, all summoned by this gargantuan serpent.

“You again? You don’t know how to give up, do ya?” Ruby shouted on top of the violent splashing. The serpent monster was a Wishiwashi, thousands of them bundled together. Its body glowed all over with their countless bright eyes, and blew the party back with a roar. It began to whip its tail on the surface with surprising ease despite its size, creating powerful waves that added to the mess of the whirlpool.

“Hold on tight!” Lucca shouted at the top of his voice.

He hugged Posia tighter than before and had to clench his eyes shut. His wound started burning again, his ears hurt from all the noise, and the rocking threatened to throw him miles into the sky. He knew what he had to do, yet his body couldn’t move an inch, lest he fall overboard, or worse, get struck by this powerful beast. The best he could do was force his eyes open to wait for an opening, but even that hurt to do.

The worst of it came, however. From left to right, forward to backwards, up and down, all with no coherency whatsoever, Lucca was thrown back and forth, and each impact hurt. Holding on hurt. His teeth clattered and his organs felt like they were hitting one another or something. Before long, the screams of three girls took over everything, and all Lucca could do was attempt to reach out.

Ruby, Elise, and Brine was all thrown into the air. Though his mind told him to jump and catch them, his body didn’t react. It couldn’t. He made an effort, but a wave of agony pulsed through him, resulting in a yell and a tight grip on his wound. A mere second later, the three girls disappeared into the rough sea below, while Posia was thrown in the opposite direction.

“Girls!” Lucca shouted as the storm got even worse. Posia was spun, flipped, and more. Lucca had no idea how he held on, but he did.