Chapter Six: Silicon Cave

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey were led out of Dead Space and through an endless amount of roads. They walked through the pollution-filled roads of the areas near Dead Space into grassy, rolling hills dotted with beautiful flowers of all sorts of colors. At the bottom of the hills, Hope could faintly see a small, bubbling river, which she assumed was the Magikarp Jump River that Solomon had been talking about earlier. The transition was incredibly jarring for Hope. She didn’t want to say anything, though, because she didn’t want to distract herself from her mission.

Aside from Klaw and Dewey, a whole slew of pokemon from Dead Space had come to escort them to Silicon Cave, There was Spike, Daisy, Violet (who had tagged along despite her mother trying to convince her not to), Solomon, Sneaks, and a few other stall owners from Dead Space. Among the wide assortment of characters was a red-and-blue dragon pokemon with a deformed arm, a large white bear pokemon with a beard made of ice wearing a short black jacket vest, a large furry yellow and black pokemon wearing a leather belt around its waist, and a large, monstrous purple scorpion pokemon with a yellow bandana wrapped around its giant tail.

Spike had insisted that he and Solomon be the only ones to escort Hope, Klaw, and Dewey to Silicon Cave, but many insisted on going anyway. Many of the shop owners were simply curious about the situation and how the three children would handle it, but Daisy and Sneaks insisted on coming to keep an eye on them.

Sneaks in particular was incredibly worried. They kept weaving in between Klaw and Dewey, their eyes shifting and their body quivering. “Are you sure you are up to this?… Are you sure you can handle this?…” they kept repeating, a small quiver making their voice reverberate.

Klaw rolled his eyes. “We’re going to be fine, Sneaks. Stop worrying.”

“Y-yeah!” Dewey chimed in. “W-we’re g-going to be f-fine! W-we w-wouldn’t have a-agreed to do t-this if we t-tough we w-wouldn’t c-come o-out of it o-okay!”

“Seriously?…You sure?…” Sneaks said.

Daisy gently swiped at Sneaks with her paw. “Sneaks, you need to stop worrying. Klaw and Dewey are very tough kids.” she said.

Sneaks calmed down noticeably. “You’re right, Daisy…I shouldn’t be so worried…”

“That’s the spirit!” Daisy chuckled. Immediately afterwards, however, she kneeled down next to Hope. “Are you going to be okay?” she whispered.

Hope almost tripped over her own feet. “Y-yes! Why do you think I won’t be fine?” she whispered back.

Daisy shook her head. “Sorry. I’m just more worried about you since I really don’t know much about your fighting skills. Klaw and Dewey have been fighting from a very young age, so I know they’ll be fine. But you… I’m not very sure.”

Hope began to shake a little. “I should be fine…”

Daisy let out a small sigh. “I guess I shouldn’t get too worried, though. If you’re friends with Klaw and Dewey, you should be able to handle yourself just fine. They’re tough kids, and they tend to gravitate towards other tough kids. Seeing as you’re with them, you should be fine.”

Hope let out a sigh of relief. “Yeah, you’re right. I just let the nerves get to me for a minute there.”

“Speaking about you being friends with Klaw and Dewey…” Daisy flicked her tail. “How did you meet them?”

Once again, Hope tripped over her own feet. “Umm…I…Well…We met….Urgh…” she stuttered.

Daisy tilted her head. “Is something wrong?”

“I’m fine, I’m fine!” Hope protested. This is not fine at all! , she thought to herself. I can’t let her know I’m actually a human! Who knows what she’ll think of me then?

“You don’t want to talk about it, huh?” Daisy sighed. “I understand. Must have been some traumatic situations that forced you to come to the Absolute Zero Syndicate.”

“Huh?” Hope swiveled her head around.

“It’s sad, really.” Daisy looked at her own paws. “Most pokemon who join the Absolute Zero Syndicate have been through some real messed-up things in their lifetime. They’re broken kids with nowhere else to go in the world. Polaris knows this. He’s a master manipulator. And he manipulates these kids, tells them they’ll be safe in the Absolute Zero Syndicate, that he’ll be the one to take them in. And then he breaks them- turns them into heartless killing machines.”

“Oh…” All Hope could do was nod and listen.

“It’s quite a miracle Klaw and Dewey are as nice as they are.” Daisy continued talking. “They’ve been witness to what’s been going on at the Absolute Zero Syndicate since they took their first breath. And their fathers…” She took a deep breath. “Polaris is calculating and cold. But Scorch and Riptide are straight-up psychopaths. They delight in seeing other pokemon going through pain and torture. They derive happiness from the suffering of others. And yet Klaw and Dewey are the exact opposite of them. They’re so nice and just love helping others. I’m actually kind of surprised that you volunteered to help save Solomon’s grandchildren before they did.” she chuckled. “It’s no wonder that you became friends with them. You’re very similar. That same determination, the same sense of justice, the same desire to help pokemon…”

Hope let out a weak chuckle. “Yeah… I guess…”

Thankfully, at that moment, Klaw and Dewey noticed Hope talking to Daisy and walked over to her. “Come on, Hope!” Klaw said, nudging her playfully. “Let’s go talk about our rescue plans!”

Hope nodded gratefully and went over to join them. Once they were a good distance away from Daisy, Klaw leaned into her ear. “You didn’t tell her that you’re actually a human, did you?” he asked.

“Oh course not!” Hope said, making sure that she was keeping her voice down. “I would never tell these pokemon that!”

“G-good” Dewey said. “Y-you r-really shouldn’t t-tell t-these pokemon t-that y-you’re a h-human. I-it c-could put y-you in s-serious d-danger.”

“Why?” Hope asked. “I mean, I already had that feeling, but why?”

As she talked, the party started to ascend a particularly large hill. It too was dotted with flowers, but it was also dotted with strange, almost crystalline rock formations. The rock formations were incredibly shiny, to the point where Hope could see her reflection in them. Upon seeing the rock formations, Spike turned to the trio.

“Silicon Cave shouldn’t be too far away now.” he growled. “If you want to start putting on your hero masks, now would be a great time to do so.”

Hope rolled her eyes. “Jeez. That guy really needs to get those sticks out of his ass.” she whispered to Klaw and Dewey.

“I know, right? Even after getting shut down twice, he still acts so petty.” Klaw whispered back.

The three children giggled.

“Are you three getting into any funny business?” Spike snarled.

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey immediately snapped back to attention. “No, Spike. No funny business here.” Hope responded.

“Y-yes! N-no f-funny b-business to be s-seen h-here!” Dewey chimed in.

Spike let out a heavy sigh and turned his back again. “If you say so.” he huffed under his breath.

The three children exchanged sly smirks.

“Anyways,” Hope said. “What were you about to say about my being a human putting me in danger?”

Klaw and Dewey glanced around themselves to make sure that nobody was paying attention. As soon as they confirmed that the coast was clear, Klaw turned to her. “The thing about humans is… they have special powers.” he whispered extremely quietly.

Hope snorted. “Get out of here.” she whispered back, just as quietly as Klaw had.

“W-we’re not k-kidding.” Dewey responded, also speaking in a hushed whisper. “H-humans are s-said to h-have the p-power to c-control p-pokemon with t-their m-minds. T-there have b-been s-stories of h-humans d-destroying entire c-continents by p-putting p-pokemon under their c-control. T-there h-have been s-stories of h-humans w-waging war a-against each o-other through the u-use of p-pokemon.”

“Those can’t be true.” Hope whispered, flicking her tail. “You’re implying that pokemon and humans used to live together in the same universe. And as far as I can tell, I’m the only human here.”

“That’s the thing, though.” Klaw murmured. “One day, all of the humans suddenly… disappeared .”

Hope’s ears shot up. “Huh?!”

“Yeah.” Klaw whispered back. “One day, hundreds of thousands of years ago, all the humans in the world just suddenly vanished. They were there one minute, gone the next.” Flicking his tail, he continued, “At least, that’s what Boss Polaris says.”

“Polaris?!” Hope yelped.

Spike turned around and glowered at the trio.

“Sorry” Hope murmured, flattening her ears before turning back to Klaw and Dewey. “Seriously, though, Polaris? ” she whispered. “Why would you believe anything that guy says?”

“T-the t-thing about B-boss P-polaris is, he’s i-incredibly well r-read.” Dewey whispered back. “Y-you saw h-his r-room, right? T-that m-massive b-bookshelf he h-has? I-it’s f-filled to the b-brim with b-books from e-every c-continent.”

“And a good majority of those books are on the history of humans in our world.” Klaw interjected. “He has a bit of an… obsession with them. “

“C-calling it an o-obsession w-would be an u-understatement.” Dewey chimed back in. “H-he’s a-absolutely c-crazy about h-humans. A-all of his p-plans u-ultimately r-revolve a-around bringing h-humans b-back. I-if he h-hadn’t done so m-much r-research, we w-would c-certainly think he’s c-crazy. B-but he’s g-got the e-education to p-prove it.”

A realization suddenly came to Hope. “So that’s why you guys and your parents were so quick to believe that I was a human.”

“Yeah.” Klaw said under his breath. “Our dads have completely bought into Polaris’s propaganda, and they’ve drilled it into our heads all our lives. I will admit that we didn’t really buy into it. A lot of the stuff that our dads tell us is pure nonsense anyways. But when we found you, and you told us that you were a human… something inside of us just knew that you were telling the truth. Just this strong feeling of genuinity.”

Hope smiled softly. “Thanks, guys,” she murmured softly. Immediately afterwards, however, something hit her.

“What I do know, however, is that humans are extraordinarily powerful.” Polaris’s words from their first meeting rang through Hope’s ears. “And to have all of this power right here in front of me, in this tiny little body… You will be a very valuable asset for the Absolute Zero Syndicate.”

“What does Polaris want from me?” Hope whispered quietly.

She didn’t whisper quietly enough, though, because Klaw and Dewey quickly turned to her. “What did you say?” Klaw asked.

“What does Polaris want from me?” Hope repeated, this time directing it towards Klaw and Dewey.

Klaw and Dewey looked at each other uneasily.

“W-we don’t k-know for s-sure,” Dewey said, “b-but w-whatever it is, i-it can’t be good. P-papa and D-daddy k-keep s-saying that if P-polaris’s p-plans s-succeed, he’ll be a-able to t-take o-over the e-entire c-continent. W-we don’t k-know how e-exactly he’s g-going to u-use y-you to g-get what h-he w-wants. W-we do k-know, h-however, that w-we’re g-going to do e-everything in our p-power to m-make s-sure he d-doesn’t a-accomplish it.”

Hope fluffed up her tail in determination. “All the more reason for us to escape from the AZS!” she declared, making sure to keep her voice low so that the Dead Space members couldn’t hear her.

The group had finally finished descending down the large hill. Spike leaned down to the trio and nudged Hope with his nub of a right arm. The dried blood coating felt rough and scratchy against her fur. “Look over there”, he growled, using his good arm to point into the distance.

Hope turned her head to the left and peered off into the distance. She could just barely make out a small hole situated at the bottom of a small hill, surrounded by large masses of translucent crystals.

“That’s Silicon Cave.” Spike grunted. “Let’s get going now.”

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey looked at each other with excitement. The trio began to bound ahead of everyone else, up and down smaller, sloping hills, until they finally reached Silicon Cave.

The trio peered into the near-darkness of the cave. The crystals were dotted along the walls of the cave as well. These crystals seemed to be slightly luminescent, creating a dim trail of light that just vaguely exposed the surroundings of the cave. Hope, Klaw, and Dewey looked at each other with determination.

“Here we are.” Spike said, tilting his head. “You know, it’s still not too late to back out of this. A lot of the guys here are combat experts. They can handle this well enough. Certainly better than… kids like you.”

Spike tried to soften his words at the end, to make it seem like he was just concerned about the trio being fairly young themselves and their well-being. But there was the slightest tinge of malice underneath that betrayed his true intentions. Kids like you. Thugs. Criminals.

Hope fluffed up her tail and raised her head. “We’re not backing out of this.” she said. “We volunteered for this because we were sure that we could handle it. Being… kids… isn’t going to stop us one bit.” Hope made sure to add the same tinge of malice that Spike had used at the end of his sentence.

Spike furrowed his brows together. “If you say so,” he muttered softly.

From beside him, Solomon clasped his hands together in joy. “I really don’t know if I can probably find da words to thank you three enough for what y’all did.” he exclaimed, a wide smile on his face. “If y’all were brave enough to volunteer to save mah grandbabies, y’all are definitely capable enough to save ‘em.”

From beside Hope, Klaw and Dewey smirked. Hope couldn’t help but turn towards them and smirk as well. They were finally getting the chance to go on their very first rescue! Hope knew just how much Klaw and Dewey wanted to accomplish something like this. Even though she wasn’t all too familiar with this world and its inhabitants, she would do anything to help them. She wanted to pay back Klaw and Dewey- they had saved her when she first came to this world, and now she was going to help them in return.

A small whimper snapped Hope out of her thoughts. Violet stepped forward, her eyes brimming with tears. “You’ll bring my friends back, right?” she whispered, her eyes brimming with tears.

Hope’s heart immediately softened. She stepped forward and pressed her nose softly to the top of Violet’s head. “Oh course we’ll bring them back.” she murmured.

Violet tried to shift her expression to a more sassy one, but she also began to sniffle. “You better bring them back.” she said. “I’d die of boredom if I wasn’t able to play with Cobalt and Tesla anymore.”

Hope tilted her head, preparing herself to ask who Cobalt and Tesla were, but Solomon beat her to the punch. “Those are mah two older grandbabies.” he said, the happy expression on his face being replaced with a more crestfallen one.

Before Hope could formulate a response, Klaw and Dewey stepped forward. “You’ll be playing with your friends again in no time.” he declared proudly, puffing up his chest.

Dewey also puffed out his chest. “We’ll make sure of it!” he said with determination.

“That’s very nice,” Spike’s voice rumbled, “but if you three keep standing there wasting time making boastful declarations, you may not be able to make good on those declarations.”

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey looked up sheepishly. “…You do have a point, Spike.” Hope mumbled after a bit. “We’ll be going now.”

“Stay safe, you three!” Daisy called out, using her tail to pull Violet back at the same time.

“Don’t do anything too risky now…” Sneaks murmured from beside her.

“We won’t! Don’t worry!” Hope called out. And with that, the trio turned around and entered Silicon Cave.

Hope’s jaw dropped as they stepped inside the cave. There were so many crystals! All along the walls and floors of the cave were the same crystals that had been dotting the trail to the cave. They came in all sorts of colors and almost seemed to glow in the dark. They seemed to wind through the cave, creating a pathway of some sorts.

“It looks like the crystals form a kind of path.” Klaw whispered. “Do you think that maybe it’s showing us where we’re supposed to go?”

“P-probably.” Dewey whispered back. “M-mystery d-dungeons are s-strange like that.”

“What are we waiting for, then?” Hope said. “Let’s follow that path.”

“BURRRRRR!”

“RAHRAHROGGG!”

Two feral pokemon suddenly materialized from the shadows of the cave. The first was a gray bipedal pokemon with pink bulges resembling muscles protruding from its body. It also carried a square log underneath its right arm. The second was a spherical blue rock pokemon with an oval rock on the top of its head and two more on the bottom acting as feet. In its center was a yellow hexagonal artifice with a dark opening in its center.

“A timburr and a roggenrola, huh?” Klaw remarked.

“F-fitting for a p=place s-such as t-this.” Dewey nodded.

The timburr and roggenrola snarled at the trio before launching themselves forward. Hope, Klaw, and Dewey immediately retaliated, with Dewey firing a Water Pulse from his mouth at the roggenrola, Klaw leaping towards the timburr and smacking it straight in the face with a Double Kick, and Hope also slamming into the timburr with her Tackle.

The roggenrola immediately crumpled to the floor from Dewey’s attack, the hexagonal opening in its face being replaced with a swirl similar to the spinarak from the Great Treehollow. The timburr, on the other hand, still seemed to be relatively stable. It stumbled back onto its feet, just barely managing to keep its hold on its log, before launching itself at Hope.

Hope tried to dodge the attack, but she was still trying to rebalance herself after her Tackle. The timburr’s log connected with the center of her chest.

“Hope!” Klaw and Dewey cried out simultaneously as Hope flew back, landing just a few inches away from the edge of the wall.

“I’m fine!” Hope called out as she struggled to get back onto her feet. The timburr spun its log around deftly with one hand, let out a roar, and launched itself at Hope once more. Hope was still trying to regain her balance, so all she could do was stare at the timburr intently, making direct eye contact with it.

All of a sudden, a purplish-pink aura enveloped the timburr. Hope looked around, trying to figure out where the aura was coming from. But as she moved, the timburr moved with her, as if she was dragging it around with her mind.

“What in the…?” Hope mumbled to herself. Klaw and Dewey, meanwhile, had their jaws dropped to the floor.

A realization suddenly struck Hope. She lifted her head up, and the timburr raised a few inches off the ground with it. Then she dropped her head down with all the force she could muster.

The timburr crashed to the floor, a small dust cloud puffing up around it. When the dust cleared, the timburr’s eyes had become swirls, and it too was knocked out.

Now that the attack had finished, Hope’s head was starting to feel fuzzy. She dropped to her feet, the edges of her vision clouding up.

“H-here! E-eat this.” Dewey said, rushing over to her. He then pulled out a round, plump, purplish-blue  berry from the knapsack that Sneaks had given them before they left Dead Space. Hope took a bite out of the berry and immediately felt much better.

“How in the name of Giratina were you able to use that move?!” Klaw demanded, also coming over to Hope’s side. “You aren’t supposed to be able to use that move until you evolve.”

Hope blinked slowly. “What do you mean by that?” she asked.

“O-oh!” Dewey exclaimed. “A-as p-pokemon grow o-older, they u-undergo a p-process called e-evolution where they u-undergo e-extreme changes in t-their b-bodies and become d-different s-species.” he explained.

“This process changes major parts of their body, such as their type and what moves they can use.” Klaw chimed in. “You’re an eevee, which is a particularly curious species in that it has eight possible species that it can evolve into, all with different types.”

Hope’s eyes lit up, probably shining brighter than the crystals in the cave. “That’s so cool!” she squealed.

“Y-yeah. T-that m-move you j-just used- C-confusion- is n-normally e-exclusive to your s-species’s P-psychic type e-evolution.” Dewey continued. “W-we h-have no i-idea how y-you’re a-able to use t-that m-move, though.”

The trio stood there in silence, the darkness of the cave amplifying the awkwardness tenfold.

“Is this perhaps some weird side effect of you transforming from a human into a pokemon?” Klaw finally broke the silence, saying what Hope herself was just about to say.

“P-possibly. W-we’ll have to o-observe you m-more as you b-battle, H-hope. S-see if you k-know m-more m-moves of your f-future e-evolutionary types.” Dewey murmured. A small smile then began to cross his face. “Y-you’re really i-interesting, Hope.” he said.

“In a good way, of course.” Klaw said, the same small smile also crossing his face.

Hope blushed and looked down at the smooth, shiny cave floor. “We should probably keep going now.” she mumbled. “Follow the crystal path.”

Klaw and Dewey nodded, and then they were on their way, making sure to follow the light of the crystals.

As the trio continued to dispatch the feral pokemon that impeded their path, Hope tried her best to stick to using Tackle. On the few occasions when she was forced to use Confusion, she found that it would give her a pulsating headache for the next few minutes. Klaw and Dewey still kept their eyes sharply on her, though, trying to figure out if her knowledge of that move was just a coincidence or perhaps something more.

Soon enough, Dewey’s suspicions were confirmed when, during one confrontation, a feral light pink slug pokemon (Klaw and Dewey called it a ‘shellos’) launched itself at Hope, sticking to her back with its slimy, mucus-covered chest. Hope instinctively fluffed out her fur to try to detach the shellos, but as she did so, a tingly sensation spread throughout her whole body.

Bzzzap!

Sparks of electricity burst from Hope’s body, surrounding the shellos and electrocuting it. Its grip on Hope’s fur loosened, and it slunk to the floor with swirly eyes.

“ThunderShock, huh?” Klaw remarked. “That move’s exclusive to your Electric-type evolution.”

Hope, meanwhile, was jumping from paw to paw, desperately trying to shake off the severe itch that had just consumed her entire body.

“I-it s-seems like you a-also d-develop side e-effects after u-using those m-moves.” Dewey muttered as he watched Hope flail around like a patch of sunflowers getting struck with a powerful gust of wind.

Klaw took out another Oran Berry and gave it to Hope. Another thing they had figured out during their trek through the cave was that, thankfully, Hope’s headaches could be cured using the juicy, sweet-sour berries. If she used her Confusion too many times, the headaches would become stronger, so she would have to eat more Oran Berries to get rid of them, but at least they had already found a treatment method.

“Thanks, Klaw.” Hope murmured.

~~~~~~~~

“We’ve gotten pretty far down.” Hope murmured. “I think we might be at the bottom of the cave.”

The trio had been navigating the cave for at least an hour at this point. It had been a long and difficult trek, but they had finally reached what seemed to be the deepest point of the cave, following the path of crystals the whole while. The air had been getting increasingly more damp and musty, and it was causing Hope’s eyes and nose to water.

“Still no sign of that feral gliscor though…” Klaw muttered. “Or any younger pokemon…”

“WAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey simultaneously jumped. “O-over t-there!” Dewey cried, pointing into the shadows. The three friends immediately took off.

The sight that greeted them when they properly located the sound was a sight that none of them could have been prepared for. A strange formation of crystals, glowing an eerie, almost blood-like shade of red, spiraled in the center of the cave. It looked almost like an altar of some sorts. Cowering just behind the altar were three small pokemon. The first was a silver quadrupedal pokemon with bright blue eyes, short stubby legs, and a dark blue bow tie on its chest. The second was a fluffy, cream-colored sheep pokemon with a blue face and legs, as well as two pink bows on its conical ears. They were desperately trying to shield the third pokemon- a much smaller blue dinosaur-like pokemon with fuzzy black fur that covered its head and neck, obscuring its vision. It wore only a white napkin-like cloth that was wrapped around its lower body ( the pokemon equivalent of a diaper? , Hope thought to herself), and it was wailing its tiny head off.

A much larger pokemon was looming over the three children. It looked like a cross between a bat and a scorpion, with large bat-like wings and a bat-like head, but a tail that closely resembled a scorpion’s stinger and two pincers. Its eyes glowed a blood red, and an ethereal blue aura was swirling around it.

Hope couldn’t place it, but something about that larger pokemon felt… off. Its glowing crimson eyes, that odd blue aura… that didn’t feel natural.

“We found them.” Klaw whispered very quietly.

“Now, now, little ones. You don’t have to make such a ruckus.” the feral gliscor murmured. “Just stand down and let me do the job. It will only hurt for a little bit, and the Great Ones will be very pleased with your sacrifice.” Its voice sounded strangely warped, as if it was underwater. Yet another oddity, Hope thought to herself. All of the other feral pokemon she had come across were only able to make animalistic noises, so the fact that this one was speaking words at all, let alone full-on sentences, was odd in of itself. The warped quality just made it even more odd. Something has to be up with this gliscor…

“W-we’re not letting you kill us!” the small silver pokemon cried out, his voice shaky.

“Y-yeah!” the fluffy sheep pokemon chimed in. “W-we’re staying alive, y-you hear us, y-you big freak?” she said, her voice also shaky.

The blue dinosaur pokemon’s wailing increased in pitch by at least an octave.

“Is that so?” The feral gliscor’s mouth stretched out into a sickening smile. It raised up one of its pincers, which began to glow a bright red. “How cute.” It began to lower its pincer, preparing to strike.

All three young pokemon cried out in fear.

“Stop right there!” Hope called out, jumping out of the shadows. Klaw and Dewey quickly flanked her sides.

The gliscor let its pincer relax, and it and the two older kids turned to face them. “What do we have here?” the gliscor mused, gently flapping its wings so it could come closer to the new faces. “Are you three trying to play heroes? I picked the most far-out altar I could think of, so I didn’t think anyone but that feeble old man would be privy to what I was going to do.”

“You underestimated that ‘feeble old man’.” Hope said. Klaw and Dewey nodded from beside her. “Seriously, you thought that he wouldn’t at least try to seek out help?”

The gliscor let out a loud sigh, the odd warping effect causing the sigh to echo throughout the room. “Insolent brats.” It then spread out its wings and shot out its tail like a whip. Hope barely managed to dodge it. “Looks like I’ll have to take a little detour before I can appease the Great Ones.”

Hope would have asked the gliscor what those “Great Ones” it kept on talking about were exactly, but before she could do so, the gliscor let out a loud screech and swooped down. And just like that, the battle was on.

The gliscor’s pincer glowed blood red, just like it had done when threatening the children. It opened the pincer and slammed it down on the ground with reckless abandon, completely missing the trio by at least a whole foot.

Klaw and Dewey’s eyes widened upon seeing the attack. “T-that’s a G-guillotine!” Dewey cried out. “I-if t-that hits a-any of u-us, w-we’ll be d-done f-for!”

The gliscor simply hissed and tried to land another Guillotine. It landed a bit closer to Hope this time, but still nowhere close to connecting successfully.

Dewey jumped to the side and began to hold out his hands. Small ice crystals began to form in the center of his palms. They slowly built up, growing in his hands, until they resembled small shards. “N-never t-thought that I w-would be g-grateful that D-daddy f-forced me to l-learn this m-move.” he muttered before firing the shards from his hands at the gliscor. They struck it straight in the right wing, causing it to screech in pain.

From beside him, Klaw opened his mouth, and his teeth began to glow a bright white. He then leaped towards the gliscor, sinking his fangs into its left ear and jumping off only when the gliscor let out another screech of pain.. Hope rushed forward and slammed into the gliscor with her Tackle.

Once again, the gliscor tried to land a Guillotine, this time aiming for Dewey. It missed by at least a mile. Hissing, it once again attempted to score a hit, focusing on Klaw, but missed yet again.

Dewey fired off a Water Pulse, while Klaw once again leaped forward, this time using a Fire Fang. Both attacks connected squarely with the gliscor, which was now heavily beaten and bruised.

Hope, meanwhile, was observing the gliscor’s movements intently. Why has it only used Guillotine so far? , she thought to herself. Sure, the attack would have knocked any of them out instantly, but that was only if it landed, and this gliscor was terrible at aiming. The only way that attack could hit any of them was if they stood there and waited for it to hit them.

And then an idea struck Hope.

“Hey, bat-brain!” she called out, jumping in front of the largest crystal in the altar. “Over here!”

The gliscor immediately turned its head toward her. With an increasingly warped screech, it swooped towards her, pincer glowing.

“Hope!” Klaw cried out.

“W-what in the n-name of G-giratina is s-she d-doing?” Dewey exclaimed. “S-she’s d-definitely g-going to g-get h-hit!”

Hope simply stood there, her chest puffed up, watching the gliscor approach.

Five… four… three… two…

Just before the Guillotine could strike Hope, she deftly jumped away, leaving the gliscor to collide into the crystal head-first. With a sickening thump, it hit the crystal, and then immediately collapsed. As it crumpled to the cave floor, the blue aura surrounding it dissipated like the morning fog.

Klaw and Dewey stared at the gliscor, their mouths slack. Then, they turned to Hope.

“That was so cool .” Klaw said, a wide grin on his face.

“S-seriously, t-that was a-amazing.” Dewey said, also grinning.

Hope smiled cheekily. She would have told them that it was nothing, but loud, gulping sobs snapped her attention back to the main focus of their mission.

She turned around and faced the kids. The baby was still sobbing, but the two older ones had stopped trembling and were now looking at Hope, Klaw, and Dewey, eyes wide with wonder.

“Are you three alright?” she called out, walking towards them. Klaw and Dewey quickly joined her. “That gliscor didn’t hurt you at all, did it?”

After a few moments of silence, the sheep pokemon finally spoke. “N-no…” she said, her voice tiny. “W-we’re fine…”

“Did Grampappy really send you to save us?” the silver pokemon spoke next, narrowing his eyes.

“He sure did!” Klaw declared, swishing his tail back and forth.

A few more moments of silence passed, the two older kids immediately leaped on the trio, babbling almost incoherent variations of “thank you”. Even the baby somehow seemed to register that it was now safe, as it had finally stopped bawling and was now looking up at Hope with the cutest little eyes she had ever seen. Hope had tried to lean down to nuzzle it, her heart melting, but as soon as she did so, it bit her nose.

The children giggled as Hope recoiled in shock. “Don’t worry. That’s just how Nibbles shows affection.” the sheep pokemon snickered. “That’s why my uncle named him Nibbles. He bites everything.”

Hope looked down at Nibbles, who was now squealing playfully, trying to get another nuzzle out of her. “Fitting name.” she smiled. “And you two are… Cobalt and Tesla, right?” she asked, pointing to the silver pokemon and the sheep pokemon respectively.

Cobalt and Tesla gaped at her. “How do you know our names?” Cobalt asked.

“Violet told me.” Hope said softly.

“You guys know Violet?!” Tesla squealed.

Hope nodded. “She’s waiting for you guys right now, outside of the cave.” she murmured.

The children were now vibrating with excitement. Tesla was only able to still herself just long enough to ask, “What are your names?”

“Us?” Hope smiled, placing a paw to her chest. “I’m Hope.” she said, before turning and nodding at her friends. “And these are Klaw and Dewey.” Both Klaw and Dewey smirked and waved slightly in greeting.

Admiration was seeping through Cobalt and Tesla’s eyes now. “Are you three in a rescue team?” Cobalt asked.

Immediately, Hope, Klaw, and Dewey’s moods took a downturn. “N-no…” Hope said, trying her best to force a smile. “But we hope to form one soon.”

“You guys are amazing!” Cobalt squealed.

“You’re going to be the best rescue team ever! We just know it!” Tesla chimed in.

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey immediately regained their smiles as the children started clambering over them again. But then a noise emanated from near the altar.

“ Murrrrggggghhhh… ”

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey immediately snapped their heads around. Sure enough, the gliscor was stirring, slowly starting to shift around and get back up. “Stay back,” Hope ordered the kids, her, Klaw, and Dewey immediately shifting back into their battle positions. The kids complied, their eyes fearful again.

When the gliscor opened its eyes- which were now a bright yellow instead of crimson red- and steadied itself, it did not hiss at them or try to attack them again. Instead, it simply blinked dazedly, trying to scan the room. “W….where am I?” it muttered softly. The warping in its voice was gone, and it now sounded more feminine.

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey blinked in confusion. “Are you being serious right now?” Hope asked.

The gliscor returned their blinks of confusion. “Yes… I am being serious. Where am I? And who are all of you?” it- she asked.

“These three,” Klaw said, gesturing to the children, “are the kids you just kidnapped and tried to sacrifice to some weird ‘Great Ones’ in a cave. And we are the ones who are saving them.”

Silence. Then the gliscor’s face slowly contorted into an expression of horror.

“Are you serious?” she asked. “Did I really do that?”

Hope, Klaw and Dewey nodded.

Suddenly, tears began to fall down the gliscor’s face, and she stared at her own pincers in horror. “Oh my Arceus…” she murmured in shock.

This reaction convinced Hope, Klaw, and Dewey that the gliscor was no longer a threat, and they dropped their stances and slowly reached out to her. “W-what h-happened?” Dewey asked. “W-what c-caused you to a-attack these k-kids?”

“I don’t remember…” the gliscor whispered, still staring at her pincers.

“What?!” Klaw exclaimed. “What do you mean, you don’t remember?”

The gliscor blinked, as if it had just come to a realization. “I was outside in my garden, picking some tamato berries to put in my salad,” she explained. “But then, I heard a weird rumbling noise, and the sky… cracked open.”

“Cracked open?” Hope asked in slight disbelief.

“Yes. A weird ripple just… opened up in the sky.” the gliscor continued. “I was curious about why it appeared, and it looked kind of pretty, so I flew up to investigate it. But when I touched it, a whole slew of voices started echoing in my head at once. That was the last thing I remembered before I blacked out… and when I came to… I was here.” she murmured. “My name’s Jupiter, by the way.” she said suddenly, almost as if it was an afterthought.

Hope, Klaw, and Dewey stood there, speechless. Then they turned to each other.

“So this gliscor- sorry, Jupiter- kidnapped three kids because a cosmic ripple possessed her and told her to do so?” Klaw hissed.

“She seems genuine enough.” Hope murmured. “And it would explain a lot about her appearance and behavior before we defeated her. Did you guys not notice that blue aura surrounding her? That must have been from the ripple.” Hope said.

“W-why w-would a r-ripple open up i-in the s-sky, t-though? A-and w-why would it p-possess p-pokemon?” Dewey asked.

The trio considered this for a bit before a loud cry caught their attention. They turned around to see Nibbles crying out again, with Cobalt and Tesla shielding him from Jupiter. She was trying to pat their heads, mumbling faint apologies, but every time she tried to touch them, they recoiled further back.

Jupiter looked at Hope with tears clouding her eyes. “I can’t believe I did this.” she murmured. “I love children. I would never dream of hurting them. I didn’t mean to hurt them. I…” A loud choking sob escaped her body, and she buried her face in her pincers.

Hope turned to her friends. “I think we should go.” she murmured. “The others might start to get worried if we take any longer.”

~~~~~~~~~~

“GRAMPAPPY!” Cobalt and Tesla squealed.

The two bounded forward, crossing the entrance of the cave in just two strides and leaping towards their grandfather. From his perch upon Hope’s back (where he had climbed on as soon as the group started to leave and had refused to let go for the entire hour-long trek back), Nibbles squealed in joy.

“Cobalt! Tesla!” Solomon cried out in joy.

Hope caught up to the two children, a wide grin forming on her face. She gently laid down and allowed Nibbles to roll off of her back. “I think that’s all of them.” she said.

“Nibbles! Mah babies! You brought them back!” Solomon cried. “Thank you! From the bottom of my heart, thank you!”

“Well, I’ll be an aipom’s uncle.” a gruff voice boomed from behind her. Hope turned around to see Spike walking towards her. “You actually brought them back.” he muttered, looking around. “Don’t see your little pals, though…”

“We’re here!” a more distant voice sounded out.

Hope and Spike turned to see Klaw and Dewey emerge from the cave, dragging Jupiter by her tail behind them. The poor pokemon had become so inconsolable that she refused to budge from her spot in the cave, forcing Klaw and Dewey to drag her.

Spike’s eyes widened. “ You brought the feral gliscor back with you???? ” he roared, causing Cobalt, Tesla, and Violet (who had immediately ran over and was now eagerly chatting with her friends) to jump.

Hope’s ears flattened. “Actually….” she murmured, before telling Jupiter’s story to Spike.

When she was finished, Spike narrowed his eyes. “That’s the biggest load of tauros shit I’ve ever heard.” he growled.

Hope opened her mouth to respond, but movement from the corner of her eyes distracted her. She turned to see that Jupiter had waddled over to Solomon and his grandchildren.

“You’re the grandfather of these kids, right?” Jupiter asked.

“That I am.” Solomon responded distrustfully, his grandchildren cowering behind him.

“I just wanted to say… that I’m sorry.” Jupiter breathed. “I swear I didn’t mean to do what I did to them. I know you’ll never forgive me, but it would eat me up if I didn’t at least say it.” A stream of tears was running down her face.

Solomon’s eyes softened, and he reached out a hand to pat Jupiter on the head as she sobbed again.

“Well, at least he buys it.” Spike murmured. But his eyes had softened a little as well.

“SPIKE! SPIKE!”

A loud yelling noise began to echo down the hill. Hope, Klaw, and Dewey watched as the red and blue dragon pokemon with the deformed arm who had accompanied them bolted down the slope, panting heavily.

“What is it, Private?” Spike asked.

“It’s them !” Private panted. “ They’re here! They came back to fetch their kids!”

Spike’s eyes widened. “For the love of Arceus…” he muttered.

“Who’s the-” Hope cut herself off when she looked at Klaw and Dewey’s faces. They were frozen in place, staring up at the top of the hill, their faces covered in fear.

And when Hope followed their gazes up to the top of the hill, she, too, froze in fear.

Because there was no mistaking those two silhouettes, towering above them, faces contorted in malicious glee.

Scorch and Riptide had found them.