Dungeon 35 – Forest of the Dead

For some reason, the sandy texture got to him again. Covering his fur. Eventually, some of it got on his tongue, and he coughed it off, getting up. He yawned; it felt as if he had woken up from a terrible sleep, and his back ached. He stretched his body to get rid of the soreness and rubbed his eyes.

“W-What…?”

The world around him looked much bigger than it was supposed to. An ocean and a shore extended as far as his eyes could see. He squinted them, trying to focus more, and took one step forward before stumbling his face on the sand again.

“Oh, for fuck’s sake!” he shouted, raising his head and shaking the sand. Luckily it didn’t get on his mane. His mane? How did the sand not get on it? That thing was huge! Zoroark had such big manes! Wait…

A shiver ran down his spine and he dashed towards the water to check on his reflection. To his shock, his body wasn’t the same as before. Where once stood a Zoroark now stood his previous form, a Zorua.

Brian blinked repeatedly, in hopes that he was wrong and that was just a random dream. It wasn’t, it didn’t matter how many times the boy blinked, all he saw was a Zorua.

“O-Okay, okay! C-Calm down, Brian…! This must be some form of dream, r-r-right? I didn’t… devolve! That’s not possible!”

He slapped his cheek with one of his front paws and inhaled. Panicking wouldn’t help at all and right now, he needed to think, so he took a glance at the beach, its salty wind blowing on his face, along with the smell of water Pokémon.

Shivering, Brian noticed that while the whole area looked relatively normal, such as a few Lapras swimming in the ocean, there was something odd: the whole place seemed to be tainted in yellow, like there was a light source Brian couldn’t see.

“Okay, okay… that’s weird. But alright! There has to be a way out of here! I got this!” He put on his goggles and sprinted to the exit, determined to get back to reality.

But as soon as he approached the exit, Brian stumbled back; a Zorua exactly like him was walking to the beach, with a bright smile and a wagging tail. Unlike Brian, this Zorua looked much younger, was shorter and didn’t have goggles. In addition to that, two of his front teeth were missing.

He recognized what was happening in an instant. “W-Wait… isn’t this when I—”

The smaller Zorua continued his stroll, while Brian frantically ran after him. He was faster, and stopped in front of his doppelganger.

“H-Hey, Brian! Don’t do this! You’re gonna—”

His mirror image phased right through Brian, leaving the older Zorua dumbstruck. The young one dipped his paws on the water, shivering because of how cold it was.

“I’ll show those bullies at school… I’m not afraid of some water!”

After the initial shock, the child went farther in; while the water was freezing, he smiled, jumping into it and rolling around the ground.

“Stop that! Stop it!” Brian shouted, his four legs trembling in fear. He tried to catch up with his younger self, but didn’t move one inch, too paralyzed with fear to do so.

The young fox continued dipping in the water, playing and making small waves with his paws. “Oh, cool! I’m not afraid… I can swim!”

His older self was still terrified at the prospect of seeing that scene happening again. It was so long ago he had blocked the memories. But now, seeing it made his heart thump. Oh, he was so young when that happened. How old was he? Seven? No, six… he was six years old. And the memory of that incident was so repressed he didn’t think of it until that moment, when he was forced to.

“Brian, I’m coming for you! Get away from the water!” he sprinted, as fast as he could, to try and save his doppelganger.

However, once he got near the ocean, he hit what felt like a wall, although it was invisible. Brian fell down, dizzy to the point of being unable to stand up.

“No… please, whoever is doing this… make it stop!”

As his child self swam on the ocean, he got distracted, and didn’t see a figure lurking beneath the depths. It screeched underwater, slowly emerging until he saw the small Zorua’s paws.

It arose, revealing itself to be a Barbaracle. The sudden appearance made the child swim faster in order to get back to the shore. The feral, though, screeched, grabbing the fox’s hind paw and pushing him underwater.

“No!” Brian screamed, running and hitting the wall again. He continued to do so, but felt weaker each time, like he was gasping for air.

He coughed up water, staring at it with wide eyes. Somehow, he was connected to what his past self was doing, and shared his pain. His heart felt like it would explode in panic. He extended one of his paws in another attempt to reach the ocean, but the shortage of breath was getting to him.

“No… someone… he-help me! Someone help me!”

Brian’s life flashed, not to the present, but to the future. He pictured his corpse, lost in the depths of the ocean, where nobody would find him. His family would think he disappeared without a trace, and the simple thought terrified him to his very core.

“I don’t want to lose them… someone help me!”

He was going to die right then and right now. He didn’t accomplish anything in his short life. Didn’t make any inventions that changed the world, never got engaged, didn’t have children… he simply lived to try and fix something that wasn’t even his fault. Maybe that was the reason he liked engineering so much, to mend what got broken in his childhood.

Brian screamed, trying once more to reach for something, anything to help his current state. Much like the previous attempts, it had failed. His vision blurred, and everything went black.

His eyes snapped open, gasping for air. Brian darted around, and saw his younger self in the arms of his uncle, a Swampert named Shiron. They were leaving the depths and passed right through him, although they didn’t notice Brian.

He was alone now, for better or for worse. Brian’s ears drooped as he, too, left the area.

---

The bright sun rays entered one apartment, waking a girl who slept inside. She yawned, rubbing her eyes and getting up. Although with soreness and tired eyes, she went to her bathroom; after all, that was a busy day.

She passed through a cabinet and nearly tripped on a few clothes on the floor, but moved on, opening her window to take in the intensity of the rays and fully wake up.

But the sight was confusing. The sun was there, sure, but it looked… blue. It was colored blue and somehow the light was stronger, making the general hue of the area the same color.

Today’s the big day… I get to work on the portal again. I just hope doctor Jones is… reconsidering some of his ideas.

She brushed her hair, humming a soft tune. However, the woman soon frowned. Hair? Portal? What was going on? She looked at the mirror and screamed, backing away from it immediately. On the glassy surface was a Froslass, that seemed to mimic her every movement.

“W-W-Who… who are you?!” she pointed a brush to the mirror, and her copy did the same.

The doppelganger didn’t answer, simply repeating movement after movement and lip syncing with her. The girl frowned.

“I-I’m… I’m Meggie. And who are you?”

This time, the Froslass smiled. A creepy, wide grin and let out a laugh as her mouth grew wider each second. Her eyes also began to glow red and blue.

“Wait… I know who you are!” Meggie blinked, looking at herself and realizing the truth. “I-I’m reliving my human memories… this is the day I ended up in the Pokémon world!”

Froslass continued her insane fit of laughter, as the mirror around her began to freeze and crack. Meggie gasped and threw the brush at the glass, shattering it to pieces.

She gasped for air after the experience, sitting on the floor to think. How did she end up there?

Okay, okay, calm down! What is the last thing that happened…?

Flashes of the forest and the vines came to her. Good, so she didn’t lose her memories. But now that she was here, she had to find a way to escape!

Those things captured Lance, no, they got all of us, Meggie got up, tying her hair. She wasn’t letting any of them down.

Now determined, she changed her clothes, putting on a black skirt with leggings, a white coat and sneakers. She took another glance at her human self, even feeling her hair. She also found that to be a bit nostalgic, although she quickly ignored it.

Let’s do this… time to save my friends!

Walking around as a human was easier said than done, considering how she was used to being a Snorunt, and then a Froslass that could float. Using slow steps, she got the hang of it, smiling to herself, and was soon climbing down the stairs of her apartment.

Okay, to be honest, I have no idea where I should go… I don’t even know where “here” is.

As she left the building, her mouth let out a gasp. All of the citizens were frozen, barely moving at all, they didn’t even say anything, looking more like statues than anything else.

“W-What’s going on?!”

“Meggie, why did you abandon us?”

Startled by the sound, Meggie jumped back to see who was talking to her. It was a man, in his thirties, wearing a white shirt and blue pants, he simply stared at her while tilting his head. His eyes flashed in various colors, and apart from them, his face had no features, no mouth, no nose, nothing. She looked at him with wide eyes, struggling to make sense of the situation and say anything.

Eventually, she was able to speak again, but not without stuttering. “Who are you? I-I don’t know you, get off!”

“My lady, please… come back to us!” as he said that, he approached the woman. His body made cracking noises at each step, and he just stared at her, unmoving.

That featureless face was unnerving, and it only got worse with the man laughing like he was insane. It was almost like he was some form of living mannequin, walking with crunching sounds and, every now and then, something on his body seemed to crack. He tried to grab her, but at the last second, Meggie dodged.

“Lady, you shouldn’t have done that…”

She replied by punching him on his face. “Get off me! I don’t know you!”

To her surprise, his face flattened by the impact of the punch, while his neck had a massive cut on it, which made his face fall to the ground. His body went limp, but still. He picked up the face, putting it back in its place with a loud cracking sound.

“Meggie, you belong here. Please, come back to us…”

Taking a better look, the man’s body almost looked like it was made of rubber. What the hell was that?

“I said… leave me alone!” she kicked him right on his legs, with enough force she cut them in half, leaving the man to fall on the ground and crawl towards her.

The man continued, his face melting as he did so, movements slowing down. “You belooong… he…r…e.”

She screamed, backing away from the man, who’s body melted into the floor, now a pile of black goo. She fell down on the ground, panting and tired. The day had barely started and it already turned into some kind of horror story.

Her heart raced, and her body urged Meggie to stay, that it was safer, that she shouldn’t have attacked him, but at the same time, another part of her knew that wasn’t right, and as soon as she was able to, she stormed off, not even bothering to look back.

C-C-C-Calm down! I’m sure this is nothing bad! I-I just need to find somewhere safe! Then I’ll think of a plan and get out of this nightmare land!

Another shout came on her right, where a woman, featureless like the man before her, tried to jump on Meggie. In response, she kicked the female and continued running. She desperately wanted to stop to breathe, but more and more of those creatures were coming after her.

What is even going on… I just want to get back!

One of them, a woman wearing a huge red dress, although the blue tone of the area made it a bit difficult for one to notice the color, tried to grab Meggie’s hair. She reacted with a headbutt, and even if that worked out, she stumbled back, sensing a dizziness in her head.

Okay, okay! I can’t remain still here! I need to get out of here… but how?!

Meggie eventually stopped to catch her breath, when she heard footsteps. She prepared to run, but once she raised her head, Meggie saw a Lucario. A scarred Lucario, with a gray headband.

“Lance! That’s you?! Oh, thank goodness! I was so worried! I have no idea where I am, and—”

“Join us.”

“W-What?!”

“Join. Us.”

While Meggie tried to run away, something grasped her back, a fluffy creature… Brian! Meanwhile, Lance’s jaw unhinged and he grabbed Meggie’s shoulders with his paws, pressing tight. His mouth twisted into a wide smile, and his eyes flashed.

“Let me go, Lance! Let me go!”

He ignored her, arms beginning to glow purple. She felt weaker, like her energy was being absorbed each second, and nearly closed her eyes.

“Join us. Join us. Join us. Join us. Here we are free. Here we are… safe. Nothing wrong will happen. Join us.”

A chant was heard around them, where tons of the featureless humans were circling in all over Meggie, singing the same sentence over and over again.

“N-No… no!” she screamed, releasing a stream of blue ghostly wind onto the Lucario, freezing him in place.

She still had her powers! And maybe… if she focused, she could float again. But first, deal with those humans!

They walked towards her, most saying things like “Why did you reject humanity?”, or “You belong here.” Brian snarled, jumping towards her. She inhaled as much air as she could and released it, freezing the humans and the Zoroark where they stood.

Now free to move around, Meggie didn’t waste any time, getting out of that area as soon as she could. She wondered what was really happening. After the vines got to her, she woke up like this, and Lance said he had a nightmare.

I really hope this isn’t some sort of purgatory…

The blue tone around the city remained, while Meggie raised her head. She saw another big building, a laboratory. Something inside her stirred, screamed at her to get away from that place.

Well, sometimes in life, you gotta take risks, and considering I’m a human with powers on… whatever this is, I have to do it.

So she did the exact opposite of what her mind told her, breathing deeply and running to that edifice. If anything, that place would have the answers she was looking for. And in the worst case scenario, it would prove to be a good place to hide from the creatures she faced before.

Okay, okay… calm down. In. Out. You got this, alright? Just get to that weird-looking building, meet whoever is inside and hopefully, since it’s a lab, they can find a way to snap me out of this dream! Even if it does look more like a nightmare than anything…

Meggie sighed again, stopping in the middle of an alley. Now that she had time to think, her memories came back to her. That town was named Lumiose city, she was born there, her parents were…

Who are my parents?

She struggled to remember who they were, despite her best efforts to do it. Maybe it was pointless.

I think I already rested enough. Let’s go.

Meggie slapped both of her cheeks and nodded to nobody in particular. She stormed off, resuming her sprint.

---

Lance walked around. Where was he going? He had no idea, but he couldn’t care less. Lance was getting out of that forest, no matter what. As the Lucario passed through the countless dead trees, he saw the sky beginning to change color, shifting to a violet tone. That made him grumble a bit, since that was also the color his aura appeared as in the last few days.

“Well, whoever trapped me here, they clearly have a sense of style for picking that color,” he said, and regretted almost instantly, covering his face. “Oh, why did I say that?”

He took a deep breath, and tried using his aura senses to track the other two. Estranged with them or not, he still cared for their lives. His paw flared up with purple, and he scanned the area while his feelers twitched. Nothing, just like before; this place was dead.

“If I have to use my tooth and claw to get out of here… I’m prepared for it.”

For now, since Lance didn’t find anything, he thought it was best to conserve energy, considering how weird that whole area was. And as he walked, more thoughts went on his head. Maybe his friends were trying to make amends… no! He had made a decision, his path was the right one! Even if they patched things up, nothing would be the same anymore.

“…” Lance stopped, holding back tears. “Why can’t things go back to normal? I-I’m not wrong, am I?”

Nobody answered. Of course, he was all alone there, with only his thoughts to keep him company. Lance sat down, wondering where he had gone wrong. His mind drifted to a better time in his life, when he was just a playful kid, with his brother and dad.

“Oh, those were the good old days…”

If Brian was there, he would have called Lance a “boomer”. To that, the Lucario chuckled. Somehow, despite being annoyed at most of his sibling’s antics, they entertained him.

“He’s still my brother, and… I can’t deny that I love him. My best friend…”

An earth-shattering roar took away Lance’s attention and he stumbled. Before he knew it, a massive, almost wall-like surface crashed onto him, sending him flying across the air, only to tumble down and roll on the ground.

He struggled to get up, feeling a sharp pain around his stomach when he tried. He only had enough strength to see who did it. It was the same flaming Aggron from before! Its body melted, dripping liquid metal on the ground.

“What… what are you doing here?!” Lance asked, slowly standing up with his hand on his stomach.

“Murderer.”

“…Atlas?” he blinked. “Oh, of course it’s you! Because why can’t I have a normal dream for once in my life?!”

“MURDERER!”

The flaming Aggron roared, spewing out a stream of lava from his mouth. If he got hit with that, it would be over. So he countered by launching a sphere in front of him, sending Lance backwards. His opponent, enraged, punched the ground, releasing an enormous shockwave throughout the area.

“Y-You moron! This is gonna hit you too!” Lance struggled to keep himself standing, until the wave collided with him, and he let out a cry of pain.

Now on his knees, Lance cringed. There was no way he was going to die right there, because of some stupid mercenary. He stood up, creating an energy blade with his gauntlet, while his body was enveloped in purple energy.

“Murderer. Me… kill you!”

Lance laughed at that sentence, smirking so much it showed his fangs. “Oh? It’s been six months since I killed you. I’ve trained since then, what will a pathetic creature like you do? Roar?”

The Aggron charged on all fours, but Lance had an advantage; he was much faster than his opponent. With a grin, he jumped right before Aggron could hit him, and with a spin in the air, stabbed his metallic foe on the heart, putting all the strength he had to do it.

His opponent fell limp, blood splattering all over Lance’s body, who was ecstatic from that, his own blood pumped like it never did before, and his smile never wavered. Oh, how good that felt! He was the stronger one in the battle and, more important than that, he was the survivor.

The Aggron’s figure melted and quickly reformed. Lance watched that, prepared to fight if he needed to. However, the figure changed into a Tyrunt, who wagged his tail and smiled.

“Thank you, mister! Now my dad can rest in peace!”

Lance smiled, remembering his mission, the reason why he murdered Atlas before. It was for the world, because it would be a better place without criminals like him.

“I… I did the right thing,” Lance looked at his bloodied paws and smiled.

Meanwhile, the Tyrunt slowly approached him, with his eyes closed. Even if that was a dream, Lance was proud of what he did, and decided to pet the small dinosaur on his head.

When he did that, Tyrunt opened his eyes, flashing in red and blue like that Servine he had fought before. Lance staggered, preparing another aura weapon, until he heard the child chuckle. The voice that came out of him wasn’t his own, it almost sounded ancient, primal, and even a bit distorted.

“Well, well. I didn’t think you had it in you. I’ve been scanning your mind for as long as you’ve been in my realm… It seems like you’re not confused anymore. Or… are you?”

“Cut the crap,” Lance snarled. “I need to know who you are. Release my friends.”

“You want me to release them?” Tyrunt tilted his head with a loud pop, smiling wider than it was possible. “Oh, so you still have your attachments to them. Perhaps another test will be necessary.”

A test? What was he going on about? And who was he?

“I’ll see you later… Lance Williams.”

Suddenly, Lance fell into a hole, looking up at the sky, where Tyrunt was staring, his face almost seemed to glitch for a split second. During that fraction of time, he saw… black crystals?

He didn’t have much time to think about that before he heard his back snapping.

---

Walking to the town took longer than it should have. But eventually, Brian made it! His hometown, where he grew up, had friends, trained and… saw his best friend being kidnapped.

That last part still stung, even after all those years. He bit his lip, whining, even if nobody could hear him. His uncle passed on his left, carrying Brian’s younger self.

“I don’t know what this place is all about… but I’m gonna get to the bottom of this!”

He nodded, following the Swampert. As Brian presumed, this was his home the way it looked when he was a kid. For one, the guild’s building was far smaller, and the streets weren’t as crowded as they were in the present.

That was still very nostalgic, well, he knew the sky wasn’t yellow, and neither were most of the things enlightened by that strange golden hue. Even the scent that filled the air was pleasant to his nose, and his tail wagged a bit. Oh, that was weird! He had gotten used to not having one after evolving, so it was more like a phantom limb right now.

“Enough distractions! I… I need to find out what’s going on.”

He strolled on, following the Swampert to his and his brother’s house. If his memory was right, that was one of the days he got grounded. Ouch.

After his uncle opened the door, Brian entered before it was closed. He stood on all fours, watching Shiron put his doppelganger on the couch. The smaller Zorua coughed up water and opened his eyes.

“I-I’m… home?” he quickly noticed the Swampert. “Uncle! What are you doing here?”

Shiron remained silent, looking to his side, where Brian’s dad was, his arms crossed. Nick raised a brow and picked up his son, hugging him tight. Of course, he did it without hurting the boy with his spike.

“D-Dad! Calm down, I’m okay!”

“Oh, really?!” Nick put him down on the couch again. “Brian, you could’ve died! You’re only six! This wasn’t supposed to happen! Why did you do it?!”

The small Zorua’s ears drooped. “I-I wanted to win a bet in school… they told me that you didn’t love me, and that’s why you’re away all the time!”

Nick huffed. “Oh, so you thought that endangering yourself like this would prove a point?! I don’t want to lose you!”

His breath was raspy, and the Lucario whined. He got on his knees, rubbing his son’s head with his paw.

“Y-You’re not mad at me?”

“Of course I’m mad at you!” Nick explained. “It’s just… I’m glad you’re alive.”

Brian watched with a faint smile on his face. He did that little prank to get his dad’s attention, and it worked. But seeing that memory again? It was… comforting, at the very least.

Nick continued. “You’re grounded. For one month, okay? Go to your room…”

“W-What? But I nearly died!” he protested, pouting. “C-Can’t I have some… uh, what’s the word, dad?”

“Brian, just go to your room.”

The child gasped and climbed down, going upstairs to his room. Meanwhile, Brian was still confused about the scene. If it was simply a flashback or a dream of him as a kid, why didn’t he wake up already? Then again, it did feel more real than a dream.

“Maybe I need to follow him. At this point, there’s no other option.”

It was better than nothing, so Brian also climbed the stairs, almost at the same time his child self did. He smiled a bit, maybe he could enjoy that, even if it was only for a bit.

His house changed little over the years, the second floor was just as he remembered it, and so was his room. As Brian entered, he saw his other self jump into the lower bunk bed, putting his hand on a pillow.

“Oh, I think I know where this goes…”

The top bed moved a little, until Lance dropped from it, falling on his feet. The Riolu turned around, looking at his brother and poking him.

“Brian, Brian! Are you okay? Dad said you nearly drowned!”

“Not now, Lance…”

Lance whined. “A-Are you okay…? C-Can I help you?”

“I’m grounded!” he suddenly said, crying on the pillow. “I try to get dad to spend more time with us, but he doesn’t do it!”

The Riolu pouted, hugging his brother tightly. “I’m… here for you. Y-You’re my best friend, Brian! I love you…”

He continued to cry, embracing the hug. “I-I just wanted dad to be with us…”

“I-I’m… not sure if we can fix this.”

That sentence sparked something on the small Zorua. “Fix? Fix! Lance! You gave me an idea! Thank you!”

“What…?”

Ouch. That was tough to watch. Brian looked at both of them, chatting and comforting one another. How long had it been since they talked like this? He knew this was before the kidnapping, but he missed it… a small tear dropped from his face.

“Why can’t we do this anymore…?”

“Simple.” Lance said.

“He is a murderer. And so are we.”

The two siblings now stared directly at Brian, their eyes glowing. They got out of bed, still embraced, and extended their arms to him. Their bodies were a mess, meshing together into an amalgamate of both of them.

“Huh?!” Brian stepped back, gulping at the fusion of flesh. It dropped black goo at the floor, and only mutated further, becoming a monstrosity of flesh and bone, although it now had a more recognizable form: it looked like a fleshy Midnight Lycanroc.

Brian trembled in fear, producing a black ball on his mouth and firing at the thing. The amalgamate simply let the attack be absorbed into its body, and raised its fleshy arm to slap Brian.

He screamed, being trapped by all that flash, a gooey and amorphous blob of mass making him unmovable. The amalgamate continued to smile, showing rows of sharp teeth.

Lycanroc grinned, drooling on the floor. “Can you forgive him? Can you forgive yourself?”

He struggled to move, trying to get out of the grasp. “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about…!”

“Forgive him. Forgive a murderer. Only then will you be free.”

“F-Forgive…?” Brian whined. Could he do it? Lance was a killer… but Brian was one too, in self-defence, of course, but still… he wanted to heal from that. And maybe… maybe Lance wanted to, deep down.

“Do you forgive? Do you? Do… you?”

Tears rolled down on Brian’s face as he wondered what he was going to answer. He knew how Lance was, before it all fell apart. He missed those days dearly, and perhaps they could return… with a little bit of help.

Still struggling to come up with something, Brian was feeling weaker each second. Was that creature absorbing his energy? It seemed like the right idea then. He blinked and finally answered.

“I-I do…!”

Lycanroc laughed more and more, as its body expanded in mass, covering most of the room, Brian screamed as it happened, until… the Lycanroc exploded, and the fox passed out.

---

Dodging more and more of those weird humans, Meggie wondered if they would ever stop coming, and why they were like that. That was her hometown, wasn’t it? So she should be remembering it.

Well, I know the sky is blue, but… I don’t think the sun is. So this might just be some weird dream space.

Thinking too much about that wasn’t really helping her, so Meggie elected to ignore it and move on. She could see the building, and luckily, no humans near it. Perfect!

She went along the streets of Lumiose, filled with buildings and trees on both sides, and a few food stands, but they were empty. Ominous. Meggie continued on, wondering about other things. Such as: who would be inside the lab? If what Morgan told her was true, he was her boss, so maybe she would find him there? The building was closer, and she could already hear the buzzing of some machines, along with several Pokémon cries.

I hope this is some twisted nightmare, and I’m making it through alive.

It was ironic, considering that she was half-ghost. But then again, it didn’t mean she was dead. She snickered at the thought.

Nice one, brain. Good way of distracting me!

Now at the front door, Meggie stretched her muscles. This was the moment of truth for her, and she went closer, until she saw that the door was crystalline, almost like a mirror. Then, she finally saw what her human self looked like.

Oh.

Meggie looked like a woman in her early twenties, with bright orange eyes, red hair that extended all the way to her back, and white skin. She touched the glass, watching as the mirror image did the same movement. It was all so familiar, yet… it was not, like she was a stranger on her own body.

So… this is what I lost? She took some time to feel the texture of her skin, her hair and her face. One tear dropped from her left eye.

A single crack appeared on the glass door, making her blink in confusion. The mirror image smiled, although Meggie herself wasn’t.

“Is… is that thing again! Back off! I need to leave this place!”

“Are you sure you want to leave, Meggie Treesea?” the mirror asked, still smiling.

“Who are you…?”

The cracks spreaded and it continued to grin. “I am the one who trapped you three here. It seems you and Lance are the only ones who did not pass their test. So I ask you again… Meggie. Do you want to leave?

“That’s not what I asked…” she pouted, but had a serious look on her face, with eyes squinted. Asking who the mirror… thing was didn’t seem to work. “I… I want to leave, yes. This is the human world, but somehow… I don’t think I belong here. That’s what I think, and yet… I still feel nostalgic.”

“Now that is hilarious!” it burst into laughter, the glass nearly shattering. “If you enter this door, you will leave this realm. As for the second option, should you choose to stay, you’ll find out all about yourself, and recover all your memories of the human world. Do you want to stay… or would you rather leave?”

It was a difficult decision. For all Meggie knew, she could be just as bad as her former boss. THe thought of torturing Pokémon never once crossed her mind, and she really hated all the violence Morgan was causing. All the sorrow, all the pain… it was too much for her to bear. What if she was like him after all? Would her friends still accept her? They helped her up to this point.

“I am waiting for an answer, Meggie. The humans will get here soon, what do you choose?”

“…What will happen to me? To who I am today? Will this person, all these experiences I got… will they disappear?”

The voice laughed again. “You’re very entertaining, lady. I understand your concerns, so let me raise you a question!” the mirror glowed in all colors of a rainbow. “Would you rather suffer in the real world, or will you stay here? Happy like all the humans you saw before?”

What was it with that thing asking so many questions? This didn’t help at all! Meggie clenched her fist. Recovering her memories, at the cost of her free will? That was inexcusable. Her experiences as a Pokémon helped her understand the world better, and… she was glad. She was glad to meet new friends, be a hero!

The other choice would be becoming like them. Just another piece of a giant puzzle, all created by this weird… being. A Legend, she supposed. And also, her friends would surely miss her. She was important to the world, and to the ones she loved.

“I made my decision. But first… can you tell me your name?”

“In due time, in due time. I’m not exactly available for conversation right now. But, if everything works out… I will be.”

Meggie smiled, opening the door. All she saw inside was a giant blue light, but this didn’t scare her. She went on, happy with her decision.

---

The painful snap on his back still hurt, and Lance struggled to move. This was a dream, so why was he feeling any pain at all? That… wasn’t how dreams worked.

“At least this is better than my nightmares…” he sighed, holding onto a wall to balance himself. The ground’s texture was also weird, as it looked like… some sort of bone?

He seemed to be in a big hole. The walls weren’t very wide, and that was almost claustrophobic to him. He created a violet sphere on his hand to make the place feel less dark. Lance jumped in shock after he did, because he discovered what was on the floor.

Skulls. The entire floor was filled with skulls. They didn’t move or react, of course, but that still scared Lance. After the initial jumpscare, he sighed in relief.

“Right. Calm down, be rational. This is nothing to be afraid of. Whoever trapped you here is just playing tricks on your mind.”

After he said those words, the skulls began to chuckle and move, and even expand. More and more of them appeared each second, rising to the surface. Lance shivered and jumped again, clenching his claws on the wall. The skulls were still expanding, and he needed to do something!

“Think, think…”

With a deep breath, Lance created another aura blade, using it to climb the walls as quickly as he could. WIth zero idea of what would happen if the skulls got to him, he had no time to waste wondering about it.

Slowly, he made his way to the top, but it still wasn’t good; the purple light from the surface diminished, and Lance knew exactly why: the exit was being covered by rocks. He was being buried alive!

Despite the momentary panic, Lance hadn’t been defeated yet. “Nice trick, but I can still blow a hole through that thing!”

The auric Pokémon jumped, launching a silver, metallic wave of energy into the exit, before landing on the opposite side of the wall. The collision resulted in a smoke cloud, which Lance eagerly waited to dissipate. As it did, his smirk changed into a frown; the wall didn’t have a single scratch on it!

“I’m not dying here! I’m not!” he was unable to calm down and frantically shot more flash cannons into the rocky ceiling, getting more desperate each time.

Even with all the attacks, the ceiling didn’t budge. His panic set in, almost making him fall into the skull pit, which was almost near him at that point. He continued shooting more and more, energy being drained slowly.

“Can’t… die… here…”

Lance fell on the skulls, screaming in pain. Flashes of memories flooded his brain. Each kill, each victim, he saw their final moments inside his mind. This was torture, and he struggled, trying to get off the trap, but only managed to sink deeper into the bones. Meanwhile, a familiar voice laughed.

“Oh, number ten. You really are pitiful. Truly, a worthless being. I should have finished you off when I had the chance!”

“I-I’m not… pitiful! You did this to me!” Lance screamed, finding enough strength to launch a sphere at the top of the area.

“Oh? Yes, I can agree. I made you better than you were before. Tell me… don’t you like the way you are now? You’re, as you said so yourself, a ‘harbinger of justice’.”

Lance didn’t react, firing more spheres. His movements were aggressive, and he tried climbing the wall again, but the skulls just pinned him down more and more.

“I… I did bring peace to someone. I took out criminals who wouldn’t think twice before killing innocents. That was the right thing to do…”

To his surprise, the skulls stopped moving, sinking down and making Lance go up. He twitched his ears, a bit confused. Was… was that his way to freedom?

“I’m not in the wrong. I’m Lance Williams. I am a vigilante, someone that brings justice to everyone.”

He went up again, now closer to the ceiling. The rocky surface began to crumble apart, making the Lucario smile.

“My friends won’t want anything to do with me anymore, after… after this mission is over. But I’m doing this for them. For the world. If I have to say goodbye… then I will.”

This particular thought hurt, deep inside his heart. He, for one moment, regretted it, somewhere on his mind, he knew it was wrong. But that part of him was quickly shut down, thinking of how he could make the world a better place. For the greater good, as Scar once said to him.

“Yes. Yes. For the greater good. I will do this. I will bring peace to the world, I will… and if those are my last moments with my team, then I’ll appreciate them as best as I can. It’s the least I can do for my friends… my best friends.”

Lance felt like a heavy toll was lifted from him, and his body was lighter. He couldn’t help but smile. It was the right choice to make. And he was ready to face the consequences, whatever they might be.

Finally, he fell to the ground again, free from the hole. He panted, gasping for air, and got up. He looked at his paws, still bloodied, and his ears perked up. Behind him was the Tyrunt from before, still with the creepy smile.

“It seems you made the right choice, Lance. Congratulations, you passed your test, and I can finally free you now.”

“…Who are you? And why did you do this?”

“I know who you’re up against, once I scanned your mind. At first, I was just going to absorb you three. But once I realized the threat… I knew I had to help.”

Lance raised a brow, unconvinced. “Are you the one trapped in those crystals?”

“Yes. I am trapped, so I can’t help physically. However, I am a benevolent Legend.”

Those words… Lance finally realized who he was talking to. The Tyrunt’s body glowed, changing shape to a vaguely humanoid Pokémon whose body appeared to be constructed out of a black crystalline material, with a large protrusion attached to its head, which had a row of three large spikes along the top. Its thin arms had disproportionately large hands with three claws.

He finally said something. His eyes glowed red and blue. “My name… is Necrozma. I know your mentor is searching for me, as is his team.”

“I see… and you do know what Scar proposed to me, correct?”

Necrozma smiled. “Yes. I am eager to see what you will accomplish, Lance. I’m sure you and I will meet, soon enough. For now, go. You have someone to defeat, don’t you?”

The Lucario agreed, moving back to where he came from, a large smile was present on his face.

---

Brian woke up with a loud gasp, only to see some vines wrapped around his mouth, they slowly retreated. He took a quick glance on his surroundings, seeing both of his friends being freed.

Eventually, he was able to distance himself from the vines, still panting, with both his paws on his knees.

“Holy shit… this was… the weirdest dream I’ve ever had!”

The roots around Lance exploded as the Lucario set himself free, taking the sweat off his face. He looked at his sibling and nodded. Finally, Meggie was freed, and glanced at her body. It was still a Froslass’ body.

“Guys!” she screamed, giving them a smile, “You won’t believe how I missed you all!”

“It’s…” Lance took a deep breath, blushing. “It’s good to see both of you.”

“Lance!” Brian suddenly pulled his sibling into a hug, crying at the same time. “I… I forgive you! I-I forgive… the killing. Okay?!”

Unable to pull away from the hug, he saw Meggie joining in on that. His frown turned into a soft smile, and he hugged them as well. Time seemed to come to a halt as neither of the three wanted to leave the embrace.

After some minutes, Lance pulled away. He still had his smile, one that was genuine. “Thank you. Both of you… I love you all.”

Brian cheered. “After this is over, we’re gonna work on that killing thing! I… I know you have good in you, Lance!”

Meggie clapped her hands and nodded. “Our team is closer now… we need to get out, though! The others are waiting for us.”

The Lucario agreed, but saw one root rising into the air. It wiggled around, and Lance approached it. The vine lunged in on him, but he held it with his paw, cringing in pain. He heard a chuckle inside his mind, and noticed the black crystal glowing. Telepathy.

Ah. Nice reflexes, Lance.

What do you want, Necrozma? We’re leaving. I suppose I should… thank you. I know who I am now.

Well, I love the praise! You’re welcome. I’m sure we’ll meet each other again. I’m also impressed by this. You’re not saying goodbye to them?

Not… now. After this mission is over.

See you soon, Lance Williams.

He let the vine drop to the ground, checking to see if his paw had blood on it; it didn’t. Lance turned around, smiling to his friends.

“Alright,” Lance raised his head. “Brian, Meggie… I’m happy to be on a team with you. We’ve been together for months. So far, we’ve triumphed over every battle.”

“But it’s not over yet…” Brian said.

“Yeah…” Meggie agreed.

“Not at all, brother. This will be the hardest we’ve ever faced. Are you with me?” he extended his paw to them.

The three shook their paws (or, in Meggie’s case, hand), each of the members having a bright smile. Lance was right. Together, they could win each battle, each adversity, whether it was internal or external. They were a team, but they were friends. Best friends.

As they left the forest, Lance shed a single tear at the thought of his friends, but none of them noticed this.

---

Scar raised his club, seeing the Gyarados getting closer each second. Mounted on its head was Derek, the Garchomp who attacked them a few hours before. He hoped this would be a better battle than the last one, but without the other three, it would be difficult.

Scar closed his fist, and took a quick look at it. “I might need to use my blocking here…” he then took a look at the others. “Everyone, be ready. They’re nearly here.”

Max clapped his hands together, electricity flowing through them, while Lilith tapped the ground, posing like a wrestler, and Meganium raised her vines.

The distance between them got shorter, and they saw Gyarados opening its mouth to release a roar, charging the same beam that took everyone down.

“How are we supposed to stop that thing?!” Max asked, looking at the Marowak, who remained quiet.

“It’s aiming at us, so all we need is to disrupt its vision! It won’t hit us!” Scar proclaimed, hitting his club on the ground and raising some of the sand into the air.

“Ooooh! Got it!” Max punched the sand with both of his fists, expanding the cloud higher. The two females did the same with their moves, and soon a massive sandstorm protected them from Gyarados’ vision.

The beast roared, dissipating its attack. Derek was fed up with that, so he jumped, flying in the air and activating his emera, mega evolving. He threw one Pokéball into the air and held it using his tail.

“I’ll end this now!” he shouted, landing in the middle of the storm, pointing his scythes.

The cloud dissipated, revealing that each of the members were now on separate spots, circling around Derek. The Garchomp snarled, scythes enveloped in draconic energy. He charged towards Meganium, trying to hit her.

A fearsome icy punch hit his face, launching the dragon in the middle of the sand and dropping the pokéball. Meggie, having arrived at the scene, had two water spheres on her hands, and frowned at the dragon.

“Sorry for taking so long!” Brian said, running on all fours with his goggles on.

“Nice to see you too, kiddo!” Max gave him a thumbs-up, and looked at Gyarados. The beast snarled.

The final one arrived; Lance walked with a serene expression, he even had a smile.

“We were caught up on something… and you’ll want to know more about it later, Scar. For now, let’s end this fight.”

“Oh? Well, let’s go.”

Derek got up, snarling at them. He was surrounded by strong opponents, and while that was exciting to him, it also scared the dragon. How to deal with the group?

Gyarados roared, launching into Marowak, until it got hit by another aura gauntlet, coming from Lance. The Lucario’s body glowed and changed into his mega form, maintaining his serene look.

“I’m sorry, but I’m better than I was before!” he chuckled. “Brian, give me cover! Meggie, take care of the Garchomp! Let’s show them our teamwork!”

Team Rebirth and Meganium stepped down, leaving the fight for the other three, since they asked for it. Lance cracked his knuckles, showing off his sharp fangs.

His aura flared up. “I’m still in control of this, but… honestly, it’s fun to just have no inhibitions, don’t you think?”

Brian snapped his claws and covered his brother in an illusion, rendering him invisible. Lance used this opportunity to dash, leaving only the sand trail behind him. He created a hammer made of aura and jumped, hitting Gyarados’ large, serpentine body with it.

“Thanks!”

“You’re welcome, Lance! And please, I like this praise, so keep it up!”

The water-type screeched in pain, falling flat on the ground. Derek finally stopped staring at the three and shot out a stream of flames towards Brian, until he got hit by another punch coming from Meggie, followed by a water pulse on his stomach. It burned, despite being cold, making Derek hiss in pain.

“I don’t get it… boss said you worked for him? Why are you fighting me?”

“I reject that. I’m no longer that person. I’m a new me, if you don’t mind!” Meggie smiled and floated towards Derek. She took a deep breath and phased right through him, landing on his back.

The Garchomp couldn’t react, seeing his body freeze up. Meggie fell to the ground, panting, and saw a pokéball in front of her. She picked it up, and looked at Lance.

“I need some help here! Can you tie the Garchomp up?!”

Nodding, Lance created a rope using his gauntlet, he threw it at Derek, tying him up. Lance began to spin around, until he threw Derek into the ground with so much force it spread even more sand, knocking him out.

After Derek passed out, Meggie threw the pokéball at him. It snapped open, enveloping the dragon in energy, trapping him inside. Now all that was left was to take care of Gyarados, so Lance went on to do just that.

---

Lance continued using all his aura moves on the water-type, until it could barely move. At that point, he saw the emera around its neck, and smirked.

“Brian, I need some cover again! I think I know what’s wrong with this guy!”

“Got it!” Brian nodded, launching a shadow ball on the water-type.

As the fox distracted it, Lance chuckled, creating a bow made of aurea, along with an arrow. He aimed at the stone, launching it and shattering the emera into pieces. Gyarados roared in pain, flopping into the floor once more, with its body glowing and returning to normal.

“We… we did it!” Brian fell on his knees, panting in exhaustion. His brother hugged him, shocking the Zoroark, who blushed.

The three heard clapping from their allies, except for Meganium, who retained her stoic expression.

Scar smiled. “Congratulations. Well… I suppose we should go back to focusing on how to get to the tree.”

Lance twitched his ears, seeing that Gyarados was still there. He approached the huge Pokémon, listening to what it had to say.

To his surprise, the Gyarados spoke with a masculine tone. “U-Urgh… where am I? What’s going on?”

Maybe that was the answer they were looking for.