Episode 17: Battle in the Southern Temple

“So it is not just me.” Phoenix gritted his fangs. “I can feel a powerful presence nearby. There is someone or something here that wants us to know we should not be here.”

“It’s that powerful Eevee we saw the other day. I’m sure of it.” Sophitia scrunched up her face.

“Powerful Eevee?” Esther said.

“Now’s not the time to explain. We can’t afford for him to find us. Naivie, what do we need to do here? Quickly!” Sophitia said.

“There really shouldn’t be anyone here, you know. So I dunno what’s up with your hokey ‘senses’ and stuff but—” Naivie said.

“Naivie, this is not a joke. What do we need to do?” Sophitia raised her voice.

“Alright alright. You of all Pokémon should know not to rush a lady,” Naivie said. At the far end of the cave, within sight of the teleportal, was another crater. This one was surrounded by patterns and marks on the floor, and its centre was a large mound of soil. “Here. I’ll plant a Gracidea Seed in the centre. Then the rest of you must pray to it. If your prayers and respect is genuine, then the seed will grow into a flower Pokémon. It takes about a minute.”

“That’s really it? I feel like there’s more to it than that. It’s got to be more complex,” Lute said.

“Prayer?” Esther said. She walked around the whole setup with a finger on her mouth. “Well I’m not really the praying type, but—”

“Oh good Arceus, must I do everything? Each of you needs to stand in those outside circles. Shut your eyes, kneel, and I’ll do the rest!” Naivie squeaked.

“It just sounds too easy,” Lute said as he found the circles she was talking about. They each found a space, but Lute realised that there was one empty circle in their formation, even though all of them were present. Naivie floated over the centre of the crater, so the missing space didn’t belong to her. “Wait, is this right? Why is there an empty space?”

“Never mind that, just kneel!” Naivie cried.

“If this doesn’t work, we know who to blame.” He shook his head. He took a deep breath, cleared his thoughts, and then closed his eyes as he bowed his head.

“I-I can’t. He’s here,” Sophitia said. Her and Phoenix jumped out of their places and rushed to the middle of the room. “He’s already here!”

“Sophitia,” Lute said.

Almost as if he’d been snuck up on, the footsteps of that powerful figure were close by. The familiar, unsettling, echo of heavy footsteps that had terrified him so much before. This time, the Pokémon confronted him. Whether he got over his fear or not, they were to challenge this powerful Pokémon head on. The thought had Lute’s breath grow tense, and then frantic when the shadow of the Pokémon rotated through the room.

There he was. An Eevee that was normal in appearance in every way except his face. He had jagged, messy head fur, but his eyes were empty. White sockets with the tiniest brown veins to imply that eyeballs were there, but lacked all detail. He didn’t particularly look that powerful, but his robotic walk and rigid gaze instilled the idea that he wasn’t to be messed with. The instant the Eevee came into sight, his speed increased and his body glowed with energy.

“Wait, there shouldn’t be anyone- hey you, get out of—” Naivie tried to say, but got brushed aside as if she wasn’t there. The Eevee broke into a Quick Attack and crashed into Sophitia’s magic shield so hard that even though she blocked, she was sent miles backward.

“Sophitia! Guys, battle’s on!” Lute stretched his feet out. Esther drew her baton while Infia squealed and ran away to hide herself from the conflict.

There was only a brief moment where the Eevee gazed at them all before the fight broke loose. He jumped up high and spun his body to send a rain of stars down at everyone and force them to guard. Lute turned to his side and braced, but just a few hits of this Swift attack felt like he was being stabbed continuously by a knife. He screamed at the top of his voice and tripped in an effort to stay on his feet.

“Lute!” Sophitia cried. “Leave him out of this!”

With her shield held at her front, she crashed into the enemy Eevee as he landed from his attack, and attempted to slash him with her sword right afterwards. He bounced back from the first hit, and then avoided each subsequent slash with ducks and slides, all before jumping back a great distance. Phoenix’s Flamethrower landed where he just was, which prevented Sophitia from giving chase.

Phoenix took him on next. He stamped his feet to surround himself in fire for a Flame Charge attack and bolted toward the Eevee at lightning speed. The Eevee grit his teeth and pulled back his right paw. With that paw glowing white with energy, it punched with perfect timing and struck Phoenix so hard that his attack stopped completely. The moment of shock was used to turn around and kick the Fennekin away with both hind legs, which sent him rolling across the floor in a wake of smoke.

“Phoenix! Oh you and I are startin’ off on the wrong tone,” Esther shouted and whipped the ribbon of her baton.

Her cheeks crackled with electricity as she did so, which sent a voltage along her baton all the way to the tip of the ribbon. With her weapon charged, she cracked it like a whip, and each snap caused an orb of electricity to fly off into the air. It looked like it surprised the Eevee, but he still dodged each shot with a dash to the left and right faster than her eyes could follow.

“So fast—” Esther gasped as she stopped her attack. She resorted to Electro Ball, and held the attack on her tail until the Eevee popped up right in front of her. Lute couldn’t see what happened, but the attack shrouded them both in smoke.

“Esther!” Lute cried. He gasped when the Eevee leapt out of the smoke in his direction. “No, I’m not going to be scared this time. I’m going to fight you if it’s a fight you want!”

The enemy Eevee kept running, and began to glow white for Quick Attack. Lute shook and braced for his own Quick Attack and focused on them as much as he could. His body still hurt and burnt from the Swift earlier, but he knew he could put it aside for now.

His heart raced. He kicked himself into a sprint, and a second later, bashed past the Eevee. A strong wind struck him as they passed, as if their attacks had just about missed one another. He skidded across the floor and spun around to challenge the Eevee again. He still used Quick Attack, but once again, the enemy just about evaded him, striking him with only the wind and force of them passing each other.

“Got to actually hit him,” Lute growled, expecting the same move a third time. The Eevee evaded him at the last moment again, but this time, Lute spun right around at full speed to give chase with the Eevee. He caught it off-guard and bashed directly into the enemy’s side.

“He hit!” Sophitia said, surprised to see Lute’s attack take full effect. The enemy Eevee skidded across the ground, but it caught its balance and ground to a stop before it hit the wall. It jumped up into the air to use Swift again.

“Lute, get behind me,” Sophitia said as she jumped over to him. He obeyed, and the attack was blocked by her shield, but not without shrouding them in smoke.

Lute didn’t care about that smoke, though. He knew the enemy would fall to the ground and be vulnerable to a hit. He took in a breath and dashed off with Quick Attack again.

He was right on the money. The enemy Eevee kicked its feet in the air as it fell, but the moment it landed, it shot into its own Quick Attack, a mere instant before Lute could impact it. It felt like it used the attack to try and escape Lute, as although he felt himself tackle something, he ended up behind the Eevee.

“Not this again,” he muttered as he gave chase.

They carried on like this, bashing into each other hard enough to bounce back from each hit, all until Lute found himself facing the Eevee head on perfectly. He roared and tackled it as hard as he could, but got locked in a battle of strength. Their paws were clenched in each other’s, and both tried to push the other over with gritted fangs and tensed muscles.

Just then, a strange feeling overcame Lute. In that moment, time seemed to freeze for him, and all his surroundings vanished into white. It was just him and this Eevee pushing against each other, yet to him, he felt silly. Mystified. Confused. It was like he was simulating a fight against himself in a mirror.

He couldn’t help but shudder and gawk like a confused idiot. This Eevee looked exactly like him, from the furs on his head to the size of his paws. The longer this moment went on, the more Lute felt like he was in front of that mirror, and the more unsettled he became. Before long, the Eevee hissed, threw him aside, and then twisted his body to kick him with both hind legs.

Lute almost threw up from the impact to his stomach, left winded in a heap. He managed to stand, but the moment he did, he coughed and choked on something. His body trembled in pain as his eyesight had started to blur.

“Lute, get it together. You can’t just rush at him,” Sophitia said. Her, Phoenix and Esther jumped back into the battle, though even with the three of them attacking one after the other, it was clear that they were outmatched.

It gave Lute a chance to try and steady himself. He couldn’t concentrate on them at all, as his view of them continued to blur the more he tried to focus. Everything took on a yellow hue, all the while his energy drained from him as he struggled to breathe and stay upright. He staggered about while something in front of him was glowed at an annoying brightness.

“The necklace?” he managed to say, his voice gritty and toneless.

He grabbed it tightly, which activated some hidden function he wasn’t expecting. The yellow light glowed even brighter with his touch and surrounded him in streams of flicking bolts. The lights circled him once before flying right into him, and that burning sensation flew into overdrive.

Whatever was happening, he wasn’t in control of it. He felt like fire brewed in his body and forced itself up from his stomach. The way he was felt, he wouldn’t be surprised if he vomited flames. However, he did channel something as he coughed and motioned throwing up. He opened wide, and a huge, sputtering sphere of electricity formed in front of him. The orb grew to the size of his head to once again blind his view. He flinched hard as he coughed again to fire the orb away.

The others gasped when the attack to intruded their battle, but it hit the enemy Eevee directly, earning a cry of pain and surprise. The Eevee was surrounded by a dome of yellow bolts for a moment before the attack exploded. Waves of static burst through the air.

“That came from- Lute!” Infia cried, drawing everyone’s eyes to his stumbling figure.

Sophitia and Phoenix quickly turned back to the enemy Eevee in expectation of a surprise attack while they were distracted. However, that Eevee was as off-balance as Lute, and surrounded all over by crackling bolts.

“It’s paralysed,” Sophitia muttered in disbelief. The Eevee snarled at them like a feral Houndour, but every step he took was met with spasms and strains that made his legs bend at angles uncomfortable to look at. It looked pathetic.

For Lute however, pain surged through his body. His legs shook with his last ounces of strength, which he desperately wanted to use to try and say something. All he could muster were hoarse breaths and strained stretches. He eventually shut his eyes and collapsed, too heavy, sleepy, and distant from everything to stay awake. The sound of his name distorted eerily, but even that was soon all but lost to him. He didn’t give up, but his body was at its limit.

…

When Lute came to, it was the strangest sensation he had ever felt. His body felt groggy and weak, but each of his senses came back one by one. It started with the feeling of being wrapped up in the softness of his bed, then he caught on to the voices of his friends, Sophitia and Esther in an argument. Then he coughed from a dry throat.

“Lute?” Sophitia said worriedly.

He forced his eyes open with a want to subdue that worry, but that was a big mistake. He was so weak that he could barely keep his eyes open, so that hurt a ton. A strange new feeling began to intrude that, a soothing pulse that seemed to give him the strength to open his eyes after all.

“Infia?” he said. She was leaned over him with both paws on his chest, where a pretty light came from the tips of those paws. Whatever she was doing, his energy flowed back in waves. At least until he realised how close she was to him, and flinched. “Wa-wait, wah!”

“Lute?” she gasped and backed off. She hit her head on the wall behind her and whimpered.

“Ah wait, sorry, I didn’t—” He sat up. Everyone stared at him, Marina included. He recognised his room and his bed below him. “What am I doing back here? What happened?”

“You passed out from the fight back there. You slept until morning too, even with Infia healing you,” Sophitia said. His mouth hit the floor.

“Infia’s healing? I didn’t- why am I even—” he whispered.

“Because you fainted like the weakling you are!” Naivie cried and hit him on the nose. “If I’d known you were so weak and pathetic, I’d have begged for fate to choose another Pokémon. You didn’t even get hit, you just like, died back there.”

It took him a moment to realise what she was talking about, and then it all came back to him. Specifically, the way he felt when he clashed with the Eevee. “Wait, you’re telling me I… I lost again?”

He looked up from his paws at all their worried faces, and none of them replied. “I… I can’t believe I- argh, this is so…”

“Don’t beat yourself up over it,” Sophitia shook her head. “I don’t know what you did, but that attack you pulled off paralysed him. I actually don’t know how we would’ve escaped without that.”

“Don’t patronise him, either! We could easily have gotten away if he didn’t faint,” Naivie spat. “Listen here, Eevee. I was being nice earlier, but you’re pathetic. P-A-THE-TIC. Because of you knocking out from nothing, we don’t even have a flower seed planted. And we were right there!”

“Well it’s not his fault an overpowered monster came and fought us, is it? I don’t blame him, I was at my wits end on how to hit that guy,” Esther said, paws on her hips.

“Guys please do not start arguing again.” Sophitia pushed them both apart with her feelers.

“No no, you don’t have to argue. Naivie’s right. I fainted when I really shouldn’t have, and we failed because of that. I am honestly sorry, but there’s actually a few things that I’m more concerned about,” Lute said as he stood up. “When I battled that Eevee, I got to see his face. He looks exactly like me.”

“Oh my gods. Are you like, extra dumb as well?” Naivie said while the others gawked. “Of course he looks exactly like you. You’re both Eevee? Are we seriously going to ask this?”

“No no no, I know that. But when I say the same, I mean he looks hair for hair exactly the same as me. I felt like I was looking in a mirror. I’ve never seen anything like it,” Lute cried.

“He looked exactly like you? That accurately? Are you certain?” Marina stepped forward as well.

“Yes, I’m sure! And when I think about it as well, he used the same moves as me. Quick Attack and Swift. Only those two. Mum, do you know anything about that?”

The Vaporeon gasped and stepped back. For a moment, it looked like she was going to cry, but she blinked away those tears. “No, I just… listen, that’s something you aren’t going to be able to answer by just thinking about it. You should think about what you’re going to do about that enemy. It sounds like they’re going to guard the temple from you.”

“She’s got a point. We’re going to need to get past that Eevee somehow,” Sophitia agreed.

“There was another reason I came in here, actually. You guys got another letter from the agents while you were out. You’ve got tickets and directions to their base and all,” Marina added.

“They sent us directions? We already know how to get there,” Sophitia cocked her head.

“Ooh, I get to go to a King’s Shield base. I guess it’s for the newbies like me?” Esther said.

“You’re not counted as an agent,” Phoenix commented.

“Actually, it’s because it’s a different base. I don’t think you’ll see Silver and that lot. It’s in Pokétopia, Aseria’s capital.” Marina handed Sophitia the note.

Esther’s excitement faded, and she shrunk. “Pokétopia?”

“Lute, are you feeling alright? If you’re okay, you should get going. You know what they’re like with keeping them waiting,” Marina said.

“I’m feeling okay. Now that you mention it, I feel better than okay. You said Infia could heal or something,” he said, and checked himself out. His body didn’t even have marks where he’d been hit.

“Oh I’ve already drilled her for that one.” Naivie glared at the shy Minun. “Turns out this little girl has a healing touch! And until now, she decided not to use it at all.”

“Can you really heal wounds?” Lute turned to Infia.

The Minun played with her skirt, squirmed, and made every effort not to look at him or Naivie. “I-I’m not very good at it. And it makes me really tired as well. I-I’m not sure how helpful it’ll be—”

“Utter rubbish! You had the whole group good as new in no time. And don’t think I didn’t see you using Helping Hand, either. Casually turning Lute from a weakling into a powerhouse – if I hadn’t been paying attention, I’d say that you were letting everybody lose,” Naivie cried.

“Helping Hand?” Lute said as he recalled the battle. “I don’t remember getting any power boost, but then again, my attacks actually damaged the enemy Eevee. Any of our tougher opponents I haven’t been able to touch.”

“I don’t like siding with Naivie’s tone here, but honestly, you’re pretty incredible, Infia.” Sophitia scratched her face. The Minun settled into a blush. “I dunno exactly what magic you’re using that let you fix all our damage, but it works perfectly. It’s like I was never in a battle to begin with.”

Lute hopped off the bed as she spoke, but kept quiet and straight faced. He didn’t know whether to be bothered or interested in these new revelations. It shouldn’t have been surprising that the legend would be riddled with mystery, especially since he decided it would be more exciting to not ask questions. But to find that he and his friends were revealing new powers, implied they each had a direct connection to the legend. He felt uncomfortable with that.

The electric attack he launched and the discomfort that brought. Infia’s apparent new healing abilities, as well as her Helping Hand possibly giving a greater boost than it should’ve. And the Eevee that looked exactly like him, minus the empty eyes.

Something told him this wouldn’t be the end to all the new feelings he’d experience and the discomfort that came with them. And worse still, a foreboding told him he wasn’t going to like the truth behind it all.