Episode 31: This is Who I Am

The planet’s core. A Teleportal that led to the core of Planet Aseria. Now that the group had fallen quiet while they flew through the light stream of the Teleportal, so Lute had time to think. It really started to soak in, the ludicrousness of what he was getting into. He was Headed to the direct centre of the planet in order to fight a crazed Pokémon and stop it from wiping out all life.

If he was still the same Pokémon he was before he met Sophitia, this idea wouldn’t have crossed his mind even during his dreams. If he had the opportunity, not only would he turn it down, but Mum would most certainly say no in the harshest, most frightening way possible. The thought made him cringe and sneak a glance at Sophitia. She was faced forward and focused, and appeared the coolest she had looked in a while.

He faced forward, too. He had to concentrate. This place was probably going to be worse than the strange red particles that drained his breath before. He had to be ready to brave the harshest conditions ever, the perilous unknowns of the world inside of the planet. When they landed, he instantly spread his feet apart, scanned the area, and darted side to side.

“Wait, we’re back here?” he said with an eyebrow raised. Genesis had just taken them back to Spirle’s hidden base.

“The Teleportal we need is in the depths of this place. It’s a special one that only we of the royal family could activate. It doesn’t even look like a Teleportal, you know,” Genesis said. She walked fast, so he had to jog to keep up. “Funnily enough, Kuri was registered to it, too. We did it, even though we didn’t tell you where it is.”

“When? Gonna take a wild guess and say it wasn’t important until now,” Kuri asked.

“It was and it wasn’t. This scenario right here is exactly why we did it in secret,” Genesis stated.

“Okay, so we’ve got a little time. Tell us about this,” Esther said, and tucked her arms behind her head.

“The royal families of the Ancients had their own network of Teleportals built for their personal use, and each one was only ever to be used in very special situations. These ones led directly between the castles and palaces across Moand Dia. The public never knew about them, but it’s how we maintained such a vast and connected world,” Gen explaine. She slowed down so that everyone could walk beside her. “Every kingdom had one that led to the centre of the planet. But they weren’t all for important trips and the like.”

Lute already had questions. The way she talked; it was as if she was used to using these things. It was hard to picture the Teleportal being a casual method of transportation for Pokémon, considering the average Pokémon even today didn’t know about them. In fact, before Sophitia, even King’s Shield could barely activate one with their machinery.

“Kuri, remember our honeymoon the night we got married?” Genesis wondered.

“How could I forget that? That was the day we figured out what your Father was doing when he allowed us to get married,” he replied. “He sent us to that greenhouse-type place. But in reality, it was an underground shelter. From there, we had full view of Lassic as he rained his meteors upon Angard. It was less of a honeymoon and more of a frightening revelation that your Father had already resigned himself to the destruction of Angard.”

“If he had a Teleportal leading to another kingdom or inside the planet, why didn’t he just transport everyone there? He could’ve saved everyone,” Sophitia said.

“The other kingdoms had already been reduced to rubble. Drained of their V-Waves by his weaponry, and then smothered in meteors of fire. The only way to deal with this devil was to confront him head on, like we’re doing now,” Genesis answered. The question had caused her tone to sharpen, and she sped back up.

It was no different to the Spirle base now, Lute thought. It was in worser condition than when they initially went through, where the flames that had raged had eaten through basically everything in the area until there was little left. The shape of tables, computers, pipes, and more was all that remained, but all of it was charcoal black and crusty to the touch. Ash tickled his nose and he felt like the air was still smoky.

“The Teleportal doesn’t lead directly to the Mega Stone, but a mystery dungeon that leads to it. There’s only one Teleportal there too, and all the ones from all the kingdoms link directly to that one,” Genesis said. “Being inside the planet though, there aren’t any Pokémon to worry about. The biggest danger is the storm of electricity that orbits the core.”

“Electricity doesn’t come from the ground, does it? Why is there a storm inside the planet?” Esther wondered.

“You’ll see it for yourself soon. The best advice I can give you about the mystery dungeon is that there are a lot of pathways that lead directly into the storm, but if you encounter such a pathway, then you need to turn around and find another direction. You shouldn’t ever need to walk directly into the storm,” Genesis informed.

“I’m so nosy now. I wanna touch it,” Esther said with a cheeky giggle. Infia rolled her eyes.

“Good luck trying not lose an arm, then. The Inner Storms are no joke,” Genesis said.

Esther’s squeak of surprise made Lute smile, but he remained focused. They reached the depths of the base now, the area where they fought Project Dragonlord. Nothing of it remained, not a single speck of mud or slime. They went past the iron door she was behind, where the cave went even deeper.

Everything onward was even more hastily dug than the area leading up to it, and without the support of lamps or tools, the cave was dangerous to walk through. There was no attempt to keep the floor flat, the overall space of the cave was inconsistent, and much of the rocks were broken all over the place and had to be climbed over. Kuri and Genesis jumped up quickly, while Lute and the others helped each other climb. Infia glowed with Flash to keep the place lit.

“My hunch was right on the money. This base was built right on top of the kingdom, but they didn’t actually know the underground passage was here. Kuri, if you please.” Genesis came to a stop and folded her arms. The Chespin looked back and forth between her and the way forward, and raised an eyebrow. “The wall, right here. Are you awake?”

“In case you never noticed, I’m not psychic,” Kuri said, tensing up his fists. Needle Arm surrounded them, and with a forceful cry and a punch, down the wall went. It crumbled to reveal a far neater cave, one with a square corridor.

“Wow, that’s so cool. There really is a secret passage way. She really is a princess,” Infia said, her eyes gleaming.

“What’s with you and her being a princess? You’re so giddy today,” Esther said.

“She’s a magic princess. It’s really awesome.” She twiddled her feet.

Genesis didn’t offer any comments. She jumped through and led everyone down the hallway. The transformation between this hallway and the cave they were just in earnt gasps and curious eyes, even from Kuri. The hallway was in a state of decay from lack of use, but it had a fancy red carpet and aged paintings of patterns on the walls, so it was miles more welcoming.

“It really is a totally untouched hallway. There’s stairs, too,” Sophitia said. Stairs that led into a place filled with collapsed rubble. There were quite a few of these down the hall, and a couple even had signs on the outside which were still readable.

At the end of the hallway was the Teleportal they needed. It wasn’t a platform, but a small metal room closed off by decaying curtain. It was clearly supposed to be a shiny material too, but it was rusting on the outside.

“Oh my. I hope this thing still works,” Lute remarked.

“Of course it still works. Don’t underestimate ancient technology. Unlike Lassic’s little toys, a couple generations of no maintenance ain’t gonna break it,” Naivie bragged. The group let Genesis check it out first, and then she poked her head out and nodded with an eager smile on her face.

“Oh wow. It actually works. Okay, now the action really begins!” Esther skipped forward.

Lute let the others walk in first as his chest tightened up in anticipation. That didn’t stop him from noticing Sophitia’s hesitation though, as the Sylveon stopped moving entirely. “Everything okay?”

“L-Lute… th-that thing looks… familiar,” Sophitia whispered, staring at the metal room. He glanced back and forth between them, and then flinched.

“Does it bring back any memories? Any idea at all?” he gasped.

“No. Nothing.” She looked away. “I dunno why I feel this way, I shouldn’t. It just seems like something I’ve seen before… it’s making me scared for some reason.”

“Sophitia,” he sighed.

“Sorry about that. It won’t happen again. Let’s stop wasting time and finish this,” she said with an eager smile. She leapt into the room, leaving the concerned Lute to wander in.

Inside wasn’t anything special, just an empty box walled by the metallic material. From in here, Lute realised that the whole box was made of the same material as the Teleportals. With the same arm movements as always, Genesis activated it, causing the walls to brighten and rumble. The room filled with light, and in a flash, the team vanished.

He fell back into focus and repeated his thoughts from before. He was prepared for anything, mostly the worst, and immediately braced himself upon landing in the next area. He scouted out immediately, restless at the uncomfortable chill that greeted them.

This was definitely the Inner Storms. Cracked, rocky ground that looked like a mountain path, hung suspended in a space of distant darkness. Far away from them, a fluctuating stream of booming lightning swirled around the world, and it was always visible. They arrived via a room identical to the one they used to teleport.

“It’s fine,” Lute muttered slowly after testing his breath.

He looked around at everyone, who had split up briefly to survey the area. They landed on a circular platform that sloped in a zigzag pattern into the depths of the storm, where a distant gleam awaited them. That gleam was of multiple different colours, and was sat in the middle of a cave. The Mega Stone.

“This is all you, Gen hun.” Kuri pointed ahead.

“Can’t believe this is what the inside of the planet looks like. I dunno why, I was seriously expecting lava and crystal and stuff, or something,” Sophitia remarked.

“Well I’d rather this,” Esther shhrugged.

“But I’d rather something more chaotic, too!” a childish voice said, making everyone freeze. Without instruction, the group shuffled together back to back and gazed around for their spy. That set off their childish laughter, and then Lute finally recognised what was happening.

“Tetra?” he called out. Surely enough, the giggly Klefki spun into appearance over the one path forward.

“Wowee wow, you remembered my name!” Tetra cheered. “It’s been such a long time, heroes. I must have left a pretty lasting impression. That makes me really happy, you know.”

“Oh great, it’s him. Well, I forgot this guy counted as a High Point,” Sophitia said mockingly.

“Figures the underlings would show up to block the way. We don’t have time for this, though. Let’s mow him down and push through!” Kuri said. Everyone nodded.

“Oh you must be joking if I’m going to allow you to just, fight me. I’m super intrigued because you guys made it all the way here! I was sure nobody could make it this far, but here we are. Anybody strong enough to make it here is sure enough to give me a Wailord of a time,” Tetra announced, and then jiggled his keys. His posh voice quickly angered the group. “And I’m sure that you, Lutey, are just itching to show me how powerful you are now that you can use your powers properly. But I can’t. If you wanna show me, then you’ve gotta reach me, first!”

Eyebrows raised as all he seemed to do was laugh and jiggle his keys. He eventually released a burst of air, which only set him off laughing even more. It made everybody flinch, and then a moment later, the floor split apart into countless pieces.

“A-ah, guys!” Lute cried and braced himself. His plans quickly changed when the floor began to tilt and he scrambled to hang on to the edge.

“Gen!” Kuri shouted, slipping off his part. Lute could only stick out a paw in shock.

The floor pieces all began to drift apart, where they slowly flipped and twisted. Everyone cried out and held on to individual bits, but Genesis let go of hers to float using her psychic. She caught Kuri with the same powers, and the two of them flew towards Tetra, arms drawn back with attacks held at the ready.

“Wha-what? Hold on—” Tetra squealed as he was struck head on by Needle Arm and Shadow Ball. Both attacks pierced his thin metal body, and a hard burst of energy exploded on impact and shook what remained of the area. Tetra quickly regenerated, but the duo hung onto him, making him shake crazily to try and get rid of them. The uneven weight had him squeal and curse as Kuri and Genesis dragged him everywhere.

“Aah, Sophitia! Hold on!” Lute cried as he struggled to look around at everyone.

He gasped as he realised what was actually happening. Whatever Tetra had done, the world around him was had begun to warp and change right before his eyes, and not because he was hung from a rotating platform. Floors actually became ceilings and walls, the stream of lightning went from circling the dungeon to weaving through it, and the broken platforms his friends were held onto were nowhere in sight.

Before he could cry about it, one final gush of wind struck him so hard that he felt his paws slip and his heart jump. Lute held on with all his might, but it was like he was being yanked by the grip of a thousand arms on his tail and his back. He was ripped from his post and sent spinning through the air. All he could do was cry at the top of his voice and kick his paws while darkness took over everything.

…

Time passed. Infia wasn’t sure how long, but she dreaded to think it was a few hours or longer. However long it was, her costume was scruffy and her body felt groggy. That didn’t deter her however, as once she realised where she was, she knew she had to put up with it.

Lightning streaked across the pitch-black background, crossing between floating islands and debris at a chaotic level of random. A strong, bone chilling wind ruffled her fur almost constantly. The crusty floor felt like it was going to break apart at any moment. She tried to ignore it all as she shook Esther, crying out her name desperately to wake her up. She had been awake and doing this for all of a couple minutes, and only now started to get a result.

“Esther! Esther please, wake up!” Infia cried as loud as she could. The Pikachu squirmed and rolled onto her front with a lazy mumble. “For goodness sake Esther, now is not the time to be a goofball!”

“Alright alright, gods, quit being such a drama queen,” gurgled the Pikachu as she squirmed onto her back again. She stretched, scratched, and patted herself a few times before opening her eyes, where she gave Infia a dozy smile. “Mornin’. What brings you to wake me?”

Infia’s face flushed with angry heat, and she puffed up her cheeks. “Esther, please wake up already!”

“What’s got you so worked up – oh. Oh. OH. Holy shit,” Esther mouthed as she sat up. She couldn’t stop gawking. “Oh gods, right, we were doing that stuff in the world’s core or something, right? Oh my gods I’m so sorry, I dunno how the hell I fell asleep!”

“It’s okay. Just, ah, w-we need to find a way out. Please help me find way out,” Infia said, turning to look around. As far as she could tell, there was no pathway at all. Just floating rock islands and a loud stream of lightning.

“O-kay, let’s see what we got. Gimme a minute,” Esther said, still on the floor. She stretched and grumbled a bit, making noises so strange that it was embarrassing, even given their situation. She soon kicked herself to her feet, and then walked on all fours to survey their surroundings. “There. We need to get down there, ‘cos that’s where that Mega Stone thingy is, right?”

“Huh?” Infia replied, going blank. She realised that Esther was pointing to the rainbow coloured gleam straight ahead of them. A giant abyss of darkness sat before them, and the light was obscured by the floating debris. “How are we going to get there?”

“We got through everything we’ve gotten through so far, and now you’re gonna ask that?” Esther smiled.

“We should try and escape, though. The others are separated from us,” Infia said.

“So we’ll meet them before the final showdown. That’s how these things work, duh,” Esther said with a roll of her eyes.

“O-kay. And if we get there before them?”

“Then we stall for time. We can do that much, surely.”

“And if they left without us?”

“Then fuck them! Cowards.”

“Esther, this is serious! How are we even going to get there?” Infia pouted.

“And I’m being serious. We’ll get there like,” Esther said, a finger on her lip as she gazed around. “Okay. I’ve got a route. C’mere.”

“Uh,” was all Infia could mutter before she was scooped up by the Pikachu. She squeaked and went stiff, making it easy for her to be positioned on Esther’s back, where she instinctively wrapped her arms around and clutched the Pikachu’s front.

“You’re really light, you know that? But yeah, just, hang on tight baby!” Esther said, cocking a smile.

Infia could only moan in angst. She knew what was about to happen, yet she didn’t think that Esther was actually going to go through with it. Quick Attack was charged, and still she repeatedly told herself otherwise. And then they launched into a sprint, and her heart jumped out of her chest.

She screamed and held on even tighter as Esther leapt high into the air, even doing a flip and shouting out with the momentum they had built up. They landed on the side of one of the floating bits of rock, where Esther kept using Quick Attack to run along the surface of it. She leapt off once they reached the end, once again crying out in effort. They hung from another island, where she pulled herself up and sprinted into another jump.

Like this, Esther carried Infia from portion of rock to portion of rock. At first it was clear where to go, but it soon descended into jumps in random directions in some attempt to get somewhere. They travelled in the general direction of the glowing light, and it felt like it was getting tougher and tougher as they went on. Equally, Infia began to get a hold of herself. Her panicked squeals turned into quick breaths and focused eyesight.

“The lightning!” Infia shouted, pointing at the stream they were getting dangerously close to. However, Esther was in the middle of a sprint, and looked as though she might run directly into it.

“Shit,” Esther whispered, frantically searching for some other foothold. There was one to their left, which she could use to reverse and find flat ground. She jumped without a second thought, but as soon as her feet touched it, the rock broke apart, sending the duo into a freefall.

Esther had a moment to react, and a million thoughts ran through her mind as Infia broke back into deafening screams. She didn’t know what to aim for at all, but she pulled out her ribbon baton and snapped it. The ribbon stretched out and latched to something, stopping their momentum so hard it hurt. All the time, Esther prayed for the best in her mind.

“That’s it. Hold on!” she said. They began to swing with a good amount of speed, and brushed past another island as their momentum caused them to ascend. She ran across the surface to build up even more speed. With one arm holding onto the baton, which was latched to the lightning stream, she was literally running up the underside of a broken island so fast that everything around them became a blur. When they reached the edge of the island, Esther threw herself off with all the strength she could muster, and flew up into the air with a triumphant roar.

They sped through the air for what must have been over five or ten seconds, and landed with a painful crash that shook their bodies. Infia lost her grip and rolled away, while Esther lost her voice to gasps of pain, skipped a dozen metres, and then tripped so hard that she did a full forward roll. It hurt worse than a splinter, but surely enough, they were on flat ground.

“Ha ha, fuck yeah! Eat that, Inner Storms. Pikachu can fly too!” Esther cheered, raising a fist. She was stuck on her back for a little while where she caught her breath. It was only when she patted the floor beside her that she realised that Infia wasn’t there. “Oh my gods, Infia?”

“O-over here,” the Minun squeaked. She was further away than expected, but she looked okay, stood up and holding her skirt down.

“Oh thank fuck. Yeah that got a little outta control,” Esther said with a cheeky giggle.

“Wa-wait!” Infia gasped. Esther tilted her head while she patted herself all over, even lifting her skirt. “I-I-I’m dry. I-I didn’t wet. S-s-somehow, I didn’t wet.”

“Oh right, that stuff. Well that’s good. You need a moment alone or something?” Esther tilted her head.

“N-no! I’m fine,” Infia gasped, latching close to Esther. She quickly detached and returned to her usual squeaky self. “I-I-I mean, ah… I’ll be fine. I don’t think I need to go or anything. I should be okay.”

“You sure? You don’t want something like that slowing you down when things get tough,” Esther said, paws on her hips. Infia shook her head. “Heh, man you’re still shy even after all this time. I really dunno why.”

“I can’t help it,” she said, not realising that Esther had walked off. The island they were on qualified as an actual island, unlike the tiny platforms they just jumped off. It had a steep hill, but the floor was smooth and hard.

“I guess I don’t really get it. I would understand if I was still a performer and you were still a superfan, but I’m not. You’ve gotten to know the real me for months now.” Esther tucked her paws behind her head.

“Y-yeah. Sure. It’s nothing to do with being leagues below the surface in the middle of the planet,” Infia said. Esther’s ears perked up.

“See? There we go, that’s the kinda remark I grew to love about ya. You can talk like you, but then you still get all antsy and squirmy,” Esther teased. Her face went straight and she slowed down all of a sudden, confusing the Minun. “Hey, sorry to drop the serious stuff all of a sudden but, we’re heading into a pretty big deal. I know I said I don’t fully get what’s going on, and I still don’t, but I do know we’re going up against Spirle’s king.”

“Yeah. We need to be ready for anything. I know. With you at my side, I know we can stall until the others get here. I believe that now,” Infia said. She put on her bravest look with fists clenched and face serious.

“Well not that, but… look, I’m not trying to second thoughts this, but something could happen, y’know? And if it does, it’s better not to have anything you wanna say left hanging around in your head,” Esther suggested. She turned to face the Minun in the eyes. Infia gawked and her eyes started to sparkle. “So yeah. If there’s anything you wanna say that’s important, get it outta the way now.”

“I,” was all Infia could mutter. Her eyes wavered left and right, and she couldn’t keep her head straight. She looked up, gulped, and her breath became soft. “There’s nothing. I’m fine. I’m ready for this.”

“Really? That’s a relief, ‘cos I dunno what would happen if you didn’t get to tell Lute how much you liked him or something. But if you’re that confident we’ll live to see him again—”

“What is with everyone and shipping me with Lute?” Infia snapped.

“H-huh? Wait, I thought you did, I thought you still did? You stood up for him when he was all angsty and stuff,” Esther said.

“Yes I had feelings for him at one point, but that was nasty. I didn’t believe I was worth anything other than to serve Pokémon, all thanks to Mum. I wanted to just give up my life for Lute, ‘cos he was the first one who was patient enough to actually be friends with me,” Infia explained.

“Yeah, see? He’s a special kinda guy for ya. Ha, he tore me to shreds and I’m never gonna let him live it down, but that doesn’t mean you have to not be with him,” Esther giggled.

“I don’t have those kinds of feelings for him anymore, though. And not because of the whole V-Pocket thingy. Those feelings for Lute were built off my immaturity. I want to be with- I mean – I want to just live happily more than anything right now,” Infia clarified. She couldn’t stop glancing side to side.

“Aha, I heard that! There’s someone you want to be with,” Esther sung and squeezed her cheeks. “Is it Fluffy Cheeks? Please tell me it’s Fluffy Cheeks!”

“What? No! I didn’t even say that. I—” Infia pouted at her. She froze. She had to remember who she was talking to. “What about you? Do you have anything you want to say?”

“Me? Uh, which one do you want? The normal one or the TMI?” Esther said.

“The normal one, please! Or whichever’s most important?” Infia slapped her face.

“Well uh,” Esther said, prodding her fingers together. She started walking ahead again, albeit slowly. “I dunno if you’ve noticed or not, but I er…”

“You…?” Infia raised an eyebrow. Esther leaned in close and mumbled into her ear.

“Esther, what in the world? I said to tell me the normal one!” Infia squealed, going bright red.

“That is the normal one!” the Pikachu giggled.

“Argh, that’s gross and- why are you so dang weird!” she cried.

“That’s not weird, it’s practical! Look I was kinda thrown into this journey business, you know? I’m used to having restroom access whenever I want, but Naivie really pushed us!” Esther said. “Fuck it. I’ll tell you the other one, since they’re both important.”

“This is less heartfelt and more embarrassing, and it’s not even about me,” Infia whined and slumped forward. Esther leaned over again and whispered something in her ear, which immediately perked her up. She started blushing deeply, too. “Wha? Really?”

Esther nodded. “Please keep that a secret, though. I’m trusting you with that as a symbol of our bond. ‘Cos when we get outta this, we’re gonna be performers together.”

“You… why did… I just,” Infia whispered. Esther didn’t look bothered at all, and even snickered at her. “Yeah. We’ll get through this, and I-I’ll do my best. To keep up with you.”

“Ha, I’m not gonna be teaching you much. If your Revelation Dance is anything to go by, it’s gonna be me trying to keep up with you,” Esther said with a laugh.

The hill they were on evened out at the peak, and the duo were surprised at what awaited them. Here was a huge, circular space, all flat and walled by short mounds in the shape of pyramids. The floor was coloured a wine red and marked out with black cracks that almost looked like ancient markings carved into it. Directly ahead of them was a thin path that led directly into the rainbow coloured light.

Staring at them were two large, rounded, pink Pokémon. Infia recognised one of them as an Aromatisse, the evolved form of Spritzee. Thanks to this particular Aromatisse’s rugged horns and peculiar fragrance, she didn’t need to be told who they were.

“Mum,” Infia whispered, immediately locking eyes with the Pokémon. Victoria was just as surprised, sat on a portable stall.

“Wait, then that means – oh brother. It’s you.” Esther slumped forward.

“It’s you!” the other Pokémon cried, his voice high pitched and excited. He was short and a little snowman shaped, but very flabby and quite friendly looking. A red ball sat on top of round, pink, smooth fluff resembling hair which covered most of his head. His eyes were hollow and red, but not in an intimidating way. Altogether, he looked like a walking cake.

“Tetra wasn’t kidding. They actually got here somehow. But even after they rearranged the mystery dungeon,” Victoria said. She slowly stood up. “Tetra darling! Be a dear and get rid of these pests, would you? They refuse to die.”

The two girls shifted back as Tetra descended from nowhere to confront them with crazed laughter. He stopped very suddenly, and then got cross. “Wait a second, is it just you two?”

“That a problem?” Esther said. She curled her hands into fists.

“Yes. It’s severely disappointing. In fact, it’s a complete and utter waste of my time. It’s so unfunny, I can’t even laugh about it.” Tetra turned his back. “These two won’t be very fun to battle. I guess the mystery dungeon killed the others, ha. Whatever. You don’t need me for this.”

“What do you mean?” Victoria replied.

“Are you deaf? Stupid? Do you not understand Pokémon? I said you don’t need me for this. The only Pokémon that would be entertaining for me to fight would be Lute, and he’s not here,” Tetra said, puffing out his cheeks.

“Those weren’t our orders. Our orders were to keep everyone away from the king—”

“Well I don’t care about some smug king’s orders. I joined Spirle to have a good time, and I’m not having one. If Lute doesn’t show up, I’m out of here for good.” Tetra bounced away.

“You know what, I don’t blame ya. It sounds like things are getting pretty serious on the surface, and something tells me the king’s gonna pull a fast one on us,” Victor said. “Our villain work suddenly seems a little too villainous.”

“Will you bumbling fools shut up? We’re Spirle High Points, and we’re soon to rule all of Aseria with infinite power. That much is guaranteed. But if we don’t follow our orders, we can kiss that promise goodbye,” Victoria said as she took Tetra’s place. “It’s only a pop idol and that defective rodent. We can get this over with quickly.”

“Yeah, not like we’ve beaten your ass before. So what, you guys had to evolve to stand a chance?” Esther mocked them.

“You beat us with a group, and under advantageous circumstances. But here, we are on level ground. You will see the superiority of Spirle High Points first-paw,” Victoria threatened.

“We don’t need the others to beat you. I’m stronger now!” Infia said, closing her fists.

“You? Don’t make me laugh,” Victoria said. Her eyes narrowed as if she was smiling. “Has your time away made you forget what you are?”

“I haven’t forgotten what you think I am. My time living has let me learn who I really am,” Infia said. “I-I’m a hero of Aseria. I can’t lose to Pokémon like you.”

“A hero? Aseria doesn’t have heroes, honey. It only has fools and leaders. Fools like your rabble need to understand who to respect, and know your place,” Victoria replied.

“I know my place, it’s you who doesn’t know yours. You created me like I was some kind of possession, and as soon as I stopped obeying you like a servant, you didn’t want to know who I was. But you aren’t allowed to do stuff like that. And you didn’t know what I can really do,” Infia said.

Victoria paused, and put her hands on her hips. “You couldn’t touch me when I was a Spritzee, and you barely beat me with all of your pathetic friends doing the hard work for you. Now that I am evolved, and it’s just the two of you, what could you possibly hope to achieve?”

“See? You have no idea what I’ve been through, what I’ve survived. I can beat Risen, I can fight Silver, I grew the ancient flowers with everyone. I can beat you!” Infia announced. Victoria seemed to get angrier at everyone word, and unfurled her arms as Infia finished.

“Holy crap, you go girl! Give ‘em the biggest shock of her life,” Esther cheered and raised a fist. “Victor’s mine. We’ll take ‘em one on one!”

“You honestly believe that you can beat me?” Victoria said with half-lidded eyes. Infia was rigid. “Victor, stay back.”

“Don’t mock us!” Infia shouted. She raised a paw and a mighty lightning bolt came straight down and struck her, surrounding her with a heavy wind and a yellow aura. With that aura around her, she began to twirl and dance to turn that light in a gleaming, crackling ball of electricity. In just a moment, Infia had turned herself into an explosive ball, which she fired at Victoria with a cry.

“Whoa!” Victor cried, sliding back as the ball hit. A crackling explosion went off, and he had to shield his face.

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” Infia said as she stomped a foot. She went on all fours to use Quick Attack, but turned her attack into Spark as she closed in on the Aromatisse. During her approach however, it suddenly occurred to her that Victoria hadn’t been floored despite the heavy hit, and in fact, had the same face as when the battle started.

It worried her. It made her brace and cry out in the extra effort she put into her Spark attack. Victoria made no attempt to defend herself at all, letting Infia smash directly into her fluffy coat. The direct hit only sent Infia flying backwards, and scraped Victoria’s feet a bit.

“Wha-what?” Infia whispered in disbelief. Victoria wasn’t damaged. Electricity merely grazed her. “Her illusions shouldn’t be working on me. How aren’t I doing any damage?”

“Uh oh,” Esther said, a paw by her mouth. Victoria didn’t say a thing. She just stared back, half-lidded and focused.

“I’m not done yet!” Infia cried as she called down lightning on herself again. This time, she curled herself up and braced hard to gather every last bit of power she could muster. With gritted fangs, a squeal of strain, and an erratic pose, she turned herself into a yellow arrow of light, and charged at her enemy. With all of that power, she shot ahead like a laser, and a pulse of static burst through the air the instant she launched. The attack exploded on impact as well, sending another wave of static-infused air across the battlefield. Infia recoiled back in an agonising daze and fell on her backside.

“That was my Wild Charge. That has to have done something,” she whimpered as Esther came to her aid. The two stared at the remaining dust cloud in angst, and both gasped when it cleared to reveal Victoria totally unharmed. “N-no, h-how?”

Victoria had a dirty mark on her front where she had taken the attacks, and lazily brushed it clean. “It’s because you’re weak.”

“N-no, I-I’m not. I can’t be,” Infia whispered.

“It’s like I just told you. You’re a weak, defective V-Pocket failure that I should have gotten rid of an age ago. The fact that you truly believed that you could amount to anything at all is only an example of your defective traits,” Victoria said.

“Don’t listen to her, she’s talking shit,” Esther cried. However, Infia looked terrified and was still on the floor.

“You weren’t born a Pokémon. You cannot grow. You cannot learn. Everything you think you’ve achieved was only possible because other Pokémon did it for you,” Victoria said.

“Well yeah? But what’s wrong with that? Friends are there to help one another out,” Esther said, giving Victoria a furious glare.

“She’s a useless V-Pocket. You could replace her with anyone and they would be infinitely more useful, even that bumbling sack of icing behind me.” Victoria cupped her hands. A pink light began to form between them, which grew fast. “I won’t even need my illusion powers to defeat you.”

Esther cursed and growled. She shifted her way in front of Infia just as Victoria’s attack came out. The pink orb grew and burst into a rain of beams which spread all over the area, several of which looked as though they burned right through Esther. She was set off screaming and fell on one paw. Her body was left smouldering.

“It’s just like our king says. A Pokémon’s evolution determines its usefulness. You who have not evolved, and you, a defective product of our research, stood no chance in this world. But in this new world that Spirle will create, only useful Pokémon will ever exist. Useful Pokémon that obey their elders with the proper respect,” Victoria stated. She held one arm forward, and a Moonblast began to charge in her palm.

“Oh boy, okay I fucked up with this one,” Esther said. She took a deep breath and tried to force herself to her feet, but stumbled and fell straight back. “U-uh, this is the point where Lute’s comes along and saves us at the last second, right?”

“Lute can’t protect us, he’s not here!” Infia cried. Esther gritted her fangs, quickly glancing between the Moonblast and Infia.

“Well then go and get him, I’ll keep ‘em busy!” she cried as she rolled over onto all fours. She swirled her tail around to generate an Electro Ball attack.

“N-no, Esther, you’ll lose! You’ll die. I wanna protect you!” Infia whimpered.

“Don’t be stupid!” she argued, trying not to get distracted.

The Moonblast was fired, and she forced herself to charge into it. She flipped over to slam the Electro Ball into the Moonblast, but there was clearly no competition in the clash. Her attack dissolved into the pink blob, leaving Esther to take the full brunt. She screamed as she was sent scraping across the floor by the blast.

“Esther!” Infia cried as tears began to roll down her eyes. Esther forced herself to lift a paw.

“Get- out of here, Infia. You’ve got too much to live for. Don’t risk your life for me. Get the others,” she struggled to growl. Infia sniffled and whimpered, terrified of seeing the Pikachu so beaten up. Her clothes had torn and her body was trembling in pain. “Hurry up!”

“I won’t.”

“Infia!”

“I love you too much to leave you to get killed here. Let me protect you too!” Infia cried. “We said we’d stall together if we had to. So let’s do it together!”

“Love me?” Esther said. Her face flipped suddenly, and it looked as though she stopped breathing. “Me? Seriously?”

“Yes, seriously!” Infia said.

Another pause. Esther let out a heavy breath, and then looked like she started snickering. “Well shit. I thought Lute was dense, but I turned out to be denser, huh? What a way to go.”

“But it’s not over yet. I can still protect you. You’re right, I can,” Infia said. She locked their paws together.

“This is pathetic,” Victoria held another Moonblast. This one was larger than her head in size and required both hands to hold and throw. She spun to bowl it at the electric couple, where its size engulfed them from her sight.

Infia and Esther kept their paws linked and cuddled each other in an effort to pull Esther to her feet. But as the attack came at them, Esther did her best to spin her body so that she would take the attack first, while Infia stiffened her pose on one foot to try and do the same. Like that, the duo hugged tighter than ever and braced for the worst, and then the magic happened. The instant before the attack hit, the duo glowed white and a field of their colours swirled around them.

Victoria shut her eyes to avoid being blinded by the towering eruption of energy that came from her attack. She huffed and dusted her hands off. But something wasn’t right.

The tower lingered for an unnatural length of time, making her give in and stare at it. Light continued to erupt for long enough for her to raise an eyebrow. Minutes later, the eruption began to calm and a lone silhouette was visible. She realised what had happened, and her eyes popped out of their sockets.

When the light cleared, a single Pokémon was left in place of the two girls. A tall, shapely mouse Pokémon with long, rabbit-like ears tipped with colours – its left ear was blue, while the right was black. It had cheek pouches similar to Pikachu that followed a similar multicolour scheme to the ears; its right cheek was red while the left was blue with yellow minus mark on it. It was clothed in an elaborate shirt, an extra frilly tutu, and even underwear, all adorned with glittery pinks and purples. Its tail was lightning bolt shaped like Pikachu’s too, only tipped with blue minus signs.

“What the,” the Pokémon muttered in a mature, womanly voice. She stared at her paws in confusion. “What just happened?”

She checked herself out while Victoria and Victoria gawked like cartoon characters, all the time muttering to herself. She tugged at her skirt and outlined her body with her paws, totally self-absorbed in her shape. “Oh gosh, this is a new one. Why am I so thick, and like, smooth and- oh gosh, my voice, it’s so adult. Did I, did we?”

“Uh Victoria, are you gonna tell me what just happened or not?” Victoria cried and danced on his toes. “What is that? Where did it come from, and why does it look like the two Pokémon just like, fused?”

“Fused?” the Pokémon said, still feeling herself all over. Her paws went to the back of her head, where surely enough, Infia’s fur style was there, two long pigtails. “Oh my gosh. I did do it. What is this? I thought I couldn’t do it, but I did it.”

Victoria tried to calm down, but she couldn’t manage anything better than a gulp and a shift backward. “That’s exactly what this is. They fused.”

“We really did fuse?” the Pokémon gasped, and then smiled. “Aww yeah, this feels awesome! I finally exist, and my debut is kicking you guys’ asses?”

“My V-Pocket experiment. Project Subtraction. That’s what Infia was,” Victoria began, her face blank as she stumbled forward. “It was designed to be a soldier that could support a stronger Pokémon in combat. Being made of V-Waves, she was able to physically take away part of her body to heal or power up another with Helping Hand. But the main purpose was to combine her whole body structure with a living Pokémon, exponentially increasing their abilities due to the absurd amount of waves a V-Pocket is made of.”

“Er, can you put it in for dummies terms?” Victor said, dumbfounded.

“Infia was a V-Pocket that could fuse. I thought she was useless because she couldn’t fuse, no matter what I did with her. But here she is, fusing with that Pikachu pop star. And now their powers are immeasurable!” Victoria snapped.

“Immeasurable, huh? So it really is enough to kick your ass?” the Pokémon said. “It’d be a shame if I didn’t have a proper name for you to remember it by, though.”

“Do not get cocky. I created you. I know the limits to your power,” Victoria said as she formed another Moonblast. “Victor, get in gear! We’ll destroy her together.”

“Oh boy, I didn’t think my first act’d be a threesome. But that means it’s extra special,” the Pokémon said. She tapped her chin and didn’t look like she was paying attention, making Victoria growl. The Moonblast was thrown, but the fusion deflected it almost effortlessly by slapping it away with an electric infused palm. “The fusion doesn’t quite have a smooth ring to it. How about Ultimate Esther? Nah, I’m not just Esther though.”

“Ha, you really are cocky,” Victor said as he charged toward them. He was unexpectedly fast, and his small fists and feet glowed white in preparation for a Play Rough attack.

“Well, I am part Esther, part Infia, so I guess, something cool that they could come up with. Something cool and cute,” the Pokémon muttered as she made easy work of Victor’s crazed attacks. Victor was faster than a blur as he attempted to tackle, punch, or kick the fusion several times over, but each attack was dodged with ease. The fusion merely stepped aside while she continued to mumble to herself.

“Gah, will you sit still a second so I can maul ya?” Victor cried. He was tripped up by the fusion suddenly pulling out a ribbon baton from her chest pocket. The ribbon glowed a neon blue.

“Okay, fudge it. All the cool names are copyrighted, so I’ll just stick with: Esthia,” she said as she began to dance with her baton. She booted Victor up high, revealed a second baton, and spun them both around in her paws. The ribbons curled around the batons and turned them into glowsticks, which then sparked with electricity. She put both palms together and punched Victoria as he fell from the earlier kick.

“So, how do you like it? I’m Esthia, the fused mouse Pokémon!” Esthia announced. She cupped her paws behind her head and danced a little, giving the two fairies a half-lidded look.