Chapter 21: Mounting Suspicions (Part 1)

“Get ready, chaps! Fentil Village is just up ahead!” a drednaw announced.

Ezera’s hands tightened around a spike on the drednaw’s back. It was weird riding up to Fentil Village knowing that deeper inside hysteria could be spreading. Aside from the fact he’d only known the village to be sleepy, the atmosphere showed no signs of anything wrong. In the Rugged Crags or Verdan Forest incidents, the weather was bleak and gloomy. Today, it was bright and sunny.

“I wonder if the dynamaxed pokémon are still in the village,” Litleo said as the wind whipped her fur.

“I hope they haven’t destroyed too much,” Dewott added.

“Makes it easier to battle them if they have. No need to worry about breaking somemon’s house.”

Ezera took a couple deep breaths. Like every scary instance prior this one, his bravado was quickly fading. ‘Why can’t that feeling ever stay?‘ he groaned. He felt a paw tap his left shoulder.

“Everything okay?” Dewott signed.

Ezera kept his focus on the nearing shore. He was the one to sign them up, he needed to be strong. “Yeah, just the usual nerves,” he said, tightening his grip even further.

“Pft. I told you not to volunteer, but noooo. Mister helper has to throw himself at every single danger,” Litleo mocked, rolling her eyes. She looked relatively calm compared to him. Past the same stoic face she put on everywhere, her shoulders were rolled back and her tail lazily swished left to right.

‘She’s not gonna let this go anytime soon,’ he thought, sighing. ‘Better make sure I prove to her we got this.‘

The drednaw hit the sand, depositing the guild members onto the shore one by one. They huddled into a group, facing Sirfetch’d and the four researchers, plus Electrike.

Electrike nodded to himself, murmuring under his breath. He faced the guild members. “The culprits are a tyrogue, hitmontop, and breloom,” he rapidly explained, “who all dynamaxed roughly around the same time.”

‘Breloom? It couldn’t be-‘ Ezera worried. With that news, some of his bravery returned.

“My friends stationed there say Hitmontop and Tyrogue are currently near the village square, while Breloom is wandering the border.”

Without thinking, Ezera’s arm shot up. “Let us fight Breloom,” he instantly declared, drawing surprise from the group.

Thievul was particularly offended. “The newbie’s taking dibs? That’s reserved for higher ranked teams, thank you very much.”

“Please, Breloom helped me on a commission. I could try and see if calming him is an option,” Ezera argued, willing his hands to stop fidgeting.

“Elgyem’s group and Team Buck will deal with Bayleef. I won’t hear any qualms about it,” Sirfetch’d commanded. “As for Ace and Piksqueak, decide amongst yourselves your targets.”

“We want Tyrogue,” Inteleon answered.

“No fair! We were gonna take them,” Pichu complained, cheeks puffing out. She grabbed her teammates’ paws in one paw each. “Okay girls. We beat Hitmontop up super, super quick then steal Ace’s target!”

“We are right here,” Deuce added with a small sigh.

“The fervor is respectable, but we must not delay,” Reuniclus urged. “There’s no telling if the pokémon will get stronger the longer they stay in that form, or if it has an impact on their chance of survivability.”

“Which pokémon’s aether are we using the scanner on?” Helin asked. “We only have one of it.”

“Preferably all of them, but I understand we might not have the luxury of waiting to subdue each ‘mon.”

“Orbeetle and I will gather data on Breloom. We have our own way of researching,” Sling stated, motioning to his shell.

“Then we will focus on the other two.”

Sirfetch’d pounded his shield. “Is everymon prepped?” The guild members nodded. “You have your assignments, get to it!”

Everyone started to run up the trail. Ezera’s group pulled ahead, equal parts curious to see what lay ahead and fueled by adrenaline. The village came into view, and Ezera’s initial worry that there would be a fire was calmed. It didn’t excuse the other pressing sights, though.

Dozens of pokémon loitered on the edge of the village grounds. Some were pulling injured ‘mon away from the rubbles of homes. Others consoled and covered the ears of their kids.

“See any sign of them?” Ezera asked, ignoring the urge to look in on every villager. He redoubled his effort on catching any glimpse of an extra large Breloom. “You’d think they’d be easy to find while giant… I guess we’re lucky they don’t grow one hundred feet tall.”

“Please shut up and don’t jinx it,” Litleo scolded, whipping his arm with her tail.

Dewott held a paw to his ear. “Hear that? Sounds like shouting and fighting.“

Ezera honed in on the noise, trying to tune out the fearful talk of the crowd. ‘Dewott’s right. It’s coming from…‘

“Over there!” Litleo shouted, pointing a forepaw to the northwest. “That’s around the tents we caught the Growlithe thief.”

“You found’em?” Wartortle said behind them, finally caught up along with the other teams.

“Breloom should be in that direction,” Electrike confirmed.

“Better hurry or we’ll take them down for you,” Inteleon said, grinning slyly.

Ezera almost admitted he didn’t mind that one bit. “Thanks. Good luck.”

“Like we’re letting them get the better of us. Come on!” Litleo exclaimed, taking off.

‘Please be alright, Breloom.’

---

After watching Ezera’s group disappear, Team Ace and Piksqueak didn’t need to look far for their opponents. A munna came around the street path, carrying an unconscious magnemite in her stubby arms. “Officer down! Officer down!”

“Munna! This way,” Electrike called, ushering her and her companion to safety.

“What are they running from?” Morpeko questioned, head tilted.

“TIME TO PRACTICE!” Tyrogue’s purple frame slid across the dirt. He straightened up, easily reaching ten feet in height. A purple rune was burned into the center of his chest. “FIGHTIN’!“

Hitmontop cartwheeled behind him. He bore a snarl and the same mark on his chest.

“Well, that’s just dandy isn’t it?” Thievul commented.

“Let’s get to work, girls!” Pichu shouted, leading her team inward.

Tyrogue rapidly punched the air to stop their advance, starting the beginnings of a Vacuum Wave. Deuce flew overhead, flapping his wings in powerful strokes to redirect the air on their side.

Each wave of air Tyrogue forced out sounded like mini explosions. Team Piksqueak deftly weaved through each one, folding their ears to mitigate the noise. Confusion entered Tyrogue’s face as Piksqueak ran past him and gunned for Hitmontop instead. Pichu opened with Spark, followed by Pachirisu’s Electro Ball, and then Morpeko’s Thundershock, ultimately ending in all three luring Hitmontop away to leave Ace alone with Tyrogue.

Tyrogue had a mind to go after his occupied friend, but the Razor Leaves stinging his back said otherwise. Inteleon and Thievul sprung into action, jumping onto an undamaged roof across Tyrogue. Tyrogue followed after them, winding up his fist.

CRASH! They split in different directions as the house exploded into splinters. Inteleon shot a sharp jet of water from his finger while Thievul went below, clawing the backs of Tyrogue’s calves with shadows. Up above, Deuce rained down a flurry of arrows.

“Hmph!” Tyrogue leapt to the sky. He extended his leg— an obvious tell sign of High Jump Kick.

“Amateur work,” Inteleon scoffed. He and Thievul effortlessly hopped out of range.

A mini rumble traveled throughout as Tyrogue struck earth. He clutched his leg in pain, wailing.

Deuce ascended higher and nocked an arrow, imbuing the tip with ghostly energy. Once charged, he fired it at Tyrogue’s feet.

Thuk! The arrow dissolved into the dirt on impact. Instantly, a mass of spectral chains lunged out, ensnaring Tyrogue’s arms and bringing him down to his knees. The chains pulsed every second, sapping the pokémon’s energy.

Reuniclus floated forward and set the aethoscanner to work. “Do not K.O. him! I only need a minute for this to complete!”

“I do not think we have a minute,” Deuce stated, watching Tyrogue resist against the shackles.

“I’ll ready a Snipe Shot,” Inteleon said, garnering water at his fingertips.

Tyrogue pulled and pulled, stretching the flickering chains to their limit. “Need to be perfect… for performance!” he yelled. His arm muscles bulged and broke the Spirit Shackle.

Thievul rushed forward, Night Slashing to keep him on his knees. “Switch!” His tail hardened and he slapped Tyrogue’s face twice, before Inteleon took Thievul’s place in the blink of an eye. The water on his finger fired directly into Tyrogue’s left eye, the force even causing the enlarged fighting-type to fall backwards.

“AAAH!” Tyrogue’s hands reflexively covered his face. With a burst of speed aided by Tailwind, Inteleon’s Acrobatics moved at a breakneck pace, striking all the weak points of Tyrogue’s muscles in quick succession. Their enemy’s arms and legs turned to noodles, growing limp. Another ghost arrow wrapped him up in chains.

“Almost there!” Reuniclus updated.

Inteleon shrugged. “He’s not getting up again.”

“We’re so good he didn’t even get a Max Move off,” Thievul boasted, combing his whiskers.

The remote flew back into Reuniclus’ hand. “Done!”

“Time to finish up, shall we? Deuce, an arrow if you will!” Inteleon said.

Deuce loosed an arrow, aiming at Tyrogue’s forehead. As it traveled through the air, Inteleon jumped to meet it, adding speed and force through his shot of water. The next thing Tyrogue knew, the arrow knocked him out cold and stopped all efforts of his struggle.

“He’s down?” Sirfetch’d asked.

“And going back to average size,” Helin answered, eyebrows scrunched downward. Her frills opened and closed. “What is this heat I’m feeling?

“Oh dear,” Reuniclus added, swapping glances between Tyrogue and the glass on the device. “Get back, everymon! I’m getting heat spikes. His aether is spiraling out of control!”

Spasms racked Tyrogue’s body. Everyone shielded their face from the burst of light erupting a moment later. Looking back, the fighting-type was no longer there, instead fading away as ghostly wisps.

“By the grace of- Was that how Oddie met her fate?” Deuce questioned, bowing his head.

“Unfortunately, it is similar. Let us hope Piksqueak’s foe is a different story.”

---

Team Piksqueak sent frequent zaps of electricity toward Hitmontop as they led their foe someplace else. They were lucky that the dynamax caused the fighting-type to have more or less a one track mind, even if that did bring about loads of increased aggression. At least it made teasing him easier.

Somewhere along the way of their game of meowth and ratatta, they stumbled into the village’s garden park. The area was clear of buildings and pokémon; it made the perfect area for unrestricted battling, ignoring the devastation about to be released to the surrounding vegetation. And unfortunately, the hedges and floral arrangements were getting trampled on.

“Stop wastin’ rehearsal time!” Hitmontop bellowed, stomping and kicking up dirt. It started to swirl around harshly, creating a dirt storm that obscured anything past a ten feet radius.

“How much farther, great leader? I need a snack,” Morpeko asked, wincing.

“Now’s okay! On three we give him the extra, extra special Spark tackle! One, two, three!” Pichu ordered.

The team pivoted and launched themselves at the charging Hitmontop. Blue and yellow electricity momentarily lit up the environment. Hitmontop jittered to a stop, too stunned by thousands of volts coursing through his veins.

Team Piksqueak had to disengage themselves to avoid becoming flattened, as Hitmontop fell face first. Swiiiish went the foliage, crushed underneath hundreds of pounds of weight. He laid still, eyes shut.

“Did we do it?” Pachirisu asked, kicking their foe’s hand.

“Snack time!” Morpeko said.

“No ‘mon understands how much effort we put in!” Hitmontop spun in a blur, roundhouse kicking all three into a wooden pole.

Pichu, Pachirisu, and Morpeko slumped on top of each other. Pichu picked herself up, shocking her teammates into standing. “Oooh, he’s gonna get it!”

“He might get us! He’s coming,” Pachirisu pointed out.

A blur of silver burst out of the storm, bowling straight toward them. Pichu and Pachirisu scattered into the flowers. Morpeko thought she could contest the ball, forming her own Aura Wheel and rushing at it. Although the two bounced off each other, Morpeko was left worse off with a throbbing in her forehead.

Hitmontop recovered quickly, moving in to kick Morpeko a second time. Two arcs of electricity interrupted his path, coming close to shocking him. Hitmontop scowled, unable to see Pichu or Pachirisu amidst the garden patches.

“Whot scene would this be called?” he said, carefully examining for movement. “Prunin’ the weeds?“

“It’d be called ‘taking this’, buttface!” Pichu shouted.

Morpeko rammed into Hitmontop’s thigh using Quick Attack. It offered the split second of distraction Pichu needed to run out and strike Hitmontop’s foot. She brought both electrically charged fists down. Unfortunately, it didn’t quite produce the effect she wanted because of her size.

Pichu glanced up at the smirking hulk of a pokémon standing in front of her. Curse being tiny. “Uh oh.”

The fighting-type kicked her into the air, then proceeded to kick Morpeko too. Just before they returned to the ground, his right leg swooped around in a final punt, sending the two flying over the flowers.

Pichu felt new bruises, and possibly concussions, spring forth. The dirt pelting them wasn’t helping either. “Pachyyyy, what- owie- are you- owie – doing?!” she wheezed under her breath.

Being momentarily paralyzed on the ground, she lifted her head to see Hitmontop flip onto his head and start to rotate rapidly. His hands glided across the dirt, causing a metallic liquid to surface. Pichu weakly reached out to Morpeko. “Uh… is that a Max-Move…?”

Morpeko joined her in looking, only to promptly lay her head back down. “Me says it is…”

“Then shouldn’t we move?!” Pichu screeched, every ounce of her body crackling in static.

“Meh…”

Pichu agonizingly observed the liquid snake its way toward them. Silver spikes jutted out of it as it did so. Her fur jumped out of her skin wanting to flee, but she was able to sit upright and not much else.

An Electro Ball went off behind Hitmontop’s head. He spun angrily, dropping the attack as well as his attention on the already forgotten Pichu and Morpeko. “GRAA- OGH! EGH!” He choked upon a Totter Seed entering his mouth. “There’s… there’s nine of them!“

“You dynamax ‘mon like to roar too much,” Pachirisu said, shrugging. She hurriedly scampered over and fed Pichu and Morpeko Oran Berries. “Stop relaxing!”

“Were you getting kicked like a ball?!” Pichu retorted, stomping her foot. “What took you so long?”

“There was a thorn in my tail that I had to get out.”

“Seriously?!”

Morpeko’s paws flexed in and out. “Morpeko maaad… Want to destroy buttface…”

“No need for that! Watch!” Pichu calmed, feeding Morpeko one of her own snacks. She Volt Tackled the staggering Hitmontop, easily offsetting his balance to make him sit. “Pachy, do the mega charge!”

Holding Pichu and Morpeko’s paws, Pachirisu channeled their electricity into her Discharge. A furious lightning storm surrounded her. Zaps of blue crackled every which way, shocking and scorching the greenery. Hitmontop lasted two seconds until collapsing onto his side.

The dirt-storm faded just as Deuce touched down. The rest of Team Ace, Reuniclus, Helin, and Sirfetch’d filed in.

“And that’s how you take down a dynamax,” Pichu claimed, paws on her hips. Her teammates briefly applauded. “Beat that, Ace.”

“We already have. Why do you think we’re over here?” Inteleon replied, crossing his arms.

“He’s knocked out. We don’t have time for a full observation,” Helin grumbled.

“I will try and glean what I can,” Reuniclus said, getting a good look at Hitmontop’s body. “Hmm, once again no Wishing Star. And Helin, sketch this marking… Oh!” She reeled back when Hitmontop struggled to push himself up. Somehow he hadn’t decreased in size. “You mustn’t strain yourself! Your aether is severely… damaged.”

Hitmontop coughed, holding his forehead. He looked at his one hand, already glowing and spreading up his arm like a worsening Toxic. No words left his open mouth.

“Pachy, Morpeko, hold me,” Pichu said, pulling them closer to her.

Hitmontop’s head tilted skyward, a knowing realization of what was to come. The heat engulfed his figure, brightly shimmering, and transformed him into the same wisps.

“We didn’t kill him… did we?” Morpeko asked, mouth quivering.

Reuniclus let out a long sigh. “I am afraid Breloom does not have a happy conclusion waiting for him today.”

---

“I see him!” Ezera said, glimpsing the back of a large green mushroom cap. His fidgeting increased tenfold seeing his previous acquaintance.

From where they were, Breloom was hunched over, shivering and staying in one spot. He was definitely dynamaxed, being a good deal larger than what Ezera last remembered him by. He had to be at least half the height of a two story house. Tattered tents and toppled totems surrounded the field around him. Although compared to the mess Ezera saw earlier in the village, this one seemed more delicate in a sense.

‘Maybe he’s not totally gone,‘ Ezera thought. Their group of five crouched underneath the rubble of a home.

“Where’d those researchers go? They were behind us I thought,” Corvisquire whispered, looking back.

“Who cares,” Litleo replied, eyes narrowed. “If they want to go off on their own, let them. I don’t trust them anyway.”

“But without them, Reuniclus can’t get her data.”

“We can’t put this on hold just because they aren’t here. For all we know they could be studying already.”

“From the looks of it, Breloom seems passive for the moment. Do you think he’s sleeping?” Dewott signed, raising his eyebrows.

Ezera shook his head. “I think he’s scared. He isn’t violent.”

“Are we looking at the same thing? There’s debris everywhere,” Litleo argued.

“Not by nature. Breloom has to have some degree of consciousness. I… want to talk to him.”

“And when has that ever worked?”

“It worked that one time,” he stammered, “you know, the day when I got your scarf, uh, taken? I think it was Combee.” Not the best example, since that was his own fault for getting them there in the first place.

“And if Breloom is pretending to be docile?” she pressed, irritation creeping into her tone.

“Then it’s your cue to save me?” No one laughed, or grinned, or said anything for that matter. “Okay, gonna pretend I didn’t say that…” Ezera coughed. “Anyway, if that doesn’t work, we’ll just have to resort to the same old fighting.”

“I don’t know why I let you try this even though I know it’s going to fail,” Litleo conceded, sighing and putting a paw to her head.

“We’ll fan out behind ye,” Wartortle said as Ezera exited their cover.

Ezera held a hand out, having to stay a couple feet back to avoid getting whacked by Breloom’s swaying tail. “Hey, Breloom? Remember me? We met a couple days ago.”

All of Breloom’s joints stiffened. He turned his head to the side. “Axew?”

“Yeah, it’s me.”

Breloom shuffled away. “I- I didn’t- I don’t know why this is happening.”

“I know, that’s why we’re here,” Ezera said, taking one step closer.

“It’s cold- I have these feelings coming and going. I’m sorry if I… Hnng… We just woke up… and wanted to make our performances better.”

Ezera ignored Breloom’s tightening claws. “Um, so you don’t know how you dynamaxed?”

“No, no, we were only practicing because…”

He wasn’t sure how to proceed. ‘Talking sounded a lot simpler in my head.‘

“Hrrrrg, they called our act boring.” Breloom scowled, slowly rising out of his crouched state.

“Who’s they?”

“Boring! After all this?“

‘Shoot, he’s losing his grip!‘ “It’s not boring! What I saw that day was anything but, honest!” Ezera stepped forward again, momentarily forgetting about the danger of being so close.

Breloom turned around, fully facing the five adventurers. “I don’t know how to believe that.” His eyes searched the stares of the five adventures, their stances ready to act on the fly. Orange energy gathered in his claws. “But if… but if those judging stares are anything to go by, I’ll change your minds right here.” He threw forth a giant, orange fist of light.

“Shit.” Ezera braced his arms for impact. It came in like lightning, striking his Protect and throwing him back several feet. He struggled for breath in spite of it not fully reaching his chest. A dull pain buzzed throughout his forearm as Dewott rushed to help him up.

Litleo bounded to his side to make sure he was okay, then bit her lip. “Told you. He even opened with a Max-move.”

“It’s always worth a try, no matter how much it doesn’t work,” Ezera grunted. He put his regret in the back of his mind for now. There was still a chance Breloom wouldn’t end up like Oddie. He was able to hold off the effects for a bit, maybe he would be different.

Team Buck dealt with said pokémon while Ezera gathered his wits. Warortle propelled into a Rapid Spin, tucking his limbs into his shell and firing water to maintain momentum.

Breloom retaliated by kicking Wartortle away like a soccer ball, unphased by his tough shell. The turtle crashed into broken wood at the same time a beak jabbed Breloom. Breloom attempted to grab the retreating Corvisquire, but flames bathed his chest down not a moment later. He winced and instantly hunkered down, whirling around to swing his tail.

In the midst of running in, Dewott vaulted over it. His water scythe swung in a smooth crescent arc against Breloom’s back. Doing one fluid motion, it switched from his right to left paw, where it glowed green as he performed a Fury Cutter.

“Gaaah! This is only the start!” Breloom yelled, spinning around yet again. He hopped back and widened his legs similar to that of a wrestler.

Corvisquire looped in a circle to throw off his angle of attack. Litleo breathed a second wave of Flamethrower in hopes of giving the bird an opening.

Breloom quickly nabbed a tent off the ground and opened it, blocking the flames. The fabric caught fire, but surprisingly, instead of letting go, Breloom still held on to it. He intently watched Corvisquire’s position.

Litleo’s eyes widened. “He’s planning on grabbing you!”

Corvisquire realized his mistake too late as he sailed into the burning tent. “Mmmfff! Hey! Help!” he yelped, thrashing around.

“No flying-types in this play!” Breloom roared.

Litleo withheld any more moves for fear of worsening Corvisquire’s position, and Dewott’s stream of water wasn’t enough to deter the coming strike. A light blue aura overtook Breloom’s right claws. He dropped Corvisquire, only to thrust his claws forward.

At this point, Ezera managed to wrest Wartortle out of the wooden wreckage. Their attention went to the flaming bundle that tumbled across the dirt.

Wartortle sprinted over, taking a deep inhale. “I’ll get ye out! Give me a sec’!”

Ezera’s focus swapped again to their opponent as Wartortle blasted Corvisquire with a Hydro Pump. He didn’t want to hurt Breloom-

“Ezera, if you’re not over here in two seconds-!” Litleo started, burning the seeds about to rain down on Dewott. She promptly received a swift punch to the face.

“Coming!” Ezera responded. He needed a plan, fast.

Litleo held her nose, hoping it wasn’t bleeding. The wind rushed by as Breloom’s Low Sweep came in. She glimpsed a small opening beneath his extended leg, smushing herself to the ground as much as possible. In the instant it grazed the top of her back, she pounced, ready to light up Breloom. Unfortunately, she didn’t account for his tail to act as an extra “leg.”

“Ack!” Litleo exclaimed, slamming to the ground.

The momentum from Breloom’s swing turned him in a half circle, setting him up to cut off Dewott’s line of attack. He launched himself several feet forward. Claw met scalchop as the two parried, throwing the scalchop one direction and Dewott another. A ball of dragonfire struck Breloom’s cheek milliseconds later. Breloom growled with gritted teeth.

Throwing his arms up in preparation, Ezera planted his feet into the soil. Except, Breloom hopped over him, completely negating his nonexistent strategy. The ground shuddered as he landed. Ezera barely had time to pivot before Breloom’s foot was in his face. He flipped once over, and his chin ate plenty of dirt skidding across the floor.

Breloom raised his claws to the sky, orange energy at their tips once more. He moved to unleash it, but a coordinated torrent of water at his chest forced a backwards stagger. Combined with Litleo’s flames to the leg, Breloom was forced to kneel.

Ezera’s heart raced not from battle, but what the smoky wisps trailing out of their foe’s claws could mean. ‘He’s killing himself. We need another solution…‘

“Mmm, that’s a good Violent Seed! Here we gooooo!” Wartortle charged with a particularly wild gleam in his eyes. His friend soared high, tucking his wings in a dive aimed straight for Breloom’s head.

Their opponent, already covered in cuts and ashes, did nothing to prevent the attacks. Corvisquire’s body connected in a powerful slam. “Agh!“

Ice encased Wartortle’s fists and he punched Breloom’s groin. Frost spread over the afflicted area, becoming solid in seconds and limiting Breloom’s movement. That happened to wake the giant out of his crazed stupor.

Kshhh! Glistening shards of ice fell as his claws smashed the temporary prison. “Aagh… I- I shouldn’t be here! I don’t want to hurt you!” Three vibrant green seeds shot out of Breloom’s mouth, planting themselves at his own feet. He quickly stumbled towards Hollow Hop Burrows.

‘Those seeds are gonna blow!‘ Ezera panicked.

Suddenly, a box of light sheltered the five pokémon from the explosion. Muffled booms rattled their eardrums, and sulfur tickled their noses. When the smoke dissipated, Orbeetle and Sling were now among their party.

“How nice of you to show up,” Litleo spat, clearing the air in front of her face.

“You’re so very welcome,” Sling replied, acting as if he did all the work. “Alas, we’ll need to catch up if we want that data.”

“I wasted this Violent Seed for nothing?!” Wartortle exclaimed as the group ran to catch up to Breloom.

Ezera’s eyes widened at the idea forming in his brain. “Orbeetle, Sling. I need you to tell me about normal dynamaxes. How do those end?” he asked, slightly panting.

“Er…” Orbeetle shared a quick glance with Sling. “Typically they use all the aether they absorb. The stronger their attack, the more aether it consumes.”

“And Violent Seeds do what exactly?”

“Adds strength to your moves,” Dewott answered.

‘That does it,‘ Ezera thought, halting. He was absolutely convinced Litleo was going to hate his upcoming suggestion, but if he could prevent what happened to Oddish… “Do you have another one, Wartortle? We’re gonna feed one to Breloom.”

The rest of them paused a couple feet ahead.

“Aye, I got one left, but are ye crazy?”

“I get that a lot lately.”

“He’ll instantly KO us if we get hit, or worse with that kind o’ power,” Wartortle rebutted, fishing it out of his team’s bag.

Ezera advanced toward the turtle. “Yes, but I need to know if letting him use all that aether means he survives afterward. If I can convince him to put all the energy in one giant Max-Move, he might revert back to normal.”

Litleo shoved Corvisquire out of the way to get up in Ezera’s face. “Oh no, not this crap again. If it goes wrong you’ll put yourself in too much of a risk.”

“I’m inclined to agree. We should knock him out,” Dewott signed, frowning.

Ezera’s hands fidgeted in turmoil. On all accounts, he should listen to his friends. But that slight chance of saving Breloom nagged his thoughts.

“I think the idea sounds lovely, don’t you, Orbeetle?” Sling proclaimed.

Orbeetle narrowed his eyes, humming in his throat. “It could be the data we need.”

“Ye got the nerves of a dragon-type for sure,” Wartortle said, clapping Ezera on the back.

“No. No,” Litleo repeated. She hit Wartortle’s hand, causing the seed to fall to the floor. The air warmed up slightly from her mane. “I refuse to go through with this.”

Ezera gulped. Pissing her off was his favorite thing to do today. “Then… what? Will you stay back?”

“No. I have something better.”

Litleo drew a breath. But before she even got it out, Ezera snatched the seed and took off.

“Ezera!” Litleo shouted, absolutely seething.

He sprinted as fast as his legs would take him, not looking back once. He knew if he stopped Litleo would tackle him and burn the Violent Seed. He had to get this to Breloom.

BOOM! He felt some warmth gloss over his back. Did Litleo try throwing a Blast Seed at him?

“You better hope I don’t catch you!” Litleo yowled.

‘Go go go!‘ Ezera recognized the hill they fought Growlithe on. As he passed over the top, he spotted Breloom carefully navigating over the holes of the burrows. Reinvigorated, he called out.

“Breloom!”

Breloom glanced over his shoulder, then picked up his pace.

“I need you to trust me, Breloom!”

“I’m so sick of your crap!” Litleo yelled from the rear, threatening to catch up.

Ezera reached the bottom of the hill. Being as small as he was, he found no difficulty in avoiding the holes and gaining ground on Breloom. “Breloom, listen! If you take this Violent Seed, channeling your energy into one big Max-Move might end the dynamax safely!”

Breloom stopped. “Rrrgh, but how can you trust me?”

“Because I saw all I needed when you helped me,” Ezera answered, still getting closer. He took one glance at Litleo, who had paused at the start of the burrows. Now or never. He tossed the seed forward.

Breloom swiveled in time to catch it. With a held breath and nod from Ezera, he popped it in his mouth.

Ezera wordlessly waited for a reaction. How long did it take for the effects to kick in? ‘Please work, please work, pleas work-‘

Breloom shattered the silence, and a little bit of his hopes the following moment. “You’re done now!“

Seeing the hole as his only available cover, Ezera squeezed in it. Despite fitting, it didn’t excuse the fact the tunnel was originally created for smaller species of pokémon. He was forced to crawl through the dark, dirt crumbling onto him all the while.

Soon enough a light appeared up ahead. He emerged and saw he faced Breloom’s back, giving him the benefit of surprise.

“Last try,” he told himself. Ezera hopped and skipped his way to Breloom, spitting a Dragon Rage once deciding he was close enough. “Do it, Breloom! I know you’re in there. Please, don’t prove me wrong.”

Breloom faced Ezera, a growl set on his lips. Energy collected in both his claws. It was working!

‘Except they’re aimed at me!‘ Ezera could hide in the hole, but that risked collapsing and crushing him in all that dirt. He couldn’t run— the area of effect from the move would still hit him. His singular option was to pray that Breloom would aim it upwards.

The sweat on his forehead went cold. His muscles coiled up like a spring. Whatever happened in the next few seconds, he only had himself to blame.

“Our performance,” Breloom said, angling his claws, “does not suck!“

A gigantic fist of light sailed into the atmosphere, where it sizzled out to a trail of glittering orange. Breloom heaved with each breath, miraculously shrinking to his normal size.

Ezera wanted to whoop, but Breloom crumpling put that on hold. He went and clutched Breloom’s claw tight. Too warm to the touch. “Wait, nononono, I thought this would work!”

“Did you mean it…?” Breloom asked, gazing at the sky.

“Me- mean what?”

“Our rehearsal…”

“Oh, of- of course! You were all very entertaining!” The heat began to sear Ezera’s own hand, peeling away at his skin. Every nerve told him to let go. But how could he?

Breloom couldn’t lift his battle scarred head. A fearful, strange sort of peace rested in his expression. “…Thank you for trying…” he rasped, quieter than a whisper.

“Wait-!”

Ezera’s common sense took over and he dropped Breloom’s claw. Warm air blew against his body. Much like Oddie, a blinding orange aura made him avert his eyes. The next second he turned back, nothing remained save for the thin wisps dissipating into the heavens.

Ezera tried to touch one, yet simply succeeded in whisking them away further. He dropped his wavering hand, hearing the grass crunch as Litleo and the rest of the group surrounded behind him.

“We saw that from afar… It’s a shame,” Corvisquire commented.

Dewott knelt down, noticing Ezera’s hand. He drew water off his scalchop to cool it. “Got a Rawst, Wartortle?” The turtle obliged and Dewott made a slit on the berry, causing the juices to drip on the water. The reaction resulted in a blue cooling salve forming over Ezera’s palm.

“Thanks,” Ezera numbly acknowledged. He didn’t want to rise anytime soon.

“The Guildmaster wants us to regroup,” Wartortle said.

Sling let out a merry chuckle. “Maybe those dynamaxes fared better, hm?”

A smack echoed, thanks to Orbeetle hitting Sling’s arm. “Shut it.”

The footsteps receded, leaving Ezera, Litleo, and Dewott alone. Ezera could feel Litleo’s stare boring through his soul.

“Bastard,” she said at first, although whether that was directed at him or Sling was up for debate. “Stupid, reckless, selfish-“

“Are you talking about me or those researchers?” Ezera snapped, finally losing his patience.

Litleo positioned herself where Breloom once laid. “You! Who else would be dumb enough to try what you pulled?”

“Why are you yelling at me? I know it was dangerous, but it’s a life we’re talking about! You wouldn’t want a chance to save it?”

“What about yours?!“

The deafening moment following her question seemed to drag out forever.

“You told me you wouldn’t do anything that could seriously hurt you. You promised, Ezera! You… you promised.” Litleo wouldn’t look at him. Her breath caught multiple times trying to get out the last sentence. “And you wonder why I can’t trust you all the way.”

“You can’t be…” Ezera began, but closed his mouth. That stung even more than Breloom’s final look.

Litleo shook her head and departed.

His nose was already running from the tears he blinked back earlier. And now, they were on the verge of returning.

“She’ll calm down,” Dewott signed. He squeezed Ezera’s shoulder. “You did what you could.“

Ezera rubbed his eyes rigorously, grateful but not in the mood for the comfort. He started the slow trudge to Fentil Village’s entrance. ‘Have I totally screwed up?‘