ARC 1, CHAPTER 5

The next week or so was relatively peaceful for the Dreamsavers. Every day, they took a handful of missions that were posted on the billboard, and carried out the requests on them. Most of these were the most basic of requests, from escorting pokémon, to finding lost items. Regardless, they did their requests well. They had done quite a few missions up to that point, and soon enough, their team ranking rose to Bronze. Reaching the Bronze rank wasn’t at all difficult for most, but the small team was still proud of themselves.

However, despite now having an easygoing life, there was an issue that was growing more concerning by the day. That of course, was the mass disappearance of pokémon in the city. None of the cases had been solved, and with each passing day, more and more were posted on the bulletin board. It eventually got to the point where requests were starting to get posted on the backside of the board, which never happens. The Dreamsavers passed the board every day; once when picking up requests, and once when reporting completed jobs. And thus, they ended every day with it fresh in their minds. They grew worrisome about it. When would this end? Would one of them be next?

Regardless, what could they do about it? Project Moonlight stated that they would take care of it. The Dreamsavers knew that the other teams were much more experienced than them. They thought it would be best to leave it to the professionals.

Or would it?

This started going through Zari’s head one day. Was this really the best course of action? Sure, it was better that the professionals take care of it. But what if they weren’t? What if they couldn’t? They may have been trying, but it was possible that they simply couldn’t figure it out. But if they couldn’t, who could? A better question: if no one stepped up, who would?

Zari had gotten up very early one morning. Neither of her companions were awake yet, and the sun’s rays were only just starting to peek over the horizon. Zari’s mind was wandering with these thoughts again. She noticed how early it was, so she decided to take a walk before her friends woke up. She found herself wandering into the city. Without even thinking about it, she already knew where she was going.

The bulletin board had never been more full. Every inch of the front side had been filled up with papers, many hanging off the edges, fluttering in the wind. That wasn’t even mentioning the back side, and while it couldn’t be seen from this angle, there were, no doubt, more requests there too.

Zari approached the bulletin board, but the number of requests, for once, wasn’t what shocked her. Someone else was there. It was way too early for any rescue teams to be there to pick up requests, so it was unexpected to see someone else there. The person in question was a Furret; it was wearing a beret on its head. Its stubby arms were on its hips – or at least as close to its hips as it could get – and it huffed as it stared at the board.

“My, oh my,” it said under its breath. “What a mess this is.” The Furret stared at the board for just another moment before deciding there wasn’t a point anymore. It turned to go, but immediately saw Zari standing there.

“Oh! Sorry, I wasn’t expecting any teams to come here yet,” came its feminine voice.

“N-No no, it’s fine,” Zari said, just loud enough to be heard. “I wasn’t picking up any jobs yet.”

“Oh, so you are in a rescue team!” the Furret said, hearing the ‘yet’ in her sentence. Zari simply nodded to confirm. “That’s cool!” Her cheery attitude never left her voice, but even so, the Furret intently watched Zari. She knew very well what most rescue teams were like, but also knew every now and then, there were good people on teams. Zari seemed to be the latter, but you could never be sure from first impressions.

“I’m Lofty, by the way!” the Furret said next. “It’s nice meeting you!”

“Uhm… I-I’m Zari,” Zari shyly introduced herself. “From… Team Dreamsavers,”

“Dreamsavers!” Lofty said, her ears perking up. “You’re the new guys!” Zari nodded again at the remark. For people who were interested in rescue teams like Lofty, word got around quickly. Lofty heard that they’ve been pretty nice and caring, and the way Zari was acting all but confirmed that.

Zari, meanwhile, was a little surprised that they were getting attention, but decided it wasn’t important enough to bring it up, or even dwell on it. After all, there were more important things to think about. Things such as… what she was looking at now.

Lofty noticed her gaze, and turned back to the billboard. It was just as full as it was when she was looking at it just a minute ago. As expected, but part of her still hoped that it would be all gone when she looked back.

“It’s gotten bad, huh?” Lofty said after a pause.

“Y-Yeah…” Zari said. “I-I just wish something would be done about it.”

Lofty turned back to Zari with a somewhat stern expression. “You wish? You wish?” Lofty started walking up to Zari as she continued to speak. “That’s the mentality most people have nowadays. That someone else will deal with a situation. But if everyone is thinking this, then who will actually step up and do it?” Lofty stopped just a few steps from Zari.

Zari thought about this. While this had been more or less some of her thoughts, something was keeping her from doing anything. Actually a few things were, and she knew exactly what.

“But…” she started. “What if people are doing something, but they just… can’t figure it out?”

“Well in that case, you shouldn’t just give up,” Lofty said. “After all, nothing’s going to get fixed if nothing is done.” Lofty paused for a moment, thinking to herself. “And besides… it might not be a matter of people not being able to figure it out, but rather peoples’ unwillingness to.”

“H-Huh?” Zari uttered, hoping for an explanation.

“I know what most rescue teams are like,” Lofty continued. “They just don’t care. They’re in the business just to get stuff. So if people are doing something, they may not be putting in effort, and just say they’re doing it to get attention.”

Zari had never thought about it that way, but she knew immediately that Lofty was right. In fact, that possibly was more likely than not. Were Team Ace doing that too? Maybe even Team Moonlight? That one was more of a stretch, but still a possibility. Lofty continued.

“Unless someone who truly cares about this situation comes in, nothing is going to get better.”

Zari looked at the crowded bulletin board. “I-I care about it…” she quietly said after a moment.

“Then do something,” Lofty said. “It’s not too late.”

“B-B-But…” Zari stammered, looking down. “I-I can’t…”

There was silence for a moment. Only the gentle morning breeze could be heard and felt at that brief moment.

“Can’t…” Lofty said, her gaze never leaving Zari. “I don’t think that’s correct.” Zari slowly looked up at Lofty as she spoke. “You think you can’t do it. But that’s just your mentality, and it’s wrong. You’re capable of doing a lot more than you think. I can see it in you, I know it. Just because you think you can’t do something doesn’t mean you really can’t.” Lofty paused for a moment, letting this sink in. She looked right at Zari before speaking again. “You have so much potential, Zari. You just need to step up to the plate so you can find it.”

Zari just stared at Lofty, completely speechless. There was complete silence for a long moment. Or at least, it felt long. But after that moment passed, Lofty looked around.

“Well! I better get going before people start pouring in here!” she said, switching back to her more cheerful tone of voice. “It was nice meeting you, I hope I see you again! Bye!”

Zari had no time to speak before Lofty trotted off on all fours. And just like that, she was alone again, with nothing but her thoughts keeping her company. She was deep in thought about all that she was told. Zari wasn’t sure if she truly was capable of more than she thought. However, there was one thing that she knew for certain now. And after what seemed like hours, she finally made a decision.

Someone had to fix this. She had to fix this. No, They had to fix this.

---

Stella and Irima woke up to find that their Hatenna friend was missing. They managed to stay calm, but inwardly, they were in a panic. Has she disappeared now too? Would they be next? Thankfully, however, it wasn’t long until they were put at ease by the sight of the Hatenna walking back to base.

“Zari!” Stella exclaimed, running up to her. “Oh, there you are!” Zari had hoped they wouldn’t be awake by the time she came back, and now she realized she made a mistake.

“O-Oh… D-Did I worry you guys?”

“A little bit,” Irima said honestly. “Where were you?”

“I-I just went on a little walk. I-I’m sorry.”

“That’s okay, Zari. We’re not mad,” Stella said sympathetically. “Now, let’s go into town and-”

“Uhm, actually…” Zari interrupted. “Change of plans.”

“Change of plans?” Irima asked, both him and Stella looking at Zari in confusion.

Zari nodded. “W-We’re gonna take up the missing pokémon cases.”

“H-Huh?” Stella blinked at her companion’s remark. “B-But…”

Zari continued. “Guys… It’s clear that nothing is getting done about it. None of the pokémon have been found. We’ve got to do something!”

Stella and Irima looked at each other. It didn’t take long for both of them to realize that they were thinking the same thing.

“O-Okay… you’re right, Zari,” Stella said.

“But, uhm,” Irima started. “Regardless, where do we start? No one’s gotten a lead on any of the cases.”

Zari, admittingly hadn’t thought that far. However, after a moment of thought, she came up with an answer.

“M-Maybe the guild could give us some clues,” she said.

“Y-You’re right,” Stella said. “Let’s examine some of the requests, then we can ask them.”

---

“Missing pokémon cases, eh?” an Exadrill said.

“Y-Yes. We would like some info on them, please,” Zari responded. After looking at the crowded bulletin board with little success, the team went into the guild to ask about the cases. They were now facing the Tsareena they talked to when creating their team, as well as an Exadrill.

“We don’t have any info, kid,” the Tsareena said. “No one does!”

“Come on…” Irima pleaded. “Surely you must have something about what’s behind this.”

“Well, we do have some speculation, but no concrete evidence for it,” the Exadrill responded.

“What speculation?” Stella asked.

“Well, rumor has it that Team X is behind this,” the Exadrill explained. “They’ve been a pain in Project Moonlight’s backside since they started. And they’ve done kidnappings before, so it’s easy to point a finger.”

“Don’t get any ideas, though,” the Tsareena budded in. “No one has been able to find their base, and those who have have never lived to tell the tale.”

Memories of Team X flashed through Stella’s head. She and Zari had been told a little bit about them before. There was a Ditto on that team, the same one that ambushed them when rescuing Elliana. Was the Dragapult with him part of Team X too? Regardless, it didn’t surprise the team at all that they were being suspected.

“Thank you for the info,” Stella said after another moment. The two guild workers ignored their statement, turning back to their work. The team simply left afterwards.

“Well that was… pleasant,” Irima said after they left the building. The team was used to the guild members’ rashness by now, so they didn’t let it bother them any more.

“S-So now what?” Zari asked her team.

“W-Well, we have a lead now,” Stella said.

“But no way of following it,” Irima added. And he was right. If no one knew where to find Team X, then what could they possibly do?

Stella thought about it for a moment. Then she looked at the bulletin board, and got an idea. She walked up and plucked a couple requests off the board, much to Zari and Irima’s confusion.

“It sounds like this team has a vendetta against rescue teams,” Stella explained.

Zari caught on. “S-So if we just go about our day… we might run into them?” Stella nodded in confirmation.

“That might work,” Irima said. “B-Best thing we can do, anyway.”

“A-Alright then, let’s get to work,” Stella said, leading the way to their first mission.

---

“Sir, we have intel on the specimen,”

The boss turned to them. “Go on.”

“The target in question is an Eevee. Nothing special on her own, however, there is something we picked up.”

“Oh?” the boss’s interest piqued. “And what would that be?”

“According to the sensors, it seems this little one has ties to a legendary pokémon. She might know something.”

The boss thought for a moment. “Okay. You go on and take a load off. I’ll deal with this.”

Sadistic curiosity filled him now. “What’re you going to do, boss?”

“I think it’s time to test out our new secret weapon.” A devilish grin spread across his face, as glowing red eyes flashed behind him.

---

From there, the day went on as normal for the Dreamsavers, which, for once, is exactly what they didn’t want. They had hoped to make progress on the case, but no such luck came.

The day was nearing its end, and the team had finished all of their requests. They were currently in the forest, thinking about the events of the day. Or rather, the lack thereof.

“Well, that was a bust,” Irima said after a long silence.

“B-But it’s okay!” Zari attempted to reassure them. “W-We can try again tomorrow.”

“Zari’s right,” Stella said. “Let’s go back to base.”

But then, some action finally happened. Without warning, a sharp shuriken was thrown at them. It luckily missed, and stuck to the ground next to them. It did, however, get their attention.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” an unknown voice said, but soon made itself known. Leaping from the trees, a Greninja landed in front of the three.

“So, we finally found you,” another voice spoke up. From a nearby bush, an Umbreon with an X shaped scar on its face emerged, taking a place besides the Greninja. Zari’s eyes widened at the sight. Could it be?

Stella had other thoughts going through her head. “Found us? W-What do you mean?” she shakily asked.

“None of your business, you white prick,” the Umbreon snapped.

“I believe all of our business is with these two,” the Greninja said. Even without any cues, the team knew they were talking about Zari and Irima. “Should you get in our way, well. Let’s just say you’ll be as significant to us as a blade of grass.”

Stella got the message loud and clear. They wanted to hurt her friends. She knew with her limited experience that she didn’t have a good chance against these dangerous looking pokémon, but she couldn’t just stand by and watch them get maimed. And so, Stella boldly stood in front of her team.

“I-I won’t let you hurt them,” Stella said, fear clear in her voice. She refused to back down, though.

“Fine then,” the Umbreon said after a pause. “T-Kai, you take care of the blue tadpole. I’ll handle the furry pipsqueak.”

The Greninja, T-Kai, nodded once in response. Then, with speed as fast as lightning, he ran up and struck Irima. It didn’t injure him badly, but it flung him back. And just like that, he was separated from his team, and now face-to-face with his evolved form.

The Umbreon approached the other two pokémon. Zari was frozen stiff behind Stella, but her fear was for an entirely different reason.

“So,” the Umbreon said. “You finally found someone to hide behind, huh Zari?” Stella flinched. He knew her? That meant this was personal, no doubt. For what reason, she didn’t know, but that didn’t matter now. What mattered was protecting her.

Zari, however, knew this was a bad idea. The Umbreon was out for blood, no doubt, and Stella had no chance against him. She didn’t just feel this, she knew it. And yet, she found herself not being able to move, as bad memories flooded her head.

The Umbreon then changed his posture to a more casual one. “That’s cool, never would have expected it,” he said. “She seems pretty nice as well.”

“H-Huh?” Stella said, confused at the small talk. Zari knew what he was doing, but only managed a squeak before the Umbreon suddenly made his attack, hitting Stella with a quick swipe. That was Feint Attack, taking advantage of the Umbreon’s best trait: deception. Stella was caught off guard, and winced in pain as she tumbled from the attack.

Stella slowly got up and looked to her opponent, who oddly enough wasn’t attacking again. Stella decided not to wait, and prepared to blow an Icy Wind at him. However, this was exactly what he was waiting for. Just before the attack came out, the Umbreon struck Stella with a Sucker Punch. Stella got flung in the air, but was able to land on her feet. She was weakened, but not ready to give up. She ran in to attempt to ram into him. While this wasn’t an actual attack, she hoped this would throw him off balance long enough to hit him with another Icy Wind. However, after looking at him, Stella froze in place. No matter how hard she tried, she found herself unable to move. The Umbreon had used Mean Look on her, and she was completely vulnerable now.

The Umbreon grinned at her. This had been way too easy. Some bodyguard she was. Soon, Zari would be all his. Would he kill her? Torment her? He was formulating more things to do to make her suffer, but for now, it was time to finish off her little friend. He made it known to Stella that she was done for with his posture and expression, and then shot a powerful Dark Pulse at her. Each one of the black colored shots struck Stella hard, and she tumbled backwards, then collapsed.

The Umbreon walked up to Stella with a triumphant grin. “Did you really think you could beat me? Thought you could save that little pink pill?” He stood over the little fox, almost mockingly. “You’re pathetic. You shouldn’t have even tried. And now, you’re going to burn in hell like the snowflake you are.” The Umbreon prepared a killing blow to the throat against the helpless Vulpix.

“Umbra, stop!”

The Umbreon paused at the sound of his name. He turned to the voice, but it was obvious who called him.

“Forget it, Zari,” he said. “You can’t do shit. Just sit there like the thorn you are, and I might go easy on you.”

“N-No!” Zari shouted. Umbra didn’t notice until now, but Zari’s expression wasn’t of fear. She looked… angry. He had hurt the only person who had ever defended her, not once, but twice. “You… You’ve given me nothing but pain for so long. I-I’m sick of doing nothing! I don’t want to hide anymore! Y-You hurt my friends. I…” Zari closed her eyes. “I won’t let you hurt them anymore!” Zari’s body started glowing brightly. She felt something new in her; newfound confidence.

Umbra stepped back at Zari’s glowing form. “W-What the fuck?!” he said, confused at what was happening. But before he could process what was happening, he got pummeled in the head by a large, blue hair braid. The surprisingly strong hit flung Umbra back. Dazed from the surprise strike, Umbra slowly stood up and looked at his attacker, and what he saw shocked him.

Zari had evolved into a Hattrem, and her expression was crystal clear now. She was livid.

Umbra knew he still had the type advantage, so when the shock wore off, he quickly shot a Dark Pulse in her direction. Zari, however, was able to react. She boosted herself upwards with her new hair braids, dodging the shots. She then used the falling momentum to slam down on him with her braids.

Umbra collapsed from the Brutal Swing attack, and by that point, he had enough. Time for plan B.

“T-Kai!” he shouted. “Little help, here?”

Irima had gotten cornered to a tree by T-Kai. He was about to strike a fatal blow when he was called. T-Kai casually looked over at Umbra’s predicament. He was a bit annoyed at his rashness, but figured that it didn’t matter. Even if his target got away, he knew he wasn’t much of a threat right now. And besides, he could tell that this small Froakie had more to show than he was letting on. Perhaps another duel at a later date would be worth considering.

He said one last thing to the Froakie. “Congrats on surviving. But this isn’t over.” After that, he left to go assist his comrade.

Umbra attempted a Feint Attack on Zari. Of course, Zari saw right through the facade, but Umbra wasn’t trying to deal damage with it. His goal of using the move to get them into better positions worked, and now Zari found herself against one pokémon on each side of her.

Umbra was through with playing around. His burning anger could be seen in his eyes, and he wanted to finish this now. “Kill her, NOW,” she shouted. Both pokémon went for a quick blow at once.

Zari’s newfound reflexes immediately kicked in. She glowed a faint pink for a moment, and when her foes drew near, there was a bright flash, sparkles emanating from her. Zari had used Dazzling Gleam! The strong attack hit both of the dark type pokémon super effectively, and they both tumbled backwards.

“You little bitch!” Umbra seethed after getting up. “Why won’t you die?!”

“Umbra,” T-Kai said to him, calmly. “It might be wise to retreat for now.”

“What?!” Umbra snapped. He was cut off before he could speak again.

“We’ll get another chance,” T-Kai said sternly. “Clearly you need to cool off right now. So let’s go.”

Umbra growled at the remark, but he had to admit there was some logic behind it. “Fine,” he said, clearly not satisfied. He turned to the Dreamsavers for one last word. “You won’t get away with this, you little shits. We will get you, one way or another.” After his final words, T-Kai threw a smoke bomb down, obscuring them from vision. When the smoke cleared, they were gone without a trace.

There was silence for that moment. The adrenaline having worn off, Zari took a moment to look at her new form. She had arms. And legs. She felt taller, and had… a lot more hair. She felt so different, but yet it wasn’t foreign to her. She felt… good.

Stella was injured, but still conscious. She had looked on at the events that went on in awe. She was amazed at everything Zari did.

“Stella!” Stella heard Irima call to her, snapping her back into reality. Zari heard him too, and ran up to her along with Irima. “Are you guys okay?” he asked.

“I’ll be fine,” Stella said, her tone of voice clearly showing how weakened she was, assuming her struggling to stand up didn’t.

“L-Let me,” Zari said, offering her a hand up. Despite having changed form, her voice and personality hadn’t changed at all. Stella accepted her hand, and shakily stood up.

“T-Thanks, Zari,” Stella said. Now, more than tiredness, there was sadness in her voice.

“A-Are you sure you’re okay?” Zari asked, noting the change in her voice.

“Y-Yes, I’m okay,” she assured them. “I-It’s just…” she paused, looking at her friends. She then looked down, guilt all over her face. “I-I’m so sorry.”

Silence again. “I-It’s okay, Stella,” Zari said. “You tried your best. T-Thanks for trying.” Stella looked at Zari’s smiling face, and couldn’t help but smile also.

“W-Who were those guys anyway?” Irima asked. Indeed, the attack came out of nowhere, and it left the team quite baffled. Well, most of them.

“Y-Yeah, and how did he know your name?” Stella turned to Zari as she asked that.

Zari frowned as she thought about Umbra. “I-I-I’ll tell you later,” she stammered. She didn’t want to relive her memories right now. “B-But uh, what should we do now?”

Stella looked at the sky. It was getting pretty dark. She knew they were far enough from base that they would be walking in complete darkness halfway there.

“M-Maybe we should camp out here for tonight,” she said, clearly still tired.

“Are… Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Irima asked.

Stella nodded. “I’ve slept out here more times than I can count. Let’s just find a good spot to settle down nearby.”

“O-Okay,” Zari agreed. “F-Follow me.”

---

Ellie was walking along the forest, going about her usual day. She often took walks in the forest during the evening, as she enjoyed how her surroundings made her feel. The orange glow of the trees, the gentle breeze in her fur, the sounds of nature swaying in the wind. She felt… free. Free from the constraints of her youth. She didn’t have to worry about any of it anymore.

It was quite peaceful as usual. But then, it suddenly started getting dark. It was getting late, but Ellie knew it never got dark that fast. She looked around, confused.

And that’s when she looked right at a pair of glowing red eyes.

Ellie froze in place. One moment, she was enjoying a carefree life, and the next, she was paralyzed with fear. Even though she didn’t know what she was facing, she knew she was in danger. And yet, she wasn’t able to tell herself to move.

But then, she felt a tug. Something pulled on her scruff from behind, as if urging her to run. Ellie realized what it was, and snapped out of her trance. She immediately turned around and ran, just before a Signal Beam hit where she once stood.

Ellie ran from the creature as fast as she could. However, clanky footsteps told her that it was quickly catching up. All Ellie could think to do at that moment was scream for help. But almost immediately after her cry, she tripped on a tree root, and tumbled to the ground.

Her momentum stopped, she knew she couldn’t get away now. She looked up, and again saw those red eyes glaring at her. All she could do was cower in fear as the unknown entity slowly approached her.

But then suddenly, it froze, almost unnaturally. Ellie didn’t notice anything happening, but then she saw a snowstorm in front of her, swirling around the figure that attacked her. It started floating, and the last thing she saw was another silhouette flying in and striking it before the snow got too heavy to see through. It didn’t last for long though, as in a matter of seconds, the snow dispersed, and the figure that attacked her was gone.

Ellie laid in shock for a moment. Or perhaps confusion was what she was feeling? Either way, she was stunned by the events that happened. Soon enough, she got up and slowly walked to the remnants of the attack, which was nothing but some thin snow left in the wake of the snowstorm. Or at least, that’s what it was at first glance. But looking closer, Ellie saw something bizarre.

The snow clearly made a symbol, and she could tell it was deliberately made. It was a triangle, almost equilateral with the edges rounded. It was a strange sight, and Ellie was left wondering for the rest of the night who it was that saved her.