ARC 1, CHAPTER 6

“Welcome back, you two. How was the stress relieving?”

“Stupid,” he was still fuming.

“Unfortunately, they got away,” the other said. “However, we did learn something about them.”

“Go on,” the boss was intrigued now.

“Turns out, those little pints are a rescue team,” the first one said.

“Furthermore, they want to take up the vanishing case,” the other said.

“Oh, do they?” the boss said. “What do you say we… nudge them along then?”

“What are you saying?” a forth voice chimed in.

“I have an idea,” he said. “We’ll help them with this case… but ruin their pathetic lives in the process.”

Now everyone was interested.

“We must be quick though. This has to be done tonight. Umbra, Cascal, help me get the weapon ready; you’re coming with me. And Tatakai, go get Darmur. I have a different plan for you two.”

“Yes sir,” T-Kai said with a bow.

---

The sun had climbed high into the sky. It was late in the morning, and the sky was a rich blue with no clouds in sight. It was pleasantly warm with only an occasional breeze tickling the trees.

Stella’s eyes slowly opened. She had almost forgotten she was sleeping in the forest with her team, and, for a brief moment, thought she was alone again. However, when her eyes focused, she immediately saw something just in front of her muzzle.

It was a piece of paper. It was clearly put there intentionally, as a small rock was put on top of it to prevent it from blowing away. Stella sat up, and noticed some writing on it. Assuming it was for her, she picked it up with her forepaws and read it.

I’ve heard a lot about you guys. You may be interested in hearing this.
A missing pokémon has potentially been spotted nearby. There are instructions on how to get there, if you wish to pursue them.

There were indeed instructions on how to get to the destination at the bottom. Stella read the short note over a couple more times. She could hardly believe it, but it gave her a small bit of hope.

Stella then glanced at her companions, who were still asleep, understandably so. Stella’s gaze caught onto Zari in particular. She was still a Hattrem, having evolved only yesterday, so she wasn’t quite used to her appearance. However, something else about her caught her eye: she didn’t have any braids! Her blue hair was sprawled out in all directions like a paper fan, which Stella found a little odd, but didn’t ponder it for too long. There were more important things at hand.

She lightly shook her friends awake. After adjusting their senses, they both sat up and curiously looked at her.

“W…What’s going on, Stella?” Irima asked after a moment.

“I-I found a note laying next to me when I woke up,” Stella explained, showing them both the note. “It says that one of the missing pokémon was found.”

“Wait, what?” Irima said; both him and Zari were shocked at this news.

“It gave me instructions to find them,” Stella said. She paused to let her friends read the note, and they were speechless afterwards. “I-I think we should go there.”

“Y-You want to… follow this?” Zari warily asked.

Stella answered with a nod. “We could find this person, and maybe more. We could get a lead, and help push others toward this. W-We could finally help solve this.” Stella looked at the note again, just thinking about all the good that could come from this. These thoughts almost clouded her vision, but it wasn’t long before she was brought back to reality.

“Hold on, Stella,” Irima quickly said. “Think about it. Don’t you think this is a little fishy? Someone suddenly sees a missing pokémon, and gives us exact coordinates to where it’s at. Doesn’t that sound sketchy?”

“N-Not only that, but why would they come to us specifically?” Zari asked rhetorically. “And why would they write a note instead of asking us directly? This could be a trap.”

Stella looked at her companions. Her mind had been racing about this so much, that she never even considered these questions. “I-I guess you’re right,” she said after a moment, looking back down at the note. It did seem too good to be true, and it might be risky. But then, after a moment, another thought came to her head.

“But what if it isn’t?” she vocalized. “Maybe the person who sent this needs help.” There was a slight pause as Stella looked back at her companions. “I can’t ignore a call for help.” Stella glanced back at the note, specifically at the directions. Then, she turned and ran off.

“Stella, wait!” Zari shouted as she and Irima ran after her. Both of them knew that this was a horrible idea.

---

Stella followed the directions on the note carefully. She didn’t want to get lost, after all. Zari and Irima could do nothing but follow. It was clear that they wouldn’t be able to talk her out of it. It was as if this was the only thing that mattered at this point.

It wasn’t long before they made it to their destination: a large tower near the border between the forest and the city. It didn’t look out of the ordinary compared to any other building, aside from the fact it was taller than average, as well as the door and window frames being highlighted in pink. Stella finally slowed down as she approached the building, but she didn’t realize she was now alone. That is, until she heard a call.

“STELLA!” Stella must have been moving faster than she thought, because when she turned, she saw Zari and Irima quite a distance away from her, trying to catch up. Zari was hastily putting a braid in her hair as she ran, resulting in her hair turning out quite messy. After finally reaching the vulpine, the two took a moment to catch their breath.

“This is the place,” Stella said after her companions settled. They then took time to look at the location in question. It didn’t help ease their concerns.

“S-Stella, are you really sure about this?” Zari asked, unnerved.

Stella looked up at the tower as she thought about it. Would this really be worth it? Zari and Irima may be right, and even if they weren’t, it could still be dangerous.

She took a deep breath. “Yes,” she answered. Trap or not, she knew she had to do something. Zari and Irima didn’t want to agree with her, but they knew they couldn’t abandon her, so they simply nodded.

“We need to find a way in,” Stella said. “There’s no way the front door is open.”

“Uhm, you mean like that?” Zari pointed, and her friends looked in that direction. There was nothing out of the ordinary from Stella and Irima’s angle. However, from Zari’s point of view, something caught her eye, and leaning to the side, she saw the answer to their problem. Her companions shifted their bodies to see what she was looking at, but they could have never prepared for what they saw.

There was a big gaping hole in the ground at the side of the building. Stella was the first one to run up to it for a closer look. It was deep, and in fact seemed to extend into the building itself, to a hidden basement floor.

“Stella…” Zari said after she and Irima also examined the hole. “I’m really not sure we should do this.”

“There’s a reason behind this,” Stella responded. “I’m gonna find out what it is.” Without any hesitation, Stella jumped into the hole.

Zari sighed. Here we go again… she thought to herself.

---

It was quite dark inside the building. Or were they underneath it? Either way, it was a bit hard to see, with not a single light in the room they were in. But that didn’t mean there wasn’t any, as a faint light highlighted the only doorway in the room, besides the hole they entered through. Instantly, the team knew where to go.

After a walk through and a left turn, they made it to a room that was a bit more well lit. It was a very simple, empty room, with three corridors, including the one they just came from. On the wall was a symbol: a minimalistic crescent moon with fairy wings behind it. Zari’s eyes widened, as she now knew exactly where they were.

“G-Guys,” she said, her voice quivering from fear. “I-I think this is T-Team Moonlight’s base…” An eerie silence followed. “W-We really shouldn’t be here. W-We could get in big trouble!”

Stella paled, although her already white fur didn’t show it. They were infiltrating the top rescue team’s base. Maybe this was a trap after all…

“Uh, guys?” Stella ceased these thoughts at the sound of her friend. Irima had decided to scout out one of the corridors, and had just called out to them. “Y-You might want to take a look at this…”

Stella and Zari immediately followed his request, and they couldn’t believe what they saw. It was a long corridor, lined with large glass windows. And within those windows… were a lot of pokémon. They were all passed out, and immediately the team noticed something. While they never looked at the missing pokémon requests in detail, they did notice that some of them matched the descriptions of the ones they did see. They walked further down the corridor, and came across another room. And inside was another glass container… with even more pokémon. There had to be hundreds in there. The Dreamsavers immediately knew what this meant.

“Th-The missing pokémon,” Zari whispered. “Th-They’re all here.”

“No way,” Irima said. “There’s no way they rescued them all, right?”

“Absolutely not,” Stella responded. “Not with how they’re holding them.” Stella thought for a moment, the realization slowly hitting her. “Then… that means…”

“T-Team Moonlight are the kidnappers?” Zari finished her thought.

“Very good, you three,” came another voice. The Dreamsavers froze as they realized they weren’t alone. They slowly turned to the direction of the voice, and saw two other pokémon approaching them; two pokémon they knew well at this point. An Umbreon and a Ditto.

“For a moment, I didn’t think you’d figure it out.” the Ditto said, tauntingly.

“Yeah, your new form sure as hell didn’t make you any smarter!” Umbra added, towards Zari specifically.

“Umbra, Cascal. That’s enough.” An unfamiliar voice chimed in. Umbra and the Ditto, Cascal, immediately quieted down at the voice. Another pokémon slowly walked in, an odd, menacing, somewhat robotic pokémon. A Silvally. Umbra and Cascal calmly stepped aside to let the newcomer through.

“W-Who are you?” Stella asked, unnerved by the sudden appearance.

Despite its menacing appearance, the Silvally looked very calm. “My name is Xenilis,” he answered. “I see you got my note.”

“S-So, Team Moonlight are really behind all this?” Irima asked warily.

“Ding ding ding! We have a winner!” Cascal chimed in. Umbra simply smirked at the sarcastically enthusiastic remark.

“But,” Stella paused for a moment before continuing. “Why did you lead us here?”

“Consider it a… gift,” Xenilis responded. “A gift for getting in our way.”

“H-Huh?” was all Zari could say before awesome commotion was heard down the hall.

“Hey boss, we have some company,” Umbra said, but his tone didn’t sound nearly as alarmed as the Dreamsavers were.

“Right on time,” Xenilis said with a grin. “You three.” He turned back to the Dreamsavers. “Help us take out these guards.”

“W-What?” Zari said in disbelief.

“N-No way!” Stella said. “W-We’re not going to help you-”

A loud footstep cut Stella off. An ominous wind seemed to blow behind them, making them freeze in fear.

Xenilis just smirked. “It seems that you don’t have a choice.” The team slowly looked behind them. Standing behind them was a dark figure with glowing red eyes. It was metallic, but almost mantis-like, and it had a giant cannon on its hunched back, with a word imprinted on the side: ENZ-0.

“Now listen here.” Xenilis continued. “You will help us fight these guards, or we WILL kill you. Do I make myself clear?” Xenilis’ tone was much more stern now, in fact, it was threatening. The Dreamsavers knew there was no other way out of this. Or maybe there was, but their fear led them to agreeing with them. Xenilis inwardly smirked. He had them right where he wanted.

It wasn’t long before the guards reached the group. Or at least they thought it would be guards, but it was actually something much greater. Team Ace themselves.

“What’s going on… What the?” the Charizard leader, Ace stopped when he saw Team X. Then his eyes went to the Dreamsavers. “You’re with them? But I thought-”

Ace didn’t have time to finish that statement. “Get them,” Xenilis said, and immediately, he and his team attacked the larger rescue team, and effortlessly beat them up.

The Dreamsavers, being pressured by the large robot behind them, reluctantly helped fight them. They didn’t do much, but it was enough to be noticed. “Damn traitors” was the last thing Ace said before going down. Needless to say, the team felt awful for what they did. But it didn’t end there.

“Thank you for your cooperation, Dreamsavers. It’s been fun, but this is our cue.” Xenilis said to them after the brawl died down.

“C-Cue?” Stella squeaked, confused. Her thoughts didn’t get a chance to continue.

“Umbra!” Xenilis shouted, and in a matter of moments, the black quadruped hit a red box on the wall with his tail. Immediately, a loud alarm went off, the room occasionally flashing red as well.

Xenilis grinned maliciously at the small team. “Send my regards to the press, will you?” he said before backing off.

“Later, cotton candy!” Umbra taunted as he and Cascal followed suit. One moment they were in the hallway, the next, they vanished without a trace. The robot they had with them was gone too.

Now alone, the Dreamsavers’ minds were in full panic mode at that moment. The blaring alarm signaled that they would soon have more company.

“W-What do we do?!” Zari screamed, both from making herself heard from the alarm, and from unrivaled fear.

“Run. RUN!” Irima shouted. That was the only thing he could think of, and Stella and Zari didn’t argue. Immediately, the team bolted out of the room, and through the hole they came from.

“There, that’s them!” They were immediately greeted by a Shiinotic and a Floette, and not a friendly greeting. By pure reflex, Stella blew them back with Icy Wind, which slowed them down.

“RUN!” she screamed after the attack. The Dreamsavers wasted no time getting away and out of sight.

---

Knowing they couldn’t go home, the team ran into the forest to hide. The forest, while large, wasn’t particularly deep, due to the city taking up much of the island. In most areas, it would be likely that they get spotted. Fortunately, through some stroke of luck, the team found something that might have saved them. A Hidden Grotto: a small area underground that’s secluded, and completely unnoticeable from a glance. A perfect hiding spot, so the team all climbed in. They hoped this whole thing would just blow over soon.

Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. After a while, Zari peeked out to see if anyone was nearby. No one was, but she instead saw something even worse.

“Uh, g-guys?” she quietly called to her teammates. “L-Look.” Stella and Irima poked their heads out to look, and they too saw the last thing they wanted to see. A wanted poster. Their wanted poster.

“I can’t believe this,” Irima said as he dove back into the grotto. He had an upset tone of voice instead of his usual quiet tone, which shocked his teammates. “We were doing so well, but now look! We’ll never be able to see the light of day again!”

“Irima,” Stella tried to comfort her friend.

“No!” Irima snapped, now angry. “You’re the reason we’re in this mess in the first place! You never even stopped to think about this, and now look at what happened! It’s because of you that we can never show ourselves again!” Irima huffed. “I don’t even know who I am, and I get caught up in all this? I can’t handle this! I just can’t take it!” Irima held his head, and then it happened. He started glowing brightly, then changing shape. Stella and Zari were too stunned to realize what was happening until it was already over. Irima, however, seemed completely oblivious to his sudden metamorphosis until it was commented on.

“I-Irima!” Zari exclaimed after the shock wore off. “Y-You just evolved!”

“What?” Irima said, confused. Irima looked down at himself, and sure enough, he had become a Frogadier! Irima himself seemed shocked at this, but he did his best to hide it. “Whoa… I guess I did,” he commented, taking a moment to himself. “But this doesn’t change anything I said. Stella, you really messed up here.”

“I-I-I know… I-I…” Stella’s voice was very shaky. She tried to keep herself together, but thinking about all the events up to that point made that impossible. After a slight pause, Stella covered her face, and quiet sobs escaped her. “I-I-I’m sorry… I’m s-so sorry…” Stella collapsed on the ground, her sobbing becoming louder. “I-I tried… I tried so hard… to make this work…” she said through shaky breaths. “I-I’m sorry… t-to drag you into this mess…”

Stella’s companions now looked at her with concern. It was clear that she meant no harm to any of them, and that she regretted her actions. It was hard for either of them to be mad at her when her intentions were nothing but pure.

Irima sighed. “Stella… Stella, it’s okay,” he said.

“We know you didn’t mean for this to happen,” Zari added. “You just wanted to help,”

“B-But I didn’t help…” Stella rebutted. “I-I only made things worse…”

“B-But you did help Stella!” Zari quickly said. Stella slowly looked up at her with a confused expression, still sniveling from crying. “We found all the missing pokémon, and who kidnapped them! If you didn’t decide to go, we’d still be at square one.” Zari explained. Stella slowly realized that she was right. Some good things did come from this misadventure after all.

“B-But… w-what do we do now?” Stella hopelessly asked. They knew the source of the problem now, but fixing it would be unfeasible in their current situation.

“I… I don’t know,” Zari said truthfully.

“I think we should get some sleep now,” Irima pitched in. “I’m sure we’ll be safe here until morning.”

“Y-Yeah… good idea,” Stella said. Hopefully a plan would come to them after a night’s rest.

“Okay,” Zari said, and started pulling the braids out of her hair. “Good night everyone.”

“Good night,” Stella responded.

Irima turned to Stella once more. “O-Oh, and Stella?”

“Yeah?”

“Sorry for getting upset at you.”

“I-It’s okay, Irima.”

---

Ellie woke up in an unfamiliar place. She looked around to take in her surroundings. For some reason, she felt uneasy in this location, and not from unfamiliarity.

“H-Hello? Is anyone there?” she called, hoping to get an answer. She did, but not a friendly one.

“Oh, she’s awake,” came the response. Ellie turned to the voice, and soon saw an Umbreon walking up to her. Behind him was a Ditto and a Dragapult.

“W-Where am I?” Ellie asked, hoping the pokémon in front of her were friendly.

“Oh, that’s not important right now,” the Ditto responded.

“Okay, I’m just going to cut to the chase,” the Umbreon said flatly. “Where is it?”

Ellie tilted her head. “Where’s what?”

“Don’t play stupid,” the Umbreon said, a little louder now. “We know you’ve been in contact with a legendary pokémon. Now tell us where it is.”

“Uh, I’m sorry,” Ellie said, still confuzzled. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

The Umbreon narrowed his eyes. “Fine, then I guess we gotta do this the hard way.” The Umbreon then pulled something out from behind his back. The Dragapult and Ditto were a little surprised at the lethality of the object, or rather lack thereof, but it got the exact reaction out of the little Eevee that he wanted.

Ellie’s eyes widened at the sight of the fire stone the Umbreon now held. She backed up slightly from them after seeing the magical rock.

The Umbreon smirked. “Oh, you don’t like the fire stone?” he said in a mocking tone, waving it around. Then he went back to serious mode. “Listen here, you little runt. Either you hand over that legendary pokémon you’re hiding, or you tell us where it is. Or else.”

Now Ellie was scared. These people were threatening her for seemingly no reason. What legendary pokémon were they talking about? Could it be… did they know about… That thought scared her even more. What could they possibly do to her? She didn’t want to find out. She feared for herself, but feared for her friend even more.

“N-No,” she shakily said. “I… I won’t.”

“Wrong answer,” the Umbreon said. Without warning, he threw the stone straight at Ellie.

Konk!

“Ow!”

The fire stone struck Ellie right on the forehead. But aside from a possible bruise, nothing happened. Ellie didn’t change at all. The three pokémon before her looked shocked and confused by this. Wasn’t she supposed to evolve?

But then, the Umbreon squinted his eyes, and noticed something. The necklace she was wearing, specifically the heart-shaped pendant.

“That necklace. It’s an everstone!” he exclaimed.

Ellie realized what he wanted to do, and quickly hugged the pendant on her chest. “D-Don’t touch it! Please!” she pleaded, but it fell on deaf ears.

“Get her!” the Umbreon shouted. The three goons made quick advancements towards her.

Fortunately, they didn’t get far. Behind Ellie, an explosion rang out, which made the three pause for a moment.

“What the?” the Umbreon reacted, but that’s all that he could say before it happened.

That mist… the snowstorm… the swirls… Ellie’s seen that before. And just like last time, some blurs whizzed by, taking out the three pokémon with ease, leaving only her and that strange symbol again. Or so she thought, but this time, a voice addressed her after the action.

“Are you okay?” it said. Ellie turned to the voice, and gasped at what she saw.

“Answer me, please,” the voice spoke again.

“S-Sorry,” Ellie said, still in shock. “Y-Yeah, I’m okay. Uhm… Th-Thank you.”

A nod, then it spoke again. “I don’t usually show myself, but I believe you can be trusted.”

“H-Huh?”

“Come with me. I’ll explain more when we arrive.”

Ellie was a little confused, but also curious. To get answers, the choice was obvious. Ellie followed her savior without question. There was only one thing that concerned her.

Where were they going?