ARC 2, CHAPTER 6

“Oh, Clover… It’s been quite a while, hasn’t it?”

“W-What do you want from me, Nejire?” The Serperior was currently tied to the wall of the shack they were in. All he could do was look on at the Sylveon in front of him. He seemed calm and straight-faced, but in reality, he was scared out of his mind. His voice reflected that somewhat.

“Oh, I just wanted to fulfill a promise I made a while ago.” Nejire said. Her tone made it clear what her intentions were.

“Nejire… you don’t have to do this.” Clover reasoned. “She’s gone now, there’s no reason to-”

“I’m not talking about that, stupid!” Nejire snapped. “I’m talking about what happened all those years ago…”

“W-What are you…”

“You know EXACTLY what I mean, Clover!” Nejire raised her voice, but she made sure she still couldn’t be heard outside. “That day we went to that base! You LEFT me there! You left me to die!”

Clover was dead silent. She was right. She was his best friend, and he left her even after he saw her get captured.

“What did you think would happen to me? That I would be fine? That they would just let me go, pat me on the back, and be on their merry way?! OF COURSE NOT! And yet, you decided your life was more valuable than mine?? What about our team code? We were always supposed to stick together, Clover! You promised! You. FUCKING. PROMISED.”

Tears started flowing from Clover’s eyes. Not because he was scared, not because he was pretty much on his deathbed. But because he knew every word Nejire was saying was true.

“I…I…” Clover muttered, but no other words formed.

“It doesn’t matter anymore.” Nejire said, her eye noticeably twitching. “This is payback. I’m taking my revenge on you, right here, right now.”

“…By killing me?” Clover meekly asked, dreading what her answer would be.

“…No. Not yet, at least,” Nejire said, matter-of-factly. “You see, Clover, I’ve set a little trap… and you’re the bait.” Clover’s eyes widened as she continued. “Your little friends are coming to get you. And when they get here… my new team and I are going to kill them.”

“N-No… NO!” Clover started struggling violently, but to no avail. “YOU SON OF A BITCH, YOU WON’T GET AWAY WITH THIS!!”

“Quit your screaming. No one’s going to hear you!~” Nejire started to walk away from the panicking serpent. As she opened the door to the outdoors, she turned to him one last time. “Besides, I see this as killing two Pidoves with one Rock Throw. After all… you aren’t the only one I want revenge on.” Nejire smiled ominously at him before shutting the door behind her.

Clover was hyperventilating. He couldn’t let this happen; he didn’t want to let this happen… but he had no choice. Once again, he let things get out of control, and could only watch as it unfolded. With nothing else to do, he broke down in tears.

“Th-This is all my fault…”

---

Whip, Stella, and Zari raced through the forest, wanting to get to their destination as fast as possible. Who knows how much time they have? The more experienced Cinccino was much faster than both Dreamsavers, so she had to slow down to make sure they kept up with her. She would rather not have to do that, but she truly appreciated their help, and didn’t want to lose them.

While they were running, Zari could have sworn she saw something whizz by them. Two somethings, in fact. She wanted to voice this concern, but her companions didn’t seem to notice it, so she kept quiet. Still though, she was left wondering what it was. Was it her imagination, or was something else out here? Was it after them?! Zari had to stop thinking about it before her mind went into overdrive.

Finally, they made it to their destination. At least, they hoped it was, but the lone shack in the clearing was a good sign that it was. Except, there was no one here. The shack looked many years abandoned. Had they come to the wrong place after all?

A voice gave them confirmation.

“Zari? Stella?”

They didn’t notice him before, but they turned to see that friendly Greninja they know so well.

“Larei!” Zari squeaked when she recognised him.

“What are you girls-” Larei started, but he didn’t finish, as Whip immediately got blasted hard by a yellow beam and knocked down. Everyone jumped at the sudden attack, but it didn’t end there, as the attacker made herself known, and immediately shot a Moonblast at the duo, making them both yelp and skid.

“N-Nejire! W-What are you doing?” Larei questioned the sudden assault.

“I’m protecting you!” Nejire answered. “I told you these traitors would be here!”

“Huh?” Larei gawked in disbelief, Zari and Stella did the same.

“Think about it, Larei. I’ve been helping you this entire time, and they… Well, they haven’t helped at all. In fact, they left you! They don’t care about you. They want to get rid of you! Why else would they be here?”

Stella and Zari couldn’t believe what they were hearing. “Larei… It’s not true…” Stella pleaded. “She’s trying to manipulate you-”

“See!” Nejire snapped. “They’re trying to turn you against my innocent soul! Have I done anything but support you this whole time?” Nejire looked at Larei with a sweet smile on her face. It was hard to tell if it was genuine, though. “I’m on your side! I want to protect you! So, are you gonna help me take these fakers out?”

Larei slowly looked at Stella and Zari. It wasn’t noticeable from where he was standing, but they were shaking. They feared what he was going to do now. This tension stood for a few moments, but it felt like hours.

“I’m sorry…” Larei said, creating a Water Shuriken. Stella and Zari stepped back in fear. Nothing could have prepared them for what happened next.

“…But you hurt my friends.” Larei suddenly swerved around and threw the sharp star at Nejire at high speed. It struck her right between the eyes, causing her to scream and fall over. Larei then jumped over to the Dreamsavers’ side, where they were awestruck.

“Larei…” was all Zari could say.

“I’d never leave my team behind,” Larei said to them with a smile. His friends smiled back.

It wasn’t long before Nejire stood back up. Blood trickled from the spot Larei struck her at, and she looked extremely livid.

“YOU UNGRATEFUL PIECE OF SHIT.” She screamed so loud, you could almost hear it from the city if you focused. “FINE, I’LL KILL YOU TOO. I DON’T GIVE A SHIT ANYMORE, REVENGE IS MINE!” Immediately, Nejire’s ribbons formed a circle in front of her, and without hesitation, she fired a Hyper Beam at the team. The Dreamsavers weren’t prepared to dodge the massive attack.

But they didn’t have to. Something flew in front of them, blocking the attack. They couldn’t see what it was at first, but when the small explosion from the attack recessed, no one could have imagined what stood in front of them now; or rather, floated in front of them. It was a large, blue pokémon with pointed wings. A Latios.

“That was close…” he muttered.

Nejire was just as shocked as the Dreamsavers, but she expressed it in a different way. “W-What the fuck?!” she shouted. “Where did you-” Nejire was immediately cut off by a bunch of pink rocks from Psyshock pelting her and knocking her back.

“I’m here, I’m here!” came a voice, which was soon revealed, and was equally as shocking. It looked just like the Latios, but was a little smaller, and red in color. “Did I miss the party?”

“Right on time, it seems,” the Latios responded. He then turned to the Dreamsavers, who were still at a loss for words. “Are you three okay?”

Stella just nodded in confirmation.

“Aww, they’re so cute!” the Latias behind him squeed, only getting a slight smile from the Latios in response.

“THAT TEARS IT!” Nejire suddenly screamed, getting everyone’s attention. “I’M TIRED OF THIS BULLSHIT, WE’RE ENDING IT NOW!” Nejire brought a ribbon to her mouth and whistled. In an instant, a red smoke engulfed her for a moment. It quickly faded, revealing two other pokémon next to Nejire: a Zoroark, and a Chandelure.

“I’ve had ENOUGH of these shenanigans! Zerin, Kira. Let’s fuck them up!”

“FINALLY, some action!” Zerin shouted.

“Yes ma’am…” Kira flatly responded.

“These are the ones?” the Latias asked her side.

“Yes. We can fix this.” the Latios responded. He then turned to the young rescue team. “I need you to keep them busy. This is going to take some time to charge up. Just make sure they stay grouped together!”

The team was frankly quite confused on what he was talking about, but they knew that they should listen to his orders. Especially since he seemed to know what he was doing. So, they nodded, and Stella was the first to jump in front of them. The two Latis held each others’ hands as a white energy from their chests started building up.

Zerin wasted no time. Seeing the white Vulpix jump in, he immediately dove in with claws extended. This attack, however, was thwarted by the faster Greninja’s Quick Attack, causing him to stumble. The onslaught didn’t stop, though, as Larei suddenly held his head in pain. Zari shuddered as this happened, and then noticed two black flames hovering near him. That was Hex, Zari knew she had to act. She quickly ran in towards Nejire, then she spun around, swinging her braids. Nejire was able to easily jump back and avoid it, but that was what Zari wanted. Immediately after, she shot a Psybeam from her hat at the offending Chandelure. Concentrating on one thing, Kira wasn’t able to react, and was struck square-on. She immediately lost her concentration, freeing Larei from the attack. In anger, she retaliated by throwing out purple flames from her arms. Stella, however, took notice, and blew an Icy Wind at the Will-o-Wisp attack, causing it to fizzle out instantly. This left her open, however, and Zerin capitalized off that by striking her from the side with a Night Slash. Stella yelped as she tumbled, but Zerin didn’t let up. A black energy formed in his claws, and he struck the ground with them, releasing a dark shockwave at the vulpine. Stella had no time to recover, and she got hit by it just as she was standing up. She skidded from the hit, and as she looked back up, she noticed that her vision darkened significantly. She couldn’t see as well now.

Zari focused her attention on Nejire. She knew she was planning something, she had to make sure she was occupied. Zari attempted to shoot a Psybeam at her, but Nejire saw her first. Waving a ribbon around, she conjured multiple glowing leaves, then with a flick of that ribbon, she fired them all at once at her. Zari wasn’t expecting something like this, and stumbled backwards, causing her to misfire her attack. She yelped as the sharp leaves pelted her, and Nejire immediately followed up with a Moonblast, which struck her head on, causing her to tumble. Lucky for her, though, the misfired Psybeam hit Kira instead. Larei saw this opportunity, and quickly lept in towards the stunned Ghost type, ready to use a move he learned recently: Aerial Ace. Kira noticed this quickly, though, and right when Larei got close, her flames grew in size and intensity, and she blasted Larei back with Overheat. Larei tumbled back near his team.

Nejire giggled triumphantly. “I told you I’d have my revenge! You’re finished, now!”

“N-Not yet…” Stella said with determination. “You haven’t seen everything we can do…”

“Then I’d like to see it,” Nejire responded. As she was saying this, though, she motioned for Zerin. He nodded, and immediately rushed at Stella blindingly quick. Stella still couldn’t see well, and truthfully her next move wasn’t calculated, but it led to a stunning reaction. She opened her mouth, but instead of an icy energy, a bright pink energy built up. Right as Zerin reached her, claws extended, Stella fired a bright Moonblast at him point blank. The super effective hit launched Zerin right into Kira, causing them both to collapse.

“What?!” Nejire shouted. Well, she did ask. That, of course, didn’t make her any less angry. She immediately charged up a Moonblast of her own. She didn’t care about being quick, she wanted this to hurt.

Stella looked at her friends. They nodded to her, and she nodded back. Wordlessly, they had a plan. Stella shot an Ice Beam in a line on the ground, and Zari and Larei immediately jumped in and slid on the path. Nejire saw them advancing, and immediately launched her attack. But Zari was prepared; this was something she’s done before. While sliding, she used Dazzling Gleam, and the sparkles easily absorbed the Moonblast. Nejire gasped, remembering this had happened last time, but this time, it wasn’t over. Zari slid to her, but to Nejire’s surprise, Zari ceased her ‘gleam attack, and instead, she slid past her. Zari’s hair brushed against Nejire, and while it didn’t hurt, Nejire suddenly felt her muscles tense up, and she stumbled as she started twitching. That was Zari’s Nuzzle attack, something she didn’t even know she could do until the plan blossomed. With Nejire now helpless, Larei advanced, using Quick Attack to move even faster, and struck Nejire at mach speed. The hard attack caused Nejire to get flung into the other two offenders, who were trying to find footing before she crashed into them.

At this point, the two Latis were ready. “It’s now or never, brother!” the Latias shouted so she could be heard.

“Alright, NOW!” With that command, the duo launched the energy at the pile of pokémon. The three of them got engulfed in the light, and soon after, three odd (and kind of gross) bursting sounds came from it. The light dimmed soon after, leaving the three pokémon in a momentary daze.

Nejire blinked a couple of times, then looked at the pokémon around her. The Dreamsavers stood there, still alarmed, but also confused, while the Latis knew that it worked.

“I-I…” Nejire stammered. She backed away a couple paces, her ears now drooping. It was already clear to everyone that she was acting completely different. “I’m sorry… I…” she was almost inaudible as she continued, tears starting to well up in her eyes, even more so when she made eye contact with Larei. “W-What… What have I done… What have I done…” Nejire looked to the ground, shaking uncontrollably. At that point, the tears spilled out and down her cheeks, and not a moment later, she ran off. She ran as fast as she could, and in a matter of seconds, she was gone without a trace.

Everyone looked on, flabbergasted. Even Zerin and Kira, who were just sitting there during that interaction, looked on in confusion. They turned to each other for a moment. Zerin simply shrugged, then got up and walked off. Kira sat there for a brief moment more, then she sighed before slowly floating away.

“It… worked?” Stella said, not exactly sure what the ‘it’ she was referring to was.

“Yeah, it worked!” the Latias squealed, making Zari jump as she briefly forgot she was there.

The Latios sighed. “Thank you so much, Dreamsavers.” he said to them.

“Uhm… y-you’re welcome…” Zari said, still sort of shocked at the presence of these legendary pokémon.

Then, the group heard a groan. They turned to see Whip sitting up, still in a daze. “Eon?” she said after looking at the Latios.

“Whip, are you okay?” the Latios floated over to the Cinccino with great concern.

“Yeah, I’ll be fine,” Whip said, rubbing her head. “I’ve eaten Hyper Beams stronger than that before,” she chuckled at the remark, but mostly to herself; no one else was laughing. Whip slowly rose and looked at everyone. “You… You came to help?”

“Well, I couldn’t just leave you all here,” the Latios said. “You’re part of the team, after all… and we’re like family.”

“Aww, thanks, Eon.” Whip said, blushing in slight embarrassment. Then she gasped as she remembered her mission. “Clover! Oh god, I need to get Clover. I hope he’s okay… You better be okay in there!” Whip started running into the shack as she spoke, and her last word was cut off as she ducked inside.

Stella looked at the Latios in wonder. “Eon?” she uttered as she vaguely remembered Ellie briefly mentioning that name.

The Latios sighed. “I suppose introductions are in order…” He floated up to the team, then bowed respectfully. “My name is Eon… I’m the leader of Team Oracle.”

“Team Oracle?” Zari repeated, unfamiliar with that team name.

“You’ve met my team before. Whip and Crown are part of my team.”

“Ohh!” Zari said, glinting with recognition. “Uhm, It’s nice to meet you.”

“How come you didn’t greet us when we met the rest of your team?” Larei asked, tilting his head.

“Well…” Eon started, uncertain if he should relay this info. He gave in. “My team… is undercover. We’ve been in hiding since the beginning. Me especially so.”

“But, why?” Stella asked.

“Well, I’m sure you’re aware by now, but this region has a terrible public image. Publicity can put us under stress, or turn us into what most other teams have become. And, as the best team in the region, we’d get a lot of it.”

“Whoa… you guys are really the best rescue team?” Zari asked in awe.

“Number one!” They heard Whip’s voice as she came out of the shed with Crown in tow. Crown’s face was stained with tears, and he looked miserable. “Not to toot our own horn, but we’ve rescued more people than Team Ace and Team Moonlight combined!”

“Th-That’s amazing…” Stella mused, awestruck.

“And that’s why we’ve stayed in hiding,” Eon said. “Rescue work is serious business, one that takes passion and love to do. We stay under the radar so we don’t have to deal with everything this region has become.”

“That’s a noble cause,” Larei remarked.

“But if you don’t show yourselves… why come to us?” Stella asked.

“Well, besides the… accidents we’ve had…” Eon glanced at Whip, who just nervously chuckled at his gaze. “…I see something special in your team. After all, you did save the world from complete destruction… but even putting that aside, I see something in you that I’ve not seen in any other team. You’re different for sure… but a good different. I just have this feeling… a feeling that you’ll make a real difference.”

The young team beamed at the praise.

“Th-Thank you, Mr. Eon,” Stella said, smiling.

“Don’t mention it,” Eon said, returning the smile. “Anyway, we should get home now. I’m sure you all have been through a lot.”

“Tell me about it,” Whip said, looking at Crown’s traumatized expression. “But hey! We’ll see you around sometime!”

“Okay, and thanks again!” Zari said, waving.

“Bye, Dreamsavers!” Latias waved giddily before she, Eon, Whip, and Crown departed.

After a moment of silence, Zari turned to Larei. “Larei… I-I’m so sorry… I should’ve-”

Larei held a hand up, signaling Zari to stop. “It took me a while to realize… but I don’t need those old memories. Because I’m making new ones with you two. Better memories.” Larei smiled at his friends. Stella smiled back, but Zari did more than that. She hugged him, and he was happy to return it.