ARC 3, CHAPTER 5
by zuperZACH“Hahaha! It’s glorious!”
“Our fossil army will be unstoppable!”
“You bet! We even killed those damn Falinks, and that only took one of ‘em!”
“Well, more than just them will fall.”
While Team X were busy talking (mostly gloating) amongst themselves, one of the fossils they revived was idly standing by, listening: the brown fossil with scythe arms. It gently set its white backpack on the ground as it watched the team celebrate and discuss.
“…Fossil?” the pokémon said. “What that mean?” He turned to the backpack, which soon revealed itself to not be a backpack, but a pokémon. Out of the white shell on the ground, a ghostly figure with a vacant stare and multiple horns rose out of it.
It looked at the brown fossil, who brought an arm to his chin, as if he were pondering it. “They brought us here, yes?” he asked. The ghostly pokémon seemed to slowly nod in response. “Why did they?” the brown pokémon asked, stopping to think again. His head jolted a couple of times, as his mind drifted (or rather, jolted) to other thoughts.
“Mission,” he said. “Mission is to eliminate targets. Targets not given, though. No target. No eliminate. Are we out on mission, then?” The ghostly pokémon shook its head. “Right. Mission must be on hold then. So then what? What to do without bossman’s orders?” The ghostly pokémon didn’t respond this time.
He thought about it some more. “We brought here to eliminate targets. Why do we eliminate targets? No reason given. We follow orders, but what do we-”
“Hey! You there, Kabutops and Cursola!” The two fossils turned to the call, which was Xenilis. “Come along. We’re going to take care of that ‘secret’ rescue team. That’ll make sure we can’t be stopped.”
The Kabutops nodded as the Cursola retreated into its shell. The Kabutops picked it up and slung it over his shoulders, two of the Cursola’s ghostly appendages being used as straps. He then followed the team and their army out.
Still, his movement was quite odd. Very… jittery.
With a spring in their step (for the most part), the Dreamsavers ran back to their base with their new teammates close. Upon arriving, they were immediately greeted by their frog friend, and to their joy, he wasn’t alone. A familiar bird was perched on the stump to their base.
“Oh! There you are!” Larei exclaimed, striding up to them. It didn’t take him long to notice the new faces with them. “Oh! Uhm, are these our new members?”
“Yeah!” Stella said. “Larei, this is Verlo…” Stella waved over to Verlo, who idly waved at Larei. “…and Carrie.” She then waved to Carrie, who was peeking out from behind Zari’s braids.
“It’s nice to meet you,” Larei said, smiling. “I’m glad you’re willing to help us.” Verlo shrugged with a smirk, while Carrie didn’t emote.
“And Elysia!” Stella turned to the Altaria, who hopped off and flew in front of her. “A-Are you joining our team?”
Elysia shook her head. “No, I believe my rescue team days are long over. That said, though, I am going to help you in this endeavor. I can’t say I like anything Team X is doing, and, to put it bluntly: I’ve got nothing better to do.” She shrugged at that last statement.
“Th-That’s all I ask,” Stella said, smiling at the fact she was at least helping them.
“Well, we’ve got a great squad now, I’d say,” Zari said, looking amongst the people present. Then she paused as she thought about the situation. “But, now what do we do?” she asked after a moment.
“Hmm… Zari’s right…” Larei said. “We don’t really have a plan for stopping Team X this time.”
“A-And… well… are we sure this will be enough to stand up to them?” Zari spoke again.
Stella turned to her friends, silent for a moment. She decided to voice her thoughts. “I-I don’t know. I… honestly haven’t thought that far.” Stella paused to think about the situation more. It was true that they had a bigger team now, but was it enough? She saw how big Team X’s army was. Was it still too much for them? “M-Maybe we need some more-”
“GUYYYYS!” Stella was interrupted by a distant voice rapidly approaching them. The team turned to it, alarmed, but they relaxed a little when they saw that the call came from Elliana. Their alarm didn’t waver much, though, as they quickly noticed that she seemed to be in a hurry, and when she made it to them, she was completely out of breath.
“Ellie? W-What’s wrong?” Zari asked, worriedly.
Ellie spoke inbetween pants, and her voice sounded panicked. “W-W-We need… your help! W-We’re being… attacked. Our base… overrun! Weird pokémon… everywhere!”
Zari gasped. “D-Do you think?”
“I don’t think,” Stella responded. “I know.”
“Well then, what are we waiting for?” Elysia asked.
“D-Do you think we can, though?” Larei asked nervously.
“It doesn’t matter!” Stella said, boldly. “Team Oracle has done so much to help us already! They’re our friends, we need to help them!” Verlo smiled and nodded in response.
“Y-You’re right,” Zari said. “We can’t just leave them.” Zari then turned to Ellie, who was still gasping for air. “Where’s their base at?”
“F-Follow me…” Ellie huffed as she turned to lead the team. Tired as she was, she didn’t slow down one bit. She refused to until this was over.
As secluded as it was, it wasn’t hard to know Team Oracle’s base was nearby at this time. There were leaning trees, uprooted grass patches, and rubble littered about as they got closer. Then, there was some noise that urged the group to advance faster.
They knew they made it when out of nowhere, a pokémon that wasn’t in their group got launched straight into Ellie. Both pokémon went tumbling a few feet away, but they quickly recovered when they recognized each other.
“Star, there you are!” Whip said as she stood back up, dusting herself off.
“I-I brought help,” Ellie said, much slower to get back up herself.
“Well let’s not stand around!” Whip blurted, clearly just as worried as Ellie was. “Let’s get back in there and-” Whip immediately froze and she felt the top of her head. That turned into full panic as she frantically looked around. “Oh no… nonono, where is it, where did it go?!”
Ellie knew exactly what she was talking about. “I’ll find it!” Ellie boldly called out. She immediately ran deeper in, thinking it might have fallen off during the crash.
“Ellie, wait!” Whip called out as she followed her. “You don’t know what you’re getting into!”
The Dreamsavers idly watched this interaction, up until Whip ran off. That’s when they saw it: a full on brawl. Every member of Team Oracle were individually taking on at least two beasts, many of which they remembered seeing at Team X’s base. If there was any before, they had no doubt now that this was their doing.
“Everyone split up!” Stella instructed. “Team up with anyone you see!” Without another word, Stella shot an Ice Beam in a line on the ground in front of her, then slid in on the ice trail. She jumped up from it, and in mid-air, she shot down a stray pokémon; one that resembled an Amoonguss, but clearly wasn’t.
The rest of the team fanned out to assist their allies as well. Zari first decided to look for Ellie and Whip, worried about where they went. She went in the general direction she saw them in, but otherwise didn’t know where they were.
Before she could find them, though, someone else caught her eye. It was Crown, facing off against something that resembled a scorpion, though it was standing on two legs. Crown was shooting small flames at the creature from his tail, but that didn’t waver it much. With barely a second thought, Zari shifted her focus to help him, and quickly shot a Psybeam at it. Although the attack hit, all it seemed to do was make it notice her. Without hesitation, the creature turned to Zari, then slashed at her with one of its claws. Zari yelped as she slid back from the hit. Fury Cutter, just her luck that she decided to fight something with a disadvantage…
Said pokémon didn’t let up, though, as it crossed its arms, approaching her again. X-Scissor, she couldn’t stand up to that, she knew. She thankfully wouldn’t have to, though, as the pokémon suddenly got pelted with multiple small rocks from behind. It turned to the source, but it was too late, as a Leaf Storm from Crown sealed the deal.
Whip ran in from the other side. “Are you two okay?”
“I-I’m okay…” Zari said as she slowly stood back up. “W-We should talk later, though.”
“Oh! Right!” Whip exclaimed. “Let’s take all these weirdos down!”
Serene had her wings busy as she was fighting two aerial foes. One was gray and dragon-like, the other resembled a bird with yellow and blue plumage. She was seriously struggling, though; and it sure wasn’t helping that they kept throwing out all these rock type moves! With how fast they were also, how was she ever going to find an opening to really do some damage?
She soon got her answer, as two small water blades suddenly struck the bird thing, causing it to crow and tumble. This distracted the other creature, and Serene immediately pushed it back using Air Slash.
“Need some ground support?” Larei called as he stood firm and ready.
“Oh! Larei!” Serene exclaimed upon hearing him. “O-Okay! Let’s do this together!” Serene was glad to have some help now, but even more so that Larei was the one helping her.
She just felt… happy around him.
Libero’s hands were the fullest, taking on four pokémon at once. He was able to hold his own against the onslaught, but he couldn’t get the upper hand. None of the pokémon he was fighting were showing signs of quitting.
His help came in the form of a wide slash, knocking away two creatures, and outright defeating one. Verlo was the one who made the attack, and upon settling, he simply gave Libero a knowing look, as well as a thumbs (or rather, claws) up. Libero, likewise, smirked and nodded back.
Sure enough, the extra help proved to be a difference maker. One-by-one, each creature went down and disintegrated into nothing. When only one remained, everyone else finally had a chance to catch their breaths as Stella finished it off using Ice Beam.
“Whew… I think that was the last of them,” Stella said after wiping her forehead.
“Whew! Thank Arceus!” Whip said, examining the area. Immediately, she caught sight of, and picked up a yellow rock. “Oh! There you are, thank goodness!” She placed the rock on top of her head. Stella remembered her wearing that before. Wonder what it is…
“Say, your new friend is quite the fighter!” Libero said. Verlo simply smiled at the praise.
“Thank you, they’re-” Zari responded, before she cut herself off, remembering something. “Wait… Carrie? W-Where are you??” Zari briefly panicked, but thankfully, she quickly caught sight of the Quilava. She was hiding behind a tree, and Zari could see she was shaking. She slowly approached her, a little concerned.
“Carrie… w-were you here the whole time?” she asked. The only response Carrie gave was her gaze drifting down to her feet, and that was all the confirmation she needed. Zari only gazed at her for a moment more, deeply concerned about her, but her attention was quickly shifted.
“Well then,” came a new voice. The teams turned towards the voice, and were met with none other than Team X’s leader. “I see you’re not entirely helpless. But don’t you think that this is over for a minute. If this were anyone else, I would personally rip you apart myself… but, umm…” Xenilis glared behind him at a furious Umbreon, whose murderous intent was being held back by a Tentacruel-shaped Ditto. He sighed as he continued. “Clearly we need to reconvene. But know this: you won’t stop us. We have the resources to make a billion soldiers, and that’s what we intend to do. Your attempts at salvation are futile.” With that said, Xenilis whistled, and a moment later, Darmur appeared next to him. “Back to base. We got more rookies to make… and a certain someone to hush.” Darmur simply smirked before using Phantom Force to warp his team away, leaving a very concerned group in their wake.
As well as another part of their group no one had noticed. The fossil stood by, as he processed the events that had happened. After a while, he spoke.
“Rookie… Yes… I remember now.” With that, he sporadically walked off. His movements were becoming more… normal now.
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