ARC 3, CHAPTER 6

“So, this is Team X’s doing?” Libero asked once the mood settled a bit.

“Th-That’s right,” Stella said. “They’re planning big things with those things… horrible things…”

“I can tell,” Whip pitched in. “So, then, what are we gonna do about it?”

“Whip’s right!” Serene cheered. “We can’t just sit around while they’re running about with those awful pokémon!”

“Then we need to stop them, and fast,” came a somewhat familiar voice, but when the group turned towards it, they were met with a definitely-not familiar face: a Whimsicott.

“Huh? W-Who are you?” Stella asked the newcomer.

“It’s me, Eon,” the Whimsicott responded with a slight smile. Now that they hear it, his voice definitely sounded like Eon’s voice; however something was off, and that something was obvious.

“Eon?” Stella said in utter confusion. “But… but you’re-”

“Right! You’re so right, boss!” Libero suddenly cut in. He winked at Stella, and that’s when she caught on. She still didn’t fully understand it, but she just played along.

“But how are we going to?” Whip asked. “You saw those things! They’re going to have more of them! How do we-”

Whip was cut off, however, by someone unexpected. Verlo raised his hand and stepped in. Everyone fell silent, their full attention on him, as he idly looked around on the ground. Soon enough, he found an expansive dirt patch that he found suitable. With a crack of his neck, he quickly started drawing in the dirt. Everyone watched him curiously, and within seconds, he finished, dusting his paws off, then motioning to the dirt patch. After a second of inaction, the rest of the squad shuffled forward to take a look, and what they saw shocked them.

Verlo had drawn out an entire plan of action to infiltrate Team X’s base and stop the fossils for good. Each step was specifically detailed and was complimented with drawings. It was even complete with backups and failsafes. It was virtually foolproof.

“Whoa,” Eon was the first to speak after their awe had worn off. “This is incredible,”

“No kiddin!” Libero responded. “Dreamsavers, looks like you got yourselves a natural-born planner! And a fine artist too, I’d say,” he added after noting something Verlo had drawn to the side: detailed drawings of the Dreamsavers themselves. Verlo bowed proudly in response.

“Hey… speaking of,” Larei said, looking around. “Where did Zari go?”

---

Normally, Zari wasn’t one to walk out for a bit. Both of her friends would definitely take a mental break before her, and in fact, they’ve done so before. Zari’s dealt with things like this so much that she’s gotten used to it. But this time, she made an exception. So much was going on, and to say it was stressful would be an understatement. They were just barely able to handle the last few waves of Team X’s fossils; what would happen against an even BIGGER army?

Zari sighed. She was always a worrier, but this had to take the cake. Who knows what Team X would do once they overrun the region. They might move on to other regions as well! Zari just couldn’t stop thinking about them.

She couldn’t stop thinking about Umbra.

She sighed again, concluding that she should just force these thoughts aside. She had to focus on now, and now she had a mission, and friends to help. So, she turned to head back to the group. Unexpectedly, though, someone had quietly followed her, and upon turning to them, she jumped and yelped in surprise. They both did, actually.

“Carrie!” Zari squealed. “W-What are you doing out here?! You shouldn’t just sneak up on someone like that! You nearly-” Zari’s sudden outburst trailed off as she noticed the stance Carrie had taken. The Quilava had curled up and was covering her head… almost like she was bracing herself.

“C-Carrie?” Zari said, her voice significantly softened. “A…Are you okay?” Carrie slowly opened her eyes and uncurled. She looked a bit ashamed as she turned away, twiddling her fingers.

Zari suddenly felt like she did something very wrong. She didn’t mean it, of course, but she must have come off as a bit intimidating.

“Carrie… I-I-I’m sorry…” Zari said to her. “I-I was just startled, that’s all. I’m not going to hurt you, I swear…” Carrie cautiously looked at Zari. She looked less scared now, but still, she remained quiet.

Zari could see something in her eyes. Not only that, but she started to pick up emotions again. She didn’t know why this kept happening, and she couldn’t quite control it yet. Regardless, she knew how she felt. Carrie was uncomfortable. Not exactly disliking being here… but she felt distant. As if she was the odd one out.

Zari knew that feeling all too well.

She wanted Carrie to enjoy being in her team. But how? She was clearly very shy, and she remembered Raelynn saying that it was ‘hard’ for her. Zari thought about ways to help her get comfortable. After a moment of silence, she thought of something that, in retrospect, would’ve made her facepalm. She just had to take initiative.

“Carrie?” she started. “I wanted to ask… why did you want to become an adventurer?” She wanted to just talk to her normally, and at the moment, this was the first thing she could think of to converse about.

Well, it certainly seemed to get Carrie’s interest. Her ear twitched in recognition, and she briefly raised her head to face her. But then, just a few seconds later, Carrie looked back down at the ground, tracing her foot along the ground.

“U-Uhm,” Carrie finally squeaked. “N-N-No reason…”

Zari tilted her head. She didn’t quite believe Carrie’s answer. Should she pressure her on it? She didn’t think so, but she didn’t want to drop the subject either. But the answer of how to keep things going was easy to her.

“Uhm… do you want to know why I started?” Carrie slowly shifted her eyes towards Zari, then she looked up at her with curiosity. Zari took that as an initiative. “Well… I wanted to help people… not a lot of rescue teams in this region do this for that reason anymore,” Zari paused as she looked away in thought. “I guess I’m a bit different from most people, huh?” She turned back to Carrie, who was listening intently. “B-But that’s okay… because I found people who were just like me. A-And it’s because of them that we started our rescue team!” Zari paused for a moment as she thought of what to say next, and that came relatively quickly. “And now… we have even more people on our team. A-And I’m glad to have you here, now.” Carrie seemed to react to that physically. Zari just smiled sweetly at her, but Carrie looked down to the ground again. Zari’s smile dropped as she sensed a sense of guilt on her.

“M-Miss… I-I…” Carrie stuttered, but paused for a long time.

Zari decided to jump in, to hopefully boost her confidence. “Carrie… you can just call me Zari.”

“I-I’m sorry…” Carrie immediately responded, once again covering her head. Zari suddenly grew deeply concerned by this reaction. She thought she sounded friendly to her. Did… Did something happen?

Zari decided to not dwell on that, nor pressure her on it for now. She was in distress, and Zari wanted her to feel better. So, she quietly walked up to her, reached over, and gently stroked her head.

Carrie flinched a little at the touch, but near immediately, Zari felt her relax; and just a moment later, she looked up at her. There was no hostility in her eyes, and her actions were nothing but a gentle touch. Carrie just stared at Zari for a moment more as she pet her. She had almost forgotten what this felt like.

Eventually, Carrie took a shaky breath in, and gently sighed. “Zari,” she whispered, barely loud enough to where she could hear. “I-I-I’m sorry… a-about earlier…”

Zari was about to ask what, but immediately remembered. The attack on Team Oracle’s base. Carrie didn’t do anything, much less lend a hand, even though she said she would. But Zari didn’t have to think about it long, she just sighed.

“It’s okay, Carrie,” she said. “It was all very sudden… we shouldn’t have asked so much of you so quickly.” Zari paused for a moment, as Carrie’s eyes shifted to the side. “But I know you can do great things.”

Carrie looked back towards her. “R-Really?”

Zari nodded. “I didn’t think I could do much before either… But I learned some things, built up more courage, and I changed… literally, heheh…” Zari said, looking at her hands, remembering the time when she didn’t have any. She looked back at Carrie before speaking again. “I-I think you’re a perfect fit for our team. I’m sure your moment will come too, and you’ll be amazing. I promise.”

Carrie stood still for a moment. Not many people have said things like that to her before. Only Raelynn did. Raelynn and… someone else, she didn’t want to think about them right now. Too many sad memories. But Zari… she was the nicest person yet. She wasn’t quite sure how she should react. The only thing her brain could think of to do was say something.

“O-Okay,” was what she squeaked out. She blushed in embarrassment. She felt like she could have said more than that. Still, Zari just smiled. She had one more thing she wanted to do, though.

“C’mere,” she simply said.

“H-Huh?” Carrie quietly exclaimed, but before she could react, Zari wrapped her arms around her in a big hug. Carrie completely froze. It wasn’t the first time she was hugged, but still, it was so sudden that she, nor her body knew how to respond.

Zari didn’t hug her for long, though. She soon let go, which instantly snapped Carrie back to reality. “S-Sorry… you just looked like you needed one…” she said. Carrie said nothing, but after a moment, she looked away, and nodded her head.

Zari smiled. “C’mon, let’s head back to the team. They’re probably wondering where we are,” she said, waving her on. Carrie simply nodded and followed her back.

Though, she couldn’t stop blushing for some reason.

---

Back at Team X’s base, mass production was continuing. Fossil after fossil were being created into monsters for Team X’s bidding. And more and more fossils were being made also, being cloned with some sort of machine they had just recently made. Indeed, Team X was watching their conquest build up right before their eyes.

Well, most of them, anyway.

In a different room, the newbie, an Incineroar, was punching a punch bag. Was he training? Letting off steam. It was hard to tell, not that anyone on Team X cared.

Well, almost anyone.

A certain fossil jankily walked into the room, and watched the Incineroar’s activity. Soon enough, the Incineroar performed a Throat Chop on the bag, slicing it clean in half.

“We supposed to be attacking?” the Kabutops asked, causing the Incineroar to turn.

“Duhh, naw. I don’t tink so,” the simpleminded tiger responded. “Boss dint give us orders.” The Incineroar paused for a moment, seemingly processing the entity in front of him. “Sayy, ain’t you wunuv da fossil thingies?”

“You… and call me Rookie,” the fossil responded. “Methinks that was the name I got,”

“Uhh, okay?” the Incineroar scratched his head. “Duh… do you know anyting about the enemy guys?”

“Not much,” Rookie responded. “They in way, must be eliminated. Don’t know why.”

“Sum ‘conquest’ ting or sumthin. Sounds fun, don’t it?”

“Hmm…” Rookie put a scythe to his chin. “Not so sure. What wrong are they?”

“Who cares?” the Incineroar shrugged. “I jus can’t wait ta pound their faces in!” He followed that up by bringing his fist to his palm.

“…Very well,” Rookie simply said, turning to walk out. “They seem very strong, though. Be careful,” was the last thing he said before he walked out.

There was silence in that room for a moment before the Incineroar just sighed. “I’m not sure how much longer I can keep this up,” he said with a completely different voice. “Xenilis, you better hurry up.”