Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Guiding Light (T)

"Sylveon! Eevee!" Tessa shouted, sprinting down the dirt road leading into the village. Shane struggled to keep up with her on account of still being sore from the Mellath Bog mission. He looked up, spotted a column of smoke rising in the distance, and gulped.

'Ugh, was it too much to ask to just get a nice, normal day for once? I officially take back all the bad things I ever said about the filler chapters and side quests in the games,' Shane thought. Null lagged behind him, his mask slowing him down considerably.

"W-Wait up, please!" Shane wheezed. He gritted his teeth and tried to run faster, but his burning legs refused to make up any of the distance. Then, as the smoke column grew close, Tessa inexplicably stopped. Shane's sense of relief proved fleeting. Tessa's aura feelers were standing on end, which meant something had spooked her.

"What's the matter?" Shane asked, trotting up to Tessa's side. "Do you sense something hostile? Like the Prism Virus?"

"I sense… Gallian," Tessa squeaked. "B-But why would he–? How could he–? Sylveon and Eevee were supposed to be his friends, too!"

Shane's eyes narrowed. "It's just like I told you. He's infected. You can't think of it as your brother doing this stuff. You have to think of it as a creepy alien force using him to do awful things!" He figured he could've phrased that better, but it was the only thing that came to mind.

"That doesn't make it feel any better," Tessa whimpered. Before Shane could say anything else, both of their ears twitched in unison, with Shane's pivoting forward.

"… traces of ultra aura here, Captain."

"Did you hear that?" Shane whispered. "It sounded just like that purple alien guy we ran into in Tethys Tunnel."

"Please, I could have told you that without needing some geeky scanner. I want to know where they ran off to. The longer they stay missing, the greater the chance of something terrible happening. I can feel it in my bones."

"And that's definitely Gallian," Tessa said, fidgeting nervously with her locket. "W-What should we do? Sneak attack them?"

Shane shook his head. For once, he didn't want to blindly charge into battle. "No, let's lie low and hear what they have to say. Maybe they'll let slip where Sylveon and Eevee are. Then we can scamper off without any sort of conflict."

"… huh. That's the first time… I've heard you suggest… holding back… instead of leaping into the fray," Null said, joining his teammates. "I'm in agreement. We couldn't handle Gallian alone. We can't take him… and the purple guy…"

"But it didn't sound like they know where Sylveon and Eevee are, either," Tessa said.

"I'm afraid the trail runs completely cold, Rookie," Luxeira said. Her unfamiliar voice prompted Team Radiance to exchange confused looks. "Whatever entity did this appeared right in this exact spot, only to disappear from it soon after. It's not beyond the realm of possibility to suggest that Ultra Wormholes were used, considering the strong ultra aura readings."

"Did you hear that?" Shane asked. "Didn't the purple guy mention something about ultra auras when we met him? And what's an Ultra Wormhole? Some kind of alien transport method?"

"Beats me," Tessa said, shrugging.

"Well, look harder, then!" Gallian growled. "I can feel impending disaster growing stronger every minute we stand around doing nothing. And all you two seem to know how to do is stand around and do nothing!"

"Oh, puh-lease. You terrestrials say the most ridiculous things," Luxeira said.

"My disaster sense is not ridiculous. It can save lives. But only if we take action!" Gallian barked.

"Huh. I guess you're right, Riolu. Sounds to me like Gallian might not have had anything to do with this," Shane said. But if it wasn't Gallian, then who could it be?

His eyes widened. "Ah! Don't tell me… this was Espeon's and Umbreon's doing?" His gaze fell toward the ground. "If… if that's the case, then Lycanroc might've been right the whole time. They are masterminding all of this chaos." His ears folded against his face. "Ugh, I've been such a blind idiot."

"Beat yourself up later," Null said. "I think… we should head back to the Observatory… and try to find some backup…"

"C… Captain Luxeira! My radar is detecting an ultra aura spike," Sticky said. "I do not believe we are alone."

Shane's tails shot up into the air. "I think it's time we made our exit, guys," he said, walking backwards. However, a sudden rush of air made him freeze up. Tessa's aura feelers jolted up as high as her ears and she spun around. The color drained from her face at the sight of Gallian glaring right at them.

"This doesn't concern you three. Buzz off!" he hissed. "And you," he snarled, looking directly at Tessa. "I thought I made it abundantly clear that you needed to ditch the guild. Evidently that failed to sink in. Guess you're just as dense as Dad was."

"What are you saying, Gallian? Sylveon and Eevee are good friends. This absolutely concerns me. I want to get them back. And I want my teammates to help me," Tessa said. "So, tell us what you know."

"… hmph." Gallian's eyes flashed purple. "You're not getting involved in this. Any scenario with you trying to save them is going to end badly. Trust me. You're not strong enough. And neither are your little friends. So, step aside, and let a real explorer handle this."

"I am a real explorer!" Tessa fumed. She pivoted to show the silver badge on her scarf. "Our team made apprentice rank the other day. And that's at least half a year before you did."

Gallian's forehead scythe flickered red. "And you think that makes you special? I'll bet you were just given it out of pity. After all, this is around the time Dad died. Metagross probably did it to keep you three away from him." He shook his head. "Honestly, how can you stand working for that hack?"

"Hey! You don't just get to insult him like that," Shane said. "He's actually trying to keep Horizon safe, like we are. Which is more than I can say for a punk like you."

"Rookie, is there an issue here?"

Team Radiance stiffened at the sight of who they assumed was the "Captain Luxeira" that Sticky had addressed earlier. They watched the Houndoom stride forward, taking notice of the skin-tight white suit and the helmet that obscured everything on her head except her blue snout. Like Sticky and Gallian, a black harness sat around her chest, with a sparkling stone embedded inside it.

"What the heck are you supposed to be?" Shane asked. "An astronaut Houndoom? I didn't think this world was advanced enough to have a space program."

"… curious," Luxeira said, lights blinking on her helmet's visor. "It would seem your analysis is correct, Sticky. That terrestrial is exhibiting unnaturally high ultra aura levels."

Gallian looked over at her. "So, that stupid Vulpix is from the same place you guys came from, then?"

Luxeira shook her head. "I strongly doubt it. No, his ultra aura levels far surpass those of an average Ultra Village resident."

Sticky nodded. "I got the same readings when I encountered these terrestrials while doing reconnaissance work in Tethys Tunnel. He must be an Ultra Beast. Though, I do not know how he managed to disguise himself as an ice Vulpix."

Shane narrowed his eyes at them. He didn't understand the whole conversation, but he didn't like what he was hearing. "Excuse me? I happen to be a human, thank you very much," he said. "Whatever you freak shows are doing, you need to stop. You're only making this whole Prism Virus situation worse."

"Negative. If anyone is escalating any sort of current crisis, it is your squadron," Sticky said, shaking his head. "After all, you have a Beast Killer in your ranks. And with the ultra aura you are giving off, it is a miracle you are even still breathing."

Shane and Null abruptly looked away from each other, allowing Sticky to see the crack running through Null's helmet. "Ack! C-Captain… the restraining mask!" He pointed frantically at Null. "It's coming undone."

Luxeira turned to look at Null. "Then our course of action is clear." She turned back to Shane and Tessa. "Relinquish this failed experiment into our possession posthaste, terrestrials. We of Team Paradox will apply a sealant to that mask, to restrain the Beast Killer's power and hostility."

"Null is not hostile!" Tessa said. "He's our friend and teammate. You can't have him. Stop trying to let your companions beat around the issue, Gallian! Tell me everything you know about what happened to Sylveon and Eevee."

"Hmph. If you really cared about them, you would still be living with them. And then you could've protected them," Gallian scoffed. "But no, you'd much rather run around the guild with those other blind idiots."

"Wait, wait, wait. Everyone hold up for a minute." Shane turned to Luxeira. "You guys are an exploration team? Is this a joke?" he asked. "What guild would possibly let you in?"

"You misconstrue our words, terrestrial," Luxeira said. "We are Team Paradox. We are a unit of an Ultra Recon Squad hailing from a pocket world known as Ultra Village. We are not an exploration team, we–"

"Okay, you used one too many 'Ultra's' in that sentence," Shane said, rubbing his temple. "I'm just going to say you're a crazy alien and call it a day."

"Enough!" Gallian said. "You're wasting your time explaining things to these idiots." His scythe flickered red.

"Easy there," Sticky said. "Even if we are on different sides, it is important that we do not allow the situation to escalate into violence. Perhaps we can come to some sort of agreement? If you hand over the Beast Killer, we will give you the information we have gleamed from our surveillance of this residential building."

"Are you serious? What a joke!" Shane said. "Any goodwill you could've had went completely out the window when you attacked us back in Tethys Tunnel!"

Luxeira turned to Sticky. "Is this true?"

"I spotted the Beast Killer and attempted to subjugate it. I did not anticipate that these terrestrials would step in to save it," Sticky said, head tilted down shamefully.

Luxeira sighed. "You know our Ultra Recon Squad policy, Sticky."

"No combat engagement with terrestrials unless the situation poses risk of physical or mental harm," Sticky said. "But it was a hostile situation, Captain. That terrestrial with the massive ultra aura threatened me."

"Only because we knew you were working with Gallian," Shane said. "Look at him. The guy's certainly not radiating any friendly vibes. Why would a couple of aliens like you even hire him?"

Gallian's eyes flickered. "You do not get to call me that, pipsqueak," he hissed. "I've got my own reasons for working with these two. And I'm certainly not going to be nice to anyone who's triggering my disaster sense."

"Oh brother. I strongly doubt you've trained well enough to have a flawless disaster sense. So, did you ever consider the possibility that maybe you're just wrong?" Shane said, ignoring Tessa's wide-eyes look. He realized his mistake when Gallian's scythe glowed pink.

"My disaster sense is the truth!" Gallian snarled. "And I know for a fact that letting you three saunter off after Sylveon and Eevee will end badly. So, if you're not going to stand down, then I'm going to do what I should have done back at that blasted Observatory."

Sticky's face blanched. "Y-You don't mean–?"

"Unfortunately, I agree with his assessment," Luxeira said, shaking her head. "My apologies for reprimanding you earlier, Sticky. It would seem that these three do indeed create a threatening situation. We must act accordingly." She pressed the jewel in the center of her harness and whispered, "Let's just hope these Technical Machine devices really work as advertised."

No sooner did she finish saying that than a flamethrower raced forward from her snout. Gallian added purple crescents to the mix. Team Radiance scattered in different directions. The two attacks collided, spreading fire in all directions. Fireballs pelted Shane from behind. He fell to the ground with a holler, rolling around to cool off his fur.

Across from Shane, Null flung air blades at Sticky's face. Luxeira leaped up and snagged the recoiling Sticky in her jaw. She landed back on the ground and said, "Watch your back. You know full well what Beast Killers can do to your kind."

"… what… do you mean… Beast Killer? Are you saying… there are others… just like me?" Null said.

"That is not information we would think of disclosing to you," Sticky said.

"... that sounds... like a yes to me," Null said, pawing at the ground.

Sticky floated back up and scattered purple tiles appeared around the area. One of them popped up right in the path that Tessa was running along to avoid Gallian's purple waves. Poisonous spikes jabbed her thighs the moment she stepped on it. Tessa staggered to a halt, gasping for air. "Need a lum berry," Tessa said, reaching into her item pouch.

"Fat chance of that!" Gallian roared, covering Tessa in pink mist. He stood over her sleeping form, gathering red energy in the diamond on his forehead.

"No! Get away from her!" Shane shouted, spewing frosty air.

"Butt out, shorty. This is a family matter," Gallian hissed, dodging Shane's attack. He retaliated with more purple waves. Shane struggled to dodge with Sticky's toxic traps in the way. Why didn't he try to knock Sticky out first?

Shane's thoughts were interrupted when he found himself staring down the barrel of a fiery tunnel! He flopped to his side, howling in agony as flames brushed his right flank. Luxeira quickly backed away from him, catching her breath. "Target down," she said. "Eh?" She tilted her head in confusion as Shane stumbled back to his feet.

"You're not… getting rid of us… that easily," he panted.

"Captain! Gallian told me that the Pokémon of this world can stockpile specialized kernels to revitalize them if they faint in battle," Sticky shouted. He then turned around, shooting poison from his head tips at Null. But Null barreled through the attack using his steel-coated helmet. Panicking, Sticky pulled a rod from his harness. A whirlwind flung a screaming Null into the trees. Where did Sticky keep getting these things from? Had Gallian stolen a ton of items?

Sticky turned to his right, where Tessa was weaving through psychic crescents to get to Gallian. She thrust her aura-coated fists at Gallian, who countered with his glowing scythe. Gallian skidded across the ground, hissing. Sticky launched poison globs to back up his teammate, but Tessa unleashed a burst of speed and appeared underneath Sticky. She socked him with an electrically-charged fist.

Yes! She had finally gotten a hit in! And, even better, she knocked Sticky into Gallian. She couldn't let up now! Tessa charged Gallian down, but banked off to her right instead when she heard Shane crying for help.

"Nnnghr… get off me!" Gallian roared, shoving Sticky to the side. "And quit getting in my way. Focus on your friend in the mask. I don't need your help. Got it?"

"Very well," Sticky said. "At least let me heal you–"

A wind blade to the face blew Sticky across the ground. Null ran toward Gallian, mask turning to metal. "... tch. Amateurs," Gallian said, getting to his feet. Null missed his headbutt and Gallian slashed him in the side with shadow-coated scythe. Gallian produced a wand from his harness as Null dropped to the ground, hissing in pain.

"Get petrified, freak," Gallian said, showering Null in blue energy that rooted him to the ground. With Null out of the way, he turned his attention toward Tessa. But he caught movement out of the corner of his eye and jumped back, narrowly avoiding a reeling Sticky. He turned right and charged.

Shane had no time to prepare for Gallian. His shadowy scythe raked Shane's back, slicing through his fur. Blood splattered across the soil next to Shane. Out of all the places to hit, Gallian had to get him in the back. Now his whole body was screaming in pain!

"I don't know what Tessa sees in you, pipsqueak," Gallian scoffed. "You can barely hold your own out here. Frankly, it's pathetic."

Shane fought through the pain, scrambling to his feet. "How could you say that about her? She's your sister, dude!"

"Yeah, and look what good her family did for me!" Gallian snarled. Shane tried to snuff the psychic energy out of Gallian's scythe with frosty air, but Gallian dissolved into the shadows. Shane's eyes widened. That looked nothing like the Feint Attacks he had seen other dark-types using. What was Gallian up to?

His answer came in the form of something hard and sharp stabbing his rear. Shane tumbled to the ground, triggering one of Sticky's poisonous traps. "W-What the–?" Shane said. "Just what the hell kind of move was that, huh?"

"It wasn't," Gallian said. "You really are an idiot." He dissolved into a black puddle, with Luxeira taking his place and staring Shane down.

"Don't even think about it, terrestrial," she said, flames gathering in her mouth.

Tessa knew she had to help Shane right away or he was toast! But Gallian lunged out of the shadows, raking his black talons across her chest. She fell into a poison trap. Tessa couldn't believe she let Gallian catch her off guard like that. How infuriating he was! She barely managed to pull out two lum berries and hurl one toward Shane.

Tessa's eyes widened and she tried to use Quick Attack to reach Luxeira in time. But Gallian popped out of the shadows and Night Slashed her across her chest. This upended Tessa, and caused her to crash into a Toxic Spike trap. Her body seized up as the poisons took hold. She barely managed to pull out two lum berries, hurling one toward Shane.

Shane shrieked, pushing Luxeira away before she could unleash her flames. He scarfed the berry down, wondering what he could do to possibly fend off an opponent with such a strong type advantage.

An idea quickly popped into his mind. "H-Hey!" he said. "You… you better stop what you're doing right now. Or, uh, I'm gonna unleash my ultra aura or whatever and blast you into smithereens."

"Your tone of voice suggests you're bluffing. You clearly have no idea what you're talking about," Luxeira said.

Shane swore under his breath. She didn't take the bait! Shane sprinted to his left, dodging a pitch-black beam and retaliating with frost breath. Luxeira stood tall, not even flinching in the face of the frigid air. Shane's jaw dropped. Surely that had to have done some damage, right?

"Perhaps my scanner is malfunctioning. I have minimal experience with this 'battling' concept, but even I can see that you don't seem to rise to the threat level your ultra aura suggests is possible," Luxeira said. "We'll be taking the Beast Killer. And I cannot allow you interfere with that."

In the face of an impending flamethrower, Shane could do nothing but run for his nearest ally, Null. As Shane neared Null, he realized his teammate was in rough shape. But Sticky looked weary, too.

"Even with the restraining mask, it is clear you are still a serious threat," Sticky said. "Although, battling is not exactly my strength. So, this was going to be a struggle from the beginning."

"Then… quit it. I don't… want to hurt anyone!" Null said, thrashing his head around.

"I do not believe you. And I will put a stop to your endeavors," Sticky said. Another wand popped out from his harness and he blasted Null with a dim, red light. Nothing happened at first, but then Null yawned and slouched over.

"What… did you do?" he said.

"Unless I am mistaken, I have modified your ability to Truant," Sticky said. "Your capacity to form up the energy necessary to instigate an attack is now greatly redu–"

Psychic rings knocked Sticky to the ground, then ice-cold air froze him to the spot. "You okay, Null? We really need to give Tessa a hand," Shane said. Null answered by lunging forward, tackling Shane to the ground. He shielded Shane from a flamethrower, only to collapse unconscious on his side. Shane looked up in horror to see Luxeira staring him down.

This was it. She was going to hit him with the orb in her mouth and run off with Null! Gallian was right. Shane wasn't strong enough. There was nothing he could do to win...

'No! I refuse to give up here! Not after everything we've been through!'

Luxeira released the orb and Shane fired psychic rings from his forehead. He knocked the orb back at Luxeria, who barely blasted it apart in time with a black beam. Shane followed up with a gust of icy air. He sprinted away from Luxeira, hoping to outrun any attacks she launched. The flames that swallowed him up seconds later proved him sorely wrong. He only had an instant to mull his failure before blacking out.

Null saw his teammate fall and charged Luxeira in a blind rage. He upended her with a swipe of his claws and pounced, landing atop a howling Luxeira.

"Please… you have to relent," she wheezed. "We're just doing our jobs."

"… so am I," Null snarled. He raised a foreleg and hammered the top of Luxeira's helmet. She immediately stopped struggling. Any relief he felt dissipated when he heard Tessa's cries of pain. He slapped his talons angrily against the ground. He had forgotten about Gallian!

Null lumbered to his feet and stomped toward Gallian. Shane trotted after him, back up thanks to a Reviver Seed kicking in. Gallian stared them both down, shadows dancing around his legs. "You have to cut this out, Gallian," Shane pleaded. "You're not helping anyone. We're wasting time that we could be using rescuing Sylveon and Eevee!"

"I don't want your help. I want you all out of my life!" Gallian snarled, scythe glowing bright-green. Shane scrambled to his right, narrowly dodging Gallian's horn. But Gallian lunged through a cloud of Shane's frost breath, ready to drive his horn through Shane's chest. Shane's legs locked up.

There was nothing he could do. Gallian was too quick. This was it! A crazy Absol was going to be the death of him!

Shane braced himself for the ensuing pain, when a glowing-blue paw struck Gallian's shoulder and sent him to the ground. Gallian turned and glared at Tessa. "You just don't know when to quit, do you?" he barked. "Why won't you listen to me? You cannot go after Sylveon and Eevee. Let me handle it!"

"Couldn't we just work together on this?" Tessa said. "You're supposed to be part of the guild, Gallian."

"I'll never work with them again!" Gallian cried, unleashing a volley of pink crescents from his horn. They didn't get far before bursting into clouds of black smoke. Gallian stood there, dumbstruck, as Null lunged out from the smoke, talons glowing. Null struck air, however. Gallian materialized behind Null, but Shane came to his teammate's aid, dousing Gallian's right flank in icy air.

Tessa ran after Gallian, aura gathering in her paws. Hissing in pain, Gallian dissolved into the shadows. But Tessa refused to back down. She leaped onto Null's helmet, grabbing his head crest.

"... tch. If you're gonna hide behind your freakish friend, then I'll cut Vulpix down to size!" Gallian cried, emerging next to Shane.

Null hurled air slash blades at Gallian, but Gallian simply jumped out of the way. He wasn't prepared for Null thrusting his head forward and launching Tessa directly at him. Gallian had a moment to shout before Tessa cannonballed into him, launching him back across the field.

Tessa landed safely on the ground and dropped to one knee. Panic washed across Shane's face. "Are you okay? That was totally nuts! Where did you come up with that idea?" he said.

"I'm fine," Tessa said, getting back to her feet. "And I took inspiration from you, you reckless dummy."

Wincing, Shane gave her a weak smile. "Aha ha... just warn me next time you're going to do something like that," he said. "I thought my heart was about to stop."

"Says the Vulpix who got squished by a Bewear," Tessa mused. She regretted her words when Shane shrank back from her. "Oops, sorry. I really shouldn't have brought that up, should I?" she said. Shane nodded.

"… guys… Gallian disappeared on us… again," Null said. Team Radiance circled up with their backs to one another. Gallian materialized in front of them, a scowl on his face.

"I'll bet you think you're hot stuff, don't you?" he growled. "The only reason you had any upper hand was you had Reviver Seeds and I didn't. But no amount of them will let you three rescue Sylveon and Eevee. Don't you get it? You're going to fail. I can guarantee it. My disaster sense hasn't been this strong in weeks. It's absolute certainty."

"Oh god, please tell me he didn't just make a horrible pun there," Shane said.

"How can you say such awful things?" Tessa said, arms trembling and paws balled up into fists. "I'm your sister, Gallian. We're supposed to have each other's backs. Why won't you just come back to me? Please!" Her arms stiffened against her sides. "I… I miss you so much…"

"Oh brother, are you really going to pull out the waterworks on me? Gods, you're such a crybaby," Gallian scoffed. "No wonder Mom got so fed up with you."

Tessa's aura feelers jolted up. That was the last thing she wanted to hear from him. "W… what do you mean 'fed up?'" she said.

"Wow, are you dense or what?" Gallian said, rolling his eyes. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised. If you had a decent head on your shoulders, you'd be as far away from the guild as you can get."

"I don't understand," Tessa rasped.

"There's a big surprise."

"Hey!" Shane barked, stepping beside Tessa. "Here's an idea, you conceited prick, instead of putting Tessa down, why don't you just grow a pair and tell her what the problem is, for god's sake?"

Anger flashed across Gallian's face. His scythe flared up purple, but Null shot a warning air slash blade across his flank. Gallian locked eyes with Tessa. He drew his lips back into a snarl. "You really want to know what the problem is? You really want to know why I left?" he growled. "It's Dad. And Metagross and Braviary. He's gone because of them!"

Tessa stiffened. Her heart shot up into her throat. Her legs grew weak and, before she knew it, she had fallen to her knees. Was Gallian saying her dad's friends were responsible for his death?

"There's no way that's right," Shane said. "Tessa told us it was an accident!" He looked over at Null, who nodded his agreement.

"What do you expect? She doesn't know any better," Gallian said. "But I do. They killed him! I'm sure of it! They got rid of him… and they tried to get rid of Mom, too!"

"What?" Tessa squeaked. "But I… that…" She leaned forward, pressing her paws on the ground. "Why wouldn't she tell me? We've been speaking. She never even said anything. She blamed Zapdos," she said.

"Of course she'd never tell you anything. Mom thought you were insufferable," Gallian said, shaking his head disapprovingly. "After Dad died, she'd constantly show up at my room, ranting about how you were suffocating her. How you constantly wanted her attention, when all she wanted was peace and quiet." He started pacing back and forth. "Heck, I even went down to the veterans' quarters once and saw her losing her mind. She scribbled all over her maps and papers, angrily threw books around her room, and screwed up a bunch of family photos. All the while she was shouting some nonsense about how she was 'going to make them pay. Make them all pay.'"

A stabbing pain shot through Tessa's chest. All the strange sights she had found in her mom's room... were her own doing? And not Gallian's?

Tessa squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. "I don't believe you!" she yelled. "Mom loved both of us! She just–"

"Please, stop deluding yourself. She couldn't stand the sight of us," Gallian said. "You're so pathetic. I was right. You were only made an apprentice out of pity. I'll bet it was Braviary. He's probably guilty he offed his so-called best friend." His scythe flashed purple. "Why do you think I left? Just the thought of being around them made my skin crawl!"

"So? It's not like you've said your disaster sense is all that accurate," Shane said.

"It had to be them!" Gallian barked. "I had to leave. I didn't have a choice. I couldn't stay around them. I'm sure they knew I'd found out about their crazy plan! So, I left. And I threatened you because I figured you'd try to go to the guild. You've been so desperate for attention since Dad died... and that's the best place to get it. I thought if I threatened you, you'd actually listen." He shook his head. "Guess I was wrong."

"Stop it!" Tessa hissed, stomping a foot on the ground. "Shut up. I don't… you stop saying that stuff right now." She gripped her head and shook it back and forth.

"I'm only telling the truth," Gallian growled. "Mom never cared about us. I'll bet she only paid attention to us to make Dad happy."

"Shut up, Gallian!"

Shane put a forepaw on Tessa's trembling shoulder. "Don't listen to him. He's just saying that to rile you up," he whispered. "You can't give him the satisfaction." He silently cursed himself out for not thinking of anything better to say to support his friend.

"But… but I told you the exact same thing about Mom the other day," Tessa whispered back with a somber whine.

She was right. Still, he refused to let Gallian keep putting Tessa down. He turned back toward Gallian and said, "You can take your emo mommy issues and shove off! Tessa's my friend. And if she wants to rescue Sylveon and Eevee, I'm going to do everything I can to help her out. Because Pokémon are meant to work together! Isn't that what you're doing with those two aliens?"

Gallian glared at Shane. "I already said I have my reasons for working with these two. Otherwise, I'd be on my own," he hissed. "The guild showed me that you can never trust another Pokémon under any circumstances. Because, even if we say we help each other, deep down we're only looking after ourselves."

Shane's blood run cold. How could one Pokémon harbor so much enmity for everyone around him? Could this actually be the Prism Virus' doing?

Gallian noticed his teammates stirring and walked over toward them. "You want to go rescue Sylveon and Eevee? Fine. Then you're going to have to beat me to it," he said. "I don't have any intention of letting the three of you get within a mile of them. Don't come crying to me when you ultimately fail."

"Uhuu huu huu huu! Isn't this such a touching, lovely family reunion? Really pulls at the ol' heartstrings."

Beside Gallian, Sticky and Luxeira tensed up. "Captain, are you seeing these readings? They are astronomical!" Sticky said.

A swirling, red and black vortex opened between the two groups. Espeon and Umbreon leaped out of the portal. "Well, well, well, haven't we all been a bunch of busybodies?" Espeon said. "We should've brought snacks, Umbry. This is quite entertaining!"

"You two… you're working for it, aren't you? That armored thing," Gallian said, scythe flashing pink.

"Working would imply I'm not having any fun. And this is loads of fun! So, no, I'm not," Espeon said with a giggle. "And judging by your appearance, I get the feeling you didn't want to get with the program?" She shook her head. "News flash: Legends are out of season. The Prism Virus is going to make things better for Pokémon like us."

"You call what you did to Mellath Bog better?" Shane shouted. "Or how about Bewear? Or Lurantis? Or Parasect?"

Umbreon leaped in front of Shane, sending backpedalling with a yip. "You're a bit delusional there, Snowball. We were making them stronger. Powerful enough to take down the Legends that plague all of us," Umbreon said. "You and your band of idiots are the reason they're just cold, empty shells."

"Identify yourselves," Luxeria said, staggering forward. "Which Ultra Space pocket are you hailing from? A normal Pokémon wouldn't be expressing ultra aura levels like you two are."

"Uhuu huu huu! Look at you, trying to sound all authoritative," Espeon said, tail wagging. "Umbry and I only answer to the Prism Virus. Besides, we're not here for you. So, take your silly costumes and go someplace else. Though, feel free to leave Pinhead over there behind. He looks so adorable! I'm sure I could have fun with him."

"Captain, I think they've lost their sanity. They must be possessed by Ultra Beasts," Sticky said, gulping.

"No, these readings don't show any Nihilego neurotoxins," Luxeira said, frowning. "In fact, now that I think about it, these energy signatures are remarkably similar to the Lightless Black."

"Then I would advise an immediate retreat," Sticky said. "We don't have the necessary means to deal with the Lightless Black or any terrestrials it may have projected its power onto."

Gallian whirled on his teammates. "Wait, you want to leave now? No! We need to get information out of these two," he said.

"Espy already made it clear we have no intention of saying anything to you," Umbreon scoffed. "Unless you're planning to attack. And frankly, you three look like you're in no condition to do that."

"Try me!" Gallian snarled, sprinting forward. But he barely made it a yard before a card made of red and black energy appeared in front of him. Gallian fell onto his rear and dug his hind legs into the ground. He failed to stop his momentum, however, and slid right into the card. A second card opened up far across the field, over the remains of Sylveon's well. Gallian fell into the hole with a yelp. A splash permeated the area while the cards disappeared into thin air.

"W-What the–?" Shane gasped.

"Gallian!" Tessa cried. Luxeira and Sticky quickly exchanged looks and dashed away from Espeon and Umbreon.

"Bye! Don't forget to write," Espeon sang, waving a forepaw at them mock mockingly. She turned back to Team Radiance. "Ah, thank heavens we got rid of those party-poopers. Now, we can all have some fun together!" She gave them a sickeningly sweet smile, only for it to abruptly fade. "Well, all of us except the big guy over there. He's the very definition of buzzkill."

"… what did you do… to Absol?" Null asked.

"It's none of your concern," Umbreon said.

"Yeah. Besides, a good magician never reveals her secrets!" Espeon said, giggling. "But I'd be more than happy to give you a little demonstration up close and personal if you want." She winked at Null, who looked away, shaking his head violently.

"Where did you take Sylveon and Eevee?" Shane said, snorting out ice tufts.

"Oh, you sound all fired up. I bet you'll be lots more fun than the last time we met," Espeon said, flicking her tail back and forth.

"Sylveon and Eevee are in Aurora Vale's deepest recesses," Umbreon said. "And you're not getting them back. Period."

"You leave them out of this!" Tessa barked, bearing her fangs. "They have nothing to do with any of your Prism Virus stuff."

"You didn't let me finish," Umbreon growled. Tessa's ears and aura feelers drooped. "We're never going to let you break them out of the prison we've set up. With that said, Espy and I would be happy to let them leave of their own free will for, shall we say, an equivalent exchange."

"Whatever you're asking, no deal," Shane said. "I can't believe you two would do something like this. And to your own kind, no less! What happened to the Espeon and Umbreon happily working with their friends in Post Town to solve the mysteries of Magnagates, huh? Surely you remember those fun times, don't you? Why would you want to get rid of them?"

Shane's answer came in the form of a blast of psychic energy so strong it ripped a sizeable part of his fur coat off his body. The blow knocked him back across the ground. His ears rang and his world went fuzzy.

'This is it...'

"Oh, come on! Even after that... his scarf is still on? You've gotta be kidding me," Umbreon growled.

'One blow. She... she took me out in one blow!'

As Shane's world darkened, he saw Lunala in his mind's eyes. Black crystals enveloped her body each team his vision flashed, until Necrozma's helmeted face stared Shane down, a grin plastered on his face.

"Shane!"

Tessa's cry jolted Shane back to reality. He scrambled to his feet, eyes widening upon realizing that Espeon had appeared right beside him.

"Remembering the fun times, huh?"

Shane scrambled backward, but Espeon lunged to his side.

"The only 'fun time' I remember," she hissed, as Shane squealed and jumped back in fright, "is Kyurem terrorizing the continent, making me fear for my life! All while a bunch of Legends sat around being useless. And the ones that were actually on the Mist Continent? Worthless!" She stomped a forepaw on the ground and dark energy raced up to the diamond in her forehead. "Victini cared more about playing with his stupid toy. Virizion was too busy sulking and moaning about how her fake friendships. And don't even get me started on Keldeo. What a total dweeb!"

Umbreon's red rings crackled. "You ask us why we want to be rid of the gods? Simple. We've finally woken up... and realized just how little our research means," he said. "Because, at the wave of a paw, we could have it all stripped away from us. Simply because some Legendary Pokémon doesn't like it."

"But… but you two are heroes," Shane whimpered. "You helped stop the Bittercold. Parents tell their kids stories about you!"

Another psychic blast struck Shane, ripping more fur off his body. Espeon walked up to him, pink energy pouring out of her glowing eyes. "And what good did that really do, huh? A few years later, Dark Matter showed up and sent everyone into a panic," she said. "Umbry and I worked ourselves to death trying to help Pokémon take refuge from Yveltal. Meanwhile, what did the other Legends do? They sat in their homes, silently wishing the problem would go away."

"That's not completely true," Shane whispered meekly.

"Oh, of course. How stupid of me to forget," Espeon said, voice dripping with sarcasm. "Yes. Entei, Suicune, and Raikou were such big helps. Running about the continents like blind idiots! And, oh, if that wasn't bad enough, when the rest of them finally decided to take action, it didn't do anything! They all got turned to stone!" Her eyes watered. "Umbry got turned to stone! I got turned to stone. I don't care what you claim to have experienced as a human. Nothing compares to the horror of the Voidlands. Do you hear me? Nothing!"

Espeon backed away, rubbing her eyes. "Way to go and suck all the fun out of this," she hissed. "I guess I'll just get to the point, then. You and your cowardly Riolu friend surrender and come with us to be infected. Then Umbry and I let your precious Sylveon and Eevee go. Do we have a deal or not?"

"Ah... ab... absolutely not," Shane said, struggling to stay on his feet. Tessa nodded slowly, though her gaze had fallen toward the ground.

"I told you they'd refuse," Umbreon scoffed.

"No. They just need time to think it over," Espeon said. She walked up to Shane again. "Sunrise tomorrow. If you and your sorry teammate aren't at the end of Aurora Vale, I will personally take pleasure in infecting Sylveon and Eevee. Heck, I'll even let you bring the masked weirdo along for company. I'm just that nice." Her expressed immediately darkened. "If anyone else from your so-called guild even takes so much as a step into Aurora Vale, then it's bye-bye Sylveon and Eevee. Do I make myself clear?"

Shane's tails fell between his legs. "Oh, come now," Espeon said, her cheerful demeanor returning. "Being infected isn't bad. It's a good thing! Look at how much stronger Umbry and I are now." She walked beside Shane and slid her tail across his neck to touch his cheek. "And think of how much fun we could have together."

Shane's eyes widened and he scrambled away from Espeon. A grin spread across her muzzle. "Aww, what's the matter? You're not getting cold feet, are you? That'd be embarrassing for an ice-type." She shook her head. "So much for that spark of defiance earlier. I'll be waiting for you in Aurora Vale… cutie. Don't disappoint me." Her eyes flashed red and an Ultra Entercard appeared between her and Umbreon. They both jumped into the ensuing vortex, which closed right behind them.

Shane's legs gave out and he collapsed on his belly, heart hammering in his chest. Again, his vision went dark. Necrozma popped up, spreading his wings apart.

Don't worry. We'll finally be together again… real soon. Heeheeheehee!

Who was he kidding? They were in over their heads! He was nowhere near strong enough to save Sylveon and Eevee.

Shane curled up into a ball, shivering in fright. Null walked up to Tessa, who continued to stare silently at the ground. "What are we... what do we do now?" Tessa squeaked. "I can't take those two. But I can't let them hurt Sylveon and Eevee."

"… we should… go back to the Observatory. We all… need to be healed. At the very least… the guild could help us… plan our next move," Null said.

Tessa gulped. "But what about what Gallian said? About Braviary and Metagross?"

Null stiffened. "I... I don't know," he said. "But if... if they try anything funny... I'll tear them to shreds."

His promise did little to quell the sinking feeling in Tessa's gut. But it wasn't like she had other options. Certainly not with Gallian acting the way he was. She nodded slowly and joined Null as he walked up to Shane. He slowly staggered to his feet, avoiding eye contact with his teammates.

"… do you… want me to carry you back?" Null said.

"No," Shane whispered. "I can walk. I… I'm fine. It's going to be okay. Everything's going to be okay. We'll think of something. Somehow. Some way."

But as the team set off down the path to Aeon Town, Shane's own words rang empty in his head.

'Who am I kidding? We're hosed!'

Sorry, Firebrand, I'll get to your review later. Things are... really hectic right now.


"Aggggh!"

Shane found himself yanking a metallic foreleg backward, a stinging sensation rushing across his body.

"Oh, brother. Quit being so squeamish," Lunala chided. "If you hadn't tried to pick a fight with Volcanion, this wouldn't have happened."

Shane looked down and noticed his foreleg was burnt to a crisp. What had happened? Wasn't he supposed to be back at the guild with his friends?

"Yuh-yeah? Well, it's his fault for trying to cover southern Horizon in volcanic ash!" Shane said. "Seriously, what was he thinking trying to send all of the lava in Mount Supernova toward the Midnight Sea? We let him settle down in the Volcanic Wastes and this is how he repays us?"

"You're just lucky Tapu Koko showed up when she did," Lunala said. She levitated a cloth toward his injured leg. Shane looked at it and tensed up. "Come on. You used up all your energy for Morning Sun. You've got to let me apply this ointment or you'll be a three-legged Solgaleo before you know it."

Shane sighed. It looked like he was seeing one of Solgaleo's memories. But why would Solgaleo choose to share this now? Was this even relevant to his situation?

"Just hurry up and put it on," Shane growled. "I just want to put this all behind me."

"Then quit resisting, already." Lunala gently lowered the cloth onto Shane's leg. Searing pain rushed up his limb. An agonized roar sounded, then everything dissolved around him.


"Ow!"

Tessa's hissing snapped Shane back to attention. She jerked her leg back, causing Togedemaru to stumble and drop the cream-covered gauze she was holding.

"C'mon, Riolu, you've got to hold still," Togedemaru scolded. "You scuffed your thighs and knees up pretty badly. If you want the fur to grow back, I need to use this stuff."

'Okay, this is weird,' Shane thought. 'This is practically identical to that memory I just saw.' He then became aware of his injuries and doubled over in pain. His exposed fur burned as if he had spent way too long sunbathing without any lotion.

"B-But that medicine really hurts," Tessa said, frowning at Togedemaru.

"Well, consider yourself lucky. You didn't get the worst of things," Shane grumbled, noticing he stood beside Comfey's large water bucket. Instead of being filled with ice water like last time, it held a viscous purple fluid with sparkling bits of fairy dust strewn throughout it. "What's with the goop?"

"That's for you," Comfey said.

Shane's jaw dropped. "Seriously? Are you really going to put me in that stuff?"

"Hmm, I suppose I don't have to," Comfey said. "If you don't want your fur back, of course. I can't speak to whether or not you being human messes with normal Vulpix health. But my predecessor taught me that a Vulpix's fur coat is essential to maintaining its internal body temperature and, by association, calling upon its ice-elemental powers."

Shane looked over the rim of the bucket and poked the surface of the liquid with a forepaw. It wobbled about like gelatin. Bile rose in the back of his throat. "It's disgusting, though," he said. "Hell, it reminds me of that Gak stuff they always advertised on kiddie channels back home. What's even in this, anyway?"

"There's a very delicate ratio of pamtre and sitrus berry extracts to promote rapid, healthy regeneration of your fur," Comfey explained. "However, in order to stabilize everything, I suspended the mixture in the slime shed by Goodras and Sliggoos–"

"What?! Nuh-uh. No way am I bathing in slimy dragon sheddings," Shane huffed, flicking his snout skyward. Barely a day had gone by when he hadn't ended up soaked or covered in grime and he had to draw the line somewhere. And that somewhere was bathing in dragon slime.

"You didn't let me finish," Comfey said, sighing. "I used a spell to coat the berry extracts with the slime, that way it can spread across your body so your coat is uniform. I'd have thought your Vulpix instincts might appreciate something like that."

In truth, a part of him did like that idea. But said part was dwarfed by the overwhelming urge to vomit at the sight of medicine. "You thought wrong," Shane said, turning to leave the room. Null blocked his path before he could get more than five steps. "What? What do you want?" Shane said.

"… we need you… at your best," Null said. "I know it sucks… but just go along with it…"

Shane's ears folded against his face. How could Null understand? That mask probably blocked his sense of smell. "I don't want to," Shane whispered. "It'll make me look like an idiot."

"Do you really think... you look okay... the way you are... right now?" Null said, wheezing. Shane glanced down at his bare forelegs. Flaky bits of dead skin sloughed off and drifted to the floor between his paws.

"I guess not," Shane said, wincing. "It's just... it looks disgusting. And smells even worse!"

"Maybe I should do it with him?" Tessa said. "I need to get the fur back in my thighs."

"I suppose I don't see why not. It'll save me some of the cream, at the very least," Comfey said, shrugging.

Tessa hopped off the bench and limped over toward the bucket. "C'mon, Shane. Let's just go in together," she said. Null lowered his head and nudged Shane's rear toward the bucket. It looked like he didn't have a choice.

"Alright, alright, I get it. I'm going. I'm going," Shane said, walking up to the bucket. "The things this universe is making me do..."

A psychic grip took hold of them and slowly slid them into the bucket. "Oh god! This is awful! It's all gooey and sticky. I can feel it between my tails," Shane whined before his and Tessa's heads disappeared under the surface. Null grimaced and looked away from the bubbling slime. Seconds later, they both reappeared, covered from head-to-toe in purple goop. Comfey set them both down. Tessa held a paw up to her muzzle, trying not to hurl. Shane stood there, shivering.

"How do you feel?" Comfey asked.

"It feels like my body's on fire!" Shane said, registering each and every bit of goo that moved on him. He wanted nothing more than to curl up in a corner and forget this ever happened.

"Sometimes Pokémon experience a mild burning sensation. Particularly if they have large patches of missing fur," Comfey said. "I'll need you two to stay still while the suspension restores your coats."

"Aww, c'mon! Get this stuff off of me," Shane pleaded.

"Dangummit, Comfey! How many times I gotta tell ya to keep this door closed if'n yer doing sensitive stuff like this?"

Braviary lingered by the infirmary doorway, holding a wing up over his face.

"It's perfectly fine. You can come in," Comfey said.

"Yeah, great. Why not invite the whole guild while you're at it? Let's all laugh at the Vulpix," Shane said, trying not to look at Braviary. After Gallian's outburst, he wasn't sure how to act around the guy.

"Aww, c'mon. It's not so bad. I think you look good in purple," Tessa said. She then threw her paws over her muzzle. Her cheeks puffed up. Shuddered, she swallowed hard. "Okay, yeah, I think I just ate some. This stuff's hitting my gag reflex pretty badly. This doesn't mean I'm going to grow fur inside my belly, does it?"

"Of course not," Comfey said. She turned to Braviary. "Did you need me for something?"

Both Shane and Tessa went rigid. Tessa's tail crinkled and her aura feelers stood up on end. Recalling her earlier conversation with Gallian, she looked right down at the floor, squeaking in fright. Shane sighed. He wanted to do something to help her, but given Comfey's order not to move, nothing came to mind.

"Um, do you think you could come back later?" Shane asked, his voice cracking. "This is a bad time."

Braviary raised an eyebrow. "What's with the frightened looks, you two? Y'all are looking at me like I killed a 'mon."

Shane's tails shot into the air, flinging bits of slime around the room. One of them struck Togedemaru on her cheek. "I really… hate that guy," she hissed, right eye twitching.

Sensing the unease in the room, Comfey floated in front of Braviary. "You know what? Maybe you ought to give the three of them a bit more time. I think they're still recuperating from battle," she said, to Shane's and Tessa's relief.

"If'n y'all ain't in the right frames of mind to talk, then why'd ask fer me, huh?" Braviary said. "Null said y'all had something important you needed to bring to my attention."

Shane and Tessa exchanged panicked looks. They were both hoping they'd have more time to think about this conversation. "Y… you tell him," Tessa whispered.

"Um… I'm not exactly sure how to explain everything," Shane said, ears drooping.

Before he could say anything else, a splash echoed through the room. Null stood beside the water bucket, his head stuck in the purple fluid. "Hey! Hey! I did not okay you to do that," Comfey scolded. She floated over and angrily slapped her tiny arms against Null's side. "Get out of there right now. Do you have any idea how long it takes me to prepare this stuff? I don't want to waste a drop on someone who doesn't need it!"

Null withdrew his head. His helmet now matched the composition of his teammates perfectly. "… sorry. I thought… maybe it could… help break this mask," Null said.

"Ugh. I swear you three have the worst two-week infirmary record of any team I've ever encountered," Comfey declared before draping Null's helmet in a towel and floating over to Braviary in a huff.

Braviary raised a confused brow. "Right. Uh, if'n y'all are done acting like hatchlings, tell me just what happened to get y'all roughed up like this. Shoot, I've seen Mudbray stampede victims looking less worse fer wear."

Tessa realized that Null's childish gesture was likely an attempt to buy them time to think. Unfortunately, it had failed, which meant they had to fess up. Luckily for her, Shane was up to the task. He recounted the events at Sunrise Village, leaving out the things Gallian said about Braviary and Metagross. Tessa's fidgeting intensified through the explanation. She watched Braviary, wondering how he would react to this.

Once Shane finished his recap, Braviary said, "That's mighty concerning." He tapped his talons on the floor. "So, y'all got ambushed by Gallian. And Gallian's working with aliens that know something about the Prism Virus. On top of that, Espeon and Umbreon are escalating whatever crazy plan they've got."

"When I ran into them in Dewdrop Woods last week, they mentioned something about taking out all the gods,'" Shane recalled. "But what would corrupting Mystery Dungeons have to do with that?"

"Most Legends make their homes in Mystery Dungeons, son. I figured you oughta know that, with the way you run that mouth of yours," Braviary said. Shane looked away in embarrassment. "If'n they disrupt the balance of a Mystery Dungeon's natural energy, they're sure to disturb whatever Legend may be sleeping there."

"Wait. If they're doing that, then they might try to attack Temporal Tower. Or the Tree of Life!" Shane said, eyes widening. "If that happens, this world's totally screwed!" It struck him that, if something like that actually happened, he could disappear in the blink of an eye, without even knowing. He couldn't help but shudder.

"… but they've only… done stuff in Horizon… right?" Null said, dropping his now-purple towel to the floor. His helmet still had a purple tint to it. Tessa would've found it funny if she wasn't in the same room as Braviary.

"I suppose we oughta call up the Expedition Society to make sure that's the case," Braviary said. Shane frowned. Would that really solve anything? "What're ya giving me that look fer, son? It's the best idea I can come up with on such short notice," Braviary said, waving his wing. "Besides, we need to talk about the situation in Aurora Vale. Ain't no way I'm letting the three of you mosey on into an obvious trap like that."

"But they said if anyone else shows up in Aurora Vale, they're going to infect Sylveon and Eevee," Tessa cried, aura feelers tensing. "Espeon's psychic-type. She'll surely know if we bring someone along."

"Riolu, ya don't really think them varmints are gonna keep their word, do ya?" Braviary asked. "I reckon that the moment y'all show up there, they're gonna attack you and infect Sylveon and Eevee anyway. From what I've heard, they don't exactly sound like a reasonable pair."

"N-No," Tessa whispered, her gaze falling. "I… I can't lose them too. Not now."

Shane's tails drooped. He wanted to hug Tessa, but knew it would end badly because of the medicine. Instead, he turned to Braviary and asked, "Isn't there anything you could do to, I dunno, power us up or something? Like a special emera or one of Magearna's inventions… anything to help give us a fighting chance against Espeon and Umbreon."

"Strength in numbers, hoss," Braviary replied. "That's the only way yer getting through that kind of situation. Y'all have taken quite a whupping as of late. Frankly, I have half a mind to make y'all stay here."

Shane bit his lip. To him, it sounded like Braviary was setting them up for failure. He shot Tessa a worried look. "You can't keep us here!" Tessa said, getting Shane's memo. "P-Please… you have to let us go after them."

"They're Riolu's friends, Braviary," Shane added. "You're nuts if you think we're going to sit around while Espeon and Umbreon have them. Right?" He looked at Null, who nodded his agreement.

Braviary sighed. "I reckoned you would say something like that. Look, I think y'all are misunderstanding me. I ain't got no intention of sending other guild members in there." Tessa and Shane exchanged confused looks. "But I am going to be flying over the Vale and keeping an eye on y'all," Braviary said. "And I reckon stationing Team Captivate at Borea Heights shouldn't be no problem. That way, I can swoop in and grab them if there's any trouble."

Shane raised a skeptical brow. "Wait, you can just fly into a Mystery Dungeon. Then what's the point of having us exploring these places, huh?"

Braviary lifted his left wing, revealing a small, metallic plate with an electrode sticking out of it. "No way I could just fly into a dungeon on my own without getting attacked or hopelessly lost," he said. "But with this puppy, it's possible. Err… now what did Magearna call this thingamajigger again?"

My Geartronic Dungeon Penetratorizer, Magearna said as she walked into the infirmary. And as I told you the last time you swiperated it from my workshop, it is just a prototype. I have yet to get it to work properly. The most recent tests ended up with a 14.3 percent error margin from the target coordinates.

"Yeah, I've still got the marks from where that Crobat bit my butt. Thanks for that, by the way," Togedemaru said.

You are welcome, Magearna stated, before blinking a few times and saying, wait, that was supposed to be sarcasm, was it not? Drat. I am now at a 31.25 percent sarcasm detection rate for the month.

"Aww, come now, Mags," Braviary said. "There's a first time for everything, ain't there? Including this warp doohickey putting me in the right spot in Aurora Vale."

That is hardly scientific, Magearna said. Not to mention, I haven't fully stabilitized the energy consumption of that device. If you use it improperly, it may melt… or explode.

Sweat drops formed on Braviary's head at this. "Ya don't think ya should've mentioned that earlier?"

I did the last time you tried to use it, Magearna said. Why do you think I had Togedemaru testing it?

"Well, uh…" Braviary preened some feathers on his wing. "If'n Team Radiance is going in, then I'm willing to risk trying this doodad out. Hopefully I won't end up medium-rare as a result."

Shane looked skeptically at the device. "That's your big plan, then?" he asked.

"I reckon so," Braviary said. "Team Captivate and I will escort y'all to Borea Heights. The town's got the entrance to Aurora Vale that's closest to its deepest recesses. Not to mention, a lot of retired explorers live there. They may have some supplies to offer up."

Shane looked over at Tessa. "What do you think?" he asked. "Are you okay with this idea?"

Tessa's gaze switched between Braviary and Shane. Eventually, she nodded slowly. "It's for my friends," she said. "As long as you guys are staying out of Aurora Vale, then I guess we're keeping our part of the deal. So, let's start getting ready."

Comfey cleared her throat. "Would you mind saving the preparations until after I've cleaned the medicine's remnants off you two?"

Tessa looked down at her slimy body and shuddered. "R-Right… getting rid of this stuff would be nice."


"H-Holy Karp! W… what happened here?" Serperior gasped.

The rescue party found themselves standing on the outskirts of the town. Serperior's jaw dropped as she scanned the area. The place was covered in a thick layer of ice. Yellow-brick buildings, dirt paths, and the town square were all frozen solid. A huge slab of ice protruded from what once was a fountain.

"Did we get any word Articuno or Regice were coming to Horizon?" Milotic said, brushing frost off her looplet.

"No," Braviary said. "And if'n one of them is having a temper tantrum on our turf, you can bet the Guildmaster will be making an angry call overseas."

"Wait, is there normally not supposed to be wintry weather here?" Shane asked. "The dungeon's name is Aurora Vale. I was expecting tons of ice."

"You're off base there, Vulpix," Dragonair said. "It's called Aurora Vale because the magnetic flux generated by all the Miniors populating the dungeon makes it so that you can always see an aurora in the sky." She slither up toward the town, cringing as ice brushed her scales. "Plus, this is mostly a retirement community. Older Pokémon wouldn't do so well in cold weather."

"Couldn't've said it better myself, Dragonair," Braviary said. "This is mighty strange."

"Which is exactly why I had the residents evacuate their homes."

The group turned to see a blue-green serpent shuffling forward. He had wool clothing draped over his white, fluffy tail and the white fur covering the base of his torso.

"Who's this old geezer?" Shane whispered to Tessa.

"That's Drampa. One of the residents of Borea Heights, if I'm not mistaken," Milotic replied.

"Hrmph. It's Town Supervisor Drampa, thank you very much," the old dragon huffed. "And you all have a lot of nerve taking this long to show up. I sent my SOS request to your base hours ago."

"Err, apologies, Drampa–"

"Town Supervisor Drampa."

"–Uh, right. Anyway, we've had some pressing matters of our own to attend to," Braviary said. "But we're here now. Ain't that what's important?"

"Hardly!" Drampa snorted. "What could possibly be more important than the entirety of Aurora Vale turning to ice... and said ice encroaching into my precious town?" He raised a paw and stroked his mustache. "The answer is nothing, I tell you. Nothing! Oh, what a miserable day this has turned into. No doubt, they will blame me for this horrifying malady. My approval rating is going to tank because of this."

Shane rolled his eyes. It seemed that, even in the world of Pokémon, he couldn't escape obnoxious politicians.

"Um, Braviary?" Tessa said. "Before we went off to Sunrise Village this morning, Trapinch showed us that something was wrong with the Pokénector. It had this part of the continent blacked out."

"Say what? The Pokénector's never broken before," Serperior said.

"… I think… I might've been right," Null wheezed, rubbing his helmet against the ground "Aurora Vale… is infected. And that infection… is spreading through this town…"

Drampa caught sight of Null and his eyes widened. "W-What in Destiny Tower's name are you supposed to be, boy? And what is this nonsense about 'infection?'" He turned to Braviary. "If you know what's happened to my town I want answers. Answers, I say!"

Shane figured now was as good a time as any to say something. "You ever hear of Espeon and Umbreon? The researchers looking into Entercards?" he asked, walking toward Drampa. The ice was oddly soothing on his paw pads. Shane figured it was his ice-typing at work.

"Of course I have. I'll have you know, I was quite the spry fellow back in the days when the Bittercold was terrorizing the Mist Continent," Drampa said.

An exasperated look overtook Milotic's face. "He acts like it was decades ago," she muttered under her breath.

"Well, we weren't in the guild yet when that stuff happened," Dragonair mused.

"Ladies, can you cut the chit-chat?" Shane growled, silencing them. "Espeon and Umbreon have, um, gotten hold of some sort of otherworldly energy. And they're using it to turn Pokémon into terrifying monsters. Lately, they've expanded to transforming the landscapes of Mystery Dungeons."

"Crabapples!" Drampa spat. "This is one kooky recruit you've got here, Braviary. Any Horizon-dweller knows the Tapus control the Mystery Dung–"

"I'm telling the truth, sir," Shane said, hissing out the last word. "Will you stop thinking about your reputation and listen to me for a minute? This is serious! My teammates and I were in Mellath Bog the other day and it had been turned into a toxic wasteland. We were lucky to get out of there with our fur attached. And now the same thing is happening to Aurora Vale."

"You need to leave, Mr. Drampa. It's not safe to be here," Tessa added. Why couldn't this guy see reason?

"Bah! I'm not about to let a couple of kids and a weirdo who's too afraid to show his face tell me what I need to do," Drampa said, furrowing his oversized brow. "I give out the instructions around here. Not anyone else."

Ice shattered in the distance, jolting everyone to attention. "Ah, look!" Serperior said, pointing her tail forward. "That building just blew apart."

Shane's tails shot into the air at the sight of half a dozen Necrospheres emerging from the rubble of a frozen building. They floated about in erratic patterns, plasma sparks racing across their bodies. "B-Braviary… please tell me those are just the Minior things Dragonair mentioned," Shane said.

Braviary spread his wings apart, shielding both exploration teams. "Son, you could search the whole darn planet, but you ain't finding no Miniors looking like that," he said.

Shane's ears folded against his head. That's what he was afraid of.

The Necrospheres rotated so their glowing-red cores faced the entire group. One of them turned toward its counterparts and let out a robotic beep. Shane's ears stuck up in fright.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing, you fools?" Drampa roared, shoving Braviary aside. "This here is a private residential community! Vandalism is not to be tolerated!"

All the Necrospheres looked about at one another. They sounded a single, high-pitched beep in unison.

"W-Why are they letting out such weird noises?" Tessa whimpered, paws clasping her ears and pushing them against her head. The tone made her skin crawl. She wanted them to stop.

"Are you hooligans listening to me? I'm the town supervisor, here. And I'm about to write you all up on citations! Hoo-hoo, Officer Magnezone is going to have his hands full. But I will not allow my town to fall victim to thugs, even in the midst of chaos!" Drampa declared, stomping about angrily.

The lead Necrosphere hovered forward and looked at its cohorts. It beeped in a lower pitch. The other Necrosphers followed it, their red cores glowing brighter.

"Hey, I don't like the looks of this," Serperior said. "Do we attack them or what?"

"Absolutely. Give 'em yer best shots. In unison, of course!" he ordered, pointing a wing forward. Water, fire, ice, wind, and blue lightning coalesced into a huge beam.

But the guild members' attacks proved useless. Each Necrosphere formed up a hexagonal shield of hard light and brought them together. The stalemate led to a smoke eruption that drove everyone back. "You stupid guild folk are worthless, I tell you! Worthless!" Drampa huffed. "You're wrecking my wonderful town."

The smoke cleared, revealing the Necrospheres had surrounded Drampa. He looked around at them and his aggravated look quickly disappeared. "Hey now. You… you can't attack me. I'm a town supervisor! I'm an authority figure." He gathered blue energy in his mouth.

The Necrospheres all sounded their high-pitched tones in unison. Black and red beams shot forth from their cores. Drampa cried out in pain, collapsed on belly, and then began to tremble. The Necrospheres ceased their attacks and turned on the guild members.

Braviary's brow furrowed. "Listen to me, Team Radiance. Y'all get a move on. Head into Aurora Vale. Leave everything here to us," he said.

Behind them, black crystals encased Drampa's torso and hair. "Are you nuts? We need to help you. Look at what's happening to Drampa!" He pointed a forepaw ahead of him, showing the membranous, purple wings emerging from the crystals on Drampa's body. The fur shed from his tail, leaving a large, purple bulb that ended in a giant gray needle. Purple ooze squirted from the its tip.

"Grrroah! Must... infect!" Drampa roared. The Necrospheres replied with a round of beeps.

"Oh gods, is this what made Bewear into a giant monster?" Serperior said, her face paling.

Braviary turned toward Team Radiance. "Why are y'all still standing there gawking? Go on! Git! Leave these no-good fellers to us." He turned around and sped forward, a bright, shimmering light encasing his body. A roaring Drampa released a blue bolt from his mouth. Braviary skirted the beam and hammered Drampa at the base of his neck.

Tessa winced as Drampa screeched like a angry bird. While she was worried about Team Captivate's safety, she had no desire to fight Drampa. Not with Sylveon and Eevee waiting in Aurora Vale. She nodded at Null, then leaped onto his back. Null lumbered over to Shane and Tessa plucked him off the ground by his tails.

"W-What the–? Hey, put me down! We need to help them," Shane said, thrashing in midair as Tessa pulled him onto Null's fury, scaly backside.

Null ran toward a wall of blue haze. "You heard Braviary. Besides... we can't waste our strength... right now. Otherwise... we'll be easy pickings... for Espeon and Umbreon."

Tessa took one last look back at Borea Heights. "I really hope Braviary actually has their backs," she whispered. "Stay safe you guys."


Ice shavings kicked up along the path as Null skidded to halt. He looked behind him. The dungeon's entrance, two pillars of rock encased in ice, had long since disappeared behind a layer of icy haze. "I think… we're safe," he wheezed.

Tessa disembarked from Null, only to squeal as her paw contacted the ice and she slipped. Her tail jammed against the ground. "Ow, ow, ow, ow!" she cried, eyes bulging out. Shane gingerly got to the ground, gripped the scruff of Tessa's neck, and hoisted her up. Tessa skittered about trying to find her balance, but eventually stood up without support. "Th-Thanks, Shane."

She brought her arms up to her shoulders and rubbed them. "This… is horrifying. I… I've never been so cold. This ice hurts," she whimpered. "My paw pads are in so much pain... and we haven't even been here five minutes!"

"Yeah, this isn't pleasant," Shane said, looking down at his feet. "This ice is unnaturally slick, if you ask me." He glanced at Null. "Hey, big guy. Think you could try to carve some of the ice ahead of us up with Air Slash or Crush Claw?" Shane waited for a response. What he got instead was the sound of raucous coughing.

"Null! Are you okay?" Tessa gasped. She tried to walk over to him, only to slip again. Her muzzle smacked the ice and her eyes widened to the size of melons. "Ow! My nose," she whined, bringing her paws up to grab her throbbing snout. Shane stepped over toward Null, who was on his knees in a coughing fit.

"Chest… hurts…" Null groaned. "Can hardly breath… feels like… the helmet's… suffocating me…"

Shane frowned. This was bad. They hadn't even started looking for Espeon and Umbreon and the cold was already doing his teammates in. Shane would have to put on a brave face if they had any hope of getting through this place in once piece.

"You don't think your mask's possessed or something, do you?" he asked. Null shook his head. "In any case, we can't sit around here. What if more of those floating rocks show up? We're sitting Duckletts like this." Shane helped Tessa back to her feet again. "I hate to ask this, but do you think you could carry Riolu? I don't want her catching frostbite."

"Frostbite?" Tessa said, looking worriedly at her feet. Shane flinched. He probably could've phrased that better.

With a few deep breaths, Null was back on his feet. Tessa grabbed hold of his fur and hoisted herself up. She gripped the back corners of Null's helmet and dug her knees into his sides.

"Okay, we'd better get moving," Shane said, cautiously walking forward. It didn't take long for the ice to grow even slicker, however. Shane bent his knees to stop himself from sliding forward. The path turned into a small hill that he rode down into an icy basin. He quickly stepped to his side to make sure Null didn't slam him from behind. Null used his talons to halt his progress.

"There are a bunch of… big icy rocks… sticking up here," Null observed.

"Yeah, they're ice boulders," Shane said. His brow furrowed as he looked out across the basin. It all looked disturbingly familiar to him.

Shane's eyes widened. "Argh! I know exactly what this is. It's a god damn ice sliding puzzle! These aren't supposed to be here!" he hissed.

"What do you mean?" Tessa asked.

"The ground's way too slick to walk on. As soon as one of us takes a step forward, we're getting whisked off in whatever direction we're facing, and we can't change our course," Shane explained. "We need to use the boulders to plot the right course to the other side of the basin."

"Well, which way do we go?" Tessa asked, poking her head out from behind Null's mask.

"Um… well…" Shane bit his lower lip. "I'm not really sure. I was always terrible at these things back home. It always took me half an hour just to solve the Snowpoint City Gym puzzle." He gnashed his teeth together. "Of all the mechanics that could wind up here…"

"Guess we just... need to employ… a little trial and error," Null said. He took a step forward and slid across the ice. He came to a stop by one of the boulders and proceeded to adjust his course. Null slid off to his right, striking the side of the basin. Tessa squeaked as snow fell on her from the edge of the basin. She hurriedly brushed it off her fur, shivering. "Sorry about that," Null muttered.

"Null! That's definitely the wrong way," Shane said. "If you go north or south, you'll just end up in a loop that brings you back here."

Sighing, Null slid off to his south, looking to return to Shane. However, when he hit the ice boulder in the corner, it shattered. Three Necrospheres fluttered out of it. They fixed their glowing cores on Null. Electrically-charged rocks gathered up around them. Null encased his helmet in steel. With vigorous shakes, he deflected the projectiles.

A burst of psychic energy struck the Necrosphere on Null's left. It hit its teammates like a line of dominoes and their crystallized remains fell into clumps of snow on the rim of the basin.

"Looks like… there are enemies… lurking here," Null said, coughing.

"Do you think Espeon and Umbreon placed them there as part of a trap?" Tessa wondered, rubbing her paws together.

"Undoubtedly," Null said. He slid back over to Shane's location and relayed Tessa's thought.

Shane frowned. "Great, so we get penalized for doing this puzzle wrong. That's awful!" He rubbed his cheek with a forepaw. If only he could get a better vantage point. After a few seconds thinking, Shane's eyes widened. "Wait, that's it," he said. "Riolu, I need you to stand on top of Null's head and see if you can spot a path across the basin."

Tessa forcefully exhaled into her paws and rubbed her shoulders. "But I'm so cold… I can barely even move," she said.

"C'mon, Riolu. You're a head taller than I am. And you've done a great job with navigating in the other dungeons. We really need you here," Shane said, hoping the words of encouragement would help. Tessa nodded shakily and climbed atop Null's helmet. Null stuck his neck upward as best he could, though he was visibly straining from the combined weight of Tessa and his mask.

"I think I've got something," Tessa said. "We all assumed we needed to go up, down, right, or left to start this. But it looks like the key is to move diagonally." She pointed her paw ahead of her, where a particularly large ice boulder jutted out from the ground. "That's where we should go first."

"Okay. Then, I think it's best if I go first, so Tessa can stay here and give directions. If it's the right way, you guys follow me," Shane said. He stepped onto the ice and slid forward, coming to a stop by the large boulder. Tessa continued relaying instructions as Shane zigzagged about the area. One of the rocks he hit turned into another Necrosphere trap. But Null disoriented them with air slash blades from afar, allowing Shane to freeze them solid. They dropped to the ground and shattered on impact.

"You're almost there," Tessa said. "Just head over to your right, then go straight forward. That should bring you to the clearing."

Shane slide forward to his right. His paw brushed against a lump in the ice, leading to a click that made his blood run cold.

'Did I just trigger another tr–'

The ice exploded, jettisoning Shane forward with a howl of terror. He struck the far wall basin with a sickening crunch, knocking off a mound of snow that piled on top of him.

"Shane!" Tessa gasped, the image of his blackened belly and legs burned into her retinas. "Come on, we've got to help him."

"But he broke… one of the rocks we needed… to reach him," Null said. "Which way… am I supposed to go?"

The combination of frigid temperatures and adrenaline made Tessa shake while her vision went blurry. She had to get to Shane. She just had to.

"Up and to the left," Tessa said, sitting down on Null's back. He stepped onto the ice and slid across in an effort to catch up to Shane. However, his talons grazed another lump in the ice, leading to another loud click.

The ground fell out from beneath Null's hind legs. Tessa screamed and grabbed hold of Null's feathery head crest for dear life as he slid into a pitfall. Growling, Null dug his talons into the ice. Null managed to stop himself, but not before the lower half of his body dangled over the edge of the ice, leaving Tessa dangling. She looked down the pitfall and her eyes widened at the sight of strange, flickering red light.

"Pull us up, Null! Pull us up!" she shrieked, kicking her legs wildly. "There's something down there and I don't want to find out what it is!"

"I'm… trying," Null hissed, straining his limbs to try and hoist them back up.

"Skraaaw!"

Null looked up and his eyes widened. "Wha… what was that?" Tessa asked.

"Skarmories," Null grunted, watching the trio of metal birds circling overhead. With considerable effort, he managed to get his whole body back up on the ice, but immediately crumpled to his side, wheezing loudly.

Tessa looked up and went bug-eyed as the Skarmories swooped down, talons at the ready. She meekly threw her arms up and braced for pain. But a high-pitched shriek echod through the basin, followed by a crash and furious squawking. She peeked an eye open and saw the Skarmories lying in the remains of an ice boulder.

"You guysh okay?"

Tessa turned to see Shane standing on top of the snow pile that had buried him. The collision with the wall had left him with a blackened right eye, a swollen snout, and a very large welt on the right side of his head. She grimaced at the sight of specks of red on his chest. Shane swayed back and forth uneasily.

"Y-Yeah. We're fine," Tessa said, looking over her shoulder to confirm Null had gotten back to his feet. "But you're totally not."

"Ish fine," Shane said, his swollen face slurring his speech. "Jusht a shlite concushion. Don't… y'know… let me fall ashleep or anything. You can totally shlide over here, now."

"We'd better… hope these berries… can fix him up," Null said. He extended a foreleg to let Tessa climb aboard and slid over to the mound of snow. Tessa got a pair of sitrus and lum berries out and handed one of each to Shane. As he nibbled away at them, Tessa squished the other berries against his face.

"Ach! That stings!" Shane hissed. The juice quickly crusted over in the frigid air. Then, it vanished, leaving Shane's face mostly as it was before triggering the trap. "What was that for?" Shane asked.

"Comfey said berry juices can sometimes help heal injuries in the field. Like first aid, or something," Tessa said. "You look much better now." Sure, there was still see some black and blue around his eye. And he reeked of burnt fur. But that was better than the alternative.

"Well, let's just move forward. Those Skarmories are going to be very mad once they can untangle themselves," Shane said. The trio slid their way across the last bits of ice and quickly departed the basin. Fog blanketed the path behind them, leaving the previous area nothing but a memory for Team Radiance.

Shane looked up, past the frozen trees, to stare at the sky. "Hey, Riolu. Is the aurora over this valley supposed to look purple and red?" he said.

"How should I know?" Tessa said, following Shane's gaze. "W-What the–? But it was barely early afternoon when we arrived at Borea Heights. How could it become nighttime so quickly?"

"I don't think… the sun's actually set," Null said. "Something else… is messing up the sky… over this place…"

"Probably the same thing that's turned this dungeon into a Glacier Palace wannabee," Shane said.

Just then, a wall of red energy formed up at the other end of the path. A black, winged-heart insignia appeared on it. Team Radiance all turned around to see an identical barrier behind them. "And we're trapped," Shane said. "Which means…"

A few of the frozen trees burst apart and a pack of Necrospheres floated out. Behind them, a pair of Skarmory flew in. Unlike the ones the group had left behind, these Skarmories had black bodies and serrated wing-blades. They landed in front of the Necrospheres and spread their wings out, cawing defiantly.

"Yup. Monster House, right on schedule," Shane said, groaning.

"I'm starting to get the feeling… Braviary was right… about Espeon and Umbreon… not planning to stick to their end of the deal," Null said, lunging for one of the Skarmories. It took off, dodging Null's talons, while its counterpart drilled into Null's side with its black beak.

Opposite Null, Shane and Tessa hopped about, dodging red lasers from the Necrospheres. "If one of those hits us, we could be in a ton of trouble!" Shane said, looking at the smoking crater left by one of the lasers.

"Well, what are we supposed to do? I have to get in close to hit these guys," Tessa said, hunched over and shivering. "And... I can barely move... in this cold."

Hearing his teammates' concerns, Null backed away from the Skarmories. But they followed him, trying to slash him with their wings. Null lunged at a Skarmory, jerking his head as he made contact. His teammates delighted to see the Skarmory strike the Necrospheres. Despite their shields, half of them exploded on impact.

Relief gave way to panic on the part of Shane and Tessa. "Look out!" Shane barked, lunging for Tessa. They slid across the ice and struck the base of a nearby tree. Shane donkey-kicked Tessa out of the way of falling icicles. The resulting pain was awful, but he could bear it knowing he had gotten Tessa out of harm's way.

Except the second Skarmory had gotten around Null and now looked to spear Tessa from behind. "Riolu, look alive!" Null shouted, but it wasn't soon enough. Tessa smacked the tree and sank onto her belly.

Shane looked down at his injured teammate, her face twisted into a grimace. With a snarl, Shane shrieked at Skarmory. Null leaped up and slammed his metal-coated helmeted into his disoriented foe. Skarmory's teammates barely avoided it careening back through the air.

"I think they're up to something," Shane said, staring at the other Skarmory and its Necrosphere buddies. He silently prayed a Reviver Seed would kick in for Tessa soon. Otherwise, he wasn't sure if he could protect her.

Cawing, the lead Skarmory swung its legs forward. Red, glowing, spike-covered cubes shot out toward the ground. The Necrospheres fired electricity at the cubes. "Jump!" Null cried, lunging into a nearby snowbank.

Lightning struck the cube farthest from Shane, sending a current across the ice. Shane kicked Tessa behind the tree and flatted himself against the trunk. Electricity grazed the tips of his tails. Eyes watering, Shane bit into the frozen tree without even thinking. He curled up his tails, trying to will the electricity away. But it wouldn't die down. At least Tessa was back on her feet, though she also clung to the tree, eyes widened in panic.

Frenzied caws made Shane's ears stick up. The Skarmories were coming for him! He was sure of it! He had to attack. It was Extrasensory or bust. 'I need a miracle!' Shane thought, squeezing his eyes shut.

A tiny seed struck a Skarmory, then an explosion engulfed them. Shane released his stored psychic energy, intensifying the blast. The remaining Necrospheres vanished in bursts of napalm, leaving only red and black smoke trails behind.

Shane released his grip on the tree trunk and slid to the ground, relieved that the enemies were gone and, with them, the barrier halting their progress. Shane rolled onto his back, breath coming in ragged gasps.

"Buh... berries... please," he wheezed.

"Um... why do you think those guys didn't, y'know, turn all colorless like the other infected Pokémon?" Tessa said, rummaging through her item pouch.

"They might not... have been real," Null said, limping over to his teammates. "Espeon and Umbreon... probably made them... somehow..."

Tessa's fur prickled. If those two could conjure up all of these enemies, what chance did they even have against them? She knew she shouldn't think like that, but she couldn't help it. Tessa busied herself offering healing items to her teammates.

"I guess we've got to forge on ahead," Shane said, looking up at the sky once again. A shiver ran along his back. He actually found himself wishing he was back in Mellath Bog. At least there, he was underground, with no black sky to intimidate him.

"Hold up… Shane…"

He stopped mid-stride and looked over his shoulder. Tessa lay on the ice, curled up in a shivering ball. "I… I can't… t-too cold," she whispered trough chattering teeth.

"Hey, hey!" Shane said, trotting to her. "You can't lay down on the ice. It's just going to make it worse. Pick her back up, Null."

Shane leaned over, only to flinch from hearing Tessa's sobs. "My whole body hurts, Shane. I can't take this cold anymore!" she said. "Please... make it stop."

Null bent over and, to Shane's surprise, curled himself up around Tessa. She squeaked in surprise but, after a few seconds, her teeth stopped chattering. "Is that… any better?" Null asked. Shane's ears twitched at the sound of Tessa's heavily-muffled voice, but he was unable to make out her response.

It wasn't long before Null uncurled, however, allowing Tessa to climb onto his back yet again. "Looks like we're… good to go," he said.

Shane nodded and took his place beside his teammates. The team continued forward, disappearing into the fog once again.

The Monster House gave way to more ice sliding puzzles. All the while, the oddly-colored aurora filling the sky progressively disappeared. After navigating a longer maze, Team Radiance looked up and found the sky had turned completely red. Black lightning bolts raced across their heads. Each one made Tessa's aura feelers jump.

"Guys, this doesn't feel right," Tessa whispered. "I don't want to be here anymore. I want to leave!"

"But what about Sylveon and Eevee?" Shane said.

Tessa squeaked and threw her arms up over her chest, shivering wildly. Of course she wanted to rescue them. Yet, something felt wrong. "The air here… it's suffocating," she said.

"All the more reason… to press onward," Null wheezed.

"Look, I just think we need to stop… and come up with some sort of plan," Tessa said.

"But a plan for what, exactly?" Shane wondered, sitting on the snow.

"I don't know," Tessa said. "That, maybe?" She pointed a paw skyward. "It just feels like something's going to pop up in the sky and blast us to smithereens or… or suck the life out of us like what's happened to the infected Pokémon we've fought."

Null tapped her on the shoulder. "What? What's the matter?" Tessa said.

He pointed the same talon forward. "Is that… what's making you flip out?" he asked

Tessa looked over her shoulder and her eyes went wide at the sight of a black monolith, surrounded by a cluster of crystals. Its winged heart sigil glowed prominently against the dark sky. "Oh no. Not again," she squeaked.

It was exactly like Mellath Bog. Shane figured the monolith had covered the dungeon in ice. "This must mean we're at the end," he said, turning to Tessa. "See? We can't turn back. We're this close to saving Sylveon and Eevee. Then we can get the hell out of here and never come back."

Tessa clasped her paws together and nodded slowly. Shane was right. She couldn't give up here. Tessa shuffled forward, taking care to stick as close to Null as possible. The trio slowly approached the monolith, stopping on a very large patch of icy ground. "Ah, look! There they are," Tessa said, pointing a shaking arm forward.

Shane gulped. Tessa's friends were trapped inside one of the black crystals. How could Team Radiance free them from something so alien?

"Well, what do you know? You actually showed up. Wonderful! I do love Pokémon that can satisfy me."

All three members of Team Radiance tensed up as Espeon emerged from behind the crystals. Umbreon tailed along after her, wearing his usual look of disinterest. "I'll admit, Umbry and I had our doubts. But I should've known better. You three always know how to surprise." She fixed her gaze on Shane. "And I love what you've all done with your fur. Purple and black looks great on you! I take it this means you're going to accept my lovely offer?" She batted her eyelashes at him.

Shane's heart skipped a beat. Was she... flirting? With him? Why? Shane shook his head. He had to focus. Tessa was counting on him!

"Even if we were considering it, there's no way we're joining up with you two after seeing what you left waiting in the wings for us back there," Shane said. "I'll bet you never even planned on keeping your end of the deal, anyway!"

Espeon feigned a hurt expression. "How could you say that to me? After all we've been through together, I thought we had something special between us." The forked ends of her tail formed into a heart. Shane's face went bright red and he abruptly looked away, biting his lower lip.

"Drop the act, Espy," Umbreon snorted. He jerked his head toward the monolith. "We're not here to play games. You know that."

"Fine. Here I wanted to be all welcoming, since we're going to be on the same team soon. But some Pokémon–" she gave Umbreon a vindictive look, "–can't be bothered to show some manners. So, let's hit the fast-forward button, shall we? Ahem…"

She stepped to her right, mimicking Tessa's nervous look. "You, like, give me my friends back, like, right now! O-Or… um… or else we're gonna, like, attack you and stuff."

"Hey, I do not sound like that," Tessa said, but her voice cracked. She looked away in embarrassment.

Espeon stepped back to her original position and shook her head. "It appears we're at an impasse, then. You want your friends. We have orders not to give them up unless you and your human boy-toy come and join us."

"Wait… orders? So, you are being manipulated!" Shane said, though the revelation wasn't as relieving as he had hoped. "Who's calling the shots here? A Legend? Invading alien forces? Tell us. We can help you guys!"

Umbreon glared at his partner and shoved her to the side. "Espy, you dolt! You're giving too much away," he hissed.

"Oh, p'shaaw. What's the problem? Once they're infected, they'll know the full story. I'm just giving them a short teaser. Zero will be happy not to waste her time explaining everything to them," Espeon said.

Black lightning from the monolith struck the ground beside Espeon, leaving it charred black. Espeon's face blanched and she skirted close to her teammate. "See? We've talked enough already," Umbreon scoffed. "Last chance to lay down those scarves and surrender, punks."

Shane still wasn't sure why his scarf was so important to them, but he didn't care. "Not a chance," he said. Shane looked over at his teammates. "You guys ready? I get the feeling this isn't going to be easy."

Null hunched over and brushed the ice with a foreleg. Tessa took in a deep breath and raised her fists. With their guild mates preoccupied, there was no one to bail them out. It was up to them to win the fight on their own.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk," Espeon said, shaking her head. "I suppose you three can't be blamed for any of this. You're ignorant. Just like everyone else."

She and Umbreon hopped down from their perch, eyes flashing red in unison. Heat sent Team Radiance scrambling forward. Shane looked back and saw red, hexagonal, hard-light tiles forming a wall behind him. Identical walls encased each side of the icy arena, climbing until they were higher than the monolith. A ceiling of black tiles appeared, blocking out the vortex in the sky and bathing the battlefield in dark red. Flashes of light erupted on each wall as Necrozma's star icon appeared on them.

"By the time this is over, we'll make sure you understand just how worthless the gods really are," Espeon said. A red glow encased her body and she lifted a forepaw. Four life-sized, holographic cards appeared in front of her, each bearing a winged heart icon inside differently-colored symbols.

Shane's eyes widened. He recognized those symbols! A heart, spade, diamond, and a club. Just like human playing cards.

"Once you've seen just how powerful our Ultra Entercards can be, you'll be as excited for the Legend-free world as we are," Espeon declared. "Isn't that right, Umbry?"

Umbreon snorted in response. He slammed a forepaw on the ground and all four cards flipped over, revealing four different colored wormholes. Umbreon leaped into the blue one, disappearing from the fight. The cards vanished. Team Radiance huddled up, utterly baffled as to what was happening.

"You're battling on our terms, now," Espeon said. "And, in this scenario, the house always wins! Uhuu huu huu!"

As soon as she finished laughing the diamond on her forehead flashed. Several tiles disappeared from the walls and lined the arena. Espeon fired a pink waveform beam toward the nearest tile. It reflected toward Team Radiance

"Hit the deck!" Shane shouted, sprawling out onto his belly and sliding forward on the ice. Tessa fell beside him but Null leaped back instead. Espeon grinned and flicked her tail. Her attack banked off another tile. Null hit the ice with a groan and a heavy thud.

Thinking it safe, Tessa stood up, only to blanche in the face of the ricocheting Psybeam. She rolled left, only for an entirely different blast to blow her into the far wall. Red electricity surged through her body, drawing an agonized howl. Tessa crumpled to the ground, a smoldering blue ball.

Shane's eyes widened. The wall was electrified? He couldn't think over this predicament for long, however. Something hard struck his side. Shane was flying into Espeon's attack! Psychic energy pummeled him into the ground. That was one attack. One attack and he hurt so bad he could barely move.

"That's right, roll over and take it, human. You rank amateurs don't realize how utterly outclassed you are," Espeon hissed. "You said it yourselves. We've faced the Bittercold's forces. We've had to look Kyurem right in the eyes. And that was without the power boost from the Prism Virus. Do you really think you can even so much as land a hit on us? Don't make me laugh! What a fever dream!"

Air crescents flew in from Espeon's right, but the red, heart-bearing card sucked the attack into its vortex. Null slapped the ice in frustration, only for the card to reappear next to him. There was no time to dodge. Air blades battered his hide. The pain forced him to the ground.

Shane flinched. He couldn't lose his nerve, even if they were outgunned! Shane needed to get some offense going, but he got choked up trying to conjure icy air. The blue Entercard was right in front of him! He had to move, now!

Black wisps poured out of the card. Shane was defenseless. Umbreon barrled into him. Shane skipped across the ice like a living rock on a riverbed until he skidded to a stop far from his teammates. His flanks burned. Why did these attacks hurt so much?!

Umbreon charged ahead, racing past Tessa's meek paw strikes. He disappeared into the green Entercard while his partner's eyes glows. The card split into four copies that fell on the ice. Shane and Tessa struggled to their feet, exchanging panicked looks. What were they supposed to attack?

"Is this supposed to be Double Team?" Tessa said. "Which one's the real one?"

As if on cue, the card on their left flipped over. A black glob floated upwards and split in six. Shane and Tessa bolted in opposite directions. That looked nothing like a Shadow Ball or a Dark Pulse.

"Ha! Nowhere to run, kiddies," Espeon shouted, eyes flashing blue. The blobs exploded, bathing the arena in dark energy. Tessa yelped and threw her arms up. Intense winds buffeted her, yet there was no pain.

"H-How?" Tessa gasped, opening her eyes. It was Null! He had shielded her!

Null stood in front of her, firing air crescents despite his fatigue. Shane raced awkwardly toward his teammate. He had to do something to help. Shane mustered the best cloud of frosty air he could manage. His heart sank when Espeon negated Null's attacks with the yellow Entercard while Umbreon popped out of the real green card and vaporized his Frost Breath with a black beam. That was the last thing Shane saw before pain filled his world and everything went black.

"No! Get up, Shane!" Tessa called. Sure, they had Reviver Seeds, but would they even work?

"Worry about yourself, bi[size=4t[/size]ch," Espeon growled, leaping into the yellow card.

Tessa looked around frantically. Where was Espeon going to pop up? She had to be ready. Tessa couldn't withstand another psychic blow.

"Left!" Null shouted, helmet hardening into iron. Tessa turned and her world erupted in a brilliant white flash. It was even strong enough to envelop Null. The fairy energy was too overwhelming. Like Shane, they both collapsed in unconscious heaps.

"That was so easy, I almost feel sorry," Espeon scoffed, flicking her snout skyward. "Guess Zero was right. We should never have bothered toying with you three."

"Excuse me. What's this 'we' business all about? I wanted to attack them like this from the beginning," Umbreon said. "Besides, look." He pointed a forepaw down to the ice, where all three members of Team Radiance were staggering back to their feet.

"I guess we couldn't touch your Reviver Seed stock after all," Espeon said. "No matter. Because there aren't enough Reviver Seeds in the universe to help you if I break all your legs!" This time, Espeon disappeared into the red card.

Umbreon shot a black beam toward Null and Tessa. Null shoved Tessa away and jumped over the attack. He was going to get a hit in this time, he was sure of it!

"Uhuu huu huu! Nice try, big guy!"

The red card was level with him! Null couldn't escape in midair. A pink blast shot him into the wall, where he seized up from the electricity. Null dropped to the ground, where the ice cracked beneath him.

Shane's blood boiled. This had become a complete disaster. Without even thinking, he blew icy air at the red Entercard. It was supposed to be a show of frustration, so imagine Shane's surprise when the card shattered like a dropped pane of glass. Espeon fell screaming to the ground. Shane looked at the wall on right, where the star icon had turned completely black.

There was something they could do, after all. "Guys! We have to attack the Entercards! It's the only way to stop Espeon and Umbreon from moving so fast," Shane declared.

"Not going to happen, human!" Umbreon bellowed, disappearing into the shadows. Next thing Shane knew, he was sprawled out on his belly, pinned under Umbreon's forelegs. "Time to shut you up," Umbreon growled, black energy gathering in his forehead ring.

"Back off!"

Tessa charged in, fists at the ready. The yellow Entercard was at Umbreon's side, ready to keep him safe. Tessa threw caution to the wind and hurtled her fists forward. She punched right through the card. Umbreon lost his concentration, yelping. Shane had an opening! He tickled Umbreon's belly with his tails.

"Augh!" Umbreon hollered, weakness shooting through his legs. Shane shimmied to freedom, then buffeted Umbreon with icy winds. Yes! He had finally gotten in a clean hit. And Espeon's pained wails made him realize he wasn't the only one.

Behind him, Null silenced Espeon with a swipe of his glowing claws. To Null's satisfaction, her forehead diamond splintered. It served her right. Except the diamond was still glowing. Null jumped back. His right hip tingled. He looked at it and growled. Her Psybeam had still gotten him. Worse, it was heading right for Tessa. Null couldn't get to her fast enough. He prayed she could dodge it, safely.

Tessa tried to backpedal, but slipped on the ice. She spun helplessly across the ground. Espeon seized her chance and opened the blue Entercard next to Umbreon. Tessa knew what was coming. "Help me!" she shouted. She had to stop or else–

It was no good. Shadows filled her vision, followed by searing pain. She was sliding even faster across the ice, now. She couldn't stop. The wall was approaching. Tessa was going to get electrocuted for sure!

"Nngh!"

Tessa hit something fluffy and came to a stop. Oh, thank the gods, Shane had made it to her in time. Shane whirled around on instinct and spewed frosty air. He thanked his lucky stars when his ice destroyed the blue Entercard. Shane felt a perverse satisfaction seeing Umbreon hit the ice face-first. Hopefully, Umbreon wouldn't remember this once Team Radiance had won and freed him.

"You may have some new tricks, but the two of you were always researchers first and battlers second," Shane said, while Tessa stepped up and struck Umbreon's chest with her palms. Umbreon hit the wall and Shane froze him solid while he was seizing up. He hoped that would keep Umbreon quite so they could focus on a single target.

Shane and Tessa were dismayed to see Null lying unconscious at Espeon's feet. Likewise, she didn't take kindly to the life-sized ice cube that was her partner. "Okay, you want to play dirty?" she said, eyes glowing pink. "I can play so dirty it'll make a Trubbish blush!" Ice swirled around her. Shane and Tessa knew they needed to attack, but were completely dumbstruck by the sight of Espeon molding an ice sculpture of herself.

"Umbry's a great partner and all that. But sometimes, you've just got to learn to love yourself. Know what I'm saying, handsome?" Espeon said, locking eyes with Shane. He tensed up. Why did she keep saying stuff like that? "Of course you do. I'll bet the only love you're used to getting is from your own rosy paws," Espeon continued, smirking. "Now, if you'd like to give up, I'm sure I can rectify that."

Espeon looked up and saw one of the two darkened stars had refilled with light. With a psychic blast, she launched her ice-double at Shane and Tessa. Neither had an answer for the attack, so they fled. The double erupted in a whirlwind of snowy air seconds later. By the time they'd gotten their bearings again, Espeon was already gone.

"Quick. We need a little healing session," Shane said. Tessa handed him a pair of berries, looking around in a panic. Espeon would never give the a chance to heal.

The yellow card appeared on her left. "Run!" Tessa shouted. Her warning was too late. Pink light erupted around her. Then there was a painful shock. Shane hit the ground next to her right before she passed out.

Null was finally back on his feet, but Umbreon's icy prison was breaking apart. He had to strike quickly. But Entercards appeared on his left and right. Null jerked his head right, praying his guess was correct. Blood splattered against his metallic mask. Espeon took a few steps backward. Null had knocked the wind out of her. Now, he just had to finish her off.

Dark energy hammered Null's side, knocking him across the ice. Umbreon was by Espeon's side in an instant. "Espy! Are you okay?" he said.

"Do I look okay to you?!" she shrieked, whirling on Umbreon to show a pair of black eyes, a bloody snout, and the shattered diamond on her forehead. "How could you let yourself get frozen? Are you trying to lose? Do I even need to remind you of the consequences, here?!"

"I'm trying my best," Umbreon said, stone-faced.

"Well, try harder, damn it!" Espeon screeched, smacking him across the cheek. "I'm not getting the life sucked out of me again. I can't deal with that again! Back me up, here!"

"Don't you take that tone of voice with me, Espy!" Umbreon snarled. "What do you think I've been doing? That human caught a lucky break figuring out the trick with our cards. We can still win."

"Cover me while I heal," Espeon hissed. She shut her eyes and a small, orange ball appeared above her head.

Shane had managed to revive again, only for his jaw to drop.

Espeon had Morning Sun. After everything they had done, she barely looked any worse for wear!

"No!" Shane roared, releasing sound waves. Umbreon thought he could dispel them with his green Entercard, but Tessa ran through it with a burst of speed. Shane's sound waves blew Espeon and Umbreon away. But any hope he had of sending them into the electrified wall was dashed when they tumbled into the newly-repaired blue Entercard instead.

"Brace yourselves, guys!" Shane said, looking about the arena. They were going to appear someone for a surprise attack. But where? Where?

"Red card over by the crystals!" Tessa barked. Shane turned to find two Necrospheres floating out of the red Entercard. He frowned. Where did they come from?

The Necrospheres wasted no time in bombarding Team Radiance with bright-orange fireballs. Shane and Null failed to snuff them out with ice and wind. They were way too large! Shane bolted from his spot, running about in a frenzied panic. The Necrospheres weren't stopping! Volley after volley of fireballs rained down on Team Radiance. Their legs aches, but none of them wanted to see how badly a fireball would hurt.

"Oh, for the love of– this is why everyone hates bosses that summon flunkies," Shane growled. "For god's sake, I'm in a Mystery Dungeon, not Gradius level!" Someone had to make a move on them, even if it meant getting hurt. Shane threw caution into the wind and ran toward the Necrospheres, nearly getting scorched in the process.

"Take this!" he shouted, shooting psychic ripples from his glowing eyes. They had to hit. Otherwise, he was sure to get burnt to cinders!

A loud clang made Shane's ears stick up in joy. He'd hit a Necrosphere and knocked it into the wall. It looked ready to fall apart at a moment's notice. But, wait, something was wrong. The Necrosphere wasn't breaking. It was falling... right toward him!

"Get out of there, Shane!" Tessa shouted.

Shane tried roaring at the Necrosphere. It was no good. He turned to run, but electricity rooted him to the ground. Shane's eyes widened. He had forgotten about the other Necrosphere! Shane bowed his head, praying a Reviver Seed was strong enough to keep him safe.

The broken Necrosphere exploded. Napalm and molten metal washed over Shane. For a brief moment, Shane felt each and every hair fiber burning away. Then, he blacked out.

Tessa held her paws up to her muzzle. Shane was careening through the air, charred beyond all recognition. She dropped to her knees. This couldn't be happening. Not when they had finally patched things up with each other!

"Cover me!" Null said, running off to try and catch Shane. Tessa looked up to see the other Necrosphere looking to attack the defenseless Shane. Her blood boiled.

"Don't you dare!" she barked, using a burst of speed to close the distance and then striking the Necrosphere's core with a glowing palm. Cracks splintered across its body. Tessa used the newly-formed fissures to grab hold of it. She wouldn't let this Necrosphere get away with the same devious trick. She hurled it into the Entercard that had summoned them. Its destruction did nothing to lift her spirits.

Null succeeded in catching Shane. He placed Shane on the ground. Tessa ran toward him, praying for a Reviver Seed to work its magic. She sucked in a breath as Shane's eyes slowly opened. He was in pain. With his fur coat gone, he had no protection against the cold. Shane was shivering intensely. Tears streamed down his eyes, freezing against his bare cheeks.

"This is bad," Tessa said. "At this rate, we'll run out of Reviver Seeds and those two will be no worse for wear. What do we do?"

"I don't know!" Shane panicked, blinking tears from his eyes. "They're too fast. And the cards make them move faster and give them stupid, unfair enemy-summoning powers. We have to... I..." He was at a complete loss. It really did seem hopeless.

"Surprise!"

White light followed Espeon's voice out of the blue Entercard. Shane's frightened cry was cut off by a force jerking him backwards. Something itchy was underneath him. He blinked the light out of his eyes. Null had put Shane on his back. And not a moment to soon.

"What are you doing?" Shane gasped, a bewildered Tessa sitting beside him. "You're making us into easy pickings."

"No… I'm taking their maneuverability… out of the equation," he growled. Null slammed a foreleg on the ice, splintering it. "Hey! You want us? Come and get us!" he roared, before turning to his teammates and whispering, "Ready your attacks, and strike the cards when they appear."

The blue and red Entercards popped up on either side of Team Radiance. Air blades and icy winds destroyed them both, revealing Umbreon. Tessa hopped off Null's back and slammed into Umbreon's spine. She retreated onto Null's back, expecting Espeon to have a trap lying in wait.

Her prediction was proven correct by the yellow Entercard appeared behind Null. Tessa lunged and punched it apart with a fistful of electricity. "Now, Shane!" she shouted, pointing at a dazed Espeon. Shane got the memo and breathed out so much frost that Espeon resembled the ice sculpture she had previously made of herself.

Tessa knew this was her chance. She doubled back toward Espeon, mouth open wide. Tessa sank her blackened fangs into Espeon's shoulder, willing her opponent to black out. She was getting Sylveon and Eevee back!

Hissing, Espeon summoned the green Entercard beneath her. Tessa realized Espeon planned to drag her into the card. Luckily, her teammates were already by her side. Shane stuck out a forepaw and Tessa grabbed it. He and Null hoisted her back out of range of the Entercard's vortex.

It wasn't a complete victory, however, as Espeon sniped Tessa's tail with a pink beam. Tessa yipped, rubbing the singed fur at the base of her tail. She downed an oran berry, trying to stifle a newfound urge to rip Espeon's tail off in retribution.

"Nice job," Null said. "But Umbreon… took advantage of Espeon's distraction." Null's teammates looked around his head to see a soft, white glow fading from around Umbreon's body. The scuffs that Tessa's earlier attacks dealt him had disappeared, leaving him healthy and able to glare daggers at Team Radiance.

Shane groaned. How could he not of seen this coming? Moonlight to match Espeon's Morning Sun. "This isn't funny, you know!" he growled. "I don't care what universe I'm in, healing bosses will always su–"

Null unexpectedly took off to dodge a black beam from Umbreon. Shane was forced to bite into Null's scaly, furry back to avoid flying off his teammate. It took every ounce of willpower not to hurl. Null dug his claws into the ice and spun around. He shut a bevy of air blades in Umbreon's direction.

Umbreon smirked as multiple Entercards appeared around him. "Quickly, attack," Null said, pivoted so his teammates faced the cards. Shane let loose psychic ripples, blowing apart the cards. Tessa sprang off Null and struck a socked a bewildered Espeon with an electrified fist. Even if Espeon and Umbreon could heal themselves, their unconventional attacks were taking a toll on them. Team Radiance, on the other hand, had elixirs at the ready

Umbreon jumped up and used a hastily-summoned barrier to catch Espeon before she struck the wall. They landed, only to gasp in shock as chilled air turned them into living snowmons.

Seeing them frozen brought a smile to Shane's face. "Ha ha! Nice try, but you just activated my Trap Card: 'Winter's Coming.' It lets me bypass all cards in play on the field for a direct attack!" he said.

"Seriously, Shane?" Tessa groaned. It's not like things were going terribly well for them.

"I'm sorry, I had to do it," Shane said. "After all the crap they've given us, that was so satisfying!"

Tessa rolled her eyes and hit Umbreon with a glowing palm. Howling, he hit the wall. He collapsed into a smoldering pile of black fur beside an equally-charred Espeon.

"Enough is enough, you two. Please!" Shane said. "You're not like the other infected Pokémon, are you? You can fight this crazy Prism Virus thing. I know it. Remember all the good you've done!"

A glob of spit smacked Shane in the face. He looked down in shock to see the two Eeveelutions disappearing into the red Entercard. Espeon held one of her lower eyelids down with a forepaw and was sticking her tongue out at Shane. "Oh, real mature, you bitch!" he growled. "You're so off my top ten favorite Pokémon list when this is all over."

"Seriously, Shane? You really think we can actually reason with them now?" Tessa said. "We're well beyond that point." She turned around and tensed up. "Let's keep sticking together. It seems to have knocked the two of them out of their rhythm." She jumped onto Null's back. Then the yellow Entercard opened, and out flew a trio of Necrospheres.

"Crap! Not again!" Shane hissed. Null immediately fired off air blades, but it did no good. The Necrospheres bombarded the arena with an onslaught of fireballs. Shane had no desire to try and get close to one this time. Null realized this and set Shane and Tessa down.

"What are you doing?" Tessa said.

"Wait here," Null said. His mask hardened to steel and he ran the Necrospheres down.

"Look out! We can't sit around," Shane said, shoving Tessa out of the way of a fireball. The two stuck together while Null leaped through multiple fireballs and brought the Necrospheres down with his head crest and claws. Null struck the ground hard, limbs quaking.

"Everyone… doing okay?" Null said, staggering to his teammates. "We've to stay on our toes… because they might–"

The red Entercard opened up and Espeon shot out of it, a wicked grin on her face. "Thanks for the time to heal, idiots!" she said with a laugh. "Now I'm ready to end this!" Her momentum carried her into Tessa, sending the two of them skidding across the ice. Espeon bored into Tessa with her forepaws. "Say buh-bye to your ugly scarf, Riolu!" Espeon snarled. She opened her mouth wide, showing off glistening fangs, and bit down on Tessa's scarf.

"No! You can't have that," Tessa squealed, grabbing hold with one paw and using the other to backhand Espeon across the cheek. Espeon momentarily stumbled and lost her grip on the scarf. But Tessa couldn't get to her feet of her own accord. A second set of fangs grabbed the scruff of her neck and hoist her into the air.

Her eyes widened in terror. They had her. She was in Umbreon's grasp. Tessa thrashed about. Umbreon had to let go. She couldn't get infected. Not after everything she'd been through!

"Tessa!" Shane cried. Ignoring his body's protests, he sprinted forward. But the blue Entercard appeared in front of him. "No!" Shane cried. Bright pink light erupted around him. A fresh wave of pain enveloped him. When the stars cleared from his vision, he was near the wall. Null lay behind him in an unconscious heap.

"N... no... Tessa," Shane wheezed. He had to help her.

Shane staggered forward. Each step was pure agony. No, he had to hang on! His teammates– no, his friends needed him!

His vision flickered.

'C'mon... move, legs, move!'

"You know what, I take the insults back. You're not green at all. In fact, you're a lot tougher than I had you pegged for," Espeon said. She bit down on Tessa's scarf and continued, "Of course, that's only because our precious creations hardened you up into a Pokémon worth infecting. And, to think, this is how you ended up repaying us."

"Lemme go! Lemme go! Help! Help!" Tessa shrieked. Umbreon pinned her down, bringing her thrashing to a stop. Espeon grabbed Tessa's arm with her telekinesis and forcibly yanked them behind her. Tessa's shoulders popped out of their sockets. Tears pooled in her eyes. It was all over. Her teammates were down. They had lost. And now they were going to be infected!

"What are you looking so sad for?" Espeon said, shaking her head. "This is going to be the best thing that's ever happened to you. In fact, there's someone who can't wait to see you on our side! She hasn't stopped talking about it since she recruited us." The diamond in Espeon's forehead crackled with red and black energy.

Shane took a single step forward, but his legs buckled from the fatigue.

It was all over.

"Somebody help me!" Tessa wailed.

"Quit shouting. That's exactly what I'm going to do!" Espeon said.

"No… p-please… don't do this," Tessa croaked. Espeon's menacing grin faded behind the red glow from her broken diamond.

Shane saw the glow and forced himself back to his feet. "Get away from her!" he shouted. He needed to keep them distracted. It was the only way.

Espeon swiveled to look at Shane. "Butt out of this, Snowball. You'll get your turn in a minute!" she hissed.

'I... I can't give up. I can't lose Tessa. I have to... I have to save her!'

Ice gathered around Shane's paws. The numbness in his legs melted away. They stopped trembling. Shane's fatigue faded. He was so invigorated, now! Something was stirring deep inside him. Shane focused intently on this spark of energy. His looplet responded by glowing brightly and surrounding him in orange light.

This was it. The chance he needed to save Tessa!

"I said… get away!"

The ground rumbled beneath everyone's paws. Espeon and Umbreon looked at Shane. The energy from his looplet had given him a second wind. He ran Espeon and Umbreon down. All he could think about was Tessa. Shane was so focused, he didn't notice his looplet shimmer with bright white light. A fresh coat of pristine, snow-white fur settled across him. Shane paid it no mind. The energy was still building. He had to harness it... and quickly!

"What the–?" Umbreon gasped. Espeon's infectious beam faded and she fired a pink blast at Shane, only for it to harmlessly fizzle out. Shane stopped in front of the two Eeveelutions, a thick layer of frigid air swirling around his body. He was ready. It was time to put these troublemakers out of commission. He'd give them the biggest ice attack he'd ever used!

Shane glared at the two of them, revealing sky-blue light pouring out of his hollow eyes. "Let her go!" Shane roared.

Espeon whirled on her partner. "Don't just stand there gawking! End him! Destroy him! Don't let him do whatever he's planning to do!" she screamed, dousing Umbreon in spittle.

Shane howled in fury. A massive ice column rocketed him skyward. Bone-chilling air rushed out and destroyed the arena's walls. Shane had no idea what was going on, but he didn't care. This power was incredible!

Null staggered backward, dropping to the ground and throwing his forelimbs over his head, hissing madly. Tessa took advantage of Umbreon's shock to buck him off and run away, clutching at her neck and scarf. Espeon looked up and saw Shane perched atop the ice, a whirlwind of snow racing around him. She fired the biggest Psybeam she could muster, only for her jaw to drop in horror as it evaporated against Shane's massive iceberg.

"No… no!" she said, staggering backward. "Do something, Umbry! I don't wanna disappear! I don't–"

Shane opened his mouth and unleashed a gigantic ice beam. It blew through Espeon's and Umbreon's counterattacks with ease. It destroyed their Ultra Entercards like they were nothing but tissue paper. Espeon's blood-curdling scream lasted only a second. Then the ice swallowed her and Umbreon up.

A high-pitched screech echoed through the valley. Shane's ice column melted back into the ground, lowering him to safety, where a shell-shocked Tessa stood with a blank expression on her face. The energy rush had faded, leaving him with such painful aches he couldn't help but collapse. Luckily, Tessa caught him before he hit the ice.

"Sh-Shane! That was… what did you–" she said, heart pounding against her chest. She looked down and saw the white light on his looplet flicker a few times, then disappear. The gemstone in the center had lost its color. "Where did that come from, Shane?"

Shane blinked and looked at the large mound of ice in front of him. Espeon and Umbreon lay trapped inside, not unlike what they had done to Sylveon and Eevee. He was in disbelief. That was his attack. It was like nothing he'd ever seen before.

"I… I don't know," Shane whispered. "I just… I saw you in trouble… and I suddenly felt this huge burst of energy flow through my whole body. It was like I could lift up an entire building all by myself."

"Well, you saved me," she said, fidgeting with her paws. "I… I guess I owe you my life now, huh?"

"All that matters is that you're safe," Shane said, blinking tears out of his eyes. Sure, they had only officially been friends for one day, but it didn't lessen Shane's relief. He fixed his gaze back on the remnants of his attack. Specifically, he focused on Espeon and Umbreon.

Shane's eyes widened and he nudged Tessa with a foreleg. "Check it out. Their black armor pieces are gone," Shane said. "And they both still have all their color!"

"You don't think that's because you froze them, do you?" Tessa wondered.

"Well, there's one way to find out," Shane said.

Tessa caught on and her eyes widened. "Are you crazy? They just tried to kill us!" she said.

She was right, yet he couldn't bring himself to listen to her. "I still think we have to free them," he said. "They might know something about the Prism Virus that could help us." He then looked at the black monolith. "Besides, we have no idea how to break Sylveon and Eevee out of there on our own. Aren't they the whole reason we came here?"

Sighing, Tessa nodded. "Okay. I just hope you know what you're doing."

Shane also hoped this wouldn't prove a reckless decision. He looked over in Null's direction. "Yo, big guy! Think you can help us break that ice?" he said.

Null nodded and followed his teammates toward the ice mound. "Here goes nothing," he whispered, and shattered the ice with swipes of his glowing claws.


"Gagh!"

Necrozma shot up from the table he was lying on. He looked down to see his arms trembling.

"What… what's going on? It feels... like someone tore off part of my body." He reached a hand up and rubbed his temple. His eyes flashed and his confused frown slowly morphed into a wide grin. "Oh… what's this?" He hunched over and rubbed his hands together gleefully. "Do I sense... Z-Power? Yes... yes! Heeheeheehee! Someone's used Z-Power. My Z-Power! From my light!"

He floated up from the table and looked around at the floating black cubes and prisms surrounding him.

"Could it have been you... Shane?" Necrozma said, scratching at his chin with the tip of his wing. "I really hope so. After all... you're of no use to me as a measly fox. I need you to be something better. Much better! Heeheeheehee! Yes... you're going to make good use of my gift and, in return, you'll gift me with the return of my true form. My real power!"

Necrozma sank back down onto the table and folded his wings over his body.

"It's just a matter of time until I get to see the light fade from your eyes. It won't be the perfect spectacle I was hoping for, but I'll cherish it all the same."

"Hurry up, Meganium. We don't want to keep everyone waiting!"

Delphox looked over his shoulder, checking to make sure his partner followed. Meganium lagged behind, constantly glancing at her side as if her satchel would magically vanish if she stopped looking at it. She regretted taking seconds at breakfast. Her stomach was badly cramping. Meganium sighed in relief upon seeing the Expedition Society's large, yellow-brick headquarters. Delphox held the metal door open to let her walk through.

"We're here, everyone. What's the situation?" Delphox said. Meganium looked around at the assembled array of Pokémon, including a handful of the folks she and Delphox had recruited to Team Gaia. Archeops, who had been pacing back and forth, stopped and acknowledged them with a nod.

"Err, we'd love to get started," he said, rubbing the back of his head with a wing. "But, y'see…"

"Ampharos isn't here yet, as you can plainly see. Yo, Mawile, what's the deal?"

Mawile turned to her right. "I can't say, Floatzel. I didn't even know he'd stepped out."

"Sorry I'm late, everyone!"

A jovial voice carried through the room. Meganium and Delphox stepped aside to allow Ampharos to pass. "You're not going to believe this. I walked into Rockin' Lock by mistake. That took me by surprise. Aha ha ha!"

Half the Pokémon in the room fell to the floor in disbelief.

"Well, you're here now. That's all that matters. Let's get started, shall we?" Mawile said. "Ninetales, thank you very much for agreeing to show up in person."

Meganium fixed her widened eyes on the unexpected visitor. Normally, Ninetales turned to Pokémon Square if she needed help. What did she want with them?

"I wish I was here with better news," Ninetales began. "But I'm afraid a very concerning situation has popped up. The other day, Xatu brought me to the Hill of the Ancients and imparted a vision. One that I can't quite wrap my head around, but that's had me up tossing and turning the last few nights."

A yawn drew the groups attention to a wooden table, where Jirachi sat propped up against some books. "Are you sure you're not just tossing and turning cause of the moon?" Jirachi said, rubbing sleep out of his eyes. "By my estimates, it's size has swollen by forty percent in the last two weeks alone. And it's shining with fifty-five percent brighter intensity."

"And just where are you pulling those estimates from, huh?" Floatzel harrumphed. "You certainly haven't had any problems sleeping since the moon started getting all big and stuff."

"I pulled them from my brilliant mind, of course," Jirachi said, proudly puffing out his chest. Sweat drops ran down the back of Floatzel's head.

"Um, guys? Could we save that discussion for another time?" Latias said, floating between them. "We have a guest."

Floatzel rolled his eyes and turned away from Jirachi with an annoyed grumble. "Thanks, Latias," Ninetales said. "I understand the situation with the moon is odd. But this is something different. Here, let me pass on what Xatu told me." She took a deep breath in, cleared her throat, and began to recite the vision Xatu had given her.



The assembled explorers exchanged confused looks. "You said that this is from Xatu?" Bunnelby asked with a gulp. He gripped his head and shook it. "Agh, it sounds so confusing!"

"I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks that," Ninetales said, sighing in relief. "I've been fretting over it all this time. But I can't wrap my head around it. I even tried reaching out to the spirit realm. No one there has heard about any sort of 'Lightless Black' or 'wings of dawn.'"

"Let's not forget that first line," Archeops said, biting his lower lip. "'A faller rises?' What kind of cryptic oxymoron is that supposed to be? If you fall, you're doing the exact opposite of rising."

"And you would know, Archeops. You've done more falling than anyone in town," Floatzel heckled, drawing an annoyed look from his colleague.

"Now, now, let's not ruffle any feathers. Though, I must agree. Archeops is our falling expert. If he says that falling means you can't rise, then I'm inclined to believe him," Ampharos said. Archeops buried his head in his wings, groaning loudly.

"Ampharos, if I may?" Mawile interjected, facing the table so she could hastily scribble notes. "I believe trying to interpret Xatu's words literally will not do us any good. We may need to make a few educated guesses."

"Oh? Is there something you had in mind?" Ampharos said, his tail lighting up.

"Yes. In fact, I believe I have a hypothesis as to the identity of this 'Lightless Black,'" Mawile said. "You're familiar with solar eclipses, right?"

"Are you kidding? Of course I am!" Ampharos said, grinning boldly. "But, um, maybe you ought to give some of the newer members here a refresher, just in case?"

A chorus of exasperated groans rose up. Meganium rolled her eyes. Even at meetings, her boss could be such a basket case.

"Solar eclipses are rare cosmic phenomenon wherein the moon positions itself between the earth and the sun, effectively blocking sunlight from reaching us," Jirachi explained, letting out a yawn at the end. "They can have varying levels of intensity. Sometimes the sun is partially blocked and sometimes it's completely blocked."

Mawile nodded approvingly. "Exactly. I believe Xatu has forecasted a solar eclipse. And, judging by the 'world will fall into endless night,' part, this may not be any random eclipse. Something could be triggering it," she said.

"Like, say, a spell?" Delphox wondered, pulling his stick out of his furry sleeve and staring at it. "Think about the last line in Xatu's vision. You can't destroy a Mystery Dungeon unless you can find a way to remove its ley lines. Any magic that could do that is undoubtedly strong enough to cause a solar eclipse."

Latias' eyes widened. "Wait, do you think this could tie into the moon getting larger? What if it gets so big that, when it eclipses the sun, it doesn't move away? That would leave us stuck in endless night," she said.

"But there's no way that would just happen randomly, right?" Delphox said, noting the worried look on Meganium's face. "Something or someone's got to be responsible for what's happening to the moon. Maybe they're the one who's trying to plunge the world into endless night?"

"Hmm, that does sound plausible," Mawile said, writing more notes. "But if that were the case…"

Floatzel glanced over at Jirachi. "Hey, what's she mumbling about over there, huh? You look like you've got some idea of what she's getting at."

"Well of course I do. I am a genius, after all," Jirachi boasted, rising up from his seat of books. "She's referring to the Cosmic Duo." Several of his cohorts gave him confused looks. "Seriously, you guys? Solgaleo and Lunala? The Pokémon responsible for keeping the world's cycle of day and night in balance? Does that really not ring any bells?"

Meganium had never heard of them. She turned to Delphox and shook her head.

"It's not surprising, Jirachi," Mawile said. "Even in my research, I haven't come across a lot of documents about them. All I have are some conflicting myths. One says that they were created at the start of the world like the other gods. But then there's another myth that says they're a pair of Legendary Pokémon that were born in the Horizon Continent during a time of crisis."

"Wait, that's that one donut-shaped continent on the other side of the world, right?" Delphox asked. Mawile nodded. "So, does that mean there's a problem with one of these Legends?"

"It's just a theory. I don't have any definitive evidence," Mawile said, putting her quill down. "We'd really need to talk with the Pokémon living in Horizon. The local myths are a bit of a sensitive subject, I believe."

Guys! Guys! Guys!

"Auuugh!"

A blue blur rammed into Jirachi. He yelped as he spun across the room. Jirachi would've bowled Delphox right over had Meganium not stuck her vines out and caught him by his pointed head. Everyone looked over to see Latios floating by the stairs, a look of embarrassment on his face.

Oh… today was that meeting, wasn't it? Latios said. Sis, why didn't you remind me?

Latias shook her head in disbelief. Seriously, big brother? How did you not sense everyone's auras down here?

Latios pouted. I was preoccupied with the Pokémon Nexus, he said. Because I found something huge! He turned to the rest of the assembled Pokémon and cleared his throat. "Everyone… Espeon's and Umbreon's signals are back!"

Surprised gasps echoed throughout the room. "Really? But Dedenne said they'd vanished from the Nexus," Bunnelby said.

"Well, yeah. But if they reappeared, then they reappeared," Dedenne said, shrugging.

"What? No. Don't be ridiculous. I built the dang thing, and I say that a pair of Pokémon whose signals are lost don't just magically reappear. I want to take a look at this right now," Jirachi said. He hastily floated to the stairs at the northernmost part of the room. A few moments of silence followed, only for Jirachi to speed out from the stairway, knocking Latios to the ground in the process.

"I don't believe this. He's right. Their signals are back!" Jirachi said. "They're in the Horizon Continent."

Meganium and Delphox exchanged astonished looks. "Th-They're halfway around the world?" Delphox gasped.

'Did you send them there on an assignment?' Meganium wondered, tilting her head to the side.

Delphox's brow furrowed and he shook his head. "The last thing I remember telling them was to go enjoy some time off at Pokémon Paradise. Raichu and Haxorus would've told us if there was something wrong, right?" He stroked the fur on his chin in thought. "Maybe they took a vacation?"

"And figured out a way to take themselves out of my ingenious invention? I don't think so," Jirachi scoffed, flicking a hand dismissively. "Clearly, something bad happened."

"Are you sure the Nexus didn't just mess up?" Archeops said.

Jirachi's face went bright red and swelled up. "The Pokémon Nexus doesn't 'mess up,' you got that?"

"Yessir!" Archeops squeaked, sliding under the table.

"Wait a second. This is really important!" Dedenne interjected. "Magearna and Braviary called up from the Horizon Guild last week, asking about Espeon and Umbreon."

"Oh, great… Magearna," Jirachi said, an unamused look on his face. "You hung up on her, right?"

"Now Jirachi, that wouldn't be very courteous," Ampharos said.

"The way Braviary talked about them, it sounded like something bad had happened," Dedenne continued.

"Maybe we should send someone over to investigate, then?" Ampharos said.

"Um, Ampharos, you do remember that, even with a well-trained Lapras, it would take at least a week to sail to Horizon, right?" Floatzel said, pointing to a map of the world hanging on the wall by the stairs.

"That's not necessary," Mawile said. "Latias can go." She looked up at a startled Latias. "I was hoping we could wait a little bit longer, but you might as well use the opportunity to take the Memory Looplet over to the Horizon Guild and see that experiment for yourself."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Latias, you're not about to fly off to Horizon again, are you? You were just there a couple of weeks ago," Latios said, tapping his claws together worriedly. "It's not exactly a short flight."

"I can handle myself just fine, big brother," Latias said. "I'm the liaison to the Horizon Continent. I..." Her voice trailed off. "I have a responsibility to go there and help, if the need arises."

"But she mentioned that experiment. You're not really going to go to it, are you? Mawile said it's meant for killing Pokémon like us!" Latios said. He realized his comments a moment later, and tucked his head up against his paws. "Err… uh… can you guys forget you heard that one?" he squeaked.

"Wait, what?" Delphox gasped. "An experiment for killing Pokémon?" He turned to Mawile. "What the heck's going on overseas?"

Latias shot her brother an annoyed look. "Real smooth there, big brother. We told you that in confidence."

Mawile sighed. "It seems like I owe quite a few of you an explanation. But I don't want to hold Ninetales up. So, let's wait until—"

"Actually, I'm a bit curious myself," Ninetales said. "That sounds foreboding and I'd appreciate some details."

"Okay, that's fine. Can I just help Latias get ready to depart?" Mawile asked. "Time is of the essence here."

"Of course. But don't go too far," Ampharos said. He leaned in a whispered, "We need to talk, remember?" Mawile nodded and Ampharos pulled away, putting on his usual grin. "Well, best of luck to you, Latias. We'll be cheering you on!" he said.

"Wait, you're leaving right now?" Latios gasped. "No way! You should take the rest of the day to prepare, at the very least."

"I know what I'm doing, Latios. Besides, there's something I need to do before I leave," Latias said.

"But… but what if you run into trouble? I can't let you run off like this. Not after what happened to you last time," Latios insisted. "Why does it have to be you? Why not send someone who get there even faster… like Hoopa?"

All eyes in the room fell onto Latios. He wilted and looked away. "Okay… yeah, that was a bad idea." He shook his head. "But still. You shouldn't have to stick your neck out for Espeon and Umbreon like that. Couldn't you bring someone along with you?"

"Knock it off, big brother!" Latias snapped, snorting tufts of dragonfire. She floated up to him. "Look, I appreciate that you're concerned. But I thought we agreed you'd stop babying me."

"I don't want you to get hurt again," Latios whispered.

"I'm going to be more careful this time," Latias said.

Latios' wings drooped. "Okay. I'm Sorry." He floated up and touched the tip of his wing to Latias'. "Just promise you'll at least check in with me this time. I get worried."

Latias raised a set of crossed claws. "It's a promise." They quickly embraced, and Latias turned to follow Mawile out of the building. As they walked, she dug through her satchel.

"Admittedly, I didn't have as much time to put this together as I would've liked. But I suppose that can't be helped now." She produced a stack of papers and thrust it into Latias' paws. "This is the instruction set that I whipped up from the tests I could run. I hope it's right, but I'd be prepared for the possibility that it might not work."

Latias looked down at the title page and a shiver ran along her spite. "R-Right. I can handle myself. Everything… should be okay." Despite this, she gulped.

"Hey." Mawile put an arm on Latias' right shoulder. "Are you sure you're okay with doing this? We can send a group over on a Lapras ferry, if you'd prefer."

Latias placed the manual in her satchel and shook her head. "I'm fine, Mawile. What would be the point of all the work I've done for you guys if I'm just going to bail at the first sign of trouble? I'll find Espeon and Umbreon and explain this whole experiment business to the Horizon Guild." She gave Mawile a reassuring smile. "I'll be back home before you know it."

"Sounds good to me. So, what is it you need to get done before you leave?" Mawile said

"Sorry. That's personal," Latias replied, smile fading. "I'd better get going. Good luck looking into this whole solar eclipse business. If anyone can solve this riddle, I'm sure it's you."

"Glad to have your vote of confidence," Mawile said, grinning.

Latias nodded and slipped on her flight goggles. She took off toward the water, giving one last wave before disappearing in the midday sun.


Milotic lunged for cover behind a large ice shard. It fizzled from the onslaught of corrosive poisons. Milotic sprang upwards, rifling off an Ice Beam. A battered-looking Drampa was too preoccupied dodging leaves and dragonfire from Serperior and Dragonair. Ice coated his mutated wings. He collapsed with a loud groan.

The black crystals around his body shattered. Black smoke pooled around him for a few seconds, only to fade away. Drampa had changed back to normal, but all of the colors had drained out of his body. Milotic climbed down from the ice chunk. Her landing made her wince. "It's just like the Parasect we found in Twilight Forest," she whispered. She turned to check on her teammates. "You ladies okay?"

Serperior slumped down against a piece of debris, trying to brush ice shavings off her body. "No. Not in the slightest," she huffed. "Someone grab me a bucket. I think I'm going to hurl!"

"I've seen better days, chief," Dragonair said, glancing at the streaks of darkened scales on her body. "We really didn't need this after last week."

With a flutter of his wings, Braviary landed between them. "Nice work, y'all," he said, fighting to catch his breath. "Them varmints were mighty tricky, but y'all held yer ground nicely."

"What should we do about Team Radiance, though?" Dragonair wondered. "You sent them into Aurora Vale. Who knows what happened to them."

"Them? What about us?" Serperior huffed. "I swear there was something weird in the poison attacks Drampa used. I haven't felt this queasy since I got food poisoning from that rotten berry Haunter planted in my salad."

"Now, listen here. Yer gonna have to fight through that. Use another lum berry if'n ya have to. We ain't about to leave them rookies alone in there," Braviary said, a stern look on his face.

"Personally, I'd be a bit more worried about your situation, Mr. Braviary."

The feathers on Braviary's neck stood on end. He quickly turned around. "I reckon I don't much care for eavesdroppers. 'Mon up and get on out here, ya no-good scoundrel!"

Zero waltzed out from behind a wrecked building, offering a sarcastic slow-clap. "Clever," she said. "Espeon and Umbreon said that no one sets foot in Aurora Vale besides the human and his friends. So, you just get as close as you can without breaking that rule."

She paused to look at the comatose Drampa beside her. "And you disposed of this fellow with minimal trouble, I see. I'd expect nothing less from the guild's best and brightest. The top enforcers for a world where it's gods first and everyone else second." Zero shook her head. "It's such a shame you won't put your skills toward a more worthwhile cause."

"Son, what the heck are ya blabbering about? Ya ain't making a lick of sense," Braviary said, narrowing his eyes at Zero.

"Um, Braviary. I think this guy's related to Espeon and Umbreon," Milotic whispered. "What do you want with us, huh?" she demanded. "We beat back your crazy Drampa and all the little flunkies that infected it. So, you'd better think twice before trying anything funny."

"Funny? Please. This is no laughing matter," Zero said. "Especially when you deign to stand in front of me with those hideous badges plastered on your bodies."

"Hey! Don't you dare dis our badges," Serperior hissed. "They symbolize a lifelong dedication to helping others. Something you Prism Virus freaks clearly don't understand."

"Lies!" Zero said, raising a crystalline paw and clenching it into a fist. The guild members tensed up. "Lies you've been fed by Pokémon too lazy to do their jobs. What you wear are symbols of resignation. You've accpted a miserable status quo dominated by forces that, no matter how hard you work, will always be out of our control."

She swiveled her staff around, showing off the octahedron. "But I…" She cut herself off. "No, we have the opportunity to change it. Aren't you tired of waking up day after day and putting your necks on the line navigating dungeon after dungeon?"

Team Captivate exchanged confused looks. "Is this a trick question? Exploring is our livelihood," Milotic said.

"And it's a terrible livelihood. The product of never-ending conflict perpetuated by the complete indifferent of the gods you claim to depend on for protection in times of crisis," Zero said. "That is why I want your help. I want to use the Prism Virus to make this world a better world. A world without gods."

Zero held out her free hand and dark energy swirled around it. The energy formed into a black Beast Ball. "Join me. I can train you all. Give you access to powers you could never get on your own. Together, we will create a world brimming with Z-Power. Where Pokémon will leave in happiness, peace, and, most importantly, equality."

"No thanks," Milotic said, glaring at Zero. "We've seen what your Prism Virus does. It doesn't make anything better. If anyone's making Pokémon suffer, it's you."

"Besides, your flunkies mentioned a world of endless night. And who wants that?" Serperior scoffed. "Sounds like a miserable existence. Don't you know about the heroes who saved Temporal Tower? Do you want a dark future like we were going to have before Team Poképals stepped in?"

Zero pressed her staff into the ground, reached up, and took the octahedron in a paw. "How unfortunate. I hoped I could reason with you all. But I suppose I should've expected guild Pokémon to react this way. You are nothing but the pawns, after all." She placed the octahedron against her headdress and it sank into the star-shaped symbol. Zero took in a deep breath. A dark aura of distorted energy overtook her body.

"If I can't get you to join me willingly, then I'll simply have to use force," Zero said. She hovered into the air, raising her paws. Black cubes started to gather around her. "I'm sorry it had to be this way."

Scalding water and dragonfire swirled around a blue burst. Zero calmly nudged her helmet and vanished. She was absurdly fast. Team Captivate could only watch their blue-violet storm strike a frozen building. As ice shards exploded around them, a startled squawk rang through the town square.

Zero was right next them, her fist outstretched. And, in the distance, Braviary slid down the remains of a building's front door. Zero turned to Team Captivate and pointed her other arm forward. Distorted red light enveloped Team Captivate, accompanied by garbled hissing. Grimacing from the noise, none of them noticed the black, staticky cubes racing toward them.

Milotic desperately fired off scalding water. But the sailed out of the way. Team Captivate found themselves leaping in different directions as the cubes encircled them. Zero snapped her digits and the cubes cubes exploded.

"What the heck kind of attack is that supposed to be?" Serperior grunted, wiping soot out of her eyes. "That's cheating!"

"That's the problem with you Pokémon," Zero said, vanishing on the spot once again. She reappeared in front of Serperior and slammed a fist into her neck. An unseen force rocketed her back across the ground. Zero clasped her paws together and started charging a large red sphere. "You think so one-dimensionally."

She hurled the energy ball at Milotic, who retaliated with a huge water torrent. It wasn't enough, however. Milotic backpedaled but the energy ball gave chase. She was in shock. Her Hydro Pump should've stopped it in its tracks.

"There is an abundance of magic in this world. And yet, you avoid it," Zero said. "Because you're all scared your precious gods will strike you down the instant you try to take any of it."

Zero was distracted. Dragonair was sure she and Braviary could take advantage and strike. But Zero pivoted, sending distorted red light at them, followed by a ring of electrified cubes. Had she sensed them coming? Braviary didn't dwell on it. He flew away from the attack, while Dragonair kept her distance.

Milotic, meanwhile, had recruited Serperior to try and destroy Zero's energy ball with a a combination of water and leaves. It still wasn't enough, though. Zero detonated the sphere, filling Milotic's and Serperior's worlds with ice-cold pain.

"Yer gonna pay for that one, varmint!" Braviary cawed. Zero raised a glowing paw. Braviary realized he was flying toward a giant red square. He tucked his wings in and dove forward. Seconds later, the square rose into a pillar of distorted cubes. Zero lowered her paw, dispelling the cubes. She threw her arms up as Braviary struck her helmet with his talons. A metallic thunk ran out.

"My turn," Zero said, pointing her paws at a dazed Braviary. But fire-coated leaves peppered her back. They finally scored a hit on her. Zero wanted to retaliate, but instead went for Dragonair. She charged Dragonair down in the blink of an eye and released red psionic energy. Zero plucked Dragonair off the ground and tossed her like a wriggling worm. Dragonair landed in a crumpled heap by the town fountain's remains.

"I must commend you. That was a clean hit. It really is a shame that you're turning down my offer. You have such magnificent potential. Imagine the power you could wield with my training," Zero said. "You could be the new protectors of this world. Not a pack of lazy, self-aggrandizing gods."

"That's blasphemy!" Milotic spat. "You'd ask us to stand against the Pokémon working to keep the world turning? What kind of evil, twisted maniac are you?"

"It's not that black and white. I am trying to do good for this world," Zero said, nudging up her mask. "But my vision puts me at odds with the bloated pantheon of Legends. So, I guess that makes me 'evil.' How one-dimensional."

Zero vanished once again. Fearing an attack, Milotic spun around, sweeping an Ice Beam. The ice fizzled out against a wall of flickering cubes. The cubes surged forward. Milotic couldn't outrun them. She meekly brought her tail up. Each cube that struck seared her scales, drawing a pained hiss.

"How the heck is this loser moving so fast?" Serperior said. "Can he teleport?"

Dragonair narrowed her eyes. She was sure Zero wasn't teleporting, but needed a way to be certain. "Braviary, can you get this guy's attention?" she asked. Braviary flew toward Zero, summoning air blades with flaps of his wings. Dragonair tensed. She would only get one shot, so she had to make it count.

"Ya think yer so dang impressive cause ya throw around a buncha fancy-schmancy talk, huh? Well, that don't make ya anything other than annoying," Braviary said. Zero responded with a burst of static. Braviary's Air Slash blades dissolved into mist while Zero disappeared. Braviary tensed. If Dragonair had a plan, she needed to use it now or he'd be toast.

Seconds past. Braviary remained in the air. He felt completely fine. Braviary looked right and found Zero on the ground, clutching her helmet and shaking her head. Whatever Dragonair did had worked, though it left her dazed.

"I knew it. You're not teleporting. You're using Extreme Speed," Dragonair said, trying to distract Zero while her teammates launched their own attacks. It didn't work, but Dragonair raced toward Zero. The two exchanged blows at a breakneck pace, bouncing off one another. The stalemate repeated until they settled by the town's entrance. Dragonair doubled over, trying to catch her breath. She had used too many Extreme Speeds in rapid succession and was paying for it.

"You wield Extreme Speed well, Dragonair," Zero said. "You must've had quite the tutor."

"I did. She's a far more virtuous Pokémon that you will ever be," Dragonair hissed, unleashing a flamethrower. Liquid metal swallowed up the flames. Dragonair leaped back, her throat burning for all the wrong reasons.

"Fascinating. You ought to introduce me to her sometime," Zero said, a chuckle rumbling in her throat. "She sounds like she'd make quite the ally."

"Lucario would never work with the likes of a Pokémon like you," Dragonair barked. She was losing her cool, but she couldn't help it. Zero was so obnoxious. Dragonair rifled off a stream of dragonfire. Braviary added Air Slash blades and Milotic tried to snipe Zero from behind. But she vanished again. Dragonair was so sick of that routine.

Braviary plummeted from the sky, squawking. The impact crater he made made the girls wince. He'd need first aid for sure.

"Is this your idea of a passable self-defense? Flinging attacks like mad and praying your superior numbers are enough to carry you to victory?" Zero mused. "Mystery Dungeons have made you all complacent… and predictable."

The dark aura around Zero's body intensified. She raised both arms up toward her shoulders and corrupted red energy gathered in her paws. Staticky red light erupted around Zero, swallowing up the town square. Each guild member slowed to a crawl. None of them could process what was happening. Their thoughts moved just as slow as they did.

Zero raised a paw. Swarms of red cubes appeared, forming cannon-like cylinders over each guild member. The red light disappeared in a flash. They had only seconds to realize what had happened before swirling metal beams rained down upon them. The agony was unbearable. They all collapsed and Zero dispelled her attack.

"What now, Horizon Guild?" Zero said, removing the octahedron from her helmet and placing it back in the scepter that had materialized next to her. "Do you let your Reviver Seeds kick in and continue to struggle in vain? Or do you relent and join my cause?"

Initially, no one responded. Zero raised her staff, sighing in disappointment.

"We're… not… going to help you," Dragonair wheezed, giving Zero a defiant glare.

"... hmph. Ironic. The one who's sacrificed the most out of you lot is the only one with the backbone to speak out against me," Zero scoffed. "Tell me, Dragonair, are you happy in that frail body? How many years have you resisted the urge to evolve, hmm?"

"W… what did you just say?" Dragonair whispered, her attitude fizzling out.

"Don't play dumb with me. Your aura positively reeks of desire and jealousy," Zero said, nudging her mask.

"Don't listen to him, Airy," Milotic said. "There's nothing wrong with you

Zero knelt down and clasped Dragonair's head in her paw. "You envy your teammates, don't you? They've had their final evolutions for years. And you? Well, you've been stuck like that this entire time. Too scared your friends will abandoned you if you turn into a Dragonite. Do I have that right?"

"I… I…" Dragonair looked away. "They'd never do that to me. We've been friends forever. I choose to remain a Dragonair, because I'm more help to the team this way."

Zero released her grip on Dragonair. She slumped to the ground, grunting in pain. "Wrong answer. The truth is that you've talked it into yourself that vanity is more important than power," she said. "Your team's reputation as a trio of serpents is meaningless. As meaningless as the Mystery Dungeons the gods claim are necessary to keep the world turning."

"They are necessary," Braviary said. "Look at the Tree of Life. Rip it out of the ground and the planet'll done hurtle into the sun!"

"Hmph. That's a hatchling's tale put into your mind to make you fear and worship Xerneas," Zero said, nudging her mask. She pointed her glowing staff forward. "I can open your eyes and let you see this word for what it really—"

Zero froze.

"No," she whispered, bringing her scepter up to look at its crystal. "That's impossible!" Her lone visible eye narrowed in rage. "Troublemakers!" she hissed, tapping her staff to the ground. "Necky, get me to Aurora Vale… now!"

An Ultra Wormhole materialized behind Zero. Braviary and Team Captivate all shielded their eyes as Zero leaped into the portal. It closed behind her, leaving the guild members alone in the empty town.

Braviary stumbled to his feet, clutching an injured wing. "Y'all okay?" he asked, suppressing a cough.

"No," Serperior said. "That last attack really did a number on my tail." She raised it up, grimacing as it throbbed in pain.

"What about Team Radiance? That thing could be trying to go after them," Milotic said.

Braviary tried to lift his bum wing, only to wince and push it tightly against his torso. "It's no good. My wing's all busted up. We ain't in no condition to be helping them," he said.

"So, we're just supposed to leave them out there and hope for the best?" Milotic said.

"Uh... well..." Braviary frowned. "Look... I don't know what to tell ya. I need to get healed up. Y'all do too. We've gotta go back to the Observatory. Maybe we can get some backup?" He glanced toward the fog-filled dungeon entrance. "I just hope we ain't too late."


Shane stood in front of his teammates, gazing down at Espeon and Umbreon. They were covered in frost, but they were breathing. "They're still alive," he said. "They lost all those black crystals and they're still alive."

"Be careful. It could be a trick," Null warned, tensing up. He coughed and shook his head about. Tessa continued to steal glances up at Sylveon and Eevee. The hard part was over. She knew her friends would be safe soon.

"U-Ungggh…"

Shane's ears swiveled in Espeon's direction. He looked down at her just in time to see her eyes finish opening. Their gazes met for a brief second. "No way," she whispered. A horrified look spread across her face. She glanced back at her tail. "It's gone? Just like that?" She looked back at Shane.

"Es… Espeon?" Shane said. "It's okay! We're Team Radiance. We're here to help you."

"Get back!" Espeon shouted, scrambling to her feet. She staggered backward, crouching low to the ground. "You… you need to get back! Get out of here! It's going to come back," she said. Tears welled up in her eyes. "You're not safe! We're not safe. Oh, gods… what have we done?" She shook her head about rapidly.

"But we're not trying to fight anymore," Shane said. "We won't hurt you guys."

"It's too late for that!" Espeon hissed. "Umbry, get up," she said, nudging Umbreon's back. "It's gone… the Prism Virus is gone. And we're in big trouble!"

"Wh… what?" Umbreon groaned, shakily lifting up his head. The moment he did, Espeon threw herself on top of him. He grunted as his head flopped back against the ice. Espeon nuzzled him and cried into his neck.

"Oh, Umbry! It's true. The virus is gone and… and we're still here," she sobbed. "But all the damage we've done… it didn't go away! Look at this place. We've ruined it! We… we've become monsters!"

Shane's heart skipped a beat. This couldn't be right. From the sound of it, they knew exactly what happened. Which meant they hadn't been completely brainwashed.

"The explorers," Umbreon coughed. "Are they… are they still alive?"

A stabbing pain shot through Shane's chest as Espeon looked up at him. Her eyes narrowed into a fierce gaze. "You… you did this!" she shouted, pointing a forepaw at him accusingly. Null jumped beside Shane, growling threateningly. "Where did you get that power from?"

"I… I don't know…"

"Don't know? Don't know?!" Espeon snarled.

"Back off!" Null barked. "We're here… for Sylveon and Eevee."

"So? Just take them and go away! Get out of here!" Espeon said. "I… I can't…" Shudders racked her body and she fell to the ice. "Umbry," she croaked. "Make it stop… make the memories stop!" She smacked her head with a forepaw.

"Hey, cut it out! You should be thanking us!" Shane said. Umbreon blocked off his path, shaking his head.

"Keep your distance, kid," he said. "You're not going to get through to her." He turned to Tessa. "Our magic's faded from those crystals. If you break them, you'll free your friends." His gaze fell to the ice. "Please, take them and go. Don't worry about us. We don't deserve your help. Not after what we've done."

Shane opened his mouth to protest, but Null put a foreleg on his shoulder, shaking his head disapprovingly. Tessa turned and made her way up to the crystals. But she spotted a bolt of black lightning racing across them and shuffled backwards. "N-Null… I need a hand up here," she squeaked. Null lumbered up after her, fur standing on end from the electricity in the air. A warm, tingling sensation spread out from his feathery head crest, stifling his growls.

Null raised a foreleg to strike the crystal prison, when a flash of light blinded him. He gasped and staggered backward, shaking his head. Tessa looked to her right and quickly scrambled toward her friends.

"What the... what's with the portal?" Shane gasped, his stance slouching. He looked over to Espeon and Umbreon, whose eyes had widened in horror.

"No. She's come for us! Umbry, we've got to get out of here!" Espeon shrieked. She tried to stumble to her feet, only to squeal in pain as her hind legs caved out on her. Espeon fell back onto her belly, shaking like a leaf. "U-Umbry… I can't… I don't want to hurt anymore Pokémon! She's going to drag up all those awful memories again!"

"I know," Umbreon said, staring transfixed at the crystals. The portal swirling next to them disappeared and Zero stepped out of it, distorted energy blurring her body. She turned and fixed her eye on them. Umbreon's gaze wilted.

"So, it's true. Someone purged the virus from you both," Zero said. She looked over at Team Radiance. Her red eye flickered blue and she rested a paw on her helmet. "It would seem Espeon and Umbreon were right. You are quite the curious trio."

Shane's throat went dry. "Who are you?" he asked hesitantly.

"You may call me Zero," she replied.

Shane tilted his head to the side, expecting Zero to say she was joking. When she didn't, he shook his head. "Seriously? Is that supposed to stand for 'Zero self-confidence?' Because it takes a real sorry soul to hide themselves behind a mask," he said. "Seriously… you've got 'try hard' written all over you! You make my partner's brother look like a basket of sunshine and puppies."

"Shane, maybe you ought to stop," Tessa squeaked. They were in no position to deal with this newcomer.

"No, I think I'm onto something here," Shane growled, glaring at Zero. "I'll bet you wake up every morning, look yourself in the mirror, and say that you're 'the tallest of mountains and the roughest of waves,' or some utter nonsense like that, am I right?" He glanced at Null. "Better be careful, big guy... or you'll cut yourself on all this dude's edge."

"... Aura Sphere."

A ball of red energy exploded underneath Shane, flinging him skyward. He fell to the ground screaming. When he struck the ice, he looked up toward Zero's mask. The static momentarily faded from her body. Shane's eyes slowly widened.

"No," he whispered. "No, that can't be right!"

"How long did you have those insults waiting in the wings, you sad, sorry Vulpix man-child?" Zero said, shaking her head. "My name is Zero, as in 'Patient Zero.' I'm the instigator of the Prism Virus."

"Sh… Shane?" Tessa squeaked, worried by her friend's sudden stupor. "What's wrong?"

"Lu… car… io…"

Shane's whisper was so soft that only Zero could hear him. "… hmph. I see you all standing there… judging me. My Prism Virus has done nothing wrong. But that won't convince you. You three are pawns of the gods, just like every Pokémon labeling themselves an explorer."

"The fact is that everything Espeon and Umbreon did can be reversed," Zero said. Espeon flinched and buried her head in her forelimbs. "And I fully intended to turn each infected Pokémon and dungeon back to normal. But then you three intervened." Zero shook her head disapprovingly. "And now... well, I can still fix it. But it'll be much... tougher."

"I… I don't believe you," Shane said. "Evil… it always tries to justify its actions with whatever flimsy logic it can find. Well, I'm not falling for it!"

"Then you're a self-righteous buffoon," Zero sneered. "Tell me, human. If my virus couldn't be reversed, then how do you explain these two pathetic whelps sitting beside you?" She gestured to Espeon and Umbreon. "I do not wish to bring harm to Pokémon. I want to save this world. Save it from the endless cycle of chaos that our gods use for their own self-preservation. And I can't do that if every Pokémon has been transformed into an Ultra Beast."

"Please, Zero. Just leave us alone," Espeon whimpered. "We don't… we don't want to work with you anymore."

Zero's gaze fell on Espeon. "I don't care. You're both my Pokémon. You don't have a say in this." She raised her staff and the octahedron pulsated with red energy. "I don't feel like training you up again if someone else can remove my handiwork. But I won't let you wander around and spill all my secrets. So, I'll need to take your life energy until I'm finished with my work."

"No… no!" Espeon screamed, turning to flee. "Get up, Umbry! Get up! She's gonna—"

"Consume," Zero said, pointing her staff forward. A purple and black energy beam spiraled toward the Eeveelutions. But before it could reach them, a loud bark echoed through the clearing. Espeon and Umbreon slid across the ice, safely out of harm's way.

"You leave them alone!" Shane growled, crouching low to the ground. Zero's red eye flickered purple and she chuckled, prompting Shane to declare, "Oh, so you can emote after all?"

"Look at you. Standing there, trying to put on a brave face like you're some sort of hero," Zero said.

"I am a hero!" Shane said, smacking the ice with a forepaw. "I'm the hero who's going to help the Pokémon here get rid of you and turn things back to normal." He looked over at his teammates and gave them a nod.

"A hero? Please." Zero gave Shane a dismissive wave. "Frankly, calling you human is a stretch. You're a meek little furball who has yet to realize just how hopeless his situation is."

"If your big, evil plan is to tear me down with a laundry list of reasons why I suck, then I'm here to tell you it's not working," Shane said, though he winced at the sound of his cracking voice. "I'm far from perfect. But I know a bad Pokémon when I see one. And that's exactly what you are."

Zero adjusted her mask. "No amount of courageous hero talk can mask the fact that, in reality, you're scared. You don't have the strength to stop me." Zero pivoted to look at Tessa. "And what of you, girl? Nothing to add to support your partner? You're a rather pathetic excuse for an aura wielder."

With a whimper, Tessa looked down at her feet. "How disappointing," Zero scoffed, turning to face Espeon and Umbreon. "Now then, where were we?" She raised her glowing staff once again. Shane's eyes widened and he dashed across the ice, sliding in front of the Eeveelution duo.

"I already told you to leave them alone," Shane barked. "You're not getting to them this time."

"Then let me show you what happens to those who stand in my way," Zero said. She swung her staff around and struck the crystal imprisoning Sylveon and Eevee. Tessa's friends fell on top of each other. This immediately caught her attention. Her aura feelers shot up.

"No! Leave them alone!" Tessa screamed. Null gasped and reached a foreleg out to try and restrain Tessa, but missed her. Tessa sprinted toward Zero, aura encasing both her paws. Shane turned and focused his mind on Zero. He let loose a psychic blast, only to watch it fizzle out against a shield of red cubes.

"W-What the—" Shane gasped, watching as Zero lay the tip of her staff atop Sylveon's body.

"Consume," she said. Shane gasped and Tessa stumbled to a halt. Zero drained the color off of Sylveon's and Eevee's bodies. Swirls of colored pixels surrounded the crystal in her staff. They rushed inside and the octahedron sparkled with a rainbow glow.

"No! Sylveon! Eevee!" Tessa shrieked.

Shane's stance slackened. His legs threatened to give out on him. After the grueling dungeon trek and the fight with Espeon and Umbreon, they had ultimately failed.

Zero lowered her staff and raised a paw. "Destroy," she said. A rainbow glow emerged from inside her mask. Crystals encased Sylveon's and Eevee's bodies. Zero clenched her paw into a fist and the gems shattered, evaporating into a fine black mist.

"You monster! I'll kill you!" Tessa roared, resuming her charge. Tears streamed from her eyes. She raised her paws, looking to strike Zero with a flurry of Force Palm blows. Zero pivoted so her raised paw faced Tessa and opened her fist. She hoisted Tessa into the air. Tessa thrashed about, screeching at Zero and blinking her eyes rapidly in an attempt to dispel the tears.

"Upset, are we? Good. Perhaps now, you'll understand where I'm coming from," Zero said. "Maybe if you behave, I'll bring them back. But first, let's be rid of that scarf of yours, shall we? You don't deserve its protective power."

Shane stood there, petrified. He glanced at his looplet, hoping to see the same spark of energy that helped him save Tessa from Espeon and Umbreon. But the gem remained a dull-gray color. His heart sank and his gaze fell toward the ground. He couldn't believe it. Gallian was right. He wasn't strong enough. He failed Tessa. He failed her friends. And now, they were all going to die.

Something bristled Shane's fur. Ahead of him, Zero stumbled forward, hissing loudly. Tessa fell to the ground and Null swooped in, carrying her over to Shane's side. He had enough time to look over his shoulder, before a red and black vortex swallowed him up.

"What?" Zero looked in the red light's direction. Her eye widened. Team Radiance, Espeon, and Umbreon, had vanished from the dungeon without a trace. Growling, she gazed into her scepter's crystal. "Necky, I'm finished for the day. Bring me home."

A wormhole opened up in front of Zero. She stepped inside it, leaving Aurora Vale behind.

This chapter and the bonus were like a five hit combo of bombshells, and the reader barely has time to recover from one before they get clocked with the next reveal. This episode in general has felt like a major turning point in the fic, but this week especially shows that nothing is going to be the same again for our heroes.

I was playing catch-up a bit with the part in Lively Town at the beginning, trying to figure out exactly how all these characters fit in, but that's mostly because I didn't play any of the more recent PMD games, so I was trying to figure out the characters and personalities at play here from information that presupposed I already knew everything I needed to. That's not really a fault of the writing, since part of fanfiction is assuming your audience is at least passingly familiar with the source material, so not knowing the ins and outs of the later games is my responsibility as a reader rather than yours as a writer. Even from the limited stuff I got here, I was mostly able to fill in all the characterization that I needed. Still, I got the sense that this scene was kind of an Easter egg to people who have played all the other games to see how their pokemon partners from those instalments fit into GL's canon.

It was nice that Airy got a bit of screentime in this chapter to flesh out her character a little more and help her stand apart from her teammates. Team Captivate is growing on me, but I'm not really complaining that they're mostly out of focus lately, after their special episode. Even so, Airy has always felt like the least well-rounded of the three, with Milotic being the leader, Serperior being the flirt and complainer in chief, and Airy has for the most part just been... there, like another 'mon for the other two girls to bounce off of and interact with. But here we see that she does have some hidden depths and a calculating mind for impromptu tactics, and Zero knows just what pressure points to push to get her to lose her focus.

As for the Zero reveal... I figured it out in the fight against Braviary and Captivate, and it was confirmed for me pretty much when Shane realized it, with the red Aura Sphere. I knew Prisma was in some way connected with the virus, because of her name (which is an odd name for a human, I wonder if we're ever going to get an explanation for that?), and I think in earlier chapters I didn't quite make the connection between the two of them because I assumed (granted, without much textual basis) that Zero was some kind of alien threat that was outside the scope of the average 'mon ala Bittercold or Dark Matter, but in this chapter it's mentioned that Zero has more of a physical form and recognizable characteristics, rather than just negative emotions crammed into some kind of vessel. You made special mention that Zero had an Egyptian style headdress, which does match up with a Lucario's aura feelers and facial markings. Prisma also didn't lie to Tessa when she said she was with Lunala, since Necrozma is in its Dawn Wings form.

I think this does mean that there's only one Solgaleo and Lunala, and I have a few theories about what happened to Solgaleo, but I'm going to wait to get a little more info first before I commit to anything.

I actually had figured Necrozma was Nicky a while back, because it just seemed to make sense. Necrozma knowing who Shane was via a vision when he used his Z move was just the final bit to confirm my suspicions. What we see in his letter (monologue?) in the bonus helps fill in a few details about Shane in the human world. It's also pretty tragic that Nicky died in the human world when he was in high school, especially when it seemed like he had things going for him and probably would have gotten into a decent college. And in college, no one would have cared if he played "kiddie" games in his free time, and might even have made more friends through that. His postscript to his tormentors at the end sounds kind of similar to the kind of thing that a prospective school shooter would write in their "why I did it" note, and it doesn't help that Nicky now has the power of an insanely powerful legendary pokemon at his beck and call.

What I found most interesting is that Nicky mentions that he has been in this world for centuries, and there's some weirdness involving time not synching up in the PMD world and the world he, Shane and Prisma come from. To Shane, Nicky has probably only been dead a few years at most, so I guess it's kind of like a Narnia thing where a lifetime in the PMD world is only a few hours tops in the human world. But it also means that for Shane, who's only been in Horizon a few months, time has probably only advanced a few minutes. So when he has a flashback to the car accident that he was involved in, it's not something that happened months ago, his human body might very likely still be lying on the street in tremendous and possibly life threatening pain, because it's only been a handful of seconds since the crash.