Twilight walked through her library as she looked back on the various reports Princess Celestia had sent her lately detailing the appearance of servants.
Aside from those Knights of the Round Table that fought the Swords of Justice two days ago, only 2 more servant summonings had been reported so far. The first one was an appearance in the Changeling Empire that was dealt with by Reshiram and Zygarde. The second one was a summoning in the Crystal Empire that got away after it fought John and the Crystal Guard.
“Luckily Reshiram and Zygarde were there to deal with the servant, being Legendary Pokemon, they were definitely powerful enough to defeat it. Can’t say the same for Shiny and Cadence. If just one of these things was able to beat John and the Crystal Guards, then Harmony was not kidding when she said these servants are no pushovers.”
The alicorn put down the reports and sighed. Her gaze then traveled over to the Earth Conceptual Compendium that was sitting on the edge of her desk. She had recently read the section that details the story of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table after the fires in the Everfree. She was surprised to learn just how much story and material there was surrounding the mythical king, aside from the many stories about his knights, Twilight could understand why many humans took inspiration from the story of the great King and the sword Excalibur.
Since getting the books from Arceus, Twilight had already read through several major mythos and stories about Earth’s histories and legends. From legends like Greek Mythology, Biblical stories, and King Arthur, to historical events like World War 2, the Industrial Revolution, and the invention of a super information highway called the internet.
Twilight was both amazed and appalled by the many things humanity managed to accomplish and do. Over the course of their long existence, humans had managed to leave behind a colorful and diverse history, full of individuals who managed to shape it.
And now, Equus itself was at odds with that very history.
“While I don’t mind going through this entire book to learn more about the enemies that we might have to face. I just hope that we have the strength to beat them.”
In hindsight, the arrival of the Pokemon was a blessing in disguise, had they not ever come here. Equus and its people would have been swiftly defeated by the power of the servants. But with the Pokemon as well as Arceus and the Legendary Council, they now had a good chance of winning this war.
“Arceus may be a shortsighted god, but the fact that he is one means we stand a very good chance of beating these guys. I kinda feel bad for whoever ends up having to fight him.”
Twilight looked over the last pages from the report Princess Celestia had sent her and notice a little note with instructions.
“Oh, what’s this?........ Hmmm, I don’t want to leave my desk right now, so I’ll have Spike take care of this.”
Twilight got up and headed to her bedroom where Spike was sleeping. But as the thought crossed her mind, she noticed how the dragon had been spending most of his time sleeping in his room ever since the Gala. While she understood him wanting to be home after the horrible ordeal, she thought he would have gotten over it by now. If Spike wasn’t home he would be hanging out with his Pokemon dragon friends or helping Rarity.
At the top of the stairs, she saw Spike still sleeping in his bed. Walking over she saw him with his face tightened up like he was having a bad dream, she also noticed him holding something in his arms.
“Spike?” Twilight nudged the baby dragon until he woke up with a groan.
“Ughhh, Twilight what is it?”
“Spike are you okay?”
The dragon sat up and rubbed his eyes, making sure to hide whatever he was holding.
“I’m fine Twilight. What do you want?”
“Really? It seemed like you were having a bad dream.”
“....Well it’s over now, can I go back to sleep?”
“No Spike, you have been sleeping in for days now, what happened to going and doing things with your friends.?”
“Well, I just don’t feel like going out okay?” Spike turned his head away, clearly not wanting to have this conversation.
“You know Spike, if something is bothering you, you know you can tell me right. I’m always here for you.”
“Yeah...”
Twilight sighed. “Well if nothing is bothering you then I need you to run an errand for me.”
“What errand?”
“Princess Celestia wants Rainbow Dash to go and check up on the Ley Line that’s in Cloudsdale. The Wonderbolts are there and since Rainbow Dash is a member of the reserves she wants her to go and get a report.”
“No offense to Dash, but can’t Princess Celestia send someone whose job it is to get reports from the Wonderbolts?”
“True, but I think Celestia wants Rainbow Dash to go as a way to get more experience with working with the Wondrbolts in an official capacity.”
*Sigh* “Alright I’ll go tell her.” Spike got out of his bed and began to walk down the stairs.
“Thank you, Spike.”
As Spike got to the bottom of the stairs and went out the door, Twilight was about to go back to her desk when she looked back at Spike’s bed. After a moment of hesitation, her curiosity got the better of her, and she walked over to it. Using her magic, Twilight pulled the sheets off and lifted up what Spike had been hiding.
It was a finely stitched and hoofcrafted stuffed doll of Rarity.
-
Rainbow Dash slept lazily on a random cloud as ponies went about their day beneath her.
Or at least that’s what she tried to do but to no avail.
The problem was not that she wasn’t tried but that she had nothing to do. She had already cleared the skies of wayward clouds and sent them on the path to become storm clouds for later. But after that, she still had too much energy to stop and sit around. She then tried practicing some flying moves and tricks that she was working on but quickly got bored of that as well.
Of course, Rainbow Dash knew the reason that was causing her to be restless, why she couldn’t seem to sit still lately.
“UGHH! At this point, I wish a servant would show up and Ponyville!”
Indeed, as the most gung-ho of her circle of peers Rainbow Dash was ready to fight whoever threatened her kingdom and her friends. While some of them chastised her for rushing into a fight too quickly, Rainbow could not help who she was. As the Element of Loyalty, what kind of pony would she be if she didn’t fight for her friends?
As such, Rainbow anticipated the day when she would fight one of those humans or servant guys who wanted to erase them from existence. The cyan pegasus would show them that they made a mistake of ever challenging the fastest pegasus in Equestria!
“Ugh Rainbow? Dash you awake?”
The Element of Loyalty snapped out of her train of thought and looked down to see one Spike looking up at her.
“Oh Spike, whatcha need little guy?”
“Princess Celestia wants you to go check up on the Wonderbotls in Cloudsdale. She wants a report on their status for the Ley Line there.”
“Wait really? The Princess wants me to go and check up on the Wonderbolts?”
“Yeah, I’m not saying you have to do it now or whatever but I imagine she wants the report sometime-”
“Are you kidding!? Of course I’ll go right now!” Before Spike could say anything else, he watched as his friend took off leaving a rainbow trail in her wake.
“Okay, guess that takes care of that.”
Anastasia released a wave of ice and snow in the direction of Fox and her gang. The team quickly moved out of the way by hiding behind and in trees, but that still didn’t leave them unscathed.
“Dang! It’s like if someone turned the move Blizzard up to 11!” Rascal said.
“Ah grow a pair dude, it’s not that cold,” Scep boasted.
“...Your tail is an icicle Scep,”
The lizard looked and sure enough, his tree-like tail was encased in ice.
“@#$%! They won’t get lucky a second time!”
“Fox what should we do?” Rascal asked.
Alice thought for a moment. Their priority was to lead them back to their base to capture any members of Chaldea which this Kadoc fella was clearly a part of. But despite that, there was still the risk of them being overwhelmed by the other servants they may have with them. Still, depending on how big of a group they are, they might not be able to move around so easily, which means even if they fled she could still track them down later once she brought backup.
It is a risk we’ll have to take.
“Try and separate them, we need to get Kadoc alone and away from his servant, divide and conquer. Hopefully, they’ll feel overwhelmed and call for backup or better yet lead them back to their friends.”
There was a collective “Got it!” from her teammates as they made their moves.
Rascal ran towards Anastasia only to be walled off by a layer of ice. The Weavile easily made work of it with a Mega Punch, but this was short-lived as a powerful gust of cold wind blew him into a tree. Scep meanwhile used Leaf Storm, thinking that even if Anastasia froze them in mid-air, they would only become sharper and deadlier. Instead, however, they fell to the ground due to the loss of weightlessness.
Meanwhile, Shade was stalking around Anastasia from behind like a predator, and upon seeing an opening she jumped at her.
Gotcha.
She didn’t say nor did she make a sound, by all accounts the servant could not have known the Pokemon was behind her at that moment. However, something that didn’t make sense prevented her from landing a blow.
The shadows themselves seemed to come to life, for a brief second Shade could have sworn she saw two glowing orbs in the back of Anastasia’s head. But before she could register this, she was smacked away by a black appendage, sending her into a tree in a daze.
“The hell!?”
“Trying to attack me from behind, were you?”
Shade looked up to see Anastasia loomed over her.
“A mistake, and the last one you will ever make.”
Ice began to gather in the servant’s right hand.
*BANG*
“What the!?”
A flash of smoke-filled Anastasia’s vision, giving Shade the opportunity to run away. Mentally thanking her trainer
Fox watched from a tree as she thanked her forwarding thinking of bringing some smoke bombs. That being said this battle seemed to be going nowhere so far.
“She seems to be keeping them at a distance with that ice. I gotta admit though, her versatility and range of using that ice are more diverse than any Pokemon has ever done.”
She looked for Kadoc who was a few feet away from his servant, not too far as to leave himself wide open but not close enough that he would want to get directly involved in the skirmish.
Alice considered herself a good observer when it came to people she just met. And judging from the ways his eyes darted and how he clutched his right arm. She suspected that Kadoc was a very guarded person. But more than that, he didn’t seem like someone who would be in a direct fight.
“Hmmm, I wonder….Charlotte, I need you to do something for me on my signal.”
“Yes, Alice.”
-
Kadoc observed the battle as Anastasia held her own against the three Pokemon. While they didn’t look like pushovers, they had never fought a servant before, and that was one of the few advantages they had.
That being said he was more concerned about something else.
“Where is that darn fox.”
“Did you call for me?”
“GAAAH!” Kadoc turned around and fired a gandr blast that missed Fox and hit a tree.
“Hey, careful where you’re pointing that thing, you could hurt someone. Then again, you guys are trying to genocide an entire world so maybe you wouldn’t really care either way.”
“That’s a morbid way of putting it,” Kadoc said as he tried to look for the source of her voice.
“Buts it’s true isn’t it. The people and Pokemon of this world were just minding their own business and you guys come along and all you want to do is kill several sapient species.”
Kadoc heard a twig snap and fired another gandr spell, only to hit a pile of leaves.
“It’s especially troublesome for us Pokemon in particular, after all, we came to this planet to get away from humans and now you guys come into our lives again like a bad rash.”
“Hey, this was our planet first! No one said you could come here.”
“Touche. But which 'who' are you referring to, humans or the other people on this planet?”
“It’s not my fault you ended up in a Lostbelt, that’s your bad luck. The people of this world should not be here!”
“What gives you the right to say that? Who are you to say that the people of this world and the Pokemon have no right to live here?”
“I am Kadoc Zemlupus of the Chaldean Security Organization,” The young master stopped firing gandr and just looked around for any sign of movement. “We have already cut down two Trees of Emptiness, two Lostbelts have already been erased thanks to us. This world and everyone in it will be pruned and returned back to the cosmic void where it belongs.”
“Ahh, so you guys are already adept at the art of genocide. Guess I really should expect nothing less from humans who only care about themselves.”
“Is there a point to your bluster fox?”
“Yes.”
Kadoc felt something attach itself to his right hand and pin him to a tree. Looking down he saw a wad of webbing covering his command spells and keeping him in place. He then looked up and saw fox step out into the open. Kadoc raised his other hand only for a string of webbing to tie it to the same tree while it also webbed his waistline, completely trapping him.
Fox walked up to him until their faces were one foot from each other.
“That you guys deserve whatever you get after we bring you to the Princesses.”
Kadoc tried to struggle but to no avail.
“Don’t bother, that web won’t be coming off for a while, and don’t even think about trying to call your servant, I made this webbing to also be ice, fire, and electric resistant. Oh and just in case you were thinking about calling for help.”
Another string of webbing covered Kadoc’s mouth.
“Don’t. I’ve also thrown up an illusion so even if your girlfriend came looking for you, she won’t be able to find you.”
Kadoc just glared at her but she just ignored him and thought for a moment.
Ok, now that that’s done, hopefully, she’ll think we just abducted him, and then we can trail her back to their hideout. And if my timing is right, Spinner will be here with John and the police force.
Kadoc attempted to say something but was obviously muffled by the webbing.
“Mph mfffff pffff.”
“Sorry can’t talk, thinking right now,” Alice said in a trollish manner.
“Wiff aph comphhhff spfff P oprfff ypf!”
Behind the webbing, the command seals on Kadoc’s right hand begun to glow, a fact noticed too late by Alice.
Come to me Anastastia!
Not knowing what he was doing, Alice attempted to knock Kadoc out, only to be stopped when Anastasia appeared right in between them.
“Get away from my master you mongrel.”
A powerful blast of ice sent Alice into another tree and pinning her there as the ice built up until she was now stuck to a tree. She did her best no to scream as the ice was much colder than what most Pokemon moves would be like.
“Anastasia get me out of here.”
“Guys a little help.”
As fox’s gang came to her aid, Anastasia had a head start on Kadoc. The webbing was indeed ice-resistant was Fox said, but for a servant like Anastasia, her ice was more powerful and precise. By the time she had freed him, Fox was only halfway out of the ice.
“They’re using trickery and deception to get the edge on us, plus I don’t think she’s really trying to fight us.”
“You mean she’s stalling?”
“Probably, and if she has back up on the way, we can't wait for her to arrive. Otherwise, we'd be really screwed then we’re really screwed.”
“So what should we do master?”
“.....Let’s get back to the Shadow Border, if you can carry me then we can outrun them.”
“Very well, as you wish Kadoc.”
Just as she was freed, Alice saw Kadoc and Anastasia make a run for it. She smiled as Anastasia carried Kadoc as they began to disappear into the forest.
“Uh dudette, they’re getting away.”
“Don’t worry Scep, we have them tied at the end of a string.”
“Huh?”
“Is the tracker on them Charlotte?”
“Yes, Alice.” The Spinnark said as in crawled down and onto her trainer’s shoulder. Alice then held up a blue gem the had had the markings of a compass. With a blinker showing them to go west.
Meanwhile, unbeknownst to them some of the residue webbings that was stuck on Kadoc had tiny pebble-sized gems that faintly glowed as well.
“It’s a new gadget that Toichi made for me, he infused a bunch of gems with a tracking spell. I had Charlotte wrap up said gems in her webbing that she used on Kadoc, said webbing is still stuck to him as I hope it would be.”
“Wow, really?” Shade said.
“Yup, I wasn’t sure if they had some way to communicate outside of verbal words, turns out they did. But even if she freed him, I also bet that they didn’t care enough to get rid of all the webbing on him, so it would still be stuck to him if he fled.”
“Impressive.”
“So now what?” Rascal asked. Do we wait for John and the cops to arrive, hope they don’t try to arrest us, and then lead them to the other Chaldeans?”
Alice once again found herself thinking. On one hand, if Kadoc and Anastasia got back to their group, they would probably pack up and leave. And the more time away from them was more time for them to discover the tracker and leave them back to square one. On the other hand, having John and the police would be a huge boon as they were actual fighters. But even though John trusted Fox to a degree, it would take time convincing the rest of the guard to follow her lead.
Decisions, decisions…..
“Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do...”
As they got closer to the Border, Kadoc finally managed to get the webbing off of his communicator.
“Guys we have a situation here.”
Da Vinci picked up. “What is it?”
“Anastasia and I ran into some peculiar Pokemon, we managed to get away but I have a feeling they may try to follow us.”
“Okay just get back to the Border and tell us everything when you get here.”
“Alright.”
Both master and servant eventually made it back to the armored vehicle and after getting inside, the border went back under cloak. After settling down, everyone gathered around Kadoc to hear what he had to say. Anastasia meanwhile left the room to go clean the rest of the webbing off of Kadoc’s jacket.
“Okay, so what happened out there?” Goredolf asked.
“Well, first of all, we went into the nearby town and managed to learn a few things.”
“Such as?”
“Well, apparently these Pokemon are not just from another planet, but they apparently come from a parallel Earth.”
This news was a shock to everyone.
“What? How?” Da Vinci said. “I may not be an expert on the Parallel World Theory, but what kind of alternate timeline manage to produce a phantasmal species like the Pokemon?”
“None,” Sherlock said. "As most heroic spirits would know, the Throne of Heroes records the events of worlds where even servants unique to specific timelines come from. If such a world that contained a species called Pokemon did exist, we would have known about it. Unless they also come from a lost history like the Lostbelts.
“I dunno, and that’s not the strangest part, the person I talked to says they came here to get away from humans who were basically treating them like slaves or second-class citizens at best. So their god who is known as Arceus gathered them all up and brought them here.”
“Hmph, can’t blame him if that’s true, humans have always tended to use and control those they see as lesser beings,” Akuta stated. “But why would he bring them to another Earth? No matter where he would go, humans would always be found no matter what Earth he went to. That’s just how prolific you guys are.”
“That may not be true,” Sherlock said.
“What do you mean?” Ophelia said.
“If this Lostbelt truly was devoid of human life at some point then whoever this Arceus is, he must have known that fact and brought the Pokemon here knowing they would be free of human influence.”
“Yes, I can see that being the logical path of events if it’s true,” Kirschtaria said. “Although some things still don’t add up.”
“Actually,” Kadoc said continuing. “The part where humans are not here is not entirely true. When this Arceus guy brought the Pokemon to this Lostbelt, he brought some humans with him as well.”
“Wait what?!” Akuta said. “Why would he bring along humans that he was trying to get away from?”
“Let me finish. Apparently, the ones he brought with him are the good humans from that Earth. I don’t exactly know why they came along for the ride but I can guess. But no matter the why, they didn’t stay humans for long, Arceus turned them all into Pokemon.”
This also shocked everyone, but not as much as Kirschtaria. “.....He turned them into Pokemon, why?”
“Apparently he didn’t trust the ones he brought with him to remain good, or at least he didn’t trust them enough to see the Pokemon as true equals. To quote what that pony said: ‘He wanted to preserve that which was good about humanity while cutting off what made them evil’. Basically, he brought some humans with them, but he didn’t want them to ever produce any bad humans.”
“And in doing so he took away their humanity.” Kirschtaria’s voice then became one of anger in one of the rare times that it did.
“While I can see and understand why he would do such a thing,” Akuta said. “He should have just not brought them at all if he was planning to turn them into Pokemon once they got here. Now that Earth he left behind is just gonna become hell with all the bad humans that are still there.”
“About that.”
“Huh?”
“The Earth that he left behind, it may implode faster than you think.”
“What do you mean?” Ritsuka asked.
“Well aside from the Pokemon, there is also a class of more powerful Pokemon called Legendary Pokemon that were in charge of maintaining nature along with the normal Pokemon.”
“So you’re saying these Legendary Pokemon are comparable to divine spirits or nature spirits?” Ophelia asked.
“Maybe, I’m guessing yes they are since without them, the Earth they are from will die due to the lack of authority over the world’s aspects.”
“But wait, while it is true that if a god or divine spirit dies, that authority they control will be left vacant and will cause problems, things would eventually settle down as the world would eventually reacquire those lost authorities. So it’s not safe to say if the Earth of that timeline would rip itself apart, Gaia’s Counter Force would step in to control the situation.”
“A question for another time, cause we have bigger problems,” Kadoc said. “This Arceus clearly doesn’t have a high opinion of humans. Not to mention that he seems to be very aware of the Lostbelt situation, so I’d imagine learning that a bunch of humans like us coming here and trying to destroy everything put him in a bad mood and make capturing or destroying us his top priority.”
Sherlock Holmes rubbed his chin. “Kadoc’s worried expression is warranted. We don’t know what kind of god or divine spirit this Arceus is, or what kind of powers and authorities he posses. However, the fact that he apparently had the means of moving such a large population to another world, indicates that he is clearly a very powerful entity. Perhaps even comparable to Tiamat in terms of raw power.”
Everyone in the room shuddered as those who fought in the 7th singularity remembered coming face to face with that beast.
“Yes, I remember,” Mash said. “Doctor Roman said that Tiamat had enough magical energy to travel through space, like an Ark carrying life across the Sea of Stars.”
“Kadoc, did you learn where this Arceus might be?”
“The pony said that he is in some place called the Hall of Legends, which is in a forest call the Everfree located south of that town Hans mentioned called Ponyville.”
“I see, Hans, do you know where this Ponyville is located?”
“I do, but let me ask you first, don’t tell me you’re about to go and knock on this Arceus’s door are you?”
“Of course not!” Goredolf said. “We just like to know so we can stay clear of it. Ugh, that is why you wanted to know right Holmes?”
“Indeed, I do believe it’s best we steer clear of this Arceus before we learn more about him. But for now, we have something else to worry about, Kadoc, you said that you encountered some peculiar Pokemon right?”
“Yes, they were lead by Pokemon who called herself ‘Phantom Theif Fox’.”
“An actual Phantom Theif?” Mash said. “You mean like Arsène Lupin?”
“Well if Arsène Lupin could do magic and had a caviler hat instead of a top one.”
“Well, what is she like?” Ritsuka asked.
“From what I was able to witness and piece together during our fight, it seems she is very adept in using illusion-based magic, she could probably even give Merlin a run for his money.”
Elsewhere a certain flower mage coughed.
“She could do things like turn invisible until she was right next to you, and cloak the area to make it seem like nothing is there. She may be capable of doing other things but that’s all I saw for now.”
“What about the other Pokemon that were with her?”
“One was a large walking green lizard with a pine tree for a tail, another one was some kind of blue feline midget with a fan-shaped hairstyle, and the final one could basically be described as a purple leopard.”
“And you’re sure you managed to lose them before you came here?” Goredolf said.
“Yes, Anastasia may not be the fastest servant, but I’m willing to bet she got us far enough that she would not be able to see exactly where we went. So I am confident that she did not follow us here. And even if she did, I doubt she has the means of finding the Border while it’s camouflaged.”
“Uh, Kadoc.”
Everyone turned to see Anastasia enter the control room with Kadoc’s jacket.
“Oh Anastasia, thank you for cleaning this.” Kadoc took his jacket back and put it on.
“You're welcome, but your clothes were not the reason I came here.”
“Huh?”
“While removing the webs, I found somethings tangled in there.” Anastasia opened her hand to reveal several blue gems that were faintly glowing.
“I may not be a mage in name or in life. But my Caster container tells me that these things have some kind of magical spell etched into them.”
“Hmmm, may I see them miss Romanova?” Anastasia gave the gems to Sherlock who looked them over for a few seconds, then his eyes widened. “Oh no.”
“What’s wrong?” Ritsuka asked.
“I’ll admit, the mechanics of how this spell works is slightly different from what we’re used to. Not to mention that it’s not optimized for long-term use. But there is no mistaking it, these stones have been fitted with a tracking spell.”
This news of course made everyone in the room do a double-take.
“Well don’t just stand there, smash ‘em!” Goredolf said.
Immediately Holmes threw the gems to the floor and with the enhanced strength of a servant crushed them all into powder.
There was a moment of silence before Ophelia spoke up.
“Did it work? Are we still hidden?”
“Uh, I think we may have been too late,” Meuniere said. “Take a look at this.”
The display radar came up, showing pings of 5 lifeforms with a distinct energy signature.
“Are you sure it’s them? Mash said.
“Well, I can guarantee you that they are Pokemon. Thanks to the readings you guys brought back, we updated the Borders sensors to scan for anything that would register as a Pokemon. Plus the fact that they are heading in our general direction and don’t seem to be changing course is not a good sign.”
“Can we see them on our cameras?” Goredolf said.
“I have already checked, if they are there, they must be invisible or something. This means Kadoc wasn’t kidding when he said the quote ‘Phantom Theif Fox’ is capable of casting illusions.”
“Seriously? Ugh, then if that’s the case then we might as we start up the engines and get out of here!”
“The amount of time it would take to start the engines would be enough for them to start running and catch up to us,” Da Vinci pointed out. “Not to mention we also have to navigate out of this forest. Which means we can't go at full speed. The most likely scenario is that they would climb on top of the Border and try to get in, or they might just stick another one of those tracking devices on us.”
“So? This isn’t like when Surtr attacked us. I doubt these Pokemon could cut through the hull before we force them off.”
“That’s not the main problem,” Kadoc said.
“Huh?”
“Da Vinci, what is the maximum horsepower for the Shadow Border?”
“About 800 lbs, maybe more if I push it.”
“Tell me, could this thing still move if the wheels and axels were gunked up with spider webs?”
“...That depends on the tensile strength of said spider web.”
“Well I’m no Spider-Man, but if to had to guess from the one encounter with that Pokemon, the web gadgets she was using would give Peter Parker a run for his money.”
“So you’re saying there is a good chance she would web up all our wheels before we have a chance to escape?” Ritsuka said.
“I’m not sure if she has that in mind since she doesn’t know about the Border yet. But if she wants to capture all of us, then I would assume she packed enough just in case. Either that or she probably has some Pokemon making it for her.”
“Ok, then we just make an emergency dive,” Goredolf said
“Not possible at the moment, I haven’t finished applying the logic formula. Plus there is a little problem with the Paper Moon at the moment,” Da Vinci stated.
“What problem?”
“The Paper Moon is having trouble discerning the difference between the Lostbelt and Earth. Whatever is going on with this place it’s messing with the Paper Moon’s sensors.”
“Can you fix it?”
“I could call Sion and we could work together on the problem, but that will take time.”
The entire room went silent as the Chaldeans realized they had very few options at the moment.
Sherlock rubbed his chin. “This is indeed a difficult choice we must make. Either we try to make a break for it and risk having the Shadow Border immobilized due to spider webbing. Or we go outside and fight an illusionist we know very little about.”
Kirschtaria then spoke up. “Director, you are our leader, what do you think we should do?”
Goredolf looked unsure of himself, this was a situation that had equal chances of going wrong no matter what they decided. But he knew that they couldn’t just still here waiting for their foes to find them.
“Alright, I’ve made my decision.”
-
Alice and her gang slowed down as they came to a clearing in the middle of the forest. The tracking spell said they were right on top of wherever Kadoc and his servant went off to. But there was no sign of the human master, nor the tracking gems they stuck to him.
“So, where the hell is he?” Rascal said.
“Yeah, I just see a whole bunch of nothing dudette,” Scep added.
Alice looked around. As someone who specialized in illusions, hiding in plain sight, and misdirection, she could easily find and uncover what people wanted to hide.
“Spread out, see what you can find, anything that looks out of the ordinary.”
The group did as they were told, looking in trees, searching through bushes, and turning over stones. But after a few minutes of searching, they grouped up with no luck of finding their targets.
“I got nothing,” Shade said. “Unless they are underground they’re not here.”
“Not underground I can tell you that,” said Scep who was covered in dirt. “Used Dig and found nothing, and considering that the PLA used underground bases, I would know a thing or two about them.”
Alice folded her arms, she thought for a moment before scanning the area once again. Her eyes then widened as she noticed something they hadn’t considered before.
“Do you all remember when we first came back to Baltimare after touring Equestria, pulling off heists?”
Everyone nodded or said yes.
“We passed through the forest on our way home and made a rest stop in this very location right?”
Scep thought for a moment. “Yes, I believe we did, something about Rascal here needing to pee.”
“Hey! I clearly recall you also needed to take number 2!”
“Okay! The point is we all took a potty break. Now, tell me, do any of you remember that big rock over there?”
Everyone and saw Alice pointing at a very large boulder that was about as big as a house.
“I already checked that rock, and it looks, sounds, and tastes just like a rock.”
“Hmmm,“ Alice walked over to the boulder, knock her hand against it, and confirmed what Rascal had said.
“Your right. This looks, sounds, and feels like an actual boulder….But-”
Everyone except Scep, slowing picked up what Alice was saying. As the newest member of her group he still had yet to learn all of Alice’s ways of finding thins.
“If that is the case, there should be no problem with me doing this.”
Dark-type energy began to gather in Alice’s hands, after months of being a Pokemon, she had finally learned how to use this move. The signature Dark-type move of the Zoroark evolution line.
“Night Daze!”
Slamming her fists into the ground, a wave of black energy slammed into the boulder while kicking up a cloud of dust. When everything began to settle, a certain fizzing sound could be heard.
Everyone looked as the image of a giant boulder fell away, revealing a large armored vehicle parked in front of them. There were virtually no scratches from Alice’s attack.
“Huh, would you look at that,” Scep said.
The group gathered around as Alice inspected the vehicle.
To think that this thing can fool even all five senses with whatever camouflage it’s packing! These Chaldeans must have some really high-tech or powerful magic.
There were a few more seconds of silence before Rascal spoke up.
“So...do we just knock or-”
The sound of an engine turning on filled the forest, then the armored vehicle spun its wheels as it began to move. The Fox gang jumped out of the way as it drove off into the forest.
“Interesting,” A smile crept onto Alice’s face.
Inside the Border, Goredolf put the pedal to the metal as the Shadow Border flew by trees, occasionally hitting some as they passed by.
“Hey watch it where your driving!” Da Vinci said on the intercom. “This thing may be reinforced, but that doesn’t mean you have to hit every speed bump.”
“Don’t be a backseat driver! I ain’t sitting around waiting for those animals to catch up to us. Meuniere how far are we from the edge of the forest?
“Half a mile! Just keep going.”
The Border flew past trees and bushes. Sometimes an animal or Pokemon was in the middle of the road, but instincts, as well as a few horn honks prevented them from becoming roadkill. Eventually, the edge of the forest was visible upon the windshield.
“We’re gonna make it, we’re gonna make it, we’re gonna-”
Goredolf’s words were interrupted when he felt a jolt, followed by the Shadow Border slowing down until it eventually came to a stop.
“Wha- what’s going on!?”
“I think I know what’s going on,” Da Vinci put up the camera feed to show several web strings holding the Border to the ground as well as nearby trees. Goredolf tried pressing the gas again only to ending up kicking up dirt. Defeated, Goredolf slammed his fist on the controls. Looking up at the camera feed again, she watched as a certain figure in a cape and cavalier hat walk into view, then casually waved her hand at the camera.
Growling, Goredolf, got up from his seat and face his staff.
“Alright then, plan B.”
-
Alice stood outside as she and her team waited and watched.
“You sure we should just try and break-in? I mean that’s what we do all the time.” Scep said.
“Nah I have a feeling they will come out to us. Besides, I think they would be smart enough to try and not let anyone inside.”
Sure enough, Alice watched as a door opened and out stepped several individuals.
Ophelia Phamrsolone, Kadoc Zemlupus, and Ristuka Fujimaru walked out along with their servants Ortlinde, Anastasia, and Mash Kyrielight. As they walked to face Fox and her Pokemon, she clapped her hands as if to congratulate them.
“So, you are the famous Chaldeans that everyone has been talking about! Nice to finally meet you in the flesh.”
Ophelia narrowed her eye. “And you must be, Fox was it?”
“Phantom Theif Fox at your service. Master illusionist and the most wanted criminal back on my Earth. And Kadoc! Long time no see, did you enjoy the little present I left for you and your girlfriend.”
Kadoc said nothing only giving her a glare.
“I must say, I was really impressed with how you guys managed to hide yourselves. Just what kind of gadgets are you guys packing to be able to fool all five senses? Not even my illusions can do that. Say, when you’re all in jail, mind if I have your cool car? I could really pull off some amazing heists with that kind of tech. It sure would make up for my lost base back on Earth.”
“Sorry, but it’s not for sale. Not to mention that mage society forbids us from sharing magical secrets with...muggles.”
“Wow, so you guys like hoard all the magic on your Earth for yourselves? Kinda selfish if you ask me.”
“Alright enough talk Fox!” Kadoc said. “I don’t know who you think you are, but you might wanna consider turning around and walking back where you came from if you think just the four of you can take us all down.”
Alice snickered. “Since you guys haven’t heard of me before I’m just going to say that you really shouldn’t judge someone based on appearances. You never know what you might see coming.”
“We are well aware of your ability to cast illusion spells or whatever your power is," Ophelia said. "But I should also point out that have no idea what we are capable of either.”
“Touche. So why don’t we don’t find out who each of us is together.”
“Agreed. Lancer, attack!”
“Yes, master!”
Ortlinde lunged at Fox, but when her spear pierced her chest, the Pokemon exploded into what reassembled a flock of large pigeons, that all kept saying “Pidgeot”.
“Where’d she go?”
Ristuka meanwhile was looking around until he heard Mash say something.
“Senpai look out!” He looked just in time to see Mash jump in front of him and defend her master from Scep who appeared out of nowhere.
“Huh, didn’t peg you for being fast with that heavy shield of yours girly.”
Mash said nothing, only held her ground against the Pokemon.
“Alright, lets we what you’ve got!”
Ortlinde soon found herself surrounded by Shade and Rascal as they circled her.
Both Pokemon gave each other a knowing look as they nodded and prepared to pounce.
One….two…..threee!
But just as they jumped, Ortlinde’s body erupted in light, blinding them, this of course caused both Pokemon to knock into each other.
“Ow, the hell was that?”
“You charged at an opponent you know nothing about. It was only natural you would be surprised. I can already tell my combat experience far exceeds both of you combine,” Ortlinde said.
“But you look like what, sixteen years old? Can’t be that good with a spear and shield.”
“You forget Rascal, she is not human, servants are the ghosts of dead people where they’re from. This means wherever she was born and raised made her into who she is now.”
“You are correct, but there is also another thing you should know about us servants.”
Ortlinde’s body began to sparkle as her divine aura exerted itself.
“Servants are summoned during the prime of their lifetime, which means we are always in top form.”
Flying at blinding speed, she bashed her shield into Rascal before thrusting her spear at Shade. The tip of the weapon grazed her back causing her to cry out in pain.
“Give up, you cannot win this fight.”
“Erk...If you think we will stop, you’re wrong.” Shade got up as blood dripped from her side. “We won’t stop until our trainer commands it.”
“Well, my master has told me not to kill you. But that may change depending on how long you continue to resist.”
Shade stared at Ortlinde. She couldn’t deny that the servant was a better fight than her. She could handle most police Pokemon like Howl and Heat, but this servant despite looking human was far stronger than any Pokemon they had faced so far.
But she didn’t need to beat her, just keep her busy long enough for Alice to do her thing.
“Hurry up Alice, I don’t know how long we can keep her busy.”
Rascal walked up beside Shade after getting up from being knocked into a tree. “You alright?”
“Yeah, it’s not that bad.”
“Still we gonna need a couple of bandages after this.”
“Yeah. Let’s do this!”
As the other two masters and servants fought off the Pokemon, Kadoc and Anastasia kept looking out for Fox.
“There!”
Anastasia shot an ice blast at the tree Fox was in, only for her to disappear when it reached her.
“Seriously? I have seen Spinda’s with better aim than you guys.”
Anastasia shot another icicle that incased an oak tree with snow and sheet.
“You wasting your magic. At this rate, you'll turn the entire area into a winter wonderland.”
“If your thinking about trying to get into the Border, don’t. That thing would take you ages to break in. Also if you’re trying to trick us into opening the door, the director told us he will not let anyone in until your gone. Plus we have sensors to detect where you are, not even your illusions will hide you if you get inside.”
“I had a feeling that might be the case. Even still it doesn’t matter if I get inside or not, you’re helping me a lot by doing this.”
What does she mean by that?
Mash swung her shield as Scep dodged and try to parry, only for him to surprised by the girl’s strength when she kept knocking him back.
“I’m impressed, given your size I didn’t peg a little girl like you as a strong type.”
“I too am surprised, your movements are swift just strong, not to mention you use a variety of attacks we have never encountered before. Are you an average member of your species or better than most?”
“I’m a general in the PLA, and let me tell ya, you don’t get a spot like that unless you good at what you do.”
“The PLA, what’s that?”
Scep smiled, glad that they had asked that question “The PLA stands for the Pokemon Liberation Army.”
The Sceptile stopped for a moment to stare down at Mash and her master.
“We were-...no, we ARE a group dedicated to ending the oppression and reign of humans over Pokemon. To defeat humanity and free all Pokemon!”
Ritsuka and Mash were silent.
“I’ll admit things didn’t go exactly as planned when Arceus decided to move us all here. But in the end, it all worked out, because Pokemon are now all free to live their lives as they should.”
Scep then closed his eyes, before opening them with renewed determination.
“Which means I’ll be damned if all that suffering was for nothing!”
The blades on Scep’s arms began to glow green, and he prepared to strike.
“You call yourselves the Organization for the preservation of the Human Order. Which means you fight for humans. This means that you are now the PLA’s newest, greatest enemy!”
Scep charge at the duo.
“Leaf Blade!”
Scep was moving super-fast, sure that Mash would not be able to react in time.
But instead of his blades connecting with her body, Scep found himself repelled by an invisible force, the power of which knocked him to the ground.
“The hell!?” Scep got up just in time to see the shield held by the girl projecting a large blue barrier protecting her and her master.
“If you wish to call us your enemy that is fine. I may not know anything of this PLA or the world you came from. But I do know this, as someone who has traveled human history and seen both it’s good and bad, I can say with utmost certainty that I will defend the human race with my life!”
As Scep got to his feet Mash continued to talk.
“You said that the Pokemon that have lived here have suffered a lot to get to where they are now. I am sorry for that. But we also have a journey, a mission that we must complete. And while it may mean the destruction of the world and its people, we shall continue to move forward regardless, no matter who stands in our way!”
“Heh. Well then, I guess this can only end one way.”
Mash readied her shield.
“Sorry dudette, but your journey ends here!”
Inside the Border, everyone looked as the fight continued to rage on.
“Should we go out there?” Pepe said. “I know they can handle themselves but…”
“You sense it too?” Kirschtaria said.
“Yeah, somethings not right here.”
“What do you mean?” Gordelf said.
“Well, even though these guys are no amateurs, it’s very obvious that they are outmatched. Sherlock, what do you think?”
“Well, the Pokemon fighting Ms. Kyrelight and Ritsuka is obviously the best fighter out of them. While the two Pokemon fighting Ortlinde are not faring very well. And then there is the Phantom Theif Fox who has yet to actually attack.”
“Yes, this entire time she has been jumping from tree to tree dodging Anastasia’s attacks.”
“No, not jumping, appearing.”
“Huh?”
“If you look closely, you can tell that Fox is not jumping from tree to tree. The branches are not shaking whenever she appears on one, nor is there any sound of movement.”
“Then you mean…”
“Yes, that is not the real Fox, it’s just an illusion.”
“Then, where is the real Fox?” Goredolf said.
“Ms. Da Vinci, please bring up the heat sensors.”
“Got it.”
On screen, the heat signatures displayed all the visible combatants who were outside.
“Look right there!” Pepe said.
Scandinavia pointed to a dot on the screen, showing someone close to the Border and slowly walking around it.
“That must be Fox, but what is she doing?”
Sherlock Holmes observed Fox as she went around the Border, only stopping at certain spots.
“Oh dear.”
“What? What’s going on?”
“Director, would you please press on the gas.”
“What, why? We’re still stuck.”
“Just do it.”
Stepping on the pedal, Goredolf was surprised when the Border didn’t budge at all. Not even the wheels kicked up any dirt.
“What, why aren’t the wheels turning? The camera’s not showing any webbing on them.”
“Yes, that’s because it only appears that way.”
Outside, Kadoc and Anastasia at this point had stopped attack fox and just kept looking out for her.
“That’s it, you guys done, ready to throw in the towel?” Fox said in her cheeky voice.
“Keep talking, I know you’re not really jumping from trees.”
“Oh, well congratulations, you figured that part out faster than most people. Then again the guys I usually rob from are not as smart as you. Maybe I shouldn’t underestimate you guys.”
Kadoc was about to say something until he heard Sherlock’s voice in his ear.
“Kadoc, Fox is not in the trees!”
“I gathered that, where is she?”
“She’s been webbing up the wheels this entire time, she is making it more difficult for the Shadow Border to move!”
Kadoc’s eyes widened.
“Anastasia! Use your ice on the-”
Before Kadoc could finish a web bomb appear and stuck him to the hull of the border, another bomb covered his mouth.
“Insolent Fox! You will pay for that!” Anastasia said looking around for the source of webs. “I can telepathically communicate with my master. Covering his mouth won’t stop him from relaying commands.”
“Yes, I am also aware that my webs won’t work on you since your ice can bypass my cold-resistant webbing. But can you focus on freeing him and the others as well?”
“Others?”
Just as if on cue, a web bomb exploded and stuck Mash’s shield to the ground. Scep seized the opportunity and went right for Ritsuka. Mash promptly dropped the shield and tackled Scep out of the way. This left her master wide open to be webbed up by yet another web bomb.
Ortlinde on the other hand was caught off guard when Fox cast her illusions on Shade and Rascal. Causing them to multiply until there were 2 dozen of them.
“Take your pick,” said the multiple Shades.
Ortlinde attempted to use another light attack, only to be interrupted and actually hurt by a combined Shadow Ball and Dark Pulse attack.
“Just as I thought,” said the disembodied voice of Fox. “Since you servants are basically ghosts, that means by Pokemon logic, you are weak to Ghost and Dark-type moves.”
Ortlinde shrugged off the attack just time to defend herself from a Shadow Claw courtesy of Rascal.
“This isn’t good,” Kirschtaria said. “Our friends are on the defensive now.”
“Fox is making use of her illusions and tricks to expose our vulnerabilities. But I still don’t think her aim is to defeat us.”
“What do you mean?”
“Logically her illusions and stamina must have a limit, even if she were to defeat everyone outside, she still doesn’t have the means of getting inside. No, her webbing of the Shadow Border’s wheels is indicative of another plan she has in motion. Fox is stalling us!”
Gordelf’s eyes widened before he started to become worried.
“You mean, she has reinforcements on her way here?!”
“I believe so, and if others were to come and discover our current location, we would be in no position to escape. We have to deal with Fox now before whoever called for, gets here.”
“Agh! If only we could stop her from webbing the wheels. Where is she keeping that stuff anyway!?”
“Hmmm, before we drove off, didn’t the sensors say before that it detected five lifeforms?”
“...Wait, yes they did!” Kirschtaria said.
“And we only see four Pokemon right now. This means that whoever the fifth Pokemon is, must be the one making the webs. Da Vinci, expand the radar sensors, see if you can pick up anything.”
“Let’s see….oh, yeah! I’m detecting another lifeform in the tree line!”
“Open a channel to Kadoc.”
Anastasia was currently using her ice to freeze and shatter the webbing holding her master. But whenever she got done, another web bomb exploded in a different spot.
“Fox I swear to mother Russia when I get my hands on you-”
“You’ll what? Freeze me? Good luck with that.”
Anastasia gritted her teeth. But before she could retort, she received a telepathic order from her Kadoc.
Anastasia!
Yes, master?
There is another Pokemon hiding in the trees, it’s probably the one making all these webs, find it!
Once Kadoc was done speaking, Anastasia smiled. She then looked at Fox who was once again in a tree.
“I take it that smile means you're ready to give up?”
“Oh no, far from it. In fact, I was about to give you one last chance to take your little group and leave this place now.”
“Yeah not gonna happen.”
“Okay, I gave you a chance.”
And with that line, Anastasia turned into spirit form, disappearing from view. Alice was a little surprised by this but kept her guard up nonetheless.
“Where‘d you go?”
Nothing happened for the next 30 seconds. Then there was a scream.
“AAAAHHHH!”
It wasn’t very loud, but some of those who heard it knew who it belonged to.
“Charlotte!”
Alice, as well as Shade, Rascal, and Scep all stopped as they saw their trainer run off into the woods. Alice kept running until she came upon a sight that stopped her in her tracks.
Anastasia was standing there, the temperature around the area was 50 below. But she didn’t need to make it that way, for Alice’s blood was already running cold due to what she was looking at.
In Anastasia’s left arm, was Charlotte. The left part of her body was already frozen solid. Ice crystals jutted from parts of her leg the had expanded to open several wounds.
But the worst part of it all was one of her legs had already fallen off. Alice’s eyes trailed down until she saw it lying in a pile of snow.
Several footsteps were heard until the rest of Alice’s gang caught up to her. Once they got to their trainer’s side, they all gasped at what they saw.
“Charlotte…,” Rascal said.
“You, you monster!” Shade growled. “Put her down before I-”
“Before you all say anything allow me to tell you what’s going to happen. This little bug is experiencing the effects of third-degree frostbite on her left side. And as you can see it has already caused one of her legs to fall off. Such a fragile little thing.”
Alice said nothing, only continued to glare with Anastasia with obvious rage.
“This little one will never be able to use it left legs again, you will need to amputate them. But it can still live and maybe recover if you take it and your little group and leave, now.”
Alice looked at Charlotte, then back at Anastasia. This was their chance to take down Chaldea and make sure they never pose a threat to Equus and its people. But if she didn’t back out, Charlotte was going to die. She was a member of the team, a partner, a friend.
Charlotte was not worth this.
“Fine, we’ll leave.”
Anastasia smiled. “Good choice.”
The servant walked a few steps and set the Spinnark down in the middle. Alice then went to pick her up and immediately tried warming her with her fur.
“Alice...I’m sorry,” Charlotte said weakly.
“Don’t be, it’s not your fault.”
Alice looked back to Anastasia, only to see that she was already gone.
The other Pokemon gathered around poor Charlotte as she shivered and breathed slowly.
“They will pay for this.” Shade said angrily.
“Yes, yes they will. But another day, right now Charlotte needs help, and that’s what’s important right now.
The Fox gang disappeared into the forest. Only Alice looked back once.
They’ll regret this, I’ll make sure of that