Celestia watched and listened for some time afterwards, but was rewarded with only the sound of Hoothoot and Noctowl calling out through the night air. Eventually, she caught the sound of two different sets of footsteps crushing fallen leaves, going in opposite directions. One was lighter and swifter, while the other moved with a slower and more purposeful gate. Celestia decided that the latter would be Lysandre. After a quick internal debate, she decided to tail him again, just to see if he would do anything else she should know about.
As she followed in the air, Celestia pondered whether or not it would be a good idea to jump the man on the spot. Even with only one reliable attack, she was still stronger and likely to get the drop on him before he could call out a Pokemon. If he was the driving force behind whatever Team Flare intended to do, perhaps taking him out would put an end to the whole situation before it could truly begin.
But… then what would she do? Kill him? On the basis of half-heard whispers and likely exaggerated rumors of an ultimate weapon? Premonitions were valuable, but they weren’t exactly considered admissible proof by the Equestrian legal system. She still didn’t have a positive confirmation of the existence of a Dark Ball in Lysandre’s possession. The most she had was probable intent to rob a factory which, while criminal, was not worthy of a summary and impromptu execution. Capital punishment was for the worst of the worst, in extreme situations – at times she had flirted with banning it entirely.
Attempt to imprison him? She couldn’t, not here, and from Alakazam’s reaction the legal authorities weren’t likely to believe the word of a random Pokemon against his. Hand him over to Team Rocket? She wasn’t sure how much she trusted them, even if they believed her conviction of the man’s identity. The trio she was with seemed mostly alright, but this Giovanni might be another matter. It wouldn’t be morally right to deliver someone into an unknown fate like that. It was a question of the ends justifying the means, and for the moment Celestia made the executive decision that they didn’t.
Thought the princess followed Lysandre from a distance as he walked out of the forest and back to Laverre, she didn’t see anything more suspicious. He stopped at a cafe, ordered a pastry and warm milk, tipped generously, and then returned to his hotel. Shortly thereafter, he closed the curtains and the lights went out in his room. Though Celestia kept a vigil for nearly an hour, no more activity was evident.
Eventually, feeling tired, the princess sighed and took flight, giving up for the night. She needed to get some rest. But first, Team Rocket needed to hear what she had learned.
As the moon hung high overhead, Luna continued her journey through the dark and murky swamp. It had been almost an hour since she had been poisoned by Vileplume, and the effects by now were thoroughly set in. Her heart beat faster and faster inside her chest, forcing the princess to pant just to keep herself oxygenated. Her muscles burned with every expansion and contraction, as though being eaten alive from within. Her legs quivered and threatened to give out, with only willpower and adrenaline to keep them going. Most alarmingly, Luna’s vision was starting to blur, fading in and out in random segments. No matter how much she blinked her eyes to try and clear them, they continued to deteriorate. Even the insect cloud was now gone, as if sensing her polluted blood and refusing to drink it.
Though her limbs were aching and her body cried out for rest, Luna knew that had no choice but to press on. That Haunter – may the gods forever curse her name – had been right. The princess could feel the Vileplume’s toxins coursing through her bloodstream, eating into more of her flesh with every passing minute. Had she had her magic, Luna had spells enough to neutralize any kind of venom imaginable, and some that weren’t (except by Discord). As it was, the princess feared that if she laid herself down to rest, she would never wake up again. That wasn’t, of course, to say that she hadn’t been trying to magically cure herself along the way.
“Come on… Come on…” Luna’s eyes were screwed shut as she tried to focus her power into her horn. “Come on…” She gritted her teeth. “Urrrrrrggggghhhhhh…”
Nothing happened.
“BAH!” Luna threw her hooves up in disgust, then immediately regretted it as the muscles inside burned and screamed. More infuriated now than ever but lacking a tangible target to turn herself against, she spitefully crushed a random reed as she passed. It was just so frustrating! She still had her power deep within herself, she could feel it. With the right spell, it could turned inwards to sear the poison from her veins and restore her to her full glory. But it just. Wouldn’t. WORK!
Snarling, Luna crashed indiscriminately through the riverside forestry, scattering enormous insectile creatures and little water-bound things alike. She had to find help. It was, however damaging to her pride, the only solution she could think of at the moment. Sapient creatures existed on this world. There must be a civilization somewhere – or at least someone who would know how to deal with this poison. And something for the Haunter presently flashing her what she presumed to be an obscene gesture from the river’s opposite bank would be nice too.
From the forces of frustration and wounded pride, tinged with the slightest bit of fear, the princess found the energy to redouble her efforts. Dulled vision hampered her ability to work around obstacles, so she compensated by simply smashing through them like a wrecking ball. Whatever had been done to her magic, her strength remained. Luna crushed paths through the muddy reeds, shoved aside rocks half as large as herself, and at one point crossed a ravine by kicking a tree down over it. Throughout the whole endeavor her body was wracked with pain and occasional spams, but she endured it with all the patient stoicism of one who has endured a thousand years of solitude on a barren rock. Luna’s pride would not permit anything less.
The princess didn’t know how long she kept up her impromptu demolition derby, partially from inattention and partially because of the blinding agony coursing through her. She couldn’t afford to pay attention to much that wasn’t directly in front of her, and so she didn’t. It therefore came as something of a shock to her when she heard another’s voice.
“Sweet Arceus in heaven, lady!” it shouted in a strangely chirping tone. “What in the blazes are you doing?!”
“Huh?” Luna paused mid-step, her head swiveling towards this newcomer.
Squinting against the blurring and random flashes of color plaguing her vision, she managed to make out what looked to be a large, four-limbed white insect. Its front two limbs were brown and clawed, with its two hind ones resembling more typical insect legs. It also sported a pair of tiny wings that were buzzing irritably.
“Who… are you?” she asked, finding her voice surprisingly weak and scratchy.
“Name’s Nincada. Now, what the heck are you doing to my burrow!”
“Your burrow?”
“You just knocked over the tree I had built it in!” Nincada’s tiny wing buzzed furiously, though they did not lift it from the ground.
“…Oh,” Luna paused, her toxin-riddled brain seeming hesitant to think too fast. “Wait!” her face brightened. “You can help me!”
“Why would I do that?!” its tone was incredulous. “You just ruined my home and now I have to go and dig a new one before molting season! You have any idea how much work went into that! I should just give you a taste of my Metal Claw right now! Yeah!” Nincada stepped forward, raising one brown claw at Luna, which quickly turned silver. “Now you had better-”
“Let me see if I understand you: you run into a being more than quadruple your size, capable of flattening your home without even noticing. And your first response… is to threaten this being?”
“Um…”
“Can you really see that ending well for you?”
“Well I-”
“And I should add that I’m in quite the bad mood tonight. Giving me a target for my anger isn’t likely to do you any favors.”
“Well… when you put it like that…” Nincada took an uneasy step backwards.
“On the other hoof, if you’ll cooperate I give you my word that I will help you restore your dwelling place.”
“Wait…” Nincada’s antennae twitched. “Really?”
“’Tis only just,” Luna confirmed with a nod, despite the sharp jab of pain that went through her neck. “A princess should honor her debts.”
“You’re not just going to try and eat me?”
“Eat a sapient creature!” Luna’s face was aghast. “What do you take us for, some kind of monstrous barbarian?!”
“Well…” Nincada glanced behind her, at the crushed remains of its burrow.
Luna sighed and opened her jaw to display her teeth. “Herbivore.”
“…Looks that way,” it said after a quick look. “Alright, what kind of help do you need?”
“I’m looking for medical attention. I was attacked and poisoned by someone called Vileplume and I need you to show me the nearest-”
“Oh,” Nincada interrupted. “Just poisoned? That’s all?” Its mouth parts clicked.
“It’s no small matter! I may well be dying!”
“Meh,” Nincada held its claws up as if shrugging. “It’s not a big deal.”
“Why you little…” Luna snarled and started forward. An attentive observer would have noticed a slight sharpening of her wing feathers.
Nincada backpedaled hurriedly. “No, wait!” it called out, displaying empty claws. “I mean it isn’t a big deal because it can be cured easily!”
The princess paused. “It can?”
“Yes! Yes!” Nincada nodded frantically. “There’s a Pecha Berry tree not a quarter of a mile from here! That can heal you!”
“You’re certain of this?”
“Absolutely! Pecha Berries can easily cure any kind of poison! It’s just a little one, but it has a couple of fruits on it.”
“If they’re so valuable, why hasn’t anyone else eaten them?”
“They would have, ‘cept,” Nincada brushed a claw across its chest and looked at it. “Only I know where it is, see? But if you’ll help me rebuild my burrow – and not squish me – I’ll show you where it is.”
Luna considered briefly. It could be a trick – this Nincada had a good reason to be angry with her, to try and lead her to her doom. On the other hoof, the pounding of her increasingly-frantic heart and the burning she could feel from inside reminded her that she hadn’t much to lose. Nincada was the only native she’d yet encountered that didn’t attack her on sight, and it said that it had a cure. There was no guarantee she’d find any others before the poison claimed her.
“Very well. Take me to this tree.”
“Come on, come on,” Nincada said as it scurried through the underbrush. “Move along, lady!”
“It’s Luna,” the princess said as she trampled another bush. “And I’m going as fast as I can!”
“Yeah, well maybe you could try not being a great lumbering Snorlax and destroying everything in sight.”
“I… don’t see so well,” Luna lied slightly. She didn’t want this creature to think her too weakened by the poison.
“Yeah, well don’t blame me if you get the local Houndoom on your trail.” Nincada clicked. “Course, they prefer the drier bits of the forest, but still…”
“How much further?”
“I’d say… about ten feet to your left, oh sightless wonder.”
Luna gritted her teeth to check the impulse to snap back. Instead, she glanced to her left as indicated, but saw nothing but a green-black blur filled with oddly-shaped blobs. Shaking her head and blinking restored the slightest bit of clarity, allowing her to distinguish individual trees.
“Which one is it?”
“What, you’ve never seen a Pecha Berry tree before?” Nincada’s tone was incredulous.
“Please, just tell me.”
“The one with the half-dozen pink berries hanging from it, what do you think?”
“…And which one is that?”
“What, do I have to spoon-feed you?!” the little bug creature scattered to the base of one of the blobs. “This one!”
“Thank you.” Luna started towards it.
“How did you even survive this long if you can’t even-”
Nincada was cut off by what appeared to Luna to be a passing flash of purple that made her fur stand on end. There was a small explosion, and then the princess felt a few hot twigs bouncing off of her coat. Her ears pricked up at the sound of all too familiar mocking laughter.
“Hahahaha!” Haunter laughed from somewhere. “Nice try, little morsel.”
“EAT HER!” Nincada screamed. The next moment, Luna heard it skittering through the undergrowth in the opposite direction.
“You coward,” Luna growled under her breath.
“So close, and yet so far,” Haunter taunted. “Too bad, looks like you’re going to die after all.”
“Come out and face me, you cowering wretch!” Luna shouted into the wind. “Even now I do not fear you!”
“Let me think about that. Hmmm… Nah! Hahahahahahaha!”
With that, Haunter was gone.