A New Dimension, A New Threat

by ZeroChill


Blood on the Sand

Fei sat down on wood-patterned mat in a squatting position. His hands pressed against his thighs and his eyes shut themselves. His chest rose back and forth with the passing motion of a wave. His head tilted down towards the floor, and his focus became absolute.

“Hey Fei!” Hovering near his airspace, Rondo called out with an enthusiastic tone.

Fei’s concentration broke from the Chatot’s words. He clenched his teeth and looked towards Rondo’s direction.

“I am a bit busy with meditation right now, Rondo. But, do you need anything from me?” Fei asked.

Rondo nestled his talons onto the ground and looked upon Fei’s face.

“I hope you don’t mind, but I want to watch you meditate.” Rondo requested.

Fei rolled his eyes with half of his mouth lifted with anxiety.

“That is an odd request.”

“I know, but everyone else is busy and Councilman Carapace isn’t hosting any shows in Club Chitin right now. I have nothing else better to do.” Rondo explained.

Fei brought his right hand to the edge of his jaw and stroked the bottom of his head. A dull hum emerged from him.

“A problem… I guess you can stay and watch me meditate. I won’t be doing much though.” He responded.

Rondo bent his knees down onto the ground, perching his legs underneath his feathers. He sat and gazed upon Fei with an enthusiastic facial expression.

“I’ll be here as quiet as possible, Fei. Don’t you worry about a thing.”

Fei centered his neck and inhaled a deep breath of air. He released it from his mouth and shut his eyes. Fei’s watch beeped with a loud noise, eliciting a sharp wince from him. He loosened out his legs and stood up onto his feet. He glanced down upon his watch and pressed it. A hologram of Spitfire’s head appeared over it.

“Fei, are you available right now?” Spitfire asked.

“I was doing some meditation, but I guess I can help.” Breathing out an exasperated sigh, Fei responded.

“I apologize in advance if I disturbed your meditation session, but almost all of H.O.R.S.E. is busy handling other missions and this mission requires all operatives with a license to pilot an exo.” Spitfire explained.

Fei narrowed his eyes and a deep frown carved itself over his mouth. He steeled his chin and glared into Spitfire’s eyes.

“…Seriously?”

“Look, I know that you hate mechas in general. After all, they somewhat damaged your familial life. However, I really need you to come through for me, Fei. There is a Pokémon out in the Desert of Forgotten Souls that needs your help right now.” Spitfire said.

Fei’s eyes steeled with a casting of intentness. He straightened out his mouth.

“I will be right there, Commander. Will I be getting some help on this mission?”

“You’ll get the only other operative with an exo license who isn’t busy right now. Time is of the essence right now!”

With these words, Spitfire’s hologram disappeared from Fei’s watch. Rondo, who glanced upon the conversation between Fei and Spitfire, grinned and flew towards the height of Fei’s head.

“Ohhh! Can I join?!” He asked.

Fei’s eyes darted from the right and to the left. He glanced upon Rondo’s form with a soft gaze.

“I’m sorry, Rondo, but you don’t have an exo license of your own. Spitfire made it clear that this is a mission that is only for exo pilots.”

“Aww come on! Can’t I at least ride in the same cockpit as you?” Rondo urged.

Fei’s fortitude wavered underneath Rondo’s pleading words. He breathed through his nostrils and smiled with a half-hearted attempt.

“Well… alright. After all, what’s the worst that can happen?”


Two light brown exos flew along the level of the ground through waves of sand whipped up within the channels of the airflow. Fei glanced towards a yellow bar and the percentage numbers on the hologram of his cockpit lowering.

“Wow, this exo’s energy levels are depleting at a faster rate than normal!” Pointing towards the energy readings, Rondo noted.

“I knew that though. This sandstorm is much more intense than the ones back in our world after all.” Fei stated.

A hologram of Flash Sentry’s image in a cockpit displayed itself upon Fei’s monitor. A confident smile appeared on his face.

“Having trouble there, Fei?” Flash Sentry asked with a cheerful tone.

“No. I’m doing fine.” Shaking his head and wearing a smile on his face, Fei responded. “So how is Inge doing on your end?”

Inge jumped out of Flash Sentry’s seat and into Fei and Rondo’s view. She waved her right upper limb with an energetic motion.

“Don’t worry Fei and Rondo. We’ll make sure that Pokémon comes to Neo Canterlot in safe hands.” She stated.

“That’s reassuring to hear. Considering how close most of the people are at my former place of occupation, that Pokémon is a very good friend.” Fei stated.

The sonar screen in both exo cockpits’ external viewing picked up a red blip, bringing a smile to Fei and Flash Sentry. The sonar shockwave extended farther into its range, revealing a horde of purple blips closing in towards the red blip. Their smiles flipped into open-mouthed frowns.

“Ummm… that’s not good.” Flash Sentry murmured out.

“What’s not good?” Rondo asked.

Inge groaned and smacked her forehead.

“Didn’t you absorb any information when it comes to radars, Rondo?! We have a special color designation for those blips approaching our target; they are the Van’Goth!” She explained.

“Oh shoot! That is bad!” Rondo shouted. “Why are they going after that Pokémon?!”

Fei’s eyes narrowed with determination. He rolled his hand on the booster, causing the boosters ejecting blue fires on his exo to blast into overdrive. Flash Sentry’s eyes widened with surprise.

“Hey! Wait up for me!”


A gray-coated hyena-like creature with tufts of black fur along his back, legs and tail hopped away from a line of incoming fire in a zig-zag pattern. He looked behind him with his red and yellow eyes, which radiated with high levels of tension. A heavy-armored mecha breached through the walls of the sandstorm and hovered towards the hyena-like creature’s direction. Goethia glanced out of the cockpit of the mecha and chucked with a sadistic smile plastered over her face.

“Awww, the poor doggy doesn’t want to play?” She asked with a taunting tone.

“What is up with you crazy aliens?! Can’t you see that I am still getting a bearing for my surroundings?! It’s not easy being a Mightyena trapped in a desert you know!” The Mightyena responded with an aggravated tone.

Goethia’s mecha fired a laser from its visor that shot a patch of sand within the immediate front of the Mightyena’s direction. Taking a step back, the Mightyena’s eyes widened. He looked behind him and glanced upon the mecha’s jet black armor with fear wriggling into his heart.

“Oh! It seems you are listening now! Be a good boy and come with us. We will take special care of you.” Goethia stated.

“First you kill my partner and then you want to take me alive to that hellhole home of yours? Is there no end to your malicious actions?” The Mightyena roared back.

Goethia glanced towards her holographic dashboard and tapped a series of buttons upon it. Cryptic characters wrote themselves out before her very eyes. She smiled.

“So that sand hippo is something you called your partner? It looked like it wanted to die, so we put it out of its misery for you.”

The Mightyena scowled and lunged towards Goethia’s mecha. He bit into the mecha’s left arm by the elbow. The mecha shook off the Mightyena with one spasm of its arm. The Mightyena landed on his feet and glared into the mecha’s visor with a hurt heart.

“It’s clear that you and your kind do not have a heart if you do not care about the bonds that Sahara and I shared with each other. So why should I care about the endeavors of your kind?!”

“I do not care if you do not care for our endeavors, Pokémon! You will come with me, whether you like it or not!” Goethia announced.

“And what if I do not? Will you trap me in that deathtrap you call your ass?” The Mightyena responded with a snide tone.

Red lasers from behind the sandstorm’s wall aimed towards the Mightyena. A maelstrom of whines reverberated from the sharp winds behind the walls.

“You are in no position to make jokes. After all, I have you surrounded by potential gunfire and a natural cyclone.” Goethia responded. “Now, be a good doggy and submit to me.”

A storm of blue lasers fired from above Goethia’s mecha and into the back of its head. The mecha glanced back and detected the mechas of Fei and Flash Sentry. Goethia grimaced from the confines of her cockpit. The Mightyena smirked.

“It looks like you have some competition for me.” He stated.

The two mechas breached through the walls of the sandstorm and descended upon the ground. A holographic image of Fei’s visage appeared before the Mightyena.

“Don’t be afraid. We are here to save you.” Fei responded.

“That voice… is that you, Fei?” The Mightyena asked with a voice filled casual excitement.

“Pierre! It is you! I was worried that we wouldn’t find you.”

Goethia’s smile exuded an unearthly chill that could be felt by everyone around the area.

“Ummm… why did we just all shudder in unison?” Rondo asked with creeping uncertainty rising in his voice.

Goethia’s mecha rushed towards Pierre and grabbed him by his left hind leg. The mecha held him high above the air with a tenacious grip on his ankle.

“H-Hey! Let go of me!” Swinging his way out of Goethia’s grip, Pierre shouted.

“Let him go! You’re causing him unnecessary stress!” Fei stated.

Goethia’s mecha squeezed Pierre’s ankle, eliciting a yelp from the Mightyena’s upside-down mouth. Inge fired herself out of the mecha and fired a Zap Cannon from her beak that aimed towards Goethia’s mecha. The ball of electricity collided with the mecha, causing it to drop Pierre onto the sand. Inge stared towards Goethia with a raging fire burning in her eyes.

“I am not going to let you hurt a Pokémon, filthy scum! I’ve already witnessed masses of Pokémon dying before my eyes and I will not let it happen again!” She shouted with a passionate voice.

“Oh? Is that true?” Goethia asked with a cheerful voice that sent shivers down everyone’s spines. “You know, all I wanted to do was capture this Pokémon here. But considering you said that you witnessed masses of Pokémon dying beforehand and you are all opposing me, what would seeing one more Pokémon die before your eyes do for you?”

The hearts of Fei, Rondo, Flash Sentry and Inge froze upon hearing Goethia’s words. Their pupils shrunk and his posture stoned into that of a statue.

“No… don’t you even dare!” Inge demanded.

A swarm of spherical drones broke through the walls of the sandstorm and surrounded Pierre. Slender barrels broke out of their lower hemispheres and pointed themselves towards Pierre. Pierre glanced upon the cannons with fear growing out of his heart and choking his arteries.

“I will give you two choices; either leave right now and let me complete my mission, or interfere and watch him die. I will give you ten seconds to decide.” Goethia proposed.

“I… I…” Fei murmured out with despair in his voice.

“Come on Fei! Don’t let this hag get to you!” Flash Sentry stated.

“A hag?! Who are you calling a hag, boy?!” Goethia shouted in disgust.

“Who else? You are the definition of a hag that tries to hide behind advanced alien cosmetics! I bet without it, you look like some washed-up prostitute who was used one too many times.” Pounding on the left bar of his seat, Flash Sentry answered.

Goethia growled and stared death towards Flash Sentry’s exo. She aimed the left arm of her mecha towards his direction. Upon seeing the exo of Fei’s stance shift towards Pierre’s direction, clarity filled her mind. A smile appeared on her face.

“Ah… I see what your plan is now. Trying to rill me up so I would forget about the hostage situation. You do realize what this means for your friend, right?” She stated with a straight tone.

Hearing the words come from her mouth, Fei’s exo and Inge dashed towards Pierre with all of their possible speed. Fei ejected himself from the chest of the exo’s cockpit, throwing him towards Pierre’s direction.

Goethia’s mecha held out its right arm and had its open palm directed towards the ground. Both Inge and Fei dropped to the sand, rendered unable to move. The two looked upon with a helpless gaze towards the drones charging their lasers. A small frown appeared on Pierre’s face. He shut his eyes and gritted his teeth.

The swarm of drones littered the circular area Pierre lied upon with a storm of lasers, kicking up a storm of sand, wind and aroma of charring flesh. Rondo and Flash Sentry gazed upon the smoldering ground with eyes wide in disbelief and jaws dropped in shock. The smoke cleared away, revealing a charred Pierre who breathed out very shallow breaths. Goethia lifted away the gravity.

Fei and Inge crawled off the ground into a sprint and approached Pierre’s side. Fei clamped both of his hands around Pierre’s right front foot.

“Pierre! Are you alright?!” He asked with a panicking tone.

Pierre moved his head up towards Fei’s direction, where only a silhouette of the Mienshao’s form became visible to his eyes. His ears rung with an insatiable noise, but his hearing absorbed Fei’s words. He moved his left front foot down towards a gaping wound on his chest, feeling a sticky liquid submerge its open pathway.

“Fei… I’m not… gonna… make it…” He muttered out with an expiring breath.

Fei leaned in towards Pierre’s face and squeezed his the foot between his hands in worry.

“Don’t say that! You’ll make it! There are really good doctors available at H.O.R.S.E. that will patch you up in no problem!” With a breaking voice, he pleaded.

Pierre smiled and shot out a violent cough, where blood mixed with his spit and hit the sand beneath his snout.

“I’m… not too sure… what you said… but it feels like… you have hope.” He gasped out. “Fei… it’s over for me… I have nothing else to live for. They killed Pitfall… and I’ve experienced hell here for months. At the very least… I finally got to see… someone else from the lab... who’s an awesome friend.”

Fei’s breathing palpitated and burned with anxiety. His eyes streamed with rivers of tears.

“We can still get you help, Pierre! Please, do not depart with the spirits just yet! Hold on!”

“…Fei? If you ever see the Professor… Give him this.”

Pierre reached into his wound with his left front foot and pulled out a cylinder-shaped stone from it. With his eyes wincing from the burst of pain that emerged, he pushed it towards Fei.

“What’s… what’s this?” Fei asked.

“Tell him… to open it… It is… for his… res…”

Blindness set within Pierre’s eyes. His heart stopped and his breathing ceased. His head fell on the sand and his body spasmed for a moment. Fei glanced down upon Pierre’s body and shook it with their upper limbs.

“Pierre? Pierre?!” Fei shouted with panic.

Inge shut her eyes and bowed her head. She brought her right upper limb over Pierre’s eyes and brought his eyelids to a close.

“He’s gone Fei.” She stated with a crestfallen tone. “There’s nothing more that we can do.”

Fei brought his hands upon Pierre’s shoulders and shook him with intense force.

“Pierre! Pierre!” He shouted.

He kneeled down towards the ground and dammed the rivers flowing out of his eyes with his bloodstained hands. His vision distorted and his sinuses swelled up.

“Why…?!” He whined out amidst his tears.

A dark chuckle emanated from Goethia’s tone.

“It sounded like you were very close to this thing, weren’t you? Don’t worry; you will see him soon enough when I personally send you to the gates of Hell. Before I do however, maybe you would enjoy me stomping over that weed you cared for?”

Goethia pointed the index finger of the mecha’s right arm towards Pierre’s corpse and clenched its fist. The drones that surrounded the trio fired a storm of lasers that pelted against the dead Pokémon.

Anger set itself within Fei’s heart. His ventricles pumped brimstone into his blood. His vision showed the world around him with monochromatic colors. The storm of lasers slowed down towards a halt and everything became silent. Fei clenched his teeth and his tranquil eyes became red with fury.

A primordial scream shouted from his lungs. He leaped on top of each of the sphere drones and smashed his palms through their upper hemispheres, destroying them all one after the other within a blink of an eye. Goethia glanced upon Fei, whose quadruped stance shook with fierce anger reverberating from every cell within his body.

“It seems that you destroyed my droids with no problem. Are you truly that angry over the death and abuse of your fallen comrade, Pokémon?” She said with a teasing voice.

Hell is too good of a place for a demoness bitch like you! I will tear out your entrails and feast upon them as I watch you beg for mercy!” Fei shouted with a demonic tone.

Inge stood by Fei’s side. Her eyes lit up with dark determination and she planted her single lower limb into the ground. A black aura enveloped itself around her body, filling the field with pressure.

Your life is forfeited. Pick a god and pray!” She shouted with a booming voice.

Flash Sentry glanced upon his two partners down upon the field. Glancing upon their beastly stances, expressions and the dark auras exuding from their bodies, fear wriggled into his heart.

“Is this… something normal for Pokémon to do, Rondo?” He asked with an unnerved tone.

“No…” Rondo asked with anxiety rising in his tone. “I have never seen any Pokémon act like this outside of any move like Thrash or Outrage, and even then they wouldn’t lose that much control over their emotions. I seriously don’t know what’s going on in those two!”

Fei leaped off of the ground and towards Goethia’s mecha. His hands and feet coated themselves with a violent red energy. He extended his hands towards the mecha and triggered its electrical shield. Feeling the electricity course through his veins, a feral roar shot out from Fei’s mouth. He tore through the electrical shield and shattered it. Goethia took a step back and glanced upon the feral Fei with her mouth dropping in surprise.

“You broke this shield?! Impossible!” She shouted.

Inge leaped over Fei’s back and steeled her lower limb in iron. She smashed it against the visor of Goethia’s mecha. The mecha staggered backwards and glared at the two Pokémon in front of it. Fei leaped above Inge and cupped his hands towards his right side. A red Aura Sphere formed between his hands. He fired it towards Goethia’s mecha, knocking it over.

Now Flash! Finish her!” Fei shouted with a desperate tone.

“You don’t even have to ask!” Flash Sentry responded.

Flash Sentry’s exo fired a swarm of missiles from a rocket silo on its back, all of which flew towards Goethia’s direction. The missiles exploded on contact, bursting out with fiery explosion upon fiery explosion that engulfed the arena. The embers scattered throughout the battlefield and smoke blocked away the sunlight, encasing the location with a violent hue of red.

Fei and Inge walked through the tongues of flames scattered throughout the field. Their scowls of hatred exuded a grim darkness that radiated from the surrounding area. Fei’s ears perked up at the sound of metal moving amidst sand and flames. He bore the left side of his teeth and growled.

We aren’t done yet.

Goethia’s mecha flew upwards from the ashes and sand above it. Light blue beams forming into claws shout out from the fingertips of the mecha that shot out half the length of its arms.

“Quite a bold set of moves you tried using against me. However, it didn’t work nearly as well as you would hope.” Goethia stated.

Her mecha warped in front of Flash Sentry’s exo. Lifting the beam claws into the air, it slashed Flash Sentry’s exo across its chest. Flash Sentry winced and gripped the arms of his seat. He glanced towards his energy bars, where the gauge decreased by more than half.

“One more attack like that and I’m toast. Rondo! Help!” He called out.

“Me? Help?! I don’t know how to operate one of these exos!” Looking down upon the controls in the cockpit with his eyes darting back and forth, Rondo responded.

“Just… help!” Feeling the claws of Goethia’s mecha sending shockwaves into his cockpit, Flash Sentry demanded.

Fei glanced towards Inge and towards his exo. He sprinted towards the open cockpit and leaped upon its flooring. He glanced back towards Inge and waved his hand in a directory fashion.

I know just how we can power that exo.

The cockpit closed and the exo stood up from the ground. Inge zapped her way into the systems of Fei’s exo. Feeling the electricity of Inge’s bonding with his exo, Fei gritted his teeth and gripped his seat. A red aura surged from his body and into the exo. The armor of the exo broke off, revealing a slender frame with a red, magenta and black body. Butterfly-shaped boosters formed itself upon the exo’s back and exuded light green flares.

Flash Sentry and Goethia glanced towards the direction of Fei’s exo. Upon seeing the new frame burst from the old exo, their jaws dropped.

“W-what? How is that possible?!” Flash Sentry shouted. “Exos should not have another entire frame inside of their systems!”

With orange spines forming off of its ankles and upper portions of its new boosters, the exo took its first steps out of the smoldering fires around it. The flames of the area wrapped around its fists, setting them on fire. Goethia’s mecha ran towards the new exo and thrust a punch towards its direction with its right fist. The exo lifted its fiery hand and grasped the fist of Goethia’s mecha. It squeezed the mecha’s fist and pulverized it.

“This… this mecha… what is it?!” With fear protruding from her voice, Goethia shouted.

The exo’s body flashed with a brilliant red. It launched its right burning fist onto the head of Goethia’s mecha, obliterating it. Its left foot encased itself in fire and launched into the hip of the opposing mecha. Sending it flying into the air, the boosters on the fiery exo’s back flared up. It dashed into the air at a breakneck pace. It lifted its fiery fist into the air and struck the mecha with a rising uppercut.

Goethia’s mecha shattered into a mirage of fragments, leaving only its pilot suspended in the air. Goethia flipped backwards and fell down towards the ground upon her feet. She glanced towards the exo in the sky, whose frame radiated with the heat of the angel of vengeance. She scowled and growled.

“I can’t believe that another mecha has that much power… I need to retreat now.”

Stating these words, she tapped a button on a golden bracelet on her left hand, warping her away from the area within a beam of yellow light.

The red in Fei’s eyes disappeared and his sanity regained itself. The brilliant red color on his exo’s frame vanished into a jet black color. The flames around its body dissipated. The exo lowered down towards the ground. The flames of the area died out, revealing the desert setting in its clear view. Pierre’s corpse broke into a stream of light particles and vanished from the area.

Flash Sentry hopped out from what remained of his exo and dashed towards Fei’s exo. Fei, Inge and Rondo all hopped out of the exo and met with Flash Sentry.

“That was amazing!” Flash Sentry exclaimed. “I never knew such a thing was possible!”

“You know what? I never want to ride in an exo again if that’s the kind of thing that will be happening.” Rondo complained.

Fei shut his eyes and breathed out a clear sigh.

“Please forgive me for that, Rondo.” He apologized.

“I would say that was cool… but…” Inge voiced out with a worried tone. “We lost a life, and Fei turned into such a monstrous being. When the two of us were bonded together in your exo, I saw what was in your mind.”

Fei shook his head and brought the palm of his left hand towards the top of his head. A frown appeared on his face.

“And I thought I was doing a good job with keeping it intact.”

“‘It’?!” Flash Sentry and Rondo both said in unison.

“It’s too soon to begin explaining in-depth on this strange occurrence. All I can say is that the members of my bloodline have some… horrible experiences with regarding mental trauma.” Fei revealed with a shaken tone.

Flash Sentry frowned and glanced towards the spot where Pierre’s corpse used to rest upon. He blinked his eyes with a forlorn motion.

“Pierre was very close to you, wasn’t he?” He asked.

“Pierre and I go back fifteen years ago. He was originally a resident of the Kalos region, but moved to the Unova region to pursue the Unovan Dream. Because of our low incomes at the time, our families both met in the Mistralton City Cargo Airport and immediately bonded, especially after discussing our dreams of coming here.” Fei explained.

“That long ago, huh? Then I guess it wasn’t a coincidence that the two of you ended up in the same lab together.” Rondo stated.

“It definitely doesn’t feel like that. Outside of the small pocket change we had, we both had our partners; I had Sophia back when she was an Eevee and he had a Hippopotas named Pitfall. Pierre and Pitfall both were inseparable.”

Inge glanced towards Fei and scratched her head with worry.

“Pierre mentioned something about the Van’Goth killing Pitfall… no wonder he looked so depressed on top of his malnourished body.” She said.

Fei’s eyes pointed towards Inge with interest gauged towards her.

“Was his malnourishment that notable?” He asked.

Inge nodded her head.

“His mass was much less than that of a healthy Mightyena's, especially around the abdomen. I’d say he hadn’t eaten anything in weeks! Plus, his fur’s disheveled look makes it look like he barely gets the water he needs just to live day by day.” She explained.

“Then… no wonder he said that this desert was hell for him. Combined with losing Pitfall, it seemed like he had lost all hope on wanting to live.” Fei voiced out

Flash Sentry’s watch lit up and rung out. He lifted his left front hoof towards his face and tapped the screen with his right front hoof. A hologram of Spitfire’s head levitated itself above the watch.

“Flash! I was worried when your signal was jammed up. How is the mission going?” Spitfire asked.

Flash Sentry narrowed his eyes and frowned.

“No good, Commander. The mission was a complete failure. The Van’Goth got to the location before we did and killed our target.” He explained.

Spitfire glanced down towards the bottomless floor and frowned. Her facial expression softened.

“Sorry to hear that. From what the satellites say, both of your exos seem to not be ready to make the journey all the way back to Neo Canterlot.”

Inge’s eyes shot up with anger. She directed a nasty gaze towards Spitfire’s holographic head.

“I can fix them up, you know! We don’t need your help!” Inge shouted.

“Oh really? Then perhaps you would like to fix those exos up while your partners either die in the heat or to a wandering creature the size of a large hill?” Spitfire responded back. “Look, whether you all want it or not, I’m still going to send a transport unit over to your location.”

“That would be much appreciated, Commander. We will await the transport unit.” Flash Sentry stated with a smile.

“That’s what I’d like to hear! Just relax and try to keep yourselves comfortable. A transport unit will be arriving towards your location within an hour.”

Stating these words, Spitfire’s hologram disappeared from Flash Sentry’s watch. Fei glanced up towards the sky with a frown on his face. He reached his right hand up towards the infinite blue space.

“Pierre… I promise you that your death will be avenged.”