Alex

  —

  "Is there a reason I'm sitting in the woods right now, Alex?"

  "Probably the reason we're all sitting in the woods, Lance."

  "I mean, I think he knew that, Alex… Well, it is Lance, so… maybe…"

  "Leaf, dear, don't be rude to the Champion. He's a… He's the Champion."

  "Oh Arceus, Erin isn't here and I still have to deal with three irritating girls…"

  "I don't know if I'd call myself a girl anymore, Lance…"

  "You know what I meant! Erin!"

  "I don't think that's going to work, Lance. Maybe ask Dragonite to do it for you, like everything else?" Leaf was too amused by her own cleverness.

  "I think we should just… tell Lance? You know she's not going to want to do it herself…" I mean, that was obvious, right?

  Apparently I was the only one who considered the obvious, considering their looks. Is it just… Erin? Does she… oh no! Does she actually have an aura of madness? Shit! She might!

  We were all sitting in the woods off-Route in the evening light, waiting… again. Because Erin just… walks the fuck off when she's stressed… I guess I'm fine with that, now that I give it real thought. She has those blades, not to mention her damn 'Hidden Blades'! Maybe it's a good thing she's giving us space…

  Lance looked at me in utter confusion. I hadn't told him why I wanted him to meet me here, just that I did… Surprise surprise, the good guy who was a prick still came when he could finally leave the investigation… I loved him, sure, but such a prick… but a good guy…

  "Alex, what the fuck are you talkin- Ow!" Holy shit! Ms. Greenwood just flicked him! The Champion! He was trying to glare at her, but she dealt with Erin! Good luck with that, Lance!

  "You may not be my child, and only a couple years younger than me, but you are in front of me, so I will treat you like one if you can't watch your mouth like a proper adult." Wow, that looked a bit aggressive for her… although, she's not happy right now…

  "Did you… Did you just flick me?!" Oh wow, he can't keep up with reality. At all. He looks so disorientated!

  The perfect time to strike!

  "Erin's from a different world, and this world was based on a game there. Or they pulled the information from some universal consciousness type thing when they made the game. Something like that." His face!

  "Oh, Lance! When she told me the first time, guess what she told me about the games?!" Leaf looked far too pleased with what she was about to say. Lance looked livid simply in preparation for Leaf's words, but still very confused… I didn't blame him in the least, but it was very funny from this side.

  "You were her favorite Champion's butt to kick, even if you were too easy. Cynthia was a challenge, but you were just fun to stomp!" His face! Confused, impotent rage is a great look on him!

  "Dear, that's not nice! I mean, Erin doesn't lie, but still! There was no need to hurt the poor man, look at him! He obviously gets enough grief as it is!" I think she knew what she was doing to him?

  "Oh, and we know who the leader of Team Rocket is." Leaf had barely finished her words before Lance was leaping over the small fire. Huh, guess she was going to finally tell me… Well, Lance, but close enough…

  "Tell me everything!" His eyes were a bit wild, but I couldn't blame him for that.

  It was going to get so much worse.

  —

  Lance

  —

  "She's not a menace, she's a walking apocalypse…"

  "Not entirely accurate, Lance, but close enough… She's more like an apocalypse to Team Rocket." I snorted at Patricia's words as I stared into the fire. It took them over an hour to finish talking…

  You know what? Somehow this isn't that surprising. I mean, yes, different worlds, universes, sure, fucking crazy… But so is she, and it makes so much sense, now! She's actually crazy, not just from coming from a different world, getting shoved into a younger body, because let's not forget she was almost my age! When she died!

  Arceus above, it's probably His direct intervention that has kept her as sane as she manages to act! Take your pick! Old world, death, old mind in a young body, dragon aura, fae deal, the girl was insane! I couldn't even blame her! I have no doubt in my mind I would be just as crazy as her if I had to deal with half of that! Not to mention her view of reality! She might even be right, who the fuck knew?!

  How the fuck am I going to deal with Giovanni?! If Interpol hasn't reached out yet, it's because he's good at covering his tracks… I almost wish she had just acted like bait… But then Alex would still be miserable…

  I mean, I did everything I could for her, but she had to come to her own decision despite her fear of rejection, to decide to be herself, not who her 'parents' wanted her to be… And I had somehow, through some strange chance, sent her to someone who was perfectly positioned to help her. Someone who had… well, never been able to do what she had helped Alex do…

  Someone who almost certainly received a wish from a Mythical that was more actual myth than anything else, faint myths that are government secrets… One that Patricia was almost certain was for family in her favorite escape… her favorite escape from a 'lower world'…

  One who had probably given up her chance to advance here properly, and stay here, for Hope's ability to help, because it would be needed. For others she didn't even know…

  Arceus above, no wonder she had sounded so broken asking about heroes… We didn't know her price, but whatever it was, she probably didn't have a choice anymore, not after that one… Heroes chose…

  "Why won't you guys come out? I know Erin's not back, but we're not mad at you! We love you all!" Leaf was talking to Erin's bandoleer. Leto and Artemis were out, but everyone else refused to leave their balls… Well, that was pretty obvious.

  "They probably Evolved, and they want to wait for Erin." The balls rattled and I grinned a little. Didn't matter if they were mine or not, it was always nice to see a Pokemon Evolve, to reach their goals…

  "No way! You guys Evolved?!" Kallen popped out, looking down at the ground. He had not Evolved. Leaf hugged him anyways- gently, he was pokey.

  "Kallen, don't worry! From what I heard, you were the backup this time! It was their time to shine!" The balls rattled again and I let out a weak chuckle.

  "Shine is… one way to put it. They did more damage than Erin… which is what should happen, I realized that even as I said it, but still…"

  They really had. Erin and her team had put down over a hundred Rockets down there. Erin had killed over thirty alone, and maimed roughly twenty more, but the rest were either melted or burned, missing chunks, or drooling husks… They were honestly terrifying, and I was mildly worried about what Cerberus would be like… Okay, more than mildly. I would rather he wait for Erin, in fact.

  "How the hell am I going to even begin dealing with Giovanni? This 'Looker' person hasn't reached out, and he told Erin he didn't have anything on him…" I groaned, then felt a hand on the back of my neck.

  There was nobody next to me.

  "Oh, I'll murder him if I have to, don't worry."

  Arceus above! What the fuuuck?!

  Erin stood there, well, crouched there behind me! I was frozen as she patted the back of my neck and hopped onto the log next to me. She was… wet, but not covered in blood anymore… I could still smell it, though.

  "In fact, if I get to his Badge before he's taken down, I'm provoking the hell out of him during our match. I'll sing a few songs from my world. We had a few things we liked to do to those who abuse, enslave, and torment, and we had plenty of songs about it… Of course, that usually involved a lot of pain, usually as public as possible. Make the next guy too scared to do it, because who wants to be s- Nope, l am not sullying this world's air with that…"

  Arceus, she was just kind of… staring into the fire. Nobody said anything, just continued to let her speak.

  "So, my world? Yeah, not hell, but compared to here, it sure was. I mean, don't get me wrong, there was plenty of love and kindness and good people. If Fred Rogers didn't make it into his own afterlife, then nobody ever will, period. End of discussion… You had people who dedicated their entire life to doing good, no matter what it was, great or small. Helping their local community, being a good neighbor, lending a helping hand to a stranger…"

  "Digging wells for remote villages so they aren't hit as badly by drought, doctors traveling the world just helping in the wake of natural disasters or disease outbreaks, you had people who would chain themselves to trees older than the country they were in, to stop the top one percent of people from exploiting the world… It never worked, in the end. Once you have a stranglehold on power, it requires the masses to rise up… And that did happen, many times…" She was just kind of… rambling to herself as she stared at the fire.

  "I mean, we had to invent a tool to chop off heads faster, cleaner, because the executioners were getting so tired executing the aristocrats and nobles who had exploited them and starved them. They were working from sunrise to sunset, and they were botching it, and even for back then… well, the public torture was mostly gone, by then, so it was frowned upon in 'polite society' to see them thrash… It was called the French Revolution, and it's more or less what happened in Kalos… Just with millions of people…"

  Arceus… A tool just to decapitate people?!

  "In my era? I mean, I hope for their sake they were able to rise up, but that one percent had changed to one fraction of one percent of one percent of one percent of over eight billion people, and they owned everything, including all news, social media, food, politicians, everything! They could, and did, make people believe stupid, irrational shit to divide them, to make them hate each other, to keep themselves at the top of the pile…" She was so hateful as she said that…

  Eight billion?!

  "Even Giovanni, for all he is at the bottom of this world's morality… I am capable of evils he cannot even comprehend! He is capable of goodness and joy that I cannot comprehend…" So terribly sad as she said that… sad and bitter…

  "I will remove him if I have to, and for him? I will not make it pleasant. Maybe this world would fear being evil more if I disemboweled him in front of his Gym, proof strewn about his bloody entrails as he screams out his confession!" Arceus, she was serious! She just kept going, too!

  "No, no, that wouldn't work, because higher or lower, greater or lesser, good or evil, all monsters are people, and that never works, because there's always that pesky empathy, even for monsters… Now, if I pulled some Hellraiser shit, maybe that would be fun to do… Maybe I can find a Grimmsnarl to help me…" She wasn't even talking to us, just muttering to herself now! Viciously!

  "No, I can't do that… That's not what I'm here for… Oh wait, I wasn't here for anything! I was here as a gift! A wish granted!" So bitter…

  "Now I am here for vengeance! Now I am here to be the evil in the night, the bump in the dark, the Baba Yaga, I'm fucking John Wick! I'm the monster you send to eat the other monsters! It's perfect, too! Those monsters will recycle here, and they probably won't be that bad next time! Me?" She was crying as she stared ahead now, eyes so hurt.

  "Who knows? I am almost certainly going back there, because there is no way for me to advance, not anymore…" She looked around briefly before holding her head in her hands.

  "I've been bugged about this for weeks, and I never said anything. Because I chose not to… So, I choose this."

  "That Clefable? You want to know my 'price', right? What it took? Why I'm a monster?" Everyone sat upright, listening intently… Even if I had a bad feeling I knew what her price was…

  "It didn't take anything from me. That thing is so powerful, so ancient, that it would be like a titan stealing from an ant. It already had everything it wanted as far as things it could take. It has never-ending sources of… what it did to me, in there… unfortunately. So what does a being who has everything want? More entertainment, of course. New entertainment."

  "Even if it doesn't get to watch, it gets to know the torment never ends. It enjoys tormenting people, obviously, but physical pain is… monotone. A tree may have a million different leaves, each unique in some way, but they are all part of a tree. Physical pain was still great for it, obviously… Mental, emotional, spiritual pain is so much better, though." She was shaking now, hugging herself.

  "I won't tell you the exact bargain, because I swear on my soul and Arceus above it truly doesn't matter or affect anything, it was just details for the contracts and Hope basically, but I will tell you the price I paid."

  "Nothing."

  Oh, that was not good…

  "It gave me a gift, in fact. I had no option not to take it, either. I was forced to, because it was also my greatest desire. Like a missing piece in a puzzle, once it was presented to me, I couldn't refuse, because it had already slotted in… I had accepted instantly, unconsciously, but truly, in my soul…" She was practically whispering now.

  "I was so exotic to it, and it knew my greatest desire, and it gave it to me… So I would be stuck. An entirely new kind of torment it hadn't even considered possible…"

  "It gave me a singular compulsion, because it saw me, all of me… and it knew my goal…" She was sobbing now, and it tore at my heart, because I knew what had to be coming.

  "I just wanted to be a good person this time! Not… Not the scum I was… And now I don't have a choice! That was it!"

  "Be a good person."

  Fuck…

  "It was the absolute worst thing it could have possibly done to me. I pay no price if I go against the compulsion, either. The compulsion? It is barely there, considering there is no punishment. I can't notice it anymore, either, but I did, until I adapted, as all things do… Why is that so horrible? Because now every single time I have a thought about doing something good I can't tell if it was me, or the compulsion. Am I actually a good person? Good people choose to be good… Advancing is a choice… Those with no choice aren't called good people, they are called slaves." Her voice was breaking as she continued.

  "I'll never know if I actually grew as a person like I wanted to more than ANYTHING in the fucking UNIVERSE, even as my heart stopped and I heard the ABSENSE of a beat I had ALWAYS heard and I DIED… or if I'm the same horrible person under it all, still…"

  Arceus above… Everyone else was horrified, just staring silently in shock. Me too, actually…

  "My lack of reaction when I kill, maim? Good people put down bad people, easy as that. It's all based on my perception. That's truly all there is to it." She shrugged.

  "Good people do what needs to be done to get rid of evil, and they don't beat themselves up about it. They even get a sense of satisfaction out of it… I always liked the brutal heroes... I don't enjoy their pain, but I have fun when I remove evil. Even if 'good people' do feel bad, that's my perception. Hopefully it doesn't change. Again. Pewter? Well, I still had my little delusions about good people and how they should feel about killing… Then I killed evil, and brought joy… I interviewed the rescues… My perception changed…"

  "So yeah, when you see me exercising or training and I have a huge grin? It never goes away even as I'm slitting a throat. Well, I don't open my mouth when I'm working, too bright in the darkness, but a closed lipped smile, oh yes. I enjoy what I do to those people. Not their pain or terror, but it is a fun challenge with a positive outcome. It gives me great satisfaction to act as a vengeful hero…" She sighed so heavily.

  "That's why I'm a monster. I will never know when I truly want to do good, I will never know if I actually grew as a person like I wanted more than anything, and I will enjoy what I do to sapient beings in defense of others."

  "Because it never stopped my bad thoughts... I can't feel a compulsion whatsoever these days. I'm just… A good person. And when I die? I'll just sink back to that fucking hellhole again, never to remember this… I don't regret my choice, never will… I've got an idea for how to… fix it, but… This isn't something that strength necessarily helps with…" She looked up at me, face a ruin of tears.

  "So don't worry about Giovanni, Lance. I might not be a hero, but I can sure as hell be an anti-hero. They all have tragic backstories, too, and they always get the bad guy, even if it takes them down with it…" She sadly looked at her horrified family.

  "Sorry. I really am… I know I was trying to be a good person before then, and I think I was succeeding this time, but… Everything is still so bland…" She hung her face in her hands and let the silence stretch.

  I didn't like silence much, though.

  "Why were you scum, Erin? I might find you to be… you, but…" She barked out a laugh and leaned back.

  "Yeah, fuck it, might as well just turn everyone here into my therapist! Why not! Looker can't fucking find one… Fine…" She fell forward again, head in her hands.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  "I never killed humans, I never hurt animals unless I was fishing, I never hurt children, the elderly, innocent, easy targets for my own pleasure, no… I didn't hate others because of who they were as a person, the color of their skin, their religion, their place of birth… I didn't ro-... I didn't take pleasure in pain, I didn't… I just didn't care…" Her voice was breaking so badly, but she just kept forcing it out.

  "I didn't care about my family while I was a daily, blackout alcoholic for over a decade. A violent one, sometimes, and I wasn't small or weak. I put more than a few holes through walls. Never hit anyone, but I came close! I didn't care about my aunt, the only one left who cared for me, when I stole from her. I stole a lot of money from her, so much it put her in debt. So much it almost drove her insane! What for? Alcohol, of course! Once you start, it's hard to stop. Drugs, too, plenty of drugs… Video games? My own entertainment? Everything. Anything. I didn't even think about it after a certain point, I just stole, stole, stole..." They all looked disbelieving, like it had to be lies… but Erin didn't lie… But, that did not sound like her… But it had been…

  "I lied so much I believed my own lies. I believed that it would all be okay one day, that I would be better eventually, that it was normal, that it was 'just a rough patch,' that I didn't care about what I was doing to my family, that I would be fine with who I was, what I was… That was a huge lie, because I never was. I might have been able to start transitioning there, if I'd ever kept a job longer than half a year, or improved myself, or did anything but wallow in my own misery like a pig… like a Lechonk… Even if it got deadly to be trans later, and I was almost glad I was still… that…" Alex looked so sad as she heard that… Well, we all were, even me, but Alex more than us at that, obviously…

  "I drove every friend I ever managed to make away. I burned bridges even as I crossed them, because I didn't care! Not about me, not about anyone… I did cause emotional pain deliberately a few times, actually… Because I was hurting, and obviously that was their fault, so they had to hurt, too…" She acts like nobody has ever done that before but her… Not a good thing to do, but… it's human to make mistakes, to lash out sometimes…

  "I had two relationships in my life, and both were so messed up. That crazy bitch was… insane, I mean even for me, but I was young, dumb, and full of- love, but my best friend? The person closest to me my entire life? For over a decade, through my worst moments? I turned that into a relationship, drove him half insane because I am toxic… It had been almost three years since I'd heard his voice when I died…" Good save, Erin… Arceus above, though, the pain in her voice…

  "I had people online I would consider friends, but… that was it. It was just me in my aunt's house she left me when she died… because she certainly advanced… Just me, alone, lonely, bitter and depressed… Honestly? Might be a good thing it was a heart attack, before I could get around to it myself… I'd probably have fucked that up, too, and gotten stuck a vegetable rotting in a hospital bed until it was cheaper to pull the plug…"

  I could hear the horrified gasps of the others, but I was too focused to look away. She had meant that, but not now…

  "So yeah, I was the kind of scum I hate. I wasn't a deliberately evil person, and I never set out with bad intentions… Addictions are a bitch, but they're not an excuse, either… I just… I just broke everything precious to me, and sometimes I did it gleefully… I was the kind of person I wouldn't want anywhere near my family… If I'd ever truly appreciated them… Well, most were bigots, and I would happily have slit their throats, the same as they would have slit mine for being trans, but my aunt? My grandma? They didn't deserve to deal with me…" She was sobbing into her hands now.

  "I don't think anyone deserves to deal with me…"

  Cerberus apparently decided that was his cue to emerge.

  All eight feet of him.

  The two heads were a bit disconcerting, especially as they reached closer to me! Or to Erin, really…

  Cerberus was now eight feet tall at his heads, so damn near four feet at his shoulders, little proto-wings emerging from his back. His two heads were licking Erin now, somehow. Because one is supposed to be aggressive, but everything is weird around her, so of cour-

  I threw myself backwards as one head snapped at me. Okay, fuck it, one is aggressive! Arceus! He could bite my head off! He wouldn't have, considering he had come up far short, but I knew a threat display when I saw one.

  I moved over to be closer to Alex, because fuck that!

  Hecate was next, because apparently everyone was going to just pop ou-

  Arceus!

  Hattrem were tiny Pokemon, or at least their pink bodies were. Hattrem used their long light blue hair as two large hands… Or feet, really, but they could punch people with them… And move their tiny little bodies around without ever touching the ground. They stood two feet tall with their hair, usually…

  And of course Hecate was an Alpha now, somehow, so she was four feet tall! Actually, after hearing what I heard tonight, this almost makes sense… I mean, nobody was certain, but Alphas are supposedly a reaction to pressure in their environment… Erin was a pressure system!

  ""D-n't b- sad! W- lo-v- yo-!""

  Okay, mildly painful, but adorable voice, okay more than mildly painful! Fuck!

  Of course, Seraphina had to come out next, and I wasn't even shocked this time when the runt of a Salandit had turned into an Alpha Salazzle, eight feet of pearly white poison fire gecko. A poison fire gecko that curled herself bodily around Erin, glaring at me the whole time.

  Leto was just staring at Erin, but Kallen and Artemis were there, trying to push into her, but she had curled up now, and would have fallen to the ground except for Cerberus and Seraphina propping her up, not to mention Hecate stroking her head with one of her hand… things. Ponytails…

  Patricia and Leaf and Alex were all crying, of course, but they were so… lost. I was too, honestly. What the fuck do you even say to that? It wasn't a situation that should be possible, yet here she was-

  "You're a fucking idiot, Erin." Rotom was in her face now, ignoring the growls and hisses from Cerberus and Seraphina. She didn't look up, so Rotom turned their volume up.

  High.

  "I said your a fucking idiot, Erin! How long did it take someone to advance down there, huh? Because I'm pretty damn sure you're just guessing with all of this! I'm not convinced of any of it! I'm more certain you're making a lot of huge assumptions based on one single reaction from Hope! A reaction that came immediately after you mentioned her being able to leave! You took that to mean everything you rambled about was correct, and refuse to think you could possibly be wrong!" Her eyes peered out from her fingers, glaring at it.

  "For now, let's just assume you are right! You've been 'up here' just over two months, you fucking idiot! Maybe get worried and complain after two years, or better yet, two decades! You have this sense of superiority around you, Erin, like you're just so much more capable than anyone up here because your world was worse, because you have aura and can control it, because you think you're special! Hell, maybe you are! I for one highly doubt it, but then, what do I know? It's not like I've spent more than a little time around you!" It was bellowing now, well, bellowing for a phone.

  "You know what I think? I think that Clefable saw all of you, and let you think of the worst possibility, then did it to you! Let you believe you were a monster, because your so fucking stupid you would believe it! I think you're a shitty person who got the chance to try again, to be better, and you took it! So what if you're forced to think about doing good, now? Apparently you can choose to ignore those thoughts, right? The same as the ones you think about doing to Giovanni? Like that thing you drew out?! Your not going to act on that, I know that, so why fucking care about if you decided to have that thought? That's not how thoughts work, Erin! You choose not to be evil, even though you are more than capable of it! We both know that for a fact! So what's the fucking difference?!" If Rotom had lungs it would be gasping right now.

  I think it might have blown one of its speakers, though…

  "Dear, I agree with Rotom on all of that… I really don't see what you're so worried about. Yes, if it doesn't get better in time, then we should worry… Until then, its not going to do you any good to torture yourself over this…"

  I could tell that wasn't going to work, though… Logic and love isn't what she needed right now…

  I stood up and glanced over at Leto. She nodded at me, because she could see it, too. I turned- Okay, I nodded back… Once… I turned to Erin and glared at her Pokemon.

  "Move. Now." Leto's growl made them pause their aggression towards me, but they hunkered down anyway, and I smiled at the sight.

  "Dragonite, could you give me access to Erin, please? Her team is very loyal, but they are making a mistake. I won't."

  She came out with her arms crossed as she glared at Erin's Pokemon. Along with Leto… They still didn't move.

  "Dears, I'm not sure what he's going to do, but if Leto and Dragonite approve, let him. Move." Apparently Patricia can just order them around, of course… It makes sense, though, I mean… that flick…

  I rushed in before Erin could run away and grabbed her forearms. I could feel her damn weapons in there, and I was not getting stabbed over this. She started thrashing in my arms, but she was fourteen, and tiny.

  It took me a few minutes, but I managed to strip her of her weapons and jacket before I tossed her in the grass. She rolled upright, glaring at me.

  She wasn't prepared for my right hook.

  I didn't do it full force, of course, she was a kid. I wasn't trying to break her face, but I was trying to knock some sense into her, so it was more of a closed-fist slap.

  "Come on Erin, I thought you were some demon from a lower realm! I thought you loved to kick my ass, huh?" She snarled at me, and before I could block her, kicked me in my nuts!

  I still managed to grab her neck as I went down, though, and put her in a light headlock while I gasped and groaned in agony and tried to breathe. That was not fair! I know she knew what that felt like!

  SO not fair!

  "Lance, I will hurt you!" Her voice was panicked, though. She couldn't escape me, and she knew it. My voice was unfortunately high pitched when I spoke.

  "You just kicked me in my nuts! I mean, you could try, but I get the feeling you mean a small hurt. You're too good a person to hurt someone badly." That was apparently the wrong thing to say, considering she bit my arm! I released her, obviously, and pulled my arm back as we both scrambled upright. She hadn't broken the skin, but Arceus!

  "You don't know that, Lance! I already have, in both worlds! You don't think I'm hurting my family by existing? Because I'm pretty sure I am! I-" Left hook this time, keep things nice and unpredictable. Not that she was paying attention, really…

  "Sounds to me like you're a dumb kid acting like a dumb kid, and have been the entire time you've been up here! Taking something minor and making it a huge deal. Fae deals aren't minor, no, but you could, I don't know, talk about it, instead of hurting your family and friends by torturing yourself about it in silence like a moody, brooding teenager!" She tried to claw me, and that was a bit too far. She had nails!

  I slapped her with my aura, but of course, I had forgotten that she was a small, weak kid, yes… but her aura? It was Leto's, basically.

  I was slammed by her aura, my muscles locked up, and I fell on my ass with a groan of pain. Apparently the insane menace decided that was the perfect time to mount me and begin laying into me like a fucking Mankey! She was screeching almost like one, too! I shielded my face as best I could and tried to think!

  I was… kind of at a loss? I mean, if she had been an adult, sure, I would just beat her ass, but… I wasn't about to actually hit a child, no matter her mental age, and she refused to act-

  The Clefable that slammed into her head was not Leaf's, it was far too small. Also, angry looking. Like, very angry looking, what the fuck?!

  Leaf spoke up with a dumbfounded voice.

  "Stabby?! I thought you were visiting tomorrow?!" Excuse me, who?!

  Stabby?!

  I rolled up and looked around, stunned. Leaf was talking to the tiny Clefable, holding… Hope. Excuse me, what?

  "Oh, Hope told you? Yeah, she's… not happy about her deal…" She stopped talking, but that was because she was purely communing. I had never seen the like, never even heard of it being possible, but Leaf held Hope's soul! Because Erin probably was the most devious person on the planet…

  Erin unsteadily stumbled to her feet, and I reached out to snatch her before she could run.

  'Stabby' got there before I did.

  Stabby apparently loved to stab people, based on his name, and that would explain why he took a stick and stabbed her in the ass!

  WHAT?!

  Rotom bursting into laughter gave me some insight into what was going on, but the shriek of real pain was startling enough.

  "Stabby! You little shit!" Erin casually pulled the stick out of her… butt… what?!

  "I still haven't gotten that bullet out, asshole! That hurt!" Excuse me, what?!

  "You got shot?!" She glared at me.

  "It's just a flesh wound, it broke through Hecate's Protect… which pissed her off, which is when she Evolved… I'm fine, really, I just need to get it taken out at some point. It's kind of… uncomfortable in there…" Her face was growing red, and I couldn't stop the laughter that bubbled out of me.

  Neither could Leaf or Alex, but Patricia looked a lot more mad than amused, which made sense. 'Fine' or not, her daughter had a bullet in her…

  Stabby floated up to Erin's face and glared at her. She glared right back, but while Erin could apparently commune with fae just fine, she couldn't talk to them inside her head like Leaf apparently could… Arceus, they're both insane…

  "Yeah, I'm pissed! That thing fucked me over with what I wanted, but it wasn't what I wanted, because I wanted to earn it! Oh, you want to know what I'm thinking about doing to that fuck? You want to see? I got inventive with this one, I think it might make a few monsters from my old world feel inadequate…" The way Stabby gasped and flew backwards from Erin with fear on his face was not reassuring.

  It was even less reassuring when he smiled, and far less when the shine in his eyes smiled, too.

  —

  Erin, earlier that day

  —

  I was really getting tired of these fuckers not surrendering! I was dripping with blood! How does it seem like a good idea to resist?! We were clearing a short corridor, and we were rushing now, and I was so tired already…

  I felt Hecate's panic a split second before I heard the sound of shattering, and it felt like I got stung on the ass by the largest, most red hot hornet ever! I screamed and grabbed at it, barely not cutting myself badly with my own kukri, and caught Rotom launching a very overpowered Electro Ball at some bitches face! A face that… cooked…

  Even through the intense pain radiating from my ass I felt sick to my stomach as I saw what that much electricity does to a human face…

  Hecate dropped off my back, and I risked a glance behind me as Cerberus charged forward, clearing the remaining two Rockets. She was glowing! She was about to Evolve! She looked so furious, which I could understand!

  I was, too!

  Fucking fuckity fuck that STINGS!

  —

  I really fucking hate guns! Why must they have guns! Use your fucking Pokemon to fight! Hypocrite? Me? Naaah… I was just pissed! I got fucking shot! In the ass! I mean, sure, Hecate Evolved in her rage, and Rotom had gotten themself a kill, but still! I was livid as Hecate started punching in the next sealed door, a heavy one this time. It took her more than a few moments, of course, but that gave Seraphina time to slip through the ventilation ducts to get behind the large force that had assembled on the other side of the door.

  I couldn't get accurate numbers, but at least twenty humans, forty or so Pokemon? Forty Pokemon that were already being told to stand down by my little witch, sure… Well, my big witch, because of course Hecate turns into an Alpha…

  ""Sera in spot! Ready!"" I smiled to myself as I heard Hecate's mental voice. She was adorable, and sounded adorable, too! I really smiled as she lightly guided Cerberus towards the door and slowly charged up her newest, untrained Move again, the one she learned instinctively when she Evolved.

  Brutal Swing was just that, a brutal swing of her ponytail. Hecate being an Alpha? She actually swung both, bracing herself with her still-tiny body as she did. The first swing jarred the door in its frame. The third swing dented the door inwards, and I could feel the terror spike behind the door. The sixth swing sent the bent remains of the door careening into the room, and I lashed out with my aura in a wave even as Hecate started… shattering the minds who obviously wouldn't surrender.

  Cerberus charged in, but was almost immediately bowled over by a Graveler! I panicked, but not for long. Cerberus may not want to bite chunks out of rock, but he still did! The Graveler rolled backwards with a scream, but not before getting a parting shot on my big puppy's face. Cerberus actually collapsed, and I started to panic before I heard Hecate laughing in my head.

  It was easy to tell why she was laughing. Well, it could have been the Rockets in the back who had taken a nice Acid shower, actually. Possibly the ones that had been charred to a crisp, or maybe even the ones who had gotten 'lucky' with only third-degree burns… Okay, eww… I didn't mind putting these fucks down, but that was a sickening sight…

  No, it was probably Cerberus glowing as he began to roar in fury. It was a sound I had never heard from him, because Cerberus didn't get furious. He got mad, sure, but never truly enraged. Although, maybe it was just his repressed instincts coming out?

  Because when the glow finally faded and I saw my big happy guy, only half of his eight feet of terror was happy. Well, neither half was happy in the least right now, but it looked like only one of his heads could ever be happy! At the moment, though?

  They were both furious, and charged the remaining Rockets and adjusted Pokemon, barely slowing down as that unfortunate Graveler tried its luck again… and lost. Well, it was technically alive, just with no main arms… Then Hecate killed it, because it was starting to Explode, and we do not need that in here! Luckily the Koffing were relatively easy to convince not to come out of their balls. Hecate just sent them images of our Koffing happily eating a honey bun.

  Well, that put me in a good mood! Better mood, my butt cheek still throbbed! I guess I'll go ahead and ask if anyone wants to surrender for the next room… Well, maybe. I could feel the misery, and so could Hecate, so maybe no mercy for the next room…

  —

  I glared at the infuriating man in front of me. He looked like he was the boss of this base, and considering the sad Muk that was almost making me vomit? The Mightyena that wanted to hear my screams? The Wheezing that had already Exploded, the force almost breaking through Hecate's new, strong Protect?

  He probably was the boss… That would explain why he had access to the control station linked to the cages that surrounded us here in the back of the base. It would also at least somewhat explain why he was able to resist my aura! Somehow! It only froze him for a moment! I tried not to look around as I glared at him, mainly because I was patiently waiting… Also because I couldn't let myself look too closely or too long…

  "-how you got in here, but you have to be one of those self-righteous hero types! So here's your options! I shock them all again and don't stop this time, or you can surrender. I'm sure you don't want to see them all cry, right? How about I-" I laughed as Seraphina finally got into position and dropped a huge glob of Acid on his hands. Hands that didn't exist for long.

  His agonized screams barely had time to get started before the poor Muk returned itself and the stupid Mightyena launched itself at me in a doomed attempt to kill me. Doomed, because Cerberus popped out of his Pokeball and snatched it out of the air like a toy.

  It was a very rough snatch, honestly, he was still blind! However, he also had two heads now, so with his echolocation training? It was much easier when he could triangulate between not just two ears, but two heads and four ears. I ignored the sounds of snapping and the brief scream of agonized pain as I strolled over to the 'boss'. He was on his knees now. Well, knees and elbows, as he found remaining upright to be a little hard with the amount of pain he was in. Also, he was screaming more than breathing, so he didn't have much oxygen to work with… Evil fuck…

  "Bad guy know spy! Seen spy!"" 'Can you show- oh, okay, thanks.'

  It was slightly disorientating talking back to Hecate, but I would get used to it quickly enough. I glared at the pile of trash in front of me as Hecate began to heal his stumps. Seraphina gave me a small grin before she rushed into the air ducts, already intent on causing more death. Not that there were many left, just a few Rockets in the back back room behind this one, and I idly nudged Cerberus with my aura to get him to follow her through the back door.

  Luckily these stupid fucks only had the one entrance and exit… probably to keep their less-enthusiastic grunts in line. Not that I gave a shit. They were here? They were dead. Only a few had surrendered when I offered, and I hadn't offered many times… They could still have surrendered and I wouldn't have let them die… Or even be maimed! I'd have just had Hecate knock them the fuck out… Which had happened, but far fewer times than I thought likely…

  Cerberus did follow Seraphina into the back room, and happily, but the reply I received through aura was… insane. He was insane. He wasn't a Duosion or something, his two minds were very distinct and separate and opposed… They both tried to talk at the exact same time, too, because two heads, two brains, and two minds didn't mean two consciousnesses, somehow, or something, I wasn't a… mind expert? Psychologist? No, when Cerberus tried to speak through aura, he sounded exactly like he used to, a happy, excited puppy… He also sounded like rage and bloodlust incarnate at the exact same time… There was a bit to understand in the overlap, sure, but it was overwhelmingly just insanity…

  I took the moment to crouch down and gasp for air. I felt sick to my stomach simply from the exertion. Then there was the adrenaline dump that had still not stopped. Well, I think I was out, actually, but it was still in my system! Still making my entire body shake, along with a bone-dry mouth! I also felt sick to my stomach at the sheer stench that poor Muk had left behind, not to mention the sounds of whimpering pain from the Pokemon in cages around me…

  They weren't even Rocket Pokemon, no… They were merchandise! Caged, abused merchandise that pleaded with me, desperately begged me to release them, even if they didn't know I could understand them. I really wish I could, too, but the last thing I needed was over a hundred traumatized Pokemon disrupting whatever happened next.

  I quickly asked Kallen for a small shot of water, and after spitting out the bloody water, got another and drank it. The taste was amazing on my parched throat, and my breathing became slightly less painful.

  I finally heard the sound of yelling from far behind me after a few minutes, even as Seraphina awkwardly walked out of the back room! Because of course she Evolved, and she was of course an Alpha, too… She looked radiantly happy to tower over me, and I smiled at her even as she came in for a hug. Cerberus joined in, and then Hecate of course. Kallen sort of hovered above my head, keeping watch as I almost let myself crash from exhaustion, the sounds and words of terrified, hopeful, pleading Pokemon all around me a sound I would remember for far, far too long…

  We were crouching there like that, listening to the sounds of frenzied agony from the 'boss' behind me, because Hecate had only ensured he wouldn't die, not healed him fully, when the fucking incompetent, probably corrupt PIGS entered the room.

  Finally!

  is a SI, but she diverges from me relatively quickly. That isn't exactly my life's misdeeds, and I did invent and embellish a ton…

  bitch, though, I will say that.