The night wind howled over the East Watchtower, threading between the battlements and rattling loose shutters along the outer wall. Inside the stone halls, torches crackled gently, casting long shadows that danced across time-worn stone and faded banners bearing the emblem of Ravelle.
Ren hadn't moved from the west parapet for some time. He sat quietly on a stone bench, legs stretched out, arms crossed. Combusken was curled at his feet, asleep but twitching now and then, reacting to something in its dreams.
Far below, the courtyard was mostly empty now. Only a few guards remained at their posts, standing rigid in the flickering torchlight, their silhouettes barely visible from where Ren sat. Beyond the walls, the forest lay shrouded in an unnatural mist that had crept in with the twilight.
And there it was again that feeling.
A strange tightness in the air, like the sky was holding its breath.
He heard footsteps approaching.
"Figured you'd still be up here," Thomas said.
Ren blinked and turned. Thomas was holding two mugs of something steaming.
"Tea. Burned the first batch, but this one didn't kill the pot," he added, handing one to Ren.
Ren accepted it with a soft "Thanks."
Thomas took a seat beside him, stretching out with a long sigh.
"You ever have one of those days where everything feels... off?" he asked.
Ren glanced sideways. "This whole week."
Thomas chuckled but then looked out over the forest, serious now.
"I know I joke around a lot, but… something's wrong out there," he said quietly. "The Pokémon. The forest. Even the wind feels heavier."
Ren didn't speak.
Thomas sipped his tea. "And I keep thinking… if something like that Tyranitar shows up again, I don't know if we're ready."
"You're not wrong," Ren said. "But that's why we're here."
"Yeah, well... Let's hope we get stronger before it gets worse."
---
The next morning, a thick fog blanketed the outpost. Patrols were delayed by an hour, and Roen ordered scouts to check the lower forest paths for safe passage.
Ren was summoned to the war chamber shortly after dawn. Inside, Roen stood at the central table, bent over a fresh map. Lia was already there, eyes fixed on a string of red marks along the edge of the parchment.
"You're both being reassigned for the day," Roen said without preamble. "A report came in late last night. An observation post to the northeast Post 7 missed its scheduled signal flare."
"Sabotage?" Lia asked.
"Unknown," Roen replied. "Could be equipment failure. Could be a Crimson Incident."
Ren nodded. "You want us to check it out."
"I'm sending two other soldiers with you. Low visibility, unfamiliar trail. Move quickly, but don't engage unless you have to."
Lia was already checking her belt and sharpening her dagger. "Understood."
Ren turned to leave, but Roen stopped him.
"Ren."
He looked back.
"You were there when it started. The Tyranitar. You know better than most what we're dealing with."
Ren gave a nod. "I'll be careful."
"No," Roen said. "I'm telling you to be smart. There's a difference."
---
Ren, Lia, and the two assigned soldiers Berric, a seasoned bowman, and Maia, a quiet tracker with a Floette set out before midday. The fog hadn't lifted much. The forest looked washed in white, and the sky was a dim smear of cloud.
The trail toward Post 7 curved sharply through narrow ridges and overgrown paths, flanked on both sides by steep drops. There was little room to maneuver.
As they moved deeper, they found signs broken branches, gouges in the bark. Not fresh, but recent.
"I don't like this," Berric muttered. "Feels like something's watching."
"It is," Maia said, eyes fixed ahead. "Several somethings."
They reached a clearing around midday. The watch post was there mostly intact, but the signal tower had collapsed, crushed beneath a massive stone. The brazier was dark.
Ren moved forward carefully, Lucario already released and scanning the air with his aura.
"It's too quiet," Lia said.
Lucario's eyes narrowed. He raised one hand slowly and pointed northwest.
Ren turned in time to see movement in the trees.
"Ambush!" he shouted.
From the underbrush, agroup of corrupted Pokémon emerged not three, not five, but at least eight. A mixture of Beartic, Gurdurr, and two flying Mandibuzz, all with crimson eyes and twitching purple-veined bodies.
They didn't roar. They didn't howl. They just stared.
Then, without warning
they charged.
The corrupted Pokémon charged.
A blur of motion, muscle, fang, and claw wild eyes gleaming with crimson hatred and dark veins twitching like worms beneath their fur and skin. The forest clearing became a battlefield in an instant.
Ren felt his pulse spike. His hand snapped to his Poké Ball.
"Lucario go!"
With a crack of light, Lucario appeared, aura flaring blue.
Beside him, Lia released her Persian in a flash, and the feline landed with feline grace, growling.
Berric stepped back, already stringing an arrow. His longbow, darkwood and worn with use, came up fluidly. He notched a sharp-tipped arrow and let it fly.
Maia's Floette hovered beside her, petals shimmering protectively.
But it wasn't just the Pokémon moving.
The trainers did, too.
Lia ducked low, her twin daggers flashing out from her cloak as she lunged alongside her Persian to strike at a charging Gurdurr. She swept in from its blind spot, slicing behind its knees while Persian leapt for its face with a barrage of claws.
Berric moved like a shadow, backpedaling to a higher position by a fallen log. He loosed another arrow thump! it struck a Mandibuzz mid-flight, wing-pinning it to a tree.
"Bronzong protect Maia's flank!" he called.
Ren's eyes locked on the second Beartic this one bigger. Meaner.
"Lucario, Extreme Speed!"
Lucario blurred forward and cracked a palm into the Beartic's ribs, sending it staggering. But it recovered far too fast.
"Combusken Flame Charge, now!"
The fire-type burst from its ball with a shrill cry, flame spiraling around its legs as it rocketed into the fray. The impact hit the Beartic square in the chest, flame against fur, and it roared.
Maia's Floette called forth Magical Leaf, scattering glowing petals into the eyes of a swooping Mandibuzz, blinding it temporarily. Maia herself flanked right and slashed at its wing with a short spear she drew from her back.
These weren't sparring matches. These weren't drills.
This was war.
Even with all of them fighting, they were being pushed to their limits. Blood was drawn. Clothes were torn. Lucario had gashes along his arm. Combusken's flame dimmed. Ren had a cut along his brow from a stone edge.
Persian was panting, fur singed. Floette's petals trembled as its energy waned.
And then finally after what felt like hours the last corrupted Pokémon fell with a ragged cry, purple ichor leaking from its wounds, breath rattling like a beast dying in its sleep.
Everything went silent.
Until
Clap.
Clap.
Clap.
From the edge of the forest, a figure stepped into the clearing.
He wore a long, white and gold robe, embroidered with delicate patterns that shimmered faintly. His hair was long, black, slicked back to his shoulders, and his face held a sharp, predatory kind of charm too symmetrical, too cold.
Behind him, not a single sound.
"You did well," the man said, voice smooth and cultured. "Very well. I expected most of you to be dead by now. Especially the girl."
Lia's eyes narrowed. She stepped forward, blades up.
"Who are you?"
The man tilted his head. "Oh, just a curious onlooker. A humble admirer of… chaos."
Ren took a slow step forward. "Did you do this? Did you send those corrupted Pokémon?"
The man laughed gently. "No, no. They're just symptoms. I merely observe. Though I admit, it's more fun to nudge the pieces once in a while."
Berric nocked an arrow without saying a word.
The man gave a half-bow, mocking. "You've done well today. You should be proud. But this is only the beginning."
He lifted a gloved hand, and a strange pulse of light warped the air behind him.
"Keep dancing, little sparks. The flame you follow leads to the darkest of fires."
And with that, he vanished.
Not teleported. Not faded. Just gone. Like the forest itself had blinked him away.
The team stood in stunned silence.
Until
The air tensed .
A golden glow flared in the forest beyond.
Everyone turned.
Another Pokémon emerged no, not emerged descended, as if it had walked down from the sky itself.
A Hydreigon.
But unlike any Hydreigon Ren had seen.
Its entire body glowed soft gold, almost divine. Its three heads were wreathed in radiant mist, and every movement shimmered as if holy light wrapped its form.
But Ren felt it immediately.
So did Lucario.
The cold.
The emptiness behind those glowing eyes.
Where the corrupted Pokémon had been driven by rage and madness, this one was worse calm. Still.
Wrong.
Lucario took a step back.
"What the hell is that…?" Maia whispered.
"Is it… corrupted ?" Lia murmured.
Berric aimed his bow. "No," he said tightly. "It's worse."
The Hydreigon didn't roar. It didn't charge.
It just looked at them.
And smirked .