The mission started the next day, since they were some problems with the transportation of the Voice stone. One more day to rest was the group needed. When the night fell, the entire group, including Nox from team Exuibus; who wants for personal reasons accompany Sonya and Yang; went to Chandra, Darius the Krokorok and Lydia.
Then Chandra explained the mission “As you can see, we have the Voice Stone behind us; we need a good location to place it”
“A part of you can help me in carry that thing, I don’t think I can move it for too long” Darius the Krokorok added.
“And we need to watch out for Kapon’s goons; they can be anywhere” Lydia finished.
“Can you specify about the good location?” Alex asked.
“A place near the settlement, with good reception and a relatively easy way to access it” Darius explained.
“Maybe I can help you with that” Ryan offered.
“You’re one of the ex Kapon’s members who betrayed him?” Chandra asked.
“The same, with all the gang here; as for the location, we have rest place in a hill, covered with some rocks; no Pokémon dared to come there, because we spread the word that there is an evil ghost who can trap anyone who tries to cross his territory”
“Don’t you think it was a little exaggerated?” Lydia asked.
“Not really, if you want to disappear from Kapon for a while; besides people here believes in that kind of stories”
“Fair enough, is it close to the settlement?” Darius the Krokorok asked.
“One kilometer to the East”
“Can you lead us there?” Chandra asked.
“Yeah, but I think Zack will do it; we’ll be ahead to clean the route from any hostiles we might encounter”
“That’s right; you’re capable in night fighting; Jack is in the route as well, so he can update you with any information from the terrain and the locals” Zack said.
“Then I guess we’ll see you guys later” Ryan said and headed out with the gang.
“With that taken care off, we only need to worry about to move the Stone” Alex said.
“Zack, do you remember that place?” Robin asked.
“Yeah; I guess we have plans to do again” Zack said.
“When we didn’t? That’s the reason we succeeded so far” Stephan said.
“Then let’s do it”
The formation they decided consisted in Lydia at the front to check the surroundings and receive any report from Ryan and his boys. Chandra, Sonya, Yang, Nox and Zack were the next, being the guides. Alex, Marth, Stella and Darius the Krokorok were carrying the Voice Stone. And finally; Robin, Stephan, Lena, Horace, Gary and Jaina were the escort.
They walked about two hours, because of the transport of the stone. They even saw some electric, fire and grass attacks from the distance. With Zack’s group dealing with Kapon’s lackeys, it was easier to advance. At some point on the way, Nox evolved into an Umbreon. Eventually they reached the destination. It took some time to stick the Stone to the ground. When the Voice stone was placed, Chandra tested it. Corduroy answered without any kind of interference.
“Well, I guess all is okay, thanks everyone” Chandra said.
“Yeah, with your help we…” Lydia started, but it was interrupted by Jack.
“Zack, Alex! We have a big problem” He said, while he was coming with Zack’s group.
“Let me guess, Kapon?” Zack asked.
“Yes, Barley told us that she saw a strike force of twelve of his henchmen some hours ago, and now they’re heading this way” Ryan explained.
“But how? Unless they followed us, there’s no way he can find us” Darius the krokoroc said.
“The beaten goons were his beacons, but that’s not all; we saw that Oxnard and Bermuda are leading them and heard them about a clear objective” Jack continued.
“You mean aside from destroying the stone?” Chandra asked.
“Yeah; Alex, Zack; their objective is to provoke the three of us; they expected that we were in another place, so they can blame us for not defending it and force us to counterattack”
“In other words, Kapon declared the war to us; …alright, if he wants a fight, we give him one” Zack decided.
“Guys, you cannot expect to win against them, not on your own” Marth said.
“My group is in this one as well, I don’t want you to be involved more than you already are; we can handle it” Zack said.
“This is also our fight; not only for the stone and the guilds, it’s because you’re been there when we need it, helping us, encouraging us; we did an entire mission rush together; so leaving you it’s not an option” Stella said.
“I agree with her; maybe you dragged a lot of his attention, but all of us provoked him to attack” Horace added.
“So no matter what you say to us, we’ll stay with you in this” Sonya ended.
All of them nodded, refusing to let the Shadow foxes fight on their own against the assassins.
“Well, I don’t think we can change your minds; we’re going to need a defensive strategy” Alex said.
“And we need to get back up from the others; but with them lurking around, we’ll be spotted in no time” Lyria pointed.
“Not if you use the tunnel connecting to the settlement” Ryan mentioned.
“What? You built one?” She asked.
“That’s right; how do you expect we move in the day with the sun hitting us and avoiding unnecessary battles?” Sasha explained.
“And look the disposition of the rocks” Anibal said.
All of them looked around.
“Why is that important?” Chandra asked.
Alex found the answer. “Because this is a defendable position”
“Exactly, we didn’t choose this hill at random; it can allow us to defend it, in case we have to fight against Kapon; and the tunnel is our escape route in case we’re overwhelmed “Charles explained.
“From here, there are three paths to enter; the one we used and the other two in those places” Darius the Drilbur showed them, pointing the two places.
“Since their strategy is not going to attack all straight forward using the main path; they’re going to distribute themselves to ambush us from all sides” Ryan said.
“So we need to defend the three entrances and wait for reinforcements” Jaina summarized.
“Then we have to move fast; hold them back all the time you can” Lydia said.
“We’re counting on you” Zack said.
Sasha removed the rock covering the entrance of the tunnel and explained to Chandra how to open it in the other side. Once they’re gone, the group planned the defense. Teams Electrophilic and Emblem’s flame were guarding near the Voice stone; Zack and his gang, in one of the alternative routes; and the rest, in the other. Yang called Alex to talk.
“A-Alex, Nox is going to h-help us” She said.
“You are?” Alex asked.
“Yep; Sonya and Yang are my friends and if they’re helping you, then I’m going in, too” Nox said.
“Are you sure? You evolved not long ago”
“Maybe, but I cannot leave them, so I’m staying”
“Thanks, we’ll need all the help we can get”
“N-Nox, I t-think you can t-tell him your s-secret” Yang suggested
“What? Are you sure about that?” Nox asked worried.
“Y-Yeah, in any c-case, t-they will find out w-without even talking to you”
“Uh… W-well, you see; I’m a witch and a witch hunter at the same time, so…” He said nervously.
Alex shrugged “I don’t see the problem with that”
“What? You’re not?”
“Yeah; to give you the idea, we came from a place where witches are common as any other Pokémon”
“Ah, I didn’t know that”
“You don’t have to worry about me and my team, we’re not too closed minded”
“Well, that’s a relief”
“A-Alex, you know I-I cannot fight” Yang said.
“I didn’t forget that, that’s why you’re going to help us with this” Alex said and showed her some orbs.
“T-Those are your o-orbs?”
“Yep; instead of fighting, you’re going to support us, by activating them at specific moments; Jaina will be with you if someone of them tries to attack you”
“O-Okay; but w-what about Sonya?”
“She’s going to fight with us; I have an idea of why she’ll do that”
“If that is the case, can I accompany her?” Nox asked.
“If she allows you, then you can”
It took some time to Nox to convince Sonya to accompany her, but in the situation they were, she finally accepted. They waited for at least ten minutes and the tension started to grow. Jack returned from patrolling the surroundings of the hill and reported the enemy’s advance.
“Bermuda and Oxnard took the main path; the others divided in two groups of four”
“I hope the teams Electrophilic and Emblem’s flame can hold the pair” Alex said.
“For now, let’s focus on this group, and then help the others”
While they’re hidden behind some rocks near a small clear, Kapon’s lackeys appeared in the entrance. They consisted of a Garchomp, a Rhydon, a Gurdurr and a Haxorus. When they reached the center, Yang activated a Totter orb and a Quick orb. Then, anyone who has ranged attacks, launched at them, but none of them fainted. They used physical attacks to finish them, but they were still resisting. They combined both methods while they’re moving. They managed to weak the attackers, but they were still standing. The enemies started to recover their senses and began the counterattack. The guild’s group was force to fall back before anyone gets hurted.
“What are these guys? We threw everything we got; and they still holding up” Horace said.
“No doubt that they’re the big boys of Kapon, but we weaken them enough; we have to focus our attacks direct to their heads” Jack said.
“I don’t think they let us approach to them” Gary said.
“Yang, do you still have the orb I mentioned earlier?” Alex asked.
“R-Right here” She said, showing it.
“We’re going to use the tactic we talked about?” Sonya asked.
“Yep, get ready with Nox” Alex said.
Jack passed between them, attacking with Demolition and moving to the other side. Horace and Gary circled them, attacking with Energy ball and Thunderbolt respectively and joined Jack. Meanwhile, Yang activated an All dodge orb to prevent any lucky attack they could launch against them. The assassins concentrated on the trio. Alex took advantage of the distraction, grabbed Sonya with Psychic and Nox with his arms and threw them to the enemy group. Sonya launched a Moonblast against the Haxorus, knocking it out and making the other three turn around; then both of them, using Iron tail, hit the Gurdurr and the Garchomp and finally Alex finished the Rhydon with an Aura sphere.
“*Pant* we…, we did it; we defeated them” Nox said.
“These guys really gave us a fight” Horace commented.
“In any case, we cannot let them be like this” Alex said and began to administrate the sleeping potion.
“How long do we have until they wake up?” Sonya asked.
“An entire day, so I don’t think they’ll give any more problems” He answered.
“Then let’s go back to the others, they’ll need our help” Jaina suggested.
All of them went back. They saw a burst of fire coming out from the position of the Voice stone and accelerated the pace. On the way, Zack and his group joined them.
“For the looks of it, you took care of the attackers from your side” Jack said.
“As well as you, we better get back to the stone” Zack said.
When they reached the Voice stone, they saw the two teams injured and tired from the battle against Bermuda and Oxnard. Alex and Zack approached to them.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked.
“Barely, but we managed to defeat Oxnard and Bermuda” Robin said.
“Alex, we need to bring Stephan back, he needs a medic” Stella said.
“Okay, uh…, who’s the cyndaquil?”
“It’s the one who hatched from the egg; he helped us win this battle”
“How?”
“He sent Bermuda flying back with a Psychic move and he attacked with a power I never seen from a new born”
“Well, that’s a miracle; and that means he’s really special if he has a Psychic move from the very beginning”
Without anyone knowing, Oxnard woke up again and this time, his target was Lena and Sonya since they were close. When he was almost about to kill them; Zack hit him with a Dark pulse. Oxnard rolled up and stood up once again.
“How could you still standing? We finished you!” Lena said, not believing what she was seeing.
“Bastard, you managed to steal a Reviver seed and brought it here, don’t you?” Zack asked.
“The only thing I learned from you is to do the unexpected” Oxnard said, with a smirk on his face.
The entire group was about to attack Oxnard, but Zack stopped them, extending his wings.
“This fight is between him and me now” He said.
“Zack, you cannot…” Marth started.
“Nothing you can say to me will change my mind; I’m going to finish this”
“But…” Stella started.
“You’ve done your part, stay out of this one”
“Then we won’t intervene” Alex said.
“Alex, you cannot possible…” Sonya started.
“He wants to settle the score with Oxnard; let him do it” Ryan said.
“I have to agree with them; he started this, he wants to end this; this is his battle” Jaina said.
None of them wanted to let Zack fight on his own against Oxnard, but he was so decided to do that. Reluctantly, they let him, but if anything goes wrong, they would help him, like it or not. Zack and Oxnard started to circle around the other slowly.
“I’m going to tear every feather from your body; I regret the day Don Kapon accepted you, I knew it was a mistake” Oxnard said.
“He has the power, but sadly not the brain” Zack replied.
Oxnard started his attack with X-scissor. Zack evaded and responded with a Sky attack. Oxnard dodged it and continued. They attacked to each other with all their move sets for at least two minutes, without anyone imposing to the other. They stopped and circled again. Oxnard picked up another vial with poison he hid in case the reviver seed made effect. Zack brought out a bottle hidden in his right wing. They both drank it, powering up the physical and special attacks respectively. Then Zack did something that only his team knows, he used Psychic to cover his wings and feet and took a fighting type battle stance. Oxnard reacted with the same posture.
“What are they doing?” Gary asked.
“Fighting with muscle; Zack told us that when Oxnard pursued him, in one opportunity they fought in that way using their moves at minimum” Jack explained.
“Why?” Marth asked.
“Because they know their move sets too well to evade and block them; now it depends entirely on their basic combat techniques and how to take advantage on the openings” Alex answered.
Oxnard started, approaching to Zack and attacking with his claws; Zack fell back a little and counterattacked, punching directly on his belly. Oxnard let himself exposed and Zack punched again in his face, making him fall. Oxnard stood up again and attacked again. He made two hits against Zack and the others were blocked. Using Oxnard’s swings, Zack grabbed his left armed and threw him to the ground. He positioned over Oxnard and hit him four times. He fell back, Oxnard stood up once again and they restated their attacks. Zack started to glow and when he punched Oxnard in the face once again; he evolved into a Honchcrow, but much bigger than the regular, at the same stature of Alex.
But the battle wasn’t over yet. Oxnard started to attack more aggressively, but Zack was able to dodge his blows and counterattacked with more force. In one opportunity, Oxnard was able to grab him from the neck and began to strangle. Zack reacted by using Heat wave to throw him off. Zack began to retreat, with the intention of make Oxnard to attack him. Oxnard did what he predicted and when he was about to slash him, Zack went ahead of him and hit him first with all his force. Oxnard could barely stand up, but finally, he fainted.
Zack panted for the exhaustion. That battle was more that he could take, with the evolution and all. Alex and Jack approached to him.
“It’s over” Zack said.
“Your quarrel against these guys, yes; but it’s not over yet” Jack said.
“Jack’s right; Kapon is still on the power, but sending the assassins to attack the Voice Stone was his greatest mistake; now we have the means to bring him down” Alex explained.
“But at least, they’re going to think twice before challenging us; Alex, if you don’t mind”
“Not really” Alex said and administrated the concentrated sleeping potion.
“Uh… guys, why do you look at my size?
“You better check yourself to answer your question”
Zack lowered his head and saw his chest with a white color. He extended his wings and saw red feathers as well as his tail.
“I evolved?” Zack asked.
“Yep, but the difference with me is that you keep fighting while, I finished my fight with the evolution” Alex answered.
“But that doesn’t explain why I am so big; a normal Honchcrow will be smaller than you”
“I honestly have no idea of that” Alex recognized.
“Everyone is okay?” Vander asked.
They all saw the Trackers with some teams coming to their way from the tunnel. Vander approached to the Shadow foxes and looked to Oxnard.
“Let me guess; you defeated Oxnard again?” He asked.
“Actually teams Electrophilic and Emblem’s flame defeated him first, but he was carrying a Reviver seed, so Zack had to finish him” Alex explained.
“Chandra, Lydia and Darius told us about the strike force; are they beaten?”
“All of them; we gave them a sleeping potion, so they won’t cause us problems”
“Good, we’ll taking them back to the settlement; with this act, Kapon exposed himself and now we can judge him; you look tired Zack”
“Six years took me to finish this dispute; now they know what happens when they cross me”
“Zack?” Alex asked.
“Hah, sorry; but there were too much feelings involved in this entire mess”
“Then I guess you don’t want to see Kapon in the judgement” Vander said.
“No, I did my part; the rest is up to you; besides, provoking him again will not help”
“Fair enough; go to the medic tends; you deserve a good rest”
“Sorry to beat Oxnard before you” Zack said.
“Heh, I guess you had more reasons to fight him than me; by the way, congrats from evolving”
“Thanks, we’ll heading back”
The entire group headed back to the settlement. In the medical tends they patched Zack, and the teams Electrophilic and Emblem’s flame. In the case of Stephan, they used heal pulse with the symbol of charity Marth brought with him. Alex, Jack, Lena and Jaina stayed with them, while the others headed to get a good sleep.
In the middle of the night, Alex woke up, hearing a discussion between Marth and Robin about nightmares. Robin went to sleep after that, but Marth stayed awake for a while longer. Marth looked to Alex and made a gesture with his head to come.
“Something happened?” Alex asked while he sat beside him.
“More or less” Marth answered.
“Why did you two talk about nightmares?”
“It’s… complicated”
“Well, you don’t have to tell me of what did you see in that thing”
“It’s not me, it’s Robin”
“How so?”
“Didn’t you see Robin lately?”
“Not much, there were few occasions”
“She didn’t sleep well, but she managed to hide it”
“And the reason is the nightmares she has?”
“Including some flashbacks; when she told me about it, I recognized them”
“But of what I heard, you didn’t say a thing about that”
“Because that involves some personal secrets”
“And you don’t want to risk yourself telling them to her”
“Exactly”
“Mmm, you were right about being complicated; do you plan to tell them to her later?”
“I’m not sure yet”
“Ahh”
“Do you have any advice?”
“About what?”
“About how I can tell her”
“Why do you ask me?” Alex asked confused.
“Because your ideas were being helpful, even if they’re breaking the normal schemes”
“Heh” Alex thought for a while before he gives an answer. “Well, if I were you, I’ll try to tell her that I know what they’re meaning, but in a way that she doesn’t suspect that I saw similar things and that depends on how much sensible is the secret; that means, if they involve the same places, people, you name it; and how much I’m willing to tell”
“Too many things to keep in mind”
“Yeah, but that gives you the idea”
“Thanks for your council”
“Anytime, I’m going back to bed”
Before Alex could get back to sleep, Marth asked a last question: “Why you didn’t ask about my secrets? You didn’t touch the subject in the entire conversation”
Alex turned around and answered: “Because it’s your decision if you want to tell me about them, I cannot force you to do that and besides, it’s your life”
The next morning, when everyone was awoken, they resumed Stephan what happened when he passed out. Then Stella and Stephan looked to the Cyndaquil.
“We have to give him a name” Stephan said.
“Do have an idea of which will fit with him?” Alex asked.
Stephan and Stella thought for a moment. When they looked the red star marking they both came with a name.
“Firestar” They both said.
“Well, look at that; this is the first time I see you agree with something” Zack said.
“Maybe that’s because of what Alex said to us in Mosswood; we’re a team, and our differences make us stronger” Stella said.
“That’s the spirit Stella; I’m glad to see that you and Stephan are one” Alex said
“And we’re glad that you be with us; another group mission in the future?” Stephan asked and extended his paw.
Then Stella, Alex, Zack and even Firestar extended their paws and wing, placing them together.
“Yeah; and we’ll blast it like the others” Alex said, with a smile.
