When Alex and Nya got back, two crossbows were ready and they were working in the bows.
“You managed to capture Madeline?” Zack asked.
“Sep, but… something happened with Peach” Alex said.
“What happened?” Jaina asked.
Alex and Nya told what they saw to Zack, Jack and Jaina.
“Anyone else saw that?” Jack asked.
“Only us, the others didn’t saw it well from their positions” Nya said.
“And we better keep it that way; not the best moment for that to happen” Zack said.
“I had to grab Madeline when I had the chance” Alex said with resignation.
“Don’t press yourself Alex; you didn’t know that would happen” Jaina said.
“*Sigh* okay; so, how are we doing now?”
“The crossbows are ready; I’m working in doing some prods with the tablets, salt and incantations to channel moves with them; I have these prods for testing”
“Want to do the first shoot?” Zack asked.
“Oh si” Alex said.
“Try with that dummy” Jack said, pointing with one of his blades.
Alex took one of the crossbows and positioned twenty meters approximately from the dummy. He pulled the string, using Psychic. It was less difficult than do it manually and faster. He placed the prod on it, aimed to the blank of the dummy and shot. A direct hit. He reloaded again and shot another one. Thirteen shots were made in one minute.
“It feels good; not too heavy and very precise” Alex said.
“Thank that to Hector; the prod he designed flies more straight than the other models” Zack said.
“And you only used the test prods” Jaina mentioned.
“What?”
“He made a better design to the ones for actual combat use and any variant we could think”
“And those could make quite a punch and reach further” Jack added.
“With the special prods, Gilgamarsh will have some trouble”
“Only if he can’t see you shooting at him” Ryan mentioned.
“I think I have the solution of it” Nya said.
“What do you propose?” Charles asked.
“Gilgamarsh is in a humid place; so, I can launch fire to the water to give us some cover”
“And with Alex’s aura detection and telepathy, we can attack Gilgamarsh while he couldn’t see us through it” Zack added.
“Let’s hope he won’t discover the trick” Sasha said.
“I think he will in time” Jaina said.
When Alex dropped the crossbow where he took it, he pulled out his katanas and the sword handlers he found, and put them on the table. He looked at them for some time, unable to think what to do. Jaina approached to him and looked to the table.
“You want to fuse them” She interpreted.
“Yeah; it feels like it’s what I have to do, but I don’t know how” Alex recognized.
“Let me see”
Jaina checked the blades and the handlers.
“For some reason, you’re right; these handlers could fit in your katanas right in, but they miss a part”
“What do you mean?”
“There are holes in these parts; I don’t know for what, but I think without those, the blades won’t be completed”
“Mmm; I guess we have to deal without them”
“You sure?”
“Sep, I don’t think we can find them; in the ruins there are only the sword handlers, but nothing more”
“True; I think I know how to fuse them”
“Really?”
“They’re built with magic in parts of the process, so I’ll try to find those enchantments within them to learn about them and see if I can integrate those handlers”
“You think you can?”
“I can give it a try”
“Okay; we’ll check if there is more work to do”
“Be careful”
Alex, Zack and Nya looked around to see if there was something they can help with. On the way; Sibyl called to them. They headed to him, who was next to Mirya.
“You need us for something?” Zack asked.
“Correct; Mirya can tell you what you have to do” Sibyl said.
“Thanks; I don’t know if you’ve heard about it, but we’ve had an unknown Pokémon hopping around on the surface and attacking us for a while now”
“Do you know where it is?” Alex asked.
“In the jungle near the swamp; by the way it’s she”
“Got it; what do we have to do then?”
“Knock it out, and drag it off to the nearest group of Trackers; if you can’t find them, you can also drop it off with Fracture, Seymour, Mirya or Nita” Sibyl explained.
“Any idea of her behavior? Moves?” Nya asked.
“I think she’s a Psychic type, but she doesn’t seem to use any moves of them; only still moves, and she doesn’t know how to use them; at least from what I saw” Mirya explained.
“Like she isn’t even there”
“Then we have to be extra careful in this one; few attacks to weak her, Psychic to restrain her and give the knock out” Alex explained.
“If Mirya is right; one single Dark pulse might be enough” Zack said.
“Well, you have a plan now; just like in Ywaru” Sibyl mentioned.
“Cerise told me a bit about you; I…” Mirya said, but stopped.
“You don’t have to say it; we’re weird in every aspect and our continent, too; but that doesn’t mean we can’t help” Zack said.
“I have to agree with them; even if their methods are… extravagant, they worked for them just fine” Sibyl.
“Okay; but bring more teams with you, just in case” Mirya suggested.
“I guess we have the teams for the task” Alex said while he was looking to team Silver Snow and Yang approaching.
“You want to tag along?” Nya asked.
“Yup; that plan to capture Madeline worked; we’ll stick with you for this mission, too” Kizu said excited.
“Welcome aboard, boys” Zack said.
“Yang? What are you doing here?” Alex asked.
“I-I’ll help you w-with the other t-tasks” She answered.
“And Sonya?”
“S-She said that as l-long as I am with you; we c-can do them”
“Got it”
“Then let’s move out” Zack said.
They walked for some time, searching for the unknown Pokémon Mirya said, without any luck.
“This is taking us a while; how are we’re going to find something that we don’t know how it looks?” Davin commented.
“You’re right; I forgot to ask about that” Nya said.
“I can scout ahead and alert you if I find something” Zack suggested.
“Alone?” Alex asked.
“No; Yang, do you mind if you accompany me?”
“N-Not at all; but how…” Yang started.
“You can hop on my back and help me to look the surroundings while we’re flying”
“F-F-Flying?”
“Don’t worry Yang; I did the test with Zack; he can carry me without problems; you just have to hang tight” Alex explained.
“I’m not going to pull crazy maneuvers in the air; we’ll make soft spins to get you adjusted, okay?” Zack added.
“O-Okay” Yang said nervous.
When Yang was on Zack’s back, he extended his wings and with some wingbeats, he headed to the sky. Yang closed her eyes and hanged really tight to Zack, with her head stuck on his back. Once the commotion was over, Zack said to Yang:
“You can open your eyes now; the hard part is over”
Little by little, she opened her eyes and saw the trees below and the sky surrounding them. She was amazed of the sight and worried of the height.
“How does it look Yang?” Zack asked when he looked back to her.
Instead of answering, her emotions were clear on her face.
“You have the same look as Alex in his first flight with a friend we had back in our country; joy and fear at the same time” He said with a smile.
He made a few turns to get Yang accustomed of the sensation. When she was ready, he descended to land. Again, Yang held tight, because of the sensation of fall. When Zack landed near the group, he said to Yang:
“We’re on the ground again; now you know how is to look the world from the sky”
“Y-Yeah” She said, weakly.
“Ready for the exploration?”
“I-I think so”
“Okay; Alex, we’re going ahead and see if we can find the Pokémon”
“Understood; we’ll keep moving until any of us can find her” Alex said.
Zack resumed the flight and searched from above and below the treetops, using the openings to pass through them; while Yang was looking around. Few minutes later, Yang spotted a strange Pokémon in one of the openings. Zack headed to the nearest and landed. Some meters ahead of them, they saw the creature, wandering without course.
“I guess we found it” Zack said.
“W-We should head b-back to the others?” Yang asked.
“No; I’ll use telepathy to contact Alex and Nya, and act as a beacon, while we keep an eye out of her”
Minutes later, the group reached to Zack and Yang.
“Where is she?” Kizu asked.
“Over there” Zack answered and pointed in the direction of the Unknown Pokémon. “We followed her for a while and she was only moving like that, clueless”
“Then I guess we don’t have to attack her at all, but we need to see how she behaves” Nya said.
“How?” Davin asked.
“One of us will “fight” her to see what moves she has and how she attacks; then other has to be the bait and attract her to a trap where we can knock her out in one move” Alex explained.
“I can do the fight; I’m more maneuverable to evade any incoming attack, but just in case, I need help in case something will goes wrong” Zack said and looked to Yang.
“M-M-Me?” Yang asked.
“In one opportunity, you said you know Protect, right?”
“Y-Yeah?”
“You can use it to block any surprise attack while you’re on my back”
“Y-You sure?”
“I trust you and I know you can do it”
“T-Thanks”
“Then we’ll be the bait” Kizu offered.
“Okay guys; just remember: use any range attack to draw her attention to you” Alex said.
“Got it”
“Zack; up to you; we’ll find a place for the trap; Davin, Kizu; with us for now until he gives us the signal”
When Alex and the others went to find a place for the ambush; Zack with Yang, headed to the unknown Pokemon. He landed behind her and called to her. She turned around and started attacking by using Poison jab. Zack evaded it with little effort. She turned around and did the same attack again. And again Zack evaded.
“W-What is s-she doing?” Yang asked.
“I really don’t know; she just keep attacking with only brute strength; no technique” Zack answered.
Then she changed to Metronome, moving her hands, and used Ice beam. Yang used Protect and a barrier formed in front of Zack, blocking the attack. Zack looked to Yang.
“That was close; are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah”
“Well; by the looks of it, she used Metronome; I don’t really like that”
The unknown Pokémon used Double Edge and headed to Zack and Yang. He stepped aside and she continued to crash with the tree behind him.
“Uy; that didn’t go over very well” Zack said.
“S-She’ll be f-fine?” Yang asked.
“If we don’t knock her out soon; she’ll be definitely not fine”
She did the same thing two more times, much faster than the first, but all ended with hitting something else. Then, she used Dynamic Punch multiple times and Zack fell back with every single swing. ‘She’s fighting like a kid in the first day of training; just throwing attacks, hoping that one of them hits’ Zack thought. Then, he received a telepathic message from Nya.
‘Zack, we’re ready; how are you doing?’
‘Fine here; the Pokémon is still attacking, but without experience; just like a kid’
‘You mean she’s only doing that without thinking?’
‘Yep; she used Poison Jab, Metronome, Double Edge and Dynamic Punch; with the third move she only hit herself and with the Metronome, she launched an Ice beam’
‘Alright; Davin and Kizu are heading to you now; hold her there and head back when they’re starting to attract her’
It didn’t take long. Zack saw the two of them and headed right to Alex and Nya. Kizu used Shadow ball and hit the ground near her. When she was heading to them, they fell back to the place of the trap. When they were passing through the place she’ll be attacked, Davin tripped. When he looked back, the unknown Pokémon was near to him. Scared, he used mist and hid from her. Waiting no more; Alex and Nya restrained her, using Psychic, with a lot of effort and Zack used a strong Dark pulse with some difficulty, knocking her out.
“I guess we did it” Zack said.
“Now we have to bring her back” Nya added.
Alex looked to Davin, who was been calmed by Kizu and approached to them.
“Are you alright Davin?” Alex asked.
“I-I’ll be fine” He said.
“Don’t worry Davin, it’s over” Kizu said.
“Pardon my curiosity, but; he does that often?” Alex asked to Kizu.
“Only if he gets scared”
“Okay, at least nothing happened to you”
“Yeah”
“Come on, let’s get back; something to drink is what we need now”
“We’re with you in that one” Kizu said.
Using Psychic; Alex, Nya and Zack grabbed the Pokémon and transported back. They found Mirya on the way.
“How is she?” She asked.
“Relatively fine” Alex answered.
“She hit herself three times trying to attack me and I used one Dark pulse to take her out” Zack explained.
“Alright; follow me”
Mirya led them to a place where to drop the Pokémon. Once that finished, she offered them Swamp nets the locals can spare and they headed to take something to drink. The decided to stick together for the next task in that involves testing some moves against Gilgamarsh’s minions.
Reaching the practicing area, they found Sinclair, who was overseeing.
“I guess you came to do some tests” Sinclair said.
“Yep, even if we know a bit about the witch we have to face; we still need more information about some weaknesses” Alex explained.
“Good, we have some of the minions over there; they cannot attack you, so feel free to approach them”
“Okay, let’s get this started”
They used every attack they know and in turns, and Yang observed. So far, only the Ice beam from Davin was doing a lot of damage; fire and electricity wasn’t affecting them that much, since they’re composed mayoralty on water and contaminants that repel great part of the electric charge. The rest of the attacks did normal damage, requiring from one to three hits to take them down, but in case of the Psychic; Alex, Nya and Zack compressed the minions and left them into a stunned state as a small reaction. That means if Gilgamarsh was compressed by the three of them and other Pokémons who knows Psychic; he could be stunned for some seconds, even more.
When they had enough info, they headed back to their respective places. Alex took advantage of the Swamp net and used it in a small lagoon. He recovered what it looked like a sapphire, two of them to be precise. On arrival, Jaina told to Alex that the handlers are been attached to the katanas and showed to him. He showed the two sapphires he found with a net and for some reason, put them on the slots. They attached perfectly. Jaina was surprised for that and installed them with magic.
When that was done, Alex decided to check how Peach was and Jaina decided to accompany him. When they were reaching her tend, they say Holly and Ethan getting outside. Something was not right from the look on their faces.
“Holly, how’s Peach?” Alex asked.
“She’s fine, but she must stay on her tent for now” Holly answered.
“Which is the reason?”
“We suspect that she is a witch; because Madeline has no injuries from your group when she fainted; not to mention, she was passed out like Madeline; it’s like she didn’t have to strain to beat her” Ethan explained.
“And?”
“What do you mean by ‘and’?” He asked confused.
“I came to see how she is, not what she is; for me it’s more important that she’s fine than she is a witch” Alex answered a bit irritated.
That caught Ethan off guard.
“Please, go; I want to talk with Alex, alone” Holly suggested to Ethan.
Ethan started to suspect the lucario knows something about it. He fixated his eyes on Alex. He looked back like he doesn’t even care of what Ethan was thinking, irritating him. Eventually, the charizard left them.
“You didn’t have to act like that” Holly commented.
“Sorry, but his tone and the way he talked about Peach annoyed me” Alex said.
“*Sigh*you saw what happened there, don’t you?”
Alex remained silent.
“Holly; Alex only wants to see how Peach is; not deal with an interrogation” Jaina suggested.
“You’re the witch my sister spoke of”
“It’s me; do I have to stay in a tent, too? I can understand that if that’s the case”
“N-No, and it’s only because you haven’t do anything to suspect from you, my sister trust you a little and wants your help her with my… condition; those are the only things that protect you”
“Can I get inside?” Alex asked.
“Yes” Holly answered.
“Take all the time you need, I’ll wait here” Jaina said.
Alex went inside and saw Peach, who was lying in the cushion. He felt a lot of sadness coming from her. ‘I guess they decided to tell that to her, too’ He thought. He sat near her and called:
“Peach?”
She moved slowly her head to see Alex.
“Your wound is healed?”
She nodded.
“Good”
“A-Alex; t-they say that I d-did it; t-that your f-friend d-didn’t do a-anything”
“*Sigh* that’s the part I wanted to avoid”
She lowered her head.
“You can blame me if you want; you’re not responsible of what happened”
She looked again to Alex confounded. He lied on the ground and looked to Peach again.
“If I grabbed Madeline before she heads to you; you wouldn’t be here to begin with; but thanks to my slowness, you’re in the middle of this mess; I’m so sorry”
Then he looked up and stayed for a while in silence. The feeling of impotence appeared in him. He wanted to help Peach, but by doing that, he’ll put her in more danger. That sensation was similar of those occasions that he only saved few people with his team, when the others perished, giving their lives for them; accepting they’re beyond salvation. Just remembering those failed missions and other memories, spinning in his head were enough to discourage him. Peach kept looking to him.
“Y-You t-think you c-can t-talk to t-them let me g-go home?” She asked.
“Even if I try, I’ll get a no as answer; I don’t think I can convince them to get you out” He answered with resignation. He looked to her again.
“B-Because t-they think I-I’m…”
“Who they think you are doesn’t really matter to me; I know you as Peach, a Pokémon like any other”
She was silent again.
Alex stood up, took something of his pocket and showed to Peach.
“This is for you” Alex said and placed a white flower near her. “Maybe it’s not much, but I want you to have it”
She looked the flower and then looked to Alex again. He smiled and nodded. Even if he couldn’t help her on her situation, that doesn’t mean he cannot try to cheer her up. She showed a very small smile. Alex headed to the exit, but before getting out, he turned around and said:
“At least you’re okay and that’s all that matters now”
And he went out. Holly and Jaina saw him coming to them.
“How is she?” Jaina asked.
“Physically she’s fine; emotionally… I prefer not to talk about it” Alex answered.
“Alex…” Holly started.
“I know, I know; she cannot get outside for her ‘condition’”
“I’m sorry”
“*Sigh* anything new Jaina?”
“Nothing new; I talked with Holly while you were inside; you did what you could for her”
“Sadly that wasn’t enough”
She noticed that Alex wasn’t thinking straight. “You remembered those missions, right?”
He kept quiet. Holly looked to Jaina a little worried. She looked back to her and nodded.
“Come on Alex; let’s get back; we’ll do the relaxation exercises to calm your mind” Jaina suggested.
“Okay” Alex said.
“Jaina” Holly called.
She turned to her.
“Thank you… for helping my sister”
“You’re welcome; when we have more time, we’ll talk of some things that you might be interested”
“When we have time”
