They waited a moment as a group of children excitedly bought some candy, joking and boasting about ‘having the best one’, sharing, and laughing. The Absol stared at them with a small playful smile at their outburst until the three kids ran off.

Kyle picked up the small chocolate figurine and handed it to her, it had the shape of a goldeen “Here little princess, this one’s on me” He winked charming.

Zinaco laughed “Why thank you” She replied playing along, he chuckled and they continued walking as Kyle thanked the Charizard seller. “But really Kyle” Her voice dropped back to the usual tone “You don’t need to pay for it you know? Not like my family is going to run out of money anytime soon” She rolled her eyes.

“But then it wouldn’t be a gift” He pointed out. She said nothing to that and continued enjoying he treat, offering him a bite as they continued walking along side by side taking in their surroundings. “Hey Zinaco… can I ask you something?”

“Hm?” His voice catches her attention again and the Absol turns to the handsome Houndoom.

“Uh…” He slightly scratched the back of his neck, suddenly a bit nervous “I was wondering… I know you’re kind of against marriage” He started carefully “But mm… would you ever want to have kids?”

Silence is met instead of an inmediate answer, though he kind of expected it but the reality doesn’t help his stammering heart. Her face is quite surprised for a moment and she seems to be pondering on her answer.

“Well, to be honest I’m not against marriage or anything… just on my grandfather’s terms” She replied, and he could feel the tired undertone in her voice “But I like kids, and actually I’d love to have a family someday”

Kyle stares mesmerized for a moment, she has the warmest smile he’s ever seen and her semblance is so… loving and peaceful. He feels his face flush slightly.

“A-ah” He stutters a bit dumbly “You w-would make a great mom someday I’m sure. You seems good with kids and I was just wondering” He shrugged “Lia has always said she doesn’t want to so I was curious”

“What about you?” Her beautiful eyes turned to him.

“Me?” He beamed and then turned his eyes up ahead, his gaze looked serene as always but she felt a tinge of melancholy “Sure I’d like to settle down someday and have a family as well. It does get tiring to be roaming and alone”

She nodded “Right”

Another question quickly popped out on his head “What would you want your children to call you?”

This time however, she seemed a bit taken aback “Eh? Why do you ask that?”

Regret and embarrassment quickly loom over the Houndoom. Zinaco is the only one who can make his hands sweat nervously as they are right now “I-I mean sorry if that was awkward” He looked away “Just wondering, didn’t mean to offend you or something”

The air around them is a bit tense now and Kyle wonders if switching the topic will lessen it. As much as they have spent time together (It will soon be a year since they first met!) maybe some topics are better left personal.

“…Mama…”

He blinks and turns to her again.

“Huh?” Zinaco is looking away casually but he can see that same small smile in her face along with a slight red hue on her cheeks.

Zinaco knows he’s looking at her “I mean...” She starts “I… I would like our children to call me ‘mama’” One hand comes up to brush some strands of white hair away from her eyes. She gives a small bit to the remaining of her chocolate and turns to look for some other distraction around them. There is a large berry juice stand not too-

“…our children?”

Zinaco’s eyes widen and she stops breathing a moment.

Did she really say that?

Realization hits her like a rock and she inhales deeply and starts fidgeting. She totally did, and he heard her, and she didn’t mean… how could she brush this off now? What to do?

“Hey, the chocolate made me kinda thirsty” She mentioned quickly, manmaging to sound casual “Let’s head over there and try some berry juice” She smiled back to him.

Kyle was still a bit stunned, his mind racing over her words again.

…our children…

“I-I see…” He finally replies, nervously scratching the back of his neck once more “in that case…” He starts calmly as his heart races wildly in his chest, yet his smile breaks into a grin “Does that mean they’ll call me ‘papa’ then?”

Shira continued her happy tune lowering the heat after adding the stock as the mix started to boil, she stretched to grab the salt and sprinkled some of it in, but in that moment the wooden spoon slipped off her hand.

“A-ah?”

Splat.

Right on the tiled floor.

Shira stared at it for a moment… and blinked a couple of times.

Well, she better get another one because that thing is officially staying in the floor. It is literally impossible for her to scoop down to pick it and she wasn’t even gonna try, no sir.

She sighed and shuffled over to the kitchen cabinet, opening it up and picking another cooking implement to continue on her task. That is, until she saw her husband approach from the corner of her eyes. She smiled only slightly.

The Jibacoil in question, Techny Suzuori, frowned at the sight, lips pursing into a tight line as he saw the female cooking happily.

“Shira.”

“Ah Tech, mon amour” She started sweetly, obviously playing innocent as she knew exactly what he was going to say “Perfect timing, I accidentally dropped that” She gestured at the spoon on the floor “Could you pick it up for me pleeease?”

He let out a tired sigh “You shouldn’t be up on your feet and cooking, you know?”

“I’m good I’m good, besides I’m hungry” She pouted “I’m eating for two here” She added breaking into a smile again, absentmindedly rubbing a hand on her belly.

“You can order takeout, though” He replied unfazed, dropping the fallen spoon into the sink to wash later.

She rolled her eyes “This is homemade though, I’m using my grandma’s recipe” She turned back to the pot and stirred a bit more before placing the lid, letting it simmer. “Besides… I’m tired of just laying around all the time, I wanted to feel… I dunno, a little useful?” She shrugged.

And it was true, the Gogoat had been feeling like she was being increasingly bothersome to those around her because of her pains or sickness, her inability to do certain simple tasks or movements, and the sudden outbursts of frustration.

“I kind of missed cooking too” She added after some silence, moving onto preparing something else as Tech kind of just stood around trying to occupy himself. She knew the man was trying to appear all casual but was actually keeping an eye on her, and that made her feel warm and bubbly. As she finished with the bread and cheese she wiped her hands clean and approached him, placing a hand to his shoulder and another at the kitchen counter to steady herself as she leaned in, closing her eyes and practically rubbing her nose to his as she loved to do sometimes “After Nozomi is here and I feel better I’ll make cookies… and cupcakes, lots of cupcakes” She mumbled lovingly before giving him a small kiss.

He replied with another kiss himself that she practically melted into.

Until he suddenly felt her tense “Shit…” She muttered.

Techny saw Shira grip the counter hard as her breathing becoming small elaborate gasps. She shut her eyes close with force.

*What’s going on?* He wondered a little panicked *She can’t be going into labor, can she?! She’s only seven months, that can’t be good for the baby*

He placed his hands at her shoulders, holding her in case the woman’s legs gave out or something, she suddenly looked sickly pale as she just stood there biting her lower lip and letting out a pained noise.

“Shira what’s wrong? Is it something with Nozomi?”

She just shook her head no, not even opening her eyes.

“Then what is it?”

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly “cramps… really hurts” she only managed making a ‘calm down’ gesture with her hand, he understood she was enduring the sudden spike of pain and said nothing else just holding her as it subsided.

Once the pain went away she could breathe more normally, though still held onto him a bit woozy “That… that one hurt” Were her only words.

“Are you ok?” He asked concerned.

She nodded now, much to his relief “It’s ok, comes and goes”

“And this is why you shouldn’t be up and cooking of all things” He stated, as his voice went back to his usual self.

“I-I guess…” She mentioned starting to feel guilty now. It was true, she was here handling fire, knives, and boiling water, something like this could end up disastrous and the last thing she wanted was for something to happen to the tiny gift of life inside her “Thanks”

“Now, you’re going back to the room”

“I have to finish though, it’s almost done! Come ooon” She countered, looking like a child begging for five more minutes of playtime.

“Rest. Now. Even if I have to carry you there”

“What?! You are not carrying me!”

“Yeeeah, if only you had a say on this...” He smirked.

She yelped once more and quickly clung to him as the steel-type pulled her up in his arms seemingly without much effort, the Gogoat’s eyes widened “Hee-ey! Hey! Put me down” She was not used to this at all and even less in her current state “Techny!”

-----------------------------------

Xerneas had taken only a couple of days to get to the Rebirth Forest, but she bitterly thought it had been way too long. Her majestic legs wobbled, her body felt heavy with each ragged breath, she had ran and ran non-stop and yet it probably hadn’t been enough. She felt sick, and defeated, but she had no time to rest.

Entering the clearing that was hidden away from the eyes of people, hidden from the rest of the world, she found the menacing figure of her counterpart. Yveltal sat quietly on a considerably-sized tree, perched in some large branches with his ice-cold blue eyes piercing at Xerneas.

She peered up at him, still panting.

“We need to… it’s the only way” She mentioned in a controlled voice that dared not to show the crack forming in her heart. She could be an ageless, timeless creature; a coalescence of many memories, thoughts and lives past; but she could never become numb to these sorts of things. She was a creature of life and hope above all else.

------------------------------

There lay a girl hunched up in the floor in the darkness, her clothes thorn and dirty, her short blond hair disheveled and hiding her face as she wept.

Xerneas approached carefully, almost as if scared. She felt a lump caught in her throat, so much horror and pain poured into one being.

The deity hesitantly called out “My child…”

In a flash the girl stared up at her, eyes widen and bloodshot as her face painted an image of fear and surprise “Lady Xerne-NO, GET AWAY!” She suddenly shrieked when the goddess had taken a step further towards her. The girl’s body tensed entirely and her expression morphed into one of rage, but still suffering…    

Xerneas stood there paralyzed, she had expected the outburst but it still hit her with force.

“Y-You… you cannot be here, they want you, they want t-to find you and hurt you, you…” A stream of tears started to run down her cheeks “Please my Lady help me…” Her voice faltered suddenly, and Xerneas knew she had broken, just like a part of her heart “Please make it STOP, MAKE THEM STOP!” Her hands clawed at her hair and head as she dissolved into another fit of hysteria.

The goddess lowered her hoof but stood still, not knowing very well what to do, her mind and memories of the past edging her to move yet her body was frozen.

“I don’t want to live anymore…” The girl cried weakly, and just like that a part of Xerneas was shattered.

Xerneas approached and sat beside her, her large body surrounding the terrified child as if trying to blanket her from the horrors that plagued her. The girl did not turn to her as she continued crying into her hands, hiccupping and sobbing loudly.

There was a bright flash of light notable even behind her tightly closed eyelids and suddenly she felt arms wrap around her and pull her into a tight embrace, the blonde’s breath trembled and caught and she simply opened her eyes to see a young-looking woman with long royal-blue hair cascading down her shoulders, adorned with the elegance of royalty and with a soft pained face and bright blue eyes that gave her a tiny speck of hope.

“I am so sorry…” Xerneas said, her voice low and genuine making her heart skip a beat.

“Please help me…” She mumbled weakly “It hurts, it burns… I can’t… I can’t take this a-anymore. They killed m-my family”

“Sshhh it’s okay, you’re so strong, so strong…” Xerneas started rubbing down her back in a motherly gesture “I am so sorry…” she repeated. And she wanted to tell her a hundred times more. A thousand. And let her know she meant it with every fiber of her body, wipe away all she’d gone through.

But she couldn’t.

All she could offer was a final escape.

This was the curse of Xerneas.

Being chosen by a deity was not only a blessing but also a curse, a curse that put the weight of responsibilities and the chance of many dangers in their shoulders. Vessels were individuals, but they were also tools, means for an end.

Xerneas knew this very well.

“We’ve come to end your suffering my child, you don’t need to despair anymore”

“We…?”

Xerneas turned slightly behind her and the girl followed her gaze, some meters away stood the figure of a man, stiff like a statue. She could only make out his red and black clothes and a serious expression partially hidden under a well groomed beard. For a second she wondered who he was, but just as quickly her mind reasoned he could only be Yveltal.

So this is how it all ended… her eyes softened with conflicted feelings and she cried some more.

“Camulus…” Xerneas called out softly and the man shifted and sighed, as if this was a job he didn’t want to do. He approached in silence, the blonde simply stared at him with a bit of fear.

“W-Will it hurt?” She asked softly.

The two legendaries exchanged a glance, Yveltal shook his head. He then raised an arm to her, gloved fingers open as if he was reaching for or holding onto something, Xerneas held the girl tenderly as she started feeling lightheaded, her eyelids heavy and her body tired until finally her eyes closed, her muscles relaxed and she let out a last breath.

Yveltal claimed the soul to himself, the ethereal sphere of light dancing in his palm until he closed it and it was gone.

Her body disappeared in speckles of light that ascended over their heads and vanished. Xerneas continued slumped into the floor “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry…” She kept muttering the words like a mantra.

“Dunethyr… she’s gone” He stated with a voice that didn’t precisely show sympathy, but she hand in her shoulder hinted at his condolences to her.

It was natural to them to manage souls and mortality, they’ve done it since the beginning of times and have seen plenty of suffering, but when a life had to prematurely reach their end directly because of them, a life they had picked to guard under their care…

“Why Camulus… this hadn’t happened in centuries… why now?” She spoke dryly.

“You will give her another chance now”

Slowly she nodded a single time and stood up lethargically “I’ll give her a good life now…” She mumbled as bright dots of life danced on her hands and arms.

…One far away from me…

-----------------------------------

In the center of the room the blonde girl hung limply, she had been restrained and her body was attached to some machines with wires, but now the same machines indicated she was dead, Xerneas and Yveltal had reclaimed her soul to mercifully end her suffering. The people in the room grew frustrated, muttering darkly and hitting or tossing away things in rage.

They had lost their only subject to lure out the Deity of Life.

-----------------------------------

They were back at Rebirth Forest, none of the spoke a word until Yveltal changed back to his original form and extended his wings ready to leave.

“Nidia must know of this” Dunethyr stated dryly “She must tell one of her vessels so they can make this public. I will not let her death be in vain” The elegant deer turned her back to her counterpart.

Camulus nodded “In the meantime all we can do is warn our own children”

And so, each one left, heading to opposite directions.

///    

///

Looking down at the item held loosely in her hand, Shira inhaled and licked her lips, eyebrows furrowing in concentration. Flicking her right wrist she twirled forward and then brought her left hand down swiftly, she tried hard to copy her teammate’s quick movements but the air actually pushed back against the fans in her hands in a way she had not anticipated, and she ended up stumbling forward.

Slipping from her hand, one of the elegant fans fell down despite her frantic attempts to catch it.

“Can you please be careful with my fans?” Shira flinched slightly and turned with a sweatdrop, looking apologetically at the original owner of said weapon-slash-implement. Citinea was standing a few feet away from her, holing a composite bow with the quiver strapped to her waist.

“Sorry sorry. This is harder than what I thought…” She murmured. Even though she had been the one to point out the wind-based prowess the fans held, that was only when they were in the right hands; and hers weren’t. She was and has always been a land-bound creature and had no idea how to create or guide a gust of air.

The Dokucale pulled and arrow from the quiver, one of the non-thorny ones, and nocked it on the string like Shira had showed her, then raised the bow and drew back stopping immobile for a few seconds as she aimed and relaxed her breath. Alright…

And…

Release.

As soon as her fingers let go, the arrow shot high-speed to the target ring.

And missed completely, nailing on the floor instead.

“What the fuck”  

Shira couldn’t help but let out a dry chuckle, not at her friend’s archery abilities (or lack of thereof) but rather at the way she had just spoken those words so flatly and done. The poison-type turned to her with an annoyed glance, thought the glint in her eyes told Shira she was just frustrated with the result “I did everything right didn’t I?”

“I think it was your elbow, wind, or your grip” Shira replied thoughtfully, fingers resting at her lips.

Citinea ‘tsk’ed “Aahh you make it look easy, even shooting moving targets mid-jump” She complained, drawing another arrow and aiming once more. The Meercle didn’t miss the compliment.

“I could say the same, these things are surprisingly hard to maneuver” Shira mentioned looking at the fans in her hands and then adopting an offensive stance with them again as she had been told, slashing through the air repeatedly. Meanwhile Citi missed the shot again, though this time she was closer to the target. “They’re way too light to do any real damage” The Meercle added with a frown.

“They’re more of a support item than actual damage-dealing weapons” The shorter one said pulling back another arrow but a sharp pain shot in her arm and she huffed to hide a groan, bow and arrow simply slipped and fell, and it was Shira’s turn to be worried.

“Aahh careful with it please” She said swiftly picking up the bow from the floor “You ok?”

Citi pushed that aside and just turned to her amusedly at the quick reaction “Calm down I’m pretty sure that thing is sturdy enough, and it can just be fixed anyway”

“As much as It’d be fun giving Tech more work, if it gets damaged I’d have to recalibrate my bow again and that’s annoyiiiing” The Meercle replied with the last part being more of a general complaint.

Citi looked like she had understood nothing from what the older just said. Shira sighed.

“Let’s call it a day?” She offered meekly, Citinea nodded and unstrapped the quiver, extending it to the taller girl.

Shira handed the folded fans back to Citinea and placed the bow across her side along with the quiver “Let’s agree to never do that again”

“Aaaww but it was interesting” Shira said as they both left the room “And you were getting the hang of it, just need more practice”

///

The Skunpoo sat alone at the park not too far from her home, it was getting late but she needed some time to herself. She had already gathered her stuff and her parents were finishing with all the packing up. Tomorrow they would be leaving this place, her home. Well, at least they would be staying in the same region, it could be worse.

She let out a sigh and bit back tears, the same couldn’t be said about her friends. Graduations always hurt because people leave and go separate ways, but never like this…

She stared down with somewhat empty eyes at the shiny object on her hands, it was a pin of some sort. Round, red and gold with symbols engraved on it.

Of course they could keep in contact but it just… wasn’t the same.

“You… are you Romy Gachet?”

She blinked with renewed life at the voice and raised her eyes to meet a Mokoko boy, his black wool was shaped in small wisps around his neck similar to his messy hair, and his clothes weren’t so casual-looking, though he did wear the DZA emblem.

“Yeah? And you?” She asked curiously yet calmly, there was something about him that seemed familiar, plus he knew her whole name it seems. But she wouldn’t find that a specialty.

The boy sighed closing his eyes and she couldn’t identify if it was disappointment or relief “it’s ok, that doesn’t matter” He looked up at her once more “you’re the current leader of The Elementario though, aren’t you?”

She wanted to tell him The Elementario was no more, the entire academy wasn’t, pretty much. But she remembered Shira’s words and the feelings of her whole team. Hers included. She… had been indeed entrusted with this legacy, a responsibility still strong in her heart.

She clutched the pin in her palm and stood up, showing the item to the boy “I am, you need something?”

Romy couldn’t have ever anticipated his next words though.

“I want to battle you for that”

Her tail bristled slightly and her expression changed to a seemingly insulted and confused one. What did this boy mean? There was a whole process and protocol to becoming leader. You were handpicked, you trained, there were certain goals to meet, there was a ceremony to pass down leadership… did this kid have any idea of what he was saying? Or did he imply he wanted to toss away years of tradition?

“That is not a possibility” She started, shaking her head “That’s not at all how things work, I mean… the DZA is now in crumbles but we still respect the rules and first you’d have to be-”

The boy interrupted raising a hand “Ah sorry, I didn’t mean to say I want the title or something. I want to battle you because you are the current leader, I want to test you” He explained.

She looked less confused and more insulted now “And who the hell are you to think you have any right to test me?”

He shrugged “Someone who knows damn well how The Elementario works”

This kid…  

The girl breathed in and placed the pin on her wine-colored crop top, her tail swayed behind her and her boots scrapped on the ground as she got ready to battle. If he wanted a taste of a team leader, he could have it “Very well then”

He nodded and flexed his knees a little before rising one of his hands showing some sparks jolting from it, they stood silent for a few second and then he dashed in her direction.

She held her ground and her eyes analyzed the surroudings in a flash, as she had been trained to do so for years. Though open, the space was reduced, a couple pinic tables at her right, swings and and a seesaw nort-west ahead and a decently-sized ledge (a fissure result of the earthquake…?) far behind her.

She deftly avoided the incoming thunderpunch twirling around and tried to land a slash herself, he jumped back but she followed and keep the assault with brilliant enlongated claw-like nails. They locked in close combat exchanging thunderpunches and slash attacks, the kid was skilled enough to avoid or block all her offensives but she was effectively making him back off at a quick pace and she smirked when he noticed his back bump into one of the picnic tables.

A slash ripped slightly through the fabric of his hoodie but a second one scrapped on hard wood when he ducked and dashed to avoid, Romy huffed and gave chase.

He headed back to where she had been before, trying to put some distance between them but her speed was superior, and when she thought she’d got him cornered thanks to the ledge he actually jumped towards it and climbed up a few meters by stepping just on the right places.    

She widened her eyes and stopped for a second, looking up at him *How did he climb up that easily?!* She thought shocked, just then he used the same rocky wall to impulse himself and jump over her.

He was trying to get her cornered, she growled.

Not having even touched ground yet he created a luminous sphere in his hand and tossed it at her like a projectile. Knowing she had no chance to avoid, she quickly extended her arms and conjured up a green-ish bubble-like shield in front of her, the electroball exploded against it without making a single scratch.

As the barrier disappeared she saw him come straight towards her with another thunderpunch, however just when he was about to hit her she disappeared from his sight, causing him to widen his eyes in shock and falter, and then he felt a powerful blow hit him on one side making him gasp out rather violently and fall.

She panted lightly after the running and sudden rush from the sucker punch, the younger coughed as he tried to get himself together on the ground “I think that’s enough, you should give up already” She stated, wiping off some sweat from her forehead.

“N-No, not yet” The Mokoko murmured getting up and shaking his head a bit, he stared at her with eyes that reflected some annoyance “Not until you stop holding back with me…”

She stared at him in disbelief, he was already on the ground without having landed a hit on her yet and still wanted her to go all out? Just what was he trying to accomplish with all of this?

“I can’t do that, I don’t want to risk poisoning you” She replied with a serious voice.

“I’ll be fine” He panted, and pulled out something that looked like a small bottle from his right hoodie pocket “I have some antidote on myself” He smirked slightly.

So he had come prepared specifically to battle her. To say Romy was now weirded out was an understatement. Had they met before at the academia? Did he want revenge or something? Was he targeting her or The Elementario members?

“Alright, but I didn’t want to do this” Her large bushy tail ruffled behind her and suddenly multiple purple needles shot towards him about to fall down like rain, he darted to avoid them and the little projectiles fell all over around him but none directly landing on him much to his luck. He changed his course back to her and she made a gesture with her hands as if charging another attack or… pulling something?

Then with terror he found out he couldn’t move his body at all, as if trapped by invisible strings.

“W-wha?!”

No, they weren’t invisible, just very thin and hardly visible in the night. Surely enough, a bunch of purple strings were tangled around his arms and feet effectively preventing him from moving.

He was about to try using Iron tail to release himself when Romy walked up to him, clearly still holding the strings by the position of her hands “So you didn’t know my special technique after all. Those weren’t poison stings but toxic threads” She explained “What now? If I use poison gas or even if these make contact with your skin you’ll surely be in trouble when I decide to finish the battle with venoshock”

He sighed “Ok ok, I give up, you win”

Romy felt relieved as she cut the treads loose and they fell limply on the grass. The boy tested his wrists around.

“So why did you do all of this? Who are you?” She asked skeptically, crossing her arms. She still wanted answers of course.

“Well like I said, I just wanted to see how cool the new leader was” He said not turning to look at her yet “You’re very strong… my sister chose well” He closed his eyes and nodded slightly to himself.

“Sister…?” Romy frowned, and just a couple seconds later her eyes widened in surprise “Y-You are…?!”

He smiled amusedly like he had just pulled the best prank ever “Randeth Hanaki. I knew that if I told you, you probably wouldn’t have battled me seriously. It was great to battle you, even if I got my ass handed to me” He clicked his tongue and put his hands on his hoodie pockets, the left one a bit torn from her initial slash “Listen, she doesn’t know I’m doing this, just… just take care of that symbol” He gestured to the team emblem pin, still emblazond in her top “And take care of yourself, my sister will really miss you and I hope all of you guys keep in contact”

“Always” She nodded “And thanks, you take care too, it’s a shame that… well” She looked away a moment “You could have been a great addition to The Elementario”

“Thanks, but that’s not really my thing” He smiled and put out his right hand in a fist. She glanced at it and then bumped it with her own. Afterwards he turned and headed back to his own home.

She sighed again and looked up at the sky blinking once, twice…

“Hey Randeth!”

He stopped and turned.

“Please take care of her, keep her happy and safe!”

///

When Aisha heard a fight between some BrightBolt and Elementalia members had started and everyone ran over to see, she sure didn’t expect to see Nozomi of all people in this mess! The Shikijika looked around in a mix of worry and confusion, and by the looks of it no one had expected that either…

“Suzuori Nozomi…? Why is he fighting?”

“What is the son of the principal doing out there?”

“Did he seriously just attack Zero?!”

“Apparently he’s the one who started the fight!”

“No way!”

Aisha turned to the scene before her, the boy known as Zero, a Shimama ketal, was running the back of his left hand at his mouth, there was a small amount of blood in it and the electric-type looked absolutely pissed as he growled and got ready to answer the hit. Opposite of him the Meercle Nozomi stood with a deadly icy look fixed on the opponent, his neck leaves ruffling in anger.

This was bad this was bad! If this got out of hand and any of the teachers found out…

Her ears lowered back, what to do?

“Ya wanna fight lil shit?! Think just ‘cause you’re the principal’s son you’re big stuff but I’ll show ya…” The white haired boy barked, electricity jolting and jumping around his arms and shoulders.  

Nozomi growled in response and adopted an offensive stance too, his right hand slightly moved back as he slowly moved his fingers a little, a faint glow discretely coming from his palm which seemed to hold something, they looked like small seeds. Aisha’s eyes widened, she knew what those were …

She had to stop this now.

Just a few feet away stood the leader of her own team, arms crossed and with her followers behind her the Rozeria stared with a blank expression at the fight, while all around other students cheered on and kept feeding the tension.

“This is bad…” She mumbled to herself, feeling quite trapped. If she stepped up now she would risk getting the name of Team Superbia into this… and right in front of Reina too. But if she didn’t do anything, if no one did anything, then this fight could potentially make these two teams create an even stronger division than Team Superbia had already started.

And Elementalia would be on the losing end.

Suddenly Zero shot his arms forward and a powerful electrical discharge was released from them, there were gasps and yells, and then some cheers and mocking when Nozomi quickly dashed to dodge. The Meercle then speed past him a couple of times trying to deliver some kicks but the Shimama expertly blocked or avoided them. Zero then hit his fists together causing flames to erupt from them and Nozomi let out a huff backing off with a jump, barely avoiding a fiery slam.

Feeling a rush of determination Aisha gave a couple steps forward ready to try to put an end to the fight when another female decisively walked past her, a long furry tail swishing past Aisha as she stoped and stared in mild surprise.

“Nozomi please” Her voice rang loud and clear and the Meercle widened his eyes and turned to her. The crowd quieted down to a generalized murmur. The purple-haired newcomer was Sana Lièvremont, the leader of Elementalia “I’m sure whatever happened this isn’t the answer, and our team surely doesn’t need to be dragged down with something like this” She scolded crossing her arms and resting her weight on one leg, bored-looking red eyes piercing at the boy.

Nozomi’s shoulders tensed and he looked away a little ashamed, he let his head fall back with a sigh and then turned to her once more “Right, I’m sorry”

Zero and Nozomi glared at each other from across the field a few seconds before the Shimama boy left with some of his nearby team members. Aisha took notice of Reina and her group leaving too and in just a few moments the space was clear as all students went back to mind their own business. Some even heavily disappointed the fight hadn’t escalated more.

“I’m sorry about that, he just really got in my nerves” Nozomi stated vaguely looking away with a somewhat troubled expression, his hand messing a bit with the headphones around his neck. Aisha sighed in relief but smiled nonetheless and placed a hand on his shoulder, successfully making him relax.

“Be more careful next time” Sana started, serious yet not forceful “We are still trying to build good relationships with BrightBolt, the Academia is still young”

Aisha nodded in agreement “Hmm, as it is now, everything we do brings the name of our teams and nothing is set yet, it’s so complicated…”

Sana chuckled despite herself “Let’s go back now, I’m sure lunch time is almost over” She started walking back to the main building.

“Ah, almost forgot. I need to set them off once they’re planted, or else they could cause a problem later” Nozomi stated calmly, turning to look at the open field. Sana just nodded at him in acknowledgement and kept walking, the meercle raised his right arm a little and snapped his fingers. Right on cue a series of small explosions erupted from the ground scattered thought the field, the boy simply turned to follow his leader.

///

When a natural disaster happens and cities as a whole are struck by chaos, it’s all over the news.

It was barely past lunchtime and she hadn’t eaten anything yet other than a piece of bread “Over here please! We need more water bottles!” Shira shouted in between the whispers, crying and general talking of the people all around her in the survivor’s center. Some frantically searching for others, or anxiously on their phones wanting to hear from their loved ones.

Just hours after the earthquake (or whatever it was) had hit Hiyoku with force all kinds of rescue teams started working and accepting volunteers, and the people helped without a second thought. At the DZA, many of the higher class students had immediately agreed to assist as well, and as such they split into groups to collaborate where their abilities were most useful.

Shira had joined one of the survivor centers where people reunited after they had been rescued and had received medical check-ups, and those who hadn’t suffered any damage came searching for missing family members. People gathered around her, worried and crying and she sensed their panic and desperation, but felt like she was part of that beacon of hope for them, as she helped the elderly and soothed the children. She wouldn’t fail them.

“I’m gonna search for more blankets” James called out to her as he rushed in another direction, passing by other former classmates and volunteers who were busy handing out food and water bottles to the victims, or reuniting families and checking for injured people.

Immediately, the whole world knows, and they send their prayers, their condolences and their support, in any way they can.

Enix flapped her wings decisively, looking around and scouting the area alongside other volunteers and members of the police and military. She and Tallo had joined in the sky brigades as they overflew some collapsed buildings, both surveying damage and searching for survivors or any possible rescue route for anyone trapped.

“Stop. There’s something in that white building, approach carefully” The lead flyer ordered as he pointed to a specific building, the group stopped in the air and replied at the command.

Tallo folded his wings and dived back with the rest, praying the number of deaths (so far around 30) didn’t increase anymore…

The media covers everything, everyone sees the authorities spring into action: police, firefighters, teleporters, medics, the military, and the countless volunteers working together tirelessly.

Rose and Farz barely stood a moment to peek at the news in the lobby of the medical center they were helping at. Kalos’s president was talking about the means the different forces where adopting in order to face the current situation and other pertinent information. Hiyoku’s mayor was also there, along with the gym leader and his team and even two of Zygarde’s renowned vessels (one of which is also chief of police).

“Haaa” The girl sighed “It’s good to know they’re opening all transport lines for this state of emergency, it’s way too late and people are desperate. It’s gonna be a long night” She shook her head.

“Not all stations are available though, and there have been problems with the electricity too” The boy added crossing his arms “I just hope we don't get a blackout here”

Their small rest was short lived though when Larelop opened the doors and held them for some paramedics to carry inside an injured woman and her child “Guys we need help back here 2 more ambulances arrived!”

Both nodded and went over to her as Rose's words echoed on Farz’s mind ‘It’s gonna be a long night’

In weeks though, or even days, everyone moves on. They move on onto the next topic and are back to talking about the latest celebrity scandal, movie or music albums and other events. They forget.

“Alright everyone, push!!”  The leader of Rescue Operations, Hanabi, shouted at her staff who roared with vigor in response. They had been moving boulders for about two hours in order to unblock a school’s exit where a group of small children were trapped with their two teachers. They had to be very careful so the building didn’t collapse on itself.

Any other time Grey would have probably been too awestruck to meet such a great hero and one of Zygarde’s vessels such as Hanabi, more so to work along her orders, but now it was hardly the time. The rescue group consisted mostly of rock-types not surprisingly (Hanabi herself was a massive Iwark) who in their pokémon forms pushed and tackled away the stones and rubble.

Grey himself planted his four sturdy legs on the ground and rammed at the bigger rocks with his horn, beside him Siegard battered away smaller boulders with his claws and not too far the twins Dan and Juli ran back and forth pulling a cart with debris. They had been told the teleporter team was busy on another zone so they were doing what they could in the meantime.

*Hang in there…*  The rock-type thought *Just hang in there we’ll save you all*

But you can’t say the same about the ones directly involved in the disaster.

It was past 3 am and they had been told to go back to their own families already and rest, as they had gone through a lot and had lent valuable help for hours.

The group gathered together for company, and to get something to eat and drink. And it was then, when they finally had time to sit down and the adrenaline rush was over, that Shira threw up, Larelop almost fainted, Enix broke down crying and Tallo couldn’t stop shaking in fear. All sorts of different images, sounds and feelings burned in their minds.

Their small makeshift “dinner” was silent except for some awkward coughing, sighs, some occasional sobbing and the reassuring pats in the back. They didn’t know what to say, they didn’t need to say anything for they all knew and didn’t want to retell. They were all devastated by what was happening and the consequences to come.

Nothing was ever going to be the same.