The Path of Destiny Part 67

The Path of Destiny

Chapter 67 – Renegade

As soon as Yenn had left Cyclone’s cave behind, he flew off toward Ashend’s. Most of the other pokémon in the army were getting ready to sleep, and none of them paid much attention to him as he flew through the growing darkness.

Upon reaching Ashend’s cave, the yanmega found it empty. He then checked Itora’s and his own, but there was no sign of his friends. He turned away from the caves, deciding to circle the edges of the army’s camp to see if he could spot them. Thick clouds blocked the sky, so there wasn’t much light to see by, and he wasn’t sure how long it would take to find them. He decided that if he still couldn’t see them after flying around the camp a few times, he would ask some of the army pokémon where they were. He hoped he wouldn’t have to; he didn’t feel like talking to any of them.

To his surprise, almost as soon as he started circling, he spotted Itora’s patchy blue and yellow pelt below. The manectric was shouting something at him, and he quickly zoomed down until he was hovering directly in front of her.

“There you are!” Itora gasped. “Ashend’s been looking all over for you! What were you doing bothering Cyclone anyway? Don’t we have-”

“Itora, I need to talk to you,” Yenn interrupted. He didn’t question how the manectric knew he had been talking to Cyclone; she must have heard it from the group of pokémon who’d met with him just before the incident. Either that, or Ashend had found out where he’d gone and told her.

“Okay, sure,” Itora replied. She glanced around at the nearest pokémon, who were busy making nests for themselves. “Not around all them, though.”

“Of course not,” Yenn said. “I…augh…” He trailed off, suddenly feeling rather strange. It almost felt like he had a headache, but it wasn’t exactly pain. It was more uncomfortable than anything, yet it unnerved him all the same.

“What?” Itora asked.

“Never mind,” he said. “Let’s go back to one of our caves. We’ll talk there.”

“Well, actually,” the electric type began, “I was trying to find you so that I could bring you to Ashend’s place. No, not the cave. She found this secluded spot and said she wanted to talk to us there. You could fly around until you find her and then we could go.”

“Well,” Yenn replied, “I think it might be better if I talked to you two separately. Maybe we should just go there and wait for her.”

“All right,” the manectric said with a shrug.

Itora dashed off, Yenn following right behind her. He was surprised when they passed the boundaries of the camp, leaving the hills and boulders behind and reaching flat, rough ground. There weren’t even any large boulders around, and Yenn was confused when Itora stopped right in the middle of the field, out in the open.

“Here,” she said.

“This is an odd place for a meeting,” Yenn muttered, wondering why Ashend had wanted them to go stand out in the middle of a field. At least the strange sensation in his head had faded away, leaving him feeling normal again.

“So, uh, what is it you wanted to tell me?” Itora asked him. “Is it about those pokémon we saw torturing…”

“Sort of…” Yenn responded. He looked at the rocky dirt and sparse grass beneath him. He didn’t feel like landing on nothing but flat ground, so he stayed hovering. He scanned the skies all around them, making sure there were no flying pokémon near. “Itora, I’m leaving.”

“What?” the manectric questioned. “Leaving where?”

“Leaving the army,” Yenn replied.

“You’re…” Itora trailed off, looking confused. “Wait a minute…is this about…” She looked at the yanmega, pausing a moment before blurting out, “Oh don’t be ridiculous! So one pokémon got an unfair punishment! You can’t seriously want to throw away everything we’ve worked for just for that. Why don’t you go and order the torturers to stop doing it?”

“I can’t,” Yenn hissed. “Cyclone won’t let it stop. I just talked to him, and he’s not going to change anything because he thinks it’s all worth it. I’m not going to fight for a pokémon like that.”

“So what are you going to do?” Itora scoffed. “Go off and fight the humans yourself? What a great way to get killed!”

“No,” Yenn insisted. “I don’t want to be part of this anymore.”

Itora’s mocking look faded to one of shock and disgust. “Wait…you’re actually serious?”

“You saw what those pokémon did. How could you follow anyone who allowed something like that?”

Itora’s fur bristled. “Well, isn't that all the more reason to fight back? Once we stop the humans, that won’t need to happen anymore. We deserve justice, Yenn, and so what if other pokémon get caught in the crossfire? We both got locked in terrible human buildings, and no one helped us!”

“Well those pokémon were acting just as bad as the humans were,” the yanmega continued. “I don’t know what went on in the lab you were trapped in, but I imagine you saw some horrible things. And what those pokémon were-”

“Yenn, they weren’t like the humans!” Itora growled in exasperation. “The humans weren’t doing what they did for any good reason. They were just being cruel. But Cyclone has a reason for what he does. He-”

“I’m not fighting for Cyclone,” Yenn interrupted. “We wouldn’t be hurting just humans. They have pokémon on their side as well. You watched me kill that smeargle. Up until today, I’ve never killed when I wasn’t hungry. It was the only thing I could’ve done for that smeargle…but I didn’t like it, and I don’t want to do it again.”

It suddenly dawned on Itora just how serious her friend was. She gave Yenn a look of disbelief, her mouth hanging open. Then she growled, her eyes narrowing. “So, we've finally got the perfect opportunity to set things right, and now you're backing out because you decided you don't like the idea?” she spat.

“Look, I thought I wanted to do this!” Yenn protested. “But I can’t do it anymore. I don’t want to do it anymore.”

“But why?” Itora nearly shouted. “Why did you suddenly change your mind now? After all we’d been planning-”

“I didn’t realize what it would actually be like!” Yenn cried. “That’s what we were going to do, wasn’t it? Kill other pokémon and leave their bodies to rot? I thought I could do it if it meant stopping the humans, but I don’t want to turn out like-”

“Fine!” Itora snarled, cutting him off. “But if this doesn't work for you, what about the rest of us? Now they’ll have to find even more of those Attack stones and it’s going to be even harder for us! And what are you going to do now?”

“I don’t know,” he replied, suddenly feeling scared. Cyclone’s mission had been his main goal for the past two months, something he could focus on that would take his mind off of everything. Something he could strive and work for. Something that could even be a solution, a way to stop the terror and hatred that plagued his mind by finally setting things right once and for all. He suddenly felt so lost without it. “Maybe I’ll go somewhere where there are no humans,” he said quietly. “Somewhere I can forget about it.”

“Good luck finding a place like that,” Itora replied mockingly. “Unless you want to live in some icy wilderness, humans are going to get there eventually. But you know, you could always help us put a stop to that.”

“I’m not fighting…if it means that other pokémon have to be injured and killed for the sake of the wild ones,” Yenn snarled.

“You’re defending the humans’ pokémon now?” Itora cried, disgusted. “Do you not understand what they’re supporting? I’m sure they go along with much worse than anything Cyclone has ordered.”

“Not all the pokémon are there willingly, are they?” Yenn retorted.

“No,” Itora responded, “but if we wipe out the humans, they’ll be the last to have to endure such a thing. Yes, there will be innocents killed. But we’ll save far more. Don’t you understand? All this, everything Cyclone does, is for the greater good. You have to see that.”

“For the greater good?” Yenn repeated, his voice cold. “That’s just what Cyclone said.” He flew higher above the ground, his voice rising until he was shouting. “And the scientists who cut me open said the exact…same…thing! Does that make it right?”

Itora just stared at him, dumbfounded. In her shock, she said nothing.

“I’m done…” Yenn said, his voice calmer. “I’m not going to do this anymore. You can stay here if you want, but I’m leaving. For good.”  

Itora was silent for several more moments. Then she yelled, “Fine! Abandon us! Make us have to search for more Attack stones! Let humans hurt pokémon even longer.” She shot a glare at him and then bolted off in the direction of the army camp.

Yenn didn’t follow her. He stayed put, watching as she headed back to the camp. When she had gone, he lowered himself to the ground, still in shock over how she had reacted. He wasn’t sure how long he stayed there, but it couldn’t have been long before he noticed a ghostly shape moving toward him from the direction of the army camp. He had almost forgotten that Ashend was coming to join them, and he remembered that he needed to apologize to her. That would come first.

“Ashend?” he said, flying over to the misdreavus. “Ashend, I’m sorry about what I did earlier…I…”

“It doesn’t matter,” the ghost type interrupted. Yenn was surprised to see that she looked almost panicked. “Right now, I’m not sure how much time we have to talk, and there’s not enough time to find Itora; we’ll have to talk to her later.”

“Wait…what?” Yenn asked, confused. “What do you mean no time? We don’t have a curfew.”

“We can’t stay out here for too long,” Ashend told him. “They’re already suspicious of you and if they notice we’re going to places where pokémon can’t easily hide or sneak up on us, they’re going to-”

“What are you talking about?” Yenn cried, looking to Ashend in confusion.

“Out here, you can see anyone coming!” the misdreavus responded. “And Solus can’t try to read any of your thoughts unless he comes close.”

“Solus?” Yenn repeated, trying to take in what his friend was saying. “But psychic types don’t…I mean it’s not that easy to just-”

“Solus isn’t your average psychic type,” Ashend replied grimly. “But that’s not what’s important.”

“But…but why would he…” Yenn interrupted, feeling more and more confused with every word Ashend said.

“I couldn’t tell you anything earlier because it wasn’t safe,” Ashend continued. “That’s why you need to listen now.”

“Okay, but first I need to tell you something,” Yenn insisted. Before she could say anything else, he explained, “I’m leaving the army. Tonight. And I won’t be coming back.”

He had wanted to say more, wanted to explain why, but at the moment he felt so mentally exhausted that he couldn’t find the strength to try to defend himself from any accusations again. “Itora can tell you why,” he said quietly, expecting the misdreavus to argue.

“Yenn, you can’t leave,” Ashend told him.

“Look,” Yenn growled. Not wanting to deal with another argument, he turned away from Ashend. He readied himself to fly off, not wanting what may be the last encounter he had with the ghost type to end like it had with Itora. “I’ve already made up my mind, and I don’t care if-”

“Cyclone will kill you if you do.”

Yenn whirled around to face her. “What?” he gasped. “No, no, Cyclone wouldn't have me killed. He took me in, he-”

“The Attack is more valuable to him than you,” the misdreavus said sadly. “If you deserted, or rebelled, the only way for him to get it back would be to kill you.”

“What…what do you mean?”

“That's how the Attacks are transferred from one pokémon to another after they are taken from their stones,” Ashend explained. “The first user has to die...and the closest pokémon of the same type becomes the new bearer.”

“Where did you hear this?” Yenn replied, shocked.

“The past few days,” Ashend began, “I've been spying on Cyclone and his higher-ups. I still trusted him at first, but something about what you said on the night Articuno died got me thinking. Cyclone didn’t talk much about the Attacks until after we used ours yesterday. And when I used mine…that was when I realized something was very wrong. Once I left the cave, I snuck around and found out more from Cyclone himself. He calls them ‘Forbidden Attacks.’ But it turns out that even he’s unaware…or in denial…of what these things really are.”

Without waiting for Yenn to reply, the misdreavus continued, “And that...was also why I was talking to that smeargle. He’d been helping pokémon escape the army and telling them the truth about these powers we have. Of course he couldn’t dare try to reach us, but I approached him myself last night and started talking to him. I think that may have contributed to him getting caught.” Seeing her friend’s stunned face, she continued, “I wouldn't lie to you, Yenn. You and Itora are the only pokémon I can truly consider friends.”

“But what you said…” Yenn stammered, “after Articuno was killed…you wanted me to trust Cyclone.”

“I know, I was wrong,” Ashend replied. “It wasn’t until later that night…the night of Articuno’s death…when I started to realize it didn’t sit right with me either. I don’t care about the legendaries, but something about the whole thing felt off. I thought it was just about Articuno, but there is something much worse going on here. It’s not even Cyclone himself we should be afraid of.”

“Then what-”

“The powers we have,” the misdreavus began to explain, “aren’t what we were told they were. Aren’t what Cyclone thought they were. They…or to be more accurate, their lore, is actually well known around this region, especially among pokémon in human areas, but most of the army never knew because they were either wild or locked up in buildings or with abusive trainers. Like I said, I knew something wasn’t right about the Attacks from the moment I used mine. Yenn, they can’t be controlled. Not if we keep using them. They will warp the mind of the pokémon they belong to and destroy everything in their path. Many pokémon know of an ice type like this, an ice type who was driven insane and-”

“Wait a minute…has Cyclone heard about this?” Yenn cried. “He has one of the Attacks too! If this is true, he should-”

“From what I was told,” Ashend continued, “pokémon have tried to tell him. He doesn't believe them. Yenn, I think it's already altering his mind. Making him believe things about the Attacks that aren't real. He isn't like that houndour with Shadowflare, who fought against it from the beginning. He embraced it and-”

“Are you saying that Cyclone’s going crazy?” Yenn replied, shocked. He drew back from the misdreavus, his wings beating the air fiercely. “But…Cyclone doesn’t seem like he’s losing control. He can’t be! He runs the entire army! He couldn’t do it if-”

“Listen,” Ashend said worriedly, “some of the pokémon the army captured on Articuno's mountain…they told me that they saw Blazefang in their territory a few months back. They told me that the houndour couldn't control his Attack. But Blazefang’s loss of control was obvious. Cyclone's is different. He-”

“Wait…they captured pokémon from the mountain too?” Yenn interrupted. As he said it, he realized that he had no reason to be surprised, and decided to let the subject drop. “What are we going to do then?” he asked, suddenly realizing how scared he felt. “If this is all true, are we going to lose control and go insane too?” He found everything hard to believe, but he knew Ashend well enough to know that if she was this serious about something, there was no way she was lying or jumping to conclusions.

“No,” the misdreavus said firmly. “Cyclone won’t choose to fight against his Forbidden Attack. He never did. But you can. We may not be able to get rid of the Attacks, but we have the same choice…and I say we fight it.”

Yenn merely nodded, unsure how to take all the new information. If Ashend was sure, he trusted her, but it still left him in shock.

“A lot of the pokémon who came from human cities and weren’t abused knew about this,” Ashend continued, seeing that he was still struggling to take everything in. “The ones from Articuno’s mountain saw it with their own eyes when Blazefang and a small group of pokémon climbed their mountain. That many pokémon couldn’t lie about this and all tell me the exact same thing. And I knew something wasn’t right the moment I used that Attack.”

“I trust you,” Yenn replied shakily. “I just thought…”

“We need to keep our Attacks under control,” Ashend explained. “They get worse with every use. As they grow stronger, their hold on the pokémon’s mind grows stronger as well. Right now, both of ours are at their weakest stage, when it is easiest to resist. We can keep it from getting worse. But we can’t ever use them again, for any reason. We’ll have to just pretend we did every time Cyclone tells us to.”

“I…” Yenn began quietly, “I would have used my Attack again today if I hadn’t gone in the cave and seen the…” He shook his head and carried on, “Why didn’t you tell me about this last night?”

“I didn't know,” Ashend said, lowering her head. “I honestly didn't know. That smeargle and I had to be so careful not to get caught, had to keep moving to different hiding spots, and find the right pokémon to talk to, that by the time he’d managed to explain everything, it was already morning. Before I could get you and Itora alone, you had wandered off and stumbled upon that…”

Something dawned on Yenn, and he looked to Ashend in alarm. “But they didn't know it was you who talked to him, did they?”

“I don’t think so,” Ashend answered. “I think they noticed something was up because he kept sneaking off all night, though. I don’t think Solus would have pried into his mind any further after he found out that the smeargle was helping army pokémon escape. I'm sure that if they knew I was involved, that he was sneaking off to see me, they would have done something about it by now.”

The sight of a bird pokémon drifting nearby silenced both of them. They waited as it flew past them without even giving them a glance, presumably heading off to hunt.

“I can’t say much more now,” Ashend said, “but I’ve told you the most important things. We need to be heading back.”

“I’m not going back,” Yenn growled.

“Yenn, they will kill you,” the misdreavus whispered. “Neither of us could stand up to Cyclone. A few of the pokémon I talked to who knew about the Attacks told me something else about them. One pokémon with a Forbidden Attack can’t use it to kill another one easily. My Attack wouldn’t kill Cyclone instantly; it would take longer, just weaken him at first. And in that time, he could kill me far faster with his own; his is much stronger. Or he could kill me the old-fashioned way, without using his Forbidden Attack at all.”

“Look,” Yenn began, his voice shaking, “I can't stay here anymore. I’m not going to help Cyclone and his disgusting pokémon. If they’re not going to kill me now, they’ll kill me when I refuse to use my Attack on the humans and their pokémon. And I couldn't live with it if I stayed that long. And after what I said to Cyclone…” He trailed off, unsure how to continue as a new realization came to his mind. “He’ll probably kill me anyway.”

Ashend turned her sad gaze in the direction of the resting army. When she looked back at Yenn, tears had started to form in her eyes. “Then at least let me help you,” she said.

Yenn wasn’t sure how to reply. His mind was still racing as he thought of everything Ashend had said, and he almost wondered if he was in the middle of a strange nightmare. In a single day, everything he had come to know had been turned upside down.

“I can create a distraction,” the misdreavus continued, “but you have to leave now. Tonight. But understand that they’ll soon be after you, that they’ll figure out where you’ve gone and follow you. You’ve got to fly and not stop until you’re far, far away from here. Don’t stop flying unless you absolutely have to. You'll need as much of a head start as you can get...who knows how far they will chase you.”

“But Ashend…what about…”

“You’re the only one out of the three of us who stands a chance at getting away right now,” Ashend continued. “But I’ll stay here. I’ll protect Itora. We’ll lie low and observe what we can. We’ll figure out something.”

“They won’t…harm you, will they?” he asked.

“I won’t let them,” Ashend said fiercely. Then she sighed, coming to a realization of her own. “But you are right. Cyclone and Solus already suspect that you won’t go through with the plan. You’re in more danger now than we are. If Cyclone finds out even more…” Her voice shook. “Leaving might be your best chance. Maybe your only one.”

Yenn wasn’t sure what to say. As much as he wanted to leave the army, he hadn’t imagined that he would be fleeing for his life. But when he thought back to his conversations with Cyclone, it was suddenly easy to believe that the army’s leader had only been using him for his ability to wield the bug type Forbidden Attack. Cyclone clearly didn’t care about the lives of wild pokémon, so why would he care about his?

“Remember,” Ashend continued, “even if Cyclone’s pokémon catch up with you, don’t use your Lifedrain attack. Do everything you can to keep fleeing. Even if you killed some of them, your Attack isn’t enough to kill all of them before they can kill you.”

“I…all right,” Yenn said shakily.

“As you’re flying,” Ashend told him, “activate your speed boost ability as much as possible. Attack trees or rocks if you need to keep it going.”

Yenn nodded.

“Now,” said Ashend, “I’m going to find a way to talk to Itora. We’ll start our distraction as soon as we’re ready. Go back to your cave and get some of the army pokémon to bring you plenty of food. Eat as much as you can, because you might not run into enough prey to hunt on the way. I know it won’t last you long…but it will help.”

“I’ll do that…” Yenn began. He watched as the ghost type turned to leave, realizing that it might be one of the last times he would ever see her. “Goodbye…Ashend.”

“Goodbye,” she replied sadly.

Knowing that they had to act as soon as possible, the two headed back to the army grounds. Yenn flew straight toward his cave while Ashend set off to find Itora.

Luckily for the yanmega, there were still pokémon waiting beside the entrance to his cave, ready to serve him. He noticed that they were different pokémon, all of low rank; the aerodactyl and the others from earlier had left. The gathered pokémon looked to him expectantly.

“Bring some prey here,” he told them unsteadily. “And I want a lot of it.”

He watched as some of them scurried off to do his bidding, while others stayed put in case he had more orders for them. He suddenly felt even more frightened. Ashend was right; even if he ate all he could, his energy wouldn’t last him all night, especially if he was flying constantly. He had no idea where he was fleeing to, either, and he wasn’t sure how often he would be able to catch prey. The thought that he might not make it and could be torn apart by his pursuers was terrifying, but he still did not waver in his decision.

The pokémon bringing him food quickly returned. “Thank you,” Yenn told them uneasily as they set down the prey for him. “That’s all you have to do for tonight. You may leave.”

The pokémon glanced to one another in surprise, and Yenn heard one of them utter a small thanks before they all turned away. Alone, Yenn began to devour the prey, knowing that Ashend was getting everything ready.

                                                                                          -ooo-

Ashend waited with Itora by the entrance to the main caves, the ones they had used to practice their Attacks the day before. The manectric was shocked and sullen after what the ghost type had quickly told her, but she heeded her friend’s word and waited beside the tunnel, ready.

They had cleared the area of guards, telling them that they wanted to try out their Attacks again, to make up for the lost day of practice. No one had questioned them.

Suddenly they heard wingbeats, and Yenn landed on a boulder beside them. “I’m ready,” he whispered.

“Get to the edge of the camp,” Ashend instructed him. “You’ll know when to leave.”

“Yenn, I didn’t…mean what I said,” Itora whispered.

“It’s all right,” he whispered back.

Itora cast him once last glance before she trotted into the cave.

Yenn turned and flew away from them. He planned to head west, in the direction opposite of where they army had come from. He didn’t want to end up back near Articuno’s mountain. But before he did that, he planned to try to throw off his pursuers in whatever small way he could, so he headed to the south side of the camp.

He sped through the camp, taking care not to pause in his flight so that Solus – if he was lurking around – would not have time to try to read his thoughts. Once he reached the south edge, far enough away from the nearest pokémon, he waited, landing on the remains of a dead tree and pretending to groom himself.

He knew that if he kept flying south, it would take him directly in the path of human cities. But if he was seen heading south, the army pokémon would not only be more hesitant to follow him, but it could throw them off. Then he could fly to the west once he was well out of sight of the camp.

Yenn had no idea what lands lay west of the camp, but Articuno’s mountain was to the east and there were colder lands to the north. With the human areas to the south, it seemed like his best option.

A deafening noise reached him, and he felt the tree shake beneath his legs as shouts came from the direction of the caves. The sound of crashing rocks and shouting pokémon carried on for several seconds, and Yenn, knowing that that was his signal, hooked one of his legs around the vine tying his crystal to his neck and pulled down, stretching the vine enough to give him room to bite through it. He picked up the red gem in his teeth and flew off.

Feeling his speed boost ability activate, he sped faster, watching the army camp grow smaller and smaller as he left it behind. It was dark, but the occasional gap in the clouds and the starlight shining through gave him enough light to see by.

As soon as he passed over a small lake, he let go of the gem, watching it strike the surface and sink to the bottom. By the time it vanished from sight, he had flown past the lake and sped off into the unknown, hoping the cover of darkness, as well as Ashend’s distraction, would buy him enough time.

                                                                                          -ooo-

“What’s going on here?” a booming voice cried. “What happened?”

A burly pangoro shoved his way to the front of the crowd. He was met with a distraught Ashend, who was hovering back and forth in front of what was once the main entrance to the caves.

“Itora’s in there, you idiot!” the misdreavus snapped at him. “Find pokémon to dig her out!”

“What about the other entrances?” a furret asked.

“You want to risk your life going in that cave?” she snapped at him. “Send some pokémon in there if you must, but she was right near the entrance when it collapsed. She’s probably trapped under here!” She turned her head toward the pile of rubble.

The furret fell silent, but Ashend could see some of the higher up pokémon ordering several others to go into the other entrances and find the manectric. She watched worriedly, knowing that she could say nothing about it and hoping that Itora would be able to hide well. They needed to buy Yenn as much time as possible.

“Start digging!” she screeched at some of the nearest pokémon. “She could be buried under those rocks!” The misdreavus turned and began lifting rocks with her psychic attack – the one useful thing she had gained from her experience with Team Rocket – making sure not to lift any that would actually provide an opening yet still trying to appear frantic. It had been harder to collapse the tunnel than she had at first realized, but shifting rocks with psychic had worked in the end. Itora was somewhere deeper in the cave, well away from the scene of the collapse and hiding from any pokémon who would be searching from the other entrances.

It was easy for Ashend to act panicked. Thinking about Yenn, she didn’t have to pretend. She shouted at the others to hurry, giving some of them useless orders that she knew they would have to obey. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched them scramble, glad that no one seemed to be looking for Yenn at the moment. Even Solus had appeared, standing at the edge of the crowd with a bewildered look on his face. It didn’t last long, though, and the espeon started to slink away.

“You!” Ashend called to him. “Solus. You’re a psychic type. Come help us!”

“I have special orders from Cyclone,” the espeon snarled back. “Let the others help you.”

“Are those special orders worth more than Itora’s life?” the misdreavus screeched at him. “Maybe you can tell Cyclone that!”

Solus sneered at her, but reluctantly came to join the furiously digging pokémon. Ashend was aware that he knew how strange and suspicious it would look if he refused to help the manectric, as much as he clearly despised her.

However, as she watched him, Ashend realized that forcing Solus to stop looking around the camp for Yenn – as that was likely what he had been doing – hadn’t saved them much time. With a power far outdoing that of the other psychic types, Solus lifted and heaved each of the medium sized boulders away, sending some of them hurtling dangerously close to the crowd. In no time, the tunnel was open again.

In less than a minute, the pokémon had streamed inside and dragged out Itora, who had covered herself in dirt and small bits of debris. Ashend reached her almost instantly, making a show of being intensely relieved.

They soon spotted Solus walking away again, and Ashend shouted to him. “Come here!” she snapped. “Did you see what happened? I need to have a talk with you and Cyclone. Because unless these caves are reinforced safely enough to withstand Voltgale, how do you two expect us to keep practicing our Attacks?”

“Make it quick,” the espeon growled with a lash of his tail.  

Acting stunned and disoriented, Itora gave Ashend a weak nod. “Go get Cyclone,” she said. “I’ll wait here with him.” She looked at Solus, who stared her down. She focused all her thoughts on how ugly she thought he was, knowing that unless Solus focused very hard and alerted her to what he was doing, that was all of her mind that he would see.

                                                                                          -ooo-

It was not long before Solus was finally able to slip away. Cyclone had done everything he could to placate the distraught Ashend about the caves, but Solus had been forced to stay as the misdreavus demanded that he help fix it. She had made one ridiculous request after another and seemed inconsolable about the close call her manectric friend had just had. When he had tried skimming her mind for thoughts, all the espeon had found was distress and worry. He didn’t dare delve deeper, or Ashend would notice. Luckily Cyclone had finally drilled it into the ghost type’s head that the caves were being fixed and there were more important matters he needed to attend to.

Immediately after the misdreavus had finally been sent away, Cyclone had told Solus to find Yenn again. The psychic type had set off, realizing that the yanmega was probably still flying around somewhere. He hadn’t had a chance to really get any good readings of the bug type’s thoughts, even when he’d risked probing deeper. It was frustrating, but Solus knew that Yenn eventually exhausted himself on his nightly flights anyway.

He was surprised when he couldn’t find any sign of the bug type anywhere, and quickly sent other pokémon to search for him in case he was wandering outside the camp again.

They had spent nearly a half hour searching the camp and surrounding areas before coming back, telling him there was no sign of Yenn.

Solus had demanded information from the army members, but it had taken him a while to find some pokémon who had seen the yanmega leave. They told him they had seen him flying south, and Solus had been about to fetch Cyclone before a honchkrow came forward. The honchkrow explained that he had been taking a hunting party well outside the camp boundaries, and had seen Yenn – quite a ways away from the camp - turn around and head west.

Solus had shouted at the honchkrow, ignoring the flying type’s excuses as he explained that he had not known that anything was wrong, had thought Yenn was on some sort of mission from Cyclone or had decided to hunt for himself. Solus had ignored the honchkrow, deciding he would deal with him later, and told Cyclone what had happened…that Yenn had fled the army.

The vaporeon now stood, furious, as Solus gathered the army’s most powerful fliers and the swiftest runners. They were away from the main army group, facing the lands west of the camp.

Itora and Ashend were back in their caves, likely resting after the ordeal Itora had been through. Solus was glad for it; the last thing he wanted to deal with after the problems with Yenn were those two again. How he was going to convince them that Yenn was a traitor or that he had merely died on his journey, he had no idea.

As Solus gave some of the pokémon orders to gather more swift travelers, the vaporeon leader rounded on him.

“Why did you allow this to happen?” Cyclone asked, his voice chilling enough to make Solus shudder. “You told me these pokémon were going to fight humans at all costs. Obviously…” His voice lowered to a growl. “You didn’t read one of them properly.”

The espeon met Cyclone’s gaze. “I did read him properly!” Solus protested. “Look, when we found him, Yenn was a broken mess. You knew he was going to cling to anything that gave him a goal - a distraction – so he could try to forget what happened to him. He was going to stay angry, and lash out, and work toward fighting humans so that he didn't have to think about it. That’s why we chose him. I didn't find any signs that he was going to go mutinous on us! Whatever happened must have happened really quickly because up until just now, he seemed fine with the whole thing!”

Cyclone watched Solus impassively, and the espeon continued, “In fact, I would have pinpointed him as the most bloodthirsty, determined, screwed up excuse for a pokémon out of the three of them! I watched him fantasize about murdering humans over and over again in his own mind. It’s not my fault he suddenly decided he didn’t want the reality!”

Cyclone didn’t show any more outward anger toward Solus’s words, just waited for him to finish.

“I thought he would go along with this and so did you,” the espeon growled under his breath. “You can't blame this on me. Now let's find him and kill him so this can be done with! And next time, let’s keep the Forbidden Attack users apart. His friendship with the others might have been part of what made him willing to change his mind. And they aren't going to be happy when they find out he’s dead.”

“Let me deal with them,” Cyclone growled, turning away from the psychic type. Though he didn’t show much of it outwardly, Solus could tell that the vaporeon was seething on the inside. The leader turned his head as some of the last remaining pokémon for the new mission appeared, all of them pokémon who could fly or run for long periods of time every day.

Most of them were large bird pokémon, with a few tropius, flygon, noivern, and a charizard and salamence. Among the runners were rapidash, arcanine, and zebstrika. Most of these pokémon were high ranking and fiercely loyal, but those that were of lower rank still stood obediently, already knowing what their mission was and waiting for their orders. If they were afraid of Yenn’s Forbidden Attack, they did not show it.

Cyclone knew that Yenn would only be able to take a few of his pokémon down at most before they overwhelmed him. He was heading straight toward the desert the scouts had seen earlier; he would likely be weak by the time they caught up with him. Yenn had nowhere to go; either he braved the desert, or he turned back and ran into the line of pokémon pursuing him.

Solus had made sure there were water types among the fliers, and some clever army pokémon had recently found a way to store water using hollow gourds and plant materials, so the bigger pokémon were able to carry supplies.

The vaporeon watched as two of the flying types, a pidgeot and a swellow, arrived. The pidgeot carried a small caterpie in his talons, the only bug type that would be coming on the journey. The caterpie was deeply asleep, slumped over in the bird pokémon’s claws. The swellow carried a tiny bulbasaur, one that wasn’t even full grown. The grass type struggled in the swellow’s grasp, crying out as tears flowed from her eyes.

Cyclone nodded to the pidgeot and swellow in approval. The bulbasaur was being brought along for her sleep powder ability, and the fact that she was small enough to carry and not use up much of the resources. The caterpie was merely a vessel for Yenn’s Forbidden Attack, and once the tiny pokémon received it, he would be kept asleep until they returned and were ready to pass the attack to the new bug type bearer.

Cyclone turned toward a waiting feraligatr, who was helping oversee the hasty preparations. “Tomorrow morning, I want every bug type in the army gathered in the center of the camp,” the leader ordered. Without waiting for a response, he turned and walked up to Solus, standing face to face with the espeon. “And Solus…”

“I’ll go with them,” Solus said before Cyclone could finish. “I’ll kill Yenn myself if I can.” He lowered his voice to a whisper. “If he kills some of the others with his Forbidden Attack, I can use the moment he’s distracted. I’ll slam him into the ground with psychic and bash his head in before he has the chance to attack me.”

Some of Cyclone’s anger subsided. “Very well,” he agreed.

As soon as one of the waiting tropius had been ordered to carry the espeon, who held on with the help of his psychic powers, the pokémon waited for Cyclone’s final order. When their leader gave it, they took to the air or dashed across the ground, heading in the direction the runaway had gone.

Cyclone and the pokémon who had helped him organize the mission watched them for a few moments, then turned and headed back to the main camp.

                                                                                          -ooo-

Yenn had been flying for at least a couple of hours. The clouds in the sky had cleared enough for him to see better, but they still shrouded the way ahead in darkness. Earlier on, he had flown past some strange rugged mountain cliffs, and had almost considered hiding there, but immediately discarded the idea after he saw the remains of a collapsed human building.

He knew it would have been a foolish idea anyway; the ground around the cliffs looked barren, and he needed to stick to places with enough vegetation and water. After flying for a while, he had made sure to stop briefly at any pond or stream he could find and take a drink.

It was during one of his short drink breaks that he noticed something moving from the direction he’d come. A black shape in the distance, maybe more than one, blocking out a star here and there.

Yenn froze. He had no way of knowing when Cyclone’s followers had begun to chase after him; for all he knew, they could have immediately realized he was gone and were right on his tail that very moment.

He didn’t know for sure if it really was one of Cyclone’s pokémon, already catching up to him so quickly, but he knew he didn’t want to stay around to find out. He also knew that once it got lighter, some of the keener eyed pokémon would be able to spot him from a distance if they were close enough, and there weren’t many places to hide. He had to keep going, and get as far ahead as he could before morning.

He quickly flew away from the stream, heading further out into the wilderness. He had been forced to stop using speed boost once he realized it had been draining too much of his energy too fast. He decided that he’d use it once every hour or so; he needed plenty of strength already just to keep flying for so long.

As he focused on the way ahead, he noticed that the clouds cleared further on. This gave him a feeling of unease, as he knew that the light of the stars would make it easier for his pursuers to fly through the night as well. However, he didn’t dwell on that for long, because he noticed something else that struck him as even more alarming.

Up ahead, still far in the distance, was a line. He couldn’t think of any other way to describe it. It was like there was a long dividing line separating two lands from each other. It unnerved him to look at it; the last place he’d seen such straight and precise lines was back in the human building where he had been held captive for so long. What was a perfect line doing in nature?

As he got closer, he realized that the line was the edge of a strange territory meeting with the grassy plain he was currently flying over. As he narrowed the gap between it and himself, he realized with a jolt of horror that he was looking at some sort of desert. Even the clouds seemed to stop once they got close to the barren land, leaving it open and exposed.

Yenn turned in midair and approached the line of desert in a diagonal path, hoping it was small enough that he could eventually fly around its outer edge. He knew that by now, Cyclone’s pokémon were certainly chasing him, and that he couldn’t fly back the way he’d come. Now that the thought of being murdered in some brutal way was a very real possibility, he found himself flying faster out of fear.

As he drew closer, Yenn realized that finding a way around the desert was a futile hope. It stretched endlessly in either direction, and trying to avoid it would only give his pursuers plenty of time to catch up with him. He knew the way Cyclone and his followers planned things; the pokémon chasing him would have fanned out and would be approaching him in a wide circle. He couldn’t escape by turning away from the desert and trying to find another path. Going through it was his only chance. He didn’t know if he could last for days in a desert, but if he ran into Cyclone’s pokémon, he would be killed for sure. As Ashend had said, Cyclone was going to go to any length to take his Forbidden Attack back for the army.

Yenn watched the approaching desert with dread until he finally crossed the threshold between it and the plains. He felt scared and conflicted; he had never actually seen a desert before, and he had no idea how far in any direction it reached. He wasn’t sure if he should take a more diagonal path and hope to find its edge, or go straight through and keep the greatest distance possible between him and the pokémon of Cyclone’s army.

In the end, he decided that taking a path straight forward was as good a choice as any. There was no guarantee the desert was longer than it was wide. He had a fleeting hope that maybe Cyclone’s followers would see the desert and decide to turn around, but he knew deep down how foolish a thought that was.

As Yenn left the grassy plains behind, finding himself surrounded by nothing but dry, cracked earth, it struck him, hard, how much of a terrible mistake he’d made. He had picked the wrong direction to flee in, and now it was too late. A large number of pokémon were out for his blood, pokémon likely much better suited to the desert environment than he was. He nearly had to stop as terror ripped through his mind like lightning. ‘What have I done?’

He hadn’t just betrayed Cyclone. He had left everything he had, everything he had come to know. He had left all the comfort, safety, and power he’d enjoyed back at the army, everything that had kept him going through one day after the next. He had even left his friends.

And now that he’d gotten himself trapped between his would-be executioners and the desert, he knew he was probably going to die for it.

Yet at the same time, he knew that it was better than being turned into Cyclone’s killing machine, better than letting the army leader use his Lifedrain attack to murder countless pokémon in the human cities. At least if he got far enough, and died somewhere out in the desert, far from where his pursuers could reach, Cyclone and the army wouldn’t get their claws on his Forbidden Attack.

When Yenn thought about what Cyclone wanted to use him for, thought about how many pokémon he would have killed had he gone through with it, it shocked him that he’d ever wanted to do it…that just a day before, he had been willing to do it. It shocked him that he’d been so blinded by his hatred for the humans that he had been willing to destroy them even if innocents got in his way. It disgusted him that his motivations hadn’t been much different from the humans who had given him his scar, that he had been willing to cause great suffering to pokémon for something he’d believed was right.

He tried not to dwell on it. He wasn’t going to think like that anymore. He never could again. He didn’t know what he wanted to do about the humans anymore, but he knew that that was behind him. His chances of ever setting things right were over, and he wasn’t even sure he still wanted to strive so hard for revenge if he survived. He told himself it didn’t even matter; he had left that opportunity far behind.

Yenn tried to push the thoughts aside; there were more pressing issues demanding his attention. He knew he needed to find some source of water, so he flew higher into the sky, scanning the ground beneath him. He realized that once it got lighter, he would be more easily spotted by the keen eyed flying pokémon if he was at a high altitude, so he was determined to make the most out of the night hours.

Yet as far as he could see, the desert was lifeless…featureless. Aside from a rock here and there, there were no landmarks, no sign of water or other pokémon. He fought back panic at the thought that he was trapped in what looked like a complete wasteland, with no choice but to keep going…

…Keep going and hope for the best.

                                                                                          -ooo-

Alone in her resting cave, Ashend drifted back and forth in the darkest area of her cavern, her mind numb. She knew that Solus and the group of pokémon he was leading were well on their way already, following Yenn’s path. She barely recalled what Cyclone had said to her and Itora on the matter; they had pretended to be outraged at the thought of Yenn being a traitor. She had called her own friend such horrible things, all while knowing that Cyclone was trying to have him killed. But her anger was not false. In the secrecy of her own mind, it was all directed at Cyclone himself.

At the moment, she could hardly think about the Forbidden Attacks or the danger of Cyclone’s corruption. That all seemed far away when she thought about how one of the only two pokémon she truly cared about might soon be slaughtered. She realized that Yenn might have been killed if he had stayed, and all she could hope for was that the one chance he had now would be enough.

The misdreavus’s eyes narrowed as she fought back tears. Cyclone was having Yenn killed, and he could hurt Itora if he knew what she was aware of. Ashend felt herself boiling with hatred as she pictured the vaporeon, ordering his followers to murder her friend.

She knew that, until an opportunity arose, she and Itora could do nothing but bide their time. Bide their time and learn all they could. She had told Itora that when Solus returned, she would need to think of random thoughts most of the time, and think them loudly, masking what she was really thinking. The espeon was a powerful psychic, an absurdly powerful one, but even he couldn’t pick apart thoughts lurking underneath more powerful ones without the pokémon knowing that he was invading their mind. At least, Ashend thought, Cyclone didn’t yet suspect her or Itora, so Solus wouldn’t dare try his worst.

Ashend knew that her main goal now was to protect Itora. She would do her best not to let anything happen to her. In the meantime, they would learn what they could from the pokémon the smeargle had led her to, the ones who were against Cyclone’s plans and who knew what the Forbidden Attacks were. And, once she had the chance, Ashend would start building a new plan.

She could hardly care about the humans anymore. There was a pokémon she hated far more than any of them. The pokémon who had ordered the murder of Yenn, the yanmega who had shown her true kindness and compassion in a world that had only given her pain.

If she had anything to say about it…then one way or another, Cyclone’s reign was going to come to an end.

                                                                                          -ooo-

The sun was rising as Solus and his group of pokémon reached the edge of the desert. Solus told the tropius to stop, peering down at the barren landscape with a look of confusion. He’d known there was a desert there, but the abrupt change of scenery gave him an odd feeling.

However, it was more than just the desert that put him at unease. He was beginning to regret the promise he’d made to Cyclone. Even if there were other pokémon to take the fall for him when they came up against Yenn’s Forbidden Attack, the espeon didn’t like the thought of attacking a pokémon with that much power.

As he thought about it, he realized that he could avoid it altogether. The other pokémon would have no reason to question him; a solution was quickly forming in his mind, and he could easily pass it off as being concerned for the other pokémon. After all, they didn’t want to exhaust themselves, did they?

He turned his head toward a pidgeot who was flying in a wide circle around him, waiting for his orders. “Tell the others to gather here,” he said.

“But…but what about-” the flying type began.

“We’ve got plenty of time to catch up with him. I want to talk to everyone.”

The pidgeot nodded and flew off to spread the message, passing it along to a honchkrow who sped off toward the pokémon lined up in the opposite direction. Thanks to the swiftness of the fliers and runners, it wasn’t very long before they had all gathered in a group on the ground. Solus paced in front of them, waiting until the last flying type had settled down among the ranks of army pokémon.

He noticed the scared looks of the ones who had been forced to come, the lowest ranking members of the group…the ones who would be forced to attack Yenn first and take the Forbidden Attack. Solus knew that, if it still came to that, he would likely lose more than just a couple before they brought Yenn down. He was aware that using the Attack gave the yanmega temporary strength, and he would probably put up a fight. But the low ranking pokémon who had been forced into the mission had been given two choices; do as Solus and the others ordered, or endure a slow death by torture. However, now that Solus had a better idea, he was sure they would be happy to hear it.

“Listen up!” the espeon shouted. “As soon as I say this meeting is over, we’re going to spread out again. But once the yanmega is spotted, we’ll follow close together.”

“We’re not going to try to surround him?” a talonflame asked, cocking her head at the espeon.

“No,” Solus answered. “He’s far ahead now, but it won’t be hard to catch up once the heat of the sun starts wearing him down.”

He watched the group of pokémon, some of the more nervous ones looking at him uncertainly. No one else dared to speak up; they simply waited to be given instructions.

“It’s simple,” Solus continued. “Yanmega can't fly for days without rest, especially with no food or water. If he keeps going like that, he will literally run himself into the ground from exhaustion. So what we do is this.” He cast his gaze across all the gathered pokémon, the ones of lower rank shooting hopeful glances at each other.

“There's nowhere for him to hide out there,” the psychic type went on. “We'll follow behind him, close enough that he can see us, but far enough to give him hope that he can still outrun us. If he stops to rest, we'll speed up and close in on him. If this works, it'll keep him moving until he can't go any farther and his body shuts down. This way, we won't have to lose anyone to his Forbidden Attack. With any luck, he'll be dead before we even reach him.”

Some of the pokémon who had been forced to come along looked almost ready to cry in relief. He noticed a rapidash and a zebstrika moving closer together, looking at one another with renewed hope, small smiles on their faces. Solus ignored it; these pokémon had a job to do, and he was there to make sure they did it.

“Do what I say, and we likely won’t have to fight him at all,” the espeon said coldly. “Now get moving. I want him spotted as soon as possible, so travel as fast as you can. We can slow down once he’s in our sight.”

Turning away from the mob as they raced back to their positions, Solus climbed on the back of the tropius again. Soon they were back into the air, and he could see the other pokémon racing off into the desert toward their quarry. With a smirk of satisfaction, he turned his gaze toward the horizon.

Meanwhile, three days of much slower travel ahead of Solus’s group, Snowcrystal and her friends carried on, completely unaware of what was heading their way.

To be continued…