Chapter Text
The Cafe Connection was bustling as usual, with customers coming and going at a constant rate. Being that this is my first full summer day without school, I decided to take Koda for a tour around Serene Village. I had already shown him all the shops, houses, and gates that led out to the mystery dungeons.
But as soon as we entered the Cafe, Koda seemed more impressed with the colorful decor before he looked at his menu for food to order.
“This ‘Cafe Connection’ feels much more bustling compared to Swanna’s house,” Koda said, putting a claw under his chin. “Is it always this busy here?”
“Eheh, it sure is!” I answered. “A lot of Pokémon come in and out of here every day!”
The Hakamo-o scanned the menu some more before placing it down on the table. “I think I’m ready to order now. What do I do?”
“You just call a waiter over, and they’ll take your order! It’s simple!” I explained.
And Koda did just that, quickly whistling over a Kangaskhan waitress to our table. “I’d like… Hmmm, a couple of green teas and some sugar cookies.”
Sugar cookies?! That… was not what I was expecting from Koda. Is he on a diet, perhaps?
“Uhh, I think I’ll get some mochi ice cream and a lemonade,” I said. The waitress took our menus away and headed back to prepare our orders. As we waited, I was still perplexed over Koda’s choice of food options.
“Hm? Does my food order concern you?” Koda asked, sounding concerned.
I nearly bit my tongue. I didn’t want to be rude to my new teammate, but at the same time, this was our first get-together with just the two of us. Vince was busy cleaning up his dad’s house again as punishment for not telling him that he was heading out again.
“N-No! I just…” I stammered my speech a bit. “I’m just… not as educated about, well, Swanna’s House and those other places you described…”
“Hmmm, I take it you’re unfamiliar with the Mist Continent, too? Is that it?”
All I could do was nod my head.
“I see… Well, let me put it this way for you, little otter.” As our orders arrived, Koda started telling his story about the Mist Continent and the faraway place known as Paradise.
–
Meanwhile, outside of the cafe, the village hub was also busy as usual. But a rustling bush spooked the villagers a little, and out from it emerged a yellow creature surrounded in what looked like a cloak of leaves.
“Ahh! This is Serene Village?” The Swadloon spoke. “No wonder I got lost! I should look around for a bit.”
She navigated her way through the busy crowds, if you could even call them crowds, of Pokémon, pausing momentarily to admire some of the houses and buildings nearby and afar.
“It’s so… peaceful!” The Swadloon’s eyes sparkled, gazing up at the Cafe Connection building.
But just then, a shadowy figure was lurking, hiding at the side of the building.
“WAH!” And before she even knew it, she got kidnapped without a trace left behind except for some leaves.
--
Inside Vince’s house, he was finishing up sweeping the last corner of his dad’s house.
“Phew,” Vince gasped, setting the broom down next to a table close to him. “Po-o-ops! I’m finished cleaning!”
Antoine came over to examine what Vince had done. To the Carracosta’s surprise, everything was neatly swept up and put away. “Ohhh, Vince! This is immaculate work! I’m proud of you, son!”
He was about to give Vince a tight father-son hug, but he stepped on something square and metallic.
“Hm?” Vince tilted his head, looking at Antoine. “What is it, pops?”
Vince’s father picked up the square tablet, scratching his head with a flipper before he realized what it was. He scrambled over to his trusty bookshelf, tossing the tablet over to Vince in a rush, before he pointed to the book he wanted to pull out.
“I knew it!” Antoine said in shock, flipping to the page he wanted. “Vince, that’s an Entercard!”
“An Entercard?” Vince asked, still curious
“Yes! Those are tablets that open Magnagates utilizing ley lines! It’s like teleporting from one place to another!”
“But… What’s so special about these ones?”
Antoine flipped over some more pages until he reached a section about the Bittercold. “Aha! Look at this, son!”
Vince came over to see the same pages the Carracosta was looking at. “A special set of Entercards was used by a Hakamo-o and Buizel to head into-”
–
“GLACIER PALACE?!”
“Shhh,” Koda shushed at me. “Not so loud, Josh!”
“Oh… S- Sorry…”
“Yeah… The truth is… My Buizel partner died that day when we journeyed to Glacier Palace. Every day since then, I can’t help but think about his confident demeanor…” Koda’s snout lowered. The memories of the events he went through were not easy to forget.
“I think he was a trustworthy partner,” I said to Koda, which surprised him.
“H-How do you know when you’ve never even met him?”
I fell silent for a moment. “... It’s… just a hunch that I have.”
Koda and I got out of our seats after paying the tab, and we walked outside. A light breeze hit us, which made our tails sway one way. Stray leaves were blowing through the wind, and one of them got caught in between Koda’s claws.
“Hmm… Windy day, isn’t it?” Koda asked, glancing at Josh before looking back at the leaf he caught.
“I checked the forecast earlier,” I answered, “and it shouldn’t be too breezy today.”
Koda sniffed the leaf with his snout, and then suddenly perked his head up with his eyes wide open. “This-! This can’t be!”
“What is it, Koda?”
“Someone from Paradise must have gotten kidnapped… And I don’t think they ended up in a dungeon…”
“HEY!” A voice surprised us both and made us turn our heads to see where it came from. It was Vince, who was approaching with an Entercard in his hand. “Koda? I think you dropped something.” He says, handing it over to Koda, but he refuses it.
“I gave it to that big turtle for record collection,” Koda said. “Why would I need this again?”
Vince crossed his arms and then raised a brow only seconds later. “My pops told me you used it to get to Glacier Palace. Does that ring any bells?”
Koda used his other free hand to take the Entercard from Vince and store it inside his main bag. He tightly nodded his head. “Let’s discuss this another time. For now, there’s someone from Paradise that we must find.”
--
The open battlefield was lush and spacious as ever. It’s been weeks since the Reitogers teamed up with Vince and me to take out that stubborn Greninja right here. But now, a new conflict is about to take shape.
“Wa-a-ah! W-Where is this?!” The Swadloon screamed in a panic. It seemed like she was tied up against a tree with some rope.
“Mhmhmhmhm…” A voice deep chuckled to himself. It turned out to be a blue lizard with a yellow frill going from its head down the backside like a cape. An Inteleon. “I’m going to have fun keeping you captive…”
--
Inside my house, Vince, Koda, and I were discussing plans for our next adventure. Koda placed the leaf he caught down on a tree stump used for sitting down.
“So where’d you get this?” Vince asked Koda.
“This leaf just stuck to my claws as Josh and I were leaving the Cafe,” Koda explained. “If I have this right, this may be big enough to fit part of a Swadloon’s cloak.”
I rubbed the back of my head with a stubby arm. “Huh… But we don’t know any Swadloon in this village.”
“I do. Her name’s Leia.” Koda crossed his arms as he was sitting cross-legged. “She and Swirre weren’t supposed to move here until the near end of summer vacation. Leia’s supposed to start school here as well.”
“A Post Town resident starting school… here?” Vince asked, raising a brow. He decided to take the leaf and sniff it in the hopes of finding a trail.
“But… How did she find herself all the way here?” I asked curiously.
“She could have experimented with Magnagates to get here faster…” Koda answered.
Vince’s ear feathers perked up, almost as if he found something. “N- No way…!”
“What is it, Vince?” I asked with a concerned look.
“S-She’s in… THAT battlefield?!”
“Hm? Whatever do you mean?” The Hakamo-o tilted his head.
“That Swadloon you’re so concerned about? She’s at the same place where we took out that Greninja!”
This made the two of us stand up. “I- If Leia’s there, then… S- She might be in trouble!” I looked at Koda, sharing the same focused look as he did.
“Josh, Vince, take me to this battlefield!” Koda said.
Both Vince and I nodded, and we whisked ourselves away to the main hub of the village to start out. It was all a matter of retracing our steps from weeks ago.
“Let’s see…” Vince tapped his foot. “This was where the big battle started, and then…” The Weavile looked around until he spotted a batch of trees that just barely revealed a secret path that went deep into the forest. “Over there!”
“Oh! That leads into the forest!” I exclaimed.
“A secret forest here?” Koda tilted his head, but then snapped out of it. “Right, we should hurry!”
–
Vince and I led Koda towards the spacious forest area. To our surprise, the debris and ice blocks from weeks ago got cleaned up by the sheriff and his officers.
“Nice of them to clean up here,” Vince said to himself.
Koda scanned the area looking for Leia, eyeing tree after tree until…
“HE-E-E-E-ELP!!”
That scream caught our attention. We all turned our heads and saw the Swadloon we were looking for all tied up against the tree.
“LEIA!!” Koda shouted back.
“Let’s go help her out!” Vince said before we rushed towards Leia. However, that didn’t last long as we were stopped by a sudden stream of water that was blasted towards us! When we looked up, we all saw an Inteleon standing atop a tree.
“Hmph!” The Inteleon bandit graciously leaped down in front of us three. “Who dares to take away my prized capture?”
“Team Slashers! That’s who!” I announced, which made the Inteleon step back in shock.
“Tch… So you three weaklings are?”
“We’re not just any weaklings!” I shouted.
“The three of us are!” Vince continued.
“Team Slashers!” Koda finished.
The Inteleon snapped his fingers, revealing three of his Drizzile companions to fight us. “Now, make like the wind and lay waste on them!!”
Vince, Koda, and I all got into our battle stances as the three Drizziles rushed forward towards us. Vince didn’t waste any time summoning his Ice Glaive weapon through his necklace. I also pulled out a second scalchop from my emera, getting into Dual Scalchop Style.
“Alright, team, let’s get in gear!!” I shouted before we all jumped into battle in an epic clash.
Vince slashed forwards with his glaive right as the Drizzile he was facing covered his fists in water. For every punch the water lizard threw at the Weavile, Vince blocked it numerous times with his Glaive.
“Grrhh! Stay still, will ya?!” Vince shouted, trying to find an opening.
Meanwhile, I jumped back to avoid a quick Aqua Jet that was headed my way. Before the Drizzile could make a U-turn, I threw both of my scalchops like they were boomerangs and they struck the water lizard down, interrupting its pattern before the shells returned to me. “Heheh! Try harder next time!”
Koda quickly prepared his Dragon Claws, aiming to slash at the Drizzile he was facing, but he was met with Ice Shards that looked like daggers, and they clashed together. “Tch! These lizards came prepared!”
“Keep them steady, Koda!!” Vince shouted before leaping in the air, slashing horizontally and sending an icy beam towards the two. Koda saw this and quickly rolled out of their claw clash, letting the beam attack hit the Drizzile head-on and fainting instantly.
After clearing them out, there was only one Drizzile left, and it had its sights set on me. It was about to slam its water-coated body against me, but then…
POW!
Koda jumped in with a fist surrounded by a green sparkling orb and hit the last Drizzile with a Drain Punch, sapping the water lizard of its energy. “Finish it off!”
I nodded and then took a giant leap in the air with both scalchops on hand. I channeled water-type energy before slashing as hard as I could.
“TWIN SLASH ATTACK!” The twin beams of water energy were sent flying towards the last Drizzile, making contact and knocking it out.
“Tch!” The Inteleon watching us grew angry, realizing his Drizziles were defeated. “FINE! I’ll just take out the little one first!” It pointed an index finger at me and blasted a stream of water, a Snipe Shot if you will.
“No, you don’t!” As soon as he saw the Inteleon join the battle, Vince quickly rushed in to block the Snipe Shot aimed at me. As soon as the blast of water clashed with his glaive, the Weavile was pushed back hard in a struggle. However, the blast proved to be too much for Vince, and in turn, he got blasted back, and his ice glaive got shattered.
“Vince!!” I regrouped with Vince, along with Koda, who was close behind.
“Grrhh… I’m alright, you guys,” Vince said, getting up on his two feet as the Inteleon approached us.
“You can’t win against me!” The Inteleon roared at us.
Vince dug into his bag and pulled out a familiar orb that glowed green, pink, and gold. “We’ll just see about that!” He raised the orb into the air. “Lend us your power! REITOGER!!”
With that announcement, the orb glowed, and three glowing figures appeared in front of us. Koda was left in shock watching them pose before jumping into us three, granting us the Froze Sole ability!
“Are these… boots?” Koda asked, looking down at his feet, now covered in shoes.
“They’re Froze Soles!” Vince answered.
“Alright! Time to serve some combat!” I rushed in first, and we each dished out some kicks against the Inteleon. The kicks left behind some stinging residue ice on the water lizard’s skin.
Vince and Koda stomped down with their soles, letting a jagged ice block erupt from the ground and send the Inteleon flying! I regrouped with the two.
“Now let’s finish it!” I shouted.
Our Froze Soles glowed as we each leapt together, all of us aiming to blast the Inteleon away.
“FROZE SOLE KICK!!” We all shouted before the kicks connected, leaving the Inteleon in a frozen state with ice coating all over its figure. The dizzy expression on its face signaled that it had fainted. Another clear victory for the Slashers!
“Aaaaaah! Let me out! Let me out!” We heard the Swadloon scream, shaking its leaf cloak all around.
“Hang on, Leia!” Koda came over to cut the rope that Leia was tied to and freed her. He then scooped her up in his arms. “Are you alright?”
Leia’s eyes gradually sparkled once she realized who saved her. “K- Koda?”
“Let’s get you out of here…”
--
Up at the hilltop of Serene Village, Koda carried Leia over to the big tree with Vince and me following him. He set down the Swadloon to rest up and catch her breath.
“Now what brought you to this village?” Koda asked curiously.
“M-My mother…” Leia started to answer. “She wanted to move into the village with me so we could prepare for school next fall. So I wanted to see what this village had that Paradise didn’t and- And- And-”
“Shhhh…” Koda softly shushed Leia. “Honestly, you’re going to worry your mother more if you keep exploring on your own. Remember the last time we had to come rescue you?”
Leia stayed silent, as she remembered what happened at Inflora Forest.
“But still, I can’t deny that you’re a brave soul, Leia. Now, we just need to find your mother, Swirre, and-”
“Leiaaaaaa?!” Koda was cut off by someone approaching the hilltop. As it turns out, it was in fact Swirre, a Leavanny who was carrying Leia’s personal belongings.
“Oh! There you are, sweetie!” Swirre ran over to give Leia a big hug with her arm blades. “Oh, Leia, I got so worried, I thought I lost you again!”
“Mama…” Leia cried in Swirre’s arms. It was a bittersweet separation turned into a loving reunion. Vince and I smiled. Maybe this was for the best.
“Vince?” I asked, looking at him.
“Yeah,” Vince answered as if he knew what I was going to ask him. “This case is complete!”
--
And as nighttime fell, we all went to sleep. Swirre took Leia into one of the unoccupied houses nearby. Koda decided to sleep outside of said house. And as for me? Well, I was still having some uneasy dreams.
In fact, this night alone, it was the same setup as the last dream: a glowing red pattern, followed by me turning around to see the black Greninja.
“Embrace the darkness…”
There was that voice again. That same chilling voice that rang in my ears last time.
“You must embrace the darkness!”
And then… A chilling scream broke the dark air as a purple mist started to surround me and abruptly ended my dream as I woke up, breathing heavily and sitting up on my haybed. None of what I’m seeing still makes any sense. Was this the Zorua brothers’ doing? And what will Vince think of me if I tell him about these dreams? If I don’t do something…!
No… I have to do something, or this darkness is just going to overtake me…