Episode 93

A bright yellow pillar stood in front of the dark orange evening sky. It rose from the center of Aeris's Lake Acuity. In the evening light, four figures step out onto a wooden dock, making their way to solid ground.

A slender, but muscled man led the way, walking backwards to talk to the others. "I can't believe that guy challenged me to a wrestling match. He didn't know what hit him!"

A young Lucario rolled her eyes. "You seemed to be the one insistent on wrestling. Besides, if it weren't for Adria, we wouldn't have had a chance settling an argument like that."

"Oh, stop," said a short woman with long yellow hairs coming from her cheeks. "It was nothing. I just studied up a bit on haunting laws in Kokka before we left."

"Shouldn't you know stuff like that, Rhea?" asked the young man to the Lucario.

Rhea the Lucario shrugged. "Why should I? I'm not in charge for another eight years. I've got lots of time for law learning."

"Can't blame you for that," the man replied. "Just know once you take the throne, I'm going to be winning championships in my dimension!"

A Mienshao stepped out from behind Adria with a small grin. "Wake, you're a little skinny to be a wrestler."

Wake turned around and stared at the Fighting-Type. "Lin, if you weren't half my size, I'd wrestle you right now."

"That shouldn't stop you," Lin replied, getting into a sparring stance, her grin small but stoic.

Adria immediately stepped between them. "That's enough you two. With how many missions the Lake Trio has been sending us on, I don't want you wasting energy."

"Aw come on Adria," Wake teased.

"Probably for the best, Wake," Lin said, crossing her arms. "You've seen me split a tree with one kick." Wake grumbled.

"Are we ever going to get a break from all of these missions?" asked Rhea to no one in particular.

"Sorry, everyone," said a voice behind them.

With a groan, Rhea turned around. "What is it now, Uxie?"

The yellow Lake Guardian floated down, with Azelf right behind. Uxie continued, "There seems to be a conflict up in Orikay, and it's getting out of hand."

"Why's it gotta be us?" Wake asked them, throwing his arms out.

Azelf floated forward. "You know Arceus's rules, we can't interfere with humans and Pokémon. And this is a huge fight between Sinnoh humans and Aeris folks."

Adria rolled her eyes. "Again?"

Lin bowed her head. "Seems like every week we're dealing with one of these conflicts. How hard is it to go somewhere and just be nice?"

Uxie looked up at the city. "You all better get going, before it escalates." The two Psychic-Types flew away.

Wake sighed and started walking. "Well, let's go. We've got a long walk up there."

"Hey, guys," Adria said, following the group. "Can we…talk about something?"

"What's on your mind?" asked Rhea.

"It's just that…" Adria trailed off and didn't continue.

Rhea stopped and turned to her friend. "Your Aura's all out of whack. Do you need to sit this one out?"

"Rhea, I don't have Aura like you," she replied.

"I can still tell you're not feeling yourself. Tell us what's on your mind."

Adria sighed. "Why are we still doing this? Our dimensions are so different. It feels like Arceus is trying to force us to coexist."

"What are you saying?" Wake asked.

"Wouldn't…we all be better off in our own dimensions? Separate from each other."

Rhea tilted her head with a scowl. "But…what about us? I know things have been hard lately, but-"

"But what? Listen, I love you all. And I think that humans and Pokémon in Aeris would be better off if we were left alone. How much do you wanna bet the conflict we're going to resolve is due to the Sinnoh folks not understanding how Pokémon live in this world?"

"Hey, Sinnoh folks aren't all bad," Wake said. "But I'll take you up on it."

The group made their way up to the city. They quickly got up the steep cliffside thanks to humans and Pokémon working lifts. As soon as they stepped off, they heard yelling. "Let's go!" shouted Lin, who quickly moved toward the conflict. The group followed, and as they approached, someone was knocked to their feet, a human.

"Are you okay?" Rhea bent down and helped him up.

The human immediately pulled away from her, his attention focused on the other human whose fist was raised. "What the hell was that for?" the grounded human griped.

"You just spent twenty minutes trying to fight my partner," said the other one, who had two blue fins on either cheek. A Seadra floated just behind him, hiding. "Just because y'all battle where you're from doesn't mean we do that here."

"So then why did you punch me?" The Sinnoh human walked toward him.

"You seem to like fighting!" said the blue-finned one, standing his ground.

Wake lurched forward and put his body between the two. "Enough!" He turned his attention to the Sinnoh human. "If you're going to galivant around here, you need to understand the culture. Don't be a dick, or I'll drag you back to Sinnoh myself. Okay?"

The human stared at Wake, before scoffing and walking away. Wake kept his eyes on him until he turned a corner.

Meanwhile, Lin was talking to the Seadra. "What did he do?" she asked with a calm voice. This helped the Water-Type settle. Adria was talking to the human, getting his side of the story.

"Yeah, I punched him," the blue-finned human told her. "But he was trying to battle us! Said something about 'trainers locking eyes.'"

"I understand," Adria sighed. "Thank you for your time. Do you need any medical or emotional assistance?"

Lin handed the Seadra an Oran Berry and set the two off. She turned to the rest of the group. "What happened to the Sinnoh guy?"

"I got him to scram," said Wake, still glancing in that direction. "But I don't think we handled that well, y'all."

"I don't think so either," Rhea noted. "Are we getting worse? This has felt like the norm lately."

Adria threw her hands in the air. "This is what I've been talking about!" The others turned to face her. "Rhea, Wake, our worlds are too different to coexist."

"I hate seeing Pokémon struggle like that," said Lin, who was holding Adria's arm.

Wake turned back to the group. "I'm sorry, Adria. I know things haven't been great, but I don't think that means we should close the portals." He sighed. "Closing them would mean giving up on what we've worked for. Giving up on the task Arceus himself gave us."

"You're not getting it, Wake," Adria said. She opened her mouth to say something else, then stopped. "I'm sorry, I need to go. Lin, can you show them to a hotel? I'll see you back at home." She turned and swiftly walked away.

"Adria, wait!" Rhea called out, but to no avail. "Why is this affecting her so much?"

"You…wouldn't get it, Rhea," Lin said, her head bowed. "Come on, I'll take you to where you can spend the night."

After Lin said goodbye and exited, Rhea plopped face first onto her bed. "When did this get so hard, Wake?" she said, muffled by the mattress.

Wake sat down on the end of his bed. "I don't know, Princess. What do you think Lin meant by what she said?"
"That I wouldn't get it?" The Lucario turned her head, still laying horizontally. "I'm not sure. I think she thinks her dimension is special. All our dimensions are special in their own way! I don't see why she gets to make a stink."

"Besides, can you imagine what would happen if the portals closed? What about all the humans and Pokémon stuck in other worlds?" Wake's voice raised.

"Wake, settle, please, it's late. I can feel your pulse moving faster." She held out a paw lazily, a faint glow of Aura surrounding it. Wake felt it immediately and chilled out.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly. He laid back on his bed, staring at the ceiling.

"We've all been lectured by Arceus so many times about our dimensions' differences," Rhea continued. "Sinnoh was for humans, Kokka for Pokémon, and Aeris for both. Simple. Then the portals opened, we intermingled, and everything has been fine since!"

"Well, except all the humans turning into Pokémon in Kokka."

Rhea raised herself up. "You say that like Pokémon losing their ability to speak in Sinnoh isn't a problem."

"Yeah, you're right, I'm sorry."

"It's okay." She fell back to her bed. "It stopped happening once they were open long enough and everything could balance out."

"Which is why I think it's a terrible idea to close these." Wake stood up and walked to the window. "We got one of the coolest gigs ever. If the portals close, Adria knows we're not going to have this anymore, why would we?"

"Plus, I don't want to lose you three," Rhea flipped onto her back. "Let's see if we can convince her tomorrow. Or at least, get a better idea on her side of things. I wish she'd just open up for once."

When Lin returned to her apartment, Adria had her legs up on the couch and was sipping tea. The Mienshao joined her, pouring herself a cup. "How are you doing?" she asked.

"Still pissed off," Adria replied, taking a sip. "I know those two are trying their best, but I never feel like either of them listen to me." She set her cup down. "I know what I'm talking about! And they should know that."

"Dear, it's going to be okay," Lin said, putting a paw on her partner's leg. "We need to talk with them about this more, we both know that. I think we can come to a solution, all of us."

"Is it worth it?" asked Adria. "I don't even know what say we would have. These are Arceus's dimensions, we're just living them."

"Without you three, Arceus couldn't even do this. His policy of 'no legendary meddling' and all."

"Yeah, but he's got to know all the problems we've been having lately. He sends Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit to us almost daily."

Lin sighed. "It's been hard. But know that I'm in your corner, Adria. I love you, and I'll stand by whatever you think is best."

"Thanks, Lin," Adria said, wrapping her arms around her Mienshao partner. "I don't know what I would do without you."

The next morning, Adria and Lin met Rhea and Wake at the hotel. Adria held a carrier full of Sitrus Berry smoothies and offered them to the group. "I'm sorry about yesterday," she said. "I shouldn't have stormed off."

"We're sorry too," Rhea said, taking a sip and wincing at the sourness. "It was a bad day yesterday, but we can't let that divide us."

"What are you thinking, Adria?" Wake asked.

Adria opened her mouth, but before she could talk, a pink figure flew up to them. "Thank Arceus I found you!" Mesprit shouted.

"What's going on?" said Lin.

"Something horrible is happening. We need you to get to Kokka right away!"

Rhea stepped toward the Pokémon. "What is it? Are my parents handling it okay?"

Mesprit shook their head. "It's not their concern. There's a conflict in a small village by Shuto. A couple of groups of Pokémon are fighting. Arceus said some of them were from Aeris."

"Let us at them!" Wake shouted. "We'll break up the fight in no time!"

"Or, we could talk to them," Rhea said. "The less violence in Kokka the better." She turned to Adria. "I'm sorry, dear, but I promise we'll talk later, okay?"

Adria nodded, annoyed, but responded, "Let's get going."

One trip through the Lake Verity portal, and Arceus's gift holders emerged into Rhea's dimension. She led the way; her knowledge of how to get around her country coming in hand. "Kazoku is a really small village in the hills, but it's usually peaceful," she explained.

Adria sighed as she ran behind Wake and Adria. "Even our dimension is causing trouble, huh?" She said to Lin.

"Keep your mind focused, dear," Lin replied, her eyes focused forward.

As the group approached the outskirts of the town, a stray Shadow Ball hit the ground in front of them. "Get the hell away from us!" They heard someone shout. A Mismagius and a Banette were surrounded by two Magmar, a Sudowoodo, a Tauros, and an Audino.
Wake immediately made his presence known. "What's going on here?"

"Please, help us!" The Mismagius cried. "We just wanted to talk to these fine Pokémon here!"

"You came into town and demanded we show you something we don't know anything about!" one of the Magmar shouted.

"And then attacked us!" continued the Tauros.

Rhea stepped forward. "If you don't all calm down, I will call for backup from Shuto." There were some murmurs from the crowd; seeing the Princess in Kazoku wasn't something that happened often.

"Who's this supposed to be?" said the Banette, garnering a glare from the Mismagius.

Aura began flowing from Rhea's paws. "I'm your future queen!" The others stepped up to join her.

Lin studied the two Ghost-Types. "You two are the ones from Aeris, aren't you?"

"What gave it away?" said the Mismagius.

"You seem…out of place," continued the Mienshao. "You want to belong here; you want to fit in. You don't have any humans with you, do you?"

"None of our kind does," lamented the Banette. "But why does that concern you?" He turned to the village Pokémon angrily. "Where is the Dusk alcove?" He shouted.

"For the last time, we don't know what you're talking about!" The Magmar yelled back.

The Banette responded by firing a Shadow Ball at the Magmar.

"That's it!" Wake ran between them, quickly absorbing the blow.

Lin and Adria ran to the Mismagius. "You're going about this all wrong!" Adria shouted. "Even if you're upset, this is no way to treat other Pokémon!"
"You don't know what it's like!" the Mismagius said back. "What it's like to lose your partner!"

Meanwhile, Rhea and Wake were standing side by side, facing the Banette and protecting the villagers. The Banette fired another Shadow Ball, this time aimed at Rhea. Rhea put her paws to her face, absorbing the attack with her aura. "Stand down immediately!" She yelled.

"I'll handle this!" said Wake. He charged toward the Banette, swinging his fists wildly.

"What the hell are you doing?" the Banette said. He concentrated, turning his body incorporeal.

"Distracting you!" Wake replied.

Rhea hit the Banette in the back of the head with a Bone Rush, knocking him down next to the Mismagius.

"You all come here and start beating us up?" the Mismagius said, looking down at her friend. "We have gone through so much!"

"And yet you insist on putting my people through hardship." Rhea grabbed the Mismagius by her side and spun her around, aura dazzling off her paws.

Adria got in the Ghost-Type's face, her own red hot. "I hate that you come from my dimension. I should be thanking you because you're proving my point that our dimensions shouldn't be connected. But you're using your trauma to hurt others. And I can't fucking stand that!"

"You don't know what it's like!" the Mismagius yelled. "We have a purpose now! It's here in Kokka, we just need to find it!"

"Not on my watch, you won't!" Rhea pulled her free paw back and started charging a large Aura Sphere. Blue light shone on all three of their faces. Adria, panicked, distanced herself.

"Rhea, don't!" Lin shot toward them, knocking them over and breaking the Lucario's concentration. The Aura Sphere shot toward the mountainside, knocking some rock off it. Rhea's paw released the Ghost-Type.

"Why'd you do that?" Wake shouted.

"We can't resort to violence like this!" Lin said back. "We can't use our power to hurt others!"

"Lin, they were going after innocent citizens, this is different!" The human responded.

As the group bickered, the Mismagius rose behind Lin, holding a dark black orb. She glared at Adria and yelled, "You want to lecture us on trauma?"

Adria's eyes widened and her body froze. "Lin!"

The Mienshao turned, and as she did, a blast of dark energy burst from the ball that the Ghost-Type held. The energy knocked everyone to the ground, blinding them with smoke. They saw two figures flee but didn't care. Adria stumbled up and toward her partner, shouting her name. No response.

Wake and Rhea joined the search. Rhea tried reaching out to find her aura, freezing soon after. It was weak. "No…" the Lucario said aloud.

As the smoke cleared, Adria saw her partner huddled on the ground with a black mark on her side. "Lin!" she screamed, finally able to touch her. She picked her up gently. "Lin, I…Lin?"

Her breathing was soft, and her eyes barely opened. "Adria…I'm sorry…"

"No, no, you can't die." Adria lamented. "You can't leave me, I need you!"

Lin coughed, spitting blood onto Adria's arm. "Please stay."

"I'm not going anywhere, Lin," Adria said through tears, holding her partner close. She didn't get a response. "Lin?" She held her hand on Lin's chest, and felt the last breath her partner took escape her lungs. Adria collapsed in tears.

After a couple minutes, Rhea began approaching her friend. "Adria…"

Adria's head snapped up. "No! Get away from me!" She shouted through tears. Wake took a step forward, but she yelled at him, too. "Stop! She'd be alive if it weren't for you two!"

Rhea, eyes full of tears, "We didn't know that-"

"It doesn't matter what you know or what you think should have happened!" Adria stood up, clutching her partner close. "It did happen! And I'll never forgive you." She turned and sprinted away from the other two. Rhea tried to follow, but Wake stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"It's over, princess. We're done."

"After that," Wake continued in Adria's office in Aeris. "Arceus decided there was too much conflict between his worlds. He closed the portals, and only kept a select few keep the memory of other dimensions existing."

Adria sat stoic, tears in her eyes. "I forgot that I was with Lin when she died," she said softly. "Lin was my partner. How could I have forgotten her death like that?" She broke down, her upper body landing on her desk.

Rhea hugged her, and Adria accepted it. "You two cared about each other immensely. I'm sure your brain was trying to protect you from reliving that."

Tara hugged Misha close, also teary eyed. She had just almost lost her and couldn't imagine the pain if it had gone through.

Wake continued. "We failed at keeping peace in our time. Through one method or another, you three are the ones who will bring this conflict to an end."

Auren walked up to his mom and replaced Adria in a hug. "Thank you for telling us this. I can't believe Arceus was able to make everyone forget that two whole other worlds existed."

"Wait, hold on," said Tara. "Remember when he spoke to us in that void thing? Didn't he say he didn't want to interfere?"

"He still had the power to, and did what he thought was best," replied Adria. She stood up, wiping tears from her eyes. "Regardless, we need to plan what to do next. You all know what you need to about our Dimensions."

Matt had been staring into space, but finally spoke up. "In your story…you mentioned a Mismagius and a Banette."

Auren exhaled. "Oh Arceus, you don't think?"

"It has to be them," Matt stared back, a fearful look in his eye.

Tara gasped. "Rogers took my book yesterday! He's probably going to try and use it to get to that power!"

Matt and Auren turned to each other, eyes shot open. "Heather!"