Chapter 11: The Descent

August 15, Tapu Village, Alola, 10 am…

Moon sat on a large rock at the southern edge of Tapu Village, staring off into the ocean in the distance. Her new Shuppet floated around her, greedily feeding off of its trainer's vengeful thoughts and anger. She also kept her new Snorunt out as well, in order to bond with it faster. The Snorunt was nestled on her lap, hiding under her shadow from the Alola sun. It wasn't appreciating the high temperature in the midsummer Alola weather, but it was enjoying the gentle pets from its trainer, absent-minded though they may be.

Moon let out a long sigh. Now that her Shuppet was eating away her vengeful thoughts, she was starting to feel rather empty and lost. The loss of her friends and her Pokémon was beginning to build up inside her now that it was not buried under thoughts of vengeance. She wanted to go home, and be with people who could actually comfort her. And she wanted to be with someone who could actually give her useful advice in situations like this. Her Sinnoh seniors were always so helpful whenever she was feeling down, but she was terrified of talking to Platinum. The heiress would undoubtedly be upset that she had been lying to her repeatedly about what was going on. Moon would have to beg for forgiveness when she met up with her later, but… would she even forgive her? And the longer this took, the more the heiress would get upset, but… Moon simply wasn't ready yet.

She glanced at her Shuppet, wondering if it could eat away her depression as well, but… apparently, it only devoured vengeful emotions and other angry thoughts. Damn. She sighed again and slowly scanned the shoreline, trying to find something that would distract her from her thoughts and her fears.

Since Route 14 in the south was largely obliterated, there were no people around. In other beaches of Alola, there were always groups of people either enjoying the water or fishing by a dock further out into the water. But in here, the only things that caught Moon's eyes were wild Pokémon that appeared every now and then, whether that was a Pelipper roosting for a bit or a Magikarp hopping out of the water surface for whatever reason.

Moon looked at her Shuppet and gave it a gentle pet. The Shuppet let out a soft whistle and resumed hovering around her. Moon stared off into the distance once more, and saw something new this time. There was a Gengar sitting by the shore next to a bucket, tugging at a fishing rod.

Curious. That Gengar appeared to have been fishing there for a long time now. But Moon hadn't seen it at all until just now. Did her Shuppet do something to her that suddenly allowed her to see more Ghost type Pokémon? Interesting…

"Miss Customer!" came Sun's voice from behind.

Moon slowly turned towards the voice, and her Snorunt grumbled as her shadow no longer covered it from the sunlight.

"What is it?" she asked when he was close enough.

Sun noticed that her eyes briefly had that faint blue tinge again, though that just might be the sunlight… "Uh… our ride's finally here. Looks like whatever got all the Charizards occupied had finally ended."

Moon nodded and returned all of her Pokémon. "Okay… so we can finally go to Malie City." She rose to her feet and winced a little. … The pain from her injuries wasn't getting any better. Sure, it had only been two days since the disaster, but she had applied so much medicine on herself that she should've recovered at least a bit by now. The courier had been through such beatings before, and he was always up and running by the next day after she treated him. Maybe he was just physically dense? Maybe she needed more time. Or maybe…

"Are you coming?" Sun asked.

Moon snapped out of her thoughts and nodded. "Yeah…"

Sun hopped onto the Ride Charizard first and extended a hand towards her. Moon took his hand and accepted his help in climbing onto the Charizard. Once she was securely seated behind him, Sun gave the order for the Ride Charizard to fly towards Malie City.

…

Malie City, 11 am…

…

Moon wandered through the aisles of clothes in the apparel shop, wondering which ones suited her. As usual, she preferred something darker in color. She soon spotted a black t-shirt that was to her liking. The shirt was tight enough that if she wore it, the bandages underneath might be noticeable, but because it was dark enough, the outlines of those bandages would not be visible unless observed really closely.

She found the matching pair of dark shorts and picked the correct size. She realized that the black t-shirt and shorts were awfully similar to those that Platinum was wearing nowadays, and wondered if she was mimicking her a bit too much. … Well, the heiress was actually wearing a black sleeveless shirt, and not a t-shirt, so… maybe their attires would look different enough.

Moon halted in her steps when she found a set of long black stockings. … Maybe her attire would be a bit too different from Platinum's? But these black stockings would remedy that, perhaps, as the heiress always wore them. Moon picked up the stockings and a set of elegant white shoes, and headed towards the changing room.

Changing in and out of her clothes was a bit of a pain given how slowly and carefully she had to do it, so she hoped that the clothes she picked looked as good on her as she thought they did. Otherwise… damn. Eventually, she finished changing into the new clothes and stepped out of the changing room to see how she looked.

Moon twirled in front of the full-length mirror. Hmm… so far so good, but it felt like she was missing something. She looked around the apparel shop and soon found an elegant looking wide brimmed white hat, kind of like the one that Blue had. She picked up the hat and for its accessory, she picked a black flower-shaped pin. She put the hat on and went towards the mirror again. With the black shirt, black shorts, and the black stockings that didn't quite reach the shorts, her clothes were mostly black, just like Platinum's. But the lack of a scarf, white shoes instead of pink boots, and a different type of hat made her look sufficiently similar yet different from Platinum that it felt okay.

'Eh, good enough,' Moon thought as she proceeded to remove the sale tags on each of her new clothes items. She then went to retrieve her old clothes, and picked up a new black-strapped white bag on the way towards the counter, to replace her burnt one.

She gave all the sale tags to the cashier and raised an eyebrow as the cost was displayed on the screen. The purchase wasn't as expensive as she had initially thought, although… that might be the result of her following Platinum around, who only ever went to the most expensive places. And this apparel shop in Malie City certainly wasn't as expensive as the reservation-only boutique in Hearthome City.

Moon paid for everything and headed outside. Currently, Sun would be at the harbor, trying to get a couple of tickets for the ride to the region of Galar. So until he returned, she would have to wait. She moved all of her belongings from her old bag to the new one, and spent some time rearranging stuff until she was satisfied that the contents in her new bag were organized the way she liked it. And after making sure that the old bag was completely empty, she went over towards the garbage bin and dumped the old bag and the Aether Foundation uniform.

As she headed towards a bench near the apparel shop, she heard her Pokégear chiming as it received a call. Moon opened her bag to retrieve her Pokégear and froze with a gasp as she saw that it was Platinum calling her. She momentarily hesitated, as she wasn't ready to talk to her yet. But… it's not like she could ignore the call either.

"Hello?" she said, answering the call.

"Hello, Moon," came Platinum's calm voice.

"Oh, hello, Lady, it's so good to hear from you," Moon said as she put a hand over her heart.

"Likewise. I am calling you to get an update," Platinum said, with no indication of emotion in her voice. "Are you able to return from Alola yet?"

"Oh, I'm so sorry Lady, but there have been some complications, and it looks like I'll have to work here for a while longer," Moon said, clutching at her chest as her nervousness and anxiety built up.

"Again?" Platinum said, sounding a bit surprised. "How much longer must I wait to see you?"

Moon winced and took a deep breath. "Um… Maybe… a week?" she lied, hoping to delay the moment of truth for at least another week. 'More like several weeks…'

"… I see," Platinum said with a sigh. "I had hoped to train with you alongside Y. We have all been training together, and it has been very fun and meaningful. I had hoped that you would be a part of this as well."

"I would really love to, but… I can't just abandon the work here."

"Yes. I suppose…" There was a long pause before she spoke again. "… Moon, is there something you wish to tell me?"

Moon gulped. Did her senior know what had happened already? Or did she detect the slight fluctuations in her voice? Either way, Moon wasn't ready to tell the truth. She had no choice but to continue with the lie, and then beg for forgiveness later.

"No," she answered. 'Please don't hate me for this… sister…' "Why do you ask?"

Platinum didn't respond to her query. There was another long pause, and Moon began to fear that she had just lost her last chance, that her senior was already fully aware of everything that had happened, and had been testing her honesty. But it was too late now.

"Remember that you can always tell me if anything is bothering you," Platinum said eventually.

"Of course, Lady. But nothing's wrong. Honest." '… Sister… I… can't…'

"Very well. I trust you," Platinum said after another pause. "Stay safe, Moon. And keep in contact."

"I will. And please be safe too. And have fun in your trip." '… What have I done… How did this…'

"I hope to see you soon."

Platinum hung up and Moon clenched her eyes shut. She ended the call as well and double checked before she buried her face into her hands. "Oh… I'm so sorry, sister… I betrayed your trust…" she whispered in a sob, as her emotions began to surge. "I do have something I need to tell you… I'm such a failure… I need your help so much… I'm so sorry for lying to you, but…"

"Miss Customer!" came Sun's voice from afar.

Moon clenched her teeth and hastily wiped away her tears. She took a moment to revert her expression to normal before turning to face him.

"Courier, did you get the tickets?" she asked.

Sun stopped in front of her and looked at her new clothes. "So this is what you picked, huh? I think it's a bit too cute given your personality, but hey, at least it's dark enough!" He reached into his pockets and took out a couple of tickets. "And yeah, I got the tickets. The ship will leave at 3 pm today, and we'll reach Hulbury in the Galar region in about 3 days."

Moon let his comments about her clothes slide. She wasn't in the mood. She took one of the tickets and nodded. "Okay… We still have a lot of time, so… let's go get something to eat. And afterwards, I… want to be alone in the Malie Gardens for a while. I need to… um… mentally prepare myself."

"Okay. I know a good cheap restaurant around here, so let's go eat!"

…

Meanwhile, Route 6, Kanto…

…

Platinum stared at her Pokégear and frowned. She wasn't sure why, but she felt that something had happened to Moon, and that she was hiding something from her.

"Are you okay, Lady?" Diamond asked, sitting next to her on the bench.

"I… am worried," Platinum answered as she put her Pokégear away. "I fear that something had happened to Moon, but she is not being honest with me."

"What makes you think that?"

"I do not know. It is just a feeling…"

Diamond pondered for a moment. "I understand your concerns, but I don't think anything could've happened to her. She's not going to lie to you over something minor. It'd have to be pretty big for her to try to hide it, and I just don't think that would've happened to her. She's a smart kid, and a medicinal expert at that. There's no way anything could've happened, right?"

"… Perhaps…" Platinum mumbled with a sigh.

Diamond gave her a bright smile to try to cheer her up. "Let's trust her." 'Looks like I'll have to give her a call though, just to be sure…'

Platinum stared at his expression for a while before she lightened up. "Yes. I suppose you are correct. I trust that she will return to us when she is able."

"All right, let's stop!" came Pearl's voice from afar.

Diamond and Platinum looked over to see that Pearl's training session with Y had ended. Y's Gabite looked exhausted, but the girl herself still looked to be quite fired up.

"Almost there!" she exclaimed excitedly. "Toto's soo close to evolving! … I think!"

"You should probably let it rest for a while though," Pearl suggested. "You don't want to push your Pokémon too hard."

"I know. Maybe in our next session. But for now…" Y looked over at Diamond and waved. "It's your turn now!" She then sent out her Zweilous. "Saza, you're up!"

Diamond put away the pack of rice cakes he had been eating, and walked over towards her. "You're really training hard to get your Pokémon to evolve. Don't you want to get lunch first in Vermilion City before continuing?"

"Nope! Besides, I want at least one of my new Pokémon to evolve before X gets here! His ship would be arriving in a few hours, and I really want to show off a newly evolved Pokémon!"

"Ohh… and I was getting hungry too," Diamond grumbled a bit as he took his place in the training battlefield. "But all right. But once one of your Pokémon evolves, let's go eat something good!"

"Deal." Y waited until Diamond had sent out his Pokémon (his newly captured Steelix) before giving the order. "All right, Saza, let's go! Crunch!"

Pearl walked over to sit next to Platinum on the bench and observe the training from afar. "She's really excited to evolve her Pokémon, huh?"

"Yes she is," Platinum said with a nod, smiling warmly. "It is wonderful to see that she had returned to her bright and positive self."

Pearl crossed his arms. "Yeah. She wasn't going to stay depressed forever for her Absol abandoning her, but I'm glad that she's back to normal now." He watched her Zweilous shuffling towards the Steelix, with its fangs bared. "What do you think about that? Using Crunch against Steelix?"

"Hydreigon is far more proficient at ranged attacks, but Zweilous is not. Not to mention, allowing a blind Pokémon to use ranged attacks would not accomplish anything positive," Platinum said. "But Y would also know that a Steelix is much more vulnerable to ranged attacks than direct contact. So perhaps she would shift to using moves such as Dragon Pulse or Dark Pulse once the Zweilous is right in front of its opponent."

"Quite probable," Pearl agreed. "Even with Hustle, I don't think biting a solid chunk of steel like Steelix is going to do anything. So as long as Y doesn't stick to using physical contact moves, she should be fine." He glanced over at Platinum, and noticed a small frown on her face. "… Something wrong, Miss Lady?"

Platinum gave a quiet sigh. "I am concerned about Y," she said after a pause. "I am not sure if she is ready for the evolutions. I also do not think her Pokémon are ready to evolve either."

"What do you mean?"

"Do you remember the problem I had with Mega Lopunny?" Platinum asked. "Or the problem you had with your Mega Lucario?"

Pearl immediately caught on. "… Yeah. I caught Riolu not too long ago, and I got it to evolve pretty quickly. And then I made the mistake of letting it Mega Evolve immediately. It wasn't anywhere near ready for the sudden power boost. It took a lot of effort to make sure it didn't go rampant. I have to make sure it's strong enough and in full control of itself before I let it Mega Evolve again."

Platinum slowly nodded. "Yes. While I had Lopunny for many years and so it was prepared, the Mega Evolution's power surge caused it to become very aggressive, even towards me. It is still rather aggressive, though it has gotten used to the power surge. Most Pokémon do not gain such power boosts upon evolving, or upon Mega Evolving. If a Pokémon was to evolve and then immediately Mega Evolve, it will lose control of itself due to the sudden huge power difference."

"And Dragon type Pokémon all have that issue even without Mega Evolution," Pearl continued for her. "Would her Zweilous stay in control of itself upon becoming a Hydreigon? Also, Deino and Zweilous are blind, but Hydreigon isn't. How would it react to its sudden power boost and sight at the same time?"

"Y still has her Mega Ring," Platinum said quietly. "She has also searched and obtained the Mega Stones for her future Salamence and Garchomp. Her Dragon Pokémon are still new. They have not sufficiently bonded with her yet."

"In short, it's a disaster just waiting to happen," Pearl said with a grimace. "We should warn her to take her time."

Platinum put on a pained expression. "Look how excited she is. And she had just regained confidence as a trainer. Expressing our concerns translates to expressing our doubts of her skills. The last thing she needs right now is her seniors losing faith in her abilities."

"Damn. Well, maybe Y's other Pokémon can force the new Pokémon to stay in line. I was able to get the rest of my team to force the Mega…" Pearl trailed off as a new thought occurred. "… Oh. Y has three new Pokémon, all Dragon type, and all about to evolve into their final stages at similar times. The first half of her team won't be able to restrain the second half if they go berserk."

"We must keep an eye on her new Pokémon at all times," Platinum said. She sent out her Glaceon and let it rest on her lap. "If her Pokémon begins to rampage, we have to restrain it immediately."

"Right. For now, we'll watch if her Zweilous evolves and goes bonkers. If it does… you'll have to subtly warn her about the other Pokémon."

Diamond's Steelix whacked the Zweilous backwards with its tail after shrugging off a Dragon Pulse. The Zweilous struggled up to its feet and snarled in anger, as its frustrations grew over its inability to deal any damage. And as it began to shoot off Dark Pulse after Dark Pulse, its body began to glow brightly. Y gasped in surprise but immediately recognized what was happening, and began to jump in excitement.

"It's happening!" she exclaimed, as the Zweilous was soon engulfed in light.

Pearl grabbed his Infernape's Pokéball in preparation as Platinum watched carefully. Diamond got his Steelix to halt its attacks, and watched as the Zweilous grew bigger and bigger. And before long, the light faded away as it finished evolving into Hydreigon.

The Hydreigon hovered above the ground and stared up at the sky, seemingly stunned motionless as it was able to see with its eyes for the first time ever. It sniffed at the air and looked around itself, taking in the surroundings. And upon spotting Diamond and his Steelix, it let out a deafening roar and its six wings flapped aggressively.

'Flamethrower!' Pearl jumped to his feet with his Infernape's Pokéball in his hand. "Dia! Take cover!"

Diamond quickly obeyed his friend's suggestion and ducked for cover as his Steelix wrapped its body around him, forming a wall. Just as the Steelix finished covering its trainer, the Hydreigon shot a huge Flamethrower at the two.

"Diamond!" Platinum cried out, momentarily horrified at the sight of watching the Steelix completely engulfed in fire. She clenched her teeth and sent out her Empoleon to combat the Flamethrower.

"S – Saza! What are you doing?!" Y yelled as she saw the Steelix engulfed in flames.

Platinum's Empoleon successfully stopped the Flamethrower, and the Steelix was able to uncoil itself. Fortunately, Diamond was unscathed, as his Pokémon had successfully protected him.

"Hey, hey! Don't try to cook my rice cakes!" he shouted as Platinum's Empoleon stepped in front of him while the girl herself ran towards him.

The Hydreigon reacted to her movements by shooting her with a Dragon Pulse. Platinum's Glaceon formed an ice barrier to protect its trainer and blocked the attack. The Hydreigon saw its attacks nullified, and took it as a challenge. It trembled and snarled again as its destructive urges skyrocketed and it charged up a ball of fire in all three mouths, preparing for a triple Flamethrower with enough power to burn through the ice barrier.

"Restrain it!" Pearl yelled to his Infernape.

The Infernape charged towards the Hydreigon, preparing for a Close Combat. Y quickly jumped in the way, however, with her arms outstretched.

"No, no! Stop!" she cried out.

The Infernape hastily aborted its attack and slammed the brakes in a sense, skidding along the ground to avoid running the girl over.

"Hey, get out of the way!" Pearl yelled as he reached for another Pokéball.

Y turned to face her Hydreigon, with her arms stretched out to try to stop it from attacking again. "Saza! Stop!" she cried out, jumping to get its attention. "Calm down!"

The Hydreigon looked down as a new challenger appeared in its sights, and aimed the triple Flamethrower at this new obstruction. Y gasped as her Hydreigon was aiming the Flamethrower directly at her. And at this distance with that much power, if the attack was unleashed, there was nothing she could do.

"Y! Get back!" Platinum cried out, gripping her Lopunny's Pokéball with one hand and reaching for her Mega Ring with the other.

"S – Saza… STOP!" Y cried out loudly in desperation.

The Hydreigon was about to unleash the Flamethrower when it suddenly hesitated. It slowly dissipated the Flamethrower and leaned in closer, trying to hear that familiar voice again. It sniffed at the air and caught a whiff of a familiar scent.

"It's me, Saza," Y said again, trying to keep her voice from shaking. "Do you… remember me?"

The Hydreigon suddenly let out a short howl as it recognized its trainer's scent and voice. And with a happy growl, it reached forward with all three heads, wanting to be pet and cuddled. Y let out a sigh of relief and embraced her newly evolved Hydreigon, gently stroking its main head as it rubbed its face into her cheek.

"Oh, Saza… you scared me so much!" she cried out as she slowly dropped to her knees. "But I'm so glad you remembered me!"

Her Hydreigon followed her down, still growling happily. The three Sinnoh Dex Holders slowly lowered their guard.

"It appears to have recognized its trainer," Platinum said, still holding onto her Lopunny's Pokéball. "Perhaps now, it will no longer attack everything in sight."

"Yeah. But it's just as you said, Miss Lady," Pearl said grimly. "You have to warn her."

Platinum turned her attention to Diamond when he came close enough. "Diamond… are you okay?" she asked, putting a hand on his arm.

Diamond put a piece of rice cake in his mouth. "Yep! I'm fine!" He glanced at her Empoleon and gave her a bright smile. "Thank you for the quick help with Empoleon!"

Platinum let out a sigh of relief. "I was not quick enough. I am very glad that you are safe." She then looked over at Y and hardened her expression. "Please excuse me for a while."

"… What's going on?" Diamond asked Pearl as Platinum walked over towards Y.

As Pearl filled him in, Platinum reached Y and stood behind her. The Hydreigon snarled at her again, but quickly backed down after Y gave it a scolding look.

"I'm so sorry for what happened, Miss Platinum," Y said, bowing to her senior. "I promise it won't happen again."

Platinum quietly looked down at her junior, wondering how she should approach the issue. On one hand, she was really glad that her junior was safe and that no one was hurt. But on the other… this was too dangerous. Now she had to make a choice between preserving her junior's pride as a trainer, and the safety of the girl herself and those around her.

Y squirmed on her knees, feeling quite nervous and steeling herself for the inevitable berating from her senior. It was a damn good thing that no one got hurt, especially Diamond. If he was singed at all from that Flamethrower, there would be no respite from Platinum's wrath.

"… Y, follow me, please," Platinum said at long last, her voice sounding colder than intended. "We need to talk…"

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