PARAGON

  Unknown Enemy Arc [2]

  Chapter 88 : Night on Paragon Island

  Ash was tending to the saplings he’d planted two years ago when N arrived. Every time he was on Paragon Island, he paid them a visit. It seemed like a lifetime ago that he’d first battled Cynthia to join the Paragon Organization, and torn up Cresselia’s home in the process. Despite their infancy, they were already Ash’s height due to careful cultivation from Cresselia, and attention from his numerous grass-types when they were here.

  Right now, his Serperior and Venusaur slithered and lumbered between the young trees, spreading some sort of spore.

  “Ash.”

  Upon hearing N’s voice, Ash whipped around, and immediately grimaced.

  N raised a weary hand to wave and offered the brightest smile he could, but bags hung from his eyes and his posture was slumped as he approached Ash.

  “N!”

  N lowered his hand to shake Ash’s, but Ash wrapped him in a tight hug instead.

  “I was ecstatic to hear you and Sabrina had returned safely,” N said, a bit caught off guard. “As the days turned to weeks, we began to fear the worst. Or, at least, I did.”

  Ash released him and grinned. “You won’t get rid of us that easily! By the sounds…and looks of it, you’re having just as rough a time as we did.”

  N rubbed his face and straightened, though his gaze lingered on the scars on As’s arms. “No, I’m fine, I assure you. I’m grateful that I have the opportunity to help so many in need of it.”

  “You’ll have to tell me all about it.”

  N’s tired eyes twinkled. “Not before you tell us what happened. I understand you two have been holding out on the details until I returned.”

  “That’s right,” Ash said, dusting himself off and recalling his pokémon. “Let’s rejoin the others.”

  They talked as they walked back to headquarters.

  “Anabel mentioned you two were in Hisui,” N said. “You once journeyed across Sinnoh. Did that make the journey back any easier?”

  “Sort of, but not exactly. The pokémon of the past are a lot different than the pokémon of today. More beastlike.”

  N stroked his chin. “Hmmm. I wonder if I could speak with them. Are their rational voices simply quiet, or do they not exist at all yet?”

  “We met trainers there, and their pokémon were colder, but did obey orders so I think you’d be able to.”

  “I can’t say I hope I get the chance,” N admitted. “After what happened to you, I must admit I have no desire to time travel.”

  Pikachu had jumped onto N’s head, and N smiled warmly as Pikachu grasped at his hair, trying to get comfortable.

  “I already spoke to Sabrina a bit,” N said. “I understand your friend Riley will be joining us.”

  “Yeah. He had to check in with the Guardians and let his people know what happened, but he’ll be coming here to tell his side of the story too. Figured Cynthia wouldn’t mind.”

  After Gengar reconstituted himself within Ash’s body yesterday, Ash had instructed him to have one of his pokémon run one of Cresselia’s Lunar Wings to Riley. All his pokémon possessed one, for the purpose of finding their way back to Paragon Island, if necessary, and it turned out Gliscor was in the Saffron City area, where the Guardians had taken refuge.

  “Did you get a response when you asked her?”

  “Nope.”

  N sighed. “Figures. I imagine she’s even busier than me. Doubly so if she’s enlisted Sylvester. Though I’m surprised we haven’t heard from her even after letting her know you and Sabrina returned safely. It makes me think something’s happened to them.”

  Ash’s brows furrowed. He’d been trying to ignore that possibility, but the fact that they were still MIA even after Sabrina and he had returned was beginning to set off alarm bells. “I’m sure she’s fine,” he said. “She is a Champion. If anything happened to her, I’m sure we’d know about it.”

  “I don’t think she’s made any public appearances since you disappeared, but yes, let’s hope so.”

  It was no five-star meal, but Zinnia had whipped up a meal with leftovers from the fridge, so they ate that for lunch. Sabrina pledged to take over Anabel’s caretaking in Sylvester’s absence, but she was rebuked by Anabel, and surprisingly, Zinnia herself, who seemed to have grown slightly attached to her—what could only be described as motherly—position.

  Luckily, it didn’t take long for Riley to arrive. Ash answered the door, and Riley was dressed back in his usual Guardian garb, clean and shaven, with his pokéballs snapped to his belt. He held a couple grocery bags in his hands.

  “Ash,” he greeted.

  “Thanks for coming,” Ash said, and he took one of Riley’s bags from him.

  “Gifts from Queen Ilene,” Riley said, following Ash inside. “The Guardians have been getting quite a bit of charity from across the world since Rota’s destruction, but it’s a bit much even for us. I figured you wouldn’t say no to a bit more food and drink.”

  “Definitely not. Our usual food guy is actually out right now so this is helpful, thanks. I was honestly looking forward to a meal from him when I got back, but no dice, unfortunately.”

  “I heard that!” Zinnia snapped.

  Ash was met with a glare from Zinnia as they joined the others in the living room.

  “It’s a bit later than I’d planned, but Riley, this is the Paragon Organization.”

  Riley removed his hat and bowed. “Pleased to meet you all. I am Riley, of the Guardians.”

  “That’s Zinnia, our interim chef.” Ash pointed at her, and she scowled. “And this is N. They were both in Kalos during the attack.”

  Riley gave a nod of greeting to them both.

  “This is Anabel. And of course you know Sabrina.”

  Riley’s gaze lingered on Anabel, and a flash of regret fleeted through his eyes. Likely a bit of guilt, as Captain Magnus, the head of Rota’s royal guard, had tasked him with protecting Anabel during AZ’s attack, yet he’d never ended up making it to her side.

  “Looks like you got your pokémon back just fine,” Anabel smiled.

  “Y-Yes, thank you,” Riley said, seemingly shaking away his other thoughts. “I understand you found them with Ash and Sabrina’s and delivered mine to the Guardians. I appreciate that.”

  “It was the Gengars who found ‘em, actually,” Zinnia muttered. Then, suddenly, a grin sliced across her face. “So, what do you know about the Great Dragon? Are you enlightened to the pursuit of its glorious existence?”

  “I recently became enlightened, I guess you could say,” Riley said after a pause. He set his bag down and swung around the couch to take a seat on a lounge chair. “You must be the Dragon Master.”

  “Right you are!” Zinnia said proudly. “So tell me, what do you—?”

  “I’m sorry,” N said, raising a hand. “We’re all gathered now. I’d very much like to hear their story now.”

  Zinnia deflated, shooting a pouty face at N, and he offered a conciliatory smile.

  “Right,” Ash said, joining Sabrina and Anabel on the couch. “This might take awhile. But I guess the only place to start is at the beginning.”

  “Yes,” Riley agreed. “Before anything else, I must admit I almost got all three of us killed before we’d even touched Hisui. You see, I’d initially assumed the Time Flower was just showing us a vision as usual, but it soon became clear that we had been spit out into the past five thousand meters above the ground…”

  It took over four hours for them to get through the entire story, sparing no details. From their arrival at the Sanctuary and befriending its denizens, to Decidueye’s attack and capture, to the start of the Galaxy Expedition and the Alpha Pokémon.”

  “It’s concerning that Giratina’s mere presence sent so many pokémon across the region into a frenzy,” Anabel commented. “And you said that wasn’t even its true form.”

  “Volo implied that he actively created several of the Alpha Pokémon and sent them after us,” Riley said. “But as I understand it, it was Giratina, or perhaps that rift, that released a sort of energy that could empower pokémon. Like the Plates, I’m sure they were drawn to it. It would’ve been the strongest pokémon who would have gorged on it first, thus making the Alpha Pokémon even more formidable."

  “I can ask Decidueye about it later, maybe,” Sabrina suggested. “Though I’m not sure if he has an answer, or if he’ll give it to me.”

  “Let’s battle later, Sabrina!” Anabel grinned. “Decidueye versus Decidueye. I need to get warmed up again anyway!”

  Sabrina smiled. “Okay.”

  N pinched the bridge of his nose. “Forgive me for asking, but if the pokémon were drawn to this mysterious energy, and even more so to the Plates, should we be concerned that Ash now has the power of five Plates concentrated in one place?”

  All eyes turned to Ash and he put up his hands. “We should be fine. I figured out how to hide the power of the Plates. That’s how I was able to beat Volo, actually.”

  “When are we gonna get to the part where you get sliced and diced and Sabrina loses one of those things?” Zinnia demanded, pointing at Sabrina’s remaining gauntlet.

  “We’re getting there,” Riley offered.

  They continued with the story, spending far longer than Zinnia probably liked on their misadventures with Rei, Akari, Yura, and Laventon. Sabrina, surprisingly, eagerly relayed her tale of training the young members of the Survey Corps with pride, and gushed over the ever-boisterous Yura. Anabel, Zinnia, and N all looked a bit speechless at how much she was talking, almost as if they questioned whether the girl before them was truly the Sabrina they knew.

  Eventually they made it to the Rapidash, and then the Unown, and their journey through Mount Coronet’s underbelly. Zinnia could not stop herself from declaring Mount Coronet the “bane of Ash’s existence,” at which N facepalmed and politely asked her to leave him alone. Almost every time the story started to progress a bit too fast, Anabel asked Sabrina about Yura or Akari or Rei again and things grinded to a halt once more.

  When Riley proudly announced his discovery that Mount Coronet was the lynchpin that held all of reality together, even Zinnia shut up, before asking several dragon-related questions in the tone of a student addressing a teacher.

  “The Great Dragon protects the Hall of Origin, which is connected to Mount Coronet…but why would it need to do that if Spear Pillar is so strong?” she wondered aloud.

  “And protect it from who? The Paragons?” Anabel asked. “Giratina was right there and the Great Dragon didn’t appear, right?”

  Riley nodded. “No, it didn’t. Perhaps the threat wasn’t great enough, or the Hall of Origin wasn’t truly in danger, since Giratina didn’t have all of its strength.”

  “Or the Great Dragon wasn’t there,” N proposed. When everyone looked at him, he hesitated, but pressed on. “It doesn’t seem likely Giratina could or would get so close to the Hall of Origin if there was an all-powerful guardian at its gate. From the way you describe this rift, and Giratina’s brazenness, it’s almost as if the Paragon of Darkness believed it had free rein in Hisui, until you all arrived. And beyond the Great Dragon, where was Arceus?”

  Riley stroked his chin. “It’s possible. It is said the union of the Plates within the Origin Child will catalyze Arceus’ incarnation and end…I believe Raphael referred to it as the Paragon War. The endless battle between Arceus and the Paragons. But before that happens, where is Arceus now? Within the Hall of Origin? If not, then perhaps the Great Dragon is with him, wherever he is now.”

  Zinnia’s eyes were lines as she absorbed everything being said. Every now and then she’d nod to herself or mumble something under her breath.

  “Okay, continue,” Anabel prodded.

  Riley seamlessly took over the storytelling as Ash and Sabrina sunk back, shame smoldering on their faces. He spoke of Volo’s betrayal and ambush, and slowly relayed every minute detail of the ensuing battle, beginning with his assault on Sabrina.

  “It was clear he’d identified her as the biggest threat among the three of us,” Riley said. “I was never a factor, and he had plans for Ash. Sabrina was the wild card.”

  Sabrina flushed with pride, but Zinnia sneered at the mention of Volo’s name.

  “He’s dead now, right?” she growled.

  Riley sighed. “Yes. He’s dead.”

  N wrinkled his nose. “All the more ominous when I recall that you said this man looked just like our friend Sylvester.”

  “He was nothing like Sylvester,” Ash said quietly.

  Riley continued the story, explaining how Volo had butchered Ash, but Sabrina took over for the tail end of it. Though she tried to skirt past it as fast as possible, Anabel and Zinnia both peppered her with questions surrounding her destroyed gauntlet.

  When it became clear she was reaching the limits of her discomfort, Ash jumped in and began retelling his side of their time at the Diamond Settlement, with Riley interjecting to provide details. Eventually, Sabrina talked about her time at the Pearl Settlement, and the three of them pieced together what they’d heard from Laventon about him meeting Cogita and Enamorus.

  N offered to translate Pikachu’s speech since the mouse had also been with Laventon during that time, but he was still gorging himself in the other room so it had to wait.

  Riley once again took over for their reunion and subsequent talk with Raphael (which Zinnia was very interested in). But, just before moving on from that segment of the story, he turned it over to the other two.

  “Anything else to add? he asked nonchalantly.

  “No,” Sabrina said flatly, blushing.

  “Uh uh,” Ash said, strangely dismissive.

  Riley shrugged and shot a smirk at the others.

  Zinnia glowered at Ash and Sabrina. “What the fuck is this?”

  Anabel’s mouth hung open as she stared at Sabrina.

  “As a side note, I brought some drinks with me,” Riley said. “I apologize if now’s a bad time, but I will insist Ash and Sabrina, at least, join me for a toast. We were nearly stranded centuries in the past, yet returned by some miracle. Perhaps these two don’t think so, but I think that merits a bit of celebration.”

  “I’m in,” Ash said, glancing at Sabrina.

  Sabrina nodded. “Sure.”

  “Count me in too,” Anabel said, her eyes still glued to Sabrina, though a smile tugged at her lips. “I hope you brought a lot. It sort of seems like we’ll need it if we want to hear more of the details of your journey.”

  “I will partake as well, if that’s alright,” N said, raising his hand. “I could use a small break, truth be told.”

  Riley grinned. “Excellent. I had a feeling this might be the case. We should have plenty.”

  The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

  “I’ll be the judge of that,” Zinnia smirked.

  “No wonder those bags were so heavy,” Ash muttered.

  The retelling of their final battle with Volo took an hour and a half alone. Notably, Sabrina’s explanation was the shortest, and it was clear she was hiding details, but luckily for her, Riley actually drew most of the attention, with N, Zinnia, and Anabel all perplexed at his ability to recreate the power of the Electric Plate.

  “I said the same thing!” Ash exclaimed. “It doesn’t make any sense!”

  “C’mon! You understand, right, Sabrina?” Riley pleaded.

  Sabrina gave an apologetic shake of her head, and Riley wilted.

  “I suppose theoretically it makes sense, but I must admit I’m having trouble wrapping my head around it,” N said, his face twisted in confusion as if it was causing him physical agony that he couldn’t understand. “Perhaps I just need a better understanding of Aura itself.”

  “Maybe I dreamed it all,” Riley muttered. “Admittedly, I was bouncing in and out of consciousness. Perhaps Dialga just ran away scared.”

  “No way!” Zinnia said. “I don’t really get it, but if you say you defeated Dialga with a Plate or whatever then that’s gotta be what happened. No dragon would run off scared over nothing.”

  Riley turned toward Zinnia curiously. “I hear you’re pursuing the Great Dragon. I suspect this may place you on a path parallel to Ash’s.”

  Zinnia crossed her arms proudly and glanced at Ash. “Try not to get in my way, yeah?”

  “That’s my line,” Ash smirked.

  Sabrina scowled.

  As they reached the resolution of their grand journey, it was well into the afternoon and everyone gathered was starving. Thus, Riley offered to begin making a meal with the groceries he’d brought, and Zinnia was glad to play sous chef this time. Grabbing some snacks, Ash, Pikachu, and N headed outside to feed the other pokémon, including the ones in Sylvester’s abandoned daycare.

  That left Anabel and Sabrina, who sought and found a clearing outside where they could have their duel.

  A smile sat comfortably on Anabel’s face as a soft wind blew through her hair and across her skin. In her recovery, she hadn’t gone outside all that much, but this was a nice change of pace. Though really, her mood had skyrocketed primarily due to the return of the girl across from her right now.

  “Let’s go, Sophia!”

  Anabel hurled her pokéball forward and it snapped open to reveal her ghostly Decidueye.

  She still wasn’t used to throwing with this hand, but it was something she’d have to learn to love.

  Decidueye cooed, satisfied to see her master’s friend before her.

  “Ooooh, so that’s what a Hisuian pokéball looks like, huh?” Anabel said, squinting.

  Sabrina blushed, turning the pokéball in her hands. “Yeah. But it’s not supposed to be all…crushed like this. That was my fault.”

  “As long as it works!” Anabel decided against bringing up the young girl Yura that Sabrina had apparently unleashed herself against Decidueye for. Her, and Ash and Riley’s emotions, regarding their Hisuian comrades still seemed to be quite raw.

  “Let’s hope he behaves himself,” Sabrina murmured, before tossing her pokéball out.

  As Sabrina’s Decidueye coalesced onto the grass, Anabel’s eyes widened. It was huge, almost double the height of her own, and its silhouette was different too.

  Unlike Sophia, this Decidueye’s feathers were mahogany and autumn orange, and instead of wearing a hood of leaves, it appeared to wear a brimmed hat of sorts.

  Its eyes instantly locked on Sophia, then Anabel, and narrowed.

  “Decidueye, this is Anabel, and her Decidueye, Sophia,” Sabrina said. “We were thinking you might want to battle.”

  Decidueye inhaled and exhaled slowly, glancing around at the clearing. To him, he’d just crossed space and time and now found himself in a completely foreign place. His gaze was sharpened as he analyzed his surroundings.

  The future doesn’t seem all that different.

  Anabel frowned. It seemed like Decidueye was speaking telepathically with Sabrina, and Sabrina was sharing his voice with her. Sabrina had done this a few times before when her Gengar was being a chatterbox, but it was strange to hear such a callous voice in place of Gengar’s mischievous one.

  Decidueye glanced back at Sophia. The pokémon are weaker.

  “You’re not wrong,” Sabrina said very matter-of-factly. “I guess the pokémon of today are a lot more docile compared to the pokémon of your time. But I wouldn’t underestimate Anabel’s pokémon.”

  “Nice to meet you, Decidueye,” Anabel waved, not bothered at all by his declaration. Pulverizing cocky opponents was one of Anabel’s favorite pastimes. “You two can have the first move.”

  Decidueye snorted. A battle for sport? Challenge me, cripple, and you should expect to be shorn to bloody ribbons.

  “Not nice, Decidueye,” Sabrina scolded. “Win or lose, you need to apologize for that.”

  Don’t tell me what to do, monster. Where is the Platebearer? If he possesses five Plates as you say, then—

  Decidueye suddenly threw up a crimson cloak as a volley of leaves shot toward him. Most of them buried themselves in his cloak, but one slipped past and sliced across his face, drawing blood.

  “Sorry,” Anabel smirked. “I didn’t like hearing you call Sabrina that, but she’s a lot nicer than I am.”

  Decidueye sneered, flicking the blood from his face, and he glared at Sophia, who fixed him with an unimpressed gaze.

  Shrieking, Decidueye launched forward, opening his wings as he cut across the clearing.

  “Spirit Shackle,” Anabel commanded.

  A barrage of ghostly chains shot out from beneath Sophia’s leafy cloak. As Decidueye swerved in midair to dodge them, the chains turned with him, and one bolted itself to his ankle. Decidueye snarled as more chains lashed themselves to him, and Sophia whipped her leg around, sending Decidueye flying into the sky, before yanking him down and slamming him against the forest floor. The ground splintered beneath him, but before the debris had even fallen, Decidueye was back up, looking more enraged than hurt.

  “Sucker Punch!” Sabrina called.

  Anabel frowned. Why is she talking out loud?

  A cyclone of energy gusted around Decidueye, and he blitzed forward again.

  “Shadow Sneak!” Anabel commanded.

  But before Sophia could slip into the shadows, Decidueye’s massive frame smashed into her, tearing through her like a chainsaw. Her body slammed back into a tree and she crumpled to her knees.

  Anabel’s eyes widened. Because she’s telling him something different telepathically! That was Brave Bird! Shooting a glare at Sabrina, Anabel saw her opponent grin.

  “Alright, gloves off,” she muttered. “Phantom Force, Sophia! Then, Dual Wingbeat.”

  Brushing soil from her face, Sophia’s form flickered before vanishing.

  Decidueye stood tall, its eyes sweeping the clearing for its opponent.

  Without warning, Sophia reappeared right in front of Decidueye and sent an infernal punch into its jaw. Spittle flew from Decidueye’s beak as its neck cracked backward, but Sophia arced one of her wings around and slashed across its neck, then sent the other wing into the other side of its neck. Decidueye stumbled, wheezing.

  “Spirit Shackle!” Anabel ordered. “Normally, this time.”

  A lattice of chains burst from Sophia and wrapped themselves around Decidueye’s body. However, instead of flinging him skyward, Sophia’s eyes flared black, and the Spirit Shackle responded in kind, black flames roaring to life across the spectral metal.

  Decidueye howled in agony, falling onto its side and seizing on the ground. Grass and soil tore up around it, and its cries echoed through the forest.

  After a few more seconds, Sophia relented, her chains loosening and slithering back beneath her cloak, and she touched down onto the ground beside Decidueye, turning a neutral gaze on it.

  Decidueye panted on the ground, before flipping over and stomping to its feet. It turned a bloodthirsty glare at both Anabel and Sophia, then broke eye contact, staring at the ground in defeat.

  “Good game,” Anabel smiled, approaching her opponents.

  Sabrina sighed. “We need a bit more time together.”

  “Didn’t you have months together? That wasn’t long enough?” Anabel teased.

  Decidueye’s head jerked up, but not to look at Anabel. It stared at the path leading into the clearing.

  “…entire area was cordoned off. Last I’d heard, they were going to or have already filled the tunnels with concrete.”

  N and Ash sauntered into the clearing, and smiled when they saw the girls. Beside him came Ash’s sunglasses-clad Krookodile and always-cheerful Goodra, who seemed to be chatting happily between themselves with Pikachu on Ash’s shoulder. Then, the trees brushed aside as N’s Reshiram lumbered in behind them.

  Reshiram offered a noble glance to Decidueye, but otherwise appeared to take no interest.

  Decidueye’s eye twitched at the sudden spike in power around him, and he swallowed visibly.

  “You’re not the strongest anymore,” Sabrina said, leaning over to him. “But that is what I promised.”

  Decidueye’s face wrinkled, but he didn’t seem to be able to muster a proper sneer anymore.

  “So, who won?” Ash asked.

  Not wanting to wound Decidueye’s pride any further, Anabel said, “It was a tie. We both got clean hits in.” It wasn’t entirely untrue. Certain facilities back at the Battle Frontier probably would’ve scored that battle as a tie.

  N strode right up to Decidueye and smiled. “Hello. My name is N.”

  Decidueye glowered at him, almost as if he could sense that N could communicate properly with him, without even telepathy. He did not offer a response, but did get back on his feet and turned to Anabel.

  I apologize.

  Without another word, he crouched down, then rocketed into the sky.

  Once he was gone, Ash frowned. “What was that about?”

  “Oh, nothing,” Anabel said, recalling Sophia. “That’s a great pokémon you picked up, Sabrina.”

  “I know,” Sabrina smiled.

  Just then, Zinnia’s Cyclizar bounded up to them, his tongue hanging out of his mouth, and he nudged each of them.

  “Cyclizar says dinner is ready,” N announced. “Shall we?”

  They talked as they walked back to base. Ash’s pokémon separated from them to join the others on the island, and Anabel and Sabrina released all of their pokémon to feed as well. Reshiram collapsed back into the Light Stone, and now, since it was as small as a marble, N attached it back to a thin necklace around his neck. Once upon a time, the Light Stone had only been able to shrink down to be a bit smaller than a basketball, but after N’s battle in Kalos, it seemed Reshiram could change its size at will.

  As seemed to be routine, Cyclizar hunched down to give Anabel a ride, which the girl happily took. Somehow, the dragon tamped down its boundless energy to provide a smooth ride, and Anabel smiled as she rode, clearly not needing his services anymore, but happy to utilize them all the same. And Cyclizar looked positively jubilant serving as her personal wheelchair, striding proudly at the front of the pack.

  Dinner was a gigantic pot of spaghetti, which Zinnia promptly dropped in the middle of the table as soon as they got back. Sauce splattered out of the top, but luckily, she was wearing an apron. She exhaled loudly and pulled the hair tie from her hair, letting it fall disheveled over her eyes.

  “Looks good,” N said, peering over into the pot.

  Zinnia grunted and trudged back to the kitchen to take off her apron. Soon after, Riley emerged wielding a couple platters of buttery garlic bread.

  “This looks great, Riley, thanks,” Ash said, seating himself.

  Sabrina pulled Anabel’s chair out for her and the two sat down.

  “This is just an accompaniment,” Riley declared. “The main dish is…”

  Zinnia waltzed into the dining room holding four dark bottles of wine in her fingers.

  “What in the world is all that?” Anabel gawked.

  All of a sudden, the wine glasses in front of each of their place settings made a bit more sense.

  “Gifts from the Guardians,” Riley explained. “After Rota’s destruction, the Guardians received much aid from around the world. That includes corporate gifts like bottles of wines from various companies, of which we had little practical use for. Queen Ilene insisted they be put to good use in celebration of our return.”

  Anabel turned one of the bottles toward her. “This looks expensive.”

  “All the more reason we shouldn’t let it go to waste,” Riley winked.

  Zinnia produced a wine opener and set to work popping one of them open. Once it was, N volunteered to pour.

  Once everyone was seated and had a glass, Anabel raised hers. “Welcome back.”

  As their glasses clinked, Ash’s stomach gurgled, and he quickly took a sip before diving into his food. Luckily, most of the conversation gravitated toward Riley, as the guest among them, leaving Ash free to devour his dinner. Even something simple like spaghetti and garlic bread tasted heavenly after months of medieval fare.

  Beside him, Sabrina wolfed down her meal with a similar gusto, which made Ash feel bad for Riley for having to field so many questions about himself, the Guardians, and their journey from the other members of Paragon.

  Ash was maybe halfway through filling his stomach when he realized he’d already downed three glasses of wine. He’d been drinking the stuff like water as he ate and hadn’t even noticed Anabel had been refilling his glass every time it got low.

  Based on her flushed face and the shit-eating grin on it, she seemed to be one or two glasses ahead of him.

  At that moment, Zinnia knocked over her own glass as she reached for more bread, butluckily, there was only a bit left in it that spilled out.

  “Clean it,” Zinnia mumbled through a burp, thumbing Cyclizar’s pokéball. It popped open, but nothing came out.

  “Cyclizar is outside with the others, remember?” N said as politely as he could. He’d drunk just as much as the others, but his tolerance for alcohol seemed to be significantly higher.

  “Uhhhhh,” Zinnia groaned, mopping up her mess with a mound of napkins.

  “We still have two bottles to go,” Riley said. He glanced around the dinner table, looking for empty or close to empty glasses, and his eyes settled on Sabrina’s. “Ash, if you would,” he said, handing the open bottle over.

  “I can’t…” Sabrina moaned, and yet she drained the rest of her glass and pushed it toward Ash anyway.

  “I’ll take some more too!” Anabel cheered, offering her glass despite it still being half full.

  Ash topped them off and sighed before refilling his own glass. He didn’t know anything about wine or alcohol in general, but he could tell this stuff was expensive. It tasted good.

  “Let’s save some for Cynthia and Sylvester’s return,” N suggested.

  “Good idea!” Anabel said. She tended to get loud when she was drunk.

  Sabrina’s eyelids fluttered as she sipped from her glass, and her head bobbed.

  “You okay?” Ash asked. “You don’t have to finish it.”

  “You gonna finish it?” Sabrina murmured.

  Ash reddened, glancing at the stained lip of the glass where Sabrina had been drinking from. “I…I guess.” He glanced up at the table.

  Zinnia and Anabel were both scowling at them.

  Uh oh.

  “Okay,” Zinnia said. “Can I just say something?”

  Everyone at the table looked at her. She pointed at Sabrina.

  “What the hell happened to you?”

  Sabrina’s jaw clenched and she glanced around the table nervously. “What do you mean?”

  “That.” Zinnia shook her finger. “That is what you’re usually like.” Then she flicked her finger between Sabrina and Ash. “I meant, what the hell happened to you two?”

  “A lot happened,” Ash said quickly. “Don’t pick on Sabrina.”

  “That!” Zinnia roared, furiously looking around the table as if checking to see if anyone else had seen what she’d just seen. “What the hell is that?!”

  N appeared confused, tilting his head to the side, but Anabel had leveled a smirk at the two in question.

  A loud sigh cut across the table, and everyone’s eyes shifted to Riley.

  “Finally, someone set it out loud,” he said, exasperated. “You will not believe what I’ve had to put up with these past couple months.”

  Ash frowned. “What’re you saying, Riley?”

  “I could not have been a bigger third wheel if I tried,” the Guardian lamented, ignoring Ash. “Forget trying to return to the present for any practical reason. The driving force for me waking up every morning in Hisui was to find a way to get these two some privacy.”

  Ash’s face burned. “What the hell are you saying, Riley?! I wasn’t that bad—!”

  “That bad?” Riley raised a brow. “Shall we go through everything?”

  “Please don’t!” Sabrina pleaded.

  “Please do!” Anabel and Zinnia squealed at the same time.

  Sabrina’s eyes began to glow, but Ash grabbed her wrist.

  “Wait, you can’t teleport away! If I have to sit through this, you do too!”

  “They’re holding hands!” Anabel screamed.

  Futility and fear glowed red on Sabrina’s face, and Ash kept his eyes glued to hers as the assault began.

  “‘Good morning, Sabrina!’ ‘Good morning, Ash!’” Riley sang.

  As Riley recounted each excruciating anecdote, Ash and Sabrina tried to offer defenses, but they were like wet paper against the Guardian’s chronicle. Ash hadn’t even realized just how many there were until Riley listed them all in painstaking detail.

  “You guys were naked together in the hot springs?!” Zinnia bellowed, her face almost as red as the infractors’. “There were kids around!”

  “We weren’t naked, we had towels!” Ash yelled. “It was an accident! Nothing happened!”

  Zinnia turned her nose at Sabrina. “You…dirty, dirty woman!”

  Sabrina clapped her hands over her face and shrunk into her chair.

  “Alright, enough!” Ash said wearily, desperately searching for an offramp to the conversation at hand. “W-What about you, Riley?”

  “What about me?” Riley asked nonchalantly. “I’m engaged.”

  “Huh?” Ash shook his head. “I didn’t know that.”

  “Congratulations!” N said.

  “Thank you, though it’s not exactly recent.” Riley waved his hand. “Nice try changing the subject though, Ash. Anyway, back to what we were talking about a second ago.”

  “Yes, more please!” Anabel cheered.

  Dinner seemed to last forever. By the end of it all, every bottle of wine had been emptied, and Ash was drunk and exhausted. He offered to help N with the dishes, but the man was recharged and jubilant after their meal, and declined, instead suggesting Ash point Riley to one of the island’s spare rooms. Ash wasn’t thrilled at that, after the abuse he’d just weathered from Riley, but he did it all the same.

  Riley was very thankful, and Ash couldn’t stay annoyed at him, knowing most of what had just occurred had only happened because of the alcohol. The festival at the Diamond Settlement had proved the Guardian was a bit of a lightweight. In fact, just a minute after Riley collapsed onto his bed, Ash heard snoring, and bid him farewell for the night.

  Anabel had already yanked Sabrina away for further interrogation, and Zinnia had surprisingly gone with, so Ash decided to call it a night as well. He did not envy Sabrina, and decided he’d have to apologize for abandoning her to that tomorrow, especially after what he’d said about them having to deal with it together.

  He’d promised a date too, in hindsight, but with how busy Paragon seemed, he wasn’t sure when he’d be able to keep it. That might require an apology as well.

  He found Pikachu waiting for him in his bedroom, and only after sinking beneath the covers did it finally set in that he was well and truly home. Already, the adventures of the past few months felt like a fleeting dream, so far from reach it was as if it hadn’t actually happened.

  But it had.

  Ash now bore five of Arceus’ Plates.

  He hadn’t even been back in the present for twenty-four hours yet, but Ash could tell the world was on a trajectory toward irreparable chaos.

  With the power he now held, it was his duty to stop it.

  The members of Paragon stood anxiously at the edge of the tarmac, their hair stilling in the wake of the dying engines.

  Minutes ago, Cynthia’s private jet had landed on Paragon Island. She hadn’t called or texted that she’d be returning, but here she was now, after an even longer hiatus than Ash’s.

  Pikachu’s nose twitched and he muttered quietly on Ash’s shoulder.

  The door of the plane grunted, and swung down.

  Platinum blonde hair flashed in the morning sun, and Cynthia stepped out into the light. She covered her eyes with her arm and smiled.

  “I apologize for my extended absence.” She grasped the handrail and stepped down the stairs of the jet. “Ash. Sabrina. I’m glad you made it back safe and sound.”

  Next — Chapter 89 : Headless

  I finished Silksong this weekend so that should hopefully help stabilize the schedule a bit.