There was a call for help, and who was to answer but Alexei himself? While he had given very specific instructions to the staff at the Sanctuary to keep helping the Pokémon who were injured, he decided to check for himself just how…bad… the aftereffects of the recent battle had gotten.

Sure, he was there at the battlegrounds of Lilycove, but after that everything was a blur because he’d shouted at someone who was definitely unworthy in the aftermath. And now he was protecting Zelle with an uncharacteristically zealous wrath, because who the fuck would kill little baby Pokémon like that?

Either way, there was a little blue face poking out of the top of the hood that he had on, mainly because he couldn’t leave her alone these days. The shining eyes of the Phione watched the world around them as he rushed over to where the call for help was coming from—some distance away from Fortree, but close enough all the same.

Alexei came down in a clearing, before nodding at the Braviary to fly up ahead and keep an eye out as he proceeded to where the other person was waiting for whoever backup was requested to show up.

Out with him right now was his Gardevoir, Tatiana, walking alongside him. His Braviary, flying out of sight serving as an extra pair of eyes.

He was on-edge after all that…carnage he’d seen. Forcing himself not to faint through the battle was an accomplishment in itself.

“You’re looking well, Miss Alfric,” he remarked as he had noticeably caught her attention. His eyebrows rose a little though, silently wondering at the greeting. It was of no consequence, though, they were here and they had a job to do.

“Alright, as you wish,” he added a few minutes later, summoning his Lucario from the red beam of light emanating from the Moon Ball he’d popped open. As the Lucario hit the ground on a three-paw landing, he nodded at the Gardevoir’s direction.

“Be ready,” he said quietly in Tatiana’s direction. Watching the Gardevoir’s eyes flare to life, the dual-type cast a ‘net’ of sorts around the area, soon joined by the Lucario who let its own aura flare around to join the influence the Gardevoir had set up.

Somewhere up above, the Braviary was watching, keeping his eyes on a bunch of what he presumed to be the Pokémon they were after, tracking their movement. Seeing them move forward, the avian in the sky followed them.

Down on the ground, the Lucario gestured his way, before pointing somewhere deep in the undergrowth.

“They’re on the move.”

The Lucario saw a flash of movement headed their way—and blinked a few moments later out of surprise as the Mightyena that appeared in search of the meat had—physically changed.

They didn’t look like the normal canine Pokémon he was used to seeing around the area, it was like something had snapped(?) inside them and they were much more hostile than usual—

That was, until Alexei saw an arrow take down one of the Mightyena, before the others looked around and started growling and snapping at each other. Even if food was food…

“What—“ he muttered, blinking at what he’d just seen.

Wait, wait a second, hold the hell up… he thought as his eyes raked through the clearing. At the same time the Braviary swooped down, coming to a silent hover above him. The Phione hiding under the hood of his jacket (which was conveniently drawn up over his head) blinked at the sight, before looking down at him with this confused look.

“I don’t know, Zelle, you better hide in there for a while,” he said to the squishy blob, giving it an affectionate cheek poke as the Gardevoir and Lucario steadied themselves, just in case some of the Mightyena decided to charge at them.

One of the rabid Mightyena headed his way, but before the Lucario could so much as prepare a single strike—

It was struck down.

Blinking, the dual-type looked on in silent confusion, watching as more arrows came flying from out of the trees, downing each and every last one of the Dark-types that were trying to frantically escape. The last one had somehow managed to find where the arrows were coming from—

Before being downed as well.

The moment she re-emerged from her perch, Alexei blinked a few times at her reappearance. However, there was something that was still nagging him in the back of his mind, and he decided to speak up about it now before they parted ways.

“I wanted to ask—“ he began, momentarily stumbling on the words, before finding his voice.

“Weren’t… weren’t you some kind of pacifist? Or at least, your family is? Why the sudden change towards these,” he added, gesturing at the now-dead pack of Mightyena.

He couldn’t help but think there was something off here. Unless he had been somehow warped into an alternate reality of some kind.

The little blue blob that was hiding under his jacket’s hood stuck out her head and stared at the green-haired woman for a few moments, before turning tail and hiding in its favorite perch once more. Nope. The Phione was not going to face any kind of woman now, not after what it had witnessed in Lilycove…

His brows furrowed at the explanation. Sure, most of it made sense, seeing as she had explained her side—but the last part though.

The last part touched him wrong, and his eyebrows went up a bit.

Well excuse me— he thought as he blinked again a few moments later, feeling something wiggling around and shifting underneath the hood. The little blue blob re-emerged, looking down at his face and gaping at him in some kind of silent wonder.

“No, Zelle, I’m fine. On the most part, anyway,” he reassured the Water-type, giving it another harmless poke on its cheek. “I’m fine.”

Well, maybe not a hundred percent fine, but wow, rude much? He thought. He’d been living in the region for the better part of eight years now, going on nine, so he was just as much a citizen of the place as she was.

Still, that didn’t give her the right to snap out like that, the last statement really grated his nerves.

Say what you want, girl, but you’re not the Gym Leader around these areas. I care as much as you do for the people under my watch… he continued in the back of his mind, before silencing his thoughts just in case he accidentally blurted it out loud.

A few moments later, the Braviary came swooping down, blue plumage and all. “Come on, Kyou, let’s go back,” he muttered, getting on the avian’s back and flying in the opposite direction—towards Fortree proper.

The work here was done, but there was still something bothering him deep inside.