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Xiura's Sableye returned to her side, shivering with overexertion. She hugged him and brought him back into his ball for safety. "You've done great today, Jin, so rest now," she assured softly.
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With not a small amount of guilt, she called her Gardevoir forth and said, "It's hurt and tired. Please heal it." From a safe, reassuring distance, Gardevoir swayed back and forth before sending forth a gentle Heal Pulse to the Ursaluna to restore its health.
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The sounds of roiling waters caught Xiura's attention, and though she was loath to take her eyes off her Pokemon, she looked.
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A familiar head of red hair disappeared under the surface amid the thrashing of water-bloated bodies. "Aurelie?" she gasped, horror-struck. Distantly, she heard ryker hayes tell her that Adrian Malcolm had been taken, too. She gritted her teeth. This was no time to panic or lose composure.
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"Jack," she yelled. "They have Aurelie!" Trembling with fear that the worst had happened to Aurelie, she turned to the Ursaluna and said, quietly, "I'm sorry--I misunderstood before. We'll help you. Please help us find our friends."
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She nodded at ryker hayes as he teleported away, and made to follow. As the Ursaluna, calmed by the collective actions of the group, dove to lead the people to their companions, Xiura reached out to jack wainwright. "Jack!"

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Xiura sees a shadowed figure in the doorway. She gets up from bed and follows after Aurelie Lefevre. If Xiura were to look down, she'd see she is dressed in something dark, too, something quiet and cottony. She and Aurelie are twin specters in the night.
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There's somewhere they must go secretly. It's important to keep it a secret. Xiura sees figures moving in a bright window, but their faces are hard to make out. She and Aurelie lift their hands to touch the glass, to open the window silently.
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Xiura sees Aurelie's hands, aglow as if filled with inner fire, something too dangerous to hold. But Xiura touches her hands to Aurelie's anyway and her fingertips are only very warm, like little pools of melted candle wax.
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"Aurelie," she speaks her friend's -- her beloved's? -- name softly. There is a reverence she feels saying her name, like soft cotton candy melting on her tongue.
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"I love you," she confesses, her lips buried in red hair. She smells like charcoal, like cinnamon, like the burnt remains of a campfire and caramelized sugar from marshmallows accidentally dropped into the flames.
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Aurelie laughs but Xiura doesn't hear any words returned. But her friend's laugh feels warm, and she knows, innately, what Aurelie wants to tell her, too.
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Xiura looks down and there's grass and wildflowers beneath their feet, drenched in daylight, growing with the rampant vibrancy of new spring.

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She hangs up pieces of laundry one by one with wooden clothespins, all along a long white cord stretching from her family home to the nearby maple. Red leaves spiral down occasionally from the branches, but every time she looks, the grass is bare of fallen foliage.
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Her Clefairy bounces distractingly around her, trying to call her away from the chores. Xiura smiles fondly. “Not now, I need to finish,” she says, hanging up a light pink kimono with pastel blue flowers. It’s the same one she used to wear when she was… five or so. Why did her mother wash it? It should be in the attic, in a box, all taped up.
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Her Clefairy starts cartwheeling around her. There’s just the one. Then two. Then four.
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“Clefairy, clefairy, clefairy,” her cloned companions sing in a gentle, lulling rhythm. It’s so easy to sit down, lie back on one of the soft, laundry-fresh sheets and stare at the sky, watching the clouds pass in little cream puffs of white.
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There, above her, is a funny-shaped cloud. It looks like a Litten. She sees Hattrem, too. And Cherubi. The clouds are all shaped like adorable Pokemon.
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Xiura smiles and burrows deeper into the soft folds of clean linen on grass, closing her eyes once more.

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Xiura gasped in recognition of the Ampharos she had traded to Jack. She was even more thankful she hadn’t called one of her more well-known Pokemon forth, especially her Bellibolt. Jack couldn’t find out, at any cost. But this Iron Moth stood in their way. She bit her cheek at his shout, and decided not to answer his anger, for fear that he would stop helping her against the Volcarona-like Pokemon. Squirtle surely couldn't fend off the Pokemon alone.
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“Squirtle, be careful!” she called out, still attempting to disguise the pitch of her voice.
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“Squirtle, squirt!” Squirtle affirmed. He hit the robotic Pokemon with a well-aimed Water Pulse, the pulsating blast of water repeatedly hitting the Iron Moth in the face. It swayed from side to side, seeming to be in a state of confusion after the attack.
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The Iron Moth appeared to try and shake off its disorientation, peering at the two Pokemon with its four compound eyes before sending damaging sound waves at them with its vibrating wings in a Bug Buzz attack.

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Xiura looked curiously at Nomi as she mentioned poison with the capability to hurt worlds. But such curiosity and any questions that could have followed were banished with the suddenness of the boulders shifting on their own.
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Xiura yelped, startled as the Regirock arose from its resting place and started demolishing the tomb. “Nomi, sorry! I didn’t know this would happen. We should go!” Rocks started tumbling down all around them, denting the ground itself with the force of impact.
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She grasped her friend’s wrist and pulled her in the direction of the exit, their Pokemon following swiftly after their masters.

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Xiura smiled brightly at Aurelie’s compliment of Decidueye, though her mouth was concealed by the half-mask she wore. The smile reached as far as her eyes, however, clearly conveying her expression. “It’s too bad we’re too large a group to sneak past. Distracting them is a good plan.”
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Xiura noted the comforting warmth of Aurelie’s hand as she pulled Xiura closer, wondering if blade-smithing friend noticed less of the heat from her forge for it. Xiura immediately felt foolish for having such a strange thought, a little too conscious of the fact that Aurelie was holding her hand. Her eyebrows creased a bit in thought, but her attention was quickly brought back to the situation at hand.
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“I hope you and your Golurk stay safe,” Xiura said earnestly, bidding Aurelie good luck and crossing her fingers with both hands. “After all, you’ll be facing up against two trainers and their Pokemon.” She glanced up at her avian Pokemon, whistling at him to continue watching the area and tracking the movements of the two Rangers.
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In the meantime, she stayed fast by the caravan and Mudbrays, determined to keep the cargo safe for their Rocket colleagues. “I’ll wait for the signal from Decidueye to move ahead. Make sure you two don’t get hurt, Aurelie.” She couldn’t help but repeat her worry for her friend. She smiled at her Golurk, feeling a bit more settled by how steady and sure it looked, guarding Aurelie as a loyal guardian.

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Xiura nodded her agreement at Nenet, frowning in concentration as she too examined the state of the Iron Thorns. It seemed far too powerful to take on alone. Could the two of them be enough to take it down?
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"Moon Blast!" Xiura commanded. Gardevoir attacked the Iron Thorns with a beam of pale moonlight, trying to divide the Iron Thorns' attention and distract it from hitting the Pyroar with accuracy. The dinosaur-like Pokemon growled and used another Rock Tomb, Gardevoir trying her best to dodge the falling rocks. Gardevoir seemed to be getting tired, panting for breath.
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"Yeah, I think we should run. It won't be able to follow as well through the thicker parts of the forest," Xiura said, going further into the woods. "Gardevoir, come on!" she called. "Maybe we can find a place to hide out? Or maybe we can lose it in the forest."
Suddenly this clearly non-Rocket member had become an ally to depend on and protect. At least for now.

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The Metagross swayed from the injury from the impact, looking unsteady on its feet. "You got this, Metagross! Use Meteor Mash!" its master said.
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The Metagross pummeled the Type: Null with its dense body. The robotic Pokemon puffed up in size, more determined than ever from the encouragement of its Ranger.
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While the Pokemon was focused on Zev's Type: Null, Tropius was a pinprick in the sky. And then the pinprick grew larger, and larger, until a giant KABOOM resounded through the area and shook the ground. Tropius had body slammed Metagross while it was distracted. "Good one, Tropius!" Xiura cheered from behind a boulder. Tropius burbled in pleasure before Metagross flung him off, clearly damaged and very angry.
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It was a beautiful day. The sun shone brightly, the air was fresh and cool, and there were Sunflora everywhere. A group of the yellow-petaled Pokemon waved merrily from the side of the path, greeting trainers and passersby. In fact, they were so eager to make their acquaintance that they were crowding onto the path itself and holding up foot traffic.
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"Shoo," Xiura said, summoning her Hatterene. With her giant claw, Hatterene started ushering Sunflora and Sunkern off the path like a giant broom sweeping away dust.
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In her anxiousness about the situation, Xiura felt herself growing more muddled in her thoughts and words. "My mistake; I meant my Gardevoir," she apologized to ryker hayes. She grinned at him lightheartedly, though inside she was rattled by the thought she might not be focused enough on the present danger.
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Looking around at the others exploring the swamp, she felt a frail ray of hope shine through the darkness, that together, they would prevail—perhaps it was an added benefit of jack wainwright’s Sunny Day. But her outlook plummeted as they came upon the next obstacle in their path.
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Xiura let out a choked sob, her hands covering her mouth in shock at the garden of water-bloated corpses floating among the mire. The open, veiny eyes were stuck fast in swollen orbitals, each one a bulbous flower emerging from its calyx. The fingers, cheeks, and noses, chewed upon by scavengers and gnawed by decay.
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"No," she wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. This was too much. She had never witnessed this much carnage, not even... not even in her childhood, with the worst of her mother's punishments for ill-performing minions and traitors. She stayed silent, her chin trembling under the cover of her hands.
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Before she could finish processing the sight before her, an Ursaring-like creature appeared, trampling through and disturbing the corpse garden, churning the water with its immense mass and sending the bodies bobbling in the water like gruesome bath toys. Xiura held back a retch as the bodies drifted nearer to shore, beckoning the explorers closer.
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Her Sableye Jin cackled—an echo of her internal scream, from stress and anguish, emotions pulled taut like a guitar string. She reached out to him—to comfort or be comforted, she was not certain. Instead, he grazed past her, in his own measure of comfort, to pursue the monstrous bear, utilizing the agility and subtlety of Shadow Sneak to catch up and attack the creature. Xiura could not call out to him anymore, lest she give away his position and ruin the element of surprise.
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Instead, she fought to take strength from her Pokemon's determination. She spotted the Light Screen summoned by Shred’s Gholdengo and waved wildly to him, hoping a few panels would appear before their group. To her relief, a path forward appeared, and she took a few cautious steps on its surface, testing its stability, before racing towards the Ursaluna and her Sableye. "Let's go!" she called out to her companions, Adrian Malcolm and ryker hayes. There was strength and safety in numbers, she knew. And if she lost Jin, she’d never forgive herself.
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Xiura was being pursued. But in the mists and fog, she was hopelessly turned around. She emerged into a clearing, hoping to see a familiar landmark or clear route for escape.
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"Hey you, stop where you are!"
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That voice was sharply familiar. Xiura’s heart dropped as she saw the undeniable figure of jack wainwright before her, several meters away.
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“Sorry, no, thank you!” Xiura called out, pitching her voice much lower than usual.
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She quickly about-faced to run back into the forestal jungle. However, as she turned, several trees seemed to sprout where they hadn’t before, tropical and large, strangely familiar to her. A flashback of Psycho Cuts slashing purple scars into the trees to mark a pathway entered her mind. Why did this remind her of Route 119?
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She needed to get out of here, fast. Perhaps she could Teleport. She clutched her Pokeball with Hatterene in it, but decided against summoning her. Her worst fear would be that Jack would recognize her, and Hatterene had been a key Pokemon during their mission together that day. She decided against it; she would select another Pokemon later in case she needed a defense.
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As she disappeared again down a path into the forest, a strange robotic hum reached her ears. An Iron Moth emerged and caught sight of her, flames immediately swirling around it in a Fiery Dance. Its eyes glowed with aggression and fury. With a short shriek, she jumped behind a tree, just as a plume of flame whooshed past, the emanating heat nearly singeing her clothing. She was trapped between Jack and an Iron Moth, in addition to being hopelessly lost. She didn’t know what to do.
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Frozen with fear and indecision, Xiura was abruptly brought out of her spiraling thoughts as a short "Squirtle" reached her ears. Her Squirtle had escaped from his Pokeball on his own and was growling menacingly in the direction of the Iron Moth.

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The earthquake turned out to precede the arrival of a Tyranitar, but a robot-like one. An Iron Thorns.
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“No… That’s definitely not what I was looking for,” Xiura responded, backing away from the Iron Thorns.
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The Iron Thorns used Wild Charge, crashing into the protective shield thrown up by the stranger’s Pyroar. It recoiled from the shield, stumbling slightly, a scratch on its otherwise smooth green veneer. “Good one,” she complimented, then summoned her Gardevoir. “Psychic!” A beam of magenta psychic energy blasted out and threw the Iron Thorns off balance. “Maybe we should get out of the open,” she said, backing up towards a glade of trees, but the movement caught the feral Pokemon’s attention. It snorted, steam pouring out of its nostrils, then wound up for another attack.

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Xiura smiled in bright greeting and recognition as jack wainwright came upon the scene, observing as he went to speak with a couple of other members of the group.
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Conversing with ryker hayes, she said, “This area is pretty large. Maybe we should explore further to find more clues.”
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Adrian Malcolm joined Ryker and Xiura, and she greeted him in turn. “I’m not too familiar with the area, either. But if we get lost, my Hatterene can at least teleport us somewhere else,” she said, reassuring and optimistic.
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Her gaze wandered over to the bridge as a glow entered her periphery. Hyakkaryōran Tsubaki’s Zorua psychically carried an object beside him in pale flame. Xiura narrowed her eyes, but couldn’t quite see—but could it be—? It couldn’t. No.
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But her Pokemon’s eyes were far better than hers.
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With a chitter of alarm, her Sableye, Jin, clambered down the tree and into Xiura’s arms to grab her attention, tracking filthy mud up her pants without discretion. Her Pokemon began gesturing wildly and tugging at his elongated ear, a wild glint in his gem-like eyes. “Sable! Sableye!”
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Xiura’s hand flew to her mouth in shock as she realized what he was saying. “They found an ear? Where could the rest of the body be?” she wondered aloud, worried.
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Sableye was still unsettled, wriggling in her arms, so she let him go to jump down to the ground. He wandered off, his eyes once again blazing with agitation and perceptiveness.
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Xiura said, “Jin, don’t go off on your own,” but followed after him when he didn't listen. She glanced back at ryker hayes and Adrian Malcolm, and further into the area, trying to catch jack wainwright's eye. “I think my Sableye senses something,” she called out. “I’m going a little bit ahead, if you would like to come along.” She followed Sableye down a small set of stone stairs, boulders set into the landscape. Soft green-yellow rushes sprouted in the muddy ground, and further along she could see a larger, submerged part of the swamp with a bridge traversing the breadth of the water.
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“Jin,” she whispered loudly, growing a little nervous the further they headed from the group. “Come back. There's something aggressive out here.” Her Sableye chittered, eyes glowing like embers and aggressively sending a MEAN LOOK at the surrounding area to intimidate any creature that might approach them unawares.
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