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monsoon-of-art · 7 months

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Donut Hole - Chapter 17

Who Is She?

Oh, who is she? (Oh, who is she?)

A misty memory (A misty memory)

A haunting face (A haunting face)

Is she a lost embrace?

- Who Is She?, I Monster

[Very little Barry in this chapter, but things are very much happening…….]

[ao3 link]

The first words out of Adaman’s mouth upon seeing Barry plummet off a cliff face with his nightmare bird was ‘Melli, I am going to strangle you’.

But much to everyone’s surprise - either by a miracle of science, or a joke by Almighty Sinnoh themselves - Barry did not land on the rocks with a horrifying and disgusting splat.

He flew.

On the back of that horrible Honchkrow, no less.

And when Ingo’s Gliscor, Mai’s Crobat, and eventually Lord Braviary returned empty handed, it was obvious that Barry had done more than flown; he had escaped.

“That boy is slippier than an Eelektrik.” Ingo muttered.

Mai turned to him. “...what is an Eelektrik?”

And Ingo did not answer. He stared at her, then slowly turned to stare at the horizon without a word.

This terribly awkward moment was - thankfully - interrupted by Lord Braviary’s squawks and chirps. Sabi stroked his fur, nodding as he did so. “Uh huh. OK. OK. I’ll tell them- well not that part - Lord Braviary said he’s going to Jubilife!”

“D-Did he actually tell you that?” Iscan asked, and she only gave a playful smirk in reply.

Adaman tried to think of a plan B. He tried glancing at Irida to see what she was thinking, but he could tell that she too, was trying to think of what to do now.

They couldn’t not go after him. This kid was an absolute headache, but what if he fell off the bird? Lord Braviary and his entire lineage had been trained specifically to carry people…

“We…should at least follow him-”

“If he’s going to Jubilife, someone should try to get there before he can. To warn them.” Palina said, and with a swift motion, still making direct eye contact with Adaman, shoved Gaeric off the back of Arcanine. “I’ll take Iscan with me.”

She didn’t wait for either Leader to give her the OK before Iscan was placed onto the back of Lord Arcanine. The three of them were gone in a matter of moments, only leaving paw prints and a dust cloud behind.

Gaeric stood and dusted himself off. “I can’t believe you just let her do that to me.” He grumbled in Irida’s direction.

“I am not focusing on your petty squabbles.” was all Irida replied with. “I am sure Lord Ursaluna can squeeze you on.”

“But why would he go to Jubilife? From everything we know, he seems to hate the Galaxy Team Stationed there…” said Mai, thoughtfully stroking the fur of Lord Wyrdeer.

Melli rolled his eyes and tossed his hair. “Well he’s caused near insurmountable damage to our settlements, maybe Jubilife is next on his hitlist.”

It was clear from his tone that it was meant to be a joke. But his joke flew about as well as a geodude jumping off a cliff.

There was a pause.

In no time at all, the Diamond and Pearl Clan mounted their pokemon to give chase.

---

Lian grumbled under his breath as his Lord eagerly dove into the pile of beans. Irida had come earlier, insisting - demanding, practically - that he and Lord Kleavor stay within the Heartwood.

She gave several reasons. Ranging from ‘they wanted a warden to stay behind to watch over Jubilife and the surrounding area, along with Warden Arezu’, and ‘The mountains were already getting crowded with the others’, before eventually adding with reluctance, that ‘Lord Kleavor of the Heartwood may be a bit too slow for chasing’.

“Too slow…bah! My Lord, you are the fastest thing in this entire forest!” Lian said, chest puffed with pride.

(He couldn’t exactly say ‘the entire fieldlands’ without insulting lord Wyrdeer, but the forest was just as good.)

Lord Kleavor, to his credit, didn’t seem to mind much. He barely seemed to notice Lian’s ire, happily crunching on beans and bits of salt.

And oh, how badly Lian wanted to help. This…Berry fellow seemed like nothing but bad news. A wicked man who washed away the Diamond settlement in a mudslide, who set his home settlement ablaze, with a team of vicious, blood-thirsty pokemon under his command?

Lian huffed again, sitting down beside his noble. They were going to catch this guy and be the heroes, and Melli would absolutely rub it in his face, and maybe Sabi too-

There was a distant squawk, a flurry of flapping wings, and something heavy crashed into a tree nearby. The impact caused branches to break and tumble to the ground, before whatever fell into the tree fell out.

“What in the-!?” Both Lian and Kleavor snapped to attention, the boy quickly standing to assess the situation.

Before either of them could get close, an enormous honchkrow descended from the sky, placing itself between them and whatever was currently laying on the ground alongside a tangle of branches. It squawked and croaked incessantly, as if trying to scare them off. Did it accidentally drop its prey? Why wasn’t it just picking it back up?

“H-Hey! How dare you take that tone with Lord Kleavor!” Lian shouted at the bird.

The honchkrow turned and screeched loud enough for Lian to stumble back, nearly tripping over the tree roots surrounding them. His hat fluttered to the ground, but he dare not tear his eyes away from the dangerous pokemon in front of him.

The Noble title that the Lords and Ladys possessed was not only upheld by the clans, but by the pokemon they shared space with. It was generally understood that Noble pokemon were very powerful, and they shouldn’t be trifled with.

The audacity of this honchkrow was both out of the norm and offensive.

Lord Kleavor bellowed in reply, but the large bird refused to back down. And behind the bird, whatever fell began to stir.

A hand reached up to stroke the honchkrow’s feathers. “I-I just closed my eyes for a bit, bud…I must’ve drifted off. How did I end up on the ground?” the figure rasped, struggling to stand.

It was a teenager, barely a few years older than Lian, with blonde hair. But he looked terrible; even worse than when they found Ingo, something that Lian hadn’t thought possible.

The teenager approached him, a strange, eerie sort of pity in his eyes. “Oh…you're just a little kid…"

Despite himself, Lian couldn’t help but scoot away. “W-What do you want?”

“Where’s Jubilife?”

“Huh?”

Behind him, Lord Kleavor let out a low rumble in warning. The teenager stopped walking, slowly tilting his head. He opened his mouth to say something, but decided otherwise. “Where is Jubilife? I don't wanna hurt you."

Did he mean Jubilife village?

Lian pointed behind the teenager and off into the distance. “I-It’s past deetrack heights! Cross the river, t-then cross it again!”

“Thanks. You’re alright.” He turned to leave, but paused, giving Lian another pitiful look.

“...man. You look like you would’ve loved Minecraft.” he said, voice wistful. “I can’t believe Cyrus would deprive the world of something so pure…”

What?

But he didn’t explain any part of that baffling statement. He turned, hand on the large Honchkrow’s back, the teenager starting to limp in the vague direction that Lian had told him.

Lian sat there for a moment, still processing that strange encounter. But surprise - and the tiny bits of fear - gave way to defensive irritation. “Did you hear him, Lord Kleavor?! The nerve!”

Lord Kleavor chittered, trying to nudge the boy back into a standing position.

Several dots began to connect in Lian’s head. A strange man he’s never met before, who clearly looked out of place, with a powerful pokemon by his side-

“Wait - WAIT, WAS THAT HIM?!” He shouted, scrambling to grab onto Lord Kleavor’s neck. “We have to chase after him! My Lord, please, allow me to ride upon your back!”

Kleavor lowered his great head to allow the boy to clamber onto his back. While a bit awkward, Lian could wrap his arms around Lord Kleavor’s head and brace his legs on the rocky white formations where wings once grew; a kind of tepiggy back ride, although Lian would shudder to call it something so childish.

Lord Kleavor glanced back to make sure his Warden was situated before standing and entering a ready position. “Right! Let’s chase after him!”

---

The guards positioned at Jubilife’s gates barely had time to get out of the way before Lord Arcanine bowled through the doors like tissue paper.

The townsfolk screamed and fled, parents pulling children inside, others cowering in corners and behind buildings. The only one who didn’t flee was Arezu, who approached lord Arcanine and his riders with hesitance.

“I take it that the plan in the mountains didn’t work.” she said with a frown.

Iscan answered with a, “Well…no.”

“We need Dawn.” said Palina.

And lucky for them, Dawn was rushing out of the wallflower to see what the commotion was.

“Wow! I didn’t know you could ride on Lord Arcanine’s back!” she said as she approached.

“Only in emergencies.” Palina replied as she dismounted.

Her words sunk in quickly, and the young girl frowned. “Emergencies? What’s going on? I was on my way to help with Lord Electrode, if Melli is done stalling on making the balms-"

“There’s a…” Palina hesitated, glancing back at Iscan and Arezu. “...Situation that we’ve been trying to deal with, without getting Jubilife - and by extension you - involved.”

“But it didn’t work.” continued Iscan. “A-And we’d like to uh…’borrow’ you? For a minute?”

Rei finally caught up, glancing between Dawn and the wardens. “What’s going on? What’s wrong?”

Dawn glanced at him before returning to look at the Wardens and Lord Arcanine. “Uhm, I think the clans need our help-?”

Palina ‘erred’ and ‘ummed’, clearly wanting to say something but not wanting to be rude. “We…we really only need Dawn for this-”

And now the professor was jogging over to meet them, panting, hands on his knees. “T-The survey corps! At your service!” he said between huffs and puffs, “What…what is ever the matter? Is it a dangerous poke…pokemon?”

“N-No, no professor, we just need Dawn-”

“So it’s not a pokemon problem?” asked Rei.

“Well.” Iscan started to say. “I-It kinda is? But also not?”

Laventon crossed his arms over his chest. “If it’s not a problem with pokemon, then I am afraid we aren’t much help. Perhaps the security corps would be of better aid?”

“No, no, this is definitely a job for Dawn.” Palina replied, voice edging on frantic. “And time is of the essence, we really should be going, we can explain along the way-”

“CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON?!”

Everyone was surprised by Dawn’s explosive outburst, but the Wardens had been dancing around the issue long enough.

Palina sighed, kneeling down slightly to be on her level. “There’s…there’s a boy your age. A little taller than you. He has blonde, spiked hair, and a green scarf. He’s been all over Hisui, causing all sorts of trouble-”

“- and property damage.” Iscan quickly added.

“- and property damage, yes. But. But. He’s looking for someone, Dawn. And I think he’s looking for you.”

“He bit me.” Arezu said, glancing between them all.

“Bit you?! Property damage?! You want our Dawn to charge into battle to deal with this madman who’s looking for her?!” Barked Laventon. “I will not allow it!”

Palina stood. “It’s not some ‘madman’, it’s a boy her age that clearly knows her! This situation is admittedly strange and confusing, but the clans have done everything to try and help him with no success. And now, we’ve had to involve Dawn.”

Laventon turned to talk to Dawn directly. “My dear girl, you don’t have to-” But she was not there.

He and Rei glanced around. The Wardens looked around too.

Dawn had vanished.

Rei pointed to the front gates. “She just ran off! I saw a bit of her scarf before she crested the hill!”

Palina mounted on the back of Lord Arcanine once more. Iscan turned to Arezu. “Are you coming with?”

Arezu looked at the pair of them riding on the back of Lord Arcanine up and down. “...hmmmmmmm, pass. But do come back and tell me how it goes! I love a good story.”

Laventon was still deeply unsettled by this entire exchange. “I’ll warn you now, Kamado will not be happy with the clans keeping such a secret. If you had told us sooner, we could have helped.”

“Like I said, this whole thing is…strange. And it spiraled so fast.” said Palina. “When all is said and done, I truly believe this web will untangle, but we need to get there first. Let’s go after Dawn.”

Lord Arcanine barked, turning and running back the way he came, hot on Dawn’s heels.

“D-Do they expect me to run?” Laventon asked, giving Rei a pleading look.

Rei shrugged, but started to run after them. “I think so, professor! C’mon!”

“My boy, I am not that fast! Wait for me!”

[DAWN'S OUTTA HERE]

[Also I loved redrawing the Manga panel for Barry. its HIS turn to be weirdly scary!]

#pokemon legends arceus #pla #rival barry #donut hole #barry in Hisui

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