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monsoon-of-art · 9 months

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Donut Hole - Chapter 16

Mountain Sound

Hold your horses now (We sleep until the sun goes down) Through the woods, we ran (Deep into the mountain sound) Hold your horses now (We sleep until the sun goes down) Through the woods, we ran

[THINGS ARE GETTING CRAZY FOLKS] [also shoutout to me rereading my old chapters and going 'oh Barry literally doesnt know Iscan's name'.] [Also I wanted to keep this chapter short and…that didn't happen. ENJOY THE 5k WORDS OF CHAOS!] [And a big thanks to my anonymous bestie and my friend Plant for Beta Reading!]

[ao3 Link]

Adaman didn’t return to his home in the Mirelands immediately. No, he went a bit further to the Coastlands to try and clear his head. Interacting with Irida for an extended period of time was bad for his health, he just knew it.

He stood on the sandy shores, the surf mere inches away from touching his shoes. Adaman took a moment to ground himself, breathing in the salty air. Time was precious, and spending time to reorient himself especially so.

“Lord Adaman!” down the stretch of beach, Iscan waved as he approached. “It’s always a pleasure to see you. What brings you here?”

“Had to clear my head. Irida just-” he gestured wildly with his hands with no clear meaning. “She just gets under my skin. You know how the Pearl Clan acts; they think they’re constantly right all the time?”

Iscan frowned. “I-I don’t know if every member of the Pearl Clan is like that…have you m-met them all?”

Adaman raised an eyebrow. “And you have?”

“Well…no.”

The Diamond Clan leader scoffed a bit at that, but Iscan seemed unconvinced. “W-What was Lady Irida talking about, anyhow?”

“You know that boy who robbed you, then broke your house?”

“How could I forget? What about him?”

Adaman fought not to roll his eyes. “Irida has convinced herself that he is connected to Dawn, of the Galaxy team.”

Iscan blinked at him, seemingly sharing Adaman’s skepticism. “And how did she come to that conclusion?”

“Half-baked coincidences and wishful thinking, I’d imagine. The two are children roughly the same age, both powerful trainers, both…weird-”

“Two of those things describe Warden Ingo? No offense to him of course-”

Adaman snickered at that, “That’s what I was thinking too. It’s all just coincidences. And my thought process is that sure, the boy may superficially resemble Dawn’s friend-”

“What?”

The clan leader took a breath. “I should’ve started at the beginning. Irida and I came to Jubilife to discuss that boy running about. But we were stopped by Dawn, who wanted to show us a pokemon she had caught, who she named after her best friend, Barry. Then she starts to cry and say how much she loved this friend, and how they used to train and battle and eat pecha berries-"

He paused, glancing over at Iscan, noticing how pale the other man was suddenly. "Did…did I say something?"

Iscan started to say something, stopped, thought for a moment. He closed his eyes and held a fist in front of his mouth, trying to recall. "You said the friend's name was Barry?" He finally asked.

"...yeah…?"

"And y-you said. You said they would eat pecha berries?"

Adaman felt a flicker of irritation. "Oh come now, Iscan, surely you don't-"

"Did Dawn describe the friend at all?"

"This is such a waste of time- yes. Yes she did, after Irida practically forced her to. A boy her age, taller, spikey blonde hair and a green scarf-"

Iscan spoke slowly, knowing that what he was about to say would not fly over well. "Sir. My Lord. With all due respect. I-I think Irida may be…c-correct.

That went just as well as Iscan thought it would. “You’re siding with her?! Might I remind you of what clan you’re part of?!”

“Adaman.” Iscan said firmly. “I am asking you to listen to me, instead of assuming the worst.”

This seemed to pacify Adaman, at least a little bit. Enough for Iscan to continue. “The boy in question came into my home, if you’ll recall. Stole some things, broke my walls. But before he did, he…spoke. I…I didn’t speak to him directly. Palina did, and she relayed everything the boy had said.”

Curiosity began overtaking Adaman’s anger. “...what did he say?”

“A-At first, we thought he was spouting madness. Asking for items we’ve never heard of, refusing to say where he had come from, and thought Palina was his mother. But…there was something else. He’s looking for someone.”

“That’s ominous. And vague. And unhelpful.”

“He’s looking for a girl. But he can’t remember the finer details. I think something’s scrambled his memory really bad. But there were two things he remembered; the girl was the best pokemon trainer he’s ever seen…and they used to share pecha berries.”

Adaman didn’t say a word. He slowly turned back to stare into the horizon, his mouth fixed into a thin line.

Iscan honestly thought he had broke him. “...L-Lord Adaman?”

Lord Adaman closed his eyes, inhaled through his nose, then exhaled. “...Fuck.”

He spun on his heel, gesturing in the air with his pointer finger. “Gather up the rest of the Wardens. We need to go catch this kid.”

---

When it was just Barry and his pokemon and the world around him, he could almost pretend he was on another adventure. That he was just exploring around Mount Coronet, looking for new discoveries, a pokemon center just around the corner. Later, when he was tired, he would go home, give his mom a kiss on the cheek, and tuck himself into bed.

It wasn’t true, of course. Not a single bit of it.

This was a different world from his own; Cyrus won, the world is ruined, pokemon centers don’t exist and his mom-

He didn’t want to think about that.

Barry focused on his pokemon. Once he was a safe distance from the weird shirtless man and his daughter(?) he had let his pokemon out of their balls. Fern took the lead, Pest sat on his head, Mystery flew above, Jen walked behind…

And Snacks kept bringing him things.

Snacks would toddle off for a while, returning with a handful of…something. Rocks. Twigs. Berries. He was surprised it stuck around so long. He had told the little guy that it was free to go once they were far enough away from those two nutjobs, but Snacks seemed content to stay.

Barry was…tired. Part of him wanted to find a nice spot to curl up and sleep, but they had already lost so much ground that they needed to make up…

He could feel it in his bones; this mountain had answers. He had to get to the top of this mountain.

Even if it killed him.

Barry tried to stifle a yawn as Fern slowed to check on him. “Atta boy Fern…keeping watch. Those nutjobs aren’t following us, right?”

Fern chirped, trying to gesture for Barry to slow down and sit. Barry barely put up a fight as his pokemon shuffled him onto a rock to rest.

“Mmkay, quick break. Quick break.” he muttered, petting the pokemon closest to him. In this case, Jen. Pest and Mystery preened the boy the best they could, and Snacks continued to pile small objects into Barry’s lap.

Absent-mindedly, he began sorting the items. Berries, twigs, clumps of dirt…and a jet black rock with sharp edges. This item caused him to pause, turning the item over in his hand. He ran his finger along the edge, wincing as he sliced a small cut on his finger tip.

“It’s as dark as…dark can be.” he commented, trying to remember what this stone was. Had he seen it in a shopping magazine? Pamphlet? Flyer? Maybe in one of those trainer guides he’d get monthly in the mail-?

Realization hit him like a bucket of cold water. “M-MYSTERY!” He grabbed the bird, a little roughly, but not without kindness, to show him the stone. “DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?!”

Mystery, understandably surprised and startled, squawked in reply.

“It’s a DUSK STONE! You can evolve with this!”

That got the bird’s attention, and now it too was staring at the stone with fascination.

Barry turned to Snacks. “You are SUCH a good boy!... Girl!... Tree!! You are SUCH a good tree!!”

Barry was perfectly ready to give Mystery the Dusk Stone and begin Mystery’s evolution, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed Fern looking…tense. “...Buddy?”

His team grew quiet. Barry strained to try and hear what they were hearing, trying to listen past the faint whistle of the wind and rustling of leaves…

“...’m not sitting behind you, I have seniority…”

His brain wasn’t firing on all cylinders, but each thought felt like a Pikipek against his skull; were they followed? Where were these people? Did they know where he was? Would they hurt his pokemon? Was Cyrus there?

Quickly, he recalled all his pokemon but Fern, much to Mystery’s irritation. “W-We’ll evolve you later. This is more important. Fern, lead the way.”

The two of them crept closer to the voices, finding themselves peering over the rocky cliffs and into a small canyon.

It was all the commanders from Team Galactic he had met so far, and a few he hadn’t. What was worrying were the pokemon mounts they had - pokemon he had never seen before.

Barry focused on Palina, currently on the back of an enormous dog-pokemon. If he squinted, he’d almost be tempted to say it was a horribly ill arcanine. Of course they were mistreating their pokemon!

“I am not sitting behind you on Lord Arcanine, Palina. I have seniority! I should sit in front!” Gaeric argued. “I am not sitting behind you! That’s embarrassing!”

“Lord Arcanine is my Lord, Gaeric. You should’ve brought your own. Oh. Right. I forgot.”

He could vaguely see Ingo and that weird, stretched out Sneasel walking down a path in the the cliffs to join the small group, flanked by a tall man in blue with long hair who appeared to really not want to be there.

Even at a distance, Barry could sense a weird tension amongst everyone, which he found strange. Weren’t they all part of Team Galactic?

Both Barry and Fern turned to the sound of galloping hooves. Riding in on a large, white deer were two people; a woman in the blue galactic uniform with black hair, and a man in a much more decorative jacket of some kind.

“He must be a leader. Wait. Cyrus is the leader.” Barry muttered. “What’s in between a commander and a leader? General?”

Sure. He’d settle on ‘General’.

The ‘General’ barely had time to hop off the pokemon before another, tall man stormed over. “Adaman, what is the meaning of this?! Working together with them?!” The tall man gestured to the commanders in pink with disgust in his voice.

‘General’ Adaman raised his hands to pacify. “Melli, settle down. We’re here with a shared goal; to find the boy.”

Barry felt his heart skip several beats. “O-Oh my God.”

They were definitely looking for him. But…it appeared they didn’t know where he was yet.

‘General’ Adaman spoke to the group now. “We are still waiting for Warden Calaba and Lady Irida. They will be arriving on Ursaluna.”

“So they’ll be a while.” the girl on the deer added.

“Must we share ride pokemon?” Melli continued to complain.

Ingo spoke now, “It is imperative we find the boy as fast as our routes will allow! As such, riding on the back of Pokemon is a must! But Melli and I know the mountains best, and it would be best for us to traverse on foot!”

Melli huffed at that, “Well that’s not much better.”

Finally, lumbering into the clearing was an enormous bear of some kind; with an older woman in pink and a younger woman with a crown on her head.

“Ah, finally decided to grace our presence, Lady Irida.” said Adaman. “This was your idea, you know.”

General Irida scowled at him as she hopped off the Pokemon’s back. “Lord Ursaluna takes his time, and who am I to tell him otherwise? Great haste makes great waste.”

“True, but a little haste would be appreciated.”

My God. Barry thought to himself. Were these two always like this?

How exhausting.

Finally, the two generals addressed the group together. Adaman spoke first, gesturing with his hands. “You’re all aware why we’re here. We need to finally take care of that child once and for all.”

Barry gulped.

Irida’s body language was much more closed off, but she followed up with, “The child is a danger to himself and others-”

“He set our settlement on FIRE.” Gaeric shouted.

“And he buried OUR SETTLEMENT in a LANDSLIDE!” Melli added.

The generals grimaced at the upset murmurings and general feeling of irritation. Adaman attempted to regain command. “Which is why we’re trying to capture him? He can’t just keep running around like this! Who knows what he’ll do next!”

“We’re in a temporary truce to work together to find him.” Said Irida. “According to Gaeric and Sabi, Berry was last seen heading towards the Highlands-”

Sabi began jumping in place, her giant bird loudly squawking, “And I can sense him still! He’s so close!”

Barry felt a shiver run up his spine at that. There were so many of them…and only one of him. If he wasn’t careful, then he was going to end up in their clutches.

He started slinking back, careful not to make any sudden movements or sound-

From his bag rolled the pokeball containing Mystery, and once the ball hit the floor, the large murkrow burst free with an ear-piercing croak.

As Barry and Fern scrambled to get its pokeball, Mystery was already rummaging in Barry’s bag, knocking items out with a loud clatter.

“MYSTERY- MYSTERY NO-!” came Barry’s terrified hiss. “I SAID WE’D EVOLVE YOU LATER - BAD BIRD! GET BACK IN THE BALL!”

The Galactic Commanders and General had definitely noticed the noise by now, unsure what to make of it.

“That is not a normal call from a Murkrow-” “Should we do something?” “What is it even doing-?”

Finally, Mystery managed to snag the Dusk Stone from Barry’s bag, and began to glow.

“SHIT.”

Mystery as a Murkrow was already an absurdly large specimen. Mystery as a Honchkrow was enormous. As large as Barry stood tall, maybe even larger.

And much to Barry’s horror, Mystery’s new, large size made them a new, very large target.

“Is that him?” “That’s him!”

If looks could kill, the withering glare Barry gave his Honchkrow would’ve made the bird explode into a puff of feathers. “We need to leave. Now!” he said as he scrambled to shove all of the items back into his bag.

There was no way he could outrun them. But he had a bit of a lead. As Barry ran, Fern and Mystery flanked him. "Mystery, if we get out of this alive? I'm turning you into a feather duster!"

In practically no time at all, he could hear the panting and the heavy footfalls of paws hitting the earth from the arcanine behind them. It almost felt like each step caused the mountain to shake.

They had caught up so fast.

“Berry!” Palina pleaded from the back of the arcanine. (Wait did she get his name wrong?) “Berry, please! We only want to help! Stop running!”

“Then stop CHASING ME then!” Barry shot back.

‘Help’. Sure. Like he’d believe that.

“Stop making this so difficult!” Gaeric said from behind her.

He saw a small trail up ahead, snaking through a thin chasm. There was no way the arcanine could follow them down there. And with a quick glance, Barry informed his pokemon of the plan.

As soon as they could, the three of them ducked down the trail. The Arcanine whined and tried to paw at the entrance, testing if it could fit, to no avail. Barry heard shouting, but the adrenaline that was quickly overwhelming his system blurred all noise.

He had to get out of here in one piece.

Barry and his pokemon finally squeezed out of the trail on a different side of the mountain. Everything was starting to blend together now; sound, sights, thoughts. His hands were clammy. His head was starting to spin.

A wave of clarity hit when Barry saw the white deer round a corner, General Adaman and the unnamed commander with black hair on its back.

“F-Fern-!” Barry squeaked, pointing in their direction.

With a single word, Fern understood perfectly. It took a ready stance, fully prepared to take on the white deer galloping towards them at top speed.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t going to be that easy. The deer slowed to a stop, and with a single, stern look, Fern staggered.

Hypnosis.

“No-” Barry whispered, seeing Fern try to shake off the effects of the hypnosis and failing. “No!”

“This is for your own good.” Adaman said. “Lord Wyrdeer, another Hypnosis-”

“You don’t know what’s good for me!” Barry shot back, and before he could even utter the command, Mystery flew in for his rescue.

Shrieking like a crobat from hell, Mystery swooped forward, talons aimed directly for the deer’s face. The deer bellowed, rising on its back legs to try and shake Mystery off, General Adaman nearly falling off entirely, if not for the unnamed commander grabbing his shirt.

“You’re not going to stop me! I won’t let you win!” Barry continued to spit like an enraged seviper, recalling Fern to its pokeball.

His adversaries distracted, Barry ran.

Looking over his shoulder, he whistled for Mystery to catch up with him. This proved to be a mistake, as taking his eyes off the path for a split second caused him to trip.

And fall.

Down one of the cliffs.

Luckily for Barry, this particular cliff wasn’t very high, nor was it steep. He mostly slid and scrambled his way down more than fell. This did not stop him from hitting every root and rock on the way down, and it did not make hitting the ground hurt any less.

He laid there for a moment, groaning, his bandaged leg spiking with pain upon impact. Mystery landed next to him with a flutter of feathers, tugging on his clothes to try and pull him up.

Barry couldn’t lay there for long, seeing and hearing something shuffling closer. He sat up, seeing the lumbering form of a giant bear approaching him now.

“Berry…we want to help.” came the soft voice of General Irida. “You’re looking for someone, right? We could help you find her…if you come with us?”

“Don’t try and negotiate with crazy people.” The older woman hissed.

“S’atrap…” Barry slurred as he tried to stand, wincing as he put weight on his injured leg. “‘S a trap. It’s a TRAP. Gonna help me into a GRAVE.”

Mystery cawed loudly in agreement.

“No! No no no, it’s not a trap! We’re not lying to you!” Irida continued to insist as she - and the giant bear with giant bear claws - lumbered closer.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a cave entrance, from a glance it looked too small for the giant bear to fit in.

Could Barry outrun a bear? He was about to find out.

“You’re not getting me. You’re not getting me. You’re not getting me.” he muttered, slowly walking backwards. “You’re not going to win.”

“Berry-!”

“AND THAT’S NOT MY NAME! MY NAME IS BARRY!”

And Barry ran. Bolting for the cave entrance even as the two women yelled and the bear bellowed behind him. The only confirmation of his pokemon by his side was the rustling of feathers as the two bolted for presumed safety.

But he found no solace within the cave. Instead he found two pairs of glowing eyes staring at him.

“You have traveled far, but your determination has not brought you victory. Not this time, young passenger.”

Barry felt a shiver run down his spine.

“Let me introduce myself again. I am the Warden Ingo. You have done well to evade my fellow Wardens, but you will have no such luck with me.”

Ingo assumed a familiar pose; the iconic ‘point and call’ that Barry was familiar with from travel magazines and advertisements for the Battle Subway in Unova. But it was…wrong. Ingo looked horribly stiff, his tattered clothing doing him no favors.

He looked like he had died on this mountain.

Barry quickly glanced around the cave, looking for a potential exit. To his immediate right was a soft glow indicating another cave opening, but the stretched out sneasel clearly noticed as well; starting to slowly skulk over to block it off.

“Now, you are a very smart boy, and a very skilled trainer. The bond between you and your pokemon is admirable.” He lowered his head, the brim of his cap obscuring his eyes and making him look all the more intimidating. “So don’t be stupid, now. Come with us. This track ends here. It’s time to divert your course.”

��Oh my God.’ Barry thought, sweat forming on his brow. ‘Subway Boss Ingo is going to kill me in this cave.’

He couldn’t go back. And he couldn’t go forward without a fight.

So fight it was.

“MYSTERY, GO GET THAT SNEASEL!”

Ingo and the sneasel seemed surprised by this outcome, but what did they expect, honestly? That Barry was going to give up? Turn himself in? Fat chance.

Mystery flew forward with a horrid screech, flapping its wings and raising its talons to fight the sneasel. It was a longshot; the sneasel had a type advantage, being ice.

Regardless, the sneasel howled and raised its large claws to try and shield itself. Ingo was shouting something, fumbling for his pokeballs. And in the chaos, Barry made a break for it.

Barry ran from the cave, temporarily blinded by sunlight, Mystery flying just behind him. But just behind the wingbeats was the sound of hooves, of heavy paws, shouting, begging, pleading for him to stop, stop, stop, STOP.

And deep down, Barry knew he had to eventually. His lungs were burning, his head felt fuzzy, his leg felt like jelly. The inevitability was killing him. He had to keep running. He had to stop. He had to keep running. He had to stop.

Unfortunately, the terrain decided for him.

Barry yelped, skidding to a stop just before tumbling off another cliff. This one steeper. This one taller. If he fell down this cliff, he wouldn’t have walked away with just scrapes and bruises.

He turned, starting to run back the way he came, but was instead met with the sick arcanine, Palina, and Gaeric.

Barry squeaked, walking backwards as the arcanine slowly inched closer. They were swiftly joined by the other commanders and their respective ride pokemon (or lack of).

He was cornered. Cornered cornered. His legs started to shake as he tried to think of possibilities to get out of this mess, but each potential idea ending in painful failure after painful failure.

“Good God, it’s about time we catch this brat.” said Melli with a snooty huff.

“You didn’t even help! Y-You were in the Moonview Arena!” countered the man with a shaved head in blue.

“I was keeping a watchful eye over my dear Lord! Sinnoh forbid this brat hurt Lord Electrode-”

“Shut it- Shut it!” Adaman hissed as he dismounted the deer. “Squabble later!”

Irida dismounted the bear at the same time. “Ber- Barry. Barry.” she said slowly, hands outstretched as if she were attempting to pacify a great beast instead of a thirteen year old boy.

They were all inching closer now. Barry honestly thought his heart would explode, or his legs would give out. Like his entire body would fall apart at the seams like a poorly made ragdoll.

“P-Pl..please. Don’t hurt my pokemon.” was the only thing Barry managed to say, reaching to pet Mystery’s inky feathers without looking away from the encroaching commanders.

Behind him, Mystery let out a soft, confused croon.

“Should we have Ingo use sleep powder on him again?” Gaeric asked.

The woman on the deer looked surprised. “Ingo did what?”

“No, no, none of that. We’re not going to do anything drastic.” Irida spoke as if she were speaking for Barry’s behalf as well. Perhaps urging him to comply. “We’re just going to take him to the Galaxy Headquarters in Jubilife-”

“Team Galactic is in Jubilife?” asked Barry, quietly, almost in disbelief. Last he knew, the Galactic Headquarters should be in Eterna city. But this is a world where Cyrus ruled, and why wouldn’t he move his headquarters to the biggest city in Sinnoh?

Of course, that did him little good now, stuck between a horde of commanders and a cliff face, metaphorical rock and a hard place. And now he just felt stupid for running around a mountain all day. Barry could feel the tears start to well in his eyes.

Stupid. Stupid. Stupid.

With a determined croak, Mystery threw the boy onto its back. It took Barry a minute to get more comfortable, practically throwing his arms around Mystery’s neck. It was a lot different than riding his Staratpor back home, that’s for certain.

Mystery looked over its shoulder. Barry looked back, eyes widening in realization.

He nodded.

“THAT TRACK IS NOT SAFE FOR TRAVERSAL!” Ingo shouted, voice frantic and fearful, reaching for the pokeball containing Gliscor. “FOR YOUR SAFETY I ASK YOU DISMOUNT IMMEDIATELY!”

“Ingo, what are you saying?!” the old woman on the back of the bear demanded.

Sabi answered for him. “HE’S GONNA JUMP!”

The group surged forward. Some begging, some yelling, but all telling the boy in some form to get away from the cliff.

“He doesn’t have the guts! Only Lord Braviary can fly carrying someone!” Melli loudly scoffed. “The brat might as well do a flip to entertain the crowd!”

Adaman turned and sharply hissed, “Melli, with Sinnoh as my witness, I will strangle you.”

Barry and Mystery paid the crowd no mind. The small bit of space before the drop-off would provide the bird a decent running start; so Mystery turned and began to sprint directly for the cliff’s edge.

Of course, Barry hadn’t seen a single Technical Machine lying around since he arrived, let alone the Hidden Machine for Fly. But he had to trust in his pokemon, and trust that Mystery wouldn’t let him plummet to his death-

“Wait WAIT WAIT- I CHANGED MY-”

Mystery jumped.

For the briefest of moments, Barry felt weightless. Looking out over the mountainous hills, he felt…small. Like a feather, or maybe a dandelion puff in the breeze.

And then gravity kicked in, and the two began to fall.

And fall.

Seeing the ground rushing to meet him, Barry squeezed his eyes shut tight, “Mystery I’m sorry for threatening to turn you into a feather duster!” he said, fighting to speak against the wind. ”God, take pity on my little broken body!”

He couldn’t see it, but at that, Mystery smirked.

Barry felt Mystery start to flap its wings, and the pressure of gravity beginning to fade. He cracked open an eye, seeing the landscape flying by.

“W-We’re flying! WE’RE FLYING!!”

Feeling the wind in his hair, seeing the world blur past…he had missed this. He had grown so used to flying on Staraptor back home, it had become so mundane. But this? This was a completely different ballpark.

“W-We can fly to Jubilife from here! It shouldn’t be that far- Mystery, fly us to the top of Mount Coronet!” he commanded.

Behind them came a screech. Barry spun around, seeing that the enormous bird Sabi commanded, a gliscor, and a crobat was currently tailing them.

“UH-”

Barry couldn’t exactly start a pokemon battle in the sky. A sky battle? That sounded incredibly stupid. Instead, Barry rummaged through his bag and started throwing things. The rocks and sticks and other random items that Snacks had brought him proved excellent ammo.

Unfortunately, this only caused annoyance. Both for the pokemon pursuing them and for Mystery.

Mystery cawed and cawed nonstop, Barry meekly closing his bag and wrapping his arms around the bird’s neck once more, which finally seemed to pacify it.

Then, in a swift motion, Mystery rolled onto its back, slashing at the crobat with its talons. And with another swipe, slashed at the gliscor.

As Mystery rolled back, the crobat and gliscor retreated.

Only the enormous bird remained.

Mystery and Barry darted through the mountains, trying to shake the bird off their trail and to form some sort of sense of direction. But even the fanciest of tricks couldn’t get rid of it.

Regardless, Mystery darted through a cloud layer and emerged out the top, slowly circling the peak of Mount Coronet.

The first thing Barry set his eyes upon was the swirling vortex in the sky; a blackened, gaping wound that bled lightning and thunder. That same, terrible unease from before gripped Barry’s entire rib cage and began to squeeeeeze.

After some effort, Barry tore his gaze away. “Spear Pillar should be-huh?”

In Spear Pillar’s place was…well, a temple. Carved marble columns, statues, a stone roof- it was like someone came and fixed Spear Pillar overnight.

“I…I guess Cyrus likes old architecture?” It’d certainly fit him, Cyrus looked ancient.

“Those are the stairs! And they face North!” said Barry, pointing at the landmark. He then did some mental triangulation, using the tried and true method of ‘Never Eat Soggy Wurmples’, Barry was able to mentally map out where Jubilife should be.

“Mystery! We gotta head Southwest! We should hit Jubilife-”

Bursting from the clouds like a Sharpedo out of water, the giant bird screeched as it tried to grab the two with its claws.

Mystery screamed back, loud enough to hurt Barry’s ears (Snarl, maybe? Could Honchkrow learn Snarl?) and to make the bird hesitate. And within this hesitation, Mystery dashed forward, talons raised in attack.

Barry almost felt bad. But at this point he was just a passenger on this flight.

With a pained whimper, the enormous bird sank below the clouds, defeated.

Barry stroked Mystery’s chest feathers. “Let’s head out of here before it comes back. Onward! To Jubilife!”

---

[Sabi, last chapter: You can't hurt a Noble that's against the rules :( Mystery, this chapter: And I'll fuckin' do it again] [This entire chapter was seriously 'Mystery off the Shits' huh. BUT OH BOY HERE WE GO TO JUBILIFE :)] THE TEAM:

#Donut Hole #Barry in Hisui #pokemon legends arceus #pla #rival barry

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