FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

Chapter 13.

Rook suddenly jolted awake in the dead of night, his heart pounding in his chest and his arms snapping up underneath himself. His entire body felt tense, and his fur was suddenly hardened all along his body, causing Rook to feel as if he was practically made of metal. He huffed and breathed heavily while staring down at his lap, his eyes wide and heart still racing for several more seconds. He ran his paws across his legs a few times. This was real right? His fur felt so smooth and metallic...

Forcing himself to relax, and thereby feeling his fur relax and loosen, Rook looked along the room he was in, calm returning to him as he saw he was back on the raft. Rook realized then how his fur had just been, all bunched up tight to his body. A new Rock Coat? When...

"Something given to you by Ruli...If you want to know details?" Enzlo said from just outside the window next to the Lycanroc, and Rook would turn his head, seeing the Abra's ears just hovering over the edge of the window. Rook got his first look of the sky outside, it was the middle of the night, there was a moon of some kind Rook could tell, because he saw its light shimmering off the water, but the sky was mostly dark and therefore the stars shined brightly.

Rook just nodded, unable to really find his voice, while he curled slightly on the bed, and began to mentally check his control on this new Rock Coat, he would listen and get comfortable with this at the same time...

Enzlo could feel the Lycanroc start to expertly manipulate his own life energy, infusing more of it into the new layer of armor covering his body. "That Rock Coat is a special thing for you."

Rook frowned and thought his question back, and Enzlo only responded with, "In both." The Lycanroc gave an exasperated sigh to which Enzlo laughed.

"It is interesting to see that kind of conversation reversed." Rook snickered then, grinning brightly and then looking down again, but rumbling happily still.

"Yes, usually a psychic would be the one speaking through their mind in silence while the other speaks words. It was always a fun thing to do to people with Tod, getting him to say things in response to me that made them seriously ponder both his and my sanity." Enzlo smirked as well, "But...I figured a more direct interaction would be what you'd like after just waking up...you've been sleeping for a few days now."

"Wha-? Really? That uh...must have really knocked me out." He usually didn't sleep long and he'd never been actually K.O. by battle or such before...but yeah, he realized, creating that sword had somewhat drained him after the moment passed.

Rook looked up out the window in puzzlement, and then leaned a little on the window sill so that he could lean out of the window a bit himself, hanging some of his upper body beside the Abra floating there. He looked out upon the ocean with Enzlo just under him, who floated in the air with his back against the wall. "The moon is so pretty on the ocean." Rook suddenly stated, his eyes glowing in the dark of night as he took in the sight.

"This world...is very beautiful..." Enzlo agreed, "That is very true...It could be soon much more so...and more pokemon can get their chances to see it." Enzlo would look up at Rook from under him, looking at his furry face. Rook's mane of fur rustled in the air lightly, the dust within already having long been associated with Rook's energy long before the Lycanroc even woke up.

"Wanna see something that I can do?" Enzlo smirked, "Just don't freak out."

Enzlo grinned and he lifted up a single finger, pointing it straight up into the air and then touching the raft's wall with his other hand.

Rook blinked once and then began looking around as suddenly the raft began to lazily tilt backwards into the water! Except...the water and air around the raft shifted with it. This created a pocket space and soon, the raft was upside down, yet somehow, the water of the ocean carried on. Teleported instantaneously from where the air of Enzlo's bubble, it floated through the turned space pocket until it met the other end and would be teleported again to rejoin the normal space outside the bubble. The raft appeared to be entrapped within a globe within the water that just coasted upon the rest of the sea. The light of the raft did not shift with it however, and this allowed the ocean below the ship to be easily visible if viewed from a part off the ship you'd normally see the sky on...like a glass ball tilted sideways while holding the raft and just a tiny bit of water within itself sideways.

This ended when the raft finished tilting exactly 90 degrees, so that now instead of facing the night sky with the ocean stretching out across the horizon, Rook and Enzlo's window and wall faced the night sky and only the sky. This gave an unobstructed view of the entire starry night, stretched out all in front of Rook's eyes. It was strange to see the moon on what looked like a flat canvas...The Lycanroc stared upon this incredible sight with widened eyes, enough so that Enzlo could see the slight black of Rook's irises like little dots in the purple glow of his eyes.

"I call this move, Forced Perception." Enzlo told him then, "I can alter pockets of space, and rotate a bubble within it. As long as I remain in the bubble I can rotate it and everyone and everything inside it around the space outside the bubble."

"You...-call- it that?" Rook asked, "You mean that this isn't something normal for a psychic?"

Enzlo giggled, "Hell no, when I did this to the Alakazam Clan, they lost their marbles. Doddering old codgers." He scoffed, "It was my proof to them that I was who I said I was. I'm like you, Rook, I'm not normal, not anymore. Not since Tod died and our Connection had been made...But I like how I am different. I believe my unlocked lifeforce should have been what Jack had been attempting to accomplish...done in a different, somewhat more proper way...though no less devastating...um, to the emotions of the pokemon..." Enzlo paused, his voice slowly stopping as he realized where that train of thought was going. He went from happy and giggling to suddenly quiet very quickly...

Rook nodded softly, and he looked away from the stars to look at the Abra. "Do you also control gravity?" He asked, curious as well as trying to pull Enzlo back from that awkwardness he too felt.

"Yes hehe, that's the only reason you're not hearing someone screaming right now." Enzlo smirked and he floated up away from the wall, "You can just climb out the window and stand there." and Rook would crawl out from the window as if it was the hole of a submarine, with half the ship now seemingly underwater. It felt as natural to Rook as being rightside up the entire time, and he sat down where Enzlo had just been laying against the wall and the Abra floated down into the Lycanroc's lap.

"Hehe...don't get too excited..." Enzlo smirked lightly and Rook smiled back.

"I can't help that...this is lovely and exciting...and the way you wriggled just then didn't help."

"I didn't wriggle, that was just some playful brushing with my psychic energy before sitting." Enzlo said back, "But I'm serious hehe, there's things to explain and talk about...first."

Rook rumbled and nuzzled the Abra's head, closing his eyes for a moment. "That's fine...then keep explaining, and I will try to listen and understand." Rook snickered while his tail brushed back and forth over the opening in the window.

"What I meant when saying both is because it really is both special to you and mastered by you. It is a move only you have that only you can use. Most pokemon from our world could create something like this. Trainers did it a lot with their pokemon, typically their partner pokemon's specifically formed them, but quite a few trainers could manage such a thing with more than just one. These "Custom Moves" were incredible effects or attacks that those trained into them could create."

Rook nodded, "Yeah, I remember hearing about those. There was a pokemon out there who could create spears of lightning who was the partner of the Sinnoh League Champion, but it was a Lucario. His trainer explained the secret behind the move after he retired, after being the champion for 12 years and after teaching two more of his pokemon other custom moves of their own. The Lucario did it by channeling Thunder Punch into a Bone Rush, and this created the Lightning Spear. It was powerful for being the first Electric Type move capable of downing a ground type, while also being powerful against other Electric Types and with the same effectiveness against both Flying and Water and being powerful against Dragon Types with its high attack power. Many other types had their typical advantages upturned by this Custom Move as well, it was what let him earn his Championship, some said, but he claimed his other team members were also just as important to him, and the fact that he taught three more members of his team other custom moves after retiring showed that."

"How did you hear about that?" Enzlo asked Rook.

"Jack watched it with me often..." Rook said lightly, his eyes opening and he pulled Enzlo a little closer, "It was a newscaster who reported on it and he had video taped it. When he was 13...I was uh...three years old then, but he watched that video pretty often with me for a few months. He would spend the time with me discussing cool things he believed I could do, combining some rock moves or something...I wasn't able to follow much of what he was saying, but I shared his enthusiasm to begin battling! I also had lots of ideas! Hehe." Rook snickered while wagging his tail, and Enzlo smiled at the warm memory.

"Jack used to be a good person..." He said lightly.

"He was..." Rook said in agreement, his smile only fading slightly. "I liked spending time with him, and I think I now understand why that was...like you had said...he was my human companion, from the Corsova. We were both destined to have that kind of connection..."

"That's correct." Enzlo nodded, "Unfortunately Jack's understanding of that connection was not received appropriately. He equated those moves to simply power. You didn't know this Rook, but when it came time for the year at which Jack would have gone on his journey with you, which was shortly after you were born, he was forbidden by the Clan Elders. Because of his interests, they voted to deny him, and by proxy, you, your chances to see the world. Specifically because he wanted to be a trainer, which was not part of the clan's ways. He would be granted you, his companion pokemon, and nothing more during his coming of age, and forced to remain in the clan until he 'Learned why the fighting was wrong.'"

"Learn why the fighting was wrong?" Rook asked, narrowing his eyes. "That doesn't make sense...pokemon fight even in the wild...It is how we become stronger. I understood pretty quickly why Lilian chose that island as my home. It was remote, while some pokemon lived there, they were land locked. I quickly became the leader of that island and honestly, those few pokemon's occasional company was probably one of few things that kept me from going more stir crazy stuck on that tiny thing for about 2 more years."

"Which was what Jack's argument was to them." Enzlo nodded, "Asides the uh, island leading part...And perhaps now you understand what it means to be his companion pokemon, born on the same day of the year as his own birthday, that is the requirement for a Corsova companion's pokemon, it's been proven to lead to lasting friendships, your personalities, while maybe vastly different, often arrive to the same conclusion when presented a situation...I won't claim there's actual validity in that mumbo jumbo because I honestly never got why Tod thought about things the way he did sometimes and he was my human companion, yet he did sometimes see what I couldn't, anyway you must know by now that at least in most cases, you and Jack think much the same way. Let me continue explaining Jack's life to you first please. In a way, it is also my life towards the end."

"Yeah...all right, keep going." Rook nodded in interest.

"Instead of remaining in the Clan, Jack chose to leave, announcing over his shoulder that he would accept his gift, and then promptly announced he would accept nothing more from the clan and that he was renouncing the Corsova's ways, and just left the ceremony, taking you with him, a just born Rockruff pup. Two of our clan went with him, claiming that they too, believed the Elder's wrong. His argument had convinced no one else."

"In their gesture of good faith towards the other two members...as the Elder's carefully worded it...was a large sum of money with which the now banished Clan members could use to start a new life...in other words, Jack refused to accept the money, so instead the two other Clan Members took it. Jack never controlled a single cent of what the company he and the other two made...not one...by using his two new companions as sources of care and money, he insured that you, Rook, grew up in a very caring environment, with Oscar and Lillian, the two Corsova Clan members who had came with him..."

Rook felt his heartbeat thud a moment in his chest as Enzlo confirmed it. But then suddenly confusion as he noticed something odd with that gift. "What...lots and lots of money? The Corsova are a clan of Naturalists yet have cash to just throw at Jack?"

"Through very careful business transactions...apparently...yes, the Corsova are Naturalists, but this does not mean they despise society. Money...greed...it is something all of us are capable of falling to at many points of our lives. Shortly in this world, such concepts will exist again. We will see where that goes...but anyway, yes, our Clan was vastly rich, careful investments into local farms here, perhaps offer a bit of farm work and get paid for the labor, and that goes right back into investing somewhere else, perhaps more offered work for a day...but we did nothing with that money but continue investing, and just further growing that huge amount...I often wondered what the Elders really intended to use that for but...hmmm..." Enzlo shook his head suddenly.

"A-anyway...rather than spending every waking moment with his companion pokemon like the Corsova law taught, you were kept in a pokeball Rook...only let out when Jack released you."

"What?" Rook frowned, "But-" But then he remembered, "But then that ball..."

"He probably lied to you." Enzlo said. "You were kept in the ball when Jack was away, where you experienced dreamlike states of the world around you without actually being a part of it...this is what the Corsova teach. The only time I would say you were reliably outside of it, was when Oscar or Lilian were home as well. If no one was, I would say that was when you were in the ball, where you were then given a dreamlike world in which -someone- was always there to watch over you, you were therefore never aware of any difference between one world or the other...Treated as a pet, not as an equal...Until the day you evolved and your power unlocked, suddenly your pokeball no longer worked. Jack touted and had claimed he'd crate the strongest pokemon ever our world would see, and it would be his, and when he succeeded..."

"I disobeyed, it had been what he had wanted, but he hadn't known the pokeball would break too, he couldn't recall me to it anymore..." Rook realized. Yeah, he had never ever seen that ball again after that day, but he'd seen it plenty of other times as a Rockruff.

"The Corsova are right and wrong on many things..." Enzlo took in a breath and sighed deeply. "It is only in seeing a world in which their laws hold so true that I also realize that they were wrong. The fighting was not a bad thing...my answer was that it was only pokeballs..."

"For Tod, it was in deciding to go back and rescue Riley that made him decide he must fight if needed. And I...being his companion Pokemon by extension, chose that to mean being his partner in battle...I was relieved as hell when we found Oscar. Trying to fight him and that Lycanroc may have been the end of us then and there, but as you know, telling him of what we were after stopped him. We ran off but whatever battle Riley was in with Jack was so fierce it started to shake the whole lab, the closer we got to them the worse it got, the ceiling collapsed and..." Enzlo suddenly shook his head, "I'm getting a little ahead of myself...again."

"Question first?" Rook asked, lifting up a paw, and Enzlo snickered.

"Yes?"

"If Jack wanted to be a trainer...then why didn't we start our journey anyway...?" Rook asked. "He had money...a home...and no one telling him what to do now. Why didn't we just...go?" He said softly, unable to hide the sadness he felt. If Jack had just gone on a journey, perhaps he wouldn't have gone down the path he had...was what he felt and thought.

Enzlo hummed a moment in thought, feeling the Lycanroc's unexpressed question, trying to be careful in how he worded his answer, "I can't say for certain, but in what he did may lay the answer. Instead of using that large gift of cash for going on a journey, Jack instead took those financial lessons to work and invested most of it into the Pokemon League's World Tours, or PLWT, as it was known by most. Jack began to place bets on battles, and he was winning, spectacularly. To avoid being noticed too much, Jack kept this activity low, so that no one really noticed that someone was winning thousands upon thousands very slowly in the background of the betting leagues. Jack has a very, very analytical mind, so he was able to predict how battles often transpired. Science and its amazing use of natural energy was something Jack became fascinated with at a young age."

"For the Corsova, science involving any form of what our Elders deemed, 'Technological and humanmade', was too far beyond what pokemon capable of, and therefore, forbidden. Jack showed us in the Corsova that it was possible to generate electricity, by letting the pokemon charge a coil with their own electricity, and connecting wires to lightbulbs, we could light up our village at night instead of relying on fires pits and torches. But the entire clan rejected this idea...as everyone knew a few days prior, outsiders visited the village for a short moment and then left, they had done some filming for a documentary of the village. The Corsova are well known in our world, humans living with pokemon and using only things pokemon were capable of making on their own. Our elders for some reason, didn't mind being filmed and paraded about as savages living in mud huts." Enzlo would growl a moment, his hands flexing and Rook snickered.

Enzlo sighed and shook his head, realizing he had let himself ramble. "Smack me if I start rambling damn it...I'm doing it too often speaking out loud..."

"Is that a request? I'll take you up on it." Rook said seriously.

"Yes."

"Great."

"Good."

"Okay..." Enzlo stopped...and then he laughed.

"Yes Rook, I have my reasons for thinking that my Elders were senile old fools. Unable to do the most simplest of things that pokemon are first taught in the wild. And that was to evolve with their surroundings." Enzlo said further. "This. This is what sets humans and Pokemon apart. Humans don't seem to know what they are capable of without pokemon anymore. Pokemon may be supplying the energy they used to create it, but it is humans who teach the pokemon to create! Humans have still always been pokemon! We have simply developed symbiosis. Human is just the-"

Suddenly Rook smacked Enzlo with his paw lightly across his head.

"Right! Uh...Jack..." Enzlo snapped back, "Where were we...right...yes the filming crew. Anyways the filming crew left behind the stuff that Jack used to make the wires and stuff and therefore the lights were not natural. They were human made."

Rook growled, and he had drooled out "Because they were humanmade..." Just as Enzlo had said that.

"Correct...and little did the Elder's know it wasn't. Most products humans used in the world outside our village had things made by pokemon like this. Humans coordinated distribution of those things, but it was pokemon that made them...but Jack had one issue with that, can you guess what it was Rook?"

"The Pokemon were also trained by humans to do so...not being treated as equals..." Rook growled, nodding his head. The thought had immediately jumped into Rook's head when Enzlo had spoken up to that point.

"Exactly, and thus Jack realized, the Elders had been correct. Something about the fighting was wrong...but yet it wasn't. Jack looked upon that world and saw that it had ample room to grow and transform into beauty. Humans and pokemon working together, even if not treated exactly the same, was still a far better way of looking at it, he decided."

"And I know why..." Rook said lightly, grinning.

Enzlo narrowed his eyes at Rook, "You do? Tell me why." Enzlo was actually genuine in wanting to know.

"Because, Jack figured out the secret...Custom Moves was the explanation."

Enzlo tilted his head at first, and then actually sat up and blinked a few times, his eyes barely opening in doing so. "My goodness...that is a very clever connection...and one that would need a considerable argument against, and that does explain a lot. He may have been correct. Pokemon Battles were viewed as contests of skill to the Corsova, when between humans and pokemon that were not bound by pokeball, but even then, our clan allowed TV sets and only allowed pokemon battles to be aired from league channels."

"Jack changed his argument to say that Custom Moves were the result of a Trainer and a pokemon achieving a Connection." Rook nodded. "Jack didn't want to have to work so hard to try and achieve that though...he wanted solid, concrete proof of it. So he made it his goal to instead capture the energy created when pokemon used the custom moves..." Rook lowered his head.

"That saves a lot of time in explaining how he went to school and deeply examined the energy of pokemon, thus becoming the young scientist responsible for creating amazing technology." Enzlo nodded, "You, Rook, were his proof. Your lifeforce, permanently unlocked, made into your own through your pain...and his..."

"His pain..." Rook echoed it. "Our own Connection. That feeling of betrayal and loss, that's the same thing he felt when he left the clan..."

"Tod liked Jack." Enzlo suddenly said, the Abra rubbing one of his hands lightly across Rook's arm next to him, feeling through the soft fur. "Against the better wishes of the elders, but Tod believed Jack's curiosity about science was not exactly evil...He had liked the light show, but when he realized the others were upset with Jack, Tod stood down...he was pacifistic, but he had liked it...when he found out what Jack had done to you though, and what he was still doing to you, me and him ourselves were already eight years into our journey, but we'd seen enough to know this world was not bad in of itself, but we had to fight what could make it so. We started out small at first, but then ended up agreeing to travel -with- a trainer through the world, and cheer them on in their battles to remain pacifist. It provided us with interesting insights to pokemon battling and why pokeballs weren't as bad as previously thought...when we discovered they were made by human hands sure, but with tolls found only in the wild, no technology was necessary to create a pokeball...the question of what a pokeball did exactly to a pokemon remained, but you've heard my theory on that already. But anyway...Tod also wanted to rescue you and Jack both. Our hope was that in destroying his lab and all the research, we could then bring him and you home. Tod believed in him after seeing you once, and he believed we could get the Clan to see it too. But Jack..."

"He'd already gotten what he wanted...and he just wanted to keep going..." Rook said lightly.

"Greed." Enzlo nodded, "Something everyone is very susceptible to..." Enzlo echoed again, "the power the lifeforce of a pokemon's soul gives, even the tiniest and weakest of them is radiant like the power of thousands of suns, a bright shining light that exudes power, but it is often itself weak...When something weak is forced to loop in upon itself for support, it does strengthen slightly but doing this several times in such perpetuity creates dense balls of pure energy...every time this power grows it strains the soul and eventually begins to harm and then further still kills the pokemon, only those strengthened with the force of will or their bodies made stronger at the same time could handle it, and eventually they would learn to control and limit it from destroying themselves. But Jack's method...there is no control for those kinds of emotions, no limit to what being forced to embrace the pain can give in response..."

"That kind of torment does not end...You Rook, were the only pokemon to actually survive the method Jack used, and continued to do so somehow for 10 whole more years. Perhaps because you were his companion pokemon. Rook, your life energy is fed by your very Soul, as long as you do not die, your power has no limit. Lilian let us see a video of you, and we watched you battling a Rydon who managed to catch and pin you up against the stone walls. Several pillars launched out of the wall to try and punch the other rock type but he was sturdy too and he used Horn Drill on you, direct hit...but you didn't even howl out in pain, because your fur...it protected you like you know it does, stopped the horn from piercing your body to inflict any wound. That wasn't normal. You weren't under his command in the battle, you shouldn't have been able to use a move like that, but you could." Enzlo huffed, settling down in his excitement. "You were unlimited energy incarnated..."

"Your power can grow as far as you need it to, and given the many years you have lived already with that loop constantly happening within you, it was already far vast than anything we'd ever seen..." When you were freed by Lilian, he wanted to desperately recapture you, but he couldn't, and he knew he couldn't recreate you, that kind of betrayal formed Connection is not easily replicable, and now you were lost and he could not find you since you were secreted away not more than 150 miles across the sea from him on a tiny, secluded island where the trees and powerful nature forces would mask your own, preventing anyone from easily finding you. Yet still, Jack kept going, even if he couldn't recreate something like you, he knew he could create a utopia, for both pokemon and humans, at the cost of just a few thousand lives..."

"What was one life to the cost of trillions...?" Rook echoed what Ruli had said several weeks ago.

"Indeed...were we right to judge Jack a villain? There's only a few people who can really say one way or the other, and you are one of them Rook."

A moment of silence hung as Rook looked up at the sky again, admiring all the stars and the night sky. It was peaceful...he was very thankful for that right now. It made reviewing these details and remembering them less painful for him. All the times Jack had spoken to him...he could see all the little signs now in his words.

"I'll give you the world..." Rook whispered, and then just let out a sad little half laugh. "Stupid..." He took in a deep breath and sighed.

"Jack managed to teach you a Custom Move without even needing to actually train you, by manipulating your emotions and supercharging your newly evolved body with drugs." Enzlo told him, "And just a few days ago, you managed to teach yourself one of your own."

"Rock Blade." Rook nodded, as now that he understood what it was Enzlo had been helping him to do, he knew exactly what he needed.

The wolf reached up with his paw into his mane of fur and gripped his paw, and he felt the firmness of the sword's hilt just seem to collease within his fur from very specific stones and rocks that now hung upon the hairs of his mane. He pulled the sword free of his fur steadily, feeling more of the stones joining together to further create the rocky, bumpy blade itself until he had a full, two foot length blade held in his paw.

Rook lifted and held the sword up into the air, turning it to the left and right as he examined it. The edge shimmered off the light of the moon and stars, almost mirror-like until the bumbier, rocky and uneven shaft of the sword that made up the rest of the blade. They'd work well for both defense and offense with how they were made alone yet as he flexed his paw on the grip, a light hum filled the air along with the edge gaining a yellow glow.

This sword was one object created from many...its power created though the thousands of rocks that made it up working together. In Rook's paw, directly connected to his life energy flowing through it, the silvery edge of the blade rapidly vibrated. A sharp, metallic edge combined with high vibration in order to carve and slice through almost anything it needed to. In his grip, he could feel the hard vibration rattling the hilt against his claws.

"Only you are going to be able to wield that." Enzlo said, as he also examined the sword with the Lycanroc. "That intense vibration, even if the sword itself stayed in one form; that's something only you can handle. If it kept doing that in someone else's hands who was not prepared or did not have an appropriate body to absorb it, their entire body would shake hehe. They wouldn't even be able to properly swing it."

Rook nodded and next he flexed his fur, and his entire body, even the fur that Enzlo laid against, firmed up and gained a steely like quality. The easiest way to explain how this felt and seemed would be to say that Rook looked like he became made of metal, his fur gaining a shining quality that reflected the light of the moon too. Rook had known for years how this power existed, he had plenty of experience with it to understand it.

"Rock Coat is done by combining the moves Stealth Rock with Iron Defense." Rook nodded, "But...what am I doing that creates this sword...?"

"I can't tell you that. But you are combining something to make it heh, whether you understand what it is or not doesn't really matter I suppose." Enzlo shrugged, and then he'd feel Rook's fur relax, and the Lycanroc let go of the sword. Pretty much right away, the sword disintegrated into a cloud of dust like particles that flicked back through the air into his mane of fur.

"My Rock Coat though...that's...far stronger than I remember it."

"That's the gift from Ruli I mentioned..." Enzlo stated. "I told you that I now believe your power has a will of its own, yes?"

Rook nodded, "Yeah, you did."

"Shortly after we brought you back onto the ship and left the island, Ruli felt himself being gently pulled towards your sleeping body, and then upon standing next to you, he felt that sensation focus upon the metal spikes at his paws, he described it as just brief, gentle pulls upon the tops of his spikes. Somehow, Ruli understood what this was trying to tell him, and so he had Riley use Shadow Claw to shave metal off the spikes...The shavings immediately filtered through the air and buried into your fur, where it broke apart into smaller pieces to cover you. They did this about twenty more times before it had seemed to stop. It only took what was needed to give every strand of your fur a grain of that same metal. Your power asked Ruli to do this, not forced, but asked." Enzlo really wanted to drive that home.

"But that's..." Rook frowned, as he knew much about Lucario's metal spikes...he had to, back in the lab's during many forced 'lessons' where Rook was then shortly thrown into a match against that very same pokemon. The metal spikes of a Lucario were literally their skeleton. To shave down those spikes was to remove and damage the bones themselves. Sure, they would grow back, but it was known to be incredibly painful to Lucario.

"It was, as Ruli told me, severely painful indeed...but he understood the message being asked of him. That is his gift to you...a more water resistant coat to be kept. Which, given the way you know how it works means you need to take care of it. It is also metal from the body of Mega Lucario, not just a normal Lucario."

Rook nodded several times in quick motion, "Yeah...I will. I'll make sure this coat doesn't get lost..." And he'd make sure to thank Ruli.

"This does however give you a new weakness you should be careful of." Enzlo stated, "I believe this officially makes you Rock and Steel type. Your power has become that of controlling steel and metal along with rock. I think you just control Earth and its minerals in general." Enzlo said further. "You may have to work on your control for specific metals, but you seem intensely familiar with a Lucario's metal already."

"And as such, I'm now even weaker against specific things, particularly fighting types." Rook nodded in understanding, "But the protection this new coat gives me makes the damage I'd receive minimal anyway and my healing ability would make that damage healed within just a few minutes..." Rook nodded. "But...I still want to know. Why me...?" Rook frowned, staring up at the stars.

"Why not you?" Enzlo said, "You are strong willed and good natured, brave and faithful, and now equipped to combat any threat you and those you care for may come across."

"Nearly unstoppable and unbeatable...whatever would be able to kill me would be worthy of the challenge..." Rook nodded.

"Do you still worry that you may turn evil...?" Enzlo asked, unable to follow the Lycanroc's thought process.

"Yes...and no...because now I understand...there's always someone better, there will always be someone better." Rook said simply. "Jack's first goal was to make me stronger than anyone, and for the time, he may have done that. But Ruli was stronger still, when at his fullest. I first met him when he was exhausted and his power mostly spent, but just like you had said, back in the forest, when he just came at me with that kind of power. I couldn't take it...I can't even train myself to become stronger...can I call myself strong with power that is given to me and that I achieve without learning or earning it?"

"You have learned, and earned it Rook, you have. The power you know is one you control, that is an absolute, never doubt that it is yours. It may have the will to ask Ruli for those shavings, it may be through instinct that you command it, but it is yours. You must trust your power Rook. It -is- yours." Enzlo just really wanted Rook to know that.

"Even though the life that had to happen to give it to me tore me apart?" Rook asked further. "And I feel like I can barely contain it...? Sometimes it hurts...then it just kind of goes away..."

"I..." Enzlo sighed, frowning and falling silent, he slouched against the Lycanroc's chest and for a short moment, Enzlo just listened to the Lycanroc's heartbeat. "No one here believes you'll become that, and quite a few of them have the feeling that if you do, then they'll be the ones to stop you."

"I know...that's why I'm no longer worried...but it won't be any of them who stops me if I do, I know who it will be."

"Who?"

"You, Enzlo. I know what kind of power you have...and I know how you can and could use it to destroy and yet you don't..." Rook said lightly. "I have no defense against it...and you know it."

"I don't think that is true, I could not kill you Rook."

"It has to be you because now I know you have the power to. You made that whole island too."

Another moment of silence.

"So you figured it out huh?" Enzlo sighed lightly.

"I started to after I broke those rocks in the cave...those broke exactly like rocks would but they still wouldn't respond to my power, so I began to suspect something was up, and then when you looked at me after I killed that Steelix, I could see it in the way you looked at me, it silently told me somehow that in order to stop me from dipping into depression. It wasn't real...It hadn't actually been real, but it had felt like it so much...it was incredible to me."

"That is exactly how Ferals are in this world, as I've been told and shown by the memories of the others." Enzlo said softly.

"I will take your word for that, but it still seemed so real...how did you do that?"

"That was my other custom move, Reality Projection. Everything you felt was real and physical, my pain was real as well. It's a move where I control the reality of the space present. That island and everything on it was real, but only during the time I channeled it. It takes an immense amount of energy, and it takes me several days to recharge. For however long I can hold onto that space, I can affect even time and matter...creating something out of nothing."

"Then you better charge that again, and then put me in a Reality Projection where you wear me down through eons of time...I mean...for when you need to."

Enzlo just remained quiet for a moment, and then chuckled, "Okay, I will try to put you in your place, if you misbehave like you are so afraid of."

"I know it's a...mostly mute fear...but I feel better knowing someone can stop me. That's all." Rook looked back up into the air again, looking along the stars once more and another moment of silence passed.

"So you are not upset?

"No. I'm not."

"Good then can you please flip the ship right side up!?!" Nether's voice cracked out over the air suddenly, then after a short moment continued with, "After or before you join us I don't care which, I'm just...really tired of being so close to water on a part of the ship I'm usually not...I'm sorry..." His voice trailed off.

Rook smirked, "They've been listening the whole time?"

"Most and some of it, from the top floor. I've cut them out on most, er, some of the personal stuff." Enzlo chuckled with a shrug, but he brought up his paw and pointed his finger downward, then tapped the ship with his other paw.

Instead of the ship going right side up though, the ship began to tip further into the water.

"No...no no no no! That's not what I asked for!" Nether shouted as soon the ship was upside down in the water, trapped in the bubble of air, its light provided by the hearth in the ships belly still penetrated the water though, creating a bright glow that allowed those on the top floor to now gaze down into the depths of the sea. Like a bright spot upon the eternal darkness below.

Enzlo grinned at Rook and then put his paw upon the Lycanroc's shoulder, and then teleported them both to the now upside down top floor, but from their own perspective, they were rightside up, and Rook could now also look up and see this eternal darkness.

"Whoa...that's awesome..."

"Easy for you to say..." Nether grumbled.

"You don't like the dark Nether?" The Espeon asked with amusement, and Rook would look to see that the Eeveelution was sitting with them in a large circle, sitting atop the glass floor with the hearth's fire below them.

"I...don't much care for being upside down like this...I feel queasy..." one of the Buizel's started to say, but Enzlo just chidded, along with the Espeon there.

"Hehe don't cover for the captain." Rook snickered, and this made the Espeon and Ruli in particular focus on Rook, though Enzlo only leaned a little more against Rook.

"It's okay Nether." Rook said, "It's okay to be afraid."

"I'm afraid of nothing!" Nether growled.

"Can you sense his emotion?" The Espeon asked.

"Um..." Rook paused, yeah wait a moment, how did he know Nether was afraid... "I uh...I don't know...? I can just uh...kind of feel the same."

He looked back up into the blackness above them. "It's...just so empty...if you died out here...would anyone realize it? That's pretty scary yeah?"

Nether suddenly flopped onto the floor, refusing to look up and staring instead down towards the fire. "All right...I give up...I can't understand."

"Understand what?" Rook asked, looking at the fire type's forlorn expression as he looked at the fire.

"You...Rook. Damn it." Nether grit his teeth. "Fucking damn it." And then the captain began rapidly burping. "I am deathly seriously though, urb...this is also fucking making me very noxious urgp...please flip us rightside up..."

"Hmm, perhaps too much of a push." Enzlo agreed, and he pointed his finger upwards while then touching the floor of the raft, and they were quickly rotated for the sky to be placed back into its normal placement.

Nether sat up and looked upwards, while letting out several more little burbs "Oh....oh geeze...it's settling. Urp...okay..." He panted and huffed, smiling. "That's much better...sorry..."

"You accurately stated exactly what his worst fear was though Rook." The Espeon stated further though, as if the Typhlosion's queasiness hadn't happened. "It is as if you had seen the thought itself."

"Oh really?" Rook looked over at Nether, the big fire lizard just looking down at the fire again. "I'm sorry...I don't mean to make light of it...because it's a valid fear, I wouldn't like it either."

This made Nether sigh, "Yes well...I need to give you the same apology back...the prospect of you -not- killing Jack had never crossed my mind, given my knowledge of you, but hearing everything just now you deserve to make whatever choice you deem necessary. Your fear of going bad is just as valid as mine..."

"If not killing Jack is what you wish for." The Espeon said lightly, "The Espeon Clan has your back..."

"But many pokemon out there would not be so understanding." Ruli said from where he had been sitting, arms crossed across his chest.

"Let me see your chest. And your paws." Rook suddenly spoke up.

Ruli blinked at Rook a few times, but then he slowly removed his arms from how they were crossed and held them out with a neutral expression. Both the spikes upon his paws and chest were nipped and chipped, scratched and damaged. The marks left behind by Riley's Shadow Claw dashing against and carving off parts of the hard metal bones.The chest spike especially had seen quite a bit of the total damage, having actually broken at the tip a good chunk and even now could start bleeding again easily if the open wound there was targeted. Rook could also tell by the fur around the Mega Lucario's paws that he had given much to the point of bleeding with those chips and cracks on those spikes too.

"It was only for what I could feel it asking for, and I knew I could survive it. My feet are fine." Ruli stated simply as Rook stared at him with firm eyes.

"Thank you...that's all I can really say." Rook said lightly, "I'll make sure to protect it."

"Don't die over it." Ruli huffed, folding his arms and smirking, "If you lose it, any other Lucario out there could give you a new one. There is no particular difference between our biology so their metal should be just the same. Consider it a symbiosis between us and you."

"But I don't give anything to you in return." Rook chuckled.

"Then just save Axel." Ruli looked at Rook firmly. "What you feel for Enzlo is what I feel for him...so help me save him, and then just consider that my gift to you."

Rook just nodded, and for a moment, there was silence in the circle. Until Riley spoke up instead, "Well I for one, can't understand still." Riley pierced the Lycanroc with a heavy look and frowned, "I watched you suffer for nearly ten whole years. How can you not want him dead? I watched you from the eyes of other humans, and with my own, and could feel your rage. Just how?"

"I never said I don't want Jack dead." Rook frowned, looking down into the fire below them then. "He deserves to die for what he's done not just to me, but for the other pokemon he tortured like me and then further, killed. He let greed control him and lost his way, and beyond that, I want to know why." Rook looked up at Riley, and to Ruli and the others around them slowly.

Rook snarled and gripped his paws, "Why...if he wanted to be a trainer...if we had left the Corsova and they ended up giving us money and care like that...he didn't realize that they were giving him what he wanted anyway...why didn't we just get supplies and go on the journey? And even then, he got what he wanted with me, and then he still went forward with harming other pokemon. Why?"

The circle around them remained silent, until it was the Timburr, or rather, Illumi inside him, that spoke up. "I think he was afraid."

When everyone looked at him, he readily continued, "Fear is something no one really thinks of, it is just something that is there. Even us Ghost Types, no one can really realize when it grips you, the way it twists your decisions. In a situation just like yours and his Rook, I think he was afraid, of the real world, of the abandonment he felt, or something because otherwise, his decision doesn't make sense to me."

"Perhaps he already knew exactly what he was doing instead." The Espeon said, "With how quickly he created the machine that sent the Onyx Islands to our world here, he shows just how dangerous he is, creating in months something that took the rest of mankind nearly nineteen thousand years to even start testing. I wouldn't doubt he had his entire life thought out from the moment he was exiled and began betting on those battles."

"Both are appropriate answers..." Rook nodded, "But it's not Jack's answer...I want his...so that's what I've decided. I'm gonna bust down whatever things Jack has tried to put between himself and the rest of the world, and then I'm gonna kick his ass a little, and then I'm gonna stop and ask him why. After he answers me...then I'll decide what I do -with- him." Rook growled, his claws flexing.

Enzlo lightly tapped Rook's ear while he looked up at him, and Rook looked down at the Abra and smiled, "I'm okay..."

"Then let me ask Espeon to explain themselves." Enzlo said and looked then towards the Eeveelution.

"W-What? Bu-but I thought-" The other psychic began to sputter.

"I told you we'd be telling him whether you wanted to or not, I also told you what to do in the case that you had to be the one to tell him."

"O-Okay..." The feline took a breath and sighed, "All right...fine." And he looked out around the entire circle of pokemon, even to the twelve Buizels down below who, while swimming, had been mentally connected to the conversation anyway as well.

"What I'm about to say to you was something we all swore to keep secret. But this journey across the sea had been entirely unnecessary to begin with. So uh...please don't tell anyone I told you..."

Rook blinked rapidly, "What...?"

The Espeon sighed, "There are direct lines of communication, and thus, teleportation, between our continent and the others. It was set up shortly after Ruli's success in destroying the first invading humans and has existed since then..."

"I want to point out that I had no idea they did anything with this, just saying. I found out at the same time everyone else did two days ago." Ruli pointed out, making the Espeon flinch.

"C-certain things sh-should only be handled by those who are responsible for it!" The Espeon kind of tapped his paw nervously on the wood in front of himself. "It kept Vane unaware and did allow us to get to where we are now with Rook, afterall."

"Yes...and where we are now isn't a very good spot to be either still about a month and a week out from our destination while Jack has my mate kidnapped and is killing other pokemon with giant blizzards...." Ruli growled.

"What? Blizzards? For how long did you keep this secret?" Rook looked around at everyone, then down to Enzlo, "And why? Like, why didn't we just teleport there then?"

"Because it was my plan. I needed to train you, you weren't ready to take on what Jack actually has at his disposal. He didn't vanish with just himself that day in the Lab, the room was not empty because it had been destroyed, Vane had already teleported it all away. Jack has had his entire personal lab at his disposal. And I assure you, as minimal as that may seem, it quickly allowed him to somehow master his new form."

"Shortly after Jack got away, we sent word across the network." The Espeon said, "and about two weeks later received word back from a small village on the other continent, closer to a mountain on the southern edge. Jack had been sighted there, or at least, someone reported seeing a Weavile with a Sableye near there. We found him, but he decimated us, and..."

"Something unthought of had happened, so it had not occurred to me at the time back then." Enzlo nodded, "A Corsova clan member has been transformed into a pokemon; a human who already knows all the secrets to life energy and pokemon energy is now in control of a pokemon body."

"Those Eeveelutions I told you about aren't missing, they were brainwashed..." The Espeon lowered his head, and Ruli was suddenly standing up.

"Jack did something to himself. Something that lets him reach into a pokemon's mind and take control of them." Enzlo continued, a silent nudge of psychic energy forcing Ruli to freeze before he could let loose with the explosion of anger he had just felt. "Not everyone seems able to be affected by it...but most were."

"And then he...took one of the Jolteons," The Espeon continued, "in front of all the other pokemon there, even the normal civilians who had been nearby and got caught up in the fighting. And he tried to give him power, more life energy, but...it..."

"His head exploded..." Enzlo concluded, as the Espeon had difficulty spitting it out himself. The Eeveelution shuffled where he was sitting and looked down.

"We, that is, uh, the Eeveelutions and Enzlo, decided to feed you all a lie rather than tell you that the situation was far more dire than it was..."

"Right now." Enzlo said further before uncomfortable silence could hang on them again, "Is that we know a few things. Firstly, Axel, at the very least, is still alive, and is not one of the ones who succumbed to the brainwashing, and is instead being held prisoner. From this, I believe Jack does not know his connection to Ruli. I worry that if he did, he would indeed use him as a prisoner and would kill him. So please Ruli, calm..." Suddenly Ruli was able to move again and the Mega Lucario grimaced, but then slowly sat down as Enzlo continued. "The storm we encountered at sea was not natural afterall, it was caused by Jack using the Eeveelutions energy to create it. In this world, Jack is now capable of much the same things Rook and I are. Moves and abilities far beyond anything the pokemon of this world understand, and somehow, also able to command the energy of other pokemon he gets control of."

"Two days ago, Jack began holding himself up inside the mountain where he has the four mirrors held. He conjured a giant blizzard of ice, rain, and wind to prevent anyone getting close. The forest around and along the base of the mountain has been razed by shards of ice, and it has held at the same size for a few days now. It is no surprise to me that Jack has known all along that we tried to spirit Rook away on this fake boat journey in order to train him, and that this blizzard was only created now of all times, after Rook has unlocked his weapon...I suspect Vane has been popping in on us by following his blood connection to Ruli every so often."

"The blizzard has continued to rage and hold a very specific size. When he first called it, it had caught many flying types and torn them to shreds, many died." The Espeon again seemed overly saddened, "Along with several other ground based pokemon being frozen solid in blocks of ice...it is unclear if they are still alive or not..."

"This isn't the end of it..." Rook growled, "He's not just sitting there waiting for us...I know it...this is part of his plan."

"The militia of the continent have set up new base camps close to the edge of the blizzard, but far enough that they could leave quickly if it shows to grow again. There is more though...along with the blizzard itself, some of those caught in it were brainwashed as well. The blizzard itself didn't damage these pokemon, but we realized that if pulled free of the storm the brainwashing would fade and then managed to pull everyone free. Those that have proven to be susceptible to whatever Jack is doing, have been taken far away from the blizzard and given other duties to keep it from happening again."

"So why are we still waiting? I've unlocked my sword, my powers unlocked. Enzlo and Espeon could teleport us there."

"No, we can't, for two reasons, neither myself or this Espeon have been to the continent, and while there were channels to go there I could've taken, I was not going to give myself that temptation." Enzlo stated. "Second reason is that you still need further training, you have succeeded in calling your sword, now you must learn how to control the power of it. You are worried about killing, so I will show you how you use your power without going so far as to kill another pokemon, or really anything, again."

Rook frowned, but he nodded, because he knew it was the truth, but he didn't like it.

"Well..." Enzlo said and huffed, "That was all the news and our group thereby we actually needed it seems. No one else has thoughts they would -like- to air?"

The entire circle remained quiet. The psychic had already addressed most prominent worries and thoughts, so of course there weren't. Ruli did seem a little upset still, given his mate was now consigned to being held hostage for so long...but if Jack wasn't yet doing anything to him, he was unlikely to anyway.

"I wanna go with him too." Nether said suddenly, looking right at the Abra.

Enzlo just smirked back at Nether, "I think you'll be surprised to find that I am fine with that. Have at your first mate Captain." Enzlo snickered further, as Nether blushed and would suddenly stand up, walking towards the stairs and then starting to walk down them.

"I'm going to bed." He announced somewhat shortly, "Boys, you'll be handling your shifts alone tomorrow."

One of the Buizels smirked and said, "Yes Captain, count on us." Rook felt like he had an inkling on what that was about, but yet lack of confirmation seemed to stump the Lycanroc, and he said, and felt, nothing. And for some further reason...that bothered him...

Slowly the rest of the circle, first the Buizels than Espeon, Timburr and Illumi would follow down the stairs. Ruli was the last to follow after a short glance at Enzlo and Rook, who didn't move at all as they went back to star gazing. Riley simply slowly faded away from where he had been standing long before anyone had realized. This left Enzlo and Rook on the top of the raft alone. Together, they both kept gazing up at the stars of the night sky.

"Enzlo...?" Rook would say after a few dozen seconds.

"Hmmm?" Enzlo hummed back, letting out a yawn, apparently close to drifting off in actuality.

"Why...can't I feel...?"

"Arousal...?" Enzlo said again, a little more awake so quickly.

"Right..." Rook narrowed his eyes, wait, he thought, did he even know what the word arousal meant...?

"I don't think you do." Enzlo said, reading the Lycanroc's mind. "And I can explain it to you, but you will not like it..."

"Then do it anyway..." Rook said lightly, "If it's what I think it is...it's been Jack's doing, and I want to know for sure."

Enzlo nodded, sitting up a little more in the Lycanroc's lap. "All right Rook...let me start by asking you, what do you feel towards Nether? What do you even feel towards myself?"

"Well...I love you Enzlo...at least, to what I believe that emotion to feel like...I feel very and deeply connected to your soul. You've shown me and taught me how to do things with my power I never thought possible because you know so much about life energy...and you are wise as all hell, but kind." He finished with a smirk.

"I have just retained facts that I taught myself. I told you, the pursuit of all knowledge became my Focus when I was young. And soon, you will learn a new Focus, besides your hate and rage towards Jack."

"What will it be?"

"Whatever you want it to be, the only thing that matters is that you find it before meeting Jack..."

"You make it sound like it should be a big deal though." Rook frowned.

"It might be or might not be...Either way you will find it. Just trust in that."

"All right..."

"So...about Nether too?" The Abra chuckled, and Rook blinked.

"Oh...right...I'm uh," he did pause a moment, his eyes narrowing a bit and glowing slightly as some warmth builded in the Lycanroc's body. "I'm not sure what I feel..."

"I believe what you feel is attraction. Nether is attracted to you, and you can sense it and you appear to feel it towards him in return." Enzlo explained, "I'll try to explain this as best I can for you to understand, it involves your time in the labs again."

Rook's eyes narrowed and he looked down at the Abra in his lap, but the psychic continued, "Rethink about every time you were forced into those breeding sessions...the intense smell upon yourself afterwards...you know the answer yourself just from that don't you?"

Rook looked away, eyes narrowing a little more and suddenly glowing slightly from...some kind of feeling he felt built up inside himself...he couldn't place it, but it settled upon his belly like a firm inward sensation.

"That you can remember how those drugs made you feel means you know what you should feel when aroused, yet even now when trying to reach that feeling, you can't...Your body has simply become heavily addicted to those drugs, it doesn't react. That is why sex feels so good to you, but attempting to pleasure yourself does nothing and you have no sex drive."

Enzlo shuffled in his lap and he smirked. And Rook felt that brushing sensation upon his sheath again, and the Lycanroc let out a low rumble while closing his eyes as a warmth built in his groin, but he didn't feel anything like had in the labs...which confused him further.

"You feel pleasure, even if you can't feel arousal...many could easily control your lust Rook...like I did for you back in Coast Town. This is one of your main weaknesses, one accidentally given to you through the purposeful use of the drugs Jack injected you with to get you to mate. You are very susceptible to control by pheromones...and because of how often you were drugged, your body has become conditioned upon them, your sex drive shot and unable to recover. Because of this, you are unaware of how deep your lust can go and just uh...how productive and virile of a male you can be."

Rook frowned, "You told me before about how I had many children in our world...just how many?"

"Your question has two answers, both of which I know you want anyway. You had nine Rockruffs, with that Midday Lycanroc Oscar owned, all the same litter of that first day, they and their trainers went on to become powerful champions long before you were discovered. Knowing just how powerful they could become, Oscar purposefully gave them to already renowned trainers where their level of power wouldn't raise doubt, but those he knew cared for their pokemon very well. Actually...for a long time things were done this way until just before we rescued you from the lab." Enzlo paused, "A thought for another time perhaps."

"Anyway," Enzlo shook his head, "Besides them, you had...around...2,400 others...all many different species..." Enzlo continued to list off through Rook's stunned silence at the number.

"T-Two--" Rook just gaped then, his muzzle falling open. How was that even possible!? Sure he knew breeding sessions had come pretty often, once, maybe twice a week and sometimes with just more than one or even a few times up to four in the room with him at a time...but for some time they had also stopped for years before starting up again and...then it made sense.

"There was a long pause in the breeding for about four years after they did it for a good three, then they started up again and Oscar started giving the eggs to younger, starting trainers or less experienced trainers..." Enzlo confirmed, "Jack didn't pay attention to who he was giving them to anymore and Oscar used it to raise suspicion."

"Your children went on to become a powerful new generation. The first 2,000 or so became elite champions in our world, but most just believed them to have been the result of the elite trainers who had gotten the first 2000, most with custom moves of their own that they either had learned while wild or after trainers earned their trust. A few of those elite trainers were not prepared for how intense their energy was and would release them as well; several of them remained wild until the time of the Gates. Trainers prized their strength and paid Jack thousands for them and those that were released and then became even more powerful in the wild were given bounties to be caught again...there was also a huge demand from breeders for you and Jack charged exorbitant prices on Breeder Pay...him suddenly flooding the beginners with pokemon far too powerful to possibly function didn't make sense to the elite...the expectation was that the new trainers would not be able to control them at all, but when it was a starter pokemon, that bond was different for those trainers and your children. Trust was built between them, and so despite their intense power, they did not care that their trainer was inexperienced. They were there to help the Trainer reach their dreams of being the best, as is the goal of Trainers heh. However, humans in general are stubborn creatures, and so many of the elite began trying to find out more about you too when so many young new trainers were becoming so powerful too." Enzlo nodded.

Enzlo continued to explain with, "Those last 400 though, being given to inexperienced trainers...many suffered through tough and crueling trainers who only expected them to become incredibly powerful, and when they couldn't muster that strength for them, were abandoned to the wild...All of them became powerful when Trainers either did eventually earn their trust or, those that perhaps went wild when abandoned or otherwise were pushed and forced to build their strength against other wilders and became protectors of large territories and built large packs...even other wild pokemon began to grow stronger within a few years of the first hundred or so that did join the wild. People didn't suspect anything from this either however, it was only when your children began to be given away as starter's to new trainers that many grew suspicious of where pokemon were suddenly becoming so powerful...while not nearly as powerful as you, their power was still somewhat considerable compared to what we were used to seeing...people finally began to suspect things...Tod, Riley, and I would bump into and got roped up into the quest of a breeder who was trying to solve that mystery, and it led to them finding out where those specific eggs came from through relentless checking of breeding records...and then meeting Lilian, whom Tod immediately recognized."

"Records of breeding were kept in strict security for your children, for some reason Rook. The Pokecenter could see a file with your picture, and you looked like a normal Midnight Lycanroc, but everything about you was listed as a question mark except for that you were Male, and between 10-20 years old. This wasn't something uncommon, some breeders prefer to keep details secret because it may otherwise give away how they specialize in breeding." Enzlo explained, then continued, "It was only further investigation that began to show the connection then, you were listed as each of these new powerful starter pokemon's father, yet no one knew through those records who you belonged to."

"So that was how you and Tod found out about me," Rook nodded in understanding, "Or did you not realize it was me from the pictures?"

"Jack took you with him when he left the Corsova..." Enzlo said lightly, "I didn't recognize you at all when I saw the picture, your given name was even printed there as 'Rook', but that didn't rouse any suspicions either. Tod was persistent though. He requested to look at the local Starter's records at every pokecenter we visited during our journey with Riley, only for specifically checking the listed fathers of each record available and noting every time we found you. Every picture was the same, like it was just a photo copy rather than an actual record given upon the moment of the breeding session. Until finally, we found one with a difference. There was an address on one of the records when we visited a pokecenter. The record of a Dusk Lycanroc who was registered to one of the league's champions who had you listed as their Father, it looked normal except up in the upper left corner, where there was a small stamp with an address. Considering this was perhaps one of your first children, the Rockruffs you had with Oscar's Midday Lycanroc, we can assume this was an oversight more than likely, of Jack physically handing the certificate to the Trainer. We eventually would come to that address in our journey with Riley and the breeder, and when we got there we found Lilian."

"Tod and I recognized her immediately. Lilian was uh...weak willed since you had evolved, she hated what you were being put through...and even with as hard as she tried to lie and keep her secrets, she didn't want to, and her mind gave her away to me easily, yet I just stayed silent. I knew the longer she didn't know I was listening, the longer she would think her answers and let Tod question her. He knew I was doing it...he tried to pry her for as much as he could. She eventually realized our game and tried to send us away, but Tod demanded to know what happened to you and Jack. He wanted to know why Jack was using you like that. The Clan ended up giving Jack exactly what he wanted, financial support and freedom to be a Trainer and he knew that Jack knew that, so why?"

"She finally relented and told us everything then, and explained Jack's actions from her point of view and how she had attempted to assist him. She believed it was for vengeance, but that he wanted to prove he could make you a true companion through battling. She told us of how she and Oscar spent ten years raising you in a loving household, one in which Jack was only around for brief or short moments and away for long ones while he went to school and studied the concepts of life energy in pokemon as science understood it, studying the energy of pokemon moves and how they affected the land around them. She explained how, on the day on your evolution, you were suddenly and powerfully introduced into a world of torture, and the trauma of finding out it was Jack, her, and Oscar who orchestrated it unlocked your life energy as you felt the same kind of betrayal that which Jack himself at felt...and it gave you your Connection to him and unlocked your life energy. Because of how it had been created though, it almost immediately terminated on Jack's end, because now your life energy didn't trust Jack's, a full Connection could be made...it caused you to rebound and become your own source of power, the soul of a pokemon burning within itself...Soul given infinite Life...don't be surprised if when you die you become a Ghost Type Rook." Enzlo finished up that statement, but kept going.

Lilian had expected Jack and Oscar to be astonished, you and Jack had just created a Connection that instantly snapped because you no longer accepted Jack as your human, but then it just looped back in upon yourself...and it didn't stop. She didn't know that he was planning to try something like that. But Oscar had known. He'd been watching and assisting Jack for much longer with attempting the process with several other pokemon but they had been missing some kind of component, some kind of missing key. And through you they had found it, it was through creating a Connection and immediately destroying it...Every time the pokemon in deep fear or pain...Oscar hated it, but as a new man of science, he was intrigued, 'was it possible?'"

"There is something else the Corsova teach a little further into their lessons. It is a small saying, one which is told to those who mourn the loss of others as they pass on. "The Corsova Clan Values Life and the Soul. The Soul is Endless as long as it is Remembered by Life. Through its connection with Life, a Soul cannot Fade. Yet fade all Life must, and so too, does Soul, yet Endless was already achieved, and so the Soul can go on..." This was the Corsova's understanding of ghost pokemon in particular...especially with the knowledge of how humans could become ghost type pokemon at the moment of their death. Even those who did not choose to carry on that way though, could be there as long as they are remembered."

Enzlo growled, "I used to think Jack was never paying attention during his lessons...but he was. His scientific thinking twisted those teachings and managed to create you...twisted the laws of trust and life between pokemon and humans in order to create you..."

"I...still can't understand...why wouldn't we just go on the Journey..." Rook whined again. Enzlo stayed silent at the question before he eventually answered.

"I can't answer that Rook...but we got off track...you want to know why you can't feel arousal, well that is as best I can answer, years of forced sexual breeding forced by drugs has rendered your body incapable of feeling it without those drugs...specifically, the pheromones of a Salazzle. I suspect you may understand if you were to meet one rather quickly what I mean...."

Rook nodded. He knew Salazzle pheromones were the ones Jack used to get him to breed...as well as command him to fight, though he could not use his power in that state, driven feral his power abandoned him. However, that was directly injected into his blood and faded with time...what could a Salazzle themselves command him into if he was directly exposed to clouds of the pheromones and breathed it in constantly...?

"I'll teach you something." Enzlo said suddenly the Lycanroc's inner thoughts, reaching up with one hand he waved his paw, and from the rooms below Rook's silver scarf rose up and came floating towards them through the window and then across the top floor. Rook blinked, reaching up to take the bundle of cloth. Rook had honestly forgotten about it, having taken it off and keeping it inside the desk of their room shortly after they left Coast Town.

He'd never measured it, but the damn thing was very, very long. Long enough to wrap around his head several times, he realized. Enzlo didn't need to teach him that, Rook snickered, and began to wrap it around his snout and head repeatedly, he did this enough times until he could only get a few wraps left and wrapped the rest around his neck instead, which helped secure the mask as his fur gripped it within the Steel Coat.

"Yeah, exactly like that, you clever wolf." Enzlo snickered, and the Lycanroc wagged his tail and felt a moment of warmth as he smiled.

"I'm not going to show you what arousal is supposed to feel like right now." Enzlo suddenly determined, stepping up and out of Rook's lap. "Tomorrow, at some point, Nether is going to call you into his office.~ He can show you first hehe, both of you will have more fun that way. So, come, let's just get to bed, I was passing out in your lap and I'd rather do that in a bed, you can snuggle with me though "

Yes...Rook determined, he knew exactly what kind of feeling attraction and desire were...at least, as now the thought of spending time with the Typhlosion and now laying in bed with Enzlo made the Lycanroc blush. A certain warmth built up within his sheath, but he didn't swell or get hard as he expected to happen. He frowned. It was true wasn't it then...his body wouldn't respond to his own attempts of arousal. And as fun as it'd be to spend time with Nether then and now, he couldn't even feel the need to...that bothered him.

He sighed and got up, following Enzlo, "Would it ever be possible to um...regain the drive, was it?"

"Your sex drive your mean, so that you may actually approach others with the proposition of sex on your own means?" Enzlo clarified as they came to the stairs.

"Yes...I think." Rook said as he started to walk down.

Enzlo giggled, floating after him, "I understand what you're actually meaning, and yes, I think you could find yourself reasons to pursue others. You are attracted to Nether, you can feel that now that you know he is interested in you, and so I believe you can learn to feel that for others now that you understand it."

Rook frowned, reaching the bottom of the stairs a little before doing so, "What if that means I don't find many attractive...?"

"Then don't proposition them." Enzlo snarked, halfway to the door to their room. "Can we go to bed now please?" The psychic type grumbled and Rook snickered. Enzlo knew his questions were all out, so yes, bed time was fine.

"Good, now come snuggle me..." Enzlo huffed tiredly, "All the star gazing got me really sleepy ya know."

Rook followed the Abra into their room and after a moment of situation with the blanket, the both of them slept under the light of the night sky together.

____________________________________

It was interesting to have watched Rook take all that news somewhat in stride, Ruli thought to himself, before he frowned. They had all heard most of the conversation between Enzlo and Rook, and everyone on the ship was now aware of the kind of connection between the Lycanroc and Jack.

Ruli didn't know what to think...unfortunately the only thought that kept jumping up in his head as he tried to was that Axel was kidnapped.

The Mega Lucario sighed and he looked down at the spikes on his chest and paws, holding his arms out in front of himself. He examined the scratches and dents and marks that now covered the once pristine spikes. That would heal and repair slowly sure, but it had been extremely painful to endure...had it been for any other reasons, Ruli probably would not have followed through on the request Rook's lifeforce asked of him.

But the voice he felt as it asked him for the metal had also whispered something further shortly afterwards...

"Train him."

So it was that now Ruli was the one who schemed in his room across from the Espeon, who was already asleep even while holding his mental link to the Espeon Clan again.

Speaking of...he needed to have a conversation with their Espeon, or rather, perhaps Epa through him...about keeping secrets...