At the edge of Brava Arena, Lady Lilligant is lit from within. Where the yellow tinge might make a grass type look sickly, there’s nothing fragile about the aura she exudes as white hot eyes stare down at the gathered humans.
While her warden’s back is turned, she leaps into the air, body arcing into a perfect downwards strike, her supernaturally-intense gaze set. It should come as little surprise that she’s not interested in the members of the Diamond Clan.
Gliscor intervenes, diving to put himself between his still-recovering human and the furious noble, but can’t press the attack. When he winds up to use his wings in retaliation, Ingo both verbally forbids it and then recalls him so he physically can’t. Without letting his eyes stray from Lilligant, he tries to step back and resolve the issue.
Lilligant is unswayed, resuming her aggressive stance. It’s only the two-fold protection of Adaman’s Leafeon and the redheaded warden that stays her, even for a moment.
“Go!” Barks Adaman and, while it’s clear that instinct demands Ingo assist, he ultimately bows to the order.
Adaman and the woman aren’t far behind, Leafeon panting several paces after, reeling from the blows it took defending the humans.
While the camera accompanies them as they put distance between themselves and Brava Arena, it hesitates when a turn would remove all visibility and, instead, pivots to look back at the Noble Pokemon.
Her bright white eyes continue to stare down the path, and when nothing draws her attention, she resumes her post, head held high.
Off to the side, worried human voices chatter amongst one another.
The recording finally ends.
---
The Frenzy of the Lord of the Woods: Kleavor, the Lord of the Woods, seems to have been driven into a frenzy by a strange lightning strike. You must search for a way to quell his frenzy.
Raging Ridge: Lilligant, the Lady of the Ridge, has been driven into a frenzy by the strange lightning. Investigate the matter and find a way to quell her frenzy.
Scaling Perilous Heights: Electrode, the Lord of the Hollow, has been driven into a frenzy by the strange lightning. Investigate the matter and find a way to quell its frenzy.
The Slumbering Lord of the Tundra: Avalugg, the Lord of the Tundra, has been driven into a frenzy by the strange lightning. Investigate the matter and find a way to quell his frenzy.
---
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring.
“Dragons, where do I even begin?”
The speaker exhales heavily, presumably as he puts his thoughts in order.
“Well, I suppose it’s easiest to say that I suspect my wait is over; for all the early warning signs, this is likely why I’m still in Hisui. Two of the Pearl Clan’s Noble Pokemon and two of the Diamonds’ have been driven into some sort of… furor.” In a direct contrast to the wait before he began speaking, now the words spill as freely as water. “I didn’t see what happened in the moment, but later found that Rotom was recording at the time. I was able to review the footage just now. Some kind of lightning emerged from the rift and struck Dre-- sorry, Lady Lilligant. Arezu said as much to Adaman, and during our meeting, Lian and Gaeric had similar stories to tell.”
There’s a low hum, and-- almost to himself-- he says, “When I first saw the rift up close, I was put in the mind of the stories of Reshiram and Zekrom: black energy and white light. Logically, I know they can’t have any hand in Hisui’s history, as they vanished thousands of years ago-- even by my current standards-- but seeing that lightning, I was reminded again. What a horrible thing to make a person homesick.”
He pauses again before getting back on track.
“Most every one of the Pokemon that was struck began to rage, save for Lord Avalugg, thankfully. This may sound similar to alpha Pokemon, but it goes a step beyond aggression. It’s… not mindless exactly-- more that there’s a sense of it being beyond anyone’s control, even the Pokemon themselves. You could look at Lilligant and see that she was suffering for it.”
Fabric shuffles and, briefly, his voice goes somewhat muted. He must have been fiddling with his collar. “The Clans thus far are at a loss, but my device isn’t. It’s decided that these frenzies can be quelled, and that it’s my duty to see it through. Perhaps I can convince the Pearl Clan to let me intervene-- though as of right now, how to calm the nobles is well and truly beyond me-- but I don’t think the same can be said for the Diamond Clan. Adaman and I are on good terms, but for a member of the Pearl Clan to approach a Diamond Noble so boldly, it’s practically a war declaration. Even with Lilligant pressing the attack, I couldn’t allow Gliscor to defend me.”
He takes a deep breath. Before he begins to let it out, there’s the dull thunk of him resting his head against a solid surface. “It’s… a mess, Emmet. Maybe the outlook will be better in the morning, but it’s hard to see how right this moment. All I can do is continue to hope. I’ll call again soon-- love you.”
---
A series of photographs is taken, though in a vacuum, it would be incredibly difficult to tell what the subject is.
It’s incredibly large, scale lent by the sight of a man standing nearby in frame, his torso completely bare in spite of the snow creeping up around his knees. He’s very slightly silhouetted by the glow coming off of the massive creature, which makes any detail on it difficult to make out. Judging by the outline and archived photographs, however, one could make the educated guess that this is an impossibly huge Hisuian Avalugg.
Its eyes are closed and, throughout the various angles the photographer gets of it, they never open.
---
Oh, for crying out loud.
Really?
The torches? At a time like this?
---
Ring, ring, ring, ring, ring.
There is absolutely zero hesitation before the caller dives in.
“I’m going to kill him. May the clans forgive me, but I’m actually going to kill him.”
With that alarming declaration out of the way, there’s a frustrated groan.
“This isn’t about the torches-- not to worry, I’m not so far gone yet-- but it did come about as a result of my approaching Melli on a different matter. When I asked if I might be permitted into Moonview Arena to observe Marumine from a respectful distance, he told me something absolutely horrendous.” He pauses here, and whether there’s a practical reason or if he’s simply trying to build drama is untenable, “He claimed that the lightning strikes are a sign of Sinnoh’s favor, and that the frenzies are meant to go unchecked. How can he be so callous? It’s as if he can’t even recognize the fact that the noble he serves is in agony!”
Somewhere in the background, a dull thump sounds. When it’s followed by the much closer, more human thump of a body dropping onto a futon, the cause becomes that much clearer. “I couldn’t say anything about it, of course. Not only am I not Marumine’s warden, but to insult Melli to his face like that when tensions are already so high would only spell disaster, so I had to stand there and… well, not smile, but accept it.”
He takes a remarkably deep breath in, trying to quell himself, and then slowly lets it out.
“I suppose it’s a problem for another time. Even if Melli’s mindset hadn’t been so extreme, I wouldn’t be able to do anything about Marumine today-- not when we’re still trying to settle our own nobles. It’s just…” He breaks off with a hiss, and doesn’t elaborate any further. That’s fine. His point gets across.
There’s a warbling sound, and a small amount of tension-- inaudible, but there none the less-- begins to ebb.
“Thank you, Samurott.” He says ruefully, and can be heard running his fingers through its mane.
A second later, he says, “I’m sorry about that. It’s just… difficult see a Pokemon so distressed without any way to assist, and Melli’s lack of empathy is infuriating. Perhaps it’s actually a good thing that I’ll be departing for Grandtree Arena in the morning; I suspect the space will help. Seems the Pearl Clan may have been on the right track after all.”
---
A handful of Galaxy Corpsmen were in the Heartwood when I arrived this afternoon. Lian was struggling to convince them away, so I intervened.
It was quite surprising to see Professor Laventon so far from Jubilife Village, but he was among their number, perhaps due to his research into the native fauna. We spoke for some time on the matter of the rift and the frenzies themselves, discussing what it might take to quell the rage that the nobles have fallen into.
I’m not sure what caused it, but midway through our conversation, he became noticeably distracted and hurried away not long after.
I hope I didn’t say something to offend him.
---
The recording starts up mid-sentence, the Arc Phone focused on its owner.
“—out of view. Sticking to trees would be ideal. Do you think you can do that?” Ingo asks the Rotom directly, expression troubled.
It gives an emphatic tilt of affirmation and his lips twitch in a failed smile. “I’m sorry to ask this of you; perhaps if I had another few days to finish healing, I could manage, but…”
Rotom chatters a dismissal and zooms off into the Heartwood, up an incline that overlooks the Grandtree Arena. Funnily enough, the angle of approach-- if not the altitude involved-- is exactly the same as it was the last time this area was scouted.
What it observes of Lord Kleavor is interesting, but not terribly surprising. He stalks the perimeter of his territory and raises his axes against the central tree, expressing the fury that radiates out through his body. Mighty as he is, against such an ancient foe, the damage is minimal; even though he has to pull his entire body back to wrench his blades free, the mark they leave barely even registers on the camera, lost deep in the crevices of the bark.
Rotom records several minutes of footage before Kleavor takes its axes to the trunk in a different capacity, using them to hook into and scale the tree. The frame pans up to watch, but eventually loses him among the branches. It waits for a spell, but when the canopy remains still, decides its task is complete and goes zooming back through the forest at a dizzying rate.
When it returns, its operator isn’t alone any longer. A second man has joined him safely away from the arena’s entrance and they seem to be deep in discussion. Shockingly, they’re speaking in plain Galarian-- albeit it with their own distinct affects.
“—different types of berry, isn’t that right?” Asks the man in the white coat, arms held up in anticipation, nearly bouncing on the balls of his feet. His speech leans dramatically toward the Galar-specific dialect, colored with lingering Hisuian.
Ingo nods, hands folded neatly behind his back-- though, in this instance, he’s gone out of his way not to make physical contact with the area, “Correct. As you’ve observed, Pokemon have different dietary needs, but their tastes still vary widely between them. Figy berries, for instance, will confuse or stun a Pokemon that can’t handle spicy foods.”
“Oh, very good!” Says the other, beaming, and when Ingo cocks his head, he adds, “Couldn’t we use that, then, to pacify these frenzied Pokemon? If attacking head-on is out of the question, we’ll simply have to use an inside-out approach!”
“That’s… a fascinating application. It could very well be exactly what we need.” Ingo half-turns as the Arc Phone swoops in, and his companion startles. Even when it drops into its owner's waiting hands, the other man keeps his eyes on it. “Thank you for cooperating, Rotom. I’ll review the footage as soon as we follow up on this.”
The last thing said before the recording ends is, “Professor Laventon, would you join me in speaking with Warden Lian?”