Pokémon: Outcast of Comb Island (Ch6)

[previous: https://pastebin.com/0K7wKm9N]


Chapter 6
Reckoning


	The night passed quietly, but the dawn brought rain. Nonetheless, Vincent was undeterred from training outside. After eating a quick breakfast and preparing himself for another trip out into the wilderness, he stood at the edge of the forest once more, clad in his yellow raincoat and wondering if he had made a mistake coming out in this weather. He would rather not get stuck far out in the wilderness in bad weather, so he thought it best not to seek the Amber Castle like he wanted to. That was bound to make this trip less valuable than it could have been on a dry day, but he still wanted to go out for the sake of training CIS4 before the Rare Elixir could wear off—though he had no idea when that would happen, thanks to the Institute being so reticent about the elixir.

	He glanced up as he thought about CIS4 and the Rare Elixir, and saw the Combee hovering right above him, looking towards the forest. She seemed to sense his gaze and looked down at him with a smile on all three faces. He smiled back, glad to see the Pokémon in a good mood again. She had been acting happier and more confident ever since she woke up this morning. Apparently, she had managed to sleep away the pain of the Rare Elixir, and seemed to also have gotten over the lingering weakness from the Leavanny’s attack. However, the large scar cutting diagonally across her left and lower faces still remained. Vincent thought that it might be there forever, and every time he saw it, he thought back to the distressing time after she had been nearly killed by his own fault.

	Nonetheless, the Combee appeared to not blame him, and she clearly showed that she felt better than ever now, what with her happy expression and her abundant energy. She even seemed to not mind the rain, and had not complained when the researcher decided to let her stay out in the open to prevent her from being cooped up in her Quick Ball.

	“Well, no sense standing around here forever,” Vincent said at last. “Let’s head into the forest and start training again. It’s been a while since we were last out here, and I want to see if you’re any better now after taking the Rare Elixir.”

	CIS4 buzzed and followed Vincent eagerly. She was happy to have gotten through the extraction and injection that had been looming over her and the human since he had caught her. Now the human had no reason to allow her to faint in battle, and that meant he would be careful to keep her safe instead of allowing her to be knocked unconscious so he could use his syringes. That made for a much better prospect than any time the duo had gone out before, and with that on both of their minds, they readily delved into the rainy forest.

	As soon as they were under the canopy, the air became filled with the sound of raindrops hitting the leaves above. It was loud enough to nearly drown out CIS4’s buzzing, and Vincent had to strain in order to listen for signs of wild Pokémon in the vicinity. He was unable to use his Silph Scanner for aid, as the device could not handle the rain very well; it was far drier under the canopy than in the hills and fields outside the woods, but rainwater still dripped down and found ways through the gaps in the branches and leaves above, so he and the Combee had to remain vigilant by themselves. As a precaution, Vincent kept a hand in the pocket of his raincoat, ready to grab the two Poké Balls within if they ran into trouble. Weavile and Scyther could fight back most threats of this island, but he preferred to see how CIS4 did by herself.

	And yet, all their caution and preparedness proved to be largely for naught, as they encountered very few wild Pokémon. The rain had apparently forced most of the island’s Pokémon into hiding. Nonetheless, Vincent made the most of things and sent CIS4 into battle against any wild Pokémon they found, provided he thought she could handle them. She never showed any difficulty defeating them, and Vincent even thought that she was more successful now than she had been during the last two times they had gone training, though he did not know whether that was mainly due to the Rare Elixir or a newfound confidence of hers.

	“Guess it doesn’t matter which,” Vincent said to himself as he watched CIS4 fight and defeat Bug-type after Bug-type. “As long as she’s winning fights and getting experience, that’s good enough for me.”

	The positive moods of the human and Pokémon did not darken, even as the day passed them by without giving them very many wild Pokémon to fight; they both believed that some combat experience was better than none. Shortly before nightfall, they returned to Costa Town, where Vincent convinced CIS4 to enter her Poké Ball again so that she could get healed at the Pokémon Center.

	After healing her there, he stepped outside and stopped as something straight ahead caught his eye: the larger-than-life stone Vespiquen statue in the middle of the town square. Despite the pouring rain, something about the statue convinced him to stay put, at least for a while longer. He approached the statue and looked at it closer, something he had neglected to do yet, even though he had seen it every time he entered the plaza. The statue had a simple round base that stood a few feet tall and had a simple plaque installed, though it was too dark to read. Vincent gave up trying and looked up at the stone Vespiquen standing atop the base. The statue was slightly taller than Vincent, bigger than a normal Vespiquen; it held one hand up as if in greeting, while the other hand hung at its side and held a nondescript flower. It faced east towards the sea and the main port of the town, a sliver of which was visible between the buildings that lined the eastbound road.

	While he observed the statue, Vincent recalled a brief bit of information he had read about it in a pamphlet when he first arrived on Comb Island. According to the pamphlet, the statue was built over a hundred years ago, shortly after humans arrived on Comb Island and settled it. They initially built Costa Town as a trading port and outpost for gathering items in the wilderness of the island. The leader of the settlers had a Vespiquen companion, and she helped the humans make peace with the initially-hostile native Combee. In doing so, she singlehandedly saved the settlers’ mission—and, most likely, their lives—and allowed for the expansion of Costa, which would grow to become a productive little town. After the humans began living peacefully on the island, the statue was constructed, both to honor the Vespiquen who had helped the settlers and to serve as a reminder of the aid Pokémon could offer humans.

	“Funny how that’s still true today,” Vincent said to himself. “It always has been true, and probably always will.”

	He paused, then shook his head. “Man, I’m starting to sound like Euclid now,” he muttered. “Talking about people and Pokémon and the bonds they share is his deal, not mine.”

	Nonetheless, he kept looking at the statue until a flash of lightning and a clap of thunder jolted him out of his thoughts and got him moving again. The rainstorm slowly grew more intense, and he swiftly returned to his rented hotel room and took a moment to appreciate being out of the chilly rain before removing his wet raincoat and releasing his three Pokémon. Weavile and Scyther began to lounge about the hotel room while CIS4 stayed near Vincent. With her hovering over him, he went to his desk to write down some notes.

	“Not a very productive day,” he said, “but I did get some good data from some of the Pokémon we encountered and knocked out. And I managed to avoid getting the Silph Scanner wet during all of it. Plus, you got a bit of experience too. Speaking of which, hold still, please.”

	He took his Silph Scanner and aimed it at CIS4. The Combee remembered being scanned by it shortly after being caught by the human, and so she felt no fear as its blue light flowed over her and displayed information about her for Vincent to see.

	“Looks like you actually leveled up a few times at some point,” he said as he read the data. “I didn’t even notice. You were Level 15 when I first caught you, but after the last three training sessions we’ve done, you’re almost up to 18 according to this scan. It really won’t be much longer until you evolve.”

	He returned to his notetaking while CIS4 hung on his last word. Even though the human said she was close to evolution, she did not feel like she was about to evolve. Then again, ever since she was injected with the Rare Elixir last night, she had felt more powerful and capable, so perhaps she truly was growing stronger. She hoped that was the case. If she became a Vespiquen, her troubles would end. She would become a powerful and respected warlord simply by nature of having gained enough experience and strength to evolve. She would be able to gain followers without any difficulty at all. And she would never be an outcast again.


***


	Morning came and brought no rain. Vincent stood by the bedroom window while his three Pokémon remained asleep. He watched what little he could of the sunrise, considering the direction the window faced, as it painted the scattered clouds in various shades of red. It would be a dry day, and he had no doubt that he could get more good training done. With the aid of the Rare Elixir, he perhaps might even evolve CIS4 at last.

	A quiet buzzing nearby interrupted him. His first thought was that it was CIS4, but it sounded slightly different, and he quickly realized that it was actually his cell phone vibrating to inform him of an incoming call. He went over to his nightstand where it lay and looked at its screen to see who was calling him: Euclid. Vincent quietly hurried out of the bedroom to avoid waking CIS4 and Weavile, who still stayed outside their balls at night unlike Scyther, and entered the main room of his lodgings before sitting on a small wooden chair and answering Euclid’s call.

	“Hello?” Vincent said quietly.

	“Hey Vince, it’s Euclid,” said his fellow trainer. “How’s it going?”

	“Well, it’s early, first of all,” said Vincent. “I just got up. And I’m trying not to wake up my Pokémon.”

	“Oh, right. Sorry. Forgot Comb Island’s in the next time zone west. But other than that, how’ve you been?”

	“I’m alright. Finally been making more progress on my research. How about you?”

	“Not too bad myself. This job in Shattercone Crater’s been pretty interesting, which just barely offsets the fact that it doesn’t pay well. The scientists and I have been finding a whole lot of Minior, and even a few actual meteors.”

	“Cool. I sure hope you haven’t been hit by any, though.”

	Euclid paused before responding. “Vince, think about it. If a meteor hit me, I wouldn’t be here talking to you. Or anyone, ever again, for that matter.”

	“You’ve got a point,” said Vincent sheepishly.

	“Still, to be fair, I’m not entirely sure a meteor could do me in. I’ve survived worse. But enough about me. I called you to ask how things went with your Combee. Is she okay?”

	“She is, actually. I did that physical data collection, and she made it through. I got my hemolymph samples, and I injected what I needed to. She’s even been acting like she feels much better now.”

	Euclid sighed in relief. “That’s good to hear,” he said. “Glad you two were able to get through all that okay. But the question now is: what are you going to do next? More research?”

	“Yeah, but I’ve already completed most of what I came here to do. I have plenty of data samples and lots of notes about this island. There isn’t much left to do besides evolve CIS4. That would be the first time the Institute’s had a Vespiquen to observe and study, which would be helpful for them.”

	“Well, good for you. Sounds like you’re almost done. But if you need any help, let me know. I’ll probably be able to find time to help you out.”

	Euclid began to say farewell, but before he could finish, Vincent cut him off. “Hang on. There’s one more thing I wanted to bring up.”

	“What’s that?”

	“Evolving CIS4 isn’t the only goal I have right now. There’s something I’m looking for here on Comb Island, and I was wondering if you could give me any advice about it.”

	“Lay it on me.”

	“It’s called an Amber Castle. Have you ever heard of that kind of thing?”

	Silence answered him. After a few seconds, Euclid quietly asked, “There’s an Amber Castle on Comb Island?”

	“According to rumors. I don’t know if they’re true. But it sounds like you’ve heard of Amber Castles before.”

	“I have. I’ve never seen one, mind you, but I’ve heard some people talk about them in my travels. I think I can help you out. Tell me what you already know.”

	Vincent recounted what little information he had learned about the subject. Euclid listened in silence, and paused before replying once Vincent was done.

	“Keep looking,” Euclid said at last. “Don’t give up. There may actually be some truth to those rumors.”

	“Why do you think so?”

	“Because—and I might be wrong, but maybe not—I think I know the Vespiquen who built it.”

	Now it was Vincent’s turn to be silent out of surprise. When he finally recovered, he said: “Okay, that’s awfully convenient. I’m going to need an explanation.”

	“I’ll give it gladly,” Euclid said. “You may remember me telling you before that I’m a drifter right now, traveling around and taking odd jobs where I can find them. I’ve been that way for years, ever since I started my journey around the world. Anyway, over a year ago—not long after first coming to the Safobay region—I took a job with a group of researchers who wanted to study plants on Comb Island.”

	“Researchers? Were they with the Bayview Institute like me?”

	“No, this was before your Institute was founded. These guys were with a different research institute, in Percolora City. They sent me to the island to look into the native flora and retrieve certain samples. My Pokémon partners were stronger than any the researchers had, so they thought I’d have an easier time doing fieldwork.”

	“That makes sense.”

	“That’s what they told me. But I think the real reason was that they were too scared of getting in fights with the native Pokémon. Anyhow, during my time on the island, I encountered a female Combee, and her followers got all antsy and attacked me. It took some convincing to get them not to kick my butt, but I got them to settle down.”

	“How could they kick your butt without feet?”

	“Same way a Wooper learns Ice Punch without arms: they find a way. Now, back to the story. After calming that Combee and her followers, I figured out that she wanted to evolve, so I decided to help her fight and get stronger. Eventually, she was able to level up and evolve. She was very thankful for my help, but we had to go our separate ways after that. I don’t know what she did afterwards, but now that you bring up Amber Castles, it’s got me thinking. She was pretty powerful when I left her, and she could only get stronger. And if Amber Castles are made by strong Vespiquen, wouldn’t you say it’s likely she made one?”

	“I guess that’s likely,” said Vincent, “but not certain, right? So why do you seem so confident there is one?”

	“I’m not completely confident, I’ll admit. Maybe there really isn’t a castle on the island. But still, the catalyst for one was on the island at some point, and that’s important to consider. With that in mind, I think you shouldn’t give up looking for an Amber Castle.”

	“Thanks for the encouragement,” said Vincent. “I was planning to keep looking for it anyway, but it’s still good to hear from another source that the rumor might not be false. That said, I have one question: why didn’t you tell me sooner that you already met a female Combee and helped her evolve? Considering that’s the same thing I’m trying to do, any kind of info you got out of that could have benefitted my own research.”

	“First of all, you never asked.”

	“Gee, thanks.”

	“And second, I didn’t get any good data. Just casual observations, and not very precise ones at that. I don’t think it would benefit you, but I could tell you what I remember if you want.”

	“Maybe I’ll call you later and we can talk about that more. But I think it’s time I get moving now.”

	“Sounds good. But if you do find an Amber Castle, please tell me about it. I’ve never seen one, so I’d like want to know what it’s like. Also, if you meet that Vespiquen, tell her I said hi. I noticed she was a bit more orange than the average Vespiquen—though not a shiny, mind you—so maybe you can recognize her that way.”

	“I’ll do that if I find her, but do you even know if she’s still alive?”

	“Sadly, no. I’ve never been back to the island, so I’ve never found that out. But I know it can be treacherous there, so there’s a chance she might have died by now. Even so, if she’s still there, I’d like to know if she’s doing alright. No real reason, honestly. It’s just... well, you spend enough time helping someone and you really start to care about them, y’know?”

	“Yes, I do know,” Vincent said quietly.

	For a few seconds, Euclid did not reply. At last, he said, “Alright, I think we’ve been talking long enough. I don’t want to hold things up. Call me later and let me know how everything went. Good luck, Vince.”

	After they said goodbye and hung up, Vincent pocketed his phone and hung his head in thought. Euclid had said that there was likely an Amber Castle here, and that meant the rumors held water, but he only had a few days left to look and confirm it for himself. There was no time to waste, so the researcher got to work preparing himself for the upcoming day and the search that would take up much of it.


***


	As they had done several times before, Vincent and CIS4 returned to the forest and made their way through it. Now that the storm had blown over, revealing a partially cloudy blue sky visible through the thin canopy above the dirt path they took, they encountered and battled a greater number of wild Pokémon than yesterday. The Combee had little to no difficulty defeating them, and Vincent thought it possible that she could evolve that very day.

	“You’re getting close,” he told the Combee after scanning her with his Silph Scanner again. “It might not happen today, but it’ll happen soon. Ever since I gave you the Rare Elixir, you’ve been getting much stronger and gaining more experience than before. Good to know it’s doing its job.”

	CIS4 hovered after him, buzzing louder in excitement. It was extremely difficult for a Combee to evolve in the dangerous wilds of Comb Island, but with the human’s aid, she was making more progress than she ever had before. His guidance, along with the help of his other two Pokémon and the Rare Elixir—as painful as it was—had helped her immensely. She felt ready to take on anything. Her mind swam with thoughts of what it might be like to evolve, and how her life would change once she did. She was so caught up in her imagination that she failed to notice a pair of orange eyes staring at her from amongst the foliage.

	Without warning, something slammed into the Combee’s side. She screamed, more from surprise than from pain. Vincent heard her and spun around just in time to see a red and yellow blur fly into her from somewhere off the path and force her into the forest on the other side.

	“CIS4!” he shouted. “I’m coming!”

	The researcher ran to where she had vanished and hurried off the beaten path, wading through the undergrowth in pursuit of his Combee and whatever had attacked her. They were nowhere to be seen, but Vincent could hear CIS4’s frantic buzzing, mingled with a buzzing of a different pitch, fading away into the distance. Apparently, whatever had attacked her was carrying her away, faster than Vincent could run through the forest.

	He struggled through the dense foliage, listening intently for the sound of CIS4’s buzzing wings and those of her captor, but that quickly faded away. Soon, the only sounds he could hear were those the plants he stepped on or shoved out of the way as he hurried along, mingled with his heavy breathing as he struggled to keep moving.

	It wasn’t long before Vincent became fed up of tripping over undergrowth and running into branches, and paused to release Weavile and Scyther from their balls. The two of them landed among the undergrowth and looked at him, awaiting orders.

	“CIS4 got caught by something,” he said, panting and pointing forward. “They went that way. Clear a path!”

	The two Pokémon took a moment to look surprised and worried at this news, but they both recovered quickly and went to work. They ran ahead and began swinging their claws and scythes at any obstructions, while Vincent followed close behind them, muttering and cursing all the way. As he stumbled through the forest, he couldn’t help but wonder one thing: “Why can’t we just have a nice, productive, drama-free training session for once?”


***


	CIS4 squirmed and screamed in the grasp of whatever had pounced on her as it carried her swiftly through the forest. It had grabbed her as soon as it hit her, and was holding her tightly against its body with multiple limbs, but she had no idea what had caught her. The fact that she was held facing downward in such a way that let her see only the ground did not help her figure it out, but she got a change of scenery soon enough. Her surroundings abruptly grew brighter and her assailant finally released her. She fell to the dirt ground with a grunt, and prepared to get up, but she noticed a loud noise all around her that made her pause. It was a buzzing, at a volume produced only by a great many bugs. She recognized the sound of Combee wings, and slowly rose from the ground to look around. She knew what she would see, and she was not looking forward to it.

	Like she had thought, the area was swarming with Combee. A huge group of them, many dozen strong, hovered in a cloud all around her. The buzzing of their wings drowned out all other noise, and they gathered so closely around that they blocked much of the surrounding area from view, but CIS4 could tell that they were in a large clearing. However, she barely registered that. She was too busy looking around in fear at the swarm. In such numbers, even lowly Combee could be deadly.

	All of a sudden, there came a sibilant voice from above, shouting over the buzzing of the Combee. “Hello again, outcast,” it said.

	With all three of her faces, CIS4 scowled. She knew that voice. She looked up and saw exactly the Pokémon she had expected to see: a certain orange-eyed Ledyba.

	“I apologize for the abruptness of how I brought you here,” Taranza continued, frowning at the lone female Combee, “but the blame is not all mine. Were it not for your own unwillingness to listen to reason, this would not have happened.”

	“What are you doing?” CIS4 shouted back. She tried to sound angry or defiant, but her voice cracked with fear regardless. “What’s the meaning of this?”

	“You know why you are here. You have ignored my request to leave the human, and in doing so, refused to do what is best for the Pokémon of this island. I had hoped it would not come to this, but for the benefit of all, I have decided that drastic measures must be taken. And so the hour of reckoning has come, and it is time for you to be executed. Have you any final words?”

	She said nothing for a short while, unable to say anything. She thought at first that it was out of fear or indecision, but she realized with a start that she actually kept quiet because she was fuming. In a turn of events that surprised even her, she noticed that the sight of Taranza did nothing but anger her. In such a situation as this, surrounded by hostile Combee prepared to attack, she should have been completely terrified. And she had been at first—but after seeing Taranza and hearing his words, she felt different. He was willing to kill her for her refusal to leave the human, but she knew the human had given her too much for her to abandon him now. Without him and his Pokémon, she would have remained an outcast and never grown as strong as she had over the last few days. The memory of them, and what they had done to help her, made her determined not to die here.

	For a few seconds more, she glared up defiantly at Taranza with eyes turned red in anger. And then she said her final words: “Buzz off.”

	The Ledyba stared at her for a short while, before a smirk slowly crept onto his face. “I am surprised you would act this way,” he said, “considering that the odds are so stacked against you. But I am also somewhat impressed by your courage. It makes me hesitant to kill you, though I truly cannot let you live, as gruesome as it may sound. But I will hold back for now, because your response makes me curious. Can you tell me why you are not afraid now, even when you face death?”

	“Maybe before I met the human, I would have been scared,” said CIS4. “But ever since I met him and his Pokémon, I’ve grown stronger. They kept me from being an outcast, and helped me gain experience. I know that I can hold my own today much better than I could a few days ago. Plus, after the way they’ve helped me, I don’t want to die. That would make me lose them, and they’d lose me too. I don’t want that to happen. I won’t go down without a fight!”

	“Then, fight!” said Taranza, and the Combee of the swarm began to beat their wings faster in unison. CIS4 knew that they were charging a massive Gust attack. Defiant to the end, she prepared her own and sent it straight at Taranza himself. The wind hit one of the several Combee between them, who fainted and fell from the air to land near CIS4, and her attack dissipated before it reached its target. The Ledyba shook his head and raised a hand.

	“Swarm, on my mark,” he said. But he said nothing more before he spied motion in the corner of his eye. He looked towards it in time to see a Scyther and a Weavile burst into the clearing, scythes and claws aglow with energy as they readied their attacks. The swarm of Combee saw them as well, and collectively began to fret and break formation out of fear. Many forgot about CIS4 and turned to face the approaching Pokémon, and some of them even stopped charging their Gust attacks.

	“Don’t turn your backs on the outcast!” Taranza shouted. “Finish the job and then deal with these interlopers!”

	The Ledyba’s command went unheard. The sudden appearance of the two Pokémon had shocked the gathered Combee into disarray. Some of the Combee fired off their Gust attacks at the newcomers, but the swarm did not attack as one, and their disorganized attacks barely dealt any damage. Weavile and Scyther pushed through the scattered attacks and retaliated viciously. One after another, the Combee fell by the strikes of the duo, while Taranza barked orders at the swarm in a desperate attempt to regain some semblance of order.

	While the Ledyba struggled to control the Combee, CIS4 had already recovered from the unexpected arrival of Scyther and Weavile. Though it had surprised her just as it had the other Combee, she knew without a doubt who they were and who their trainer was, and the knowledge that they had come to her aid encouraged her. She quickly took hold of this opportunity and began to lash out at the Combee while they were distracted by Weavile and Scyther. Most of them fell with a single powerful blast of air, and CIS4 did not stop for a moment.

	However, her advantage soon faded. It did not take long for the Combee deeper within the swarm, closest to CIS4 and farthest from Weavile and Scyther, to realize that they were in no danger from the newcomers. The rest of the swarm would shield them from attack, however unwillingly, and they were free to ignore the two powerful intruders and follow Taranza’s orders. One after another, they fired Gusts at her, and CIS4 struggled to dodge and fight back. Though the attacks of these Combee were weaker than her own, and she was tough enough to resist them, they managed to wear her down. She defeated many Combee, but many more still remained, and she started to lose hope. Scyther and Weavile could not reach her, and she could not stop all these Combee herself. As their gusts of wind battered her and made her grimace in pain, she tried and failed to figure out what to do. It seemed like a losing battle.

	Then, without warning, the world went white. She gasped as a tingling sensation flowed throughout her body, and she was struck with a feeling of déjà vu. She had felt this before, back when she had first encountered the human, but she was too surprised to pin down why it felt familiar before she lost all sensation and blacked out.


***


	An instant later, she opened her eyes and found herself outside the swarm. She looked about in confusion, and finally turned around to see the human standing there and holding a blue and yellow ball.

	“You’re safe,” said Vincent with a smile. “I’m glad the Quick Ball could recall you from in there—I wasn’t sure it would work. But we can talk later. Now we have to fight. Scyther and Weavile are taking good care of the swarm, so you don’t need to join if you don’t feel up to it. That said, if you want to fight, I won’t stop you.”

	CIS4 bobbed up and down and grinned at Vincent. The sight of the human empowered her. She was not going to flee. She had her companions here, and she would fight alongside them to the end. She—and her friends—would win.

	Vincent grinned back at his Pokémon. “You want some revenge, huh? Alright then. Let’s show these Combee what you’re made of.”

	Vincent pointed at the swarm and ordered CIS4 to use Gust, like he had plenty of times before. The female Combee followed his command and unleashed a huge blast of wind at the swarm, causing several Combee to fall from the attack. CIS4 watched them collapse unconscious to the ground, then charged up and shot another Gust at the swarm. Combee fell again and again and CIS4 did not relent. As she fought, Vincent stood back and continued to shout orders to his Pokémon, but their victory appeared to be likely even if he had said nothing. Scyther and Weavile danced around the swarm, their scythes and claws making short work of the wild Pokémon. Even CIS4 dealt heavy blows to the Combee as they struggled to withstand the attacks from the three Pokémon that surrounded them. Many had already retreated, and many more had already fainted. The battle appeared on the verge of ending in victory for Vincent and his team.

	Taranza knew this and would not allow it. The Ledyba raised his hands and summoned a round wall of pale blue light before him, then flew down from above the swarm and zipped towards CIS4.

	“It seems I’ll have to handle this myself!” Taranza shouted. “You and I, outcast! We duel!”

	CIS4 saw him coming and her eyes turned red with rage. She charged and fired a Gust, but it dissipated against the wall of light before the Ledyba.

	“Light Screen,” Vincent remarked. “CIS4, get out of the way, and use Sweet Scent!”

	The Combee waited until Taranza was about to reach her, then she swerved to the side and emitted an overpoweringly sweet scent to confound the Ledyba. Right before she did, her antennae twitched as they detected a pungent odor coming from Taranza. She vaguely recalled hearing once that Ledyba naturally emit such a scent when enraged. Clearly, Taranza was very angry at her, or perhaps at the swarm for their inability to stop her—or both. Either way, CIS4 could tell that he was just as angry as she was at him.

	Taranza swung a fist at CIS4 as he passed her. The Combee quickly flew back and dodged it, and the Ledyba spun around to attack again, but his eyes grew dim and his movements slowed as the effects of Sweet Scent began to take hold. CIS4 flew around him to take aim at his back, unprotected by his Light Screen, and the Sweet Scent impaired him enough that he could not evade her incoming Gust. The harsh wind bent one of his wings, and he shouted in pain as he spun down to the ground and landed hard. He glanced up and saw CIS4 charging another attack. In response, he shut his elytra to shield his wings an instant before CIS4 used Gust again, causing the wind to flow over his carapace and cause little damage.

	Once the attack ended, Taranza revealed his wings again and shot up towards CIS4, spiraling into an uppercut. CIS4 dodged his punch, but the Sweet Scent had vanished by now, so he recovered much quicker than last time. Without wasting a moment, he recovered from his missed attack and lashed out at her again with Comet Punch. CIS4 cried out as the Ledyba’s fists pummeled her repeatedly until one final punch sent her flying. She hit the ground and bounced once before coming to stop. Lying there, she thought she heard the human shout for her to watch out. She looked up to see Taranza flying at her again, fist raised and primed for another attack. Though she tried, she could not work up the energy to evade or attack him first before he reached her.

	Fortunately for her, she was not alone. Taranza continued to shoot towards CIS4, and he was so focused on taking out the Combee that he did not see another Pokémon jump at him from the side. CIS4 gasped as Weavile came out of nowhere and swatted Taranza out of the air with a clawed hand. The Ledyba fell to the ground and Weavile landed on him with both feet, earning a sharp cry of pain from him in return, before jumping off and hurrying to CIS4. She crouched beside her and looked down at the injured bug with concern.

	“You alright?” she asked the Combee.

	“Yes,” said CIS4 with a weak smile. “Thanks for that.”

	“No problem,” said Weavile. Her concerned expression had faded, and now she was only smirking. “I happened to see you two fighting, and I just couldn’t let you do that all by yourself. You’d get all the glory if you did.”

	CIS4 smiled wider up at Weavile, who nodded in return and stood up tall again. “Alright, you finish the job,” she said. “Knock that Ledyba out. Scyther and I can take the rest of this swarm. They’re a bunch of wimps, honestly. Ain’t worth our time.”

	Weavile ran out of sight to continue fighting off the remnants of the swarm. CIS4 got airborne again and watched as Weavile and Scyther finished off or scared away the rest of the Combee. Most of them had already fled or been knocked unconscious. Only a few stragglers remained, and they were trying desperately to stay out of range of the two Pokémon. Taranza was the final true threat.

	CIS4 turned and saw the Ledyba struggling to get up again. She noticed that one of his elytra was mangled and dented, a result of Weavile stomping on him after she had knocked him down. Taranza glanced back at it and grimaced, then looked over at CIS4 and glared at her.

	“I am down,” he said. “Will you strike a fallen foe?”

	CIS4 slowly flew over to him, mulling over his question. Taranza tried to rise, but his arms gave out and he fell on his front with a grunt. He looked up at her. The fire in his eyes had left, and his sibilant voice was quiet and weak.

	“Will you attack an enemy who can no longer fight?” Taranza asked.

	“Of course I will,” CIS4 answered as she blew him away with Gust.

	Vincent swiftly sidestepped as the Ledyba’s unconscious body sailed past him and into the bushes at the edge of the clearing. He smirked as he watched the sight, then turned back towards CIS4.

	“Well, that was fun,” he said. “CIS4, you’ve definitely been getting stron—”

	His jaw dropped. CIS4 had begun to glow. She hovered in place and looked around in confusion as her world slowly became nothing but white. Vincent, Scyther, Weavile, and even the remaining Combee stared at her as she glowed brighter, accompanied by a hum that filled the air and rose to a crescendo. CIS4 was soon nothing more than a white orb, which slowly grew and morphed into a new shape. After a few more moments, the light faded away, the hum fell silent, and there hovered a Vespiquen.


***


	Nobody spoke for a good long while. CIS4 looked down at her new form in awe, her red eyes wide. She moved her new arms and felt her new body with her new hands. It felt indescribably odd to finally have arms where there once were none, and the new shape of her body, completely different than that of her prior form, felt bizarre. And yet, it felt so natural, as though she had always had this body.

	This was evolution. This was what she had wanted. And she would not have had it any other way.

	While Weavile, Scyther, and the Combee were still too overcome by surprise to move, Vincent recovered and walked over to the Vespiquen with a big grin on his face. “You did it!” he said with a laugh. “You finally evolved! Beating all those Combee and that Ledyba gave you just enough experience! Talk about convenient.”

	He stood before her and continued to smile at her. She hovered at his eye level and met the gaze of the human who had helped her get this far. She wanted to thank him, to show she greatly appreciated the aid he had given her. But she did not know how to thank him for all he had done: saving her from the Ariados; healing her after the Leavanny incident; trying to reduce the pain of his research with her; and most importantly, helping her grow stronger and even evolve at last.

	And as she thought back over their time together, she remembered something. The human had embraced her twice before, first after the Ariados attacked her, and again while he performed the extraction and injection. Both times, she had been hurt, and needed comfort and the promise of friends, which he had given with an embrace. Having just acquired arms for the first time less than a minute ago, she did not truly understand the meaning of such an action. But she saw the connection between it and the easing of her pain, and that told her one thing: hugs were good.

	With that in mind, CIS4 hovered over to Vincent and threw her newly acquired thin arms around his neck, pulling close to him. Vincent took half a step back in surprise, but then he smiled and chose to play along. He put his arms around CIS4 as well, wrapped under her arms and around her back below her wings.

	“Good job,” he said. “I’m proud of you. Evolving isn’t easy, but you did it.”

	While Vincent and CIS4 shared a moment, Scyther grinned in response to the sight, and Weavile crossed her arms and rolled her eyes.

	“Way too mushy for me,” she muttered. “Can we get back to the fighting now?”

	She looked over at the enemy Combee stragglers and bared her fangs at them. In response, they immediately began to hover higher up.

	“Okay, that’s just one more reason to get out of here,” one of them said. “As if that evolution wasn’t bad enough.”

	“I’m shocked she evolved,” said another. “She must be stronger than anyone thought. Taranza thought she was weak. Even Her Highness did.”

	“Clearly we underestimated her,” a third Combee remarked.

	“We can’t stay here any longer,” said the first. “We should go while they’re distracted. If we couldn’t fight them before, we definitely can’t when they’ve got a Vespiquen on their side!”

	“Yeah, so less talking and more fleeing!” said another Combee. “Everyone split up into groups and retreat, and don’t let them follow you!”

	The Combee began to flee, but one stayed behind and looked down at the clearing—and, more specifically, at the dozens of unconscious Combee scattered all over the ground. “What about the ones who fainted?” he asked.

	“There’s no time!” his retreating comrades answered. “Leave them behind! They’ll wake up, and they can find their way back when they do.”

	The straggling Combee hurried after his allies. Weavile and Scyther watched them all go without attacking them. They were no longer a threat, and they were out of reach, anyway. The duo ignored them, and also ignored the fainted Combee; there was no reason to beat them any further. The two Pokémon turned their attention back to Vincent and CIS4 and walked over to them. By now, the human and the Vespiquen had released one another, and Vincent stood before CIS4 again.

	“Seriously, this is really good news,” the researcher said. “Finally, we’ll be able to get data on a Vespiquen. Speaking of which, I should scan you.”

	He took his Silph Scanner from his pocket and cast its blue light on CIS4. The Vespiquen hovered in place as the device recorded her information once again, and Vincent looked it over and nodded as he read it.

	“Level 21,” he said. “Just as expected, considering you evolved. Apparently, you also can now use Slash, which should come in handy. We should practice that move ASAP.”

	As Vincent continued to look at his Silph Scanner, something sharp tapped the back of CIS4’s new, bulkier abdomen. She winced and turned around to see Weavile and Scyther standing side by side behind her, both smiling up at her.

	“Congratulations,” said Weavile. “You made it. How’s it feel to be evolved?”

	“Different,” CIS4 replied, and she gasped as she noticed that even her voice had changed. It now sounded deeper and somehow seemed to have a naturally authoritative air to it. “I don’t really know how to feel, honestly. It’s weird, but at the same time, I feel so much stronger.”

	“Evolving makes you stronger automatically,” said Weavile. “Most of the time, at least. But for a Pokémon like you, you’re a lot tougher now. And you deserve it. You’ve been working hard with the boss to reach this point.”

	CIS4 thanked Weavile and resumed looking over her new body. As she did, she asked Weavile, “Out of curiosity, are you unevolved or not?”

	Weavile furrowed her brow for a bit, but then she smirked. “Oh, right. You’ve never left this island. Never met a Weavile before me, huh? Well, I am evolved, actually.”

	“How did it feel when you evolved? Do you remember?”

	“I felt a bit weird for a while, but I got over it quick. At least the body of a Weavile is really similar to that of a Sneasel—my unevolved form, that is. I just got bigger and got this cool neck frill and headdress. Opposable thumbs too, which was nice.” To demonstrate, she flexed her metallic claws a bit and clenched them into fists. “But you went through a much bigger change. I can’t imagine how it must’ve felt to get so much bigger, or change your body shape so much. Or get arms. That must’ve been weird. Suddenly growing arms ain’t an everyday occurrence, y’know.”

	“Exactly. Again, it’s weird to have arms, but I also feel like I’ve had them forever. It feels natural. I can move them with barely any effort.”

	She swung and flailed her arms about to prove her point, earning a few laughs from Weavile and an odd chattering that was meant to be laughter from Scyther. The sounds of the Pokémon caught Vincent’s attention and got him to stop looking over his Silph Scanner. He pocketed it and spoke up.

	“This will be really good for my research,” he said. “That scan data all by itself means a lot, and the observations I’ll take from here on out will be helpful too. I think we should get moving again, and let CIS4 test out her new power in battle.”

	The Vespiquen agreed, and nodded eagerly. She paused abruptly, suddenly realizing that nodded no longer required her to move her whole body. Now that her head was distinct from the rest of her body, even a movement as simple as a nod had changed completely. Even so, it was a welcome change.

	“One thing I should mention, though,” said Vincent, somewhat less happy and more serious than before. “I didn’t bring this up before because I didn’t want to spoil the moment, but... it looks like you still have that scar you got from the Leavanny a few days ago. It didn’t go away when you evolved, and because of that, I’m not sure if it will ever disappear fully.”

	CIS4 started and raised a hand to her face. She thought she felt a thin rough line running across her face diagonally. Just as Vincent had said, the scar remained despite her evolution. While it had gone across her left and lower faces as a Combee, it now bisected her single face. It started at the blunt hornlike protrusion on the upper left part, then ran down between her eyes to her right mandible. And yet it caused her no pain, despite being highly visible, which made the presence of the scar slightly more bearable to her.

	“I wouldn’t worry about it,” said Vincent. “At least it sets you apart from other Vespiquen. Then again, I don’t think there are many others on this island in the first place, so that’s a bit moot.”

	He shrugged, and looked over his shoulder into the forest. “I think we should get moving again,” he continued. “We beat back those Combee—even though I still have no idea what they were trying to do to you, or why that Ledyba was with them—and you evolved. That’s a decent amount of progress for an average day, but this definitely isn’t an average day, and I don’t want to stop here. Now that you’ve evolved, we could get a lot more done, and I say we should get going, if you feel up to it.”

	Vincent took the two Poké Balls from his belt and recalled Scyther and Weavile, after thanking them for their help. He then began to leave the clearing with CIS4 close behind. But before they reached the edge, CIS4 stopped as she heard a quiet male voice from the forest nearby.

	“Um, excuse me,” it said.

	CIS4 turned in its direction and watched as a pair of male Combee flew out of the woods. Vincent heard their buzzing and looked over at them as well. The human put a hand to one of the balls on his belt, prepared to release one of his Pokémon should these Combee prove hostile, but they made no moves to attack. Instead, the pair slowly flew towards CIS4, and one spoke to her as they approached.

	“We beg your pardon,” he said in a voice gruffer than the last one, “but we wish to speak with you, Vespiquen.”

	“What is it?” CIS4 asked.

	“We want your help,” replied the Combee. “My friend and I are outcasts. Just this morning, we were exiled from our swarm for assaulting a guest.”

	“It’s a long story,” said the other Combee. His was the voice that CIS4 had heard first; she found it younger-sounding than that of his comrade.

	The first Combee tilted up and down to nod and agree with the other Combee, and said, “Yes it is, but as I was saying: as a result of our exile, we’ve been wandering all day without a warlord, trying to decide what to do next. Just now, we happened to come across the very same swarm we were exiled from in the first place, gathered here in this clearing.”

	“We hid and waited nearby,” added the younger Combee, “and we saw everything that just happened here. We saw them attack you, and we saw you evolve. It was pretty cool, actually.”

	“Don’t get distracted,” said the older Combee to his friend before turning back to the Vespiquen. “Anyway, we approached you because we currently have no warlord to follow, and so we have a request: will you let us join you as your followers?”

	“Please say yes,” the younger Combee said quickly, causing his friend to glare at him.

	CIS4 was intrigued by their request, and looked at the two Combee closely while she considered whether there might be a downside to accepting their request. One occurred to her as she pondered, and she voiced her concern.

	“You say you were once part of this swarm that just attacked me?”

	“Yes,” said the older Combee. “But we did not take part in that attack. We bear no ill will towards you.”

	“Still, you were part of that group at one point, and that group follows my rival.”

	The two Combee seemed surprised at this. “Really? You were her rival?” asked the younger one. “You know, I think I remember her mentioning this one female Combee she kept crossing paths with and dueling. Maybe that was you?”

	“It must have been. But the point is, I’m hesitant to let you join me, knowing you once followed her. Who’s to say you aren’t still loyal to her?”

	“Trust us, we aren’t. Remember, she kicked us out of her swarm. Well, maybe ‘kick’ isn’t the right word, considering she has no legs. But still, she exiled us, and we’re not really happy about that. We can’t feel loyal to her anymore after what she did to us.”

	“He speaks the truth,” said the older one. “Please believe us. We obeyed her during our time in her swarm, but now that we no longer belong to that group, we have no loyalty to her. We’ll gladly follow you, if you’ll allow us to do so.”

	CIS4 paused and gave the topic some more thought. Part of her still feared a possible betrayal by these two Combee if she let them join her. At the same time, she currently had no followers, and so she blanched at the idea of throwing away a chance to gain any. She mulled on the topic for a few moments longer, while the two Combee hovered side by side and patiently awaited her answer.

	At last, she gave it: “I accept. You may join me if you wish.”

	The two Combee bobbed up and down in excitement and smiled at her with all of their mouths at once.

	“Thank you very much,” said the older one.

	“Yeah, thanks!” said the younger. “We were afraid we’d never find a new warlord to follow, but here we find not just a warlord, but a Vespiquen! We got lucky!”

	The older Combee nodded. “Yes, we did. From now on, we’ll follow you, Your Highness.”

	CIS4 looked confused for a moment before realization set in. They were talking about her. She was “Your Highness”. She was no longer an outcast without any followers. She was now a queen.

	“I’m glad to hear it,” said CIS4, and she meant it. “Out of curiosity, what are your names?”

	“My name is 25,” said the older Combee, “and this is my friend 23.”

	“Very well,” she said. “You can call me CIS4. And before you say anything: the human gave me that name, so that’s why it sounds so odd.”

	“The human, huh?” said 23. “Yeah, speaking of which: who exactly were those other Pokémon we saw helping you fight, and who’s that human?”

	“They’re my friends,” CIS4 said. “They’ve helped me a lot since I met them. If you want to follow me, you’ll have to accept them as allies. Including the human.”

	“We can do that,” said 25. “If it means we get another warlord to follow, we’ll do it without question.”

	CIS4 nodded at their agreement and turned back to look at Vincent, while the two Combee flew over to her and hovered close above her. They all saw the human fumbling with a notepad and a small handheld dictation machine. They did not know it, as they had never seen such devices before, but he was doing some data collection on the interactions between the Vespiquen and the Combee, taking notes and recording their speech. He looked up once he heard the Pokémon fall silent save for their humming wings, and he quickly turned off the recorder.

	“Don’t mind me,” he said as he pocketed his items. “Just doing my research. Anyway, looks like you’ve got yourself some followers now, CIS4! Good for you. Looks like you’re a natural at being a Vespiquen. Hopefully I can make some observations about how you three interact.”

	The researcher turned and looked into the dense forest outside the clearing. “But for now,” he continued, “we should get going. We should look for some wild Pokémon to fight, so you can show those Combee what you can do now, CIS4. I’m sure you can put on a good show for them.”

	Vincent left the clearing to return to the dirt path, and the newly made Vespiquen and her two new followers came close behind him. New confidence drove them onward and made them ready to enter the forest and test themselves against the wild Pokémon within. As they traveled, the four of them each thought forward to different topics. The two Combee thought about their new future with this warlord to follow, CIS4 thought about how being a Vespiquen would change her life, while Vincent’s thoughts focused on the last parts of his research that were upcoming. Since he had performed his data collection on CIS4, tested the Rare Elixir, and evolved her at last, there remained only two specific goals to achieve. The first was to study CIS4, and how she and other Pokémon reacted to her new form. The second: to find the Amber Castle. Though he was still not sure if it even existed, Euclid’s words that morning had motivated him, and so he pushed on with his Pokémon through the Comb Island forest.


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