Act 2: Interlude 6

The Mega Keystone in Lee’s hand feels as if it weighs 100 kilos.The supply of this content material nov(el)bi((n))

For many of the earlier night time and the whole thing of at this time, the shining, spherical crystal has dominated his ideas, which have ping-ponged throughout. From the fear on the volcano, to the disquieting destiny that befell Aster, the darkest a part of his creativeness gnaws at him with out regard for the way it frays at his nerves.

Idly, Lee rolls the Keystone round in his hand, watching it refract the waning daylight streaming in from the nice gap within the ceiling. Alongside his hand and chest, rainbow mild dances. ‘For such a strong little factor, it is deceptively harmless trying.’

With the day’s coaching over, Lee and his pals are stress-free outdoors their hut within the heart of the Meteorfall Crater, largely at Lee’s request. The very last thing he needs is a scarcity of daylight publicity making anybody crabby – not when the Dragon TE within the air already leaves everybody increased strung than ordinary.

A brief methods away, a smiling Brendan and his staff all lay in a mattress of soppy moss, soaking within the solar and resting. Even the often jumpy Electrike is already dozing off.

‘Brendan is taking the Keystone factor in stride, it appears’ Lee observes, unsurprised.

Zinnia is huddled together with her 5 pokemon a bit additional away. Noivern, Zinnia’s latest seize, appears positively exhausted. Apparently being absolutely developed does not imply that she’s capable of sustain with the remainder of her staff but.

‘That, and Zinnia was twice as brutal in her coaching at this time,’ Lee lets his eyes roam his buddy’s pokemon, taking in the entire half-healed cuts and contusions amongst their quantity. ‘The entire rattling cave was shaking.’

Lastly, most of Lee’s staff are of their balls, resting and ready for meal time. Sylveon and Shinx had been each totally tuckered out by the day’s actions, and Octillery has been much more withdrawn than ordinary just lately. Corviknight is roosted up on the highest of the dome-like hut, quietly preening his metallic feathers with quiet rasps. Grovyle

Lee frowns and leans again into the wall of the hut, closing his hand across the Keystone.

Round his Keystone.

Ever for the reason that Oracle left the Keystones of their care final night time, Grovyle has had a hearth in his eyes and an depth to him past that of another pokemon on the staff. When he strikes, he does so with objective and zeal, pushing himself even when the burn scars throughout his physique angrily tug at his pores and skin. Thrice at this time Lee has instructed Grovyle to not overdo his coaching, and thrice Grovyle complied Solely to overlook minutes later and go proper again to what he was doing.

Lee can see what’s taking place as plain as day, and it leaves him annoyed because of how powerless he feels in fixing it.

Grovyle looks like he is falling behind.

For fairly a while, there was a transparent hierarchy of energy on Lee’s staff. Ninetales stays on the prime. Her uncooked energy, deep bag of methods, and typing relative to the remainder of the staff make it so. Even when Lee had been to fully shut himself out of her thoughts and deprive the fox of his enter, she would nonetheless be a power to be reckoned with.

Corvi is subsequent. The good raven was a terror as a Corvisquire, and his evolution has solely made him extra so. His dimension, energy, misleading pace, and stellar dual-typing make him a nightmare to combat. Though he suffers a sort drawback to Ninetales, a conflict between them would not precisely be a foregone conclusion. Corvi is simply too cussed, too iron-willed.

Then comes Grovyle. Lee is aware of the Grass-type does not begrudge his teammates for being sturdy, however he does curse himself for not maintaining.

The longer they keep down right here within the crater, the more serious the issue turns into.

‘What have I achieved?’

Contained in the shell, Ninetales screams.

The shell explodes outward with a fantastic shock wave, sending fragments that dissolve into rainbow mild in each course, and blinding everybody with a flash.

Lee rubs his eyes and fights the sudden bout of nausea that threatens to topple him over. Standing unsteadily, he blinks the celebrities from his eyes and appears in the direction of his companion.

Horror greets him.

Standing the place Ninetales was is one thing, one thing that makes him sick to take a look at, however he can not hope to look away. The creature stands upon two human-like legs, roughly the identical stature as Lee. Arms ending in delicate fingers grasp limp, stopping close to the factor’s hips.

The extra Lee appears, the more serious issues turn into.

Ninetales’ lovely tails stay, however they’re an unfitting parody on this being. They do not belong. The identical could be mentioned for the fox ears on the highest of its head. A lot of its pale pores and skin is roofed by a too-small gown seemingly original from Ninetales’ fur, and that gown does nothing to cover the doorway-wide hips or monumental bust of the monstrosity.

Its face is flat, with excessive, razor-like cheekbones and full lips. Ninetales’ heat ruby eyes are gone, changed with predatory chips of frozen blood.

“No” Lee shakes his head and steps again. He blinks his eyes and bites his tongue, however the flash of ache does not dispel the picture earlier than his eyes.

Ninetales Mega-Advanced into…

…A generic fox woman.

“Oh, Lee!” Ninetales cries, leaping into the shocked man’s arms and burying one in every of his arms in her cleavage. “Is not this glorious!? Now that I’ve a type acceptable to mainstream audiences, we are able to lastly have a painfully awkward romance the place neither of us communicates like adults to trigger all types of low cost drama!”

Lee tastes bile.

Ninetales pauses, touching a finger to her chin in thought. “Or perhaps I can get irrationally indignant over nothing and freely abuse you when you stay a moist noodle for the subsequent 100 chapters, then we are able to immediately come to an understanding for an unsatisfying conclusion!”

The world begins to spin.

“Or” Ninetales smirks and breasts boobily at him. “I generally is a 2D cardboard cutout waifu who exists solely to look fairly for you, and we are able to always have poorly written, bed-breaking intercourse as a result of that is how actual relationships work, proper?”

The scream that rips from Lee’s throat is lengthy and anguished.

By no means do mass viewers attraction.