CHAPTER 18- Unite At NightMARE
PART 1




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Aurora Ribombee had finally used up all the Wonder Orbs she had to store the water from the fountain, and now she just used a Kangaskhan Orb to send them quickly to her storage tank where they would be safe, and could be used at any time by summoning them with the Kangaskhan Orb itself. The little Bug-type was doing her arduous work with her back to the fountain, when suddenly she heard the sound of gushing water, imagining at last that Luke Croconaw had returned from his long swim:





— Finally, Luke, I thought you were going to start living in the fountain. — said Ribombee jokingly. — And then you discovered something that explained how to synthesize the fountain water... GHAAAAAAAA!!! *CRACK* — The fairy-type screamed in fright as she turned to look at her companion, even breaking her Kangskhan Orb in the process.





Luke was showing the effects of his fight against Rubro, wounded and bleeding, but because he had fought inside the fountain with the Luminous water, Croconaw's wounds were gradually healing. The only thing that hadn't really returned to normal was the Pokémon's red scarf, which was still torn. The two Pokémon had a long conversation, in which Luke explained everything that had happened under the water and the terror he had gone through facing himself as Beserker:





— I don't want to give off an image like that anymore, my enemies are the Hellstalkers and not the Network. — Croconaw said, then lowered his head and held his mouth with his hands, visibly worried, trembling the Pokémon then said frightened. —BY ARCEUS, that's why Saren didn't recognize me and was afraid of me, I got so carried away by my hatred and fear that... SHIT, SHIIIT, I ONLY CAUSED MORE FEAR AND HATE, Arrrrf I'm so, so... *PAFF*





Aurora kicks Luke in the cheek to make him stop saying things like that, the Pokémon Water gives a slight "ouch" for the kick not being that strong, but it was useful to direct Croconaw's attention to Ribombee:



— STOP ALL THIS UNNECESSARY DRAMA, you look like a depressed Gothitelle, Hummmph! — Aurora shouted in frustration, the little Bug-type took a deep breath and then spoke more calmly. — The Rubro hasn't shown up for over a month, well, it's true that the last time he was seen he beat up the members of the Lacustre Base and ran away from the Soldiers. However, that was a long time ago, the past is the past, you can't change it, you can only learn from it and thus change the present to achieve a happier future... It's not too late for the Rubro to be more like Luke.





Luke gives a small smile, he thanks his ally, only for the Pokémon water to start belittling him as "Luke", saying that he was just a weak librarian who only served as a doormat and stepping stone for others, being nothing more than a disgrace to his family, and that he couldn't change otherwise his cover would be blown:





— ARRRRG, THERE ARE INFINITE WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR SECRET IDENTITY WITHOUT DEPRESSING YOURSELF, YOUR MOTHER ASKED YOU TO KEEP IT A SECRET, DON'T SUFFER LIKE A CONVICT, SHIT LUKE, THINK, PLEASE!!! — Ribombee shouted, already mad with rage at her friend's self-deprecating attitude. The little girl scratched her head, coughing briefly and again trying to convey her thoughts to Croconaw in a less imperative way. — If Luke shows a progressive and slight improvement, they won't suspect he's the Rubro, they'll just think he's doing what all Pokémon have done since the beginning, EVOLVE!





Croconaw stands up and takes a few steps, seeing his reflection in the crystals of the dungeon, the Water Pokémon then admits that Aurora is right and that from the beginning he has only acted like a coward and it's time for a change, Luke then sees his torn scarf and says that he will use the manipulation of PP in Aqua Tail to use the red laces attached to his tail to fix it:





— NO, NO, NO, LUKE THAT'S PERFECT! — Ribombee affirmed, she flew around Croconaw a little scratching her chin muttering, at which point she suggested the following. — I've left this tear at the ends, it gives you a wilder touch, just use the Aqua Tail to make your scarf more voluminous using these laces, that way you can tie it behind your head and if they catch you they won't hang you and you'll still have a way to escape, UH, UH, UH, YOU CAN STILL CARRY A WEAPON WITH YOU BY HANGING IT ON THE SCARF, WHAT DO YOU THINK?!!





Luke's eyes lit up, he loved his partner's suggestion about making his red scarf more voluminous, thinking about the practicality of having a piece of clothing like that, in which case perhaps the use of the explorer's bag would be irrelevant since he could store things inside his clothes. The Croconaw then closed its eyes and concentrated its power, Luke's upper fin glowed red and the Pokémon activated the Aqua Tail move, untying the red and black laces attached to its tail, then it threw the move under itself, covering itself with the vortex of water to modify the red scarf.



Aurora just watched the procedure, but she began to notice peculiarities in the brightness and appearance of the water produced by the chubby Croconaw, curious, Ribombee quickly leaned against the water vortex, hurting her tiny hand a little. The Pokémon Bug then tries the water, the taste of which has completely changed, becoming succulent, and to top it off, the bruise on Aurora's hand disappeared the moment she drank the water:





— You did it, you... Did you really do it? — The Ribombee stopped a little perplexed, then began to shake and contract her whole body as her wings began to beat faster and faster, letting out a loud cry in celebration as she flew around in circles. — AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWWWW, YOU REALLY DID IT, LUKEEEEEE!!!





At this point, Luke finished the modifications to his scarf, which had kept the torn ends in a "V" shape, and left the part attached to his neck larger and bulky with pockets on the inside with the black colors of the laces, then he saw Aurora flying all excited and smiling:





— Wow, I knew you wanted me to change my look, but I didn't know you'd be so excited about it. — Croconaw said, smiling as he looked at the Ribombee flying away euphorically.





Aurora flies towards Luke landing right in front of his eyes just behind his snout, the Fairy-type then grabs the first tip of the Water-type's red fin and shakes it happily shouting "you've synthesized Luminous water" over and over again. The Croconaw couldn't believe it, it put its hands to its mouth only to start jumping around shaking its arms screaming until all its air was gone, the Pokémon then stopped for a moment and said:





— Akeldama, I can save Akeldama from being a Hellstalker and we can see on him, if my Luminous really works for that. — The Pokémon then head towards the exit of the dungeon, the Ribombee smilingly puts on Luke's new red scarf, but while climbing the stairs to the exit, Croconaw remembers two things which make him stop on a step. — But Akeldama is currently our main ally, we still don't know if Nadim really lost his memories when he was cured, Akeldama has been a Hellstalker for years since he first appeared.





Listening to Luke's monologue, the Fairy type sticks her little head out of her red scarf. She was going to tell the Pokémon to go ahead and heal the Phantom Zoroark as they planned to do because it was the right thing to do, but she remembers what Akeldama confessed when they first met:





— Luke... I think for now it's better to hide the cure from Akeldama, if he becomes a Network again, we'll have a big problem, not only will we lose our best ally, but we could gain an enemy... — Ribombee stops talking for a moment, she feels fear and guilt at what she was about to say, but she has no choice but to omit it. — We don't even know what triggered Akeldama's transformation into Hellstalker, luckily, we were aware of what was bothering Nadim and maybe he won't relapse, unless we know more about what or who Akel was we can't risk it.





Croconaw sat on one of the steps apprehensively, he knew the relevance of his suspicions and at the same time he knew how cruel it was to omit Akeldama, the phantom Zoroark had lived as a Hellstalker for a long time suffering and is still suffering today, it would be fair to allow him to prolong this just for his own reasons. The doubt was overwhelming, Luke wanted time to ponder before telling Akel of the discovery and so he came up with an idea, suggesting to Aurora that before they left for the city it would be nice to look for a weapon for Croconaw to wear on his scarf when he wasn't a Rubro.



The Ribombee didn't think it was the right time for that, especially as it was already too late for them to look for it in some dungeon in the forest, but Aurora began to feel Luke's neck tremble a lot and so the little one could understand her partner's nervousness and worry. Every night since their encounter with the phantom Zoroark, the renegades have met in the same vacant lot to practice their Croconaw and discuss strategy, and this would be their first meeting after the Nadim Druddigon incident:





— Are you trying to buy some time to get up the courage to talk to Akel, or to decide whether we're going to heal him or not? — Ribombee asked apprehensively, Luke just said "both" in a shaky voice, Aurora then spoke more cheerfully in an attempt to lighten both their moods. — So, Luke, we can create a Wand for you, the Rubro is a Beserker whose specialty is close-range strikes, if we want to be different from him, let's focus on magic.





Croconaw opens his mouth wide with excitement, he says that he really likes seeing Pokémon that specialize in Wand and that it seems like a lot of fun to be a wizard Pokémon, but Luke says that his red scarf would only fit one Wand and the Pokémon that usually use it carry more than eighty with them. Ribombee lets out a long, overbearing laugh, then says that the wizard Pokémon on the Calypso continent might be pretty lousy that way, but those on the Imbuia continent where she comes from only need to use a long Wand which they call a "staff" and as a support Pokémon Aurora knows how to create one.

Meanwhile, in the city of Argules, the night couldn't have been busier; the Soldiers and the Entourage had been hunting Hellstalkers relentlessly until now, some two hours after the start of the "challenge", they hadn't managed to find anyone. Rex Lucario and Nero Jolteon were jumping around the city's rooftops and buildings in a very reckless manner, followed by Beelzeby Luxray and Cody Charmeleon respectively, who were very annoyed at being babysat by two very immature and agitated leaders, while Naz Gabite and Melissa Zoroark were just having a pleasant time chatting, eating and shopping around the city, now in an open-air market, which would be very friendly behavior if they weren't in the middle of an important mission:





— Urrrff, I feel like an idiot entrusting my empire in their hands, Rex and Nero are more of a hindrance to my citizens than a help and the others are practically all there is. — Says Queen Lencia Charizard frustratedly watching everything, the Charizard takes a deep breath even letting out fire while inhaling the air, looking at Lúcios Feraligatr she then asks. — Lúcios, it's getting pretty late, don't you think we should call them back and get it over with?





Lúcios laughs a little, then points to Trevor Houndoom and Raijin Heliolisk, who gave commands to the teams via Heliolisk's Nexus. Feraligatr then explains that he never imagined that the teams would actually find a Hellstalker, given their ability to disguise themselves so well. Lencia is surprised and even a little annoyed with her royal advisor, the empress whispers so that the others present don't hear, demanding with a nervous tone a good explanation for the joke they were witnessing:





— My queen, the police force is in tatters, we need the Soldiers and the Entourage together to ensure at least that no one else is petrified, and with this dynamic you can both get along and perhaps this will help overcome behavioral deficiencies that I have noticed since my first contact with the Soldiers. — Justifies Lúcios, speaking in a respectful and serious manner. — With Melissa, Naz can open up and stand up for himself more by not feeling inferior to Cody and Rex, with Beelzeby I hope that Rex will start to respect other Pokémon and stop feeling superior to them just because of his position, and with Nero I just hope that Cody will learn not to stop living because of the pressure and learn to appreciate what he does and value what he has more.



When Feraligatr finished speaking, he just bowed to his majesty, and Charizard turned her face towards her advisor, fiddling with her necklace, visibly annoyed, not because she disagreed with him, but because she was appalled by the Pokémon's critical analysis, which was absurd to say the least. Everything seemed quite peaceful that night, but Houndoom noticed something on one of Raijin's screens:





— FINALLY, SOME ACTION! — Shouted Trevor excitedly, it seemed that Naz had found a Hellstalker operating in the commercial area of Argules. — Raijin, put it on Naz's screen, she's moving fast, let's see if they've finally found something.





Gabite was running, dropping some bags in which her partner Zoroark was shopping, the Pokémon Dragon made a few jumps, jumping between some walls and getting some momentum, Gabite used Iron Head on the wall of a tower and then fell. Soon after her attack on the wall, a Flaffy, an Illumise and a Spoink fall from the tower, while falling through the air Naz keeps her claw on the same wall, managing to grab Flaffy in the process, luckily Melissa had followed her partner, catching Spoink and Illumise before they fell:





— PLEASE PUT ME DOWN, PUT ME DOWN QUICKLY. — Flaffy cried out in agony, but she couldn't stop looking up, trembling and crying a lot.





A Flamethrower comes out of the darkness towards Gabite, still stuck in the wall, and with yet another display of companionship, Zoroark uses a Flamethrower through the Copycat move, managing to intercept the enemy's blow while protecting his partner:





— NHUUUUUW MORE THAN COVARD, attacking a defenseless Pokémon is UN-FOR-GI-VA-BLE! — Melissa shakes her body, Zoroark then places the two Pokémon she was carrying on the ground, then she quickly puts away all her bags including the ones dropped by Naz in her hair, with that done Melissa smiles and turns around, pulling out of her long hair a stick with a massive emerald on its tip, leaving no doubt that it was a weapon known as a Mace. — It's time to show your face, HERE'S YOUR LESSON YOU FUCKING VILLAIN, KYAAAA!!!





With a twist, the emerald tip of the mace is thrown, showing that inside the object there was a kind of iron rope connecting the gem and the stick, that stone hits the dark place causing a loud explosion, Naz manages to reach the ground taking advantage of the distraction caused by his partner, leaving Flaffy safe and sending her away with the other two Pokémon. It doesn't take long for the three of them to disappear among the Network, who had already started to flee from the moment the staff hit, but as the hostages disappeared Gabite noticed Illumise's wings stuck to her back by what looked like Bug-type silk:





— NAZ, HOLD THE FALLING POKÉMON! — He orders Zoroark as he continues to swing his staff, hitting the tower.





Naz looks up and starts to move quickly, grabbing several Pokémon statues falling from the place where Melissa hit them. With her speed and precision, Gabite not only manages to easily catch the stone statues, but also to put them out of danger, but now there was no doubt that the pair had indeed stumbled upon a Hellstalker nest:





— MELISSA, BE CAREFUL WITH YOUR MACE, AVOID CAUSING DAMAGE THAT WON'T HELP US CAPTURE THE HELLSTALKER! — Commanded Raijin via his partner's Gadget, Trevor, who was standing next to the Heliolisk, asked the Pokémon to give him another order. - AND MELISSA, NEXT TIME TRY NOT TO CAUSE PANIC, TREVOR SAID THAT BECAUSE OF THIS THE LACUSTRE BASE IS HAVING DIFFICULTY ACTING.





The Zoroark then stops its attack with an embarrassed look on its face, it then scratches the back of its head:





— OOOpsss, sorry Trevor, I guess I got a little carried away when I saw that creep attacking my new dear friend, can you forgive me, sweetheart? — Melissa apologizes, taking a "questionable" pose and sticking out her tongue in an adorable way.





— How could I not forgive such a kind and innocent Pokémon? Just be more careful from now on. — Houndoom says, his red face showing a protruding look and smile. Lúcios is so annoyed at seeing such a lack of composure that he tells the guild master to control himself, as this is neither the time nor the place for such an action.





In that moment of distraction, the Pokémon still hidden in the dark launches the obscure move Bug Buzz at the inattentive Zoroark, who glanced quickly at the blow coming towards her, deliberately choosing not to react to it. Naz then stands in front of her partner, gracefully moving her arms and moving her ribbons, the outgoing Soldier manages to block and purify the enemy's blow with ease. Sensing an opening on the part of her tormentors, Melissa licks the corners of her mouth in a mischievous way, swinging her mace and throwing the large emerald at the dark one again.



However, this time the member of the entourage doesn't hit the structure of the tower, but manages to catch something using the iron rope of her mace. Using her strength, Zoroark pulls the staff, making the emerald return to her, bringing with it a Larvesta wearing a purple protective football helmet and a Spinarak wearing a navy-blue cap on the back of his abdomen. Gabite stands next to Zoroark, who is still holding the pair with the rope from his mace, Naz then says that those two Hellstalkers were hiding among the vegetation of the towers above the market, Spinarak must have made a nest and Larvesta pulled the victims using the String Shot to immobilize and petrify them:





— It was a very Machiavellian plan, I don't see any different colors on them or strange limbs, so they must both be level two Hellstalkers. — Reiterated the Soldier, observing more closely now that the two Bug types were more illuminated by the lights of the market, Gabite then growls and speaks angrily. — I FELT YOUR AURA A FEW SECONDS AGO, YOU CAPTURED INNOCENT NETWORKS AND TORTURED THEM AND THEN PETRIFIED THEM, YOU WEREN'T SATISFIED WITH TAKING THEIR LIVES, YOU DID IT IN THE MOST SADISTIC WAY POSSIBLE, IT'S DISGUSTING!!!





Before the Soldier spoke, the two Bug types just moved around trying to get off the rope, but as soon as she finished speaking, they stopped for a few seconds, staring at each other and starting to laugh:





— We're Bug-types, we've been treated all our lives like despicable Network even when we do something good, that's what all the other Pokémon call us, they only see us raising their heads because they think they're superior to us. — Mocked Larvesta in a voice that made his disdain clear. — Thanks to our benefactor, we are no longer despicable Network, as Hellstalkers WE WILL END ALL THIS WORLD THAT ONLY SERVES TO DEVALUE US!





The Larvesta Hellstalker then uses the move Flamethrower obscured with the Matter aura being accompanied by his partner Spinarak Hellstalker who uses the blow Toxic Thread with the same effects, the two attacks interconnect making them become threads covered in flames and Naz was not sure if this time he would be able to purify the movements with his ribbons, to make matters worse if he succeeded both she and her partner would be poisoned by the blow Toxic Thread. However, Melissa moves her staff, causing the iron rope to hit the two blows, canceling them immediately. Taking advantage of the opportunity given by Zoroark, Gabite raises one of her arms and moves it, activating her special rattle, and with the sound of it, the Hellstalkers have their senses altered.



Naz then looks seriously at Melissa, the Dark type nods in understanding and calls the iron rope back to the staff pulling the pair of Hellstalkers together, Gabite puts his head back and as soon as the Hellstalkers get close she uses the Iron Head move critically hitting both of them. With Naz's strength, the iron cable pulls away again, but smiling, Zoroark pulls it again, making Gabite hit the Bug types with the Dual Chop move, the Soldier and the member of the Entourage did it again and again, until Lúcios ordered them to finish the job quickly through their Gadget, Melissa takes a deep breath and stays there, pulling the two Hellstalkers for the last time:





— THIS WORLD WILL CONTINUE STRONG AND FIRM, IT'S YOU TWO WHO ARE FINISHED. — Shouts the Zoroark, who then somersaults backwards, pulling the staff, making the pair rise into the air with them. — I CONGRATULATE YOU, YOU'RE NO LONGER DESPICABLE, YOU'RE WORSE THAN THAT, YOU'RE TWO DISGUSTING HELLSTALKERS!!!





He screamed in the air as he finished his leap and furiously threw the two Bug-types with his mace. The Hellstalkers fell so violently headfirst to the ground that Larvesta's helmet shattered and Spinarak's little horn sank inside his own head. The Bug-type duo fainted and no longer posed any danger, so Naz used an Orb to send the Hellstalkers to the central base where Madame Xerneas would take care of them:





— I wish I'd discovered them sooner, honestly... — Gabite said, feeling a little regret, she looked to the side and saw the innocent Pokémon that had already been caught and petrified. — I don't know if that was really a victory, I wish I could do more for them.





Melissa then hugs her partner affectionately, the hug took Gabite by surprise not because it was bad as it made her much calmer, the Dark type then releases her partner from her hug holding Naz's claws swinging them:





— Don't say that, you've been an incredible friend, even though we've never fought, we're in perfect sync. — Zoroark then lets go of the Dragon-type who was looking straight into Melissa's eyes, and then she cuddles Gabite's head. — We can't save everyone, but it was still a victory, OUR victory, without those things no one will be petrified on the market, we've saved a lot of Pokémon here and we'll save a lot more, CHEER UP AND BE PROUD OF YOURSELF AND OF YOUR WORK DID TODAY!





Naz started to shake a lot, her mouth started to stutter and tears started to fall from the face of the sweet Gabite who felt very bad about her job as a Soldier. She said as she cried that she had never heard any positive praise for her work from Rex and that Cody was always distant and avoided talking about his days, so Naz felt under a lot of pressure and was made to believe that her work was completely shoddy and worthless:





— Don't say that Naz, you always make a difference just as much as Cody and Rex, if you weren't doing your job Madame Xerneas would have already replaced you or taken you to her base with the intention of punishing you, believe me, we at Judicium know how she operates. — Said the Heliolisk communicating through the Soldier's Gadget, Naz then wiped away some of his tears and thanked the members of Jolteon's royal entourage very much for their words of support, Raijin then concluded. — Don't worry, we're partners and we're fighting the same evil, we must always support each other.





Trevor, Lúcios and Lencia exchange glances with each other in a serious way, almost as if they were communicating mentally, Houndoom then praises their work and dismisses them from duty, expecting them tomorrow to discuss the details of the entire operation in the market. Their communication comes to an end, Gabite asks Zoroark if she really thought they were excellent, Melissa laughs lightly, saying that they weren't perfect, but they did their best and if anyone was going to get spanked, it would be the Dark type herself, and they both laugh together, sealing their friendship.



In the humble part of town, a dirty Dewott with a shabby red beret bigger than his head was walking quietly with a mug that he was shaking to beg, and then a Naclstack with a bag around his neck stood in front of the humble Dewott:





— Good evening, could you help a humble Dewott? I'm hungry~cof cof~. - requested the Water type, which let out a heavy and dry cough, but the Rock Pokémon didn't answer his question, just approached him in an intimidating manner. — No ~cof~argg~ I didn't do anything, *POW* Urrff! — The frightened Dewott tried to run, hitting a Crabrawler in a white T-shirt, which was lurking right behind him as a Water-type.





The beggar Pokémon crawled on the ground frightened as the pair approached it, but a bolt of lightning fell from the sky on top of both Pokémon giving Dewott time to get up and move away without delay, a white-collared Lucario appeared out of nowhere using the Meteor Mash move hitting Naclstack throwing it against a wall. Dewott then covers his eyes with his red beret knocking his mug to the ground in fear, he only hears the Metal Pokémon laughing as it beats up its two attackers, but suddenly he hears the sound of coins in his mug knocking his beret off and coming face to face with a Luxray wearing very strange glasses:





— Here you can have your mug, are you lost or homeless? — Beelzeby asked with Dewott's battered mug in his paw, the Water guy took it shyly and thanked them for helping him by answering that he was a beggar, Luxray was always prepared and so he took out a significant amount of money from the bag on his back and put it in the mug along with a small map and advised the beggar. — There's a support house in Argules and it's marked on the map I put in your mug next to the money, it's always open, run there and good luck, let us take care of those Pokémon.





Dewott gives a big smile as he sees the money running away while thanking him for his good deed, disappearing down the street. Beelzeby breathes lightly, hoping to have helped that humble Pokémon. As soon as he turns around to check on Rex, he can see Lucario facing not only Naclstack and Crabrawler, but also a Pyroar with a ribbon wrapped around its long, thin hair and a Baltoy with a back full of scars. Luxray just watched quietly as Rex had everything under control and didn't need his help to fight, Lucario just seemed to enjoy using Extreme Speed, dealing well with threats and subverting them, but if there was one thing the Soldier didn't care about at all, it was the integrity of the city.



Rex used the Cross Chop move, hitting the Pyroar violently and throwing it against a small food stall that was already closed due to the time of day. Beelzeby acted quickly, using his Thunder move to hit the Fire Pokémon, thus incapacitating it without damaging the humble stall. Luxray breathed a sigh of relief, but when he turned his attention back to the fight, he realized that Naclstack had recovered and was preparing to use the obscured Rock Slide move not only in Lucario's direction but also on his other two allies, as Beelzeby had no way of stopping that move with a direct hit and Thunder wouldn't intercept it completely, he had to think of another way.



Disguised as a simple aesthetic accessory on Luxray's tail was a kind of shuriken made of jade, the electric Pokémon turned its body sideways using the Wild Charge move, propelling and launching the shuriken which grew in size due to the electrical energy, managing not only to parry the Rock Slide blow but also to crush the rocks it created. Naclstack was frightened by this, the Hellstalker opened the pouch below his neck and was stopped by the jade shuriken itself which hit him before the Rock type could remove anything from the pouch.



Beelzeby controlled the entire trajectory of the jade shuriken through his red-lensed glasses, which acted as a viewfinder. Realizing that there was no point in his item remaining active, with a small electrical pulse from a controlled Wild Charge, Luxray returned the object to his tail, deactivating it along with his glasses:





— Wow hehe, Look This, my partner Shinx had some fun toys. — Rex mocks, dragging Baltoy and Crabrawler in his arms. Lucario then drops them both as if they were pieces of junk, an attitude that makes Luxray uncomfortable, and ignoring his partner, Lucario crosses his arms, looking haughtily at him. — It's the first time I've seen a fake sacred item in action, I must say they're very interesting, it's sad that they're just worthless toys.





Beelzeby just watches without speaking or questioning, Rex smiles and points to one of the gravels made by Naclstack's obscured Rock Slide, even though Hellstalker is already incapacitated and his movement is stopped, the gravel still emits Aura Matter:





— What would happen to a Network if it happened to touch that little rock? — Lucario asked mischievously as he approached it. As he got closer, the Soldier rubbed his paw against the white collar around his neck, answering his question. — Aw yes, he would turn into a stone statue and you would make even more victims, only a real sacred item like mine can put an end to these unholy abominations as well as purify them by curing them of the evil that contaminates them.





Luxray lets out a small yawn and claims to already know everything Rex said, but he only said "half-truth", so he adds the Soldier's speech reminding him of where all sacred items originate, pointing out that if there is an inferior version, it was the one Lucario wore around his neck:





— We don't need the power of Madame Xerneas to strengthen our "defense gear", and yes, that is the real name of what you call "sacred items". — Beelzeby then sits up and wiggles his tail, taking the Shuriken from its tip and holding it with his paw, the Pokémon shows the Soldier what it looks like. — Mine in particular is an Enertronic which uses the electrical energy I produce, yours is a Magitronic and therefore needs to be constantly charged by the Fairy Aura that only Xerneas has.





Rex lifts his muzzle and lets out a small, haughty laugh, then Lucario asks sarcastically if that explanation was Beelzeby's way of confirming that his "toy" wasn't as effective as a sacred item:





— What a lame argument, if my defense gear was as useless as you make it out to be you'd be under rocks, they really aren't able to purify the Matter aura but at least we don't suffer the side effects that your holy items give them. — Beelzeby replied as he put his shuriken back in the yellow tip of his tail.





Luxray then grabbed his gadget from the pouch on his back, intending to communicate with the base to find out about everyone's well-being on the mission and whether he still needed to babysit Rex, even telling Lucario all this while treating the metal type like an arrogant baby. Rex obviously didn't like anything the Electric type said, but something in particular bothered him and he wondered what side effects the Judicium royal advisor was talking about:





— Pfff~... Hehe... GWAHAHAHAA, NO, YOU?! A LUCARIO, HAVEN'T YOU NOTICED?! PATHETIC, HILARIOUS I ADMIT, BUT VERY ~cof~ Pathetic. — Beelzeby laughed for a moment, regaining his composure without delay. He then noticed from the look on his face that Lucario didn't actually have this knowledge, just like Trevor, who had heard the conversation through the Gadget and asked the Pokémon to elucidate, something that Luxray was happy to do. — The more you use a sacred item, the more contact you have with Madame Xerneas' aura, and it's exactly what happens with Hellstalkers, so let's say it's quite poetic to wear a collar, after all, your body and mind will be at Xerneas' service sooner or later.