Ch. 3 Outlaw!

The glow of the morning sun edged out from the horizon even as A-Ninetales sat at the edge of Arkanilacum. His tails swayed even as he looked upon his bandana as if expecting a voice to come from it. One of his tails rubbed against one of the two bags strapped around his neck and back, packed to the brim with seeds, berries, and even some nails.

Pawsteps came before him, and his fur and ears twitched, with him looking up. Ahead ran Faith and Adrian, with both of their faces looking red as they approached. He grinned a bit even as Faith raised her head, struggling to regain her breath.

“S-sorry,” Faith said, still panting. “I didn’t realize—”

“—that the journey will begin this early?” A-Ninetales completed, which Faith nodded to. “I’m also sorry since I forgot to mention that I start my travels early.”

“It’s no big deal!” Faith said, standing straight even as she rubbed one of her paws against the lime green bow around her neck. “Besides, we came in just in time, thanks to Adrian.” She pointed at him. “He woke me up, saying that we need to be ready now.”

Adrian nodded. “It took only a few minutes. I like to plan out ahead of time, and I got everything prepared by yesterday afternoon.”

“Indeed,” A-Ninetales said while looking at their packs, stuffed with items as well. “With organization and planning skills such as your own, you could make a good Explorer yourself.” Adrian blushed even as Faith rubbed his back a bit. “Though I must ask, Adrian,” his sea-blue eyes twinkled a bit, “did you know that I would be up and ready this early?”

Adrian shifted his eyes a bit, recalling David waking him up a half-hour ago. He also explained to him someone called Saria that A-Ninetales mentioned when he’s alone and always to his badge, which suggests some form of long-range communication. Other than that, he didn’t find out what A-Ninetales was planning and urged him to be careful.

“I am often restless when I am about to do something important the next day, which is a good thing too since I was warned that you’re waiting at the outskirts of town,” Adrian replied.

“Ah. That is fortunate that your friend or acquaintance warned you,” A-Ninetales said with a nod.

Adrian turned around, seeing no Zoroark even as he wondered if David or even Amber were there, but under cover of Illusion. “Yeah. In any case, I think we’re ready.”

“Yup!” Faith said as she jumped up and down. “It’s time for another adventure!”

A-Ninetales nodded and twisted his legs a bit as he turned around, his tails swaying with every step. Adrian turned back as well, even as A-Ninetales raised a paw forward before pausing. He turned his head back, frowning, even as his tails twitched.

“What is it?” Faith asked while tilting her head.

A-Ninetales remained silent for a few seconds before answering, “It’s nothing.” Then, he turned forward and walked, with the other two walking behind him. He lowered his head a bit and whispered to his badge, “Expect a party.”

Three days passed as the Pokémon group traveled southward, the grassy plains giving way to a rocky texture with each passing mile. Faith told tales she heard from the Pokémon news of A-Ninetales’s exploits. He only smiled and nodded with every story told, not talking much in the journey. Adrian raised an eyebrow on one such trip, where A-Ninetales crossed through a jungle on another continent, grown by a massive Torterra centuries ago.

Adrian didn’t speak much as well, instead wondering where they were heading to. Yet, the most he could think about their destination was Kucheat Town, which was an odd choice since it was a hundred fifty-eight miles away. As such, he wondered if there was something more to it than that.

When the sun hung above the sky, A-Ninetales stopped walking, and instead, he spun around and sat, the ground barren for miles. His tails curled up behind him even as the other two stopped, Adrian’s heart quickened a bit. Faith tilted her head a bit, A-Ninetales smirking on one end and Adrian sweating at the other.

“Is there anything wrong?” Faith asked, sitting down in front of A-Ninetales.

“Anything wrong?” A-Ninetales said, his ears twitching a bit. “It could go wrong. But this is the end of the journey’s first stage.”

“This is?” Adrian asked as he spun around, having left the grassy plains behind them instead of dry dirt and empty plains around them.

“Indeed,” A-Ninetales said, and he grinned wider when Adrian’s eyes widened. “Hopefully, it won’t be too harmful.”

“Huh?” Faith asked, Adrian’s face turning pale. “What are you talking about?”

“For starters, there’s a Pokémon hiding here.” He turned to the side. “Waiting for us, I believe.”

“Your perception impressed me,” a feminine voice said, both Faith and Adrian jumping a bit.

“Maya?!” Both said in unison.

A Pokémon came into view, first transparent but become solidified, standing where A-Ninetales watched. This Lycanroc stood there, her mane black instead of white while her red spikes and claws gleamed in the noon’s light. Around her eyes and lips were red rimmings even as a teal hung between her tail. A device strapped around her front right leg even as she gave out a dark grin.

“Maya, is it?” A-Ninetales asked as he tilted his head.

“How did you know where we were traveling?” Faith asked, her tails fluffed up as she got up.

“Why are you here?” Adrian asked, the paleness gone even as his blood turned hot. “Don’t you have anything better to do than revenge?”

“Revenge?” Maya gave out a harsh laugh. “If I wanted revenge, I would’ve simply destroyed your home, making sure that not even a pair of lumber stood on top of each other and the bones around it red with blood.” Both Faith and Adrian leaned back in horror, causing her to grin again. “But don’t worry, that is not what I did. Your home is still there, standing and ignorant that I, Maya, was even there.” She snorted a little bit. “Instead, I tracked you down for the past two days, for my nose never forgets.”

“Then, if you do not want revenge, what do you want?” A-Ninetales asked, and Maya flinched a bit.

“It’s not what I want, but what someone else wants.” Maya lifted the leg where the device was on. “He helped fix it, and thus I owed him. What he wants is you, Faith.” Faith blinked, and she took a step back. “And I will fulfill it!”

A-Ninetales sat there in silence, his fur and tuft fluttered against the breeze as he pressed against the badge twice. “How will you do it?”

“This!”

The machine whirred as a shadow engulfed Maya until no other color except black came from her. The shadow grew in size, soon tripling her size and more in rapid order. Finally, the shadow stopped growing at fifty feet, towering over the others, as the colors returned to her.

A-Ninetales, Faith, and Adrian leaned their heads up, with Faith and Adrian horrified while A-Ninetales looked curious, their vision dominated by the massive Maya. The ground cracked against her paws even as her tail swayed behind her, with one sway digging up a trench. She took a couple of steps, the earth shook with every step, and she leaned down until her muzzle was against A-Ninetales, giving out a smug grin.

A-Ninetales tilted his head and booped her nose. “Impressive. I’m quite curious about the shadow effect from before. While I’m sure that the device caused you to grow, I wonder how it does so since it’s not what I read about.”

Both Faith and Adrian looked at A-Ninetales with an open-mouthed, stunned expression, his tone more like he saw a Litten caught a Rattata. Maya’s grin faded and was replaced with confusion, with her right ear flattened to the side.

“You’re not scared?” Maya asked, and A-Ninetales shook his head.

“Truth be told, I’m more interested in how that device work,” A-Ninetales said, not caring that Maya barred her teeth and growled at him. “Besides, you’re fairly minor, all things considered.”

Maya roared at A-Ninetales, the force knocking Faith and Adrian back even as he remained where he stood, more amused than anything. She stood up straight and lifted her paw high before slamming it against him. The paw covered his body, with the ground shaking as though a massive earthquake had occurred. She smiled at the deep crater as she lifted her paw, with huge cracks all around it, before she turned to Faith.

Faith stood frozen, her blood cold as her face flushed of all colors. Her gaze remained focused on the crater, not hearing or seeing anything else. The ground shook a bit, and she soon regained control of her body. But a massive white paw landed on top of her, not uncomfortable where she couldn’t breathe, but she couldn’t move out from it.

“Faith!” A voice came from beside her, and she turned, seeing Adrian running towards her. He breathed in and fired a jet of flames at her. “Flamethrower!”

The flames traveled halfway before another giant paw blocked it.

“Curious that you’ll use Flamethrower on Faith,” Maya said as Adrian stopped, stunned. “Unless that’s how her powers get triggered. Useful, but not this time.”

She swung her paw at Adrian and knocked him back, with him grunting even as dirt flew alongside him.

“Adrian!” Faith said, struggling against the paw as she grunted.

Maya chuckled as she leaned down against Faith, grinned at her wide-eyed expression. “This has been fun, little one.” Her claws curled around Faith. “But now it’s time to take you—”

“Now you’ve done it.”

Maya and Faith blinked before turning to the voice’s origin. There stood A-Ninetales, a few feet away from the paw crater with his fur scuffed up and covered in dirt. All of the packs he wore flattened, with berry juice leaking out or bits of seeds. Yet, he looked well, like he was only hit by Tackle instead of an attack that crushed him flat.

“How did you survive that?” Maya’s ears folded back.

“I’m used to it,” A-Ninetales replied as he stretched his back. “In any case, it’s disappointing that we’ll have to cut this short. I want to learn more about that device, but by trying to crush me, I won’t be able to.”

Maya’s eyes half-closed. “What are you talking about? There’s nothing that you can do to someone like me.”

“I don’t know, but it won’t be because of me.” A-Ninetales leaned so that he looked behind the massive Maya. “It’ll be because of her.”

“Her?”

“HEY!!”

The sudden loud voice echoed throughout the area, with all Pokémon who’s not A-Ninetales staggered a bit, even Maya. Even the ground shook from the voice. Maya turned around, confused at first before it morphed into terrified, her jaw dropping.

There stood a white-furred Pokémon, so massive at four hundred feet that even Maya looked tiny in comparison. Her claws, horn at the side of her head, face, and scythe-like tail were dark blue to black at her yellow eyes glared down. Her short muzzle frowned as her claw dug into the ground around Maya.

Maya’s fur flattened close to her, her tail pressed close to her legs as she lifted her paw up. Faith blinked for a moment from the sudden release before she sprinted away, her heart beating against her chest. A few seconds passed before the larger Absol slammed her paw onto Maya with a force that any Pokémon sensed for many miles. The ground broke into huge chunks the size of boulders even as Faith stumbled and rolled to A-Ninetales’s side, hearing a pained howl. The Absol squeezed some more as she lifted Maya up, slammed her against the ground a couple of times, and flung her into the sky.

Faith stood there, jaw dropped, as the tossed Maya went further into the horizon until she faded into the blue sky. She then turned to the Absol, who breathed in and out as her body shook in rage, but soon steadied herself. She felt a couple of limbs around her and, when she turned, she saw Adrian hugging her from behind.

“Oh, Saria, just what am I going to do with you?” A-Ninetales asked as he walked towards the huge Absol, his face full of amusement.

“Saria?” Adrian let go of Faith and stood beside her, craning his neck to see the Absol’s face. A-Ninetales turned a bit and winked at Adrian even as Faith tilted her head, confused.

“She tried to crush you,” Saria said, shaking her head.

A-Ninetales rolled his eyes. “You couldn’t crush me at your current size even if you wanted to, and you know it.” He looked at the bags on him, which weren’t at tough with leaking berry juices and shattered seeds falling out from them. “You just didn’t want anyone to take your fun.” Saria huffed a bit. “In any case, I’m sure our guests here have a lot of questions, and we should do our best to answer them, my dear. So, please shrink down to a more acceptable size.”

“Fine,” Saria said, her tone more playful. Her body shrunk in size even as Faith and Adrian stared on in confusion, their tails low and their ears flattened to the sides. With each passing second, her height shrunk down in half until the once seemingly impossible height of 400 feet became a still large twenty feet. Finally, she lay down in front of the trio, with her winking at A-Ninetales. “Better?”

Before A-Ninetales could reply, Adrian stepped back a bit. “Um, you’re still large compared to us.”

“This is the smallest Saria can be,” A-Ninetales explained as Saria lay down beside him. “It’s a long story.”

Adrian’s ears flattened to the sides even as one of his eyes squinted. “Who are you?”

“Daren is.” A-Ninetales grinned even as Adrian frowned and Faith tilted her head. “Of course, you knew that there were more to me when we met. That’s why you ‘stalked’ me that day, didn’t you?”

Adrian swallowed even as Faith’s eyes narrowed. “What is he talking about, Adrian?”

A-Ninetales laughed, causing Adrian to jump and Faith to turn to him. “I knew it. You were too blinded by meeting me that you didn’t hear me deliberately saying your names before you even gave them out.”

“Huh?” Faith said as she tilted her head. “Of course, I gave my name out! I-I—” She stopped, and her face turned red. “I-I thought I gave my name, but now that I’m thinking about it, I actually didn’t.”

“Wait a minute.” Adrian rubbed his chin a bit, even as his tail fluffed up a bit.

“And didn’t you think it was odd that I was certain that the Vulpix that defended your town was female when reports didn’t give out a specific gender?” A-Ninetales asked, and Faith’s face became redder before she shook her head. “I thought not. If anything, Adrian there caught on what I said and reacted to it.”

“Let me get this straight,” Adrian said, curling his paws. “What you did back then, that was deliberate?”

“Indeed,” A-Ninetales said with a nod. “The truth is, I did it to entice interest in this journey for you two specifically. And it succeeded, though it was unneeded in Faith’s case.” He snickered a bit. “Given how she idolized me, I think she’ll follow me even if it meant going to Destiny Tower.”

Faith blushed deeper before turning to Adrian. “And you knew? Why didn’t you tell me?”

Adrian’s ears folded forward. “Truth be told, I wanted to explain what I guessed about him and what he could know. But given on how fangirlish you acted when he came in, not to mention how you reacted to my poorly thought-out words, I doubt that you’ll see it as anything more than envious statements from me.”

Faith took a step back, her face turning pale. “W-well, I—”

“Faith, be honest with yourself,” A-Ninetales said, and Faith’s ears folded forward as shame crept along her body.

Faith closed her eyes. “I’m sorry.”

“In any case,” A-Ninetales said as he walked over to Saria and rubbed his face against her leg, “I’m sure you three will have a ton of questions to ask me.”

“Three?”

“But there’s only two of us.”

“How did you figure that one out?”

Faith and Adrian blinked as a Zoroark appeared between them as though he had just teleported there. They both jumped away while giving out some yelps even as A-Ninetales and Saria laughed, with her scythe-like tail wagging. The Zoroark gave out a sheepish grin, with him rubbing his hair-mane even as he closed one of his yellow eyes.

“David?!” Faith said while getting back up and shaking off the dirt. “What are you doing here?”

“You never mentioned planning on following us here!” Adrian said, his tail fluffed up more.

“Eh, sorry about that,” David said with a shrug. “Truth be told, I’ve been itching for an adventure for a while now. And seeing that you two are having a journey with someone who’s somewhat shady, I figured that I’ll come as the secret backup. But I’m more confused as to how did you see through my Illusion.”

A-Ninetales hummed for a few seconds. “I have some skills that can allow me to see through something like that myself. It’s something I was born with.” He turned to Saria, who nodded and stood up. “But I can answer some questions that are on the forefront and some that you haven’t thought of with one simple demonstration.”

“What are you talking about?” David asked as he squinted his eyes.

Saria grinned wide as she breathed in, her chest expanding a bit. Her mouth glowed red a bit before lowering her neck. Soon a rush of flames poured out, engulfing A-Ninetales as Faith, Adrian, and David stood back. Then, even as the others gasped, A-Ninetales appeared from the fire, much more massive than before with his bags burned off though the bandana and badge remained, even growing alongside him.

Their jaws dropped as the flames continued out, with him growing from ten to twenty and even fifty feet tall. The ground broke even as he expanded in size, his tails covering the sky. Soon, the flames stopped coming, and he stood, towering over everyone at a hundred and fifty feet. He lowered himself, his eyes far bigger than the three combined, and grinned.

“Oh-my-Arceus-my-idol-can-grow-in-size!” Faith said, hopping up and down, even as David and Adrian’s jaws dropped.

A-Ninetales laughed. “Yes, thanks to a friend who modified my Flash Fire ability. Now you understand better how I managed to defeat a Groudon, yes?”

The other two kept on staring at the now massive A-Ninetales for several seconds, their eyes as large as Voltorb, before they shook their heads a bit.

“I must admit,” Adrian said, giving out a small smile, “that is pretty awesome.”

“Eh, it’s cool, however,” David squinted his eyes at the two massive Pokémon, “I don’t see how this could answer any of our questions.”

“Wait a minute,” Faith said, shaking her head and even smacking it a few times, with Adrian and David wincing with every blow. “It is you!” She raised one of her paws to him. “At Star Cave! Jirachi showed us the Pokémon living around, looking for a Vulpix or a Ninetales, and he located a Ninetales. I thought that Ninetales looked like you!”

“Indeed. I was near the mountain where Star Cave, and Jirachi, is,” A-Ninetales said with a nod before turning to Saria. “And we saw a massive fire attack coming from there. So I scouted over there to see what was going on. When I got there, I saw a massive Vulpix alongside a Flareon and Jirachi on her muzzle. I have no doubts that they were you, correct?” Faith and Adrian nodded. “I kept myself hidden, mostly to hear on what was going on. From what I understood, Jirachi copied my ability, alongside its modification, onto you, Faith, and you two got sent to your hometown.”

Faith nodded with a wide grin. “So, things make perfect sense now!”

“Not really,” David said, and Faith turned to him somewhat deflated. “I mean, it explains why Faith has such an ability now, something that you two knew before you came to Arkanilacum, correct?” A-Ninetales and Saria nodded. “But why all of the secrecy? Why did you hint at us that you knew and wanted these two to come with you? Especially since I think you dropped Saria’s name just as deliberately if you can see through my Illusion. Not to mention how suspicious you’ll look from our perspective.”

A-Ninetales gave out a heavy sigh even as Adrian nodded fast and, after a few seconds, Faith nodded as well. “I didn’t wish to reveal all that I know and what I wish to tell when there are prying ears within the town. After all, I sensed that you don’t want your newfound macro powers to be outed, correct?”

Faith blinked and nodded. “The mayor wanted me to reveal myself when we teleported back. But I didn’t want to be live my life as nothing more than a trophy for him to show off, even if it meant revitalizing the town. At least he agreed not to.”

David rolled his eyes even as A-Ninetales smiled. “I thought so. Though you were lucky when you defended Arkanilacum since your white paws would’ve clued some Pokémon in on your secret.” Faith blushed and nodded a little. “That’s part of the reason why I wished for you to come with me, so we can discuss your ‘little’ secret with fewer ears to listen to. The other part is that I wish to offer you to come with me to my main destination.”

“Your main destination?” David said as he squinted. “Where are you planning to take them?”

“To the seventh continent, where the anthros now lived.”

The three stared at both A-Ninetales and Saria even as silence crept along the dry territory. David curled up one of his hand-paws even as one of his eyes widened up. Adrian felt the cool breeze flowing through his fur, but his eyes widened a bit even as his ears pointed upwards. Faith’s tails fluffed up even as her jaw dropped, a low hum coming from her throat.

David recovered first. “The seventh continent? Anthros? But there are only six!”

“No. Seven.” Even though the sun wasn’t facing A-Ninetales at the right angle, his eyes still shined bright.

Adrian rubbed his jawline, his eyes shifting, even as David said, “If there are seven continents, how can someone hide one for over a thousand years?”

“That map,” Adrian said in a low voice.

“Huh?” David twisted his neck while blinking.

“What is it, Adrian?” Faith asked as she rubbed his back.

“You remember that map that Jirachi showed us with his psychic powers?” Adrian asked and waited until Faith nodded. “I thought it looked odd at first when it displayed seven continents, and I thought that his ignorance of the world generated an extra continent, but that seventh one must be the one you’re talking about, correct?”

A-Ninetales nodded. “Indeed. And before you ask how the anthros could’ve hidden an entire continent, there were several ways they’ve done it. One is the same technology that Saria hid until Maya grew and attacked us.” The three smaller Pokémon blinked even as Saria winked at them before rubbing against her chest. Next, she pulled out a tiny device, which had a glowing green light on it. “That device there acts as a filter to your perceptions.”

“A filter? What are you—” David asked just as the device’s light turned red and his eyes shifted along with his head. He rubbed his eyes even as he grunted and slapped himself. “Where did she go?”

“David?” Adrian poked his leg, and he flinched. “She’s right there.”

“No, she’s not!” David picked up Adrian by the neck and shook him. “She disappeared! Out of thin—” The device’s light glowed red, and he stopped, blinking as Saria laughed. “Where did you disappear to!?”

“I went nowhere,” Saria answered while David put down Adrian, who wobbled a bit. “This device, which my dear Daren has a similar one for himself, works by making you not want to see me, even if you wanted to. The seventh continent held a far larger scaled version of this, which is part of the reason why it hasn’t been rediscovered.”

“Of course, there are a few more defenses than that. After all, a stronger will can overcome that defense in time.” A-Ninetales rubbed his badge a bit. “There are those within various organizations such as the Rescue Teams and Explorers whose job is to deter others from discovering that continent. And those who do discover it are offered a couple of choices. One is that they can come back home, get a nice high-ranking job at such organizations, and uphold the secrecy. The other is that they’ll have to live with the anthros.”

“Those don’t sound like friendly choices.” Adrian rubbed the back of his ear.

“They are not, but their choice is out of the matter as well,” A-Ninetales said while shaking his head. The three blinked at him, and he sighed. “Again, it’s a long story, and we should get a move on. The longer we stay here, the more likely some Pokémon will find us. We’ll explain more as we head over to Kucheat Town, which at our sizes will let us get there until sundown.”

Faith nodded. “I’m not sure about the other two, but I still trust you. After all,” Faith lifted up and turned over her paw, “you kept my secret even though you knew.”

A-Ninetales smiled. “Very good. How about you two? After all,” he winked at David, “you weren’t originally part of this journey.”

“Eh, I’ve traveled this far,” David replied with a shrug. “Might as well go all the way. I’ll send a message to Amber explaining that my quest has been extended.”

Adrian nodded even as he turned away from Faith. “I will keep moving on.”

A-Ninetales grinned wide. “Very good. Now, my dear?”

Saria smirked and wagged her tail as she stood up. She grew in size, soon matching A-Ninetales’s height before rubbing her cheek against his. Their paws then extended towards the trio, pads upwards. Faith giggled to herself before hopping on top of A-Ninetales’s paw, waving over to Adrian.

“Want to ride on A-Ninetales?”

“Uh, I think I’ll ride on Saria instead,” Adrian said as he climbed onto her paw instead.

Faith’s grin faltered even as David turned his head towards either paw. He shrugged before hopping on next to Adrian and patting his back. The paws lifted them upwards to their respective heads, and the smaller Pokémon hopped on, the fur soft as silk. Faith turned towards where A-Ninetales faced, and her jaw dropped.

The dry, brown, and cracked field extended for miles, with faint signs of mountains out in the distance. The sun shined even brighter on top of him, though it did little to warm up her fur. Part of her wondered if she should’ve been big herself, but she shook her head of that thought just as A-Ninetales shifted his body around.

Thus, both A-Ninetales walked down south, with one of his tails curled around her own. Though, despite their immense sizes, when Faith turned back, she saw not even a paw print left behind.

Outside of the ones Saria made when crushing Maya, that is.