"Come on. Keep moving." Greninja shouted as he and the children ran through the burning castle. Martin- Shula, whatever they were, had done more damage than Greninja originally thought. The hallway they were running down was completely scorched. All of the stone had taken on a darker color and in some areas cracked apart from some extreme heat. A few times a wall or ceiling would start to crumble and they'd have to avoid the falling rubble. A burning wooden support beam nearly impaled Greninja during one of their attempts to avoid a collapsing wall. Apparently Martin/Shula were serious about taking the castle down with Yeltsin.

After a few more close calls the exit appeared like a gift from Arceus himself. Wasting no time they ran through it and into the early morning air. The sun's light was just barely beginning to touch the sky and was dull in comparison with the blaze burning at the top of the castle. Tes, Raya, and Deak looked at the castle with the sudden realization that they no longer had a home. Greninja wanted to say something to help ease their loss, but he didn't have the time. They still weren't safe and needed to get to the cliff.

With a bit of urging Greninja got the siblings moving again. They sprinted through the empty city streets, glancing down dark alleys and around corners for a sign of any adversaries. But the city seemed to be completely empty of both friend and foe. Greninja should have been relieved that there was no one waiting to ambush them, but a cold stone of concern was turning in his gut.

His gut seemed to be worried over nothing as they made it out of the city without so much as a peep. The sun was a bit higher now and in combination with the blaze atop the castle, the cliff was fairly light up. The guards that had been disabled during the initial assault were no longer there, presumably they'd fled sometime during the castles siege. But waiting for them next at the edge of the cliff, next to a tree was a rather distraught Ziva.

"I see you made some new friends." Ziva commented as Greninja approached.

"They're Saru's kids." He explained as he set the three children he'd been carrying against the tree.

"That explains that," She said with a shrug. "But why is the castle ON FREAKING FIRE!"

"Uhhh..." Greninja stuttered, unsure how to explain what Martin and Shula were and what they had done. Luckily Tes and Deak were more than willing to pitch in.

"It was Aunt Shula and Martin. They became the Pyrophyte to catch Yeltsin and... well they went a bit overboard, " Tes said as she gazed upon the castle flames in awe.

"They call themselves the Pyrophyte?" Greninja asked slightly disappointed with the name choice.

Deak shook his head, "No, the Pyrophyte is just a title. Mom could explain more about what Aunt Shula and Martin are. But all you need to know is they are one Pokémon. They are Helia's Forest Fire."

Greninja nodded comprehensively, yet understood little. "Neat. So what do they call themselves...their self?"

The siblings cringed at the question and looked away as they mumbled their response. "They go by... Paratyl."

"Not what I was expecting," Greninja admitted. He had thought they would have gone more along the lines of Wildfire, Flare, or Scorch. Paratyl was a somewhat disappointing surprise.

"Yeah, we don't entirely get why they call them self that either," Deak commented.

"Your mom says they knew a couple with a child by that name," Ziva replied, "Apparently the name means one who is lighted like a flame. They chose to use it in memory of the child and it's family." There was a slight catch to her voice when she relayed that last bit of info. But she hardened fast as more chatter cane over her headset.

"Saru also says that we need to get them before they, burn out," She said with a note of confusion. "Is she being literal?"

Greninja looked back at the castle and sighed, "I don't think it really matters too much."

"Probably not. I assume you're going alone?" Ziva asked. Greninja nodded. "Fine, but what do you want me to do about these six?"

Greninja thought for a moment, "Have Freya send Rosemary back with a long rope and a tarp. Tie the rope around that tree and lower yourselves down to the boat with the tarp. I'll take Shula and Martin, or Paratyl depending on how I find them, in the other boat."

Ziva shrugged. "Just try not to do anything too stupid along the way."

"I make no promises!" Greninja shouted running full throttle towards the castle.

He ran until he reached the main entrance of the castle. By which time he had become keenly aware of a stinging sensation that had developed in his leg, and a slight limp he'd gained along the way. A glance at his leg confirmed what he'd feared. The burn he'd suffered during the scuffle in the throne room was more serious than he originally believed. A fist size circle of light purple/blue skin around the outside of his knee.

Seeing his injury brought it into focus, causing every step afterwards to bring him greater pain. He tried to push the burn out of his mind, but found this endeavor to be futile and simply pushed through.

He knew that Paratyl, -as he decided to accept the name they had given them self-, had a significant lead on him and his only hope of tracking them was to head in the direction of the intensest heat. This path only seemed to bring greater pain to his injury and forced him to take short breaks every minute or so.

Eventually he found their trail and pushed forward into the blistering heat. At some point his brain reached it's breaking point with all the suffering Greninja was putting his body through, and made him numb to everything. Including his feet which had begun to burn against the scorching stone floors.

He followed the blazing heat all the way to the hidden tunnels under the castle, winding up in the room with the obsidian spire once more. He placed his hand on the black stone to steady himself, and was both surprised and delighted, to find it cooler than the surrounding air. Resting against the dark rock he dully called out for Paratyl.

The room began to roast as Paratyl entered from the doorway opposite Greninja. The flames surrounding the Pokémon were a steady intense blood red that clung tightly to Paratyl's body. There was also a dark green vine wrapped around Paratyl's wrist. It too was engulfed in the crimson flames, yet was not burning away .

The air had rapidly heated up when Paratyl entered, making it difficult for Greninja to breath let alone speak. He managed to croak out a question about Yeltsin only to have Paratyl respond by tugging on the flaming vine, forcing Yeltsin to tumble into the room.

"He's mine now, and I intend to make him pay for everything he's done," Paratyl said in the echoey voice it used earlier, though it sounded darker than before. Full of malice and hatred.

Greninja knew something was wrong and tried to reason with Paratyl, but his words fell on deaf ears. Grabbing Yeltsin by his head, Paratyl placed him against the top of the obsidian and tied a non flaming vine to his neck.

"In the name of Helia island, of all its citizens who died because of your treachery, and for crimes against the throne. You shall be put to death. If you have any last words speak them now or die in silence."

Yeltsin gurgled out a laugh. Paratyl tightened the vine choking him into silence. "You think this is funny!?" The flames around Paratyl began to swirl and burn darker.

"Paratyl. Martin. Shula. Don't." Greninja wheezed. The air was burning his lungs, causing him to suffocate. They needed to stop but his strength was continuously being sapped away by the acidic air. He could do little more than plead with them.

Paratyl released someone the force on Yeltsin, allowing him to breath the burning air again, and glared at Greninja. "Why? Why shouldn't I end him? It is my right and duty as General to deliver punishment to traitors. He deserves it after everything he's done!"

"Not. Right. Saru-" Greninja felt a blazing hot hand wrap around his throat him and hoist him up.

"Saru! What about Saru!?" Paratyl's eyes blazed with violent intent. Greninja looked into those eyes and understood what Saru had meant. They were consumed within the flames of revenge, and had burned away any sense of reason they had left.

Greninja tried to form an attack to snap Paratyl out of its rage, but couldn't focus enough to even form a dagger.

"You're just like him," Paratyl hissed, "You're trying to betray us too!"

"N-no-ACK!" Paratyl wrapped a vine tightly around Greninja's neck, causing the little oxygen he had been reviving to be cut off.

"You shall share in his fate." Paratyl growled as flames began snaking up the vines.

Greninja and Yeltsin clawed at the vines but neither one had the strength to break free. The lack of oxygen was also catching up with them, causing their vision to growing increasingly darker as the flames drew closer.

Greninja felt himself slipping and heard a group of faint voices accompany him into the darkness. Growing louder and clearer as his vision grew darker and fuzzier. The voices were oddly familiar, like those of long lost friends, yet foreign at the same time. He felt oddly drawn to them and allowed himself to sink deeper, just so he could hear them better.

The flames were nearly on top of them when they were suddenly dropped. Greninja and Yeltsin gasped in air, not caring how much it burned, just that they could breath again.
Right away the voices began to fade and his vision started to clear, yet when he looked up he found the room oddly dark.

Then he heard it. The howls and cries of battle. The anger and fury that dwelled in every warrior. The war cry Ziva shouted with each slash of her claws.

Greninja looked towards the sound of her screaming and saw her battering Paratyl with everything she had, more than everything it seemed. Greninja couldn't believe it but Ziva was surrounded by a swell of shadows. Pitch black shadows that clashed violently with Paratyl's flames. What's more he realized the air no longer burned and he was able to take deep filling breaths.

He couldn't rest too much though, Ziva was only managing to keep Paratyl at bay and needed his help. Crafting his swords, Greninja shuffled towards the two clashing Pokémon.
Positioning himself to the right of Ziva he began his attack, stabbing and slashing at Paratyl's head and torso.

The Pokémon suddenly had two opponents to deal with and was forced on the defensive. Using its flaming whips as a deterrent it attempted to gain room to utilize its weapons to their full advantage, but Ziva and Greninja wouldn't let up. They pressed on and as the battle reached its end Greninja saw Ziva draw up as many shadows as she could until they created a blackened avatar of a large foxlike figure.

This large fox grabbed Greninja and tossed him up, causing him to arc towards Paratyl. At the same time she rushed the Pokémon knocking it to the ground, allowing Greninja to land a disorienting punch to its head.

The blow seemed to be the ticket as Paratyl began glowing a luminous white. The light split in two, spitting out Martin and Shula before dissipating. They both seemed groggy and it took them a moment before they could interact with Greninja.

"Uhh, what happened?" Martin groaned as he rubbed his head.

"You two turned into Paratyl and went off the deep end," Greninja answered, "You nearly did me and Yeltsin in."

"Yeltsin? Yeltsin!" Shula snarled looking for the insect. He was still on the ground by the obsidian. Sitting where he'd landed and just laughing to himself.

Shula tried to rise but fell to her knees, still a bit disoriented after diffusing. She groaned and held her head in the same spot Martin held his. "Ugh, what did you do to us?" She groaned.

"Seriously!? You two almost choked slash burnt me to death, and you're asking what I did to you!"

Shula and Martin looked at the ground, "Sorry, we thought we had control this time."

Greninja sighed, "We're just lucky Ziva decided to follow me, and that she showed up when she did." Greninja turned to thank Ziva when he stopped. She was no longer engulfed in shadows, some still clung to her, but she was twitching as if she were being shocked every other second.

"Ziva?" Greninja asked. It dawned on him that she

The fox Pokémon turned her head, aiming two orbs of swirling dark purple light straight at him. There was no recognition in those eyes, only pure terror. Then her eyes returned to normal and the shaking subsided. The remaining shadows dispersed but they seemed to take away some of her color. Her fur was evidently lighter than it should have been.

She grinned at Greninja for a brief moment before turning and vomiting a dark purple substance. She heaved this liquid mass up twice more before collapsing onto her side in a feverish sweat.

Greninja quickly moved to help her and was alarmed to find her cold to the touch. "She's freezing! We need to get her back to the ship. Can you two travel yet?"

The two Pokémon nodded and stood up, shaking off all remaining disorientation. "Yeah. We can move," Shula said. She held out her arms expectantly, "Give her to me. Fire types have a higher body temperature than most beings. I can keep her warmer than the rest of you."

Greninja gently picked Ziva up, finding some relief in the little puffs of air that entered and exited her mouth, and handed her to Shula who promptly cradled her against her body.

"Alright now what about him, and what is he laughing about!?" Martin said with disgust.

Yeltsin grinned and looked at the them with broken eyes. His near death experience seemed to have shattered his sanity."They thought I wouldn't do it," he chuckled, "but I did, I did I did I did. Oh what a shock it will be. This'll show them, show them all who's King!"

"What will show them, Yeltsin?" Greninja asked. The way Yeltsin was acting was unsettling enough, but there seemed to be more than just madness to him.

The Cricket Pokémon smiled wildly, "Why the bombs of course."

"The bombs!?"

"The bombs, the bombs, bombs bombs bombs!"

"Yeltsin, what bombs are you talking about?"

Yeltsin growled, "The bombs, the bombs to- to Deal WITH YOU!" He pointed at Shula. "You're high and mighty kingdom means everything to you doesn't it, Saru!"

"I'm not Saru," Shula said quietly. She took a step away from Yeltsin and covered Ziva defensively.

"That's what I thought at least," he continued ignoring what Shula said. "But then I realized its not the kingdom, it's the citizens, the history, the culture! That's what you care about. That's the only thing I can use to break you," his voice gained in emotion, and he was nearly sobbing as he spoke.

"So I planted a 250 tons of explosives under the city. Soon it will be nothing more than a scorched crater of rock and dirt, and your precious kingdom will finally be gone."

"Along with you," Martin spat.

"If that's the price I pay to finally be out of her shadow then so be it! I had everything and then  in she came with those orphans. Giving them hopes and dreams of being part of the royal staff, of taking MY JOB! Well I refuse to be cast aside so easily."

"ARE YOU SERIOUS! That's why you turned traitor! Because you thought you'd lose your job TO TWELVE YEAR OLDS!!!" Shula shouted, outraged by the idiocy of his motivation.

Ziva stirred in Shula's arms and began to loose more color. "Shula get her to the boat, we'll meet you in a second," Greninja stated with a concerned look.

She barred her teeth at Yeltsin but did as she was told. Dashing down the tunnels with Ziva held firmly against her warm skin. When they were gone Yeltsin spoke again.

"You wouldn't understand, my job was everything to me-" "And you threw it all away for nothing," Martin interrupted. "All because of a petty fear of being replaced." He scoffed. "You disappoint me, but you might still be of some use to us." He pinned Yeltsin against the obsidian. "Now tell us when your bombs are going to go off."

"Soon, soon. Very soon. The fires will make sure of that."

Martin released Yeltsin, "Damn you," he said and tossed him aside to fiddle with the base of obsidian spire.

Yeltsin began to scamper away but Greninja dropped a sword in his path. "Not so fast, I still get to ask questions."

He made Yeltsin rise, he couldn't squat because of his leg. "Now tell me, where did Team Shade go?"

"Who? I don't kno- ahh!" Yeltsin screeched as Greninja scratched his face with the side of his sword.

"I'm in no mood for lies! Thousands are dead, you're about to destroy an entire culture, a friend is missing, and Ziva is sick!"

Yeltsin cowered under Greninja's furry and looked around the room for an escape. Greninja forced Yeltsin's head back towards him. "Don't even try it. Now, you were about to tell me where Team Shade is going."

"North, they're heading north," he caved. "They're going to capture Paragon and collect Akoya. Somewhere around the big city."

Greninja was about to ask what city, but Martin claimed that he knew what Yeltsin was talking about. Greninja seemed satisfied and looked between Martin and Yeltsin, "What do you want to do with him?"

Martin paused his task, sparring a few seconds to stare at the cowering figure of a Pokémon he once called friend. "Can you carry him?" He asked before returning to his work.

Greninja shifted his bad leg, testing it to gauge how much he could bear. "I think so."

Martin grew a vine and tossed it to Greninja, "Then tie him up, Saru will want to chat with him. Oh and make sure to gag him, he can get real annoying real fast."

Greninja warped the vine around Yeltsin's arms, legs, ankles, and wrists, until he ran out of vine. He turned to Martin to ask for more but found him to be otherwise occupied with hefting the spire onto his back.

"You're bringing that with us?" Greninja asked as Martin finished strapping the dark stone to himself.

He nodded, "If this place is going to blow then I'm going to save the as much history as I can."

"Alright lets go."

Greninja slung Yeltsin across his back and followed Martin out of the underground passage. As they trudged on Yeltsin kept repeating, "tick tock tick tock, a race against the clock," until Martin had enough and knocked him out. "I told you to gag him."

Greninja pretended not to hear and resumed his pace. Despite Yeltsin being unconscious they still heard his warning echoing in their heads, the threat eating away at their subconscious.

Ten minutes passed between the tunnels and cliffs. In that time not a single bomb had gone off and Greninja began to wonder if Yeltsin had made the whole thing up. Then, just as they began to descend the cliff an explosion shook the cliff side. Greninja and Martin looked at each other before doubling their descent, making it to the bottom just as three more explosions went off.

"What took you!" Shula shouted as Greninja tossed Yeltsin aboard. Martin hopped in after and planted a kiss on her cheek. "Sorry love, we had to grab some things." Martin untied the obsidian from his back and set it down, letting the sunlight dance against its glassy frame.

Shula gapped at the structure for a few seconds. Then lurching forward, she attacked him with a kiss to his lips. When she pulled away he was grinning childishly. "I take it I'm forgiven," Martin said enjoying his fiancées affection.

She narrowed her eyes and gave him a half smile. "For now. But I'm certain you'll give me some other grievance soon enough," she said playfully.

"Hey this isn't the love boat," Greninja commented. He tossed the rope anchoring them to the rocks aboard. "Now hold on, things are going to get rough!"

Greninja swam with all his might, doing everything in his power to get them away from the shore before all the explosives were triggered. The cold waters eased the throbbing from his burn, enabling him to move his legs more efficiently. But this still wasn't enough to get clear of the explosion.

With a mighty rumble, the city was swallowed by a massive fire ball. The shockwave pushed their boat further away from the cliff, but it also carried a large chunk of the city into the air, of which rained down on them like hail.

Martin managed to batt away the largest of the shrapnel with powerful whips, but he couldn't get it all. Small dents and holes formed in the boats hull when ever he missed something, and a particularly determined piece of stone found its way to Greninja, knocking him under the water for a brief minute.

After surfacing Greninja poured every ounce of his remaining energy into pushing the small craft. He kicked and kicked until his legs turned jelly, then he kicked some more. By sheer force of will he managed to get the boat beside the cruise ship just as water started to lap against Shula's ankles.

Their friends above scurried to lower the thick hooked cables used to raise and lower the boats into the water. Greninja watched for a few seconds as the cables grew closer. He smiled. Relieved to have safety so near.

He allowed himself to relax just a little, and felt exhaustion overwhelm him. He lost his grip on the boat and began sinking fast. He heard Shula shout, "Man overboard!" And saw Martin reach into the water to grab him, but he was just out of reach and couldn't muster up any energy to save himself.

He watched as the boat grew further away, it's hull bobbing lazily in the water. Then a splash of white erupted next to the small vessel and a figure darted after him. Blue arms wrapped themselves around his chest and began heaving him upward. They broke the surface just as the cables were hooked to the boat.

Rosemary dragged Greninja's worn out body over to the craft, handing him up to Martin before climbing in herself. The cables began their work, dragging them out of the water and carrying them on board.

Greninja watched the island with despair as they rose higher. Yeltsin was true to his word and left nothing, but a smoldering crater where the city had been. The sight sickened him and he closed his eyes, attempting to block out the destruction. He was soon sound asleep and dreaming of more pleasant things.

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Boom chapter complete. Oh man am I glad this one's done, it was bothering me for what felt like months. But it's finally complete 🤩.

I hope you guys enjoyed it, I've been experimenting with my writing and trying to utilize better grammar and vocab, so if it reads funny that's why. I hope to get the next chapter out quicker, I've been mulling over what happens in it for awhile so it should flow easily. But don't expect much from me I still need some sleep 😅)

Anyways thanks for reading, please leave comments and questions, they really do help me write. (There's only so many of my own ideas I can listen to before I go mad.)