Yamask: RE-BIRTH 4

Joel the Yamask had come back from a successful mission, and now...he was in his own room. Lindberg told him that the room took advantage of the latest technology to make an environment for him where he would be as comfortable as possible. The same was done for Bluefire, the Chandelure, that Lindberg befriended on the mission to stop Team ISIS and their scheme to feed people they considered heretics to Chandelures (Bluefire had rebelled against this and attacked the Team ISIS agents and Lindberg and his team-guild, Team Spectre, rescued her.) Although...Joel is very uncomfortable with a Chandelure being so close by...he was afraid she would eat him, although...she did seem gentle, and quiet. Pumpkina then came to Joel's room, and saw it was still a blank canvas. Pumpkina also saw he was nervous and rather sad. Pumpkina, the Gourgeist, came to him and asked, "What's wrong?" "...I wasn't very useful, on our last mission. And...I don't know, what it is I want." "Well, you are still a rather new Yamask. Don't worry about it. With some proper training, you'll become stronger in no time. As for the other thing, I don't understand the context of what you are coming from. Want to talk about it with me?" "...Doesn't it scare you, going up against people like Team ISIS?" Pumpkina then said, "...Team ISIS does scare me, by their actions. What they did on your mission...I can understand being shaken up about it." "...Was it like that for you when you faced Team Flare?" "Indeed it was. Team Flare's leader, Lysandre, wanted to use the weapon of his ancestor, AZ, as a weapon to cleanse the earth of those he considered filth and too corrupt to be saved. The fact that someone would be willing to do such a thing was and still is...disturbing to me. But it was all the more reason to stand up to them, even with Ralia." "Ralia? Who is Ralia? Another ghost Pokémon?" "...She is-was-a Gardevoir. One that Lindberg had a very close bond with, as his closest friend and ally." "Was? What happened?" "Yvetlal, the Destroyer of legend, happened. Myself, and several of my allies back then...we tried hard to fight against Yvetlal after defeating Lysandre and after it hatched from it's cocoon. But it was very powerful, very old, and very dangerous-and was even under the control of Lysandre and his technology." "What?! That sounds horrible!" "It was. And...me and my team, except for Ralia, were killed by Yvetlal. Then, in a move to protect Lindberg, Ralia used protect to block a hyper beam aimed at both of them, and then...she unleashed her moonblast and defeated the destroyer of legend. And then...she did the unthinkable, for Lindberg and for me and the rest of our team. She...used healing wish, and with her amplified power from her desire to protect not only Lindberg, but the world from Lysandre, she used up the last bit of her life to heal me and the rest of his team." "Really?! That sounds so sad!" "...It was. It hit Lindberg very hard, for a time, harder then I or the rest of the team. It wasn't long after that when he joined the International Police, to stop such madmen as Lysandre. Still...I shall never forget Lysandre. Even with the bond that Lindberg shared with Ralia and even though he was a man who did care about his Pokémon...it was like...something happened to him to make him just give up on the world." Joel felt like that, at times, when he was human. He did give up on the world ever being fun or even kind or even having friends...because his profession demanded it and money...did...consume his life. At this, Joel didn't realize he was holding his mask and looking at it. Pumpkina then asked, "Do you want to talk about it, your past?" Joel then said, "...I wasn't the nicest person when I was alive. I...didn't really care about anyone but myself. And now...seeing what you and the rest of this team does for others...I feel rather...sad about myself and my past." Pumpkina then came to Joel and took his hand in hers. She then said, "If you ever feel like talking...I'll be there for you." Joel then felt flustered, and then said, "Umm...well...thank you...It's nice to have...a friend." Pumpkina then said, "You did handle yourself pretty well when faced with a gun at the hands of that Team ISIS agent, even if...it was a scary experience for you." "...Really? You think so?" "I do." Then...bandages started to come over Pumpkina, because Joel was touching him. He let go of her quickly, but she was mummified. Joel was quite frightened and was afraid he offended Pumpkina and said, rather flustered by this, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to do that!" Pumpkina, however, was not upset. She only laughed. "It's quite alright. On Pokémon like me, mummy suppresses our natural abilities and makes it mummy. It shall wear off...in time." "What is your ability?" "Mine? It's Pickup. I often, and strangely, find things...even without really trying. So, I give them to Lindberg. Because...I like him." Joel then said, "You like Lindberg?" "...As much as a Pokémon can like a human being. I love him. I love him very much." Joel felt a little sad about this, but then, the speakers announced their was another case that just opened up. And it also mentioned someone-one known as Midnyght has come. The mummy ability started to wear off of Pumpkina and disappear and then she said, "Oh! Midnyght is here?!" "Who is Midnyght?" Pumpkina then said, "She is a part of another team within the International Police, one that specializes in Dark-Type Pokémon known as Team Twilight." "There are other teams, other then ours?" "Oh yes. Many other team-guilds, under different trainers with the International Police." "...And all of them are fighting Team ISIS?" "Along with other criminal groups and enemies within the world, although Team ISIS is quickly becoming the most dominate in the world." Joel then asked, "What is it that Team ISIS wants, that they would do such terrible things as feed people to Chandelure?" "...They want to make the entire world submit to their religious ideals. Whether that is through manipulation or deadly force." "Have you been fighting against them for a while now?" "I have been on more then a few cases where they were involved. From bombing public buildings to unleashing toxic substances upon the public through the mail...just to name a few." Pumpkina then looked down. "Sadly...we and the rest of the International Police weren't able to stop everything they've done in the name of their ambitions...like with..." "...What happened to me." Pumpkina then said, with urgency, "We better get going now." So they traveled together to the conference room, and an Absol was waiting for the team, along with Pitch again. The Absol has a distant, rather cold look about her, which Joel found to be about normal for an Absol. They tend to be rather...knowing...of many things. Including atrocities done by mankind, great and small. Joel saw that she had many, many scars...and some of them didn't look like they were caused by Pokémon battles. Perhaps that is why...she has such a cold look about her? She then said to Yuki, "Can you direct me to the one known as Lindberg?" Yuki then said, "I shall." She pointed the way to his office, where he was running investigative work and...dealing with politics. Joel then came over to Yuki and asked the Froslass, "All those scars..." Yuki then said to him, a little startled by him (for he had snuck up on her), "Oh! Joel!" She then said, calming down a little, "Dusk's had it pretty rough much of her life." Joel then asked, "Because...of her reputation?" "...Indeed. She's fine with other Pokémon, but...she only trusts human beings who have some connection to her, like her trainer, Coronis. When she was found by Coronis, she had been attacked by several Pokémon trainers and they tried to have their Pokémon kill her...and they left her near death." "That's horrible! Even for an Absol!" Yuki was confused. "...You believe Absol to be bringers of disasters?" She then looked down. And then said, "Absol...don't bring disasters, but they can sense them. They sense when they are about to happen. They are widely believed to sense only natural disasters...but in truth, they can sense all kinds of disasters. Including human made ones. But...human beings have trouble understanding them, for not all are able to truly understand Pokémon and their hearts...and don't all have Lindberg's gift." "...He mentioned to me he is able to understand Pokémon by a wish? Like with Jarichi?" "It was Ralia, his Gardevoir, back when she was a Ralts, that gave him that gift." Joel understood this-for the Ralts line have access to the move 'wish'-and such a thing can happen. Then, Pitch the Dusknoir came by, and said to everyone, "It's time for our meeting." Everyone gathered, including Joel. And Lindberg came back-and the look on his face was not a good one. One of deep distress and fear. Joel was afraid because of this. What had Dusk told him? Lindberg then said, "It has come to my attention that Team ISIS has been doing research into the past events in Saffron City and Lavender Town." Joel didn't understand why this was a big deal. Then Pitch said, "...They seem to be interested in the Black Fog." All of Joel's team mates, even Bluefire, were horrified by this. They all were fearful and uttered "The Black Fog? What do they want with that monstrosity?" or "Not that horrible and twisted monster...not after what happened during the Saffron City Crisis." Joel was starting to get very worried. He then asked his new friends, "Can any of you tell me what the Black Fog is?" Pitch then said to Joel, "You haven't heard of it?" Joel shook his head. Pitch then said, "Long ago, there was an evil cult that worshiped a haunter as their god...and even did something very horrible-giving it human sacrifices. As this grew, the Haunter's power not only grew, it's nature became twisted and violent, so much so that it took on the nature of a dark type Pokémon. This haunter grew into a giant...and regularly feasted upon the souls of people and Pokémon alike, even after the fall of the cult that worshiped him. The fact he believed strongly that he should be worshiped-feared-by all of mankind and the fact he grew very, very powerful made him extremely arrogant and extremely cruel and violent. Then, as it's power reached it's peak, it appeared in Saffron City and started to cause massive amount of havoc and destruction, killing many people and Pokémon alike, and threatened to destroy the entire Kanto region and even the world with its evil...if not for the bravely of Sabrina and some traveling trainers. They managed to whittle down its health...until one of the trainers tried to capture him in a Pokeball, which he did not want to be captured in and made into the 'slave of a human being', so he used self-destruct to kill himself and was destroyed, never to threaten the Kanto Region or the world ever again." Joel was horrified by this, but relieved that the Black Fog had been destroyed. Still...he looked down to his team. The fact that a monster like the Black Fog can exist...it doesn't help the reputation of ghost type Pokémon at all. And Team ISIS intends to revive that monster?! Joel then said, "Then we need to do something! We CANNOT allow Team ISIS to revive the Black Fog! We can't!" Pitch then said, "Take it easy. It is something that we have no intention of allowing to happen. At this moment, Team ISIS is operating in somewhere in a small village just outside of Saffron City, a place known as 'Gray Slate Town'. It is full of people that have lived through the Black Fog incident, and as such...have lost many of their citizens to him. Needless to say, they're not friendly with Pokémon." Dusknoir then felt something in his head and stared off into the distance. Joel wondered what this was. Some sort of transmission from the Spirit World? Dusknoir then said, "...My Lord has confirmed that Meloetta has showed up in Gray Slate Town, and is attempting to bring people joy there. Yet...she is hindered by some sort of religious whack-job." Pitch didn't say anything for a moment. "Well, it might be related to the case we are working on, so...if all of you would keep an eye our for her, I would be very grateful." Pitch then opened a hole of ghostly energies to transport the team, lead by Lindberg, into Gray Slate City.

Gray Slate City is a dreary and rather somber rural community...one that was full of abandoned buildings, and very few people, since...it has yet to recover from the Black Fog Incident. Lindberg came, with his friends in their Pokeballs. He noticed that people were going to the town square. For some big speech done by their leader. Lindberg also noticed a lot of bulletins and posters, that heavily enforced rules of various kinds. It was like...it was tyranny led by a dictator...and the dictators' name...is known as Faris C. Lindberg laughed at the irony of this. Faris C...his name...if he is a religious fanatic/tyrant...he lives up to his name. Lindberg went to the town square...to listen to the speech of Faris C. He was at the local church, which looked run-down, like much of the town, and he is standing on a balcony, and then said to people below him, like some sort of Roman Dictator, "People...these days, you have all heard about that mysterious Pokémon that sings, the one that spends much of its time with the children in this area...and I must tell you that...It is a very dangerous Pokémon! She causes people to embrace the follies of the fallen arts, embracing arts such as wild songs and dances and even poetry that are not suitable for our children, corrupting their minds and making them waste time in the pursuit of fairy tales! In this endeavor, she is not just brainwashing your children, she is also eating away at their souls! She is known as Meloetta, the Siren Pokémon! If she is allowed to continue to operate in our fair city...she'll destroy our children and destroy our future. Which is why...we must do something-something to destroy this creature before it is too late! Let us form a posse and go after her!" The people cheered-except for Lindberg. How could people say such awful things about Meloetta? It might be true she can help people become happy or sad by her singing, but...what sort of evil, demented person makes her out to be a dangerous, evil, soul-sucking siren?! She is NOT a siren! She is a Muse! She is one that brings light and joy to people! Those things...they are too different worlds-a world where art is used to inspire and bring light and peace and joy, and the other where it is out for corruption and power and control over others! Lindberg needed to find Meloetta. Luckily, the man, Faris C, also shared she had been sighted in a forest nearby. So while the men were preparing to go and find her to pursue her, Lindberg headed off into the forest and released his team, including Joel, from their Pokeballs, and told them what had happened in Gray Slate City, and then in order to search for Meloetta to rescue her from Faris C and the people out to hunt after her, the team decided to split up and search for Meloetta, including Lindberg himself. Joel was scared to be on his own, but knew he must find Meloetta and protect her-for she is one of the most kind hearted Pokemon. Joel himself often wished, back when he was alive...he could see her, just once, ever since hearing about her. He then, as he was searching, heard something. A song, one of the most beautiful, yet very sad, songs that he had ever heard, that made him feel sad, too...Joel then followed the sound, and he found her, at a lake, sitting on a rock poking out of the water, singing to herself. Joel came up silently to her-for Meloetta are gentle, but can be shy around people. Joel didn't blame them-with the way people are in this day and age. She then saw Joel and said to him, "Hello there!" Joel then asked her, "You...you're Meloetta, aren't you?" She then said, "That is me, Calliope, the Meloetta. I came here to bring people joy after the Black Fog Crisis took so much from the people in the town nearby...but...they don't like me so much." Joel then said, "Their is some sort of evil priest in that city who is saying all sorts of awful things about you-claiming you are brainwashing people and that you eat people's souls. And...he's sending people to try and kill you!" Calliope looked rather puzzled by this. "Where...do they get such a thing from?" Joel shrugged. He didn't know. Calliope then said, "And you...are human? And working with the International Police?" Joel looked shocked by this. Calliope then said, "I am part psychic type, so I know...also...I sense...hostility." Suddenly, a man appeared with an assault rifle that was aimed right at Meloetta. Joel recognized the man's outfit-a Team ISIS grunt! But what are they trying to do, hurting a poor, innocent Pokemon like Meloetta?! The man then said to Meloetta, "As soon as I take care of you, the Korrigan project will go off without any problem at all from you..." Calliope was terrified of this remark. The man was ready to fire upon her. But then Joel felt something inside of him, something trying to get out of him...and then he felt a ball of energy appear in his hands-a shadow ball? Joel conjured it and threw it at the Team ISIS grunt, knocking him out. Joel was shocked. "I just learned how to use Shadow Ball!" But it wasn't over-two more Team ISIS grunts came up from behind and had their guns drawn on both Joel and Calliope. Calliope then started to sing...a very sweet melody...and the notes struck the Team ISIS grunts and put them sound to sleep. Joel then said, "We need to get out of here before the mob comes after you." Calliope then said, "I won't run away. I intend to see if there is not something I can do to stop their hostility." And she started to go in the direction of the angry sounds of violence and threats. Joel followed her, deeply troubled that she would get hurt and even be killed. But...another thing troubled him. What is the Korrigan Project? Why did Calliope seem so scared when she heard of this? He went ahead, towards the angry mob...to try and see if he can protect Calliope...or, at least, stop her before it is too late for her.


Joel and Calliope arrived to see Lindberg and his team standing before the angry mob, attempted to reason with them, yet they weren't listening...and their behavior was quickly growing irate and hostile-they truly believe that Calliope, the Meloetta, is a dangerous Pokemon! Calliope then arrived on the scene and then, as the people started to gather their weapons to attack, she started to sing. She sung a sweet, calming, gentle song...a song that stilled the hearts of the mob and started to free their minds of negative feelings...making them calm down and start to think rationally, and start to see...that maybe...Meloetta is not dangerous. How can someone like her be dangerous and evil, when her song brought peace to them? Fairs C grew angry and frustrated, even as the song becalmed his feelings. He then yelled at the mob, weakly, "What are you doing? Attack her...she is...dangerous." Lindberg and his team advanced upon him and he said to Faris C, "You manipulated others in an attempt to commit murder and cruelty to another living thing. In the name of the International Police, I am placing you under arrest!" Faris C then laughed. "So, it's all come apart, huh? My plan to kill Meloetta..." Lindberg then said, "It has." Faris C then said, "We of Team ISIS shall not give up on going after her. We shall pursue her to the ends of the Earth if we have to, to destroy her!" The people in the mob then whispered amongst themselves. They knew that Team ISIS is a terror group. And Faris C...their priest and mentor is working for them. Lindberg then demanded, "Why does Team ISIS want Meloetta dead?! And what are your intentions with the Black Fog?!" Faris C then said, "I shall tell you nothing. Which won't matter anyway when you are dead! I, Faris C, admin of Team ISIS, challenge you!" Faris C then sent out his first Pokemon-his Serperior, in an attempt to attack Lindberg. Lindberg sent out his Aegislash and loyal partner since the rise and fall of Team Flare in Kalos, Masamune, to block a leaf blade that was clearly aimed at Lindberg, with a King's Shield. This lowered Serperior's attack power sharply and protected Lindberg. Masamune then said to Lindberg, "This man is completely without any sense of honor. He manipulated emotionally vulnerable people with his rhetoric, attempted to murder an innocent Pokémon, and he clearly aimed his last attack at you to try and kill you. I shall teach this man and his Serperior a lesson." "Calm yourself, Masamune. Anger only begets folly." Masamune then calmed down, and then used Automotize to raise her speed sharply, and then Serperior unleashed a leaf storm attack-to try and attack her and Lindberg. Masamune got in front of Lindberg and blocked the storm of razor sharp leaves, and then she used Automotize again, followed by a Sword Dance-and then she unleashed, at blinding speed so fast that even a Serperior couldn't keep up, a Sacred Sword attack. And with the heightened attack power from Sword Dance, this KO'ed Serperior in one attack. Faris C then withdrew his Serperior and released his next Pokémon-his Houndoom. Lindberg withdrew Masamune and released Melissa, the Mismagius. Houndoom quickly tried to strike at her with an Overheat attack, but she dodged with ease, and then Houndoom moved in with a Crunch attack, but Melissa saw it coming and blasted Houndoom with a Power Gem attack, which was super effective, and knocked it back. Houndoom then unleashed a smokescreen to try and blind Melissa and then move in on her with a Crunch attack, but she saw it coming and dodged it and then as Houndoom was trying to turn to try to unleash an Overheat attack, she unleashed her Confuse Ray, which confused the Houndoom and made it unable to complete its attack. Then Melissa blasted it with a Power Gem attack, KO'ing it. Faris C withdrew his Houndoom and released his last Pokémon-a Noivern, which is a dragon/flying type. So Lindberg withdrew Melissa and sent out Yuki. Noivern whipped up a powerful hurricane attack, but Yuki evaded this with ease with her high speed movement, and then she summoned Hail, and used double team, raising her evasion quite a lot. Faris C grew desperate and had his Noivern attempt to launch a Boomblast attack upon Lindberg, but then Yuki used Attract on his Noivern-which Faris C did not expect. Yuki then flew in front of Noivern and then said, "Oh my, my...under my spell? Let me...give you a kiss goodnight...for daring to try and hurt my friend." And then she used Draining Kiss on Noivern, which made it very weak, and then she finished it off with a Cold Breath attack, dealing 4x damage and a critical hit, KO'ing it. Faris C then withdrew his Noivern, and then said, "Not bad for a member of the International Police. But I have no intention of surrendering to you! Our vision is too great to allow an infidel dog to destroy everything now!" Faris C then lowered the cloak he was wearing, and revealed he had a jetpack on-and he took off, and headed off at great speed into the sky, getting away. Lindberg considered pursuing him with Titan, but Titan can't fly that fast, and so...he cursed himself for Faris C getting away. The people in the mob departed, seeing that Meloetta is a peaceful Pokémon and they had been manipulated by a Team ISIS member, and went home. Meanwhile, Calliope and Joel came forward to Lindberg. Calliope then said to Lindberg, "Thank you, for driving that man away." She then said to Joel, "And thank you, sweetie, for protecting me from Team ISIS." Calliope then looked very sad. "...They are after me to kill me. And I know why." Lindberg asked her, "Then why?" Calliope then said, "...They intend to revive not just Black Fog, but Korrigan as well." Lindberg then asked, "And what is Korrigan?" Calliope then said, "She was like me once, a Meloetta, but then...as she saw more and more violence and evil done by humanity and the kinds of things human beings sometimes turn crafts that we give them...she grew hard and bitter and cold inside. She started to embrace the dark parts of art, to manipulate people into harming each other, and she also learned a forbidden power-the Siren Pitch-which can control people with a song. She also learned how to draw people's life energy from them and eat their souls as well, and it got worse when she found the item known as the Charm Necklace, which could allow her to assume male or female shape. She...killed many people, with her new and forbidden powers, and I had to fight against her, to stop her from killing people and Pokémon alike. I thought she was long dead...forgotten and gone...but then...Team ISIS mentioned the Korrigan Project. I heard that human beings have found ways to bring back Pokémon from extinction from fossils with their technology...so...I think...Team ISIS intends to revive her!" Lindberg was horrified by this-he had never heard of this Pokémon, but it sounded dangerous! And in the wrong hands...who knows what it can do? Calliope then said, "If Team ISIS is coming after me as they say...will you and your friends protect me?" Lindberg then said, "I shall do everything I can to do so. I shall even get the International Police to investigate this matter and take you into protective custody at our headquarters if need be." "No...let me stay with you and your friends. Please?" Lindberg then said, "...Headquarters can protect you better then I ever can, but...if you really want to stay with me, you can." Calliope then hugged Lindberg and then said, "Thank you! My name is Calliope, by the way, the muse known as 'Great Voice' and guardian of Poetry!" Then, a hole in space and time opened...leading home. Lindberg and his friends, including Calliope, went through, and headed back to Team Spectre's base.

In the shadows of the Mideazt Region...in a dark, secluded room where a throne lie, where a man concealed in the shadows lie...who is the leader of Team ISIS only known to the International Police as 'The Demon's Head' is...Faris C then came before him. Faris C then said, "Our research into the legend of the Black Fog is complete. Soon, we shall be able to bring about it's revival." The leader of Team ISIS then asked, "And Meloetta?" Faris C then said, "Well...I ran into a little problem." The leader of Team ISIS was angry, but remained calm and asked, "What problem?" "A member of the International Police and his team stopped me from destroying Meloetta." The leader of Team ISIS cracked his knuckles in frustration and anger. "Then what I want you to do is find out who this officer who stopped you is and find him...and destroy him. Tell my men to take care of it. Is that understood?" Faris C then said, "Understood, my lord." And then he departed, and told his friends and team mates about the officer...and they started to search for him and attempt to gather information about him...which shouldn't prove too hard, since Team ISIS has spies in the International Police. Meanwhile...the projects to revive the Black Fog are beginning...and soon, Team ISIS would attack the place known as the Cursed Well...in order to obtain the only known hair sample of Korrigan...and then, using the technology to resurrect Pokémon from fossils...Team ISIS would revive her and set in motion a plan to use her power, the Siren Pitch, in combination with a device that shall allow Team ISIS to hack every television in the entire world...and bring the world to it's knees!