The Hisui region never let you forget you were an outsider. Even after months of falling from the sky at Arceus's whim, Akari still woke every morning with the same ache in her chest—the same dizzying sense that the world here was older, wilder, and far less forgiving than the Sinnoh she had known. The Arcus Dex on her hip felt heavier each day, its glowing pages filled with sketch after sketch, measurement after measurement, but the data never came easy. Not when every Alpha Pokémon in the highlands seemed personally offended by her presence.
She had spent the last seven days in the Obsidian Fieldlands, dodging an Alpha Ursaluna that had nearly crushed her under a boulder the size of a house, then barely escaping a trio of Alpha Luxray whose electric roars still rang in her ears. Her clothes—once the neat blue-and-white tunic of a Galaxy Expedition member—were now torn at the sleeves, caked in mud, and stiff with dried sweat. Her legs burned from endless trekking. Her stomach growled; the last proper meal had been two days ago, a handful of Sitrus berries shared with her loyal Cyndaquil before it had retreated into its Poké Ball to rest.
By the time the sun dipped behind the jagged peaks of the Crimson Mirelands, Akari was running on pure stubbornness. She collapsed against a twisted tree, chest heaving, and pulled the Arcus Dex open. The holographic page flickered.
"Gardevoir… still zero entries. Rare. Elegant. Psychic typing. Potential for powerful support roles." She sighed, closing it. "Yeah, well, I have to actually see one first."
That was when the voice reached her—soft, melodic, carrying on the evening wind like a half-remembered song.
"Traveler."
Akari looked up. Irida, leader of the Pearl Clan, stood a few paces away, her white-and-blue robes fluttering. The pearl on her forehead caught the last light of day. Her expression was gentle but knowing, the way only someone who had lived her entire life under these skies could be.
"You look like the land itself has tried to swallow you whole," Irida said. "The alphas have been restless this week. I heard the Luxray pack from the highlands."
Akari managed a tired laugh. "Restless is an understatement. I think one of them wanted me as a chew toy." She pushed herself upright, wincing as every muscle protested. "I… I need somewhere to rest. Not a camp. Somewhere the alphas won't find me. Somewhere I can actually breathe."
Irida's smile softened further. She stepped closer and placed a cool hand on Akari's shoulder. "There is a place. Few outsiders know of it. A hot spring hidden in a narrow valley north of the Pearl Settlement, guarded by steam and old wards. The waters there are said to soothe even the deepest exhaustion—body and spirit alike. The Pokémon who frequent it are… peaceful, in their way. Mostly."
"Mostly?" Akari raised an eyebrow.
Irida's eyes twinkled with something Akari couldn't quite read. "Go with an open heart. The spring will decide what you need." She pointed toward a distant ridge where mist curled like lazy fingers. "Follow the scent of sulfur and the sound of water singing over stone. You'll know it when you see the glow."
Akari bowed her head in thanks. "I owe you, Irida."
"You owe the land," the clan leader replied softly. "And perhaps yourself. Rest well, sky-child."
The walk took longer than Akari expected. Twilight bled into full night. Stars wheeled overhead, brighter here than anywhere else in Hisui, as if Arceus had scattered them personally. Her boots slipped on loose scree. Twice she nearly turned back, convinced she was lost. But the air grew warmer, heavier with mineral steam, and the distant roar of water grew louder.
She crested the final ridge and stopped, breath catching.
There it was.
A perfect oval pool carved into the rock, ringed by smooth black stones and glowing with soft turquoise light from some underwater source. Steam rose in thick, lazy spirals, catching moonlight and turning it into silver mist. The air smelled of sulfur and something sweeter—wildflowers that grew only in heat. The water itself looked like liquid silk, inviting, endless.
Akari's knees almost gave out. Every sore muscle screamed for relief. She could already imagine sinking in up to her neck, letting the heat melt seven days of terror and exhaustion away. Her fingers went to the hem of her tunic, ready to strip right there.
Then she heard them.
Soft, melodic voices—layered, overlapping, like wind chimes made of crystal. Not human. Not quite Pokémon cries either. Psychic murmurs.
Akari froze behind a cluster of tall ferns and jagged rocks at the edge of the spring. She peered through the leaves.
A circle of Gardevoirs floated in the water.
There were at least eight of them, their elegant emerald bodies half-submerged, long white "dresses" of psychic energy rippling like living silk. Their red crests glowed faintly, casting rosy reflections across the steam. One lounged against a rock, eyes half-lidded in bliss. Another gently splashed a companion, their laughter a soft psychic chime that brushed against Akari's mind like velvet.
Her heart hammered. A wild Gardevoir—any Gardevoir—was a prize for the Arcus Dex. Graceful, intelligent, rare. But eight of them? Bathing together? This was better than any data she could have hoped for.
She reached slowly for a Poké Ball at her belt, already picturing the perfect curving throw, the flash of red light, the triumphant entry in her Dex.
That was when the air behind her changed.
The temperature dropped. A presence—massive, ancient, impossibly powerful—rose like a tidal wave of pink psychic energy. Akari felt it before she saw it: every hair on her body standing up, her lungs refusing to draw breath.
She turned.
The Alpha Gardevoir towered over her.
Twice the height of the others, its body a deeper, richer emerald that seemed to drink the moonlight. Its eyes burned crimson, slit-pupiled like a predator's. The psychic aura around it crackled visibly—pink lightning dancing between its fingertips. Its crest flared like a crown. And its expression… amused. Hungry. Knowing.
Akari's hand never reached the Poké Ball.
Invisible bands of psychic force slammed around her entire body—arms pinned to her sides, legs locked straight, mouth forced open in a silent scream that never left her throat. Her Poké Balls rose from her belt, spinning lazily in mid-air, wrapped in glowing pink rings. Useless. Untouchable.
The Alpha's voice slid directly into her mind, smooth as warm honey, laced with dark delight.
"Little sky-child… we have been watching you stumble through our territory for weeks. So determined. So tired. So… deliciously breakable."
Akari's eyes widened in panic. She tried to struggle, but the power only tightened, lifting her an inch off the ground like a doll.
The Alpha drifted closer. Its long fingers—elegant, clawed—tilted her chin up.
"Tonight," it purred, the words echoing inside her skull, "the spring will decide what you need. And we have decided… it needs a new toy."
With a casual flick of its wrist, the Alpha hurled her.
Akari flew in a helpless arc, clothes still on, body still paralyzed. She hit the center of the hot spring with a splash that sent steaming water exploding outward. The heat slammed into her instantly—scalding, perfect, wrapping every aching limb like a lover's embrace. For one blissful second she almost sighed in relief.
Then the circle of Gardevoirs turned as one.
Eight pairs of glowing eyes fixed on her. Eight graceful bodies glided through the water toward the center. Their psychic murmurs rose into a single, harmonious note of anticipation.
Akari tried to shout, to thrash, to do anything—but the Alpha's power still held her limbs rigid even as the warm water soaked through her tunic and leggings. The smaller Gardevoirs closed in, their soft hands brushing her arms, her shoulders, her waist. One pressed its cheek to hers, nuzzling like a cat. Another trailed cool psychic fingers down her spine.
The first tongue—hot, wet, impossibly smooth—touched the side of her neck.
Akari's entire body jolted. A sharp, involuntary gasp tore from her throat.
And that was only the beginning.
The Alpha's crimson eyes watched from the edge of the spring, glowing brighter.
"Enjoy your bath, little toy," it whispered into her mind. "We are only getting started."
To be continued the moment you say the word…