Lost Cause

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Each step was made with hesitance, but he was fairly certain that this path was the safest. The only problem was that it was a guaranteed safety. His eyes darted about to and fro with a growing sense of dread and anxiety. He was alone, out in the open, in the place he'd last seen Voix. For all he knew the damned Zoroark lived here and yet he was coming back. It made his skin crawl and fur stand. He honestly looked adorably fluffy more so than terrifying. He swallowed his fears as he stepped along, uncertainty kept him from making much progress.

He came with the intent of collecting some items, a sack strapped around his side. The light crystal blue necklace dangled from his neck as he walked on all four legs. It was much more comfortable this way. It kept his stomach less exposed, far easier to run from danger as well. Zadira needed more items though. Not only for his own protection, but to hopefully sell them to the local merchant back at Grassveil, maybe an explorer or two. The debt he needed to pay was big and the lawyer made it perfectly clear what would happen if he couldn't keep on his payments.

It was understandable, considering the pachirisu saved what was essentially the rest of his life, but the lawyer's expectations were brutal. He could either pay up or he was going right back to where he was found.

Mocha: [Energy: 3 + 1 (Page) = 4]
Maxie: [Energy: 2 + 1 (Page) = 3]
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Maxie rolled her eyes. No one would see the gesture, of course, it was simply second nature for her to do so. Two on one. The zoroark was trying to take Zadira. She wished that another one of her had appeared, instead of another Mocha. Everything would be a hell of a lot easier if there were two of her.

”Chevy if you were ever considering stepping in and doing literally anything now would be a wonderful time,” Maxie declared in what had to be the most passive aggressive tone of voice she could possibly muster. Without a further word, she rushed forward and struck at the absol with an Iron Head attack—she wasn’t aiming at either in particular. She managed to clip the running one, causing it to crash into the other. It probably wasn’t what it was going for, but it would come to the same result. Two unpetrified absol.

…

Excitement. Her copy found the current situation exciting. There wasn’t a hint of concern to be found. ”You did hear the part where she said we might die, right?”

”Are you reading my mind now?” her copy asked in a bit of a teasing tone.

”I don’t know how to turn it off,” Mocha admitted. ”Ya know, in retrospect—”

”We should have asked her more questions.”

”A lot more questions.”

The two were approaching the area the rest had traveled to much faster, on account of their greater pace.

"Oowww but where would be the fun in that?" the steelix's disheartening response rang out like a voice from the heavens. "Come on now, I'll make sure none of ye die, but I'm not gonna do that if none of ye are dyin! Where's the LEARNING experience if I do?"

Zadira hated this Steelix. He hated this zoroark. He hated Maxie. He hated the absol. He hated this mountain. So many things to hate, yet all he could feel in the moment was surges of paralyzing fear as he was pressed along.

"Whattaya mean leavin so soon? I've got another kid to find, leave me be!" the zoroark snapped back to the steelix, as if oblivious to the fact that Zadira was, in fact, not a child.

Two absols were now free from their imprisonment. While one was struck with the iron head, it just freed up the other one for an attack. The poor sap that faced the wrath of the mawile struggled to pick themselves back up after the hit, but their friend was more than willing to step in with an attack of their own. The absol took in a deep breath, a fire ignited in their eyes just a split second before they exhaled a blast of fiery breath in the mawile's direction.

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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They should have gone to Everspring Vale. Or maybe a trek into Icicle Woods. Hell, she would have taken Scorchfall Desert—her home territory, a place she had no intentions of returning to any time soon—over these mountains now. But they didn’t go to any of those places. They came here, to this mountain. She had decided to go here, and she was being thoroughly punished for that. But at least she was learning some lessons here.

Lesson one: Her initial instincts were sort of spot on, in retrospect. She should trust them more. Lesson two: The Echo World—though she did not yet know it by that name—exists, and is a hellish place. Lesson three: No matter how easy you think a trip to a dungeon may be, prepare for it like it’s going to be the most difficult challenge yet. If she survived this, she’d be sure to make good use of that newfound knowledge.

She’d learned lots of other things, too. She learned that a lot of Pokemon were actually incredibly unreliable. She was learning so much about Mocha that she had yet to discover in her relatively brief period of knowing her. She was learning that she actually might genuinely hate Zadira, which was a shame because she really tried not to.

Oh, and she was learning that absol can learn fire moves. That was a real shame, too. That was not only one of the relatively few types that she wasn’t either resistant or outright immune to, but was one of only two types she was weak to. She really wished she had known they could do that before the attack came, because then she might have actually been prepared for it.

She backpedaled. She panicked. She checked herself for any serious burns and found none. She wasn’t supposed to give up ground. She wasn’t supposed to panic.

She was losing.

She wasn’t supposed to lose.

…

Anger. Panic. Fear. Mocha never really noticed how distinct panic was from fear until now. It was like a special kind of fear. It was like the difference between black coffee and coffee with milk—they were both the same base drink, yet still notably distinct from each other. She couldn’t quite place what emotions were coming from who. It all sort of muddled together. It was almost overwhelming, really.

It became a bit easier when she finally caught sight of the group. It was as if the additional information provided by her sight helped to organize the information she was getting from the gardevoir’s gift. Unfortunately, now that she could see the situation before her, a new problem arose. Her own emotions—and those of her double—piled onto the stack.

There was a zoroark. Fear: Zadira’s, her copy’s, her own. Anger: Maxie’s—and more? It was like background noise, really. Panic: Maxie's, her copy’s, her own. The absol. Fire—Maxie’s weakness. Zadira—a zoroark had him. Voix? No. Family? Yes. Mother? She was a threat, regardless. Chevy. He wasn’t helping. Why wasn’t he helping? Amusement. What was wrong with him?

Three threats: two absol, one zoroark. No idea which was stronger. Probably the zoroark. But she wasn’t outright hostile, was she? Terrifying. Menacing. Not yet hostile. Maxie needed help now. Two zangoose, two absol. They could even the odds.

Her echo seemed to have the same idea, as she darted towards the two absol only seconds after taking in the situation. Mocha knew she should follow suit, help Maxie.

She charged at the zoroark with a Quick Attack instead, claws bared.

The vixen was met with surprise. She hadn't at all expected the oncoming attack. She was knocked over with scratches to remember Mocha by, though she took Zadira with her in her fall. He fell flat onto his stomach. Ground scraped away at his face and stomach as he was dragged along, his mother quickly recovered from the attack. She turned around to face the zangoose.

Her eyes studied the ferret for a brief second. A split second decision caused her mood to swing in a whole new direction, the prior annoyance sunk down into pure scathing hatred. "Y o u," the zoroark sneered at the zangoose, "You're that girl, aren't you??" she challenged.

---

The two absol that remained, reveled in their minor victory with a mocking laugh at the fae's fear of the flames. The approach of the perfectly healthy zangoose, on the other hand, caused their courage to waver. This wasn't right...this was a fair match-up. A mawile and a zangoose versus two absol. They weren't out numbered. Their friend was still on the ground, it was unlikely that he'd get up.

The absol hesitated in their next strike, cautious to see what the newcomer would do and whether or not the mawile was still in fighting shape.

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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The echo Mocha wasn’t surprised to find her mirror behind her. She would have gone after the zoroark too, that’s why she didn’t. It was a stupid thing to do, too. She knew that. They both knew that. But the smart thing to do wasn’t always the right thing to do. Or, at least, that’s what she told herself.

She used Double Team. In an instant, the absol found themselves facing far more than just one duplicate zangoose. ”Hero’s here,” she called to Maxie, her voice echoing confidence. Upon hearing Mocha’s voice, Maxie’s attention snapped back to the situation at hand.

She wasn’t on fire. She wasn’t burned. Mocha was here. It was an even fight. The mawile regained some of her lost courage. She resumed her defensive stance, her horns facing the absol and snapping in an intimidating fashion. She didn’t really feel herself still—this was a facade, she was still hesitating.

”Alright you two, you’re free to stick around and eat dirt if you wanna, or you can turn tail and run and save everyone the hassle.” She flicked her claws out to emphasize the threat.

…

That definitely sounded like a mother.

It didn’t take much effort to realise that the zoroark was talking about Caritas. The vixen thought she was Caritas. That wasn’t fair. She hoped that wouldn’t become a regular thing—to be mistaken for or compared to this Caritas character simply by being in close proximity to Zadira. Surely it couldn’t. There couldn’t be that many people who even knew about the two, right?

A sudden feeling of resentment. That was hers, directed towards Caritas. That wasn’t fair, either. She was probably a nice person, right? She hadn’t done anything wrong—especially not to Mocha. Caritas didn’t deserve any resentment from her.

…And yet...

”Oh, you wish,” Mocha replied bitterly. She was not Caritas. She wasn’t going to let this or any other zoroark get to her like that.

...Mocha suddenly felt guilty after that thought. That didn’t make the resentment go away, though. Or any of the other emotions, either. There were so many emotions. She was a mess. Everyone here was a mess.

Mocha opened her mouth to say something else but nothing came. That was the only pause she took before lashing out with her claws again. There wasn’t any point in talking. This zoroark wasn’t real—not that it would change anything if she was.

What a helpless little victim he turned out to be. It was this type of behavior that Zadira's parents hated the most about him. In the presence of his mother, he was nothing but a cowering kit. Odd considering he had the courage to stand against his father, who was arguably the worst of the duo. The grip on his arm was tight, but ever so briefly it was released. For a moment, the brief thought of freedom flashed through his mind. He could run. He could Quick Attack out of there and be free...

Fear drilled him to the spot. The claws snapped back down onto the back of his neck. He flinched as they dug into his scruff, feeling about as real as the last time he felt them. Yanked back, he couldn't help a yelp as the zoroark attempted to avoid the claws of Mocha. The fox was too slow as the claws scored across her shoulder and chest. Either it hardly bothered her, or she carried exceptional skill in the art of a poker face.

"No...?" The Zoroark hissed, "No...you're not...You're new." The Zoroark's scowl only grew. "What are you doing with my daughter? Don't you know better than to squat on someone else's TURF?" A deep blue hue illuminated the vixen's eyes as a direct Leer was sent towards Mocha's direction...

---

The absol, meanwhile, weighted their odds against not just a zangoose and a mawile, but apparently multiple zangoose and a mawile. Their hesitance and cowardice became more and more apparent with each passing second. They backed away, step by step. They thought they could win, but clearly this was a losing battle. One stepped forward, but only by a single step. They puffed out their chest and spat in the direction of the mawile, before turning right around and leaping as far as their legs could carry them.

The remaining absol's fur bristled as they glowered at the duo, but they too were quick to turn tail and flee...

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Mocha—the other Mocha—waited until the absol were out of sight. Then she relaxed slightly. ”Wow, I can’t believe that worked. I mean don’t get me wrong it wasn’t an empty threat, I was ready to tear them up but at the same time I kinda didn’t want to actually fight them, ya know?”

The question was directed at Maxie, but the mawile didn’t answer. She had collapsed to the ground the moment she was sure the absol had actually retreated. She was shaken, and exhausted in every meaning of the word. The echo zangoose’s nonchalant expression quickly fell and was replaced with one of serious concern. ”Hey, Maxie, take a break. I’m gonna go help me beat up what I think is Z’s mom? Boy this place is wild, huh.”

She didn’t wait for Maxie’s response. Maxie didn’t really have one. She just sat there in the dirt, looking towards the fight but not really taking any of it in. She’d reached some sort of limit.

…

Most of what the zoroark said was lost on Mocha, except for the fact that she was now recognized as someone other than Caritas. That was nice. It didn’t stop Mocha from wanting to seriously hurt her. In fact, the sound Zadira made only increased that urge. She had no right to treat him this way. No one had any right to treat anyone that way.

She caught sight of the Leer. It gave her pause for just a moment, despite her best efforts to shrug it off. It left her open for an attack—but truth be told, she wasn’t exactly putting much effort into protecting herself to begin with. Her attacks were reckless, with her only cautious effort going toward not hurting Zadira in the fray.

Unbeknownst to either of them, Mocha’s double approached from behind the zoroark, although she wasn’t exactly being too stealthy about it. The way she saw it, no matter which of the zangoose the vixen focused on, it’d give the other an opportunity. She thought.

Despite being evolved, the zoroark didn't have much going for her in the strength department. The real zangoose lunged forward with reckless abandon, causing the zoroark to jerk back-straight into the false zangoose conjured by the oddity that was this world. She was correct in thinking that the zoroark would be vulnerable. Despite the lack of stealth, she was far too focused on the outraged ferret before her than she was the one behind.

The witch of a mother cried out as she was struck, but it was of surprise over pain. A deep growl echoed deep in her throat as leery eyes now pointed towards both of the foes. Two versus one. That wasn't fair, now was it? The zoroark pulled away from the two, dragging Z with her. He was set back onto his own two feet before he was pushed forward, towards Mocha(s).

"Stop screwing around and help your mother!" the wicked woman demanded. This...turned out to be a mistake. Zadira was lucid enough to know not to obey his "mother"-not because he didn't believe it to be true, but because hurting Mocha was just about the last thing he wanted to do. In this particular moment, death was a preferable option. It would have been valiant to turn against the zoroark with some declaration about friendship...but instead the stress and tension snapped all over again. Like a wild animal, he attacked.

He was pushed forward, but quick to turn back. He landed on his paws gracelessly and stumbling, before he turned and lunged at the vixen with a nasty and hostile hiss. Darkness slashed through the air, leaving a terrible but brief scar in the air of its wake, it cut right through the zoroark's fur and landed the attack right next to Mocha's initial strike. The zoroark screeched in shock and horror herself as her son turned against her. She held the injury with much more emotion to her expression than before, all attention tunneled in on the son she had deemed a daughter...before her eyes flicked to the two Mochas.

"You-" she began to speak, but was quickly cut off as Zadira continued his assault with just as much recklessness and anger as Mocha had before. The vixen avoided it this time, but moved straight for the duplicates with red crackling energy gathering right into her fist. She aimed for the throat, deciding to attempt a good ol' fashion quick death would be suitable for this wench. (Throat Chop)

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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Mocha was a little surprised when Zadira turned on the zoroark, not because she expected him to actually attack her, but because she didn’t expect him to attack anyone at all. He seemed practically paralyzed in the zoroark’s presence before.

The smallest of smirks came across the zangoose’s face after the illusion fox spoke. She had only known Zadira for… Well, she wasn’t really sure if it had been a few hours or a whole day now. She barely knew anything about his mother; this zoroark. Yet Mocha found something about her angry, surprised expression quite pleasing. She had spite for the illusion Pokemon, a great deal of it.

The vixen’s sudden attack caught Mocha off guard. Admittedly, it really shouldn't have—they were fighting after all. But Mocha had expected her to keep talking, or lash out at Zadira first for some reason, not run around him and go for her. Maybe the telepathy she was granted could have helped her in this fight, but she was doing her best to ignore it, for fear it would overwhelm her. She raised her claws as if to take some sort of defensive stance against the incoming attack, but she knew her reaction time was too slow.

Her counterpart’s wasn’t, though. A white and red blur intercepted the incoming attack using a Quick Attack. Then the blur—the echo Mocha—collapsed to the floor. She didn’t make any sound of pain, except for many quick.short, quiet gasps for air.

Mocha reacted quicker this time, throwing a couple swift kicks at the zoroark, attempting to push her back, away from the fallen zangoose.

…

Maxie flinched at the sight of the echo zangoose going down. She knew it wasn’t the real Mocha, but it looked exactly like her. She should be over there, too, attacking the zoroark. She knew that, but she didn’t move.

Zadira, on the other hand, did not know it wasn't the real Mocha. So, he had no choice but to assume that the zoroark had just killed his new-found friend. Did he have any reason to believe she was dead from that one hit? No. Did he think it anyways? Absolutely. His body trembled with anticipation, his jaws clenched so tightly shut it would take extreme effort on his part just to open them again. His voice surged with a vicious scream once again, the sight of the other Mocha striking his mother hardly even registered to him.

He lunged forward once again with an intentional slash, unknowingly backing up Mocha's double kick immediately with another vicious strike across the gut of the fox. Two harsh kicks slammed into the vixen's face, causing yellow crusty bits of teeth to fall out with little spats of red from both the mouth and the now-broken nose. The stomach was sliced by Zadira's claws with no restraint, drawing even more from the open wound. It was at this point Haine knew...she done fucked up.

While she might have been a mere echo, that didn't erase the will to live. The zoroark's movements switched away from aggression to a more defensive stance, though active attempts were made to break away from the fight. Should she be given the chance, she would flee.

----

The steelix watched along with the mawile, a spectator to the spectacle. He glanced down at the little steel type, before he lowered his head to meet her level. "Not gonna do anythin'...?" he asked.

Mocha: [Energy: 3]
Maxie: [Energy: 2]
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The steelix’s sudden appearance snapped the mawile back to reality. ”Look at the pot calling the kettle black,” she grumbled without looking at him. She kept her eyes fixed on the fight. One of the Mocha’s was down and out. It wasn’t the real Mocha, she was sure. She was… mostly sure. She was as sure as she could be.

The zangoose could handle this fight. She wanted to say that out loud, to the steelix, as an excuse for her own inaction. But she didn’t, because she wasn’t sure she believed it, and it wasn’t the real reason.

…

When Mocha first attacked Haine, she never really considered what she’d do if she were to start “winning” the fight. Truth be told, she didn’t think she’d even come close. Now they had her on the defensive, and they had a choice to make. This zoroark wasn’t real. Mocha was sure of it. Of course, her copy wasn’t real either, but they certainly looked and acted real, and definitely seemed to be in serious pain at the moment. But then again, even if this was the real thing, Zadira’s real mother, did she deserve mercy?

Mocha stepped back. She didn’t let her guard down, and she postured in a manner to make it very clear she’d strike right back if the zoroark tried to do anything but run away. She wasn’t going to keep fighting if she didn’t have to, but she wasn’t going to stop Zadira, either.