"Beegoonnee! Beegoonnee! Beeggooooooonnee!" The creature angrily roars out, lashing out at you and the group facing off against it.

The monster slashes a claw at Ace, but you immediately see it coming and shove the boy out of the way, bracing yourself for the hit. However, Deuce immediately reacts to your reaction and shoves you out of the way.

You barely stay on your feet, caught off by how Deuce immediately saved your oddly durable ass, as said savior gets thrown into the wall.

"Deuce!" You cry out and run over to check on the boy.

Ace- hearing your cry- looks back and sees the blue-haired boy leaning against the rocks weakly. "Aw crap! He's got Loosey-Deucey on the ropes! Not on my watch! Heeyah!"

Ace flings another spell at the monster, which seems to just aggregate it more and send Ace into the wall as well. The orange-haired boy lands on top of Deuce as you facepalm.

"I swear to- CHIEN-PAO! SWORDS DANCE AND THEN USE SACRED SWORD!" The Pokémon nods and follows through, which manages to damage the monster slightly as the Pokémon hits it directly on the vial.

Interesting, while resistant to magic, the creature seems affected by physical attacks...

"MYAAAH! STAY AWAY FROM ME!" You look over to see Grim frantically running at you, as Chien-Pao tussles with the monster.

The cat-monster scurries up your back from where you're crouched on the ground and hops onto your left shoulder, causing Moonstone to move onto the right shoulder.

You blink for a moment, before snapping back to focus and helping Ace and Deuce stand up.

"It's like nothin's even hurting it!" Grim yowls out as you focus on the monster.

"Well, physical attacks seem to, if at least slightly..." You mumble, squinting your eyes. "Hm. There's something behind it." You point with a hand towards a glittering thing in the mineshaft, glittering on it's own and not because of Toto taking pictures with the flash on or Moonstone glowing.

Ace peers over your shoulder and Grim and his eyes light up. "Behind the monster and... other monster?"

"Chien-Pao." You comment and motion for Ace to continue.

"Well... there's something sparkling in the mineshaft!"

Deuce's eyes also light up. "Could that have been a Magestone?"

"GWAAAAAAAHHH! Nooo giiivee yooouu stooooooneeee!" The creature roars out, confirming the idea.

You watch as Chien-Pao is sent flying, and crashes into the wall. It snarls and bounds down and towards your side, waiting for the next command from you.

Grim's claws dig into your shoulder as you wince, and the cat tries yanking you away. "Human! We need to book it, and fast! That things gonna pound us into tuna paste!"

"Okay everyone! I'm unsure what a tuna is, but run away!" You climb onto the waiting Koraidon, dragging Ace and Deuce with you and Chien-Pao bounds after you, obviously wanting healing.

You are going to heal it, but you do need to conserve your potions and such. Even though you have a few hundred thousand healing items...

The group bursts out of the cave as the monster roars, and you flop on Koraidon when they come to a stop.

You were just standing there and were drained by that complete mess...

Grim nervously peers over as Moonstone hops over to perch on Koraidon's head. "That should be far enough, I think?"

You nod in agreement, since the monster isn't chasing you outside of the mine, as you climb off Ko's back.

"Thanks Koraidon, here." You take one of the two sandwiches you brought with you from lunch for Koraidon and Miraidon and give it to the excited Pokémon. "Also, c'mere Chien-Pao."

The Ruination Pokémon obeys and you start spraying a Hyper Potion on a few of it's bruises, smiling gently as they heal up. "You did amazing, thank you."

"Owww..." Ace rubs his shoulder. "Does that spray thing you got there work of people?"

"Nope," You reply with a shake of your head, "Just Pokémon. And maybe Grim."

The orange-haired boy sighs as he climbs off Ko as well. "What was that thing? No one said there'd be anything like that!"

Deuce frowns a bit. "That was no normal ghost, that's for sure."

Ace grimaces as crosses his arms behind his head. "Let's just give up and go home. I'll happily take expulsion if it never means having to fight with that thing again..."

"What!?" You and Deuce yelp out in sync, and Chien-Pao and Grim give Ace shocked looks. Koraidon is too busy devouring the sandwich to care.

"Nuh-uh! Not happening! I'd rather die than get expelled from Night Raven! How can you give up when the stone is right there?" Deuce sputters out, looking startled.

Ace scoffs. "Big talk for someone who's not even half the mage I am. You want the stone so bad? Go get it yourself. I'm out." Ace starts walking away from the group with his arms crossed.

Deuce narrows his eyes at Ace. "Oh yeah? Then go back to the coop, you big chicken!"

"Whaaaat?" Ace turns around to face Deuce, his mouth curved down into an almost snarl as his eyes are narrowed as well. "Who're you calling a chicken, huh?"

The boys approach eachother, barely a foot apart as they look ready to freaking maul eachother. You immediately get between the two and push them apart gently. "Okay everyone, no fighting. It's just going to make things worse-"

Ace scoffs and swats your hand away, directing his anger at you. "I wonder why the mirror even sent you here. Clearly, you're more useless than wannabe here! At least he has magic, while you just stand off to the side and tell your weird monsters to do things!" He waves a hand at Koraidon, Moonstone, Grim, and Chien-Pao, who all simultaneously glare at him. "In fact, you just got in our way! Because of you, Deuce got flung like a ragdoll by that thing!" Ace glares at you. "If anything, you're the reason were all here to begin with. If it weren't for you, none of this would've happened!"

"Ace..." Deuce warned as he moves slightly closer to the boy. You stop him though, feeling yourself tensed up.

"No Deuce, this isn't your fight. It's mine." You gently move Deuce aside and cross your arms behind you back, putting a calm and unbothered expression on your face, but you don't bother hiding the venom in your tone.

"Did it occur to you, surely not, that I myself don't want to be here as much as you do? Did you think, if are even capable of thought, that I have gone through more struggle, more suffering, more pain, than you ever possibly will, hm?" You feel your eye twitch. "I, try, every single day to put a smile on my face and keep going, because it is my responsibility as a Pokémon trainer and champion to place others before myself."

You tilt your head as you grow closer to Ace. "I never wanted to be brought here. To the Distortion World, I never asked to come here. I was dragged to another world against my will, and am trying to get home. Fuck me, it was your fault for harassing Grim and I because you needed validation for yourself as a magic user."

You press a finger against his chest in warning. "Ace, I swear in the name of Arceus, I am not to be blamed for a mistake I never caused. Next time, instead of victim-blaming, try to have a cognitive thought and consider others before you. That is, again, if you can actually think."

You take a single step back. "Feel free to leave and get expelled. I, having accidentally brought Deuce into this, am not letting him get expelled. I could care less about attending Night Raven College, but if it means allowing Deuce to keep being able to attend I will get that Magestone myself."

You calmly give Ace the middle finger, something you rarely do, with an obviously fake smile. "Go fuck yourself Ace, you're a psychopath."

Everyone gives you amazed looks, looking like they didn't figure you could actually be mean. Ace looks like he's realizing he fucked up, which he did.

"I-" You feel your composure crack, and you let it. "I just want to go home. I miss my friends, my mom, I EVEN MISS MY SUNHAT!" You feel tears burn your eyes. "Look at me. I'm pathetic. I'm crying because I don't want to live in a dorm that's falling apart, I don't want to cut off my Pokémon from everything they ever knew, and I don't want to be in a world were I understand nothing."

You sniffle a bit as tears roll down your face. "You know what else? The Dark Mirror said my soul belongs no where. I guess that means I belong nowhere, huh? ¡ARCEUS-MALDICIÓN! ¿¡POR QUÉ SOY TAN PATÉTICO!?" You wipe tears from your face as you look away, trying to avoid breaking into sobs. Your knees are shaking, and you don't know how much longer you can stand.

Deuce immediately wraps an arm around your shoulder to support you. "Hey, don't listen to that stupid mirror!"

Grim immediately scampers over to you and hugs your leg. "Yeah! I know for a fact you're a better hench-human than those two could ever be!"

Moonstone immediately darts forward and brushes against your other leg, gently nuzzling you as comfort.

Your head moves to rest against Deuce as you sniffle a bit. Ace nervously rubs the back of his head and takes a few tentative steps towards you, before coming up to you and stopping shortly in front of you.

"L- look, I'm sorry." Ace glances nervously over at Chien-Pao and Koraidon, who are glaring daggers at him. In fact, all the Pokémon in your bag and PC are probably glaring at him too, at least in his general direction. "I promise I didn't really mean any of that, and I shouldn't have said it..."

You glance up at him, trying to blink away your tears. "Are you sure you mean it?"

Ace nods. "I promise I do. And I swear, if we get out of this, I'll figure out some way to make it up to you."

You smile a bit, wiping away tears as you nod. "Okay... thank you... I'm also sorry, both for breaking down like this and saying those hurtful things to you..."

You haven't cried this much since Kieran said he hated you, though thankfully you're both friends again now.

...you really do miss him, along with all your friends. You hope you'll be back soon.

You let out a long sigh. "Okay, we need a plan to defeat or get past that monster to get the Magestone. Any ideas or useful information? I'll let you guys share before I do."

Grim lets go of you and clambers up onto your shoulders. You crouch down so Moonstone can hop up onto your other shoulder. "Can't we just blow that thing up with magic?" The cat asks inquisitively.

Deuce shakes his head. "Using magic at a greater scale, or using different types of magic, those things require training."

Ace nods in agreement. "Yeah, that's why magic academies exist. It takes a lot of training before you can just snap your fingers and turn your thoughts into magic. And the more flustered you are, the more likely you are to make mistakes."

You tilt your head. "Hm. Similar to Pokémon training, in a way. It usually takes quite some time before you can easily catch and direct Pokémon in battles. Though there are some exceptions... such as myself or other champion-ranked trainers from other regions. I assume that there are more magically talented people than others?"

"Yep." Ace says with a nod. "Especially if the magic's your specialty."

"Hm..." You smile faintly, feeling much better now after crying a bit. "Interesting!"

"Anyway," Deuce says with a tilt of his head, "We do need a plan to defeat the creature and get the Magestone."

"Right! Apologies for getting off topic." You give Deuce a polite nod, but Ace rolls his eyes.

"Yeaaaah... Just like the time with the chandelier, right? You "found some way", and now here we are." Ace crosses his arms and rolls his eyes. "We just fought that thing and it creamed us. So what's the plan here, genius? Because I sure don't trust you to improvise!"

"What?" Deuce asks in frustration. "You're the one who-"

"Enough!" You angrily bark out, using your commanding tone of voice. "Are you two physically unable to be peaceful between you two for more than five minutes? If we keep fighting, we'll never get the Magestone and be expelled!"

You place your hands on your hips. "Now, if you're willing to listen. I have a plan. But it involves everyone working together."

You narrow your eyes and extend your hand. "You wanna keep attending Night Raven? Then listen to me, and work together. There isn't any other real way to do this."

Ace and Deuce share a look, the two still startled whenever you get all angry, before looking back at your expectant face.

Deuce is the first to place his hand on top of your's, and Ace follows suit. Grim scampers further on your arm to place his paw on top, and Moonstone places her paw on top of Grim's.

"Great!" You say, chipper and with a smile on your face. "Now, listen closely..."