Mewtwo and Astra stay on the porch in silence. Both have much to think about. Once more their resolution have changed. Once more they have been shown they need to concentrate on more than just one piece of the impossible puzzle that is their existence. Try to advance the Trio's quest, and their fighting capabilities stagnates. But focusing only on their fighting capabilities would leave them with reduced fighting potential. It is one thing to be able to fight someone, it is another to be able to win.

  This is a secondary concern for Mewtwo, as he could seclude himself and massacre monsters until his level rises enough for him to become unbeatable. Yet, this plan has two major problems. It would leaving Astra to fend for himself. The android growth is too closely related to the quests for him to do as Mewtwo would. And also, as the test by the protectors of the forest has shown, it would be easy for a strong foe to separate, isolate and dispose of one or both of them. He still shudders as he realize that single opening shadow ball had almost ended his fight immediately. If not for his newfound recovery capacities, he would not have lasted as long as he did.

  Mewtwo does not know what Astra is thinking, but he can guess. His armor did not protect him as he though it would against his assailants, nor did his upgraded body. The arrows went through both skin and plate as if they were piercing paper, and so did the final punch.

  A pale blue light snaps Mewtwo out of his thoughts. Astra is looking for something within the system.

  What are you looking for? He asks, curious.

  "Armor reinforcements. There are ways to strengthen it, but I am trying to decide which ones I want to use." Astra answers as he continue to scrutinize his floating screen.

  They remain on the porch as the afternoon light slowly shift to evening, and soon night falls. Mewtwo retires himself, and Astra remains.

  The night passes quickly, for I spend it like most nights here, working. For all the obsidian Mewtwo has amassed, it turns to be little in front of my needs. Most modifiers that adds resistance require it in their crafts. Along with other things. I was able to upgrade each pieces of my armor with one level of Resistant and one level of Projectile Resistance, using a large amount of both my reserves of iron and newly obtained obsidian. Sixteen blocks of iron is NOT cheap, as are the thirty two blocks of obsidian consumed. I do not even know how much better it will make it, but here is hoping. I have also spent some points in my personal upgrades. I had been accumulating them and it was time to use them. With all the quests and the monsters we massacred during our underground exploring, I had quite a lot ready to be used.

  And now the sun is soon to rise. The clock tells me it is six in the morning. It is time to wake Mewtwo.

  As I enter the cottage, I hesitate. Do I wake him gently or... No, The last thing I, or he, would want is for the cottage to be blown up by me startling the extremely powerful psychic type sleeping in it. I gently push open the door to the chamber, and approach my friend.

  The grey and purple pokemon sleeps on his belly. His cat-like head rest on his thin crossed arm. His long purple tail lazily swipes left and right once every few minutes. He looks at peace. I silently approach him and lower myself next to him. I gently place a hand on his shoulder, and shake him.

  "Wake up Mewtwo, it's almost sunrise." I whisper.

  'Mrrrweep' is the answer I get. Mewtwo's head rise with his large eyes fluttering open. Is it morning already? The thought is slow and lethargic.

  "Yeah, the sun is about to rise, we should get going."

  Hrmh. Fine. Do we still have some berries to eat?

  I shrug in answer. Food is something I have partially stopped caring about. We receive daily baskets of food, each containing bread, meats as well as fruits, berries and water. I have been stockpiling the now excessive offerings for a while now, as they do not spoil once they are put in my inventory. Mewtwo, however, has been guzzling his berries with gusto, leaving few for each morning, if any.

  Luckily for him, he has left some from yesterday. He quickly gobbles them along with the full content of a water skin and we get on our way.

  This early in the morning, the forest is rather silent. A haze fills the forest floor, softening the colorful wisps tinkles. Most pokemons and critters are asleep, leaving only the soft rustle of leaves whenever a breeze rises. We still encounter pokemons. Those kin to the night can be seen wandering around.

  We meet a misdreavus. The purple-blue pokemon, almost a single head floating on top of a short dress greets us happily before continuing on its way.

  We spot a couple of ghastlies playing among the trees. They do not notice us, or have decided to ignore us, so we leave them be.

  By far, the most numerous ghosts we meet are the phantumps. The child-like haunted tree-stumps seemingly wander the forest aimlessly during the night. It was quite off-putting at first, but we grew accustomed to it. Sometimes they spot us and wave, before continuing for a destination unknown.

  Our morning stroll ends before the great tree, as many have before. The machoke that attacked me yesterday, Chok, exits it the moment we arrive. He nods at us and gestures to follow. I do not miss the bandage he now has on his left arm. He spots my gaze and smirk, before launching a serie of jabs at the air with said arm. He does not even wince during his little demonstration. He then says something, that I do not understand.

  He says he just wants the scar to form nicely. The wound is almost fully healed already. Mewtwo helpfully translates. I nod, still nervous about the fact I could have taken his arm had I not stopped myself.

  We traverse the tree and exit back to where we had once ended up, the training grounds. Multiple pokemons are already here. The majority are fighting types. But there are others in the mix. I spot numerous of gardevoirs on the side, along with mightyenas, trevenants and a large mass of blue-green vines, a tangrowth. I spot signs of others, but barely have time to recognize them.

  As we join the group, many send me stares. It would seems my presence here was not as announced as I expected.

  The large pangoro finally arrives, along with the scrafty, the mismagius and the decidueye that attacked us yesterday. Our machoke guide joins them, and Mewtwo and I are left to wait for the next development.

  The pangoro sends a glare at Mewtwo, and my tall friend nods.

  Translation. Is the only thing he sends.

  "Protectors! Today is a new day to grow!" the panda's voice fills the entire area. "You all know what to do, but today is a bit special. I am sure all of you have noticed two newcomers to our morning routine." Few turn our way, most have already stared enough. "By order of her highness, these mewling helpless kits are to be turned into roaring gyarados by the end of the week! As such, Blair, you will-"

  His sentence is interrupted as a beam of yellow light and purple lightning strikes the mismagius. It lasts for a second, but once it clears, the symbol of Hunt now stands atop the ghost-type hat.

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  The pangoro sends me a glare, and I take a reflexive step back.

  Why now? Mewtwo sends me in a thought filled with nervousness.

  "Am I to expect anymore surprises revenant?" The pangoro barks at me.

  I gulp and shake my head. "Good. I hope for you that is true." He snarls before continuing. "As I was saying. Blair, I want the Legend ready to take on all of us by the end of the week. And I do not mean one on one! Owl, you are taking the revenant. I want him to grow eyes behind his back and to be able to snatch your arrows from the sky. That will be all! Now to work with all of you!" He roars.

  The assembled pokemons disperse and form new little groups. The decidueye, Owl, and the mismagius, Blair, approach us. Mewtwo goes with the floating ghost, and I follow the bipedal owl.

  I feel a bit anxious to be once more separated from Mewtwo, but I know he will be fine. He was after his solo spelunking yesterday after all.

  Owl looks at me with both wonderment and fear. Which I find curious for one meant to be my instructor. He must still remember how broken he left me.

  We soon leave the training fields and make our way deeper into the forest, quickly reaching its constantly foggy edge. Multiple pokemons have followed us, a few scraggy, a mightyena, and two machops. When we reach the thorn infested edge, we stop.

  Owl garbles something in pokespeak and I raise an eyebrow before realization strikes me. I am out of Mewtwo's range for his psychic translation. Shit!

  Owl cocks his head to the side at my incomprehension. Then he also realize what happened and annoyance creeps on his face. He screech loudly, startling me and the others. After a minute, a large blue bat descend from between the branches. The heart shape hole on its nose takes me by surprise but is a dead giveaway to what pokemon it is, a swoobat. He hoovers before Owl before turning my way and landing awkwardly on my head. The pokemon is still a bat, and would have preferred an upside down perch, but it seems he might need to be close to me.

  I translator. Goal is to get in safety perimeter, survive for time, get back out. Understood? Exiting bounds sends back to center of training space. Understood? The chopped thought message tells me that yes, he was not the most adept at telepathy.

  I go for a nod, but stop myself. "Yes" I declare out loud.

  The swoobat takes off from my head. I return when training over. With that final though, he vanishes within the foggy edge of the forest.

  With the explanations fully given, Owl the decidueye screech and points at the forest. The thorns and bramble recede and we go in.

  Almost instantly I lose sight of every other pokemons I enter with. For all I know I have just been teleported. I am alone, in the middle of a dark foggy forest. The sight brings back memories of our first approach of the forest. I look around, but not a single trevenant is visible. Unsure as to what to do, I start wandering. I literally have nothing else to do.

  The first change happens a couple minutes later. Something shines in the corner of my eyes and before I can react, an arrow made of wood bounces off my helmet. I turn toward its origin, only for another one to impact my back. For the next ten minutes, wooden arrows rain upon me from every sides. Then it stops.

  All around me, dozens of arrows lay on the ground. I take one, curious, and realize the tip is round. I take a couple others and realize that yes, each arrows are round-tipped, it truly is only training.

  For the next twenty minutes, nothing happens, then once more, arrows rain upon me. Their directions are random Not one comes from the same angle, or height. Yet as they continue to rain, I remember what the pangoro said. He wants me to snatch them from the air by the end of the week, eh? Let's see if I can start by dodging them.

  Sight will not help me here, but maybe sound will. The fog deafens most sounds, but My hearing is far more capable than most.

  ~-ang~ ~Twang~ ~Twang~ ~Twang~

  The sound of the bow firing the arrows is barely noticeable. It is still enough for me to anticipate the possible angle of the arrows. I concentrate, and jump. And avoid an arrow. "Yes!" I exult as I pump my fist in the air.

  Then three arrows, each from different angles strike me at the same time.

  My small victory is even shorter as the density of arrows increases tenfold. For the next six hours, the cycle repeats. Ten minutes of getting fired upon, followed by twenty of rest. I try. I try as much as I feel like I can, but I always end up being hit. Not a single arrow misses me after my singular dodge.

  Mewtwo looks as Astra goes with the bipedal owl pokemon. Again they are separated. Yet he knows it is for the best once more. They need the training, they need to be able to overcome the horrors and monsters that have yet to come.

  "Legend, do you know what this means?" the mismagius commanding tone snaps Mewtwo back to his assigned instructor.

  The mismagius is pointing at the new cat-wolf mark upon her hat. Her expression is a mix of fear and anger.

  Mewtwo mulls over what happened. He do not know enough about Hunt to be sure, but he is almost certain the message at the very start of his existence was left by the goddess, or fateless. Does Hunt favor him more than Astra? Is it why She chose to bless Blair the mismagius?

  As the mismagius expression becomes more and more nervous, he decides tell her all he can, which is not much. "I can only tell you that you have been blessed by Hunt. I do not know what it implies or what it will bring you."

  At least Chaos have the excuse of being whimsical, as shown by his choosing of the young drowzee back at the picnic. For all Mewtwo knew, he just did it to give his and Astra's speech credence.

  The mismagius looks at Mewtwo with doubt, before rolling her eyes. "Fine, the future shall tell then. Follow."

  Together, they join the group of gardevoir. "Ah, so the legend is not as grand as its tale tells." The eldest one declares.

  She is one that has seen battle numerous times. Her robe is ripped, and almost gone, leaving only a short skirt instead. Her slender legs and arms are covered in pink scars, and both her eyes are white and clouded. She no longer see.

  "We welcome you, legend, and now we shall test you anew."

  Before Mewtwo can ask for an explanation, a sudden weight crashes upon his mind. The pressure forces him on his knees. With absurd amounts of efforts, he looks up, back at the blind gardevoir. He expects to see her eyes flaring with psychic powers, but instead the elder pokemon points toward a far younger one. This one is unmarred, his skin pristine, his robe fully grown. His red eyes are ablaze with the blue fire of psychic. He is the one pinning Mewtwo down, and he appears far weaker than the his elder.

  "Your goal is simple, overcome us, free yourself from our grasp. Once you can do so, we shall move to strengthening your moves."

  He barely hear the words through the pressure of the young gardevoir power. It feels as if his mind is being clamped down, unable to form coherent thoughts. For long minutes he remains, prostrated before the powerful psychic pokemons. Until something changes. A new sound echoes, directly within his mind. One that should not have happened.

  A level up. How? He has not consumed candies, nor has he killed any monsters.

  Curiosity fills him with a newfound strength, and slowly, he starts pushing back against the pressure. Slowly, the tar that seems to fill is brain appears to melt. More and more his thoughts return, clearer, sharper. The pressure is still there, but slowly, he is able to rise against it. Soon he has alleviated enough of it to be able to open his menu screen. And what he sees shatters his concentration. The pressure returns, and his effort are rendered to naught. Yet, as he becomes once more buried beneath the mental pressure, he cannot help but laugh internally. Each seconds he spends under this pressure is one experience point gained. He does not know why this is happening, or how, but he will not question it.

  For the next hour, he does nothing, only bathing in the pressure. Could he make it his? Could he circumvent it? If so, how?

  Soon the outside world is gone from his mind. There is only him, and the pressure. It feels familiar in some way. Why?

  More time passes, inconsequential time. He can feel the pressure, like pushing against a rubber sheet. He can feel himself, confined within this shell of his own self. but what if, once more, he pushed it.

  Slowly, he pushes back. Once more driven by curiosity. How far can he push? How much can he push? slowly, he expand his awareness of his own self. He reclaims his brain, then his head, his torso, his body. His eyes open, and he rises.

  And the pressure doubles. And once more he is thrust back within his mind. The pressure is now twofold upon him. No, not really, it is more like a second wall has joined the first, making pushing the first harder.

  Slowly, he starts to gather his strength, readying himself to push his awareness once more. The next four hours, he does so, yet makes little progress.

  As suddenly as it appeared, the pressure vanishes, and Mewtwo's eyes shoot open, seeing once more. He shivers as he registers he is drenched in sweat. A sitrus berry is shoved on his face before he can fully recover.

  "Eat, legend. You are closer to your tale than we expected. We though you would be unable to overcome young Alkay in a day." The elder gardevoir points at the younger one, also drenched in sweat and eating his own sitrus berry. He waves at Mewtwo with a smile.

  Mewtwo nods in respect and accepts the berry.

  It is now midday, and he can see in the distance that Astra is returning. Mewtwo is unsure if his companion noticed the marker they each had at the start is still there.