Morning After Defeat
The sun rose over
Nowhere City.
For the first time in a long while,
Elior woke up without excitement.
Without confidence.
Without a plan.
His defeat against Morrigan replayed endlessly in his mind.
Lunashade's hesitation.
Soulmourne's overwhelming power.
The crushing announcement of defeat.
Outside the Pokémon Center, the city was already awake.
But Elior remained silent.
As Elior sat alone near the city's old fountain, someone approached.
A familiar figure.
Noctra
Elior immediately stood.
"...Noctra?"
The former Team Umber strategist looked exhausted.
Her cloak was torn.
Her eyes showed signs of countless sleepless nights.
Without saying a word, Noctra handed him a crystal drive.
Elior frowned.
"...What's this?"
For several moments, Noctra remained silent.
Then she spoke.
"...Umbrael wanted you to have it."
Elior froze.
"...Umbrael?"
Noctra lowered her gaze.
"...After the battle with Abyssion..."
"...he survived."
"...Barely."
Elior's eyes widened.
"...Where is he now?"
Noctra hesitated.
"...I don't know."
"...But before I lost contact with him, he told me one thing."
She looked directly at Elior.
"When the revolution begins..."
"Give this to him."
Later that evening.
Inside his room.
Elior activated the crystal drive.
Static filled the screen.
Then—
Umbrael appeared.
His face was tired.
His voice weak.
Yet his eyes seemed calmer than ever before.
"If you're seeing this..."
"Then Zeff has already moved."
Elior listened carefully.
"You think Team Umber was dangerous."
"You were right."
"But Zeff is different."
"He doesn't want power."
"He wants truth."
The screen flickered.
Ancient diagrams appeared.
Symbols from forgotten ruins.
Drawings of Ignis and Vernix.
Then—
A third figure appeared.
Its image was damaged.
Incomplete.
Hidden.
"...What is that?"
Umbrael's recording continued.
"Long before Fate."
"Long before Faith."
"There was another name."
The screen distorted suddenly.
The image vanished.
ERROR.
The recording abruptly stopped.
"...What?!"
Elior tried restarting it.
Nothing happened.
The remaining data had been corrupted.
Only fragments remained.
Elsewhere
Far away.
Inside a hidden facility.
Zeff stood before hundreds of gathered followers.
Behind him floated the stolen crystal tablet from the archives.
The room trembled with ancient energy.
Everyone waited.
Everyone listened.
"History is written by those who survive."
"And history is protected by those who fear the truth."
The crowd remained silent.
"For centuries they taught us only two names."
Images of Ignis and Vernix appeared behind him.
Zeff raised the crystal tablet.
Ancient light flooded the chamber.
His followers watched in awe.
Then Zeff smiled.
Not a smile of madness.
A smile of certainty.
The crystal tablet glowed.
An ancient symbol appeared above it.
A symbol never recorded in modern history.
Zeff stared at it and whispered:
"Soon..."
"The forgotten name will return."
And for the first time—
The symbol resembled the silhouette of something far older than Fate and Faith.
And the journey continues....