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"Er... what Sub said. After I found Tristen, he asked me to keep a watch on the Star member and Pokemon that were knocked out and left to join the others outside. After a while, the energy just... vanished before I stopped sensing him nearby at all. That must've been when Sub sent him back," Cera explained, grateful for the hole in what she knew being sorted out.

When she heard Reno, she'd be quick to come closeby. "Take me back, I need to know more of what's going on with Team Star and I'll just be in the way if I go back to HQ now."

"At this point... I suppose the same's in order. Give Doc the time he needs to deal with Tristen and Aden. I'll do what I can back at the Academy for now," Sol remarked. "Sub, if it's not much trouble, I'll join you in those talks soon, once things are sorted otherwise."

---

Once the two were back at the Academy, Cera would follow Reno pretty closely the whole time, finding herself back in the Nurse's offiice before long. Realizing there were far more than just Team Star seemingly affected by the mushrooms made her feel a pit in her stomach, hardly knowing anything offhand for what was being talked about. It was similar for Aile's remarks about the fairy circle; she'd reason Aden must know more to them if he'd traveled through one in the first place, but asking him wasn't going to happen any time soon.

Sol had likewise followed Reno and the others into the office himself, and though lacked any answers for Aile too, he'd fare better on the more general knowledge. "What Tsuki said, if you're narrowing it to Paldean options. As for the Nincada... Aile, you've still got that on you, right? I remember you sending a message about it when we were dealing with the titan Klawf."

"They... might?" Cera finally remarked, looking towards Aile. "I don't know anything about fairy circles, let alone tochu...kaso... the weird mushrooms on Paras."

Aile shrunk slightly when the attention was put on her, though she did nod slightly. "I... Yeah, I still have it. I've only brought it out once we were back in the academy, though, and only to feed it a leaf from the Herba Mystica we found. I wasn't planning on bringing it out during this, I promise!" Aile could feel her hands shaking- well, her one flesh and blood hand, at least, so she would instead shove both of her hands into her pockets, trying to bring her nerves back down. She probably wasn't going to be ostracized because she had it with her, logically. But, she wasn't in a completely normal state of mind.

"Two channelers possibly, excelente." Exasperation was evident in Sol's words, painted heavily by the stress of what happened only moments prior. "We can lead you to the basement where we found the circle, though I feel Aile would be more effective in any unearthing... that said, if I'm remembering certain details from your message about that Nincada, having them checked out won't hurt."

As soon as Cera started hearing words about a Shadow Pokemon being sent out, she'd get a Vivid Scent put into the Immunizer of her Snag Machine and let it go to work. "If you're sending that out, let me do this first. The last thing we need is the Shadow Virus spreading because of us. That scent should last long enough for our needs."

"Good thinking, I was about to add about having an Immunizer among us first. Or at least recalling as many Pokemon as possible to limit the spread. You should be safe to send them out now, Aile."

At this point, it was taking everything Aile had to not just break down in a panic attack. First, she tripped into the worst trap ever, one that she could not have foreseen pretty much ever, and wound up becoming a toy for the Ziton to manipulate, stabbing Aden multiple times in the process. Now, it might be that even by stepping foot into Paldea may have started up this whole process, or at least deciding to join the group going after the Herba Mysticas. She was just hitting it out of the park, wasn’t she? Great performance Aile, ten out of ten. That is, at least, if they were talking about bringing misfortune to a group of people. Arceus, what else was she going to trip into and cause?

Aile turned to look at Tatooine, who nodded at her. With a long sigh, she’d take her right hand out and grab the Nincada’s Pokéball. “I-It can be an active little thing, just so you know.” Another look was given to Tati, who moved in behind her as she entered the room, standing in front of the doorway now. And with a hand that was shaking like she was in an Earthquake, she’d press the button, now anticipating something else bad to happen because of this. “Come on out, you harbinger of chaos,” she muttered, eyes narrowing.

Wren watched as Arturo and his partner ensnared the Shadow Nincada Aile had released, instantly trying to attack. “That reminds me a bit of a technique Odd employs… Is that Pokemon a Ghost-type, by any chance?” He asked Arturo, recognizing its ability being similar to Odd’s Guardian Halo. He was wary of the Nincada as it thrashed about, but was more impressed by Arturo and his Pokemon’s ability to resist its attacks, listening to the man’s explanation of what he wanted. “I have a feeling I know what you’re talking about. I got a strange feeling in my fingers when I tried to touch that mushroom a moment ago, right before they started glowing. Like touching a soft fabric, almost?” He replied, trying to find the words to describe what he felt.

As Nincada thrashed, he looked down to Destro and gave the Iluminating Pokemon a smile. “I’m sure he will. We haven’t done much together yet but I’m sure we’ll be excellent partners.” Destro nodded and gave a somewhat excited shake, releasing a cloud of spores once again. These ones were different than the last, however, moving toward Nincada but seemingly not carrying any kind of effects of their own. As they settled over the Pokemon, Wren reached toward it, finding that feeling coming back that he’d felt before. It did feel like a soft fabric waiting for him to lay his hands on it. His fingers began to shimmer as he reached for the fabric and as he took hold, pulling his hand away, several thin threads would pull away from Nincada.

“Uh… I think… this is it.” Wren muttered, reaching out with his other hand and beginning to pull the threads hand over fist. “I think I know a faster way to do this…” Grabbing a Nest Ball from his belt, he released a Pokemon that hadn’t been seen since Kartana had unintentionally whisked several of the Snagems through Ultra Space. “Ginseng, hold this and use Gyro Ball in place.” He directed the Hisuian Voltorb, handing them the end of the bundle of threads. Ginseng nodded with their full body and took the bundle of threads in their mouth before beginning to spin in place, picking up speed as they went. Wren’s fingers continued to shimmer as he held the threads, pulling with one hand and carefully spinning the bundle as it was drawn toward Ginseng. Arturo would be able to tell what he was doing immediately, most likely, spinning the mycelium into a strange thread, unlike any other. It would take several long moments to complete the task but by the time it was done, Wren had managed to extract all of the mycelium and foreign spores that had infested the Bug-type and had enough thread to make a small bobbin out of it. “That… was interesting.” He said to himself, wiping a bit of sweat from his brow with the back of his hand as he pet Ginseng’s head with the other. “Great job. Both of you.” He praised his Pokemon.

It took him a moment to rest before he was ready to try again. “I’m pretty sure I can do that to everyone that’s affected, it just might take some time.” He asserted, walking to the first of the students and seeing how he reacted to them. Reaching toward the mushroom sprouting from them, he’d find his fingers shimmering just as they had before. “Destro… Try using those spores again.” He instructed the Shiinotic. The mushroom Pokemon waddled over to the bedside and gave a violent shake, releasing a cloud of spores just as he had before. As the spores settled over the student, Wren found the feeling of soft fabric under his touch once again. He could remove the spores but only after Destro applied a coating of his own, it seemed. Was that a feature of his channeling or just a strange bug in the channeling of whoever had done this in the first place? It didn’t matter, really, he realized as he closed his fingers and pulled, the infested student groaning quietly as Wren pulled the spores within them into the same silvery threads as he had with Nincada. “Ginseng, you ready to use Gyro Ball again?” He asked the Voltorb at his feet. “Volt!” Ginseng replied, quickly hopping up and grabbing the bundle of threads in Wren’s hands, beginning to whirl around in place with Gyro Ball the moment they hit the ground once again. As Ginseng spun, the threads gathered around them and Wren continued to twist the bundle between his fingers. With every second that passed, the infested student’s groaning lessened.

It would take a while but with each person he worked on, he would show improving skill and speed at the process, learning as he went how to focus more energy into refining the thread and how to use his energy to pull more of the spores at once, but each and every one had to begin with a cloud of spores from Destro. By the time he had reached the last of the infested several long and tedious hours later, he was taking around a minute for each person and had collected several large spools worth of thread. It had taken nearly 20 minutes for the first person so this was a massive improvement in a short amount of time. “I think that’s everyone?” He questioned as he looked over the nurse’s room, the various students and faculty beginning to stir after his efforts at extracting the fungal infection. He just hoped he’d gotten it all. This was a very new experience for him and that fabric-like feeling under his fingers was what told him there was something there that he could grab. It wasn’t like a direct sensing of the individual particles he was sure a more skilled channeler could possibly have but, perhaps, it was enough to save these people from whatever had happened.

Monique had hardly expected to become a spectator in the middle of the most unlikely of venues to a Pokémon encounter, especially with a Shadow Pokémon. But that's what happened as she tucked the prescription for iron supplements—looks like a visit to Doc Owl, she thought—into her bra.

It was a fascinating experience and one that was at times fur-raising, given the encounters she had had with Shadows (a certain Starmie came back to mind). Though a recent hybrid, she was not versed in what made Channelers tick, and watching them work was as educational as any class at Uva-Naranja.

Monique dedicated herself to helping the newly de-mushroomed Trainers wake up and get oriented while Wren and Arturo brought around the traveling Nincada-and-whatever that other Pokémon was show. Will we ever get Paldean Pokémon in the Pokédex? she thought to herself. Seeing what it took to remove the fungus, she felt lucky not to have been infected herself. That allergy, though, was going to take some careful managing on her part.

Sol and Cera barely jumped, keeping themselves ready as Aile's Nincada tried to attack, both of them easing up once Arturo's Brambleghast managed to confine them. And, thanks to the Immunizer, there was no fear of the virus spreading for now.

"I'm obviously not," Sol replied to Tsuki after his question. "A hybrid can't be, at least not in the same way as proper channelers. Even wielding an artifact's dangerous for us, since in lieu of the link between channeler and Pokemon, the artifact will draw from the hybrid using it. It's an easy, fast way to deplete your very life force if one isn't very careful, even with the sort of power it can grant." As he spoke, it might be noticed that his eyes shifted to his left, his sword sheathed since he hadn't had the chance to put it away.

"What he said... in that I'm not one either. I don't think a Pokemon can even channel with another Pokemon." Cera added, watching as Wren channeled with his Shiinotic, curious if what Arturo suggested would work.