Oldale town:
'I may have made a severe lapse in my judgement...' Noah thought bitterly as he tuned out the lively chatter around him.
Maintaining a lot of pokemon was hard, incredibly so.
And unfortunately, he had to release one.
A certainly bat/scorpion hybrid.
'Well, it isn't free...more like under new management.' He had decided to give to professor Birch and call it a day.
It was the same situation like lapras.
Gliscor wanted to leave and Noah didn't dare to stop it.
'At this rate I'll release all of my pokemon within a couple of months.' He couldn't help chuckle at the thought as he stared at the duo of Ash and May sitting across the table.
To his left sat a man named Alden who claimed to be an archeologist and he blabbering about the ruins near the oldale town.
Noah particularly didn't care about it, it wasn't in the games if his memory could be trusted.
But how can he trust a stranger's memories? His curiosity also got the better of him.
He didn't want to go into the ruins though, he had requested Alden to share the findings with him if possible.
The man happily agreed too.
Just as the chatter continued on Noah abruptly stood up from his spot and said with a faint smile, "I have something important to do, I'll be leaving."
And without giving the others a chance to say goodbye he left.
An awkward silence descended upon the table as the trio stared into the retreating figure of Noah.
"He didn't even touch the food..." Although Ash said that with a solemn tone he didn't waste the chance to snatch away the untouched steak on Noah's plate.
May just ignored what she saw.
Alden immediately shifted the attention back to the ruins as words kept pouring out through his mouth at record breaking speed.
________________________________________
Under the glow of the streetlights Noah walked with chandelure by his side, he had no particular destination in mind as he was in deep thoughts.
'I have a lot of things to do if I want to exterminate a whole cult.' He was alone and he knew he couldn't trust anyone blindly anymore.
The cult has existed for centuries, he was sure they had spies in every corners of the world. He also knew that he couldn't fight them alone.
He needed trustable comrades.
Strong and trustable comrades.
But who?
He had no answer for that but he hoped that he would find one soon.
'Possession, genocide, mind control, human sacrifices, inhumane experiments...' The list just goes on.
Anyways.
He had a clear goal in mind and to achieve that goal he only had one thing to do, to never despair.
Why? Well, it was just a theory but the fact that everything that had happened to him till now seemed to be done to destroy his mind.
It seems to be the condition needed to revive the cult leader, the original reincarnator.
'I am also assuming that the souls are acting like a shield, protecting me from his corruption.' He was extremely grateful for that and he knew what he had to do as compensation.
He heaved a sigh as he turned the corner towards the hotel he was staying at as chandelure quietly followed him behind.
'I just hope I don't get involved with any cultist shit today...' He thought with a wry smile as he walked into the reception room.
________________________________________
"I just had to jinx myself, didn't I?" Noah chuckled as he stared at the huge burly man infront who instead was staring back at him with a glare that could pierce through concrete.
Noah was currently in his room, with chains of shadows binding him into place as the man in the signature cultist robes started to speak.
"You're the one who killed her, weren't you?"
He asked, his voice almost cracked halfway but the pressure was real and it was suffocating.
"What if I was?" Noah asked back with a leisurely smile on his face as the binds around him started to tighten, right enough to cause discomfort but not harm.
Why? Well, one of the reason being that he was a priceless experiment of theirs and the other being...
A ring of purple wispy flame surrounded the man's neck as a certain murderous chandelier was standing behind him.
The moment Noah entered the room he was binded by these shadowy chains but his pokemon was by his side.
Before the man could continue on with his yapping, Noah asked a question in return:"Tell me, what's your opinion of the leader?Do you see him as a magnificent leader? A Messiah? The one who will lead you towards the light?"
Before the man could he answer Noah spoke again, "Let me tell you something, he was nothing but a pathetic little slave to whatever God you guys are worshipping."
"You are speaking nothing but blasphe-!!" Before the man could finish his words the ring around him had tightened and cleanly cut his head off.
His body erupted in purple flames.
His skin and flesh melted right off under the immense heat and his blood evaporated in to the air as Noah watched with a deadpan gaze.
"Although I dislike killing humans you guys don't register as humans in my eyes..." He sighed as he closed his eyes while the binds around him had dissolved into shadowy wisps.
It wasn't a pokemon who had summoned the chains, it was the man.
It wasn't surprising because Noah knew that the cult was capable of something like that.
"You're more like subhuman filth." He said as the flames started to disintegrate the man's skeletal remains and soon only a charred carpet and black ashes remained.
'I have to pay for the carpet, don't I?' Noah stood up from the bed as he walked over to his bag and released all his remaining pokemons, atleast the small ones.
He didn't release them until now, he didn't want them to see a man burning to death even though it was well-deserved.
And soon enough, their everyday nightly routines continued.
Chandelure kept on spinning in the corner as flaaffy and lugia snuggled closer to him.
Combusken slept on a chair with cushions although the bed was more comfortable.
Noah laid on the bed as he stared at the ceiling as the memories of the man burning to death replayed over and over in his head.
For some twisted reason it gave him some sort of satisfaction.
And thus, Noah fell asleep.
He fell asleep normally today for some strange reasons.