Oh hi Soot do you have any insight into what's up with any of this?

Anyone may change the world around them, if their will is strong enough, Soot croaks. Ember's will is strong, and she believes.

"I just know some tricks," Ember demurs.

Hm. "Anyone may change the world around them if their will is strong enough" resonates with Maggie's understanding of the world, it's just, usually having a strong enough will also involves having pokemon and a good relationship with them. 

Ava has finished her treats, would Ember like some sleepy cuddles?

Ember would love some sleepy cuddles!!!!

But then Soot caws urgently. Something bad is going to happen!

...That is another weird smell, only this time it's bug-type pokemon instead of humans.

The locusts come out of nowhere, crawling out from thin air and swarming and eating everything they can fit into their little mouths. The feast tables are covered with them in seconds.

Then, festivalgoers start shedding their disguises, cackling and revealing weapons or claws that they use to butcher the nearest panicking humanoid.

Then, a hole opens up in the sky, and a vast and horrible creature steps through. Its body is that of a great locust, its arms wield a scythe of razor chitin, its wings are a droning swarm.

Welp, that's a legendary pokemon engaging in apocalyptic behavior. 

Wait, holy shit, those other ?pokemon? are killing people, what the fuck. Like killing them directly, by stabbing. What in the Distortion World???

Suddenly there is a giant silvery dragon, swooping at the legendary and blowing an icy gale in his direction.

"Deskari! Begone from my city!"

What the fuck? You see legendaries fighting, sure--or hear about it, Lucy's never personally been at the site of a catastrophe like this before--but they don't kill each other!

Her first instinct is to run up to the giant bug-legendary and try to talk to it but apparently it does murder. 

She starts calling her pokemon back into their balls. It's likely she's going to need to move fast and trying to do that as a group is both cumbersome and unnecessary. 

One of the spear-wielding murder 'mon observes her doing this. It would like to offer its own input: spear? Murder?

Tess, still outside of her pokeball, swings the leaf on her head, flinging razor-sharp plant matter at the creature. "Chika!"

The spearbearer doesn't appreciate that! It goes to stab –

– and then its eyes flutter closed and it slumps to the ground, snoring audibly.

Ember doesn't look afraid. But she does look sad, terribly sad. The way people look when their friends fight.

"We should leave," she says quietly. "I can't protect them from each other... they're all soldiers."

"Is this what soldiers do? Kill people?"

"They think they have to. To protect themselves, and to protect the people they love. They never understand that they could just stop."

"How do you just not notice that if you don't kill people, people don't die?"

"But they do."

Deskari's scythe comes down.

The earth opens beneath their feet.

Lucy shrieks and grabs for Ember--she's so young, if Lucy can cushion her fall--

They fall for a very long time, and land in a dark place.

Miraculously, while they hit the ground with some force, neither of them is significantly hurt. A few bruises, nothing more.

"...Well, that could have been worse..."

"It could!" Ember says. "We're not dead. I'm not even really hurt, are you?"