They were worse.

For one, the once prosperous so-called capital of the region was a ghost town, stripped of any personality and covered to the brim in propaganda. Dubno Town...and to top it all off, the region itself was covered in some kind of literal darkness, as if the day would never show. It was miserable.

"Filabub, could you light the way?" Salem would ask, as the small lightbulb Pokémon would float up and start emitting a dim beam of light in front of the trio. From the dark alleyways of the town, a few people's faces could be faintly made out, as they watched the strangers trudge down the empty streets, and they would quietly whisper to one another.

"Who are those people? Do they have clearance?"

"What Pokémon is that?"

"Where did they come from?"

The trio would notice, but as they looked around, they ended up seeing no-one. They'd continue in their tracks, heading towards the large castle looming in the distance. 

As the trio reached the base of the castle, Basil spoke up.

"Alright. What's our plan?"

"Well, mate, I'll be the one confronting King Blake, so I'll be counting on you two to fend off anyone who might try to interfere, and to scout out the building for any prisoners that might need freeing. Alright?"

Basil and Salem would nod in response, understanding the instructions. 

"Salem, I'll leave Venaliz with you." Basil would suggest, turning to look at the young girl, "I'll scout the castle first."

"Alright. I'll make sure he's safe." Salem would nod, any sense of hesitance in her voice now nowhere to be seen. At the mention of this, Venaliz would jump out of his Poke Ball to stand next to Salem.

"No problem, Basil! Leave it to me!"

Basil would smile, before looking back up at the castle.

"Alright. Let's do this quickly."

The castle itself was grand and decked out in all sorts of wealth and riches - fit for a king as terrible as King Blake Latimer. The halls were dimly lit by candlelight, and were ominously quiet. No guards were at the gate, and none were in the halls. It felt almost too empty.

"Guys? This feels like it's a trap…" Salem would speak up, her voice echoing throughout the halls. Trent would look towards her, frowning.

"Let's be quick, then - like Basil said. Speaking of which...Basil, now would be a good time to scout the other rooms, whilst no guards are looking. Us two will be fine."

"Alright." 

A few minutes would pass, and Basil could no longer hear the others as he roamed the halls on his own. He had felt on edge ever since he had entered the capital, and even more so now that he didn't have Venaliz at his side - an action he regretted in hindsight. Suddenly, he would flinch, as he heard a loud crash, and some distant shouting.

"Halt, intruders! We will not allow you to see King Blake without a permit!"

A flash of familiar lightning would crackle through the halls, followed by the cries of several different Pokémon as a fight would break out. Basil's walk broke out into a run, as he tried to distance himself from the fighting. Quickly, he would bring out a Poke Ball…

"Aluna! Help me out here!!"

The Shiny Pleiglide would respond a few seconds later, swooping in to let Basil ride her. The two would cruise through the halls at high speed, gaining enough distance for the sound of the fighting to become almost unintelligible. Basil would dismount and land on his feet, taking a few quick steps to circumvent himself from tripping up. He'd stumble slightly, before standing up straight.

"Thanks, Aluna...you don't mind if I call you that, right?"

The Pleiglide would shake her head, as Basil would smile slightly.

"Stay out for now. I'll need you if any guards come by."

The Pleiglide would float behind after this, following Basil as he poked his head into each room, checking for any signs of life. But every room was abandoned and empty, as if nobody had ever been in that room even before Blake's takeover. 

Eventually, he would walk into a dining room.

The table, strangely, was fully set, seemingly for a party of six, but the room looked like it hadn't been entered in years. The food on the plates was stale, cold, and moldy, and some of the drinks were still half-empty. Aluna would fly over to one of the drinks that seemed to be still full, and cry out for Basil. 

He examined the glass in his hands. It felt light, but still had some weight to it. It was almost filled to the brim with some reddish liquid - some kind of wine. He brought the glass to his lips, but... suddenly, he smelt something strange. Something that almost smelled like...almonds.

He put the drink back down on the table, as he looked suddenly concerned, looking around the room in a different light.

"That drink...it couldn't be…"

He would be interrupted by the sound of his Pleiglide alerting him again, now from the hallway. He'd leave the room in the same state that he'd found it, before coming out of the room to see his Pokémon pointing towards a room at the bottom of the hall.

"What is it, Aluna?" Basil would ask, before hearing a strange noise. It almost sounded like...the crying of a baby?

However, he wasn't prepared for what he would find upon entering the room.

There was a dead body.

The dead body of what looked like a middle-aged woman, with black hair stained with dry blood, a tattered apron covering most of her body that made her appear like a maid. But the worst part of the display was not her, but what was nearby. A small child that slightly resembled her, crying as they were too stained with blood.

This was their mother. Dead, before they could even remember her. Basil stood, stunned, in the doorway, looking upset at the display in front of him. His Pleiglide would slip by as he stood paralysed, noticing some items left on the floor. A strange, sparkling rock, a singular Poke Ball, and a piece of paper, stained with bloody fingerprints. She would pass the Trainer the note.

"What...is this, Aluna?" He'd quietly ask, trying to keep himself together as he took the note from his Pokémon.

The name in the note was cut off, as the rest was unreadable, as if the writer had fallen asleep after writing the 's'. 

"This...he couldn't be…" Basil would look up from the note and back to the child, who had stopped crying and was now staring back at the Trainer.

"Did...does Trent know about this?"