I Will Touch the Skies - A Pokemon Fanfiction (OC)

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 255

Pauline arrived with a Primeape.

The fighting type walked so peacefully. His eyes were closed, his breaths slow and he practically glided across the Pokemon Center's orange-beige glossy floor without a sound. Pauline wrapped me, then Cecilia into a hug. Emilia followed close behind, her brown hair tied into a ponytail. Denzel came into view with his Swablu sitting on his head, still angry at everything like always. My best friend looked worried, which ended up worrying me. If he was showing his worry, then the sky might as well have been falling. We hugged him too, and the others also arrived at that moment. All of our friends were here— save for Lauren, who was arriving in another two days. The greetings felt long, especially when a meeting hung over all of our heads.

"He evolved when he was meditating or something, I don't really understand it," Pauline told us as she shrugged, staring down at the cross-legged Primeape. "Vigoroth had annoyed him really badly that afternoon, so I think that had something to do with it?"

"They still have that going on?" I asked.

"Oh yeah," she snorted. "Vigoroth will try to get him angry in their spars, but Primeape never rises to that anger. He's making good progress—" she stopped when the fighting type side-eyed her. "Okay, you're making great progress toward reaching enlightenment, or whatever. Good job."

A calm, zen feeling was the only thing radiating out of Primeape. How stable he was surprised me. Emotions were like colored waves, never staying at the same level for long. They ebbed and flowed, but Primeape's was a line, even when Pauline annoyed him. A far-cry from what I had learned to expect from his species. They were depicted as so angry they couldn't think in the media I consumed as a kid. He was the only evolution our friends had, though, but not the only one that had made progress.

"I'd feel confident using Swablu against Wake," Denzel said, continuing a conversation with Chase I hadn't been following. "Craig taught me a lot of fundamentals, which means that training up a Pokemon from scratch is quicker. Granted, I wouldn't call her seven-badge level yet, but she's getting there! That Cloud Nine ability is going to do wonders against Rain Dance."

"So when's she evolving, then?" Chase asked with crossed arms.

"I don't know? Maybe in a few weeks," Denzel hesitantly said. Swablu preened her feathers and puffed up her chest, not to impress anyone here, but to make herself feel good.

"How's Sylvi?" I cut in.

"Emotions wise? Just like I told you on the phone. Battling-wise? He's been doing great— we're working on Moonblast and a few new glamour tricks. By the way, Chase, you caught a fucking Wimpod? I never would have thought…"

I left them to their conversation and slipped back in with Pauline. Emi was talking to Mira, Louis, and Justin, but she was doing great. Every time I saw her, it was like she was more confident, and somehow she ended up being the least worried about these poachers.

"You better not leave us in the dark," Pauline warned Cecilia. "It's just like you and her," she turned toward me, "to try to do everything on your own while we play here like children."

My girlfriend had been entirely too content to avoid the topic, but that was impossible when she was being confronted with it directly. "We'll talk about it tomorrow, Pauline. Just settle into Pastoria for now, okay?"

The redhead nodded, then smirked after a pause when she looked at me. "Did you know she posted, like, a thousand different pictures of your sleeping face yesterday?"

Cecilia shot Pauline a look of what could only be described as pure betrayal. I had taken a one hour nap or so before leaving, having fallen asleep to the sound of the waves.

I gasped. "To the group chat?"

"No! Just to her," she sighed.

"You should have seen her texts," Pauline laughed. "Anyway— where's… ah, there's Justin! Justin! Stop being so emo and battle me!"

The pale teen turned toward her and away from Emi. "I think you should catch your sixth Pokemon as fast as possible. And we wouldn't want your team to be out of commission when you have to train for Wake."

"But Grace battled Barry!"

Justin tilted his head. "Grace has six badges and you have five. She can afford to."

"Blegh. You're no fun."

"He's right, you know," Maeve muttered. "Every day counts for us."

They'd sign up for Wake earlier than we would, and they'd leave earlier too. If I remembered correctly, the plan was for Denzel to go quicker than he'd like so Pauline could carry him to Canalave on Braviary. She would also bring Louis with her since he didn't have a flier while Maeve and Justin had their own mounts. Essentially, Denzel would leave and fight Wake earlier than the rest of us with six badges. I wasn't planning on going last, either. I wanted to give some distance between myself and civilization for Sweetheart to evolve so there were no casualties. Even if I could just recall her in her Pokeball if things got too dicey, accidents were possible. I had done my fair share of research on Tyranitar while planning to contain her, and they had among the highest defenses of any Pokemon.

That was not an exaggeration.

And their mega evolution was even better, although that was never happening this year. Only a few mega Tyranitar had appeared in history and the tales weren't pretty. Apparently, getting them to listen to anything you said was impossible, and when they had the power to literally reshape the landscape, that was a pretty big problem.

The reunion led to one of Emilia's famous parties, where we realized that Justin actually kind of turned back to normal when he was drunk? He had drank of his own volition, despite complaining about how unhealthy it was. The sight of it alone made Pauline tear up, even though she tried her best to hide it. I almost thought she was going to ask him to be permanently drunk, but she didn't. Instead, she just let Mira shirk the info over to her Alakazam, who would chew on it for a day or two and come back with one of his many theories. Hopefully he'd actually figure something out soon. He had declared it his 'life's work', since no other doctor or scientist had solved it before. The only 'cure' known was to wait for years for the energy to disperse, and again, even then he'd still be affected.

If someone could create a breakthrough, I believed it would be him.

When the party came to a close, neither me, Denzel, Cece, Mira, nor Chase had drunk any alcohol, which was normal for me and Chase, but highly unusual for the other three. All of our Pokemon were recalled. I had kept my team up to speed with the poaching situation, but tonight was when we actually formulated a plan on how to tackle this. No one would come out of this room until we did so.

Denzel audibly swallowed as Mira turned the music down. He pulled out a folded map from his bag—

"Woah. When'd you buy that?" Mira asked. "Is that—"

"Route 212 in its entirety," Denzel said, unfolding the map. "And I bought it on the way to the Pokemon Center." He stopped to tape the map on Cecilia's wall. "It was pretty cheap since maps have gone out of style since phones came into prominence. You get a real bang for your buck, and you all basically warned me like a bomb was about to go off at any moment. I thought it was good to be prepared."

It was an impressive map. Route 212 was drawn in excessive detail, from the Marsh to Pastoria's west, with all of its bogs and lakes, to the river that run from Mount Coronet, to Solaceon to cutting the route in two before emptying into the ocean. Then eventually, the route swung north toward Hearthome as a relatively flat downslope. The most unique thing about this section of the route was that a rich family lived in a mansion there called the 'Pokemon Mansion', which really showed how high their ego was. Apparently they had guards around the clock there to protect their home from the wild Pokemon, since it had only recently been built. The family whose name eluded me had come there from Hearthome to 'get away from it all'. I remembered it had been a pretty big controversy when Hearthome's government had leased them the rights to the land. Coming back to the map, it also had a list of common Pokemon found on all areas of the route, but that wasn't what we were interested in.

Denzel tapped on the swamp. "This is where almost every trainer has had their Pokemon stolen," he declared. I was content to let him speak. It reminded me of when he'd give us a rundown on the routes when we traveled as a large group, only in a much worse context. "So you'd think that their base was nearby, but Grace spoke to her… ACE Trainer and was told that they hadn't found anything on all of route 212, is that correct?"

"Yes. They swept the route with fliers in the last few weeks, but found nothing," I nodded.

Chase sighed. "I thought they only meant the swamp."

"No, they meant the entire route, including the non-swampy parts," I reiterated. "And they found nothing."

Mira raised a finger. "So, could they be Teleporting on another route? Off-route, maybe? That bodes badly for us," she said, glancing at my ankle. "If the League's scouts can't find a base, it'll be difficult for us to find one."

"What about your Trace trick?" Chase asked.

Denzel frowned. "Trace trick? Gardevoir's ability?"

"It's how I managed to track Abel. Gardevoir spent so much time in my head from the day I caught her that she's far more attuned to the ability than others— that and I got lucky. She could also sense the Zoroark, so that's a plus. The problem is, I don't think he'd be sending her out if he hadn't found a way to fix that. It was too big of a hole not to patch."

Cecilia glanced at me, and I gripped the edge of my desk. Mira and Chase nodded. It was time, then. "Denzel," I said, a little quieter than expected. "Uh, before I tell you this, I need you to know that if you want to back out, you still can. We are technically breaking the law by telling you this— and even the League doesn't know the extent of how far this goes."

"Uh…" he trailed off. "I mean I would rather not, but if you think this is important."

"No, I need you to agree. I know it's confusing, but this is a big deal. You'd have to carry this to your grave."

My best friend frowned, and I could tell he was considering his options.

"Okay. I agree. You can say whatever you want to say," he agreed, clenching a fist.

Mira beamed. "Perfect! Okay, so long story short, your best friend Grace not only has the ability to understand what Pokemon say freakishly fast, but she can also feel when something is a Pokemon in a way I'm pretty sure could bypass whatever the hell Abel came up with."

Denzel's mouth gaped. "Huh?"

"You know that lake next to your hometown and the one you were at next to Snowpoint? There's a third one north of the Hotel Grand Lake. Three Legendary Pokemon hibernate there— well, according to Cece it's not hibernation, but dormancy. They can still influence the world in subtle ways, including giving a bunch of children powers, for some reason, but we also aren't chosen somehow—"

"Hold on. Hold on," Denzel stammered with his hands up. "Is this a joke? You're fucking with me."

"No, Williams. This is unfortunately true, and we can prove it," Chase shrugged.

"I thought you just had, like, a connection to Pokemon or something," Denzel said, his voice aghast. He was pale like he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You said you can prove it— prove it how?"

"Cecilia and I, we can force people into doing things with our Voice," he said. "She never uses hers, though. I can run a quick test on you if you want. We were saving my one daily use for this."

"Supposedly Mira and Grace will get something out of visiting their lakes just like we did," Cecilia added. "But the point is, we have a way of telling Zoroark apart from other humans. Abel is strong, but she's apparently only carrying Hypno with her and that isn't one of his fighters. The five of us could take them— and if the ACE Trainers come in like you said," she turned toward me, "then it's not even a question. And if she's carrying more Pokemon that day, we can always pretend we didn't notice."

Mira nodded. "See, Abel is still operating from the point of view that we're just a bunch of normal children. He lacks information. And actually, Cece, we wouldn't even need for it to be a fight—"

Denzel yelled, "Slow down! Slow the hell down," he exhaled. "I trust you guys, but… test it on me. Make me, uh, make me jump a couple of times."

"Oh, that's a classic," Mira giggled.

Chase placed a fist in front of his mouth and cleared his throat. "Okay. Jump five times."

Chase took a deep, tired breath as soon as the words left his mouth. Denzel, of course, instantly began jumping up and down. Cecilia stared with the same displeased look, though she had gotten used to it at this point.

"Why five times?" Mira asked.

"He said a couple of times."

"So three," she said.

"Five is fine—"

"Holy fuck," Denzel hissed, his eyes bulging. He gasped for air, like he was drowning and I took a hesitant step toward him. He held out his hand, motioning at us to stay back. "What the fuck? This is actually real?"

"Yeah," I nodded. "I'm sorry you were in the dark for so long, but we thought it was better you knew if you're going to help with this. Even the League doesn't know about the Voice stuff because we don't exactly trust them."

"You don't trust the League?" He asked in a confused tone.

"They've been fucking us with their lies and keeping us in the dark," Chase said, leaning against the wall to catch his breath. Even after practicing with Azelf's gift for so many weeks, he still wasn't capable of using the power more than once a day without passing out— and he never would be. At least he could use it without nearly collapsing now.

"Just let me sit down for a second," Denzel dryly said, stumbling onto the bed. "You said you were— chosen."

"Not chosen," Cecilia said. "Azelf liked to reiterate that."

"Azelf? I think I remember reading that name in a book or something," Denzel muttered. "Uh, do you know why this happened? I assume it's related to Galactic, like, everything is connected."

"It's another heavy topic," Mira warned. "Very heavy. Knowing would not help and would only serve to hurt you. I'm talking world-altering consequences." Her lips flattened, and she took a deep breath. "But if you really want to know, then—"

"You know," he interrupted. "So I want to know."

We told him the world was maybe going to end.

—

It took an hour for Denzel to have the energy to get up from the bed. He hadn't cried or panicked. Mostly, he had laid his back against the bed and stared at the ceiling the entire time. It had been apathy. Him wondering if anything he'd done in the last half a year and anything he'd do in the future even mattered. It took many attempts to convince him to talk again, mostly by saying that the League had things under control, from what we knew. We didn't trust the League, but we knew they didn't mess around, even if I unfortunately had learned that even their trainers weren't flawless. Nobody was.

But the goal was cheering him up. Denzel was an optimistic person. It was just in his nature to think that things were going to work out somehow. Be it through powering through or finally having processed everything, he sat up on the bed.

"Can— can I have some water?" He asked. He rubbed his chapped lips together and erratically blinked. Cecilia silently handed him the bottle, and he downed it in one go, squeezing the entire plastic bottle down before standing up and shaking his arms. "I think I'm okay. I have to be okay."

"Come on Williams," Chase gave him a friendly pat on the arm and brought him up on his feet. "You're strong."

I hugged him gently. "I know it's heavy. I'm sorry."

My best friend wrapped his arms around me. "You were carrying this this entire time? How?"

"By not thinking about it," I nervously chuckled. "But now, you know everything."

And that was an immense weight off my chest. Since Solaceon, I'd been hiding things from him. Denzel had been with me from the start, through thick and thin. He deserved to know, and even though it was hard to bear, I knew part of him was relieved.

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm okay," he exhaled. "Do me a favor, don't tell Emilia or Pauline about this. In fact, don't involve anyone else. I'm not even going to tell my Pokemon this."

"We weren't planning on involving them," Chase said. "I wanted to bring Lauren in, though."

"That Braviary could be a nice scout, and her Gothitelle can see a little into Pauline's future, so…" Mira shrugged. When Chase turned to glare at her, she frowned. "What? I'm just saying!"

"What if I told you to involve Maeve in this?" Denzel asked. "You'd say no."

"I would say no," she agreed.

"Pauline literally asked me to involve her when she arrived in the lobby," Cecilia sighed.

Mira raised an eyebrow. "What'd you say?"

"That we would talk about it tomorrow."

"Do not," Denzel forced out. "This is my red line."

"I agree," Chase shrugged.

"I… have to agree," I spoke up. "Denzel is already going to have to stick with one of us at all times to be covered by the ACE Trainers. We don't want to spread them too thin. Trust me when I say this, they would let you die to save us instead."

"Okay, we have a majority," Mira said. "Sorry, Cece. I know Pauline's gonna get pissed at you."

"Not just at me. At all of you," Cecilia shrugged.

Denzel brought his hands together and leaned against them. "So what's the plan?"

Mira smiled. "Nothing for now. We need to wait until Cecilia finishes getting her license so she can fly on Golurk. You said you already ordered the custom saddle?" She asked.

"As soon as I finished my written exam," my girlfriend nodded. "It's already finished, waiting for me in Sunyshore. I'll pay a fee to have it Teleported… unless Alakazam can go get it for me?"

"I'll send him," Mira said. "He's been wanting to see Erin anyway. It'll take a few hours, though. So many jumps will tire him out."

"Send him tomorrow," I said.

"Gotcha, boss!" Mira yelled with a sheepish grin. "Continuing the plan, when Cecilia can fly, we send her, Chase and Grace flying over the marsh, just to see if the Rangers missed anything. Talonflame could do it stupidly fast, so I'd say we should send our other Pokemon independently, but I doubt any of us want to risk that. The last thing we want is for them to be captured by poachers."

There were nods all around.

"What do I do?" Denzel asked.

"You're a social Butterfree, Denzel. Keep the social cohesion going and make sure our other friends don't do anything stupid like we're doing," Mira said. "Pauline seems like the girl to say, 'Hey, they're doing this but don't want us to help, so I'm going to help in secret!'"

"Other than that?" Denzel added, leaning forward.

"Well, you can't fly since you don't have a license, but you could go on Princess or Lehmhart when Cecilia gets her license. Two pairs of eyes is better than one," Mira said. "But the real goal, the more tangible option is to find one of Abel's Pokemon. He's sending them out on their own. Ditto would be ideal, but that Pokemon has the mind of a child, I doubt he's going anywhere. Then, we have that Pokemon spill the beans through coercion."

"Coercion?" Cecilia asked.

"Yeah." Mira's smile stretched to her ears. "That's what I meant when I said we don't even have to fight. You call Chase, and we use The Voice."

"And you don't think the League will find that weird?" I asked.

"Come on, we can just say we ripped it out of their heads with our Psychics and they got lucky enough to get out of it unscathed. Since it wouldn't have been a fight, all they'd be seeing is us talking with a stranger."

I nodded.

It wasn't much, but it was a plan.

—

It was Friday. Alakazam had gone to pick up Cecilia's saddle, and Denzel was probably arguing with Pauline and the others. Those were worries for later.

A grin plastered itself on my face when I saw the numbers on my Trainer ID go up in front of my eyes. The Poketch Company had finally paid me for the month and an extra 350,000 had just been added to my account. I'd already been waiting in the Poke Mart for thirty minutes and called Melody three times to confirm that I was getting my paycheck today because of how excited I'd been. I already had a list of moves on my mind that all totaled around 400k in total, so I'd have to spend a little extra, but that was fine. I swept through the store, grabbing disk after disk and paid for all of the moves in bulk. Seeing the money go down after a month's worth of work always hurt more than it should have— after all, what good was money if I didn't spend it?

You could have invested it, I heard an imaginary Emilia say and spontaneously rolled my eyes. First, I needed to finish learning about politics before ever delving into the stock market.

That statement was only semi-ironic. I knew trainers like Craig actually invested a lot of their earnings.

But enough about money! I'd spent a whole lot today, and it was time to give everyone their moves. I had Princess fly me close to 'our' spot at the park and released the family. They already knew about the fact that they were all learning moves today, and it was impossible for them not to be excited. TMs were honestly the best, both for trainers and Pokemon. I knew they'd been created by Silph Co. during the war to train Pokemon quicker, but they had also been independently created in Unova by the Ope… Opelucid Group, I remembered from Cecilia's rants. What a weird name for a city. The two companies still fought about who had created the concept first, but one thing was for sure, there had been a whole lot of spying during the war and someone had stolen the technology from the other.

I smugly presented the six disks, fanning their casings out with my hands. One thing the battle with Barry had taught me was that while coverage moves would never be as good as your bread and butter unless you were really good, it was still a necessity to have them. I'd bought today's moves with that mentality in mind, save for Sunshine's TM. I also wanted to limit myself to moves they wouldn't be able to learn naturally without a lot of struggle. I placed every disk inside of my Pokedex and licked the back of my teeth as the TMs loaded into the device. I'd throw the disks inside one of those TM recycling bins later.

"Sunshine, you're going first," I said. When Sweetheart protested, I continued. "Come on, be patient. You'll be next!"

That satisfied her, and she rumbled inside of her cocoon. I recalled the dragon and placed the Pokeball close to my Dex and selected the 'Flame Charge' move.

Sunshine already had plenty of coverage moves, so I figured a boost in speed would help, even after we figured out how to have him fly. With his endurance, he'd basically be able to have Flame Charge activated at all times and gradually speed up. Since it was a fire type move, he'd take to it pretty fast too. I released Sunshine, and something in his eyes had changed. It must have been weird to have that extra knowledge jammed into your brain in seconds.

As promised, Sweetheart was next. For her, I had picked up Aerial Ace. Why? Because Barry's use of the move had given me a new appreciation for it. Not only would she be able to combine it with her jets, but the move was known to track down the user's opponents and almost never missed. It would work wonders against grass and fighting types and complemented her current battling style very well. There was the obvious question on my mind, though. What about when she evolved? This wouldn't be like Princess and Rollout. The body shape would still be there for her to use Aerial Ace, but the flight aspect? It was difficult to imagine a multi-ton mass of rocks and armored plates flying, even with tricks with the wind and Sandstorm.

Yet the move would still be usable, so I considered it a good purchase.

For Buddy, I had picked Ice Beam, which had been one of the most expensive TMs on this list. I simply believed that he needed a better way than Acid to battle grass types, and Ice Beam could be used from anywhere in the arena. Not only that, but it'd be mighty useful against Crasher Wake's water types, be it to freeze them or create ice platforms on the water for the others. His TM was really the most straightforward, and I knew he'd get accustomed with the move faster than the others, which was good because we needed to work on Taunt and his defensive custom move whose name was still in progress.

Angel had gotten Brick Break. Alone, it might have seemed underwhelming, but he could use it with multiple vines at once. It would be an excellent counter for ice types, but to be honest I'd gotten it especially for Byron, as were all the moves that would follow. None of his grass type attacks would hurt the steel type specialist, so I decided to remedy that with Brick Break. Plus, moves that could make full use of his vines were just an obvious choice in general. Angel's vines shivered in excitement when I let him out of the Pokeball again, and he blinked at me in rapid succession. He was happy.

For Honey, I'd gotten Bulldoze. Earthquake was a move Electivire could learn, but one, it was way too expensive and two, he was nowhere near powerful enough to use the move. Bulldoze would serve two purposes: it would help him defeat Byron's Pokemon, and it would also serve as a tool to shape the arena when he got good enough with the move. I hadn't forgotten how Volkner's Electivire had managed to raise a wall of earth in front of himself to dodge our attacks, so it could also serve as a means to raise a shield whenever he ran out of energy for Protect. Honey hesitantly tapped a foot against the forest floor, as if he was scared of accidentally using Bulldoze right now. Luckily for us though, nothing happened.

Lastly, Princess. For her, I had bought Mystical Fire, the most expensive technique on this list. It was also a move that Mira's Gardevoir already knew. It was less powerful than something like Flamethrower, which I wanted her to learn down the line, but what it traded for power was control, which she excelled at. Users of Mystical Fire could shape the flames however they wanted when they grew experienced enough with the move, and that control over fire could eventually extend to all fire, which meant better coordination with Sunshine.

All in all, I was happy with my purchases. I'd agonized over what moves to buy for weeks now, and there might have been better choices for events I hadn't foreseen yet, but I fully believed the focus on Byron was warranted. I had been warned about him far too much not to. I wasn't disrespecting Wake either, but the eight badge was the badge. No one— and that was not an exaggeration— no one other than truly gifted prodigies won their eighth badge on the first try.

I desperately wanted that to be me.

Plus, I had a specific strategy for Wake that I was workshopping in the back of my mind that only needed the tools I currently had.

"Okay, everyone, I'm going to have Princess bring me toward one of the arenas so we can get you started on these. It'll be important not to hyperfocus on them, though. You're all juggling a lot, so feel free to tell me if you get overwhelmed."

We needed to grow faster.

Twenty minutes later, we were outside of the city. I made rounds while my team practiced their new moves. Princess could create the fire, but her control over it right now was mediocre. She couldn't shape it properly, but she could at least move it around, so that was something. She was doing some nifty things, combining Ancient Power with the Mystical Fire by turning her drills or spears into flaming weapons. It wasn't so much that they were burning, but having a shape to wrap the fire around made it easier for Princess to handle her new attack.

Sweetheart was higher in the sky than she'd ever been. The rock type was quite literally soaring, and the constant, loud jet-like burst of air had now been replaced by the occasional expulsion to keep her going. Aerial Ace would carry her further, make her fly faster, and make her attacks impossibly hard to dodge, even under water. Still, to prevent her vents from flooding, she'd actually have to keep blowing air constantly under the surface.

Honey was far off, but the ground around him was a mess of small ridges and chasms. He was struggling the most with his move, mostly because he didn't know how to not hurt himself while using it yet. Power-wise, though? He was already set.

Angel slapped the sand around himself with three simultaneous Brick Breaks— which was up from the one he could create thirty minutes ago. He was making steady progress and soon he'd be able to be as comfortable with it as he was with Knock Off or Power Whip. Hell, maybe we could even do the detaching trick with Brick Break too.

Sunshine barrelled down the sandy beach, burning sand into a crisp with each step. The force of the flames wasn't much, but that wasn't why we'd bought the move in the first place. I'd never seen him be this quick. He ran faster than I could ever hope to. While he was continuously speeding up, it looked like he'd reached his cap for now— my eyes almost fell out of their sockets when he retracted into his now glowing shell. An explosion sent my hair flying everywhere, and Sunshine took flight, jumping fifteen feet into the air and even further with his momentum. Another slap of his tail, and another explosion rang out, but he lost his balance and tumbled down into the sand.

I circled around him, carefully waiting for him to cool down, but Princess was faster. She landed next to the fire type, not caring about her sizzling fur to congratulate him. That had been a breakthrough. I held out a hand and slowly approached until I realized the heat just hurt and wouldn't actually burn me. I crouched next to Sunshine and grinned.

"You see that?" I asked with an intense stare. "That's only a taste of what you'll do."

I caught a shadow of a smile on Turtonator's face, and he stood up. Sand washed off his scales like water, and he carried himself tall. This singular action? That had been his goal for the past three years, and he had finally tasted it. After thanking Princess, Sunshine gruffed, saying that he needed to practice keeping his balance more, but that the Flame Charge was a huge help to gather starting momentum.

"That's why I got it for you," I said with my hands behind my back and a sheepish smile. "I was thinking of getting you started on Shell Smash too, actually. When you blow up your shell so much that it's fractured? There's supposed to be a way to harness the pain and channel it into power."

The fire type's face twisted into a gleeful grin.

But there was also something else.

He wanted to go see Mudsdale tomorrow.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Zeta, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, dotAlice, Nova, Plasmatique, Peg, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, SmallBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 256 - Reunion

It was tomorrow now.

I was musing over my strategy for Crasher Wake before heading out to the Ranger Outpost over breakfast. A groan escaped my mouth when I bit into some buttered toast and crumbs got all over my laptop, and I bent down to blow them away. Princess was still sleeping, having claimed my bed for herself like she liked to do while Angel took in the sunlight through the window as usual.

Like I'd noticed and told myself before, the key lesson in Wake's Gym was this: how would a trainer approach battling in an arena that was so disadvantageous it might as well have been unfair? It was a pivotal lesson in any trainer's career and it fell onto Wake to instill those teachings. Well, unless you were a water type specialist, I mused to myself. While the islands were larger than in my battle with Barry, they were too spaced out for Honey to simply jump between them, and even though Angel could always improve at swimming, there was no way he'd be fast enough to cross safely. There were two ways to fight back against such a tactic. Either adapt to it, or bypass it entirely. I was planning on doing a mix of both, with a focus on the former.

While Wake's makeshift ocean would always be filled by Rain Dance, making evaporating it impossible unless your Pokemon were way stronger than the 7th badge level, there were still ways to counter the water. Right now, I was thinking of lava. Again.

A silly concept, unless you stopped to think about it for more than five minutes. Wake could just cool it down with water! Well, yes, but cooled-down lava formed solid rock, and solid rock would extend the range of the islands we had. Add in a little bit of platform-building with Ancient Power because we would need an ample supply of rock to create lava anyway, and I had a skeleton of a plan. Hell, we could even create islands from scratch if we were ambitious enough. I was still studying up on Wake's Pokemon's moves, but that part would come naturally. Ideally, I was thinking of signing up for the Gym in a week's time to leave my Pokemon ample time to settle into the strategy and just better themselves in general.

That alone wasn't it, however. I still needed a way to take down Wake's Pokemon when they were below the water. Honey's Thunder and Princess' Moonblast would be powerful enough to handle that. Moonblast's gravity would pull any Pokemon upward while Thunder would just travel through the water. Sweetheart and Buddy could move under the water already. Sunshine and Angel were the problem. Turtonator could always use something like Dragon Pulse or Focus Blast, but aiming at something underwater was a lot harder than in the air, especially when the water molecules would weaken and slow our ranged attacks. What I'd noticed during our swimming lessons was that his explosions kind of worked like a depth charge— okay, that was maybe an exaggeration, but anytime he exploded, Buddy had been stunned for a few moments by the force of the impact even when he'd been standing far away.

So that was the tactic I decided we would use if he was ever dragged into the water, but we could also use his exploding Scale Shot to force a Pokemon to surface, or at least that was the theory. We still needed to tweak the timing of the explosions, but with how many scales we could send, dodging would be incredibly difficult.

For Angel, things were a little more complicated and a lot more fluid, but my working strategy combined Ingrain and Solar Blade— the exploding variants, of course. His range of fifty feet was already a lot, but it could easily be extended with Ingrain. The nutrients from the soil would allow his vines to grow longer and would allow him greater maneuverability, especially since we'd been training those two specific things in the first place. He'd be able to fumble around the water with his vines and use exploding Solar Blades to either hit or stun any Pokemon in the water. After they were stunned, he'd be able to grab them or hit them with something like Power Whip. I'd also need to use Sunny Day, either with him or Sunshine to at least weaken the Rain Dance.

With all of these plans in place— and it was a lot of plans to juggle— Buddy would lose some of his prominence in the battle, but he was still desperately needed as an anchor I could fall back on. Water Absorb would be key here. With him out, I'd be locking Crasher Wake out of all of his best attacks. Ice Beam would also be able to freeze any Pokemon using hydrokinesis to move. Even though Wake had a few tactics to counter freezes, it would still buy time and slow down the battle's tempo, allowing me to think on the fly, because as every trainer knew, no plan survived contact with the enemy.

I sighed, letting out a satisfied groan as I stretched in my chair. My breakfast was done, so it was time to go to the Ranger Headquarters on route 212. I figured I might as well have used the opportunity to get my first bit of scouting done too. I exited the Pokemon Center with one crutch in hand and my phone in the other, reveling in all of the talk about Abel in the news. Still, even though the news filled my heart with joy, I wouldn't be satisfied until he was at least in a prison cell.

After telling Denzel, Mira, Cece and Chase I was going on patrol, I pocketed my phone, released Princess, and set up her saddle. There was almost no disturbance when she took off (after grabbing a cube of earth with Ancient Power for whatever reason). No woosh of the air, no dust or dirt, and even the sudden lift upward felt smooth. The warm, spring air felt good on my face, but it turned colder and colder the higher we got. Suddenly, the wind shifted and began to blow at my back, speeding up Princess even more. Every day she flew, she was better than she'd been previously. Pastoria's widespread, suburbian design became less and less dense until roads led into dirt paths, and dirt paths led into nature.

The swampy part of route 212 wasn't really a route. There was no path to follow, because building anything in a swamp was a logistical and expensive task that Pastoria wasn't inclined to do, and maintaining it would be even more expensive than that. Part of the reason this swamp was considered one of the most dangerous places in Sinnoh was because there was no pre-determined path. It was like walking off-route, but for days. Anything could jump at you from the water, and there was a lot of water to hide under. Just like in Eterna Forest, going through this place without a Psychic was basically suicide.

I had to admit, it was very appealing to look at at first glance. From high above, the first thing you'd notice was the vast expanse of colorful flowers and lush greenery. Lilypads, reeds and other aquatic plants covered most of the waters. The swamp was a mosaic of vibrant multicolored hues. Intricate waterways interlinked ponds and lakes with each other. Occasionally I'd spot some shifts in the water, but I saw or sensed no Pokemon. We were too high up for that.

From the one time I'd flown over the Great Marsh and the way Cecilia had described it, there were plenty of dry spots to be in, and the water was navigable enough to walk through. Route 212's lakes were deep enough to drown in. One step in the wrong place, and you'd fall into the depths. I was high up, but upon closer look, the bodies of water here were a lot murkier than they were in the Safari Zone. They were so murky that no sunlight would ever shine through, which meant the water was denser and harder to move in.

Harder to escape from, too.

It was impossible to overstate how vast the swamp was too. It went on and on in every direction.

"If you spot anything strange, let me know," I told Princess. She offered me a nod back, having already been focused on looking out for a base. We weren't expecting to find it here, but looking wouldn't hurt. Chase would come in and scout this afternoon, but he'd go further than the swamp. Dividing the route into zones was smarter than doubling up and wasting time.

An hour of scouting done, and all we'd spotted were a few trainers huddling to the only patches of dry land in the marsh and the occasional wild Pokemon. One time, a group of three had even been getting attacked by an Arbok, and I had Princess swoop in to save the day. A Psychic and a couple of Air Slashes were enough to send the poison type slithering away and back into the murky waters. The group of trainers thankfully weren't wounded, and they might have won against Arbok with all of their Pokemon combined, but I hadn't wanted to take that risk. Evidently, they realized that this route was too much for them and turned back right away. If I'd been them, I never would have gone here anyway, with all the poachers running about, but trainers were known to ignore warnings. Route 212 might have been deserted, but some would always try to brave the dangers anyway.

Kind of like me, I thought as Princess doubled back. The Ranger outpost wasn't in the middle of the swamp, or it would defeat the entire point. Instead, it was near the marsh's entrance, where dirt turned into wet mud. I felt a twinge of nostalgia at the sight of the gated community. It was large enough to be a small town and surrounded by an electric fence, with a Pokemon Center, Mart, and a few buildings strewn throughout, including the Ranger Station, which was the largest one and topped by an army-green roof. Just like Mount Coronet's and Eterna Forest's. Here, Rangers patrolled the surroundings. There were signs of wear and tear on the fence, meaning they'd been attacked multiple times recently. No landing pads? I guess I'll just land at the Center's entrance.

There weren't many trainers here, I noticed when Princess landed. Even in the Pokemon Center, there were only two people in the lobby. It made sense, and I had expected it, but it was still depressing to look at. I released Sunshine, who blinked when he realized where he was. The sight of him made the few people walking out and about stare, but we ignored them.

"Yeah, we're here," I said, patting him on the arm as a sign of reassurance. "You're still okay, right? Are you sure you want to do this alone?"

Princess expressed the same worried feelings, but Sunshine nodded. Gone was his anxiety about meeting Mudsdale. He was ready, and grew readier by the minute. I offered him a gentle smile, and my hand slipped away from his arm. To be honest, even I had been nervous about meeting Mudsdale because I feared he would judge me for trying to 'replace' Kamaile, or something of the sort, so I couldn't help but feel some amount of relief. At the same time, I wanted to be there for Sunshine if he needed me, but this was his decision, so I would respect it.

"Let's go, then."

Princess hovered over me while Sunshine walked briskly by my side. The fairy type had sculpted her cube-shaped piece of earth into a full-fledged miniature Mudsdale during our flight. She levitated it into Sunshine's hand, and the fire type clumsily held onto it, dipping his head in thanks for the gift.

"So that's what you were making! Woah, there's a lot of detail on there." I leaned forward to squint at the statue. "How'd you know what a Mudsdale looks like anyway?"

Togekiss answered by saying that she'd seen the Pokemon in one of her cartoons she liked to sing along to.

"Huh. Guess I'd fallen asleep."

She nodded, noting that I'd been studying hard for my written flying exam that night. Still, from one look at the species, she'd managed to recreate a Mudsdale perfectly. We entered the brightly-lit Ranger station and I accosted the receptionist with a wave. She turned toward me as if she hadn't been expecting a trainer in here, but then she cleared her throat and quickly got into work mode.

"Welcome to Route 212's Ranger Station. What can I do for you today?" She asked.

I pointed back at Sunshine with a thumb. "Turtonator's trainer passed away in Mount Coronet before I caught him, but three of his Pokemon survived. His name was Kamaile Nalanie, and the Pokemon we're looking for is Mudsdale. He's supposed to be in this station?"

The receptionist's eyes drifted down to the statue Sunshine carried. "Right. We do have a Mudsdale here— just for procedure's sake, could I have your trainer ID?"

I slid the card down the counter and waited for her to type away at her computer. I assumed that since these two were probably the only Mudsdale and Turtonator in the region and that the story had spread through every Ranger station by now, she was confident enough not to demand more verification.

She continued, "We'll verify this with Mudsdale and then set up a meeting… in the yard. It should only take around five minutes— our psychics are busy with something else, at the moment."

"Sure," I agreed. "And it's okay if Sunshine's alone, right?"

The Ranger took a split-second longer to answer, since she hadn't known Turtonator's name. "He looks fine to go, yes," she said after staring into the dragon's eyes.

I grabbed my ID back and shuffled to the uncomfortable plastic seats. People really took the Pokemon Centers' couches for granted. I theorized with Sunshine about Shell Smash to pass the time for ideas on how to get started on the move, but we came up empty. He didn't know how to channel a broken shell into power and speed, and we were stumped because every instance of Shell Smash was different for every Pokemon capable of using the move due to the different body types—

"Turtonator? Mudsdale is ready for you," the receptionist called out.

Sunshine froze, then turned to me. His mouth trembled, and he asked if I could accompany him outside, his bravado from earlier all but gone. I agreed and hoisted myself on my crutches, and Princess graciously accepted her entry back into her Pokeball. We silently walked through a labyrinth of slick halls and beige walls with chipped paint that seemed to stretch on and on the closer we got to the yard.

It wasn't an impressive one. Shrubs grew everywhere from the rich soil, and it was walled off by high, wooden fences. A tree sat in its corner, and under it, Mudsdale stood. He was a lot taller than I'd expected. Slightly north of eight feet, which meant he was absolutely massive. His brown skin had the texture of leather and his dark hair was so packed together it looked like a helmet. Mudsdale shifted under the tree, first looking at me— but only for an instant— then at Sunshine, with relief radiating out of him like water out of a showerhead. I dipped my head and silently slipped back into the building, closing the door behind me

—

He truly hadn't changed, in the end.

Mudsdale stood as strong and tall as he had always been. His body was steady, with no unnecessary movement. Not even his hair swayed in the wind. It was far too heavy for that. Turtonator was silent as he approached his old friend, and he noticed a certain tiredness in his eyes that hadn't been there before, and he knew it was not from a lack of sleep. Turtonator took a final step and stared up at Mudsdale, but his words died in his throat.

Mudsdale spoke first, I missed you.

The dragon's eyes widened. A year ago, these weren't words he would ever have expected from Mudsdale, but times were different now. Kamaile was gone, and they'd been separated for what felt like a lifetime.

I missed you too, old friend, Turtonator finally said. He gently grabbed Mudsdale by the neck and let out a relieved sigh.

You didn't hug before, Mudsdale said with a sprinkle of amusement.

Turtonator snorted. You didn't say things like 'I missed you' before as well, so I suppose we've both changed in that regard. How have you been?

Mudsdale lay down under the shade, and the earth itself shook when he did. I've been working for the Rangers for the past few months, he said. They took me in without a fuss and helped me struggle through my grief. Yet, the hole in my heart is not filled.

Turtonator nodded. It never will be, but it gets a little easier every day, he said.

Mudsdale paused, then neighed with a gruff. I thought you were dead, Turtonator.

The fire type blinked for two reasons. One, even though he still referred to himself as Turtonator, being called that felt odd to his ears. Two, he had not expected this topic to come up so soon. Unfortunately, Mudsdale had never been one to beat around the bush.

I wanted to contact you, I just… I just didn't deem myself worthy, Turtonator muttered. I failed Kamaile. I failed you all. Oranguru, Mandibuzz, Drampa, too. They're all dead because of my failures.

Mudsdale shook his head, baring his flat teeth. You don't get to bear the responsibility alone, Turtonator, he said in a commanding tone. We all failed them, but the ones that are at fault are that Team Galactic gang.

Rage swelled inside of the dragon type when he imagined Saturn's face, and was only soothed when he imagined every inch of his body burning. Slowly. Hours spent with a foot on his chest, making it hard, but not impossible to breathe to inflict as much pain as possible while he cooked alive for as much time as he could manage.

I do bear it, Turtonator said. And I will until I kill Saturn.

Mudsdale's eyes narrowed. You want revenge.

It was a statement, not a question. As if the ground type had expected it and was just confirming it for himself.

I do, Turtonator nodded, sitting down in the grass. I want to see his miserable little face slowly cook to a crisp. And I think you should join me in my endeavor.

Mudsdale sighed, and his stare seemed so much heavier. In an instant, he looked far older than he had seconds earlier. Imperfections in his hair, small scars on his body, chips in his hooves.

I am not looking for revenge.

The statement reverberated in Turtonator's head for what felt like hours. How? How did Mudsdale want to sit still while the person who killed so many of their loved ones roamed free?

I can tell that you're confused, Mudsdale continued. I simply do not have the energy for it, Turtonator. You've still got the spark in you. The drive that made us strive to improve in our heyday. That made us train and practice every waking hour so we could collect badges, he stopped, smiled sadly and stared into the distance at nothing in particular. I'm tired, Turtonator. It's peaceful here, outside of when poachers are involved. They don't even make me patrol. I simply help the newcomers train. The rhythm is enjoyable. Every day blends together… it feels nice.

Turtonator gritted his teeth and restrained a roar. You can't live like this.

Can I not give up?

No! You cannot, Turtonator said. He opened his mouth, then closed it, considering his next words. I think that you should want retribution, but I will agree to let that go, as much as it pains me, he slowly spoke. But you can't live your life in a daze. That is how you lose yourself.

It helps with the pain.

Turtonator flexed, then restrained the heat leaking out of his body. So many months with children had helped him learn to compose himself.

What about Lurantis? He asked. Is she the same? The fire type asked through calming breaths.

We've kept in contact. The psychics write letters we dictate, and the humans send them, Mudsdale said. She's in a better state than I am. She's thrown herself into Ranger work and has adopted a child from the forest.

Turtonator's anger vanished, as if it had never been there in the first place. That's just like her, he whispered. Just like her…

And just like that, the tension faded. Even when she wasn't there Lurantis was the glue that held them together.

Do you not want to meet her again? Turtonator asked. Grace— the girl who caught me— she is planning on going to see her soon after we're done in Pastoria. She could bring you.

Mudsdale hesitated. Perhaps. I will have to think about it… I think seeing her would hurt me more than you'd know. Old memories would resurface… I already cannot get a full night's sleep.

Think about it, then, the dragon nodded. You wouldn't have to fight if you didn't want to. The girl is as soft-hearted as they come, so long as you're on her good side. I gave her those burns, and she has never looked at me wrongly in spite of them.

Mudsdale frowned at that 'good side' bit of the sentence, but opted to ignore it.

Grace is her name, then? I'm surprised you settled with a new trainer, given your old disposition.

Bah! She's an annoying brat, but also frustratingly loveable, Turtonator groaned. She caught me while I was full of pain and rage in Mount Coronet. Her child made this for you.

The dragon showed Mudsdale his own statue, and the horse's eyes widened in surprise.

Such excellent craftsmanship… but she is too young to have a child, or at least that's how I understand human maturity.

Turtonator snorted. The one who made this is a Togekiss. One of her many adoptive children, he explained. It wasn't a human.

She adopts… Pokemon?

Strange, isn't it? She's even treating a three-hundred-year-old Jellicent as her son too, believe it or not, Turtonator let more fondness than he'd wanted slip. Deep down, I think she thinks of me as her son too, which is just a preposterous notion. She also has a gift for understanding Pokemon, which makes her far less irritating to work with. Hah! I couldn't imagine having stayed this long if we hadn't been able to negotiate. There was no way I'd let one of her friends' psychics translate my words. She wouldn't have gotten that out of me—

You love her, Mudsdale said.

Turtonator's eye twitched. I— he said defensively—

It is okay, the ground type cut in. I know you haven't moved on. No one as driven by revenge as you would have, he said. You are allowed to love others, Turtonator. Don't stay stuck in this damned grief-ridden hole like I. Lurantis has been trying to move on as well.

I want you to try, Turtonator said. Try to fill the hole with something else. You loved traveling, Mudsdale. You aren't built to stay in one place for so long. Is there truly nothing you want? Search within yourself.

I want— he stopped himself. I can't.

You were going to say something—

Let it go, he said harshly. After a sigh, he spoke again. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to raise my voice, it's just… hard. Hard to find motivation for anything. What I want is for things to go back to the way they were. You, me, Kamaile and the others. Traveling together again.

Mudsdale…

I know it is nothing but a child's dream, he sighed. It doesn't matter, in the end. The world is not a just place. Sometimes, bad people win, good people die, and the wheels of time keep churning, with or without you.

I've told you I won't let them get away with it, Turtonator gruffed. Puffs of smoke billowed out of his nose. I will kill him, Mudsdale. I swear to you.

Small embers lit up in Mudsdale's eyes. Good. Now, tell me about your new adventures. I want to know who the human and Pokemon who have changed you so are.

Turtonator settled into his seat with a fond smile. I suppose I should start… let's start in Hearthome, he said, not wanting to get too close to Kamaile's murder. You see, the original plan after she got me out of the mountain was to kill her…

—

I yawned, stretching in the lobby's chairs. Arceus, my back and butt hurt so much after staying seated here all morning and afternoon. I'd gone to grab lunch too, of course, but when considering stretching my legs, I had to account for the pain in my ankle. I'd been stupid and forgotten to grab my painkillers with me before coming here, and I was pretty sure the one I had taken this morning had completely run out. The sky was a dull orange outside, signaling that the sun would be setting soon. There was no news from Chase's patrol, and Mira had been busy vetting some new friend Maeve made with Gardevoir, but she'd need me to make sure she wasn't Zoroark. Zoey Miranda was her name.

If I'd been trying to not stand out in a crowd as Zoroark, I wouldn't have morphed into a six-foot-two girl, but we still could never be too safe. My phone was at fifteen percent at this point and I wanted to keep battery for the flight back, so all I could do was wait. What I did do was visualize some of my old battles to see if I could catch any mistakes I hadn't yet. Every single one appeared clear as day to me, even my first Gym Battle against Roark. Arceus, that one had been embarrassing—

Steps. And those steps were unmistakable. Sunshine proved me right when he walked into the lobby, eliciting confused stares from the Rangers starting their night shifts. He looked lighter than he had been coming in, and I would have had to be blind to miss the joy sliding off of him. Bright, excited, and most of all, satisfied. A nice gradient that I wish I'd see more of on him.

I shot up without my crutches and bit my lip with a wince. "Ow… how'd it go?" I bent down to grab my crutches. "Was it everything you hoped for?"

Sunshine nodded with a terribly cute smile, and he told me to follow. I did, although I was slower than I'd been earlier. He didn't mind one bit, and was content to slow down to my pace. The dragon waited for me to open the massive doors to the yard (he was probably scared he'd destroy them on accident), and I saw Mudsdale again, sitting with his replica. His focus switched from Princess' statue to me, and I hobbled down the steps. What should I say?

Well, introductions couldn't hurt.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Mudsdale. My name is Grace Pastel. I've been Sunshine's new trainer."

The ground type's eyes bulged at the name 'Sunshine', and then he laughed— a weird sound to be coming out of a horse. Sunshine, for his part, rolled his eyes and waited for the laughing fit to finish. Mudsdale spoke, but his words were still gibberish to me. Luckily, we had someone to translate.

He said it was nice to meet me, and that he'd never expected Turtonator to take on a nickname.

"Oh, I bartered with him over it for almost two months," I said with a sly smirk. "He was a real sweetheart about it, though. Never complained once about it after he agreed."

Mudsdale said something that Sunshine refused to translate, but he clearly felt embarrassed about it.

"I hope you guys had fun catching up. I'll gladly take Sunshine here again while we're here," I continued. "Things might get busy soon, but I'll try to come every day. The rest of the team can train in one of the arenas here— and maybe you can come to watch Sunshine train too."

Mudsdale dipped his head in appreciation, but then Sunshine spoke up. He said that Mudsdale was considering joining us temporarily when we left Pastoria so he could go meet Lurantis as well. It had taken hours of prodding and convincing, but he'd finally agreed. The ground type wouldn't fight, nor would he train. He'd just be a traveling companion for a while.

"Are you kidding?" I beamed. "This is great news! I mean, I had the idea, but I didn't want to force anything." I stopped and gently patted Sunshine on the arm. "This'll be great for you three."

Relief flooded every inch of Mudsdale's body, and Sunshine said that 'he'd told him so'. What had they been talking about, I wondered?

"I'll have to talk to the Rangers about it, though," I muttered.

Sunshine explained that Mudsdale didn't do much around here, save for training new recruits or taking the occasional mud bath (I was pretty sure that was meant to be banter), so convincing Rangers wouldn't be that difficult, especially when they used to belong to the same team.

"And hey, worst-case scenario I can just use some subtle threats," I huffed with a shrug. "Like knowing Cynthia, or something. Wouldn't be the only time I plan on doing that anyway," I said, thinking of the UPAN. "The Rangers will get the message."

Mudsdale eyed Sunshine, who snorted and introduced me again, for some reason.

"I see your little plots," I squinted at the dragon. "Oh! And Mudsdale—"

I closed my mouth. 'Mudsdale can tell me old stories about you' had been what I'd wanted to say, but maybe that was too insensitive? It was best to let those things come naturally.

"—I guess I should introduce the rest of the team. We should see how you mesh with them before we actually start traveling. Oh, and you'll love Buddy—"

One of the Rangers called out for Mudsdale behind us. He needed to go help train two new ground types that had been under his care. Sunshine's face twisted in annoyance, but Mudsdale calmly stood up. He didn't do much here, so I knew he couldn't have loved the job, but maybe he still felt compelled to do his duty?

"We'll be back tomorrow," I said.

The ground type nodded and disappeared in a flash of red. I turned back to Sunshine, who glared at the Ranger's back.

"Did you have fun?" I asked.

His anger disappeared. Instead, he asked me to stop treating him like a damned child.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Zeta, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, dotAlice, Nova, Plasmatique, Peg, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, SmallBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 257

"So you want to take Mudsdale?"

The man in charge of this Ranger's station hadn't given me his name yet, but he had led me to his office and offered me to sit, along with some tea. I had only drunk tea once before in my life and remembered not being a particular fan, but whatever this one was made of made a world's difference because I was certain I would have downed all of it if it hadn't been scorching the inside of my mouth every time I took a sip.

"Hmhm," I hummed as I put down my cup. "Mudsdale's already agreed to leave whenever we leave Pastoria, so we're good on that front. I'd also want to come see him every day, if possible?"

The short, square-ish man sank a few inches into his chair and ran a hand over his wooden desk, revealing two missing fingers on his left one. "We'd have to verify this, of course, but assuming you're telling the truth, we'd have to get Mudsdale to finish some of his commitments here first."

Oh, that was a lot easier than I thought it to be. "I mean, so long as he's done when we're ready to leave, it should be fine. We're planning on staying here… maybe another week and a half? Is that enough?"

I spied the Ranger's name on a nameplate. Brockhouse. I knew that last name… ah, it was the same last name as the Ranger that had helped register Sunshine to me when I'd first caught him. I spoke again, probably snapping the Ranger out of his brainstorming.

"You're Mr. Brockhouse?" I asked. "Do you have a family member that's a Ranger, by any chance?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You've met Malcolm?" He asked. When I nodded, he continued. "He's my cousin. We traveled together when we were young."

"If you could call him, I'm pretty sure he'd vouch for me." Malcolm Brockhouse had definitely kept track of me, seeing as he had warned me that an accident with Sunshine could have led to him being taken away when I'd first caught him.

"No need for vouching," he shook his head. His tone was slightly friendlier now. "A week and a half should be enough for Mudsdale to finish bringing the new trainees up to speed, and we'll also need his help transporting some cargo, but other than that, he'll be free— if he confirms what you said."

"He will," I said.

"We'll have to transfer ownership from this station to you personally, so you'll have to come in the day of," Mr. Brockhouse continued. "I think that's it."

"Can I stay to finish this tea?"

The Ranger smirked. "Unfortunately I'm quite busy with the poacher situation, so you'll have to leave my office, I'm afraid. Feel free to take the mug and hand it to Sandy downstairs when you're done, though."

That must have been the receptionist. "Any news or progress on the poachers?" I innocently asked. Fishing for information could only be good here. When Brockhouse frowned, I quickly added, "I'm just curious."

"I'll tell you information that's already public," he said. "The League's cooperated with us, scoured the entire route and found nothing, which means they must be Teleporting somewhere else that we haven't been able to track. When we manage to capture one of them, we'll have more to work with."

"Got it. Sorry, I just feel safer knowing about these things," I said in a half-truth. "I'll be out of your hair, then. Thanks for the tea!"

Brockhouse silently nodded, and I closed the door to his office, realizing that grabbing two crutches with one hand and drinking tea at the same time was a puzzle in and of itself. I opted to give up, leaned against the wall and finished drinking the delicious substance in silence. Why had no one ever told me about this before? Had none of them ever tasted this? My entire body felt warm when I finished, which would have felt great if it was the middle of winter.

Not wanting to drop the cup while walking, I awkwardly handed the cup to a passing Ranger instead of the receptionist in hopes that it would find its way back to Brockhouse's desk after I'd told them about it, and then I was on my way out. Before I left on Princess, I found a good spot to train at. An arena built for the Rangers that was twice as small as the ones I was used to, but it would unfortunately have to do. Of course, most days I'd have to swing by the beach to keep up the swimming lessons, and I also had UPAN work to do in three days or so— meeting with the City Council.

The flight back to Pastoria didn't take long, and I spent it telling Princess all about how cute Sunshine had been when meeting Mudsdale. It wasn't often that we got to see him excited, let alone embarrassed. I told her Mudsdale loved his statue and that we'd keep it for him, since he was coming with us. The temporary bit, I wasn't used to. Part of me hoped he'd just end up sticking around with us, but I knew that it was up to him, at the end of the day. Either way, I was doubly excited to go meet Lurantis now.

We landed at the Pokemon Center, and I was planning on grabbing my laptop to keep studying Wake while my Pokemon trained on the beach for the rest of the day after getting them some food to eat, but first I had to deal with this new friend of Maeve's. All of my friends were out, either training or in the Safari Zone, but knowing that I'd need to vet this Zoey individual, Maeve and Mira had stayed behind, and they were waiting for me in the Pokemon Center's lobby.

"There she is!" Mira waved at me with a smile. Maeve sat next to her with her, although she was a lot more nervous than usual. I strode up to them with a wave of my own. "Did everything go okay with Sunshine?"

"Yup, it went great! And I might have gotten addicted to tea too."

"Tea? That's the sort of stuff I thought Cece or Emilia would drink," Mira snorted. "But Emilia's obsessed with coffee, so."

"You should have seen her back in Eterna, she hated the stuff," I said. "Where's Zoey?"

"On her way," Maeve said. "She wasn't expecting the vetting thing to be serious, since Mira already did so yesterday and found nothing wrong. In fact, she wasn't expecting this at all. She thinks we're weird for being so paranoid."

"How'd you vet her?" I asked.

"I just had Gardevoir take a look at her. No dark TE swirling around, no traces that she's a Pokemon, and when I asked her if she was involved with Abel, the poachers, Team Galactic or something evil in any way, she said no and Gardevoir detected no lies. Luckily thanks to you and Cece the news about Abel had come out and spread at that point, so I could just play the role of the overprotective friend without potentially alerting her," she turned toward Maeve. "Which I technically am! But to lay any doubt to rest, we need to be sure," Mira said with a shrug.

Maeve seemed irritated at that, and I knew she wasn't the only one. As it turned out, Denzel 'smoothing things over' with our friends had backfired terribly, and Pauline was even more pissed than we thought she'd be— specifically at him. The others were on her side too, which wasn't something I had expected. If anything, I would have thought Justin would have erred on the side of caution and pushed the group in the right direction.

"Maeve?" I probed.

"What?"

"You look angry."

"I just, you know, wish the rest of us weren't treated like kids by the rest of you," she snapped. "Since when do new friends have to be vetted? I don't remember you vetting Erin."

Mira's permanent grin went flat, and then turned into a grimace. "Look, Maeve. If Abel hadn't been here, this would be completely different, okay? We just want what's best."

"I get that," the teenager got out through gritted teeth. "But it still sucks. How's Grace going to figure something out Gardevoir couldn't anyway?"

"I just know these things," I said, not bothering to explain further.

Maeve wanted to protest, but she stopped herself mid-way through the first word. "Fine. Then we're done? I wanted to go to the Safari Zone today, but I couldn't sign up because of this."

"Guess you'll go hang out with Louis instead," Mira teased.

"I think he's busy at the moment," she responded with a faint voice. "But yeah, maybe."

"Planning on signing up for Wake soon?" I asked.

"I signed up today. I figured I might as well," Maeve shrugged. She then explained that her battle was in three days early in the afternoon. I'll have to miss it, then, I internally groaned. "I'll look for Yanma in the meantime. I've been having no luck, though. Apparently they're supposed to be somewhat common, but… blegh."

Mira rubbed the back of her neck. "I'd help out if I wasn't busy."

"No worries— oh, Zoey's here."

I turned toward the Pokemon Center's entrance, through which an imposing girl had just stepped. Zoey Miranda's brown hair was all over the place. Thick strands ran down her back and messy bangs over her forehead. A small amount of freckles dotted her cheeks and nose, which grew more numerous as she approached and got under a light. Mira immediately stared at me, but I'd already reached my verdict as soon as Zoey had stepped into the Pokemon Center.

She was not a Pokemon.

Still, I had to play the part. I held out my hand. "Zoey, right? Nice to meet you," I said.

She clasped it tightly. Cold hands. "Likewise."

Her voice was stiff, probably because she was nervous? People's extremities were cold when they were. "So, how'd you meet Maeve anyway?"

"At a Poketch Store. She was buying a new phone," Zoey answered.

I turned toward the teen in question, who explained that she'd dropped her old phone down a drain and into the Pastoria sewers near the docks. After some small talk about how I was sponsored by Poketch (I was really just filling in the air here), I let Zoey go. First, she asked Maeve if she wanted to hang out, but she'd already decided to go check on Louis. When both of them had left, Mira stood by my side.

"Nothing off about her?" Mira asked. "Not even a little bit?"

"Nope," I said. "She's human, through and through."

Mira clicked her tongue. "Huh. Really? I feel like I'm missing something. Like, a gaping hole in my knowledge. And it's fucking with me. Like an itch that can't be scratched."

I stayed quiet for a few seconds.

"I mean, if you think so, then… we can always look deeper into her," I muttered. "But it's not like we can stop them from meeting. We'd have no reason to, anyway. No solid reason."

The pink-haired girl undid her two pigtails, shaking her head to free her hair. "That's fair. I just think something doesn't pass the smell test. I'm going to set up another meeting and have Gardevoir track her with Trace, but I'll give it a little. We can't have her grow too suspicious. Did you see how stiff she was?"

"I don't want to get a big head, but I think you're forgetting I'm famous."

Mira chuckled. "Ouch. Lose one badge, and you're no longer included in the famous club," she fake-whined. "You might as well have driven a stake through my innocent heart."

"Oh, please. You've got thick skin."

"I'm just fucking with ya," she laughed. "Hey, Porygon." Once she called out, the normal type slipped out from her pocket— I assumed her to have been in her phone. The artificial Pokemon was one I'd always struggled to understand, even after knowing her all these months. "Say, Grace. What do you say about a little fight? A one-on-one between Porygon and one of yours."

I raised an eyebrow. "I'll never say no to a fight. What spurred this?"

"Well, Louis and Pauline are about to battle," Mira said with a shrug. "I've been training with Chase, but not with you. I need to fight someone I'm not used to fighting, and we've got a few tricks up our sleeves—"

"Louis is fighting Pauline?!" I yelled.

"Huh? Yeah—"

I grabbed her by the shoulders. "Where?"

"The arena you recommended—"

"Teleport us there!" I yelled. "I can't believe you'd let me miss this! I already missed so much of it! I'll battle you after!"

"Well you were busy," Mira groaned. She grabbed Alakazam's Pokeball, and told him to Teleport us to the arena.

We had to step out of the Pokemon Center to actually do so. One second, we were on the street, and the other, we were outside of the arena. It was still packed, but there weren't anywhere near the amount of people there had been during my fight with Barry. Damn it. I had thought that them wanting to fight Wake early would mean that they wouldn't be fighting.

Ninetales was embroiled in a patchwork of flames and steam when I arrived. The fire danced around her like it had a mind of its own, and her eyes shone bright pink as she sent the flames barrelling toward Gothitelle. The psychic lazily waved a hand, dispelling each flame before it could reach her. Ninetales forwent sophistication, opened her maw as light danced in her eyes. She brought the flames at the tip of her tails and weaved them around her into nine condensed orbs that shone bright blue.

The fireballs seemed to howl when they flew toward Gothitelle.

"Imprison!" Pauline yelled.

Gothitelle groaned, but the shine in her eye intensified. Ninetales sent the nine fireballs flying erratically, but her opponent seemed to know exactly where each one would be no matter what. Pink boxes clamped down on each flaming orb, and they all exploded with a deafening boom. When the boxes disappeared, there was only smoke and wisps of flames.

Louis bit his lip, then swept his arm. "Will-O-Wisp!"

"Teleport and beat the shit out of her!"

I snorted at that order. Gothitelle couldn't Teleport very far— a sign that she was green with the move— but she could still go from island to island while Ninetales was stuck in one spot.

"Disable!" Louis snapped.

Pauline's eyes bulged out of their sockets when the power to Teleport vanished out of Gothitelle's arsenal.

"I thought this was a spar!" She complained with a grin. "Fine! Magic Room!"

The battlefield shifted to a yellowish pink. Ninetales' control over her flames died, and they all sputtered out. The Will-O-Wisp wavered, some of them dispelled, but one managed to enter Gothitelle's body regardless. When Ninetales opened her mouth to spit more fire, only smoke came out instead. Pauline had control over the entire arena. Ninetales wasn't the only one incapable of using moves, however. Even Gothitelle seemed to be locked out, although she could still use weakened moves like Psybeam. The multicolored light hit Ninetales' flank, and Louis immediately understood.

"Ember!"

This time, the fire type spat out small flames which were so slow that Gothitelle easily dodged them by walking.

"What the hell…" I muttered.

"That's a hell of a technique," Mira said.

"That's not a dark type move," I noticed.

"Nope. Long story short, it creates a zone that leaves all but the weakest moves unusable. And this isn't something your average Crunch will be able to break either. You'd need a whole lot of Crunches, or a burst of dark TE to dampen the thing or bug TE to overwhelm it. Maybe you could do something funky with ghosts. Gothitelle took control of the ambient TE and is stopping most of it from being used. So not inhibition, more like a restriction."

Pauline had come far, but at this rate, the fight would never end. The redhead recalled Gothitelle with a grin and sent out her massive Braviary instead.

And I immediately understood what the plan was.

Braviary didn't need moves. Louis was evidently out of switches, and even if he wasn't, nothing would be able to stand up to that massive bird. Braviary let out a low-pitched screech, and then swooped down toward Ninetales, who tried to fight back with another Ember. The flames just slightly burned the edges of Braviary's feathers. The flying type's claws dug into Ninetales, picking her up like a rag. One flap of her wings generated ripples across the swamp. She raked Ninetales against the psychic barrier and continuously dug into her skin with her talons until she dropped her down into the water.

"Are you still good to go?" Louis asked as soon as the fire type plopped her head out of the water.

Apparently, she answered yes through Telepathy, because Louis nodded. Braviary dove down toward Ninetales as the Magic Room slowly dissolved, and I spotted Emilia in the crowd. Dragging Mira by the wrist with me, I made my way toward our friend. She was well-dressed, as always, and stood next to a tripod holding up a phone. She must have been streaming. After all, it was free revenue.

Emi smiled when she saw us. "I didn't know you'd come."

"I didn't know they were fighting!" I exclaimed. Braviary flapped her wings, and wind started to pick up around the arena. "What are the rules?"

"Just a friendly four-on-four with two switches. Louis' Gabite is down, and Pauline's Vigoroth is down too. Gothitelle really manhandled Gabite with Future Sight, it was kind of crazy. A few hits from Gabite would have taken her down, but he never even got close to her."

Mira whistled, and I turned back to the battle. Every time Ninetales got anywhere close to an island, Braviary would swoop down and attack her to prevent her from reaching land. Ninetales decided to take this into her own hands and turned toward the normal type. Her eyes shone once more, and Braviary slowed— the sudden Psychic held her in place for a moment, and Braviary lost her balance, falling in the water as well.

Unfortunately for Ninetales, the huge bird pecked her in the head until she fainted. Louis released his second-to-last Pokemon, his Vespiquen. The buzzing swarmed my mind, and trainers that were spectating grew pale. Most opted to straight up leave. There was an unsettled gleam in Braviary's eye, but it left as soon as it came.

Braviary barely got out of the water before honey assaulted her and pushed her back in. It clung to her feathers and she grew heavy. Her wings were slower, her movements sluggish, and she couldn't even get in the air. That large size was working against her, for once. Even if the Magic Room hadn't faded, Vespiquen controlling her honey wasn't TE, it was biology.

The bug type's eyes shone, and she ripped out wet mud from the ground. Light engulfed the small spheres, heating them up until they glowed white, and a laser ripped through Braviary's plumage. It would take more than a single Power Gem to take her down, though. While the flying type still struggled in the water, Vespiquen tried her best to destroy her with as many Power Gems as possible while keeping her still with Honey.

"Whirlwind!" Pauline yelled.

Louis countered, "Defense Order!"

Braviary screamed, and huge gust of wind that could have swept Honey off his feet hurtled toward Vespiquen. A wall of honey formed in front of her, but it was destroyed by the Whirlwind, and it threw the bug type back before a thick cushion of honey kept her in place.

Unfortunately for Pauline, Vespiquen countered Braviary completely. The flying type was permanently grounded and assaulted on all sides by Power Gem. Consciousness flitted from her eyes, and Louis yelled out, "Fell Stinger!"

A sharp, glowing needle stabbed into Braviary's wing. It had been the finishing blow.

"Shit," Pauline muttered. Who next? Unsurprisingly, she sent out Charizard. I internally sighed when I realized I wouldn't see Primeape fight just yet.

It was easy to see that Charizard had already fought in this battle from the numerous bruises on her. She took to the air with a mighty roar and flames licked the edges of her mouth. Honey converged into one huge blob larger than the island under Vespiquen when Pauline barked out for a Flamethrower. Her control over honey wasn't as clumsy as it had been before taking down Braviary. It was fluid now. Nowhere near Zach's own Vespiquen, but getting there. The honey turned into a charred, black mess, but it was enough to stop a Flamethrower.

"Air Slash!"

It wasn't enough for that, though. The air in front of Charizard sharpened as she flew directly into Vespiquen, ignoring the honey crawling on her wings. Not like it could do much anyway. It just burned instantly before it could do any real damage. Vespiquen screeched when the air cut across her comb.

"Heal Order!" Louis yelled.

Not good. You should have had her use Power Gem instead. Grubs and honey stuck to Vespiquen's exoskeleton, closing her wounds slowly. It was only now that I could appreciate Zachary's Vespiquen more. She could easily heal faster while still attacking and bending honey. I desperately wanted a rematch, even if he had eight badges now.

Charizard slammed into Vespiquen with a fiery tackle and slammed her against the ground, uncaring for any damage she'd taken. The bug type screeched and only now did Louis order Power Gem. More honey subconsciously climbed onto Charizard, but it just burned, and the grubs inside of it died before it could be of use. Charizard raked a flaming claw across Vespiquen's chest and she retaliated by spitting a glob of poison on her face, melting the outer layer of her skin.

"Vespiquen, this is a spar," Louis firmly spoke.

The bug type redirected her anger toward Charizard's belly instead. So he had control of her in battle, but she could still slip sometimes. More fire finished off Vespiquen, and he sent out his Empoleon instead. The steel type sneered at the amount of water next to him, but I knew from our texts that Louis was finally getting Empoleon to swim, even if he hated it. Before Charizard could take full advantage of Blaze, Empoleon lifted a hand, and a Brine appeared above her. It was smaller than what Buddy could manage, but it followed her as she made a mad dash through the arena not to get hurt by the attack.

"Fuck it. Flare Blitz!" Pauline grinned.

Charizard's bloodshot eyes shot open, then were engulfed by flames as was her entire body.

"Into the water!" Louis yelled.

"Flamethrower!"

More bright jets of flame hit Empoleon as he slid down the mud and into the swamp. Undeterred, Charizard dove down there too. There was an explosion of steam as the fire type impacted the water, but Pauline recalled her soon after. I was pleasantly surprised that Empoleon had managed to swim deep enough to escape a Flare Blitz. With Blaze, the attack would have been devastating.

It was Gothitelle against Empoleon, now. Even after so long, their skill was neck and neck. What I hadn't caught before, however, was that Gothitelle was tired.

"It takes a lot out of a Pokemon to sustain a Magic Room," Mira said as if she read my thoughts. "I mean, how can it not?"

Empoleon was fresh. A Flash Cannon came alive in front of his mouth, and Gothitelle barely Teleported in time. With heavy breaths, the Psychic threw an insult Empoleon's way vocally, hitting the water type with a Psybeam. Her hand moved diagonally, and the attack followed. Empoleon grunted from the attack, but it was no Psychic. The move was too weak to deal substantial damage. He swam toward Gothitelle, summoning another Brine that finished the psychic off.

Louis had won. Mira discreetly pumped a fist while Emilia sighed and started commentating her stream.

I need to start building counters for these weird moves, I thought to myself. Magic Room wouldn't have come near winning Pauline the battle had she fought against me— it was too niche of a trick specifically tailored toward her Braviary (and I assumed Primeape and Vigoroth) and didn't work for long. Plus, I would have been ready for it. Gothitelle was less focused on sheer power and more on utility and support, with Future Sight, Imprison, and Magic Room. Still such ingenuity from Pauline? Her battle with Volkner's Gym Trainer had been pitifully simple compared to this.

"So how about it, then?" Mira said. "You against Porygon? Doesn't even have to be here."

"Oh, right," I said. "Let me just talk to Pauline and Louis first."

I'd gotten to know Pauline very well this past year, so I thought I understood what had driven her to make this shift in her style. Out of the entire group, she was the only one that Volkner didn't battle. Why? The answer was simple once you knew the man himself. Pauline's style had carried her far, but it was so simple. Something Volkner no doubt would have found boring to battle against, especially when he held someone with her number of badges to such high standards.

"...good fight, Louis. Damn, Vespiquen is so annoying," I heard the redhead say. "Fire counters her easily, but there must be other ways to hamper her."

"I've had help from Zachary. It was mostly him getting Vespiquen to this level—"

"Oh shut up, you mopey bastard," Pauline sighed, rolling her eyes. "Oh. Grace. Mira."

Her tone had been a lot drier than expected, and I already knew why. She was angry she was being left out of the poaching situation. Emilia shuffled in place uncomfortably while Louis greeted me and Mira as well.

"When I heard you two were battling, I had to swing by," I said. "That was a great performance. I mean, Magic Room? How did you even teach Gothitelle that?"

"She cheats," Pauline said. "Looks into her future to reverse engineer moves she'll learn. To me, that's a whole ass paradox, but hey, if it works it works," the redhead said. "You know, lately she'd been telling me to stay away from you two. Cece and Chase too. She won't tell me why, though."

My throat felt very dry at that moment. How much did Gothitelle know, and how far could she see? Mira— who had been conversing with Louis and Emi on the side about contests— froze, and her eyes darted to Pauline.

"How good's her Future Sight?" I asked.

"The longer she focuses, the further she can look, but right now she can't really go further than three months," Pauline explained. "And it's all through me or her. She can't look at your future. Only through people she's bonded with, and it's still really blurry."

That was… better. But still didn't answer much. If she wanted Pauline to stay away from us, that meant she saw something, and that something was harmful to Pauline in some way. What way, though? If she was in mortal danger, then surely Gothitelle would have suggested cutting contact completely and more forcefully.

"Sorry I was a little rude," Pauline continued, unaware of the bombshell she'd dropped on my lap. "But if you really think I've improved that much, then maybe I could help with the—"

Mira shushed her. "Not here, and not so loud," she hissed.

"My bad," Pauline muttered, half-turning to Mira. "But you're helping, and I'm pretty sure I could take you down in a battle these days."

"Let's stop this dick-measuring contest," Emilia cut in. "We talked about this, Pauline."

The redhead huffed. "You're right."

They talked about this? About what? From the way Louis reacted, I knew he'd been there too. Damn it, now I couldn't help but be fucking paranoid. It'd be so much easier if I could just be an empath for humans too and read them however I wanted. After around ten minutes of small talk and a promise to all get dinner together later, Pauline and Louis left to the Center, accompanied by Emilia, who had ended the stream. Justin was apparently hanging out with his team on his own.

"I think the battle can wait," Mira said. "I've got to go check in with Denzel."

"Yeah," I breathed. "You go do that. I'll, uh—"

"Go train, Grace," Mira cut in. "I'll handle this. You and Chase already patrolled today, and I've been doing nothing. You guys have to train for Wake, and I gave up on the badges. You've got your UPAN stuff, Cece has her flying lessons, Chase is training up Wimpod. Let me use my free time, alright?" She said in a soft tone. "You know I'm good at multi-tasking."

"Thanks. Yeah, I'll do that."

I had her Teleport me back to the Pokemon Center, and we spent the rest of the day training after flying to the beach.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Zeta, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, dotAlice, Nova, Plasmatique, Peg, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, SmallBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley

 

[Soussouni1]

You could have read this early on my Discord or even earlier on my Patreon. I had no time to write yesterday, so you get this instead.

A/N - This will be about war and its consequences (and the war was basically this world's World War/World War II) so it involves dark topics, and like all Side Stories, it's not plot relevant, so feel free to skip.

---

Side Story 6 - Great War Testimonies

It goes by many names. Most commonly, the 'Great War', but also the 'World War', the 'Kanto-Johto War', the 'Final War'. Personally, I will always prefer the Final War despite how unrealistic that notion is. Today, we remember the pain of loss, the agony of war, but in a generation? In two? When the people that lived through the conflict begin to die and children that do not know of war start gaining positions of power? I dare not suggest another conflict is likely, but all credence points toward it not having been the last.

This year marks the 10th since the end of the Final War. The world has changed irreparably, for better or worse. Orre was scorched by multiple Moltres to the point of becoming uninhabitable to everything but the toughest of Pokemon and men. Companies are rising in Unova and Galar and gaining in influence. Kanto and Johto have done the unthinkable and have formally united under Indigo out of fear of Legendaries. A revolution rocked Kalos and the royal family was imprisoned or executed just months after the war's end. The world population fell by twenty-three percent, mostly due to Legendaries, and that was just a warning. All of that is the tip of the iceberg.

As for me? My name is Jonathan Briar, from Unova. I am just a record keeper, writing this in hopes of preserving these traumatic experiences on paper. With enough luck, my work and the work of others will dissuade future generations from delving into another war. This will not go into geopolitics. Instead, I will focus on the small. Individual accounts from Pokemon, civilians, soldiers, leaders from every region. I believe that personal accounts like this are even more important and will help paint a picture of what war is truly like.

My questions will always be in bold, and the responses will be written normally.

PEWTER CITY, STATE OF KANTO-JOHTO - LIFE AT THE FRONT, AN ACCOUNT BY SAIKI IESADA

Saiki Iesada looks old. The lines running across his face are deep, he looks tired and grunts every time he sits, stands or does a sudden movement. It comes across as a surprise, then, that he is only thirty-nine years old. The veteran is missing an arm and the remains of lacerations mar his neck and shoulders. We are currently inside his home, and his wife brings us some tea. Pewter is a rough city. Rugged architecture, hardy people, and it is still rebuilding from the war even ten years later. Massive war memorials litter the entire city with hundreds of thousands of graves. More than half of the city died or left as refugees toward Kanto's interior, and most have not come back. During most of the war, Pewter was an easy target for sabotage and aerial attacks.

"I'll start with what might be a tough question. What was life like at the front?"

Saiki laughs. "Pfft. I thought you were going to ask how I lost my arm! As soon as the war began, I volunteered. If I could go back in time, I would do it again. I didn't have much. Just my old man's Torkoal to my name. They said a fire type would be useful and sent me to the front," he said, staring into the distance. A picture of Torkoal sat on a drawer. His Pokemon had died in the war.

"So Pewter was not a front-line city, then?"

"It might as well have been with all the times we were attacked!" Saiki gruffs. "But for a while, the true front was miles to the east at Mount Silver. Some of us fought in the caves— a terrible, terrible thing. The stories scare even me!" He says, leaning back into his chair in a defeated fashion. "I was on the mountain's flanks."

"And how would you describe your experience?"

Saiki works his jaw and stares up at the ceiling. He stares back down at me, and the unimaginable weight of war sits atop his shoulders.

"Hell."

"If you don't mind, could you go into further detail?"

"I still remember my first day," he recalls. "The war had only been going on for two weeks at that point, and no one knew what the hell they were doing. Not the soldiers, the leaders, or the politicians. Hell, we didn't even know what the war was for. Some fucking border dispute, they said. I was brought in to the foot of Mount Silver and our barracks were attacked the night of. Some night raid from some Johtoan punks."

He paused, trying to find the words to describe his experience.

"The thing about a boy's first battle is that it's confusing," he said. "The adrenaline tampers the fear of death, and all you're trying to figure out is who is who and how the hell you're going to make it through the next ten minutes. People die all around you. There are battles in the air and on the ground. Buildings collapse, but in that instant, you don't care about who the hell is winning. You don't even care about getting some Johtoans killed. You care about living, but you can't run! That's a coward's way, and you'd get killed for deserting. Eventually some commander took control of the situation and gathered us up, and we began to push back the Johtoan forces. I'd say there were around one hundred of 'em in the raid. They tried to catch us while we slept."

"And you won?"

Saiki nods. "Technically we did. The thing about war is that there aren't enough trained psychic to protect the troops. All of the psychic types are sent to missions that matter or are protecting the people in charge, and the result is that the fights are a fucking bloodbath. People burning to death, getting cut up, run through— the fragility of humans is put on full display. The way we were all trained— the doctrine was to kill the trainers first and the Pokemon later. Cut the head of the Ekans, so to speak."

"And the Pokemon would be disorganized, leaving you an opening?"

"That, and there was also the psychological effect. This wasn't just a war between humans. Pokemon are soldiers as well. Even if a lot of them lived through battles— more than humans, anyway— you kill their trainer, and they lose all of their motivation. That's a soldier knocked out of the war for however many months it takes for it to be transferred to a new trainer."

"Pokemon swapped hands?"

Saiki waves his only arm. "All the time. A Pokemon that isn't fighting is a waste of supplies. They get put with one of them war shrinks for a few weeks and get right back to fighting. Some of 'em lost themselves to war and became killing machines. How else do you cope when you cycle through a trainer every few months? A lot of 'em went crazy and killed some of their own too," he sighs. "It is what it is."

"So, back to the front. Were these raids common?"

"Very much so. Johtoans were adept at them and far better than we were. I saw a few battles as well— with thousands of people and Pokemon on both sides. When that happens, all semblance of what you know about Pokemon training disappears. It's formation, doctrine, strategy. There's no calling out commands. We tried to keep Pokemon that could complement themselves together. No one was putting an Onix with a Furfrou. Think of something like hundreds of same type Pokemon lined up. Water types for example would be blasting their enemies with Water Gun, Water Pulse or Hydro Pump."

"And the humans?"

"They took a backstage during the largest battles, and they were mostly there for support. Flanking, assassinating generals, strikes from the air, artillery support in the back. Human-made weapons were never used that much before the war. Who needed a Howitzer when Pokemon could do the exact same thing? A plane when you could fly on a Fearow? Well, we did. There were far more humans than there were Pokemon fighting in the war, and we needed to put them to good use. Even non-trainers were conscripted."

"Let's move a little further into the future. The breakthrough when you made it through Mount Silver."

"Ah, yes! That was when things really ramped up and battles started happening left and right. A massive push around Mount Silver from Kantoans and Hoennian forces pushed our enemies back, and we reached Johto's heartland. You know what happens next, though."

"The Legendary Birds."

"Never saw 'em, but I have plenty of war buddies that did," he says with dimmed eyes. "In the end, what are we? Nothing. Legends could end humanity in an afternoon, and it's a wonder they haven't. Ten years ago, it was the birds, but who knows what it'll be next time?"

"You think there'll be another war?"

"Obviously. War is a human and Pokemon constant. We can't stop it, it's in our blood. I don't know where it'll be next time. If I had to guess, probably here again. Kanto and Johto getting along? That can only last so long."

CASTELIA CITY, THE REPUBLIC OF UNOVA - THE UNOVAN CAUSE, AN ACCOUNT BY MASON WOODS

It is easy to see at first glance that Mason Woods is no soldier. The way he carries himself is calm and collected. He does not flinch at the closing of doors or cars passing by, nor does he look at Pokemon walking in the streets with wary suspicion. We sit in a small café that is nearly empty, and we both order something to drink. Mason drinks his coffee completely black and downs it before the interview. He is a retired politician and was a member of parliament. One of the key figures in the Committee for Foreign Intervention formed in the months after the war's start. Today, he is ostracized by Unovan society at large and is seen as the main cause for Unovan's intervention in the Great War and its subsequent escalation. Not many Unovans died during the war compared to the other regions, but they were still scarred by war, and Orrean refugees swarm the country's border in an attempt to escape the wastes.

They are, of course, brutally shut down.

"Help me paint a picture here. Why would Unova, a country on the other side of the world, intervene in Johto's favor?"

"Tell me, Jonathan," Mason answers. "Do you think democracy is precious?"

"I certainly think it's the best form of government, but—"

"Kanto was a military dictatorship. Johto was a corrupt democracy— but a democracy nonetheless!" He says, clenching a fist. "The only one on that damned continent. I believed— and many of my colleagues who now spout anti-war nonsense still do— that Johto was worth protecting. People say that nobody won the war, but that isn't true. Kanto won the war. They forced their form of government over Johto."

"So you wanted to protect democracy, then?"

"Why else?"

"Some people say that a lot Unovan companies had a lot of stake in Johto and that was one of the major reasons. Also, the Opelucid Group grew five times richer during the war by selling weapons and training Pokemon abroad."

"Complete and utter nonsense," Mason scoffs. "You take the word of leftists desperately trying to frame me instead of real, tangible goals? And look! Those same companies are growing ever richer now that the war is over. Sure, the government sold contracts to the Opelucid Group because they made the best weapons and streamlined the Pokemon training process! But what about the others? Avalon, the Obel Energy Company? The war only hurt their profits. That's as dumb as saying we're intervening in Ransei for oil. We have plenty of fucking oil!"

"Please relax, Mr. Woods. Moving on, could you explain what you saw in the inner workings of government during the war years?"

"I apologize for raising my voice," he sighs with trembling lips. "I formed the Committee for Foreign Intervention along with a few like-minded colleagues. Kiran Lang, Aubrey Lewinsky…"

He lists many names from many different political parties before continuing. Some of these are new to me, and others are vocally anti-war today.

"We were laughed at at first. Sending our boys and girls to die an ocean away wasn't exactly a popular notion with most of parliament, and we were ostracized by our own parties. We grueled and lobbied for months, but to no avail. But—" he stops and smiles. "Hoenn joined Kanto's side and Sinnoh joined to help Johto. Alola was a Hoennian colony at the time, which Orre was very interested in seizing for themselves for a forward-facing base in the Azure Ocean."

"Ah. Now it's starting to make sense."

"Orre invaded Alola with a surprise attack and seized the archipelago for themselves in Hoenn's moment of weakness, and that got Parliament nervous. Orre might be a backwater now, but ten years ago it rivaled Unova— but of course, you know that already."

He clears his throat and I continue.

"Wouldn't logic dictate that you back Kanto and Hoenn should Orre back the other side?"

"Geopolitics aren't that simple. The last thing we wanted was for the war to escalate and for our cities to be bombed to smithereens. A land war with Orre would be terrible for us. Instead, we looked to pragmatism. Join the war on Orre, Sinnoh and Johto's side and act as a mediator after what looked like an inevitable victory. Grant Alola its independence from Orre through diplomacy and weaken them in the process due to the fact that they would have used men, money and resources on a country they wouldn't control.."

"Pragmatism and democracy?"

"Why not both? One does not disallow the other," he shrugs. "Anyway, suddenly, we were all about intervention, and the Committee finally got to work. We would send Johto an expeditionary force 150,000 thousand strong, not counting the Pokemon, and most of our efforts would be concentrated in the sea and air. We expected complete domination. After all, it was four countries against two."

"But other regions intervened."

"So goes history," Mason nods. "You know, sometimes I have these visions at night. Nightmares."

"Nightmares?"

"What if Moltres had picked Unova to scorch instead of Orre?" he trembles. "Then we would be ruined, and they would be prospering. Unova won the coin flip."

"You think it was a coin flip?"

"I doubt the Legends bothered to learn about the intricacies of who was at fault, who was in the right, and what region to burn, freeze, or electrocute. We were dirtying their backyard and they gave the Durant nest a kick. Hundreds of millions died in the process."

"What do you think the future holds for Unovan politics?"

"Well, as much as it pains to admit, we achieved all of our war goals and we're the only power left on the continent. Orre doesn't have a functioning government any longer and the majority of their people died in the fires. Their lush lands were glassed and turned into desert. So…"

His face scrunches up, and he exhales.

"In the end, I suppose Unova was one of the winners."

ECRUTEAK CITY, STATE OF KANTO-JOHTO - THE LEGENDARY BEASTS, AN ACCOUNT BY LIZBETH BANE

Lizbeth Bane glares at me as I enter her office, and she stops typing on her type-writer for a moment before continuing. She asks if I'm the interviewer her staffers were so excited about, and I say yes, introducing myself. She dresses like a man, sporting a black suit and pants with a tie. She was one of Johto's leading Legendary researchers during the war, but today, she is just a University Professor in Ecruteak. Her office is orderly, as if everything is in its intended spot.

"Sorry for the inconvenience. What can you tell me about the Legendary Beasts? Raikou, Entei, Suicune?"

"Not much," she snorts dismissively. "Don't expect to get a full account of how we went about creating the artificial ones. That is classified information, and I value being alive."

"On the fourth year of the war, the Legendary Beasts— or some form of them were seen aiding Johto's alliance. This sent Kanto and Hoenn into a panic, but they quickly realized they were not the real deal."

"Yes, yes, yes," she groaned. "They were not real. The fact that Kanto, Hoenn, Kalos and Paldea thought they were for even a few days is proof that they lack a lot of intellect," she quips. "Sinnoh had… the technology and knowledge to create things from nothing. It took four years to find the right vessel. I won't go deeper into it."

"So how strong were these fake beasts in actuality?"

"Around the level of an average Gym Leader's Pokemon. Devastating in battle, but not war-changing like we needed them to be. There were worries about… you know what, never mind. Just know that they were not sustainable, which is why they stopped being used after six months."

"And the war was not sustainable either, was it?"

"Why do you think Kanto and their allies broke through in the final months? Obviously, it was not sustainable. We were slowly losing, inch by inch until everything gave away and the entire war effort unraveled."

"Getting back on the topic of the Beasts. Could you have created any Legend— or a bootleg version of them, at the very least?"

"Theoretically. But the Beasts were simple. The Legendary Birds, they're a concept. Too blurry, not enough form. We cannot understand them well. Ho-Oh and Lugia are the same. They are constants. Laws of the world that will survive for time eternal. The Legendary Beasts are good. They're Legends, but understanding them is almost achievable, or at least that was the theory."

"And this technology is in the hands of the new government?"

Lizbeth laughs dryly. "Calling it technology is funny," she says. "But yes. You can bet that every single state now knows the theory behind it. Putting it in place is another ordeal entirely. It's not just Kanto-Johto and Sinnoh that know it. We all know it. And I hope we all understand that experimenting with things that were not meant to be played with would be incredibly stupid."

The weight of her statement settles in the room, and everything seems darker for a moment.

I breathe.

HAU'OLI CITY, REPUBLIC OF ALOLA - REFUGEE HAVEN, AN ACCOUNT BY LANAKINA PUKAHI

Lanakina takes a long drag of his cigarette as we sit on the beach and watch the waves. Time seems to sit still on the pristine beach, and the sound of the water feels nice on my ears, even if writing in the sand is an awful experience. Hau'oli city sits in the distance. It is already a lot larger than it was when I first came here two years ago. The sunlight feels heavy on my skin. Lanakina breathes out smoke and smiles. He works in the Alolan Ministry of the Interior and is overseeing Hau'oli's current expansion.

"Go on," he says.

"Thank you. Alola's been independent for ten years, now. Would you say the… ordeal has been a success?"

"I'd say it's been so and so," he frowns. "Hard to negotiate with the hundreds of Pokemon to expand without a full-fledged war that no one wants. There have been times when conflict was inevitable, and Unova's been a big help in that regard. War never stops. It just slows, wanes, and then picks up again."

"And how is the government? It wasn't modeled after Unova, was it?"

"It was not. We aren't exactly compatible," he chuckles. "We're far more in tune with nature, and we've got no League. Everything's civilian-run."

"Is the fact that a city is bulldozing over a tropical forest not ironic when considering that statement?"

"If it was Unova, everything would have burned down already," Lanakina shrugs. "Not that we could do that with the Tapus around. It's all about not stepping on their toes."

"Alola's been getting a bit of a reputation lately, hasn't it?"

He smiles proudly. "We're a damn refugee haven, that's what we are. We'll take your poor, your tired, your criminals, anything so long as you can work. Our population's growing exponentially. From a few tens of thousands to the 400,000 we have today. Hopefully it doesn't stop for a while. We need the labor."

"There's been accusations of you taking in war criminals from every region. Layne Lancaster moved to Hau'oli from Kanto, for example. He was known to line up trainers and force them to kill their own Pokemon to spare their own lives, and he would kill those that did regardless afterward."

Lanakina's face falls. "Is that what this is?"

"I'm just asking questions."

"I did say we'll take your criminals. War criminals included," he speaks. "People always rag on us for doing this. They say that we should follow the rule of law— the fucking rule of law! Hah! Give me a break! Every region's got their skeletons in their closets. Hoenn grabbed themselves a bunch of terrible scientists— war criminals," he presses. "To start some kind of fucking space program. Humans going to and sending things to space? What's next? Complete nonsense. Unova allowed the richest to move into their country so they invest in their economy no matter what fucked up crime they committed. It's war crimes all the way down, Jonathan. No one's got clean hands."

"Fair enough. But no one's been as open with it as Alola has been."

"Every region's got their niche. We have to specialize, or we'll die. We're the smallest in terms of land area and population, we've got no oil, no rare minerals… nothing. We have to allow ourselves to build ourselves up, and for that, we need immigrants. You come here, you've got a clean slate. Don't fuck up again, and we'll turn our heads the other way."

"Has Orre… well, do you share any bad blood with Orre?"

"If there was anyone left to have bad blood with, maybe," he sighs heavily. "Poor bastards. They invaded us and occupied us for years, but they weren't as bad as they could have been, especially compared to how brutal Hoenn was with us and the news we heard about the front in Shinwa. I feel terrible for all the death there, but what can you do but pray and hope for the best?"

"I suppose so."

"I suppose so? Have some heart you emotionless bastard," he complains.

GATEON PORT, ORRE - HELL, AN ACCOUNT BY SIDNEY PIERCE

Gateon Port is a small settlement of a few tens of thousands of people, and it is far more orderly than I expected. It is one of Orre's only permanent settlements and the only one with a semblance of a functioning society. Coming here is more difficult than I expected. There are no airports to use, and ships have a high chance of being seized by pirates. Many people walk around with guns and rifles, and Sidney Pierce does so as well. He is thinner than what seems healthy with scabs and bruises all over his body. Beyond the city, there is some greenery, but beyond even that, there are the endless dunes that stretch taller than mountains. I cannot help but look over my shoulder every few seconds even though I have hired guards to come with me. Other than their own, there are no Pokemon in sight. The majority of people walking around me have some kind of burned tissue on their bodies.

"Before we begin, I have to ask. What's with the—"

"Guns?" He speaks with a frail voice. Even then, he looms threateningly. "You gotta have a way to defend yourself, man."

"I've heard of this before, but there are no Pokemon here?"

"Oh, there are. Just not enough for everyone. That's not even speaking of maintenance and the fact that we don't have many Pokeballs left from the pre-war days. That stasis effect would at least help us not have to feed the damn things that much," he says with a fidget.

"Have there been any attempts to establish a working government here?"

"And do what? What is there to rule over exactly? A few settlements, nomads, ruins?" He stops to spit on the ground. "There's nothing left. A few dozen Moltres was all it took to commit genocide on a scale the world had never seen. Half of us died from the fires, then another forty-five percent from the societal collapse that came after or they managed to run away. Famine, disease, crime, it doesn't take much to kill a man."

He pauses.

"That's not to say no one tried. They just all failed."

"If you had someone in charge, the situation would improve, wouldn't it?"

"Want me to tell you what we need for the situation to improve? International help," he says.

"Many regions have sent help. Unova, Galar, Hoenn… to this very port, in fact."

"That shit gets stolen and sold the moment your ships leave," he rolls his eyes. He stops to erratically scratch his elbow and grunts. "We need a force to fix things. A few thousand, well-trained men and women would be all it takes to take control of this port. Then they can go from there."

"So you're asking to be invaded?"

"Fuck yeah, I'll be invaded! People can invade this shithole all they want! I don't care who does it, I just want someone to do something. Not that it'd be easy. Plenty of people have used this crisis to make a fortune, and they'd fight back any authority. Anarchy pays, believe it or not."

"It would be horribly expensive."

"And war isn't?" He raises a twitching eyebrow.

"That depends. Are there any other settlements like this?"

"This port's the biggest, and there are a few others on the coast. There are also a few beyond the coast, and I've heard whispers of some underground city being built inland too. Only rumors, though."

"Some people live inland? Isn't that terribly dangerous?"

His lips quiver, and he stammers. "People will live anywhere, man. There are raiders, Pokemon that live in the dunes, the threat of dehydration, walking for days and weeks in the sand to reach the next settlement or oasis. Most of the people you'll see in-land are nomads trying to go east."

"To get to the Unovan border and cross it."

"That, and also scavenge the remains of our old cities that are still standing. I've been to two back in the early days. They're all so empty. Hundreds of skyscrapers burned to a crisp and barely standing. It's hard to imagine we all lived there back in the day. Plenty of scrap metal and other goodies to steal, though."

"Did you lose anyone in the Great Fire?"

"That's what they call it abroad?" Sidney snorts. "Yeah, man. It'd be hard to find someone who didn't lose someone else. The entire fucking region was set ablaze. You don't just scrape through that without losses."

"My condolences—"

"Thank you. Move on."

"What's your plan for the future? Is there any hope of recovery for Orre?"

"I heard a few people say it'd take a thousand years for the land to go back to normal, so no," he shakes his head. "Just… survive. Live every day like it's the last, because some motherfucker might shoot me in my sleep for forgetting to pay him back. Maybe find one of 'em Moltres Avatars and shoot it before burning to a crisp. Wouldn't that be fun?"

I don't answer.

COUMARINE CITY, THE KALOSIAN REPUBLIC - REGRETS, AN ACCOUNT BY TRISTAN ARCENEAUX

I watch life on Coumarine's port go by and can't help but marvel at its beauty. It is a stark contrast to Gateon Port. Orderly, well-staffed, paved ground, and Pokemon wandering about. I sit in a restaurant next to the port and Tristan sits with me while on his break. Today, he is just a waiter, content to live a discreet life. Ten years ago, he was a leading figure in the Kalosian revolution that overthrew the old monarchy. Today, Kalos retains much of its old traditions with noble titles, but it is a full-fledged republic.

"When I talked to you on the phone, you said that you thought the war was a good thing. Will you explain why?"

"Is there a King in Kalos, Jonathan? A Queen? A royal family?"

I cannot help but notice the thick accent. Kalos is one of the only countries not to speak our common language, and it is hard to understand him. Tristan's words were slow, long and drawn out.

"Well, I suppose not."

"Exactly. Because we killed them and grabbed freedom for ourselves. Without the war, the conditions needed for this never would have risen."

"And why did Kalos join the war on Kanto's side, exactly?"

"I am no politician. Just a retired revolutionary. I do not know what goes through their minds. But scum supports scum, Jonathan. Kalos was an absolute monarchy. Kanto was a military dictatorship that was at war against Unova, Galar, Orre, Johto and Sinnoh with only Hoenn on their side. Authoritarians fear when their fellow dictators fall. For a second, it probably seemed like the entire world was changing. That dictators were going to fall. I supposed that scared King Charles III and his ministers."

"And that is why Paldea joined as well?"

Tristan chuckles. "Possibly. They're a Military Junta, so a dictatorship all the same. The key point, though, was to be a counterweight to the other nations hoping to strike Kanto down."

"How did you start getting involved in the Kalosian Revolution exactly?"

"It was during the war. Kalos was the only nation not on Shinwa that had implemented… uh, how do you say it… conscription on its people. A lot of us were forced to fight in a war that we did not care about whatsoever. I was lucky and was not drafted, but my brother was, and you can guess that anger needed to be redirected somewhere."

"So you got involved before the war ended?"

"Far before," he nods. "That was how I ended up as one of its leaders by the end. At first, we did not want to bring down the monarchy. We just wanted to end the war. We would bomb ships, railroads, airports, military bases. We were a thorn in the government's side, but we were an effective thorn that hampered the war effort well. Of course, la Guarde Royale hunted us like dogs."

"How did you start wanting to abolish the monarchy?"

"It came in phases. When we realized that King Charles III was not going to come to the negotiating table, we decided that we needed to do more. We settled on a constitutional monarchy at first, a…" he frowns to find the word, gesturing above the able with a hand. "A Figurehead with no power— like what they have in Galar. Of course, everything changed when the war ended."

He stops to see if I need to speak, but I just nod.

"With the troops coming back home, we were killed by the thousands. The bodies of my camarades were hung high to scare our fellow citizens. Public executions were done by the King's Haxorus. Heads were cut off with the move Guillotine."

"So your movement became more radical."

"As it should!" He yells, unabashed by his surrounding employees and clients. "Soldiers that had seen the horrors of war joined us by the tens of thousands. There were riots in the streets from the lackluster response to the appearance of Zapdos in Lumiose. People were hungry, tired, scared, angry. Kalos gave out at the seams. King Charles was betrayed by his own guardsmen and many of his Lords who knew the situation was untenable, and we killed him and his wife. We gave them both a trial, of course. They were both convicted of trai— treason and their heads were cut, like what was done to so many of ours beforehand. Their children were exiled to Galar and I am sure they are living a nice life."

He chews on his words and drums his fingers against the table.

"Parts of me wish we would have kept them in prison. Who knows if thirty years from now, Galar will not hang them over our heads and use their claim to go to war?"

"So you still dislike Galar, then? Even after becoming a republic?"

"Rulers may change, but history and politics do not. Galar was a threat to us before the republic, and it still is now."

"Who did you take inspiration from to form your new government?"

"No one, save for the Gym Leader system that we found would be a stable alternative to the Lords and a Champion and Elite Four to lead the military side of things— with oversight from l'Assemblée Nationale and le Sénat."

"And the Lords… what happened to them?"

"The ones that helped the King were killed or imprisoned. The ones that helped us kept their titles, were stripped of most of their lands, but got to keep crumbs. Much more than I would have liked."

"You could have been in an important position in the new government—"

"I was not after power. Just freedom, and revenge for my brother's death. Vive la république, et vive Kalos."

FLOAROMA CITY, SINNOH - WAR HEALING, AN ACCOUNT GIVEN BY SALOME THE GARDEVOIR

Salome gently gestures me toward a couch, and I sink into the comfortable fabric. Her rooms had dim, yellow lights that washed over the walls and her face. She moves her arm and the door locks.

"Thank you for your time, and for meeting me on such a short notice. I had a few questions about—"

(She cuts me off and answers in my mind, but I will use quotation marks for consistency)

"My time spent healing during the war," she says with a nod.

"You were told about me?"

"I can read it. In your mind."

"So you can know what I think at all times?"

"Correct. I will often let people talk regardless, because humans like to talk. It is good to heal."

"You were one of the therapists on the front, were you not?"

"Yes. I spent many years there, speaking to humans and Pokemon— but mostly humans. My job was to get them in fighting shape as fast as possible, so my healing was often not sufficient. Despite my warnings, they often took them anyway."

"How did you help people get better?"

"It depends. For the loss of a family member or a Pokemon, I would allow them time to grieve, cry in my arms while I soothed them and told them everything would be okay. For a soldier who was wounded and was in horrible pain, I would make them feel things. Block off pain. Have them focus on the good."

"So you altered how they felt?"

"I could not bear to watch them squirm in pain. They asked for me every time they were wounded. I was one of the most popular therapists on the front. Humans like to speak about the ethics of messing with the mind, but when someone's leg is shattered and he needs to wait two days for the nurses to amputate him safely, I would rather block off the pain than not."

"Do you ever regret sending so many young men back to fight after they'd suffered so much?"

"The war was a human construct. I was just living in it, and doing my best," Salome softly says. "If it hadn't been me, it would have been someone else. The fact that I am an empath just made me better at the job. I did not care much for sides or who would win. I simply wanted to help them attain a better state of mind."

"What led you to this career path? Today, you've used your experience to become a therapist here in Floaroma."

"I belonged to a human that fought in the war. When she died to a stray Stone Edge, I was healed by a woman. I couldnt help but feel like a failure. My barrier had been breached by that Stone Edge and I had gotten my trainer killed, but somehow, her words made me feel better and allowed me to forgive myself. Seeing her work made me want to do the same. Had I not been a Gardevoir, I doubt my request to be a healer would have been approved."

"So there were not many Pokemon therapists, then?"

"A Pokemon healer was a Pokemon not fighting at the front, and psychics were dearly needed. I was more the exception than the rule. Humans are weak and are capable of doing the job just as well."

I nod, noticing her tendency to refer to therapists as healers.

"So now you plan on living in Floaroma as a therapist, then?"

"There is nothing I would rather do. Even today, many men suffer from conditions like shell shock and that still need my help."

"They use a new term for that condition in Unova, now. Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder."

"That… certainly feels more complete than shell shock. I will see if I can spread the term."

---

A/N: For those of you that couldn't tell, this was pretty explicitly inspired by the book World War Z.

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Zeta, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, dotAlice, Nova, Plasmatique, Peg, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, SmallBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 258

Gothitelle could see into the future.

The words rang out over and over in Mira Compton's head as she strode toward Denzel's room. That was something she hadn't accounted for, and like a missing piece of a puzzle, the information slid into her mind and her knowledge became a little more whole, and with that came ever-growing satisfaction that could not be abated. Three months, and only things related to Pauline and herself, Mira thought. That gave them a little wiggleroom. If they never planned to involve Pauline into Team Galactic shenanigans, then Gothitelle would never find out about anything. And yet, Pauline was in some sort of danger. Would Mars target her because she was one of Grace's friends? Likely, with how much of a crazy bitch the Team Galactic admin was. Part of Mira almost considered just ripping the band-aid off and talking to Gothitelle, but Pauline was starting to dislike her again for being in the know while she was not, and if Pauline disliked her, then Gothitelle would too. Never mind the fact that the psychic wanted Mira to stay away from her.

While Mira thought about how to approach this Gothitelle situation and stepped into the elevator, multiple trains of thought ran in the background of her mind. Eevee was not looking like an option right now because of money issues, so she was weighing the benefit of catching an Exeggcute in the Safari Zone. Mr. Jimenez needed her code done by six in the evening, and she hadn't even started it yet outside of visualizing it in her head. Somehow, she made mistakes in her head too. She was self-taught in coding, but his extra push had made her fully capable of creating non-sentient Porygon, and a lot of other useful things. She currently had around eight in her phone, at the moment, not counting her actual Porygon, who was currently watching videos on there after getting banned from that gacha game for hacking. Either way, the Porygon would be useful for later. Mira was also considering what the hell she'd tell Denzel about all of this, thinking about new techniques for Haunter and Magnezone, and what the hell she was going to eat this evening. Always Quesadillas— Exeggcute were known to be a lot to handle, but Blue Oak's Exeggutor was a menace— Hi big guy! Your not-girlfriend can potentially blow the lid on this whole thing and I don't think she's great at keeping secrets— Just a few more shifts and I'll get my Upgrade to evolve Porygon— Should I do something about Porygon getting addicted to gambling in video games— Okay, but Quasadillas are great.

It was never overwhelming. Mira had gradually grown into it, and was glad that she at least had that to work with, because without it, what was she? Not much. But Chasey would tell her to cheer up and that he was here for her if she needed him, so she did, donning a smile as she knocked on Denzel's door. Mira knew Chase didn't like her back at this point. She wasn't one to miss the subtle signs of romance, which was why she'd toned down the flirting just a bit. He was still a great guy, though. Great friend too.

All of her friends were great, really, but he and Maeve were extra great, even if she didn't see her too much these days with the distance she'd taken from the group to hang out with Zoey and them no longer traveling together. Maeve was pissed with her too. Too nosey, she had called her. Not that she was incorrect.

Denzel opened the door, his body filling the entire frame. He looked down at Mira and gave her a disappointed look.

"Ouch. If you didn't want to see me, at least hide it from your face," the girl joked.

"That obvious?" He scratched the back of his head. "Sorry, I thought it was maybe Pauline or Emi or something. Thought I could fix things with them."

"That bad, huh? Can I come in?"

He shifted away from the entrance and gestured her in. "Yup." He closed the door. "What's the problem?" he asked. The tension in his body was easy to see. "No poacher trouble?"

"If there was, I would have sent you a text or called, not waltzed into your room willy-nilly."

"Right."

"Okay, so Pauline's Gothitelle. Did you know she could kind of see three months into the future?" Mira asked, tracing her hand against the wooden desk. Denzel stayed silent, his mouth agape. "Okay, so you didn't know. Got it. She was hiding it from you— well, not hiding it, but she just never thought it to be relevant to bring up until someone asked about Gothitelle. Fair enough."

"Wh—what?"

"Yeah, she's warned her to stay away from us— well, you weren't included in the equation, so you're fine, and I doubt Pauline will listen to her anyway. The problem is that I'm starting to lose my doubts that Gothitelle won't figure this entire thing out soon, and that's kind of a ticking time bomb. I don't really know how any of that shit works yet, and the problem is exactly that. So, since Pauline kind of dislikes me right now, I'm going to need you in there to figure out the quirks of how it works. Gothitelle and Xatu are the only Pokemon who can use Future Sight to see longer than like, one minute. Uses the powers of the stars, or something. I won't be able to fill in the gaps until we talk or you come back with more information— oh, I'm rambling, sorry."

"Yeah. I mean, our talk went pretty bad," Denzel winced. "Uh, I'll try to, I guess. I'm pretty sure all of them have a bone to pick with me, at the moment."

"What words did you use?" Mira asked. "I hope you didn't use 'it's for your own good', that one never goes over well."

Denzel's jaw clenched.

"Oh, okay. That was meant to be a joke, sorry," Mira nervously laughed. "Uh, it can't be that bad. I'm sure she still loves you and everything. Give it another day or two."

Every day was a risk, but love was an annoying thing, Mira internally sighed.

"I'll do that," he nodded.

"Hey, I'm no Grace, but I can tell you're still shaken," Mira patted him on the arm. "Why don't I get some coding done here for my job, and we can talk in the meantime about your streaming stuff and how terrible I am to keep as company."

"Won't you need to focus?"

"Nah," Mira said, dropping her backpack to pick up her laptop. "It's just shitty menial tasks. Copy paste a large portion of the code, then tweak it a bit depending on what the Porygon will do. Right now, Mr. Jimenez is asking for Porygon that search through social media to feed ads to users for Chatter, and Chatter sells the data. Or other social media sites. Pretty fucking nifty."

"If you say so. Did you always swear this much, by the way?" Denzel asked, his tone relaxing slightly.

Mira raised her eyebrows. "Huh. I guess I got a little bit of Chasey in me."

Denzel's face scrunched up. "Never say that again."

—

One day later.

Mudsdale walked at a trot, but even his trot made the ground rumble. The ground type was definitely heavier than one ton, that was for sure. There was a reason the Rangers didn't allow him to walk inside the buildings other than him being slightly above eight feet tall. His sheer weight would just destroy any tiles he tried to walk on. I wasn't the one riding him, not that I wasn't going to try. Right now, Angel had anchored himself on Mudsdale's back, vines attached all around the ground type's body and some around his neck. Angel mimicked an elated yell with an eye-smile as Mudsdale rode around in a circle.

Sunshine was still dumbfounded by the entire thing, but he mused that he should have known Tangrowth would have done something like this.

I snorted, staring up from my laptop. "Let him have his fun. He's gotten the idea to ride something ever since I started using his head as a passenger seat," I said, slowing down a video of Gyarados. I sipped on another cup of tea that Mr. Brockhouse had graciously brewed for me. This one was different than what I'd gotten yesterday and had a little bit of a fresh, minty aftertaste to it. Was mint tea a thing? It was probably a thing. "But you have to admit the introductions are going well, no?"

Sunshine nodded and let a smile slip on his face. Supposedly Mudsdale never would have done something like this before.

"Really? He's such a softie, though. Kind of like you. Tough on the outside, but when you open up—"

And with that, the dragon left. I rolled my eyes, and Princess sniggered. I was sitting on her, at the moment. Without a saddle, of course. I wasn't going to pass up sitting on someone so comfortable, and there weren't any seats nearby. Buddy was practicing Taunt with Sweetheart in the distance, and he was getting the hang of it. The rock type had already gotten her fair share of rides, even though she could barely balance herself on Mudsdale for more than five seconds and the ground type could barely support her weight. Every time she fell off, Princess had to fix up the crater that formed. Turning my attention back to Princess, a wisp of bright red flames constantly appeared and reappeared in front of her.

"You're on break right now," I said, passing a hand over her head. "Relax a little. Wanna go for a ride next?"

The fairy type huffed, saying that she was above such things.

I rolled my eyes. "Whatever you say. I saw you looking at Mudsdale earlier and you know you can't hide envy from me." I waited to gauge her reaction, but she didn't budge. "I guess Honey'll be next."

The electric type couldn't practice Bulldoze and his other moves outside of the battling arena, so he was one of the few actually taking his break. His control over electricity had grown almost perfectly, so he was holding onto and reading the Detective comics I'd bought him in Sunyshore. I returned to my studying until Mudsdale strode up to me and neighed to catch my attention. He had called out my name.

Angel hopped off the ground type's back with a dull thud, and Princess asked him if he had fun. I turned my full attention to Mudsdale, whose words were still largely unknown to me. It had only been one day since we'd met, after all.

I slid off Princess' back, hobbling on one leg until I got my crutches. Angel, as diligent as ever, slipped my second one into my right hand before I could even blink. My laptop returned to my backpack.

"Thank you," I said before turning to Mudsdale. "Let's go for a walk."

The horse cocked his head to the side, but nodded. Sunshine was lying down in the distance on the rocky floor, taking in today's warmth, but he couldn't have been more obvious about spying on us. We were in an isolated spot in the outpost, which hadn't been hard to find with how empty of trainers it was. Luckily, it was still expertly guarded, so I still felt safe not having an eye on my family at all times.

"How'd you like them?" I finally asked.

Mudsdale stayed silent for a few seconds before settling on an answer. I had to work to figure out what it meant. A small diffusion of satisfaction, steady and firm, but also nostalgia. Huh, interesting. Kamaile's team hadn't had any children.

"I'm glad you like them," I smiled. "They're everything to me. It would have been difficult if you didn't get along. I could tell Sweetheart got a little on your nerves earlier, though. Sorry about her, she's very easy to excite, and her evolution being nearby's got her in all sorts of moods. She thinks she's going to take over the world."

Mudsdale snorted at that, but it was short-lived. Any laugh was good, though. Mudsdale's apathetic view toward life was difficult to miss.

"You've worked with kids before, haven't you?" I asked.

The ground type hid the surprise on his face very well, not even changing the rhythm at which he walked. He answered with a simple nod.

"Use your words. If you don't, I'll still learn, but I'll learn slower," I said.

Of course, that came back to bite me in the ass. I understood maybe ten percent of the long speech that came next, and that wasn't enough to gather context to answer back.

"Okay, I'm not going to lie, I got a big head." I turned my head away from him in slight embarrassment. "I didn't get a lot of that… okay, I didn't get most of that."

Mudsdale didn't laugh, thank the Legendaries, but he did shoot me a curious look.

"Sunshine told you about it already, right? Through circumstances I'm not too sure about, I can understand Pokemon after three days with them or so," I explained, skirting around the name Mesprit. "It's certainly made life a whole lot easier. I couldn't imagine my life without it at this point. It'd be like not being alive, really," I ended with a murmur. "But there's no, like, trick to it or anything."

The ground type let out a pensive, rumbling neigh.

"Right? It's weird, isn't it?" I giggled. "Anyway, children! Was it back in Alola?"

Mudsdale nodded, but before he could explain, I opted to have Buddy take his break and come translate. It'd be good bonding, too. My voice carried far in the empty outpost, and he listened right away, sliding across the cracks in the ground and reaching me in mere seconds. Sweetheart looked on, angry that her 'student' had been taken away from her. Jellicent was the one who had taken to Mudsdale the most. He really knew how to approach him and talk to him without stepping on his non-existent toes.

Mudsdale had lived in a group before… well, that part was left unspoken, but he'd been a part of a herd. He had been at its head— the only Mudsdale that led around twenty Mudbray (the number often fluctuated, but it was around there), which I assumed was part of why he was such a steady Pokemon. Someone I felt like I could rely and depend on for whatever I needed.

He didn't go that in-depth with the story, but I assumed that Kamaile had gotten him to agree to join him and not caught him by force. That wasn't his or Alola's style, and I doubted that Mudsdale would have spoken about his old herd without some bitterness if he'd been forcefully ripped away from them.

"I didn't know you lived in herds!" I exclaimed. "I'm guessing you helped with the kids, then."

He did. All the time. And that had built him a tolerance for kid shenanigans. Apparently, in his species, it was customary for the males to lead and take care of the herd while the females were more aggressive and usually didn't lead. There were, of course, always exceptions. Males would also strike out on their own when they reached maturity to start their own herds, either with a few others that they convinced to leave or finding Mudbray or Mudsdale in the wild. He had gone alone, because apparently the first option sometimes created huge rifts in communities that could sometimes end up in fights, or multi-generational spanning rivalries.

Buddy sagely nodded, absorbing all of this information with great interest while he translated, and Mudsdale seemed very pleased that we were hanging onto his every word. I could tell he wasn't used to being listened to like this. It wasn't hard to imagine Sunshine just ignoring what he said, or even the other members of Kamaile's team. I had only heard a few stories about them each, but only Drampa was the one who looked like she would have cared.

We finished our walk in comfortable silence. When we looped back to my family, Angel quickly scuttled toward me, pushing himself with dozens of vines and motioning with a dozen more.

"I can't ride Mudsdale, that was—"

That was Kamaile's spot. Other Pokemon were fine, but Mudsdale only had one trainer, even if he was dead. The ground type paused and then said something else. No translation came out of Buddy's mouth. Instead, Angel hoisted me onto Mudsdale's back, and the horse didn't even so much as twitch to disagree.

"Okay, I guess I am riding you," I chuckled nervously. My hands went to grip at the ground type's dark hair, but I had to work to get in there. The texture was so tough and it was so tightly wound together that digging my fingers to get a grip on it took twenty seconds of effort. "Go slowly, please. It'll hurt too much if my leg bounces."

Seeing the ground from up here was scarier than flying high in the sky, for some reason. Or maybe it was because I didn't have a saddle? Mudsdale slowly walked around the outpost. His hair was softer on the inside than the outer layer, so I ended up petting it the entire time.

Oh, and Princess demanded a ride when we were done.

—

One day later

"So there's one thing you've got to understand, Musdale," I said as I tied my hair back. Togekiss flew far above us, electricity sparkling through her fur. "Princess is like, very uppity. I guess I'm to blame for that? I kind of struggle telling her no unless she demands outrageous things. I think she's been having some kind of rebellious phase too. But! She's also a huge baby, so you don't want to talk back to her too hard."

Sunshine nodded along, adding that it had taken him months to learn to walk the careful line. One second, he could be bantering back with her, and the other she'd be crying to me. Mudsdale raised a hairless brow but followed what we were saying. There had been no accidents yet, but I figured it was better to warn him because they were bound to happen.

"So yeah, she's capricious and I love her," I said, feeling a smile tug at my lips. "But befriending her is solving a puzzle in and of itself."

Mudsdale had decided to ask me about members of my family and what I thought about them, starting with Princess first. I didn't know if he was just genuinely curious or if this was a test of some kind, but I did love to gush about my kids, so I wouldn't miss an opportunity like this. Plus, I was on break, having finally smoothed out my strategy for Wake. Now all I needed was to figure out a containment procedure should he use Palafin. Part of me wondered if I'd need to just throw the match so he wouldn't transform— or transform as late as possible, but that was needlessly risky and complicated. Still nice to keep it as a contingency, though.

"Okay, so, Angel. He's a little strange, right?" I turned to look at the grass type, who was using Ingrain on the barren Ranger grounds. If he could find nutrients here, he could find them anywhere. "Non-verbal. I still don't know why. I guess he was just born this way, but he's easy to understand once you get the gist of his sign language."

Sunshine snorted, letting me know that I was completely wrong. He was just starting to get it after having been with us for months.

I rolled my eyes. "You look at the vines too much. It's mostly in the eyes, Sunshine. Anyway, he's a very sweet boy. Wants everyone to get along all the time, and is actually very easygoing. He's great at listening to people venting too, believe it or not. A great listener in general. I've spent a lot of nights just talking to him about problems. And he's great with kids! Even though he's a kid himself."

Turtornator grunted to say that he wasn't so sure about that. Mudsdale opted not to say anything.

"What? Have you seen him?" I scoffed. "He's totally a kid. Here, let me call him over— Angel!"

The grass type turned, then waved at me before he waddled over with a cute skip. A vine snaked around my good ankle and leg as soon as he got close enough. I had long learned to live with his clinginess. In fact, I thought it was cute.

"Hey kiddo. Mudsdale wanted to know how old you were. I know you said you don't remember, but why don't you try to ballpark the number."

He tilted his entire body, then blinked. Slowly, eight vines rose. At first, I thought he'd meant eight, which was a lot older than I'd believed, but I knew from the sharpness in his eyes that he meant decades, not mere years. Eighty. I closed my mouth, which had opened without me knowing, and gulped.

"Woah. I, uh, I thought you were a lot younger than that."

Sunshine shrugged, asking if it mattered if he behaved like a child half the time anyway.

No.

It did not.

"You're a cute kid, Angel," I smirked. "Why don't I go cook something for everyone? The Center's basically empty, I'm sure I could borrow the kitchen."

Honey appeared before me with surprising control over Radiant Leap and grinned.

"Let's do this," I said, returning the smile.

—

The Pokemon Center's kitchen was a grand affair. An almost endless row of stainless steel countertops sat to my left, serving as the station where most meals were prepared. Large sinks were positioned to the sides, where a lonely cook was currently washing a bunch of plates. She was the only person on shift at the moment, and had been very nice about lending me a slice of her kitchen. People were surprisingly amenable if you were nice and listened to their worries for a little while.

"Remind me to never try to make pizza again, Hon," I sighed. I leaned toward one of the five ovens, looking at the awful experiment the both of us had created while Electivire cleaned the dishes. He had to be very careful with the measuring cups and handful of spoons I'd used to spread the sauce— so careful that he was holding them between two of his fingers. The fact that he could actually touch water without killing everything in the vicinity meant that he was basically normal again. I slid next to him and elbowed his side. "Let me help you out. You did most of the work."

The electric type hummed, his two tails straightening. Electivire tails were very expressive, not that I needed to keep track of body language. Straight when focused or in a fight, loose when relaxed or having fun, and everything in between. He was disappointed in the results, but still excited to taste the damn pizza. We'd made it twice as big as the recipe said because of all the mouths to feed, bought the needed ingredients at a nearby grocery store (which was the only one in the station), but we'd messed up so many times with the dough that we'd run out and decided to do with what we had. An hour and a half later, here we were.

I rubbed a sponge against a metallic bowl. "It's almost ready, by the way. Feel free to go take a look."

Electivire responded with soon. He was very diligent, wanting to finish cleaning everything up before reaping the fruits of our labor. I hobbled behind him and wiped away the leftover flour that had fallen on the counter. We passed the time with him telling me about his comics that he was devouring through and reading to Princess. Having no arms didn't mean Togekiss couldn't turn the pages with Psychic, but she was being a damsel about it.

"Oh, by the way," I said when we were done.

I swiveled around and wrapped Honey into a tight, soothing hug. All this time, I'd waited for him to be ready, and he finally was, despite me still smelling ozone and my ponytail standing straight up. He returned the hug, of course, and I didn't miss the relief rolling off of him. If the cook was looking at us now, I'm sure it would have looked comical, to see me dwarfed by Honey, both in height and in width.

"I'm proud of you," I spoke into his fur. "Truly."

I let go before he did, and realized he wanted to stay like this longer, so I listened. We hugged until the oven dinged, and before I could go to pick up the pizza, Honey did, expertly wielding a Pizza Peel to slide it out of the oven. For my part, I grabbed the pizza cutter, having always wanted to use one at least once in my life. Just as I finished cutting the pizza, I felt a small shift in my hair, and then noticed white powder falling around the edges of my vision.

"Honey! You little—"

He easily slid back to dodge a swipe of my hand with a grin. He'd thrown flour in my hair, the little prankster. An engine-like laugh filled the kitchens.

I sighed— which was more an amused one than anything. "Ha, ha, ha. You got me," I deadpanned. "Help me clean this flour up, then we'll set up the pizza outside. We have no box, so we need a huge plate, uh, napkins for me, I'll have to hand feed Sweetheart, but Angel will help with that. Two slices each— one slice for me."

While the pizza ended up not being the best, it wasn't bad either, and my Pokemon acted like it was the best thing in the world.

Save for Mudsdale. He wasn't very impressed.

Who knew making Margarita Pizza was this hard?

—

One day later.

"Stop being such a sore loser," I told Sunshine. "You know the days of you being able to fight two-on-one are over, but that doesn't mean you're weak. Weaker Pokemon grow faster than stronger ones, that's literally common knowledge. Staying ahead of the curve for that long would be impossible."

The battlefield lay destroyed in front of me, burned to a crisp from both fire and electricity, and it had been torn through by Bulldoze and Ancient Power. In a feat of glaring overconfidence, Sunshine had challenged both Honey and Angel to a fight to see who'd come out on top. Honestly, I mostly believed he wanted to impress Mudsdale, who had watched on at the edge of the arena with me and the others. While the ground type was no longer interested in battles, he still wanted to see how far his friend had come.

The result had been a dominant victory in Honey and Angel's favor. The electric type had taken to melee, so much of his fur was burned off, but the Cross Chops and Bulldozes he could now deliver had devastated Sunshine, who could only escape using two explosions at a time combined with Flame Charge to fly. Meanwhile, Angel had been support with Ancient Power, since getting too close meant he would burn. Every time the dragon had tried to hit Angel with Flamethrower or Dragon Pulse, Honey had been there to block it with Protect. I had already healed Tangrowth and Electivire, who were taking a break in their Pokeballs.

"Your win condition was rushing Angel and getting him out of the fight, but running away from Honey's impossible, and he's strong now, right?" I explained as I applied a potion to his arm. "He can't overpower you yet strength-wise, but the momentum he builds with Radiant Leap knocks you back. So you had to think outside of the box— using Scorching Sands and Bulldoze was good, but it wasn't enough."

Outside of going all out, winning a two-on-one was a dilemma for him now, and not a particularly close one.

"Ever think of using Flamethrower while using Rapid Spin?" I mused. "Now that you can fly for a few seconds, it'd be worth taking a look at. You trap Honey in a Scorching Sand while baiting him to get up close, then you fly and hit Angel with a Flamethrower instead of having to wait to land. In those few seconds, Honey always managed to free himself."

It was harder than it seemed, he answered. First, he'd have difficulty aiming, which was obvious, and the Flamethrower would only hit Angel for a split-second at a time. Second, he was already focusing everything he had into not losing his balance while using Shell Trap mid-air.

"Okay, then how about leaving the Rapid Spin mid-air and using Flamethrower from there?" I asked. "And hey, what I suggested is still good to keep in mind if you want to spread fire everywhere quickly."

He answered that he obviously knew that already.

"Your new movement options will be great against Wake," I said. I had signed up to battle earlier today before coming here, and my battle was in three days in the evening. I wouldn't be the first one of my friends to battle— but I would be the first one with six badges to do so. Our revelations to Denzel had made him reconsider and decide to stay a little longer. "Anyway, Mudsdale, what'd you think? You wanted to see, after all."

I was under no illusions that this had sparked a new interest in battling for the ground type, but he had looked like he had enjoyed it, at least. Mudsdale swayed his head to the side, allowing his hair to droop, and he told Sunshine he was proud of his progress, which caused him to smother a smile. He was a dragon, and his pride wouldn't allow him to be happy at something as simple as praise from a friend. A friend he hadn't seen in months.

Not that he was hiding it very well.

"You two sure are cute," I giggled before turning back to the ground type. "It's about time to go, unfortunately. We'll be back tomorrow as always— oh, actually, I can't come tomorrow. I've got the UPAN stuff I told you about."

Mudsdale was surprised I forgot about something that important, and I had to tell him I didn't forget, it had just slipped from my mind. I rode him back to the Ranger Station with Sunshine by our side, and one of them came to put him back in his Pokeball. I swung by Brockhouse's office before leaving to thank him for today's tea as well. He'd been making me a cup every time I came here, now that I'd wormed myself into his good graces. I'd need to convince him to teach me about tea soon, but Rangers didn't have days off.

I released Princess, and she began her flight back to Pastoria.

In the days I'd spent at the outpost, I'd spoken to more Rangers than I had in my entire life, and it made me appreciate the work they did. I'd probably… not probably, I had been unfair to them in Veilstone due to my own biases. I knew now that most of them only wanted to do good. Granted, things weren't black and white. It was the Rangers that cleared the routes every time a city needed to expand. It was the Rangers that were the tip of the spear for the human race and that prodded at wild Pokemon over and over until one or a group of them snapped and attacked, after which they would clamp down even harder to prevent it from happening. But some Pokemon were aggressive too, that I couldn't deny.

In the end, what were we but people with different objectives and agendas?

People. The word rang out in my mind as I approached the city.

Tomorrow, I would speak to the people in charge of Pastoria and have my first real foray into politics.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Zeta, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Peg, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, SmallBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider

 

[Soussouni1]

Chapter 259

Pastoria's Municipal building wasn't an impressive one. Oh, sure, it was large and sat nestled in the city center near the docks, but it didn't take my breath away like the Poketch Headquarters in Veilstone had, or Sunyshore's mall, or many of the buildings in Jubilife. The facade of the municipal building was fresh, like it had just been renovated. Red brickwork adorned with dark, ornate limestone soared upward, and I could count five stories and a multitude of decorated windowsills. The entrance wasn't grand. Just two revolving doors at the sides and an automatic door in the middle, all made of pristine glass. Many citizens filtered through those, but a few were people in suits— employees who worked here.

Louis would be disappointed in how this looks. He's always loved architecture.

"You good?" Alex asked.

I snapped out of my analysis of the building and stared at Alex. Ms. Webb was already striding ahead with a confident step, and he didn't want us to fall behind. It wasn't just us three. Around ten UPAN members entered the Municipal building with her, so we were twelve in total, even if Ms. Webb and I were the main ones who were going to make our pitch. Apply pressure at the right moment and with the right words, and you can make someone do anything, she'd told me. She was a brain over brawns type of woman, but I had to admit, at one point, there was only so much intrigue could do against power. For example, the only reason it worked with Cynthia— and thank Arceus it did— was because she played the game, or at least she did in peace time. She had made the rules, after all. It was her game.

The inside of the building was a little more impressive than the outside. On the ground, Pastoria's crest had been carved into the stone. A Gyarados' head, with the words 'In Nature's Embrace, We Flourish' written at the bottom.

"They tried to get it changed to a Floatzel ten years ago," Alex whispered in my ear. "They wanted a local Pokemon to represent them and it was put to a vote, but it narrowly failed."

I hummed at the information provided. Alex was a good friend, but he was a better teacher. The dark-skinned teen was a treasure trove of information about the most random things. Ms. Webb led the UPAN past the large, limestone staircase and toward a backroom. I realized pretty quickly that both sides of the staircase led to the same place: the Council Chamber. I stood on my tiptoe to stare into the semi-circle room through the window in the door and saw that a lot of them were missing. There were supposed to be fifty council members in Pastoria, but there were only around thirty-four of them present, at the moment. There were also normal citizens sitting in for the assembly to see what their elected officials got up to. Ms. Webb told us we'd wait for the current meeting to finish to step in.

"Some of them are missing," I spoke, mostly to myself.

Alex jumped at the occasion to explain, "The chamber's almost never full. Some of them have second jobs, other commitments, are sick… only really important votes get the full fifty. Plus, everyone's united on most issues at the moment to not rock the boat, so it's not like skipping is going to hurt anyone."

"Fair enough," I muttered.

"You feeling nervous?" he asked. "Want to rehearse some lines?"

"I told you I'm not going to do lines," I said, rolling my eyes. "I am somewhat nervous, but I'm okay. Talking to like," I turned back to the room and counted approximately sixty to seventy people in total, "seventy people is okay compared to going on SGNC during their prime hours."

"Fair enough. Just let Ms. Webb take the lead, okay?"

I gave him a teasing smile. "You're more nervous than I am."

"What? No, I'm totally cool," he said, not in a very convincing manner. A hand passed over his Pokeballs, as it did at least once every ten minutes, as if he needed to remind himself they were still there.

"I'll do okay, don't worry about it. If it makes you feel better, you can brief me again on who I need to scare shitless."

Alex nodded, hiding a sigh of relief as he started telling me about people with power in the City Council. Obviously he started with the mayor, the one who would sign any bill into law and send it off to Crasher Wake for final approval. His name was Logan Byrne, the man currently presiding over the chamber and going over City Council business. Madelyne Banks, the Council chairperson who usually ran the chamber, and also an old trainer who got up to three badges in the past, which was a rarity among politicians on the civilian side of government. Then, he listed another nine names— the people on the Safari Zone committee that oversaw most of how it was run and had authority over the 'Rangers' there. Madelyne Banks was included in the list.

It was all old information he had drilled into my head at this point, but he felt safer going over it again and again. Ms. Webb whistled to catch our attention as the meeting finished, and she opened the door to lead us in.

"...before we adjourn, we have one last matter to attend to— well, it appears they've shown themselves in," Logan Byrne spoke into a microphone.

Now that I got a good look inside the chamber, it was less a semi-circle and more of a curved room. Logan Byrne stood on an elevated podium in front of a lectern, his thinning hair combed to perfection to the side of his head. The numerous City Council members sat in front of him in rows of continuous desks bending along the room, each with a nameplate, a water bottle or a drink of some kind, and a microphone. Some of them had notepads to take note in, and even fewer had laptops. Staffers were out and about attending to their every need, and citizens stood to the back, eyeing us with curious eyes. I recognized one of them from all the door-knocking I'd done with Alex. We followed Ms. Webb toward the center of the room, but beforehand I released Honey out of his Pokeball.

Ms. Webb turned back to smirk at me. That hadn't been a part of the plan, but she didn't mind, it seemed. Alex, meanwhile, was sweating bullets, but he said nothing. It was too late now, and he didn't want us to appear divided in front of the politicians when we needed to be a united front. An Electivire was a striking Pokemon to have out in the middle of a City Council meeting, especially with how fresh the evolution still was in everyone's mind. I hobbled on my crutches, keeping up with the UPAN's pace while Honey shadowed me. The point I was trying to make wasn't that I could kill everyone in this room, although I certainly could. While I was without a doubt the most powerful person in this room, no one actually thought that was going to happen and it hadn't crossed my mind in any serious capacity. The point was to have them take me seriously before I even uttered the first word. I was not just a girl, but a trainer.

"The UPAN is here to talk about the situation in the Safari Zone," Logan Byrne said after clearing his throat. "They'll be doing a pitch to see if they can move any votes around. After that, the session will be adjourned."

Huh, this was a lot more laid back than I thought, which was something I actually liked. The fact that they acknowledged that we were straight up trying to change votes was refreshing and made things easier, in a way. Mr. Byrne waved a non-committal hand and a few staffers moved in to give us microphones. When I had asked Alex about this a day ago, he'd said that anyone who wasn't the chairperson or the mayor wasn't allowed to preside over the Chamber because of symbolism and rules. Ms. Webb tapped on her microphone, catching the entire room's attention and stealing it away from Honey. She adjusted her thick glasses and launched into a speech.

"Ladies and gentlemen of the City Council and my fellow citizens. I stand before you today not just as the head of the UPAN's Pastoria division, but a citizen concerned with the state of affairs in the Great Marsh. As we all know, our city's Safari Zone is a vital habitat for a plethora of Pokémon species, some of which are found nowhere else in our region. It is a place where nature's beauty and diversity are on full display…"

She basically enunciated all of the issues the Safari Zone was facing today but with a focus on some species being close to extinction, like Paldean Wooper.

"...this problem is exacerbated by the poaching issue. As we all know, Abel Torres," I noticed Alex flinch at the name, 'has his hand in the problem. I ask you, dear councilmembers, is that really the example we want to follow? The behavior that we want to allow? Is the motto of our beautiful city not 'In Nature's Embrace, We Flourish?' The UPAN therefore recommends the following measures…"

What Ms. Webb wanted was an instant block on any capture from currently endangered species, and a tighter quota after the local population recovered. She also wanted the people in charge to check what Pokemon trainers came out with to verify that they were not breaking that law, and if they were, they'd have to release the Pokemon and pay a heavy fine. To be honest, it wasn't much. Trainers would still be allowed to rip Pokemon away from their friends and families with no punishment if they caught the right ones, but it was still progress. After hammering on the fact that rare Pokemon not going extinct was good for the city's income and trainer tourism— something which left a bad taste in my mouth— even if they'd take a hit in the short term, Ms. Webb gestured toward me.

"Allow me to introduce you to Grace Pastel," she continued. "You've no doubt heard of her these past few months, and she's joined our organization as a volunteer—"

There were murmurs, as if me walking into the room in locked step with the UPAN hadn't been enough to snap any remaining strands of denial. Now that she had announced me, it was official.

"—I will allow her to speak before you, and then you will be able to ask questions. Grace," she nodded at me.

Well, here goes.

"Hi everybody," I announced to the room. My voice was soft, but steady. Calm. I was not a child, I was a trainer. "Ms. Webb went over all of our points, but I'm here to give a little bit of outside perspective as a new member. Before I arrived, the UPAN was on break and not doing much, and I saw how everything kicked into high gear again with my own eyes. I've talked to like-minded people, exchanged ideas, debated, worked. I haven't worked with them long, but it's been one of the most fulfilling experiences in my life."

I inhaled, and Honey grinned.

"However, I also know that you think you're going to get out of here and ignore everything we've just told you," I said, staring into Madelyne Bank's eyes. If she fell in line, the rest of the committee would follow. I took a few steps around the room, supported by a single crutch. "I've learned a lot, not only here, but during my journey in general. To connect to Pokemon, and to treat them not as objects, or animals, but as people. Learned to grow strong enough to be a voice for them. A voice that people can't ignore. I've made mistakes too," I said, thinking of Buddy's capture. "Mistakes that I hope I've atoned for."

Words were a lot like games. A puzzle to find the best way to reach the true topic you wanted to talk about without it coming out of left field, without lying, or simply by obscuring the truth. I was good at games like these when I put my mind to it. My time with Bella had taught not only Princess, but also me.

"Part of reaching that point in my life," I continued, "was meeting Cynthia for the first time."

Enouncing her name here was like the clap of thunder. Always followed by silence. The councilors leaned forward, hands gripped their desks, jaws were clenched, fists tightened. I had essentially slapped them with a word, and they couldn't ignore me any longer, and any councilor hoping to speak now resigned themselves to let me finish my speech and stayed silent. Names hold power, Bellatrix had told me. It was only now that I realized how right she'd been. Oh, how they feared her. How they trembled in terror at the mere mention of her. They'd probably lost colleagues who had spoken out against the Champion in the early days. Even when she wasn't there, she loomed over this room.

"I'd just been taken hostage by Team Galactic. I was a broken, scared husk of a human. She gave me the power to keep going. She gave me the motivation to never be caught off-guard like that again. To have the power to defend myself."

Honey slammed a fist on his chest, creating small sparks of electricity, and a few of the councilors flinched. I was surprised at how easy the words had come. For all I disliked Sinnoh's Champion, there was no denying that without her, I would have given up and gone back home after Floaroma. I would have been too scared to shoulder on. The warm ceiling lights were focused on Ms. Webb, but right now, I had their full attention. My words were truer now than ever. Half of my body was burned, my ankle broken, a small scar from Weavile's Ice Shard was on my waist and a pale one on my back from a Paras biting me in Eterna Forest. I had braved Mount Coronet twice, fought Harry Rodriguez to the death and nearly been kidnapped by an Abra into Team Galactic's clutches once more. Countless tribulations had led me here. More than any of them could imagine. Yet, I still stood. I was still small in the grand scheme of things, but I had come far.

"Needless to say, that was only the first of many meetings, but I digress. I want to extend that power to all Pokemon eventually, but today, it's about the Pokemon in the Great Marsh."

I could see the metaphorical gears turning in their minds. Words were a tool, and from that tool, truth could be molded into a weapon. They filled their heads with the wildest of ideas because they lacked context. They did not know the extent of my relationship with Cynthia, but they could only guess, and the human mind tended to imagine the worst-case scenario first, as I'd done myself many times. 'What if I deny this, and Cynthia hears that we've stepped on one of her apprentice's toes?' must have been one of the multitude of questions on their minds. I had handed them a blade, and they had maimed themselves with it before stopping to think.

"If you make the right choice, we can all be winners," I said a little louder. "You're so scared to hurt your profit and to rock the boat that you've pulled wool over your eyes to stop yourselves from working. At the end of the day, I hope most of you came here to work. Not being a thorn in Sinnoh's side is good and all, but if you make yourselves useless— if you paralyze the political process in this city and let every single responsibility of fixing things fall onto Cynthia's shoulders, then what good are you?"

Why shouldn't she just replace you with loyalists from the League? The words went unspoken, but they were understood.

"There is an economic crisis happening right now, and you're just waiting for the federal government to bail you out," I said. "The Champion spends countless sleepless nights handling everything—" which she obviously loved to do, because she was a control freak, "—and maybe she'd like some support."

She wouldn't. Hell, I was sure she actually wouldn't mind if the local government did nothing regarding the economy, but she owed me one after what she had pulled in Veilstone with my contract, and I was starting to understand her game.

"That's all I have to say," I smiled. "I hope you give my words some weight. Thank you for your time, councilors."

When I turned back toward the UPAN, most of them were horrified, but Alex nodded and Ms. Webb was smiling from ear to ear. Subtle threats probably hadn't been on the others' bucket lists. The Poketch Company, I could handle. I had not given Melody a pre-approved speech, because I had winged this entire thing, but I hadn't said anything outrageous. Ms. Webb gave out some closing words, and after a few questions from the councilors, the staffers came to pick up our microphones, and the session was adjourned by the mayor. Ms. Webb immediately pounced and accosted me.

"Quite the speech there, my dear," she noted. "That went better than I could have expected. I expect them to have a bill on the floor by the end of the week."

"You were great," Alex said. "Must be something about your voice. There was passion there."

Mostly, I had talked out of my ass with the Cynthia stuff— but never lied. They didn't know that, however. Not even they knew the extent of my connection with Cynthia. I was not her friend, nor her apprentice, but more like a prisoner on parole. There was a reason she wanted me and the others holed up in the League after the eighth badge. If she wanted to use me, I would use her too and have no qualms about it. The councilors cleared the chamber, slowly filtering out of the room along with the citizens. Honey patted me on the shoulder and said he liked how fired up I sounded.

Manipulation was like a maze, I mused to myself. Find the right path, and anyone's arm could be twisted enough. Even mine.

The mayor was waiting for me outside the chamber, leaning next to who I assumed was his daughter. She couldn't have been over five, and she hid behind his leg and screamed when she saw me until his wife grabbed her. Logan Byrne turned toward me, his eye focusing on my burns for a split second before snapping back to my eyes. The UPAN had largely dispersed now. Ms. Webb was talking to Madelyne Banks, probably about future bills. Alex and Honey were still by my side.

"Grace Pastel," he said with clear displeasure. "Quite the fire you lit under us."

"Well, I just spoke my mind," I shrugged.

His eye twitched. "Not Cynthia's?"

"Oh, absolutely not," I innocently said. "Although I guess we have a few interests that align."

We did have a few interests that aligned, but none in the form of what I'd talked about. Logan Byrne eyed me as if he was trying to figure out if I was bluffing or not. After five seconds, he sighed.

"You'd make a terrible politician, you know that? Threats only go so far, Ms. Pastel. Politics is about forging connections."

And yet, you're listening to save your own hide. "I know I'd make a bad politician, which is why I'm not and I never will be one."

He raised an eyebrow. "Really? It was my understanding that Cynthia was—"

He stopped himself, and I left my face blank when I realized why. I had fucked up, but not majorly. I had implied that Cynthia had made me her apprentice and was grooming me to take her position, which was very involved in politics, but now I had completely reneged on that possibility. Cecilia had made her wanting to go to Unova public, and even if she traveled somewhere else at some point, everyone knew she would settle down there eventually. Thankfully Mira and Chase could still be options. If I had been alone, though, he could have started to doubt my entire speech. Truth was a weapon, but the blade was double-edged. I could cut myself on it too, and I almost had. Logan Byrne was sharper than I'd given him credit for. Still, he couldn't be sure, and what politicians valued the most was their position and their future careers. I had no doubts that Byrne wanted to one day work in the halls of the Directorate, and he wouldn't risk everything on a hunch, especially when the points we'd made outside of our ruse were valid ones. It was in the city's financial interest to stabilize the Safari Zone's population, and money was everything now that Sinnoh was being squeezed by the sanctions.

"You thought that Cynthia…?" I probed.

"Never mind," he smiled. "I hope you have a good rest of your day. We'll try to get a bill signed to protect the inhabitants of the Safari Zone and attempt to tackle the economic crisis."

He was talking like he wanted me to say something. Like I was supposed to relay this to Cynthia.

"That's great news," I smiled. "Have a good day too."

He went back to his daughter and wife, and outside of the building. I let out a long sigh and put more weight against my crutches.

"What was that?" Alex asked.

"Nothing bad. Are we done for the day?"

"Yup. No more political speeches for you. Ms Webb will come back here at some point to hash out the details, but… we did it," he sighed. "We got it done. I think that makes for a celebration. The UPAN's going to hold a party, I've heard. Want to come?"

I checked my phone for the time. "I can hang for a little bit, but I'll have to go and train in a few hours. My battle with Wake is soon, so I can't slack off. UPAN Headquarters?"

He agreed, and soon, we were on our way.

—

The party hadn't been that fun. I had made a few friends, but nothing could beat one of Emilia's parties. Drinking juice and talking politics wasn't how I had wanted to spend my Wednesday, but at least I was learning. Slip-ups like what happened earlier couldn't happen again. Melody said the Poketch Company disapproved of my speech, but publically, they couldn't come out against it, or their words would be taken as anti-Cynthia and they feared what would happen then. I hadn't even considered that possibility, but I supposed that worked in my favor. Plus, just like what had happened with Maylene, I had plausible deniability.

Soon though, Alex took me to the courtyard to see the Pokemon and just to get some air, really. I had released Angel and Honey to play with them, and everyone was having a great time. Alex could barely stand up straight with how drunk he was, but for an instant, he sobered up.

"You know, you might not stick around long, but you've made real change happen, Grace," he said, staring at the afternoon sky. "And I'll forever be thankful for that."

"Wouldn't have done it without you to teach me the ropes," I said. He was talking with a twinge of nostalgia, or maybe it was just plain sadness. "Is something wrong, Alex?"

The dark-skinned teen turned to face me. "Yeah. A lot has been wrong, lately."

I paused, and stopped sipping on my juice. "You can talk to me, you know."

His face scrunched up into a wince, as if he was deliberating on what to say, or even if he should talk. A protective hand passed over his Pokeballs, and his legs tensed.

"Nah," he decided. "I can't ask for this. I'd be using you, and I don't want to do that."

"It really wouldn't bother me, no matter what it is."

Alex inhaled through gritted teeth. I had never seen this from him, but it felt a lot more real than anything I'd seen before. Like he'd been wearing a mask all this time. He looked tired now. That constant upward tilt of his lip was gone. "A month and a half ago— or a little over that, I guess," he spoke. "Poachers tried to steal my Pokemon."

My eyes swiveled toward his two Pokeballs, and for a second, I believed them empty until I honed in on the word 'tried'. He sat down in the grass, his back sliding against the stone walls.

"Tirtouga and Whismur," he said.

Tirtouga? My eyes widened when I realized that he owned a fossil Pokemon. How? Those were so expensive that they made the Shiny Stone I'd bought look cheap. Alex released his two Pokemon into the courtyard, and it hurt me how scared they were when they first saw me. There was trauma in those eyes. Whismur cried out in a whisper, crawling behind Alex's back and making herself small while Tirtouga growled at me with sharp stones growing on his shell. Alex didn't leave them out for long. He recalled them in seconds before Angel could even notice them, thank Arceus. His friendliness would have been out of place here.

"My family's… well, my family's wealthy. They aren't the kind that you hear about in the news, like the Bianchis, the Kings or the Gardners. They're quiet," he said. "Bought me a fossil for the start of my journey and sent it to be revived in Oreburgh. Whismur, I caught in the wild, but that doesn't matter. They were after Tirtouga."

He paused, and rubbed his forehead with a hand.

"We were doing some work in route 212— trying to forge some connections with the local wildlife there so we could hope to speak to them to hear about the issues they cared about. We were attacked by a group of poachers, but luckily we had Rangers there to help, since they were escorting us. They were targeting me, Grace. They wanted Tirtouga, but they failed, and a Hypno came to Teleport away."

Abel again, I inhaled. That made three.

I wanted to say many things. You looked so… normal all this time was the first one that jumped to mind, but he had always been somber and avoided the topic when I'd wanted to meet his Pokemon. Everyone processed trauma differently, but I couldn't imagine just standing there… and doing nothing about it. Just living your life as it had once been. As I kept thinking, it started making more sense. He'd thrown himself into politics, spent sleepless nights working without complaints even when the UPAN hadn't been doing anything, working on pet projects and trying to keep up with the paperwork even though nothing was required of him because it was distracting.

Everyone processed trauma differently, I repeated to myself. Some threw themselves into work. Others sobbed and cried, not being able to do anything for days or weeks like I had almost done in Floaroma, and today, I hoped I had changed. Others lashed out violently. He wasn't someone I understood, but he was still a friend.

"The poachers were just starting to pop up back then, so we didn't think that could happen," he choked. "I couldn't do a thing. They wore masks, so I couldn't even get one person arrested."

"Ms. Webb…"

"She knows," Alex said. "Ms. Webb knows. How could she not? But what can she do? Not much. She's not that much of an emotional person, Grace. In her eyes, all ended well and she doesn't understand how I could still hurt. I ask her for as much work as possible, and she gives it to me. I've kept up hope, you know? Hope that someone would take them down. I'm terrified of going outside of Pastoria, and I'm scared of letting my Pokemon out of their balls outside of my house. Even there, I just… have to force myself to do it."

"And you want me to deal with them?"

"You? No!" he exclaimed while shaking his head. "It's too dangerous. It was just your speech… your connection to Cynthia… I was thinking that maybe you could ask her," he hesitantly said. "Push the League to do something."

Oh, Arceus. I had fooled even him, hadn't I? "I don't think that would work, Alex."

He let out a sad chuckle. "I figured."

Then, he put his mask back on. He donned a neutral expression, a half-smirk that now looked so fake in a way that reminded me of Mira, and he shrugged before turning back to the Pokemon at the opposite side of the courtyard—

"Alex."

He turned back at me.

"I'll try something," I said. "I'll try."

Alex nodded. "Thank you."

—

The League Trainers were a no-go, as I had already asked them. Cynthia was also an obvious no-go since there was no way she was going to drop what she was doing in Veilstone to look for a base that no one knew. For all the Champion was powerful, she had no psychic types of her own. Lucian's Alakazam would maybe make the difference, but I honestly doubted it. I was starting to suspect they had a way to hide their base from even elite-level Pokemon thanks to Abel pulling something, which meant that the only way we were going to get something was to capture someone and force the information out of them.

"Damn it, this is hard," I groaned. My team was training in the background, this time on the beach.

Cecilia was currently taking her flying test, which I was sure she'd pass with flying colors after having shown me how Lehmhart flew. Maeve won her Gym Battle by a sliver, barely edging out Wake's Pelipper with her Staraptor. Her tactic had been to poison the water around an island she camped on with Drapion and Gligar and to go from there. The others' battles for their sixth badge would be soon, and we were running out of time in Pastoria. Our stay had always meant to be shorter than in the other cities…

I blew a raspberry. For now, I had sent a text about this to the group chat, and I had to focus on my own battle. Then, I would throw everything I had into this. His Pokemon hadn't been stolen, but a few that belonged to some people who had now quit the UPAN had, and while Alex was my only friend there, it didn't mean I wouldn't try. I had told Alex I would, and that had been a promise.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Zeta, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Peg, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, SmallBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 260 - Battle Against a True Hero

If there was one compliment I could give Crasher Wake, it was that he could entertain a crowd. I had never heard the spectators be this loud in the waiting room in any other Gym. Another three days had passed since I had given a speech to Pastoria's City Council, and now I was waiting for my Gym Battle to begin. I was used to this now. The nerves were there, but only in the background. I recited Wake's Pokemon's moves and techniques under my breath over and over, like a ritual. I had good reason to be worried, even if I was not. After all, I had never studied a Gym Leader this in-depth, mostly because every time I learned, I grew just a little more efficient at retaining information and making plans with that information. Pauline had unfortunately lost to Crasher Wake, the final tally being 4-5 when Charizard had failed to take down Wake's Swanna. This was a disastrous result for her, especially when she had needed to win to get to the Conference with time to spare. Louis had won, scraping a victory like Maeve had thanks to his Vespiquen carrying the fight and pulling out a win that had seemed impossible. I was finding that Louis had a knack for those kind of wins. Justin had not fought yet, wanting more time to prepare himself, but he had a good team and head on his shoulders to deal with Wake's tactics.

Now? A choice presented itself in front of Pauline. Either leave now and fly to Canalave, or give up, but it wasn't that simple. Not when she knew we were planning on doing something against the poachers. I hoped she would leave, personally. Better she be in Canalave than stay here, with all the danger lurking about. Denzel could fly on Cece's Golurk instead when the time came instead of using Braviary, and Emilia could just grab a flight to join her in Canalave. Louis would even be able to fly on her Braviary since he'd gotten his badge.

But honestly, it would take a miracle for her to make it to the Conference, and that didn't look likely, not only because she would have to one shot the eighth gym, but because of the huge distance between here and Snowpoint. She'd better odds of winning the lottery.

Today isn't about that. I couldn't afford to be worried about Pauline, not with this fight ahead of me.

Another roar from the crowd muted by the thick walls of the waiting room filled my ears, and this one felt final. Like the battle was finally ending. The referee said something I couldn't make out, and a Gym Trainer came to outfit me with a microphone, and a minute later, a sweaty teen with the brightest smile on his face passed through the waiting room, paying me no mind as I fiddled with one of my Pokeballs.

My plan was set, and so were my many contingencies. I was ready. My Pokemon were ready. I could only throw everything I had into the battle and never look back. With a thin smile, I stepped through the arched corridor and into the Gym as soon as Wake's break ended—

"...have another wonderful battle for you today, ladies and gentlemen. On the left, we have a trainer that has taken Sinnoh by storm. There's nothing she won't order her Pokemon to stab, no bones she won't break, no opponent she won't maim! Don't let her meek, innocent frame deceive you! This trainer is so cunning she might as well be downright evil! She gets into her opponents' heads and dismantles them piece by piece. The legendary, elusive, wicked, unblinking… GRAAAAAACE PASTEL!"

Oh, Legendaries, I restrained a groan. Most people cheered, but there were some boos too. I had come in planning to ignore the referee and the crowd, but I had underestimated how loud he was. The referee was shirtless, just like Crasher Wake would be, and he had a deep, commanding voice that I felt was perfect for this kind of game. I stepped onto the platform, Pokeball already in hand. Four large screens stood atop the arena that would continuously show the score of the battle. I cringed when I saw that they'd used my Trainer ID picture. That hadn't been my best one. I'd been nervous as hell about starting this entire trainer thing.

"On the right, we have our wonderful Gym Leader, as always! Rumors say he's wrestled a Gyarados barehanded, he's ripped beyond compare, can bench as much as a Machoke, and I guess he's also a good battler— "

The crowd laughed at the roast.

"—He's smarter than an Alakazam and prettier than a supermodel, our one and only CRASHEEEEEEEER WAAAAAAKE!"

The referee's words were synced to the exact moment Wake finished stepping onto the platform. Smoke and small sparks had followed his steps for effect. The Gym Leader flexed, waving to the crowd with a wide smile revealing perfect teeth. His pectorals moved individually, and he backflipped in place to the crowd's acclaim. I hadn't expected someone in their fifties to be able to do this before I'd watched the videos. Wake wore his mask, as always, and had his ridiculous haircut that wrapped around the side of his head until they reached into a white unibrow. He struck a dramatic pose and pointed right at me.

"WELCOME, CHALLENGER!" Wake boasted. Somehow, he was even louder than the referee despite being further away. "This'll be a six-on-six with three switches allowed! I reserve the right to use any Pokemon in my arsenal that I deem fit, and killing any Pokemon will get you disqualified from the Circuit. Now, Grace the Wicked, SEND OUT YOUR POKEMON!"

The Wicked, I noticed. I didn't take offense, not when I knew how Wake's Gym operated. Sometimes, when he battled… controversial trainers, he made them into a villain. A heel was the proper term for wrestling. I was sure he'd prepared that title ahead of time. It was all a game, really. A game I had not particularly felt like entertaining…

But…

Wouldn't it be fun?

To have an excuse to let loose and be the person who desperately tried to claw her way to the surface every day, but couldn't because of social norms? If it was all a game, then the Poketch Company wouldn't be able to complain. This was a show. A performance. A performance with gravitas, yes, but one nonetheless.

I let a feral grin stretch across my face. "I'm disappointed," I said. "If you wanted to give me a title, I would have expected it to be a lot better than wicked. Maybe Grace the Impaler," I mused, tapping a finger against my chin. "That one has a nice ring to it."

Wake mimicked indignation, but couldn't hide his joy that I was rolling with this. "I won't let you spread your evil ways any longer, wicked trainer."

"By the end of the battle," I said, "I'll show you why you should have called me Impaler."

Princess appeared in a flash of red, soaring high in the skies. The referee rambled about her numerous accomplishments— mostly her stabbing things and most recently playing with lava. They knew me, I realized. I'd come so far that people knew about my Pokemon, even when it was my first time battling here. Wake answered by releasing a Golduck. Starting with something basic, as all Gym Leaders except the eighth do.

The arena itself was just how I had studied it. Four islands at each corner, fifty feet in diameter, while the one at the center was a hundred feet in diameter. Wake's arena was slightly wider and longer than the norm so they could all fit. The entire arena was not an artificial pool, but had been made to look like a natural lake or sea, save for its rectangular shape. That meant that the shores of the islands were a gentle slope, and there was material under the water. Things to build with.

"It's been a while since Golduck has seen a battle like this one. Let's see if he can bring Togekiss to heel and stop Grace the Wicked in her tracks!" The referee commented. "Three, two, one, LET'S RRRRRRUMBLE!"

I spoke first, "Ancient Power, as we planned."

"'As we planned," Wake snorted. "Only villains talk like that! Golduck, Rain Dance and into the water!"

I'd gotten used to battling peers when it came to the weather, so even though I had studied Wake's Pokemon, it still came as a surprise when one second, the skies were clear, and the next, it was pouring. The calm waters turned agitated, and waves crashed onto each island. Thunder boomed in the dark clouds, but that was fine. Princess was staying close to the ground anyway. Faster than she'd ever been, she flew around the arena, pulling wet mud and sand from below the water and turning it into compact rocks.

"Ice Beam!" Wake screamed.

Now in the water, Golduck peeped his head through the surface, but a rock instantly slammed into the side of his head as soon as he made himself known without Togekiss even having to look at him. She could feel where Golduck was at all times thanks to her empath powers. The beam of ice went wide, and Princess kept building up rocks on the central island. My eyes bulged when I saw how fast Golduck had gotten. In an instant, he swam to the left to avoid another set of rocks— drills and spears this time.

"Impaler she may have called herself, but she isn't succeeding very much at the moment," the referee noted. "Our brave Golduck is fighting against evil itself! Should he lose, then who knows what suffering Togekiss could inflict on his teammates?!"

"Force her hand!" Wake ordered. "Hypnosis!"

And it would be from under the water, I knew. There was an eerie light below the surface, and Princess started to slow—

"Charge Beam!"

The Charge Beam coalesced into a ball, then surged toward Golduck, who went deeper into the water to dodge the spread of the electricity. Thankfully, that meant the Hypnosis was too far to work on Princess, and she had only slowed. They might try to catch us off-guard with that.

"Catch her!" Crasher Wake yelled, snatching nothing out of the air with a hand.

Enormous jets of water that were even larger than a Hydro Pump rose like twisters, all aiming to take down Princess. Fly too high and the thunder from the clouds will get us. Too low and the water will. Barriers would help, but they wouldn't stop Princess from getting dragged into the water. Togekiss weaved between the columns of water, burying and lodging the rocks deep into the island so they wouldn't get swept away. One of the jets twisted ninety degrees, bending to slam against her like a sledgehammer. Her Psychic shield didn't break under the water's massive weight, but it did crack, and it was only one hit. Gone were the times when she had been this impregnable fortress. Our opponents' offense had caught up to her psychic powers.

"Moonblast!" I yelled. "Aim directly at him and rip him away from the water!"

"Converge the blasts!" Wake ordered.

All of the water bent in an attempt to swarm Princess, and one didn't have to be a battling genius to know that her barrier wasn't going to withstand that many gallons of water flying at her that quickly. We were going to go tit-for-tat, then. The ball of light formed in front of her mouth, growing larger and larger. Right before the water hit her, Princess cried out, and a huge gust of wind came to life around her to push the liquid back, buying her a precious few seconds—

Then she let it loose.

The moon's gravity diverted most of the water jets, but some still hit Princess. Her barrier shattered with a deafening crack, and she drowned below the massive amounts of water. The Moonblast fell down into the sea, warping air and water around it until all started orbiting the attack. Golduck was nowhere to be seen, and I was actively muting my empathy powers in order not to cheat. I wouldn't use them when one of the Gym's entire gimmicks was hiding underwater. My victory would be earned through my own means. I waited for a few seconds, and I saw Princess fall into the water, but I grinned when I saw a flash of red. Golduck's red gem. The water type had been pulled into the Moonblast. The entire arena was swirling with water, including the skies. It had displaced so much water and pulled so much into its grasp that escaping it was impossible for Golduck.

"What an incredible display of power! This battle is truly a clash of titans! Will our good man Golduck make it and manage to vanquish this horrifying Togekiss?!"

The red gem shone brightly, and the Moonblast exploded so loudly my ears rang and the barriers rattled. The water dropped back to the sea, generating enormous waves, and Golduck was knocked into the barrier, the remains of a shield having shattered around him.

"Nail him!" I instantly said.

Princess was still hovering in the water, but she pulled spears from the dirt under the surface. I clicked my tongue when Golduck held them in place as he slid down into the raging waters.

"Out, out, out!" I screamed.

Holy shit, Golduck was fast. His body undulated as he blurred through the water to beeline it toward Princess. She barely managed to get out thanks to our training—

Wake cackled. "Waterfall!"

Another burst of water carried Golduck upward, and he slammed into Togekiss, who hadn't had time to bring her barrier back up. She cried out, but I saw opportunity.

"Psychic and Thunder Wave."

Princess' eyes locked onto Golduck, and she snatched the water type out of the air. The Thunder Wave didn't come, however. Golduck's gem shone, his eyes did as well, and Princess' wings started to jitter. They were locked in a battle of the minds, but we were better. Togekiss snarled, a sound that I'd never heard out of her, and Golduck's arms went flat against his sides. Electricity finally came to life and entered the water type's body. I had thought that Wake would switch, but he was content to let Golduck get paralyzed.

Not that it did much. The lapse in concentration to pull out Thunder Wave allowed Golduck to pull water upward, submerging both Pokemon. He then dashed into her with all of his might, pushed by his own current, and Princess went flying back and out of the water column. Golduck was slower now, and his body was rattled by the occasional convulsion, but he still had Swift Swim and it was pouring. The referee said something, but I was too focused to care. Leaning into being a villain was enough.

"Water Twister!" Wake said.

The water was slower to come, now. The column Golduck was in bent down and twisted toward Princess. I grinned.

"Charge Beam!"

The electricity traveled through the column at speeds Golduck was no longer capable of working with. The water type tried to run, but he was racked by continuous electric shocks. Still, not enough. Togekiss remedied that instantly now that the water tower had collapsed. She'd caught herself before falling into the water, and a spear blurred until it stabbed into Golduck's shoulder and leg. Should have broken a bone or two during Psychic, I thought to myself. Even now, Golduck was attempting to swim away, and he wouldn't have been able to with a broken leg or arm, or at least not as effectively. Golduck quacked in pain as he pulled out the spear from his shoulder and retreated into the depths.

"Moonblast."

"Back up, Golduck! Hit her with everything you've got!"

Thunder clapped in the skies, and Golduck jumped out of the water with an Ice Beam that tore through our half-formed moon and caused it to explode. Another column of water followed behind him, bending to his psychic powers. A second Ice Beam harmlessly washed over Princess' barrier, but it was hard to miss my daughter's harsh breaths. She beginning to tire, but Golduck was worse. Not Moonblast, then. Too slow when they're expecting it.

"Rush in and grab him," I ordered.

With a howl of the wind, she blurred toward Golduck, twisting around an Ice Beam. She shed her barrier for speed, and for the first time, I could truly call Princess a speedster. Before I could blink, she had closed the distance and seized Golduck with Psychic. She pushed him toward the barrier until he crashed into it and finished him off with a Charge Beam. I exhaled, tension leaving my body and ignored the crowd's boos. This was a game, and also a lesson. The crowds at the Conference were known to be ruthless, especially with someone who fought like me and with fans having picked their favorites far before the battle began.

"Our brave Golduck has lost and is unable to battle!" The referee screamed. He arched himself back and held a hand in front of his eyes as if he was sobbing. "Who will stop this tyrant from destroying the sanctity of our Gym? Leader Wake, send out your next Pokemon!"

"Oh, you can boo all you want!" I exclaimed. "You motivate me to keep going. I'm just getting started."

"Golduck might not have been able to stop you," Wake muttered. "He tried his best, but the brutal tactics employed against him were too much for him to bear."

Oh please, I hadn't even done anything bad yet. He was building up to something. I could feel it in my bones.

"The only Pokemon that can vanquish such foes are Pokemon with brutal tactics of their own," Wake continued with a rumbling voice. He grabbed his next Pokeball. "GYARADOS, YOU'RE UP!"

The scarlet light from the Pokeball built, and built until it left us with thirty feet of thick, armored scales battered down by the rain. The water type was flying with surprising grace, hovering slightly above the sea. Gyarados' eyes instantly locked onto Princess and narrowed.

"Gyarados! Hurricane—"

I recalled Princess into her Pokeball, but the wind.

It whipped around the entire field, carrying water, rain, sand and dirt from the islands. It was so loud that the referee knew not to say anything, because no one would hear anyway. The rocks I had wedged onto the center island went too, so fuck my lava plan, I suppose. I could have just built up the islands with Ancient Power, but that would have been far too slow and demanded far too much focus from Princess. We had tested things at the beach, and it would have left her too open to any attacks. Still, Gyarados would have destroyed Princess, and it wouldn't have even been close.

"YOU MUST BE QUAKING IN YOUR BOOTS, VILLAIN!" Wake yelled. Somehow, his voice made it through the wind.

"I'm quaking in excitement at the opportunity of taking down such a giant!"

No reaction. Blegh, I couldn't yell that loud. I sent Honey out onto the central island, and he had to anchor his tails to the ground not to fly off due to the Hurricane. He dropped on one knee and gripped his hand into the sand. Rocks that Princess had raised now pelted him from all sides. Wake said something, and I internally sighed at the fact that he wouldn't loudly announce them through the Hurricane. Gyarados gathered a huge glob of plasma in front of his mouth. Holy fuck, that's Hyper Beam. My throat went dry as the huge ball of orange energy grew, and then exploded out of Gyarados' mouth—

So loud! My ears popped and rang from the noise, but Honey had been designated as our Gyarados counter, so he already knew what to do. At the last moment, he pulled up a shimmering Protect. I couldn't see what had happened due to the burst of light, but the areas surrounding Honey had created a giant crater half the size of the central island. The few palm trees caught on fire from the proximity to the blast even through the rain, and water turned into vapor. When the dust settled, there was just a small strand of intact land where Honey stood, smothered in remains of smoke and mist. That would have beaten us in one hit, or close to it.

"Thunder," I smoothly said.

Gyarados was powerful beyond compare, but we were as well. I didn't know if Honey heard me or not, but electricity coiled around his arms. The stones stopped hitting him, instead hovering close, as if they couldn't touch him. Gyarados was still catching his breath, and the Hurricane slowed slightly. Not that he could have dodged this anyway.

Honey brought his arm down, and like a hammer, Thunder struck down Gyarados from Rain Dance's dark clouds. The water type roared, thrashing all around the arena. Honey nearly got hit by the mindless thrashing, but a smooth dodge from Radiant Leap got him away from the flying type's tail. Flying and water type Gyarados might have been, but his thick scales still meant that it would take multiple of these to bring him down.

"Again!" I yelled.

Wake yelled something that I couldn't hear through the Hurricane, and Gyarados came back to his senses. Water poured out of Gyarados' mouth, and it slammed against Honey, enveloping his entire body and pushing him off the island. The Thunder still hit, though, this time spreading through the Hydro Pump and coursing through Gyarados' body. Wake flexed as he switched out Gyarados without a word. The Hurricane instantly finished, like it had never been there in the first place.

"Get back to land!" I screamed.

Something appeared in the water, dark blue and relatively large. Thankfully, Wake was there to straight up tell me what she was.

"You fell into my trap," he boasted. "You couldn't have thought I would just let your Electivire wreak havoc, did you? WHISCASH, DRAG HIM DEEP!"

I would have had a witty answer, but by the time he was done, Whiscash was already up to Honey. No swimming lessons would have been enough to outspeed Whiscash, and electricity wouldn't even tickle her. The water seemed to grow muddy around her, as did the rain. Whiscash had a custom Rain Dance that empowered her even further. Honey grunted as the ground type rammed into him at full speed, snatching him by the hand with her huge mouth. She could hit Pokemon with Earthquake if she brought them to the sea's floor, I remembered. This wouldn't be sustainable. I grabbed my Honey's Pokeball and recalled him through the surface. If we had managed to grow the island, this wouldn't have happened. Electivire wouldn't have gotten pushed into the water. The thought of my main strategy having been reduced to dust gnawed at the back of my mind, but I had contingencies for a reason. I still had a lead, I was winning, things were going alright.

"And Whiscash forces Electivire back into the deepest pits of hell! Who will our challenger send out next?!"

Whiscash seemed to love to gloat unlike Golduck, she jumped high out of the water and flipped, much to the crowd's amusement. She seemed to love the attention.

"I'll make you wish Honey was still on the field," I hissed for effect. I pulled out Angel's Pokeball. "Angel will cut you to ribbons."

This time, Wake answered. "A grass type to take on my Whiscash? Hah! How boring! I say…"

The crowd yelled as one, pumping their fists with each word. "GET! BETTER! MATERIAL!"

I sent a passing glare at the right side of the spectators and sent out Tangrowth on the corner island on my side. Wake was somewhat right, however. Whiscash had a plethora of ways to deal with grass types. Not as many as Swampert or Quagsire, but still a hell of a lot more than was normal.

It was a good thing, then, that I knew exactly what was coming.

"Sunny Day and Ingrain," I said.

There was only a glimpse of the sun above the torrent that was Crasher Wake's Rain Dance— or Mud Dance, in this instance. The murkier waters wouldn't work in my favor here, but at least we should have weakened it by around thirty percent… or not? It seemed just as strong, somehow, which wasn't what I expected. Vines glowed white, and stabbed into the ground. Then, Angel's other vines grew, extending over the entire small island. A nice proof of concept, I mused. More extended into the water, snaking their way past the surface. Whiscash had approached, but not deigned to get close. I saw Wake open his mouth.

Chilling Water or Icy Wind?

"Chilling Water!" Wake yelled.

"Wall!" I countered.

Water frosted at its surface, but it was still a liquid. Whiscash had dove back down into the depths and was nowhere to be seen, but the Surf-like attack crashed into Angel's island with such force that I saw him buckle. His vines raised into a wall, but they instantly froze in place. That was fine. The Ancient Power wall underneath the mass of vegetation held, and had already turned to hard stone.

"Earthquake!" Wake ordered.

Whiscash jumped out of the water with the grace of a Magikarp, that was to say none at all. She intended to land onto our island. I knew from the videos that Whiscash had learned Earthquake this month, and even then, it would have wreaked havoc on us, vines or not.

I faked a bit of panic, not for the audience or any performance, but to fool Wake himself. "Sna— snatch her out of the air, now!"

Arceus, I'd gotten good at that.

Vines converged toward Whiscash, crawling over the sand, the wall, and even from the water. The ground type spat out small pressurized jets of water to dodge the first wave, but there was no escaping Angel's grasp with his extended range from Ingrain. Tangrowth wrapped a dozen vines around her and brought her deeper into his grasp. Deeper into his lair.

Next up was, Ice Bomb.

"Ice Bomb!"

Frost leaked out of Whiscash's skin, and then exploded with a loud series of cracks. Earthquake had been the bait to scare me shitless. This had been Wake's true strategy. All of the vines around Whiscash froze, allowing the water type to simply break them and continue on her path. The fact that the ones that had been using Knock Off did as well had not been a part of the plan, but that was fine. Things could continue as planned.

"Solar Blade and Sleep Powder!" I yelled.

A single Solar Blade had been hidden below Angel's tuft of vines and had been charging up all along. It rushed toward Whiscash, skewering her before she could slam into the island and the mass of vines with Earthquake and potentially knock us off. I couldn't see it, but Sleep Powder was being deposited directly in Whiscash's bloodstream. The ground type's eyes struggled to stay awake as an Ice Beam charged in her mouth, but the attack died in its crib.

Whiscash was asleep.

"Told you you should have called me the Impaler," I gloated. "Giga Drain."

I waited to see if Wake would recall his Pokemon, but instead, he just gritted his teeth. An act, I knew, but it was still weird to see such an emotive Gym Leader after having battled Volkner. Wake did not switch. He let Whiscash faint on Angel's vine. None of her ice tactics had worked, because we'd planned for every single one.

"Looks like my material was good after all," I added. Arceus, I sounded so full of myself, it was hard not to cringe.

"Can anyone stop Grace Pastel? Our beautiful Whiscash was skewered like a common fish! This injustice cannot stand, can it?"

The crowd roared. "NO! IT! CAN'T!"

"Leader Wake, send out your next Pokemon!"

I felt a sudden surge of dread. A shiver down my spine. Wake slowly grabbed his next Pokeball, and for a second, I thought Palafin would come out. Wake knew, I realized. He stared me down, as if he was toying with me.

Thank the Legendaries, I sighed as Gyarados appeared above the water once more. It was funny, how I felt relief at the monstrous serpent. Wake ordered a Hurricane once more, and the attack drowned out the last remaining bits of sunlight Angel had at his disposal. The Gym Leader barked out a command, and frost tipped Gyarados' massive fangs.

There was no use even trying, I realized soon enough. Honey was the only Pokemon capable of taking down Gyarados. I used my last switch of the battle before Gyarados could lunge at Angel, and all of the vines on the island disappeared. I sent out Honey back onto the field on the central island—

The Hydro Pump was nearly instantaneous. Electivire barely had time to blink, but he still side-stepped it with Radiant Leap. The attack clipped him on the shoulder, and I was pretty sure it dislocated his shoulder because of how powerful it was. The electric type held onto his shoulder as electricity coiled around every fiber of his being.

Keep it simple, I told myself. When you have a bomb, just blow it up. "Thunder!"

Gyarados retreated into the water this time, but he was so massive the attack still hit the tail-end of his body. Missing his huge form under the water was impossible with the waves he generated, and Honey kept pestering him with as many Thunderbolts as he could. I froze when I saw something deep blue and yellow shimmer below the muddy surface, however. Dragon Dance. Shit—

"Protect!" I cried out.

With speed that should have been impossible for a monster that size, Gyarados slammed into Honey with Waterfall. Water exploded upon contact, but the Protect kept him shielded from any damage. Still, Honey was swept away from the island. Waves followed Gyarados wherever he went, flooding the damn thing anyway. So much for not flooding the islands, I clicked my tongue. Gyarados continued on his warpath, another Hyper Beam generating in his mouth.

In the water. Protect? Won't work. No footing. Attack? No!

"Dive!" I yelled.

Electivire let himself sink below the water, and Gyarados let loose his massive Hyper Beam. The water type was a force of nature, truly. The concentrated beam of energy left behind a trail of exploding steam, and I could only hope Honey had been spared from the worst of it. Water was dense enough to weaken most attacks, including Hyper Beam. Wake wouldn't let me rest, however. Gyarados waited the ten seconds or so it took for him to recover— not enough time for Honey to swim back with the Hurricane being so strong— and then rushed toward Electivire with another Waterfall-Surf combination.

I didn't have to say Thunder twice. Gyarados convulsed as he slammed its full weight into Honey. The electric type gritted his teeth and grabbed onto his opponent's head instead of flying off. Even Wake was surprised at that— genuine surprise— and pride swelled up in my chest. Through a dislocated shoulder, he held on for dear life as Gyarados dove underwater in hopes of getting him off. Thunder after Thunder ransacked the flying type's body, and at the fourth one, he finally fainted.

I breathed a sigh of relief. That one had been close and dangerously so. The Hurricane ended with a whimper as Wake recalled his Gyarados. Honey could barely swim, and he crawled back onto one of the corner islands, coughing water out of his lungs.

"Another one of Wake's Pokemon goes down!" the referee yelled, filling his voice with fake anguish. "This is a disaster! Can this villain not be stopped?"

"I haven't even done anything bad yet," I snorted.

"Yet?! Do you hear that, ladies and gentlemen? More torturous methods will befall Leader Wake's remaining Pokemon! Is it over? Can evil truly not be beaten?! IS THIS GYM DOOMED TO FALLING TO HER WICKED WAYS?!"

"No."

Wake did not yell, but his voice did carry far. In a single moment, he grabbed the attention of the entire arena. Even mine.

It was at this moment, I realized, that I had messed up.

In most heroic stories, the antagonist started out by nabbing a few victories here and there.

Then, the protagonist slowly started clawing his way back up, inch by inch. Gyarados.

Then, there was a pivot. A change in the air. Crasher Wake released his fourth Pokemon.

Palafin didn't look like much, but that didn't stop me from cursing what felt like a thousand times in my head. Blubbury skin so turquoise it looked green under the right angle, pink and blue eyes, and a very cute smile. I had fucked up. Not because I hadn't at least considered the possibility of a Palafin, but because I realized that Wake had baited me. The battle that had gone on before this very moment had been a singular goal in mind. To make me run out of switches.

It wasn't like he hadn't tried to win. Wake never threw battles to let Palafin transform. The reason he hadn't switched was to gain a tactical advantage over me later down the line, and he had come to collect his due. Now every time I threw something at Palafin and it didn't work, well, too bad. I would have to commit to and suffer the consequences. Not only that, but the rain. It was stronger than usual, pouring so much that the islands were actually flooding slowly. By the end of the battle, the four corner islands would be completely submerged. Had each subsequent Rain Dance stacked on top of the previous one? He hadn't pulled that off before, but I assumed that was why Sunny Day hadn't weakened it. How strong would Palafin be, then?

Wake cracked his neck, and then spoke.

"Take a look at the screen, Palafin," he said, pointing a thumb upward. The score was 0-3 in my favor. A change was needed. "Do you feel it? That shift in the air? We need you. The tide must turn."

Palafin angled his head up, and when he saw the score, something shifted in his eyes. He dove down into the depths, spectators started to rhythmically stomp their feet, filling every inch of the arena with the sound, and there was light—

"Thunder!" I snapped.

It would be slow to charge with how tired Honey was, but I wasn't going to take any chances. After five seconds, electricity boomed out where Palafin had been, but there was no sign of whether he'd been hurt or not. I bit my tongue as my eyes scanned the water. The light was gone now, but—

Palafin emerged back a changed Pokemon. His skin was now a dark blue, and he wore foam-like gloves that could punch as hard as a Machoke. The crowd cheered for Palafin, who flexed his muscles and bowed as he floated up in the air.

"Legendaries! Has our savior appeared in our darkest hour? What happened to our dear Palafin? Our Hero is here to save us once again!" The referee cackled.

"HERO!" Wake bellowed, pointing at me. "This trainer is wicked! She impales Pokemon for fun, breaks bones for sport and likes inflicting the maximum amount of pain in battle—"

"Thunderbolt."

Faster this time, the beam of electricity hurtled at Palafin, who easily dodged as he glared at me.

Wake scoffed. "Hey! You can't interrupt us during my exposition speech, that's illegal! HERO, USE FOCUS PUNCH AND VANQUISH HER!"

He moved like lightning.

Palafin blurred as if he was using Radiant Leap and slammed a glowing fist deep into Honey's chest. The electric type barely had time to retaliate with a weak Thunderbolt before he was uppercutted into the sky. He landed in the water and sank, signaling that he was down for the count. I gulped as I recalled him.

Palafin was the game changer, and it was time to pull out all the stops. I had made a plan just in case this happened. The problem was that Wake had two other Pokemon other than this, and Honey had been my best counter to any of his Pokemon. If he sent out Wailord now, I was essentially fucked unless the contingency I had worked on with Sunshine and Angel worked.

"COME AT US WITH ALL YOU'VE GOT, GRACE THE IMPALER!" Wake yelled. "WE'LL TURN YOU BACK EVERY TIME, BECAUSE THAT'S WHAT HEROES DO!"

Palafin flexed, and water coiled around him. He was completely silent, I noticed, only communicating with the smallest grunts. Probably to keep the whole secret identity only he thought he had. He wasn't fooling anyone else.

Focus, I snapped at myself. I grabbed Buddy's Pokeball and released the ghost type. His eyes dimmed when he saw Palafin, and a piece of him stuck to the barrier like usual. He knew what had to be done. His only job?

To burn him with Will-O-Wisp.

I hadn't felt like this since facing Candice's Galarian Darmanitan.

"Hero, Double Hit!" Wake ordered.

Palafin flew with a fist pointed forward, and he crashed against Jellicent with all of his might. There was no point in trying to outrun him. He was faster out and inside of the water. Hero raised a palm and slapped Buddy with deafening hits twice, each disintegrating parts of his head— not scattering, but disintegrating. The ghost type already knew what to do, but I whispered the order anyway. Shadowy flames appeared close to his skin, and Palafin immediately let go, throwing him away like a discarded rag. The Will-O-Wisps chased him, but he was way too fast to ever get hit and soon enough they died with their usual screams. Damn it, baiting him close hadn't worked. Buddy recovered, and—

Palafin stared at me. No, not at me. At the barrier. A thin beam of ice froze the transparent piece of Jellicent's body, and Palafin flew toward me, slamming a fist into the barrier to shatter it. I flinched at our sudden proximity, which he seemed to love. How the hell had he known?

"Your villainous tactics won't work here," Wake smirked. "Hero, eyes on the prize. Freeze the ghost!"

Here goes nothing. "Water Cloak!"

Buddy had been close to the water due to being hit around so much, so what came next took minimal effort. Water rolled onto his skin in a thick layer, and then darkness seeped into the attack just as the Ice Beam hit. The attack still hurt, but we didn't get frozen! I resisted the urge to pump a fist at our first complicated foray into pure TE manipulation being so successful and yelled.

"Night Shade and Will-O-Wisp! Buy yourself time!"

Still in his dark cloak, Buddy summoned two shades—

One immediately exploded when Palafin punched it with something akin to Lauren's Water Punch, but stronger. Jet Punch, I recognized. The explosion from the shade caught Palafin off-guard, so at least we were dealing damage. The second shade tried to hit Palafin with an Ice Beam, but Palafin simply slapped it away. What the hell was that interaction? Buddy summoned another set of Will-O-Wisps while he gave himself some distance and had his Shade change to Shadow Ball.

"Now for the finisher! ASTONISH!" Crasher Wake yelled.

The fact that a move as weak as Astonish could be considered a finisher spoke to Palafin's strength in the rain. Shadows came alive around Palafin's shoulders, then his hands. He clapped them together, creating an explosion as he gathered more energy, and then rushed toward Buddy. He barely hovered over the water, but it came alive around him as if he was using Wave Crash or Surf. He punched through the Shadow Ball, taking the force of the attack head-on, then dove under the water to go even faster to swim past the Will-O-Wisps.

"Acid."

The remaining Night Shade tried to slow Palafin down with Ice Beam, but the attack didn't deal much damage. I grinned when poison bled and roiled through Buddy's skin. Palafin grabbed onto the ghosts' head, but grunted when the poison tore through the skin of his hand. More Acid flew in a line directly at Palafin's chest. It didn't have that big of an effect, but it was hard not to feel pleasure at the sight of their damn superhero getting hurt. I was the damned villain, and I let the role fill my very being.

Still we weren't actually burning Palafin. Something had to change.

"Into the water," I breathed.

Buddy had spent the last minute trying to fully regenerate, and he hadn't had the opportunity to do so each time because Palafin was so damn quick. The ghost type pushed himself back with Water Sport while Palafin followed close by. At this point, Wake had fully implemented his long-term plan, and he was just punching things hard. Now, I had to figure out a way to take advantage of that. I waited for a few seconds, but they felt like a lifetime. Not having Buddy there to tell me exactly what was going on was like fighting without an arm.

"Water Cloak and Ice Beam!" I yelled.

There was light under the raging waters. Ice Beam would instantly freeze all of its surroundings under the water, including Jellicent himself, had we not had Water Cloak.

"Punch through the ice!" Wake yelled.

Another ten seconds passed, and Buddy emerged from the water unscathed. It wasn't long until there was a dull crack and Palafin emerged with bits of ice still clinging to his body as well. Think outside of the box, I internally screamed. While Buddy was resistant, we couldn't sustain this. Hit hard enough, and Palafin would exhaust all of our Recovers, and Wake was smart enough not to use water type moves on anything but Night Shades. Palafin rode another wave, then surged upward with a fist wreathed in Ice. He was hoping to punch through Water Cloak, I instantly realized.

The remaining Shade had fled to follow Buddy, and it threw itself in between the two, exploding in a single hit. He followed up by stabbing a fist into Jellicent's head, but when the ghost didn't freeze, he punched three more times until the Water Cloak shattered while we could only retaliate with point-blank Shadow Balls. Palafin was so aggressive—

Aggressive.

Frost spread through Jellicent's body like cancer, and he fell down onto the island they were floating above like a rock. The fact that he could just punch harder until our techniques broke was so Arceus damn unfair.

"Water Spout!" I barked out.

"ASTONISH!" Wake yelled.

The first Water Spout barely cracked the ice. The second destroyed the outer layer. The third allowed Buddy to free himself from his prison. Astonish was one of the slowest moves Palafin knew because of his unfamiliarity with ghosts, which had left us a precious few extra seconds to break out.

"Taunt," I ordered, my voice clear and crisp.

Taunt was not just a move that prevented a Pokemon from using non-attacking moves. At its heart, it was a move that left only aggressive emotions within an opponent, forcing them to attack, at least the first time it was unleashed. Buddy's eyes dimmed as darkness seeped into them, and Palafin hurled all of his body into the ghost, carrying him across the island and repeatedly punching with Astonish until the crashed into a palm tree. That was fine.

"Will-O-Wisp."

Buddy summoned a third set of cold, purple flames. Palafin only had eyes for Jellicent, at the moment, and he didn't notice the flames enter his body until it was too late.

We'd burned him.

Palafin grunted in frustration as an enormous transparent purple flame overtook him. Jellicent was more of a puddle on the ground at this point, but a Shadow Ball— nevermind, Palafin just punched through it and finished off Buddy with the last remaining ghost TE he'd carried over from Astonish. I exhaled, and tension left my shoulders. The first step of the contingency was complete, but Palafin was still a force to be reckoned with. The water type floated up as he glared at me.

"And Grace Pastel's second Pokemon goes down after taking the beating of a lifetime!" The referee celebrated, along with the crowd. "The tide has turned, ladies and gentlemen! Fear not, because our Hero is here! Challenger, send out your next Pokemon in your league of villains!"

"I have thirty seconds, and I plan on taking them," I said with a haughty smirk. Internally, I was still panicking, but it was good to vent some steam. "I've always enjoyed seeing my opponents burn. Not as much as stabbing, but y'know."

I was surprised to hear the crowd laugh at my joke. I honestly thought they'd boo me, but this was refreshing too. After spending all of my time, I released Princess again, hoping that her small rest in her Pokeball had been enough to get herself back in form. The fairy type instantly fled away from Palafin, since I had warned all of my Pokemon ahead of time. She gathered rocks, forming them into a thick ring around her while Wake yelled.

"Ice Punch! Get yourself some water!"

What Golduck could do, Hero could do better. Columns of water rose faster into the sky, and then Palafin cut them off and molded them into huge spheres the size of Lehmhart. He was doing what Slowking had done during his battle with Maylene, but with pure TE manipulation instead of psychic powers like him or Golduck.

And honestly, he made them look like children playing with Play-Doh.

"Charge Beam," I said, wanting to test the waters.

Palafin stopped in the air and flicked his wrist. One of his six balls of water instantly moved in front of him, catching the Charge Beam and letting it diffuse there. Fuck. No time for Wish, he's already halfway there.

"Mystical Fire! Make some steam!"

When we had worked on my first true custom move in that cave on route 215, I thought it to be a game changer. That was, in retrospect, hilariously incorrect. The move was too difficult to set up for the small returns I would get out of it, and it wouldn't actually deal that much damage. Still, I watched as flames clung to Princess' ring of rocks, creating steam everywhere she flew. Some of it, she just half-haphazardly threw everywhere else, and it quickly turned into steam due to the rain or the sea. Palafin was going so fast he was a blur, but we were fast too.

"Hydro Pump!" Wake yelled, realizing he was wasting time. There was still a time limit to these Gym Battles.

I wanted to yell dodge, but she already knew what to do. Enormous jets of water burst out of Palafin's six spheres and all rushed toward Princess. These weren't normal Hydro Pumps. They bent to the water type's will, twisting and turning as they hunted down Princess like a pack of hungry Mandibuzz. She dove down, avoiding two, then twisted around another one coming from below, and spread her flaming ring of stones into a wall to block another, creating a burst of steam—

I winced when the Hydro Pump punched through the Ancient Power like it had been cardboard and slammed into Princess. She tumbled down, but then caught herself before she could land in the water. Against Palafin, the water meant an instant loss. Looks like it'll only be evasive maneuvers, then. Princess circled around the arena and flew back toward the water type.

"They're plannin' something!" Wake warned. "But you'll punch through. You're a hero! The Hero!"

Palafin flexed, ignoring the constant pain from the Will-O-Wisps as ice danced within his palms. When he closed a fist, he placed both of them into two of his bubbles, and they immediately froze over. They did not drop, however. With a grunt, the water type retracted his Ice Punch from the enormous balls of ice and punched them with a glowing fist, shattering them into a thousand sharp pieces that instantly honed in on Princess. That was the problem with fighting Pokemon this strong, I internally groaned. They're so fucking powerful they can pull any tricks out of their asses, and we were just starting to catch up in that regard. The four remaining spheres of water continued with Hydro Pump, of course. Arceus, the rain was making him so much more powerful than he had any right to be.

I waited with bated breath until Princess got in range—

"Bubble Blast!"

Steam and flames condensed next to Palafin, and in a second, it blew up with a loud pop. Scorching steam singed the water type's body, and he grunted as he covered his face with an arm. There was another explosion, then another, and another as Princess kept her distance. The shards of ice still came for her, stabbing deep into her fur and coating it with blood. Still, she cried out and a Charge Beam came into being, hitting Palafin in the arm. A gust of wind made her gain in altitude, and she narrowly dodged another Hydro Pump. The jet of water grazed her, still, and she winced.

It was time to kick things into high gear. I wasn't going to win by playing nice, and she was in range. It was one thing to do this on accident in battle and another to straight up give the order.

"Break his arms."

Palafin's eyes bulged when Togekiss gripped him with Psychic. The problem was, I realized, that he was so strong that in a second, he broke out of her hold and barrelled toward her with unending rage. Shit.

"Focus on his arm!" I yelled.

Not the entire body, but one limb. Palafin always flew with an arm outstretched like in a comic book, and the audience winced when an audible crack rang out and it bent ninety degrees sideways. Palafin screamed, but not in pain. He raged as he slammed into Princess with all of his might, the remaining water spheres collapsing behind him. The Hero dragged Princess under the water as she desperately tried to electrocute him with Charge Beam.

"Psychic! The other arm!" I yelled as they sank under the surface.

Twenty seconds later, Palafin threw Princess' unconscious body back onto the island. Palafin emerged with not another broken arm, but it was swollen and I could tell he couldn't move it properly.

The referee spoke. "And Hero equalizes the battle! He might be beaten, battered, but he never gives up, does he? He NEVER breaks! WHY?"

The audience yelled as one. "BECAUSE! HE'S! HERO!"

"Challenger, send out your next Pokemon!"

"Let's see what Hero can do when he can't punch properly," I taunted, then grinned when I saw anger course through Palafin— not through empathy, but just from the way he glared at me. He hated me, I realized. I was everything he stood against and he wanted to send me packing. Verbal taunts work, then. I sent out Sweetheart onto the central island, and she quickly let out an excited scream at all of the water and rain around her.

"I'll have you know," I spoke to him directly, "that your time is coming to an end."

"DON'T LET HER GET TO YOU, HERO!" Wake bellowed. "HYDRO PUUUUUUUUMP!"

"Fly and Aerial Ace," I instantly said.

For all Hero was an unsurmountable wall, he was not invincible. He was tiring from two fights in a row, and the Will-O-Wisp was chipping at him little by little. The water type didn't move his arms this time when he pulled water from the sea, and for that, he was slower. Sweetheart was already flying with streaks of blurred air appearing all around her, and she faced the Hydro Pump head-on.

What Hero did not expect was for her to push through it. Her flying at all had caught him by surprise, but he didn't think Sweetie would be able to push past a Hydro Pump. A small, echoing grunt escaped her mouth as she entered the water and more air bubbled out of her jets. Palafin flew back, and even though he was slower, he could still outspeed her.

"Dragon Pulse," I exhaled.

The turquoise energy burst out of the rock type's mouth, traveling through the water until it hit Palafin in the shoulder. The impact sent the water type tumbling down as if he'd lost control of his flight, but we were hot on his tail. A delicious crunch sounded out through the rain when she slammed further into his chest, knocking all the air out of his lungs. Had he been able to use his arm, a few punches would have made quick work of us, but he could not.

Or I thought he couldn't. Wake barked out an order, and Palafin moved his broken arm through sheer force of will, hitting Pupitar with a Jet Punch as he cried out in pain. The rock type snarled, and her shell cracked after each hit, but she caught onto him with Crunch as they both crashed in the water.

"Stay up," I said.

While he could push past the pain to hit us, Palafin would be hard-pressed to wrestle a Pupitar when he was this weakened. Sweetheart flew out of the roaring sea, preserving as much gas as possible by pushing herself with Aerial Ace while there was no sign of Palafin anywhere. He doesn't have healing moves, so him waiting is to my advantage. Sweetie landed on the central island, which at this point was half of its original size.

"Catch your breath," I said. "Keep an eye out."

We were close. So close to beating him. A jet of water rose from nearby and nearly covered Sweetheart, but a quick burst of air got her away from the threat. Next, a wave washed over the island, taking with it the few trees desperately hanging on for dear life. Pupitar floated up so she wouldn't get swept away by the wave.

"So this is how it ends, huh?" I taunted. "Hero? Hiding in the depths and striking at us in the dark while our backs are turned?"

Surprisingly, Wake did not banter back or offer Palafin words of support. Instead, he stared down into the water with focus he hadn't had before. The referee picked up the slack, calling me a bunch of funny names and saying that I was a coward for breaking bones.

"It's just smart," I continued. "Although he did manage to punch Sweetie anyway. Funny how that works. Apparently your hero's had enough of fighting, though."

As another thirty seconds passed with sporadic attacks, It dawned on me. He wasn't coming. Wake grinned, as if he'd been testing Palafin, and not just me. He was, I realized, not only teaching me to fight on an unfair field, but also how to keep my cool during a paradigm shift. He'd also been teaching Palafin not to rise to my taunts. Hero, the crowd chanted. The majority of the people in this room wanted to see me lose, but somehow, I was still not the underdog, as if I was living in his story. They all called his name, louder and louder until—

The water moved as one.

It did not take a shape. Not exactly. It was more like the entire sea itself was rising, inch by inch. The water grew more agitated, foam built up in every single wave until the entire surface was covered in the same substance that Palafin's gloves were made of.

"Into the sky, now!" I yelled.

I didn't have to say it twice. With the hiss of a jet engine, Sweetheart left for the skies, leaving behind a trail of sand and dirt. The foam built and built until it all surged upward. Gallons of it. Enough to fill the arena two times over, all of it converged toward Sweetheart, and Palafin was still nowhere to be seen. The noise from the spectators reached a crescendo—

Then, it all collapsed.

The water returned to normal.

Palafin had washed up onto an island. The burns from Will-O-Wisp had finished him off.

The referee said something, but I was too busy registering what had happened. That move… the amount of control it would take to make it happen was incredible and went beyond everything I'd seen from Palafin. I gulped, and Sweetheart landed back on the ground.

"You did well, Hero," Wake said. "Rejoice, for this battle has made you grow beyond your means."

"I think," I gasped, "that it's about time to transfer him to the 8th badge."

With so many stacked Rain Dances, he had been nigh unstoppable. Without them? I was pretty sure he'd be able to easily hold his own when transformed, at the very least.

Wake grinned. "He does pack a punch, doesn't he? ESPECIALLY AGAINST OPPONENTS LIKE YOU!"

He raised both of his arms and basked in the crowd's cheers. For all this could have been boasting, I knew Wake was right. Palafin thrived against opponents like me. People he saw as evil and unfair pushed him past his limits because he truly believed he needed to stop me. A few moments later, he sent out his Sharpedo. I breathed a sigh of relief when good old hydrokinesis made a return, and water clung to the dark type's skin to help him float. While his mastery over it was far better than Volkner's Lanturn had been, it still looked hilariously clumsy compared to anything Palafin had been capable of. This is one of Sweetheart's worst matchups, I acknowledged. Sharpedo's skin was tough enough for her hits to be dulled. The Rain Dance did not strengthen, but it didn't wane either. This wasn't over, but at least the islands wouldn't flood even faster.

"INTO THE WATER AND OUT! LIQUIDATION!" Crasher Wake bellowed.

Sharpedo dove down like a missile, and as soon as his skin touched the sea, he sped up and gathered momentum. He didn't go deep. I could still see his dorsal fin peeking above the surface. Water built up like a wave until the dark type jumped out of it and it followed him. The liquid around Sharpedo was shaking, with bubbles and ripples going through it as if it would explode on contact.

And I knew it would.

"Iron Defense," I ordered.

Running away from Sharpedo? Impossible, not when Wake had Agility in his backpocket. I knew for a fact that he wanted to make me run so that he could catch me off-guard, but I knew all of Sharpedo's tricks. Sweetheart's skin shimmered brightly as Sharpedo crashed nose-first into her. Water exploded, puncturing holes into her shell.

"Payback!" I grinned.

This would only work once, but oh boy, did it work. Sweetheart moved unnaturally quickly as darkness slipped from her shell, and she slammed her full weight into Sharpedo so strongly that half of his teeth fell out. Sharpedo slid across the island, then lifted himself up back into the water.

They'd only stay at a distance from now on, even if Sharpedo's expertise was in a melee. There were scant few rocks to use here, but the Ancient Power from Angel still remained. Crumbled stone in the island on the right corner that was barely still above water any longer. Thank fuck I'd played the long game. Hurricane from Gyarados might have washed most of them into the sea, but some were still gathered around the corner and she could pick them up from under the water.

"Switch islands! To my right!" I ordered.

Sweetheart flew, skipping across the water like a stone until the reached our corner. Wake barked out for an Agility, and then a Hydro Pump. He still followed, but kept his distance now.

"Dodge right! Left! Left again!"

Her eyes were back to the attack, so she followed my voice and narrowly avoided all but the last Hydro Pump. She was on her last legs, but we needed this. Any extra damage would go far in helping the rest of the team. I leaned against my crutch as Sweetheart beached herself on the island and quickly turned. The only counter was—

"Smack Down!" I yelled.

A rock shattered under the water, then fly toward Sharpedo, who dodged by ducking under the water. Perfect. The rock moved ninety degrees down and slammed into his skull through the water. Not much damage, but it's something. Sharpedo roared— something that sounded more like something that should have come out of a dragon's mouth— letting loose another Hydro Pump that broke through a hastily made wall with Stone Edge and finished the rock type off. Ancient Power would come in handy for her at some point. I recalled Sweetheart after thanking her for her performance. Only she had the tools to finish off Palafin, and she had used them perfectly.

I released Sunshine onto the center island, and he immediately grunted in displeasure. Rain turned to steam as it hit his shell.

"Sunny Day."

The bright light left Turtonator's snout and grew until he peered through the clouds. It wasn't much, but it was something. Crasher Wake barked out another order, and Sharpedo continued pestering us with Hydro Pump. He was keeping his distance, then. Sunshine lifted an arm to protect his face, but there was only so much he could do to actually dodge.

But this was fine. I let a third Hydro Pump hit him. Then a fourth. I told him to use Dragon Pulse, which Sharpedo easily dodged. Lure them into a false of security, then strike. I would only be able to do this once.

"Scale Shot!" I called out.

In one smooth motion, Sunshine turned toward Sharpedo, his shell already humming and glowing with Shell Trap's power. Dozens of glowing red scales from his back flew toward Sharpedo, who tried to dive to dodge. The first explosion stunned him, then there were dozens more, like cluster bombs, one going off had triggered all of the others.

"Fly."

Flames danced around Sunshine, hugging his body in a warm embrace. The Flame Charge sped him up until he jumped and slammed an Iron Tail against his shell. Then, he retreated into it and used it again.

He didn't land on top of Sharpedo, because we didn't manage to extend the range of the island. Even when flooding due to the rain, it would have given him more space to gather momentum, but that was fine. Another Shell Trap, and he swam toward the still-stunned Sharpedo, grabbing onto his tough skin. Vapor rose high into the sky and water evaporated from him just being there. A Dragon Pulse gathered in front of Sunshine's snout—

Wake called his Sharpedo before he could burn, and wasted no time or pleasantries sending out his last Pokemon. Kingdra. The dragon type hovered over the sea, and for some reason, the storm ended. The rain itself continued, but the sea was completely calm. And we were in the middle of the water. Shit. They'd pulled the rug from under me.

"WHAT NOW, IMPALER? KINGDRA, DRAGON PULSE!"

"You've got this," I exhaled. "Shell Trap out of the water."

I inhaled sharply when Kingdra opened her eyes for the first time and spat out her Dragon Pulse. It was weaker than Sunshine's by far, but it would still hurt. The dragon ducked under the water to tamper the hit as if he was one of Wake's own Pokemon, then exploded— twice— thrice in a row in less than a second and launched into the air with very little control except his general direction. He sprawled out at the edge of the island, and it was hard to notice the top of his shell starting to splinter.

"Twister!" Wake yelled.

It was a small tornado at first, and then a cyclone. The air was chock full of draconic energy as it spun faster and faster. Kingdra rumbled, and the Twister fell onto the island like a force of nature. And she was making another one. I told Sunshine to start off a Flame Charge again, but jumping onto Kingdra when we'd just made the same play against Sharpedo would be impossible. It was a good thing that he had other tricks up his sleeve.

"Scale Shot!"

"Watch out—" Wake yelled out, but it was too late.

They wouldn't just explode in the water. Small, flaming scales flew off of Sunshine's shell as soon as he used another Shell Trap, and then exploded all around Kingdra. Kingdra was powerful, only second to Palafin and Gyarados, but she was also slow, and had nowhere to retreat to. Both in or out of the water, we would get her. Sunshine let loose a flaming Dragon Pulse that completely enveloped the water type. He kept it going for as long as possible until the Twister grew to such an extent that he couldn't avoid it. The attack had grown using water and now overtook the entire island.

"You've got this," I breathed. "Keep going."

And keep going he did. Kingdra aimed her Dragon Pulses using the red hue beneath the Twister, but hers were weaker than ours. Sunshine finished off Kingdra with an angry roar. Her scales were burned, and smoke still emanated out of her. Sunshine didn't boast even though I knew he wanted to. We still had work to do.

"Leader Wake is down to one Pokemon!" The referee yelled. "Can Sharpedo do it? Can he bring it home and end this battle?! Leader Wake, send out your last Pokemon!"

Wake released the dark type as far away from us as he could, but that was fine too. Little rays from the Sunny Day occasionally peered through the clouds and onto Sunshine's scales. The dragon type drew on heavy breaths.

"Solar Beam."

Months ago, he had used Solar Beam in the middle of a Smokescreen during our first training bout. While I hadn't brought it up again, I knew it would be key here and practiced the same set up as much as we could with Angel.

A smokescreen masked more sunlight than storm clouds.

It burst out of his snout like a flashbang, so loud that even Wake had to repeat his order to get under water twice. Not that Sharpedo had waited for him anyway. The water type was quick, but he no longer had Agility set up. The Solar Beam was larger than a Snorlax and evaporated the water under it. So powerful it created a dent in the sea fifteen feet deep like we'd split the water in half. Sharpedo used Hydro Pump— the Solar Beam brushed past the attack after a second of struggle and reached the dark type.

When the Solar Beam done, Sharpedo was down for the count.

"Victory to Grace the Impaler!"

Holy shit. Holy fucking shit, I'd won, and it hadn't been particularly close. Wake's entire strategy had revolved around Palafin, and we had countered it despite our difficulties. The rain slowly abated, leaving only the sun to peer down on Sunshine. This time, he gloated, letting out a Flamethrower high into the sky. I let him have his moment, of course. He'd just gone toe-to-toe with a Kingdra in the middle of a makeshift ocean and in the rain, even if that Kingdra wasn't particularly that strong. Granted, everything looked weak in comparison to Palafin. The crowd was cheering for my victory now that the 'act' was done, although of course there were leftover boos, even if they weren't many. The vast majority of people were regulars at the Gym and knew it was all a game.

I carefully stepped down the stairs with my crutches and made my way toward Wake, but he was nice enough to motion at me to stay where I was so I wouldn't have to walk too long.

He spoke first. "Looks like you've won your title," he said with a wink. Even outside of battle, his voice was loud. "Congratulations, impaler… or maybe bonebreaker would be more appropriate. Quite the brutal way you took down Palafin. He isn't used to people coming at him that way."

"I would have lost if I hadn't. Three Focus Punches at full strength, and Swee— Pupitar goes down."

"That's fair. You should probably expect someone to fight you the same way at some point, but at the very least, Gym Leaders tend to be more lenient with the way we battle. I hope you didn't mind the little fun we had. I try to do it for every battle, but most of the time I'm the heel."

Lenient? Had he not seen that Hyper Beam from Gyarados? I thought, smothering a smirk.

I already had my ID and Pokedex out for him, and I handed them over. "It was a lot of fun. It felt good to let loose, in a way."

"Right? You clicked on pretty fast, so that was nice. We gave our spectators a good show."

He fiddled with my Pokedex first, then my ID. "You've got the Fen Badge now, and an extra 50k in the bank. Oh, and also the Scald TM."

Good for Buddy, that one.

"I hope you've learned many lessons here," he said, somewhat ominously. "Because the eighth will be much harder than this."

I stopped myself from gulping and nodded firmly. How to not panic if you start losing, how to fight on a field that's blatantly unfair and think outside of the box, improvements on how to think on my feet, I need to get my ass into gear and focus more on things like TE manipulation, and more that I probably wasn't looking at right now. Still, now wasn't the time to be gloomy.

I had kept my nerves. I hadn't panicked. I had stared the Hero in the eye and hadn't blinked.

And Legendaries, that had been so much fun.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Zeta, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Peg, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, SmallBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider

 

[Soussouni1]

INTERLUDE - SHIFT

"I mean, dude… Grace the Impaler?" Denzel snorted, as he had every time he repeated the name. "That's so on the nose."

Denzel Williams stared at Grace, who shook her head in dismissal. It had been hours since her dominant victory over Wake, and they'd already hosted a party for her. There was something tense in her shoulders, he noticed. She'd taken on the responsibility for her UPAN colleague's trauma, so Denzel wanted to cheer her up through teasing.

"I like it!" she exclaimed. "It really speaks to me, and you being an asshole about it sucks."

"Even Cece found it funny. She just doesn't want to mock you because you guys are dating."

Grace rolled her eyes. "Jasmine wears her corny title on her sleeve. If she can be the Rapier of Olivine, I can be Grace the Impaler."

"Sure thing…"

She pinched the small of his back, causing him to jump and her to snicker like a kid. The evening air was warm, which reminded Denzel of Twinleaf. Pastoria's weather was strikingly similar to his hometown, and it made him somewhat nostalgic.

"Pauline doing okay?" Grace asked.

"Oh, she'll recover," he said with a clenched fist. "She still doesn't want to speak to me much. I'm waiting for her to cool down, and her loss hasn't helped with that. Even Emilia's been kicked out of her room."

Grace winced. "Yikes. Well, it's always good to give her space when she's like that."

He nodded pensively. They knew Pauline in and out by now, along with her quirks. She'd bounce back stronger than ever, even if the Conference was basically no longer a possibility.

"What about you?" Grace asked. "How are you doing?"

He turned toward his best friend. There was always something in her eyes, when she worried for one of her loved ones. Innocence, maybe? Something that made it hard to remember that she was the same girl that had ordered her Togekiss to break Palafin's arm without a moment's hesitation. Grace made a lot more effort to spend some time on social media, but he didn't think she knew how many people couldn't believe she just did that sometimes. The only ones who fought similarly at a high level were Amar Hamili from Orre or a few people from Kanto-Johto, but he could count them on his hands. This style of battling would make her a pariah in Unova, but despite his warnings to her, she didn't care enough to change it.

"Sure, what do you mean?" He shrugged.

"You know what I mean, Denzel."

Denzel leaned against the Pokemon Center's walls and took a deep breath. "I try not to think about it." The world ending, and you messing with beings beyond my comprehension.

"If you want to talk, I'm here, yeah?"

"I know that."

"I make a good hype girl," she smirked. "Remember how I cheered you up before you fought Gardenia?"

"Don't make it seem like it was twenty years ago or something," he chuckled. She loved reminiscing about good memories. "But yes, I remember. But, you know, this situation is orders of magnitude above that." He stopped and ran a hand through his dark brown hair. "But I'm okay. Taking it one day at a time."

Grace leaned deeper against her crutches. "Always the optimistic one."

"If I wasn't where would you be?" he asked half-jokingly.

"Probably dead."

The words were like a bucket of cold water had dropped on his head, because he knew from her tone that she was being serious.

Grace echoed his thoughts. "I'm serious. I need you," she continued. "Which was why I was the one who pushed for you to learn about the truth. The others were less inclined to tell you the entire thing. Only fragments of the story."

If he had to guess, Mira had probably been the most opposed to him learning about this.

"I… appreciate that," he murmured. "Yeah, I do," he said, more sure of himself.

"Y'know, even when I'm in Unova, I'll text you every day."

"Obviously," he said. "Call, too. Although I guess every day might be difficult with the different time zones."

"Know what you'll do when this year is over?" she asked. She was staring in the distance, as if she saw something he didn't.

"Stay in Sinnoh. Go through the Circuit again," he said. "Pauline will want to do it too, and Emilia has her contests."

"Thought you'd say so."

She turned her face away from him for a few seconds, then let out a long exhale. He'd told her that he wasn't coming to Unova, but she had probably still held onto hope. Denzel held out a hand, wanting to pat his friend on the shoulder, but she recovered quicker than he thought she would.

"How's Sylveon doing?"

Denzel's Pokeball felt heavier, at that moment, and the scar across his shoulder tingled. He still needed to get used to that.

"Good. Wanna see him?"

His best friend beamed. "Can I?!"

There she is, Denzel smirked. Being all gloomy didn't fit her. He released Sylvi next to her, and the fairy type flinched when he saw Grace, who immediately crouched to look into his eyes. Sylveon's ribbons moved erratically and stuttered, a sign that he was nervous to see her.

"Hi Sylvi!" Grace said. "Long time no see. I missed you."

She placed an arm against one of Sylveon's ribbons, and he relaxed right away. Empathy, Denzel thought. That way, Sylvi would know she wasn't lying. Grace asked him plenty of things, like if he was eating well, or if he had reconciled with Denzel's Pokemon. There were no questions about Pauline or Emi, because Grace was worried about Sylvi. This was his time, and the fairy type enjoyed being pampered. Seeing Grace have a full-on conversation with Sylvi was a lot weirder now that he knew the exact reason why she could do so. All this time, he had thought her to just be talented at picking up body language or specific words.

Eventually, the topic turned to training. Sylveon was doing a lot better for himself, and traces of his deficiencies had all but disappeared now that they had found a fragile equilibrium.

"Sylvi was always better at glamour than Princess," Grace said. "Arceus, Hatterene's going to be so pissed when I visit her. We haven't progressed at all on that front."

"Actually," Denzel raised a finger. "From what I understand, your Moonblast is different than ours. That means Princess uses glamour to shape hers the way she wants."

Grace's eyes widened. "Really? What's your Moonblast like?" she asked, turning to Sylvi.

"Not complete yet, but almost there. We'll have it mastered by the time we fight Wake," he explained. "But, uh, ours doesn't do all of that gravity stuff. It captivates the opponent and stops them from moving by blasting a wave of apathy at them. Kind of like what he can do with his ribbons, but on a bigger scale. So yours has a lot more destructive potential, and ours is more, like, utilitarian, I guess."

"That's so cool!" she yelled. "So is every Moonblast different? Damn it, Be—Hatterene! I bet you she's so full of herself that she considers every other Moonblast 'not proper' or something. That's the only reason why she wouldn't have brought this up."

"You know her a lot better than I do," Denzel said.

"Either way, I'm going to have her get Princess up to speed with glamour when we get here. She'll probably ask for something in return, but I'll just wrangle it out of her."

"Why yes, why don't you wrangle information out of a fairy that's centuries old," Denzel snorted.

"She's just a person," Grace deadpanned. "Like you and me."

A person that doesn't think at all like a human and puts more value in deals than lives, Denzel thought. Still, he wasn't going to tell Grace who she could or couldn't be friends with. Hatterene still terrified him, and he had no intention of ever traveling through that route again.

"You disagree," she noticed.

"I can't hide anything from you, can I?" he groaned.

"Dude, you're an open book. Maybe if you stopped doing that fist-clenching thing you do all the time and didn't strain your face every time something unpleasant happened to you, you'd hide more things from me."

—

This fucking sucked. So Arceus damn much. Pauline wanted to tear her hair and scream, but she'd done plenty of that already. Victory had been so fucking close. If she hadn't ordered Charizard to rush in as soon as Blaze triggered and played it safe instead, that Swanna would have been minced meat. The redhead bit her lip and kicked into her bed, accidentally hitting the wood and hurting her foot. She restrained a squeal and clasped her foot. Stupid. That was stupid. Primeape eyed her with a blank expression as she blew on her foot. Pauline had been with him long enough to know when he was annoyed or not.

"I'm sorry for disturbing your meditation, or whatever," she growled. "I'll be better."

The fighting type grunted, then stood up from his cross-legged position. He moved toward Pauline with silent steps and placed a hand on her knee.

"Are you… comforting me?" she asked.

Primeape agreed with his smooth voice, and then gestured at her before sitting cross-legged again, this time after hopping on her bed. Was he asking her to meditate? She didn't know the first thing about how the hell any of that worked! Still, it wasn't like she had anything else to do. She had asked for time alone, and alone she was. She was already trying to come up with ways to apologize to Denzel for her outburst. He had fucked up, but she hadn't helped things.

Pauline crossed her legs and took a few deep breaths, following Primeape's lead. These days, she acted more like a Primeape than he ever had.

She had lost, and no amount of 'what ifs' would fix things. Now, two options presented themselves before her. Get out of this crummy town and try to fly to Canalave ASAP, or just… give up for the year.

The choice wasn't that evident. Giving up was not in Pauline's vocabulary, but if she left, then she would leave her friends to face these poachers without her. She knew she was weaker than them by far. It didn't take a genius after seeing how Grace handled Palafin to know that she was outclassed by her and the others by miles, but she still wanted to do something. Pauline was not a child to be coddled. If she won every Gym from now on in one attempt, then making it to the Conference was theoretically possible, but Pauline knew better. Even if she could, her friends were more important than badges, and she still didn't have a sixth Pokemon. There was no way she would have beaten Byron for her sixth if she lost to Wake. Candice was maybe possible, but still.

Oh. I almost forgot to breathe. Pauline drew upon another long breath.

Gym Battles… Pokemon battling in general was just fun. Fun was why she'd wanted to make it to the Conference. She did not have any grand goals like the rest of her friends. Louis' sanctuary, Denzel being a symbol and a teacher, Justin wanting to revolutionize medicine or Grace's advocacy for Pokemon rights… Pauline had none of that. Instead, she just wanted a few years of traveling and hanging out with the people she loved before she got shoved into a position she didn't deserve in her mother's company. Plus, having badass Pokemon would do wonders to let people know not to fuck with her. Was not having a noble goal so wrong?

It wasn't, Pauline realized. She was Pauline, and she did whatever she wanted.

The redhead sighed in relief at the weight dropping off her chest. She would stay, then.

"This is nice," she muttered.

Primeape grunted in annoyance. Right, she couldn't talk during this entire process.

Maybe she'd even keep doing this meditation thing.

—

This girl was going to be the end of me, Melody groaned.

She pushed herself off her desk and stared through the window panes. Jubilife's skyline had always been way too crowded to her liking when compared to Veilstone. Granted, she'd grown up in the middle of nowhere in Solaceon, but she barely remembered those days, now. Better her parents' non-acceptance about her gender stay buried and blurry instead of vivid and traumatic like they were in her first days in Hearthome after she'd run away with no money or plan. Before the Darkest Day, Solaceon had always been a town where everything stayed the same because anything that was was obviously meant to be. Sprinkle a handful of bigotry, and it was easy to see why her parents tried to lock her in her room when she had come out as transgender at the age of sixteen— fifteen years ago, now, she mused.

But Melody was getting sidetracked. Grace's recent performance against Wake was a true wonder. Not only was the score something the board loved, but the battle itself had blown up online due to how poignant the storyline and her acting had been. Or at least, Melody told the board that it was acting. She knew Grace well enough to know her quirks by now, and that girl down there, facing Wake? That had been just a piece of her true self. Melody leaned against her desk, double-checking that she hadn't missed any important emails. Sometimes, she had nightmares about that.

Ten minutes to 3:30 pm. It was time to meet the board again.

The Poketch Building in Jubilife was the central node of the entire company. The structure itself was made of two towers almost made entirely out of glass while the first five floors linked the two towers together. The board was, of course, on the highest floor of Jubilee Tower— the one Melody was currently in— which had been aptly named after Jubilife. The second tower was named Innovation. Just Innovation. It was where most engineers and programmers resided and worked on old and new products.

Including Grace's father, funnily enough. They had spoken on a few occasions when they crossed paths in the lobby, and he was a very nice man who loved his daughter to bits. The way he gushed about her achievements made Melody smile every time, and she kept having to accept his thanks for 'taking care of her'. They both knew how harsh the company's workload could be. Melody was Grace's shield, in a way. She only contacted her after parsing through the most important matters, and everything always filtered through her. Rising stars like her or her friends always caught the most attention from the media and other brands because they were fresh and new. Craig was Craig. A symbol. But he was old news by this point, as mean as the observation was. He didn't excite people, save for when the Conference started and he released that mega Salamence of his.

New people were shiny, and shiny things enticed the masses. Melody strode through the busy halls of Jubilee tower. The clack of her heels hitting the cold, granite tiles kept her steady. Melody had met the board more times than she could count since being promoted to Grace's Sponsorship Liaison and the girl had been made Craig Goodwill's heir, but it was hard not to feel the knot in her stomach. Offices passed her by the dozens. This floor was entirely dedicated to sponsorships, but not exclusive to liaisons. There were scouts for new and old talents, marketers, data analysts, social media managers, community relations managers, and of course, lawyers.

Never forget the lawyers. They stalked every nook and cranny of the company and were a veritable army. The government had tried to sue Poketch multiple times during the early days of Cynthia's tenure because of monopoly laws she had tried to establish after seeing Unova's conglomerates during her sabbatical, but they had always failed. These days, Poketch worked hand in hand with them, of course. It was Poketch that collected and sold data to the government at a very cheap price, since they didn't require any Porygon to do so. That had come in handy with Team Galactic running about.

But Melody Summers was but a neutral observer. She had climbed the ladder high enough to know these things, and honestly, so long as she got paid and got to do the job that she loved, she wouldn't throw a hissy fit. What would it even do, really? One woman, shouting into the void? She would instantly get smeared from every side, her word would be discredited and she would be blacklisted from ever working a similar job at any company.

The elevator dinged, and Melody stepped through the doors. Even the inside of these damn things were marble. The Poketch Company did not shy away from its luxuries. Inside was someone she knew very well. Jules Fulton. On the shorter side of things, slightly chubby and with a thick and well-trimmed beard and mustache that was starting to turn white. Also, Aubri Schneider's Sponsorship Liaison. The third one in three years. Working with her was a hassle.

"Jules," Melody greeted him. She passed the keycard around her neck on the sensors below the elevator's buttons and clicked on 109.

"Melody," he gruffed. Melody did not miss his eyes drifting to the button she'd pressed. "Off to see the board?"

"Hmhm. Grace won against Wake yesterday, I'm sure you've heard of it."

Jules snorted. "Ah, yes. Impaler, they call her. I'm sure that'll be wonderful PR."

"It will," she smiled ruefully. "People want something new, Jules. They're tired of us selling the same old story."

"Aubri's new," he said. "But we all know why she wasn't picked. Because they don't like the way she looks."

Melody rolled her eyes. Sure, that was true, but Aubri was a difficult person to even get a hold of. She was even worse than Craig, in that regard. Even without all of her scars and maimings, she wouldn't have been chosen. She would hate the job, Melody knew, but the only reason she wanted it was to buy a megastone, either for her Medicham or Sableye. Rumors were, she was close, but using mega evolution with only a few weeks of practice at the Conference was a surefire way to get yourself to the hospital or the Pokemon facing you hurt beyond what even Ditto cells could fix, or worse, so even if she got the stone before the month of June, she would not be able to use it.

"I know what you're thinking," he continued. Arceus, could this elevator ride be any longer? "But they could have given her a chance."

"You know as well as I do that there's no chance when money is involved."

Jules clicked his tongue. "And taking in that little bloodthirsty maniac of yours wasn't a chance? A first-year with no accomplishments—" he quickly finished his sentence when he saw the look on Melody's face, "—at the time."

"Craig recommended her. You can bury your head in the sand, but it's the truth, and it's worked out so far."

"Not without some hiccups—"

Jules cleared his throat and stopped when the elevator stopped, and a group of people in suits entered. It was not the first time they were having this debate. Grace was not without her opposition within Poketch, and it would be something she would have to learn to navigate soon enough. There was only so much Melody could protect her from. The company had a singular goal: to make as much money as possible. However, not everyone within agreed on what the best way to do so was. A company as large as this one was bound to have factions.

The elevator was empty again when she reached the final floor. The room was tiled in dark stones that reminded Melody of obsidian. The board had always had a flair for drama. It was unsettling, how empty the place was. There were no decorations, nor was there any furniture. The only person here was the board's secretary, who changed every month or so. Melody greeted her, the sound of her heels echoing throughout the massive room. She gently knocked, then slid the door to the boardroom open.

Six men and an empty chair sat before her, each and every one of them old, including the Poketch Company's founder, Remington McMillan. His son, the only member of the board with a foot not in a grave was not present. He never was. Even in his forties, Landis McMillan liked to live like a bachelor. Last she'd heard, he was taking an extended vacation in Alola with his new girlfriends that she was sure he hadn't paid a ludicrous amount. The table they sat by was ridiculously long and fancy, with carvings covering every inch of the old wood. Light from the huge window peered down on them from behind and cast looming shadows on the table.

"Members of the board," Melody said, without missing a beat. Her hands were prim and proper behind her back, and she stood up straight as an arrow.

"Melody," Remington said. All the others followed suit like drones. Melody was pretty sure Mr. Hemsworth to the left was senile. "The board is very pleased with your sponsee's performance. I suppose that will fix any… hiccups we had with her speech to Pastoria's Councillors."

Of course they hadn't liked it. Melody hadn't either, but Mallory had sent her a very long text gloating about it and she'd sent it to her contacts in Unova. A rising star, calling for 'Pokemon Liberation', Mallory had called it. There had been plenty of trainers like her, but none as vocal. Had Grace not swung Cynthia's name like a bat, the Poketch Company would have vocally disapproved, but they could not go against the Champion, at the moment. Not when they had fostered good relations through her many power grabs.

Had Grace done this on purpose? Melody wondered, or had it been luck?

"This impaler… what is it called again? Meme?" Mr. Sandy started with his usual raspy voice. Decades of smoking did that to a man, and the fact that he had pronounced 'meme' 'mehmeh' was not lost on Melody, but she kept her face straight. "It's very hip with the younger generations. A bit crass, but we can make it work."

"There is some opposition," Mr. Smithson added. "Especially from older trainers. Plenty of Conference goers have spoken out against her, and it's generating some bad press."

"You either love her, or you hate her," Mr. Sandy said. "There is no in-between."

"Permission to speak?" Melody asked.

"Granted," Remington said.

"There is a point to be made in the fact that her tactics are brutal, but they're also exciting. No one else does it like her," Melody said. "And isn't that what we want? So long as it only ruffles a few feathers and we have our PR team working twenty-four-seven on this, we can make it work."

Remington smirked. "Exciting… yes. That certainly is the case. I cannot remember a time when Poketch had this much attention, and more younguns are buying phones and watches than ever."

Melody smiled. His word was as good as law on the board. "I can have my team spreading it online as soon as this meeting is done."

Not that she needed to, when it was spreading so quickly but any boost in engagement would help.

Remington nodded. "Good, good. She'll ask for a raise as soon as she can, no doubt. Try to… guide her toward the right direction. We can't start paying her Craig's salary right away, not when we'd have a rebellion from our other sponsees on our hands."

Craig's salary? An exaggeration if there ever was one, but Remington liked to amplify statements to prove his point. If anything, Grace would probably ask for less than she was worth. She still didn't know how to value people as assets.

"Of course, Mr. McMillan," Melody answered. She wasn't committing to this idea, but nodding and agreeing now and attempting to change their minds later would be easier than a confrontation right this moment.

Poketch's CEO grabbed a stack of papers and adjusted his glasses. "Now, regarding the transition. Since Grace Pastel has agreed to meet, we'll need to prepare to make things as smooth as possible so our stock price doesn't take a hit. You'll have to prepare her for a news conference, then we'll have our design team start work on merchandise…"

Remington rambled on, and Melody hung to his every word.

As much as she disliked these wrinkly old men, she wanted this to be a success.

—

"I can't hide anything from you, can't I?" Abel said with a teasing smirk.

You know this already, Xatu answered. The psychic's eyes shone, and she snatched the half-finished cigarette out of Abel's hands, smothering and compacting it until it became ash. You said you would quit.

"I say a lot of things I don't mean," he laughed.

This is not a joking matter. We are talking about your health.

"Relax, Xatu," he sighed, releasing one last trail of smoke out of his mouth. "I needed to decompress. It's almost time."

Mr. Backlot had been a good patron. An excellent one, even. He was, after all, the only rich prick crazy enough to host Abel in his home. The man was so obsessed with rare Pokemon that Abel had him biting out of his hand. He was currently in a room he had concealed with Malamar and Zazza's help, far away from all the Pokemon he had captured. Oh, they were still in the mansion, hooked up on all kinds of Candies until they lost their sense of self. The ones Backlot kept were not, of course. They needed to stay clean, because otherwise how else would the fatass be able to look at and enjoy their presence in his makeshift underground zoo? Rare Candies were terrible, but they also made Pokemon grow faster. Much faster than normal. It was unhealthy as sin, but Backlot's patrons needed them high and docile, and more power meant flashier battles, which was always good for the Game Corner's pitfights. Abel had only been in that VIP area once. Not that shabby place they hid down the stairs, but the real VIP area that was even more elusive. These people were without morals, and he hated every single one of them.

That did not mean he would not work for them. It was just business.

Until it wasn't.

"How's our little project going?" Abel asked.

Zazza has fed her enough information to have her act on her own. It will be soon, Xatu spoke. She closed her left eye and peered into the future. Things are proceeding as planned, but the odds of everything falling into place for us are pretty low.

Their project was in Pastoria, at the moment. One of Backlot's recently hired hands that they were manipulating, and she had chosen a very annoying target that had forced Abel to experiment with the limits of Malamar's abilities. Still, even if his shot in the dark had worked so far, Abel was not going anywhere near Pastoria. It was not because Mira Compton was there. The little runt had just caught him off-guard, and for that, she had his thanks. He had not been this close to getting caught in years, and the close call had allowed him and his Pokemon to improve leaps and bounds to fill the gaps that he now knew they had. Miracle Eye had been one, something Hypno had been working on for years, but never prioritizing, and there were plenty of new tricks as well. How else would they be hiding the massive Pokemon prison in this mansion?

"No choice in the matter," he said. "If this succeeds, we can get back to Unova. I have a bone to pick with Clarence."

Your quest for revenge will be the death of you.

"Honestly, Xatu, when have I not slipped away from a jam?" Abel smirked. He sat on the luxurious bed. Was that velvet? He didn't really know.

Abel had grown up poor. So poor that his mom had him eat cereal with a fork to save the milk for later. So poor he'd only had one pair of shoes that he had worn until his feet hurt from growing up. So poor his mother had drowned in medical debt until she died of lung cancer.

She'd been a smoker.

Even through all of his dealings and all of the money he had earned, he still couldn't live like he wanted to. Not when the money could be tracked. He could launder in small amounts, but not the sixty million he had stocked in Unova and the few million he had in Sinnoh. He had spent quite a few months gathering all of it, and now it was all here, in this room. The only place he'd be able to spend in large numbers was Alola, but unfortunately, his retirement would come far later than he wanted. Clarence needed to die first.

"Legendaries, I can't wait until we get to Alola. Xatu, do you want a yacht or a resort?"

You do realize that by bringing up retirement so often, you are taunting the strings of fate to string you up and hang you?

"Can't a man daydream about what he wants?" he asked with a hint of amusement.

Then, he paused.

"Do you hate what we're doing, Xatu?" Abel asked.

Not particularly, the bird answered. The Pokemon we captured are unfortunately just collateral damage. That is how business goes. I have done far worse for you, and I will keep going. Why would you ask when you know the answer already?

"I don't know," he shrugged after a pause. "Zazza hates it, and she keeps letting me know how much she hates it. It weighs on me."

None of his Pokemon were good people. They were criminals, just like he was, save for Dan, who was too young to understand the magnitude of their actions. They had injured, killed, stolen, destroyed, burned, looted, mind controlled when the time demanded it, but for Zoroark, this was personal, which was why they were going to fuck Mr. Backlot on the way out. To do that, however, they needed to screw over a lot of people first. Mind controlling him into confessing wouldn't work. Backlot would just hire lawyers to use it as a defense when all was said and done and wriggle his way out of things by saying that he had no control over his actions the entire time. Abel had never backstabbed someone who paid so well, but Zazza demanded it because for her, this was personal. Their actions had doomed many Pokemon to hell, but at the very least they would cut off the flow as soon as their plan kicked into motion and they left. The poaching had been happening even when Abel had not been hired, but on a much smaller scale. Backlot had been doing this for years. Honestly, Abel did not care much for the Pokemon suffering, but mostly for Zazza's state of mind.

Xatu spoke into his mind. Of course. She's the one who has to do most of the work, and she hates pretending to be human. She also knows how it feels to be abused. Still, now is not the time for doubts. If everything goes well, Mr. Backlot will—

"Yes," he said. "I know. We'll manage."

We always do. Somehow, you have found a way to consistently beat the odds, Xatu said with fondness in her eyes.

Abel snorted. "We're slippery."

That, we are.

Abel trudged through his room, passing by his suitcases full of cash as he rubbed his bare feet on the soft carpet. He peered through the window and saw sprawling gardens and fountains. The property was surrounded by massive hedges, and those hedges were surrounded by massive walls. Paid guards were everywhere outside of the walls. Most of them knew about the poaching. In fact, before Abel had come, they had been the ones hunting rare wild Pokemon to drug up and send to the Game Corner for profit. Sometimes, trainers' Pokemon were stolen too, but on much rarer occasions. Of course, his arrival had sped things up dramatically.

Abel had so expertly masked the hidden section of the mansion. Even inspectors from the League a month ago had found nothing.

Servants worked day and night to preserve the garden's beauty.

They truly did good work, didn't they? The Pokemon Mansion did look beautiful at this time of year, with all the flowers blooming about.

---

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[Soussouni1]

A/N: General trigger warning for this chapter and most chapters until the end of this arc. Think Darkest Day from the Solaceon arc.

---

INTERLUDE - HER STAND

One week earlier

"This is bullshit," Pauline raged. She lifted her leg to kick a wall, but managed to stop herself. "Damn it. For my own good? Fuck you, Denzel." She bit her lip and gripped at her skirt.

Two minutes earlier, she had burst into the room with news that Maeve and the others had been anxiously waiting for. Chase, Denzel, Grace, Cecilia and Mira were going to deal with the poachers one way or another, and the rest of them weren't invited. Pauline let out a long, trembling breath, and Emilia rubbed her back with a mother's gentleness. Louis' brows furrowed, but he was silent. Justin was quiet too, although he had the tiniest smile on his face— a relieved one.

Maeve? Well, she didn't really know what to think. On one hand, she hated the fact that her friends were going to risk it all alone, but on the other, she felt relief and understood Justin's point of view. She liked not risking her life for something that the government should be able to handle. Now if only she could convince them not to go ahead and dive into the Pyroar's den, she would, but she knew them far too well for that. Grace, Mira and Chase especially. Once they set their minds to something, they were not going to change them.

"And they let Mira join?" Pauline hissed. "She has the same number of badges we do! That's fucking hypocritical!"

"Perhaps her psychics and her Porygon would be of better use than your brute force," Justin suggested. When the redhead glared at him, he shrugged. "I'm just being objective."

That was true enough. Plus, Haunter could hide places by slipping through reality, so Mira would have her uses. Maeve already knew that they had the 'power' thing covered anyway, so it wasn't like adding Pauline's team to the mix would add much. Sure, she had a Gothitelle, but—

"Now what?" Louis asked to fill the dead air. "It's not like we can stop them."

Nope. They couldn't. Not without doing something they regretted.

"The best course of action would be to alert the authorities of what they are planning," Justin suggested.

Yikes. Maeve hid a wince. That would be a horrible play that would irreparably destroy their friendships, which was par for the course for Justin. He wasn't looking at the problem correctly.

"Trainers love to solve random bullshit all the time," Pauline sighed. "It won't work. They'll let them do it."

That was true enough. Maybe Pastoria would want to get the credit, but there's no way they'd refuse free labor.

"So what, then?" Emilia said. "I want to help, but it's…"

"Dangerous," Louis completed the sentence. "This is beyond Solaceon, and you weren't even there for that," he said, nodding at Emi. She glared back at him, mirroring Pauline's earlier stare. If the situation hadn't been so desperate, Maeve would have called them cute together. Louis continued, "I'm sorry, it's the truth. This is far more dangerous, I'd say, with Abel involved. The Hunters had good Pokemon, but they weren't good trainers."

Maeve tapped a leg against the floor. It could be more dangerous, but they couldn't be sure. They had no idea how many people were actually in on this and the scale of the poaching operation.

"You don't know that," Pauline said.

There you go, Pauline. Maeve hummed in support, which made Pauline's lips quirk. Pushing conversations from the background like this was not something she had ever done. Louis had no idea if these poachers were actually good trainers or not. As much as Maeve liked him, he was out of line. Granted, she also didn't want to get involved… argh, why was this so complicated?

"I think you'd be lying to yourself. And we're on the same side here. I want to help too," Louis insisted.

"So we should run our own operation parallel to them, then?" Pauline asked. "Justin and I can fly, and we can both carry multiple people for protection, so that's not a problem. Maeve's Staraptor can only fit one person, though."

They were involving her already? Not that she didn't want to help, but… gah, this was hard. Could they at least let her sleep on it? She'd dug her own grave by supporting Pauline here, and she didn't want to attract the redhead's ire when she was already royally pissed.

"Yeah," she shrugged. "I guess I can help."

Pauline smirked "Great. If they want to do this the hard way, we'll do this the hard way—"

"But we should probably wait a little," Maeve continued. "We should see what they do first, and shape our operations to help them as much as possible. Right now, you only have the vague plan of what Denzel said, right? Scouting and stuff. We need to help, but we don't want to get in their way."

"So you think we should wait a few days?" Emilia asked.

Maybe if she bought enough time, then this would all blow over.

"Yeah, just to actually figure out all of what they're going to do. They must have a plan beyond try to find the base and bust in. That would be stupid," Maeve said. "Let's just take a breather, okay? Scouting won't help if the two groups don't communicate about the areas they've already been to. There must be another way to help."

Pauline crossed her arms and clicked her tongue, but agreed nevertheless.

The meeting continued in earnest, with everyone throwing ideas to see what would stick on the wall. Pauline hated the idea of her loved ones being in danger without her being there. Emilia hated the idea of being a scared little girl like she apparently was in the past. Louis wanted to be as helpful as possible. Justin and Maeve were sane for completely different reasons. Arceus, if only she could get a meeting with Denzel to convince him to bail on this entire thing…

"We've exhausted most topics," Louis said. "So the plan is, try your best to figure out what they're doing. Spying is a bust. Togekiss, Sigilyph, Alakazam and Gardevoir can sense people, and sometimes I feel like Grace knows more than she should in that regard too. Maybe we can try to spy on Denzel. He doesn't have a psychic."

"Sylvi's nice enough, now, so we could do that without being scared he'd strangle us when Denzel isn't looking," Emilia said in jest. Or was it in jest? Wait, what the hell? She was completely serious.

Still, spying, now? Maeve was at fault for this having come up, but by the Legendaries, for all she liked Louis this was a terrible idea. Oh well, she wasn't about to refute them. Maeve was at her best when she sank into the background and followed someone else's lead. Leading? That was for the others. She was content here, and at least spying on Denzel wouldn't get them all killed. The meeting dispersed, and Maeve went back into her room. Louis asked if she was alright, but she needed her alone time. The teenager collapsed onto her bed with heavy eyes and scrolled through her new phone. It'd take some time to get used to how fresh everything was. There was no lag when she opened an app, and the screen wasn't busted and cracked. There had been a certain familiarity to it that had been lost.

She released Gligar, who hopped on her head and picked at strands of her hair with his claws and mouth. Then, Staraptor, who plopped herself down on her pillow fort beside the bed. Starmie rolled below the bed, because he had loved cramped spaces for as long as she'd had him. Drapion was too big to be in the room and Infernape would accidentally burn stuff down with his fire. Maeve searched her name on Chatter and scrolled until an alert in the forums startled her.

Zoey_Miranda (Verified Trainer)

Hey. Wyd?

Maeve_Chang (Verified Trainer)

Big drama with my friends and it feels like a civil war, but nothing much. U?

Zoey_Miranda (Verified Trainer)

Hope you get thru that ok! Still looking for that Yanma?

Maeve_Chang (Verified Trainer)

Yeah, no luck yet. Looks like I'll get way busier from now on, so I won't be able to catch it for a bit. It sucks when your friends want to play hero and you're swept in it because you don't want to let them go through it alone.

Zoey_Miranda (Verified Trainer)

Wdym by that? Are they gonna play vigilante with the poachers?

Maeve_Chang (Verified Trainer)

No, no one is. We aren't involving ourselves with them. I was talking about something else. Politics.

Zoey_Miranda (Verified Trainer)

Aight. Well, tell you what, why dno't you tell your friends ot go get lost and come with me at the Safari Zone tmr? I can show you around, I've been here for a few months. I know where the good spots fro Yamna are.

Maeve_Chang (Verified Trainer)

Word? Screw it, I'll come, but not tomorrow. We can do it after my battle with Wake, I just want to focus on training atm. I can do one day without all this stress.

Zoey_Miranda (Verified Trainer)

Sounds good. Let's meet at Arlyle's near the docks for lunch first. I'll send u the address when you're ready.

Maeve smiled through the tiredness. Was she evil for this? It'd be nice to have someone not involved in this to vent to, and it wouldn't be the first time she'd hung out with Zoey. As soon as Mira had learned about her existence, she'd demanded to have Gardevoir check her out and had found nothing wrong. Zoey had been very anxious about meeting Maeve's friend, but it had all gone without a hitch. She'd lied about the poachers and would have to stay quiet, but she had far more worries than that, and they were mostly about time in the Circuit running out. Part of her considered going tomorrow to look for Yanma anyway, but it would be best to focus on Crasher Wake for now. She couldn't afford to mess around, not when she was consistently the underdog.

At some point, she dropped her phone on her chest and fell asleep to the sound of her Pokemon.

—

"Come on, pal."

Maeve held out her first, and Infernape bumped his into hers. How warm, she thought. He had kept her from freezing numerous nights together, from his early days as a Chimchar up until now. Maeve clapped his shoulder and congratulated him. After all, he had just managed to take down Starmie in one of their spars, and it had long been a goal of his to do so. Granted, Starmie hadn't been allowed to use his psychic type attacks, but a win was a win. Zoey had suggested that training alone might do her some good, and to be honest, the novelty of it all made it feel like she was progressing faster. Maeve hadn't been one to make her Pokemon spar very often, but the progress they'd made in two days was significant. Her Pokemon had grown too used to Louis' and Justin's, and having a new training regimen would do them some good.

Grace having suggested the beach was awesome for her too. The swampy arena was full a lot these days, and this place was empty. Her friend was busy meeting Mudsdale every day, but the next time Maeve saw her, she would thank her a thousand times. Her battle with Crasher Wake was tomorrow, and the nerves were starting to get to her. What if I lose? Then it would be all over, and she would feel like a complete failure despite that not being the case. She was negotiating with a shoe brand to sponsor her, and things were looking up money-wise. Now, all she needed to do was win, and everything would be alright.

Everything would be alright.

Infernape clapped her shoulder, the flame on his head dimming slightly. Trust in yourself, it felt like he was saying. The fire type grunted, giving her a thumbs up and flashing his sharp fangs.

"We'll win," she smiled. "I trust in you, and myself. Do you trust me?"

Infernape grinned, as if to say he always had and always would. Maeve slid her arms around her starter. The flame on his head was uncomfortably hot, but she didn't care. Infernape loved her, as did her other Pokemon. They did not judge her for her performance, they did not judge her for how quiet she was, they did not judge her for being Maeve. There was something about that that made her want to cry.

The next day, Maeve won her Gym Battle by the skin of her teeth.

—

Six days later

Zoey was a lot of fun.

She wasn't always joking around like Mira was, but Maeve still appreciated her awkward friendliness. They'd hung out a few times the past few days while Maeve waited for her team to heal— so much so that Maeve had to stop herself from being too clingy. Having a normal friend felt so good. Plus, when would she ever have another chance to give someone battling advice? That basically hadn't happened in the last two months! Spending time with Zoey also helped Maeve not obsess over this poacher issue. Just like in Solaceon, it seemed like her friends were going to take things into their own hands. Now that Grace had her Pokemon again, she roamed Pastoria's streets absent-mindedly when she wasn't with Mudsdale. Cecilia and Denzel often patrolled route 212 on her Golurk's back. Goodness, the ground type was so loud when he flew that he sounded like a military jet. Chase also scouted on Sigilyph. Thankfully, they hadn't found anything so far.

Sunyshore had been a nice little reset for her. A city where everything had been so normal she could cry. She had forgotten what normal felt like. It had been like tasting her mother's cooking after having spent years abroad or something. Nostalgic. Zoey reminded her of the normal she so desperately craved.

"Whatcha thinking about?" Zoey bent down to loom over Maeve with her hands behind her back. "The trouble with your friends?"

"Kinda," Maeve muttered. "Like I said, the group's having a bit of a civil war, and I honestly want nothing to do with it," she found her words. Zoey was also a great listener, and she'd learned a lot about Maeve's troubles. The fact that she was from outside of the group meant that she was also easy to vent to, for some reason. "It's private, though."

Zoey laughed. "Duh! I wasn't going to ask, or anything."

Maeve nodded. "I know, I know. Sorry. You've been a good friend… are we friends yet?"

"I'd hope so!"

"Then we are." Maeve smiled and checked on her new phone. It was almost time to go into the Safari Zone to find her Yanma.

Zoey had also surprisingly not had any ulterior motives. At first, Maeve had let Justin's words get to her and thought Zoey had just been trying to use her as a stepping zone to make connections, but she hadn't even bothered to ask about them beyond surface-level stuff, and that was only when Maeve brought them up first.

"Thanks for the help, by the way," Maeve continued. "This Yanma thing is eluding me. I've been looking every damn day and I've only found one that instantly run away."

"The Yanma line's pretty fast. Some of them even have Speed Boost, which is a pretty nifty ability," she said.

"Why do you think I'm trying to catch one?" Maeve smirked, speeding up her pace. "My team's lacking a true speedster, at the moment. I mean, Infernape and Staraptor are pretty fast, but—"

"They can't go as fast as you want," she completed the sentence. "I get ya. We'll get you your Yanma, no worries."

"You said they were in zone five?" Maeve asked.

"Well, four and five. You kept to zone three and less because they're safer, but I promise you that zone four isn't bad, so we'll stick to there. I mean, I'll have a hard time there, but you've got six badges now."

"I mean, I only beat Maylene's trainer, not her," Maeve said under her breath.

"A badge is a badge. Six badges in your first year? I keep telling you that you're a great trainer, but you keep moping about it."

She was right. A badge was a badge. It felt good to have someone to back her up like this. Mira was too busy to hang out with her these days, but even then they never talked about how Maeve was a good trainer. Am I a crybaby for wanting my ego to be satiated? She thought with a jerk of her arm.

"Speaking of badges, why'd you stop collecting them?" Maeve asked. "You've beaten Maylene and Volkner, but you haven't been trying Wake at all."

Zoey's lips went flat, then stretched back into her usual smile. "I just don't have the drive or talent for it," she answered after a short pause. "Better leave that to the prodigies like you."

Maeve snorted. "I'm no prodigy."

"Okay, maybe not, but you're good and I'm not. Battling is all Kalosian to me. I understand none of it, even though your advice has helped a little."

"So you'll give Wake a try?"

She paused again. "We'll see."

Maeve and Zoey entered the Safari Zone outpost the minute the clock struck two in the afternoon. They had gone to sign up there yesterday and had managed to nab two of the last remaining spots for the day. Now that there were news that Abel was hanging around the Great Marsh, the activity there had plummeted, and the city was no doubt going to be economically hurt by this. They listened to the not-Ranger's spiel, and after a thirty-minute class, they were let into the Marsh. Maeve released her Staraptor, who at this point was used to the routine of them flying around the Safari Zone. She eyed Zoey and let out a hesitant cry.

"Think she'll be too heavy?" Maeve asked.

Star nodded.

Zoey shoved her hands into her pockets. "Bummer. It'll be a big waste of time to walk to zone four, but I guess it's the only way. I hope you don't mind getting your clothes dirty."

"I mean, we could have her take turns flying us," Maeve said.

"Nah, better you have your flier with you in case of an emergency."

"Fair enough."

Avoiding the mud and water was basically impossible, so Maeve resigned to her fate. She released Starmie so that the psychic type would be able to sense any Pokemon attacking. Starmie hated getting his gem dirty, but he was willing to sacrifice his comfort if he could help Maeve get her sixth Pokemon. Star was flying overhead, keeping herself busy and stretching her wings after a long night in her Pokeball.

Maeve groaned when her foot got stuck in a deep pit of mud. "Damn, this is awful," she sighed. "You know, you can release your Pokemon if you want."

"Pansear and Furret would hate this," she said. "I'll release them if you need any help with your capture. I doubt a six-badger will have trouble knocking out a Yanma, though."

"I don't plan on knocking it out. I want to convince it to join me," Maeve quickly specified.

"Oh. Right, my bad."

"Don't worry. I know it's ingrained in the culture to catch Pokemon that way, but I'm trying to be better. Grace is right on that point. We treat our own Pokemon with respect… or most of us do anyway. So why not afford that to the wild ones? They aren't any different."

Zoey snorted, and Maeve couldn't help but think she heard a smidge of dismissiveness. "Going to join the UPAN like her?"

"You know about that?"

"Well you told me about the problem with politics in your friend group and she's all over the internet all the time, so it'd be hard to miss her getting involved."

"I assume you don't like the UPAN?" Maeve guessed as she stepped back onto dry land. Her jeans and legs were soaked in dirty water, and so were Zoey's.

"I don't involve myself in politics."

"I mean, at this point it's just common decency, not politics," Maeve said.

Zoey stayed quiet for a few seconds, then let out a half-hearted grunt. Was she really going to fight her on this? Maeve's shoulders uncomfortably twitched upward. Zoey was a friend, but… her moral fiber wasn't quite all there. They meshed well together, but Mira never would have said something like that. All of her Pokemon save for Haunter had come to her willingly during her journey. Maeve's eyes drifted to her own Pokeballs. It was hard not to regret the way she'd caught her own Pokemon now that she knew better. Infernape was a gift from her parents, and by Gligar, she'd known that convincing Pokemon to join her was better, but all of her Pokemon in-between? Staraptor, Drapion, Starmie? She'd knocked them out before catching them. Only Star had been in a group, and she'd taken the longest to forgive her.

Did she even deserve forgiveness? Maeve thought as she stared at her flying type high in the sky. She stopped when the sun shone in her eyes and blinked to chase away the light imprints.

"Look, I'm sorry," Zoey said, waving a hand. "I'll try to be better, okay? Let's just keep going. The faster we get you your Yanma, the better."

Relief flooded her veins. "Thank you."

It took forty minutes of arduous travel to reach zone four, and they quickly got started looking for a Yanma. At times, Maeve would hear loud buzzing and have Staraptor fly toward the sound, but it was always something else. Ledyba had been the latest culprit. After thirty more minutes of searching Star finally located a Yanma. She directed them to the bug type, who was fanning its wings on a tree and looked not to have spotted them yet. How would she do this without a psychic? Starmie weren't capable of telepathy to translate, and Zoey didn't have one either. Wanting to do this on her own might come back to bite her.

Maeve cupped her mouth. "Hello! Please don't be scared!" She quickly added. Yanma had been about to fly off and had summoned afterimages to confuse her, but it paused and hovered in the air. "My name is Maeve Chang! I'm a trainer and you should join me! We have a lot of fun!"

Yanme tilted its head. Too straightforward, maybe? Zoey had her hands in her pockets and just observed.

"I want to get badges and become a great trainer," she continued with outstretched arms. "If you enjoy fighting, we do that a lot." She stopped and whispered to Staraptor and Starmie. "Here, guys, do your pitch."

Starmie clicked in quick succession, while Staraptor was content to mostly listen, intervening every so often to no doubt correct something. Yanma seemed interested by their words, its wings fluttering in excitement at random intervals.

"I have other Pokemon too, but I don't want to release them to scare you. An Infernape, Drapion and Gligar. You'd be my sixth."

Yanma screeched, but it was apparently a good screech, because Staraptor cackled with a wing over her mouth. Maybe it had told a joke? But it still wasn't enough. Maeve needed something to push Yanma over the edge.

"How about a one-week trial period?" She asked. "If you don't like it, I'll come here to release you, and we'll forget this ever happened. I don't know how I can get you to trust that I would release you, but…"

The bug type happily nodded to that suggestion, and dipped its head— telling Maeve to catch it?

"Can I catch you?" Maeve asked.

Yanma nodded, and Maeve grinned. The Pokeball dinged without any hitches and Maeve released Yanma again to scan her, praying for the Speed Boost ability. Passingly, he was also a male.

Yanma, the Clear Wing Pokemon. Yanma is capable of seeing 360 degrees without having to move its eyes. It is a great flier that is adept at making sudden stops and turning midair. This Pokemon uses its flying ability to quickly chase down targeted prey.

Moves: Quick Attack, Double Team, Air Cutter, Supersonic, Detect, Bug Bite, Whirlwind, Uproar

Ability: Speed Boost

Yes! Even without Speed Boost, she would have kept him and worked with him, but she couldn't deny that getting the ability she wanted was a plus. She told Yanma they'd talk later and recalled him. Maeve turned away from Zoey to grab a water bottle for the both of them. It was hot, and it was important to stay hydrated. Might as well grab some for Star too, she mused. Staraptor, not Starmie. Her simple nicknaming style had come to bite her, and even Zoey had been confused at first. Since she'd caught Staraptor before Starmie, the flying type got the nickname first.

Maeve snickered to herself as she grabbed the bottles out of her bag. "Hey Zoey, do you want some—"

The sound a Pokemon made when being released from a Pokeball was not something Maeve could ever miss. The hiss, followed by the pop as the device opened was so iconic at this point that everyone associated them with Pokeballs. Maeve turned toward Zoey.

Maeve's smile fell. Dread overtook her— so potent she could feel it oozing around her skin, clinging to every inch like a physical thing, making the hair on her arms and the back of her neck stand on end. Her fingers twitched, yet they felt frozen at the same time, and the water bottles fell on the ground with a soft thud, rolling off of the island and into the swamp. Maeve's feet shifted in the grass and her throat felt so dry. Zoey stood with a Feraligatr and a Swampert flanking her. Her usual smile had faded, having been replaced by a hardened stare. Staraptor landed in front of Maeve with a loud crash and spread her wings protectively while Starmie let out a series of confused clicks. Upon closer inspection, Feraligatr and Swampert didn't look normal either. Their eyes were bloodshot, and foam constantly spewed out of their mouths. Thick veins shining turquoise under their skin ran the length of their bodies.

"Uh, Zoey?" Maeve asked, desperate to keep her voice from trembling. "That's not a Pansear and a Furret—"

"Don't move," Zoey warned. "If you even touch your Pokeballs or try to get onto Staraptor, I'll kill you. Keep your Pokemon back. Do not scream."

How, how, how, how? Mira had vetted her and made sure she wasn't involved with the poachers! Had she fooled Gardevoir's truthtelling abilities? She must have! Had Grace been wrong too?

"Zoey, I don't— I don't understand—"

"Listen to me. Slowly unclip your Pokeballs and let them drop to the ground. If I see you release even one of them, you're dead."

So everything had been fake, then. Maeve felt tears well up into her eyes, both because she'd been tricked and because of the danger she was in. Her bottom lip quivered until she bit it.

"W—why?" She stammered.

"Just do as I say, and you'll live!"

Maeve's heart pounded against her ribcage. Could she call for help? No, she'd said no screaming. Starmie? Her eyes drifted toward the psychic, who was fidgeting and clearly didn't know what to do. She slowly— excruciatingly slowly moved her hand toward her belt as she thought—

"Get a fucking move on!" Zoey snarled.

"You told me slowly!"

"Well faster than that!"

Not too slow, then. She sped up a little and gulped. Zoey didn't have a dark or a psychic type. Could Starmie assault her mind to kill her? Kill? Yes, kill! Now wasn't the time to have her fucking reservations! Zoey was a damn poacher! Gligar's Pokeball dropped into the mud, and Star glanced at Maeve, who kept her eyes staring at Zoey. Think, you worthless piece of shit! There was no one around, and they hadn't seen anyone for the last twenty minutes. Maybe she could stall and hope someone would wander here? But that depended on luck— what about hopping on Staraptor and flying away, hoping for the best? But she'd already dropped Gligar's Pokeball, and she'd have to recall Starmie from the air too. Fuck! FUCK!

"Are you sure you'll let me live?" Maeve asked. Not her priority, at the moment, but she needed to play the scared little girl and buy any extra seconds to get her to think, which wasn't hard considering how utterly terrified she was. Part of her worried that her hands trembled so much she'd release a Pokemon on accident and get herself killed, but she needed more time.

"Yes."

Maeve paused. "Was everything a lie?"

"Get a fucking move on!"

Why not just kill Maeve if she wanted to steal her Pokemon? There was no way she was an actual fan. Maybe killing people would force the League into action instead of the half-job they'd been doing so far. Better not to rustle too many feathers?

She dropped Yanma's Pokeball onto the ground. She was running out of time. Feraligatr and Swampert were barely holding on. Somehow, Zoey could control them. How strong even were they? They'd clearly been drugged up with something—

"Psychic on her!"

The words flew out of her mouth before she realized what she'd said. Starmie's gem shone, and Zoey collapsed on her knees as she gripped her head. Maeve expected her head to basically explode, but instead all she got was a nosebleed. How?! A mental shield? Her actions were quicker than her train of thought, and she leaned against the ground to release the rest of her team just in time for Feraligatr and Swampert to spring into action. She decided to keep Yanma in his ball.

"Motherfucker!" Zoey growled, still clenching her head. "Target her flier first!"

With a snarl that was more monstrous than Pokemon, Feraligatr and Swampert swept forward. Swampert easily glided through the mud while Feraligatr slipped and slid, stumbling on the way to them. The ground type opened his mouth, and a giant, foamy jet of water slammed into Stapartor before she could fly off and sent her tumbling toward the water.

What came next made Maeve's heart drop even further than she thought was possible. Zoey grabbed a radio from her bag and called for backup. Starmie tried to break bones instead, but somehow, no psychic type moves worked on her, and all Zoey got was pain in her arms.

"Drapion!" Maeve yelled.

The poison type moved in front of them and grappled Swampert with his two pincers, stabbing into his arms to inject as much poison as possible. The water type didn't even flinch, as if it was completely impervious to pain. Instead, it gripped Drapion's arm and pulled, yanking the first pincer away, not caring for the huge chunk of flesh the claw tore on the way out. They weren't manipulating the water around her, or the mud. Were they too drugged up to use anything but the simplest moves?

Starmie switched from assaulting Zoey's mind and body to stopping Feraligratr when it got too close. The crocodile slammed into his Psychic, but it was so strong. Infernape moved in, finding his footing on the mud and slammed a fiery punch into the water type's gut.

"Gligar, Pin Missile her!"

If Zoey wanted Maeve to kill her, then she would play ball and worry about the repercussions later. She had already murdered one person in Solaceon during the Darkest Day and she would rather live on and carry the weight of her actions than die a sinless girl. Sharp needles exploded out of Gligar's back as he hovered in the air, and Zoey gritted her teeth. There was panic in her eyes, like she hadn't expected Maeve to actually strike her.

"Swampert, get back here now!"

Her voice snapped the ground type out of his daze, but Drapion slammed a Poison Jab into Swampert's gut and kept him locked in place with a Vise Grip. Swampert would have to tear away the flesh if it wanted to get back to its trainer. Zoey bit her lip and started to run, jumping at the last moment to dodge the Pin Missile. That didn't stop five of them from tearing through her leg, turning it into a bloodied mess. Zoey let out a pain-filled, harrowing scream that made Maeve's heart wrench and crawled backward. Her screams only made Feraligatr grow fiercer. Blood fell out of his nose, mouth and eyes due to Starmie's psychic, but his muscles bulged beyond what should have been possible and he broke through the Psychic attack.

"Infer—"

He was already on it.

"Thunderbolt!" She yelled at Starmie.

Infernape's flame surged, and Maeve felt the heat tickle her skin. She gasped when Feraligatr simply elbowed him away like a piece of plastic. Infernape cried out, sending spit and blood out of his mouth. The crack in his skull that followed made Maeve's throat tighten. Electricity burst from Starmie, finally stopping Feraligatr in his tracks while Gligar Slashed across his back before continuing toward Zoey to finish her off.

"Keep your distance!" Maeve yelled.

The flying type extended his wings to stop in midair, and another set of Pin Missiles exploded out of him. Swampert shot him out of the sky with a quick Ice Beam, freezing his wings. Staraptor finally crawled out of the water with a broken wing. Out of commission. Infernape was unconscious on the ground and blood pooled from his head. Out of commission. She recalled both of them and bit down on her tongue until she drew blood to focus. She quickly recalled Gligar before Swampert could hit him with a Hydro Pump and released him next to her again.

"Brine. Aim for Zoey," Maeve told Starmie. "Drapion, Venoshock. You'll lose in close combat. Gligar, keep using Pin Missile—"

"Kill her!" Zoey cried out with her voice full of hatred as she held onto her stump. The sight of it made Maeve want to gag, but she swallowed the bile that made its way up her throat.

Pin Missile would keep Swampert pinned to her. Case in point, the ground type used a Protect to keep her from dying from both Pin Missile and the Brine. Feraligatr was the only one they had to worry about, then. Drapion spat out a huge glob of poison at Feraligatr's face, melting his eye and into the water type's flesh. He wasn't holding back for this one. Still, Feraligatr ignored what would have been debilitating, and his muscles swelled again.

Starmie hit him with another Thunderbolt that barely slowed him down, and Feraligatr grabbed onto Drapion's arm and pulled as his muscles bulged again—

Green blood spewed from Drapion's arm stump, and Maeve nearly collapsed. She wanted to puke, to scream, to cry, to give up— but she had to take a stand. Ditto cells can fix that if he gets to the Center fast enough, she reminded herself. Maeve called out to Drapion, who, although delirious from what had just happened, blinded Feraligatr with another pressurized jet of poison. Swampert wasn't idle, either. A Hydro Pump stopped inches from Maeve's face thanks to Staryu's Psychic, but the move had so much force that a few droplets hit her face—

"Argh!"

The world went dark. Sharp pain all over her face. She couldn't breathe, she couldn't open her eyes, she coouldn't stop herself from falling and rolling into the mud. Maeve clawed at her face, and the sound around her grew so distant. She slowly opened an eye and ran a hand on her face. It was wet— a distant burst of light, and a roar from Feraligatr— she drew a strained breath when she looked at her hands and realized it was wet with blood. She spat out a mouthful to try to get the metallic taste out of her mouth, but more kept coming every time.

She couldn't feel her face beyond a numbed sting.

Maeve crawled back as close to the edge of the island as she could and grabbed her bag. Feraligatr's legs were more bones than flesh, but even when it couldn't walk and couldn't see, it still tried to claw anywhere it could. Swampert was in a better state, but it was constrained to stick close to Zoey, or Gligar would kill her. Maeve send a half-coherent text to Mira and then called the police.

"Pastoria Police Department, what is your emergency?"

How the hell did talking work again? Maeve grunted, then coughed. "I'm— I'm getting attacked by—"

She flinched, instinctively protecting her face with her hand. Instead of stopping the coming Hydro Pump, Starmie deflected it and allowed it to hit the water.

"By a trainer— a poacher in the Safari Zone. I'm in zone four," she stopped to cough. "Please help."

"We're on our way. Stay on the line with me, okay? The officers are tracking your phone. What Pokemon does your assailant have, and could you assess their level for me?"

"Feraligatr and Swampert," she exhaled. "They're stronger than my Pokemon and drugged up, I have five badges. I think— think I'm— I'm going to pass out. My face is hu—urt."

The operator said something, but it faded into the background. Maeve's vision shifted back to the battle.

Feraligatr was dead. Drapion has kept melting off its body with poison even after it had fallen unconscious, and it was now a pile of disgusting bones and flesh on the ground that wasn't even recognizable to her. Maeve threw up on the mud when the smell hit her. Like rotten meat mixed with noxious fumes. Zoey didn't seem to care. They weren't hers. The drugs made them listen, somehow. Drapion was barely able to function, spitting out poison at anything that moved, including trees and the water and her own Pokemon. Maeve recalled him before he could accidentally hurt her.

Zoey bared her teeth, still gripping her stump. "I didn't think you had it in you to go for the kill," she said with a bloodied mouth. She stopped when more Pin Missiles washed over Swampert's Protect. "Little fucking Maeve Chang, aiming for the throat. I should have studied you more."

There was panic in her voice. She was terrified, just like her.

"Fuck… you…" Maeve groaned. If you'd known what I've gone through, you would have fucking figured it out, you bitch.

Help would Teleport in any minute now, but they'd have no way to appear to her exact location unless they'd been here before, Maeve thought with a tired sigh. Her eyelids were so heavy— stay awake! Stay the fuck awake, Maeve! The battle was at a stalemate. They couldn't breach Swampert's Protect, and it couldn't hurt them with its attacks.

She balked when a Hypno and a woman in her twenties Teleported into the swamp. She'd forgotten about the backup! Hypno cleaned its pendulum with its fur as it studied the battlefield while the woman approached with a heavy step— then a blur! Darkness submerged her hand, and she punched Starmie right in his gem, knocking him out. Gligar tried to gain some height, but she jumped and grabbed him by the tail, slamming him against the ground when she landed. She raked across his chest with more darkness to finish him off.

Zoroark. Her friends had warned her about it, and she was here now.

"Ah, Zoey," the woman said. She crouched at Feraligatr's corpse and bared her teeth in anger like a Pokemon instead of a human. She touched the dead water type's flesh and dipped her head, then stood up again. "You know, I've always wondered why you would target her out of all people. You know the people she's friends with have connections."

"She called the cops! Get us out of here!" Zoey cried out, ignoring her.

Zoroark looked at her in disgust. "Answer the question."

"Infernape…" Zoey choked. "Please get me out of here. Please. I've lost so much blood, I think I'm— dying."

Zoey pointed to Infernape's Pokeball, and Maeve's heart dropped and she muttered a choked 'no', but Zoroark did not come to steal her Pokemon. Instead, the dark type just shot Maeve a sorry look. She ordered Zoey to recall her Swampert, then spoke again.

"Hypno, get us out of here."

An eye appeared above Hypno's head that Maeve felt compelled not to stare at. She sobbed, her head flat against the mud as she crawled in a desperate attempt to get them not to escape. If she could buy time for the cops to get here… a chill crept up her spine as the Miracle Eye reached its apex, and everyone winked out of existence—

Not everyone.

Zoey was still there. She'd been abandoned. But why? The police would be able to question her— Arceus, her entire face burned.

"No… no, no, no, no!" Zoey cried out. "NO! Pansear… Furret…" Zoey sobbed.

Serves you right.

Help arrived exactly fifty seconds later. They put Zoey under arrest and grabbed Swampert's Pokeball. Maeve felt hands grab onto her, and after a few minutes of questions that she didn't have the strength to answer, and some kind of first-aid she was too dazed to feel, both she and Zoey were hoisted into a helicopter.

She passed out somewhere in the air.

—

Where was she?

A falling feeling snapped Maeve back awake, and when she saw that she was in a hospital bed, she realized none of this had been a dream. Her heart dropped when her Pokeballs weren't by her side, but she calmed down when she read the post-it note attached to her desk. Your Pokemon are with the Nurse Joys. Thank Arceus, they were still with her. Zoey's comment on Infernape's skills seemed so sinister now. All of the compliments were because she'd wanted to steal him. Maeve clenched at her bedsheets and cried for what felt like an eternity, but she was too tired to even do that properly.

Maeve ran a hand over her face and winced. It hurt, but less. She paused when her hand passed over a soft dip on her skin, then another, and another. With a trembling hand, she grabbed her phone, still damp from her time in the swamp, and she unlocked her camera.

Lines.

Red lines ran on her face, thin gashes that had come from that fragment of Hydro Pump that had hit her. One from her right cheek to her forehead, one over the ridge of her nose, and one at the corner of the right side of her lip. Another running from her jaw to her ear— and so many more. Her face felt numb, and the pain was dulled, probably due to whatever was going into her system through that IV drip. Maeve sniffled, dropping her brand new phone on the cold hospital tiles, and the screen shattered.

Twenty seconds later, an alarmed nurse entered the room.

Her words were far away, even when she was close. After picking up her phone and its shattered screen, she called for more personnel, and they ran a few checks on her. She was going to be fine, they repeated. The lines on her face would fade in a few months, and only the deepest ones would stick, so at maximum she would keep only a few scars from this. They called it a miracle. Her stomach still felt like it had sunk into the deepest pits of hell. It was hard, to push yourself when you did not have Shiftry's domain to let you not care. For an instant, Maeve wished she was Justin. He'd be picking himself up without a hitch while she… well, she didn't know what to do.

The person who did this to you was arrested, the nurses and doctors kept telling her. She'll go to jail as soon as her wounds are treated. Zoey was gone and would be put behind bars, but the fact that Maeve had been tricked so easily by the first person to give her any attention said so much more about her than she'd wanted to know. She had risked so much today. Almost lost Infernape. Had Zoroark not spared her from this fate, then she wouldn't even have been able to think of how much grief would have destroyed her. She didn't know why Zoroark had even done so, but she could only thank the Legendaries. That was the true miracle. Not some fucking scars on her face.

Her friends came an hour after the nurses and the police officers asking her questions, mostly because they wanted to make sure Maeve was ready for visitors, and they would only let them see her one by one. Pauline, Denzel, Emilia, Louis, even Chase came in. Most of them had similar reactions. They apologized for letting this happen to her, which made Maeve even angrier, although she hid it well. This was on her. At least Chase told her she did well, kicking Zoey's ass. Justin surprisingly came too, and displayed more emotion than she'd ever seen out of him since the Darkest Day. He hadn't cried like a baby like Louis, but he was shaken. Like when Corviknight had almost died to Louis' Vespiquen, from the way her crush had described it. Even Lauren swung by, having gotten to Pastoria two days ago, although she only said a few words the entire meeting. Cecilia was hard to gauge. They were friends, but never that close due to having different cliques. Maeve couldn't help but think she wasn't even looking at her, but at something far away. Calculating.

It was somewhat terrifying.

Mira was inconsolable. She blamed herself for everything. Had Gardevoir found something wrong with Zoey, then none of this would have happened. She was a sobbing mess when she entered, and the same when she left. Maeve thought that she was used to getting hurt more than people around her being hurt.

Grace was last to come in. She walked swiftly, even with her crutches at her side. It was like she glid across the hospital floor, as if every step had meaning.

"Maeve."

There was an unsettling rage in her eyes that Maeve had never seen before. Blink, and you'd miss it, but her face was also utterly still and relaxed. It was as if she let the rage fill her and did not even try to fight it. She was rage, and rage was her. Grace's voice was steady, almost too calm for the way Maeve knew she actually felt. The blonde sat next to her, dragging her chair close and tightly clasping one of her hands.

"Zoey Miranda did this to you," Grace said. It was more a statement than a question.

"Yes."

It was a simple answer, but what else to say? She'd almost died because she was so much of a loser that she trusted the first stranger to give her compliments.

"I'm sorry… I killed Feraligatr. It— they were drugged, and probably didn't know what was happening. Drapion was out of control after getting his arm ripped out, and I was in too much pain to tell him to stop—"

"Feraligatr's death is a tragedy," she spoke. "But it is also not on you."

The scarred trainer stared right into Maeve's eyes, her own unblinking.

"Zoey was just one facet of the entire operation," Grace said. "We'll get her to tell us where the poaching base is. Since Zoey isn't part of Team Galactic, the League has no authority to rip out her memories like she deserves. She's sitting pretty in her hospital bed and has policemen guarding her, and odds are, she's not going to talk to the cops."

The next statement was left unsaid, but it was obvious. She was going to do something about it.

"Grace, you shouldn't—"

"I should," she interrupted. "The people who had her do this to you? The people in charge that revel in evil and give the orders? I'll kill them. I owe it to you, to Alex, to Carnivine and to Croagunk. I owe it to the trainers who had their Pokemon stolen. Them being gone will be a net good for the world. The tools? The one that carried out the orders? I'll have them rot in prison to pay the long price like Harry Rodriguez."

Maeve gulped. Not one bit of hesitation in there. "I won't be the one to cry for them," she finally said. "But the Poketch Company and the danger…"

Grace clasped her hand tighter. "I'm tired of events happening to me or the people I love, Maeve," she said. "I want to happen to people before the thought of hurting my friends even pops into their heads. No one will know. The League will keep things hidden."

Maeve did not know how she planned on getting Zoey to talk, let alone get to speak to her when the police wouldn't let them do so. They wouldn't let anyone get close, let alone friends of the victim.

Maeve sighed. "Just be careful, okay? I'm… I'm alright. I just need a few days to recuperate and get my thoughts in order."

Grace's face did not change, but her eyes softened. "You're lying. Take a breather," she said. "I'll have the poachers pay their due."

The blonde girl sat up, crutches in hand. She was the only one that had not asked Maeve how she was, or even expressed a few words of worry. There was only the thought of revenge consuming her like a relentless fire burning deep within her soul, and it would not end until she had the culprits' heads on a pike. So simple, and yet so terrifying all the same.

"That was a promise," she said as she pushed the door open.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Zeta, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Peg, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, SmallBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 261 - Opening Moves

Hatred, true hatred was an emotion I'd felt only a few times in my life. Saturn, Mars, and Amy were the only people I had on my list until today, and Zoey had been added to it now that she had tried to kill my friend. Maeve's Pokemon had almost been stolen. Her Drapion's arm had been ripped out, and it would take almost a month for the Ditto cells to regrow it, basically knocking her out of the Circuit by destroying her chances of making it to the Conference. Regrowing a Pokemon's limb, while possible, was not an easy affair, and the new limb would be delicate for weeks afterward. The marks on Maeve's face would scar, and I knew how difficult dealing with those was, even if she had acted like she was fine. It stuck with you, and it took months for you to be yourself again.

Zoey Miranda was worth less than some dirt on my shoe. From the questions Denzel had asked Maeve, the Feraligatr and Swampert she had fought against had been drugged. They were being made to fight against their consent, and one of them had died because of it. No amount of last-minute pleading would change that her actions needed consequences.

"No leniency," I said. "We went over the plan, Denzel. This girl is evil and is lucky I can't lodge a drill in her forehead. Actually, that would be too quick. Painless. She deserves no such mercy."

My best friend shook his head. "You cannot think like that, Grace. She cried for her Pokemon. Furret and Pansear exist, and they're most likely in danger."

"Do circumstances absolve you from your actions if those actions are evil?" I asked with a tilt of my head. "Should she get a slap on the wrist because her eyes secreted a few tears?"

"No, but—"

"Enough about moral quandaries!" Mira snapped, shooting up from Denzel's bed. "We have our plan. Now, we execute, but first, we need to talk about Abel."

"Why did Zoroark let Maeve's Pokemon go, and why did she not save Zoey Miranda," Cecilia nodded. "It is evident to me that he wanted her to get arrested."

Mira snapped her fingers and pointed at Cecilia. "Correct. And if she's arrested, then the cops will question her, but she isn't talking to the cops so far, and Abel is smart enough to know that that was a possibility. He wouldn't leave that much to chance, no? No," she added, as if to reaffirm her own statement.

"Whoever Zoey is working for, they probably coached her on staying silent to the police should she ever get caught," Cecilia said, crossing her arms. "Unless a plea deal of some kind is made, I don't see her ever confessing."

"Even then, why would she target Maeve?" Chase asked with a frown. "She should know that we don't fuck around. Maeve doesn't fuck around either."

"And she should know that the League protects you guys to some extent," Denzel added, much to Chase's displeasure. "What? I'm just saying, you have friends in high places."

"Friends I don't want," Chase grumbled.

"These questions are impossible to answer until we talk to the man himself," Mira said. Her eyes were still red from all the crying, but she'd thrown herself into workshopping a plan with us and our psychics, and that had distracted her from our failure to warn Maeve ahead of time. It was just as much her fault as it was mine. "The thing we can be sure about is that the bitch was meant to get caught."

"Okay. So now what?" Chase asked. "Lauren is here. Do we involve her?"

"No time to waste," I said. "Bringing her up to speed would take too long, and we don't even know if she'd join us, and we aren't even sure if the ACE Trainers will protect you yet," I said, nudging my head at my best friend. "Also, we can recover from any potential hit we'd take from our actions thanks to the League, and they can't. And it's too many people to watch over and protect. Two drugged Pokemon almost got Maeve killed. They'll only slow us down. Denzel, remember not to kill anyone."

"You really didn't have to remind me," he said. "And don't forget, Grace. Only the people in charge. The employees, you can knock out and they can go to prison."

I nodded. "I know. That was already the plan."

"I'm just making sure. You can't… lose yourself to your more bloodthirsty ways, okay?"

Honestly, I was surprised he wasn't fighting me on this. It wasn't like he didn't want to. I could see it in his eyes. Denzel was my best friend, but he was too soft. It was surprising to even myself, how easily I had made the vow to kill. I had done so with Saturn, but this was much closer and more tangible. Cynthia had told me once, that the first time was always the hardest, as if she'd known I would do so again. Solaceon seemed so far away now.

Now, at the very least, I knew that when I met Team Galactic again, I wouldn't flinch at what had to be done.

"We have a plan," Cecilia said. "We have a timeline."

"Now, we execute," Mira exhaled.

—

"Let us through, fall asleep and after all is said and done, forget this ever happened."

An invisible power roiled around Chase's mouth, and the two cops standing guard in front of Zoey's room became dull and silently nodded before lying down on the floor. We had thirty minutes, now. Less, probably, due to the complexity of the order. Luckily, this hall had been cleared thanks to Zoey needing to be protected from us or the public. The public wanted her dead, at the moment. It was the dead of night, and we'd infiltrated the Pokemon Center's hospital where Zoey was stationed. Infiltrated was a big word, because trainers were technically allowed here at all times of day because of its adjacency to the Pokemon Center. Not many people worked the graveyard shift, so it was just a matter of waiting for the right opportunity. Cecilia opened the door to Zoey Miranda's room, and it took everything I had in me not to imagine the hundreds of ways I could kill her. She was sleeping. Fucking sleeping. This bitch deserved nothing more but to rot in hell. Her foot was fortunately no longer attached to her bandaged leg, so at least I could revel in the fact that she'd be a cripple for the rest of her life. Chase huffed as he wiped the sweat off his forehead, and Mira slapped Maeve's assailant awake, leaving a red imprint on her face.

"Wakey, wakey," the pink-haired girl said. She had cried until she had run out of tears, and now she wanted answers. We all wanted answers.

Zoey groggily opened her eyes, then they widened when they saw that we were in her room. Just as she was about to scream—

Mira clicked her tongue. "No, no, no. I don't think you understand the situation you're in."

Haunter appeared next to Zoey, ghostly tongue lolling out of his mouth. He brought it to an inch of her face, and the tall brunette recoiled.

"Good. Stay quiet," Mira smiled. "Trust me, if you would have screamed, there isn't much I could have done to stop Grace from cutting you."

"That's still on the table," I said, enjoying the weight of the hatchet I carried. The same one I had used months ago when none of our Pokemon could gather firewood. Of course, all cutting would have to be non-lethal.

"What do you guys want?" she stammered. "Please don't hurt me."

Every time, she kept eyeing the door, as if she expected the officers to come save her. They wouldn't come any time soon.

"You hurt innocents, but you don't want to be hurt," I hissed. "Fucking hypocrite. You work with the poachers. Where are they based?"

"I won't. You can't— you can't kill me. You're bluffing."

Thank Arceus, she hadn't agreed. It would have been disappointing, not being able to torment her for the answers.

"You think?" Mira loomed over her. "Your mental barrier isn't going to last forever, you know? Pretty nifty thing, you have there. Better than anything Cecilia's Slowking can pull off. Strangely enough, you don't have a psychic, so Abel probably bestowed it to you."

Zoey's eyes widened.

"I don't think you realize how much we know already," Cecilia said. Her words were so gentle, like a poison someone would take to die painlessly. A silent killer. "Just tell us everything, and we'll be on our way. Don't make this harder than it has to be."

Zoey gulped, but she stayed silent.

"Should we take her?" Chase asked, still breathing heavily.

"You know Teleporting inside of a Center is impossible," Cecilia shook her head. "We'd have to go through the halls, and we'd get caught."

"Teleporting isn't impossible if you're good enough," Mira shrugged. "Alakazam can do it, if given a few minutes." The statement made Zoey clench a fist. Yes, we could kidnap you at any moment. Let that despair fester inside of you. "But yes, they'll know immediately and alert the authorities, so that isn't wise. Wait!" She exclaimed. "I forgot! We can totally not care about the authorities, because we're a part of the League! Lucky us, huh?"

An exaggeration, but a good one to make. If only Cecilia used the Voice… no, I couldn't start thinking like that. She had made a vow, and she was sticking to it. That was fine. I just had to figure out a way to twist the knife until she spilled everything out of her guts. Plus, it was good to see Zoey squirm.

"Maeve said you cried for Furret and Pansear before she passed out," I said. The flinch the girl had was delicious. "What happened to them? Are you being held hostage?"

Zoey bit her lip.

"If they are, we could get them back for you," I pushed, ignoring the rage within. "We plan on taking down the poachers. Either you tell us, or… well, we take you and wait until your mental shield falls apart, and we rip it out of you by force. Truth be told, I'm running out of patience. I could not care less about you, or your circumstances. Your life is worthless to me. You threw drugged Pokemon to their deaths, and did not express one bit of remorse. All you care about is yourself, so don't give us some sob story. But, if you have two innocent Pokemon that are being held hostage, we will get them back."

Not for her, of course. She wouldn't own any Pokemon for the rest of her life.

"They were—"

I interrupted her. "And don't lie to us," I smiled. "Because I will figure it out eventually, and when I do, I will kill you, and I'll make it slow. The best part is, the League will let me get away with it."

There you go. Something shifted in Zoey Miranda's eyes. She was quite easy to figure out, with the nuggets of information we'd gotten from Maeve. This girl valued her own wellbeing above everything else, and she would be willing to do anything to survive another day. She might have lost a foot, but at least she was still alive.

"Go on," I said.

"I wasn't… well, I'm not a hostage, or at least not exactly," she got out. My vision swam, but Cecilia's hand clasped my shoulder to calm me down. "I got a job with the poachers through connections I made in Veilstone when I was there and I was still doing Circuit stuff. I didn't know before joining, but if you get caught or snitch, they take your Pokemon as collateral and sell them to the Game Corner. That's why you never go on a job with your actual Pokemon."

Mira frowned. "So the Game Corner's running this?"

"Partly. The poaching itself is organized by Mr. Backlot, the owner of the Pokemon Mansion. He's the one running everything. He sells most of his catches to the Game Corner, and they run fights with the Pokemon in the VIP area. He keeps the rarest one for himself. Now that I'm gone, he'll send my Pokemon to the Game Corner too, after they're forcefully fed Candies."

Arceus, Denzel was going to beat himself up because of this. I could tell Mira was feeling a twinge of guilt, but my best friend was going to take a long time to forgive himself for funding such an evil establishment. He had given them hundreds of thousands of Pokedollars alone. The only reason he wasn't here tonight was because he was because I knew he would be far too nice to Zoey. He was going to join us after this.

"Candies?" I probed further.

"Drugs that make your Pokemon grow, but too quickly to be healthy," Cecilia explained. "Depending on the dosage, they can turn docile too. Most likely, they were the ones Swampert and Feraligatr were given."

"And you just willingly joined them?" I scoffed. Fucking scum. "You didn't think to report them instead?"

"I needed the money, and they'd kill me if I did!" Zoey screamed. A glare from me stopped her from raising her voice again. "They have people everywhere. Even in prisons. I'm risking my life telling you this, you can't tell anyone else."

"Don't be a coward," Chase said. "Atone for what you've done."

"We won't tell anyone about this," Cecilia said. The lie had come out of her mouth so naturally that I realized she could have fooled even me. "You have my word."

It was just such an ironclad statement that it made people want to trust her.

And the fool believed her too. "Thank you," she sighed. "I— if you want to stop us— uh, them, you'll have to go to the Pokemon Mansion. I don't know where they keep all of the Pokemon, but Mr. Backlot knows."

"And Abel?" Cecilia asked.

"He's basically his second in command. He's the one that created my mental shield and his Hypno is Teleporting the poachers around."

"How'd he fool Gardevoir?" Mira demanded. Haunter hovered just a little closer, and Zoey shivered. "He shouldn't have been able to."

"I don't know— and that's the truth, I swear."

"Funny thing is, we have no way of knowing that," Mira smirked. "Remember what Grace said. Ever wanted to know what it felt like to get stabbed in the chest by a stone spear?"

Zoey paled. "I'm telling the truth… he just had his Malamar and Hypno do something, I don't know what. He said he had a nasty run-in with one of you before and that he'd created contingencies to counter that person."

Mira bit her thumb nail. "Alright. That fits very neatly," she said. "Now, let's go over your poaching pals' capabilities. How many people can we expect to fight?"

"Around fifty guards?" she hesitantly said. "Most of them won't have drugged Pokemon like I did, and they aren't that strong. Just in high numbers enough to deter any wild Pokemon from attacking the mansion. There are eleven with drugged Pokemon, I know them all. There's a Flareon, a Cinccino…"

I committed everything Zoey told us to memory. She went very in-depth, going over moves, how Pokemon hooked on Rare Candies fought in simple but effective ways, the layout of the mansion, and everything else we'd need for the raid. With the League Trainers with us, I had no doubt we'd make quick work of all the guards. There was still some information she lacked due to not being high enough in the food chain, but this was more than we'd expected.

"The one you've got to worry about is Abel," she said. "He's strong, and Mr. Backlot is paying him very well. His Pokemon are…"

We let her list them, just in case he had caught something new, but there wasn't anything out of the ordinary other than the fact that Abel's near-capture had pushed him to new heights. After twenty minutes of questioning, we knew we were cutting things close. We'd squeezed everything we could get out of Zoey, and she was of no more use.

"Just one more thing," Zoey said. "Uh, Mr. Backlot is having a bunch of rich people over tomorrow for a get-together. The event officially starts at one in the afternoon and lasts the rest of the day."

"Are they involved in the poaching?" Cecilia asked.

"I don't know, I wasn't allowed to look at the guest list. I believe a few of them will be— but again, I don't know their names. Backlot keeps their identities secret just in case of a leak. I think most won't have anything to do with it. They're just his rich friends and connections he's made over the years. Most of them will be Teleporting in."

Not good, when we were planning on keeping this on the down-low. And where would Abel fit in all of this? He clearly wanted to bait us, but why? Even if he hadn't wanted to save her, he could have had Zoroark kill Zoey before Teleporting away. He wanted us to know about this.

"Thank you for your time," Cecilia said. "We'll leave you to rest. But one last question. Do you know of a Paldean Wooper that was captured recently from the Safari Zone by Abel's Zoroark and Hypno?"

Zoey nervously licked her lips. "Shipped to the Game Corner."

Cecilia took a deep breath.

"I see," she simply said, smothering the cold, icy anger within.

We asked for a Leafeon, and Zoey said she hadn't seen any come through, but that she might have missed him. That could either be constituted as good or bad news depending on the way I looked at things.

"I'm sorry," Zoey said. "I really am."

She was not. She was sorry she had gotten herself caught, and nothing more. Cecilia, silver tongue that she had turned out to be, had been there to feed her sweet nothings to push her over the edge every time she'd looked like she would be shutting down and deciding to stay quiet. It had been far more effective than my threats, I had to admit.

But still, Cecilia was an excellent liar and smooth negotiator. We'd been recording all of this.

Zoey wasn't going to be able to claim mind control as a defense, now. Cecilia had explained that it was her most likely means of staying out of prison. As soon as everything was over, we would have Denzel edit our voices, names, and everything that could give us away out of the clip and send this anonymously to the cops. Zoey was going to rot in prison for the rest of her life, or close to it. And, well, if she died to the agents Backlot and the Game Corner had in multiple prisons?

She would deserve it. Personally, I wouldn't particularly care.

—

We were back in Denzel's room, now. We were lucky that it was late and most of our friends were sleeping soundly, because having to explain all of this to them would be a hassle and get in the way of our planning. We told him everything as quickly as we could, and his mercy for Zoey cratered when he learned she had willingly thrown herself into this. She had not been blackmailed, mind-controlled, or pressured. She knew the way the poachers operated before joining them, save for the fact that her Pokemon might be taken, and she had done so anyway because she'd wanted money.

But it was when we ripped off the band-aid about the Game Corner that he froze.

"The… Game Corner is involved?" he choked and clasped his knees. "I— Swablu?"

"The fights you were betting on weren't a part of it, Denzel," Mira said. "And Swablu was obtained legally and hatched from her egg. That VIP area we found shady and couldn't get in? It's a front for the real one, where they have the poached Pokemon fight."

"I still financially supported them, Mira," he hissed before placing his head in his hands. "I'm so fucking stupid."

"You had no way to know, Williams," Chase said. "Put your chin up."

Denzel raised his head. He wasn't crying, but he was tired. We would all usually be asleep by now, but there was far too much to do to get ready to storm the Pokemon Mansion.

Chase gripped Denzel's shoulder. "You're a trainer. Yeah, that doesn't mean you can't feel guilty, or cry, or hate the fact that you funded the Game Corner," Chase said. "But you need to stop feeling fucking sorry for yourself and be a trainer."

"Adequately said," Cecilia agreed. "If you feel responsible and want to make it up to the Pokemon trapped in the Game Corner, then stop wallowing in self-pity and join us. You're better than this."

My girlfriend held out her hand, and Denzel grasped it tightly.

"I will," he declared. "Thank you both for that."

"Now, let's keep going. Cecilia, you go stock up on Hyper Potions. Twenty, like we said," I spoke. "That'll add up to the few I have remaining. Denzel, Mira, you go with her. We can't be on our own, at the moment. Chase, you're with me."

Chase adjusted his cap. "Sure thing. Which one first?"

"The League trainers first," I said. "Then, Carnivine. Before all of that, I have to speak to my team. I suggest you all do the same… and Cece, smooth things over with Croagunk. She'll be angry that she can't participate when she learns about Wooper's fate."

"I know," she said, thinning her lips. "But she'll understand. We're doing this for her, too. And maybe Wooper will be freed from the Game Corner after we expose them and all is said and done."

There was a pause.

"Abel did this," I pressed her. "All of it. You know what that means, right?"

Cecilia bit her lip. "I won't hold back."

Good.

—

Being in a store in the deep of night brought comfort to Mira that she hadn't known she needed. The warm, glowing lights on the white tiles contrasted with the darkness outside. Pastoria was not well-lit at night like most cities. Buildings were like little islands of light, where activity still desperately clung. Haunter was with her, still, hidden from view as she browsed the aisles with nothing particular in mind. Cecilia was already buying the potions with Denzel. They were all ready. Every single one of them knew what was to come, and they'd made their peace with it. Hell, some even looked forward to it. Grace and Chase were two sides of the same coin in that regard, while Denzel was on the opposite side, but knew what had to be done. Cece was out of the coin entirely. Mira couldn't gauge Cecilia no matter how hard she tried. The tall girl had this mysterious air about her tonight that attracted Mira's attention like a Mothim to a flame as she desperately attempted to solve the puzzle that was her mind. Porygon2 made her phone vibrate in her pocket, possibly for support. She'd evolved two days ago and her capabilities were practically limitless. She was, Mira mused, very good at leading the non-sentient Porygon without her trainer's input, which would be an integral plan of the plan for tomorrow.

Or, well, today now. It was past midnight.

"Haunty," Mira said.

The ghost did not respond. Instead, Mira felt a chill across her skin. She had never been one for violence. Oh, she wouldn't shy away from it when it was required of her, but she'd always found it so wasteful.

Tonight, however, Mira Compton felt particularly bloodthirsty. One did not try to kill her friend and get away with it. One did not try to kill her friend and get to stay rich and have fucking parties. Mira grabbed a pack of chips and crumpled it. This was all on her. Her failure. She had failed to vet Zoey properly, and now Maeve was paying because of it. Why was it always someone else and not her?

"You've been a good boy these past few months," she continued. "Ever since I've spoken with Fantina, you've improved leaps and bounds. Found ways to be more than just a murderous, hateful ghost. I have learned to love you, and you have learned to love in return."

Haunter loved to play catch, even if his poison sometimes dissolved the ball.

Haunter loved punk rock music.

Haunter loved to annoy the living crap out of Magnezone.

Haunter loved playing pranks on people.

Haunter loved clinging to her shadow and tickling her feet and ankles.

Haunter loved to watch people go about their day while being invisible.

"Today, Haunty," Mira sighed, "I'm going to ask you to break your chains and be the worst you can be."

Mira felt a cold hand touch her shoulder.

The ghost cackled.

—

I released my team in the same park we'd played music in.

They knew things were wrong as soon as they saw the look in my eye. Cries, grunts, growls of worry rang out, but they stopped when I raised a hand. Now was not the time to worry about me. I explained everything that had gone on today, including the elaborate plan we'd made to storm the Pokemon Mansion. Angel, Buddy and Honey were the most worried, as they always were. Princess, Sweetheart and Sunshine would follow without a word as they always did, but I needed to convince the entire team that this was sound.

"Remember the story Bella told us?" I asked. "About her killing her trainer after years of pretending to like him?"

How could they forget? Bella had a way of telling stories that was so captivating, especially when they pertained to her own circumstances.

"Whether you think it was fair or not doesn't matter," I said. Even today, I didn't think it was. That she should have given him a chance after seeing him improve. "What matters is, do you think Backlot deserves to fight this in court for years and years, with his sentence not even set in stone? All we have in Zoey's testimony. Enough to ruin his reputation, but not to send him to prison. She told us that the League came to inspect the Pokemon Mansion and found nothing, so we don't know if he'll even go to jail if we talk to the authorities. Cece thinks that since he's working with Abel, he could even claim that he was being mind-controlled from the start," I spat through clenched teeth. "The ACE Trainers won't go there unless we bait them into doing so. You understand, right? Only we can stop this. Backlot has been doing this for fucking years… ever since he built this damn mansion, probably. Pokemon are suffering, and every day we don't do anything is another day they spend dying."

That seemed to have won Angel over. The grass type nodded, wrapped a vine around my good ankle and gently squeezed it. He had always been a caretaker, and imagining Backlot going free after the amount of suffering the Pokemon were subject to by his word was too much.

"There was a fundamental lesson in Bella's story," I said. "About people getting what they deserve. Backlot and his ilk deserve to die." I turned to Buddy. "We'll have ACE Trainers protecting us from all danger. The best Sinnoh has to offer. And we aren't too shabby ourselves. We have seven badges. Few trainers ever get this far. We're powerful, Bud. I'm not that little girl who was taken hostage in the Valley Windworks any longer. I'm tired of watching this happen and doing nothing about it. We don't run away, we fight."

The ghost's eyes dimmed, but he gave me a reluctant nod.

"Honey."

So grown up now, but still a little boy. Still the same Pokemon who had been so shaken after killing Harry Rodriguez's Crobat, even through Shiftry's domain.

"I won't have you kill anyone, whether that be a person, or a Pokemon. On that, you have my word," I said. "And we won't be targeting innocents. The only people whose heads deserve to be punctured are Backlot and his ringleaders."

Zoey had told us that there were others who were high enough in the food chain for me to target. None of them lived in the mansion with him, and I didn't know their names, but she thought that them being at the party was guaranteed. Since Backlot was having a party, I was sure he was celebrating something, and they weren't going to leave their old business partner out to dry. Plus, it wasn't like rich people like them had to work on a weekday.

"I won't ever force you to become someone you're not," I continued. "You're fine just knocking our enemies out."

The electric type's tails straightened, and he told me he didn't want me to become a murderer.

"Oh, Honey," I lamented. I rubbed his arm, then hugged him. "You're too nice for your own good. You know I've already crossed the line during the Darkest Day. It's… it's about justice."

Electivire sighed.

But he agreed with the plan.

People had the freedom to choose their path in life, and that meant that they were subject to consequences. And in the end, what were we but people?

—

The cold, night air whipped around my hair as I rode on Princess. Chase followed close behind without a saddle, as usual. Sigilyph had been brought up to speed, and she would let out a worried beep every thirty seconds or so, and Chase would soothe her. I couldn't hear what was said because of the wind, but it evidently worked, since she stopped doing so when we got high enough in the air. Princess hovered in place, and allowed Chase to catch up to her.

"How are we going to find your trainer? Maxwell, you said his name was?" Chase asked.

I squinted and scanned the horizon around me. Finding a Honchkrow this skilled during the night was basically impossible. We could try to find one of Chase's guards as well, but I didn't see anything, and my friend had only spoken to one of his guards once in Veilstone when Cynthia summoned him to meet. The only sources of light currently available were the spotlights attached to my saddle to make sure no other flier would ram into me. Of course, our bodyguards weren't subject to the same laws.

"I'll have Buddy do it," I said. I released Jellicent into the air, and his red eyes were the only thing I could see in the dark. "We're looking for a Honchkrow, or anyone that's currently flying this high."

The ghost agreed and started to scan our surroundings.

"Grace," Chase said. "I know you want Backlot's head—"

"You're not going to tell me not to kill him, I hope," I said, turning toward him.

Chase snorted. "Me? You know me better than that, Grace."

"Right. Sorry, I'm just on edge."

"I getcha," he said. The way he lazily hung on Sigilyph's back made me nervous, but he had never fallen before, and Princess was here to catch him if he did. "But no, I wanted to talk about Mira's Haunter."

My eye twitched. "Does this have to do with the evolution? She still hasn't told us how."

"Good guess. She told me, when she was crying earlier today. It isn't pretty," Chase said. "Essentially, he would haunt someone until they couldn't take it anymore and offed themselves."

"She's thinking about doing it with Backlot? We won't have the time… we'll have to be in and out. The longer we linger, the worse this gets."

"She hasn't explicitly said so, but I think that's what she's planning. Part of me thinks Backlot will be quite easy to break," Chase shrugged.

"You don't know that."

My friend sighed. "I know you want to kill Backlot yourself. That's mostly why you're against this, and not some issue of time constraint. Be honest with me."

I winced, and calmed Princess down before she could come to my defense. There was no use in lying to myself.

"See? I'm right."

"You are," I said. "I wanted to… I wanted to do it. Backlot has had his hand on this poaching thing for years according to Zoey. Fucking years. How many lives has he ruined? Taken? I want to watch the life drain out of his eyes."

"You know," Chase smiled. "When I met you, I never thought you'd ever say stuff like that."

"Only with those who deserve it," I grunted. "Do you think that death by Haunter would be a worse way to go than getting crucified on a tree in the middle of route 212 and letting him rot there for an hour or two and acting like he has a chance of surviving if he apologizes enough?" I wondered.

"I haven't done the calculations," he snorted. Ah, Chase. The only one I'd feel comfortable saying this stuff to. "But Mira having a Gengar would be good for all this Team Galactic shit. Don't know much about 'em, but there must be a reason they're so feared."

"I'll see if we can arrange something to both be happy," I said. "Do you have any grievances you want to address?"

"I just want to crack some skulls, Grace," he said. "Nothing more, nothing less. Backlot and his crew have done wrong, and they deserve to pay, be it through death or prison. I've got your back no matter what."

No matter what. The words felt like they mattered.

"Thank you, Chase."

It was strange to be so proactive in our actions. We had never held this much power at our fingertips, and it was nigh time we used it for good. I wasn't going to stand by when one of my friends had nearly died.

"Ah, you were looking for me."

Chase, Sigilyph and Buddy jumped when we heard Maxwell's voice. Honchkrow cackled, silently flapping his wings behind us. I barely had the time to feel him come, and Princess had been completely stumped. Her empathy was different than mine and could actually be countered, then. That was good to know. If I could feel an ACE's Honchkrow trying to sneak around, then there weren't many things that would fool me.

"Do not do that," I exhaled. "We're on edge."

"Ms. Pastel. Mr. Karlson. To what do I owe the pleasure tonight?" he asked, ignoring us.

"I have an inkling you already know," I frowned.

"I do know you broke into Zoey Miranda's room and made it past the officers with some kind of Hypnosis," he nodded. "I do not know what information you extracted out of her, but I also know that you're planning something. Ms. Obel and Ms. Compton have been quite active, which they usually aren't at this time of day. We're quite interested in how you managed to get police officers to forget what happened. The officers don't even remember that they were asleep, funnily enough. Hypnosis doesn't usually work that way, and Ms. Obel's Slowking has not practiced with the move that much."

"He has," Chase denied. "Not like you can see or hear much from your fucking fliers."

Fuck, the plan hadn't worked. The reason Chase had made the officers fall asleep was to make the entire thing look like a Hypnosis, but the League wasn't biting. Maxwell opted to let it go for now.

"What are you doing, then?" he asked.

I explained all the information we got from Zoey as fast as I could. If Maxwell was shocked, he hid it very well.

"So we're planning on storming the Pokemon Mansion today," I said. "And you'll be coming with us."

When Honchkrow laughed, which was creepy in the dead of night, Maxwell's lips quirked. "Alas, it seems like it."

"There's going to be a party. By the time we get there, it'll already be the afternoon, so the guests will all be there," I said. Sigilyph and Golurk were still quite slow at flying, and even if I could have made it to the mansion faster, I didn't want to get ahead of everyone else. "So we'll need you to make this look like a League raid that we participated in. I trust you'll smooth things over."

"Demanding a lot now, are we?" he smirked.

"You said you wouldn't stop us," Chase shrugged.

"We will not," Maxwell said. "And I suppose Ms. Collins would appreciate us doing some spring cleaning."

"Backlot and the people in charge are ours," I demanded. "Their fates are in our hands."

Maxwell waved a hand dismissively. "Sure thing."

I blinked. "That easy?"

"Rejoice, for the Champion has decided to clear out the rot from Sinnoh's criminal underworld," he said, spreading his hands wide. "And luckily for you, due process is more of a suggestion than a rule at this point in Sinnoh's history. Whatever Ms. Collins says, goes."

"One last thing, then," I said. "Denzel is coming with us. I need you to protect him as well."

"Not my job," he shut down. "Do it yourselves."

"Would it really hurt you to do more than the bare minimum?" I hissed.

Maxwell's eyes darkened. "I don't think you understand, Ms Pastel. I do not deviate from my assignment. Ever."

There was a shiver down my spine, and I could only nod. We would have to keep Denzel protected by having him stick close to us, then. The plan was deviating already since we had planned to split, but there was no way my best friend was going to let us go alone, even without ACE Trainers to watch his back. It would be best if he stuck with me, then.

"So, we're good, then? You'll intervene right away?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Thank you."

Maxwell and Honchkrow disappeared into black smoke, and Chase and I flew on toward Carnivine.

—

The mountain my ankle had gotten broken on hadn't changed since the last time I'd seen it. In fact, every ounce of greenery had regrown from the time Sunshine had burned it down. We flew deeper than I'd ever gone before, however. We delved where the grass grew thicker than bark and taller than trees, and it all was illuminated by the moon's soft glow. The mountain's center. I had never seen such thick vegetation outside of Eterna Forest.

"Think she's in there?" Chase asked.

"We're too far up for me to feel anything," I said. "Princess?"

Togekiss chirped quietly and closed her eyes to focus. There was no way we were going to go down here, especially with how much vegetation there was. We'd be stepping into a death trap. If Carnivine attacked, at least we'd be in a position to run away. Sigilyph's Psycho Shift would send any attacks back Carnivine's way, and from the time I'd fought her, she didn't have that many ranged attacks and was a far better fighter in a melee.

"This is going to take too long," Chase said. "The sun's going to rise in an hour and a half. The others are waiting for us in Pastoria."

"So then we raid them at night instead of in the afternoon," I said. "Honestly, that might be better. The partygoers will be drunk or asleep."

"Okay, but then there's a higher chance of the others actually getting here during the fight," Chase shrugged. "You know a note telling them not to come won't deter them. And by my understanding, they have quite a history with notes."

I grimaced, realizing he was right. Cecilia had left us a letter so long ago now, when she'd gone into Mount Coronet alone to die. Our goal was to have finished things at the mansion by the time they ever had a way of making it there. They wouldn't know where we'd gone exactly, but it was no doubt going to be on the news as soon as the raid started, and our friends were smart enough to put two and two together. Essentially, the earlier we left Pastoria, the better. Cecilia had suggested not leaving a note at all, but we had decided this would go too far and damage our friendships. We didn't want to lose anyone. We explained as best we could in the letter that the ACE Trainers wouldn't protect them like they did us, so they were better off staying back.

"I'm just saying," he shrugged. "You do you."

I let out an exasperated sigh. "Fine. What do you have in mind?"

"Heh. Check this out," he grinned. "HEY, CARNIVINE! WAKE THE FUCK UP! WE NEED TO TALK!"

His voice was so loud it reminded me of Crasher Wake. It echoed across the mountain multiple times. Buddy glared at the back of his head like he wanted to murder him.

"What the hell are you doing?" I hissed. "That's like, the worst way of approaching this!"

"Is it?" he asked with a thumb pointing down.

Something shifted in the leaves until Carnivine's silhouette made it through. I couldn't see her properly, but I knew it was her. Her grief and anger had only abated slightly, and she was still a complete emotional mess. I soothed Princess by softly caressing her head and told Buddy to stand by.

"Well, she ain't attacking us on sight, so that's a win," Chase murmured.

"You're terrible at this," I scoffed. "Let me do the talking."

"You got it."

Carnivine rose to our height and glared at me. I already knew what the problem was. She thought she would never see me again. Hell, just me being there probably made her remember Leafeon even more, when she was trying to move past this. She had given up long ago and had no hope of finding her son any longer.

And unfortunately, she might have been right. Still, we had to hold on to hope.

"Carnivine," I said. "I know you don't want to see me, but I have a proposition for you regarding the poachers. We know where they're based."

Fury surged out of her skin in erratic waves that made her difficult to look it. I squinted, turning my head slightly. There was so much fury emanating out of the grass type that it was like her emotions were pressing down on my chest. The grass below us lashed out in every direction, slicing across the air until it even cut itself apart. Thank the Legendaries we hadn't landed. That would have cut us into ribbons.

"I told you I would try to get Leafeon back, and I keep my word," I said. "I won't lie to you and say that we know your son is safe. The way they treat the Pokemon they kidnap is… deserving of a horrifying death. But there's a chance. We're planning on going there."

There was a trill in Carnivine's throat, and she opened her mouth to talk. My Pokemon could translate, of course. The grass type asked where this location was.

"I'll tell you on two conditions," I said. "One, you stick by me at all times. Two, I know you'll want to kill everyone you see." Including Pokemon fighting for the enemy that are drugged. "That won't do. There will be innocents where we're going which include both humans and Pokemon, and unless you can promise me that you're going to play ball, then we'll handle it on our own. We'll still try to find Leafeon for you and bring him back here."

Carnivine growled, and the grass below us turned to sharpened blades all aiming at us with a neon green glow. Even while being around a hundred and fifty feet above the ground, it was hard not to feel nervous.

"Don't fight me on this," I said. "If you can't do it, then don't come. I'll bring you to the mastermind behind all of this and I'll let you watch him reap what he sowed."

It didn't matter who finished off Backlot, Carnivine would be here to see it. We were going to capture the man, after all.

Carnivine stayed silent for a few seconds, then snarled, sending sweet-smelling spittle out of her mouth. She couldn't, I realized. She couldn't guarantee the innocents' safety, even if she wanted to agree with my proposition.

I inhaled. "Thank you for being honest with me." I would have been able to tell if she lied, but it was still an appreciated gesture. "I promise you, I'll bring you to him. And I might be able to let you have some of the people that were in high positions in the organization, since I plan on smoking them out. We can all share."

Share in retribution. Denzel would have blanched had he been here, but Chase didn't care one bit.

There wasn't much to say after that. Carnivine demanded for us to leave and not come back until we either had the culprits, her son, or both.

"Well, that was emotional and all," Chase said as Carnivine left. "But it was also a waste of time. Let's head back."

—

"Arrested?! What do you mean, Zoey was arrested?!"

Abel had always thought that Edward Backlot looked like a Lechonk. The fat man pumped his fist in the air, his face bright red as he raged and punched the air with little jabs that wouldn't hurt a Cutiefly. His maids gave him a wide berth as they prepared his party, not willing to get Backlot's attention while he was angry. He was making the rounds of his mansion while in his pajamas and flip-flops, and Abel dutifully followed behind, of course. Dan was a boy today, and Abel held his hand as they walked through the Pokemon Mansion's fancy carpeted hallways.

Abel shrugged. "By the time Zoroark got there, the cops had already taken her," he flatly lied.

"This stupid bitch," Backlot snarled. "Why risk it all now? I told everyone to stay put and out of trainers' business for the next month! We were drawing too much heat!"

Because she values money above everything else, Abel mused. He knew people like her, because he was her, but less fucking stupid. It had been easy to push her buttons to have her target big names in hopes of getting Backlot's attention so she could get a promotion. The problem was that he hadn't expected her to target Maeve Chang of all people. The plan had been to have her arrested and get her to talk to the police. Abel was well-versed in legality, and he had no doubt Pastoria's policemen would have offered her a deal of some sort if she gave up the bigger morsel. The little rat would have jumped at the chance to get five to ten years in prison instead of life, and the cops would have offered her a nice, comfortable cell away from the other inmates, so her life wouldn't be in danger. The Unovan knew exactly how her mind functioned.

He would, after all, have accepted the same deal and taken his chances in prison.

Then Abel would have accidentally left Backlot's zoo exposed before leaving, and as soon as the police came by with a warrant, they would have caught that inconsistency. Oh, just the tiniest of gaps.

Oh well, he supposed it was all ruined now. Xatu had been quite alarmed at the fact that Maeve Chang's friends were all coming with ACE Trainers in tow. Abel had expected them to come, but not so soon.

He couldn't just have one normal day, could he?

"What will you do, Mr. Backlot?" Abel asked.

"Call my lawyers," he sneered. "The party won't be interrupted, it's too important and I'll lose face with my business partners. The police will come knocking sometime this week, I'm sure, so you'll have to be discreet."

Thank Arceus, he was so stupid. Hm, maybe stupid wasn't fair. Mr Backlot was too secure. Yes, that was the word Abel had been looking for. He thought that everything was always going to go as he foresaw it and that his lawyers would get him out of any jams. It wasn't the law he was going to need to fight in a few hours.

"I will, Mr. Backlot," Abel dipped his head with a coy smile.

Now, Abel had a few problems. Should he run, Backlot would be alarmed, and he still needed the rich prick to get back to Unova anyway. Backlot had been supposed to lend him one of his private helicopters to get him to a 'private airfield' that his friends in high places supposedly had, away from the League's eyes where a private jet would pick him up. Abel had been very clear with Backlot upfront that if this was a lie, he would kill him, so he was sure he was telling the truth.

Unfortunately, today had him in the worst of jams. If word came out that Backlot was captured, killed or that his mansion was under assault and Abel showed up alone, they would never let him in a plane. Hell, he couldn't even do that. He hadn't been told the airfield's location as of yet, and wouldn't until the end of his employ.

What now, Abel? Mind control to get it out of him in a subtle way? It would take hours to get him under Malamar's influence, but they had hours. Just hours. The problem was that Backlot would need to be away for those hours, and one of the maids was bound to notice that the pig was missing. Abel's employer was a paranoid man, and he had plenty of alerts and systems set up as deadman switches should Abel mind control him. Backlot felt too secure, but was not naive. One did not hire Abel without a few contingencies like these. Even though they wouldn't be able to beat him, the maids would alert the guards, then the authorities, and Backlot would get off scot-free after having told Abel where the airstrip was, because he couldn't be touched before Abel was on the damn plane. Sure the Unovan would escape, but…

He owed it to Zazza to see the man in prison. Well, dead worked too, if he could manage that without screwing himself over.

The unhinged part of him wondered about Malamar mind controlling a pilot, but he wouldn't trust his starter with having someone ride a bike, let alone pilot a plane. Threats were possible, but not something he felt comfortable with because of the huge amount of agency the pilot would have over the situation.

There was a very fine line he could walk today to ensure he got everything he wanted out of this. That path, unfortunately, had him stay during the party, and it was so hilariously unlikely to come to pass that Abel wanted to laugh. It all started, of course, with stealing Backlot's phone and texting his pilot ahead of time.

Mr. Backlot could not be allowed to die or fall into enemy hands until the time was right.

Time to gamble again, then. Fifteen to twenty ACE Trainers in total, by his and Xatu's estimations, and a bunch of uppity teenagers that thought they were going to fix all that was wrong in the world by taking down a single poaching operation and probably screech about how wrong it was and morals. Arceus, Abel needed a cigarette.

—

The sun had already risen when we were back in Pastoria, and it was nine in the morning by the time we decided to leave. Most of our friends were still asleep, save for Emilia and Justin, but we'd slipped the note under Pauline's door. She was usually one of the last to wake up, and she'd taken to sleeping alone ever since she had broken up with Emilia. I hadn't sensed any Pokemon inside of her room through the door, so they were all in their Pokeballs.

Cecilia had distributed the Hyper Potions to everyone. They had cost her an arm and a leg, but they were far too valuable to skimp on. Lehmhart's legs had disappeared, having retracted into his body somehow. I still didn't know how the hell he did that, but it was better not to think about it. Cecilia, Mira and Denzel were attached on his back, strapped into her custom saddle that Alakazam had picked up. Right now, they were upright, but they essentially would have been horizontal to the ground if Lehmhart had known how to fly properly. He was still getting the hang of it, which was why he was far slower than his potential. Chase was on Sig's back, as usual, and I was on Princess. We had eaten a quick breakfast to satiate ourselves and double-checked everything at least five times.

Lehmhart took off first, and he was louder than he had any right to be. It felt like I was standing next to an airplane until he got high enough into the sky. I had also shoved one of my crutches into Lehmhart's saddle. I was only going with one. I didn't miss Denzel being nervous about flying like this, but he'd get used to it. Chase went next, his Sigilyph silently hovering until they were tiny in the sky. I spared Pastoria one last look, and Princess took off.

Six hours to reach the Pokemon Mansion by cutting in and flying off-route. Six hours to retribution. Six hours for Backlot to start paying the price for his actions.

---

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[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 262 - Beachhead

"This is a problem," Denzel yelled. He had to, for his voice to be heard over Golurk's engine.

The Pokemon Mansion was beautiful, especially on such a sunny day. There wasn't a cloud in sight for miles, allowing us to get a perfect view of the place. The property itself was long, rectangular and surrounded by huge brick walls. Those wouldn't be a problem, considering we could fly. The mansion itself reminded me of the haunted one we'd been in during our trek through Eterna Forest, only not in a decrepit state. The entryway was grand, with guests having to climb at least a dozen steps before making it inside. The roof itself was made of some kind of purple material— possibly painted tiles. We were too high in the sky to check in order not to give ourselves away. The problem Denzel had found was that while the enormous garden was swarming with guards and their Pokemon, some whom we couldn't make out with the naked eye, there were also guests galivanting about. It was easy to tell the difference. Backlot's friends were dressed in bright colors that popped, even from this far up.

"We knew it was a possibility," Chase said. "I won't cry if a few billionaires get hurt through collateral damage."

"If we do this," I exhaled, "we do it properly. Minimize the casualties. Let's at least make sure no innocents die."

"And how the hell are we going to do that?" Chase asked.

"Easy. We make them run inside. Our appearance will scare the crap out of them, and the guards will direct them into the mansion. Then, we have free reign in the garden," I explained. "Just, you know, don't burn down or blow up the damn building."

Cecilia squinted. "The layout seems accurate to what Zoey told us. Five floors, two wings, four entrances, one tower, and the garden is exactly as she said as well."

Rows of enormous fountains with Milotic statues spitting waters atop of them, surrounded by hedges, and graveled paths. I turned my head back at the swarm of ACE Trainers waiting silently behind us. I recognized a few of the faces, including Ariel on her Dragonite, some who had saved me from Abra at the park in Veilstone, Maxwell, Carlos and even Lou, although she shared a mount with someone else. I still didn't know why she felt like an abomination to my senses. Pokemon, but not completely. There were sixteen of them in total, each with six or more Pokemon, save for Lou who had five. Flygon, Dragonite, Staraptor, Pidgeot, Skarmory, Tropius, Unfeazant, Drifblim— they were all on their fliers and had followed us here. Now, they were silently waiting for us to strike with emotionless faces or hardened stares. It felt weird in a way. It was almost like we were leading an army, although I knew that obviously wasn't the case.

Cecilia's Talonflame silently glided next to us in a blur, stopping herself right in from of Lehmhart. The ground type dwarfed her completely, but she could run circles around him all day. Talonflame quietly cawed to all of us.

"Fifty-two guards," I translated immediately. "There might be more inside. Fifty-five Pokemon that she could spot, but there'll be more."

Hundreds of them, and most wouldn't be drugged. Even if Zoey had said they weren't that good compared to us save for those who had been fed candy, we couldn't lower our guard. We were planning to strike hard and fast to not give them time to organize a response. The sight of so many ACE Trainers in uniform would be terrifying for anyone who wasn't us.

"So," Mira nervously yelled. "Are we ready?"

"Give me a few. Five minutes," I said.

I closed my eyes and let a large swath of air fill my lungs. Deep, slow breaths. I did not know for how long I was silent for, but every time I inhaled, my heartbeat slowed. The last bits of nervousness melted off of my back, leaving me lighter than I'd been before. There were no more doubts. The innocents would be spared, and the men and women who had a hand in this scheme would face retribution, because if not us, then who? So with one last breath, I opened my eyes and was no longer myself, but a girl. A vessel to carry out what needed to be done, and nothing more. To look at the situation objectively without letting feelings or reservations get in the way. It was unsightly for a fairy to let her emotions show so strongly, Bella's voice rang out in my mind.

What did the girl want?

For Justice to be brought upon those who deserve it.

What did the girl need to reach that point?

Nothing but act, for she already had all the tools at her disposal. Now all she needed to do was not to flinch.

"I'm ready," I said.

One pat on Princess' back, and we all dove down as one. The wind whipped across my hair, sharpening my wits. In a matter of twenty seconds, we reached the Pokemon Mansion. Loud crashes thundered everywhere as dozens of flying type landed on the gravel, sending sprays of stone flying everywhere. The guests and the guards stared at all of us, almost as if they were in a daze for a few seconds until dozens of the ACE Trainers' Pokemon appeared in a sea of scarlet.

"This is a League-sanctioned raid," an ACE Trainer spoke. "Surrender and—"

A Politoed waved a hand, using all of the water from a nearby fountain to hit an ACE's Furfrou with a Hydro Pump.

Then, all hell broke loose.

Guests screamed as they ran and the guards barked out orders, and multiple fights erupted all around me, but I honed in on myself. A Flamethrower washed over Princess' barrier as I released my entire team. My eyes honed in on the guard that had ordered his Pokemon to strike me. Darmanitan, Machoke, Donphan and Graveler.

The man called out for all of them to break me, and they all rushed in our direction. Each one of Machoke's steps left a small hole in the ground. Darmanitan left a fiery trail in his wake. Donphan and Graveler were the fastest, using Rollout to get to me. There went my option to ask them to surrender.

"Drown the trainer. Honey, Sunshine, hold them off. Sweetheart—"

They were already here. Donphan rammed chest-deep into Honey, who slid back a few feet at the force before lifting the ground type off the floor and throwing him back at his trainer. The man jumped out of the way, and Buddy appeared from the gravel to catch him like a net, submerging his entire body. Sunshine slammed a foot against the ground, turning the gravel to fiery sand as it clung to Graveler, but it was Pupitar that stopped the rampaging rock type. She slammed into him with Iron Head and his skin cracked as the impact sent hundreds of rock shards flying off.

Honey grunted as Darmanitan blew a Flamethrower into his face. The rampaging fire type tried to get him with what looked to be a Flare Blitz, but Electivire just pulled up his first Protect of the afternoon, leaving Princess an opening to slice Darmanitan open with a multi-directional Air Slash. Honey followed up with a deep Thunder Punch that broke something in Darmanitan's chest, and Sunshine finished him off with a Dragon Pulse that stretched until it hit a Butterfree in the distance that Mira's Porygon2 was battling.

I stared back at the man whose name I did not know and watched as he desperately clawed at his throat to breathe. I gestured to Jellicent, who let him out of his prison, and the guard hacked water out of his lungs while Angel grabbed Donphan by the tusks as he slammed him a dozen times with Power Whip until the ground type went down.

"Feel free to be more aggressive," I told the grass type. "Princess has me covered."

Tangrowth nodded and immediately waddled to help Honey duel this Machoke. I had expected him to be strong enough, but fighting types were not to be underestimated. Machoke clasped Honey's arms as the electric type retaliated with numerous Thunderbolts. He would win eventually, but wasting his energy on this would be useless. This was a battle of attrition. Our enemies were numerous, and the fighting would be long.

"Princess. His arms."

Machoke cried out as her arms bent until her bones popped out of her body, and Honey used a Cross Chop across her neck, knocking her out cold. Pokemon were people, and Pokemon that weren't drugged were just as wrong as their trainers. Knocking out the guard was actually harder than I thought it would be, since Angel was too far to use any kind of Sleep Powder or Stun Spore without impaling him. I didn't want to accidentally kill—

Sunshine reeled when a Dragon Pulse hit him in the shell, and he tumbled across the graveled path. Huh, that had done substantial damage. I let the guard run away and turned toward the culprit as explosions and attacks rang out all around me. The entire area was cordoned off anyway, so he'd fall into our hands soon enough. A Shelgon with bloodshot eyes. Drugged, probably, along with a normal-looking Zangoose and Tauros. The three Pokemon were led by a furious-looking woman.

"Shelgon is a threat," I identified as I spoke over her order. Another Dragon Pulse targeted Sunshine, but Electivire stepped in front of him with Radiant Leap and held it at bay with Protect. "Buddy, drown her. Princess, slice the normal types and make them bleed."

Targeting the head of the Ekans was just smart. Buddy sunk into the ground, and I didn't miss my enemy pale and consider running off when she realized a Jellicent was targeting her and not her team. She deliberated for too long, since the ghost appeared below her and surrounded her entire body. Zangoose tried to claw away at him, but she was like a child trying to push a mountain. He instantly regenerated any damage she dealt with her claws. These Pokemon were weaker than the last ones, I noticed. Tauros' eyes narrowed as he screamed and made a beeline toward me while Shelgon was too out of it to use anything but Dragon Pulse. Without a trainer to direct her, the dragon type was aimless due to the drugs.

Zangoose stopped striking at Buddy as soon as deep gashes opened up in her fur from Air Slash, and instead she rolled and squirmed against the ground. Buddy let the woman's head out of him, and she took in a gasp of air before he submerged her once more. So long as she could breathe, she wouldn't die.

Vines outstretched from Angel as he stopped Tauros dead in his tracks and sucked his energy with Giga Drain. Shards of gravel sharpened and stabbed into the normal type thanks to Sweetheart's Stone Edge. Sunshine was more preoccupied with taking down Zangoose, at the moment, having run over there with Flame Charge, so I turned my attention back to Tauros. Honey used Cross Chop and Princess Psychic to take the normal type down, blood seeping out of her nose from the mental assault. Unfortunately, Honey had been hit by another Dragon Pulse and had a giant bruise on his right shoulder.

"Angel, grab that lady's Pokeball," I spoke. "Princess, contain that Shelgon."

Layers upon layers of grey earth rose from the ground all around Shelgon, who screamed as a Dragon Pulse blew up the first layer. Angel walked around the path, ignoring Sunshine stepping on Zangoose's chest and burning her to a crisp and he snaked two vines into the Jellicent's body, grabbing the drowning woman's Pokeballs. He clicked on the buttons until Shelgon was recalled, spared from suffering any longer, and once he gave me the Pokeballs, I placed Shelgon in my backpack.

I turned to Sunshine. "Enough playing around. Be efficient with your takedowns."

The dragon blew a Dragon Pulse into Zangoose's face, and the normal type fainted. This time, I managed to recall all of them and kept the Pokeballs on the floor save for Shelgon's.

"Good. Let's keep going."

I turned, looking for a guard to fight. Mira had moved on from Butterfree and the other bug types she'd been fighting and was mopping through a Kangashkan and Dodrio with her team. Cecilia was even further, standing in the middle of a huge crater with only the ground she was on still intact. Lehmhart had changed back into his normal form and was essentially destroying everything around him while Slowking kept her and Croagunk protected. The poison type was watching the fighting around her with sharpened eyes. Talonflame dueled a Staraptor and a Staravia in the air and was slamming into the weaker bird over and over with her body surrounded by flames while dodging all of their attacks while Scyther sliced across a Raichu's chest with Night Slash, keeping the electric type from using any TE. Pokemon burning in dark flames and writhing on the ground surrounded Chase, who was flanked by Houndoom and Zangoose. Lucario danced in Aura and was taking on four Pokemon at once, never getting hit a single time. I noticed Chase wasn't having the same reservations we were about the guards and was having his Pokemon hit them until they fell over. Abomasnow was beating a Loudred to a pulp with frost spreading after each hit.

Denzel hadn't strayed too far from me. A small Moonblast had rendered a Linoone and Indeedee completely unable to even muster the will to fight while Lopunny mopped them up. Unconscious Pokemon lay at his feet with their skin melted off from Roserade's poison and Milotic coiled around him and used Protect whenever he was on the verge of getting hit. Swablu angrily screamed as she fired off Dragon Pulses in support as she flew above his head. Mira's Gardevoir was nearby, since she was his main way of countering psychics, but she was focused on helping her trainer from a distance, at the moment.

Things were moving along well, it seemed, but that was only thanks to the ACE Trainers. They were so… clinical when they fought, even more than me in that regard, and their fights weren't battles so much as they were pure domination. Like farmers mowing through wheat. There was just no resistance there.

Angel wrapped a vine around the girl we'd just defeated and brought her to me.

"Where's Abel?" I asked. If he was going to hide, then I'd rather know where. Then, I'd put her to sleep.

"Fuck you," she snarled. "I'll never—"

I never heard her next words. A huge wave of slicing winds slammed into us and was so powerful that the woman's body just… fell apart. There was no other word for it. One second, she'd been there, the other, she turned into paste. Princess barrier didn't hold for long. It shattered and I felt my entire body vibrate until Lou Teleported next to me with her hands held out, and she grunted when blood seeped across her palms. All of my Pokemon had been knocked away and cut save for Sweetheart. Dozens of Angel's vines had been cut to ribbons, Buddy had disintegrated, and a lot of Sunshine's scales had just peeled off. I stared up at the culprit. Culprits, plural. Eight enemy flying types had targeted me and not cared for their ally being in the way. They weren't even being directed by trainers, and there was no regret in those stares. They just didn't care.

I slowly stood up as my entire team rushed to my side once more and wiped the pieces of that woman off of my face and ignored the numerous tiny cuts across my body. My cast had been torn open and was done for, and part of my clothes were shredded. Honey and Princess had dozens of cuts across their body, large and small, being the Pokemon who would be most vulnerable to that type of attack.

"Where are your Pokemon?" I asked Lou.

"Dealing with the riff-raff," the white-eyed woman answered. "I had to Teleport away from my fights for this. You don't look too shaken for someone who almost died."

"Focus on the task at hand," I said.

"You're bleeding all over," Lou countered. Her barrier strained when another gust of sharpened wind hit us, but it held.

I stared down at myself. "Doesn't look or feel lethal, and most of it isn't mine. Honey, Sweetheart take down those fliers."

A spear of lightning blurred toward two Noctowl, who instantly fried. Good. Their attacks had only been strong because they'd combined their might. Sweetheart cried out, and the gravel became hers. It was an enormous, dark swarm that buried the rest of the fliers and made them fall to be easy pickings for the rest of my Pokemon. Sunshine, Princess and Jellicent quickly dispatched them. One of them escaped, but Lou's arrival had freed Togekiss from her bodyguard role and she rose high into the sky.

At this height, she could use her Moonblast without fear of hurting us or any allies. The move came faster this time, and it pulled in the escaping Fearow. She used Sweetheart's gravel to create two spears almost as large as me, and used the curve of gravity to rip through both of Fearow's wings. The flying type screeched as she fell, but Honey's Thunderbolt smothered her scream of pain.

"We can keep advancing, now."

"You keep going," Lou deadpanned. "I'll—"

Her head snapped to our left, and in an instant, she blinked away to shield Chase from an attack that had broken through Sigilyph's barrier. I was on my own, then. I stepped over the guard's corpse, not bothered about the blood getting on my shoes. They were already bloody anyway, and I couldn't exert my ankle that much now that my cast was shredded and didn't hold the leg in place. It was painful, but pain was just that. Pain. Easy to ignore in my current state of mind. Grace could deal with it later.

It didn't take long to find my next opponent, and this one, I was worried about. A Musharna hovered over her trainer with her eyes closed and smoke emanating from her nose. A single Pokemon, but a Pokemon that exuded confidence. This was one of the guards Zoey had warned us about.

"Princess, run psychic interference. Don't bother with the brain, we have—"

A sudden headache hit me and I stumbled to the ground. Lou had been correct and Slowking's barrier was enough, then. Good. So long as my neck wasn't snapped. It's not like Musharna didn't try. I felt the bones and muscles there shift, but Princess countered her every time. Sweetheart panicked and flew off toward Musharna, her body surrounded by darkness. The sudden burst of movement forced the psychic to act, and an Energy Ball formed in front of her. Pupitar broke through the barrier with an enraged yell, ripping Musharna away from her trainer—

I squinted when Musharna condensed into pink mist and she was on top of her trainer again. What had just happened? Zoey hadn't spoken about illusions, and Sweetheart appeared to have been hurt by that attack. I ordered Sunshine and Honey to just bombard her with moves while I motioned at Buddy to sink into the floor, since he had come back together a while ago. To my surprise, his body was wrestled away before he sank below the gravel.

"That trick won't work here," the trainer smirked.

Why waste breath talking in the middle of a fight?

"Night Shade and Shadow Ball," I said.

The Shadow Ball came out of Princess, and Buddy summoned as many shades as he could. The spirits let out silent, whispering howls of pain as they barrelled toward Musharna with only one goal. Explode.

But that was only a distraction.

Princess whispered that Musharna's mist was making us see things, and I was inclined to agree. Sweetheart circled around to get back to us, and Honey and Sunshine stopped attacking. Another headache hit me like a truck, and blood seeped out of my nose. No matter. The barrier held, and would hold for a while, still. I closed my eyes and felt.

Rage, anger, fear, anguish, sadness swam around me like a tidal wave. It was hard not to get swept in it. Loud. Louder than anything I'd ever heard before, like I was sitting in front of a concert bass. Illusions could fool Princess, but they could not fool me. Another mental assault came, but this time, it was repelled like a pebble striking against steel and I felt nothing but a cold numbness. I opened my eyes, not changing anything about my behavior.

"Princess, drills to your left." What we'd been fighting against had been a dream. "Buddy, Sweetheart, add some dark TE."

Twenty drills rose from the earth, crumbs of gravel and darkness melded to the structure, and they all flew to our left. I heard a barrier shatter, a yell, and a thud. The world went blurry around us, and then shifted. The trainer I'd been fighting was bloodied on the ground, and Musharna started to sob for her fallen comrade. Good, she was distracted. I motioned to my team, and we hit Musharna all at once. The psychic crumpled to the floor like cardboard, and mist stopped smoking from her nose. If she hadn't been so sad, she would have been a tough opponent.

That had been close. Without Mesprit's blessing, I would have had to buy time until an ACE Trainer came back. I strode up to the man who was bleeding on the floor and assessed the damage. Princess had gone overboard here. I crouched and slapped him before he could bleed out on the floor. Collateral damage was unfortunate, but I didn't have the resources to save him. Too many holes in his body. I let my crutch fall on the ground, slipped my hatchet out of its holster and held it against the man's neck for effect.

"Where's Abel? What's he planning?"

"Please… it hurts."

Luckily, he had the energy to speak, at least.

"Tell me where Abel is, and I'll see what I can do."

"I don't know where he is, just that he's inside," the man croaked. He launched into a coughing fit and hacked out blood. "That's all I know, I promise. It hurts."

Would a dying man lie to me? Well, it wasn't like I had a way to figure it out.

"Hm. Well, I've seen what I can do, and that is nothing. You're going to bleed out, I apologize. You tried to kill me first, however, so no debt was incurred."

I grabbed the Pokeball on the guard's belt and recalled Musharna, ignoring his cries for help. After rising from my position and hobbling my way forward, Honey whirred with a twinge of worry.

"I'm fine," I said. "Tired, bleeding, but fine. That was an accident. We didn't know exactly where he was, so we needed to use more drills."

Princess apologized to him, although I knew she couldn't care less about the actual murder when the man had tried to kill me. What she was worried about was Honey's mental well-being. The electric type nodded, and Buddy asked if he could wipe the blood off my body and clean my wounds. When I answered yes, I let the warm water wash away the muk and blood. Scald had been good for him. He could heat up his water now.

The others were… not dead, so that was a relief, but they were all wounded. Chase was bleeding from his arm— coincidentally, the same arm that Sneasel had cut him on when we'd fought his pack. Two of Mira's fingers were bent wrong, and she continuously clenched at her hand to help with the pain. Cecilia was hard to gauge. She was covered in grey dust, but she was still standing. All of their Pokemon were as well.

Denzel was fighting two trainers with a bloodied nose and forehead. For the first time since the operation began, my stomach lurched. He was losing, and no one was coming to help.

"Princess, Sweetheart, go assist."

Togekiss and Pupitar lunged forward, and in less than five seconds, they reached my best friend. Princess lobbed flaming orbs into the Grotle, Poliwrath and Bibarel while Sweetheart folded an Ariados like papier-mâché, and poison and green blood squeezed out of her like a grape. Denzel used the opportunity to bark out a few orders, and Lopunny slid behind the burning Bibarel to strangle him. Her muscles had bulged due to numerous Power-Up Punches, and nothing could overpower her. Sharpened leaves from the garden floor and Roserade's body herself sliced across a Crustle, who scuttled forward with surprising speed. Sylveon blurred in front of Roserade, his ribbons angled at his enemy like knives as they glowed pink. They extended further than they had any right to and slammed into the bug type like whips. Princess weaved her flame around into a raging inferno that burned the two trainers until they were forced to step back. The flames only subsided when Bibarel and Poliwrath worked together to extinguish the flames. Unfortunately for them, though, Grotle had fainted.

There was also another Graveler and two Dugtrio that had to be taken care of—

The smell of ozone clung to my nose as Honey appeared in front of me with a Protect. A flier had attacked us, this time with a trainer on the Pidgeot's back along with a Pidgeotto and a Staraptor. A flying type specialist, then. Had they used me sending two of my Pokemon away as an opening? A good tactic, I had to admit. I held out a hand at Sweetheart and told her to stay and help Denzel, but Princess had to come back. Sunshine, Buddy and Angel's attacks didn't hit their marks. These Pokemon were quick enough to dodge, although Sunshine's flames still burned the tip of their wings and started to cook the trainer. Exploding Scale Shots would have been enough, but he had to hold back, otherwise this entire side of the garden would be burning and gravel would have turned to molten rock by now. That was the thing about fights like these. Most of them were brutally simple. Just hitting your enemy with a bigger stick until they gave, instead of using fancy techniques.

The trainer was forced to land, he realized, or he would just suffer from more burns until my scars looked pretty compared to what he'd get. Pidgeot swooped down on the ground, but not before Princess rammed into her with the wind at her back and a barrier around her. The psychic structure collapsed from the impact, and the hit sent the trainer rolling on the gravel until he was covered in cuts and his elbow joint bent backward. Pidgeotto and Staraptor screeched in worry and flew down to nab their trainer. It was always surprising, to see Pokemon caring so much for their criminal owners, but I supposed being a criminal didn't mean one wouldn't treat his Pokemon well.

"Shell Trap."

With a wicked grin, Turtonator summoned a Flame Charge and ran. One, two, three steps, then he jumped and exploded forth. He slammed his entire body into Staraptor and burned. Princess looped back toward us with the air vibrating around her. Pidgeot scrambled back to the air, but a Thunderbolt from Honey kept her grounded until the Air Slashes cut across her back. It wouldn't be long, now. Staraptor was unconscious, her body a smoking crisp. Pidgeot took another two Thunderbolts to go down, and Princess chased Pidgeotto with Charge Beams until the bird crashed on the gravel right into Buddy's figurative maw. It was strange, how he could stretch so wide and turn into such horrors. His insides turned boiling with Scald, and Pidgeotto fainted.

Their trainer was running away now. It was surprising, how adrenaline and fear could push a human. A torn joint, broken arm, burns, and bleeding all over from falling into sharp gravel, but he was still legging it without even trying to get his Pokemon back into their balls. If he did not value them as much as they did him, why did they care for him so? I didn't understand.

Needless to say, he didn't get very far. Honey caught up in less than two seconds, and the man stumbled back. He crawled, begging for his life as Electivire just sighed. The trainer crawled back until Angel snatched him with a vine and wafted the air around him with a hint of Sleep Powder, knocking him out for good. I wasn't going to keep asking about Abel, since evidently, no one knew where he was or what his plan was. After recalling all three flying types, I turned back to Denzel. He had a leg up on the competition, now. Sweetheart wasn't even needed any longer, with how brutally Sylveon was knocking Bibarel's head into the floor over and over until his ribbons were bloody and Denzel had to tell him to stop.

The guards weren't fighting back. Not anymore. Evidently, someone had sounded for the retreat while I'd been focused on my fights, because they were all scrambling to get inside of the mansion. We all managed to pick off a few stragglers, of course, but a decent number of the remaining guards made it inside by the time all was said and done. Around twenty, by my count. Almost a hundred unconscious Pokemon and an uncountable number of Pokeballs littered the garden, and some of its grass burned until water types extinguished the fires. I grabbed my bag and applied potions to my Pokemon. None of them had been hurt too much, save for that Dragon Pulse Sunshine had taken and the combined blast of slicing air that had almost killed me. Still, I divided two Hyper Potions for the entire team. While it would heal their wounds, it wouldn't replace the blood they'd lost or replenish their energy.

"Are you feeling okay?"

Honey turned toward me as I patted his arm and nodded tightly. We hadn't breached any of his boundaries, save for a single murder. That was unfortunate, but going through this without any collateral damage would have been a miracle. It was already a miracle that none of the guests had been harmed before making it back into the mansion. Sunshine looked like he'd been having the time of his life. I wouldn't blame him for having his fun so long as he was efficient with it. Angel was appalled at all of the meaningless hurt the guards had caused. He looked onto the fallen with a saddened expression. Buddy and Princess didn't give a crap about anyone but us, and Sweetheart felt like she could have done more. Her evolution wouldn't come today, I knew— not before her last molt, and that frustrated her. I tended to all of them talking about their worries. We had won the first battle, but we had not won the war quite yet.

I passed by a fountain as I made my way toward my friends and traced my hand on the granite to ground myself and remember I was still human.

Mira and Chase were already together as I found myself next to them. The pink-haired girl gnawed her teeth as she clenched her hand.

"Grace," Chase gruffed. He shot me a look and acknowledged my injuries. The cuts all over me weren't deep, but they were probably hard to ignore. Some would probably scar. I needed to get a look at my face before I could know if any would stick there, but one on my arm looked pretty deep. "Glad to see you're relatively okay."

"Right," I said. I blinked and began to feel again, little by little, and with that came prickles of pain. "How's your hand?" I asked Mira.

"Can't move it without it hurting like a bitch," she hissed. "Think multiple bones are broken in there. Some piece of crap Sudowoodo nicked me in the hand."

"Multiple bones shattered, I'd say," Cecilia said as she slid into the conversation. Her face was still caked in dust, but she actually appeared unwounded. She wrapped me into a tight hug, and I responded in kind, even if it somewhat snapped me out of my daze. Lehmhart loomed tall behind her, with marks all over his body. He'd taken a lot of punishment due to his large size. The rest of her team followed suit. "That'll take months to heal. Longer than Grace's ankle."

"Without Carlos, it would have been worse," she muttered with a cold sweat. "I already know what I'll need. Bone realignment surgery, a cast, and physical therapy. It won't be pretty, but I'll live."

Losing the use of a hand was far worse than she made it sound, and I could tell she was frustrated. At least it wasn't her dominant hand.

Denzel was the last to arrive, panting and out of breath. He was pale as snow and I was pretty sure he'd thrown up, but he had already cleaned and bandaged his wounds. One across his forehead, a few across his face, and a nose that looked broken because of all the blood on it. I helped Chase bandage his arm while Slowking cleaned Cecilia's body with a gentle jet of water. Then, I moved on to patching Mira up as best I could. There wasn't much I could do without a cast, and hands weren't exactly fit for stone splints. For my cuts, I could only cover as many of them as possible in bandages, so my arms, legs, and below my half-shredded clothes that I had to change with a spare that Mira had somehow remembered to bring, although her clothes were a little big for me. Cece helped me in that regard. My girlfriend breathed a sigh of relief when I told her that Lou had Teleported to save me from that close call with all of those flying types. We all glossed over most of our fights, but talking was good to keep me distracted from the pain all over. It was like my entire body felt like one giant bruise.

I could still see the disintegrated woman off in the distance, but I did not shudder. Not now. The girl couldn't flinch.

"Milotic was good at protecting me," Denzel said with a clenched fist. "I actually hurt myself by jumping out of the way to avoid an attack and landed face-first in gravel. It could have been worse."

Thankfully, his nose wasn't actually broken, or at least that's what Mira and he said. It wasn't crooked or bent the wrong way, just slightly cut.

"We're alive," I said. "That's what counts."

"What now?" Chase asked, feeling at his bandaged arm. "The plan's screwed now that the guards retreated into the mansion."

That was true enough. There had been such a sheer amount of Pokemon that their bodies slowed down the ACE Trainers too much, and even if Lou and a few had Teleported to block the entrance, there were multiple of those. The guards had focused on them and not on us because of the disparity in skill, and their Pokemon had fallen by the hundreds because of it. Doing this without the ACE Trainers would have spelled doom for us unless we'd infiltrated the mansion instead, somehow.

Maxwell, Lou and Carlos walked up to us after around five minutes while the others were talking to themselves, staring silently or watching the mansion's windows to check for any movement.

"How'd you find your first battle?" Maxwell asked with his usual playful tone. "The scale of it is difficult to get used to."

I'd been in exactly one battle to the death with a trainer, but even that had been different. This one had been a lot more of me just… going through the motions of a never-ending struggle. Sure, I'd been in danger, but never enough to panic like I had against Harry Rodriguez when Princess and Sweetheart had almost died. I was fine with almost dying, but my children could not.

"Awful," Denzel groaned.

"More or less what I expected," Cecilia said.

"Pretty fucking bad," Mira sighed, gesturing at her hand.

Chase shrugged. "It did get my blood pumping."

"It's what has to be done," I finally answered. "And it's just the beginning. What now?"

"Casualty report first," Carlos gruffed. His half-molten face was still quite a sight. "Eleven guards and eight Pokemon have died during the battle. Fifteen wounded guards that we're taking care of, two wounded ACE Trainers, but none critically or enough to stop them from participating. No Pokemon casualties on our side," he droned.

Eleven dead guards, and eight dead Pokemon huh? That was a lot more than I expected, but ACE Trainers weren't exactly known for their gentle touch. There was less regret for the Pokemon than I thought, even if it was still there. The image of some of them killing their ally in an attempt to get to me without any hesitation was hard to ignore, even if a Pokemon's morality wasn't aligned with a human's.

"We've retrieved all drugged Pokemon, although two were severely wounded. We'll have one of ours Teleport them to the Center—"

I grabbed Shelgon's Pokeball and dropped it into his hand. "A Shelgon. The only one I recovered."

"That makes eight," he nodded. "There should still be a few inside, then, according to Zoey Miranda."

"I recommend sealing off the mansion with darkness to prevent anyone from fleeing," Maxwell suggested. "Rich people tend to use a Teleporting service and I doubt they'll come now that we've started the battle, but we can't discount one of them owning a psychic and using it to filter people out. I can take Dick and Asher with me."

"No, Maxwell," Lou said. "Them escaping helps us."

"Wouldn't that stop our psychics too?" Cecilia pondered.

"We can make it powerful enough to stop glorified Pokemon taxis, but not strong enough to hamper your psychics besides mild annoyance. But it is a terrible idea regardless," the ash-haired woman said.

"The guards might use the guests as cover, no?" Denzel asked. "It'd be a PR disaster for the League if you killed a bunch of innocents. And, you know, it would also be horrifying."

"You're correct, but Maxwell tends to only think in terms of efficiency," Lou said dismissively. I disliked how she spoke to Denzel as if he wasn't meant to be here. "This is now essentially a hostage-filled building, which is why striking with a full frontal assault or not thinning out the herd a little would be unwise."

Denzel answered with a nod, and Maxwell followed Lou's suggestion without protest. There was a chain of command I didn't quite yet understand there, because from what I knew about the scarred ACE, he wasn't one to bow so quickly.

"Unless Backlot gets desperate and traps everyone in there," Cecilia suggested.

"If he does, we'll have to deal," I said. "What if Backlot and his associates escape? He has no reason to stay here."

"Backlot will not run," Carlos grunted. "The League knows him well. He's too prideful for that, and if he's hiding a collection he's spent more than a decade building somewhere in that mansion, then he will not abandon it."

"If you're sure," I muttered. If that was true, we could get the names of his associates through him, or by using the Voice, if he didn't talk. By the time we captured Backlot, he'd be good to use it again.

But Abel wouldn't think twice before escaping, I thought to myself. The Unovan had no allegiances. As soon as things got dicey, I was sure he'd run. Hell, he might have already run away. Annoying, but I was still in a state of mind good enough to understand that protecting innocents was better than exacting revenge.

"Where would he hide?" Lou shrugged. "He wouldn't be able to escape to any city, and Backlot isn't one to live in the middle of the woods without all of this." She gestured around herself. "Now that the fact that he's at the head of a poaching organization is spreading, no other Region will take him. Not even Alola. The Tapus are not as lenient as they used to be after the war. Alolans won't let in a criminal of this magnitude now that his crimes have been made public."

There was a reason no new city had been established or expanded in that region in decades. Mudsdale and Sunshine explained it to me recently when they'd been reminiscing. Every time, the Tapus rejected the notion, refused any negotiation, and weren't beyond wiping out any half-built town before anyone even had the time to move in. The only thing the Alolans had managed to do was build an artificial island in the middle of the ocean.

I nodded. "Alright. I believe you."

Lou frowned. "I didn't particularly care about that. We've got our beachhead," she declared. "Now, we strike inland."

"I have a few ideas on how to approach this," Mira said. "Feel free to tell me if I'm being a dumbass or not."

Carlos raised his only eyebrow. "Let's hear them."

Soon, we would be going into the belly of the beast, and the girl would come back in turn.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Zeta, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Peg, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, SmallBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, a

 

[Soussouni1]

Spoiler: Team

Togekiss/Princess (Hustle) - Pound, Sweet Kiss, Growl, Headbutt, Fairy Wind, Ancient Power, Extrasensory, Thunder Wave, Air Cutter, Wish, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Moonblast, Charge Beam, Air Slash, Mystical Fire

Jellicent/Buddy (Water Absorb) - Bubblebeam, Night Shade, Absorb, Water Sport, Water Pulse, Hex, Poison Sting, Mist, Acid Armor, Shadow Ball, Recover, Brine, Whirlpool, Hydro Pump, Water Spout, Acid, Will-O-Wisp, Ice Beam, Taunt, Water Cloak, Scald

Electivire/Honey (Motor Drive) - Thundershock, Swift, Electric Swift, Thunder Punch, Charge, Leer, Ice Punch, Thunderbolt, Discharge, Fire Punch, Protect, Cross Chop, Thunder, Low-Kick, Screech, Radiant Leap, Static Shield, Bulldoze

Tangrowth/Angel (Chlorophyll) - Vine Whip, Absorb, Mega Drain, Stun Spore, Bind, Poison Powder, Leech Seed, Ancient Power, Power Whip, Knock Off, Sunny Day, Giga Drain, Sleep Powder, Solar Beam, Solar Blade, Brick Break, Ingrain

Pupitar/Sweetheart (Shed Skin) - Leer, Tackle, Horn Attack, Rock Throw, Payback, Stomping Tantrum, Smack Down, Bite, Rock Slide, Crunch, Sandstorm, Iron Defense, Dragon Pulse, Iron Head, Earthbreaker, Stone Edge

Turtonator/Sunshine (Shell Armor) - Smog, Ember, Smokescreen, Incinerate, Iron Defense, Flamethrower, Shell Trap, Dragon Pulse, Bulldoze, Scorching Sands, Rock Tomb, Body Slam, Flash Cannon, Solar Beam, Rapid Spin, Scale Shot, Iron Tail, Focus Blast, Sunny Day, Fire Pillar

---

CHAPTER 263 - Siege

Arceus, what a beautiful party it was. Full of panicked guests looking to save their hides, crying children with their baby Pokemon pets, knocked-down drinks and fallen food soaking the velvet carpet. All Abel needed now was some terrible music to make among the top five parties he'd ever been to, but Backlot had ordered the underpaid DJ to turn it off. Unfortunately, nothing would ever be able to top the time he'd sneaked into one of those cocktail parties in Castelia where Burgh gave a speech about some fucking painting and droned on for three hours.

He had stolen that painting. Sold it for around three million.

Abel would have loved to have a drink, but he needed his mind crisp and clear for this. Five minutes since the twenty-two remaining guards had come back in, and everyone was yelling at them to understand what the hell had happened. Abel circled around the grand foyer with Zazza at his back in the form of some woman in her thirties and Hypno calmly cleaning her pendulum with her mane in the corner of the room. All of his other Pokemon had their positions, of course. The ACE Trainers were going to come in one way or another, and he needed to buy time. It had been more difficult than he'd thought, stealing Backlot's phone, and his pilot would take a few hours to get to the actual airfield. Now, he had scrolled up through all of their messages, but it seemed like they were deleted frequently, so he still had no address or general direction, which meant he still had use for Backlot.

Speaking of his boss, the Lechonk had screamed until his face was red and decided to gather two of his men still left while the other twenty-five kept watch of the entryways. The guests avoided them like the plague, not wanting to get hit by a stray Stone Edge, or whatever rumors were swirling about. Abel passed by a mother hugging her daughter tight, telling her everything would be alright as she stroked her back and tried to hide her own fear from her voice to not panic the kid. He'd seen plenty of those already, considering the fact that guests had brought their families to the party. Abel motioned at Hypno to follow. The Unovan had been supposed to stay hidden during the party, since he was a wanted criminal, but most of the guests were too busy fearing for their lives to ask Backlot why he had Unova's most famous thief under his employ.

Not that some hadn't. Backlot just hadn't answered the question

Abel climbed the staircase and walked down the red carpet, making his way to Backlot's office.

"Stay out there," he turned to Zoroark and Hypno. If Zazza ever saw Backlot, Abel feared she'd sock him in the face.

"Good, good. Abel, come in," Backlot sighed. He let himself be weak in his study, letting his toupee drip onto his sweaty forehead. Just like all of this mansion, it was luxurious beyond belief. Deep, regal Burgundian tones and carved wood. Who the hell carved their flooring with such intricate detail? And there was more space here than he could ever hope to use. "Samuel, Warren, report."

The two jittery guards nodded, and Abel listened intently. Twenty-six guards either captured or dead, the Pokemon their assailants used, that there were only sixty-five Pokemon left available to all of them, and they explained the tactics employed by the ACEs. Sinnoh's ACE Force was different than Unova's, it seemed. They fought more like a military unit than a special, focused force. Abel eyed Backlot as he breathed in, the gears turning in his head.

"Why did you strike first?" he hissed. "We could have still surrendered. This is a raid, so they must have probable cause, but if they found nothing, then they couldn't have sunk me, even if my reputation would have been in tatters. My lawyers would have beaten this in court!"

Oh, yes. Which was why Abel had Malamar mind-control one of the guards and have him order his Politoed to attack. He couldn't have risked a surrender, because that would have been his worst-case scenario. The League would have come in, and yes, while he could have stabbed Backlot in the back and revealed his house of horrors, he wouldn't have been able to get his ride back. Backlot was smart enough to have contingencies to stop Abel from mind-controlling him, but he hadn't extended that security measure to his guards, the poor fool. The guard Malamar had controlled was unfortunately dead. It would have been nice to still have a hold of him as a tool, but alas, not everything could go his way, could it?

"We could still do it," Samuel stammered. "Surrender, I mean."

"You've struck at ACE Trainers under my command," Backlot snarled. "They'll fight me tooth and nail and have my head for this. It's a fucking capital offense! Either you die under my command, or you get the death penalty or worse!"

Ah, he was fully in this now, how fantastic. Backlot was smarter than thinking he could deal with this on his own, but the fool was so addicted to his zoo that leaving it was basically worse than death for him. It was his life's work. His reason for existence. Without it, he was an empty husk pretending to live. So he would try everything in his power to save it until it was far too late.

And when that time came, and only then, he would realize he had fucked up and jump into Abel's arms and lose all of his leverage.

"So you say there are children there? Five of them?" Backlot asked.

"Members of the LTIP, as we understand it," Warren murmured. "Not as powerful as the ACEs, but one-man armies in their own right. I had to fight one of them… she drowned me in her Jellicent and took out all of my Pokemon in the meantime like they were nothing," he said through clenched teeth. There was regret there, and sadness that he'd most likely never see his team again. "She was attacked midway through and I managed to run off."

"Run off without any Pokemon," Backlot grumbled. "You're dead weight."

"She was terrifying, sir," Warren muttered. "Looked at me like I was just in the way—"

"You'll still be of use," his boss interrupted, drumming his fingers against the wood. "As it stands, our best course of action is fortifying. I want you to use my ample amount of furniture to make barricades in the halls. It won't hold them, but it'll obscure their vision and the guests and maids will make them think twice about breaking in with all of their might."

"We're… keeping the guests here, sir?" Maxwell asked.

"We have to. That way, we have leverage. The League won't go in and slaughter innocents in cold blood— Abel!"

"Yes, Mr. Backlot?"

"I need you to prevent them from Teleporting in here. Can you do that?" he asked, gripping the edge of his desk.

"I can, but the mansion is too large, so it'll have holes."

"Holes we can guard," he gruffed. "Get to it, now. All of you. The longer we wait, the more the ACE Trainers prepare while we don't."

"How should we tell the guests they are now hostages, sir?" Abel said, hiding his haughty tone.

"Just figure it out!" the man raged. "I have to talk to my associates. They'll be Teleporting out through those gaps when the time comes, so it's not all terrible news."

Abel didn't have to be told to leave twice. He exited the room, and Zazza and Hypno followed closely while the two guards went downstairs.

Plan? Hypno asked. A psychic of few words, she always had been.

"Still the same," Abel said. "Everything's proceeding relatively correctly. First, we have to get Malamar to start coating some rooms in dark TE. Zazza, you'll help as well before I send you into the crowd to blend in."

"Right," the dark type grunted.

"They won't Teleport into the funnels," Abel guessed. "They'd suspect that they would be blasted by dozens of Pokemon as soon as they appear, it'd be suicide, ACE Trainer or not. No time to put up a barrier. They'll move in through another way. Side windows are possible, but unlikely. Backlot's forces don't have enough manpower to cover everything and guard the Teleporting points we'll be creating."

"Which is why you accepted Backlot's suggestion in the first place," Zazza said.

"Well, yes," Abel shrugged. "Doesn't matter. If he hadn't, I would have asked him myself. This needs to be a long, arduous siege, and that means we can't make it too easy for them, still. That's why you're all spread throughout the mansion and I'm going to have the guards send their Pokemon to protect the windows instead of the Teleportation points. The ACEs won't risk Teleporting in, ever."

I could go warn them, Hypno spoke. Easier that way.

Abel nodded, and Hypno disappeared. She would be a key player in this, with Miracle Eye to Teleport through Zoroark and Malamar's darkness. ACE Trainers their attackers might have been, they knew how easy guarding a choke point was against an assailing force, so they would enter through less conventional means, like breaking through a wall. They'd been trained for war, and they would want to minimize civilian casualties. One thing Abel had noted through Malamar's mind control was that the ACE Trainers were very keen to defend Mira Compton's group. He already knew it, of course, but it was something else to see it in action. They were… important, in some way. If everything went to shit, he might be able to capture one of them to negotiate from a position of strength. They were also different than he'd expected. More straightforward, and far less preachy, which was good news. He'd heard speeches about his wrongs a thousand times already. He'd rather they just get to the point and they tango right away.

Malamar stood tall a few feet away from one of the windows, his golden eyes gleaming in the sunlight. Abel's starter dipped his head when he saw him, Zazza and Hypno approach. His usual smirk was replaced by a serious look that didn't fit him at all. Standing around and waiting wasn't good for his nerves considering their convoluted plan.

"Malamar, I'm going to need you to work with Zazza and insulate this entire building and prevent Teleportation," Abel said, getting straight to the point. "Try to get as much of it as you can. If you have to abandon some rooms, make them rooms on the first floor and far away from Backlot's office. We'll have them fight for this place inch by inch."

Hypno, Xatu and the other psychics would be annoyed, but they would still be able to use their moves, although with some strain, as all high-level psychics would. Guests and employees would die, but that was no skin off their backs.

Zoroark rolled her eyes. "Always a flair for the dramatic. When I'm disguised as one of the guests, can I punch Backlot in the jaw?"

"Not yet, Zazza. Not yet."

Malamar croaked, and tendrils of darkness seeped into the floor.

—

Not even five minutes after the battle, the mansion was swarmed in darkness.

It wasn't very surprising with added context. Teleporting in had been Mira's first suggestion, but the ACEs had refused because they would have needed to go in multiple waves if we didn't recall our Pokemon before going in, since there were just too many of them and not enough psychics— five, by my count, not including ours. Lou wasn't good enough to Teleport more than one person at a time. Second, they feared the guests would panic, and it would lead to a stampede with hundreds of casualties. Not the kind of results any of them wanted. Now that we knew these were hostages, it made sense they wouldn't allow the guests to escape.

"Maxwell, would you send someone to clear that news chopper?" Lou asked without turning toward the Helicopter. "Have two ACEs circle the area and order the place sealed until further notice."

News organizations were already here, unfortunately, and I recognized the SGNC logo on the helicopter. They were thirsting at the news of a League raid on one of the richest and most eccentric people in the country, if eccentric was another word for psychotic and evil. Maxwell relayed Lou's orders, and Ariel and another trainer riding an Unfeazant flew up to ask the chopper to leave.

"Won't be the first trying to get in," Carlos said with his arms crossed.

"If they don't leave, we just arrest them," Lou spoke as she observed the mansion. "They can go record the Game Corner instead. I'm sure the League wouldn't mind a show of force in Veilstone."

Cecilia's back straightened. "They're raiding the Game Corner as well?"

"They started earlier than we did," Lou nodded. "We won't have any results for a while, but we had to do it now before they had the chance to scrub any evidence."

My girlfriend bit her lip and allowed hope to show on her face. She was hoping for Wooper to be found, I knew. Croagunk did too, her cheek-pouch filling and emptying faster than they'd just been.

"Denzel. Are you okay?" I asked.

"Uhuh. Don't worry about me, I'm doing a lot better now that we've made it through the first bit relatively alright."

But that wasn't it, was it? I could tell Denzel was worried about having been spotted, and it was a problem. He wasn't a member of the LTIP, so he technically had no right to be here. I didn't know how we'd wrangle that— maybe ask Cynthia to let him in the program retroactively? Even then, it wouldn't just make the rumors magically go away. Luckily, we were taking down poachers whom we'd given a chance to surrender multiple times, so as long as we kept things clean as we had so far, he would walk out of here with his reputation intact.

My phone vibrated in my pocket. I ignored it. Not now.

"We have a few grass types. We could try to approach the windows and use a few fliers to spread Sleep Powder and Stun Spore inland," Carlos suggested.

Inland. It was strange, how they referred to the mansion like it was an actual territory and not just a building.

"Could work, but they'll have countermeasures before any damage is done. There isn't any point in not doing it, however, so we'll send you there soon. First, we need a tangible plan."

"What about going through the roof? We make a hole, and we get down from there?" Mira asked. "Apparently Backlot's office is on the third floor, according to Zoey. On the left wing."

"Yes, that would be sound. The windows and entrances will most likely be guarded as well, and even though we could break through, it would be best to take them by surprise," Lou said. "They'll expect us to come through a wall or the roof, but they won't know where exactly. Not until it's too late and we're already in there."

"First, we wait," Carlos said.

I frowned. "Wait? Why?!"

"Let the anxiety rise by harassing them instead of breaking in right away like they probably expect," Carlos said.

"Our friends will fly here…" Denzel muttered.

"Then your friends will be asked to turn around or be placed under arrest," Maxwell said. "No one else will be added to this operation."

My best friend gulped but breathed a sigh of relief.

"So the spore thing first, right? Abomasnow can help with that, but I didn't think this would go like this," Chase muttered. "I expected a lot more action."

"This is no battle, Mr. Karlson," Maxwell explained. "This is like the wars our forefathers fought. You have no idea how difficult clearing a building protected by barriers full of cornered trainers and Pokemon is, let alone an entire city. Every room is a potential death trap. Laying siege and exhausting them for a few hours is just smart tactics unless you have enough power to level the place completely, which we can't due to the hostages and needing to capture people of interest."

"Why not stay longer, then?" Cecilia asked. "Theoretically, I mean. I don't particularly feel like staying here long, but we could last days."

"Backlot has enough food and water to last for months in this place. Better to wait long enough to exhaust them, but not long enough for them to get a good night's sleep. First thing's first, though, send someone to ask for a surrender and negotiation. We do this by the book."

Cecilia took in her words and nodded. This was a learning experience for all of us. The chopper had left, by now, but I could still hear it in the distance. An ACE Trainer walked up to the front door of the mansion with a megaphone and a Mr. Mime protecting him and demanded that the forces inside of the building surrender.

No answer came. Not even an attack.

Then, he tried to ask for negotiations for the hostages, but even then, nothing came.

"Usually one or two would have tried to break out," Lou muttered. "Mutiny from the inside would be best."

"Either way, we have to get started," Chase said. "Williams, Roserade can come to spread her spores too."

"Right," Denzel nodded.

"We'll do it on both sides of the mansion," Lou specified. "In and out with a psychic so they don't have time to retaliate.

"Denzel comes with me," I said.

Lou answered with a non-commited nod, and Maxwell and Carlos explained what the plan was to the rest of the ACEs. Me, Denzel and two other ACEs stood in a circle around a Bronzong while Chase was in another group. To reduce the strain on Bronzong, we had to bring only our grass types, which were Angel, Roserade, Venusaur, and a Breloom while a Staraptor hovered in the sky where we'd Teleport. Lou counted down from five, and then I was suddenly somewhere else. I could peer through the side window and saw at least eight Pokemon standing guard and using guests as human shields. Anger flared within me, but my view was instantly obscured by green and yellow spores despite Bronzong's barrier keeping us safe. A Power Whip from Angel instantly shattered the glass, and Staraptor swooped down from her position and a huge gust of wind carried everything into the mansion.

The sheer amount of spores was more than I'd ever seen before, but Bronzong Teleported us out before we could see the results of our work. After around two minutes, Staraptor flew back close to the window, needing only a split second to see inside, and then blurred toward us in seconds. Talonflame was almost as fast, I noticed. Even if she was nowhere near as powerful, it was a sign of how far we'd come. Staraptor cawed, and Bronzong translated to report. I was finally starting to realize what Maxwell had meant when he said this was war. This was doctrine. Something that had been drilled into these ACEs and their Pokemon for years. Chase's group was a little late, and the Mr. Mime there had much fewer results due to the fact that a Grumpig had been able to contain the spores right away. Another flier, this time a Ninjask reported as well.

"Eleven guests unconscious," Lou said. "Five Pokemon knocked out cold. Persian, Luxray, Heliolisk, Hitmonchan, and Slowbro."

"Mediocre results, but the psychological effects will be felt. The vise is tightening," Maxwell said. "They're far more liberal with their hostages than I thought they would be, though."

"Backlot has nothing else to lose," Lou shrugged. "A cornered Pokemon always lash out."

"I did notice something," I said. "Eight Pokemon guarding one window, when they have fifty-something left by our count? They should be spread thin, shouldn't they?"

"They are," Mira nodded. "But it doesn't matter how thin they are if they have people to cover their asses."

"Even when we go in, that'll be… a problem," Denzel muttered. "What if Backlot lashes out so much hundreds of innocents die?"

"These are his friends and friends' families. Will he really do it?" Cecilia asked.

"He's already using them as shields," I spat. "Not like he values their lives."

"Backlot will most likely give the order, but the question is, will his forces follow? We have no real way to know, but they are not open to negotiations. We cannot allow them to get any leverage," Lou said. "If hostages die by Backlot's hands, then that is not on us."

"But their safety still matters," Denzel said.

"It does," Lou agreed reluctantly. "Which is why we'll try to thin their forces as much as possible before going in."

I bit my lip and nodded. Please let this go okay. "What now, then?" I asked.

"We do the spore trick again, but through another window," Maxwell answered. "Then, we switch tactics."

—

Twenty minutes into the siege.

Screams. How annoying. Zoroark walked down the steps, cursing how slow she had to act as a human not to attract any attention. She heard panicked yells from the opposite side of the mansion. A real human would not have heard the words, but she did. Spores. The ACE Trainers were attacking, but valued the lives of the hostages too much to just break in, so they would soften Backlot's forces first. Her eyes scanned the foyer, which was occupied by around five Pokemon. Not that large of a force, but these so-called civilian humans were scared of everything. If they all ran as one, some would die, but most would make it out alive. Why would they not take that chance? Zazza did not understand humans, and she did not think she ever would. Arceus, she hated clothes too. The weird fabric clinging to her skin was uncomfortable and it took every ounce of restraint not to change back into her original form. For Abel, she thought.

He'd saved her life. Without him, she would still be in Virbank getting kicked around by her old owners and their stronger Pokemon. Abel had brought her there, a year later to exact revenge. There was nothing left of any of them after she'd been done with the bodies.

Zoroark needed to blend in, and for that, she needed a target. The foyer wouldn't do, she concluded. Too many people to do this discreetly. She could change into whatever she wanted, but she needed to turn into someone on the guest list. Plus, creating some of these ugly, strange clothes from scratch would have been a chore. Zoroark stalked the halls for two minutes until she found what she was looking for. The people that had fallen asleep due to the spores. The hallway was still swarming with the leftover, clinging to every surface and floating in the air like dust in an abandoned home. This amount of spores would mean that even walking through would have her fall asleep by clinging to her skin until she had to breathe and getting in her eyes or her nostrils. Zazza flexed, and power coursed through her body.

Darkness was not cold, nor was it hot. It just was, and Zoroark couldn't help but let a savage grin stretch her lips when she called upon her power. It was like drawing from an enormous well. The void surrounded her, and she jumped. In one smooth motion, she was atop her target's unconscious body. Then, darkness pulsed out of the dark type and pushed all spores away from her, giving her the time she needed. Zoroark lumped the thin woman on her shoulder and jumped back just as the spores settled into the end of the hallway again. The pulse would numb the people who had been touched by it for a few days after they woke up.

Zoroark's body loosened, and she felt shivers all along her skin. Transforming always felt… odd. To observers, it looked like panels of light appearing around her and flipping, revealing her new form. To Zoroark, it felt like her body itself was turning inside out. Not painful, but very uncomfortable. In a matter of seconds, she was her captive, clothes and all. Brown skin this time, shoes that were way too small for her feet and clothes that were too tight for her body. Zoroark growled in frustration, but now, all she had to do was hide the human somewhere.

The dark type's head whirled back. People were coming. Either she could tear a hole through the wall and hide… no, that would just make them more curious. Humans had a tendency to put their noses where they didn't belong. Zazza decided to let them come. They were running away at a snail's pace, or at least that's the way it looked to her. Two females and two males. Were they hoping to escape through the broken window? If they held their breaths and closed their eyes, they might succeed in throwing themselves out the window before falling asleep, and the League would take them to safety.

Unfortunately, they had seen Zazza carrying her doppelgänger. If they woke up after escaping, they would tell the League that she'd transformed, and if they ran off, they'd tell the guests, and that would spread through the guards. It was a true shame, really. She would have let them go otherwise. Zoroark blurred, the world around her slowing. By the time the first man had taken a step back, she snatched him by the throat and lifted him up the ground, circling around the group to block their escape. She would knock them out, so they would still get away with their lives. There were screams, as there always were, but Zoroark ignored them. Her psychic powers weren't great, but Malamar was a good teacher. Light overtook her eyes, and the world shifted, revealing strings. An overwhelming number of them, all of the exact same length and bending in different directions. Her eyes focused, and most of them… didn't disappear, but they did fade into the background. Zoroark focused on the ones in the humans' heads and weaved them into a structure that Malamar had taught her well, and they all crumpled to the floor from the makeshift Hypnosis. She gently placed the man she held by the throat on the ground and decided to shove the human she'd turned into inside of a closet large enough to fit ten of her.

Now, to blend into the crowd and wait for the ACEs to strike. With that many people in the crowd, no psychic was going to be able to pick her out. When she made it back to the foyer, another lady called out to her.

"Tasia! Oh, Arceus, I was so worried! I tried calling you, but phones don't work anymore…"

Of course, Tasia had friends. Good thing she was a good actress, but how was she going to figure out this human's name without giving herself away?

"George was taken somewhere," the friend muttered. "They say they're taking us hostage, but I'm not certain."

Now was the time you figure this out? Zoroark wanted to grunt in annoyance.

"They are," Zazza said, injecting fear into her tone. "We should stay silent and blend into the crowd so they don't pick us to send to the windows. Who knows what the ACE Trainers outside will do? We could die."

There you go. The girl shut up, and even though Zazza was secreting fake tears, she wanted to smile.

—

Thirty minutes into the siege.

Kecleon was a nifty little Pokemon. He'd spied for Abel more times than the Unovan could count and was among one of his oldest captures. The normal type crawled on his shoulder, his skin turning to the dark colors of Abel's clothes, and hung there. Since Hypno and Xatu were quite busy, at the moment, Abel released Dan from his Pokeball. The pink blob instantly scowled until he turned into the form he'd stuck to for the past few weeks. An eight-year-old boy, this time. At first, him always having been a child made justifying his behavior easy for the public, but now he was just used to being small, and they'd collected plenty of hair so he had an expansive catalog to choose from. Ditto was, after all, only slightly more than one year old, and the species took a while to mentally grow, unlike most Pokemon.

"Translate what Kecleon says for me," Abel said.

"This place crummy. Leave yet?" Dan pouted.

"If things go well, we'll be leaving today," Abel said, crouching to reach his eyes. There was another scream down the hall, which made Dan frown. "Don't worry about any of that. We're doing the plan I told you about, remember?"

"Yeah," the Pokemon answered.

He'd been learning to speak these past few months thanks to Zoroark's tutelage, and he'd come far, even if his words were still garbled. It was hard not to feel proud of him. Kecleon croaked a series of words, and Dan nodded along.

"Cory Williamson, Shaun Blankenship, Ja… Jayla Chapman…"

The names of Backlot's associates came one after the other until he had the full list. He only knew three of them by name while the other ten were new to him. Not something he was particularly planning on using, but a nice bargaining chip, if anything.

"Teleport away," Dan continued. "Escape."

Abel nodded. As much as he would have liked to keep them here, Backlot would have figured something out if he took out the Kadabra that came to pick them up. Could have knocked out both them and the Kadabra too, but he didn't want any meaningless risk. Someone where they were supposed to Teleport to was bound to be alerted if they didn't come back.

Still, he had leverage now, in case things didn't work out. Should everything go to shit, he could always kill Backlot before he fell into the League's hands, escape, and try to make a deal with the government in exchange for the names. It'd leave a terrible taste in his mouth, but he'd need plans in case none of this worked out.

"Good job, Kecleon. Keep spying on Backlot and alert me if he gets any wild ideas so I can steer him in the right direction."

The normal type nodded, turning invisible, and Abel recalled Dan into his Pokeball. He leaned against the wall and his hand instinctively went to a cigarette in his pocket that wasn't here anymore. Xatu had destroyed all of his hidden packs. Five minutes later, Hypno Teleported next to him with that awful, awful eye above her head that Abel couldn't stare at. Miracle Eye had more uses outside of battle than within, and it was a wonder Abel hadn't had Hypno prioritize it until he almost got caught.

The eye winked out of existence, and Abel wiped sweat he didn't know had been there.

"What are they doing?" Abel asked.

Spores, mostly, Hypno answered. Sometimes, they attack through the windows if there's an opening and there are no hostages. Backlot's guards are overwhelmed, so they haven't covered every window yet. There are also two ghosts that have snuck in, but Mimikyu, Shedinja and Malamar have those covered and force them to flee every time.

"How many Pokemon are down?"

Only eleven, now that I spread the message to get further away from any windows. They won't catch them off-guard again. So long as we keep hunting ghosts before they take us down, we've stabilized until they try something else.

"How's morale looking in the troops?" The guards needed to at least fight back. If they surrendered at the sight of the ACEs breaking in, then Abel wouldn't be able to buy time.

Terrible. There are talks of surrender, but most are trying to get some kind of Kadabra to pick them up, but they can't call for help with the darkness scrambling phones. Apparently some people left with one earlier?

"Yes," Abel nodded. "Backlot's associates. Do me a favor and pick up Xatu for me?"

Abel closed his eyes, and it took ten seconds for Hypno to pop back with Xatu. The flying type looked mighty annoyed, probably from being in the dark too long, but she would have to deal with it.

"Anything new?"

Xatu's eyes twitched. The numbers are fluctuating wildly. Every minute, the odds change. I fear I won't be of much use to you here, Abel. All I can do is tell you that they're coming, and soon.

Her voice was garbled as well, due to the dark. She did not share Hypno's expertise with using psychic powers in these environments. Even before the ACE Trainers had even arrived, her numbers had started to change in every direction, so there was something else at play, here. Too many variables, perhaps.

"Oh, I know that," he said. "I was hoping for more, but it'll have to do."

Abel Torres rolled his shoulders and sighed.

I apologize. I can try to look again.

"No need to exhaust yourself," he said, shaking his head. "As soon as they break in, take me to Backlot. Hypno, you're relay. The team won't last long against ACEs, even with our tricks stacking odds in our favor, so you're Teleporting them to me as soon as things get dicey. Have Xatu feel when our enemies strike to help you time things."

Both psychics silently agreed.

Soon, it would be time.

—

Two hours and thirty-nine minutes into the siege.

The mansion's roof was so uneven and rough that just crouching on it hurt my ankle like hell, and all of those bandages on me made my body feel tight and uncomfortable. Buddy worriedly clicked at me until I told him I was fine. I'd found it harder than I thought to get back into the zone, especially with all of the activity around me at all times, but we couldn't wait any longer. Our tactics weren't having much effect any longer, so we needed to break in. Denzel was with me, along with Lou, Maxwell, Ariel, and two others that were called Richard (although they called him Dick) and Serena. All of my other friends were in another section of the roof with their respective ACE Trainers. We were going to split from now on, and not meet again for a while until we fought through the mansion. The fight itself would be relatively easy unless we stumbled on Abel and his team, but even the Unovan couldn't stand up to five ACEs.

That was, unless he had tricks up his sleeve, which we had no doubt he would.

There were also the guests and employees to worry about, so there would be no wide-ranging or destructive attacks. That would put a strain on our tactics, but it had to be done. I wasn't going to let my team kill innocents. There were children here, I knew. I'd seen one through the window during one of our Sleep Powder tactics. I would rather let guards and Pokemon escape than have all of those people die on our watch.

Lou stared at her watch until the clock struck the dot.

Ariel's Dragonite pierced through the roof with a simple Ice Punch, and we all released our Pokemon into the breach. All around us, three similar explosions rang out. I jumped, letting Angel's vines catch me and gently pull me down into the room we'd just gone in. No guards, no guests. Some kind of bedroom larger than Dad's entire apartment. It was my first time seeing my bodyguards' teams in full from up close.

I let myself breathe again and closed my eyes in relief.

We were in, and things were so silent.

My body and mind began to numb.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Zeta, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Peg, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, SmallBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, a

 

[Soussouni1]

A/N: I will reiterate the trigger warning I put in at the start of this climax

CHAPTER 264 - Into the Breach

Since the start of this operation, Denzel had wanted to barf.

He'd done it once already, when he'd seen Roserade dismantle a Graveler with hundreds of poisoned leaves. When he'd heard he'd been one of the few causes for Pokemon casualties, Denzel had swallowed down the bile and blinked away the tears. It was too much. He had expected it to be terrible, but there had been so much carnage all around him in the garden that he was sure the images of the battle would haunt him for months to come. He hadn't been built for this. No one was built for this. It was toil. Endless work, crawling in grime, blood and muk. And yet, when he looked at the thing pretending to be Grace, he couldn't help but wonder where the hell his best friend had gone.

There was something empty in her eyes. When they'd stepped into the hallway, they'd immediately been struck by ten Pokemon commanded by two guards, as if they'd known exactly where they would be. Had there been no hostages here, it would have been easy to beat them, but they were forced to stand in front of their enemies to dissuade them from striking. While Denzel, the ACEs, and Grace would have to hold back and cripple themselves not to hurt the twenty or so people in front of them, the enemy had no such reservations. They'd tried the Sleep Powder trick, but Backlot's guards had a Grumpig to stop the spores with barriers, and of course, breaking through the barrier in one hit required attacks that would kill the hostages. So they struck small, at first. Building up their techniques little by little until the shield would crack, and hopefully leave them an opening large enough to strike with a precise move.

When the first hostage died to one of the guards' Pokemon's doing— a man who looked to be in his twenties and who had begged for his life until it had been snuffed out of him— there had been two reactions.

Denzel froze in disbelief. An entire life, just gone. One second, he had been there, the other, Grumpig had wrestled him in front of itself to block a low-powered Ice Beam from Lou's Vanilluxe after they'd taken down its barrier.

Grace had stayed silent and had Princess lodge a spear through the hostage's corpse and through Grumpig's head in a cold act of retribution.

It hadn't mattered. Not really. The man was dead— frozen like a statue, but the nonchalance of it all disturbed Denzel to no end. In the end, four more hostages died until the Pokemon were dispatched. Not all of them had been as evil as that Grumpig, thank the Legendaries, and they'd decided to surrender instead of fighting a losing battle of attrition. Now, Ariel, Richard and Lou pushed further inside of the building while Grace, Denzel and Maxwell were tasked with getting these hostages out of the building safe and sound, where Serena would stay with them and keep the peace. This was, thankfully, an operation to free these innocents just as much as it was one to capture Backlot.

Denzel's crouched in front of a girl who couldn't have been older than ten, his fingers and arms pale. He did not know if his paleness was because of the dark, or because of these events, but it was probably a combination of both. She was sobbing uncontrollably and not moving. He could have dragged her out of here by force, but Denzel couldn't bring himself to do so. Be strong, he told himself, because part of him wanted to sob just like her, and it wouldn't do to show that to this child.

"Hey, hey," he gently murmured. "What's your name?"

"L—Lisa," she cried, shooting a glance at the frozen corpse. Had she known him?

"I'm going to need you to be strong and walk, Lisa," Denzel said.

"My— my—"

Her words were incomprehensible, but Denzel could tell they'd been related in some way. A cousin? A big brother, maybe? And if so, where were her parents? Taken to a different side of the mansion, probably. Denzel felt his heart wrench with guilt. They hadn't been good enough, and now Lisa would have to live without a family member her entire life. How many years would this day haunt her, he wondered? How many repercussions would it have down the line? Too many to count, Denzel thought with a clenched fist. He soothed Lisa for another minute until she was ready to at least walk, and by the time he'd gotten her ready, Grace and Maxwell had led all of the other hostages back through the roof and back in the garden by lifting them up on his Honchkrow and Princess. Not one of them had spared Lisa a single look past asking her if she was hurt anywhere. Maxwell was different than Grace. Denzel pegged him as someone who had seen too many horrors in his life and had found the best way to cope was just to laugh at all of it.

It was more efficient this way, Denzel kept telling himself. She wasn't actually doing anything wrong, but there was more to being alive than efficiency. This was not her. The Grace he knew was compassionate and warmhearted. The Grace he knew would not have looked at a child who had just lost a family member like a statistic she needed to deal with before moving on to bigger fish. So before they caught up to the others, Denzel decided enough was enough.

He had to snap her out of it.

"Grace," he called out more aggressively than he would have liked.

His best friend turned, her eyes unblinking for far too long as she stared at him. "Hm?"

"We need to talk about your behavior," Denzel said.

"Now isn't the time to have a spat," Maxwell interjected with a snide stare. "Do it when you're out of here."

"Maxwell is right," Grace said. "Let's catch up with Lou and the others. This mansion too big, and it's got upward of a thousand guests and maids. The faster we move, the fewer people die, and the less time Abel has to plan."

She paused.

"Somewhere in this mansion," she muttered, "horror beckons, and it is loud."

The kidnapped Pokemon, Denzel thought. She could feel them somewhere.

"Since the others went ahead, protocol dictates we clear the side rooms," Maxwell said. "We have to account for Abel being able to bypass empathy powers, and Ms. Pastel can't sense humans. Let's begin."

Denzel's nails dug into his palms. They were right and he knew it, damn it. Honey was the only one of her Pokemon that seemed to be giving him the time of day about this topic too, so it wasn't like he could force the conversation. Jellicent had never liked him, for the ghost only had so much love to spare. Princess liked him, but Denzel was pretty sure she liked Sylvi far more than him. Turtonator didn't even spare him the time of day. Sweetheart was indifferent, although she liked when he talked to her about fighting, and while Angel was amenable and the nicest of her Pokemon, he was too focused on keeping things alive at the moment.

But he had to pull her out of this hole.

"We can talk while we do this," he said as Grace had Angel swing a door open. "You need to get ahold of yourself."

"This is for the greater good," she deadpanned. "Room is clear."

"Room is clear," Maxwell mirrored from the other side of the hallway with a Liepard next to his leg.

"I know you're doing this for good— I know you're a good person," he said as he had Lopunny kick down a door that shattered in a thousand splinters. Nothing in there. This was going to be long, arduous work. "Being in this situation doesn't give you an excuse to be like this. You mutilated a corpse. You look at the hostages like they're in the way."

"Grumpig deserved to die for what he did."

"So you're the judge, the jury and the executioner now?" he scoffed as he cleared another room. "There are ways to go about things. Ever since you've met with Hatterene—"

Denzel cut himself off when he saw Grace flinch.

"No, it goes further than that," he corrected himself. "But she's the one that taught you to be like this. You've had these moments where you aren't yourself," he continued. "And I will not give you a pass for this no matter what the situation is despite what the others say. Being a cold-blooded killer isn't you."

"I'm afraid it is."

"Then fucking contain it," Denzel hissed. "Being good takes work, and it's thankless work too. But you know what? Fine. I'll apologize for getting on your case about killing Grumpig—" Lopunny kicked down another door. "Room Clear. You probably saved lives by doing it, and I'm sorry. I just… I don't know how you do this killing this so easily. I don't know how any of you do it or vow to do it, to be honest. Not Cecilia, not Chase, not Mira. I don't think I'll ever be able to get used to it."

"It gets easier," she said, with a little bit of emotion.

Denzel ignored the wrench he felt in his heart. "But the way you treated the hostages? That isn't right, Grace."

His friend was silent, although he noticed her breathing quickened.

"Being a friend isn't just about blindly supporting each other, it's also about calling each other out when we go too far," he continued. "Just like you called me out for neglecting Sylveon and putting too much time into my streaming and marketing stuff. Just like you called me out when I was being annoyingly defeatist in Eterna City. I think you could at least make the hostages feel at ease after rescuing them. Even Maxwell does it."

"Room clear," The ACE said, ignoring them.

"Dissociating like you do won't always work out, even if it might today," Denzel said with a clenched fist. His entire body felt strained. "If you'd behaved this way in Eterna Forest, when you had to pick up the pieces and mend the group back together, we would have died. If you behaved like this when we were in Mount Coronet trying to get Cece back, someone could have gotten injured or worse, and you probably wouldn't have told us that you were getting sick. If you were like this when catching Turtonator—"

The enormous dragon loomed down at Denzel, but he would not be intimidated today.

"He would have burned you to a crisp," the tall teenager finished. "And probably us, too."

"It's easier this way," she said with a waving voice. Her Pokemon swarmed around her to support her. "I can do what needs to be done."

"I don't know— I don't know if there'd be a way to balance it," Denzel said. "But at the end of the day, this is just… advice I'm giving you. I can't imagine my life without you as my best friend, so if you can't stop, I'll just bury it all and try to forget. Try only to remember the actual you and bury this day somewhere very deep, because I won't lie to you, I'm glad you saved my life today, but… I still don't think that was you."

In that moment, light came back to her eyes, and Denzel recognized his friend again.

"I'm still killing Backlot and the people in charge," she muttered. "And I'm still leaning into it when the time comes."

"That wasn't what this was about," Denzel said. "It was about how you'd get there."

Although he couldn't help but worry for the fate that awaited the man. Death, he woudn't feel bad about, but that deal Mira and Grace had struck while they were flying? It would keep him up at night.

"How sweet," Maxwell mocked. "Keep your fucking heads in the game, kids. You never know when something will jump out."

They caught up to Lou, Richard and Ariel soon enough, and Denzel's heart dropped. Eleven dead civilians on the ground, blood seeping into the dark, and no enemy Pokemon to show for it.

Just because he'd said some nice words didn't mean everything would work itself out.

"This is among the worst-case scenarios," Lou declared.

—

It was, in a way, strangely annoying being here.

It reminded Cecilia of Clarence's numerous properties, only less extravagant. How many years had she spent, walking down halls just like these when her so-called father had summoned her to his office for another round of verbal lashing for not being perfect? Too many to count.

Yet, this was not the only reason why Cecilia was frustrated.

Cecilia could not use Lehmhart, her strongest asset, because he was taller than the ceiling and his weight would tear a hole under them until they reached the ground floor. She could also not use her most devastating attacks to deal with her enemies due to the hostages swarming the building. Twenty people, they had saved already, and now another set of Pokemon blocked their path. Slowking grunted next to her when a flurry of attacks reached her. Thankfully, none of them scythed through the hostages, although she noticed some were hurt by the proximity to elemental attacks.

Here, Scyther, Talonflame and Slowking reigned supreme, but Zweilous? Zweilous was more focused than they'd been in a long time. Always target the psychic first, her bodyguards had told her. Then, the trainer, then the rest of their team as they make mistakes due to the grief they'd experience.

"Dark Pulse, twenty percent."

Both heads let darkness gather in their mouths, like rings interlinking with each other until they became a chain. The weak attack shattered Girafarig's hastily erected barrier and whisked out of existence before it could hit an older-looking woman. Channel the rage, and focus, she continued. At the very least, this one was nowhere near as powerful as that Grumpig Chase had warned her about before going in.

A quick Air Slash cut across Girafarig and her ilk from above, and then Scyther dove in, slashing like a madman until nothing was left standing. Nothing except a single Stouland that he threw with much strain. The bug type motioned at Croagunk, who circled around Stoutland until she suddenly cut in with a Fake Out. Stoutland snarled, not being stunned for as long as Croagunk thought they would be and would have bit into her arm had Slowking not wrested her back. Too strong, this one, but any training is good training. Scyther cut across Stoutland's flank and Zweilous finished him off with a Dragon Pulse that was approximately at thirty percent.

The hostages came next. Cecilia smiled to reassure them that everything would be okay while her trainers helped with the evacuation process. A smile exuding confidence would be good to make them feel at ease, but it should not be too wide, for their situation was serious. She needed to be a beacon of hope for them to look to and think that everything would be alright. Cecilia iced her veins and shut down the swelling rage when a woman with burns carrying a toddler in her arms made herself known and thanked her for her help. How much meaningless death would today bring? People were being executed in cold blood, and for what? One man's folly?

"You're doing well," Mason said once all of the civilians were gone. He was a lot more serious than he'd been when locking her down in Veilstone, which she appreciated, and his team was serious as well, save for a grinning Alolan Raichu that floated on their tail like a surfboard. Her other two ACEs were here as well, but Mason was the only one she'd ever talked to. Grace and Mira were unique in that regard, considering their closeness to their guards. "But if one of those Pokemon had been not playing along, then you'd have dead hostages on your hand," Mason finished.

Cecilia's blood ran cold at that fact, but she didn't let it show. "How could I have improved?"

They didn't stop when they talked, but Cecilia listened attentively. This was as much a raid as a lesson, otherwise they wouldn't be letting her lead. They had intervened when she took too long to take down her opponents or when the opposition was too strong, but other than that, she was on her own save for when they cleared rooms. It was not only a lesson in non-conventional battles, but in warfare, and for that, Cecilia would be forever thankful. Oh, there were books about the art of war, but none were as good as experiencing it for yourself. Course of action, intelligence gathering, protocols for numerous situations, decision making— these would all serve her well in the future. She peered into a bathroom while Slowking kept her protected with a barrier and kept moving.

Something gnawed at the back of her mind, however. Things were far too quiet. Abel had not made his move despite them pushing far into the mansion. Hostages were dying, yes, but they would still snatch victory if things kept going as they did. Zweilous blew through a barricade, exploding the wooden desks, chairs and tables like they were paper, and they marched on. Radios didn't work here, so there was no communication with the other side, but all she could do was focus and hope her friends were alright.

Power screamed to get out of her throat, her fingers trembled, and something in the back of her head laughed.

—

Mira's hand was throbbing like a motherfucker, but it was best not to focus on that. Moving it was still possible, but agonizing— the most pain she'd ever felt in her entire life, in fact. Mira's ACE Trainers were holding her on a tight leash because of her past behavior and her two psychics being weakened here, so she was support instead of the tip of the spear. Not that a trainer of her caliber could even be the tip of the spear. Porygon2 fired a Water Pulse on a Rhydon that took up half of the hallway while Magnezone fired a blinding Flash Cannon. That Rhydon was drugged. Shit. He was the last Pokemon standing after all of his comrades had been taken out. A flurry of water and grass type attacks assaulted the rock type, including Alakazam's Energy Ball, and Carlos whistled.

Cold seeped into her. His Mismagius must have done something, because Rhydon started fighting the wall instead of them, shattering the structure and tearing through it like it was cardboard. Paintings and decorations broke as Rhydon dove horn deep into the wall, opening a gaping hole into some kind of living room. Carlos' ghost had tried to infiltrate the place numerous times with Haunty, but every time they'd been kicked out by Abel's Pokemon, which was why Haunter was currently waiting close to her to strike at her true target. The deal she'd struck with Grace would leave both of them happy, and Arceus knew that girl loved her bargains.

"The way's clear," Carlos said. "Pokeball."

One of the ACEs ran without making a single sound and swifter than Mira had ever seen, grabbing Rhydon's Pokeball and recalling it before it could bring the entire mansion down. The thing with Pokemon who were fed Rare Candies is that they never went down until they died. There had been five hostages to free— and one dead and two injured in that lot. A miracle, considering the rampaging Rhydon. Mira spoke to them as brightly as she could, trying to be the support that they needed in these trying times.

In the back of her mind, cogs turned.

"Carlos," she said. "I'm ready to do the thing."

"With your Porygon?" he gruffed. "If you still think that's wise."

"It is. We can get the names of Backlot's associates if we dig far enough."

The pink-haired girl grabbed her phone and realized how crippled she felt typing with a single thumb, but after twenty seconds, she ran her program. Fifteen Porygon came to life outside of her device, but these weren't like her own. Their eyes were blank, and they had no will. Just a bunch of ones and zeroes that would only execute their tasks before coming back to her or die trying. They fled through the halls and through the walls of the building. A neat trick, if anything. Hop inside of the nearest phone you see. Avoid danger. Send all of the contact information and the texts back to me. Those were the three main parameters the Porygon were operating on. Once they were done with a single phone, they'd move onto the next until a one mile range was covered, with Porygon2 leading them mentally.

The guards, Mira didn't expect much from, but there was a possibility that Backlot's associates were still in the building, and even if they weren't, then Backlot's phone would be of use. Porygon could scour through broken devices as well, so unless he'd Teleported the damn thing away, then she'd get results. A smarmy fellow like Abel would hold that information above their heads when the time came, and Mira wouldn't let him blindside her. Not again. Even if she didn't get the names, having logs of Backlot's criminal activities would be good to clear their reputation. Mira didn't expect them to take a large hit, but hostages were dying, and this raid wasn't going to be as clean as they thought it would be.

"Onward," Carlos grunted.

Mira followed.

—

"How many?" Chase asked.

More than four hundred in the foyer, but they've been barred from getting close to the doors, Lucario answered. I cannot delve into more detail, not when I have never practiced sensing at this scale. They have a single Pokemon on the stairs, ready to signal if anyone gets near and to block any hostages from running upstairs.

Chase chewed on the words for a few seconds, then clicked his tongue as his ACE Trainers brainstormed a strategy to keep as many civilians alive as possible. They'd been the first to make it near the foyer, it seemed, but they were still out of view, not even bothering to cross into the stairs out of fear that more civilians would be killed. It had been a lot easier for Chase, saying that he didn't care and he would just barge in anyway before he'd spoken to the damn people, seen them crying, injured and dead. Rich they might have been, but they were still human, and it was something he might have forgotten along the way. How ironic, that he had gone through the same process with his current friends and thought himself above that, now. Chase brought a hand to his chin and his right foot tapped rapidly against the carpeted floor.

His squad had no ghosts to send to scout, and Sigilyph was going crazy from the dark. It took everything she had to focus, and she'd saved multiple hostages with last-second Psycho Shifts. Abomasnow placed a thick hand on Chase's shoulder and Houndoom licked his fingers.

"Our best course of action is waiting until another group gets near," an ACE said, pointing toward the opposite hallway. "They send a ghost and choke the life out of the Pokemon on the stairs, then we can get going."

"So we let them win, then?" Chase muttered.

"It's not about winning," another one said. "Time is on our side, Chase Karlson. We've knocked out twelve Pokemon on the way here, and the other groups probably will end up with a similar number. Let them clear out the wings, then we can move onto the foyer."

"I don't like it, but fine," Chase grunted.

Three minutes later, he realized that things would not be that easy. There was a shrill scream coming from downstairs, muted from the distance they'd put between them, but the sound of it made Chase's hair stand on end. He'd heard that type of scream, over and over when Steelix had destroyed his home. It was not born out of fear or pain, but loss. The panic soon spread, and there were soon screams everywhere until they filled the entire hallway.

"Lucario?" Chase snapped.

The crowd is moving back as one, as if to run away from… something, but they aren't coming up the stairs.

Chase cursed, and loudly. There wasn't much he could do, not when the ACEs were holding their positions. They kept saying it wasn't worth it, and Chase couldn't help but think to hell with that. Something was happening down there, and people were dying. Millionaires and billionaires, he reiterated.

"They better volunteer to pay their damn taxes after this," Chase hissed, turning to his four ACE Trainers and their Pokemon. "We're going in. People are dying."

"Let the record show that we disagreed with this decision," an ACE said.

They were putting him in charge, Chase realized, and suddenly, the weight of duty came crashing down on him, heavier than anything he'd felt in years. No matter what choice he made here, it would have consequences. There would be no miracle. It would just be differing, shittier shades of grey. But if he could not handle this, then how would he handle leading the Iron Islands or Sinnoh itself? Millions of souls, looking to a single leader for what to do, and he balked at four people and a few hundred hostages?

"What are your names?" Chase asked.

"Dominic."

"Rene."

"Nevaeh."

"Nakai."

"I should have asked a long time ago," he said. "Whatever happens, I'll bear the consequences."

They moved as one, although Chase knew he would struggle to keep up with their pace for long, even with how much he'd pushed his body for years. The stairs were just around a minute away, and a huge Arbok stood guard. In less than a second, a Sigilyph seized it in the air with Psychic and the other Pokemon easily dealt with the poison type. Chase ran down the winding stairs and only then did he notice the magnitude of the situation.

The foyer was on fire. Bright, red flames shone against the dark and consumed everything in its path. The entire mansion would fall to the flames if this continued, and all of the hostages would die. Some were already dead, lying there, burned and lifeless. The flames crept up the collapsing walls and ate at the wood, spreading like a disease.

A Flareon stood atop a dead guard and burned everything in his vicinity while the hostages were pushed back by the remaining Pokemon. They were stuck in between a rock in a hard place here, and these stupid fucking guards weren't even relocating them. Zoey had told them about a drugged Flareon back at the hospital. Had its trainer lost control? The ACEs were faster to move than he was this time. A Cloyster and a Walrein instantly started spreading water across the flames and beating them back.

"Downstairs," Nakai spoke.

Chase inhaled, but could only nod. With his team at his back, he ran toward the culprits. Twelve Pokemon, some of them clearly wounded, but they had mixed into the crowd and waited for Chase, Nakai, Rene, and Dominic to strike with bated breath as the Nevaeh worked to contain the drugged Flareon. The teen felt at his grandparents' necklace and wished he could call upon the voice again, but he couldn't. Not until this evening. The ash and smoke from the waning flames clung to his throat, but he didn't cough. He could only watch.

"If you surrender, we can work out a deal!" Rene yelled. "No need to get so many innocents killed!"

One of the guards hesitantly spoke. "No death penalty!"

"We can work that out!" Rene answered. "Just let the hostages go and surrender, okay? The same goes for your Pokemon!"

Thank Arceus. Chase hadn't even thought about negotiating with them, but things were going to work out. He felt a prickle of heat at his back as Flareon unleashed the final bit of energy it had into a roiling inferno, but the attack was contained by Dominic's Walrein in a giant sphere of frosty water. It took around five minutes of hesitant deals before the guards agreed to surrender, and the hostages could finally be let out through the front doors of the mansion. The guards agreed to let Abomasnow let them breathe in a little Sleep Powder so they could be transported without a fuss, and their Pokemon were recalled, including Flareon. The casualties were in the dozens… thirty-four, Chase winced. All burned due to Flareon before he could get there. His indecisiveness had cost them their lives.

"We should have come earlier," Chase muttered. Lucario could only stay silent, but it was comforting, in a way.

"We believed they wouldn't negotiate," Rene said. "It's a shame, but it could have been worse."

"It fucks with me, having to think of every decision in terms of lives lost," he grimaced. "Leadership is… harder than I thought it'd be."

The ACE snorted. "Did you think you could fix everything with a word?"

"No, but… this just reframed everything I knew. Everything I thought I knew. Every decision a Champion makes ripples across the region with intended and unintended consequences. I think I—"

Darkness sliced across Rene's neck.

Her head fell off, falling with a sickening thump as her body crumpled to the ground. Hostages all around them ran in a massive panic, and Chase didn't even have time to comprehend what the fuck had just happened. He would have gotten crushed underfoot too, had Sig not been there to lift him up, and his Pokemon could only brace themselves against the crowd. The screamed, pushing and stepping over each other without a thought as Rene's Pokemon stared in disbelief— Chase's eyes narrowed at one of the hostages. She ran faster than was humanly possible, somehow weaving in between the crowd. She cut open Rene's Chesnaught, Minun, Sandslash, Venomoth, Granbull and Lilligant before they even had time to register what had happened. Grief had frozen them.

"Zoroark!" Chase hoarsely yelled.

The entire crowd was outside now, and it was only Chase and the remaining ACEs. Panes of light flipped around the dark type, reminding Chase of the ghost he'd seen in the abandoned city, and she returned to her original form.

Zoroark did not pay any attention to their Pokemon. Instead, she focused on the trainers. Not him, Chase noticed. She was targeting the ACEs first, because they were stronger. Zoroark blurred as she shaped the darkness around her into a mass of writhing claws. Protects formed around every single ACE, easily absorbing the attacks. The terrain was at her advantage here, as it was for every dark type. She could shape the darkness into whatever she wanted. Chase soon realized Zoroark might have bitten off more than she could chew when the ACEs started driving her back. Darkness wrestled away by Nakai's Umbreon. Dominic's Aggron pelted her with sharpened pieces of steel twice as large as Chase in an attempt to kill. Nevaeh's Ariados slowed her with String Shot and sent poison that melted through every surface. Wounds built up one by one, and Zoroark was on the back foot.

They couldn't just stand around and sit here.

"Lucario!"

Lucario's eyes closed in cold understanding as two blue bones grew out of his palms and more aura emanated from every inch of his skin. With a wave of his hand, the blue light shone toward Zoroark, who cried out in pain as it turned to tendrils and tried to pin her down. Vikavolt hovered in the sky, firing as many Thunderbolts as he could while Lucario blurred forward. Nakai's Luxray followed suit, as did Zangoose, Abomasnow, and numerous others. Lucario usually was a master at fighting in a melee, but he could barely keep up with Zoroark. A bone slammed against her shoulder after tendrils wrapped around her ankles, and Zangoose clawed across her back with an X-Scissor while Luxray hit her with a Thunder Fang. The dark type growled and punched Lucario in the gut faster than the eye could see, sending him back as he rolled into the dark.

Zoroark snarled, calling forth a powerful pulse of darkness. Chase did not flinch. He jumped off Sig's back despite the high fall, and he landed in a roll right behind Lucario, whose aura overtook him and shielded him from the worst of the attack. His bodyguards brought their Protect back up again, but Zoroark used the opening to strike at Chase instead. Her entire body whirled back, and she kicked Zangoose in the gut, sending her tumbling back, and then she blurred, side-stepping Houndoom's Flamethrower and Abomasnow's Ice Beam—

Umbreon traveled through shadows quicker than Houndoom could ever do. Zoroark bared her sharp teeth, and then pulled back before she even tried to attack. There was another pulse of darkness, but this one was weaker than the last. The wounded dark type ran off up the stairs, and Chase clenched a fist.

"Fuck," he sighed. They would have won, he knew. The only reason she'd succeeded was the element of surprise.

The other ACEs gathered around Rene and her… Chase didn't know if her Pokemon were dead too, but some were simply unconscious, he could tell. ACE Trainer Pokemon wouldn't go down that fast, even when distracted. Something was afoot, and as it turned out, Dominic noticed that these were the telltale signs of Hypnosis. A dark type using the move so quickly? That was not something they'd expected coming in.

They recalled her Pokemon and carried her body outside with solemn stares. The garden outside was full of guests— more than he had ever seen, which meant that his friends were doing good work. The fresh air blew against his face and did wonders to clear out the smell of death from inside the mansion. Zoroark was on the loose, and she was powerful. One of Abel's fighters, if he remembered correctly. Chase felt worry creep up his spine, but there was nothing he could do. Heading back inside on his own would be comparable to suicide.

"Reinforcements are arriving in approximately eight minutes," Nakai said after staring at his League-issued phone. Not Poketch designs, but close to it. "Not ACEs, just League Trainers. They'll take care of the hostages. When they arrive, we will head back in."

"Good," Chase muttered as he stared at the hundreds of terrified guests and maids in the garden. "Are you okay? Rene… well, I didn't know her, but you did."

She had died so quickly, as was often the case in battles at the heights Chase had reached. Taken by surprise. They had thought about the possibility of Zoroark hiding as a hostage, along with Ditto, but they'd grown complacent after a deal was reached without any interference from her. Fucking hell, this was all on them. A mistake that shouldn't have been made.

"I will grieve when our work here is done," the short man said. "The mission always comes first."

Chase nodded.

"Okay."

He tried to find something else, but the words died in his throat in a series of grumbles. I'm sorry. My condolences. We'll get Zoroark back for what she did, but he knew none of those would work.

None of them had when his parents died.

So what else was there to say?

—

It was easier than not, letting myself become numb and unfeeling. The darkness helped me transition between states easily. It was no Shiftry's domain, but it certainly helped, even with all of the noise around me, be it Pokemon or hostages. We hadn't come across an enemy squad in two minutes, so we believed they were holed up somewhere else. Denzel's words rang out in my mind, reverberating in it over and over. Had I been doing too much and losing myself? How would I take actions that were needed, if I couldn't bring myself into doing them? Would I have been able to order Princess to run a lance through the hostage if I'd been my current self?

No, you would not have, I answered.

Denzel had been somewhat right, but also wrong, however. This was as much to help myself as it was to help others. Seeing hostages treated like pawns to sacrifice, dead people all around these hallowed halls? It made the desire for revenge ever greater. It bubbled under my skin until I felt like I'd break, whereas before, only the most extreme cases of cruelty would have me seek revenge, like that fucking Grumpig.

The psychic had felt nothing when he'd used that man as a shield. Just relief at his own safety. That was what made me snap. The sheer fucking audacity of just using a living, breathing person like a rock to hide behind wasn't something I was willing to let slide, ever. If I was presented with the situation again, I would make the same decision every time—

Colors, seeping through the doorway. Faded, almost muted, but there regardless.

"Wait!" I hissed.

Maxwell, who had just been about to have his Ursaring open another door, froze—

The door shattered in a thousand pieces, and Ursaring roared as darkened claws raked across the Shadow Ball faster than the eye could see. The Shadow Ball exploded in a billow of purple smoke, and I dragged Denzel close to me as Honey sprung up a Protect. I heard Lou cough beside me, her barrier having shattered, and when the smoke disappeared, she was writhing on the ground. Her Lunatone hastily threw her back, desperately trying to get her trainer out of harm's way, and every Pokemon prepared to fight.

The ACE's Pokemon entered first, and another explosion rocked the entire office. A desk crumbled, bookshelves sank, and purple energy swirled everywhere. Ghost. I only got one look at the carcass before a pillar of ice from Lou's Vanilluxe overtook it, because that was what it was. A carcass. Pale greys and browns, forever decomposing, yet never falling apart, with a bright halo above their head. Abel's Shedinja.

The ice just swirled until it disappeared, reminding me of Cynthia's Spiritomb.

Maxwell called out. "Fire, rock, ghost, dark or flying—"

Lou's Solrock materialized a pyro bomb around Shedinja, and everything went white. Honey was the only reason we weren't dead. My ears rang as Buddy extinguished flames on Princess' fur and Angel's vines, and the other ACE's and Denzel's Pokemon who weren't behind something or Milotic's own Protect were overtaken by the flames. Solrock wasn't themselves any longer. Lou's near-death made them impossible to control.

"Angel! Lou's Pokeballs!" I yelled.

The grass type was still smoking, but two quick vines snatched Lou's Pokeballs and recalled all of Lou's Pokemon while Shedinja silently weaved ghostly chords together and strangled Morpeko. The small electric type screamed, but there was no voice that came out until Richard recalled him and released him nearby. Maxwell's Honchkrow squawked as blades of darkness scythed toward Shedinja, but the bug type just—

Put up a Protect.

"Fuck! Protect and Wonder Guard!" Maxwell snarled. "We've got to exhaust it first—"

Explosions were growing closer and closer as something hateful traveled our way.

"Another Pokemon's incoming to our right!" I yelled. "They're going through the walls!"

Shedinja put up another Protect when Sunshine blew a stream of unending flames toward them, but I shut him down immediately when the mansion started burning. Buddy was on flame-extinguishing duty before it could spread, but he sent shades exploding at Shedinja, and numerous Pokemon attacked him from all sides. The bug type just hovered there, powered by nothing and with only muted feelings to give me an insight into their psyche. From all the true ghosts I'd seen, this one was the most alien by far.

Liepard growled as she blurred toward Shedinja, but she never finished her attack. Her eyes went blank, and she fell to the ground as if she was in a catatonic state, after which the ghost began to choke her too. Maxwell clicked his tongue and brought his Liepard to safety, releasing her next to Blissey.

"Don't get close," Ariel said as her Blissey healed Maxwell's Liepard with a Heal Pulse. "It's doing something, messing with any Pokemon that approaches."

The worst part was that Shedinja was weak. Stronger than my own Pokemon power-wise, but weaker than these ACEs. Protect combined with Wonder Guard was just unstoppable and forced you into a protracted fight, which the ghost was apparently excellent at, unless you had the sheer strength needed to blow past Protect, which was nigh impossible. Fighting in a single, small office also made things a lot more difficult than they had to be.

"Twenty seconds to impact," I warned. "They're angry."

"When the other Pokemon gets here," Ariel said. "Focus on it and retreat into the hallway."

Protect was the line between life and death. Honey said he was growing tired, so Milotic quickly crawled toward us and brought up her Protect instead, leaving the electric type time to rest. They couldn't put them up long like the ACEs' Pokemon, so they were only brought up when there was a particularly powerful move capable of hurting us, but we weren't Shedinja's focus, I realized. Ten seconds to impact, and the hate was so loud that it forced me to mute my powers. Shedinja had a gimmick, a gimmick that could be broken after a few minutes of fighting, but what would arrive worried me—

"P̷̨̛̛̙̼̳̅̐̄̓̌̈́̋į̴̧̼͕͕̘̝̯̰͔̬̥̮͔̑̈́̋̀͗̀͗̌̿̊̀̕͜͝k̶̡̠̝̯̆̑̎̎̈̍̀́a̴̖͙͖͙̻̻̽̍͂̽̇̅̆̓͐̔ͅć̶̦͎̎̀̄̉̈́̊̋͗̿́͝͝͝h̵̰̬͌̂͋̀̕ͅṷ̴̧̧̡̍́͌͋̐"

Mimikyu burst into the room and as if a switch had flipped, we all ran into the hallway. There would be ample space to fight here, and if they didn't follow, then we had more time to regroup, heal our Pokemon, and strategize. Mimikyu's beige and decrepit costume did very little to hide what was beneath it. Fragments of a face, so deafeningly silent. Eyes like a child's drawing that drew you in and continuously shifted in place.

We blew her up with everything we had as soon as she followed, and her costume turned to tatters, but that only made her angrier. I shivered when more of her body was exposed. It was an amorphous void that lashed out in every direction with makeshift claws that were darker than the night sky.

"Shedinja's gone! Phantom force, probably!" Dick yelled.

Sylveon's ribbons tried to wrestle Mimikyu, but they were cut like paper through a shredder, and none of Denzel's or my Pokemon had much of an effect, since we didn't want to bring the entire mansion down. The ACE Trainers were far better equipped to deal with this, having more custom moves under their belt than I could count, both powerful and not, the latter being for this exact situation. Maxwell disappeared in a puff of black smoke as Honchkrow brought him to safety and his Weavile and Liepard were tearing Mimikyu apart.

Shedinja reappeared behind Ariel, but her Cryogonal had been ready for it. The ice type countered the X-Scissor with Protect, then almost managed to hit Shedinja with a rolling Night Slash before he brought up his own barrier. Shedinja was tiring. Never before today had I understood the move's importance until I got into a battle like this one. If I managed to catch a Claydol, Protect was going on the top of my list for them.

We were finally getting the upper hand again, and the chaos subsided. Denzel's and my Pokemon only struck when we were sure we wouldn't get in the way and from afar. Abel's Pokemon had grown, that I was sure of. No one thought they'd be capable of standing up to ACE trainers before today. Yes, individually, each was weaker, but Mimikyu fought until there was almost nothing left of her and Shedinja had their tricks to last far longer than they had any right to. Buying time through trickery, I mused. But buying time for what? Why not just run away?

Fortunately for us, after a short, pitched battle, Mimikyu was on her last legs, and Shedinja's reaction times grew slower and slower. None of the ACE's Pokemon had taken too much damage, save for Richard's Greninja. Honey and Milotic had been replaced by Cryogonal to keep us protected, having grown too exhausted to periodically keep putting the green barrier up.

Mimikyu fainted, becoming a pool of purple void covered with her destroyed costume, and Shedinja finally took a hit from Maxwell's Crawdaunt and fell in one hit. The ghost's halo disappeared, crumbling into dust as the Pokemon fell lifeless on the ground.

"How's Lou?" Maxwell instantly asked.

We turned toward the pale woman as our Protects came down. Ariel walked at a brisk pace toward their fallen comrade while Maxwell and Richard ran to her. She was breathing, thank Arceus.

"She's unconscious, but nobody knows how she'll be when she wakes up. We need to get her out of here," Maxwell said. "Make a hole through the ceiling and have Dragonite carry her."

Ariel nodded. "Nini."

Dragonite spat out a small Dragon Pulse, tearing a gash in the roof, and the dragon lifted Lou in his arms.

"It becomes dangerous without her," Richard said. "We no longer have a psychic, and we won't be able to go through another one of these if Abel pulls out more of these tactics."

"We're pushing through until we meet the others," Maxwell shook his head. "The mission is the priority."

Dragonite came back and explained with much difficulty that hundreds of hostages were outside. I'd known the dragon enough to at least grasp some of what he was saying. That meant that our friends had managed to run through the mansion and free the majority of them, which was great news.

A headache split my head open as Hypno and a Xatu appeared in front of us with a gleaming eye above the Hypno's head. They were only there for a second. A single second. Weavile tried to strike her, but it was too late.

Then, all of the ACEs and their Pokemon were taken away… somewhere. There was a surge of panic inside of me, and my hands started to sweat. Denzel said something, but I didn't pay attention to what he was saying. Lou would have been able to counter that, most likely, or at least slow it down. Had she been taken out on purpose?

"Denzel," I whispered, "Steel yourself."

He could only muster a nod.

Steps, muffled by the dark. None of our Pokemon had been taken, and I was sure that was for a reason. Or maybe the combined might of Hypno and Xatu wasn't enough to Teleport all of us and they prioritized the ACE Trainers' Pokemon instead? I turned toward the direction of the steps, and our Pokemon braced themselves. Denzel released Swablu, who had been resting after taking a hit to her wing in the garden, but we needed all of the firepower we had if we wanted to win.

Brown hair, average height, and an unassuming figure, save for the sharpness of his jawline. Steady steps that were far too confident for the situation he was in.

Abel Torres was here, and Machamp and Zoroark followed behind him. No Malamar, I noticed. The Unovan ran a hand through his messy hair and I saw a bit of annoyance flash on his face when he stared at Shedinja and Mimikyu, which he promptly recalled.

"Hello," Abel spoke. "Now that your bodyguards are gone, I am here to present a deal to you, since evidently and for some Arceus-forsaken reason, you're in charge here. Easier to negotiate without the hounds trying to capture or kill me."

Princess ripped a few bricks from the walls and formed them into a drill until I stopped her. I understood immediately now. Without his Mimikyu and Shedinja ready to fight, he wasn't in as much of a position of strength as he could have been.

"What deal?" Denzel said, trying to keep his cool.

Amusement flickered on Abel's face. "Backlot can be yours, along with the names of his associates if you wait one more hour and some change."

I blinked as I registered the words. This was the last thing I would have ever expected.

Granted, I was not even thinking about accepting his deal. He did not only have two Pokemon with him, but three. There was something invisible crawling on the ceiling above us, and I had no way to alert Denzel about it without Abel finding out, and from the way Princess looked, she hadn't noticed, too. He definitely had a way of bypassing empaths, then. Zoey hadn't been a fluke after all. I also had no way to know if the Pokeballs on his belt were empty or if he was saving them. Even if the rest of his Pokemon weren't battlers, any extra help would work to beat us back.

"Why would you hand him over to us?" I asked, desperate to buy time. If our other friends and their ACEs got here, then we'd stand a better chance. Three Pokemon against twelve, I believed we could take, but some of our Pokemon were tired, burned, and I didn't know if he had more tricks up his sleeve like what he'd done with Shedinja to stand a better chance than he had any right to. I had no idea if he'd taught his Kecleon to fight on the level of his other battlers in the months since Veilstone, and I had no doubt some of our Pokemon would be terribly injured or worse if we went into a protracted fight.

"He's holed up in his zoo, at the moment," Abel said. "Where all of the Pokemon he's stolen are."

"The Pokemon you've stolen," I spat. The flickering colors of agony were closer now, and louder too. I knew now it was somewhere close to the foyer.

Abel rolled his eyes. "Semantics. Here's the deal. We can both get what we want here. Now, either I take Backlot with me and leg it, or you give me what I want and I give you the names of all of his associates. I know the League wants their heads."

Denzel moistened his lips. "What you want is? Beyond us waiting an hour, I mean."

"For you to stay holed up in the mansion, pretend that you're still looking for the fool and just to let me be. See, I'll actually let you find him. In approximately six hours, the door to his house of horrors will reveal itself, along with all the Pokemon he's tortured. I'll be long gone by then, but he'll still be there. I'm confident that no League investigations will be able to find the actual room no matter what methods you employ. If you double-cross me, I could just not send you the names of his associates and keep the room hidden away. I don't have to be here to sustain what I've employed to hide it."

That could be a lie, but I had no way to know. Think, Grace, think. Why the hell would Abel want any of this? My eyes darted between his Zoroark and his Machamp, who were staring at us blankly. There was no aggression there. Just normalcy, as if they'd done this a thousand times before. They had done this a thousand times before. Accepting this was out of the question, but I still needed to know what he was getting out of this. One, he had no idea I could sense his fucking so-called 'zoo' and the suffering that went on within.

"What are you getting out of this?" Denzel probed, enunciating my thoughts.

"None of your business, kid. I'm afraid the clock is ticking. Push comes to shove, I flee with Backlot."

What did Abel want the most? Money? No, too simple! To escape to Unova and get his revenge on Clarence Obel for slighting him twice and escaping because of Mira. Did Backlot have a way to give him this? A private plane was a sure thing, but the League had eyes on every airport and searched even those. But if he was confident we'd never find where Backlot was, then why did he even need us? Couldn't he just leave? No… why would Backlot take him on a plane if he left him out to dry here? Abel needed him here with him. Zoroark… Zoroark and Ditto could turn into Backlot if needed, so that wasn't an issue, but…

His plan was beginning to take shape, but there were still so many holes. Damn it, I couldn't get a read on him.

But I could at least pretend like I could. Buy some time.

"You have a deal with him and you want to run off to Unova," I said.

He shrugged, not bothering to answer. His face was difficult to read, more difficult than anyone I'd seen save for a few, other than when he'd seen his Pokemon hurt, ironically enough. I flinched when Hypno and Xatu reappeared, although Xatu looked halfway dead, with a torn-out wing and both of her eyes having been ripped out. Hypno was better off, but even though I could barely look at her, I could hear her tired breaths, see the flickering light from the waning Miracle Eye, and blood seeping on the ground where she stood. There was finally a surge of panic in Abel, but he smothered it as fast as it had come. They weren't close to us, so the fear of them kidnapping one of us passed.

Abel recalled Xatu and sighed. "Well, your time is up."

What now? Every ounce of my being wanted to strike. To rip him apart and make him pay for what he'd done.

But I couldn't risk it.

I couldn't.

I—

Movement on the ceiling. My body moved before I realized it, and I pushed Denzel back. The wood cracked under where he had just been, and Kecleon revealed himself on the ceiling, having just tried to capture Denzel with his fucking tongue. They'd tried to kidnap him by bringing him close enough to Teleport. Hypno was on her last legs. She couldn't just whisk him away in a second like she'd done to the ACEs.

The Miracle Eye disappeared, and Hypno fell, now unconscious from exhaustion.

They'd been timing this, and they'd failed.

Abel frowned. "How—"

"Kill him!" I yelled. Sylveon hadn't even waited for us to strike, a Moonblast forming in his mouth.

"Oh dear," Abel sighed.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Zeta, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Peg, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, SmallBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, nothingtoseehere, SecondBlahm.

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 265 - Rout

The Moonblast came quickly, but Zoroark was faster. While Abel and Machamp stayed frozen, their eyes captivated by Sylveon's moon, the darkness under Zoroark rippled, then surged like an enormous wave toward us. A gust of Fairy Wind from Princess, powered up by everything she'd learned with the wind, weakened the darkness before it could get there, and Honey stepped up as Denzel squeezed himself next to me to fit into his Protect. The wave of darkness turned into a mass of scythes, bloodying all of our Pokemon save for us and Milotic, but what came next was unexpected.

Machamp picked up Abel in his arms and ran.

They were retreating.

"Honey!" I barked.

Tired he may have been, but he was still nowhere near done. Sparks of electricity hummed around him until he blitzed past Zoroark, not bothering to hit her even if beams of energy still grazed her. The dark type tried to follow, but Roserade fired off two Poison Cutters from her flowers that came even faster than they had in our battle. The poison actually punctured through Zoroark's shoulder and gut, proof that the grass type was aiming to kill. Honey fired off a Thunderbolt at Abel while Jellicent sank into the walls in an attempt to follow. Machamp threw his trainer forward so he wouldn't get caught in the electric attack and took the Thunderbolt with a grunt.

Abel was still running, and Zoroark and Machamp were following. Kecleon had turned back invisible and was escaping as well, although I knew he was near Abel and still on the ceiling.

"We follow," I declared.

"Got you," Denzel replied without missing a beat. This was do or die, and I knew he would have my back no matter what, just like the rest of my friends. He was pale, terrified, and wished that none of this was happening, but he would still do it, because Denzel was steadfast.

"Princess, stick around. Zoroark's planning something," I said, turning to Angel. "Pick me up."

Tangrowth placed me on his head and broke into a run, which Denzel followed on foot. Every bounce hurt my ankle like hell, but I'd deal with it. I had to deal with it.

They were organizing some kind of fighting retreat, but Zoroark had a hungry look in her eyes, along with the pain and everything else she felt, which was mostly worry. Lopunny stomped the ground, her muscles bulging as Sweetheart shot off the ground with her remaining gas to take down the dark type. Princess tried to slash her apart with the wind, but a wall of darkness stopped Zoroark from getting cut. It would not, however, stop Lopunny from punching the shit out of her. Zoroark narrowly avoided the first Power-Up Punch, but she couldn't avoid the flurry of kicks and hits that followed. She gritted her teeth, but instead of fighting back, she transformed, losing half of her body to dodge Sweetheart's Iron Head. Princess tried to fire multiple drills she'd ripped from a brick wall toward Abel, but instead, Zoroark jumped like a spring was at her feet to slap them away without a fuss. The few that made it through, Machamp stopped. The fighting type could jump higher than I'd thought. Wouldn't work like it had against Harry Rodriguez.

In the front, Honey desperately tried to dodge Machamp's brutal strikes. The fighting type had used the momentum from landing from his jump to slam an elbow into Honey's forehead, but Electivire narrowly managed to get a Protect up. A shaky one, but it would do. Machamp was a giant and had a few inches on Honey, but he was faster than he looked. I heard a sickening crack when he punched Honey in the shoulder, but Buddy emerged from the floor, crawling along the fighting type's skin as Sylveon joined the fray against Zoroark with ribbons that acted more like swords. Zoroark still kept up with Lopunny, Sweetheart and Sylveon without too much difficulty, but she was starting to get overwhelmed. Machamp's skin began to boil as Jellicent slithered all over him with Scald.

"Inside and Water Spout," I said.

Zoroark's eyes twitched when I gave that order, and she instantly blurred back with fear. She clawed a hand along the floor, sending tendrils of darkness to grasp at Jellicent and wrest him away before he could climb inside of Machamp's mouth. The fighting type roared as he jumped back, tanking a Dragon Pulse from Sunshine with a tired groan. Honey couldn't move his arm very well, but another Thunderbolt took to Machamp. Denzel barked out a few orders for his Pokemon and then turned to me.

"He's gaining ground," he huffed. Fire was in his lungs, having grown tired from all of our previous trials, but he wasn't slowing down. "If you send Princess to get him with her psychic powers—"

He stopped when Zoroark's eyes shone and Roserade fell asleep in an instant.

"Hypnosis," I hissed. "Princess, Psychic interference!"

So that was their play, then. Running away for too long would no doubt have them run into reinforcements, so they were going to turn the fight by having us lose our numerical advantage before that came to pass. I called out to Angel, and Kecleon's tongue almost slammed into me, puncturing the wood in front of us in the process. That would have broken a few ribs. I suddenly felt sluggish, my eyes struggled to stay open until Denzel had his Milotic use Protect in front of me and Angel, and I snapped back awake. It was surprising, how he'd taught the water type to move through hydrokinesis already. Zoroark snarled in response, but not before her lapse in attention got her a punch in the face from Lopunny. The normal type was speeding up and excelled in drawn-out fights like these.

"Her psychic powers are better than Princess, or at least she can push past her," I breathed.

Denzel turned, recalling Roserade before running again. "But slowly. That gives Milotic enough time to work with. Can you deal with Kecleon?"

"I can. Sunshine."

The dragon was keeping up with us, but he was among the slowest here when he couldn't speed himself up with Flame Charge. We couldn't waste time extinguishing fires if they were behind us.

"Dragon Pulse next to that chandelier, and don't hold back," I whispered.

Denzel side-eyed me, but just dove to the side as he dragged me next to Milotic. He told Froslass to go for Abel, and I decided to follow suit. Target him first, and his Pokemon would follow.

"Buddy!" I yelled. "Go for Abel—"

The water type listened instantly, but the Dragon Pulse obscured my vision. Everything exploded as flame and draconic energy burst from Turtonator's snout. The green, shimmering Protect came before I could even feel the heat on my face. I knew the Dragon Pulse must have hit Kecleon, because I sensed him fall down to the ground, along with a thunderous crash of the chandelier and half of this section of the roof. Machamp called out to Abel as the fighting type dueled Honey, who was continuously dodging his strikes with Radiant Leap. Bad at range, I noted. Milotic was attentively waiting to spring up Protect when needed, but he also extinguished the nascent flames while Buddy was hunting Abel down. There had been no Protect for him to resist the Dragon Pulse, but darkness' defensive capabilities never ceased to impress. Zoroark had raised a wall of it, and it had absorbed the attack before it could reach Abel.

He was burned, at least. His skin was crinkled and reddened.

The Unovan stared back for an instant, and I swore that I noticed him pale, even in the dark. He pulled out a Pokeball, and—

"Princess!"

An entire section of the wall flowed like liquid in front of Kecleon before the red light could reach the normal type. Abel clicked his tongue and stopped running. Honey tried to run to finish off Kecleon, who was still squirming on the ground, but Zoroark blurred, tearing across his back and Machamp punched him with a glowing fist faster than he could put up a Protect. My heart sank when multiple of his massive teeth were knocked out of his mouth, along with an ample amount of blood, and he fell back. I recalled the electric type, but he wasn't the only one aiming to finish off Kecleon. Lopunny decked the normal type in the jaw and threw him back, and Swablu blasted him with a Dragon Pulse for good measure. Angel grabbed him with a tight vine, and Kecleon's tongue stuck out of its mouth as he began to choke. Of course, Princess had formed another wall of stone in front of us, so Abel could only hear his Kecleon's desperate, hoarse cries. Terrible as my fight against Maylene might have been morally, the experience I'd gained from it could be called nothing but useful. I held out a hand, and we stopped right in front of the fallen chandelier. It wouldn't stop us, of course, just slow us down some. We could just walk around it, but Abel had stopped, not taking the opportunity to put some distance between us because deep down, he cared. He could have continued beating us, probably taking down almost our entire team in the process with Zoroark's Hypnosis if he caught us off-guard again. Hell, he probably would have if they weren't so focused on defending him.

But the fact of the matter was, Abel Torres loved his team.

And that made the fact that he tore Pokemon away from their families even more sickening. He understood the love trainers had for their teams because he felt it. This was why Abel was among the worst people I'd come to face. Because unlike Mars or Saturn, he behaved like an actual human being who was just evil, and that made it all the fucking worse. Hate pooled in my stomach, but I kept it there before I could make a mistake. I knew Buddy and Froslass were waiting in the wings, but Zoroark stood guard in front of Abel, darkness wreathing and pulsating in her palm. From the way half of her fur was frozen or burned, and ghostly smoke wafted off her body, they'd already tried to strike once or twice in tandem, but it clearly hadn't worked.

Still, we had the upper hand, and had only lost two Pokemon for it.

"Surrender," I said with a sharp smile, "or Kecleon dies."

—

Abel had, he finally understood as he heard Kecleon's choked cries for help, drastically underestimated these 'uppity' teenagers, as he had called them. Kecleon had been extensively covered by Malamar and Hypno, so how in the world did this girl know exactly where he was at all times or when he'd strike? Once was a coincidence, but twice? Had he known, he would have recalled Kecleon right away. He'd planned to use her as a hostage to get her and her friend's Pokemon to surrender right then and there, because he couldn't keep running without running into trouble. They were probably two minutes away at most. He'd heard a little about Grace Pastel. She was the one Mars was obsessed with and had asked him to kidnap her, and from the way she gleefully held Kecleon's life over his head, he could see the resemblance. When she'd first arrived here along with her group, Xatu had told him that they'd been the cause of the wild fluctuation in her calculations. She'd told him that they made no sense, and Abel had never seen her that terrified, in that moment. Denzel Williams, he knew less about, but the problem wasn't that their Pokemon were too strong, it was that they knew how to fight these kinds of battles. Fights to the death with no rules. He would have expected them to be green, and to have come into this like they were fighting a Gym Battle. Abel sighed as he clipped Kecleon's Pokeball back onto his belt. Xatu, Hypno, Shedinja, Mimikyu were down, Malamar had his duties to attend to and had to sustain the darkness in the mansion, not only to stop reinforcements through Teleport but to power up Zazza's fighting capabilities. Dan and Klefki couldn't fight at all, so they'd get absolutely crushed.

Abel hadn't expected Mimikyu and Shedinja to fall before he got there. They'd been meant to buy time while he worked on getting Backlot to give up and escape instead of holing up in his fortress. Once Backlot had fully realized that there was no winning this— which he had at this point, he would have given Abel the location of the airfield, after which the Unovan would have promptly tied him up somewhere and left him to rot while Zoroark would have pretended to be him escaping to Unova with Abel. He had also not expected the ACE Trainers to almost kill Xatu and defeat Hypno in the small window of time they'd have to react when getting Teleport away.

He had, in the end, completely fucked up.

Part of him wanted to run anyway, thinking that Grace wasn't serious about killing Kecleon, but a look in Denzel's eyes told him that she was. Zazza's face turned into a human's so she could speak, and she growled.

"Abel, you can't be considering this offer—"

"Shut the fuck up," Grace hissed, lording over her Tangrowth. "You don't get to speak, or Kecleon dies."

Abel held out a hand. "Quiet, Zazza. Look. If I may speak?"

The scarred girl nodded.

"I'll surrender," he said. Saying it didn't feel as bad as he thought it would. Like a weight lifted off his chest. He'd probably get killed for this after a swift trial, if he even got that, but he was tired. Months, he'd worked just to get home, and for months, he had been denied this. Arceus, his face hurt. He was pretty sure he was covered in burns. "Just make sure the League doesn't imprison my team. That's my deal."

Grace Pastel frowned. "Almost all of them are just as complicit in this—"

"Grace," Denzel bit down.

The blonde sighed. "Fine. Recall your Pokemon, and we'll ask the League to spare your team. They'll… probably listen."

But why? Why would they listen? What kind of influence did these teenagers have? Abel's eyes widened when Kecleon cried out with words. Words he did not understand in full, but that he had learned to comprehend in his years with the normal type. Zoroark muttered something under her breath.

"No—"

She grabbed Klefki's Pokeball, releasing the fairy into the world. Frost spread at Abel's feet and Jellicent struck from the other side, but Zazza pushed him away into a door as she barked something at Klefki. He crashed into the door, flinging it open as Klefki followed. The steel type's assortment of keys jingled with a bright light, and suddenly, the door slammed shut.

Malamar, he had understood.

Zazza had told him to run with Malamar and to keep Dan and the others safe.

Ah.

Abel stared at his hands and noticed that his fingers were trembling. His vision went blurry and he exhaled with a shaky breath.

He hadn't… cried in a long time. Not since he'd lost his mother.

It took five minutes for Abel to get his bearings back. Five minutes to stand and convince himself to keep going. He stood up in the billiard room he'd been thrown into and ran a hand through his hair. Kecleon, Machamp and Zazza had given themselves to the enemy to save him, and Abel doubted they had time to kill the two kids before the ACEs got there to help. He wasn't even sure they'd won either, but he had to keep the faith.

"I'm not going to abandon them, Klefki," Abel said.

The little ring of metal shook his keys in protest.

"We're more than that," he continued. "This is a… precarious situation, but not everything's lost. Zazza and Machamp can beat them, if they play this correctly." Which wasn't guaranteed without him to guide things and with how angry they probably were at the moment, but he had to have faith that they would achieve victory before the ACEs got there. "So what we need to do is regroup and get to Malamar first. Can you do that for me?"

Klefki jingled, although Abel knew his face couldn't change (it was metal after all), he knew the steel type disagreed. His Pokemon would all disagree. They wanted him to escape, even if he couldn't make it back to Unova. To keep living as a free man and to eventually figure out a way to make it back and fulfill their dreams of retirement in Alola.

"Klefki," Abel said. "Let me out of the room. Take me to Malamar. I have a plan. Not a good one, but it'll… have to do. Call it our last chance."

Grace Pastel could somehow know where Kecleon was no matter what, and she'd known that Zazza would use Hypnosis and kept her Togekiss on a leash because of it, so it was not an illogical leap of faith that she was some sort of empath. Maybe some kind of League experiment, like that ACE Trainer that followed her around that Abel had tasked Shedinja and Mimikyu to get rid of? If she was, and since she could bypass all of the means Abel had employed to keep Backlot hidden in his zoo, then it was only a matter of time until they found the room. From that point on, then they would eventually be able to get in, even if it'd take hours. What he had noticed was that the ACE Trainers had no more psychics capable of standing up to Malamar. Oh, the teenagers had a few, but none would be able to stand up to him individually, and they would no doubt split to look for him. That dark type specialist ACE had been Teleported away, and even then, Malamar knew how to weave his Hypnosis through the dark.

Abel strode toward the door, opened it, and suddenly, he was somewhere else.

—

I didn't order Angel to kill Kecleon when Abel escaped, but that was only because Zoroark had pushed him in the door against his will. Everyone attacked at once as soon as she pushed him, and they redoubled in their efforts to kill us, now free from having to protect Abel. I knew instantly that he'd been brought somewhere else, because Klefki had just disappeared. Not Teleportation, but the room itself had shifted, like what had happened in Mount Coronet during our first trek there.

"Shit!" Denzel yelled.

Machamp hit Lopunny with a flurry of punches, sending the normal type sprawling back with too many broken bones to count, and he would have stomped on her head and squashed it like a bug and crushed it had Denzel not recalled her just in time. Zoroark weaved in between our team, slashing Sylveon, Sweetheart and Sunshine apart with darkened claws. There were no thoughts to her attacks, only rage. She was sacrificing herself, I realized. They both were. They wanted Abel to run away with all of his heart. Princess tried to break Machamp's limbs with Psychic, but the fighting type's bones and muscles were too strong to bend, so all she could muster was hurting him.

We were losing, now, and not slowly. One of Sunshine's front plates was torn off by Zoroark and Machamp joined in, grabbing Pupitar like she was a leaf and squeezing until her entire cocoon cracked and she screamed in pain even as Froslass and Buddy desperately attacked him to free her. Machamp didn't budge from any of the attacks. No Hydro Pumps, Scalds, Shadow Balls or Ice Beams worked, and every time Froslass tried to freeze him, he just flexed and the ice cracked. I recalled Sweetheart before more damage could be done with a sweaty hand around her Pokeball. My heart drummed against my chest, her cries echoed in my ears and I braced myself.

No choice, then. With Machamp here, we would lose, and a loss meant that eventually, we would have to recall all of our Pokemon until we got killed.

"Can you distract Zoroark?" I whispered.

He didn't even answer me, just springing to action instead like he was a second set of limbs. Froslass moved on from harassing Machamp and brought out her arm. Zoroark didn't freeze in place— she always exploded in darkness before that could happen— but she did slow, and that was all we needed for Angel to grab her with a dozen vines, which left her open for Swablu and Princess to cut her apart with the wind.

"Water Spout in Machamp," I said.

Buddy didn't have to hear it twice. He slipped inside of Machamp's mouth even as the fighting type desperately tried to keep it tightly shut. Zoroark finally freed herself from the vines and desperately sent a line of dark energy to save her teammate, but it was too late.

Machamp's head, neck, and chest exploded with red mist, and he fell to the ground, lifeless.

The entire mansion shook as one, and Zoroark's eyes ignited with a fury that would have made me fall off Angel had he not been keeping me steady with a vine. The grass type prepared to get me off his head and next to Milotic, who had been coiled around Denzel, but Zoroark was focused on Buddy entirely. The ghost's form was soaked in red with Machamp's blood coalescing in his head, and he only shot Zoroark a displeased look as he sunk into the floor.

Zoroark wrestled him up with newfound power, as if the entire mansion had decided to spit him out. She tore him to shreds faster than Palafin had until there was nothing left of him but droplets. My heart dropped when I saw that he wasn't coming back together, but I could still feel life emanating off of him. She'd somehow exhausted him completely, and he wasn't even forming a puddle for me to recall.

Zoroark turned to glare at us, wisps of white and red forming in her hair. Sylveon fired off a Moonblast, but darkness enveloped it, and it exploded before it could even form and hurt our own Pokemon.

I swallowed. Her state was too volatile to use Kecleon as a bargaining chip—

Tendrils of darkness formed over Froslass and Zoroark grabbed her by the throat, somehow knowing where she had been and dragging her back into reality kicking and screaming. She squeezed, and the tendrils did as well. The light went out of Froslass' eyes, but she didn't die and return to the Dusk. The hold faltered when Princess fired off a series of Air Slashes at her and collapsed an entire facade of the wall onto the dark type. Zoroark's form flickered through the stone, which was abnormal, but eventually it buried her enough for Princess to mold it into sharp spikes that stabbed through her entire body and for Sunshine to turn them molten with a Flamethrower.

None of it worked. She just got rid of it with a simple Dark Pulse.

Zoroark shifted her focus to me, but our Pokemon had placed themselves between us now. She tried to weave in between them, riding the dark like a wave as she jumped over Sunshine and clawed Swablu in the air, shattering Princess' hastily erected barrier instantly. The flying type cried out with a deafening shriek as Zoroark almost tore her apart, but Sylveon snatched her with his ribbons, and this time they did not break. He had spread his glamour to them, I realized. An incredible breakthrough in the face of adversity. With a snarl, he slammed her against the wall, but void snuck up on the surface to soften the impact. Denzel almost recalled his Swablu when he saw that the flying type could only muster weak twitches, but her neck began to stretch as light overtook her. The hit had been so heavy that she'd started to evolve.

There was no joy on Denzel's face, for this wasn't the time for it. He recalled her as soon as she was done while Zoroark jumped back to avoid our attacks. The dark type circled around us with maddened eyes. Zoroark broke into a room, destroying the wall and two seconds later, she tore her way back into the hallway faster than we could react. She slipped past our Pokemon a second time, this time hitting Turtonator right in the chest. Angel placed me back on the ground, pushed me back, and tried to hit Zoroark with a flurry of Brick Breaks that destroyed the mansion around them. Only one of them landed on her arm, and instead, she pulled forward as a lance of darkness formed in her hand and she stabbed the grass type with it. He didn't go down, but the pain made him stop attacking, and that was enough.

Time seemed to slow as Milotic's shimmering barrier formed around me. Zoroark didn't even give us the time of day, jumping up toward Princess instead by using the Protect as a platform. She held out a hand, and Togekiss was wrested toward her, leaving way for Zoroark to lance her through the chest. It was darkness, I remembered. Not physical. Yet the light went out in Princess' eyes and she fell to the ground in one hit and her screams sounded just as real.

There was only Milotic in between us now, and since Zoroark had faked him out, his exhaustion caught up to him— Zoroark was already here when the barrier collapsed—

Angel's vines and Sylveon's ribbons snagged Zoroark, but that didn't stop Denzel from clasping my wrist and dragging me into a protective bear hug. I didn't see what happened exactly, but his hold tightened and he screamed. The sound of fighting was further away now, and Denzel let me go.

"A—are you okay?" I stammered out.

My best friend was pale, and he answered with a wince. I recalled Princess and thanked the Legendaries Zoroark had been focused on us instead. My relief was short-lived when I saw the huge diagonal gashes on Denzel's back, seeping blood all over the floor.

"You're bleeding!"

"Uhuh," he hoarsed out.

He had saved me, I realized. Angel and Sylveon had kept him from getting sliced in half, but Zoroark still managed to get some of her attack off. Had he not been there, my entire face, neck and chest would have been torn open, and I might have been— would have been bleeding out on the floor. Had his team not been there to back me up this entire time, I'd be dead where I stood.

"Plans?" Denzel muttered in cold sweat. "We— we can't hold her at bay forever."

Flames raged across the hallway as Sunshine desperately kept Zoroark away from us. Denzel only had Milotic and Sylveon left, and I only had Angel and Sunshine. The four of them wouldn't be able to win this, especially with Milotic being as tired as he was, and Denzel losing a lot of blood. Too much blood. His eyes were unfocused, and I had to yell at him for him to stay awake—

I sighed in relief, and a mountain was lifted off of my shoulders. "We won't have to."

A Dragon Pulse hit Zoroark from behind, followed by an Aura Sphere and a dozen different attacks.

Our friends and their ACEs were here.

It was largely clean up after that. Sunshine's fires were extinguished by a surge of water, although they had spread far and it took a lot of effort. Zoroark fought back with the rage of someone who'd just lost everything, because she had, but there was no way she was standing up to all of us combined. She took down two ACE Pokemon and nearly got one killed before being brought to heel, panting and drooling all over due to her blind rage until she was made to breathe a heavy dose of Sleep Powder. I fell back against the floor, collapsing from exhaustion with heavy breaths. I was so tired, I realized. I hadn't slept at all last night, and we'd been spending the last few hours just fighting, both in and out of the mansion with close call after close call. I didn't even remember what not having adrenaline in me felt like. Chase pulled me up before Angel could, and we reunited with our friends. There was only sheer relief in the kiss I shared with Cecilia, but it was short-lived. There was too much to attend to. Miraculously, none of them were more wounded than they had been before. Chase's wound on his arm had started bleeding through the bandage again, but other than that we were all safe and sound, thank the Legendaries.

I scooped up Buddy's form so he could be recalled, and I got the faintest thank you in return. He had never been this weakened. Denzel was sent away, along with Sylveon and Milotic. He couldn't stay, not when he needed medical attention as soon as possible. They had set up a triage in the garden, apparently, and some League Nurses had come to tend to the wounded. He was barely holding onto consciousness when he left, but I couldn't do anything but pray he would be okay. Those claw marks had been deep.

We all hugged one by one again, although Mira could only do so with one hand, but the celebrations were short-lived with one of our own being hurt so much. One of the ACEs cleared their throats, clearly expecting a report from me. I explained everything that had gone on, from our entry into the mansion to Hypno and Xatu Teleporting the ACEs to an unknown location, to our fight with two of Abel's Pokemon. Two of his Pokemon, and we had nearly lost, I shivered in frustration. If I hadn't killed that Machamp… my eyes drifted toward the fighting type's corpse. Maybe Zoroark would have been easier to contain if the fighting type hadn't died. Would we have been able to hold against both him and Zoroark until help got here? Would Denzel have been hurt as badly as he had?

There was no way to know, I realized. I did it because I had to save ourselves now. I didn't work with the power of hindsight, and we were losing just as hard when it had been Machamp and Zoroark fighting us. Abel was a terrible person, but he clearly loved his team, and the opposite was also true, which left an ashen taste in my mouth that would take a long time to wash away even if I'd done this to save our lives. Mira told us that her Porygon had scoured through all of the phones here, but she hadn't managed to get any information on Backlot's ilk, but she had gotten past texts proving Backlot's crimes, including everything the guards did to steal Pokemon and an extensive trail of what Pokemon were stolen at what times and where, so at the very least we'd be able to release that to the public and it would help redistribute Pokemon to their owners or their routes.

"So Abel escaped in this room with Klefki," I shakily finished. One of the ACE Trainers opened the door I pointed toward and obviously, nothing was in there. It was empty, and some kind of wine cellar. "Now we have no idea where he went."

"Klefki's properties are rather unknown to the Sinnoh League," an ACE spoke. "Not many people have trained one to have the abilities Abel's has, and none of them in Sinnoh, or at least none in our recorded history."

"Back in Unova, it was said Abel could get into any room with Klefki," Cecilia whispered. "But there was no talk of him disappearing into rooms. This is something he's discovered recently. If Grace's theory is right, this is a similar phenomenon to what happens in Mount Coronet's deeper layers."

"Fairies are beings of belief," I said. "And Klefki's specialized in opening and locking doors. The next step in his development would be to pull something like that."

"I think that he used Klefki to hide Backlot's captures, then," Mira said. "Something like a pocket dimension? No, not a pocket dimension, the power needed for that is unimaginable. But still using Klefki fits."

All of the ACEs agreed with that assessment.

"I can feel them," I said, closing my eyes. "The Pokemon that were kidnapped. They're somewhere next to the foyer."

Chase frowned. "Really? We all passed through there and didn't notice anything."

"Because it's concealed, Chase," Mira said.

"I thought Lucario would have sensed something with Aura…" he grumbled.

Our bodyguards' eyes narrowed at me, and their stares washed over me like a tidal wave. They knew now that whatever power I had could bypass any methods Abel had employed to keep Backlot's prison hidden, but I had made a vow to free them, and I wasn't going to break it. We moved as a united force now, although I had to sit on Angel's head to keep up with the pace. Arceus, my ankle hurt, as did the deep cut on my arm. I never thought I'd reach the point where sleep was more appealing than revenge, but there was still work to be done. Mira was in front, discussing the properties of Klefki with a few ACEs while I was in the back to not obscure their view.

"Since it's not a pocket dimension, could it be some kind of shift? Like, Klefki can shift the rooms of this mansion around?" Chase asked.

"It'd be like Cecilia said. Mount Coronet, but on a much smaller scale," Mira agreed.

That was possible. Things like pocket dimensions would require presence, and Klefki had only been here for two months or so. Not enough time for the world to start feeling like he was a fixed entity and to give him all of the powers that came with it. I nodded along when an ACE mirrored my exact thoughts and continued. If Klefki was moving rooms around, then he wasn't moving the complex where Backlot's stolen Pokemon were contained. Abel had called it a house of horrors, and since he had been stealing far before the Unovan criminal had come under his employ, the room had existed beforehand in the mansion and was probably large enough to fit all of his captures. Moving rooms that were large probably required more energy, which Klefki might or might not have. Chase used to have theories about it being buried underground somewhere, but the League would have found such an obvious ploy the first time they investigated him.

I bit my lip until it hurt when we reached the foyer. Half of it was burned, with parts of the ceiling barely hanging on by a thread and the smell of burned wood was hard to miss. League Trainers that I didn't know filtered in and out of the foyer to cover and carry the dead bodies out of the mansion. Horror, sorrow, fear and more negative emotions seeped everywhere, so much so that I felt like I'd choke on it. I held back in tears as Angel placed me on the ground and gently caressed my head.

"A Flareon went insane and got a bunch of people killed," Chase explained with a heavy sigh. "Then, Zoroark…" He stopped and turned toward his own ACEs, but continued when they didn't seem to react. "Zoroark struck from the crowd and got one of us killed and the stampede that followed injured even more people. Her name was Rene."

My eyes turned toward the dark type in disgust. Angel had been carrying her sleeping frame in a tight bundle of vines along with Kecleon. I didn't think I would ever truly get how the hell Abel's team's morality functioned. Did they think they were the only ones entitled to being happy?

"Grace?" Cecilia probed. "Anything?"

My eyes drifted across the foyer. It was easy to see that the once luxurious room had turned into a shadow of its former self, even if I had never been there. The grand staircase was now wounded and bore the scars of the fire's fury. Its dark wood was warped and splintered, the carvings marred and unrecognizable. Even there, the fire had spread. I painstakingly made my way toward them and scraped my hand against the torn wallpaper until I reached the twist in the stairs that linked the two staircases together.

I crouched and knocked against the wood, wincing at the amount of anguish emanating from the wood.

Chase frowned. "So it is underground. See?"

I lifted a finger. "Hold on."

Continuous cries for help, deep below. My hand shifted around the half-burned carpet and tried to lift it, but it was a lot heavier than it looked. Our Pokemon easily got it done, and… nothing. There was no secret entrance or trap door to be seen.

"Try hitting the floor with an attack," I said.

We moved out of the way, and a Throh slammed a fist against the ground with enough power to shatter steel, but the ground didn't budge. Instead, it shimmered and revealed a small crevasse all around what was evidently a trap door. Throh tried hitting it a couple of times, but the wood didn't even budge. Next, we had him try to punch his way to the room from the side, almost like we were tunneling from the bottom of the stairs, and we were making good progress until he reached a point where nothing budged. We even tried poison, but it had no effect. Poison can eat through anything, Jasmine had told me, and yet it looked like our dosage wasn't powerful enough to make it through. That was some serious belief that Klefki was working with. Punching through that would take time.

"Glamour?" Cecilia asked.

"Yes, it's more than that. This is something that only Klefki can do," I guessed. "He's chosen a room to keep people out, and now no one can get in."

"Abel said that Klefki didn't need to stay here to keep the room hidden, and the fact that this was working while he was in his Pokeball lends credence to the theory," Cecilia said.

"Keep it here, yes, so long as Klefki keeps believing in his work. Sustain it, I don't think so," I said. "Glamour fades if you hit its user enough. Just look at Sylvi. Hit him, and you'll destroy his armor, so there's the possibility that we could just brute force past it, and that Klefki wouldn't be able to build it back up if he was far enough away. I doubt Abel thought we'd be able to find the actual room, so he was probably comfortable obscuring the truth to make himself sound like he was in a better position."

"So what? We just hit it over and over and hope it gives?" Chase asked.

"I mean, we could, I guess."

My voice must have been wavering, because all of my friends shared the same look when they turned toward me. Worry, and pity. Just being here hurt, and Denzel having been nearly clawed apart by Zoroark shook me. It shook them too, but they were better at dealing with this than I was when I could actually feel things and I wasn't dissociating. Cecilia clasped my shoulder with a reassuring touch.

"That, and we can try to find Abel, but if Klefki doesn't want us to find him, then I doubt we are, but—" Mira stopped, and her eyes widened. "Grace, you said that Abel didn't use his Malamar?"

I nodded, and then it dawned on me too.

"He would have used him during the fight if he was in his Pokeball," I muttered. "If he had a third Pokemon, then the entire fight would have turned on its head. Abel's going to look for him. We need to go, now."

Carlos gruffed. "Good, you figured it out. We would have said something if you hadn't in the next minute."

So they'd known and not said anything? I turned toward Carlos, but he shut me down with a stare.

"This is a learning experience for you," he said. "Problem-solving is an important skill set, and I wouldn't have waited long."

"Try to be less condescending, Carlos. She's having a tough time," Mira said.

Leaving one ACE to guard the trapdoor and his Pokemon to keep trying to brute force his way in, we all scattered throughout the mansion.

Cecilia demanded to come with me.

—

"Send Talonflame scouting down the wing," Grace told Cecilia. "It's a shame the damn thing is curved, or she could have just seen if they were there or not."

Cecilia acceded, and Talonflame blurred, going so quickly that the air around her warped. She looked to Grace, who was continuously fidgeting. Not even two minutes since they'd decided to split with the others, and her worry had turned to anger that begged to be let out. The ACE Trainers behind them were content to wait in silence. It wouldn't take long for Talonflame to scout the entire area, but Abel could have been hiding Malamar in rooms too. Cecilia had no idea if he had run away already, and none of them had seen Malamar while scouring through the mansion, but double-checking in case he had somehow gotten there wouldn't hurt.

Talonflame came back thirty seconds later, bringing with her another strong gust of wind and shook her head. Not here, then, Cecilia mused.

"I can just sense Pokemon, so no need to clear the rooms again," Grace said. "Abel needed his Klefki out to escape from us, so I think he'll have him out to avoid us too."

"Bringing you through the entire hallway will be too slow," Cecilia said. "Angel can't run that fast when it's this dark."

Grace clicked her tongue, but Cecilia knew she hadn't meant it toward her, instead of just it being a general feeling of annoyance and powerlessness. She had never gotten used to her broken ankle, and Cecilia doubted she ever would.

"We have no choice," Grace insisted. "Either he ran off, or he's still in here somewhere."

"We haven't searched the tower," Cecilia said. "It might be worth looking at. Talonflame?"

The fire type nodded, and was off toward the only remaining area that they hadn't cleared, but Cecilia knew she would probably find nothing. If Abel could travel from room to room without having to get caught, then even the ACEs would be stumped.

"Klefki's no God," Cecilia said, clasping her girlfriend's bandaged hand. It was just idle talk to reassure Grace, and herself as well. "He will have his limits."

"You know," the blonde said absent-mindedly. "Abel loves his team."

"Hm?"

"He loves his team, even after everything he's done," she continued. "And his team loves him in return. Abel takes care of his Ditto like a father would take care of a toddler, from the reports we've gotten. He was distraught when his Pokemon were almost killed, and I'm sure he'll be affected once he learns that Machamp is dead. Even after everything he's done," she stopped and inhaled, "I don't think he would abandon his Pokemon."

Cecilia loved the look in Grace's eye when she figured something out. It was something she'd learned to discern all the way back in Mount Coronet when she and Denzel figured out a way to get them out of the mountain. There was brilliance there, brilliance that Cecilia knew she could not match, because her expertise lied elsewhere. The way Grace learned about people and Pokemon after a single meeting with them was as endearing as it was terrifying.

"We need to head back," Grace muttered. "Now."

Cecilia realized soon enough that Grace had been correct when the first sound of the muffled splintering of wood rang out in the hallway. Grace was slow to move, but she kept up with Tangrowth. Cecilia ran there right away with the ACEs. The darkness in the mansion winked out of existence like it had never been there in the first place.

It wasn't a fight. Abel didn't fight when he knew he would lose. The ACE and his Pokemon were all hypnotized, hanging in the air until they dropped like ragdolls and fell asleep. Cecilia couldn't tell if Malamar was tired in the single look she got at the dark type before everyone around her froze in place. They had no psychic to counter him, she realized, and Abel must have known this too, because he was in plain sight. Slowking tried as best he could, but Malamar's skill went far beyond his. Mira and Chase were gone, and there was no telling when they'd get here. Had they heard the sound of splintering wood? Cecilia needed ACE psychics, and unfortunately, none remained, which was why Malamar had come out in the first place.

Abel climbed up the stairs with a calm step, avoiding the gaping hole Throh had created.

"Malamar, keep them still," he said as he recalled Zoroark and Kecleon. "Where's Machamp?"

She'd been so frozen that Abel hadn't known that she wasn't Hypnotized. Unfortunately, before a plan could form in her head, Malamar croaked, pointing a tentacle toward Cecilia. Abel wanted to leave, she knew, but he wouldn't. Grace had been right.

"I'll tell you if you let them go and surrender," Cecilia tried.

Abel's jaw clenched and clasped his head with an anxious hand. "Enough stalling. I don't understand why Malamar can't control you, but you're going to answer the fucking question, or I will have Malamar snap all of their necks. I don't do mindless killing, unlike the League," he spat to the side. "Every time I've crossed that line, I was paid for it or I had no other choice."

What a sickening philosophy. As if getting paid for murdering innocents justified the act. She had come here ready for this, had been convinced to do this, but the words were hard to get out. It felt like Cecilia was about to lose a part of herself that made her her. The young girl who valued freedom above all else, ripping it from someone else. Someone who deserved it, but a person nonetheless. The League would learn about it, but that wasn't the main issue. Could Cecilia look her friends in the eye after this? They would not care, but she would.

"I'll tell you two," she said with quivering lips. "I'll tell you to recall your Pokemon and for all of you to surrender."

Fire in her throat! Cecilia hacked out the words and doubled over as every ACE and their remaining Pokemon fell to the ground and quickly picked themselves up. The pain came in waves, but it was soon replaced by exhaustion. She wanted nothing more but to close her eyes and sleep. It was not that she was not justified in using the Voice. Abel would, and deserved to rot in prison for the rest of his life. Cecilia knew herself, and she knew that after using it once, not relying on it more was something that would be infinitely more difficult to do, and Legendaries, she knew Unova would push her to.

Cecilia Obel was no longer the idealist that she thought she could become. For the first time, she peeked behind the horizon, and what she saw there horrified her.

Ultimately, Cecilia thought, she was the sum of her parts. But there was more bad in her than good.

Azelf, had won, in the end, and their laugh was deafening.

—

The ACEs took Abel and his Pokeballs right after Cecilia used the Voice.

Hers was different than Chase's. It was an insidious whisper. Whereas Chase was like a loud, boisterous command that you couldn't imagine not listening to, hers was more of a suggestion that would make you believe she had your best interest at heart, and that you should therefore listen. Like a gentle hand to guide you while you were lost in the dark, whether that be to your doom or not, because not having her here was terrifying, or at least that's how it felt in the moment. She hadn't wanted to speak at all after the fact. Just to go home and be alone.

"Our time apart during the next month or two will do me some good," she had told me, and that hurt more than anything else she would have said, because she was essentially telling me she wanted a break. She wouldn't message or call me, I knew, because she couldn't come to terms with what she'd done.

And it had been my fault. I had convinced her to use it if needed, and she must have hated me for it. The worst part was that Chase and Mira's group had gotten there fifteen to twenty seconds later, so one could argue it might not have been necessary.

Chase and Mira were busy explaining the concept of the Voice to the League, and we'd no doubt get some very strongly worded sermons from them. Ideally, we would have kept it hidden, but I couldn't fathom the fact that Abel could have escaped. Not again. Or at least that was what we believed without hindsight. Abel was like a shell of his former self. The command had only lasted around twenty minutes, and now he was answering questions with a muted demeanor as if he had given up on everything. He gave us all of the names of Backlot's associates, and they would soon be arrested and given over to us. Two, I would hand over to Carnivine. The rest, I would execute. A drill through the head when Princess was healed. It would be quick and painless, but death was a price of its own. I'd told Carnivine she would be able to look at what happened to Backlot, but the ACEs quickly told me it would be politically convenient if we just did the deed right away and pretended like he died in the crossfire.

Klefki was ordered to open the door to Backlot's zoo, and I was the first one to step inside, followed by Mira and two ACEs. It wasn't the dark prison I had expected, but it was still a prison. Rare Pokemon sat behind thick walls of glass that reminded me of the ones Pokemon Center used. Bagon, Gible, Kabuto, Turtwig, Galarian Darumaka— they were all rare Pokemon that cost millions. They were clearly malnourished and were kept sedated with some kind of gas. I held in my rage as we walked through the halls. We couldn't just break through the glass, not before we got Backlot to turn off the gas.

It took everything I had not to grab my hatchet and cut him apart right then and there, but we needed to take care of the Pokemon first. Edward Backlot trembled like a little weasel as he crawled backward until his head hit a wall and he hurt himself. He was overweight, with a greying beard and hair arranged in a toupee. The place was arranged like a giant living room, with a coffee table for him and his friends to drink at while they looked at their abused captures. In fact, a bottle of some kind of alcohol sat on the table, nearly emptied.

"P—please. I was mind-controlled. Abel made me—"

"Shut the fuck up," I said as I limped toward him.

"Who even are you? Please, members of the League, let me call my lawyers— ah!"

I slammed my axe into the wall right next to his face, and he shut up after that.

"The gas. Turn it off."

"Right away," he squealed.

He reached for a lever hidden behind a wall, and the glass slid down into the floor, freeing every Pokemon there. I tended to them as best I could. They were shaken, and some of them had lived the last years, drugged up and unable to tell how much time had even passed. I breathed a sigh of relief when I saw one of the ACEs taking care of a Leafeon. Carnivine's son was safe and sound.

"I need to call my lawyers," Backlot repeated in a whisper, but none of the ACEs gave him the time of day.

"You're not getting due process, Backlot," Mira said.

The man blanched when the ACEs left, leaving only me, Mira and Backlot in the room.

"Are we not a nation of laws?" He hissed. "I want to speak with a superior—"

"Princess fainted, so this'll have to do," I interrupted. I angled my axe up.

Haunter appeared behind Mira with a cackle, and I cut him in both thighs, digging deep into the flesh as blood splattered all over my clothes and bandages. It was harder than I thought, cutting through a human. I'd never been the strongest person around, and my arms were thin. Backlot still screamed and spoke nonsensical words that filled me with a tired satisfaction. I took a few steps back and threw him the axe for future use.

Then, Haunter got to work.

Mira and I both watched.

—

It was late in the evening, now, and I watched the garden slowly empty out as civilians were taken back to their home. Most of them would be going back up to Hearthome, where they would disperse and Teleport back home with hired Kadabra or Xatu. Save for Buddy, my Pokemon had all been given to one of the Nurses for their wounds, where they would have to stay for days.

We'd stopped Abel and Backlot. Abel's Pokemon would be sent to the League and assessed to see if they could be rehabilitated, just like the rest of the guards' Pokemon. If not, they would be put in prison or killed, I didn't know which. Pokemon prison didn't really exist, it was more of an expression. They'd be placed in their Pokeballs for a set number of years and only released to be fed, for those that did eat. The League had its own system for sorting through criminal Pokemon, but it was common knowledge that Pokemon often got a lighter hand than their owners. Rare was the Pokemon that wouldn't take at least one of the new leases at life the League threw at them, be that the Battle Frontier, Ranger work, League work, or something else.

Seventy-six hostages had died in the raid, and Sinnoh's richest caste had gone through a traumatic experience that would ripple throughout the entire region. Emilia's parents had been among the wounded, although thank Arceus they hadn't died. From what I knew, they both had lung problems due to smoke inhalation from that Flareon. Their real estate business saw them often involved with Backlot's parties, and despite having a rocky relationship with them, Emi was shaken. She hadn't even known they would be there because she'd blocked their number in Sunyshore. Our friends who hadn't come on the raid were outside, and that would be an annoying conversation to have, especially since Pauline had gotten herself arrested by trying to get in to help us. Denzel was conscious, and he'd be able to get back on his feet in around three to four days. There were… talks of nerve damage. The clawed area would apparently never return to normal and feel continuously numb and tingly, even if he chose to have surgery to make most of the feeling go away. From what I'd heard, Cecilia was already gone on Lehmhart's back. Her plan was to just sign up for Wake and leave as soon as possible.

There had been bad news, I knew. The Game Corner's raid had gone far better than this one, and Wooper…

Wooper was dead. She'd died to another drugged Pokemon in one of the fighting rings in the Game Corner a day after arriving.

The League Trainers that had been Teleported by Hypno and Xatu were safe, although Lou was still unconscious due to that Shedinja.

This was a mess. A mess that would require me to stay in Pastoria for at least an extra week to sort everything out. There was just so much to deal with, and most of it wasn't even bittersweet, it was just bitter. I hadn't even gone through my calls and texts yet. I should, I thought to myself. Just to think about something else. I grabbed my phone and decided to call my father first.

Oh and also,

Gengar were terrifying.

---

A/N: This isn't exactly the end of the arc, but I have midterms this week, so I figured I'd just take a one-week break here since this is a nice stopping point. Pastoria is basically over, and it was a return to Solaceon-like moods. Not everything can be a clean victory, and this one was very messy, and it'll be interesting to deal with the aftermath. Expect a long period of healing after this! There's balance in all things. The characters learned a lot, but they're almost all in terrible places right now and it's time to pick up the pieces. The next chapter will be an Interlude with a decent amount of PoVs dealing with the fallout of all of this.

Anyway, Pastoria was fewer chapters than usual, but it was actually a similar length than the other arcs because the sizes of the chapters grew again, even if I told myself I'd stop that. Virtually every chapter in this arc was over 5k words, and writing that amount daily's a lot of work, so I'll try to go back down to 4k-5k when I come back. Thanks for sticking around and reading, and I'll see you next Monday!
——

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Zeta, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Peg, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, SmallBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, nothingtoseehere, SecondBlahm.

 

[Soussouni1]

INTERLUDE - FALLOUT II

Welcome to the League Circuit Forums! The best website to get any League/Circuit related news!

General → Politics

Topic: The Raid on the Pokemon Mansion [MEGATHREAD 56]

Original Poster: Ethan_Rose (Verified Trainer)

Date: April 7th 20XX

First thread after the entire raid, so don't delete this, mods. And can we add a politics subcategory already?

Edit:

So that just fucking happened.

I'm not going to go over the events of the raid since those are very lacking for some reason (censorship, obviously). The only footage we have is from the attack on the garden, so speculating is nice, but as it stands, the only facts we have are these:

Sixteen ACE Trainers raided the Pokemon Mansion with five members of the LTIP (which Denzel Williams was apparently always a part of?). Seventy-six hostages died, and fifty-one were wounded enough to go to the hospital. Two ACE Trainers died, and one was severely wounded. I won't go over the deaths of the guards, because they don't deserve any of my attention. I know this will seem biased, especially when compared to my coverage of the Darkest Day, but I have no shits to give about traffickers, dead or otherwise.

Getting back on track, Edward Backlot had been trafficking Pokemon in his mansion as soon as he had it built according to the League, but he had dabbled in the business before. The Game Corner predates the Pokemon Mansion (the name seems a lot more sinister now) by decades, but they had always been trafficking Pokemon, and Backlot had been involved with them, which was how he forged his contacts in the first place. We do not know what has happened to his associates at this time.

In total, Backlot had sixty-seven Pokemon in his mansion, but thousands of them went through it over the twelve years he'd been doing this for. The Pokemon there were malnourished and drugged so much that they weren't even aware of where they were or what was happening. A lot of them seem to have suffered physical trauma, so it's clear that Backlot wasn't content with just looking, because he was beating them too, and they were all weak enough for the hits to hurt.

The Pokemon that simply passed through him were given to intermediaries, but they always ended up in the Game Corner to fight in pits while drugged on Rare Candies. The number of casualties there are still being tallied, but they're in the thousands.

As for what happened inside the mansion, again, we have no footage. I ask to quit with the rampant speculation, and I also ask for everyone to stay serious in the thread. This is not a joke. People died today, and hope you'll treat them with respect.

Also, like always, keep this thread contained to ONLY the raid on the Pokemon Mansion. There are concurrent threads talking about the Game Corner and its demise.

►SierraHomie

What do you mean, there's no footage? You're telling me that not one person filmed what was going on inside? No leaks? That's very suspicious imo, especially combined with the fact that seventy-six people died. Seems to me like the League fucked up and is trying to hide it.

►Arnold_Marquis (Verified Trainer)

Obviously they fucked up, considering they could have waited an extra day and this could have been avoided.

►Redtree293884

I'm hearing that Backlot was planning on getting Abel to escape to Unova. Turn on SGNC, Cynthia's giving a speech. If they hadn't struck today, then Abel would have escaped. Now, is that a valuable trade to make? I don't know.

►Daphneeeeeee

I won't trust a word that comes out of the League's mouth. If they hadn't fucked up, they'd release the footage.

►Vivian_Kelly (Verified Trainer)

Why yes, let's release the footage to let the entire world learn about our ACE Trainer tactics. I'm sure Galar and Team Galactic would love you.

►Archive

The footage from the garden fight is blurry since they could only get it from afar, but I've analyzed the fight on my podcast with Goalducc. I've tracked a few of the casualties. It seems like all of the LTIP Trainers have killed at least one guard or Pokemon, and that was only outside. Yes, I know it was legitimate self-defense and that we shouldn't blame them for it, but who knows about all of the deaths that went on inside? I'm of the opinion that there was something to hide.

►Kaia_Griffiths (Verified Trainer)

Vivian_Kelly you should know better. We're owed answers by the League. I'm tired of them just pushing things under the rug.

►GarchompW

Archive, you're letting your conspirational side show again. The League is literally explaining itself step by step. All of the theories are being ripped apart live on television RIGHT NOW and people are still spreading fake news. Vivian_Kelly is right, but the reason there was no footage leaked was also because Abel was keeping the mansion in darkness the entire time. It fucks phone signals and doesn't allow people to send stuff.

►HamNcheesePanini

I'm more interested in why Denzel Williams and his group were taken into this mission in the first place? The ACEs had to intervene multiple times to save their skin (proven by the footage from the garden), and it's a given that they weren't trained enough to participate in an active hostage situation. It wouldn't be a stretch to say that more people died because the ACEs were stuck protecting them inside.

►Alma_Neal (Verified Trainer)

And by the way, WHY were they being protected this much? One of the wounded ACEs literally (who can fucking TELEPORT, by the way. Why is no one talking about that?) almost got shredded by some kind of flying type attack to protect Grace Pastel, and they sure as hell weren't affording each other that amount of protection. And if they're that important, why were they there risking their lives in the first place? You don't see Cynthia talking about that on TV.

►Homecoming!_

The press conference isn't over, give it some time. She's got to speak about the actual issues first.

►Hamadi_Baroun (Verified Trainer)

If she addresses it, I'll pay you 10k Pokedollars Homecoming!_

►Kadaris_Pierre (Verified Trainer)

I mean, there were nearly six hundred people in that mansion. Seventy-six deaths seems like a miracle in comparison to what could have happened. This could have been a real bloodbath.

►Goalducc42

Archive, please let me vet your messages before sending them.

►Laurent_Lepoutre (Verified Trainer)

I'm honestly never coming to this hellhole of a region again. Should have gone to Unova.

►CalmnessIncarnate

By the way, I have to note that Grace Pastel and Mira Compton still haven't exited the building. Chase Karlson, Denzel Williams and Cecilia Obel are all accounted for, but they're still inside. It's possible they might be dead.

►Sonya_Hladik (Verified Trainer)

If they were dead, the League would have announced it. I usually don't ask much of people online, but please try to use your head.

►BrambleBlast

This is actually a relevant topic, though. Denzel Williams looks to have been wounded, since he was carried on a stretcher outside according to sources on Chatter.

►HewwoMeowth

Sources: I made it the fuck up.

►BrambleBlast

I typed an essay about how you should remove yourself from this world, but I'd get banned by the mods so I deleted it.

►Brayden_Mercer (Verified Trainer)

This is actually confirmed information. Mira Compton also has a hand injury, but the extent of it isn't known.

►Danielle_Hennessy (Verified Trainer)

I like how the majority of this thread is spent trying to find out if the League is tricking us or not instead of spitting on Backlot's grave. The man was basically a demon. It doesn't get much worse than torturing innocent Pokemon for more than a decade. Could you even be friends with him and not know?

►EndlessEngine11

Holy shit, you're awful.

►Danielle_Hennessy (Verified Trainer)

All I'm saying is that maybe there should be an investigation into every person on that party's guest list /shrug.

►DoeffeeWhyTho

I'm sure those children deserve to be investigated very much. Why not have them drawn and quartered next?

►HOLYWARRIOR

Tbh Grace Pastel kind of looked like she wanted to help the guy she downed? She stood over him for a little bit, but we can't hear what was said, obviously, and even if the footage was good enough to lip read, the angle is wrong.

►FalKKone

See? Cynthia's addressing the LTIP stuff. Arceus, calm the fuck down and let the information come to you instead of yelling murder.

—

Arthur Pastel rested his head against his palm and tried to focus. He'd been a worried wreck the entire day, having gone home early from work when the news first started reporting on the raid and his daughter had been in the middle of it all. His head still felt cloudy, after everything that had gone on today. All of Sinnoh had been shaken, the news could only talk about the raid, but Arthur could care less about Sinnoh when Grace had been in the midst of a literal warzone. The conversation they had just had hadn't been as enlightening as Arthur had hoped. The fact that Grace wouldn't talk about what happened in-depth didn't help with his rising anxiety. Fifty times, he had called. Hours, he had spent, wondering if Grace was alive or dead with a pit growing in the deepest reaches of his stomach as the sun set. He cried when he heard her voice again for the first time.

But what followed was his daughter skirting around classified details and focusing on what happened to other people instead of herself, and Arthur knew her well enough to know that she was not doing well. Her voice had been too steady, because she was pretending. The same voice she'd made countless times when she'd pretended to be fine when she'd been younger, only a lot harder to discern. Arthur ran a hand over his thinning brown hair and sighed. She was closing herself off, and there was nothing he could do about it. She could fly on Princess, now, and when he'd asked about flying to Pastoria, she had vehemently refused.

She was scared. Scared, ashamed, and hurt. And who wouldn't be, after the carnage that had gone on inside the Pokemon Mansion? Seventy-six dead, more wounded, and that wasn't counting the Pokemon and the bodyguards. Backlot had apparently died in the fighting, and Abel had gotten arrested, finally. The dark-haired man rose up on his feet and remembered that he'd forgotten to eat today.

It was lonely, without her, but Arthur had known Grace would grow up one day. He'd been the one to push her into journeying, after all. He hadn't expected for it to take this much of a turn. His daughter was talented— among the best Sinnoh had seen in years, they kept telling him, but he just wanted her to stop risking her life, which was something she'd said she would stop doing when he had come to Hearthome. His attempts to contact the League to get an explanation for why the fuck his Grace had been involved in this in the first place fell on deaf ears, with worthless platitudes that made him more angry than not. No other members of the League Trainer Internship Program had been in the raid, so why her? Arthur made himself a quick sandwich and sat back at his table, in that same, grueling position that had been hurting his back for the last hour.

He had a call to make.

He had spoken to Sam on a regular basis, even after they separated. Be it for news about how Grace was growing up, or doing in school, or even Herdier, but none of the conversations had ever been longer than a few minutes. It still hurt to talk to her. Arthur was not one to forgive very easily, and he never had been.

No, he would never forgive her, but he could work with her and had always done what was right instead of what he wanted, because their daughter needed help, and she wasn't going to seek it out on her own. Grace had always been an independent girl.

"Arthur?!"

He had already told her about Grace's safety, of course, along with the fact that she would be calling her at a later date, after she'd dealt with official Poketch and League business.

"She's fine, Sam," he instantly pre-empted her. "Physically, at least. Cuts all over her body, but only one big one on her arm. Mentally, though…"

He winced, taking in a deep breath before continuing.

"She needs help, Sam, and the worst part is that she doesn't know it yet," Arthur continued with a choke. "She's said that the League will afford her a special therapist if she needs one— she said if, Sam. War is no place for a sixteen-year-old."

Samantha stayed silent for a while, but he heard her tearing up over the phone. Grace might not have known her mother well, but Samantha knew Grace better than their daughter could imagine. She listened to the news about her, a podcast, and kept up with every scrap of information she could find. Things were better now that they texted and called regularly, but it would take more than a few months to forge a motherly connection again. Samantha had left when Grace was five, after all. All of her earliest memories of her mother were faint at best.

"How— how can I help?"

"Grace has told me she'll be dropping by Twinleaf and staying there for a few days," Arthur said. "This is going to be difficult for both of you, but you have to help her, Sam. Please."

"Of course," she murmured. "I'll do whatever I can."

"I don't know if she'll try talking to you about the mansion, but be gentle— don't push her into it, because then she'll put up her barbs and see you in a bad light."

"I know not to step on sensitive subjects," she said. "I'll try to just let her have a relaxing time to begin. I'll—" she sniffled, "go see if I can get us two rooms at one of the neighbors'. Mom's not going to be great to have in a sensitive environment like this."

"You could also kick your mother out," Arthur grumbled.

"It's her house, Artie. I can't just tell her to leave"

Artie. The word had been like sticking his hand in barbed wire, but he decided to let the name go for now and focus on what mattered.

"It'll only be for a few days. And maybe if she wasn't such a hard ass…"

He stopped when he noticed that Samantha had gone completely silent.

"...sorry. Just…"

Arceus, it was so difficult. Arthur put his forehead against the table and clenched a fist around his phone. Isabelle was probably half of the reason Sam had run away from Jubilife. Her words were like poison, and even though he didn't expect her to bother Grace, he would rather the cynical old bat stay as far away from her as possible. Yes, Arthur would have always left Sam, but Grace wouldn't have had to grow up without a mother. They could have seen each other on weekends, or maybe for half of the holidays.

"Just try your best," he finished.

"I'll convince her to leave," she firmly said.

"Thank you," he breathed out as relief filled his very core. "Grace has something she wanted to tell me, but she didn't, in the end. I could tell. Don't… force it out of her, but if she tells you something of note, just— keep me informed."

"I will."

There was not much to say after that. Arthur hung up and finished his meal.

He still wasn't hungry.

—

Melody Summers hadn't slept in more than twenty-four hours. The sheer amount of work the raid had put on her plate was more than she'd ever thought she would have to deal with, but she took it in stride. Tracking social media trends, what people were saying about the attack, and the thousands of rumors that were floating online. Melody needed to keep a pulse on public opinion and make sure she could get ahead of any rumors or bad press that could creep up so she could coordinate with her team to counter those with rumors and good press of their own. Grace was thankfully safe, although injured. She didn't want to speak much about what had happened. Not that Melody had expected her to. It wasn't the first time her sponsee had to keep classified information private, but it had been a while since Solaceon, and that kind of event was not supposed to happen twice in one year.

Melody finished her coffee and patted down her dress. She had spent the entire night in the office, and she still couldn't afford to go home to nap or sleep. Knowing that resting her eyes would have her fall asleep on her chair, she decided to browse through Chatter once again. Needless to say, yesterday's events were trending, and would keep trending for days. Public opinion was… mostly positive, but also muddled due to the high number of civilian casualties. The biggest question on everyone's minds had been, if Backlot was having a party, why the hell not wait another day to strike to avoid any civilian deaths? Sure, the Pokemon would have had to suffer an extra day, but when seventy-six people had died, it was a trade Melody would have been willing to make.

Now that they had answered with the fact that Backlot had been planning to fly to Unova with Abel after hearing about Zoey Miranda's arrest and cooperation with the League, the narrative had largely died down. A man like Backlot abandoning everything he had seemed difficult to imagine, but then again, no one had known that he was a cruel psychopath either, so it was all up in the air.

Of course, she knew she didn't have the full picture, but it was hard not to ponder. Neither the board nor their families had been present at the party, save for Mr. Hemsworth's nephew who had gotten out of the scrap early and with a few scrapes. The East and West divide was not only a factor for trainers, but for civilians as well. Sinnoh's richest mostly lay in the eastern half of the country save for Poketch and another few companies, and the board hadn't known Mr. Backlot very well.

Melody blinked when she saw a series of posts talking about the lack of footage from inside the raid. It was true, she would have expected at least one hostage to have filmed what happened inside of the mansion, but there was just none, save for some blurry footage of the battle in the garden shot from afar by the SGNC that had already leaked. The League had put a gag order on the entire thing, but there had to have been one person who would ignore it and just post something.

The sponsorship liaison was curious— how could she not be? Grace sounded like the entire ordeal had changed her, and how could it not have? Something had happened inside that mansion, and it was hard not to jump to the worst conclusions.

But that wasn't Melody's job. She had to support Grace because Arceus knew she would need it. This was not something a young girl like her should go through without professional help, and her friend group was fracturing, both through conflict and just because they had planned to split before this. Melody couldn't let her sink to depths that she wouldn't be able to come back from, not because it would hurt Poketch— Melody's eyes widened when she realized that in that moment, she was apathetic about the company's profits— but because she cared for Grace.

"Arceus…" she sighed. "When did I grow so attached?"

Melody decided to call Grace again, and to let her know that she would be there when she swung by in Jubilife to see her father. She spoke in that same, hollowed voice she'd spoken in after Solaceon that betrayed her state of mind, but as she did then, Melody said nothing of it. She did not want to confront her, and she was no mental health professional— which Grace was still considering seeing, but thankfully leaning on actually doing so. Regrettably, they were interrupted by a call from the board, which was the fifth meeting they would have in the past day. Melody needed to coordinate so much that she was sure she was the most overworked sponsorship liaison Poketch had ever seen.

But she would endure.

"I need more coffee."

Unfortunately, when the board called, Melody couldn't ignore them for long. Jubilee Tower was a hubbub of activity even though only Grace had been involved in the raid. Thankfully for Melody, she did not encounter any other sponsorship liaisons in the elevator, because Arceus knew they would have asked for her head on a pike. They were already doing so, but Melody knew it wasn't personal. It was, after all, in their interests to take Grace out of the company to put their own sponsees in a better position. Unfortunately for them, however, the board had other plans. Melody shook herself awake as she exited the elevator and she strode through the darkened room that preceded theirs. The board secretary looked just as tired as she was, the poor girl.

After a gentle knock, Melody let herself in, her tiredness sinking to the far reaches of her mind as she straightened herself and placed her hands behind her back. She was surprised to see Remington's son sitting in the seventh seat. He hadn't been here during their last meeting, so she assumed that Landis must have gotten on the first plane back from Alola because his father had demanded it.

"Members of the board," she greeted with a slight dip of her head.

"Melody," Remington McMillan said. "How is the situation progressing?"

"Civilians are more preoccupied about the events in the mansion as a whole, and not Grace's presence there," she explained. "Trainers, however, want to know what she was doing there. The League's explanation satisfied a portion, but trust in them is running low these days."

They had, in part, said that the reason Grace's group had been involved in the operation was because they had helped with the investigation into Edward Backlot's schemes and that all showed the potential to be ACEs themselves and had not hampered the recovery of hostages whatsoever. Melody wasn't sure if both of these statements were lies or not, but it was the story the League was going with, and Poketch knew better than to go against the grain when there was money to be made.

"We've gotten private assurances from Cynthia that Grace Pastel is only receiving ACE training, and that she still plans on going to Unova next year," Mr. Sandy droned. "So there have been no changes there."

The narrative they were spinning was a lie, then, Melody guessed. One of the current theories online was that the League was trying to keep Grace and Cecilia and foster their talent instead of letting them go, despite them having announced plans to go abroad before, and it would certainly fit if they were no longer going to Unova. Why give such training to trainers that would leave, after all?

The Poketch Board and Melody were the only ones who knew about the lie, but knew better not to pretend to believe in it.

"That's wonderful news," she said to fill the air.

"As it stands, Grace Pastel was seen killing one individual with a Musharna," Remington said. "And unlike Craig's run-in with Team Galactic and his subsequent short stint in prison, we can't sweep this one under the rug. It might scare away investors."

Melody still couldn't believe it. Grace had killed someone. The words still didn't feel real to her, but she knew it had been an act of self-defense.

That did not mean, however, that she would be able to forget it any time soon, or be able to stop imagining it every time they spoke.

"So tell the investors that she was valiantly saving tortured Pokemon and that the Musharna was seen trying to kill her too," Melody said. "You should—"

Landis Remington sighed a lot louder than what was necessary in a very obnoxious fashion as he leaned back against his chair. "Look, you've marketed this kid as some kind of Pokemon whisperer, right? And she's got this entire 'Pokemon rights' shtick going on. Would it be that much of a stretch to have her character fight to free some poor tortured souls?" Landis finished with a smug smile.

That was my idea, Melody internally groaned. "I do agree with this assessment," she said, still surprised that he had kept track of Grace even when he'd been spending time in Alola.

Landis unfortunately did not understand that Grace was not acting a character, but that she genuinely cared about these issues, but Melody did not deem it necessary to correct him. The board was generally out of touch with her regardless.

"It fits," Mr. Powell nodded with a breath. They were just as tired as Melody was. "But the League has been stepping on our toes. We can't keep doing this if they don't warn us ahead of time. Eventually, we'll run out of yarn to spin."

Melody felt the hair on her neck stand on end, and none of the board members deigned to answer that. Still, she knew they were all thinking about it.

"Cynthia's offered her sincerest apologies," Remington cut in. "She said that the risk of a leak was too high to let us know, but that she'll inform us of any future… operations."

The tension left the room as fast as it had filled it. The board members nodded, seemingly satisfied with that answer, and the meeting continued.

—

"It was out of your jurisdiction, Wake. You don't get to shoulder all of the blame."

"The Pokemon Mansion might be on Hearthome's turf," Wake Fraser muttered, "but most of the victims were in Pastoria's territory— both wild and trainer-owned Pokemon. We aren't completely blameless here, JP."

Jean-Pierre affectionately placed a hand on Wake's shoulders, and the Gym Leader appreciated the contact. Without his husband here, the Gym would have fallen into disrepair already, with how much he managed alongside him. Wake's lips thinned as he studied the report sent by the League— the public report. He knew that Cynthia would be sending him what really happened in the coming days when they'd pulled together a more comprehensive report of what had happened.

"So many years, right under our noses," Wake tiredly sighed. "And nothing was done."

When he was not in public, in the deepest reaches of the night, Wake's persona fell off the wayside. He was still boisterous and loud when he needed to be, and that would always be his true self, but he knew when to turn it off.

"The Rangers answer to the League, not to you," Jean-Pierre soothed. "Even they didn't find anything when they searched Backlot's mansion for the first time, which was… somewhat incompetent."

"Abel is a man beyond the means of most of the League's investigative skills."

"It's a wonder they found out, then," JP said.

Wake knew why already, of course, but it was one of the many secrets he'd have to keep from Jean-Pierre over the years. Jean-Pierre was no fool. He knew that the League had many skeletons in its closet— skeletons that he would never be able to unearth. Both of them had long learned to live with that fact, even if it was still difficult at times.

"At least it's done with," Jean-Pierre said. "Sinnoh's largest poaching ring was broken. Surely that is cause not to be so morose."

"You're right on that front," Wake nodded. "But the victims will take years to heal, and so will the trainers. That isn't even counting the civilian deaths…"

Fantina was beating herself up due to her lapse in judgment. It was her, after all, who had given the final stamp of approval for Backlot to build his mansion on Hearthome's side of the route more than a decade ago. Wake pinched the bridge of his nose and finished reading the report.

"You've been working for too long," JP said. "Give yourself some time to rest and approach the situation with a fresh mind tomorrow. I can tell one of the trainers to take over for the day."

Wake dismissed him with a grunt. "No. What people need right now is normalcy, and I need to be there to sell it to them."

When had he grown so complacent, willing to sit and wait for the League to deal with issues he should have been fixing himself? This was not just about the poachers. Pastoria was tearing itself apart at the seams, be it the Safari Zone, the docks or the economy as a whole. They'd been under a heavy deficit for a few months now. Tomorrow, he would contact the City Council and start working with them in tandem, but that was not all.

"What the people need now, Jean-Pierre, is Crasher Wake."

—

Cecilia traced a finger around the edges of her Trainer ID and found no Fen Badge on its seventh slot. She had failed to triumph yesterday, and the loss felt hollow. She did not cry or throw a tantrum as she had during her first loss against Lauren. She had grown up now, and the fact that losing a battle had made her cry just a few months ago was still something she could not quite understand. Badges were still a milestone, but when Cecilia had first started this journey, they had been a personal one. Every new notch on her card had been supposed to signify a closer step to freedom. She had freedom, now. That, and everything else she had ever wanted. Badges were a means to an end. A way to measure strength, and nothing more.

Annoying as Wake's performance was— and she had not participated in it whatsoever— he had handled her perfectly. The battle had been close, and exceedingly so, no doubt due to the terrain disadvantages she suffered from. Having Talonflame boil the water until it became unbearable to stay in had worked wonders until Wake had pulled out his Gyarados, whose hardened scales the heat would not bother. The enormous water type had been her true test— a test that Lehmhart and Slowking had passed with much difficulty. It was Scyther, that cleaned up after that. The bug type was no flashy fighter, but he got results and he was steady. Croagunk's inclusion into the team had given him something to latch onto. Something that finally made him feel like he truly belonged. Despite being at a horrible disadvantage, Zweilous had pulled their weight and taken down a Milotic before fainting themselves, having much space to work with thanks to Lehmhart's progress with geokinesis and Slowking managing to leave a barrier behind even after fainting. Cecilia's plan had been sound and beyond a few hiccups, it had worked at every single turn.

But the fact of the matter is, she had been fighting a five on six, and she was no longer at a point where Gym Leaders would let that slide. She had not bothered sending Croagunk out during the fight, one because she would have lost horribly, and two because the fighting type was still grieving. Croagunk did not deserve to get thrown out into a battle that Wake had made a joke of. Even after the events at the Pokemon Mansion, he kept his aloofness during fights.

It was all so tiresome.

Cecilia's boots sunk in the Safari Zone's mud as she traversed the swamp with Croagunk leading her. Only Croagunk and Slowking accompanied her (and she wanted to trudge in the mud instead of walking on Slowking's barriers to make this more personal), since her other teammates were still at the Pokemon Center, and would be until tomorrow, when she would leave for Canalave. Cecilia was not going to wait two weeks festering in Pastoria to challenge Crasher Wake again. Without Lehmhart to fly them, it took a while to get where Croagunk wanted to go.

"Is this the spot?" Cecilia asked softly.

The poison type answered with a tight nod. It wasn't special, or beautiful. It was just an area where the water was particularly muddy and Wooper liked to stay in. Cecilia stared at the still water in silence and allowed Croagunk to grieve. The fighting type did not cry, for she was not the type of person to. Her grief manifested differently— a laissez-faire attitude that tried to convince her that there was nothing that she could have done and that smothered the rage within her. They were quite similar in regards to stamping out anger before it could become an issue, Cecilia noted. Ice flowed in both of their veins to cool them down before any outbursts could come. Abel had been arrested and taken in by the League, but his demise would not fill the hole in Croagunk's heart. It felt strange, to have the man that had terrified her for so long and tried to rob her of her freedom to be dealt with. To have stared him in the eye and defied his words. To have taken his freedom in turn.

I did not know you, Wooper, Cecilia internally said as she crouched near the waters. But I grieve what could have been.

"Slowking," Cecilia whispered, glancing at him. "Something has been on your mind."

The water type eyed her warily. He'd not spoken much these last few days, and Cecilia knew it was because he did not want to step on a landmine and trigger something within her. She appreciated the thought, really. Even she did not know how to cull the forces within herself. The Voice beckoned, but Azelf had been deafeningly silent ever since she'd used it. The Legend had had their fun with her, and now they had returned to their usual state. Cecilia reckoned she had been amusing enough to check up on every few days for a little while, but Azelf no doubt had other irons in the fire and wouldn't stick to a mortal for long.

She was glad.

Sometimes, I look at you and I wonder, Slowking said. Why hold yourself to such impossible standards?

Cecilia eyed Croagunk and motioned at Slowking to move away so they would not disturb her.

"An expected question," Cecilia murmured. "Had I not used the Voice, then maybe I would have failed to buy enough time, and a few ACEs would have died in the fifteen seconds it took Chase and Mira's groups to get here. I would have blood on my hands, and I'd most likely be regretting my ineptitude and my failure to act."

So why? Slowking asked. In all of our months together, I thought I understood you as well as you did yourself, but this one truly eludes me.

"No one gets it," Cecilia said with a saddened smile. "Even Grace does not. She tries to, but she doesn't, and I cannot blame her for that. How much will I bend, until I can't recognize myself, Slowking?"

It was a one-and-done deal, the psychic chided with a frown. Perhaps you'll have to use it more, if battle with Team Galactic comes to pass.

"That's what I fear," the dark-skinned girl sighed. "My own folly."

She could extract anything she wanted from people, order them to forget, and they would be none the wiser. Such terrifying power sat at her fingertips, power she needed to curtail immediately. Yet, when the rubber met the road, when she met opposition she could not bend to her will naturally in Unova, would she be able to stop herself?

A shiver shot down her spine, and she moistened her lips.

"In the end, I do not regret the decision," she told Slowking. "I only regret what it might lead to in the future. It is a very slippery slide I walk. Do you know what the concept I fear the most is, Slowking?"

What is it?

"The greater good," Cecilia answered. "It comes as a gentle whisper, makes so much sense in the moment, and makes you bend and twist until there is nothing left of you by the end of it."

Croagunk stayed until they ran out of time and had to leave the Safari Zone. The fighting type was staying with them, now, because where else would she go? Strength was something she valued, but companionship even more so, now that she had lost everything. The spars and lessons from Scyther, Lehmhart's gentleness and songs, Slowking's jokes, Talonflame doting on her, and Zweilous being stupidly lovable were all something she'd been growing attached to, because loss was cold and friends were warm.

Cecilia would know, even though she had not spoken to any of them in person since the raid four days ago beyond checking in on Maeve and Denzel in their respective hospital rooms. She needed space, both to think and to reevaluate where she stood. Grace and she had exchanged texts, but she clearly wanted to push her to speak and that wouldn't do. Not now. It would be hard, without Grace's support, and Cecilia had no doubt she would surely handle it worse than Grace would.

Cecilia grabbed her phone as soon as she made it out of the Safari Zone. The press hounded her, of course. They had since the raid on the Pokemon Mansion, but Cynthia had told them to stay silent on the matter. Slowking whispered about therapy in her head as she scrolled through her contacts. Something that the League had also recommended and nearly forced onto them, but she would wait to get to Canalave for it. What good is therapy, if most of my issues have to do with classified information? she had asked, until Cynthia herself had called and said that she would send one that the ACEs had access to and that she would be able to be fully open with. A small respite, at the very least.

Mark Obel. Cecilia stared at her brother's name and called as soon as the press gave up. Slowking was already working on a barrier that would not let sound in or out of it, as most high-level psychics were capable of, but he did not have a hold of it quite yet.

"Cecilia? Thank the Legendaries— I've been trying to dig for as much information about the raid as possible. What were they thinking, sending children into this—"

"Do not pretend," she cooly interrupted, "to care about me."

Her brother paused, and there was a short lapse of silence. "If this is about father—"

"What else could it be about, Mark?" she asked. "You took him back, and you didn't even give him a slap on the wrist when we both know that he deserves so much more."

"The country's economy…"

Mark launched into a ramble of concepts and numbers that went over Cecilia's head. Champion she might want to be, but she was no economist. What she did catch, howver, was that the greater good had warped her brother beyond recognition. Why else would he have let her suffer her father's whims all those years after leaving to escape them himself? But the worst part was that the practical part of her understood, and she was sure the decision was perfectly sound, even if she disagreed with her brother's decision to bend to the will of corporations instead of breaking them. It would take years— decades, maybe, but someone had to start.

Understood, she might have, but she would not forgive.

"Mark, none of this matters. It's all dust," she sighed as she eyed her Pokemon Center in the distance. "You told me once, when I was in Snowpoint, that you would help when Zweilous was on the cusp of their evolution."

She had felt it in her bones, just like in the days before she had battled Candice. She knew Zweilous well enough to know when something was changing. All infighting between the two had stopped, their attacks were so in sync that it was unnatural. Their personalities had started to meld back together, slowly but surely. All signs that a Hydreigon was near.

"Are you sure you don't need anything?"

"Ah yes, now that it's politically convenient, you ask me," she smiled wryly.

"You've… changed. Grown."

"Enough with the sentimentality. Is your offer still on the table, or has our dear father gotten into your head and convinced you that I was a Sinnohan puppet on my way to destroy anything that was Unovan?"

"It still stands," Mark confirmed.

"Then let us speak, Mark," Cecilia said. "Of how I will bring a Hydreigon back under control when the time comes, and of how to train him properly without flattening an entire hill or getting myself killed."

One day later, she was gone.

—

Denzel shifted up in his hospital bed and cursed the pain in his back. It was a constant sting that made him feel like clawing his back out, and the worst part was that he'd been lucky. A few inches deeper, and Zoroark would have damaged his spine and he might have been paralyzed or worse, so despite the pain, he couldn't help but thank his lucky stars. It had been a day since Cecilia had left, and today Chase had been supposed to fight Wake. He wanted to catch up to Cecilia to make sure she didn't do anything stupid and tell her that her offer to go to the Iron Islands still stood, but Sinnoh was vast, and the soonest they'd meet again was probably Canalave since that was where Cecilia was going.

Normally, Denzel would have been watching the fight, but he was too anxious to look at what was happening in the world outside of his television. Sylveon slept at the foot of his bed while Lopunny and Roserade softly bickered next to the window. Froslass was training alone outside while Milotic was sleeping in his Pokeball and Altaria was still getting healed in the Pokemon wing of the Center. Zoroark had only hit her once, but it had been with the intent to kill.

A soft knock on Denzel's door snapped him out of his thoughts, and Maeve stepped into the room when he told her to come in. The lines on her face were still striking, but at least they had paled somewhat, and most of them would disappear in the coming weeks.

"How's our newest member of the LTIP?" Maeve greeted him. "Your back feeling alright?"

Right. He hadn't forgotten, but it felt weird to be a part of the League now. They had contacted him the day after the raid to have him sign some papers, and Denzel knew enough to understand that refusing hadn't really been an option. Yes, he had been retroactively added to the program, but it certainly helped quell most of the theories, or at least he thought it did, since he wasn't looking. Supposedly, the League was saying that he'd been in the program in secret since Sunyshore, and they had suspiciously forged the papers with the wrong date and his fake signature to prove it. The excuse they were currently going with was that Denzel had wanted to keep this private because his parents would have opposed it. It wouldn't have been the first time a trainer would have joined the League Trainer Internship Program in secret, but it was an exceedingly rare occurrence.

Too neat. Too convenient. Denzel had told his viewers multiple times, how his mother was very protective and had delayed his journey by a year. It was scary, how the government could just craft a story and make it seem so real. His mother had called every day since to ask him to leave the program, but he'd refused. He couldn't. Not when the League had created this narrative to save him.

"Denzel?" Maeve asked. "Are you okay?"

The teenager blinked. "Uh, yeah. I'm doing good now that it's all over. My back still hurts like hell, and it will for a while."

Maeve dragged a chair next to his bed with a grimace. "Pauline said it was permanent?"

Pauline had basically bought her way out of jail, and thankfully it would end at that, but she was the one who'd come to visit him the most. Emilia was too busy with her parents in Hearthome, which was something Denzel understood completely. She had written them out of her life, and they had almost died. It was impossible not to be shaken by that fact.

"It won't always hurt this bad, but it'll hurt… kind of? They said it'd be numb, but sort of painful. Like needles poking in my back. The worst part right now is when I have to sleep, though. I can't sleep on my stomach at all, so I have to do it on my side, but that's also a bitch."

She stayed silent for a few seconds. "Going to get the surgery?"

"I will at some point," he said. "Not right now, though. The recovery time is too long. How are things with you?"

Maeve sank a little into her plastic chair. "I don't know. Okay? I feel… relieved, but the whole situation feels foreboding in a way."

"You'll be alright," he smiled.

"How is it that you can stay positive when having come so close to—" she stopped herself. "Nevermind. Sorry."

"If I don't do it, who will?" Denzel muttered.

He needed to be that beacon. The ray of hope for the group to look to before they could spiral out of control and sink further.

"Yanma finally decided to stick around," Maeve said. "And Drapion's arm is making okay progress. It's just a little stump right now, though."

"So you'll have to stay here until it regrows?"

"Yeah. The Nurses need to keep him close in case the Ditto cells go badly and they have to restart the entire process," she explained. "That usually doesn't happen, but better safe than sorry."

Being locked down in Pastoria would hurt, especially when it meant that Maeve was out of the Circuit. Denzel tried to find the words to cheer her up, but he came up empty.

"Chase won his battle, you know?" she said. "Fought a lot more conservatively than usual. The raid changed him."

Denzel smiled. "Word? That's awesome— what was the score?"

"5-6. Vikavolt and Abomasnow pulled no punches," she said. "Took down a Wailord and all."

"Arceus— holy shit."

"Right?" Maeve said.

Talking about Gyms was nice, for a change of pace, so he let her explain everything that had gone on during the battle and how Chase had lit the water on fire with Houndoom and how the flames were so powerful even Wake struggled to put them out. As soon as he did, however, Abomasnow came out onto the field and created a thick sheet of ice to stand on.

"It wasn't really a sheet, more like an iceberg," Maeve specified. "It was fun to watch. Took my mind off of things."

"Yeah… message taken," Denzel said. "Grace said the same thing. That I should get back to doing routine stuff if I can."

"She visit you often? She came to me a lot until I was discharged."

"Every day since, but she doesn't stay long with how busy she is," Denzel said. "Right now she's delivering Leafeon back to Carnivine. She was here this morning."

Denzel clenched a fist.

"She's hurting," he declared. "I think the raid shook her more than she's showing."

"You know her better than me. If you say so, it must be right," Maeve said.

"When we were in Floaroma, I had to basically yell at her to get a therapist, and she's stopped talking to her since," Denzel said. "We finally convinced her, and she says she'll talk to the League one, but her mentality hasn't changed. Grace hates appearing weak, Maeve."

"What?"

"It makes her feel like she's not in control, and I think that's one of her worst fears," Denzel said. "A situation spiraling out of her control." He stopped and looked around for a few seconds, ignoring the throbbing pain in his back. "What I'm about to say here doesn't leave this room, Maeve."

The girl nodded tightly.

"She watched Backlot die with Mira. For hours," he whispered. He ignored her paling and continued. "She's not the one that killed him, before you ask. I don't care what that man did or how he died, staying there to watch is…"

"Abnormal."

"Fucked up," he added. "Someone needs to stop her from doing things like this, but I'm stuck in a fucking bed all day, Cece's… well, Cece's gone and dealing with her own issues. Mira's just as screwed up as Grace is and about to leave, and while Chase has been trying to help both, he's only one guy. I need to ask you for a favor."

"I'll try my best."

"Get the others to talk to Grace before she leaves," Denzel said. "Louis has a soft touch, so he'll help her. Emi's dealing with her parents, but Pauline's mellowed out since the entire incident and isn't angry anymore. Instead of being stuck with me, she should be helping Grace. You should try, too."

"But you—"

"I'll be fine, Maeve. I can deal. I can take hits and get back up. Someone needs to press on the brakes because I think we'll all regret it if we don't do it now and we let Grace become worse. Please."

His friend inhaled sharply. "Okay."

"Just try to get her away from her current mental state… like, talk to her about Gym Battles like you did for me. It won't fix everything, but it'll help get a shred of normalcy back, right? Take Justin with you. She's always babied him. Ask her for training advice with your Yanma, or ask her to spar or something. Anything."

"You have my word," Maeve said, her voice firm.

Arceus, had she always been this dependable, or had Denzel just never bothered to look?

—

Cynthia hadn't been back at the League in months and was happy to see her office in the exact same condition she had left it in. Legendaries, it had taken so many months to convince the cleaning staff not to climb the spire her office sat atop of just to clean some dust off the floor. Bertha followed close behind her, but the old Elite Four wasn't as quick on her feet as she used to be. Her steps were still steady, but slow and deliberate, and Cynthia didn't miss her being out of breath from climbing the stairs. Many times, Bertha had asked her to have an elevator installed, but Cynthia always rejected that notion. It would destroy the League's integrality and that old architecture she absolutely adored. Cynthia sat at her desk with a satisfied sigh, and Bertha slowly dragged a chair and settled opposite of her. Her old mentor's brown eyes studied her with their usual intensity as she pulled out her earth-colored scarf. Bertha had taken Cynthia under her wing, when she had first become the Champion. Without her, Cynthia was sure she would have gotten pushed out of power by the old Elite Four— strong supporters of Gabriel Radetic, the Champion who had preceded her, because holding onto power was, ironically, not just about how big a stick you were holding, even in dictatorships like Indigo, and it especially was not about that when you wanted to turn your country into a democracy during your reign.

Cynthia was sure Radetic was currently enjoying his retirement in Alola.

She had, after all, made it all but impossible for him to stay in Sinnoh. An unofficial exile, one might say. Undermining his support, little by little, investigations into his past dealings had revealed ample amounts of corruption and self-serving his own interests, which helped turn public opinion against him. She had branded him an old man who was out of touch and against public interests. A member of the old order that had stopped Sinnoh from progressing to the heights their country truly deserved, while she had branded herself as a force for meaningful change.

Radetic had fought back throughout the years, but there was only so much a single man could do against the entire apparatus of the state, old Champion or not, and once the first of his goons in the Elite Four had been replaced by Lucian, he saw the writing on the wall and decided to give up. Why fight, when he could enjoy himself in another region? It had made perfect sense for him to leave, with how Alola attracted rejects like Dustox to a light. Most of their national security strategy was assured through old, powerful trainers retiring in the region. With Gabriel gone, Cynthia had forged open a path and worked to turn Sinnoh toward democracy, and she had succeeded. None of it would have been possible without Bertha teaching her the ropes.

Until the Champion had to tear more than a decade of careful work apart in a few months. That still stung, and without Togekiss there, she was sure it would have haunted her at night.

"So, Cynthia," Bertha said with a steady voice. "Out with it. And no need to plaster that smile on your face."

Cynthia's lips flattened, and she almost brought them back up again, as if she couldn't stop herself. She had forged herself into an icon, and not being the Champion took more work than being her true self these days. Bertha knew the real her— arguably more than anyone else in this world. More than her sister Celeste or her ailing grandmother, whom she hadn't seen in so long because there was just so much work.

"My apologies," Cynthia said.

Bertha tapped her delicate fingers against the oaken desk. "What was the reasoning behind your actions, Cynthia?"

Why not force the children to wait an extra day? The question went unspoken, but it was as clear as day, and Bertha wanted the true answer, not the one they peddled to the public. Her tone was grounded, for Bertha had always been a stable woman that could be relied upon. For decades, she had been surrounded by her team, and that had only improved her composure. Cynthia had never seen her panic even once. While even Lucian had been shaken when she had informed him about Team Galactic's plans, Bertha had taken the new information with a shrug and asked what they were going to do about it. Cynthia had learned to discern the quirks in her tone, however. Bertha was perhaps the only one willing to ever challenge her on her decisions like she was doing today—

"Enough with analyzing how best to approach your answer, child," Bertha chided. "None of that with me."

The keystone in her pocket shook, and dread and pressure spread throughout the room until every item on the desk started to rattle. Until the wood started to creak. Until colors started to fade. The Champion clicked her tongue and it vanished just as fast as it had come. Bertha had not bothered to even glance at Spiritomb, having grown used to their outburst whenever someone did not prostrate themselves at Cynthia's feet, or at least act subservient to her.

"I apologize, Bertha. It takes a while to decouple Cynthia and the Champion when I've been the latter uninterrupted for so long," Cynthia said.

"Hmhm," she nodded. "I warned you, all those years ago, didn't I? Politics changes people. The deeper you go, the more twisted you become."

"And yet, I would do it again if given the choice," Cynthia muttered before pausing. "Have you?"

"Changed?" the old woman said. "Oh, yes. Even a woman such as myself will be warped and molded by the invisible hand that comes with power. Earth bends, my dear."

"I would have loved to see it," Cynthia smirked— a real one, this time. "Your old self. But to answer your question, the League came in expecting a quick surrender from the guards and a collapse of any resistance. Admittedly, that did not come to pass."

"Look at yourself," Bertha said. "So wrapped up in your own little game that you don't even realize when you lie by omission." Cynthia's eyes widened, but the Elite Four member continued. "You should know by now, not to treat me like an idiot, Cynthia. You knew of Abel's goals, and you know that humiliating the League as he has would be a possibility. The man has a Malamar, for Arceus' sake. Are you telling me you did not account for the possibility that a guard would be controlled?"

And the League now knew through his confession that he had forced the fight to start in the first place.

"It was a possibility," Cynthia acknowledged. "But he could also have simply escaped. We did not know about the private airstrip beforehand, and so did not know he would dig in his heels and defend the mansion when all seemed lost."

Bertha let out a pensive hum and studied the high ceiling of Cynthia's spire. "Yet you did not bother accounting for that possibility and went ahead with the plan anyway, possibly dooming all of the hostages to their deaths."

Cynthia had missed trading barbs with someone who was her equal— which was partly why she enjoyed Lucian's Alakazam so much— and the smile that stretched across her face was genuine, in spite of the horrible topic they were addressing. The problem with being Cynthia was that, unlike the personality she donned when she was the Champion, she was someone that the vast majority of people would consider not right.

"I did," Cynthia said, ignoring Bertha's glare. "I will reiterate that I did not expect the raid to degenerate as it had, but the possibility had been accounted for."

"And if you went ahead with it, it obviously means it benefitted you," Bertha said, standing up. "Sinnoh's richest, broken for a generation. Empty important posts that need to be filled with new blood. Malleable blood that won't be as entrenched in their beliefs and that can be influenced. Thrown into the arms of the League for support."

"They will be rueful," Cynthia added, "they will have questions, and we will have convenient answers for them that will make too much sense. We can spin this as an attack on all of Sinnoh and tighten ranks in the face of the worsening economic crisis. But I also look beyond the immediate. After Team Galactic is dealt with and I reform Sinnoh into a democracy for a second time, they would have conveniently waited for things to return to normal and opposed me as soon as it became convenient to do so because of how much profit my decisions have lost them so far. It would be best to foster a good relationship with them and give them support after such loss, and this gives us a good opportunity to mend bridges, especially with all of the positions that will need to be filled."

Of course, western companies were another issue entirely, but she'd already given assurances to them, including Poketch. After all these years, it still paid to have Remington at her beck and call. She'd tried to take him down numerous times early in her tenure by implementing anti-trust laws, but their constant legal battles had brought them to an… understanding of sorts.

"A loss artificially created," Bertha accused.

"Is it?" Cynthia asked. "I did not come into this with this as a goal, Bertha, nor did we think it was the most likely outcome. The support afforded will be genuine."

Not only that, but the experience afforded to Chase, Grace, Cecilia and Mira would be invaluable for the future. They had learned more in an afternoon than they would have with a month of lessons— lessons that they would have never agreed to take due to their coldness with the League in the first place. A coldness that was thawing by the day, Cynthia had noted.

"If you shoot someone with good intentions, is it still still a good act? Or in this case, seventy-six people."

"If it will help Sinnoh as a whole, then yes," Cynthia said. "And please. Loss of this scale happens at least once a year in the Iron Islands and the northern reaches of the Battle Frontier. Trainers die every day in Mount Coronet, Victory Road and Eterna Forest. This isn't anything new, Bertha."

And you're the one who taught me to be like this, Cynthia internally said.

"It isn't," the ground type specialist nodded. "And yet."

"And yet," Cynthia sighed with tired eyes.

Bertha dragged herself back to her seat. "Let us speak of the ACEs, then. Two deaths."

Cynthia nodded. "Rene Montoya and Trenton Graves. They'll be expensive to replace. Lou is still unconscious, but she'll be recovering."

Unlike other regions, Sinnoh's ACE Trainer force was a small, but dedicated one, which meant they were among the best in the entire world. The number often fluctuated around two hundred in total, and they took years to train and candidates did not often appear. They were handpicked by the League from the larger pool of League Trainers for their mentality instead of their skill. ACE Trainers needed to be two things: either malleable until they turned into what the League needed, like Ariel Goransson, or empty shells, like Lou had been upon her creation. There were only a few trainers that would be able to stare one of their dead Pokemon in the face and keep going as if nothing had happened. They put their grief in a box and unpacked it after a mission was over, always. Even Cynthia wouldn't be able to, and so, she was not fit to be an ACE.

"I'll look at promising candidates with Aaron, since Flint is busy with other work and is wasting time communicating with that Goodwill child," Bertha noted. "There are a number of issues you need to look into before heading back into Veilstone…"

The meeting lasted for another forty minutes, where they went over the numerous problems that had sprung up in the Lily of the Valley island over Cynthia's absence. The League had scoured almost the entirety of Veilstone, and now she suspected that Galactic was somewhere underground. Digging would be difficult when they would loosen the foundation that Veilstone had been built upon, so they opted to send ghosts instead to see if anything would be found. If one never came back, then it would confirm their suspicions and they would only have to pinpoint the location of the base.

"The children have powers, then?" Bertha mused as the conversation moved. "How peculiar."

"They did blindside me. I never expected them to hide it from us, not when the world was under threat," Cynthia said. "I suppose we pushed them so much they felt like revealing their capabilities would pose a threat to them. We can guess that each lake will give them some sort of ability to do with Emotion and Knowledge."

"How ironic, that a power to do with Willpower strips one of their will," Bertha hummed. "Should we not bring them to the lakes as soon as possible, then? So they could get used to their ability as fast as possible?"

Cynthia shook her head. "Not when we're cultivating some goodwill again. This is even more important now that we know about the powers, Bertha."

Bertha's eyes narrowed a sliver. "Oh. Oh, I see the game you're playing now."

Already, Cecilia had called for advice before she'd left for Canalave. Mira had asked for Cynthia to connect her with Fantina so she could deal with her new Gengar now that she was traveling back to Hearthome with a series of Teleports. The ghost was another advantage she'd gained from the raid's events. She'd apparently caught an Exeggcute before leaving as well. Chase's ACE trainers had now reported he had learned about the weight that came with being in a position of power, and she knew his edge toward her would soften in time. While Cecilia and Grace were leaving for Unova if Team Galactic was dealt with by the end of the year, Chase and Mira would stay. The League would make much use of their abilities in the years to come. Even if they didn't join the League, they would be a resource to draw upon whenever a favor was needed.

But that was not all. Cecilia's goal was to be Unova's Champion, and having her there meant that Sinnoh and Unova's relationship would be… not secure, but under a better foundation, at the very least, considering how quickly Mark Obel almost turned on them when the going got difficult. She would not win the position next year, but the girl was talented and grew quickly. Her narrow loss to Wake was an unfortunate consequence of catching her sixth Pokemon too late. It was only a minor setback, and she had plenty of time to make up for it. Better a loss here than at the eighth badge, where the stress of time running out could make one make mistakes, and Byron would no doubt be far smarter to beat for a seventh badge than an eighth. It was only a matter of time until she threatened Mark Obel for the position of Champion.

She knew, because they were not so dissimilar after all, as their most recent conversation had shown. Cynthia had had an inkling ever since they'd spoken in that hospital room in Solaceon.

Grace Pastel was still an enigma, however. Cynthia didn't understand where she stood quite yet, but it was clear that it was closer than she had been before. Her rift with her ACE Trainers had all but disappeared.

Their reputations would be safeguarded, of course. The League had gone through the phones of every hostage and deleted the videos recorded because of 'national security concerns'. Who would, after all, want to expose how the ACE Trainers operated? The darkness around the mansion had worked in their favor in that regard. The only footage that had leaked to the public was footage from before the actual breach into the mansion. Not only that, but the hostages who had spoken out about the raid had only worked to sing the praises of the ACEs for rescuing them— vaguely, of course. And now that they had Abel's confession, they could shift the majority of the blame on him for this slaughter. He had, after all, said that without him here, the guards would have surrendered without a fight, and since the League had expected them to do so as well, the stories lined up perfectly. The best lies were ones masked with truths.

"You've always been good at figuring out the way I think, Bertha," Cynthia said. "You're the one who taught me, after all."

And Bertha did not regret it either, because she would much rather have Cynthia in power than Radetic right now. She was, simply put, more competent in every regard.

The meeting ended soon after that, but Cynthia needed to do one last thing before dealing with the problems on the islands. The Lily of the Valley island was a city in and of itself, with tens of thousands of inhabitants at all times— most of them the families of the government employees here, but there was also a high-security prison where Sinnoh's worst criminals were kept. The prison was often empty, because most of the prisoners were executed or shipped away for experimentation with Legendaries before they could clutter the cells. They were crucial in learning how threats to Sinnoh operated and could be combatted should they ever stir again. Today, only five people were jailed here, including Louis Bianchi's father. Cynthia passed through many checkpoints, having her mental state checked by Pokemon and people alike until she strode into the well-lit depths of the prison. The entire facility was clad in white with few distractions for the inmate, save for the one hour they got outside of their cells each day. Cynthia knocked on the reinforced glass and stared at Abel.

The brown-haired man was a shell of his former self. All of his confidence was gone, having been replaced by an air of defeatism that clouded every inch of his being. He was sat on his white sheets, his hands neatly placed over his knees, but he only looked after Cynthia knocked a fourth time. His Pokemon had not been sorted out yet, and they were making very little progress on that front. Their bonds had been strong, and even Ditto refused to communicate with the League.

"Abel Torres," Cynthia said. "Let us talk."

"What's there to talk about?" Abel said, his voice distorted by the glass.

"Your fate, of course," the Champion said, never losing her smile. "Now, I have it on good authority that everything you've told us is the truth now that we ripped away that exquisite technique you crafted with Malamar and Hypno. Truly, it is something that even Lucian would have struggled to come up with. That also means that we don't have a need for you any longer."

Mark Obel himself had thanked her for capturing Abel, which warmed their cooling relations further. Galar had been largely silent, because speaking out against a massive poaching ring wouldn't be great for their reputation, so her actions had been seen as good abroad, which was exactly what she had needed. In a way, Abel had been very useful to her in that regard.

But that did not mean that there would be no consequences.

"Spit it out," Abel sighed.

"The question of your execution has been answered. After a few days of deliberation, the League has decided you will be kept here for the rest of your days," Cynthia said.

She did not miss Abel's small relieved breath and the loosening of his shoulders. Death was a human fear, despite what people told themselves.

"We can also talk about letting your team come visit you once in a while, since they will be staying under the League's care," Cynthia said. That was the bait. There was light in his eyes that hadn't been there, even when he'd been told he would be spared. Cynthia was not doing this out of the goodness of her heart, however. It would make it easier for Abel's Pokemon to cooperate. A Zoroark in Sinnoh's hands would do wonders, and should the Pokemon prove uncooperative, well, they could always renege on this entire deal and kill them all save for the Ditto and the ghosts. "But, there is a condition. Should you refuse, you will be killed."

Reel it in. Make the other option so terrible that he won't even consider it.

"From this day forward, I will use you whenever I need to grasp something about what is happening in Unova," Cynthia declared. "You get their culture and issues far better than I ever will, and it is my understanding that you escaped Caitlin, once? I would be interested in knowing the capabilities she's grown since leaving our Battle Frontier so young."

Of course, there were videos of her battles against Unovan Conference winners, but there was a difference between the information Cynthia was after and sport. Plus, she wasn't challenged very often, since Unova's system let the challengers pick and choose which Elite Four member they would fight first, and Caitlin was never among those options. Marshal was the usual pick, and the Champion couldn't blame them. Fighting against a ghost, psychic or dark type specialist of that level when you were that inexperienced and weak was a daunting experience. Caitlin hadn't been a good battler, really, especially when compared to her valet Darach, who'd been the actual Frontier Brain and who had left for Unova with her. She'd been around the… five-badge level before going on her Unovan journey and staying there. Cynthia never would have guessed that years later she would ascend to the position of Elite Four in that region, and she was not foolish enough to try to dredge up information that way, lest she start a diplomatic incident.

"I'll tell you anything," Abel said.

There was nothing wrong with insurance, Cynthia thought with a rueful smile. There was no one more reliable and loyal than someone you had spared when they did not deserve it.

—

"To Rene and Trent."

Bottles rose up in the air, then clinked together as the ACE Trainers cheered. Carlos quite liked their little group. Maxwell, Ariel, Carlos and Lou were closer than ACEs ought to be, which would make the pain all the worse when one of them inevitably died. Carlos Iglesias had never enjoyed beer. None of them did, really, but it had been one of Rene and Trent's vices, and it was a way to honor the dead. Now that they were given a week's respite where they'd be checked out by the shrinks, Carlos wanted to make full use of the time they had together, because he had no idea which day would be the last. They'd been temporarily replaced in their guard duties by another group of ACEs, so the marks were still protected. It was a perfect time to sit on one of the benches in the Lily of the Valley Island now that the weather was getting better.

In the distance, preparations were being made for the coming Conference. Maintenance was being run on stadiums, hotels were being readied to open, ceremonies were being rehearsed and companies were finishing bidding for ad space. League Trainers, government employees, and their families filled the flowered paths— which were full of white and pink Lilies, as the name of the island suggested. In the less built-up areas of the League, they went as far as the eye could see. The flower signified purity, innocence and rebirth, which were concepts the League had and would never encompass.

Marks. That was how they referred to the four children they'd shadowed since they'd been in Veilstone City. Growing too attached would spell their doom and would keep the ACE Trainers from doing what was necessary if needed. Carlos gulped down the awful beer, which was a lot harder with half of his face missing. He'd long learned to adapt, however. Missing an eye was a lot more cumbersome than half of his lips.

"Legendaries, I can't believe they liked this shit," Maxwell guffawed. "I never did understand."

"It's apparently an acquired taste," Ariel muttered. She eyed the ingredients written on her bottle and actually read it. "There's a lot of added sugar in there. I don't think I'll be finishing the bottle."

"Come on," Maxwell smiled. "For Rene and Trent."

A shadow of guilt passed over Ariel's face, and she gave him a reluctant nod.

"You know, I'd reminisce, but they'd hate it," he continued.

"That, they would," Carlos said, chasing away the memories.

"How will you keep track of your mark now that she's going to be Teleporting around?" Ariel asked, not bothering to look Carlos in the eye.

She'll have to bring one of us over during each jump," Carlos answered. "It'll probably be me, when I get back."

"Ms. Compton does enjoy your company," Maxwell said. The words were innocent enough, but he did not miss the accusatory glance. Don't grow too attached. It was a warning.

"Better than the job you've been doing with yours," Carlos gruffed. "Grace Pastel dislikes all of you. It makes cooperation harder, and word is, she'll be going into the ruins to get herself a Teleporter."

"She'll get over it," Maxwell shrugged. "Ariel did screw up, you can't deny that, and Ms. Pastel holds grudges deeper than your average trainer."

"She has actually spoken to me to bury the hatchet," Ariel declared. "A surprising development, but a welcome one."

Maxwell raised an eyebrow. "When was that?"

"A few days after the raid. You wouldn't have known about it, since you'd already left," she said. "I'm quite relieved."

"Well, isn't that sweet?" Maxwell snorted.

"Now who's getting attached?" Carlos chimed in after finishing his beer.

Ariel shook her head. "Not attached per se, but it makes me feel like my mistake has been atoned for, at least in part."

A comfortable silence settled in as Carlos watched his colleagues— never friends— finish their drink.

"You ever think we threw them into this too young?" Carlos blurted out.

"You were the same age when you were selected to be an ACE," Maxwell shrugged. "It's the way the world goes."

"But I was eighteen when I went on my first operation like this one," he said.

"You weren't picked by the pricks," Maxwell shrugged, which was his undercover way of saying that he hadn't been the key to saving the world. The ACE had a very strong disdain for Legendary Pokemon. "When that type of duty calls, you unfortunately can't refuse it."

Carlos sighed. "Well, let's hope they get a bit of a breather after this one."

—

"See, how the hell do you even do that? I can't just move my hands that fast," Pauline grumbled.

I let out a soft laugh as I ran my hand through Mudsdale's hair. We were sitting in the same park I'd played piano, and the same Kricketot had come as guests, although they weren't really enjoying Pauline's attempt at music, and I was pretty sure they were badmouthing her too. She gave them the finger and they chimed indignantly, picked themselves up and left.

"Why'd you do that?" I groaned. "You know what, whatever. You've got to slide your hands through the keyboard," I explained. "Like…"

I mimicked playing the piano in the air, but the redhead just looked at me like I was talking another language.

"I've never been great at music. Mommy tried to get me to play the violin, but I kind of threw tantrums until she gave up on me."

"What's with rich people and having their kids play a musical instrument?" I asked. "I mean, it's cool, but I'm pretty sure all of you at least tried to play one."

My friend shrugged. "Probably something to brag to their friends about. Oh, look at me, my daughter can play the trombone!"

We both laughed at her terrible impression of some snotty billionaire.

"I'll have you know that's basically what you'd have sounded like if you hadn't met me," I teased.

"I'll let you have that win for now, gremlin," she said as she traced a finger on my piano.

One week had passed since the raid.

I turned back to Mudsdale and watched the oldie doze off to the chimes of the small woods, happy that he'd still be joining us for the journey north. A lot had happened since then. Chase, Mira and… Cece were gone. Denzel was barely getting out of bed again. Emilia had gone to Hearthome, where she'd probably meet Mira tomorrow. Justin and Lauren had won against Wake today, and now Pauline was only waiting for Denzel to fight the water type Gym Leader so she could carry him to Jubilife and drop him off there on Braviary.

But there was also the looming consequences of what I'd done, clawing at the back of my mind despite my friends trying to distract me. Oh, I knew what they were trying to do. Finding out had been easy enough, with the way they'd all swarmed around me a few days after the raid with the same faces and lines. I couldn't help but think that a part of them were scared of me. They all looked at me like I was different, and they didn't know how best to approach the topic of the raid, and for some reason, that hurt even more than them calling me what they really thought.

But it felt good, to ignore. To hang out with Pauline like nothing had happened, and to just banter about her piano skills. I dug deep into my bag to grab a water bottle to drink, making sure to keep my ankle still while I did so. The raid had not been without its consequences. I had moved around too much, and my recovery would be delayed. I got lucky, the doctor had said. I could have gotten a permanent limp or worse.

"Cecilia's still on your mind?" Pauline asked. "You had that look on your face."

I smiled at her, something fake and foul, "No, I'm fine. She just needs her space, that's all."

The redhead clicked her tongue. "None of that with me, Grace. I know what it's like to have a relationship in a permanent limbo—"

"It's not in limbo," I snapped with a twitch of my fingers. "I just need to— to talk to her, but she won't let me. What if she decides to go off somewhere dangerous alone somewhere? The Iron Islands?"

"She won't. She's not in that kind of headspace anymore, Grace," Pauline said. "Her loss to Wake probably bummed her out too, along with whatever went on inside the mansion that you won't tell me about."

"It's not my place," I said. "Ask her when you see her again."

Pauline nodded, then wrapped an arm around my shoulder. "Cheer up, alright? She loves you more than anything— literally. You guys will be fine."

I could only muster a weak affirming hum.

"I don't want to see you leave sad," she said. "Honestly, I don't want to see you leave at all."

"We've gone our separate ways before."

"Never like this," Pauline murmured. "It feels different this time, doesn't it?"

It did, and I'd have to be blind not to realize it. The Pokemon Mansion had scarred us in a multitude of ways and people needed their space to deal with the aftermath. That didn't mean Cecilia leaving without even a word didn't feel like a part of me had been ripped away. We'd always been supposed to separate, but never like this. I echoed Pauline's words in my head and sighed.

"Are you scared of me, Pauline?"

My friend didn't freeze, but I knew she'd wanted to. After pondering how to answer for a few seconds, she finally did. "I'd lie, but you'd see right through me, so honestly? A little bit."

My lips quirked into a sad smile. "I figured."

"Or maybe unsettled is the right word? Denzel told us what happened to Backlot," she whispered. "I— well—"

"Don't worry about it," I said.

"I still love you. We all do," Pauline said. "But you've got to get a hold of yourself… somehow."

"Never thought Pauline King would be the one to tell me that."

"This isn't a joke," she scolded. "Don't make it one."

"Sorry."

"Do you want to talk about it? About, uh, what happened?"

I hesitated for a second. Pauline was offering me a hand, and it was what I'd wished for, so why was it that I couldn't agree? You know the answer, I told myself. Because to this day, I still didn't regret watching Backlot die and killing his associates. Something is wrong with me. What would she say if she knew what I truly thought? Would Cecilia throw me away? Would they all look at me worse than they'd been doing now? Would we even still be friends?

"I'll be fine," I said. "I'll start seeing that therapist soon… they're being flown to Twinleaf, and then they'll follow along wherever I end up."

"You could have seen her earlier if you hadn't had to be convinced that therapy was necessary," Pauline chided. "Going to see your mother too?"

"Uhuh. Honestly, I never thought I'd say this, but I'm looking forward to it," I muttered. "We've been talking more, and Twinleaf will be nice for what I'm dealing with. Seeing family will be nice, and Mudsdale will like the flat fields."

Even if I'd have to see Mesprit too.

I didn't miss the sliver of relief on her face. Was it how this was going to be from now on? Was talking to me going to be like walking through a minefield? Everyone talked to me like I was insane, and maybe I was, but I was growing tired of it. I gently wrested myself away from her arm and yawned.

"Maeve's running late," I said, changing the subject.

Pauline wanted to fight it, but she did not. As if nothing had happened, we went back to talking about music and her childhood as we waited for Maeve, Justin and Louis to arrive with take-out. The afternoon passed more cheerfully than the morning had been, but eventually, it was time to leave. I bid all of my friends farewell, including Lauren, who would be Teleporting to Solaceon with Sirris and trekking to Snowpoint on foot just like Mira. Arceus knew I needed to hurry now that Sweetheart was showing the first signs of molting.

I wanted her to evolve near Lake Verity, and I would be cutting it close.

---

A/N: I'm back one day early

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, BeautifulBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, nothingtoseehere, SecondBlahm, Daruda, Mystic Corn, menirx, Paul S, coolblue, Ole W

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 266

The weather started turning for the worse at around five hours into our trip, forcing us to find a place to land and settle in for the evening faster than we would have, and that was difficult considering how dark it was. We were still over route 212, although we'd swung north in order not to get caught in the swamp. My clothes were soaked, and I shivered as Princess dipped down to get lower to the ground.

It would take three days to reach Twinleaf by flight in total now that we didn't have to slow ourselves down because of Chase's Sigilyph. I'd have to cross half of route 212, then over Mount Coronet and a large stretch of wilderness until I reached Oreburgh. The stop in that city was necessary if I didn't want to have to camp off-route, and my run-in with Carnivine had taught me better, especially considering that the area I would have needed to stop at would have been crawling with Pokemon even stronger due to its isolation from any route. Then, it would be a straight flight to Twinleaf. Still, I couldn't help but smile when thinking of her. She'd been overwhelmed with relief when I brought Leafeon back to her and had apologized for breaking my ankle. It hadn't been on her, really. It had been my fault for putting my nose where it didn't belong and thinking I'd grown invincible after my victory with Volkner, and if we hadn't crossed paths, then I never would have known about Leafeon.

The fact that traversing Sinnoh would now be this simple was still exhilarating, especially when I knew that Princess would always be able to go faster. Craig's Salamence had been much quicker than this, although the type of saddle I had wouldn't really allow her to go that fast without hurting my back.

"Let's get your brother out of his ball," I said as thunder boomed.

The fairy type snickered, and I knew it was because Buddy was very loose on the sibling thing, even more so than Sunshine was. I released Jellicent as we hovered around a hundred feet in the air, and he seemed to relish in the rain. His head swelled slightly, and his eyes shone brighter than usual.

"No need to show off that much," I teased. The water type rolled his eyes. "Can you find us a good spot to camp in? We can't see crap in this weather."

A gust of wind slammed against my face, causing me to groan and hurriedly grip my saddle. Jellicent's eyes scanned our surroundings for a minute until he moved one tentacle toward us— no, he was pointing backward. There were small hills there that marked the border between the swamp and the rest of the route, he explained. He was much slower than Princess, but he guided us there until we reached a small alcove barely deep enough to keep us dry. I released Angel, who carefully placed me back on the ground and handed me a crutch to lean against. Princess was so soaked that her fur clung to her skin just like it had during the battle against Wake, and she looked very displeased.

"Let's hope this lets up at some point," I muttered as I leaned forward to look at the cloudy sky.

Buddy was still out in the rain, having transformed into a puddle with two glowing red eyes by himself. There wasn't much space to release the entire team, but I decided to do so anyway, at least for a few minutes so we could speak except for Sweetheart, who was currently sleeping, and would for most hours of the day. The final molt required a lot of energy, and she'd be resting a lot more than usual.

Sunshine shot me an indignant look as soon as he materialized. Oh, yes, how dare I release him when it was raining. I just stuck out my tongue and motioned at him to get close so I could dry my clothes. I was not going to sleep with wet clothes. The last thing I wanted was to get sick. A comfortable warmth spread throughout the cave as I quickly changed and laid my clothes on a towel so they could dry. Once Electivire helped change the bandages for the cut on my arm, we could finally relax. Angel was busy playing in the rain and spraying Honey with more water until Turtonator told them to quit it because they were getting the inside of the alcove wet. Mudsdale, meanwhile, was the one taking the most space in the small cave due to his massive height and size. Even when lying down, his head was still poking out of the alcove. The ground type simply snorted as he watched my Pokemon shuffle away from each other awkwardly.

"Honey, tell me if the rain gets annoying, alright? I'll recall you," I said. The electric type simply shook his head and moved on to speak to Buddy instead, so I turned back to Mudsdale. "We were in a place just like this up north, once," I recounted as I settled deeper into the cave. Arceus, I was going to have to eat granola bars for dinner. "It was a lot larger than this, though. A lot of Pokemon came in and joined us…"

Part of me had dreaded this. Being alone, traveling to Twinleaf without any of my issues with my friends having been resolved, but I couldn't deny that it felt much better being here than in the city. Staying in Pastoria any longer not only would have screwed up my timeline to get Sweetheart to evolve near Lake Verity, but it also made me feel like I was choking. At least, my team didn't treat me any differently. They were, however, still worried about me, because they knew something wasn't right. Mudsdale didn't know me enough to guess, but I hadn't been behaving right since the raid.

I knew Denzel had told everyone about Backlot with good intentions, that he only wanted what was best for me, and it had helped somewhat. My friends and I had gone from barely talking about normal things at all to at least doing so again, but the fact that they knew that I'd watched Backlot die left a bad taste in my mouth. It wasn't so much the fact that I'd done so that bothered me, but the fact that I'd be judged for it, and judge they had. Every time they stared when they thought I wasn't looking, there was a tint of discomfort.

The way I behaved wasn't normal. I knew that, now, and I'd known all along. Why else would I have wanted to hide Edward Backlot's fate, or hide the way I'd hurt Maylene's Infernape to draw out his suffering? Now I had to deal with the consequences of my actions and watch my friends stare at me like I was some kind of monster. I still love you, Pauline had said, yet beforehand, that 'still' never would have needed to be there. And if Cecilia found out…

She'd known the way Backlot had passed, but she hadn't known Mira and I had stayed to watch. After telling the story of how I'd met Bella to Mudsdale, I grabbed my phone and scrolled through my camera roll, enlarging some goofy picture I'd taken of Cecilia when she'd been blinking. A small smile stretched across my lips as I leaned against Sunshine's scales. The dragon was already asleep. For all he hated the rain, he found its sound easy to fall asleep to. He'd wake up hungry tomorrow.

Togekiss called out to me, and my eyes drifted up from my phone.

"It's just a picture," I said. "I can't even text her, there's no signal on this route."

Princess grunted, saying I shouldn't be looking at her picture like a 'lost child'. It wasn't the first time she'd felt like this, I knew, but it was the first time she'd said something about it. I bit down a snappy answer and only mustered a nod. She was right, and she was more mature about this than I was. Mudsdale looked quite confused, but opted to stay out of any potential arguments.

I smiled sadly. "Sorry. I guess you're right," I said before pausing. "You hungry?"

The fairy type nodded, and I caressed her cheek before painfully standing up.

"Today's just going to be kibble. I'm way too tired to cook anything, and the weather's bumming me out," I said, staring off into the distance. It was mostly woods with short trees and hills, along with a few outlined paths through them. In this weather, we weren't going to see any trainers passing through, and I preferred it that way. I'd started disliking any interaction I had with those ever since the raid, for obvious reasons.

I fed the entire team, although Angel would make do with sunlight tomorrow and Mudsdale told me he preferred to graze.

"Graze? Like, normal grass?" I asked.

The horse neighed in affirmation, adding the fact that his favorite type of grass was somewhat muddy, after rainy days like this one.

"Well, that's why you didn't look bothered by the rain at all," I snorted.

It was a quiet night, really. Mudsdale ended up reneging his spot and sleeping in his Pokeball to allow the others to have some space. Honey did some fancy light tricks with short bursts of electricity through his fingers, lighting up the cave with a soft glow. Angel's entire body was soaked with water as he sank and dripped against the stone. Princess quietly molded a super long and complicated spear with Ancient Power.

Did she have to put spikes on it? I bet she'll ask me to carry it around for a few days too, I mused. I ended up staying up later than the entire team, save for Jellicent, of course, but he was basically checked out in the rain. Now that we'd made it past the swamp, the route was safe once more, so he didn't have to be alert at all times, and most Pokemon here would be too scared to approach anyway.

I scrolled through my camera roll until I fell asleep in my sleeping bag.

I couldn't stop myself.

—

The next day, the sky finally cleared up. I let Mudsdale and Sunshine eat breakfast before we left. I made the ground type nearly choke when I asked if Sunshine was going to eat grass too.

"What? I was just wondering," I said with a teasing smile. Turtonator's eye twitched, and he said that if I wasn't already wounded he'd sweep my legs with his tail. "No, you wouldn't," I said. "You'd feel terrible after. You would have blown smoke into my face or something, but you've softened up so much that you won't even do that."

Unfortunately, he didn't prove me wrong. Did he feel that bad for me? I asked myself. Still, I shuffled across the wet grass when we were done and got on Princess' back once more. There had been a lot of rain yesterday, and parts of the route were so flooded I could see teams of Rangers attending to the flooded paths with water types. The swamp was probably even worse, though I doubted they'd do anything about it there. Now that it was daytime again, Mount Coronet loomed tall in the distance. Even though this part of it was nowhere as tall as the peak, it still dwarfed any other mountains in Sinnoh. Once, I had described the entire mountain as if someone had grabbed the earth and pinched it up. The slopes at Mount Coronet's base were not gradual, they were a sharp rise that I'd never seen on any other mountain or hill. Below me, vast expanses of trees stretched for miles and miles. Princess chirped softly as she sped up, and I felt a little kick. Every time she got anywhere close to the mountain, she got uneasy.

"Don't worry. It's not like we're landing on it, we're just flying over," I said.

And we had planned each stop specifically to avoid having to rest on the mountain. People like Craig and Aubri trained there, so there was no way in hell I was ever going to approach that place. I'd gone through too much to already be dropped into a life-and-death fight. I just wanted to relax for the time being and prepare for the inevitable confrontation with that ancient Zoroark. Aubri Schneider going through my mind made me think of my fellow Poketch sponsees I'd met in Sunyshore for that photoshoot. Ramon and Bobby had actually contacted me after the raid and been rather nice about it, along with offering a warning. Their own liaisons— so their equivalent of Melody— were coming after me and undermining my position.

The fact that I'd killed someone during the raid was public now, and no matter what I did, people would now see a murderer when they looked at me even if they were 'nice' about it, or as nice as someone could be. Craig himself had been shaken when his Salamence had killed those Team Galactic grunts near Lake Acuity all those months ago, so I could tell that having killed someone was abnormal in our line of work unless you worked for the League, and they wanted to use that and my other tendencies to push me out of the company. Melody had soothed my worries and said that the board was still on board with me, but I couldn't help but feel somewhat anxious. I needed to be on my best behavior for when I could negotiate my next raise.

What had they wanted me to do, even? Let myself get mentally assaulted by Musharna until Slowking's mental shield broke? It was self-defense.

No use thinking about it when the biggest goal of this trip was to decouple from the public and relax. I spoke to Princess about everything until we made it to Mount Coronet. She was growing up quickly, and so I could confide in her now when I hadn't been able to just months ago. Granted, most of her advice had to do with violence, so it wasn't applicable there, but it felt good to talk to someone about it.

Everyone at the raid would have to deal with these rumors too, although Denzel had 'only' killed a Graveler, and for some reason people didn't care as much when Pokemon died instead of humans. I knew Chase wouldn't care and Mira was preoccupied with other stuff, but I hoped Cecilia was dealing well with the new way people would look at her, now, and that it wouldn't close any doors with sponsors in Unova. I needed to stop thinking about her, but worrying for her was fine, probably.

It was my first time flying over Mount Coronet. Craig's Salamence had gone around it, and the sight was as breathtaking as it was terrifying. The mountain's presence was no less menacing in broad daylight, casting long, eerie shadows that seemed to stretch endlessly over the desolate landscape. The air seemed to grow colder here, and thinner too. I shivered as we started our flight above the passes. High above them, of course. The last thing I wanted was to get attacked by some wild Pokemon that got angry we got too close to its territory. There were pockets of life, on the mountain. There were ledges full of vegetation that looked small from up there, but that were as big as a city or close to it. Pokemon could go their entire lives knowing only that ledge. There were of course, many rivers. All of Sinnoh's rivers originated from Mount Coronet, although they became waterfalls by the time they reached the ground. Up here, though, the slope was gentle enough to allow the water to roll through the numerous valleys. At the peak of these ridges were snowcaps, even during the spring, although I knew they melted in summer. The taller sections of the mountain saw snow and hail all year long, however.

"Craig's somewhere down there right now," I said absent-mindedly as I leaned to get a better look at the ground. "Or maybe he's closer to the peak. I hope he's fine."

Mount Coronet wasn't the only pretty sight, although it was the only one that unsettled me. To my west was the vast ocean— or it was a sea, I supposed. It separated Sinnoh from the rest of Shinwa, where Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn sat. I drummed my fingers against my saddle as Princess soared even higher and I caught a glimpse of the mountain's peak high above the clouds. It was blurry, shifted blue due to how far away it was, and it was so blurry I couldn't make out anything. It was said that Mount Coronet was so tall people needed oxygen to make it that high, and no one had even been at the peak.

That was probably a lie. There was no way the League hadn't sent someone up there. Bellatrix had been terrified of the entire mountain when she'd described it to me, so she knew more about it than she let on too.

Well, I wasn't going to poke the Bewear. It took us hours to make it past Mount Coronet, but we made it through with no incidents save for a Braviary that hadn't liked how close we got— even though we were very far away from the slopes. Thankfully, he had just let us off with a warning, which had been a gust of wind so powerful it would have knocked me off Princess had I not been strapped into a saddle. The scars that had marred his body were signs that he'd been in quite a few scraps and I was not confident in winning an aerial battle, so we just high-tailed it out of there. I didn't know how to gauge Braviary's strength, but he was probably strong enough to take at least Princess down alone, although I was sure she'd leave him very hurt by the end of it. They had to be this strong, to live at those heights.

We reached Oreburgh during the evening, and seeing the city again was like a breath of nostalgia. And fumes. Horrible, toxic fumes. I covered my nose until Princess landed in the industrialized city at the Pokemon Center near the Gym. She was tired after having flown all day, so I recalled her and promised I would let her sleep on the bed tonight with me. Everything had started here. My first battle against Roark that I had almost lost and only won thanks to Princess' pivotal evolution. Memories flashed in my mind. I'd been a sweaty, stumbling mess by the end of that battle, but it had taught me the heights of what victory tasted like, and I'd grown addicted to that feeling.

"A room for one night, please," I told the Nurse Joy.

The stares at my back were prickly, like they hadn't expected me to be here already. I supposed I hadn't really told anyone where I was going, so seeing me pop up in Oreburgh was probably surprising. The whispers were annoying too, especially when they were loud enough to hear. Theories about what had gone on in the mansion were rampant, and most of the ones regarding me had to do with stabbing things.

I grabbed my keycard, and I would have gone to see the city had I not been so exhausted.

"He—hello," a voice rang out behind me.

It was a kid, just like Erin. Doe-eyed and excited to meet me. I was surprised to see a Togepi in her arms, although this one was a male. He retreated into his shell when my stare lingered for more than a second, and the girl's legs shook. Right, I was a murderer. Erin hadn't texted as much since the raid. It was different, now. I blinked and softened my gaze.

"How can I help you?" I smiled.

"Um, my name is Sophie. I was wondering if you had tips to train a Togepi? He hatched from an egg recently, so…"

"Aw. Does he have a name?"

"Not yet. Uh, I usually try to watch your battles, but you were a lot better than he was when you fought Roark. I don't know how to train him from scratch."

The Togepi let out an embarrassed chirp, and I softly chuckled. He was a lot shier than Princess had been as a baby.

"People don't really know how you got your start," she continued, growing a little more confident. "Your battle with Roark was shaky— I'm not saying that, other people are!" she yelled. "But then against Gardenia, you started showing your skill. I want to get better."

Right. No one knew my first battle had been against a kid with a Shinx, or that I'd gotten my start by having Princess practice Rollout in dad's apartment. I wondered how that dude with Shinx was doing these days. I was usually good with names, but I'd forgotten his.

"Well, I won't be staying here long, but I can give you some pointers," I said. "How's his Rollout like?"

—

She hadn't stayed long, and I hadn't expected her to. I had somewhat overwhelmed her with all of the potential techniques a Togepi could have and that I had missed out on because I hadn't been good enough to think about them, and I hoped she'd put them to good use. Before I left, though, there was a special place I wanted to go to. Oreburgh hadn't changed at all, really, and it might have been foolish to expect a city to drastically change in a few months. The richest people lived on its outskirts, away from the pollution from the mines, while the poorest lived close to them. I rode Mudsdale through the sidewalks until we reached a particular poffin house.

"It really looks the same," I muttered. In retrospect, these were nowhere as good as the ones in Hearthome, but Buddy and Princess had loved them when we'd come here and they had first started growing closer.

I bought the team ten packs of poffins, all with different flavors, and decided to go eat it on the city's outskirts up north on route 207, where I used to train.

"You ever had poffins, Mudsdale?" I asked with a hand on his neck. He was always gentle with he walked so he wouldn't hurt my ankle.

The ground type answered with a resounding no, which surprised me until I remembered that Sunshine hadn't had any either and that this needed to be remedied immediately. I released my entire team, but only Togekiss and Jellicent recognized this place. The stony ground with the few shrubs that grew few and far in between and the tall mountain that led to the rest of route 207 that could only be scaled or flown over. I handed out the poffins to them, although I kept the Oran ones for Princess and the Mago ones for Buddy. Sweetheart was awake now, although she was struggling to keep her eyes open and we all looked at her warily. Should she evolve early, I would recall her in her Pokeball immediately and keep her there until we reached Lake Verity. Angel had forgone food to keep a close eye on her. She was taller than he was, now, but his vines still soothed her wherever they touched.

"Hear me out," I said, turning to Sunshine, who was pretending not to like his poffins. "Buddy used not to listen to me."

The dragon snorted, and Honey's tails twitched curiously.

"I'm serious. I'd call out for a Water Pulse and he'd use a Night Shade. Back then, our Night Shades weren't really that great. Anyway, it was because I messed up when I caught him, but still, can you imagine it?"

The ghost glared at me for exposing him, but unfortunately for him, I was the one with the Mago Berries and he didn't exactly have the means to grab them unless he absorbed the entire thing into his head. It was still odd, to see the food dissolve directly in there. Turtonator jokingly called Jellicent a lackey, after which he sprayed him with water and ruined the poffin he carried.

Princess chimed in and said that Sunshine was just as much of a lackey as Buddy was, and there was an amused glint in Mudsdale's eye. He enjoyed seeing the dragon be teased, as Lurantis and Oranguru had done in the past.

"You're not lackeys," I said. "You're family, which is why you call me out when I do something wrong, or at least try to. I, uh, I want to talk to you guys about something."

The air grew serious, and I bit my lip, chasing away the regret I felt for having ruined the nice mood. There were no trainers in sight, and even if there were, Princess would be able to sense them. At this time of the year, most trainers had left Oreburgh, either due to winning against Roark or just giving up on him and returning to Jubilife or Canalave. Oreburgh wasn't as large as Sunyshore, and so had a lower trainer population save for the rush here early in the Circuit.

"As it stands, I still don't think I did anything wrong," I quietly said. "That's not the way a normal person should think, or at least I think so. Watching Backlot pay his due was right," I stopped, letting silence fill the air. "But it also wasn't. I need— I need a conscience, or something akin to it. Someone to tell me when I might be going too far. Because I know most of you don't care about my friends, but I do, and I don't want them to think I'm too far gone."

Immediately, I could tell what each member of the team thought with a glimpse. Sunshine's eyes narrowed, like he was saying don't even think about it. Sweetheart softly muttered something under her breath, but I let her know that she could keep sleeping now that she'd eaten. Jellicent just couldn't comprehend human morality and why people had made such a fuss about the entire situation in the first place, so he was the wrong person to ask. For Princess, justice had been served, and it was well-deserved.

So it fell upon Angel and Honey.

"It's… hard to explain exactly what I'm asking, but basically, just try to let me know if the ideas I'm suggesting to take down any future criminals are terrible."

Both agreed, although Honey was a lot happier about it. Tangrowth patted me on the head and nodded with a gentle stare. Arceus, how worried about me had they been? I thanked them with a smile and we returned to eating poffins in peace. I scrolled through multiple texts that my friends had sent me to check on me, and I noticed Princess and Buddy eyeing my screen from afar.

"They're just texts," I said. "Not to Cece. I'm giving her space." I turned to the fairy type. "Also, when did you tell Buddy about this?"

The fact that I was so fucked up I couldn't even go a day without thinking about Cecilia.

Togekiss answered with last night, when I'd fallen asleep, and they'd been the only two in the room. I thought the little rascal would have been asleep, with all of the flying she did. Unfortunately, they hadn't been able to stop me from reading Cece and I's old texts, and maybe expecting a 'hello' or something. I knew she was fine, because she'd texted the group chat about being in Jubilife. Had someone told her that I'd watched Edward Backlot get tortured? Maybe that was why she didn't want to communicate. No, no, I was growing too paranoid. My friends wouldn't do that to me, they wouldn't tell her. Denzel had told me that he wouldn't and that he'd told the others to stay quiet when I asked, but I started typing a message to him about it to make sure. I erased it before I could send it. I needed to stop. I needed to, but I couldn't. I glanced back down at my phone and replied to all of them with news I'd made it to Oreburgh, although with how fast news traveled about us these days, they had already all known about it.

Mira was in Hearthome now, although she was rather quiet. I hoped her lessons with Fantina were going well. She'd been there, when we watched Backlot die, but she'd been a lot more squeamish about it than I had. Still, she had stayed the entire way through, and as it stood, she was the only person who wouldn't judge me for it. Was she dealing with the same bullshit that I was? She probably was, which might be why she left Pastoria so quickly.

Soon after that, Princess and I were back in the air.

—

I was almost tempted to get back to Jubilife on the way to Twinleaf, but I decided against it. One, the city had way too many people, which meant that since the raid was still being talked about a lot, there was no way I'd be able to avoid attention like I'd done in Pastoria and Oreburgh. The desire to see dad was strong, but I would rather have waited longer for the news to die down— well, die down was probably too big of a hope, but at least I'd have peace for a while in Twinleaf, along with that therapist.

There was the desire to see someone else too, but Princess never would have agreed anyway.

We cut across the southwest and flew over Sandgem. I decided to let Princess stop here for a few minutes so Buddy could see the ocean he'd lived in for centuries. Coincidentally, this was also the beach where Mudsdale, Sunshine, Kamaile and the others had spent an entire afternoon when they had just come in Sinnoh, and the ground type enjoyed telling me how Turtonator had threatened to glass it on multiple occasions after Lurantis had annoyed him. The fire type still hated calling this place a beach. Eventually I broke away from the two and walked toward Jellicent, who watched the wave with a strange look in his eye.

"You doing okay?" I hesitantly asked. I couldn't get too close, because otherwise my cast would get wet.

The ghost turned back toward me and said that until I had caught him, he hadn't been alive. Not truly, anyway. Drifting across the sea, going from prey to prey until something would hopefully be strong enough to kill him. For more than two centuries, he lived here, but it was only until he'd met me that he learned to make living enjoyable again. He floated toward me and let his face brush against my arm. I turned to caress his cheek, and his eyes dimmed.

He loved me, and he had no regrets.

—

Just like planned, three days after our departure from Pastoria, we'd made it to Twinleaf. It looked smaller from up here. Surrounding the town itself were picturesque fields and meadows. The rich, earthy tones of the countryside were dotted with wildflowers and tall grass, and beyond those were the usual woods that dotted much of Sinnoh. A meandering river cut through the town until it reached the southern lake, where a few people were currently fishing, probably for Magikarp. They ate those here, I knew. Like Pastoria, there was no grid to be seen. Instead, the streets had been made with no plan in mind, and every single house was designed differently. Some looked small and cozy while others were sprawling. One of them, I recognized, was Denzel's home, a relatively large patisserie that doubled as a house with a picketed fence surrounding much of the land. I spotted more than fifteen Miltank in that pasture. I knew Denzel's mother used their milk to bake her stuff.

But it was not their home I was going to. There were no landing pads in Twinleaf, so I landed directly in front of my mother's home. No therapist to be seen yet, and they'll probably show themselves soon. I hopped off Togekiss, drew in a deep breath to chase away the anxiety and knocked.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, BeautifulBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, nothingtoseehere, SecondBlahm, Daruda, Mystic Corn, menirx, Paul S, coolblue, Ole W

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 267

I was assaulted by a tight hug as soon as the door opened. My mother was a lot happier to see me than I thought she'd be, with the news that I had killed a man going around. My hands stayed frozen in place for a few seconds until I hugged her too, and for some reason, I started tearing up. This shouldn't feel like home, I told myself. I quietly sniffled until the hug was done. Mom clasped my shoulders to get a better look at me.

"Grace," she smiled. "I missed you."

The last time I'd seen her had been after that Abra had tried to kidnap me, and she'd been very shaken by the attack, especially when Princess had instantly stabbed him with Ancient Power. She looked just like me, save for her age, the color of her eyes, and being a little taller. Dirty blond hair, freckles, and a nose that was on the smaller side of the scale. There were no traces of judgment in her eyes, however, or at least I thought there wasn't. It was hard to tell, since she wasn't a Pokemon and I didn't know her that well.

"I missed you too," I said, and was surprised to see I actually meant it.

"Come on in," she beamed as she led me into the home. "Your grandmother isn't here, so it'll be just us."

"Oh. Why? I could sleep on the couch or something," I muttered, wiping my eyes.

"No, no. It wasn't about the rooms, I just thought it'd be better if it were just the two of us," Mom quickly replied.

The living room was more orderly than it had been the last and only time I'd been here. Had she cleaned up in anticipation of my arrival? The place was smaller than the usual house I'd seen flying above Twinleaf, but it was still nice. Cozy, maybe. Something smelled good in the kitchen, and since there was no separation between it and the living room, I could tell Mom was cooking something. I placed my backpack at the foot of the couch and smiled when I glanced at the table Denzel had been sitting at when I'd seen him for the first time. Herdier had been sleeping on the couch, but he jumped when he saw me and joy radiated out of him. He's so happy, even though he's only seen me regularly until I was five. I scratched the base of his ears and let him lick my face for a bit.

"I could have helped with dinner," I said.

"I thought you'd be tired from your travels— oh, feel free to make yourself at home, by the way. Do you remember where everything is? I can show you around."

"Yeah, I do. Thanks," I smiled. "And, uh, about cooking. It's something I really enjoy, and I'd like to get better at it."

My mother beamed. "Oh, that's not a problem at all! We can get started tomorrow."

"Can my Electivire join us?"

"The more the merrier," she said. "So long as he doesn't… break or fry things."

"He's better than I am," I added.

That was the end of that. Samantha let me know that dinner would be ready in around ten minutes, so I took the opportunity to get settled upstairs and take a shower. I covered my cast with plastic and used the opportunity to switch my bandages after a few minutes. Now, I felt fresh and as good as new. The cut on my arm had almost finished healing now, but the bandages helped me not pick at the crust that had formed. It ran most of the length of my forearm until it reached the top of my wrist.

I decided that I'd feed my team later. My mother had met them all already in Veilstone, but only for a few hours. They'd all liked her some, save for Sunshine, so I wasn't too worried on that front. Mudsdale and I would be able to stamp out his worse behaviors like his attempts to scare her. I was pretty sure he still hated my mother because he'd called her a coward, but he was a big old softie these days, so he'd keep quiet if I asked him enough times. I hobbled down the stairs and was greeted by the most beautifully arranged lasagna I'd ever seen— not that I'd seen many. It was also kind of campy. She'd cut the lasagna up into different cute shapes, like stars or even Pokemon. Litleo, Pikachu… is that Jigglypuff? She must have had molds for these.

"Sorry about the stairs— you let me know if you need any help going up or downstairs, okay?" she said as I sat down. "Your dad told me your ankle would take longer to heal, now."

"Yeah, I moved it around too much after my cast broke," I quickly said, desperate to change the subject. She was treating me normally, so I wasn't about to ever get into the topic of the raid and risk changing that. "I saw you got WiFi installed? When I was in the washroom."

I took a bite from the lasagna and squealed at how good it was. I needed to keep some of this for Angel, he'd love it so much.

"I did a few months ago. It was a hassle to wait for the technicians from Sandgem to come, and it's not very fast, but I listen to a podcast with it that talks a lot about you. I told you about it, didn't I?"

"Hmhm," I said as I chewed. "Denzel listens to it sometimes now that I told him about it."

"Oh, that's just fantastic! I've been trying to get Barry's mother to listen when they talk about him, but she won't figure out how to work the technology even after I show her step by step."

There was a pause for around a minute as we ate in silence. The conversation didn't flow as naturally as it did when I was with my dad or my friends, and we weren't close enough to be comfortable with awkward silences like this one, but I had expected this.

"How's the lake?" I asked.

"Inaccessible since the League showed up," she sighed. "It's a shame too, really. I would have liked to bring you there again to soothe your worries."

I held back a wince, since I was planning on going there soon and she didn't know. At least I had confirmation that this would be just like Lake Valor, though. It was hard to imagine the desolate and quiet lake surrounded by a military fortress instead. Honestly, I would have rather it be empty for Sweetheart, but I could probably find a clear spot when the time came, seeing as Valor had a few. I didn't know if it'd be large enough for Tyranitar, though. What I was certain about was that I wasn't going to let any League Trainers intervene between me and my daughter.

"What do they say about me in the podcast?" I asked. "Before… recent events, I mean."

"Mostly good things. A lot of the language used, I'm not familiar with, but it feels nice to track your progress, in a way. They say that you're good at planning things and getting ahead of traps, for example. We can listen to some of the old episodes together, if you'd like."

I raised an eyebrow. "I feel like that would be kind of embarrassing."

"Well, it's up to you," she said. "Oh, if you ever want to watch TV, we have a few channels…"

Dinner passed without a fuss and in a quiet fashion. When I asked my mother about Pokemon food, she said I'd probably have to fly to Sandgem to buy it in large quantities. My team was full of big Pokemon who ate a lot, and now I didn't have my friends' bags to share space to store food in. It would be even worse when Sweetheart evolved into Tyranitar. Sure, a lot of my team didn't need to eat, but they liked to, and I'd be mean not to let them have food. The flight to Sandgem and back would barely take over an hour anyway.

Like I'd thought, Angel enjoyed the lasagna very much, and everyone had a little taste, much to my mother's dismay, considering she'd wanted to store leftovers for tomorrow and the day after that, either for lunch or dinner. The entire team was… relatively nice to her, in their own ways. Jellicent didn't stare daggers and just stayed silent after greeting her, while Sunshine had grunted a greeting and went off somewhere in the distance. I could still see his shell's faint glow, and I knew he wanted to sleep outside tonight, and probably every night until we left. It wasn't often that he could. Angel and Honey were the nicest, as always. The grass type let my mom have her personal space, but couldn't help but touch her hair and notice how similar it was to mine. I served as an interpreter between Electivire and my mother in anything related to cooking. She was giving him a lot of tips, and he was committing them to memory. Sweetheart was asleep, as usual. It would be soon. In three days, maybe two. Princess was flying overhead and training with flying TE.

I'd have to start back up on training during my stay here. Being down in the dumps was no excuse to stop progressing, especially when the 8th Gym would be the most difficult one yet and I'd have to battle Zoroark in the ruins.

It was a nice night, all in all, although my mom went to sleep a lot sooner than I expected. She was very adamant about getting eight hours of sleep every night, which was a quirk of hers she'd apparently had since she was young. Soon after, it was just me and my team. It was so easy to see the stars above Twinleaf, just like on a route. Maybe that was why I felt so comfortable here. It felt more like a route than a town, even more than Floaroma had, except that it was so quiet here that I felt like I was the only girl in the world despite seeing the soft islands of light in the distance. Not even wild Pokemon could be heard. It was just the wind. When Mudsdale decided to go and make sure Sunshine wasn't terrifying people by walking in front of their homes like he owned the place, I turned to the rest of the team.

"I'm going to see Mesprit soon," I declared.

There was no surprise there, although there was trepidation. Tangrowth's vines shivered in the night while Togekiss landed next to me without a single sound. Jellicent's eyes dimmed, and he asked if I was sure. Cecilia's experience with a Legendary hadn't been great, so I understood their reluctance to let me go, especially when I'd be on my own.

It was Electivire, that protested first. He said that I should wait to have a few meetings with my therapist before plunging into such a dangerous situation again. A while ago, I'd said that Knowledge could be the more ruthless Legend of the trio, but in my current mental state, Mesprit could leave me emotionally destroyed and snap me like a twig if they felt like it.

"We aren't staying here long, Hon," I gently muttered. "Four sessions with a therapist won't fix me."

But it would help, he answered right away.

I shifted in my sitting position and slung an arm over my knee. "Maybe."

I could delay, but then I'd have fewer days to get used to whatever the hell Mesprit would gift me. No, four days isn't much, I'm just making excuses, I realized. Even from this far, the Lake beckoned me to the north-west. It felt wrong not to go there.

"Well, it doesn't cost anything to try," I finally said. I blinked when I saw the relief on the electric type's shoulders. "But that therapist better show up soon. We aren't staying here long."

We spent another hour out until I decided to call it a night.

—

"Grace. There's a lady at the door that says she's with the League?"

I groaned as I struggled to open my eyes. This bed was a lot more comfortable and soft than the Pokemon Center ones, and Princess had made for a very good cuddling partner. My mother's voice had sounded distant and echoey. I'd slept like a log with everything I'd eaten, but when the words Mom had told me finally registered in my head, I shot up from the bed and nearly fell off.

"A lady with the league?" I slurred, wiping spit from my chin. "That's definitely the therapist I told you about. W—what time is it?"

"8:52 in the morning," she answered.

That sounded like the appointment was at nine. An appointment that had never been set up, but one nonetheless. I got ready as fast as I could, opting to skip breakfast for now so I could meet the woman who'd be joined at my hip for the next… well, I didn't know how long, but for a while. Opening the door revealed that she was rather old, possibly in her early sixties. She sat calmly on my mother's porch until she noticed me and turned. She had long, wispy hair that had almost greyed completely, leaving only a few tufts of brown. She was thinner than what looked healthy, but most of all, she felt important in a way I couldn't really explain. Most League personnel I'd seen had felt like that too. There was just a way about how they carried themselves that caught my attention. Her skin was tan, like a native Alolan's.

"Ms. Pastel," the older woman said, outstretching a hand. Her voice was smooth and high-pitched. I shook it, although her handshake felt so light it might as well not have happened. "My name is Aliyah Pascual, but you can call me however you wish."

"Aliyah, then," I quietly said. I turned back to my mom, who nodded and went back inside the house. "I called my first therapist by her first name."

"I would say that we should go for a walk, but that would be unwise," Aliyah said, dipping her head toward my ankle. "So let us confer here, Ms. Pastel."

"Grace is fine," I said. "And by here, you mean…"

"On the porch, yes," she said. "Sit."

"Can I have a Pokemon with me, or—"

"No. It will just be us two, but don't worry, I don't bite," Aliyah smiled.

"I have a Turtonator and Mudsdale still out there somewhere," I said. "But I guess that's fine."

Goodness, I was nervous. I hadn't been this nervous when talking alone to Amanda, but I supposed my issues back then had been orders of magnitude lower. She waited for me to sit next to her, and I realized she was shorter than I was, which wasn't something I was used to. She had a single Pokeball with her, although it didn't look like she would release them for this session, at the very least. Maybe they were an empath like Gardevoir? Aliyah pulled out some sort of unlit candle from her bag and lit it with a lighter. It smelled like… okay, I was nowhere near competent enough to know what it smelled like, but it smelled good. Next, she handed me a pillow to sit on so I wouldn't have to be on the hard stairs. An outdoor therapy session was… weird, but I didn't hate it. It was a very fancy one, and purple just like her candle.

"I've worked with many ACE Trainers in my career," Aliyah said. "One could say it's my specialty. I've seen faces come and go, but none as young as yours."

"Is that an issue?" I asked.

She shook her head. "Not at all. This will be new both for me and you, Grace, but I have decades of experience. You're in good hands."

This was already starting a lot differently than I was used to. She wasn't going to be taking any notes, it looked like, but there was something about her voice that just put me at ease. It was no trick, I knew. If she'd been some kind of Pokemon, I would have known. Surprisingly, she did end up releasing her Pokemon. The psychic type was almost transparent, and he let out a single tone from the top of his head. Chimecho. Seven bells rang, and each sound felt different when they went through my body.

"Thank you, Chimecho," my therapist inclined her head before turning toward me. "A measure against eavesdroppers."

"That's not a barrier," I said. It was different than what I'd seen high-level League psychics do.

"It is not," she confirmed, leaving it at that. "I've been given a file about all of the events that went on during the raid," she said. "So you can speak in full confidence when we talk. Let's start at the now, shall we? What is your goal? What are you trying to achieve from your time with me?"

I frowned. I want you to fix me. But fixing could mean a lot of things, and she was only just one woman. For a moment, there was only silence as I attempted to find the words to answer her question.

"I guess I just want to be strong enough to stop feeling like I'm spiraling. I want to feel in control of my life again."

There was something in Aliyah's eyes, but I didn't know what. "Ah, control. Something everyone wishes to have," she said. "How would you describe the way you feel, at the moment?"

"Lost," I instantly said. "Confused, I guess. I have someone I really miss, and, uh, I can't talk to her right now. She was usually the person I used for support and to cope with events like these."

"Cecilia Obel," Aliyah nodded. "But now, it is just you, so we should work together to make you able to stand on your own two feet, yes?"

"I would like that," I agreed. "And there's—" I stopped and bit my lip. "Uh, I don't really care about what people think of me except for the potential money lost because of my sponsor. It's annoying, but I can deal. But my friends know what I did, and there's this weird… dissonance, where I don't care about having watched Backlot die, but they do, so now I feel like I have to care, but I can't bring myself to, and it's making me go insane. Now things are different, and I don't know if they're just talking to me because they think I'd become a psycho."

I was out of breath by the end of the statement, but it felt good to have finally told someone.

"I did figure there was an issue like this," Aliyah quietly said. "Tell me, Grace, have you ever turned off your abilities to sense emotions from Pokemon?"

I blinked. "Once, when I was fighting Crasher Wake. It's not turning off as much as it's diluting it until I can't really pay attention to it anymore."

"You've lived the past few months of your life able to know everything a Pokemon felt, and that means you can essentially know what they're thinking at all times," she said. "And now, there are your friends. For the first time, you don't know what they truly think of you, but you cannot delve into their psyche to know despite how hard you want to, am I correct?" She stopped to see my reaction, and my eyes were open wide enough to make it obvious that she'd been right, so she continued. "You've grown so used to having answers at your fingertips that you feel like you're drowning."

It was strange to have it put into words for the first time, but she was completely right. I desperately wanted to know what the others felt when they looked at me. If there was a hint of disgust, or how far the fear ran, or if they were only telling me one part of what they truly perceived me.

"That is the thought process of a controlling person, my dear," she said, almost like she was reading my mind. "It is also very unhealthy. It is my understanding that you will receive new powers from Lake Verity, but should your wish come to pass and you do extend your abilities to humans— along with whatever other powers will be given— you mustn't delve into that path. You will come to regret it."

"How?" I frowned. "If I can tell what they're thinking about me, I can adjust… uh, I can make myself better."

Aliyah gently clicked her tongue. "Because that would only bring animosity between you and your friends, Grace. It is also an issue of breach of trust. Your team has grown used to this, but humans work entirely differently, as you know. I doubt Cecilia Obel would appreciate it if you could tell how she felt at all times and used that to your advantage, hm?"

No, she would not. In fact, she would hate it, given the fact that freedom was what she valued the most.

I sighed, watching a couple of kids run in the distance. "So what then?" I asked, suddenly so very tired. "Do I keep drowning?"

"No, Grace," she said. "You learn how to swim."

—

The session lasted longer than I'd thought, considering the fact that I'd most likely be seeing Aliyah every day for the coming weeks. Not much progress had been made yet, but we mostly talked about boundaries and what they meant. I had to confess that I'd nearly broke and messaged Cecilia a bunch, and Aliyah had plenty of tips for me, even though I had no idea if they would work or not. It was, I knew, new for both of us, considering that Aliyah mostly dealt with things like PTSD, but she was actually surprised at how clear-minded I was after having almost died multiple times and killed people.

Had they not deserved it, I would have been shaken, I had said. And none of my Pokemon had come close to dying, unlike in Solaceon. Yet it was what people thought of me that had me worried. There would be two steps to this. One, teaching me to renege on my current morals was apparently close to impossible, although some ground could be gained back. Aliyah had only worked with one fairy type specialist in the past, but she'd known enough to tell that it was going to be the same with me. She had carefully explained that my incident with Princess had not changed the way I thought, but simply worsened the 'worst' sides of me. It was still me, after all, who hadn't spoken to my mother for ten years even though my father had repeatedly asked me to. Me, who had watched Princess ram into opponents with Rollout as a Togepi with gleeful smiles and watched her develop violent tendencies without blinking. In fact, I'd leaned in and enjoyed these far before any fairy type energy could be imbued.

It had always been me.

But I could not deny that Grace at the start of her journey would have passed out and vomited had she watched what Haunter had done to Edward Backlot for that long, so it wasn't just me. It was a mix, a terrible cocktail that made me abnormal to the rest of the world, and I was slowly growing worse by not slamming the brakes.

Secondly, if I could not gain back the morality I'd lost and I wanted to not disappoint my friends, then I had to work to keep my urges under control to be able to stop myself, which was something I'd already asked Honey and Angel to help with in Oreburgh.

"Can you give me a squiggly line?" I asked.

Jellicent drew in water from Twinleaf's lake and compressed it until it was as thin as rope. Then, he made it undulate— clumsily, but it was still squiggly.

"Okay, now freeze it?"

The water type let out an annoyed groan, but let frost spread through the water. Practicing TE manipulation was less about power, but about precision. If he could get that down, then we were golden and could start creating plenty of moves, or even do whatever the hell we wanted like Palafin had done with his huge spheres of water or those homing Hydro Pumps. Buddy was not the only one training, currently. Princess was off somewhere practicing Tri-Attack so she could get a handle on working with ice and electricity. Sunshine could unfortunately not train without risking burning everything down, but he was trying to speed up how quickly he could use his coverage moves. Honey, meanwhile, was busy trying to learn Hammer Arm, which would prove a lot more useful than Cross Chop against Byron. Angel was training with his vine-field technique.

It was routine, but routine felt nice once in a while. Mudsdale was keeping Sweetheart company, since she wasn't dozing off at the moment, but she was still too tired to train.

Anyway, it was nice to get back into the swing of things.

I had no idea where Aliyah was even staying, because League employees all felt the need to be secretive for no reason. She probably Teleported somewhere with Chimecho, or something. Maybe Sandgem or the lake. We hadn't even scratched the surface of my disassociation issues and how to know when to do it or not, or the fact that my self-preservation seemingly went off the wayside whenever I felt like justice had to be served, or how everything tied into my violent tendencies in battle— tendencies that I wouldn't change, I had decided. There were plenty of other things to address, but we had time, at the very least. This wasn't really what Aliyah had come here to discuss, but it was what I wanted. Even ACE Trainers would not have been able to watch what Haunter had done to Backlot for that long, according to her, so I needed the help. I would not lose myself entirely, but Aliyah had said a 'balancing act could be struck', and so I decided to trust her.

My heart jumped when my phone vibrated before I could even realize that no, it was not Cecilia, and even if it was, I needed to stop this. My mom was calling me over to cook stuff.

"You okay to stay here and train?" I asked Buddy.

The ghost nodded.

"Okay, just keep trying to make difficult shapes with water and mixing it up with ice," I said. "We'll keep reading history stuff tonight, okay? I know you were desperate to learn how the war between Jubilife and Canalave ended."

One of the many that had been fought, and currently had Canalave blockading Jubilife at the point we'd stopped in the book. Canalave had been Sinnoh's primary naval power, in its heyday. Buddy watched me with an amused glint as I turned toward Honey.

"Hey! It's time to cook!" I called out, cupping my mouth.

Needless to say, he ran toward my house faster than I could count to three. Buddy spat out a beam of shining ice into the sky, which was the signal we had if I needed a ride from Princess, and around thirty seconds later, the fairy type had landed. Twinleaf was nice, in that way. My Pokemon were more independent here than they'd ever been, and they could spend hours on their own without me constantly looking over their shoulder, save for Sweetheart, of course. I recalled her before I left. The last thing I wanted was a Tyranitar rampaging across Twinleaf. She would be with me at all times.

—

"Arceus, it's surprising how fast you made it here," Mom said. "Though I guess Electivire made it even faster. He's already helping in the kitchen."

"Well, Princess is fast," I said, patting my daughter on the head. "Stick around for now, alright? I might need you to fly back."

The fairy type nodded and decided to keep flying, but said she would stay around the house. She was training her maneuverability with bursts of air and making good progress, at the moment, so I didn't want to interrupt the groove she had going on. Honey was laying out the ingredients to… some kind of cake?

"What are we making?"

"My special pancake recipe," she smiled, pulling back her sleeves. "You've never had them before, but I promise you, they're the best pancakes Twinleaf has to offer."

"There are like three hundred people here," I deadpanned.

"Five-hundred and eighty-six," she specified. "Either way, let's get started. Electivire's been a great help."

We got going and started mixing ingredients, although making pancakes wasn't really a 3-person job, it was still an enjoyable experience.

"I didn't know your Pokemon could read," my mother said.

"A lot of them aren't great at it yet, but yeah, I've been teaching them," I said. "Felt like a useful skill to give them, you know?"

"Hmhm. Um, I know I can't get the details, and I'm not asking you that, but I hope your session went well?"

"There's a lot to work on, but it did," I nodded. "Thanks for asking."

She raised an eyebrow— uncannily similar to me— "Really?"

"Yeah. I guess it shows you care, and that feels good, I think."

Mom said nothing, but she did feel blink rapidly. I hadn't forgiven her, still, and I didn't know if I ever would, but maybe that was okay. Maybe we could just be okay in spite of that.

"How did you meet Dad?" I asked. I didn't know where I was going with this, really.

My mother's lips flattened as she handed the wet ingredients for Honey to mix. The electric type was largely silent, save for any advice he needed, but he was still paying attention to the conversation.

"At a bar," she said. "I know it sounds cliche, but he was out drinking with his colleagues and I was working there part-time. We struck a conversation, I suppose."

She didn't go further than that, because it pained her to, I realized. I let go of the topic and decided to move on.

"You know, I appreciate you being here," I muttered. Especially when it feels like all of my friends have turned their back on me.

Mom wrapped a hand around my shoulder and squeezed, which felt awkward, but good.

"Did you just put flour on me?"

She gasped. "Oh, I am so sorry— I— here, have this towel."

She clumsily gave me a tiny towel with a really cute embroidery on it just as someone knocked at the door. My mother's body tensed at the sound, and her eyes narrowed slightly.

"Stay here and keep mixing," she said. "I'll be right back."

She wiped her hands on her apron and scuttled toward the front door, but it wasn't like I wouldn't be able to see who was here, or hear, given the fact that the house's entrance gave a straight view into the kitchen. It was my grandma at the door, although I didn't stare for long, since I didn't want to mess this up for them.

"I heard that some stranger was at my door this morning," my grandmother said. "I'd like to know who that was."

My mother answered in a hushed whisper, quiet enough so that I couldn't hear the words. Honey patted me on the shoulder when I tried to listen closely.

"I won't be quiet in my house," my grandma said.

Samantha seemingly gave up. "I told you, didn't I? Grace was going to see someone from the League."

"Not on my property," the older woman spat. "What has the League ever done for us? They spit on us every year, blocked access to our lake, and now one of them gets to sit on my porch?"

I should say something.

"Look, next time I'll ask her to go somewhere else," Mom said in a whispering hiss. "Why do you always do this? I told you this was important… Grace needs this."

Arceus, it was odd to be talked about like I wasn't there. I wanted to intervene, but Mom had told me to stay here and I felt like me getting into an argument with my grandmother would only make things worse, so I kept my mouth shut.

"She hasn't even said hello," she said. "Arthur really never did teach her manners."

My hand froze and clasped the bowl. I turned toward both women and stared right in my grandmother's eyes. This wasn't about me, was it? Nor was it about the League. She just hated my father, when he'd done nothing wrong at all. She was just being an ass and using me as a crucible to fulfill some kind of old vendetta she had against Dad.

"Leave Arthur out of this," Samantha muttered, far weaker than I would have. When she realized that my grandmother wasn't looking at her anymore, she glanced my way and drew a breath. "Oh, Legends, no. Mom, leave. We'll talk this out in a few days."

For what it was worth, my grandmother— whose name I did not know and I would never bother to learn— did keep up the staring contest for quite some time until she looked at me. Truly at me, and not the kid she thought I was. She did not know much about battling or journeying, and therefore hadn't known what I'd gone through, save for the occasional nugget of information Mom talked about. She broke off our stare and stared at my burns first, her glance drifting down my neck and probably wondering how far they went. Further than you think, asshole. Her stare brought her down to my broken ankle, and then my arm.

This is who she was fighting. A broken, wounded teenager.

Yet I did not give her an inch, because after everything I'd been through? She did not even come close to intimidating me. I kept silent, of course, and I ignored the urge to do something I'd regret. I would have to bring this up with Aliyah to see if I could tamper those.

"We'll talk about this later," the old woman grunted, closing the door louder than what was needed.

She'd been lucky it was Honey who'd been here and not any of the others. The electric type's tails had been frozen in place, and it was hard to miss the anger roiling off his fur, but he'd kept quiet, only having offered me support by making himself taller. My mother let out a heavy sigh as she leaned against the wall.

"I'm sorry, Grace. I thought she'd respect my wishes and keep away."

"So that's why she isn't here," I said. "Because she's awful."

Mom's lips twitched, and I could tell she'd wanted to refute it.

"Let's just get back to cooking," she smiled. "This won't happen again."

She looked tired, now. Older. Her smile was sadder than anything else, but I knew she didn't want to talk about it, so I bit my lip and nodded.

It seemed, I realized, that Mom had been subservient to her own mother the entire time she'd been here.

—

Another day had passed since arriving in Twinleaf.

It had started like this.

Mudsdale and Angel had been watching Sweetheart while the other members of the team trained nearby, but the ground type had called me over when Pupitar closed her eyes and started rattling from within her cocoon. It had been to early. Too soon. And yet it was happening. Princess flew me over in seconds, and the rest of the team made its way there as fast as they could. I grabbed my Pokeball, but recalling a Pokemon while they were evolving was… unhealthy, to say the least, so all I could do was watch and hope for the best. We all stood in a wary circle around her at what we thought was a safe distance, and Princess and Honey were in front of me should a Protect or a barrier be needed in the second or so Sweetie would be out of her ball. I scanned the terrain around us and sighed in relief when I saw that no one was here save for a few people in the distance. Thank the Legendaries I decided to train on the town's outskirts today.

The rock type shed the final pieces of her outer shell with a pained grunt, and her body started glowing— and expanding. The entire shell cracked, but I did not see what was within. Instead, she grew and grew. Arms, feet, and a tail unfolded. Sharp, jagged spikes extended all over her back and shoulders. The light dissipated, revealing thick, rugged green plates that would only harden with age. The rock type had grown to nearly a towering eight feet, but she would grow, still. Her eyes locked onto mine, and rage started to seep off of her like a waterfall. Grains of sand started to streamed out of the vestigial vents on her legs and chest.

She roared so loudly that every flying type in miles flew off, but I recalled her into her Pokeball before she could attack. The ground had started to shake from her yelling, and my ears felt muffled. That sound had no doubt terrified Twinleaf's residents.

I gulped. I'd made a plan for this, but now that it was actually happening, it felt like I'd stepped onto quicksand. I glanced at Princess and had Angel place me on her.

It was time to go to the lake, and hopefully, it would at least dampen her rage.

---

A/N: I have never been to therapy and am not a therapist, this is just my best attempt at crafting a scene after having researched how this typically goes. Sorry if I was completely wrong and that offended anyone.

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, BeautifulBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, nothingtoseehere, SecondBlahm, Daruda, Mystic Corn, menirx, Paul S, coolblue, Ole W, Daniel J, Eric, Anarchistofyams

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 268 - Remember

I buried any remaining doubts I had about my plan as Princess rushed toward Lake Verity. Tyranitar were rare enough not to have that much research done on them, but there were still people with the Pokemon outside of Sinnoh, most notably Brock, a Gym Leader in Kanto. He had, however, stayed tight-lipped about anything regarding his Tyranitar's evolution. It was actually Grimsley from the Unovan Elite Four, a dark type specialist, who had gone extensively over what triggered the rage within Tyranitar when they evolved. Unova actually had the largest number of people owning a Tyranitar at a whopping five if you counted Grimsley. The reason they were so difficult to catch was that first, normally a trainer would need to go deep into an incredibly dangerous mountain, like Mount Silver or Coronet, and even if they did, Larvitar were always protected by a mother. Pupitar, meanwhile, were usually buried somewhere deep underground to escape predators (although they almost never reached their final stages due to how common burrowing Pokemon like the Onix line found them), while Tyranitar were, well, Tyranitar, and they had so few children throughout their lives that breeders couldn't exactly work with them.

Good luck forcing two Tyranitar— which is a big ask in the first place— to breed if they didn't want to. I had a bone to pick with breeders in general, but that would come far later. I had to fix my own issues before looking outward again.

But I was getting off-track. Their issues essentially had to do with them gaining a new typing and being overwhelmed by it so much that a rampage was the result. Months ago, Roland Hunter had told me that dark TE was absence, and that was true, in the way he knew it. All of his life, he had only known Shiftry, and so it had molded his understanding of the energy. At its core, he had been right, but Sweetheart was no Shiftry. She would have no mastery of the dark, and so emotions would swell inside of her uncontrollably.

It was often said that it was anger, that pushed a Tyranitar to be violent after their evolutions, but that was wrong. It was fear. So many feelings surging to the forefront of their minds confused them too much to think, and that led to them being terrified. Combine that with having to learn how to stand on two feet again and having built up massive amounts of stress because of their final molt, and the picture became a lot clearer.

"I think it was around here somewhere," I muttered to Princess. "Keep flying northwest, I can feel the pull there."

My usual ACE Trainers were on break, although it would end very soon, and my new ones were even more elusive than them and had refused to show themselves even once. I had thought that they'd show me where the lake was, but then again, last time they'd tried to see if Chase and Cece could feel Valor for a while. Maybe they wanted to see if things were different, since I wasn't splitting my power with anyone.

And it was different. I could feel the pull closer, now, but before I could get any further, someone on a relatively small Pidgeot just appeared around five hundred feet in front of me. I told Princess to stop and wait for them… him to approach. When he saw who I was, his face instantly went from combative to understanding.

"Grace Pastel, right?" he called out. "My Commander said you'd be coming soon."

It took a second to realize that Commander was a League term and not just something Team Galactic slung around. They had probably pulled the term from there, thinking about it.

"That's me!" I yelled, remembering that no, most League Trainers still had no idea about the Legendaries in the lakes or why the hell their bosses were letting us in these fortified areas. I'd been about to say I wasn't here to meet Mesprit yet.

"Let's see some ID, just to be sure."

I stopped myself from rolling my eyes at the procedure as he got closer to Princess and pulled out my card from my wallet. Once that was done, he led me deeper above the forest. Just like Valor and Acuity, Verity was off-route. I held back a surprised gasp when four minutes later, I passed through a thin veil and the lake just revealed itself to me. Right, the League camouflages them with some kind of mass illusionary technique and turns back anyone before they can get close enough to see the illusion break. The entire lake was been surrounded by massive, dark walls, just like the other one, but this time I was allowed to fly over them instead of having to be identified at a gate. This one was a little bigger than the other two, if I remembered correctly. In a way, it felt odd to be back at the location of such a pivotal moment in my life. I'd met Cyrus here, and I'd nearly died. There was no anxiety, however. As soon as I had crossed the threshold, my body started to loosen and a gentle calm wrapped around me. It was like lying down and being covered by a warm blanket— just so comfortable. My worries about Sweetheart didn't wash away, but they weren't as debilitating.

This place was basically a small town, and there were far more people here than in Twinleaf, even. Rows and rows of dark barracks had been raised, and Sinnoh's flag flew everywhere. We landed beside the largest building, next to a couple of trucks driving on the asphalt road and carrying cargo. The last time I'd been in one of these, I'd been weaker than basically every League Trainer stationed here. Today? I could say with confidence I was on the upper end of that spectrum.

The base's headquarters was a formidable building. It stood as a sentinel of authority and command. Its facade, an unyielding monolith of reinforced concrete and steel, exuded an aura of invincibility. Massive, blast-resistant walls rose several stories high, giving the impression of an impenetrable fortress. Pokemon Centers were made of the same stuff, but the paint jobs and garnish made it hard to link the two.

The building's architectural design was a model of utilitarian efficiency. Sharp, clean lines characterized the structure, eschewing any form of unnecessary ornamentation. A symmetrical layout conveyed a sense of wrongness, with how neatly everything had been arranged. Rows of small, high-set windows, almost like narrow slits, adorned the upper levels, while a few larger windows on the lower floors allowed for essential natural light to filter inside.

The League Trainer led me inside, and I was glad to see that I wasn't the center of attention aside from passing glances. Most of them had work to do and wouldn't gawk at me like people had outside of Twinleaf. After a twenty-minute wait, the Commander was ready for me. I walked as quickly as I could with my crutch as I let the calm spread through me. Every lake had had just an intoxicating effect on the mind, it was really difficult not to get caught up in this feeling. By the time I snapped back to reality, we were already in front of the Commander in a tight room blasting with cold air conditioning. She was younger than I thought she'd be, but the League fostered talent over experience or age. A thin scar ran out the corner of her eye— almost like Louis' own scar— but other than that, she was as good as new. She donned short auburn hair and a classic military uniform.

What did surprise me was Aliyah's presence, along with her Chimecho hanging around her neck like a scarf. We'd had a nice session earlier this morning going over the basis of what I wanted for myself, so I hadn't expected to see her until tomorrow. Before I could even say something, she raised a hand and spoke.

"I currently live here, and Bethany decided it would be wise for me to be present," Aliyah explained. "Personally, I did not believe it to be necessary."

Bethany's her name, then. Bethany shot Aliyah a glare that was so fast I could have blinked and missed it. The League Trainer who accompanied me saluted and left the room, closing the door.

"Since you're here," Bethany grumbled, waving a hand dismissively at Aliyah.

Chimecho's eyes gleamed, and seven chimes rang out, just like before both of our sessions so far, so I assumed no one would be able to eavesdrop.

"You're here to meet Guardian One, then?" Bethany asked, turning to me.

It took me a bit to understand why she was so… displeased with me. Maybe displeased was the wrong word, but she certainly wasn't nice, which was fine. I hadn't expected to be coddled. Bethany was a Commander in the League, which meant she'd probably read everything about the raid. She was… unsettled about me. Was that why she'd wanted Aliyah to be here? The report certainly didn't make me look good, and I knew it was only a matter of time until the Gym Leaders got access to it. Gardenia wasn't a friend, but I had hoped to see her one day and connect with her. Candice was going to think I was insane, but not in a good way. She was going to despise me.

Don't think about it yet, I told myself. Let the lake flow through you.

"Not today, no," I said when I saw her stare grow worried. I'd been taking too much time to answer and just staring. "Also, Guardian One?"

"Can't say the Guardian's name out loud without going wild here," she explained. "The effect depends on the day, really. Sometimes it's just a burning feeling in the throat, other times the calm feeling you get turns into sorrow, anger, melancholy, anxiety— just, negative emotions for up to a week, so the people who know about its existence call it Guardian One."

Azelf and Uxie's official denomination was probably Guardian Two and Guardian Three or vice versa, then.

"It wasn't like that in the other lakes," I said.

"I know it wasn't," she deadpanned. "And it's not like that in Acuity either. This one's capricious."

Arceus fucking damn it, that did not bode well for me. Good thing I wasn't touching the lake until the day I was leaving. Honey had been right when he'd warned me off.

"Well, I'm not here to meet… Guardian One yet," I said, ignoring her sigh. "I have a Tyranitar who just evolved, and I'd like to use the lake's calming effect to aid in her adjustment."

Bethany raised an eyebrow. "We heard reports of people having heard some kind of roar around here and the wildlife having grown agitated. I had no idea it was you."

"There are reports already?" I scoffed.

"Young trainers from Sandgem like to travel the wilds around Twinleaf," she dismissed. "But to answer your request, I would be willing to accept so long as your needs aren't too extravagant. I can extend the help of a few of my trainers—"

"No trainers," I interrupted. "Just me."

She paused, and reevaluated the entire conversation in an instant. She'd probably thought I'd ask for too much instead of nothing. "Well, supposedly you have ACEs guarding you, so that's alright. We'll still have trainers on the ready to intervene, however. You're too important to be risked."

"I guess I can work with that."

I shot a look at Aliyah. See, compromise. That was progress, right? And I hadn't even gotten angry at her tone even in passing.

That was probably because I had other things to worry about and thanks to the lake, but still.

"We'll clear you an area," she said. "You'll just have to wait a while."

—

It was perfect.

There was a long stretch of land with no League personnel to be seen, and no infrastructure save for the wall around half a mile away. They had made me wait around an hour to clear the space for me, so no one would be coming here until I told them I was done dealing with Tyranitar. The lake's shores were just around fifteen feet away and I had to physically stop myself from plunging into it. It was like the pull of gravity, or someone tugging at my arm. Cecilia and Chase hadn't described the pull to be that strong. Was it because their power had been split, or because Mesprit was more enthusiastic about me? Perhaps it was both, but I wouldn't be touching the lake's surface today. I hovered above the ground on Princess as she kept a barrier around us. My Pokemon all had their positions, and I'd told them the entire plan while we had waited for the League to give me the okay.

Two things were most important. One, this was not going to be a battle with the goal of taking down Sweetheart. We needed to calm her down, which meant buying time until she got adjusted to the changes in her body. Angel and Honey would be of great use there, with powder moves and using Static to slow her down. In a way, we were going at this like we'd battled Sunshine in Mount Coronet, really. Buddy's Will-O-Wisp wasn't going to be used here because it would actually hurt her and possibly anger her further, but he was going to use the water from the lake to slow her down some with his new skills with TE manipulation.

Surely using water from a Legendary's domain wasn't blasphemous or anything.

Sunshine would stay in the back and be support, but he wouldn't be of much use here, unfortunately, save for giving Tyranitar words of support, and Mudsdale would stay even further back in order not to fight. I had asked the ground type if he wanted to stay in his Pokeball for this, but he'd said he wanted to be here to watch, at the very least.

The second important thing was that if this didn't work, well, I could just recall her and try again. The goal of this fight was to last as long as possible so Sweetheart could grow used to the swirling emotions in her body.

"Is everyone ready?!" I called out.

Affirming grunts rang out below, and I knew they all were.

I moistened my lips and released Sweetheart in front of Angel and Honey. Immediately, sand started to spin around her and spread as she let loose a bone shaking roar. The rock type stumbled as she tried to take a step, having not grown used to walking again, and that was the opening Angel needed. A dozen vines shot forward, blurring until they slammed onto Tyranitar's thick plates in an attempt to slow her. Buddy's eyes shone red and water crawled all over Sweetheart before solidifying into frost and ice and dulling her movements, but that didn't stop the sand from gushing out of her vents.

Jagged stones shot out of the ground, each one taller and thicker than I was, and Sweetheart hurled them toward Honey as the electric type blurred around her to find an opening. They buried themselves into the ground at an angle and kicked up more dirt, while some fell into the lake. Tyranitar grabbed onto Angel's vines and tore them apart with a single hand, pulling him forward in the process. Puffs of spores emanated from the torn-up vines, but we'd need much more to have a visible effect.

Tyranitar stared into the sky and her eyes narrowed at Princess and I. I gulped as she redirected the tons of sand toward us and she obstructed my view. Princess' barrier shimmered with the impact of the sandstorm. The move was more like a Hurricane than anything else. The fairy type gained in altitude with a burst of air, but the entire area was full of sand, now. For a second, the sandstorm staggered, and the sound of earth being ripped out made it through the deafening sandstorm.

"Fairy Wind. We need to see what's going on!" I yelled.

Togekiss flapped her wings, and pink mist countered the sandstorm somewhat and allowed me to see that Honey was holding onto a bleeding shoulder. Electricity crackled around him as he sped up with Radiant Leap and placed a hand on the enormous rock type's back. Tangrowth wrapped vines around her tail before she could hit him, and electricity spread through her. Good thing she lost that ground typing, I told myself.

Where was Buddy? My eyes scanned the battlefield until I spotted pieces of him scattered around. Damn it.

"Sweetheart!" I yelled. "It's me! Grace—"

The only thing my voice did was have her remember that I was still here, and darkness gathered around her mouth. A pit formed in my stomach as I screamed at Princess to dodge. Rings of darkness interlocked with each other until they shot out toward us. They were slow, thank the Legendaries, but they still grazed against Princess' barrier and shattered it. I coughed as sand filled my throat, lungs, and eyes— fuck, it hurt. I fell limp to the side, but I was strapped in tight. Togekiss quickly put a barrier back up and I took in a deep, raspy breath before coughing up sand as I set myself straight on her back. The sandstorm was dispersing Angel's spores too, damn it. Luckily we'd been high and quick enough to avoid my breathing any in.

Suddenly, the entire area began to shake, rumbling with something akin to a Stomping Tantrum but stronger, and Honey put up a Protect to keep himself from getting too hurt. Angel and Sunshine, meanwhile, took the full brunt of the attack. The earthquake kicked up earth and rocks so high into the sky that it was hard to believe I was flying a hundred feet above the ground. Princess dodged them all, of course, but the sheer speed of them shattered any doubts I had that the barrier wouldn't have broken in one impact. Jagged rocks stood up like spikes and the ground grew uneven.

I clenched my teeth and ordered Princess to go higher. We couldn't afford to get caught by that dark type move again. Looked like Dark Pulse, I quickly noted. I hadn't expected Sweetheart to have already been able to pull on dark TE right after evolving, even if it was clumsy. Buddy had been reforming too slowly for my taste and had probably been hit by one of those, but he was back in form. Water coiled around the ghost and Shades materialized around him. A new trick we'd learned was that the shades could help him be more efficient with manipulating water, and a thin layer of liquid surrounded Tyranitar, freezing right around her vents and choking out the source of the sandstorm. Electivire tagged her with another burst of electricity before stepping back to avoid a backhand. They were longer than I thought they'd be, and a hit from those would be like getting hit by a truck.

"Keep up the pressure!" I yelled. "She's slowing!"

Another set of vines shot out of Angel's body, but then Tyranitar moved.

All this time, she'd stayed stationary. The rock type brought a foot forward, then another, but she tripped and fell, creating a giant crater in the earth and a billow of dust. Tangrowth's vines turned neon green as he sucked some of her energy with Giga Drain, but the rest of the team kept their distance. Tyranitar angled her head up, and a Dragon Pulse slammed into Angel and sent him rolling backward until the earth rose into a wall to stop him from falling into the lake. My eyes drifted toward Mudsdale and I mouthed him a thank you, but Sweetheart wasn't done with him. She'd designated the ground type a target, now. Another Dragon Pulse shot toward Mudsdale, but Sunshine moved in with a flaming Rapid Spin and took the attack in the chest to protect his friend. The attack knocked the air out of his lungs and he winced as he slid back and fell over.

Then, the floor split open.

It came as a fissure first, slowly spreading in a zigzagging line toward both Sunshine and Mudsdale. Then, it opened like a giant maw, twenty feet deep, and both Pokemon fell in. I snapped Sweetheart's Pokeball forward and recalled her before she could close it back again. The sandstorm let up after thirty seconds or so, allowing Princess and I to land. I used Turtonator and Mudsdale's Pokeballs to bring them back up to our level fast enough and had Togekiss fix up the ground, along with the enormous stones Tyranitar had wrought. After taking a mouthful of water and spitting the remaining sand out of my mouth, it was time for a group meeting.

"We're going at this wrong," I said. "I thought the lake would dampen the rage enough to have her not try to hurt us that badly, but she's still trying. Instead, it's just making her lose her confusion and fear quicker. As much as it hurts me, we need to be more forceful."

They all protested, of course, the loudest being Sunshine and Angel. I listened to their suggestion with a cool head, because despite being the team's leader, they deserved to have their voices heard. Sunshine said that even if we were more forceful, her defensive capabilities had grown so much that it would only serve to anger her and nothing else.

"I didn't mean, like, taking her down. Giga Drain worked well, but you're right on that front," I muttered. Draining moves were one of the few that could bypass Tyranitar's armor. "The only move that will have the biggest effect is Honey's Cross Chop. Do you think you can go in and out?"

The electric type nodded with a tired grunt. He'd been grazed by a giant Stone Edge to the shoulder and was growing tired, so I decided to heal him with a potion as best I could. Sunshine's Focus Blast would help a lot here, even more than Cross Chop, but I doubted he would ever agree to strike her that hard, and I was inclined to agree with him anyway.

"She's slowing, and she's clumsy," I said, biting my lip. Arceus, she must have been so scared and overwhelmed. "But this is the best spot to do this. It'd be far worse somewhere else without the lake to help."

Her strong emotions were subsiding, slowly but surely. Lake Verity was odd, really. Why was it that it made people calm? Mesprit was the herald of all emotion, after all. Either way, when her feelings stopped peaking so high, she would be well enough to communicate. Emotions were supposed to be far less erratic than this. Right now, she was like a storm. The transitions were happening too quickly, and they were too great.

"Angel, you were doing great, and Buddy, keep blocking those vents. I need to see what's going on in the battle and that sandstorm is way too powerful if left unobstructed. Sunshine, keep talking to her like you were. Our words are having an effect, we just need to keep pushing and break through. Mudsdale… thanks for the help. I really appreciate it."

The ground type inclined his head, and I mustered a thin smile. His fall in that fissure had given him a big scare. This was going worse than expected, but the plan was working, at least. I ran my hands through my hair to push away the sand and hopped on Princess once again. I'd have to see if Mom could give me a haircut before I left. Once I reached our desired height, I released Sweetheart again.

Her eye twitched, and darkness exploded out of her as she let out a mighty roar. Buddy instantly wormed himself below ground to avoid the attack while Honey put up another Protect. Instantly, he rushed toward Sweetheart with his forearms glowing white. He reached her in less than a second, his Cross Chop cracking the rock type's plates. She keened, but he was gone before she could retaliate with a Stone Edge or her spiked tail. Her proficiency with the move had grown leaps and bounds. The rocks spun around her with ease as if she was Princess using Ancient Power. Electivire weaved electricity through his arms and fingers, altering the path of the stones with magnetism until they struck around him and buried themselves into the ground like tall spires.

The sandstorm was still there, although abated thanks to Jellicent's help. The ghost had his Night Shades work on the water while he kept freezing it over and over far more efficiently and deeper than an Ice Beam ever could. Sunshine had started attacking, although his Dragon Pulses were far weaker than he could have made them and they only tickled Sweetheart.

"Sweetheart, please," I shouted.

This time, she looked at me and didn't instantly attack. She did fire that beam of darkness at us, however, and Princess had to dive down to dodge. The Fairy Wind carried her far until she swept over Tyranitar's head. The rock type grunted as the wind hurtled into her with enough force to sweep Sunshine off his feet. She was, unfortunately, too heavy to trip up and did not even budge.

"Angel!" I called out.

The grass type sprung into action, cutting off a few of his vines before throwing them forward as they glowed with Power Whip. I motioned at Princess to turn back, and she did so quickly that blood rushed to my head, and everything spun and throbbed for a second. Four walls surrounded Sweetheart as soon as the vines slammed into her. They barely lasted a moment, of course, and Tyranitar simply walked through them like they were nothing, but that small lapse of time left us an opening.

Angel attached himself to the ground with Ingrain, and his vines snaked across the floor like a mass of writhing Ekans. Sweetheart fired off a Dragon Pulse across the vines, but they slowly regenerated and regrew until they reached her. They wrapped around her legs and tail, slowing her down as Honey finally got a good Thunder Wave off. He didn't know the move, exactly, but he'd gotten good enough with electricity and Static to know how to work it anyway. As soon as he was gone, the vines below Tyranitar's feet glowed with Solar Blade until they blew up, kicking up more spores— mostly Sleep Powder. This was it. This was my opening.

"Lower," I told Princess.

I could feel the hesitation within her, but she instantly listened. She hovered around ten feet above Tyranitar with her barrier still in place. The sandstorm kept continuously thinning.

"Sweetie," I yelled. "It's me."

She tried to move, although she stumbled due to the huge amounts of Sleep Powder in her system, the paralysis, and the fact that she hadn't grown used to her body yet. Instead, she only screamed in frustration until she sat down on the ground, her arms and legs still twitching.

"Do you remember when I found you?" I muttered. "Our first days together deep below Mount Coronet?"

Her words were incoherent and nonsensical, but her eyes softened.

"You were so small," I continued. "Just a little baby who wanted to conquer the world. You've reached heights you've dreamed of your entire life, but you've got to wrestle back control. Focus on my voice, Sweetheart. I'm right here."

The entire team started approaching with heavy, tired breaths. Electivire hesitated, his hand hovering over her towering shoulder until I nodded and he touched her. Turtonator stayed silent, but his stare said a thousand words. Jellicent watched with dimmed eyes as he soothed her, saying that none of this had been her fault. Angel's vines retracted from the ground and back into his body until he petted the crook in between the spikes on her head, just like what she'd loved. Princess chirped, enunciating a soft 'baby sister' that cleared the last doubts Sweetheart had.

"Come back to us," I choked, tearing up even through the lake's calming effect. "Remember. Please."

Sweetheart's eyes flitted, and she could only muster a small nod. All of her remaining fear and confusion slid off her like water off a Ducklett's back. I sighed in relief. We'd made it, and without the lake, we maybe would have needed to spend hours doing this. Togekiss landed, and I hobbled toward Sweetheart, touching her for the first time. Her plates were scaly from up close and were as hard as steel. She kept muttering apologies and crying— although her crying sounded a lot more threatening than it had before. Even when she was sitting, she dwarfed me completely. I didn't know how much more she'd grow, but she was technically still a kid, and crossing eight feet was guaranteed, and perhaps even nine.

"Are you hurt?" I said, pulling out two potions. "Honey and Angel did a number on you, didn't they?"

Electivire scratched the back of his head and apologized for using Cross Chop on her, and I knew she really was back when she called him a stupid idiot. I let out a wet chuckle as I stood on the tip of my good foot to apply the potion to her back. Turtonator stared her up and down like he was the proudest he'd ever been. I hadn't even seen him this pumped when he had mastered our Shell Trap-Rapid Spin combo. He even laughed and said she was ready to become a true dragon, with how powerful her Dragon Pulses had been.

"Don't get too many ideas inside of her head," I said, much to Mudsdale's agreement. "I'll tell you guys what, what if we stick around here for a bit? It'll help Sweetie deal with her adjustments. Oh, and Princess, can you fix the ground again?"

Togekiss didn't complain, for once, and Honey watched me with a careful eye.

"Not meeting Mesprit yet, Hon—"

Stupid! My stomach dropped, and I flinched, expecting to be hit with some kind of backlash, but after five seconds, nothing happened. I took deep breaths and waited for my heartbeat to slow, which was quicker than usual thanks to the lake. Had Commander Bethany lied? No, no way. Maybe only I could utter the name. I stared out at the lake as I calmed down my Pokemon and told them it'd been nothing and that I was supposed not to be able to say Mesprit's name. Well, I wasn't going to take any more risks like that.

"Uh, yeah, I told you I'd wait to meet the Guardian, so you don't have to worry. This is just… you know, nice," I said as my eyes swept the crystal clear lake. "And it'll be good for your sister. I should have brought food here. Oh, right. Apparently, you can still sustain yourself off rocks and dirt, Sweetie—"

She interrupted me and yelled that she was tired of dirt so loudly that the inside of my body shook as she flashed her rows of sharp teeth each the size of my head. Okay, we were going to need to get used to the volume issue. She had always been loud, but I was pretty sure I was going to go deaf if this kept up.

"Shhh, don't be too loud, okay? You have big lungs now. How about this, I'll go buy a bunch of stuff in Sandgem later today and we can have Mom, me, and Honey cook for all of us. Princess will have to carry the groceries mid-air, though. You're so big now there won't be enough space in my bag if anyone else is going to eat." I stopped when the fairy type asked if she could spin them around. "No, you definitely can't do that. Let me text her to see what she can help us make."

With her size, she was definitely going to have to contend with earth and rocks while we traveled, though.

I lay down in the grass and against Princess' fluffy body while Honey, Sunshine and Angel coddled Sweetheart. The dragon couldn't help but notice the strength of her scales dwarfing his and expressing his jealousy over them. Supposedly, if his scales were that tough, he would have conquered Mount Wela by the time he was one year old.

He was, of course, horribly mistaken.

Buddy was floating at the edges of the lake. The waters brought him a calm he'd never felt before, so he was content to just soak in it and relax. I did warn him not to go too deep, though, just in case. Denzel's Milotic had swam in Lake Acuity as a Feebas and nothing had happened, but we were better safe than sorry. I turned toward Mudsdale, who was lying down a few feet away and watching the calm waters, as if they reminded him of something. I wanted to tell him that he could come closer if he wished, but he knew that already.

I still had sand all over my hair and inside my clothes.

I felt like sleeping, but I didn't let myself slumber out of fear that Mesprit would somehow pull me in while I was under, so instead I thought of Sweetheart's new capabilities. She was practicing walking, at the moment, and every step shook the foundation of the earth. Sometimes, she tripped, and that was a mini-earthquake in itself. No amount of vines would be able to prevent her from falling. Of course, at least they were here to soothe her when the frustration caused her to cry.

She was, without a doubt, now the most powerful member of my team in terms of both destructive and defensive capabilities. A Cross Chop had merely cracked her shell— or I supposed it was armor, now. She could have taken fifteen of those focused in the same spot before her armor broke, although I was sure moves like Focus Blast and Giga Drain could bypass her toughest defenses. The sheer power that she'd gained with Stone Edge was unparalleled, and having scanned her with my Pokedex, she'd learned Dark Pulse, which confirmed my suspicions even if it had been clumsy and slow to use. What she lacked now was precision. Like Sunshine, I was sure she already had the power to compete at the Conference, but she had to learn how to use it—

She tripped again, this time closer, and pieces of earth would have fallen down my face had Princess not blown it away without even looking. I snorted and decided to get up so I wouldn't doze off and walked up to Sweetheart, who was face-up, at the moment, having creating a small crater from her stumbling. I crouched next to her and brushed a hand against her face.

"You're doing great, baby," I said. "Why don't you take a break? Aren't you tired?"

She definitely was. Sweetheart might have changed, but these were still her eyes and I could tell how she felt even without my gift. I scratched her head as she decided to settle down for an afternoon nap. With how hard her plates were, it was hard to believe she felt anything from the touch, but she apparently did.

One thing was for sure, there was no way I was using her in a battle any time soon, although I'd have to start training with her to gauge her strength. She could hurt or kill a Pokemon by accident, if we weren't careful. A single one of her Stone Edges was sharp and large enough to wound Princess really badly. And that fissure-like move, earlier? We'd been lucky she had only used it once and slowly enough for me to react. It wasn't a move, really. She had just ripped apart the floor through sheer force of will, like what her mother had done to save her from that wild Rhyperior, but on a much smaller scale.

Yeah, I wasn't going to make a mistake and have her hit something way harder than she should.

"Oh," I muttered.

She was asleep already.

---

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[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 269

Unlike Pastoria, Sandgem had never been built that far inland, and instead stretched along the coast. It was striking to see from up here, even if it was my second time seeing the city from the air. I asked Princess to land on one of the pads to let us wander the streets for a little bit. It was nice and warm today, even late in the afternoon, so I didn't want to waste the opportunity and wanted to leave myself time to enjoy the little things. It wasn't even something Aliyah had brought up, really, I just felt like hanging out with her and Angel while we went to buy some groceries.

She landed us on one of the pads on the city's outskirts, and I let Angel carry me around while she hovered closely above us. The streets were straight as an arrow here, unlike Pastoria's winding ones that meandered everywhere. There were, I noticed, a lot more kids out than usual. I recognized the look on those faces— people that were growing excited that the year was drawing to an end, because soon they would be able to strike out on their journey for the first time. Granted, it was still barely mid-April, but the excitement for a new Circuit started building up far before the year's end. Some would train with a starter they already had while others would look on with jealous eyes and desperately want their own. Already, people would be swarming the tips and tricks sections of the forums for new trainers, which was only something I knew because I'd been in the same position a year ago.

Yes, even when I'd been convinced I wanted nothing to do with Pokemon training, I'd been reading posts giving advice about it. So what?

"Mom said that she wanted to make a bunch of grilled meats, so we have to buy a lot," I said. I ignored Princess' groan, although Angel was intrigued by it. I'd fed him meat before, but maybe he'd just forgotten. "I'll just have you eat whatever, Princess, don't worry about it."

Funnily enough, Mom had said she'd pay me back even though she was unemployed and I had more money than she'd know what to do with, but I knew what it felt like, to have someone buy things for you, and she had some money saved up from the time she still worked. I passed by a larger crowd of kids all huddled around one of Sandgem's larger buildings. I recognized it, of course, and any Sinnohan would have seen it on TV at least once in their lives. It looked more like an enormous manor than a laboratory, with a weathered wooden façade, a surface adorned with ivy and trailing vines that somehow looked fancy instead of overgrown weeds. The wooden frames bore thin scars which was a part of that rustic charm. The roof was covered in sky-blue tiles, casting shadows that loomed across the worn cobblestone pathway leading to the entrance. There was a hint of a backyard surrounded by a nice-looking blue fence.

Professor Rowan's lab, I mused. And it looked like he was giving quite the speech, too. He was raised on a platform behind a lectern and holding a microphone. Upon closer look, some kids were here with their parents too. Most were standing, but the front rows had chairs laid about for people to sit on. The professor wasn't alone, either. Two others went back and forth behind him, whispering to each other as he gave his speech, both with the same colored blue hair and gray eyes. The twins who Barry told me about. Well, it wouldn't hurt to stop by to listen to the speech, although I doubted I'd be able to talk to them. I was well connected to the League, but the scientific community was a different matter entirely. While I was sure I could have bribed him by having him study Sweetheart, I wanted to keep her status a secret, at least for now, and she'd probably break down half of his lab or kill him by accident. My reputation was already in tatters enough, and I doubted that 'it was an accident' would help me.

"Don't touch random people," I whispered to Angel as we approached.

His vine around my good ankle drooped, but it was an agreeing droop, so I pat him on the head to praise him.

"...every year, I give a speech like this. As a Pokémon Professor, it's my lifelong passion to explore, understand, and celebrate the extraordinary diversity of life that thrives on our Planet. Pokemon are more than just creatures; they represent the bonds we share, the adventures we undertake, and the lessons we learn on our path to becoming trainers, coordinators, researchers— the possibilities are endless. Those very same bonds need to be nurtured. This is why this summer, I am giving a select few the opportunity to get their very own starter from my lab!"

Huh, that was interesting— although obviously not for me. From what I knew, Rowan only really gave starters to people well-connected to him or his lab, but now he was changing things a little bit, so I'd just witnessed an extraordinary event. Excitement gleamed through every kid's eye. No doubt, they were salivating at the thought of getting a top-of-the-line, 'well-bred' starter Pokemon. I knew better, though. Those things mattered less and less the further you progressed in your career even though they'd give you a big boost at the start, and relying on how powerful your Pokemon's parents had been was a surefire way of crashing and burning hard. I stayed for a little while, and there was a demonstration of the starters that would be given out. Piplup, Chimchar and Turtwig, so the usual three, which Dawn and Lucas released from a briefcase. What I hadn't expected, however, was for them to show their own Pokemon.

Lucas was a little shorter than Dawn, but his Torterra dwarfed any other human and was absolutely massive, especially next to her Infernape. The huge tree on his back was well-trimmed and maintained, or at least far more orderly than Harry Rodriguez's had been. Moss covered most of his shell, leaving only thin bits of brown and grey exposed. It even covered the rocky spikes on his back too. There was discomfort from Princess at the sight of a Torterra after so long, and I couldn't help but feel a twinge of it too.

"Unfortunately, Barry Lane couldn't be present today, so I have no Empoleon to show you, but I assume that what we've shown has pleased you enough, looking at your faces," Professor Rowan chuckled.

Knowing Barry, he was already fighting Candice up in Snowpoint for his eighth badge. As Angel passed behind the crowd, my eyes locked with Lucas, and something in his look unsettled me. There wasn't really a reason why. He hadn't glared, or been rude or anything, so maybe I was just being paranoid. I listened until Rowan started getting into how he'd pick his three new sponsees and then decided to leave. I figured maybe I'd catch some new information about evolutions or discovery or something, since that was his domain of expertise, but this was a speech to excite new trainers, not to talk about anything else. I couldn't deny that he knew how to entertain a crowd, though. Would the trainers he gave his Pokemon to have to find him some rare Pokemon like Barry sometimes did? Maybe he was doing this out of the goodness of his heart. Rowan was a lot funnier than I would have guessed from his stern face and his relatively old age, and I felt thankful that he could draw attention like a magnet. That way, I wouldn't have to care about people gawking at me.

"Let's go get those groceries, shall we?" I declared.

—

"Watch the landing, alright?" I gently said.

Princess retorted by saying it was just meat, and she could have spun it around or landed roughly if she so wished.

"I really hope Sweetheart doesn't rebel like you're doing right now," I said. "You used to be so cute and well-behaved."

The fairy type huffed, although I had to reiterate that she was still cute because missing the beat of sadness would have been impossible. She landed in front of our home— funny that I was calling it that already— and did, in the end, carefully place the fifteen or so bags she'd been carrying. I carefully slung my foot over her after untying myself, but before I could release Angel to give me a lift, she pulled me up with Extrasensory and placed me down like a feather.

"You know I was just joking around, right?" I said.

She puffed up her feathers, and I snorted, passing a hand over her forehead.

"It's your birthday soon," I muttered.

She'd be two years old at the end of April. None of my Pokemon knew their birthdays, really, although for Sweetheart I could guess in a ballpark. It was a shame, in a way. Maybe I'd let them pick a day later so they could all celebrate it at one point or another. I chuckled as I walked up to the door, thinking that Sweetheart would definitely pick today if I gave her the choice to. Princess levitated the bags on Mom's porch, and it took me a few seconds to remember that people just didn't lock their doors in Twinleaf, so I just pushed it open and smiled when I saw that Mom was dragging a huge grill out of the kitchen.

"Where do you even keep that thing," I asked with a coy smile.

"Oh, around," she said. "Just kidding, I actually borrowed it from the neighbors. Uh, passing through."

I moved out of the way and watched her drag the grill out of the house. She'd connected an extension cord to it. Mom had taken surprisingly well to the news that I now owned a Tyranitar, possibly because she didn't actually get how rare they were? She did get spooked when she saw how big Sweetheart was this afternoon when I came back, though.

"Are you sure if I release her here no one will care?" I muttered as I followed her outside.

"Well it's not that they won't care, but they certainly won't tell the world about it," she grunted as she set the grill outside. "We kept Lake Verity hidden from outsiders for decades, Grace. No one will tattle."

"If you say so," I said.

It wouldn't be the end of the world if someone figured it out anyway, just annoying. I released the entire team and we spent a nice evening together.

And holy crap, did Sweetheart like meat.

—

It was the next day, now. I didn't know what it was with Aliyah and candles, but each session, she had a different one. This time, I could recognize the smell, though, and I'd probably turn this into a game in the future.

"Lavender?" I asked.

She dipped her head. "Yes. I was born in Lavender town in Kanto, if you were curious."

I leaned forward. "I heard the ruler there was a bit… special."

"I left far before Agatha was given the city to rule to force her retirement," Aliyah smiled. "But she was an omnipresence in the city even before she ruled there, and remains so. But enough about my hometown, my dear. Let us talk about today's theme."

She handed me three cards— were those custom-made? Truth, Separation, or Judgment were written on each of the cards, with… ominous-looking designs on each of them, but also somewhat comforting? They were hard to describe. Where had she found the time to design and draw these?

"Yesterday, we laid out the topics you wanted to approach during our time together, but these are some of the ones you focused on," she explained. "Pick a card."

My fingers hovered over the cards. "Um, I guess I'll pick… truth today."

"Today? Oh no, Grace, we'll be working on Truth for the next week," she said, grabbing back the other two cards and shoving them in her bag. "Let us begin with this week's theme, then. You told me you felt resentment toward your friend for telling all of your friends about the raid."

"Not resentment. That's a little too harsh," I muttered. "Uh, I guess I don't know how to call it. On one hand, I think it was for the best, because clearly what my friends think about me is the main thing stopping me from becoming something I'd regret, but on the other, it's like… the rug was pulled from under me before I was ready."

Aliyah paused for a second, and shared a look with her Chimecho, so I uncomfortably shifted on my mother's porch.

"I'm sure there were better ways to handle it," she nodded. "Would you rather he have warned you beforehand, and you told people together?"

I shivered when I imagined that. "Well, no."

"Hm. You did not want to be present for the news, then, so at the very least, you were spared from that."

"Yeah, no. Watching them get an entirely different picture of me while I'm sitting there would have been too much. I think I would have run away."

"Did you want to wait a few weeks to tell them, then?"

"Well, I can't put a hard number on it. It's just— it was messy, and now everything's tangled, and it's never going to go back to how it was before."

"I believe, Grace, that if you wanted to be honest, there was no way your relationships were going to be unchanged, no matter when you communicated what you had done."

Ah. So I'd lost from the start, then. In my quest for satisfaction and revenge, I'd broken down everything I'd ever loved irreparably. I could only muster a shaky breath in response.

"But that does not mean you will never be friends again," Aliyah pressed. "And I believe it was better said sooner rather than later. Of course, I do not know your friends beyond what their files told me, but from what you described, they obviously still care for you."

"Yeah, like you'd care for a monster because you don't want them to hurt anyone else," I said with a sad laugh. "Gotta keep Grace placated, or who knows what she'll do next?"

"There will be a period of readjustment," she nodded. "But you cannot put the blame on them for acting differently, can you? And since honesty is something you value, you would not have kept it hidden."

I hugged my knees. "If I'm being honest… I think I never would have said anything if it had been up to me," I whispered. "I'm a hypocrite, Aliyah. When I battled Maylene for my fifth badge, I did something to her Infernape… I, uh, drew out her suffering to press Maylene's buttons while preventing her from recalling her. It was all a part of a plan to break her, you see."

And I was sure now that the Gym Leaders had received the reports, Maylene was feeling very vindicated right now. To be honest, she had every right to be. There had been no more messages from Candice, although we only spoke around once a week anyway, but I'd be a fool to expect things to be normal again.

"And?" she asked. She knew the answer, but wanted me to say it out loud.

"I never told anyone about that part of the plan when I confessed, because I knew how fucked up it was," I finished with a heavy breath.

"Admitting that to me took a lot of courage," she said.

"It didn't. You're a stranger— sorry, but it's true. I barely know you."

"But it's the first time you've said it out loud, isn't it?" Aliyah asked. "That is no small feat."

"So yeah, I think I never would have said anything, again," I said. "The League still would have learned about it, and Mira, Chase and Denzel would have known, but the first two wouldn't have said anything. If I had asked Denzel strongly enough, I'm pretty sure he would have stood down. And the fucked up part is, part of me regrets not having done so. It's like, I can't stand not having everything go my way in regards to my relationships with my friends."

"You could have, but you did not," she said. "You know it would have gone too far. A breach of trust, and manipulation. Using his love for you to get your way."

"That's what fairies do," I said, pausing. "But I'm human. Aren't I?" I asked, genuinely wanting to hear the answer.

"You are," she nodded. "Trust me when I say this, Grace, there are people in far worse conditions than you are. Conditions beyond saving. And you've progressed a decent bit these last few days."

"Like Agatha," I guessed.

"More monster than human, that one," Aliyah nodded with a tint of fear. "But this is about you. What you did to Infernape, is it something you want to tell to your friends?"

"Well, one thing at a time, right?" I said. "Eventually, when I'm right again, then maybe. Or as right as you can make me."

"All progress will be of your own doing, Grace. I am simply here to listen and offer advice."

"Well first, I need to tell Cece about Backlot whenever we see each other again," I slowly spoke. The words felt wrong, like I was about to shoot myself in the foot. I missed her so much, even now. Slightly more than a week not together, and the world felt so dull. "Then, eventually… Arceus, I'm just being flaky, aren't I?"

"Pacing yourself isn't wrong," she shrugged. "The road you walk matters little compared to the destination."

"But it still matters some," I confirmed. "I get it."

"Now, let us move on to your concerns," she continued as Chimecho rang. "We'll move inward, like a ring, and slowly peel layer by layer until we get to the center."

The center being Cece, I knew. Even if I'd avoided the 'Separation' topic, I couldn't avoid talking about her, it seemed.

"I guess we can start with, uh potential connections I'd wanted to make but are now basically impossible," I muttered. "That's what you mean by outer layer, right?"

"It means whatever you want it to mean," she said.

"Well, that's what it means, then," I confirmed. "I really admire Gardenia…"

—

Legendaries, speaking with Aliyah felt good. I felt lighter that entire morning while I let out my team to hang out and train. It was light work, really, just something to keep themselves busy and slowly progress. I wasn't the only one who had gone through the raid, they had too, and they deserved a break. Sweetheart was getting the hang of walking again, away from any prying eyes while the rest of the team watched over her. Mudsdale, Angel and I had gone into route to lead a pack of Bidoof back to the nearby river. They'd been kicked out by a larger pack who had stolen their dam, so they needed an escort to go further downriver to make a new home. It wasn't much, but I didn't want to just storm back in and take back their land when they wouldn't be able to defend it when we left. We ended up spending the rest of the morning and early afternoon finding a good spot for them to settle in and had to negotiate with some Poliwags to give them enough space to settle.

After that, I decided to head back to Twinleaf, given the fact that I'd heard that rumors had began circulating about in regards to Sweetheart. They didn't know she existed quite yet, but they did hear her roar that first time, and trainers who had been nearby had gone wild speculating about what that had been. Most thought it was a dragon of some sort.

Casey and Ronald— Denzel's parents— looked to be having a very heated conversation with my own mother when I came back, and they flinched when they saw Princess land next to the porch, which meant they stopped talking, so unfortunately, I didn't hear what they were arguing about.

I smiled. "Good afternoon—"

"Think about it, Sam," Casey said, turning back toward Mom. "You know this isn't right."

Okay, then, not good afternoon. She had an issue with me, I realized. Both parents gave me a wide berth as they left. Was everyone going to be scared of me from now on or what?

"Is this about Sweetheart?" I instantly asked.

"No, it isn't," Mom said with a grimace. "It's about their son. Don't worry about it, though."

"But it has to do with me, doesn't it?" I pressed.

"It… does."

"Tell me," I said with a tired sigh. "Please."

"It was mostly Casey doing the talking. She asked me to tell you that she thought you were a bad influence on Denzel and that your actions kept putting him in danger. I tried to argue back, but Casey's always been good at putting her head in the sand. It was Denzel who joined the LTIP, but she thinks you forced him to."

"I— I need to sit down."

My light mood cratered to depths I didn't think were possible, and I recalled Princess before she could chase after Denzel's parents and pester them. I nearly crashed on the stairs and my head spun.

"You've got to understand Grace, they've always been protective of him, and they're feeling unsettled about your Pokemon just walking around town unsupervised too. Your grandmother's been talking…"

"My team's been behaving," I hoarsed out.

"They have, but… they aren't used to it yet."

I couldn't even be angry at them, could I? Because the fact of the matter is, it was true. I was the one who'd basically pulled Denzel into this by telling him about Team Galactic's true plans, making him feel more involved and in the end, a part of our group. I wasn't the only one to blame, of course. He wasn't a baby, he had agency of his own and had picked to join us with no regrets, but the fact that he was just getting out of a hospital bed and had nearly died was partly on me. Even the ACEs hadn't wanted him there at first. I need you, I had told him a few days before Maeve had gotten attacked. Had that contributed to his decision to come? And the worst part was, when I had said this, I had known that I would be getting involved with the poachers now that I had won my badge. It had been subtle, so subtle, but that was always how I did it, wasn't it? I'd never known his parents well in the first place, but the fact that my best friends' parents hated me was just pouring salt into the wound. It wasn't a big deal. It wasn't. It wasn't. My Mom had been fed the League's lies, so I couldn't even talk to her about it. I needed Aliyah to come back, I—

My mother wrapped me in a tight hug. "You're alright," she whispered. "I'm here."

"I'm sorry," I sniffled.

"You're not to blame, Grace."

I am.

"I've ruined so many relationships by doing this," I sniffled. "I can never take it back."

She didn't understand. I knew she didn't. How could she, when she had no context for what I was saying?

"Is that offer to listen to that podcast still on the table?" I asked through my quiet sobs.

"Hmhm."

"Can I have— something sweet with that? Like, cake or something. Sorry, I'm not— making any sense."

"I'll see what I have, baby."

—

"Stop being so fidgety, I cut your grandmother's hair all the time," my mother clicked her tongue. "You're going to make me mess up."

"If you mess up my hair, I'm going to die."

"Don't be so dramatic, it'll grow back."

"Now I'm getting second thoughts."

Snip. snip. snip. The scissors cut across my hair, and tufts of it fell to the ground. Night had fallen, and I was finished crying, even though muddled feelings still remained. I had fallen asleep next to Mom and taken a long nap the entire afternoon, and she'd stayed with me the entire time. I'd asked her not to cut my hair too short and to leave it around shoulder length, and to her credit, I was facing the bathroom mirror to tell her off if she went too far. Mom squinted, leaning to get a better look at the hair behind my ear, and I felt the cold touch of the scissors. For a second, I almost blurted out that I used to collect those, but that was probably a bad idea, given the rumors about me.

"You know, maybe you should stay an extra day or two," Mom said.

I sighed. "I can't… I'm on a timeline, Mom. I'd like to, but I have a lot of stuff to do. And you know, people would get antsy if I stayed too long."

She paused, and her hand twitched around my head. "I get it. This has just been…"

"Nice?"

"Yeah, nice," she smiled. "Plus, I heard you're leaving at the end of the year."

"I'll still come visit you," I said. "And it's not like I'm staying in Unova permanently. You know, I have this goal… well, it's kind of embarrassing to say it out loud."

She raised an eyebrow, but didn't force me to spit it out, which was nice of her. I stayed silent for a minute or so and just enjoyed her gently touching my head and the snipping of the scissors.

"Well, I want to travel the world, sort of. Meet strong trainers from all over and battle them until I reach the peak."

"Well, I don't know much about battling, but people say you're talented, and you've come far already."

I almost shook my head. "No, you don't get it. I'm not even close to my goal yet. What I'm doing right now's small potatoes."

"Calling that huge Tyranitar of yours small potatoes is giving me whiplash, Grace."

"Obviously you'd say that, you have no frame of reference," I grumbled. "But still, even after everything that happened, it's one of my dreams."

"Oh? What are your other dreams?"

"To help Pokemon in society," I said. "Partly why I'm going to Unova, really. They're one of the worst places to be for Pokemon, and I want to try to remedy that."

My mother hummed. "Do you have a plan on how you're going to approach it?"

"Oh. Uh, not yet, but I've gotten some experience working in a Pokemon rights organization and in politics. Not enough to change the world yet, though. I wanted to start looking stuff up this summer."

Snip. "Can you lower your head a little for me?" she asked, and I obliged her. "Thank you. Just remember to save time for yourself like you've been doing here, hm? It can't be all training all the time. Or… working in politics."

"I've been… relaxed— well, Sunyshore was relaxing. We met a girl there and had kind of a vacation." And now she isn't talking to me anymore. "You're right, though. I guess I should decompress more, it's just difficult."

"Well, I'm here if you need anything," she softly said. "And your Dad too, obviously. You… well, I won't blame you for not relying on me much, but you should rely on him more."

"Well, you know how it is with League stuff. Can't really say anything."

"Hmhm."

Silence between us had grown comfortable, now, but it didn't last long. She'd tell me about a story from her childhood to pass the time, like how Twinleaf used to be even more isolated than it was now when she'd been a kid, or her time in Jubilife— all before meeting Dad, of course. I still didn't like it when she reminisced of her time with him, or the little time she had with me as a baby, because it hurt. I did allow her to slip in that she used to cut his hair all the time, though, which is how she got so good at it.

"Ta-dah!" she beamed, outstretching her hands. "What do you think?"

"It looks good," I said. I turned my head around and nodded. "Yeah, I like it. Thank you."

"Just— just good?"

"Great!" I quickly added. "Perfect length, just like I asked you." I paused, chewing on my next words. "Uh, it's just hard to feel good whenever I cut my hair. I've always been attached to it, so sorry if I sound bummed. It's just something I have to do, so…"

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"I'm the one who asked you," I said. "Don't worry about it."

Mom gave me a quick nod and patted down my shoulders for any loose hairs.

"Well, I'll leave you to it, since you said you liked to wash your hair after a haircut."

"Yup. Thanks again for the help."

I watched her leave the bathroom as she reiterated that she'd clean up all the loose hair when I was done.

I was going to miss her, wasn't I?

—

I was leaving Twinleaf today.

There hadn't been much to pack, since I was traveling light, and thirty minutes after my session with Aliyah finished, I was ready to leave. I'd never been good with goodbyes, but when I'd first come here, I had never expected I'd actually feel like crying when I left. I hadn't even spent long here, just a few days. This was the same mother I'd hated my entire life, yet I couldn't bring myself to do so anymore when I looked at her. She had messed up terribly, it had all been her fault, and because of her my dad had been ruined for who knew how many years.

Forgive, no, I repeated in my head. But I had learned to like her anyway. It wasn't love yet, although I believed that her being my mother was what made my stay here so emotional. Cecilia had often told me that I was just like my Dad, and even though I didn't see it, I figured she must have told the truth, but I'd seen quirks I shared with my Mom even though we'd never lived together save for these past five days.

Five days, yes. I had ended up extending my stay by a day.

"I guess it's time," I said, fiddling with my good foot. "Thanks for housing me, and thanks for kicking your mother out for me too."

'Your mother' and not 'grandma' was something she noticed, but she paid it no mind, instead wrapping me into a hug. "You'll always be welcome here. I hope Twinleaf gave you some of what you needed."

"Well I feel a bit better than I did when I first came here," I said in the crook of her neck. "I still have plenty of issues, but I'll try to deal. It's scary in a way, to go back to the real world. Not that Twinleaf isn't real."

"But it's away from everything," Mom muttered. "I get it."

Ah, of course, she does. Why else would she have run away here from Jubilife if she didn't?

"Stay safe out there," she said.

"I'll try."

I hopped on Princess and after some waving, we were off. Five minutes later, and I could no longer see Twinleaf. We were not going toward Sandgem, however. We were flying toward Lake Verity. A strong gust of wind blew at our backs and my body jerked back as Princess sped up so quickly the world below me became a blur. She'd gotten better again, I noted. Like before, a League Trainer— this time a woman— appeared to greet me and accompanied us into the base to bring me to see the Commander. I had to talk to Aliyah anyway, since I had to ask how the hell she was going to follow me on the routes, considering she'd said we'd have a session every single day. Commander Bethany was sitting in the same office, with the exact same clothes and position. It was somewhat uncanny, how neat she was. Aliyah dipped her head at me with a shadow of a smile.

"I'm here to see the Guardian," I declared. "And Aliyah—"

"When you finish your meeting, we'll have to keep you here for an hour or two to confirm the extent of your new capabilities," Bethany interrupted. "After that, you will be free to leave."

Oh, that was not how I'd expected that to go. I bit down on a snappy retort and exhaled. This was… a reasonable ask, all things considered. It made sense that the League wouldn't just let me run off without knowing what I could do or take my word for it, considering the power wouldn't be split this time and that we'd hidden the Voice from them for months. That came with a loss of trust. Their thought process made sense.

"Okay," I nodded. "Aliyah, can we talk?"

"If it's about how I will find you on the routes—" how did she even know that? "—rest assured. Chimecho has his ways."

"Oh. Okay?" I asked, slightly confused. Arceus, psychic type owners were weird. "I'll be on my way, then?"

"We'll have an assortment of trainers escort you," Bethany nodded.

I bit my lip. "Sure, whatever."

Did she need to take a tone that aggressive with me? Arceus, I knew not everyone was going to like me— and even fewer people in positions of command— but I thought a crumb of respect had been earned, at least. Chimecho's eyes shone, and whatever he did to mask the sound of our voices ended. I was led outside of the command post and toward the Lake. I was actually put in a car, and they drove me to the Lake's shore. I passed a hand over my Pokeballs to calm myself as I hobbled toward the water. Five trainers were behind me, each with a grass type out. They were probably hoping to put me to sleep should I come back from this— which from their perspective would be in an instant— and go haywire.

Well, here goes. I placed a trembling hand near the water, which at this point was practically a magnetic force on my skin—

I cursed when scorching water jumped at my wrist.

—

One second I'd been at the shores of Lake Verity, and the next I was falling in a place completely devoid of anything else. It was just pure darkness as far as the eye could see. I screamed as I kept falling for what felt like an eternity until I slowed and gently landed in what felt like a puddle which was ankle-deep. Strangely enough, in here, my ankle wasn't broken. I nearly gasped in relief when I twirled it around and felt no pain whatsoever.

But my relief was short-lived. Colors swarmed the world at once, filling the darkness with lights.

I glanced upward and instantly buckled to my knees and suddenly, there was no air in my lungs. Breathe. There had been a flash of pink, a red gem and pale blue skin. Just looking at Mesprit was suffocating, but that was not the worst of it. Their emotions were incomprehensibly large. That was what the colors were. They filled this entire domain and beyond. I nearly gasped when I saw colors I'd never even seen before, ever-changing. They shifted like a mirage in the desert, never holding a single form for long. All this time, what I had seen— experienced— lived had been so small compared to this that I could never hope to even come close to this. Every second that passed felt like I was drowning, desperately trying to keep my head above the waves to no avail.

So I gave in and let myself drown. I sobbed so uncontrollably I couldn't even stand up straight. I laughed until my lungs ran out of air and I kept going. I glared until I forgot how to blink. I raged until I dug through the flesh in my palms with my nails. I danced until I couldn't feel my legs anymore. I grinned until my lips hurt. I sulked. I wept until I ran out of tears. I contemplated, until I learned to raise my head again and swam with the current. I didn't know how long that took. Possibly hours, or even days. I took in my first real breath since I'd come here, because apparently I hadn't needed to breathe, and I let the warm air fill my lungs as colors spun around me. Looking at Mesprit in more than a passing glance was still impossible, but at least I could stand.

In front of me was a God. The concept of Emotion itself.

"Welcome, Shard of Emotion! Took you long enough! I thought you'd keep teasing me and you would never come to meet!"

---

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[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 270 - Emotion

Arceus, they sounded so young. Like a child, barely over the age of six, yet capable of wielding power that boggled the mind. I stopped myself from instinctually taking a step back, instead digging my heels in whatever liquid it was that I was standing on. It was warm— too warm and comfortable.

"H—hello," I forced out. "I'm sorry for keeping you waiting."

There was a slight pause, and then a giggle. Was that good or bad? I couldn't even comprehend the emotions that were emanating off Mesprit, so I couldn't tell. There were too many— they were too large— too new, too nonsensical. Like they were feeling every possible emotion at all times, but in a grander fashion.

"Put your head up, Shard," the Legend ordered. It was a command, yet it was playful.

I winced, glancing upward and expecting the same suffocating feeling to befall me, but instead, I got a clear look at what Mesprit looked like. I didn't know if that was better or worse. Their piercing yellow eyes terrified me— shook me to my very core. Continuous shivers ran up and down my spine. Mesprit's gem shone brightly, even through all of the colors swirling about.

"You're letting me look," I said, slightly unbelieving.

"Of course! You're my Shard, so why wouldn't you be able to look? I let you utter my name, after all," Mesprit said.

Ah, so that had been intentional, then. That was… slightly reassuring, honestly.

"I have questions— if I may."

The God flicked a hand up and forcefully dragged me toward them. I felt a gentle squeeze lift me up in the air and guide me forward until they stared right into my eyes. Their skin looked so soft and glowed slightly— like porcelain. There was not a single blemish to be seen on any part of their body. Mesprit's yellow eyes shone and I saw the air to our left shift as they turned me in that direction. It was a vision, no, an image of what was going on in the real world. The five League Trainers and their grass types, frozen in time as I plunged my hand into the water.

"Before we begin," Mesprit said with a hint of playfulness. "Perhaps we should rid ourselves of these humans. What do you want me to do to them?"

My stomach dropped, and I squirmed in Mesprit's hold. "No! Don't— don't do anything."

The God frowned. "Fear? How strange. Worry not, Shard. I like you, no harm will befall you while you are here."

"Don't do anything to them. They're just here to make sure nothing goes wrong," I stammered.

"I wasn't going to kill them. Just punish them for thinking they could interfere and use it as a lesson for you."

"Lesson?" I said, cold sweat dripping to my chin. How could I convince them not to do this?

"Yes, like when I punish them for calling my name out loud," Mesprit said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "But this deserves stronger punishment, for thinking that they could interfere between me and you."

"They're not interfering."

"Of course. They cannot, but they wish they could. But seeing as you disagree, I will let them go with only a month of heartache," Mesprit declared with a flick of their wrist.

"Why—"

"The deed is done, Shard," Mesprit said. "There is no walking it back."

They let me go, and I stumbled back, still registering what had just happened. The image was no longer there now, but I knew the moment I opened my eyes again the League Trainers would be distraught. The worst part is that they'd probably think it was my fault until I could explain myself to Commander Bethany.

"Why did you do this?" I asked, my eyes wide.

"Because I wanted to. Why else?" the God asked, tilting their head. "Now, let us begin."

Mesprit floated a few feet in front of me with a wide smile and spun around as they giggled.

"I've wanted to talk to you for so long! Since that fateful day, when you first came to the shores of my domain."

Focus, Grace! I screamed at myself. You had questions, so ask them. I would worry about the consequences later.

"Why so anxious? We have all the time in the world, here."

"You said you liked me, right?" I muttered.

"Of course! I haven't had a Shard in millennia! It's a special occasion!"

"Then would you please refrain from hurting anyone else," I begged. Asking something from a God wasn't exactly a wise decision, but it was all I had. "Please. It would make me like you more."

"Liar! You don't like me, you only fear and disdain me," Mesprit grumbled. "I'll remedy that."

Something went wrong.

It was difficult to describe. Like a piece of myself, having gone missing, but not being able to tell which, and then a seed was planted and slowly began to take root. I looked at Mesprit again and realized I was smiling. My cheeks felt warm, and I relaxed. I felt so content here that I didn't care what Mesprit had done to those trainers. Why had I even criticized them for it in the first place? Now they were going to hate me— and that; that was the most terrifying prospect I could think of, at the moment. Love. This was love, and it felt so real. And with that quick realization came a fresh dose of horror.

"You're reacting to this all wrong!"

"Fucking fix me," I snarled. "This love— it's fake."

"Grrrrr, fine. If you hadn't been a Shard, that would have worked perfectly," The Legend huffed, crossing their arms.

Another moment passed, and I felt whole again. Normal. I gasped in relief and restrained the tears that almost came. Sparing one last look at Mesprit just to make sure I was right again, I stood up and glared at them.

"You can't do that to me ever again," I demanded.

Mesprit's face fell. "You never would have been the wiser if you hadn't been a Shard. We would be laughing together right now. Granted, I could have kept going, it would have gone on for a while longer so I could pluck the right emotions away and shove in new ones to make you whole again."

I ignored the horror that crept up my skin. "It would have been fake."

"I would have made it real."

"May I be frank, Mesprit?" I said. When they nodded, I continued. "I would rather die."

I expected an outburst of anger, but instead, Mesprit gasped— which sounded way too human for my liking, and they pouted, letting out a sad hum. I was starting to understand, if only slightly. Mesprit was even more disconnected from humans than Azelf had been and genuinely didn't understand why I didn't want them to just pick and choose what I felt at will.

"If you feel so strongly about it, then I won't, and I apologize," Mesprit said. "Since I sensed emotional turmoil within you, I was going to ask if you wanted me to fix it. All of your current worries could disappear, you know?"

"Absolutely not. From this point on, please, just don't touch me."

"Only because I like you."

Arceus, what a strange fucking way to show your love, then. And of course, Mesprit knew what passed through my mind because they were the empath, but they seemed to like it better when I spoke.

"I just have questions," I said. "If I may?"

"Of course, Shard."

"Earlier, you said that you wanted to talk to me that day I first came to the lake. Does that mean I was chosen for a reason or another?"

Azelf had been very clear that Cecilia and Chase were Champions by happenstance, and I wanted to confirm if it was also the case for me. If it was, odds were, Mira wouldn't have been chosen either.

"Uxie's going to be angry if I just rob them of the joy they'd feel revealing the answer to the Shard of Knowledge," Mesprit said as they floated upside down. The first word resonated with a bit of power even if we weren't in Acuity.

"It would make me like you more if you told me."

"You speak no lie," they said after a short pause. "Very well, then. That day, when you came face to face with that empty shell of a man, I laid eyes on you and your comrade."

From what Roland Hunter had told me about Cyrus, he was the empty shell, and my comrade… was Denzel.

"I knew the empty shell planned to use us to bring an end to His creation by virtue of forewarning from Knowledge. I cannot bestow my gift to people beyond my domain while I am dormant. Only to those who are close to the space I influence or the space around my Shard itself. You were in the correct demographic. Young, a desire to travel, but most of all, there was potential already there. Beyond that? Happenstance."

"But Denzel was right next to me," I hissed. "He was right there."

Mesprit cackled. "That human is far too boring to ever hope to become my Shard. There was less potential in him, and unlike Willpower, I do not break His rules."

The sentence had ended with a sinister glare, so there was obviously still resentment there that I didn't want to touch with a ten foot pole. Still, I felt so much relief. It had been random, after all. There was so little pressure on me now. I didn't fit the mold— beyond whatever 'potential' meant. I assumed that they meant I wasn't as 'sane' as Denzel was, and I had never been. And that wasn't a good thing.

"It's a wonderful thing, Shard! Your fellow human is a dull canvas, but you? Your colors are far more vibrant than his, and they were even back then."

"Cyrus is only doing this because he can't feel anything," I challenged. "Couldn't you just fix him? Normally I wouldn't endorse it, but…"

In the first place, part of me almost thought that Cyrus' state had been Mesprit's doing—

All the air was pulled out of my lungs, and I collapsed when a crushing pressure pressed on my entire body. I hacked out as a hand went to my throat and the force of Mesprit's full presence bore down on me— no, this was not their full presence, it was the presence of their dormant self, in a fake world of their creation.

"I told you, didn't I?!" Mesprit raged— truly raged. The colors around them violently lashed out and struck at me like whips, causing stinging pain that wasn't real. "Shard or not, I won't let you suggest that I would have gone against His orders!"

"You—" I coughed, half my face buried in water that wasn't there. "You influenced the League Trainers. I thought—"

"It was nothing permanent!" the Legendary yelled, their voice reverberating against the dark. "And should they leave here, they will return to normal early!"

Then, all of the pressure winked out of existence. There was no more flaring pain on my skin, as if it had never been there at all.

"You understand now, yes? Fixing him beyond the reach of my domain would have gone against His rules. Forgive me for the outburst, Shard. I apologize."

Don't think about the rules, don't think about how shit and convoluted they are—

I couldn't stop. While I might have been able to trick Bellatrix, I couldn't trick Mesprit, and anger roiled again, this time gentler.

"Uxie would say I should not lash out against a Shard who could not know better," Mesprit said. "So you will be spared for thinking that He would be wrong in any way shape or form."

And this was Mesprit liking me? I slowly stood back up, thankful that this world wasn't real and any potential injuries I got here wouldn't translate to the real world. I caught my breath for a few seconds as Mesprit swayed their head from side to side, awaiting my next question.

"So, the other Shards," I mumbled, suddenly not as brave any longer. "They got their power— through me?"

"My siblings' domains had not seen visitors in centuries, save for that female human who lives near Knowledge," Mesprit explained far too gently for my liking. "Through you, new gifts were bestowed. There were no better options than humans you were close to, so you could communicate when the time came. My siblings picked the ones who best fit what they wanted. And so, three others became Shard— though it should have been two."

Finally, I had gotten answers to a question that had plagued our minds for so long. I nodded tightly, though my emotions betrayed me and Mesprit stared with a wide smile as they no doubt watched relief flow through me.

"Okay, thank you for the help," I said in hopes of placating them. Granted, it was useless, but I still did so out of fear anyway. "Az— Willpower said that Team Galactic somehow got a hold of your gem."

Mesprit nodded. "They sent people deep underwater, and somehow there are replicas being made through that horrifying, monstrous thing you humans created. Ditto, you call it. It helped you create that propped-up, so-called 'God', but he's a fake! And he is not welcome! He was not created by Him!"

"Mesprit," I coughed, covering my face from their anger. "You're hurting me."

"Oh, no! I'm sorry, Shard!"

The rage vanished as fast as it had come, and I drew in a raspy breath. "So— this chain, can it be destroyed?"

"It can, but it will take far more power than any Pokemon your so-called Champion has at her disposal. If it cannot be reached before completion— and trust me, Shard, the time is near— then it will take months to destroy. The whole is greater than its individual parts, because it matters."

It matters? "What do you mean by that?" I asked.

"The Red Chain is Concept, its individual parts are not," the Legendary said, as if that explained anything.

"Okay… I guess. When you say the completion is near, how far away is it?"

Luckily, since the chain was being made out of Mesprit's gems, they had an answer for me.

"A month and… two days."

Calm down. Even if they completed the chain, they would have to make it through the fortresses that surrounded the lakes, and they would need to take control of all three Guardians to go ahead with their plans. They were still on the back foot.

"And my role will be to wrest you back from their control should they breach the walls here and reach your lake, right?" I asked. "Your sibling said as much."

Mesprit nodded with a song-like hum.

"My next question is about Cyrus again," I said. "About how someone can truly be born with no emotions. I thought they were exaggerating, but if even you call him empty…"

Even Justin at his worst had felt something.

"The answer still eludes me," Mesprit said with a frown. "It is as if he was born with Knowledge and Willpower, but no Emotion, therefore he is an empty shell. The last time someone attempted to end His Creation millennia ago— your Champion's very ancestor— there was no such individual to contend with."

"Cynthia's ancestor—"

"He was quite the human. There was madness in him I have only seen a few times since. There is one, currently, who works for the empty shell. They would have both made excellent Shards, but unfortunately, they wanted to break His rules."

Before I could speak, Mesprit floated toward me until our foreheads almost touched. They would have, had I not taken a step back and nearly tripped. Their presence was still overwhelming, and the closer they were, the worse I felt.

"You had that same potential within you, and you were getting there," Mesprit grumbled. "But you hold yourself back instead of leaning into my Concept, and for what? Opinions of mere humans?"

"I'm human," I fought back.

"You are Shard," Mesprit giggled. "And this dissociation business is not something I approve of. Why be unfeeling when you can experience the beauty of emotion?"

"Well, I'm working on that one," I said. "It helps me fight efficiently."

The God stuck their tongue out at me. "Efficiency is boring. Was it not wonderful, when you saw the will to live slowly drain out of that blemish for hours? The feeling of your axe, sinking into his flesh?"

"It— it wasn't—"

"Liar! You loved it. While the Shard of Knowledge was paling and averting her eyes, you stared right into that human's eyes and relished in every moment until he took the axe and slit his own throat. Your enjoyment of that process was none of my doing, but you are avoiding your deepest wants for shallow ones."

I bit my lip. "I'm trying to change," I said in a defeated tone, my shoulders slumping. "I don't want to be like this."

"Oh, you don't care. Not really. It's your friends, but mostly, it's that girl you love, the half-Shard," Mesprit hummed. "But the powers I am about to bestow onto you could remedy this. It would not be difficult."

"Stop."

"It's just about grabbing the emotions you like and expunging the ones that you don't, slowly but surely. A little push there, a little pull there, and soon enough she'd only look at you. She would never leave you, because that is your biggest fear, Shard. Abandonment. She would love you more than she thinks possible," Mesprit said. "She will be yours. Of course, she'd fight back with her gift if you did it too abruptly, but if you do it slowly enough, she'll never be able to tell. She is only half a Shard, after all. Now that you've met me, your power will overwhelm hers."

"Stop it."

"And you'll be able to tell, because you'll be able to know what she feels at all times if you delve deep enough, and the previous Shard of Emotion loved that feeling just as much as you will, I'm sure. So long as you keep her on the path to save His Creation, Azelf will not care. They despise their two Shards anyway." They puffed up their chest proudly. "Not me, though! I like you, which is why I'm giving you all of this advice! Honestly, it serves them right for breaking His rules!"

I clenched a fist. "If I had been cornered. If I had been desperate. If they had all thrown me away," I slowly said. "I fear that I might have considered that offer for at least a few seconds, and that disgusts me," I spat. "I don't want to control people, Mesprit. You think it's fine, because you don't see the opinions of anyone who isn't me as important, but I will never rob Cecilia of her freedom. Never. Or anyone else's."

Mesprit huffed and pouted. "How dreadfully boring."

"I hope I stay boring to you my entire life," I hissed. "I want to be normal. I want to be— no, I am human."

"That ship has sailed, Shard."

"You don't get to make the decisions for me. That would be breaking His rules," I said.

My knees buckled, but I still stood, not because I had grown stronger, but because that had only been one of the gentler pressures applied to me today.

"Very well, then. This is not how I expected this to go," Mesprit sighed. "You were growing so entertaining, too."

"And I thought you'd take this a lot more seriously," I muttered.

I had been so close to the edge, hadn't I? All it would have taken was for my friends to give up on me and I would have jumped into the depths of the abyss without looking back. I probably would have ended up losing my sponsor at some point. Ended up as a recluse who everyone hated, and became someone unrecognizable. No, that was wrong. I would have been recognizable. Each step taken further down could be tracked to the day, and the staircase had a lot of steps left.

"Ah, human morality. I never did understand it," Mesprit said. "Let us move on to your new gift, then, Shard."

"I told you I wouldn't use it," I preempted. "Well, that's not right. I won't use it unless I'm about to get killed or it's needed. That, I have no qualms about."

"Pfff, I was about to say that getting into that game my sibling and that human you love were playing would be boring, thank you."

Then, Mesprit paused.

"You'll find yourself hard-pressed to use it in such a situation, Shard. You are no Concept. Being a Shard in full will allow you to tinker with your gift with much higher limits, but for you, altering someone's emotions will require focus—" Mesprit stopped. "Oh! Maybe your dissociation thing can help, although it won't help for the time you'll need. Days of carefully altering someone. Of course, you can always brute force things, but that will leave your target irreparably damaged and actually exhaust you to unconsciousness right away. Me, I could fix them, but you're only a Shard."

"How does it work? How do I do it?" I asked.

"You add, remove or mix the colors, obviously."

"Okay, but how does that work?"

"Relax! It'll come to you naturally. The more you practice, the better you'll become at it. Of course, you'll be able to affect and sense all living things."

"Not happening."

Mesprit rolled their eyes. "I thought we agreed that we weren't going to play the same game!"

"It's not a game!" I lashed out.

"You really are no fun. Azelf would love you— wait, they wouldn't, hahaha!"

"So is that it, then? Are we done?" I asked.

"Oh, but wait," Mesprit said with a devilish grin. "That human you care about who was soaked by the Dark. You could fix him."

I froze.

"Now, if you don't have anything else to add, Shard, we are done. Oh! And you'll be able to understand Pokemon in an hour tops instead of a few days. I almost forgot!"

I could… fix Justin. Make him return to normal again, and he'd be cured. All I had to do was—

"Oh, but you'll need practice. His case is quite severe. You don't want to mess him up even further, do you?" Mesprit tilted their head and smiled.

Fuck this. I decided to end that part of the conversation here. I couldn't think straight with them being the devil on my shoulder.

I ran a hand through my wet hair and sighed. "Why would you ever want to hand over this power to someone as unstable as Mars of all people? Or Cynthia's ancestor?"

"So long as they save His Creation, what do I care? They'll be dead before I can blink," Mesprit nonchalantly said. "The previous set of Shards, they carved out a niche in the world for themselves after they did. The Shard of Willpower stayed in Hisui and created an empire that collapsed as soon as she died. Emotion sailed the world, creating a cult of admirers and a religion that petered out a few generations after his death. Knowledge settled down on the mainland south of Hisui and created a city-state to rule where humanity's feats advanced leaps and bounds until she was assassinated while she slept and everything she'd worked for was lost when her village was razed to the earth and the grounds salted. Willpower's shard had sent the assassin despite having been so-called lovers during their quest to save the world, out of fear that their empire would fall behind technologically. It is all dust, Shard. Dust. And if it must be so, then I would rather be entertained for a fraction of my existence." They paused to sigh. "Without Shards, I cannot delve into the world, you see. It is boring, and interesting humans make for an interesting instant in time. Even Willpower entertained themselves with that human you love for a short while."

"We were always tools, weren't we?" I quietly said.

"It is not your fault, Shard. The Creator loves you, He truly does. You are the first of His children. But we were not imbued with that love. We are simply Concepts. He is blind to your faults, so we must peer through his blind spots, lest His Creation end."

"Fine Mesprit," I said tiredly. "I'll be a tool. I'll do what's needed when the time comes. But I can't in good conscience behave like you want me to."

"Begone, Shard. I like you less than I thought I would."

The Legendary flicked their wrist in annoyance, and I was slapped away by an invisible force. Before I could land, I was back in the real world. I inhaled sharply as the water on my wrist slid down like goo and settled back into the lake.

"Grace Pastel! Confirm that you are still with us!"

Everything was so loud, and the world was so bright. I squinted and put a hand over my eyes as I turned back toward the League Trainers. They were terrified of me, but that wasn't it. I could delve deeper, now. The shades were more precise, easier to distinguish. I tried to answer, but I had the biggest headache. The center of the base was swarming with emotions in such an overwhelming way that for a second, I couldn't even comprehend what I was looking at.

"I'm— I'm here," I said, quieter than I wanted.

Wait, hadn't Mesprit given them some kind of heartbreak? I couldn't see any signs of it here, and they were acting normally. Two of the League Trainers approached me with a careful step and grabbed me by the arm to lift me up. Had Mesprit changed their mind? I wasn't so big-headed to think that I had anything to do with it, but still, I felt thankful nonetheless. I would have told them that they only needed to leave the premises not to suffer a month of heartbreak, but it was still better this way.

They tried questioning me during the car ride back, but stopped when I started clenching at my head when we reached the activity hub of the base. I knew I could dull my powers, but this was like trying to empty an ocean with a small cup. It wasn't stopping.

"I need— I need to go somewhere without so many people," I exhaled as the car came to a stop. "This is hurting me."

Like the first few times a psychic had tried speaking into my mind, but continuous instead of a short injection of pain. They said they would have to ask Bethany about that first, and I could only muster a nod. At least they left me to sit in the car. I laid down on the backseat and wiped the sweat off my forehead. Add, remove, or mix the colors. Mesprit had been right. I hadn't done anything yet, but I could pull and push at them when I wanted to. Ripping them out of someone would take some exertion, but it was scarily intuitive, even if it would have made me pass out. Doing it slowly and over time, however? There was no limit, save for my stamina. Did they have water in here? Right, I had my backpack… my backpack. Right, I had left it in the car and it was still here. I opened it with a shaky hand and grabbed one of my water bottles. When I tried to drink, the water got all over my face and inside of my nose instead. I nearly choked on the damn thing and ended up dropping the bottle in the car.

Look at me. Given a gift by a literal God and I can't even drink water by myself.

It took a little bit for someone to come back to get me, and I was slowly but surely emptying the fucking ocean. Maybe I'd been exaggerating, really, but in an actual city, it would literally be one.

"Grace Pastel. Commander Bethany is ready for you."

"What about what I asked? Doing this somewhere else?" I asked through cold sweats.

"She has already ordered the surroundings to be cleared, including headquarters," the League Trainer said.

I pulled myself back up and carefully stepped out of the car with my crutch, wincing when a flurry of people and Pokemon passed by me. The throbbing pain dissipated when the building was emptied and I kept getting better at masking my gift. This time, Bethany had a Vileplume with her, though I didn't know if it was hers or someone else's. Aliyah was here too— with Chimecho. They both stared into my eyes and… appraised me, for lack of a better word. After around a minute, she pulled a recorder out of a drawer and turned it on.

"How was it?" Bethany finally asked.

I revealed every content of the meeting, save for when Mesprit essentially called me a psycho. This information would all be sent to Cynthia, probably. They really appreciated an actual timeline on the Red Chain, at the very least, and the fact that Mesprit was a lot more cooperative than Azelf was. Cooperative was some way to call it. My neck hair stood on end when I remembered how effortlessly Mesprit had made me love them. Continuing on, apparently my eyes were pink, although that was fading and fading quickly. Cece and Chase's eyes had been yellow after speaking to Azelf, so that made sense. The colors felt a bit odd, but I wasn't going to tell Gods what colors should signify what concept.

"Now, about your new… capabilities," Bethany asked.

"From what I understand, I can tamper with emotions. If I do it subtly, it'll take hours to days to change someone the way I want, but I can also… use a hammer instead of a scalpel, for lack of a better word, and wreck everything, but that'll make me pass out. Too much stamina used at once."

I saw fear flicker around her like a surging flame as she paled, although Aliyah was as calm as could be. It made sense. I could potentially be altering her in ways she wouldn't even understand right now, and she would be none the wiser. I would be terrified of me too. I needed to keep what Aliyah had said in mind. Me being able to know what my friends felt when they saw me would bring out my most manipulative tendencies, so I needed to keep practicing at lowering this… intensity until I could ignore it completely.

"You don't have to worry," I tried. "I won't do anything."

Bethany snorted— though it was a way to mask her fear— "Well, if you say so," she said, clearly sarcastic. "Unfortunately though, the League would like if you could… test this."

I frowned. "What?"

"It doesn't have to be something big. Maybe make someone jovial or sad for a little bit, just to confirm."

"So… who?" I muttered.

"We brought in a prisoner since we were expecting you—"

"What? You want me to experiment on some prisoner?" I scoffed. "That's… fucked up. I can't do this."

"He's one of the people who was running the fighting ring in the Game Corner," Bethany finished, tapping her fingers nervously on the desk.

My eyes narrowed. This was manipulation, and it was blatant.

"Did Cynthia make you do this?" I asked.

"No. It was my call," Bethany shrugged. "And you can always change them back to normal."

Not a lie, I noticed. Her nervousness and fear would have swelled if it was, unless she was a stone-cold liar who'd trained herself to bypass even the most powerful empaths, which I doubted she was. She'd been right that I could get them back to normal, but I wasn't confident I actually knew how yet— which I guessed was why she'd asked me to practice in the first place. My lips quivered as I struggled to get the answer out of my mouth.

Say no. Say it!

"I don't feel confident in trying anything at the moment," I said. "First, I just want to be able to stand in a crowd without dying."

I didn't miss Aliyah dipping her head at me. I could almost hear her praise from here. For Cecilia, this was the slippery slope, but I already was at the bottom of the slope and I needed to claw my way back up. There was a reason why answering no had been so difficult. Because deep down, I wanted the prisoner to suffer for what he'd done, and I wanted to be the one to do it.

But also, part of me thought that practicing on him would be a way to help Justin. I couldn't just let him be, could I?

Bethany nodded. "Fair enough. We still have some tests to run to see if any of our current methods are effective at stopping your empathy, and then you'll be free to leave."

"Okay."

Psychic barriers did nothing. Darkness dampened my view enough, but I could still peer through if I tried harder and focused. There was another thing they tried— somehow a combination of the two that they'd stolen from Abel, according to them— which almost muted their emotions, but not completely, and the longer I looked in all of these cases, the more I could see, so they wouldn't work for very long. It took nearly two hours to test everything, and by the end of it I was exhausted. Exhausted and hungry. They fed me and kept the building empty to help, but I knew that now they wanted me out of here as soon as possible.

So I obliged them and left, telling Princess about what happened while she looked for a decent spot to camp in outside of Sandgem.

I would have much to talk about with Aliyah tomorrow.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Daniel, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, BeautifulBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, nothingtoseehere, SecondBlahm, Daruda, Mystic Corn, menirx, Paul S, coolblue, Ole W, Daniel J, Eric, Anarchistofyams, Cosimo, Nick S

 

[Soussouni1]

INTERLUDE - IRON ISLANDS I

Cecilia had to admit it, Canalave city looked like a nice place to live in.

It was not like her usual favorites in Castelia or Jubilife— massive metropolises with urban sprawl as far as the eye could see— but it certainly had a charm of its own. There was something about the maritime way of life here that was so endearing, and it reminded her of the piers in Castelia, only a much smaller version of them. The streets were paved in a beautiful pattern of light and dark grays, and no asphalt roads were to be found here. Instead of buses or trams, people traveled up and down the city through their public ferry system, which was another point in their favor.

But it was the bridge that linked the two halves of the city, that Cecilia enjoyed the most. Unova had always had a thing for bridges. While they did link the entire region together, they were also more than that. They were a symbol of unity. Bridging dreams, cultures, innovations, and lives together. Six bridges, but all united in one purpose. It sounded good, and it certainly made for excellent dressing, but Cecilia knew of the rot that delved if you looked at Unova long enough. She had always known, but only now did she think it was an issue that needed to be fixed. Rot should be cleansed from the whole.

Cecilia checked the time on her phone as she felt the tinge of saltiness in the air with Slowking and Croagunk by her side. The fighting type was punching the air with glowing fists in an attempt to build up her stamina, trying not to laugh at Slowking's silly jokes. Since the raid on the Pokemon Mansion, she had been training day and night without a day's break, even though Cecilia had tried to have her slow down. She was, however, progressing leaps and bounds with Scyther's tutelage. The soft sound of the waves would have been relaxing, should she not have every trainer who passed stare at her. The news of her murder had followed her far, it seemed. The loss of reputation bothered her, as much as it pained to admit. She had never been one to care much for what people thought about her, but a good reputation could be leveraged, and she had lost that advantage, possibly forever. Everyone knew Cynthia killed people, but no one had ever gotten footage of it. It was all about image. It was one thing to theorize and talk about how Cynthia dealt with criminals, and another matter entirely to see someone disintegrate a man's head with Dragon Pulse without flinching.

Yes. That was how she had killed. And the second time was nowhere as difficult as the first.

She raised her head and exhaled when Chase finally turned the corner with two drinks in hand.

"Catch," he yelled.

"Wha—"

Cecilia brought her hands up, and although she made contact with the drink, it nearly fell to the ground. Slowking wrapped it in a neat psychic bubble and raised it back to her.

"Did you have to throw that?" she sighed, staring at the juice box. "What even is this?"

"Grapefruit," he grunted.

"Chase, I hate grapefruit."

He scoffed. "What the hell is wrong with you? How does someone hate grapefruit? It's literally a fucking fruit. It's sweet."

Right. Only Grace knew things like that.

Cecilia clicked her tongue. "It has that weird acidic aftertaste— you know what, never mind. Let's swap. You have a different flavor."

"Whatever."

Chase hadn't really needed to find her, since they'd been going in the same direction regardless. He had popped up yesterday night, having just reached the city a few days after she did, and finding which Center Cecilia stayed at these days was as easy as looking up her name online. She appreciated his presence, still. He helped her not get lost in thought about the Voice or Grace.

Ah, I thought about her again, she sighed. Cecilia hated the way they'd left things, but she had needed space— and still did. Still, she couldn't help but worry. Had her meeting with her mother gone well? Had she met Mesprit yet? Were her therapy sessions going well? How was she doing without her— and was it as suffocating as Cecilia felt? She had wanted to ask all of this. Call, speak, do anything together, so long as she heard from her, but this was a conscious decoupling. The pragmatic way to look at this was that they would be better off learning to spend time without each other. Their last real interaction together had been… somewhat heated, with Grace having tried to minimize the horrible fact that Cecilia had used the Voice. Cecilia had known that she had just wanted to make her feel better by saying that it had been to protect them, but it had done the opposite.

But still, it wasn't like they… couldn't text at least a few times. Grace had just never even messaged once, so Cecilia thought she was doing well enough. Or that she no longer needed her, and that was a mortifying thought. Not even once, she had texted. And she was strangely silent in their group chat as well. The only reason Cecilia knew of her well-being was because Denzel had told her that his parents had seen her in Twinleaf for a few days, and they were not happy about it.

Should she text first, then? Would that be odd? Would she be annoyed? Was Grace still angry at her? I don't want her to hate me—

"Stop brooding about Grace," Chase said. "Seen you do it too many times, and I've only been here for a day."

"You don't get it," Cecilia muttered.

"You're right, I don't," he shrugged. "I don't get this dating stuff, really. But you won't talk to me about it, so I can't, so honestly, that's on you."

"How much longer until the ferry?" she asked, ignoring him.

"An hour and a half," he said. "Wonder how your therapist will follow you this time. Think he'll be on the boat?"

Cece would have smiled at that, weeks ago. "Possibly. It's not like he's that conspicuous."

Chase snorted. "Conspicuous."

"What? It's a word."

That was a lot of time to burn. The ferry to the Iron Islands only ran twice per day, once in the morning and once late in the afternoon, and they were taking the morning one to have as much daylight as possible. Surprisingly, Chase had no longer been hesitant about it when he found her, asking her to go to the islands right away instead, like he was ready, now. Cecilia admired her friend, in a way. He was the only one who had come out of the Pokemon Mansion in a relatively alright mental state, and he was mellower now than he had been.

"What're they saying about you in your country?" Chase asked, trying to change the subject.

Probably awful things, Cecilia thought. Not that she would let that stop her. She had already been branded a puppet of Cynthia, so nothing she could do would rescue her reputation.

"Oh, I haven't looked, believe it or not. I can't handle that many problems at once…" she answered.

"Right. Sorry. Okay, then, what the fuck is it with you and grapefruit?"

This was going to be a long hour and a half.

—

Cecilia leaned against the ferry's railing as the warm wind fluttered in her hair. Already, they had passed multiple islands, but this boat only stopped at the central and largest one, which was, according to Chase, the only island where one could lead a somewhat decent life in the islands. It was no Canalave, but at least it had a Pokemon Center and proper hospital. Reaching the Iron Islands without a ferry was actually illegal, because Sinnoh's government wanted to log each entry into the island and each exit too. It served the same purpose as those Ranger Stations that flanked Eterna Forest, the entryways into Mount Coronet and Victory Road, except there was no lesson to be had. It was simply a way to track who was going into the relatively dangerous environment.

Or which Iron Island denizen was going out.

They still had a while to go to reach the central island, which according to Chase was named Fisher Island. Not a very unique name, but at least she knew what to expect when they reached the place. Cecilia reentered the basically empty ferry and found Chase on his knees facing his seat, where his Wimpod was squirming about excitedly. It was… cute, really. He babied his Wimpod very much, even if he pretended not to. She hadn't even had her first battle, since Chase wanted to 'make sure she was ready'. With how slow he was being with her, she wouldn't be ready for the Conference in time, but maybe that was fine.

"Am I interrupting something?" Cecilia asked.

Her friend flinched, and Wimpod screeched, jumping on his back and desperately trying to crawl under his shirt despite being far too large to do so. Chase quickly recalled her and glared at Cecilia.

"In my defense, I had no idea she would get scared at my voice," she preemptively said with two raised hands.

"Arceus…"

"You, of all people, cannot criticize me for a lack of tact, Chase," Cecilia said as she sat down. "Still, I'm sorry. It looks like you were having a good time."

"Take whatever you saw to your grave," he said, half-jokingly. "How's the view outside? Did you see Anvil Island? I always thought it looked cool as a kid."

"You didn't stay in Falkirk your entire life?" Cece asked, suddenly intrigued.

"I did, but my Dad had pictures of some funny-looking islands he'd been to. Being shaped like an anvil is pretty cool if you ask me." How childlike, Cecilia couldn't help but notice. "I guess I did go to Fisher Island once when I got really sick, but I don't remember it much. I used to get sick all the time, back in the day."

"I did see a really flat island— more than what I thought I'd see, in this archipelago," Cecilia said.

"Oh, that's probably Sandy's Key," Chase shrugged. "It has like, a hundred people on it tops. Can't really sustain much more, with how small it is."

Cecilia paused. "You really do know every island?"

"Obviously. It's home," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "Got any more questions?"

He was actually eager to talk about it, too. Cecilia wasn't as good with people as Grace was, but she was not bad by any means, especially with her friends.

"So this place is a part of Canalave, right? They say Byron was born here and used to be a miner."

Chase's eye twitched, and he laughed dryly. "A few years in Oreburgh, and Byron forgot all about us. Dad said that he promised a lot when he left, you know? He crawled through the mud every day like all of us, and it was the first time someone from the Iron Island got to such a position. Gym Leader of Oreburgh. He stayed there for years, and he promised he would put pressure on Sinnoh to change stuff. Teracore operates in Oreburgh's mines too, so we thought he'd be able to put some pressure on them and have them change the way they do things."

Cecilia frowned, guessing at what happened next.

"Nothing changed beyond some empty gestures. It's always the same, really. Empty promises," Chase muttered as he stared through the window at the endless ocean. "I know now that he probably really did want to change stuff. Why else would he become Gym Leader of Canalave after so many years spent in Oreburgh? Closer to home, and this time, the Iron Islands would actually be in his jurisdiction."

"Power comes with its own bindings," Cecilia said.

"He got in there thinking he'd change everything and got a dose of reality, I bet," Chase snorted. "Even back when Cynthia hadn't democratized the country, Gym Leaders weren't all-powerful and had to wrangle special interests, and Radetic had his fingers in a lot of pies."

Cecilia frowned. "How'd you learn about this? Not that I'm calling you dumb—"

"You better not," he grunted. "I've just been researching stuff. You know, to get ready."

Cecilia leaned forward. Had she finally found someone to speak about statecraft with? "Did you figure out anything?"

"I did. The clean-cut way of doing things would be to grant the Iron Islands independence from Canalave and to make it a full-fledged part of Sinnoh," he concluded. "That way, we negotiate with the mining companies. We set the terms. Not some bureaucrat sitting hundreds of miles away in a cozy office who never set foot on a single island."

"Negotiations, then. I thought you would employ more brutal methods as Champion."

"Well, I'm not going to be the Champion any time soon, right?" he admitted, possibly for the first time. "Gotta start small. Organize, and stuff. Make this matter. Of course, it's going to be hard without Canalave's subsidies, but we could negotiate something with the federal government. I could also try going for Gym Leader position, but I'm not planning on working in some crummy Gym for a decade and licking Byron's boot so he picks me as a successor when he retires. He picked his fucking son for Oreburgh, and you know what happened."

"They say Roark made Maylene look like an angel, early in his tenure," Cecilia said. "He desperately wanted to show up his father and bulldozed every challenger that came through."

"He used the correct Pokemon, but he fought for real," Chase nodded. "He'd let wins slip through after trainers knocked their heads against him a few times, but if your instincts were worse than his, there was no way you were winning on the first try. It's a wonder he was never recalled."

"Not a wonder," Cecilia smiled. "If he hadn't been Byron's son, he would have been fired by the League. There's no way they would have let a random Gym Trainer stay in his position."

"Nepotism's the bane of my fucking existence," he spat. "Anyway, Byron fucking sucks, no matter where he comes from, but I'll wait until I'm in a position to make change happen to judge him fully."

"How level-headed."

"I'm super level-headed. You just never bothered looking."

"You did, I recall, call me overrated Unovan trash when we first met."

Chase snorted. "Water under the bridge, right?"

"You're lucky I'm so forgiving," she said, finally cracking a smile. "When we get to Fisher Island, how do we get to Falkirk? Another ferry?"

"They haven't even rebuilt the town, Cece," Chase shook his head. "Don't think they ever will. We'll have to fly there. It's fine now that they know we're in the Iron Islands. I know the general direction, but I'll get us a map just to be sure."

"They sell maps out in front," Cecilia suggested.

"They do?" he raised an eyebrow. "I'll go now, then."

He came back with a crusty map that took effort to unfold. Cecilia wrinkled her nose. There was no way she was ever going to touch that thing, but Chase didn't seem to care. The Iron Islands were composed of hundreds of inhabited and uninhabited islands. Some were simply a large enough rock to have been marked down, while others had thousands of inhabitants. According to Chase, tens of thousands of people lived scattered throughout the islands— nearly a hundred thousand in total. Directly east of them was Sinnoh's coast and the area around Eterna Forest.

"There. The town's still labeled, since it's an older map," Chase said, tapping on Falkirk. His lips tightened, and his finger stayed still on the island.

"Are you sure you'll be alright?"

"You deal with your own demons," he snapped before pausing. "My bad. Sorry."

"Water under the bridge," she repeated. "Remember, I'm here to help."

"Seriously, though, what about you?" Chase asked. "You dealing okay? I've never had any problems with, uh, you know."

The Voice, she guessed. "You know about Zweilous," she said. She had told him, before they decided to go together to the Iron Islands. There would be a fight there, and she had said that if he wanted to go alone to avoid having to deal with a rampaging dragon, he could. "The thing is, when I asked my brother about how to deal with their evolution, he told me that it would take days for them to even hear my voice. Weeks to use in an actual battle without them going blind with rage and murdering anything in their way."

Chase frowned, but decided to let her keep going.

"You see, for all of your flaws, you've got a good moral code—" he chuckled. "—I'm serious. You don't have to worry about temptation, Chase. Me, I have thoughts about ways I could use this to my advantage. I was considering using it on Zweilous when they evolved, Chase. To get him to sit still for an hour so we could speak and see if I could get through to them."

She'd already told her therapist Jude about this, but he had been less than ideal in that regard. Instead of pushing back, which is what she wanted, he had said that it might work in everyone's favor and talked to her about consent instead.

He was right, damn it, he was. Zweilous— or Hydreigon, in this case, wouldn't mind. Their evolution would change them, but she knew them like the back of her hand. If it didn't work, well, no harm would have been done, because they wouldn't care. The command in question would have been to calm down. Only enough to let them communicate without Hydreigon throwing lethal attacks at her and her team, and not enough to actually control the dragon's actions. Knowing Zweilous, they would be horrified that they had even struck her in the first place, but was it her place to do this for them?

It was not.

So after Jude's suggestion, she had asked them, and they had agreed without a moment's hesitation. They were growing smarter, these days, but was their word enough to count as consent?

"You're having a real war with yourself over here," Chase noted.

Cecilia took her first real breath in a minute. "I don't like the way I'm starting to think, Chase."

"I'm probably a bad guy to ask for advice," he shrugged. "But would it really be so bad?"

"It would," she answered instantly.

"Then don't do it."

Cecilia sighed, and turned away from him. He did not get it. No one did.

—

"This place hasn't changed," Chase said as he stepped onto the pier.

"You said you didn't remember it," Cecilia raised an eyebrow.

"It's about the atmosphere, Cecilia."

Fisher Island was actually home to five separate fishing cities. This one— First Landing— was the largest, home to nearly ten thousand people, and the largest town on the Iron Islands in general. It felt odd to walk on land again after hours spent at sea, and the world seemed to move, still, but Cecilia walked through the pier and entered the town. First Landing's buildings were actually mostly made of stone, and their exteriors were scarred by the ceaseless sea winds. Slate-gray roofs, weathered but steadfast, provided a stark contrast against the vibrant blues of the ocean that stretched endlessly to the horizon. The paths were mostly dirt, but the areas around the pier were paved, along with the path to the mines in the islands' center. Cecilia assumed it made it easier to extract resources that way, but it reminded her of what she'd read about the colonial empires of old. Develop ways to bring resources back to the mainland while leaving the actual inhabitants living in squalor.

This place never stopped being a colony, did it?

And they did live in squalor. There was no other way to say it, the people here lived in abject poverty worse than the most underdeveloped parts of Virbank, which her father so charmingly used to call a dump only kept afloat through the existence of Pokestar Studio. The Iron Islands did not have an industry to keep themselves above the water line. All they had was mining resources that never seemed to run out and fishing. Nothing else. The people here looked hardy, both in their constitution and in their expressions. Everyone here was as well-built as your average trainer or better, with how much they moved around every day, which made Chase's past thinness stand out a lot more. Other cities couldn't boast of such a population.

"Pokemon Center should be up this road," Chase said. "Can we spend a night here?"

"Of course," Cecilia nodded. She was not about to stop Chase from getting to know his home again, and if she was correct, he might need the time to get ready and brace himself to confront his past. "Just making sure, you don't have any plans for revenge, right?"

"Nah. I need to look forward, not back," the teenager replied. "Plus, that Steelix would definitely kick my ass. It was like that Rhyperior and Tyranitar we saw in Mount Coronet."

She wanted to ask if his memory wasn't skewed by the trauma, but that wasn't her place, and she was glad he wasn't pursuing Steelix deep in the abandoned mines. Battling a Steelix in tight caves of all things was a surefire way to die. First Landing was built upon an ever-rising hill, and it was like the city had layers, like a continuously rising semi-circle. Cecilia stared in disbelief at what they called a Pokemon Center here. The building was so small and nowhere near as sprawling as the usual ones. It looked like it would barely have enough room to house ten people, let alone enough to heal the largest Pokemon specimen. Chase was unbothered by it, though, and entered the building right away.

Cecilia stopped herself from wincing at how dirty everything was in here. They couldn't even be bothered to clean the floors? And what was that smell? Goodness, this was not going well. She would honestly rather camp outside than sleep in here. The Unovan let Chase speak to a nurse who wasn't even in costume as she tried not to be rude and stare at every nook and cranny.

"We've got two rooms. I'm going to go out, though. You coming?" he asked.

"Yes, please— oh, wait, my phone's ringing. They have service here?"

Chase rolled his eyes. "You know, once in a while, your rich girl persona really comes through. Obviously they have service, it's a damn Center."

"It was a genuine worry!" Cecilia blustered. "Let me see…"

"Oh, my phone rang too," Chase muttered.

There was a flutter of warmth in her stomach when she saw who was texting. Grace had sent a message to the group chat with the people who knew about Team Galactic's true plot, so Mira, Chase, Denzel, and her.

Grace P.

'Sorry for having been radio silent for a few days, guys, I hope everyone is doing well. I finally met Mesprit yesterday and I have a few things to say…'

It was long. Longer than any text she had ever received from her, but it explained the meeting with Mesprit, including the Legendary's terrifying behavior, making Grace love them by force. Cecilia sighed in relief when she read that Grace was back to normal, however. Beyond that, there weren't many details about the conversation they had. They did finally have an answer as to why they'd been chosen, and it made understanding Azelf's disdain so much easier. They had not been someone the Legendary wanted, but they'd been the best option. It was odd, however, that Uxie had waited until they met Mira to give someone their gift, but then again, maybe there really was no one better.

In her opinion, Denzel might have made a good Shard of Knowledge, but she was no God and didn't know what the criteria for being picked even were, and there was no doubt Mira had been a good pick.

'...my new powers are odd. I've essentially become a full-blown empath, and I'm feeling so overwhelmed by everything I'm probably going to have to skip visiting my dad until I adjust better to them. I feel like Jubilife would make me pass out on the spot right now. Just being near Sandgem is hard enough. So I'll be staying on routes for a little while until I learn to adjust my power down, so I'll probably be silent again. Sorry.'

"Well, looks like she's doing relatively alright for herself," Chase said after finishing reading.

Cecilia nodded absent-mindedly. Grace was an empath, which meant sensing what emotions people and Pokemon felt at all times. She couldn't help but feel a twinge of nervousness at the thought, but it looked like she would be able to turn it off at some point like she'd said she had done against Wake, so that soothed most of her worries. Cecilia texted back to the group chat as a whole, but part of her so desperately wanted to call, just for a minute. To hear her voice again.

Mira C.

Wdym by full blown empath? Thats a little vague.

For a moment, Grace was typing. Then for five minutes. Then for longer. Cecilia almost thought she'd accidentally typed a letter and put her phone back in her pocket.

Grace P.

I can tell you whjen we ssee each other.

Mira C.

Thats in a while Grace. Possibly over that 1 month timeline you gave us.

Grace P.

Sorry, I have to go. I have to get bettr at undrstading it myself before I say anything innscurate, and Im not ready.

"She's not okay," Cecilia muttered as she crouched with a heavy breath. "She's not okay at all. I have to call her."

Chase didn't protest, since he didn't understand why they'd been apart in the first place. The phone didn't ring. It went straight to voice mail, so she called again. And again. And again. More than ten times. Chase gripped her shoulder tightly and acted like he couldn't see her tears falling to the floor.

"You know what, why don't we, uh, stay in? Your next meeting with Jude is tomorrow at noon, right?"

Should she leave? No, she shouldn't. It wouldn't be fair to Chase, but it also wouldn't be fair to herself to try to chase someone with no way of knowing where she was despite how much she wanted to. Prioritize yourself, Jude would say. Right now, she had to get Zweilous through their evolution, get Scyther to evolve, and help Croagunk reach her potential. Cecilia steeled herself. Compartmentalize. Put the anxiety and grief in a box and keep it there for later. With a deep breath, she rose with her back straight and her chin high, as if she hadn't been crying in the first place.

"Go do whatever you want, and I'll follow," she finally told Chase.

Her friend frowned. "You doing that is seriously weird. And you know, probably unhealthy."

"I can't afford to cry with so many challenges ahead of me. Where are we headed?"

Cecilia followed Chase out of the Pokemon Center and down the winding road. Apparently, he was going to some kind of bar he'd spotted on the way here next to the pier that Cecilia had missed due to looking around like a kid. There was definitely more to Grace's empathy than she was willing to let on, but why keep it hidden? Cecilia racked her mind with the answer, but nothing came up beside her maybe thinking her power would make their opinion of her change. And if she hadn't changed when hearing about Cecilia and Chase's Voice, then why worry about her own gift?

The group chat was still alight with Denzel trying to see if Grace was okay, but Mira was largely silent, not typing anything other than an 'okay' when Denzel asked how she was doing, which sounded faker than anything else, even through text. It wasn't just Grace who wasn't doing well. None of them were. Even Chase, if she looked long enough. He perpetually readjusted his cap or gripped the necklace around his neck like a tic he couldn't shake.

They entered a non-descript bar without a name that smelled like cigarettes. Cecilia nearly choked on the second-hand smoke, and even Chase looked uncomfortable. Sailors here spent their evenings drinking their wages away and playing dominoes or cards, which they slammed on tables in obnoxiously loud ways. Those who didn't drink hoped to save enough to move to the mainland and escape from this horrible life. And the ticket to the ferry was expensive, for people who lived here. That wasn't even counting the money you'd need to start a completely new life. These people were stuck here. This was Sinnoh's largest open air prison. Cecilia's eye twitched when she felt people stare. It reminded her of the horrifying way Louis had looked at her in the first weeks they'd known each other, before Eterna Forest had changed them all. She was strong— strong enough to destroy this entire building without a second thought and bury them all in the debris. She could order everyone in this room to die for her, and they would do it with a smile on their face. Still, she felt anxious.

"Are Pokemon allowed here?" Cecilia asked Chase in a hushed voice.

"Knock yourself out," Chase said as he strode toward the bartender. A woman, thankfully. One of the only ones in this entire establishment who had apparently learned to ignore the stares.

Cecilia released Scyther at her side, and suddenly no one was looking at her anymore. She breathed a sigh of relief as the bug type eyed her curiously. He wouldn't get it, of course, but his presence was very appreciated.

"Hey. I need information about Falkirk," Chase said, leaning against the dirty, ash-covered counter.

The woman snorted, scanning Chase with tired eyes. "And who are you, little man?" she asked with a very distinct accent. The same one all of the Iron Islands' inhabitants shared, and that Chase had largely lost.

It was surprising to Cecilia that someone didn't know who Chase was, especially in his home region. She would have expected them to be fans of his, and even then, he had just participated in the biggest poacher raid Sinnoh had experienced in decades. It was all anyone could talk about on the news!

"Chase Karlson," he answered nonchalantly. "Son of Urie Karlson and Adeline Halcourt. One of Falkirk's thirty-one survivors. I have seven badges, and I fight for you." He stopped to slide her his Trainer ID. "Now, I'll ask again. I need information about Falkirk."

He was the center of the room, now. The person everyone in the room had to look at— even her. Murmurs about his name ran through the bar. So they did know him, then, Cecilia thought. Just not what he looked like?

"Ask away, Chase Karlson," the woman said.

"What's your name?"

"Sonja."

"Sonja. That Steelix who destroyed Falkirk," Chase said as he dragged a chair to sit on. "Was it spotted recently?"

"It was. Some fishermen saw it nesting out of the mountain's crest while they were looking for Magikarp, Goldeen, and Remoraid," she said, turning to one of her customers. "Right? Anders?"

"Had its head hanging out of the mountain and everything," the man nodded as he smothered a cigarette. "It claimed the entire island as its turf. Won't let anyone try to rebuild."

That sounded like a domain in the making, given a few decades. Though according to Grace, Hatterene had told her that another Pokemon already had set up shop here and was the reason the iron never ran out. Could there be domains within domains? Could Pokemon share domains? The implications were endless, but she had no answer.

"The miners angered it too much, now it doesn't want to let anyone back on," someone else spoke up. "Fuckin' Teracore."

"Ain't that right," another man laughed. "Cheers to that."

"Cheers!"

"So most of the time, it's underground?" Chase asked.

"Most of the time, yes, but a Steelix that powerful can feel anything walking on the island. Kicked out an entire expedition of sailors we sent to attempt to rebuild on our own," the barkeep muttered before smirking. "Why? You planning on getting revenge for us? Gonna shank the fucker?"

Chase let a joke about stabbing through metal pass, then shook his head.

"No. I want to pay my respect to the fallen."

Cecilia expected anger, but there was a twinkle in the woman's eye. "Maybe they do raise you right on the mainland."

"I was raised here," Chase challenged.

"But you've lost your touch," she shrugged. "Talk like 'em, now. All prim and proper. Look at your gal. One step with us common folk and she looks like she's about to pass out."

Cecilia's face twisted with indignation, but Chase raised a hand to stop her from talking back and before Scyther could hiss and flash his teeth, though he did anyway, causing the bartender to pale.

"She's not like the others," he said. "She's also a friend, not my anything. So you shut your fucking mouth."

The woman laughed as color returned to her face and she turned to her clientele. "He's got a mouth on him too! An Islander, born and bred! Want something to drink? Both of ya."

Apparently, that had been… good? There were a lot of cultural differences here that Cecilia didn't get. Chase asked for whatever they had while she asked for cold water. Instead, she got lukewarm water that still had a slightly salty taste to it, and she decided not to drink any more of it. Chase, meanwhile, got beer while being underage. Cecilia knew that he normally wouldn't have drank any, but he indulged himself this time.

"Any words from the Rangers?" Chase continued.

"They're too busy keeping the mainland safe. Got word from Canalave that the price of reclaiming the island from Steelix wouldn't be worth the cost at the moment."

"Never worth the cost when it's for us," Chase said. "And no Ranger can take that Steelix down without help from the League. I'd do something if I could, but I'm not strong enough yet, I'm afraid."

"Can't you call them… what do they call those? Conference-goers, or whatever," someone said, eliciting a few laughs. "Have 'em beat that Steelix."

"It's probably stronger than even those," Chase said. "But either way, the Conference is something else entirely. Most people who make it there have never stared death in the face in any serious capacity anyway. They'd shit themselves before going to face down a wild Steelix."

"Heard you were chummy with the government, though," Sonja said.

"Chummy's one way to put it. I've already asked for help multiple times. They have other priorities, at the moment."

"Obviously," she spat. "Any other questions, son of Urie?"

"You wouldn't know what moves or techniques Steelix is capable of using, would you? In case it tries to attack us."

"Moves?" Sonja laughed.

"They tell us to watch for Rock Slide or Rock Throw down in the mines," another man spoke up. "Don't know much about battling, son."

"Don't worry about it, you've been plenty of help," Chase said. He downed his drink and grimaced. "Arceus, this tastes like shit."

"Tastes like home, though, doesn't it?" Sonja grinned.

He paused, then smirked. "That, it does."

They left soon after that, although Chase paid a lot more than the actual tab and told them to keep the change. Cecilia kept Scyther out and about. She'd never seen Chase in his element like this, and it had been like he'd been another person. No, it had been like he'd been himself, but fuller. Like she'd peered through the potential he actually had. Already, the people in the bar were probably speaking his name, and it would spread further than it already had.

"They didn't know much about you or what you looked like," Cecilia said. "I thought they would."

"News spread slowly through the islands," Chase shrugged. "And they have a lot more to worry about than watching Pokemon battling. Notice how few trainers there are here?"

Cecilia nodded. "I thought it was odd."

"It serves two purposes. One, it keeps us down in the mud. If one of us ever got strong enough and had ideas, then it'd be bad for the people running this show."

"Teracore," she muttered.

"They own this place," Chase said. "Not in name, but they do. Byron was an anomaly, and they got to him before he could do anything of note. Two, it keeps us ignorant and makes us disdain the mainlanders, because we're other. Notice how they hated you when you walked in?"

"They were also staring in very inappropriate ways," she angrily said.

"Were they? Shit, sorry. Want me to go and beat 'em up?"

"I figured you didn't notice. It's alright, they stopped when I released Scyther anyway."

It wasn't alright, but the last thing she wanted was to have Chase start a fight with his own people when the current situation had so much potential to be seized.

The bug type fanned his wings and shrugged.

"Anyway, we hate the mainland. Not knowing jack shit about Pokemon battling keeps us isolated, and hatred is a powerful tool. Ignorance, though, that's the main purpose. Some people have radio here, but almost no one owns a television or a mobile phone, and being interested in battling is seen as a shameful, foreign thing. I never wanted to be a trainer until I figured something needed to change around here. I thought I'd just be a miner like my old man, or a fisherman. That I'd either die from straying too far from the coast or too deep in the mines. Or I'd get crippled for life."

Cecilia nodded. She had seen those too, while walking the streets. People who had been grievously wounded on the job, now wasting away.

"You have an opportunity here," she said. "To spread your name in all of the Iron Islands. To become the most famous man here since Byron, decades ago."

"That's not the goal," he said. "That way of thinking will turn me into just another politician."

"But it'll help you gain leverage," she pushed. "To reach your actual objective. A voice for the Iron Islands that people can't just ignore. When you gained more influence, you could…" she gestured widely. "I don't know, organize a strike or something. Keep the people organized and fed through donations, if you use your fame to call on the rest of the region to help. No one knows how bad it is here, Chase. They don't ever talk about this on the news—"

"I know that," he spat. "I— know."

"So then it should be the goal. There's an opportunity here. I'm not telling you to do it now, but at some point, you'll have to grab it. With the Voice, you'll have so much leverage that the government will be inclined to listen to you."

"I get it. Now fuck off."

Cecilia's shoulders slumped. "Sorry, I guess."

Her friend brought a hand to his forehead and sighed. "I don't want to think like that, Cecilia. I don't want to be… one of them. The people who see this as some sort of game and not people's lives. They'll suffer if I go through with this. Every time there was a strike, they ended up only losing."

"You're already playing the game. Here, take your plan for independence. Think it'll be any easier? Even though Canalave gives you enough money to keep you afloat, but not enough to actually improve your lives, it'll get worse before it gets better. It's a course of action to achieve your goals, and it's just politics."

"It fucks me up, you know," he sighed, suddenly turning toward her. "The fact that I see what's been done here and I get it. I hate it, but I fucking get it. Sinnoh's iron mines are the most productive in the entire world because we have an endless supply here. No one has to do prospecting, aerial surveys or whatever the fuck it is they do to find new ones. We just keep mining the same spots over and over and shit out more iron and ore than multiple countries combined. And it's like, when did I start thinking like this?"

"I get it. I really do. But thinking it is one thing, Chase. To beat your enemy, you have to know them and how they think. And you have to hit them where it hurts."

Chase's leg stopped bouncing— she hadn't even noticed he has started— and he sighed. "Well, I'll be fucking damned. I guess I will."

"We're the same, you and I," she said, grabbing him by the shoulder. She'd grown a little taller than he had, now, by slightly less than an inch.

"Yeah, only you'll have to do on a region-wide scale what I'm trying to do in a localized area," he said. "Good luck with that."

It was not a sarcastic remark, but a genuine one.

"Now, this Steelix," Cecilia said. "What exactly is the plan to stop ourselves from getting killed?"

"If it comes for us, I'll use the Voice and buy us enough time to fly off," he whispered. "But I'm hoping that two people instead of a full expedition won't anger it too much. You keep yours for your dragon."

"I didn't tell you I'd use it," she said.

"But you want Zweilous to evolve during our stay here, don't you? To get them useable before the fight with Byron."

"I do," she acknowledged.

"So either you'll have to most likely give up on the Conference because risking using Hydreigon in a Gym will be insane," he said. "Or you'll have to use the Voice and figure something out."

Giving up on the Conference? Not an option. It was meant to be her stepping stone. A place to show how powerful she'd grown to Unova and to arrive there with the wind in her sails. Without it, she would arrive humiliated.

Cecilia's lips thinned. "Why don't we go train? Clear our heads for a few hours?"

"Sure thing."

"Maybe Wimpod and Croagunk can have a fight," she smiled.

"Absolutely fucking not," he growled. "She's not ready."

She was smiling. Walking like nothing had happened with Chase and Scyther by her side.

But inside of Cecilia's mind, gears started turning.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, BeautifulBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, nothingtoseehere, SecondBlahm, Daruda, Mystic Corn, menirx, Paul S, coolblue, Ole W, Daniel J, Eric, Anarchistofyams, Cosimo, Nick S

 

[Soussouni1]

A/N: This is the final part of the interlude.

INTERLUDE - IRON ISLANDS II

"Thank you for your time, Jude," Cecilia sniffled as she wiped her eyes. "Truly."

Jude Cantrell— Cecilia's therapist— was a middle-aged man around his early forties with short, dark hair. He had a thin face with sunken cheeks, though he wasn't underweight by any means. The short man nodded as he walked out of her Pokemon Center room. She'd unpacked everything about Grace today, having finally pulled her worries out of the box, and sometimes, a good cry really did feel good, even if the crux of the issue hadn't been addressed.

"I will see you tomorrow at noon, Cecilia," he smiled. "You did well today."

"Will you be able to get to Falkirk?" she muttered. While Jude had a Misdreavus and a Banette, he had no means of Teleporting that Cecilia knew of.

"Oh, one of your ACEs will fly me. We've been in contact," he said. "And remember, give her space. Calling over and over won't do any of you any good. She's most likely seen those and will answer when she's ready."

Cece nodded tightly and then watched Jude stride through the Center's dirty hallway with steps so light she wouldn't have been able to tell he was here was she not looking at him. She'd been doubtful about therapy before, but Jude was truly a blessing. It was unfortunate that Chase had refused the League's offer, even if he was doing relatively well compared to her and the others. Cecilia knew he had a lot on his mind to vent about, especially after yesterday's outburst about his worries about the Iron Islands.

Alas, Chase was an islander, after all. The people here had developed a culture that dictated that getting help was shameful and toughing things out was the only way to go about things, and he had still not let go of that mentality. Once she made sure that she hadn't forgotten anything in her room, Cecilia left— and hopefully she would never have to stay here again. She was pretty sure she'd breathed in more dust in a single night than she had her entire life. Chase was already waiting for her in the lobby, though he was talking in a hushed tone to his Lucario and Zangoose. She felt bad interrupting what looking like an important conversation, but Ri had noticed her approach anyway, and his glance gave her position away to Chase.

"Good afternoon," she said.

"Arceus, you've been crying," he deadpanned.

Cecilia frowned. "You didn't have to say it so… matter of factly. Yes, I was crying, but I'm done now. I let everything out of the box. How was your morning?"

"Spent it visiting places with Ri and the rest of the team. Kept Wimpod in her ball, though. This place would terrify her."

She hummed as she got closer. "See anything good?"

She nearly jumped when Ri spoke into her mind. It was good to reminisce. There is not much to do here, but I have been here plenty of times with Urie. The place hasn't changed.

Zangoose offered him a supportive look, though support from her looked like she was still glaring. After so much time spent having Slowking speak through telepathy, Aura felt odd to her mind. Like a frigid blanket enveloping her brain. Not painful by any means, but slightly uncomfortable.

"We went to check out the mines too," Chase added. "To see what conditions people worked in."

Cecilia winced. "And?"

"Awful. You know, I didn't really comprehend how bad it was. My dad probably kept how shit conditions were to keep me happy, but it's hell down there, Cece. I spoke to the miners and they told me about the shit air ventilation, the lights that don't work half the time, the heat, the long hours… and the mine's so far away from First Landing that they don't have time to go home for lunch, so they're forced to buy food on location. And guess what? They pay Teracore for their food. The company's literally growing richer by not feeding them."

Cecilia frowned. Even Unova, which was quite literally five corporations in a trenchcoat, had laws to protect workers against abuse like this. The picture was growing clearer, now. For the vast majority of people, the only jobs open would be the mines. These were, coincidentally, always far away from any settlement, which meant that workers would have to spend an absurd amount of time commuting there and back on foot. Not only that, but they were stuck there the entire day for wages that were honestly so low she wondered how they even sustained themselves.

Unless they worked overtime. Chase explained that there were barracks near the mines where miners could be lodged if they so chose so they could work longer hours. Entice them with more money, but not enough to actually change anything. This place was a well-oiled machine of oppression.

"Did you find a supervisor to speak to like you wanted?" Cecilia asked.

"Yeah, but if I did anything, he'd retaliate on the miners when I left because he'd think they sent me or some bullshit. I know how they work," Chase said through gritted teeth. "They spend the day here and then Teleport back to Canalave. Funnily enough, the government doesn't track them."

"Obviously not," Cecilia said with a hint of sarcasm. "That'd be far too fair."

"They hate that here," he nodded. "Arceus, what I would have done to punch that fucker in the face. Ri warned me before I could. Instead, I spent some of my savings from the LTIP and bought the entire place lunch— not from Teracore, though. Fuck giving them any more money. I had Sig fly the food in from here."

Cecilia's eyes widened in surprise. He'd talked about needing to save money to have his team catch up for the Conference, but clearly, this was more important to him, and she respected that fully.

Which you almost forgot to do, and would have done if I hadn't been here, Lucario said.

"Give me a break," he groaned.

He stood up to leave, though he recalled Zangoose and left Lucario out. They were both ready to fly to Falkirk, now. According to Chase, it would only take thirty to forty minutes to make it there. It would have been faster, had Sigilyph been a fast flier, but she was still lagging behind in flying type TE compared to Talonflame or Grace's Togekiss, and she didn't have a literal jet engine like Lehmhart did.

"The Iron Islands don't look very ripe for agriculture or raising any animals," Cecilia muttered as they left the Pokemon Center. "Is fishing enough to sustain the place?"

"No. A lot of the food is imported from the mainland," he instantly replied.

I figured, Cecilia thought. The leash Canalave had on this place was tight.

"We mostly eat fish Pokemon, though. The ones near the coast are weak enough to kill with mechanical harpoons, and their attacks aren't enough to destroy our fishing boats. Obviously, there are accidents sometimes, though. Keeping the waters mostly clear is one of the few things Canalave does right."

"Well, at least you're aware of the situation," Cecilia said after a short pause. "How will you proceed?"

"Next time I speak to Cynthia will be very interesting," Chase said.

"This time, you'll have a set of demands instead of asking her to 'fix' things. Cynthia is a pragmatic woman at heart. So long as it is in her and Sinnoh's interest, she will accept your demands— after Team Galactic is done with," Cecilia explained. "You have levers to pull, but will it be enough?"

"I have the Voice. And I can possibly unite the people of the Iron Island, though it'll be tough."

"Pfft. You're a charismatic leader, Chase, and you fit in," Cecilia said. "You'll unite them in no time."

"Threaten a strike if they don't give in to my demands. Teracore will throw a fit, but at the end of the day, Cynthia's pulling the strings. I'm thinking that we should use more machine-based mining. That way Sinnoh keeps getting their iron, and we can breathe easier."

"There will be a heavy upfront cost," Cecilia said. "And you can't get too reliant on machines, or Pokemon will get angry and people will lose their jobs."

Some would rather work in such terrible conditions than not have any money at all.

"I know that. But we need to diversify. The fact that the majority of us either go into fishing or mining is the problem, but… Arceus, this is hard. I can't just snap my fingers and turn this place into a tourism haven, or a manufacturing hub, or whatever."

"There will be difficult times ahead. But future generations will be thankful," Cecilia muttered as they approached First Landing's outskirts. "Alola was in a similar situation after the Great War. I read about it as a child."

He scoffed. "As a child? You subjected yourself to this shit willingly?"

"It was quite a fun read, thank you very much," she haughtily retorted. "Alola had fewer people than you do now, the land was barely developed and it had been a Hoennian and then Orrean colony. I can refer the book to you if you wish."

"I thought Orre was like, anarchy."

"It was a power that rivaled Unova before multiple Moltres razed it to the ground," she explained. "This is common knowledge."

"Don't get smart with me. I'll take the book name, though," he finally said.

"Good. Though obviously, the situations have their differences. Alola looks… far more appealing than this place and are far easier to actually live on."

The Iron Islands weren't as pretty, though a few of the islands she'd seen on the ferry here had been breathtaking. The land was basically impossible to farm on, so a population that ballooned too quickly like it had in Alola after the war wouldn't be possible here. Still, educating Chase in these matters would prove useful.

"I plan on spending the summer after the Conference here, if this Team Galactic bullshit is dealt with," Chase said. "I need to start organizing. I can't handle all of this shit on my own, so I'll need to find people better than me to delegate some tasks to."

"Excellent thinking!" Cecilia said with a surge of excitement. "Had I not had prior commitments, I would have joined to help before going to Unova."

"Right, you're going to the Battle Frontier with that psycho."

Cecilia rolled her eyes. "I wouldn't go as far as calling Cynthia a psycho. She's a goal-oriented woman, and most of the times she doesn't care if she has to step on some toes to reach those goals if it leaves Sinnoh in a better position."

"Well, she shares a lot of the blame for this whole situation," he gestured around the town, "so I'm not going to forgive her any time soon. She can start repenting by giving me what I want."

They kept talking about politics until they were ten minutes out of First Landing at the same spot they'd trained in before. The rocks here still looked burned from Houndoom and Talonflame's duel yesterday. The dark type was a menace, but Talonflame had managed to pull off a win by leveraging her speed in the air, and they'd been working on quite a few tactics to finally address her frailness which they'd need to beat Byron. Steel type or not, it would not matter if she got taken out in just a few hits like she used to. Her, Slowking, and Lehmhart would be her lynchpins for the Gym. Scyther and Hydreigon, she wasn't so sure, with their evolutions looming ahead. At this point, she was sure that hitting Zweilous hard enough would trigger it, which was why the dragon type hadn't trained yesterday. Falkirk's island would be a much better environment for this.

For Scyther, meanwhile? A week training heavily in an iron-rich environment like this one would be enough, if he pushed himself and chose to evolve.

Cecilia released Lehmhart, who instantly brought an enormous finger close to her face. She let the giant delicately rub his finger on her cheek and smiled. Still as delicate as ever.

"People got scared yesterday because of your robot," Chase smirked. "Someone was walking nearby to investigate the sound when we trained, but turned when they saw him."

First Landing's inhabitants had probably never even heard of a Golurk before. Cecilia hoped she hadn't scared whoever had seen him too much.

"He's no robot," Cecilia said. "He's alive."

Lehmhart let out an affectionate hum, releasing steam from his back, and he lay down on his stomach when she asked if she could put her saddle on his back. It was a time consuming endeavor, as she had learned to get used to, and she quickly climbed on his back to strap the reinforced leather around his upper arms, where they were the thinnest and they wouldn't retract. Then, another loop around his 'skirt' to stabilize the entire structure. Nearly ten minutes later, she was strapped in and ready to go. Normally, Slowking was the one to help her, but since Chase was here, he decided to take his stead.

Taking off on Lehmhart was a turbulent affair. The sound of whatever powered him was so loud Cecilia couldn't hear herself think. Honestly, she had considered buying hearing protection along with her goggles, but with everything going on, she never made time for it. Soon enough, they were in the air, and Chase was following on Sigilyph's back a few minutes behind.

—

Falkirk was…

Small.

The island itself couldn't have been larger than her father's property in Humilau— and Cecilia did realize comparing it to that made her an obnoxious rich girl, but the fact that she'd been confined in places larger than this entire island during her childhood really put her privilege on full display. Like most islands, it sloped up into a central mountain, where Cecilia could see the entryway to an enormous abandoned mine due to the railways that protruded out of it. Some of the rail had been upended and destroyed, however.

And that was like much of the town. There wasn't a single building left intact, and a scant few were still standing. Even the pier had been sunk beneath the waters. Strewn across the town were the remnants of everyday life. Abandoned and overturned carts, rusted bicycles, shattered glass windows and still-open doors bore witness to the haste with which residents had fled. There was a trail of destruction that was very easy to follow, even now. Steelix's path. The steel type had torn a hole through the mountain wide enough to fit two Lehmharts and had crawled their way to the town, possibly creating earthquakes on the way there, from the way fissures still ran through the ground. Cecilia tapped on Lehmhart's back, and the ground type landed inside of the city, near some kind of… shop, kicking up dust and debris as he did. Cecilia covered her nose and eyes until it settled down. It was hard to tell what the building had been, with the way the structure had collapsed, but Cecilia saw hints of counters through an enormous hole in the wall.

Now that Lehmhart could use his arms, he carefully grabbed the saddle after unstrapping it. It was quite the feat, how he managed to be so delicate with his size. He placed Cecilia on the floor, and she finally took in the ruins of Falkirk for the first time. It was eerie, how silent this place was. She could almost imagine the people walking in the streets, but they were nowhere to be seen. She had never been inside of abandoned or destroyed cities before, but Cecilia was pretty sure she'd just discovered a new phobia of some kind. Abandoned places felt wrong. Shadows of their former selves, haunted by their past inhabitants. She felt goosebumps on her arms and placed her arms flat against her body with a shaky breath.

No signs of a Steelix anywhere, Cecilia thought to herself. Chase landed around twenty seconds later, and though he was slightly paler than usual, he looked… relatively okay. He released Ri immediately, along with the rest of his team. Even Wimpod, he carried in his arms. All of his Pokemon hovered around him, though he kept repeating that he was fine.

"I'm going to find my house," he simply said.

Cecilia recalled Lehmhart and decided to silently follow.

—

Everything was gone.

Chase had known that would be the case, of course. He'd seen it happen while running through the streets. The sound of homes collapsing, glass shattering and the ground shaking had been so loud he hadn't been able to hear the screams. So yes, he had known, but seeing it again was an entire other fucking matter. He walked through debris-filled streets like they weren't full of death, taking the same path he used to as a kid to go from the pier to his house when his old man used to go talk to some fishermen friends. Chase always decided to go back home early, because he hated being outside as a kid. Today, he wished he'd spent more time with his Dad. Watched him talk about gambling, or his time spent abroad as a trainer, or anything.

Ri and the rest of his Pokemon followed in silence, and even Vikavolt was making an effort to mask the sound of his flight. Wimpod trembled in his arms at all of the destruction, and Chase softly caressed her carapace with his callused hands.

"Be strong," he asked. "It'll be okay."

Cecilia's stare was piercing. All of his life, he'd thought he would be alone with Ri doing this, but having a friend with him was… different. Nice, even. These past days with her had been fun, even if they had a lot of bullshit to deal with. They weren't alone very often, but he found that they meshed very well and were passionate about the same things. In the end, he was glad she was here. And to be honest, if she hadn't been, she'd probably be obsessing over Grace again.

But right now, none of that mattered. He was just trying to distract himself from what was to come.

Wimpod jumped in his arms when she noticed half of a human skeleton buried under a fallen roof. Then fragments strewn ahead of a boulder. Then another sitting with a piece of sharp rock lodged inside of their ribcage. They didn't have the decency to remove the fucking corpses too deep in the city. Rage swelled inside of Chase, but he couldn't scare Wimpod even further. She was doing her best to be with the team, and despite what he had said when he had first caught her, she was a fighter.

If…

If they hadn't gotten rid of the corpses this deep, then that meant—

Chase didn't run, but his pace sped up dramatically. He turned away from Main Street and onto Smith's Road, like he had hundreds of time before. His home sat at the very end of that street.

His breath caught in his throat, and suddenly, he wasn't so confident any more. Sweat built up on his arms and his leg started to bounce the minute he stopped. Can I do this? He didn't know. He wasn't sure anymore. He— he—

Chase, Ri muttered. You do not have to do this. You don't have to force yourself to see for me.

"Ri, we've wanted to—" he stopped to breathe. "—wanted to go back this entire time. We made an oath the day he died. We're right there, Ri. Right there. A few dozen steps, and we're…"

Sigilyph beeped worriedly, though Zangoose stopped her from intervening.

This is important, Lucario acknowledged. But your well-being matters more to me. If seeing this will break you, then you are better off not doing so at all. And before you yell, it is with a heavy heart that I say this.

Chase gulped, and he looked back to his street. The shitty fucking bench that was always dirty and on an uneven spot in the ground was torn in half, and half of it was jutting out of one of his neighbor's wall. The little patch of vegetation old Karin used to keep and water was gone. Arceus, he had hated her for yelling at him every time he'd nearly walked on there, and now she was dead. Fuck.

"I'm going," he finally said. "I'm going," he repeated a second time, steeling himself.

He took the first step. Then the second. He hopped over a fallen house, and found his steps heavier the closer he got to his home.

It was collapsed. Completely, as he knew it had been. Their old stone home lay in ruins, the once sturdy exterior now a jumbled pile of even stones and dirt. The roof obviously hadn't fared any better, and in the end, the entire place was inaccessible.

"It's… collapsed," he muttered. "I need to…"

"Sigilyph and Slowking can help," Cecilia suggested. "They can lift the debris with Psychic."

Sig excitedly beeped, brushing his back with one of her wings.

"Sure, uh, yeah," he said. "That sounds good."

His friend released her Slowking, and the two psychic types got to work. The fucked up part of this was how easy it was for the both of them to clear this place out. They lifted the roof like a piece of paper and split it into multiple parts, carefully catching the splinters before they could get to them and placing them neatly back on the street. Next, the stones flowed like grains of sand and were thrown back. An unsurmountable obstacle as a kid was now dealt with in barely two minutes. If it was so simple, then why the fuck couldn't the Rangers do anything? Steelix was being quiet, so they could have sent a group of two or three to do this.

He knew the answer. Because without having an opportunity to reclaim the island and start mining again, they had no reason to actually fucking help them. Fucking Canalave, he raged. Arceus, the fact that he couldn't go to Byron right now and have a fucking word was pissing him off. He understood, but that didn't mean it was right to do this. Sometimes, the rubber had to meet the road and you had to tell Teracore to suck a dick.

Chase gave Wimpod to Zangoose, who clumsily carried her in her arms as he approached the ruins of his now uncovered house. At least the flooring had survived. The wood still creaked in the same spots too. He walked through a non-existent door with Ri at his side and set his eyes on his father's corpse, with bits of torn-up clothing he'd been wearing. The usual crap he wore below his miner's uniform since he'd just come back from work.

I love you, son. This wasn't your fault. You aren't weak. You're perfect.

He was still in that same position he had told Riolu and him to run away with, though the part of the roof which had collapsed on him had now been removed. The damage now was obvious. His leg bones were cracked in at least ten pieces and fractured all over. When he'd been a kid, he had desperately tried pulling his father out from under the roof until his fingers started to bleed and his nails started to split, and even with Ri, it hadn't been enough. Ri hadn't been strong, back then. But in the end, it never would have mattered, would it? His Dad never would have been able to run anyway, with the state of his legs.

Lucario closed his eyes as a blue aura enveloped him, and Chase knelt against the floor close to his father's bones. He readjusted his cap and clasped his mother's necklace. No pictures he hoped to reclaim were intact.

"I'm back," he muttered. "Sorry to keep you waiting."

No answer came. Of course, no answer came, but that didn't matter. He talked for a long time, about his journey. About how much of an asshole he used to be, his new friends, and this Legendary bullshit he honestly didn't care about beyond the world needing to be saved. He must have spent an hour and a half recounting all of it, though Ri often interrupted to correct him when he strayed or was too biased.

He also prayed.

Chase had an odd relationship with religion, ever since he visited his mother's grave. He liked imagining his parents, reunited in the afterlife and being proud of him. He had done more research, in the months since. Worship of Arceus like they did in the east was a little hard, when he knew the prick was resting on his laurels and watching the world possibly end, but supposedly he made a nice garden for the dead to hang out in after they passed if they were good, so Chase would let it slide if his parents were having a good time up there. It was different everywhere, he knew. Not everyone believed in the same thing— hell, not everyone even believed in Arceus being the creator, but this was his version of things, and it would work well for what he needed.

"I'm going to make things right," he declared. "When I left here, I made an oath with Ri as soon as I was alright enough to speak again on the rescue boat. I said I'd come back here to see you again, but I also said I'd become the Champion and make things right." He stopped to take a breath, staring into the empty eye sockets. His hand was still outstretched. Chase could still feel his father's touch on his cheek, using the last remainder of his strength to tell him he loved him. "One day I'll be Champion," Chase continued. "But the work I can do here? I don't need to be Champion to do it. And it starts now."

Chase rose a new man.

The sun bore down his back, illuminating the ruins of his home as he stared down upon his father.

"Let's give you a proper send-off, shall we? Let's give all of you a proper send-off."

Chase left his house and called out to Cecilia, who had been patiently waiting all this time. It was scary, how much of a saint she was.

"Cece," he said.

Her eye twitched. "You look different," she noticed. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah. I'm going to need your help carrying all of the bodies down to the pier, if that's okay?"

"Sure thing," she said without a moment's hesitation.

Moments like this was why he was glad he'd met her. Overrated Unovan trash. Legendaries, he'd been so full of shit.

—

Falkirk had only been home to a few hundred people, yet it took until nightfall to gather all of the bodies, and even then, Cecilia was sure they had missed some, but they had done all they could. When she'd asked what they were gathering them for, Chase had simply answered that this was how they buried people in the Iron Islands. They'd built multiple barges using wood and hardened mud from Lehmhart and placed all of the bones on it after making sure they would actually float. They were a little rocky, but it did, and Houndoom set each of them aflame with flames that were beautifully golden. Their teams surrounded them, save for Zweilous, and they watched in silence. Chase's team was huddled around him, while Lehmhart played a farewell tune that fit the mood almost too well.

"The traditional way of doing things was to put the person on a boat and burn them at sea, but I had to improvise," Chase explained as the bones and barges burned down. "Of course, that was before. Back when Sinnoh was just a squabbling mess of city-states and we rivaled Canalave on the sea. Before we were conquered. Nowadays, we just burn the corpses on land and keep the ashes, but this… felt proper, I guess."

The smoke rose high into the sky as they watched in silence. None of the barges got too far, because Houndoom's flames were too powerful, but the gesture was there, and Cecilia knew that was all that mattered. She wondered, still, why Chase hadn't wanted to keep his father's ashes, but it wasn't her place to ask. Urie Karlson would burn among the rest of his people.

"I finally did it," Chase sighed as he stared at the night sky.

"You did. It might not mean much, but I'm proud of you," Cecilia said.

She did not know what it felt like, to lose a parent who had genuinely loved you for the first or second time. Chase crouched, and his arms hung off his knees.

"I hope they're proud too," he said.

"They are, Chase. They are."

There was a short pause.

"You religious?" he asked.

Despite fewer and fewer people being religious save for a few countries, Cecilia knew, that most of eastern Sinnoh saw Arceus as the creator— which apparently was correct, which was called Originalism. In Johto, they believed it to be Ho-Oh, who was also their guardian of the afterlife who would reincarnate you if you lived a good life. That one was called Celestism, for their worship of the light and rainbows. In Unova, the majority followed the religion of Syncretism. They believed that two dragons— Reshurem and Zekourom fought for eons in a barren world until peace was made, and they united as one. Without their fight to scar the world, life began to bloom and the world came to be. There was a split-off of that church who believed that the dragons had split again, which was why the world was in such discord all the time. Another believed that a third dragon had been in the picture and had thrown a once peaceful world into disorder, but in the end, Cecilia had never really believed in any of these.

"Not exactly, but does that matter?" she shrugged. Though Arceus' existence had been confirmed, she still didn't believe there was something beyond death. "If you think your parents are watching over you, then who am I to disagree? I'll support you every step of the way."

Chase smirked. "For all your moral quandaries about how you'll use your power wrong," he started, "you're probably the nicest person I've ever had the pleasure to meet."

Cecilia sat next to him. "Why don't we make an oath, you and I?" He blinked, but she continued. "That we'll change our homes no matter what, and that one day, we'll both be Champions. You, Sinnoh's, and me, Unova's. That we'll be different than all of the people in power now and actually try to break the status quo. That we'll do good and never lose sight of what's right, no matter what tools we need to use to rule."

Her comrade turned toward her and outstretched his hand. "You better not disappoint me, Cecilia Obel. Because I'll take these very seriously."

She clasped it tightly. "I'll do what's needed, Chase Karlson. Until we reach the top."

Cecilia rose a new woman, and the thread by which her reservations hung snapped.

---

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[Soussouni1]

---

CHAPTER 271 - Second Chances

Training a Tyranitar was hard.

Well, correction, it was hard when not being in the middle of nowhere, like when I could bring my team up to that mountain on route 214 where no one would ever come. There were a decent amount of trainers around Sandgem, and our training only helped to worsen the rumors. Sweetheart had grown extremely powerful, and her practice with manipulating the ground could be heard for miles. At the very least, she'd stopped yelling every time she succeeded with something, so that was a plus. At the end of every session, I had Princess fix the ground, but Angel couldn't just regrow the grass like nothing had happened, so we left a trail of overturned earth everywhere we went, and people noticed.

And now, Sandgem's Rangers were investigating. They couldn't let a potentially dangerous Pokemon slide, and they probably thought they would have wandered from somewhere off-route. At first I'd been planning to just leave tomorrow morning to make the entire situation go away. In the first place, the only reason I was staying near Sandgem was to get used to my empathy, since I could afford to spend the few days I'd planned to stay in Jubilife here. My father had been morbid when he heard I wasn't coming, but after a few calls with me he realized my visit to Twinleaf hadn't completely ruined me and the cause was something else entirely— something I couldn't reveal. But my Dad trusted me. He knew from my tone when I was lying or being truthful, so he had agreed to let me go, so long as I saw him when I passed by the city again for my meeting with Poketch.

Not that he would have been able to stop me anyway.

But I was trying to be a better person. That was the whole point, right? So instead, I would go to the Ranger Station in Sandgem first thing in the morning and confess that the ruckus was all me. From that point on, they'd be able to deduce Sweetheart evolved, and it would probably leak, but… that was okay. Better that than sending them on a wild chase for a Pokemon that was no longer there. Already, they had warned trainers off this route, and I didn't want to stop aspiring trainers from being able to simulate living in the wild. There were already people prepping for the next Circuit. Fresh faces, just turning fifteen and hoping to make it big next year.

I sighed, snuggling against Buddy for warmth. He made his body softer for me and warmed it with a low-power scald, so he was very comfy, and Sunshine was off duty for now, instead having laid down a few feet away from the tree we were sitting under so the sunlight could hit his scales tomorrow morning. Princess was currently feeding Sweetheart earth by lifting it to her mouth, since she was apparently too lazy to do it herself. Yes, she'd trained a lot of hours, but that was an excuse if I'd ever heard one, and her sister was content enough to dote on her. She'd taken to her caretaker role without complaint, but then again, she'd always had a soft spot for Sweetheart. She was the only one Princess never sassed.

Honey played tug of war with Angel for two purposes. One, obviously for fun, but the grass type was trying to improve the strength of his vines through regeneration from Ingrain, and Honey was my second strongest in terms of physical strength. Mudsdale was currently munching on some grass while half-asleep. He had been a good teacher for Sweetheart, in terms of getting her accustomed to manipulating the ground. He didn't want to get too involved, but he'd given her some pointers to get started.

…

Now what?

Thoughts. I needed thought, or what had happened yesterday would resurface. I had flaked. I'd fucking run away from coming clean, and it was all because I was a coward. When Mira had asked me to explain my powers in more detail, I'd dodged the question entirely, but hiding it hadn't even been in the plan! The thought of them knowing I could rewrite their feelings at will was terrifying, because I knew they'd be scared of me. While they could own someone for around an hour, I could subtly change people until they became mine forever, if given enough time. Who the hell wouldn't be scared of me? I also knew it couldn't stay hidden for too long. At some point, the rubber would have to meet the road. I couldn't keep stacking secrets on top of one another and hope that wouldn't blow up in my face. The worst of it was that when I'd turned on my phone the next morning, Cecilia had called ten times, and now she hadn't tried to contact me since, and I didn't know if it was because she'd given up on me or was pissed. Honestly, the former possibility was a lot worse—

A deep rumble snapped me from my thoughts, and I slightly sank deeper into Jellicent.

"Sorry," I muttered. "I guess I'm just worried about stuff. My friends."

Anxiety rose within the ghost like a dim, flickering flame, as it was always the case with him. Other than hate or anger, which I rarely saw these days, he was not someone to build up his emotions quickly. Whatever he felt, it would always come slowly, like a building tide. He told me to talk to Aliyah about it tomorrow instead of avoiding the topic like the plague. I knew he was right, but I was scared that she'd be disappointed in me backpedaling about honesty.

"Legendaries, I'm so stupid. She won't judge me. There's no way she will."

Buddy heartily agreed. I'd never expected him to approve of anyone who wasn't a part of the family, so this was a nice surprise. Still, I needed to tell my friends about the extent of my empathy. Aliyah had said the road you walk matters little compared to the destination. And that destination was coming clean about everything before we all met again. It'd be better to give them some time to digest everything about me over a few days instead of dropping it on them face-to-face.

You're also a coward who can't handle telling them the truth in person.

I sighed, rummaging through my bag until I found the history book about Sinnoh's we'd been going through.

"How about some more reading?"

—

I didn't know what I had expected, flying into Sandgem. I nearly collapsed when I stepped off Princess to the point where random passersby asked if I needed an ambulance. It had come as a slight tinge of unease as we had approached, but now it was just an overwhelming wave that never ceased. There was just so much everywhere. Commuters stressed or annoyed about work, excited tourists going to the beach early, trainers determined to make a difference and train the entire day. It was all so overwhelming. My head was pounding against my skull, and my heart was beating so quickly I felt like I was getting a heart attack. Princess cried out, asking me to get back on so we could fly away. I wasn't ready, she'd said. I could just call. But if I never pushed myself, then I'd never actually learn to deal with this.

I closed my eyes, and despite still being able to feel and faintly see the colors, it helped me center myself. Focus. Let the emotions fade, just like you used to do. I took a deep breath and took my first step, turning toward Princess to remove her saddle.

"I'm alright," I rasped. "It's slowly getting better. I just need to bear with it…"

This was just like when I'd needed to build a tolerance to telepathy. It would be painful, but it would be worth it. I folded the saddle and shoved it in my bag that I struggled to close for thirty seconds straight, and then I released Angel so he could carry me to the Ranger station, which was one block away from the landing pad. What Mesprit had failed to warn me about was that feeling so many emotions at once would screw with mine too. Since it was currently the morning rush, when most people walked and drove to work, I started feeling anxious about a job I didn't have. For an instant, I allowed myself to grow jealous of Cecilia and Chase, who had never had to deal with any of this. Empathy came with so many drawbacks that I almost regretted having touched that lake. Now, not only would I have to grow used to this for weeks, but I had to deal with being terrified of slipping down the morality slope.

I could fix Justin, now. If I was being honest with myself, I regretted having said no to practicing on that prisoner. It was the right thing to do, but if I eventually told Justin about these powers and asked him if he wanted to be fixed and got him to consent, then what? I'd never be able to do it, because practicing on innocents would be psychotic, and there would be no better opportunity to learn. If my therapist hadn't been in that room, I probably would have agreed.

Not that I blamed her at all. I was glad she'd been here, but I couldn't rely on others to be my moral compass forever, could I? Even if I'd never be able to think that prisoner didn't deserve punishment, I could grow enough to say no without having someone to push me to say no.

But now I was just going in circles. I could go one day without worrying about if I was a monster or not. I had Angel drop me off in front of the Ranger station, and he told me to be careful in there, in his own way. I caressed his vines for a few minutes, putting my throbbing forehead against his head and told him how much I loved him a bunch. He didn't hear it enough, these days.

"Why don't you— ugh." I stopped when I felt a spike somewhere on the street. My eyes drifted across the road until I saw that a car had bumped into another, and that had somehow reverberated through the traffic because they were all wasting time. "You can hang out here and get some sun. I'll be right back."

Angel nodded, and he settled on the sidewalk as I walked inside of the Ranger building. The first time I'd stepped into one of these in Veilstone, I'd been so angry that they'd brought Pokemon to the gate, when really they'd just been doing their jobs and I could have been a lot less aggressive about explaining myself. Granted, I still believed my point stood, but who wasn't going to guard a gate when hundreds of Pokemon were walking toward it?

"Are you— are you okay?" the Ranger at reception asked me. Did I look that bad?

"Yeah, I'm alright," I stammered. "Uh, I'm here to report about the Pokemon you guys were looking for out west?"

"Are you sure you don't want me to take you to a Center—"

"Look, the faster we do this, the faster I can leave," I snapped. "I'm sorry, but I really don't need any help. I know which Pokemon it is. It's mine. My Pupitar evolved and she's been training around here. I was…" I trailed off, considering what to say. "I was sick, so I couldn't come in earlier."

Really edging between a lie and the truth there, Grace, I internally groaned.

"So you… own a Tyranitar?" he slowly said, surprise and awe lighting within him. Better that than being worried about me.

"Yes," I groaned. "I'm sorry, but can we hurry this up?"

I was deeply regretting my choices right now, and more so with each minute that passed. Jubilife definitely would have put me in a coma. Mesprit had been such an ass for not warning me about this…

"Um, sure, we can verify that."

Someone behind me called out. "Did she just say Tyranitar?"

Oh, goodness me.

—

I was the only trainer in Sinnoh with a Tyranitar. Big fucking deal. Right now, I was too tired to give a crap. They had me spend thirty minutes in this station, working on whatever it was Rangers did when they weren't out on a Route. I thought they'd just use one of those devices they had me put Sunshine's Pokeball in when I'd first caught him, but no, supposedly they had to keep me here for longer. At this point, my clothes were drenched in sweat, and they were blasting air conditioning here because it was spring and we Sinnohans couldn't go five minutes with the temperature being over twenty degrees. Finally, though, a Ranger came back and handed me Sweetheart's Pokeball.

"Thank you for reporting this…" she said, slowing as she got to me. Wow, she thought I looked like hell. Really? So bad your colors were that bright? "Are you okay?"

Tenth person to ask me the question, I silently groaned. "Yes, thanks," I said, grabbing the Pokeball. I struggled to clip it back to my belt for a while, but I eventually got it done, thank the Legendaries. "I can leave now, right?"

"Um, I had some news… unless you want to get to a Center—"

The girl paled. I must have glared.

"Sorry about that," I quickly said. "It's just been a couple of days… weeks. Maybe months."

But she knew that. Her opinion of me had soured slightly anyway, probably because I'd been an ass and she was just doing whatever her superiors asked of her.

"Anyway, go ahead," I finally said.

"Professor Rowan has called our Captain. He wants to meet you."

"He wants to meet my Tyranitar," I corrected.

The girl grimaced. Why the hell was she scared of me? I apologized! "Most likely," she muttered under her breath.

"Can he do this in the middle of a route or something?" I asked, slowly rising from my seat.

"Well, I wouldn't know, Ms. Pastel."

"Got it. I'll just… ask. And again, I'm sorry for blowing up at you. Where does he want to meet?"

"At his lab," she said.

There you go. The colors started to warm again, now. What she felt was relief, mostly. Since I couldn't turn my empathy off at the moment, I'd be a fool to just ignore it. Plus, hyperfocusing on what one person felt had actually helped my headache a little bit. Parts of me wondered if I could feel out Team Galactic's base with this, but there was a reason the League hadn't asked me. Sniffing out a base when every building would have people in it would be nigh impossible. When I exited the building, I noticed Tangrowth was playing with a kid who couldn't have been a day over five while his parents watched nearby.

Needless to say, he was depressed when I told him we had to go. Headache or not, I wasn't going to keep Rowan waiting.

—

Thankfully, Sinnoh's most well-known and foremost professor wasn't giving a speech today, and the front of his lab was relatively empty. Even better, it was near the outskirts of the city, so I no longer felt like I was drowning beneath a huge wave of emotions, even if I could still barely function. My throat felt horribly dry, and I was starting to grow nauseous, but other than that and the debilitating headache, I was just peachy.

"Look, if you're so worried about me, you can come in," I told Princess. "But this is honestly better than the Ranger station, so I'm fine."

She hovered over me and pouted really cutely, but when I went to scratch her chin she threw herself away from me like a dramatic diva.

"Fine. No scratches. Your mom's suffering and you won't even let her pet you," I said.

She half-opened an eye and Angel panicked slightly when he thought I was actually serious. I laughed— and laughing made my headache get worse— and I had them follow me into Rowan's lab. The courtyard was desolate, especially when compared to when he was giving his speech a few days ago. I would have thought that it would be bustling with his assistants, or maybe Pokemon Barry had brought back. Rowan actually had no Pokemon of his own, which was unique for a Pokemon Professor of his caliber. He focused on studying the evolution phenomenon, so he liked filtering through a lot of Pokemon, none of which stayed permanently, according to Barry. Those who didn't go back to the wild, he would hand over to the Rangers or experienced trainers he trusted willing to take in a stray. Before going inside, I turned to my two Pokemon. Tangrowth had been continuously poking Togekiss in the wing, and she'd tried to bite off his vines.

"Stop bickering with Angel," I warned. Before she could spin an excuse, I clicked my tongue. "I don't care who started it, okay? This guy's a big deal. Either you behave, or I put you back in the Pokeball. Angel, don't touch anything. Or anyone." I stopped when he gestured, tying two opposite vines together and closing his eyes. "No, not even to say hello! Maybe I should have Buddy around for this… no, he'd glare. Honey? I guess coming in with three Pokemon would be rude— you know what, just act normal for five minutes. I have to fix my reputation—"

Someone was approaching the door. I cleared my throat, turned, and made sure I had wiped all of the sweat from my face. The door jingled as it opened, revealing a girl who was of average height and with sharp, striking grey eyes. Dawn, I recognized, though she wasn't wearing her beanie this time, and her dark blue hair was tied up. She had her brother's exact stare, but I didn't flinch this time.

"Good morning," she smiled after sizing me up. "How're you doing today?"

Small talk first, then. In a way, I was glad it was her. Her brother had kind of freaked me out when he'd stared at me the other day. She was calm in a way few were when they were meeting me for the first time these days, but that was refreshing, really.

"Could be doing better, all things considered," I said. "Uh, can my Pokemon come in?"

"Sure thing! The Professor's been dying to see you," Dawn beamed. "My name is Dawn Sinclair, by the way."

"Barry talked to me about you," I said as she let me in.

Angel looked around excitedly while Princess kept him in line, thank the Legendaries.

Her smile turned coy. "Good things, I'm sure."

"He holds you in very high regard," I said.

Rowan's lab was way too empty to be this large. The white tiles bounced the white light from the ceiling into my eyes and worsened my headache, but it'd be rude to complain. They were so clean that I could see my reflection off of them, and suddenly I felt bad for walking in with dirty shoes. There were two other assistants who I could see in total— one older-looking man and a young woman— though they looked at me with… not dislike, but suspicion, really. Like they thought me being here was a mistake. I'd gotten used to it at this point, and I couldn't really blame them, with the murder and all. This part of the lab was a single, huge room with a lot of machines that looked way too complicated for me to ever hope to understand, with cables going out of them and plugged into computers. One of them had an Eevee inside of it, though she looked quite comfortable in there and was dozing off with no signs of being in emotional of physical pain, so I let it slide. They were probably studying the properties of her numerous evolutions or something else I was too dumb to get.

"Sorry about the glares," Dawn nonchalantly said. "You're famous pretty much everywhere."

"It's alright," I said, mostly focusing on not making a face due to the headache. "They only know that version of me, and in retrospect, having Princess out isn't doing me any favors."

Considering she'd been the one who'd killed a man. The fairy type huffed, though she was behaving like I asked her.

Dawn chuckled. "You really do call her Princess. And which version of you would that be?" she asked, still facing ahead.

"You must have seen the video," I shrugged. "The one where I stand over a dying man."

She wasn't even perturbed by me, and that was kind of disconcerting, but also heartwarming? The only people I'd seen who hadn't been at least shaken to some extent were my friends or members of the League. Sure, there was a part of her that thought I was weird, but the surge of panic, anger, or fear that I expected thankfully never came. I relaxed slightly and somehow stopped fitting in the mold of 'the girl who killed someone' that I'd reflexively stepped into.

"I did see the video. Mind the Professor, will you? He's got a soft heart and might be a little tough on you," she said. "He's been having a spat with Cynthia, since all those hostages died. He knew a few of the victims."

I'd wondered about how close Cynthia was to Rowan a few times, but I'd never had a way to get an answer. They were close enough to be having a fight, at least, though it was probably a one-sided one.

"What about your brother?" I asked.

"Oh, they say we're basically the same person sometimes. I'd be inclined to disagree though, with how many pairs of socks and dirty clothes he leaves hanging around in our room," she complained with a sigh.

I snorted. "I honestly kind of empathize with him. My Pokemon Center rooms are a mess until I leave the place."

"I'd ask how you lived in a disorganized space, but I see Lulu do it every day," she said.

Lulu? That was pretty cute. "It's not disorganized if I know where everything is," I retorted. "Well, my girlfriend—" the words caught in my throat, but I only stopped for a split second. Please tell me she still loves me, "—sometimes has to find stuff for me, but you know. I know where the majority of things are."

"See, that's the thing that's wrong with you! And if I try to clean stuff up, then he complains that he doesn't know where anything is. Honestly, I just want the Professor to get us separate rooms already. The work's going to get done this summer, thank the Legendaries."

"Good for you," I nodded. "And in my defense, she calls me cute when I'm an airhead. Obviously, though, I'm the furthest thing from that."

"Obviously," Dawn giggled.

This was… nice. Just talking about stupid socks was fun. I felt a lot better than I had in days, and I'd just talked to this girl for barely a minute. In a way, it made me miss my friends even more too. And Cece. I bit the inside of my lip.

Couldn't I be happy for more than a minute before stumbling again? Arceus, I was so fucking stupid. Ten times, she called, and I didn't even answer. Now she was who knows where and I was too terrified to even talk to her despite the fact that I wanted to. Nothing made sense with me, did it?

"Having a tough time, hm?" Dawn noticed.

"I'll deal. I just need to hold on until tomorrow and I can talk to my therapist," I muttered. Then the day after that. And the day after that.

"Maybe we can show you around town while the Professor's looking at your Tyranitar. Oh, congratulations, by the way! I don't know when she evolved, but getting one is a huge deal."

I could tell she didn't want to hang out with me. Instead, she wanted to stay in and nerd over Sweetheart with Rowan. Her excitement peaked when she spoke of the rock type far more than anything I've seen coming from her.

"You can study her too if you want," I said. "I'll just wait, and she'll know how to behave if I leave my Jellicent with her, but me being there will be more effective."

"If you say so," she said, not pushing further.

"What are you guys going to study, by the way?" I asked.

"Oh, he'll probably ask you about her evolution— seeing a Pupitar evolve is nearly unheard of, save for the people who own a Tyranitar of course. Then he's probably going to check her physiology, behavior, anatomy… can we prod around in her vents? Like, where does the sand even come from? There must be an organ down there or something we could discover—"

"I'd hold off on that for now," I said.

"Oh, and of course, the Professor will pay you for letting him study a Tyranitar for an entire day," she added. "How does 450,000 sound?"

All of that for a single day?

"W—what?" I scoffed.

"Unless you want something else? He can pay in TMs," she raised an eyebrow.

"You said four hundred and fifty thousand?" I'd be able to buy so much with that.

"Tyranitar are rare."

"I'll take the money," I quickly said. Better take the money so I could think about which TMs I wanted for more than a few hours.

After rambling about Tyranitar for a little while, Dawn pointed me to a corridor, which led to the lab's immense backyard where Professor Rowan was waiting with Lucas. He was tall, from this close, and his square face and intense stare would have intimidated me had I been green. Lucas adjusted his cap and excitedly waved. Looks like I'm going to make their day with Sweetheart here, so at least I'm doing something good. Some equipment had been moved here, though both Lucas and Rowan carried a notepad. There was some kind of huge scale-looking thing, a camera, a… microscope? And a whole lot of stuff I didn't know.

"Ms. Pastel," Rowan greeted me with a gruff. Yeah, he straight-up disliked me, even if he was being professional about it. "Thank you for taking time out of your day to meet me here on such short notice."

"It's no problem at all," I quickly said. "Um, it's an… honor to meet you?"

There was an awkward silence, though Lucas quickly filled it.

"When the Professor heard that a trainer with a Tyranitar was in town, he went pretty crazy," Lucas said.

"You went just as crazy, Lulu," Dawn rolled her eyes. "You literally knocked your orange juice all over your breakfast."

"Well, I'm the one who cooked, so you can't complain about me wasting your time," he grunted.

"Well, it's still a waste of food! And maybe if you didn't call my cooking trash, I'd help you out more—"

Rowan cleared his throat. "Children. Let's not embarrass the lab, please. Ms. Pastel, if you will."

Lucas snickering at his sister for 'winning' the argument was hard to miss. I let Sweetheart out of her ball, and her eyes narrowed when she saw people. She hadn't seen anyone else but us or Mom since evolving, and though there was agitation within Rowan, Lucas, and Dawn just stared up at her in awe and only didn't approach because I outstretched a hand to warn them. Princess hovered over her sister and patted her on the head while Angel rubbed the crook of her back spikes.

"Hi Sweetie," I said, walking up to her. "Be nice, okay? No glaring— no biting, not even softly. These three are going to check you out to study you. Remember when I told you you were really, really special the other day?" I asked. Mostly, it had been because she'd demanded praise, but the point still applied. "You're one of the rarest Pokemon out there. People want to know more about you."

The titan growled, and Rowan's already pale complexion blanched even further. Even for a Professor, seeing a Tyranitar from this close must have been nerve-wracking, but his assistants didn't care whatsoever, and unlike me, it wasn't because they knew Sweetheart like the back of their hand. They were just impervious to fear, as if they lacked the capacity for it, or they just had a ridiculously high tolerance. After a bit of negotiating and me promising Sweetheart that I'd buy enough food to fill her stomach instead of her having to eat dirt, she reluctantly agreed, and they started studying her.

After turning on the camera, they weighed her. She stepped on the massive industrial scale, and the results came in at nine tons. That was, uh a lot more than I expected. They analyzed the composition of her plates with their microscope and debated about it for a while, and did a lot of other stuff like flashing a light into her vents— though they never touched them. Honestly, I felt very out of place with the terms they were throwing around, but they looked like they were having a good time, and I was content enough to sit here and grow used to my empathy. Sometimes, I'd feel confusion from them when they realized I was taking deep breaths and had my eyes closed, but none of them ever said anything about it.

What I realized, however, was that Dawn hadn't been kidding when she said they'd study her the entire day. At around one in the afternoon, they broke for lunch, and while Rowan retreated into his office, Lucas and Dawn stuck around and asked me if I wanted to eat. Really, I mostly wanted to drink something, because I felt like I'd puke if I ate, and the last thing I wanted was to puke in a world-renowned Professor's lab— or backyard in this case. They offered to feed my team too, from the huge stocks of food Rowan kept stored. Lucas and Dawn didn't just have their starter Pokemon, it seemed. The former had a Bronzong and Gastrodon while his sister had a Clefable, a Kadabra, and a Pachirisu. Both of their teams seem to be extremely close to each other— far closer than my Pokemon were to my friends' own.

We all sat at a table they'd set outside and I watched them eat a sandwich while I just had some iced water.

"We saw your fight with Barry," Lucas brought up. "You're pretty good. He called us the same day and screamed about how he found a new rival."

Dawn smiled. "Finally got the heat off of us. He was begging for us to start getting badges."

"I mean, we have one," Lucas said, turning toward us. "We battled Orebugh's Gym for fun at the start of the year when the Professor was picking up a fossil there."

"Okay, but Roark was super easy. His badge doesn't really count," Dawn shrugged. "I heard it gets really tough at the second badge, though."

"I struggled against Roark," I said. "Almost lost, really. I would have if Princess hadn't evolved."

"Well, look at you now," Dawn shrugged. "They call you one of the best first years."

I paused, and my good foot tapped against the grass. "Tell me if I'm being forceful."

I'd be able to tell, but I shouldn't forget good habits. I wouldn't keep this power on at all times, after all. Both of the twins nodded.

"You guys are so strong without even trying already," I said with a hint of jealousy. "You could have been…"

You could have been more. Their talent didn't come often, and they definitely would have made it to the Conference if they tried.

"Well, it's all subjective," Dawn said. "We enjoy being assistants to the professor, and we do train, mostly with each other."

"My Pokemon are better than hers," Lucas shrugged.

"Lucas, shut up."

"Anyway, this is what we set out to do, and we both love it," Lucas said. "We hope to be renowned Professors one day."

"You'll be my assistant, you dweeb," Dawn teased.

"Is someone talking right now, Grace?" Lucas asked. "I thought I heard something, but maybe it was just the wind— ack! Why'd you hit me?! You literally started it!"

"That was just a flick, don't be a baby."

Having a sibling looked fun, or at least when they were as close as these two. If I had a twin right now, would they be having as many problems as I was? Maybe I'd be able to vent to them about my problems the entire day. The two kept bantering for a bit until Dawn said Lucas was being rude to me by starting fights. They were kids, at the end of the day. And so was I, apparently, given that I couldn't help but laugh at some of the jokes, and eventually I started laughing with them.

"Anyway, what my brother was saying is, we like this better than battling. That's more of a hobby for us," Dawn said. "At the end of the day, that's what matters. Plus, the Professor thing was more long-term. Right now, our goal is to make the world better, one scientific discovery at a time. Doing some good is fun. Like, finding out one of the Professor's research subjects doesn't want to evolve and getting them an Everstone to hang onto despite the data we'd lose out on."

"Since you asked a question, I'll ask one," Lucas said, staring through me. There it was again. I readjusted my sitting position as he continued. "What d'you want to do?"

"Uh, like in life?" I asked. "Um, becoming a strong trainer, and advocating for Pokemon rights…"

"Well, what my brother means is your goal right now. Think simple," Dawn sat, leaning forward as she set her sandwich on her plate. "Doesn't have to be big."

Beyond the fact that I was a mess that needed to be fixed, a monster who needed to be held on a leash and that I wanted to get better, what did I want right now? Well, it was hard to say considering those two were my biggest priorities. Badges? Something told me they wouldn't be satisfied with my answer. They'd asked me a simple question, and the hair on my back was standing on edge, like I was supposed to care what they thought about me. The tension was so high, yet they were so calm in a way I didn't think was possible. Like a completely still line. Now I finally understood why Denzel said he wasn't that friendly with them— beyond being a complete third wheel— considering they could pull out these fate shattering questions at the drop of a hat.

"Making things right with my friends," I answered. "But that's not what you want, is it? I guess more broadly, I also want to do good."

Dawn hummed. "Do good, huh? What's that imply? Lots of people have different notions of what that means."

"I don't know. Like, helping some random Bidoof find a new place to build a dam, or some lost kid find their parents."

"Think she did one of those examples?" Lucas asked.

"I'm going to tell Rowan to put you on Pokemon Analyzer-watch duty," Dawn sighed. "That's pretty cool, though. Most of the time people answer with more personal goals than that."

I muttered. "Well…"

Then, it clicked. Or maybe it didn't click, but I remembered.

Good acts made me feel good.

Beyond the thirst for revenge, punishment, the desire to deliver retribution to those who needed it, that was what I'd been, first and foremost. Helping people and Pokemon without expecting them to pay anything else in return. Hell, I had helped Cecilia after she'd threatened to feed me to her Deino in a bathroom stall, and today I probably would have threatened to hurt her back instead of getting to know her when she'd been so obviously traumatized and full of paranoia. I never would have given Pauline a chance after what she'd called me during the Floaroma tournament. And if I had given Cece a chance and fallen in love with her, Louis would probably be dead in an alley somewhere, given that I could probably get away with murder these days. Some of the best friends I'd made, I never would have given a chance after they wronged me once. I'd just had the retributive part of me grow uncontrollably while the kind part of me stayed at a similar level. This wasn't much, but it was a start. It mattered. It was something that made me feel human again.

"What do you think," I asked, almost breathless, "about second chances?"

Lucas frowned "Huh?"

"For yourself, or for other people?" Dawn asked.

"Both."

"Well there was this guy in Johto that Professor Elm likes to bring up whenever he calls Professor Rowan and they exchange research. Stole one of his Totodile and broke some other laws in his quest for some kind of purpose. Today he works in his lab often," Dawn shrugged. "I don't really know, though. Depends on circumstances, really."

Was I a good judge of circumstances? People like Backlot, Mars and Saturn, they were beyond giving any chances to. The notion disgusted me, and it would be antithetical to who I was. But what about Maylene? I'd forced her to have a breakdown in public, pushed her buttons until she cried because she wasn't running a Gym properly. Obviously she wasn't, but she was a kid. There were probably better ways to help that I didn't even try. I could have asked Cynthia about it, or Candice, or just won normally and have tried to talk to Maylene instead of breaking her. Instead, I hadn't even given her a chance.

And I was far worse today than I'd been in Veilstone. So no, I was not a good judge, save for the most extreme, clear-cut cases. I wasn't even a half-decent one, really.

"It's about time to start again," Lucas said. "The Professor will be back soon."

Dawn said something, but I wasn't listening. It would be easier said than done, to do good for quote-on-quote 'bad' people. I was still me, and I was never going away. The girl who had broken an overworked stressed teenager and enjoyed it until she realized how fucked up it had been when she thought about what her friends would think about it if it ever came out. And I might have done worse, if my worries about Poketch hadn't held me back. But I'd also gone through hell to go to the city today and warn the Rangers— and it was insane that I even considered that an achievement when it was just common decency, but the headache probably had something to do with it.

It was a start. I was capable of doing this. I'd done it multiple times before, for Cece, Pauline, Louis— hell, even Sunshine. Helped people who had been bad to me or terrible people and brought the good out of them.

It was a second chance.

Professor Rowan came back a few minutes later, and had me spend the rest of the day bored out of my mind. Still, being bored once in a while was a nice change of pace.

—

Now that we were done with all of these experiments, it was truly time to leave. Lucas and Dawn bid me warm farewells after Rowan transferred money onto my Trainer card. I'd spent more time in Sandgem than expected, and it was now late in the evening. I wouldn't miss the town given that it still gave me a migraine, but it hadn't been as bad as I had expected, and I was making real progress in finally dimming my empathy and had found something to work on. With some luck, by the time I made it to another city, I wouldn't suffer as much and I'd actually be able to function like a normal human being.

That was for later, however. For now, it was time to head to Eterna Forest, and I'd stop in Floaroma on the way there. The town where it all began tumbling down and where everything began.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, BeautifulBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, nothingtoseehere, SecondBlahm, Daruda, Mystic Corn, menirx, Paul S, coolblue, Ole W, Daniel J, Eric, Anarchistofyams, Cosimo, Nick S

 

[Soussouni1]

NOTICE: When IWTTS reaches 2.5k followers on Royalroad (it is currently at 2,415), I will be hosting a Q&A on my Discord. Now, what does this imply? You will be able to ask me anything about the story, from meta-questions about canceled story plans to lore-related questions to wanting to know how a Champion-level obscure Pokemon would be able to fight, to in-game characters that I haven't gone into and their journeys, to history/politics... basically, anything. There will 100% be questions I won't be able to answer because that'd just be spoiling the story. My discord has known about this for a while, but we're getting pretty close to the goal, so I figured I'd warn you. Feel free to join for more info! Or not, whatever floats your boat!
Discord link: https://discord.gg/iwtts

Royalroad link: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/61228/i-will-touch-the-skies-a-pokemon-fanfiction

---

Spoiler: Team

Togekiss/Princess (Hustle) - Pound, Sweet Kiss, Growl, Headbutt, Fairy Wind, Ancient Power, Extrasensory, Thunder Wave, Air Cutter, Wish, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Dazzling Gleam, Moonblast, Charge Beam, Air Slash, Mystical Fire, Tri-Attack

Jellicent/Buddy (Water Absorb) - Bubblebeam, Night Shade, Absorb, Water Sport, Water Pulse, Hex, Poison Sting, Mist, Acid Armor, Shadow Ball, Recover, Brine, Whirlpool, Hydro Pump, Water Spout, Acid, Will-O-Wisp, Ice Beam, Taunt, Water Cloak, Scald

Electivire/Honey (Motor Drive) - Thundershock, Swift, Electric Swift, Thunder Punch, Charge, Leer, Ice Punch, Thunderbolt, Discharge, Fire Punch, Protect, Cross Chop, Thunder, Low-Kick, Screech, Radiant Leap, Static Shield, Bulldoze

Tangrowth/Angel (Chlorophyll) - Vine Whip, Absorb, Mega Drain, Stun Spore, Bind, Poison Powder, Leech Seed, Ancient Power, Power Whip, Knock Off, Sunny Day, Giga Drain, Sleep Powder, Solar Beam, Solar Blade, Brick Break, Ingrain

Tyranitar/Sweetheart (Sand Stream) - Leer, Tackle, Horn Attack, Rock Throw, Payback, Stomping Tantrum, Smack Down, Bite, Rock Slide, Crunch, Sandstorm, Iron Defense, Dragon Pulse, Iron Head, Earthbreaker, Stone Edge, Dark Pulse

Turtonator/Sunshine (Shell Armor) - Smog, Ember, Smokescreen, Incinerate, Iron Defense, Flamethrower, Shell Trap, Dragon Pulse, Bulldoze, Scorching Sands, Rock Tomb, Body Slam, Flash Cannon, Solar Beam, Rapid Spin, Scale Shot, Iron Tail, Focus Blast, Sunny Day, Fire Pillar

Mudsdale (Temporary/Not a battler)

---

CHAPTER 272

I sat with Aliyah around a fire near the ravaged path.

I'd eaten already earlier this morning, so we didn't need to roast anything, and it was hot enough that no fire was needed, but Aliyah insisted the fire be there anyway for ambiance. The flames were a brilliant purple instead of a warm red and smelled like… something sweet. Her ashen hair looked colorful against the flame's light— a remnant of what might have been when she was younger, maybe? Her Chimecho's eyes pierced true, even during the day, and despite the fact that it was morning, parts of me had been tricked into thinking it was nighttime. Her emotions were a confusing canvas if I'd ever seen one. The peaks and the valleys were smaller, as if she'd numbed herself to the world and kept it that way intentionally. Sometimes, they slipped through, mostly when I caught her talking to Chimecho and joking around with him. The psychic had never spoken to me, but I was certain he was capable of telepathy.

"So you've had an epiphany, then," she continued our conversation.

"Think about it," I excitedly said. "If I can make myself do good deeds to even those who've wronged me and feel better about it, then I might be able to get my priorities in order, right? Reframe the way I do things!"

I kept going, telling her about how my current self would never have made friends with the people I currently loved if I had met them now, and that went hand in hand with what we'd talked about in Twinleaf. Lost opportunities to connect with people I'd wanted to, like Gardenia. Hell, maybe I could have been friends with Maylene if I'd helped her instead of doing what I did. Pauline was similar when we'd first met, complaining about 'unfair' ways to fight, and I'd befriended her anyway. Granted, the Maylene ship had sailed at this point, as had possibly every other Gym Leader's. She would hate me even more, as she had a right to.

"You know how your mind works better than anyone else," Aliyah said. "If you believe it would work, then I think you should try. There will be no harm done by any good deeds, no matter the reason for doing them."

"I… won't lie, I would have liked a little bit more confidence," I sighed. "Now I feel like I might be in over my head."

"It might work. It might not," Aliyah gently said. "But at the end of the day, you are trying, are you not? Trying with all of your heart, with a desire to improve. That is what this is about."

My lips quirked upward. "Thanks, Aliyah. I… really do appreciate it."

My therapist dipped her head, and then snapped her fingers, dispelling the flame like it had never been there in the first place. I had no idea if it was actually her doing this or Chimecho, but since she was no Pokemon, I was inclined to think it was the latter. Though it was possible she was another psychic, I felt none of that from her. Cynthia had told me during our meeting in Veilstone that Lou had been created in an effort to recreate Kanto-Johto's psychic clans, but not how many of those the League had at its disposal. Maybe there was a better version of her I couldn't feel out there.

"That's our hour and a half finished," she said. "Unless you have something to add, I will see you tomorrow."

"I had a question," I muttered. "About you, I mean."

The old woman dipped her head, signaling me to go ahead.

"I don't know much about you. And I guess that's by design, since you're a therapist and you have to stay professional, or whatever," I quietly said. "But the flame thing is really cool, so…"

Aliyah chuckled, and a bit of relief bled through her skin as if she was glad I'd said that. "I'd be a fool to reveal my tricks."

Chimecho rang in acquiescence, and I squinted at the both of them, sad that I couldn't see enough to get an answer. While empathy was a powerful tool, it could be bypassed or tricked entirely, if you were good enough, either by muting yourself enough or somehow being able to fake emotions to an extent they became real. Of course, that wouldn't stop me from screwing with your emotions, still.

"What made you become an ACE therapist?" I asked, a little more seriously. "I mean, you came from Lavender to Sinnoh, and then what?"

"I'll spare you details on my personal life and say that I simply believed someone had to do it," she said. "I'd always been interested in psychology, and I wanted to do some good. ACEs deserve the best, truly. No one deserves to go through what they do on a regular basis."

She'd seen much, I realized as regret flitted off her. Probably failed to save people she'd wanted to. There was guilt buried deep within.

"But that's enough of that," she said. "I see you ogling my emotions, young lady. I thought we talked about boundaries."

"Well, I can't turn it off yet—"

Aliyah gently clicked her tongue. "I know you cannot. But there is a difference between that and actively looking, isn't there?"

I shrunk back slightly. "You're right. Sorry. It's just second nature to me by now, so it's hard not to look."

"Progress has been made," she said, standing up. "You are doing well. You can't expect to unlearn your past behaviors in a week. I will see you tomorrow, then."

"Yup. Thanks for the session," I said. "And, uh, sorry again."

She took a few light steps away from me, walking with purpose with no destination in mind. Chimecho chimed seven times, and then she disappeared.

—

Floaroma looked even prettier during springtime.

From the sky, it appeared as a vibrant tapestry of colors. There were more flowers than I could name littering the entire town, with only the paved streets not being covered by them. Since I'd arrived on a weekend, hundreds of people were picnicking on the rolling hills with their friends or families. To the far west, I could see the ocean, which was the same direction the Iron Islands supposedly sat in and where both Cecilia and Chase were, at the moment. I did not dare look to the East, for that area held horrifying memories and I couldn't turn my head despite how hard I tried to, not out of fear from the memories themselves but my reaction to them. From up here, it was easy to see how Floaroma as a whole was an enormous meadow surrounded by thick forests that stretched far beyond here, save for, again, the town's east, where a river that originated from the mountain on route 205 gently passed through. From this vantage point, I could see some kind of factory further up north that I remembered worked to manufacture iron that came from the Iron Islands. It was difficult to see that far, but a railroad led directly to the coast, where most iron came in and out, ready to be shipped to the rest of the region. I didn't really understand why they'd built it in such a strange location.

I asked Princess to land me in front of the Pokemon Center, where the fruits of my labor in Sandgem made themselves known. Being in a town still hurt somewhat, but Floaroma was far less populous and was at least somewhere I could function while not looking like a pale corpse. I got myself a room and was surprised to see the Pokemon Center not bustling nearly as much as it had when I had first come here, but upon reflection, it made sense. Unlike earlier in the year, not many trainers were passing through the town, which would make my stay here much more pleasant— though I needed to stop being a social recluse despite my reputation having soured. Melody had contacted me when I'd been camping far away from Jubilife, telling me that not interacting with the world made the problem worse than it already was. That I needed to own this and say that I'd just been defending innocent Pokemon from getting shipped to terrible fighting rings or kept in Backlot's zoo. In fact, that had been the majority opinion, but me staying so silent on the matter did not do any favor to stop rumors of spreading. She did not have the full picture of what I'd done. None of them did. Unfortunately for her and Poketch, though, I was a little overwhelmed by, well, everything at the moment, but I would try my best to make things work and work with their social media team. My image with most trainers was still generally positive, but that wasn't enough, and I wasn't pulling enough weight to get myself out of this little slump. This was a two-way partnership, after all. I could at least start posting online again.

I wouldn't do anything right now, though. Today, I'd need to face my past.

Getting Angel to carry me was second nature, now. The grass type picked me up as soon as I released him, and his excitement surged when he noticed the amount of flowers here. He plucked a few with his vines, placing them on my head as we went. I also let out Honey, whose eyes softened as soon as he saw we'd made it. He had come far since we'd left here, and he had traveled, as had been both of his goals when he had sought me out, but still, we'd seen no signs of the Gengar who had raised him.

"Keep some flowers for Sweetheart," I told Angel, half-jokingly. He didn't need to keep any when they were everywhere at the moment. "She'll want to make a crown and call herself an empress."

Tangrowth silently laughed, picking up as many flowers as he could. I placed a few on his head myself as he waddled toward the town's eastern exit. Honey snorted at those, saying that they were for girls.

"They'd look nice on you, but whatever you say, kiddo," I shrugged. "Hey, we should all wear some later to take a group picture—"

Honey cackled, his tails flinging wildly behind him. He couldn't help but imagine me having to convince Sunshine about wearing a flower crown.

"Hey, I bet I could do it. If Sweetheart wants it enough, he'll do it. That girl can tug at his heartstrings like no other," I said. "Plus, Mudsdale will get him to play ball."

For a little while, we walked in silence, with Honey taking in the old sights. While he had mostly hung out near the… Power Plant, he'd often wandered into town in hopes of a trainer taking him in, though none did until I came around, and for that I was forever thankful, despite how selfish that made me. I couldn't imagine a life without my little Honey at this point. I was still considering what TMs to get with my newly earned money, but Floaroma was too small of a town to have a wide selection anyway, so I'd have to wait until I stopped by a larger city to get them. When the headache started to get unbearable, I spoke up again with something that had been on my mind the past few hours.

"Say, Angel. We'll be going near Eterna Forest soon," I said. "That's where I caught you."

The grass type's vines perked up slightly, slithering like Ekans and tickling the underside of my legs.

"Since this is ending up being kind of a nostalgia tour, if you want, I can take you back to where I caught you," I said. "Actually, it might be hard to find without Justin's Arcanine— did you know that was how I found you, by the way?"

Tangrowth wagged a vine like a finger.

"Well, he battled a trainer with a Tangela before, and apparently, you smelled similar," I explained. "Anyway, what I meant to say was, if you have a spot in the forest you remember and you miss, we can try to go there."

I had grown so much this past year that none of the Pokemon who gave us trouble back then would even be able to touch me now. That Pinsir who had taken all of our group and just walked away? All of my Pokemon could easily take him one-on-one now with barely a scratch. It was the same for that group of Paras, Dustox, and that Mismagius in that abandoned mansion, though the ghost would prove trickier. Her sheer mastery over illusions had been far beyond her actual strength, and she could probably trap us in there again for a little while until Honey and Buddy sniffed her out. Maybe an hour, if she picked a good spot to hide and we got unlucky. I wouldn't even dare to stray near the center of the forest. That was where Aubri Schneider had lost her fingers to a Leavanny, and I had no intentions of getting maimed any further if I could avoid it. To my surprise, however, Angel disagreed with going into the forest. He had no real attachment to the place, and most of his life here had been a… blur of avoiding predators and finding islands of sunlight like the one I'd caught him in for nourishment.

"Well, if you're sure," I muttered. And he did look sure. There was no wavering within him.

Honey breathed a sigh of relief, having not wanted to go through what he called the 'death forest' ever again, no matter how strong he got.

"I guess living in those oppressive woods is annoying," I agreed. "And Sunshine will get angry if we keep being in areas he can't go all out in when fights happen."

When was the last time that had happened, outside of Gyms? It had been a while.

We reached route 205 relatively quickly. On this side of the river, it was just a stretch of flat land with flowers blooming all over now that it was Spring. Back when we'd first come here, they had been confined to Floaroma and its outskirts, but now they were truly everywhere. A small mountain flanked the route, which was part of the same chain Jasmine and I used to go train on. Honey asked me if he could go and run, given he didn't often have the opportunity to do so on such flat terrain. Before the 'go ahead' left my mouth, he'd already blurred forward with a flash of light. While Angel kept walking me, I opened my phone to check on my friends. I'd been putting it off, but I could at least try. It was then that I realized that despite not even having had it for that long, I'd already grown… not dependent, but used to my empathy. Talking through text felt like missing a limb after so long being able to know what everyone felt.

At the very least, people looked a little livelier, though Cecilia and Chase were still radio silent. Denzel was finally out of the hospital and had his battle with Wake in two days. Emilia and Mira had apparently linked up in Hearthome and would stick together for a little while until the latter was done dealing with her Gengar troubles with Fantina's help. Emi was trying to get back into Contests, though with her parents and everything else, she was struggling to get back into what she called 'an industry of needless catfighting' despite her love for the sport. Lauren was… odd. Though she'd been supposed to travel to Snowpoint to battle Candice as fast as she could, she was back in Sunyshore for whatever reason. And while Louis and Justin had left— with Louis flying on Corviknight with Justin to Canalave— Louis had asked me to look into buying land near Floaroma somehow. I knew nothing about land acquisition or how to even start getting into it, but he said he'd call me as soon as he made it to Jubilife, which should have been later today. Given his lack of a sixth Pokemon, though, and being realistic, fighting Byron was going to be an uphill battle, but I knew he just wasn't that into it anyway and was mostly going through with the Circuit to build up his name recognition at this point. At least Gabite would enjoy the battle.

Maeve and Pauline were still in Pastoria, having given up on the Circuit for this year, but they were apparently training, still, save for Maeve's Drapion who was still recovering. In those few days we'd spent together after the raid, the two had grown closer than they'd been, which hadn't been close at all if I was being honest.

All in all, everyone was doing well and recovering, slowly but surely.

Valley Windworks had always been in view, but I had Angel get closer before patting his head for him to stop. He gently placed me down on the ground, where I sat in the grass against his body after releasing the rest of the team. I waited for Honey to come back before I started talking, though he merely took around twenty seconds to appear with a flash. The Power Plant itself was surrounded by a true forest of turbines that silently spun in the wind. Just like back then, electric types were everywhere here, though they were mostly Magnemite and Shinx. I'd also seen a few unique ones like Tynamo, Mareep, or Electrike. No Elekid, though. Pokemon here were friendly enough, having grown used to humans since people traveled through this route to go to work.

"This is where it happened," I told my Pokemon. "Where I was taken. They took me from a bathroom stall and Teleported me in there with the other hostages."

Princess, Honey and Buddy were the only ones who knew about this in detail since they'd already been with me. Mudsdale himself had only learned about this entire event a few days ago. Since he'd grown comfortable enough to talk to us about stories of Kamaile, I had told him about this vulnerability of mine too. Honestly, I thought I'd have more words to say about it, but I only managed to let out a sigh. I could see people going about their work in the power plant, though the vast majority of employees were inside of the building. I could feel them as a clump of swirling emotions— mostly a mixture of annoyance, exhaustion and boredom. The white-tiled floor had seemed endless back then, the light, blinding and uncomfortable, the strange hum of the machines, so unsettling and confusing, the grunts and their Pokemon an unsurmountable threat. Though I supposed Mars was still one, everything seemed so small now that it was hard not to wonder when it had all changed.

Yes. Small was how it felt, but it was unsatisfying as hell. I'd been nervous to come, but now that I was actually here, I felt no difference. My body was just numb.

"Huh. I guess that's that," I whispered.

Sunshine peered over my shoulder and my other Pokemon showed signs of worry, so I continued before Sweetheart could scream at the building for revenge and scare everyone there.

"This place has no hold over me," I finally declared. "I've grown too used to this. Sure, it's not pleasant, but it's… just that. Another place where something bad happened. To be honest, I don't know if that's good or bad."

They all answered with good right away, as I had expected—

But Mudsdale said that it was not. There was a little bit of outrage from Turtonator, but the ground type ignored his friend and tilted his head toward me. It was bad, to have gone through so much that everything blended together, he said. It was funny, how that had been what part of me had been thinking.

"You're partly right, I think," I softly said. "But I think this is good too, in a way. Doesn't it mean that I've grown past this?"

The ground type chewed on the words for a few seconds, and just answered with a half-committed neigh. Despite being somewhat right, he was, after all, someone who had struggled to move on, and it was not his fault. It was easier to move on from an event like this one with support from friends and therapy, none of which he had access to. Even now, since we were getting closer to Lurantis, he kept having second thoughts about the meeting that Sunshine kept snapping him out of.

"Now I'm sure that when the time comes, I'll be ready," I said. "Let's head back and train for a little bit. Buddy, since there's a river nearby, I want to work on the thing we talked about so you stop blowing up all over the place…"

—

Since I'd be relatively busy today, we didn't train very long, and Sweetheart refused to train in the first place because she didn't want to ruin the flowers near the river, so instead, most of my Pokemon had decided to take the day off except for Buddy. Princess was his training partner today and was pelting him with huge Air Slashes. They also came faster, these days— as fast as Air Cutter, so we had very little reason to use that move anymore unless I needed to cut something to ribbons for whatever reason. Anyway, while he could solidify his body to become more resistant, that would not work against powerful attacks— and it never had. It wasn't a reliable way to fight, and people would be able to punish him while he reformed no matter how fast he got at it.

So instead, I had picked for him to train something else. To make him a fluid.

He could already turn into liquid, which was currently how he could sink into the ground whenever he wanted. What I'd theorized was that being shapeless would make it easier for him to keep himself together. Case in point, the next Air Slash sliced through the air and burst upon impact with the blob of water, and while yes, parts of him exploded, they narrowed, becoming thin lines until he absorbed them back before they could fly off everywhere with a satisfying squelch. The reason this worked was that being shapeless meant that he wouldn't have to actually care about how he reformed himself whatsoever, and so he could just botch the job until a later date and gather himself much faster. He'd also learned to reform quicker in general, with all the times he had needed to (unless he was hit by a particularly strong dark move), and this was just more training for that purpose. Plus, why did he even need a shape anyway? Having a mouth made it easier to gather energy for moves like Shadow Ball, Hydro Pump or Ice Beam, so right now, he would need to reform properly, but in the future, there was no reason why he couldn't stay shapeless the entire fight— a writhing mass of water with two red eyes. At least this way, he'd be more aero-dynamic with Water Sport.

All this time, I'd tried to raise his defenses, but we'd been working against his biology instead of with it. He wasn't just working on this, of course. His water manipulation had come quite far during our time together, and though we were still behind where Palafin was, we were making steady progress. He could now encase people in water through his will and either freeze or heat it up on command. My goal with Buddy was to have him be a master of temperature— at least with his water side of things, which had been a priority for a while, now. Manipulating water to the extent Palafin had been able to, but transitioning it between scorching steam or frigid ice with a thought.

We needed to get started on increasing the volume he was capable of playing with soon, though…

A relatively quiet growl from Sweetheart caught my attention, and I turned toward the rock type, who had finished her flower crown, and she'd roped Honey into it. Granted, he was smiling by now and making fun of Angel's own crown for having placed way too many flowers on his head— like, seriously, he'd basically made a field of them up there and now they were overflowing and falling off his head. With dexterity I'd grown used to, he quickly made a new one for me, using one of his cut-off vines as scaffolding, and for Mudsdale, though the ground type kept looking at his reflection in the water and giggling about how silly he looked. I called over Jellicent and Togekiss to tell them to take a break. The fairy demanded two crowns, because one was obviously she was worthy of more than the rest of us.

"Since Angel gets so many flowers, you can have two crowns, but don't be too bratty about it."

Buddy corrected me and said she shouldn't be bratty at all.

"Well, she can be bratty if she eats her food tonight, how about that," I smirked. Princess huffed, saying that of course she would take this deal. "No going back, then. I'll be borrowing the Pokemon Center's kitchens."

There was a flicker of doubt, though it was overshadowed by everyone else being excited about it. Now I'd have to go and empty an entire grocery aisle… was that rude? I was paying, but I felt like that was still rude.

"Sunshine—"

He gruffed, telling me not to even try it.

"I'm gonna take a picture, you need to be on theme," I said. "Just for ten seconds, at most."

The dragon complained about Togekiss getting away with her behavior with deals while he had to do things against his will, but Mudsdale chimed in and mocked him for comparing himself to a literal child.

"You know, it's just flowers. Not the end of the world," I said. "But I guess you're fine if you don't want to do it. C'mere and get in the shot, you big baby."

Unexpectedly, Sunshine sighed and told Angel to make him one of those 'horrors' we were wearing, and the grass type literally jumped for joy. Sweetheart almost started an ecological disaster by excitedly stomping on the ground, which she would have done had we not stopped her. I nudged Electivire's arm and told him to stop cackling and did the same for Princess, who'd been smugly staring at Turtonator and reveling in this.

Sunshine got into the frame, and since I'd left my tripod in Pastoria, Angel grabbed my phone and stretched his vine until we were all in the shot. I smiled for the camera, waited until I heard the little snap and for Tangrowth to plop the phone into my hands.

I snorted. "Angel, this is so blurry!"

—

I considered leaving my team on the route to train before remembering that this was not Twinleaf, and even there, that had gone terribly. The townspeople feared my Pokemon despite them having behaved just because they looked threatening. A sliver of indignation came before I remembered how it looked, from a perspective that wasn't mine. Even I had been scared of Cynthia's Garchomp when knowing she hadn't meant me any harm every time I'd seen her and her trainer had been there with her. Obviously, they were going to be scared or at least uneasy. I was just completely in the wrong here, having let my Pokemon wander without asking for permission. Granted, since Princess often flew, she was a lot less egregious than the others. Seeing random powerful Pokemon without their trainer was bound to raise alarm bells.

Good, keep yourself centered, I imagined Aliyah's voice. You do not have a monopoly on the perspective of what is right or wrong.

One of the many pitfalls of fairy type specialists, that one, though I was no specialist. So instead of leaving them there, I had recalled my team. The sun was going to set soon and the sky was a beautiful orange that deepened the closer you looked to the horizon. I'd somewhat forgotten the exact location of where I'd wanted to go, since it had been so long.

"It should be somewhere near the town, like an hour out," I muttered on Princess' back. "Maybe forty minutes? I thought it'd be easier to spot it from the sky, but maybe we should land and backtrack the route. That'll take a while, though… ah! I think that's it!"

I pointed down to a field with even more flowers than average, which I recognized mostly because of the stretch of white fences that hugged the sides of the massive dirt path. After looking for another ten minutes, I found what we were looking for. It was easy to see that the grave was still being tended to, with some gifts having been laid upon it and a clumsy headstone having been carved. Even on a route, nothing had destroyed it, or maybe something had and Jacob kept putting it back. That possibility didn't seem very likely, though.

I stepped off Princess, deciding to be alone for this, and I limped toward the grave, which was now covered in flowers. The earth had been overturned here before after digging. It had been a long time, since I'd thought of Starly. The poor flying type had died during our trek through the Ravaged Path, and we had helped his trainer Jacob out of there. I wasn't emotional about it— not beyond feeling morose for what had been done. A life snuffed out early because of a lack of thoroughness from the Rangers and a trainer overestimating himself. It hadn't been Jacob's fault, really. Even I had overestimated myself in those days, believing that I'd be able to win the Conference in a single year. Granted, my near-loss against Roark, my near run-in with Scyther near Sandgem, and Denzel's Roserade hitting my gut with Bullet Seed had probably destroyed my most self-destructive tendencies early. I hadn't known what Starly liked, and he was surrounded by plenty of flowers already, so I had decided to get him a little poffin. While they weren't as good as the ones in Hearthome, they were still excellent. I grabbed a pen and paper from my bag that I'd brought and started writing, using my piano case as support.

I was probably going to miss Jacob despite having wanted to see him. I'd tried contacting him through the forums, but he hadn't been active in months, so that had been moot. Instead, he'd catch this letter the next time he visited Starly's grave with his Wooper.

'Hi, Jacob. It's Grace Pastel, and it's been a while. Don't worry, this will be short.

I tried to contact you, but you weren't available on the forums. I was swinging by Floaroma while dealing with some personal issues, and I thought I'd come to visit Starly's grave. I'm glad to see it's still being cared for, and I gave him a little gift of my own to enjoy (unless a wild Pokemon got here and stole the poffin, which in retrospect might happen, so sorry about that). I hope you recovered well from your poisoning and that Wooper and your parents are doing alright too. I don't know if you still plan on being a trainer next year or not, but either way, you shouldn't let the shame of what happened in the Ravaged Path influence your decision. It was the Rangers who messed up, not you.

Anyway, some of the advice I had for you if you did choose to go through the Circuit again was to travel in a group and maybe take a flight to eastern Sinnoh before summer's over for a gentler start. They never do prepare us properly for what we're thrown against in the West, and there's no shame in acknowledging that one isn't ready. Sorry if I'm being too forward, by the way, feel free to throw this entire thing in the trash if I am (not the poffin), but the last time we met, in your hospital room, you had that look in your eye. The flame of ambition that said that you weren't done.

If I'm right and I'm not just being annoying, then next summer, book a flight to Sunyshore. I have a̶ ̶f̶r̶i̶e̶n̶d̶ an old friend there who might be game to travel with you, and someone else who lives at the Hotel Grand Lake who wants to go on a journey too. Traveling alone is nice sometimes when you need some space, but there's no other experience like being on the road with friends, and you'll be able to push each other further than if you were alone and bounce ideas off of each other. Some fiery competition is always nice. Anyway, their names are Erin Atwood and Sergei Antonovich. I gave you their contact information below, though Sergei is probably going to be way harder to contact than Erin. I've already told her about him, though, so I'm sure it'll all work out, given the fact that you have a few months to organize. You guys are all nice people, and you shouldn't let any video you've seen of me make you think that you shouldn't try to get with them.

And if you already had plans or a group, then feel free to ignore all of this.

Good luck next year, Jacob. May you make many friends and your adventures take you far.

"There you go," I sighed, flexing my hand. "Gah, I haven't written anything that lengthy on paper in so long that my hand hurts."

Princess let out a soft chirp in support, and I left the letter beneath the Poffin box, hoping that Jacob would find it the next time he visited. Since everything he'd left here was in a good state, I had a feeling he would.

"Let's head back to Floaroma and help out Louis," I said.

Togekiss groaned, saying all she wanted to do for the rest of the day was cuddle in bed.

"Soon, baby. Soon."

—

"I'm telling you, Louis. These are the prices I found," I sighed.

"This is ridiculous," my friend scoffed. "I could find land in Jubilife that's less expensive than this."

"Well, I'm sorry, but that's what the realtor told me," I said. "Maybe you can negotiate when you get there, but there's nothing else I can do."

As it turned out, Floaroma was an expensive town to buy land in, and while Louis had expected that to be the case, he hadn't expected the prices to be this high.

"Now I understand why no one ever bothers with private ventures here," Louis groaned. "The only businesses in Floaroma currently running are hundreds of years old or pay rent to operate inside of buildings they don't own. Maybe I should find somewhere else? But Floaroma was so perfect…"

I'd grown smarter, these days. Learned how the League functioned. There was no reason Floaroma of all places should be the most expensive place to buy land in— beyond even Jubilife— unless the League wanted to stop people from buying land here, because yes, my snooping this evening had taught me that the government owned most of the land here, and that part wasn't for sale. The parts that were were so ridiculously expensive that even Louis' father at the apex of his wealth would have looked twice before buying, because why buy land in the middle of Floaroma if it was basically never going to be profitable anyway? Very few people lived here. The population was comparable to Solaceon.

"Grace?"

"Wait, I'm thinking," I muttered.

No, there was a reason for this, and it smelled like a deal with a powerful Pokemon who predated the existence of this town and wanted to keep this place from being too urbanized. Thinking about it more, it made sense. Why else would that steelmaking factory up north and the power plant to the east have been built so far away from Floaroma? I doubted that the people liked commuting, and while I was no wind expert, Valley Windworks hadn't felt particularly more windy than this place.

"When you get here, ask for Marty Sobieck," I said. "He's the realtor I spoke to and owns the part of the meadow up north you wanted to buy and a bunch of the other land in town. Tell him about your plan for the sanctuary in detail and that you'll still keep the area free from urbanization. You could probably make a contract about it somehow— have a… condition or something. If you break it, you lose rights to the land."

"Selling land conditionally…" Louis hummed. "Common enough, though this type of agreement would probably be a first."

Probably not, I thought to myself.

"If you do, and he likes your idea, he might lower the price," I said. "It's just a hunch I have, though. I might be completely wrong, so don't get your hopes up."

And if my hunch was correct, then this Marty guy was in on this. Something had been off about the way he felt when we'd spoken, like our entire meeting had been a waste of time from the start. Granted, he could have believed that because I was a teenager and he had exorbitant prices, but there was a certain lassitude about him that rubbed me wrong. The only reason he'd accepted the meeting in the first place was because I was close to the League, and that made me more suspicious. Why would my affiliation with the League matter if I had no money anyway? Maybe because he thought I'd have actual word from the government about his land. After all, I was publicly an ACE in training.

"If this works, it'll probably still be expensive, but it'll be affordable," I continued. "If not, well… there's always Twinleaf?"

"Twinleaf isn't on the path trainers take though," Louis sighed. "Thank you anyway, Grace. I'm still… confused, but I'll give it a shot."

"Thank you for… uh, trusting me," I said. "And for talking. It was nice."

Had he not called me, I probably would have just texted, because talking to my friends had been a terrifying thought until today. It had been stupid, of course. After all, we'd spoken and hung out for nearly a week before I'd left, but my brain worked weird sometimes and my irrational fear had finally been wrested away. For a little while, we kept talking about what we'd been doing and he asked me for advice battling Byron, but he was extremely surprised to learn that I hadn't even looked him up yet. I was too focused on other stuff to have started studying quite yet, and honestly speaking, the motivation to imbibe information made it way harder for it to stick. I had tried a few times, but it was taking twice as long to learn half as much, and that wasn't doing my motivation any favors.

I was going to get truly started on it soon. Just not right now.

After I hung up, I decided to call it a day and go to sleep early. Princess finally got what she wanted, snuggling up beside me and stealing all of the covers for herself. Everyone else was out too, though Sweetheart was too large to sleep inside of a Pokemon Center room now, and it was already crowded as it was. Musdale too, was too big, and I knew the ground type did not mind sleeping in his Pokeball at all. Sweetheart was probably going to throw a tantrum when she woke up tomorrow, so I'd better bring her to the middle of nowhere for that… Honey slept with his arms crossed and leaning against the wall, while Angel had claimed his spot by the window. Sunshine was near my bed, spreading a comfortable warmth throughout the room and we'd all grown used to his incessant snoring by now.

I woke up at some point, flinching as something— not something, my phone rattled on my bedside table. I flailed around for a few seconds, ignoring Princess' groan as I grabbed my phone and saw that Jasmine was calling me. I felt guilt at the disappointment I felt, since I had honestly hoped it would be Cecilia, but this was good too.

"Jasmine, it's three in the morning," I sighed.

"Sorry, Grace," she said, sounding genuinely apologetic. "I just got word that you were in Floaroma and decided I had to call. You don't stay in the same spot often, these days. Quite ironic, for someone who'd spend weeks on end in cities."

"Well, I'm a busy girl," I tiredly said. "What's wrong?"

She hadn't read the report. That I was sure of. She was a foreign Gym Leader. Dating Volkner or not, there was no way she'd know about it.

"Can't a teacher see her old student?" she humorously asked. "I even flew all the way here on Skarmory."

I rolled my eyes as I excitedly sat up on my bed. "Liar. You just had Metagross Teleport you."

"Busted. I still had to make a few visual jumps, because we'd never been here before. I'm here now, though. It was incredible how easy it was to find your Center. There should really be measures about that—"

"I'm coming down right now!" I yelled.

—

Jasmine still wore one of her many sundresses. She grinned at me when she saw me walk into the lobby. Since it was the middle of the night, it was thankfully empty, save for a nurse who nervously glanced at the steel type Gym Leader once in a while. Jasmine and I had stayed in contact, since I left Sunyshore. She'd been one of the first few I told about my broken ankle, for example. I had cut off contact after the raid, though, and she'd stopped texting me after I hadn't answered her first three texts. It was something I had appreciated with her. She gave me space to deal with my problems, and now after catching an opportunity to see me, she'd taken it. If I hadn't answered, I was sure she wouldn't have kept calling. Kanto-Johto preferred to let their people individually deal with these types of matters— like what had happened during the raid. It wasn't a healthy outlook on the matter, but in that brief period when I'd sunk to my lowest depths, I had let myself appreciate that facet of their culture.

I hugged Jasmine tightly, and breathed a sigh of relief when she returned it. I hadn't expected her to be disgusted at me for killing someone or anything, but having confirmation through her actions and my empathy was nice. And I wasn't actively looking. It was hard to ignore when she was one of the three people in the room.

"You're tense," Jasmine noticed. "How's your recovery been?"

"My ankle, or…?" I muttered.

"Recovery can mean a lot of things," she dismissed. "Let's go with every facet of it."

"Steady," I said. "I'm just chugging along, really. Slowly getting better with my therapist's help."

She paused for a few seconds. "Well, if it works, it works."

"You should get one," I said. When she snorted, I pushed. "I'm serious. Aliyah's great at her job. I feel lighter after every session with her."

"There's cultural stigma, Grace," she gently said. "I appreciate the thought, however. How have your travels been? You aren't one to usually strike out alone."

For a little while, I felt the tiredness melt off of me as I told Jasmine about traveling, and she told me about her life in Sunyshore. I was happy to learn that she hadn't relapsed (and hadn't been lying when saying that) despite coming dangerously close a few times. It was a constant struggle, with her, but she was still sober and well. That conversation somehow led to my new fascination with tea, which we had found she'd gotten passionate about too, while trying to find a substitute for alcohol. After that, she wanted to know about Honey's progress. I would have showed her, but he was sleeping and I didn't want to wake him up. From what I told her though, she was pleased with how far he'd come.

"I saw him take down Wake's Gyarados," she said with a toothy smile. "That was a grand battle."

"Playing the villain was fun," I confirmed. "Now though…"

I paused, nervously interlocking my hands together.

"Erm, Volkner say anything about me?"

Jasmine hummed. "So there is something I don't know."

Shit. I'd given myself away, apparently. "So he did?"

"Not explicitly, but after the raid, every time I brought you up, he shut down the topic immediately," Jasmine said in a whisper with a slight tilt of her head. "Like he doesn't want to think about you. Beforehand, though, talking about you was just fine, even if it still annoyed him. I doubt Volkner would get so up in arms about you killing one person, so I guess something else must have happened inside. Something that disturbed him when he read about it. So I started asking for your friends who'd been in the raid, and he shared a similar reaction for Mira Compton."

Damn it, she was reading this situation like a book. I quickly scrambled for an excuse with my poker face on.

"I killed more people," I said. "And Pokemon."

"Oh, that was a given. But you don't have to worry, Grace. I won't ask if you don't want to tell. Really, I've come to regret your involvement in the raid—" My eyes widened at her. "—yes, no need to look at me like that."

"I thought that—"

"Iron sharpens iron, yes, but perhaps you were sharpened too soon," she exhaled, her tone low. "There is a spark in your eyes that is gone, Grace. I lost that spark too, at your age, during the Rocket wars, but seeing it happen to a younger generation burns more than I thought it would."

"You're getting this all wrong," I stammered. "I—"

I turned toward the Nurse Joy, who had noticed my raised tone.

"Why don't we take this outside?" Jasmine said.

And so we did, taking in the warm night air. There was not a soul in sight, and the warm light of the Center was like a refuge within Floaroma's darkness.

"You're getting this all wrong," I repeated. "It's my fault. All of it. I'm… gah, this is hard."

"Take your time," she said.

"I'll formulate this as a question instead," I sighed. "And promise me that this stays between us? Your… origins make it a lot easier to talk to you about this without fear of being judged."

"You have my word," she nodded.

I inhaled. "Okay. When you killed your first human, did you feel regret after?"

To me, humans and Pokemon were one and the same, but I emphasized the latter because I knew she would give it a bigger importance.

"Oh, yes," she instantly answered. "It was a gnarly affair, given that Steelix crushed her beneath her tail. There was nothing left, and the woman haunted my dreams for weeks."

"That's what I mean. The spark I lost, I think it's entirely because I actually got consequences for my actions, and not because of my actions themselves. I'm… different," I muttered. "Worse. I've been trying to remedy it, and it's a slow process of improving, but…"

"Whatever the reason, you are still a child, Grace," Jasmine said. "I find it regretful either way. It should not have happened. You might have skipped a few stages and gotten to where I am sooner, but you shouldn't have had to. I bear some responsibility, for having pushed you in that direction."

I traced a small circle on the ground with my crutch and stared at it. "You've gone soft," I said.

It wasn't an accusation, just an acknowledgment. I didn't think any less of her for it.

"Sinnoh's had its effects on me," she smiled. "And seeing what happened to me— to me and my friends in Johto happen again is a sobering thing, Grace. We all have our vices to learn to deal with our issues. Mine was alcohol, but it would not be my place to talk about my fellow Gym Leaders' personal affairs."

"Well, I'm not going to start drinking, so you don't have to worry about that," I grunted.

Jasmine chuckled. "I wasn't. But be careful not to fall into a vice of your own. They come in many forms."

"I'll keep it in mind," I said. "Thanks for listening to me and my stupid problems."

"Nonsense," the Gym Leader chided. "I'm glad you opened up."

She knew I was still hiding something, but she didn't push further. We spent another hour together until I literally couldn't stay awake any longer and had to get back to bed. Jasmine bid me farewell, and Metagross whisked her away. I sank into my bed and cursed the fact that I was going to be tired when meeting Lurantis tomorrow.

---

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[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 273

Well, this place is surprisingly active, I thought as Princess hovered over the Ranger Outpost. From above, it was easy to see how far Eterna Forest stretched. It was, however, easy to determine where it began and ended. The hue of the forest's trees was darker than the ones around it, and they were larger in general. I could actually see the center from up here, or at least guess where it was. The further in you went, the taller and wider the trees grew until they reached a truly gargantuan size. It was difficult to think that I was looking at actual trees and not man-made structures. Something slept at the center, thousands of years old. The forest was their creation, and they were so powerful Bellatrix had called herself weak compared to them. I ignored the surge of dread within me and asked Princess to land me at the outpost. I definitely would not fly above Eterna Forest on my way to Eterna City— though I was only stopping there to sleep and buy TMs, so I wasn't planning on staying long or being busy like I had in Floaroma. After that, it would be back over Mount Coronet and toward Solaceon, where I'd stay before going to the Lost Tower and having a chat with Ruth and Mathilda.

Either that, or they'd try to kill me. Hopefully not. Thinking about it, barging into your house after saying you'd never come again and asking for a way to kill your kind for real was probably rude as hell, wasn't it? I was kind of out of options, though. Mars never had Dusknoir's Pokeball around, so trapping him in it like I had done to the Hunters' Weavile was a non-starter.

Anyway, there were a lot more trainers than I thought there would be present here, especially compared to how empty Floaroma had been. The number was even slightly higher than it had been when I had passed through the place, for some reason. Princess landed me in front of the Pokemon Center, like usual, and melted in a sea of red as I recalled her and walked inside of the building. The emotions were muted now. Just another few days— maybe a week— and I'd be able to ignore them completely. Right now, however, it was hard to do so when everyone was looking at me.

Well, not everyone. I wasn't the center of the world, but a good number of them, and it was loud. Knowing I'd definitely stay there a few days, I got myself a room and then started the trek toward the Ranger Station. Come to think of it, I don't know if Lurantis is on this side of the forest or the other. It would be really awkward if she was on the other side, so hopefully she'd be here. Trainers filtered in and out of the building with tickets to enter the forest in hand, or just to get to their classes. Honestly, it was insane to me now that they hadn't held any classes before this year and had only started doing so because the casualties were getting too high. Before actually entering the building, I released Sunshine and Mudsdale. The ground type was a nervous wreck, constantly shifting his huge legs on the ground and reflexively turning it to mud. Turtonator, meanwhile, was keeping his head up high and acting like nothing was wrong, but I was an empath. I patted the dragon on the arm and Mudsdale on the leg.

"You guys ready? Well, I have to ask if she's actually there first, but… this is it."

Sunshine boasted that he was, and Mudsdale answered with a quiet affirmation. At the very least, I wouldn't have to wait days to understand her like I'd done with Mudsdale, so that was a plus. An hour tops, Mesprit had said, and they had been accurate from the way I'd begun understanding Lucas and Dawn's Pokemon perfectly over the course of one lunch. I placed them back inside their balls and went through the same process I'd gone to get to talk to Mudsdale, and since I was pretty widely known at this point the process was very quick. Lurantis was here, though she'd come back from a mission to help get two trainers out of the forest around two hours ago, and she was resting up. Apparently she was a big help to the Rangers here, with how powerful she'd been, and unlike Mudsdale, it looked like she was committed to her work and her skill and had never stopped battling.

They led me into a garden far larger than the one Mudsdale had been in, which was a sign of how much funding the Rangers here got. Lurantis was… smaller than I had imagined her, being only slightly taller than I was. When Sunshine and Mudsdale had told me about her, I imagined her to be as tall as they were, but she was human-sized. Her entire body was adorned by pink leaves, and although her arms looked like scythes, that was only a trick. They were actually soft leaves, even if I had no doubt she had a way of sharpening them with a move of some kind. She had lost an arm during the battle with Saturn and his grunts, but there was no sign of that here beyond her new arm being a little… paler, maybe. It was clearly newer than her other one. Curious, large eyes looked at me, and a little Oddish was hidden behind her robe-like leaves. That must have been her son that she'd told Mudsdale about in their letters. As soon as I released her old companions, exhilaration bled out of her and she instantly ignored me. I smiled, watching the three meet again for the first time in months.

Well, I guess it was time to leave again, then. I waved to the three of them and left.

—

Seeing Lurantis again had filled Turtonator with as much happiness as he'd felt meeting Mudsdale, but having the three of them here at once? That was what bliss was made of. Five minutes since they'd met, and the trio still couldn't stop smiling.

Turtonator, you old fool, Lurantis smiled. When Mudsdale sent that last letter saying that you were coming, I could hardly believe it.

Turtonator felt the smile on his face widen, but he embraced it instead of fighting it. And this… job. How have you been doing?

The little oddish squealed in her arms when he accidentally glanced at him. This one was jumpy and spoiled. Nothing like Sweetheart, though actually, perhaps she was still spoiled. Still, he could still get on the right path, if Lurantis eventually stopped babying him and taught him how to fight.

I've found meaning here, Lurantis said. The work is fulfilling, and the humans are good to me. It is not what I had before, but… I am happy.

Mudsdale cocked his head to the side and looked at Oddish. Little one. Don't be scared.

You suck, Turtonator! Stop glaring at him! Lurantis yelled, half-jokingly. I see you're still as bad with children as ever. Are you okay, Oddish?

Y—yeah.

So you do speak! the dragon bellowed. Lurantis slapped his arm and hissed. It was in her instincts, to threaten like a bug type would. She did, after all, look like one. Hah! I'm simply doing you a favor. It is no good for children to be shy. Where's the fire within him?

I'm sorry… Oddish muttered.

May the Tapus bring the sky down on your head, Turtonator, the grass type nonchalantly said.

I wouldn't call him bad with children if I were you, Lurantis, Mudsdale said. There is one of Grace's he's taken under his wing, and he is Togekiss' favorite Pokemon to verbally spar with. Not one day goes by without them having a fight about something, and I keep having to remind him he's an adult.

That little rascal is no normal child, Turtonator grunted. And I'm simply teaching her to respect her elders.

Togekiss, hm? Lurantis hummed curiously with a trill within her throat, like the rustling of leaves. Who's the other one?

Tyranitar, Musdale answered.

There was a flicker of doubt on Lurantis' face, as if she didn't believe what she was hearing.

It's the truth. I saw the little one grow up myself, Turtonator grunted.

Grace is a powerful trainer, Mudsdale added.

I figured. One must have been, to capture Turtonator. Though you did leave some nasty burns on her face, Lurantis hummed.

Bah! I regret it now, but she understands, Turtonator said. No need to obsess over the past. I've always thought humans were strange about scars. They should be a mark of pride, not something you shy away from!

She'd sit you down for an hour-long talk if you said that in front of her, Mudsdale said with a hint of amusement. Isn't that right? Sunshine?

The dragon's eyes bulged, but Lurantis caught on immediately. For all Mudsdale appeared outwardly serious, he was an insidious one. He'd been spending more time with Princess recently…

A name?! she laughed. Really? You?

It was forced upon me during one of our negotiations, he grumbled.

He likes it, Mudsdale translated.

I can't believe it. Turtonator, with a name! She must have really made an effect on you. What convinced you to follow her?

Turtonator had joined Kamaile because of the camaraderie he'd found with him and his Pokemon. His old trainer had a good heart— too good, sometimes— but he'd been someone Turtonator couldn't help but begrudgingly respect, because there was strength behind kindness, or at least that's what Oranguru would say. It had taken him a while to understand it himself. There was some of him within Grace, or at least there had been. Who else would let half of their body be burned and not bear any grudges? She had cried about her scars for weeks, and yet not borne him any ill will, and even though she had known the surface of his story about losing his previous team, she had waited until he was ready with no complaints. That was someone worth following.

Strength, he lied.

Liar, both Mudsdale and Lurantis said.

His nose flared until Oddish squealed again.

—

Making social media posts would have been hard, without Melody guiding me every step of the way. How was I supposed to know that the picture we'd taken wearing flower crowns should have been posted earlier? I mean sure, it was cute, but people followed me for battling stuff, not for random things I did with my Pokemon. Anyway, she'd forced me to post the picture along with a long-winded post explaining my absence, and people seemed to buy it on Chatter, at least. My silence had been spooking the board, so she'd basically ordered me to keep posting silly stuff. Honestly, I thought she'd have me post a long-winded apology after my silence, but instead I'd gone back to acting as if nothing had happened.

Since I was waiting for Sunshine, Mudsdale and Lurantis to finish their meeting, I'd asked one of the nurses about the high number of trainers still present here, and according to her, it was because of a new trend having popped up with trainers spending time in Eterna Forest in short bursts to grow faster than they would out of it. They were technically right on some level. Adversity was the trigger for massive growth in Pokemon, after all, and now that Pokemon in the forest were less aggressive than they used to be when we'd gone through for some reason, not as many people died or were injured going through it. I could see the sense in it, even though I'd personally never do it. I would honestly much rather spend time anywhere else but in the forest. Even Mount Coronet would be a better alternative.

I lazed around on the Pokemon Center couch for an hour to build up my tolerance to emotions, and then decided to go get myself a drink. I craved fast food, now that I hadn't had any in ages, but the Pokemon Center cafeteria would have to do.

"Chicken and rice? Pretty basic," I muttered in complaint. At least they had fruit salad for dessert.

The place was packed, since it was early in the afternoon. I shuffled my way through the queue with a tired yawn, but after grabbing my food plate, I felt a flash of rising anger to my right. Two kids were arguing about something through hushed breaths. There was anger, but also fear, anxiety, and… loss. I hummed, deciding to steer clear, but fate had other plans for me, it seemed. The girl shoved the boy at full strength, knocking me back. I balanced myself in order not to fall, but I only had one functional foot. I knocked everything I had on the floor along with the plate itself, which rattled obnoxiously. My hands instinctively went for my Pokeballs and my eyes scanned the two out of habit. Freshly bandaged wound on her arm. Deep and uncomfortable for her to the point that she couldn't move the limb properly, but can still shove. Boy, unwounded, but short of breath. Because of the fight? Five Pokeballs in total. Numerical disadvantage. My ankle—

Hurt like hell. I hissed when I tried moving it as pain throbbed within my cast. The pain centered me, taking me out of fight or flight mode, and my hand stopped before I could release Princess out of habit. My heart was pounding in my chest, my hair standing on end and my thoughts were going so quickly it was hard to keep track of them. I'd been ready for a fight to the death when there had been none coming at all.

"Look at what you did, you fucking idiot," the teen boy screamed before turning to me. "Arceus, I'm sorry, I—"

He gulped when he got a good look at my face and instinctively took a step back as fear bled through his skin. I stayed silent for a few seconds, mostly focusing on not getting overwhelmed by the sudden attention and waiting out the pain in my ankle. I shot the girl a look, but she averted her eyes instead and huffed. Her apparent companion stammered out a few words.

"G—Grace Pastel. I'm so sorry, I never wanted to—"

"Can you help me up?" I sighed.

He clasped my hand and slowly pulled.

"I'll clean all of this up," he said gesturing at the ground. "June, apologize already."

"You're fine," I said. "You guys were fighting, right? Just watch it next time, and don't shove people."

The girl— June— could only muster a nod, though I could tell she was being bitchy about it. The flash of pain in my ankle was subsiding, slowly but surely, so I hoped nothing had happened, but I'd probably have to go see a doctor just to make sure, which was annoying. Already, my recovery was going to take longer than usual, and I'd go fucking insane if it was delayed again. I let out a small groan and pinched the bridge of my nose. It was just one small mishappening, but it felt like a ton of bricks. I opened my eyes again and saw that the two were still frozen, looking at me with anxiety creeping up on them like a new layer of skin. Exploitable— no, stop.

"What's your name?" I asked the boy.

"Aiden Parks," he instantly answered. "Look, we're just in a really bad place right now— our friends—"

"Aiden!" June hissed.

"We were traveling with our group through the forest, and we got attacked by a Parasect and a bunch of Paras. Our Pokemon were already all hurt because we all underestimated the number of potions we'd need. I'm, uh, really sorry. If I can do anything for you, I'll do it."

"The Rangers," I muttered. "Did you not warn them?"

"We did, but they're incompetent," June growled. "They took one of their psychics and couldn't find them, even though we showed them the exact area they were in. Instead they showed up with someone else who needed help."

Passionate, this one. Somewhat like Pauline, but different in many ways. I hesitantly moved my foot and sighed.

"I'm going to go get checked out by a doctor and talk to my Pokemon," I said. "Stay here. It might take a few hours."

June frowned. "What do you mean, stay here?"

"Stay in the lobby if you want. I might be able to help you. Just be available."

"Do what she says," Aiden muttered.

It was time to put my money where my mouth was. I went to the human wing of the Pokemon Center, tired and angry, and while one of the doctors checked me out, I couldn't help but think about how close I'd been to unleashing Princess on these two kids. Maybe I'd been affected more than I thought? Really, I just wasn't used to being physically hurt outside of a life-or-death context, so my trigger finger was pretty itchy. The edge had worn off by now, thankfully, and I was back into a relatively normal state with no adrenaline pumping in my veins. I forced myself not to sense what the doctor was thinking as he looked at the newly-made X-ray I went through and felt a surge of excitement when I managed to. For my troubles, he reported that the ankle was healing fine and that my fall hadn't done any damage, but to be careful from now on.

Not like I could have expected someone to get shoved into me, even with empathy.

I made my way back to the Ranger station atop Angel's head, though I wanted to wait for the entire team to be here to explain what was going on. I knew there were going to be protests, especially from Sunshine and Mudsdale. This was close to the same situation Kamaile had gotten himself killed for— helping two trainers whom Sunshine had wanted to leave hanging dry. If he had not, and he had made it through Mount Coronet faster, he would still be alive today beyond a shadow of a doubt, so I knew he would be… sensitive to this. I didn't particularly feel either way, really. There was no strong pull to help June after she'd nearly screwed me over, though Aiden had been more amenable and there was sympathy there. That did not mean I was completely void of compassion, and I didn't want trainers to die in the middle of the woods. We'd never gotten lost in there, and even then each day had been a terrifying affair. Maybe I'd be able to pick up other stragglers on the way, though a multi-day journey sounded annoying considering the fact that I had no one to Teleport them back if I did find them.

And I knew I would find them. I would only need to bring my empathy back to the level it had been as soon as I'd gotten the power, so basically bring it to its apex. Pokemon felt different than humans. There were quirks within them I didn't know how to put into words, but if I could isolate them and try to only feel people instead of every living thing, then I was confident I'd be able to get them back. Maybe I can ask the Rangers for their Kadabra, I mused. When I got back to the yard, Mudsdale was laughing more vocally than I'd ever heard him with Lurantis while Sunshine grumbled something under his breath in embarrassment. Looks like everything on this front's gone rather well.

"I'm not interrupting anything, am I?" I asked in a teasing tone.

The dragon groaned, thanking me for finally arriving and freeing him from these two clowns. I approached Lurantis, who was carrying Oddish in a gentle hold in her arms. The grass type curiously stared at me, though he recoiled a little when I approached.

"It's okay little guy," I muttered. "Nice to meet you, Lurantis. I'm, well, Sunshine's new trainer."

The fire type grunted, saying that they had introduced me already, though Lurantis giggled at the name.

"Well, I still have to be polite, don't I?" I said, patting him on the arm, which Lurantis kept laughing at. "Glad you've seen how much of a softie he turned into. Anyway, um, guys. I'm sorry to interrupt. This isn't how I wanted to do this, but I made a decision earlier that I'm not sure you'll like. I'll need to release everyone for this, if that's ok? Will Oddish get scared?" I asked Lurantis.

The grass type shook her head and approved of my request. I dipped my head in thanks, releasing the entire team. After a short round of introduction where Lurantis tried to touch Princess' fur way too much and kept admiring how big Sweetheart was, I decided to get started.

I sat down and slowly explained the context of the situation, which Turtonator immediately dismissed as rash. It was rash. There really was no reason to be doing this except for me trying to forcefully put myself back together and see if I could get some enjoyment out of this. I figured I would when the longer we argued, the more set in stone my opinion was. I wasn't going to decide for them, however. I was going to bring it to a vote— where everyone would be able to chime in. Do we help, or not? The majority was the choice we were going to go with.

Some of the yes votes surprised me. Angel and Honey had been expected. They had been designated as my conscience, after all, and they were the most kind-hearted of the team. Honey just wanted to help in general, despite having called the place a forest of death, and Angel wanted to get the lost children back to safety. Princess and Sweetheart were a lot more surprising, however, and Turtonator looked at them with an astonished expression, as if he couldn't comprehend what had happened.

And it was not some childish reason like Sweetheart wanted to try out her new strength. There was a desire to help me here, not the trainers lost in the forest. She wanted me to figure out if this was going to work or not in a bout of maturity I hadn't expected from her. Princess' vote was admittedly somewhat fraudulent. Going against me—truly going against me in decisions like this; decisions that mattered—was not something she liked doing.

The no votes, I had expected, really. Sunshine, Buddy, Mudsdale. For the ground type, it was mostly dredging up past trauma that was the issue. I gently ran a hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry about this," I muttered. "But I feel the wind in my sails. I'm on the verge of something— I just feel it. I need this. We're strong, too. It won't be nearly as dangerous as the first time I went through. I doubt they ran off too far away, but if they're too deep in, we won't keep going."

I turned to Sunshine.

"You're pissed at me."

The dragon wasn't shy about outwardly showing his emotion. The temperature around us had raised slightly, taking me back to when I'd used to talk to him in Hearthome.

"You won't be able to help much," I confirmed his fears. "But you'll still be there. Team Galactic isn't here anymore, Sunshine. They're trapped like Rattata in Veilstone, unable to move and biding their time. It'll just be the wild."

And he was far more skilled than he had been back then. Lurantis chimed to the side. Over the last twenty minutes, I'd basically come to understand most of her words, which she found fascinating and kept harassing me about to know what my secret was. She'd even convinced herself I was hiding a psychic somewhere to translate everything, which had added some humor to the sour mood. A nice change of pace, if anything, despite the tense mood right now.

"You want to come?" I said, slightly disbelieving. In retrospect, Mudsdale had said she'd thrown herself into Ranger work, and she had integrated herself far better than he had here.

There was a slight sigh from Oddish, as if this was a common occurrence. Lurantis reiterated that this was her job, and that she'd meant to go on one more patrol before the day was over anyway. Plus, she wanted to spend more time with her two friends, so she was killing two birds with one stone here. Her familiarity with the area would certainly help, if they were more than a day inside of the woods. I had considered flying above the forest and scanning it that way, but that was probably a bad idea for multiple reasons. I'd need to be close enough if I wanted to sense stuff, and Princess would need to go slowly— at a walking pace— to actually let me feel things out properly. That would leave us open to attacks from below.

"Look, if it helps, I'm on a tight timetable anyway, so any longer than four days without— without Princess feeling anything, and I'll give up, okay? Can we do this? Please?"

Turtonator's stare softened a smidge, though he gave me a tight, frustrated nod. I smoothed the deal over by convincing one of the Rangers to lend me a Kadabra, which as it turned out wasn't very difficult when you were considered an ACE in training and I was going in with the explicit goal of rescuing people, so I was kind of doing their job for them. Not that this was their fault, really. With the amount of people going into the forest at once, they were understaffed. Rangers were often rotated between bases so people wouldn't have to spend months in the same intense environment, and during this time of the year the number of them in Eterna Forest was always lower because the number of trainers had been supposed to be lower too— or at least that's what one of them told me. And good luck convincing the people taking it easy on the other side of Mount Coronet to come back here. She handed me Lurantis' Pokeball temporarily as well, so with Kadabra I technically had nine Pokemon in total, which definitely felt weird. I still didn't know how many Pokemon I wanted as a final number.

I'd recalled all of my Pokemon, though Lurantis was still out and carried Oddish in her arms and kept cuddling him against her chest and telling him how much of a cutie he was. There was something strangely endearing and relatable about that, and I felt a twinge of nostalgia at the fact that I could no longer carry any of my Pokemon in my arms. The grass type handed her son over to another Ranger in some nondescript office, and he looked at her with a raised eyebrow.

"Again? You're overworking yourself," he said. "I'll take care of him for you, though."

She thanked him, closing the door and turning to me, as if she'd been waiting to talk to me alone.

"What is it?" I asked.

She muttered that there really was no psychic, though that was only a passing thought. Lurantis let me know that she appreciated me taking in Mudsdale and Sunshine with me and reuniting them together, but then she wondered what my intentions were after I left here.

"Well, Sunshine is coming, that's a given," I instantly said. "But Mudsdale… well, it'll be up to him, really. The team really likes him, but he was happier here in those few hours you spent than he was with us, even if we did help him heal. So…"

Lurantis didn't sigh, but her body loosened slightly. She explained that despite appreciating what I'd done, she would not have come with us no matter what. She actually liked this job. She enjoyed Ranger work in all of its facets and had made friends here who helped her get through tough times, both human and Pokemon. And of course, there was Oddish, who she'd found in Eterna Forest and whom she loved more than anything else… yeah, it was easy to see that she was never going to agree to come, even if we'd taken in her kid with us.

"You don't have to worry, I wasn't going to steal him away or anything," I said. "Not my style. I captured a Pokemon against their will once, and vowed to never do it again."

Lurantis' eyes glimmered with curiosity as she quickly tried to guess who it had been. Her first guess had hilariously been Princess because of how haughty she was. I realized then that no one had told her she'd been my starter.

"No, no, it was my Jellicent," I laughed as we walked out of the Ranger building. "He tried to kill me a few times after, but I won him over. It shouldn't have been like that, but… yeah."

The grass type tilted her head, saying that for a ghost he was pretty non-threatening and generally quiet.

Yeah, she hadn't seen him in action yet.

Once out of the station, I released Kadabra out of her ball and greeted her.

"Hey. You've been assigned to me for a… rescue mission, you call it?"

Goodness me, the psychic said with a very audible groan. A retrieval mission, she corrected. And I already know that. Did you think they would just have handed me over without warning?

"Well, I was just making sure," I grumbled.

What a strange friend you've made, Lurantis, Kadabra said. Regardless, I am no fighter, given the fact that I was trained to specialize in Teleport explicitly. At most, I have minor psychic powers, but they are not that reliable for threats in the forest. Please keep me in my Pokeball until I am needed. Surely a trainer of your caliber would not need me otherwise, she finished with a tint of sarcasm.

Had I… just been sassed by a Kadabra?

"Um, okay?" I hesitantly spoke.

Thank you. That way I can have some peace and quiet and make some time to study ergonomics. You would not believe how inefficient human-made systems are. You and your 'breaks'. Utter nonsense.

"You have fun and do that," I said, recalling her.

Lurantis giggled, introducing her friend and calling her a real piece of work.

"She's kind of fun, though. Arceus, I can't wait to get a psychic."

The grass type teased me and said that my tricks wouldn't work on her with the biggest, shit eating grin on her face.

I could see why Sunshine had called her the bright spot in their team.

—

Aiden and June weren't in the lobby, nor were they in the cafeteria. Damn it, did they flake? I'd told them to stay put. Had they not believed me? I'd said it'd maybe be a few hours, anticipating difficult negotiation, but it had only been one and a half! I groaned as I stalked through the halls upstairs.

"Fuck it," I sighed, closing my eyes, and the headache came back in full force as hundreds of flaming, colorful wisps appeared in my mind's eye.

Aiden wouldn't be easy to pick out, but June? June's emotions were quite unique in the way they flowed. It was difficult to explain. It was not just about shade, though every emotion had a different one, and it helped since I knew from her similarities to Pauline that she would stay feeling a certain way longer than others. I isolated for anger, frustration and— loss, for she feared her friends to be dead. A part of her already thought them to be, really, and she'd been bracing herself for impact, which was partly why she had shoved Aiden, I imagined. There was also texture to consider. Grainy, smooth, crinkly, bumpy— these were a lot harder to make out, but I found myself guided toward room 428 on the fourth floor. Two people were inside of the room, arguing about something again.

Arceus, I was scary. I'd make an excellent stalker, really, which… wasn't a good thing. I knocked on the door, and their anger flickered and winked out like a dying flame, leaving way to surprise and anxiety. I knocked again, more forcefully this time, and finally, Aiden opened the door.

"Hi," I said. "I thought I told you to wait in the lobby?"

June scoffed. "How even—"

"Not now, please," I interrupted.

The skinny teenager in front of me nervously shuffled like a kid caught misbehaving, though June only glared at me. Her eyes were red— she'd been crying. Angry crying? I used to do that, once.

"Can I come in? I said I'd help," I pushed.

"Sure," Aiden sighed.

Thankfully, June said nothing, only clutching her wounded arm and swaying back and forth like she was trying to comfort herself. I dragged the seat on Aiden's desk and sat with a tired groan.

"How many people is it?" I asked. "And what are their names?"

They both looked at me as if they hadn't expected me to get right into it.

June spoke up. "Three people. Daniel Hall, Arthur McDowell, and Edith Thurmond."

Arthur? He shared a name with my dad. Not that it mattered, it was just an observation.

"Okay. Did you stay on the path? Follow the signs?" I continued. "When did this happen?"

"Hmhm. We were about twelve hours in, but then, well, we got attacked," Daniel said. "June and I managed to run back, but she got wounded. This was yesterday."

Twelve hours. Good, it would be quick, then, relatively speaking, and I knew around when to start looking. Since it had only been a day ago, I doubt they strayed far.

I have a better picture of things now.

"Okay. Now I'm going to guess you were fighting about going back in to help. June here wanted to go back to find your friends, but you… don't seem like the type to say no. Too compassionate. You told her to stay back while you went off on your own because she's injured and you aren't. Then you fought, and she shoved you."

Her injury wasn't much, anyway. A deep cut, sure, not nothing debilitating. Still, they were friends, so he worried for her. Really, the truth was that he had a crush on her, but she didn't know despite reciprocating, and the guilt of shoving him was eating her inside. It wasn't my place to intervene, though.

"You… how did you know that?" Aiden stammered.

"Call it a guess," I shrugged. "Anyway, I said I would help, so I'm going into the forest today—"

"Let me help!" June yelled.

Three Pokeballs by her side, and two for Aiden. "How many badges?"

"We all have two… Roark's and Byron's," the girl answered.

"We wanted to get a third before the year's end, which was why we took the plunge and decided to go through the forest," Aiden sighed. "We never should have gone."

You'll slow me down. Protecting you will be a hassle. If something happens to you, that blood is on my hands. All reasonable things to say, really. Plus, with them there, I wouldn't be able to just bullshit another excuse about me being able to sense their friends… though I could just say that Princess was the one who did it, just like I'd done with Lurantis. Yeah, that worked. If it had been me, in their position, I would have asked to come too and I knew I would have despised someone who would have told me no. After all, we had quite literally delayed calling the Rangers when we went to save Cecilia on our own in Mount Coronet. Legendaries, we'd been in over our heads, then. It was a wonder we hadn't died.

"I have rules," I said.

"You can't take her, she's injured!" Aiden hissed.

"Fuck you, Aiden!"

I leaned against a palm and waited, though as soon as I did, the fighting stopped.

"I'll play nice and make this as safe as possible for you, but I have rules," I repeated. "Be mindful of my Pokemon and try not to be rude to me around them— they won't hurt you, but I'd like this to be free of any drama, really. Two, if we spend more than a day in there, someone will show up every morning to talk to me. She's my therapist, but these sessions are private, and I'd like it if you didn't try to snoop. I know you're curious about me."

They wouldn't be able to hear thanks to Chimecho anyway, even while staying close, but it'd be better for all of us if they didn't try.

Aiden frowned. "How is a therapist just going to show up—"

"That's my last rule. No questions about me, please. If you can respect all of that, then you can come. Oh, and also just let me deal with the fights. Your Pokemon will just get in the way, so keep them around as a last line of defense in case anything slips by Princess and Honey— that's my Togekiss and Electivire."

"We know…" Aiden murmured.

Oh? My nicknames had finally started to stick around, it seems. That was nice.

"You'll be helpful, though. I'll need you to guide me to the exact path you took, so look alive," I smiled. Uselessness was one of the most insidious feelings someone could feel. Best to pull them out of that with the truth. "Are my rules okay?"

They both agreed instantly.

"Well, we can go after I restock on potions, then," I smiled. "And you know what… you said you were running low, right? I'll get you some too. This is important, okay? Never go through a place like this without the appropriate number of potions. That's a really dumb risk. It's always better to have more than not enough, even if that hurts your wallet. And also, you should…"

—

I had not missed this place at all. The trees were almost suffocating, with the sheer amount of foliage forming a canopy so dense almost no sunlight made it through save for a few rays here and there. The forest smelled oppressive too, with the scent of nature and leaves being so thick you could choke on it. The occasional noise had used to scare me, once, but I did not waver at all. I hovered slightly above the ground on Princess with my good foot hanging off her in case I needed to quickly dismount. Electivire, Jellicent, Lurantis, Turtonator and Tangrowth were also all present. I still didn't feel secure about letting Sweetheart walk out and about given the fact that she still forgot how large her tail was half the time and I didn't want her to accidentally crush all of Aiden or June's bones or collapse a tree. Mudsdale was no fighter, and the ground here would be hard for him to walk on. It was already difficult for Sunshine, too. The vegetation was so deep my two new companions were walking ankle-deep in foliage, and they were constantly whispering about me while their Pokemon followed behind them. Marill, and Ducklett for Aiden. Magnemite, Spinarak and Geodude for June. Solid teams all around, for second-badgers.

Well, so long as they were keeping themselves busy and safe, they were doing more than I could ask them to—

"Incoming," I muttered. "Five— seven— eight Pokemon."

Both Aiden and June froze behind me as Honey blurred in front of them, ready to spring up a Protect. Buzzing could be heard soon enough reverberating through the forest, but they took a minute to actually get here despite the fact that I was actively gimping my empathy. Eight Beedrill with stingers as long as my torso dripping with poison showed up, though they stopped when they actually saw what they were dealing with. They hovered in the air, hissing between each other. Probably expected the usual weak prey. It was honestly surprising that they hadn't just run off. There must have been a colony nearby with their Kakuna.

"I have no quarrel with you," I declared. "If you want, we could go around if you don't ask us to make too long of a detour. This is an urgent matter. I'm looking to save a couple of kids who got lost here. I will not harm you."

There was hesitation, and the title Bellatrix had given me so long ago mattered here. Most were clearly inclined to let me pass, though two disagreed.

"You can't beat me," I said. "This doesn't have to come to a fight."

One of the Beedrill's stingers glowed—

He was restrained by Princess' Psychic instantly. I had told her going in that we were going to do as little murder as possible, but the other Beedrill instantly swarmed the attacker and turned on him, stabbing into his tough carapace with glowing and poisoned stingers. They were going to kill him for endangering the hive. Sunshine could only laugh at the display of cowardice and underhanded means.

"Stop!" I yelled.

They did not. It was as if they were all overtaken by duty to protect their hives. I barked out a few orders, and Angel grabbed all of them with a tight hold and darkness-coated vines while Princess encased the wounded Beedrill in a stone box made of Ancient Power.

"Put them to sleep," I sighed.

Sleep Powder wafted off Angel's vines, and each Beedrill slowly crumpled to the ground. I hopped off Princess and limped toward the wounded Beedrill while Lurantis muttered something to Sunshine. Arceus, walking with a broken ankle in this environment was absolutele hell. A barrier appeared around me before disappearing after a split second, and the Ancient Power turned to dust. Beedrill was a bloodied mess, with transparent, yellowish blood seeping out of multiple holes.

"Are you going to behave?" I asked. "I can heal you. You'll have to strike out on your own, but at least you're alive. Don't attack me, or I'll leave you here, and you'll slowly bleed out, or something else will make you their next meal."

The bug type mustered a weak nod, and after confirming that he meant no harm through my empathy, I sprayed him with two potions. He flew off as fast as his exhausted wings could take him, and I let out a satisfied sigh.

I was smiling.

"Legendaries…" June muttered.

"Let's keep going," I said. "Angel, put me on Princess again."

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, BeautifulBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, nothingtoseehere, SecondBlahm, Daruda, Mystic Corn, menirx, Paul S, coolblue, Ole W, Daniel J, Eric, Anarchistofyams, Cosimo, Nick S, Matthew M, Pharros

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 274

Encountering a swarm of Beedrill a few hours into Eterna Forest had been seriously unlucky. Aiden wasn't even sure how they'd missed them the first time he and his friends had gone through. His fingers still trembled and he desperately looked for something to distract himself with his hands. If that had been me and June, we would be dead right now, he thought as he looked at his friend. She was pale, though largely silent, as she had been since they entered the forest. While she was outwardly strong, Aiden knew she'd been the most reluctant to try to rush to get their third badge against Gardenia and had wanted to take it easy for the rest of the year. Two badges for first-years was pretty average, after all. Beating Roark's unending offense for their second badge had been tough, and they'd had to try different tactics for months. Ducklett let out a soft quack on his shoulder, and his hands finally settled on the water type's head.

"Are you okay?" he asked June.

"Y—yeah. I'm good," she shakily murmured. "I didn't know there were Beedrill around here."

"There aren't supposed to be," he said. "They say the forest was way more dangerous earlier in the year, though."

"More dangerous than this?"

Her eyes glanced toward their guardian and the rest of her team, walking as if they hadn't been attacked ten minutes ago. In fact, she was joking around with that Lurantis and laughing. Something was clearly wrong with her, but it would be rude to stare for too long, with that Turtonator of hers staring daggers at every opportunity. Grace had said that they would never attack, but he had the feeling that the dragon type wouldn't blink twice if those Beedrill had killed them.

All of her Pokemon were strange, to some extent, save for Electivire who felt like a relatable fellow— though the attack hadn't phased him any either. Jellicent was one of her scarier teammates, with the piercing red eyes that could be seen through its head and it sometimes turning into a writhing mass of possessed water when he needed to make it through a dense area of the forest. The Pokemon that unsettled Aiden the most was that Tangrowth of hers. Something about that silent stare he gave those Beedrill when he moved to grab each with a vine that moved faster than Aiden had been able to see sent a shiver up the young trainer's spine. It was the silence that was terrifying. It made every single one of its actions so banal, like it was just executing them without any thought. Like it was a damn robot.

"Are you kidding me?!" Grace cackled at her terrifying dragon. "You tried to get a Totem Pokemon to fight you one on one?"

For a second, the air seemed to grow slightly hotter, and Aiden and June got ready for the worst. Lurantis made a terrifying hiss that was supposed to be a giggle, he had learned, and more laughs followed suit, all unique in their own ways.

"Arceus, she's being so fucking loud!" June hissed in a whisper. "We're in fucking Eterna Forest."

Aiden winced. It was common knowledge that one should be as quiet as possible when going through this place, lest they alert more wild Pokemon and get attacked. Maybe that was why the Beedrill had come. And if that were the case, then they'd see a whole lot of that. Aiden's breaths grew short, but he took deep breaths like Arthur used to tell him, and he calmed down soon enough. Not before Grace shot him a strange look, as if she'd known something, and then turned back and continued with her conversation.

"I hear trainers at the top are all insane," he whispered back. "I guess it's true."

It wasn't like there had been any way to confirm it. This was the first time they'd even seen a top-tier trainer with their own eyes, and the last place he had expected to come across one was at the Ranger Outpost. Almost every trainer at Grace's level had a flier or a Teleporter and they never went to the forest to train. Aubri Schneider still came sometimes, though she'd replaced this place with Victory Road, and she was one of the crazier ones anyway.

"Can she really understand Pokemon? I thought that was just a rumor…" June muttered.

Good. Talking would get his mind off that terrible buzzing from the Beedrill. "I guess so. Think the theories are true?"

"I mean, she might as well be some League experiment," June whispered. "There was that girl who could Teleport in the raid. Maybe they're from the same batch."

"We don't know that for sure. ACE trainer could be a psychic. Like an immigrant from Kanto-Johto or something," Aiden shot back.

"Well, this girl isn't psychic," she grumbled. "Or she'd be able to move things with her mind and or stuff like that. I just wish she could be quiet."

"She sensed those Beedrill somehow," he said. "I'd be willing to bet that she's one."

"Maybe she just has really good hearing."

There were many theories about Grace Pastel's abilities to speak to Pokemon, and the two largest ones were as follows: she was either a psychic, or a League experiment supersoldier of some kind. That last one went hand in hand with the fact that she'd been present in the raid on the Pokemon Mansion and was an ACE in training. Some said that she was being given unfair advantages in the Circuit— so many that she might as well be a plant— but Aiden hadn't really involved himself in the discussion. He was more of a Craig Goodwill or Denzel fan than anyone else due to Grace's violent nature in battle, though he knew Edith was a huge Grace fan who had tried to replicate her style, which made training with them awful.

I hope everyone is fine.

—

"This is where you all got separated?" Grace asked, stepping off her Togekiss. She'd hopped off before Tangrowth had even wrapped its vine around her waist, like there was unconditional trust it would catch her.

"Yeah," Aiden answered.

This place was truly awful. The forest was denser here than anywhere else they'd been, which had made the Paras and Parasect sneak up on them without any warning. By the time they'd realized what was happening, twenty of them were already all over the camp. He'd told them that this was a bad place to set up camp, and yet they hadn't listened because the first day had been relatively easy. Now they were gone. Aiden felt the instinctive need to hold his breath even if the spores were gone, and he heard the distinct screeching and hissing of the Paras. He imagined them crawling over his legs and body— his face—

Grace gripped his shoulder. "Calm down. We're here to keep you safe, okay? Breathe."

Breathe he did. Rhythmic, slow, but soothing. His fingers stopped twitching, and he stopped feeling the need to itch at his skin. June wasn't in much of a better state, though she kept it better hidden. Not that it worked, anyway. Grace helped her calm down too, even if it didn't work much. After a minute or so, she limped back toward her Pokemon and spoke up again.

"Princess, you feel anything?" Grace asked.

The fact that she'd been in Eterna Forest with a broken ankle was not lost on Aiden, but he supposed that when you could ride one of your Pokemon at all times, it mattered less. He wished he could sit right now. His legs felt numb, and every single step hurt to take. Togekiss and Grace stayed silent for a while, their backs turned toward them. When the second minute passed, he shot June an awkward look. When the fifth did, they started getting antsy, and by the tenth, his friend spoke up.

"Think she's finally gone crazy?" June asked.

"Don't be rude," he said. "She's just letting her Togekiss concentrate, so stay quiet."

Grace Pastel had her quirks, but she was the one trying to help her friends. Not any other of the confirmed people going into the Conference flaming her online, but her.

Oh, she'd made quite the list of… well, not enemies, but people who disliked her, at least. That was mostly where the League plant narrative came from, anyway. Aiden liked to keep track of trends online, as any respectable trainer had to do to stay ahead, anyway, according to Denzel's tips and tricks streams. Most of the… sheesh, calling them low-level felt wrong, but that was the only way to compare them to the people that made it far into the Conference. Most of the low-leveled Conference participants felt threatened by this crop of new first years, and their closeness to the League only left a bad taste in all of their mouths. There were even rumors of her fellow sponsees in Poketch being close to a civil war, and though none of them had publicly spoken out against her, it was well known that their managers were pulling the strings.

"Got it," Grace said, snapping him out of his thoughts. "There are three people… deeper than I would have thought. We can't exactly know how long it'll take us to get there. We'll have to spend the entire next day in the forest, so we'll have to set up camp."

June let out a relieved gasp. "Are you sure it's them?"

"Well, there were multiple groups of three, but they're slightly off the beaten path and a lot more scared than the rest. If it's not them, then we can keep looking. They aren't moving right now, but I know for certain that they're all alive, at least."

Aiden restrained tears, though he couldn't help but let a few fall. They were fine, or at least they probably were.

"How many Pokemon do they have each?" Grace continued.

"Um, three each. I'm the only one who has two," Aiden muttered. He'd wanted to catch something else in the forest, but Grace scared away or negotiated with every wild Pokemon they came across so far. He wouldn't care, though, so long as their friends were okay.

"Princess?" Grace asked.

The fairy type dramatically clenched her eyes, then said something Aiden couldn't understand.

"Well, only one of them looks to have three Pokemon out. The rest have one each, though—" she stopped to wince. "Sorry, it's just a headache. Um, none of them have more than three, so they still fit your friends' profile, though they could be inside of their Pokeballs."

"We should just go right now," June forcefully said. "Get there as soon as possible!"

She shook her head. "You kids need to sleep. It's nighttime already and you've been walking for nearly twelve hours straight. You're tired."

"But—"

"My team will keep watch," she interrupted. "Your Pokemon haven't eaten, right? They're hungry. Mine are too. I promise you, we'll get going. Just get three to four hours of sleep. You look like you're going to collapse."

They reluctantly agreed, deciding to recall their tired Pokemon into their balls so they could rest before being served dinner. Grace released a massive Mudsdale, eight feet in height, whose head scanned all of her other Pokemon. It let out a slight neigh when it saw that they were all okay, and it dipped its head toward Aiden and June. Another normal one, thank the Legendaries, Aiden thought to himself.

"Flatten the ground for us, will you?" Grace asked. "We're setting up for the night."

The floor rumbled under them as Mudsdale slowly shaped it to its liking, tearing out clumps of grass and bushes in the process. The areas around the trees, it left intact. It was as if it could manipulate the earth itself… it probably could, really. Aiden had no idea where she'd gotten herself a Mudsdale, but the world had never seen it fight before, so all they could do was guess.

"Princess, some walls please."

Aiden flinched when four thick walls of earth rose all around them and solidified into stone instantly. The fairy type had been molding some kind of ginormous spear while doing this, like it could use that move without a second thought. It was one thing to see it do it in the heat of battle, and another to see its far more… domestic uses.

"Makes you feel safer, right?" Grace said with a warm smile. "I'll let you kids prepare dinner for your team while I'll feed mine. Let me know if you need anything, alright? I'll give you some space."

"We're the same age," June grumbled.

"Oh. Yeah, we are," she acknowledged with a saddened look. Aiden glanced toward his companion. Had she stepped on a landmine? "Sorry about that. Guess I was being rude, huh?"

She paused, looking like she wanted to say something else, but instead, she just shrugged.

"I'm going to have to feed my Tyranitar, and she can be a real crybaby about eating earth when I don't have enough to feed her, so don't mind her crying, okay? I'll recall her if she makes too much noise when you're sleeping."

Tyranitar. An apex predator that only lived on the deepest or highest reaches of Mount Coronet. Aiden had missed the day the information itself had leaked due to being on a route, but it took a lot of the remaining heat off of her now that it was all anyone could talk about instead of the raid. He was pretty sure, however, that beyond Professor Rowan, they were the first ones who were actually going to set eyes on the beast.

The earth itself shook when the massive Tyranitar was released and it took its first step. Plates thick enough to stop any physical attack, they said, and it at least looked true. A set of thick, rugged, rock-like plates covered almost its entire body, leaving space for a few holes and that blue section exposed on her gut. The green plates bore a rough, weathered texture reminiscent of natural rock formations, and the sharp edges protruding all along its back, arms, head, and tail looked like they'd be able to tear through his Pokemon like a paper shredder. It flashed its fangs at its trainer and growled, a sound that reverberated deep within Aiden's bones, but Grace launched into some kind of baby-talk that was… disturbingly endearing? It was not at all the image of her he had built up in his head, at least, so it was like looking at a different person.

Aiden was pretty sure whatever the hell that crying was kept any predator away from them in miles.

—

June Lambert couldn't sleep.

She tossed and turned in her sleeping bag, but couldn't help but see the Paras every time she closed her eyes. And that Parasect. It had been void of any consciousness like it was simply a puppet with strings instead of a living being. A parasitic fungus with tendrils like sinewy fingers had ensnared Parasect, but she'd never thought it would be so disturbing to look at. The parasite had smothered the creature's head, leaving only haunting voids where its eyes once were. Lifeless. And yet it had commanded a legion of Paras to attack and spread their spores onto them. If they hadn't ran…

They'd be sustenance for the spores right now.

"Damn it," June whimpered, biting her lip.

She slipped out of her sleeping bag, deciding to take a walk to stretch her legs and think about something else. Maybe theorize about how the hell to beat Gardenia, if they were ever going to make it there. Maybe they should give up and fly out East next year? No, no, they just got unlucky, and the outpost was packed. If only this stupid trend hadn't popped up at the worst of times, then her group wouldn't have been collateral damage. Where had it even come from anyway? Legendaries, all they'd wanted to do was make it through—

June stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted Grace Pastel in the darkness, sitting on some kind of chair, leaning against a tree, and she stroked her Togekiss' head in a rhythmic fashion while the fairy type slept. Or… never mind, she wasn't sleeping. Her eyes were half-opened, so she was just dozing off. The blond girl softly hummed a tune as she put her Pokemon to sleep, and for a second it felt so wrong being here, like June had intruded on something she was never meant to see. This wasn't what I thought she was like at all.

"Couldn't sleep?"

"Gah!" June jumped. She hadn't even turned her head! How the fuck did she do that?! She quickly turned to see if she'd awakened Aiden, but breathed a sight of relief. Maybe she really was a psychic.

The massive Tangrowth shot an eye open, though returned to sleep soon after, as if he could do so on command. His entire body shut down, and his vines stopped moving all at the same time. Creepy. Electivire still leaned against a tree with his arms crossed and hadn't woken up, and the rest of her Pokemon were inside of their balls— or… not. June felt an uncomfortable prickle on her neck as if something was looking at her. Where was her ghost? She couldn't see the red eyes anywhere, and that was even more terrifying.

"Sorry," Grace said. "Want to sit? I can talk if you want."

"I don't want to be a bother," June said. "I was rude to you earlier today. I'm sorry."

Grace laughed. "You were. It's alright, though. All's been forgiven. Princess?"

June nervously ran a hand through her hair as the half-asleep Togekiss raised a small earthen stump for her to sit on, and then molded it into a chair the next moment. Clearing her throat and suddenly feeling very nervous, June sat down and ignored the fact that her knee was bouncing. It was a whole lot harder to behave how she had earlier today now that she'd seen Grace's Pokemon in action. It was one thing to see them on video, and another to see them in person. It was only then, that you truly visualized the sheer gap in strength present between the two.

"We'll find your friends, you know," Grace said. "They've moved slightly, but they looked to have settled for the night."

That was less weight on her chest, but it was difficult not to worry. They'd been together for months, after all, having all met in Jubilife early in the Circuit, and now they were inseparable. If something was to happen…

"I get it, you know? That fear," Grace muttered, petting her Togekiss. "Feels like you're choking until you see them again, alive and well."

June nodded. "I feel like I haven't been able to take a proper breath in days."

"You're strong, still. You wanted to come while injured, even though you didn't have to. That takes guts, really. You've got the mindset to make it far."

Pride swelled in her chest, though she smothered it before it could take hold. She had no right to feel proud when her friends were scared and lost. Plus, Grace was completely wrong.

"We started the same year," June bitterly said. "You have seven badges, I have two. I had to try against Byron and Roark so many times sometimes I felt like giving up."

"But you didn't," Grace smiled. "And you won. Did you know Craig Goodwill only got two badges in his first year? Five in his second, seven in his third, and only got to the Conference on his fourth? Look at him now, June. He clawed his way up the mountain through sheer perseverance. He's a household name."

"I'm no Craig," she muttered before sighing. "Why are we even talking about this? None of it matters, anyway."

Legendaries, Edith would kill to be in this situation, and I'm ruining it, June thought to herself.

"It matters," Grace said. "Here, why do you want to be a trainer? That reason is why you're going after the badges, and the badges are why you went through here in the first place."

June frowned. "What's that mean?"

"It means that if you're going through things like this again, you've got to take this seriously, yeah? Better not get yourself in this amount of danger for something you aren't passionate about, because it is dangerous, June."

"I am passionate!" the girl instantly retorted. "I want to become a League Trainer, but they don't even start looking at you as a potential recruit until you have at least five badges."

It had been her dream since she'd been a little girl, to work for the League. Cynthia was her idol— a woman born from nothing, who had snatched power from the entrenched old order all in a single year. She'd do anything to work for her, rising high up in the League. The people who flamed her were full of shit. They all knew she'd restore a true democracy after Team Galactic was done with!

"See? What you're feeling right now, that is passion," Grace said. "Keep that fire within you burning, and it'll all be worth it in the end."

"If— when we find the others… can you— can you train us? Give us more advice?" June asked.

"There's no time, I'm sorry," Grace sighed. "But here's a word of advice, since you like Cynthia so much." There was almost a flicker of displeasure in her eyes, but it passed as quickly as it had come. "She once told me this thing about punching up. You know, challenging people stronger than you to expose your flaws makes you fix them quicker than you would on your own. It's something I wished I had more time to do. Really, I haven't done it since I've been in Sunyshore."

"F—from Cynthia?!" June squealed. "Holy shit— you must talk to her all the time! What's she like?!"

Grace paused for a few seconds, chewing on her next words.

"Driven."

"Is… is that it?"

"Yeah. Sorry, that must have been disappointing."

"Um, can I ask you a favor? About my friend Edith?" June asked.

"Shoot."

"They're a huge fan of yours, so they might come off a bit strong, but please be nice to them. It'll make their day, even after being stuck in this stupid forest. Maybe give them your number to talk once in a while?"

"Oh. Right," she said as if she just remembered her fans. "I must be a pretty terrible trainer to follow. Denzel's way better at this than I am."

"Is… is it true that you met in Twinleaf and that you just decided to go on a journey together on a whim?"

"Is that what they say? I guess we were pretty nonchalant about it, so it's true. I just asked, and he said yes. We kind of met on the same day."

"And is it true that your first battle was Eevee against Togepi and that you won?"

"What? No, he won! Who's saying all of this?" she groaned.

"I don't know. People. There are no videos of any of your fights before Roark, so…"

"That fight will haunt me until the end of my days, I swear."

They kept talking for hours, and June suddenly felt reassured that yes, they were the same age.

And that Grace was kind of cool, once you got to know her.

—

"I can't believe you didn't wake me up, June."

"Well, you were sleeping!" June groaned. And looking cute while doing it. "Waking you up because I can't sleep is stupid, and since Grace is here, we don't have to do it in shifts."

The sun hadn't risen yet, but Aiden had needed to wake up anyway. Grace had estimated their friends to be around seven hours away, though it had taken her Togekiss a long time to do so. Definitely a psychic, and insanely powerful at that. Seven hours? That was miles away! No Pokemon had attacked during the night, though Grace had befriended a couple of Phantump who had hung out for a little bit while she played her piano. Personally, June had just been annoyed about how cold they made things. Jellicent might be creepy— the scariest of her Pokemon by far— but at least things weren't cold when he was around, skulking between cracks in the ground and tree barks. They were traveling again, now, and despite having all of their Pokemon out, they were clearly only here for decoration, as much as it pained June to admit.

"So you talk to one of the best first-years all night, and you don't get me involved?"

"We only talked for a few hours. Stop being stupid about it," June rolled her eyes. "Here, I'll just relay all of the advice she gave me…"

It spoke to Grace's skill that she had turned Eterna Forest from a terrifying place to a dull one. Really, nothing interesting happened for the next few hours, with only a Scyther taking its chance and attacking before being restrained and systematically put to sleep, all while Grace smiled and muttered to her Pokemon about doing good deeds. June didn't exactly understand what was so good about taking down a Scyther, but she preferred not to ask. She was in a good mood, a mood which improved the more time passed. When the clock struck nine in the morning, a tanned woman with pale hair just appeared out of nowhere through the tree line, scaring the wits out of June and Aiden. A Chimecho followed closely behind her, catching Lurantis' attention and exciting the grass type even more, somehow.

"No, Lurantis, this isn't a party," Grace sighed.

"Well, well," she said with a soft voice. "You certainly made me work for this one."

"Sorry Aliyah," Grace smiled. "Still, you're as punctual as always. Is it okay if we keep moving for this session? I'm sure you'll get annoyed about not being able to set the ambiance, but I'm helping these two find their friends. Aiden, June, this is Aliyah, my therapist."

"Uh… hi," Aiden hesitantly spoke.

"Nice to meet you?" June said.

"Good morning to you too, my dears," Aliyah said. Something about her unsettled June. Maybe it was the way she carried herself, almost like her body had no weight. She turned back toward Grace. "I suppose we'll forgo the candles and pillows for one session. We have much to talk about, don't we?"

"Yeah! This is working, Aliyah. Or I think it is!" Grace excitedly yelled. "Oh, and my Pokemon will have to be around to protect these two. Princess will have to hear what we say, though, because… well, I can't walk here and I'm riding her."

The therapist sighed. "I don't like breaking the rules, but alas. Chimecho, be a dear, will you?"

June hadn't known that sounds could feel like this. This was not like standing next to a loud bass or the engine of an airplane. It was far more subtle, yet the weight of it was immense. Grace and Aliyah kept walking as if nothing had happened, but… their voices didn't carry far enough to make out what they were saying. Lip reading wasn't her strong suit either, but none of the words seemed to make sense anyway, so that was a bust.

Legendaries, people weren't going to believe half of what they'd seen here when they came out.

—

"I feel better than I have in a while, Aliyah. I mean, this girl indirectly shoved me and could have fucked up my ankle, but I was talking to her like she'd done none of that instead of wanting to hurt her!" I excitedly yelled. "I feel like I've made more progress today and yesterday than I have since the raid!"

Aliyah was old, but she did not tire from walking in Eterna Forest. My therapist hummed as Chimecho shot her a curious look, and I forced myself to ignore the emotions leaking out of them. Focus on Arthur, Daniel and Edith, I told myself. The session was coming to an end now, and I'd managed to only look four times.

"This is all excellent news, as I've said," Aliyah said. "But this reflex you told me about. Going for your Pokeballs at the first sign of danger? You're still on edge, Grace. It is a form of PTSD."

"We… we said I wasn't as affected by the actual raid as much as the consequences," I said. "We established this. I'm just not used to getting hurt when something isn't trying to kill me…"

My therapist inclined her head. "And? My point still stands. When I told you this, I was not aware of this part of you. It did not come all at once, of course. The origins of these instincts are deep— a combination of all your close brushes with death. From this very place, to Mount Coronet, to Solaceon, to the raid. You cannot imagine yourself being hurt without being in mortal danger. So much so that you almost put these two in danger. That is trauma, Grace."

I didn't put them in danger, I didn't release my Pokemon anyway, I wanted to say, though I bit down on the retort and nodded.

"Okay. Okay, I get it. How do I fix it?"

"You can't just—" she stopped to snap her fingers. "—fix it like that. It is not something you unlearn in a week, much less months. I would say that time away from these life-and-death situations, along with keeping up your sessions with me would help this matter, but this behavior is not quickly unlearned."

"It's not something I want to unlearn. I'll need it if I get into another real fight. We have a month, Aliyah," I said.

My therapist's expression turned melancholic. "We can have you distinguish between when such reactions are appropriate or not."

"Well…" I turned to June and Aiden. "At least I'm fixing one part of myself."

"That's good, but it is important not to rest on your laurels. I'm not telling you to dive into the forest and save more people, of course. I am warning you about potentially backsliding. Recovery is not a smooth process of continuously progressing upward. There might be slip-ups, if you are not careful. Aiden was shoved into you and knocked your food plate on the ground. That is, by all accounts and purposes, a minor occurrence. Now, if your ankle had been affected, or if she'd been so shaken by her friends' disappearance that she had been awful to you, then what?"

I stayed silent, not knowing what to answer.

"That is not to minimize your efforts. You're making great strides, Grace, and I commend you for that. And of course, you are not obligated to help people, especially if they delay the recovery of your ankle. No one is entitled to your help. What's important is to learn to let go, yes? You are a child, but not as they are. There is real power behind your words, especially with the new abilities at your fingertips, it is important to be aware of that. Before meeting Mesprit, you had to worry about Poketch and your income, and that kept you from making things worse for yourself. Now? You could exact revenge with them and society at large being none the wiser."

"I wouldn't have!" I yelled. "That's the last thing I want."

"Good. Still, you must understand that I must speak of these things, yes? It was not meant to put you in a foul mood."

Well, I'm kind of in a foul mood anyway now. "Sure," I grunted.

"You're doing good," she reiterated. "I see the efforts you go through to curtail your impulses. Your recovery is going well."

I cracked a smile. "I guess it is."

"Well, I must be on my way, now," she said. "Try not to have me come into a forest next time. I would greatly appreciate it," she continued with a hint of humor. "Tomorrow, we begin a new theme. Chimecho?"

Aliyah waved to Aiden and June, walking off into the woods and disappearing behind a tree without a sound.

—

When I reached Daniel, Arthur and Edith, the reason they hadn't moved much became apparent. Daniel's leg was wounded to the point where he wasn't able to walk. It was something I'd suspected, with the way his fear was different than the others, but I hadn't told June and Aiden about it. Their Pokemon were hurt too, beyond what potions could properly heal. It would take weeks for them to properly heal in a Pokemon Center. I watched with a tired smile as June and Aiden reunited with their friends. They were so overwhelmed by relief that they hadn't even registered I was here. This felt fulfilling. I hadn't lost that part of me, I had just buried it deep, and I had needed to claw my way through the mud to unearth it. I began recalling my larger Pokemon, leaving only Princess and Honey out for emergency barriers as I sent out Kadabra. Even if she'd been trained, she wouldn't be able to Teleport my entire team.

Well, that's that, I sighed.

"Do you guys want to Teleport on the other side of the forest?" I asked. If Lurantis wanted to go back, she could, but these kids needed some kind of respite.

They all looked at each other, and then at me, though Edith looked away and made themself small. Looks like you were wrong, June. They're incredibly shy. When I looked at Edith, I saw neither girl, nor boy, but something else entirely. Non-binary then. That explained the pronouns. I wasn't sure until now, really. Even when looking at them without empathy, I wouldn't have been able to tell what gender they were.

Kadabra's eyes bulged. I did not consent to this, you vile human!

"Can you not do it?"

Well, I can, but—

"Please? They've been through a lot, and they at least deserve this. I'll put in a good word for you at the station, and my word matters. Maybe you'll get more time to study—"

Deal, she instantly said. Well? Let's get going.

"I've never Teleported before…" Daniel murmured. "Does it feel weird?"

"Not at all. One moment you're here, and the next—"

I blinked as we appeared in front of the Ranger Station at the forest's exit, which was just as bustling at the other.

"—the next, you're somewhere else," I sighed. "You could have waited!"

The boy is wounded, she said, though I knew that was not at all the reason for her being in a rush.

Well, I had three more days to spend here, so I'd make the best of them and let Sunshine, Mudsdale, and Lurantis spend time together. Maybe make sure that the kids were okay too, because Legendaries, they'd need support after this.

And also, I was so tired I felt like I was going to pass out any minute now. I had a lot of sleep to catch up on.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Logan M, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, BeautifulBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, nothingtoseehere, SecondBlahm, Daruda, Mystic Corn, menirx, Paul S, coolblue, Ole W, Daniel J, Eric, Anarchistofyams, Cosimo, Nick S, Matthew M, Pharros

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 275

Why was it that people woke up tired when they'd slept for longer than usual? Or at least that's the way I felt after having slept the entire afternoon and through the night inside of the outpost's Pokemon Center. My mouth felt so dry it might as well have been a desert, and my entire body felt numb. The sun was barely rising through the window, though Angel was blocking almost the entirety of the rays. It took a few seconds to situate myself and remember what had happened yesterday. The people I'd saved were alive and well, even if Daniel had a nasty gash on his thigh and their Pokemon needed to be healed extensively. I rolled out of bed, leaving Princess to claim the entire thing for herself as I nabbed myself ice water from the fridge. Lurantis had agreed to stay on this side of the forest, but had needed to get Oddish back with Kadabra. Now that she was back, she'd be able to hang out with Sunshine and Mudsdale all day today. Kadabra had unfortunately exhausted herself by Teleporting too many people too many times— and blamed me for it— so she'd need to take a break for a couple of hours.

It was hard to remember sometimes that the people I worked with were not of average skill level. Not every psychic would be able to Teleport these distances without growing tired.

I had two days left here, not three, then. I wondered about what to do to pass the time while I waited as I slowly went through my morning routine and scrolled through my phone with tired eyes. Intruding too much on Lurantis, Sunshine and Mudsdale might be a little rude, and while I wouldn't disappear, I at least wanted to give them some space. Training was a given, especially since Princess could fly us away from the outpost to have some peace and quiet. Sweetheart could use some more practice with earth-shaping and transitioning into Earthquake, but they never told you how difficult training Earthquake was. In theory, it was just a more powerful version of Bulldoze or Stomping Tantrum, plus we had created Earthbreaker specifically to make that transition earlier, but it was not only about the power behind the move. The level of intricacy needed to create an actual earthquake-like phenomenon that strong went beyond any other ground type moves we'd worked with so far.

Oh, well, power was also an issue, even if it wasn't the only one. There was only so much Princess could fix when the entire area went to hell, and Mudsdale had taken over since, but now that he'd be busy, it would get a lot more complicated. I could see now why people like Craig and Aubri went off in the middle of nowhere to create new moves and practice their old ones. It was not only about secrecy, but also about convenience. Jellicent floated behind me, asking me about my night. He told me about how he had snuck out of the Center while we slept to go practice in the lake nearby and had accidentally scared off every water type in miles.

I snorted as I scrolled through Pastoria's Gym website and smiled when I saw that Denzel had won his Gym Battle, and it hadn't been that close. 5-6, so the same as Chase's, but his Milotic had barely had a scratch on him when he took down Ludicolo. An impressive victory beyond a shadow of a doubt, given the fact that he'd also faced down Gyarados. I was sure his sponsors were very pleased and that his new merch was selling like hotcakes, though I hadn't seen anyone wearing any shirts quite yet. Altaria had been surprisingly effective, with her Cloud Nine ability negating Crasher Wake from stacking any Rain Dances like he'd done against me with well-timed switches, and the power behind her attacks was nothing to scoff at. She'd held her own until Kingdra took her down— the same Kingdra Sunshine had beaten. She wasn't quite seven-badge level, but she was definitely close. The fundamentals that Craig had taught Denzel had carried him far, and were still of use even today.

Now, he was going to leave Pastoria as soon as his team was healed and fly to Canalave with Pauline's help. I was happy to see he'd started his streams back up again too. Always quick to recover, this one, I thought fondly. I missed him dearly— I missed all of them, really, but I was not ready to see them yet. Not until I told them the entire truth, at least.

Well, I felt more capable of it than I was a week ago, so as long as things kept progressing…

"Oh. Mel called me."

I'd been deep asleep when she did, but she was happy about something, from the way she'd only called me once and then texted instead of calling me ten times in a row in a panic. People liked the fact that I'd gone into the woods to save trainers, apparently. I hadn't even done it with Poketch in mind, but it was a nice bonus, at the very least. Better have to have the board happy for when we'd meet, with the way Melody had warned me about the other sponsorship liaisons getting ideas. To be honest, I was surprised that Aubri hadn't spoken out against me at all, but for all the older trainer disliked me, she'd been very professional when we'd met for the photoshoot. Speaking out against people in your own company wasn't her style, now that I thought about it more.

Anyway, I dropped my phone into my pocket, deciding to ignore the fact that June and Aiden had already spread the story of our time in the forest in detail and that most didn't believe them. It was a good thing I hadn't done any training in Eterna Forest or shown off any of the new stuff all my Pokemon were working on, really. This was about the time to start hiding my Pokemon's capabilities from prying eyes in the Conference. Granted, they'd have one last opportunity to look at my team when I challenged Byron. Or multiple, if I lost.

"Well, might as well catch some fresh air. Guys?"

Angel excitedly squirmed, and Princess groaned, asking to get back in her Pokeball to sleep.

"You've slept for as long as I have… but fine. I'll use Angel as a ride today," I said. "Let's go drop Sunshine and Mudsdale off and find something to do. Maybe give the kids a visit."

After returning them, my limping steps carried me out of the Pokemon Center, though I grabbed a quick bite on the way out and made sure I had enough for my Pokemon's breakfast. Lurantis would be waiting inside of the station itself, and it took Angel little time to bring us there with a steady rhythm. My ankle was actually starting to feel better, or at least it did when compared to the first day I'd broken it. I knew it would still be weeks until I could actually walk, let alone run, however. I would have released Buddy so he could go on his own and train some more, but people were starting to say he was terrifying. Honestly, I couldn't see it, with how goofy he got sometimes, but he did exude a hard exterior.

This Ranger Station was a mirror of all others, with a green roof and a tight, modern design that made it look sleek both inside and out. Lurantis had been waiting for us inside in a similar-looking garden with Oddish hiding behind her feet, though this yard was more flowery than the other. It was interesting to see how slow-moving the grass type was at the start of the day without the sun out. Even if Tangrowth sometimes got sluggish at night, he was never this affected by the lack of sun.

When I asked her while my Pokemon ate, she told me that she technically wasn't equipped to be out of the sun for that long, since she was Alolan, and all that time spent under Eterna Forest's thick canopy had taken its toll. She was building a tolerance for it, but it was a slow-going affair. Mudsdale did not explicitly tell her that she should quit if it was bad for her, but she guessed from a single look in his eyes, and she refused immediately, which gave Sunshine a good laugh. Lurantis valued this job far too much, and she wouldn't let such a small obstacle stop her. I was, however, angry that she hadn't told us before coming. Without Kadabra to Teleport us out, she would have been in an even worse state. The grass type brought one of her scythes-like arms up to elegantly cover her mouth and said that that was how building a tolerance worked. She wasn't used to going this deep in the forest for that long, and meeting with her long-lost companions had been a good reason to.

After breakfast, I left them to it and left the Ranger building. Once I made sure Kadabra's prowess had been emphasized enough to the Rangers, I was free of any obligations until Aliyah showed up. Might as well go check on the kids before I go and find a training spot. Close to the water would be nice for Buddy, but worst case scenario, he can just stick around on his own. Maybe I'd give studying Byron another try too—

"There you are!" June called out outside of the station.

She looked brighter than yesterday, that was for sure. Her face was free of any worry, which meant that Daniel Hall's leg injury wasn't too bad. Worse than what Emi had gotten during her trek through here, but recoverable, at least. She'd brought Edith Thurmond with her too, it seemed, though they couldn't look me in the face. Their light brown eyes just stared at their feet while they blushed, their relatively short dark hair drooping downward as they did so. It was chin-length, and kind of looked like a bob cut, but a lot more… messy and free-flowing.

"Come on!" June yelled, nudging them forward. "You've said that you wanted to meet her so many times already!"

How would Denzel go about this? He'd have a wide smile, get into his streaming persona and give his fans the best possible experience, even if that was just for thirty seconds. The problem was, I had no persona. Whatever, I'd just wing it.

I smiled. "Hi. How have you been?"

Edith finally spoke. "G—good. Thanks for saving us."

They didn't made their voice small like Lauren did. It was more of a nervous stutter. I looked around and saw that we were all attracting attention, which was probably making things worse for them, though June didn't seem to mind one bit. For the longest time, I'd been like that too, scared of crowds and people looking at me to the point of barely being able to function due to my anxiety.

"Why don't we go somewhere more private?" I asked, releasing Angel. The anxiety in Edith's eyes melted away, leaving way for awe. "My room will do. Unless your other friends want to come, or we go to Daniel's hospital room—"

"Edith can go without me," June said.

Her friend made some kind of half-hiss, half-grunting noise of pure disbelief.

"What? We've spent a lot of time with her already, so just go," she continued. "Aiden and Art are with Daniel, at the moment. You guys can come visit later, he doesn't like to be overwhelmed."

Why was she lying? I had my empathy at the lowest level it had ever been, and it was as clear as day. Still, there must have been a reason, so I decided to let it go.

"I mean, if you say so," I said with a raised eyebrow.

June was already running off, anyway, waving at us with that sharp grin of hers.

"Well, if it's just us two, I was planning on going training and studying," I said. "My therapist will probably show up in the middle of it, though. Want to go for a ride?"

"On Princess?" Edith gasped. "Oh, Legendaries!"

"Do you like her?" I asked.

"I—I do. She's my favorite," they muttered. "I'm one of the top contributors to her Trainerpedia page, you know? I've watched her fights more times than I can count."

"Trainerpedia? Oh, right, Denzel told me about it, once," I said. It was a website where all of the information about trainers could be written and edited, and each popular trainer had a huge community around their pages. "Sorry, I'm kind of bad at this. Anyway, do you?"

"I do!" they yelled.

Well, they were still shy, but it looked like their excitement had overtaken their timidity for now. I recalled Angel, who was sad he didn't get to be my ride again, and I released the flying type. Trainers watched as I strapped Edith onto the saddle— not too tightly, so they wouldn't be uncomfortable. They did these little flinches every time I accidentally touched them, which made it really hard to strap them in. Honestly, it was kind of weird how many parallels this entire self-reflecting journey had to my first one. Today's was that Craig had done the same thing for me up north, when flying us down to Eterna City, though I supposed I wasn't really flying Edith anywhere in particular. I just figured this would make their day, especially since they liked Princess so much. I handed them my only pair of goggles so their eyes would be protected, and then I hopped on myself.

"I can't believe it," Edith whispered. "I'm on— I'm on Princess."

"Take it easy for this one, baby," I softly said, petting Togekiss' head. I, for one, knew she was annoyed at having to fly two people when that second person wasn't Cece.

Togekiss gently lifted off into the air, and toward the East. Edith was shaking like a leaf, though I didn't know if it was from excitement or nervousness. Probably both, really. I was trying to finish stamping down on my empathy, so ignoring them forcefully made for some good practice. I was sure I'd be able to stay in Eterna City without passing out when I made it there, at least.

"Can I ask questions?" Edith said. They had to ask twice, because they hadn't been used to how loud the wind was this high up when flying, even at a lower speed.

"Go ahead."

"Is it true that Princess has no upper limit on her drills? Like, can she make a hundred at a time?"

"Well, there is a limit. We haven't really tested it in a while, but it's probably north of fifty? Fewer for spears. I won't say much more about it, though."

Edith stayed silent for a few seconds, and then gasped. "Oh, no! I won't put the information out, I swear! This is… between us."

Was disappointing a fan okay? I wanted to tell them no meant no instantly, but that was a rude way of going about things.

"I get it, but I really don't want to risk any leaks, sorry," I said. "Look at the bright side, you'll see us go through some routine training. It's all stuff I don't mind revealing."

"Sweet! You never train in public, so no one knows what your process looks like. Do your Pokemon fight each other? What's your way of coming up with new tactics? How do you get your team to learn moves from scratch…"

Oh, they could really get going when they wanted to, huh? June hadn't been lying when saying Edith was a massive fan. I tried to answer their questions to the best of my abilities, though sometimes they asked for too much and I had to put my foot down. Still, they were practically beaming about this the entire way through, and by the time we landed, most of their shyness was gone. I dismounted Princess at the edge of one of the massive lakes a few hours from Eterna City and helped Edith off too. It felt good to be with people shorter than me, for a change. I wasn't short, I was just friends with a bunch of freakishly tall people.

"Before you start, um, can I have your autograph?!" Edith asked.

"My… what?"

"Your autograph…?"

"My… autograph?"

"Yeah. Like, signing something I own. I was thinking my Litwick's Pokeball, but—"

"Wait, wait, wait," I stammered. "You have a Litwick?" That was a true ghost! People usually never caught those that early, save for Mira!

"Yeah. With a Trubbish and a Tyrogue, but Litwick's my starter, so I wanted you to sign my ball…"

Okay, focus on the autograph for now. "Well, I have a pen in my bag somewhere, but it's not a permanent marker, so it wouldn't stick to your Pokeball. I haven't really done this autograph thing before. I don't even have one of those fancy ones like Denzel does. Would I just write my name?"

"Anything you want!" Edith squealed. "As long as I take a video of you signing it, it'll be fine. Maybe write it in one of my notebooks instead."

They quickly searched through their backpack, pulled out a notebook and handed it to me. Now that I was looking at it, their bag had all kinds of pins on it. LGBTQ+ flags, a Togepi pin, a small plastic knife pin—

Okay, let's stop looking at the pins. The knife was cute, but it was a testament to my reputation that my fan had one of these. Where had they even gotten this? Did they sell knife pins? Could I claim royalties on these? Of course you can't, I silently chided at myself.

"Which page?" I asked, scrolling through the book. "Oh… you draw me?"

There were multiple illustrations of me on here. Sometimes, portraits, other times full-body drawings. There was me with my full team, or me with a single or only a few of my Pokemon. It was mostly just me, though. Despite it just being pencil sketches, these looked really nice— Edith snatched the notebook out of my hands with a face so red they looked like they were about to pass out.

"I— I— I'm so sorry— I didn't— I thought— I gave you the wrong book."

"Edith, this was really cool," I smiled. "Really, it's awesome! I've never had someone do art of me before."

The trainer paused, shifting their feet along the grass and clutching the book against their chest. "You really think so?"

"Yeah! You're really good at it. If you want, I'll sign that one."

They hesitantly handed it back to me, and I gave them the best signature I could manage while they filmed, which ended up not being very good. I ended up just writing my name in cursive, which I'd never really been good at. Cece, though, she could write in cursive like there was no tomorrow and actually preferred to do it that way. Her handwriting was really pretty.

"Now, I'm gonna get my team out and have them start training. Since you're here, I'll only have my Tyranitar work on control stuff instead of pure power, so you won't have to worry about any tremors, or whatever. Is that okay?"

"Grace Pastel is asking me stuff," Edith mumbled. "Yes! Yes, that's absolutely okay!"

Jellicent, Tangrowth, Electivire and Tyranitar all appeared in a sea of red, and Edith nearly jumped for joy. Honey glanced in my direction, though he liked the fact that he was being admired, so he gave them a wide grin and a thumbs up.

"Can you— can you do that again? I want to take a picture…"

Then, Sweetheart and Angel demanded to be in the picture, which caused Jellicent to audibly click in frustration and float over to them, since he knew he'd be asked to be in the shot anyway. Better to just get it over with now and not waste time.

"I'll hold your phone and take a pic of you and them, if you want," I suggested.

Training could wait a few minutes.

—

"Bubble," I ordered.

Jellicent let out a booming whistle, and two enormous bubbles of water rose from the lake, around the same size as Palafin had been able to do, though they were a smidge smaller. I waited for around thirty seconds to see if he strained to keep them afloat or not, but he kept them steady. The only disturbances on their surface were slight ripples, and there was no water dripping back into the lake, so no volume was being lost. Edith watched with a gaping mouth, but they hadn't seen anything just yet, nor did they truly comprehend the sheer amount of control on display here. Had a Pokemon been inside of these spheres, they would have been continuously pulled to the center and kept there through powerful currents Buddy was continuously generating.

"Boil and Freeze," I said.

The ghost type's eyes dimmed, feeling slight irritation at the challenge of having to do two fundamentally different actions at the same time. It was a lot to manage when working with TE, but he braced himself, his body shrinking slightly and his red eyes brightening as he concentrated. To the left, a wild symphony of steam and bubbles surged from the sphere's heart as the water within surged and roiled. This was Scald, but on a more powerful and massive scale, applied over an entire area instead of it just being a stream of steaming water. To the right, delicate tendrils of frost crept along the sphere's surface, etching intricate patterns that glistened in the sun. The air around it was frigid and still, with wisps of vapor swirling across the bubble's surface. This was not Ice Beam, but the manipulation of ice TE itself, and everyone knew that went wonderfully with water.

"Hold. One minute," I continued.

By the fortieth second, Buddy was clearly struggling. More and more impurities appeared on the spheres. The boiling one began to lose in mass instead of being continuously resupplied with new water while the frozen one began to crack, crumbling under its own weight as physics began to win the tug of war against Type Energy. Still, the ghost held for the minute he needed, and with an exhausted, reverberating sigh, he let go. Both spheres crashed into the lake, though Princess' barriers stopped the waves from touching us. The sheer amount of concentration that had just taken was incredible. Just a pure display of skill, and yet we were far from done. What if Water Sport could come out as a Scald so propulsion hurt his enemies? What about using Water Spout and instantly freezing the outgoing water to generate hundreds of ice spikes going so quickly that they were basically impossible to dodge? What about… ice spears?

Okay, ice spears wouldn't be that great in effect, but it was still fun to think about.

"Good job, Bud!" I beamed. "Go take a break and soak in the water, you deserve it."

I didn't have to tell him twice. He instantly deactivated his floating powers, plunging deep into the lake to recuperate. He wasn't the only one training hard, of course. Honey had managed to get Hammer Arm and finally mastered Bulldoze, so now I was looking into ideas for a custom move that would prove useful against steel types. It'd probably have to do with electro-magnetism, but I couldn't start planning until I properly learned about Byron. Angel could use Brick Break as well as Knock Off by this point and was entirely focused on his vine terrain thingy that I still needed to name. When she wasn't busy protecting us, Princess was working on better controlling Mystical Fire and bringing Tri Attack up to speed. The move had proved to have far more versatility than I believed it would have at first. Poor Sweetheart was grumbling while she tried to make a Stone Edge swerve mid-air in different directions. She wanted to work on big stuff, but this was as big of a deal as it got. I'd also finally taught her Rock Polish, the TM I'd gotten from Roark. It had never been useful as a Pupitar when she could fly, but now that she was walking again, reducing drag during battles and improving her speed would work out well for her.

Though it was a double-edged sword. Rock Polish meant that she would be faster, but it also meant that she'd be easier to knock around due to the fact that she'd slide over everywhere and possibly fall over at the first sign of a strong attack. I would have to pick and choose when to use the move properly, and I was sure it was the kind of thing Byron or any trainer worth their salt would instantly hone in on and punish. Really, I wasn't even sure if I'd use it against him yet.

"You do this every day?" Edith muttered. We were sitting in the grass and watching all of my Pokemon's training play out.

"Almost every day. They have breaks sometimes when we just goof off," I explained.

"Like that picture with the flower crowns!" they exclaimed. "I wondered when you were going to post stuff again. I was so happy when you said you were gonna be more active online and you did that stream in Sunyshore."

"You can thank Denzel for that," I smiled. "He basically dragged me by the arm to do it. It was fun, though."

Edith shifted in the grass. "You're a lot."

"Hm? What does that mean?"

"I mean, this is just… normal for you. My mind's getting blown," they muttered. "You're so much better than the fights against Wake or Barry that it's not even funny."

"Want to hear a story?" I asked. "Well, more like a lesson, really."

"I'll always say yes to that."

"You never stopped being in awe of what Pokemon can do, even at my level," I said. "Conference regulars— even those that don't make it out of the group stages— they would destroy me, as I'm sure you know. I think I'd definitely be able to take down a few of their Pokemon, though," I said, thinking of the fight with Zachary. "Maybe get relatively close, in the best case scenario and if I was given time to research, but they would always win. People like Aubri Schneider? They'd look at this," I gestured toward my team, "and laugh at the simplicity of it all, or maybe feel nostalgic for their earlier days. Craig Goodwill or the Elite Four? They would roll over me without even a contest, and that's not even the pinnacle, Edith." I stopped and watched Edith hang onto my every word, like I had to Craig's near Lake Acuity when he had first told me about his goal, and I had taken it for myself.

The Conference would be an entire different beast. I was always used to being the one who did research, and completely unfamiliar with being researched myself. They would all look me up. All of them would know what to expect. This wouldn't be like Solaceon, where I would be able to roll the competition. Even in the group stages, each fight would force me to claw my way up. Fight tooth and nail for each victory. I would do all in my power, prepare in every way I could, and some of those fights would still be impossible to win. Every trainer there would be terrifyingly competent. Everyone who would make it there would not have made it through flukes. The eighth Gym Badge was when the rubber met the road. No matter their temperament, their quirks, what they thought about me, what their relationship was with their Pokemon, they would be the best of the best. As competent as me in their own ways, or better. There would be no crushing victories for me, no matter what I brought to the table, I thought, glancing at Sweetheart.

And Legendaries, I could not fucking wait.

First, I would have to figure out how to blow past the wall that was Byron. Either win through overwhelming power or tricks, Craig had said.

"Grace?"

"Hmhm," I grunted. "I was just thinking about the Conference, sorry."

"What about Cynthia? June talks about her a lot," Edith asked. "I mean, I know she'd win, but… would you be able to land a hit?"

"Oh, she wouldn't even let me see what happened, I'd bet," I smiled. "There's punching up, and then there's punching at her. It would be over in less than a minute, and the worst part is she wouldn't even have to do anything complicated to beat me. Like, she'd just loose her Garchomp on us, and that'd be that. Do you get it, though? The world is so vast, Edith," I exclaimed with a toothy grin. "This is just Sinnoh. Who knows what the other regions are like? How their trainers, Gym Leaders, or Elite Four fight beyond the few videos we get access to?"

It was difficult, getting through regional internet blocks, or at least if you weren't tech-savvy like Mira was. The only reason I'd managed to dig up a video of Steven Stone's old battles was because someone here had reuploaded them here in terrible quality years ago.

"Anyway, that's all to say that this? My team? This is just a portion of what's possible. The possibilities are endless."

Fire burned within me, rekindling what had dimmed after the raid. The warmth spread through my chest, and the world seemed a little brighter. Every breath felt fresher than the last. This was passion. Not lost— never that— but reignited anew.

"You're… really cool."

I snorted. "I'm not. My friends are way cooler than I am. Anyway, that Litwick of yours. How'd you catch it?"

"I can show him to you, if you want," they excitedly said. "He's my dad's, but he was never a battler until he handed him to me for the journey."

Ah, that made a lot more sense. Still, I wondered how their father got their hands on a true ghost, but stranger things had happened. Edith released the ghost, and coldness spread around the small, flickering flame. His bright yellow eyes curiously glanced at me, after which he waved with his stubby little arms and let out a small, ghostly hum that made my skin tingle.

"Hey, little guy," I said. "He smells really good, too. My therapist would probably kill for one of these."

"Don't worry about his flame potentially sucking life energy and stuff, he learned to stamp that down a long time ago."

"Oh, they can do that?" I tilted my head, imagining all the ways I could utilize that technique. Edith could too. It'd be good for them to at least develop ways to use it in case they were ever attacked by something looking to kill. "That's pretty cool."

"You're not scared? Even my friends are creeped out by him."

I watched Litwick bob up and down as his flame danced in the wind, his wax-like skin dripping down all over his head. "This guy? No, he's a real cutie," I said.

"I knew you'd get it!"

—

Aliyah ended up coming while we'd been training and talking, though she disappeared soon after as usual and left us to our own devices.

Edith did end up asking for my number, which I gave them. That way, they'd be able to brag about knowing me to people online, or at least that's what they told me. They were a lot of fun, when breaking through their shyness, though it took a while for them to get out of that fan headspace. I liked instilling wisdom as much as the next experienced trainer, but I wanted to make friends too, or at least acquaintances. I brought Edith back to the outpost after we finished training a few hours later, though they'd asked me to watch their team train to give them advice before we went. They were less of a planner than I was, but our instincts while battling were similar, with how ruthless they enjoyed being. I did have to tell them to chill out with that aspect when training, though. All it did was have them waste potions, which was hard to remember, were actually a limited resource for most trainers. That hadn't been the case for me since I'd befriended Cece and the others, so I'd gotten a really huge shortcut in that regard.

They also asked if they could come with me when I left… which wasn't something I'd expected. It made a little sense when thinking about it. Their friend Daniel would be out of commission for weeks, which basically meant that the Circuit was over for him. As blunt as it was to say this, I doubted that any of them would manage to beat Gardenia on their first tries, and since this was the end of the Circuit, Gym Leaders prioritized people with a higher amount of badges, like six and seven, so they weren't going to get many attempts. I'd be happy to be proven wrong, but this was the assumption all of them were going with too.

They were a tightly knitted group, and most didn't want to leave their friend festering in a hospital while they progressed without him. Edith, however, had been desperate to spend more time with me, since I was leaving soon and had taken the plunge. Since they weren't going to try the badges any longer, they figured they'd try to travel with me. I was sure, after all, that if Denzel had the opportunity to, he would have loved to travel with Craig.

I had refused.

The places I was going next— the Lost Tower, visiting Bellatrix, and finally, the ruined city would be too dangerous for a trainer like Edith, and just like Denzel, my ACE Trainers wouldn't protect them. I had considered dropping them off in cities while I went where I needed to, but I had no idea how many days I'd spend for each of my visits, and that'd mean Edith would just be alone in a city most of the time. If that was the case, they were better off with their friends. Really, I liked them, but I also didn't want to lose my alone time either. I did promise I would buy them and all of their friends a ticket to the Conference so they'd be able to come and watch, though, so at least I had that going for me. They were pretty pricey, and their parents hadn't planned on chiming in. Anyway, I'd spent some time with the rest of Edith's friends and played the part of a responsible trainer, who totally wasn't someone who was constantly fumbling in the dark in search of herself. As they all grouped up around me, looking in my direction like I was the best person in the world, I realized something when I stared at Edith, and they averted their eyes with a blush.

They liked me.

The feeling had been developing since they'd actually met me, and I'd become less of an unreachable celebrity crush and a tangible human they had spoken to. Since I had been essentially putting my empathy on mute, I hadn't figured it out until now. It was the hue of a deepening and passionate crimson. Not deep yet— only deepening and growing with every moment, layer by layer. The texture hardened, grew more solid, and that gave the emotion weight. I could have ignored it. I should have. But I had grown curious when I had noticed it, and so I delved deeper. Mesprit had told me that people liking me would be something I loved, as had the previous Shard of Emotion. And this was not love yet, far from it. Still, it was so intoxicating I had to actively stop myself from falling deeper. The worst of it was that even though I did not like them back, or even entertain that notion, that messed up part of me that would never leave wished I could stay longer and keep enjoying this. It was easy to imagine why my predecessor had made a cult, after all. Hundreds— thousands of people, loving him more than anything else in the entire world? How must that have felt? He must have grown addicted to the feeling, perpetually growing his group and molding them to his liking to chase even higher bliss until he died of old age.

I cut the meeting short and left soon after. I couldn't do this. I couldn't.

I wandered around the skies on Princess in silence as I cleared my head, ignoring the subtle giggles at the back of my head and perpetually convincing myself that I hadn't done anything wrong. I hadn't messed with Edith's emotions, or anything. Just spoken to Edith and looked for a few minutes because my curiosity got the best of me, but when I realized what was happening, I stepped out and understood it was… well, it would have been wrong to keep them around, because I'd just be leading them on to use them to make myself feel good. My heart was Cecilia's, and I missed her now more than ever.

"Let's head back down, shall we? Thanks for letting me think."

Togekiss chirped, saying that she was always willing to spend time with me when I needed it and that she'd been working on her Lurantis and Oddish statues anyway. I was starting to like flying to clear my head. The cool and crisp air made it easier to think, and there was no one here but us and the sound of the wind. I forwent protocol, not going through the Ranger building and instead landing directly where Turtonator and his friends had been talking.

"You four are in the exact same position I left you in," I said with a tired smirk as I dismounted Princess.

Mudsdale, Turtonator and Lurantis turned toward me, though the grass type retorted by saying Oddish was in her arms instead of on the ground this time.

"I came to hang out. Lurantis, Mudsdale tells me that you were the planner for your team before Gym Battles? I'd like some input from you if possible, since you've fought Byron before and Sunshine doesn't have any useful input beyond the simplest play-by-play."

Sunshine snorted, saying that her plans didn't pan out half the time and that Drampa and Oranguru were the ones who had truly pulled the strings, causing Lurantis to blow some kind of powder in his nose that launched him into a sneezing fit. Their fight wouldn't have been at the level we were currently at, but it was a start. I sat down next to the three and listened.

—

"Are you sure about this?" I muttered. "Can't we— come to an agreement somehow?"

The sun was setting, now, and Mudsdale had announced that he'd chosen to stay here with Lurantis. The ground type lowered his head, brushing its side against my face as the others looked on with saddened faces. We'd only known each other for a few weeks, and yet it felt like a part of me was about to leave. I'd expected him to come to a decision tomorrow before I was set to leave, not right now. His decision had not only been due to Lurantis wanting to stay here, but also because he knew the dangers that would lurk in my future. Not only about the looming threat of Team Galactic, but the fact that I'd be going head-first into danger out of my own volition too. Mudsdale was a fighter no longer. I'd have to ask the Rangers if he could stick around and become a training instructor for the other Pokemon who worked here, though his service wouldn't be as useful here as in the swamp down south, but ground types always had their uses.

And in the end, despite the fact that I'd always told him I would never force him to fight, he was still entitled to wish for a peaceful life. What he wanted and what awaited me was simply incompatible, or at least that's the way he'd said it. I wanted to try negotiating, saying that I'd never release him during fights, but I knew it wouldn't work, and I had promised Lurantis that I'd let Mudsdale come to his own decision. So I forced myself to hold back in the tears, and I smiled.

"I'm happy for you. Really," I said. "And hey, we still have one more day, right? So let's make the best of it."

I left to sleep extremely late that night, and Sunshine accompanied me back to the Pokemon Center while I rode on Angel's head. I stole glances at him, and though it was difficult to see in the dark, I could sense that there was melancholic air about him. He was not sad, however, or at least not as much as I was.

"How're you feeling?" I asked.

The dragon grunted and said he felt like he should be asking me that.

"Goodbyes are always tough," I muttered. "I really thought… I don't know, that I'd figure something out. I guess life doesn't always work out that way."

There was a way about Mudsdale which I thought had helped smooth the transition between my current self and who I'd been in Pastoria. The peaceful way he carried himself, maybe, always attempting to diffuse situations rather than escalate like I'd grown so used to.

Turtonator looked at the starry sky and sighed. He was sad— how could he not be? But he was happier to see that Kamaile's surviving teammates had finally stepped over the hill and were starting to move on. Their old trainer would always be in their memories. The kindness he had shown each of them, the laid-back way he'd gone about things and his sheer enjoyment when he explored the world. Yet, they were capable of walking their own road, now.

"You're… right," I said. "You've all grown in your own ways. I think Kamaile would be happy."

Turtonator nodded in agreement, and Angel caressed us both with his vines.

The next day passed in a flash. I didn't avoid Edith, because it wouldn't be fair to them, but despite wanting to sit them down and tell them that… this entire thing wasn't happening, I just ignored it instead and acted like I hadn't figured out they had a crush on me. I figured that since I was leaving, they'd stop liking me, and we'd stay acquaintances at best, since we weren't going to see each other until… well, the Conference, if everything went well.

I mounted Princess, and the world below us became a blur as we sped toward Eterna City.

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, BeautifulBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, nothingtoseehere, SecondBlahm, Daruda, Mystic Corn, menirx, Paul S, coolblue, Ole W, Daniel J, Eric, Anarchistofyams, Cosimo, Nick S, Matthew M, Pharros, Uno

 

[Soussouni1]

INTERLUDE - TRUTHSEEKER

Three days earlier.

Emilia had made it to the top sixteen in Pokemon Contests numerous times, but tonight? Tonight was different. She stepped through the darkened hallway with steady breaths, making sure that her nervousness couldn't be noticed by the judges or the spectators. A bright spotlight shone down on her as soon as she made it into the performing area, and thousands of cheers filled her ears. Despite doubt creeping up within her, Emilia smiled and waved, making sure that the light caught the way her blue dress sparkled.

"Ladies and gentlemen, for the first contestant of the second match of the top sixteen, we have Emilia Lussier!" the commentator announced through the cheers. "A rising star, this one, making it here a total of eight times despite this being her first year as a coordinator! Are you excited to see what she has planned for us today?"

They were, of course, but Emilia had been here enough to know that there was tension in the crowd, like they were waiting for someone else. Someone who wasn't her. Rising star with a growing fanbase, she might have been, but she was no match for her opponent. Most people probably thought of this match as a foregone conclusion. Emilia stared at the opposite hallway, her eyes drifting across the circular arena, its floor clad with reinforced steel painted with a homely beige. Temperance Rousselot had come in a crimson dress today, her hair now dyed with different shades of red that somehow made her look even better. She did not smile, keeping her usual neutral expression on her face. The music— some classical dramatic song that Emilia couldn't name— swelled to a crescendo as she made it onto her own platform. Unfair, Emilia thought. They synced Temperance with the music, but not her?

"And on the other side, we have Temperance Rousselot!" she announced. "She's been in more contests than we can count, but she's never breached into the quarter-finals at the Grand Festival! She's been on absolute fire this year, however, beating rival after rival! She's got a seemingly never-ending bag of performances, so I'm sure tonight will show us something new and exciting!"

This was a foregone conclusion, Emilia thought. But that did not mean she would not give it her damnedest. They expected her to go down lying down, didn't they? She had no ribbons to her name, after all, while Temperance already had enough to be qualified at the Grand Festival, which would be held in Jubilife this summer. Emilia's smile grew sharp. Her back was against the wall. She was a cornered Pokemon with no hopes of making it through the next ten minutes.

But she would not go gently into the night.

"Coordinators, send out your Pokemon!"

Temperance sent out her Dragonair, which was usually always paired with her Meowstic. Tonight, however? It was her Whimsicott that came out of her ball. Both floated in the air as if gravity was a suggestion rather than a law.

"What is this? A fairy and a dragon? Let's see what Temperance is planning for us tonight!"

Even the judges looked to be at the edge of their seats, and to be honest, Emilia was too. What new wonders would Temperance showcase today? It was a question forever on everyone's minds every time she stepped into the ring, and it could be terrible for your focus during a performance if you let it get to your head. Emilia released Metang and her newly-evolved Braixen onto the cold metal. Temperance's Pokemon were no doubt beyond hers in power, but this was a performance. The goal was not to pummel your opponents like in battles, it was to showcase the beauty of Pokemon moves by using two of your teammates. Braixen grabbed her wooden twig from her tail. The small staff was her implement, and through it, she could weave fire into whatever she wanted. Metang's cold voice rang into Emilia's head.

The performance has been studied more times than we can count. We are ready to execute, they said.

The commentator spoke up, but Temperance held out a hand and closed it in her general direction.

The older woman shut up immediately, as was customary during her performances. The commentator announced for the performance to begin, and Emilia sprung to action, outstretching her arm to look as beautiful and as smoothly as possible, as she had practiced a thousand times.

"Sparkling Cannon and Will-O-Wisp!" she yelled out.

As Braixen twirled her staff, summoning a set of purple flames that appeared in the midst of the birth of a hundred stars. Metang concentrated light at a hundred different points, condensing them until they exploded all at once, down to the millisecond. That part was important for what came next. The Will-O-Wisps absorbed the blinding lights all at once, all shifting with countless colors, but instead of displeased unpleasant screams, Braixen commanded the ghost to sing. A single hum, rising and rising until it she chopped her staff down and sent the hundred multi-colored flames barrelling toward Whimsicott and Dragonair. The dragon's eyes shone, and thick barriers appeared around both her and her teammate. No damage had been taken, yet the large screen high above them showed that Temperance had lost points anyway, though only a sliver.

The crimson-haired girl snapped her fingers. "High Garden."

Whimsicott spun, and the world blurred, leaving way for a field of red flowers, dripping with some kind of red substance that looked like, but wasn't blood. As always, Temperance was on theme with herself. She centered her performances around what she looked like that day, and it was working.

Metang spoke into her mind. Preparing interference—

Dragonair was quicker. The snake-like dragon summoned a ball of light into the sky, speeding up the flowers' growth, and all of them turned to face Metang as if he was the sun itself.

"Braixen, Fireball!" Emilia yelled.

The fire type spun her staff, but the flowers spat out gallons of their liquid, forming a ball of… what the hell even was that? The red sphere shimmered, drawing the fireball and smothering it before it could reach and burn the flowers. Not that they were needed any longer. The red flowers withered in pink dust that coated the bottom of the arena while Temperance spoke and the Sunny Day plunged down into the red sphere. So much was happening it was overwhelming. Emilia's points were steadily going down.

Breathe. "Metang, use Psychic. Disrupt the liquid. Braixen, you help with Confusion."

Not the best plan, but Emilia couldn't let what was happening come to fruition. The red liquid started rippling across its surface until Dragonair flew forth and summoned a set of flaming rings around itself and sent them down instead of toward her Pokemon. At Whimsicott's command, the pink dust coating the floor surged upward, joining the flames and extinguishing them—

They instantly reappeared around Metang, as if they'd been Teleported. Braixen lifted her wooden twig up, taking command of the flames from Dragonair and cleansing Metang, but that was the opening Temperance had needed. The Sunny Day plunged into the red orb, and for a second, the world went white. There was no vapor generated from the heat. Instead, the red liquid condensed down into the sun and turned it crimson.

A crimson sun, basking the entire stadium in its light.

The world held its breath, and the entire arena was Temperance's.

"Crimson Laser," the coordinator said.

From the sun, beams of red light surged so quickly Metang barely had enough time to redirect the first. The second him the steel type in the arm, and the third went for Braixen. What even was this? It wasn't water— but why did Whimsicott have control over it? Some kind of glamour nonsense? Think! She couldn't stay on the defensive forever, but she couldn't counter the crimson sun. This was a coup de grace. The pinnacle of a coordinator's performance— what they had come here to create. That meant Temperance was out of tricks of this magnitude, at the very least. At its core, this was still a Sunny Day. Fire TE mixed with something else.

Emilia stared at the back of Braixen's head, her tired breaths growing shorter and shorter. She had around thirty percent of her points left, while Temperance still had ninety.

"Braixen. Let's steal the sun," Emilia declared.

The fire type grinned, clenching her fingers around her small staff and began to chant. Braixen was not just a fire type. She was something akin to a mage, who could use her staff to control flames far beyond what she should have been able to. Temperance ordered Dragonair to defend the orb, and the dragon gathered electricity around its horn. The beam of Thunder was suspended in the air for effect, going completely still as if it were frozen in time. Temperance brought her arm down, and it flew toward Braixen.

"Metang, Light Show!"

It began like a Flash Cannon, but diverged and turned into multiple beams before Emilia could blink. They all exploded outward, half of them homing toward the Thunder to intercept, and the rest all aiming toward Dragonair. Whimsicott cried out, and another laser from the sun cut across Metang's silver body. Still, the Thunder was intercepted in a brilliant explosion, and Dragonair used Protect to shield itself from any harm. Emilia felt the hair on her neck rise, but she steeled herself and pointed at the sun, her movements in sync with Braixen.

Crimson flames engulfed the fire type's staff, stretching down to her arm as she felt the huge backlash from trying to take control of fire that wasn't hers. Still, the next laser was barely a pittance, squirting out and splattering against the floor. The next never came. The crimson sun dimmed as Braixen yelled, redirecting it toward Whimsicott. Temperance's eye twitched, but she kept her cool.

"Collapse."

Ah.

Dragonair hummed. The sun disappeared, winking out of existence and only leaving behind the red liquid that had coated it.

It was over.

The dragon did not sit still. It sang, aiming a Dragon Pulse at the ground, which Whimsicott redirected with wind so strong Braixen was kicked back, adding shimmering pink to the turquoise hue. It had taken everything, to steal the sun for a few seconds, and the fire type fainted immediately from a hit to the torso. Before Temperance could move on to Metang, an obnoxious buzz rang out, signaling that Emilia's points had dropped to zero. Temperance's remained at around seventy-five percent.

Cheers rang out all around her, cheering for Temperance, but there were more subdued than what her old idol had grown used to. Emilia had given her a scare, at the very least, and that?

That was a sign of what was to come.

This was close to the best-case scenario we calculated, Metang said. Granted, you never want our input for these things. We will admit that stealing the sun was not among those calculations, however. Ingenious. Braixen has made wonderful progress.

She would have answered, but knew that there was no way the psychic would be able to hear through the cheers. Emilia stayed for the commentary from the judges, as was customary, but most praised Temperance's ingenuity and not her. That was honestly what she'd expected, really. Emi was proud of her performance, even though she wished she'd been more aggressive instead of letting herself fall into her opponent's pace. She walked back through the hall and after talking to numerous fans and the press, she joined Vincent outside of the waiting room. It had been a while, since she'd seen the first coordinator who'd given her the time of day in person, but they'd stayed in contact the entire time. He was, after all, her video editor and friend.

"Emilia, what in the world was that?"

"What?" the girl asked as they walked through the Contest Hall. I really need to hire a manager already, she thought. Denzel already has one.

"The sun thing with your Braixen!" the short teen insisted. "You almost pulled the rug from under Temperance! I bet she's pissed."

"She didn't look that way."

"She's always stoic. I bet you she's the kind of gal to let all of her frustrations out in private, though. You basically ruined her showcasing a new technique."

"I didn't ruin it, I just appropriated it for a short time," Emi smirked. "Either way, it was a lost cause. We don't have the versatility needed with our techniques to counter hers yet. She was setting up for so long, and I couldn't do anything to stop her."

The air outside was cooler than usual, and Emilia shivered slightly.

"You're growing quickly. I think you're a shoo-in for the Grand Festival next year if you keep up the pace, honestly. You're going to start winning actual ribbons soon," Vincent said. "Kind of makes me feel like shit, but hey."

Emilia snorted. "You made it to the top sixteen in your last contest."

"Yeah, but that was my first time. I'm lagging behind," he said. "Remind me to stop editing your videos, so I get more free time to practice."

"Come on, you get half of the revenue."

"It's funnier if I pretend to be overworked, underpaid labor."

"You and I have very different definitions of funny," Emi snorted.

"Still laughed, though. Beautifly's been working on this insane technique with Morning Sun— I'm trying to give the entire thing a gravitational field, kind of like your friend Grace's Moonblast, but it's hard when you're not a fuckin' fairy type."

"You'll manage," she simply said.

The two spoke together of new ideas and combinations until Emilia's driver arrived.

Now that her performance was done, it was time to meet her parents after dropping off Braixen and Metang to the Center.

—

Emilia leaned against the car window, her previously tied-up hair now loose and her eyes tired once more. Keeping up appearances during contests was one of the most difficult parts of the sport, when she didn't feel like smiling. Her mouth still hurt from being stretched for so long, but Emilia had grown used to it by now, though keeping up a smile and not flinching when everything in your performance was going to hell had been among the most difficult things to adjust to after having been a trainer. She honestly couldn't believe she'd been one, these days. Her fight against Roark had been simple enough with Metang, but Gardenia had been another world entirely, as was often the case for the second badge. The fact that her parents had believed she could just snap her fingers and get herself to the Conference without the passion or drive to do so had been… stupid, to say the least. Though maybe they believed she would get into it, if given enough time and experience.

It wouldn't have been the first time it would have happened. They had forced many things upon her growing up, most of which she still somewhat enjoyed to this day, and she'd gotten good at rapidly. Dance, tennis, accounting… those had been the big three, but there were many more.

Emilia watched Hearthome's pretty lights as they reached the north-western part of the city, where the modern buildings grew less numerous by the minute and were replaced by ancient ones built earlier in the city's history. She absent-mindedly grabbed her phone, browsing the comments for her latest video— two weeks ago. Her normal schedule was one video per week, and people were starting to wonder when the new one was, or if she'd taken a break.

I don't even know, Emilia thought. Did she need a break? The ideas weren't flowing as freely as they once did, and she didn't have Denzel to bounce ideas with. Metang were terrible at imagining something people would like and were entirely too clinical about it, too. The coordinator groaned as her driver slowly parked the car in her massive driveway. She needed something to break through the top sixteen. Every time she made it past the first stage, she was put against people more skilled than she was. Being put against Temperance of all people was like pouring salt in the wound.

Denzel… It wasn't like they were speaking much these days, despite how much he wanted to. Something was eating at Emilia's core, and it was the same thing she'd felt while the entire group was in Veilstone. The explanation the League and he had afforded her after the events at the Pokemon Mansion made sense, but she knew Denzel by now. Despite his tall appearance, deep down, he was a softie who liked pretty things, and most of all, he was a terrible fucking liar. So, despite the fact that he was sitting in a hospital bed with Pauline by his side, Emilia was giving him the cold shoulder.

Gothitelle had warned Pauline, that she saw danger in her future because of Grace, Cecilia, Chase and Mira. Now, Denzel knew something, or his entire demeanor wouldn't have changed. Hell, it probably had to do with the fact that he was in the raid, too. Something was happening beyond what Emilia could see, and the fact that Denzel was trying to behave as if that wasn't the case pissed her off. She'd thought Pauline would have been the same, but she'd been too shaken by his injury, and so kept putting the confrontation off and delayed as she usually did. Emilia knew that the questions were eating at Pauline as much as they ate at her, yet she didn't want to cause another fight. Not after everything Pastoria had put Denzel, Cecilia and the others through.

Sometimes, however, you had to put your foot down, and so Emilia had sent a text yesterday. Either you tell me what's going on, or this keeps going.

She still hadn't received a straight answer, and Arceus forgive her, but she would be willing to bring a torch to this entire… dating experiment if Denzel kept not taking her seriously. She was not someone to be coddled— she had had enough coddling for a lifetime. Emilia knew she was not as powerful of a trainer as her friends were (although coordinating had been surprisingly effective at giving her a second wind in that regard), but she was not a child to be kept in the dark for her own good, as he had said.

"Thank you, Paul," Emilia said as he opened the door for her. The tall, balding man just bowed, as if she was some kind of royalty. That behavior sickened her, these days. "No need for all the theatrics. I'm just a girl."

"It would not be proper," he simply answered.

Unwilling to get into a debate about it, she just sighed and decided to move on.

This was one of her parents' numerous properties in Hearthome, although one of the more 'humble' ones, given the fact that it was still near the city's core. That meant that it was on the smaller side of things, and one of Hearthome's older structures. Emilia ran a hand over its weathered limestone façade, which rose above the cobblestone street of this… gated neighborhood. She lifted her head and looked at the wrought-iron balconies, which were adorned with floral motifs and overlooked Hearthome from above. This place is the same as when I left it. Arched windows, framed with intricately carved stones and covered by wooden shutters painted blue. Emilia had been staying at a hotel, but now that her parents had been discharged from the hospital, they'd invited her here for dinner after her performance. They'd been too weak to go to the performance itself, but supposedly, they told her they'd watch it on television.

Paul followed her, unlocking the heavy wooden doors, and Emilia stepped through the tight entry hallway. Past this, however, the inside of the building was a lot larger than the outside gave it credit for. Emilia's heels clacked on the delicate, mosaic floor of the foyer, where two maids bowed as they greeted her.

"Welcome home, Emilia," they said in unison, outstretching their hands to the right. "Ms. and Mr. Lussier are ready for you in the dining room."

"Okay. Thank you."

Emilia strode through their home, reminiscing on the old times Pauline and her used to stay here and they'd hide away from everything. Sometimes, when Emi hadn't been able to take her parents anymore, Pauline would have them sneak out after using her phone to call one of her drivers here, and she'd bring her to Josephine for the night. Pauline's mother had her… quirks, and expected a lot of her daughter— too much— especially when protecting their business, but she'd always been good to her as a rule, or at least a lot better than Emilia's own family. Her parents beamed when they saw her step through the arched entryway to the dining room. Harry and Alice Lussier. Emilia shared her mother's chestnut hair, though she had her father's thin nose and softer face. It was easy to see that they were still slightly short of breath, with their chest rising and lowering at quick intervals. They'd been in a room full of smoke due to a Flareon's rampage, but she hadn't known what had happened beyond the fact that the ACEs and Chase came and saved them.

"Emilia, my dear!" her mother smiled. "Come and sit!"

Luckily, this was one of their appropriately sized tables, so Emilia sat down facing both her parents. Drinks had already been served, though she only had water, and attendants came with an entrée— a salad of some kind.

"So. How was your first day out of the hospital?" Emilia asked.

"It feels good to be out of that place," Harry said before sipping on some red wine. "They say it'll take some time for our lungs to get back to full strength, but we'll make a full recovery soon enough."

Emi smiled, feeling genuine relief. "Great."

She hadn't known her parents would be at that party, because she'd cut contact with them in Sunyshore when they had called and given her another snide remark about Pauline when she had announced their… split. The words themselves hadn't been more annoying or ignorant than usual. It had just been accumulating for a while. This feeling that no matter what she did, she would never be enough for them if she didn't fit in a neat little box they could shove her in.

"To think that Edward would be involved in such a scheme…" Alice murmured, paling. "It's always the ones you least suspect."

Her Dad nodded, slightly breathless. "I'd heard rumors that he enjoyed seeing rare Pokemon. He let it go to his head." Harry stopped and glanced toward Emilia. "Straighten your back, will you?" her father chided. "And hold your fork properly."

Here we go again. And fuck, she did straighten her back even more than what she thought was possible, as if it was almost an instinctual response. She'd already been sitting straight, anyway! Arceus, what she would do to have Metang with her right now.

"Good," he said. "How are you finding the food?"

I don't like salad that much, especially when vinegar makes it taste awful, and you know that. "It tastes good," she lied. Don't start a confrontation. "How did you know Backlot? Did you sell him some property somewhere or something?"

"We did, back when you were five or six. We sold him a wonderful patch of land up north in the Frontier. One of the few bits of land which aren't owned by the government," Harry explained. "The League has already announced they're requisitioning the land, and there's nothing we can do about it. A shame."

Her mother spoke up. "He built a resort up there. It brought him some income, especially during the winter months. People always like to retreat to the Battle Frontier's southern coast when it gets too cold on the mainland. Really, we underestimated the land's value…"

They started speaking to each other about land value and other nonsense which Emilia welcomed with open arms as she forced herself to finish her entrée. Soon enough, the main course came, and finally it was something Emilia actually liked. She dug into the high-quality steak that melted in her mouth, though she did not miss her mother's sneer, and instinctively slowed herself down. Times away from them and with her friends had made Emilia grow used to eating to enjoy herself instead of eating to look proper.

"Your performance was great. Facing down Temperance herself? Our friends were very impressed," she said. "Losing was a shame, but it's true that you're much more at home in the coordinator world than the trainer world."

As if you care. Her mother just wanted to brag to her friends, as usual. "I am," she dryly answered. "I like it much better, and I don't have to risk my life going through deadly places. You know, like Eterna Forest."

Alice continued. "Plenty of trainers make it through all of Sinnoh without a hitch. It's those people you're with, who forced you into danger."

Ah, yes, those people. Specifically, Grace, Cecilia and Pauline, the only friends Emilia's parents had a problem with. Surely it was all a coincidence, and not the fact that they were all not straight. Emilia just grunted and kept eating. They just almost died. I at least owe them dinner.

"There are plenty of rumors floating around," her Mom said. "Pauline even was arrested by trying to get involved in the raid, wasn't she? It'd be best if you didn't get involved with her any further. What if she'd gotten in and ruined the entire operation? Things like this are delicate. She could have caused more hostages to die—"

The guilt trip is coming. They were going to say that Pauline could have caused them to die. "Aren't you tired?" Emilia asked, dropping her utensils on the table.

Her mother frowned. "Excuse me—"

"Aren't you tired?" she repeated. "Of always singing the same song? Playing the same game?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. Was it something I said?"

"Legendaries, you're the worst," Emilia tiredly sighed. Her father opened his mouth, but she was faster. "When I heard you'd almost died, I wanted to give you another chance. I wanted to mend the bridge between us. I was ready to ignore everything you've done to me and start fresh. But you can't even bring yourself to stop."

Emilia rose from her seat.

"Emi— please, stay," her Dad begged.

It was odd, how she started feeling bad as soon as she saw the regretful tint in his eye. Was it a trick, or did he genuinely feel bad? Did he actually want to change? Or did he want to keep her in a box, forever defined the way he wanted her to be? After everything they'd done to her, it was disheartening to see that they actually did love her, in their terrible, fucked up way.

"I'm asking you to try, and you can't even do that," Emilia said. "You keep pushing me away and wondering why I keep wanting to leave, because your jabs are subtle. You're the reason I was thrown into danger. Not Pauline or anyone else. You made me go on the journey against my will. I'm leaving."

"And we apologized numerous times—"

Harry raised a hand, interrupting Alice.

"Please sit, Emilia. We'll stay away from… sensitive topics from now on."

Emilia's shoulders slumped. "Ah. You don't get it." She turned away. "You think you can just ignore it, and it'll go away." The girl stopped and drew in a long breath. It'd be better than what they were currently doing— constantly digging at her friendships in hopes that something would give— but at the end of the day, their opinions wouldn't actually change. "I'm leaving, and you can't stop me. Not anymore. Maybe at some point, I'll give you another chance, but you won't be seeing me again for a while. Message me if you need anything regarding your health."

Her parents protested, but they did not get up. They did, after all, see the purse she carried her Pokeballs in, and Lycanroc could get in a foul mood.

—

The drive back to the hotel was silent, though Emilia noticed her parents had not recalled Paul as her driver and forced her to call a taxi like she thought they would. They were getting better, at least, but they were not entitled to Emilia's presence, especially if being in the same room as them felt extremely draining. Though she had expected tears, they never came. She just felt numb. Her fingers felt sluggish as they scrolled through her phone, browsing some nonsense on social media to pass the time. At least that worked, given the fact that before she realized it, she was back at her hotel. The same one Amy Saunier— Cecilia's old best friend— had stayed at until her recent flight to Unova. Honestly, she'd stayed for far longer than Emilia expected, given what Sinnoh was currently turning into. She must have been holding out for hope that Cecilia would change her mind and talk to her again, though that never ended up happening. While Emilia hadn't known Cece before they met last summer beyond glancing at each other during get-togethers where Clarence would fly to Sinnoh with her and his wife, Emilia had to admit that Grace had rubbed off on her in many ways, including holding grudges. Amy Saunier would get no second chances.

"They're trying to change, you know," her driver said as soon as he opened the door. "The raid… changed them, but you know how they are. Give them time."

"I've been giving them time," Emilia grumbled and took his hand. "Thank you anyway, Paul."

Maybe in a few years, they'd be willing to accept her for who she was. Tonight wasn't that night, however. Emilia bid her driver farewell and walked toward her hotel's entrance. She was no longer paying with her parents' money but with her own means. Money she'd earned through contests or simply making content. Being independent felt good, at least. No longer would she be beholden to anyone else and feel any kind of obligation towards them.

Emilia did a double-take when she saw Mira sitting on one of the lobby's luxurious couches. The girl had always been pale, but she was white as snow, and had heavy bags under eyes that she struggled to keep open. The temperature seemed to lower slightly as Emilia approached, and she felt a little chill down her spine when she got within hearing distance until it got overwhelming the closer she got. Mira tapped a foot against the floor repeatedly, and the feeling disappeared as fast as it had come. Must be Haunter again, Emilia thought. He's been rowdy lately.

They hadn't spoken that many times despite having been in the same city. Once, when Mira had reached it, they'd gone out for lunch. The second time, Mira had needed a break from something that she wouldn't explain, and she'd come to watch Emilia train her Pokemon. More secrets, Emilia thought with disdain. She'd gotten very busy these past few days, however, so the coordinator hadn't expected to see her again. Since she knew Mira was hiding something, part of her had wanted to give her the cold shoulder as she had to Denzel, but she looked so miserable it was hard to be mean to her. In all of their months having known each other, Emilia had never seen her friend this way.

"Hi," Mira tiredly said. There was no upward inflection in her tone, it was just a statement. Entirely unusual. "I thought I'd wait for you here, since you finished your contest thing. Sorry about your loss. I ended up waiting a lot longer than I thought, though."

"I was at my parents'. You look like hell," Emilia said, sitting next to her. "Did something happen?"

"Oh, you know. The usual."

"I… don't know," Emi frowned. "Are you sure you're alright?"

Mira's eyes fluttered open. "I haven't been able to sleep."

Well, that much was obvious, but it was still a breakthrough. "Nightmares about the raid?" Emilia guessed. "You can talk to me, if you want."

She was being selfish, and she knew it. Of course, she was worried for a friend, but she also wanted answers. Why was it that Gothitelle had warned Pauline? Why were there so many secrets? Her every thought was consumed by this question, and Emilia had grown past waiting for looming confrontations to fester.

"What's got you worried—" Emilia stopped when she realized what this meant. This was a cry for help. "You know what, why don't you head up to my room first? Have you eaten anything today?"

"Oh, I've eaten plenty. I can do everything, still, I just can't keep my eyes closed," the pink-haired girl shuddered. "Thanks, though."

Emilia lifted up her friend and guided her to her hotel room, where she promptly collapsed on the bed and started making 'snow angels'. Emilia grabbed some water from the fridge and some remaining crackers she had, just in case, and placed them on the bedside table if Mira ever wanted them. She sat on the foot of the bed and they lingered in silence for a minute or so until Mira suddenly rose.

"What do you want me to do?" Emilia asked.

"Hang out, mostly. Make me feel right again," Mira said. "My Pokemon are worried sick, and therapy's working, but not for the nightmares. It's like I can't escape…"

"Escape what?"

The girl closed her eyes, and she flinched. "You know… I guess it's time to put my money where my mouth is."

Emilia frowned as her fingers tingled. "Huh?"

"Can I tell you something? Like, something you need to take to your grave."

"Yes…? I mean, it entirely depends on what that is, doesn't it—"

"Denzel couldn't tell you about this because you left early, but Backlot? He didn't die due to a misfire in the raid," Mira said. Her eyes drifted to Emilia's, which she instantly averted due to something akin to shame and disgust— at her own self? "I caused him to die— no, I killed him after he surrendered."

Emilia froze, and suddenly, the girl who she'd thought she had known had become someone else entirely. What she thought had been a soft exterior left place for jagged edges. After he surrendered. The words bounced around her head like Mira was saying them over and over. Her bed felt as hard as concrete under her. Answers, Emilia. You need answers. Ignore that little voice at the back of your head telling you to run.

"I… thought you'd only killed that one guard outside," she stumbled over her words.

"That was self-defense. What I did was— I— I tortured him to death, Emilia. For hours, I sicced my Haunter on him while I watched. What he did was…" Mira paled, and for a second, Emilia thought she'd retch. "I'd rather not talk about it, but it made Backlot kill himself."

Torture.

Emilia felt as if she'd been slapped by the new information. Who was this? Who had she just been talking to this… this entire time?

"I need to go to the bathroom."

She'd already been running off by the time the words were gone. Emilia had wanted to yell out don't leave, but she was too astonished to speak. She slammed the door closed and gripped at the ceramic sink until her knuckles turned white as she stared at herself in the mirror. Torture. Hours, spent meticulously driving someone to suicide. Who was that, in my room? Monster, the answer instantly came. The fact that she seemingly regretted it didn't erase the fact that she'd gone through with it. Edward Backlot had been a monster, yes, but to torture him until he gave up on life? Countless scenarios ran through her head as she imagined the ways Haunter could have done it. Haunter, whom she'd seen numerous times and thought nothing of, beyond it being incessantly annoying.

She looked at herself in the mirror, face twisted in disbelief, fear and confusion. Her heart drummed against her chest, her ears pounding so loudly with each heartbeat that she could barely hear herself think. A minute passed. Then two. Then, she finally let go of the sink and drew in a shaky breath. Who was that in my room? she repeated to herself. Mira Compton. She'd done something terrible, but regretted it to this much of an extent. Backlot had caused the death of thousands of Pokemon throughout this decade. She wouldn't mourn him, but there was something about Mira being capable of torture that left a horrid taste in Emilia's mouth.

She stared at herself one last time and steeled her face. She wasn't a little girl any longer. Emilia wanted answers, but now she knew that the caliber of the information she was after would shake her to her core. More than one person killed, she had expected. Only an idiot would think that the only people who'd fallen to her friends had been in the garden. But this…

Emilia flushed the toilet to pretend like she'd been using it, and then opened the door with a trembling hand. Mira was still sitting there, though she looked slightly better than she had before, for some reason.

"Mira—"

"I'm sorry to spring that on you. I needed to… tell someone who didn't know. I can't be a hypocrite. I can't keep going after others for not telling the truth if I keep mine hidden because it's convenient."

"The others knew, and didn't tell me anything?" Emilia muttered in disbelief.

"With your parents, Denzel and Pauline thought—"

"Thought what? That I wouldn't be able to handle it?" Emilia hissed.

"Well, you definitely had the worst reaction—"

"Don't start."

Mira's mouth flattened, and her shadow seemed to move. That was Haunter in there, Emilia thought with an audible gulp. It took everything she had not to take a step back.

"I won't ask you any details. I'd rather not know," the coordinator dryly spoke. "Is that the… worst of what happened inside?"

"It is. And I can't fucking stop seeing it when I close my eyes, Emi," Mira said through clenched teeth.

"Then… why? I don't— I don't understand."

"I have a Gengar, now," Mira said.

What? Her eyes glanced down at the shadow again, which seemed to thicken under Mira. Had it always been so cold in here? She'd been sitting right next to it. What did it even look like? There were illustrations— always illustrations, but Emilia knew it would pale compared to the real thing. So the torture had something to do with the evolution?

"He won't do anything. He's still the same as he's been, beyond some quirks we've been working through thanks to Fantina's help. But I still would have done it, even without Gengar evolving. Do you know why?" There was madness in her eyes, like a continuous stream of delirium that never ended. "Because Maeve almost died because of the fucking scheme he was running. Because of all of the people who have to live without their Pokemon due to his actions. Because he deserved it. And if I order Gengar to do something this horrid, then I owe it to him to watch and see it through. To remind myself of the shit I've wrought."

"So you think he deserved it… but you can't handle the fact that you've done it?"

The pink-haired girl nodded tightly. "It's not a decision I would have taken lightly, and back then, Emilia? There was no way he was getting off easy. If it hadn't been Gengar…" she trailed off, but stopped. "I don't think it'll ever go away. Maybe recede, if this therapy thing starts working."

"So you came here just to drop this on me? What am I supposed to do with this?"

Now, she knew that her friends thought she was too weak to handle this— and by the Legendaries, they'd nearly been right, but the loss of faith still stung. Emilia had stared down the precipice and taken the plunge.

"Don't answer that," Emilia continued. "I don't know what you expected from me— I am horribly unqualified for all of this, but you… you need to sleep. Can't you have one of your psychics forcefully put you under?"

"That's already how I do it, but I don't want to become reliant," Mira muttered. "Gardevoir's been throwing a fit about putting me back together, but she can't. Not for this. And so, I suffer the consequences of what I've done. Feels strangely appropriate."

"Look, how much longer are you staying here for?" Emilia asked against her better judgment.

"Fantina says I'll be ready to leave at the end of the week. Then I'll be going up north. Teleporting to Solaceon and walking through Coronet."

To Snowpoint, Emilia already knew. But why? Mira was no longer going after the badges, so what was it that was so important about going north?

"You want answers," Mira guessed. "I can't give them to you."

"So you tell me about some things, but not everything," Emilia said with a dry laugh. "I thought you didn't want to be a hypocrite."

"For this, I'd rather be a hypocrite than not," she said after a bout of silence. "And you would, too, if you knew. Look, I'll just leave. Can I grab these crackers? I lied when I said I'd eaten today."

Emilia couldn't help but feel relief, despite not really wanting to. "Fine. Go. But don't think this is over."

Mira stood up. "You won't be seeing me again while I'm in Hearthome, Emi. You're better off staying away from us until the year's over."

The us didn't fall on deaf ears. She meant the same people Gothitelle had warned her about.

"Mira, I need answers—"

Mira shook her head, and just drifted toward the door with steps so silent they were disturbing to focus on. Part of Emilia wanted to stop her. To yell at her. But when she opened her mouth, only a half-gasp came out instead. Emilia's legs gave way, and she sat on her bed with trembling legs. How deep did this all go? Emilia was terrified to know, but she had learned to push through despite of fear, hadn't she? When she'd plunged into the depths of Mount Coronet to rescue Cecilia in spite of her every instinct howling at her to get out.

Come hell or high water, she would find out what was happening here.

"I need to call Pauline."

—

It took five calls for Pauline to answer, and when she did, it was clear she'd been asleep. The redhead mumbled a few nonsensical words until Emilia raised her voice to call out her name.

"You awake, now?" Emi asked. "This is important."

"I am—"

"Good. First, today I just learned that you omitted something from me. I know you were worried about my issues with my parents, but you could have told me about what happened to Edward Backlot. That's not like you, Pauline. You don't do this cloak and dagger shit."

"You… who told you? Mira?"

"Doesn't matter," Emilia said. "I'm hurt, Pauline. Am I just a liability, now? Someone you have to protect? I thought we both knew I'd grown past that."

"I was going to tell you."

"But you didn't. And I had to learn it from someone else."

"Look, I'm sorry. I just thought I was looking out for you… how did dinner with your parents go, by the way?"

"Awful. They were the same as always, but like, a smidge improved," Emilia said, clenching her forehead. "I thought the raid would have changed them… I mean, I guess they changed a little. Now they want to ignore the fact that I'm pan and hope it goes away instead of trying to gaslight me out of it. It's just… I guess it was too much to hope that their entire worldview would flip on its head because they were hurt."

"Shit— I'm sorry, Emi. I saw about your contest, do you want me to come over here? I can drop off Denzel in Jubilife after his Gym Battle and come see you. He's been wanting to say sorry, but you won't talk to him."

"Drop him off in Canalave as planned," Emilia said. "But then come here immediately. I'll forgive you for keeping me in the dark about Mira torturing Backlot, but we need to start working on something."

"Wait… just Mira?"

Emilia's hand tightened around her phone. "There was someone else?"

"Fuck."

"You can't hide it, Pauline. I will find out."

"I guess Mira wanted to protect Grace from all of this," Pauline sighed. "She was there, Emi. She cut across both of Backlot's thighs and then watched."

"That's… not as bad as I was expecting. I braced myself for worse than this," Emilia said. "Not as bad as the Haunter stuff, anyway. It's still disturbing, but…"

Emilia imagined the scene for herself. Mira and Grace, standing over Backlot as they watched him die for hours. It was more than disturbing. It was deranged. She couldn't imagine standing next to them again as if nothing had happened.

"Do me a favor and don't mention a word of this to Cece. It's not our place," Pauline said.

"...Yeah. Alright. As long as she learns about it."

"What's done is done, Emi. We can't take it back," Pauline muttered. "But Grace is changing for the better, at least I think she is. She isn't communicating much, but she's started posting on social media again. People are saying she's gone into Eterna to save a bunch of kids, and she's doing therapy…"

"I saw all of that, though now it's entirely recontextualized in my head," Emilia said. "Look, the point is, I need you here, Pauline. And I need your Gothitelle."

"I thought we said we wouldn't stop being friends with the others because of her warning."

"That ship has sailed, Pauline," Emilia said. "Mira left my hotel room not even five minutes ago, but it's not even about her. We all know that they've been hiding something from us. Something that made Gothitelle want you to cut contact. Even Mira said that we'd better stay away from them until the year's over. That 'for your own good' shit Denzel peddled pissed you off more than it did me!"

"I know. I know, it's just… I'm trying to hold everyone together here, Emi."

"Truth is what I'm after."

"...Legendaries, I can't believe I'm doing this. It can work if I tell her to look again, but it'll take some time. Gothitelle can only delve into my and her future, and it's blurry and unreliable. We can't even be sure what we'll see will make any sense. And when she tells us about it, the future changes, so not much will matter."

"Still, we'll know. And it's a start, isn't it?"

Pauline sighed. "Fine."

"Do me a favor and get the others in on this. If we figure something out, we share everything."

---

Thank you to my Patreons - Spandaz, Alex Walters, androide, ObsidianOlive, A Ferret, MKK, Oblige, Joe, Emilowish, Sean, Tim Schmidt, Dim, Violett T, yesnomaybeso, Sean M, Ryan T, Kail H, Bridie, dragonslaver, Jon, RosaC, TsukiNoNeko, NPM, Jim A, Spicyice101, Ryan T, Vesperal, Iota, Addmolition exe, Frogsamurai, Alex F, Kiri, Rhuodric, Nord, Filthymacgyver, Grey J, creativityfails, Spartanstoryteller, Peter D, Bum, Zaire M, Tina M, Nova, Plasmatique, Lodris, Chester, Powernap, Kolby, ShipGoSync, Kcx1, ArgentumTriKeras, AnotherUser, BeautifulBusinessBoi, Papito12495, KeMon C, Geo, Pedro B, Rat, LR Brantley, ZZStrider, Sharkerxjak, Quakdoktor, nothingtoseehere, SecondBlahm, Daruda, Mystic Corn, menirx, Paul S, coolblue, Ole W, Daniel J, Eric, Anarchistofyams, Cosimo, Nick S, Matthew M, Pharros, Uno

 

[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 276

I watched a trainer's strategy collapse in real-time.

Gardenia had set it up slowly. Seeing as this was an 8th badge battle, she wasn't pulling many punches. First, she drew her opponent in, letting his Macargo burn the Grassy Terrain she'd set up and take down her Ludicolo without much of a fight, even though his Rain Dance was still active. At this level, Grassy Terrain grew trees and shrubs as well, though not as many as that girl I'd seen on TV in Sunyshore, and Gardenia did not use the trees to fight either. Instead, everything went up in smoke and ash. Draw him into a false sense of security. The battle continued as it had been, with both trainers taking down Pokemon, but with Gardenia perpetually being one behind. Really, what this showed me was that my idol actually brought less fire to the table than I'd believed she would. Save for the occasional Solar Beam, which made the one Sunflora had thrown at me look tiny, the rest of her moves were… not weak by any means, but certainly not powerful when compared to her challenger, who was making Wake's Palafin look normal. Hell, his Grumpig— which was his apparent ace— even managed to force Gardenia to switch out her personal Leafeon, unless that had been intentional? It was difficult to tell, with the grass type Gym Leader.

Firepower had never been her prime tool. Gardenia brought up another Grassy Terrain as soon as her opponent switched out Macargo, which was a sound decision despite this one not being as powerful as her Ludicolo, but that caused the trainer to send out his fire type again as soon as his Staraptor fainted.

But it was when her Shiftry came around as her final member that everything took a turn for her challenger.

He had two Pokemon left, both of them being grass types, and Gardenia knew it because she'd researched him and his team. She'd baited him into using Macargo, Staraptor, and the rest of his team so he would no longer have answers. Shiftry's arms blurred as she clapped her leaves together, generating a massive ash storm that obscured his opponent's Sunny Day and rendered it useless. In fact, it made their grass type moves incredibly slow. Shiftry was a grass type used to fighting in the dark, and so she made quick work of Lilligant and Gogoat. People in the stadium did not cheer, because someone losing their 8th badge was recognized as an awful thing by trainers and civilians alike. Had Gardenia not given him that early lead and kept it, he wouldn't have played this aggressively and might have won.

It took an ice-cold focus to stumble into a number's disadvantage on purpose and to keep it that way. Not once had Gardenia's face twitched in panic or displeasure. Not once had she made a wrong decision, which I could understand now that I had hindsight on my side. The Ludicolo trap had been obvious to me and her challenger as well, which I believed was a mistake, but the longer Gardenia did not reap the trap she had sown, the more I believed it actually hadn't been a trap and just a blunder, or her having gone easier on her challenger. Instead, it had just been a strategy she'd set up to not pay off until the battle was almost finished.

Damn it, she was so cool.

I rose from my seat and shimmied my way out of the bleachers. When I'd heard that there would be someone battling for his 8th Gym Badge today, I knew missing the fight wouldn't have been an option, headache or not, and had opted to stay an extra day. This fight had taught me a few things that would be useful against Byron. One, the Gym Leaders didn't just research you, they dug at your weaknesses and brought them to the forefront of the battle. That challenger's might have been getting too excited when things went his way and he got an early lead, though I couldn't lie, I might have fallen into that trap as well, given the fact that it took the entire battle to spring up. This ash storm thing? Using a fire type's fire against their team? That wasn't something Gardenia was known for. Hell, I'd be surprised if she'd ever used a similar technique until today. That meant that I'd need to expect techniques and Pokemon specifically tailored to defeat me. If I could figure out those weaknesses beforehand, I could potentially preempt what Byron would have in store for me, though I knew catching every single thing was a pipe dream. There was no way I'd go in that fight without getting caught off-guard multiple times.

The second thing I noticed was the number of Pokemon in a Gym Leader's personal team I'd have to face. A long time ago— actually, in this very city, I believed, I believed that number would be more akin to three to five, but my expectations were skewed because as a kid, I'd only watch 8th Gym badge battles from people who'd gone through the Circuit multiple times. That number actually depended on what Gym Leader you were facing. For someone like Crasher Wake or Roark, a first-timer could expect two or three, so I'd been… a little correct. Any other Gym Leader, though? A single one was what I'd need to expect. In this battle, it had been Gardenia's Leafeon. Against Byron?

The steel type Gym Leader had eight Pokemon at his disposal on his personal team, and I'd need to prepare a counter against each one, which would no doubt involve multiple members of my team, and that wasn't counting the other five 8-badge level Pokemon I'd need to take down. I'd been thinking about working with lava again, but even though I would, it couldn't be the same tactic I had used against Volkner. I couldn't treat Byron like a fool who would be surprised when he no doubt knew I'd used lava already.

There was a lot to plan for, and for the first time, I was starting to feel a little overwhelmed.

Eterna City was still the same as always, except that there were no more protests to be seen. That didn't mean people were more endeared by the League than they were back then, though. It just meant what Cynthia was doing was working with terrifying efficiency. After having gone through Eterna when civilian agitation was at its highest, going through the city on Angel's back was like night and day. I wasn't planning on staying here. Hell, I already would have left if I hadn't been watching that Gym Battle. The plan had been to buy my team their TMs, spend the night, and then get out.

It had been a productive shopping spree, though I wasn't left with much money. Remember when you had an emergency fund, Grace? I remember.

As it turned out, setup moves were a lot more expensive than I first thought them to be, especially with how much work you needed to put in to be able to use them effectively. I'd wanted to get one both for Honey and Princess, but I'd needed to make a choice, and I'd picked Princess due to the electric type's attacks already being so strong. For her, the choice had been between Calm Mind and Nasty Plot, but I'd settled on the latter for a single reason. While Calm Mind would bring her the focus to improve her precision and the speed of her attacks, which would in essence, also improve her offense, Nasty Plot was less of a scalpel and more of a hammer, which I needed to beat Byron. It had been expensive, but worth it, I'd say.

The second TM I'd gotten was Surf. I hadn't actually bought it for Buddy, but for Sweetheart. Part of me couldn't help but think this was a waste, but it was an old promise between me and her. She'd take a long time to be able to use the move in actual battle. Right now, the most she could do was move a little water around (which she was ecstatic about), but the knowledge had been there, at the very least, and a Tyranitar knowing Surf would certainly be something that'd catch Byron off-guard. That was the kind of stuff Barry would come up with, not me.

The third expensive TM I'd gotten had been a difficult choice for me. I had taught Buddy Protect.

I'd first come into the store wanting to get him Psychic, but I'd changed my mind at the last second. This wasn't something I envisioned him using much or effectively in normal battles at all like Honey did. It was more of something I thought could be useful if anything tried to kill me and Honey was too far away to get to me in time, even with Radiant Leap. In essence, I'd prioritized a potential confrontation with Team Galactic, the future battle with the ghost in that ancient city, and potentially Ruth in the Lost Tower over my battle with Byron. Better to have contingencies than not. The 8th gym wouldn't matter if I died before I made it there.

Sunshine's TM had been bought to synergize with him dropping onto unsuspecting Pokemon when he flew by using Shell Trap, namely, Heat Crash. Combined with the fact that he was making steady progress with Shell Smash, he was going to be a menace no matter what Byron brought up. Tricks, or overwhelming power, Craig had said, and I was going to go with the latter.

Since I hadn't had much money left over, the only TMs I managed to get for Honey and Angel were Rain Dance and Bulldoze, respectively. Rain Dance would synergize well with Thunder and Buddy in general, and Bulldoze would be a nice coverage move to have. Both attacks would serve me well for the plan that was forming in my head against Byron, despite the fact that I hadn't studied him yet. The team would be split into… well, not exactly halves, but close to it, each group having a distinct strategy to work with. It was important not to get too lost in the plan, however. Battles were not a clean affair, and I'd need contingencies in case everything went to hell. That included getting Nightstalker to teach Princess that move he'd used to clear the weather to make transitions between each strategy easier and more efficient than having to wait for the weather to peter out.

In theory, I was done with everything, and I could just have Princess whisk me away and fly toward Celestic, but Ramon Casaus had gotten other ideas. My fellow sponsee was in the city as well, for some reason, and he had asked me to meet in person. When I had asked Melody if it was a good idea, with the tension brewing within Poketch and all, she told me that a meeting to make sure of what position Ramon was in couldn't hurt, so I agreed and was now on the way to the north-east of the city.

I found him looking up at a massive golden statue, a Delibird and Raticate by his side. Angel waved at them both, though the Raticate was sound asleep and Delibird ignored him, being too busy scrounging through his gift bag-tail to care. The grass type gently dropped me onto the ground.

I'd seen the statue before, in passing during my first stay here. It was apparently some deity some Eternans still worshipped and placed above Arceus himself. Some kind of dragon, standing on its hind feet, though most people couldn't agree if that was the actual way it walked or if it walked on all fours. Large plates jutted out of its shoulders and back, and a massive tail stretched beyond the podium the dragon sat on. Speaking of its shoulders, they were clad in large circular pads with a gem at their center, while another gem sat some kind of bony plating on its torso. Its forelegs had three claws stretching down its leg while the hind ones were flat and had a single, dull one. It was… strange-looking, to say the least, but according to the religious here, this dragon had brought about the creation of the world. Save for Sunyshore, Eastern Sinnoh was far more religious than the West, and though the majority worshipped Arceus, still, a lot of Eternans still prayed to this deity. The white plating that had once been on the statue had been torn off, meaning that the actual name of the dragon had been lost to time, though that didn't stop people from calling it Holy Sinnoh, which generated friction with other religious sects. Holy Sinnoh was supposed to be Arceus, not whatever this was, or at least that was the argument.

"Ramon," I said. "You wanted to see me?"

The dark-skinned trainer turned toward me. "Sheesh, not even a 'good afternoon'?" he said, clearly sarcastic. "But yes. You must already know what this is about."

"Poketch, yes. And sorry, I guess I'm just on edge. You know, Melody's been telling me not to worry, but that's kind of difficult when I know that your liaisons are all plotting against me."

Ramon shrugged. "Don't take it personally. Really, it'd be weirder if they just let this opportunity pass them by," he said. "Me, though? I'm no Aubri. I don't really care about being the face of the company. Too many eyes and ears on me."

"Wouldn't Aubri think the same? You said she was close to her Mega Stone the last time we met."

"But she's got another Pokemon capable of it," he said. "It took her years to save for her first one. If she got your position, it'd still take a while, but a lot less time. Anyway, I'm not here to talk about Aubri. We haven't spoken in weeks anyway, it wouldn't be my place to talk about her and her plans… unless…" he trailed off with a sly look.

"Where do you stand in this, Ramon?" I warily asked. "You've warned me multiple times about your liaison, and now you've said that my position doesn't interest you, yet you're still here. What's your angle?"

I couldn't get a good read on him. What did he gain by helping me, other than just being nice? I wasn't above thinking that people could just be nice, but come on. There was a play he was making that I wasn't seeing here, and being kept in the dark just meant I'd arrive in Jubilife with a knife on my neck. And possibly a hundred other knives beyond what I could see.

"You were supposed to go to Jubilife. You canceled," he stated as he crouched, his arms slung over his knees.

"Something came up. But I was just going to see my Dad, not doing anything Poketch-related."

"Before we continue, I'm going to need to confirm a couple of things from you," Ramon said. "Is it true that you're going to Unova next year, or are you staying on to continue to train to become an ACE?"

I frowned. Only the board and Melody knew the answer to that question, and it had created countless theories and rumors online. The problem was that if I answered honestly, then the entire excuse for me being in the raid would crumble… or maybe not? If my stay in Unova was temporary, then I could still come back to Sinnoh at a later date and join the League again. Hell, I wouldn't be the first trainer to do so.

"I… am going to Unova," I said.

Ramon smiled. "Okay, I wasn't sure. We can negotiate, then. You see, I'm actually here on behalf of Bobby. He was too busy to come here, and I was already planning on stopping by anyway. Me, I don't really care about any of this, but him? Floaromans are a tightly-knit community, and they all want one thing. Recognition. He's thinking of making a play, Grace."

Shit. Zachary was from Floaroma too, and he'd wanted to be the first to make it to the top sixteen. Bobby, I assumed, was no different. He wanted to make his town proud, not only by placing far in the Conference and beyond the top thirty-two where he'd placed last year, but by becoming the face of a massive, Jubilife-based company. Part of me instinctively wanted to pull on my empathy to see if Ramon was lying or not, but I stamped down the thought. In a world where I learned self-control, then maybe that'd be an option, but not now.

"He didn't sound like that. He warned me about gunning for me through text, just like you," I said.

"Ah, but here's the thing," Ramon said with a raised finger. "That was more than a week ago. I don't think you realize how quickly things are moving, Grace. He's gotten an offer. People are throwing their support behind him. The wind's at his sails."

"So, who's coming after me? Aubri, Bobby… what about Sharron?"

"Sharron's too small to have a real shot, it's just those two, trainer-wise," Ramon said. "And I'll be helping Bobby take you down, unless we can come to an agreement."

"You're helping him too? Why?" I asked, biting my lip.

"We're best pals. I told you back in Sunyshore, didn't I?" he shrugged.

I paused. "Melody hasn't said anything."

"Your liaison is good. Among the best, really, which is crazy considering the fact that you're the first person she's working with, but she's not infallible."

Did I have any allies to count on inside the company? Besides Melody and the board, I did not. My isolating ways have come back to bite me. There was also Craig, but the man was nigh unreachable, since he was inside of Mount Coronet, at the moment, and putting everything he had into winning the Conference for his final year. But did I have to make any deals, if I had the board on my side? Couldn't they just shut down any rebellion and reiterate that they were on my side? But then Ramon wouldn't even be offering this… supposed olive branch— unless he was trying to trick me and acting like he was in a better position than he was. He and Bob were best friends, and since that was why he was taking his side, I doubted I could convince him to just stay neutral. Unlike Aubri, Bobby was actually outgoing and a good option to take as the face of the company. From the few times I'd interacted with him, he was extroverted, outgoing, and genuinely nice, which was far more than could be said of me. Were they gambling that the board would see reason and pick him instead of me?

"Before I go any further, I need to call—"

"No. It's you and me, Grace," Ramon said. "No help from the outside."

Fuck. My face and tone remained stoic, but the situation was deteriorating, and quickly. Had I gone to Jubilife earlier, could I have stepped in front of this? "What are you offering, then? I'm sure you wouldn't just preemptively warn that everything was going to go to shit for me without anything in it for you— well, for Bobby."

"We're offering you the best damn deal you're going to get, that's what we're offering," Ramon smirked. "Doesn't even come with a loss of your position, or your salary, really. I'm asking you to act in your self-interest."

"I'm listening."

"See, Poketch only operates in Sinnoh. Compared to X Technologies, who does business in Unova, Kalos, Hoenn, and Alola… they're pretty small, and they want to remedy that by using your trip to Unova as a launchpad to promote their products abroad. That much is obvious." Ramon stood back up, though he kept his back slouched forward, staring right into my eyes. He's confident about this. "Wouldn't it make sense, then, to divide your position? One face of the company per region?"

Oh, I saw the angle, now. He wanted to have Bobby step up and be Craig's replacement in Sinnoh while I embraced the same role in Unova.

"Really, it doesn't change much for you. You'll still be able to sell your merch— which I hear they're starting to make. You'll still be paid the same amount, and even more, really, given the fact that you'll need a lot of support in a brand-new country. All that changes, really, is that Bobby gets a slice of the pie."

That sounded too good to be true, despite how much sense it made. The problem with this suggestion was that I was planning on staying in Unova for a year, maybe two at most, depending on what happened there. A regional face of the company actually needed to stick around to build a reputation and turn into a household name. Meanwhile, if there was only one trainer representative for everywhere, as was the current setup, then the location would matter a lot less. This wasn't going to work if I wanted my goals to be a reality, I realized, and so, we were at an impasse unless I could figure out something really quickly. I could potentially tell him and Bobby to fuck off, but could I really afford to leave everything in Melody's hands? She was good, but as Ramon had said, she was not infallible, or she would have gotten ahead of this— not that I blamed her. I had no idea what things looked like in Jubilife right now, but it looked to be a game of cloak and daggers.

"Where does Aubri fit in all of this?" I asked, raising an eyebrow. I needed to buy time.

"She's doing her own thing," he answered. "But don't expect her to sit still."

Damn it, that had been shorter than I expected.

"And are you sure you get nothing out of this?" I continued.

"I grew up in the streets, Grace. I'm content with what I have. I'm more concerned about battling than this shit, but I owe Bobby, so I figured I'd help."

How would I make everyone happy here? My breathing slowed, and for a moment, I became someone else.

If I'm Bob Wallace, my goal is to gain Grace's current position, either through a deal or through corporate assassination. After our first meeting in Sunyshore, I liked Grace Pastel enough to warn her about people going after her, even after seeing videos of the raid, but now, the opportunity of a lifetime has presented itself, and there is simply no way I can say no. It was either now or never, because Grace would never be in a weaker position than she is now. Even worse, her position was currently quickly improving, both with trainer and civilians alike. The longer I wait, the longer she cements herself in her position within the company. I have until she goes to Jubilife with Craig— who might be a crucial ally of hers and is currently impossible to contact— to handle the real transition to strike, and the days were ticking, so I hear Grace is passing through Eterna City and decide to send Ramon, who I trust unconditionally not to betray me, to offer one last compromise. If Grace refuses, then I can say that I tried. I strike, and it's all-out war, potentially allying with Aubri Schneider to get Grace out of the way. It would be difficult, with the board still supporting her, but if we started using my leverage to make the company lose money, then they could potentially be brought to the negotiating table. They could also fire us, but we could balance the way we acted, being a thorn in Poketch's side instead of a full-on obstacle. I know this is possible, because I've seen Grace and even Aubri do it time and time again with minimal pushback. It would just take a careful balancing act, something I was willing to risk because there would never be a better opportunity than this one. But! This was still an incredibly risky play, and I didn't particularly like those, given the fact that I was staking my entire future within the company with this move, so I decide to offer Grace this deal. A deal where, from my perspective, everyone ended up happy despite the fact that I'm twisting her arm into accepting.

I held back a gasp as I snapped back to reality, blinking rapidly to remember who and where I was.

"Can I call Bobby on the phone?" I kept stalling. "I'd rather negotiate with him than you. No offense."

"None taken. Really, you're being a whole lot chiller about this than I thought you would."

"Thought I'd get angry?" I smirked.

"Frustrated, mostly, but I honestly prefer it like this. This way, you're clear-headed when making the decision, and we both have no regrets. But I'm afraid Bobby is busy, at the moment."

"You keep saying busy. Where is he?"

"Jubilife."

I saw the shape of it now. This was a thinly veiled threat that basically meant the moment I disagreed with this deal, he'd instantly put his plans in motion, and it would take me days to get back to Jubilife. That would, of course, delay everything I had going on. My plans to go to the Lost Tower, to see Bella and to catch Claydol. It might even give me a lot less time to train than I currently had, given the fact that I'd most likely be stuck inside of the Poketch Building for days or weeks. And we have one month until the Red Chain is completed. Not accepting this deal would screw me, and so I needed to twist it in a way where I lived through this ambush to see the sunrise.

"Say, Ramon," I muttered. "Would you like to enter an alliance?"

The teenager grinned. "Sing it to me."

"I can give Bobby what he wants, but he'll need to pitch this with me when I get to Jubilife. All it takes is for him to agree for me to keep my position as the face of the company."

Ramon frowned, and his face fell. "I don't follow."

"My current position's official name is Poketch Pokemon Trainer Ambassador. Nowhere in that title," I exhaled, "does it say Sinnoh."

Something shifted in Ramon's eyes.

"Here's what I propose. That Poketch creates a sub role for ambassadors like what Bobby wants— one per region. It comes with a promotion and a lot of attention from the media, especially for something this fresh and exciting. Bobby gets what he wants, starts representing Sinnoh, Floaroma gets on the map, and he makes his hometown proud." Thought I doubted the city would grow, with how expensive buying land was, but this was more about principle for Bobby. "I stay as Trainer Ambassador— a role that would fit all regions no matter where I traveled. I wouldn't be above Bobby, quite exactly, but I'd be a lot more fluid, which is what I want."

"I'd… have to speak to Bobby about this, even if I like it. It'd require someone to fit the bill in Unova, though, since you wouldn't be getting this new position."

"I could still theoretically get it, if we took things slow and Poketch splits my current role for a year between the regions before creating what I was talking about. That way, I get to test the waters. But I'm thinking we give it to Aubri."

"It'd fit, wouldn't it?" Ramon said with a sigh. "Unfortunately for you, Aubri has no plans to go to Unova. She's sticking to Sinnoh."

"Then I represent Unova until Poketch finds a replacement, and then I get my old job back when they do."

Finding a replacement of… well, not my caliber, because most Poketch sponsees were of my level or higher, but finding one who was willing to spend the rest of their career in Unova would probably take a while. Uprooting your entire life and plans was a challenge, even if it came with a promotion.

"I think Bobby will agree with this," Ramon said.

And I knew he would, because a solution where everyone was happy and they progressed up the ladder was better than a full-blown civil war where we'd both come out battered and bloodied.

"Aubri's still a problem," he continued. "He was negotiating with her, and now she'll think he's a turncoat."

"Aubri can't offer you what I am. She's offering you a drawn-out conflict which you don't know how it'll end. I'm giving you this on a silver platter. No one has to take any risks, and both Bobby and I get a promotion— he gets a tangible, financial one, by the way. All I'm getting is a new title at the end of the year. And I'm not asking you to go to war with Aubri here, just to, you know, help me keep her at bay."

Ramon hummed, and stayed silent for a few seconds as his eyes locked with mine once more, as if he was trying to figure out if this was a trap or not. He approached me with an outstretched hand, and I shook it.

"Now, you understand that we need assurances, yeah? I need you to call Melody and get her started on this so I can be sure this isn't a lie. She'll get in contact with Bobby's liaison, and by the time you get to Jubilife, I'm sure there'll be a shiny new arrangement to present to the board."

"Fair enough," I nodded, letting relief flood through my veins. Holy shit, that had been close. I had essentially been forced into a new job and lived through it by the skin of my teeth. Had I been staying in Sinnoh, this deal would not have been anywhere as appealing, which was why Ramon's first question had been if I was still planning on going to Unova. "The transition will be slow, though. I don't think Bobby will get what he wants until I'm gone."

"He's a patient guy," he said. "Been waiting for this for years, really. He'd given up when Craig recommended you, but with this opportunity… he had to take it. And despite what you probably believe, he does like you, still. Sometimes, it's just about looking out for yourself."

"I get that. What about Aubri? Think she'll strike on her own?"

"She'll throw a fit, but since you have the board on your side, and now both Bobby and I, there's not much she could do without pushing herself out of the company."

Contrary to before, where she'd been on the sidelines and would have waited for my side and Bobby's to maim each other, offering help, but not committing fully. This was a terrifying game I'd stepped into, and by the Legendaries, I'd almost lost. Hell, maybe I'd already lost. It would depend entirely on what Melody would say to this, but I'd done my best with the information at hand.

"Well, that's that," Ramon said. "If you want, we can get some lunch after you speak to your liaison. Been wanting to talk about that Tyranitar of yours. Maybe we can even have a one-on-one."

"Maybe I would have agreed if you hadn't tried to stab me in the back," I said with a rueful smile. "Plus, I've got to hide what she can do from Byron… and you know, you might be an opponent at the Conference. I'd be revealing my hand far more than yours, and I don't think it'd be worth what I would learn from the loss."

"Always with the stabbing metaphors," Ramon cackled. "In my defense, that comparison doesn't work. I basically said I'd shank you if you didn't accept our deal or find something better," he shrugged. "But no worries, I expected that answer. Fightin' one just gets me all excited, you know?"

"Hmhm."

I grabbed my phone, and dialed for Melody. Of course, he wanted to be here to be sure I'd tell her the truth and hadn't tricked him. She answered right away, since she'd been anticipating this call.

"How did it—"

"Hi Melody!" Ramon said with a sheepish smile.

"Please don't talk," I groaned. "It went… okay, but it could have been worse for all parties involved. Here's what happened…"

I spent the next five minutes trying to explain what had happened to her, which was a lot more time than I had expected. She wanted far more information that I had with me at the moment, but at the very least, it looked like this wasn't a complete and utter disaster.

"I'm sorry, Grace. I should have known things were going too smoothly… it was obviously a trap. They were keeping us in the dark, and I was none the wiser."

"I just need to know—" I turned toward Ramon and sighed. "Is this a trap, or does it sound good?"

"It weakens you slightly by making your position less special, at least until you regain your position after a replacement for you in Unova is found," she rambled. "But it is a sound plan. You negotiated a good deal, given the circumstances."

It was probably a setback, money-wise. If I was to be one of a half, sharing my future position with Bobby, then I wouldn't be able to increase my salary as much when I arrived at Jubilife. It was… bad, but not a catastrophy as it could have been. What this did teach me, though, was that I'd been fucking stupid by thinking that I could just keep doing whatever I wanted and have Melody handle everything. This was on me, because had I kept in regular touch with Bobby, Ramon, Sharron, or even the other sponsees who hadn't been in Sunyshore during the photoshoot, then I could have had people to count on and fought this, instead of rolling over.

"I'll get in touch with Dennis, but Jules and Aubri are going to throw a fit… goodness," she sighed. "It'd be good if you could get here as fast as possible, Grace. Before the agreed upon date would be ideal."

"I'll try not to spend too many days out in the wild," I said. "If I can get there sooner, I will. You have my word."

"Good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a lot of work."

"I figured. Take care, and thanks," I said. "I'll try to be better."

"So will I. This is a learning moment for both of us."

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice?

I would not get caught a second time.

I hung up the phone and looked at Ramon, who'd been texting Bob. "Are we happy with this?"

"Yeah."

Better make connections now than keep putting it off, I thought.

"Oh, and Ramon. I did say I wouldn't be battling you, but are you still up for lunch before I leave the city?" I asked, ignoring the little voice in my head that told me not to. I smothered the growing enmity, that little voice that told me to snuff him out and make him pay for what he'd done. That feeling that made me want to exact some kind of revenge— and revenge could take many forms— died before it could take hold and control me. I took a deep breath and plastered a smile on my face. Aliyah had been correct, when she'd said I could still backslide and get back to how I was. Two weeks ago, would I have subtly screwed with his emotions for doing this? Probably... not? The fact that I wasn't sure about the answer didn't bode well, though I didn't think I would have done anything permanent— but that was just thinking like Mesprit. Perhaps I would have made his emotions fray slightly so he failed to negotiate a proper deal with me, or tried to slowly pull him over to my side, to seed doubt into his mind and to make him stab his best friend in the back over the course of... well, a lunch.

What was done was done. I'd best adapt to the new situation instead of getting stuck in the past no matter how wrong it felt and tugged at me.

"Well, I'll be damned," he smirked. "Sure, why not?"

And all things considered? Lunch went surprisingly well.

---

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[Soussouni1]

CHAPTER 277

Ramon was an okay guy, when not trying to destroy my career. Really, he was kind of fun, save for the fact that his sarcasm grew to obnoxious levels sometimes, but I'd seen far worse in people, and he was content to just talk about battling our entire time together, along with potential countermeasures against Aubri. I hadn't actually gotten much out of this lunch, save for getting closer to a new ally, but I would have lied if I said it hadn't taken the edge off. I should have expected for people to act in their self-interest instead of just being content to have me at the helm, but what was done was done. All of the other paths would have been needlessly risky and would have needed me to stall for time until Craig came back, and even then, I wasn't sure everything would have gone in my favor and I wouldn't have ended up in a weaker position than I was now.

Really, all this lunch did was make me miss my friends more. I'd wanted to swing by Hearthome to see Emi before going to the Lost Tower, but now that my schedule was growing tight, I wouldn't be able to. Mira was already gone from the city, unfortunately, and I doubted our schedules would sync up to meet anyway. She was acting a little strange in texts, but then again, who wasn't, at this point? I'd grown more vocal in our group chat these days, chatting with anyone who was available whenever I could, but things still didn't feel as they had before.

After lunch with Ramon, I bid him farewell and left the city on Princess' back. Reaching Celestic would take a while, with the detour we were taking to avoid Mount Coronet's highest slopes, but it'd be worth it not to get attacked. By the time we'd made it over, the sun had set and Princess was incredibly tired. Celestic Town was difficult to spot, with how foggy the place was, but the dim lights peered through the fog, signaling us we'd made it over the city itself. What I found strange about Celestic was that it had been built on the mountain's flank, having been settled in what looked like some kind of ancient crater that dwarfed any structure in the city. This place was actually bigger than they made it sound when talking about it, especially when compared to Twinleaf. While it only had a single Pokemon Center, at least it had one, and it was probably home to a few thousand people. There was a network of bricked streets going around the massive crater, and no one here drove cars, from what I could see. Inside the crater appeared to be some kind of huge temple— or maybe a shrine would be a better word. It was what I'd expect to see from Johto, not Celestic. Sinnoh was usually a place of churches, not shrines. What I knew from my reading with Buddy, however, was that Celestic was among the oldest cities remaining in Sinnoh, and it had retained much of the culture from the early Johtoan settlers.

"Princess, I—"

My words caught in my throat. Why was it, that I felt the tug here like I'd felt in Verity? By the time Princess landed next to the Pokemon Center with a worried chirp, I understood that it was the shrine that was pulling me inward… or no, not the shrine itself. The cave behind the shrine. With a curious frown, I entered the Center, booking myself a room for the night. I wasn't going to spend any time here, since I had decided to check on Solaceon and how the city was doing instead of spending any time in Celestic. There were actually far more trainers than Chase had described to me earlier in the year, but I knew that was because of the late-Circuit rush to challenge Candice now that temperatures up north had risen to a manageable level.

Obviously, it still always snowed up there, though. Even during the summer. Either way, it actually took them a while to assign me a room because of how busy they were here. Celestic's Pokemon Center was smaller than the norm and ridiculously understaffed.

Chase hadn't described this feeling of a pull from when he'd told me about visiting his grandparents here, but back then, none of our gifts had been developed in full, and we hadn't visited our lakes yet. I tried to contact him, but he went straight to voice mail, as did Cecilia. Their trip to the Iron Islands still wasn't done. I hope they're safe, I thought to myself as I entered my room. It was smaller than usual, with barely enough space for two of my Pokemon, but it'd have to do. I set the dinner I'd grabbed from the cafeteria on my desk and dropped on my bed with a heavy sigh.

"I want to see Cece…" I muttered, staring at the ceiling.

There wasn't much I could do about that, though. So instead of moping around all night about missing my girlfriend, I stood back up and decided it was time to throw myself into studying Byron. Time was going by fast, and even if I'd be slower to learn than I had been, I at least needed to start the process. All I was doing right now was procrastinating, and that was a surefire way to lose in a terrible manner. Dragging myself to my desk, I grabbed my laptop and began to browse Canalave City's Gym website and realized the wifi here was horrifyingly slow— even slower than it had been in Snowpoint. I chewed on my cold sandwich and groaned, parsing through Byron's personal team and jotting each Pokemon in my notes. Bastiodon, Steelix, Skarmory, Magnezone, Aggron, Bronzong, Forretress, Excadrill. One of these, I was going to have to face and beat.

This was going to be a long night.

—

I woke up in a cold sweat at five in the morning.

It hadn't been a nightmare— not that I could tell. Unless I'd already forgotten all of it despite just having woken up? I bit my lip, scrounging through my memories to try to recall what I'd dreamed, but all I was left with was a feeling of numbness in my chest. Why was it that not remembering felt creepier than the opposite? And now my sheets were all drenched, Arceus damn it. With a heavy breath, I went about my morning routine, sending birthday wishes to Denzel, though I doubted he'd see them until he made it to Canalave with Pauline. My best friend was turning seventeen today, and it was a shame we wouldn't be able to have a party or anything. I hobbled out of the Pokemon Center, happy to see that my ankle was feeling better by the day, though still a while from healing.

Celestic had been… pretty alright, but it was time to leave. There weren't many days to waste, and I wanted to reach Solaceon by tonight. We'd have to fly high above the fog and deal with the cold, but I'd have to deal. Though maybe it would be smart to locate the ancient city, even if I wouldn't actually go inside quite yet, given the fact that I wanted to get as much training done as possible beforehand. Chase had told me its approximate location, but my friend had been rather light on the details.

Are you sure you want to leave yet?

I cursed, flinching and nearly falling over as Mesprit's voice rang out in my head. I ignored the confused and concerned looks from the few passersby who were out this early and bit my lip. They could speak to me? I'd heard Mesprit's mocking laughs when contemplating about using their gift, but never actual words. I waited, holding my breath to see if Mesprit was going to speak again, but no voice came, and suddenly my thoughts felt so silent. Like when I'd sneak toward the fridge late at night to steal ice cream while Dad was sleeping, and all I could hear was my breath. I clenched a fist around my jeans and slowed down my breathing. Mesprit was trying to get me to stick around, and the reason why was obvious. The shrine, or what was behind the shrine. I took a few hesitant steps toward the railing, which wrapped around all of Celestic to keep people from falling over. Even this early, people were out and about down in the crater, though none approached the shrine. Those who prayed did so at a distance, staying at least a hundred feet away.

The shrine was mostly stone slabs— pillars, that supported the structure itself, which was made of more stone and a wooden red roof that was perfectly smooth. Surrounding the shrine were four walls, though as I had noticed, the entire courtyard was empty. There was a smaller shrine near the cave's entrance, with intricate carvings on the walls that I was too far away to make out. I gulped as my knuckles went white from holding onto the railing so tightly. How was I supposed to go inside of there if no one was allowed to? I waited for answers from Mesprit, but none came.

"Aren't you just so helpful," I growled under my breath.

Instead of going down the winding path spiraling around the crater, I took a shortcut and hopped on Princess who flew me down in seconds. I'd been too lazy to strap in my saddle, but I had gotten good at flying without one, these days. Not that I would ever do so during our long travels, but a short descent downward like this was fine. Plus, Togekiss could always catch me if I fell over, which I did not.

This might have been a crater, but it was lusher than any other area in Celestic I'd seen, with well-trimmed Birch trees and bushes lining the paths. From down here, the sheer scale of the impact took on another shape. Such a huge meteor would have destroyed this entire area— and shrouded the entire continent of Shinwa in darkness for who knew how long. Maybe the entire planet, even. There were myths of such an event in Unova, which Cecilia had explained to me why old civilizations here had used to worship Volcarona, one of which had acted as a second sun so people wouldn't starve from crop failures. There must have been nuances to this story, but I was not against believing in myths such as these. I recalled Princess, opting to have Honey accompany me for this instead, given the fact that he was probably the only one who'd be respectful about this.

The carvings on the shrine itself were… strange. Like letters, but not. A language I felt like I should have been able to read, but that still eluded me. Like a word on the tip of my tongue, a memory I couldn't recall, just out of reach. I angrily squinted at the walls like they owed me money, desperately wanting to understand what was written, but I failed time and time again.

"Many have tried to read the inscriptions before," a voice sounded behind me. "They all have failed."

I turned toward the older voice— frizzy white hair and a beard so thick I couldn't see his mouth. He walked in robes and barefoot, even outside of the shrine. Honey had reflexively placed a hand on my shoulder, ready to drag me close if a Protect was needed.

"I mean you no harm," he said with a hidden smile.

"I know," I said. I had, after all, activated my empathy to tell as naturally as I breathed, though I was subtly tuning it out again. "What's your name?"

"Ailwin Lowthe. The shrine's custodian," he introduced himself, dipping his head. "You'll forgive me for being curious. Flying down the crater instead of walking the Crescent Path is a great offense."

"Oh— I'm so sorry, I didn't know," I stammered. "I'm not too well-versed in Celestian culture at all, so I thought…"

"At least you are more polite about it than most of the trainers currently passing through our town," Ailwin said, pausing for a few seconds. "The shrine. It interests you."

I turned back toward the monument, watching as nearly a hundred people, all barefoot, kneeled with their hands clasped as they sang Arceus' name with a hymn as they faced the shrine. Their voices were in complete unison, as if they'd practiced this thousands of time before.

"...let your thousand arms unfold, each one tender, a guiding hand to lead us or to strike our enemies asunder…"

"Pretty brutal for a prayer," I hummed. "Oh, shit, sorry."

Ailwin laughed. "You are not the first to notice, nor will you be the last. It is a remnant of how life used to be for our ancestors. Celestic is among the oldest cities in Sinnoh, and it has almost fallen more times than we can count, both to humans and Pokemon. It is thanks to His grace and protection, that we still remain."

His, huh? It was the first time I'd heard someone refer to Arceus as Mesprit did, and I'm sure they were pleased with themselves. From the way they'd spoken about Arceus, He apparently loved humans, but I didn't think He had directly intervened in anything other than our creation, aside from all the rules he'd put in place to stop his maniacal Gods from murdering us all. Granted, maybe I was wrong.

"Mister Ailwin… could I maybe gain access to the cave at the back of the shrine, or…?" I tried.

"That would depend on why," he answered. "It is barred, save for extraordinary circumstance."

Just tinker with him and get him to allow you in already!

My head buzzed with activity, and then felt the same emptiness that it had before. I wasn't as taken aback this time as I was the last, however, so I carried on as if nothing had happened.

"If I'm being honest, I feel like it holds the key to something I seek," I said. "I feel it calling to me, I guess, but if you don't want to, it's alright."

The shrine custodian stroked his beard. "You are known here."

I frowned. "Am I?"

"You are one of Cynthia's protégées," he continued, taking a few steps forward. "She was a blessed one, that child. Hardened by a childhood spent in isolation, but a blessed child nonetheless, who changed this place for the better. Anyone would know about her apparent successors."

I read about this in her autobiography, I remembered. She'd spent her childhood obsessed with training in a time where Celestic despised 'trainers'. It was strange, because they hadn't considered the people and the old war veterans who defended the city trainers because they were Celestians— so due to xenophobia and bias— but Cynthia hadn't been shy about wanting to leave the town and becoming one. Plus, with how she and her twin sister had been born out of wedlock… people back then talked.

Today, though? She was loved, and had been the first Champion to ever come from Celestic. Being Cynthia's hometown, I guessed that Celestic might be the only remaining area where Cynthia enjoyed unconditional support. This place had been decades behind the rest of the region, before she ascended to the position of Champion. They had mistreated her for her entire childhood, and she had given them nothing but kindness in return. Maybe it was because her sister and grandmother lived here, or maybe it was due to some sense of obligation.

"Did she ever come here?" I asked.

"Little Cynthia? Oh no, she was too busy out on the routes, training with her Gible day and night," he said. "She started heading out to Mount Coronet at the age of twelve. Truly a miracle, that she lived through all of it."

Henced, blessed, I understood. Still, going into that hellhole at that age, with only a Gible? She really was insane.

"As an adult, however, she's accessed the Halls of Creation plenty of times during her short trips here. History and ruins are her second passion, after all, despite not having the time to attend to them these days."

"Halls of Creation? I thought it had another name… uh… Celestic Ruins, right?"

The old man snorted behind his beard. "That is what outsiders call it, yes."

A light silence settled in, though I filled it with a sigh as Honey peered at the custodian over my head, suggesting that we try convince him by using Cynthia's name. I didn't like it, but… she had so much pull here that there wasn't really much of a choice, was there?

"I don't know how I can convince you, but this is really important, Mr. Ailwin," I muttered. "I don't have enough time to go through the entire process— whatever it is, even if I wished I did. If I called Cynthia and she gave you the go-ahead, would you let me through?"

He stood still as the prayer from his fellow Celestians finished, almost like he had expected me to say this. "I will reluctantly have to accept, as I did whenever Cynthia asked for permission to go through."

I sighed in relief, ignoring that feeling at the back of my head that hated getting indebted to Sinnoh's Champion. There was unfortunately a limit to my influence, and I couldn't just force myself everywhere I wanted, especially not religious grounds. I scrolled through my contact, a finger hesitantly hovering over Cynthia's number. It's not a big deal, just click on it, I chided myself. I didn't have to wait long for her to answer.

"Grace. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Cynthia said. I could hear the clacking of a keyboard in the background, along with Garchomp's snoring, which sounded like a dull growl.

"I'm in Celestic Town, and I need access to the Halls of Creation," I said, getting straight to the point. "Ailwin said he'd let me through if you accepted. I'm feeling… a pull."

"Ah, a wonderful place, those ruins," she cheerfully said. "Pass Ailwin the phone. I am expecting a report of whatever you see, either to your ACE Trainers or Aliyah."

"Sure."

They didn't talk for long, though there was a fondness in Ailwin's eyes that hadn't been there before we'd been speaking. After a minute or so, he wished her well and reiterated that all of Celestic stood behind her before handing me back my phone. Even here, people played politics. Honey smiled, giving me a discreet thumbs up— which wasn't so discreet, with the size of his hands, but he was trying his best.

"I suppose I can let you in, then," Ailwin said. "Follow."

—

The second shrine was much smaller than the first, but it also had those same carvings, both on it and the walls of the cave. Knowledge that felt like it should have been mine, but wasn't, like a long-lost friend I'd never be able to get back. There was, however, some kind of ancient painting of Dialga and Palkia on the cave along with the letters. They called them by name, here, and worshipped them as well, though they stood below Arceus in importance. They did look like a child had done their best to draw them, but for Pokemon we had no idea of, they'd made a nice shape for them, with Dialga standing on all fours, its body clad in blue and outlined in white and a comically elongated head while Palkia stood on its hind legs with the same white outline and sprouting wings behind its back.

"How did they decide how to paint them?" I asked as we approached the cave's entrance. "We don't know what they look like, do we?"

"It is unknown," he said with a disappointed sigh. "We live better lives, these days, but so much knowledge eludes us, still. We are like children, flailing in the dark and trying to understand our betters. Perhaps one day, we will."

I bit the inside of my lip. "Do you also feel nostalgic, when you look at the carvings?"

"We all do. Our scriptures say that it was a common tongue, uniting all of us when we were created, though our writing diverged. It is why much of the world speaks the same language today." He stopped to grunt as he went up the stone steps, and Honey helped him up with Angel's gentleness in order not to break anything. Ailwin was old, and he was frail. "Thank you. Here we are."

The entrance loomed eerily, cloaked in what seemed to be perpetual twilight that shrouded the passage in an unsettling gloom. It was supported by a stone archway, weathered and worn with moss and shrubs growing in between the cracks. Wind perpetually blew out of the cave, blowing my hair and shirt all over the place and carrying what sounded like whispers which I couldn't make out. Even with the glow, I could not peer through the inside.

"On you go, then," Ailwin said. "I must not go further than this."

"Thank you for guiding me here," I warily said.

Why was this scarier than the first time I had stepped into the maw of Mount Coronet? I steeled myself and steadied my breaths, letting Honey's soft hums reassure me. The electric type took the first step forward, as if he was trying to lead the way. They grow up so fast, I thought as my heart filled with pride.

"You're right," I said. "We can do this."

He reiterated that I was the scared one, and that there was no 'we' involved. I rolled my eyes at him.

I entered the Halls of Creation.

Inside the cave, an oppressive stillness enveloped the air, broken only by the distant drip of water continuously falling and creating small puddles. The walls were adorned with the same faded carvings, but these had been drawn with fanaticism the ones on the outside had not been. The carvings had clearly been etched with haste in frenzied, feverish strokes that grew more nonsensical the deeper I went, as if someone had gone mad creating them. The floor here was a dull grey and strangely even— far too smooth for what was supposed to be a naturally formed cave, save for the occasional boulder we came across. It was like I was walking on tiled floors and not stone. Eventually, I hobbled deep enough to reach what looked like a massive chamber with seven other hallways linking directly to it. Where did those lead? That wasn't where I felt the pull from, so I wasn't counting on finding out. This place gave me the creeps. The chamber itself was circular, though not a perfect circle, which was less unsettling than if it had been. The pull here was stronger than it had ever been since I had left Lake Verity. I waited for Mesprit to say something, but they were silent, now.

"Well, let's head deeper, I guess," I said. "Be ready to use Protect."

Electivire nodded, his tails anxiously writhing behind him. It took two minutes to make it through the chamber, and I noticed that a part of the wall was actually not a natural rock formation, but a wall. Ancient bricks of what looked to be clay, laid out until they blended perfectly with the surrounding stone. At the wall's heart was a painting that I instantly recognized. The three Lake Guardians, drawn horribly wrong, but still in recognizable fashion and surrounding some kind of red… gem. Breathless, I approached the art, instinctively holding out a hand as my vision went blurry at its edges—

A man— possibly in his late twenties or early thirties— sits in contemplation in front of the Lake Guardians. His hair is well-kept, though it is a peculiar blue. He is accompanied by a few people, though they do not yet don the uniform I have learned to despise. Cyrus looks up at the wall, and a woman who appears to be Jupiter flanks him, yawning like she's bored out of this world with a Tangrowth by her side.

"Is this what you wanted to see, Cyrus?" she deadpans. "Some boring art on a wall? It took a lot of effort to sneak in here. I expect a promotion by the end of the month."

Cyrus ignores her, placing a hand on the wall and tracing the contour of the red gem at its center.

"Tell, me Adrianna," Cyrus finally speaks. His voice is disturbingly still, and his hands sit behind his back. "Do you believe that Man should strive to improve his current condition at all costs?"

"Sure, that sounds dandy," Jupiter answers. "Not like you haven't been trying to do it so far."

He continues. "What do you think, then, about the current state of the world?"

"Not much," Jupiter says. "It just is, really. People are born, they live out their days and they die. It's fun, sometimes, though. You know that feeling you get, when you get off a shift early? Or when your favorite show comes on, and it's an episode you've been waiting for? Or when you eat your favorite food—"

"I do not. Though I understand the implications all of those scenarios bring," Cyrus says. "Do you not think that the world could be more? This planet is imperfect, and so are we. These Gods spit on us while they watch us crawl through ash and mud." He stops, staring up at the Lake Guardians with a blank look.

"It'd be a whole lot better if there was any passion in your voice, Cy," Jupiter snorts.

He ignores the nickname as if he hadn't heard it. "It is just a fact, is it not? Do not confuse a want for yearning. The keys to a better world are gated behind rules established by a God that does not interact with us," he continues. "It is our birthright, as people, to gain the tools to improve ourselves. We are all incomplete beings, Adrianna. Both people, and Pokemon. There is something missing within us, and that absence causes meaningless fights, wars, and strife. We could be so much more."

"You've droned on about it for years, now, but all we've done is travel the country, read ancient texts, and visit old ruins. Well, so long as I get paid…"

"Such a lack of vision," Cyrus acknowledges. "But I suppose that is why you are a good tool, Adrianna."

"Gee, thanks. Maybe I really should quit," she chides, wrinkling her nose.

"Then I will kill you," he simply says. "You know too much."

She pales slightly, though her face returns to a slight smile after a moment. "Always have to do a double take, when you say things like that."

"It is nothing personal," Cyrus says. "Either way, I know you will not betray me. It was you, after all, who sought me out. Enough with the games. These three," he passes another hand on the wall of the cave, "are the key to creating a new world. Through control of space and time, we can bring about the birth of a new universe," he says. It appears to be his goal— his life's work, even, but his tone does not rise, nor does his face change.

"Do you think we'll make it?"

"I will either make it, or die trying," he declares. "But first, we must find more like-minded individuals."

I pulled my hand back with a gasp as I returned to the present. It took a minute, to realize what I'd just seen. Cyrus and Jupiter— or Adrianna— had come here before Team Galactic had been a thing. From the way he had looked compared to how he looked now, this must have been at least ten years ago. Jupiter had known him for that long? I couldn't confirm anything, but it seemed like she'd known him the longest among the Commanders. I tried placing a hand on the cave painting again, but nothing else happened. If I could see more… damn it. Honey let out a curious grunt, wondering what had happened.

"A vision of the past," I muttered. "Of what Cyrus is like. I think I just witnessed the official birth of Team Galactic…"

Because that was what this had been about, hadn't it? I already knew Cyrus' goal to end the world, but I hadn't known about his motivations. With the context I had after speaking about him to Roland Hunter, the picture was clear, now. He believed that something was wrong with the world, instead of something being wrong with him, and he was willing to do anything to get his way. Willpower and Knowledge, but not Emotion. He was an empty shell, driven by a purpose, knowledgable, but there was clearly something missing when you heard him talk. It was like seeing a puppet being strung along instead of an actual man speaking.

A question remained, however. Mars was in love with the man, Saturn… well, Saturn was extremely loyal to Team Galactic as an organization, from how much of a fanatic he was. Charon wanted his sister back at all costs, even if he had to destroy the world for it, but what did Jupiter want? The way she'd watched Cyrus drone on about committing omnicide like it had just been another day disturbed me as much as the other two Commanders did, if not more, because while I could parse through what they were like, she was a complete enigma. And even then, what kind of person followed a man threatening to kill you after years of knowing each other? Since it had been a vision, I hadn't been able to use my empathy to tell what she was really thinking.

"Cyrus owns Pokemon," I told Honey. "Six of them."

They'd been on his belt, during the vision. How powerful he was remained to be seen, though I figured he must have been strong to hold control of such a large organization. Maybe he had more, these days. This had been years ago, after all, though I couldn't do anything but estimate.

"Mesprit? Any help here?!" I hissed. "Are you just going to guide me here and say nothing afterward?!"

Communicating takes power, and I remain dormant. You have seen what was needed. The other Shards will not need to come… here…

The voice faded into the background, but I'd made out the important bits. I assumed that if Mira or the others came here, they'd see the same thing I saw— though upon reflection, I wasn't sure about Mira, given the fact that she hadn't touched her lake yet. I limped back toward the cave's exit and immediately reported what I'd seen, first to Cynthia, and then to the other Shards and Denzel. The Champion thanked me, saying that she'd suspected a reason like this, but knowing it in detail and straight from the source helped. Ailwin had been waiting for me at the bottom of the massive staircase, but I didn't stay long. I needed to be alone with my thoughts, and for that, I needed to be in the air.

I racked my brain the entire flight, and even asked Aliyah about it, but I couldn't find a motivation for Jupiter's actions. Was what she wanted just a New World? She didn't seem to think the current one was wrong, maybe just boring. Was that all she needed? To think that the world was boring? That sounded more like Mars than her, but then again, I didn't know her at all. There was just no way to figure it out with the information I had at my disposal.

By the time evening had come, I had made it to Solaceon.

---

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