The Delta Effect: Books 1 and 2 (Hoenn + Aurin; Sinnoh): From the Earth and Sky

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Welcome to my new, serially updated writing project. "The Phi Effect" is a post-apocalyptic and episodic Pokémon fanfiction featuring original characters and an independent alternate-universe plot. To be set across many regions of the Pokémon world, it poses a plausibly lore-friendly what-if scenario to a slightly different event from one of the games, and extrapolates that situation as far as humanly possible.

I'm keeping this rated PG (somewhat to my own dismay), notably with language. No goofy replacement words; I believe excessive profanity is a cover for a limited capacity for vocabulary (doesn't that sound smarter than "cussing is ffffing stupid"?). Currently the main character is 13 years old, but as she travels to different regions she'll age and my rating might bump up to PG-13 at the worst.

Also, please don't comment in this thread. I'm in Showdown chat sporadically, or you can PM me any time with feedback, suggestions, criticism, idle chitchat. If this thing turns out to be a big deal, there will be a discussion thread, but for now just keep it in those earlier methods.

Table of Contents

0.0.1: Provenance Tower (flashback)

1.0.1: The Giant of the Island (flashback)

1.1.1: Impact
1.1.2: Conflict
1.1.3: Escape

1.2.1: Terra Firma
1.2.2: Home
1.2.3: Emergence
1.2.4: Sanctuary
1.2.5: Voice of Hope

2.1.1: Across the Sea
2.1.2: Switch
2.1.3: Fault Line

2.2.1: Enlisted (Part 1)
2.2.2: Enlisted (Part 2)
2.2.3: Heist
2.2.4: Two Thousand Ghosts

2.3.1: A Long Road
2.3.2: (The Blank Space)
2.3.3: Refugees
2.3.4: Infiltrator
2.3.5: Teamwork
2.3.6: Numbers Game

2.4.1: Dragon Age
2.4.2: Celestial Underground
2.4.3: Broken Chain

2.5.1: Beginning of the End
2.5.2: The Best-Laid Plans
2.5.3: Plate Tectonics
2.5.4: Angles of Approach
2.5.5: The Moment of Truth (season finale)

6.X.X: The Close Beyond (flashforward)

Z.0.1: Reflection (on the Delta Effect in Hoenn, Aurin, and Sinnoh)


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Current news, updated after 2.5.5

It's done. After six and a half months of diligent weekly posts, the Delta Effect in Sinnoh is done. My pen is put down and my chair is leaned back.

I wasn't able to accomplish all that I set out to do, but I'm satisfied. The very final post (after the final chapter, that is) shows my own reflections on the project. Since it was, you know, a big deal for me. Over half a year I spent on this. As 2015 leaves and 2016 arrives, I dedicate my attention to my next projects after I read up on the literature posted by all the other fantastic writers here at LV, which were have been waiting for weeks if not months for my attention, lingering in ignored tabs in my browser. Some of these other projects of mine have been ignored for weeks and months as well, but that's all changing soon.

If or when the next 'book' of the series makes landfall, it will be in a new thread. It will still follow Alexa and probably her friends (I'm still on the fence about it), and will more diligently adhere to my initial goals and my latter experience and quality.

It's been quite the experience. Whether you followed from the beginning or binge-read it near the end, or even just took in one chapter on a rainy afternoon, thank you. I want to say more, but that's the heart of it: thank you.

 

1.1.1​

Impact​

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In nearby world, a dragon fell to a Champion.​

The Serpent grows restless.​

Early Autumn, 2004

A thirteen-year-old Agnes Muntoro peered excitedly through the Hoenn Weather Institute's Horizon Telescope, excitedly scanning the visible sky from Mount Chimney to the right all the way to the Shoal Islands Mountains to the left bound of the scope's range.

"Thank you for letting me use this telescope Dr. Matteo". She said, smiling at the professor has her pupils unevenly re-dilated to the room's lighting.

"Of course," The relatively young and unexpectedly cheery scientist replied. "I'm always glad to let a youngster learn a little more about what we do here. And you know what?" He leaned in a little bit and whispered. "If you swing back around here in a few weeks, I might -- no promises here -- but I might be able to lose track of a special new Pokémon we found here. One that can transform with the weather!"

Agnes' jaw dropped and her eyes went wide. She was, quite literally, speechless.

"I'm glad you think that way!" Matteo laughed. "I mean, it's not like--"

"Dr. Matteo, what's that?" Agnes pointed through the wall-sized window to the south. She just witnessed a white-purple flash of light and from that flash emerge a burning streak crawling its way nearer from the southern sky. Someone behind them gasped, although she thought they were the only ones on the observation floor.

Matteo worriedly pondered what it was. Of course it appeared to be a meteor, but the Mossdeep Space Observation Facility would have detected any incoming projectile months if not years in advance. "I don't know." He said quite flatly. "But I'm sure it's nothing major. It should be gone from the sky by tomorrow." Which it may very well be if it is on a collision course with the planet.

The young trainer didn't believe him for a second, but could see by his sudden change of demeanor that the man was having hard enough of a time dealing with this on his own, let alone worrying about himself and a child.

"I'll just go now." Agnes hopped off the telescope's viewer's chair and showed herself to the stairwell that would lead her out.

"Agnes?" Dr. Matteo called just before she stepped into the stairwell. She looked to him but said nothing. "Stop by here again some time. To let us know you're all right."

She nodded solemnly and continued downstairs to leave.

---

The entire town of Fortree seemed to be gathered outside their homes and looking at the southern sky. Not that there was much of an inside anywhere, but every place of commerce or service had a "closed" sign hanging over its doorway. Agnes wandered through town, and all the usual excitement was hushed. The clamor of bartering in shops was gone, no music was played, even the many Bug Pokémon normally buzzing behind all the other noises had simply ceased. The silence was deafening, and Agnes wanted someone to walk with her.

"Damascus, come on out." She said, releasing the Torkoal she met in the Fiery Path out of its Pokéball. Damascus, normally sassy and strutting about in his own way, now seemed crestfallen and weary. What is happening around here? Agnes asked herself.

They made their way over deserted bridges and crowded balconies to the town gym, which was closed, surprisingly. Nothing elaborate, just a simple "closed" sign hanging in the middle of the door. Strange, considering Pokémon Gyms are typically open and at least partially staffed 24/7. She pressed her face to the glass to peer inside, but it was dark. She tried to pull the automatic door open, but it was locked. With no path forward, she turned back and went to find the local Pokémon Center. Hopefully it was still open and offering boarding.

No such luck. Even the Pokécenter was closed, despite this event having only been apparent for a few hours. A similar sign hung over the door, but again Agnes tried to pull the door open. This time it worked, so she and Damascus were able to enter the empty building.

Once inside, she vaulted over the counter and helped herself to the Center's automatic healing machines before letting herself into the deserted Girls' Boarding section (but not before sneaking to the Boys' section to satisfy her curiosity thereof, only to be disappointed to find it to be a mirror image of the girls' section, with even the color of the furniture the same).

Although it was only mid-evening, Agnes got ready to stay the night in the provided area. She fed a vending machine some money for a snack, of which she ate only half due to the strange sense of bad omen shrinking her appetite, and tucked herself into the bed farthest the entrance. Damascus lowered himself to the floor bedside, shedding his easy light, but still it took Agnes what seemed like hours to fall asleep.

--

Agnes woke in the early hour of the morning when the western sky is an unknown color between blue and black, before even the first low-frequency colors appeared on the other side of the horizon. Fully awake but not feeling the benefits of rest, she grabbed another meal and headed out, but not before switching her Pokémon. She had a feeling it might be a long time before she would be able to use the Pokémon Storage Vault again. Knowing she could get banned from the Pokémon League Registration for doing so, she hacked her own account and accessed Pokémon that were region-locked away from her, probably stored electronically in a Silph Co. computer server center somewhere.

When she stepped outside on that supremely clear morning, Agnes was greeted by the sight of the line in the sky having grown many times in size. Now an almost-visible meteor headed the fiery streak. She felt no fear though, but maybe a dull sense of defeatism that told her not to worry. After all, if there was anything that could be done about it, then even that was surely beyond her reach.

She continued to the east side of Fortree to follow Route H120 down toward Mt. Pyre on foot. She could hardly keep her attention on the road and away from the line in the sky. It seemed that this apparent meteor was growing visibly larger somehow, like the very gradual change of an incoming tide.

By the time she was officially on Route H120, the sun had risen on the horizon between the Shoal mountains and what could be seen of Ever Grande, painting that entire half of the sky with every color of the visible spectrum. The beauty of the sight did not calm the anxiety in Agnes' mind or relieve the tension in her chest.

A pride of three dozen or more Absol dashed northward along the path and into the woods. Two of their number stopped and stared at Agnes, then kept on their rapid migration or desperate flight.

She glanced to the south in the direction of the incoming meteor and saw a small island in a nearby lake. This must be the Scorched Slab. She thought. Now is as good a time as any to be underground. It was the first time she fully admitted to herself that this line in the sky could pose a real danger to her well being. She ferried herself across the lake on her big brother's traded Milotic, and found a cave entrance on the south side.

As she stood in the first archway to the cave, Agnes looked back to the sky. A moment before she turned to enter, a green streak of light emerged from the horizon near what was probably Sky Pillar, and followed a mostly straight path to the meteor. Constant and unchanging, it eventually seemed to visually collide with the meteor, and...

Nothing. No sudden change mid-flight or on contact. The fiery line continued its steady approach, and Agnes turned slowly to enter the scorched Slab.

The interior was much smaller than she anticipated: Just a small pool of rainwater and a wide, flat platform on the opposite side. After exploring the cave for just a few minutes (for there wasn't much to explore), Agnes chose to exit the cave and examine the line in the sky once more, checking on it like a festering wound. She didn't even make it to the entrance before she heard the loudest sound of her life.

The sound was so intense its shockwave literally knocked Agnes to the ground. Soon after that, a sudden earthquake shook the ground so hard that the pond inside the cavern splashed itself across the entire floor, then disappeared down a fault that ripped itself open through the ground. Chunks of the earthen ceiling began to fall and Agnes, completely deaf at this point, ran outside only to see an enormous tsunami wave ripping its way to her from the ocean, undoubtedly destroying all in its path. In the few seconds she had, she ducked back into the Scorched Slab cave followed closely by a rushing torrent of cold seawater tangled with Tentacool. The in-flow swept her up and the out-flow pulled her back out and into the Route H120 lake.

As she pulled herself ashore onto the Scorched Slab, Agnes took a slow-motion moment to absorb her surroundings. All around her were felled trees and wreckage of human constructions. Automobiles, billboards, walls of houses, all torn up by the impact and tsunami and spread all across the Middle Hoenn Forest. To the south was an enormous cloud of steam where the heat of meteor impact hit the sea. To the east, Mount Chimney seems to have spilled down its northern side, probably consuming Fallarbor and Meteor Falls.

She was in a state of sensory and mental overload, trying to process these events. Agnes sat on the shore of Scorched Slab island, eyes stinging from seawater and ears ringing from the sound of impact, unable to accurately respond to what happened.

Sunrise passed and the sky was a peaceful blue before her hearing returned. Then she stood up, and began a path back to the Weather Institute, still wrapped in shock.

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Spoiler

Woohoo for my first chapter! Sorry about the repeated line breaks signifying the passage of time. It would be boring if I enunciated every here-to-there travel, and unrealistic if I implied it takes only five minutes on foot to travel from one side of a major city to the other side. As far as I can think, this was the best way to handle it. Also the general lack of dialogue. That dies with this chapter as well, but these are the things that happen when you're in the wilderness alone.

Spoiler

Since we're on topic, I'll have little footnotes spoilered at the end of each chapter for things I think are worth sharingbut don't belong in the post itself.

Such as the Pokécenters. I think it's worth sharing my two cents on the reality of those facilities. I find it hard to believe kids like the player character in the games are camping out in the wilderness or in caves literally every night, so my reasoning is that Pokécenters offer boarding as a free (or paid by some kind of dues) service to wandering trainers. You know, so these ten-year-old kids don't have to forage for their next meals and pitch a tent every single night whilst trying to avoid hypothermia and wild animal attacks. It seems like a necessary service in my perspective.

 

1.1.2​

Conflict​

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And so the Xenozoic one came to us.​

The Hawk grows hungry.​

The route back to Fortree was quiet. No birds or bugs chirped in what was left of the forest, no children shouted in their small wars, and no trainers stood idly by on the road with eager eyes waiting to challenge Agnes to a battle.

The wind was uneasy. Restlessly blowing stiff branches, it created only a vague semblance of life.

Agnes was quickly growing tired of climbing over felled trees on her way back to the Weather Institute. Uprooted timbers numbering in the tens of thousands laying upon one another simply could not be walked around, and the obstacle on its own was not easily passable, for many branches remained intact and some logs remained to be settled onto the soggy ground.

Eventually the Weather Institute was in sight, and in one piece despite the calamity. Agnes wondered briefly if she somehow missed Fortree City before realizing that the arboreal town had been completely uprooted and had simply become another unrecognizable pile of trees marginally more dense in human property wreckage.

That's all it is now. What was once a thriving center of ancient culture populous enough to warrant its own Pokémon Gym is now a pile of fresh lumber and destroyed furniture.

The Weather Institute was less harshly effected. The building still stood, although every one of its front, south-facing windows and doors was knocked out, and the surrounding terrain was littered with busted computers and desks and strewn with soggy paper.

Agnes carefully stepped through the knocked-out glass doorway. Pine needles and tree branches covered the floor and a woody fragrance covered the sterile lack of a smell from when the building was occupied and used as recently as the previous day. She called out "Hello?" and "Doctor Matteo?" alternatingly as she made her way to the top floor where she had met the meteorologist the previous day.

She got no response other than the trickling of water either from the tsunami's leftovers or from busted plumbing. Despite the grim circumstances, she briefly laughed at noticing a "Slateport Seafood Shop & Slurp" flag this far away from its home. Eventually the tragedy of the misplacement sank in, and Agnes looked out the same (paneless) window from which she first saw the meteor appear. A pillar of black smoke arose from where she assumed Mauville City to be. Formerly, perhaps.

Some hours later, in the afternoon of the day that would come to be known as the Day of Devastation, Agnes reached the remains of Mauville City. Contrary to the eerie silence of Fortree and Routes H119 and H118, the city had the sound and smell of a warzone. Smoke rose in pillars, people shouted and clamored as they either gathered their possessions or looted any building still standing, the difference being unrecognizable. It was here that Agnes felt her first sense of panic since the Scorched Slab was flooded with tsunami water.

She didn't run at first, but her pace did quicken from her nigh-hopeless wander southward. Halfway through the city she spotted a grocery store that had one entire wall crumbled and a ceiling in danger of collapsing. People and strong-backed Pokémon under order from their trainers took what they could carry and lifted anything they could from the establishment. She stared for a short while, not sure what to make of the moral implications of what was happening.

"Why are you just standing around?" A young adult woman carrying bags of canned food and bottled water asked her, mostly out of breath. "The city's about to collapse! New Mauville went critical and it's about to take the entire undercity with it!"

"But, the things they're taking, isn't it wrong--"

"Nobody's going to care! Either we all take what's in there or it gets burned when it falls into New Mauville!" The woman didn't try to hide her desperation. "For Giratina's sake. Breloom!" She commanded her accompanying Pokémon. "Give the girl what you grabbed. We're getting out of here." She turned in the direction of Route H118. "And you should too."

Agnes was left holding a bag of stolen energy drinks and canned pasta, and before she could contemplate what happened, she felt a rumbling in the road and smelled a new and pungent odor in the air. A crack opened in the ground near the grocery store, and the shock of the split caused the store's ceiling to collapse. With the impact, the entire building fell into the underground New Mauville. Harsh metallic and foul plastic smells assaulted her nostrils, but Agnes turned to sprint away from the spreading sinkhole and its emerging flames.

She didn't feel safe until her feet hit the natural earth of Route H110, leading to Slateport City. Natural earth meant she was no longer above the underground powerplant, and no longer in danger of falling into a burning sinkhole. On the southward landbridge though, a biker gang had taken the opportunity to embrace a life of crime. They parked their bikes two deep and with only enough space between for one person to walk between at a time. Flanked by several Cacturne and Crawdaunt, they appeared to be demanding payment for using the road.

Agnes pushed her way through the line quite easily, as nobody was in much of a hurry to get robbed. "What do you think you're doing! We're in the middle of a disaster, and all you can think to do is rob these people?" She tried to shout some sense into the gangsters.

"We've been living in a disaster all our lives!" A young man in a denim vest said on behalf of the gang before he was hushed by a woman dressed in head to toe leather and dark makeup.

"For years we've been scraping to get by, living with almost nothing." The woman said. "Now the playing field's leveled. Now we're the most fit to survive. We're going to prove it by taking what we want."

"We need to work together if we're going to survive whatever is happening!" Agnes was annoyed by her own young voice's contrast to the more developed voice of the woman leading the gang. Nobody would likely take her seriously. Before she knew it, the gang's various Dark-typed Pokémon were closing in on her slowly.

"No." The gang boss said. "Listen, kitten. This is what we're going to do to survive. You're going to get out of our way, or" she trailed for a moment. "we're going to make you get out of our way." She tossed forward two Dusk Balls, out from which emerged a Sableye and a Mawile.

"Easily done!" Agnes sent out two of the Pokémon she hacked from her overseas account, Volcarona and Pangoro. "Phaeton! Wudang! Get ready you two!"

"You got this, Beat!" Some of the other gangsters cheered on their boss.

"It's not too late to back down." Agnes warned her opponent, more out of mercy than ego.

"Ha! You think you're all that! All right you two, time to smash the bug! Crunch and Power Gem!"

"Wudang, Circle Throw the Mawile! Phaeton, trap it with Fire Spin!"

The burly Pangoro intercepted the Power Gem attack and grabbed the comparatively small Mawile with both hands and overhead threw it clear across the strait to a small island, where if it wasn't trapped already, the fire spin would soon ensure that it was. The little Mawile screamed in frustration as its energy for fighting gradually diminished to nothing.

Gang Boss Beat scowled. "You're not worth taking one-on-one." She re-absorbed Mawile into its Pokéball from a distance. "All right boys, let's get her!" Each of the four bikers behind her tossed forward another Pokéball.

Behind Agnes, some bystanders began urging everyone to step back some. Truly, Agnes would have appreciated assistance more than an expanded battlefield. Not one for micromanaging an entire team on a battlefield, Agnes only let one more of her Pokémon out to join the fight. "Orlov, it's your turn!" She let Carbink emerge to join the fight.

Wudang took out half of the remaining Pokémon on its own easily, Storm Throwing and Brick Breaking any who dared get in its way. Orlov and Phaeton took down the other half together, but Phaeton didn't make it through the battle conscious. Still, by the end, Agnes had at her flanks a mighty Pangoro ready to bash more heads, and a somehow fierce-looking Carbink with its own private asteroid belt ready to shoot down anyone who stepped out of line.

It was a heart-pounding experience for Agnes, winning what was essentially a 3-on-6 no-tag battle. "Here's what's going to happen. You're dropping everything everything you stole. All of it." The gangsters stood dumbfounded still at the thought of taking orders from a little girl. "Drop it!" Again she cursed her young, non-intimidating voice. Regardless, the gangsters unhooked every stolen backpack and grocery bag they had strapped to their motorbikes. Perhaps the growling Pangoro had something to do with it.

"That's what I like to see." Agnes felt a little bit of a power trip rising in her mind, but she suppressed the idea. "Single-file, line up on the edge of the bridge. Hands by your sides."

Reluctantly they followed suit. As Agnes was addressing the Mauville refugees, Beat brandished a chain she was using as a decorative belt and charged Agnes.

Fortunately, Carbink intervened with a Reflect barrier and caged the gang boss in an invisible box. After glaring at her potential assailant, Agnes informed her "Orlov knows Stone Edge."

Beat's expression turned to a realization of fear before she dropped her chain with resignation and sat herself on the floor of her box.

One deep breath later and Agnes addressed her crowd again. "Go calmly through here. If you recognize something that belongs to somebody you know, take it. If you have nothing, stay behind and we'll spread it out."

Ten minutes later the crowd of refugees had dispersed and the stolen property was redistributed. Many gave thanks and compliments to Agnes, wished her well in her life and assured her that she was destined for greatness. She didn't say more than two words back to any of them. She gave one last glance to Beat, who seemed to feel some combination of shame and rage, before she resumed her own path south. The Reflect cage would wear off in time.

Halfway along the land bridge to Slateport City, she stopped to glance at the smoky remains of Mauville City and the entrance to New Mauville. Smoke flooded up and out from the cave-like passageway and, without warning, a fiery explosion tore its way out from the power plant, followed by surprised screams from several dozen other refugees heading south, and a thunderous rumble from Mauville City, whose visible skyline crumbled from view. She was dragged back into the realization the world was changing, and fear was working its way into Agnes' heart with every new calamity.

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Spoiler

Picking up the pace a little bit here, and I'm hoping it didn't come off as too road-mappy for the first half of this. I'm not sure if the battle sequence went as well as it could, but given its chaotic nature it would be wonky to orchestrate it entirely. Wrapping up with the immediate effects of the calamity, and it's only a matter of time before we see some new long-term characters, and with that, good opportunities for character development. So that's nice too. Less geography, more human interaction.

 

(ZS afterthought: This chapter turned out to be mostly filler. It gets better in the next, so go ahead and skip to 1.2.1 if you feel like it. I'll make an update note when I decide to demolish and rebuild this chapter later.)

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1.1.3​

Escape​

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From the sea, disaster. To the sea, refuge.​

The Stag grows weary.​

It was early evening when Agnes arrived in Slateport, hardly recognizable through the wreckage. Only the Nautical Museum and the shoreline beacon still stood: everything else was mud and ruin. Support groups from around the world already arrived with tents and helicopters. Near where the dock used to be, a crowd of at least two thousand people gathered, perhaps more beyond them.

The sounds of anger and pushing emerged from the throng of refugees waiting to get out. Over the fury and crying, someone with a Kalos accent spoke over a megaphone, trying to give orders to remain calm and to explain that the ships moored for refugees would only be able to take about a tenth of them even if they were each holding many times their capacity. Agnes stood back from the crowd to avoid a potential stampede trample. Her eyes grew wet from seeing so many people suffering.

"Where are her parents?" A concerned motherly voice whispered loudly behind her.

"Probably nowhere to be found." A mature but high male voice replied to the first voice. Whoever they were talking about was just another story weighing itself upon Agnes' heart.

"Little girl, where are your parents?" The motherly-voiced person said as she put a hand on Agnes' shoulder. Still shaken by the danger of the day, Agnes reflexively twisted away from the touch and grabbed a loaded Pokéball from its holster.

"We're not going to hurt you." The high-voiced man said. "Oh, you're crying. Can we help? Are you looking for someone?" The man spun in a circle, looking around as if he could recognize the parents of this girl he had never met before.

"I'm not looking for anyone. I'm okay on my own." The wetness of Agnes' eyes involuntarily overflowed to a single tear to work its way down her dusty cheek. She holstered her Pokéball and turned back to the crowd.

Again the woman grabbed Agnes' shoulder, and again she twisted away. "It's okay, you will be safe with us." The woman didn't seem to be hiding anything, but Agnes was firm in her self-sufficiency.

Agnes was more angry than sad now. "I said I'm okay. Go take care of yourselves."

Once more the woman reached out to the little girl before her, hoping to break through what she thought was a false front of bravery.

"I said leave me alone!" Agnes shouted, drawing attention to herself and adding to the clamor of the place.

"There you are, I've been looking all over for you!" From the corner of Agnes' eye she saw someone approaching. A young adult woman with a similar skintone and hair color to herself, as well as enough similar facial features to look like they come from the same homeland.

"Just who do you think you are?" The first woman asked accusatively to the newcomer.

"Why, I'm her sister." Her voice sounded like she was smiling, although Agnes still glared at the older woman, her chosen adversary for this engagement. "I've been looking for her since this morning, isn't that right, kiddo?"

Agnes sniffed to regain her composure and her breath. "Yeah, thanks for meeting me here. You were right, it was a good idea to have a meeting place." She stared down the first woman still.

"Told you so." The older girl's voice still smiled. "You can go now, I've got her safe."

The woman glanced back and forth doubtfully between Agnes and her 'sister' before bidding the two safe travels and pulling her companion with her toward the crowded boats.

"Thanks for..." Agnes looked behind for her lookalike, who was already walking away. "Wait! Are you evacuating?" She asked. "Are you going to --"

"The same place as you? No." She said flatly, her voice no longer smiling. "You don't owe me anything, and I don't owe you anything. You're on your own. Good luck." And with that, she blended in to an incoming crowd from the north.

Again Agnes was alone, but this time no worse off, truth be told. It was reassuring, although only briefly, to see someone who might be going to a home in the same direction as her own.

This sense of aloneness permeated her thoughts as she wandered her way weaving between tents offering medical treatment or food rations or blankets.

"Agnes, is that you?" An old man said from behind her.

For a moment Agnes was afraid of a similar situation to the one earlier replaying itself. "Mister Briney!" Agnes ran to the man and hugged him tightly, even though she felt they weren't at that level of closeness in normal circumstances.

"Dear girl, I hoped to find someone like you. Have you seen any of the others?" Mr. Briney asked, referring to a group of half a dozen or so other young trainers that she was temporarily traveling with last he saw her.

Agnes shook her head no. The thought of more people she knew by name having faced an unknown fate brought the wetness of her eyes to tears, the first real emotional flow so far since this all started.

Briney patted the girl's head as she still hugged him. "I've been here most of the day and I haven't seen them. They must have gone another way." He said, then he took the girl's hand. "Follow me."

He led the girl to the southwest part of Slateport, formerly a private beach with no room for docks, so the area was mostly deserted. Once Mr. Briney's feet were wet by the lapping tide, he whistled a long and high tune. Out from the ocean emerged a Wailmer that promptly beached itself on the shore. Briney climbed up to the Pokémon's back, and Agnes followed suit.

The Wailmer pushed itself back into the water and ferried the sailor and the trainer around the Petalburg peninsula and to Briney Pier on the south side of the forest. There, another ten or so trainers were gathered, looking tired. Some had their toughest-looking Pokémon out of their ball, apparently standing guard from anyone looking to ransack Briney's available transportation.

As the duo disembarked the Wailmer, one teenage trainer said to Briney "welcome back." Nothing was said to Agnes.

"Grab your bags, everybody. We're heading out now." Briney said, sounding older and more tired than ever. He started to step onto his small boat from the pier before turning back and re-counting the crowd of young trainers, mouthing the numbers as he went. "We're missing two. What happened?"

"They decided it would be better to just take your boat and leave you or all of us behind." The same teenager as before said. "We convinced them otherwise. Can you guess the culprits?"

Briney sighed. "It's probably best they're gone then. They would only harm our efforts later." The old man breathed deeply and crossed over to his boat. "I'm glad you all made it here. You are all responsible and skilled young people, and I have no doubt you will all continue to do good things in the world. Remain calm. Believe in your strengths." He closed his eyes momentarily. "One at a time, board when your name is called. Martin..." He called each of the other young trainers one at a time, Agnes last. By the time she boarded, the small vessel was packed tighter than was safe.

The boat's engine started on the first stroke, but took a long minute to get moving with any notable speed. "And away we go..." Briney's spoke his trademark phrase he would say any time he took his boat anywhere. Only now his youthful enthusiasm was replaced by a forlorn weariness. "First stop is Sunyshore, followed by Coumarine. Beyond that, we'll decide as we go."

Agnes seated herself on the low wall of the rear portion of the boat. Normally the smell of salt and feel of wind would soothe her, but dread overcame her every thought.

ΖΣ

Spoiler

And that concludes Part 1 of the prologue! I didn't realize how short this part was back when I wrote it, but I don't see the point in adding fluff just for the sake of having consistent chapter lengths. I may add substance to this part down the line though, maybe for when a future character will be all "Hey, I remember you! You were on Briney's boat when we were leaving Hoenn. That was so long ago, it's good to see you again." Retroactive tweaking can appear to be expert foresight in some circumstances. Such as not stating that it is just retroactive editing. Oh well.

This also marks the end of my rapid posting for the beginning, as well as the story's end of the beginning, but not the beginning of the end, which hasn't even yet begun. Or something. From here on out I'm going once weekly, so stay tuned for more.

 

1.2.1

Terra Firma​

Aurin, a sub-tropical region several seas and mountain ranges to the east of Orre and an ocean across from Unova. Global wind patterns keep the region dry apart from a savannah in its east and a river-fed jungle in its west. In its arid, dusty center waits one of the oldest continually-inhabited cities in the world, the shining diamond of Palladi City.

Auri explorers were the first to circumnavigate the globe, and since that era many centuries ago, the region has been a global trading hub. Anything made, mined, grown, or harvested in one continent and shipped to another made a stop on one of Aurin's many port cities. This economic magnetism led Aurin to become an unstoppable force of growth and prosperity, leading the world in the arts and sciences. Even today its economic strength puts the rest of the world into some strange combination of jealousy, awe, and abashed disgust.

This is Agnes' home region. She left home over a year ago to travel several foreign regions of the world, most recently Hoenn, in a quest to become a self-taught Pokémon master.Her original plan was to return home several months in the future, likely in winter or spring after she ranked at least semifinalist in the Ever Grande Tournament. Sometimes things change.

---

"I wish we could have gotten you here faster." Mr. Briney said, tired from his long final stretch of relocating the last of the trainers under his watch back to her homeland. It was a long journey across seas and an ocean, with stops at ten other regions since Hoenn. "Are you sure you can go the rest of the way on your own?"

"Yeah, I can walk the rest of the way in a day." Agnes replied to the old man. "Thank you again for helping all of us."

"It's not like I could have said no." Mr. Briney reluctantly took the gratitude while not flaunting his helpful personality. "Stay safe, Agnes."

The young trainer hugged the captain as she bid him safe travel. After she stepped off the pier and onto dry land, Mr. Briney pulled his boat away for a long journey, perhaps all the way back to Hoenn.

It was a cool autumn night in the arid port town of Cuprish on the north coast of Aurin region. The town was mostly unaffected by the meteor other than some minor tsunami wave damage. Most shoreline structures had been knocked down and some boats were tossed up onto the mainland quite a distance in, but most of the town was still standing. For the past several thousand years Cuprish had been an intercontinental trading town, and even in the nights the sound of bartering never subsided below a dull roar. This was probably the first time in centuries at least that the ribbits of Croagunk and cawing of Slowpoke could be heard from downtown.

Agnes stopped by a discarded but still-powered radio on the front porch of someone's boarded-up house. It played an AM news station, and Agnes listened in hopes of finding what was happening in other regions.

... the Acting Governor of Hoenn is requesting aid and refuge for her citizens in this time of great need. In a Lilycove City town hall meeting, she told correspondents not to send money or holy books, but instead non-perishable food, new or gently-used blankets...

She changed the radio to several other stations, but they were all reporting only on Hoenn, not the status of the rest of the world. She continued on her way and some timespan of walking later Agnes was at the city limits of Cuprish and was passed by a truck loaded with a dozen or so Auris in the back. It kept driving past her for several seconds, but then stopped. A man leaned out of the passenger side window and shouted to Agnes.

"You, girl, where are you headed?"

It was a strange sight. Aurin was a wealthy region with resources and prosperity abound, so why were people being shuttled between cities in the back of a farm vehicle?

The man went on without getting a response. "We're going to Palladi. It's crowded in back, but climb aboard if you want a lift."

Agnes increased her pace to the truck and called out a "thank you" to the man, and another to the rear passengers who made space for her.

"Where did you just come here from?" A boy about Agnes' age asked the newcomer as the truck began moving once again. He had a swollen bump on his forehead complete with what looked like a freshly closed gash in the same place. Agnes couldn't help but stare. "Oh, this? Yeah, I was on the beach when the tsunami came. A boat rode the wave and hit me something good, but you know, it takes more than that to take me down." He smiled arrogantly. "Most people were asleep in bed, but I was out and I was closer to the disaster than most people."

"I just came from Hoenn." Agnes whispered emotionlessly.

"You were?" The boy asked. Most of the other passengers went slightly wide-eyed at the girl's quiet announcement. "What was it like?" the boy asked excitedly, grinning with anticipation.

Agnes was confused at his reaction to the disaster, as if it was just something to be seen in a movie. "The ground shook and broke, eating entire cities. The tsunami washed over the whole region, taking entire forests with it." She tried for a moment to collect her words. "Fortree City doesn't exist any more. I was near there, and I'm still feel salty from the wave. Mauville is a smoking pit of rubble." She stopped talking about it then, because the reminiscing was bringing back the experiences of the hardship.

After a short time of silence, the boy spoke up again. "Yeah right, if all that happened and you were there, you wouldn't be alive to--" A woman beside the boy smacked him in the back of the head.

"You're strong to have made it through all that. You have my admiration." The boy's presumed mother said to Agnes.

She had nothing to say in return, however. Much of the ride back was quiet other than a staticy radio gradually clearing as the truck drew closer to Palladi.

---

Around sunrise, Agnes woke to the sound of mechanical banging and angry words being thrown at the truck. She didn't know when she fell asleep, or where they currently were, but those questions were minor compared to all the other uncertainties of the time. Still, there was something in her restless dream that intrigued her, though fading by the second. She was in the desert and a lion approached her, speaking to her in real words. Then something with a leafy fairy. Did those two discuss something with her, or did they argue?

Her mind was drawn back to the situation at hand as she heard a heated discussion growing nearby. "I told you we should have replaced it months ago." Said the passenger who invited her into the truck said near the engine compartment of the vehicle. "I told you it would break down at the worst possible moment if we didn't, and look at where we are."

"I know, I know!" Another male voice said near the head of the vehicle. One of them was banging on something with a thin metallic item, probably the handle of a wrench or ratchet, unlikely to help the situation. "If I knew you meant the worst possible time was an global crisis and not just a hot day, then of course I would have done something about it!"

Agnes looked around. Most of the other passengers were either sitting up sleeping uncomfortably, or rubbing their eyes and wondering the same questions she was asking herself. As she looked about to distract herself from the bickering over automotive repairs, she looked around the vehicle and recognized their location. They were in Silec, Agnes' hometown. An unfamiliar part of a city she hadn't seen in almost two years, but still it was near her parents' home.

As she was pondering whether or not to go off on her own, the truck's driver came around to the back with an announcement. "I'm sorry, folks. Head gasket's busted, so this vehicle isn't going anywhere. We're still a ways from Palladi, but you're free to make your way there on your own. I'm sorry this is all we could do for you."

Most of the other passengers were waking up for the announcement as Agnes settled on her decision. She stood in the rear bed of the truck and looked for a familiar street sign, and saw the most recognizable name one intersection back. She hopped off the back of the truck and thanked the driver and the passenger who invited her onboard, then was on her way.

"Little girl," The driver called out to her when she was seen heading away from the direction they were driving. "Palladi's this way."

"I know." She replied. "I'm just going home." And with that, she went on her way without any further explanation.

ΖΣ

Spoiler

So I understand that fan-made regions can be a real drag if they aren't fully thought out, but I'm trying to be an exception. Other than city names (which could be knocked out in an afternoon if I wanted), and placing wild Pokémon species, I have enough substance to make an actual romhack type game in this region if I needed to. Gyms, original species, evil team, legendary theme and plot, culture, all that good stuff. Honestly though, we won't be spending much time here, and once we leave it's smooth-sailing through official regions we all should recognize.

Also, I was thinking of calling this chapter "Sh*t's about to get real", but that might be too straightforward. I kind of want to just post the next couple of chapters right now just to get that hook out there, but it's best if I stick to my weekly model.

 

1.2.2

Home​

The streets of Silec were surprisingly empty for being untouched by the disaster. No cars driving, few parked along streets or in driveways. Shops were locked and boarded up as if a storm was coming. The city was unharmed but entirely dead. Agnes made her way through these deserted streets as well as if she had never left her hometown, but was still wrapped in the nostalgia of seeing her favorite shops, restaurants, and hangouts fitted with new signs and coats of paint, and a passing sadness for some others that were replaced entirely in the recent years, reminding her yet again of the temporary nature of all things.

It was mid-morning by the time Agnes reached her home. An ultramodern but somewhat small house in a well-off neighborhood, lush with well-kept greenery despite the desert ground and heat. Flooded with mostly happy memories of her younger youth, she approached the front door put her right hand on the knob, hoping its scanner would still accept her after such a long time away. A recording of a Chimecho's call informed her she was accepted. The door unlocked and opened itself, letting Agnes in to its cool and clean interior. The door closed, latched, and audibly locked itself behind her.

Not much had changed in the past year and a half other than some minor rearranging of the family room and dining room. The interior was as almost hospital clean, and an outdated family portrait hung near the doorway. Agnes with Carbink clutched to her chest and wearing a lost-tooth smile for the painter, her brother still in regular contact with the family. Her parents just as she remembered them, having not aged at all between that picture day and their last videophone call.

After this look to the past, Agnes went upstairs to find her bedroom entirely untouched but dusty, and was embarrassed to find how she had outgrown some of her decorations that her younger self appreciated at the time. A dozen or so plush dolls like Jigglypuff, Clefairy, and Togepi crowded at the foot end of her bed. She picked up a Marill as she sat down and sunk into the overly soft mattress. Brushing its ear with her thumb she was torn between her two-years-ago self being a girl living as a little princess, and her current self growing into a strong young woman more comfortable on an outdoor bedroll and accompanied by her fighting Pokémon friends than on a fluffy mattress surrounded by stuffed doll friends. She admitted to herself that some of this was a sense of jadedness from the troubles lately, but the years did change her. For the better, she hoped.

Deciding it was best to move on with her day, she sought out fresh clothes and found she had outgrown all of that like she did her decorations. Left with only what she was wearing and was in her backpack, she went to the water room to wash what clothes she had and take a bath for the first time in over a week.

The churning noise of the laundry washer was comforting and the bathwater was soothing, providing relief for the aches in her back and legs, but did nothing for the sense of loss and abandonment festering under the nostalgia of so many returning memories. In the quiet of the house and ease of not having to walk, only now did it occur to her that all of her parents vehicles were gone and they themselves were nowhere to be found. Initially she attributed that to the hour of day and day of the week, but now it seemed eerie at the least.

Her bath was shorter than it would have been last time she was home several years ago, before her time of living with little comfort, adventuring in the wilds. When she got out to check on her cleaned laundry, she heard a stepping in the house. She put on her clean and dry clothes, and shut off the water room light.

Breathing quieter to better hear the faint sounds, she traced the sounds of footsteps from the front door to the kitchen, then almost immediately to the guest room. The footsteps stopped there for a few minutes before heading back to the main door, but not before stopping at Agnes' own bedroom door. I left it open! It probably hasn't been opened for months at least, maybe years!

Agnes pulled one Pokéball off her holster sitting on the laundry machine and quietly let out her Carbink. "We're back home, Orlov." She whispered. "And something else is here too. Get your asteroid belt ready."

"Carb". The Pokémon replied as it put some of its diamonds into orbit around itself, some glittering against Carbink's own faint glow.

Agnes mouthed a countdown in the dark, and at zero she burst open the door with Orlov right behind her. The girl held a mock martial pose with her right fist drawn back and her left hand in front for a grapple or block; the Carbink extended its asteroid belt into a one-meter oblong shape for slingshotting diamonds, revolving its belt at at least 100 rpm.

"What are you doing in my room! Who are you!" She shouted angrily at the intruder. He was a boy about her age, dressed neatly in dark colors and intellectual glasses. He didn't look like a native Auri with his pale complexion and dark hair.

He was startled by the sudden outburst. "I don't know! The door was open, and I've never seen it open before!" His desperate replies were on the cusp of crying.

"Who are you!"

"I'm Ren!" The boy shouted somehow meekly. "I live here with my host parents while I'm studying abroad!" He turned his head away as if to not take an incoming attack straight to his face. A few seconds later, he turned back to the crazy girl threatening him. "Wait, are you Agnes?"

Agnes re-adjusted her martial arts pose to a more threatening posture. "How do you know my name?" She lowered the volume and speed of her speech despite her wariness of the boy.

"Like I said," the boy repeated. "I live here with my host parents. They're your parents, right? They're just letting me live here while I study at the academy."

Agnes lowered her arms somewhat. Her parents never told her that they were taking in a foreign exchange student while she was away training on her own. Why not? Did they think she would protest against it? That she would think they were trying to replace her? "Then why didn't you leave when they did?"

The boy had regained some of his composure. "When the disaster struck, the exchange agency informed me they would come to take me back home. Your parents went to the Palladi Sanctuary with pretty much everyone else once the evacuation order was given. I've just been waiting for the people at the exchange to come back for me." He said. "They're long overdue."

Agnes put down her arms and Orlov shrunk and slowed its orbit. She stepped close to and past this 'Ren' boy and slammed her door shut with both of them still in the hall. She scowled and walked to the kitchen. On the way, she caught a glimpse of the interior of the guest room. It was decorated vastly differently, as if there was now a permanent resident living there, as opposed to the flat paint and bare walls that had been there before.

"Your parents left something for you." Ren said, following her. "In the safe behind your drawing in the den. They told me you would know the combination."

Agnes glared angrily back at the boy, wondering how many secrets he new about her and her home. She led the way to the family room and found the wall where a large crayon drawing she made, marked "Agnes, age 6", was framed and hung concealing a safe. She could think of four possible combinations, each of which she tried twice, and none opened the locked safe. "Orlov." She commanded the Carbink. "Drill it."

As the Carbink began using its own body as a high-speed diamond-encrusted drill bit, Ren seemed to be accumulating doubts about the girl's authenticity as daughter of his host parents, but he dared not say anything about his fears, out of concern for his own safety.

In the mean time, Agnes went to the refrigerator and poured herself a glass of a familiar drink. Some kind of a green fruit and vegetable blend that looked like pond scum but tasted like a sweet mix of so many perfectly proportioned fruits and vegetables not one could be individually identified by taste. She didn't even know all the ingredients, just that she liked the flavor and the memories they carried with them. "So." She asked Ren after her first sip, speaking over the noisy drilling of the safe. "How long have you been living here?"

"A year and one month." he replied quickly.

"Is that so." Agnes took another sip of the drink. "And you're here for the academy? What, don't they have academies in... wherever you come from. Kanto?"

"Johto, and we do, but not as good as the ones you have here. The Auri have been at the forefront of scientific research and improved Pokémon training methods for centuries." He said with an excited smile.

Agnes couldn't help but feel some pride in her culture, and shared the smile. "Yeah, we are the best." She took a longer sip and finished the last of her drink. About that time, Carbink backed away from the safe and chirped to let its trainer know it was done with its job. "We'll continue this later."

She strolled over to the safe and found a hole about the size of her wrist where the dial used to be. She put her fingers inside and fidgeted with whatever internal mechanisms she could touch until the door eventually unlatched. Everything inside was coated in the dust of the safe's metal, and an envelope stood on a plastic stand within. With Ren looking over her shoulder Agnes grabbed the envelope first, ignoring everything else. Her name was written on its face in her father's script. She peeled the envelope open and read the letter it contained.

ΖΣ

Spoiler

Uhh, Carbink can levitate, right? Like Koffing, Lunatone, and Solrock? I sure hope so. I suppose here and in the battle chapter earlier I may have taken some liberties in how many Pokémon act on account of how I haven't seen the Pokémon anime for a long time. Anyone remember the Crystal Onix episode? Yeah, it's been a while. My only exposure to official media since then has been games, and sprites before Gen VI haven't exactly been lifelike compared to how these things would behave in the real world. Don't ask me how to handle fish Pokémon away from bodies of water. Do they just air-swim like in the Stadium games? Dunno. I'll do everything in my power to avoid that situation here. Thank goodness for the existence of terrestrial water types like Swampert, Golduck, and Corsola etc.

*sigh*. Sh*t's about to get real. So real. Like Ash-is-about-to-turn-his-hat-backward real. The next two chapters (unless I combine them) are what this whole thing are going to be about, and then the genre designation will finally fall into place.

"Next time, on Phi Effect: Our heroine gets to see how another part of the Pokémon world is looking at the disaster and handling its effects. Also, a worldwide tragedy unfolds? Is anyone truly ready for the worst of this disaster? We'll find out next week in the next installment of the Pokémon Aftermath: Phi Effect!"

How was that?

 

1.2.3

Emergence​

The letter was hand written, front-only on three sheets of unlined paper. Agnes read the letter in its entirety twice over before sliding it neatly into a folio book she had in her backpack. After that, she went back to the safe and scooped out bundles of stacked paper money and coin blanks of various metals. "Where's the Sanctuary?" Agnes asked Ren.

The boy had been passing the time by playing a game of Liar's Toss with Carbink, each taking turns trying to toss one of Carbink's diamonds past the other on an unexpected side and beat their reflexes. Ren had yet to win a single round, as Carbink had telepathic control over every one of its diamonds, including the game ball.

"Somewhere under Palladi city. That's all I know. Since I'm not a citizen, I'm not allowed into the shelter, so that's why I'm still here and everyone else is gone." He explained. "Ever since Veilstone's Lore Labs and the Church of Sinnoh predicted something worse was yet to come, pretty much everyone in Aurin packed up and went to the Sanctuary."

"Since when do we care what Sinnoh has to say about anything?" Agnes remarked on the two regions' past cultural differences and ancient wars. "Wait, what exactly did they predict?"

Ren was temporarily dumbfounded. "Haven't you seen a TV since the meteor?"

"Sorry, I've been too busy surviving a painfully close encounter with that meteor itself to have time to zone out in front of the tube." Agnes retorted, angry for being assumed to be ignorant of the news. "TV on." She said to the house's voice command. A few more tries and no response.

Ren activated it on his first try. "Maybe you sound different than when you left." The fact that the house's computer recognized this boy better than her stirred a feeling of self-obsolescence within Agnes.

The television was already on the SBC Aurin channel, where a Sinnoan scientist stood at a podium backdropped by her region's flag and her lab's emblem. She was flanked by a Church of Arceus priest on one side and by an intense-looking man with spiked hair and a scowl, and wearing an unfamiliar circular logo on the breast of his coat. Strangely, the scientist's white jacket and the priest's white robe seemed to coordinate as if they were a matching uniform, not two separate identities from groups that often butted heads.

"... For these reasons we believe there is more to the meteor." The scientist said, not often looking up from a paper on her podium. "The damage so far has been trivial compared to what we predict will arrive in the coming weeks and months, which we calculate to be no less than..." She gulped and looked at the camera. "A mass-extinction event."

The scientist looked over her shoulder to the priest, who stepped forward and took her place at the podium. A pale, nervous man with his hair cut into a typical Sinnoan monk's tonsure, his yellow metal bracelets clanked loudly onto the podium as he prepared to speak. He looked over his shoulder to the intense man before receiving a nod of approval or encouragement.

"Everything the Veilstone Scientists have calculated coincides perfectly with prophecies laid forth by the Solaceon Scrolls. For all who are able, we encourage you to find your own meaning in the texts, but the Church's interpretation is that an unspeakable wrath from another world will come to us in a tomb of stone, this being what is now known as the Heavens' Reach Meteor. Er, Sky Pillar Meteor." The man dabbed beads of sweat from his forehead with a square cloth from his pocket. "Later scrolls amend the prediction with a detailed description that from this tomb there will awaken a shapeshifting beast delivering swift end to all who meet it."

Agnes and Ren still stood in the main room, staring at the television. A graphic of what appeared to be an ancient papyrus drawing appeared full-screen. It depicted a red humanoid figure with eight twisted arms or wings and with many horns on its head and surrounded by a circle of pre-historic Sinnoan text. This picture remained on screen for several seconds before returning to the video broadcast.

There was a silence in the broadcast room, and the priest stepped away from the podium. Almost ten whole painfully quiet seconds later the third speaker, the man with the intense eyes, stepped forward to the podium. He seemed to make eye contact with each journalist and camera in the room in what may have been intended to be a warm gesture, but with his eyes and scowl it seemed more he was casting blame for something. He opened his mouth to speak into the cluster of microphones as the camera cut away to an oceanic view from a helicopter. The empty ocean reflected the red of the morning sky in whichever timezone was shown.

"Are we getting this on the air?" A man's voice said through a low-quality microphone. "Get it onto every channel! Move aside, let me." A computer keyboard's clanking sounded over the chopping of helicopter blades. "Is it working?"

"Yeah, I think so." Ren said, glancing at Agnes, who instead stared in shock at the television.

"That's Sootopolis" She said. "And that's Mossdeep Island behind it. And that's the reef where Pacifidlog was anchored. Which means..." She did some mental calculations and re-check in her head. "That's Sky Pillar. Or where it was. That's where the meteor struck!"

Ren heard a strange speech pattern in Agnes' voice now, like she was out of breath just from talking. She stared intently at the screen as she saw the remains of other parts of the region. Ren had seen the ruins all week on televised news, so he was desensitized and unshaken by the current sight.

A small circle of the ocean, hard to measure without anything else nearby for scale, began to bubble and steam off. The same broadcast engineer inadvertently announcing his station's technical malfunction continued to unknowingly announce his own amateur narration to the world, probably unaware he was speaking to anyone other than a supervisor at the broadcast center.

A vermilion glow began to appear in the same area as the steam, and soon it outshone even the reflected morning sunlight.

"What is that?" The broadcast tech and the two children all asked in unison. A glowing sphere pushed itself up slowly from the ocean where Sky Pillar used to be. Once it was in the open air the glow reduced enough to show the shape within.

It was a red and green human-like shape, almost exactly like the picture the priest showed, just with fewer horns and only one pair of twisted arms. After hovering above the swaying ocean for a moment, it shapeshifted into a skeletal bodytype for its alien form and vanished in the direction of Mossdeep City's remains.

The helicopter's camera struggled for a moment before it shakily centered in on the alien's new location just in time to catch its next action. Through a somewhat grainy digital zoom function, the camera showed another variety of this alien's transformation, this time to a smooth shape adorned with thorns in its joints. This new form seemed to glow the eerie vermilion hue again before the beast loosed a bright laser across the breadth of Mossdeep, igniting then exploding all in the laser's trail. It then flew from there to Lilycove in hardly a second's time, and with another beam wreaked destruction upon the land there as well. Another shapeshift and it made a beeline for the news chopper. When the alien still seemed to be at least a mile away the screen shifted to a solid gray with a "signal not found" message in white blocky letters. A moment later, the screen showed the Sinnoan conference hall. The room was empty, essentially replacing the missing video feed with a screen saver of a foreign flag.

"Let's go to the sanctuary right now." Agnes announced.

"Yeah, just let me get my stuff." Ren dashed to the guest room as Agnes slung her backpack over her shoulders and walked out the front door, leaving the boy behind for himself.

Agnes was six houses away going up the street that would eventually take her to Palladi on foot when Ren came running up behind her, shouting to wait just a moment.

"You can't just walk there! It will take a whole day even if you don't stop to sleep!"

"Do you have a better idea?" Agnes asked firmly without stopping.

"Yeah." Ren replied, and opened up a Pokéball. A puffy Altaria lowered itself gently to the ground. Ren climbed onto its back and asked Agnes if to ride with him, cutting the trip down to a small fraction of the time.

Agnes still didn't fully trust the boy, and something about him put her on edge and if asked, she wouldn't be able to tell the reason. The last thing she wanted to do was take a romantic Swanna-boat ride through the sky with him. Still, she reluctantly climbed aboard, politely she thanked him, and quietly they flew to Palladi City.

ΖΣ

Spoiler

There. It happened. It takes more than a dinosaur-killer to knock out humanity, but this unknown alien hiding in a meteor from beyond the stars is more than a dinosaur-killer.

So, Palladi City, the capital of Aurin Region. In my mind I have it being an enormously powerful and prosperous city, like what would have happened if the Baghdad of 1000 years ago had a lovechild with the Dubai of today and they chose Mecca to be the baby's godfather. I only just thought of that right now, but I like the metaphor. I might build on that in future edits or adventures.

 

1.2.4​

​

Sanctuary​

Palladi City had grown since Agnes' last visit with her family over two years ago. Some new architectural feats were widely publicized for their eccentric and attractive forms, but others were more modest but still eye-catching to the young Auri girl. The soul of the city remained the same. Comatose, but otherwise the same.

"Take us down there." Agnes said, pointing to a regal, sand-colored building near the heart of the city. Curvaceous and surrounded by geometrically spaced pillars, it was the historic and present home of the royal family.

Ren steered Altaria down to street level on the front of the palace. They disembarked and before Ren had a chance to return his Pokémon to its ball, they were approached by two old, bearded men dressed in antiquated monks' robes.

"Greetings, brothers." Agnes said to the two elderly men, who in turn greeted the girl as sister. "I am Agnes Ibithay Muntoro, daughter of Lady and Sir Muntoro. Have they arrived yet to the Sanctuary?" She did her best to speak eloquently and properly to better put herself on the old monks' good side.

One of the elders took a mobile tablet from a satchel he carried. As if he had a manifest already loaded, it was just a few seconds before he was able to reply. "It seems your mother and father as well as your brother have all entered the sanctuary. Safe, present, and accounted for." The monk's voice was weak and raspy. He glanced at his associate.

Agnes smiled a genuine smile of relief for the first time in at least a week. "After all these years, he came back? I guess that's good. We need to join them, how do we enter?"

After a nervous silence, the other monk spoke, his voice a dry rumble with an antiquated accent. "I am afraid the Sanctuary is locked until the outsider is gone."

Ren made an annoyed sound at being called out for being non-native to Aurin. "Fine, I'll go." He said, getting ready to climb back aboard Altaria. "Agnes, it's been--"

"Not you." The monk continued. "Although you in particular would not be permitted to enter even if the sanctuary was unlocked. We speak of the monster from the sky."

"You mean the alien? It's all the way in Hoenn right now! How long does it take just to crack open the door and let us in?" Agnes protested. "Or let me in, whatever."

"The grand corridor takes six keys and more than an hour to open if locked." The first monk said. "Not only would we need to let you inside, but those who have already taken shelter would need to jeopardize themselves by exposing the entrance to their only protection." The monk maintained an emotionless expression. "I believe you underestimate the magnitude of the subterranean sanctuary, built even to withstand the wrath of a dozen of Sahareu working in unison. It is because it protects so well that in cannot be accessed so easily."

Agnes stood still, her face twisting to a grimace. "So that's it, you're just going to let us die out here?"

"You may remain here, or you may go elsewhere. If you wish to stay, we will help you make peace with the end." The monk said with a grim solemnness. "Otherwise, may the wind favor you."

Agnes was speechless. The confused rage inside of her even blocked her courtesy to wish the men safety. She climbed aboard Ren's Altaria, leaving space for him farther forward to steer. Without saying anything, the boy knew it was time to take them away from this obstacle to their safety.

They flew low, just higher than the city's median building height, and after a silent minute of flying in an arbitrary direction of Ren's choosing, the boy spoke up. "What now?"

"I don't care." She said bitterly. "My family is locked away and my country won't even open the door for me to be with them. I don't have a place I belong, and I don't know anywhere that wants me."

Ren let her work out her feelings internally for a moment before he offered his suggestion. "I've been thinking, since we saw that TV program, why don't... wait." Something caught his eye.

A rapidly approaching figure flew through the air at and past the two children riding their cloud in the sky. It burst past them less than a kilometer away and still left an air pressure wave that almost knocked them off Altaria's back.

"Follow it!" Agnes said, pointing at the alien as it sped through the air to the palace and subterranean sanctuary.

Ren complied, more out of fear than whatever emotion caused Agnes to give the order. The red beast shapeshifted as it did on television and began spraying its laser all across the city like it did Lilycove, slicing and exploding all in the beam's path.

Unexpectedly, some nearby building began to shapeshift as the alien did. Two bland office buildings, a matching pair, one on each side of the palace, mechanically retracted their exterior walls and ceiling down to street level, revealing two large glowing cannons of some kind. Heat waves emanated from the metal devices and they started to glow orange as one's various joints and hinges adjusted its aim to the red beast. The other remained in its retracted state, like an insect stuck in torpor.

Altaria parked itself atop a high building, offering a vantage point for its riders. The alien seemed to notice the device taking aim at it and morphed into a flat, smooth form and wrapped itself in its own arms. The defense laser fired on the beast, spraying an indigo-colored beam to engulf the attacker. The aim of the laser circled around and above itself several times in the ten second stream of its firing, automatically adjusting itself to the beast's erratic attempts at dodging the incoming attack. By the time the laser wore down and cooling fins opened on the base and barrel of the cannon, the alien already re-shaped itself into its previous form and dive-bombed the palace. It pierced the ceiling and vanished from sight.

"What's it doing?" Ren asked, as if Agnes knew the monster's behaviors.

Several loud bangs and crashes later and the palace exploded in a ball of white light, sending sandstone slabs and ashes of priceless artwork in every direction. By the time the children's eyes re-adjusted down to the blazing desert sunlight, all that was left of the palace was the polished gray roof of a sub-basement, entirely unharmed in the crater of what used to be a millenia-old holy palace.

The children each voiced their words of disbelief at first for the loss of the ancient symbol of the local culture, then at the alien's failed attempt to break its way into the Sanctuary. It whipped its arms, fired lasers, dive-bombed the surface, even appeared to self-destruct several times. Nothing it did shook the Sanctuary in the least.

A conflicting smile grew across Agnes' face. Although the land, architecture, and culture of her nation might be destroyed, but the people will live on yet. "It's not getting through that. Let's go, while it's distracted."

She and Ren climbed aboard Altaria again, and flew at street level, north to the nearest shore. "That's incredible." Ren said, unable to articulate the spectacle he just witnessed.

"Don't doubt the Auri." Agnes said, again filled with pride of her people's resourcefulness. "You were saying something about going to Sinnoh?" She was more upbeat than before, filled with hope of the potential for survival in the face of such devastation.

"Yes. I've learned a lot of multicultural anthropology while studying at the academy. If we're going to find something to do about this mess, it's waiting for us in Sinnoh."

"Let's do it." Agnes said. "All I want now is payback. If you know how to help me get it, I'll follow you until I find it."

Agnes felt a new fire light itself in her heart, a new reason to carry on. In foreign lands she was found by hopelessness and a lack of meaning. In her homeland she rediscovered a reason to carry on.

ΖΣ

Spoiler

Could have sworn I had some spoiler notes ready for this chapter. Oh well. I'm changing my pattern some so spoilers will be more time-specific to time of writing, as opposed to time of posting. So that's neat.

All I can think to comment on here is the mention of Sahareu (spelling will vary) by one of the monks. This is a hardly-conceived legendary I have in mind for the Aurin Region. He'll be kind of a guardian legendary for the region's central desert, kind of similar to how Celebi protects Ilex Forest as a guardian spirit. I'm thinking he'll have a Lion physiology and a typing consisting of some combination of Rock, Ground, or Steel (an earthy element he's made of) plus Electric, Dark, or Fire (a form of energy he can control other than his bodily composition). But like I said, he's hardly invented, definitely flexible. If anyone likes to sketch these fakemon ideas, let me know and we'll talk.

Also, hooray for Sinnoh! I kind of like that region, although Hoenn's always held a special place in my heart. Also, if I'm still doing this when TimeDiamond and SpacePearl come out, I'll be able to say I liked Sinnoh before it was cool.

 

1.2.5​

​

Voice of Hope​

On the Altaria flight back to Cuprish City, where Mr. Briney dropped off Agnes hardly a day earlier, Agnes and Ren traded back and forth their desires for revenge and plans for survival respectively. Truthfully, Agnes still didn't like Ren, but he seemed intelligent and not physically dangerous, so she decided it would be best to keep him around for his usefulness.

"You mean you actually train Pokémon?" Agnes asked when they landed in town and Ren wanted to go to a Pokécenter to swap out his party for a group better fit for a long journey. "Here I thought you were just a study type."

"The Palladi Academy is one of the best--"

"It was, and I know. Just go into the Pokécenter and do what you need to do." Agnes said dismissively, confident in her self-taught abilities over the textbook teachings of a school.

Ren was in the Pokécenter for hardly a minute before an unfamiliar man approached Agnes in the deserted town. "Hey there, young lady! You got a minute?" A tall and lanky man whose deep voice betrayed him, he carried a bulky duffel bag slung behind him over one shoulder.

Agnes casually adjusted her pose to inconspicuously put a hand on Pangoro's Pokéball. "What for?"

"You don't recognize me?" He asked. "I guess that's all right. I'm Gene, or more famously known as Might3yena, host of Galvantula Radio's daytime block. Do you want to be part of a street interview?"

She weighed the idea in her head for a while. Although not one to pine for the spotlight, she probably is one of the last surviving Auri still in contact with the outside world. "Sure, I can do that."

"We've still got about one minute before the current song is over, so let's plan this quickly. It seems like everyone is taking shelter from the Deoxys monster. How have you managed to keep away from it this far, and how are you planning to get by?"

"Wait, what's a Deoxys?" Agnes asked, afraid there was a new threat afoot.

"The red alien that crash-landed in Hoenn? That's what Bill DeCerulea called it on a phone interview I had with him yesterday. How have you not--"

"Oh, that, we've met a few times. Got it, I think I'm ready."

"Good. By the way girl, where do you come from and what's your name?"

"I'm from Aurin but I was in Hoenn until recently, and my name is Agnes."

"Agnes? That's an old lady name." Gene laughed. "You're what, thirteen?"

"I'm named after my grandmother. You know, the woman who discovered--"

"Ag, Agni, Ness, Niz. That last one, let's go with it." Gene checked computer tablet he carried in one hand and found there was only a few seconds until their interview time. Hurriedly he grabbed from his bag a wired microphone with an enormous fuzzy muffler over its head. He gave hand signs counting down from three.

"Heeeeey there, Johto! It's me again, Might3yena! How's everyone doing out there! We've all been better, I know, but hang tight children. Let's play a quick game: can you guess where I am?" The man's charismatic tone was magnetic at the very least. "I'm in sun-shiny coastal Aurin with a gal who's a little closer to the disaster than most of us, so here to share her story and spread some hope is Niz, a real walker of the world and someone who knows a thing or two about getting by. How are you holding up, Niz?"

"I'm keeping it together, Might3yena." Agnes said with a smile despite being heard and not seen over the radio.

"It's a good way to be, Niz. So I heard you've been in close proximity to the Deoxys monster." The radio host spoke with a sway in his voice, as if he was trying to vocally dance with the listeners. "Tell us about the first time you saw it."

"I was in Hoenn when the meteor fell. I saw it appear in the sky and the next day I saw it hit the ocean."

Might3yena held up a finger as an inaudible way to tell her to pause for dialogue. "So you mean to tell me you were there when it actually came down?"

At first Agnes was confused that Might3yena suddenly forgot what she told him one minute ago until she realized it was for the listeners' benefit. "Yeah, it was terrifying, to be honest. Seeing it hang in the sky for half a day. But I'm sure you've all heard about what followed."

"Indeed, it's hard to escape that tragedy." The host sounded somber for the first time in the interview. "So if you were in Hoenn back then, what brings you to Aurin?"

"I'm from around here originally, so I came back to find my family. It's been a long time since I've seen them."

"Disaster has that effect on people. As much as it tries to bring us down, it manages to bring us all together. So tell us, did you find them?"

"No, I did not, but I can say that they're all right." Again a smile crossed Agnes' face. "If anyone out there has friends and family in Aurin, there's a good chance they're alive and safe."

"But Niz," Might3yena said with some dramatic concern in his voice. "Wasn't Deoxys in Palladi, the capital of Aurin, just a few hours ago? I mean we all heard or saw the emergency broadcasts. It nearly leveled the most populated city on the continent!"

"It did, but we Auri are survivors. The city may be destroyed, but as a people we are biding our time. You haven't seen the last of us yet." Agnes was filled with a hope not unlike the one she felt as Deoxys tried and failed to burst its way into the Sanctuary.

"That's the kind of optimism I like to hear! Now Niz, for those of us who aren't tucked away in a bunker, or wherever your family is hiding, how do you suggest we get by?"

"Everyone should work together." She said plainly as she thought back to the biker gang she met near Mauville City. "Now more than ever it is not the time to take advantage of one another's weaknesses. If we're going to fight this menace, it's going to be as a unified team. An unstoppable, unbreakable will of humanity."

"That's some prime advice, my friend. You are an inspiration to us all. You stay safe, and keep fighting."

"You too Might3yena."

"That way my new good friend Niz, everyone, a gal who's seen too much but keeps on kicking. Let's all follow in her footsteps and keep pushing forward. Remember everybody, you're listening to Galvantula Network Radio, off the web. We're a Radio Free World, and we're here for you. Now, some music you've been waiting for, and it's a classic. Here's "It All Still Matters", by Metaliclaw" Might3yena pushed a touchscreen button on his tablet and flipped a switch on his fuzzy microphone. "That was a good interview! Have you done this before?"

"No," The newly dubbed Niz replied. "I don't like drawing attention to myself." She thought on that for a moment then grinned. "But I did like being the voice of Aurin. And helping you be a voice of hope."

"It's what I do." The host replied smoothly. "Listen, do you have a radio? Pokégear, Pokétch, any of those?" He asked, and Agnes shook her head no. "Here, take this then. It's an Xtransceiver, made in Unova. It's got a radio, videophone, all sorts of tools." Might3yena handed her the gray and red wristwatch. It was like many she'd seen before, only this one had the radio station's emblem, a Galvantula stretched out to look like a radio tower, repeating across the strap. "Contacts for me and for the other hosts are all loaded in there, so ring us if you want an update interview."

"Sure, I'll give you a status update soon."

"You do that. I'm going back to the station HQ in Goldenrod, but I'm choosing to gradually becoming a field reporter with all these global affairs popping up. We'll meet again soon, I'm sure."

"I look forward to it." Agnes said as she bid farewell to the charismatic man.

As Gene — Might3yena — departed, Ren exited the Pokécenter. "So, the Pokémon Storage Vault system is down. I wonder if that means Silph Co was hit." He sounded crestfallen. "Wait, who was that you were talking to?"

"Some radio host from Johto. Might3yena he calls himself. Cool guy."

Ren nearly foamed at the mouth and began to stutter with excitement as he spewed his admiration for the radio personality. By the time he collected himself to decide to chase after the man, Gene was already closing the door on his broadcast van a few blocks down the road and driving away. Niz could only shrug her shoulders and apologize upapologetically to the boy.

"Come on, let's find someone who can take us to Sinnoh." Agnes led the way with Ren spouting his fandom for his favorite radio host along the walk to the harbor.

ΖΣ

Spoiler

And so concludes the first, uh, whatever the first digit of my numbering system is called. The first that. Thing.

Okay, so you know how I said I was going to avoid overdoing references to other post-apocalyptic media? This is the only big exception to that, and I admit, it's a pretty big exception. For those of you who haven't played Fallout 3, one of the main characters is a radio host named Three Dog, who owns and operates Galaxy News Radio out of Washington DC, broadcasting news, encouragement, and classic music (in his case '40s to '60s jazz) to a devastated world. So yeah. Three Dog = Might3yena (Might-Three-Yena. I think it kind of rolls off the tongue a little bit, but not as well as Four-Frou) and Galaxy News Radio = GNR = Galvantula Network Radio. Not the same person or radio station, just similar names. And a somewhat silly replacement song for Metallica's "Nothing Else Matters" as Metaliclaw's "It All Still Matters". Like I said back on the intro page, I promise not to do many silly replacements like these.

I'm just a big fan of Galaxy News Radio in Fallout 3. So much so that I've begun listening to DC's biggest news radio station, WAMU 88.5 (which broadcasts online and is actually pretty good and quite varied with its discussion topics), in hopes that it will at some day metamorphose into GNR sometime before year 2077.

As of posting this, I only have 3 and a fraction weekly posts wiggle room left ahead of me. I have 3 other non-sequential chapters too, but I'd like to save those for times they'll make more sense. One flashback for Agnes, one "at the same time but a different place" for a different character, and one that will take place like three story-years in the future (I have only a vague idea of how the whole thing will progress, but that chapter is flexible). I'm trying to take less overtime at work to have more time for relaxation and doing this stuff, but I can't because money. On one hand this makes me frowny, but on the other hand it makes me smile for less ramen noodles!

(chapter completed writing 5-26-2015)

 

2.1.1

Across the Sea​

The boat that ferried Agnes and Ren from Cuprish Port in the Aurin Region across the sea to Sinnoh took its fare in standard currency. The two young travelers agreed, away from any staff, that the money was soon to become worthless anyhow if the monster kept its city-destroying pattern. They paid the overcharged fare gladly.

"Welcome to Sunyshore City, the solar-powered city of the future." An attendant near the disembarkation gangway announced as the vessel pulled up to port.

Agnes breathed a sigh of relief as she got a perspective of the city. The solar panel roads still spanned the straits and the town was still populated. Deoxys has not yet been there. As they walked across one solar road from the port island to the mainland, the smell of the sea whipping up in the breeze was as pleasant and familiar as anywhere, before or after the disaster.

"We're here now. Will you tell me where we're going?" Agnes asked her companion, perturbed.

The boy grinned. "It's a secret."

"I don't have time for secrets, Ren!" She shouted. "Just because I'm accompanying you doesn't mean I'll just trot along wherever you like! You tell me where we're going and what we're doing or you can do that on your own and I'm out of here!"

Ren's expression morphed to a genuine remorse. "I'm sorry about that." He said. "We're going to Eterna City. There's some legends there, kind of like Saheru in Aurin, or the triad of Hoenn."

Agnes stopped in her tracks. "You brought me across the sea and to a new continent uncounted miles away from any place I know all in search of a fairy tale?" She was teetering on the edge between rage and a disappointed annoyance.

"Don't tell me you don't have a little bit of trust in Sinnoh's history? These legends are--"

"These legends are just that! Legends!" Agnes fell to the side of rage. "Have you ever seen anything they've done? When is the last time that Kyogre rose from the sea to flood the world? Or that Ho-oh could be seen carrying the sun? Or that Darkrai and Lugia fought over the moon?"

"When is the last time you saw Deoxys come to us from space, or saw Rayquaza try to protect everything under the sky?"

Agnes glared at her companion for a moment. "I'm going to buy some supplies before more people realize paper money is worthless. I'll meet you in front of the town's west gate in two hours." She didn't wait for his response before she marched off to the nearest fork in the solar road and hoped it would take her to a useful place of commerce.

—-

She cursed the boy's name in her mind as she wandered the streets of Sunyshore looking for a camping shop of some kind. She wasn't even sure what made her most angry. Keeping secrets? Borderline abduction? The boy's puerile belief in Deus Ex Machina superpowers that would swoop in and save the day?

As she stepped off a solar bridge and onto a smaller asphalt road, Agnes saw the glowing sign of a sporting goods store in the northwest part of the city. Her mind was drawn away from her annoyance at Ren and instead pulled to the strange calm of the region. Residents of the region played and relaxed on the beaches, street performers continued showing their acts. All was business as usual, almost eerily so.

Once inside, Agnes filled up two handbaskets with anything she saw that might become useful. One bound spool of escape rope, a pair of multi-tools, two flashlights and enough batteries to last several years. The list went on. Small talk with the young man at the counter shifted once she prepared to pay.

"Oh, Aurin-printed money. You've come quite a ways, haven't you?" The cashier asked as he glanced at his young customer's money fold.

"Yeah, I've been all over." Agnes replied pithily, still melting away her annoyance at Ren.

"Nasty business over there lately. I heard on Might3yena's radio show yesterday, some girl was actually there in Palladi when it happened. She said she was in Hoenn too, but I doubt that. Lightning striking twice in the same place and all that. What are the chances, right?"

"Anything's possible." She replied. Agnes was beginning to regret buying so much, as the ringing process took too long and generated too much conversation for her mood.

"She had a really good message in there too. Working together, all that good stuff. I'd like to shake her hand if I ever meet her."

Agnes glanced to the side for a moment, contemplating her advice to the world and its contradiction to her present situation with Ren. "How much will that all be?" She asked, flipping through her money.

—-

Between her new supplies and what she already had, Agnes was equipped for a rough and lengthy journey through mountainous Sinnoh. She had more than an hour to kill before her scheduled meeting with Ren, so she made her way to a city park bordering the Sunyshore Gym.

She walked a winding path through the park crowded with clay courts and wooden pavilions. After a full lap of the walk path she stopped at a central pavilion and released her now-heavier backpack and shopping bag. Half of the picnic benches of the shelter were occupied and emanating conversation. To her left a worried couple discussed evacuation plans, to her right took place a political discussion of teamwork between two cities. As she unwound from the stresses of dealing with Ren and shopping, she picked up on the political discussion and paid it some mind, following voices bouncing between those talking.

"Jasmine, is that you?" Agnes asked when she recognized one of the debaters: a thin, pale woman sitting across from two men.

"Agnes? Agnes, it's been ages! How have you been?" The soft-spoken woman stood from her seat and hugged the younger trainer. She stood arm's length away from Agnes and put her hands on her shoulders, looked her up and down. "My, you've grown! How long has it been? A year?"

Agnes had to think for a moment. "Two years. I've done one and a half leagues of badges since then."

"That's wonderful! Speaking of badges, my application for a Gym Leader License was approved by the Indigo--"

One of two men at the table cleared his throat for attention.

"Oh, my apologies." Jasmine announced. "Volkner, Mr. Norton. this is Agnes. She's my adoptive little sister. Jasmine, this is Volkner and Mr. Norton. They are two of Sunyshore City's esteemed councilmen."

Neither man said anything. Both wore a modernized variation of a traditional naval officer's uniform, with the younger man's jacket adorned with rockstar-like patches. They appeared to be father and son, but Agnes didn't act on the inference.

"Back on topic, miss Jasmine. You still need to offer something measurably beneficial to Sunyshore before we agree to anything." The older man spoke in an almost arrogant tone, confident of his ability to guide the city.

"Just a moment." Jasmine said. "You remember our discussion about the radio show earlier today, gentlemen?" She then turned her attention to her adoptive little sister. "Agnes, that was you, wasn't it?"

"I thought I recognized your voice, little girl." Said Volkner, the younger of the Sunyshore councilmen. He sounded just as confident as the other man, but his tone was more calm and subdued. "That was an inspirational speech you gave. You have my admiration, Niz."

Agnes grew somewhat shy at the compliment. "Thank you." was all she managed to squeeze out.

"Allow me to brief you on our discussion so far." The young man began. "Sunyshore and Olivine each have resources to sustain ourselves in this time of need, but not to continue thriving as we each have in decades past. Olivine has the iron ore and other trace metals needed for steel-making to provide a city defense as well as the skilled workforce necessary to build said defense, but no longer has abundant power since the Tohjo continental power grid to Cerulean Electric has been severed. Whether it's due to the alien, an act of terrorism, or an unrelated incident remains to be seen." Volkner rubbed his forehead, showing some stress accumulating beneath his calm visage. "Meanwhile, we have availability of crystalline silicon for solar panel production, but can't afford to let it go freely."

"Why not?" Agnes asked. Either it was her youthful optimism or a misunderstanding of international trade, but the Sunyshore councilmen each raised an eyebrow. "Can't you just orchestrate a trade? You give Olivine a load of solar panels, and they hire a crew of workers to build this project for your city. Everybody wins."

"Such a simple suggestion." Mr. Norton commented offhandedly. "Isn't that what you first suggested, Miss Jasmine?"

Jasmine said nothing to the man. "We've been discussing this for quite a while." She explained to her younger friend.

"Okay then, why don't you just buy the solar panels as an import?" Agnes asked Jasmine most directly, but also aimed her question to the men as well.

Mr. Norton began to speak, but Jasmine was quicker. "I suggested that before I came all the way here from Johto. It seems in the past week, the price tag on bulk panels has grown an extra zero. Strange how that happens in a crisis." The delegate from Olivine kept her gentle tone despite the passive-aggressive accusation.

"Of course. Sunyshore needs all the resources she can accumulate in these dire times." Mr. Norton grinned somewhat, perhaps unintentionally. His valid point was undermined by selfish greed.

"You're no better than the thugs at Mauville robbing refugees." Agnes said angrily. She smacked her palms on the table and stood up. "They're who I was talking about on the radio, and you're exactly the same! You see someone struggling to get by and rather than helping her stand on her own, you step on her just to keep your own higher ground!"

"Agnes, sweetie." Jasmine said, touching one of Agnes' hands. "You're not helping any more."

"No, they're not helping!" She became aware that she was shouting and, for better or worse, getting attention from other visitors to the park. "How would you feel if I did the same to you, old man? I've got six well-trained Pokémon on my belt right here. How would you like it if I had Pangoro throw you down and take that fancy jacket, just because he can!" She tried to adjust her stance and voice to be as intimidating as a thirteen-year old girl could be

"You make a move against anyone in my city," Volkner said lowly, supplemented by a honed death-glare on Agnes "and you will regret it." He was surely not bluffing.

Jasmine stood gently. "I'm sorry the discussion has been derailed like this, gentlemen." She smiled genuinely at them, and stood. "Maybe we can resume this tomorrow? Same place, same time?" Neither man said anything. Both sat with arms crossed and leaning forward, staring at the Olivine delegate as she made her exit. "You know how to contact me. Have a pleasant afternoon, sirs." She grabbed Agnes' backpack and bag in one hand and her wrist in the other and led her, protesting, away from the two councilmen.

Agnes' protests turned from shouts to grumbles, from grumbles to coherent words, and from coherent words to silence as Jasmine quietly waited through it all.

"How I wish we had better timing for our reunion." The big sister began. Agnes began to envy her ever-calm personality. "I remember last time we saw each other. You were so full of flowers and sunshine, the little sister I never had." She sighed as she drank deep of the nostalgia. "Whenever I talked to my friends about you, I would call you my little desert flower. Even when things weren't nice, you were always a bouncy ball of happiness. Were, at least. What changed in the past two years?"

"Well there was a big thing on the news a little over a week ago. You know, a meteor from outer-blasted-space came a couple of miles away from hitting me on the forehead. A demon from another world arrived to destroy my home and probably the entire world. Little things like that."

"I heard the sound of the impact." Jasmine said. "My yard was flooded and my flowers were washed away by the wave. I've read and listened to the news for countless hours in the past week, hoping to find the names of my friends in Pewter City on a list of survivors of the Deoxys attack. I don't know if even one of them is alive, relocated, or deceased. Their well-being weighs on my heart every minute of the day, and I've taken the responsibility of protecting my city from a similar fate by bargaining with foreign governments." Her explanation was not bragging, and her voice remained sympathetic. "We all have our burdens, Agnes, and we are all living in hard times. Why have you changed?"

"You have responsibilities." Agnes said. "What do I have? My home is already gone. My family is locked away in an impenetrable vault. The only friends I had are either already back in their home regions or are stuck in the Pokémon Storage Vault system. What do I have to tie me down or pull me forward?" The discussion filled Agnes with a new sense of clarity she hadn't felt even before the meteor. "Two weeks ago my only goals were to train myself and my fighters to completely dominate my opponents on the battlefield. But I don't know about now. What do I have? What do I do?"

"Count everything and everyone you have," Jasmine replied, speaking slowly. "and do what you can."

"You, six Pokémon, a bulging backpack of camping gear, no home, one idiot trying to drag me on misguided adventures to unfamiliar places. Survive, fight."

"Those last two sounded like synonyms for protect."

"Ha! Of course, coming from the Steel-Clad Defense Girl!"

"If you think protecting people is such a silly thing to do, then why did you challenge the councilmen to a fight?" Jasmine asked. "Why did you stop the Mauville thugs you talked about? Did you do it for yourself?" After she was sure Agnes had no response she continued. "You are talented, sweetie. Ever since we were little I've seen you do impossible, courageous things. You are brave, you are strong, you are driven. All that and more."

Agnes smiled and a tear manifested in the corner of one eye.

"There it is. The truth hurts, doesn't it?" Jasmine tried her hand at some gentle humor. "So, what will it be? How about I bring you back to Johto with me and you can help us get Olivine set up and ready for what's coming. What do you say?"

Agnes continued smiling as she looked at the young lady she wished more than ever was actually her big sister. "I really should stay here. I need to protect that idiot I mentioned. He'll get himself killed out there if I'm not around." She took a deep breath to calm herself. "Besides, you're more than enough to defend Olivine. The selfish fools around here are going nowhere if they don't have me around to protect them from themselves."

"They're not all bad." Jasmine said as she knelt down and pulled Agnes in to a hug. "Do what you can. Stay safe."

"You too." Agnes replied. "I'll visit you when I'm done here."

They bid each other farewell, and the image of Jasmine walking backwards and waving hung with Agnes for some time as she set her path for the town's gate to meet Ren.

ΖΣ

Spoiler

So here we are, a canon land that will, at least for the time being, still be in its canon state. It's going to be a little difficult, taking a city that is, in its game, just a few dozen tiles square and has a population of about 40 and actually turn it into a functioning city. I think the games provide enough background to be able to stuff it up some though.

I think I mentioned in an earlier post that I was going to have to use gym leaders as characters sooner or later, because there really aren't many characters in the games who are important enough to have names. I've had a soft spot for Jasmine ever since my Silver days, so I hope I did her personality some proper display here. Also, I'm feeling like in the real world, gym leaders would be more than just athletes, but important cultural figures in their hometowns, like Morty was in HGSS. Just imagine the tourist dollars they bring in, especially if they host tournaments and whatnot. Someone with that kind of city influence may even be given more responsibility around town, like councilman or diplomat, hence why Jasmine and Volkner aren't just cooped up in their gyms all day.

A minor part of this chapter may change in the future, since the part I'm writing of 2.1.4 may render part of this moot. But I said earlier, much of this is subject to change and the project is never finished. I'll make a note of it if it happens though, to avoid the "wait, what?" factor.

 

2.1.2​

​

Switch​

​

Niz sat on a metal bench near the west exit from Sunyshore, observing the city with a strange, mixed emotion. Of course she was glad to see people unhurt by the calamity, but on another level she was reacting to how nonchalantly the citizens acted in the wake of it all. One week ago the entire region of Hoenn was destroyed either by the meteor or by Deoxys' subsequent rampage, and a few days ago the capital of her home region, one of the most populous cities in the world, was leveled by the alien monster. But the people of Sunyshore did nothing outside of their ordinary routine, as if it their home was part of a separate, intangible world. Is the emotion resentment? Annoyance? Simple jealousy?

"Hey there!" Ren said, approaching from the street. "I guess we're both here early. What did you find?" He seemed to have entirely forgotten about their spat from when they first arrived in town.

Niz tossed the boy a large shopping bag filled with everything she wasn't retaining for herself, mostly duplicates of what she did keep with some extras thrown in for the boy who had, until this point, never needed to make it on his own and had no equipment for such.

"Wow, good stuff." The boy dug one arm through the bag, inspecting the various gear and supplies within. "I admit, I really was unprepared. Let me repay you..."

"Don't worry about it." Niz said, speaking for the first time since parting with Jasmine. "Listen, Ren" she went on "I'm sorry about how I exploded at you when we got here. It's just..." She had a hard time finding the words "I feel like we're here with a purpose. There's something we have to do, even if it's not quite clear yet what it is. I don't want you to keep me in the dark, and you probably don't want me ordering you around. The easiest way to get by with neither of those things happening is to work as a team. So let's just agree to watch each other's backs, okay?" She momentarily pressed her eyes shut tight, as if pushing down a headache.

"That sounds good to me." Ren replied. The boy wasn't exactly giggly, but his mannerism carried an optimistic note contrasting with Niz's pained self-searching. "While you were out shopping — thanks again, by the way — I was trying to track down one of my friends in town who might be able to help us. I've got some leads on how to find her, but I'm not there yet. Do you want to come with me? She lives near the east shore."

Niz was still mostly unresponsive, borderline catatonic. "Sure" she said and stood from the bench as three men approached.

One was the younger of the two councilmen, Volkner, and flanking him were two men in gray police uniforms, each of whom had a Floatzel by his side. Volkner himself carried a leatherbound folio, which he opened when he was near the two young teenagers. "Agnes Muntoro and..." he flipped a page in the binder, then closed it abruptly. "... guest. As of three o'clock this afternoon you will be forbidden from staying in or entering the city of Sunyshore for a duration of no less than one week and no longer than three months, to be decided remotely in court within five business days, else you be subject to all applicable parts of the penal code of Sunyshore City effective on the date of your infringement of this sentence." He said the run-on sentence fluidly, as if he has said it before and was used to a solid delivery.

Niz's first instinct was to loudly challenge this sentencing given without due process of law. Rather, she prepared to apologize.

"What for?" Ren complained. "We've only been here two hours, and we've even contributed to local businesses!" He said, swinging his bag of survival gear back and forth.

"I won't bore you with the legal technicalities" Volkner said. "But your friend has engaged in riotous speech bordering on sedition. In my city we have been trying to keep our citizens calm, and Miss Muntoro saw fit to publicly rile our citizens into a state of unrest." He looked at his studded leather wristwatch. "You have fifteen minutes to leave. My men's clocks may be off and their Flotzel might be bored, so you'll want to be out sooner rather than later." He turned away and left without even a proper parting.

Niz and Ren were left standing in the street with two policemen and two Floatzel staring them down. One of the four law enforcers growled, it was hard to tell which.

"I'm sorry Ren" Niz said. She was annoyed at having not even a chance to plead her case. "I got tangled up in something I shouldn't have let happen."

"There goes my lead." Ren said with a sigh, picking up his bag from the sidewalk. "Let's get going then."

Racked with guilt, Niz packed up hear gear and left with her partner as the eyes of the police weighed heavily upon her. The gate was near and they were soon out of Sunyshore City.

---

Route S222 was entirely deserted despite the picturesque tourist-oriented beach lining the path westward.

After several minutes of walking in silence, Ren spoke up. "For all I know, she wasn't even there." He said. "She could have left with a foreign aid group, or packed up to go to a shelter. It may have been a wild goose chase all along."

The sentiment didn't help Niz at all. She hated her feeling of being a burden. Another reason why she preferred to be on her own, so if she ever did anything to slow anyone down, it would be only herself.

"So." Ren said, either hiding any annoyance he held toward Niz, or genuinely okay with the turn of events. "North or south. Veilstone or Pastoria."

Niz looked at the coming fork in the road, then behind her. The west gate of Sunyshore city couldn't even be seen at the end of the straight path, and the sun was going lower in the sky in front of her, telling her that she had zoned out to her own thoughts entirely for the walk. The salty wind coming off the sea raised her hairs with chill.

"It's getting late. We should pack it in for the evening" She said. A nearby building advertising itself as the Hotel Grand Lake stood on a hill with a crew of hardhatted men setting up a chainlink barbedwire fence. Guards walked a patrol around the perimeter accompanied by various fighting-type Pokémon, letting all who saw them know that the area was off limits. "Let's find a place off the road to camp."

For the first time since she met back up with Ren, Niz took the lead, following an unstated path through the forest westward. A half mile or so in, they came upon a lake with an island in its center, not unlike the Scorched Slab of Hoenn. Agnes knelt beside the shore and dipped her hand into the water, drinking a sip from her cupped hand. "Freshwater. This is a good place to set up camp and use up less of our supplies."

"Did you" Ren asked hesitantly "just drink straight from that lake?"

"Don't get all wobbly on me now, Ren." Niz said, glad to be back into a leading position in the group. "No! You put that down." She said when she saw the boy pull a sealed water bottle from his backpack. "Save that for when you don't have water. We have a whole lake here, let's use it."

Niz spent the next hour getting Ren to conserve his supplies and use what was around him. Forage for a meal instead of eating a MRE, let Pangoro break down a tree for firewood instead of using a synthetic torch kit, deal with the surrounding wildlife instead of spraying Repel all around the clearing. By sundown they had a roaring fire between Niz's open hammock and Ren's cushy tent.

As night fell, each prepared to sleep as the sounds of Kricketot and the crackling fire filled the night.

"Agnes?" Ren asked through the open front door of his tent. The boy was in a separate change of clothes from what he wore in the day, an honest-to-goodness pajama set. Niz's only difference in clothing was that she removed her shoes and utility vest for the sleep.

"Yeah?" She replied as she stared into the wisp of embers flying above the fire. A moth landed on her shoulder, and she calmly pushed it away.

"Thanks for sticking with me." The boy said.

"No problem." She replied. She thought back on Jasmine's advice that she turn her combative nature toward protection instead of domination.

"I really wouldn't be able to do this on my own." He went on.

"That's why I'm here." She said flatly, trying to end the conversation and get some sleep.

Ren continued. "If not for you, I would be nowhere, just starving in the woods helpless and hungry and--"

"Ren?" Niz interjected. "I appreciate the sentiment. Go to sleep."

Ren clammed up instantly. "Good night." He squeaked, and zipped shut his tent.

On an empathetic level, she could see why the boy was so talkative now, seemingly unable to relax and sleep. Niz was perfectly comfortable in the wilderness, but for the same span of time she was living off the jungles and beaches of Hoenn, Ren was living a comfortable foreign exchange academic life with two wealthy host parents. He may not have had so much as a sleepover in the past year and months that Agnes was camping in Mightyena country.

Surrounded by the sounds of nocturnal wildlife, Niz shut her eyes and felt the warmth of the campfire on her cheek. Slowly the night took her.

---

Niz's eyes burst open in the early morning. The campfire was a pile of smoldering ash glowing embers, and the sky was hardly lighted at all, signifying sunrise was less than an hour away. The lake was silent apart from Magikarp jumping out of the water to catch their breakfast bugs hovering above the ripples. She tried to get back to sleep, but a lingering image of a pitch black ghoul hung somewhere in her mind, and something within her resisted the return to dreaming.

She turned in her hammock to face away from the remains of the fire and let her self awaken the rest of the way before her day began. Through the grogginess of her morning eyes, something appeared to move in the forest. Two human faces looked at her from behind foliage a couple dozen meters out. She rubbed her eyes and checked again, to find the faces still there but ducking away. She hurriedly peeled off her socks, hopped out of the hammock and gave chase.

The roots and branches of the forest floor hurt her feet, but Niz was able to close part of the distance in the matter of seconds before the watchers reacted by fleeing, and she saw they were two boys roughly her and Ren's age. She didn't bother shouting after them and put all her effort into the chase, but as she neared the boys after a full minute of pursuit, she tripped over a sleeping Houndour, who in turn yelped and ran deeper into the underbrush as Niz got scraped palms and a mouth full of dirt. By the time she was back on her feet the boys were gone.

Niz wiped her lower lip with her sleeve and spat to the side before turning back to the campsite. As she passed the boys' stakeout bush she looked about for anything showing their identities or purpose, but came up empty handed.

Ren sat in his open tent as Niz returned to the clearing by the lake, now under an yellowing sky. "What was that all about?" He asked, rubbing his eyes under his glasses.

"We were being watched. Maybe they were going to rob us. Abduct us. Who knows?" Niz strolled to a part of the shore with deeper water and sat with her bare, dirty feet in the water, pretending not to be shocked by the cold.

"Wow." Ren said. "It's always going to be an adventure with you, isn't it?"

Niz turned and smiled at him directly for probably the first time since they met. "You should have known what you were getting in to when you invited me to come along with you."

ΖΣ

Spoiler

You know, I never did like Volkner. Sure, he looks like a fashionable dude, but even in the games he acted like kind of a phallus. "Yeah, you're not worth my time in a battle, but whatever, I'll humor you despite being an elitist on a whole different level."

In hindsight, having written this chapter a month before today's posting, I wonder why they're in the wilderness surviving. Back in Hoenn I mentioned how Pokecenters act as bunkhouses providing food and shelter for traveling trainers, and it's not like Sinnoh is hit by the disaster yet. By all means, they should have been able to doubletime it to the next city and wait there. Ooh, maybe that's why they have to camp! They can't legally stay in Sunyshore because local law enforcement totally informed local hotels and whatnot of these two exiles, and the sudden change in plans means they can't make it to the next city in time! Maybe I'll work that in later.

I hit kind of a writing block after this chapter, I think because that's when my computer had a stroke and I was unable to do much other than work on repairs any waking moment I wasn't eating, sleeping, or at work. I don't think there's a derail at the next chapter, so it should be okay, but maybe the hindsight thing will work again.

Finished writing June 13

 

2.1.3​

Thief
​

Ren was ready to depart sooner than Niz thought the city boy would be. Pleased with how he kept up with her pace, she set a course south leading the way through the woods.

"So it's Pastoria then?" The boy asked. "I was thinking we might have more luck in Veilstone trying to find some answers. They have large businesses and research facilities there, you know."

"I told you not to keep me in the dark on your plans." Niz growled. As soon as she becomes pleased with his contributions, he does something to lose his points.

"I wasn't keeping you in the dark, I just figured you would have a better idea what to do."

"Ren, I told you before, we need to work together. Your job is to figure out where we need to go to do something about this monster, and my job is to make sure nobody dies." The new phrasing struck a cord in Niz's mind. Jasmine suggested she devote herself to protecting others, but the wheels turning in Niz's head drove that idea to something larger. Maybe it was the loss of uncounted lives in Hoenn and Aurin combined with Jasmine's words, but somehow she felt a personal need to protect more people now.

"That's kind of grim, don't you think?" Ren asked as he stepped over a felled tree lying among the forest's fallen autumn leaves. "I mean, what do you think will happen?"

"A lot could happen, if you ask the millions that the Deoxys monster found already, or have you forgotten about them?"

"I could never." Ren replied flatly, or perhaps the flatness was his personality's manifestation of sadness. "But the people here seem comfortable. The region probably has some kind of an defense system against any attack. Why else would everyone be so relaxed?"

"You remember the Sanctuary cannon?" Niz asked. "Nothing you're saying makes any sense. If anything already in existence could destroy Deoxys, it was that laser. Also, why would Sunyshore even have entertained Olivine with a partnership if Sinnoh was already safe?" Niz went on, noticing Ren's confusion at missing the discussion between Jasmine and the councilmen. They reached a clearing where they could see the other side of the Hotel Grand Lake with its new chainlink and barbed wire fortification. "Why would they be boarding up like they are if there's nothing to worry about?"

Ren mumbled back some kind of response.

"What was that? I couldn't hear you."

He glanced away from Niz shamefully. "Maybe they're just being careful."

She wanted to shout at him and berate him for his airheaded lightheartedness. The only reason she didn't was because she almost physically pushed down the urge, and she only did that because she could sense an honest genuineness within him, and didn't want to lose that in exchange for a companion less trustworthy.

"Are you angry with me?" The boy asked.

Niz didn't respond. Instead she turned on her Xtransciever radio for the first time since Might3yena gave it to her and set it to an audible speaker volume. Galvantula Radio was in a news segment with two men talking in an interview above the sounds of street chatter and other ambient noise. Neither man was Might3yena, but Niz listened anyhow.

"We already have some listeners Chattering in to us on our Chattot feed about how this plan of yours seems unbelievable, a waste of money and effort, or to quote one listener "completely Farfetch'd". What do you have to say to the naysayers?"

"Any honest effort toward preserving ourselves and each other in this time of unrest is worth every second of time and every drop of money invested toward it." The man was confident and well-spoken like a politician. "As for those who think the idea of the Mu-Beta project is inconceivable or unreasonable, I ask those armchair commentators to compare this outrageous solution to the problem that calls for it. Is there any plan too crazy for consideration in getting this alien blasted back to outer space? I think not."

"When you put it like that, it's hard to disagree. But back to the practicality, does your company have enough budget to fund this project? As worth the cost as it is, the numbers may get in the way. Will Team Ro--"

"I have no connections with Team Rocket." The interviewee interjected. "As for funding, all of this project's costs beyond the normal operating budget are coming entirely out of my own pocket. All assets are being redirected to the issue at hand. Defense optics, aerospace, engineering, material chemistry, even our genetics labs are involved. Every department of my conglomerate is one hundred percent dedicated to Mu-Beta's expedited completion."

"That's reassuring to hear." The interviewer replied. "One last question, how far down the line can we expect project to come to fruition and be deployed?"

"Mu-Beta has been in development for over five years already, so this is more than just a science fair project that can be fudged the weekend before it's due. I will not lie to you, there is some time before we're ready. The nearest projection is one month, and that's without full testing, being emergency deployment. It could still be nine months or longer before the entire project is optimally completed."

"Let's hope that's time enough. GNR thanks you for the update interview."

"Always a pleasure, Stan."

"You heard it from the man himself, everybody. Giovanni Sidon, owner and founder of West Kanto Defense Tech, with the latest news on his plan to keep all of us safe."

Ren spoke up as the interviewer ended the segment as passed the baton back to the studio anchors. "I've heard of that guy before. One of the richest men in the world. They say he used to have ties with Team Rocket, those guys who were caught forcing evolution in Magikarps at the Lake of Rage. Do you believe any of that?"

Niz scoffed lightly. "It's too easy to invent rumors about the rich and famous. I can do it too. Did you hear that Steven Stone himself pulled this alien from a parallel dimension? Yeah, he made a machine that just woosh warps it from there to here, dooming us all because we're mega defenseless against something like that."

"I believe it." Someone new said. A young man with long, disheveled hair approached behind and between Niz and Ren, slinging his arms over their shoulders. "I heard some clairvoyants in Hearthome convening with spirits and they said the exact same thing."

Ren went wide-eyed, but Niz was not amused. "I just made that up right now. From my own head. I call your bluff on that."

"Fine then, don't believe me." The boy said. "But you should know, it's certainly the truth."

"I'll believe it when the ghosts tell me themselves." She said, still not buying the story. "Just who are you anyway?" Somehow, Niz recognized the boy's face but couldn't place a name.

"Nobody special. Just a guy who anticipates the unanticipated. Forsees the unlikely. Thrives on surprises." In a swift motion, he grabbed the top handle of Niz's and Ren's backpacks, pushed them both forward to the ground and slid both bags free as the two victims fell face-first into the dirt.

Niz pushed herself up as the boy ran away. "Oh no you don't!" She chased after him and recognized him as the one watching her from the forest earlier in the morning. She could still run faster than him, especially with the thief weighed down by two heavy backpacks.

He glanced over his shoulder to notice his victim pursuing him, and the boy dropped both bags, spun, and tossed a Pokéball between them, unveiling a large Tyrantrum now standing between robber and robbed.

"Think twice before you try to run past my friend here." He said, panting and out of breath from the short sprint.

"Think twice before you try to rob me." Niz replied. She threw forward the first Pokéball on her belt, and Wudang emerged from the flash of light.

They stared down for a moment, as if trying to silently talk each other out of the fight.

"If that's the way it has to be." The boy shrugged. "Cracy, you know what to do."

The Tyrantrum scraped one clawed foot across the dirt, kicking up dust with each drag. It flared its nostrils, lowered its head and charged forward, a half-ton of muscle and stone on a collision course with Pangoro, who braced himself into a position to stop the fossil in its tracks.

"Wudang, dodge it!" Niz shouted. As Pangoro put down its arms and parkour-rolled out of Tyrantrum's way, the fossil kept on its collision course straight for Niz and Ren. Caught in a suddenly unsafe scenario, Niz panicked and leaped out of the way, falling on her front, while Ren acrobatically jumped and rolled, and was back on his feet in no time, brushing dust off his right shoulder dirtied by the maneuver. They exchanged a non-verbal facial expression conversation of "When did you learn to do that?" "I'm full of surprises, just keep battling."

"Oops, did my girl go too far?" The boy sarcastically chided his Pokémon. "Bad girl, bad girl. Do it better this time."

"Agnes, we have some bad spacing here." Ren whispered. The two trainers were pinned between the thief on one direction of the path and a rampaging dinosaur on the other.

"Feel free to lend a hand." She whispered back. "And show me what you've got besides a tuck and roll."

"Can do." Ren fished a single Pokéball from his pocket. "It's your time to shine. Go, Aku!" Ren's first revealed Pokémon was an elegant yet vicious-looking Zoroark, its crimson hair unbound and flowing in the breeze.

"Fighting dirty?" The shaggy-haired boy asked. "I'll level the playing field. Show us what you've got, Pangaea!" He unleashed on them an unusually large Grotle, still pinning his two opponents.

"You're one to accuse us of playing dirty, thief!" Ren shot back. "We need a plan. This guy knows what he's doing."

"Zoroark slashes Grotle and dodges all his slow attacks, Pangoro takes Tyrantrum with muscle-on-muscle?" Niz suggested.

"You can't beat that monster Tyrantrum at its own game, let Aku try something underhanded."

"Don't tell me what Wudang can or can't do!" Niz was raising her voice now above the whispered tactics from before. "He can take that Tyrant--"

"Oh, Cracy!" The thief interrupted. "What are you waiting for? Time for another Head Smash!"

"Aku, stop that charge! Scary Face!" Ren commanded.

The Zoroark slid into Tyrantrum's path and spread its stance to an imposing figure for its lean physique. As Niz and Ren parted to opposite sides of the path, finally clearing the road for a proper battle.

I'll get you back for this later, Ren. Niz thought. "Wudang, Comet Punch barrage that Grotle!"

Wudang jumped forward to the waiting Grotle and pelted him with swift jabs as, on the other side of the battlefield, Tyrantrum's charge slowed to a crawl and a stop when face to face with her opponent.

"What are you doing, Cracy! Attack! Stomp that pest!" The thief lost some of his cool with his hesitant Tyrantrum. After a whimper, the beast continued her charge, lifting her legs high and trying to squash her dodging opponent.

"Focus on dodging, Aku, and throw out some Fury Swipes as you do!" Ren commanded as Zoroark blinked from place to place too fast for the Tyrantrum to keep up as claws scraped across its rocky hide.

"You're only making her angry." Niz commented to Ren between her encouragement to Pangoro to do as he wished. The opposing Grotle was heavy and easily took most hits thrown its way. Meanwhile, the thief put more burden of Curse on that fighter, slowing its reflexes but strengthening its body.

"Same to Pangaea." The thief said. "He can take anything you throw at him, but is your bear tough enough to handle what my Grotle can dish out? Pangaea, throw a Fault Line at the bear!"

Fault Line? Niz thought as the Grotle stomped and a wave of earth rose to hit Pangoro in the chest and down to his hands and knees on the rebound. As Wudang crouched breathless on the dirt and Aku's claws were pulled dull against Tyrantrum's hide, Niz forced a game change against Ren's command. "Wudang, forget that Grotle! Back on the fossil, go for Hammer Arm!"

The Pangoro howled as it pushed itself back to its feet and ran headlong to the Pokémon being harassed by the ineffective Zoroark. It interlocked its fingers and swung both fists up in a hard uppercut to Tyrantrum's jaw.

"Agnes, what are you doing?" Ren shouted. "We had a plan!"

"You had a plan, but it wasn't working. I'm getting us back on track. Keep him down, Wudang. Arm Thrusts!"

Ren huffed with indignity. "Fine. Aku, take Grotle. He's even slower now, so just pelt him!"

The tune of the battle changed as Grotle's Fault Lines hit nothing but air and Tyrantrum couldn't get a break between Wudang's hits.

"I don't like this any more." The thief said. "Pangaea, time for Earthquake!"

Ren took a few steps back. "Agnes, emergency! Earthquake is a really big deal!" He was losing his cool somewhat as he kept telling Aku to unleashe more rippling Night Slashes on the Grotle, who in turn held his position and seemed to be mentally bonding with the ground.

"Wudang, redirect your attention--"

"Cracy, keep that bear where it is! Head Smash!" The boy instructed Tyrantrum back into another headlong dash across the battlefield and toward Pangoro.

"Wudang, redirect Tyrantrum! Circle Throw him at Grotle!"

"You can do it!" Tyrantrum's and Pangoro's trainers both encouraged their fighters. Tyrantrum lowered its head for the impact, and was grabbed by the top and bottom of its head by Pangoro, who struggled for a moment before almost being bulldozed. From this grip on the fossil's head, Wudang swung his opponent in a circle twice before launching her in the direction of the Grotle who just reared up on his hind legs to trigger an Earthquake. The thief's two Pokémon collided and groaned with pain and exhaustion.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this." The thief said, recalling his Pokémon into their pokeballs one in each hand, then picking up his stolen backpacks again and running in the opposite direction.

"Aku!" Ren interrupted. "Pursuit!"

Zoroark vanished in a blur and tackled the thief to the ground. With his prey pinned down, Aku pulled back one hand for a supplementary attack, but froze before dealing what may have become a finishing blow.

"Get off of me!" The thief said, pushing Zoroark to the side and standing up to brush himself off. "This isn't over yet!" He scooped four more pokeballs off his belt and prepared to throw them, despite being surrounded by two vicious Dark-typed Pokémon.

"Bryan, stand down!"

The thief looked back over his shoulder. And older boy wearing a blue bandana approached.

"I know who you are now." Niz said. "Both of you. You're the ones who were spying on us through the forest. What's your problem? You couldn't rob us then, so you try when we're on the move?"

"Put the pokeballs away, Bry."

The thief called Bryan hesitated for a moment before attaching the pokeballs back to their holsters. He picked up both stolen backpacks and started a path away, refusing to part with his ill-gotten goods.

"Drop the bags, Bryan." Niz said as she and Wudang each took a step forward.

The older boy swiftly threw forward a Pokéball of his own, showing a moderately sized two-headed black dragon. "Just try me. I dare you." He said sternly, glaring Niz down. "Drop the bags, Bryan."

"But Jordan--"

"Drop. The. Bags." Jordan commanded as one of the dragon's heads turned its attention to the thief.

He dropped both backpacks with a thump and began an angry walk away from the direction Niz and Ren were headed.

The older boy glanced between the two younger trainers, a scowl glued to his face. "Keep out of trouble." He growled.

With the adrenaline in her veins, Niz had a hard time restraining herself from telling Pangoro to Circle Throw the boy over the tree line, or perhaps doing the throwing on her own. When both boys and the dragon were sufficiently far away, Ren stepped forward to put his backpack back on, with Niz doing the same just after.

"Where does he get off. We didn't go looking for trouble, trouble put itself around us." Niz growled as she hooked the optional front clip to her backpack, one that held the two shoulder straps together at the chest.

"I don't know." Ren said with his voice half an octave lower than normal. He adjusted his glasses, flattened his collar, and took a deep breath. "I won't be sad if we never see either one of them again."

"Same." Niz exhaled. The thieves were out of sight, and a sign listing Pastoria City as being one mile west showed the way to their destination. "We're almost there. Don't let this stumbling block slow us down."

ΖΣ

Spoiler

This chapter took too darn long. The first half I ended on June 19 (don't know when I started) picked back up June 30th, didn't wrap it up for another five days. I suppose my current chapter is worse though, since I'm still not done with it and it's been almost a month since then. That was during a hectic couple of weeks for which I was working 7 days per. I hope my train of thought wasn't too discontinuous.

So, here's another in-game character I'm using, Giovanni. More gym leaders? I suppose, yeah. They're easy to tie to locations and are given more personality than your typical youngster NPC and his top-percentile rodent. Really, let's look at the actual characters of any given Pokémon game. Player, Rival, Professor, 8 Gym Leaders, 5 Elites, and a couple of named Team badguy admins/boss. Not much else other than some minor characters like Mr. Briney or the Safari Zone Warden or yo momma.

But anyhow, I'm trying to give different depth when I use established characters. As I'm making Giovanni, I'm thinking of him as a wealthy and involved defense contractor, while Team Rocket was just a side thing. Perhaps as part of an effort to drum up his own sales by creating an insurgency group in his homeland? Who knows, I'm not planning on making him a big character unless somewhere down the line he becomes important, but that's far enough in the future I don't know yet.

Also, first combat-centric chapter for a while! I hope I did all right, respecting actual battle mechanics while making implausible parts seem more real. Fault Line is, I guess, a new ground type move. I needed something that wasn't an earth-shaking move like Magnitude nor a weird muddy attack like Mud Shot that Grotle could use, so there's that. Earthquake I felt like making function as Solar Beam because we are triggering a f-ing earthquake here. Even Toph Beifong would need a moment of concentration if she was to try to move a tectonic plate.

And uh oh. I am completely caught up on chapters. Next one is 95% done, but wow, I started with like 6 chapters of buffer. That's unemployment for you though. I've still got some non-sequential chapters I could put up, but I'd rather wait for more opportune timing on those. I'll have to make a habit of an hour per day or something this week.

 

2.2.1​

​

Enlisted (Part 1)​

"Okay, you were right." Ren said as he and Niz entered the gate into Pastoria City. His voice shook somewhat, post-encounter with the would-be thief. "Things will be ugly."

"Although I'm disappointed it took you this long," Niz began in her head before speaking aloud. "It's good you've come to that realization. It's going to be tough getting by, the worse things get."

That sentence left an uncomfortable feeling in the air between them. Pastoria, a moderately-sized and unusually humid city, seemed to be uneasily quiet. Somehow it reminded Niz of walking through Fortree in Hoenn, with everyone looking to the sky, watching the meteor slowly drawing nearer.

"Why are we even here?" Ren asked, sounding jaded.

"When we left the campsite, you let me choose what direction we traveled, so I tossed a coin and headed south, then you told me I should have tossed the coin differently and went north to Veilstone instead, but we were already on the way here. I think that about covers it." She led a somewhat random path through the city before noting signs marking the way to the Great Marsh, advertized as a wildlife reserve, botanical garden, historical center and more, all in one. She decided to go along with the arrows, figuring it would be as good a place as any to rest their feet.

"I'm thinking even Veilstone won't have anything. I have no idea what we're doing or where we should be going." He let out a long, almost dramatic sigh that killed the conversation momentarily.

"But didn't you mention something about Eterna City?" Niz asked, trying to push the conversation forward and upward. "As long as we're fresh out of ideas, that place seems as good as any."

Ren pulled open the door to the Great Marsh Park, holding open for Niz to enter first. "No, you were right about it being just a fairy tale. I got too hopeful and I dreamed too big." He sighed a frustrated breath. "As if two kids are going to tame the power of gods and smack an alien back into space."

Niz wanted to offer some consolation, but couldn't bring herself to lie about her opinion on the matter. All these mythical Pokémon haven't been seen in ages, and even if the green thing flying to the meteor from Sky Pillar was Rayquaza, it too was powerless to prevent the disaster. "Why not double back to Veilstone then? You really did have a good point about all those big businesses and research facilities." She offered her best consolation to keep moving forward. "Hey! What if there's someone there who has something like Giovanni at West Kanto? That whatever project. If there's anything like that in Sinnoh, it's got to be in there, right?"

Ren continued to look at the floor as he walked. He might have been mulling over the idea in his head, or just stewing in this mood of his. Either way, it gave Niz a minute to look around the interior of the building. More than just a border gate, it was an elaborate gift shop, food court, and indoor town square all bundled as one. Spread through the plaza area were several tables staffed with various flavors of petitioner, sales rep, and recruiter. Glancing over the various setups, Niz accidentally made eye contact with one such staffer, who also noticed and called Niz over to discuss her cause.

"Hi there!" The young lady said excitedly to Niz, mostly ignoring Ren for the moment. "Can I take a minute of your time to talk to you about Team Royal? I'll make it worth your while!" Beside her sat a bored young man flipping through a paperback book.

Niz knew already that it would be nearly futile to try to escape the encounter. "Okay, yeah, I have a minute. What have you got for me?"

Momentarily the girl seemed surprised that someone actually stopped to talk. "Umm, yeah, umm, my name is Ria, and I'm looking for new recruits to join Team Royal, an organization new to Sinnoh with the goal of helping the world adapt to these rapidly-changing times. Have either of you ever been part of a Team?"

"Is that Team with a capital T?" Niz asked warily. "Usually those are bad news, and your mission statement is pretty vague too. You aren't going to try to dry up the oceans or force Pokémon to evolve early or cyber-enhance fossils, are you?"

"I ran with Team Shade for a while." Ren interjected, snapping out of his silence. "Many Teams get a bad reputation because a few big, bad apples ruin the bunch."

Niz was taken aback. "Ren, you're a year older than me. How does a fourteen year old boy already have a history with a Team?

"How does a thirteen year old girl already have eleven gym badges? There's a reason I'm not living with my parents anymore." He turned to Niz, and there was an honest, forlorn sense conveyed in his eyes. He picked up a pamphlet from a plastic stand and glanced over its front and back before turning his attention back to the girl staffing the table. "Back to the point, what is your Team's goal really? I haven't heard anything from you to tell me you're not one of the bad Teams."

"Boss Notos is keeping some parts of the plan secret," The girl Ria began, "but when I started, I was told that the goal was to accelerate the world's adaptation to changes in climate, technology, culture, and, more recently, even the monster."

"It still doesn't say much." Niz replied, getting a nod of agreement from Ren. "Accelerate our adaptation? What does that mean? Indoctrinate us to this Notos guy's world view? Inject us with Zangoose DNA to make us healthier? Maybe just finish what the Deoxys started?"

"I would not say that." A woman said behind Niz and Ren. "Ideas like those are what hold us back from diving into the future."

"Administrator Borea! Administrator Zephyrus! Hi!" Ria greeted the adults excitedly as the two trainers turned to face them. She, tall and strong with a cultural braid in her hair and with paradoxical heat in her cold eyes. He, slim and serious with a stern jaw and dark eyes. Both dressed in classy black-and-white fashions, accented only by a colored bracelet or vest.

"Good afternoon, recruit." The so-called Admin Borea said. "How goes your task today?"

"One yes, eight maybes, and enough nos that I don't want to count."

"Thirty-one". The so-far quiet young man beside Ria at the table said. "By criterion of who bothered to stop walking and say no. Maybe ten times as many who didn't." He put a pamphlet into his book as a page marker, then slid the paperback into a bag beside his chair. "It's not a very optimistic success rate."

"But every time someone says no, I learn something about the reason why and work it into my approach. Every time I try, I get better." Ria said brightly.

Borea looked between her two recruiters. "You could learn something from her. In fact, why don't you head home. I'll call you with your next assignment."

The young man wordlessly obliged. He slung his bag over his shoulder and walked to the main exit of the Great Marsh Gate.

Borea pulled a smartphone from her pocket and fiddled with it for a few seconds. "And there goes his phone number." She turned her attention to Niz and Ren, her co-admin silently doing the same. "So where do you two stand? Yes, no, maybe?"

Niz replied negatively at the same time as Ren replied with a maybe. They glanced at each other, surprised by their unmatching responses.

"I thought we were already a team." Niz said hesitantly, trying to play her cards close to her chest in front of these strangers. "With a lower-case t."

"We are, but I'm starting to think maybe these people can offer what we're looking for." Ren winked, and from their angles neither admin would have noticed. "What do you have to offer?"

"Community, direction, protection. Some would say purpose. Goals to apply oneself to and rewards for those who contribute." Borea said, as if she interviewed some grunts already.

"That sounds really good." Ren said as the simplest form of agreement. "I've been feeling quite lost, lately. Most of my friends have split up and my parents are gone. I don't know what to do."

Niz could easily see through the topical sob story, and hoped the admin would be less perceptive.

"We can offer that and more." Borea replied confidently. As she prepared to explain the Team's offerings, the other Administrator put a hand on her shoulder.

"I'd like to take this one." He said flatly. "If you don't mind."

At first, Borea's face twisted as if her co-admin Zephyrus insulted her mother. She let it go quickly enough. "Fine. I'll update our recruiter on what's new in HQ."

"Come." Administrator Zephyrus said to the two trainers, motioning with an over-the-shoulder wave to come with him. He and the children following him walked in silence for a minute before arriving at a cafe, where he offered to buy each of them a refreshment of choice. A Unovano for Niz, hot chocolate for Ren, and a straight black for himself. He continued to lead the way through the building and up stairs to an observation deck above the swamp, finally stopping in front of a window wall. He took a long sip of his steaming hot drink and fogged the window with his post-gulp exhale. "Isn't it beautiful?" The man said as he looked over the swamp through one of the observation deck's windows.

Niz turned to see his view. Desolate, quiet, almost deathly. A thin layer of snow settled itself over tree branches and the dryer parts of the land, as well as the near side of Mount Coronet. "I suppose. Don't you think it's kind of empty though?" She asked.

"Empty? No, it's full of life!" He adjusted his posture and held his chest out some, as if facing someone to impress. "The Croagunk and Skorupi working to provide for the coming cold season. The mud just teeming with microorganisms. The trees that grow unhindered by humankind's encroachments." He inhaled deeply and exhaled, though the natural air of the swamp was far away on the other side of the glass. "How it should have been all along."

"If you say so." Niz replied, and turned back to Ren to get his opinion.

"I hear doubt." Zephyrus said with a low tone, glancing to the kids. "Is there something wrong with the unwavering nature of this swamp?"

"No, I just like other places better." Niz replied. "Like. Umm. Have you ever seen the sun rise over the Isoto river in Aurin? How the sun glistens over the ripples and peeks between the reeds? Poliwhirl and Slowpoke croaking over the waves and Staravia riding the breeze? It's lively and peaceful at the same time." She was impressed by how poetic the words flowed from her lips.

"I have to agree." Ren chimed in. "Blackthorn Valley, near where I grew up? The mountains are so beautiful and strong, like they're standing guard for the valley river. Even in winter, Skarmory are always running and flying about, the motion and life never stops. But I have to agree with you." He went on. "There is something constant, something picturesque about this place. Like it promises not to change. Steadfast." The boy's face was changing to a sheepish smile.

"That's exactly what I'm talking about." Zephyrus said, sounding like he was smiling on the outside, though his mouth was still straight. "It's not the skylines or the parks or the opera houses, but what the world gave us from the beginning.

Niz wasn't buying it, but Ren reciprocated Zephyrus' message as the two verbally ran off with their agreement of world view. After that burst of sudden friendship he got back to the business and asked how he and Niz sign up.

"First there's the personal character interview which, as far as I'm concerned, you both have passed already. Following that is an evaluation of whichever skills may be applicable to the position for which you are applying."

"Field operative?" Ren asked. "You need things done like resources collected, Pokémon captured, posts guarded, we can do all that." The boy's extensive offer prompted a raised eyebrow from the Administrator. "I used to be in a unit that did some of those things for Team Shade."

"How about you, girl? Any past experience with a Team?" He asked Niz, getting only a negatory head shake in reply. "You do seem like you can probably handle yourself though, so this is what I suggest. A test for you two. I'll have to confer with Administrator Borea on the details, but it will be something that can address your problem-solving, search-and-recover, and maybe some Pokémon combat skills while we're at it. You perform satisfactorily and we'll start you off with a promotion right off the bat."

"We appreciate the offer, Administrator Zephyrus." Ren said with a smile.

"One more thing before we head back down to Admin Borea." Zephyrus added. "Your names?"

"René and Agnes." Ren said, gesturing to himself and Niz.

"And surnames, or are those just your noms-de-guerre?"

"Akutaichi and–"

"Nero." Agnes said. "Agnes Nero."

" René Akutaichi and Agnes Nero." The administrator said. "Good. Follow me."

"René?" Niz whispered as they followed behind Zephyrus. "I haven't heard that before."

"I know, I know. It sounds too Kalosian for a Johtese kid like me." He said. "I could say the same to you."

"I'm named after my grandmother, but it wasn't her birthname." Niz explained.

"Not what I'm talking about." Ren said without elaborating further.

A moment later they were back to the recruiter's table, where Zephyrus' co-Admin paced in circles talking angrily on her phone and the girl Ria still trying enthusiastically to draw people in to a discussion about Team Royal.

"I'll get back to you." Admin Borea said into her phone. "This is not over." She pulled the phone away from her head, flicked the mic, and tapped the red hang-up button on the touch screen. "I really hope that sounds like slamming the phone on the reciever, like in the old days. Does it sound convincing on the other end, Zeph?"

"I've never given you a reason to have a reaction like that toward me." He grinned one corner of his mouth.

"Maybe we should spend more time on the phone," she said, smiling and stepping within arms reach of him, "and maybe you could give me a reason to get all riled up." She may have winked, but from their angles the kids wouldn't have been able to tell. She turned to them with her paradoxical eyes. "So what of these two?"

"I've passed them on the interview phase, so--"

"Congratulations!" Ria exclaimed, breaking away from a conversation with a potential recruit. "Oops. Sorry."

Zephyrus sighed. "So I'm putting them forward to the usual small-group second phase, still working out the details.

"It's your decision. This is a testing phase, after all." She turned back to the new recruits and described some past tests to them, mostly to explain that it wouldn't be anything extreme like some groups like Team Venom asked of their new recruits.

"How will you get in touch with us?" Ren asked.

Zephyrus pushed some buttons on his smartphone, and in a few seconds, Ren and Niz got a text message on their Pokégear and Xtransceiver respectively.

"How did you do that?" Niz asked, almost scared for how easily this admin was able to get their contact numbers.

"Like we said," Admin Borea said on behalf of her comrade, "Team Royal has resources." She turned her attention to the girl attending the table.

"Ria." Zephyrus said.

"Yes, Ria." Borea resumed. "You just brought in two more potential recruits. Set them up with some gifts."

"Of course! Today we have for you," She ducked under the table and pulled up two thin, cheaply-made black and white stretches of fabric. "Team Royal scarves, just in time for the coming cold season!"

"Not those." Borea added. "The special ones."

Ria looked confused for a second before she ducked under the table again and pulled up two similarly-designed scarves of a much thicker material. "Made from Flaaffy wool, these will keep you styling and warm even in Snowpoint in January!"

Ren took his and stretched it out. Mostly white, it had ROYAL embroidered in large black letters twice along its length, and three colored buttons sewn onto one end. He immediately wrapped it around his neck as an ascot, while Niz tucked hers, still folded, into her pack.

"He's got the right idea." Borea said to her co-Admin, gesturing to Ren.

"They're both promising." He replied. "I'm glad we encountered you two." He went on. "Something tells me that you both have great things to contribute to our organization, and I promise you we will reciprocate what you give and more."

As everyone present bid polite farewell to those traveling a different direction, Niz pulled Ren to the cafe where Zephyrus treated them all to warm beverages. "We need to talk." She said sternly.

"Yeah, we do." He pulled out his chair and sat heavily.

ΖΣ

Spoiler

That's done with. Long chapter which I'm still not entirely done writing since it turns out this one's going go be the length of one and a half or two, so I had to find the best place to shear it off, as you see above. I kind of wrote this chapter in order of middle, part just before the middle, beginning, change the middle almost entirely, then ending part. It occurred to me over the month or so of fragmented writing sessions of this chapter that although I know what I want to happen in the really big picture of this story, I don't know the medium-sized picture yet, or even the kinda-big picture. I don't know how important Team Royal will be in two more chapters, or even if I want to keep the name. It scares me a little bit, but what's life if you know what's going to happen next?

Small literary thing here, I tried doing a tiny little thing I've seen in some some of Neil Gaiman's books where he just cuts out vast swathes of filler dialogue with 'and so they discussed their plans and bid farewell' instead of just cramming that stuff in there. I'm sure there's a right way to do it, I can only hope I did it right. You know what they say: Gaimanness is next to godliness.

Oh, and that thing with Niz not meaning to make eye contact with that recruiter? Here's how I know I played too much Pokémon in my day: I treat people selling phone plans and giving away free samples of pretzels (as well as recruiting for job openings not during a job fair) and all that stuff as opponent trainers in a Pokémon game. If you make eye contact then woodoowoodoowoodoowoodoo BATTLE TIME YOU CAN'T ESCAPE FROM A TRAINER BATTLE MUTHA CLUCKA! That's how it works, right? You walk by them staring straight ahead or at your phone and you don't make eye contact then you can just keep going. But you make eye contact with another Pokémon trainer or some kind of sales rep? You can't escape the encounter. Life lessons from videogames. Not as big as what Megaman X taught me, but good enough.

Finished writing August 7.

 

2.2.2​

​

Enlisted (Part 2)​

"Yeah, we do." Ren pulled out his chair and sat heavily. "Agnes Nero? I lived with your parents long enough to know their last name, and I don't think you married lately. What gives?"

"It's just a precaution." Niz said defensively. "My mom is like the Giovanni Sidon of Aurin, you know. Cutting edge technologies that some people are afraid of, and that some people think shouldn't exist. There are types who don't like my family because of that." She took a deep breath. "When I was younger and still living at home, we even had someone try to hurt us over my mom's job and reputation. They took a small herd of Rhyhorn and Rhydon and got them to destroy our house as we slept. At first it was just bunch of Stone Edge and small Earthquakes to try to tear down the house and destroy everything inside."

"Then?" Ren asked, knowing there was more.

"I was looking out my window, paralyzed with fear, when I saw this big old Rhyperior stomp up to the house. Next thing I know, we're sinking into a Fissure it's opening up beneath the foundation." Niz shivered with the recollection. "Next thing I know, my brother Hasim is out there with Durandal — that's his Aggron that he got as an Aron from Grandma Jaddah -- and some others of his fighters beating back that Rhyperior and its army and trainer plus stopping the sinkhole. It took him commanding three Pokémon at once, but still, he pulled it off and we were all safe, although we had to move. The police never found out who it was, some kind of terrorist or assassin." She took a deep breath and a long pause. "I miss my brother. Anyhow, some people don't like Muntoros."

Ren was respectfully quiet for a moment. "They never told me that story."

"They never needed to." Niz replied. "And it was years before you moved in. Things changed after that. Hasim left, then I did, then you moved in. My parents never told me about anything like that happening ever again, so I guess the attacker backed off after that." She took a deep breath and visibly collected herself. "Now it's my turn. Where do you get off signing us both up for a Team on a whim like that? I never wanted any of this."

"I was content to let you turn down the girl at the table, but those two Admins?" Ren scoffed, unable to comprehend someone disagreeing with his choice of action. "They really seem like they have resources at their disposal. And they did mention that their boss has plans involving the alien. We can just, you know, piggyback off them."

"The phrase 'plans involving' is just another vague term they've thrown at us." Niz commented. "In addition to the contradicting goals."

"Yeah, I noticed that. The girl says they're trying to move the world forward, but the admin is going on about how the natural un-settled world is better in every way than everything else, meaning he prefers rewinding civilization." Ren explained, somewhat disappointed that his preferred next step seemed less credible now.

"You know what that means, right?" Niz asked. "One of two things. Either they're unsure of their own goals or they're lying to their lower ranks. Either way, does that sound like a group you want to be on board with?"

"They're our best option right now." Ren said flatly. "Those things Borea said they could offer? Direction, resources, all that? It's everything we're lacking." He laughed out a couple of breaths. "What's to lose?"

"Time, for one thing. I don't want to get held up from my goals because you want to climb a corporate ladder."

"That won't happen." He replied. "Remember what you said this morning? You said my job is to find out what to do about his monster and your job is to keep people safe. Let me do that, Agnes. Let me find out what to do."

Niz didn't like the proposition one bit. She was willing to let Ren drive, but now he's taking directions from someone else, rather than deciding as her somewhat trusted partner. "Fine. Let's restock and figure out what's next."

---

"So what's your brother like?" Ren asked. "Your parents didn't talk about him much."

"Hasim? He's six years older than me. That makes him..." Niz did the math in her head. "Nineteen now. He was really great trainer, probably still is. Kind of stiff with his Pokémon and he has no sense of humor, but you can tell he cares. Most of the ones he trains were turned away by previous owners. Abused or neglected, he would take them in like rescues. He taught them compassion and, for the Pokémon who could friend the hostility entirely out of, he taught those to channel their negativity to a productive means. He was even on the news a few times even when he wasn't challenging the Elite Four. The Rescue Trainer they called him, taking in the downtrodden and hopeless from across the land, making Aurin better, one Pokémon at a time." Niz laughed giddily. "I loved those headlines. He tried to teach me how to read with some of those. Then Mom bumped me down to kiddie books."

Ren noticed himself smiling in the reminisce that he wasn't even part of. "He sounds like an A+ guy. Why did he leave, and how come your parents didn't talk about him more?"

Niz's laughter died down. "Like I said, a lot of people don't like the Muntoros." She didn't elaborate further as she and Ren neared the exit of the Great Marsh gate.

---

Within minutes, they were back onto the roads of Pastoria, still as eerily quiet as when they entered the Great Marsh gate. Before they reached the first Pokémart, Niz's Xtransciever and Ren's Pokégear rang with the same number as Administrator Zephyrus' mysterious text message. "It's your friends." Niz commented over the simultaneous ringing of the two devices.

"Just be cool. We're best off all working together." Ren replied as they both answered their devices.

"Mr. Akutaichi, Ms. Nero, hello again." Admin Zephyrus' voice came through both phones.

"Hello Administrator Zephyrus. And please, call me Ren." The boy said, gesturing to Niz to make a similar effort."

"And call me Agnes." She said, preferring not to use her recently preferred nickname given by Might3yena.

"Noted." The administrator replied. "I discussed your registration with Administrator Borea and we've decided on a way for you two to flex your muscles for us, skipping right by the small stuff and going right up to medium. There is some risk involved, so let me know if it's too much and we'll work something out."

"We're ready for whatever you want to throw at us." Ren smiled toothily and gave a thumbs-up to Niz, desperately trying to enthuse her to the proposition. Instead, she covered one ear and took a few steps away from the boy, trying to block out his double-voice coming over the phone and in person.

"I'm glad to hear it." Zephyrus went on. "To the west of Pastoria city is Sinnoh Route 212. If you follow that road west and north you'll find Reichedel Manor, the estate of the old-money billionaire family who founded Hearthome City. The eldest Mr. Reichedel, current owner of the estate, is an avid collector of foreign species of Pokémon that historically do well in appeal contests."

"I think I've heard of him." Ren replied. "So what do you want us to do?"

"This is where things get risky, so again, let me know if it's too much. The Team Royal Labs are currently doing research on branch evolutions and need some Eevees that aren't bred in captivity. It's been said that the Riechedel Manor Garden has become a naturalized habitat for several species of Pokémon collected by the Reichedel family. We need you two to enter the Garden and either capture an Eevee for us or find evidence to plausibly deny their availability. Any questions?"

"Yes." Ren began. "If these Eevees are raised in this man's back yard, how exactly are they classified as not being bred in captivity?"

"Or how about" Niz interjected "the fact that on a preliminary mission you're already asking us to commit a felony?"

Ren pulled his pokegear away from his head and mouthed the words "be cool" to Niz. There was a look of desperation in his eyes.

"I've told you twice now that there are risks involved and that you may turn down this mission. On that point, the worst that can come of this mission is a misdemeanor trespassing charge if you stay outdoors. You can only be charged with felony breaking and entering if you actually enter the mansion, so I advise you just don't do that. Furthermore, you won't have to worry about either of those if you simply don't get caught." The line was silent for a moment. "My apologies. That came out wrong. I assure you the vast majority of Team Royal's activities are not only perfectly legal but are also beneficial to global and small communities, as I'm sure you will see for yourselves during your time with us." Administrator Zephyrus sighed audibly over the phone. "And on your point, Mr. Akutaichi, I think you underestimate the Reichedel backyard. It could just easily be classified as a wildlife reserve.

"I'm sure I'll see for myself." Ren responded. "So that's the test? Find a way into this garden, find an Eevee and bring it home?"

"And dodge security." Niz added on her Xtransceiver.

"And that." Ren continued. "What if there are no Eevee? How do we disprove them? Or plausibly deny them?"

"Figure something out. We are testing your problem-solving skills, after all." Admin Zephyrus replied. "But it seems like you get the picture. Get in, get Eevee, get out. Don't get caught. Any other questions?"

Ren looked at Niz, who shook her head no. "That's all. We'll be back in touch with a status report when we're done."

"Glad to hear it." The administrator said. "Good luck to you both." The line went silent as the call ended.

"And what's behind door number one?" Niz announced to her companion. "Breaking and entering with abduction as a bonus!"

"Tresspassing and animal rescue. Your brother would approve of half of that."

"He rescued them from abusers and crowded shelters, not wildlife reserves." She shot back. "Hardly the same thing."

"Fair enough, but I'm not letting that stop me." Ren said enthusiastically as he looked at his Pokégear's clock, then at the sky. "We should still be able to make it by nightfall. Let's go."

ΖΣ

Spoiler

Hasim... I usually do a lot of fore-planning when it comes to character design and backstory, but I kind of just made him up as I went. I'll smooth him out later, I think. Though I mentioned him being tucked away in the Sanctuary, it might be difficult to reason him getting out again. Unless! GASP! He is the Lone Wanderer of Vault 101, inciting a revolution in that isolated shelter and re-introducing the residents of that protected world back into the big-bad world outside! Meh, or not.

Speaking of names that may not seem entirely ordinary to the primarily Western visitors of LV, I think I'm going to change Agnes/Niz name. Something that has the middle-eastern vibe I'm trying to get with her home culture, but something not entirely alien to the common Western reader. So far I'm thinking Alexandria (or Alexandra, Alessandra, some minor variation) might be my number one, since [1] it's got roots tracing back to ancient Asia Minor which is geographically close enough to the regions I'm thinking about (like Alexandria, Egypt), [2] it can be shortened into an more palatable nickname like Lexie, and [3] its etymology is kind of nice, being Greek for "defender of mankind". It'll be a pain to edit these past thirteen posts, but perhaps worth it. We'll see.

Short chapter today? Well the last one was long. Plus, I get almost triple pay from work for overtime on Sundays. I'd rather do that than sleep in another four hours and touch up on this post for another hour. Money money mooonaaay! And bills bills bills...

 

2.2.3​

​

Heist​

It was the latest part of evening by the time they showed up outside Reichedel Estate. The sky hardly glowed in its plum-colored sleep above the tree into which Niz and Ren climbed for a better view of the property.

"It does seem like a lot of trouble to go through for just an Eevee." Ren said, confirming Niz's comments on the way to their self-designated insertion point on the mission.

"Which is why they're sending us instead of someone who already matters to them." She replied, adjusting her position on the branch she was crouched upon. "High-risk and low-reward. We're just disposable assets. This way, if we get turned over to the police, they don't lose someone who they've actually trained and invested in." She turned her attention away from the dark expanse of the backyard and to Ren, whose expression may have turned sour with the negative review of his plans. "Are you going to wear that thing all evening?" She asked, referencing the arguably garish Team Royal scarf Ren was given at the recruiting table.

He ignored her jab, knowing there wouldn't be any amount of agreement on their levels of patriotism for their new Team. "This is the point of no return." The boy said as he pulled a thin flashlight from his backpack. "Are we in?"

As much as she still disliked the idea of joining a Team, whatever the goal may be, she didn't have a better course of action to propose. "Yeah, we're in."

Over the next few minutes, half a dozen flashlights turned on across the reserve as patrolling guards went into nighttime mode and simultaneously gave away their positions. Ren put away his flashlight without ever having turned it on. "Let's go." He crept out farther on the tree branch to the stone wall topped with cast-iron spiked fencing, a classical style that made its intended function frighteningly clear despite its antiquated aesthetics. He jumped over the fence and thumped onto the ground on the other side, quickly dashing behind a bush. Niz climbed along the same branch and jumped to the same spot, landing in a crouch.

Without announcing their actions aloud, Niz and Ren let one Pokémon each, Hashmal the Luxray and Rauru the Noctowl from their Pokéballs.

"Okay Hashmal" Niz whispered into the lion's ear. "We're trying to find Eevee here. Back home, you remember that Jolteon next door you like?" As if to reply, the Luxray breathed out an almost purr-like sigh. "Just like her, only unevolved. Can you use your gleam-eyes to find one?" Hashmal bobbed his head up and down and walked a close circle around Niz like an overgrown housecat. "Good boy. When we do find one, I want you to go for a Thunderwave. We want to be gentle and bring it to a new home."

Meanwhile, Ren instructed Rauru on the surveillance part of the operation: keep an aerial view and use Echoed Voice to alert to an incoming guard or Uproar to be a distraction if it's too late. As the Noctowl flew to a tree one hundred meters away, Luxray led the way through long-trimmed grasses and terra cotta footpaths.

The guards kept a poorly-coordinated coverage of the estate, giving the two trespassers plenty of space to carry out their operation. The garden was surprisingly alive under the full moonlight, with nocturnal species like Meowth and Clefairy dashing between shrubs and topiaries, and diurnal species like Roselia standing with hands folded for the night, waiting for morning dew to call them to wakefulness once more. Not one Eevee, however, played with the Meowth or slept among the Roselia.

"This is hopeless." Niz whispered to Ren, following behind Hashmal and his glowing golden eyes. "I bet this is a wild Golduck chase. You know, test-to-fail so the admins see how we handle plan B."

"You might be right." He replied. "So what do you suggest? Zephyrus said to either get an Eevee or proof that there aren't any here. How do we do that?"

Hashmal stopped in his tracks and the two trainers peered around him to see what was going on ahead. "How about we just go back to plan A." Niz said as a pair of Eevee wrestled and tumbled onto the path. Both Eevee noticed their audience, and one ran off, ears perked and tail wagging. The other only stared. "Hello there." Niz whispered hungrily as she reached into the ball pouch of her backpack, finding it empty. Between shopping for more practical provisions in Sunyshore and forgetting to stop by the Pokémart in Pastoria, she hasn't had any empty capsules onhand since leaving Hoenn. "You're up, Ren."

The boy was already crouched and slowly approaching the remaining Eevee, arm outstretched and hand open. "Hi" He whispered.

The most Niz could do was keep herself quiet and put a hand on Luxray's shoulder to let him know not to attack.

At about a meter away, Ren stopped inching forward. The Eevee approached and sniffed his hand cautiously before rubbing the top of its head against the boy's hand. Ren, in turn, rubbed the Eevee behind the ears and under the chin, quickly gaining its affection.

"Just like that?" Niz asked, still with one hand on Luxray's shoulders.

"Just like that." Ren whispered back. "Let's return to where we entered." He waved to a tree in the distance, perhaps where Rauru the Noctowl was perched in the darkness.

Moving at a comfortable pace for the small Eevee to follow on foot, they were all back to the wall and the low-hanging tree within a minute. Ren, on his tiptoes, lifted Eevee up and onto the low branch from which he and Niz jumped at the start of the mission. "I do feel bad about separating this one from its friend." Ren commented.

"I'm pretty sure he made a new best friend today." Niz replied, glad the darkness of night covered her smile.

Ren climbed up the wall and grabbed hold of the tree, lifting himself up onto the bough as, across the property, a frenzied flapping sound broke through the air. "Rauru?" The boy asked.

Niz made the split-second decision. "You stay with the Eevee, I'll go save him."

"But he's my--"

"The Eevee will only stay with you. Just stay put until I get back here and we'll break north for Hearthome."

The boy couldn't say anything in return. He could only nod in reply.

Niz and Hashmal ran across the garden, tearing through flower patches and hopping over streams as they went in search of the sounds of Rauru's panic.

There, under one of the many trees, stood a guard with a dog-catcher's leash caught around the Noctowl's feet as the bird cawed and flapped helplessly.

"A large, trained Noctowl. I've got it under control, but get the veterinary bay doors open for me." The guard said into a communicator before returning both hands to his leash.

"Oh no you don't! Hashmal, Take Down!"

The guard turned to face the new threat just as the Luxray leapt onto him, knocking him to his back and making him lose grip of the leash. Niz grabbed the device and loosened it off Rauru's feet, allowing the bird to fly into the air in a tight circle before landing again.

"Code Yellow intruder!" The guard shouted into his communicator as Luxray jumped off him and back to his trainer's side. "Garden Northeast! Need backup!" He scrambled back to his feet and threw forward a Pokéball. "Houndoom, go! Sic 'im!"

"You, Noctowl, back to where we came in! Keep that dog away, Hashmal! Discharge!"

Noctowl took off in the direction of the insertion point, but stopped and landed on the ground only a short distance away. Luxray, as it was told, let out an impulse of electricity, spreading out from his front paws and leaping across the ground in all directions. Unfortunately, the Houndoom was already airborne in a jumping lunge attack, unaffected by the shock and Crunching Luxray on the neck.

The hound and the lion exchanged bites and slashes like the two playful Eevee from before, only with genuine defensive aggression on behalf of their trainers. Soon enough, the reinforcements arrived as five more men flanked by their Pokémon partners approached the fight.

"Hashmal!" Niz said, starting to feel panic. "We need to get out of here! Now!"

The Luxray bounced back from its latest Thunder Fang attack, and turned to flee, but was blocked from escape by a barricade of Ambipom and Machoke.

Niz's Xtransceiver rang as Noctowl flew back overhead. She answered hurriedly. "Kinda busy, Ren!"

"Put me on speaker!" The boy said and waited just a second. "Rauru, cover their escape with Night Shade!" His digital-sounding voice projected over the sounds of threats from the guards and scuffling of soon-to-be battles.

As it was told, the Noctowl landed on the ground nearby and its eyes began to glow red as all other color vanished from the spectrum and even the dark-violet sky turned the darkest tone of gray. The guards and their Pokémon acted as if they were blind, seemingly looking about in confusion.

"What are you waiting for! Get out of there!"

"Right." Niz said, motioning to Hashmal and the Noctowl that it was time to leave. "Thanks for the cover." She hung up the Xtransceiver and ran, two Pokémon in tow to the corner of the garden where they entered. Back at the battlefield, frustrated guards commanded their Pokémon to Odor Sleuth the intruder, but were too slow to escape the darkened dome to be able to chase her.

As Niz and the two Pokémon following her approached the tree, Ren recalled Rauru over the closing distance. Niz pulled Hashmal back into his Pokéball, and she jumped to a handhold on the same low-hanging branch as before, pulling herself to safety. "Thanks again for the save."

"Don't mention it. Let's move!" Ren shimmied along the branch to the trunk, grabbed Eevee from a Pachirisu's alcove, and jumped down the opposite side of the tree, Niz following close behind. They ran for a half-mile nonstop after hitting the ground, Ren cradling Eevee in his arms all the way. By the time they slowed to a walk, individual buildings and clusters of Drifblim could be seen within the electric glow of Hearthome City.

Niz laughed through her exhaustion. "Wow, we did it!"

"Yeah!" Ren added. "I haven't had that much excitement since... forever! And we got you out of there too, yes we did!" He went on, coddling the friendly Eevee.

"We should report back in to Zephyrus." Niz said, getting back to the matter at hand.

"Will you call, or should I?"

Although the mission turned out to be enjoyable in the end, she still wasn't over the reckless nature of these Team Royal officials sending two kids on such a potentially dangerous mission. "You call. I'll carry our new friend."

Ren passed the little brown ball of fur and hit the Admin's contact in his Pokégear. "It's past ten. I hope he picks up." The pre-answer ringing was audible in the relative silence of the night. "Administrator Zephyrus! This is Ren, I hope I didn't wake you."

"I don't sleep." The volume on the phone was loud enough even Niz could hear both ends of the conversation. "How goes your mission?"

"I am pleased to report that we successfully extracted the objective, avoided interference, and are prepared to rendezvous at the point of your choosing." Ren said, obviously trying to impress with his choice of vocabulary.

"Excellent work, recruit. Administrator Borea and I are in Hearthome City right now. There's a public park in front of the city's Pokémon Gym. Meet us there, turn over the subject to us, and the mission will be considered a success."

"Affirmative." Ren replied. "ETA thirty minutes. Ren and Agnes out." He ended the call and turned to his partner-in-crime. "I think I could get used to this."

"I'll wait until I see what they can do for us." She gently scratched the Eevee under its chin. With the adrenaline rush dying down, she felt covered in a sense of bad omen, likely just the feeling of uncertainty of working with potential international criminals. She and Ren kept their pace forward to Hearthome City, mutually pleased with each other's company along the way, still an uncommon event between them.

ΖΣ

Spoiler

Secret agent stuff! Well, hardly. A little thing about me, I've always had an appreciation for sneaky-type criminals who are kind of understandable in their purposes, like Robin Hood or Ocean's Eleven. Some kids want to be star musicians or athletes or astronauts when they grow up, but me, I wanted either to be a secret agent or part of an expert heist group. Or, or! Maybe a secret agent master thief in on the moon who plays space-basketball and is a rock musician on the side! No? Ah well, regular master thief on Earth is good enough for young me.

I'm figuring out a medium-sized picture for this story, as I mentioned in the spoiler for 2.2.1. I'm liking the progression for things to come, in the next few chapters; and three of my own most nagging self-criticisms will be addressed therein. These changes will make things moderately more literary-ly challenging, but that's a good thing.

By the way. Heist? What about the I before E rule? Oh, wait, it's I before E except after C. But still, Heist? That's right, it's actually I before E except after C, or when sounding like A as in neighbor and weigh. Again though, heist? Neither of those rules apply. That's kind of weird. Maybe someone smart like Albert Einstein or a literary genius Neil Gaiman could help me sort out this English glitch. Gaiman's British, after all, and it's their language, although the culture isn't so foreign to me. Maybe I should just relax a little bit and act more leisurely and not go all "seize the day" with my teardown of this rule, though I have no idea why it's reinforced so strongly in school. It just bothers me to seismic proportions, taking my annoyance to new heights.

This is giving me a headache. Maybe I need some coffee. The caffeine would do me good.

 

2.2.4​

Two Thousand Ghosts​

"So you're not growing too attached to your new friend?" Niz asked upon entering Hearthome City with Ren through the south gate.

The boy sighed a long, drawn-out grieving over the event to come. "No." He moaned quietly in a clear lie as he still carried the Pokémon in his arms.

"Even though the little fella's going to be poked and prodded in all kinds of Team Royal experiments?"

They walked past an empty lot, wherein a group of tourists was being taken into the night sky in a large, Drifloon-shaped balloon and basket. "I'm sure they'll take good care of Eevee." He replied curtly.

Soon enough they found the Hearthome City Pokémon Gym, and across the street from it, the park Administrator Zephyrus stated to be the rendezvous point. He and Administrator Borea were seated at a chess table, Zephyrus tapping away at a tablet's project keyboard and Borea leaning forward, elbows on the table and chin on her hands, staring intently at her co-Admin with either a look of perturbed perplexity or persistent interest.

"Good of you to join us." Zephyrus said as the kids approached from behind him. By the change in her expression, Borea was clearly unaware of their advance. "I'm glad to hear of your mission's success." Zephyrus put the tablet to sleep and the keyboard vanished into relative darkness of the streetlight-lit plaza before he turned to his two new recruits. "It's not properly captured?" He asked, narrowing his eyes slightly.

Ren was hesitant to answer at first, afraid he may have missed some condition of the errand. "Uhh, no sir, it turns out we didn't even have to engage it. This Eevee simply chose to come along with us after we found it." He bent down to the ground to set the Pokémon on its feet, and once free, the Eevee simply walked a tight circle around Ren's calves affectionately.

The man turned back to his co-admin, who was watching in moderate wonderment at the Eevee's pleasant behavior. "I'm impressed." Borea said matter-of-factly.

"As am I." He replied. "Excellent work and improvisation. This is what we like see from Team Royal members." He nodded at Ren, who in turn seemed pleased.

"I couldn't have done it without Agnes though. She had my back when things got difficult. Without her quick-acting response, you would be short two recruits right now."

"No, actually, I wouldn't." Zephyrus responded. He left the comment hanging in the air for an uncomfortable time as a cluster of Gastly and Misdreavus drifted through the park. He stood from his chair at the table and crouched down to the Eevee, who sniffed his hand amicably. Zephyrus extracted a Luxury Ball from his pocket and gently tapped the ball's button on the Eevee's forehead, absorbing it into the ball with a small flash of light. Only then did he stand back up and address the two trainers again. "I would be short two Rooks. Congratulations, you two are now official members of Team Royal." He said, showing just a hint of a smile.

Niz turned to Ren for a spontaneous high-five, but the boy went in for a hug instead, a motion Niz couldn't deflect with one arm in the air.

"Awkward." Borea laughed. "Zeph, do you remember that one--"

"Don't remind me." He said quickly. Once Ren got the message of Niz's hug-is-over pats, Zephyrus continued. "As Rooks, you two have been put on a fast track past Grunt and Pawn ranks, straight to our freelancing division of fourth-class members. Here, you will--" A Gastly flew by him, close to his face. After a small coughing fit, he went on. "As Rooks, you will be tasked with--" This time, a Drifloon hovered by and bumped into his head, only slightly bothering him. "Borea, what's going on?"

"They're migrating, it seems." She said.

"Or evacuating." Niz added. The scene reminded her of the herds of Pokémon escaping from the area around Fortree the morning of the meteor impact. The feeling of apprehension she felt when leaving Reichedel Estate was back with a vengeance. She kept all further concerns to herself, and looked to the dark sky like the others.

The airspace above Hearthome was crowded with elaborately designed hot air balloon of many themes plus the thousands of purple Ghost-type Pokémon fleeing the city. Through the crowd of hovering phantoms, the monster from the meteor gently flew forward, cutting through the clouds like a scalpel. Deoxys landed on the front edge of the Gym's roof and looked forward to the dozen or so people in the park, and the scores more now staring at it from where they were walking on the sidewalks and elsewhere in the city. It spread it arms and emitted a garbled series of noises of whichever alien language it may know.

When it stopped, Zephyrus ran toward it, throwing forward two Pokéballs. From the first emerged a Steelix, who put its head near the roof where Deoxys stood. From the other emerged a Dusknoir, who followed the man as he ran up Steelix's length like a staircase. He stopped on the serpent's head, standing almost face-to-face from the monster.

"What's he doing?" Niz asked.

"Trying to talk to it, maybe?" Borea answered. She pulled a Pokéball off her belt and prepared to throw it forward before Niz touched her hand and shook her head no. Borea instead held the Pokéball, nervously rotating it slowly in one hand.

Those on the ground could hear Zephyrus talking, but not hear his words. As he spoke, Dusknoir's antenna glowed, as if relaying a message. The Deoxys replied and, in turn, Dusknoir seemed to respond to each alien syllable, seemingly acting as a translator between the two.

After less than a minute of conversation, the Deoxys shot a beam from its heart crystal down to Steelix's head, knocking Zephyrus off balance and falling three stories to the street below. Caught by the hand and lowered gently to the street by Dusknoir, he backpedaled to the edge of the park. Steelix coiled itself into a circle to nurse its wound as hundreds or thousands of ghost-type Pokémon rose from the ground and stood at attention, facing Deoxys.

Zephyrus talked back and forth to Dusknoir, and apparently reached some kind of consensus for a plan. He turned to Borea and the kids and said "You know what to do."

At his command, Borea opened the Pokéball she held, revealing a massive, red-headed Druddigon. The kids followed suit with Niz's Volcarona and Ren's Reuniclus, and countless other trainers around town joined in at Zephyrus's call to battle. The man extended one arm forward, pointing at Deoxys. Raising his voice across the desolate quiet of Hearthome, he called out to the manifold Ghosts "Attack!"

The alien didn't move a muscle as the hundreds of opposers threw beams of spiritual energy, streams of fire, bolts of lightning, and even their own bodies at its being. Its unflinching stance was justified as not one effort against it made it through an invisible barrier, leaving the monster unscathed. When the smoke cleared, it unleashed a wave of energy that burst through the air like an Explosion's shockwave and turned a third of Hearthome's ghosts to an ectoplasmic dust, hopefully to be reincarnated elsewhere.

"Do you have a better plan than that?" Borea asked as her Druddigon gasped to regain its air from its Dragonbreath attack.

"Other than roll over and die?" Zephyrus responded, showing more rage and emotion than Borea could recall witnessing from the man before. "No. Another Shadow Ball, Erebus!"

The Dusknoir's attack was followed closely by a volley of attacks from every other Ghost present. Even with the barrage of Shadow Balls, Rock Throws, Ice Beams and Gunk Shots coming its way, Deoxys easily shrugged off the attacks with a shapeshift to its more defensive mode.

"I know one thing that would work." Borea offered. "And I think now is a desperate enough time for it."

Zephyrus thought quietly as Deoxys fired some low-powered lasers about the city from its perch on the Hearthome Gym. The asphalt of the streets boiled in the wake of the rays, and windows shattered all around. "I'm not giving that order. And neither are you."

"We may be of equal rank, Zephyrus," Borea said, using his full name for a change. "But I still outrank you by seniority."

"You are not the commanding officer of me or of my team." The man said angrily. "I suggest you find your own way about this."

The woman huffed angrily. "If I want anything done right, I've got to do it myself. Go, Soulrender!" Another Pokémon emerged from one of her Pokéball, this time an Aegislash. "Blade Forme! Night Slash!" The wave of dark energy cut through Deoxys' defenses, but only just. "You could end this quickly, Zeph!"

Meanwhile, Niz and Ren had a discussion of their own amidst the crossfire.

"I don't think we're doing much here." Niz said between trying different techniques with Volcarona. The shockwave from one of Deoxys' counter-attacks staggered her back a few steps, but didn't dissuade her mindset.

"What else can we do besides try to fight back?" Ren asked as he verbally supported Reuniclus in giving out psychokinetic punches to Deoxys.

Niz looked about the city as streets boiled and buildings cracked. "Damage control." She recalled Volcarona and sent out Milotic and Pangoro. "Koätl!" She said to the serpent, "Cool this road with a concentrated Blizzard, then Safeguard anyone I send back to you! Wudang, come with me!" She ran to a heavily damaged building across street, still shoe-stickingly hot even after a Blizzard attack, as the Pangoro simply jumped from one side to the other. She instructed Wudang to climb the exterior walls and help those trapped by the windows get back down to safety. By the time he brought down two pairs of humans clinging to his back, more trainers sent their Pokémon over to assist the efforts.

"What can I do to help?" Two voices said, approaching behind Niz. Ren was there, along with the Team Royal recruiter girl, Ria.

Niz just gave her orders without a proper greeting to the girl. "If you have Pokémon with muscle, try to get people down." A combustive laserbeam from Deoxys crashed just a few meters away from the cluster of young trainers. "Otherwise, try to give some interference or covering fire.

"Got it." They both replied, in tandem once again. Ria let a Froslass out of its Pokéball to get Deoxys' attention with Ice Shards and deflect oncoming attacks to survivors with Icy Wind. Meanwhile, Ren's Reuniclus levitated up and down the building ferrying residents to the streets below.

Before long, Deoxys caught on to the idea of these heroes trying to save more lives. It shot a powerful beam at the foundation of that residential building before continuing its attack on the city.

"Let the others finish up, Glass!" Ren said to his Reuniclus. "Keep the building steady!"

As Pangoro and other Pokémon continued climbing to or through windows, Reuniclus fell to the sidewalk and cloaked itself in in an emerald light, and soon the entire first floor of the residence glowed similarly.

Minutes passed, and Glass' outer membrane gradually began to shake and ripple violently as it struggled to hold together the fragmenting structure.

"We think that's the last of them!" Another trainer shouted when her Monferno and Purugly burst through the front door one last time without anybody following them.

"That's enough, Glass, let's get out of here!" Ren commanded. Reuniclus' green glow faded to darkness as he fell to the ground and his arms receded like an exhausted Darmanitan. The boy snatched the Pokémon off the ground and hurried back to the nearby park where the other city residents and helpful trainers gathered.

Meanwhile, the trainers who chose to stay and fight Deoxys, who had moved to another rooftop, seemed to be making moderate progress. Now projectile attacks actually made contact, and the alien appeared slightly annoyed at the powerful attacks being thrown against it. Once the beast saw the dozens of survivors escaping a building it destroyed, its actions changed. Somehow appearing angry through its minimally-featured face, the alien unleashed a flurry of combustive lasers across Hearthome. A dozen more buildings fell, and scores more were damaged enough to be uninhabitable. At last though, the monster levitated higher above the city, and flew away in the direction of Mount Coronet.

"And it runs away?" Niz asked, leaning against Wudang amidst the chaotic aftermath. The sounds of medical and broadcast helicopters cut through the sky, replacing the sounds of combat. "I'm glad we made it through that okay." She added, and noticed Ren still caring for his exhausted Reuniclus. "Mostly okay." Among the destroyed buildings was the city's Pokémon Center, meaning Glass' struggle will go on. "So, Ria, what brings you here?"

"Oh, right, Borea and Zephyrus told me after you left that I'm supposed to go with you for your second test. Somewhere in Solaceon, and that you two would brief me on the way."

Hearthome's police force mobilized now, ushering bystanders to less-harmed parts of the city so that rescue workers could operate more freely. "I hate to be the one to break it to you, but there is no second test. Ren and I were promoted straight to Rook Freelancers."

"Oh." Ria replied. Through the chaos, exhaustion, and mild trauma, her voice still sounded bright and lighthearted with hardly an audible undertone of disappointment. "You already outrank me then? That's... congratulations."

"We're in a different division. Or branch." Niz added with consolation. "As far as I'm concerned, you're still our senior. Speaking of which, where are the admins?"

The park where they met was already deserted by an expanding circle of rescue workers, and the two grownups were nowhere to be seen Ria and Niz each tried to phone the admins, but the communications were down either by a destroyed facility or overcrowded bandwidth. Swept up with the crowd and pushed to the east side of town, there was no choice to go back and find the admins. They each pulled their Pokémon back into the respecitve balls and marched to the east exit, in hopes the admins would be there.

---

"That's the second time I've seen that thing in person." She pushed a fast-paced path through the crowd, Zephyrus following close behind. "I hope there's a third." Her voice grew angry as she almost growled her wish.

"That was my first time seeing it." Zephyrus replied emotionlessly. "Personally I hope that thing disappears and I never see it again."

"That's where we're different, you and I." Borea bounced back. "You want the easy way out of everything, you're afraid to get anything done on your own." As the crowd grew more dense, she started making her way more aggressively. "Oh, and I know what you're going to say. 'I'm just avoiding conflict'. Yeah, by trying to talk it out with a destroyer-of-worlds alien monster. See how well that worked out?"

"You're right. It worked so much better when you took charge and ordered an entire army of undead to attack it head-on. Oh, right, that was me. I, the powerless pacifist, led the assault."

Borea stopped and spun quickly, shoving one hand against Zephyrus' chest, making the man step back to keep his balance. "You watch yourself, noob. You might be high-ranking like those kids you enlisted, but I still overpower you in seniority and skill." She thumped her open hand against his chest again. "Don't make me prove my skill against you."

She continued pushing her way to her destination, now with Zeph following with more distance between them. "Don't you want to know what Deoxys said?"

ΖΣ

Spoiler

Last spoiler I said I'd be addressing some of my own annoyances this chapter. I've already forgotten specifically what they were, but I know two of them were the rather limited cast of characters and the fact that I haven't been living up to the destroyed world I'm trying to depict. Expect more destruction. Destruction begets unrest, unrest begets conflict, conflict begets hard times. Or something. It's all going to get better/worse from here.

So, believe it or not, I've actually picked out 6 Pokémon each for all major characters I've introduced, and many characters I haven't. This is all so, for instance, when Zephyrus is running up Steelix's back and communicating with the help of Dusknoir, I'm not thinking "I need a Pokémon who can carry a human 3 stories high and one who can telepathically communicate", but rather "I've got these five Pokémon picked out for his personality and philosophies, how can they be used in the situation at hand". Like Ren's Reuniclus, I read in its Pokédex entry on Bulbapedia that it has powerful telekinetic abilities, as opposed to someone like Kirlia with telepathic abilities, so it would do well in the situation at hand, whereas Aku the Zoroark wouldn't be much help. Just like Milotic's Blizzarding of the burning ground, I, like the hypothetical trainer in question, would have to choose from the resources I had onhand, not what I chose to deus-ex in at the time and supply a Blastoise to hose down the road. I think it's better this way, having to choose from a pre-selected limited group of assets, rather than deus-exing the best Pokémon for the job when it comes around.

Also, kudos to Deltheor for the name "Soulrender" for Aegislash. That name sure beats the heck out of my next best idea, something like Excalibur.

 

2.3.1​

​

A Long Road​

9 October, 386 AP
23:15

Even outside the city limits of Hearthome, the sounds of emergency service sirens and the lights of blazing buildings showed signs of the disaster for miles around, lighting up the night through a haze of orange fire and blue lights. Dozens other left the city at the same time as Niz and her gang, carrying what little belongings they had left and trying to rough it for the night. Tomorrow would bring a new trauma for each as they awakened to a reality of a changed life.

"I want to make sure that never happens again." Niz said, breaking the silence between the three young teenagers on their path to Solaceon Town.

"The Deoxys attack?" Ria asked. "That's noble. And, uh..." She trailed off.

"Impossible?" Niz tried to complete the sentence.

"Optimistic." She said with a seemingly genuine smile in her voice. "You set high goals for yourself. It's admirable."

"If you say so." Niz replied. An uneasy silence grew between them once more. "So, Ren. How is Glass holding up?"

Ren pulled the Friend Ball holding his Reuniclus off his belt holster, and held it with three fingers. "Not well, but he should be okay if there's a Pokécenter in Solaceon Town." He snapped the ball back into place without letting the injured Pokémon out, perhaps for the better.

Again the deafening silence returned. "I wonder if Gene knows about this." She said as she searched for his contact number in her Xtransceiver. Recalling Ren's rabid fandom of Might3yena, the radio host she met in Aurin after that Deoxys attack, she used his private first name instead.

"The lines are all clogged, remember? We couldn't reach the admins, so you probably can't reach this friend of yours." Ren chimed in.

After considering and choosing not to firmly tell Ren where exactly he could shove his opinions, she called the radio host on her Xtransceiver, turning off the video and speaker, using the wrist-mounted communicator as a classic telephone. Somehow, the call connected and the line rang in proper.

"Niz, my girl, how have you been! I do not know how to describe your timing! I'm between segments right now, but I'm busy covering this crazy thing that just happened at Hearthome over in Sinnoh. What's on your mind, little lady?"

"A lot is on my mind, such as how my timing might be better than you thought. I was just at ground zero in downtown Sinnoh, and I figured I would let you know what went down."

"I thought that was you on the helicopter video feed! You were doing plenty of good down there, with the fighting back and with the rescuing! I think the listeners would really like a followup with the same girl who was there at Palladi. So what do you say, are you up for part two?"

Niz glanced two her two traveling partners, each of whom were uncharacteristically quietly walking to their shared destination. "Yeah, that sounds great. Let's do it."

"Good stuff." Might3yena replied through the phone. "No time to do a dry run, but you were great last time, so let's play it by ear. I'm patching you in, so stay silent until I signal you."

"Got it." She replied, and the Xtransceiver's sound cut to a running radio feed. Another journalist was describing in vivid detail the destruction of the center of the city, trying to speak audibly over the sounds of sirens. Meanwhile, she earned a glance from Ren, wondering why she was holding the Xtransceiver to her cheek so long without saying anything.

"Thank you, Darlene." Might3yena said in broadcast as her segment ended. "And stay safe out there. Folks, you might remember a little while ago we had a chance to interview a girl who was there, who was there when the meteor fell and when Deoxys found Palladi City over in Aurin region. Well who'da though that my girl Niz would have yet another chance encounter with the beast from beyond the stars? That's right, sometimes a Thunder attack will strike three times. We're lucky enough to have the girl herself in for another interview right after she saw the whole thing with her own two eyes. So Niz, you were in for quite a trip back there! How are you holding up?"

"A little shaken, but in one piece."

"That's very good to hear." The host replied. "We have yet to get a firsthand account of how this two-hour siege began, so how about you tell us, you friends at Galvantula News Radio, how this all started?"

Either it was her nerves or the sudden realization of how long the battle and rescue took, but Niz was slow to respond.

"Hello, Niz? Do we still have you?"

"Yes, I'm here. We knew something was weird when all the wild Pokémon in the city began evacuating, long before the monster even arrived. It's something I've seen before, that mass-exit before disaster strikes..."

-------

"I wouldn't expect a girl like her to spend so much time on the phone." Ria commented to Ren as they walked in their small group through the crowded night.

"How do you mean?" The boy asked back.

"I don't know, she just seems kind of... serious. Maybe a little 'no time to chat, I've got important things to do'." The girl explained, trying to imitate a burly man's voice with her impression of Niz.

Ren laughed in spite of himself. "Yeah, a little bit." He looked more closely at Niz on the phone. "I don't think many people even have that number. Me, the Team Royal admins, and..."

"And who?" Ria asked.

He didn't respond, but pulled his own Pokégear from his pocket and activated the radio card, then tuned its station to GNR. Confirming his suspicions, Niz's conversation was echoed through his radio with the delay of just a few seconds. He turned up the volume loud enough for Niz to hear from where she was, walking a short distance away from the others. She noticed and made the connection, then sheepishly turned away from Ren's accusative glare.

"Come on, 'Niz'." He whispered angrily, stepping closer to her mid-interview. "You know I've always wanted to talk to Might3yena."

"That's right, it was then that I realized fighting back directly wasn't doing much, so I headed over to work rescue instead of fighting a losing battle."

"Yeah, you and your friends!" Ren shout-whispered.

"It sounds like we have some background conversation coming through." the host said over the radio. "Does someone there with you have a word for our listeners?"

"Yes, my partner--"

"Hi there, Might3yena." Ren said, pulling Niz's wrist-mounted communicator over to his own face. "I'm Ren, Niz's trusted friend and ally in the battle against Deoxys."

"Good to have you with us on Galvantula News Radio, Ren. Now tell me, would you happen to be the heroic trainer whose Reuniclus helped hold up the Amity Arms Apartments building as the residents escaped to safety?"

"Yes indeed, Might3yena," He said, still holding Niz's Xtransceiver and wrist to his face. "Me and my good friend Glass, doing our part to help those in need."

"Allow me to congratulate you, son, you are quite the hero. One hundred and twenty-two! That's the number of people who escape the building after you and Glass started holding the building together. You should be proud of yourself!"

Ren borderline squealed in glee as his favorite celebrity called him a hero. Niz, meanwhile, un-fastened the Xtransceiver from her wrist and gave the entire thing to Ren as he continued the interview.

"No, it's okay." She said, annoyed, as she walked closer to Ria. "It's not like I was in the middle of a globally broadcast interview or anything."

"Oh, what's the harm in it?" Ria asked. "You had a good segment, you were professional and informative. He's just adding some extra."

Niz tried to answer the question of identifying the harm, but couldn't come up with an adequate response, even in her head.

Ren's conversation with Might3yena carried on for a few more minutes before the host bid him and Niz farewell, good luck, and safe travels. The boy ended the Xtransceiver call before turning his attention back to Niz, looking angry. "Why didn't you tell me you were calling Might3yena? You know how much I like him!"

"Can I have my Xtransceiver back?" She demanded. The boy handed over the communicator, and Niz strapped it back onto her wrist. "Because I knew you would geek out over the opportunity, and you did. He offered me an update interview, not you. I was just sticking to the invitation and the plan that came with it."

"The plan?" He asked. "The plan to keep that experience to yourself or to purposefully exclude me?"

"Hold on a second." Niz said, swinging her backpack around in front of her. She looked through her TM disks pocket. "Hmm, my TM25 is still here. I suppose that means you didn't steal my thunder. Not literally, at least."

Ria laughed. Ren didn't. "So I suppose it's the first one. At least it's not personal."

"I don't see why you're making such a big deal over a phone interview."

"Come on, Agnes." The boy said. "Two weeks ago you didn't even know who Might3yena is, then you just happen to bump into him near your hometown. Now you're on a first-name and nickname basis with him!"

"Again, I don't see why you're making such a big deal of it."

"I don't know why you made such a big deal of it that you tryied to keep it secret!" Ren was fuming. "There's not much that's enjoyable left in our lives, we both know that. We're both effectively homeless, for some reason we think we can save the world on our own, we're acting on that assumption, and destruction follows us like a hungry Houndour!"

"And what's your point?" Niz asked without raising her voice.

"You could have effortlessly, so easily made my life more enjoyable by letting me in on that interview. That gift would have made my whole week, my whole month!"

Niz thought about this and couldn't come up with an adequate response. Her group and all the refugees passed by a five story plus a steeple high building, which was surrounded by a slowly rotating tornado of ghosts, seeming to sing a sad song for their friends lost in Hearthome.

"You talk about selflessly helping others, doing what you can to improve the world. If you ask me, deliberately not spreading joy is mathematically just as bad as deliberately spreading misery. So what does that say about the difference between what you say and what you do?"

The drilling was intense and almost non-stop, save the times when Ren paused to catch his breath and collect his next thought.

"I would have found a way to repay you. I would have found ten ways to repay you."

"Okay, I get it." Niz interrupted. "Is the roast of Agnes Muntoro over yet? Does anyone else want to join in?" She looked around for Ria, now walking a couple of meters behind and occupied by her Xtransceiver. In the distance, the last of the building fires in Hearthome seemed to have been been extinguished, though a thick cover of smoke obscured the moon and stars in the sky to the west. A moment too late, she remembered the fake name she gave to the Team Royal Admins upon registering with Team.

"Yeah." Ren said. "I'm done."

Much of Niz's career as a young Pokémon trainer was spent traveling alone, at least in regards to having other humans around. She was quite comfortable with extended periods of non-conversation, at least until she formed the impromptu alliance with Ren. She felt some pressure to keep open dialogue, even on extended stretches of time together, as silence alone and silence in company are two very different beasts. For all the little stretches of seemingly awkward silence on their travels, they would seem like a warm blanket of friendliness compared to the void growing between herself and her closest friend who could say more than his own species name.

Ria caught up with the other two, much to Niz's relief. "Sorry you had to hear all that." Niz said on behalf of herself and Ren. "That isn't our usual behavior."

"Hey, don't worry about it, we all have bad days." Ria replied. Her source of optimism made Ren's look like a gallon jug next to a swimming pool. "Besides, while you two were having your, umm, conference, I decided to see if I could get in touch with the Admins."

"And?" Ren asked, eager for a confirmation that they were even headed in the right direction.

"I couldn't even get the other end to ring. It seems the lines are still mostly full, you're lucky to have gotten through at all."

Niz internally disputed the use of the word 'lucky'. "Maybe we'll have better luck in the morning." She said. "By the way, you know Sinnoh better than either of us. Are we getting close to Solaceon, or should we find another place to hunker down for the night?"

"We're only another mile or so from the outskirts of Solaceon. We should just carry on, we'll be there in no time."

"Sounds good to me." Niz replied, and turned to Ren, who simply nodded his agreement.

"Excuse me, children?" Asked a sharp-dressed old man walking slower than the rest of the herd. "Do any of you know anything about Pokémon?"

"That's a very vague question, but yes. Is there something we can help you with?" Niz offered in an attempt to publicly show Ren that her mind was still set on making positive changes in the world.

"It's my good friend Javelina." He said, gesturing to a Grumpig that danced and spun in circles alongside him as he hobbled toward Solaceon Town. "Ever since she evolved, she has been very calm-natured, but lately she won't stop fidgeting, even now when we need to conserve our strength in finding refuge."

The old man and the three juveniles stopped on their path to Solaceon at Niz's request. "Maybe she's nervous? With all the excitement lately, I can see how..." She lost her focus for a moment, probably for the late hour and lack of sleep. The dancing, although disconcerting, was pleasantly rhythmic and hypnotic. "I can see how that could get under her skin. Maybe feed her a Poffin or a Poké Puff? I would give you one of my own, but my only berries are kinds used in battles, not the tasty ones."

"That is a capital idea, young lady!" The man replied happily. "In fact, I know a gourmet Poffin shop in town that might just do the trick. I thank you all for your time."

"It's our pleasure." Niz said and bid farewell to the old man, who resumed his hobbling toward Solaceon, now bathed under the orange light of a low sun.

"That was a quick sunrise." Ria commented as the group resumed their forward movement through the empty route S209.

Quick, yes, but the peaceful serenity of morning in rural Sinnoh still managed to make the troubles of the previous night seem a world away. With Solaceon to the north, Niz looked eastward above an Ancient Sinnoan ruin seated on a man-made mesa. "Where's the sun?" She asked.

"Behind you." Ren said. Sure enough, the sun peeked through the branches of the tree line to the west. "That's a sunset. What did that old man's Grumpig do to us?"

ΖΣ

Spoiler

I've been in Niz's shoes here several times before. And just like her, in hindsight, I'm like "why the eff did I even do that?" I never have a good answer for myself. It's one major flaw in myself I hope to remedy before too long, but you know what they say about old habits and Bruce Willis' contributions to christmas movies.

On another note, I was hoping I could make this little... lapse the characters experience at the end go smoother than it did. I mean I could have done much worse, but I could have done better too. Two summers ago I read "The Ocean at the End of the Lane", by Neil Gaiman (I just can't keep myself away from that man's writing). Near the end he executed the most flawless memory erasure I've ever read. I can't even adequately explain it. Really, I've tried three times now and had to backspace it all each time. Suffice it to say there's an appropriate memory wipe that happens so perfectly I think it worked on me too for another page or so after it happened. I wish I could pull it off that well, but I can only dream.

The missing bit probably won't come around for a while, since I have only a vague idea now of what I want to have happened, and it would be nice to have some retroactively important material in there later.. I may or may not make next posted chapter non sequitur to the rest in acknowledgement of this blank space. Only time will tell.

 

1.0.1​

​

The Giant of the Island​

​

(Flashback)​

The Solutions arrive before the Problem.

The Arbor waits ready.​

"I'm sorry, girl, I've errands yet on this stop. Come back in an hour or so and we should be ready to leave for Slateport." Mr. Briney scratched his bristly beard after placing a crate of fuel cells into the cargo trunk of his small boat. "Dewford is an exciting little town, and it seems there's always a trendy new thing the youngsters are going on about each time I stop by. You'll find something to keep busy."

Agnes frowned. "Okay." She slouch-walked off the pier and in the direction of Dewford Hall, a noisily boistrous clubhouse of a building.

"Aww man, I just love Ether Parties. Ether Parties are the best thing ever. Ether Parties are never going out of style!" A young man at the entrance to Dewford Hall ranted at Agnes as she approached. "Don't you agree?"

Agnes took a few steps backwards, then walked away faster than she approached.

"What is going on in that rowdy den this time?" An old, long-haired man asked from a beachside shack near the road. His voice had the depth of a canyon, but still carried a deliberte, stately tone.

"Ether Parties." Agnes said. "It doesn't sound too healthy."

"It seems to be something different every day." The man was seated on a wooden stool, busily sanding away at a complicated wooden structure in his hovel. "Nothing remains for long, it seems."

"Yeah." The girl said. "Sometimes I wish things wouldn't change."

"If things would not change..." the man asked. "then how would you know time is still happening?"

Agnes pondered these words for longer than she cared to admit before something in the idea got her laughing.

"Is it something I said?" The man's tone was flat as it had been before.

The girl gradually stopped laughing. "Yeah, it's funny because..." She thought another moment "because it is? I never thought of time that way."

The man resumed sanding his project. "It is true. And whenever I wonder where I should be going, I just remember it is in the other direction than where I came. And if I persist with that, I might eventually arrive at the place I need to be."

By now Agnes got her laughs out and was in more of a philosophical mood. "Yes, you're right." She said. "You're a very smart man."

"Oh, no." He said. "I am not smart, nor am I wise. I am simply a wandering fool, looking for a way out of where he is."

"How about going the opposite direction than you came from?"

The man sat his sanding block on another part of his sculpture and looked at his guest, still standing in the sun outside the shack. "That is exactly what I am trying to do." He said with a tone of affirmation in his voice. "I must never forget the times and places from which I came."

One time Agnes innocently asked a man to clarify what he meant when he ambiguously talked about where he came from. In a small outrage, he told her never to ask a question like that. In her current exchange, she decided to leave the comment alone.

"Yes, I may be a fool, but you certainly are wise, especially in your youth." The man exhaled a long breath. "Dear girl, would you like to take a walk with me?" He grabbed a dripping rag from a wooden bowl on a nearby table and wiped his hands free of sawdust. The splashing water in the bowl gave off a scent of a pungent herb, so maybe there was more to it than just hand-washing.

Agnes checked the time on her Pokénav. She had over forty-five minutes before Mr. Briney would be ready to leave. "Okay." She said simply.

As the man stood in his shack, the joints in his knees and ankles cracked with the sound of fracturing stone. "I know of a wooded trail that leads to the ocean near Granite Cave. The shade of the forest will be nice on a day like today." As he stepped out from under the shelter, his towering height became apparent. He was easily the tallest man Agnes had ever seen in person, he could very well have an Onix for a spine. The little girl had to consciously try to avoid staring.

The start of the forest trail waited close to the man's shack. Sand turned to dry dirt turned, which to damp soil as they moved inward to more vegetated land.

"Tell me," the old man asked. "Do you live in Hoenn, or are you a traveler?"

"I'm more than just a traveler!" Agnes replied excitedly. "I'm an adventurer! This is the third region I've been to, and the second I've traveled on my own."

"For one so young you must have seen much in your time. I did not begin to travel until I was already quite old."

"So you never went on an adventure when you were little?" Agnes asked the man.

"I did, but only near to where I lived." He explained. "I had many people who needed me to stay close. I envy the freedom you enjoy at your age. You should explore all the world if you are able."

"I know! I so want to! There are so many places I want to go! There's Sinnoh and Almia and Unova! Of course there's Tohjo as well... I don't even know where to go next! Have you been to any of those places?"

The man laughed a couple of exhales, an unshielded and honest joy coming through from him. "My girl, when one comes to see as many years as I have, the times and spaces between parts of the world become very small. I spent three years in the Orange Archipelago and one more in Sinnoh. Today those adventures feel like a week vacation with an afternoon boat ride between. I dare say I have seen every continent and most of the islands, stood in every kingdom and climbed at least half of the mountains on our world. I have seen it all. I have seen the births and deaths, pain and delight, the building of borders and the falling of walls. I have even seen new stars appear in the sky."

Agnes was speechless after hearing this soliloquy. Uncounted questions flitted unanswered inside her head like so many butterflies.

"But it can not last forever." The old man said with a sigh. "There is something this world is missing. I do not know what it is, nor why this world lacks it, but it will spell our end." He stared blankly through the woods for a moment.

The little girl couldn't help but to leak a half-nervous laugh at the old vagrant's drama. "I don't know." She said, optimistically. "This world seems pretty good to me. We've got clean air, nice weather, so many Pokémon we can't take five steps without finding another." A Nosepass waddled about under a rock outcropping off the trail, and Agnes smiled. "What more could we want?" Only after she said it did Agnes realize most of her compliments to the world were just vanity on the world, surface traits independent of the soul of anything.

The duo walked in silence for a moment. After stepping over a felled log, the man spoke again.

"There was something I could have done, many years ago and in days long past. When I was still quite young, a dear friend of mine died in a war."

That's another good thing about the world we live in, we don't have war any more. Agnes kept the thought in her head.

"They returned her remains to me for a proper burial, but I simply could not accept her death. I meditated on the feeling of loss and decided upon what I must do. I need to bring her back, and do so on my own." Leaves rustled in the canopy as a gust of sea breeze blew in from the waterfront. "I drafted plans for a machine that could harness the life energy of the world and redirect it as a tool for spiritual biologic revivification." he spoke that strange phrase with a nonchalant comfort, as if he said that obscure phrase hundreds of times in his life. "Or as a weapon for delivering unrelenting death."

Agnes' words left her momentarily. "Why... would you... want to make something like that?"

"To let those waging war know the pain that was felt by me!" The old man showed some rage that had likely not been tapped in a very long time. "The generals and princes know nothing of the suffering they cause! They sit in their tents and castles while the common folk bleed and die in the fields for the sake of pride and flag! Is that any reason to give one's life? Because someone older or born higher gives the order? No! But they threw thousands of lives away all in a quest for land and power." The man seemed somewhat out of breath, and his face showed hints of a hidden grimace of pain. The man caught is breath for a few seconds. "But then, who would I be, to do the same as they did, just to tell them it is wrong? And so, I put my friend's life not into my own hands, but into the hands of another. Legend spoke of a Pokémon in the wilds near where I lived in those days, one who could bestow overflowing life to any being in its presence."

"That sounds too good to be true." Agnes commented.

The man sighed. "In a way, it was. This Pokémon revived my friend to complete health, but once she heard of my former plans to let the wagers of war know pain, she abandoned me. I changed, I was no longer the friend she knew, now nobody more than a vengeful stranger who performed a random act of kindness."

I understand why she had to do that. Agnes thought. But it must be a hard choice.

The old man sighed and took a deep, long breath. "I didn't want to live after that." The comment took his young listener by surprise. "After being abandoned by my friend and facing the truth of what I almost became, I did not want to be me any more. The grief surrounding my heart was too heavy." Silence grew between them for a moment, even the wind hushed in reverence. "I am sorry for pouring all of this onto you, girl. It is not often that someone is willing to listen to me speak."

"I don't know why not." Agnes replied. "You seem honest, you sound smart, and I like you." She said with a smile.

"I thank you." The man said. By now they were at the wood's edge near Granite Cave. The ground was a blend of sand and dead soil, likely near the line of highest tide. They stood and watched
waves lapping the sandy shore for a long minute. "Let's walk back." The man said, perhaps so well-traveled that all crashing waves seemed samey and boring to him.

Agnes looked to the sea at the north a few seconds longer before she noticed the man was gone. Just a few feet behind, so she sprinted to catch up.

"Do you want to know a secret?" The man looked at Agnes, who nodded excitedly, eager to hear a secret from her eccentric new friend. "I used to be a king in a faraway land."

Agnes' smile flattened somewhat and she narrowed her eyes. This giant man was dirty and unshaven with a tired look in his eyes. Certainly not the appearance one would expect from a royal.

"You think me a liar? It was many, many years ago. Ah, I was a good king. I kept my people happy and safe, at least until the war came to my land. Then their happiness and safety was the decision and duty of somebody different. War has a way of taking away what we have. Our choices, our security. Our friends."

The man's voice was solemn and hurt. Now more than before Agnes believed everything she was told. "I've got a secret too." Agnes said. "I'm a princess." She smiled wide enough to seem like she was lying.

"Is that so?" The man said, offering to humor the girl.

"Well, not really. But I am about four-hundredth in line for the throne where I come from."

The old man laughed a hearty but contained laugh. "You're closer than I am, then. My chance came and went. Nobody would expect me to come back."

"Better to surprise them that way."

Now they emerged from the trail and back into Dewford Town. "No, I had my chance. Perhaps you will do better than I did."

They returned to the shack where Agnes first met the man. Only now did she realize the wood sculpture was the ribcage of a boat in the middle of construction. "Where are you going to go once your boat is done?"

The man grunted a long syllable of thought. "I do not yet know. I hear of an island to the east called Sky Island, but the currents will not let me traverse the way easily. I suppose I will decide once the boat is finished."

Agnes thought briefly about the man's next adventure. "Good luck when you go there. I hope you find what you're looking for!" They shared a peaceful, quiet moment. "I have to go now. Mr. Briney is waiting for me, and our next stop is Slateport City."

"May your journey bring interesting days." The man bid her. "One more thing, before you go..."

"Yes?"

"When you return home as queen, will you have me as a member of your court? I may be king no more, but it would please me to serve one as wise as you in leading her homeland."

"That sounds great! How will I find you? We both move around a lot..."

"Let me worry about that." The man flashed a rare smile. "Farewell, lady."

"Farewell, sir." And Agnes began her trip back to Mr. Briney's pier, and on with her adventure.

ΖΣ

Spoiler

Wow, this chapter's a throwback. The file had a last-edited date of May 25 on my drive, but it could even be a month older than that (plus a handful of minor word-choice tweaks this morning). I wrote this around the same time as the cluster of the first three, and I see a distinct difference in my patterns. For one: I have no idea how old Agnes should be. I think I've stated she's thirteen, but there seems to be more than that between her in this chapter and this in the previous posted, a difficult couple of months in the future for her. Maybe I've got some inadvertent Avatar the Last Airbender going on here, where the main cast, aged between like twelve and fourteen in a story that takes place over the course of less than a year, seems to grow up psychologically a great deal in that short time. Or maybe I'm just losing track of myself and lately I want to depict characters somewhat closer to my own age than these kids who seem to be just about to enter high school, although there's still a canyon between us.

On a similar note, my other story which is going to be a sort of blend of styles, is coming along swimmingly, with two and a half chapters already done. Part detective-flavored crime-noir, part secret agent story, both in a Pokémon world, featuring a main character more similar to myself than a thirteen year old girl. This way, hopefully it will all come along smoother, though I want to bring this to a nice endpoint before I officially begin the next story. I want to find my season finale, if you will. Lucky me, I can see when and where it happens, so this won't drag on forever.

Changelog: 6 Dec 2015: Added a subtitle up top. The first three chapters had references to the Kalos Mortality trio, and my Provenance Tower chapter added a hypothetical fourth, almost like a Regigigas, whose Complete Forme is tree-like. Go check out that chapter too: it takes place five years before anything else here.

 

2.3.3​

​

Refugees​

11 October, 386 AP
17:57

"So all our devices agree." Ren said. "Today is the eleventh, and that whole thing with Deoxys was on the ninth. It's been a day and a half since you stopped to talk to that old man's Grumpig?"

"Me?" Niz reacted to the accusation. "How was I supposed to know it was going to play some kind of trick on us! If I could have known in advance, then so could you! Why didn't you prevent it?"

Ren didn't have anything to say in response, but his expression clearly wasn't angry. Rather he seemed to be annoyed at the situation in general, and rightfully so.

"I'll get in touch with Administrator Borea." Ria announced. She put in the earpiece for her Xtransceiver and started the call.

Breaking accusative eye contact with Niz, Ren looked down and examined his fingernails passively as the senior Royal member contacted the superior officers. Niz picked up on Ren's idea, identifying the scant clues to the situation. Her nails were mildly dirty and rough as usual, but somehow seemed different than just a conscious moment ago when she watched the dancing Grumpig in the middle of the night two days ago. Simultaneously they both found proof that this phenomenon wasn't an elaborate prank involving hacked electronic calendars and an artificial sun projection or some kind of a magical time jump. They all lived out the missing time and their bodies aged appropriately, but the stream of awareness was cut and sewn flawlessly to cover any surface knowledge of anything between.

"I don't know." Ria said into her device. "I just don't know." For the first time, her voice fell away from a cheery optimism. "I am. All three of us are still here, but none of us remember anything since the night of the attack." Her voice cracked a little bit. Clearly this kind of unwarranted adventure is a new experience to her. "Do you want to ask them yourself?"

The transaction was almost painful but definitely uncomfortable to watch. Drawn by an unseen force, perhaps just the need for distraction, Niz let Orlov the Carbink out of its Pokéball. She sat on the ground, legs tucked together sideways below her as she leaned comfortably on one arm, trying to get to eye level with the little fairy's beady green eyes. "Do you know what happened?" She didn't expect a response, but the small Pokémon bobbed up and down excitedly. "Now if only we could talk."

After being reluctantly led through a deep-breathing exercise by the admin on the other end of the line, Ria eventually got orders for herself and the other Team Royal members. "Team Royal has some safehouse-supplyhouses spread through each region we operate in." She explained to Niz and Ren. "Borea wants us to hang tight there until morning, then make our way to Celestic."

"And once we're there," Niz said, pushing herself up from sitting on the ground, "we do something that addresses this alien problem?"

"Perhaps." Ren interrupted. "Celestic has a lot of history tying in with the Sinnoan creation stories. Maybe we're going to find someway to use that."

Niz rolled her eyes at Ren's continued reliance on age-old myths. "Did the admins say for sure?"

Ria shook her head no. "They don't want us worrying about any of that. Borea would rather us get settled back to normal."

"It would set my mind more at ease to actually know what's about to happen, for once." Niz grumbled. "Okay, let's move."

-----

Solaceon Town was the kind of village that was, at some point in its history, a bustling little city tucked away in the countryside, ideal and idyllic. Back in the days of Rapidash-drawn carriages it must have been envied: population of few enough thousand to be counted on one hand, buildings that seemed to tower into the heavens at an impressive three stories tall, and a peaceful inland mindset of consistency. These days, however, the town seemed stunted by its antiquated personality. The roads designed for Pokémon-powered carriages became uncomfortably narrow for today's electric-powered automobiles, preventing its population from expanding eight or more times over like much of Sinnoh and the world. The skyline of the city, once thought to be an impressive at a consistent two or three stories tall (with exceptions for steeples of the curiously common Churches of Arceus), now seemed like an over-trimmed hedge, showing its unseemly inner branches for all its effort at keeping a level appearance. The peaceful personality of separation from bigger cities now has an aftertaste of isolation and unrequited longing for the days gone by.

"So what are we looking for, again?" Ren asked as he and the two girls trudged along the main street of Solaceon.

"A building on this road," Ria said slowly, dividing her attention between speaking and reading house numbers, "with an address of 428". As much of the city was built more than a century ago at the very least, the scattered changes since then led to a haphazard, unordered sequence of addresses. The situation could be worse, however: the placement of the town in relation to Mount Coronet gave it a warm air system compared to areas to the near south and southeast in the autumn-time, and the local crime rate was apparently low enough that nobody bothered to hassle three adult-less teenagers wandering their way unsupervised through town after nightfall. A quarter-mile later, Ria spotted house number 428: the first in a row of shoulder-to-shoulder townhomes. With a weary announcement that they arrived, Ria led the way down to a basement entrance on the side of the building, protected by a numeric keypad. Covering her input with one hand, likely out of habit, she typed in a sequence of six numbers and a faint red indicator switched out for a bright green one. The click of an internal mechanism announced more confidently that their access was granted.

"Now that we're here," Ren said as Ria and Niz crossed the threshold into the safehouse, "I've got food on my mind. Like you said," he directed his attention to Niz, "our comforts these days are few and far between. I'm going to go get us a warm meal, any preferences?"

"Anything goes." "I like everything." With Niz and Ria each surrendering their choice, Ren passed Niz his backpack and headed back up to street level alone.

It would be so easy, Ren thought as he walked underneath alternating trees and streetlamps on the main street's sidewalk, to take this opportunity to abandon those two and go off on his own. The conflicts with Niz, the growing obligation to Team Royal, the endless daily trek to the next place. All gone if he turned off the Pokégear for a few days and found a Gym Leader to take him as a student. Then, passing a city park, the grassy plaza was filled to capacity with no real event going on. These are the now-homeless survivors of the incident at Hearthome, trying to find a bench to lay down and rest their head until it's safe to return home, or what's left of the place. A bench or a large non-rocky Pokémon or a tree, or anything that could provide a semblance of stability in their flipped lives. Suddenly the idle dreaming of a settled-down life was deliberately shattered. He and the others need to keep searching for some way to counter this monster.

He eventually found a dimly lit but occupied restaurant with the name "House of Meowth", with a large hand-painted sign in the window featuring an ornately amateur drawing of said Pokémon plus Vulpix, accompanied by an advert for their ability to serve take-out. Ren pushed open the door and knocked a chiming bell announcing the entrance of a customer. Sweet whispering of dating patrons filled the air alongside the bombardment of the familiar aroma of Auri cooking. "Just like home," he murmured before remembering that Aurin was only home for two years. Still, they were probably better than the other twelve years of his life. Niz's parents knew a way of setting him straight and pushing the desperation and ill will out of him with a mix of care and guidance.

"Salam, and welcome to the House of Meowth." A mustachioed man said as he emerged from the brightly-lit kitchen, past a finely-embroidered curtain. "Would I interest you in our Ashe Reste soup with flatbread? It fills the belly and warms the soul." He spoke with an accent Ren hasn't heard since leaving Aurin some time ago. Even Niz's speech patterns, he now noticed, were uniquely and thoroughly de-accented from her time spent walking the world.

Ren was momentarily distracted by the undeniable familiarity of the smell of the kitchen and faint traditional music playing through the dining area. "That sounds wonderful. How about one serving of that, plus your favorite Ghormeh, and, I don't know, something pomegranate?"

"With walnut, carrot, and rice? Will do." The man said. He took Ren's money for the order and retreated into the kitchen, trading places with a girl wearing a headwrap scarf, sliding glazed pastries and bottled beverages into a brightly-lit display refrigerator.

"Hello." The girl said, hardly glancing away from her task of decorative organization in the display. She spoke with a more neutral accent than the man, perhaps her father.

"Hi there." Ren replied, courteously. "I've already been helped, I'm just waiting."

"Oh, okay." She said. "Do you come from Hearthome?"

He sighed, not wanting to make himself look like another choiceless, inadvertent burden on the town. "Yes, but I'm just passing through. I'm on my way to Celestic Town with some friends."

"I see. We're trying to do what we can for those who need it. Last night we wheeled out a cart with all our remaining rice and vegetables, anything that was pulled out of the ice box we make into a large, simple dish for those who have come here to take as they please. I accidentally got too much pom and lime for the diner before you, so maybe the refugees will enjoy some better taste tonight." She closed the refrigerator and stood to face her customer, hands folded politely in front of her.

"That's very generous of you." Ren said, and couldn't think of a follow-up.

"You sound familiar." The girl continued. "You say you came from Hearthome. Were you on the news a few nights ago?"

That time "a few nights ago" feet like two hours ago thanks to that meddling Grumpig, but it further confirmed that the memory loss is more than a trick of clocks and calendars. "Yeah, that was me. I was just passing through the city and my timing was bad." He said. "Or good."

The girl's tone shifted from contained politeness to a degree of excitement. "Your timing was good, very good. The building you helped keep up?" She asked. "My sister lives there. Well, lived there. But she got out because of you. You have my eternal gratitude."

Ren smiled and blushed at the compliment. "I was just doing my part, like you helping to keep these refugees fed. We're just doing what we're able to do when we're able to do it."

She smiled and nodded, and the man stepped out of the kitchen with a tray full of styrofoam cups and lids and plastic clamshells, which he then stacked carefully into paper bags, then those into one plastic bag alongside various disposable eating instruments. "Apology for the wait," he said, smiling, "enjoy your meals."

"We will." Ren said as the girl whispered into the man's ear.

"You are Ren, the hero who saved one hundred and twenty-two people in Hearthome? My daughter was in that building you held together!" He exclaimed. "She escaped unhurt because of you! You have my eternal gratitude!" He said as he reached across the counter, aggressively shaking Ren's hand. "You have done so much for me, not even knowing. Here," He said as he unlocked the cash register. "your meals are free. Is the least I can do for a brave boy like you."

"No, no." Ren said, waving away the wad of cash pointed in his general direction. "I was just doing my part. You just keep helping the refugees like you're doing."

The man smiled even wider. "Oh, you heard about that? I was afraid the Department of Health might not..." He trailed off. "It does not matter, my daughter's safety is worth more to me than the price of food." Again he shoved the money, clearly amounting to more than was paid, to his customer.

"I refuse." Ren said, smiling. "Just keep doing good."

The man's smile continued to widen. He put the money back into the register and instead pulled three servings of glass-bottled hand-labeled tea from the refrigerator, still lukewarm, and placed them into a plastic bag and handed that, too, to Ren.

Reluctantly, he took the free beverages, mostly because he forgot to ask for any when he ordered the food in the first place. "I have no choice, I accept your generosity."

"Like I said, is the least I can do. Bye-bye now, and stay safe." The man said as his daughter waved her hand in a small arc as a farewell.

-----

Back at the basement door five minutes later, Ren realized he didn't have a way in, since Ria felt compelled to cover the keypad as she typed when they arrived. He knocked loudly on the door and a moment later, the one-way peephole went from light to dark. "It's just him." The muffled voice said through the wood. Three sliding-metal sounds of locks later he was let inside by Niz, still accompanied by her Carbink. "That smells good." She commented. "What did you find?"

"A nice little Auri place a few blocks up the road." He said, placing the bag on the little table in the middle of the apartment's main room. "House of Meowth. I just couldn't resist."

"Oh, so just because I'm Auri, you think I like Auri food?" She asked somewhat indignantly.

Ren paused momentarily as he unloaded each meal from its paper bag and onto the table in clusters. "Actually, I got it because I like it. I'm hoping it tastes like the food from back in Silech Town."

Niz inhaled deeply, pretending to be unmoved. "Well I'll have some. Not because I'm Auri, but because that food smells delicious." She allowed herself to crack a smile at her sudden change of opinion.

Soon enough, they and Ria were seated on the floor around the coffee table, breathing a sigh of relief for the momentary disconnect from the troubles of the past few weeks."I don't know all the inner workings of the deal, but after that I moved in with Niz's parents in Aurin as a sort of foreign exchange student." Ren explained his story to Ria. "This was just a little bit after she left on her adventure, so we actually only met a little while ago."

Ria swallowed her bite, sipped some of her tea, and nodded. "So that explains the shared taste in food." She took the pomegranate dish, the least exotic by far, but still her tea was drained and the food only half-gone.

"Not hungry?" Niz asked, knowing that the unfamiliarity of the food was the real culprit in the case of the half-eaten dinner.

"Mmhmm." An answer that said everything despite saying nothing.

"Well, I've had my fill." Ren said as he wiped his mouth with a provided paper napkin. "If you'll excuse me." He pushed himself up from the floor and poked around the safehouse apartment until he found the bathroom. He opened the door and flicked on the light, and beheld an unexpected surprise.

"Oh, yeah, sorry about that." Niz said, silently following Ren. She put her elbow on his shoulder and leaned on him playfully. "We found that when we arrived. Not in this condition, but you get the idea."

There was a teenage boy seated on the floor, hands tied behind his back with escape rope. A wad of reddened toilet paper was stuffed up one nostril and one cheek was discolored with bruising, and a gag made of t-shirt wrapped from his mouth to the back of his head. He looked through disheveled hair at his captor, a look of vain surrender in his eyes. "Thanks for not killing the guy."

"It was a reflex." Niz explained nonchalantly. "You know how I get when I see someone in a house I expect to be empty."

Ren thought back to their first encounter in her family's home, how she and Carbink popped around a corner spouting demands and threats when they thought he was an intruder. "Good point." First he was ashamed in or disappointed in Niz for hitting and binding the kid, then something clicked. "Is this the boy who--"

"Sure is. We found him already in the apartment, but Borea told Ria the place would be empty. It turns out he's been living here illegally since last we saw him."

"Small world." Ren commented, crouching down to eye level and releasing the t-shirt gag. "So we meet again, Thief."

ΖΣ

Spoiler

Hey, it's that kid again! The punk who tried to rob them of their gear back in like chapter 213 or something, between Sunyshore and Pastoria! Yeah, I've had the intention of maybe refining him and adding him as a semi-permanent character ever since a few chapters before that one. Dropping him into this chapter was kind of just a last-minute convenience that I think works well, since I have an un-posted prequel chapter (which I think I mentioned a few spoilers ago) that starts with him and his brother (the guy who ended the chapter 213 fight) illegally taking up residence in a post-meteor abandoned building in Lilycove before getting wrapped up in... well, that's too many spoilers. I've already given enough to say I'm not bluffing about this kid already having a backstory and his reappearance here being appropriate. Anyhow, this guy might just have a knack for B+E and living off the grid where he hopes he won't be found, as I decided when dropping him into this chapter. A recurring pattern in his life, maybe.

Speaking of recurring patterns, a similar event just unfolded for Ren as did for Niz back in Sunyshore, did you notice? Each one gets recognized for some do-good-ing that was mentioned on the radio, and each is approached about the event. Back in Sunyshore, Niz shut down the camping shop shopkeeper who complimented her (or rather the girl on the radio of whom Niz reminded her, unaware they're one and the same), almost having an aversion to recognition or fame. Ren, on the other hand, runs with it some more, mingles with the people showing him appreciation, being a bit more warm. This also reminds me that, as I should have mentioned in the spoiler after it happened, that the radio interview in 2.3.1 is more than just filler. That whole thing: the interview, the argument, the dancing piggy and subsequent memory removal; all of that is important, more than just chitchat dialogue. Big-picture stuff, as I'm trying to learn to apply.

So, that description of Solaceon Town, after the first break? Similar to a gripe I had while writing in Sunyshore and Pastoria, I often find most Pokémon World cities to be very samey. After all, there's not much you can do with a population of 30 and a land area of probably less than 50x50 tiles. What I did here was picked a town I know of in real life that I can imagine as Solaceon-esque and tried to boil that city down to a concise yet verbally pleasing description of its history and personality. How does a city have a personality, since it's not a person? Cities are people too, you know. There's more than just a language, food choice, and pocket money that makes Detroit different from Paris, Tokyo different from Charleston, and Pyongyang different from Tehran. Cities are born, named, grow, change, dream, and die, just like people. Anyhow, I'm rather pleased with how it turned out. I'm in the middle of reading a book that takes place in New York City, and it seems that literally 15-20% of the words in this book (maybe more) go to describing the city, sometimes in single 2.5 page paragraphs at a time. Whether it's the shape and age of a hospital building, the duration of time it takes to ride the train from this borough to that borough, or a commentary on a character's commentary of the city, it just seems overdone. What I'm hoping to do is get a city's soul in one or two paragraphs and mostly leave it alone after that, other than small-scale visual descriptions like the alternating trees and streetlights on the main street. I for one think I did that pretty well, but there's always room for growth.

Edits: softened up the bit at the end throughout the day of posting.

 

2.3.4​

​

Infiltrator​

"That girl is crazy, man." The boy said once ungagged by Ren, but still tied at the ankles and wrists. "Punch a fellow in the face just for sleeping on the couch."

"You know I'm still here, right?" Niz asked, leaning in the doorway to the makeshift brig that was the safehouse apartment's bathroom. "You should just be glad I did something to stop the bleeding."

"Yeah, thanks for that." He replied with equal parts sarcasm and genuineness. The boy shook the disheveled hair out of his face and violently blew out the red wad of toilet paper he had stuffed up one nostril. "Still bleeding?"

"No, you're good." Ren said as he untied the boy's ankle bindings, a simple wraparound with a shoelace knot in front, under Niz's watchful eye. He helped the boy to his feet and gently pushed him into the hallway. "Out you go."

"Wait, you're just setting him free?" Niz asked. "He was trespassing on private property! Or Team Royal's company property, or something. He's an actual criminal!"

"You do what you want. I came to this room for a reason." Ren said as he closed the bathroom door between them.

"All right, this way, Thief." Niz said, pushing the boy to the den room with a thump to the back.

"I have a name, you know." He said. "It's Brian."

"Whatever you say, Thief." She replied, and pushed Brian down to sitting on a sofa, hands still bound in front of him. "Well, you never successfully stole anything from us, though. Maybe we could call you Trespasser. It just doesn't roll off the tongue as easily."

Ria watched this exchange from another seat while across her face there grew an expression of confusion of her own involvement in this ordeal.

"Or you could call me Brian." He went on, unperturbed. Suddenly he reacted to Ria's unfinished meal on the coffee table. "That smells delicious." He said, inhaling deeply.

"Of course, here, let me untie your hands. Gee, I hope you don't try to do anything funny once you're unbound." Niz joked, playing the situation safe.

His stomach growled with suspiciously good timing. "Whoever keeps track of this place for Team Royal really doesn't keep the pantry well stocked."

"I have an idea." Ria chimed in. "Bryan?"

"Yes, kind lady?" He replied to the girl.

"I know a game we can play together." She said. "It's called Answer Our Questions. We ask you questions and your goal is to give us answers we think are satisfactory. The reward for winning a round is a bite of this delicious, fruity, nutty, uhh, stuff."

"Psh. I was going to co-operate anyway."

"First question." Niz jumped in aggressively. "You complained about how Team Royal doesn't stock the pantry well. How do you know this place belongs to Team Royal?"

"That computer in the corner?" He said, gesturing with his head to a decade old machine on a particleboard desk. "It's linked directly to Team Royal servers. It even passes through them as a proxy before accessing any any internet at all, even the Pokémon Storage Vault."

Ria looked to Niz for a nod of approval before loading a plastic fork with a bite of food that had a little of every ingredient and feeding it directly to the boy, who in turn groaned with an animalistic pleasure as he juicily masticated upon the bite before swallowing it with a satisfactory sigh. "Next question?" He asked eagerly.

"Yeah, here's another." Niz said, on with interrogation part two. "Team Royal protects all their electronic communications, and we know you're not a member, especially not one with official clearance." This supposed fact was mostly a guess judging by the professional nature of the two admins she met previously. "How do you know all this about their proxies or whatever? How did you get inside?"

"I have a way of getting into places I want to be." He said with a smug grin. "Same way I got in here. I mean that's just a Klefk-corp keypad on the door, I could bypass that blindfolded and with a headache. The computer over there took a little bit of brainpower, but I saw some pretty neat things in there."

"So you hacked the computer?"

"Well, yeah, that's what I said." He replied. "That's like three questions, by the way."

"One compound question." Niz said. "Sorry. Question three." She went on as Ria gave Brian the second part of his reward.

Ren stepped back into the room, interrupting the interrogation. "First you punch the kid and give him a bloody nose, next you're spoon-feeding him food I bought for you, my friends?"

"It wasn't my idea. Someone had the idea to try to play good cop with him." Niz explained accusatively.

"And it's working." Brian and Ria added in unison.

"I see." Ren said. "Don't let me stop you." He said as he also took a seat with the others around the coffee table.

"Back to where we were. Question three." Niz resumed. "What kinds of interesting things did you see on the Team Royal computer?"

"Oh boy, get a big bite ready, sweetie." Brian said with a widened smile, a shine in his beady eyes, and an antsy squirm to his posture. "I found personnel files up through Bishop rank, I found a list of all their active communications and surveillance modes, and I found..." He paused with an eager anticipation as he made eye contact with each of the other three teenagers. "Documents about the Boss Notos' reactions and plans regarding Deoxys."

Three pairs of eyes went wide, and Ria dropped the partially elevated fork to the plate with a thump. "We shouldn't be doing that." She said worriedly. "If we get caught looking into that high of classified information, we're all fired. Not just fired, maybe gotten rid of. I don't even know what they would do about that."

"Well don't just stare at me." Brian said. "I just handed you all some darn juicy info. I deserve my reward." And so he held open his mouth. Ria picked up the fork once more and shakily delivered the payload to its destination, dropping two clumps of rice and a pomegranate berry on the way.

"You get the rest of the plate if you go back to that computer over there and get back into the system so we can see what you're talking about."

"I would, but this darn Escape Rope has me a bit tied up at the moment." He said as he raised his arms some and helplessly twisted his wrists back and forth. "Plus I tripped a timeout last time I was in. Thirty-six hours of lockout unless a system admin lets me back in, and I admittedly don't have one in my contacts list. It'll reset at about four tomorrow morning." He explained, and sighed. "I should have kept that last bit to myself, gotten untied."

"Ren." Niz said and stood up. He didn't need to hear anything else. He rose and followed her to another room of the apartment, and a few seconds later Ria was behind them, effectively leaving Brian alone.

"This is what we've been looking for!" Ren said as he closed a bedroom door behind all of them. "Something Team Royal plans to do about the Deoxys!"

"Exactly, and it's all thanks to that beady-eyed jerk idiot punk thief out there that we can get to it at all!" Niz agreed. "What luck!"

Ria wasn't on the same page. "Yeah, luck that will get us all fired or abducted or face-changed re-identified or something!"

"Don't be such a downer." Niz bounced back. "Wait, do they actually do those last two things?"

"I hear rumors while at the regional meetings." She explained. "Even so, what happens when we get caught hacking into classified documents?"

"If that happens." Ren began with emphasis on the if. "I or Niz will take the fall, and everyone else pretends to be unaware."

"You'd risk your advancement in the group for that?" Niz asked partly to entertain their lie of being pro-Royal in front of Ria and partly as a response to Ren's apparent enthusiasm for joining the Team back in Pastoria."

"To find out what's being done or what might be able to be done about this monster?" He asked. "Yes. Definitely yes. Besides, I can probably put a spin on it to make it look like a good thing, I'm being ambitious and learning new skills to put to work in Team Royal's favor or some Garbodor like that."

"Or," Ria said, now boarding the idea of disobedient slithering. "just pin it on the one who actually did the hacking, such as that guy out there."

Ren cracked the door to the hallway and leaned out to see their new friend. He was clumsily trying to use the fork and feed himself with his hands still tied, and having a difficult time of it. "That works too. What then?"

"We keep him around and wait till morning and see how much truth there is to all of this." Niz suggested. "What else is there to do?"

"Sounds like a plan." Ren agreed. "Let's go out there and solidify it."

They filed back into the den room where the infiltrator waited. "So, Brian, my friend," Niz began. The boy's lap was covered in clumps of rice and dice of walnut, much more than was left behind by Ria's only shaky delivery of positive reinforcement. "We like what you've told us so far. So we're not going to turn you in to the police for trespassing."

"Oh thank Cresselia's luck." He said with relief and as if the phrase was one syllable.

"As long as you can manage to get us back into Team Royal servers tomorrow morning."

"Easily done." He replied as his self-confident smirk returned. "So how about taking these bindings off me? I think we've come to a mutually beneficial agreement."

"Not going to happen." Niz said. "Yet. So, uh, Ria, what are the sleeping arrangements like here?"

"Two bedrooms, one twin bed each." She answered simply.

"Let's cut to the end." Ren said. "You two take those, I'll sleep on the sofa. Sounds good?" He asked to the air of the room, as if he's been in a similar situation before. "Mister hacker can sleep in the bathtub for all I care, and Noctowl can keep an ear out for him if he tries to sneak off."

"Yaaay." Mister hacker said with impressive non-enthusiasm. "My first sleepover. In a while, I mean, of course. This will be so much fun."

Brian's no-vote comment notwithstanding, nobody voiced any opposition, and Ria's closed-mouth yawn seemed to approve of the idea.

Ren looked at his wristwatch, then at an analog clock hanging high on the wall. "Yeah, I'm ready for that." He announced as he went in search of some kind of bedding for the sofa and bathtub.

"First overnight on an adventure?" Niz asked Ria, who seemed to be displaying some unease. "This isn't so bad. It's probably the cushiest setup I've had in at least a year, and Ren's first few overnights he slept sitting against a wall on the boat from Aurin to Sunyshore. It'll be just fine."

"Yeah." The girl said faintly. She picked up her backpack from the floor of the den and slunk to one of the bedrooms, bidding good night to the other three as she passed them.

Ren was busy setting up the arrangement for himself and the guest, hands still bound, so Niz showed herself to the remaining bedroom, the impromptu conference room from before. Only then did she actually observe any of the sense of the house's personality. Everything painted in warm yellows and oranges, an abundance of bare wood furniture, and an overbearing presence of generic flower-themed decorations. This apartment, used as an emergency getaway or crash pad for agents of an international and potentially criminal organization, seemed like it could be comfortably inhabited by an elderly widowed woman and one adult offspring. Perhaps that was the goal, to disguise the true purpose and dissuade any investigation. Niz dropped her backpack to the floor and rifled through the bag in search of the Xtransceiver's charging cable, instead coming across something she didn't know she had. Just larger than an apple, a strange stone, orb-like yet not at all, and catching the light in a way that made it seem to shine with a brass color and entirely colorlessly at the same time. Cut or naturally formed into a crystalline shape it seemed to defy all identification with its simultaneous complexity of description and simplicity of design. As she held it with both hands, not cold to the touch like most metal would be, but rather already at her skin temperature, she pondered its existence before deciding that at this late hour after an eventful few days, the mystery could wait until tomorrow, and sat it gently on the bedside nightstand. She peeled off the extra layers of her garb to sleep as she was in the provided bed.

In the next room, Ria laid awake in the dark, unable to come to grips with the sudden change of pace of her life. Better off than many, as she freely admitted she had no particular trauma connected to the events relating to the Deoxys monster, but the sudden changes still proved to be a lot for her to process. When she eventually did sleep, she dreamed of three different Burmy fighting for her affection. Eventually the one covered in a cloak of sand won her favor, though in the morning she would remember only a brief encounter with a Mothim.

Brian, uncomfortable in his bathtub lined with two fluffy comforter blankets, dreamed a relived winter day with his brother several years back. A joyous snowball fight was exaggerated into a dramatic war, as he and Jordan enlisted he help of Sealeo and Snorunt respectively. Their failed attempt at building an igloo, here instead a grand ice castle, persisted through the end of the dream, fast-forwarding through the seasons until a tidal wave swept it and the very land into non-existence and wakefulness.

A girl occupied Ren's thoughts as he struggled to fall asleep in the minuscule glow of the Team Royal computer's power and disk access lights. Alluringly older than him by three or five years, cloaked in black fashion and adorned with metal piercings, studs, and chains, it was she who encouraged him to join Team Shade some number of years ago with promises of an accelerated path out of childhood and into cool teenage-dom. When sleep unknowingly took him, she was there in the room, not aged at all for the passed years. She divulged secrets to him that he would wish he never heard. Lucky for him, upon his waking at four in the morning in the glow of a street lamp through the window, his wish was granted. He did not dream for his second voyage into sleep.

Agnes, her head rested on a coarse pillow and eyes perpetually drawn to the mysterious luster of the stone in the light of the Xtransceiver, slipped into sleep like a slow fall through the floor and into the earth below.

As she slept there, in the glow of the stone, she dreamed, as we all do.

When we wake up, we always forget. When we dream, we sometimes remember.

Rarely we remember as if looking downstream the river of time, as unchanging as it is, and see what time and its accomplices try to hide from our waking eyes.

ΖΣ

Spoiler

Still deciding if I want Thief, uh, Brian, to become a permanent-ish character. I suppose I have until the next chronological chapter to decide.

Why do I specify "next chronological chapter"? Because there are some interesting dreams stirring in the minds of our four main characters. And somehow I chose to entirely omit the main character's dream? Unlikely. Hers is just so much more important. I was planning on having an important post on the next forum page-turn, so to speak, which is post #21, the next one.

That line near the end? "When we dream, sometimes we rememember. When we wake, we always forget." That's one of my favorite lines from the Sandman comics, I think in Brief Lives when some little girl asks Dream why she can only fly in her dreams, but never when she's awake. It's insightful, I think, and I like that line.

(written in one go from 2 am to 5 am on september 25)