It felt weird sitting on an airplane for a good ten plus hours considering how I kinda died from a plane crash the last time I was on one. At least now I knew I wasn’t scared of planes, that would’ve been hella inconvenient.
We landed in Jubilife City international airport at night and I let Kaiju out as soon as we got off while I put on some extra layers. Kaiju wasn’t happy about having to stay in his ball for such a long time, and I bet Sahara was Sinnoh was much chillier than Unova was, it felt like late fall instead of early fall.
Still disguised as a Pachirisu, Winnie hopped up onto my head to get a better view above the bustling crowds of the airport. “hey, there’s the guy with the zoroark!”
I brushed his tail out of my face and looked. There indeed was a guy with a Zoroark next to him. Zoroark noticed Winnie waving at them and tugged on its trainers sleeve to get his attention as we walked over.
If I had to guess, this guy was dark type specialist. He had a whole all black and dark gray get up, black leather jacket with a full array of dusk balls and one ultra ball on his belt, and for some reason he was wearing sunglasses even though it was night?
Honestly, I respected the drip, he pulled off the look really well. I want to get a cool outfit too!
“Hi, you’re Azalea right? The trainer that Professor Rowan sent me to get? ”
I nodded and shook hands with him, “Yep that’s me. This guy is Winnie, and this is Kaiju.”
“Nice to meet you guys. I’m Leonard, just call me Leo. I’m one of the trainer’s who’s helping out with Hisuan variant studies.”
“Zoroark! Zor!” Zoroark pointed at Winnie, who jumped back into my hoodie to hide behind my head, putting on a shy act.
“Oh yeah. Zoroark here has been pretty excited to meet another one of his kind too considering how rare they are.” Leo gave us a wily smile that matched his Zoroark’s grin, “I’m guessing that Pachirisu isn’t an actual Pachirisu, right?”
Winnie giggled and hopped down onto the floor, doing a fancy flip as he transformed himself back into his actual appearance, “i guess he saw through me hehehehe!”
I smiled back, “You are correct.”
Keeping my smile up, I pulled Kaiju’s head back by his horn a few times to prevent him from taking a bite out of Leo’s hand as we walked to the parking lot.
Leo chuckled, “He reminds me of my Houndoom when he was still a puppy.”
Zoroark grinned, mimicking his trainer’s smile, “Zoroark, ark zor zoroark.”
Zoroark must’ve said something funny cause Winnie giggled and began talking more with the illusion fox as we got in the car. Winnie, Zoroark and Kaiju got in the back while I sat in the front with Leo.
I spent the first few minutes of the drive just looking out the window at what was going on in the city. Humilau was a rather small city and had virtually no nightlife compared to Jubilife, which was still bustling with activity.
People and Pokemon were everywhere just hanging out with each other, there were a lot of food stalls and lots of pretty glowing signs and giant advertisement billboards. It was what people imagined of when they thought of the idealistic big city. The lively conversation from the three in the back were having helped add to the mood.
“So, you ever been to Sinnoh before?” Leo asked.
“Nope, I’ve only ever been in Unova. Jubilife is bigger than I thought it would be, but it’s not as big as Nimbasa.” I’d obviously never been to nimbasa either but I was comparing it to New York City, which I had been to.
“Hmmm, yeah I’d say I agree. Unova in general has some pretty large cities compared to other regions I’ve been to. Especially Paldea. Though I prefer the colder temperatures that Sinnoh has.”
“You from Paldea?”
“Yeah, I’m from Zapapico.”
That’s one of the cities in the Scarlet and Violet games, where was it on the map again? Somewhere near Tagtree Thicket I think, cause I remember players could find Zoroark and Zorua there.
I shrugged, “Sorry, never heard of it before. I only really know about Mesagoza and the Great Crater.”
“Heh, that’s fine. That’s what most people think of when Paldea is mentioned.”
And so we passed the time in traffic with some pleasant conversation.
I was correct about Leo being a dark type specialist, the reason he was hired by the lab was because they wanted a Zoroark to compare with a Hisuan Zoroark. He was the only trainer they could find with Zoroark on his team who also met the expeditions requirements.
Also, besides having Zoroark and Houndoom his team, the guy had a freaking Tyranitar. He originally was going to try getting a Hydreigon too but realized that Tyranitar wouldn’t be able to get along with any other pseudo-legendaries unless it was something less aggressive, like a Goodra or a Dragonite.
Staying friendly with each other was a common issue with people who had multiple pseudo-legendaries on one team, it was why being a successful dragon type specialist was so impressive.
That made me worry a bit about how Sahara and Kaiju would get along in the future. They seemed fine with each other now. Kaiju had quickly learned to respect Sahara’s space and Sahara didn’t seem too bothered by Kaiju.
I’d probably have to ask on the dragon type forums for some advice on that.
----------------------------------------
Unlike the games or anime, the Sinnoh Regional Lab was more like a small college campus. I’d imagine that as the most important research facilities in their respective regions, the other regional labs were similar in that aspect.
There were a series of large story buildings with a large well kept front lawn, a parking lot out front, and a massive field and a bunch of barn-like buildings in the back were the Pokemon of sponsored trainers presumably stayed.
Leo and Zoroark took us to a side door of one of the smaller two story buildings on the side that was labeled, ‘Hisuan Variant Studies’.
“I’m back guys! And we have a guest.” Leo proclaimed as we stepped into what looked like a large lounge or break room type area.
There was big comfy looking couch with a low table and a TV playing a movie in front. Behind the wall the TV was mounted on, was a staircase leading up to the left and a small balcony type area and another hallway that I couldn’t see much of.
An Alolan Ninetales and a Kantonian Nintales took up most of the space on the couch, with a lady with hair in a similar style and color to her Alolan Ninetales sat between them, watching the TV. It was kinda cute how both Nintales covered her up with their tails like a blanket. It looked really comfy.
Eyes still riveted on the TV, the lady casually waved at us, “Sup.”
There was a muffled “Bzzt!” from my bag. Rotom flew out, excited to scan all the new Pokemon.
“Not now Rotom, you can do that later.” I muttered, grabbing the Rotom phone and turning it to silent before putting it back in my pocket.
Sitting on the side of the couch was a kid only a few years older than me, he had pastel red spikey hair and a stern expression. He acknowledged Leo and looked at Kaiju, Winnie, and I like he was sizing up an opponent before turning back to the TV. A Dragonair poked it’s head out from around the couch to sleepily look at us before curling back up.
OMG it’s a Dragonair! It’s so freaking pretty I want one! Heh, nah. Two dragons are good enough for me at the moment.
To the left was a kitchen and another hall leading somewhere, plus another hallway that went underneath the balcony and further into the building into what looked like a lab area.
There was a guy on his computer at the kitchen table, what I assumed where his Boltund and Manectric laid on the floor underneath the table. Computer guy didn’t seem to notice we were here, he was very focused on whatever he was doing, click clacking away on his keyboard.
Boltund jumped up and ran over to us, entire body wiggling around and tail wagging like crazy. It reminded me of my friend’s golden retriever whenever I went over to her house.
Leo knelt down and greeted Boltund in slightly babying voice as the dog whined and licked Leo’s hands. I tried petting Boltund when it switched to greeting me but got a bunch of static shocks as I touched its fur.
Winnie sneezed and jumped away as his fur became staticy just from being near the electric doggo.
“Deino!” Kaiju grunted, running forward to greet the electric doggo. He was ecstatic that there was another Pokemon that could match his energy and penchant for licking stuff and the two began chasing each other around the lounge.
Leo walked over to the woman on the couch and patted her head. “Celia, don’t you have a meeting to get to? You can watch your movie later.”
Celia groaned in protest before reluctantly getting up and stretching. “Yeah yeah, I got it. Hey kid.” She waved to me, “come on, you’re coming to the meeting too.”
A meeting this late? It’s like 10pm. “Okay.” I shrugged and nodded.
“Hey Leo, can I leave Kaiju here while I’m in the meeting?” Kaiju and Bolthund were now playing tug of war, someone was going to be upset about their ruined shoes.
Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.
“Yeah sure, I’ll watch him.”
“Thanks.”
I jogged a bit to catch up to and followed her down a few hallways, past a lot of dark empty offices and into the only office that still had its lights on.
The office was actually a large meeting room with a big circular table in the center for the participants and a large whiteboard with a map projected onto it.
The one and only Professor Rowan was standing next to the map, pointing at it and talking to the two guys sitting at the table. Sitting slouched over in the seat on the left was a younger looking guy with large glasses in a stained lab coat.
When did this guy last get any sleep? He had some pretty dark shadows under his eyes and there was a large can of some sort of energy drink with a leaping red Tauros label on the table next to his arm.
Opposite of nerdy guy was a guy with salt and pepper hair in dressed in business casual. My eyes were immediately drawn to the nasty looking claw scar across his face. Considering how good healthcare was in the Pokemon world, the injury must have had to be bad enough that even their advanced tech couldn’t fully heal it.
The three paused as we entered and Celia waved at them, “Hey, they’re here.”
“Azalea, you should know of Professor Rowan,” Celia pointed at the stern looking gray haired man standing near the whiteboard who nodded and said, “Good to meet you two.”
She pointed to messy lab coat guy. “The guy who looks like he’s gonna pass out any moment is Marcus, he studies Hisuan Pokemon”
“and that guy is Tim. He looks like he got mauled by a Weavile because he did, and he studies Pokemon item evolution.”
Tim gave Celia a ‘I’m tired of your shit’ look but didn’t comment.
“And I’m usually hired to help organize and guide research expeditions, yada yada. Tim, Marcus, and I are leaders of an upcoming expedition to the northernmost regions of of Sinnoh.” Celia lazily waved her hand around as she spoke and then gestured to me and Winnie.
“Everyone, this is Azalea and Win–.”
“Oh my Arceus! It’s an a-actual Hisuan Zorua!” Marcus suddenly went from negative -100 energy to: I-chugged-ten-cans-of red-bull mode. He jumped up and almost ran over to us , nearly tripping himself in the process.
I leaned back as far as I could as the researcher got a bit too close in his attempt to observe Winnie and began bombarding me with questions.
I felt Winnie slide from the top of my head and into my hoodie to get away from this guy.
“Where did you meet him? In Unova? W-what’s his diet like? How about h-his behavior compared to a Unovan Zorua? Do you know how he creates his illusions?”
Rolling her eyes, Celia dragged the excited researcher back to his side of the table by his collar, “Why don’t we get to the main point of this meeting first. You can interrogate them tomorrow, and perhaps with a bit more respect for their personal space.”
All Marcus’s energy immediately evaporated and he visibly deflated, flopping back down into his chair. “Oh. Okay.”
“Ahem.” Rowan coughed. “Why don’t you two take a seat?”
Nodding, I sat on Tim’s side of the table and Celia sat opposite of me. Winnie gingerly hopped onto the table to get a better look at the whiteboard, glancing at Marcus before sitting down.
After making sure he had our attention, Professor Rowan began to speak, “You must be wondering why you’ve been invited here, we’ve recently decided that we’d like to hire you two not just for the lab study but for the expedition we mentioned earlier as well.”
Rowan stepped back from the whiteboard to not block our view as Celia took out a remote and used its laser pointer to point at a mountain range to the northwest of Sinnoh, circled on the map projected on the whiteboard.
“That’s the Icebound Mountain Range, and this,” She pointed at an area at the northernmost point of the mountain range, “is Alabaster Mountain. The area we’ve been planning an expedition to for a while.”
That’s definitely part of where the Alabaster Icelands were back when Sinnoh was still called Hisui.
“Okay. And why that place specifically?”
“Well, using evidence collected from two previous expeditions to the area, we were able to prove that previously thought to be extinct Pokemon species are most likely alive somewhere inside Alabaster Mountain. We theorize that it’s a similar case to where the current Unovan Champion Alder discovered a hidden hive of Volcanra in the depths of Relic Castle.”
I frowned and tilted my head at that. Wait, they thought Volcanra were extinct?
Tim added, “It could also be similar to the expedition into the depths of the Great Crater of Paldea a few years ago where they discovered a new species of Pokemon called Glimmora, we could discover a completely new Pokemon species, hidden away from the rest of the world. The Icebound Mountain Range has never been touched by human civilization before.”
I nodded, “Okay, and why are we needed?”
Marcus yawned and waved his hand to answer my question, “B-because there’s an illusion related barrier t-that’s protecting Alabaster Mountain and the area around it. We w-were able to get energy readings on it last time and now we’re a-a hundred percent sure that it’s the work of a Hisuan Zoroark.”
“The first expedition failed to get anywhere near the mountain due to the illusion leading us in circles. We brought Leo and his Zoroark in for the second one and were able to get to the entrance, but no further as the illusion became too complicated for Zoroark to navigate or unweave. ” Tim said,
“This time we’d like to be better prepared. We weren’t able to find another trainer with a Zoroark able to join us, and getting help from a Hisuan variant might make unweaving the illusion easier due to the difference in the type energies used to weave the illusions. If not, simply having a member of the Hisuan Zoroark line might at least help us befriend the Hisuan Zoroark guarding the place.”
“Alright, I see what you guys are saying. But what I don’t get is why you guys are so insistent on getting into this sanctuary besides research.” I said,
“If the Pokemon inside the mountain want to be left alone so much that two previous expeditions failed to get to them, then wouldn’t it be better to not poke a sleeping dragon? I mean, if there’s a Pokemon strong enough to shield an entire mountain nonstop for years on end, I wouldn’t want to make it angry or mess with it.”
Celia let out a grim chuckle, “Oh trust me, we don’t either, but the dragon is going to be poked whether we do the expedition or not.” She pressed a button on the remote, zooming into the map to an area northwest of Lake Acuity. “You see the areas outlined in green?”
“Yeah.”
“Those are protected areas that are guarded by Rangers and Ace trainers. Alabaster mountain is not within that protected zone because of how dangerous and isolated it is compared to other areas and because the league doesn’t think that there are any endangered species living there.”
The map changed to a slide with a huge Team Galactic symbol on it and some bullet points on this company called Galactic Corporations. What an unpleasant jumpscare.
“The problem is that one of Sinnoh’s biggest companies, Galactic Corporations has identified some sort of special metal there and they wish to mine the mountain for that ore.”
That doesn’t sound good. This has to do with the red chain doesn’t it? From what I know, they only ever went for the metals available in Iron Island and some meteorites in… Veilstone, I think? But they would totally go for other locations with the ore they want.
Tim sighed as he built on what Celia said, “We found solid proof of endangered species like Hisuan Avalugg living there, as well as Sneasler fur and claw marks on the cliff faces and the energy readings from the Hisuan Zoroark illusion. Despite all that, the league says it’s not enough and need proof in the form of, I quote: ‘high quality photos and videos.’”
I could hear the contempt in Tim’s voice for the Pokemon League, “We were originally going take a bit longer to prepare for the third expedition but they’ve only given a till the end of the year to prove our point, or else the league will approve their mining operation.”
We all looked at Marcus as he started up again, “I-I’m telling you, it’s those Galactic corps idiots lobbying behind the scenes to make things hard for us! They’ve b-been sending people to harass members of our expedition ever since they began their campaign! And do you guys r-remember th-the shit they tried to pull at Iron Island last year? The only reason they didn’t get their way was because…becaush Byron…”
Marcus’s speech slurred as his eyelids drooped. Then he fell forward, faceplanting on the table with a loud “thunk!” And he stayed there.
I let out a surprised, “ooooh shit!” and Winnie giggled, “is he dead?”
Rowan frowned. “When was the last time he slept?”
Tim and Celia both shrugged.
Celia tried to hide a laugh behind a worried sigh mixed with a cough, “He’s been living off of caffeine for the past few days. Have you guys not noticed how jittery he’s been?”
“The stuttering?” Rowan replied, “Yes, I noticed. Once Marcus is awake, tell him that he’s banned from caffeine. No one is allowed to secretly give him caffeinated foods or beverages either.”
The other two researchers solemnly nodded in agreement.
I raised my hand, “Soooooo, what did Byron do about the Iron Island situation?”
Rowan’s usually stern face crinkled as if he was remembering something amusing, “He goaded Galactic executives and members of the Sinnoh Government to a battle and crushed them with his steel types. It was quite entertaining.”
“Yeah, but we don’t have a Byron to protect the mountain.” Celia growled, “Those bastards are using their lawyers to make things difficult for anyone with power to intervene this time around!” I was a bit taken aback at the sudden venom in her voice.
“Okay, so lemme get this straight. There’s an evil corporation that wants to mine this mountain and destroy it, but this mountain has endangered Pokemon living there that you guys have proof of. But due to some backend stuff from Galactic, the League won’t accept your evidence because it isn’t ‘good enough’.” I said, making the most sarcastic air quotes I could at ‘good enough’.
“But they’re ‘nice enough’ to give you guys a limited amount of time to prove that you guys are right. Or else the worst case scenario happens and the endangered Pokemon are put in danger.” As well as the whole world because those guys wanna summon the gods of space and time for their own selfish reasons.
“And you guys,” I gestured at the Tim and Celia, “want Winnie to help because of illusion around the mountain it too hard for just one Zoroark to get through.”
“Yes.” “Uh huh.”
“Alright. I’m down for taking down the evil corporation.” And preventing world threatening events from taking place.
I grinned, “Whaddya say Winnie?”
Winnie grinned back with a wicked look in his eye, “i see no problem with that, who doesn’t like seeing bad guys get their butts kicked?”
Tim raised his hands to stop us there, “Umm…we still have to explain a few things to you. This is a very danger–”
Celia interrupted Tim, who glared at her,“The pay is good because there’s a large danger bonus. But also, there’s a danger bonus, which means that the league considers this expedition dangerous enough to be potentially fatal.”
What could be more fatal than dying in a plane crash?
I shrugged, “Alright. Talk to me.”
Celia continued, “Okay, so, the first time we tried getting to Alabaster Mountain, we were attacked by wild Pokemon a few times–”
“You mean constantly attacked.” Tim interrupted, but Celia ignored him and steamrolled over him, “It’s not uncommon in areas where humans don’t go for Pokemon to be more aggressive.”
“Might I mention that the Pokemon in this area are more aggressive than any other place we’ve seen or heard of? We’ve had members almost die during both expeditions.” Tim pointedly said.
I’m guessing that’s how Tim got his face scars.
This time Rowan said something, “We made sure to hire a strong and qualified security force from then on and made sure that even non-combatants have strong teams. They all have teams that are rated to have at least seven crowns. You’ve probably already met a few of them. The security team this time around is the best we could’ve possibly gotten.”
Crowns? Oh yeah, the Pokenet forums use that term a lot. That’s their way of power ranking Pokemon right? How strong is seven crowns again?
I nodded and surreptitiously added a note on my phone to look up what how strong seven crowns were.
Celia clicked the remote button again and changed the slides to some weather data, “Next is the weather, since we’ll be going in mid to late fall, it’ll be negative forty degrees at the warmest. Aka, it’s gonna be colder than a Regice’s asscrack and we’re gonna be hiking and climbing through a lot of very rough and icy terrain.”
Rowan coughed and shot Celia a disapproving look.
Hey, I know I might look like a kid, but I can handle a few swears. Also, is she using fahrenheit of celsius?
Celia threw up her hands, “Hey, I’m not gonna sugarcoat how bad the weather is. I lost a few fingers and toes from the cold last time despite thorough preparations.”
Now that she mentioned it, I noticed that she was missing her left ring and pinky fingers.
“Yet you gloss over the other dangerous things.” Tim grumbled.
So there are going to be murderous Pokemon possible on the same level as Kaiju’s mom, it’s gonna be at least as cold than the arctic in winter, and to top it all off it’s going to be like climbing Mount Everest. Well, I totally can see why Tim wouldn’t want to bring a rookie, but…
“Okay. What’s the pay?” I asked.
“Seventy five thousand base pay. The danger bonus will be at least half that amount, though if all goes well I will be able to increase it to double the base pay.” Rowan answered.
That’s a lot of money... Where are they getting all this money? Well…The top lab in the region would definitely be well funded, so I guess they have the money to spare.
Sure I cared about the pay, but making sure Team Galactic didn’t get what they wanted so that they could potentially destroy this world would be a the best bonus possible. I was all for being one of ‘those meddling kids’ thwarting the villain’s evil plans. Might as well make use of that meta knowledge while I could.
“Ok. Where do I sign?”
Rowan and Tim glanced at each other, probably due to how quickly I said yes. They must’ve thought that I wasn’t fully getting how dangerous this was. Celia didn’t seem to have any qualms about this though.
Honestly, I probably wasn’t cause I’d never been to the arctic, nor had I ever climbed Mount Everest, but again, it would be better than Team Galactic getting their way.
“Are you really, really sure?” Tim asked.
I raised an eyebrow “You guys literally had a meeting to explain everything to me. Now you’re starting to make me think that you guys don’t want me to come along. And yes I am sure.”
Tim’s frown deepened, “Frankly, as someone who was nearly killed last time despite having a full team of powerful Pokemon. I’m just not sure about a young trainer with no experience coming with us. I don’t think you know what you’re getting yourself into.”
Celia stood up and pointed accusingly at Tim, “You personally approved the twins joining us and they’re two years younger than Azalea.”
“The twins have the ability to teleport away from danger, are some of Olympia’s best students, and their teams are rated at eight stars.” Tim shot back.
Celia rolled her eyes and pointed again at Tim, “They can’t teleport within the mountain range, and Flint will be lending us his Infernape. You know, the one from his personal team.”
“Celia, sit down. Tim, Azalea and Winnie have made it clear that they plan to go. I understand your worry about Azalea’s safety, so Flint’s Infernape will be assigned to Azalea’s team when the time comes. We will have other people from our expedition lend her some of their Pokemon as well because she has four empty positions on her team. Does that help?”
Celia shot Tim a victorious look. Tim grimaced and relented with a sigh, gingerly rubbing his face, “Fine. We have a month until the expedition starts, I’ll ask the others to help train your team too.”
I gave Tim a crisp thumbs up, and tried to give him a reassuring smile. “Yeah sure, that’ll be great.” He didn’t seem convinced.
“Well, that should be enough to brief Azalea on our situation.” Rowan said as he checked his watch, “It’s late, I’m sure everyone is tired from the day. We’ll leave the rest for tomorrow. Azalea, I’ll get your paperwork to you in the morning. Tim, make sure Marcus gets to bed. Celia, show Az to one of the free rooms.”
The Professor collected his stuff and walked to the door, “Good night everyone.”
We bid him good night as he left.
I followed Celia out the room after she got her stuff, stopping to let Winnie hop back on my shoulder while Tim was trying to wake Marcus up.