CHAPTER 137

"First thing's first," I said, sitting down next to the dragon. It was the first time he'd ever let me come this close. "I thought I'd let you know what happened. I cut our conversation short without warning, and I'm sorry about that. Something happened to Cecilia."

Turtonator frowned, making me realize that he'd forgotten who she was, or maybe he'd just not even registered her in the first place. It wasn't like I could blame him— he hadn't spent any time with any of my friends, and he couldn't have even if he wanted to. Pokemon like Turtonator couldn't be out and about in the street unless you had privileges that came with working for the League, and he'd probably try to kill them anyway.

"Right. Uh, Cecilia's my girlfriend and one of the people I'm traveling with. This is relevant because it has to do with Team Galactic."

The fire type's nose flared, releasing thick hot smoke. I explained to him who Abel was, what he had done, and that he worked with Team Galactic. People like him seemed to be the kind of person that Turtonator despised the most: a slimy man that could only get by using tricks and valued money above all else, which must have been the complete opposite of Kamaile.

"We've both spoken about our experiences with Team Galactic, but I need to know. What does that mean for us?"

Turtonator let out a dismissive grunt, and arrogance oozed off of him.

"I'm not asking to use you in battle," I rolled my eyes. "I'm asking you what your goal is. Surely you won't be content with just sticking around doing nothing for the rest of your life. That wouldn't fit your profile. Personally, I wouldn't mind. Sweetheart's taken a liking to you, and she'd hate to see you leave. The others are warming up to you— well, except Princess—"

He let out a loud snort when I uttered Togetic's name. It seemed that the hate was mutual there.

"—And I'd like to get to know you too. You won't have to fight," I shrugged. "But your behavior's clearly changed since I told you everything. You're nicer now, but it's not out of pity. You want something."

All of my Pokemon currently had goals. Electabuzz wanted to meet the three Gengar who raised him. Larvitar… I feel like I was on the brink of figuring something out, but with everything that was going on, I hadn't gotten the opportunity to have a one-on-one with her. Jellicent wanted to grow stronger to protect all of us, and Togetic was in the same vein, although she prioritized me a lot more than the others since I was the first being she laid her eyes on when she was born.

What did Angel want? I turned toward the grass type, and he waved at me with a vine.

I'd have to ask him to be sure, but he seemed to be enjoying taking care of Sweetheart.

Turtonator curiously observed me, not bothering to answer. Like he knew that I already suspected something, and he wanted to see if I could reach the correct conclusion.

"I don't really know what you want," I sighed. "I'm good, but I'm not psychic. I haven't… known you long enough to read you like that."

The fire type closed his eyes disappointedly and made me wait eight minutes until he talked again. Back when he'd told me about Kamaile, he'd spoken the words Team Galactic so many times and with so much hatred that they had been unmistakable. It took a bit of back and forth to finally understand.

Revenge? No, not exactly. He did not want me to seek out Team Galactic, but he did want me to take them down when the opportunity arose, like Chase for example had done during the crisis at Valley Windworks— breaking into the power plant and taking down a few grunts. There was precedent for events like this, like a trainer taking down Team Rocket's secret base at the Celadon Game Corner and then intervened during their takeover of the Silph Co. building years ago during his first year. A prodigy that had taken the region by storm, beating the Elite Four and Champion, then refused to take up the position himself. No one knew where he was now.

I… I wasn't like that.

Plus, Turtonator had used the term when, not if. I had told him about Mars' obsession with me, and my hopes that she had given up, but he seemed to put no stock into that. She didn't match up with the Commander that attacked Kamaile in the mountain, and neither did Charon, so it must have been someone I had never seen.

"It's… not my job to take them down," I said. "I know Kamaile would have, but…"

I couldn't.

Turtonator disappointedly shook his head and turned away. It seemed that he wouldn't agree to let me use him until I promised him this. I could have said yes, but I knew damn well it would have been a lie, even if I hadn't wanted it to be. He was holding me to impossible standards.

Now I truly knew what it was like to own a powerful dragon. It didn't matter how good of a trainer I was. If he saw me as a coward, then he'd never help me. I would need to meet his expectations, not the opposite.

I could only hope that I'd change his mind eventually. If not, well, I was content to just hang out with him. He was annoying and grumpy, but in a sort of endearing way.

"Well, thanks for listening anyway, Sunshine," I smiled, ignoring his cries of protest. "Come on, at least let me call you that!"

He somehow stared me down while lying on the floor.

"It'll grow on you…? Pretty please?"

Turtonator shook his head and blew smoke into my face, sending me into a coughing fit, but Angel waved the smoke away with his huge hand and worriedly looked at me.

"Not— cool! Ugh, fine. I'll just keep referring to you as that in my head, though. You can't stop me."

I considered bringing the rest of the family out, but people were starting to notice and stare at me. I probably had the only Turtonator in Sinnoh right now, and people were beginning to associate him with me, which meant that I was easily recognizable. Kamaile might have been a better trainer than I was, but he'd unfortunately never had my reach.

Or maybe that was how he'd wanted to live. I'd never be able to figure it out until Sunshine talked to me about him, which he still refused to do beyond the bare minimum. He still didn't even speak about his old teammates. Anyway, before Turtonator could get angry and injure someone, I recalled him and released Princess instead. People seemed to leave me alone when she was out, and she was excellent for protection, so I was knocking two birds with one stone here.

I had some time to kill until the League revealed their announcement and my date with Cece, so I considered stopping by route 208 to train and speak to Angel for a bit. Unfortunately, fate seemed to favor something else. My phone rang, and Denzel called me over with a single message.

Denzel W.

Meet me on route 209. I bought a Dawn Stone for Snorunt, and I want you to be there when I evolve her.

Oh, and I'm completely fucking broke, so I'll need you to pay for my ride back?

—

"Hey guys," Denzel said, scratching the back of his head. Snorunt was jumping excitedly at his feet. "Thanks for coming on such short notice."

"Prrrrri!" Togetic happily yelled.

"She says that she doesn't mind," I translated. "Anyway, you're evolving her already? Even after the meeting yesterday, I thought that you'd wait for a while. Can I see the stone?"

My best friend hesitantly stared around to see if anyone was there. We were at the edge of the route and hidden by the start of a small forest. Denzel pulled out the turquoise stone, and I gasped in awe at the glittering, iridescent gemstone. It shone with a warm glow, and its surface was smooth and flawless. Denzel slipped it under the sunlight, and a pale star-shaped light appeared to glow from within.

"Arceus…"

"I know, right? I had to spend everything I had on this. I have almost nothing left."

"You did at least buy vitamins, right?"

"I did before, but I won't have enough for TMs until next month now," he sighed.

"How much was it?"

"386,000 Pokedollars," he said.

I whistled. Denzel had been sponsored by so many companies at this point that he had a lot more money than I did— well, until now. With his streaming on the side, he'd probably be able to recover pretty soon, though.

"So little Snorunt's biting the bullet, then?" I asked.

"Yeah. I'm nervous, but I think she's ready," Denzel replied, releasing his Sylveon. Togetic squealed, and the two fairies greeted each other excitedly. "Worst-case scenario, I recall her, but I needed you in case she somehow went off the rails and tried to run or something."

"Ah, yeah, Honey could help out with that."

I grabbed Electabuzz's Pokeball, releasing him, and I explained the situation. He seemed to be quite happy for Snorunt. The two had apparently formed some kind of camaraderie after their cooperation during the double battle against Cecilia and Chase. The electric type gave her a loud thumbs up, while Snorunt sniggered and ran up to him, her smile widening.

"You've treated her well, I think it'll be fine," I said.

"I hope so. She doesn't seem to care about anything I say, she's just excited to evolve," Denzel smiled, looking at the ice type. "Snorunt, c'mere. It's time."

Snorunt yelled and dashed back toward Denzel a lot faster than I thought she could be, and he slowly lowered the stone until it touched her skin. The icy type grunted, and I shielded my eyes from the blinding light that overtook her. Togetic immediately created a few Ancient Power drills, just in case, and Electabuzz stood at attention. Sylveon stared at his teammate, seemingly unaffected by the blinding light, and was already ready to wrap his ribbons around her. I wasn't even sure that'd work, since she would become a ghost.

The Dawn Stone disappeared, fizzling into thin air, and Snorunt turned into a Froslass. Her dress-like skin fluttered in the cold, winter wind, and her eyes had a slight yellow glow. She gently placed a hand over her mouth and observed us as the temperature started to drop a few degrees.

"How do you feel?" Denzel asked. "Everything alright?"

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I was scared that she'd have a moment like Jellicent for a second, but she seemed… relatively fine. Her eyes were flickering wildly, and they were darting in between all of us, but Sylveon touched her with a ribbon and brought her back to reality.

"The ribbons work on her?" I asked, my eyes widening in surprise.

"I think that with Sylveon, has to do with how strong the emotional connection is," Denzel whispered, watching his new Pokemon with awe. Froslass stared down at Sylveon and let out a small giggle before disappearing, and Denzel panicked as he wildly turned around.

Froslass reappeared behind him, whispering something in his ear, and he fell over. Now that she was closer to me, her body felt so cold. I took a few steps back and cupped my hands around my mouth to breathe out and warm them up. Ghosts lowered the temperature around them, but this was on another level.

And it seemed that Denzel or Sylveon weren't affected by it whatsoever. It was just me and my Pokemon. Electabuzz's fur frosted over slightly, and Togetic's did as well. They were Pokemon, so they'd be fine, but if I stayed close to her for too long, I'd actually get injured.

And it appeared that she was holding back. I smiled. It looked like Denzel had gotten a terrifying new battler.

"Wanna try out her new strength?" I asked innocently. Really, I mostly wanted to figure out more about her before the Solaceon tournament in case I'd have to fight Denzel.

"You mean battle? No thanks. You know how dangerous that'd be— I don't even know what she's capable of yet!"

"I know that, you idiot! I just meant, like, trying out Blizzard or something."

"That's the same thing! What if it's so strong it hits us," Denzel chided. "I'll do it later in a controlled manner."

"You just don't want me to see it," I pouted.

He chuckled. "Well, that's part of it."

"I'll forgive you if you buy me something."

"I literally just told you I was broke, dude."

Denzel released the rest of his team and let them get accustomed to Froslass' new form. She giggled, and her laugh echoed through the woods as she danced, disappearing and appearing at will in front of her team. Sylveon happily watched, and excitedly tapped his feet on the floor. Even Roselia and Lopunny were happy for her, which was a change of pace from their usual jealousy feud.

Denzel and I just hung out for a while, which felt nice, since he hadn't done that in a bit. We had both been busy, but he'd been especially so, which all his sponsored meetings, his not-so-secret meetings with Louis' group, and his content creation. Most of our talk was just friendly banter and catching up. He told me about some of his funny experiences on his stream and some not-so-fun experiences in the forums. Just like me, it seemed that he had a vocal minority of haters, but he didn't let it get him down.

Anyway, it seemed like he'd given up on Caitlyn and let her down gently via text, since they never ended up meeting. Right now, we were better off not getting anyone new involved with us, at least until things calmed down. After a bit, I ended up walking off to have a one-on-one with Tangrowth, since now was as good of a time as any. Togetic stuck with her brother and happily clapped at Froslass' tricks— although from a distance— so she seemed to have warmed up to her rather quickly.

Tangrowth smiled with his eyes as soon as I released him and hugged me with his vines.

"Awww, hey Angel," I laughed. He was acting like he hadn't seen me in ages when it had barely been an hour. Tangrowth led me toward him, and I sunk into his body, embracing him. "We're hanging out with Denzel's team. See them over there?" I asked, nodding toward them.

The grass type stared on curiously, placed me on his head, and I sat down on him. At this point, I was so used to him handling me like this that I didn't even care. I'd used his vines as a pillow multiple times, and they were surprisingly comfortable.

Man, I was collecting these. Jellicent, and Tangrowth made good pillows, and Princess would, too when she evolved.

If I ever figured out how to evolve Electabuzz, well, maybe.

Turtonator and Larvitar were a bust, though. Their bodies were too tough.

"I had a question for you," I told the grass type. A vine tightened around my ankle, signaling me to continue. "What do you want in life? I know you like to experience and touch new things, but is there anything you want beyond that?"

His vines curiously wriggled, and he gave my words some thought. In fact, he thought for so long that I almost believed that he'd forgotten my question, but after five minutes, he placed me back down in front of him and answered with a series of blinks as he gently cupped my cheek with his hand.

Love.

I smiled. "Aren't you the cutest boy ever?"

Sometimes, goals were small.

And that was okay.

—

The League's announcement was soon, and I wanted to watch. Apparently, it'd be a direct address to the people by Cynthia, and that didn't happen every day. I walked into the Pokemon Center, and Denzel dashed to his room after thanking me for his bus ride. He wanted to stream his reaction to the announcement because people apparently went crazy for that. I did remember a lot of battle reaction videos, and most of them got copyright struck down immediately or demonetized— especially the Conference ones. The League didn't joke around.

Supposedly though, this one would be fine to stream. The League wanted as many people to see this announcement.

"Grace Pastel!" A Nurse Joy called out. "We have a gift bag for you."

"A gift bag?" I said, raising an eyebrow. "From who?"

I wasn't about to get killed by a booby-trapped gift bag, that was for sure.

"The Poketch Company. A certain Melody Summers came to drop it off? Don't worry, we made sure there were no sinister intentions at play."

Well, if Nurse Joy said so…

I thanked her and grabbed the gift bag before taking the elevator to my room as Princess lazily followed behind me. She wasn't used to being out of her ball so much, and she was getting tired. I'd probably swap her out with Electabuzz soon. I was supposed to watch the announcement with Cece, but I supposed that I could open this up first. I dropped the basket on my desk and grabbed the note.

Dear Grace,

The Poketch Company has heard of the traumatic experience that befell your girlfriend yesterday, and we decided to help cheer you up with these gifts. Feel free to share them with anyone you wish.

The Poketch Company

"Well, aren't they nice?" I mumbled as I searched through the bag. Promotion coupons for Poketch products, snacks, sweets— "Holy crap, a ten percent off coupon at Arlyles? Nice!"

And it was valid forever too! A lifetime of ten percent off. The Poketch Company sure knew how to charm me. Since I remembered her telling me she liked pineapple during our stay in Eterna, I grabbed some weird pineapple candy I'd never even heard of before and made my way to Cece's room. She greeted me with a kiss and led me inside. Slowking was standing with his hands behind his back, and he greeted me with a slight nod.

Maybe I'd have him use telepathy on me. It was a learned process, and I was already thinking about getting a psychic type as a seventh Pokemon after my eighth badge. It'd be good if I was already desensitized to the pain by then.

"What's this?" She asked. "Wait, is that—"

I smiled smugly as I lifted the candy bag. "Pineapple candy."

"For me?!" She yelled, kissing my cheek. "Thank you! Where'd you even get these? They only sell this brand in Unova! I haven't had them in months, they're my favorite!"

So that was why I'd never heard of these. The Poketch Company probably found out that Cecilia liked these somehow.

It was getting a bit creepy, but at least they were doing this with good intentions.

"Erm, the Poketch Company," I said. She was still hanging onto me in a really cute way, so I barely managed to get the words out. "You can have them all if you'd like. I'm not really a fan of pineapple."

"Really? Well, don't mind if I do then."

She grabbed the package, and Slowking levitated the remote and turned on the television.

"Darling, taste some," she said, handing a piece to the psychic type.

Slowking looked like he didn't want any, but he couldn't refuse anything Cecilia said, so he ate it anyway. He kept a blank look on his face, but Cecilia winced.

"Just Satisfactory? You have no taste, Slowking. Grace, come sit."

Poor guy. She hadn't told me anything when I said I didn't like pineapple. Girlfriend privileges, I guess. I shot him an apologetic look, and he bowed his head.

I obliged her, lying down on the bed with a relaxed breath. Togetic on one side, and Cecilia on the other? This was heaven. Hopefully, the announcement would be what I thought it was, and Cynthia would finally start cleaning up the Directorate. Right now, the television was simply showing an empty podium where Cynthia was supposed to speak, and every news organization had sent their correspondents to the Lily of The Valley Island, who were sitting in multiple rows of chairs below the podium.

The speech was a few minutes late, but it was finally about to begin. Cynthia confidently strode on the podium with that confident smile she was well-known for, and a hulking Garchomp covered in shallow scars followed closely behind her, along with her spotless Lucario. They each stood on one side of her, and she immediately started her speech.

"Greetings, fellow Sinnohans. I will get straight to the point. After a month-long investigation into the Directorate, the League has found that the majority of the new opposition party is being funded by Team Galactic and the Bianchi Conglomerate— including the Prime Minister, Sophie Richards. The names of these culprits are Joey Rumsfeld, Paula Mccarthy, Erika Anri, Isaac Matthew…"

Cynthia kept listing name after name. In a way, it was chilling. So many people involved in this scheme right under our noses… but then again, she'd been investigating for a month? So that meant that she'd suspected something all along, then.

"Some of these people worked with Team Galactic willingly. Some were being blackmailed due to corruption. A full report about each individual crime committed by each member will be released shortly after this announcement. The culprits are being arrested as I speak, and new special elections will take place to replace them. As it stands, Sophie Richards cannot be Prime Minister, and an acting PM will be voted in by the Directorate in a few hours…"

So it'd just be Vernon, then. Without the opposition, there was no way Cynthia wasn't going to get what she wanted. The Directorate was going to be under her control again soon.

"When the new special elections are concluded, there will be another, final vote in the Directorate to select the Prime Minister. The League is content to share power with non-trainers, but we will not tolerate such a large security breach on our doorstep. Team Galactic is a violent, dangerous organization that has tried to infiltrate all aspects of our lives. Including the Bianchi Conglomerate, who we will be going after."

Our eyes widened. That hadn't been expected so soon, either.

"Harvey Bianchi has been placed under arrest and is being charged with conspiracy against Sinnoh's government and bribery. There were multiple people high up in the conglomerate's echelon that were in the know, and that also contributed to these crimes. They are Jenson Reid, Carmen Hughes…"

Another list of names. So many people were going down.

"As it stands, we don't believe that the Bianchi Conglomerate is capable of running itself any longer. Unfortunately, their products are vital to trainer interests in the region, so as soon as the new Prime Minister is selected, The League will push for a bill to nationalize the company and seize all of its assets."

Holy fuck.

—

The news had put all of society into an uproar, but people were finding it hard to push back against Cynthia. According to most experts, the investigations that they had revealed were thorough. Hundreds of phone message logs, voice logs, people caught on camera or on a secret microphone by League agents acting like Team Galactic members, and a few perpetrators who had confessed ahead of time to get a better deal with the League made the entire thing iron tight.

Like I had thought, Vernon Harper was back in charge, and the nationalizing bill had passed by a wide margin. The Bianchi Conglomerate was falling apart. Trainer commodities would be produced and sold by the League now, so the prices would finally go back to normal. In fact, they'd be cheaper than they had been before. Another part of Cynthia's speech had mentioned that Clarence was placed under lockdown while they investigated him further. He was still a free man, but going back to Unova wasn't an option for him anymore.

Abel had trapped him completely.

Harvey's lawyers were already arguing that he should be allowed bail, but he was deemed a flight risk, so the League wasn't going to budge. We had all tried calling Louis, but he needed some time alone, it seemed. He'd wanted to talk to his father one last time, and it looked like he had expected some kind of final confrontation, which he apparently wouldn't get. He wasn't even speaking to Maeve or Mira.

As for me? Well, I was happy enough. Just like what we had said, Harvey would no longer be a threat, and Clarence was being watched like a hawk. I could only hope that he'd made a mistake somewhere and that he'd fall too, then there'd really be nothing to worry about. Either way, it was the evening now, and Cece and I decided to finally go to that place with the piano she told me about. I had expected some kind of music-oriented establishment, but it was actually a small mall with a piano just sitting in one of the halls. Most stores were closed or closing at this point, and people were on their way out. According to Cecilia, it was a lot emptier than when she'd come here, so going at night did make sense.

I hesitantly approached the instrument and observed the polished, ivory keys. It'd always been a silly dream of mine, but I couldn't help but think that playing the piano was the coolest thing ever. When I imagined the potential—

Electabuzz slammed a hand on the keys and ruined the moment. I simply sighed, and he let out a bellowing laugh. We were using him and Slowking today. It wasn't like Cecilia had any choice in the matter anyway— Zweilous wasn't allowed to be out in most places in the city, and like Fletchinder, his ability to defend her would be limited. Scyther was just Scyther. That meant that I was going to see the water type a lot more, especially in cities.

"Two rows? That's crazy…" I muttered. I touched one of the keys, and my finger tingled as a soft, mellow sound filled the hall.

"That's certainly a lot to keep track of, but we can just use one row for now," she said.

We both sat at the piano, and Cece started teaching me the basics of the basics. Unfortunately though, we were kicked out thirty minutes later because the mall was closing, so I didn't have many opportunities to learn. At the very least, I knew what keys made what sound… baby steps.

The next day, Chase left for Solaceon. He'd wait for us there before leaving to Celestic, at the very least. My dad also left back to Jubilife that day. The Poketch Company ended up delaying my first online promotion on the forums to let the news about Cynthia's announcement die down. Right now, it'd just get lost in all the traffic.

Finally, two days after Chase, it was time to leave for Solaceon. Louis's group would stay in Hearthome for another day.