Chapter 259

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

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

"You good?" Alex asked.

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Fair enough," I muttered.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Well, here goes.

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

I inhaled, and Honey grinned.

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

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

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

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

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

This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author's work.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

His eye twitched. "Not Cynthia's?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

"You thought that Cynthia…?" I probed.

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

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

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

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

"What was that?" Alex asked.

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

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

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

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

—

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Tirtouga and Whismur," he said.

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

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

He paused, and rubbed his forehead with a hand.

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

Abel again, I inhaled. That made three.

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

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

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

"Ms. Webb…"

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

"And you want me to deal with them?"

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

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

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

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

"Alex."

He turned back at me.

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

Alex nodded. "Thank you."

—

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

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

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

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