CHAPTER 278

It had been three months since the Darkest Day had gripped Solaceon by the throat and maimed the city beyond recognition, and it was easy to see that the city hadn't recovered at all. Stores and restaurants were still boarded up, never to open again. The streets were far emptier than they'd ever been, even near the city center, because people had moved after the disaster and never come back, most choosing to settle in Hearthome or Veilstone. I had just spent the night at one of their Centers and decided to see how Solaceon had progressed since I'd left, but the lack of it left a bad taste in my mouth. That wasn't to say that there was no progress at all, however. A port was being built down south on the river mouth, which would belong to the city, and though all political positions in the city had been replaced by Cynthia loyalists, they at least looked to be competent. Now that Shiftry was dead and that no Pokemon had a hold on the city or its surroundings, massive farms were beginning to spring up around the entire place, stretching out west and north as far as the eye could see. I had heard stories about wild Pokemon fighting back at the new expansion, but these were all state-run. They might delay by ripping up some crops, but in the grand scheme of things nothing would change.

Could grass types speed up crop growth? Powerful grass types were able to make trees and plants grow in seconds… but there probably weren't enough of them for it to be a consistent method. Just like Kadabra in the Ranger Outpost, I had to remind myself that the Pokemon I encountered were a lot stronger than what was realistically feasible to train en masse.

Eventually, a powerful Pokemon— or a few— would spring up and start to etch themselves into this world, whereupon the League would be able to make a deal and stop most attacks from ever happening in the first place. I chewed my lip, clenching a fist at the same old systematic oppression taking place here that I was powerless to stop, or even slow. Inch by inch, they took it all away until Pokemon were left with nothing. Deals that lasted decades, or hundreds of years until they were no longer convenient and we encroached some more. Sensing my ire, Tangrowth rubbed a vine on my head and ruffled my hair.

"Angel— Arceus! Don't just ruin my hair," I groaned.

The grass type silently snickered as he carried me toward the old Hunter's mansion— or the Daycare, as it had been called. It still looked the exact same, though League employees and trainers filtered in and out of it. I wasn't planning on getting anywhere close, but I had just wanted to see how things were going. The League had taken over the Hunters' breeding operation here, because even if they'd been a cult, they'd actually been good at their job, and not having their Pokemon would lose the government precious species that it just couldn't get access to without them. There were a few Hunters there as well, easily recognizable by their grey eyes. They knew how to run this place better than the League, after all, and now they were actually getting paid for it.

It was somewhere on this massive plot of land, that I'd had my first battle with another person actively trying to kill me. It was a testament to how much I'd changed, that I had actually let Harry Rodriguez live back then after he'd almost killed both Princess and Sweetheart, despite my reasoning being that him rotting in jail with a permanently maimed leg had been a better price than killing him right away. His death would have been a mercy, or at least that's what I'd believed. He had probably lost his entire leg, now that I was thinking about it. It hadn't been intentional, but Harry Rodriguez deserved something that would stick with him his entire life— a reminder of what he'd done.

Still, it was this place, that had kicked it all off, wasn't it? The first time I had willingly killed a Pokemon, too. I'd been a complete mess afterward, of course, racked by nightmares of electricity surging through Crobat so loudly that it masked the poison type's screams, and hopes that I would never have to do it again. Yet, here I stood, the blood of many more on my hands, and no emotional outburst to show for it. The first time is always the hardest, Cynthia had said, and she had not lied.

"You know, I've always wondered how Shiftry did that Teleportation trick. Or even that pocket dimension one," I muttered to Tangrowth, who was more preoccupied with watching two Ponyta run across the field. "Before I came here, I had no idea dark TE could reach such heights. Shiftry might have been rusty, but he was good."

Even today, I would say the Elder would handily defeat me. I hadn't seen enough from him to actually know how close it'd be, but fighting him in a domain he'd slowly built up over a thousand years? That was a surefire way to lose. Cynthia was just so powerful she hadn't even needed more than two Pokemon to beat him.

"Gives me some ideas for Sweetheart," I continued. "No pocket dimension stuff, I feel like that'd be too hard, but Chase has his Darkfire technique. Cecilia has her special Night Slash… I can get Sweetie to figure something out, at least. What we have to work with right now is Dark Pulse, Crunch and Payback, but those are too rigid for my liking."

Angel had plenty of suggestions, though none of them would actually work. I mean, how does one even mix darkness with Surf? It was technically possible, but she couldn't even move water properly yet, let alone dark TE. It'd take months and be redundant to use, and the only reason he had suggested it was because it would be her favorite option. What that idea did give me, however, was that instead of a wide-ranging attack like Surf, I could attempt to use it with Sand Stream instead. That unfortunately brought a slew of other problems, but none that couldn't be fixed with enough practice, and unlike Surf, she actually knew how to control her Sandstorm thanks to all of the training she'd had with the move since she'd been a Larvitar and Pupitar. The main reason I had taught her Sandstorm that early had explicitly been so she could properly control Sand Stream once she evolved, and it had worked perfectly.

"You know that attack she used against us? That concentrated column of sand she threw at me and Princess? We could start with that."

The grass type absent-mindedly nodded, his attention having been caught by another Pokemon, this time a Teddiursa being carried by one of the employees at the old daycare.

"She's cute, right?" I said, patting his head. "You can't go play, though. We aren't allowed in there."

Tangrowth's vines drooped, but he didn't give up, deciding to wave at them instead. For Sweetheart, I'd need to start small, and I couldn't give her any more techniques to work on. Earthquake, Surf and now this? Any more, and either she'd get overwhelmed, or none of them would be up to par for the fight against Byron.

"Let's head out. I think we've seen enough," I said. "I need to talk to the others."

It was just as Jasmine and Craig had warned. Byron was, first and foremost, a defensive trainer, but that didn't mean he couldn't pack a punch to destroy his opponents. At this point, there weren't many Pokemon of his that were at the eighth badge level, but they had so many tricks that studying them all would take as much, if not more time, as the previous Gyms. The main issue I had was, of course, with the Pokemon on his personal team. Each presented so many issues that I would never be able to address them all, and none of them were easy to deal with.

I had only studied Magnezone and Bronzong in-depth so far.

I had started with studying Magnezone to ease myself into the correct mind space, notably because it was the Pokemon I was the most used to fighting. I'd fought that line in the Solaceon tournament, when I had trained with Mira, and against Volkner, plus I'd seen Jasmine's in action against Craig. While Byron's Magnezone's electric type attacks were somewhat weak— slightly weaker than Honey's, at the moment— that was not where the steel type had put all of its focus. Magnezone's deal was that it could make barriers that looked to be sturdier than Princess' and retaliate against attacks with Mirror Coat. Their Tri Attack was the most powerful I'd ever seen, and they could isolate each elemental beam to make it stronger— or fire more than three beams. There was the usual Lock-On issue, which meant that dodging would be possible, but excruciatingly difficult. All of that was just dressing, compared to the main way Magnezone fought.

Like Bronzong, Magnezone could mess with gravity, though thankfully, it was only with minimal effect. What that meant was that the electric type could artificially speed themself up and make moves like Gyro Ball or Wild Charge hurt way more than they would normally have, and it also made Magnezone excellent at dodging attacks when barriers weren't enough. That did not count all of the custom moves the steel type knew, however, but that would be a common theme with every Gym Leader's personal team. Like Jasmine's own, Magnezone was a master of magnetism and could explode in a burst of sharp metal, controlling it to either attack their opponents or reinforce their own defenses. The steel type could also create some kind of magnetically charged steel storm with those sharp particles. Like Jasmine's Magnezone, they could pull or push at a Pokemon's blood despite the iron contents there being minuscule, which meant that they could lock opponents in place as if they were using Psychic. Speaking of, since they could make barriers, they had minor psychic powers that could make the difference when fighting against a Pokemon without those.

All of that was just scratching the surface, though since Byron wouldn't be going all out, I'd be a fool to study the custom moves he used against people like Craig, for example.

Though I would do so anyway, just in case.

Coming at this Pokemon with any kind of electric or steel type would be a lost cause. Jellicent, Togekiss and Electivire were out of the running, which meant I'd have to lean against my other three Pokemon if I wanted to take Magnezone down. There were weaknesses to exploit, but you had to get close to do so, and that was a trial in and of itself. And for how terrifying Magnezone was, the electric type wasn't as awful as Bronzong.

Starting with the number one issue: Byron's Bronzong was a psychic type, so they were able to keep fighting type moves at bay, and they had the Heatproof ability combined with a powerful Rain Dance when needed, which meant that fire type moves would be nigh useless here, and more importantly, that Byron had a perfect counter against my new and improved lava strategy at his disposal. Luckily for me, Bronzong was also among his weakest offensively, but the steel type was annoying to face. There were the usual psychic type shenanigans, with barriers and all, but Bronzong also knew Future Sight and could see a few seconds into the future when he did use that move— it did have counters, though. Counters that didn't even involve using moves.

Gravity would stop any flying type attempting to get close by sinking them into the ground, which gave Bronzong a nigh impossible advantage to beat in the air. There was, of course, the moves I had memorized, but what made Bronzong unique was their ability to mess with portals.

This was used by Byron both offensively and defensively. Since his Bronzong was offensively weak, the psychic could open up two portals and send their opponents' attacks back against them, along with another thousand applications this insane technique had. Most notably, Bronzong had once flooded the entire field once he'd been one of two Pokemon Byron had left, opened up a massive portal on the ground and dropped all of that water down on an unsuspecting Sableye. Aubri's Sableye, even. It had been this year's Gym Battle, and she'd ended up winning, but needless to say, that had caught her off-guard.

And again, she was way stronger than me, so I expected only basic portals to be used against me if Bronzong was the Pokemon Byron chose to use. Jellicent and Tyranitar would do best against the psychic, but there was still my overarching strategy to keep in mind. I really needed to watch my switches for this one. The last thing I wanted was to get trapped like I'd been against Wake with no swaps left and against an opponent more powerful than we were.

I'd need to study Excadrill and Skarmory next…

"You remembered," I smiled as Angel reached the little clearing they used to train at for the tournament. This place held many good memories for me, despite everything that had gone on a few days later. It was there, that Sunshine started to truly get close with us. Hell, it was here that I started calling him Sunshine with his permission.

Angel dropped me on the grass, where I released my entire team in front of me. He quickly waddled on next to them, squeezing in between Honey and Sweetheart and then turning toward me. The rock type recognized the place and would have started looking for flowers, had I not clapped my hands to get her attention.

"Listen up, everyone. We're heading back to the Lost Tower today, as we planned," I declared.

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I stayed silent for a few moments, letting the words sink in and watching the reactions. A nervous tail lash from Honey nearly hit Princess, who groaned in annoyance and hovered a little higher in the air. He had been in the heat of the fighting, back then, and he wasn't looking forward to going in there again.

"The tower looks relatively small from the outside, but remember, it's actually huge from the inside, and each floor grows bigger as you ascend," I explained. They hadn't all been released, when we had fought in the tower. "Supposedly, their old master is buried on the top floor, but that's not where we plan on going anyway."

"It coming to a fight isn't guaranteed," I continued. "But we have to plan for if it does. When we left, Ruth and Mathilda were in… bad spirits, and they essentially told me to never come back. Not only am I coming back, but I'm planning on asking how to kill a ghost permanently. That's as good as asking to kill them."

They were all taking this seriously, now, thank the Legendaries. I discreetly nodded to Buddy, thanking him for reigning in Sweetheart during all of this. She was far too excited to get in her first real fight to pay much attention.

"When dealing with someone, you have to know their goal— what drives them. Once you understand that, you can be in a better position to negotiate. So step one it to understand their motivation."

Negotiate, or manipulate, I thought to myself. Though manipulating beings that were over a thousand years old was a bit out of my wheelhouse.

"When we first came there, Ruth attacked us, but her true goal is actually to leave the tower. She doesn't want to bring humans past the first floor and never goes down there like Mathilda does, because it's like a cruel joke to her— seeing people come and go, and potentially talking to them would be a taste of the outside. A taste of something she's never had and never will. Freedom. Mathilda defended us, and even though she wanted to keep to her directive to protect the tower, she didn't mind humans coming in to chat, because it makes her time easier. Those are their motivations and goals. Depending on what's been going on since we left, Ruth might attack us again."

Runerigus and Sinistea. I had no idea how powerful they were compared to me now, and they'd mostly used simple attacks when fighting each other, but I was going in with the assumption that they could both beat my entire team on their own, since their attacks had been comparable to mine today, and they'd been holding back in order not to damage the grave. If push came to shove and they stopped holding back, then I had no chance. They were more than a thousand years old, after all, and so, I'd need to negotiate and placate instead of fight. If Mathilda could defend me from Ruth again…

"Either way, if it comes to a fight and we're outclassed, we're leaving," I said. "Buddy, you're going to stick close. Use your Night Shades to fight, but keep me protected. Honey, you're the same. Unfortunately, Runerigus is a ground type and a true ghost, so you're better off staying on the defensive."

Both Pokemon stared at each other, then anxiously nodded. There was a tint of disappointment in Electivire's eyes, but Runerigus was a really bad matchup for him in general.

"Angel, how's your Knock Off?" I asked with a grin.

His vines darkened, then cracked like a dull whip against the ground, leaving only a thick gash in the dirt. I had known the answer, of course, but it'd do him some good to show off once in a while.

"There won't be that many nutrients or sunlight to use in the tower for grass type moves, but Knock Off will be your main tool anyway. Try to destroy any incoming ghost type attacks with it," I said. It wasn't like he wouldn't be able to use grass type moves, but they'd be slower to come by, and speed was everything in battles like these.

I paused. "Sunshine… don't burn down the entire place. Let's respect the dead, shall we?"

The dragon rolled his eyes, but ended up agreeing with a grunt, all while sassing me in the process.

"Of course, that's only unless we're left with no other choice," I added. "Could serve as a distraction, with how much they care about the graves. If they don't want to talk, I ask to leave and they don't let me… well, you'll have free reign."

That seemed to please him much more. It wasn't often, that Sunshine got to let loose.

"Princess, unless Sunshine starts burning down entire floors and you need to keep me protected from the heat, you're on offense today," I said. "No Moonblast, that's too destructive. Anything else is fair game. I don't think stabbing ghosts will work, though, so you're going to be using blunt force instead. If we're fighting Runerigus, focus on the ice beam from Tri Attack, too."

The fairy type let out a disappointed chirp, but she knew I was right. Better throw a massive boulder at a Runerigus than a spear.

"Sweetheart, you're focusing on Dark Pulse. We've trained enough, now, so it shouldn't be a problem. Mix it in with Stone Edge or Payback if you get attacked from up close," I said. "No Sandstorm, though. It won't do anything but hurt us."

Her affirming growl made my bones vibrate, but I'd grown used to that by now. I decided to let them fool around a bit while I decided on my plan to convince them to shirk over this information. I knew they'd instantly answer no when I asked the question about killing true ghosts, but I had my empathy at my disposal, now. If I delved deep enough, I would be able to tell if they lied. This was a line crossed— and a line that needed to be crossed. Mars never carried Dusknoir's Pokeball around, so he wouldn't be able to be trapped in there, and he was so powerful I wasn't confident on being able to kill him over and over. It only took one mistake, and he'd slip away and start killing innocents again— because Dusknoir was as wrong as Mars was. They were linked, in some way, and she could understand whatever the ghost said. The only way we had to contain him was this. Since I'd be able to tell if they lied, just confirming that it was possible would be a step in the right direction. Too many lives were at stake to have second thoughts, here. Even if Dusknoir was far too powerful for me to take down, this would be crucial information for the League.

It wasn't like they could beat it out of the ghosts. They wouldn't care if they died, since they'd come back a few days later anyway. However, I was the most powerful empath on the planet, and in a unique position to do this. But if people like Fantina didn't know while having so many ghosts on her team, was I in over my head? Was there really no way?

My eyes glanced at my team, and I had to yell at Sweetheart and Honey to stop trying to rip up trees as some sort of competition. Legendaries, they were going to be the death of me. At least this was a sign that they'd gotten used to this, by now, save for my favorite ghost. I beckoned Buddy over, who lazily floated in front of me.

"You see, I was thinking of waiting on the first floor until Mathilda comes to get us?" I told him. "Then we chat with her— while remaining on the first floor. It should be safe, down there. Maybe we could avoid the fight that way, since trainers are allowed in the foyer."

The ghost watched me, his two crimson eyes glowing slightly brighter.

"Here's the problem, though," I sighed. "You know it as well as I do, don't you? That Mathilda's holding Ruth hostage."

Buddy hummed, saying that it did not matter, so long as Mathilda was more friendly to us.

"It does matter. Because Ruth is willing to break the rules, in the end. The problem is that Mathilda won't let her. Mathilda just wants to bend the rules, not break them. And if we still don't know about killing ghosts, and I figure out that they're lying, then it must be an intrinsic rule of some kind— a rule that Ruth's more likely to ignore— otherwise Fantina's ghosts would have told her a long time ago."

Or any ghost type specialist, for that matter. Though maybe some people knew, but the knowledge had never made it into the hands of any government. Jellicent's eyes dimmed, and he enunciated my thoughts. That if what I was saying was correct, he believed we would have to cooperate with Ruth instead of Mathilda to make this work.

"Yes. And she's stronger, despite being a Sinistea," I said, recalling their battle. "And since there are two of them, there's no way I'd even be able to nudge them into telling me the truth willingly."

Not only was I not experienced enough with my empathy anyway, but Mesprit had told me that unlike Cecilia and Chase, getting someone to do what I want would take hours, or even days. I assumed that for ghosts, it would be days, with how alien their emotions were. Days I did not have, mostly because they'd try to kill me the entire time since there was no way I'd be subtle enough to make it work.

Oh well, Aliyah would have been disappointed anyway.

Or would she? If it was to free thousands of souls permanently being tortured— and doomed to do so until the end of time— then was it wrong to forcefully manipulate someone who was potentially keeping the key to that knowledge under seal? I honestly couldn't bring myself to think so. There was a lot of good, that I could do with this gift, and I believed this to have been one of these moments. Unfortunately for me, though, it just wouldn't work.

"So we'll have to go to the second floor," I said. "Convince Ruth to switch sides, on the condition that we help her get her freedom. I don't think she's truly bound to the tower, just that Mathilda killed her so many times that she's given up leaving."

If we could team up with Ruth, then victory would be possible. Hopefully, I'd be able to get her to tell me how to kill Dusknoir, too.

"You nervous?" I asked Jellicent.

He nodded, asking how he could not be. We were getting into far too many fights for his liking.

"It'll be over soon," I smiled. "Think about it. This summer, with only the Conference in front of us. Then, a brand new region to travel in, without any of this Team Galactic bullshit. Doesn't that sound awesome? You'd know Undella has amazing beaches, if you listened to Cecilia sometimes."

He could not smile, but I knew he liked the idea. I caressed his cheek, leaning on the tree I was sitting against, and bided my time.

—

The Lost Tower sat in a large, artificial hole that had been dug over a thousand years ago. It had been built like an obelisk, narrowing the higher it went despite the opposite being true for the inside of the tower. The exterior of the tower bore the marks of time, its pale stone worn by the elements, yet it retained a solemn beauty despite the design being so simple. Ascending floors were marked by tall, narrow windows, but no glimpses into the heart of the structure were allowed. Instead, each window only led to pitch-black darkness with wisps of a sickly purple. A wide set of pale stairs led down toward the tower's entrance, which Princess flew over. The Lost Tower's surroundings were devoid of any vegetation, as if it wasn't allowed to grow near such a place. There wasn't even a single weed to be seen through the cracks in the stairs or the stony ground at its base. Princess landed near the tower, and I released the rest of the team around me, letting the comfortable hiss of the Pokeballs calm my nerves.

The entrance to the Lost Tower beckoned like a portal to another realm, a threshold between the tangible world and the horrors and tragedies that lay within, obscured by a darkness that was too thick to be natural. Twin pillars, hewn from the same weathered stone as the tower itself, stood guard on either side of the wide entryway. There were no carvings to be seen on it. It was just plain stone, and yet it brimmed with power. The temperature here reminded me of how it had felt earlier in the year, and Angel grabbed a hoodie from my backpack so I could put on another layer. Even so, I could see my breath, and my fingers shivered.

"Let's head in," I declared.

I stood at the enter of my team, and we stepped one in at a time. The inside of the tower was lit by pale blue torches that burned with no fuel, perpetually shifting places every time I stopped paying attention to them. Hundreds of graves were strewn throughout the floor. People taken with tragic deaths, all buried here so ghosts could form faster. Even so, this tower only birthed a single ghost every few decades, according to Mathilda. I stopped myself from reading the inscription on the graves and continued forward. There were many ghosts around us, all out of this plane and invisible to the naked eye. Thankfully, we had four people capable of sensing them, including me. I was not focusing on such small, flickering flames of dull hatred, though. The world came alive as I opened my eyes—

Ah. She wasn't even trying to hide. She floated down the stairwell far in front of us and then slowly approached.

"Incoming," I said, inhaling sharply.

My entire team tensed, the temperature rising slightly as Sunshine flexed. It was difficult to tell if this was Ruth or Mathilda, but considering she hadn't attacked me right away and Ruth never came to the first floor, I guessed Mathilda. She came into view soon enough, exposing her wrinkled face and skin. She still wore the same clothes: faded purple and white robes, with thick, circular spectacles. Her cane rasped against the ground as she approached with a sickly smile. I knew it was Mathilda once I saw the teacup she held in her other hand.

"Young Grace," she spoke with a quivering voice. Legendaries, that accent was thick. Not from the East, nor the West, but from the past. I needed to hang onto her every word to understand, but luckily, she spoke as slowly as she did back when I'd first met her. "I will admit, I did not expect to see you again. What a wonderful day this has turned out to be."

Her emotions reminded me of Aliyah, but flatter. As a ghost, she had mastered all hatred, and now there was only duty. Duty to her old trainer, duty to keep this tower protected. Mathilda's eyes glanced at each of my Pokemon, as if she was assessing their strength and growth.

"Overseer," I said, dipping my head. "Pardon the intrusion. This is an urgent matter that I couldn't delay."

"Please. Call me Mathilda, like always," she smiled, a purple smoke rising from her tea. "There is a question on your mind. I see it as clear as the night."

"There is indeed. And before I ask it, I have to say, I mean you no harm, nor disrespect when asking this," I said. "Really, I appreciate that you saved me and my friends the first time we wandered in here."

"But?" she probed. Still calm, good.

"One of my current enemies owns a Dusknoir," I said. I saw Mathilda's sunken eyes narrow at that, but I continued. "If she gets her way, there will be more destruction than the world has ever seen," I said in half-truth. "This entire tower will vanish, just like that," I snapped my fingers, "You will have no more purpose."

Push by using what she cares about, I thought to myself. A layer of calm anger wrapped itself around her.

"Now, we could kill him, but he'll just come back a few days later," I rambled, leaning heavily against my crutch. "I know our moralities don't exactly align here, but he's already swallowed thousands of souls, which he's perpetually subjecting to torture. Part of me thinks those souls will be freed," I exhaled, "if there is a way to permanently put Dusknoir down."

There it was. I braced myself for an outburst or an attack, but narrowed my eyes to delve deep. Deeper than I ever had. Past a hundred layers of emotion and into the truth of Mathilda's non-existent heart. The essence of her very being.

"I would help you if I could, child," the Overseer shook her head. "But there is no way. A ghost can ebb, but never truly perish. The Dusk returns all."

The statement hadn't been any different than her other ones. Her emotions had not wavered. Her face hadn't twitched, her eyes had not shifted, and her voice had stayed still.

And yet, there had been a slight sense of disorder. Like a piece of the puzzle she was made of that no longer fit. A slight shift in the colors that felt unnatural to me.

That had been a lie, and I knew it in my bones that I was the only mortal being on this planet that would have been able to tell.