“So Seedot will remain with the Nurse then?”
“Looks that way.”
It had just reached noon as Quinn and Sirius walked their way through the city proper once more in relative silence, the two unable to really break the ice. Oh they tried, but it usually ended in awkward silences and pauses, neither really knowing what to say. Sirius supposed it was because it was difficult to forget they were at each other’s throats at one point, or rather, he had jumped them and put them in a helpless position.
A silent sigh escaped his lips, “Pran would’ve broken the ice.”
Quinn was…interesting. He cared for his Pokémon, that much was clear, and cared an awful lot about Leland. Sirius supposed that much would be obvious, not everything was black and white, but it was still strange to him as a person, knowing that at one point, the man walking beside him was an 8-bit bunch of pixels on his screen.
“Hold on…” Quinn said, holding an arm out to stop him, causing Sirius to instantly snap up in alert. Hazel eyes scanned the street surrounding the two men, nothing of note in the immediate area…so what?
The answer came from smoke billowing out up in the distance. No sirens were heard however, whatever danger was there had either already passed or was just recent. The two bolted down the street anyways, unwilling to take any chances.
Quinn let out a sharp hiss as they arrived, the club - what Sirius thought was a club, was in near tatters. The sign up front front was destroyed, reading out “Dgon’s Hor” instead of its original name. Glass lay scattered everywhere, and a perimeter had been set up alongside some police tape. People milled about, some staring at the destruction in idle curiosity, but none stayed for too long, the damage already been done.
A single officer stood at attention, not Jenny, which was a bit of a let down, but the man in her place stood at attention and remained alert. That was good, the Police force was at least somewhat competent in their work. Smoke still billowed out from the upper windows, but nobody seemed to be alarmed at the fact - also a good sign.
“Officer.” Quinn said, trying to avoid the fact he was out of breath. “What happened?”
“Sir.” The officer said, nodding in respect to Quinn, then him, odd. “We received reports of hostile trainers, and a Pokémon battle in an unauthorized area near the casino.”
“Casualties?”
“Some injured, none dead, thankfully. We believe it was just a distraction.”
Quinn let out a breath of relief, “We’ll be heading inside Officer, thank you for your work.”
The man nodded, and Quinn motioned for Sirius to follow. They stepped underneath the red tape, boots crunching among the loose gravel and glass that still remained, before heading inside.
The interior was…
“Arceus," Quinn cursed, "it’s like a Gyrados went rampage in here.”
Yea, that.
Tables strewn about everywhere, glass - again - kept in small piles to prevent people from cutting themselves too much, scorch marks of all shapes and sizes scarred the interior walls, turning what was probably once a bustling casino into a burned nightmare.
Among the disgruntled employees milling about, there was really only one who seemed to be in charge - the bartender - of all people, idly cleaning a glass as he spoke in low tones to a waiter. He noticed them, shooing the man off before sliding into a business-like smile.
“Well, well! If it isn't my favorite Space fanatic!”
“Oz…” Quinn mumbled, “The hell happened here?”
“What happened was your boys didn’t show up.”
There was a look on the man's face, Sirius knew it well. It was when Pran wanted to hurt somebody but knew he couldn’t beat them physically. He’d guilt you, place blame, show off all your faults, before insulting you. It…had gotten him into a fair share of fights.
And it looked like whatever this “Oz” was doing had the same desired effect, Quinn didn’t show it outright but his shoulders stiffened for just a second, barely noticeable, but he was certain the man had noticed.
“I’m sorry Oz, things got out of hand last night.” Quinn frowned, glancing at Sirius.
“Yea.” The bartender scoffed, “No shit.”
Oh. That was probably cause’ of him and Pran, wasn’t it?
“We’ll pay for repairs, you know that right? We do our people right.”
“You were also supposed to provide protection, wonder where that went.”
Quinn sighed, “Oz, just tell us what happened and I’ll get you whatever you need.”
“Alright, alright.” He replied, chuckling a little bit, before letting his façade drop to a more serious one. “Happened right after you dealt with the Chronos fella. 2 guys came wandering in, claiming they were there for the Finchley’s Pokemon. Dunno if they were Chronos or not, they came dressed in fancy robes, the ones the Johtos usually wear. Told them they could fuck right off, knew the Pokémon were yours by right. Things escalated fast.”
“Did they get away?”
Os spread his arms wide, gesturing to the ransacked room, “What do you think, dipshit?”
Sirius snorted.
Quinn shot the two glares. “Work with me Oz, help me catch these bastards, what colours did they wear? What Pokémon?” A pause, “What class?”
Class? That was new
“Right right, my bad. Robes were mostly blues, but there was some gold and red weaved in there. If they are the Johto types, I’m guessing the gold and red represent the clan, the blue for whom they serve.”
Oz sighed, running a hand through his hair, “As for Pokémon? I’m thinking upper class 3.”
“Shit.” Quinn hissed.
“Yea, shit. My guys got lower class 2 at best, this wasn’t a fight, Quinn. It was a slaughter. A slaughter your guys promised to handle if things went south.”
What the fuck? What was “Upper class 3?”, was that good? Could he ask now? No, he’d ask later, when they were away.
“Where’d they go? When?” Quinn was flustered now, his usual calm fading away as the situation began to dawn on him.
Stolen story; please report.
“Overheard they were heading back to Hearthome. They got a whole 12 hours over you, dunno if you’ll make it.”
“Any fliers?”
“Na, just powerhouses.”
“Let’s go!” Quinn shouted, bolting out the door, Sirius nodded once to the bartender, before dashing after the man. Sirius quietly grumbled to himself.
At least Pran was probably having a better time.
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Flying was a more painful ordeal than Sirius realized. He imagined it’d be nicer in the soft feathers of a Staraptor or some other big bird, but no. Quinn had instead sent out a Golbat, and had the bat thing grab their forearms before taking off suddenly.
It was faster for sure, but they couldn’t go too fast, else physics would have them dangling backwards like a couple of human streamers as Golbat zoomed through the air. They couldn’t stay in the air too long either, being held up by one arm made blood circulation a little iffy, causing him to lose feeling if they went on for longer than 5 minutes. So they flew as far they comfortably could, touched down, ran a while, then went back up in the air again.
This was one of their air times, now reaching about 3 minutes as semi-dense wildlife streamed by them. They’d been at it for about an hour already, and had made surprisingly good distance. Being in the air, especially in Sinnoh weather, did wonders for cooling him down before his next run. Sirius was pleasantly surprised at Quinn being able to keep up the chase for so long, though he supposed he shouldn’t have been, the Trainer life was definitely one that demanded endurance.
“So,” He said, breaking the usual silence between them, “What did he mean by ‘Upper Class 3?’”
“It’s how we measure Pokémon strength levels, it’s pretty basic once you understand it.”
That was something Sirius respected about Quinn. If he was confused about something Quinn would explain it, no strings attached. Unlike a certain younger brother of his who sometimes deemed it necessary to add an extra layer of extra sarcasm.
“Classes go from one through ten.” Quinn explained, “You can usually get approximate readings from certain machines, or if your Pokémon knows certain moves it usually unlocks at a certain class level. Classes go from point 0 to point 9.”
“Ok, Class level 3 doesn’t sound so bad then.” Sirius said, “What was the big fuss?”
“Upper class 3.” His companion stressed, “Not just class 3.”
“What’s the difference?”
“There’s a massive jump in power from one class to another. Especially in the earlier classes where Pokémon begin to grow into their abilities. Most civillians have Pokémon in lower to middle class 1, the gym trainers from class 2 to 5. Boss Cyrus is probably the only one alongside the Champion to have Class 6 Pokémon. Even then it’s lower class 6. I could probably count all those with higher classes on one hand.”
Interesting, so it was basically levels then. But wouldn’t that mean they could just battle each other until they levelled up? Maybe it worked differently here. He asked anyway.
“It’s not so simple. They don’t improve unless it’s a fight they’re giving it their all for. And for class 6, it’s basically impossible to do so without destroying the land around you. Nobody really wants to try that. Hold on, time to land.”
Golbat descended upon a clear path, releasing the two as they immediately broke into runs. Arun’s legs began to burn as he moved through foliage, running through uneven ground was a hundred times more taxing than running through flat concrete. The boots surprisingly helped, automatically cushioning and adjusting his feet position to the curves of the ground through the use of technology.
They pushed past forest and hills, darting through the trees with incredible agility, Sirius letting Quinn take the lead so he wouldn’t fall over surprise burrows or roots. The goal wasn’t to simply catch up to them, no. Quinn needed to defeat them, that meant setting up ambushes, taking out their Pokémon early, or at best, taking them out before they could even draw their Pokémon.
“Hill’s coming up.” Quinn called, “Get ready for another flight.”
Sirius grunted, shaking his arm a bit as he ran to get the blood flowing a little more. Their running intervals were beginning to decrease, which meant Quinn was beginning to get desperate. He pushed himself forward, running side by side with the other Grunt, the two bursting from the foliage cresting a steep hill.
Quinn leapt forward, shooting an arm into the air as his Golbat sped forward and caught him, snarling as it realized Sirius had not done the same. To be fair, leaping off a steep hill with a guy you jumped the other day wasn’t exactly common sense. He stopped just at the crest of the hill, watching stray gravel and dirt tumble into the gentle river below. Raising an arm he felt himself lifted off the ground, not before hearing the annoyed "Tch." coming from Quinn.
“How far could they have gone?” Sirius asked.
“I’m not sure. 12 hours is a long time, I don’t know if they have any mounts.”
“How far is Hearthome from Veilstone?”
“A week’s journey at the most.”
“A week?”
“4 days if they take the regular roads.”
“So why the hell are we so desperate to catch them now?”
“They could have reinforcements ready once they’re far enough away. If they do…” Quinn trailed, giving Sirius a quick glance, “I don’t think I’ll be enough.”
Sirius cursed quietly, it was a good point, “So what’s the plan when we reach them then?”
“I’m taking us to a spot where I know they’ll have to pass. When they reach there, I attack.”
“Attack how?”
“Surprise attack on their Pokémon, or the trainer.”
“That’s a terrible plan.”
“It’ll have to work.”
“No.”
Quinn turned, giving Sirius a frown, “Then what do you suggest?”
“Once we spot them, we wait and watch until we have a good moment, like when they’re resting or camping. Then we can plan our assault.”
“And if they reach reinforcements?”
“We message base, tell them what’s up and continue to follow.”
Quinn contemplated for a little bit, his left eye twitching as he scanned the area below.
“It’s how we dealt with you guys.” Sirius added, hoping the evidence would help him out.
The agent scowled, but after a while gave him a stiff nod. “Alright, we’ll follow. But if we get caught, you’re running. Don’t try anything stupid, not with class 3’s.”
“I’ll let you handle the Pokémon.” Sirius agreed, “Think I’ve had enough near-death experiences for the week.”
—------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The spot was a good one, Sirius approved. They were within a small valley, the forest rising into two steep cliffs that surrounded a roadway. Maybe once there was a river that cut through the valley, though now it was simply well-trodden dirt, built by generations of trainer and Pokémon alike crossing through. It was up on one of the cliffs the two sat themselves on, Golbat having flown them up into position before being returned. The only issue, Sirius thought, was their uniforms. White and grey tended to stand out in a forest of greens and browns.
“Here.” said Quinn, reaching out and touching the ‘G’ on his chest. Much to his surprise there was an audible click as it was pressed into the uniform. Like a rotary phone, he shifted it twice over to the right, before pressing it back into place. The uniform shimmered, then shifted, going from white and grey to a mottled brown and green.
“Huh, cool.” Sirius said, and he meant it.
“There’s a reason we’re Sinnoh’s technology leaders.” Quinn said, sitting down on an open rock, doing the same to his own uniform, “Though, half the stuff we make is usually just for us.”
“Winton was talking about how Sinnoh didn’t really enjoy new technology all too much.”
Quinn scoffed, “That’s an understatement. It’s like they’re scared of innovation.”
They drifted off into silence once more, and Sirius lost himself to the sounds of the wild. Different Pokémon calling out to each other in the distance, the whisper of the trees as the wind washed through the branches. "When Pran and I are out from Galactic," Sirius thought, as a flock of Starly's flew above their heads, "This'll definitely be something I could get used to."
Huh, the old trainers must’ve had the time of their lives exploring the wilds themselves. And as 10 year old's too…damn it would’ve been an experience. Wait, did the trainers in the game exist here?
“Hey, you know how each region has a champion?” He asked.
“What about it?”
“Who was Kanto’s champion?”
Quinn’s gaze became hard as steel, as if remembering something unpleasant. “As of now, an older man named Blue. He’s one of two trainers with class 9 Pokémon.”
“Before him?”
“Red.” The way Quinn whispered his name…it was as if he was speaking about a god, or the devil. “He’s the only one known to have class 10 Pokémon. And that was at only 12 years old. He became Champion at 10.”
“You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
“It was.” Quinn whispered, rubbing his eyes. “I remember he had the whole world in his grasp. Not by any fault of his own. The elite 4…and perhaps the professor as well, they turned him into a weapon against the world. It’s when the league really began expanding its influence. I remember when they landed on Sinnoh, forcing their laws onto us. The old champion…the one before Cynthia. Arceus, it was a one sided bloodbath. We worshipped him, he protected Sinnoh, he was our shield, our hero.”
Quinn grew silent for a moment, staring off into space. “They fought atop Mount Coronet. The shockwaves could be felt all across the region. Every network broadcasted the fight, every single one showed just how powerful that boy could be.”
“What happened?”
“All 6 of Champion Kamu’s Pokémon, wiped out. And not a single Pokémon defeated on Red’s side. The whole time, the Elite 4 stood by the boy, whispering into his ear.” Quinn began to shake with rage, and Sirius couldn’t help but be surprised. Was this a sort of national pride thing? They must have really loved this ‘Kamu’ figure.
“They made him an example.” hissed Quinn, “A warning to the other regions who dared show defiance against this new ‘League.’ Threw our hero off the mountain while he burned, screaming all the way.”
Stunned, serious looked at his companion in shock. Red killed? Sure, apparently he was influenced, but still, he killed the old champion? “What happened to him - Red - after?” He asked quietly.
“After the other regions fell in line, we were kept under Kanto control for another 6 years. Once Red turned 18, he sort of just…disappeared. Supposedly the new Kanto champion knows, but he’s keeping his mouth shut."
“Is that why everybody in Sinnoh talks about the League like they’re the plague?”
Quinn snorted, “Yea, and why Sinnoh needs Galactic. After Kamu fell…we were the ones who fought back. Undermined the league every step of the way, showed them just how welcome they were. Even the Gym leaders fought under our banner. I was young back then, too young to understand what was really going on, but those were good times. A united Sinnoh.” He sighed, running a hand through his ‘hair’ “It’s all different now.”
They lapsed into silence, Sirius stared back out onto the trail. He was glad they did, he needed time to process the information. Galactic members were…heroes? Antiheroes? What changed? Would the Gym leaders rally under Galactic again if they called? No…that couldn’t be. But they also probably wouldn’t stand against them unless they knew what they were really up to. If what Quinn said was true, he’d have to see the battle between Red and Kamu himself, to at least get a better understanding of what elite-level battling looked like.
That would have to be for another day though, as right now, 4 figures, draped in blue robes and gold/red trimmings made their way through the valley. Their heads covered by reed hats that obscured their faces.
He looked at Quinn, who looked back at him. They nodded to each other.
Time to get to work.