“You want to trust us?” Lindon said with a confused tilt of his head.

Gym Leader Kev nodded, leaning back in his noisy chair and drumming his fingers on his bare desk.

“Elise asked me if I could hurry you along,” Kev said. He looked uncomfortable, but Cashe couldn’t put a reason as to why, “Apparently you are in some sort of rush.”

“We are in a rush,” Lindon said, “We need to get to Tapu Village, fast.”

“Yes, Elise said something along those lines,” Kev said with a hesitant frown. He crossed his arms over his broad chest and took a deep breath, almost a sigh.

“What’s the problem?” Emilia said, “You don’t want to be owed a favor from a Champion?”

“No, the problem is I also need someone to go to Tapu Village,” Kev said.

“How is that a problem?” Lindon said, leaning forward in his chair, “We can go for you once we challenge the gym!”

“One of my trainers may be missing. He was visiting Tapu Village to search for a new pokemon, and I haven’t heard from him,” Kev said, talking around the question, “I contacted someone I know in the village and they said he passed through. The problem is that he isn’t responding to our efforts to contact him. He is a capable Third Circuit trainer, but also a bit of an airhead, so he could simply be missing the messages, or have broken his pokedex.” Kev frowned, “But it could also be he came across a dangerous pokemon, or something else entirely. If there is a dangerous pokemon on the route, I’m closing it off, no questions asked. Only trainers with permission to visit dangerous areas will be allowed to pass through.”

Lindon blanched. That was the worst case scenario for him. The catching specialists would be allowed through, but their group would not be. The chances of Lindon finding his Vulpix were looking slim, at best.

“We’ve dealt with dangerous pokemon in the past,” Emilia said, “All three of us. It’s how we met Lindon. A Golduck was missed by the Rangers in Kanto and terrorizing a small town outside of Vermillion City. We took it down. It was all over the news.”

“Yeah! The mayor thanked us and everything!” Lindon said, “We can definitely go to Tapu Village and look for your trainer!”

“Hmm,” Kev leaned back in his chair, arms still crossed, scrutinizing the three trainers in front of him, “I said I wanted to trust you with this, and I do. Am I correct in assuming that you plan on completing this gym challenge before moving on to Tapu Village?”

“That’s the plan,” Cashe said, “We want to get moving as soon as possible, but not at the expense of falling behind on the circuit. We had an accident on Melemele Island the delayed us a couple of weeks,” Cashe held up his arm, still encased in a thick cast, “We aren’t behind schedule, but we will be if we don’t hurry though your gym.”

Kev snorted, “I will try not to be insulted by your disregard for my trainers. Fine. I will schedule all three of you to battle next Monday.” He typed a few things onto his laptop, “That should be long enough for you to prepare.”

“That’s five days away!” Lindon complained.

“There’s nothing sooner,” Kev said, staring down at Lindon, “This is a major city, young man. You’re lucky I can get you a spot in under a week at all.”

Lindon looked like he wanted to protest further, but Emilia placed a hand on his shoulder, “That’s fine,” she said, “We need the time to prepare, anyway. Thank you for giving us priority.”

Gym Leader Kev nodded and a knock came from the office door, “Come in!” He said. Cashe, Emilia, and Lindon turned as one to face the door as it opened.

In walked three young trainers. The first was a teenage girl, maybe a year older than Lindon at most. She had a pretty face and a dark complexion that matched the gym leader perfectly, and wore the same friendly smile as Kev did when he welcomed them to his gym. Her thick, curly hair was tied back in a frizzy ponytail. Kev’s daughter, if Cashe were to guess.

The next trainer was a young woman around Emilia’s age. She also had dark skin, but the deep tan of a local instead of the midnight black of Kev and his daughter. Her hair was cut in a short bob and she had a stern expression on her face as she observed Cashe, Lindon, and Emilia.

Finally, there was an older man. He was the most relaxed of the three and looked like he should be in his retirement. His gray hair was thinning and he had the build of a country club golfer rather than a trainer. All three were wearing the tight jumpsuits of gym trainers, the gym’s colors of red and black on display.

“These are the three best Third Circuit trainers in my gym, since Wynn is missing. Sorry, Hershel,” Kev said as they crowded into the small office.

“I have no illusions about my standing,” Herschel, the older man, laughed.

“These are the people we have to beat?” The stern woman scowled at them, her eyes hovering on Emilia, “You should just send me now and save me the time.”

“Be patient, Tara. You know how Wynn is. He might not even be missing.” Kev said.

“He always checks in,” Tara argued.

Kev’s daughter nodded, “You should just send us now.”

Kev gave his three trainers a sharp look that stopped all arguments and turned back to face Cashe.

Cashe eyed the gym leader. “Why are they here?”

“They will be your opponents on Monday,” Kev said, nodding to Cashe, “You will face my daughter, Zill. Zill has five pokemon, so be ready.”

Zill blinked and turned to face Cashe. She hadn’t been paying him any attention. She was focusing on Lindon, clearly under the impression that she would be facing him come Monday.

“Tara, you will face off against Emilia, and Lindon will battle Hershel. Lindon, Herschel has four pokemon.”

“Why are you telling us this?” Emilia said. She was eying up her opponent and didn’t look overly worried.

“Because they will not be battling before Monday,” Kev said, “And I like a fair playing field.”

“Then why not set the rules so we are even on pokemon?” Cashe said, “You can do that, correct?”

“Six versus six, single battles, are the standard for circuit competition,” Kev said, “The only thing stopping you from showing up with six fully trained pokemon is time.”

“But why have that as an option at all?” Cashe said.

“To give circuit trainers a chance,” Kev said with a wide smile.

***

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“I don’t care what Kev says, I’m going to beat Hershel with only three pokemon!” Lindon declared, marching out of the gym. The sun was setting, and the city was dark from the long shadows of the tall buildings falling over it. A soft breeze was rising up from the sea, bringing cool air with it, leaving the entire city chilled. Still, people moved through it, returning home after a long day of work.

Cashe and Emilia followed Lindon into the streets of people, trailing after him as he searched for a trainer residence where they could stay.

“I think you should heed the warning,” Emilia said, “I don’t think he would make a point of telling you if he didn’t think it was important. He seemed like a serious man.”

“More like impressive,” Cashe said, “I can’t be the only one who noticed what he was doing there.”

“What was he doing?” Lindon spun around, waiting for Cashe and Emilia to catch up.

“He was using his favor to my sister for his benefit, in more ways than one.” Emilia said, nodding at Cashe, “He had engineered a situation where he came out on top, no matter what.”

“He’s using us?” Lindon said, frowning, “I thought he was nice to give us the chance.”

“Sort of,” Cashe said, “He’s using us to test for his own trainers. And they have extra incentive not to lose. It sounded like they wanted to go find this Wynn guy as well.”

“But if we win, they don’t?” Lindon said, “That’s not very fair.”

“That was the implication,” Emilia said.

“But if we lose, he didn’t tell us we couldn't use the route.” Lindon said.

“He didn’t need to,” Cashe said, “We told him we weren’t leaving until we beat the gym. He doesn’t need to bar us from using the route if we aren’t leaving anyway. But it sounded like he was barring it anyway, so it's more like we won’t get permission to use the route without beating the trainers.”

“And if we win, he gets an excuse to deny his gym trainers and whip them into shape,” Emilia said, “Did you see the look he gave his daughter when she said he should just let them go? He clearly didn’t want to put her in a potentially dangerous situation before she was ready.”

“She was pretty,” Lindon said absently as they walked through the streets, approaching a large building with a sign out from advertising it as a trainer residence.

“Forgetting Dalia already, are we?” Cashe said.

Lindon flushed, “I don’t know what you mean.”

“Uh-huh,” Emilia said, rolling her eyes, “Boys are all the same. Kev probably won’t let you within five hundred feet of his daughter once he finds out what you’re up to.” Emilia said, grinning, “It’s his role as a mentor or protector or whatever he was going on about.”

“Mentor is for sure why he’s testing his trainers against us,” Cashe mused, “And his role as a gatekeeper is why he’s making us face his best trainers. On one hand he gets his trainers to work harder, on the other he gets to show how strong his gym is.”

“And he will still be able to call in that favor from my sister, either way,” Emilia pointed out, “Since he is still giving us the advanced time slot.”

“What was it he said about gym leaders? There is more to the job than battling and handing out badges.” Cashe was beginning to see that, and he had a feeling that Kev was very good at his job.

***

“You didn’t bring any equipment,” Holston said as Daryl and Connie stepped into his shop the next day. He was wearing a tidy shirt again, but had dropped the vest and pocket watch in place of a large tool belt that was strapped to his waist. The shop was just as cluttered as it had been the previous day, but with different things. It looked like Holston and Son did good business.

“We didn’t think we would need it,” Daryl said, squeezing around a pinball table and an enormous pokemon plushie of a Spheal.

Connie stared at it, her eyes going wide with undisguised glee.

“Nope, work first. Besides, that’s definitely someone else’s. This is a repair shop, remember?” Daryl said, pulling her away from the plushie.

“Actually we are mostly a reseller,” Holston helpfully provided, “We find things that are broken and in need of repair and sell them for credits. Most of the things we get for free or come out of our yearly allotments. It nets us a few nice perks with the League.”

“I want it!” Connie declared, wrapping her arms around the stuffed pokemon. No, not around it. It was too large for that. On top of it.

“It’s bigger than you are,” Daryl said, “How are you going to carry it around?”

Connie looked up at him, her blue eyes wide and sparkling. She smiled.

“No,” Daryl said, “Not happening.”

“Please?” Connie let go of the Spheal and wrapped her arms around his waist, pressing her chin against his chest as she gazed up at him, pleading expression in her eyes.

Daryl scowled down at her. They both knew what his answer was going to be. He broke after only a few seconds, “Fine,” he sighed, “But I’m not carrying it around with me. Wait until after we finish.”

“Thank you!” Connie grinned, releasing her hug and hopping away from Daryl and up to Holston. Still smiling, she said, “We don’t think the tree is what caused the strange light and we don’t think it was the subject of whatever made the chime or the voice, either.”

Holston glanced between the two scientists. The pleasant smile on his face twitched, “You don’t?”

“We don’t,” Daryl confirmed, coming up behind Connie, “We think it was probably something else. Are you sure that your son was talking about being hungry?”

Holston scratched his chin and made a thoughtful expression as he considered the question, “That’s what he said, and we didn’t notice anything odd, apart from the tree.”

“Your shop’s yard leads into the forest,” Connie pointed out, “Could something have run off in that direction?”

“It’s possible, but I doubt it.” Holston said, “Pokemon don’t come around here much, on account of all the noise.”

“You think a pokemon was involved?” Daryl pressed, “You should have mentioned this sooner. I was under the impression that it was just the tree.”

“Ah, well,” Holston offered Daryl and Connie a small grin, scratching the back of his head, “You said it wasn’t the tree, so I figured it must be some sort of pokemon, right? You always hear stories about how they get up to all sorts of crazy things.”

“Can we talk to your son, Mr Holston?” Connie said, “I think it would be helpful if we heard everything that he was thinking or said aloud when the event occurred.”

“Uh, he’s gone out,” Holston said. He took a handkerchief from his pocket and dabbed a bit of sweat of the top of his head.

“Do you know when he will be back?” Daryl said.

Holston put the handkerchief back in his pocket and pressed his hands flat against his legs several times, “I’m not sure,” he swallowed, “He’s normally gone for a few hours, you see.”

“Can we wait for him here?” Cannie said, “We really need to speak with him.”

Holston said nothing, only blinking for a moment.

“Mr Holston?” Daryl said.

Holston jumped, “My apologies, I was distracted by a stray thought. Of course you may stay, come with me.” Holston turned and walked into the back of his shop on unsteady feet. Daryl exchanged a quick glance with Connie.

“Are you feeling well, Mr Holston?” Daryl said, “Do you need us to do anything for you?”

“What? No!” Holston spun around. His face was red and sweating. He brought a hand to his neck, loosening the collar of his shirt, “No, It’s fine. Just a bit of the sweats. My body likes to remind me of its age every once in a while, you know.” He let out a strained laugh before turning and leading Daryl and Connie further into the shop.

He opened the door at the end of a hall, revealing a small room with a table and a pair of chairs. And dolls. Many, many dolls. They lined the walls, hanging from hooks or sitting on shelves, and came in every variety. Stuffed toys and porcelain collectors pieces mixed with wooden puppets and mechanical automata. All were humanoid dolls, blank eyes staring down at the table and two chairs in the center of the room.

“Oh!” Connie squeaked.

Daryl cleared his throat, “That’s quite a collection you have, Mr Holston.”

“Ah, ha, yes,” Holston forced a smile onto his face. It looked more like a grimace than anything else, “Dolls are among the easiest items to sell and repair, believe it or not.”

“I see,” Daryl said, “You aren’t looking so well, Mr Holston. You might want to lie down.”

Holston took the handkerchief out of his pocket again, mopping it across his head, “Lie down. Yes. Perhaps I shall.”

“We’ll be fine waiting here, in this…” Daryl glanced at the dolls on the walls, “...room.”

Holston nodded to himself and staggered off without a word. The unsteady creak of footsteps on stairs came a few seconds later followed by a large thump as Holston collapsed on a bed somewhere above them.

Connie tiptoed into the room and carefully sat down on one of the chairs. Her eyes darted around the room as she tried to keep all the dolls in her line of sight at once. “Their eyes are following me,” she said.

“It just feels that way,” Daryl said as he joined her, “They aren’t actually-” He frowned. Did that one just move?

“See! It’s creepy.” Connie curled up in her chair and tucked her head behind her knees, peering out over them with only her eyes visible.

“They’re just dolls,” Daryl said, “Right?”

*****