“Emilia!”

Cashe ran down the hall, towards Emilia and the slow moving flames. Smoke filled his vision, burning his eyes and stinging his skin, but the gas mask kept him from breathing it in, at least. A wave of heat hit him as he neared the flames, the bloom uncomfortable even from a distance.

Charmeleon turned as Cashe ran forward and cried out in anger, releasing a blast of warning flame over Cashe’s shoulder.

“Stop! It’s me!” Cashe took a deep breath and pulled the mask off his face. Charmeleon relaxed as he recognized Cashe, crying out again, this time pleading.

Cashe put the mask back on and continued to Emilia. Both Ivysaur and Sneasel hung back, the flames too overwhelming for them to handle in their exhausted state. She was on the ground, unconscious and nearly naked, wearing only a lab coat and a pair of underwear so frayed and burnt they were at risk of falling off her body. The remnants of a too small sweater hung around her neck like a choker, pulled tight against her throat.

She was a mess of burns and ash. Her hair was all but gone, burned down to an ugly fray of filthy hair. Her face was red and blistering from first and second degree burns and an open wound across her stomach slowly dripped blood over her coat. The fire resistant materials of the lab coat protected most of her body from catching fire, but it could do nothing about the heat. Luckily, she or her pokemon had realized that. The lab coat was soaked with water, the damp mixing with her blood and pooling on the flood in a thin, red mess.

“Where are the others?” Cashe looked up at Charmeleon and at the flames behind him. Now that he was looking for it, he could see a streak of dark red along the ground where Charmeleon pulled Emilia from the fire. The spots were already dry from the heat, but there was no mistaking the color of dried blood.

“Charm.” Charmeleon pointed at the jacket, and Cashe pulled it open, revealing Emilia’s pokeballs tucked inside. She must have returned them to their balls as she attempted to flee, trusting only Charmeleon to withstand the flames. Cashe briefly considered bringing out Omanyte as well, to douse the flames, but there must have been a reason the pokemon was in her ball. Injured likely; Charmeleon was battered and hurt. But the water? Cashe shook his head. There was no time to waste trying to figure out what happened.

He pulled Emilia into his arms, swearing as his cast made the task awkward and difficult, and checked for a pulse. It was there, but weak. She was completely limp and barely breathing. But she was breathing. Thank god. Thank Arceus.

Cashe dragged her down the hall until she was within reach of Ivysaur’s vines, ordering him to carry her. Ivysaur did so without complaint, even in his miserable state, sending out his vines to gently cradle Emilia. Relieved of her weight, Cashe ran back to the elevator, slamming his finger against the call button of the elevator.

The wait for it was excruciating. In reality, it was likely only a few seconds, but it felt like hours to Cashe. He couldn’t tear his eyes from Emilia. She was barely recognizable with the burns covering her face, her thick hair all but gone. Each shallow breath she took was a struggle. Cashe almost gave her his gas mask. Almost. It wouldn’t help either of them if something went wrong and he couldn’t breath.

“I’m so sorry,” Cashe murmured as the elevator doors finally opened and they crowded into the elevator. Once they were back on the top floor, Cashe did force the gas mask over Emilia’s face. The smoke was significantly thinner and he could hold his breath for a few seconds if he needed to do so.

Cashe ran back towards the exit, Sneasel, Charmeleon, and Ivysaur keeping pace. He managed not to get lost as he retraced his steps. He soon came across the Sticky Web that Araquanid had laid down. Passing it would have taken more time than he had, but thankfully, the occupants of the facility found a solution. A long row of upside down tables cut a path through the webs allowing Cashe to cross them uninterrupted, Ivysaur and Emilia not far behind. A brief flash of amusement passed through Cashe at the sight of someone’s shoe stuck in the mess of webs, mirroring his own experience with them.

A moment later and they were out of the facility, the wailing of the exterior alarm no longer present. The security door shut behind them, cutting off the smoke and leaving them with only the damp, stale air of the tunnels.

Cashe took a second to catch his breath, lungs burning and heart pounding, as he sucked in the relatively clean air. He doubled over in a fit of coughing, earning a concerned look from his pokemon. He ignored them and carried on, winding through the twisting paths of the tunnels until he found the exit.

It was still raining, a welcome relief from the suffocating nature of the tunnels and the underground facility. Cashe stumbled from the ruins of the shed allowing himself to collapse on the water-soaked ground and finally relax for a moment. He did not find any of the missing people from the town, he did not know what ‘First’ meant when she told him Team Starlight “processed their workforce”, but right now he didn’t care. He had Emilia. She was all that was important.

As Ivysaur crawled out of the tunnel with Sneasel and Charmeleon in tow, Cashe rolled onto his feet, signaling Ivysaur to hold Emilia up in front of him. Ivysaur did so, his four vines wrapped gently around Emilia in a makeshift cocoon. Cashe pulled the mask back off her face and checked her pulse. It was still weak, but steady, and he thought he was breathing more deeply than before. Good. He let out a final sigh, allowing some of the tension to drain out of him. She would be alright. He wouldn’t lose her too.

“Come on,” Cashe said, his voice ladened with exhaustion, “We need to get back to Lindon before whatever disaster Absol was warning us about strikes.”

Ivysaur and Sneasel murmured in agreement and took off for the village’s single road, but Charmeleon gave him a look.

“I don’t know what it meant. It just happened.” Cashe said to Emilia’s pokemon. He frowned. Had he told the Pokemon Center nurse about Absol’s warning? Probably not. He was in such a hurry to get to Emilia he left Lindon behind without a word. A pang of guilt shot through him as he remembered the shameful action and he hurried to catch up with his pokemon.

He soon did, and a minute later the Pokemon Center was in sight. As he approached, the space in front of the Center’s doors warped, the air twisting the light that passed through it like a mirage. Cashe had never seen someone arrive by a Teleport, but he knew the effect. He let himself smile. Elise was finally here.

The air shimmered and a pair of figures, nothing more than white silhouettes of light. A man and a woman in a dress. No, not a woman. A pokemon. Gardevoir.

Cashe froze as the silhouette faded and the solid form of Gardevoir took its place. She was five feet tall, humanoid and waifish - thin with a flowing, dress-like covering that dropped from her waist and over her legs. Beside her was her trainer.

He looked a far cry from the self assured man that Cashe had first met. His dark hair, normally combed neat and slick, was a disturbed mess and there were deep, dark circles under his eyes. His glasses were covered in a thin layer of dirt and his pristine green suit, normally pressed and wrinkle free, looked like it had spent the last few months crumpled on the floor.

Despite this, the leader of Team Starlight walked away from the Teleport with confidence in his gait and a relaxed posture, looking for all the world like a man on a Sunday stroll. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to the environment around him and his eyes flickered over the tiny village, coming to a read on Cashe and his pokemon.

Max Maple smiled.

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“Mr Cashe, I wish I could say it were good to see you again, but considering the circumstances…” Maple trailed off, locking his gaze on Cashe.

Cashe stared, frozen in place. Gardevoir’s presence was different from the wild ferocity of the Salamence or the barely contained energy of the Pokemon Ranger’s Dragonite. Power, subtle but nearly omnipotent, rolled off of Gardevoir, almost undetectable but undeniable, completely indifferent to the fleeting beings around her. Cashe could feel it, the presence almost magnetic, forcing his attention to the pokemon. It was like she carried the entire weight of the world in her slight form, a concentrated, localized gravity pulling everything inexorably toward her.

His pokemon felt it, too. Beside him, Sneasel took a step in retreat, clinging to the shadow cast by the buildings in the dim evening light. Charmeleon stepped in front of where Ivysaur held his trainer, but did no more than that, the timid pokemon shaking in front of the overwhelming presence of Gardevoir. Ivysaur did not back away, but he did not move forward, a statement of its own. Cashe had never seen him anything less than eager to fight.

“I won’t both ask what you are doing here,” Maple’s pleasant façade of a smile twisted into a rictus of frustration, “All that matters is that you are ruining my plans.”

“Your plans?” Cashe’s mouth moved on its own, his mind still catching up with the situation. He could see the nurse through the window of the Pokemon Center, head down, working on something at his desk. Look up. Just look up.

“Indeed,” Max strode forward, stopping a dozen yards away from Cashe. He shook his head in disappointment, “A shame. You had such potential.”

“What do you mean?” Cashe blinked. He tried to catch the nurse’s attention without moving, projecting his thoughts as powerfully as he could toward the Center. The nurse scratched his nose. Just look up. Look up.

“What do you think?” Maple raised a hand, gesturing at Cashe and Emilia. “I’m fixing a problem.”

Gardevoir moved forward, floating over the ground, the cold certainty of violence transparent in her features. The implacable energy around her began to gather, covering her in a fuchsia aura. The air shook.

“Wait!” Cashe hated how his voice sounded. High and desperate. Pleading. “Let Emilia into the Pokemon Center. Ivysaur can take her!”

“Ivysaur!” Ivysaur protested. He would not abandon Cashe.

“Not now!” Cashe snapped at him. Ivysaur glared at Cashe, his large eyes narrowing in stubborn refusal, but Cashe did not back down. Ivysaur nodded, slowly.

Maple raised an eyebrow at the display, “Touching,” he smirked, “but I am not letting you leave here after disrupting my plans.” He gave Cashe a small shrug, as if the implicit threat was inevitable, his comment uttered with the same tone of voice one used to complain about the weather.

“We didn’t!” Cashe pleaded, “I just wanted Emilia back! She was kidnapped! We didn’t do anything to stop you!”

Maple glanced at Gardevoir, who returned his look with silence. For a moment, Maple looked bewildered and blinked in confusion, “Why did we kidnap-” he cut himself off and shook his head, “That may be true, Mr Cashe, but as you might have one day learned, there are certain expectations that come with leadership. I cannot allow an infiltrator to my facilities to walk away on the same day those facilities crumble to the ground. You understand, of course.” He spoke as a matter of form, Cashe and Emilia’s fate nothing more than an unavoidable inconvenience. Maple motioned with his head and Gardevoir floated forwards again.

“W-wait,” Cashe stuttered, “You wanted to recruit me!”

Gardevoir paused, waiting for her trainer’s input. Cashe took the opportunity and pushed ahead.

“I’ll join!” Cashe said, “I’ll be the perfect little grunt! Anything! Just let her go.”

Maple frowned, thinking about it for a second.

“You would follow my orders?”

“Yes.”

“Even if I told you to hurt people? Even if I gave you tasks that would lead to suffering.”

Cashe swallowed, “Yes.”

“And if I came into conflict with her?” Maple gestured to the form of Emilia.

“I…” Cashe looked at Emilia. His heart throbbed. Could he do it? Even knowing it was to save her?

Maple shook his head, giving Cashe an apologetic look. “You would be a terrible grunt. It’s not a role I ever wanted you for, regardless. Too independent minded. I had you in mind for my Second,” a thin smile stretched over his lips, “But I already filled that position with one of your more enlightened colleagues. Goodbye, Mr Cashe.”

He nodded to Gardevoir. Her aura bled into the world and the world shook in response. Pain erupted in Cashe’s head and he cried out, falling to the ground, splashing into a pile of mud on the road. His vision flickered, fuzzy and muddled from the pain. There was movement out of the corner of his eye. Golden lights flashed across his vision and a green blob stood over him. The pain vanished and the blob moaned, collapsing on top of him, crushing his chest.

Cashe kicked and struggled to move but the pain returned, icy knives stabbing into his head. Driving him into the ground again. A wave of force blasted out from in front of him and the weight on his chest was gone, the force throwing it off of him, the pain disappearing once again.

Cashe scrambled to his feet, muddy water dripping from his stolen jacket. He felt a warm fluid drip down the side of his face and he put a hand to his ear. It came away bloody. He looked up, blinking as his vision returned to him. Ivysaur was at his feet, fainted, Emilia still clutched dutifully in his vines. The ground was littered with his shining leaves, protruding from the muck like little shards of gold.

Across the road, Sneasel was throwing himself at Gardevoir, desperately fighting a losing battle in a hopeless attempt to defend his trainer. Gardevoir was not as fast as Sneasel, but she took his blows like they were the attacks of a child, accepting the small scratches from Sneasel and waiting for him to make a mistake. Without Cashe’s guidance, he did.

Gardevoir opened her mouth as Sneasel missed a leaping strike, landing in front of her. A shockwave of sound escaped from her, blasting Sneasel back and Cashe off his feet. Sneasel flew through the air, crashing to the ground and bouncing back up, hissing in defiance.

“Why are you wasting my time?” Maple asked. He placed his arm behind his back, “Gardevoir, hurry this up, please.”

Cashe couldn’t focus. He could barely stand, barely see, let alone battle. Sneasel didn’t seem to care, leaping back into the fray with Gardevoir, lashing out with all his power as he tried to overcome the inevitable might of the powerful pokemon.

Gardevoir struck back, a jewel of pink light rising up from her body and flying at Sneasel. He was fast, almost managing to dodge it completely, but the jewel clipped his leg, sending him spiraling in the mud. He jumped back to his feet, noticeably slower, but fought all the same.

His claws glowed with icy light as he attacked and attacked again. Gardevoir floated out of the way, barely taking any effort to avoid the strikes. Sneasel continued to attack, light glowing brighter and brighter around him, stretching from his claws, to his arms, and finally his head.

The light reached his head and clung to him like a cloak. Around his neck, the Razor Claw erupted in light, clinging to Sneasel and merging with him. Still Sneasel did not slow, the light covering his body completely, too bright to look at now, so bright Cashe could see shadows through his eyelids as Sneasel continued to fight.

Gardevoir cried out and Cashe forced himself to stare into the light. Dark energy was gathering around Sneasel’s bright form, dampening the harsh wash of light clinging to him like an armor. The shape of his body changed, even as he continued to mindlessly attack Gardevoir, his claws growing sharper, his arms longer, his body taller. The darkness covered him completely and the light was gone, replaced with the snarling form of Weavile.

Hope surged in Cashe’s chest and he laughed out loud. Sneasel had evolved, the little guy pushing himself to the very edge in his struggle to defend them. He might stand a chance.

Weavile moved. Faster than Sneasel. So fast that Cashe could barely follow him. But he was not fast enough. He charged Gardevoir, but whatever the pokemon had been waiting for had arrived. A beam of pink light fell from the sky, an orbital laser firing unstoppable force upon the earth. The beam, thick as Cashe was tall, hit Weavile mid attack, crushing him to the ground. The light faded and Weavile did not rise. Cashe cried out, his small spur of hope going out with it.

“Huh,” Max raised an eyebrow at the unmoving form of Weavile, his body plastered in the mud of the road, “I was not expecting that. No matter.”

Gardevoir floated over Weavile’s body and past the prone forms of Emilia and Ivysaur. She stopped in front of him, looking up and into Cashe’s eyes. Cashe stood still. There was no escape. He could barely stand. He could not run. His pokemon were all defeated, fainted from the day’s battles.

Gardevoir’s eyes glowed and she brought hand up beside Cashe's head. Just as she moved to touch him, Cashe heard the whinny of a horse. Gardevior’s head flinched to the side and a psychic barrier snapped into place over her body. A thick wave of ghostly energy washed over the barrier, cracking it and blasting her back. A voice from behind Cashe accompanied the pulse of energy, powerful and feminine.

“Get away from my family,” it said.

*****