PARAGON
Origin Child Arc [4]
Chapter 4 : The Paragon Organization
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The jet touched down, and Ash squinted out the window as they sped down the runway. He couldn’t see much now, just some thin steel fencing that wrapped around the airfield, but several minutes ago, they’d been cruising over the sparkling, bright blue waters of the Sinnoh sea. They were on an island now, that much he could surmise, but beyond that, their proximity to it as they’d started their descent made it difficult to see what else was on it. All he’d seen was an ocean of trees pockmarked by small clearings, and a stout mountain on the island’s northern beach.
Soon, the plane taxied to a halt, and after the modest flight crew made their rounds inside and out, they were free to exit. Ash covered his eyes as he stepped out of the plane. Unlike the flight from Galar to Kanto, the flight from Kanto to Sinnoh had been a lot shorter, and they’d slept through most of it, arriving early in the afternoon. The sun was high in the sky, bathing the island in an almost tropical radiance.
Cynthia was waiting for him on the tarmac, and she’d deployed her Lucario.
“Lucario, take Ash’s luggage for him, would you please?” he heard her say as he walked over to her.
Lucario nodded and walked past him to the pilot, taking both bags from him and slinging one over each shoulder.
It was a comical sight, to see a pokémon like Lucario acting as a courier, but it hadn’t escaped Ash’s notice that it was several inches taller than his own, and the spikes on its hands were larger. Ash nodded his thanks to it, and received a humble bow in response, then joined Cynthia.
“Here we are,” she said, leading them across the airfield. “This is the headquarters of the Paragon Organization, where all our operatives live and work. Welcome to Paragon Island.”
Once they exited the airfield, which didn’t take long since it was far smaller than any real airport’s, they followed a dirt path through the island. Burly pine trees surrounded them, and they were packed together tightly.
“I’m sure you’re getting tired of hearing me say this, but the Paragon Organization is technically a secret organization,” Cynthia said as they walked. “The world at large does not know we exist. No one in the League is aware of us, and even most of the International Police have no idea either. Our communications with them are limited to the top brass, and even then, they’re on a strict need-to-know basis.”
Ash nodded in understanding. “Sounds like you have your work cut out for you, running Paragon and doing your duties as Champion at the same time,” Ash replied. “Especially while keeping them separate.”
“It can be exhausting,” she admitted. “But luckily for me, my Elite Four is strong enough to repel most potential challengers, so I don’t have much to attend to on that front. It’s mostly just boring meetings several times a year over at the League HQ at Indigo Plateau.” She smiled back at him. “Also, you forget I also have my own interests to pursue outside of work.”
Cynthia was an archeologist. That, Ash knew. Thinking about it, it made sense then why she’d become a Champion in the first place. Although the regions were ruled by their own independent governments, they largely deferred to the League when it came to matters of pokémon and trainer safety. There were a number of restricted zones, off limits areas, and uncharted lands that the League deemed too dangerous for the average trainer, or just too historically important to allow mass access. However, as Champion, nothing was off limits, and she was free to explore any corner of the globe she pleased.
Though that didn’t explain why her pokémon were so abnormally powerful. What did she want that required such strength?
As they got closer and closer to the center of the island, the trees started to dwindle, and before long, a sprawling white structure crept into view. Situated in the center of such a dense forest, its modern architecture looked out of place. It looked like a traditional Kanto manor, with its low hooded roof and wooden engawa that circled the property, but with an urban twist. Sitting beside it, Ash noticed a small lake connected to a river which led further into the forest.
Cynthia let him drink in his new surroundings, before leading them inside, and Ash was immediately impressed. He hadn’t realized from the outside, but floor-to-ceiling windows spread out all across the walls, and sunlight streamed through them. They’d stepped into a large atrium, and hallways webbed out in several directions. Unlike the exterior, the interior gave a more homely vibe, with the floors of polished maple, and an array of lounging furniture set up in front of a huge flatscreen.
“This will be your home for the foreseeable future,” Cynthia told him, breaking him from his rapture. “Come, I’ll show you to your room, then we can begin the tour.”
They turned down one of the hallways, and eventually stopped beside one of several doors along this hallway. Cynthia pushed it open and let them in. Pikachu, already enamored with his new surroundings, scurried ahead inside.
His bedroom was fully furnished, with a bed, dresser, closet, and television. Like the atrium outside, the far wall was made of glass, giving him a beautiful view of the ocean from here. A sliding door was left slightly ajar to keep the room aired out, and it led to a small deck. As Ash walked inside, he peeked past another door in his room which led to his own personal bathroom.
“It’s no Champion’s suite, but it’ll work just fine for our purposes,” Cynthia said.
Ash grinned. He could already envision the sort of training he’d be able to do on this island. Training in the wild limited the intensity of their training, since it was unwise to accumulate too many injuries so far from civilization, but training in the city where a pokémon center was always close by restricted the scope of their training, since they needed to be careful around so many buildings. Here, they could go to their hearts’ content. “It’s perfect.”
“I’m glad you’re pleased. Lucario, you can leave his stuff here. Ash, you can unpack a bit later. I’ll show you around the rest of the island.”
Ash nodded and Cynthia recalled her Lucario, and they both exited the room to continue exploring. She showed him to the kitchen, which was restocked with groceries once a week. Then she took him to the gym, where all manner of workout equipment was assembled, for both people and pokémon. As they walked, Ash began to realize how empty the place was. They hadn’t run across anyone else the entire time they’d been here.
“Where is everyone?” Ash asked. He’d started to check behind every open doorway and corner, yet no one appeared to him. Now they stood in another atrium, this one ripe with greenery and potted plants and the same afternoon sunlight.
“Oh, I think you and I are the only ones here right now,” Cynthia said, her finger on the corner of her lips. “Everyone else is out on a mission or something, I guess.”
“How many people are in Paragon anyway?”
“Hmmm. Five?”
Ash’s eyes widened. “Five?!” Pikachu’s head cocked to the side in the middle of his search around the room.
“Or six, now that you’re here,” she said nonchalantly, and kept walking.
“Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!” Ash scrambled in front of Cynthia. “You’re telling me the Paragon Organization only has five people in it? This whole island, for five people?!”
“Six,” she corrected. “I did say we’re a group of high caliber trainers. Just how many of those do you think there are, lying around?”
“Six trainers…,” Ash muttered, clearly mired in confusion. He’d expected some sort of top secret black ops military force like in the spy movies. The secret base on a remote island had supported that image, but six trainers?
“What can six trainers do against all the disasters of the world?”
“More than you know.” She held his gaze for a moment, before turning away and continuing through the room.
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Wordlessly, Ash and Pikachu followed.
The rest of the tour proceeded without further incident. The remaining atriums that comprised Paragon headquarters were all connected by hallways, and the architecture and design was more or less the same in all of them. Cynthia pointed out the way to an underground training area that she said they’d visit later, as well as a briefing room where she did most of her work while on the island. The bedrooms for the others were also the same as his: nondescript doors along a random hallway, but she didn’t show him inside and protect their privacy.
As they were walking back through one of the hallways they’d passed through before, on their way back to the front, Ash froze, his gaze fixed on something outside.
“What the hell is that?” he gasped, pointing out the window.
Just beyond the glass, a Cresselia sat on lush emerald grass, nibbling on tiny flowers that poked up from the soil. Upon noticing it was being stared at, it lifted its head and gazed back at Ash, its almond eyes penetrating his being. For a while, they just stared at each other, as if sizing each other up.
“That’s Cresselia,” Cynthia said. “She and I became friends after I discovered this island several years ago. It’s just one of many among the Fullmoon Islands in northwest Sinnoh, and they will not appear to outsiders without Cresselia’s consent. The perfect place to put our headquarters.”
Ash never broke his stare with the mythical pokémon as Cynthia explained herself, but eventually, Cresselia did. Her eyes shifted to Cynthia upon noticing her, and she smiled unmistakably, flitting up and down in excitement. Cynthia waved back, smiling as well.
“It’s a good thing I phoned ahead that we’d be arriving soon,” Cynthia said as they walked away from the window. “Or else we might have flown straight into the sea.”
Ash’s face turned to horror, unable to tell if she was joking or not. Her smirk gave nothing away.
“So… you’re just friends with a legendary pokémon?” Ash asked after finally recovering from the initial shock.
“Legendary pokémon…,” Cynthia repeated. “I didn’t think you of all people put much stock into labels like that.”
“What do you mean?”
“Hmmm,” Cynthia tapped her cheek as if deciding how to word her explanation. “I guess this will be one of the first lessons I’m going to give you. Legendaries, as most know them, aren’t substantially different from so-called ‘non-legendaries.’ Really, the only thing that sets them apart is how reclusive they are, which certainly makes their rarity legendary. Because of that, people often make the false assumption that there is only one ‘legendary’ of each species. But they are pokémon like any other, even if there are far fewer of them. Some are strong and some are weak. Some are ubiquitous, and others have only a handful of recorded sightings in all of human history. The term ‘legendary’ was popularized by the League awhile ago, and it’s stuck ever since then. Now we have ridiculous terms like ‘pseudo-legendary’ and ‘semi-pseudo-legendary’ to further confine pokémon into completely arbitrary tiers. In truth, none of it is very consistent at all when placed under scrutiny.”
“But, legendary pokémon are abnormally powerful,” Ash argued. “I mean… sure some pokémon are strong, but the legendaries are in a whole different category. They have myths and stories told about them. Some rule over the elements, over time and space itself!”
“Oh, I won’t discount their destructive potential. But rule over… I’d say that’s a bit hyperbolic. Certainly some are able to tap into abilities not possessed by any other pokémon species, but just like a so-called ‘average’ pokémon, the ‘legendaries’ have varying power between them as well. At the end of the day, every pokémon’s strength is dependent on its own innate power, as well as the ability of its trainer to bring out its greatest potential.”
Ash drank up her information hungrily. Although he’d been intrigued at the first mention of her ‘TV team,’ and had been dying to see what she was truly capable of, this explanation seemed to be a glimpse beyond into Cynthia’s own philosophy as a pokémon trainer. A philosophy outside the dogma of the League. And as an archeologist, she, possibly more than anyone else, would know fact from fiction when it came to legendary pokémon.
Ash wondered what other conventions she would shatter for him. What other mental barriers had his extended participation in the League built up? He was eager to break them all down one by one.
“Ah, there you are. I thought I heard you tromping around my island.”
At the end of the hall stood a man who looked eerily similar to Cynthia. He had her sharp gray eyes and platinum blonde hair, though his was tucked beneath a white bandanna. He wore a beige apron and held a broom.
Cynthia clicked her tongue. “Nice of you to meet us when we landed,” she said sarcastically. “Oh, wait…”
“This is a big island. So much to attend to, and so little time,” the man shrugged. Then his gaze shifted over to Ash. “Welcome to Paragon Island, World Champion. What an honor it is to meet you in the flesh.”
The two men approached each other and shook hands.
“This is Sylvester. He’s the groundskeeper of Paragon Island,” Cynthia said, thumbing him lazily. “Anything you need while you’re here, he can take care of. He slinks around the island like a ghost, but if you can find him, he does make a passable strawberry shortcake.”
“You wound me, cousin,” Sylvester grinned, clutching his heart in dramatic fashion. “Are you sure you even wanted to see me first thing off the jet?”
Ash looked between them. “You guys are cousins?”
“Yes, we are, though she’s really much more like a little sister. I tell you, she tries to keep up this mysterious aura about her, but it’s honestly so embarrassing. Very juvenile— agh!”
Sylvester stumbled back as Cynthia palmed him in the chin, and he barely caught himself on his broom before he could fall over.
“Let’s go, Ash. There are other parts of the island I have yet to show you, and you can always catch up with this nonce later.” Cynthia passed him without another thought, stomping further down the hallway.
Ash followed her carefully as Sylvester waved them off, beaming like he’d just won the lottery. What was the relationship between these two? Were they on good or bad terms? Difficult to say.
After Cynthia showed him several more rooms in the facility, she and Ash headed back outside for a tour of the exterior. There were several clearings in the forest, which made for great training grounds. Quiet streams laced between the trees beside the path, and Ash saw a number of docile wild pokémon in the grass and trees who peered at them curiously as they passed by. Eventually, they made it to the beach, a swath of silky sand rimmed by gently lapping waves. If this island hadn’t housed the headquarters of the Paragon Organization, it would have made an excellent resort.
Finally, they hiked up the small mountain on the north side of the island. It didn’t take long and it was an easy trek, but by the time they reached the top, the sun had begun to sink, turning the sky a breathless pink.
They walked up to a cliff which overlooked the entire island, and from here, Ash could see the billowing sea of trees below, and bits and pieces of the base which snuck glances up at them from beneath the canopy. A soft wind kissed their skin and hair.
“So, what’s next?” Ash asked.
Cynthia exhaled. “You really don’t want to take a vacation first, huh? After becoming World Champion, it’s right back to work without even one day off?”
“I gave up that title. I want to know what it was for, now. The answer to that is worth more than any vacation to me and my pokémon.”
Cynthia studied him. She recognized those eyes of his. Right before a tough gym battle, or a difficult challenge, those eyes came out. Tough and clear and ready to obliterate any obstacle in their way. She smiled.
“To take the next step toward Pokémon Master, you must forget everything you think you know about pokémon, how they are raised, and how they are trained. I alluded to this earlier when we talked about legendary pokémon, but the League unwittingly instills many biases within its trainers, as expected of an institution of its size. The way you communicate with your pokémon, the moves you use, the variables you must be aware of. All of this and more has been hammered into habit for you, but you’ll need to discard it all if you wish to take your skills to the next level.”
“Your participation in the League made you one of the strongest trainers in the world, without a doubt. The top 1% of the top 1%. Your time inside has served you well, but now its purpose has expired. The formulas they prescribe for bettering oneself exist for the masses, the lowest common denominator. That’s not what you are. You’ll need to pursue your own path toward strength. I’m sure you started realizing certain things about your own unique style when you began training for the World Championships. For perhaps the first time in your trainer career, you followed your own instincts for what you thought was best for you and your pokémon, instead of relying on the systems provided by the League. It may seem obvious to you, but not many trainers would have thought of using gym leaders as little more than glorified punching bags to prepare for a fight against Leon.”
Ash’s mind started to drift as he recalled the nuances of his training sessions last year… Now that it’d been said out loud, there were a few things he could think of that showed he’d already begun thinking outside of the box as far as his trajectory as a trainer went, but he quickly earmarked those thoughts for later as Cynthia continued.
“There are two imperatives you must meet before I can send you on your first assignment under the Paragon Organization,” she said, holding up two fingers. “The first is that you must defeat me again. No holds barred this time. Anything goes. This battle will not be for entertainment.”
Ash grinned as he nodded. This is exactly what he wanted. “And what’s the other condition?”
“We arrived on this island together, but I don’t actually spend that much time here. I have my duties to the League, after all. I’ll be leaving shortly, and I’m sure you will too. Peaceful as it is, there’s nothing on this island that could push you to the next level. Of course, that presents a problem for how you will return.”
Cynthia smiled, her eyes twinkling. “The second imperative is that you must befriend Cresselia.”
Next — Chapter 5 : Metamorphosis
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