PARAGON
Remnants of the Great War Arc [10]
Chapter 19 : Closing In
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12 hours before AZ’s raid
“Here you go,” Cynthia said, placing a cup of coffee down in front of Ash and sliding into the seat across from him.
They were in a cafe in some hotel in Saffron’s downtown, and had a private room all to themselves, away from prying eyes. Cynthia kept track of all such places in every major city, in case she ever needed a quick pick-me-up and a quiet place to think. Ash hadn’t asked for a coffee, yet she’d brought him one out of courtesy anyway. He was a lot more interested in the danishes on a plate between them.
“Thanks,” Ash said, pulling one onto his plate. He broke off a piece for Pikachu with his fingers and fed it to him, then helped himself to a bite.
Cynthia took a sip of coffee and pulled out her laptop, already typing and clicking away. After finishing whatever she was doing, she pushed it aside and pulled off a piece of her own danish.
Ash eyed her as he chewed on his pastry. Be wary of your friend Cynthia, Albrecht had said. In the moment, Ash had thought he was alluding to the Paragon Organization, but on the way here, his mind had wandered through a more suspect forest of thinking.
Albrecht’s tone betrayed concern. He’d mentioned the other Champions and the sorts of ventures they pursued on the side, yet he’d singled out Cynthia as unique. If nothing else, he clearly knew that her ‘venture’ was a slightly bigger deal than the others’. And he’d told Ash to be careful of her because of that fact.
To be fair, Cynthia herself had said the same thing to him when she’d invited him to join Paragon. She’d told him his life would be in danger, and it only took his first mission for that promise to pan out. But was Albrecht’s warning as simple as that?
Ash’s instincts told him no. Albrecht distrusted Cynthia herself. But as for whether or not that meant he thought she was wholly dishonest, or simply engaged in secretive work, Ash couldn’t say.
For now, he’d table his suspicions. One conversation, even with a man like Albrecht, wasn’t nearly enough to get him to turn on Cynthia. Albrecht was far more suspicious, all things considered, and Ash had a feeling it wouldn’t be long until he found himself in the World Champion’s presence again, whether he wanted to be or not.
“So, what do you think of him?” Cynthia asked, covering her mouth as she chewed.
How to answer that? Ash thought. Of course he’d been thinking about that too ever since he’d parted ways with the World Champion, but keeping secrets wasn’t his forte, especially from his friends.
“He seems alright,” Ash eventually said, trying to keep his tone and mannerisms as tame as possible. The fact that he had food and drink at his disposal to keep himself active, and Cynthia distracted, made the job less nerve-wracking. Ash glanced back up at Cynthia and breathed a small sigh of relief when he saw she wasn’t even looking at him, instead checking her laptop screen while she enjoyed on her pastry.
“‘Alright?’ What’s that mean?”
“I don’t know,” Ash said, with a mouthful of danish. “He seems like a good man.”
Cynthia’s eyes flicked over at him. “Did you figure out what he wants? Why he became World Champion?”
“Er, well, he said it’s been a dream of his. Actually, he said he was a pretty big fan of mine. Maybe he decided to take the plunge after I left?” he offered.
“You don’t sound very convinced,” Cynthia said, looking at her laptop again.
Ash quickly swiped his cup and took a long swig of coffee, using the cup to hide his face. He hated the taste, but loved the protection it gave him. “I mean, he’s still super mysterious to me. If anything, I feel like I know even less about him than before.”
From behind his cup, he saw Cynthia sneak another glance at him.
“I got a similar feeling. Though for me, it’s more like I didn’t learn anything about him, even after talking to him. Almost like he was making an active effort to keep his true self hidden.” She took another sip of coffee. “What’d you guys talk about?”
“Nothing much. We talked a bit about AZ.”
“And?”
Albrecht had said AZ was a Platebearer, which meant he held enough power to destroy the entire world. Under any other circumstances, Ash would’ve been spilling that info to anyone and everyone who’d listen to make absolutely sure he’d be stopped. Except that he was also a Platebearer, and according to Albrecht, one of the few who could actually do something against him. That had cultivated a burning sense of responsibility in Ash’s gut, but he didn’t even know how to call upon his power yet.
That was what stopped him from telling Cynthia the truth about the true danger of AZ, despite the steel fingers of guilt digging into his stomach.
“He called him a monster,” Ash finally said. “And he thinks the League and Interpol are getting ahead of themselves trying to kill him before they even understand where his inhuman powers come from.”
“Did he offer any solutions?”
“Er…no.”
“Hm.” Cynthia let a silence fall between them as she continued munching through her danish. When she was almost finished, she turned back to Ash. “So after everything, you think he’ll be cooperative for whatever we need him to do once this AZ thing kicks off?”
Maybe, if I agree to go with him. “Yes.”
Cynthia frowned and leaned back in her seat, crossing her legs. Then she nodded slowly. “Okay. I’ll trust your judgment.” Then she quickly leaned forward again to type something out with her clean hand.
“What’ve you been working on, by the way?”
“Sorry, I know it’s rude. Interpol’s filling me in on what the other Champions are up to. And Sabrina’s been messaging me about Zagreus. She doesn’t like to talk on the phone,” Cynthia smiled. “Seems like the Guardians are being a little stubborn with the details, but this Zagreus you encountered may be like AZ. Another remnant of the Great War.”
“He’s thousands of years old too?!” Ash grit his teeth. Is he a Platebearer too? That would explain why he was going after the one in Mount Coronet. No, wait. He was injured when we first saw him. Albrecht said Platebearers could injure each other, but I doubt he would’ve taken that much damage from merely touching it if he really was a Platebearer. But then, what does he want?
“I just said it’s a possibility. Most likely it’s someone else adopting the name. It is slightly concerning, but his crimes are nothing next to AZ’s. No offense, since he attacked you, but attempted murder and excessive destruction of the natural world are kind of below Paragon’s scope. For now, I think I’ll have Sabrina finish up with them, then hand the Zagreus situation over to Interpol. Seems like the Guardians will be launching their own investigation too.”
Ash frowned and took a slow bite of his danish. He would’ve liked to learn more about Zagreus, but AZ certainly did take precedence. Still, the fact that Zagreus was a name from the Great War…after learning about the Plates, it was impossible to write off the possibility that he wasn’t an imposter at all, but the real deal. Why would the Guardians not want to talk about him? Maybe he’d give Riley a call… No. It wasn’t like Riley to hide something like that. Which meant he probably didn’t know.
He breathed an exasperated sigh. Oh well. He’d hear about it all when Sabrina returned anyway. “Anything from the others?”
“Nothing from Anabel. N and Zinnia started in southern Kalos and are sweeping their way up the region. But nothing from them yet either.”
“So what’s our next move then?”
Cynthia sighed and closed her laptop. “Nothing much we can do for now until AZ makes a move. I have a few assignments on the back burner, but I’d rather keep you free for whenever AZ shows up.”
Ash smiled and nodded. “Got it.”
Cynthia seemed to catch his drift and she smiled back. “I already told you, I have full faith in your abilities. Don’t think you’ll be benched when the monster finally does rear his head. We’ll need all hands on deck if we want to defeat the undefeatable. And I’ll need you to work one of your usual Ash miracles.”
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Ash grinned. “You’ve got it! We’ll be ready! Right, Pikachu?”
Pikachu pumped his fists, ignorant of the sugar all over his mouth.
Oh, I’ll be ready. I promise.
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Reshiram and Salamence cruised through the sky, tearing through fluffy clouds in silence as their adept eyes scanned the surface below. After cutting through a field of clouds and coming out into the open air, an ocean of autumn-hued trees and rolling verdant hills stretched out beneath them. Salamence dipped downward at the directive of its trainer, and Reshiram followed. They plunged down through the sea of trees and planted themselves back on the ground, away from any prying eyes or curious gazes.
Zinnia climbed off her Salamence and stroked its neck as she circled around in front of it, while N slid off of Reshiram’s back. The great white dragon flexed its wings, and its turbo-tail began to glow a harsh orange. The moment N was out of its way, it bulleted back into the sky, bursting through the treeline and showering the pair in deep green leaves.
“Wait, wait, wait, no!” Zinnia wailed, running over, arms flailing in vain. “I wanted to check him out some more!”
“Reshiram’s senses are stronger in the air without so many disruptions. You’re a dragon master, you should know that too.”
“Not a dragon master,” Zinnia grumbled as she recalled Salamence.
“You refuse to call yourself one until you’ve found the Great Dragon?” N said. “Stubborn. Why did we land here?”
“Aster found something,” Zinnia replied, already pushing her way through the underbrush, leaving N to catch up behind her. A small Whismur sat on Zinnia’s shoulder, much like Pikachu on Ash’s, though unlike her bombastic trainer, Aster seemed to be pretty shy, and stayed in her pokéball most of the time.
“Found what?” N asked, jogging up next to them. “If I’d known you’d found something, I’d have kept Reshiram with us.”
Zinnia scowled, and N could virtually hear the dammit echoing out of her mind, but her pride kept her from admitting her defeat out loud. “It’s nothing major, just something weird. Here,” she spat, tossing him a pokéball, and he caught it. “That’s Altaria. If you’re worried about being defenseless.”
“I wasn’t worried,” N deadpanned. “If we’re in danger, Reshiram will return in a flash. But thank you.”
“Oh yeah? I thought he wasn’t talking to you or something? Ever since you found him again after all that Team Plasma shit.”
“Yes, it was that way until recently. But I had a change of heart, or a change in mindset, really, after that assignment in Mount Coronet a month ago.”
“That one with Ash? I guess running into a guy like that Guardian would make you rethink some things.”
“No, actually, it was before we battled Zagreus. We had to cross a nest of wild Araquanid, and even after I told Ash I couldn’t speak to them, he never doubted me, not even for a moment. And for just a moment, I was able to hear their voices. After that, I spent some time with Reshiram, until I could hear its voice again too. It turned out Reshiram had speaking to me the whole time, but my guilt dampened my senses and left me deaf to its voice.”
Surprisingly, Zinnia didn’t interrupt with anything sarcastic or snide. Though she did tend to respect talk about dragons enough to quiet her usual fervor.
“Sounds like Ash is important to you,” she eventually said. “I was pretty surprised to see you refuse a mission from Cynthia while he was asleep. I’ve never seen you stand up for yourself like that.”
“Yes, I’m not sure what came over me,” N said, turning away in embarrassment.
“Oh, though I guess Cynthia reacted pretty weirdly about it too. That’s the first time I’ve ever seen her get so angry. I almost turned right around and bolted off the island right then and there. Maybe she just wasn’t used to having her orders refused. No way a trip to Hoenn to talk with some breeder should’ve gotten her that worked up.”
“I was out of line,” N muttered. “But I was just so worried about Ash.” His demeanor shifted and he suddenly turned back to Zinnia. “You were the only one there when he woke up, right? I hope you didn’t curse him out too badly.”
“Tch!” Zinnia scoffed. “Of course I cursed him out! You should’ve seen him at the end of it! The guy was damn near crying and begging for forgiveness from the great Zinnia! Lucky for him, I’m a merciful woman!”
N sighed. “Ah well, I suppose that was too much to hope for. He was worried that might happen.”
Zinnia exhaled loudly and slouched. “Just kidding.”
“What was that?”
“Nothing.”
“Oh.” N stepped around a bush with leaves tipped in some sticky white sap. “So what did Aster find?”
“There’s some ruins outside the town that Aster got some bad vibes from.”
“Hmm. I wonder why Reshiram didn’t pick up on it.”
“Don’t underestimate Aster! She specializes in good and bad vibes! Apparently the energy around the ruins are oddly muted. Normally, ruins like that should have some crazy old energy floating all around it, but Aster says there’s something weird about it. Almost like there’s something there that’s messing up the natural flow.”
“Maybe just a wild pokémon? Or a powerful trainer passing through?”
“It’s not that she senses something unusual. It’s like she doesn’t sense the usual unusual energy you’d expect to be there. Almost like the ruins are fake or something.”
They emerged from the forest, and the wind brushed their hair over their faces as they gazed at the scenery before them. Aster’s lips puckered and she pushed herself against Zinnia’s neck. Geosenge Town lay before them, bordered by imposing boulders that snaked beyond the town limits and curled atop a hill to the north.
“Or,” N said. “The ruins are real. And the energy is there. But it’s hidden.”
“And why would it be hidden?” Aster tittered nervously on Zinnia’s shoulder, like she had made a mistake and missed something she should’ve caught. Zinnia calmed her by stroking her cheek, and she glared at N.
“Perhaps an unintended consequence,” N said, and his eyes sharpened as they always did when he began to speak of human evil. “Of deliberately hiding something of far greater energy within the ruins. Like an immortal man, perhaps?”
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Reshiram continued to patrol the skies for the rest of the day, staying beyond the clouds to hide itself from prying eyes. Meanwhile, N and Zinnia ventured over to Geosenge, and after getting some direction from the locals, headed up to the nearby ruins they’d glimpsed from afar.
Aster stayed on Zinnia’s shoulder the whole time, much to Aster’s chagrin, but she was their guide to a certain extent. Zinnia peppered her with incessant positive affirmations the entire journey, to the point where even N started to wonder if it was doing more harm than good. Nevertheless, they made it to the ruins without incident.
There were only a few other people with them, a pair of elderly locals, and a couple of young trainers scattered throughout the tall grass in the middle of training. Dark boulders with simple chiseled lines stood like trees on the lush hill, and Whismur’s ears actually perked up once they got closer.
“Take your time, Aster,” Zinnia coaxed, gently lowering her to the ground.
Aster padded over the ground slowly, stopping and turning every so often as its ears reacted to minuscule changes in the flow of energy throughout the ruins.
“Hmm, never seen her this turned around,” Zinnia murmured.
“These ruins don’t seem to be particularly special,” N said. “According to the locals, these stones were likely used as primitive sites of worship for local human and pokémon tribes long ago. The energy imbued here shouldn’t be substantially different from others like it.”
“Aster’s never been wrong.”
But even after searching around until sundown, they found nothing out of the ordinary, beyond the mysteriously missing energy. Zinnia and N themselves didn’t poke around too much, as there was nothing they would find that Aster couldn’t detect, so they played the role of tourists, gleaning what they could from the stones and local chatter.
Which wasn’t anything that even hinted at AZ’s location. Initially, this seemed like a likely hideout, given how rural it was, but ultimately, they had to return to town empty-handed. Aster was uncharacteristically animated about wanting to continue her search, but Zinnia’s patience had run thin.
“I’ll keep an eye on the ruins. Reshiram is keeping watch as well,” N said.
“Don’t underestimate me,” Zinnia grumbled. “Something is weird about those ruins, and I don’t want to move on until we figure out why either.”
They returned to the forest across the valley and ate fruit from the supermarket in town as they watched. Aster ate an oran berry as she gazed across the valley, but her eyes never left the horizon, and N found the scene quite comical and cute.
“We shouldn’t start a fire,” N said as it started to get cold.
Zinnia glared at him. “I’ve been sleeping outside since I was a kid. Call Reshiram back if you want some body heat.”
N smiled. “I’ll be fine.”
Three hours later, Aster chirped, but there was no need for it. N saw it too.
“There.” He paused. “There,” he poked Zinnia.
“I’m awake!” she croaked. “Oh…!”
Dark silhouettes milled about the ruins, appearing seemingly out of nowhere. And one towered over the rest.
“It’s him,” Zinnia breathed. “But where—ah!”
A sudden flash lit up the valley for half a second, but it vanished as soon as it appeared. And once it did, the ghosts were gone.
“Where did they go?!” Zinnia demanded, sitting up.
“Wait,” N said, throwing his hand out to stop her from storming off. “This confirms that AZ was the cause of the strange disturbance in the ruins after all. If he’s gone, then…”
Aster shivered and shook her head furiously.
“She says nothing’s changed. The energy is still displaced!”
“Then whatever or whoever is causing it is still there. And whatever it is, they’re in league with AZ.”
Zinnia clenched her fist, and even Aster seemed motivated to return to the ruins. “Cynthia said not to engage.”
“Not like that’s stopped you before,” N smirked, but he knew Zinnia was feeling a little more cautious after what happened to Ash. “Very well. Let’s let her know what we’ve found.” N tapped out a message on his phone and sent it off.
Zinnia stared at the screen, waiting for it to light up with a response.
AZ has allies, despite Interpol concluding that he received no help in breaking out of the World Prison. But if he’s leaving his hideout, where could he be going, and why? A bad feeling, like molasses, slid through N’s veins. We should ambush them while we can.
Zinnia almost jumped as Reshiram’s face peeked between them. “Holy shit!” she whisper-yelled.
“Sorry, I called Reshiram back. And he knows how to keep a low profile,” N whispered back.
As if to confirm his words, Reshiram raised the temperature several degrees, then lowered it back to normal, completely masking his fiery presence. Zinnia’s jaw dropped, and N was sure she’d start fawning, but his phone screen lit up.
Despite it being midnight in Kanto where she supposedly was, it didn’t take long for them to receive a reply from Cynthia.
Do not engage.
Chapter 20 : Secret Training
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Merry Christmas! Thank you to everyone who gave this story a chance and read this far!