I was back home in my dad’s workshop, sitting on the stool I always used, and I felt warm and content. Dad was tinkering around with one of his clay poke ball molds, trying out new carved patterns just for fun. I was messing around with a circuit board, planning out all the components I would need to create a gadget that could replicate a type chart, but with interactive inputs. Florence leaned on the table next to me and pointed out a place where I had missed a connection. I tried to solder it in, but the circuit board was shrinking too fast for me to position the iron in the right place. Then I blinked and the board had disappeared completely.
I sighed and turned around, and the room melted fluidly into the clearing in Azalea where we always trained. Growlithe barked at me impatiently while Smith fluttered overhead on great wings made of interlocking, glowing scales. I jogged forward like the two wanted, then rolled my eyes as Growlithe started showing off. The little dog ran forward in great leaps and bounced off of the ground like it was a trampoline, which sent him flying up next to Smith. Actually, could I do that too? I tried jumping forward, then whooped in delight as I was sent soaring high up into the sky.
~
But as I fell down towards the ground again, something changed.
Even within the bounds of this place, you can tell something is wrong.
I plummeted through the grass and landed hard on a colorless, texture-less surface. I frowned and rubbed at my chest; it suddenly felt sore for some reason.
The last time you tried to connect this way, your abilities were still raw, unformed. You have grown much since then.
My head was also feeling… sore? No. Something else. Something strange.
Now you have a bond. Now you know how to grasp the minds of others with naught but your own thoughts and energy.
I got up and looked around, to see – nothing. Just featureless grey all around me. It felt like something was missing.
As you are now, you can do more than simply consume the figments of the mind. Though you wish to feast, as you are hungry, so hungry…
No. Focus. There is a task at hand.
Or was it that someone was missing?
As you are now, you can intervene.
~
There was a feeling like the world had shunted sideways, and suddenly there was something – someone – standing in front of me. They were a foot and some inches shorter than me, had vibrant yellow bristly fur on the top half their body, and they were currently sniffing rapidly through a long trunk.
I grinned; with my partner by my side, the space felt less empty and much less wrong. “Pausso! Hey, do you think we can get back up there? You should try this jumping thing, it’s really fun!”
Pausso stared at me for a moment, then shook his paws out briskly. “You don’t understand,” he told me.
A tiny corner of my mind noted that he was speaking my language, and shouldn’t that feel weird? But the thought slipped away easily. “What’s not to understand? Or do you not like jumping? We could go look for some ice cream instead –“
“Monroe,” he interrupted, and his ears were standing up straight and alert. “This is a dream.”
I paused as an uneasy feeling crept up my spine.
“You are dreaming right now, but you need to focus.” He sniffed in a great draught of air and shook his head uneasily. “I can sense something wrong in the waking world. Ill intent. It is strong enough to pervade even the bounds of my ball.”
The uneasy feeling had spread further and was making my skin tingle. With it came half-remembered feelings. Was I angry with Pausso for some reason? Why would I be mad at him?
“I cannot do anything to protect us while I am held back this way,” Pausso said urgently. “You need to wake up and let me out.”
I scratched my ear and frowned. “How can you be in your ball if you’re right here?” Then I looked around and frowned more deeply. “Where are we, anyway?”
Pausso growled slightly, then shook his trunk. “This is not working. Let us try another way.” He took a step forward and up so that we were looking at each other face-to-face. Then he clapped his paws smartly against the sides of my head, right above my ears, and stared directly into my face. All I could see were the dark brown irises of his eyes, and my own reflection staring back at me.
“WAKE UP!”
~
I gasped and sat up straight, and I realized right away that something was wrong. The room was full of blurry figures, too many figures. Were those people, Pokemon, or something else entirely?
I immediately grabbed for Pausso’s poke ball, but I couldn’t feel it. So I fumbled for my glasses instead and rammed them onto my face. Then I froze.
A soldier was standing right next to my futon, and he had picked up Pausso’s ball. I watched, stunned, as he moved towards the door that led out of the room and gave the ball to – General Finnegan?
I blinked multiple times, trying to clear the sleep from my eyes. Yes, that was Finnegan. Edwin stood by his side with his Fearow next to him. The trainer’s mouth was turned down grimly as he moved his head slightly to look at me.
“What?” I asked, too befuddled to even form a proper question.
Finnegan glanced at me, then grunted. “They are waking up already,” he said in the quietest voice I’d ever heard him use. “Is the room secure?”
Edwin frowned. “No,” he replied in an equally low voice. “Misdreavus is still missing.”
“Pah, the ghost.” Finnegan’s mustache twitched as he put the ball – Pausso’s ball – in a pouch attached to his belt. “Well, you know how to handle it.”
“What are you doing?!” I asked loudly, with no small degree of panic creeping into my voice. That was loud enough to disturb the others; Florence sat up straight and blinked sleepily, Isaac made a grumbling noise, and I saw Hisa shifting in his bed.
“We are going to have a little chat,” Finnegan said in a tone that was too friendly. “Just us people. No creatures needed.”
That made Florence wake up fully. I saw her grab at the floor to the side of her futon, but her poke balls had gone missing as well, probably delivered straight to the general. I focused on Hisa instead, who was now sitting up and running a hand through his loose hair. Whatever was going on had to be bad, but he and Misdreavus would be able to fix things, right?
Hisa stared calmly at Finnegan and Edwin as he picked up a small band and started tying his hair back. “An odd request to make in the middle of the night,” he said casually. “Could this not wait for the morning?”
Finnegan’s smile was all teeth. “I am afraid not.”
Isaac was now sitting up as well. He started to stand, but a soldier positioned nearby gestured roughly for him to stay down. Hisa finished pulling back his hair into its usual topknot, then shook his head slightly. “I hope you have given this proper consideration. Taking the representatives of other cities hostage sends a very particular message, and you may not like the consequences.”
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“My good man, you are no hostage,” Finnegan replied. “Not yet.”
At that moment Misdreavus plunged up from under the floorboards with the dark energy of some kind of attack gathered in a spinning globe in front of him. He sent the attack straight at Finnegan, but Fearow darted in its way before it could hit the general and the shadowy ball splashed harmlessly against the bird’s feathers. Fearow retaliated with what looked like an Aerial Ace, which sent Misdreavus flying back towards the other side of the room.
I felt like I was paralyzed as I watched Edwin whisper a brief word to Fearow, who awkwardly hopped across the room towards Misdreavus with his wings spread out wide for balance. The ghost growled and formed a new point of light from his forehead, a globe of pink that shot off in a narrow beam and collided with Fearow’s chest. The great bird huffed as he was forced backwards, but his body was glowing with a dark energy as well. Moments later that energy plunged forward, engulfing the ghost’s Psybeam and overwhelming the small Pokemon.
“Misdreavus!” Finnegan roared. I turned back to look at him and my blood ran cold. At some point Hisa had thrown off his blanket and stood up, but the general had moved right up next to him, and his sword was at Hisa’s neck. Hisa stood very still, not daring to move as Finnegan kept his weapon steady mere inches away from the trainer’s skin. “If you want your trainer to live, stand down.”
The dark energy of Fearow’s attack wisped away to reveal Misdreavus panting slightly as he hovered a foot above the ground. He went very still as he saw what had happened; even his hair-tendrils stopped their usual floating about.
“Good.” Finnegan nodded to Edwin, and the other man’s lips thinned as he pulled something out of his satchel. “Listen well, ghost. If you cooperate, I swear that I will not harm this man except in self-defense. If you try any of your usual trickery…” he pulled the sword just slightly closer to Hisa’s throat.
“Bold of you to accuse us of treachery,” Hisa said darkly, still standing stock-still. “Whatever happened to the rules of hospitality?”
“General Finnegan, this is madness,” Isaac added in a hoarse voice from where he sat slumped on his bed. “Can we not talk this through?”
“We will talk,” Finnegan said pointedly, “when there are no majū to interfere.” He looked back towards Edwin again, and I could see now that the trainer held one of our poke balls. “Ghost. Allow yourself to be captured in this device, and your trainer will live.”
Misdreavus’ eyes darted to Hisa, and the man breathed deeply. “You do not need to do this,” he told his partner quietly. “You could escape and warn the others in Ecruteak. It would not be your fault.”
Misdreavus held his trainer’s gaze for a long moment. Then he turned his head to look at the poke ball Edwin held and bobbed up and down in one swift motion. Edwin tossed the ball towards him; it landed with a thunk right in front of the ghost, who then zoomed down and tapped his forehead against the button. He was sucked in and captured immediately, leaving a bright light behind the ball’s entry button.
Finnegan nodded and stepped away from Hisa, sliding his sword back into its sheath as he moved. Hisa started to run towards Misdreavus’ ball, but Fearow leaned down and picked it up in his long beak before he could move more than a step or two. The bird awkwardly waddled back to Edwin and gave him the ball, and he tucked it away without looking at Hisa.
I forced myself to take a deep breath as Finnegan casually walked back to the front of the room and turned about, looking at each of us in turn. I still felt like I couldn’t move, could barely breathe, but I had to snap out of it. I had to do something!
What could I even do, with a room full of soldiers and without Pausso there to help?
“That is better,” Finnegan said in a satisfied tone. “Now we can talk business, man-to-man. I have a proposal for you all.”
“Why should we listen to you?” Florence said, her voice wavering. “You just took our majū.”
Finnegan shot her an annoyed glare, but then he spread out his hands magnanimously. “Merely as a precaution, dear girl. If you are willing to hear sense and join my cause, your creatures will be returned to you, of course.”
Isaac crossed his arms. “And that cause is…?”
“Simple. I plan to unite all of Johto into one cohesive group. Under my leadership, of course.”
I stared at him blankly, then glanced around to see if I was missing some kind of era-specific knowledge that would make this sound sensible. But no, the others looked equally flabbergasted.
“Yes, I know, my ambition astounds you,” Finnegan said with a smile that felt just a little off. “But trust me, this needs to happen. Trainer Hisayuki, you are a man of power. Surely you have seen the way our region has stagnated recently. Any attempt at cross-city collaboration falls apart before it has a chance to begin due to squabbling and differences of opinion. If we continue this way, Kanto will smell blood in the water and attack us within the next decade.”
Hisa gazed back at him, a clear look of contempt in his eyes. “True, the cities have a variety of philosophies. That is a strength, not a weakness; it has allowed us all to grow. We still join together to protect each other when needed.”
“Oh? Consider this most recent incident. We put out an urgent call for support, and what did we get?” Finnegan started ticking off fingers on one hand. “Cherrygrove, Mahogany, and Azalea sent second-rate trainers. Blackthorn and Olivine sent no one at all. Of all the cities, only Ecruteak sent their lead trainer.” He bowed mockingly to Hisa. “And you only showed up because the incident directly affected your own city!”
Being called a second-rate trainer made me indignant enough that I finally found my voice. “We got the job done, didn’t we?”
Finnegan huffed. “This time, yes. But I was watching from the walls and I saw how close it was. If you did not have these new devices, you would never have succeeded.” The general closed one of his hands into a fist and slammed it into the other. “We need coordination. If each city had sent several trainers, not just one, and the trainers had prior experience working as a team, you might have cleared the whole brawl, not just part of it. We could have acted more swiftly and secured the route in days, not weeks.”
“It is not that easy,” Hisa said. “When it comes to battles between majū, pure numbers are not the only factor to consider. In many cases, strategy is what wins the day.”
“I disagree,” Finnegan replied with a smile. “And I plan to put my theory to the test.”
Hisa froze, and Isaac sucked in a breath through his teeth. “You cannot be serious,” he said as he clutched his hands together.
Finnegan kept smiling as he turned to look at Isaac. “I really must thank you for supplying these new poke balls, Researcher Isaac,” he said. “The wild majū we have captured with them will make all the difference in the days ahead. They have made it possible for me to put my plans into action much earlier than I originally thought possible.”
Florence gasped quietly, and I felt like the world was lurching around me. He couldn’t mean what I thought he meant… right? He couldn’t be planning to use the wild Pokemon we’d caught in battle against other cities?
Hisa’s eyes went steely as he turned to look at the trainer standing next to Finnegan. “Edwin. You cannot possibly have given your support to this madness.”
Edwin’s eyes flickered, but he jutted his chin out stubbornly. “General Finnegan knows what is best,” he growled, and Fearow cawed in agreement next to him.
So Finnegan had gone absolutely bonkers, and it looked like his army was following him into his insanity. I flexed my hands and eyed the pouch at Finnegan’s side. If I made a sudden dash for it, could I get Pausso’s ball out and release him before the general pulled his sword on me?
Fearow shifted next to Edwin, and my heart sank. No. The bird would definitely intercept me before I got anywhere near Finnegan.
“You have heard my proposal,” Finnegan said evenly, turning his head so he could look each of us in the eye one by one. “I plan to approach each city and give them the opportunity to peacefully join our collective. We will use force only when necessary, if there are groups with, ah, dissenting opinions. No one can stand apart if Johto is to become truly united, after all.” He brushed an imaginary speck of dust off of his sleeve. “I would value your support if you are willing to give it; you trainers are the frontline defense of our society, after all. So, what say you?” He focused his eyes directly on Hisa. “Will you and your partner join my cause?”
Hisa closed his eyes and shook his head slowly. “This is a nightmare,” he grumbled softly under his breath.
Finnegan’s mustache twitched. “So closed-minded.” Then he turned to Isaac. “What of you? Researcher Tomohiro has told me great things of your findings so far. If you join us, I would happily fund your work, especially into further development of these poke balls. Think of the discoveries you could make!”
Isaac just stared wordlessly for a few moments. When he finally spoke, he had to clear his throat before he could force words out. “I think not.”
“That is a loss.” Finnegan sighed and finally turned to look at Florence and me. “And you two. You may be,” his eyes flicked to Florence, “… untraditional, but you have established your potential on the battlefield. Join us, and we will help you grow! Just think – after we have spread to unite all of Johto, you will be able to work with the finest trainers across the region, not limited to whoever is willing to lend you their time in your own town. I can help you and your creatures grow to be the best you can possibly be.”
“You’re crazy,” I said flatly. “Why would we agree to help you take over the whole region?”
“I agree,” Florence snapped. Then she turned to glare at Edwin “You are a trainer! You are supposed to protect those in need, not attack and conquer! You should know better.”
Edwin ground his teeth and looked away. Fearow stepped forward and rattled his wings in a threatening display, hissing at Florence in a low tone until Edwin rested a hand on the bird’s neck to calm him down.
Finnegan’s face hardened as he looked across the four of us. “Trainer Edwin told me you would react this way, but I had hoped you would see reason.” He made a tsking sound, then lifted his hand in a gesture I didn’t recognize, which set the soldiers in the room moving. “I fear you will need to endure our company for longer than you initially expected, gentlemen. I cannot have you going back out into the world and spreading tales. Men, escort our guests to their new accommodations.”
“Wait!” I said, standing as Finnegan started to leave the room. A soldier grabbed my arm, sending a jolt of pain through it, but I ignored it. “What about our Po – our majū? What are you going to do with them?”
Finnegan gazed back at me calmly. “Do?” he asked. “Why, I will do nothing with them. Assuming you all behave, of course.”
And with that he turned and left the room, leaving the soldiers to escort us away.