11:32 a.m. July 5, Sunday, 106 PH (Post Hoopa Event)

Events: The Joint Kanto and Johto Indigo Summer League have concluded; Saria Surge has become the new Vermilion Gym Leader, converting it to a Fairy Gym. It will be open for challenges on the 10th.

Our girl started her journey on the 9th of June—she’s been a Trainer for 26 Days (25 officially; 26 since getting Maya and Nova).

The stormy swirl twisting Rhea’s gut drifted away into a deep blue nothingness as she spent time with Bianca; memories of waking up to laugh and play with her vulnerable cousin when she was a pre-teen came flooding back.

It had been quite some time since she’d been able to spend so much time with the blonde nerd of a woman; she couldn’t help but smile at the way Bianca would get excited while pointing her way through the stories on the wall, voicing her thoughts.

Hands held behind her back, Rhea lost track of time in the damp, underwater research temple, or, at least, that’s what her cousin believed it was.

She took her on a grand tour as the Champions disappeared into the background; no doubt the three were investigating the dangerous aspects of the ruins while giving her time to calm down with Bianca.

Growing up around Master Trainers—minimum—she’d come to know that her emotional state would be pretty much on display to most people since they could read Auras.

Diantha may not have known why she’d been so unbalanced, but she was sweet enough to try and facilitate a way for her to work past it. Her aunt, though? Cynthia would have zeroed in on how she was feeling and knew exactly what she needed—time with Bianca.

Backing up with her cousin as she drew her attention to various pictures, symbols, and their relation to one another, Rhea smiled, she found more relief in listening to Bianca talk than the topics themselves.

Of course, that didn’t mean she wasn’t listening.

So far as the researcher could tell—the ruins being a construct of the Pokémopolis ancient civilization—the entrance served as a reminder for those that worked in the facility to refocus themselves.

Art was used by the Pokémopolians to muse and direct their sights on the fantastical possibilities or heights they were striving to reach; it was meant to awe, and it certainly was captivating.

Bianca directed her to people in front of what appeared to be a control panel or fortune telling ball with their arms in the air and a gigantic Conkeldurr, providing further evidence to believe the Pokemon was responsible for the ancient civilization’s understanding of creating concrete.

Although the powerful, large Pokemon with unique, Pokémopolian markings seemed to be something her cousin was interested in. Paintings of colossal doors with a mechanical method of opening showed at one end of the room with a Ho-Oh and Lugia inside, which Bianca identified with their own.

It was theorized that all Apex Pokemon came from the ancient era, and the markings acted as a tagging system more than giving them mystical powers. The mysterious Dragonite at Bill’s Lighthouse was one such Pokemon.

Basically, gigantamax Pokemon that didn’t receive their powers from Trainers or Eternatus, but could internally sustain themselves to such a degree and, in essence, became Legendaries.

All evidence of their origins went back to the vast empire of the Pokémopolians, including the mysterious trap ruins of the Pokélantis King that Brandon—the Battle Pyramid King—discovered.

From the excavation and study of the ruins, it was theorized it was here that the civilization first took their steps beyond enhancing normal kinds of Pokemon to finding a way to control Legendaries—like Ho-Oh.

This caused the powerful Pokemon to grow more distant from humanity for a time because of that betrayal, eventually destroying many of the ancient City-States once freed. The Pokémopolians dominated the world with their armies, yet the story was always the same; they were killed by their own experiments.

Still, it was the Pokélantians City-State that did extensive research on pokeballs, Fortitudes, and souls—the combination of body, mind, and spirit—that current researchers were still puzzling over and that hadn’t advanced much in terms of their understanding of the phenomena.

They had somehow even managed to develop a method of sealing one’s own mind and spirit inside of a pokeball, using voice-activation methods in their unusual technology, such as when the King of the old civilization had possessed Ash.

Rhea wasn’t sure about all of the details or if much of it was just dramatized, but it certainly did sound like a fantastical tale; she just knew Alice was loving the freedom to run around now that she didn’t need to be there for her Trainer.

She hummed when Bianca brought them back to the main mural over the entryway, causing her cousin to puff out a long, depressed sigh that had come out of nowhere.

“What’s up?”

Her cousin’s lips tightened as she gave her a sad half-smile. “We’re going to be kicked out of here…”

“Huh—a trap?”

“No… My mom wanted me to figure it out myself,” she grumbled, rubbing the back of her neck. “Great… I bet she’s already called Aunt Christie.”

“Mom?” Rhea looked up at the Mew-lookalike picture on the ancient wall, thinking back to Diantha’s comment about a powerful distortion at the bottom of the ruins. “Is it that important—because my mom’s already in the middle of some big discovery back in Sinnoh or something, right?”

Bianca shot a look at the three Legendary-tier Pokemon hovering nearby. “Can you call my mom back, Alizée… I’ve pieced together the answer to her little riddle.”

The Gardevoir gave them a weak smile. “Your mother wished for you to have your fill of discovery with the time you had. She seems to care for you a great deal.”

“That, she does,” Bianca sighed, and Rhea jumped when shimmering lights brought a host of unexpected faces, including the man that had encountered just about every special event in the last 25 years.

Ash held up a hand with a bright grin. “Yo! Seems we found something big, huh?”

Green snickered, nudging Red’s side. “Ashy never changes; oblivious while right in the middle of a storm, every time!”

Laughter came from the most powerful Trainers in the entire world, sparking Rhea’s immediate curiosity; two oddities to the host of Legends were Dr. Fuji and Gym Leader Blaine.

Ethan stood beside his wife; Kris was trying to defend herself from Leaf’s rapid camera shots while she studied the area. Yellow stood nearby, and there were Pikachu everywhere—Ash’s wearing his trademark hat that sold like candy at the shops.

Chase was staring up at the mural with a deep frown; Elaine, his ex-girlfriend, best friend, and rival, stood behind him with an Eevee—Nova’s mother—making her little girl squeal to get a chance to meet her.

“Looks like you were right, Cynthia,” the current Kanto Champion muttered.

Steven hummed, rubbing his chin as everyone looked up at the image. “Does this confirm the theory Christie was working on with you, Dr. Fuji, Bl—”

Ash gasped, running around the group to stand beside Rhea, but his focus was above them at the Pokemon at the mural’s center.

“Mewtwo? It can’t be either of the friends I have,” he muttered.

In bewilderment, Rhea shot a look at her aunt. “Mewtwo—as in, there’s an evolution to Mew?”

His Pikachu separated from the others—greeting each other—to jump up his shoulder to look up at the Mew-like Pokemon; the Gardevoir translated the Pikachu’s words; he had a surprisingly strong, reliable voice for a small electric rat.

“Should we try and get in contact with one of them?”

“Hmm. Yeah, we could try, bud, but I don’t know where he’s at right now—if he’s on the planet.”

“Knew it,” Bianca whispered, running her fingers through her hair. “Does that mean what I think it does, Mom?”

“Haaa.” Her aunt forced a laugh. “Ash, you never do catch the hints.”

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Oh! Hehe. My bad.”

Green winked, shooting them a sly smile. “Sorry, huns, but it’s a bit of a National Secret.”

Rhea shrugged. “Okay. Same-old. My mom’s going to come back into the region, though?”

Ash took the hat that was offered by his Pikachu to put it over his dark black hair. “Eh… not trying to be rude and interrupt, but… should we bring Misty in on this? I’d like to keep her out of anything stressful—for obvious reasons—but I’m torn if we should let her in on the discovery because…”

Leaf and her older sister gave each other looks before the younger snickered.

“She’ll want to jump in and make sure her City-State has a say—plus, anything dealing with you, she’s on board.”

“Are ya on the rocks right now, Ashy-boy?” Green mused. “Lucky Blue’s holding down Alola, eh?”

Lost in the whirlwind of Legends and crowd, Rhea didn’t know who to focus on with everyone operating in their own circles and on their own wavelengths.

Yellow scooted over to Rhea, drawing her attention as a healthy chunk of the world’s strongest Trainers seemed to play around, tease, and catch up with one another; Diantha, Steven, and Cynthia hung back, muttering to one another with serious looks on their faces.

It must have been very important because the chaos happening around them was insane, but that was how the Legends did things.

Chuchu’s mature voice engaged them from the pretty blonde’s shoulder. “Sorry for everyone’s behavior; it is a fairly concerning discovery.”

Yellow nodded, adjusting her straw hat. “Mhm. We only just barely got here. Hehe. So many things are happening to you at the start of your journey; I feel bad! You seem to have our luck.”

“That’s probably not a comforting thing for them to hear, Sweetie,” Chuchu returned in a dull tone.

“Oh! Sorry.”

Rhea giggled, happy to have someone to clarify things; everyone wanted a piece of her aunt for one reason or another as gibberish was thrown around—Bianca was listening carefully.

“It’s fine! I’m just wondering if my mom’s going to be nearby soon, and—can I get some private time for Nova to meet her mom?”

“Oh! Her mom is Elai—I’m sure she’d love it!” Yellow chimed, jogging over to draw the confused brown-haired woman over to them.

“Hey—uh, what’s up, Yellow?”

“Rhea wanted to know if you guys can spare some time for her Eevee to meet her adorable mother!”

“Who—ah… Hehe,” she glanced at her companion.

The Eevee’s cute, high-pitched voice followed. “I’d love to spend some time. Can it wait for later tonight? We can find you.”

Nova squealed, fully content to wait; Rhea giggled as a sudden swarm of Butterfree filled her belly after realizing her wish had been granted.

Thanking the former Champion, she let the woman return to Chase as he waited for them to finish, and Yellow’s golden eyebrows furrowed upon returning to her other question.

“As for your mother… are you worried about her?”

Pulling around her own yellow locks to parse through them and distract herself from the cacophony of voices and tones nearby, Rhea sighed. “A little—in the past month, she’s been pulled from Hoenn to Kanto to Sinnoh, and now back to Kanto—all for super important things, apparently… She already doesn’t do a great job at taking care of herself.”

Yellow’s smile softened. “I know it probably won’t give you too much comfort, but I’ll make sure she gets enough rest.”

“Thanks! I’m sure my aunt will get on her butt, too. There’s… just a lot of things going on recently—it’s been kind of hectic.”

Chuchu glanced at her Trainer as she crossed her arms under her bust before directing her gaze to the others. “Hmm. I think you need some time to just be a Bronze-tier Trainer with growing friendships; you don’t need to be wrapped up in crazy stuff like this.”

Bianca hugged her from the side, hanging her head on Rhea’s shoulder. “I agree! I’m sure Hilbert will be called soon—I don’t know how much longer I can stay, but I’ll join you if you want—so why don’t you get out of here and call your little girlfriends? Clear your head. ”

The thought was a good one. Her cousin undoubtedly wished to stay and listen, yet, true to being a genuinely caring person, she wanted to make sure she was okay first.

Rhea hugged Bianca and squeezed, picking her off the ground.

“Oof!”

“Hehe. You can stay here; don’t worry about me—you already helped me get through the rough part.”

“I’m happy to hear it. Are you sure, though?”

“Mhm!”

Thanking Yellow, Chuchu, and her cousin, Rhea went to her aunt and gave her a cheery wave.

“Oh—heh, sorry, Rhea…”

“No. I’m fine! Umm. I had a great time with Bianca; thanks for giving us a chance to hang out in this cool place.”

Everyone quieted down to listen to her with small smiles.

“Umm. I get it’s going to be really dangerous and stuff, so… could you teleport me back to the city?”

Cynthia bent down to bring her into an embrace. “Sure thing, dear… You’re turning into such a beautiful young woman—in more than just looks.”

“Haha. Uh-huh.”

Ash waved at her with his Pikachu, flashing his teeth. “I can’t wait to battle you myself someday, Rhea—I keep hearing a lot about you!”

From who?!

Bianca, the Kanto, Johto, Sinnoh, Hoenn, and Kalos Legends all wished her well—Alice running over after conversing with the Pikachu to latch onto her leg—as her aunt’s Porygon-Z teleported her out.

Yet, just before exiting, she managed to see Lyra make an appearance with her own Virtual Pokemon.

A new Mewtwo, huh? Big deal, apparently.

Squinting as the bright noon sun hit her eyes and skin, Rhea forced a laugh; lately, she felt like she’d just been drifting between places and groups—drift on, drift on—which wasn’t terrible. It did give her time to think in-between the insanity.

She kissed her aunt’s Porygon-Z goodbye before the Pokemon disappeared, leaving her at the back of some food section in a seemingly empty store.

Mya and Nova were a bit sad they didn’t get to check out the ruin, but they were glad to see their old friends again, and she had Alice swap places with Mya to let the Mawile have a bit of time with her.

The light of the pokeball brought a curious store employee, shocked to see she’d somehow snuck past him. Waving him off without a word, she guided Mya to a sitting area near the front to sit in a chair and pull out her phone.

She needed to slow down—there was so much happening in the Master’s Community—and if everything was still the same, tomorrow would be the day they hit the road again.

Pulling up Pikabook, she saw her four friends had been documenting their trials to get to Cerulean City—and trials they’d had—their raft destroyed by a disgruntled Pidgey that Star provoked; they’d washed up on the shore and had to hitch a ride.

Those rafters hadn’t told them they were going down the white water rapids—a half-day added trip to the city—and Hannah didn’t do well with the adventure; she’d evidently lost her voice from screaming the whole time.

Sam, Jade, and Jay had had a blast; to add to the fun, they witnessed a Gold-tier battle between two of the rafters in the middle of the rapids, sending waves of energy between them in a dazzling show of control and excitement.

They’d made a bit of time back and were just now getting into the city.

Calling Sam, she waited until the livestream came up, showing the girls’ bright grins.

“Rhea!”

“Saw some of those photos you took of the battle—”

Hannah coughed, causing Jade to cut off as the red-haired girl rasped, “How—were the ruins?”

It was hard to hear her through the broken whisper she was forced to use after losing her voice, making Rhea chuckle.

“I had a good time with Bianca. Jay there, too?”

“Yup! I’m here! Just had a moving battle.”

“You can do that?” Rhea muttered, thinking back to how they’d usually done their matches.

Hannah tried to say something before stopping, rubbing her throat, coughing, and hanging her head in defeat.

“Hehe. Sorry, Hannah,” Sam chuckled, rubbing her back. “Oh, yeah—actually, they’re pretty fun if you set limitations on not using Moves to hurt the road or grass. What are the plans today—I thought you’d be in the ruins all day?”

“Meh. Things happened. Amira and Lori are out on dates, so… want to go chill somewhere—we can have a battle or something later, too. Mya wants some action.”

Mya threw her arms in the air with a roar, sitting beside her in a chair and pulling a few new patrons’ and employees’ eyes in the store.

“Date?” Hannah choked, seemingly unable to stop herself from jumping back into the screen. “W-Who?!”

Jay put her arms on the girl’s shoulders to steer her away. “Shhh! Stop hurting your voice, Hannah.”

“I gotta know!” she hissed.

“Later! Heal!”

Jade snickered. “Jay takes good care of us. So, umm. Yeah! We talked with Lori earlier; she keeps in touch pretty often.”

A little surprised at the news, Rhea looked around the store to see a few eyes on Mya. “Is that right? Umm. So, where do you want to meet up?”

Sam shrugged. “Anywhere’s good with us.”

Pulling up the map, a soft smile lifted her cheeks. “Cerulean is… kind of crazy right now. What do you think about going to the city just north of Bill’s Lighthouse? Bianca, Jason, and I went there, but we didn’t check out the northern city.”

Jay pulled up a map in the background, pointing for Hannah and the others to see the location. “Old Shore Wharf City?”

“Yeah! I’m pretty sure there’s a train between cities since they’re so close.”

“Sweet. Sweet,” Jade grinned. “Does that mean we get you for a whole day—and one of us gets to battle you?”

“Eh—heh, I’m a little drained, so probably only a single battle. I want to see how far all of us have come.”

Sam reflected the same look as her three friends. “Rhea… We know we’ll lose; don’t go easy on whoever wins the rock, paper, scissors—we need the experience!”

“Haha. I don’t know; you could win!”

“Sure!”

Jay scanned her phone for the fastest path to get there. “We should be able to get to the city in the next thirty minutes. So, are we going to meet up?”

Rhea nodded. “I’ll send you the coordinates.”

“Okay… Ah, got them! Nice. See you soon!”

“Sounds good.”

“Later!”

After parting words, she hung up and sat back, running her fingers through the thick locks running over her shoulder and bunched in her lap. I need to look at more of their battles…

Setting her brow, she stood up and held out a hand to help Mya off the chair.

No more depression stuff. Right? We’re here to have fun!

Mya cheered and flexed her legs; she was ready for a battle.

It was time to put all the random stuff behind her and look forward to her Bronze-tier journey—she just needed to send her mom a text—how to phrase it, though?

12:45 p.m. - Rhea: Hey, Mom! So, I’m going to hang out with my friends today. I heard you might be coming back to Kanto for some top secret ‘Mewtwo’ thing. Hehe. You should have told me Mew had an evolution. Uh… btw, am I an experiment and not fully human? Love you! XOXOXO!

Perfect! She thought, giggling at her joke that might get her something without causing too much of a ruckus. Send.