If you meet anyone who tells you that the way life was lived back in the olden days was far superior to how we live and function today, tell them that they're a complete idiot.

There are some nice things. The stars at night are absolutely gorgeous. There is something to be said about how fun it is to eat and cook around a campfire. And of course it's a simpler, more peaceful existence, than the one we have in the future.

Trust me, though. Less than twenty-four hours has passed since we've arrived in Hisui, and there are some things that the modern world does much better. Having a hot shower instead of having to boil your water, wait for it to cool, and then pour it over yourself with a pot, for one. Not having to go to the bathroom in a hole in the ground, for another.

The mystery of why Daniel, the first person we met, was so enthusiastic about cooking my egg has also been solved, because fresh food is a luxury around here. Without electricity, or refrigeration, things like meat, fish and fruits are dried, smoked, cured in salt, or pickled, so it lasts way longer.

Finally, there is no room for freeloaders, in a place as humble as this. If you're fit enough, you're going to be put to work. Barring Lucas, of course. He gets special treatment, as the so-called Sky Faller. The tent they gave him last night was twice as big as the ones Ursula and I got, for example, and he got to go in the front of the breakfast line, as opposed to the end.

Which is why I have expanded my horizons, in terms of what I'm capable of doing. I helped an old lady craft remedies out of native plants, and carried rocks to create a wall and bound them together with some mud, on the outskirts of the village.

By hand. For a barrier that almost any Pokémon could smash through. I manage not to open my big mouth through the process, but I'm really starting to get annoyed.

Especially because my next task involves dragging this primitive wood and steel tiller through the soil of one of their farming fields, as a woman follows me and places seeds in the upturned soil. All I can think of is one, that even though my grandparents on my mother's side were actually farmers, I'm super not cut out for this, and two, this would be a thousand times easier if we were allowed to use Pokémon.

I plant my farming instrument into the ground and lean on it, as the last of the seeds are planted in the ground. Even though it's cold in Hisui, I'm sweating from the amount of work I've been doing. "What now?" I ask.

"Now, we need to provide the seeds water so they can germinate," the woman explains to me.

It's hard, but I stifle my urge to retort that I'm not so incompetent that I don't know that plants need water. Unfortunately, there's not a hose with several needless sprinkler functions around here.

I'm presented with another clay pot, nearly identical to the one I used to take a bath this morning. And probably this evening, considering I'm probably going to need another one. "Between the two of us, it should only take us a dozen trips to the well and back before we're all done!" the village lady tells me brightly.

Yeah, I'm not doing that. Not when there's a much easier, faster, and less labor intensive way. I ignore the gasp and the footsteps of the woman fleeing when I summon Glaceon to my side. "Nothing exciting," I say to my first Pokémon. "But they want me to water this field. So, use Water Pulse into the air and then shatter it with another one so it gets sprayed on evenly."

Glaceon does the first two steps of Rain Dance, and I understand her point. "Yeah, but we don't want to get the whole village soaked. They already have a low opinion of you as it is."

She shrugs, and does what I say. Within minutes the seeds have been nicely watered, and I congratulate myself on a job well done and who knows how much time saved.

If these were normal circumstances, it would be a perfect time for a little training, and Glaceon isn't being subtle about wanting to practice more, especially with Shadow Ball and Freeze Dry not mastered, but…

"We'll find a way, Glaceon, but not right now. These people would throw a fit if they found us practicing attacks in their village."

I have to recall her quickly, lest anyone see us together, and then go look for more work, like any responsible villager. After wandering aimlessly for a bit, I find Ursula pounded away at a large stone bowl with a blunted wooden stick. "Having fun?" I ask.

She gives me a look so frosty that an Articuno would be asking for advice had one seen it. "Oodles," she grunts, taking out her frustration on the grain at her feet.

Bread is one of the things that can be made fresh. It's still laborious, as we can see. "What did you ask for?" I kinda expected her to look more out of place than either me or Lucas, and I'm being proved right. I've never seen Ursula's appearance more frazzled since I've known the girl.

"Something that takes creativity," she replies, changing her motion so that she's rolling the pounding stick instead of basing it repeatedly. "But there's no room for the arts in this place, because they assigned me to the blacksmith. Apparently they wanted to create weapons to replace the ones confiscated by the poachers. But I couldn't stand it there."

She stops, breathing heavily, and whistles. "So this is what I volunteered for, because I pricked my hands too many times trying to sew the old-fashioned way. Plus, I don't think telling the people that we are vegetarians would be enough to keep me away from their meat products, which I'm fairly sure are all Pokémon."

Yeah, I got the sense they eat Pokémon around here when the first guy we met was so set on consuming my egg. I'm spared from going down that line of through further when to my surprise, the Growlithe from earlier, despite its fur covering its eyes, bounds up to us with a bowl of water balanced on its back.

Ursula takes it gratefully, though she grimaces at the lukewarm temperature. "Thank you, Growlithe. I've been having him boil water for me, since our modern stomachs can't tolerate unfiltered water," she answers my unspoken question preemptively, before rewarding Growlithe with a treat and several head rubs and pats.

"So, Growlithe is allowed to do things, but our Pokémon can't, is that right?" It's hard to be annoyed with such a cute Pokémon, but I do my best.

"Apparently, Growlithe wandered into the village, lost and alone and confused one day, but Shira, one of the wardens, declared that he was no threat to anyone. Growlithe has been living here ever since, but it seems to me that he really wants some attention."

She grabs a rubber ball that I'm pretty sure is Lucas's and flings it for Growlithe to chase. I realize she was trying to get him out of here, because of her next question. "How long until you find us a way out of here? I can't live like this!"

"Why is it my responsibility to solve time-travel, exactly?"

"Well, you're the one who got us into this fine mess, wasn't it?"

"I'm pretty sure you two followed me of your own accord, actually."

"Touche," she finally admits, getting back to work pounding out this flour. "But you have to have an idea, right?"

The desperation is so obvious in her voice, that I can't help but throw her a bone, even if I haven't put that much thought into it. "We'll probably get the answer when we confront the poachers again. I get the feeling that they didn't fall in like we did; they were told to come here instead. And that means they probably were told the location or time or both, of a return portal."

"Well, that's a start," Ursula says. "Now all that's left in between is to convince Lucas to come back with us."

Wait. "He's thinking about staying?"

"I don't know that for a fact, but based on how happy he was to come here, and the fact the people treat him like a king, I'd say he's considering staying," Ursula mutters sullenly, looking at the large tent he is staying in. Time to pay the Sky Faller a visit, then.

After waving my goodbye to her, I almost trip over Growlithe racing back to Ursula, with the ball in his mouth. Again, I can't really blame it, because it's eyes are underneath all that fur, so I assume it's sensing things solely through its nose. Still, they seem pretty attached already…

Shaking my head, I banish that thought. Bringing a Pokémon back to Sinnoh from here is something I shouldn't consider doing.

Even though it would be really cool, it would be stealing Lucas's thunder. His whole project would be ruined, and I don't want that. I enter the tent to find him mediating ,or something akin to that at least. Something about Hisui makes you more on edge, and I don't think Lucas's excitement about this place is helping him to relax.

"Hey, Luna!" he greets me cheerfully, and he offers me a seat. Of course, this place is light on furniture, other than the wooden bed and vegetation filled mattress, so said seat is on the ground, with only a woven straw mat saving me from getting dirty.

Even if it's still rather humble, it's certainly an upgrade on most of the homes I'vee seen around here. Only Hana's, the clan leaders', is superior in my opinion. "You're doing well," I reply. "Sky Faller."

I intentionally used the name that had been given to him when we arrived, and he seems only a little bit guilty about taking advantage of this doppelganger, or case of mistaken identity. "All this pampering isn't only because they think I'm the Sky Faller," he defends himself. "It could also be my last day alive tomorrow. I'm going to meet the Lord of the Shadows, after all, and that's no cakewalk."

"There's no special preparation you have to do for such an important task?" I ask pointedly, because it seems to me all he's been doing is lounging around.

"The two wardens are taking care of it," he explains, seeming a bit embarrassed. "They're rounding up, food, sweets, and other offerings, to appease the Lord of the Shadows. So it doesn't maul me when I get there."

Neither of us believe that statement, but I decide to humor him for now. "The noble protector of this village," I stress the noble part. "Even if whatever Pokémon it is has a dangerous sounding title, if they're noble, it shouldn't be too dangerous. It's probably a Gallade or something. All you'd need to do was bow when you meet him."

Noble doesn't refer to their disposition, it refers to their status," Lucas corrects me. "The noble Pokémon are descendents of several that were partners of a hero who lived long ago, and that was blessed by the creator of the land. It's like how human families pass on noble status, in a way." He traces the shape of a family tree on the ground for emphasis.

Interesting. "Who's this deity they worship then? Is it one of the legendary Pokémon we know?"

"That's where it gets a bit strange," Lucas tells me, looking around as if someone might be eavesdropping. "I didn't get much detail on that, but they worship something named Almighty Sinnoh."

Those two words send a shiver down my spine. "Almighty Sinnoh," I repeat reverently. "The region's named for the deity. That actually makes so much sense."

"So you can see why it's a big deal to meet with a noble Pokémon," my friend says. "If it's descended from someone who was blessed by their god. They fear and revere it equally."

"But they fear the Lord of the Shadows because it's a Pokémon," I counter. "And you've actually lived amongst Pokémon your whole life, and know that as long as you treat them with respect, there is nothing to fear."

"Yeah…" Lucas drifts off, staring into the wall. When I try to get up though, he turns to me sharply. "Hey, while you're here, can I ask you a really profound and deep question that I've been thinking about for a while now? I'd like to get your opinion."

He's not leaving me much choice in the matter, but I do my best to wriggle my way out of this. "You know me. There's nothing I love more than having an intense and personal heart-to-heart conversation."

Unfortunately, my sarcasm sails straight over his head. "Cool. Remember last time we encountered Hunter J and her men, and I was so confused, because I couldn't fathom that Pokémon would work with people like these poachers? You told me back then that we had to accept that bad people used Pokémon to do bad things."

Lucas takes a deep breath before looking me dead in the eye. "Seeing the way people in Hisui view Pokémon, do you still think that way? Or do you actually think some Pokémon are evil?"

Come on, man. I took one philosophy class in college. That hardly makes me an expert. But I suppose the events of yesterday deserve some explanation. Time to shatter Lucas's opinion of me.

"No, I don't think Pokémon can be evil." I hold up a hand before Lucas can blurt out something, as I consider my thoughts. Of all the Pokémon I've met or heard bad things about: Team Rocket's Meowth, Spiritomb, Darkrai, Giratina, and even the Shadow Pokémon yesterday, none of them strike me as that. Misguided, angry, in pain, mischievous and not understanding how they can hurt people, sure, but not evil.

I chuckle drily. "It's kinda ironic. Almost everyone here is afraid of Pokémon, when humans are the ones who have more potential for evil in them than any creature who's ever lived."

My mind goes back to Earth's history, to all those awful people who took pleasure in the horrible acts that they committed. "What's worse is, not only do we have a great capacity for evil, but we also have the unique ability to draw others in, and make them collaborators."

"So, yeah. Pokémon can get caught up in it too. But on the flip side, humans are also capable of the most amazing good, and we see that as well. A lot more of it, I'd like to think."

There's a moment of silence as he ponders my words. Then Lucas asks the question I've been dreading the most. "Is that why you had to kill those two Pokémon? Because they got caught up with a bad crowd, and you didn't think there was any way to pull them back?"

"No," I reply, somewhat aggressively. "I don't think any Pokémon are beyond the point that they can be brought back." There's a way to purify Shadow Pokémon and return them to themselves. I know there is.

"Then why?" Lucas follows up. Clearly, he wants answers, even though I'm not prepared to give them to him.

"Because," I deflect, turning away, so I'm facing the opposite direction. "We just lost it for a second, there. It can happen to anyone."

He shoots down my reasoning a little too easily. "Maybe, but it shouldn't be a problem for you. You have more trouble finishing battles than any great trainer I've ever met or observed closely. It was completely out of character."

This sucks. Why can't he yell and scream at me that I shouldn't have done that? I'd have much preferred that than being suffocated by kindness like this.

I avert my eyes as Lucas gets up to sit in front of me. "What I'm saying is that you have a really big and good heart, Luna. I know there was a reason for ending the lives of that Arbox and that Drednaw. I'm not going to judge or condemn you for it, but I do want to know why."

Lucas patiently waits for me to open my mouth and say anything, but I do my best Clamperl impression instead. As much as I want to get one of these secrets that I've been keeping off of my chest, I can't bring myself to say it.

Eventually he sighs at my silence. "Well, I wanted to make the offer, at least. If you ever do want to open up, I'll have both ears open."

Something sparks in my chest. He thinks it's that easy, is it? I suppose it is, when you have no idea what you're dealing with. So much of the stuff I've been repressing has been building inside me like a pressure cooker, and that one innocent little statement has me exploding out steam.

"They were Shadow Pokémon!" I shout, taking Lucas aback with my outburst. "They were Shadow Pokémon, and they wouldn't stop fighting, no matter how injured they got, and I couldn't stop them, because when I tried, it got even worse, and then we were forced to kill them because what else were we supposed to do?!"

I take several deep breaths to calm myself, because getting angry and screaming isn't really my style, but it seems Lucas is even more shook than I am. His eyes are wide, his face is pale, and his hands are trembling. "Shadow Pokémon?" he whispers weakly.

Instantly, my focus returns. "You know about them?"

"Creating or using Shadow Pokémon is the highest offense of all the cruelty against Pokémon laws," he replies numbly. "It's a process where you strip a Pokémon of all their free will, their emotions, their spirit through torturing them, and until they're hollowed out husks that know nothing but violence. Shadow Pokémon experimentation turned Orre from a thriving region into a desolate wasteland.

He shakes his head. "It's kept a secret from the public because of the implications. Only a select few people know about them at all. I wouldn't know had I not become Professor Rowan's assistant. So, how do you know?"

"It was a rumor I heard before I came to Sinnoh," I fudge the truth. "Alder isn't really concerned with the day to day responsibilities of being Champion."

Luckily, Lucas buys that explanation, and doesn't follow down that line of questioning further, because I'm not ready to divulge the secret of my rebirth anytime soon. Or ever, probably. He does, however, ask me a different question.

"How could you tell that Arbok and Drednaw were Shadow Pokémon? Was it from the way they battled? I know they were overly aggressive, but that could have been from something else, right? Like starvation?"

The way he says it makes me think that Lucas desperately wants to believe that this isn't true. I'm going to have to burst his bubble. If he believes me. "Yeah, there's a reason I was so sure of what they were. It's because I can, uh, see them."

I wince as Lucas repeats what I said. "You can see them? There was supposed to be a girl in Orre with that ability…"

"I'm not her," I quickly correct him. "But apparently I have that same ability to. It was as clear to me as you and I are looking at each other right now. All of their hatred, and anger, and pain, was swirling around them in some sort of black cloud of negativity. I just realized it yesterday, but I'm pretty sure I saw that same cloud around Hunter J's Salamence that day in the Valley of the Ancients, as well."

Have I broken Lucas? I feel like I might have, with the way we've swapped roles, with him going silent on me now. But his determination returns fast enough. "We need to tell someone."

"What do you think I've been doing?" I ask him, making a face. "I've been telling you."

"No!" He waves his hands around animatedly. "Someone who can actually do something."

"You shouldn't talk about yourself that way, Lucas," I say in my most lecture-like voice. "You can do anything you put your mind to."

He smacks his face with his palm, and I giggle, though I quickly put on a straight face at his expression. "Luna. Come on and be serious. I wasn't joining when I said this is one of the most serious offenses in the whole Pokémon world."

"They're poachers," I scoff. "They already don't give a damn about the law. Obviously, it's terrible for the Pokémon, but I don't see what going to the authorities would fix."

"We could get martial law declared, or repeal a law that bans a machine which lets trainers catch Pokémon from other trainers," Lucas counters, to my surprise, "if we went through the right channels."

"Why are you so hesitant?" he follows up, before I can come up with a decent response.

I shrink and wrap my arms around myself. "I dunno. I never asked for this, or wanted to be different. And it seems pretty far-fetched to think that someone would believe that Shadow Pokémon are back solely based on my words alone."

Support the author by searching for the original publication of this novel.

Lucas takes his time formulating his answers. "Well, I believe you. Professor Rowan has a high opinion of you. He will, too. As far as thinking of you differently, the only way my opinion would change is if you didn't use this knowledge to make a difference."

Why do some people have to be so gifted with their words? My defenses are slowly crumbling away, under his oratory skills. "It's bad enough that poachers steal wild Pokémon, and ones from trainers, but can you imagine they turned a trainer's Pokémon into a Shadow one? No one would be safe, no matter how far you could fly away…"

The reference to Vivillon is the final straw and I relent. "Fine! Fine. I'll do it. But you need to tell Professor Rowan first, and if I'm not comfortable with it, I can back out."

"Sure," Lucas agrees easily. "We have to do this, Luna. Those Pokemon are counting on us."

They are, but there's also the possibility of no one taking me seriously and that I turn into a pariah who cried wolf, but it is what it is, I suppose. There's no wooden door to knock on these tents, so we both jump as someone barges their way in.

It's Shira, one of the village wardens. "Oh! I am sorry to interrupt, but all the preparations have been made for our departure, Sky Faller. Oh, and Hana wants to meet with your friend. She's at the shrine."

I suppose it's about time for me to get my dressing down for using Pokémon in the settlement when I was specifically asked not to. Ah, well. I get up, stretch, and crack all my joints, as Lucas does the same, minus the stretching and the cracking.

"This is it, I guess," Lucas says awkwardly, really sounding like this might be his final goodbye. I suppose I can't let my friend to into the dangerous Hisuian wilderness without any backup.

"Here," I say, holding out the Great Ball I used to capture Absol. "Take him with you. Not like I can bring him out while I'm in the village, after all."

We both know that's not the main reason I'm doing this. It's a sign of trust. I trust Lucas to return from his quest and bring Absol back, and he trusts me to work with him in solving this Shadow Pokémon conundrum. He's still a little hesitant, though.

"Shouldn't you ask Absol first?"

Fair enough. "Hey, Absol," I talk to my Pokéball. "Lucas is going on a very dangerous adventure, and what I need most from you right now is to look out for him, alright?"

The faintest shake of the Pokéball confirms that he heard me, and now Lucas has no option but to take it from my hand. "Good luck, and see you soon," I tell him, as he finally leaves on his quest.

With Lucas on his way, I need to be on my way as well. As Shira had said, I find Hana at the small religious shrine in the village. She appears to be meditating or praying, so I wait patiently for her to be done.

Eventually, she opens her eyes and turns to me, gesturing at the shrine. "Do you know what this is, Luna?"

I'm glad someone in this village actually knows my name, as opposed to referring to me as the Sky Faller's friend. My conversation with Lucas earlier has shed some light on what these people believe, so I don't completely put my foot in my mouth. "I assume it's a shrine to Almighty Sinnoh."

"Very good," the Platinum Clan leader says, impressed. "Almighty Sinnoh is both our creator and our protector. They not only created this vast land for life to survive, but they also created the Nobles to help stave off threats."

Here we go. "I'm sorry, Hana. I shouldn't have broken your rule. I was just getting frustrated with the work-"

She holds up a hand. "Patience. I was not yet finished. Almight SInnoh represents both the good and the bad of life, the pain and the joy, and thus while they made this land for us, it is not a kind one. We make do and survive in the Amethyst Heartlands, but we haven't flourished here."

Hana sighs heavily. "Which is why I wanted to speak to you. When I came to look upon the field, it was watered perfectly, in a fraction of the time it would have taken us. Where you are from, is it really like that? Pokémon and people, working together?"

I've never heard the boisterous woman's voice so fragile, like she was afraid to shatter that amazing reality. "That's exactly what it is," I confirm to her. "We're bound to the hip with Pokémon, for good, and for bad. But mostly good. If you really want to turn this place from a barebones settlement into a thriving community, working with Pokémon is the best way to do that. No offense, of course."

"None taken," she replies, seeming more unsure of herself by the second. "As the leader, I should be the first one to embrace them, right? Can you help me with that?"

"What, you want to meet a Pokémon?" I gesture to the world around us. "It's not that hard. Within five or ten minutes you'll run into one. They're as intelligent as you or I. If you have good, kind intentions, they'll pick up on that, and will know you're not there to hurt them."

"Actually, one has been following me around. I first noticed a presence around me a while back, but then I saw it whilst I was lifting weights one day, and it pops its head up every now and then." Hana shudders. "It has no business scaring me like that!"

Well, this just got considerably easier. "Did you maybe feed a Pokémon, or save it from someone, to the point that it got attached to you?" I ask.

"I don't remember such an event." Hana clasps her hands together. "Can you please help me overcome this fear, and see if it wants to be friends, or drive it off if it doesn't? I'm waking up and seeing giant yellow eyes staring at me!"

Based on her description, I think she's being haunted by a ghost. While my track record against ghosts isn't exactly stellar, I'm happy to try and help. Hana takes me to what appears to be some sort of primitive workout gym, out in the woods, where she has a bunch of boulders of different sizes that she presumably lifts so she gets all bulked up.

There's no sight of this ghost Pokémon, so I lay out our strategy. "I'm going to go hide, and you're going to work out like you normally do, and hopefully, that will draw this mystery Pokémon out."

"What if something happens?" Hana questions me, glancing around nervously.

This is kinda hilarious, how this big and strong woman is absolutely terrified of this Pokémon. "I'll be right here," I assure her. "Try to act natural."

It takes Hana a little bit of time to get into the groove of weight lifting her boulders, but she gets into a routine of curls, shoulder presses, and then squats. Midway through her fifth set of fifteen squats, she almost crushes her food when whatever has been haunting her appears.

A weird floating snake thing with a triangle for a head, and giant yellow eyes that match Hana's description materializes out of a tree. Pokémon and human stare at each other, both of them looking like they're ready to run away at a moment's notice.

"Are you seeing this?" Hana asks me, voice cracking.

"Yeah, hold on," I call out, turning down the volume on my Pokédex as I hold it out to scan the mystery Pokémon. I don't want to completely blow Hana's mind, with a robot talking out of nowhere, after all.

"What is that?" she asks, keeping one eye on each of us.

"It's a portable book of information, basically," I reply, not wanting to get into the details with someone who doesn't even know about electricity. "This Pokémon is called Dreepy. It says that one alone is weaker than a child, but it has a lot of potential to grow strong if it has friends to train with." I lower the device, understanding.

"I think Dreepy is really impressed with your strength, and is following you around to see how you do it, actually. It wants to be strong, like you."

Hana's mouth drops open in shock, before it slowly turns into a smile. "IS that true?" she questions the Pokémon carefully. "You want to learn how to get stronger from me?"

Dreepy nods, and her normal persona returns. "Well, why didn't you say so! We can get started by-'' She screeches to a halt when she realizes she doesn't know how to train a Pokémon, especially one with no legs and stubby little arms. "How do we do that?" she says sheepishly.

"Battling," I advise her. "You can start off small, and as Dreepy gets stronger, gradually increase the level of competition."

"That's just like how I started!" Hana exclaims, as her new friend settles on her shoulder. It's awesome to see her expression, as she experiences that wonderful magic meeting a new Pokémon friend for the first time. It has me feeling a bit nostalgic and emotional, actually, remembering those moments when I met all my Pokémon.

Looks like I did some good today. Plus, Hana owes me one, and I'm about to cash in that favor. "Speaking of training, can I use this spot for my Pokémon? You can tell the village that they need to let off some energy or something, right?"

"We still have work to do," Hana tells me, stopping me in my tracks. "You can train after."

"Come oooooon," I whine. "There's still more work to do?"

She knocks me forward by patting me on the back. "I'll let you choose again. We still have sewing, and blacksmithing, and fishing that we need some help on-"

"Fishing," I blurt out before she can finish that sentence or change her mind. "I can fish. I even have my own rod and line and everything!"

"You must really not catch a lot of fish, then."

----------------------------------------

Turns out, they can't even have fun fishing in this village. I'm stuck carrying poles, nets, more rocks, a bunch of questionable food items, and other miscellaneous stuff for a large-scale fishing operation in a nearby stream. Because they apparently don't fish in a lake, due to some tragic incident that no one will speak about.

This time, my village partner is a man, and I mostly stand around, not knowing what to do, as he sets it up. It quickly becomes apparent what he's up to, though.

"You're setting the net up to go across the entire thing?"

"That's right!" he tells me proudly. "We got word that a school of fish is coming this way. We'll be eating good for the next few days!"

Mental note to self. Tell Hana that if she wants her village to become anything worth remembering, by working with Pokémon, they need to stop viewing them as food. I know I won't be able to convince this fellow to change his eating habits, but maybe I can educate him on the practice of sustainability.

"Are you not worried that if you take out all the fish, there will be none left?"

He puts his hands on his hips. "I'm not the only one taking fish, thank you very much. There's so orange floaty things that do, and of course those red octopuses that shoot water out of their mouths, and don't get me started on those poison spiny guys! If they were around, I wouldn't even be able to get in the river!"

I'm pretty sure those first two are Floatzel and Octillery, though I haven't got the foggiest notion of what the third Pokémon is. In any case, it seems the other denizens of this stream are well-fed, so I don't really have anything else to offer, considering I'm not going to change his mind about what he eats.

With nothing else to say, I plop down on the bank and cast my line into the water. Fishing is a waiting game, and after an hour of doing just that, the water changes color as the shadows of fish Pokémon underwater come into view.

The villager doesn't even have a weapon, like a spear. All he has by his side is a rock, which I assume he's going to bash the fishes' skulls in with, gruesome and graphic as that is. Which makes me think we're going for Magikarp, or maybe Feebas, considering no other Pokémon is weak enough to be caught like this.

Even a few Goldeen would tear us to shreds, unarmed and Pokémon-less as we are. I loosely hold my trusty old rod with one hand and keep the other on Bellossom's Pokéball. Even if I'm not allowed to use Pokémon, I think saving someone's life will be an exception Hana can make.

It seems like I'm going to have to, considering the green fish that this small school consists of Basculin, which I still can't escape from catching constantly, despite moving to a different region and now going back in time.

The novelty of seeing whether they're blue or red-striped isn't all that exciting, because Basculin are assholes who want to bite your face off either way. These ones… aren't acting that way, though. And their stripes of white. As they get caught in the net, they don't lash out or thrash around or start shooting water every which way.

It's as if they've simply accepted their fate, as if this was to be expected, that most or all of them were going to die on this journey. It's actually incredibly sad. True to his word, the fisherman villager makes sure every last one of the Basculin have found their way into his net before pulling out of the water with a mighty tug.

Except for one, who's decided to take a last meal before coming to the end of his or her journey, chomping down on the mystery meat at the end of my line. It gives me an excuse to look away from the grizzly business of what's going on a few feet away from me, as I start to reel this one Basculin in.

Despite being strong and healthy, it doesn't put up much of a fight either. I pull it out of the water, and the Basculin doesn't do much of anything, other than trying to breathe air through its gills in futility.

"Wow, you got one!" The fisherman villager cheers, upon seeing the fish hooked on my line. "They say one out of every three-hundred or so Basculin survive their journey, but I guess that one isn't the one!"

His words go in one ear and out the other, because my head is spinning right now. A lone survivor. Like Vivillon was. The vision of Hana's joy upon making a new friend also flashes in my memory. When was the last time I experienced that?

… I still have the Lure Ball, specialized for catching fish Pokémon, given to me all those weeks ago by the fisherman I befriended around Eterna City. Basculin is weakly struggling for oxygen at this point, which means time is running out for it.

A brief moment of weakness is all it takes to make a bad decision, and I'm not immune from that. All it takes is a couple seconds of the villager looking away, so I don't have to explain to him what just happened, and the deed is done. When he is all done butchering his catch, he sees me folding up my empty rod.

"You threw it back?" he asks, looking between me and the stream.

I shrug as innocently as I can. "I figured it deserved a shot. One fish isn't going to make or break your haul, is it?"

He seems confused but doesn't question me any further, thankfully. "It was your catch, so you get to decide what to do with it. Don't expect a single fish to make it very far, or amount to anything, though."

After he turns his back, haul on his shoulder, to head back to the village, I carefully pick up the Lure Ball from the ground, where it had been wiggling and flashing red before stopping with a click, and stare at it as I hold it out in my hand. I wonder how long it will take to prove him wrong.

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The smell of diesel and the roar of an engine were unfamiliar sounds in this place, but were two things Sergeant Robinson welcomed, as they reminded him of the land that they had left behind. He took a slow draught of his cigarette as two of his men ran up to him, panting lightly, and saluted.

"Report."

"Sarge, two of us were captured, because an unknown enemy infiltrated the camp and ambushed us. We were driven out of the village, and the hostages were freed as well. It seems to be a group of trainers, of respectable strength, though the engagement was extremely brief."

The man speaking was struggling to maintain his posture, no doubt fearful of the reprimand that was coming. Robinson rolled his cigarette between his index and middle finger as he considered.

He'd served under Hunter J for years, and he knew exactly how his employer dealt with failure. She'd kill off these two without a second thought, and find replacements for them within the hour. There was no shortage of individuals driven by greed and a lust for power in the world, after all.

Fear and violence were her greatest motivators, but Sergeant Robinson had cut his teeth in the army, before finding that his skills were obsolete in a world of peace. Rather than going to Ransei as a mercenary and continuing to fight, poaching had been an acceptable alternative for his second career. He'd done far worse, after all.

He knew that loyalty couldn't just be bought or paid for. It had to be earned. "At ease, soldiers. It can happen to the best of us. I've been ambushed and taken by surprise before, too."

It was for that reason that he had insisted on taking this vaguely worded mission when Team Galactic had approached them, and Hunter J hadn't been interested, instead focusing elsewhere, on an extremely wealthy client seeking an Aura Sphere Riolu, of all things. This was his chance to gather followers and break from her, before one day, he slipped up, and Hunter J put him ten feet under without a second thought, despite his years of loyal service.

He had experience in spades, from observing her, and he had some of her contacts as well. With the amount of rare Pokémon they had rounded up here, he had more than enough money to get started.

Of course, Hunter J didn't take betrayal lightly. She'd no doubt come for him and burn him alive with her demonic Salamence, if she could. But just as she'd trusted him to lead this mission, she'd made one more mistake, that would be her downfall.

"Load up the truck!" he shouted, startling the men and women who had followed him on this mission. "Fill it up with gas, too. We're getting out of this shithole. The second portal is waiting for us, and I finally won't have to smell you stinky fuckers when we get to real showers!"

That got several laughs and cheers, and Robinson smiled under his breath. It wasn't a kind one. "But we'll make one pitstop on the way there."

Everyone under his command laughed, because they knew what was coming. "At the village, Sarge?" one of the men asked, rubbing his hands together in glee.

Robinson threw the butt of his cigarette to the ground and stomped on it with his boot. "Exactly." He took out a Pokéball, the one that Hunter J had given him from her personal team, because she, again, hadn't seen the potential in it, because she was too quick, as usual, to dismiss it as a failure. The potential that he had been able to unlock. He nodded at a woman, who immediately drew her tranquilizer pistol.

As soon as the Pokémon materialized in a flash of red light, it was hit by the dart, so it couldn't go on a rampage, as it was wanton to do. Robinson picked up a rock, hefting in his palm before hurling it with all his might at the Pokémon, hitting it straight in the head.

It couldn't lash out now, paralyzed like a statue as it was, but as his men pelted the beast with stones, he knew that its rage was building. "When we get back to that backwater excuse for a village, we'll show the people there what reward they get for interfering with our business."

"There was a cute village girl I saw when I was there," someone said. "Can I keep her as a pet?"

"Of course," Robinson replied. "Unless she fights back. Whoever does we'll tie to the back of our truck and drag behind us all the way to the portal. Assuming they survive the initial carnage, after all."

Sergeant Robinson hadn't survived as long as he had by being stupid. Just as he was betraying Hunter J, there was a chance that someone could backstab him, as well. And in that way, his former employer was right about something.

It never hurt to demonstrate to your subordinates exactly what they could expect if they dared to cross you.