Derrion Town - Northern Unova Region

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The 'Castelian Civil War', as it was being called, had occurred five days from the start of the final day of Festivus, and the New Year. In those five days, Alex Redwood and Tao remained safely hidden in the icy north, and as with most small towns, any media attempts to find his residence were met with stony silence by locals.

That's not to say the entirety of their small town liked the Redwoods, they just disliked the media circus more, especially since they were very obviously from the west coast of the continent. Tanned skin, blue eyes, and sandy blonde hair weren't too common this far north of Unova. Even with the coordinates of his home available to the public, with the sheer amount of farmland their small town had, finding the actual residence was a challenge.

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The blizzard that had been raging in that northern region didn't make matters any better, and eventually, most of the media crews gave up, or hunkered down at the local inn until the storm passed. The snow was also covering New Tork City, which took up a large part of what was considered Unova. With the Arcean's sudden withdrawal from the recently burned Castelia, the local Castelianites were left to clean up the damage, which included paying for it.

That was a large factor in what soured most of the billions of humans within the megalopolis against the Arceans and their Church, which had more than enough money to fund the repairs seven times over. Since they'd been the ones setting most of the fires, purposefully, the least the inhabitants expected was proper reimbursement for their damaged property. All they ever received however, was a public statement claiming that the incident in Castelia had been perpetrated by Unovans who were 'Arceans in name only' and had been radicalized by the east's 'wild and free' lifestyle and morals. Therefor, the Church claimed they owed nothing, and had no involvement in the affair.

Tao's followers had stayed in the city through the night, alongside two of the four Champions who'd fought beside them, and aided in the repairs as best they could. The locals had also begun taking a page from their attacker's book, and began suing the Church itself. With so many Battle Recorders on the Trainers who'd defended their home, it was hard for the Church to deny their involvement, especially when Caleb Pravus himself had been caught on camera, fleeing the scene.

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The Trainers who offered said recordings soon found themselves evicted, and Arcean landlords came out of the woodwork with new 'building codes' in regards to Pokémon across the city. Evidently they'd bought up quite a few buildings in Castelia over the years, though in a city as large as New Tork, they were vastly outnumbered by groups who'd owned land much, much longer.

Neither 'coppers' nor criminals cared much for foreign trash that set their city on fire. New Tork City stank, it was filthy, and your average fellow citizen would typically pass you without so much as noticing your existence, but it was still their home. Local landlords, who not so subtly represented the crime element in New Tork, partnered with 'Jenny Law', and in three days, the foreign ownership of the buildings in question was returned to the state of Unova, their landlords having had their property seized once the criminal element of Unova rather easily brought their dirty laundry into the light. Pedophilia, illegal Pokémon trading, possession of Pokéballs with foreign and unregistered Trainer numbers as trading partners, which implied they were stolen, and of course, providing aid and comfort to foreign and domestic enemies of the region. The combination of police and criminal gangs outing said landlords was surprisingly effective, if temporary.

Not since Team Plasma grunts had been brought before the Unovan courts had so many criminal charges been slammed onto so many people at once. The foreign former building owners were advised to return to Fornia, and were 'guided' to the nearest plane flight across the country, headed for one of their 'satellite States', regions of the north western continent that had, over time, become devout Arceans in their own right through the same tactics they'd been using on Unova.

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Alex and Jess had returned home to find her house empty, and his house bustling with activity, despite the snowstorm raging outside. Having a mansion to themselves certainly aided with the pent-up stress and extra adrenaline from fighting in an intense conflict. They'd had to stop when her parents had returned, nearly two hours past midnight, but with some help from Leo, Alex had escaped discovery, and ridden home on his back.

It was the first time they'd tried it, and they discovered they made a good team. Leo's movements were fast and soundless, and even though his Trainer added quite a bit of weight to his step, they were able to leave minimal prints in the snow. The blizzard took care of them, and thanks to Leo's eyes, getting home was easy.

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The lights in the main ranch house were dimmed as they approached, but the adjacent lab still had a faint glow, and as Alex examined the smaller building, he saw the telltale gleam of an old fashioned hand-held lighter brighten the interior for a moment. Then he spied a plume of smoke rising from one of the windows that faced the land behind the lab. He smelled what Leo smelled, and one didn't have to be psychically linked, as they were, to recognize that familiar Stunky-esque scent.

Sensing and sharing his Trainer's thoughts, Leo moved them away some distance so Arthur could join them in relative stealth. The swift Gallade kept low under the opened window on the backside of the lab building, as Alex and his five-foot-tall electric feline made their way to the front door.

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He had to resist swearing, as he hopped off Leo, and sank a good three feet into the unshoveled snow. His granduncle was a classic leaf head, and in his day, the herb had been made illegal for several decades. As such, he had a lingering paranoia whenever he smoked and someone knocked on his door.

The eastern part of the continent shifted its stance on the legality of the herb all the time, but the western side had outlawed it completely, thanks in no small part to the Arceans. They saw such things as 'distractions' from their goal of 'preparing the planet for Arceus' imminent return'. This didn't mean all Fornians disliked or abstained from enjoying the Leaf however.

Those who managed to fly under the Arcean's radar kept to the heavily forested, mountainous north of the western coast, and grew and smoked in relative safety. Or so Alex had heard, from that area's Champion, one of his fellow trainees in the Swamp. She too had returned home before he did.

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Because he knew his granduncle's quirks so well, he knew, with some certainty, how the old man would react to a simple knock at his door in the middle of a smoke session. He pounded his large fist on the door three times, and heard the clanking of glass and crunching of plastic bags as his oldest relative hurried to hide the evidence of his midnight smoke session. That was where Arthur came in. He was carefully watching the old man, and noting where he hid everything.

Alex suppressed a chuckle, and Leo had what looked like a smirk on his furred face as they heard the spraying of some kind of air cleanser meant to rid, and in this case hide, the odor in the air.

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When his granduncle finally got the door, the faint scent of lemon hit Alex, and he made a show of waving the smell away as the aging Professor pinched his brow and sighed. "Blazing Blaziken balls lad, you nearly gave me a heart attack! I thought you were the Police, or worse, your father. All I need is him showing up at midnight, drunk, to 'wish me a Happy Festivus, and talk'. Again. You know better than to knock. Now get in here."

Behind the old man, Alex spied Arthur, carefully floating the hidden pieces of glassware, a bong and several slides, as well as a bag of familiar green, out the still-open window via his psychic powers.

Apparently leaving a window open in a snowstorm was entirely normal. Alex chuckled, and then embraced his granduncle. "It's good to see you, Gruncle. I missed the stench of your stale Leaf stash." The old man returned the embrace, though to Alex, it seemed weaker than before.

"Bah." He said, waving his hand as they entered the lab. "My stash is of the highest quality. You should know, ya bloody mooch."

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The two Redwoods moved to the back part of the lab then, and Alex saw no sign of Arthur. From what he could sense, his partner was still outside, waiting for the jig to be up, but something was off. He was too distracted by his granduncle's words, and the state of the lab, to notice, however.

"Well?" The old man grunted, returning to his seat, "I heard about Castelia. Is it true? They're calling it war."

Alex looked around the lab, and then noticed why something seemed different. Papers were piled up everywhere, not a single piece of the dated equipment was being used, in fact, most of it was covered by white sheets.

"Yea…" Alex said, still taking in the sight of the disused, and filthy lab. "The Arceans…as soon as I heard they had Tao, I had to get him…I guess when they saw me fly over on Blaze, trailed by Rayquaza, Tao's followers kicked off the rescue attempt…and it devolved into open conflict. I've never seen anything like it. I doubt Fornia will do anything though, they're claiming they had no involvement."

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The Professor nodded, returning to the chair he'd placed by the window. "I did warn you not to mess with them. They'll give you no end of trouble. Especially since you have a Psychic Type on your team."

That got Alex's attention. "What? Why does having a Psychic Type have anything to do with their opinion of me?"

The old man raised a scraggly gray eyebrow as he reached for his hidden bong, behind the chair, yet only found air.

"You don't know? They hate Psychic Types and anyone with the ability to use similar powers. Even those with minor empathic abilities. They're convinced that the Psychic Types are controlling the world's governments, and making them do Giratina's will, or some such nonsense. Where in the bloody hell…" He turned to look behind his chair now, and discovered his stash had vanished.

Alex kept his face neutral as he thought for a moment, taking a seat in the chair opposite his granduncle. "Odd…I didn't find anything like that when I was researching them…" His Gruncle had spoken of this before, but had never revealed so much at once. Alex urged his high old brain on.

The Professor looked up, and chuckled. "You wouldn't. It's not something the Arceans like to tell people. They keep it secret, but one of their core beliefs is that Psychic Types seek only to challenge Arceus' rule…apparently having psychic power, and being Human, marks one as a 'half breed'. You don't want to know what they do to the psychics they find in Fornia. They see natural power as a sign of domination by a malevolent Psychic Type, and the resulting 'half-breeds' are considered to be the antithesis of everything they stand for."

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Alex stared back at him. "But…but Pravus uses a Gallade…I saw him Mega Evolve it with a Mind Plate crystal. He had a Lugia as well, another Psychic Type, and Tao easily qualifies, with his telepathy. Even separate, Reshiram, Zekrom, and even Kyurem all possessed psychic ability."

That brought another chuckle from the old man, "You expect the leader to follow his own rules? Ha! He's likely explained that using them like this is part of some Arceus-given plan, but owning his own Gallade, Pokéball and all? That's damning evidence."

Both their heads turned as they spied a soft orange glow from outside, and Alex laughed into his hand as he finally sensed what Arthur had been hiding.

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He'd been suppressing their link for a moment, just long enough to try this Leaf that appeared so popular with humans, and apparently ancient, wise Pokémon. Both the Sage and Tao had openly enjoyed it, and he was tired of missing out. Manipulating the instruments was easy enough, but the smoke was awful. Still, he had enough residual knowledge from Alex, and had seen him use similar equipment enough times to take a passable toke.

"Speaking of Gallades… yours wouldn't happen to be using my bong, would he?" Alex broke down into full laughter, and the old man hobbled towards the window. "Oi! If you scorched the entire bowl, I'll have your hide!"

The old man's bong, as well as all of his other various smoking apparatus, floated back in through the window, safely tucked in the old man's own travelling backpack, wrinkled with age like its owner, and long since past use for travel. Alex raised Arthur's ball, recalled him, and then let him out again within the lab. "Couldn't resist, could you?"

Alex smirked at his partner, who took a seat, cross-legged, by Leo. The large cat had curled up between the two humans, and had been napping. He opened one eye, blinked at Arthur, then resumed his nap.

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Arthur shrugged, and then projected his telepathy for the two humans to hear. His speech had improved over their months in the Swamp, and now he spoke with the eloquence of an Albion Knight.

He had a baritone that almost sounded like Alex's. "You never let me try it in the Swamp, and I was curious. It's an odd sensation…but I rather like it."

That got a laugh from the two Redwoods, and soon after, they decided to descend into the basement of the lab for a proper post-midnight smoke session. Arthur's first 'hot boxing'.

Leo opted to remain above, taking one of the butt-warmed chairs to curl up in, while the other three went below. It wasn't long before the air was filled with smoke, and the conversation resumed.

"You mentioned that Pravus having a Gallade was damning, but how?" Alex asked, somewhat distracted by the disoriented thoughts of his own Gallade. Arthur was enjoying himself, it seemed, and it was flooding over their mental link.

His granduncle looked at him as he took another deep hit from his piece. "You still have your Battle Recorder, aye?"

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Alex's eyes widened. "I see…yes, I should…and if it recorded that Battle…"

"Then you have video evidence of the Arcean Prophet's hypocrisy." His granduncle finished, smirking and exhaling a cloud of smoke. "That kind of evidence would put a serious dent in what little credibility they have left. They'll deny it of course…but if it's straight from the BR, it won't make a difference. The trick will be putting it on the air. Arceans need to see it, not just the general public, and their own exposure to uncensored news is limited, at best. Pravus took a page from the government that used to run this land, and wrapped his followers in a media bubble, all run by the Church. They consider non-Arcean sources of news to be fake, nothing but lies and conspiracies perpetrated by the Unovan government and their Psychic overlords."

Alex nodded absentmindedly, distracted as he pulled the device from the strap of his bag. "I have so many devices, I'd completely forgotten this one."

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It was true enough, as most modern Trainers had PokéNavs, Poketches, and other useful, but ultimately frivolous devices that aided them on their journeys. He brought up his last battle, which had luckily been the one against Pravus, and smirked. "Here it is. It got him Mega Evolving his Gallade and everything."

He handed the recorder to his granduncle, who was also smirking. "I'm making a copy of this. If they ever give you grief, let me know. I'll have this ready to be sent to every media station the world over. Whether they broadcast it or not is another story."

The old man got up, hobbled over to the basement computer, and then went about saving the recorded battle. "Send a copy to me, too." Alex said, smirking, "Just in case. The more backups we have, the better."

Alex was fully expecting Pravus to retaliate, but he hoped he'd wait until after the holiday. He would never admit it, but the long months of living in the Swamp had worn him down. It was hard, living out there, only ever getting answers in the form of riddles or wise anecdotes, eating only simple fare on what the small isle could grow. He was looking forward to a rest.

His granduncle nodded. "As you know, they have no qualms about breaking into buildings and destroying evidence like this. Either way, I'd rather them not learn what we're hiding here. I prefer my lab to not be broken into."

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In the past, on the western coast, there were numerous stories from former Arceans that had managed to escape Fornia's main hub, Sacreus City, and the oppressive rule it was subjected to, that told of security forces employed by the Church breaking into homes of those they deemed 'heretical', and destroying whatever negative evidence against the Church they could find.

The Church, of course, denied these allegations, but given their denial of anything that portrayed their group in a negative light, it was a good bet that the stories had some truth to them.

"Speaking of your lab…" Alex continued, looking around. Even the basement had white sheets over most of the equipment the aged Professor used in his personal experiments. "What happened in here?"

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His granduncle sighed, and groaned as he sat in his worn reclining chair. The old man proceeded to hit his bong before answering. "You know the rest of our family has been pushing me to retire for years now. About a month after you went south, my doctors gave me less than a year to live. My lab assistants found out, and moved to different labs. After that, I decided to finally retire. Your brother will inherit this eventually, but for now…it's little more than a storage building."

Even if his head hadn't been swirling from the night's events, and the hallucinogenic herb, Alex would've felt the same vertigo. He had known this was coming, of course. Death came for everyone, eventually, and even though humans these days lived much, much longer than they had in the past, no amount of technology could grant immortality. Yet.

It was as he was processing his relative's words, that he felt the staff he laid beside his chair stir. A single golden eye opened on the white half, which was sticking up towards the ceiling. His granduncle had noticed immediately, and both humans watched as the eye began to glow. Its focus was the old man, and to his credit, he didn't waver before it.

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Alex knew what Tao would find, but as he felt the resting dragon's sadness, what small hope he'd had of preventing his favored relative's end vanished. "I'm sorry." Linked as they were, Tao had sensed several diseases that even now were ravaging the old Professor's body, and now Alex knew of them as well.

Brain, lungs, heart, liver, the old man's body was rapidly fading. No amount of medicine could save him. Even the power of the Original Dragon, now united once more, couldn't stop the inevitable. It was a shame, for as the resting dragon had listened to the two related humans banter, he'd grown to like the old man. He knew much of what his Tamer had learned came from him.

His granduncle waved a hand, as Tao's voice had been projected to all three of them. "I'm an old man, Dragon. I've known this was coming for some time now. It comes for all mortals…I've had a long life, which is more than most Humans throughout our race's history have had. Don't apologize. I'm fine with going quietly into the night...those who rage at the inevitable are childish."

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He took another toke from his bong. At one point, it had been clear glass, tinged with red at the bottom, but after years of use and lack of consistent cleaning, the glass had turned mostly greenish yellow, and the whole piece now had many shades of color, almost like a rainbow.

The elder Redwood had no idea how it had survived in one piece for so very long, but it had, and now it seemed it would outlast its owner as well. That cheery thought brought another hit, and he then passed it to his favorite nephew.

"That'll be yours, when I'm gone." He said, almost sighing as the thought of his imminent and probable nonexistence loomed over him like a shadow. "As will most of my possessions. Your brother's getting my research, but my will says you'll have free access to it as well. Maybe something in there will help you. I did get around, back in the day. Heh."

Suddenly, the piece floated away from Alex, who was yet still lost in thought. It had been an emotional night, but his attention refocused itself on Arthur, as he watched the Gallade rise, and take the glass piece. He spoke only to the Professor then, keeping his words from Alex and Tao.

Tao heard, of course, but he kept the knowledge from his Trainer. A tear fell from the old man's eyes after a moment, and he nodded. "I'll hold you to that." He said, his voice suddenly rough.

He cleared his eyes, and nodded. "You'll excuse my skepticism…but…if anyone could…" Arthur raised a hand, stopping the old man before he could say more, and then gave the piece back to his Trainer, resuming his seated position on the old wood floor between them.

Eyebrow raised, Alex looked between his psychic partner, and his favored relative, then shrugged. Some things could only be learned in time. If it was important for him to know, he trusted his Gallade to tell him when the moment was right.

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Tao's presence faded as he resumed resting, and Alex finished the bowl, though by that point there was barely anything left but Scooby Snacks that became ash as he inhaled. "Well, I should get to bed…" He said, standing and recalling Arthur to his ball.

He helped the Professor up as well. "Aye lad, it was nice having you back. We'll do this again before Festivus is over, I'd wager."

Alex chuckled. The two of them shared a common stressor in dealing with the rest of their family. They didn't dislike them, but conversing with them repeatedly, all at once, for an entire month was stressful, to say the least.

"We will. You can count on that." Alex said, as he moved for the stairs. His granduncle usually slept in his lab, and judging by the state of the basement, he still did. The equipment was covered, but signs of habitation were all over.

Ashes from past bowls of Leaf, a stray sock, his old lab coat, even the cot in the basement, which was actually quite comfortable, seemed to still be in use.

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Alex recalled Leo as well, and then, using Tao's staff form as an aid, made his way to the front door of the main house. Nobody was awake at this hour, as it was quite late. Had the storm not still been raging, he reckoned the rising sun's light would be visible.

Normally, his family would be up soon enough, taking care of the ranch, but with the snow as high as it was, all the Tauros, Miltank, Bouffalant, and other Pokémon were resting in the barn behind the main house.

It was also where Professor Redwood stored the extra Pokémon of the Trainers who started from his lab. There weren't many, but Alex's other Pokémon were among them as well.

He made a note to visit them as he tried and failed to sneak upstairs. His feet were large, and the house was old. The floor creaked with every step as he made his way to the top room, and found it as he'd left it.

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The bed was folded and proper, but aside from that, everything else was the same. He dropped into it with a sigh after removing his clothes, and setting his team on his desk.

Tao was propped up next to his bed, and it didn't take long for him to fall asleep after that. His dreams would no doubt be troubled, especially after the night he'd had, but he never did remember what he dreamed that night. He was too tired to stay semi-lucid, as he often did.

He slept until well past noon the next day, and upon awakening, wasn't surprised to find that his team had let themselves out for breakfast, and lunch. Arthur had taken care of them while their Trainer slept, and had answered most of his family's questions when they'd demanded to know why he was on the morning news, which was covering the events of the previous night.

Thus, when he finally descended, showered and with Tao in hand, they'd been more happy than irritated to see him. Arthur had shared the events of the previous night through his telepathic image sharing, and thus despite what the news was saying, his older relatives were proud of their family's newest Champion. Most of them, anyways. As usual, his father was convinced that his becoming a Trainer had somehow started a war, despite the fact that he hadn't actually been around for the initial outbreak of the conflict.

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Some channels with obvious Arcean Church backers, like Arc News, labeled the new Champion as responsible for the fighting, while others, PNN included, gave a more truthful recounting of the night's events. Castelianites knew, more or less, which version was actually truthful, but the rest of Unova either bought into the lies, or remained neutral about the attack on their largest city's downtown borough.

The storm continued to rage as Festivus's end drew ever closer, and it was being called one of the worst storms in years. It wasn't all that uncommon this far north. The snows were always intense.

The storm continued until Festivus Day finally arrived. Alex had spent the day before the start of the New Year preparing to leave to find a spot to train at, but despite the weather, he'd gotten a visit from N. As the new Champion, he had duties to perform this time of year, not least of which was facing challengers who had managed to beat Hilda.

There weren't many, but some had been waiting quite a while now, and were eager to either win, or get on with their journeys. He spent most of the second day back at the Victory Plateau, first having Blaze clear it of snow, and then battling his challengers. There were three in total, but none had the strength to topple him. In a six on six battle, he was quite hard to beat.

They had still proven challenging though, and he sent them to the Dragonspiral Tower after losing, suggesting that they should return once they learned what they could from the Trainers there.

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Tao's followers had taken to wearing white robes with black pants, in the old style, shaving their heads, and practicing martial arts. It wasn't all that different from how Alex had been living in the Swamp, though having the modern comforts of a region with actual infrastructure made living much more tolerable.

Tao awoke the next day, recovering much quicker now that he was whole once more, and resumed his dragon form, before flying off to his tower. Before he left, he'd split a small part of himself to remain as a staff, and left it with Alex. With it, he claimed he could escape future confinement, provided Alex helped, without losing his strength.

At first Alex had protested, but Tao had insisted saying, "I was split in three for millennia. This is different, and useful. You will see. Humans are clever, especially when it comes to capturing Legendary Pokémon. I won't always be able to fight them off, but this will solve that problem. It is a part of me. Keep it by your side." He hadn't elaborated on how it would be useful, exactly, but had been quite sure Alex would know what to do when and if the time came to use it.

Tao departed with relative stealth, and Alex decided against telling anyone. Let them think he was still hibernating upon his back. He did tell his granduncle though, along with Jess. They were joined by his uncle Gil, and Arthur, as they all decided to have a smoke session in the lab while the main house was packed with relatives and neighbors once again.

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About halfway through, Alex showed his granduncle the Mind Plate crystal he'd acquired, and after a few tests, the Professor deemed it free of Shadow energy. He had no doubt Pravus had tried to corrupt it, but it was a shard of Arceus himself, and like Tao, had been immune to that kind of corruption. There was no greater known power, and if there was, it was unlikely Pravus had access to it.

Arthur wanted to try it immediately, but given that he was new to smoking the Leaf and could barely stand, the humans all agreed to wait until his head was clearer. He'd gone into his Pokéball to sulk, then, and stayed there for the rest of the day after falling into a Leaf nap.

Alex spent the remaining time before Festivus sleeping, enjoying the company of his lover, and eating real food. He'd grown a bit gaunt on only rice and bread, but the Redwood pantry was always well-stocked for Festivus. After a straight month of celebration, there were many meat-related leftovers.

Modern technology kept it from going bad, and thus Alex was able to enjoy relatively fresh plates of food that had been sitting in there since November. He was usually the one who had to finish such things, as his relatives seemed unable to do so themselves.

All the leftovers threatened to have him gain too much weight, so in the dark of night, when all others slept and his lady was comfortably enjoying the latest pleasure coma he'd left her in, he did what he always did.

He trained.

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The end of Festivus was approaching fast, and for that, he knew the population of their small town, and the surrounding towns, would all be heading south to Castelia to celebrate the coming of a new year.

The media was nicknaming the new year the 'Year of the Dragon', and Alex knew Tao appreciated it, as it had been named in honor of his return. Dragons were nothing if not a bit vain, even the first. They appreciated being admired by the shorter-lived humans. It fed their superiority complex, a fact Tao was well aware of, and ignored. He was a dragon, they were supposed to feel superior.

Alex traveled far to the north to avoid the storm, and thanks to Rayquaza's Air Lock, they were able to train in relative comfort once they'd found an open spot and cleared the snow away. It was still bitterly cold, and Terra opted to stay in his ball for this session. There was no sun, and they were still surrounded by ice. He wasn't having any of that.

Alex first knew there was trouble when he saw the ancient form of his Rayquaza float into the air from where he'd been sprawled out and resting. He had since become linked to the team's mental web in an adjacent manner, and thus could communicate to them as easily as their Trainer did. Just like that, Alex had

"Something is approaching." He said in their minds, and each of them stopped their training.

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The ground rumbled once, and Alex looked around in vain in the dark of night. His eyes were useless, but they began to glow blue as he extended his senses, and swore. He knew who was coming now, as did his team, and Blaze shone with a crimson aura as he mega evolved again.

Alex recalled them all, but left Shruikan and Blaze out to deal with this approaching threat. The earth trembled again, and he wondered just how exactly his newest enemy had managed to capture another Legendary Pokémon.

As the three prepared for battle, a powerful roar echoed through the mountain chain, and the Pokémon that produced it was unmistakable. Everyone knew the sound of a Groudon's rage, thanks to its prevalence in the movies Unova produced.

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After the one in the Hoenn region had gone Primal a few years back, that roar had become as recognizable as a Tyrantrum's, and Pokéstar Studios had used the Primal cry in the Big Monster series ever since. Alex was glad that barely anyone lived this far north, as the heavy snows and large mountains left little room for rivers or houses.

It had suited his purposes for training, and now it would make a suitable battlefield as well. He knew the Pokémon of the surrounding area were wise enough to hide from a power like this.

The crimson scaled Rayquaza descended first, and it snarled at its larger green counterpart as his Trainer landed on the field Alex had made in the snow. "There you are, Redwood…I almost thought you wouldn't train tonight…but you're finally here..."

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Alex glared Brad down. The blonde and tan Fornian had a black eye, and many other bruises Alex couldn't see, and that was when it clicked. "You're an Arcean aren't you…a spy sent by Pravus, perhaps? Shame you were kicked out of the Swamp. I take it your boss wasn't happy to learn that I'd foiled that plan as well."

He now knew why his master had seemed to ignore Brad's gluttony and misbehavior. He'd likely grown up dealing with such abuse and once he'd inherited a Rayquaza, Alex could only guess at how the Church had treated him.

The Sage had done what he could to guide Brad down the right path, but he had also known a confrontation between him and Alex was inevitable. They were more alike than they realized, and if not for a twist of fate, Brad might have very well been the one in Unova, and Alex forced to live under Arcean brainwashing.

Alex didn't quite know whether he would've been able to handle such a thing, and it spoke to the opposing Trainer's strength that he'd come through it yet again, relatively intact.

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Alex looked to Blaze as the two reached the same conclusion. Brad had likely been ordered to abandon him, or risk being excommunicated, cut off from everyone and everything he'd ever known. A test, to make sure the Rayquaza Tamer did not have a soft heart for his adorable Charmander. Remembering his first Trainer, Blaze admitted that the boy had likely been heartbroken. Abandoning him hadn't been in his character. He'd cared, and he'd paid for it.

Alex's Charizard now watched his former Trainer with pity, more than rage. It had been an impossible choice, most likely and one forced on a young Trainer, no less. A choice between staying with his home, his family, his beliefs, or staying with his Charmander. In the end, for one that young, there had been only one option that had allowed Blaze a chance to keep living.

Alex knew his Rayquaza had likely been subjected to the same conditioning, and facing the same choice, between a Trainer who needed him, and a young Charmander, he'd been forced to choose his Trainer, and hope that the Charmander managed to survive.

Now, it seemed the pair was focused on making him pay for indirectly forcing Brad into a beating, likely at the hands of Pravus himself. The Groudon roared again and now it loomed in the dim moonlight, towering above the small mountain Alex had found his training spot on. He and his team stared in awe, as they realized that this Groudon's coloring was gold, not red.

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"Precipice Blades!" Brad called the attack, once more upon the back of his crimson dragon, and the golden Groudon sank its claws into the land. Blaze flew up, avoiding the attack entirely, but Shruikan didn't move.

The massive daggers of rising earth popped up around him, but Shruikan stayed still, and waited. He knew, in his core, that this was it. This was the Pokémon who had the firepower he needed to evolve. He could feel it. He wasn't going to run from it, not when finally achieving flight was so very close. He could hear the thunder, as the Sage had foretold he would and an ancient song, in the tongue of dragons, rose in the Shelgon's head. Alex smirked, finding the tune entirely appropriate, and familiar. Once rediscovered, Skyrim had, naturally, been remade to work with modern game consoles and as had happened in the past, the game had exploded in popularity, bugs, and player-made modifications. Alex just assumed Shruikan was humming the tune he'd heard while Alex had enjoyed it in his free time in the Swamp.

Furious that his attack had simply missed the tiny dragon, the Groudon reared back, and expelled an enormous Fire Blast from its maw. Shruikan grinned to himself as he went into his shell with Protect, and waited.

The primordial heat from the Groudon scorched over his shell, but left him essentially untouched, thanks to his move. Runes of black appeared over his shell as the Legendary heat hit and engulfed it. He felt the power surge within his body, enhanced by vitamins from his Trainer, as his shell absorbed the primordial heat and once it was exhausted, he used that heat to finally evolve.

The sky thundered, and even the pair of Rayquaza turned their heads to watch, as they felt the surge of potent dragon energy. Shruikan's eyes glowed red from within his shell…and then, he began to glow brilliant white as the spiraling power of evolution propelled him, finally, into the air.

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Thunder roared through the nearby area, and lightning struck the ground as Shruikan's form began to grow…and grow…and grow. The thunder boomed once more, and as his shape became that of a Salamence. Lightning came down from the sky, striking him directly as he tested his new vocal chords with an impressive roar.

Most Salamence were more wide than tall, but Shruikan's parents had both been old enough to have grown well over six feet, and now he himself pushed ten feet as his form coalesced. The skies roared again, and as the glow from his form faded, Alex noticed he had trouble making out his new Salamence, who had immediately shot into the cold night air on his new wings. He would waste no time in testing them.

Another Fire Blast from Groudon was launched at his newly evolved opponent, even though Brad had ordered a Fissure attack, and as the massive five-pronged attack lit the sky, Alex glimpsed Shruikan as he dodged in front of the flames. His scales were black, and his form was massive. Alex had expected a normal Salamence, stronger perhaps than others of his species, as most of his team was by now, but still relatively normal. He should've known better. Shruikan's underbelly was still the same color as a regular Salamence, and so were his wings, though they were perhaps a bit more crimson than scarlet. It was his main scale's color that had changed, but as Alex got a good look at him, he had to blink.

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He'd gotten fairly used to knowing a Pokémon's type by instinct, and because he had known most of them already thanks to years of education, he was rarely surprised by what his eyes told him. He'd seen various dual typing in some humans among Castelia's crowds, some as normal and fighting, others as normal and dark, in Pravus's case. When he looked at Shruikan, he'd expected to see the flying type, but hadn't.

Instead, his instinct told him his Shruikan was now part dragon, part electric and as he tried to understand why, he noticed his new Pokémon's mouth glowing with golden light, as he formed a move he'd only expected Leo to know. Thunder Fang.

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"I have risen with the storm, and through the pain, Human." Shruikan mentally spoke, in his new baritone. "Unleash me."

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Alex briefly wondered how he'd use his power on a ground type like Groudon, when he noticed Shruikan's target was actually the Rayquaza instead. Naturally, it was time for the numerous consecutive losses in the Swamp to be made up for. Alex had, of course, let his dragon attack. Shruikan was now an adult, a full-grown dragon, and losing his temper was hopefully a thing of the past.

Shruikan's speed was unmatched as he rode the power of fresh evolution, and the crimson Rayquaza could only blink, before it realized it had already been struck by the Thunder Fang. Electricity arced over its form, holding the crimson Rayquaza in place, and as Shruikan looped around towards them again, he gave a mental nod to their Rayquaza.

Alex noticed his own Rayquaza was shining, as he shifted to his own Mega Form with the Draco shard in Alex's possession. His base form had been on par with his crimson rival's, but now the arrogant runt had awakened his Ancient Power.

This was, of course, a rock type attack, but instead of raising chunks of earth, the ancient Rayquaza simply launched the rock type energy, as a sort of Hyper Beam, forgoing raising boulders entirely. The paralyzed dragon could do nothing to dodge the beam of pure rock energy, and it struck him full force.

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His crimson scaled rival went down hard, and Alex flew down on Blaze as he saw Brad fall from its back. He might've been a rival, but he was still human. He hadn't chosen the path that had led him here. That was why the Sage never scolded him.

Blaze and Alex's combined vision spotted his red coat, and with a sudden burst of speed, Blaze grabbed the Fornian Trainer, and zipped away. Seconds later, an Eruption leveled the ground around the fallen Rayquaza. Groudon was free of its domination and now it wanted revenge.

With the dragon even now burning in the magma it had raised, the golden scaled beast turned its focus on the tiny human that had ordered the dragon to command him. Each Rayquaza, no matter how young, had the power to control either Kyogre or Groudon as needed.

Once in their Mega Form, they had the power to control the land and sea completely, even if they went Primal, and had once helped Regigigas in raising, moving, and shifting continents the world over, at the behest of the Alpha Pokémon.

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The humans of the past had melted their ice caps, flooding numerous lands and cities with water. The two Groudon had strode the ancient lands, drying up the water, as the Kyogre at each pole restored the planet's melted ice. Once more, harmony in nature had resumed.

Civilizations had risen from the chaos of the planet's shifting plates, ancient, powerful, and mysterious ones to those living in the modern day. Some had ties to the Unown, others had possessed the ability to tame and battle giant Pokémon. The idea was absurdly common in Japan in particular, for some reason.

Alex's Rayquaza focused on the Groudon as his new Trainer flew away carrying the other human. The ancient dragon's eyes glowed with power as his Mega Form prepared an Outrage attack of his own.

"Go." The word thundered in the air, and the golden beast paused, as it realized which Sky Guardian this was.

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Effectively cowed, the Groudon seemed to nod slowly, letting its anger cool. If it ever saw Brad again, it would annihilate him, but for now, the Groudon could wait. Fighting that Rayquaza right now, wasn't worth it. The Rayquaza in question looked at its fallen dragonkin, sighed, and then lifted his form from the magma with his latent psychic power.

He was largely fine, he'd simply fainted. Alex appeared then, and skillfully tossed the first of his new stash of Max Revives into the fainted Legendary's mouth. The red dragon blinked awake, yawned, and then slept, recovering.

Alex looked at his newest dragon, the Black Salamence that had distracted the crimson Rayquaza, and then had moved away from the furious Groudon, had now rejoined them in the air as they flew the relatively short journey back to his home. He still couldn't believe how cool his Salamence was, and as he thought that, the black dragon smirked.

Alex's innermost secret pocket had begun to glow with the ancient blue-purple power of the dragon types. Shruikan mega evolved then, and his new form, which had retained the black scales, looked like the form most Salamence had at this level.

He was fast though, as in the space of a single eye blink, he burst ahead towards their home, outpacing all of them.

Alex looked at his Rayquaza then, smirking. He knew which Mega Form would be faster. There was a reason Rayquaza's kin were considered Legendary. He was hampered by the large form of his red scaled passenger at the moment, though.

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"Take him somewhere safe to recover. Then do as you please. I won't need you until Festivus Eve, I think." Alex's words were sent telepathically, and the dragon gave him a look, then nodded. He arrived back home soon after, and he saw how massive Shruikan was now, compared to his house. He had no idea how he'd ever fit in the Swamp.

The black dragon had seared the frozen ground beneath him with a Dragonbreath, and then let his Mega Form fall. That part of the ranch would have a large circular mark, come Spring, and most of the snow around the barn had melted thanks to the heat of his attack. They could likely let the Pokémon within come out soon, if it didn't snow again.

Alex looked up at the dawn of Festivus Day, and then down at Brad, who Blaze had deposited on the scorched dirt. The storm had ended, but it was still cold, and the Fornian, unused to such temperatures, was shivering. Alex helped him up, and the two eyed each other. Alex spoke first, "What will you do now?"

The Fornian looked at the direction the older Rayquaza had taken his. "I don't know...It's probably better if my Rayquaza stays away from me...but now I have no Pokémon. There's a lot of tall grass between here and Fornia." He gave the Unovan an awkward smile, and despite himself, Alex chuckled.

"Heh. I might have something to help with that..." Alex spoke softly as his Charizard appeared from the barn, carrying an egg. "I'm fairly certain this is Blaze's. He's been rather...active with Jess's Charizard...walk around a bit, head towards Unova. By the time it hatches, you should be near Humilau. Train it up...properly, this time...and avoid the Arceans."

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Brad shook his head, "I can't...they can track my Trainer Card, and my whole family is in the Church...I can't just leave..."

"And what's the alternative?" Alex sighed, "Pravus is going to keep using you for your natural talents, until one day he decides he doesn't need you. Like he decided he didn't need his wife. You're a Fornian. When was the last time anyone saw her? Publicly?"

Brad stayed quiet, and looked down at the egg. The truth rang loudly, and obviously. The Prophet's wife had simply vanished one day, and nobody, not even the higher ups, were allowed to ask why. It didn't take that much of a logical leap to assume murder. Pravus was a violent man, after all. Everyone around him knew it. Nobody had the balls to speak it aloud in his presence, though. If any did, they'd probably 'disappeared' as well.

"I...guess you're right. I won't let this Charmander be abused." He turned to Blaze, then, "You have my word. Someday, it will be strong enough to beat you both." He took out his ID card then, and handed it to Alex. "Destroy this...it's better if no one knows where I am for a while..."

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Alex nodded, "I'll...take care of it." He offered a hand, then, "I don't quite know how yet...but someday, I will help you go home. Pravus needs to be stopped...and I might very well need your help to do it. The word of a non-Arcean won't go far with your people, but if the Fornian Champion says something...well, we might just have a chance."

Brad looked at the hand, and then the egg again. He shook it, sighing. "I suppose I have no alternative...Pravus doesn't accept those who fail twice...you're right. I can't go back, not yet. If I did, he'd just take my Rayquaza...or this Charmander."

"When you're ready to storm the Fornia region, come to the Dragonspiral Tower. Tao can get in touch with me. We'll need full teams for that, though." Alex recalled Blaze, after giving his large chin a scratch. "Good luck...and... I'm sorry for how I acted in the Swamp. I've been told I need to see things from others' viewpoints before cementing my own...I guess I still need to train."

Brad shook his head, "No, you were right. Trainers who abandon their Pokémon are scum...I knew it was wrong, and I did it anyway. I'll make up for it though...later, Champion. Good luck today."

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Alex nodded, and let his newest rival set off on his own before he snuck inside in the semi-darkness of the dawn. He was stealthy for once, and nobody noticed him return. Thus, his family had no idea why there was an enormous Black Salamence napping casually outside the following morning.

Using Delphi to lift her up to the window to Alex's room, Jess had snuck past the sleeping dragon, and Arthur, his 'guard', was left distracted by the psychic fox. Soon the two were flirting, and not long after, battling. Shruikan had awoken to watch that, as it was quite a show.

Jess had opened the ranch's barn as well, and released the family's horde of boxed Pokémon. Many of Alex's watched the psychic battle, while the other fire types set about clearing the snow for the masses of Tauros and Miltank.

Alex awoke to the not unpleasant feeling of his lover straddling him. He yawned, still tired. "Well, someone's early."

She smirked back, "No, I just don't sleep as long as you do after a session." He rolled his eyes. The fact that she'd been asleep at all was the reason she now risked sneaking over to wake him up. "So. Tell me about that dragon out there. It's enormous. Is that Shruikan?"

Alex looked up, and out his window. Even from up here he could see the dragon's black scales very easily against the golden grass of Unova. "Ahh. Yes, that, he evolved during our morning training session." He smirked up at her. "He's part dragon, part electric. Like Zekrom. He knows Thunder Fang."

She looked out the window at the dragon, then shrugged. "You should teach him Charge Beam instead."

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Alex raised a brow, and despite the erotic positioning, his brain was once more all about Pokémon. "But his physical attacks are stronger. He's better with physical moves, like Arthur. It's a running theme with my team, now that I think about it..."

She bopped his nose. "Which is why Charge Beam will raise the strength of his special attacks, and his Dragon Pulse won't be useless either. Dragon Claw can do just as much as Thunder Fang."

He smirked. "I see the student has become the master. But as I recall, your moves were a bit rusty last night."

Her cheeks joined the red of her outfit's color scheme as she flushed, then tossed her hat away, letting her hair blind him as it fell on his face. "I've been out of practice for a few months. And it doesn't help that you've somehow increased your stamina. Again. Honestly, hiding this is getting quite difficult."

He blew her hair out of his face and looked up at her, smirking. "Well, winning in the Unova League pays quite well. As does Battling. We could get a permanent residence. Somewhere."

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Before she could ask if he was serious about potentially moving in, there was a commotion outside, and the two Trainers jumped up immediately, only to see the door was still closed, and they had not, in fact, been caught.

Alex peeked out the window from his entrenched position on his bed, and smirked. "I guess Arthur won the Battle." He expected it, not because Delphi was weak, but because Arthur's Night Slash was rivaled only by his Sacred Sword.

Alex had been forcing him to train without relying on their Plate crystal, to improve his base form. Now that he had, he could already sense his partner expected to train in his Mega Form next.

Alex sighed. "I guess I'll have to let him Mega Evolve now."

Jess rolled her eyes. "Your Gallade is a cool guy, don't get me wrong, but I'm still wondering about the giant Black Salamence sitting in your yard. How? When? Why?"

He chuckled, and retrieved her hat for her with his stupidly long arms. "I'd like to know that myself. And you know there's only one authority on rare and unique types of Pokémon around here."

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Alex and his lover descended with relative stealth to the lab. Delphi kept the majority of the hungover adults and spastic children entertained with a display of firebending that was truly impressive. She'd clearly been practicing.

They came upon his granduncle and one of Alex's cousins, Geralt, the son of Alex's uncle Gil. Most of the Redwoods tended to have dark brown or reddish hair, but Geralt's was white as the snow outside. It hadn't always been that color but nobody had asked him, as far as Alex was aware, if he'd dyed it. His training clothes were all studded leather. He was a Ranger now, and not unlike his cousin the Champion, he had ascended to the position of Top Ranger, one of several that patrolled their home continent. Alex was surprised he'd had time to come home for a visit.

Pokémon Rangers had changed over the past several decades, after Red and several other Champions from Japan decided that they should combine the organization with the International Police. The IP had agreed, and taken on the Ranger's name, as well as their ideologies. The resulting combination had been so effective, that Unova's Rangers had joined as well, prompting many other regions to follow suit. The result, was a strong international force that tended away from using Trainers directly, thanks to the allure of power that a full team of Pokémon brought with them. Most Rangers in the International Ranger Force didn't have full teams of Pokémon, but then, most didn't need them. One to three partners was more than enough, and there were always wild Pokémon around to aid them, if necessary.

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Geralt gave the Professor a nod, and left the lab. He and Alex 's eyes met, as Geralt left and he entered, and his cousin smirked at him. "Alex. It's been a while. I heard you're the Champion now, eh? Not bad, kid. I knew the Old Man was right about your potential."

Alex nodded, awkwardly, as his cousin made small talk in the manner he usually did. Awkward, but honest. He really didn't talk much, a trait they had in common and one that had sustained them through many a Leaf session, before he'd gone off to the Ranger Academy. "Gruncle is right about a lot of things, Geralt. But I'm glad at least one of my relatives noticed."

Geralt slightly arched his brow, and he didn't need an enhanced nose to detect the salt in his cousin's tone. "Mm. I guess you wouldn't know. Most of the family saw your potential too. The rest of our cousins, for instance. Especially the young ones. You helped quite a few of them with their first partners, Alex. People don't forget that."

"If you say so." Alex said, pondering his cousin's words, as he glanced at the ground. Seeing Alex was thinking through his preconceptions, Geralt gave him a swift nod, and then, he was off. He didn't have a flying type on hand and as most of the local ones were hiding from the snow, he'd hopped onto his massive ice and rock typed white Lycanroc, Ghost, and vanished into the distance with a few graceful bounds.

Alex had heard his cousin had a nickname amongst his fellow Rangers. The White Wolf. Though he wondered who that nickname was really for. It had been easy to miss at first, but Geralt's eyes had been different, almost like a cat's, and when he'd tried to see the Ranger's typing, his psychic sight had revealed nothing. Not even normal typing. He supposed he wasn't the only Redwood to have gained special powers, but then, stranger things had happened.

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The Professor spoke up as he and Jess entered the lab. "Ahh, Alex. There you are. I saw that Salamence. I expect you think I know everything about it then, right?" The Professor was sarcastic, but Alex knew he was excited. He'd dreamed about seeing a Black Salamence up close for over a century. Literally.

Alex shrugged. "Nobody knows more about rare and Legendary Pokémon than you. You told me yourself there's always a grain of truth in the legends that make them Legendary. So spill, why is my dragon part electric?"

The old man gestured to the back room of his lab. "I pulled up everything I could find on a Black Salamence, by pure coincidence of course, months ago. It's on the computer in the…little room…thing…where I showed you where to find Turtwigs."

He vaguely guided his great-nephew as Alex hit the switch, and opened the well concealed side door. Soon, he'd found the folder, which only contained one article, from the Hoenn region and was quite old. Thankfully, it was also detailed.

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Alex Redwood's voice rang softly in the small adjoining room to his grand uncle's lab, as he read for Jess. She wasn't very good at speed reading paragraphs, and often spent five minutes staring at something as simple as a sign for half a minute, before moving on.

"The unholy offspring of lightning and death, the Black Salamence is a rare offshoot of the Bagon species, that occurs in roughly one Shelgon out of five hundred thousand." Alex paused for a moment. The unholy offspring of lightning and death. He felt a shiver run down his spine. He was going to use that.

He continued, "These Shelgon take a notoriously long time to grow, and can only evolve in specific conditions. If they meet said conditions, which are usually finding a source of heat strong enough for evolution, they can then use it to propel themselves into their final form, the Black Salamence. Unlike most Salamence, and their green scaled equivalent, the Black Salamence is of an entirely different type, and may even be considered a new species of Pokémon. Possessing the rare dragon and electric typing, this Salamence retains its ability to learn Flying Type Moves as well as electric Moves the main species of Salamence don't have access to. The only stats ever recorded on one showed that this variant of Dragon Type gains Special Attack potential to rival their Attack strength."

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Jess smirked. "There you go. A balance between attack strength and special attack strength."

Alex sighed as he pondered his dragon's move set. Special attacks, namely ranged ones, combined with flight were hard to beat. Much harder than quick aerial physical attackers, like Pidgeot, and regular Salamence. He looked up as he sensed his Charizard and Salamence readying for a match of their own. He knew Blaze and Shruikan had been itching to battle, but given how strong they were now, he'd forbade it…for the moment. The ranch was too fragile for their strength. "No mention of how hot the flames should be to evolve one. Hmm." He continued reading, "Because of their rarity, the Black Salamence is considered to be a legend by most, a fluke of nature, by others. They are, allegedly, notoriously hard to raise, according to the now passed Drake, Dragon Master of the Hoenn Region. Drake only ever mentioned seeing one of these creatures, and when asked how to train one, he reportedly responded by saying, 'Don't bother. This dragon is untrainable. If you encounter one in the wild, run, and pray it does not find you.'"

He whistled, and then looked at his redheaded companion. "Unholy offspring of lightning and death. Sounds like it came straight from a book, or something."

Jess shrugged. "Sounds more like a movie…in any case, he's a lot faster in the air than Blaze is."

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Alex nodded. He could also transport more people on his back, easily. The trick was accounting for the increase in wind that would seek to rip passengers from his back. Salamence were a lot more aerodynamic than Charizard, who used their flight skills mainly for battle, not soaring all over the world.

Jess poked him as he stayed lost in thought. "You should Battle against Connor with him."

He sighed again, and recalled the last time Shruikan faced off against Connor's Garchomp. "If he goes wild again, a Psychic attack won't be enough to stop him from hurting someone."

Alex blinked as he felt his Salamence, hurt by his words, counter with words of his own, and the emotions they came with, in his head. "I'm in control now. Besides, that Garchomp has…" His words fumbled.

New as he was to speaking the human tongue, Arthur supplemented his words through their shared six-way link. "Type advantage. Ground and dragon."

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"I'm sure he'll be fine this time. He was quite friendly when I first came over. Besides, you said yourself that the mountain forged a bond of trust that you didn't have with the rest of your team." Jess spoke again, and Alex suppressed a chuckle as he heard Shruikan echo in his head once more. "I like her."

Blaze chimed in as well, "So do I."

Ignoring his mental peanut gallery, and her quizzical look, he suddenly turned serious. "I was right. Blaze and Shruikan are good friends. But I've had a few adventures with the others as well. Adventures you weren't around for. Which reminds me. What are you doing this summer?"

He was still trying to get over that he'd only been an official Trainer for a bit over a year. He'd done a lot, but then, any Trainer worth their reputation had done just as much, if not more, and usually in shorter amounts of time.

She was in his lap then, and the ancient rolling chair squealed in protest at their combined weight. His Gruncle's voice came from the lab proper, after the sound of a bong being hit, of course. "If that chair starts squeaking, you'd better close the damned door!"

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Alex smirked, and waved at the button, sealing the door closed with a small burst of psychic power. That got Jess's attention, as he'd been reluctant to try his powers so close to his family. "I expect I'll be learning how to press buttons with my mind. How? When? Why?"

He looked at the door for a long moment, until he was completely sure that the old man had indeed hobbled over, and pressed a cup to it. He couldn't tell if it was out of envious lust or genuine curiosity. Which was saying something, given his seeming ability to read anyone's mind. It seemed some minds were indeed harder to read than others.

His gaze fell on hers. Or perhaps, he thought, the better you knew someone, the easier they were to read. Her eyes mirrored his then. She knew that look, and he could already sense the rising lust.

He decided to speak before his mouth was occupied by either set of her lips. "I could teach you…but my master forbade it unless I found you unworthy of the training. I have to peer into your very being before I'm allowed to teach you anything."

If he was being honest, he hadn't had much more success with his pebble lifting. He could manipulate the pebbles now, make them zip around the room, and even push or pull small objects, but anything bigger, like, say, a door, and he might as well try pushing a mountain.

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She pressed her forehead to his, and his vision took in her eyes, and only her eyes. "Go ahead. You know me better than anyone…I don't mind you peeking inside my head."

He blinked once as he fought down the heat rising in his face, and then his eyes began to shine blue. He reached his sixth sense out to her, as he had with the Swamp Tree, and once more, his perspective shifted. She was as connected to the world as the tree had been, but not by roots. He sensed a similar kind of energy to her own, and then realized it was actually just the computer. He suspected he could follow that energy as well, but for the moment, his focus was for her.

He knew that the energy that made up human consciousness was electrical in nature. Wouldn't it make sense if, on this level, it shared a connection? That would explain the similarities between her, and what he sensed from the computer.

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He focused on her again, and then realized the difference. There was organic, decaying matter in her, the computer was a machine, one built to outlast either of them. He briefly wondered if combining durable materials with the human body was the next step for them as a species before he felt his focus drawn like a magnet back to her.

He realized that she was sensing him as well, and from what he could tell, she didn't appreciate the implication that her 'soul' was akin to electricity. He shared his knowledge then with the speed of thought. Namely, of biochemistry, learned of course, in his last semester of University. She hadn't had those classes yet.

Once he sensed she understood, more or less, the foundations of that particular science, which if he was being truthful was the extent of his knowledge as well, he turned his focus to the rest of her. She hid nothing from him, and he saw every embarrassing moment, family dinner, and even romantic thought she'd had throughout her twenty plus years.

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"Do you want to see what my three months apart have been like?" Her inner voice seemed almost sad, and he wondered why. She showed him, then, the constant romantic advances, offers for sex, even attempts at forcing such a thing. He burned the faces of the perpetrators into his own memory, and hid his rage well. He felt Arthur resonate with the cold fury behind his rapidly forming mental plans, and they both agreed to keep the other from going too far, when the time came to make them pay for their attempted assault.

He'd battled a few of the faces she conjured in her memories the year before, up at the University, when he'd noticed several strange men stalking her, with more...predatory intent than he ever had. He and Terra had battled several, and told them to leave her be. It seemed they'd forgotten his lesson. He decided to visit his Alma Mater, and reinforce what he'd taught them and he sensed the rest of his team also shared that desire. They were sensing, to a degree, what he was as well, but he'd kept most of the private moments of her life from them.

He looked and looked, and learned more about her, even as he sensed her doing the same for him. Nothing he learned however, shifted how he felt about her. If anything, it made him fall harder and the tone of the connection shifted as she discovered exactly how he felt about her in a manner unlike any that words could ever accurately convey. It seemed to surprise her, in a good way.

He could sense she felt the same way, which was a relief for someone as paranoid as he was, but he couldn't be blinded by love right then. He had a purpose here, after all.

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He searched for memories of her reaction to having power. The first time she'd realized Serpi was a true force of nature. The first time Chari and her new Flamethrower, a gift from him no less, was unleashed in battle.

The first time she'd felt Delphi's power, true psychic power, and envied it a little, but respected it enough to not abuse it. More than a few Delphox Trainers had gone bad in the past, as they were quite powerful, and power tended to corrupt those unworthy of wielding it.

"Well done."

The voice thundered through both human minds, as their combined thoughts had begun to veer towards le romance, and Alex recognized it immediately. He felt Jess was a bit dazed however, and soon helped her focus again. The presence of the Sage receded as quickly as it appeared, and Alex felt his mouth grimace. His tutor hadn't trusted him after all, keeping an eye on him despite the promise to not be blinded by love.

He sensed Arthur's voice then, "He did trust you…you just don't understand yet. This power…it cannot be allowed to be abused by Humanity. Not again."

Alex was about to acquiesce to the Pokémon's decision to hide some things from him again, when he decided that he needed to know, this time, why this was so important. "Why? What happened that makes this level of secrecy necessary?"

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As their conversation was mental, it seemed his mentor overheard them. As did Jess, who remained linked to his mind. They both liked the closeness it brought and that fact only made them like it more. He felt the gaze of the Sage's third eye sweeping over the three of them and suddenly, a fourth joined.

It took a minute for Alex to recognize his lover's Delphox, but since coming home, Arthur had been teaching her how to project telepathy, and he'd come to like her. She was clever, one might even say sly.

"Good…" The Sage thundered again, "I have to teach all of you this eventually, and I might as well teach the two of you at once. Save some time." Before any of them could respond, a vision filled their minds, a vision of the world as they knew it, a small, beautiful blue oblate spheroid against the starry pitch blackness of space.

"Long ago, the Earth was in a state of chaotic imbalance. Polluted oceans, melted ice gaps, colossal catastrophes…since the final nail in the coffin of the Human race was dealt to them, this planet was on the verge of becoming uninhabitable for millennia and the Humans who lived in those times were convinced that their ancestors had doomed them all with their over-reliance on technology, careless destruction of natural resources, and complete lack of conscience for what they inflicted on their home by way of toxic pollution. Your kind had returned to their nomadic roots in the wake of what many believed would be the final war Humanity waged. The next generation was wary of technology, and the doom they believed it had brought upon them. That changed, when Arceus appeared."

The vision shifted again, zooming outwards, and the four saw the golden form of the stag like Alpha Pokémon, hovering over the blue planet. His size was massive by comparison and Alex figured a being classified as a deity could probably shift it at will.

"Arceus admired the world's beauty, but everywhere his gaze fell, he saw the ruins of a fallen race, clinging to the surface of a dying world. Eventually, he found the remnants of your people as well."

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The scene shifted again. The Alpha Pokémon, now smaller, hovered above a group of tribal humans, but instead of embracing the creature, they told it to leave them to their doom. Over and over the scene repeated, in rainforests, tundra, mountain tops, deserts, and abandoned city streets, everywhere the Alpha appeared, he was told to leave.

Humanity, a species not likely to agree on anything, had given up and this attitude of despair and hopelessness was prevalent across the globe. Their cities had drowned or been turned into craters, their fuel had run out, and their carefully stacked monopolies had crumbled in mere months, revealing just how finite their 'mighty reign' actually was, when tested against screwing with a planetary force's ecosystem.

Humanity had learned that their home was very much alive, and aware of them. Nature had reacted, and as humans were forced into hovels again, predators had appeared to hunt them, and keep them from ever rising again, as the planet struggled to heal itself of plastic filled oceans, and millions of piles of garbage.

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The Sage continued, "Arceus eventually grew to share the Human's despair, that is, until he noticed the children. When he appeared in his radiant glory at these Human hovels, they were always sure to keep their children from sight, out of fear of this strange, alien, creature that shone with golden light."

"It was when he looked on them from afar, for his sight is limitless, that he saw the children, and the adults as well, bonded with some of the natural fauna around them. They were a broken race, but in falling, they had rejoined the natural balance of the world, what little was left, and that was when the Alpha Pokémon had an idea."

The four were spellbound by the vision, but as it's narrator paused, Alex felt confusion. Primarily from Delphi.

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She wanted to hear more, but the Sage was preoccupied by…something. His voice returned, and he seemed…lighter, in his mental presence. His voice didn't thunder so loud. That's when the Delphox and her Trainer realized what the Sage was doing, and Alex felt Jess smack him, speaking verbally, "You taught him to smoke too!?" Arthur broke down laughing, and Delphi simply sighed.

The Sage chimed in then. "Please. I have enjoyed the Leaf since before the Redwoods were Cypresses. In fact I'm fairly sure you Humans only started smoking it again, on this continent, after picking it up from my students, who shared my enjoyment of it. Anyway…Arceus saw that this planet, one of many the universe had naturally spawned, was one that needed his aid. Life flourished across the worlds he touched, and there was something about this one backwater planet, in a galaxy of no particular import, that made him decide to leave the planet's fate, and the fate of its inhabitants, up to his divine Light."

An image of the Alpha Pokémon appeared in their minds again, his golden form once more hovering over the planet. Alex repressed a shiver, as he saw the being ready for a hauntingly familiar Judgement attack, one massive enough to wipe out their world. The ball of Light energy slammed into the Earth, and instead of being destroyed, the planet was instead infused with the power of his attack. "Judgement is not always a damaging Move," Oranguru explained, "Sometimes, as you well know Alex, it does nothing but aid that which it is focused upon. The fact that the Earth survived showed the Alpha that this planet was worth saving, and had a role to play, though I suspect even Arceus doesn't know to what extent, yet."

As the Judgement sank into the planet, Arceus formed his Plates into one, massive, infinite power source, and his next attack caused it to shatter, as hundreds of trillions of Plate shards fell over the sizable world. Where they landed, the Earth recovered. Plants returned, and with their rapid regrowth, rose the bones of the millions of species that had fallen to the human's incompetence. Cradled in branches, almost sentiently, the Earth literally raised the remains of the majority Animal Kingdom, much of which had since gone extinct thanks to mankind's expansion and pollution. Though there was no discernible reason as to why the trees raised up these fossilized bones, and Oranguru did not elaborate.

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The scene shifted yet again, and the four saw images of Mew, the Genetic Pokémon. From one that was shining with a golden light, thousands of clones appeared, some pink some blue, soaring across the planet. The first area they came to was the Mediterra mountains, which had risen when the African continent had been pushed to the north east, into the Eurasian continent, at the order of the Alpha Pokémon and by the strength of Regigigas. The result was a massive spine of mountains, the Mediterra Mountain range, that upended holy lands, ancient kingdoms, forests, entire deserts, and most importantly, fossils. With said holy lands eradicated, seemingly on purpose, it seemed Arceus expected humanity to stop drenching the world in blood.

It was Alex's turn to speak up then, "Wait, so the original Mew cloned the DNA from the fossils in the Mediterra range? Is that why the trees raised them up too? Are you telling me that Aurorus, Aerodactyl, Tyrantrum, etcetera, were all created from species that predated even ours?"

The Sage chuckled, and gave the mental equivalent of a nod. "They went into the oceans, too. They found the creatures still surviving there, transformed their very DNA to match them, bred, and the result was Carracosta, Relicanth, and the other ancient Pokémon of the sea. Indeed, the only natural fauna the Mew did not clone, was Humans. As far as I know." He had some suspicions about the Ralts line, but he kept them hidden in that moment.

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Arthur spoke then, his tone grave. "And how did the Humans react to the new fantastical creatures in their midst?"

The Sage seemed to sigh. "About as well as you might expect. Fear, at first, though eventually they came to only fear those with sharp teeth. Before long, they'd turned them into beasts of burden, domesticated them, as they had done with their natural ancestors…there was a catch, though…Humans soon discovered the incredible power creatures like Aurorus could learn. Understand, before then, something like an Ice Beam had simply never been seen. Food was able to be preserved, Water Gun was a nearly limitless supply of fresh water, if you could get enough Pokémon."

Jess spoke then, "It seems to me like we did fine at first. No different from now, really…I sense a 'but' coming, though…"

"But," the Sage said, continuing on in his deep baritone, "Eventually those with dark, greedy hearts saw these new creatures as a means to control the leaderless masses. Tyrantrum was, in those days, the undisputed king among the earliest lineages of Pokémon. One of the first lines of Dragon Types that emerged from fossils that the Humans seemed to house in specialized buildings across the world. It made cloning them all too easy, for Mew. Most of them were actually quite even tempered, almost noble. They kept the few remaining natural predator species of the Animal Kingdom and other Humans from hurting their fellow Pokémon as the remaining Mew spread to other areas, cloned other animals, and created even more Pokémon. Arceus was not idle either, as he spawned legends across the world, Guardians to watch over each of the continents and always to keep them in balance. The Original Dragon is one such Guardian. Eventually, one of your Norstad kin managed to force a Tyrantrum into submission, and the power he controlled through it was great…terrible…but great."

Another vision then, a man with a metal, clawed arm and a heavy metal staff, ordering a Tyrantrum covered in sheets of rusted metal from the old world that acted as armor, to unleash its Hyper Beam upon settlement after settlement. Humans and Pokémon alike fell to its power, for combined, they were unstoppable. The scattered humans of his land flocked to his strength, and it wasn't long at all before the scenes displayed an army of humans and similarly armored Pokémon sweeping down from the north of the new supercontinent, intent on conquering all of it.

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"Arceus saw this, of course, and devised a countermeasure. Many years had passed by this point, but he knew the Humans and their latent greed would eventually abuse the Pokémon of this world he was rebuilding. This tyrant in particular only proved that Humans and Pokémon together would indeed reach new heights, as he'd foreseen, but evidently, said heights would not be reached until the Human race dealt with the greed inherent to their species. So, he scanned the world for one who was worthy, and decided to appear once again, before a boy in a small desert settlement in the warpath of the Tyrantrum and his master."

The Sage's words caused yet another shift in scenery, as Arceus appeared before the boy in question. He was remarkably normal, brown hair, brown eyes, tan skin, as he lived in the desert.

He offered the boy an orb of gold that looked suspiciously like a Pokéball, and then disappeared into it. From then on, Arceus appeared at the boy's command, and eventually, the orb was little more than a symbol of their bond, and rarely used to contain the Alpha Pokémon.

"The boy Battled alongside the Alpha Pokémon, defeated the tyrant, freed the Tyrantrum, and Humans and Pokémon alike hailed him as a hero. He showed that Battling alongside Pokémon gave a Human great power, and more importantly, could be fun for all involved, if it was treated as sport, rather than a life or death contest. The tradition of Battling for sport caught on quickly everywhere he went. He set about traveling the world, finding that Arceus was not the only 'Legend' class creature around. Arceus had been busy creating others, defenders of this planet and its numerous regions. Once he was sure his Legendary Pokémon would keep the balance of this world, he had dealt with the Norstad menace. There were others though. Always others."

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Another mental scene change revealed the same boy, slightly older, and garbed not too differently than Alex, Jess, and most other Trainers. A backpack, a walking stick, and a good friend by his side. That was the dream, and Alex was beginning to see why so many Trainers started on similar paths. He already had a feeling that he knew how this boy's life would eventually end, but he continued to listen.

"Worship of Pokémon had sprung up all around the world and for all his sight, Arceus had not predicted the devout and sometimes perverse measures Humans will reach to demonstrate how much they love and worship their deity of choice. Many of the Legendary Pokémon were uncomfortable with this, as they had no desire to challenge Arceus for the right to be the Alpha. Only one other had tried, and that other had paid dearly for its arrogance. Arceus is merciful, true, but his wrath, when awakened, is truly ferocious."

The scene shifted again, and the Sage kept speaking. "The Humans had begun to rebuild their cities alongside Pokémon, and when Arceus and his partner arrived, they were educated as to who the true Alpha was. The Humans, of course, praised him as the highest of high powers, though many still revered the Legendary of their region with respect, and Arceus did not seem to mind."

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Alex flinched as he saw Tao, a bit younger looking judging by his facial tendrils, lazing on a familiar mountain as a group of humans stood on a familiar peak, and listened to the Alpha Pokémon. It was undoubtedly Draconis Mons, but it was different.

There was a battle arena, as the ancient Unovans had apparently been one of the first to organize Pokémon into battling teams, but the mountain top was flat, not a crater. The northern peak had the same familiar cave though, and Alex had a feeling that he knew what was residing in that cave, perhaps even now, waiting to be discovered.

He felt the ever-present staff on his back shudder at that thought, and his focus returned as the Sage continued on, "Eventually, as all Humans do, Arceus's partner grew old, and he returned to his village…only to find that it had been leveled. Even with his travels across the globe, true unity evaded the Human race and other amoral men and women continued to use Pokémon to try to gain power over other Humans. Arceus had separated from his partner for a number of years by that point, for such a span of time is nothing to him. He tried to quell the numerous wars, only to find another had sprung up while he was busy. Many kinds of kingdoms had risen in this new age. Entire civilizations rose and fell in remarkable time, always brought low by the greed of one of the Humans within it. The more they delved into the mysteries of his Pokémon, the more powerful these civilizations became. Over and over this repeated, and Humanity began to stagnate. As the situation became more and more futile, Arceus began to wonder if his Judgement had been incorrect, if perhaps it was the planet that deserved to live, not the Sentients upon it."

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"His fury was justified." The Sage continued, "He is a being that is used to letting the universe run itself, and often hibernates for millennia at a time. He had been awake for far too long focusing on one planet, using his power on an almost daily basis as he adventured with his partner and all they had to show for it was a few hundred million overly zealous followers, and more bloodshed. He made his intent to wipe the Humans out clear, except for his partner, and those he cared for."

The scene shifted, and Alex recognized the Judgement attack forming above the golden Arceus' head, ready to come down on two seemingly random warring armies of humans and Pokémon.

"Eventually, his partner managed to calm his rage…but not before it devastated the Humans who refused to stay peaceful, in a conflict that would come to be known as the Judgement War. His Tamer, an old man by then, appeared to Arceus, as he'd been traveling the world with Pokémon he'd trained from eggs, spreading peace where he could to as many as possible. The Alpha attempted to grant him immortality, but sadly, the Human's body was already too far decayed, and eventually, mortality took him. It was then that Arceus quit this world to recover his strength. His Human had foreseen that, one day, another would come to help him guide Humanity once more, but in that moment, the Alpha was too exhausted to be optimistic."

The Sage gave the mental equivalent of a heavy sigh. "He told us, the Psychic Sages, that someday, when this world managed to find peaceful coexistence between his creations and Humankind, he would return to partner with one who was worthy. To help with that goal and your species' incurable Greed, he gave one final gift to you Humans…yes, Alex, you're right. Your insight serves you well."

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The others waited expectantly, and Alex spoke then, "I guessed that Arceus decided to make us similar to his own creations. Pokémon, of a kind, but unlike any others. Normal types, of course, though some of us apparently have dual typing."

The Sage smirked to himself. Arceus' gift went a lot farther than that, as the being had altered much to overcome humanity's tendency towards violence. From altering the composition of the air, to the very food both humans and Pokémon regularly ate…but he had a feeling the young Redwood would find for himself just how extensively humanity had been altered by the deity in their midst soon enough.

"As I said, you are correct, though even to this day, arrogant Humans think you're 'above' mere Pokémon, just as you pretended to be above the animals of this world so long ago. This is simply not the case. Always remember that you are a part of this world, and the delicate balance it takes to keep it habitable. I, and others like me, have watched your race crawl back from the Dark Times that came after the death of Arceus's Tamer, and Arceus's departure. You have, slowly, begun to manifest more and more Humans with Psychic potential. Never forget what you are; a race spawned by Nature, and empowered by a deity. You all have so much potential...you could be incredible...if you'd only stop murdering each other." The Sage spoke, as the scene shifted to one that every Trainer experienced at one point or another.

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Some Trainers inherited Pokémon, or bonded with them, some were given their first by their parents or siblings, but every Trainer who was serious about adventuring had visited a lab at one point or another, to get one of the unique Pokémon used by so many Trainers across the planet. The scene that came to their minds now was evidently one that had been before the onset of the Dark Times.

The same boy from before, now ancient and bent and swathed in a white robe that dangled from his frail form, whistled, and three Pokémon came over to him. A fire type, a grass type, and a water type. He'd evidently rebuilt his little village, and had become a revered elder among the people, far surpassing the normal span of years most humans lived, a gift from Arceus no doubt, but the Alpha was not present in this scene.

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"He chose a Successor," The Sage said, quietly, "And from among all his followers, he found the one with the most Psychic potential, the one who, he hoped, would lead Humanity and our world as a whole back into Arceus's Light."

The boy in question had fairer skin, blonde hair, and green eyes, wide and curious. He pointed at the grass type, a Snover from the nearby Mediterra mountains, and Alex chuckled.

"Mm. I'm glad it amuses you." The Sage spoke, as he shifted the scene again, to one that outright shocked the four seeing it, as the tone of the vision changed abruptly. It was the same village alright, but covered in ice, and devastated by massive vines. They could even see some of the townspeople, and their Pokémon, trapped within it.

"That Trainer went on to develop his Psychic power, and once he had that power…he used it. Again, and again, he forced his unwilling Abomasnow to comply so many times, it eventually became little more than a husk. Into that husk, he poured his malicious emotions, until eventually, he figured out how to manifest and harness Shadow energy. He went on to form a cult then, a popular thing at the time, when Arceus's Tamer, seen as a Prophet by some, and a hero by others, finally passed on. The followers they'd gained over the long years fractured, and the world descended into an age of darkness the likes of which it had never, and will never see again."

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The Sage continued to narrate as scenes, from his own vision now and not his father's, flitted by, showing but a fraction of the carnage. "The 'Successor' and his forces were all trained in the Psychic arts, mastering and abusing their power, until eventually, they killed each other off, or died in other ways. They turned on each other almost daily, to the point where it became expected for an apprentice to one day slay his master, and claim his knowledge. This is why you must be extremely cautious in who you give this power to…not all Humans are capable of handling it."

Alex spoke quietly then. "Am I? Are any of us?"

That brought a chuckle from the Sage, "The fact that you even ask only proves that you're already worthier than some…but time will tell. Return here with Jessica when she completes her final year. Then, we will test you. All of you."

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Alex and Jess shared a look as he opened his eyes again. It took a minute for his vocal chords to work, as he'd become so used to telepathy in such a short time. That was often how it was with the Sage. "That was…"

He felt her lean on him then, "I'm glad you think I can handle this power…but what about my brother? What if he has it too? I don't think he could control it…and apparently that's more dangerous than abusing it."

Alex waved a hand again, pushing the button for the door, in the lab. His Gruncle was nowhere to be seen, evidently, he'd left when they'd stopped speaking with words he could hear. "Don't worry about your brother…he just has to find his own path. It might not lead him to the Swamp immediately, but Professor Oak said it would…and his words have been right so far. If he starts to misuse what he learns, you and I will keep him in check. Like we always do."

She sighed, and he cheered her up then by teaching her how to reach out with her burgeoning senses, and lift small objects. She failed, of course, as he had his first day, but he was slowly learning what being a teacher was like. He didn't mind it much, but it certainly helped that his 'student' was so close to him.

They trained all day, until he was certain she could, at the very least, reach out and mentally link to him. They thoroughly enjoyed being linked to that degree, and that was how the two stayed as they joined their families in the massive convoy of cars and Pokémon heading for Castelia City. It was Festivus Eve, at last, and Alex fully intended to relax and enjoy himself.