Even though I only just left the building, the Devon headquarters felt different, somehow. Most of the employees had already left for home, and the hallways were empty as a result. Windows let the late afternoon sun shine into the building, and the fluorescent lights hummed softly above me.
It was quiet, surprisingly so. I kept a pace that wasn’t quite a run, but it wasn’t just walking, either. Banette remained in my shadow, but I could tell he was nervous based on how it was unnaturally flicking about.
I rushed down a corridor and moved to turn a corner, but an unexpected sight gave me pause.
The lights were out. This wing of the building had its power completely cut.
Strange. There should be a backup generator.
"So do we wait for my team, or do we push ahead?" I asked Banette.
When I picked up my Holo Caster only moments before, I had given Phoebe a call. She didn’t answer, but Gardevoir did. I gave him a rundown of the situation and told him to bring everyone over. He gave me an affirmative and hung up the call.
He would be here soon, but I wasn’t sure where Phoebe had brought my team while I was working during the day. It was exceedingly unfortunate that this had happened so soon, as I intended to subtly take Gardevoir here to memorize the space for Teleport.
Banette's answer came soon enough. A Will-O-Wisp formed next to my head. The pale, ghostly light illuminated the hallways, encouraging me forward, and I gulped from the unearthly atmosphere it created.
Pushing my nerves down, I decided to trust the Elite Four’s Pokémon I had with me and darted ahead.
I didn’t meet anyone while I ran, but this section wasn’t that large. My footsteps echoed down the silent corridors before I turned another corner and skidded to a halt.
Another two wisps formed to better light up the space ahead. A pair of unconscious Machamp and their trainers lay on the ground, knocked out.
“High alert,” I whispered.
Soft crackling was Banette’s response under my feet.
I shifted into a slower push forward, modifying my stance to be on the balls of my feet and minimize any extra noise. This type of movement was actually taught to me back in Sinnoh during my Ace training, as running away was a crucial skill when one was outmatched.
The wisps drifted forward alongside me, and they quickly began to illuminate a door. It wasn’t the smaller, wooden ones that led into offices and open floors, but this was a thick, metal one that led somewhere else: Devon’s Infinity Energy machine.
The doors were wide open. We didn’t get much closer before something happened.
From inside the dark laboratory, a creature the color of the night raised its head. I hadn't noticed it due to its dark colors, but now its two draconic eyes glowed an obvious, bright yellow. The creature stared out into the darkness, sniffing the air where the Will-O-Wisp lights were. Banette snuffed them out, but it was too late. Its head turned towards us, and we locked eyes.
Thick, leathery skin covered its face. A mane of white fur insulated its neck. A jagged upper lip covered the sharp fangs on its mouth, and a pair of cyan speaker-ears flicked for a moment on its head.
The Dragon Type, a Noivern, stared down at me almost imperiously. It was twice the size of a usual individual of its species, and it let loose a reverberating growl.
A voice called out behind it.
"Oh? Someone’s there? Return your Pokémon and enter the room! Otherwise, Noivern might have to take more aggressive precautions."
Zinnia, I recognized.
Frowning as if defeated, I purposefully held up a Pokéball. My other hand was held behind my back, hidden from view. For a brief moment, the hallway flashed red as Banette was "returned," and I walked forward.
Banette did enter his ball, but he just as quickly came back out. As a Ghost Type, he was able to do so silently as a shadow, and I felt a chill underneath my feet signifying he had remained hidden under the cover of darkness. Noivern did not notice.
The Dragon shifted its wings back to allow me entrance into the room. Its breath was warm right behind me, and I quickly saw I wasn't alone.
Outside of Noivern, three large dragons rested across this wide space. An Altaria perked on a table. A Salamence kept its wings out proudly. In a corner, a Goodra burbled in place.
In the center of the room, however, laid the Infinity Energy machine. A day prior it had been an impressive sight dedicated to the research of the phenomenon's core power, but now it lay in ruins. Warped pieces of metal were thrown about, and bent tesla coils pointed to the roof. The lathe was shattered, and the glass compartments I had noticed on the sides were now nothing more than loose shards.
A familiar woman stalked through the mess. A window illuminated her in the remains. Her hair was a cropped bob, and her eyes were a piercing red.
Zinnia waved an arm to push the cloak she wore back, and she kicked aside shards of glass to retrieve an iridescent stone. I held back a gasp when I saw what it was.
A Key Stone. She’s placing it into a bag with a few others. How many does she have?
She didn’t speak as she went back to her search. I stood there, patiently, as Zinnia continued to ignore me.
Eventually, she spoke.
"I have to wonder why the Fairy Type trainer decided to show up. It’s an interesting coincidence, given what I plan to do. What do you think we should do with them, Aster? Knock them out?"
I hadn't noticed before, but Zinnia's Whismur was loitering at the edge of the heap of scrap. It was holding the thick leg of the Goodra and watching Zinnia silently. Its head tilted up at her and it replied with its echoey name. Zinnia's mouth curved into a smile, then she went back to her search.
"You're right. Anything else would be rude. Togepi treated you well, Fairy Type or not. I suppose we can be kind to them today."
Zinnia's Pokémon continued to loom, their very presence threatening a battle if I tried anything suspicious. From the very sight of them, I could see why the Draconid Tribe managed to do so well in isolation. These were peak examples of what Dragon Types could become.
"Why are you doing this, Rina?”
My words caused the Draconid woman to cock her head to the side. She seemed amused. After all, I used her fake name.
Zinnia still thought I was Avery, and I didn’t want to risk her finding who I really was.
"Revenge," Zinnia said.
She leaned down and pushed aside a large piece of scrap.
"I'm sorry, what?"
"Maybe that was the wrong word. Just know that I’m correcting an error that should not have been there."
Still leaning over, Zinnia turned her head to lock eyes with me. Red irises stared intently into my own as she paused her search. Her awkward yet perfectly still stance made her look half crazed, and she grabbed another Key Stone with only minimal movement.
"Three thousand years ago, a war broke out. Three thousand years ago, a weapon was fired, and the world changed forevermore. Mega Evolution was introduced to the world, or, at least, such was said."
She stood back up and pressed her hands to her back to stretch. The Key Stone was placed in her sack.
"But, even before that, the phenomenon was sighted. Far before that disastrous war took place, the world was awash in Primal energy. Battles were daily—not between humans, but between two great Pokémon infused with that power."
"Primal Kyogre," I said.
Zinnia hummed. She resumed her search.
"Correct. You're surprisingly informed. Most people think the Kyogre from Mossdeep was just a normal Kyogre. I’m surprised others are aware of Primal Reversion."
I said nothing in response.
"But, to cut the story short, Primal Kyogre and Groudon fought in cycles, Rayquaza used the power of a fallen meteor to Mega Evolve, and the two Legendary beings were beaten to exhaustion and sent back into their slumber."
"That's a lot of information to condense into a few sentences."
Zinnia shrugged.
"I'm... I'm not feeling up to telling the full story."
At this point, Zinnia grabbed one last Key Stone and walked out of the remains of the machine. She patted Whismur on the head before returning it, then she started to return her Dragon Types one by one.
What is she doing? Where is my team?
She looked like she was leaving. I couldn’t let that happen.
"Wait, but that still doesn't explain what the error is."
Zinnia froze. Only her Salamence was still left out. Something shifted in her gaze, and her head tilted to the side as if she just heard something curious.
“It was foretold that Lord Rayquaza would Mega Evolve to save the region from a Meteor. That did not happen, and, instead, Rayquaza Mega Evolved far, far sooner. The consequences were...” Zinnia paused uncomfortably. “I need the Key Stones to provide Rayquaza power. From there, the region shall be saved, and a certain trainer will know their place.”
“A certain trainer?” I asked.
Her head snapped my way once more, and her eyes flicked towards my Pokéballs. A pit formed in the depths of my stomach.
She’s... she’s talking about me. She’s talking about Alex. That’s why she went out of her way to talk to me during the interview process. She was suspicious of my Fairy Types.
“I wanted to wait, but things in the background started to move sooner than expected,” she said.
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I wanted to put my palm on my face.
Damnit, Phoebe.
Out of nowhere, shouts suddenly rang out from the hallway, and it was clear the proper authorities had finally figured out what was going on. The power outage had delayed them, but my team still wasn’t here. I didn’t have a way to stop her from leaving.
With only a single point of an arm, Zinnia’s Salamence breathed out a blast of pure fire. The metal doors to this room warped and melted, collapsing in a heap that blocked the entrance.
“This was interesting, Avery. Feel free to share what I’ve said here with your leaders. And, if you get a chance, tell—”
A loud bang rang out. It sounded like a Pokémon hitting the metal.
“Nevermind,” she said quickly.
Zinnia hopped onto the back of her Salamence, and it opened its mouth and aimed at the room’s outermost wall. I realized what it was about to do moments before it happened, and I rushed away as fast as I could.
A Hyper Beam blasted the wall outwards. Rubble fell from the ceiling, but the room held. Without Zinnia noticing, Banette batted away a dangerously close falling stone with Shadow Claw, then a burst of wind signified Zinnia had flown off.
Upsettingly, it was only a few moments later that Gardevoir finally Teleported into the room. He was alert and ready to battle, but Zinnia was already gone.
To the sounds of the police trying their best to enter this area, I took my team’s Pokéballs from him and clipped them to my belt. I could still see Zinnia in the distance—her Salamence was slowly becoming a smaller and smaller speck—and I took a deep breath to come to a decision.
"Banette," I said. "Can you retrieve Phoebe?"
Gardevoir's head snapped towards me. He couldn't read my mind, but he could feel my emotions. With that, I knew he was getting the sense of what I was planning.
He nodded almost immediately after. Below me, Banette responded with a “‘Nette,” in affirmative.
"Then go," I said.
My orders were received twofold. Banette was off, and Gardevoir and I vanished.
We reappeared on an outside street to the shock of the foot traffic, but Gardevoir quickly looked straight up and teleported us to the top of a skyscraper. The sudden movement made me stumble, but I was easily caught and stabilized by Gardevoir’s fast, reflexive, telekinetic grip.
Zinnia was even clearer in the distance from this high up. Her Salamence was bringing her in a straight line away from Rustboro. We waited a minute longer to let Gardevoir gather his energy before he teleported again.
Then he did it again, and again, and again.
Over the course of the next half hour, Gardevoir repeatedly brought us underneath Zinnia as she rushed us by. She had no Psychic Types, and the rush of the air blocked her and Salamence's senses to not detect us. Even if she could, Teleport was silent and gave almost no signs of our presence. Zinnia seemed far more focused on getting away than searching for pursuers, anyway.
Gardevoir was flagging by the time Zinnia touched down, and it was clear that her Salamence had pushed itself to travel so far so quickly. She landed on a small stone clearing at the edge of a rocky mountain, where a rocky slope extended out underneath.
All the way to Rustboro Tunnel? That’s an impressive distance to cross.
A large boulder obscured Gardevoir and I on the ledge above her. Gardevoir leaned against the wall, panting, and I signed him “Thank you” before picking up his Pokéball to let him rest.
He held up a hand. I stopped myself. For now, he wanted to stay out nearby.
I nodded, and Gardevoir nodded back in thanks.
Turning back to Zinnia, I could see her Salamence had been returned. Whismur had been sent out as well, and she was now sitting on a rock with her head in her hands. She wasn’t doing anything or even trying to leave. She just looked to be resting, except if I had to describe her in any way, she almost looked sad.
Whismur approached her and hugged her leg. She lifted up her head, a small smile appeared on her face, and patted her Pokémon’s head.
"Thank you, Aster."
But then, Zinnia stiffened. Her Whismur, a Pokémon with insanely good hearing, pointed my way.
Looks like I’m caught.
Before she did anything in response, I hopped off the ledge and slid down towards Zinnia. She immediately stood up and retrieved a Pokéball, but she didn’t send out her chosen team member just yet. Instead, her red eyes widened in surprise when she saw who I was.
"You," she said.
“Me,” I replied.
"How did you... how are you here? There's no way your team could keep up with Salamence. And if there was someone following us, we would have seen."
I stayed silent. Zinnia's gaze flicked about. She frowned slightly, a little annoyed.
"Are you... are you even here?"
"Why do you hate me so much?"
This time, it was Zinnia who said "What?"
"You said you went this far to correct an error. I'm not an error. Things were said to happen one way, but that didn’t happen. New variables were introduced, and what was planned no longer became planned.”
Her grip tightened around her ball. Her muscles flexed slightly as if she were about to pounce.
"You," she hissed.
I grabbed the side of my face, and I pulled off the prosthetics that made me look like "Avery." Zinnia went through many emotions before finally settling on anger as she glared at my face.
"You killed her! Rayquaza shouldn't have Mega Evolved there! She didn't need to die!"
"I didn't do anything. Aster willingly accepted Rayquaza's request for help. She went with it to fight against Primal Kyogre. I didn't realize what would happen after."
"No!" A few tears dripped down Zinnia's cheeks. "Rayquaza wasn't meant to Mega Evolve until the Meteor arrived! Rayquaza was meant to use that power to protect the region! Now... Now I'll convince it to do that, and after, it will deal with you.”
Her hands were shaking. Zinnia’s face was contorted into a sneer. Even with that, tears continued to fall. Whismur clutched her leg, but she didn’t react in the slightest.
"I... I don't know what you've done," Zinnia said. "How you’ve done it. You've... you've changed things. That wasn't how it was supposed to happen. Aster wasn’t supposed to go like that. She wasn’t supposed to go.” Zinnia sniffed again, and then her whole body seemed to relax. “And for that, I can't...”
She threw her Pokéball. I was already leaping out of the way.
"I can't forgive you!” she yelled. “Noivern!"
"Florges!"
Both Pokémon appeared on this flat space of rock, with Noivern already rushing forward in a charge. Its mouth was wide open for a Super Fang, and it unfortunately was able to lock onto Florges.
She screamed but managed to withstand the attack. Fairy Wind was thrown into Noivern's face and caused it to screech in return. She slipped out of its mouth to float into the air.
"Moonblast!"
"Air Slash!"
The attacks exploded against each other in the air as Noivern took off into flight. Florges followed, sending out Moonblast after Moonblast while conjuring clouds of Fairy Wind to interfere with its flight.
Blasts of sound burst from its ears, and its wings formed slices in the air. Florges was able to withstand or avoid them all, and a Wish brought her back to full health.
I turned away, knowing Florges had everything under control. As I did, I rapidly went through my Ace Trainer training in my mind.
Step One: Deescalate. Status; Failure.
Step Two: Apprehend the trainer. Status: Ongoing.
Step Three and Four: Win the battle, or report to more experienced authorities. Status: Pending.
Hm. Alright, looks like I'm still on Step Two.
Zinnia was still focusing on Noivern, but I was no longer paying attention to the battle. The sounds of my steps drew her attention, my rush forward revealed before I reached my destination. She leaped back, drew a Pokéball, and her next team member was sent forward.
"Goodra!" she screamed.
"Rapidash!"
Goodra was sent out between Zinnia and I, but Rapidash was sent out next to it. He slammed into the side of the bulky, bipedal slug, using Double Edge to give himself the power to knock it far back.
Fairy Winds were puffed out of his head to blind his opponent and amplify his damage. Goodra groaned from the super effective damage.
In response to the attack, Goodra brought up its arms to push Rapidash aside, but all it did was stop the charge. It was a dense Pokémon, and it took all of its weight to keep itself on the ground. However, Rapidash's horn dug into its side, and his hooves created grooves in the ground to continue to inch it away.
Seeing that, an idea came to mind.
"High Horsepower!"
Rapidash let loose a deafening whinny, and then the force he was pushing with increased tenfold. Dirt wrapped around his legs with the power of Ground Type energy, and Goodra was knocked out of place.
The charge resumed. Goodra stumbled backwards, and a blast of Psychic shoved it off the cliff. Both Zinnia and I gasped, but Rapidash didn't even blink before jumping down to chase after it.
"Rapidash!"
"Goodra!"
Both Zinnia's and my shouts were louder and more desperate than expected. Noivern dived down after them, but Florges stopped its descent with an explosive Moonblast.
I felt my heart pound with fear at the apparent fate of my Pokémon. Gardevoir, still nearby, sent a telepathic warmth into my mind to inform me they were okay.
I should have realized sooner. It was a steep slope, not a cliff.
My gaze turned back towards Zinnia as I took another step forward. She fumbled inside a pocket before pulling out yet another Pokéball and tossing it forward.
"Altaria!"
This wasn't my Pokémon, but Zinnia's. A much larger specimen than Altaria himself appeared in the air. Its wings flapped with ferocious might, forming a Hurricane with the intention to send me back.
However, Ninetales released herself from her ball just in time and fired an Ice Beam at the bird. The Hurricane was stopped and the Altaria tried to dodge, but we had worked too hard on Ninetales's accuracy for it to do so.
Ninetales leaped away to harry the flying Pokémon, leaving Zinnia and I alone on the ledge. She had one team member left, technically two, if Whismur counted. Salamence was exhausted, though, and it was clear she knew it was over. I did too.
"Surrender," I said.
Zinnia bit her lip. The wild nature I had seen back in Devon was no longer present. Instead, a woman not much younger than me stood ahead, tense and nervous.
It was a threatening standoff. Zinnia moved first. Her arm flexed, I darted forward, and one last Pokéball was raised up with a shout "Get away!"
This was when Gardevoir finally revealed his presence. He used a Psychic to lock Zinnia's arm, causing her to gasp. With this delay, I grabbed the ball, and I used both hands to hold it closed to prevent Salamence from being released.
Then, I did something that caused Zinnia to freeze up.
"I'm sorry!"
My yell stunned the clearing. The Pokémon battles were put on hold. Zinnia's team, showing their loyalty, moved as if to charge in for a rescue, but since I wasn't actually attacking, they chose to stay back.
"Do you not think I think about what I've done every day? Do you not think I'm aware of what I've caused? People got hurt because of me. Pokémon got injured because of me. But, if I didn't act, a lot worse would have happened. I've made peace with the fact that my actions changed things, but I still regret the pain and problems I've unintentionally caused."
"But Aster—"
"I told you. Aster went with Rayquaza willingly," I interrupted. "She didn't have any complaints about what happened, and she didn't even act like it would kill her. I knew she was dying from what she whispered with Steven, but I had no way of knowing that helping Rayquaza would be her end. I... I never meant for that to happen. I know what it feels like to lose someone you love. I'm sorry."
Zinnia stared at me like she didn't believe my words. She reached forward as if to try to recover Salamence's Pokéball, and I made the dumb decision to let her grab it. The Pokéball was snatched from my grip, and Zinnia held it in her hands. There was a look of victory in her eyes as if she was about to send out her Pokémon, but then she met my gaze.
Zinnia wavered. Her arms began to shake. She glanced around rapidly, taking in the three sets of Pokémon who had paused the battle to watch what had just gone on.
Then, she released a sob.
Cries broke out. Loud, wailing cries echoed across throughout. Rivers of tears poured down Zinnia's face as she collapsed to her knees.
Aster, the Whismur, left where it was hiding behind a rock. It placed a hand on Zinnia's side only to have Zinnia grab it and clutch it in a tight hug.
"Aster... Aster!" she cried.
Zinnia wasn't able to say much more than that.
The previously battling Pokémon started to move back to the battlefield. Noivern landed on the stone, and Goodra used the tentacles on its head to help it climb.
An Ally Switch from Florges brought Rapidash back up to the platform, and Ninetales returned to the field with her Agility.
Patiently, I moved to sit on a rock. Zinnia continued to cry. All of us sat there, waiting, as the Draconid Lorekeeper finally let everything she'd been feeling completely and utterly out.
----------------------------------------
There were going to be reparations on behalf of the Draconid Tribe.
Despite being in Hoenn, the Tribe was still independent from the local government and the Pokémon League as a whole. Due to that, Zinnia wasn’t arrested, but she was returned to her people, and it was promised that they would provide gifts to pay back the damages she had caused.
The Devon Corporation was given their Key Stones, but the Infinity Energy machine was far past the point of being repaired. Unfortunately, the research it could have assisted would have to be put on hold for a long time.
All of that was already determined by the time the next day rolled around.
“So Zinnia found out I was looking into her,” Phoebe said.
“Yup-puh,” I replied, emphasizing the “p.”
Phoebe sighed and leaned back on the bench within the courtyard of Devon. Repairs were going on to fix the wall Zinnia destroyed, and they were almost done even though the damage had happened only last night.
“I’m sorry, Alex. The Draconid Tribe is a lot more insular than the rest of Hoenn. Information doesn’t flow as freely there as it does everywhere else. I should have known she would have figured it out no matter how hard I tried. I didn’t mean to cause a rush.”
“I’m sorry, too. I caused you to panic when I talked about Zinnia. I should have asked you to stay to create a more dedicated plan.”
Phoebe chuckled and gave a quiet “You sound like Steven” in response. We continued to wait in the courtyard until the man in question finally showed up.
He didn’t look happy.
“Let’s start from the top,” Steven said as he strode forward. A workman left his side. “Not only did you fail to inform me when there was an infiltrator in Devon, my father’s company, but you decided to have Alex attempt to hunt them down as part of some training? Then, when you did discover the infiltrator’s identity, you still didn’t inform me and had Alex continue to try to find out more about them?”
“You forgot the part where I technically took the spot of someone else’s job,” I added.
“Actually, I had a few ghosts sneak in and plant documents encouraging you to be hired. They weren’t going to give you the job, otherwise,” Phoebe said.
“Oh.”
That kind of hurt.
Steven sighed and palmed his face, dragging his hand down out of frustration. He glanced between us with annoyance clear in his eyes as he unconsciously adjusted his tie. Behind him, the emotionless Metagross almost looked amused.
“Phoebe, I’m assigning you double shift for the next month.”
“What?! But my grandparents—”
“Can wait. You visit them almost every week, anyway.”
She slumped in her chair.
“As for you, Alex.” I stiffened. I was still in training; I technically didn’t have the authority of an elite role just yet. I was about the equivalent of any junior Ace Trainer, which meant Steven had absolute authority over me while I was in Hoenn.
I was afraid of a punishment. He just sighed, instead.
“I’m disappointed. I thought we were friends.”
That’s worse than anything else he could have said.
“But,” Steven continued. I perked up. “I do have to admit that you have less responsibility for this situation than Phoebe here. She should have known better than to go behind my back in a manner as important as this, whereas you were still in training. As a result, I have to admit that your efforts in this mission have gone above and beyond. Not only did you join Devon without revealing a hint of who you were, but you managed to stop a misguided individual from going through with a potentially devastating plan. Also...” Steven chuckled. “I have one person on staff begging me to promote you to full-time assistant. It seems your feedback has made waves in the single day you were here.”
“So I’m not in trouble?”
“On the contrary, Alex. If you recall my exact words—”
My eyes went wide. Steven smiled.
“You were in training,” I repeated. “Past tense, not present tense.”
“Congratulations, Alex. After your performance yesterday, I’d say your training has been completed. Welcome to the Wandering Elite.”
Phoebe patted my back in congratulations, and I brightened up. Steven had a similarly bright smile on his face as he reached into his pocket.
He tossed something forward.
“What’s this?” I asked.
“A pen drive. It contains every related document to both your promotion and the events that happened yesterday. I expect everything to be filled out, printed, then signed in triplicate by the end of the week.”
I stared up at Steven, confused. It seemed like he was giving me a lot of time to do something that shouldn't take much time at all. My thinking was proved to be false when Phoebe’s face paled.
"Steven, no," she whispered. "That's so much."
Steven just continued to smile before turning around and walking away. He held out a hand to wave, calling out “Good luck!” as he left the area. The Champion of Hoenn returned to his prior duties.
Phoebe did her best to try to cheer me up, but the small drive I held in my hands filled me with dread.
I still remember the questionnaire Cynthia had me fill out. Don’t tell me this is longer!