CHAPTER 52 — Going, Going, Gone

Lavender Town.

This small town whose population was little more than three thousand strong rested by itself along Kanto’s eastern border—solitary in nature, but not entirely isolated nor forgotten to the rest of the world. Though it had no gym of its own, Lavender Town still saw many visitors year-round.

Most of them came for the monument whose true name had been lost in the ravines of time: the Pokemon Tower.

Thousands flocked to the holy site every year. Tourists from abroad. Mourners awash with fresh grief. Devout followers on religious pilgrimages. Trainers who dared to seek out Ghosts for their teams. The reason varied from person to person, but the fact of the matter was that Lavender Town generated a lot more foot traffic than people would initially assume.

It also happened to be one of the human settlements with the lowest crime rates in all of Indigo, and there was only one good reason for it.

Lavender Town was the territory of Elite Four Agatha Kikuko.

It was generally the case that one’s hometown held a special place in the heart, and this rang especially true for the legendary Ghost Specialist. She cherished it with every fiber of her being—the history, the people, the long-held traditions, everything. Everyone knew even if she didn’t explicitly say it in words. Agatha showed it in the way her army of Ghosts quietly guarded Lavender Town twenty-four seven, season by season, and year after year without rest. She had enough Ghosts at her command that she could afford to constantly guard a whole town while sweeping all of Kanto-Johto for threats. Under her watchful eye, decades of unprecedented peace and quiet fell upon the locals where they could live their lives undisturbed in a far flung corner of the country. Who would want to mess with a woman feared as the Witch of Lavender Town? She who had brought down armies in wars, who had the mental fortitude to tame even the most murderous Ghosts and bring them to heel?

Apparently, someone had been gutsy enough to try it. Worse and more surprisingly, they had succeeded.

The waves of pressure being radiated from below cut off without warning. I was torn between returning home right away or taking a quick peek into the state of Lavender Town.

In the end, my curiosity won out.

Dinner would have to wait. With a light tap against Zuri’s neck, the Dragonite began her slow descent.

Mountainous regions and rocky outcrops to the left. A dense forest of tall, slender trees to the right. Nestled in between their protective perimeter was a town that grew ever closer. I hardly knew anything about Kantonese architecture, but even I could tell the town had preserved many of its historical buildings. The central part of Lavender looked the oldest of all and featured houses with elevated floors, thatched roofs, and wooden post-and-beam structures. The further out you went, the faster the architecture shifted to more modern houses with bright and fresh paint. I saw for myself how the town’s name was reflected in beautiful purple shades that adorned house roofs and cobbled pavement alike.

My eyes were naturally drawn to the massive structure standing solemnly in the corner of the town.

Built atop a sturdy platform with impressive stairs, layered tiers of stone rose up one after another into the air. I counted seven floors in total. At the highest level was a domed roof and pointy spire. The whole building shimmered subtly with the same color as the town’s namesake almost as if sparkles had been mixed into the stone. A lavender sheen against bone white—beautiful and yet so indescribably eerie.

An uneasy feeling gripped my heart. I didn’t have to be a Ghost Specialist to sense the otherworldly aura the Pokemon Tower possessed even from this distance.

It was a resting place for the dead and housed countless Pokemon graves. There, the locals laid the souls of their loved ones to rest with rites and prayers. There were some who traveled hundreds of miles to bury their Pokemon here, too, because it was said the Tower held a particularly deep connection with the Beyond.

It was also home to many, many Ghosts, and dozens of Trainers tried their luck every year to obtain one. If they were too scared, then they had the option of looking around town instead. Lavender was a hotbed of spectral activity given how much emotion was concentrated in this town courtesy of the Pokemon Tower. Ghosts were naturally drawn here from miles around. The only reason they didn’t go around killing people left and right was because Agatha’s Ghosts kept them in line. Her Pokemon didn’t interfere when Trainers actively sought wild Ghosts out of their own accord, though.

Cruel as it seemed, it was the foolish Trainer’s responsibility if they came unprepared to deal with one of the most bloodthirsty types known to man.

Instead of letting Zuri fly around aimlessly, I pulled out my phone to look up where the murder had occurred.

I had a feeling that was probably where Agatha was right now.

Houses touched by the last few rays of a setting sun blurred past as I directed Zuri to our destination, a place known as the Lavender Volunteer House. It wasn’t hard to find.

The whole building was sectioned off with yellow tape, police officers doing their best to keep curious onlookers away, teary-eyed locals dropping off bouquets at the gates, and hordes of reporters who’d willingly driven all the way to the countryside to get ahold of the most startling news Lavender had seen in a long time.

After all, it wasn’t often a murder occurred right under the nose of an Elite Four member.

The glittering scales of a Dragonite made heads turn and fingers point at the sky as Zuri looped around once, twice, before a police officer noticed me on her back and barked out orders. Uniformed guards dispersed in the crowded backyard and made space for us to land.

I felt it the moment Vel and I hopped off Zuri’s back.

It was cold.

We were in the middle of summer, but a chill permeated the air and threatened to seep into my bones. The Flutter Mane and Mimikyu sleeping in my shadow stirred at once, their murmurs drifting into my ears in the form of warnings. Even Zuri gave me a little concerned nudge with her hand before I recalled her.

We understood now that this went beyond Agatha. There was something else at play in this town, but I didn’t have time to dwell on it.

“Leader Arin? What brings you here?”

A soft, inquisitive voice called out to me, and it came from none other than Elite Four Lorelei Kanna. She had been in the middle of speaking to a police officer on the back porch, but she made a move to walk over to me.

I hurriedly crossed the distance between us so she wouldn’t have to. Walking in heels across grassy terrain was not a pleasant experience or so I often heard from female friends and acquaintances.

Whether Lorelei grasped the reasoning behind my sudden action or not, she nodded amicably in a polite greeting.

“I was in the area and flying back home when I felt pressure coming from the town. Thought I’d see what was going on,” I greeted once I’d climbed the porch stairs. We shook hands briefly. “Are you here for the same reason?”

“I see.” A glimmer of understanding sparked in Lorelei’s eyes. “I’m not surprised you felt that. Agatha couldn’t help herself for a moment. She’s a bit… on edge right now.”

Surely an understatement, but I didn’t point that out. So the pressure had come from Agatha and her Ghosts after all.

“Anyway,” Lorelei continued calmly, adjusting her glasses, “you would be half-correct. Truth be told, Lance asked me to accompany Agatha. We just got here a few minutes ago. Your unexpected arrival is actually quite the blessing.”

One of my brows rose. “What do you mean?”

“You’re here because you’re curious, yes?” Lorelei arched a slender brow of her own. “Come. You can hear the details inside. In return, you can help me fulfill Lance’s request to watch over Agatha. I don’t believe she’ll rampage — a needless worry on Lance’s part if you ask me — but I always prefer having multiple insurance policies in place.”

Ah.

I’d suddenly found myself straddled with babysitting business, but I supposed it was a small price to pay for coming unannounced like this. The moment I nodded my head, Lorelei spun on her heel. I followed her through a guarded back entrance into the house.

It was even colder inside than it was outdoors, and it was definitely not because of air conditioning.

“Hmm,” Lorelei mused out loud. Whether it was meant for herself or me to hear, I didn’t know. “A pleasant chill. Perhaps I should consider moving to Lavender Town in my old age.”

“Was that… Was that a joke?” I ventured to ask, bewildered. I’d only met Lorelei a few times before. As polite as she was, she didn’t seem like the type to crack jokes. She probably knew as well as I did that something was going on in this town.

The older woman cast a short glance over her shoulder. Her expression was dead serious, but I thought I imagined the shadow of a smile. “It was. I thought perhaps it might ease your nerves. You’ve been looking quite tense ever since we set foot in here, Leader Arin.”

With a start, I ran a hand across my face. Had I? Maybe the atmosphere was getting to me more than I thought. I had experience dealing with Ghosts, but Lavender Town was completely saturated with a certain energy right now. It made me wonder what living here as a local year-round was like.

“You don’t have a frail stomach, do you?” Lorelei suddenly asked without turning her head.

We were taking stairs up to the second floor now. Muffled voices could be heard behind a closed door somewhere.

“No.”

“That’s good,” Lorelei approved with a nod of her head. “Prepare yourself anyway. Agatha should still be near the body. There’s a lot of blood to say the least.”

My curiosity only grew with those words.

What on earth had happened?

I got my answer soon enough. The second floor was absolutely crawling with investigators combing the house for clues, and one of them guided us to the crime scene—the bedroom of the deceased Mr. Fuji, apparently. Our escort respectfully held the door open.

Like Lorelei had warned ahead of time, there was blood.

A lot of it.

It was the first thing I saw. Dark, foreboding red splattered across the walls and floor. My eyes widened when I looked more closely and realized the bloodstains weren’t completely dry yet. The implication was not nice to think about.

Then I looked at the back of the room. My stomach did not lurch, but I did grimace.

It was awful.

An old man’s body was slumped backwards over a low table covered with blood. His kneeling position and still loosely connected hands suggested he had been in the middle of a prayer, but it was his chest I focused on… or what remained of it at least.

A huge, gaping hole filled my vision instead.

It was not a clean one either. Hints of shattered bone peeked out between edges of ripped flesh. I had no idea what could have caused such a fatal wound, but it was a terrible way to die. It had to have been extraordinarily painful. With some difficulty, I tore my gaze back up to the man’s face. Lifeless eyes gazed up at the ceiling while his mouth was parted in an unformed word. The most bizarre thing was the final expression he wore. It was not one of horror, shock, or even fear. I struggled to place what emotion it was, but what I finally settled on was remorse.

But why?

“If you would allow me—”

“No.”

“I understand how you feel. I only wish to help—”

“Did you not hear me the first time, child? I said no.”

Lorelei and I both looked in the direction of the raised voices. There in a corner of the bedroom (the only clean one in fact), Agatha stood arguing with someone I did not expect to see: Agent Echo from Interpol. The two of us carefully skirted around the crime scene and investigators taking pictures. On our way over, Lorelei borrowed a tablet from someone and handed it to me.

I read through the investigation notes quickly. They didn’t have much yet considering the murder had only just been discovered.

INVESTIGATIVE REPORT - LAVENDER POLICE (CONFIDENTIAL)

Offense: Murder

Victim: Hiroto Fuji

CRIME SCENE NOTES & CASE HISTORY

[Tuesday, June 3rd, 202X - Last updated 6:44 PM]

* Body was discovered by victim’s coworker, Gouta Narima, at 6:37 PM

* Victim was at home alone; all other Lavender Volunteer House staff had left on a walk with the Pokemon under their organization’s care

* Died from fatal wound in chest, lab will need to verify but appears to have exploded from the inside out

* Estimated time of death is 5:30 - 6 PM

* No signs of robbery or struggle

* No traces of perpetrator’s entrance or exit

* No potential suspects at time of writing → all coworkers claimed innocence and that the victim “had made it his life’s work to care for abandoned and orphaned Pokemon”

* When questioned, neighbors also expressed horror and claimed that the victim “was the most gentle soul in all of Lavender Town and an elderly citizen with outstanding morals, everyone loved him”

So… the gist of the matter was that this was truly a mystery murder. No witnesses, no potential suspects yet given the old man was a beloved local with a heart of gold, and a perpetrator that had vanished into thin air.

I handed the tablet back to Lorelei once we made it to where Agatha and Agent Echo were. They only noticed our presence when we stopped directly in front of them and coughed loudly.

“What?” Agatha snapped, black eyes narrowing as they darted between me and Lorelei. I’d heard her sound cranky before, but it was even worse today. The tension she carried around her could have crackled like electricity. “Why are you here, boy? This isn’t Cherrygrove.”

Before responding, I had to remind myself that Agatha was probably dealing with a lot of shit right now. As politely as possible, I gave her the same answer I’d given Lorelei.

Agatha curled her lip when I finished.

“When such overwhelming pressure is emitted, normally people know to stay away,” she scoffed out loud. “Don’t you know the saying ‘curiosity killed the Meowth?’”

I tried not to feel offended. “Well, given the recent state of affairs in Indigo—”

“Yes, yes, and you wanted to see if there was trouble,” Agatha cut me off sharply. She even rolled her eyes in the process. “Youngsters these days. So eager to do whatever they can. I suppose it was my fault in the first place for letting my temper get the better of me for a moment. The little ones only reacted because I did.”

“That single moment you speak of disturbed the entire town in the process. We got complaints from locals and passing trainers. All the wild Ghosts and Pokemon have fled as far as the mountains because of your little display, too,” Lorelei commented dryly.

“Bah! They’ll come back before the day is over. They always do,” Agatha sniffed.

While she and Lorelei exchanged more words regarding the situation in town, Agent Echo took the chance to greet me with a small bow.

“I would have expected you to be at HQ with the other Interpol agents,” I remarked with confusion after we exchanged greetings. Their whole purpose in coming to Indigo in the first place was to help us investigate Team Rocket.

Echo smiled awkwardly in response. “Looker and Mint are investigating cities and towns with Elite Four Bruno as their escort. The others are still researching back at HQ,” she explained. “Champion Lance was gracious enough to allow me to accompany his Elite Four members here. I hoped I could lend assistance since they said this was a very unusual case—”

A sharp and resounding crack against the floor put a pin in her words. Agatha’s trusty cane had made its presence known and startled the entire room in the process.

“Absolutely not,” Agatha butted in, scowling. “Do you see the state of Fuji’s body? His was a miserable death. I won’t allow further harm to come to his body.”

There was something else that peeked through her otherwise firm tone. A tremor. It was quick enough that I almost didn’t catch it.

Something told me perhaps she knew the deceased on a personal level.

“As I explained earlier, Elite Four Agatha, what my Pokemon will do will not disturb the body at all,” Echo responded with all the patience in the world. She knew to tread cautiously around the old woman. “It’s similar to the channelers and mediums in your country—”

“Then are you a channeler or medium?” Agatha scathingly fired back. “I thought you were a law enforcement agent. Was I mistaken?”

I looked to Lorelei for answers while they argued back and forth. She leaned to the side, covered her mouth with a hand, and whispered to me behind it.

“They were like this before I left to see the situation outside,” Lorelei explained. She sounded weary of the whole situation. “Agent Echo claims she has a Pokemon with strong spiritual powers that can help with the investigation, but Agatha’s reluctant to trust a Pokemon she’s never seen before. She’s not usually so emotional. It’s because she was friends with the victim.”

Ah, so my suspicion had been right after all. This incident was very personal for Agatha because it didn’t just involve a local under her protection, but someone she knew well.

When Echo shot me a look as if she desired help, I decided it was time to step in. I was, after all, the one who was supposed to bridge the gap between Interpol, Indigo, and the rest of the world by vouching for their credibility.

“What Pokemon is it, Echo?” I spoke up.

“A Sensu Oricorio.”

I blinked twice. Out of all the Pokemon I had expected her to answer with, that one had been admittedly low on my list of guesses. Not many people had one outside of Alola. I knew a bit about them given I’d traveled through Alola before and experienced their culture for myself, so I could kind of guess what she had trained it to do.

I turned now to Agatha with a contemplative expression. “The Pokemon she’s talking about is well-known in other countries for communing with spirits and the like. Whatever Agent Echo has in mind, I don’t think it would be invasive. You can trust her.”

Black eyes trained their beady gaze on me with all the intensity of hardened flint. “You forget who you’re speaking to,” the Witch of Lavender Town hissed through her teeth, “and in whose town you currently stand. The dead must be treated with respect.”

The shadow attached to her body rippled violently in place. Countless eyes peered up at me with anger reflected in their crimson orbs, but I paid them no heed.

I met Agatha’s gaze without faltering.

“And she will,” I assured on Echo’s behalf. I didn’t even have to prompt her; the Interpol agent made sure to follow up with a deep bow of her head, letting it hang low for Agatha to see. “As an officer on the side of justice, I’m sure she only seeks to help shed light on this tragedy. Isn’t that what you want, too? To find out what happened to the deceased and who killed him?”

Agatha’s gaze was so sharp it could have killed me where I stood. Our silent stare off would have made anyone else uncomfortable, but Lorelei, who was silently watching us, seemed used to such tense atmospheres.

After what seemed like forever, Agatha finally spoke.

“Hmph. Some backbone, I see. Fine,” she agreed. Her normally harsh tone was tempered by reluctance, but it came back with a fresh edge as she narrowed her eyes. Though her gaze was on Echo, her next words were directed at both me and the agent. “Do not make me regret this.”

I said nothing, but Echo was quick to murmur her subdued assent.

She got started right away now that she had permission.

A bird with beautiful ocean and spectral-hued feathers was released from its Pokeball, legs already bent as if it was prepared to dance at a moment’s notice. Agatha studied the Oricorio with no small amount of suspicion, but she held her tongue.

Swiftly, Echo bent down and placed a hand against the Pokemon’s forehand. She closed her eyes briefly as if concentrating, then opened them and stood back up. What was that about?

“My Oricorio has done this plenty of times before, so please don’t worry,” she introduced to the rest of us. “Through dancing, she’s able to draw in strong emotions and thoughts left by the dead. Depending on the intensity of those and how much time has passed since the initial death, she’s even able to re-enact final memories or words belonging to the victim. They’ll be fragmented, though.”

I wasn’t the only one whose eyes widened. Lorelei seemed just as impressed as I did. As for Agatha, her face remained impassive, but I saw her weathered hands twitch and grasp her cane tighter.

Echo only needed to gesture in the direction of Fuji’s body for Oricorio to take it from there.

Slowly, gracefully, Oricorio walked closer to the corpse. The bird raised fan-shaped wingtips to her face, but instead of dancing, she first sank into a respectful bow. Her head touched the floor and rested there in pensive silence for the dead.

Then, with laborious movement, she rose from her show of respect and raised her wings. Eyes as dark as coal glowed brightly as Oricorio took her first step backward…

And she began to dance.

One step left with a single wing pointed at the heavens. Then she spun right, feathers barely grazing the ground, and raised her other wing again, this time accompanied by a small shake. She repeated these simple motions thrice more in the cardinal directions. Always, her body faced the way in which she moved. From what I remembered about Alolan culture, it was said Sensu Oricorio did this so that spiritual energy could flow more purely and strongly around the host.

Her movements reminded me of the traditional dances shrine priestesses in Ecruteak knew by heart. I would have even said they were remarkably similar.

The dance quickly picked up its pace. Oricorio spread one wing in a wide arch above her head and raised the other in front of her face. Her feet carried her one step back, two steps left. She spun faster and faster with wings snapping one way and another, eyes glowing ever brighter. She was but a blur of color at this point, and we could all visibly see why.

Little trails of wispy smoke appeared in the air around Fuji’s body. Without warning, they were sucked inside the Oricorio’s body.

But she kept dancing, and dancing, and dancing…

And snapped gracefully to a halt. There was no more smoke to absorb. Her eyes were an unnatural white.

The Oricorio then opened her beak and spoke.

“Who are you?” the bird rasped in a voice distinctly not her own. It was hoarse, reedy, weak—the voice of a man long past his prime. I had never heard it before in my life, yet I instinctively knew who it belonged to.

Mr. Fuji.

It was not him speaking, but the intense emotions left behind in his last moments that Oricorio was drawing upon using herself as a spiritual medium. Final words dyed with hues of emotion so extreme that they lingered even after death.

He was not addressing us either. Oricorio was only repeating the words spoken before Mr. Fuji died.

This only meant one thing: Hiroto Fuji had spoken to someone before he was killed.

What we were hearing was most likely a conversation between him and his murderer, or his side of it at least.

A sharp intake of breath to my left nearly drew my gaze away. In my peripheral vision, I saw Agatha gripping her cane so hard that her already pale skin turned ashen white.

I didn’t think she’d ever expected to hear that voice again.

“I don’t… you two,” Oricorio continued in fragmented phrases, white eyes still staring eerily at nothing in particular. The rest of her body was locked in place as if time had frozen. “I will call… police if… don’t answer.”

Not one it seemed but two. There was more than one person here in this room with him.

Two perpetrators.

Oricorio’s beak snapped shut. There was a long pause just like if Fuji was listening to the other party talk.

“What?” she finally spoke. “How do you… that name?”

Another lengthy pause.

“…So be it. I knew… one day, my past… catch up to me. I… deserve this.”

Here, Oricorio’s entire body trembled violently. Her white eyes began to dim.

“Go ahead. Kill me, but let my death be where it ends—”

Oricorio cut off in a strangled garble. The sound reminded me of someone choking. I almost thought something was wrong, but Agent Echo looked unperturbed by the display.

A moment later, Oricorio blinked. The bird’s eyes were back to normal. With shaking legs, she had it in her to offer one final bow to Mr. Fuji’s body—the corpse whose last emotions and words she had managed to grasp before they disappeared from this world completely.

No one spoke as Echo recalled her exhausted Pokemon.

Instead of discussing what we just heard, Lorelei and I looked warily at the elderly woman in our midst.

Jaw, clenched. Breath, halted. Body, uncomfortably still.

And her eyes—they seethed and swirled with far too many emotions to count.

She could have been mistaken for a statue, but there was a rage of unimaginable proportions bubbling underneath that deceptively calm exterior. Small, fluctuating waves of pressure were being emitted by her shadow.

Agatha was like a ticking time bomb waiting for the chance to explode.

“Agatha…” Lorelei murmured in warning.

Quiet as it was, the call was still heard. Hearing her name spurred Agatha to life once more.

“Don’t give me those looks,” she said in a more controlled voice than any of us expected. “If I was the type to fly into a blind rage, half of this country would have been razed to the ground long before any of you were born.” Her eyes never left Fuji’s body as she spoke. “That does not mean, however, that I will sit around doing nothing.”

All at once, fury returned to her eyes. A cold smile crossed her sunken face.

“Go,” she said plainly, but that one word carried the weight of a thousand. “Scour the town, the surroundings, and every inch of Indigo.”

The Witch of Lavender Town nearly snarled her next words.

“I don’t care how long it takes. Find the wretched fools who dared to kill one of my own and make them beg for Eternal Rest.”

Vel’s ribbons pulled my body back not a moment too soon.

Agatha’s shadow exploded.

Amorphous forms too fast for the eye to perceive took flight. They scattered, screamed, and howled with rage and grief as they vanished through the ceiling—all on behalf of their mistress. The air grew so thick with them that it resembled a swarm of Bugs descending to lay waste to a field.

I held my breath.

When the last Ghost disappeared into the unknown and the room gained visibility once more, I stared at Agatha’s shadow. I’d always seen it shifting here and there on previous occasions, but it stayed in place now. Each and every Pokemon had left—

I corrected my previous thought when a single pair of eyes popped up and met my gaze. At the very least, one still stayed by her side as a guard.

Lorelei didn’t exactly look displeased, but she crossed her arms and used one to prop up her glasses.

“Hunting for whoever stepped in your territory is fine, but we still need you and Koga to comb the country for Rockets,” she pointed out.

One of Agatha’s dusty brows rose up challengingly. “Did I ever say my Ghosts wouldn’t? They’re capable of multitasking.”

“Do you have any clues on who could have done this?” Since it seemed like Agatha was capable of controlling herself without Lorelei and I needing to step in, I judged it was alright to bring up Oricorio’s performance now. “Thanks to Agent Echo’s Oricorio, we know whoever Mr. Fuji spoke to had information about his past. It sounded like he’d done something terrible. Maybe the motive was some sort of personal grudge?”

Agatha was silent for the longest time before speaking.

“I knew Fuji for many years,” she began in a slow, brittle voice. “So did Oak and Blaine. We were once part of the Kanto League together.”

Echo spoke up hesitantly. As an outsider, she was not as familiar with Indigo history yet. “Kanto League?”

“Yes,” Agatha said, and I could tell she struggled not to roll her eyes. “Mind you, that was a time before the War of Ashes or Indigo Peace Treaty ever occurred—a time before Indigo or the rebirth of its League. After the war, Fuji set down his research coat and moved here to Lavender. He dedicated over half his life to founding and nurturing this Volunteer House. Hmph… he acclimated to this town so easily that it was as if he’d been born and raised here like the rest of us. Everyone was fond of him.”

My brows furrowed. “So… no one comes to mind for potential suspects?”

“No. There are many fools in the world, but perhaps none quite like Fuji. He was as good-natured as they came,” Agatha replied sullenly. “I can’t imagine what he did before, either, that would have caused this to happen.” A shuddering breath left her. “That fool… why did he accept dying so easily?”

It was a mystery we might never know.

“Then identities aside, is there any other information we have on the perpetrators? Like how they managed to do this without Agatha’s Ghosts realizing?” I questioned.

“Psychic and Ghost Specialists in all likelihood,” Lorelei answered, eyes drifting in Agatha’s direction. “Before you got here, Agatha mentioned her Ghosts had felt foreign spectral energy in town an hour ago. When they investigated, they found that it was some newly born Gastly arriving from the mountains.”

“A timed distraction in all likelihood,” Agatha ground out. “A Ghost Specialist may have shadow traveled in during that time and masked their presence using the new arrivals. The audacity of them…”

Lorelei picked up the explanation before the old woman could devolve into angry muttering. “They could have isolated Mr. Fuji from the rest of the world with a barrier. In doing so, no emotions would have leaked out that Agatha’s Ghosts could pick up on. The wound also suggests something tore the victim’s chest open like a psychic rupture. We were debating whether it was one or the other, but courtesy of Agent Echo, we now know there were two people. A Psychic and Ghost Specialist working together to avoid Agatha’s gaze seems plausible.”

“To pull that off and escape without notice, they’d have to be skilled. Probably Elite-tier trainers,” I cautioned.

Agatha smiled, an action without any warmth or feeling.

“We know.”

Our conversation petered out shortly after.

Not wanting to intrude on an ongoing investigation for much longer, and with Agatha not at risk for unleashing her rage on the countryside, I felt it was time to go home. I bid my goodbyes to Lorelei and Echo. Agatha went downstairs first citing a desire to rest by herself, but not before fixing the Interpol agent with a stare.

“It was an interesting dance,” she told her. “You trained your Pokemon well.”

That was the nicest compliment Echo could have gotten from the elderly woman.

I stared at Agatha’s small back as we went down the stairs together. My curiosity had mostly been satisfied save for one last question lingering on my mind. I opened my mouth but—

“What is it, boy? Speak.”

Agatha beat me to it. Was it instincts or a Ghost feeding her information?

I decided to voice my inquiry without beating around the bush. “The chill in this town. Is it coming from the Pokemon Tower?”

It was only when we reached the bottom of the stairs that Agatha turned to look at me. Her shadow expanded until it created an isolated bubble around us. Vel looked like he wanted to fight, but I placed a comforting hand against the Sylveon’s head.

Rather than getting angry, Agatha stared at me with a pensive expression.

“Well, well. You’re sharper than you appear. If only there were more children with brains like yours,” Agatha mused out loud. “What made you think it was the Tower?”

“I saw it from afar earlier,” I answered honestly. Agatha’s eyes peered behind me at my shadow. I was pretty sure she knew I had Ghosts in there. “I got a certain feeling about it. It’s home to a Guardian or Ruler Pokemon, I presume?”

Agatha merely offered a disconcerting smile.

“What do you think?”

That was all she said in response before her shadow contracted back to normal size. We were back in the hallway again.

“You needn’t worry about it, boy,” Agatha continued with a dismissive nudge of her cane. “The chill is only temporary. They’re mourning. Fuji was a frequent visitor of the Tower, you see.”

I nodded more to myself than her. “And you?”

“Me what?”

“Aren’t you mourning, too?”

“…”

Wrinkled hands holding a gnarled cane of wood twitched in place. For a moment, I thought Agatha was going to whack me over the head with it.

The scenario I imagined played out much differently.

“I’ll grieve after I do what I must.” Her usual sharp tone had lost much of its sting. It was softer, somehow, in a way that her facial features followed suit. She looked younger for a moment. Tired. “Tell me: is there something you hold dear above all else? People? A place?”

The sudden question took me aback for a moment. Then I actually thought about what she had asked, and certain faces appeared in my mind followed by a city full of flowering trees.

Cherrygrove.

“Yes.”

“Then you know,” Agatha said simply. Black eyes stared into mine. “You know the feeling of wanting to protect it. A place you can always return to full of countless memories and people who live under the shade you provide them—all of that is yours. And when a fool harms what is yours, naturally they must pay the price.”

How very Fairy-like.

“We can do anything for the people we love, and we always collect our dues,” I murmured thoughtfully, but Agatha heard me.

Thin lips stretched wide in a tight smile.

“Collect our dues… Yes, that’s a good way of putting it,” Agatha agreed. I even dared to think there was some newfound appreciation for me in her tone. “I will well and truly grieve only after my rage has found its target.”

With a quick tip tap of her cane against wooden flooring, Agatha turned and shuffled toward the kitchen. Her parting words grew ever fainter with distance.

“You’ll understand someday after you feel a great rage of your own, boy. Fury born from devotion is not so easily subsided.”

I didn’t doubt it, but Agatha’s words stayed in my head long after I exited the house. As I let out Silque, I couldn’t help but look one last time in the direction of the Pokemon Tower. There really was something unsettling about it. I couldn’t focus on its top floor for more than a few seconds.

I almost jumped when something brushed against my ears. There was nothing there when I turned.

But I swore I’d heard a whisper.

I decided now was a good time to go home. Hatterene Teleported us back without further delay, and it was only when we were in a familiar front yard that I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding.

Vel and I both glanced at each other and shared a look.

“I know,” I agreed without him saying anything. “I’ve had enough of Ghosts for a while.”

Maybe even a lifetime, I added as a joke, and the Ghosts in my shadow proceeded to curl shadowy tendrils around my legs in mock anger.

There was a part of me that wanted to visit the Pokemon Tower someday, but for now, I stowed away thoughts of Lavender Town deep inside my mental archives.

Dinner with dad had never sounded so good as it did at that moment.

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

I wanted to dive head first into bed after eating and showering. I really did. This whole day had been so long and tiring that I planned to crash early for once.

Instead, I had to deal with a whole lot of noise in the backyard.

“What the…” I muttered to myself.

In a few strides, I crossed the length of my room and threw the balcony doors open. My Pokemon were still awake at this time. Most of them looked up at me and pointed simultaneously to a large bat hovering awkwardly in the sky above, almost as if it was waiting for permission to travel further into our airspace.

Vel and I both squinted at the silhouette. It was a Crobat.

My first thought was that it was Brock’s, but then I made out a little pink blob on its back. Was that a… Clefairy?

Not the strangest sight in the world, but not exactly common either. I figured there was no threat since my Pokemon hadn’t outright beamed them out of the sky yet, so I beckoned to our odd guests with a hand.

The Crobat descended with nary a sound. It landed on the balcony railing, tilted left to let its passenger jump nimbly to the floor, and then sat absolutely still. Instead of focusing on the stoic Crobat, Vel and I stared curiously at the round Pokemon by our feet. It was much smaller than average for its species.

Smiling, the Clefairy offered us a bow. How cute.

Greetings, Friend of Fairies, the Clefairy spoke brightly. Her voice was as adorable as she looked. I come on behalf of our Clan Leader, Mountain Weaver. She extends an invitation to join our clan at Mount Moon in two days’ time. The Full Moon shall rise that night and with it, our Rite of Song. Do you accept?

My confusion instantly disappeared, and my mood soared.

This was it. This was what I’d been waiting for.

Mountain Weaver had finally invited me to Mount Moon. I tried not to salivate as I thought about laying eyes on the Heart of the Mountain once more. Better yet, this time, my Pokemon and I would be allowed the luxury of partaking in the Clefairy clan’s rituals.

Just thinking about the power we could absorb from that massive meteorite made my fingers itch to grab something, anything, out of excitement. Despite my surging emotions, I was careful not to let anything show on my face as I nodded. Openly showing such greed was never a good look on anyone.

“My Pokemon and I graciously accept your leader’s invitation,” I confirmed out loud with a smile.

Clefairy clapped her hands together. Even before she spoke, I knew she was pleased because I could hear — and see from my vantage point — the tiny wings on her back flapping excitedly.

Yay! She trilled, but she quickly backpedaled with a bashful smile. I mean wonderful! We shall see you in two days’ time, then, on the night of the Full Moon. Mountain Weaver said you may use any entrance. An escort will come greet you.

“Got it.” I committed the information firmly to memory. Ugh, why wasn’t it possible to skip forward two days in time? I felt so impatient already.

I raised a hand to wave goodbye to my guests, but I was mistaken. Clefairy did not depart on Crobat’s back. In fact, she did not budge at all.

“Uh…” I trailed off. Confusion was written all over my face as I stared down at her. “Is there something else?”

Clefairy peered up at me with a cautious smile. A little tooth peeked out in the process.

Friend of Fairies, may I stay here at your human dwelling until the Rite of Song? She asked. Mountain Weaver has already granted me permission to remain outside the mountain until then. I am curious about the human world.

That last sentence had a bit of a tremor to it. Hmm.

Well, this was… quite the sudden request.

If she wasn’t a Fairy, then I would have wondered if she was a rebellious little thing playing hooky from her clan. As it was, Fairies could not lie, so I knew she was telling the truth when she said she had permission. That last vague statement, though… I instinctively knew it hid her true intentions for wanting to stay here. There was something specific she was after. I just didn’t know what.

All I knew for sure was that she came in peace. I sensed no hostile intentions behind her words and neither did Vel. When I gave him a meaningful look from the corner of my eye, the Sylveon responded with the smallest nod.

He was okay with letting Clefairy stay with us for two days. I didn’t think the rest of my Pokemon would mind, either, so…

Why not?

“Of course. You’re welcome to stay until then,” I decided.

Clefairy beamed and clapped excitedly.

Yay! I mean— wonderful! The Pokemon trilled.

Once again, her tiny wings flapped furiously with all the might they had. It reminded me of the way a Growlithe would rapidly wag its tail when it was happy.

Very cute.

And so, the wild Crobat departed on its own to relay the news to Mount Moon’s Guardian.

I was left to deal with a small Clefairy that toddled around my legs, unsure of where to go.

“Would you like to meet the rest of my Pokemon?” I offered.

Oh! Yes, if you would allow me, Clefairy squeaked. I must pay my greetings to the other inhabitants of this human dwelling. It is only right.

I refrained from telling her about dad and figured that was an introduction best done in the morning considering he was fast asleep. So for now, Vel ferried Clefairy on his back to the backyard to meet everyone else. She was about to find out we had a lot of gym Pokemon, too.

I went back into my room with a smile half-torn between joy and anxiety. I would have to make sure Clefairy felt comfortable while she stayed here. I didn’t want her going back to Clefable later and telling her what a horrible human or host I was. If I got kicked out of the ritual before it started—

My blood ran cold when I realized something.

The ritual.

I couldn’t show up empty-handed.

A second of silence passed before I made a mad dash for my desk and threw my laptop open. I needed to bring a gift or two.

Plans for early sleep vanished as I absorbed myself in the hunt for high quality Moon Stones—preferably ones that could be shipped and delivered before the Rite of Song.

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

Ding. Ding. Ding.

Successive, telltale, and increasingly rapid chimes from my phone wrangled me out of my dreams that night.

I’d forgotten to put it on silent.

The Sylveon sleeping next to me buried his head under my pillow out of irritation while I fumbled for the loud device. I wasn’t in a hurry since the alerts weren’t from Lance or the Indigo League, but I did want them to stop. Thank Arceus Clefairy had decided she wanted to sleep outside with the rest of my Pokemon… I wouldn’t have wanted to subject her to incessant beeping sounds on night one of her temporary stay.

When I finally had my phone in my grasp, bleary eyes did their best to read the notifications on the annoyingly bright screen.

All of them were from the Cherrygrove Gym Fam group chat.

It took me about a dozen sleepy blinks, but I managed to read through all the excited texts and attached photos. Everyone’s Pokemon Eggs had finally hatched. Though the Eggs had been conceived at different points in time, they’d all ended up hatching in unison. Professor Elm would know more about it, but it was some documented resonance effect or something, yada yada. My brain refused to work right now.

I sent congratulatory messages complete with typos and emojis, put my phone on silent, placed it back, and then finally laid my head on my pillow once more.

A pleasant smile was etched onto my face for the rest of the morning.

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

2:52 AM. Cherrygrove Staff Apartment Building. Cherrygrove City, Johto.

It was Hana who woke up first and shook Yurie out of her slumber. Despite their vastly different personalities, the two girls had managed to become fast friends. Tonight had been a girl’s sleepover in Yurie’s apartment.

“Yurie,” Hana whispered urgently. “Yurie!”

Her name had to be called five more times before Yurie sat up with drool all over her chin.

“Huh? Wha’zat?” she mumbled, rubbing her eyes. The urgent look in the other girl’s eyes soon snapped her out of any remaining traces of sleep. So did the words she spoke.

“It’s your Pokemon Egg,” Hana explained, fidgeting with her long silver hair. “I got up to use the bathroom and saw it shaking. I think it’s about to hatch!”

“WHAT?” Yurie nearly screeched.

She threw the covers aside in an instant and ran barefoot to her desk. Lo and behold, the Mime Jr. Egg she’d been given weeks ago was wiggling like there was no tomorrow. Yurie promptly pressed the button on the incubator that made the glass slide down, grabbed some spare towels from her kitchen cabinet, and padded the area around the Egg for safety measures.

She waited by herself as the Egg cracked in various spots. Hana stayed back at a distance, hands poised as if to help at a moment’s notice.

It turned out to be unnecessary.

Mime Jr. — her very own! — made its way out into the world without any help. From the wrinkled skin to the sleepy eyes and bright nose, everything about it was adorable. Yurie had to hold back a squeal when she held out a finger and Mime Jr. grasped it without any hesitation. A quick scan from her Pokedex revealed the Mime Jr. was female.

Cuteness overload! She had to thank Arin again later for letting her have a free Egg. She’d never had the opportunity to hatch one before.

Of course, the very first thing she thought of was to take a picture and send it to Hazel, complete with a smug text message of her own.

“Heh, I bet he never expected me to hatch mine first…” she cackled to herself under her breath. In the background, Hana played hesitantly with the newborn Mime Jr. and let the Pokemon pull on her hair.

Yurie’s gloating only lasted a grand total of twelve seconds.

Hazel texted back a picture of a tiny Snubbull playing with his Spinda and the following text message:

smartass [2:54 AM] → Congrats. Mine hatched before yours I'm pretty sure. ;)

If not for the presence of a baby Pokemon, Yurie would have shouted some form of expletive. As it was, she settled for a silent scream instead with only Hana to bear witness to her strange behavior.

She typed furiously at her phone.

Me → smartass [2:55 AM] → no way. meet downstairs in the common area! now!

That was how, fifteen minutes later, Yurie’s little meeting slash bragging competition with Hazel evolved into something much bigger.

It turned out everyone else’s Pokemon Eggs had chosen tonight to hatch, too.

Souta and Haru came down after Yurie and Hazel posted pictures in the gym’s group chat. They had newborn Pokemon of their own wrapped securely in blankets—a cute little Azurill and Togepi. Murata was the only Eggholder absent because he lived with his wife and kids back in town, but he contributed a picture of his new baby Ralts to the growing group chat spam.

That group chat caused a chain reaction where everyone else came down to hang out at three in the morning on the ground floor.

Luca was already awake to begin with given that he stayed up late to do influencer stuff, and Felix had gotten up to write down a Contest performance idea before he forgot. Hana came with Yurie, of course.

Finally, all the noise on the ground floor woke up Will. The rooms here weren’t nearly as soundproof as those on higher levels, so he could hear their talking loud and clear. At least it didn’t bother him.

He practically burst out of his room with a wide smile and dressed in about the most regal-looking pajamas Yurie had ever seen in her life: expensive silk threaded with complicated patterns and crests.

Oh, and he had his ever-present mask on as well. Did he take it off when he slept at least?

“I, Will Itsuki, have arrived!” he announced in a quiet but singsong voice. Yurie guessed he was being considerate of the baby Pokemon. “Don’t leave me out!”

Will was weird. She couldn’t deny that, but he was friendly and always happy to talk to everyone. He made some psychic constructs of random Pokemon to show the newborns, and they giggled and laughed at the display.

It would have been nice if Arin was here. Speaking of, Yurie spotted text messages from him in the group chat. Judging from the messy typos in his texts and weird, nonsense emojis he normally never used, they’d woken their Gym Leader up from all the stuff being shared in the group chat.

Oops?

Next to where she sat, Yurie tuned out Hazel rambling about an Egg resonance hatching effect that Professor Elm had written about years ago—something about Eggs that spent a lot of time together being more likely to hatch around the same time. She looked around the room instead.

Hana was currently held captive by the newborn baby Pokemon. They all tugged experimentally at her long and shiny hair, but Hana didn’t look uncomfortable. In fact, Yurie wagered she was secretly enjoying the attention. It helped that the babies were cute.

Across from Hana, Felix and Luca were busy taking pictures of the babies to upload to their respective social media accounts (only after getting permission from everyone present). She had to refrain from rolling her eyes when she heard them discussing whether it was better to use this or that emoji in the description. Social media influencers. What else was there to say?

Luca’s baby Igglybuff was oddly awake at this time, too, and he enjoyed toddling around the newborns.

Elsewhere, Souta and Haru, like the good kids they were, yawned repeatedly but forced themselves to stay awake. They were busy reading some sort of guidebooks on their phones and discussing how to raise their new Pokemon. She wasn’t much older than them, but maybe she should tell them to go to bed soon… At their age, sleep was important.

Eh. If they wanted to stay up, that was their choice. Yurie could understand why they were reluctant to go back to sleep. She probably shared the same feeling as them.

She liked this. Spending time with everyone, laughing and talking together… it was peaceful. Fun.

A far cry from the strict environment she’d once been in as a clan trainee back at Blackthorn City.

Yurie would always be grateful to Arin for making all of this happen. She couldn’t imagine a life without the Cherrygrove Gym Fam anymore.

A small and almost inaudible beep from her phone was nearly drowned out by all the chatter. She pulled it out thinking it was perhaps another sleepy text from their boss.

It was not.

One of her only trainee friends back in Blackthorn City had texted her asking if she wanted to meet up sometime and hang out. Apparently, the stress of being a trainee for the Blackthorn Clan had accumulated into an all-time high. It was to the point where she couldn’t sleep at night. Just like Yurie had in the past, her friend was thinking about quitting. She also had belongings of hers that she’d been nice enough to hold onto this whole time.

The author's content has been appropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Shit. Yeah, Yurie wanted her stuff back. She’d left behind a lot of things in her haste to leave the city back then.

She also sympathized with her friend. Yurie knew from firsthand experience how scary the Blackthorn Elders were. Quitting was a difficult decision to make, and figuring out how to leave without the Blackthorn Elders noticing and catching you was worse. Maybe there was a way she could help somehow?

“Hmm…” Yurie bit her lip as she exchanged texts with her friend.

Yurie was officially blacklisted from Blackthorn City because of her previous act of ‘betrayal.’ Her friend wanted to hang out and hand over the stuff she had for Yurie, but she couldn’t leave Blackthorn City without permission.

Well, wasn’t this a conundrum.

Careful thinking wasn’t her style. Shrugging, Yurie texted her friend saying she didn’t mind meeting her in Blackthorn City one of these days. She would just sneak in—maybe even help her friend sneak out if she made up her mind about quitting by then.

Blackthorn Elders? Ha, she could give two flying fucks about them.

Yurie had to put a pause in her messaging when Hazel yelped.

“Hey! Yurie, your Mime Jr. is as violent as you are! She just smacked my poor Snubbull!” he cried, pointing.

A vein bulged in Yurie’s forehead as she slammed her phone down on the couch.

“Huh?! You wanna say that again, you punk?” she threatened, and everything devolved from there as it so often did with the Cherrygrove Gym Fam.

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

The next day passed quickly, happily, and best of all, uneventfully.

Things were slower than usual around the gym because of all the baby Pokemon. Everyone wanted to play with them and take pictures. I even set aside a whole hour where I sat and answered any questions people had about how to raise the little ones. Half of those answers came from me.

The other half came from Professor Elm.

Like he’d requested long ago, I dropped him a courtesy message letting him know the Eggs he gifted had hatched. The moment I did, he came Teleporting over with a lab Drowzee and a face full of glee. As the Kinjoh Area’s leading expert on Pokemon breeding and Eggs, he was more than happy to help with any questions my gym trainers had.

He also ran some tests where he documented me interacting with baby Fairies to see if there was anything unusual, but there was nothing strange like he hoped for.

The newborn Fairies sure were friendly around me, though.

The only other unusual thing about the better half of the day was my guest: Clefairy.

Dad thought she was adorable when I introduced her in the morning. So did my gym trainers. They all asked if she was a new gym Pokemon, but I quickly shot that down and explained I was ‘taking care of her for someone’ for the time being.

She was friendly. Maybe also a tad airheaded and prone to excitement, but overall a very kind and curious creature from my observations so far.

Observation one: I knew this from the night before, but Clefairy had a telltale habit of flapping her tiny wings when she was happy or excited. It was an obvious and cute way of judging her mood.

Observation two: she was an older Clefairy than I expected, but I chalked her youthful appearance up to the effects of absorbing power from the Heart of the Mountain on a daily basis.

Observation three, and this was the big one: she followed me everywhere.

And I meant everywhere.

She toddled after me to the office where she watched me sit and do paperwork for hours on end. She toddled after me to the dining hall and watched me stuff my face with food. She toddled after me when I fed and helped train the gym Pokemon.

She even followed me to the restroom. I very nearly had a heart attack when I emerged from the door and saw a little pink Pokemon waiting menacingly outside. If the lights had been dimmed and the hallway any narrower, it would have been like a scene straight out of a horror movie.

She was constantly observing me, and I had no idea why.

When I politely asked about it, Clefairy pretended like she had no clue what I was talking about. It wasn’t like she had malicious intentions, so I let her off the hook. Maybe she was curious about the human her Clan Leader had invited to one of their rituals, I reasoned.

Most of my Pokemon found Clefairy amusing barring one: Vel.

He could get overprotective when he wanted to be. When Clefairy finally took a break from following me to nap on a couch, he glared daggers at her. The Sylveon didn’t let up even when I scratched his chin.

“Be nice, Vel. She’s only here for two days, anyway,” I chided gently, but I couldn’t help a snort of laughter.

Vel grumbled under his breath.

When regular work hours ended for the day, Will followed me and dad back to our family’s place.

It was because I mentioned the charity gala before everyone left for the day. I’d never seen someone shoot their hand so fast into the air before. Will had enthusiastically asked if he could help me pick out an outfit.

I let him because I thought it’d be amusing, and I was right.

My bedroom became a supernatural zone full of flying clothes that zoomed left and right—literally.

“Arin, appearances are important! Especially at events like these, we mustn’t have anyone looking down on you,” Will constantly repeated with vigorous nods of his head. “But fret not, dear employer! I have an impeccable sense of fashion!”

Putting aside how unique his own day-to-day outfit was, Will did have a knack for this.

He helped me choose an appropriate outfit far faster than I could have on my own, but only after constantly levitating clothes next to my body to see which ones looked best together. He Teleported away with a satisfied smile when he was done and a fading cackle along the lines of, “Once more, my genius strikes again!”

I agreed with him once I finished changing and styling my hair. Will’s suggested outfit idea followed the gala’s formal dress code to a tee. I’d swapped out my usual choice of dress shirt for a classic white, and it was framed by a gray suit complete with pricey cufflinks and all. The tie I wore was not one Larry had gifted me but my own—one in a soft shade of pink that complimented my hair.

Partially due to Will’s insistence, I also had a matching handkerchief tucked into my jacket as a pocket square. All the pinks popped against my gray suit in an aesthetically pleasing way.

Full marks for Will Itsuki the Helpful Fashion Stylist.

Only a handful of Pokemon came with me in their Pokeballs. Most of my team decided to stay home and rest or train on their own. As for Clefairy—

May I come with you? She asked with a rapid flutter of her wings, and I was sorry to say no this time.

The way her tiny wings drooped afterward made me feel bad, but the invite said we could only have one Pokemon out with us. Vel was usually the one who accompanied me because he was used to such events and knew how to behave.

“I’ll be back later tonight. Have fun with the other Pokemon!” I patted Clefairy’s head after some hesitation, but I didn’t have to fear. Her wings fluttered again letting me know I wasn’t going to get my head blown off by her Clan Leader later.

With all things in order, I flew off to Kanto. I went on Arya this time because I didn’t have any other plans for the evening. Thus, a more leisurely flight could be afforded. Gentle notes filled my ears the whole way over. Altaria faithfully sang new songs she’d heard off the Goldenrod Radio Tower’s music program.

Amber streaks fully dyed the sky by the time we made it to Viridian City.

The City of Evergreen could not have been more aptly named in my honest opinion. Trees were planted all over the settlement similar to Cherrygrove, but these were vida evergreens. Tall, wide, and with bountiful foliage, their slender boughs locked and interlaced until each tree melded together in loving rows. Underneath their shade, flowers in brilliant shades of yellow bloomed across the whole city with petals rustling in the wind. I recognized what they were when Arya descended lower for me to look. Dahlias. Being the son of a Grass Specialist slash avid gardener meant a lot of their knowledge rubbed off on you.

We followed the directions on my phone to the venue, but I was not prepared for our destination. Two short words of astonishment slipped out from my mouth when I looked down at the building below.

“Holy Moltres…”

The venue for the charity gala, Giovanni’s home, was an entire villa.

Beige walls rose up into not two but three different floors, each bordered by balconies and beams in chocolate hues. Arched windows — far too many to count — were placed together and framed by wood carved into extravagant floral crestings. Already, I saw their glass awash with warm light and silhouettes of people mingling inside. Far above their heads, a low-pitched roof and its projecting eaves held lanterns hanging from small hooks. They beckoned for us to join the gala that had just begun. Better yet, they shed light on the surrounding gardens. There were limousines and fancy cars pulling up in the front, people Teleporting or flying in off to the side, and men escorting their wives to the doors. Without even stepping foot on the premises yet, I felt the grandeur of this charity gala I’d been invited to.

Once again, I was reminded of how wealthy the Viridian Gym Leader was.

With two flaps of her wings, Arya dove down and dropped me off in the area sectioned off for Pokemon transport. I swapped her out for Vel. Together, the two of us made our way to the front entrance amid excited stares and whispers. I’d long gotten used to such behavior. You kind of had to when you were a public figure like a Gym Leader.

“May I have your name, please?” A staff member hanging by the doors politely inquired of me. I could tell he already knew who I was from the telltale twitch of his eye, but it was his job and protocol to go through proper check-in procedures.

“Arin Watanuki.”

“Allow me to check… Yes, I’ve confirmed your name and invitation. Please step this way for a brief security check.”

It was as fast as he said it would be. Giovanni had borrowed some League Trainers for his event, and they ran psychic scans using Kadabra or Hypno. I had no doubt there were other guards patrolling the outskirts of the building.

I was waved forward with a courteous smile and a well-wish to enjoy the rest of my evening. My first actual step into Giovanni’s villa nearly blinded me.

It was bright inside, and I made the mistake of looking up. The main foyer had a huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Wreathed in braided ropes of crystal gems and dozens of small light bulbs, that single chandelier was enough to illuminate the entire entrance. I moved to the adjoining ballroom after blinking dark spots out of my eyes.

Yes, a ballroom. Giovanni’s villa actually had one.

It was as magnificent as the rest of the house. Multiple chandeliers lit up the ballroom in halos of warm, dazzling light. On every side, walls were tastefully decorated with paintings and heavy curtains embroidered with gold. In one corner, a band played upbeat live music. Half of the room was an open reception space put aside for guests to mingle, and the other half was full of tables set with elegant tableware and name cards for when the gala truly commenced—namely dinner, live performances, guest speakers, and what was considered the main event people were looking forward to, the live auction.

I loved the atmosphere already. It was cozy. Laughter and chatter alike drifted endlessly through the air.

My first thought was to go and thank the gracious host, but I didn’t have to.

He found me first.

“Arin.”

I looked up to find Giovanni walking toward me from the crowd. Along the way, he shook hands with a few people and exchanged greetings. His lips were stretched wide in a huge smile by the time he stopped in front of me. He dressed in black formalwear on a day-to-day basis, but tonight he’d changed into a brown suit and burgundy tie. The soft and earthy color made him appear more youthful.

“Thank you for inviting me, Giovanni. I’m glad I could finally join one of your famous charity galas,” I greeted with a smile, and it wasn’t empty flattery. The events Giovanni regularly hosted were usually the talk of the town when they happened, and it was because they were always dedicated to good causes.

Tonight’s charity gala was to raise funds and bring people together in the spirit of Indigo. All proceeds from the auction as well as any separate donations would be given directly to Kihono House Foundation, a nonprofit organization in Indigo dedicated to providing all kinds of support for war veterans and their families.

Giovanni laughed in response, a rich and rumbling sound that had his whole body quake with mirth for a moment. “I’d be more than happy to invite you to others in the future,” he promised. “I’m also very glad you’re in attendance tonight. I invited all the Gym Leaders, but not many from Johto could make it. I hoped to show a display of unity in these… troubling times.”

We both knew he was talking about Team Rocket. Those bastards aside, I respected that Giovanni was trying to show everyone that leaders from both sides of Indigo were friendly with each other.

“I even invited the leaders of minor gyms here in Kanto, but they declined,” Giovanni continued, frowning. It was not so much out of displeasure than it was disappointment.

I blinked. “Like Juro Asachi of Mulberry City?” I asked.

“That’s right. I always invite him and the others when I host events, but they never fail to decline,” Giovanni sighed. “It’s a shame, truly, and I don’t simply mean the invites. I’ve always believed Indigo could do with more major gyms. We need more strong leaders that can help serve the country.”

Wow. Giovanni couldn’t have said it better, and I mentioned as much out loud. “I’ve been thinking the same thing recently, actually,” I said out loud in wonder. “Having more major gyms would be good for raising the overall level of trainers across Indigo, too.”

It was Giovanni’s turn to look at me with surprise, but his face quickly smoothed itself back out into a relaxed countenance.

“It seems we share similar ways of thinking,” the older man remarked with a chuckle. “The future of Indigo is bright if we have young leaders like you to join us old folks.”

“You’re not old,” I instantly objected, a response that drew another bark of laughter from Giovanni.

“I’ll take your word for it,” he conceded, smiling. “Now, I’m afraid I must go and continue greeting new arrivals. I’ll see you and the other Gym Leaders later for dinner.”

“Alright.”

Giovanni turned as if to go but paused in place. When he glanced back at me, it was with an apologetic expression. “One last thing: I hope you won’t take offense if you receive any rude looks or remarks from certain individuals.”

I stared at him. “What do you mean?”

“War veterans,” Giovanni elaborated after a moment’s hesitation. “There are quite a few in attendance tonight, a healthy mix from Kanto and Johto alike. Both bear old scars from the past—not only the physical kind, but ones in their hearts. Please forgive the Kantonian veterans if they show any animosity to you. What they’ve lived through is not so easily forgotten.”

It was a solemn plea and one I took to heart.

“Of course,” I readily agreed.

The smile Giovanni graced me with before leaving was one full of relief.

I thought perhaps the heads up would be unnecessary, but it turned out to be useful. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have known what to make of the stares I got as I made my way through the crowd in the ballroom.

A man sitting in a wheelchair. An old woman moving around with the help of her granddaughter and a cane in hand. Two old men standing together, one missing his left eye. Interestingly enough, they all had a Pokemon glued protectively to their sides. Sometimes it was a Kadabra and sometimes it was a Hypno or Slowbro, but it was always some sort of Psychic type.

Those were only a few of the figures I caught sight of in between colorful dresses and suits. Each was dressed in a military uniform of a bygone style with lapel pins and badges of honor attached to their chests. I recognized some of those uniforms — the ones that came in dark blue at least — from history textbooks I’d studied as a child. They belonged to Johtonian war veterans, but they weren’t the ones glaring at me.

Like Giovanni had warned, it was the Kantonian war veterans who tracked me with their eyes like Talonflame watching their prey. Nobody actually came up to me and said anything, but there were more than a few who silently curled their lips from afar.

I was from Johto. For some, that was probably the only reason they needed to dislike me. The oldest among them probably had painful memories from the War of Ashes, of the authorities that they’d tried their best to vanquish for the sake of their country at the time.

Prices had been paid long ago on both sides, though.

There were veterans who glared not at me but at each other. One small argument even broke out in an isolated corner of the ballroom, but a roaming staff member diffused it in seconds before it could make the front page of the news.

It got me thinking about Kanto and Johto all over again.

I would never understand what those war veterans felt. I couldn’t. I had been born and raised in a country long known as Indigo.

But it was okay to not fully understand. I only had to keep walking the same road that every Gym Leader of Indigo had sworn to traverse together with Lance and the Elite Four.

Protect everyone. Protect Indigo.

“—rin. Arin!”

I didn’t notice someone was calling me until Vel tugged my hand with his ribbon. I blinked out of my pensive thoughts expecting to see Giovanni again, but it was another familiar face instead.

The tension that had unknowingly built up in my shoulders found itself floating away as I greeted my friend.

“Jas,” I smiled.

The Olivine Gym Leader smiled back at me, but she tapped a heeled foot against the ground. “Um… Everything okay? You seemed lost in thought.”

I didn’t want to drag the mood down considering one, we were hanging out for the first time in a while and two, this was a charity gala. So, I made sure to smile more widely.

“Yeah. Is Morty here yet?” I asked after clearing my throat.

From what I knew of messages sent in both our private group chat and the collective Johto Gym Leader chat, Morty and Bugsy were the only others coming to tonight’s charity gala.

Jasmine squinted as if she didn’t fully believe me, but she thankfully didn’t pry. “Yeah, he just sent a text saying he was outside. Should we wait for him somewhere more noticeable?”

“Good idea,” I nodded, and I picked out an empty spot by the wall with my eyes. We started walking. “That color looks great on you by the way.”

She beamed, obviously pleased with the compliment. “Thanks! I like your outfit, too. Very dapper.”

She wore a ball gown in a shade of blue that reminded me of the morning sea. I could tell she’d put on more makeup than usual, too, and had even freed her hair from her preferred short pigtails. It had been styled into an elaborate mermaid braid instead.

Jasmine also had a small Flaaffy as her escort tonight—the offspring of her Ampharos apparently. Vel was nice enough to let the still young Pokemon clamber onto his back and nap there for a bit, an act to which Jasmine offered an apology and gently squeezed one of Vel’s ribbons.

I didn’t have to look to know he was secretly happy. He found Jasmine pleasant to be around. It was hard not to like her as a person, honestly, and I was still grateful that she was one of the first friends I made after coming back to Johto.

“Want me to take pictures of you while we wait for Morty?” I offered once we were by the wall.

“Oh, would you mind?”

“I’m not too bad at taking pictures if I say so myself,” I humbly bragged as I backed away. My phone was angled this way and that as I scrunched my brows. “Maybe you could send one to Volkner later. Say Flaaffy!”

“ARIN!” Jasmine gaped at me and blushed instead.

Click.

One minute later, Morty came upon the following scene: me begging for mercy, and Jasmine still hitting my shoulder for my previous playful suggestion. He’d come dressed in dark purple formalwear, and he walked up to us now with one slender brow raised and hands tucked into his pockets.

“I see I missed something?” Morty questioned out loud in a voice full of amusement, and Jasmine gave me a don’t you dare look.

I automatically held my hands up. “Nothing happened.”

Morty’s second brow rose to join the other. “Uh huh.”

Our friend was not alone. A teenage boy finally emerged from his hiding position behind Morty’s back, and he fiddled with his hands. Bugsy looked exceedingly uncomfortable in the light green suit he had on. My guess was that this was only his first or second time having to wear one.

“Hey, Bugsy.”

“Hi!”

Jasmine and I were both quick to greet the younger boy. He smiled shyly.

“Hi, guys,” he replied, his small voice nearly drowned out by the chatter around us.

Since we were in the same place for once, us Gym Leaders took advantage of the opportunity to chat and hang out. Topics included things like everyone’s plans for the summer, training plans we had for the gym Pokemon in preparation for the upcoming circuit, and even random things like local gossip.

“How is working with the Beedrillite coming along, Bugsy?” I asked conversationally at one point. We all naturally assumed he’d given it to his Pokemon right away after the last meeting.

Bugsy perked up, eyes shining with childish excitement.

“Good, really good!” he admitted. Whenever the right topics came up, he managed to shed some of his usual bashfulness. “I’ve had Beedrill for a long time, so we don’t have a problem activating it. It’s just a matter of him, um, learning to adapt to the new form.”

“That’s great,” Jasmine chimed in, smiling. “I bet he’ll be a force to reckon with in the future.”

Bugsy beamed proudly. “I’ll work hard!”

It was hard not to feel fond of him. He was a good kid.

Bugsy rambled more about his training and then his town when he ran out of things to say. There was a local legend I found interesting—a forest spirit who was said to inhabit Ilex Forest and reminded me of a Fairy. Sensing my interest in the matter, Bugsy eagerly invited me to hang out sometime in Azalea Town. He even offered to show me around. I’d never been before, so I agreed easily enough.

Later, the Kanto Gym Leaders arrived and joined us in one large group of their own.

“How is everyone?”

“Good evening.”

“Hello!”

Greetings, greetings, and more greetings rang out one after another.

All of the Kanto Gym Leaders had made it aside for a few. Violet was back in Cerulean to watch over the youngest Waterflower sister, Misty. Brock had to stay home with his siblings because one of them caught a fever. Blaine… yeah, no one knew. He hadn’t bothered responding to the invitation at all. Apparently that was normal for him since he liked staying cooped up in his lab at home. I now counted myself lucky that he’d actually bothered making a brief visit on my gym’s grand opening day.

What surprised me was two people who did come: Surge and Sabrina.

I hadn’t taken Surge as the type to like formal events like these. I got that right at least. He didn’t, but he came today to show his support for war veterans across Indigo. He even wore an old military uniform of his own and a cap to boot.

As for Sabrina, I knew she wasn’t good with crowds because she’d told me so before. When I asked if she was okay—

“Thank you for your concern, but I can manage,” she said with a polite dip of her head. “My father was going to attend on my behalf, but he wanted me to come and spend time with him since I’ve been so busy lately. I thought I’d oblige.”

That was nice of her. “Where is your father now then?” I blinked, head turning left and right.

Still as stoic as ever, Sabrina blinked owlishly at me. “I’m afraid I don’t know. Giovanni has been thorough with the security measures for tonight’s event. There’s Dark type energy mixed around the house, so I can’t pick out his presence right now. I assume he’s lost.”

And when I stared at her, she helpfully elaborated. “He’s a psychic, but he has a bad sense of direction.”

“Ah.”

That was… kind of funny?

It was nice chatting with the Kanto Gym Leaders, too. Rarely did I get to interact with them in the first place outside of work.

“Erika, is that a new perfume?” Jasmine suddenly asked, sniffing the air. A few others including me followed suit.

The Celadon Gym Leader immediately straightened, smiling.

“It is! This one is produced from my gym’s Bellossom. We’re going to sell it starting next week. It’s called Sweet Opal,” Erika explained, and she proceeded to rattle off information about it like a salesperson. I almost wondered if this was a calculated advertising move—wearing the perfume and going around the ballroom with it, at least.

It definitely gave me more ideas for the Cherrygrove Gym’s own revenue. We could make perfume of our own and sell Pokemon byproducts, but we’d have to get them approved by the National Product Safety Bureau first.

At some point, everyone split up to go roam the ballroom. We were all going to see each other later for dinner anyway. Giovanni had told everyone in advance that there was a table set aside for us, so we decided to make the most of our time until then.

That meant networking. Lots of it.

Most of the people Giovanni invited to his charity galas were influential or wealthy figures across Kanto-Johto. Businessmen. Politicians. Heads of nonprofit organizations. Lawyers, doctors, big name social media influencers—you name it.

They were there, and they had lots of connections.

I found myself busy meeting people, exchanging business cards, and snagging advertisement deals for the gym in the process. This was like a gold mine, I realized.

It also made my brain go to mush after talking to about the hundredth or so person.

I took a break against the wall next to an elderly woman. My eyes darted around for a waiter with some water I could have, but I paused when I heard loud, rattled coughing sounds to my left. The old woman next to me rubbed furiously at her eyes.

Alarmed, I grabbed the handkerchief in my breast pocket and offered it to her.

“Are you okay?” I asked as she took it.

“Oh, thank you, dearie,” she said in a strained voice, coughing again. “Just a lingering cold, not to worry. Something got in my eyes earlier and irritated them.”

No kidding. They were bloodshot as heck and very, very wet with tears. She dabbed at her eyes with one corner of the handkerchief, then used the other clean half to blow her nose.

“Would you happen to know where the restroom is?” the old lady asked after she finished.

I did not, but that was how I found myself carefully guiding the old woman to her destination. We went out of the ballroom back to the foyer where I flagged down a staff member, and she proceeded to help me escort the old lady to the nearest available restroom. They disappeared inside together.

I’d have to thank Will later for his keen foresight on bringing a handkerchief. Never would I have thought it’d see the light of actual use.

First, I had to figure out how to get back to the ballroom.

I had no idea how, but I took a wrong turn. Giovanni’s villa was massive and confusing enough that it was possible. Instead of the foyer, I found myself in a different hallway on the first floor.

In my defense, all the hallways looked the same to me. They were all extravagantly decorated, but the halls somehow felt empty. Needlessly long. Lonely.

Maybe I just needed to keep going. I was bound to circle back around to the foyer.

I paused halfway down the hall while I was thinking that. There was a realistic painting — a family portrait, I wagered — that piqued my interest. It was because it was the only one I’d seen in the whole house so far. There were landscapes, framed photos of wild Pokemon, hanging wall plants—everything, strangely enough, except for people.

A beautiful woman with black hair and a heart-shaped face held the hand of a man with short brown curls. From the way they leaned into each other, I deduced they were husband and wife. Licking its paws at the woman’s feet was a small cat with light fur—a Meowth. There was a chair to the Pokemon’s left on which a toddler sat. It was obvious he took after his mother’s looks far more than those of his father.

They looked happy.

I studied the art with a thoughtful expression. This could only be the family portrait of—

Vel yanked my hand hard with a ribbon and told me someone was coming, but the footsteps and voices came even before he spoke.

“…next time,” someone said.

“Yes, until next time. Thank you,” a familiar voice replied.

I blinked as two figures rounded the corner. One was Giovanni, and the other was a man I didn’t recognize. His pink eyes did seem familiar, though. An old-looking Alakazam trailed after them.

They all stopped and stared at me with obvious surprise. A moment of silence passed.

“Arin,” Giovanni finally said, blinking. “What are you doing here?”

I tried not to feel embarrassed as I rubbed the back of my neck. “Sorry, I hope you’ll forgive the intrusion. I got lost after helping someone find the restroom.”

All at once, Giovanni’s surprise melted away and went back to his usual smiling expression. He even barked out a laugh. “Understandable. The house is larger than it seems!” he said good-naturedly.

Thank Ho-Oh. He wasn’t angry about me wandering around his house.

His guest excused himself after a polite bow in my direction. I thought the Alakazam was his, but evidently not. It followed Giovanni as he ambled down the hall in my direction.

“Is that your Alakazam?” I asked curiously.

The Alakazam nodded on Giovanni’s behalf, but he answered anyway. “He is,” he revealed, chuckling. “Why? Is it shocking for a Ground Specialist to have one?”

I shook my head. “No, not at all.”

And I meant it. There were plenty of Specialists who raised Pokemon outside of their chosen type specialty. I was an example of one after all.

Giovanni hummed to himself as he came to a halt next to me. “He doesn’t battle anymore,” he said, “but he was a huge help to me during the Rocket War. You’ll find that most people from my generation—and our elders—have at least one Psychic type. Most people who fought in the War of Ashes or Rocket War do. It was practically mandatory.”

Suddenly, all the Psychic type Pokemon I’d seen with war veterans back in the ballroom made sense now.

“Because you needed to protect yourself during a fight,” I noted.

Giovanni nodded in approval. “Indeed. They were our closest aides. We also needed them to shield us from interrogation techniques and mental attacks. Perhaps you already know, but Psychic types were particularly invaluable to Johto during the War of Ashes. They needed a way to defend against the famed Natsume Clan psychics.”

I hadn’t known that actually. History textbooks I’d read in my youth never went that deep.

“It was a very different time back then,” he finished with a grimace, and he lapsed into silence.

I wasn’t sure what to say. The dark turn our conversation had taken didn’t sit right with either of us, but it was a matter of seeing who would figure out how to navigate it first.

Giovanni did, bless his soul. Clearing his throat, he raised his gaze to the painting I stood in front of.

“I see you were looking at the family portrait,” he commented. “This was drawn during the War of Ashes believe it or not. My father commissioned it thinking the war would end soon.”

I stared at the portrait again. It was Giovanni and his family after all. There was no way it couldn’t have been given that this was his house and everything. I already knew what had happened to his parents. They were gone. I didn’t know the details regarding his mother, but Orsino Sakaki had perished at the end of the Rocket War.

“What was he like?” I asked softly, hoping it was not too intrusive a question.

“Gentle,” Giovanni readily supplied. He clasped his hands together behind his back, but I didn’t miss the way they shook briefly with emotion. “Very gentle but determined. When there was something he wanted to do, he believed in it with all his heart and poured his entire being into it. He was so excited to teach me about the Ground type that he spent a week building an indoors sandbox I could play in as a baby.”

Hearing mirth enter his voice toward the end, I naturally assumed this was the lead-in to a humorous anecdote. I guessed correctly.

“Apparently, I crawled out one time and got sand all over my mother’s favorite carpet. She was certainly not pleased with my father after that. He had to work hard to make her happy again,” Giovanni smiled at the memory. I snorted with laughter as he continued. “When I was a little older, I got my first real and most treasured present from my father. It was a small wooden hourglass my mother had once gifted him. He engraved words of his own on it for me.”

“Do you still have it?”

“I do. I put it away in storage for a long time, though, and the wood is cracked. I dropped it once after an argument with my father.”

Giovanni pointed out a small detail in the portrait I hadn’t noticed before, some objects on a shelf in the background.

“You can see it there actually,” he revealed.

Indeed, I saw a small hourglass painted into that moment of time. A momentary silence fell over us as my eyes traced the figures in the painting with renewed wonder.

“You look like your mother,” I complimented.

It was one that Giovanni graciously accepted with a wide smile. “So I’ve often been told. She was a kind and beautiful woman. My mother didn’t like Pokemon, though.”

The sudden and casual statement from Giovanni had me physically pausing in place. Once it fully registered, my head snapped toward him in surprise.

“Really?” I blinked rapidly.

“Really,” Giovanni echoed with faint amusement. His eyes misted over with nostalgia as he spoke. I got the feeling he wasn’t looking at the painting anymore but somewhere far beyond. “In fact, she hated them. They terrified her, but the love she had for my father was far deeper than her hatred for them. She tried her best to love what he loved. My mother never ended up liking Pokemon in the end, but she did at least adopt a stray Meowth she tolerated.”

Wait a second. A Meowth…?

“Your Persian? Is that the same one?” I asked, recalling the cat who had guarded him on our Mount Moon expedition.

“The very one.” Giovanni chuckled. “I remember being shocked when I was a child. Young as I was, even I could tell my mother didn’t like Pokemon, but she suddenly adopted a Meowth one day and tried to care for it.”

“Love is powerful,” I mused out loud.

Another breathy chuckle left the man beside me. “It is, isn’t it? It’s powerful enough to change people. To this day, I still wonder how my parents ever managed to fall in love. A man who dedicated his life to Pokemon and a woman who couldn’t stand them.”

It was a classic example of opposites attract. A popular trope and debunked myth… except Giovanni’s parents had made it work and happen.

“It’s a moving story,” I voiced my honest thoughts out loud. “Romantic.”

Giovanni smiled. Whether it was at me or to himself, I had no way of knowing.

“My father loved her so very much,” he murmured. For every word he spoke, I heard another trace of grief slip through. “So did I. She was taken from us far too soon. She worked as a nurse at a small hospital here in Viridian, but when the War of Ashes began, my mother volunteered to work in the field. A few months before the war ended, she got struck by a stray Pokemon attack. She survived, but it left her with lasting internal injuries.”

I almost didn’t want him to finish, but all stories had to eventually end.

“We only got a few more years with her before she passed away.”

It was quiet.

So quiet that, for a moment, I thought I could hear Giovanni’s heartbeat. When I chanced a look at the older man, I saw him staring at the painting with his emotions laid bare on his face.

There was regret, yearning, grief, and a dozen more emotions I would never be able to place.

The Viridian Gym Leader was normally so dignified and composed that it was uncomfortable to see him show such vulnerability for once.

“I’m sorry for your loss,” I murmured, voice barely above a whisper. I almost felt afraid to speak. “And… thank you for sharing so much with me.”

It must have been hard was what I thought.

A terribly long silence passed before Giovanni spoke again. During that time, he closed his eyes briefly.

“Thank you,” Giovanni finally rumbled with a dip of his head. “I suppose I feel comfortable sharing this with you, Arin, because you remind me of myself when I was younger.”

The admission left me temporarily stunned. “How so?” I eventually made myself say.

The corners of his lips quirked upwards into a small but genuine smile. “A passionate, warmhearted, and bright young man who wants what’s best for Indigo. That is how I see you, Arin.”

“Doesn’t that describe you right now, though?” I questioned.

Giovanni arched a dark brow. “Even the ‘young man’ part?”

Flustered, I tried to come up with something, anything. “Like I said before—”

I stopped when Giovanni burst with deep laughter, clapping a warm hand on my shoulder in the process.

“It was merely a jest. I didn’t mean to put you on the spot,” he chortled out. “Those words may still describe me right now, but I feel it gets harder for me every year to keep them true. Sometimes I even worry I’m not doing enough. I want to do what I can in place of my father.”

“He would be proud of you,” I instantly assured him, raising a brow. Did he seriously not think he was doing enough? He was widely respected in Indigo for everything he’d done over the years. “You’ve done great work for Indigo.”

“I wonder, would he? I feel like it’s never enough,” he confessed, hand dropping from my shoulder. Giovanni’s dark eyes went back to staring at the painting—this time focusing on his father’s figure. “As much as I looked up to my father, I also resent him. His legacy left a deep impact on Indigo. I want to do better.”

That was a strong choice of words to use. Not for the first time, I felt a deep respect for the man standing next to me.

He wasn’t satisfied with what he’d already accomplished. He wanted to do even more.

I needed to take a page out of his book and become even more ambitious myself.

As if he’d only just realized what he said, Giovanni coughed lightly into his fist.

“Anyway, I apologize for having kept you for so long, Arin. Thank you for humoring me and staying to listen to me ramble,” he told me with a smile.

I shook my head. “No, I rather enjoyed our conversation. I’m sorry again for wandering around.”

Giovanni dismissed the apology with a wave of his calloused hand. “It was a pleasant chat,” he agreed, smiling. “We should be off to the ballroom now. Dinner will be served soon. I hope you’re excited for the live auction.”

“May I ask what’s being auctioned?” I asked with no small amount of curiosity. We were already walking down the hall together back to the foyer. Giovanni’s Alakazam had shuffled away in the opposite direction presumably to rest, walk, or who knew what.

Giovanni usually disclosed to his guests ahead of time what was going to be auctioned in his charity gala events, but he hadn’t on this occasion because of the whole Mount Moon fiasco. It had been too late to run a long and effective advertising campaign on social media by the time we got back.

His eyes now twinkled with a playful gleam.

“Well…” he trailed off, pretending to think. “I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to tell you a little. Today’s auction has a random assortment of items that used to belong to my father. Things he loved or collected. Paintings and pottery and the like.”

My eyes widened a little. “Are you okay with auctioning those off instead of keeping them with you?”

“I’d rather not hold onto them,” he admitted. “They remind me too much of my father. The proceeds will go to a good cause, too.”

I couldn’t fault him. Sometimes, memories were too painful.

We chatted idly on our way back to the ballroom, but once we actually got there, we had to split up. Reception time was dwindling. I was escorted by a staff member to my assigned seating while Giovanni went off to get ready. He had to give introductory remarks before dinner was officially served.

The Indigo Gym Leaders were already seated at a table reserved for us. I exchanged greetings with them as I sat down between Jas and Morty, but not before I glanced with confusion at the one new face in our midst.

A man was seated next to Sabrina. It was the same dark-haired man I’d seen in the hallway with Giovanni. He caught me staring and smiled.

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Leader Arin. I didn’t get a chance to officially introduce myself earlier,” he beamed. “I’m Sabrina’s father, Yuma Natsume. I hope you don’t mind me intruding on this private gathering. No national secrets to be shared, I hope?”

The joke made me crack a smile of my own. “No. You’re welcome to sit here with us.”

A flash of recognition went off in my head now that I knew his name. This was the former Gym Leader of Saffron City. Now that I looked more closely at him and his daughter sitting side-by-side, they really did look alike. Sabrina definitely got her unique eyes from him.

Said woman looked between me and her father with a raised brow. “Father, did you meet Leader Arin earlier? When you were lost perhaps?” The way she spoke that last phrase was very dry indeed, as if she was both amused and yet fed up with the sort of antics her father got up to.

Yuma simultaneously coughed and scratched his cheek with an awkward expression.

“I apologized, did I not? I’ll try not to wander around next time,” he whispered to his daughter. In a louder voice, he addressed both of us. “Yes, I met Leader Arin earlier while I was talking to a friend.”

When I stared curiously at him, he elaborated. “Giovanni and I go back a long way. We even fought side-by-side in the Rocket War together.”

Speaking further with Sabrina’s father only filled me with more surprise. He was so outwardly bright and cheerful compared to his daughter that it was like night and day, but I knew his inner self was probably more disciplined than any other given that he was a human psychic and specialist.

He wasn’t afraid to bring up the contrast between himself and his daughter of his own accord, either.

“You must be thinking how different I am from Sabrina, yes?” he guffawed with a tilt of his head. “Ah, no need to give me that panicked look. I get that all the time from people! I’m proud of Sabrina. She’s my pride and joy and perhaps the strongest Natsume of all time.”

“You’re a powerful psychic in your own right, father. I still have much to learn from you,” Sabrina countered softly with closed eyes. I wondered if all the stimuli from the gala was finally getting to her.

“See? My pride and joy. She’s even humble,” Yuma grinned. “I only have a few tricks up my sleeve that she hasn’t learned yet. Everything else has been soaked up and made her own like the genius she is.”

He was definitely a caring father. I smiled to myself as I listened to him brag more about his daughter, but I did a double take at one point.

I could have sworn I saw Sabrina smile into her glass of water, but her stoic expression made me think I hallucinated things.

Minutes later, the lively conversation at our table came to a halt as a small bell chimed. All eyes turned to the front of the ballroom where Giovanni stood at a podium and microphone.

He spoke as soon as it grew quiet enough.

“Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining this evening’s charity gala hosted in my name,” Giovanni began. “All proceeds and donations from tonight’s festivities will be given to Indigo’s very own Kihono House Foundation. Tonight, we have gathered not only to celebrate the spirit of Indigo, but to stand united and make a true difference in our community. Tonight… we honor the brave men and women who fought for their country in years past.”

He had the attention of the whole ballroom as he swept a serious gaze over the audience. His somber tone made the silence even more prevalent.

“The peace we enjoy today is thanks to the sacrifices of many selfless heroes. We must never forget that,” he told us. “We must never forget how that peace was earned. I humbly ask you to join me now for a moment of silence. Let us honor all heroes—those still with us and beyond.”

Heads bowed in the audience without further prompting, mine included. Eyes closed.

I listened to the thump, thump of my heart for a long time before Giovanni finally continued.

“Thank you,” he spoke into the microphone. At the sound of his voice, we all straightened. “May we cherish the peaceful times of our beloved Indigo, and may we safeguard them in place of those who cannot.”

He smiled warmly and held a hand out to us.

“Thank you.”

On cue, waiters appeared by the dozen with carts full of steaming food and drinks. Giovanni joined us at our table as the first dishes on the menu were handed out.

It was an Arceus damned multi-course dinner. Jellyfish salad, sea urchin tossed in a vinaigrette, oxtail soup with eggplant, seasonal platters—from appetizers to palate cleansers and substantial dishes, they didn’t miss a thing. I could have missed both breakfast and lunch today and still not have enough room for everything.

Fortunately, there were live performances to help offset any digestion issues or eating worries.

I took my time consuming the dishes that came out one by one, eyes glued to the stage where the evening entertainment commenced. There was a mix of stand-up comedy, jazz bands and an acapella group, and even some troupe performers Giovanni had hired. I chatted with the others during intermissions while Vel napped at my feet, too full from eating his own share of food to stay awake.

I honestly felt like I was going to join him by the time guest speakers came up on stage. They were representatives of the Kihono House Foundation, and they ran everyone through their organization’s goals and achievements before humbly requesting donations.

We all clapped at the end of their speech. I saw people sit up straighter in their seats as staff members started setting things up on stage. Others went around tables randomly distributing plastic sticks with bold, black numbers on them—bid paddles. The one I got was labeled 268.

Tonight’s main event, the live auction, was starting.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. It’s time for what I’m sure you’ve all been waiting for: the live auction!” A man exclaimed from the podium. Smiling slyly, he waited for the wave of enthusiastic clapping to die down before adjusting his bowtie. “I’m Jakob, and I’ll be your auctioneer for tonight. There is a grand total of fifty-four items up for sale. Payments and item pickups may be made after the auction’s conclusion.”

He ran us through other guidelines while a staffer behind him rolled a cart covered with cloth onto the stage.

“…and finally, each item tonight once belonged to the former Viridian Gym Leader and Hero Orsino Sakaki! Please do thank our esteemed host, Giovanni Sakaki, for his generous contributions,” Jakob revealed, and he gestured to Giovanni in the audience. A wave of appreciation followed. Our table clapped especially hard for him as he dipped his head in a small nod. “Without further ado, let’s begin.”

The staff member waiting behind him on the stage took the cloth off his cart and revealed a beautiful vase with a wavy rim. Close-up images of it were blown up on portable projector screens.

“Lot number one is a vase from the Eishu era. This gorgeous vase is made from porcelain and features delicate patterning inspired by a mountain lake. It was crafted by the famous Kyoya Heizen as a gift for his son’s marriage…” Jakob carefully explained, and he went on a little longer before exhaling. “The starting bid is fifty thousand Pokedollars.”

One by one, people eagerly raised their bid paddles in the audience.

“Fifty thousand.”

“Sixty thousand.”

“Eighty thousand!”

It eventually came down to two ladies in the end, but only one of them could win.

“Going once, going twice… Sold! Lot number one goes to bidder number 390 for two hundred fifty thousand Pokedollars!” Jakob swiftly declared in a loud, booming voice.

The competition was already fierce, and it was only the first item to go. It was on the lower end of winning bids, too.

The auctioneer steadily made his way through the list of objects he had to sell. Every single item up for auction turned out to be something rather incredible. Whether it had artistic, practical, or historical value — or even a mix of all three — every item was worth bidding for in some shape or form. There was a famous painting of a woman with a Vileplume that Erika won for a staggering one point five million Pokedollars, a velvet chair that Orsino used to keep in his office and which sold for nine hundred thousand Pokedollars, a full tableware set studded with gems that some gentleman collector bought for two million…

I wasn’t idle of course. The whole point of me coming here was because I believed this was a good cause to contribute money to. I bid on a few items I was interested in, mostly gifts for dad and stuff we could display around the house. I only won two lots since I tried to stay within a reasonable budget—a pair of guinomi cups used to serve sake and a small, patterned flower pot that I could tell Erika was also interested in but graciously let me have.

All the other Gym Leaders bid on and won at least one item, too. The most drama we had was Sabrina and Morty having a friendly bidding war over a stone bowl, one that a former psychic supposedly used for scrying purposes.

Sabrina ended up folding.

Well over two hours passed before the auction crawled to its end.

“Ladies and gentlemen, here is our final item for the night,” Jakob said cheerfully into the microphone. I had to commend the man for managing to stay upbeat and focused this whole time. People sitting at nearby tables leaned in with anticipation for what was sure to be something as luxurious as all the others. “Lot number fifty-four!”

The staffer behind him timed the last item’s reveal to the words. My eyes widened when I saw the object that had been hidden underneath the cloth.

It was—

“Lot number fifty-four is a five-minute hourglass in fair but working condition. As you can see from the screens behind me, there are noticeable cracks in the base of the wood and some minor discoloration. It was made out of vida evergreen wood by an unknown local artisan here in Viridian City over fifty years ago,” Jakob explained, and that was it for the introduction.

The silence that followed his short and simple explanation was one rife with puzzlement.

I could already tell everyone in the ballroom was thinking: that was it? A seemingly unremarkable, damaged hourglass made by a no-name artisan and ordinary wood that had no story to go with it?

It did have a story, but no one knew it. Nobody else knew the significance of the plain hourglass displayed on a cart up there.

It was a secret known only to two: Giovanni and me.

That hourglass was the first and most meaningful gift his father had given him. I couldn’t believe he was willing to let go of something like that. I cast a look over at where he sat on the other side of the circular table, but he stared straight ahead with a calm expression. If he noticed me staring, then he didn’t show it.

I wondered why he hadn’t told the auctioneer more details about it in order to raise the value, but then I realized maybe he didn’t want to share that story to the world in the first place.

It was a private tale with memories buried inside him.

Or maybe… maybe he wanted to see if anyone would find meaning where others could not.

Maybe he wondered if someone would see not with their eyes but with their heart.

“There is no starting bid for this item. Any takers?” The auctioneer inquired.

Among a sea of silent faces and still figures, a single paddle rose.

“One hundred thousand,” I enunciated clearly.

It wasn’t just the other guests that turned to look at me with surprise. Jas, Morty, and all the Gym Leaders at our table openly showed their shock, too.

Everyone except Giovanni. He hadn’t looked away from the stage.

The auctioneer smoothly took my words in stride and carried on. “I have a bid of one hundred thousand Pokedollars! Anyone else?”

Perhaps they thought that a Gym Leader showing interest meant the item was secretly valuable, but some people raised paddles after me.

“One hundred twenty thousand.”

“One hundred forty thousand.”

I let them go on and thought to myself for a bit. Then, without hesitation, I held up my paddle again.

“Five hundred thousand.”

Nobody else challenged me after that. They didn’t want to pay that much for a cracked hourglass of unknown origins, but the massive jump in price didn’t end there.

My paddle remained in the air.

“Five hundred thousand—”

“I’d like to double my bid and raise it to one million Pokedollars,” I politely interrupted the auctioneer.

Gasps rang out as people stared at me with incredulity. Next to me, Morty almost choked on his water.

And still, Giovanni stared at the stage.

Jakob the auctioneer was a professional. With a relaxed smile and his gavel held at the ready, he swept his eyes across the room.

“We have a bid of one million,” he stated. “Going… going…”

My eyes were trained on the little item I was willing to drop a sizable amount of money for. Both the hourglass and the cause my money would be going to was worth it. I wanted that hourglass because I appreciated the meaning behind it. The weight behind its existence, the emotions that had once been poured into it…

Fairies knew the importance of stories.

“Gone.”

Jakob lowered his gavel with a sharp bang.

“Sold for one million Pokedollars to bidder number 268!”

The resulting applause was absolutely thunderous. Respectful looks mixed with awe and shock were directed my way from across the room. Though my winning bid was far from being the highest one, everyone respected my act of raising my own bid. It was a wonderful show of generosity and the desire to contribute to tonight’s cause.

I focused more on Giovanni than the clapping sounds in my ears.

He clapped more softly than the others because his attention was on the hourglass being carted away from the stage. He looked lonely for some reason. Small. I didn’t know what to make of the expression on his face as he watched the hourglass disappear behind a door, nor the small and indescribable smile he wore.

Bittersweet, perhaps, or relieved.

While the auctioneer talked, he got up slowly to walk to the stage.

“That concludes tonight’s live auction. What an exciting one it was!” Jakob informed everyone with a bright smile. “Dear guests, please come collect your winning bids through the door over there after final remarks from our host.”

In a smooth transition, he and Giovanni swapped places at the podium. What I’d seen before seemed like it had been a mirage. He’d gone back to looking like his usual dignified self.

“I’m deeply grateful to every one of you for attending tonight’s gala and showing your support for the Kihono House Foundation,” Giovanni thanked. “Tonight, you have made a difference in our community.”

He gestured to a staffer waiting nearby. A moment later, the projector screens behind him displayed two different numbers. One was for the auction proceeds, and the other signaled separate donations made by guests.

Then he gestured again, and the screen combined them into a total of over ten million Pokedollars raised tonight.

It was a stunningly large number that would be a huge help to the war veterans of Indigo.

“And, like every event I host, I will be matching tonight’s grand total for this wonderful cause,” Giovanni added, smiling.

Arceus. My eyes nearly bulged out of my head. Just how wealthy was Giovanni, and did his generosity ever end? That was going to be a grand total of twenty million Pokedollars for the Kihono House Foundation. Everyone unanimously rose from their seats and clapped furiously for the Viridian Gym Leader.

He was still smiling as he fought to be heard over all the noise.

“Truly, from the bottom of my heart, I thank everyone here for coming together in the spirit of Indigo. I wish everyone a safe journey home…”

And so, the charity gala came to a close.

It was past midnight. I said my goodbyes to everyone who was eager to go home and sleep, nudged Vel awake, and then picked my way through the crowd to the door where I needed to be. Ten minutes later, I’d deposited the funds for my winning bid and collected a beautiful box in green and gold hues. The items I’d won were carefully stored inside with protective cushioning.

I looked for Giovanni on my way out of the building. He was busy bidding goodbye to guests, but the moment he saw me, he stopped what he was doing to walk over.

“Arin, thank you for your contributions tonight. They were certainly not small ones,” Giovanni praised.

I was sort of wealthy, but tonight had definitely taken a dent out of my personal savings.

I would have shaken Giovanni’s hand if I could. Instead, I offered a smile in return and shifted the box I held so that it was more secure in my arms. “They were for a good cause. Also… I’ll take good care of it.”

And by ‘it,’ he and I both knew I was talking about the hourglass.

Giovanni’s response was putting a hand on my shoulder and gently squeezing it. Dark eyes full of memories I would never know looked into mine.

“It’s yours now. Do what you want with it.”

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

Clefairy was still awake when I came back home. With fluttering wings, she asked Vel to recount the events of the charity gala—a request to which the Sylveon begrudgingly obliged.

They were still chatting when I came out of the shower.

My eyelids were already drooping, but I managed to stay awake long enough to look over my newest possession. Carefully, I held an hourglass in my hand and looked it over.

One of the bases had two large cracks that almost completely ran from one side to the other. Looking at them gave me some ideas. I also saw faded colors in some areas, but the object was otherwise in fairly good condition as previously stated.

What I really looked for, though, were the words Giovanni had mentioned in our private conversation. I found them inscribed on the other side of the base that had cracks. I repeated them a few times out loud to myself.

The words lingered in my mind long after I hauled myself into bed and drifted away.

Ground is the beginning and the end, and what all things ultimately return to.

- O.S.

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

The following day was a restless one for multiple reasons. There were errands to run and the first mandatory training session at the League to go to, but those were small in the grand scheme of things.

Mostly, I couldn’t stop thinking about my visit to Mount Moon in the evening. My gifts — only the highest quality Moon Stones imported from other regions — had arrived earlier and would be given to Mountain Weaver and her Clan.

My morning also brought with it unexpected visitors.

“Looker? Mint?” I blinked at the two figures who were shown into my office. Never had I expected this pair of people to drop by.

“Leader Arin,” Looker greeted with a polite smile. Mint followed suit with one of his own. “I hope you’ve been doing well since coming back from Mount Moon.”

“I have. So what brings you to Cherrygrove?” I asked as I rose from my seat. I didn’t think this was an appropriate time for pleasantries considering this combination of people.

“We’ve been investigating cities and towns across Johto for signs of Rocket activity,” Mint explained.

Oh, I remembered hearing something like that from Chuck before now that I thought about it.

“Did you finish investigating my city just now?” I guessed.

Looker offered a brief salute. “We did. I hope you’ll be pleased to know that we didn’t find anything suspicious. Granted, we aren’t being as thorough as we’d like because we’re doing broad, preliminary searches across the country first.”

I nodded slowly. Well, I supposed you had to take good news where you could.

“We were wondering if you’d escort us to Kanto,” Looker continued, and this was where my brows shot up.

“You can’t go by yourselves?”

A look of embarrassment washed over Looker’s face. He cleared his throat with some struggle. “It’s… How do I put it… The Indigo League doesn’t seem to trust us completely yet. They don’t let us move on their own. Usually, Champion Lance has one of his Elite Four guide us around if we leave the Plateau.”

I was careful not to let my face betray any of my emotions or thoughts. Ah, so they’d noticed Lance’s wariness after all. There was no way they wouldn’t have. He and the League weren’t exactly being discreet about the matter.

“And so where is your Elite Four escort now? Should you not have one with you, then, according to your words?” I pretended this was news to me. As much as I liked Interpol and found them trustworthy, my duty was to the Indigo League first and foremost.

“Bruno was with us until a few moments ago,” Mint smoothly cut in. “He had to return to the Plateau and join a squad of new League Trainers investigating the northern part of Kanto. He suggested we ask you to be our temporary guide for the day.”

“Of course,” Looker coughed, “we understand this comes out of the blue and that you must be very busy preparing for the next League Circuit. We’re prepared to go back to the Plateau if you decline, but we’d appreciate it if you could spare even an hour or two to let us continue our investigations.”

I tapped a finger against my arm, thinking. Hmm… I was busy, but they also seemed so desperate to be out and proving their usefulness…

“Hold on for a bit. I need to check something,” I finally said. The Interpol agents were more than willing to comply and sat down obediently on the couch.

What I meant was contacting Lance. I turned away from them and pulled out my phone to text the Champion. He answered within the minute.

He also wrote a freaking mini essay. At that point, he should have just sent an audio message.

Lance [10:16 AM] → They found out? Oops. Regardless, it’s up to you if you want to humor their request for a bit. All of the Elite Four are out on business. Bruno is the one who usually accompanies them, but he won’t be back until tonight if they still want to do any investigating then.

If you DO go with them to Kanto, though, could you drop by Cinnabar Island for me and check up on Blaine? Please tell him to answer his damned phone. I’ve dealt with him not responding to messages or calls for days at a time before, and I’m assuming he’s probably absorbed in his studies about R2, but I did NOT ask him to ignore the rest of the world while he researches it.

Lance sounded very sure I’d end up going to Kanto.

He was right, but it was only because of what he sent me. I figured I’d help our poor, overworked Champion out.

I looked up at the two Interpol agents staring hopefully at me from the other side of the room.

“I’ll escort you guys to Kanto,” I announced, but I held up a hand before they could thank me. “Only for a bit, though.”

I started moving toward the door with quick, purposeful strides.

“And I hope you’re fine with investigating Cinnabar Island first.”

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

10:13 AM. Personal Laboratory, Cinnabar Gym. Cinnabar Island, Kanto.

Fuji was dead.

Though Blaine typically isolated himself in his gym slash laboratory on Cinnabar Island, and even though he was notoriously bad at checking his phone, he still had ways of getting news about the outside world. The murder that had shaken Lavender Town reached his ears moments after the news surfaced online.

Fuji was dead.

Contrary to what people believed, Blaine was capable of feeling emotions as much as anyone else. He just kept them buried inside his heart. Before disbelief, and before sorrow, it was a cold, empty feeling that spread throughout his whole body when he thought about how Fuji was gone. Someday, he would follow his old friend to the grave as well.

Fuji was… well and truly dead.

Living through two different wars did things to someone. You started to forget how to grieve.

Many things bothered Blaine these days. They were the reasons why he’d holed up at home recently and shut himself away from the outside. He was constantly thinking, constantly paranoid—traits others scoffed at, yet they’d saved his ass more times than he could count.

But now more than ever… he needed a quiet space to think.

That Rocket Executive with red hair. Ariana. There was something about her that felt familiar. Blaine had never seen her before in his life, but he felt he knew her somehow. There was a long forgotten person she reminded him of. The fact that she was a Fire Specialist lent some credence to the idle thought he entertained.

Ha. A Fire Specialist. He would have to see her fight first because she could ever hope to claim that title.

Fire was dangerous, and he was not simply speaking from his own specialist experience. The image of Flames flashed behind his eyelids—

Nope. He blinked them away before they could sear his brain.

Blaine did hate Ariana with a burning passion, that he knew for sure at least. To create a drug like R2 was all the reason he needed.

R2, oh that blasted R2. Blaine was nowhere close to creating a cure for it. It was far more complex of a drug than its predecessor, Red. He was going to need more time and samples if he wanted to concoct even the first trial version of a cure. Was it inappropriate that he found the challenge fun? Hmm, perhaps he was a strange one. Best not to let Lance know he thought that way.

Blaine was still wondering how he was going to break the news to Lance and the League. He hadn’t told them everything about Red before. It was because both truths and his own suspicions alike would have left the League back then in near shambles. And now, with the emergence of R2, there was no room for doubt. He’d studied its structure. He had to come clean.

Against his will, he had unknowingly contributed to the creation of the drugs Team Rocket used, and it made his blood boil in a way that should have been impossible in his old age.

There was one last thing that bothered Blaine these days, and it bothered him to the point where he couldn’t sleep.

Those strange psychic shields the others had encountered. The energy felt on National Day.

Psychic. Human. Pokemon. Artificial. Psychic.

Fuji being murdered.

Psychic. Powerful. Team Rocket. R2.

Rinse and repeat. The gears in his head stuttered and spun.

His eccentric brain had been working overtime these last few days ever since the last meeting. No matter if he ate, slept, studied R2, or simply breathed, thoughts about psychic psychic psychic pervaded his mind.

There was a thought that had finally wormed its way inside his head today, one that made him almost forget how to breathe and caused him to go weak in the knees. It made the old burn scars that covered his arm — what were considered gentle warnings from their maker in the War of Ashes — ache and burn and scream anew all over again.

A dangerous thought. A seemingly foolish thought.

He didn’t want to expand on it because it scared him like nothing else.

Focus, Blaine told himself, but his mind drifted to Fuji being murdered once again.

Was it perhaps possible Fuji wasn’t the only one? Had anyone else been murdered? Were they alive and living well? Was there more deaths to back up his suspicions?

But he hadn’t heard of any other murder incidents. He had ways of getting news about the outside world, yes, but he only bothered keeping track of the unusual kind.

He didn’t keep in contact with anyone else anymore. Hadn’t for years. They’d all drifted apart and mutually… voluntarily… let it happen. Interacting with or even thinking about each other would have reminded them of things. They let themselves drift apart because of the invisible weight that would always bear down on them.

A Sin.

Blaine tapped a finger against his leg, frowning.

This wasn’t good. Maybe it was the lack of sleep affecting him and making his thoughts even more erratic than usual today. Maybe he needed a nap.

Or maybe he could do just a little more research on R2 while thinking up a maelstrom of thoughts again.

His personal laboratory was a part of the Cinnabar Gym itself and covered sections of the first, second, and third floors. With surprisingly spry steps, he marched up the stairs to the part of his lab on the second floor. Ninetales and Flareon followed him. Lights bounced off polished tiled flooring as they made their way past tables and counters full of bubbling liquids inside vials, scattered papers, microscopes, and every manner of scientific equipment known to man. He needed to grab some new and untainted R2 samples from his office.

Blaine saw the door to his office coming up—

And he paused, feet lingering just a few steps shy of the doorway.

Past the open door held ajar by a doorstop, he saw the samples where he’d left them on the table. That wasn’t what he was looking at.

The office was completely normal, completely silent, and yet completely not right.

Blaine was very particular when it came to aspects of his living space and even more when it came to his laboratory. His office looked perfectly messy as was par for the course for him.

Too perfectly messy. The papers on his office desk had also been moved about thirty degrees to the left.

Someone had been in his office—

No… That wasn’t right.

“What do you want?” he asked.

They were still here.

Blaine waited patiently and with eyes narrowed at the space beyond the door. Seconds passed, but he did not budge from where he stood. His Pokemon were already ready to go at a moment’s notice behind him.

The only reason he didn’t simply blast his office into smithereens right now was because his instincts told him there was probably some sort of trap laid in there, and he was not going to be rash and spring it—

“Yikes,” a male voice finally spoke, and Blaine tensed all over again. “I guess I shouldn’t have expected this kind of trick to work on an esteemed war veteran like you. Your senses are too sharp.”

Blaine watched as the air in the back of the room shifted in place. A figure stepped out from in front of the cabinet shelf, but it was like he was cut out of the page of a comic book. The colors of the cabinet shelf went with him leaving the actual furniture itself without any color, but it didn’t stay that way for long. The colors twisted off the uninvited guest like oil sliding off water and plopped back into the cabinet.

Blaine could finally see what the intruder looked like… and it was his gym trainer, Kojiro, or the outer appearance at least.

“Is that how you infiltrated my gym? By showing up as one of my gym trainers?” Blaine asked in a cutting tone. There was probably way more to the infiltration process given how tight Blaine made security around his gym, but there wasn’t time for that right now. “You must be the person who infiltrated the League last time.”

The other figure’s eyes widened with genuine surprise. He even whistled out loud.

“They don’t call you the Brain of Indigo for nothing, do they?” He mused. “Scary, scary… I’m sorry for borrowing this face by the way, and the whole unannounced visit thing. You’re too big of a threat for me to come charging in head-on.”

“You do realize killing a Gym Leader is going to make the Indigo League bear their hammer down on Team Rocket, yes?” Blaine questioned. He didn’t usually bother talking to enemies, but he needed to get as much intel as possible for the League. “You’ll fall against the might of the whole League. It’ll be instant war.”

The Rocket quickly waved a hand through the air. “Oh no, no. You’ve got it wrong. As much as we wouldn’t mind a war, I’m not here to kill you. I don’t know if it’s possible, so I’ve made that my secondary goal. My main objective is something else.”

“And that would be?”

“I know what you’re doing,” he smiled, “but I’ll play along since you won’t remember any of this in a bit.”

He tapped the side of his head with a finger.

“I’m just going to take a quick little peek in your brain and rip all the dangerous knowledge out. I would like to kill you, though, if only so that someone would shut up back home. The screams get annoying.”

Blaine stared at him, mind whirling with thoughts.

Fuji murdered. Them targeting him now. Information. Psychic. Red. R2.

And suddenly, everything clicked in the worst possible way.

Blaine wanted to close his eyes and laugh like a broken record. It turned out that little dangerous thought he came up with earlier had some substance after all.

Instead, he smiled at the Rocket.

The Rocket Executive blinked owlishly at him. “Huh? Why are you smiling?”

“Oh, you wretched fools,” Blaine murmured. “You’re playing with fire.”

He had no idea if the Rocket managed to hear him or not. He was too busy piecing together the rest of the puzzle on how Team Rocket had found out about their Sin and successfully continued it.

“Why did you pick up where we left off?”

The room exploded with hot, sweltering flames.

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

There was no time.

Communications were jammed.

Teleportation was impossible because the room was blocked in with Dark type energy.

And help was still nowhere in sight. Blaine was starting to think his gym trainers got intercepted.

He hadn’t underestimated the Rocket.

He just hadn’t known there was a second one hiding in the space between this world and the Beyond. That was something only Agatha could do for a prolonged period of time. After fighting, Blaine knew they were both Executives now. He could take one, but he couldn’t take two.

The best his Pokemon could do was stall for time. The enemy was closing in.

Injured, bleeding, but still armed with his wits, Blaine knew he had to do something as he recalled yet another one of his Pokemon. It seemed likely that today was going to be the day that he followed Fuji to the grave.

He was going to try his hardest not to, but he wanted insurance. He had a duty to pass on information.

No writing utensil. He just had to make his own then.

Blaine brought his finger up to his mouth, bit hard enough to draw blood, and then wrote fast on the inside of his lab coat.

Two more Pokemon eventually fell, and he wrote faster. There was no time, he had to make it short—

He had just flipped his coat back in place when a psychic force slammed him against the wall.

Pain followed as the mental shields around his brain began to crack.