CHAPTER 53 — The Story of...

  Our flight to Kanto was peaceful. Dragonite was large and strong enough to carry three adults without a problem, but she took things slower because two of her passengers weren’t good with high speeds. Well, marginally slower. Looker and Mint were trained, hardened law enforcement agents who’d probably seen a lot of crazy stuff during their careers, but they still looked queasy as we blurred past open waters. About ten minutes later, we finally hovered in the sky above Cinnabar.

  It was an island off the southern coast of Kanto and larger than I would have ever expected. Dense, sprawling forests sloped upwards over mountains and rocky terrain, and they cradled the massive volcano Cinnabar was known for. The island’s only settlement, Cinnabar Town, was wisely situated far away from it and hugged the sea.

  I wanted to relay Lance’s complaints, and Looker and Mint wanted to greet and chat with the island’s overseer before beginning any investigations. To kill two Pidgey with one stone, we had to find Blaine Katsura.

  That meant looking for the Cinnabar Gym.

  It wasn’t anywhere close to town, oh no. Far from it—literally. The gym was practically on the opposite side of the island. According to information I’d read online before and a bit of hearsay, it hadn’t always existed there. The Cinnabar Gym had actually been demolished and reconstructed a few different times. The original building used to be near town, but it got destroyed in an earthquake and had to be rebuilt. Decades later, when the gym ended up in a young Blaine Katsura’s hands, he smashed the whole thing down because he wasn’t fond of its prime spot in a noisy seaside town. His action appalled the Kanto League at the time and would have gotten him kicked out of their ranks if they hadn’t valued both his brain and skill as a trainer. It also further solidified Blaine’s reputation as an eccentric because he chose to construct the gym in the freaking volcano of all places.

  That definitely wouldn’t have flown in today’s society or made it through all the red tape. Needless to say, parents would be horrified at the idea of their kids fighting gym battles on a battlefield suspended over bubbling lava.

  The story went that Blaine chose to put the gym inside the volcano so that it could ‘help young trainers build character,’ but after the War of Ashes came and ended, he changed his mind and demolished the whole thing… again. He agreed that it was a bit too dangerous for the treasured youth of our country.

  So, for the third and final time, the Cinnabar Gym was rebuilt—this time in a safe and isolated area on the far side of the island. It ticked off the box of nice and quiet for Blaine. If new trainers wanted to sign up for a match at his gym, they had to trek across the island’s arduous terrain all the way from town… on foot. He wouldn’t let people challenge him otherwise.

  The moral of the story was this: Blaine Katsura was as strange as he was brilliant, and it was hard to know what went on in that head of his given his reclusive personality.

  Hopefully, he didn’t mind us dropping by unannounced.

  Scaled wings beat rapidly in the air. In a few strokes, Dragonite crossed the length of the island. A noticeable building soon came into view—the Cinnabar Gym. It took after the island’s namesake with beautiful walls that were more red than orange. Earthy undertones gave it a much deeper, richer color than any Pokemon Center you could find, but scarlet flames were in the process of searing it black—

  Flames?

  Those weren’t part of its natural appearance. In what was surely ironic, parts of the Cinnabar Gym’s second floor were burning.

  Maybe on some other occasion, I might have believed it was an experiment of Blaine’s gone wrong, but given the recent state of affairs in Indigo, my mind made the jump to a very different conclusion first.

  It helped that there were figures lying on the ground outside and someone fighting off a Mismagius and Sableye of all things.

  “ZURI!”

  Dragonite reacted instantly and tore through the air with a burst of speed. She smashed onto the ground outside the gym’s front doors, cratering it, but I didn’t apologize for the rough landing. The two Ghosts we’d seen from above had sensed us coming and instantly disappeared through the floor. Where they escaped to, exactly, I had some pretty damn good ideas right about now.

  The Ghosts living in my shadow left to try and give chase.

  “Take care of them and secure the perimeter!” I yelled quickly, referring to the fallen people and Pokemon. All of them had visible wounds. “I’m going inside!”

  Looker and Mint were used to situations like these and jumped off Dragonite’s back before I even finished. Flashes of light went off as they released members of their teams, but we had already shot back into the air. With one jump and a sharp, angled turn, Dragonite barrelled through smoke to the burning second floor.

  Why take the front door when there was a perfectly fine, gaping hole in a broken wall instead?

  I didn’t need to cover my nose or mouth thanks to Dragonite isolating the air around us with a Protect, but I couldn’t see through all the rising smoke and flames.

  My Pokemon couldn’t either, but her keen senses as a Dragon let her pick out presences. Instead of landing on sizzling, tiled flooring, she remained in the air and lunged forward. Glowing claws ripped through air so powerfully that wind from the resulting movement parted obscured air. Enough smoke flew in one big whoosh for me to catch a fleeting glance of figures darting away from her reach, but I couldn’t make them out. When Dragonite growled with annoyance and didn’t try again, I guessed whoever had done this was gone. My own Ghosts chose now to reappear next to me and screech out their findings. They’d tracked the Mismagius and Sableye up here, but those two had escaped after issuing warnings—probably to whoever just now fled from me.

  Smart bastards. They knew to escape right away when they were clearly outmatched, and they were good enough to pull it off.

  For now, I needed to actually see what the hell was going on.

  I rapidly clicked Pokeballs on my belt. Hatterene came out first and immediately grasped the situation without me needing to tell her. Glimmering walls encased the second floor and glowed, depriving hungry flames of the oxygen they needed to survive. The moment they winked out of existence, I sent out Milotic, Lapras, and Azumarill. Dragonite beat her wings to direct all smoke out of the building while the Water types sprayed the half-molten floors with streams of water to cool down.

  The whole time, a certain uneasy feeling built up inside my chest. We’d seen what were most likely the Cinnabar gym trainers outside but no sign of their employer yet.

  As the smoke cleared, I realized the part of the second floor we were in was actually a laboratory—what remained of it at least. Everywhere I looked, I saw machinery and electronics turned into gooey puddles, shattered glass from windows and broken vials, and surfaces scorched black by fire. My eyes flew wide open when I saw three figures by the back wall.

  One was a heavily bleeding, unmoving Alakazam lying face down on the ground. Clutched in its hands were shattered spoons. The second figure was an unconscious Magmar inside a crater full of cracked, smoldering stone.

  The last was a familiar old man slumped against the wall behind it.

  “Blaine!”

  I threw myself off Dragonite’s back and took off at a sprint. Only Hatterene followed me while the other Pokemon spread out to guard the room. I practically slid to a halt next to Blaine’s figure. There was blood all over his normally pristine lab coat and the rest of his clothes, but those were from small cuts as far as I could tell. His entire left coat sleeve had been torn off revealing heavily damaged tissue. As much as I wondered about them, the burn scars covering that arm of his were old, not new.

  Some fresh droplets of blood trickled out from his nose. My heart hammered in my chest as I knelt and checked for signs of life—

  “You…”

  —and when hands shot out and weakly grabbed my shoulders, naturally I startled a little.

  Blaine wasn’t unconscious—or worse, dead—after all.

  The usual shades the man wore were half-broken on the ground some feet away, so I finally saw his full face for once. Dark eyes tried focusing on my own, but they wouldn’t cooperate with their bearer and twitched with erratic, uncontrollable movements instead. Even the hands that grasped my shoulders had no real strength behind them and trembled.

  “Rockets… Here… Looking for…” Blaine slowly rasped, but he slurred so much that I almost couldn’t understand him above all the fragmented thoughts he tried putting into words. “Hidemi Ioga… My coat… Do you… still… Arin…”

  His voice grew weaker as his grip on my shirt loosened.

  “Must… keep… safe…”

  Looking for what? Who the hell was Hidemi Ioga? Keep what safe?

  So many questions spilled out from my mouth, but Blaine couldn’t answer any of them.

  Those were the last words he got out before weathered hands fell limply against the floor. His head rolled forward while dark eyes fluttered shut.

  I swore out loud. “Shit. Blaine, stay with me!”

  His external wounds weren’t the big problem. He probably had internal injuries I wasn’t aware of, but I was no doctor.

  I took him to one instead and had Hatterene Teleport us and his Pokemon straight to League HQ.

  Me showing up with a bloodied, unconscious Blaine in one of the designated Teleport zones for high-ranking personnel startled all the guards there on duty and prompted a Code Zero.

  Blaine was whisked away to the medical unit on a stretcher, but not before I suddenly remembered what he said about his coat and thought to take it off him. Hardly five seconds later, Lance came rushing down from his office to find me staring at Blaine’s tattered garment with a shocked expression.

  There was a message on the inside of his lab coat.

  A collection of messy symbols, letters, and numbers had been written in blood—dried, smudged, and presumably Blaine’s.

  Three symbols were grouped together in a triangle-ish shape. Fire, lightning, and ice.

  2 RE. N, Gh. Written below that was Spec. Above N: 132. Above Gh: 5x 94.

  And the biggest, most noticeable writing of all that took up the entire inside corner of Blaine’s coat…

  M2.

  Above anything else, I had to seriously respect Blaine’s grit to leave a message for us—no matter how cryptic it seemed right now—in the middle of being attacked. He must have thought he was going to die.

  I fervently prayed he wouldn’t.

  Everything that came after happened so fast.

  I relayed what I knew to Lance while Hatterene went back and Teleported everyone else back at the Cinnabar Gym to Indigo HQ. Looker and Mint hadn’t run into any trouble thankfully. They and the other Interpol agents helped pore over the lab coat when I passed it to them for investigation. The people we’d seen lying outside the gym had indeed been Blaine’s gym trainers, and they and their Pokemon were rushed to the medical wing as well. A group of League and Ace Trainers Teleported to Cinnabar to guard the island in their places. Sabrina was called in at some point to check up on Blaine and the gym trainers, but I didn’t actually see her.

  According to the one gym trainer still conscious out of the bunch—the one we’d seen fighting when we arrived at the gym—they’d heard an explosion come from the second floor. When they went up to investigate, it was smoking and burning too much to see anything. Blaine yelled at them to run and contact the League for backup. The whole gym had been flooded with Dark type energy to prevent Teleportation. All electronics and communications had been jammed within a certain radius, so they’d tried to head further inland… only to get intercepted by two hostile Pokemon that followed them out of the gym and struck down fliers attempting to leave.

  All of them were much older, experienced trainers who’d once fought in the Rocket War alongside Blaine, so they had at least managed to protect themselves decently. Blaine had also sent three of his personal Pokemon to safeguard them on their way out who helped ensure everyone’s safety.

  Fortunately, though everyone sustained injuries both heavy and minor, no gym trainers or their Pokemon died.

  Unfortunately, that also meant Blaine had been down three Pokemon from the get-go. In a high stakes fight against powerful opponents, that definitely tipped the odds out of his favor.

  Doctors in the medical wing passed us a steady stream of news.

  Blaine’s starter, Magmar, had obviously fought the hardest for his longtime friend and trainer, and he had severe injuries that were going to take a month to recover even with the power of Ditto cells. The rest of Blaine’s team was in better but still rough shape, about two to four weeks of recovery each. All but one.

  Blaine’s Alakazam was dead.

  After examining both Blaine and his Alakazam, Sabrina told us the old Pokemon had probably sacrificed himself during battle and poured every last bit of his powers into strengthening the mental and physical shields on his trainer instead.

  Thirty-five minutes later, every other Gym Leader arrived at the Plateau. All they knew was that Blaine and the Cinnabar Gym had been attacked by Team Rocket. Lance had made everyone wait at their respective gyms across the country in case this was the prelude to a series of other attacks, but no such thing occurred.

  The most agitated person in the room was Agatha. It felt like I was back in Lavender Town again. She still only had one Ghost with her, but the pressure she emanated was no joke. Given how Agatha’s fury had been stoked anew, I could only assume it was because Blaine was a friend of hers, too.

  Lance got right into things once everyone was seated.

  “Blaine’s not dead,” he started, but as soon as people everywhere began sagging with relief, he dropped the other shoe. “He’s in a coma, though.”

  People stiffened. That was better than being dead but still awful.

  “Sabrina took a look at him. Someone tried forcing their way through the mental shields in Blaine’s head. If Arin and Interpol hadn’t shown up when they had, if Blaine’s Alakazam had not sacrificed himself, then…” Lance trailed off, clenching his jaw. “Anyway, the doctors have said the brain damage is mild compared to the mental trauma Blaine suffered, so let us stay optimistic that he will open his eyes soon.”

  My lips curled into a frown. The unplanned trip to Cinnabar Island had been a blessing in disguise. Hopefully, Blaine would pull through. We needed him to.

  “Forgive me,” a pale-faced Janine spoke up. Her voice was fainter than usual but as formal as I remembered. “I do not mean to suggest otherwise, certainly not! But… what will we do if Blaine does not awaken from his coma soon?”

  “You mean before the next Kanto League Circuit opens?” Brock got out, but his voice sounded a bit off, too.

  I couldn’t blame either teenager. They’d literally just ascended to their posts last year and were still very young. Having to deal with news that one of their own—one of their most powerful, seasoned Gym Leaders no less—had been attacked was unnerving.

  Lance crossed his arms with a weary expression. “Hopefully that doesn’t happen. Two months is a long time. I fully believe Blaine will come back to us before then, but if he doesn’t, one of the Elite Four will take over his duties until he does. His chosen successor isn’t strong enough to fill in yet.”

  “What about the news? How are we breaking it to the public?” Chuck asked in a careful tone.

  “We aren’t,” Lance replied flatly.

  Lorelei smoothly took over for him. “Given how far away from town the Cinnabar Gym is, nobody else was there aside from staff. The only visits they get over the summer are from parents bringing their kids for classes. So, we’re going to say the gym is closed for renovations and that Blaine is busy conducting experiments in a separate laboratory.”

  “Sounds like Blaine alright,” Agatha muttered. It wasn’t a compliment.

  “The public can never know about this. A Gym Leader of Indigo in a coma after being attacked at his own gym by Team Rocket? Civil unrest would be the least of our worries,” Lance finished bitterly.

  It was a wise decision that no one argued with for obvious reasons.

  A new voice now spoke up. Giovanni. “What did Team Rocket want? Did Sabrina get new information from the captured grunts?”

  His brows scrunched together when Lance didn’t respond right away. So did a few others in the room.

  “Lance?” he prompted uneasily. “What did they say?”

  “Nothing. There wasn’t anyone to interrogate,” Lance sighed.

  “What?”

  Lance’s eyes drifted toward me, and that was my cue to fill everyone else in on what happened on Cinnabar Island—or the lack thereof.

  All eyes turned to me as I cleared my throat. “I went to Cinnabar to check up on Blaine for Lance. There were Rockets left at the gym, but I didn’t see them. They fled immediately…”

  Minutes after my explanation, the room was rendered into temporary silence.

  “Then— Blaine— But—” Violet stammered over her words. The Waterflower sister had to restart a few different times before actual sentences flowed. “How strong were these Rockets to take down Blaine? What were they looking for? Why him?”

  “We’re moving onto that now.” The Champion answered by flipping on the projector. An image of Blaine’s bloody message was beamed onto the back wall. Immediately, everyone leaned in with terrifying focus and tried to make sense of it. “Let’s start with what Blaine told Arin first.”

  Lance clicked a remote, and a new image popped up on the wall next to Blaine’s message. It was an old photo of a young red-haired man with spectacles. He kind of looked familiar for some reason.

  “Blaine mentioned one actual name: Hidemi Ioga. I had people comb through archives, and we discovered this was one of Blaine’s former gym trainers under the Kanto League fifty some years ago. He was a scientist slash trainer who helped fight in the War of Ashes. According to Blaine’s current gym trainers who still remember him, Hidemi and Blaine had some sort of falling out after the war ended. He quit his job, vanished, and was presumed dead.”

  “And so why did Blaine mention him?” Pryce glared at the picture on the wall.

  “Well, I’m afraid we can only hazard guesses,” came Lance’s not so subtle and sarcastic response. “For now, I have people looking deeper into it. Let’s move on. Blaine was attacked for a reason. Team Rocket would not risk going up against a damned Gym Leader of all people for nothing.”

  “Blaine knew something,” Sabrina elaborated. Her calm demeanor was a stark contrast to the tension in the room. “I looked into his head before he fell into a coma. The way his mental shields had been damaged suggested the perpetrator was trying to get inside and take something out.”

  All at once, tension surged in the room along with a sense of hope.

  “Maybe he discovered a new fact about Team Rocket? Knowledge that could help us,” Morty suggested.

  “Or there was something he knew that could help them…” Falkner threw out with a thoughtful expression.

  Lance tried to repress a regretful sigh, but he failed. “We won’t know until Blaine wakes up. Also, there may have been something Blaine wanted to keep safe according to what Arin heard him say. It might not be a stretch that Blaine had an object in his possession that the Rockets knew about and were after, but the Cinnabar Gym’s second floor is a mess. We can’t tell what used to be there or if anything was taken.”

  If we were right, then I couldn’t even begin to imagine what the hell Blaine had that the Rockets wanted. Maybe a cure to R2 to screw us over? Research on some dangerous chemicals that Blaine had been developing in secret? I had no idea what a guy like him did in his free time.

  Lance grimaced. “Now we can circle back to Blaine’s cryptic message. Interpol looked at it together with our intelligence department and have told me they have insights they’d like to share.”

  The baton was now passed to Agent Looker. He stepped up to the front of the room and used a laser pointer to circle the first items of interest on the back wall.

  “Part of this message is Leader Blaine giving us info on who exactly attacked him,” Looker explained, and he waved his laser pointer around in a vigorous circle for emphasis. “2 RE probably means two Rocket Executives. N and Gh don’t mean much by themselves, but Blaine helpfully added ‘Spec’ under them… Spec as in specialists. Normal and Ghost Specialists to be specific.”

  Lance narrowed his eyes. “One of them must be the one who infiltrated the League before.”

  “Most likely,” Looker agreed with a grave nod of his head. “We already knew Executives Ariana and Proton were Fire and Poison Specialists respectively, but now we have the other two missing puzzle pieces. We can’t confirm yet which is which, but we at least know the remaining two Executives, Archer and Petrel, are Ghost and Normal Specialists.”

  “And,” Agent Mint politely spoke up with hands clasped behind his back, “Leader Blaine went a step further and passed us intel on the Pokemon he fought against. See those numbers above the N and Gh?”

  We all looked carefully.

  “Those took us a little longer to figure out, but we believe they’re supposed to be old Kanto Pokemon classification numbers.”

  I’d heard about that before—an old system used over half a century ago. Kanto used to classify their native Pokemon by ID numbers before Professor Oak came up with the first Pokedex for the Kinjoh Area. The numerical classification system was tossed out after that. It was made useless, anyway, by the fact that new evolutions or species were discovered here and then.

  “132,” Looker read out loud from the wall. “Going by the old system, that would be Ditto which is a Normal type.”

  Eyes widened in the audience. Someone spoke up. “Then—”

  Another grave nod came from Looker. “5x 94 over Gh. Number 94 is the ID tag that corresponds with Gengar which is a Ghost type, and Blaine noted down five of them.”

  If we weren’t talking about an enemy here, that would have been impressive.

  There were already so few trainers out there in the world with a Gengar, but a single individual with FIVE? I wasn’t sure how many Agatha had, but this was probably the closest competition she’d ever get in her esteemed lifetime. The implications were also not good.

  If the Executive had helped them evolve a certain way, that meant he’d killed a lot of people before. A lot.

  A Ditto was also very interesting to hear of. You didn’t really see them in the wilds because they were artificially made Pokemon. If you did, you needed to contact local authorities because that meant they were probably stolen or escaped from Pokemon Centers, research facilities, or government buildings and the like.

  And… wait a minute. A Ghost Specialist? One probably as strong as the Elite Four?

  Agatha seemed to have caught on, too, because she started forward so suddenly that she scared everyone in the room. Her chapped lips curled wide in a smile—a very cold one.

  “I do believe I’ve found my wretched fool,” she gloated out loud. “The culprit who killed a local in my territory must be the same person: an accursed Rocket. Ghost Specialists don’t grow on trees!”

  There were lots of confused faces in the room because while they knew about the Lavender Town murder incident, they didn’t know any of the details surrounding it.

  Looker hadn’t personally been there, but he’d most likely heard the news from his coworker, Echo. “We’ll investigate,” he promised. “These incidents may very well be linked in more ways than we realize.”

  He earned himself the most withering glare from Agatha. “Oh, they most certainly are. They have to be.”

  Agatha didn’t say anything else after that. She was too busy tapping a foot against the floor and smiling maliciously to herself as if she was imagining blowing someone’s head clean from their body.

  “Ho-Oh above, Blaine better wake up.” Lance bit his lip. “We need to thank him for the intel.”

  We really did.

  Any sort of information—especially the kind that divulged the secret strengths of hostile trainers—was crucial and helped us prepare better for future fights. We knew a little more about what to watch out for now.

  “It makes sense now how Blaine got overwhelmed,” Giovanni added in a murmur. He clenched a hand into a fist on the table. “Two Executives would not have been easy for him to hold off by himself for too long.”

  I clenched my jaw.

  If only I’d been able to catch them at the Cinnabar Gym… But if my specialization was fighting, then the Normal Specialist’s specialty was completely different. Infiltration, disguises, and clean getaways. Add a Ghost Specialist ally on top of that, and it was hard to track them down without any prior knowledge. They weren’t dumb, either. They knew when to back off instead of pushing their luck.

  Team Rocket was good, I’d give them that. Their comeback wasn’t one made out of complete folly.

  “We need to guard Blaine while he’s recuperating at League HQ,” I spoke up firmly. My suggestion was met with thoughtful expressions and nods from around the table. “We got there in time to stop them from destroying Blaine’s mind, but they might try again. After all, we’re talking about the same Rocket who was crazy enough to infiltrate HQ and pose as one of us for weeks.”

  “He’s right, Lance,” Surge boomed, and he leaned back in his chair with crossed arms and a ferocious smile. “Damned dogs might come back to finish the job. You’d better vet the people who go in and out of his room, check his IV drip every five seconds, everything.”

  “Place at least one Elite Four with him at all times, too. If they knew to flee right away when Arin arrived on the scene, it means they aren’t reckless. A trainer at or above their caliber should be enough to dissuade them,” Giovanni advised.

  Lance stroked his chin, nodding. “Of course. The three of you have brought up important points. The Elite Four are already spread out thin these days, but we’ll make it work.”

  A small cough penetrated any silence that came after, and it came from Whitney. She pointed at the projected images with a serious expression. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to interrupt, but I really wanted to ask about the last parts of Blaine’s message. Surely they’re important, right? What do they mean?”

  It was a question we all had, and we turned our heads to stare at Looker and his associates for answers.

  A red dot of light circled the trio of messy symbols we hadn’t addressed yet. “Fire, lightning, and ice. We’re not sure yet why Blaine included these either.”

  “Maybe there were more Rocket type specialists there aside from the Executives? Like the Vice Leaders who work under them?” Jasmine guessed.

  Clair shook her head. “Blaine would have included some more distinctions then.”

  “He probably didn’t have a lot of time to write, so he couldn’t afford to be too specific with everything he wanted to say…”

  “Or maybe it’s not about hostile trainers at all but something else?”

  People started discussing among themselves while I continued staring at the symbols. I was the first person to have seen Blaine’s message, but I still couldn’t grasp what he wanted to tell us by drawing those three elements in particular.

  It was a set of three, so there had to be some significance—just like how Grass, Water, and Fire made up the most basic elemental trio that even kids were aware of.

  I paused in place. A trio.

  In Johto, we had the Legendary Beasts, three great beings who were reincarnated and given new life through the grace of Almighty Ho-oh. In Kanto, their most famous trio was—

  “Moltres, Zapdos, and Articuno.”

  Sabrina’s clear voice cut through the ongoing discussion. Everyone quieted down as the Saffron Gym Leader raised her head. She’d been thinking the same thing as me.

  “Fire, lightning, and ice, yes? I cannot fathom any deeper connection, but that is the only thing I can think of when these elements are brought up,” she idly remarked.

  Neither could I.

  Lance blinked slowly. “That… is true. The Legendary Birds do align perfectly with these symbols, but as you’ve also pointed out, there doesn’t seem to be any actual connection. Why would Blaine suddenly bring up the Legendary Birds?”

  Sabrina did not do something as undignified as shrugging, but she certainly gave the illusion of it as she closed her eyes. “Perhaps I’m wrong. Perhaps there is no connection. It was just a passing thought.”

  “Well…” Looker struggled with what to say for a few moments. “We’ll keep investigating what Blaine could have been thinking with this. My team and the intelligence department only had so much time to look over the message before this meeting.”

  “And… what about the last part of Blaine’s message then?” Erika brought up as politely as she could, tucking stray hair behind her ear with a shaking hand. “That large M2.”

  Looker’s face brightened with the change in topics. He sounded a little more confident again when he spoke. “Right now, we think it may be the codename for another drug the Rockets have developed. A warning from Blaine to us. He did coin the names for Red and R2, so it would fit his… distinct naming style.”

  Faces darkened all around. Pokemon drugs annoyed and disgusted all of us as it was, but the Rockets were the worst offenders by far.

  “Could be…” Bugsy trailed off thoughtfully.

  “It’s definitely the most important part Blaine wanted to tell us. I mean, just look at the size of it compared to the other stuff he wrote!” Whitney mentioned, pointing with a finger for emphasis.

  It was certainly drawn in very large, thick, and bloody letters.

  “I hope it’s about anything but a new drug.” Lance dragged a hand down his face in a slow, tired motion. “Blaine and our League departments were still buried neck deep in research about R2. Now that Blaine’s in a coma, we’ve lost our most brilliant brain. It’s going to be hell keeping up with R2 and a new drug…”

  Since there wasn’t much more we could discuss about Blaine’s message, Looker stepped aside respectfully for Lance to take his place at the front of the table once more. The Champion cleared his throat.

  “While everyone is here, I finally have an update regarding what documents Team Rocket stole from our archives. Recordkeepers are still sorting through the mess, but so far they’ve identified the loss of records regarding past weather patterns, religious texts, population censuses, shrines, and speech transcripts.”

  I frowned. What the?

  “Why would they take any of those? They sound useless,” I pointed out, voicing my concerns. Nods of agreement came from those closest to me.

  One even came from Lance. “I was thinking that as well, Arin. Our intelligence department, at least, seems to believe it might be a trick from the Rocket Executive who took them. He probably grabbed stuff that wasn’t related to what he actually needed in order to throw us off.”

  Okay, that made a lot more sense. So maybe one or more of those was the true goal of the Rockets while the others were there to mask real intentions. It also reinforced the idea that, once again, Team Rocket was more thorough than they seemed.

  “My point is,” Lance continued, “no info we’ve lost contains anything too confidential, but I’ll keep everyone updated. I do believe we can end our meeting on that note. Any questions?”

  Lily’s hand shot into the air. “Is the mandatory training session canceled for today? We were supposed to have it a little after the meeting started. Plus…” She fidgeted anxiously with her hair, wincing. “Blaine is, er, unable to join us.”

  Before the atmosphere could fall with that depressing reminder, Lance clapped his hands together.

  As small as it was, he wore a smile—a determined one. “Blaine will wake up. Let’s believe in him. And today’s training session is not canceled. We’re going to go do that now in fact.”

  “Now?” Morty questioned with raised brows.

  “Now,” Lance repeated with a firm nod. “Ho-oh forbid, but we need to prepare ourselves for potential clashes with Team Rocket like the one Blaine was in. Better to keep our skills sharp.”

  …He had a point.

  Once more, Lance clapped his hands together. “Some League Kadabra will Teleport us out to the training grounds. Agatha, you only have one Ghost with you so stay here—”

  “Fine, but do not think I’m weak because I only have one,” Agatha cut in with a sniff.

  Lance kept going as if he hadn’t been interrupted. “—and Lorelei, I’m going to need you to guard Blaine in the medical wing. Koga’s already up there, but I need him out scouring the country with his clan. You’re the only one left because Bruno’s out right now.”

  “Very well,” Lorelei easily agreed.

  “Interpol agents, please continue with your investigations into Team Rocket here at HQ. I know you wanted to investigate outside, but the situation warrants a focus on different matters at least for today.”

  Looker willingly nodded. “Of course. My team and I plan on digging more deeply into the origins of Team Rocket. We believe finding out more about the old Team Rocket and their motivations might help us better understand their revival.”

  “Isn’t it more important to root them out?” Giovanni questioned, politely entering the conversation. “I don’t believe it's necessary anymore to look into the old Team Rocket. We finally know their goal is to tear Indigo apart into two countries again, so we should focus everything on finding their bases and stopping them once and for all.”

  “That’s true,” Looker cautiously agreed, “but I assure you, Leader Giovanni, my team is capable of multitasking. Sometimes understanding the enemy goes a long way into defeating them.”

  Giovanni didn’t seem to entirely agree, but he relented with a gracious dip of his head. “Alright. A fair point.”

  Everyone split up now for their respective stations. Interpol to their research rooms, Agatha and Lorelei another way, and as for Lance and the rest of us—

  We were Teleported to a space up by the mountains behind the Indigo Plateau.

  There weren’t any trees, not for a good distance in every direction at least. The training grounds Lance had referred to was a huge plot of cleared land made specifically for intense battles. It wasn’t an exaggeration to say that high-level trainers and their Pokemon were like walking disasters. The destruction they could bring about when fighting was more than enough to level a city, hence the reason why Lance brought everyone here for today’s training session.

  It was miles away from the League HQ or any wild Pokemon habitats or human settlements, so we didn’t have to worry about letting loose here.

  Lance raised his voice to get our attention. “I understand some of you are eager to get back to your gyms because of the Cinnabar Gym incident, so I’ll keep today’s session short. I’d like to simulate a large-scale battle, so we’re going to split into two opposing teams. No targeting opposing trainers—at least for today—but do keep yourself shielded to avoid stray attacks. We’ll do a couple sets that are five minutes each to replicate intense, high-paced battles, and teams will get switched around after every set. Teams get one minute of discussion before they fight. Rotate the Pokemon you use between sets so they all get some practice in and invoke Mega Evolution if you want. Just know that when my Dragonair shoots a blue flare into the sky, that’s the signal to stop for that particular set.”

  He stared at us, heaving out a sigh.

  “I know I stressed the importance of this and keeping ourselves ready against Team Rocket, but try to have some fun with it if you can. Consider it like a bonding exercise for all of you who guard Indigo together as its Gym Leaders.”

  Lance offered a small smile.

  “Everyone understand?”

  When Lance got a chorus of cheerful affirmatives in return, he promptly pulled out his phone and inputted names into a team randomizer app.

  I got put onto a team with Lance, Clair, Pryce, Falkner, Jasmine, Surge, Erika, and Sabrina.

  Talk about an… interesting gathering of fellows, considering the somewhat strained relationships I had with three of them. Well, Clair and Falkner were at least warming up to me or so I believed. They always greeted me nowadays albeit with small nods. Pryce… was working on it. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t snub me either.

  There was an odd number of people, so our team had nine while the other had ten. Honestly? I kind of felt bad for the other team considering we had three Champion-level trainers on ours, and they knew that. The terrified looks Morty and Bugsy gave me before they walked away to join their teammates almost made me howl out loud with laughter. I’m pretty sure Lance saw, too, because he turned away with suspiciously twitching lips.

  The atmosphere already felt much nicer than it had earlier. We were still worried about Blaine, of course, but we had to believe he would wake up eventually.

  In the meantime, we weren’t going to idle around.

  “Giovanni and Morty will be the biggest threats,” Lance warned us, talking quickly. We were huddled together in a small group out of hearing distance. “If not for my rule about not targeting opposing trainers, Morty would have gone for us. As it is now, I think he’ll probably try to help contest the skies because we have so many fliers. Giovanni will, of course, be taking control of the field.”

  “I’ll contest Giovanni for control of the earth,” Erika bravely offered. “Don’t count my Grass types out.”

  Pryce looked like he wanted to scoff out loud but barely stopped himself. “I’ll assist. Giovanni is not to be underestimated.”

  “Is the game plan overwhelming them through the skies then?” I asked, raising a brow.

  Lance grinned, and I suddenly had the thought that maybe this ‘fun’ training session was an excuse for Lance to have his first real break in weeks. “With this kind of team, why not? It’ll give the other team some useful practice on how to fend fliers off.”

  He chuckled when I bumped his shoulder with mine. “Guess I’ll join you guys then,” I smiled.

  We only got a precious fifteen or so more seconds to talk before we had to release our chosen starting Pokemon. A minute had gone by far faster than any of us would have liked.

  “Ready to beat Morty up?” I asked with a straight face.

  Jasmine looked over at me and snorted with laughter. “Definitely. My Steel types will protect everyone. You just worry about breaking their ranks apart. Selfie?”

  “I’m starting to think you’re more evil than I am, Jas. Pre-battle selfie it is.”

  No sooner had she taken a picture of us and put her phone away did Lance yell, his voice carrying powerfully across the field.

  “SET ONE, START!”

  If there was one thing our youngest Gym Leaders needed to learn about massive, large-scale battles, then it was this.

  Chaos.

  That was what it really came down to in the end. Too many Pokemon and too many trainers.

  The ground on our side instantly fractured and flew wide open, but before Pokemon fell down into their abysmal depths, vines larger than any tree tore out of the ground and swung them to safety. Ice from a Cloyster howled and froze the huge gap in the ground. Glaciers popped up and began to encroach on enemy territory, but mother earth surged again. It rose and fell to swallow everything whole—

  Then an Aggron slammed into the wave headfirst and turned the whole thing into a metal sheet, and Giovanni laughed from the other end of the field.

  “Not bad!” I heard him yell distantly to the people on our side.

  While smoke and explosions covered the ground, the skies above us filled with dark clouds in an instant. Rain poured down in thick, powerful drops that were more like Arceus damned jets, and a horde of Water types like Seaking and Dewgong flew into the air firing off multi-colored beams and massive columns of water.

  It was because of the fliers descending on their team like a miniature army. My own Pokemon dove behind enemy lines and scattered them with blinding beams of concentrated light—Hyper Beams. Elsewhere, Lance and Clair’s Dragons had trained with each other so often that they were like well-oiled gears in a machine. They flew with admirable coordination between speeding projectiles, but Falkner’s birds outmatched them when it came to speed and aerial maneuvers. Faster than the eye could blink, a Pidgeot crashed into Dewgong and Skarmory into Gorebyss—

  Nope, it missed, because Morty’s Mismagius locked the bird inside a shimmering cube. Imprison. His other Ghosts materialized out of thin air and started throwing dark, pulsating orbs of energy at our fliers—

  —which Sabrina’s Psychic types promptly redirected through rifts opened in space and portaled back into them.

  “Shouldn’t have made it rain!” Surge roared with glee from somewhere to my left.

  Before the fourth word left his mouth, thunder poured down from the sky like hammers thrown down by the gods. Deafening booms popped one after another as Electric types flew around with electricity trying to catch people off-guard with their speed. Brock’s Rock types barricaded everyone with fortresses made of stone, but thunder kept dropping without end.

  Bugsy’s Beedrill and Heracross are coming on your left, Surge! Falkner shouted.

  I got ‘em, no need to yell! Just so you twerps know, we’ve got a missing Exploud. Pretty sure that—

  It went underground, I know, I thought with a grin. My Togekiss is ripping it out.

  Quite literally, he was violently tearing out chunks of the earth with Ancient Power and then using a gravity Moonblast to force it up. Whitney’s Miltank and two of Chuck’s Fighting types came barreling in to assist. I had eyes on the field while communicating with everyone on our team through a mental link.

  The link had been Sabrina’s idea during our team discussion. She’d set up a telepathic channel between our minds so we could relay information to each other without the other team hearing. Good practice for real fights, Sabrina had claimed as well, if it ever came down to it in the future.

  It was a bit jarring, honestly, to have eight different voices constantly speaking in my head, but I pretended it was like having a conversation with my chaotic team of Pokemon.

  Lance, let’s tag team Morty’s Ghosts. They’re providing way too much support, I suggested.

  I practically heard him grin. Thought you’d never ask.

  His Dragonite whipped up a localized Hurricane in the middle of enemy ranks, and mine followed up by mixing electricity into it. Shouts and screams rang out as the monstrosity spun around the earth before it blew upwards into the air. The moment Morty’s Ghosts scattered, our Pokemon chased after them. Fizz crossed beautiful, glossy wings and fired pink crescents of air that mesmerized the Ghosts long enough for Lance’s Charizard and Salamence to snipe them from behind with turquoise flames.

  “Tag teaming, seriously?! Wasn’t this a friendly spar?” Morty yelled jokingly from the other side. I couldn’t see him between all the smoke from attacks. “Lance, Arin, cut me a break!”

  “Nope, not friendly!” I shouted back.

  “Adversity makes people grow!” Lance helpfully added.

  I wasn’t one hundred percent sure, but I was pretty sure even Clair found that funny. I could have sworn I saw her smile for the briefest of moments.

  By the time the signal to stop rose high into the air, the field was a complete and utter mess. There was cratered, smoking, and churned earth as far as the eye could see. Neither side had been wiped out considering we could just rotate Pokemon in and out, but my side had definitely pushed the other team a lot harder.

  “Good work!” Lance praised.

  He went on to offer feedback for our youngest Gym Leaders since, technically, that was the main point of these training sessions—to prepare the most inexperienced of us for types of fights they weren’t normally used to.

  When Lance finished, he took out his phone again.

  “Teams are now changing. For one team, we have Surge, Arin, Daisy, Morty…”

  “Thank Ho-oh,” Morty muttered, and he flashed a charming smile at Jasmine when Lance revealed she was on the opposing side. “It’s us versus you this time, Jas. I hope you’re ready.”

  She took a look at our beaming, innocent smiles and shook her head. “Oh boy.”

  About half an hour later, everyone left the Plateau feeling like they’d had a good workout. Lance promised to send an update the moment Blaine woke up—he worded it very strongly in order to keep our spirits up—so we were to carry on with our work in the meantime. If nosy, suspicious reporters decided to come visit us and ask about Blaine’s disappearance, we were to play dumb.

  I wasn’t sure about everyone else, but the first thing I did after getting back to my gym was go over security measures again. Supposedly, the ones at the Cinnabar Gym had been no joke. As the most paranoid Gym Leader in all of Indigo, mad scientist Blaine had outfitted his gym with dozens of custom booby traps, defense mechanisms, and emergency call buttons of his own making.

  We didn’t have any fancy doodads like that, but our security was rock solid anyway.

  I worked the rest of the day in my office with peace of mind and growing excitement for my trip to Mount Moon. The Heart of the Mountain occupied my thoughts.

  Soon.

  LATE AT NIGHT. LEAGUE HQ, INDIGO PLATEAU - INTERPOL

  Looker and his coworkers had spent the whole day cooped indoors.

  From the moment the meeting with Indigo’s elites ended until now, they’d buried themselves in research alongside the overworked fellows of the League’s intelligence department. About half of them were still poring over Blaine’s message to see if they could glean anything else from it while the other half focused on Team Rocket-related matters.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  Looker, Mint, and Echo were part of that second group.

  They’d taken over the largest whiteboard in the room to use as their so-called evidence board instead. The whole wall was organized—more like littered—with pictures of important individuals and notes jotted down with colored markers.

  And by all the Legends above and below, there were a lot of them.

  Hiroto Fuji. Blaine Katsura. Hidemi Ioga.

  These three were who they focused on right now. With great difficulty and suffering that came in the form of enduring scathing remarks, they managed to procure more information from Elite Four Agatha earlier.

  Fuji’s murder in Lavender Town had been believed to be a one-off case of someone with a grudge. Horrific, but nothing world-shattering.

  Thanks to Agatha and the fact that Blaine had been attacked by who was likely one of the same perpetrators, they didn’t think so anymore.

  There were connections.

  Fuji and Blaine had been friends who worked for the Kanto League together. Estranged might have been the better word considering they hadn’t actually talked to each other in decades, but friends nonetheless. Both were born on the same island, both were highly intelligent, and both were passionate when it came to blazing new paths through science. Of course they would have become close given their similarities.

  They’d worked together under the Kanto League. Only Blaine continued working for the newly unified Indigo League after the War of Ashes. Fuji was still in his twenties, but he retired and moved all the way to Lavender Town. Nobody knew why. Not even their friend Agatha understood the decision.

  Strange. Definitely strange, and Looker always trusted his guts.

  Something had happened. Why would two close friends suddenly drift apart? Why would Fuji leave his hometown and move to some remote corner of Kanto where he suddenly switched career paths to caring for abandoned Pokemon?

  Fuji had been running away from something. Repenting by trying to do good in the world. This suspicion was further backed up by the information gleaned from Oricorio’s spiritual dance.

  There was something in his past he was ashamed of, something he felt such deep remorse over that he accepted his impending death, but—

  ‘Let my death be where it ends.’

  Those last ghostly words from Fuji had a lot of different implications, and Looker personally believed that perhaps, just perhaps…

  Whatever Fuji did, it was something other people had been complicit in… someone like Blaine.

  If they were right, then why else would the same perpetrator—the same Rocket Executive—go after both Fuji and Blaine? There was something both of them knew or had done. It was important enough that Fuji got murdered for it. It was important enough that they risked attacking one of the most powerful Gym Leaders and tried to extract information from Blaine’s head—a hassle that may or may not have been easier than trying to kill him.

  It was something important enough that Team Rocket didn’t want the Indigo League to know, and Arceus damn it, did Looker hunger to know what that was.

  He got a familiar tingly feeling in his chest. This was a huge puzzle piece they needed in the fight against Team Rocket.

  “M2,” Looker said suddenly out loud, and Mint and Echo both looked at him. “Whether it’s a drug or not, I’m starting to think it might be what the Rockets tried to tear out of Blaine’s head.”

  “You might be onto something, Looker,” Mint agreed.

  Looker swept an arm out, frowning. “We’ve identified similarities between Fuji and Blaine, so let’s act on them. Find and call people who knew both of them back then. Former colleagues. We can ask them about their pasts and bring up M2.”

  The three of them got to work.

  Five minutes later, they found themselves saddled with a small problem.

  Most former colleagues of Blaine and Fuji appeared to have passed away. It wasn’t unusual given they would have been getting along in their years, but the real problem was that—

  “Wait. Repeat what you just said, Echo,” Looker said, and he had to fight to keep his voice calm.

  Echo mirrored his uneasy expression. “I called six different people. Their families picked up instead and told me their grandfathers or grandmothers recently passed away.”

  “That’s interesting,” Mint piped up in a grim voice. “The numbers I called said the same.”

  They only took one look at each other before they dashed off to dig through paper records.

  Mounting horror and suspicions didn’t simply blend together within the next ten minutes but threatened to send Looker keeling over.

  “Arceus…” he murmured as he flipped through papers with shaking hands.

  Dead. Every single person they’d called so far, they confirmed dead when they checked updated registries, and the cause of death was the same for every last one of them.

  Heart attack.

  They’d all died within the last month or two as well.

  Old people dying from heart attacks wasn’t anything unusual, but when the people shared similar commonalities that Interpol knew to look for and died within a certain time frame? If that didn’t scream suspicious, then what did?

  They double, triple, quadruple checked obscure, tattered records from half a century ago, but they sadly didn’t prove the agents wrong.

  Once upon a time, and no matter where these people lived now, they had all worked for the Kanto League as scientists in their Research Department.

  And surprise, surprise, they all quit the Kanto League after the War of Ashes… just like Fuji had. Most of them gave up research entirely or turned to other professions like professors and doctors. Blaine was the only one who appeared to have stayed on to help the newly created Indigo League.

  All of them. Dead.

  “They didn’t find any suspicious substances in the body? Poisons?” Looker asked.

  Mint was on it already and peered down at papers. “No. Bona fide heart attacks, but really—”

  “—not so natural as they seem,” Looker finished, biting his lip. They’d seen similar cases before in the past. “We’re probably dealing with a skilled Psychic Specialist here, the same one who helped kill Fuji.”

  “…” Echo shut her eyes for a moment as if praying. “This is terrible.”

  “It is,” Looker hurriedly agreed, and he started barking out orders. “They can’t all be dead. Look through the rest of the lists and find those still alive, we’re going to put them in protection security! Whatever they know, Team Rocket wants to bury it!”

  Any hopes went up in smoke.

  Out of dozens of names, all of the retired scientists were dead except for two. Blaine, who was in a coma, and—

  Hidemi Ioga.

  He had vanished years ago, so that wasn’t helpful.

  “Damn it!” In an uncharacteristic display of frayed nerves, Looker slammed a fist on the table. “These are no mere coincidences. They killed all these people to hide something!”

  “We’ve got other worries now, too, Looker. How did they find out about everyone?” Mint dragged a hand down his face.

  “Information stolen from the League or—”

  “—someone leaked it to them,” Looker finished for Echo. It was a good thing he wasn’t holding a cup of coffee as he might have crushed it in half. They—Interpol—had been outsmarted. Arceus. His eyes flew across the evidence board in despair. Now the possibility of spies was real all over again—

  “Wait, wait.”

  Looker suddenly went still, eyes darting between two photos.

  “What?” Mint and Echo both looked at him with wide eyes.

  In response, Looker jabbed a finger directly at the board. “Look at these two. Don’t they look kind of similar?”

  His coworkers followed his pointed finger and line of sight. Together, they stared at the picture of young Hidemi Ioga and the one of Rocket Executive Ariana. The same shade of red hair was eye-catching but a stretch to say that it was unique. Their facial features, on the other hand, bore a striking resemblance. The same strong, angular cheekbones, the same narrow chin and face shape…

  Looker snapped his fingers, heart thudding in his chest. “What if,” he said slowly, “they’re related? Grandparent and grandchild? Hidemi Ioga had some sort of falling out with Blaine and vanished. Everybody else on this list is confirmed dead except for him and Blaine. That has to mean something. I don’t know why, but what if he joined the original Team Rocket? What if he was the one who leaked confidential information to them?”

  “Well, it would definitely explain how Team Rocket knew about these people and WHAT the victims knew,” Mint agreed in a faint voice. “One of their own betrayed them. Why did they wait so long to target these people, though?”

  Hands were thrown up into the air. “Maybe they didn’t need to at the time so they didn’t risk it?” Looker guessed. “Or maybe they couldn’t. They didn’t have anyone skilled enough at the time to pull off such subtle assassinations without alerting the League to what they were up to.”

  They would have guessed further if Echo didn’t speak up, drawing their attention. She’d gone back to flipping through binders and records at the table.

  The grimace she wore meant things did not bode well already. “I’ve got some more bad news. I tried looking into Hidemi Ioga’s family, but the records are gone.”

  “What?!”

  “Gone,” Echo repeated as the other two came racing over. “Like completely gone from the binder they should be in.”

  “Okay, what about the file on the old Team Rocket? Maybe we can check to see if any of them are related to Hidemi Ioga. I remembered they mentioned the old Executives had families on there,” Looker quickly brought up.

  Hardly a minute later, he swore out loud.

  Those were mysteriously gone, too.

  Oh, the papers Looker remembered were there, alright, and they did mention families… but the actual documents that supposedly named the old Executives and their relatives in detail were gone before they could ever lay eyes on them.

  Old paper records and digital transcriptions alike… long vanished.

  The three of them looked at each other and came to the same decision out loud. “The Rocket Executive took them.”

  Who else could have taken not only physical records but digital ones? Who else had such a strong motivation to keep Team Rocket in the dark and away from the prying eyes of the League? It had to be the Normal Specialist who’d recently infiltrated HQ and taken seemingly useless documents from the archives during a temporary blackout.

  Evidently, he’d swiped Team Rocket files, too, to slow them down and prevent them from figuring things out.

  Unfortunately for him, his actions had also given Interpol clues in the process.

  “I think we’re right,” Looker said quickly as he paced back and forth. “I think Hidemi Ioga IS related to Ariana. Why would records of his family be missing? Why else would they take the files on the old Rocket Executives, too?”

  Mint added his own two cents. “They also killed a non-trainer like Fuji in such a flashy way compared to the others who died from heart attacks. Why? What made Fuji different from the other scientists?”

  There were plenty of clues the Rockets had ripped away, yes, but others they’d left—scattered in their haste to clear up any possible trails that could lead back to their organization.

  Looker rubbed his temples and sighed out loud. He was still wondering how on earth he was going to break all of these revelations to Champion Lance later. Murders hidden in plain sight, more files stolen and wiped than they’d initially realized, a former League scientist who appeared to have joined hands with Team Rocket long ago, and…

  Something that scientists under the former Kanto League had done that prompted a whole criminal organization to kill them one by one.

  He and his coworkers were going to need to speak to as many old government officials as possible and look into two things: the former Research Department from half a century ago and Team Rocket’s origins.

  One question consumed Looker’s mind most of all.

  What the hell did the Kanto League do?

  SAME TIME. WATANUKI HOUSEHOLD. CHERRYGROVE CITY, JOHTO - ARIN WATANUKI

  It took a whole day of slugging through boring chores and paperwork from local Rangers about trainers overflooding Route 30 for Fairy types, but it was finally time.

  I grasped my little gift basket of Moon Stones with one hand and nodded at the Pokemon on my left. As soon as Hatterene’s eyes glowed, the surroundings shifted seamlessly into that of Mount Moon’s exit on Route 3. The night sky twinkled above our small figures while a cool, pleasant breeze caressed my cheeks. Vel and Hatterene stood on either side of me like guards as Clefairy toddled forward expectantly.

  She didn’t have to go far. A Clefable emerged from the shadows from the tunnel like it had been waiting all along. It smiled politely in greeting, beckoning us to come inside.

  Of course we followed. Deeper in the tunnel, a little patch of rippling stars appeared on the wall. We followed Clefable through it like it was a door, and it was.

  The otherworldly entrance brought us back to a familiar cavernous space high up Mount Moon, and this time, the Heart of the Mountain was on full, gracious display for me to see.

  The power it radiated was even more intense than the last time I saw it. Moonlight spilling in from the open roof fell aplenty on the Heart’s lustrous shell and seemed to strengthen it. There was a natural pull my Pokemon and I barely resisted, a call for us to come closer and bask in power that had seen countless millennia.

  For now, we composed ourselves and greeted our host.

  Clefable, or Mountain Weaver as she was also known, stood a few strides away with hands clasped together.

  “Greetings, Mountain Weaver,” I said respectfully. The corners of my lips curled into a small but genuine smile. “Tonight more than ever, may the grace of the Moon shine on you always.”

  She responded with a smile of her own. I was glad to see the Pokemon seemed far friendlier this time than the last, and I already knew why.

  Greetings, Friend of Fairies. You have traveled a long way. I am pleased you accepted our Clan’s invitation to praise the Full Moon together, Clefable spoke, and her smile widened. For honoring our promise and getting rid of the wretched humans from before, you have our gratitude. We and the Mountain are at peace once more. We were also pleased by the offerings from your League. Your suggestion, I presume?

  By ‘offerings,’ she meant a handful of captured Team Rocket grunts that Lance had allowed me to give to Clefable and her Clan.

  Her fury hadn’t quite fully abated after the Mount Moon operation, so I convinced Lance to give her a few Rockets to quench her bloodthirst like how Agatha fed unredeemable criminals to her Ghosts. It was a good way to build up a friendly relationship with a powerful wild Pokemon with practically no loss on our part. So, we handed over a selection of grunts with the most corrupted hearts after getting everything we needed out of them.

  I was probably standing where their blood had been spilled to both appease and enrich the earth, but I didn’t think too much about it.

  “It was. I’m glad to hear all is well.”

  I believed as much. From this moment forth, you shall be welcomed among our halls as a friend of our Clan, Clefable declared powerfully, and my eyes widened a miniscule amount. Come visit whenever you desire so long as you respect our ways.

  Holy crap, I had already wormed my way into her and her clan’s good graces, and I hadn’t even handed over my actual gifts yet. There was something about Fairies and their love of violence that could not be underestimated.

  Then again, I was kind of weird, too, considering I didn’t find such things disturbing. On the contrary, I was pretty okay with it all.

  A Fairy Specialist indeed.

  I made sure to dip my head in a show of respect. “Thank you, Mountain Weaver. I’m honored to be considered a Friend of your Clan. I hope you’ll accept these gifts I’ve brought as tokens of my appreciation for your invite.”

  All I had to do was hold the basket up, and Clefable levitated it gently out of my grasp with psychic powers. Moon Stones floated upwards around her as she brought the basket closer.

  Dark eyes twinkled with utmost satisfaction.

  Fragments of power from beyond the borders of these lands and across the vast seas, she immediately realized. They contain a song I am not entirely familiar with, but they are pleasant. Strong. They are excellent gifts, Friend of Fairies. They shall be cherished.

  I refrained from clenching a fist in victory. I knew she would find such high-quality, imported stones intriguing.

  Come, she beckoned. My Clan and I welcome you and your companions to our abode. There is a short time yet until the Rite of Song, and so we may talk until then.

  Red light flashed in the cavernous space as the rest of my Pokemon were released from their Pokeballs one after another. They greeted Clefable first before mingling with her clanmates. Her eyes followed after them with a curious, appraising glimmer. They hardened briefly when she caught sight of Dragons like Altaria and Dragonite, but she thankfully did not burst with rage at natural foes. With a calm expression, she turned to me and the Clefairy still idling by my feet.

  One must extend further gratitude for being a gracious host for this little one, Clefable told me. I understand it was a sudden request and yet one you willingly accepted without hesitation. I pray this child did not besmirch the honor of our Clan?

  “Oh no.” I quickly dismissed that concern of hers. “I was happy to host her at my house for two days. She was a wonderful guest as well.” I angled my head a bit, smiling at the Clefairy down below. “I hope you enjoyed the time spent in my city.”

  The small Fairy type flapped her wings hard, nodding vigorously.

  The human world is full of curious things, she trilled. I was able to observe and learn much. Thank you for hosting me at your human dwelling once again, Friend of Fairies! I shall endeavor to write the first page of a most magnificent story.

  “Huh?” I blinked rapidly, but Clefairy had already bowed respectfully to us and toddled off to say hello to her clanmates.

  Clefable made a sound oddly reminiscent of a human clicking their tongue as she watched her go.

  I see the little one did not tell you the reason for her initial plea, Clefable spoke, but rather than the disapproval I expected, it was a tone full of neutrality.

  “May I hear the reason?” I inquired. Was I finally going to get to hear the real reason for Clefairy hanging around me like a little menace?

  Clefable turned back to me with a weary smile. That little one is one of the few with potential to walk in my footsteps someday, but she dreams of something different. She dreams of the lands beyond these sacred halls and the stories she can weave.

  “Like the page she mentioned writing just now?”

  Indeed. Where I weave a Song through the Mountain, that child sees a Story instead. And yours, I dare say, interests her most of all, Clefable mused out loud with an amused smile. The Story of a human who dared to do what I could not. She would not stop begging me for permission to go out, so I let her.

  So that was why she’d been observing me? To better understand me as a person? I wondered if that was what drove Clefairy in life—the desire to craft a story.

  “My own story, huh…” I murmured out loud with a thoughtful expression.

  Stories transcend space and time as you surely know, Clefable trilled. So often do beings forget how mighty words are. We, the Fair Folk, thrive on them and live far longer than most. As our tales are heard and repeated, so too does our power.

  I already knew, but it was different hearing it emphasized by an ancient, living example. “Just like how you and your Clan draw energy from the Heart of the Mountain?”

  Astute observation. Both the Mountain and its Heart are part of our story and strengthen us. It would be a shame to see a human of your caliber pass into oblivion one day without significance, so I will tell you this: it is not impossible for you and your companions to craft a story of your own. You need only to make it compelling.

  A shudder ran down my spine, but it was one born from manic excitement.

  She had just casually suggested we could perhaps become like her someday. Never ever on the same level, of course, as we did not dwell in a place of historic significance such as Mount Moon nor have a constant source of power to amplify us like the Heart of the Mountain, but—

  Something remotely similar. Existence equated power. We just needed to keep making our marks on this world.

  I didn’t have fantasies about eternal life or anything, but I did care about leaving a legacy for people to remember.

  The Story of Arin Watanuki and his Fairies.

  I could see it already. The setting was Cherrygrove, the City of Fragrant Flowers, in a secluded forest where Fairies dwelled…

  My thoughts might have run rampant if I hadn’t reined them in. This was a story that couldn’t be written overnight but over a lifetime, and that was perfectly fine with me. We’d already begun writing some of it, after all, the moment I came back home to Johto.

  I chatted a little more with Clefable after that, but it wasn’t for long. The Rite of Song approached. My Pokemon gathered back near us so she could explain it briefly to us.

  We hold the Rite of Song whenever the Full Moon rises, she explained. About once a month then, I thought to myself. When it approaches its highest peak and sheds sacred light on the Heart of the Mountain, we nourish ourselves with that power and give back in return. My Clan Weaves the Song of our Beliefs into the Mountain. You, as honored guests, do not need to feel burdened to do the same. Feel free to let your Beliefs soar into the sky.

  Her voice dropped in pitch with reverence.

  The Moon Bringer — He who calls the Moon — blesses all Souls under the light.

  I started a bit. Moon Bringer.

  That was meant to refer to Reverent Lugia, Guardian of the Seas. It wasn’t wrong to say that Ho-oh was who people first thought to pray to in Johto, but we had another revered patron deity known as Lugia. He was equally worshiped, but it was Ho-oh that came up most in actual conversation because the Sun Bringer encompassed so many aspects of daily life and our waking hours.

  Meanwhile, Lugia governed the night and protected the souls of those still slumbering.

  We understood the ritual now, so we got ready with the rest of the clan. Those of my team that weren’t Fairies or couldn’t gain the innate powers of one without Mega Evolving were still going to participate. I had to seriously hold back a laugh when I saw Clefable blinking at my Dragons as if she couldn’t believe they were still here. The others were going to help them draw out manifestations of what their inner Beliefs looked like while bringing out their own.

  Of course, Vel was going to do the same for a mere human like me.

  We took our indicated spots in a giant ring of Clefairy and Clefable around the Heart of the Mountain. The head of the clan walked up to the Heart and raised a hand, calling for silence.

  A reverent hush then fell over the cavernous space.

  It was so silent that not even the wind outside could be heard. My heartbeat echoed calmly in my ears.

  When Clefable turned her head to the sky, the rest of us followed. I’d seen it outside already, but the full moon looked even more magnificent from this secluded spot inside the mountain that bared its Heart to the heavens.

  The moon, bright and radiant, cast down its beams onto the Heart. Clefable waited a few seconds. She waited, and waited, and waited some more until—

  She raised her other hand and waved both while singing.

  I didn’t understand the words because there were none. It was a language only Clefable knew, and they came from her soul. I did, however, understand the weight behind them.

  She sang the meaning of her life and existence, and it was as beautiful as any singing from Altaria.

  One by one, her clanmates joined in by swaying back and forth and singing their own songs. Little tendrils of light were Weaved into the shape of stars around them. My Pokemon followed suit and started to Weave their own Beliefs into the air. The more musically inclined like Altaria sang while the others hummed to show respect for the Clan’s ways.

  I wasn’t tone deaf like my gym trainer, Murata, but I settled for being on the safe side and hummed out loud with everyone. My eyes were wide open as I took in my Belief taking shape in front of my eyes, and it was all thanks to the Sylveon whose feeler I held. I didn’t have to look to know Vel was smiling.

  When the Heart of the Mountain suddenly glowed, I could feel the energy coursing into my Pokemon as they absorbed its power.

  As expected of such an ancient meteorite, it was a lot.

  Just from holding Vel’s ribbon, I felt a tingly feeling spreading across my skin and uplifting my spirits. It felt like I was being purified in all honesty. I knew that for my Pokemon, this was a glorious feast. So much pure energy and moonlight that they could make their own.

  It was harder to get stronger the closer to the top you got, but the skies were endless. One sky above another. If we came back every month to participate, my Pokemon would slowly acquire even more strength from absorbing such energy over time.

  Clefable was the first to finish crafting her Beliefs. The rippling, star-like form of Fairy type energy given shape descended into the floor. The moment it sank into the earth, a gentle pink light radiated from the point of contact throughout the whole cavern. It felt warm underneath the soles of my feet.

  Waves upon waves of pink light resonated as the rest of the Clefairy and Clefable followed, but my Pokemon did not do the same. They had finished manifesting the Beliefs born from their life experiences, hopes, and ambitions, and they let them fly now as Clefable had suggested. Vel guided my Belief to soar with them.

  Together, we watched the orbs of light shoot upwards into the sky like reverse shooting stars. They were as bright or even brighter than any cosmic entities out in space.

  In my peripheral vision, I saw Clefable and her Clan admiring our Beliefs while continuing their song. As fellow Fairies, they sensed and respected the weight of our struggles and everything that had led us to this moment in time. One small, familiar Clefairy in particular watched the display with sparkling eyes.

  The Clefairy Clan reached the climax of their joyful song right as our Beliefs popped and diffused into the air high, high above. Little sparkles rained down like snow in the middle of summer.

  The moon seemed to shine brighter with approval.

  Perhaps somewhere in this world, the Moon Bringer Himself was watching.

  The Rite of Song ended soon after, but we stayed longer to chat with the Clefairy Clan. It was well past two in the morning by the time I decided it was time to sleep.

  May the Moon and Stars protect you, Friends, Clefable bid us farewell. A few of her clanmates called out similar parting words on their way to sleeping spaces.

  “You as well,” I echoed with a smile. “We’ll make sure to drop by for the Rite of Song every month from now on.”

  That pleased Clefable greatly to the point where she gave me the biggest smile I’d seen yet.

  Before you go, she remarked, there is a little one who spoke to me in private. She has something she would like to say to you.

  She’d hardly finished speaking before she turned and made a beckoning motion with her hand. I blinked when a familiar Clefairy toddled up to us. It was the same one I’d hosted at my house for the last two days.

  Friend of Fairies, Clefairy began respectfully, I apologize for not explaining my true intentions in our previous meeting. You are the first human our Clan has interacted with outside those of the Takeshi family in a long time, and I did not know whether to trust you. I know for sure now that you and your companions have beautiful Souls. I had never seen such radiant Beliefs before, and it was moving.

  That compliment definitely pleased my Pokemon. I wasn’t looking at them, but they were probably smiling.

  I waved a hand through the air. “No apology needed. You didn’t have bad intentions.”

  She fidgeted with her hands, hesitating.

  I like stories, she admitted. I have decided my life’s work is to weave the most beautiful stories into existence. That is why I followed you for two days and nights. I wanted to see your story grow and perhaps weave a version of it into the world myself… but I am more greedy than I thought myself to be. Two days and two nights was too little.

  Behind her, Clefable trilled out loud with amusement making Clefairy cringe.

  If you would allow me, I wish to stay longer at your human dwelling and watch your story unfold, Clefairy pleaded, and she waved her hands around vigorously. Of course, I refuse to impose without making myself useful! I have learned you are in charge of a system where you test human fledglings in battle. I can assist you there! I am stronger than I appear.

  Basically, Clefairy was offering to help with gym battles in return for letting her hang out with me and my Pokemon?

  Mountain Weaver merely smiled, so I knew the Clefable had already given permission for a more long term journey.

  What was there to even think about? There were no negatives here for me.

  I made an impulsive, whimsical decision on the spot.

  “You have a deal on one condition,” I said, and I grinned. “You should probably get used to calling me by my actual name. I don’t hear Friend of Fairies too often, you see.”

  Clefairy’s answer was flapping her tiny wings furiously.

  A new gym Pokemon and friend had been acquired.

  (And one grumpy Sylveon when he realized the little pink menace would be around for a more long term stay, but that was nothing a ton of head scratches couldn’t fix.)

  The first and hopefully last rule I gave Clefairy the next morning was the following: to please stay away from restrooms and not lurk in shadows.

  Dad very nearly bashed a human-sized hole into the wall from how fast he jumped back and screamed in the early morning… and it was because he came out humming from his bedroom and noticed too late the small Clefairy waiting in the darkness for me to finish brushing my teeth.

  That incident aside, Clefairy was officially welcomed to the Cherrygrove Gym life by dad and the rest of our staff.

  “Alright,” I called, eyes scouring notes and a schedule jotted down on my phone. Everyone was gathered in a room at the gym for a quick meeting. I ignored how most of them tried to play with our new resident Clefairy and their own baby Pokemon. “I posted a copy of the weekly patrol schedule by the door, did everyone see it?”

  “Yes!”

  The affirmatives came in a scattered, disharmonic mess further indicating how distracting cute Pokemon could be, but I went on with an amused smile. I’d cut them some slack only for this week because the babies were so young.

  “A reminder that the schedule for five days from now is pretty different…”

  I proceeded to remind everyone of who was doing what on that day.

  Dad was going to be absent the whole day because he was hanging out with old friends in National Park. I offered to fly him there since he hated Teleporting and because I had business with a clinic nearby on Route 35 anyway, so I’d be gone for about thirty minutes. Similarly, Murata would be away for an hour to watch a kindergarten class play his daughters were part of in town, and Yurie was using her half-day off to meet a friend in Blackthorn City (something she reassured me was going to be fine).

  “—So because a lot of us will be gone, make sure to note down your duties for that day and the rest of the week,” I finished. “Next topic on the agenda: increasing gym revenue and expanding our side businesses. I brought it up after I came back from Giovanni’s charity gala, but it’s about time we submit stuff for the National Product Safety Bureau to look over and approve. How have things been going with our gym Pokemon?”

  Luca enthusiastically shot to his feet and saluted. Adorably enough, his baby Igglypuff copied his pose from where he sat on the table. “Arin, sir! I’ve devised a few different slogans for the gym’s honey side business that we could use!”

  “Oh, go ahead—”

  “‘Buzzing with Cuteness! Best Buzz-iness in Cherrygrove! Bee-utifully Sweet Honey straight from the Cherrygrove Gym’s Cutiefly, the one and only brand of Watanuki Family Honey!’” Luca rattled off with a crazed grin. He got out about a dozen more lines before I had to cut him off.

  “Very punny,” I praised with a grin, and that was the beginning of chaos as the others either groaned or chimed in with agreement.

  “We have to cut down on the puns—”

  “But it’s cute, isn’t it? I think it’ll catch on.”

  “Oh, this honey brand will be so popular if it gets approved—”

  And so on and so forth.

  The reason why honey even came up in the first place was because our gym Cutiefly and Ribombee naturally produced their own from collecting and refining the nectar they gathered from flowers.

  The type of flower nectar a honey was made from totally changed the resulting flavor, color, and aroma. And, well, when our bees literally had access to a plethora of different types of flowers and flowering trees carefully cultivated and grown by a master gardener and Grass Specialist like dad…

  They were basically in bee heaven.

  The possibilities were endless for unique honey flavors—hundreds upon hundreds. Considering Cutiefly and their evolution weren’t native to the Kinjoh Area, this had the chance to become our gym’s most lucrative business.

  “I’ve been working on perfumes and essential oils with the help of the Spritzee and Aromatisse,” Dad piped up once people got over all the bee puns. He looked excited. “I’ll probably have some ready soon for you to submit to the Safety Bureau.”

  Outside of Cherrygrove, people didn’t know dad was actually an experienced perfumer. He’d sold a lot of his own perfume made with the help of Grass type Pokemon back when he still ran the gym. Lately, I’d seen him staying up late into the night and having fun working on new products with the Spritzee family. It was nice to see him so passionate and full of life.

  “I helped!” Hazel added. When we all looked at him in surprise, he propped up his glasses with a smug expression. “What? I took a perfumery elective back when I still attended Celadon University. The chemistry behind it is really interesting…”

  Our perfumes were going to have to compete for customers considering we had formidable rivals known as Erika and her Celadon Gym, but I didn’t worry too much.

  I trusted dad and our Spritzee to wow the people of Indigo with refined aromas.

  Aside from honey and perfumes, we were looking to expand into a few other products for side businesses. Mushroom caps naturally shed by our Morelull were actually delicacies in other countries, so we were thinking of getting those caps dried or cooked for people to eat. Considering how mushrooms were a huge part of Kanto-Johto cuisine to begin with, I saw that going well. There were also some Milcery and Swirlix who had finally evolved after ingesting large amounts of sweets this whole time. Specifically the Alcremie, I’d been accommodating their diet requests to provide them with certain flavors that each individual Milcery had been partial to. I was thinking of lending more Pokemon to people in town again.

  More unique pastries would be good for local businesses and specialties. Better yet, we could sell them at the gym for hungry visitors, trainers, and spectators during the League Circuit season.

  The future of the Cherrygrove Gym was bright indeed.

  The meeting ended after we ran through some more ideas.

  “See you guys tomorrow! I can’t hang out in the apartments tonight, I’m going over to my sister’s place instead,” Hazel reminded, and he waved the rest of us goodbye. He had the rest of the day off to enjoy.

  A few others followed him on his way out. “We’re going off on patrol!” Yurie announced, and she was trailed by Neil and Hana.

  Those left behind got to work, and it was mainly me who was busy.

  We were hosting another class at the Cherrygrove Gym today. By popular request—and one only had to look at my inbox inundated by tearful emails—today’s was limited only to people who owned an Eevee aspiring to evolve into a Sylveon. People were desperate for more in-person coaching on Fairy type energy, so I bunkered down in the battle hall with Vel and some other Pokemon of mine to help the students as they arrived.

  Luca went around recording everything on his phone while interviewing attendees, and Will popped by to observe because he was interested. Felix naturally attended since a huge part of him coming to work for me was for his Eevee’s sake, and we had one more familiar face around.

  Miyu from the Hachiura Clan had snagged a reservation for herself this time without help from me or Morty.

  “How’s it going, you two?” I asked at one point while making my rounds.

  They’d been in the middle of glaring at each other—I supposed a talented Coordinator and troupe performer were bound to get competitive and butt heads—but they relaxed instantly when my shadow fell over them.

  “We’ve got Baby-Doll Eyes mastered,” Felix answered after clearing his throat.

  Miyu bobbed her head up and down in agreement. “It’s… How do I put this, Leader Arin? Our Eevee have been doing a lot of thinking, but they haven’t quite grasped their core beliefs yet as you advised.”

  “So,” Felix followed up politely, “we were wondering if perhaps you would be willing to share with us how your own Sylveon evolved?”

  I didn’t mind, but their puppy-dog eyes really drove home the fact that they were so desperate to help their Eevee evolve.

  My eyes followed Vel on the other side of the room. I spoke while watching him help a small group of Eevee strengthen the Fairy type energy they expelled. “Hmm… Well, I mentioned it to you both already, but your Eevee really need to find out what drives them in life. For my own Sylveon, there was one thing he really wanted above all else.”

  “And what was that?” Miyu asked in a breathless, almost hushed whisper. Felix looked equally as intrigued.

  I smiled as memories flashed behind my eyelids. That was a very different time for both Vel and me. We hadn’t seen much of the world yet, so we tried to and washed up on the shores of Alola. There, my Pokemon and I found new dreams for ourselves.

  It was a long tale, but we didn’t have time for that in this class right now.

  “Vel’s time as an Eevee wasn’t an easy one. People looked down on him and me for how weak we seemed, and he hated that. His goal in life became to defy the world and bend the rules. He wanted to make people look at him differently and captivate them,” I explained softly.

  My audience said nothing. Felix, Miyu, and their Eevees only looked at me with deeply pensive expressions.

  “That’s the sort of stuff to think about. The experiences that have driven your Eevee to become who they are now and who they want to become in the future. Their struggles and dreams. Talk to them about that.”

  Just like a story, I thought to myself as I walked away to help another teenager.

  Every person had a story within them with pages waiting to be filled.

  Mine was the story of a boy who’d left home and come back years later to fulfill dreams both old and new that had intersected. Mine was the story of a Gym Leader aiming to be the best in the world.

  Mine was…

  About half an hour later, I smiled to myself as light overtook the field in my peripheral vision. Two Eevees were caught up inside those radiant folds. Their shapes morphed into who they wanted to become.

  By the time I walked over, the light was gone. What was probably the Kinjoh Area’s very first Sylveon evolutions after Vel and the gym Pokemon stood there in front of their trainers with tearful expressions.

  “Congratulations, Felix and Miyu,” I said, lips curled wide in a sincere smile. I’d had a feeling these two would be the first new Sylveon owners considering their strong ambitions in life. “What did you talk about with your Pokemon while I was gone?”

  Both teenagers knelt on the ground next to the Sylveons admiring their new forms, but their heads snapped up immediately at the sound of my voice. Their eyes were as wet and shiny as those of their Pokemon.

  “We were—We were talking about why we started doing Contests in the first place,” Felix admitted. The normally eloquent boy stammered with his words. “It’s, um, a bit embarrassing, but I was bullied a lot as a kid. Eevee and I agreed we wanted to be symbols of hope for people. We want people to see the beauty in the world and show that anyone can make their dreams come true.”

  “Our conversation was a little similar,” Miyu admitted, sniffing. She hurriedly wiped a tear from her eye with her wrist. “My Eevee and I talked about why we wanted to perform. It was about escaping the shadows of my cousins and sisters at first, but… now we want to perform for ourselves. We want to help people smile and forget their troubles when they come to see us at the theater. That’s what matters most to us.”

  “Always remember that, then,” I told both of them. This wasn’t a demand but a gentle reminder. “Always remember what’s important to you and keep forging ahead. This is just the beginning for you and your Pokemon.”

  Both teenagers wouldn’t stop bowing or thanking me profusely for all the guidance. In particular, Miyu made me swear a dozen times over to come visit the Dance Theater this summer. She only let up after I reassured her for the nth time that I definitely would.

  As envious attendees crowded around the new Sylveon owners and expressed their congratulations, I watched on with a sense of contentment.

  Yeah. My story was still far from over.

  I still had plenty of people to share the joy and magic of Fairies with.

  Kari and Luca had a field day taking pictures of Felix and his new, proud Sylveon. Their plan was to post them on social media and promote more classes at the Cherrygrove Gym.

  I trusted them to do that, so I went off on my last errand for the day.

  Togekiss flew me all the way to Cerulean City of Kanto.

  It was as stunning as I expected. Any pictures I’d seen of it online before really didn’t do the city any justice. The roads were paved with smooth, polished stone that seemed to ripple under the afternoon sun like shifting waves on land. Their blue was second only to the roofs of the houses across residential districts. Most of them were decorated with bright shades of blue that reminded me of the tropical waters of Alola.

  Cerulean definitely lived up to its reputation as a city of water. From the giant river that snaked along the settlement’s perimeter to connecting streams that flowed through town and elegant marble fountains, there was water everywhere.

  My business here was split in two.

  I went first to the Indigo Contest Committee, a huge building on the outskirts of town. I’d been communicating with the president of the committee over emails and phone calls for a long time now, but it was finally time to sign contracts in person.

  And boy, did I pen my signature with a flourish after reading everything. The president turned out to be as nice in person as he sounded over the phone.

  Contests weren’t as popular in Indigo compared to other parts of the world, but people like me and the Indigo Contest Committee wanted to change that. I’d already looked into how the Contest season worked in Indigo. It ran about as long as a regular League Circuit season did but from September to June for all of Kanto-Johto. They held the Indigo Grand Festival in July to space out time between the regional Conferences.

  Starting this year, the Cherrygrove Gym would be available as a venue for Indigo-based Contests. The Committee was still working out the Contest schedule for the next season, and they would have to plan around busy days at the Gym when the League Circuit got crazy, but we were looking at hosting about five Contests at minimum.

  The fees we got in return made everything so much more worth it.

  My second and final stop was the Cerulean Gym because I’d long been invited.

  “Arin! So glad you could make it!” Daisy Waterflower beamed, and she showed me inside.

  The Cerulean Gym was quite beautiful from the outside—reminiscent of a water-themed park if anything—but inside was a whole other level. I felt like I was in the world’s most massive aquarium from all the see-through glass and Water Pokemon swimming around.

  Today, I was here to talk about a collaboration between the Cherrygrove and Cerulean Gyms. I hadn’t forgotten Daisy’s offer a long time ago.

  “Thanks for inviting me,” I smiled, but then I paused. Looking more closely at Daisy’s face, I noticed that her normally pristine skin was paler than usual. She also had really bad eyebags that even makeup couldn’t hide. “Are… Are you okay? Should I come back another day?”

  Daisy’s hands quickly flew to her face in shock. She patted her cheeks a few times before realizing what I was talking about, and then she laughed.

  “Oops! I must have startled you. I guess I didn’t put on as much concealer as I thought!” Daisy laughed cheerfully with a careless wave of her hand. “Don’t worry about me, I’ve just been busy searching sea routes with Lily and Violet. We’ve all got to do our part to keep Indigo safe, right?”

  Oh. I did remember hearing from Lance that the Waterflower sisters had been called in for the last couple of weeks to search for Rocket bases. I just hadn’t realized it was taking such a toll on the Cerulean Gym Leaders. They were putting a lot of effort into this as Indigo’s best Water Specialists.

  “Are they out now helping the League?” I asked.

  Daisy nodded. “Yup! It’s a good thing there’s three of us. We always have one person stay behind to safeguard the Gym and babysit Misty—”

  “I don’t need babysitting, Daisy!” a younger, determined voice interrupted.

  We both turned to see a teenager with orange hair pop her head out from around the corner. The youngest sister, Misty. I’d met her before at the Cherrygrove Gym’s grand opening.

  “I appreciate it, but I can take care of myself!” Misty continued, grumbling. “You guys need to worry more about yourselves than me. You need to sleep more.” She disappeared, but hardly a second passed before she popped her head right back. “Also, uh, hi Leader Arin. Sorry I forgot to greet you.”

  Then Misty disappeared for real, maybe on her way to their cafeteria or something.

  Daisy smiled awkwardly at me.

  “Sorry about that, Arin, Misty’s been kind of grumpy with us lately. We actually got into a fight the other day because she wanted to take over our duties, but we already decided a long time ago that we would give her the Gym next year,” Daisy apologized.

  I blinked rapidly. “You’re planning on retiring so soon?”

  She offered me a wry smile in response. “Well… As much as we’ve enjoyed being Gym Leaders and keeping our city safe, our real passion lies in performing shows for the people. Spreading happiness, you know? We don’t really like battling as much as Misty does. She’s almost as strong as me, actually, so I think she’ll be ready by the time next year rolls around. And…”

  Daisy hesitated, sighing.

  “I really have to put my foot down on this one no matter how much she complains. I don’t want my baby sister getting caught up in any Team Rocket business. I’d rather do the dirty work myself and hand the gym over to her in peaceful times. Our parents aren’t around anymore, so it’s up to me and my sisters to take care of Misty.”

  It was actually really touching how much they cared about their youngest sister. She and her other sisters didn’t want to expose Misty to the horrors of a criminal organization, so they opted to handle it themselves.

  “I’m sure she knows that and is just worried about you guys,” I smiled at her, an action that Daisy mirrored.

  “I know,” she agreed, flashing pearly whites. “Now come inside, Arin, and take a seat! I’m thinking we could come perform at your gym before the summer is over, and you can give a shout out to the Cerulean Gym in return. We usually host a really big show to end the summer before the Kanto League Circuit begins, and we want to advertise that…”

  She rambled on without end. As I followed Daisy deeper inside the building, I couldn’t help but respect her.

  The Waterflower Sisters, like every other Gym Leader of Indigo, were doing their best to ensure that the lives of their loved ones remained peaceful.

  I had to follow suit.

  And I did.

  Four days came and went in the blink of an eye.

  Blaine hadn’t woken up from his coma yet, but things were peaceful. I guarded Cherrygrove every waking hour.

  On the side business end of things, I submitted samples of perfumes and products made with the help of our gym Pokemon for the National Product Safety Bureau to review. We’d get news back within the week, so hopefully they were approved for sale to the public.

  Some clinics in town also got back to me with nutritional supplements they’d made using pollen puffs and healing oils from our Pokemon, so dad got to take those every morning now. They weren’t going to cure his illness, obviously, but they did wonders to alleviate his general tiredness or muscle aches.

  Once again, everyone was in a meeting room at the gym to go over scheduling.

  “Everybody remember the change in schedule for tomorrow?” I asked. “We have people who are going to be out, so the shifts are a bit different—”

  “Oh, Arin,” Hazel interrupted politely, and he only continued after a huge, long yawn. “Uh… sorry about that. I was going to ask if I could swap my half-day next week for tomorrow instead? My sister’s Hypno wanted us to surprise Beryl at home with a meal. She got promoted at work.”

  “Sure,” I immediately agreed, and my fingers flew across the screen of my phone as I updated my master copy of the gym schedule. “I’ll mark you down as partially absent, then. Did anything come up for anyone else?”

  No one answered.

  “Great, then let’s get the workday started.”

  Everyone split up, but I held Hazel back by putting a hand on his shoulder. He turned to me with a questioning expression.

  “You okay, Haze?” I asked, brows furrowing. “You’ve been better these last couple of weeks, but I noticed you’ve gone back to looking tired again these past few days.”

  He smiled wearily at me. “Oops! It might be because I’ve been staying up to help Mr. Watanuki with the perfumes. Sorry Arin, I hope I didn’t give the impression that I’ve been slacking off at work.”

  “You’re good, Haze. I’m just a bit worried. Maybe take a nap or something tomorrow on your time off?”

  “Oh yeah, definitely! A quality nap is on the menu for me after my sister’s congratulatory meal.”

  I patted his shoulder a few times, smiling.

  “You better! Have fun tomorrow and give Beryl my congratulations.”

  He grinned, waved goodbye, and wandered off to join Yurie and Souta for the afternoon patrol. My eyes darted between them and the schedule on my phone. I wasn’t overworking my gym trainers, was I? Maybe I needed to enforce a temporary rule about no voluntary overtime or something.

  The next day, I gathered all my Pokemon into their Pokeballs save for one.

  “You sure you don’t want to Teleport?” I teased as Dragonite stretched her wings.

  Dad rolled his eyes at me. “Very funny, son. I’d prefer not throwing up especially before seeing my friends.”

  I shook my shoulders, grinning. “Well, hop aboard the Zuri Express Train then.”

  “…Please don’t go too fast, Zuri.”

  The Dragonite’s only promise was a suspicious chuckle disguised as a huff of agreement.

  “I’ll be back in thirty minutes!” I yelled to the gym trainers left behind. Yurie, Hazel, and Murata had already left on their own errands.

  After dad and I clambered on Dragonite’s back, we shot off for National Park. I dropped dad by the arched entrance on Route 36 and had myself dropped off at a small clinic, one that was a little out of the way on Route 35 in the forest. Vel came out of his Pokeball to accompany me inside.

  I’d heard good things about this place’s herbal teas which was why I wanted to visit. It wasn’t busy when I came in so they saw me right away. I was here to bulk order teas for dad. Poring through the catalogue didn’t take nearly as long as I thought it would, about five minutes, and then we completed the transaction. They’d send a box over within the next week.

  That was it. My thirty minute errand turned into a ten minute one.

  “Should we head back early?” I asked Vel and the Ghosts in my shadow. “Or should we stay out a little longer? I did bring everyone with me thinking a walk in National Park would be nice. We might even run into dad.”

  The three of them unanimously agreed on National Park. It was a beautiful summer day, so it was the obvious choice rather than going back early and drowning in paperwork again.

  I made my way back to the clinic’s lobby and pushed open the door.

  “Dad?” I immediately blinked.

  We did run into dad—just not in National Park but here outside the clinic.

  He beamed at me, one hand scratching his cheek as his expression turned apologetic. “Sorry, son, I got the location wrong. It wasn’t National Park.”

  I couldn’t help but laugh as I shook my head. We fell into step beside each other as we walked away from the clinic. The sun shined down through little gaps in the trees creating a dappled path of dirt for us to traverse through.

  It really was a beautiful summer day.

  “I can’t believe you mixed up the meetup spot. Where should I drop you off then?”

  “Ecruteak.”

  I grinned as we walked over some fallen branches on the ground. “At least it’s still nearby.”

  As pleasant as the weather was, the back of my neck prickled for some reason. So did my mind. There was a certain feeling that filled my whole body, a certain sensation I got sometimes thanks to my ability to communicate and deal with Fairies.

  It was weird, I had felt something similar that day at Mount Moon—

  “Yes,” Dad agreed, smiling. “Sorry about the mixup again. Would you mind Teleporting me over?”

  My foot snapped down especially hard on a twig.

  “You want to Teleport over?” I echoed.

  “Yeah, it’s easy and fast,” Dad grinned, and he wiped some budding sweat from his forehead. “Weather’s hot, son. Let’s Teleport.”

  I kept walking, but I didn’t say anything back right away.

  One, dad didn’t like Teleporting. Never did if he could help it. He hated it with a passion.

  Two, and this was the other big one—

  I had felt something similar at Mount Moon. It was on the day when I first met and picked out the hidden Guardian Clefable and sensed the Heart of the Mountain being obscured from me.

  I was a Fairy Specialist and Ability Holder, and I knew a shift in reality when I felt it.

  Or more accurately, an idea of a ‘normal’ one that wasn’t mine.

  Now that I had made myself aware of it, I could smell it. A strange, familiar aroma. This had to be that Sweet Scent technique Whitney had explained before.

  This person walking next to me looked, sounded, and behaved exactly like dad, but it wasn’t him.

  Fortunately, I was good at keeping up appearances like any Fairy.

  I brushed sweat from my own forehead while subtly brushing my free hand against one of Vel’s ribbons. I knew he felt the emotions I shared with him—warning and hostility—because I felt his ribbon tense up ever so slightly, but he kept up his own smiling face.

  He knew what I knew now: that this was an enemy walking among us.

  We didn’t have to exchange any other words or emotions. He would time himself to my actions.

  I smiled, rolling the sleeves of my dress shirt up like I was bothered by the heat. “Yeah, you’re right. Weather’s a bit muggy. So where in Ecruteak should we Teleport to, dad?”

  “There’s a restaurant my friends wanted to try,” Dad smiled back. We kept walking. “It’s near the main street, so—”

  I didn’t let him finish.

  Without warning or looking, I kicked out with a foot like Chuck had taught me that day we trained together at his gym. I aimed to trip the lookalike, and my hands lunged to slam his neck forward so that he’d fall faceforward into the ground.

  I didn’t act alone.

  Bright ribbons shot out from next to me, each sharpened so that their edges were like blades. They sliced at dad—

  And it happened so fast.

  Colors blurred and ribbons sliced, but they cut something else.

  One minute, the lookalike was next to me, and the next, he’d stumbled back out of my reach through the luxury of trained, incredible reflexes. There were cuts in his skin—

  No.

  That wasn’t his skin.

  Cut and bleeding flesh morphed around his body like bubbles in a cauldron. I saw it take on a pinkish color as something wiggled around his neck. Eyes popped out.

  A Ditto. It had been attached to him from the beginning like armor and mimicked his outer appearance.

  And the moment I saw that Ditto in this kind of situation, I knew I was dealing with a Normal Specialist. The same one who’d infiltrated the League and Cinnabar Gym.

  A Rocket Executive.

  The man himself hadn’t been cut. Even the shallow gash on his ‘face’ had merely cut open what was apparently a silicone mask. I saw the briefest hint of black eyes through the tear in it before everything went to shit.

  Bolts of electricity beamed down from the sky with thunderous bangs that Vel met with Hyper Beam. Flutter Mane and Mimikyu flew out of my shadow and threw out pulsating orbs, but a freaking Kecleon hiding nearby intercepted them for its trainer with Protect.

  That was all in the first split second, and I had just snatched my phone out of my pocket to call the League—

  A Protect from Vel went up around me right as something flew for my phone. It slammed into the barrier instead before ricocheting off, and it went spinning through the air. The telltale electricity and whirring sounds before it disappeared with a flash into the ground were obvious. Rotom. That was where the electricity was coming from.

  I checked my phone and swore. Even without the Rotom getting into my device, I didn’t have any damned signal.

  There was a phone jammer or something nearby interfering.

  “How did you know?!” the Rocket Executive yelled over all the noise from attacks colliding in mid-air.

  He was talking in what I assumed was his real voice rather than an imitation of dad, and it was higher in pitch. Raspier. He seemed so nonchalant even as we released more members of our teams at lightning speed.

  A Lopunny punched and drop kicked Azumarill. Nearby, an Exploud screamed out soundwaves before Grimmsnarl shut it up with Taunt. Hatterene was one of the first I released, but she couldn’t Teleport to warn the League, and she relayed the reason why to me through my head.

  Dark type energy was dispersed heavily in the air. Even when my Pokemon burned it all away with Dazzling Gleam, something out there instantly spat out more Dark type energy. It was constantly keeping the air saturated to disrupt Teleports, but not for long. Hatterene relayed my mental order to the rest of the Pokemon.

  Find the phone jammer device and the Pokemon preventing Teleport and destroy them.

  I already knew from the Cinnabar Gym incident meeting but Arceus, this guy was annoyingly thorough.

  If this Executive wanted a conversation, he could get one so long as he fed me intel I could bring back for the League. I wondered if he was the type to get riled up easily.

  Let’s see.

  “Nice to meet you, Petrel!” I yelled back as I released two more Pokemon. “It was a good try, but you can’t fool a Fairy Specialist of all people by warping my sense of reality! My dad doesn’t like Teleporting by the way, asshole!”

  Dachsbun tanked a flaming punch from a Slaking while Dragonite hammered a Zangoose into the ground. I didn’t actually know if this guy was Petrel, I just made an educated guess based on the color of his real eyes I saw and the fact that I’d seen Archer’s portrait at HQ already.

  “Really?! Who the hell doesn’t like Teleporting these days? It’s so convenient!” the man shouted, dragging a hand down his face. “Yeesh, I guess that’s my bad, I should have done more research. And nice to meet you too, Mr. Gym Leader! I guess you’re the worst matchup for a Normal Specialist like me, huh?!”

  Great. He confirmed it for me. I’d come into contact with the Rocket Executive Petrel. He was apparently a lot more chipper of a person than I would have taken him for.

  His Ditto had already jumped off him and made contact with his Lopunny to transform, and the two lookalikes now double teamed Mawile.

  They were unsuccessful.

  Powerful, glowing jaws snapped faster than they could have believed was possible and bit down hard across skin. Blood splattered everywhere as he ripped out a chunk. Ditto Lopunny pushed its teammate back to safety and kicked Mawile back.

  Meanwhile, Lapras finally found the Pokemon clogging the atmosphere with unseen particles of Dark type energy. She froze the whole ground over into a tundra, and out came a screaming Sableye that smashed its way out of the ground it had been hiding in. Frost clung to its lanky limbs.

  “I definitely am! If you don’t want you or your Pokemon to die, I suggest giving up now! You should probably see the difference in strength already!”

  Petrel’s Pokemon were strong, but they couldn’t handle us. My Pokemon had already pushed them deep into the forest. His Exploud was missing an arm. His Zangoose was twitching from paralysis but forcing itself to stay upright. The rest of them were wounded in some shape or fashion. I didn’t think this was all of them, but I couldn’t see if he had any hidden Pokeballs left.

  Petrel himself had been forced to back up with both his Kecleon and Rotom working overtime to shield him from Moonblasts that ripped all the trees and ground away in their surroundings.

  “I know! You’re really scary!” Petrel yelled with a mournful undertone. “It’s a shame! I actually like Fairies and think they’re kind of similar to what the Normal type represents!”

  “Oh yeah? How about we chat a little longer then?!”

  “I’ll take a rain check, thanks! See you around, Leader Arin!”

  I literally couldn’t make out what happened after that. One second, we were fighting Petrel and his Pokemon, and the next—

  Colors went wrong.

  It was like my vision splashed over with splotches of paint that exploded from the remaining things in my vision: browns from the earth, greens from the trees, and blues from the skies. By the time I blinked, Petrel and his team were gone.

  They were fucking gone, but I didn’t have time to dwell on that.

  Questions blitzed through my mind at a million miles an hour.

  How did Petrel know where I was? Was dad okay? Why did Petrel fight me? Why did he take me of all people straight on in a fight? Was it a failed assassination attempt?

  I had no clue, but I finally had a signal now. All the gravity Moonblasts flying around must have broken the phone jammer device hidden nearby. The Dark type energy in the air was also finally dispersed for good.

  I needed to tell the League—

  Then I saw the urgent alerts now spilling in one after another on my phone, and my eyes widened. Drugged Pokemon running amok in Olivine’s ports, Mount Silver, and the river by Cerulean City. Violent protests staged by civilians in Blackthorn City. Operations underway to take down Rocket bases uncovered in the Kanto Power Plant and Seafoam Islands.

  What the hell was happening?

  Then something hit me, and my blood ran cold.

  What if this was like Cinnabar?

  I called the Cherrygrove Gym emergency line.

  No one answered right away like they should have.

  A thought flashed through my mind more quickly than anything else ever had.

  Petrel fighting me had been to stall for time.

  Trees and destroyed earth instantly melted into familiar, beautiful gardens and a giant castle from a Teleport.

  Cherrygrove. We were back in Cherrygrove.

  I jerked my head up at the gym, but it wasn’t on fire or anything. The gym was fine. My relief only lasted a split second. I saw rising smoke coming from two different areas.

  The sea south of Cherrygrove and my house.

  We were being attacked.

  I whipped up some art to go with this chapter. It’s a visual reference for Blaine’s message on his lab coat.

  As always, thank you for your support! Join the Discord server if you’re interested!

  Arin's Pokemon for reference purposes

  

  
1. Vel / Sylveon / M


  
2. Yuno / Milotic / M


  
3. Zuri / Dragonite / F


  
4. Arya / Altaria / F


  
5. Willow / Mawile / M


  
6. Taffy / Wigglytuff / M


  
7. Peri / Togekiss / M


  
8. Brie / Lapras / F


  
9. Zuzu / Azumarill / F


  
10. Audi / Audino / F


  
11. Freya / Alolan Ninetales / F


  
12. Cally / Cutiefly (Shiny) / F


  
13. Mem / Mimikyu / M


  
14. Choux / Dachsbun / M


  
15. Silque / Hatterene / F


  
16. Grima / Grimmsnarl / M


  
17. Fia / Flutter Mane / F


  
18. Lico / Scream Tail / M


  
19. Fizz / Fezandipiti / M