Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

It wasn’t her fault, but it still felt like it was.

Really, it couldn’t have been anyone’s fault. It was an accident, plain and simple. To use his words, they had completed their safety checks, and he had helped her traverse the Wayward Cave many, many times before. Of course, this had been deeper into the network of tunnels than she herself had ever been, but he had claimed that the way had been cleared beforehand. They knew, of course, that there were alpha Pokemon scattered throughout the many tunnels and caverns. That was the whole reason they chose to come to this place, after all. One of the Diamond clan members had notified her of an Alpha Whishcash in one of the deeper pools within the cave, and she wanted to record some information on the massive fish. But neither of the two ever imagined the ceiling of the cave would simply fall atop them.

In some small detached part of her brain, Akari was impressed that the Pearl Warden managed to not scream, cry, or do anything but grimace tightly as he grasped his calf. His left foot had somehow been caught by a larger boulder, and though she couldn’t tell in the limited light cast by Typhlosion’s ghostly flames, it surely had to have been broken several times, right?

“Warden Ingo!”

“Ah-” Warden Ingo grimaced as he attempted to shift his foot to no effect. “It seems there has been an accident, Miss Akari.” They made eye contact, and though Warden Ingo was one loathe to smile, he managed to soften his gaze enough to make Akari think he was trying to be reassuring. “If any of your Pokemon would be able to assist with the cave-in, that would be greatly appreciated. I don’t believe that Lady Sneasler would be able to reach us in this place. If my knowledge of the route is correct, we will at minimum need to clear out this cave-in to reach the surface.” Akari wasn’t sure about that so much, given that Sneasler was a fighting-type Pokemon and a noble at that. He himself reached for one of his Pokeballs, and a Machoke revealed itself in a flash of light. The Machoke immediately began worrying over the Warden, who waved off the Pokemon’s concerned grasping. Ingo let out a hiss as Machoke attempted to move the large boulder, though without much success.

Akari swallowed, the dust in the air making her eyes water. “Uh... yeah.” She tried to breathe in, but only managed to start coughing. She brushed her fingers across the smooth stone of the top of her Pokeballs, feeling for the small symbol that signified her fighting type carved into the surface. “Uh, Lilligant.” She grabbed the correct ball and undid the latch, releasing a tall Pokemon who managed to land gracefully even inside the cave. “Could you try and help Machoke with the cave-in?” Lilligant approached where Akari was, sweeping a leafy arm over her kerchief. Dust came tumbling off her hair, and Akari had to blink to keep her eyes clear. She could feel Lilligant hover over her in the same way that Machoke had to the warden. “Yes, I’m okay. But Warden Ingo needs our help.” Typhlosion did his best to be helpful, increasing the brightness of his ghostly collar, casting long shadows across the cavern. “Thank you.” She said it to both of her Pokemon and meant it with every aching fiber of her being.

Lilligant glanced at the now frustrated Machoke before allowing one of her arms to glow a vibrant green. The towering alpha Pokemon brought her arm across the boulder, chopping the whole rock in half. The top half slid off with a shove from Machoke, and together they managed to lift the half-boulder directly up from Warden Ingo’s leg. Akari managed to drag the warden away from the pile of rock as the two Pokemon began methodically working their way through the collapsed tunnel. She propped the man up against one of the cave walls.

“Are... are you alright?”
The warden frowned. “Unsure. I will probably have to stay off this foot for a while, though I have no clue what kind of injury is there. Do you know much about medicine, Miss Akari? I fear my knowledge in that area is rather lacking. I will say that there is definitely pain, which is a good sign.”

All she could do was shake her head. “No, but if we can get out of here we can get to the medical corps, and they’ll fix you up, no problem!” She said the words over the din of smashing rock.

“Snea!”

They both were startled at the faint cry of what could only be Lady Sneasler echoing down the tunnel. Ingo struggled for a moment, reaching behind him to grasp the flute he carried on himself. The tone of his quick call might have been a bit raspy, but Akari couldn’t really blame him.

“Snea!” The pile crumbled as what had to have been three Pokemon demolished rock after rock, revealing the tall noble carrying her basket. She was probably angry and worried if Akari had to guess.

“Lady Sneasler, it is good to see you.” How in the name of Sinnoh was Warden Ingo so calm? He didn’t even struggle much as he dragged his body up the side of the cave wall. Akari moved to support him, letting his left arm rest on her shoulders as he levered his leg off the ground. “If we could receive some help exiting this cave and getting some assistance, that would be appreciated.”

Sneasler approached Warden Ingo, and in the dim light, Akari could only catch a glimpse of the noble’s face before the Pokemon’s long claws grasped the man and lowered him into her basket.

“Thank you, Lady Sneasler...” Akari managed as the two Pokemon managed to clear out the rest of the tunnel. Sneasler simply marched out of the cave. “Warden Ingo! Is your foot ok? Are you comfortable?” She glanced around. “Typhlosion, could you come here for a moment? We need to mark out where the collapse is so the Security Corps can cordon off the area later. It’s unsafe here.” Typhlosion leaned his head over towards Akari as she began scribbling on her journal. “Ingo is this right?” She could feel her brain getting frazzled, but this helped. Having goals, creating a mental list, make sure everything is in order. Panic is the enemy.

“I will survive, Miss Akari. Thank you for your concern.” He glanced at her map. “There is a bend ahead there, it should probably be cordoned off as well.“ He managed to point at her map, and she scratched a line through the bend and a few lengths ahead as well. “Let us make haste to the surface. I imagine Lady Irida will not be happy with me when she finds out about this. Regardless, we have to make headway before darkness falls. All aboard!” Warden Ingo managed to point from his place half-inside Lady Sneasler’s basket.

Lilligant and Machoke continued to lead the way with Lady Sneasler’s help. Akari thought she might cry when she saw the low sun of Hisui again. With Lady Sneasler’s help, the trip from the base of Mount Coronet to a base camp only took a scant hour of trekking. Warden Ingo managed to not complain the entire time, somehow. They reached base camp, arriving with much commotion from Professor Laventon and the one member of the medical corps that was present.

“Miss Akari! Warden Ingo! What happened?” Laventon was wringing his hands, glancing between the Sneasler and the dusty Survey Corps member.

“A cave-in at Wayward Cave. We’re going to have to cordon off an area here.” She brought out her map, showing it to the two security corps members currently there.

They glanced at each other and nodded. One of them glanced at her, scratching her head. “Can we take this map? We need to report this to Captain Zisu. The supply corps can get you a new one. Here, I can write a note.”

“Yeah, no problem. We’re definitely headed to Jubilife as soon as we can, Warden Ingo needs medical attention...” Akari didn’t bother correcting the two guards about her need for a paper map, but it was still necessary to carry one. After all, she couldn’t really share the map on her Arc Phone with anyone else like a paper map.

The medical corps member at the camp glanced at the man in Lady Sneasler’s basket. “Uh, technically, the medical corps doesn’t really treat people from outside Jubilife...” He winced like he wasn’t sure if he believed his own words. “The last time... the supply risk... protocol states that-” Everyone in the camp was staring at the man, now.

“Please!” Akari couldn’t believe her ears even as the plea ripped itself out of her throat. Her mind scrambled to find words to say. “The Alabaster Icelands are days away from here, he’s going to lose his foot! It was really my f-”

“Miss Akari!” Ingo managed to interject. “It was not your fault. It was not anyone’s fault, there was a cave-in. We followed every safety precaution we needed to. Sometimes, Hisui can be cruel regardless of what we do to prevent accidents.”

“Still- if I hadn’t-”

She felt a hand on her shoulder, one of the security corps members had crossed the campsite and had gripped both Akari and the man she was pleading to. She vaguely recognized the man as Gran, one of the older officers in the corps. “Alright, that’s enough. No need to go spouting nonsense, both of you. Warden Ingo is a very important person to the Pearl clan.” He gave the other man a withering look, who managed to shrink even further down onto himself. “We can explain to the commander and he will understand. We are here to be accepted in Hisui, not to cause conflict, or to leave a warden without a working foot.”

“Right. Sorry, right. Uh, in that case, we could maybe move the warden to a cot, maybe?” It seemed as if no one was in the mood to humor the medic, given the atmosphere of the camp. “Or... maybe... not?”

Lady Sneasler made her way to one of the sleeping tents and managed to gently lower her warden into the cot. She gave a pointed glare at the quivering medic, and he quickly scurried inside with his kit and closed the tent. Akari quickly lost interest and found herself collapsing to the dirt next to the campfire, bruised and exhausted.

“Young Akari, you alright?” Gran crossed over to where Akari was sitting with Lilligant, who was picking through her hair with gentle strokes of her arms. He gave the Alpha a wide berth as he approached, still clearly wary.

“Why would he say that?” Akari wasn’t sure what was wrong with the medic. She would have to complain to the medical corps when-

“I understand you’re upset, but you must understand. Under most circumstances, Young Blake would be right. We usually don’t stop to assist others out here in the wilds.” Akari blinked as Gran explained. “We oftentimes only bring enough medical equipment to assist our own survey and security corps. Warden Ingo is important enough for us to take back, but I wouldn’t rely on the Galaxy Team to assist every waylaid traveler.”

“I-” Akari found herself at a loss for words. She knew it was true. While Akari herself never made off with much more than bruises and cuts, she had seen what happened when Pokemon attacked other members of the survey corps while they were out scouting. It was never pretty, especially because more than half the survey corps only ever have one Pokemon with them if even that. Akari wasn’t the type to try to fight a Pokemon with her issued knife like some of the older members were wont to do. “I get it. Sorry, Gran.”

“You care, Young Akari. No need to be sorry about that.” Gran grunted. “Let’s get you home safe.”

-----

When they arrived in Jubilife, Akari was rushed over to the medical corps section of the Galaxy building to be checked over. She was handed a rather disgusting tonic to drink and was sent to report to Commander Kamado.

Of course, Kamado was concerned about Wayward Cave and asked many questions about whether or not the whole cave system would collapse on itself. Akari answered every question she could, and Kamado took notes at his desk with a furious scrawl. The commander apparently found some trace of sympathy under his mustache and let her go pretty quickly. Her last orders were to send in someone from the construction corps to meet with him to discuss the state of the cave. She still couldn’t shake off all of her distrust of her commander, but he was a hard man who lived in a hard place. Occasionally she wondered at what Kamado had experienced in his past to make him so paranoid, but ultimately, he was concerned for the people under his care. Today, he was concerned for her, and that mattered, even a little.

“Go get some rest, Akari. I’ve heard from other members of the Survey Corps that the Croagunk tonic puts you down for at least three days. Captain Cyllene will have a schedule for you then, but for now, dismissed.”

“Thank you, sir.” And this time, through aching bones and foggy thoughts, she meant it.

She found herself back in the Medical Corps office. “Captain Pesselle, will Warden Ingo be alright?” The woman peered up at Akari from over her table, where she was carefully mashing a vivichoke with a mortar and pestle. Around her were the members of the Medical Corps, bustling and moving in and out of the office.

“He’s conscious, no infection. He won’t be walking on that foot, though.” The medic officer announced.

Akari felt herself shudder at the Captain’s wording. “For how long?”

Pesselle frowned, placing her vivichoke to the side. “We’re unsure. He might not be able to use that foot without a cane for months, maybe forever. We’d have to see how he balances on it.” She sighed. “We set the foot best we could, but there was a lot of muscle tearing from the bones getting crushed.”

Akari felt her stomach dropping out of her. “I... There’s nothing you can do to make it heal any faster?”

Pesselle shook her head. “Not really, no. The best we have is patience. If you want to see him, he’s in the other room.”

Akari peered into the injury bay, where she spotted the hanging coat of Sneasler’s warden on one of the bedposts. She approached. “Ingo, how are you feeling?”

“About as well as one could be, Miss Akari. They have dispatched a messenger to Lady Irida, but I suppose I spend much of my time here in Jubilife these days. If I cannot get my tracks under me, I imagine will be running the Training Grounds more often than before.”

Akari did her best to smile. “Yeah, sure.” It was reassuring that the man seemed to be in good spirits.

“Akari!?” She heard a yell from the entrance to the sickbay. “Akari!” Rei’s worried face appeared in the doorway. “What happened? I heard there was a cave-in! Are you alright?”

“Rei!” Akari blinked at her friend who managed to cross the room without running, dodging around a nurse as he approached. “I’m alright, really! Just some bruises.”

“Oh, that’s good. Warden Ingo?”

“Mister Rei, it is good to see your engine running hot.” Ingo managed to do that thing where his eyes softened instead of smiling.

“Warden Ingo, are you gonna be alright? Your foot...”

“If all things go well, I will be back on track eventually. Though this brings to mind; I won’t be able to be with Lady Sneasler while I cannot walk. When Lady Irida arrives, I expect she will assign a new warden.”

“Is that going to be a problem?” Akari was suddenly worried.

“Not at all.” Ingo shook his head. “Best case, I recover within three months and I can continue my duties.”

“Right. That’s fine, right?” Rei looked relieved. “I’m glad you two are okay. I heard about the cave-in and I nearly broke the smoke bomb I was making!”

Akari sighed. “And we never really did find anything about that Whishcash...”

-----

The next day found Akari wandering to the Security Corps training grounds. She still wasn’t cleared for strenuous work outside the walls of Jubilife, but as one of the Survey Corps’s most accomplished members, she couldn’t afford to let herself slack off. Warden Ingo was sitting in a chair against one of the walls of the training yard, accompanied by the distinctive Noble Sneasler. She admittedly was curious at the noble’s presence in Jubilife, but she wasn’t here to see Ingo. She turned her attention to the security corps building, where Zisu was frowning at the pair. “Captain Zisu?” She saluted as the Security Corps officer turned her attention to Akari.

“Akari. Cyllene mentioned that you might show up. She also told me to tell you to buzz off and get some rest.” The larger woman raised an eyebrow.

“Captain Cyllene?” Akari blinked, her salute collapsing at the sudden dismissal. “Captain really said that?”

“She said you’d been working too hard anyway, though not directly. I swear, that woman would have sat you down and started brushing your hair if she wasn’t such a hardass.” Zisu snorted. “‘Make sure that the competent one doesn’t kill herself training’, she said. Practically a bedrest order coming from Cyllene.”

“So...”

“That means no, you don’t get to do physical training today. Go talk to Ingo if you want to do stuff with your Pokemon, but no exercise more than a light jog.” Zisu gave her a smile. “Cyllene might physically attack me if she catches you doing anything too stressful.”

“Right. Thank you, Captain Zisu.” As she had been dismissed, Akari made her way over to the wall where Ingo and Lady Sneasler had settled against. He held a walking cane in his left hand, and Lady Sneasler had her eyes closed as she rested against her warden.

Ingo noted her approach and gave a small wave. “Hello, Miss Akari.”

“Warden Ingo!” He definitely looked better today than he did yesterday. With his coat and hat on, the warden looked ten years younger than without. “They let you out already?”

“That they did.” He gestured to his foot, which appeared to be wrapped in bandages and covered in a straw shoe. “For now, I keep weight off the foot and eventually I will be fully operational. For now, we simply wait for Lady Irida to arrive. I have discussed some with your Commander and the good Captain over there, and they have agreed to allow me a place within Jubilife while recovering. Apparently, the Security Corps has enjoyed my presence here more than I expected.”

Akari considered for a second. It was true that outside of Commander Kamado and maybe Beni, there was no one better at Pokemon battling in Jubilife than Warden Ingo. Her own win record against him wasn’t even fifty-fifty, and she considered her team to be pretty competent. “I guess that’s true. Do you think you would head back to the Icelands when Lady Irida comes around?”

The man considered as Lady Sneasler appeared to wake up from her nap. “Most likely not.” He sighed. “The Icelands are a harsh place for an injured man, and I can still be useful here. Up in the Pearl settlement, I would be no better than another mouth to feed if I cannot hunt or forage myself.” Sneasler flopped her head across his lap, and he began to absently stroke her fur underneath her long feather. She let out a content growl. “I lived mostly with Lady Sneasler around Mount Coronet. It is true for most of the Wardens, both from the Diamond and Pearl Clans. Often times my only company would be Sir Melli.”

Akari wasn’t sure if his deadpan stare got even deeper, but she could understand if it did. Warden Melli hadn’t left the best first impression, nor the second or third for that matter. “Well, it will be good to see you around more often. We can get some battles in!”

She sincerely hoped that she was getting better at interpreting Warden Ingo’s facial expressions, because she could sense some sort of approval underneath the brim of his hat. At least, his eyes seemed to harden like he was focusing more. “Of course, Miss Akari.” Lady Sneasler seemed fully awake now and had crossed over to stand next to Akari.

“Snea?” The Pokemon seemed to ask a question, raising her claws towards her.

“Yes, I’m alright, Lady Sneasler.” The Pokemon seemed satisfied with her answer as Akari approached and reached up to scratch the same spot that Ingo had been attending to. “We made it back safe.”

In the end, Akari might have gotten a little too into the subsequent Pokemon battles, because she got an earful from Captain Cyllene that afternoon. Akari could hardly blame herself for her excitement, the warden was simply too strong for her not to go overboard. A few bruises from diving out of the way of errant attacks and a terse scolding from her Captain later, Akari found herself at the Wallflower with Rei and the Professor. A bit of normalcy after a crazy day was appreciated as they shared a meal again. After all, washing out the flavor of another dose of Croagunk tonic could only improve her mood.

“So, how far along are you anyways, Professor?” Rei had to ask. “You and Akari have been recording a ton of new data these past few months.” He glanced at Akari while still chewing on a piece of mochi. “And the surveys seem to be getting more dangerous too. An alpha Whishcash?”

“It was a good time!” Akari couldn’t help but object. It was no longer rainy season, so the lower sections of Wayward Cave were much drier than they had been for the past few months. If they wanted to investigate the lower sections of the mountain, it was as optimal a time as any, before winter really set in and the ground froze solid.

“Still...” Rei seemed unconvinced. “Did you guys even get any info on the Whishcash?”

“Unfortunately not.” Professor Laventon shook his head around some mochi. “Most likely, if the Whichcash follows behaviors we have tracked, it will start burrowing into the ground within a few weeks to rest for the winter. We were hoping to get data before that happened, but it seems that Wayward Cave’s lower sections are off-limits to everyone but the Security and Construction Corps for now.”

“Still, we’re making good progress!” Akari noted. “Pretty soon we’ll have seen almost two hundred different species of Pokemon!”

“You know, I would never have guessed there were that many...” Rei put down his fork.

“More than that, Rei.” Professor Laventon noted. “This Pokedex project only contains information on the Pokemon here in Hisui. There are even more species of Pokemon scattered all over the world.”

“Really? Do you know anything about them?” Rei seemed curious.

The rest of dinner was spent discussing the various Pokemon Professor Laventon had seen on his travels.

Chapter Text

Seek out all Pokemon.

Her sacred mission from Sinnoh, the great Arceus. It was the first thing she remembered, that day on Prelude Beach. It was her only link to her murky past that she could cling to, a lifeline in a foggy sea of half-formed ideas and unconnected trivia.

Seek out all Pokemon.

She knew it wasn’t finished, not yet. She had spent months scouring the land of Hisui, in the deepest caves and highest peaks. Surely if she had found every Pokemon in Hisui, something would change? There had to be a reason Lord Arceus gave her this mission. 

Seek out all Pokemon. 

And still, the message ran through her head like a bad disease. What else was there? She had seen every Pokemon in the Survey Corps had reported on Hisui. There were alpha Pokemon of every stripe, strange colorations, even Pokemon that were different based on where they were found. Legends of the prince, the darkest shadows, beauty and grace, the turbulent seasons blew in from across the waters, and she had recorded and captured them all.

Seek out all Pokemon. 

In the deep parts of her brain, she knew there were Pokemon she had not seen in her travels these past months. She had felt the idea that there were pieces missing, parts of her records that should have been there, but were not.

Seek out all Pokemon. 

What was the purpose of those two strange discs? She noted that various things sold by the Ginkgo Guild would help certain Pokemon evolve, but she had never found a use for either of them. They sat inside her trunk alongside other oddities she purchased from them, like the devices that Rotom liked to inhabit. She knew what they were, and what they did. But she didn’t understand why. 

Seek out all Pokemon.

She glanced at the page on Magnezone in her Pokedex, spread across the floor. It was clear to her that Magnezone had to have evolved from some other Pokemon, but there had been no sign of what mysterious Pokemon that could have been. Professor Laventon left pages blank at her behest because she was sure that there had to be something there. The Professor wasn’t so confident, but he humored her anyway. Two blank pages in the middle of her records, and she couldn’t shake the feeling that she already knew what belonged there.

Seek out all Pokemon.

The bones of ancient Pokemon had been discovered within Mount Coronet. Was it possible that there were Pokemon that were still alive that she hadn’t encountered, deep within the earth? Did those Pokemon have evolutions? Could there be even more deep within the waters or the earth?

It was getting overwhelming. She found herself back at the Security Corps training Grounds, where Waren Ingo and Lady Sneasler spent much of their time together.

It was a curious thing. Ordinarily, Lady Sneasler would be more at home in the Coronet Highlands, where she could climb and monitor the area. But when Lady Irida arrived, she noticed that the Noble was basically glued to her Warden’s side. After some discussion with Commander Kamado, the Galaxy Team drafted a treaty with the Pearl Clan that would allow for Ingo to assist in training the Security Corps and the Survey Corps in the art of Pokemon battles. Of course, with Kamado being the adamant neutral party, the Galaxy Team invited a representative of the Diamond Clan to assist as well. This turned out to be the carefree Warden Arezu, who already spent much of her time in Jubilife. This time, her post was more of an official one as a Warden of the Diamond Clan, rather than an apprentice to the local hairdresser, but not much other than her title changed. Lady Lilligant was wont to roam the borders of the village these days, assisting in keeping the meadows and farms peaceful. It took the villagers a few weeks to grow used to two Noble Pokemon near the village, but Commander Kamado saw the assignments as a resounding success in peacekeeping.

Still, that meant that Warden Ingo was around, and Akari was itching to battle. Nearly two months had passed with no progress in her mission, and even Captain Cyllene began to take note. Akari noted the worried look in her Captain’s expression and reassured her that she would go blow off some steam with the Pearl Clan Warden. Their battles tended to draw a crowd due to how flashy they both could be. It was a strange relationship they shared, almost a mentorship, yet nothing official. It was just... easier to talk to him. On occasion, they would share little things that they remembered in common, like proper plumbing or public transportation. Other times they would simply come out to battle, with both of them cycling through a cadre of different Pokemon trained by their hands. Once in a blue moon, Lady Sneasler would deign to join their sparring sessions, where the two trainers would face Sinnoh’s chosen at the same time. Their record against Sneasler was... less than stellar, given the circumstances. Still, with the mounting frustrations in her survey work, Akari had been spending more and more time at the Security Corps training grounds.

She found him in his usual chair, Lady Sneasler currently perched atop the Security Corps building.

“Akari.” The Pearl Warden pushed up with his cane. “You seem troubled.”

“Ah, do I?” Akari couldn’t tell if she looked as frazzled as she felt. She had spent the morning poring over maps and the Pokedex, trying to figure out if there was another place she could look to seek out whatever Pokemon were still left in the region. Her head was foggier than it had been in weeks, maybe the stress was getting to her?

“Are you alright...?” Ingo was like her, she had been told. Memories faded and in pieces... maybe he would understand a little?

“...I’m scared, Ingo.” Akari finally admitted. “What if I can’t-”

Ingo simply raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean, Akari?”

Unbidden, the words came pouring forth. “Seek out all Pokemon. What does that even mean? Am I not good enough? It’s been months since I’ve made any progress! I’m missing something, I know it. I haven’t found them all-” She found herself closing the distance to the man, but instead of grabbing on to the Warden, she found the furry chest of Lady Sneasler, who somehow managed to get down from the roof. She didn’t care. Her head was pounding, she was stressed, she just wanted to battle...  Lady Sneasler’s arms tightened around her. “I know that they exist, but I just can’t... It’s frustrating... If I could just remember...”

She felt something being pressed on her head, wrapping around her crown and shading her forehead. She managed to look up to see Ingo fitting a different cap than his usual onto his head. This one was still black and had the same basic shape, but the band around it was a simple pink stripe with the Pearl Clan symbol pressed onto a patch in front. Above, she couldn’t see more than a sliver of sky under the dark rim of what could only be Ingo’s old cap.

“It seems that I finally managed to outgrow the old hat.” Ingo snorted. “I figure I must be younger than I thought if my head could still grow. I tend to press my hat to my eyes when I have those kinds of thoughts. Block out the world for a few seconds. Perhaps it will help you too.”

Akari peered up at Ingo’s new cap as the older one hugged the sides of her head. She felt his hand press down on top of the hat, bringing the edges to come down over her ears. In the corner of her vision, Lady Sneasler almost seemed to be laughing at the whole situation.

She wasn’t sure that the hat was helping. “Uh.”

“Snea.” Lady Sneasler gave her a cuff on the back of her neck. Fortunately, her claws weren’t in a good position to cut through the thick wool of Akari’s uniform.

“Perchance a battle will help you clear your thoughts.” Ingo stretched as he brought his cane to the ground, picking himself up as Sneasler untangled herself from Akari. She instinctively reached up to adjust the hat on her head.

“...Yeah. I think that would help.” Once again, she felt the smooth stone of her Pokeballs. Sometimes, when she was feeling introspective, she wondered at the two-textured surface of a Pokeball. Wasn’t it wrong? She once spent a good twenty minutes thinking about if the Pokeballs on her waist felt like they weren’t supposed to be the way they were. It never led anywhere, like most of her idle thoughts about her past. Still, she gripped one of the capsules and brought it out in front of her.

Ingo gave her that same hard look he always did when he prepared for battle.

“All aboard!”

-----

There was really only one place left to check for any signs of Pokemon in Hisui: the strange distortions that occasionally appeared throughout the region. Of course, those distortions were immensely dangerous, but it was the last idea Akari had. But before she could try to go gallivanting through the region throwing herself into space-time rifts, Akari needed to overcome the obstacle in front of her.

“Absolutely not.” The stern gaze of Captain Cyllene bored holes into Akari from across the desk.

“But- This is the only lead we have right now, Captain!” Akari knew this would happen, of course. Captain Cyllene was the one who put out the order to avoid the spatial distortions in the first place. Too many strong Pokemon emerging from the rifts had caused too many injuries, but the descriptions of the Pokemon inside were the only things that Akari hadn’t managed to research.

“Risking your life for foggy descriptions of Pokemon that will do their utmost to kill you is not part of the Survey Corps mission statement, Akari.” Captain Cyllene raised an eyebrow.

“This will expand and advance the Pokedex, Captain. I promise it will.” Akari steeled herself. “I know it’s dangerous. But I can handle it, Captain. I swear! There are...there are gaps we can fill inside the distortions, I know it!”

“And how sure are you of that? I won’t throw away a member of the Survey Corps on a hunch.”

Akari relaxed a little. At least Captain wasn’t immediately dismissing the idea like she feared she would. “This is where the research is leading, Captain. Professor Laventon can verify my findings. We can’t know until we try. I can do it, Captain. Please.”

The blue-haired woman sighed. “And you are determined to carry out this mission?”

Akari straightened her back and adjusted her hat. “Yes, ma’am.”

Captain Cyllene sighed. “...Fine. Nine Star Akari.”

Akari managed to force herself into the proper salute.

“Captain.”

“Do you know your limits?”

“Yes.” She didn’t have a choice.

Captain Cyllene stepped around the desk to stand in front of Akari. “Then your mission is as follows. Investigate the remaining space-time distortions appearing around Hisui. Record whatever you find inside. If you can, find a method we can use to stop them. And... come back safe.”

Akari managed not to smile as she saluted. This was it. “Aye.”

Seek out all Pokemon.

-----

She was confident her arm wasn’t broken, but it was a near thing. She had been nearly hit by the reckless charge of a wild Quilava, and was now crouching in some tall grass, trying to catch her breath.  Her only goal was the small, red-and-blue Pokemon currently floating under an apricorn tree nearby. The Pokeball in her hand felt warmer than normal, but Akari threw it with all the precision she could muster.

“Come on... please-” The ball clicked closed. “Yes!”

Of course, her exclamation revealed her location to every hostile Pokemon inside the distortion, and she had to spend several frantic seconds diving for the newly-filled ball before she managed to escape. It was fortunate that most of the time, the Pokemon within the space-time distortion didn’t pursue her through the boundary of the distortion itself.

Akari managed to grab the strange, purple flute that was gifted to her by Arceus and called for aid. By the time Lord Wyrdeer picked her up, she could feel her elation rising.

This was it! The two strange discs were banging together in her bag, just waiting to be used. Three Pokeballs had been filled with the little floating duckling, secured for study. She could feel it. The last line of Pokemon to be recorded. With this, the Pokedex would finally be finished.

-----

When she arrived back at the lab with the Pokemon, Professor Laventon was absolutely baffled. “I... what is this, Akari?”

The small, blocky Pokemon was currently floating around in a circle, mostly upside down. It seemed to be amused by orbiting around Rei as he ducked and dodged, trying to prevent the strange duckling from touching him.

“Ppppppppppp-po-” The little thing seemed to like Rei, who finally relented and let the Pokemon settle on top of his hat. “Po po po po po-”

“As far as I can tell, it’s called... Porygon.” Akari nodded. It wasn’t anything concrete, but the name seemed right.

“Well, you discovered it, so I suppose you get to name it.” Laventon began scribbling in his notepad.

“No, I mean... that is the name of the Pokemon.” Akari tried to explain.

“What do you mean?” Rei hesitantly reached up to touch the thing, who floated away when tapped. 

“I...” Akari pressed her hat to the top of her head. “I don’t know. I think I might have seen this Pokemon before somewhere... maybe?”

Professor Laventon winced. “Well, we will have some work to do with recording information on the little one. Are you sure that the... Porygon will evolve with these disc items?” He observed the small pile of discs on the table. Akari had managed to obtain a larger collection of them than she expected as she found her way through the distortion fields. Unfortunately, finding a way to stop the distortions entirely was beyond both what she and Professor Laventon could do. But maybe Arceus could do something about the distortions?

“Yeah.” Akari nodded.

“Well, here we go.” Laventon released a second Porygon into the room, presenting it with both disks. Akari wasn’t sure which of the two would cause the Pokemon to evolve, so they allowed the Pokemon to choose between the two. The Porygon hovered towards the first, grey disk before it began to glow. “Ah, it appears to be working. Wonderful!”

“Poooooooo-” This new form looked even more like a waterfowl than the last one. A large blue beak stuck out from a much more detailed face, with rounded ovals instead of sharper triangles. “Poooooooo-” It floated over to the other, purple disk, and began glowing again.

“Ack, wait!” Laventon attempted to reach out and grab the purple disk before the Pokemon could evolve again, but it seemed it was already too late.

“PpppppppppozzzzzzPozpozzzzzP--” Akari stared at the Pokemon. It was buzzing and twitching, though this one seemed to latch onto her rather than Rei.

“Hey there, guy. How are you?” She somehow managed to get its head to stay somewhat still even as the limbs twitched erratically.

“Pppppppooooopppppp-” It seemed to relax slightly as she rubbed the Pokemon’s smooth head. “Popopooorygonzzzzzzzzzzz-” It was almost pleasingly tingly to the touch. Akari immediately took a liking to the little thing. It was wiggling in what seemed to be happiness, clinging to one of her arms as Akari attempted to figure out where the floating Pokemon would even want to be pet. As it turned out, mostly the base of its horn.

Laventon shook his head even as Rei got up from where he had fallen over. “Well, it seems as though we have a name for it. Does Porygonz or Porygon-Z sound-”

BEEEEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

BEEEEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP

Her Arc Phone. She pulled the mysterious device from her bag and glanced at the screen. It was calling her to the Temple.

“Akari?” Rei was looking at her now, face lined with concern. Could this wait? Could she really keep the almighty waiting?

...

No. She couldn’t Akari swallowed. This was her sacred mission. “Rei. Professor. I need to go to Mount Coronet.”

“Now, Miss Akari? We are currently conducting research.” The professor was surprised, which made sense. Akari had always done her best to assist with the lab work whenever she could. The little Porygon-Z had somehow managed to settle wrapped around her neck, vibrating occasionally.

“This is it.” She showed Rei her Arc Phone.

Rei was somewhat confused. “What is it?”

“The last Pokemon.”

“... oh!” Rei perked up. “Your mission!” His grin grew. “That means we’ve discovered every Pokemon in Hisui?” Professor Laventon peered around the twitching Pokemon in front of him, interested as well.

Akari smiled. “Yeah. Hopefully, if things go well, I can clear some things up about why I was dropped here. Arceus surely can tell me.”

Laventon looked almost relieved. “Well, then, we should make haste. We very well cannot leave Arceus waiting for us.”

-----

Thou hast done well to seek out all Pokemon.

She was alone atop the ruins of the Temple of Sinnoh, other than the grip of Pokeballs on her belt. Against her better judgment, the little Porygon-Z was contained in one of the balls alongside Typhlosion, Lilligant, and Empoleon. Both Rei and Professor Laventon had chosen to remain behind, in reverence to her mission. Honestly, she might have preferred if at least Rei was around, but she understood why they wanted to hang back.

She had ascended the staircase of light to behold a room, floating in the void. Strange patterns pulsated on the floor, and a whole galaxy of stars was awash across the boundaries of space. It was beautiful.

Unflagging devotion to a goal shalt see it through... So hast thou proven by thine actions. Much as that ancient hero once did. He and the Pokémon that walked beside him. To see such truths proven anew, beyond the bounds of time and space, bringeth joy to me. I am glad that I chose thee to call to this world.

Akari could feel the words resonating in her body. “Lord Arceus... what was it like, where I was from?”

The Pokemon seemed to hum, as if in thought. 

A place much like the one thou see before thee. A similar future to what thou hast built. A world where Pokemon and humans exist together.

“The future...? Why... why can’t I remember? Did I leave people behind? Are they searching for me? Do I have a family?”

To be torn from one’s home... Many before have been caused great anguish. The distortions of time and space drive many mad. Thine location was most fortuitous. The dimensions hath been torn. Weak. The fabric of space and time grew stretched, in that place where the banished one tore through. Thou were there, in that world between worlds. Thine soul hast been found at a great crossroads. Thus, thou hast been chosen. To move one already at such a crossroads was ideal. Less load to be lost. Thou hast proven thine will.

Akari had to parse the words for a few seconds. The words seemed disconnected, but the meaning seemed to flow between them like water. Did Arceus speak like this all the time? She was already partway through different dimensions? Out of all the explanations she expected, it certainly wasn’t that. “Then... what was I doing between worlds? Was it important?”

In that place where time and space are chaos, there was a man attempting to create his new world by destroying the old. 

Akari felt her bones turn to ice. “A new world...”

There is understanding in thine eyes. Fear. Fear of this new world.

“Yes.” She nodded. “Volo tried to use... Giratina... to summon you and create a new world... but I thought that Giratina was going to protect Hisui from now on!”

Giratina continues to protect the balance of the world. To be within Giratina’s realm is to be at the mercy of its great power. And still, the man waits in Giratina’s realm, still determined to forge his grand design. He hath attempted to harness the power of both Time and Space. Giratina hath imprisoned him in the Distortion World. Though his chances of success are slim, they are not zero. He plans to destroy the plane upon which Giratina resides through the powers of Space and Time.

“Then... that means he can still do it! Giratina might not be enough! With the powers of Dialga and Palkia together, even that tiny chance might be...”

Is it thine will, thine determination to stop him? Most likely, he shall wander the wastes of Giratina’s plane, never to be seen.

Akari swallowed. “Would... He’s going to destroy everything. My past? Before... all of this? Even Hisui? Would this man erase it all?”

...Yes.

“Then send me back there. I can’t let the world be destroyed if I can do something about it!” She instinctively reached for her strap of Pokeballs. “I already stopped Volo. If all of space and time gets destroyed, then my past or future doesn’t matter! It will all be erased anyways! Lord Arceus!”

...As you wish. Thine will is strong. Thou hast demonstrated the heart of a true hero. Thy burden is light, so thine memories shall remain, how few they are. 

Akari couldn’t help but snort. “I guess that makes sense, in some twisted sort of way. So, what is it I have to do?”

In response, a shining light descended from above Arceus, landing in front of her. Akari reached out and grasped what felt like an elemental plate. It was a stark white, engraved with a symbol that looked like a star, similar to the Ranking Stars of the Galaxy Team. 

I bestow upon thee a part of myself. 

Thine mission: Unravel the truth, and live well.

Chapter Text

She wasn’t falling, but the sensation of falling wouldn’t go away. Was there ground beneath the rest of these floating islands? She couldn’t tell. There were walls and ground around her, but seeing which way anything was orientated was confusing. She placed a hand on one of the walls, only for her top half to begin feeling like she was falling sideways. 

“What the...”

BEEEEEP BEEP BEEP

The Arc Phone. She pulled it out, and a path was laid out on the map for her to follow. Akari was confident she wouldn’t be able to find her way through the mess that whatever this place was, so some directions were helpful. Still, she took not an inconsiderable amount of time testing her footing and jumping from platform to platform.

Gravity seemed to be strange here. There was one place where she had to brace her back against one wall and walk up another wall a scant arm’s length away. She had stepped off the edge of a platform only to end up on the other side of it, standing on the ceiling. There were waterfalls that seemed to be frozen in place; the trees seemed to reach into the sky then simply disappear.

Eventually, she found herself looking up to view what looked like three people standing together on one island, upside down. They were speaking, though Akari couldn’t make out individual words over the sounds of running water. She clambered from her platform to one lower down, trying to catch what they were saying. One of them surely was the man trying to remake the world.

“-If you hate our world you should just go off somewhere alone. Find somewhere where you can live without seeing others.” A woman was speaking.

“Why should I run and hide from the world and have to wait quietly? My aim is to rid our world of the vague and incomplete thing we call spirit. By freeing ourselves of that, our world can be made complete. That is my justice! No one can interfere!” A man’s voice responded. That was the man, wasn’t it? The person who was trying to create his new world?

There was a choking sound. Akari had crept closer now, peering over a ledge at the island below. Standing next to a blonde-haired woman was... “Is that... me? I look so young...” She was wearing a very short skirt and sleeveless vest, with a white hat on her head similar to what Professor Laventon would wear. At the very least, the other Akari’s hat matched with the rest of her outfit, unlike the good Professor. Akari reached up and adjusted Warden Ingo’s old hat on her head. It had gotten a little dirtier, a little more scuffed in the past few months. She was fortunate that Anthe was willing to repair both the hat and the Warden’s coat when the cloth finally took enough damage to begin to fall apart on him.

"But... That's no justice at all!" The woman cried.

The area suddenly became awash with what Akari recognized as distortion energy. The energy coalesced around the other Akari as both the man and the woman backed up, startled at the sudden lights and sound. The other Akari began to look around, clearly unsure of what was happening.

“Wha- what’s-” She disappeared in a snap of distortion energy. Various articles of clothing and Pokeballs clattered to the dirt, followed by the thud of the girl’s bag.

“Dawn!” The woman cried.

“Hmph. Even here, where time and space have lost all meaning, are you really surprised that things such as that could happen?” The man shook his head. “Truly, emotion blinds the senses and clouds the mind.”

The woman almost seemed to growl. “Even if you have some semblance of power, you’d have to be crazy thinking you can win against both me and the Pokemon in this world.” Akari was close enough to reach that platform they were on, probably. Maybe if she jumped...

“In the end, it does not matter. The shadowy Pokemon has brought me here. I will defeat it, whether or not you stand in my way. I will destroy this mirrored world. In turn, that will bring down the incomplete world beside it, and I shall bring upon a new one free of spirit.” He was going to try and kill Giratina?

Akari really couldn’t wait any longer, could she? She coiled her legs under her and leapt from her perch, landing behind the woman on the island.

“So you’re the one trying to destroy the world.” It wasn’t as if there was any question about it. She still felt the need to say something, and anything else she wanted to say wouldn’t be very polite. 

Akari couldn’t help but grimace at the woman’s confused look. She looked so much like Volo, like a sister or something. Maybe a descendant? Though Akari couldn’t really see the man wearing that much black. “Dawn?”

She swallowed, making eye contact with the man. Now that she was closer, she could see what looked like the Galaxy insignia emblazoned on his vest. And this man... he looked like her Captain... “You’re trying to kill Giratina... why?”

He simply raised an eyebrow. “Is that its name? Of course I will destroy the creature. It stands in the way of my perfect world.”

Akari blinked. “That’s your whole plan? You didn’t even know Giratina’s name and you’re going to try and kill it?” For some reason, the thought made her angry. Did that mean most of Professor Laventon’s work was lost to history? This was supposed to be the future, right? Was all of their work for nothing, that the names of Hisui’s legends were forgotten for a second time? “I’ve met a man like you once, who wanted to remake the world. Only, that man had the slimmest shot at succeeding, because Giratina was on his side. And he still failed.” She was starting to get angry, she could tell, but found it hard to care. The woman was definitely looking at her now. “Giratina brought you here to be stopped. Lord Arceus brought me here to stop you. You’ve already failed.”

The man snorted, gripping a red-and-white Pokeball in his hand. “Lord Arceus... I see. If you are so confident, then face me! Show me how little I matter! Prove to me my dream is worthless! Houndoom, time to work!” Emerging from the man’s Pokeball was something that Akari hadn’t seen before. A black canine with massive horns...

“Lilligant, move out!” Her Pokemon landed with a flutter. “Close Combat!”

The man’s eyes widened. Apparently, he hadn’t expected that. Lilligant had already closed the gap between them, throwing a flurry of blows at what surely had to be a Dark-type Pokemon. “Back up! Flamethrower!”

This time it was Akari’s turn to be surprised. She didn’t expect what was clearly a Dark-type to know any fire moves at all! And the size of those flames, it might even be a Fire-type itself... “Lilligant, agile Victory Dance, then Drain Punch!”

“Agile... what-” The man seemed more nervous than Akari anticipated. He shook his head as the Houndoom was thrown across the island. “Thunder Fang.” The Houndoom was assuredly a tough Pokemon, but Lilligant simply fluttered out of the way of the comparatively slow attack.

“Lilligant, strong Drain Punch.” This time, Lilligant took her time lining up the perfect shot, even as the Houndoom made a valiant effort to escape. Lilligant was simply too fast for the canine, and it went down.

“Lilligant... that’s a fascinating Pokemon.” Akari turned her attention to the woman beside her. She was staring at Lilligant with a look that Akari could only describe as Laventon-like, a burning curiosity.

“What do you mean...?” They couldn’t speak for long, because it took the man only a scant few seconds to select his next Pokemon. 

“Crobat, get going. Air Slash!” 

“Move!” And a mad dash of tag began. Lilligant didn’t have very much space to move, preventing the large Pokemon from dodging every attack it could. Akari grimaced as Lilligant was forced to take an attack because she simply ran out of ground to stand on. Besides, Lilligant didn’t have many moves that worked well on a Poison/Flying Pokemon. “Poison Jab!”

Unfortunately for Lilligant, flying moves did serious damage to her, even with only glancing blows. Crobat was a fast one, too, and the dancer couldn’t avoid every hit forever... “Recover.” Akari said in her low voice. “Keep moving.” She did her best to circle around to stay out of the way of Crobat’s attacks, but there just wasn’t enough space...

“Faster, Crobat.” The man’s impassioned voice carried cleanly over the cavern. “Aerial Ace.”

“Lilligant-” But it was too late. The Crobat must have hit something important because Lilligant was out for the count. She returned the ball to her belt and made her next selection. “Empoleon, be ready. Ice Beam!” 

She knew her vigilant friend would be preparing his Ice Beam as soon as he emerged from his ball, and the attack managed to nail the Crobat right on the wing.

“Crobat... Confuse Ray.” The man shook his head.

“Don’t let it hit you! It’s slowing down! Ice Beam!” Akari gave her orders with practiced ease as Empoleon responded to the Crobat’s attack. The second Ice Beam hit the same side of the Crobat as the first, and it finally hit the ground with a thud.

“Hn.” The man seemed a little more serious now as the Crobat disappeared into his ball. “Who are you to stand in Team Galactic’s way?”

“Team Galactic...” At this point, Akari couldn’t even find the strength to be surprised at this strange, backward reality she found herself in. Was it not just this one madman, but all of Galaxy Team that wanted to remake the world? Of course, the organization she had grown to love had turned into... whatever this was. 

It had only been fifteen minutes, but Akari really didn’t like the future.

“Weavile... attend.” The man was visibly tense. Revealed to her was another Pokemon Akari was less familiar with. They had only recently gotten the strange, Dark-type Sneasels into the lab for documentation. As far as the Survey Corps could tell, this variant of Sneasel and their evolution, Weavile, could only be found within the space-time distortions. They were fast, but a good Fighting-type attack would bring them down. It was too bad Lilligant was out for the count. Still, Empoleon had a few tricks up his sleeve. “Fake Out.”

Another thing she was unfamiliar with. Weavile had suddenly appeared behind Empoleon, who had clearly been struck with something . Though, it didn’t seem to have done much to the Steel-type.

“Night Slash.” Weavile was already moving, bringing sharp claws across Empoleon’s back.

“Empoleon! Move! Agile Rock Smash!” One of Empoleon’s bladed wings slammed into the Weavile, who clearly didn’t appreciate being hit in the stomach. “Strong Rock Smash!” The second blow with Empoleon’s other wing had a good amount of time to wind up. It was a move combination that Empoleon had practiced with several moves, including Aerial Ace and Shadow Claw. The one-two punch sent Weavile spinning to the dirt, nearly falling off the edge of the island before the man recalled it.

“Gyrados.”

Gyrados roared as it emerged, clearly infuriated. Empoleon took an instinctive step back. Akari couldn’t blame him, not one bit. Gyrados were super dangerous in the wild. She didn’t know anyone who wanted to try and catch a Gyrados. Most of the ones in captivity were evolved from Magikarp, hers included.

“Earthquake.”

No! “Are you crazy? Empoleon! Jump! Shadow Claw!” Empoleon did his best, but she knew he couldn’t stay in the air indefinitely. The whole island was shaking, and Empoleon simply couldn’t handle the repeated hits.

She had two options left, and she didn’t like her odds. Typhlosion would be fodder against that Earthquake, or whatever Water move Gyrados decided to use. That left her other Pokemon...

“Porygon-Z! Standby!”

Porygon-Z was rotating its head rapidly as it was released from its ball.

“Poryyyyyyyyy....” It wasn’t shaking. “Porygon...” It seemed... normal. Like none of the twitchy behavior it initially had was gone.

“Thunderbolt!”

“PPPPPPPPPOOOOOOO-O-O-O-O-”

The Gyrados didn’t even have a chance to dodge. It fell to the earth with a thud, and Porygon-Z began flitting around the island, its head rotating smoothly the entire time.

“Po-po-po-po-po-” The rhythmic beeping of the Porygon-Z almost reminded Akari of- Her head began to pound.

“What the-” The man looked bewildered. “Whatever. Honchkrow, go. Drill Peck!”

“Stay at range!” It was glad to hover quickly through the trees, leading the Honchkrow around in circles. “Thunderbolt!”

Once again, the Honchkrow couldn’t get out of the way fast enough. Unfortunately, the Dark-type seemed to be made of sterner stuff than the Garydos. 

“Keep going! Drill Peck!”

“Poooooooo-” The Honchkrow finally landed an attack on the weaving Porygon-Z, slamming it into the ground.

“Po-po-po-” Somehow, the little thing got up and began orbiting, almost exactly as it had been. Did it not feel pain at all? Its entire body and each of its limbs were also rotating now, the swaying tail moving back and forth.

Akari couldn’t help but smile. “Nice guts! Hit them again! Thunderbolt!”

This time, the Honchkrow slammed into the ground, sliding before nearly falling off the edge of the island. The man was quick to recall his Pokemon before it teetered over.

He had started to seethe. “This is Team Galactic’s future. My future! The world perfected! You will not stand in my way! I have harnessed the power of the Pokemon of legend!” She could feel it now. The pressure of the Pokemon who were both once called mighty Sinnoh. “Fine! If you insist on interfering, then I will tear this dimension apart right now! Even that shadowy Pokemon will not stop me!”

She nearly dropped to her knees. The air around him was rippling, shattering like glass. He was starting to unleash the power of Dialga and Palkia. She could see the edges of the island they were standing on beginning to crumble. Beside her, the woman was staggering, reaching for her waist.

“We need to go!” The woman held up a Pokeball. “If the Distortion World entrance collapses, we both will be trapped here!”

“No!” Akari shook her head as she struggled to stand. “If we let him do what he wants, it doesn’t matter! Destroying this place will destroy the real world too! He needs to be stopped right now!”

“Then-”

Without warning the world was awash in shadow. She could see nothing in front of her, hear nothing. The pressure of what could only be Giratina’s presence. The sensation on her face was like fluttering cloth. It was a feeling she had only felt twice before in her life. 

The first time, the world was unbearably cold. Volo had threatened to tear the dimensions apart. Giratina was an enemy then, when she was forced to face down the banished one on her own.

The second time, Giratina was more of a comfort. It was still a fluttering, cool feeling that pressed down upon her, but she knew it was a test. After their confrontation, Giratina had sworn to protect the dimensions, and its reassurance was as warm as she could have reasonably expected. After all, who thought that a Pokemon made of shadow could even attempt to show compassion?

This was the third time, and it was something of a comfort. Akari almost wanted to laugh. It was the opposite of her confrontation with Volo, wasn’t it? Giratina was on her side now, protecting the world instead of trying to destroy it.

Still, the pressure of Dialga and Palkia’s power whipped through the air. Two Pokemon of legend could easily overpower one. After all, it was only with the power of Palkia and Dialga that she managed to overwhelm and defeat Giratina the first time... If things went the way Akari thought they would, then Giratina would lose. Its fluttering aura was being pressed away by the combined energy of Space and Time, forcing order upon chaos.

Still, there was something she could do to help. She reached into her bag, digging for that item that Lord Arceus had given her.

I would walk this world together with thee.

The stark white plate was surely that which represented the presence of Arceus. She pressed the plate against her chest.

She prayed. “Lord Arceus. Please.”

She felt the plate warm in her hands. She could not see, but she could only imagine that it was shining as brightly as the stars in the sky. There was a hot feeling running through her arms, across her body. Instinctively, she reached up and pressed her hat over her eyes.

Her vision burst into light.

And thus decides thine Judgment.

The world was awash with pale light, flashing across her eyes like stars. The lights streaked out across all directions, filling her view with sparkling light. They converged, slamming into the man one after another. He fell to one knee. There was a keening sound like shattering glass, and great beams of light burst away from him, disappearing into the distance.

Beside Akari, the blonde was staring even harder than before. “Dawn? What happened?”

The man had had a look of shock on his face. “No... No! What did you do?” He was looking around rapidly, clenching and unclenching his hands. What looked like shattered pieces of the Red Chain were scattered around him on the ground. “The power of the legendary Pokemon... How did you- My perfect world-”

She couldn’t help it. Akari was angry, tired, and confused. The edges of her memory were being pressed upon, like she should have recognized him from somewhere. This man was making a mockery of the Galaxy Team. He had hurt her Pokemon. 

She punched him as hard as she could. 

“Shut up.”

Chapter Text

Akari wasn’t a member of the Security Corps. She had no clue how to tie up an unconscious human, or how to transport someone a head taller than her without stuffing that someone into a basket or Pokeball. Still, it wasn’t like they could abandon the man in the strange dimension they were in. Giratina had disappeared as soon as the Red Chain shattered, presumably to go deal with the remnants of power left from the madman’s plan.

The woman was staring at her again, this time with a more calculating look than before. “You’re... not Dawn.” 

Akari shook her head. “Maybe.” There was an obvious truth in front of her. She had to have been Dawn. If Lord Arceus had placed her where she had been before... “I don’t really have many memories from before I met Lord Arceus. He told me that swathes of memory tend to be destroyed while traveling through different dimensions. If what I was told is correct, then I could be Dawn. Maybe.” Saying the words didn’t feel like a lie. At the same time, it didn’t really feel like the truth, either. Part of Akari had hoped that her memories would come rushing back when she arrived, but no such luck. Her past was as murky as ever. “I just... don’t remember. Dawn could have been ripped through the time-space distortion to Prelude Beach, just like I was. How old was she? We think I’m about sixteen, though it’s not like I can remember...”

The woman frowned. “I am unsure, I have never asked her. Probably around thirteen, maybe? Still... you look older than her. At least, you have more muscle than she did. Taller, too. Is space-time truly so unstable?”

“I’ve spent a lot of time running and climbing while on my survey work.” Akari sighed. She supposed she wasn’t the strongest person in the world when she first arrived at Jubilife, but at least she wasn’t as unfit as Professor Laventon.

“Survey work... I see. If that is the case, that means... Galaxy Expedition Team?”

Akari perked up. “Yes! I heard the man say something about Team Galactic, but... I can’t imagine any of us trying to remake the world... If anything, Commander Kamado would do something that foolish to try and preserve the world he knew, rather than make a new one.”

Cynthia gestured to the symbol on Akari’s sleeve. “I recognize the style of uniform from historical texts. The Galaxy Expedition Team hasn’t been around for hundreds of years, at least. Given your clothing, even earlier than that.” She tapped her chin with one finger, considering.  “Though, the cap eludes me. Are you a higher-ranked officer, perhaps? What’s your name, if it’s not Dawn?”

“Uh, I’m Akari, a nine-star member of the Survey Corps, under Captain Cyllene. Out of ten.” She gave the woman a salute, maybe just to show her what that looked like. “The hat was a gift from a friend.”

The woman nodded. “I am Cynthia, a historian and the current Champion of the Sinnoh region. I imagine... at this time period, you would have called it Hisui?”

“Champion?” The title sounded familiar, though nothing from her more clear memories presented itself. Another thing lost to the fog of her mind, then. “Yeah, Hisui. They named the region after Mighty Sinnoh?”

“Indeed.” 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you, Champion Cynthia. I heard you trying to stop... him. Thank you.”

Cynthia walked over to the place where the man had fallen and began collecting the shards of the Red Chain. She had the girl’s bag slung across her shoulder. “We’ll have to take Cyrus back to be prosecuted.”

“Is that his name?” Akari began digging through her bag. “I have some rope in my bag if that helps.” She extracted a few meters of thin cord from her pack, which Cynthia took. Akari only really knew one knot that she used exclusively, but Cynthia seemed to know enough about knots to tie up the man with little issue.

Cynthia reached out for her waist and came up with a Pokeball. “Garchomp.”

“Grrrr.”  The Pokemon began sniffing curiously at Akari. Maybe that was a bit too close...

“Come take this. We need to move. The Distortion World is stable now, but I’d rather not linger if we can help it. We need to find a way out. I would say that we should look for Dawn, but... probably, we won’t find her at all.”

Akari couldn’t have agreed more. This place had been giving her strange feelings since she had arrived. It almost felt like someone was always staring at her, from somewhere she couldn’t pinpoint. 

A few minutes of searching revealed a strange glint of light atop one of the many islands. “There, I think that’s it!”

Cynthia nodded. “That must be the portal. Let’s go, Garchomp!”

With that clearly insufficient warning, Akari found herself picked up in the clutches of a very fast Dragon, hurtling towards the shining light. She grabbed her hat and clenched her eyes shut.

They emerged to see the night sky reflected on the water. Garchomp managed to make a sweeping turn, landing comfortably on the edge of what must have been a crater. Actually, Akari probably recognized this place... “This is Sendoff Spring.”

Cynthia glanced at the towering cliffs of rock. “That seems right.”

It made perfect sense. “Turnback Cave was the place on Hisui that Giratina appeared in the real world. The Shadow over the Coastlands. Of course we would show up here.”

“The Shadow over the Coastlands?” Cynthia seemed intrigued. “You’ll have to share stories with me, Akari. I... I am especially fascinated by myths and legends.” Cynthia’s parallels to Volo were getting more prominent. Though, she couldn’t be as bad as Volo. She had stopped the end of the world, rather than starting it.

“Is that how you knew about all of... this?”

“Yes.” Cynthia stretched. “I will need to drop off Cyrus with people who can hold him securely. Will you be-” Cynthia caught her words. “No, you wouldn’t, would you?” She shook her head. “You could stay at one of my villas for now, if you’d like. There is much to discuss, but that can wait until the morning at least. I also need to make some calls...”

“Uh, yes. That would be appreciated, Champion Cynthia.” Akari nodded. Any hospitality would be better than toughing it out for who knew how long with the meager supplies she had in her pack. She had used a good third of her food getting to the top of Mount Coronet in the first place. Though, the Coastlands tended to have good food around, if she could manage to catch any. Still, she wouldn’t say no to a roof.

“Well then, hop on. Garchomp can take us anywhere in Sinnoh in record time.”

It was much more comfortable to ride a Garchomp when properly seated, Akari noted. How fast were they going, anyway? Surely Garchomp was faster than Braviary! In lieu of taking notes, Akari committed to writing down her thoughts as soon as she made it inside. It took them a scant twenty minutes to land in front of a well-built house.

“I’ll be bringing over some people tomorrow to discuss what happened. Cyrus was a maniac, and the aftermath of his actions will have to be dealt with.” Cynthia told her upon entering the villa.

“Right.”

“Akari...” Cynthia had pulled some sturdier rope from somewhere and was currently trussing up Cyrus like a roast. Garchomp was standing by a pile of Pokeballs, presumably belonging to the man. “You said you have no memory from before you met Arceus? What have you done since then?”

“Yes.” Akari nodded. “Lord Arceus had sent me on a mission, to seek out all the Pokemon in Hisui. I had joined the Galaxy Team pretty much as soon as I woke up. Well, give or take a day, I guess.” Akari pondered for a second. “While I was doing that, a man named Volo tried to harness the power of Giratina to end the world. Apparently, one of the two Pokemon worshiped as Mighty Sinnoh had been rampaging, which had caused a large time-space distortion to appear. Volo had caused that Pokemon to rampage, and then, when his first plan failed, tried to use Giratina’s power to summon Arceus to the world. I stopped him.”

“Remarkable.” Cynthia noted.

“Then, when I had completed my mission, Lord Arceus summoned me to the top of Mount Coronet.” Akari pulled the plate from her bag.

Cynthia’s eyes widened. “That’s a plate. An elemental plate.” she said with confidence. “No, that can’t be an elemental plate... can it?”

“Yes. It was my gift from Lord Arceus.” Akari confirmed. 

Cynthia quickly stepped around her prisoner and peered down at the slab. “Well, if there were any doubts about your story before, there would be none now. I have seen enough of the plates to recognize the material.” She ran a finger over the star pattern. “This is... remarkable. Absolutely incredible! And you say Arceus gave you this?”

“I have more of them, too.” Akari offered. Wow, this lady was really into myths, huh.

“...no. I can’t, not right now.” Cynthia was smiling with a scary look in her eyes, but quickly schooled herself. “We will be talking about you running around with several historical artifacts later, but for now, I need to get Cyrus to the International Police. Come on, Garchomp. Akari, I will see you in the morning.”

Cynthia had quickly departed to drop off Cyrus to the authorities and ‘handle other business’, as she put it.

The villa was a simple thing, with two rooms containing beds. One room, a bathroom her brain supplied, contained a tub and cleaning supplies. Before she left, Cynthia had pointed Akari towards the left side of the villa, a room containing a bed and some cabinets. Akari gratefully collapsed into bed and slept like a Nosepass.

-----

As she was wont to do most days, Akari woke with the sun. The bed was quickly stripped and Akari stepped outside to air herself out a bit, digging into her pack to find a small ration bar. There was a chill in the air, so she pulled on her complete outfit instead of just her undershirt before stepping outside. With her cap fitted and some sandals on, Akari emerged to look at a quaint little beach overlooking what must be the ocean. She checked the perimeter of the house, but no one seemed to be around. In the distance, white bird Pokemon were flapping through the sky above the ocean. She didn’t recognize either of the species she spotted, but it didn’t look like they were going to bother her from that distance. “Well, I guess this is as safe as it can be.” She moved to unclasp her whole belt of Pokeballs. Empoleon, Lilligant, Typhlosion, and the little Porygon-Z came tumbling out of their balls onto the sandy beach. “Hey, guys. How are you?” She could see her breath in the air, but it wasn’t terribly cold. She could handle that much, at least.

The three Pokemon immediately crowded around Akari, worrying over her like they tended to do. Her newest addition, the little duckling, simply flitted around, seemingly observing everything it could. Typhlosion gave her a questioning growl as she scratched at his ears.

“I... I don’t know. I guess we’re in the future, now? Or maybe my past? I’m not sure.” She sighed. “Lord Arceus gave us a new mission. Maybe this is how he intends for me to get my memories back?” She pulled out her Arc Phone, which displayed the name of her location: Resort Area.

Typhlosion responded by gently igniting his flame collar, warming away the chill of the morning air. They spent their morning together, eating. Empoleon and Porygon-Z made a little game of the former diving under the ocean’s waves while the little duckling bobbed on the surface, dipping its head inside every so often to try and find him. Akari spent a few good minutes just watching them play as Typhlosion and Lilligant simply relaxed. “Alright guys, I need to sort my pack, I think.” The trio of Pokemon nodded in understanding and returned to their balls, but the little Porygon-Z fluttered about, seemingly craving attention. “You didn’t eat, Pory.” She noted as the Pokemon fluttered about. “Did you want to stick around for a while?” Its response was a little buzz of what Akari imagined might be approval. “Well, I do need to get to know you a bit better. I think we’re gonna be with each other for a while, now.”

The sound of what could only be Cynthia’s Garchomp landed behind them, between the villa and the shore. Almost immediately after, two more thuds sounded in quick succession. Akari turned to find Cynthia alongside her Garchomp, with a Staraptor and another Pokemon that Dawn didn’t recognize immediately. Standing on the beach behind Cynthia were four people-

“Rei?” Akari’s eyes widened. The boy beside the older man looked almost exactly like Rei, even the hat! Porygon-Z had settled on top of her hat at some point, but it quickly flipped off as Akari clambered to her feet. When the boy made no move to come closer, Akari took a second look. He was younger than Rei, wasn’t he? He couldn’t have been more than twelve. Almost like a little brother, or something. Still, the resemblance reminded her of her friend.

“Akari.” Cynthia’s eyes were intense. “Let’s get inside. We have a lot to talk about.”

“Cynthia-” The other woman behind her started. She was glancing between the Champion and Akari. The rest of the people there seemed more lost than she was, fortunately.

“Come on.” With no further interruption, the group made their way inside. Porygon-Z seemed content to settle once more on top of her hat. It buzzed as Akari managed to settle on one of the cushioned benches in the main room.

“Cynthia, you have failed to explain what has happened so far.” Sitting around a central table were two boys, not even twelve years old. One of them looked like Rei reborn, and Akari couldn’t stop glancing at him. Next to them was the older man who had just spoken, with stark white hair and a mustache to rival even Commander Kamado’s. It twitched as he spoke, the same way that the Commander’s did, even. And then, with Cynthia between them both, was the clearly distressed woman. 

“Right. Introductions first.” Cynthia sighed.

“Introductions?” The blonde boy asked.

“Right. Next to me is Johanna, a Pokemon Coordinator. The two boys there are Lucas and Barry, both Pokemon Trainers. And this is Professor Rowan.” Cynthia gestured to each of them in kind. “Lucas and Barry were kind enough to use their Pokemon to bring Johanna and the Professor with them.”

“Cynthia-” The woman looked about ready to explode with questions. Akari wasn’t sure why, but she had some suspicions... Why would this woman need to be here, instead of a guard or detective? What in the name of Arceus was a Pokemon Coordinator? Some sort of government official?

“Everyone, this is Akari. She’s a member of the Galaxy Team’s Survey Corps. She came out with me when I ventured into the Distortion World after Cyrus.”

“Uh, hello.” Akari was suddenly nervous, given the wide-eyed stares she was receiving. Was there a lot of dirt on her face? She didn’t think to rinse off in the ocean the night before... “I’m Akari. Nice to meet you...?”

Rowan glowered. “And I suppose you had a reason for bringing Miss Akari here, instead of to the International Police?”

“Hey, yeah!” The blonde one, Barry, looked mad too. “Team Galactic tried to destroy everything! Why is she even here?”

“Barry.” The one that looked like Rei scolded. “I am sure the Champion knows what she is doing. We’re here about Dawn, remember? If Cynthia thinks this Akari person can help, then we should trust her.”

“But-”

“Rowan, boys, that’s enough.” Johanna choked out. “Stop. Cynthia, Akari, what happened to my daughter?” Out of all the gazes fixed on Akari, Johanna’s was filled with pain and desperation. It was the same sort of look that parents had when their children didn’t make it back from an expedition, mauled by Pokemon or natural disaster. Akari had only seen such looks a few times, but she would never forget any of them.

It wasn’t too hard to connect the dots. Dawn hadn’t returned from the Distortion World with Cynthia. She had been swallowed by the space-time distortion. Cynthia probably had went around contacting all these people yesterday. Akari absently reached to her shoulder and began playing with Porygon-Z’s tail, which had settled in front of her. There was really only one person this woman could be...

“When we entered the Distortion World after Cyrus, we weren’t really sure what would be in there. We had confronted Cyrus there in the Distortion World, but Dawn had been... enveloped in a strange bubble and, ah, disappeared.” Cynthia glanced at Akari, who took it as her cue.

“I recognized the effect that swallowed your daughter.” Akari explained. Johanna seemed to shut her eyes, but nodded. “During the last few months, I have been tasked with researching and entering what Galaxy Team have been calling space-time distortions. Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina could weaken the fabric of space-time, shattering holes where pieces of other realities could fall through. Pokemon and people from other times or places, relics from the past, or even strange items from the future could come hurling through time and space. My current thought is that your daughter fell through one of those cracks in space-time. In the... Distortion World, I have been told that time and space are much more flexible. Probably, that means it’s easier for distortions to form in those areas.” She glanced at Cynthia, who simply nodded.  “We have a theory of what might have happened, but we don’t have proof.” She turned to Johanna, who had managed to make eye contact. “How old was your daughter?”

“Ah, she had just turned eleven. Just last month.”

“Eleven?” Akari skewed her head in thought.

Cynthia was tapping her chin as well, seemingly considering the new information.

Johanna continued. “That’s pretty common for their journey to start. Ten years. Dawn had been making good progress through the gyms, too.” Eleven was too young, wasn’t it? Surely sending eleven-year-olds out by themselves was just murder! But, the girl looked like her, at least at first glance. Was it all a coincidence? Captain Cyllene confidently told Akari she was about fifteen, so where did those missing years go? Akari suddenly grew nervous. She couldn’t claim to be Dawn very easily, especially because she could only prove so much. Almost five years was much more than she could recall... A superficial resemblance wouldn’t cut it, especially because no one had seemed to recognize her yet.

“Right.” Akari had a few questions to ask, most of them along the lines of ‘what are you talking about?’ and ‘are you insane throwing children to the wilds?’, but those didn’t seem relevant. She could ask Cynthia later, when there weren’t other people around. “So, finding Dawn might be... hard? Impossible?” Akari sighed. “I didn’t have time to do much more than observe, but the distortion only took her body, not her clothes or even her Pokeballs.” Akari fidgeted. Thinking about her early time in Jubilife wasn’t her favorite thing. For at least a month, she was treated as an outsider, mostly because of her clothing on that first day. She was the ‘girl that fell from the sky’ before she was Akari. “I have had an experience traveling through a space-time distortion. When it took me, I still had my clothes with me. I remember because I wasn’t wearing much, compared to the locals.” She sighed. “Even after months of direct study, we haven’t had a clue on the exact mechanics of the space-time distortions. I’ve never been able to enter the other side, or create one on purpose.”

“So what does that mean?” Rowan seemed to glare at the table as he leaned forward, even as the two boys appeared to be completely lost. “Locating Dawn might be impossible? Is she lost forever?”

“I’ve only ever met one other person who might have experienced something similar. The man who gave me this hat. Warden Ingo didn’t retain much of his memory since he supposedly appeared out of nowhere one day. I was found in similar circumstances, and he was a good battler, so we became friends, of a sort. His memories were spotty, but mine were almost completely gone in comparison. I don’t remember anything concrete from before about a year ago, or so, just vague ideas and stuff. He could remember bits and phrases from his life before he became Warden, and according to him, he hasn’t had any other memory problems since.”

“Oh, my.” Johanna covered her mouth. “I am sorry, my dear.”

“It is fine, Ma’am. I... I can still make new memories.” Akari had discussed some with Warden Ingo, about if they were ever to get their own memories back. Many times, in fact. The Warden was always as practical as he was understanding when Akari worried over her past. Even when Akari was panicking, especially then, his stoic personality was solid ground. Sometimes, Akari wished she could be more like the Warden, more stable. Another part of her wondered if he had simply given up on his memories, but Akari had quickly crushed down those thoughts. She wouldn’t think ill of Ingo, not after everything he did for her. “Still, the only conclusion I can draw is that Miss Dawn is probably somewhere in the world with no idea how she got there or what she had been doing beforehand.”

“So.” Barry had crossed his arms. “Now what? Dawn is somewhere with amnesia. We should go looking for her, right? How hard can it be to find someone who appeared out of nowhere with no memories? That has to show up on the news somewhere, right?”

Cynthia nodded. “That is the hope. If Dawn is found by people, it should make even some sort of local news at least. We will have to monitor news from all over the world, but at least it is something we can do. In the meantime, I have to make some calls. There are some resources I can access in the future that I should set up beforehand.”

“And what about Miss Galactic over here?” Barry raised an eyebrow. “Is she gonna go free just cuz she helped us out once? Also, isn’t she like, super-duper suspicious? She just appears out of nowhere and Dawn is gone, vanished to who-knows-where?”

“Barry.” Rowan shook his head. “Miss Akari has been nothing but helpful. Cynthia, has she ever been convicted of any crimes worse than wearing a uniform?” Akari frowned. Sure, it wasn’t similar to the clothing anyone wore here, but she had grown to appreciate the practicality of the Survey Corps uniform.

“Not that I could find. No matches from the Sinnoh police database. I checked.” She was smiling, and Johanna’s mood seemed to have lifted a bit as well.

Rowan seemed to harrumph, wiggling his mustache. “Then she can be a useful asset. I know a good brain when I see one.”

“Professor...” Lucas glanced at Akari, visible embarrassment on his face.

“Well, now it seems we’re both invested, Rowan.” Cynthia nodded. “As the Sinnoh Champion, I will be taking responsibility for what happened to your daughter, Johanna. She was still collecting badges, correct?”

“Yes, she was. She had obtained six..? Or was it seven? No, it must have been seven badges by now. She had told me that she was going to head towards Sunnyshore, last I called her. Though, hasn’t Sunnyshore been having blackouts for a while now?”

“Hopefully Volkner will be finished with what he’s doing sooner rather than later.” Barry added. “I wasn’t going to challenge his Gym yet, but I wanted to visit the seal market. I hear that you can get some pretty sweet stuff in Sunnyshore.”

“He should, as far as I have been informed.” Cynthia replied. “Can’t be more than a week before Sunnyshore opens again.”

“Miss Akari.” Rowan’s stare was piercing. “I understand that, given your unusual position, you would not have much in... legal documentation.”

“Uh... I think so?” Akari wasn’t really sure what he meant by that. “I don’t think my identification works for your government if that is what you mean...”

“Right.” Rowan yawned. “Apologies, I had to rise a bit earlier than I expected this morning. I can get you registered as a Pokemon trainer if you would like. You would technically be working for the Pokemon League if you are to be a consultant for this investigation. Is that right, Cynthia?” He raised an eyebrow at her, clearly expecting a certain answer.

“Rowan, I already said I was taking responsibility. Though, it’s good that you offered. Trainer Cards are valid ID and Pokemon licenses.” Cynthia had turned to Akari. “Though, it might be a good idea for her to collect some Gym badges, too...”

“I like having my reassurances, Cynthia.” Rowan’s voice was low. Akari could definitely see the resemblance to Commander Kamado now. “With the kind of research and locations we might need to access, Gym badges are either a requirement she needs to clear, or something the League needs to exempt for her specifically. Legitimacy is still important, even for you. If anything more than rumor about her gets out without proper channels being taken, there will be at least a few demands for her to be investigated.”

Cynthia suddenly placed a hand on Akari’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, Akari.” Cynthia was grinning. It was hard to not see the Champion as Volo, even their closed-eye smiles were scarily similar. “I’ve seen you battle. It’s a bit unorthodox, but you could probably challenge any Gym in the region right now and come out ahead.” Whatever that meant. Gyms? At least the Champion had confidence in her strength, that was... reassuring? She frowned. How strong were Champion Cynthia’s Pokemon, anyway? She could control and ride on that monster of a Garchomp, so she had to be at least competent. She was called the Champion, did that make her the strongest trainer in the region? Cynthia could have probably handled Cyrus without her, right?

No, that wouldn’t work. Cyrus still had the power of Palkia and Dialga. Akari had to have been there.

She had no choice but to be there. That had to be true. 

Otherwise... why did she leave in the first place?

“No way, really?” Barry sprung to his feet. “We gotta battle! There’s no way she’s that strong, right?”

“Barry!” Lucas tugged on the other boy’s sleeve, though she could see the calculating look in his own gaze.

“Hrm. Is that so?” Rowan seemed to be as impressed with the assessment as the two boys in the room.

Akari sighed. Joining a second organization run by that mustache? Well, from the sound of it, her other option was a prison cell. Apparently, Cyrus had turned Galaxy Team into a villainous gang. At least she could still be a researcher...

Unravel the truth, and live well.

Live well. Akari was still trying to unravel that bit of Lord Arceus’ statement. Did that mean that he wanted her to enjoy herself? Battling was... fun. She knew she enjoyed her intense battles with Ingo, as did her Pokemon. Empoleon was a battle junkie for sure, and Lilligant loved showing off. Typhlosion was pretty mellow, but he had a definite mean streak. She wasn’t so sure about the little Porygon, so she looked up at her buzzing head ornament. Reading emotions from something as abstract as Porygon-Z was something she was going to have to develop at some point.

“So, as a trainer, I would be battling others and helping with the investigation? Some fieldwork, some research?”

“That’s correct.” Cynthia nodded. “We would provide pay and a stipend for materials, of course. There will be lots of travel in the future, but I can’t imagine that will be an issue for you, given your background.” Cynthia gave Akari a little grin. Was there something that Akari was missing? “And, I imagine the boys are interested in what is happening, no?”

“Of course we are.” Rei- no. Lucas. His name was Lucas. Lucas had shifted forward in his seat. “We have to find Dawn, of course. And this whole mess... Besides, I’m not Barry, but I need to get stronger, too. Barry has seven badges, and I only tried for four of them.” Lucas sighed. “You two were way too competitive, you know. Catching up is going to be a pain. Ugh.”

“Hey!” Barry frowned. “You weren’t even trying for any more badges, remember? It wasn’t your fault that you were helping the Professor the whole time! I bet if you wanted to, you’d catch up in no time!”

“Barry, you know I’m not actually that good at Pokemon battles, right?” Lucas rubbed at his neck. “It’s not like Pokemon battling is as easy for me as it is for you two or anything.”

“That’s stupid. You’re like, way smarter than either me or Dawn! Why would it be that hard?”

The boys began to squabble, so she turned her attention back to the grizzled man.

“I accept. Thank you, Professor.” She bowed in her seat. 

“So.” Rowan had seemingly taken over the conversation. “That settles that. Johanna, I am sorry about what has happened to your daughter, truly. She was a trainer under my sponsorship as well. A real genius for battle, that one. With Cynthia and the Sinnoh League’s support, we will find Dawn, I swear it. Honestly, we have made great headway already.” His mustache wiggled as he ruminated. He looked like the Commander when he was doing paperwork. ”If Akari is even half correct with her theories, then we can rule out many false flags. Filtering through the news reports will be a task, but doable. Besides, Dawn is a tough girl.”

“...yes. Yes, of course she is.” Johanna seemed like she was trying to convince herself. “Dawn can take care of herself. I... I trust her.”

Akari wasn’t sure what it felt like to lose someone, but wasn’t her own situation similar to Dawn’s even if she did it on purpose? Were people wondering where she went? Traveling back to Jubilife and Hisui... it was going to be difficult, at least. Especially if she wanted to keep her memories when she headed back. Still, she asked Lord Arceus to send her here. Lord Arceus had given her a mission, to unravel the truth. What truth was there to find other than the mystery of where Dawn had gone?

She reached over Cynthia to place her hand over Johanna’s. Akari idly noticed that Johanna had remarkably smooth, soft hands. It wasn’t like any hands that Akari could remember, not even her own. Her own hands were rough, marred and calloused from constant excursions outside the village. Even within the village, most people other than children had hands toughened by years of work. Some people even mentioned her as having unusually soft hands at the beginning of her time there, though even then she remembered light callouses on her palms and fingers. This woman’s skin was flawless in comparison.

“Missus Johanna. We will find your daughter. I promise.”

Chapter Text

Akari tugged at the sleeves of her new shirt, hoping that they would suddenly extend by about double. Cynthia had gone out to purchase something to wear, coming back with a shirt and long pants that reminded her of the first set of clothing she had ever worn. It was relatively thin compared to her uniform, but apparently, the Galaxy Team symbols on her clothing would arouse suspicion. This shirt had an image of Porygon-Z on it, which had fascinated her own Pokemon to no end. It had spent about a minute repeatedly flying into her chest as if to try and touch the image there. It was rather adorable. Cynthia had also brought back a knapsack that she claimed would look more natural than Akari’s current pouch. She could imagine Rei agreeing with the Champion, at least. The standard-issue Galaxy Team pouch was not a fashion statement. Fortunately, her lessons from Bagin translated well enough to this new bag, and everything fit inside with plenty of room to spare. While Cynthia was out, Akari managed to feed her team. Porygon-Z didn’t seem to eat anything, though it did hover around the food as the others ate. 

The shirt fit over her black undershirt, leaving her forearms only covered by the black cloth. The pants, fortunately, seemed to be made of sturdy blue material and covered all the way down to her ankles. 

Cynthia apologized as she handed the clothes over to her. “You can go shopping later, but the Battle Zone isn’t the best place to get clothes. It gets chilly this far north, so we’ll get you a jacket later, but for now, this should be fine, I think.”

“Thank you, Champion Cynthia.” Akari nodded as she tied her kerchief over her head. Her cap fitted over nicely as it always did, but when Akari glanced into one of the mirrors in the room, it didn’t look quite right. “Maybe I do need a jacket... I don’t want to look too much like the Warden, though.” She gently pried the cap off her head and looked it over. Regardless, she placed it back where it belonged.

The boys and Johanna had taken to the skies together, supposedly because Johanna herself didn’t have a Pokemon to take her home. The blonde one, Barry, had managed to extract a promise to battle Akari ‘As soon as I get back. If you’re not here, I’m fining you a million!’. Honestly, his enthusiasm was rather adorable. She wondered what sort of Pokemon he would be partners with, probably ones as excitable as he was.

The next stop that morning was, surprisingly, only a short walk away. She had fully expected to be flown halfway across the region to wherever Professor Rowan’s headquarters was, but there was a building a mile inland that the Professor claimed could get most of the paperwork done. He had called it a Pokemon Center, which was definitely an intriguing name. 

“Trainers can get registered at every Center, these days. Too many potentials pop up in every city for them not to. Even if a small town doesn’t have too many government buildings, there’s always a Pokemon Center... for the most part.” Rowan rumbled. 

“It really is convenient.” Cynthia agreed.

“I... I’ll take your word for it.” Akari finally answered.

The building itself was distinctive, with a bright orange roof. Fortunately, there didn’t seem to be many people inside other than the medical workers. One of them noticed the group entering and perked up. “Champion Cynthia! And Professor Rowan! What brings you here to the Resort Area?”

“We have need of your registration services.” Rowan gestured to Akari. “The League has a new research assistant and we need to register her as a trainer. Charge the lab account.”

“Oh, of course! What’s your name?” The woman looked eerily like Captain Pesselle. Was this going to be a recurring theme, strangers looking like people she knew? It was starting to get ridiculous, to be frank. Still, it wouldn’t be good to be rude.

“I’m Akari. Nice to meet you.” She put on her best smile.

“Right, Akari. Here’s some paperwork, you just need to fill that out. Do you have Pokemon already?”

“I do.” Akari confirmed.

“If you have a Pokemon you want to have registered, we’d like to check them over. Let’s step into this room over here, please.”

Akari frowned. “Uh, why?”

“Well, we have to check for general health or signs of abuse. Sometimes, when children have unusual Pokemon before they know how to take care of them, the Pokemon can be injured or mistreated. Most of the time it’s just ignorance, but if there are signs of intentional abuse, we might not allow the trainer to get a card at all. You look like a capable enough girl, though. I wouldn’t worry about it.”

“If you would excuse me.” Champion Cynthia spoke. “I have some calls to make, won’t take more than a few minutes.”

“Of course.” The nurse nodded. She turned back to Akari and the Professor. “If you would come with me?”

Akari sighed in relief as the nurse slid the door shut. “Yeah, sure.” That was as good of a reason as she could have hoped for. She brought out her four Pokeballs, and the nurse seemed to startle. Rowan was staring as well.

“Oh my! Are those handmade Pokeballs?”

“Um... yes?” Akari hoped that was the right answer, especially because it was true...

“Where did you manage to get those?” The nurse seemed intrigued.

“I, ah, made... them?” Akari was bewildered. “They’re... handmade?”

“Fascinating.” Rowan shook his head. “Hand-carved Pokeballs are a rarity these days. Really, only Master Kurt on Johto is said to make them regularly in the past hundred years or so. Some consider it a lost art.”

The medic nodded. “Well, let’s take a look at those Pokemon if you would please?”

“Sure, no problem.” Akari released her four Pokemon. Once again, Porygon-Z settled on top of her hat, buzzing lightly. “Little guy, why are you so clingy?” She managed to pick up the vibrating Porygon-Z and it simply began to orbit her at chest height, slightly askew.

“Hello, everyone!” The medic announced as she gave them all a quick glance. “If it’s alright with everyone, I’ll be running a quick, basic physical, just to make sure everyone is healthy. Is that alright with you guys?”

Empoleon lumbered up to the medic, clearly unimpressed. For whatever reason, the medic was equally unimpressed, and she simply gripped the blade of one of his flippers and poked at his side.

Akari couldn’t help but laugh at Empoleon’s startled squawk. 

“Oh, come on, big guy.” The medic teased. “It’s just a checkup. Scared?”

Empoleon did his best impression of a dignified grunt before allowing himself to be inspected.

After that, the checkups went about as smooth as Akari could have hoped for. Rowan was scribbling notes furiously into his notebook and was taking several pictures of Lilligant and Typhlosion. The camera he was using was a little bulkier than Professor Laventon’s, she noted as she began filling out the paperwork.

“We are going to have to conduct more tests at the lab later, Miss Akari.” Rowan stated. “My field of study is Pokemon Evolution, and this is fascinating data.”

“Is it?” Akari was surprised.

“Indeed. This variation of Lilligant has been extinct for... hundreds of years, at least. We have records of them all the way back from the founding of the Sinnoh League, but at that point, they had already been heavily endangered from loss of suitable habitat.” Rowan explained. “Your Typhlosion is also of some interest, as well. His markings are unique.”

“Could you show me your collar, Typhlosion?” The medic asked. “This is about the last thing we need to check.”

The Pokemon nodded with his usual easygoing smile, bringing out his normal purple flames.

“Oh!” The medic blinked. She reached out, waving a hand through his wavy ghostly flames. “Well, that’s not normally what happens, but you seem to be healthy enough, yes?” Typhlosion nodded before allowing his collar to vanish. “Well, Miss Akari, your Pokemon are looking healthy. Is Porygon-Z a newer addition to your team?”

“How could you tell?” Akari was impressed. She wasn’t sure what Porygon-Z’s anatomy would be like, but it seemed as though the medic had no problem with it.

“Well, he was definitely a little more nervous than the rest. Tried to stay near you instead of with the others. You tend to have all your Pokemon out at once when you can, don’t you? They seem very comfortable with each other.” At Akari’s bewildered nod, the nurse simply laughed. “Don’t worry, I’ve just seen plenty of strong Pokemon teams out here in the Battle Zone. That kind of behavior is not uncommon. I’m surprised you haven’t been registered already if I’m honest.  Were you part of another league in the past? Perhaps Unova?”

“No, Ma’am.” Akari shook her head. “I have never been outside of-” She managed to catch herself. “outside of Sinnoh.”

The woman’s gaze lingered above Akari’s eyes. Was she looking at her hat? “Is that so? The only concern I have is that these three have a good touch more scarring than normal. You must love battling, don’t you all?”

Empoleon called an affirmative, giving the nurse a grudging nod. Lilligant gave a little twirl, while Typhlosion simply chuffed at the question, spitting a little flick of purple flame.

“I figured. Miss Akari, please come to Pokemon Centers or apply medication in a bit more timely manner, in the future.” The woman told her in a scolding tone. “There’s no need to prove how tough your Pokemon are by battling without breaks.”

“I do!” Akari objected. “I get medication on their wounds as soon as I can! It’s not like we could avoid every wild Pokemon out there... and sometimes the weather can make it hard to apply medicines...”

“Well, I would recommend getting a flight license at some point, if you run into a Pokemon that can carry you around. Bringing your Pokemon to any Pokemon Center as soon as you can will definitely help with any future injury.” The medic sighed. “I promise, free, professional care is worth coming for. This is the Battle Zone, I’ve seen everything and worse, trust me.”

“I... I will keep that in mind, ma’am.” Akari gave the nurse a bow. “I finished the paperwork.”

“Right. I will get this filled out and you’ll get your card. But first, a picture for your ID, if you would.” She held up a similar camera to what the Professor had been wielding. “If you would stand right here, please? On the taped line.” The nurse crossed the room and pulled down a white sheet of cloth from the wall. Akari lined herself up as instructed. “Smile!”

Akari wasn’t sure if she had gotten a good picture or not, but at least she knew her hair was under control...

“I know trainers from the Battle Zone start out pretty tough, but you’ve found yourselves a real fighter, Professor.” The nurse nodded as she walked out of the room. “I’ll be right back.”

“You have some unusual Pokemon, Miss Akari. Were you in a higher position in your... organization?” Rowan inquired after a moment. 

“Uh, sort of? I was one of the primary Pokemon researchers, if that matters. I was a nine-star member of the Survey Corps. Out of ten.” Akari replied as Typhlosion approached her for scritches. She obliged as she thought about her answer. “I wasn’t aware that Typhlosion and Lilligant were unusual, though. Professor Laventon never commented on them being strange, either.”

Rowan raised an eyebrow. “Well, I can’t be too surprised. Neither Typhlosion nor Lilligant is native to the Sinnoh region. My own chances to study them are limited and I am a Professor.”

“You hear that, guys? You’re special!” Lilligant seemed especially pleased at the news, giving another spin along with her happy croon.

There was a knock on the door. “Hello?” A pink head of hair appeared. “I have your card printed, didn’t take more than a moment.” Akari was handed a rigid card with information printed on it. In her other hand was a brown paper package. “And this is the Trainer kit. Don’t worry, the Lab covers this as well.” The medic glanced at the collection of Pokemon and people. “I expect to see you on TV at some point, Miss Akari.”

“What do you mean?” Akari asked. TV? What in the world was a TV?

“Let’s just say I have a feeling.” The nurse gave her a grin and turned to exit the room. “Have a good day, Professor, Miss Akari!”

Akari turned to the Professor. “Well, that didn’t answer my question at all.”

Rowan simply grunted. “Indeed.”

-----

Cynthia popped her head in the room not a minute after the nurse departed, a frown on her face. Akari couldn’t help but ask. “Did something bad happen?”

“No, no.” Cynthia shook her head. “The International Police just was a bit cross at me. They wanted to bring you in for questioning due to your particular circumstances. I told them plainly that you are consulting for the League.”

“Is... is that okay? Telling off the police...”

Cynthia laughed. “Of course not!” She shook her head. “Really, this is the most I’ve ever thrown my authority around for. It’s kind of refreshing, you know.” Cynthia pulled out some sort of food bar from... somewhere, and snapped off the end. She continued to talk while chewing. “This has become something of a personal project of mine. There’s... a lot of factors, but this whole situation is too intriguing to pass up! I have to know! Besides, Interpol doesn’t have any real reason to bring you in. They don’t have any idea who you are other than ‘a new research assistant’.”

“Indeed.” Professor Rowan spoke up. “This has become personal for more than one of us. Still, Interpol knows who you are now.” He made a glance at Akari’s new trainer card . “Oh, what a tangled nest we’ve found ourselves in. I know Barry will insist to join the investigation, even if he doesn’t know how to help. Lucas will follow, no doubt. The boy is nothing if not loyal to his friends. Both Dawn and Barry both.”

They were now sitting around one of the provided tables. Cynthia had handed them both one of her bars, which turned out not to be a ration bar, but rather a sweet of some kind. Akari couldn’t help but grin at the flavor, even as Typhlosion brought his head up to sniff at the treat. “Who was Dawn, anyways? I didn’t want to ask while Missus Johanna was around, but you two seemed invested in her safety as well. Don’t people go missing in the wild all the time?”

“Well, the circumstances are a bit different...” Cynthia actually seemed to seriously consider her words before she spoke. “Really, I am to blame for Dawn even being in the Distortion World in the first place. I knew that if it weren’t for the power of Dialga and Palkia, I could have defeated Cyrus easily, no question.” She leaned forward in her seat. “No, Dawn was raring to join me. I couldn’t have stopped her without force. She had bested Cyrus in the past, as well.”

“None of us blame you, Cynthia.” Rowan grunted. “Though, you might have to justify yourself to Palmer soon enough.”

“True enough.” She sighed. “But Akari, to answer your question. Dawn is... a remarkable person surrounded by remarkable people. Those that care about her are too powerful and high profile to ignore. Rowan and I notwithstanding, Tower Tycoon Palmer will likely be involved, as will the Pokemon Contest scene. Johanna is too beloved in those circles, I don’t have a doubt in my mind. Besides, Dawn accumulated seven badges in under a year, which is an incredible pace, mind you. Barry is progressing at about that speed, though with his background I expect people had higher expectations for him than for Johanna’s kid. With someone of Johanna’s pedigree, Dawn was probably expected to be the next big Coordinator, though apparently, Johanna herself wasn’t the biggest fan of the idea.”

“I was told the same.” Rowan nodded. “Johanna truly wanted Dawn to have as normal of a Pokemon journey as possible. She had stopped entering contests even after Dawn’s birth, for a whole eleven years of absence. It truly shook up the coordinating world when one of their most dominant stars simply... disappeared, to a small town near my lab. As it turns out, she was right. Dawn could be a good coordinator, I am sure. Perhaps even excellent. But after a year of her journey, she is well on the path of being a monstrously strong battle trainer. If things went at this same pace, Dawn would challenge the Elite Four within the next year, maybe two.”

“So, we really do need to find her?” Dawn was... something else, wasn’t she? They made it sound like she was some sort of pseudo-royalty. “Will her disappearance cause a fuss?”

“Not in public, no.” Cynthia shook her head. “But within the professional circuit, she was set to be a rising star. When someone like that goes missing, especially surrounding an incident like what happened with Team Galactic, people will come asking questions.”

“Questions like, ‘who is the Champion’s new assistant, and why does she look like the missing person the Champion is claiming they are looking for’?” Rowan asked, his voice suddenly intense.

Cynthia nodded, not even acknowledging the Professor’s shift in tone. “Yes. Exactly like that, Professor.” Rowan simply raised an eyebrow in reply.

“I do look pretty similar to Dawn. I saw her right before she disappeared.” Akari admitted. “But the age difference... I only have memories going back a year. That’s too much of a time difference, isn’t it? I’m already sixteen, not twelve. Also, weren’t her eyes a different shade of grey than mine? Though, that might have been a trick of the light...”

Rowan nodded. “There are a few options to pursue, though given how delicate the situation appears to be, I approve of your caution, Champion.” He had his notebook open and was staring down at the page. “There is a decision point to be made. Do we believe that you are indeed Dawn from some strange temporal manipulation? Our methodology changes on our belief of that hypothesis, true or false.”

“I... I don’t know.” Akari admitted. “Part of me wants to say yes. I was placed there, in that dimension, by Lord Arceus. He told me that it was a crossroads, which means I had to have been there before, right? There was some sort of decision I made, that impacted everything.”

“Lord Arceus. Now, this is getting out of hand...” Rowan began furiously scribbling in his notebook. “For now, let us assume that you are indeed Miss Dawn. You have no recollection of anyone, or anything, from before a year ago?”

“No, sir. Just vague flashes here and there. All my remembered life was spent with the Galaxy Team.”

“A damn shame, my girl.” Rowan actually looked sorry for her, which was bewildering.

“Ah.” Cynthia held up a hand. She almost looked... embarrassed? “I have an admission to make. I have been thinking... did everyone assume that Akari was part of Team Galactic?”

Rowan blinked. “Why- what do you mean?”

Cynthia groaned. “I think I’ve made a mistake somewhere. Did I forget to tell people? This happens all the time.” And suddenly, Cynthia looked miserable.

“Cynthia!” Rowan snapped. “Explain.”

“Akari isn’t part of Team Galactic.”

“...Excuse me?”

“I forgot, okay!” Cynthia had her head in her hands, snack bar falling to the table. “People don’t study history anymore and I forgot to clarify! The Galaxy Expedition Team and Team Galactic are different organizations...”

“You can’t be serious!”

“It’s not my fault! Nobody asked anything directly! I was just caught up in the conversation-”

“Like hell, Cynthia!” Rowan looked exasperated, almost like this happened more often than Akari assumed it did. “How do you forget something like that? I remember distinctly we asked about her background and you dodged around it!”

Cynthia cringed, clearly caught off guard. “Originally it was easier to not have to explain the time travel, alright! The International Police would probably take her even faster if I told them she was a time traveler.” She coughed. ”The Galaxy Expedition team was part of the first settlers to the area from Galar and Hoenn.” Cynthia began to explain. “They worked with the local clans to record a very early Pokedex of Sinnoh, back then called Hisui. Akari helped with that Pokedex, is that right?”

“Yep! I assisted Professor Laventon with his Pokedex compilation, along with the rest of the Expedition Team. If I can brag a little, Rei and I, along with one of the Pearl Wardens, compiled a good half of all the recorded data, and all the most dangerous.” She puffed her chest. She was proud of their work, especially in such a short amount of time.

“Laventon... the name is familiar but I cannot recall off the top of my head. I will have to consult the Canalave records in the future. Time travel... as likely as anything else in this messed-up scenario, I suppose.”

Akari felt a familiar surge of anger well up in her again. “What happened to Professor Laventon and all our research if no one remembers any of the things we wrote down?”

“It is not like those records were lost, Akari.” Cynthia noted. “We still have documents from that era of early Sinnoh. It’s just that... I imagine that much Pokemon research was thrown out as newer research came in. Something from that long ago, I can understand people would presume is outdated.”

“That’s... frustrating.” Akari ground out. “I feel like you’re calling us stupid.”

“Ah-”

“I know you’re not. I know.” Akari nodded. “I understand.”

“Still.” Rowan mused. “That makes you the most accomplished research assistant the League has ever provided me. I had to find all the good ones on my own.” He snorted. “An actual researcher, who would have thought?”

“Regardless, Professor Rowan, you are right. Akari, are we going to assume you are Dawn from the... past-future?” Cynthia suddenly gained a thoughtful look on her face. “From your perspective, it’s the past, right? But from Dawn’s perspective, it’s the future. From our perspective, it’s the past too... right? The past. Let’s go with the past.”

“Uh...” Akari thought for a second. “What changes if we assume that?”

“Truthfully, only one major thing.” Rowan answered. “With time travel confirmed to be involved, then we have much less of a chance that Dawn will appear within our time. That would mean a lot less monitoring of the news and more time for attempting to locate her with more... unusual means. If we assume you are a separate girl from Dawn, then there is a chance that she might appear somewhere in this time. Truthfully, it would be easier on the search effort if you were Dawn. That would free up valuable manpower, and possibly would give us a head start on finding her.”

“I mean... I have a feeling. I didn’t recognize any of you, or Johanna. Uh, Lucas looked almost identical to my friend Rei from the Survey Corps, but they are definitely different people. Rei is way more excitable.” Akari found herself fidgeting. “But our physical resemblance is undeniable. And Lord Arceus sent me there for a reason. He told me to unravel the truth... that can only be where Dawn went, right? That means it can’t be so simple as we traded places... right?”

“Hrm.” Rowan was back scribbling in his notebook. “Well, we have some ideas now. I am sorry for discussing things like this so quickly, Miss Akari.”

“No, it’s alright. I’m involved in this too.” Akari nodded. This was her new mission from Lord Arceus, after all.

“Speaking of involvement.” Cynthia had picked up her bar again and had broken off more of it. “We need to decide how Akari is going to get your precious legitimacy. The League isn’t going to just take my word that a trainer no one has ever heard of is definitely pro material, no matter my status.”

“It is a valid concern, Champion.” Rowan rumbled. “If the League cannot exempt Miss Akari from Badge requirements, then her participation in our research will be difficult, if not impossible. There are Pokemon from myth and legend involved. Ancient artifacts and terrorist organizations. The threat ratings will be far higher than you can justify involving a rookie trainer with.”

“I know, I know.” Cynthia seemed almost flippant. “I’m not worried in the slightest. Part of me was thinking, if we’re assuming Akari is Dawn from the future, couldn’t we just give her Dawn’s badges?”

“Absolutely not! Have you no respect for the League’s integrity?”

“Well then, Akari will just have to run roughshod over our precious Gym leaders. It will be an embarrassment for all of them, especially if we rush her through everything like our timetable demands.”

“Volkner might appreciate someone pummeling him, who knows?” Rowan retorted. “But no, I’m not saying we do that.”

“So what, do we just... space out her Gym challenges? Let her run a normal Pokemon journey? We don’t have time!”

“She’s already unusual for being sixteen and an unknown. Having her challenge Gym after Gym in record time under the sponsorship of the Champion and the Professor would be much too suspicious. Without an exemption, we will have to be patient.”

Were they... arguing? Akari’s Pokemon at some point had disappeared back into her Pokeballs, even Porygon-Z. She didn’t blame them, the two were rather loud when they got intense.

“Why do we even need to be discreet? It’s not as if we need to explain anything to anyone. She’s a new assistant, with no badges. That’s not strange whatsoever.”

“That nurse seemed supremely curious about a girl with no badges and a team like that , Cynthia. Besides, she’s probably on Team Galactic’s radar, now. You can never be sure with organizations like that. Information can get out, and Cyrus knows at least what she looks like.“

“And badges are supposed to keep her safe? From terrorists?”

“Badges are supposed to keep her from being suspicious. I assumed we were going to try and keep Miss Dawn’s disappearance a secret, no?” Rowan scribbled in his notebook. “It would be trouble if so many important people were disrupted by her disappearance. Palmer at least I could see shutting down the Tower to come running. If not for Dawn herself, then for Barry. Johanna had only recently made her re-appearance at pro-level Contests. She will no doubt vanish once more to try and find her daughter on her own if we do not keep her informed. And if you and I are involved constantly with this investigation... We must either be patient or be expedient to an extreme. There is no in-between.” Rowan slammed his notebook shut. “The League cares about reputation, Champion. First and foremost you are celebrities. If you want to keep this, ah, ‘in-house’, then we are going to have to do this carefully. Your actions are under scrutiny, as are mine. If the International Police get involved too heavily, all of us will be sent off for them to ‘handle’. Really, your authority will only give you so much leeway. Akari will probably be taken into custody. And I know you wouldn’t take that, not for a second.”

Cynthia was glowering now, too. “I swear, Rowan. You are an infuriating man sometimes.”

“I do my best.” Came the dry reply.

Cynthia suddenly stood. “Akari, I have to go make some calls. Professor, could you go take her somewhere to get a jacket? And some shoes?”

The Professor sighed. “Come on then, Miss Akari. I apologize for my outburst. It has been an... eventful morning.”

All she could do in reply was nod.

Chapter Text

Akari almost felt like she was being dragged along like a child, though she was appreciative that two very important people were taking their day to assist with her mission. It seemed as though they were heavily invested in both Dawn’s disappearance and, fortunately, Akari’s own existence outside of a prison cell.

“This is the place, I think.” Rowan muttered as they approached a storefront. The entire front wall was made of glass, which was fascinating to Akari. She could see all the way to the back wall of the store, with rows and rows of clothing hanging on racks and stacked on shelves. “Cynthia will be meeting us for lunch afterward, she might be wrapped up in calls for a while. I have a feeling I know why she wants us to stick around, and while I don’t approve, I don’t see an easier way to handle the situation. What a mess...”

“Right.” Akari nodded in sympathy. Being an important person in the League must have sucked. She could only hope no one put that much responsibility on Professor Laventon. He would have crumbled instantly. Besides, new clothes were also the first thing she got when she first came to Hisui as well. It just so happened that the Professor didn’t have a uniform to give her.

Inside the store were rows of clothing, seemingly split down the middle. On one side were things that looked rather gaudy, much like the interesting kimono patterns that the clothier in Jubilife carried. On the other side, it was less of a clothier and more of a survival gear store. Heavy coats, helmets, boots, and other rugged clothing took up a good chunk of the left-side wall.

Akari gravitated towards the darker coats. She wasn’t the tallest person, but it didn’t take long to find what size was correct for her frame. The next several minutes were spent flitting around the aisle, trying on coats of various materials and colors. None of them... felt right. Either they clashed with her hat, or with her shirt. Of course, she was going to have to get more than one shirt eventually, but that was no reason to buy a coat that wasn’t at least a little universal. She found a dark green jacket that seemed thick enough, with the hemline dropping to her knees. She turned to Professor Rowan, comparing the fit to the others. “What do you think, Professor?”

“Hrm. Perhaps black?” Rowan commented. “Or maybe a navy like your uniform?”

Akari winced. Black... “I didn’t want to just copy the Warden’s look... He would wear a black coat along with his outfit.” she admitted. She was trying to avoid the black coats, even if she knew it would look good with his hat. It was silly, but thinking about Ingo too much made her homesick. She just had to finish with Lord Arceus’ mission, then she could head home. For sure. It would be no good if she spent too much time thinking about home...

“Do you think the Warden would mind terribly if you were to approve of his fashion sense?” Rowan inquired.

“...no.” she admitted. “I don’t think so. He would probably smile and say something like ‘you’re on board the fashion car now’, or something stupid like that. He wasn’t picky about things...” Akari considered. “I don’t think he would mind.”

“Then why not?”

“I...” Akari reached for a black coat with blue trim. She pulled it on. It was... comfortable. It looked... good.

“I am no judge of fashion, Miss Akari, but I think that looks wonderful.” Rowan nodded. “I am sure your Warden would agree.”

She stared at herself in the mirror. The Porygon-Z on her shirt peeked out between the halves of the coat, like it had been wrapped inside and was looking around.

“I like it.” She decided.

Rowan simply nodded. “Next, some good sturdy hiking boots.”

-----

Her hat and new coat were stowed in her bag as she was seated at the restaurant in the Resort Area. She had found some dark blue boots and white socks that looked pretty good, all things considered. They were much lighter than she thought they were upon first inspection, but the Professor seemed to approve of her choice. Cynthia had arrived at the restaurant in a different outfit, a much more casual shirt and jacket than her dress. 

“Did you get much done?” Rowan inquired.

“Yeah.” Cynthia nodded. “But we don’t have to think about that too much. First, food.”

In lieu of participating in the conversation, Akari had busied herself with her drink. It was a strange thing, that was almost painful when she sipped at it. Regardless, the flavor was sweet, with a berry tone to it that was pleasant, so Akari could say she approved.

“Sir, Madames, are you ready to order?” A man had approached to take their order. Akari wasn’t super familiar with this restaurant like she was with the Wallflower, so she hadn’t made a selection from the menu. Most of the foods were completely foreign to her, and the ones she did recognize weren’t all that interesting. Sweet mochi with tea, roasted vegetables in some unpronounceable sauce, meat skewers, curry. Several things were simply alien. 

“Could you pick for me? Akari finally replied. “I’m no good at picking food.” There wasn’t anything simple on this whole menu, was there?

“In that case,” Cynthia was happy to take over. “Could we get two orders of the steak frites?”

“Kalosian food?” Rowan ruminated as the waiter took down her order. “In that case, I can follow along, I think. I shall have a portion of cassoulet. And some onion soup, please. Four portions for the table.”

“Being generous now?” Cynthia wondered as the man left.

“I know you haven’t eaten anything today other than that candy bar, Cynthia. And we are expecting a visitor.” Rowan shook his head. “Akari, what did you eat this morning?”

Akari started from suddenly being addressed, her drink slightly splashing onto the table. “Uh, a ration bar?”

“Hrmph.” Did she do something wrong? 

The food arrived surprisingly quickly, and Akari now had a new favorite way to eat potatoes. Sorry, Beni, she grinned. You’ve been dethroned.

The meal was enjoyable, and none of the tension this morning was present. Akari stopped dipping her, uh, frites, into the yellow sauce they provided to ask a question. “So, Professor Rowan, what do you do most days?”

“I study Pokemon and how they evolve.” Rowan placed his spoon back into his bowl. “The mechanics and circumstances surrounding Pokemon evolution is something of a natural black box. My work involves poking and prodding at the edges of what we can observe to draw conclusions that, while not necessarily accurate, can be used to accurately depict our world in terms we can understand.” Akari blinked. Professor Rowan was a real expert, wasn’t he? He sounded as passionate as Laventon did, just for a second. “I also tend to distribute Pokemon to trainers that are starting their journeys within a certain distance from Sandgem Town. My assistants can run the lab just fine without me, but I will have to return in order to sign off on new or completed projects. And the children always want to meet the local expert on Pokemon. Never been clear why.”

“And, uh, what does a Champion do?” Akari turned to Cynthia. “Are you like, the ruler of the region?” she had to ask.

“No no no, nothing like that.” Cynthia seemed shocked. “As Champion, I am considered one of the strongest Pokemon trainers in the region. I receive challengers that manage to collect eight of the Gym Badges and run the gauntlet of the Elite Four, who are also considered, well, elite. Being some of the strongest trainers in the region means we sometimes get called in for disaster relief or to combat people who use Pokemon for crimes. Other than that, I am a historian. I travel and assist on archeological digs and do research on our world's past. Being Champion provides a lot of prestige, and some responsibility, but actually performing my duty as a Champion to be challenged is a rarity. Many trainers stop with eight badges, and making it through the Elite Four to gain the right to challenge me once is considered a months-long effort. Other than that, the gossip mill is fierce, and we tend to contact each other often. Oftentimes strong trainers get into each other's business. After all, there’s not a lot of room at the very top. You tend to get to know everyone strong in the region, and sometimes other regions as well.”

“CYNTHIA!” A man’s shout came from outside the building.

“Speaking of... getting into my business...”

“Took him long enough,” Rowan commented.

“Sir,” A woman outside said. “Please don’t disrupt the guests.”

“Sorry, sorry.” The man sounded embarrassed. Akari turned around to see a man with spiky blonde hair fiddling with his green coat. He entered the restaurant and sat in the last unoccupied seat. Rowan silently slid the last portion of soup over, and the man nodded in thanks, immediately plunging his spoon in and taking a mouthful.

“Palmer.” 

“Cynthia.” The man, Palmer, spoke around his mouthful of soup and bread.  “What’s this my son told me about Dawn-”

“Quiet!” She hissed. “We are in public. I can give you more information later, but for now, eat your soup.”

“Ah, yeah.” He swallowed.

“AKARI!” Came a yell from outside. This time a younger voice came from the same direction.

“Sir! You are disturbing the guests!” The same woman scolded who could only be Barry.

“Sorry, sorry.” Akari blinked at the boy’s phrasing. The two seemed... similar.

Barry approached the table. “Akari!” he intoned in a fake whisper. “I’m challenging you. Right now!”

“Right now?” Akari had finished her food, but she was enjoying the third of those bubbly drinks that Cynthia had recommended. 

“There’s a field out back we can use! Come on!” Barry gestured.

“You better go, kid.” Palmer addressed her. “Barry won’t leave you alone until you battle him, if he got it into his head. Don’t worry too much if you lose, though.” He gave Akari a grin. “Good luck.”

“Ah, yes sir.” She couldn’t help it, he was tall . Even sitting down he towered over everyone else. It was a little intimidating.

“As for you, Palmer,” Cynthia called. “Let’s take a walk. We can tell you what’s happening.”

Barry managed to get her out into a barren patch of land, with markings laid out like a large rectangle. It looked like... no, it really was a Pokemon training ground, wasn’t it? “Do they just put these things everywhere?”

“Uh, I guess they do?” Barry pondered. “Now, battle!”

“Ah, give me a second. It’s a bit cold.” Akari reached into her bag to retrieve her hat and new coat. She fitted the cap comfortably on her head. “Why do you want to battle me so badly, anyway? Not that I mind.”

“The Champion is interested in you! I gotta see how strong you are!”

“Well, if you’re sure.” Akari nodded. “I’ll battle you, no problem.”

“All right! Since we don’t have a ton of time before the adults finish talking, let’s do three Pokemon each!” Barry grabbed one of his Pokeballs. “This is a good time to see how our training is paying off! Munchlax, let’s go!” 

The Munchlax that appeared was a touch smaller than Mai’s, but appeared with a determined look on its face. Did Akari want to take advantage of Barry’s impatience and lead with Typhlosion? No, she would play a bit fairer. Three Pokemon each... Lilligant probably would be fine sitting this one out. Besides, Barry was right. It was a good time to limit test with Porygon-Z, in a more friendly environment than the wild.

“Porygon-Z! Standby!” The little Pokemon twitched and shook, with its eyes narrowed. Akari was immediately a bit worried. Wasn’t Porygon-Z a bit too twitchy? It wasn’t like that against Cyrus...

“Woah!” Barry looked interested. “I don’t think I’ve seen that Pokemon before! Munchlax, Body Slam!”

The little thing managed to slam into Porygon-Z, which sent it spinning.

“Get in the air! Tri-attack!” Fortunately for her, Porygon-Z was fast , and managed to launch all three orbs almost simultaneously. Still, only the red orb managed to land on Barry’s surprisingly agile Pokemon. It seemed to take the hit with no issues, too.

“Get it down from there!” Barry ordered. “Screech!”

Akari winced at the sound, and she knew that it wasn’t super comfortable for Porygon-Z, based on how quickly it returned to ground level. “Circle around and use Thunderbolt!” The Pokemon began to do as she ordered, but the distance was wrong. Munchlax was too close, way too close- he was going to cut them off!

“Dodge!” Munchlax managed to move out of the way and close the distance. “Body Slam!”

“Up!” Porygon-Z didn’t react immediately to her improvised command and only managed to hover a foot above the ground before Munchlax slammed into it, sending it careening to the dirt.

“One more time, Body Slam!” And this time, Porygon-Z didn’t get up.

She scowled. As suspected, Porygon-Z and Akari didn’t have any time together before Lord Arceus summoned her for this mission. Porygon-Z simply wasn’t in sync with her like her other Pokemon. She would have to work with the little one later if it wanted to. It didn’t seem to dislike battling, at least.

“That’s it?” Barry frowned. “Is that really all you can do? If Munchlax can handle you, then why would the Champion be interested in you and not me? That’s not fair! You don’t even have any badges!”

Okay, now he was getting on her nerves. This kid really thought she was weak from one exchange of blows? Akari had to admit her pride stung a bit. “Typhlosion. Mark time.” He appeared right next to her, as intended. 

Barry nearly started to laugh. “Is your Typhlosion sick or something? What’s wrong with it?” He was looking between a device in his hand and Typhlosion as if comparing something. “Where’s the flaming collar?”

“Alright,” Akari whispered, a grin on her face. “Let’s mess with him for a while. Keep the flames off for a bit.”

Typhlosion grinned right back.

He meandered towards the Munchlax as the little thing backed up. Typhlosion, even with his flames off, tended to be offputting to smaller Pokemon that had to look up at him. Sort of like how Palmer towered over her. Barry noticed. “Hey, Munchlax, I know you don’t want to hit a sick Pokemon, but we’re in a battle! Body Slam!”

The Pokemon seemed to hesitate before charging at Typhlosion, its body glowing. Akari said nothing, and Typhlosion did nothing.

The Munchlax nearly ran itself out of the arena before managing to stop, having passed right through Typhlosion’s intangible form. Akari herself had to roll out of the way before the Munchlax collided with her legs.

“Wha- Munchlax, you missed!”

Akari chose to say her next words quietly. “Swift.” Typhlosion didn’t even move as his attack homed in on the off-balance opponent. The Munchlax was on the ground, out of the arena, and unable to move.

“Lucky shot!” Barry yelled as Munchlax returned to its ball. “Buizel, go! Aqua Jet!”

“A water type...” Akari mused to herself. “Agile, Bulldoze. Then Bulldoze again.” Even if she whispered, she knew Typhlosion understood the plan. When fighting Water Pokemon, it was really the only strategy they used. Typhlosion slammed his foot into the ground even as Buizel rocketed across the distance. A large shard of earth came up and managed to nick the Water-type and ramp it into the air before it impacted the uneven ground. The second, heavier stomp was loud and rather dramatic as the Buizel slammed into the already shifted earth. Akari knew that speed was key if her Pokemon couldn’t afford to be hit once.

“Buizel! Get out of there!”

“It’s trying to run. Swift. Don’t let up.” Buizel was still struggling to find footing on the cracked ground when stars pelted it into submission.

Barry glanced up to meet Akari’s eyes, but flinched a little before his eyes hardened. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but you’re playing dirty somehow!” Barry demanded.

Akari wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Typhlosion looked back at her, and she simply shrugged. “I didn’t do anything different than I normally do.” Other than Typhlosion having a bit of fun, of course, but Barry didn’t need to know that.

“Whatever.” Barry looked angry, and Akari wasn’t sure how to handle that. Emotions running hot wasn’t uncommon for people in a Pokemon battle, but Barry seemed more frustrated than determined. “Torterra! I’m counting on you!” His last Pokemon thudded to the ground.

Akari was interested, now. Torterra was a powerful species of Pokemon, and hard to take down. It was also part Ground-type, which wasn’t the best matchup for Typhlosion or for Empoleon. Barry’s Torterra seemed to be smaller than normal, though Akari might have had her idea of scale warped by the Alpha Torterra that she occasionally saw in the wild.

“Torterra! Bite!”

“...Bite?” Akari let her mouth slip. Not Bulldoze, or Headlong Rush, but Bite? Torterra managed to sink its beak into Typhlosion, who made no effort to dodge. He was really dedicated to the bit this time, wasn’t he? What a rotten personality, Typhlosion had. Akari knew it hurt, it had to hurt. But Typhlosion was a mean one, and did his best to look unaffected. “Alright then. Time to stop messing around, Typhlosion.” Typhlosion seemed to agree, and his purple collar came roaring to life.

“What!” Barry exclaimed. “Torterra, back off!” Once again, Barry’s Pokemon was surprisingly fast, and they now had the whole arena between them.

“Infernal Parade.” Typhlosion roared as purple balls of fire erupted from his collar, flying across the arena and slamming into his opponent from several directions. The flames seemed to linger as ghostly waves of fire, causing the Pokemon to growl in frustration and pain.

“Torterra! Bite, one more time!” Torterra had already made some distance when Barry asked it to, but it wouldn’t hurt for Typhlosion to create more.

“Move back.” Akari demanded, running forward and to the side to make room as Typhlosion sprung backward, landing on all fours. She had ended up a bit to the left and slightly in front of her Pokemon, but she knew Typhlosion wouldn’t hit her. Not on purpose or on accident. The big lump seemed to be in a competitive mood today. “Strong Infernal Parade.” As Typhlosion released wave after wave of fireballs, the air seemed to wail with hot and cold air. Akari had to cling to her hat for fear of it falling off from the blasts of air. She crouched to one knee under the attack as it flew overhead, one hand on the ground and one on her hat, though her focus was entirely on the target. The charging Torterra was pummeled by ghostly flames once more, but this time it almost seemed to alight in pale blue fire. The charge slowed... and slowed... and came to a stop. Torterra collapsed at Typhlosion’s feet, who rose up to stare down at the defeated Pokemon, collar burning brightly.

“...Bravo.” Akari whispered. Ingo tended to say things like that at the end of their Pokemon battles, and it felt... appropriate. Barry’s response was a frustrated stomp and a return of his Pokemon to its ball. Akari reached out with her ball to do the same-

There was a flash of light beside her. “Woah! Nice!”

Akari turned to look as Typhlosion disappeared into his ball. Palmer had a device out, and apparently was taking pictures based on the repeated flashes of light.

“Mister Palmer?”

“I take it from my son’s face that you won the battle, Akari?”

“Uh, yes sir.”

“Dad, she’s weird.” Barry said. “Her Pokemon are weird, too! She did something!” Akari considered the two. Family? That made sense, she supposed.

“Barry.” Palmer’s voice lowered. Cynthia and Rowan arrived behind Palmer as he reached out to grab Barry by the shoulders. “Do you really believe that? She’s being sponsored by both the Professor and the Champion.”

“...no.” Barry sighed. “I lost.” He managed to school himself and nodded, slapping his own face with both hands. “We’ll just have to get stronger!”

“Don’t be discouraged, Barry.” Cynthia input. “Akari is... something special.”

“That’s for sure.” Palmer grinned. “That was an intense battle aura you got, girl. Didn’t feel at all like a nobody trainer, more like one of the guys challenging the Frontier!”

Akari blinked. “Frontier?”

“Yep! Or maybe...” Palmer looked her over. “Hey, really fast. I want to take a picture.” He pulled out his device... probably a phone? Well, he pulled it out again. “Could you point with your right hand for me, really fast? Like a battle pose!”

“A battle pose...?” She remembered how Ingo used to stand, with his knees bent and one hand clenched behind his other leg. She tried it, putting on her best Ingo-face.

A flash of light. “...Oh my God.” Palmer looked surprised before he began grinning like a loon, tapping at his screen. “I remembered who you remind me of! I’m totally posting this!”

“Oh, let me look.” Cynthia leaned over to look at his screen. “Ah, I see. Actually, aren’t the hats nearly identical?” Cynthia mused as Palmer continued to tap at his screen, Her eyes widened as she grabbed the man’s wrist. “Wait- Palmer-”

“What!” He squawked. “I was just posting to TopTrainer!”

“Ah,” Cynthia lowered her face into her hands. “It’s too late, isn’t it? You’ve already posted? I guess that’s fine, I didn’t warn you off of it. I’ve been so forgetful lately, you love posting to social media... Did you post her name?”

“Nope! I just called her interesting! I mean, come on! Look at this! It’s badass!”

Cynthia chuckled. “I can’t control your tastes, Palmer. But yes, that image is impressive.”

“What’s happening?” Akari glanced at Barry, who simply shrugged.

“I have no idea. Dad loves social media, though. I guess he posted those pictures he took. That last attack was crazy!”

Palmer chuckled. “With how intense you were back there, with the outfit and the hat, you looked a whole lot like Ingo! The video I managed to take doesn’t really do you justice though, with the blast of wind and purple flames going everywhere, it made you look really cool!”

Akari froze.

What?

Palmer blinked. “It’s a compliment, I swear! He’s in the top five strongest trainers in all of Unova! It was a compliment!”

Ingo was here?

“No, wait!” Akari said. “Repeat that!”

Palmer backed up a step. “Uh, you look like one of the Subway Bosses. Ingo and Emmet. They run the Battle Subway in Unova.”

“Show me.” she demanded. If she saw what she expected...

“Here.” Palmer manipulated his screen for a second before turning it around to reveal-

“Oh...” Akari blinked. A pair of men were on the screen, one adorned in white and the other in black. “He looks so young!”

“What do you mean?” Cynthia couldn’t help but ask.

“I-” Akari continued to stare at the two men, who were standing straight and mirroring each other. If it weren’t for the outfits, Akari wouldn’t have been sure that they weren't the same person. She gripped at her hat, lifting it off her head to look at the badge on the front. “This Subway Boss person isn’t missing?”

“No, not as far as I know.” Palmer turned the screen back around and tapped at it. “He just commented on my post.”

She was... confused. “But... if Ingo is-”

“Akari?”

“This... this might be a problem.”

-----

TOPTRAINER - HOT POSTS

+2490 TopOfTheTower(Verified) created a post: Interesting Trainer 

1 video, 3 images

Look at this interesting trainer I met today at the Resort Area! My son @barry_the_great had a match with her, and she rocked it! I arrived late so I only saw the end, but she’s crazy strong! She had a wildly intense battle aura, like a mini @SubBossIngo !! Doesn’t she look the part? #ResortArea #BattleZone #PokemonBattle #BattleSubway

Replies(43):

+433 SilentSpring said:

Is there something wrong with her Typhlosion? Is it an alternate coloration? That didn’t look like a fire-type attack at all!

+145 Billy replied:

It almost looks like a Chandelure’s flames, doesn’t it? Makes tha Ingo comparison even stronger, I think!

+781 HijinxArt(Verified) replied:

Omg now I’m thinking about tiny Ingo and it’s so cuuuute! Emmet with tiny Ingo! Now she has to go over there so she can get a mini conductor’s coat! She even did the pose! EEEEE! I’m gonna go draw!

+14 LateNightRacing replied: 

Looked more like a ghost-type attack to me... Scary.

+92 JustCuz said:

That attack was intense! Is she famous? Does anyone have her page? That first image with the whipping flames above her is incredible!

+24 Orbeetlefan said:

Wow, that’s neat. She really does look like a mini Ingo! Where did she get the hat, it’s the best reproduction I’ve seen! Link me if anyone knows!

-2 ASAAA1523 replied:

Link deleted by moderator

+3 BiteForce(Moderator) replied:

No links to shady websites, please. We do monitor what links go up, you know.

+110 SubBossEmmett(Verified) said:

I was just scrolling and I saw this! It’s always a delight to see fans! If she ever comes by, @TopOfTheTower, send her over to the #battlesubway! We’re always up for a challenge!

+306 Official_Masked_Royal(Verified) said:

That was a wicked nice move! Whenever I see a new move from a promising trainer I start itching to see it in person! Makes my blood boil!

+14 DragonPrincess replied:

OMG Masked Royal!

+227 SubBossIngo(Verified) said:

It’s always good to meet strong trainers, and fans! Tell her I approve of her color choice, and if she were to show up at the #BattleSubway we’d be happy to have her.

+25 TsareenaMyQueen(Temp Banned) said:

Message deleted by moderator

+2 Endgame(Moderator) replied:

No. Not cool. Take a week off, buddy.

+61 Emulsifier said:

Has anyone done an analysis on the end of the battle there? The angle was a bit off, but wasn’t she standing on the actual field, rather than behind the line? Also, that Typhlosion’s attack was crazy strong, and she just crouched under it!

+14 deep_6 replied:

Yeah, I saw that too. In a casual fight, it’s whatever, but they’re in the Battle Zone! Against Palmer’s kid, too. I think he has seven Sinnoh League badges so far, but Sunnyshore’s Gym has been out of commission for a while. She must either be crazy or like, super strong. Anyone got info, @Ronin ?

+13 Ronin(Verified) replied:

We don’t have any profiles matching this Trainer on TrainerRec. I’m gonna have to do some digging. Someone that managed to catch Palmer’s attention has to have won a local tournament or something somewhere, right? If anyone has info, DM me!

+7 Stinger replied:

Maybe check contest results? Those purple flames are definitely flashy, and she seems to dress up for battles.

+135 CobaltWindBlows replied:

I saw another post that had the full three on three from a different angle[LINK]. Quality is shot but it’s definitely the same. That Typhlosion is a monster!

Chapter Text

They had taken Palmer and Barry back to the villa after treating the battler’s Pokemon at the nearby Pokemon Center. They were seated at the same table as before, but this time, Palmer was leaning forward, hands steepled.

“That is... strange, no?” It had taken a few minutes to explain to Palmer what had happened. “If your Warden Ingo and the Subway Boss Ingo look identical, then what does that mean?”

“It means... there’s another axis we have to consider.” Akari stated. “Not only anywhere, or anywhen, but also different dimensions...”

“It expands the possible locations for Dawn to have ended up massively.” Rowan sighed. “It almost makes the search effort pointless, no?”

“No, not really.” Akari shook her head. “At the very least, someone had to make the rifts that dragged her away. Someone was causing the rifts in my time, too. So we can guess that someone, wherever Dawn ended up, is actively trying to open access to other dimensions.”

“That is very true, Akari.” Rowan nodded. “That at least reassures me a little.”

“Well, that decides one thing I can look for. Records of a space-time distortion throughout history.” Cynthia added. “Though, records from too far back will be spotty...”

“It’s kind of strange, seeing Ingo like that. He looks ten years younger than the Ingo I know.” Akari turned back to Palmer.

“What is your Ingo like, Akari?”

Akari turned her eyes to the ceiling in thought. “He’s... quiet. He doesn’t tend to be around people too much. Most of the time, he’s at the Security Corps training grounds, helping with Pokemon battles and training.”

“Wow.” Palmer nodded. “Even across dimensions, Ingo is still a passionate Pokemon Battler. As expected. He grinned. “Now I’m curious how your Ingo compares to the Ingo I know... want to take a trip to Unova?”

“Maybe in the future?” Akari thought aloud. “I mean... wouldn’t it be weird? I might do something he would find strange.”

“This whole situation is ‘weird’, Miss Akari,” Rowan sighed.

“From what I know about the Subway Bosses, Ingo is supposed to be the stoic one. But they say if you beat them in their challenge, Emmet is the restrained one, and Ingo will go hooting and hollering. Apparently, a good Pokemon battle is moving, or something like that.”

“Warden Ingo doesn’t yell all that hard when I beat him, but he does speak up. It’s definitely when his volume is up the highest. Anyways, I don’t think we can bring Warden Ingo here...” Akari sighed. Despite their similar circumstances and looks, they weren’t really the same person, were they? “He might be from a different dimension entirely. If we find that dimension? Maybe. But if we don’t, I wouldn’t want to burden him with the knowledge that there is another him, with all his memories intact.”

“A strange fate, to be sure. Though, it simply could be that Ingo hasn’t left yet...? He could just be from this timeline, but later.”

Cynthia narrowed her eyes. “I’ll have to warn him, though I don’t know how much that would help. Even if he locked himself in a padded room for the rest of his life, that wouldn’t necessarily protect him from getting teleported at random.”

“I can back you up, Cynthia.” Palmer mused. “Though you’re really the only eyewitness of the event. That means your word, and Akari’s, are the most important. I can only say ‘I trust her’ and hope the Subway Brothers take it seriously.”

“More phone calls. Joy.”

“Still, there’s stuff we can do right here, right now!” Palmer said. “Progress!”

“Oh? Like what?”

“If Dawn and Akari are the same person, wouldn’t they have the same DNA? We could test to see if Akari is the same as Dawn, right?”

“True.” Rowan rumbled. “But we don’t have any of Dawn’s DNA that hasn’t had a chance to be contaminated. I don’t make it a habit to collect samples from my trainers. And I’m sure that she hasn’t committed any crimes.”

“Check against Johanna, surely that will work, right?”

“It will prove they’re related, at least.” Cynthia considered. “That sort of test can’t prove they’re the same person, though.”

“Does it really need to? Common sense...”

“Once again, Palmer, true enough.” Rowan seemed to think of something else. “Better to get a full physical and some bloodwork done too. Should have thought of that earlier. I’ll have to set up an appointment for you. Won’t take more than five minutes.”

“A test?” Akari asked. “I guess that would help a little. But does that mean if I am Dawn, then we stop looking for her?”

“Now, that’s the kicker, isn’t it!” Palmer snapped his fingers. “Though, Akari really isn’t much like the Dawn I remember at all! Forgive me Johanna, but Dawn was a hypercompetitive brat, not all cool and suave like this one!”

“Ah-” Akari rubbed at her face.

“Does that mean we should try and fix Akari’s memories instead of looking for Dawn?” Barry asked. “Also, we need to tell Dawn’s mom! And Lucas!”

Akari considered. Would she be happier with her old memories? How different would she be? If she did get her memories back... it almost felt like she was replacing the Dawn that should be here. Johanna hadn’t recognized her at all when they first met, nor had Lucas or Barry. Was that really okay? That brought her to another thought that suddenly filled her with ice. “What happens... what happens if we discover that Dawn really did go to where I last remembered?” Akari asked. “If we return her here... what would happen to me?”

Rowan frowned. “I... I don’t know.”

“That’s a question we’re going to have to try and answer ourselves.” Cynthia stated.

Akari’s ears started to ring. “If we find Dawn, and fix this... am I going to disappear?”

“Akari.” Palmer was in front of her. “You’re not just going to disappear.”

“Why not...?”

“Do you have an explanation, Palmer?” Rowan raised an eyebrow.

“Hey, I read sometimes!” Palmer tried to defend himself. “Well, this came from a scifi novel I read once. If Akari went back in time to save Dawn, and then suddenly Akari’s timeline never happened, let’s say she disappears.”

“Palmer-”

“Let me finish!” Palmer raised his hands. “If she disappears, she won’t just disappear the instant we bring Dawn back. She’ll retroactively vanish, because she never went through with the thing that brought her here in the first place, get my meaning?”

Akari wasn’t following, but Rowan nodded. “Yes, I see.”

“But if Akari retroactively stopped existing...” Cynthia trailed off in thought.

“Then Akari, as we know her right now, will have never existed through all of time. So, we retrace the steps Dawn takes. First, Dawn disappears and appears in the past with no memories. She comes back to the future as Akari and helps us save Dawn. That removes Akari from existence. So we look at Dawn’s steps again. She disappears and appears as Akari. But this time, there is no Akari that went through the time travel to save Dawn. That means she goes through her journey and comes back as Akari again, not just amnesiac Dawn. But if no one rescued her, then Akari comes to help us rescue her, and the cycle repeats!”

“A paradox?”

“Yep. It’s impossible. That is, if I remembered it right. And... as long as different dimensions aren’t involved... and a bunch of other things that don’t matter, so whatever!” Palmer finished weakly. “You’re not going to disappear. Don’t worry!”

For how ridiculous the explanation was... it did help. A little. If he were more confident, maybe Akari would have felt better about it.

“Oh! By the way, I had an idea!” Palmer continued.

“Oh?” Cynthia inquired.

“Why doesn’t Akari come and challenge my Tower? And the rest of the Frontier?”

Rowan tilted his head. “The League generally wouldn’t be a fan, but a set of gold prints is generally seen as a mark of experience. It could work, I would think. No one would complain about a fullgold Frontier trainer.”

“Are there any trainers that managed to reach fullgold without getting a single League badge?”

“Nope! Not in Sinnoh as far as I know! Or in Johto, for that matter.” Palmer grinned. “But why not start with Akari?. If you’re so sure that she is a strong enough trainer, we can get her through the Frontier in a fraction of the time that it would take to run the Gyms, right? They’re all right here in Battle Zone.”

“Is it more difficult?” Akari had to ask. 

“Well, I like to think so...” Palmer grinned. “I’m not saying that we Frontier Brains are stronger than the Champion, but most people go for the Frontier after they collect a good number of Gym badges, usually the required eight to challenge the League. The Frontier isn’t a walk in the park.”

“And you think I can handle it?”

“Honestly, no clue!” He began tapping at his screen once again. “But I caught the end of the battle you had with Barry, and that attack looked plenty strong enough to me.”

Bary groaned. “I thought you were gonna be easy after Munchlax took out your first Pokemon. What was wrong with your Typhlosion, anyways? It’s way too strong!”

“Uh, Typhlosion is a Ghost-type Pokemon... I wasn’t sure what you were thinking at first, either.”

“It is?” Barry turned to the Professor.

Rowan had his eyes closed but took the opportunity to speak anyways. “I am not sure. Nowadays, Typhlosion is a purely Fire-type Pokemon, but possibly in the past, might have there been conditions conducive to a change in evolution?”

“Oh yeah, that was an absolutely wicked attack!” Bary suddenly shouted. “Was it really a Ghost move?”

“Uh, yes.” Akari nodded. “Also, I only caught Porygon-Z about a week ago...”

“A week ago? That’s even shorter than Munchlax!”

“Yeah.” Akari nodded. “I had just caught three wild Porygon and evolved one of them before Lord Arceus summoned me to the Sinnoh Temple. While I traveled, we got to spend a little time training, but really I haven’t had time to bring Porygon-Z up to speed.”

“Wild Porygon?” This time it was the Professor who inquired. “I wasn’t aware that Porygon was found wild anywhere. They’re man-made Pokemon.”

“They are?” Akari felt her waist to find the Pokeball with a square cut into it, rubbing the surface with her thumb. “They don’t breathe or eat, do they? I only found any inside the space-time distortions, which means they came from the future... That’s incredible!” She dug into her bag and pulled out her copy of Porygon’s notes and wrote the relevant information into the margins with her ink stick. She could hear Rowan’s deep chuckle as she wrote.

Palmer glanced at his screen once more. “Ah, well, I need to get back to work eventually. I bet I could get away with calling this an emergency, but if Akari is gonna run the Frontier, then I need to be at work eventually. Barry, you should go and get that last Gym badge soon. Your old man wants to battle you for real!”

Barry nodded. “Duh!”

Akari adjusted her cap. “Is that what’s happening, then?” 

“If it’s alright with you, Akari.” Rowan nodded. “After you get fullgold certification, then Cynthia and I can drag you around for who knows what.”

Cynthia tapped her chin. “Though, now that we’re considering time travel and alternate dimensions, are we even on a timetable anymore? She could still go get her badges instead...”

Palmer made a considering noise. “That’s true. But! I want her to challenge me soon! So I’m all for the fullgold plan!”

“If I do the gym challenge after I do the uh, fullgold thing, would that be weird?”

“It would make you famous, at least.” Cynthia snorted. “People would be all over you as if you were some hidden master or something.”

“Well, even if you did that, it wouldn’t be a problem.” Barry spoke up. “If you take the gym challenge second, wouldn’t we have gotten Dawn back already?”

“That’s true.” Akari replied. “If all I need is the fullgold certification, then I would just be a scary trainer from the Battle Zone rather than a mysterious figure, right?”

“That makes my TopTrainer post good for us, right? If she’s a strong trainer associated with the Battle Frontier and Barry rather than the League, you two can do stuff more quietly while Barry and Lucas get more badges and Akari here challenges the Frontier!”

“It seems like a workable plan, for now. Thoughts?”

Akari nodded. “I’m honestly relieved that I don’t have to do this alone. But I might need some time to train, and maybe catch a Flying Pokemon. I don’t know how strong you Battle Frontier people are, but if you say it’s faster this way, I’m for it.”

“We’re the strongest!” Palmer bragged. “No, really! There’s a whole section of the Battle Zone dedicated to training to beat the Battle Frontier! Honestly, I’m not sure how strong you really are when going all out, but that’s what the Frontier can really do! If it doesn’t crush you, then you come out the strongest you’ve ever been.”

Akari swallowed. “In the village, I was always one of the best Pokemon battlers behind Warden Ingo and the Commander... but if eleven-year-olds are as good as Barry was, then I don’t know if I’ll really measure up...”

Palmer nodded. “Understandable. While I said that the fullgold cert might be faster, if you have to train beforehand then it might be a problem.” He hummed.

Cynthia shook her head. “I guess it wouldn’t hurt to mention this... You know how I said I’ve seen Akari battle before?”

“Yeah, what of it?”

“The person she beat was Cyrus.”

“...”

“Cynthia...” Rowan groaned.

-----

Palmer and Barry departed not long after, back to presumably the Tower. Akari was currently with Professor Rowan, getting ready to get her blood drawn. As Rowan brought out a large bird Pokemon, of the same species from that morning, Akari was struck with a thought. “Do I need to catch more Pokemon? Do I need a flying-type?”

“Depends,” Rowan grunted. “It’s a good idea, and there are a few Flying-type Pokemon around in the Battle Zone, mostly Spearow and Wingull. Though, neither are particularly popular as flying partners. Which reminds me.” He rummaged through his briefcase before pulling out a slim, rectangular device. “Since you don’t have a phone, I have a Pokedex for you.”

“Ah, I do have a phone?”

Rowan blinked. “You do?”

Akari pulled her Arc Phone from her bag. “I got it from Lord Arceus when he sent me on my first mission. It’s called an Arc Phone.”

“Well, that’s no Rotom Phone, that’s for sure. Can you even get a signal on that thing?” Rowan hummed. “Try sending me a message.”

Rowan gave her a number to enter, and she managed to find the number pad function after a few seconds of tapping at the screen.

Rowan’s phone let out a low beep. “It works.” He said with raised eyebrows.

“I... didn’t know it could do that...”

“Well, no one would have a phone in ancient Sinnoh, would they?”

“I suppose not.”

“Regardless, here.” Akari’s phone beeped, this time quieter than she was used to. “There’s a link to a Pokedex Application.”

Akari looked down and tapped at the button that appeared. Before her was a list of Pokemon. She slid her finger down, and it kept going and going and going... “Ah, it worked!”

“That is... curious. But quite convenient. Is it fine if I distribute your contact to Cynthia and Palmer?”

“Uh, sure?” Akari was busy staring at the avalanche of information she was scrolling through.

“Technology sure is something, is it not?”

“...Yeah.”

-----

It was... refreshing to be out in the wild again. After he took her to the Pokemon Center, they had let her go and have the rest of the day to herself. The path up from the Resort Area was called Route 229, a thick forest of broad-leafed trees. Akari was currently debating if she wanted to go catch and catalog a large amount of Pokemon or focus on finding a Flying-type.

“The Professor said there weren’t many choices here, so maybe just a quick survey for today.”

Her mind made up, Akari set out into the wild.

She had to remind herself that she wasn’t a researcher. Not right now, at least. Cynthia had given her a free run of the villa, which Akari appreciated. It was nice to have a bed, and food, and reassurances that she wouldn’t starve. It was an even more eventful day than the first day of her life, which was saying something.

She missed being able to call Lord Braviary. She didn’t tend to bring fliers of her own around, because Lord Braviary was always around to give her a lift. Honestly, she missed all of the Nobles who had lent her their strength. The Azure flute was still in her possession, but she really didn’t know any songs to play. She wasn’t like Irida, who played music on her own flute for the sake of enjoyment. 

She missed a lot of things from Hisui, most of them people...

They would survive without her, for the few months she would be gone. Arceus gave her a mission, and she would be back with no problems. Actually, if she thought about it, she could always come back to the same time she left, right? Time travel, and all. There was no reason not to.

...Yeah. She would come down the mountain, and Rei would be surprised it only took five minutes for her to speak to Lord Arceus. They could finish up the research on the Pokedex to make it as comprehensive as possible, and she would have notes from the future to help with their research. Jubilife would become prosperous, and Hisui would be called Sinnoh. The region would be filled with people and Pokemon working together. After that... They would make Professor Laventon famous. 

So that no one would forget.

She had been sitting in some deeper brush for about fifteen minutes at this point, and was observing a Scyther and another Pokemon circling a bush that looked to contain a good amount of berries. The Pokedex on her Arc Phone had called it a Pinsir, and it definitely looked the part. Those were some large pincers on the thing. Neither of the two Pokemon seemed to want to make the first move, both of them nipping in and out, trying to snag a berry or two from the bush without exposing their lowered arms to attack from the other. The Pinsir was definitely the weaker of the two Pokemon, given it continued to be reactionary and never allowed itself a moment of exposure. The Scyther, on the other hand, was being very aggressive. It had managed to swipe a berry already, though it couldn’t eat the fruit without the Pinsir immediately attacking. 

So quickly that not even Akari was expecting it, the Pinsir managed to grab the Scyther around the abdomen with its pincers and began slamming it into the ground repeatedly. “...Ouch.” The Scyther was definitely not getting up from that one, was it? It lay there, motionless, as the Pinsir dug through the bush, stripping the berries and escaping, fortunately away from Akari’s hiding place. “Well, that looks like that.” she muttered. She reached down to grab her ink stick from its usual spot, only to not find it there. “Oh, right.” No Pokedex to work on. The one on her phone had plenty of information on both the Pokemon in front of her, and the simple observation she could do wouldn’t be particularly insightful. Hopefully, Rowan would have some work for her to do soon...

The Scyther was probably not going to make it. It was tough, but that’s how it was. Akari began the arduous process of extracting herself from the area when a woman’s voice rang out. “Oh my. That’s a nasty wound there.”

She froze. That was dangerous, supremely dangerous. Approaching an injured Pokemon like that? The woman was liable to lose her arm! Akari peeked up from her position in the underbrush to see a woman in dark orange clothing approach from the east. Though, if Akari called out, that might startle the Scyther and the woman might get attacked anyway...

“Now then. What happened here? I heard the kerfuffle and came by. Bad fight?” The woman frowned as she stopped a few arm’s length away from the Scyther.

“Shaaaaa...”

“Well, looks like you’re too beaten down to attack me, so stay still.” She pulled on some gloves as she got closer, while the Scyther twitched. “You’ll live, I think. Thank goodness I got here in time.” Akari couldn’t really see what the woman was doing, as she was crouched pretty low next to the Scyther, but her work didn’t take more than five minutes. “Now get outta  here.” The Scyther wasn’t flying, but it did manage to scamper off. The woman wandered back into the underbrush, speaking into something on her wrist.

Akari slipped back into the underbrush and sighed with relief. “At least she looked like a professional. Still, the sound probably drove off all the Pokemon around here. I’ll need to move on.”

And she continued.

-----

BEEP

Her Arc Phone alerted. “Oh!” The flock of Spearow nearby fluttered away, screeching all the while. “Ah, darn.” She wasn’t sure how the Spearow heard the beep over the din of their own screeching, but they did.

“Hey, Akari! This is Palmer! Just a quick text to let you know I have your number!”

“Ah, right. I’m gonna have to find a way to quiet you down, huh.”

Akari looked around. The sun was going to last another hour, she estimated, which meant she could stay out a bit more. She didn’t want to stay out late yet, given she was unfamiliar with the area.

“Skraa!” There was a cry from the bushes where the Spearow had flown off from. “Skraa!”

“Hm?” Akari recognized the cry of a defeated Rufflet. Of course, she expected to find at least a few Rufflet this far north, but she hadn’t seen any so far. The climate was still a touch warm for them. She wondered what those Spearow were doing bullying the Rufflet, though. Did it have food?

There was no one around, as far as Akari could tell, no orange-clothed stranger to help the Rufflet if it was dying. She couldn’t see the Pokemon through the thick brush, but she could still hear it chirping. “Well, no time like the present, I guess.” She grabbed a Pokeball and released the Pokemon inside. “Empoleon, watch my back.”

It was a familiar situation. Empoleon sauntered to the closest thing that Akari could call a center of the clearing she was in, while she crept through the tall grass. The Rufflet was still crying, though it seemed to have stopped screaming in pain.

“Woah, you’re a big one, aren’t you?” The Rufflet wasn’t as big as an alpha, but it was definitely bigger than other Rufflet she had seen. Nearly one and a half foot from talon to crown, if she had to guess. It looked pretty battered, all things considered, with a broken wing and some pulled feathers on the ground strewn around it. It wasn’t standing, either, which meant maybe an injured foot or leg?

“Skraaaaa!” And, now it’s noticed her. Still, it wasn’t like it was going to escape... She chucked a Pokeball at it.

click

Right, that was that. While the Rufflet was injured, she’d never heard of a Pokemon dying inside the ball, so it could get treatment later. “Flying-type, get!” Empoleon gave her a nod as she stood up in the patch of grass. “Empoleon, no trouble?” When he shook his head, she took the time to stretch her legs. “Right. Well, I managed to burn through the afternoon. Let’s head back and get Rufflet some medication.” Empoleon nodded with a cry of his own, and she popped him back in his Pokeball.

“I wonder what I’m gonna eat for dinner...?”

Chapter Text

“Well, she did say free care...” Akari entered the Pokemon Center. “Now, how did this go?”

“Welcome to the Pokemon Center!” An attendant called from the front desk. 

Akari approached. “Uh, hello.” There were a lot of Captain Pesselles out and about the Center, but that wasn’t really any of her business. Good for the Captain, her clan lasted all the way here, whenever it was. “I captured an injured Rufflet, and I was hoping you could check him over for me. Looked like a broken wing, probably some sort of injury on his legs because he didn’t run when I approached. A good number of his flight feathers were yanked, too.”

“Of course!” The nurse took the proffered ball. “A handmade Pokeball?”

“Yep.” Akari nodded. “I haven’t decided what I want to carve into it yet, though. Maybe some wavy lines...”

“Well, we’ll have Rufflet back with you as right as rain. Just scan your ID and wait in the lobby; we’ll call for you when we’re finished.”

“Right.” Akari found a relatively secluded corner and began to wait. The sun was finally beginning to dip below the horizon, and she was feeling pretty exhausted, all things considered. It wasn’t the most physically strenuous day, but there was a lot to think about, at least. She felt at her waist, running her thumb over the square cut in one of her Pokeballs. “Porygon-Z.” She undid the clasp manually, and the Pokemon appeared in front of her. “Hey buddy, how you feeling?”

It responded in a series of chirps, higher-pitched dropping lower as it went on. She got the idea, though. Disappointment. “That’s not really your fault, Pory. “ She palmed the little thing’s head and brought it to ‘sit’ next to her. “We gotta work on communication, first, I think.”

This time, the response was a humming buzz.

“Hrm.” Akari frowned. She had no context for the Pokemon’s reactions. “Maybe...” She pulled the Arc Phone from her bag and opened the Pokexex function. “Porygon-Z... Well, at least I was right about the name.” It seemed to appreciate her touching it. “Still, that name is super cumbersome, you know? Po-ry-gon-zee.”

She wasn’t sure how long she spent simply wiggling the individual bits of the duckling. Apparently, Porygon-Z was developed to traverse different dimensions. “How... appropriate.” She received what she assumed was a happy series of beeps in response. “Why are you beeping instead of going ‘popopo’ like normal?”

“Popo?”

“Yeah, like that!”

“Po-o-o-o-o-o.”

“...I wish I could understand you.”

A bell rang from somewhere overhead. “Akari?” A voice called.

“Ah!” She stood as one of the medics came by, holding a clipboard. Behind her trailed a Blissey in a little nurse’s hat. Honestly, with the color scheme of most of the staff, it was fitting. Porygon-Z plopped itself around her shoulders as the nurse approached.

“Looks like everything is in order.” She handed back the Pokeball. “You said you found it in that condition? Thank you for catching it immediately. Lots of Trainers who aren’t Rangers try to fix up wild Pokemon before bringing them in, and sometimes they don’t get things like broken bones quite right.”

“Well, in general, if Pokemon are like that while I’m doing research, catching them is just practical.” she replied. “I’ve never heard of a Pokemon dying inside a ball before, and when you’re running around dodging wild Pokemon attacks, dragging an injured Pokemon for a few hours would probably get exhausting...”

“That’s true enough, ma’am.” The nurse gave her a bow. “Well, Rufflet is nice and healthy. We hope to see you again!”

As she exited, twirling the Pokeball around in her hand, Akari wondered at the woman’s wording. Maybe it was a cultural thing, but wasn’t that a terrible thing to hope for? They’re a medic corps...

-----

It was sundown when she and Porygon-Z arrived at the villa. It was relatively isolated, which perhaps was too bad. Akari would have thought that the Champion could get a house closer to the population center. Still, it meant a little privacy, and Akari had yet to even look at the Rufflet she just caught. As per usual, she went ahead and released her three other Pokemon from their balls before warning them about a new friend.

“Alright, Rufflet. Let’s take a look at you. Guys, we’ve got a new friend.” Akari looked up at her gathered Pokemon, who were now clearly interested in the Pokeball in her hand. She tossed it, and the not-so-little Rufflet gave a warbling cry. “And hello, Rufflet. Would you like a berry?” She had to dig around in her pack to find an appropriate berry to give the guy before he got impatient and attacked her. Rufflet were... aggressive Pokemon, to say the least. She found both a Plump Bean and a Sitrus Berry in her bag, and offered them both to the curious bird. The Rufflet was surprisingly cautious as he approached, scratching with one talon at the surface of the Sitrus Berry before attempting to skewer it. Of course, his black talons punched through the hard skin, but his attempts to tear open the berry seemed to be stymied by the tough rind. He had resorted to pecking at the fruit attacked to his foot with little effect. “Right, so we know what he’ll eat, at least.” She began distributing food to the rest of her team, but they all continued to watch the Rufflet with the same interest they showed Porygon-Z when it had just arrived.

Lilligant was the first to approach the bird, unsurprisingly. Lilligant was always the readiest to help of her regular rotation of Pokemon. Lilligant had to crouch to get close enough, but the bird seemed to be busy attempting to crush the berries in his claws.

“Skraa?” Lilligant had reached for one of the berries while Rufflet scrambled backward. With a gentle swipe of one of her blades, the berry fell open and landed on the ground, halved. Silently, Lilligant picked up one of the halves and brought it to Rufflet’s face, who began eating with gusto.

“Lilligant, you have no idea how adorable that is, you know.” Akari noted as she tossed a berry as hard as she could into the ocean. Empoleon went racing after it as the Rufflet continued stuffing himself with the berry. She considered. “Or maybe you do and you just want praise, is that it?” As always, she received no reply other than the gentle rustling of her flower. “How are you feeling, Rufflet?” She also approached the bird, who had finished the fruit and was now staring right at her.

“Skraa!”

“Do you remember me, Rufflet?”

“Skraa!” She assumed he did. He wasn’t being particularly aggressive, but it didn’t hurt to be cautious. Akari reached out with one of the remaining berry halves, and Rufflet approached, clearly still hungry.

“Well, you know what they say about a bird in the hand... Ow!”

-----

Honestly, it was criminal how much softer the beds were than her futon. She just wanted to sink into the fluffiness and sleep forever...

Well, she still had work to do. It was a new day! Akari dragged herself out of bed, the sun still red in the sky. She shrugged on her undershirt, now suspiciously clean compared to what it had been in the past. Had Cynthia gotten someone to clean it for her?

Professor Rowan had given her the first installment of her lab stipend, and apparently, she was going to be on her own for a little bit. Palmer would be around, but the Champion and the Professor both had duties on the mainland.

Akari had a goal now, too. The Battle Frontier. While Cynthia and Professor Rowan chased down leads, she had to complete her ‘disguise’ as a strong Pokemon Trainer from the Battle Zone. And that meant clearing the Battle Frontier. She pulled on her jacket and secured it in place, though the familiar weight of her pack was gone, having been emptied and set to the side.

Her first problem was that she had no clue how strong trainers were supposed to be. Her team only had two Pokemon battles, against that man Cyrus and Barry, who was eleven. Cyrus was definitely strong, but she managed to pull good matchups one at a time. In hindsight, if Empoleon hadn’t managed to knock out two Pokemon, she would have been in massive trouble...

And then there was Barry. He was eleven. Eleven! While there were definitely Pokemon in the village that kids could interact with, she was sure that no one under fourteen was leaving the walls regularly, let alone traveling on their own... That had to mean something, right? If kids got started training at that age, she could only imagine how strong a professional battler would be. Palmer and Cynthia would be monsters. She didn’t really have that kind of time, did she?

Akari had to remind herself that the only time limit left was her body aging. If they were to achieve time travel, they either got control of it, or they didn’t. If they did, then they could go back whenever and it would be fine. If they didn’t... then a few months here or there wouldn’t be so bad, would it? It wasn’t like they were forced to return a set amount of time, right?

“Well, regardless, we just have to work hard.”

While she didn’t have the Security Corps or Warden Ingo to train with, Akari did have a plan. She released her Pokemon from their balls, and Akari began giving orders. “Lilligant, can you handle Rufflet for me?” The dancer nodded, grabbing the bird and perching it atop her head. The Rufflet took a second to settle before calling out an affirmative. “Go ahead and run some agility drills. Rufflet, try to keep up if you can, but don’t push yourself if you’re still healing. Lilligant has run these drills before with other Pokemon, you’ll pick it up no problem. Porygon-Z! Typhlosion is gonna try and pelt you with Ghost moves, and you’re gonna have to dodge them. Our evasion in that battle wasn’t up to snuff, so we’re working on it! Verticality and engagement distance!” Typhlosion turned his grin on Porygon-Z, who seemed to literally freeze in place under his gaze. “Oh, don’t be such a baby. They’re ghost moves, and we know you’re a Normal Type. You are literally not going to die! Also, Typhlosion, no mixing in ember with the other attacks. You ass. Empoleon!” She reached behind her and pulled out her knife. “You’re with me.”

-----

Having no responsibilities other than training wasn’t unfamiliar to Akari. Right after that cave-in at Wayward Cave, she had spent a good week doing nothing but facing Ingo and the Security Corps in Pokemon battles. After that, Captain Cyllene still didn’t let her leave the village until the freeze set in fully, so she ended up doing a lot of physical training, too. The nip in the air reminded her of that month when she could see her harsh breaths as she dodged and rolled around the swings of the Security Corps. 

Her knife came up to try and score a line across Empoleon’s arm but only succeeded in glancing off the metallic edge. Not a great position, all things considered, as her lunge put her past her opponent. Since her back was now turned towards him, Akari’s only option was to duck and roll forward, which fortunately was the correct one. Empoloen’s clubbing arm came swinging from above her, slamming into the sand a moment after she vacated.

“Close one.” She smiled at Empoleon before charging in again. This time, he elected to step back, causing her swing to miss completely before her momentum sent her directly into his chest. Instead of colliding and risking a free shot, Akari chose to lift one leg and fall forward as she kicked out with the other. Instead of hitting her in the side with his arm, Empoleon’s horizontal swipe went high and she landed in the sand on her stomach. Her arm reached out, tapping her knife to the top of Empoleon’s forward foot, where all of his weight was still coming down.

“Point!” She scrambled away. That was her third point today, which meant that it was probably time for a break. The score, of course, was seven to three in Empoleon’s favor, but that wasn’t the goal of the exercise, not really. While rare, she occasionally had to be able to escape a wild Pokemon under her own power, and Empoleon was perfectly happy to emulate an aggressive wild Pokemon for her to practice with. Stabbing at feet, slashing at elbow and shoulder joints, throwing sand, everything was valid when fighting for your life. That was something that Captain Cyllene instructed her in. They called her an accomplished surveyor, but that felt like an understatement when what the Captain was good at was surviving . 

“Never turn your back for more than a moment. Pokemon, no matter the shape or size, will almost always have a way to attack you from range. Turning and fleeing without a plan will leave you vulnerable to attack from the usually faster and stronger opponent. If you must escape from a wild Pokemon, rely on your surroundings and impair their movement if possible. Humans, if nothing else, are supremely adaptable and do not tire easily. We train every day to make sure that we will never exhaust ourselves before our pursuers. We endure, as we always have.”

But when Empoleon kept swinging, Akari held her tongue. Sure, she could use a break, but she had just gotten her third point of the day. Empoleon was prideful, so of course he would want to continue for even a bit longer to try and respond. He enjoyed having the last laugh, even against Lilligant as she danced circles around him when she deigned to train with him. Besides, the more practice Akari got, the better. Without the Security Corps and regular excursions to keep her sharp, she was worried that she would be lax in her training.

“We have very few, if not zero physical advantages to Pokemon. We are slower than them, weaker than them. We have no special ability or interesting trait. In some cases, we are not even smarter than them. So be cunning. Take every advantage presented to you. Cowardice does not exist, only your life.”

Empoleon spun as she dived forward, his arms leaving gouges in the beach. Sometimes Akari was glad Empoleon was so slow on land. In the water, she'd be a goner. Still, he needed to be faster, and that was his benefit from this exercise. Was the whole premise dangerous? Maybe, but they practiced with live weapons all the time, and honestly? Akari trusted Empoleon not to hurt her more than some of the younger recruits. She moved forward once more, this time on her hands and toes. 

Once again, her knife scraped across the metal blades of Empoleon's arm, but this time the flat of Empoleon's other blade slammed into her side. She had her limbs knocked out from under her, but it wasn't his point. Not yet. She attempted to roll away to try and get her bearings, but he put on a surprising amount of speed as he fell forward, mimicking her earlier move. She only managed to roll onto her back before each of his blades buried themselves on either side of her stomach, and her abdomen impacted one of the flippers. She let the knife fall out of her hand in surrender. "Point. Nice job!"

"Shaaaaa!" He clambered up and she picked up her knife, wiping the sand off on her pant leg.

"Let's go get the others, then."

A satisfied Empoleon followed her down the beach, where she found a rather pouty Typhlosion sitting away from the water. Porygon-Z was nowhere to be seen.

"Typhlosion." Akari frowned at the sight. "Where'd Porygon-Z run off to? He seemed determined to train when I asked him yesterday." Typhlosion responded by firing a ghostly fireball straight up. "Up?"

Lo and behold, there was Porygon-Z, hovering fifty feet in the air. Well, she supposed that technically, Typhlosion could never land a shot from that distance. But she would have to remember to put more rules in place for the literal-minded Porygon-Z. "Porygon-Z! Get down from there! That was clever of you, but it doesn't help you train. I'm gonna have to put a max height on your flight..." She glanced around. "How about this. No higher than the canopy. No going over the water. Okay?" Both Typhlosion and Porygon-Z nodded assent. "Right. So, since you two really didn't do much training, go ahead and keep going. Come on Empoleon, let's go check on Rufflet and Lilligant."

As it turned out, she didn't need to go far, as Lilligant came bounding from the nearby forest with Rufflet in tow. "Did you two manage to get some work done?" Lilligant gave a nod as Rufflet called an affirmative, probably. "That's good, that's good."

“You are not alone. You are never alone. Human or Pokemon, you have comrades ready to help you. You trust in their competence, and you must work hard to ensure their trust in you is not misplaced. It is a contract. One born of a mutual instinct to live. To be alone... It is a terrifying thing. Relying solely on yourself is at best, foolish, and at worst, prideful. In the end, to be alone is to die.”

-----

The Battle Tower.

Did she feel ready? It hadn’t even been a week, but Palmer had told her he was getting impatient for her to make her first attempt at the Battle Tower. Supposedly, people would challenge the Tower nearly daily for months. There was no shame in losing for the first few times. But still, Akari had a feeling she would be disappointed if she didn’t make at least a good run the first time she entered that place. Palmer, Cynthia, and Rowan all seemed to think she was more than capable. 

Around her, the lobby of the Battle Tower was surprisingly sparing in people. There were groups here and there, but for whatever reason Akari expected more of them. She approached one of the reception desks.

“Welcome to the Battle Tower!” The receptionist nodded at her. “Did you want to take the singles challenge today?”

“Yes.” Akari nodded. 

“You are aware that the Tower requires you to possibly stay up to a week at a time, or you may have to forfeit your challenge?”

“Yes.” That was expected if she were to perform well.

“Fantastic! I’ll just need your Trainer ID and the three Pokemon you wanted to register.”

Akari nodded and passed over the balls and her card, which the receptionist merely raised an eyebrow at.

“Right. If you intend to use our rest facilities or eat during your challenge, you will be charged via your ID, is that fine?” Akari nodded, It was simpler to use the facilities than try and figure out how she was going to bring food with her, especially because she wasn’t allowed to bring a bag larger than a ‘handbag’ on her person. As the receptionist turned to her terminal, Akari pulled out the Arc Phone. 

Palmer had informed her of what to expect beforehand, but Akari was looking at the copy of the Battle Tower rules inside the Vs. Recorder application on her Arc Phone. Each trainer registered 3 Pokemon with the system and entered the tower. Starting from the ground floor, each floor had eight trainers in two groups of four, or ‘quads’. A trainer fought each other trainer once, with healing provided in between. The win leader of each quad then battled, and the winner got to move up two floors. The loser of the head to head moved up one floor. The quad which had the winner got to stay on the floor, while the losing quad was forced to exit the tower. When the floor hit capacity with two quads, the floor would ‘fire’, as Palmer put it. It could sometimes take an hour or two for eight trainers to make it to certain floors, but if the day ended with inactive pods, they would consolidate up by selecting people at random from the closest floor down. On the website that Palmer had shown her, many ‘grinders’ would attempt to end their day on specific floors that were as close to certain thresholds as they could in order to try and skip floors through the daily consolidation. For example, if one finished the day on floor nineteen, there was a decent chance to get into floor twenty completely for free.

Climbing the tower was a multi-day event if one wanted to reach the Tycoon, and sometimes would last a week if you stalled at a particular floor when trying for a ‘gold print’, which Akari did. If one wanted a ‘silver print’, they could stop at floor ten, which could be as little as twenty battles without consolidation. Reaching gold required one to reach floor thirty-one, which could be as little as sixty battles without consolidation, but were often many more. Once there were four trainers on floor thirty-one, one final quad would fire, with the winner facing Palmer. Each floor had access to both healing services and the Tower’s restaurant, as well as private sleeping quarters for the participants. You could only change the leader of your team at the start of the day, between consolidations. Otherwise, your point Pokemon had to stay consistent, in order to prevent something they called ‘on-the-fly counterpicking’. It was a grueling tournament, where extremely strong battlers were at war constantly near the top. Honestly, Akari was kind of excited.

“Ah, ma’am?” The receptionist had a concerned look on her face.

“Hm?” Akari glanced up.

“It says on your trainer ID you don’t have any Gym badges, is that right? From... any region?”

“Yes, that’s correct.” Palmer had warned her this would happen. No one who entered the Battle Frontier was inexperienced. There was an expected level of skill, even on the ground floor.

“Then I’m afraid I can’t allow you to enter. There’s a threshold of at least six Sinnoh oh Johto badges to challenge the Battle Frontier facilities.”

“Mister Palmer has written an exemption. He told me to ask you to check the... reception memos.”

“Is that so?” The receptionist raised an eyebrow but turned to her screen regardless. “ID number...” She glanced back at Akari before blinking in surprise. “It seems he has. ‘I told Akari she should show up this week. Don’t worry, she can handle it.’ Mister Palmer...” The receptionist sighed. “Well, good luck in the Tower, Miss Akari. You’re one of the first challengers here today, so you might have to wait for the ground floor to fire. Your number is four.”

“Thank you.” Akari steeled herself. This was her first step in Sinnoh to completing her mission.

The receptionist shook her head.  “With the Tycoon’s recommendation, too...” She handed Akari’s items back, and one of the doors behind her opened. The counter lowered, and Akari crossed into a long hallway.

She entered the room to see two Pokemon fields devoid of Pokemon. To one side, three people were sitting at some couches below a television, separated by glass. She supposed that was the waiting room, and headed towards it.

In the room, all three trainers turned to look at Akari as she entered. “Ah, hello!”

“Hello.” The older man greeted. He had a thick beard and was wearing sturdy pants and a vest over a long-sleeve shirt.

“Hi!” A girl about Akari’s age waved. “I’m Janna!” She was wearing a pretty flashy outfit, wasn’t she? Large bows and other ribbons adorned her all over. Lots of green and blue.

“Akari.” She took a seat and considered the others in the room.

“I’m George.” The older teen boy with bright green hair nodded. He was wearing a single glove on his arm that extended all the way to his shoulder. He wasn’t wearing sleeves, on his shirt, revealing some wirecord muscle underneath.

“Horace.” The larger man grunted. “That’s the quad, then?”

“I think so. We have to wait for the other quad to make before we fire, though.” George responded.

“Shouldn’t take more than twenty minutes.” Janna noted. She sipped at a clear flask of water.

“It’s the waiting that kills me, I think.” George mused. “Normally I think I’m pretty confident, but showing up early might have been a mistake. It’s my first time at the Tower.”

“It’s not so bad.” Horace replied. “Just relax. Really, you don’t need to talk to us if it makes you nervous.”

“No, you’ve been nice enough. How far are you guys hoping to go?” George bounced the question.

“I haven’t got a clue.” Janna claimed. “This is my first time too!”

“Is that right?” George smiled. “Well, if things go my way, I might make it to silver cert. Got pretty close before hitting a wall the last time on floor eight. Lost in the quad.”

“That’s pretty good, isn’t it?” Akari tilted her head in thought.

“It is.” George nodded. “You new as well?”

“Hn, yeah.” Akari adjusted her hat. “I... I have to go for a fullgold certification.”

“Have to?” Horace asked.

“Fullgold?!” Janna yelled before Akari could answer, rising in her chair. “You gotta be insane! Getting a fullgold is like, harder than beating the Champion!”

“Is that so?” Akari pondered. “I think I’d rather do an endurance battle like this than have to face an undefeatable opponent.”

“That’s... hrm. That’s true.” Janna sat back down. “I guess unbeatable is still unbeatable...”

“That’s some competitive spirit you got there, Akari.” Horace mused. “We’ll have to see how far you go. Though, of course, I’m gonna do my best to stop you right here.”

“That goes for everyone, though.” George objected. “This is a competition, after all.”

A loud tone came from the center arena, and one of the walls began to display pictures of the competitors.

Akari vs Horace

George vs Janna

Akari swallowed.

Showtime.

Chapter Text

This was a disaster.

An absolute, unmitigated embarrassment.

Of course, this would happen to her.

Akari had her head in her hands, wondering what went wrong. In front of her, Empoleon was sneering at the devastated form of Janna, who was cradling a rather beaten down Rapidash in her arms. It disappeared in a flash of red light, and Janna scampered to the healing station. “Empoleon, you made a girl cry again. We talked about this.” In response, he scoffed as he re-entered his ball on his own.

Akari wandered over to the screen on the wall to... certify her results, they called it. George had to explain to her how to work the machine, but she had it down, now! 

Sitting at a bench on the sideline, the two men were staring at Akari with resignation. “It’s alright, Janna!” Horace called. “You’re all right! It’s just a Pokemon battle!”

George shook his head. “Well, if that’s what it takes to climb to the top of the Tower, it’s gonna be a rough journey... At least we get to keep our spot in the queue.”

“You’re that confident in her?” Horace grunted.

“Yeah, I am. I don’t even know what her other two Pokemon are, that Empoleon beat us all senseless. On the first floor, no one is gonna stand a chance against that. Maybe for the people already up on the higher floors, but not here.”

“You’re incredible, Akari.” Janna sniffed as she approached. “I thought for sure I was gonna make it first try no problem.” She smiled as she confirmed the results on her own screen.

“You better make it a good run, Akari. Get that gold print fast. If you don’t it will just be embarrassing for me.” George muttered.

Horace gave out a belly laugh. “Don’t worry. The Tower is a relentless grind. One run isn’t the end of the world.” 

“...Thank you.” Akari adjusted her coat. “So, where do I have to go now?”

“First of all, we’re coming with you. We want to watch, of course.” George countered. “It’s just through there. The elevator battle room.” His finger pointed to one of the doors on the walls. There was a glowing red light above the doorway. “Looks like the opponent isn’t ready yet. We should enter first so that their light is green, so they know they’re fighting right away.”

“Let’s go, Akari!” Janna cheered. “I wanna see your opponent!”

They entered the elevator room, which contained another battlefield. They seemed to cover every square inch of flat land with the things, didn’t they? Once again, there were seats along the side of the room for the other participants of the quads to watch. Akari walked over to the... terminal... there, but her name had already appeared on the screen. The others had chosen to sit at the arena-side bench.

“So, how long before the opponent shows up?” She had to ask.

Horace seemed to have an answer but was interrupted by the opposite door opening. Unsurprisingly, the other quad walked in. An elderly woman, another woman wearing what looked like nice clothing, and a man wearing a gi entered in front of a kid that couldn’t have been more than twelve. More children? Akari suspected she knew who her opponent was going to be, and her fears were right as the kid walked up to the line. “Hello.” The girl gave a bow, her dark hair careening to one side. She was wearing a long black dress with what looked like an apron over the front. Her hair was in a braid that swished as she talked. “My name is Rin.”

Akari nodded. “I’m Akari, nice to meet you.”

“Let’s have a good battle, yes?” Rin held out a Pokeball in an underhand grip.

“Of course.” Akari simply nodded.

“It’s time, Kricketune!”

“Empoleon. Ready.”

“Kricketune! Fury Cutter!” The girl’s voice wasn’t particularly loud, and she made no effort to yell. Still, the Kricketune closed in, its arms glowing.

“Agile Rock Slide.” Honestly, Akari wasn’t nervous. By the rules, Empoleon was going to see way more action than both Lilligant and Typhlosion, but she could only rearrange her team at the end of the day or before floor twenty or thirty-one. Eventually, Empoleon would run into a bad matchup, but for now, he was happy to be getting so much battle time.

Stones erupted from the ground as Empoleon swung his arms, which the Kricketune couldn’t do much to dodge from the distance it was at. The Kricketune stumbled as Empoleon finished his motion with his arms behind his back.

“Wave Crash.” Of course, in a straight line surrounded by water, the lug was faster than most people expected. The Kricketune seemed to twang as the attack bowled it over and sent it sliding across the smooth ground. Empoleon grunted as he shook off the effects of Wave Crash before roaring in challenge, as he was wont to do. The Kricketune slid to a stop in front of Rin, who was now quivering... Oh sweet Arceus, again? “Empoleon, you’re scaring her... Please stop.”

“What in the world...” The man in the gi exclaimed. “That Empoleon is a monster... I haven’t even heard of that move before.”

George shook his head. “Be glad you didn’t have to face that Empoleon yourself. We didn’t even get to see her other Pokemon.”

Janna nodded. “That girl is attack, attack, attack all the time! Honestly, it’s scary! My poor Reenie tried to use Stealth Rock when I faced her, and that Empoleon slammed him with three different attacks before I could blink. If you’re not ready, he’ll chew through everything.”

“I wouldn’t count out Rin just yet.” The old woman replied. “I think I know what’s going to happen next. We’ll definitely get to see another Pokemon.”

Rin sighed. “Right. Focus, Rin! Gastrodon, let’s go!”

A Western Gastrodon? Hrm. Not the best matchup for Empoleon, but doable. “Aqua Jet.”

“Harden!”

Empoleon crashed right by the Gastrodon, but it didn’t seem to have moved at all. Instead, the water shrouding Empoleon’s form seemed to... lose cohesion and gather around the slug’s foot. Did that not work? Akari frowned. “Try it again. Aqua Jet.”

“One more time, Harden!”

“Hey, what’s the girl doing? Obviously, that wouldn’t work...” The woman exclaimed.

Obviously? Was there something she wasn’t understanding? “Back up!”

“Earth Power!”

The ground erupted around Empoleon, sending him to the ground. Apparently that Gastrodon hit harder than she thought... “Well, that was the first time Empoleon went down... Nice!” She gave Rin the best encouraging grin she could.

“Thank... you?” Rin almost seemed confused.

“Hrm. Lilligant, move out.”

Lilligant performed a twirl as she entered the arena, towering above the Gastrodon.

“Alright... what in the name of Arceus is that?” The younger woman seemed shocked.

“Woah, she’s tall!” 

“I didn’t know there was a Sinnohian Lilligant.”

“Is it pronounced like that? Sinnohian?”

“Who knows?”

“I would guess a fire, water, grass core? Well balanced.”

Everyone was focused on Lilligant... and she loved it. Akari could tell. “Well, it seems like you’re the center of attention. Show them your Victory Dance.”

Lilligant began to twirl as the flower on her head leaked bright yellow energy. Of course, like everything Lilligant did, it was a beautiful display of both skill and power.

“Focus, Rin! We’re in a battle... Ice Beam!”

“Not happening.” Lilligant didn’t even need instruction as she twirled out of the way of the attack. “Leaf Blade.”

This time, the Gastrodon was sent rolling away from its spot. “Lilli-”

Before she could give another order, the Gastrodon had disappeared into its Pokeball. 

“One shot, huh? As expected from a four times weakness.” Rin sighed. “Well, I think you have me, Akari! Golem, let’s try our best.”

The Golem that emerged was definitely... not what she expected. Akari had only ever captured one Golem, a lumbering thing that enjoyed sleeping at the highest point he could find. Instead, this Golem had huge protruding spires emerging from its back, with a face covered in iron shavings like a Probopass. “Woah.”

“You’re not the only trainer with foreign Pokemon, you know!” Rin smiled. “Golem, Steamroller!”

The Golem rolled itself into a ball and began charging down the field. “Stop it! Petal Dance!”

Lilligant’s flurry of petals slammed into the rolling boulder, but it did little to slow it down. Golem crashed into Lilligant at speed, sending them both tumbling to the ground in a plume of dust.

“Golem!”

Lilligant and Golem were both clearly hurt by the collision, but Lilligant seemed to collect herself before her opponent and slammed the Golem in the head with a Leaf Blade, without Akari’s instruction. “Ah.”

Rin bowed. "Congratulations." On the screen, Akari's portrait glowed. "Looks like you get to skip a floor."

"Right." Empoleon was brought to the healing machine before Akari and Rin both stepped up to the elevators.

The elevator doors opened, and Akari stepped inside the one with the green light. Through the glass, George, Horace and Janna were waving at her, so she waved back.

Going up.

-----

Overall, things didn't get particularly harder as the floors went up. Empoleon was simply too fast for the opponent's Pokemon. If they ever landed one move, Empoleon would come roaring back with two or three moves of his own.

Occasionally, Empoleon would run into a Pokemon like that Gastrodon or some grass-type that didn't go down easily. In those cases, it was simple enough to choose between the two of her remaining Pokemon.

She had spent some time on floor eight, watching the battles from the waiting room. A quad had fired before she entered the floor, so she had to wait for the floor to clear before her quad could battle. Apparently, it wasn't uncommon for an entire quad to be waiting for the competitors ahead to finish, even as trainers entered the floor from below. Apparently, floor nine was rather crowded on some days.

There were no windows inside the arenas, so the only indicators of time were when she managed to step out into the hallways after each round. The sun had set during the last floor, floor ten, and according to her Arc Phone it was nearly nine at night. There was only one other person with her in the waiting room, a young man wearing blue. “I made it...” Akari sighed. Undefeated all the way to Silver. This was... exhausting.

“Congratulations.” The man didn’t seem very excited for her, but he didn’t sound sarcastic, either.

“Thank you, sir.” She glanced at his clothing and couldn’t shake the thought that she should recognize him from somewhere. “My name is Akari. Nice to meet you.”

“Akari...?” He seemed to consider for a moment. “In that case... I am Riley. It is nice to meet you... Akari. I apologize, I had mistaken you for someone else...” He was frowning now.

Pin Pon!

"Attention trainers of the Battle Tower! This is the head of night staff speaking! It is now nine PM! All battles in progress will finish! For those of you that managed to reach Floor Ten or above, congratulations! You have earned a Commemorative Silver Print! You will have your print made for you when you leave the Tower! If you wish to exit the tower for any reason, please use the terminals by the elevator to notify the staff. Will the following numbers please go to the terminals! You have been chosen to consolidate upwards. One. Three. Four. Eight. Fifteen. Twenty-Nine. Thirty. Forty-One. Forty-Five. Thank you!”

Riley nodded. “I am number Forty-One.”

“Oh! I’m number Four! Does that mean we both got moved up?”

“Most likely.” Riley nodded. He accessed the elevator screen before nodding. “We’re both heading up to floor twelve, looks like.”

“Lead the way, then.”

“Don’t forget to scan your card... Akari.”

When consolidating after they changed floors, the quads were randomized. Akari and Riley ended up on opposing quads, but they didn’t start until the morning. After managing to figure out how to order food with the terminal in the sleeping quarters, Akari let out her three Pokemon.

“So. Empoleon, thoughts?”

It seemed he was unimpressed with the level of competition so far. Akari wasn’t surprised, all things considered. She had expected for the tower to be more... frenetic? She wasn’t sure of the word. But her day had mostly been waiting for the quads to fill up before a whirlwind of action that took no more than thirty minutes before she moved up a floor and had to wait again. The trainers got less talkative as she climbed, at floor eight, her advancement opponent didn’t even say anything to her afterward. Though, she did receive a dirty glare from his quadmates. One of them stormed off in a huff, clearly in a foul mood. It must have been frustrating, having your challenge cut short because someone else lost a Pokemon battle. “I’m gonna be changing leads for tomorrow. If the rate of battles stays the same, we should reach the top in two days, so Lilligant will lead tomorrow and Typhlosion will lead the day after.”

They all nodded at her orders. “You did good, all of you. If things don’t get too much harder, then we can clear this place no problem!”

-----

Of course, things were never that easy. Akari wasn’t sure why, but she wasn’t surprised to see Riley be her opponent in the elevator room. “You made it, Riley.”

“As have you. Akari.” Riley seemed... on edge. “Let’s have a good battle.”

“Of course!” Akari nodded. “Lilligant, move out.”

“Lucario, I’m counting on you.”

What ensued was... well, it was incredible to watch, if nothing else. Lucario wielded a glowing bone like a staff, swinging wide arcs with Bone Rush as Lilligant danced around him. Neither Akari nor Riley dared to interrupt them with commands as the two seemed to understand what they wanted... The furious action went on for several minutes, with not even the two quads watching from the sidelines saying anything.

Eventually, Lucario’s Steel typing appeared to be his downfall, as the damage he accumulated eventually overwhelmed him... he fell to a knee as Lilligant slammed another kick into his sternum.

“Lucario, that’s enough.” Lucario was returned to his ball. Lilligant was clearly on her last legs too, though.

“How are you feeling, Lilligant?” The dancer couldn’t answer verbally, of course, but she still stood straight and raised her left knee in challenge. “Stubborn, the lot of you. Where do you all get that from? I didn’t teach you that. We’re supposed to be cowards, remember?”

“Well, then. I suppose this should have been expected.” Riley nodded. “I can feel your Aura, Akari, and that of your Pokemon. What a terrifying force.” He brought out a Pokeball. “How incredibly overwhelming. Metagross. To action!”

Lilligant really didn’t have the stamina to continue the battle without risking permanent injury, so Akari willingly withdrew her. With her team’s speed advantage, Riley’s Metagross and Salamence went down to Typhlosion and Empoleon, fortunately. The Salamence was actually faster than Empoleon, but Empoleon knew many more moves that could control Salamence’s movement, especially when the ceilings were as low as they were.

“That was... a good match.” Riley nodded as they turned to the healing machines.

“What did you mean by Aura?” Akari was at least a little curious.

“Ah.” Riley entered his elevator. “You’re strong, that’s all.”

And the doors closed.

-----

Riley proved to be the toughest opponent of day two and day three combined, surprisingly. She saw Janna again, surprisingly, near the end of day three, on floor twenty-eight. She was in Akari’s quad once again.

“Hey, Akari! I caught up!”

“Janna!” Akari smiled. “You made it!” Thinking about it, Akari couldn’t be that surprised. As she climbed higher and higher, the time between the quads firing got longer and longer. She wasn’t surprised that people would catch up. She could almost imagine Riley getting ahead of her if he got his quads to fire faster than her, but that was out of her control.

“Well, I guess since you’re in our quad, I’m staying on this floor for now.”

Akari frowned but didn’t try to correct her. There was plenty of time for her Pokemon to rest between quads, and they were still in good spirits. She was still confident that she would end up on floor thirty, but saying that to Janna directly felt... rude. “I...”

“It’s a bit of relief, you know.” Janna admitted.

“What do you mean?”

“I’m in your quad. That means I don’t have to face you on floor thirty-one, probably. We’re the closest to the top according to the livestream, and they’re waiting for two more people to fire. Both floors twenty-nine and thirty have been waiting to fire for almost an hour now, with one more slot each, too.”

“How do you know?”

“One of the people on floor twenty-nine is liveposting on TopTrainer. They’re pretty famous. Flint’s little bro, Buck. Apparently, he’s looking forward to the final quad.” She showed Akari her phone, the image of a fiery-looking boy on the screen. He was holding up a sandwich in the picture.

“He’s famous?”

“Well, his brother’s Flint.” Janna stated as if that explained everything. “Buck isn’t bad as a trainer, but he’s not his brother... people find his style... boring?”

“Boring?”

“Buck has a reputation of his Pokemon being invincible. He also has a reputation of his Pokemon being a chore to fight against. He doesn’t like attacking unless he’s sure the opponent can’t hit him back.”

“Well... that’s good to know. Thanks, Janna.”

“No, thank you, Akari. Thanks for showing up here on floor twenty-eight instead of floor thirty. It means I have a chance. It was hard, climbing all the way up here so quickly.”

Akari couldn’t help but ask, given what she remembered of Janna on floor one. “Was it a hard climb getting all the way up here? Sorry, but Empoleon kinda swept through your team...”

“Uh... I don’t know if you noticed by now, Akari, but your Empoleon is scary fast. Like, way too fast compared to other Empoleon.”

“Is he, now?” Akari thought about it. “But he’s the slowest one on the team that I brought with me...”

“Akari... Maybe you’re the scary one...” Janna sighed.

-----

As she battled her opponents on floor thirty, Akari was still thinking about her opponents from floor twenty-eight. Janna put up a much better fight against Typhlosion than Empoleon, but as soon as Empoleon made his appearance, Janna’s Empoleon-weak team went down just like on floor one. “Thanks for the match.”

“No problem, Janna. Good luck.”

“I would say good luck as well, but I don’t think you need it...”

Janna was right, for the most part. It had been about two hours between floor twenty-eight and floor thirty, which was unusual. None of her opponents were particularly threatening on this floor, either. Floor twenty-six definitely felt harder. Really, Floor Twelve was the hardest opponent so far, with Riley giving her a complete run of her team. Not even the elevator finals of floor thirty were that challenging, given the man she faced basically surrendered. “I’m gonna let you have this one if that’s ok.” He explained.  “There’s only a little time before the end of the day, and I want to have the time to strategize.”

Akari nodded and accepted the win. Both of them would make it to floor thirty-one, but since Akari ended in first, she would get priority in the final queue. If there were three people already in the queue to fire, then her opponent would have extra time. She could partially understand. Even if her Pokemon were refreshed after every battle, Akari and her Pokemon still had to endure more than fifty battles over the course of three days. She could tell her opponents were feeling it too. They were more irritable and prone to making mistakes. 

Captain Pesselle called it mental fatigue. Having to push oneself to the limit of stress and ability repeatedly for an extended period of time caused decision-making to falter and physical attributes to deteriorate, even when physically rested and healthy. It was something that happened after extended excursions with the Survey Corps, though they had training designed to increase their prolonged stamina. Perhaps that was assisting her here?

The finals, unsurprisingly thanks to Janna, included the fiery kid, Buck. The other two people in the final quad were a girl Akari hadn’t seen before, and Riley, who apparently made it there from floor twenty-nine. According to him, Buck had just advanced to floor thirty-one, and Riley was in the quad after him. Akari thought about her wait time on floor thirty. 

“Hey!” Buck pointed as soon as he entered the elevator room. “You’re her!”

“Excuse me?” Akari blinked.

“You’re the girl!”

“Uh...”

Buck didn’t seem to bother to clarify. “Sorry, Tycoon! But your golden girl just ran into the best Trainer in this tower! Okay, now I’m all fired up! Let’s go! Dusknoir!”

Buck was... something, wasn’t he? No hesitation at all... a hothead. Akari couldn’t help but giggle at the terrible pun. She glanced at the screen, and indeed Buck was her first opponent. “Well then. Typhlosion, showtime.”

Typhlosion came face-to-face with the rather large ghost-type Pokemon.

“Yes! I get to see that Typhlosion in action for myself! Dusknoir, Thunderpunch!”

The Dusknoir wasted no time charging forward, but it definitely wasn’t a speedster. Typhlosion kept his eyes fixed on his opponent as he backed up on two legs. The Dusknoir swung wide twice before growing frustrated at Typhlosion dancing away from it.

“Alright, Typhlosion. Infernal Parade.” Typhlosion’s collar roared to ghostly life, casting the whole arena in a purple glow. Spectral fireballs erupted from every direction, impacting the large stomach of Dusknoir as it continued to try and close the distance. Dusknoir visibly cringed in pain as the ghostly flames lingered over its rotund body. It managed to munch away one or two of the fireballs as they grew close, but there were several more fireballs than Dusknoir had hands.

“No way...” Buck’s eyes widened. “The rumors were right? That has to be a ghost move. No way Dusknoir took that much damage in one attack!”

Akari couldn’t help but mutter. “Not so invincible now, are we hothead...” Louder, she ordered Typhlosion once more, bringing the brim of her cap up. “Infernal Parade. Keep up the pressure!”

“Shadow Ball!” Buck grimaced as the fireballs slammed into his Pokemon. Dusknoir managed to shoot off a Shadow Ball, landing a solid blow to Typhlosion, but Typhlosion didn’t stop firing even as he fell over onto his back. 

This time, the pale imitation of fire seemed to ignite the Dusknoir, billowing upwards in a silent, smokeless inferno. The ringing sound of screeching filled the room, with the other participants holding their hands over their ears. Before much longer, Dusknoir was returned to its ball. “Damn. A ghost-type Typhlosion...” Buck sighed. “I dunno how I’m gonna deal with this. Well, Umbreon, you’re up.” 

A dark type? Akari sighed. Rough matchup.

“Double Team!” The Umbreon began to dart from place to place on the battlefield, leaving afterimages behind.

Akari frowned. A different kind of defense than the straight bulk of Dusknoir, but still defense nonetheless. Invincible, huh? Luckily, she had a way to force Umbreon to attack. “Swift.”

Umbreon was pelted with stars from every direction as they relentlessly chased it across the arena. Even if they passed through one of Umbreon’s afterimages, they simply turned and continued to pursue.

“Swift? Really?” Now Buck sounded a bit frustrated. “You gotta be kidding me! Dark Pulse!”

A wave of Dark-type energy erupted in a wave around the Umbreon that Typhlosion couldn’t avoid.

“One more. Swift.”

“Dark Pulse!”

Umbreon definitely could take the hits, and withstood the Swift without crying out. Typhlosion, on the other hand, had taken his third supereffective hit, and decidedly couldn’t take any more. “Thanks, Typhlosion.” Akari frowned. “Lilligant. Let’s go.”

“Double Team!”

“Straight back to that, huh? Too bad for you. Aerial Ace.”

Lilligant was her fastest Pokemon, and while Aerial Ace wasn’t the strongest move, it was fast enough to catch the Umbreon.

“Umbreon...” It made a valiant effort to rise, but Lilligant, ever the drama queen, kicked the poor thing over.

“Lilligant. No.” Lilligant turned to glance at Akari before backing off. “I swear you lot are vicious today.”

Lilligant wandered back over to stand next to Akari as Buck grimaced. “This is a joke, right? What kinda trainer are you?”

Akari frowned. “I’m here in the Tower, just like you.”

Buck grit his teeth. “Oh, come on. A trainer no one’s ever heard of shows up one day with the Tycoon’s kid online, and less than two weeks later she’s on the top floor of the Battle Tower! This is obviously some sorta setup!”

“Setup?”

“Buck!” The girl scolded. “That’s mean!”

“You can’t say it’s not really weird, right? She’s gotta be a plant or something!”

“A plant?” Akari was still unsure of what he meant. She considered his wording. In a sense, it was Palmer who wanted her here. If he meant a plant as in someone who was put there by a higher-up, then yes, she could consider herself a plant. Though... if Buck were to hear an admission, he probably wouldn’t take it very well, would he?

“She’s countering all my moves perfectly! There’s no way someone can be prepared for everything, but two of her Pokemon can hit Umbreon!”

“But...” The girl seemed unsure how to talk to Buck, too. Akari thanked her in her head for her bravery. “Why would she have two Pokemon made to counter you specifically?”

Buck shook his head. “Whatever. If I go home after getting all the way here... My Pokemon deserve better than the effort I’ve put in.” He pulled out a Pokeball. “Claydol. Last shot.”

Before her was a massive... thing. It looked almost like a Bronzong, as it too was floating a foot in the air. The name Claydol gave some hints, too. Ground and ghost, maybe? Or like Bronzong, it could be ground and psychic, too. Better safe than sorry. “Leaf Blade.”

“Claydol, Psychic!”

Lilligant was bludgeoned with psychic energy, sending her spiraling to the dirt. “Lilligant. Agile Victory Dance, then Leaf Blade.”

Lilligant began to twirl rapidly as she approached, glowing like a green-and-yellow tornado. Before the Claydol could move, Lilligant slammed into it, pushing it back and cutting a gouge into its head. 

“Strong Leaf Blade.”

“Psychic!”

Lilligant crashed into the Claydol as the attacks seemed to collide with each other, creating a gigantic plume of dust.

The dust suddenly seemed to explode away as a gust of air blew outwards from the impact point.

“Well, that’s it.” Lilligant was standing over the fallen Claydol, whose many eyes all seemed to be closed.

“...Claydol... No way you managed to break through Claydol!” Buck grit his teeth.

Akari wasn’t sure what to do now... Buck didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

“Buck,” Riley warned.

Buck sighed, his anger seeming to collapse. “Yeah, yeah. I lost.”

“You can’t claim to be the strongest then get mad when you lose, Buck.”

“I’m allowed to be frustrated.”

“Don’t take your frustrations out on your opponent,” Riley responded. “We are here to compete and grow stronger. If you wish to battle for other reasons, then do so outside of the Battle Frontier.”

“...Yeah.”

Akari wasn’t really sure if she could contribute to the conversation, but Riley seemed to have everything handled, and she really didn’t know either of them at all...

-----

The tone in the battle arena was terse. No one wanted to say much, and the battles went as expected. Akari managed to defeat Riley once again, though this time Lilligant didn’t have to duel his Lucario to a standstill. The other girl, Mira, was sort of like her, she supposed. A very aggressive attacking style that never stopped applying pressure whenever she could. Akari approved. Still, with an undefeated record, Akari came out ahead. The only worry now was the last battle with Palmer.

Riley stepped forward. “Well, you made it. You’re gonna have to wait for Palmer to be ready, though. Maybe five minutes?”

“Right...”

Akari appreciated the little break she got. After draining the contents of a water bottle and healing her Pokemon, she stepped forward into the elevator and felt herself moving up. This time, Lilligant would start. She was flexible and fast, so most likely Akari could claw open a lead quickly before Palmer could do anything she didn’t know how to beat immediately.

As she emerged from the glass doors, on either side of her sparks erupted from the walkway. Ahead of her stood Palmer, seemingly waiting for her. The sun was a pale orange, signifying the day was coming to a close. It was cold and windy this high up. Around the battlefield Palmer was standing on, little flying... were those Rotom? Little flying Rotom circled the area.

Palmer gave her a grin as he pointed at her dramatically. “About time you showed up! Welcome to the final stage!”

Chapter Text

TOPTRAINER - HOT POSTS

+15380 Ronin(Verified) created a Live Thread: Battle Tower Gold Challenger- Akari

1 stream, 2 images

Live Comments:

[PINNED]TrainerRecBot(Verified): This is the first time challenger Akari(59-0) has battled Tower Tycoon Palmer(1530-35). For more information on Akari(TopTrainer[NO LINK], TrainerRec[NO LINK], League Register[LINK]), Palmer(TopTrainer[LINK], TrainerRec[LINK], League Register[LINK])

Ronin(Verified): We don’t have any info on this trainer so far. Not even a League Register? It’s blank, created literally last week. The only thing on there is her current Battle Tower run. Anyone got info?

L1v1ngN1ghtmare: Kinda sus

TiredEyes: no

GeorgeGeorge: no

BigB: sus

MBTABC: sus

LateNightRacing: no

Phantasm(Verified): sus

Sawmurai: sus

Wh00ps: Good wins on Riley and Buck in there. Not bad.

NHPL(Verified): sus

MBTABC: WHOMEGALUL

SitrusFan: sus

Undying: I wonder if it’s the girl Buck posted about?

SilentSpring: No, wasn’t that Mira?

Undying: No, we know that Buck knows Mira. She beat him too, iirc

Mammoth: sus

Blip: Akari beat Mira too

LateNightRacing: Maybe the girl Palmer posted about last week?

SilentSpring: The interesting trainer?

JustCuz: gotta be

Official_Masked_Royal(Verified): Get Hype! Woo!

Goblin: @Official_Masked_Royal Woo!

DragonPrincess: @Official_Masked_Royal Woo!

Emulsifier: How long before we start?

Carbide: Like two minutes I guess

MadCatter: I wonder how come no one has heard of Akari before

Harryama: She doesn’t have any badges according to her trainer profile

LateNightRacing: Gotta be the girl then

Mammoth: The Ingo cosplayer?

SilentSpring: the Ingo cosplayer?

LateNightRacing: ye

Mammoth: LOL

SilentSpring: hm

TrainerRecBot(Verified): Matchup is Challenger Akari vs Tycoon Palmer

MadCatter:STARTING

DragonPrincess: Ooh!

SilentSpring: It’s her!

Undying: WHOMEGALUL

Goblin: WHOMEGALUL

L1v1ngN1ghtmare: WHOMEGALUL

Sawmurai: WHOMEGALUL

SitrusFan: WHOMEGALUL

BigB: That’s the same girl as Palmer’s post

LateNightRacing: Let’s goooo

Carbide: INGO HYPE

HijinxArt(Verified): IT’S MINI INGO AAAAA

Ronin(Verified): Info on challenger Akari updated: Apparently she has zero badges from anywhere and this is her first sanctioned anything

Mammoth: Do we get to see that weird Typhlosion?

Billy: No badges? megaEye

BigB: WTF

Emulsifier: WHAT is THAT

TiredEyes: ??????

Sawmurai: WTF WTF

MadCatter: Lilligant????

Ronin(Verified): ???????

DragonPrincess: She’s pretty!

Undying: Woah

LateNightRacing: THAT’S NOT A LILLIGANT WTF

Carbide: AYAYA

MBTABC: WTF ads

CobaltWindBlows: That’s insane wtf

SilentSpring: WOAH

Stinger: AKSDNQKNQK

Stinger: asASIKDHQNMAk

AutoMod: User- Stinger has been muted (2 minutes) [Please do not send more than 2 messages in succession]

Ronin(Verified): What the heck where did she come from

Emulsifier: Palmer’s getting his ass beat wtf

L1v1ngN1ghtmare: HYPE

Official_Masked_Royal(Verified): That was some nice footwork! Woo!

Undying: Nah

Carbide: @Emulsifier WTF you on about its close

Sawmurai: nah Milotic is done

TiredEyes: Did Palmer bring Cresselia?

Stinger: Please tell me he brought cress, the rhyperior ain’t cutting it

MadCatter: I think it should be Cress and Dragonite?

Ronin(Verified): According to the past few challenges, it should be Cresselia, he started bringing her to battles about a month ago

SilentSpring: CLOSE COMBAT???

BigB: What does agile mean? Like agility?

Carbide: OOF

LateNightRacing: OOF

TrainerRecBot(Verified): Challenger’s [Lilligant] has knocked out Palmer’s [Milotic].

CobaltWindBlows: OOF

Stinger: RIP Milotic

Emulsifier: That’s a blind start for ya

MBTABC: Bad matchup go next

DragonPrincess: CRESSELIA

Undying: HYPE

Carbide: HYPE

TiredEyes: YES

Blip: Palmer isn't so great? Are you kidding me? When was the last time you saw a trainer with such an ability and movement with Dragonite? Palmer puts the sport in another level, and we will be blessed if we ever see a trainer with his skill and passion for the sport again. Lance breaks records. Iris breaks records. Palmer breaks the rules. You can keep your statistics. I prefer the magic.

MadCatter: Cresselia is on top of things, as usual.

Stinger: Woah that Pokemon is fast

Carbide: HYPE

LateNightRacing: Lilligant is lasting longer than I thought

BigB: Victory Dance?

LastRites: Wow that’s broken wtf

Tantrum: WTF

Stinger: It knows recover???

SilentSpring: Wow Palmer looks lost

TiredEyes: WTF why the Lilly no die

L1v1ngN1ghtmare: That’s insane

Emulsifier: Cresselia is starting to tire out wtf

LateNightRacing: Finally

Blip: bigBliss bigBliss

Sawmurai: HYPE

Carbide: HYPE

TrainerRecBot(Verified): Palmer’s [Cresselia] has knocked out Challenger’s [Lilligant].

CobaltWindBlows: HYPE

Tantrum: HYPE

LastRites: NT

Wh00ps: NT

Spin2Win: The Typhlosion!

LateNightRacing: OOF

Ronin(Verified): looks like the challenger has Palmer on the ropes here.

SilentSpring: Where the heck did she come from? No one has ever heard of her ever wtf

Billy: She wins GG

Stinger: NT

Official_Masked_Royal(Verified): A Ghost move! That’s fascinating!

TrainerRecBot(Verified): Challenger’s [Typhlosion] has knocked out Palmer’s [Cresselia].

Undying: Nah Dragonite can win

CobaltWindBlows: COPIUM

Blip: COPIUM

L1v1ngN1ghtmare: COPIUM

Spin2Win: Crazy match

LateNightRacing: GG

SilentSpring: Nice hit

Wh00ps: Yeah that Typhlosion won’t do any damage

HijinxArt(Verified): I love all the purple flames everywhere.

TrainerRecBot(Verified): Palmer’s [Dragonite] has knocked out Challenger’s[Typhlosion].

BigB: Oh good, a normal looking Pokemon

Stinger: Watch for the Ice beam

Undying: bet

Emulsifier: This was her best answer to Dragonite on her team. Lucky her

Billy: Yeah, Empoleon got good coverage

CobaltWindBlows: Wow that is fast 

Sawmurai: HYPE

BigB: HYPE

Carbide: HYPE

LastRites: HYPE

TiredEyes: HYPE

TrainerRecBot(Verified): Challenger’s [Empoleon] has knocked out Palmer’s [Dragonite].

TrainerRecBot(Verified): The match has been called in favor of the Challenger, Akari!

Sawmurai: GG

Emulsifier: GG

Stinger: GG

Wh00ps: GG

Tantrum: GG

HijinxArt(Verified): GG! What a good match!

TiredEyes: Wow Akari’s cracked wtf

SIlentSpring: A nobody with no badges shows up and absolutely swamps the Battle Tower, that’s crazy.

Billy: No badges? megaEye

Emulsifier: No badges? megaEye

L1v1ngN1ghtmare: No badges? megaEye

BigB: No badges? megaEye

Undying: No badges? megaEye

-----

“Alright, Miss Akari! Here, put on this glove as slowly as you can!”

She was handed a pair of thin, white gloves. The material was extremely smooth and soft, so it probably wasn’t for climbing... “How do you put a glove on slowly?”

“Put the right one on, then the left one most of the way.”

“Like this?”

“Yes, perfect. Head here.” The woman redirected her face to a specific angle. “Eyes on three, please?” There were several numbers scattered around the room and on the floor, and Akari managed to find the number three without much issue. “Now pinch the glove at the inside wrist and pull nice and slow. Put on a good brooding face.”

Once again, Akari found herself channeling her inner Ingo.

“Perfect!” The woman nodded in approval as several flashes went off in her peripheral vision. She wasn’t sure how she managed not to blink, but she did. Somehow. The thick black coat she was wearing was certainly not helping. It wasn’t nearly as breathable as her real jacket, but they had decided the hemline wasn’t low enough. Underneath was a stiff, white shirt with buttons and a strange piece of cloth hanging around her neck. It wasn’t the most comfortable thing, but they had let her keep her undershirt on underneath.

“Alright. Now we need some fun shots, no? For the silver print. The gold print albums are always so serious.” The woman frowned. Akari never did catch her name...

“I agree.” Palmer nodded from the sidelines. He was wearing a slightly different outfit than what he wore for their battle, too. It was essentially the same clothing but with... more details? They definitely were made to look good rather than be practical.

“Is this really needed?” She found herself asking. Granted, trying on a bunch of clothing wasn’t the worst thing in the world, but it still felt excessive...

“You earned two prints in one shot! They gotta look good!” Palmer nodded.

“He does this with lots of winners, don’t worry too much. The Tycoon loves social media a bit too much.”

“Not my fault, I swear, Mary.” Palmer sighed. “You’re the best fashion designer this side of Nimbasa and you live like, three minutes from here. Of course I’m gonna try and look good! Uh... Don’t tell Argenta I said that.”

“Flattery will only get you everywhere, Tycoon.” Mary sighed. “Still, it’s good that a cute one finally won. The last ones have all been either too stern or too boorish.”

“I don’t get to pick who’s strong, Mary.”

Mary raised an eyebrow. “Is that right?” She reached over and adjusted Akari’s cap. Fortunately, Mary had decided that the worn-out hat had ‘rustic charm’, or something to that effect. “Keep those gloves on, dear. I heard a rumor that she wasn’t qualified for the Frontier but you made an exemption for her to enter anyways. You also had some costume supplies ready.”

Palmer sighed. “I did. Akari’s gotta look flashy, and the Frontier’s gotta be the one making her shine.” Akari wasn’t completely concrete on the plan anymore, it seemed to have spiraled out of her direct control. But Palmer had time to explain a little about what the plan was. If Akari looked strong and everyone knew it, then being with the Champion and Rowan on important tasks wouldn’t be as farfetched. 

Heh. Farfetched.

She still didn’t see the point... but everyone else seemed concerned about it, so she let it slide. There was no time limit anymore. Time travel removed that issue. She had to remind herself of that, every once in a while, when she would wake herself up in a panic. There was no rush.

“Why?”

“I can’t say. Call it a favor.” He sighed. “If I tell you for who, will you stop prying?”

“Well, even if I am the type to pry, I won’t. Not this time. Count your lucky stars, darling. I also can’t say it was your best work, Tycoon. You were looking pretty lost the whole time until the end there.” She pushed Akari’s elbow up into a salute. “Grab the brim of your cap, dear. Two fingers on top, thumb below. Yes, like that.” More flashes made Akari see sparkles in her eyes as the camera took even more pictures.

“Call it matchup inexperience.” Palmer replied. “Akari’s Pokemon were different than what I expected. I couldn’t come up with a plan fast enough.”

“Is that so?” Mary nodded. “Your Pokemon are indeed quite unique, dear. Chin higher please.”

“Uh, thank you...?”

“It was a compliment, no worries.” She tugged at one of Akari’s sleeves. “Look at five for me? Feet together.” Akari complied.

“Really, I’m surprised.” Palmer mused as he held one arm out, posing. “Akari, you’re going to have to do a review with me. Cresselia hasn’t been stalled out by a fighting-type Pokemon... well, ever since I met her.”

“How did you even meet Cresselia, anyways?” Akari asked.

“It was a while ago, maybe six months. I was called to help a pandemic of nightmares being caused by Cresselia’s enemy, Darkrai. With some help from the Champion and the Canalave Library, I asked Cresselia to help, and together we defeated Darkrai and she’s been with me since then. Recently, she’s been wanting to get involved with the Tower, so I let her.”

“Oh, that’s wonderful!” Akari couldn’t help but exclaim.

“Such a beautiful Pokemon, Palmer. I’m surprised she sticks around given how much of a hooligan you are.”

“She likes it when I post her images online.” He turned to Akari with a faux-whisper. “I think she’s just an attention hog.”

Mary chuckled. “Aren’t we all?”

“Guilty.”

“Ma’am.” An unfamiliar voice called. “We have the set ready.”

“Wonderful.” Mary pulled a set of white clothing onto a rolling rack and began pulling it along. “Come, Palmer had just the most adorable idea for a set possible and I just had to see it done.”

Akari gave a concerned glance to Palmer, who simply shook his head. “It’s fine, Akari. Mary just loves her job.”

“Damn right I do!”

The new room they entered looked about as alien as any other room Akari had ever seen. The walls were lined with creased metal, with benches along either side. Thin poles descended from the ceiling and there was a Pokemon battlefield under their feet.

“All right, Akari. This is gonna take some changing, but we’ll do all the first shots while you’re dressed like that.” Mary rubbed her hands together. ”Typhlosion should come out for this one, I think. If that’s fine with you. Otherwise, we can use the studio lights, but having your Pokemon provide realistic flickering lighting would be much better.”

Akari reached out and released Typhlosion from his ball. “Typhlosion, want to help with some photos?” Typhlosion glanced around before seemingly shrugging his shoulders as his collar came alight. That was about as close to a yes as she was going to get. “He’s game.”

“Perfect.”

“But really, what are we doing?”

“Why, we’re going to do some Battle Subway-themed composites, of course!”

“...Is this even part of the print thing anymore?”

“...Yes.” Palmer coughed. “I think. Probably.”

-----

The whole ordeal was... exhausting. But she made it. It was over. Her Arc Phone displayed the images for both her Gold and Silver prints, though the real metal plates had been wrapped up in cloth and placed in a box for her to carry out herself. They also came with two small pins that would fit in the badge case that the Pokemon Center worker had given her, in a separate compartment to the League Badges. While the pins were generic, the prints on the Vs Recorder application had full-color albums of images to look at, including some images of her battle with Palmer. The physical plates had an image engraved into them, as well. She had chosen the image of her pulling on the glove from earlier in the shoot after getting advice from Mary, the designer.

“Well, at least it’s over.” Akari sighed as she lay back on a cloth chair by the villa, her Pokemon wandering around her. Lilligant had taken wonderfully to Rufflet, who was following around the dancer as she swept through the nearby trees. He was doing his damndest to keep up with her, which was rather adorable. Empoleon and Porygon-Z were in the water, playing that game that Empoleon had invented earlier in the week. Typhlosion had partially buried himself in the sand on the beach next to her chair, asleep.

BEEP

Her Arc Phone notified her. She was slowly learning what each of the little beeps meant, and this particular one was a message.

PROF ROWAN: I hear you cleared the Battle Tower on your first attempt. Excellent. You have my congratulations. I will be making time later in the week to visit, but right now may be a bit busy. We have gotten the results of your bloodwork done, attached to this message if you wish to read it yourself. No illnesses, or much risk for illness for that matter.

PROF ROWAN: I digress. 

PROF ROWAN: The paternity test has produced results. It seems you are indeed related to Johanna. I have endeavored to do my best to speak with Johanna about the situation with Dawn. For now, legally you will remain detached from her as your own entity. If you wish, we can change that status, but that is up to you and Johanna. I can bring her with me when Cynthia and I visit, is that fine?

AKARI: Yes.

AKARI: Also, Professor Laventon had theories on why Pokemon from outside Hisui evolved differently while in the region, and most of them involved the energy surrounding Mount Coronet. I caught a Rufflet earlier, and I noticed in the Pokedex that they aren’t native to Sinnoh right now, and evolve into a different kind of Braviary. If you’re interested, could we take a trip to Mount Coronet to try and evolve Rufflet there? It would be an interesting bit of research.

PROF ROWAN: I’m intrigued. We can discuss the specifics at a later date, but that sounds like a worthwhile hypothesis to test.

Writing answers back was slow and cumbersome. She had no clue how people do it. The characters were all over the place, sometimes she had to press the buttons several times, and the characters sometimes changed even before she was done typing them... Still, a tool like this was a miracle of modern technology. Being able to send and receive instantaneous messages was incredible. Everything about the Arc Phone was... well, it was something Akari wouldn’t ever have thought about before. She’s had it for as long as she could remember. Maybe she should have thought about it as proof she was from some future? No, she had taken it as a boon from Lord Arceus, to allow her to perform her mission. Even now it was still helping her. She sent up a small thanks to Lord Arceus.

Typhlosion shifted in the sand, and Akari thought back to the actual words the Professor had sent. Johanna was really her mother? That probably meant she was Dawn, truly. That was... she frowned. She really wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Sometimes, Akari was jealous of Ingo. He would sometimes get phrases, ideas in his head about people who were important to him. Like his old partner, or the man who loved winning no matter what.

Wouldn’t that be his brother, then? The Ingo here had a brother, by the name of Emmett. Together, they ran a facility called the Battle Subway. She didn’t have any information other than that, but it was much more than Ingo had. Still, the information didn’t bring back a flood of memories like she had hoped in the beginning. Though, inexplicably, she was glad. Johanna wouldn’t have lost a daughter, regardless if they found Dawn or not.

No, she couldn’t think like that. They would find Dawn, no problem. Though, did the three-year gap mean that it would take them three years to find her? That was... a long time. Even finding every Pokemon in Hisui didn’t take three years...

Akari sighed. The wind was brisk in the night air. She pulled out the Legend Plate from her bag, running her fingers over the carvings. Things would be alright. Lord Arceus believed in her. Akari pulled the Legend Plate back into her bag, lingering on the feeling of cold stone in her hands.

She pulled her cap low and dreamed.

-----

...How long had she been here?

...It was cold.

...Why was it cold?

...There was something warm.

...Her skin hurt.

...Sleep.

-----

She couldn’t leave. If she left, there was nothing but pain outside. The hail stung her skin. The cold bit at her face, and sides, and hands and feet and everything.

It hurt. Everything hurt. Her stomach, her face, her feet. If she left, it would hurt so much more that she was sure she would die. 

The warm was leaving. She could hear it leaving. Feel it.

She followed.

-----

There was something warm. Something unbearably, painfully warm. It hurt, but it hurt in that way that made her feel like she wasn’t going to die.

...She wanted water.

Sleep.

-----

There was water, nearby. She could hear it.

There wasn’t a choice but to find it.

It was warm here, though. She wanted to be warm.

The outside was cold, and painful, and away from the warm.

But the water made her push on.

She found it. There was no hail, but the snow stung almost as bad. The water’s edge wasn’t frozen, not yet.

She drank.

It was cold.

She wandered back to the warm, that same warm as before.

It got closer.

...She wanted food.

Sleep.

-----

It was loud.

A roaring, horrid sound.

Like screeching and screaming and death.

It was hot. Unbearably, horribly hot. It smelled like smoke.

It was too bright.

Then it was not.

Was this food? It was... it was a scent.

It smelled like something that wasn’t damp rocks or smoke.

It was disgusting.

But it was something.

She pried it apart.

There was a new smell. Blood.

Why was there blood?

She had cut her hand.

It didn’t matter. The smell was inside the shell. Like rot and sugar.

It ripped.

Food.

Sleep.

-----

She could see, just a little. She tried to see.

The world was warm. There was a soft glow in the corner of the cave.

She clenched her hands. One of them still stung.

But she was alive.

She still couldn’t leave. The air made her skin hurt. She would die for real.

But she was alive.

She braced herself. Getting water was... painful. 

But she was alive.

She bent over to drink.

“Hey!”

A sound. It took her far too long to recognize it as a voice.

“Hey! What the-”

Words. Had she heard words before? In her head, she heard herself. But other words? Words not made by her own head? She couldn’t remember-

She turned to find a person.

She didn’t recognize the person, but if she had to guess, she wouldn’t have recognized anyone.

She didn’t recognize herself, after all.

The person got closer.

“How did you get out here?”

He was worried.

What an avalanche of information those words contained.

She felt her body being wrapped in something.

It was cold.

She wanted to go back to the warmth in the cave.

Was she going to die?

Maybe.

Though, it didn’t seem like she had a choice.

It was cold.

Sleep.

-----

It was warm. Not in the same way that it was warm before. There was no scent of smoke. Only the warmth of her own body.

She didn’t know that.

Her body was warm.

She felt cloth pressed against her whole body. 

The person was there again.

“Hey.”

“Hey.”

“Are you alright?”

She thought about the question.

“No.”

“Right. Of course.”

She didn’t have anything important to say.

“It’s warm.”

“Yeah.”

The air didn’t make her skin hurt.

“Am I going to die?”

“...No.”

It tasted like a lie.

Rot and sugar.

“...Okay.”

Chapter Text

“Come on in.” Today was the day that Rowan had told her they were coming to visit. Her Pokemon were scattered throughout the house, but they quickly vacated the couches in order to make a little room for the three people that entered with her. Cynthia and Rowan were both familiar faces and had settled onto one couch. The other held Akari along with... Johanna. 

Dawn’s mother.

Her mother.

“Hello... Akari.” Johanna was staring at her.

“Ah... Hello.” She wasn’t sure what to say. What did one even say to someone that was supposed to be long-lost family?

“Akari, could you... could you take off your hat for me?” She sounded about as hesitant as Akari felt.

“Uh, sure...?” She placed the cap on the small table. Underneath, her kerchief was pulled away, leaving her hair free to settle on her shoulders.

Johanna leaned closer and began to slowly work her hands through Akari’s hair. Were those hairpins? It took nearly a minute of silence before Johanna leaned back, tears in her eyes. Akari only had a few seconds to wonder at what exactly Johanna saw before being buried in a wiry embrace.

“Oh... Oh dear, you’ve gotten so tall...”

Akari found herself stiffening. People... people in Jubilife never really did things like this outside of family. And, well...

Johanna eventually released her, her eyes still watery. “Oh, what happened to you, dear?”

“If I had to guess... lots of things.” Johanna was sitting closer, now. Much closer. Her hands were running over Akari’s own hands, brushing over her fingers and palms.

“It feels... your hands are like your father’s, now.” Her voice was hesitant. She paused.  “I wanted you to have a choice. You didn’t have to be like me. You were going to have a normal adventure instead of- Maybe if I had...” She rubbed at her face. “You’re a beautiful girl. I watched you battle against Palmer, you looked so fierce. You would be a fantastic coordinator, you know. Do... what do you remember?”

Akari still didn’t know what a coordinator was, but she remembered that Johanna was one. Did it mean she had to look impressive while battling? That didn’t sound so bad. Mary was probably into that sort of thing. Still, she let Johanna wrap her hands around Akari’s own. Thinking about her own lack of memories was... Akari couldn’t really call it painful. It made her angry, more than any other emotion. It felt like failure.

“I- I don’t really have any memories of people or events. It’s all... little things. I knew how to use the water in the villa. I knew how to use a phone, sort of. Maybe.” She swallowed. “I knew things. I knew what a microwave was. I knew... I knew how to handle Pokemon.” Johanna pulled away as Rufflet clambered up onto Akari’s lap. Her hand went to ruffling the bird’s neck feathers almost on autopilot. “I know the word autopilot.” She couldn’t help but mention idly. “Ingo always had it better than me, maybe. I thought- I thought maybe I was the lucky one, for a while. Sometimes, he would get flashes of memory. Of people he knew, of Pokemon he knew. I never had things like that. He still could remember little bits of information, like me, but he also would see faces, hear voices. It made him... melancholic. He would sometimes stare out into the village for a few minutes at a time, and when I asked him about it, he would just say he was remembering. I... I didn’t want to end up like that, all wistful and stuff, so I was happy being Akari, being ignorant.” She was definitely crying now, and Rufflet had snuggled closer to her. She felt Johanna placing a hand on her own hunched back. “But... you loved Dawn, right? You loved your daughter. And when I look at you, I...”

“Oh, Akari...”

“I feel... nothing. I don’t remember anything. Not your face, not your-” Rufflet gave an inquiring chirp, and Akari shook her head. “I’m alright, Rufflet.” She turned back to Johanna. “I... I’m not really your daughter, am I? I’m not Dawn. I can’t be that person.” Johanna had her arms wrapped around her again, her arm braced across Akari’s back. “I don’t know anything about you, or her dad, or anyone. You’re all strangers, and I hate it. I hate that I can’t even pretend to have those memories. Dawn had Pokemon with her, but I know nothing about them either. I can’t be her. If I could remember anything at all... I could pretend, even a little bit...”

“You don’t need to pretend to be my daughter, Akari.”

“But-”

“If you’re not Dawn, who cares?” A hand was rubbing her back in small little circles. “That test didn’t prove you were Dawn anyhow.”

“Ah-” What?

“What it did prove is that you are my daughter.” Rufflet quickly got out of the way as Akari was pulled into another crushing hug. “Even if you deny it, you’re mine.”

“...Oh.” Was that fine? It didn’t feel fine, did it? Johanna was... she was hurt. Was this alright for Akari to do? No, she wasn’t looking for that. She had never been someone’s daughter before. But she could be here, for this person who needed healing so badly. She could help Johanna, right now.

It made her feel like a monster, like she had stolen someone’s face and was taking their life from them. Like a ghost possessing a corpse.

She was Dawn.

She wasn’t Dawn.

Did that matter?

“Okay.”

-----

“So, I’ve contacted the Subway Bosses.” Cynthia opened. “Palmer had to vouch for me, but they’re taking the threat seriously, at least. Keeping something like this as contained as possible is hard, but doable.” She sighed. “They’ve also seen your battle with Palmer, apparently. Though everyone has seen it at this point, I think. He really went all out on the flash.”

“It was fun. Not just the battle with Palmer, the whole thing. Climbing the Tower was fun. I haven’t run a battle-only gauntlet like that before, it was a unique experience.” Akari admitted. Palmer had been... determined. Instead of mercilessly crushing every Pokemon one at a time, her own Pokemon barely hung on as they traded blows, essentially falling over like dominos, back and forth. If Lilligant didn’t have a good lead matchup against Palmer’s Milotic, she surely would have lost. If Typhlosion hadn’t managed to nick the Dragonite with his last attack, if Empoleon was too slow... there were so many factors that could have gone against her.  “Honestly, it might have been luck, that last battle.”

“It’s never just luck.” Cynthia countered. “It was a good match. Regardless, the Subway Bosses want to talk to you. Is it fine if I give them your number?”

“Why do they want to talk to me?”

“I imagine it’s the hat.” Rowan mused. “You do look like a fan. And a fan that’s quite a good battler, I might add.”

“But the cap is...” She sighed. “It was the Warden’s cap.”

“They don’t know that.”  

Cynthia nodded. “Right. Other than that, they’re more concerned with talking to me and Rowan, as of now. They’re not aware you’re our primary expert and resource when it comes to space-time distortions. Really, it won’t be so bad. From what Palmer has told me, Ingo and Emmet are good people. Enthusiastic, perhaps, but good people.”

“Hopefully they can use their own connections to help us in our investigation. Well, as long as they’re taking the warning seriously.” Rowan added.

“That sounds useful.” Johanna had taken to petting Typhlosion, who had flopped his big head over her legs. She was going to spoil him rotten, wasn’t she? “Would Akari have to go to Unova at some point?”

“It might be a possibility.” Cynthia nodded. “Rowan wouldn’t be able to accompany us, but I can take time off if I announce it ahead of time.”

“I would need to finish clearing the Frontier first, though.”

“At least you should get the majority, if not all of them.”

“But if you do go to Unova,” Cynthia smiled, “you should challenge the Subway while you’re there. Palmer would probably approve. Though, you might have to register as an Unova League trainer, maybe? I don’t know the specifics of the Subway, you’ll have to ask the Subway staff. Still, I hear it’s good fun and an interesting way to explore the region. Most of my time in Unova was on business.”

“Right.” Akari sighed. “I’m still not clear on what we can do with our information. Are we going to try and breach through the universe to cross dimensions? I was given this mission by Lord Arceus. That means asking him for the solution won’t work, right?”

“Hm.” Rowan sighed. “Most likely not. I take it you have tried?”

“Never crossed my mind. But I get the feeling that... Lord Arceus will intervene only when absolutely necessary.”

“Well, we can shelve that for now.” Rowan nodded. “There’s another thing that I am hoping will pan out. I personally don’t have much information, but I’ve contacted Professor Juniper as well. Kept everything vague as I could. She has a Professor colleague from her time in college that has done some study in alternate universes, or so I’ve been told over drinks a few years ago. I’m hoping to contact that Professor to perhaps exchange notes, but I haven’t heard back from Juniper yet.”

“I hope they’re willing to help.”

“Really it’s just an exchange of information. Though I doubt any self-respecting researcher would hesitate to participate in something as intriguing as this. Speaking of information, Akari,” Rowan glanced at the Rufflet currently wrapped in her arms. “About your idea. I’m intrigued by Professor Laventon’s hypothesis. It’s true that there are many Pokemon that live here in Sinnoh that evolve in the vicinity of certain locations, especially Mount Coronet. Though, I don’t believe that we have tried to do any experimentation with species non-native to Sinnoh. It would have been difficult, if not impossible, to do so exhaustively. The number of Pokemon Trainers required, not to mention skill requirements, would be astronomical or far too time-consuming to test comprehensively. But you have a rough idea of Pokemon that definitely would work?”

“I do.” Akari sighed. “Of course, Lilligant and Typhlosion you’ve seen already. Quilava and Petilil look identical in the Pokedex to the ones I’m familiar with, so it has to be the process of evolution that’s being influenced, no?”

“It seems more likely than not. What other Pokemon do you know of that would fit that description?”

“Basculin, though your Pokedex has only red and blue-striped Basculin recorded. All the Basculin I’ve seen have had white stripes. Scyther can evolve into Kleavor with the right materials, I have some black agurite with me if you want to experiment with it. Um, Dewott and Dartrix? The Avalugg you have in the Pokedex are bigger than the ones I’ve seen too. I’d have to go through the notes, but those are the ones I remember off the top of my head.”

“Speaking of, could I get a copy of your Pokedex?”

“It’s all written down in paper. It would take a bit for me to make a copy...”

Rowan shrugged. “I can get it scanned quickly and send the original back via courier. The magic of modern technology.”

Akari shrugged. “That’s convenient. If you really need it, sure? But I don’t see how my notes will help you very much.”

“You underestimate yourself, Miss Akari.” Rowan sighed. “I haven’t even seen your research to judge it yet.”

“It’s hundreds-year old research, though.”

“Hrmph. To my eyes, it will be as new as any other data I wasn’t personally involved in collecting.”

Rowan really was a nice person, wasn’t he?

“Right.” Her notes were all stored in one of the trunks in her room of the villa, so she rose to get them. “By the way, Champion Cynthia? How come you don’t ever sleep here?”

“Hm?” Cynthia raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I don’t live here. This villa is usually only used for a month or two in the summertime, or for emergencies like this. I have several similar villas around Sinnoh and other regions. Don’t worry about it.”

“Oh.” Multiple houses? “Sure, why not.” She popped open one of the trunks and pulled out her bound notes. She kicked away some dirty clothing that was dumped from the basket as she exited the room.

“I do make a decent salary, you know. I am a celebrity.”

“I, uh, had another question. Johanna, what do you do for a living? What is a Pokemon Coordinator?”

“Oh, well, I haven’t competed much in the past few years, you see. This past year I did a Contest or two, but I’ve been basically retired for a while. A Coordinator... well, we’re entertainers. Coordinators train themselves and their Pokemon to be both strong and appealing. We ‘put on a show’, as it were. Both beautiful art and fierce battle. Participating in Contests to win ribbons, winning the Grand Festival, things of that nature.”

“Can you earn a living like that?” Akari pondered.

“Oh, not off Contests alone, of course. After I won the Sinnoh Grand Festival, for a few years I received plenty from sponsors and brand deals. I’ve gotten a pretty little nest egg, though if I wanted to I can go out and compete whenever I wish.”

“Oh, wow.” Akari blinked. So Johanna was already accomplished, then?

“Speaking of eggs.” Rowan interrupted. “Anyone want to get lunch? I skipped breakfast again.”

Johanna laughed.

-----

It had been a full three days since her battle with Palmer, and she was getting ready to start planning on which of the facilities she was going to try for next. Her current sights were set on the Battle Hall, given its one-vs-one nature. Though, it looked like it contained just as many, if not more, battles than the Tower. 

She really didn’t have a solid plan other than trying to tackle it over the course of several days, maybe weeks. Most likely she would take Porygon-Z with her to face the Hall, given that Normal was a balanced typing with simple, complete coverage and only one real defensive weakness. It would be an opportunity to train more with the little duck one-on-one as well. 

She would have to think of another way to train Rufflet, though. Her original reason for capturing the bird, other than because he was injured, was to use him as a flying Pokemon to move about the region. That meant raising him strong and evolving as quickly as possible. He also fit nicely with Proygon-Z as two parts of a three-part trio, the same as the three Pokemon she brought with her everywhere. If she had to pick a third member of the trio, she would probably want a Sneasler... Or perhaps a Rock-type. Having two sets of trios also was aesthetically pleasing, even if it wasn’t super synergistic. Maybe she could split the difference? There wasn’t a Rock-Fighting Pokemon, was there? Or a Rock-Poison... She frowned. This would require a bit of research to see what she could get her hands on. Fighting-Ghost?

It was an intriguing feeling, optimizing for battle power instead of for her research. The reason why she usually only carried three Pokemon was for the sake of that research as well. Sometimes she would take out certain specimens in order to train with them, to see how certain Pokemon used certain moves with different parts of their body. It wasn’t safe to do that testing in the village, so she spent a lot of time in the wilderness attacking trees and writing down the results. Apologies to any Burmy up there.

Rufflet was certainly an intriguing one. It didn’t seem he was nearly as aggressive as other Rufflet she had interacted with. Honestly, he almost seemed timid. He loved being touched after he got used to her. He would often hop up and sit with either her or Lilligant, essentially nesting on her lap. It was rather strange. Most Rufflet she had observed in the past would try and either run or fight the Pokemon or person he imprinted on. But, as Rufflet settled into her lap, he didn’t display any of the standard signs of aggressiveness.

There was a chance that he would evolve into the more common form of Braviary found in Unova. After all, native Rufflet weren’t really a thing in Sinnoh. The Braviary from Unova were a bit smaller, with a normal typing instead of a psychic one. It didn’t particularly matter which one Rufflet evolved into, but it would be nice to know that the Braviary she was familiar with wasn’t completely gone. A psychic-type Pokemon would also be nice to have, and Braviary from Hisui would fulfill both roles nicely.

“Well, that brings up another question, doesn’t it? Where the heck did you come from?” She rubbed at Rufflet’s head, who chirped back. “You’re way too calm to be wild, you know. Did someone tame you beforehand?”

Her response was a little nip on her fingertip.

“Well, I’m glad you’re here.” She nodded. “Want to do some training?”

Rufflet cawed an affirmative. 

“Alright, Porygon-Z, let’s do some training with Rufflet here.” Porygon-Z wandered over from under the table, its head spinning in place above its torso. Akari found something suitable for training in the room and dragged it out with her. The two birds followed her outside, where Empoleon was watching the late sun out from the water. Typhlosion and Lilligant elected to remain inside, away from the cold. 

"Right. So, Rufflet, you're going to be working with Porygon-Z here. Since we're going to be training you for carrying me around, I'll give you this." She tapped the wicker basket half-filled with dirty clothing. It reminded her a little bit of the wicker basket that Lady Sneasler would haul her around in. "Porygon, get in the basket."

Somehow, a series of monotone beeps and warbles managed to sound offended.

-----

She pondered her day as she lay in bed. Johanna had hugged her one more time before they had departed. 

Johanna.

Mom?

She frowned. It didn’t feel quite right.

“Mom.” It didn’t sound quite right, either.

“Mother.” Still no.

“Ma. Mama. Mom. Mommy.” No. The word was foreign on her tongue.

“Johanna.” And yet, she felt some strange regret.

There wasn't any reason to call her Mom, was there? But that would be cruel to Johanna. She had lost her daughter for a whole week, and was now being told her daughter had become a different person. She didn't know anything about Dawn other than what Palmer had mentioned offhandedly. Competitive, fiery, loud, obsessed with ribbons and cute things. She didn't think of herself as anything like that.

She was trained to be silent. Sitting motionless in grass or up in a tree was a vital skill needed to survey Pokemon without dying. She could control her breathing and minimize the noise of her existence down to nothingness. Straw shoes sounded like grasses rubbing against each other instead of the trampling of the brush by a living being. There were many occasions where Akari had to simply freeze in place for extended periods of time in hopes that a lurking hunter would pass her by as scavenge rather than fresh meat.

Her only competition, as it were, was the goal of completing her mission. Besides, most of the strength she could claim to wield was really her team rather than her. She left them to their own training most days, delegating out ideas and partners, but the hard work was done independently. The Galaxy Team was, well, a team. If you were competing with your fellow members, you were being stupid. 

Though she supposed she did like winning battles. Against Warden Ingo, it was worse than a coin toss if she was able to beat his own Pokemon, especially because only three or four of her own were battle-ready at all times, Pokemon from myth and legend notwithstanding. 

She also wasn't pretty, in general. It was hard to be pretty in the Galaxy Team, even when the clothier and the hairdresser both liked to experiment on her from time to time. There was a scar across her back, she knew. It wasn't horribly long and it wasn’t visible, but it was there. A Scyther early on in her excursions managed to draw a long gash down her right-side shoulder. Little nicks and cuts on her arms and face were still visible, and she wasn't the type to cover them in makeup. Often they weren't visible just from the thin film of dirt and grime present on most Survey Corps members when out in the field. None of the Survey Corps were shining beacons of beauty, compared to some of the townsfolk who actually cared for their appearance. It was just how things were.

Cute things... no comment.

She was going to have to visit her again at some point. Maybe Dawn’s Pokemon, too? It would be nice to have a large number of Pokemon around again, though she wasn’t sure how that would go for her all things considered. They weren’t really her Pokemon, though. And wouldn’t it be cruel to them to meet a stranger with their friend’s face?

A stranger. Could she be more than a stranger to Johanna?

“Mom. Mom, mom, mom.”

Her tongue felt thick, like it was getting in the way.

“Mom.”

It wasn’t perfect.

But it worked.

Chapter Text

Akari rummaged through her bag, digging for the small bag of Pokemon sweets she carried with her. No, that was a small sack of Hopo berries. No, no, no. Oh! She thought she had lost that box of mint candies, but there they were. She idly popped one into her mouth, then kept rummaging.

“Ha! There you are.” They were crystalline blue, in various shapes and sizes. When Akari had tried one herself they tasted like almost nothing, but Pokemon seemed to love them. They also tended to make the Pokemon a little more energetic, which was great for training. The candymaker in Jubilife didn’t sell much to everyday people, but the Survey Corps, Security Corps, and Medic Corps all purchased his Pokemon Candies, so he stuck around. Professor Laventon noticed they encouraged evolution in unevolved Pokemon, so they used them frequently when studying the evolution process. Akari was hoping to let Rufflet try and evolve inside Wayward Cave, or at least on top of the mountain somewhere. She had a good amount of the crystals, given that she hadn’t needed them very much after a certain point but continued to purchase them from the candymaker out of thanks.

BEEP

PROF. ROWAN: I’m waiting outside if you’re ready.

Oh! He was here! That was nice of him to warn her. She quickly closed her bag and put on her coat, then stepped outside. Rowan was waiting next to a large bird Pokemon that Akari now could identify as Skarmory. “Hello, Professor.”

“Akari! Are you prepared? Do you have a plan on what to do when we arrive at Mount Coronet?”

“Ah, yeah.” Akari nodded. “I’ve got some candy that helps encourage evolution in Pokemon, so we’re gonna try and evolve Rufflet with ‘em! We used to do this all the time with Evee while testing for different evolutions, so it should work out.”

“Is that so?” Rowan raised an eyebrow. “Well, Far be it from me to tell you how to do your research.” Rowan nodded. “Come. Skarmory may not be as fast as Garchomp in the air with two people, but she’s plenty fast.”

Rowan was right, Skarmory was plenty fast. They landed atop a snowy outcropping on the northern side of Mount Coronet. “Lots of room here.” Akari noted.

“Yes. We’re right atop the northeast face of Mount Coronet.” Rowan nodded. “It’s a relatively short hike to Celestic Town from here if anything untoward happens.”

“That’s good.” Akari found Rufflet’s Pokeball. It was still unmarked, given she had no clue what he would evolve into, but that was what she and the Professor were here to find out. “Alright, Rufflet.” She released the little bird onto her sleeved arm.

“Skraaw!” The little bird still wasn’t very aggressive, which might have been a concern. Normally, Rufflet would be rather fierce in order to train quickly and evolve.

“Rufflet, do you know what we’re trying? I explained it a bit earlier.” At Rufflet’s nod, Akari reached into the bag of candies she had secured to her waist. She pulled out a few of the candies, varying in size from about the size of a thumbnail to half the size of her palm. “Here, try a bit before we go too far.”

Rufflet pecked at her hand, crushing one of the smaller rocks as he tasted the crystals. He seemed to like them fine, at least. That was good. “Skraaw!”

“All right. Eat a few and go take some laps, then we’ll see how you feel about a bit of training.”

Rufflet took off with a few flaps and began circling the clearing. Rowan was scribbling notes into a notebook.

“Right. Lilligant.” She released the Grass-type into the clearing. “Same deal as the last Rufflet. You remember?” At her nod, Akari pointed out the low-flying form of Rufflet. “Shouldn’t be too bad, try not to knock him around too much, love.”

Lilligant nodded again, this time positioning herself in the center of the clearing. Rufflet had finished his third lap around the clearing when Lilligant cried a warning. Rufflet responded, and the game began.

It started simple enough. Lilligant launched a few Leafage leaves at a time directly at Rufflet’s body. It took basically no effort from Rufflet to dodge attacks like that, but Rufflet tried to dodge anyways. Akari frowned. “Lilligant, go ahead and start trying to hit him now. He’s wasting too much energy.”

This time, Lilligant led her target properly, and Rufflet was pelted with a few leaves, causing him to stumble in the air. He squawked in indignation as the leaves pelted his wings, and he began to try harder to dodge. Unfortunately, Lilligant was a nasty sniper, and her Leafage traveled much faster than Typhlosion’s Infernal Parade. When Rufflet somehow managed to dodge directly into one of Lilligant’s Leafage shots, Akari signaled her to stop.

“Rufflet! You can’t just dodge based on guessing! Anticipate!” Rufflet cried an affirmative and straightened out his sightline. This time, when Lilligant tried to lead her shots, Rufflet did his best to only move when he had to. His success rate wasn’t great, but it was getting better. It was a good thing that the Leafages didn’t hurt the little Rufflet too badly, but eventually, he had to come down from the accumulated damage.

“Alright, Rufflet. Here, have a berry.” The bird was perched on a rock as Akari pulled out her knife and sliced a Sitrus berry in half, tossing the other half to Lilligant. He pecked at the inner flesh of the fruit before cawing an affirmative sound. “Okay, Rufflet. Looking good so far. Take a few more of these and we’ll keep going, alright?”

“Skraaw!” This time, Rufflet eagerly crushed a larger crystal in his mouth before taking off.

“That’s a good sign.” Akari told the Professor, who was still scribbling in his notebook.

“Is that so?” Rowan raised an eyebrow.

“Most of the time when Pokemon get all excited like that after eating some candy, they’re about ready to evolve. Lilligant!” She called out to the dancer, who responded with a cry of her own. “Second phase! Really try and nail him this time!”

“Kyoon!”

The barrage of Leafage shots began pelting the now much harder to hit Rufflet, but he was doing a good job of disrupting his own flight now, juking and hesitating at the right time. Though, wasn’t the volume of leaves a little high, now? Akari frowned. Rufflet hadn’t been hit yet, but Lilligant wasn’t letting up at all, was she?

“Kyoon!”

Lilligant was probably getting frustrated at this point, wasn’t she? Akari’s eyes widened as... something happened. She wasn’t sure what, but as her eyes tracked Rufflet in the air, the leaves that Lilligant was firing seemed... different, like they were starting to curve in the air after her target. Though, Akari couldn’t have been sure. At least, not at first.

“Kyoon!”

“Alright, those leaves are definitely tracking Rufflet, now.”

Rowan raised an eyebrow. “I suppose she has switched from using Leafage to Magical Leaf.” He jotted something down in his notebook.

“...uh, what?”

“Magical Leaf.”

“That’s... that’s the name of the attack?”

“Yes. Are you not familiar?”

“Well...” Akari frowned. Why hadn’t Lilligant developed an attack like that before? It would have been helpful against that boy, Buck, to have a Grass move that tracked the opponent. “Yes. No. I mean, I know of it, but I didn't know that Lilligant learned it naturally.”

Still, Rufflet was making a good effort to dodge as many leaves as he could. He of course was still getting hit, but with not as many leaves as Lilligant was throwing around.

“Skraw!” He was getting frustrated, too. He pulled into a steep dive to avoid a direct shot of leaves coming from ahead of him. However, there was still a significant mass of leaves following behind... He was going to be sandwiched if he didn’t notice in time-

Akari was forced to close her eyes as the sky was suddenly filled with lightning.

Ah. There he was.

The not-so-little Rufflet was now a very much not-so-little Braviary, gripping the wad of leaves in a psychic grip. At first glance, his wingspan had to be around four meters.

“Oh my!” Rowan had a camera out as Lilligant relented from her furious foliage frenzy and Braviary landed atop the rock that he perched upon only a few minutes earlier as a Rufflet.

“Once again, Mount Coronet is a fascinating source of mystery, no?”

“Quite.” Akari sighed as she approached. She had to be a bit careful as most Braviary were quite aggressive, but Rufflet was such a sweet little one, Akari felt a bit bolder than probably was wise. “Hey, buddy. Looks like it worked, huh?”

“SKRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA”

Both Akari and Rowan flinched at the echoing energy of Braviary’s signature psychic screech. “You got some lungs there. How ya feeling?” She held out a whole Sitrus berry.

Braviary hopped down from the rock, watching the approaching berry and the human holding it. This was probably the stupidest thing she had ever tried, but Braviary simply bent forward and plucked the hard berry from her outstretched hand. Of course, the hard rind was crushed effortlessly, spraying Sitrus juice everywhere, but Braviary quickly scarfed down the berry before regarding Akari.

“Skraa.” He had apparently come down from the excitement of the candies, finally, and hopped over to begin lightly pecking at Akari’s hat. She ducked out of the way before getting into arm’s reach.

“Hey, buddy.” Akari reached out and ran her fingers along the back of Braviary’s neck, in about the same spot that she had scratched at for the past week or so.

“Skraa.” He ruffled himself and allowed her to scratch at the spot, clearly pleased with himself.

“You feeling good? I bet you do.”

“Skraa!”

“You’re a big boy now, Braviary. Look at you.” She used her best calm voice, but it didn’t seem like she needed to. He wasn’t being aggressive, which was a big relief.

Lilligant approached, her head tilted.

“Skraa.” He pecked at her flower, and Lilligant quickly backed up out of his reach.

“Kyuuu~”

“Skraa.”

“Kyoon.”

The two Pokemon seemed to have some sort of conversation, the nuance completely lost to the two humans in the area. It seemed as though eventually, Lilligant was satisfied with the result of her interview. “Quite a sight, Braviary is. Fascinating.” Rowan remarked. “Your hypothesis was quite correct, Miss Akari.”

“Well, I’m glad it waaaaa aaaaa -” Akari suddenly found herself gripped by the shoulders as Braviary launched himself skyward with his trainer in tow. “ Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa- ”

She found herself being supported by what had to be Braviary’s psychic power as he began circling the whole mountain. “Braviary!” Her breath was short, not helped by the thin mountain air.

“Skraa!”

“Did Lilligant put you up to this!?”

“Skraa!”

“Lilligant you traitor!” Still, it was hard not to be impressed with the view. Lord Braviary had taken her around Mount Coronet in the past, but supporting herself with a sling was an entirely different feeling than being carried by telekinesis and talons. “Wow.” The sun was still high in the sky, and she could see the whole blue expanse above the cloud level. She couldn’t even feel anything more than a light breeze despite the rapid pace of Braviay’s flight. Was she wrapped entirely in an envelope of psychic power? She had to try and remember what was happening, but still... “That’s beautiful.”

“Skraa!”

It took them a scant few minutes before Braviary landed, separating off Akari with his psychic power and depositing her on the ground next to him. It was a surprisingly smooth landing, especially considering she had never practiced with him before.

“Akari!” Rowan was chuckling. “I’m guessing Braviary was excited to show you around?”

“Hah. Ahhh.” Akari did her best to catch her breath quickly. “Apparently.” She sighed. “You’re gonna be as much of a problem as the rest of the lot, aren’t you?”

“Skraa!”

“Kyoon.”

“Oh, shut up. At least Porygon-Z doesn’t make sense in a contained manner.”

-----

After a stop at the Celestic Town Pokemon Center to register Braviary as a Fly-ready Pokemon, Akari let Braviary carry her back to the villa, given his psychic support was much nicer on her back than riding behind the Professor on his Skarmory. He wasn’t as fast as the metal bird, but he could keep up at the pace that Rowan had set. As they landed, Akari scratched at the back of his head. Rowan nodded. “Well, is it fine if I take your notes on the distortions with me for a few days? I probably should have asked earlier, but it had slipped my mind.

“Go right ahead, Professor.”

“So, what’s next for you?” He took her proffered binder before opening his small trunk and placing it carefully into a pocket.

“The Battle Hall, I think.”

“Is that right?” Rowan hummed. “The Hall is quite the ordeal. I’ve heard you can choose to battle for many days straight inside if you choose to.”

“I’m hoping that’s how it will go, Professor. Speed is key.”

“Indeed. Don’t work yourself to death, Akari. You or your Pokemon. Recklessness is the enemy.”

“Don’t be foolish. We are here to broker peace between the people and Pokemon of Hisui. Rashness is the enemy.”  

Akari couldn’t help but chuckle.

“Are you alright, Akari?” Rowan raised an eyebrow.

“Nothing, Professor.” She sighed. “You just sounded like Commander Kamado there, for a second.”

“Is that so?”

“I mean, it’s only because your mustache looks an awful lot like his does. You’re not much like him otherwise. For one, you’re not a paranoid old coot, just a normal one.”

Rowan cracked his neck. “Hrmph. I’ve never seen such insolence before, brat.” His deadpan delivery betrayed his words, and Akari found herself full-on laughing. 

“Sorry, sorry.” She wheezed. “It’s just-”

“Hah. Not the first time. You get plenty of cheeky brats when you distribute Pokemon for as long as I have. One learns to have a flexible sense of humor.”

“I’ll be careful, Professor, I promise. No overworking for me.”

A heavy hand landed on her shoulder. “Good.”

-----

 “Right, now that we know what kind of Braviary you are, I can finally carve your ball symbol.” she hummed. Honestly, even if she wasn’t much of a craftsman like Rei was, she still enjoyed the idle work of crafting and decorating her Pokeballs. She preferred to carve a little symbol into the tumblestone to help her identify the balls at her waist without looking at them. “Maybe I’ll stick to the wavy lines...? No, maybe something that looks like your crest?” Typhlosion’s ball had to be changed once so far, and on the second ball she had carved a little will-o-wisp. On Lilligant’s ball was a little four-petaled flower, and Empoleon carved his own little v-shape into his ball as a Prinplup. Braviary’s ball, maybe she could do a leaf-type shape within itself a few times? She nodded as she started burrowing through her bag. “Where’s my crafting kit...”

BEEP BEEP BEEP

“Hmm?” She hadn’t heard that pattern from the Arc Phone before. Instead of her crafting kit, her Arc Phone ended up in her hand. On the screen was a message:

Incoming Xtransceiver Call

Emmet

She tapped the green accept button.

“Hello! I am Emmet!” 

“Oh!” Akari blinked as the screen displayed the face of the white-themed Subway Boss. “Hello?”

“You’re transmitting loud and clear!”

“I’m Akari. Nice to... meet you.” He looked almost as if someone took Ingo and smoothed out his... everything. His smile also seemed much more enthusiastic than the small smiles that Ingo would give her sometimes when they battled. It looked strange, like a Zororark was reconstructing Ingo with nothing but Captain Zisu’s memory. Akari was half certain Zisu had taken a liking to the Warden, but she didn’t want to say anything about that if she could avoid thinking about it.

“It is nice to meet you! My brother will be joining us.”

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Incoming Xtransceiver Call

Ingo

She swallowed. This world’s Ingo could be in danger, and she really had no clue how to help him. She tapped the accept button. The screen seemed to split in two, and a nearly identical man appeared in the new section.

“Hello. Please allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Ingo, and my brother, Emmet, was eager to call, it seems. We are the Bosses of the Battle Subway, though I expect you already knew that.”

He sounded like Ingo but... different. Almost like the harsh rasp in his voice was natural, instead of the cold of the mountain constantly beating his vocal cords to a pulp.

 Akari swallowed. This was... strange.

“Hello. My name is... Akari. What- what brings you by?” That probably wasn’t what you say when asking that kind of question, but she had no clue what else she could say. The whole thing was rather foreign. She wanted to hang up already...

“Well, the competitive part of us wanted to say hello to a fan.” 

“You were verrrrrry impressive! It makes me want to battle you!”

“Oh! Well, thank you...?”

“I approve of your fashion choices as well, Miss.”  The lack of familiarity in his voice was... she noticed more than she expected she would.

“Am I that unpopular, brother? Everyone always chooses the black souvenir shirts first.”

“Well, I think black tends to be a more... useful color, most of the time. White can be loud if you go overboard, Mister Emmet.”

“Very true.”

“Your battles were quite the spectacle, Miss Akari. Please, feel free to visit the Battle Subway if you are ever in the region.”

“Sure.”

“Well. The other reason is- hm. Are you alone right now?” Ingo asked, suddenly serious.

“I am.”

“Right. Well, the Sinnoh Champion and Tycoon Palmer have both informed us of your involvement with their current investigation. You are their expert on the topic, no?”

“I.. yes. Is there something you wanted to know?” She thought Rowan had said he had kept quiet on her involvement, though maybe that had changed? Akari wasn’t sure. She was going to have to ask the Professor about it later.

This time, Emmet answered. “Is Ingo in danger?” His smile never left his face, but he was surely more intense than he was before. He had leaned slightly into the screen, cutting off his surroundings with his face.

Akari frowned. “Well, we’re not sure. As far as my research has gone, the rifts will only appear in places where there is already an unstable space-time event happening. Or, in this particular case, there can be an area that is inherently unstable.” She glanced at Ingo’s image again, who seemed to be concentrating on her words. “Really, the only places I would avoid going are here in Sinnoh, as far as I know. Other places with large amounts of raw power surging uncontrollably might become unstable, but most of the phenomena we’ve observed have been focused around the area surrounding Mount Coronet.”

“Well, there goes our vacation plans, brother.” Ingo sighed. “There were rumors of strange energy surges in both Galar and Alola, you know. We have done at least some research ourselves when Champion Cynthia first brought the danger to our attention.”

“Thank you, Miss Akari. Though you may have deprived me of my stops for malasadas and curry, your warning will hopefully save us brothers a lot of pain. I don’t plan on running the trains all alone! We wish you luck on your investigation!”

“We have spoken to Professor Juniper, who has referred Rowan to another of her colleagues. We’re hoping this whole situation will work out for the best. When you make progress, please inform us if you can. I do not wish to make an unexpected stop to the past, thank you.”

“No, of course not. It was nice meeting you, Mister Emmet... Mister Ingo.”

“Yup! Come ride the trains sometime!”

“We look forward to meeting you in person when possible, Miss Akari. May the tracks of life guide you to your destination!”

-----

“No, no, it’s absolutely no trouble, dear! Shoes off, socks off.”

“But- I didn’t even-” Akari moved to strip her feet, and her boots and socks were whisked away by a younger man who simply nodded to her.

“Palmer asked, and you’re such a wonderful model. It would be my honor. Coat on the rack.”

“Well...” Akari removed her coat and the Warden’s cap, placing them both on a little metal rack. Mary pulled out a tape measure and started jotting down notes in a notebook on top of another dresser.

Palmer had caught wind of Akari’s next trip being the Battle Hall and had somehow managed to corral Akari into Mary’s workplace. It was a veritable jungle of cloth bolts and mannequins. “You have to look good for the Battle Hall, Akari. And after all that effort we put in for your Tower photos, I refuse to have you show up in anything less than perfection.”

“But, isn’t this your work? How much-”

“Oh, Palmer forked over an active commission for you. Apparently, the League is footing most of these bills. Arms out, please.”

“...Why? I know I technically work directly for the League, but a tailor? Isn’t that a little... wasteful?”

“If Palmer wants something, he’ll get it. And he wants a star. He’s a stubborn mule, you know. Besides, having someone as photogenic and strong as you is a real boon. They’re gonna put you on posters, I hear.” She didn’t recognize the word, photogenic. But she got the gist of the sentence anyways.

“Posters?” Akari blinked. “Why?”

Mary stopped. “Well, why not? I would think any young girl would leap at the chance to be the face of the next generation of top trainers.”

“But... Why me? Couldn’t they find someone prettier?” She thought back to both the girl from the top of the Battle Tower, Mina, as well as Janna, the girl from the first floor. Both of them were strong, and Janna at least took care of her own appearance.

“Pretty has nothing to do with it.” Mary chuckled. “Have you not checked social media in the past week?”

“...” She couldn’t just ask ‘what is social media’ without looking strange to someone who didn’t know, so she didn’t say anything. “No.”

“Look at this.” Mary picked up a large screen from the table and began tapping away at it. “Here.”

It was a painting, or at least it looked like one. Someone in a dark coat crouched under a violet inferno, one hand thrust forward while the other held a hat into place atop their head. The framing was properly heroic, like the person was commanding an army. Dust and wind billowed around their coat, blowing the hemline out into a wild arc. The eyes-

“Is that supposed to be me?” Akari blinked.

“This was posted even before your Battle Tower run. The Tower posts the Gold albums on their socials, too. You’re already quite popular. Everyone’s curious about the mysterious Docent, you know.”

“Eh... what?”

“See?” Mary pointed at the screen, supposedly that was the title of the art piece? The Docent ?

“...What’s a docent?”

“Well, it says that the person was looking for synonyms for ‘conductor’, which makes sense. A docent is someone who guides people through museums and the like, telling people about science or history.”

“A guide? I don’t know about that...” She had no idea where they got that idea from, honestly. She hadn’t guided anyone in her life! Really, she let the Warden drag her around more than anything... oh, was that it? Her similarity in dress to the Subway Bosses?

Mary chuckled. “Oh, people online will do as they please. Besides, it’s all good press as far as I can see. People are loving it.”

“That’s...” Akari wasn’t really sure what to think about that. Before, people would stare at her because she was different. Whispers, rumors, distrust. Of course, that changed over the course of her career in the Survey Corps. In the end, Commander Kamado was right. To be accepted, he instructed her to become the most excellent researcher and surveyor she could be, and it had worked. It took months of work and some... pain points, but she eventually managed to become part of Jubilife Village.

It was only now that Akari understood what Palmer was trying to do. He was... frontloading the admiration and skipping the work by making her look competent before people knew anything else. If people’s first impressions of her were as positive as possible, there would be much less distrust amongst the people. She wasn’t the girl who fell from the sky and wore strange clothing, this time. She was a flashy Battle Frontier trainer, and she needed to look the part.

“Well, alright.”

“You’re an intense person, Akari. People like that in their top trainers. It’s a good quality to have.”

“... You said Mister Palmer wants a star?”

“That’s the goal. That’s always the goal.”

“Then do what you need to do.”

Maybe Akari should have worded her request better. She swore the temperature in the room plummeted. Mary’s gaze was intense, maybe too intense?

“Why, I’d never thought you’d ask.”

Chapter Text

She stood at the end of a rather long hallway, facing a set of double doors. Porygon-Z was hovering behind her, twitchy as ever. A light, similar to the ones above the doors at the Battle Tower, flicked an amber yellow. The doors opened without her input, and she began her march.

At the start of her Battle Hall run, Mary had tried to instruct her on how to move down a ‘runway’. The first few tries seemed to work alright, but it didn’t exactly help when she was wearing such... plain clothing.

Granted, the outfit wasn’t nearly as difficult to wear as she was expecting. Akari was imagining some strange, tubular dress, or poofy sleeves, or an embarrassingly low neckline, something equally impractical. Something like the images that Mary had shown her, or the various outlandish costumes and ‘cosplay’ within the silver and gold Print Albums posted online. Instead, she found herself wearing rather straightforward, practical clothing with some accessories and her hat. Having her whole outfit be themed around Porygon-Z was quite fun, though. A dark blue coat and pants with a red-and-yellow band on the shoulder were held together by a row of bronze and black buttons along both sides. Her collar rode high under her hair, which was bound in a loose bun relatively low on her head. The white gloves with this outfit were tougher than the soft ones she had on during the Battle Tower photo shoot, but they still weren’t particularly rugged.  They weren’t Akari’s first choice, but she had invited Mary to do whatever she felt would fit. A red-and-blue sash held a small satchel in place, slung diagonally across her shoulder. Draped over her back was a Porygon-themed haori, with geometric reds and blues scattered across a field of black. During her first five days, she didn’t have the sash or the haori. Instead, a dark cloak was draped over her shoulders, pinned at the neck and hanging down to her waist. Honestly, she wasn’t sure which she preferred, given the loud colors of the haori. It felt less like an outfit and more like a uniform, especially because it reminded her a little of Commander Kamado. Mary had wrapped a bright red ribbon around the rim of her hat and placed a rather ornate... decoration? Comb? Something of the sort behind the badge, shaped like a sunburst. It didn’t look bad, and Mary had even cleaned up the fabric of the hat and reshaped the top. Though it did make the hat slightly more front-heavy. Still, the outfit was deceptively easy to move in. Mary had three sets  of uniforms made, making Akari wear a new one every day she entered the Battle Hall. One pure black, one dark red, and this one, the dark blue.

She was also wearing a rather light covering of makeup. Supposedly it  was to simply prevent her from being too glossy under the studio lights, but it still felt strange to have someone else apply powders and balms to her face. It was definitely more than she chose to wear on a daily basis, and Mary’s assistant had a much more even hand than Akari herself did. It made her feel a bit more self-conscious, though. Good thing Mary had selected a stoic persona to go with the outfit, otherwise Akari was sure she would look as nervous as she felt.

“Woah!”

“Hey, nice!”

“That’s Akari!”

“I heard her Pokemon were crazy.”

“She’s using a Porygon-Z, though. See?”

“This is day six for her. She tore through the Battle Hall like nothing.”

"It's not the record or anything but it was still a fantastic pace." 

"The outfit is new." 

"No, it's the same uniform with a haori over it." 

“I wonder who her designer is? Argenta herself?”

“Probably Madame Mary, if I were to guess.”

“Really? I thought she was from Unova.”

“I thought she was from Galar!”

“Her name is Akari, though. Wouldn’t she be from Johto?”

“She’s pretty!”

“Porygon-Z, though.”

“I wonder what Matron Argenta is bringing?”

Akari was no good at ‘strutting’, or standing out while she walked, as Mary had phrased it. Still, Porygon-Z fluttering around her as she marched across the walkway was a big help in keeping her focused. Mary had advised her to keep her gaze stern and her eyes forward, in order for the pictures to appear more candid. A patterned fan was held in her right hand, the white leaf emblazoned with a single yellow and black eye. Mary had encouraged her to gesture as much as she could with the fan, especially when battling. It took a little bit to get used to that as well, but it was still rather fun!

Cameras flashed as Akari took her position. Across from her, the Matron Argenta was posing for her own pictures. She chose to wear a similar look to the red suit and pants the guide used, but instead of red, the cloth was a dark green. Barely visible patterns of leaves shimmered in the glossy fabric, creating a flowing, sparkling look. Beside her was a large, beautiful Pokemon, mostly green with a ring of flower petals around its neck. It took a minute for Akari to place the Pokemon... Meganium? She wasn't sure, but it sounded right. What she could be sure of was that it was a grass-type, which was good for Akari. Porygon-Z could handle a grass-type no problem. 

Throughout the week that Akari had taken for the challenge, Porygon-Z had only gotten stronger and stronger. It was responding more rapidly, executing little twists on the moves that Akari could hopefully help it develop into true mastery. 

The one thing that Akari learned, more than anything, was that Porygon-Z was a very... practical Pokemon. It enjoyed winning, not because it was competitive, but because it was goal-oriented. Completing each battle meant learning more and more tricks, and Porygon-Z loved tricks. It took to learning new things like a Buizel to water, it was honestly scary. It had even learned a whole new move, Icy Wind, by observing it when a Vulpix had used it repeatedly in their battle. It was varying speeds when she told it to dodge, it ensured that its erratic movements had patterns that were becoming increasingly familiar to Akari. Their synergy was quickly increasing, which was the goal, of course. But still, progress was quite rapid, much faster than Akari expected. If anything, Porygon-Z might have been smarter than her... It lined up with her work with Alakazam and other Pokemon that were known to be quite intelligent.

And yet, its end goal still appeared to be head rubs. What a little goblin.

As Mary recommended, Akari put herself into Galaxy Corps parade rest as she waited for the Matron to address her. Meganium and the Matron both were both posing quite enthusiastically for the cameras. Porygon-Z began doing its part of the routine, hovering around Akari as it blew little bubbles of elemental energy in orbit around her hat.

“It’s good to see you finally, Challenger Akari!” Matron Argenta gave a polite bow. Meganium mirrored her, dipping its head to its chest. A light wind seemed to emanate from the Pokemon, allowing for pale pink petals to drift low to the floor.

“Matron.” Akari did not remove herself from parade rest yet. Mary had a whole script planned for the final encounter, and Porygon-Z performed his role on cue. The orbiting orbs of elemental energy coalesced in a circle behind Akari’s head and began to lazily rotate in a vertical circle. If she moved while Porygon-Z’s routine wasn’t finished, she was liable to ruin her outfit, or her head, for that matter.

“It seems you’ve been powering through my Battle Hall, no? Porygon-Z appears to be a splendid partner.”

“Porygon-Z has been...” She struggled to phrase it in a way that fit the character Mary was going for. Stern, commanding, with a strong presence. Something like Captain Cyllene... “exemplary.”

Argenta grinned at her like they were sharing some inside joke, as if she understood something deeper than the front-facing response. “Well, then. Let’s make this a memorable battle, yes?” Meganium moved to stand at one of the starting positions.

The three orbs of energy extracted themselves from behind her head and circled her waist a few times before sharply descending downwards, which was her cue to get into her battle position. Her outstretched hand pointed her closed fan forward as the orbs impacted the ground simultaneously, blowing away the mist and petals around her in a circle. Porygon-Z simultaneously descended to its starting position, hovering lightly above the ground.

“Of course.”

And battle was joined.

Battles in the Battle Hall were a different sort of beast than the Battle Tower. Neither the Matron nor Akari was ready to make the first move, so they spent about fifteen seconds in unified silence. One mistake could cost a competitor their entire streak, resulting in a waste of a huge amount of time and effort. So every move was considered in advance. There were several opponents who would simply do nothing, waiting for a move from the opponent before attempting to counterattack. Of course, none of them were as patient as Akari was, so they almost always twitched first. This time, however, she didn’t feel like waiting for much longer than she already had.

That didn’t mean she couldn’t be strategic, though. Akari twitched her fan, eyes locked on Meganium. Porygon-Z immediately tried darting forward without attacking, and Akari noted Meganium had solid reaction time. Not the best she had ever seen, but quite excellent. Its eyes immediately tracked to the opponent, and more importantly, its body turned to move towards the predicted trajectory of Porygon-Z’s movement.

“Right. Let’s get this show on the road, shall we?” Argenta nodded. “Energy Ball.” Akari blinked. She expected a few more seconds of probing. Though maybe, the Hall Matron would want to move the action along...

“Up! Ice Beam.” She brought her arm straight up, bringing the fan to the ceiling.

Unlike her battle with Barry a few weeks ago, Porygon immediately rose to about twenty feet in the air. The Ice Beam sliced its way towards Meganium, but the distance was far enough that it only managed to tag the Grass Pokemon on one leg.

“Oh my! Let’s try Magical Leaf!”

Porygon-Z was already twitching in a jagged line on route to cut off the retreat path of the Meganium. It weathered the Magical Leaf with little problem, fortunately.

“Icy Wind! Then strong Ice Beam!” From her elongated position, Akari rotated to present a side profile before bringing her fan down. She did her best to maintain a rock-solid, immovable straight-legged stance.

Once again, the Ice Beam was barely avoided, but Icy Wind was a much harder attack to dodge. Meganium was forced to absorb the brunt of the attack, growling in pain. Porygon-Z slowly lowered itself to the ground as Meganium trembled on icy limbs.

“Oh my, a bit of an issue now.” Argenta frowned. “Quite a troubling matchup indeed. Body Slam.”

“Icy Wind! Back up!”

Porygon-Z left a trail of rime on the ground as it retreated, layering the charging Meganium with hoarfrost before it slammed into Porygon-Z with a heavy thud. Being more than double the weight of Porygon-Z, Meganium sent the bird sprawling to the edge of the platform. Argenta visibly grimaced as Meganium struggled to move under the layers of frost.

“Energy Ball!” Argenta seemed a bit more forceful, now. Was this the end?

Only one way to find out. “Ice Beam.” Her fan pointed directly at the center of the opponent.

Porygon-Z was faster on the uptake, given Meganium’s fortunately frosty foliage features, and the Energy Ball exploded in the dinosaur’s mouth before it could be fired.

“Match!” A referee at the side of the arena called.

Akari began drawing herself up into a salute but halted partway through. Mary had warned her that doing a Galaxy Team salute was probably a bad idea when she first showed the designer, so instead, Akari expanded her fan and lowered the rim of her cap with her other hand. Alright, all that was left was to channel her inner Captain one more time. “Excellent.”

Porygon-Z responded with a droning, pulsing whir that almost sounded like a purr.

“Well, I can’t say it wasn’t fun, dear. Still, a shame we couldn’t show off for much longer than that. Alas, the spotlight of the Battle Hall only shines for one Pokemon at a time.” Argenta chuckled. “I can see that you and Porygon-Z have absolutely excellent teamwork. Congratulations.”

Akari, still channeling her inner Captain, performed as perfect of a bow as she could muster. Which meant, of course, that it wasn’t anything all that impressive. “Thank you for the match.”

“No.” mused Argenta. “Thank you. Truly. I haven’t had a chance to take a jaunt under the lights in a few weeks.” Meganium returned to a Pokeball and Argenta stepped to the middle of the stage. Taking that as a cue, Akari moved to meet her under the center lights, where Argenta extended a hand. 

Akari’s gloved hand accepted the handshake under the flashing of cameras.

Two down, three to go.

-----

Akari was finally relieved of headpat duty when Porygon-Z fell asleep. The fact that a cartoonish stream of sleep bubbles appeared in front of the virtual Pokemon’s nose wasn’t lost on Akari as she lowered it to the couch.

“Well, that was a good workout, wasn’t it?” she softly asked herself. She herself was using Porygon-Z as an excuse to stay up. Honestly, the coming day was more nerve-wracking than the past week of battles. She had received a message from the Professor inviting her to Sandgem and Twinleaf. He wanted to show Akari his lab and Johanna’s house on a trip while she rested in between Battle Frontier challenges. Honestly, even with how hectic her Battle Frontier challenge had been so far, she missed going out into the wild.

That brought up an idle thought. Akari so far hadn’t seen a single apricorn tree anywhere, even on the route outside the Resort Area. She figured that this place was created from the volcanic eruptions of Firespit Island, though the location was a bit farther north than she expected. Was it a mapping error? Akari wasn’t sure. Still, not a single Apricorn tree or even a deposit of tumblestone. Which meant Akari was going to run out of Pokeballs sooner or later. Maybe the mainland would have more resources.

She could always purchase the metal Pokeballs that people of this time period used, but it didn’t quite feel right. She brought her hand down to brush over her Pokeballs, running her thumb over the symbols carved into them. She found the last Pokemon in her line, Braviary’s, and remembered that she hadn’t had a chance to carve it yet. A minute of rummaging found her portable crafting kit, and she extracted her favorite v-chisel. It was a gift, part of a set that Rei had given her on her first anniversary of coming to Hisui. She didn’t know her birthday, so they had taken that fateful arrival to be her unofficial starting point. In return, on his birthday, Akari had beaned Rei in the head with a Pokeball that she had inlaid with some of the gold she had obtained from battling the Miss Fortunes. He had immediately transferred his rather stubborn partner Pikachu into the ball, who fortunately didn’t have a preference either way on what his Pokeball looked like.

Speaking of Pokemon, the Copperajah in the room, as Professor Laventon would have put it.

Dawn’s Pokemon... The Professor had sent her a list. Torterra, Frosslass, Clefable, and Milotic. Four more strangers to meet. She wasn’t sure how Dawn raised her Pokemon, so Akari would have to be careful. Though, all things considered, maybe they were better behaved than her own Pokemon.  It was a task and a half to care for and exert authority over five of her own Pokemon, especially considering how strong-willed she knew three of them were. 

Still, if they were Pokemon that an eleven-year-old could control to good success, they couldn’t have been that difficult to handle. Honestly, it would be good for her. New Pokemon, new experiences. Would they recognize her as Dawn? She was conflicted on if that would be a good thing or a bad thing. It would mean that they wouldn’t be aggressive, which would be great. But it would also mean that they would be somewhat attached to a person who didn’t know them. 

Still, that was unfair. Dawn didn’t abandon her Pokemon, and they deserved to know that. Of course, the Professor probably already told them, but Akari still felt like the least she could do was promise to help... Besides, she was curious about what kind of personalities a past version of her would raise.

Akari was familiar with all of the Pokemon species other than Milotic, so she flicked open her Arc Phone, found Milotic’s entry, and began to read.

She pulled her haori tighter around herself as a breeze passed over the beach. The uniforms and haori that Mary made were made of rather durable material, and Mary had given her the whole three sets to take home as payment after Akari had indulged her in a photoshoot midway through her Battle Hall run. She was currently wearing the haori over a white, casual shirt and pants, which almost made her look like she was going to attend a festival. Her v-chisel in hand, Akari turned to Braviary’s Pokeball. She popped the latch open to reveal the majestic bird, who immediately took flight to circle around the villa.

Akari let Braviary patrol as she silently began plotting the symbol to be carved in the stone. A quick drawing of ink stick later, she began slowly chipping into the Pokeball.

chk

chk

chk 

When she was done, Akari found her mind wandering again, so she chose to pull some materials from her bag. It took a while and was poor work to do when tired, but she could tell sleep would be slow coming. Braviary landed behind her in the sand and approached, resting his head next to Akari’s leg. Akari idly scratched at Braviary’s neck before she rolled the Apricorn in her hand. 

“Step one, crack the Apricorn at the base of the stem. The Apricorn should spill out a few seeds when shaken.”

crrrrk

“Step two... score a line around the perimeter of the Apricorn, bisecting the hole. It should... it should split readily after three or four passes with the scoring tool.”

shhh

shhh

shhhhk

“Step three. Take an appropriate piece of tumblestone and shape it to the correct size.”

chk

chk

chk 

chk

chk

chk

Chapter Text

Sandgem Town. Akari really didn’t have a frame of reference for how big a town or city was, given the only one she was familiar with was Jubilife Village. Sandgem Town didn’t look bigger than Jubilife did from the air, though Akari really didn’t have the best memory of what the village looked like from overhead. She would always approach on the ground alongside the Security Corps. The only time she had seen it overhead was... that time when the Security Corps wasn’t around to stop her.

She shook away the memory as Braviary landed next to a medium-sized windmill. Professor Rowan had identified the tower as his laboratory, which sounded strange to Akari at first. Fortunately, it turned out the windmill was only attached to the main building, and not the entire thing. The Professor told her to simply enter through the front door and not bother knocking, as she was expected.

“Hello?”

“Hey!” A familiar voice sounded from inside one of the rooms to her left. “Get off! Ack! One second, Dawn!” Was that Lucas? He sounded like he had a clingy Pokemon problem... It was a situation that Rei often found himself in. Maybe it was hereditary? “No, not there! Ah! That’s cold!”

Akari turned to her left to find Lucas struggling with something that had to have been on his back, given the positions of his hands. He made eye contact with her and gestured around with his extended elbow. “Oh!... Uh, a little help?”

Akari approached to find a Goomy currently halfway down Lucas’ shirt. “Oh. Yeah, that happens.” She gripped the sides of the Goomy, being careful to not squish it too bad, and extracted it from the boy’s clothes.

“Thanks... Akari.” Lucas seemed to have noticed his little slip-up, but Akari was loathed to point it out. She had a similar reaction when she first met him, after all.

“Why do you have a Goomy, anyways?” She placed the slimeball into Lucas’ already soaked arms.

“Gyoo!”

“Professor Rowan had it imported from Kalos for study. Since he went over your Pokedex, we’ve identified a list of Pokemon to train near Mount Coronet in order to see if they’ll evolve one way or the other. I’ve been assigned Goomy here to train up, but honestly, I have no clue what I’m doing. There are towels over there.” He explained as he dunked the slug in a nearby bucket of water.

“Gyoo.”

Akari wandered over to the towels Lucas gestured to, wiping the slime off of her hands. “Thanks. Well, Goomy are quite the cute little Pokemon. They get attached pretty quickly, so be ready for that. I hope the Professor will let you keep him after you finish your research because Sliggoo and especially Goodra are very loyal.”

“Is that right?” Lucas held the dripping blob with both hands, turning it back and forth with a raised eyebrow. Goomy’s horns waved back, seemingly pleased with the rocking motion.

“Gyoo.”

“Just make sure he doesn’t shrivel up. It’s good to keep water around, at least.”

“Yeah. Professor Rowan told me that if they get too dry, Goomy will die, but they still breathe air. Kinda a rough draw, right? This one is a girl, by the way,”

“Hmm.” Akari pondered. “Maybe. It’s not so bad, though. Goomy tend to live in rainy areas, so they don’t die from dehydration all the time. They’re well suited for where you normally find them. Marshes and swamps. It’s when one gets taken to somewhere too cold or too dry where the health problems happen, and Mount Coronet is both of those things. Cold and dry.”

“Yeah. It’ll be rough for you, huh Goomy?”

“Gyoo~?” The slug had managed to transfer itself into the cradle of his elbow, where it was now staring intently at his face.

“Don’t worry. You’re not gonna dry out. I’m a professional!” Lucas happily poured a cupful of water from the bucket over Goomy’s head, drenching his left side even more than it was already. It was a good thing the floor in the room had a drain, she supposed.

Akari smiled at the sight. It was a little offputting that this person that looked like Rei was younger than her, but Lucas didn’t seem to notice her slight discomfort.

“Anyways, what’s up, Akari? You here to see the Professor?”

“Yep. He wanted to show me his lab and what projects he was working on. I’m also gonna drop off some material for his evolution research, maybe exchange notes.”

“Makes sense.” Lucas nodded. “I’m gonna try and spend most of today with Goomy, since I’m already soaked. Professor Rowan should be in the habitat, the big double doors.” He pointed with his free hand.

“Alright. Thanks, Lucas.” His name was Lucas.

“And you,” Lucas turned his attention back to Goomy. “Are going to be spending time with me and mine.”

Akari made her way back towards the double doors Lucas pointed out, peering through the clear panes to find a rather lush forest-like area.  She opened one door and stepped inside. “Hello?”

“Miss Akari!” Rowan called somewhere to her right and above her. She turned her head to his voice to see Rowan sitting rather precariously in the branches of a tree, a Rowlett inside a wooden box hanging from the exposed branch. “You made it! Did you bring the materials?”

“I did.” Akari had a separate pouch prepared containing Black Augurite and all the notes she had compiled from Professor Laventon’s studies in Pokemon Evolution. It wasn’t extremely comprehensive, but there was enough, hopefully, to help Professor Rowan with his own research. 

“We’re still waiting on a few imports to get here, but the Lab has acquired some Pokemon from other regions to experiment with.” Rowan clambered down from his perch on the tree. What a surprisingly spry old man. “Whup! Really, this is just an excuse to talk with you, at the end of the day.”

“Did something come up?”

“Nothing large, yet. A bit of a game of telephone really. Professor Juniper pointed me towards a friend from her college days, by name of Fennel. I contacted Fennel, and she forwarded me to a different college acquaintance by name of Burnet, currently in Alola.” Rowan sighed. “When I called Kukui about it, he wouldn’t shut up about his wife for at least ten minutes.”

“So we do have a lead?”

“Perhaps, perhaps not. What we do have is more people involved in this damn investigation that I can’t do anything about. I refuse to turn this into a worldwide manhunt, but four people do not a research and rescue team make.”

“That’s true enough.” Akari sighed. So that makes us, the boys, Palmer, the Subway Bosses, Professor Juniper, and Professor Burnet and her husband.”

“Kukui is an accomplished Pokemon Professor in his own right, I should warn you. He may be a hothead buffoon, but his knowledge of Pokemon attacks and abilities are second to none. He’s what they call a ‘do it all’ type. The peak of generalist study.”

“So, where does that leave us?”

“Well, depending on how things go with Professor Burnet, we might have an interesting lead. Though, traveling to Alola is a bit outside of my capability as of now.”

“So, would it be mostly me, then?” Akari pondered. “Like a transfer?”

“As if.” Rowan grumbled. The Rowlett peered down at the Professor with a half-closed eye. “If Burnet has anything for us, then I will set aside the time myself, as will Champion Cynthia. If you choose to come, as it is your choice, you will be working with me. We’re not expecting her to have a working portal generator or anything of the sort. Not for a while, at least. Cynthia will eventually set you up for an interview with Burnett, and I will be sharing all the material you shared with me if you’re alright with it.”

“No problem. Anything you think will help is worth it. How is she, by the way? The Champion, I mean.”

“Busy.” Rowan scribbled onto a board with paper pinned to it. “She’s catching up on a week of League duties, but she’ll be around some time. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if she was skipping out to do more research on historical sites and the like.”

“Well, at least I hope it’s productive for her.” 

“As do I.”

“So, what’s up with the Rowlett?”

“Give me a minute.” Rowan dusted a leaf off of his hair. “Come, I’ll explain inside. I have diagrams.”

The Professor’s diagrams were tight, neat, and strewn haphazardly across a long table inside one of the many rooms in the lab. He explained how Rowlet tended to enjoy small, cramped spaces, which Akari didn’t know. That led to a discussion of the habitat itself. He showed her through the rest of the forest biome as well as some of the more specialized habitats inside the body of the lab. That discussion led to her helping feed some of the carnivorous aquatic Pokemon. There was a rather ravenous little fish called Carvanha that Akari managed to feed without too many issues, but the accompanying Sharpedo wouldn’t let her get anywhere near it.

“Come on now, don’t be like that.” Akari frowned, the frozen feeder still in her hand.

“I wouldn’t expect you to be able to handle that particular Sharpedo at this point, Miss Akari.” Rowan shook his head. “Give it here.” Rowan proceeded to climb into the tank himself to feed the Pokemon.

“Why do we have to enter the tank to feed them, anyway? Isn’t he a little, er, prickly? Wouldn’t it be safer to throw the feed in from a distance?”

Rowan nodded. “A fair point.  It is indeed dangerous. Unfortunately, leaving him alone isn’t an option. If we were to release Sharpedo into the wild right now, I imagine he wouldn’t last a week. Look here.” He gestured to the underside of the fish, where what looked like a rather large scar was. “Normally there’s another fin there.”

“Oh!” An entire fin was gone? “What happened?”

“We weren’t told. But releasing Sharpedo won’t end well for him. Even if he could swim as fast as normal, he wouldn’t be stable, which makes hunting impossible. We’re trying to get him used to humans, if only so that he can be used as an aide Pokemon for use in transport. The Ranger Authority wants to be able to use him for water rescue, even if he isn’t quite as nimble as other Sharpedo.”

“Someone would ride him?” That sounded like trying to ride an Overquill... 

“It works in Alola, or so I have been told.”

“That sounds... hard.”

Rowan laughed as Sharpedo finished his meal. “Nobody said it would be easy.” He clambered out of the tank, the bottom half of his pants sopping wet.

“Come. There’s a few interesting bug-types that I think you’ll get a kick out of.” Akari dutifully trailed behind the Professor as he walked, still dripping wet. “See, Karrablast and Shelmet have a rather unique relationship...”

 It wasn’t until an hour later that Akari noticed she had been assisting the Professor with his research and Pokemon care instead of touring the facility, though, at that point, she really didn’t mind. She considered herself a pretty good research assistant, after all. Feeding, grooming, taking notes on behavior and characteristics and things of that nature. Falling back into that sort of work came pretty naturally. Rowan finally dismissed her when the sky began to blaze a bright orange.

-----

According to her plan, she was going to visit Johanna for dinner and to stay the night. The sun was starting to set by the time she managed to pull herself away from the lab and start the short flight to Twinleaf Town.

“This is the place, right?” She glanced around at the little town. Nothing in particular popped out at her as familiar, which was expected at that point. Akari had to change her clothes after a day of working with water and raw meat, and now was wearing a long-sleeved sweater along with thicker, woolen pants. She knocked on the door.

“Just a moment!” The muffled voice of Johanna emanated from behind the door. The door’s locks thunked open to reveal the woman wearing a green apron. “Akari!”

“Hello.” She really wasn’t sure what to call her. Earlier, she resolved to try and call her Mom, but it wasn’t the most natural thing.

“Come on in. I know it’s a bit strange, but I appreciate you coming by, really.”

“No, it’s fine... Mom.”

Akari suddenly found herself in a rather tight hug. “You don’t have to do that for me, you know.”

She did her best to reciprocate. “It doesn’t cost me anything, though. Besides, we got tested, right? You are my mom, even if I don’t remember.”

“Thank you, Akari.”

They said nothing for a few seconds, simply standing in the doorway. Johanna- her mother, pulled her inside before shutting the door. “I have Dawn’s room cleaned up, but if you want I have the guest room ready as well. Are you fine with rice?”

“Rice is great.” Akari could only react. Dawn’s room? Of course she should have thought of that. “I... I will use the guest room, please.”

Johanna frowned. “If you’re sure.” She turned back to her kitchen, where the food was. The table was quickly adorned with plates and bowls, and Akari was now seated with her mother, trying to figure out what to eat from the many bowls of meat and vegetables. She could smell the scent of pickles, which brought back good memories of pickled radish. 

“Professor Rowan gave me Dawn’s things, including her Pokeballs. They haven’t been out of the house in a while, it’s a miracle I can keep them fed, honestly.” Johanna mentioned.

“Why didn’t the Lab take them?” Akari asked.

“Oh, they offered. But I figured I needed something to do while I waited around. It wouldn’t feel right just going out and doing contests while Dawn is away, so I decided I could take care of her team until she gets back.” Johanna sighed. “It’s not too bad, really. Dawn purchased a good amount of food to keep here, and I haven’t even made a dent in it. The team is real understanding, too. They worry, maybe more than me.”

“That’s... that’s amazing.” Really, everyone here in Sinnoh was amazing. Akari couldn’t even imagine a housewife like Johanna taking care of even one Pokemon, let alone multiple trained ones.

“They cooperate with me, that’s all.” She shook her head. “Though, it’s not like I’m a pushover. I am a Top Coordinator, you know.”

“Oh, that’s right! You have to tell me about that! It sounds... different.”

And dinner was spent in a strange sort of reunion.

-----

“You know, you would make a fantastic coordinator.” They were now reclining in a sitting room. Akari was spread out over the length of a couch while Johanna settled into a large, plush chair. There was a large screen in front of the couch, though it wasn’t displaying anything at the moment.

Akari frowned. “You’re actually not the first person to tell me that, believe it or not.”

“Oh, I believe it. I saw your Battle Hall match live on television.”

“Really?” Akari blinked. She had to remember that people could watch others using cameras in real-time. Palmer had shown her the recording of their own battle and did his best to explain how broadcasting worked, but it mostly went over her head. Fundamentally, though, she understood that many more people could see her important battles than she thought.

“I wouldn’t miss it. The routine was wonderful, I will say. It almost looked coordinated with the Matron.” The screen flicked on to show a side view of Akari’s entrance to the Battle Hall.

“It wasn’t, Mary said it would be likely for Matron Argenta to use some sort of fog effect for her entrance, and she wanted to capitalize on it.”

“Well, it worked. And you never broke character once, even during the battle. It was a splendid performance.”

“Ah, thank you.” Akari ducked under the praise. It was an unusual thing to be praised for, that was all. People really didn’t tell her how pretty her beatdowns of wild Pokemon were on a regular basis, not even Professor Laventon.

“I noticed your eyes were rather flighty during the battle though.” her mother noted. “It almost felt like you wanted to move from behind your line.”

Akari nodded. “I did. I’m used to being able to move about during battles if only to get better angles on the fighting, or to help me run quickly if I needed to.”

“Well, that makes sense.” Johanna frowned. “Wait, did you say Mary?”

“...Yes?”

“Well, of course, Palmer would use her, wouldn’t he?” She considered her glass of water before setting it aside on a short dresser. “Mary was one of the designers that worked on my Hearthome Contest outfits. She’s quite the talented designer.”

“I’ll tell her when I see her again, I guess.”

“You’ll be seeing her again?”

Akari nodded. “She told me Palmer and the League worked out an active commission.”

“That’s a surprise. Though, you could do worse, definitely. Mary was always a pragmatist when it came to designs. I think I only ended up picking her work for my contest run because she was the only one brave enough to try and give me pants.” she grinned.

“Well, that sounds like her.” Akari nodded. “She planned the routine as well.”

“Well, you did a wonderful job.”

“Thank you.”

“Well, since we’ve finished up, it’s time to feed the team. Would you like to help, Akari?”

She had tried mentally to prepare for this, but it was still a nerve-wracking prospect. “I should. Yes, I will.” she nodded. After all, Akari had spent most of her afternoon working with Pokemon. Feeding shouldn’t have been a big deal... They made their way to the back porch, where a table was cleared out. Akari helped her mother haul a few different bags of food onto the table along with a spoon and a set of bowls. Johanna handed her a piece of paper with a recipe on it, and Akari got to work mixing a meal for Dawn’s Pokemon.

The first to come out of Johanna’s Pokeball was the Torterra. “You’re a big one, aren’t you?”

The Torterra’s response was to fix his gaze solidly on Akari. It made her want to run away instead of finishing the mix of foods that she was in the middle of preparing.

The sound of Torterra’s low growl rumbled through the yard.

“Hey, there.” Akari approached with the food, doing her best to keep her profile low. “Hungry?”

Torterra was still staring at her, as if he was expecting her to be doing something else. Akari managed to place the bowl of food within eating distance before backing away quickly in case he was aggressive.

His only response was to let out a puff of air and turn to his food.

“Right, that wasn’t so bad.” Akari swallowed. She could feel her arms shaking. “There wasn’t any danger. Why am I so scared?” There wasn’t anything to be scared of, but she was scared. It’s just a Pokemon. Just like the hundreds of Pokemon she had worked with before. Just like the dozen Pokemon she worked with that afternoon.

Johanna shook her head. “No, you’re right to be a bit wary, I think. Torterra usually is a bit more lively than that... I wonder if he’s okay?”

Akari suspected that she knew. “I think he might be disappointed...” Torterra was dutifully eating his food, but she could feel him glaring at her from the other side of the table where the mix was being prepared.

She supposed she was starting to get used to Johanna’s sudden, crushing hugs, but she was still holding a dirty spoon. Her arms were still shaky, and the support was nice to have, so she leaned into it a little, letting Johanna support her weight.

Akari let her linger before wiggling out of her mother’s embrace. “Can I finish?”

“Maybe you should go to bed, dear. I can handle-”

“No!” Akari placed the spoon onto the porch table. “No, I can do this. It’s alright. Who’s next?” The lingering gaze of Torterra tracked her as Johanna released a Clefable onto the property, who also immediately found Akari. She swallowed, holding out the proffered food. “You hu-”

That was as far as she got before the Clefable managed to disappear into her ball.

Akari didn’t have time to put down the bowl before Johanna manhandled her back inside the house. She was still holding the food in one hand when she heard the door slam behind her.

“...”

She didn’t have a place to put the bowl, so she wandered into the kitchen, placing it on one of the countertops. When she glanced outside, Johanna was scraping the mixture Akari made into the other bowls with her hand, extracting Torterra’s bowl from under him to be used again. That made sense, as one of the bowls was currently full of food in the kitchen. She had just put it there.

Her hand twitched. She was still holding the spoon, but there wasn’t anywhere else to put it. She stuck it in the bowl. The Pokemon were eating, the bowls placed so that Akari couldn’t see any of their faces.

She wasn’t sure if she was tired, but it was worth a shot.

Maybe ending the day early was worth trying.

-----

She stood in a massive arena, surrounded by people. In front of her was a screen, the image of a man projected on it. She could feel the energy in the air. People were nervous, though maybe not as anxious as her. Others were excited, though maybe not as eager as her. Still others were confident, though maybe not as determined as her. She could feel her stomach doing flips... 

The uniform was loose on her arms and legs. Beside her, identical uniforms lined up, ready to listen to a speech that she had heard only once before. Her mouth was dry. It was a good thing none of them were expected to speak. The words might have never come out.

“This is the first step towards your future!”

If you're late, I'm fining you ten million!

Her nerves were getting to her, honestly. She didn’t feel ready. It had already been three months, but she knew she really didn’t have a choice, not in her mind. This was her first chance to prove herself, and she had jumped at the opportunity. Waiting any longer was unthinkable.

“You have worked hard for this chance! Be fearless!”

Have no fear! There are no shady characters about.

She knew she was different from those around her. She was going to be scrutinized heavily over this year. But she had the best possible path forward. She couldn’t fail, not now. Going back to their home a failure... Even if it was a temporary setback, she never wanted to feel useless. Never again. She reminded herself of what she was. Zero. How inauspicious.

“Your will is indomitable! Others believe in your power!”

You were strong, and I was weak. That's all there is.

This was important, and yet the lights were beginning to make her head swirl. She wanted to close her eyes, to bask in the words without distraction. But she had to be the image of perfection. Mistakes were unacceptable. She knew he didn't care. He wasn't expecting her to be perfect. But he didn't deserve anything less.

“Do your best and reach for glory! Conquer the unconquerable!”

I doubt you will ever understand my position. That said, I recognize that you are strong and courageous to come alone.

Her hands were clenched in her gloves. On her belt, a single Pokeball weighed a million tons. She could prove that his kindness was worth it. The gift he had given her. Her own Pokemon caught with her own hands. She ran her gloved finger over the smooth metal surface.

“You know what obstacles lie ahead! Who stands in your way!”

Call it a Trainer's intuition, but we're getting close. Let's go on!

She could be useful. She could stand on her own. He had been hesitant, but she had insisted. He cared, and she knew he cared. But he had other responsibilities. He couldn’t let her waste away at home, not when she had shown any modicum of talent.

“I know I don’t have the real right to say this anymore, but let me tell you. I mean this from the depths of my soul!”

He had saved her, and she could accomplish anything in return.

Her mouth was dry.

“Let’s have a Champion time!”

Bye-bye, ----! Enjoy your adventure!

The crowd roared.

Her skin hurt.

Chapter Text

Breakfast was surprisingly busy. Barry and Lucas had both been invited to join them, and Akari found herself helping cook. She wasn’t really much of a chef, but at least she could prepare edible food from dried rations and wild ingredients.

Still, the house had much nicer cooking equipment than she had ever seen, let alone used. Since she really didn’t know how to operate any of the bigger machines, Akari was placed on chopping duty, which she could definitely do.

knock knock knock

“Akari could you get that?” her mother held up hands covered in a floury batter.

“Yeah.” She nodded, placing the knife on the table before navigating to the front door.

“Hey!” Barry looked like he was in a better mood. “How ya been?” 

Behind him, Lucas sighed. “Get out of the doorway, please?”

“Oh!” Barry lurched forward. Akari stepped out of the way as Barry and Lucas stumbled inside.

“I have been good, you two.” Akari sighed. “How have you been?”

“Good!” Barry grinned. “I was just in Sunnyshore, but I got invited to meet for breakfast so I came running!”

“About the same.” Lucas sighed. “Goomy seems to be an alright fit, but I don’t know about doing all of her training on Mount Coronet... but I need to, otherwise we might miss the chance to see.”

“It shouldn’t be too bad.” Akari reassured the boy. “You can come and go from the mountain when you want to, right?”

“That’s true.” Lucas shook his head. “Travel is pretty easy with Pokemon, huh?”

“Oh, hey!” Barry grinned. “I bought you guys some ball seals from the Sunnyshore Market!”

Ball seals...?

“Lucas was suddenly holding a clear envelope. “Oh, an alphabet set? This might actually be useful for labeling...”

“And I didn’t know what kind you would want, so I got something Dawn would get. I think. Probably.”

Barry handed her a similar packet, this time containing an assortment of circles, rings, and stars. The packet had the label “Stars and Planets- Sparkling”. Akari had no clue what to do with the packet, so she simply slipped it into her bag. “Thank you, Barry.”

Barry gave her a grin. “No problem!”

“Come sit down!” Johanna called from the kitchen.

The boys moved ahead of Akari as they settled at the table, which was already covered in various foods. Akari and Johanna quickly settled in next to them, the last plate coming down in the center of the table.

“Eat, eat.” Johanna gestured to the table.

“Thanks!”

“Thank you, Ma’am.” Lucas nodded.

Akari let the boys attack the dishes before serving herself a few of the griddlecakes.

“So, Barry, Lucas. How have things been for you?”

“It’s been good! I’ve been training to challenge the Sunnyshore Gym! I hear Volkner is the toughest one, so I’m being extra careful. I’m gonna maybe try and challenge him today!”

“I heard Sunnyshore finally opened up again. That’s fortunate.”

“Yeah! I went to the market too!”

Akari nodded. “Barry was kind enough to get me some-” She blanked on the name for a second before remembering. “Ball seals.” She opened her bag to grab them. “Look.”

“Oh, those are nice.” Johanna nodded. “Not what I would pick for the image Akari is building, but you wouldn’t know anything about that, dear. Still a handsome set. I imagine that Porygon-Z would look quite fetching with them.”

“Hehe.” Barry resumed stuffing his face with vegetables.

“Though, you might have to switch out your Pokeballs, Akari. If you ever do, I have some spare capsules you can have. And you, Lucas? How is the lab?”

“It’s good. Professor Rowan gave me a new Pokemon to take care of, but she’s a handful, definitely. I’ll be headed to Celestic Town for a few weeks while I train her.”

“Does the Professor use the clearing a lot when training?” Akari asked.

“The one near Celestic Town? Yeah.” Lucas nodded. “When we need access to Mount Coronet, we use that area.”

“Oh, that reminds me.” Akari nodded at the two boys. “I have a phone, if you wanted to contact me at some point.”

“Oh hey! I haven’t seen this kind before.” Barry noted as he typed a series of numbers into it.

“I got it as a gift. It’s one of a kind, apparently.”

“Nice.” Barry and Lucas input their contact information and they settled down again, or rather, Lucas settled down. Barry wolfed down another bite of food before standing, still chewing the remnants of his meal.

“Gotta go! Sorry, but I’m gonna be late for my first shot at Volkner!”

Barry was already out the door by the time Johanna had lifted her hand in a wave goodbye.

“That boy, always rushing things.”

“Thank you for breakfast.” Lucas gave Johanna a little bow.

“Oh, it’s nice to have company every once and again, you know.” She laughed lightly. “I’ll get the dishes together. I know that you, Lucas, probably have a schedule to keep.”

Lucas nodded. “I’m headed off to Mount Coronet this afternoon. I should go pack.”

“You have a good day, Lucas. Have fun!”

“Thanks!” Lucas replied. “I’ll see you later, Akari!”

“Go safely.” Akari waved him off.

-----

“Akari, about yesterday-”

“No.” Akari managed to cut Johanna off before she could try and apologize. “I was half-expecting it, really. Clefable are famously flighty, you know?” Instead of letting her get wrapped in a sudden embrace, she walked over and took initiative on the hug. “I didn’t think they would accept me instantly, is all. You didn’t have to do that.”

She felt arms wrap around her once more. This was more hugging in two days than she had gotten for months at a time. “The team was being rude.” Akari felt Johanna’s breath flow through her hair. “I should have told them beforehand, but I figured that they would be more mature than that.”

“I... I don’t know.” Akari sighed. “They’re not my partners, I can’t expect them to treat me like family or anything.” She sighed. “We should have started with a meeting instead of the food. I think they thought Dawn was being replaced, or something.”

“We’re not replacing Dawn.” The arms around her squeezed tighter. “She’ll be back. They’ve been worried sick for weeks now. But Dawn will be around again, I know it. The team will just have to learn that.”

“Well, could I try meeting them again?”

They released each other before Johanna grabbed Akari by the shoulders. “If you’re up for it, I won’t say no.”

“Let me get my coat.”

After Akari retrieved her coat and hat from the guest bedroom, she joined her mother outside.

“All at once, I think.” Akari offered. “I won’t pull out any of my Pokemon, I get the feeling there would be some... behavior problems.”

“Are you sure?”

Akari nodded. “I’ve handled worse. When you meet my partners, you’ll understand. Hooligans, the lot of 'em.”

“All right then.” Johanna threw out two Pokeballs in each hand. The motion itself was much smoother than Akari anticipated. Torterra, Clefable, Milotic, and Froslass.

“Did you practice that?”

Johanna grinned. “Only a little, as part of a duo performance. I threw the Pokeballs for both of us during a dance routine.”

Akari turned her attention back to the Pokemon, who seemed to be more reassured when Akari wasn’t trying to feed them. 

Johanna pushed forward. “All right, everyone. Some of you,” she made a pointed glance at Torterra and Clefable, “were being quite moody yesterday. We’ve come to the decision that it wasn’t completely your fault, so no punishment.” Clefable proceeded to tuck herself behind the towering shell.

The Pokemon, overall, actually looked relieved. Had this lone woman managed to cow an entire team of trained Pokemon?

Akari took the opportunity to walk up to them, tipping her cap up. “Hello. My name is Akari.”

She was immediately turned upon by searching gazes.

“Don’t be rude.” Johanna interjected, which caused Frosslass to flinch slightly. “Akari is my daughter, and I won’t have any conflict while she’s here.”

Torterra made a rumbling noise, which Akari identified as a question.

“No, I’m not Dawn, but I do want to be friends with you guys.” Still, approaching them now could be dangerous, so she kept back. Let them approach you if they wanted to.

Once again, Torterra made a rumbling groan, this time turning his head back and forth.

“No, we don’t know where Dawn is, still. We’re working hard to find her, though.”

Froslass hovered over, observant. It was behavior that Akari was somewhat familiar with, and it usually wasn't the best sign. If a Frosslass took a liking to someone, they tended to disappear in short order. The best survival plan, usually, was to hide one's face until the ghost left. But this was a Froslass that Dawn was partnered with. She doubted that Johanna would let Froslass freeze Akari solid.

Probably.

Instead, Froslass simply blew a thin gust of wind across Akari's coat.

Milotic seemed to notice what the ghost was doing and slithered over to investigate.

"Hello, there."

In response, Milotic gave a little nudge to her elbow. Akari moved her arm to the side, and Milotic began slithering around her.

"Koo." A stream of misty water came pouring out of Milotic, which was quickly frozen by the frosty aura of Froslass, creating a gentle shower of ice crystals.

"Snow?"

Milotic and Froslass backed away before turning to look back at what they had managed, though Akari wasn't sure what their end goal was. In lieu of an answer when Akari turned to her mother, she received the flash of a camera.

“Did they do this a lot?”

Johanna shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. Dawn never shared if she was interested in contests at all.” The woman turned thoughtful. “Though, it is a nice way to make glitter. I’ve seen it before, mostly in doubles performances, sometimes using a light source simultaneously to really make them sparkle.”

“Kaaa.” It seemed that Akari wasn’t the only one fascinated by the show. Clefable, who had been hiding behind Torterra, peered out from around one of his trees. She didn’t make any movement to come out but watched the show regardless. Torterra simply grumbled, now uninterested in the proceedings. Akari ran a hand through the falling ice, sending swirls around her arm.

click

Akari turned to see the flash of another camera.

click

“What? It’s adorable!”

-----

“Do you have a plan for what’s next?”

Akari was packing away some food that her... mother prepared for her. Lunchboxes had advanced quite a bit since she last had one. These ones fit into each other like little puzzles. “I’m headed back to the Battle Zone, I think. Professor Rowan told me that he was going to meet with some other people and share information. For me, it’s just clear the Battle Frontier and see what we come up with.”

“Well, that’s nice. With the three you have left... maybe the Battle Castle would make sense next.”

Akari nodded. “Right. Well, thank you, mom. For having me and everything.”

You’re welcome to come anytime, Akari.” Once again, she found herself in a crushing embrace, but this time she was ready and reciprocated. “Keep me updated, alright?”

“Of course.”

Around Johanna, Dawn’s Pokemon gave cries that Akari recognized as a greeting or farewell, depending on the context. Torterra was till being gloomy, but Milotic and Froslass gave her rather enthusiastic waves.

“I’ll be back, you guys. I promise.”

“Enjoy yourself!”

Live well.

Akari gave her a nod.

“I will.”

-----

Akari was not having a good time.

She stared at the number on her monitor, pondering what to do. ‘Castle Points’, they were called, and they were used to heal her Pokemon between battles. It was a strange sort of meritocracy that they ran in the Battle Castle, filled with dedicated grinders and competitive intensity. Akari was definitely an outsider. This was her third attempt, and her deepest run so far.

Originally her plan was to bring Typhlosion, Porygon-Z, and Braviary, but she quickly found herself outmatched as the Castle did nothing to help her Pokemon with mental fatigue. No sleep, no breaks, just medicine and endurance. She quickly quit her first run to reformulate a plan and try again. The second run was rather unlucky, actually. She had reached the first fork, where one could choose to challenge the Castle Valet, Darach, for the Silver Print. He stood at attention at the center of the Castle, simply waiting alone. While Typhlosion was basically always at the same level of energy and Porygon-Z seemed to never stop for anything, the same couldn’t be said for Braviary. At that point, she knew Braviary was on his last legs mentally, so she chose to try for the Silver Print. Unfortunately, Braviary really didn’t have it in him to continue. She obtained her Silver Print with little fanfare, given that the teams the Frontier Brains used for Silver Prints were weaker on purpose.  Braviary didn’t even need to battle. Still, it wasn’t good enough, not yet.

The Battle Castle was only open on select days, so she had to wait two days to challenge again, this time with her original trio of research Pokemon. She would have to work with Braviary on his mental fortitude, though. She wasn’t looking forward to running all-night watches again, but there wasn’t really any other way she knew to train that sort of thing. Regardless, she chose to skip the Silver Print battle in favor of trying for the Gold Print.

And here was her issue. She was overflowing with Castle Points.

Honestly, there were plenty of things that she could have been spending her Castle Points on, but she had no clue what any of them were. There were berries, but several were completely foreign to her, and she could have easily used the medications instead if she needed to treat burns or poison. The only other thing she tried purchasing was an item called Big Root, but it didn’t seem to be a medication of any sort.

Regardless, she marched on.

The battles were getting harder and harder. Through the thirties and forties, her Castle Point income was slowing down, but that really didn’t matter this deep into the run. She had so many Castle Points she simply healed her team to perfect health before every battle. With over 300 Castle Points left, Akari was staring at the menus, wondering what else she could do with them. She selected the weaker team option, as well as information on the opponent. Of course, her next opponent was the Valet. His team was composed of, interestingly enough, the same Empoleon from the Silver Print challenge. He also was bringing a Gallade as well as a Pokemon she hadn’t heard of called Entei. She checked her Pokedex. A powerful Fire-type, apparently its roars can cause a volcano to erupt. That was a fascinating description for a Pokedex entry. How did they get that data? Did they just bring a bunch of Entei to a volcano and see how often it erupted? Still, her team could handle them with little issue. It was too bad that her own Empoleon was neutral to fire instead of resistant, but her gameplan was straightforward, so she arranged her team accordingly.

Akari rang the bell.

“You rang?” It took a scant three seconds for Darach to appear at the other terminal of the battleground. She couldn’t see any obvious place for him to have come from, but he was there nonetheless. He was dressed as a butler, of course, but in his hands were three Pokeballs.

“Hello again, sir.” Akari bowed as Mary had drilled into her, doffing her hat into a waisted bow.

“I see you are as polite as ever, Miss Akari. I must say, your aggressive style is a joy to watch. If Lady Caitlin were here, she would be delighted to spectate.”

“Thank you, sir.” Akari rose from her bow, replacing her cap.

“I must ask, however. Is there a reason you did not wish to spend your Castle Points?”

Akari frowned at the question. “I’ve been spending as much as I can. My Pokemon weren’t very injured between battles, so I’ve got a rather large amount of points left.”

“And you haven’t taken advantage of the held items?” Darach raised an eyebrow at her.

“I-” Akari considered. “I mean, I don’t really know how to use anything here other than the berries and the medicine. I got this at one point,” Akari hefted the Big Root, “but it’s not medicine, and I don’t really know the function of any of the other things you can buy.”

“All this way, to the Gold Challenge, with no held items? That is a remarkable achievement, Miss Akari. Truly impressive.” Darach made the effort to break his stoic visage to look surprised.

“And, I suppose because I already rang the bell, you won’t teach me how to use them before we battle?”

That surprised face didn’t last, though. It was quickly replaced by a considering glance. “Unfortunately, Miss Akari, you are correct. I doubt you will be held back regardless.” Darach held out a Pokeball from his position across the battlefield. ”Let us begin! En garde! Entei!”

“Empoleon! Fall in!”

The massive beast towered over even an Arcanine. Not even Empoleon’s crown was higher than the tip of its mane. “Entei! Begin with Sunny Day!”

Akari blinked. This was the same mistake that a few of the other trainers in the Battle Tower tried. Was it not considered a bad move in modern battling? “Agile Aqua Jet!”

As Empoleon slammed into Entei, Akari had to reconsider. If the matchup was advantageous for Entei, then why wouldn’t it try and boost its own moves? Maybe it was only because of the foreknowledge of Darach’s team that she could even lead with Empoleon instead of her usual Lilligant. Still, it was an opening to exploit. “Aqua Jet, then Wave Crash!” Of course, Empoleon knew exactly what to do. He was the most strict in how he would allow different attacks to interact with each other. It made him rather rigid in his total capabilities, but his work was scarily efficient and ruthlessly consistent. If Akari wanted to, she could probably teach Empoleon how to cut stone to a specific depth, down to the inch. Still, it made his agile-strong combos the most smooth, and for the most part, the most useful. It helped that he knew how to recover his strength in relatively defensible postures and positions.

Darach’s Entei went sprawling before it could spark an attack.

“Quite impressive, Miss Akari! I will not make the same mistake twice! Solarbeam!”

Ah, now here was a problem. Entei may have been down, but apparently, it wasn’t out quite yet. She wasn’t confident in Empoleon’s speed, so she decided to try and finish from range. “Go left! Water Pulse!”

The huge beam of energy clipped Empoleon in the side, but he still managed to slam out a Water pulse, which finally finished off the weakened Entei.

“Khhhhh...” Empoleon winced. He was limping, definitely. Not much left to his mobility now, was there?

“Gallade, attend!”

This was expected. This was planned for. Now that Akari had a momentum advantage, she would let Empoleon do as much damage as he could. “Agile Shadow Claw.”

“Protect!” A shimmering blue barrier appeared around Darach’s Pokemon. Empoleon’s Shadow Claw ground across the surface, scoring a gouge but not breaching through it. Gallade winced at the sound of Empoleon’s blade screaming as it bit into the barrier. It only took a moment for Gallade to lose focus, and the Protect dropped away.

“Shadow Claw.”

“Close Combat!”

The calls came simultaneously. Empoleon did manage to drag Ghost-energy through Gallade’s legs, but the thudding blows of the Fighting-type dispatched Empoleon in one hit.

“Tch.” Akari placed Empoleon back into his ball. She was hoping to land both hits of his combination attack, but at least the more powerful of them landed. She held the ball to her lips. “Thanks. You did good.” She took a breath and cycled the ball on her belt. “Typhlosion. Keep it up.”

“Khrrrrr...” Typhlosion appeared on all fours for once, his flowing mane of flames draped to the ground.

“Infernal Parade.”

“Protect!” Once again, the glowing blue barrier deflected the entirety of Typhlosion’s attack.

“Keep focused and back up. Infernal Parade!” Typhlosion began crawling backward, his body nearly parallel to the floor. Rolling waves of purple flame poured from Typhlosion’s mouth as Gallade attempted to close the distance using the remnants of his shield.

“Stone Edge, if you would!”

Gallade managed to make his way towards Typhlosion, its body wrapped in his cursed fire. Gallade’s blades began to glow, and he took halting, hesitant steps as he started to repeatedly swing down on Typhlosion. Miss. Miss. Hit! Miss. Miss.

“Into the ground! Hex!”

Gallade buried his arm in the floor of the arena as Typhlosion sunk his head and shoulders into the ground. He quickly reemerged to the left of Gallade, his eyes glowing. Gallade caught eye contact, and at that point, it was too late.

Akari closed her eyes. Watching Ghost attacks was something she tried to avoid, but Typhlosion had gotten her at least a little used to it. Though, she wasn’t in the mood to watch a Gallade go through several mental breaks all at once...

She heard the sound of Gallade hitting the ground, then being withdrawn. Her eyes opened once more.

Darach sighed. “Quite formidable, Miss Akari.”

“Thank you, sir.” Akari straightened herself. 

“Let’s see how you handle Empoleon, then.”

Typhlosion seemed to relax as he slunk up to his hind legs.

“Let’s start with Hydro Cannon.”

“Agile Drain Punch!” Typhlosion dived to the side in an effort to strafe around the opponent, charging one fist with fighting energy.

Surprisingly, Empoleon readied his strike when Typhlosion wasn’t even halfway to reaching him, letting loose a deluge of water across the floor.

Typhlosion was sent spinning as he did his best to avoid the direct impact, but the torrent of water knocked him aside regardless. He stood, but barely. Empoleon looked exhausted firing such a powerful move, which worked in Akari’s favor. “Hit him with Drain Punches, don’t let up!”

This time, Empoleon offered little resistance as Typhlosion wailed on him, slamming fist after fist into the Water-type’s midsection.

“Empoleon!” Typhlosion slammed one last shot into the now struggling Empoleon before enveloping the bird’s face in violet flame.

Empoleon didn’t get up.

Typhlosion screamed in victory, spewing flame through the air.

“Very good, very good. I suppose my own mistakes came to light over the course of this battle, Miss Akari.” Darach nodded. “This Battle Castle Valet would be pleased to offer you the symbol of conquering the Gold Challenge.” He held forward a platter from... somewhere, and presented Akari with the small pin. “The album and engraved plate shall be delivered posthaste. Congratulations.”

Akari placed the pin into the small badge case. “Thank you, sir.” She bowed back.

The thin, tower-shaped golden pin glinted in her hand.

A part of her wondered if she was wasting her time.

Chapter Text

Flying with Bravairy was something that Akari wasn’t quite used to. When flying with Lord Braviary, Akari was suspended under him while he flew attached to a rather large carrying apparatus. With her own Braviary, Akari had to trust that his psychic energy was reliable as he carried her in his talons. She did her best to be aerodynamic, tucking her hands under her knees as he supported his grip on her shoulders. The cloud cover near the Battle Zone was thick with dark clouds, and she could tell that below them, a thunderstorm was brewing. It wasn’t the safest to be flying at this moment, but it was probably safer being high above the cloud cover than anywhere below it.

One benefit of this method of travel was the ability to use her Arc Phone while flying. As a map, it was valuable to check direction and distance as Braviary flew, and it gave her some time to read through the massive Pokedex contained within. She had even dropped it once, and it didn’t even fall a foot before Braviary caught it and brought it back to her hand.

She was on her way back to the Battle Zone to start planning for the Battle Factory when she received a text from Barry.

BARRY: Look at what they doin at Sshore Gym! Like ???

Image

BARRY: Badge vending machine????

BARRY: ????

AKARI: What is a vending machine?

BARRY: ???????????

BARRY: It measn that he’s giving away badges for free

BARRY: Which is fraud proabably

BARRY: IF he takes them back I don’t want 2 take 1

BARRY: I guess I gotta wait for volk to come back 2 get a real 1.

BARRY: >:(

Akari pondered the issue. A Gym badge, according to Cynthia, was a measure of strength for a challenger to one of the Pokemon Gyms. The fact that the gym leader was handing them out without testing them would make the intent behind the symbol worthless.

AKARI: That sounds difficult. Will you be staying in Sunnyshore for the time being?

BARRY: I guess. Mby I visit mom but w/e 

Akari blinked at the sentence. Were those real words? Her only recourse was to clarify. Carefully.

AKARI: Where would I be able to find you if I needed to?

BARRY: Mostly camping, training on rt222

Route 222? Akari checked her map, noting the location. If Barry needed anything, she could be there from the Battle Zone in less than four hours.

AKARI: Tell me if you need anything, I can be there within five hours. I will do my best to help you in whatever way I can.

Better safe than sorry. Still, one of these days her inability to keep out of other people’s problems was going to get her killed.

BARRY: kk

Akari sighed. She would need someone to translate the shorthand of this world. She had barely gotten used to Professor Laventon’s scribbles, and now there was a whole new way to communicate for her to get used to.

It was another five minutes of continuous flying until Braviary spotted the Resort Area through a gap in the cloud cover. Akari guided him to Cynthia’s villa, and he landed smoothly. They needed to land quickly because it was storming.

Akari dug another berry out of her bag. While she couldn’t find too many wild berries around the Battle Zone, as there were many more people looking for them than in the past, she could still purchase some from a local shop in the Resort Area. The quality of berries had truly gone up in the future. Sitrus berries were bigger and had a less tough rind, though they were still somewhat hard to get through even with a knife. She tossed half of the berry to Braviary, who snapped it up. That was followed by a Cheri berry and a Chesto berry, which perked him up nicely.

“Now that you’ve flown all the way out here, it’s time to start training!” Akari did her best to put on a smile to the now appalled Braviary, who squawked in protest. “Now, don’t be like that. The Battle Castle has shown a distinct weakness in your upbringing, though it’s not your fault.” Akari nodded. “You got no battle endurance. I’m sure you can fly as long as you like, but continuous battle is different. You expend energy differently when flying compared to when fighting, you know.”

“Skraw?”

“No, it’s not your fault. The longest you’ve been in flight has been around an hour, is that right?” Akari nodded. Of course it was, she had been keeping track. Having an accurate timepiece on her at all times had done wonders for her sleep schedule. She let him land as soon as he wanted to in order to rest for up to an hour at a time, which made travel times go up generally. Braviary’s flight times generally lasted around forty minutes while carrying her, though she suspected the extra psychic load severely cut into his flying time. “We’re gonna work on your mental endurance, which means lots of food and not a lot of breaks. You ready?”

Braviary responded by shaking his crest to fluff out the feathers. He looked a bit dejected at the idea of the training, but still determined.

“Skrwwwww.”

“It’s not your fault, Braviary. As I said, you evolved very fast.” She scratched at his neck as he slumped slightly into her shoulder. “Come on, we’re headed for Stark Mountain. You up to fly, or do you want to walk?”

“Skraw.” Braviary seemed to have steeled his nerves, and they set out once more into the thick clouds.

-----

They had hardly gotten to the base of Stark Mountain when a huge crash of lightning resounded and Akari had to steer Braviary below tree level. It had come from her left, where Akari vaguely remembered a rest stop resided on Route 227. They landed near the treeline, and Akari huddled under the thick canopy of a tree as Braviary shook his feathers out.

“I wonder if everyone is alright over there.” Akari pondered. “There should be at least some people near that area. Want to check it out?”

“Skraw.” Braviary seemed unsure, but he shook his feathers out again and gave her a nod.

“Right. With the lightning as it is, we should walk.” They hugged the treeline, Akari unwilling to get rained on directly if she could have helped it. Her black coat was water-resistant, and she pulled it completely around herself as she crossed over the soaked foliage. Braviary flapped his wings every so often as he made larger hops across puddles. Akari herself had to clamber down a few steep hills and up a few others as they traversed towards the route itself instead of the wilds surrounding it. Luckily it seemed as though the lightning storm had forced most of the Pokemon to stay sheltered. They set a relatively relaxed pace for about six minutes when their walk was disturbed.

Akari crouched low as she heard rustling from the underbrush ahead. Well, her luck didn’t last more than a thought, did it? “Wait, there’s something there. Hide in a tree.” She pulled out Empoleon’s Pokeball. Braviary silently perched atop one of the nearby trees.

“Stupid old man, stupid Flint, stupid rain...” She could hear a voice coming from the rustling, and Akari relaxed slightly. A person was usually less immediately dangerous than a wild Pokemon. “What’s wrong with him? Why doesn’t he just go to the Tower like a normal trainer? Why does he gotta show up and-” The form of a younger person in a hood manifested itself through the pouring rain. Akari had to squint for a second to recognize the person, Buck. “Man, this is stupid. Why does big bro even deal with that guy anyway? He’s no fun. He doesn’t talk to him for literal months then shows up and is all like ‘oh, I’m so sad, someone please beat me up’ in the middle of a lightning storm? What a load of crock.” Buck grumbled. He was trudging through the forest, trying to stay near the treeline.

He was headed directly for Akari.

Given that his walking path was directly in front of her, she really didn’t have a choice unless she wanted to be stepped on. “Uh, hello?” Akari extracted herself from her bush.

Buck’s response was a not very dignified scream.

“W-who?” Buck stammered out as he dragged his hand through the foliage near his hip, presumably trying to reach Pokeballs that were currently still inside his clear raincoat.

“It’s me, Akari. Remember? We met a few weeks ago in the Battle Tower.”

“Oh.” Buck blinked as he stood. “What the heck are you doing at Stark Mountain in this weather? Covered in mud!”

Was she covered in mud? Akari checked herself. The rain had kept most of the dirt off of her for the most part, and she was pretty sure she didn’t get too much on her face, generally. The rain helped some, but people got dirty when there was mud around. “It’s not so bad. And yourself? This isn’t a route.”

“I... I ran off.” Buck admitted.

Akari blinked. “Did you want to talk about it?”

“Uh-” Buck pondered. “I guess? Come on, let’s head to the rest stop. It’s where I came from. No need to make big bro look for me.”

“Braviary.” Akari called, and he slammed into the underbrush behind her.

“Woah!” Buck flinched again. “Wh- what the heck?”

“We’re doing some endurance training.” Akari grinned at Buck, who shook his head.

“No wonder I lost, you’re insane.”

She needed to find a way to get his spirits up, otherwise, he was going to be moody for the rest of the day. Akari pouted. “Like I said, it’s not so bad. You get used to it.”

Buck gave her a chuckle. There, that’s better. Akari nodded. “If you want, we can fly there if it’s not a long trek.”

Buck shook his head. “Not safe around here, not today. The rain’s gonna last all night.”

Akari sighed. “Figures. What made you run off?” They started walking together.

“Flint was helping out a friend, I guess.” Buck frowned. “He wanted someone strong to battle, but it’s raining like heck and Flint’s team definitely wasn’t gonna work out against that guy, so I offered. He beat me down no sweat cuz of the weather, and then he had the nerve to be disappointed! Like, come on! I know I don’t have all eight badges yet but he has no right to look down on my Pokemon’s hard work!”

“Who’s ‘that guy?” Akari had already started building a not-so-flattering image of the person. Buck, even if he was young and rash, seemed to have cared for his Pokemon.

“The Sunnyshore Gym leader, Volkner.”

“Sunnyshore...?” Akari pulled out her phone, opening Barry’s text message. “Volk... that makes sense. According to one of my friends, Volkner set up a-” Akari frowned at the word. “A vending machine to hand out badges.”

Buck blinked before scoffing. “Of course he would do something like that. Ass.”

“Buck, don’t be too rude.”

“He deserves it. Why the heck is he the gym leader if he won’t even let challengers in anyways? He closed down the whole city for months, and now he just gives the badges away for free? That’s dumb!” Buck grumbled. “The League will roast him for it too. Why wouldn’t they give the Gym to someone else? Someone who would take the position seriously!”

In the distance, a light could be seen. It didn't look like a fire, so Akari assumed it was from a lamp or possibly the rest house itself. “Looks like we’re nearly there.”

“Yeah.” Buck turned towards the light. “Hmm. Hey, Akari. We need to get out of the rain.”

Akari nodded. “It’s not safe out here, generally.”

“Come on then. No sense training in this weather.” Buck ran up to catch her and they ran the rest of the way, Braviary flying low behind.

Getting out of the rain was nice, though her clothes were generally soaked. She extracted her feet from the reed shoes she usually wore when outside and searched for a hearth to lay her socks over. Ah, it figured there wouldn’t be one, would there? But it was still rather warm inside... Braviary navigated himself to nestle down right next to the radiator, clearly wanting to be warm himself. Akari didn’t blame him.

“Here, the radiator.” Buck pointed to a ridged box. As Akari approached, she could feel the warmth coming off of it, so she laid her sopping clothes in front of it. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.” He disappeared into what looked like a kitchen.

Buck had come back into the sitting room with a teapot and cups. “Here. Warm yourself up.”

“Thank you.”

“What kinda person would I be if I left someone out in this weather?” Buck sighed. 

They settled on the couch, nursing their tea. Braviary had fallen asleep next to the radiator. “Anyway, I wanted to ask about Volkner.”

“Yeah? He’s supposed to be the Gym Leader of Sunnyshore, but he hasn’t taken challengers in months! First, it was because no one was good enough, then the renovations to his Gym, and now he just... ran off!”

“That sounds irresponsible,” Akari noted. There was a rather large crash of thunder coming from outside. It sounded nearby. Akari thanked her good fortune that she could get Braviary out of the rain before it got too dangerous.

“According to my big bro, the League is gonna have to give the gym to someone else, especially if he really was just handing out badges for free. It’s a bad look. Though that’s not confirmed or anything.”

“Who would they give it to?”

“I dunno. Who else is qualified?” Buck shrugged as he sipped his tea.

Akari pondered. Who else would be qualified to run a Pokemon Gym? She wasn’t sure of the requirements exactly, but she could guess they had to be at the very least a strong trainer. “Maybe someone from the Battle Zone?” She pondered. She could always ask Cynthia, she was part of the League. She pulled out her phone.

AKARI: Sorry to bother you, but do you know about the Gym Leader Volkner?

CYNTHIA: Yeah.

CYNTHIA: Hot topic.

CYNTHIA: What’s up?

AKARI: I was wondering if the Pokemon League was going to replace him, given the circumstances. Barry and a person in the Battle Zone named Buck were voicing frustrations with him.

CYNTHIA: You mean the vending machine?

CYNTHIA: Image

CYNTHIA: We know.

CYNTHIA: We have a replacement.

CYNTHIA: Can’t contact Volkner though.

CYNTHIA: They’re already there in Sunnyshore.

CYNTHIA: Should be operational by next week.

CYNTHIA: At the latest.

CYNTHIA: They already agreed this morning.

Akari blinked. “Apparently they are replacing him.”

Buck raised an eyebrow. “Really? How do you know?”

“I asked Cynthia.”

Buck blinked. “You asked... Cynthia? The Champion?”

Akari nodded, sipping her tea. A nice black leaf tea. “She didn’t say who, though.” 

“Wait hold on! You asked the Champion and she told you?”

“Yes.” Akari put her cup down and poured more tea. The kettle was quite heavy, which meant she got piping hot tea.

The door that led outside opened, revealing two men.

“Look, you can’t just-” The man in yellow was staring at the other, wearing a blue coat.

“It seems there is a new arrival, Flint.” His voice came out rather dull, didn’t it?

“Hi, big bro.” Buck waved. “And you.”

“Buck! Be nice.” Flint frowned.

“I’m supposed to be nice after what he did to Claydol?”

The other man raised an eyebrow. This was Volkner, then? He turned his flat gaze to Akari and stared.

Akari waited for him to say something, but he continued to stare, dripping water onto the floor. Buck’s brother stepped around him and stood next to the slumbering form of Braviary, giving the bird a glance before he stuck his hands out over the radiator.

“Ah, hello?”

“...You’re her.” He didn’t blink.

“I’m... who?” Akari was starting to feel unsure about Volkner. Was he okay?

“The girl. Docent.”

“Docent... oh!” Akari remembered. Mary had shown her that art piece last week... “Well, my name is Akari.” She rose to greet him.

His eyes tightened and his lips thinned to a pressed line. “Battle me.”

Akari blinked, halfway standing. She rose the rest of the way before asking “Uh?” How elegant of her.

“Battle me.”

“Volkner!” The other man yelled.

“Why?” Akari had to ask.

“Hey, buzz off!” Buck growled. “Why ya hafta go round actin’ all mighty fer?”

“She’s strong. Stronger than you,” Volkner spat at Buck. “Maybe she’ll be a challenge.”

The other man shook his head. His name was Flint, right? “In this weather? You beat me pretty bad cuz of the storm, Volk. I dunno how you’re thinkin’ but this ain’t it.”

“I need to know.” Volkner ground out. “Fight me.” His hands were clenched to his sides.

Akari sighed. Buck and Flint were both closing the distance to the clearly distressed man. If she beat him quickly, would that help? It might.

“Sure.” Akari nodded. “I’ll battle you.”

“Hey! Volkner!” Buck’s brother scolded.

“You don’t gotta do squat!” Buck grumbled.

“No, it’s all right,” Akari responded, putting a hand in front of Buck. “If he wants to battle while he’s like that, then it’s his choice. I’ll do it.” It sounded like he already battled both Buck and his brother, so his team had to be on his last legs. Braviary was returned to his ball.

She wasn’t comfortable letting the man leave in this weather. While a Pokemon battle was dangerous, if he walked off in the storm, he would probably die...

They stepped out into the rain. Akari was still in her undershirt, and Volkner hadn’t had anything to cover him in the first place. Volkner sighed as he hefted a Pokeball in his hand. “I’ll be using three Pokemon. Come at me with everything.”

Was he that confident, or did he not have any more available Pokemon? In this weather, Empoleon would feel the most at home. “Empoleon. Fall in.”

Empoleon could sense the mood between the humans, clearly, because he was already in serious mode.

Volkner raised one eyebrow. “Electivire.” 

Akari shook her head. Bad matchup huh? Well, Empoleon could handle at least one Electivire. She knew that much.

It is raining.

Akari pointed. “Agile Aqua Jet, then Wave Crash!” She had to yell over the din of the rain.

Volkner shook his head. “Disappointing. Thunder.”

Empoleon crashed into the Electivire as his first attack hit. But before he could turn to strike with his prepared Wave Crash, Electivire’s Thunder came streaking down, forcing Akari to shield her eyes. She could feel the hairs on her arms standing. She lowered her arms from her face to check the aftermath.

Empoleon wasn’t moving.

... Akari clenched one hand. That quickly? Volkner was a Gym Leader. That made him one of the strongest trainers in the region, right? But still, so far, she hadn’t been pressed this hard since Palmer. This was ridiculous. One attack...

Rain continues to fall.

“Tch.” Akari grimaced. “Lilligant. Showtime.” She allowed Lilligant to appear in the middle of the arena.

Volkner sighed. “Grass... ugh. Flamethrower.”

“Victory Dance!” Akari called. “Then Drain Punch.”

Lilligant’s blow landed cleanly even as she was bathed in a steamy blast of fire. Electivire snorted a thick stream of steam from its nostrils.

Rain continues to fall.

“Close Combat!”

“Flamethrower.” Volkner seemed to have trouble seeing the outcome of the exchange as the whole battlefield was filled with steam. Akari, fortunately, didn’t have the same issue due to the wind, and could see Electivire hit the ground. As the steam cleared, Lilligant stood precariously as Electivire did not move in the dirt. “Hn.” Electivire disappeared into his ball. “Not bad. Kingdra.” This time, a Water Pokemon emerged.

Lilligant backed up.

Rain continues to fall.

“Leaf Blade!”

“Ice Beam.” Volkner gestured with one hand. Kingdra was-

Two lances of ice slammed into Lilligant before she could even cross the distance. She stumbled, one leg encased in ice. The third and fourth beams slammed into her face, sending her tumbling before her body was frozen to the ground. Two more beams slammed into her torso, cracking the already existing ice before Akari managed to grab Lilligant’s ball and retrieve her. Her hands were trembling. What did she have left...? Typhlosion might be worse than useless here. Braviary was exhausted, which left Porygon-Z. She grabbed at the ball under her jacket, but her hands were soaked and cold. She fumbled at the catch for a second before she managed to find the right ball.

Rain continues to fall.

“What the-” Flint yelled.

“Hey!” Buck glared. “What gives?”

“If you think I will hold back, Flint, you’re mistaken.”

Flint flinched. “That’s-”

Buck wasn’t so cowed by Volkner’s glare. “Screw not holding back, that’s cruel!”

Volkner simply turned his eyes back to the battle.

Porygon-Z emerged from its ball, trembling. It orbited around Akari as its head twitched, seemingly trying to look everywhere at once.

Danger!

Danger!

Akari grit her teeth. “You need to be careful, Kingdra is fast. Thunderbolt.” She whispered.

“Draco Meteor.” Volkner narrowed his eyes, tracking both of the combatants in the rain.

Akari’s eyes widened. “Draco-”

Despite her orders coming out first, she could tell Porygon-Z was no match in speed with Volkner’s Kingdra. Akari was forced to throw Porygon-Z to the side as she dived in the opposite direction, sinking elbow-deep into a puddle. Porygon-Z launched its Thunderbolt into Kingdra, but the Draco Meteor came down with a massive splash. Akari was sprayed with mud as she held her arms out in front of her face to keep her eyes clear.

Rain continues to fall.

Volkner sighed. “We’re done.”

Akari blinked. She brought her hands down. Porygon-Z lay half-buried in mud, unmoving. Kingdra was lightly singed but was still mobile, though he clearly had felt the attack if the wince on his face was to be believed.

“You’re not bad.” Volkner nodded.

Akari waited for him to continue, but he said nothing else before walking back into the rain.

Akari placed Porygon-Z back into its ball.

“Hey! Volk!” Flint ran after him. As he caught up, Volk didn’t spare Flint a glance even as Flint began talking to the other man. As he was no longer yelling, the words were lost in the downpour.

Buck grabbed Akari by the hand and started to drag her back inside. He slammed the door closed.

“Pokemon. Give.”

Akari blinked. “Why?”

“They’re injured. There’s a healing machine in here.”

“Oh, thank you.” Akari handed him her strap of balls, and Buck wrapped a heavy blanket around her before frogmarching her to the radiator, where he left her. She checked the room before stripping off her filthy undershirt, rubbing at the mud on her arms and hands. A large red shirt was thrown from the room at her general direction, and she pulled it on under her now dry coat. Buck disappeared into the back before emerging sans Pokeballs, also wrapped in a dark green blanket. He was holding a new kettle of tea.

“The old stuff got cold.”

Lightning struck, somewhere to the south. New cups of tea were handed out. Akari had to blow on her cup to make it drinkable. Volkner was strong. Remarkably strong.

She liked Buck’s tea, she decided.

“I lost.”

Buck hummed. Her arms were shaking a little.

“Same.”

It was warm.

Rain continues to fall.

Chapter Text

“So. What’s gonna happen to Volkner?” Akari had to ask. She was warm now, and her outer clothes were finally dry. Ordinarily, she would have gotten out of her sopping undershirt, but with Buck in the rest house, she wasn’t very comfortable with just a blanket.

Buck shrugged, staring out the window. “If big bro manages to drag him back here, we can ask them, I guess. They will probably come back. Probably.” Buck shrugged.

“So, who owns this rest house?”

“My bro does. He lets most anyone use it if they ask, and I’m at Stark Mountain all the time so I tend to be here more often than not.” 

“Right.”

“There’s rations too, so we can stay for a while waiting.”

“Thank you.”

“Hospitality ain’t nuthin’. As for Volkner, if he is actually getting replaced, then I guess he loses a lot of face. Though he probably will go for a world circut? Maybe travel. Famous trainers can live basically indefinitely through contract work and winning tournaments.”

“But, he doesn’t seem- he doesn’t seem well.” Akari struggled to interpret the man’s face. “He felt bitter.”

“If what bro told me is right, Volkner is too strong for the mainland.”

“Too strong?” Akari sipped at her tea.

“Actually, he’ll probably challenge the Pokemon League. He’s strong enough to get through at least some of the Elite Four, though he might struggle with Bertha.”

Akari had no clue who that was, but chose to not fill the conversation with her ignorance. “Why would he abandon his post like he did, though?”

“Who knows with someone rotten like that?” Buck frowned. 

The door slammed open and Flint dragged a soaked Volkner into the room.

“Buck. Help me get his clothes off and get him warm. It’s not freezing out there but it’s close.”

Buck sprung to his feet, untangling himself from the blanket he was wrapped in. They led the slightly shivering man to another room.

It wasn’t a scant two minutes before the brothers emerged, the elder with his soaked shirt in his hands. “Please excuse me, Akari.” Flint sighed as he draped his shirt over the radiator. “I didn’t think we would be having many more guests.”

“It’s alright, sir.” Akari did her best to meet his eyes in an effort to not look like an idiot. 

“So, bro!” Buck interrupted. “What’s gonna happen with Volkner?”

“Well, I can’t really say.” Flint seemed hesitant.

Akari decided to nip the secrecy in the bud. “I was told that Volkner is going to be replaced as Gym Leader.”

Flint winched. “And where exactly did you hear that from?” He shot a glare at Buck, who shook his head. His arms were raised across his body in an X.

“Nope. Not me.”

“I asked Champion Cynthia.”

Flint’s eyebrows shot up. “You asked- well, then. No point in hiding it, then. The commission’s gonna make the announcement in a day or two, can’t remember.” He leaned forward to hover over the radiator. “Volkner’s a friend, or at least he was. Been kinda distant these past few years.”

“What happened?”

“His skill happened.” Flint sighed. “Volkner is good. Honestly, Volkner is way too good to be a Gym Leader. He should really be Elite Four, minimum. Hell, if he wanted to, he could probably fight for the Championship somewhere. Maybe not here in Sinnoh, but in another region? It wouldn’t take him a year I bet.”

Akari nodded. “He felt trapped?”

“He got bored.” Flint sat in a chair next to the radiator. “He wasn’t given a chance to battle anyone at his strength level. Sunnyshore is one of the busier gyms, so he was constantly taking on challengers of all sorts of skill levels. But he didn’t lose, not when he was going all out. The League informed him a few years ago that there weren’t enough people clearing his Gym in a year, so he had to dial back his seven-badge team. He wasn’t a fan. Honesty, I don’t know if his personality was a good one for a Gym Leader in the first place.” He started counting off on his fingers. “He’s competitive, scarily so. He’s aggressive when he battles. And he gets bored pretty fast. Not great traits for a mentor, all things considered.”

“So, who’s gonna replace him?” Buck asked.

“There’s a Gym Leader from Johto. Jasmine. She’s moved to Sinnoh to participate in the contest scene, but the League here has asked her to step in.”

“Jasmine...” Buck muttered. “What kind of Gym did she run?”

“Steel.” Flint shook out his hair, sending water flying around him. “It’s stepping a bit on Byron’s toes, but she’s the most qualified Trainer who was around that the League could boss around on short notice. She has one of her apprentices running her own Gym, so there’s no reason not to ask her.”

“Well, I guess that makes sense.” Buck considered. “Sunnyshore is an Electric Gym, though. What happens? Will they make her switch types? Or are we getting two Steel Gyms?”

“Sort of.” Flint tilted his hand back and forth. “Her ace has always been a Steelix, but she does have a particular affinity for Magnemite and its evolutions. If the League asks her to headline an electric team, she wouldn’t have a problem, I think. Still, I don’t like it.”

“Why not?” Akari asked. “It sounds like there was an issue with leadership, so they changed it. Was there another complication? Is Jasmine not suited in a different way than skill?”

Flint tilted his head. “I’d say yeah.” He crossed the room to a set of cabinets, which he unlocked with a key. “She’s got no spine. Timid. Don’t get me wrong, she’s a good Gym Leader, but there’s a bit more than that going on. Volkner... Volkner hasn’t been a particularly good Gym Leader recently. Rejecting challenges, closing down the whole city for months, and now the free badges thing. He’s gonna cost the League a lot of grief. We’re redesigning the badge, having to verify gym challenges, and dealing with counterfiets. We’re actually going to have to stop taking challengers to the Pokemon League here for at least a month while we sort out this mess. It’s a disaster.”

“That sounds like a lot of work.”

“We’ve brought Jasmine up to speed already, Cynthia is helping her train an Electric team. But replacing Volkner is gonna be tricky. He’s a star, one of the big heroes of Sunnyshore before all this mess happened. Even when he shut out the city, he was doing upgrades to the electric system. People love him, and he was- he’s good at presenting a solid front. Today just was a, uh, down day, I guess.”

“A ‘down day’?”

“He’s told me about them. He tends to close the Gym entirely when he’s like that.”

“So, what’s gonna fix the mess?” Buck sipped his tea.

“Jasmine is a coordinator, at least, but she’s not the best public speaker. She’s not ‘rockstar’ material, I guess. Both Bertha and I are advocating for someone with a stronger personality, but there’s not really anyone with free time and the ability to hold the position for an extended period. Even if Volkner decides to come back, some of us aren’t confident that he wants to . We’re debating a few ideas, but we’ll just have to see.” Flint brought a box to the center table. Contained within were smaller boxes, which he tossed towards Akari and Buck, who fortunately were not carrying their teacups. “Here, some food.”

Akari turned the box in her hands, finding a label on the front of the paper packaging.

MEAL READY TO EAT

MENU 4

SMOKE-POKE TAIL STEW

She found a little arrow pointing to what had to be an opening tab. She tore at the paper packaging and pulled out... more pouches.

She gave a confused glance to Flint and Buck, who were placing some of the pouches... inside the other pouches? Flint began pouring water into a bag. She was officially lost.

“Uh, I’ve never used one of these before.”

“Really?” Buck asked.

Akari nodded. “Really.”

Buck grinned. “Not much of an outdoorsy type, huh? Here. Look, there’s instructions!”

Akari sighed. He had no idea. Still, Buck and Flint probably weren’t aware of who exactly she was, so she let it go. “Help, please?”

Flint chuckled.

-----

“The rain’s not gonna let up all night according to the weather network.” Flint noted. “Probably won’t be too safe until morning at the earliest. We’ve got cots. Akari, did you want to stay in?”

“Yes, please.” Akari nodded. After feeding themselves, the three Pokemon Trainers took the time to feed their Pokemon. They had to clear out quite a bit of space, but everyone eventually got fed. She would have to resume Braviary’s endurance training when there wasn’t a threat to his life every time he took flight. “Will there be anyone else coming to shelter here?”

“Probably not.” Flint shook his head. “People were holed up today anyways, and most folk went home when the storm started in earnest. If there is anyone stuck out there, they’ll have to contact the sundown monitor. The rangers will come grab them.”

There was a rustling sound coming from one of the other rooms.

“Volkner’s awake.” Flint quickly stood and crossed the room. “Give me a minute.”

Buck turned back to Akari. “I bet I could run a Gym.”

“Could you?” Akari pondered. “There’s no age limit or anything?”

“No, not really.” Buck shook his head. “Though I’d have to raise a monotype team first.”

“What type would you pick?” Akari asked.

“Ground, definitely.” Buck grinned. “I’ve been meaning to train a Hippowdon at some point, anyways. You?”

“Hmm.” Akari pondered. “If I had to pick one type... it’s rather hard, isn’t it?”

“Yeah. But it’s League rules.” Buck shrugged.

“Maybe Fire?”

“Fire, really? Not what I expected.”

“Well, my first Pokemon was a Typhlosion. Otherwise, I think... Fighting.”

“See, I can believe that.”

“And what is that supposed to mean?”

The door opened to reveal Flint, now with a shirt, and a bleary-eyed Volkner. The blonde man approached Akari, lowering his head.

“...sorry.” His voice was quiet. “I- I wasn’t thinking very clearly. I was...”

“No, it’s alright, sir.” Akari shook her head. She wasn’t quite sure how to handle someone who clearly was struggling with something, but she had a feeling Volkner wasn’t a bad person. “You’re strong, you know.”

Volkner snorted. “I cheated.” Flint flung a box of food at Volkner, who caught it without looking. “Part of me... I knew that challenging people in this storm, there was no way I was going to lose. Not with the Pokemon I have with me.” He ripped open the box, grabbed the chocolate sweet inside, and tossed the rest onto the table. “You didn’t deserve that.”

Akari grabbed the box of food, considering his statement. She found the pouch that contained the main dish, a curry, and placed it in the heater bag. Asking about why... was that productive? “So, what do you want to do?” Akari settled on as she filled the bag with water and rolled it closed, stuffing it back into the box.

“They’re gonna give the Gym to Jasmine, I’ve been told. I’ve made a mess.” Volkner held his head in one hand, pushing up his bangs. “I would say I’m going to challenge the League, but that won’t be for months at least. I-” He took a bite of his candy. “I’m not sure. Maybe I’ll go for the Frontier. Maybe... Maybe here, maybe in Johto. I haven’t decided.” He turned over a pack of crispbread, seemingly reading the label. “You know, if you challenged my gym, maybe that would have been the challenge I wanted... But no, that’s not fair to put that on you.” He sighed, leaning back in his chair. “How come you never took the Gym Challenge? I’ve seen your matches in the Battle Frontier. No badges from anywhere. You’ve caused a stir with the Gym leaders, you know.”

“I-” Akari frowned. “I live in the Battle Zone.” She had to remind herself of her own story that they were telling people. “Really, I’m more of a research assistant for Professor Rowan and the Champion than a normal trainer. I’m only collecting the Gold prints because he needs me to have clearance for a project, and the League wouldn’t let me skip the Gym challenge. They also didn’t want to ship me off to beat up all the Gyms one after the other. Something about image? I didn’t get it.”

Volkner snorted. “Of course they care about image. If the Gym Leaders get steamrolled one after another, that would make Sinnoh’s Trainer program look weak. Or it would look like favoritism. Obvious sponsors like Galar aren’t the style here. Of course, stuff like that still happens, but that’s not a big deal, generally. Having a random trainer that’s five years older than average appearing and getting eight badges in three months would be absurd.” He shrugged. “Though, someday, I hope we can battle for real. Not that farce of a thing we had out there.”

Akari sighed, relieved. It seemed as though Volkner would be alright. “It would be my honor.”

Volkner grabbed the warmed food. “Thank you for heating my food, though.”

“Not a problem.” Akari nodded.

Buck yawned. “So, does that mean you’re stepping down? Instead of being fired?”

“Buck!” Flint glared, but Volkner managed to laugh softly. 

“So it seems, though it wasn’t my first choice. Maybe if I hadn’t gotten it into my head to make that Badge vending machine, it wouldn’t have gone like this. But I don’t mind, I think. I’ll have to hash out things with the League itself so that I can pass it off as me stepping down, but yes, that’s happening. Jasmine will do a fantastic job, I’m sure.”

“Cynthia will probably want you to help her training with Jasmine, you know. Might get awkward.” Flint noted.

“If that’s part of my punishment, nothing to do about it but do my best, I guess.” Volkner shrugged, taking a mouthful of curry. “I hope that Sunnyshore will be a better place with a real Gym Leader, though.”

“Volk.” Flint scolded. “You’re doing the thing again.”

“What? It’s just-”

“Stop it. Self-depreciation isn’t funny. You’re the strongest Gym Leader, and everyone knows it.”

Volkner responded by eating more curry. “I’m not trying to be funny. You know I’m not funny.”

“Volkner, the last time I saw you you were trying to impress a supermodel with your electricity resistance. It was pretty funny.”

“Hey, she was an Electric Gym Leader too. It was impressive.”

“What was impressive was how tall your hair gets.” Flint grinned.

“Flint, you have an afro. That’s the only reason you call yourself six foot.” Volkner deadpanned.

“Critical hit!” Flint made an exaggerated clutch at his chest. “You’re gonna reveal all my secrets to the young lady!”

Akari had to speak up. “Promise I won’t tell. Does it help at all, or is it a mental thing?”

“Ouch.”

Buck groaned. “If that’s why, then why do you squat all the time in your photos? It’s so uncool! You look like a dork half the time! I can’t post any of your pics online at all!”

Volkner perked up. “That reminds me. Akari, have you seen all the Docent art going around?”

“No, not really. I don’t even know why they’re calling me that. Something about my hat, apparently?”

“Yep.” Buck nodded. “Though your appearance at the Battle Hall got some people calling you a few other names.”

“Like what?”

“Uh, lemme see. ‘Crimson Demon’, whew. That’s uh, well. ‘Captain’, kinda lame. ‘Sharp’, also kinda lame. ‘The Freight Train’, bit of a mouthful. ‘Star Conquerer’, written in the older script. Looks sweet, pain to type. There’s one called ‘Requiem’, which is sweet. Uh, ‘Momm-mrphph-”

“That’s enough of that, I think.” Flint sighed.

The conversation lightened up, with each of them comparing the various art being shared of Akari, as well as Sunnyshore’s Shocking Star, Buck the Invincible, and Flint.

“Also known as the guy with like, no Fire Pokemon for no reason.”

Flint groaned. “That was for like, one year at the start. One year! So what I like Pokemon that aren’t Fire-types! When I got the position, the only Fire-type I had was Infernape! Why would I have only Fire types the whole time, that’s stupid!”

Akari tilted her head. “Then why Fire-types? Why not Fighting or something else?”

“Well, a few reasons, I guess. Gym compatibility was one, and well, my name is Flint.”

Akari chewed on his sentence for a second before she blinked in realization. “Wait, really?”

“Yep.”

“That’s it?”

“Yes.”

“That’s silly.”

“I’m silly.”

“Well, I can’t argue with that, now can I?”

Akari wondered if this is what Lord Arceus meant by living well.

-----

TOPTRAINER - HOT POSTS

+23150 TheSinnohLeague(Verified) created a post: A STATEMENT FROM THE POKEMON LEAGUE ON THE LEADERSHIP OF SUNNYSHORE GYM

1 attachment, 1 image

THIS IS AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT BY THE SINNOH POKEMON LEAGUE

ON THE LEADERSHIP OF SUNNYSHORE GYM

Effective Monday, Leader Volkner will be stepping down as the position of Gym Leader of the Sunnyshore Pokemon Gym. Leader Jasmine from Johto’s Olivine City has accepted the role of Sunnyshore’s Gym Leader, effective Monday. For those with zero to five badges, Sunnyshore Gym will be available to be challenged by Monday. For those with six or seven badges, Sunnyshore Gym will be available to be challenged at an undetermined later date, estimated to be within three months. Sunnyshore Gym Beacon Badges obtained between the listed dates in the attached document are considered counterfeit and invalid for the purposes of challenging the Pokemon League. The design of the Sunnyshore Gym Beacon Badge will be updated to reflect the new leadership in an effort to combat counterfeit attempts. The new design of the Beacon Badge is in the attached document. If you obtained a legitimate Beacon Badge within the past six months for either Gym Challenges or acts of merit, you must go to the Sunnyshore Pokemon Center to have your badge verified with the League. You will be issued a new Beacon Badge with the updated design at that time. If you have earned a Beacon Badge earlier than six months ago, you may still come to the Sunnyshore Pokemon Center to have your badge updated. Note that anyone attempting to present the previous design of the Beacon Badge will be subject to verification from the Pokemon League when required. If your badge was issued within the six-month timeframe, it will be considered invalid, and you must go to Sunnyshore to either have your badge updated or to challenge Leader Jasmine.

Below is a short statement from Volkner on the situation.

I will be stepping down from my role as Gym Leader. For those concerned about me, thank you, but I am in good health and strong spirits. I think you’ll find that Sunnyshore is in good hands. If you think that getting a badge out of me was hard, Jasmine will shock you! Thank you for bearing with me during these last months. Sunnyshore has always been home, and it deserves a Gym that can really make it shine.

Below is a short statement from Jasmine on the situation.

It will be very nice to meet you, Sinnoh trainers. I am Jasmine. You may have seen me participating in the Eterna City Contest a few months ago. While unexpected, I will be performing my best to serve as Sunnyshore’s Gym Leader. Sunnyshore is a beautiful city that reminds me greatly of my own hometown. I think, in time, you will find my battling as beautiful and energizing as Sunnyshore itself. Volkner is a remarkable trainer, and it is an honor to be recognized as capable of stepping in for him. I look forward to meeting your challenges!

The details of the change in leadership can be found in the attached document. Questions can be posted in this thread, or directly using the League official email address.

Replies(2496):

+1678 [PINNED]Tombstone(Moderator Supreme) said:

Any threats, harassment, or invasions of privacy against anyone will result in an immediate, permanent ban. This is your only warning. Be civil, or be gone.

+2410 Ronin(Verified) said: 

Volkner has not had any challengers in the past four months due to the rolling blackouts happening in Sunnyshore. TrainerRec has received about forty-five ‘badges’ registered within the past seven days. TrainerRec will be striking all of those badges from the record unless specified by the League itself.

-761 Claw replied:

Why strike the badges? The Gym didn’t take challengers for months, and now suddenly they give out badges and it doesn’t count?

+155 Ronin(Verified) replied:

League rules, not mine. Go complain to them if you want to complain, which we both know you do. Nice badge, by the way.

+1551 Tantrum said:

‘Is 7 badges good enough’ is dead, praise Arceus. Having so many trainers be unable to get the last badge for the League couldn’t have been healthy for the scene.

+190 LateNightRacing replied:

How many people are really in that situation, anyway? The trainers I know aren’t stuck on seven, they’re all stuck on six or five.

+230 Tantrum replied:

Well, my sister, for one.

+215 Gigabyte said:

I’m from Johto, so I can say that Jasmine is a good Gym leader, but Volkner was on another level. I don’t know how this will go. Jasmine is qualified, but there are a lot of frustrated trainers out there. I hope she can handle it.

+58 Shredderator replied:

Well, who else would take the spot? Riley, maybe, but he was going to take over Oreburgh, not Sunnyshore. At least Jasmine has an electric-type Pokemon.

+29 Chronos replied:

Well, the other top trainers that aren’t already League or Battle Frontier are what, Buck, Riley, Cheryl, maybe Marley if you squint, maybe Mira if you’re desperate. I pulled all of those off the Battle Frontier leaderboards. Or like, maybe one of the top coordinators?

+31 Ringmaster replied:

There are a few coordinators that could do it, right? Mary, Johanna, maybe Kristin? She has a magneton

+45 Chronos replied:

I think I almost would rather have Akari than Kristin, though.

+15 Ringmaster replied:

The girl tearing her way through the Battle Frontier right now? She seems awesome, but not an electric user, unfortunately.

+25 Bloodsport replied:

Why does that matter? Just change the Gym type. Make it normal for her Porygon-Z. It would work.

+56 Gigabyte replied:

After reading these replies, I think Jasmine is a fantastic choice with no issues whatsoever, thank you.

-----

BARRY: [LINK]

BARRY: AKARI WHAT DID YOU DO

Chapter Text

 Day two of endurance training with Braviary on Stark Mountain was going much better than day one. Akari’s Pokemon were currently fraternizing with Volkner and his team as Braviary gnawed on the remains of his Chesto berry-laden meal. He was holding up better than Akari was hoping, which was fortunate. Running on less than three hours of sleep per night was rough on her even when she had been doing it for months, so Braviary was pleasantly coherent for his twentieth straight hour. Akari had told him that he could rest around this time, but apparently, Braviary was still raring to fly for a little longer. He had watched the weather through the window the night before in preparation for his training to start the following day.

It was a strange situation she found herself in. While they were talking in the evening, Volkner asked Flint to let him spend the weekend using the rest house. Apparently, he wanted to spend some time away from the crowds for a little. That morning he had called Cynthia to give a statement for the announcement, but asked for privacy which Cynthia apparently gave him.

Flint had stated that he didn’t want to leave Volkner alone, which Akari agreed with. While it wasn’t as dangerous as the evening before, Volkner might still start doing something silly like trying to battle people inside Stark Mountain. Of course, that led to Buck asking to stay as well, stating he wanted to do some training while he was there. Akari was pretty sure it was an excuse to hang out with his brother, though.

All three of them turned to Akari, who readily agreed. There wasn’t really a reason to say no, after all. And she did come here for training, didn’t she? Having such powerful Pokemon handlers nearby could only be a boon. Besides, she had questions that they could definitely answer!

Flint had gone back down to the Fight Area to retrieve supplies for the next week, coming back with a crate of those packaged rations and another for the Pokemon. Akari was currently fishing with her spoon inside one of the said pouches, trying to find a bite of carrot. Out of the three different boxes she had tried, the Smoke-Poke stew she had that first night was her favorite. Below her perch on a ledge, Volkner’s Kingdra and her Empoleon were playing water tag in a massive water-filled crater, with Porygon-Z watching across the shore. Beside it were Volkner’s Lanturn and Pelliper, both content to watch the two competitive Pokemon dodge each other’s water blasts. Buck and Flint had wandered away, apparently to battle each other on the slopes of Stark Mountain. She wasn’t sure where the rest of her Pokemon were exactly, but she trusted Lilligant and Typhlosion not to wander off too far. Volkner himself was inside the crater, relaxing with his arms wrapped around a tentacled Pokemon that Akari recognized.

Octillery was an unusual Pokemon for Volkner to be cuddling with, but neither seemed to mind too much. Ocltillery seemed content to spew a light stream of water out of its mouth into the crater.

Akari cleaned up her meal before wandering down to the miniature lake. “So, how likely is it for people to find us here?”

“Who knows?” Volkner shrugged. The motion caused Octillery to squish and wriggle a little. Now that she was closer, Octillery was a cute little thing, wasn’t it? With the dopey little eyes... “Most people don’t come out here for fun, and we’re pretty deep down the route. The only people on Stark Mountain most days are hardcore trainers and the Pokemon Rangers.”

“Hmm.” Akari responded by stripping off her shoes and socks to dip her feet in the water. The weather was still cold, but the water was surprisingly warm. “It’s warm!”

“Yep.” Volkner nodded to his Octillery, who waved a tentacle at Akari. “Octillery here has been heating the water around this part of the crater for a little bit. Here, poke him.”

Akari reached over to prod the bulbous head of the water Pokemon. It was warm to the touch, nearly hot.

“He’s like a little hot water bottle.” Volkner explained.

“That’s... unusual.” Akari had to admit. A grown man chest-height in water squishing a cute little red blob.

“Octillery are actually fantastic at manipulating their own internal body heat. Did you know that you can teach Octillery how to use both Flamethrower and Ice Beam?”

“No, I didn’t.” Akari’s eyes widened. “That sounds... intriguing.”

“Well, Octillery here is pretty good at it, or so he likes to think.”

Octillery responded by waving his tentacles at the pair of trainers, still gently spraying hot water into the pool.

“So, Volkner.”

“Yeah?”

“Are you still a League employee?”

“Uh, kind of?” Volkner shrugged. “I stepped down from my position as Gym Leader, but I still am getting a paycheck from the League. Of course, I’m eating a pretty hefty fine, but that’s not really a problem. Honestly, I’m a little curious about you as well. Where you from?”

Akari wriggled her toes in the water. It felt like a pretty flimsy deflection, but she let it happen. It seemed that Volkner was avoiding the subject. “I live here, in the Battle Zone. I work for Professor Rowan, and he didn’t want to wait for me to get eight League Badges, so we compromised on clearing the Gold Challenge at the Battle Frontier. It would take less time, though I’ve had to train more than doing the League Challenge. I’m not really used to battling for sport or anything. I’m a researcher and surveyor. Most of the Pokemon I battled before I started the Battle Frontier have been wild.”

“Really?” Volkner turned slightly to face her. Octillery was now spraying hot water onto her leg. “Must have been some strong wild Pokemon.”

“Yep. I technically only have three Pokemon that I use for battling, most of the time. Braviary and Porygon-Z were more recent additions. Now that I don’t need to bring too many research specimens with me, I have room to bring one more Pokemon, I think.”

Volkner hummed. “Your Pokemon... they’re very different than what most people see. Makes you seem all mysterious. Where did they come from? I- I hope that’s not prying.”

Akari frowned. She could just refuse to answer, but she had a pre-prepared line for this as well. “Professor Rowan and the Champion are researching pokemon from history. We’ve found that certain Pokemon that used to be native to Sinnoh evolve differently while near Mount Coronet. Back when Sinnoh was Hisui, Pokemon like my Lilligant weren’t uncommon. But because Petilil doesn’t live here in Sinnoh anymore, Lilligant in the modern day are recorded as they are in Unova.”

Volkner nodded. “Impressive. Do you know if it’s the mountain itself, or something else?”

“Uncertain.” Akari shrugged. “We just got to the point where testing is possible. I raised my Pokemon myself, but the Lab is working with a few others to do more experiments. Not allowed to share specifics, though.”

“Sure, sure.” Volkner nodded. “Still, you’re making waves. People are interested.”

“Once I finish the Battle Frontier, I might just disappear into my research again.”

“Would be a shame if you just stopped. You’re pretty good, all things considered.”

“Hm.” Akari leaned forward, lowering more of her legs into the warm water. 

Was battling fun? In one sense, it was satisfying. Being stronger than the opponent, knowing you are capable of surviving, of winning, was nice. It made her feel safe. At the same time, she didn’t battle other trainers much until last month. Her primary opponents were the Warden and Commander Kamado, and the Commander was just as likely to challenge her to a sumo fight as a Pokemon battle. 

Her Pokemon liked battling, she knew. All of them did. Maybe not Braviary, but she hadn’t had much of a chance to battle with him yet. 

What was she going to do instead of disappearing into her research? If she got her memories back, would she want to stay here, with her mom? Would going back to the Galaxy Team even appeal to her when she got back over ten years of memory?

Akari swallowed. She didn’t know.

Her face was hit by a jet of water.

“Hey!”

“You were looking a little down, there. No pouting. That’s my job.”

“Do you even still have a job?”

Volkner laughed. “You know what? No clue. Right now I’m on a training trip. Work? That’s future Volkner’s problem.”

They sat in silence.

Akari closed her eyes. Future Volkner’s problem... wouldn’t that be nice?

“By the way, what did you mean by ‘all things considered’?”

“Well, given everything, it figures that your battling would be traditional, but I didn’t think it would be that traditional.”

“...are you calling me old?”

Volkner gave her a grin.

-----

Akari twisted the pair of glasses back and forth in her hands. She peered through the lenses. She hefted them in one hand. “And these are supposed to make a Pokemon attack harder?”

Flint sighed. “Yes.”

“How.”

Flint shrugged. “The lenses are supposed to make you more... precise?”

“How am I supposed to give this to a Steelix?”

“You sort of- uh, you-” Flint frowned. “Why would you give it to a Steelix?”

“Humor me.”

“Well, I imagine you could go to a tailor and make a custom band for it.” Volkner interjected.

“Why glasses?”

“Well, they fit most Pokemon that normally would wear them, at least.” Flint shrugged.

Buck stopped brushing his Umbreon, looking up at the conversation. “Held items are usually, well, held. I don’t think Claydol could wear glasses even if it tried. I’m surprised you got through three Battle Facilities with no held items. I’m fullgold, but I definitely abused items to get through the Gold Challenges.”

“And no one questions why they work?”

“Well, no. Not really. They do work though.”

Buck let out a yawn as he stretched. Umbreon took the opportunity to jump off his lap and rub against Flint’s leg. “Most people don’t use these kinds of items, you know. They’re expensive and rare. It’s mostly the pros that do. Or really strong amateurs like us.”

“Most of the time, you can find them at the Battle Frontier. I was just surprised that you hadn’t seen any specialist held items before, Akari.” Flint gave her a glance. He reached down to rub at Umbreon’s head.

Akari blinked. She twisted the glasses back and forth in her hands. “As I said, I’m a research assistant.”

Volkner nodded with a solemn look on his face. “Truly traditional, this one.”

Akari threw a berry at him.

Flint nodded. “Right. But really, they’re useful.”

Was it worth her sanity trying to figure out how to put glasses on a giant metal snake?

“Fine. Show me.”

-----

“Okay. So. How does that work, exactly?”

Volkner’s Pelliper floated peacefully in the water. “Well, before I was a Gym Leader, the main strategy I used when battling involved Pokemon that were strong in the rain.”

“Strong in the rain? So, Water and Electric types?”

“Not exactly. Not every Water-type or every Electric-type works. Certain Pokemon work better than others. And there were some Pokemon that are good that aren’t either type. For example, I couldn’t replace Kingdra with another Pokemon, for the most part. Kingdra gets much faster in the rain than other Pokemon, giving us first strike advantage. It also means that the Electric-type Pokemon I train tend to prefer Thunder over Thunderbolt. I’ve met some people who do rain teams use Toxicroak as well. They’re quite comfortable in the rain.”

“And your whole team is like this? Designed around it?”

“When you’re a professional Pokemon battler, you tend to have a lot of Pokemon for a lot of battling situations.” Volkner paused. From his jacket, he produced a candy bar. “One of my first Pokemon, Pachirisu, is with my family right now along with some other Pokemon. He’s strong, but he wasn’t an enthusiastic battler, and if you can’t keep up a constant schedule of battling, then you’ll struggle. Pachirisu wasn’t cut for that kind of lifestyle, but he’s still a good friend and partner. I entered a contest once in disguise with him, and he loved it, but I couldn’t really keep up with Contests and my duties as a Gym Leader at the same time.” He finished the sentence by jamming the end of the candy bar into his mouth.

Akari frowned. “That sounds hard.”

Volkner shrugged. “It wasn’t that hard. I just figured that doubling my workload wouldn’t be healthy.”

“It’s good to know your limits, I suppose.”

“True.”

-----

“What are you doing!?” Buck was suddenly screaming to her left.

Akari flinched as Lilligant’s kick buried itself in the dirt next to her. She quickly spun away, holding up one spread hand as a signal to halt. “What?” The sun was barely over the horizon, and the air was brisk. Lilligant sprung backward to give them space.

“Lilligant was attacking you!”

“Yes.” Akari turned to face Buck. “We were training.”

His eyes snapped to her hand. “IS THAT A KNIFE?”

“Yes...? I can’t fight a Pokemon without a knife. I’m not Commander Kamado.”

“Why are you fighting your own Pokemon?”

“Well, it’s good practice.” Akari started jogging in place.

“Practice for what? Fighting random wild Pokemon for fun?”

“Well, not for fun. Research.”

Buck blinked. “Sounds hardcore.”

“It’s dangerous. Well, at least it was dangerous in the past. Nowadays I’m not in the wilds doing research, so it’s much safer.”

“Then why keep training like that?”

Akari stretched her arms above her head. “Habit, I suppose.”

“And you’re sure you’re not gonna like, kill each other?”

“Um... no?”

“Kyoo!”

Akari glanced at Lilligant. “She was asking if you wanted to join us.”

Buck’s eyes darted between Lilligant and Akari’s knife.

“No, I think I’m good. Uh... I’ll leave you to it.”

-----

Flint was scary.

Akari wasn’t ashamed to admit it, Flint was a terrifying trainer. Not because he was mean, or because he was horrifyingly strong.

Flint didn’t care.

Akari herself didn’t have to deal with too much heat even when she worked with fire. Typhlosion’s flames, after all, were cool and ghostly rather than real burning. But every single one of Flint’s Pokemon were horribly, unbearably sweltering. Flint’s Rapidash raised the temperature of the clearing drastically just by turning up his mane. Infernape was even worse. Magmortar’s blasts visibly warped the air around them as he fired his arm cannons.

And he didn’t care.

What kind of training did a human have to go through to endure this kind of temperature for such a long period? Did he live in a volcano? Akari could tell that even Volkner, Flint’s current opponent, was uncomfortable in his current position. He had taken his coat off, leaving him in a thin undershirt. She could see sweat pouring down his face. His eyes were thin lines as he squinted, trying to focus on Rapidash.

Flint was just... standing there. Like nothing was happening.

Beside her, Buck was paying close attention to the two Pokemon dancing around each other. Octillery looked like he was steaming, translucent clouds billowing off of him as he shot water at the circling Rapidash.

Simultaneously, Akari could barely track the edges of Rapidash’s mane, his whole body blurring in the intensity of his flames. She could barely make out his shape from the haze.

“So, who usually wins these battles?”

“Well, bro does, duh.”

“Is the skill disparity that high?”

“I mean, Flint is Elite Four. One of the absolute top trainers in the whole of Sinnoh. Volkner is good, even Elite Four good. But he’s not Flint good.”

“I see.”

She could barely make out Flint’s intense look of concentration in the haze of heat. His eyes were clearly boring holes directly at Volkner, who was glaring right back. Both of the men had thin smiles on their faces as they commanded their Pokemon.

“Will you stop moving?” Volkner growled as Octillery fired an Ice Beam at the ground. “How am I supposed to hit you when you keep running away?”

“I’ll stop when you stop me!” Flint called. “Flame Charge!”

“Octazooka!”

When Akari managed to peer through the gigantic cloud of steam, Rapidash was towering over a slumped Octillery.

“Nice!” Flint cheered.

“Damn.” Volkner sighed. “See, this is why battling you is such a rush, Flint. Raichu, come on!”

And battle was joined once again.

-----

“By the way, Akari, why do you call ‘strong’ or ‘agile’ when you battle sometimes?” Buck asked. “More with Empoleon, but you do it with all of them except Braviary.” They had backed away from Flint and Volkner’s battle just to get out of the hot zone that Flint created when he battled. The air otherwise was brisk and dry, which was a nice reprieve from the sweltering heat.

Akari furrowed her brows, trying to find a suitable analogy. “Well, you know how Volkner's Octillery can vary the temperature of his water?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, when I call strong or agile, it tells my Pokemon how I want them to use their moves. If A Pokemon has mastered every part of one move, they can change its power and speed pretty drastically. An agile Aqua Jet from Empoleon is fast enough that most Pokemon can’t even try and retaliate before Empoleon can hit them again. It’s what he’s best at.”

“That sounds... hard.”

“It was. But it was more of my Pokemon’s hard work than mine.”

“Hey, don’t discount yourself, Akari.” Buck shoved her on the shoulder. It reminded her briefly of how Rei would slap her on the back while eating occasionally. “Bro always told me not to be too self-critical. You put in the effort for all of your Pokemon, and they took that effort and turned it into results. I doubt they would be able to master all of their moves without you.”

“You think?”

“I’ve battled you, remember? And we’ve been training together for a few days. You care about your Pokemon, and they care about you.” Buck nodded. “No one gets strong without a bond with their Pokemon, and you’ve got that down pat. Maybe you need to update your playbook a bit, but in raw physical ability? Your Pokemon are strong. Probably the fastest Pokemon I’ve ever battled without using speed specialist Pokemon.”

“I mean-” What, was she going to say ‘Warden Ingo’s Pokemon are faster than mine’? Buck would ask questions that Akari didn’t want to answer without permission... “I guess. It’s something we worked hard on. If a wild Pokemon is defeated as fast as possible, they can’t injure me or my Pokemon. If I know how to stay safe, then my Pokemon can battle at their full power.” Akari adjusted her hat, checking her reflection in the flat of her knife. “We trust each other to keep us alive.”

“Akari.”

“What?”

Buck grabbed her by the shoulder. “I say this as a friend, and as someone who is willing to be honest about important things.”

Akari straightened. What could he be talking about?

His eyes were wide. 

“You are the scariest human I have ever met.”

It only took five seconds before they were both laughing.

Chapter Text

Akari stared down at the glinting piece of metal in her hand. She turned to Buck, who was giving Volkner a hard stare.

Volkner shrugged. "I'm still the Sunnyshore Gym Leader for another... ten hours, you know. I've already called the League to tell them. They know. I put you two through my own problems, and you still chose to help instead of leaving me out there. I'd call that an act of merit. Flint, of course, already has one."

Flint shrugged. “I get the next group lunch paid for instead. It works out.”

A Beacon Badge is worth the same as free lunch? 

"Are you sure?" Buck's question was skeptical, but he still looked excited.

"Yes, I'm sure. Though, when you've got your strategies together, both of you, I want a battle at our full power." Volkner leveled his intense eyes at each of them in turn. "Six on six, a proper arena."

"You're on, dude!" Buck grinned.

Akari simply nodded. “So, would we have to go to Sunnyshore to get these exchanged for the other variant?”

Volkner rubbed at the back of his head. “I mean, I think so? Actually, wait.” He pulled out his phone. “I’m gonna ask if they can send me some of the new badges. I kinda want you guys to keep those ones...”

Buck nodded. “Makes sense.”

“And, yep. We can totally do that. Just gotta make a trip to- Or, never mind. Apparently, Cynthia is coming to the Resort Area, so we can meet her there. Apparently for dinner.”

BEEP

Akari glanced down at her phone.

CYNTHIA: Coming your way.

CYNTHIA: Talk time.

AKARI: When?

CYNTHIA: Five hours.

CYNTHIA: At the cafe.

CYNTHIA: Congratulations.

AKARI: Understood.

-----

The group managed to get down to the Resort Area in less than two hours, which was a decent pace given Flint was riding Rapidash down the route instead of flying. Apparently, he enjoyed the activity, as did his Rapidash. Akari left the others at the Pokemon Center so she could clean herself at the villa.

New shirt, new pants, and a dusted-off coat later, Akari was debating whether or not to bring a full kit with her, or just her Pokeballs and a small bag. She still had the bag from her Battle Tower effort, only large enough to carry her identification, badge cases, and a few small items. 

“...no, that’s-” Akari paused. How risky would it be? The odds of her needing something in her bag weren’t high, but they weren’t nothing. “Small pack, then.” Medicine, some berries, some Pokeballs, some smoke bombs, and a waxed cloth pack of sticky globs. Her knife stayed strapped to her waist, as did her Pokeballs. “Should be good.”

She met the others back at the Pokemon Center in the Resort Area, all of them looking much better after a cleaning. They were seated at one of the tables inside, bottles of various drinks passed around between them. Buck had handed Akari a bottle of sweetened tea, which she thought had an interesting aftertaste.

“So, how long until Cynthia gets here?”

Volkner glanced around. “Not sure.”

“Excuse me?”

All four of the group turned to look at the newcomer, a woman with pale straw hair. She was holding a large black camera in her left hand. “Um, hello!” Her eyes drifted between them, settling on Flint.

Flint raised an eyebrow. “Yes?”

“Ah- well. I-” The woman coughed. “Well. I was hoping to run into something interesting but ah, whew. That is a whole lot of interesting all at once.”

Flint glanced around, but Buck seemed to be more on top of things than his brother. “You’re... Viola, right? The Gym leader photographer person?”

“Oh! I see you have heard of me! Well, that is right. I am actually here in Sinnoh because I have heard that Leader Volkner was retiring! No, that is a lie. I was here because my sister is here because of Volkner retiring, but I found him first! Ha!”

“Uh, yes. Hello.”

click

“Good shots are candid, you know.” Viola lowered her camera. “Would you be willing to do a quick interview with me?” Akari noticed that Viola had a slight accent that she didn’t recognize. Her word choice was also rather stiff... Was she not from Sinnoh?

“I mean, sure?” He looked around at the rest of the group. Akari really didn’t have anything to say on the matter. Apparently, neither did Buck or Flint. She was content to observe the new person, Viola. “Was there something you wanted to know?” Volkner rested his arms on his knees, a water bottle hanging between his fingers.

click

“I mean, most people want to know why you’re stepping down, of course. That only makes sense.” Viola held up a... a stick with a fuzzy end. “Is recording alright?” Akari squinted. What did it record? Sound? Was it a sound... camera? That sounded useful.

Volkner nodded. “I suppose that’s fair. My statement through the League was pretty vague. The best way to put it... I haven’t taken my duties as a Gym Leader as seriously as they were warranted.”

click

“In what way?”

“I know you tend to take pretty big breaks in between your Gym challenges, am I right? You’re away right now, for example.”

“Yes, that is right.”

“But you only ever close the Gym for a few weeks at a time, right? And when you battle your challengers, you... you care.”

“I imagine most Gym Leaders are like that, yes.”

click

“Well, I felt as though I hadn’t held up that standard in... months. Years, maybe. Battling challengers wasn’t fun. You know what I realized?”

“Volk-” Flint started, but Volkner turned to shoot a glance at him.

“I like being the challenger, you know? If the battle isn’t pushing me to my limit, it’s not engaging.”

Viola considered. “Well, I can see that. What are your plans now that you are no longer the Sunnyshore Gym Leader?”

“I haven’t thought that far ahead, really. Fighting Flint this weekend was fun, so maybe when I can I’ll challenge the Pokemon League.”

click click click

“Speaking of this weekend, you are with a rather distinctive group, no? Sinnoh Elite Four member Flint and two high-profile Battle Zone trainers!”

“They’ve been helping me with a spot of trouble I’ve had. Mostly we’ve been training on Stark Mountain.”

“Is that right? I know it is perhaps strange, but may I ask about La Maîtresse ?”

Volkner blinked. “Excuse me?” Beside him, Flint winced.

“Ah, Miss Akari with you.”

Volkner suddenly looked rather uncomfortable. Akari turned to Buck, who was clearly holding back a little laughter. “Um, what is happening?” She whispered to the teen.

Buck blinked. “Later. It’s funny, though.”

“What did you want to know?” Volkner’s eyes were narrow.

“She is becoming rather popular in both Unova and Kalos on art sites, you know. Having three sets of Frontier albums emerge all at once is noticeable. I was wondering why she was training with you all, given she was relatively unknown before last month.”

Volkner nodded. Apparently, the question wasn’t what he thought, because he took a touch longer to respond than the other ones. “Well, at first I asked her for a battle. She was already in the area for training for the Frontier, so we invited her along. It worked out well, I think.”

“And another note on the Battle Frontier, is that within your plans? Do you plan on visiting other regions in the future?”

The man rubbed his hand through his hair. “Who knows? I’ve been told that both the Battle Subway and Galar’s Battle Tower are interesting. The Maison in Kalos is the original, right?”

“Yes, that is right.”

“Well, then that’s another option. There are places all over the world I haven’t been. I’d like to see how I stack up against the strongest. Granted, I doubt there are too many people out there stronger than Cynthia, so maybe I’ll stick around, too.” Volkner gave Viola a grin. “Maybe I’ll start doing Contests!”

Viola nodded with her own smile. “Well, is there anything else you’d like to say?”

Volkner nodded. “Yeah. I think... I’m feeling pretty good, all things considered. I’ll be back, shining as bright as ever, I promise.”

click

That time, Volkner posed for the photo.

-----

Akari was now holding one hundred percent more Beacon Badge than she was holding a scant few hours ago.

“You seem to be in a better mood, Volkner.” Cynthia raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure you want to step down?”

“I thought I was fired.” Volkner stated around a mouthful of sandwich. “We’re just calling it me stepping down for the PR.”

“Well, you are. I was just wondering if we could, you know, hire you again.”

Volkner swallowed. “Maybe in a few months?” He dipped the sandwich into his bowl of soup. “I’m kinda still on that vacation high, yeah.”

Akari managed to fit a rather large forkful of her salad into her mouth as Cynthia shrugged. “I mean, it’s not much. Just a bit of a project. You’re an electrician and engineer, right?”

“Sure. Self-taught, though. I’m not certified to do anything industrial.”

"Not certified? You redid half the electrical grid of an entire city. There’s an entirely new public transitway suspended fifty meters above sea level. There have been rolling brownouts for months. Jasmine can’t even get into the Gym, you’ve ripped out two-thirds of the floor and the walkways don’t move.”

“No comment.”

Cynthia rubbed at her eyes with one hand. “Certification’s not important. If it becomes important, we can talk about that later. I have a project I'm working on that could use an electrician for the planning stages. Can't tell you what it is unless you agree." 

"How mysterious." 

BEEP

"Oh, that's mine. Excuse me." Cynthia tapped at her phone. "Jasmine should be here." 

"Jasmine is coming by?" Flint ripped apart a piece of bread as he spoke. 

"Yep. You're still gonna help out with her team?" Cynthia gave Volkner another glance.

"Said I would." Volkner shrugged. Akari nearly dropped her fork. Whoops.

"So you did." 

"Ah, hello?" A new voice brought Akari’s attention away from her salad. 

"Jasmine." Cynthia gestured to get the woman’s attention. She crossed the room to approach the table.

“There’s plenty of room. Sit.” Flint nodded at the woman.

“...Right.” Her voice was rather low. It was a good thing that their table was separated from the rest of the restaurant, otherwise, Akari would have had problems hearing her. “My name is Jasmine. It’s nice to meet you all. Please take care of me.” She gave a straight bow that Akari was familiar with, though most of the other people other than Cynthia were somewhat surprised.

Flint coughed. “There’s no need to be formal, Jasmine.”

Akari really didn’t see what the problem was, but she said nothing. Instead, she inclined her upper body informally. There wasn’t a lot of room to bow from her chair, but she managed. Jasmine’s eyes snapped directly to her.

“My name is Akari. It is nice to meet you.”

“It’s nice to meet you as well.”

Flint nodded, clearly emboldened. “We've met, but this is my brother, Buck.”

“Hullo, ma’am.”

“Right, Jasmine. Tomorrow is your big debut.” Volkner nodded at her. “You have a plan?”

“It’s only for the intermediate and beginner challengers.” Jasmine replied. She sat in a seat and was handed a menu by Cynthia. “Thank you. Um, they told me they’re delaying six and seven badge trainers from challenging me to give me time to raise a team. Also, to let public opinion cool off.”

“How close are you to getting a high-level team ready?”

Jasmine considered. “Well, I have at least one eligible Pokemon already. Magnezone is definitely strong enough to handle it. And, well... I’m a little excited. I- I have a Pokemon coming in! A Geodude!”

Flint blinked. “...A Geodude?”

“I haven’t had a chance to train a Golem in so long! I’m so excited... heh...”

“What do you mean? Golem aren’t Electric Pokemon...?” Buck pondered.

“He’s being brought in from Alola! Apparently, Golem in Alola can use electricity to fire ferrous rocks from their backs. I haven’t trained Rock-type Pokemon since oh, years...”

Akari couldn’t help but interject after she swallowed her food. “That Golem variant was intriguing. I’ve seen it once before in the Battle Tower.”

Volkner nodded. “Apparently, if Golem can’t find rocks big enough to throw with their cannons, they fire Geodude instead-”

-----

“Okay. I need to take my employee here and review some stuff in private.” Cynthia declared outside the restaurant.

Flint blinked. “Wait, I thought you were a lab assistant?”

“She started on a few separate projects for the League as of... a month ago? Something like that. Speaking of, do you have them?”

Them...? Oh, did Cynthia mean the plates? “Uh, yes. I do.”

“Good.”

Volkner nodded. “Right. Well, I’m gonna go help out Jasmine with the traps I left in the Sunnyshore Gym. I didn’t figure you guys would replace me that fast, so I hadn’t had time to untrap the place. Or turn off the security robots.”

“And we are getting home.” Flint sighed. “I managed to shower, but I could use a hot bath right now.”

“I’ll see you later, Akari!” Buck extended one arm, fist closed. 

Context, context...? Like this? Akari extended her fist into his, ‘punching’ it with her own. It seemed as though Buck approved, at least.

“Go safely.”

-----

“Right, so you have them. All of them?”

“Here.” Akari nodded. She lifted several bundles of cloth from a steamer trunk. “I kept them with me.”

“They’re in remarkable condition.” Cynthia lifted a green plate- the Insect Plate- from its cloth wrapper. “Not brand new, but the carvings are much better preserved. Less wear, less general erosion.” Cynthia brought out her own wrapped package, revealing a different Toxic Plate than Akari’s. It was definitely older looking. There were nicks on it, with a whole corner chunked away. “We have one or two Plates of most of the Pokemon Types, other than Normal. Never did find any Normal Plates.”

“I’ve been calling it the Blank Plate.” Akari pulled out the smooth white stone.

“Well, it’s not very blank...” Cynthia nodded. “But for a Normal-type plate, the name makes sense. I like it.”

“What did you want the plates for?”

Cynthia shrugged. “Mostly my own curiosity. The unique Plate you got from Arceus is probably more intriguing than more pristine versions of the plates we have. Could I get a trace of it?” Cynthia revealed a roll of paper and a charcoal stick. Actually, was that a charcoal stick? It was a dark silver rather than a deep black.

Cynthia finished quickly, carefully placing her trace on the table before pulling out a... a spray can? Akari frowned as she watched a mist of liquid coat the paper. She wanted to call it a spray can. Her gut was usually right on things like that, so she let it be.

“Thank you. This will be... well, it’s really for my own enjoyment rather than any scientific discovery, but thank you regardless.” Cynthia nodded. The tracings disappeared into thin tubes. “Oh, that reminds me!” Cynthia went digging through her remarkably large bag. “Here, look at this!” She tossed Akari a Pokeball.

An apricorn and tumblestone Pokeball.

Akari blinked. “Did you make this?” The cuts were rougher than what Rei would do, but there were clear efforts to make the Pokeball look good and function properly. The apricorn half looked like it was a different species than the ones she knew of. “It works?”

“I found some blueprints in the Canalave archive when I went digging around two weeks ago. It took a while to find the proper materials to make it, but I did it!” Cynthia grinned. “It works, too!” She pulled out a similar Pokeball from her bag. “Come on out!” She released the Pokemon inside.

“Ppprui?” The little Togepi was looking around curiously.

“Oh hello, there.” Akari crouched down to greet the little one.

“Ppprui!” Togepi waved its little arms.

Akari blinked. “Wait, does that mean you can make more latches?”

“Sure.” Cynthia agreed as Togepi went back into the ball. “I had to get the few latches I had custom made, but we can get more made if you need them. Any idea on how many?”

“Unsure.” Akari mused. “I’m probably not gonna catch a horrid amount more Pokemon, but there is always the chance. Maybe like, a few hundred overall? I’ve definitely used that many over the course of a few months.” Having latches again would be a relief.

Cynthia nodded. “I don’t know about that many, but we can definitely make more latches. I’ll talk to the person who made the latches, we’ll see. Custom metal parts can get pricey these days.”

Still, Pokeballs! That was great news. “Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?” Akari had to ask. “I’m making good progress with the Battle Frontier. I should be done hopefully by the start of winter if things keep up.”

“That’s a remarkable pace. That’s actually... maybe a bit too soon, even? You’re finishing ahead of the timetable we ended up on, at least. That’s good.”

“So you do have a plan?”

“We’ve made contact with Professors Burnet and Kukui. They’re willing to help and keep things quiet, but progress on research will be slow.”

“That’s, that’s good!” Akari nodded.

“It’s progress, at least. Individual steps. We’re just waiting for information to come back. This isn’t something we should rush. Cooperation in this kind of research will be dependent on individual ideas coming together. Portals and alternate dimensions are neither my expertise nor Professor Rowan's so we're deferring to experts. In the meantime, work with Professor Rowan after you clear the Frontier. Or maybe... hm. Would you be willing to assist some people with certain things if I asked you to? It wouldn’t take more than a few days at most.”

Akari straightened. “Of course.” Champion Cynthia had given her shelter, money, clothing. Akari didn’t know much about the Pokemon League itself, but Cynthia? She could do that for Cynthia. Even if she did kinda look like Volo, just a little. “What needs doing?”

“Not right now.” Cynthia was giggling at her. Akari couldn’t help but be embarrassed. Cynthia managed to get her laughter under control as Akari stewed. “You’re like a little Lillipup! Oh, that’s so cute! I swear I can see your ears drooping.” Akari, of course, found herself in the familiar position of being hugged suddenly. Only Cynthia was a much more... animated hugger? At the very least, Akari hadn’t felt the sensation of having her scalp rubbed by another human being before.

“Ah-” Akari wasn’t really in a position to free herself.

“Alright, sorry.” Cynthia was smiling. “You were just so cute! Honestly, that should be illegal. I thought teenagers were supposed to be brooding and grumpy and lanky.”

“Sorry for... not meeting your expectations.” Akari deadpanned.

“Apology accepted.” Cynthia laughed. “So, was there anything else you wanted to talk about while I’m here?”

Akari nodded. “I was wondering if you could help me out with picking the last Pokemon to bring with me. The max is six, so I have room for one more...”

“Your team is... hm. Lilligant, Empoleon, Typhlosion, Braviary, Porygon-Z? That’s a very... offensive team style.”

“So I have been told.” Akari curled up on the couch, resting her chin on her knees.

“I would probably recommend a defensive pivot of some kind.” Cynthia noted. “A Pokemon that can take hits. Though maybe that wouldn’t fit your style exactly...”

“I’m open to new things.” Akari replied. 

“Hm.” Cynthia pondered. “I think I have an idea, but it would take a while to get here.”

“What’s the idea?”

Akari already didn’t like the grin on Cynthia’s face. “Let it be a surprise, huh? I think you would get a kick out of it. Don’t fill out that slot yet.”

Akari frowned. “So, the idea is a Pokemon?”

“Like I said, it’s a surprise. But I know it will be helpful.”

Akari worked her hand through her hair. “And you’re sure it would help?”

“Like I said. You need a pivot.” Cynthia nodded. “Talk to Flint if you want to know more about how defensive battling works. But trust me. You’ll like it. Or hate me after. Or both. Not sure yet.”

Akari was now definitely intrigued. “Alright then. Now you’ve got me curious.”

“Excellent!”

Whatever the challenge was, Akari was gonna crush it!

Chapter Text

Bzweeeeep!

“Hm?” The teenager’s slicked-back hair bounced as he glanced up from his screen. “You're the challenger?”

“Er, yes.”

“Hm.”

The boy turned his lidded eyes back down to his screen. “Let’s see...”

Akari wasn’t really sure what to think of the Battle Factory. Honestly, the whole idea of ‘rental Pokemon’ made her vaguely uncomfortable. Still, that was the rule, and no one seemed to have any problems with it.

Well, no one but her.

Working with strange Pokemon was... uncomfortable. Akari sighed as the boy tapped on his screen. He hadn’t said anything yet, letting Akari stew in her thoughts. They were standing together in what looked like a giant glass box, the translucent floor panels revealing factory workers and scientists scattered below. Around them were several scientists, all using various... things... to record and measure their battle, presumably. Personally, Akari wasn’t so sure about having a large amount of what was probably expensive equipment so close to a Pokemon battle, but she wasn’t the one in charge of this place.

“Right. Sorry. Hm.” Thorton continued to tap at his screen.

Going through the Battle Factory was an experience. Akari didn’t particularly understand the exchange system at first, so she ended up nine battles deep with a Remoraid and a Piloswine that she started with. That run ended when she ran into a rather bulky Water-type Pokemon, Swampert.

The second time went better. She had selected a Jolteon, and two Pokemon she didn’t know particularly well- Noctowl and Staryu. That run quickly shuffled her Pokemon around as she tried to take Pokemon she was more familiar with, but Akari found herself walled when her Whishcash and Hippowdon ran into two Flying-type Pokemon in the fourteenth round.

The third attempt honestly felt like a fluke. Her first choices contained a rather interesting Water-type Pokemon, Crawdaunt, a Steel-Bug Pokemon, Forretress, and an Umbreon, which she was familiar with. The other three Pokemon were still unevolved and one was unfamilliar, so she took those three.

The first battle went as expected, with Crawdaunt and Umbreon handling things decently. As did the second and third. In between battles, Akari was allowed to inspect and strategize with the Pokemon she was borrowing. Originally, Forretress was going to be traded immediately, but she held back. After all, Crawdaunt and Forretress were Pokemon she hadn’t worked with before, and she was curious.

As it turned out, Buck would have liked Forretress very much. If nothing else, Forretress could turn the battlefield into an absolute quagmire of dangerous terrain.

It was intriguing.

Most Pokemon that Akari had trained used primarily attacking moves. Even those that learned Spikes would fling their sharp rocks or spines directly at the opponent, like any other attack. This Forretress was different.

He wasn’t fast. He wasn’t particularly powerful, either. But when Akari had asked him to use Stealth Rock, expecting him to pelt the opponent’s Pokemon with rocks, instead he scattered the stones across the battlefield. The same happened when she asked him to use Spikes. While it didn’t do much to hurt the opponent directly, it did manage to prevent it from approaching freely. Forretress eventually knocked out the opponent’s Voltorb when it rolled itself directly into a concentrated clump of spikes and Forretress slammed into it with Gyro Ball.

She decided she wanted to experiment with Forretress more. Cynthia had mentioned a defensive pivot. Was Forretress one of those? She wasn’t sure, but Forretress did take some hits well. Not so well others.

It took another three battles before there was a suitable place to bring out Forretress once again. He performed as well as he could have expected, spreading his spikes and his rocks around before he fell to a repeated attack from a Stantler. But when the Stantler was in turn knocked out by Akari’s Crawdaunt, something fascinating happened.

 When the next Pokemon, a Carnivine, came onto the field, it was accosted by the scattered spikes and rocks. It had been injured rather heavily... Interesting.

Akari lost against the next trainer.

This was her fifth attempt, and- “Um, excuse me?”

“Hm.” Thorton grunted. “I’m running my analysis right now.” He explained offhandedly as if that answered every question Akari could have possibly had.

“Are we going to battle?” Akari rubbed her fingers across the smooth metal surface of the rental Pokeball.

“Her Rental Pokemon. Cacturne. Ninetales. Wartortle? Really?” Thorton muttered. “Values the Fire-Water-Grass core then? Fascinating. Twenty-four percent...”

“Sorry about Thorton.” One of the nearby scientists apologized to Akari. “He doesn’t usually go this long...”

“You.” Thorton snapped his head up.

“Uh, yes?” Akari was starting to dislike the teen. Was he even older than her?

“Your data isn’t sensible.”

“Uh, what?”

“The Pokemon. Why do you use them like that?”

“What do you mean?” Akari blinked.

“You’re skewing my data.” Thorton didn’t sound particularly bothered by that fact. “It’s throwing off my analysis.”

“I-”

“Once again, I am sorry about Thorton. I know you want to battle, but he might take a little bit of time to get going.” The man apologized again. “Here, we have a compensation package.” He handed her a cloth bag. When Akari peered inside, various wrapped foods and unrecognizable items were inside. “If you could bear with him for a few minutes, that would be appreciated. This is a certification match, after all.”

“Go back and do it again.” Thorton demanded. “Do it right.”

“Um- what?”

“Thorton, we told you. You can’t do that. Challenges like these take hours, you can’t make them just do it again.”

Thorton frowned. “Well, why not? She’s doing it wrong!”

“We talked about this.” A different scientist spoke up. “She didn’t cheat. You get outliers in data all the time. Well, not all the time, that’s why they’re outliers. But still. Not everyone battles like you.”

“I don’t like it.” Thorton tapped at his screen. 

“You don’t have to like it.”

Thorton frowned. “Fine.” Next to Thorton, a row of Pokeballs was revealed to have been placed on a small pedestal. He paced over to the pedestal, picking up one of the balls. “Alrighty, then. Let’s-”

“Thorton! The speech.”

Thorton coughed. “Ah. Right. Sorry. I am Thorton, the Factory Head here. You’ve made it to face me after forty-nine battles. That makes me fifty.” The boy lowered his tablet. “Why not stop at twenty like the rest?”

Akari blinked. “Ah, I am setting the goal to obtain gold prints at every Facility. Faster is better.”

“Is that so?” 

Bzweeeeep!

“Hm.” He glanced down at his machine. “Don’t mind that. That’s just my analysis updating.” The boy adjusted his grip on the tablet, letting the Pokeball fall to the floor with a clang. “Ah-” He kicked the Pokeball to the side as he bent down, where one of the scientists managed to scoop it up. “Sorry. Thank you.” The scientist handed Thorton the ball.

“Um-”

“Right. As I was saying,” Thorton nodded. “I have my analysis machine. That is my advantage over you. I have no clue what’s in these Pokeballs. They’re randomized. That’s your advantage over me. Let’s get started.”

They both silently tossed forward their Pokeballs. Akari’s Wartortle appeared facing Thorton’s Drifloon. Thorton raised an eyebrow.

Bzweeeeep!

“Not looking good for me...” Thorton nodded. “Let’s try Icy Wind.”

“Ice Beam!” Akari pointed.

Wartortle didn’t flinch as he endured the Icy Wind, blasting down the Drifloon with his Ice Beam. Drifloon spun away as it was pushed by the attack.

“As expected! Drifloon, Ominous Wind!”

Wartortle shook off the attack with little issue as he withdrew into his shell without Akari asking him to. 

“Again! Ice Beam!” Akari couldn’t give too many complex orders, given how little she had worked with the Pokemon she was using. Wartortle had joined the team after she traded her Onix for one halfway through her streak.

Though Wartortle still had ice clinging to his shell, he blasted the Drifloon with his Ice Beam, sending it crashing into the floor.

“That was within calculations...” Thorton made a face. “Still, not my finest work. What’s next, I wonder?” He tossed another Pokeball into the arena.

Akari’s eyes widened at the sight. It was a- a plant? She couldn’t tell. Did it have eyes? It was green, with a pseudopod-like foot and a ring of pink tentacles around it.

“Hm.”

“Cradily... Acceptable.”

Bzweeeeep!

Thorton glanced back down at his pad. “Things are looking up for me, I think. Ingrain.”

Cradily’s foot began to glow as cracks formed in a tight circle around it.

“Ingrain... planting itself in the ground then? Wartortle, Ice Beam!”

The plant made no effort to dodge as Wartortle blasted it.

Thorton nodded as he glanced back and forth between his pad and the battle. “Right, right... Forgot that bit. Let’s try Giga Drain!”

Cradily’s tentacles reached out at Wartortle with surprising speed.

“Back up!” Akari demanded, and Wartortle took a step back. No, that was still not far enough. Wartortle didn’t want to break eye contact, so his backward speed was too low-

He was wrapped in Cradily’s now green-glowing tentacles.

Wartortle wouldn’t be able to follow exactly what Akari wanted if she gave specific orders. Instead, when dealing with the rental Pokemon, Akari had found that letting the Pokemon decide the specifics of each interaction would be better. In that case, “Brick Break!”

Wartortle slammed his little hands into the surrounding tentacles, causing them to release. He was wincing, but overall he seemed to be handling things well. Akari had to trust that the rental Pokemon could handle themselves.

“Again, Mega Drain!”

“Ice Beam!”

Wartortle managed to blast Cradily with his Ice Beam before its giant head slammed into the turtle’s exposed belly. Cradily pinned Wartortle to the floor as its tentacles drained away Wartortle’s energy.

“Alright, next!” Akari tossed Ninetales into the battle.

Bzweeeeep!

“Right. Things aren’t looking too good for me, hm.” Thorton tapped away at his tablet.

“Flamethrower!”

“Wrap.”

Ninetales was much faster than Cradily, especially when she could circle around behind the plant faster than it could pivot. It could only twist itself so far, after all. Ninetales let loose a constant stream of flames, always darting back and forth out of Cradily’s range. Eventually, Cradily collapsed in a heap. 

Bzweeeeep!

“Hm.” Thorton frowned. “Not great, not terrible. Let’s see what’s left.”

He tossed his last Pokeball-

THUD

“I see...!” The boy nodded. Akari wasn’t as happy to see the massive form of Probopass, but it wasn’t the end of the world. She still had Cacturne, hopefully, that would be good enough to handle it.

Still, having Ninetales last as long as possible was a good idea. “Calm Mind!”

“Thunder Wave!” Thorton demanded. Probopass launched two of its noses at Ninetales as she darted back and forth. The mini-noses weren’t particularly fast so Ninetales was able to prevent either of the electrified rocks from touching her.

Ninetales was Akari’s most recent acquisition, and she could tell that Ninetales was also the most battle-hardened of the three. “One more Calm Mind.”

“Ancient Power!”

“Stop dodging!” Thorton was getting visibly frustrated. That was much faster than other opponents Akari had faced. “Magnet Bomb!”

This time, the mini-noses were nimble enough that Ninetales couldn’t dodge them, no matter how much she tried to slip and slide.

“Flamethrower!”

Ninetales began spewing fire. Not at the Probopass, but at its mini-noses. Clearly, Ninetales didn’t appreciate The intense heat splashed harmlessly across the noses, but they slowed down in their pursuit. One of the mini-noses slammed into the floor and was sent skidding.

“Demagnetizing the mini-noses with Flamethrower?” Thorton blinked. “That’s impressive knowledge!”

Bzweeeeep!

Thorton glanced down at his tablet. “Ah, I see.” He nodded, holding out his Pokeball. Probopass returned to its Pokeball, clearly not defeated yet. Akari blinked.

“Uh-”

“No need.” Thorton sighed. “You clearly have good knowledge of Pokemon. My analysis machine has told me enough. You’ve earned the Gold Print.”

“But I didn’t-”

“No, you didn’t.” Alright, could he just let her speak one sentence, please? “Hm.”

Bzweeeeep!

“I see. This is fascinating data.” Thorton turned to the cadre of screens and machinery lining one of the walls.

Akari and Ninetales exchanged looks. She could have sworn Ninetales was scoffing, or at least gave the impression that she was. Ninetales were almost psychic, weren’t they?

“Yeah, I don’t get it either.” She turned to one of the scientists. “So, is that it?”

“I apologize if you were hoping for a hard-fought test of your capabilities.” This time, a different scientist nodded, her hair nearly coming loose from her bun. “I suppose Thorton was more interested in the data you provided than the prints. I expect you’ll be receiving a few invitations to come back and run the gauntlet again.”

“Is that right?” Akari frowned. “The whole Battle Factory is a giant experiment?”

“In a way, you're not wrong. But we’ve turned that experiment into a way for trainers to test their capabilities as well. Many trainers don’t give their Pokemon enough freedom to do as they like, leading to stiff battle styles that can’t bring out the best in their Pokemon. The people that let the Pokemon think for themselves often do well here.”

Akari wasn’t sure how someone could hope to control a Pokemon that precisely without trust. She had worked with both Pokemon she knew very well and Pokemon she caught not ten minutes before. She remembered wrangling an Alpha Octillery into helping her put out a fire caused by lightning strikes. It was less like she commanded him, and more like she pointed his face in the direction of the fire and let him loose. “Do people get frustrated?”

“Oh, all the time. Eventually, everyone learns how rental Pokemon are different, but the first few times can be frustrating for experienced trainers, especially those near the top. They’re used to their Pokemon and them being in perfect sync. When the rental Pokemon show their own personality, it interferes with how the Trainer pictures the battle going. You caught on pretty quickly, which I imagine is what Thorton was talking about with his skewed data. I wouldn’t worry about it. Oh, that reminds me. The gold print album is generated by the Factory using an algorithm to select images. The whole run is recorded and put on a drive for you to look at later, too.” They started walking back to the entrance together. Akari was still holding the rental Pokeballs as she trailed behind the scientist.

They arrived back at the front counter. “Thank you for visiting the Battle Factory, Miss!” The attendant handed Akari her clutch of Pokeballs.

“Thank you.” Akari nodded.

“And here’s the Gold print and the drive for your battles.” Another cloth bag, identical to the first one, was handed to her.

“Once again, I apologize for the Factory Head’s behavior.”

“No, it’s alright.” Akari sighed. “He seemed distracted.”

“He’s been like that for days, at least.” The scientist replied.

“Will he be alright?”

“He better be.” She sighed. “Well, don’t let our problems be your problems. Come back anytime! Though, if you want to battle Thorton again, I would recommend waiting for a few weeks.”

“I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you.” She gave the scientist a bow.

-----

She wasn’t ten steps outside the Factory when her Arc Phone started ringing.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

She looked down at the screen to see who was calling.

Incoming Rotom Phone call

Barry

She tapped accept.

“Hey, Akari!”

“Hello, Barry. How are things in Sunnyshore?”

“Not bad! I heard there was gonna be a new Gym Leader, so I went over to check it out. But she’s not taking seven badge trainers until like, a month from now. That’s better than never at all, but it’s still a bit of a wait. I got a reservation and everything!”

“Then, what’s your plan for now?”

“Not sure. I might fill out the two slots left on my team, do some training. I also might head to Veilstone and shop, play the game corner a bit. What about you? Anything interesting happen since we last saw each other?”

“More training, mostly. I got through the Battle Factory just now. And I also earned a Gym Badge.” Akari pulled out her badge case.

“A Gym Badge? Really? How? Which one?”

“The Beacon Badge.” Akari had pulled out the new, blue Beacon badge from the case, holding it up to the camera for Barry to see.

“What? How did you get that? When were you in Sunnyshore? I would have said hi!” Barry pouted, which was adorable.

“I got it for merit, helping Volkner out with something. Volkner had to verify it with the League, but apparently, it still counted.”

“That’s so cool. Jelly.”

Jelly? “So, what were you calling about?”

“Were you the one that made them replace the Gym Leader?”

Akari blinked. “No. Why would that- how would I even do that?”

“I dunno. But the timing was super suspicious, ya know?”

“Barry, I did not make Volkner quit his job. He was going to do that no matter what happened, I think. The vending machine was just an excuse.”

“Oh, that’s- well, it was good timing anyways. Thanks!”

Akari blinked at Barry hanging up suddenly. She really didn’t understand what that was.

Hanging up.

Hanging up what?

Akari sighed. Sometimes she didn’t understand how amnesia worked.

-----

“A phone?”

“You’ll need one. I know you haven’t traveled, well at all, but I’d be an idiot t’ not give you a phone.”

She turned over the dark blue slab in her hands. It was a phone, alright.

“You do know what a phone is, right?”

“I... yes? Maybe.” There was a button on the side. She pressed it. A screen came to life, displaying a massive tower. “I think so.”

“Well, it has my number on it, as well as a few others. Do not hesitate to call if you need anything. There’s a Pokedex on there too.”

A Pokedex...

“Dawn.”

She gave him a frown. “I know. You can’t just keep me in the tower forever.”

“Yeah, I know. Still...”

“I’ll be fine, Mister Leon. Lots of people go on the Gym Challenge.”

The man sighed, pulling at his collar. “I’ll be late if I delay any longer. Call me if you need anything. I... I believe in you. Go out there and crush them for me, eh? Especially Raihan.”

Dawn nodded. ”I’ll be off.” It was gonna be a long trip to Turffield, but that was where she needed to be. Leon had hailed her a Flying Taxi that was going to take her directly to the Turffield Pokemon Center. She tossed her lone Pokeball in one hand as she exited the lobby, making her way to the Flying Taxi stop.

She checked the name on her registration card. In her mouth, the name felt strange. Well, maybe not strange, but Dawn knew that it wasn’t right. She hadn’t remembered her name for a whole month, and by then it was too late for her documents. Lots of things were like that. She wasn’t sure if the Battle Tower was supposed to look like that. She wasn’t sure if people’s voices were supposed to sound the way they did. She wasn’t sure if she belonged in Galar, rather than some other place.

She wasn’t sure of a lot of things. But that wasn’t an excuse for her to sit down and feel sorry for herself all the time! The Gym Challenge was a rite of passage for many young people. Mr. Leon himself had taken on and defeated the Gym Challenge at her age. Probably. They didn’t know how old she was, but they didn’t find a lot when they went looking. No missing person report, nothing matching her DNA, no hints on her, nothing. A true ‘Jane Doe’. Mr. Leon originally wanted to keep the name Jane, but she had quickly vetoed the idea. Instead, she let the nurse pick a name.

So now she was Victoria, which was much too long. For sake of brevity, she was Tori, thirteen years old and ready for adventure, or so the papers said. She was only Dawn with Mr. Leon, Professor Sonia, and her assistant. When the Professor searched the name Dawn, the only successful hit was a girl that looked suspiciously like her from the Sinnoh region. She was a research assistant there and a registered trainer, but she was definitely not missing. A dead end, then, though the Professor was clearly bothered by it.

Part of her was grateful, strangely enough. Being Dawn or being Tori was basically the same thing, after all. Neither meant particularly much. What mattered was if her training with Mr. Leon would pay off.

The cab came. After showing her identification, she crawled into the back seat and waited.

“You’re comfortable back there?”

“Yep!”

“Right then. Let’s be off. Turffield is beautiful this time of year. Make sure to go view the geoglyph, it’s the most intriguing thing about the place.”

There wasn’t a lot of room on the cab, so she wasn’t sure if her Pokemon would comfortably fit inside. Still, it was a pleasant enough trip.

Adventure, here comes Dawn Tori!

Chapter Text

Akari arrived back at the villa. She had to admit, Braviary was much faster than trekking the hour back from the Frontier to the Resort Area. Her current plan was to train with Braviary more while the trio worked with Porygon-Z. Hopefully, by the time she received the Pokemon Cynthia wanted her to train, she could go for the Battle Arcade with Braviary and Porygon-Z together. Braviary had just descended below the tree level as Akari heard a voice.

“Akari!” Cynthia’s voice rang out from behind the villa.

“Cynthia?” Akari responded.

“Out back!”

Akari and Braviary circled around to find Cynthia drinking a water bottle.

“Hello, Cynthia!”

“Hello yourself.”

“Are you ever... busy?”

“Well... I get a good bit of leeway when I want it. Don’t worry about me too much, Akari. I’m on top of things on my end.” She placed the water bottle on the ground.

“Right.”

“Anyway, here’s the Pokemon!” Cynthia pulled out an apricorn Pokeball. The Apricorn half was an interesting shade of green, with the other half being black tumblestone. As usual, the black-and-green ball was heavier than ones made with other kinds of stone. The shape was slightly unusual, with many facets sanded into the sphere. It gave it almost a rock-like quality, not unlike the ball that Rei fashioned from the Red Chain.

“It’s not going to attack me or anything as soon as I let it out, will it?”

“Nope. Actually, I would be surprised if it did much of anything.” Cynthia gave her a sweeping gesture. “Go ahead.”

“Really?” Akari still did her best to throw the ball a decent distance away.

Out popped... “A cocoon? No, that looks more like an egg, doesn’t it?”

It was a grey egg, covered in green spines. Three bands of black framed a set of dark yellow eyes. Akari almost expected it to fall over, but the egg managed to stab its spines into the ground, so that it simply listed to the side instead of tipping over entirely.

“Ta-da! It’s Ferroseed!” Cynthia splayed her hands, presenting the seed currently sitting in the dirt.

Akari blinked. Ferroseed blinked back.

“This is it?”

“Yep!” Cynthia grinned. “It’s perfect! Ferroseed isn’t expressive whatsoever. I noticed that you’re excellent at recognizing what your Pokemon want through the sounds and motions they make. I figured it would be interesting to see how you handle a completely motionless, silent Pokemon. Ferrothorn is also an excellent defensive utility Pokemon, mind you. While not the most traditional defensive pivot in the world, he’ll do a better job than most of your offensive Pokemon, I think. But that comes later. A breeder in Unova had this Ferroseed specially bred to know a few specific moves intended for professional battling. Ferrothorn is a fantastic Pokemon for taking hits and locking down the battlefield.” Cynthia nodded. 

“It’s that powerful?” Akari had to ask. Ferroseed didn’t look like much, after all.

Cynthia nodded. “I wouldn’t lie about something like this. In international competition, Ferrothorn is rare given how difficult they are to train. But when one shows up, they always overperform. Training one will be worth it, especially for someone as good at it as you seem to be. If it helps, I can make it an assignment for you. What do you think?”

Akari considered the Champion’s words. She crouched down to try and get to eye level with the little fruit-egg thing.

Ferroseed blinked. Akari blinked back.

“I don’t know if it would help, but I will train it.” Akari nodded. 

“Him.”

“Him.”

“Well, that’s fantastic. I want a daily log, please. Once a week, five entries. I’d like to see how you raise him.”

“I can do that.” Akari nodded. Having something to focus on made sense. Writing a report was something she would have done regardless. Her own personal notes on Braviary weren’t extensive, but she could easily go further for training an unfamiliar Pokemon.

Oh! She should check the Pokedex, shouldn’t she? Ferroseed was Grass and Steel... Akari could see what Cynthia meant. That was, defensively, a fantastic typing. With his hard shell and spikes, defense was certainly the first thing Akari thought of. Apparently, Ferroseed liked to stick to walls and ceilings of caves, where it could tear apart rocks for sustenance. The green all over it was a type of moss that promoted growth in the Pokemon. It also fired the spikes covering itself in many directions as a form of defense.

“Hey, there, buddy.” Akari tried talking to the not-so-little seed.

Ferroseed blinked. Akari blinked back.

“Oh, I can tell this will be a good time.” Cynthia grinned.

“Oh, sure, I see how it is.” Akari frowned. Ferroseed wasn’t doing much. “I wonder how we’re gonna train you, Ferroseed.” Akari took a few steps towards Ferroseed, who tipped over to the left slightly in response. 

“...This is going to be difficult, isn’t it.”

“Oh, yes. I look forward to seeing your effort. I believe! Fighting!”

“Do I have...? I think I do...” Akari quickly ran back to the villa, heading straight for the steamer trunk. Inside, a thick set of hide gloves emerged. She wrapped herself in her Galaxy uniform and pulled on the gloves. “Gonna need these.” She ran back outside to see Cynthia sipping at her water bottle, Ferroseed having straightened himself back to upright somehow. “Right. Let’s see. Cynthia, stand back please!”

“Right, right.”

Akari moved carefully as she approached. Ferroseed didn’t react.

“Hello again.” Akari carefully maneuvered her hands closer to Ferroseed, keeping her hands in view the whole time.

Ferroseed blinked.

Akari carefully picked up the surprisingly light seed. “Well, I guess that makes sense. How are you supposed to hang from walls if you’re too heavy?”

Ferroseed, apparently above such conversation, did not reply.

“There’s a cliff nearby, but let’s see-” Akari tried jamming the back of Ferroseed into the stone siding of the villa. As soon as she let go, she felt Ferroseed falling, so had to jump back in case it landed on her foot. Ferroseed landed with a thunk at the base of the wall, face down. “Oh! Sorry, Ferroseed.” She picked him back up, but all he did was stare at her. No sound, no expression changed.

Ferroseed blinked.

“Oh, this is going to be something , isn’t it.”

Akari blinked back.

Cynthia laughed. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. Have fun!”

-----

“Alright, Ferroseed. What moves do you know?”

Ferroseed tilted to the right slightly.

“Is that a no-” Ferroseed suddenly began to glow and began spraying seeds from the top of his head in every direction. Akari had to scramble away as little shoots sprung up from the ground before they withered and died quickly. “That was... Leech Seed, I think? Okay, not bad. Anything else?”

Ferroseed tipped over onto its side entirely. A few of his green spines fell off onto the ground.

“Was that your attempt at Spikes?” Akari pondered. “Did you want to try again?”

Ferroseed declined to do anything of the sort. It seemed as though he was comfortable lying on his side.

“Well, how are we supposed to train if I don’t know what you want?” Akari crossed her legs and sat in the dirt next to Ferroseed. “I can’t even pet you properly, you know. You’re covered in spines.”

Ferroseed continued to lay on his side. 

“Well, if you won’t communicate with me, I’ll just have to communicate with you.” Akari stripped off her jacket to fold it over on itself, turning it into a little pillow. She put her head next to Ferroseed. “Hello, Ferroseed. I’m Akari. I don’t know exactly how old I am, but I’m probably sixteen. When I was around fifteen, I was given a mission by Lord Arceus...”

-----

Ferroseed Log: Day One

Ferroseed is almost entirely unresponsive. After I attempted to see how he used his moves, Ferroseed fired one Leech Seed and then did nothing. I ended up talking to him about my past. My past in Hisui, I mean. Of course, I couldn’t tell what Ferroseed thought of me, but he didn’t roll away or fire spikes at me, so maybe it’s a good start. I hope. Feeding Ferroseed was as simple as piling a ring of mineral rich-rocks around him every few days.

Number of times stabbed by Ferroseed’s spines: 4

-----

“Okay, Ferroseed. Braviary here is going to try and hit you with a move or two. Are you fine with that?”

Ferroseed, ever the aristocrat, refused to interact with the plebians. Akari wasn’t sure how this idea of Ferroseed’s air of superiority came from, but it was at least a little funny.

Braviary gave a cry as he flapped his large wings.

“Well, we still can’t tell what you’re thinking. Braviary, do you know what’s up with Ferroseed?”

“Skrwww.” Braviary shook his head, ruffling out his crest.

“I guess that’s a no? Well, try hitting him with an Esper Wing.”

“Skraaw!” Braviary’s Esper Wing buffeted Ferroseed, who showed no reaction other than his eyes becoming dull. It was hard to tell if he was unresponsive or simply ignoring her, but Akari eventually came to the conclusion that the Esper Wing had knocked it out.

“Oh!” Akari blinked. “I guess that was too much for him.” She sighed. “Must be younger than I thought. Well, let’s get him healed up and try again.” She wasn’t looking forward to pricking herself while she applied medicine.

-----

Ferroseed Log: Day Two

Ferroseed was younger than first expected. I should have asked for more information from Cynthia before hitting him with an attack. When I got him fixed up, he seemed... the same. Honestly, I can see why Cynthia thought this was going to be a challenge.

After that, we made sure to use weaker moves that Ferroseed should be able to handle better. But still, nothing much has changed.

Ferroseed’s motives and emotions continue to be inscrutable.

8 stabs

-----

Akari found herself lugging the forty-pound spikeball through Route 229. There was a lake that Akari vaguely remembered from a map nearby. Hopefully, that meant a spot for Ferroseed to try battling a wild Pokemon. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn’t be carrying a Pokemon outside of its Pokeball, but Akari decided that she would take every opportunity to try and learn about how Ferroseed emoted. Any signal would be helpful. Even other seed and plant Pokemon were more expressive than Ferroseed so far, and she didn’t want to miss anything. Even signs of hunger or exhaustion would have been helpful.

At the edge of the lake, Akari set Ferroseed down next to the water, leaning against a tree. “Right. So how are we gonna train you...” Akari let the wind blow over her face.  “I can’t just throw you into the water, can I? No, of course not. Still, training you is going to be an event. Can't you give me a hint?"

Ferroseed continued to sit there. Maybe he tilted backward slightly, though Akari couldn't tell immediately. 

Lilligant was brought out of her ball, as was Empoleon. "Okay. So has anyone come up with anything?" Empoleon shook his head, though he did approach Ferroseed, lying down on his stomach to meet the Grass-type's eyes. Ferroseed didn't seem perturbed by Empoleon's presence, nor was he affected by the gentle stream of water that came out of the Pokemon's beak. He did close his eyes though, which was something she supposed. Lilligant also approached, though much more cautiously. Akari herself backed up to some nearby brush.

"Kyoo?"

Ferroseed, of course, was much too dignified to answer such a plebian thought as the one Lilligant presented. When Lilligant reached down to try and poke Ferroseed, however, several green spines were flung in random directions.

"Oh!" Akari blinked. Ferroseed's gaze seemed to have been unchanged. But it had still deigned Lilligant enough of a threat to shoot spikes at her. Well, 'at her' was a bit of a stretch. More of 'all the spikes that were vaguely facing forward were fired haphazardly everywhere'. "Lilligant, that was good! Well, not good, but, well, Ferroseed shot some spines!"

Lilligant nodded, unaffected by such a feeble and unfocused attack. She proceeded to tap on Ferroseed with her foot, which caused another wave of spines to come spinning out of Ferroseed. And again, Lilligant had no issues avoiding the rather slow attack.

"You're going to have to do better than that, Ferroseed."

Unfortunately for Akari, Ferroseed seemed to have grown tired of their game of charades and had closed his eyes to fall asleep.

-----

Ferroseed Log: Day Three

Lilligant managed to provoke a reaction from Ferroseed today. Unfortunately, she could only reproduce the action once before Ferroseed lost interest in defending himself and fell asleep. Still, progress is progress, and Empoleon seemed to be interested in Ferroseed. He kept spraying him with water, at least. Was he watering the moss?

Ferroseed seems to tilt back and forth every so often in response to certain stimuli. Will check later for possible communication.

5 stabs

-----

Akari had constructed a net harness tied to a long, sturdy stick. Ferroseed didn't object when she placed him in the net, so she carried him back to the same clearing on the route as last time. She hung the pole from the end of a tree branch, letting Ferroseed swing in the net.

"Alright, Lilligant. Let's try again." This time, she brought out both Lilligant and Typhlosion, who set his gaze upon Ferroseed with a relaxed gaze.

Ferroseed was slightly spinning while he was suspended. Though, as soon as his eye line crossed with Typhlosion, he immediately fired most of his spines, scattering them across the floor. Typhlosion quickly backed up, but not before stepping on a few of the spines Ferroseed spread on the ground. Ferroseed had returned to doing nothing, though it had shifted slightly in the net due to the lack of spines on his body.

Akari quickly retrieved Ferroseed from the net, holding him in her arms while he didn't have any spines. "Hey, no, Typhlosion won't hurt you. Not if you're scared. We're a team, yeah?" She adjusted Ferroseed to point him at Typhlosion, who gave the little one a lick. "We're a team."

Fortunately for her, Ferroseed seemed to understand. Or at least, he didn't feel like firing his spines again that day. Though his spines did grow back fairly quickly, so Akari had to transfer him back to the net.

-----

Ferroseed Log: Day Four

Ferroseed seemed to have been threatened by Typhlosion, and fired all of his spikes all around him. While not the reaction I was hoping for, it was at least a reaction. It meant Ferroseed was at least cognizant of threats to itself, mostly Fire-type Pokemon. We could probably get some training done using that reaction, but I don’t like the idea of scaring Ferroseed into becoming stronger. We’re a team. I will have to find another solution.

Cleaning up Ferroseed’s spines from the beach was troublesome.

9 stabs

-----

After her usual training with her other Pokemon, Akari turned her attention back to Ferroseed. She knew that it would take longer than a week to make progress with a Pokemon Cynthia considered a difficult one to raise, but it still stung that she had made almost zero progress in deciphering Ferroseed’s nonexistent body language.

“Hey, Ferroseed.” Akari had placed Ferroseed on the ground next to a spread-out blanket. He was nestled around a few mineral-rich rocks that Akari, or rather Empoleon, had dug up from the nearby lakebed. “Have I ever told you about my friend Rei?” Akari shifted on the pillow that she was seated on. The rest of her Pokemon were out exploring the route, though the thick foliage made it hard for Braviary to fly around. “He would spend time trying to teach me how to carve. I was no good at it compared to him, though there wasn’t much I was better than him at. Maybe Pokemon battles. But the survival stuff, the carving, cooking. Knots, and hand-to-hand, and knifework, and cleaning, and writing, and all sorts of things. Rei has super hands. Like, if I gave Rei a tool and some instructions, I bet he could do anything.” She sighed. “I’m mostly good with you Pokemon types. Well, I say that. But you’re inscrutable.” Ferroseed listed to the right. “At first I was wondering if you tipping over was an emotion, but I’m pretty sure you’re just growing back spines, right?” Akari reached over with a gloved hand and readjusted Ferroseed on the mound of rocks. “Anyways, Rei was always excited when he made something new. Sometimes instead of making Pokeballs, I would buy them from him. His were always a little smoother, a little more even in weight.” Akari glanced down at the interesting geometric shape of the dark Pokeball that Cynthia made. “Honestly, your Pokeball is pretty neat, too. There’s a bunch of flat surfaces sanded into it. I think it looks neat.” She twisted the shining, weighted ball in her hands. “I wonder how Rei is doing?” Akari sighed, leaning back on her hands.

When she got halfway down, her back was suddenly being prodded by something rather sharp. “Ow!” She quickly sat up and turned behind her, only to see Ferroseed face-down directly to her back. When did he get there? “...Oh, were you-” Akari stripped off her Galaxy coat, wrapping it around the base of Ferroseed and picking him up. “Were you trying to comfort me?”

Ferroseed blinked.

Akari blinked back.

She settled the Pokemon on her crossed legs, a little nest made of coat and pillow.

“I’m sure Rei will be fine. He was a Galaxy Team member before me. He can handle himself. RIght? Right.” Akari wished she felt as sure as she sounded.

-----

Ferroseed Log: Day Five

Ferroseed’s ability to emote is extremely limited. Current hypothesis is what Ferroseed chooses to shoot spines at and what he chooses to stay close to. Typhlosion received more spines than Lilligant, which got more of a reaction than Porygon-Z and Braviary. Empoleon received no spines at all. Today, while I was talking to Ferroseed, he rolled next to me from his pile of rocks. I will take that as progress at connecting with him somewhat. Unsure if he understands the nature of my speaking, or the emotional connotations of my voice. Expression continues to be unchanging. 

Did more research on what Ferrothorn does and acts like. Supposedly better at emoting when evolved due to the vines and spiked flails. Will see if training is beneficial to the relationship.

First I have to find a way to train with him properly.

And maybe a new coat. This one has a hole in it now.

3 stabs

-----

“And, sent.” Akari put away her Arc Phone after shipping off the first set of reports to Cynthia. She wasn’t sure how formal or informal to present her entries, so she left them as close to how her own notes were in her journal, If Cynthia had a problem with the journal entries, then she could tell her. For now, something as straightforward as that should be enough, along with data logs on feeding times and diet.

She glanced at Ferroseed, who was currently laying in a pile of minerals. She still didn’t understand how he ate, given every time she tried to check, it took too long to lift Ferroseed from his position atop the pile.

“Another Pokemon, another mystery, huh?”

Ferroseed declined to reply.

“Well, we have some time. Do you want to hear another story, Ferroseed?”

His only response was to tip over to the right.

“I’ll take that as a yes.”

Chapter Text

Ferroseed was currently wrapped in his net as Akari trekked from the foot of Stark Mountain. The soil and rocks in the area near the base contained a large amount of runoff minerals for Ferroseed to eat while she trained with the other Pokemon. She had taken to wearing her Galaxy uniform while out training Ferroseed, given how often he managed to stick her with his spines on accident. Her training with her Pokemon was done for the day. Empoleon had accidentally knocked out Typhlosion during a spar, so she was headed back to the rest stop near the route. She was at least a little excited to get to the rest stop, if not to see Flint and Buck possibly, but to at least wash off the soot and clay covering her from head to toe. The volcano was unusually active, spewing a thick layer of ash over most of the mountain. She had stuck her hat in her bag in order to keep it out of the soot, leaving her hair wrapped in a Galaxy kerchief and another wrapped around her nose and mouth. 

Akari had decided against bringing Ferroseed up to the top of Stark Mountain, if only because the Pokemon around there were much too powerful. The heat of the volcano was irrelevant for the most part, though the nutritious, mineral-enriched dirt around the base of the mountain was excellent for Ferroseed’s diet. The whole of the Battle Zone had very high mineral content, regardless, but she had spent a trip looking for a superior spot. The content was better at the top, of course, but it was a little warm even for her, especially when she was wearing her uniform.

Ferroseed’s progress was... nebulous. From what she could tell, Ferroseed had started treating Akari as something to protect, rather than something to protect itself from. Which was good. But she still had no way for Ferroseed to communicate with her directly. Ferroseed’s training so far had gone about as expected. The only moves Akari could get him to use so far were Spikes, Leech Seed, and some nebulous third move that happened when Ferroseed fired his spines at a target. The move catalog identified a few moves it could be, so Akari was settling on Pin Missile. Still, that meant he could participate in their training in a limited capacity. Mostly it was Akari setting up Ferroseed to take attacks and retaliate, with the rest of her Pokemon trying to dodge back. Lilligant and Empoleon were actually growing tired of getting pricked by Ferrothorn’s spines faster than Akari herself, somehow. 

Her talks with Ferroseed were probably more helpful for her than for him, though. She regaled Ferroseed with stories from Hisui, about her Captain, about the Wardens, and Commander Kamado. About Rei and Professor Laventon and the Pokemon she raised in the past. It was nice, to have someone to talk to about those things. After all, Ferroseed wasn’t a gossip. His royal highness was clearly a gentleman, and a gentleman never debased himself with idle chatter.

Akari was taking a rather roundabout path from her usual spot on the base of Stark Mountain when the sound of an explosion rang out from the direction of the volcano.

“Whoah!” Akari winced, turning to glance at the noise. There were several dust clouds around the base. “A Pokemon?”

A pair of people in grey uniforms were making their way away from the explosion. Both of them were wearing similar grey uniforms, though one was wearing a skirt. 

“Hey!” Akari blinked. She had been noticed, then. She stood. “You!” A man and a woman, then. The man had sea-green hair, and the woman, red. The man gave Akari a narrow gaze, though the woman seemed much more aloof. Akari absentmindedly brushed the soot off of her shoulders.

“I thought Charon and his team chased off all the bystanders.” The woman drawled.

“He did.” The man narrowed his eyes. “The only people who should be here are Galactic.”

“Well, she’s here, and she’s not running or trying to fight us. Use that brain of yours and tell me what that makes her.” The woman raised an eyebrow.

The man gave her a familiar salute. Akari responded in kind almost instinctively, though it was a bit awkward given she had Ferroseed slung across her shoulder. The woman in the skirt narrowed her eyes, but said nothing. The man stepped forward. “You should probably get out of here. This is no place for scientists other than Charon right now. Unless you’re joining the force up on the mountain?” Was this... Team Galactic? The terrorist organization? There was a force on the mountain?!

“Er, no. I just needed the minerals from around the base.” Akari nodded. Just... be confident. She was wearing her uniform, after all. They didn’t know who she was. Her uniform wasn’t public knowledge either. “I’m doing some analysis on Stark Mountain.”

The man turned to the woman, who shrugged. “Makes sense. Charon was talking about something similar before he decided to blow the whole thing. The whole mountain is rich in minerals and stuff.”

“What’s Charon doing?” Akari asked. Casual. Casual. These people won’t hurt her, they think she’s with them. 

“You don’t know?” The woman frowned. Her hair looked an awful lot like Warden Arezu’s did. Was she the one in charge? Akari got that impression from the pair. She had to remember everything she could about them, otherwise she might get attacked. And she wasn’t in a great place to defend herself. Typhlosion was out of commission, and most of the others were exhausted from training...

“I’ve been on assignment from- from Cyrus for a few months now. Not gonna be done for a while.” Please be believable... please... “Well, really, I’m more waiting than anything. I can’t exactly report to him with... well.” She trailed off. Hopefully, the two would fill in the blanks themselves.

The woman nodded. “We are too, scientist.” She frowned. “You're a good one, to wait for the boss instead of chasing money like that idiot Charon and his goons. Keep it up.”

Akari’s tongue felt thick. “Thank you.”

“Good work.” The man nodded. “I’d get out of the Battle Zone if I were you. Charon is getting ready to blow Stark Mountain. He’s trying to ransom the Battle Zone for money. There’s more at the base if you want to meet up with them. Charon is getting ready to steal the Magma Stone. Anyone with him when he gets his cash is gonna get a split of the purse, but we’re not really interested in what he wants. No reason to compromise ourselves with a mission like that.”

Akri blinked. That sounded counterproductive to what she remembered of Cyrus’ goals. “Why would that matter?” Akari asked. “I would think that... that we had enough money. And why make it so public?”

“We do. And you’re right. Charon’s an idiot.” The woman nodded. “Besides, what use will their money be when we remake the world into paradise?” She grinned. “You get it. You understand . When you’re done with your assignment, let me know. I could work with someone like you. If Charon is successful, we’ll have access to the legendary Heatran as well as whatever money Charon decides he wants. At that point, come find us. We’ll bring Team Galactic to the heights that the boss dreamed of. Charon’s stupid greed will at least serve a small purpose for the creation of paradise.”

“Right.” Akari had to nod, to acknowledge the woman who looked eerily like the Warden Arezu. She wasn’t as carefree as the Warden, though perhaps she shared the passion? “But not now. I have to finish this assignment. No other choice.” Though the terrorists didn’t know what her mission truly was, not-Arezu could seemingly detect her sincerity.

The woman walked up to Akari, who stiffened. It seemed as though she was inspecting Akari’s face... not that she could see much with the kerchief of Akari’s mouth. “Loyal, hard worker, and you’re less of an eyesore than the old coot. Ooh, I really like you, scientist. What’s your name?”

Akari blinked. A name, a name...? 

“Dawn.” 

Shit!

“I’ll keep an eye out, Dawn. One day, soon, Charon is gonna make a mistake. He doesn’t have the vision we do. He can’t even see past the bridge of his damn glasses. He’ll do something stupid, and when he does, those of us that are loyal will be there to kick his money-hungry gangsters to the curb. When we get rid of the doddering old fool, we’ll make sure everything works out this time. The new world. For all of us.” She smiled. Akari did her best to school her face. She knew trying to smile back would betray her real emotions. “For now, I won’t pry about your mission. If the boss didn’t tell me about it, then I shouldn’t know.” The woman gave Akari a grin that looked almost exactly like the Warden Arezu. It was a surprisingly kind smile. But with the words she just said, Akari could only feel uncomfortable. “Just do your best. Glory for Team Galactic!”

When the man and Akari coincidentally saluted at the same time, Akari got a sinking feeling in her stomach. Her hand clenched around Ferroseed’s transport pole. 

The man and woman turned away from the mountain, fortunately in a different direction that Akari was headed. Akari did her best to quickly disappear into the underbrush.

She might have just made a very big mistake...

-----

There wasn’t anyone in the rest house when Akari arrived. She was breathing heavily after running the rest of the way to the cabin. She didn’t want to pull out Ferroseed’s Pokeball, as it was distinctive looking and could have possibly linked her to the lie, so she hauled the forty pounds of Pokemon through the forest until she found her destination. She slammed herself inside, making sure to place Ferroseed on the ground gently. Instead of sticking into the floor, however, Ferroseed rolled slightly.

“Did you drop all your spines while we were running?”

Ferroseed, of course, did not respond.

Akari stuffed her uniform and bandanna into a cloth bag, then packed them at the bottom of her pack. “Arceus, what do I do...?” She was smearing ash and clay all over the blanket she had wrapped around herself. She had to remember to... to clean up after herself later...

Ferroseed somehow managed to roll himself up next to Akari. His spines still hadn’t grown back, so Akari rolled him into her lap, cradled in the blanket. Akari idly began to press Ferroseed against her stomach, letting the cool feeling of the metal distract her.

She made a mistake. The name... why did she do that? Of course, she wouldn’t give her real name. But why Dawn? Was that the only name she could think of on short notice?

No. People didn’t forget their names. If she took too long to respond, then they would have gotten suspicious. She did what she could.

Right?

She could have called herself something different. But she chose Dawn.

Akari sighed. There were still things she could do. She pulled out her Arc Phone.

AKARI: I saw Team Galactic outside Stark Mountain. Please advise.

BEEP BEEP BEEP

Incoming Rotom Phone call

Cynthia

Akari answered.

“What do you mean, Team Galactic is at Stark Mountain?”

“I met a woman and a man in Galactic uniforms while I was training with my Pokemon at the base of Stark Mountain. There was an explosion.”

“Right. An explosion. When was this?”

“Not five minutes ago.” Akari considered Ferroseed, who was still bare of his spines. “I don’t think I was followed.”

“Where are you now?”

“At the rest stop near the route. I’m going to heal my Pokemon then head out.”

“I’ll have to ask about this, but thank you for warning me, Akari.”

“Ah, Cynthia?”

“What?”

“I might have, uh, been in uniform when I found them.”

“Akari-”

“And I might have tricked them into thinking I was one of them...?”

“Akari, did you-”

“And I might have told them my name was uh, Dawn...?”

“...” Silence might have been worse than Cynthia yelling at her for being stupid.

“I couldn’t think of another name! I’m sorry!” Akari winced, wrapping her other hand around Ferroseed. He was starting to regrow a few of his spines, and she felt her forearm scrape lightly across him. “They didn’t recognize me, I’m pretty sure. I was covered in clay and ash, and I wasn’t wearing my hat. There were more people on the mountainside itself, I think.”

“Akari... Well, all things considered, you got out without battling them. Even with how strong you are, I wouldn’t place your odds very high to take out multiple Team Galactic members all by yourself. Did they tell you anything?”

“A man named Charon was planning on, uh ransoming all of the Battle Zone. Something about capturing Heatran? Maybe they want to make Stark Mountain erupt...”

“RIght. If it’s a ransom, then they’ll put out some sort of demands eventually. But if they’re not ready yet, then Interpol can get there ahead of time... Right I need to make some calls. Get off the island and be safe.”

“But-” Akari objected. “Can’t I help?” In these kinds of situations, she almost was expecting an active role. Maybe that said more about her strange circumstances than any real sort of responsibility, though.

“I don’t want you interacting too much with Interpol if I can help it. Especially if we end up seeing the Galactic members you talked with. You getting arrested along with them would be pretty inconvenient, no?”

“Ah, yeah.” Akari nodded, feeling a little cowed. She had just tricked Team Galactic into thinking she was one of them. She could understand Cynthia’s worry. Going near them again so soon was a stupid idea. “Alright. Be safe.”

She moved to salute on instinct, but the motion suddenly reminded her of the man’s face. His stance. His salute was perfect. She put her arm down.

 Cynthia’s gaze was piercing, and that too brought back uncomfortable memories. “You’re a good girl, Akari. Now, get out of there.” 

Cynthia closed the communication before Akari could make a fool of herself again.

“Right. Right. Gotta leave...” She glanced down to look at the blanket.

Her left arm was covered in blood, as was the blanket.

She found it hard to care.

-----

There was only one other place Akari could think of to be when not on the Battle Zone, and that was down with her mother in Twinleaf. So that was where she was headed. It would take several hours of flight and rest before Braviary could get her there, but Akari had nothing but time to work with. It seemed as though Barry happened to have good timing when texting her, as she was in the air more times than not. Well, two out of three was still a majority, right?

BARRY: Hey, r u ok?

AKARI: I am fine, Barry.

BARRY: Cuz Team Galactic did that

BARRY: The ransom thing

BARRY: At the mtn

BARRY: Did you get hurt

BARRY: Akari

BARRY: Akari

BARRY: Akari

AKARI: I am headed to Twinleaf Town. If you want to find me, I will be there. I am fine, with no injuries.

AKARI: You write messages very quickly, Barry. I will have to practice.

BARRY: I cheat tho

BARRY: autocorrect and acronyms n stuff

AKARI: I see.

BARRY: See u soon

AKARI: I will see you soon.

Akari sighed. Braviary was still not the greatest at long distances, but he was getting better. His average flight time was nearly an hour of continuous flight with her in tow. A marked improvement, though Akari understood that he wouldn’t reach Lord Braviary’s nearly infinite flight capabilities. Though, she would have to work on his confidence. He wasn’t up to training with her directly, preferring to train with Lilligant when he could get away with it. Honestly, Akari was suspecting that Braviary might like Lilligant more than he liked her.

No, she wasn’t mad about it.

BEEP

She turned back to her phone.

LUCAS: Hey!

AKARI: Hello, Lucas.

LUCAS: You alright? I heard about the thing happening on Stark Mountain.

AKARI: I am alright. I am headed to Twinleaf Town right now.

LUCAS: Right. I’m still on Mount Coronet. I think Goomy is close to evolving!

AKARI: Congratulations, and good luck!

LUCAS: Be safe!

At least Lucas was doing well. That was good. 

Braviary made to duck around a flying Pokemon that was nearby. It was a habit that Akari didn’t care to break. Avoiding other Pokemon while transporting her was usually a good thing, after all. She didn’t feel like being dropped or attacked by wild birds. Akari still had a few people to contact while she was flying. First was... her mom. 

AKARI: Is it alright if I come by for a few nights?

JOHANNA: Of course! Are you on your way right now?

AKARI: Yes.

JOHANNA: I’ll get your room ready.

...

JOHANNA: I just saw the news.

JOHANNA: Are you okay? Did you get hurt? Are your Pokemon alright?

AKARI: I made it out fine. I just need to be out of the Battle Zone for now.

JOHANNA: Stay as long as you need to. See you soon.

Akari swallowed. Hopefully, things would be uneventful for a few weeks while she trained her Pokemon. Porygon-Z was getting better, and so was Braviary. But she hadn’t had much chance to use them in direct battling since her failed Battle Castle attempts. It was a shame that Braviary wasn’t ready in time, because without him, Porygon-Z upset the balance of her already established trio of Pokemon. 

Working with six Pokemon was definitely more work than doing research with one while her three team members guarded the area. Granted, they still did that for the most part. She liked to think that her Pokemon were getting used to working with each other for their benefit without her direct input. But still, it was a lot to handle.

The last person to contact... maybe she could wait? Professor Rowan seemed to accept her walking into the laboratory without much fuss last time. Having work to do like she did that day would be a welcome distraction.

No, she could wait. Honestly, out of everything, she wanted to get some sleep. In theory, she could sleep while Braviary was flying, but she didn’t feel perfectly safe falling asleep while in the air. Akari sighed.

She couldn’t wait to land.

-----

"Akari!" Johanna was already waiting outside when Braviary landed. "You're bleeding!"

"Am I?" Akari glanced down at her arm, which still had some blood mixed with ash on it. "Oh, that was my Pokemon. Just a scratch."

"Your own Pokemon hurt you?"

"Not on purpose. Ferroseed wouldn't do that. It was an accident on my part. He’s all covered in thorns."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure. I'm alright."

"At least get it cleaned and disinfected. Come in."

Akari wandered inside. She found herself being dragged to a bathroom, where her coat was unceremoniously dumped to the side and her arms passed under some running water.

"Sorry."

"You have nothing to be sorry about. I'm just glad you're alright."

-----

Ferroseed Log: Day Six

Ferroseed is a good listener

unfazed by the altercation earlier today

Possible that he understood that I was fearful of being pursued, dropped spines behind while I moved

Not a good pillow

13 stabs

Chapter Text

“Professor?” Akari called from the doorway.

“Yes, yes. Up here, please!” The voice of Professor Rowan came from directly above.

“Huh?” Akari glanced up to find Professor Rowan at the top of a tree. “Professor?”

“Yes, yes.” Rowan was holding a feed bag in one arm, shoveling what looked like mixed seeds into a feeder. “I shall be down a moment.” He clambered from the tree to a steel walkway nearby. “They keep telling me to put the feeders on the walkway instead of in the tree. Ha!” He clambered down the stairs from the walkway, hauling his now half-empty bag of seed. The bird Pokemon that were perched on the walkway didn’t even try to flap away as he clambered by. “Akari! Wonderful. Are you here to help this old man with his chores?”

“If you want to call it that, I suppose,” Akari responded. She took the bag of seeds from the man’s shoulders, settling the weight before placing it on the ground.

“Well, call it research if you like.”

Akari nodded. “Is Sharpedo still here?”

“He is. He will be for at least a few more months, at least. If you would take care of the aquarium and room nine, that would be a help. Schedules are on the doors.” He handed her a small device that almost looked like a phone. “Communicator for the lab. Hold down the button on the side to talk.” He pulled out his own communicator and held the button. “Like this.” The voice came from both Rowan and the communicator.

Akari turned over her own communicator, depressing the button. “Aye.”

It would be nice to have a distraction.

-----

“Hey, buddy.” Akari walked up to a terrarium tank. Inside, a Torkoal was relaxing on a rock, heavily lit with artificial sunlight. He was giving off light wisps of smoke as he smoldered. “Want some food?”

Torkoal lifted his head, clearly intrigued by the movement in his territory. Akari extended some greens to the Pokemon, which he began taking bites out of. He didn’t try to take the whole bunch at once, he simply cut the stems with his beak. As he finished his snack, the output of his white smoke went up slightly.

“Right.” Akari replaced the food and water as she exited, with Torkoal watching the entire time. “Torkoal ate the greens, though he hasn’t made a move to drink or to eat the other portion of his food.” Akari wrote as she spoke. “He seems to be comfortable under the heat lamp. Confirmed he could leave if he wanted to. Mobility good.”

-----

Sharpedo was not in the mood to deal with Akari’s brand of greeting, it seemed. He slammed himself into the glass at least twice, listing clockwise the whole time. 

“You’re a bit unbalanced, huh.” Akari sighed. Sharpedo slammed into the glass for the third time. “In that case, just toss the feed into the tank...”

Two splashes later and Sharpedo had decided he lost interest in attacking the glass and began his short hunt for dead feeders. The fact that it took more than one lunge to get the second one wasn’t the greatest sign, though. “I don’t know about rehabilitation, honestly. You seem like you don’t like the tank itself very much... I hope you get your... fins under you soon.” Akari sighed as she stepped away. “Carvanha next, then the Finneon.” She was going to smell like feeders for the rest of the day...

The Finneon were much more pleasant than the Carvanha. The instructions were to fill the feeder on the other side of the pool. Unfortunately for Akari’s pants, the ‘other side of the pool’ was pressed against three walls, which necessitated her to cross the water. There was a walkway across the top of the pool, but the Finneon appeared to be rather playful, spraying gentle streams of water at Akari as she crossed. Still, as soon as the food came into play, the Finneon abandoned their play to compete with each other for it. “Finneon still active, still socializing with each other and myself when they saw me walk across the pool.”

-----

Cleaning the floor of a habitat was something that Akari never had to do herself, but she knew that Professor Laventon had to clean out his little habitats every once and a while. While not the most glamorous work, she knew it was necessary. Honestly, it was more exciting moving the Pokemon in and out of the different enclosures than doing the cleaning itself. Moving the various Geodude weren’t a big deal, though a few of them were the Alolan kind and shocked her a little before she switched to gloves. Moving another, larger Pokemon was an entirely different issue. Graveler had to be coaxed outside with food rather than Akari simply picking her up. But she got the work done.

It was a little boring. She worked around the Professor, though surprisingly, she didn’t run into any other lab assistants. She would have thought that a laboratory of this size would have more people running it.

The next tank to clean was one filled to the brim with bug-type Pokemon. It was simple enough to lure most of them into a temporary holding enclosure with some honey and a little foliage, though actually getting the place clean? A nightmare. There was loose foliage and random bits of detritus and stored-away food hiding in every nook and cranny. It took a good hour for Akari to comb her way through the place. She was glad that there was a checklist for her to use, otherwise, she would have missed something.

“Bug terrarium is clean.” Akari sighed into the communicator. Maybe she could use a break?

“Akari?” She heard the Professor call over the small communicator.

“Sir!”

“Could you come out to the back?”

“Aye!”

She quickly closed up the enclosure she was working on and trekked back to the large forested biome. This lab was gigantic!

-----

“Akari.” The Professor nodded. He was observing a Dartrix, presumably the same Pokemon that was once the Rowlett in a box.

“Professor.”

“I’ve been monitoring Dartrix, here, for a little bit. He’s growing nicely, wouldn’t you agree?”

“He’s quite well cared for. “ Akari observed. Dartrix was quite clean, wasn’t he? Akari’s memory of the Decidueye she raised were a bit hazy. That was during the period where she was obsessively filling the Pokedex, not caring much for in-depth research in favor of sheer volume. It wasn’t her proudest time as a researcher, but Professor Laventon and Rei were more than happy to pick up the slack for her inattention.

“Cared for? Hah. Dartrix does that himself. He won’t even let me touch him.” Rowan mumbled. “Independent to the end, eh?”

“Hooooo.” Dartrix ruffled himself.

“So, what did you need me for, sir?”

“I was thinking you might have been overworking yourself.”

“Hm?”

“You had started on the evening checklists.” Rowan raised an eyebrow. “We really don’t don’t clean the bug terrarium in the mornings.”

“Uh-” Akari blinked. “Oops?”

“Not an issue.” Rowan nodded. “Just more than you needed to do. I should really make a separate checklist for the evenings. I forget that Lucas already knows which items are done at night.”

“Ah, right.”

“Well then. Dartrix here has only recently evolved. I was recording how he acted both before and after his evolution, as one does. You’d be surprised how little he appreciates his box these days.”

“No emotional attachment? No nesting behavior?”

“Almost none. He abandoned his old nest almost entirely. These days, he is more likely found on the walkway struts or out on a bare branch in the sun. It doesn’t rain in here, but in the case of the sprinklers coming on during the week, he tends to shelter as best he can.”

“Is he showing off?”

“I imagine he is keeping clean and gathering energy, as most Grass-types are wont to do from time to time. Though he does it more now than before. A strange shift in priorities only achieved after evolution.”

“That’s not uncommon, though. Like how Gyrados become much more aggressive when they evolve. Pokemon with different body shapes upon evolution exhibit radically different behavior.”

Rowan nodded. “That is more of a change in biology, though. Dartrix’s priority shift is much less reliant on his change in size and capability, and perhaps something more instinctual.”

“Could he be gathering energy to evolve for the second time?”

“It’s possible.” Rowan nodded. “In captivity, namely in a laboratory or sanctuary setting, Pokemon occasionally evolve when they feel safe enough to go through the proccess, rather than when they achieve a certain, arbitrary level of strength. There was an old hypothesis that stated a Pokemon that traditionally would have evolved through battle could manage evolution without it if it was in an environment where that was deemed safe enough. We have observed something that has appeared close, though every example previously touted as proof has proven to be some other form of evolutionary requirement other than strength. Happiness, weather conditions, even something as arbitrary as the time of day. It’s all I can do to keep up these days.”

“What’s the strangest evolution you’ve heard of?” Akari had to ask.

“Well, there’s this Pokemon named Inkay. A Psychic and Dark Pokemon. I haven’t had a chance to try it myself, but apparently, if you manually turn one upside down, they evolve instantly.”

“Really? How does that happen in the wild?”

“Well, research suggests...”

-----

“Hey, Professor? Where are the other lab assistants? For a facility this size, I would expect more people on your team.”

“Hm?” Professor Rowan raised an eyebrow. Akari was settled on a chair in one of the sitting rooms, with Ferroseed nestled in a mound of dirt and rocks. On the table. At first, Akari wanted to try placing Ferroseed on the miniature cliffside, but the Professor vetoed her idea. Something about cleaning up his spines, apparently. So instead, Akari was having a staring contest with him. He was winning.

“I mean, shouldn’t there be other people working with you here?”

Rowan shrugged. “It’s not so bad. When he’s on assignment, Lucas usually arrives in the evenings to assist me with care, and the morning duties are usually light. Most of the time, Lucas is here in the mornings as well. I’m getting him set to take over the lab when he comes of age and I can finally retire. On occasion, I find a researcher that wants to intern with me, but that’s getting rarer these days. It’s not as if this is a sanctuary. We usually only hold specific Pokemon for weeks at a time, if not days. There are stretches, especially in the fall, where there’s almost no Pokemon at all other than the ones I keep to distribute to trainers.”

“Oh. Doesn’t that get lonely?”

“Are you daft?” Rowan sighed as Akari instinctively ducked her head. “No, I’m not angry. Not lonely, either. Pokemon are wonderful companions. Besides, Lucas is becoming quite an adept researcher. He’ll take good care of the place.”

“Are you thinking about retiring soon, then?”

“I’ve been thinking about retiring since I was thirty.”

“Huh.” She gazed at Ferroseed across the table. Porygon-Z had settled in its favorite spot around her neck, vibrating as she absentmindedly stroked its head.

Professor Rowan passed her a chilled bottle of tea, which she took and drained half of.”I’ll be turning on the news if that’s fine?”

“Go ahead.” Akari was familiar with television sets, since there was one at her mother’s home.

“-sful in getting a visual of Stark Mountain. While the area immediately around Stark Mountain has been cleared of civilians, the International Police has put out a statement claiming that evacuating the whole of the Battle Zone was unnecessary. The Team Galactic plot was foiled by an anonymous tipster, which gave a location and a motive that lined up with evidence that the Sinnoh Pokemon League and the International Police both had access to. The Elite Four’s Flint, his brother, Buck, and a member of the International Police have been credited with the recapture of both Heatran and the Magma Stone, with Heatran being resealed within Stark Mountain. The International Police have declined to give a statement on the member involved. Several members of Team Galactic were arrested, including the leader, Charon. This is the second of Team Galactic’s leaders to be captured so far.  It wasn’t long ago when the former leader of Team Galactic was also-”

Rowan grunted. “I suppose this was why you’re in town, then?”

“Did you not find out last night?” Akari blinked.

“I went to bed nice and early last night, thank you.”

“Well, yes. I was training Ferroseed out there, letting him feed on the volcanic minerals.”

“A good spot.”

“Well, Cynthia told me to get out of there. I wanted to help, but, uh, there were circumstances, I guess.”

“We are rather apprehensive with you interacting with Interpol, it’s true.” Rowan sipped at his own bottle of tea.

“Yeah... yeah.” Akari wrung her hands. Professor Rowan wasn’t really involved, not yet. She could wait to talk about it.

“Well, I for one am glad you made it out safe, Akari.”

“...Yeah.”

Rowan frowned. “Are you feeling alright?”

Instead of answering, Akari chose to drain the rest of her bottle of tea. It gave her time to think. “No, it’s fine. I might have just-” she paused. Articulating her fears was surprisingly difficult. “I might have accidentally painted a target on Dawn’s back.”

“On Dawn’s? Not on yours?” Rowan shifted in his chair.

“You know that tipster in the broadcast? That was me. I talked to some of the Galaxy- uh, Galactic members before the attack happened. They thought I was a scientist working with them. I told them my name was Dawn.”

“Now, why would you go and do that?” Rowan rumbled. Akari flinched. His voice wasn’t a perfect match, but the tone of an angry Commander was still present. No, that was unfair to the Professor.

“I couldn’t think of another name! I panicked... They don’t know my face, only the uniform and a muffled voice. I think.”

“Is that so?” 

Akari recounted what happened to the Professor, feeling less like she was telling a friend and more like she was reporting a failed mission to the Commander. 

“I was wearing a kerchief over my face because of all the uh, the ash. When the two Galax- uh Galactic members saw me, they assumed I was also one? Maybe my uniform was covered in ash as well, so they saw the symbol and assumed?”

“Fortunate.”

“...Yeah. It was.” She swallowed. “We talked. They told me what they were up to, and I told them I was working on a project for Cyrus. I- I think the woman was in charge. She offered me a... a promotion?”

“Well, if anyone deserves one...” Rowan chuckled. “I can’t imagine you were looking forward to that particular promotion.”

Rowan’s face wasn’t very much different than what he usually looked like, but Akari could feel that lingering presence behind him like he was going to kick her out of his lab if she said something wrong. She could feel herself panicking. He wasn’t even frowning... why was she so scared?

Irrational.

Stupid.

Porygon-Z vibrated around her neck.

“I’ve had a bit of time to think about it. The way the woman talked, Team Galactic might be collapsing. They were splintering apart, with different ideas and loyalties. The man they arrested, Charon, was after money. I don’t think Cyrus was after money. The woman, she sounded like she wanted to separate from Charon...”

“That’s... hrm.” Rowan nodded. “Not unusual when a leader is removed from their position suddenly. The organization underneath can split if there are no contingencies in place.”

“I don’t know.” Akari’s head hit her hands. “That woman was... interested in Dawn. What happens when we bring her back? Did I ruin Dawn’s life? Will they come after her? Will the police come after her?”

“Akari...” Rowan leaned forward in his seat.

The conversation petered out. Apparently, Team Galactic philosophy and the arrest of innocent people weren’t popular topics among the three expert conversationalists at the table. Akari’s ears were ringing. Rowan finally broke the silence.

“Akari, you made one mistake. A single one. It was done in order to prevent yourself from making an even bigger mistake if I understand things correctly. Besides, there’s nothing to get either you or Dawn arrested, even if she turned up right this second.” Rowan rubbed at his face. “Perhaps we should be careful with your image in the future. Stop using the kerchiefs in public if you can bear to.”

“Right.” She liked her kerchiefs, but there was nothing she could do about it now. They were... identifiable. She hated it.

“The uniform, too.”

“I-” Akari could feel herself starting to cry. “I don’t want to.”

“I know.”

“I... I can’t.”

“I know.”

“I- you know?” She looked up.

“I understand. I have little experience with that sort of organization myself, but loyalty is a powerful emotion.” He sighed, standing up from his chair. “But you’ve turned the outfit into a danger to yourself and Dawn. As of this moment, only Cyrus himself could connect you to Team Galactic, and it’s better to keep it as such. We don’t want you to live in fear of being kidnapped or pressed into that gang. You aren’t a member of Team Galactic. Not this one.”

“I don’t-” She could feel her head throbbing.

She was crying.

Not again.

Porygon-Z fluttered out of her grasp.

“Akari-”

“No-”

but not as a member of Galaxy team

There was a blinding light.

A crash.

Her ears were ringing.

She couldn’t see. 

She shut her eyes.

Something was touching her.

It was cold.

Rot and sugar.

She swung one arm, the other reaching for her knife. 

The knife was knocked out of her hands.

Her arms weren’t moving.

She had to-

“AKARI!” 

Rowan’s voice cut through the fog of her mind. Akari stopped struggling, stopped gasping. Her arms were truly wrapped together now. She opened her eyes-

Ferroseed was... bigger. Much bigger. He had wrapped a vine around her arms, with a head-sized steel pod buried into the floor.

“Oh.”

Akari blinked.

Ferrothorn blinked back.

-----

Ferroseed Log: Day Seven

Note: running log today

Feeding Ferroseed with special formula from the lab

Rowan interested in logs

Ferroseed wins the blinking contests most of the time

Tilt left = happy?

Ferroseed is a good friend

Evolution through psychological pressure to be investigated

Ferrothorn likes to hug

Somehow Professor Rowan is pricklier than him

rowan is a good man

sorry

I wasn’t

I didn’t

panic attacks: 1

0 stabs

Chapter Text

“I’m calm.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I am!”

“I don’t think Ferrothorn believes you either.”

“But-”

“Akari. I am not kicking you out.”

“I know that!”

“Do you?”

“Yes...”

“And what are your thoughts on this?”

Ferrothorn blinked. His vine-wrapped grip on Akari’s leg didn’t get any looser.

“Hey! I am calm, I promise. I managed to write that report, and I slept earlier.”

“ Slept? You fell unconscious after Ferrothorn evolved. And I looked at that log. I would be generous if I called that stream of consciousness. You crossed out four lines of text. There was water damage.”

“I’m feeling better now , though.”

“I’m more inclined to listen to Ferrothorn than you.” Rowan bared one arm, revealing a small amount of dried blood soaking a gauze wrap around his elbow. “He was rather enthusiastic.”

She sighed. “Alright, then. What do I need to do to convince you, Ferrothorn?”

Ferrothorn said nothing, as was usual.

“Maybe... maybe I can tell you a story. Professor, you should hear this too, I think.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes.”

Akari sat up as best she could. The somewhat terrifying form of Ferrothorn was suspended above her, with two of his spiked pods planted on two of the walls. The third was still wrapped firmly around Akari’s leg, preventing her from leaving the chair she was currently sitting in.

“When I was working for the Galaxy Team, in the beginning, no one really trusted me. I was an outsider, a stranger. It was strange that the Professor was the one who invited me into the village, instead of the Commander. It was strange that I knew how to catch Pokemon without issue. It was strange that I wasn’t scared of Pokemon, in general. Really, I was more scared of the people than the Pokemon.” She swallowed. Rowan handed her an already opened bottle of water, which she took. Half of the bottle was gone before she felt ready to stop. “Commander Kamado was... he was a paranoid man. He loved the Galaxy Team and Jubilife Village. He didn’t... he always felt as though he had to solve the problems brought to him. I think... I think he hated being helpless. Every time he sent me out on a mission, he would always tell me that people were slow to accept. Then, after I’d done some mission work for the Galaxy Team, there was a- a problem. And the Commander sort of, uh, blamed me for it. He banished me from the Galaxy Team until the whole mess with Palkia and Dialga were sorted out.”

“And he was wrong.”

“No.”

Rowan blinked. “No?”

“It wasn’t- ah, I didn’t will it into existence, but I guess you could say it was related to me.”

“You don’t have to shoulder blame when not appropriate, Akari. From what I remember of what you told us earlier, this Volo character was more to blame than anyone else.”

“But-” Rowan said nothing, but Akari still ended up reconsidering her words. Arguing with Rowan about that seemed counterproductive to getting Ferrothorn to let her go. “Fine. After... all of that, the Commander calmed down a little bit. I can’t say for sure if he trusts me completely, but he did apologize. After that, uh, no more problems from the Galaxy Team. It was all mostly random villagers after that. Afterward, it was mostly working on the Pokedex. Occasionally I would get orders from the Commander, but I mostly did work for Captain Cyllene and Captain Zisu.”

“You’re still scared of him.”

“No!”

“Once again, I am inclined to not believe you.” Rowan sipped from his water bottle. “And I am similar enough to that man to incite a panic attack.”

“I- that wasn’t the only thing, though. It was the uniform. I didn’t want to- well, give it up.”

“The uniform... I understand. But the symbols that were part of your organization are currently being wielded by people who wish to ‘remake’ the world.”

“I... I already know.” Of course she understood what was happening. It didn’t make it hurt any less. The Galaxy Team was literally everything she knew. The little memory she had was nothing without them. Everything but, well, the last few months. “It’s just hard, I guess.”

“Akari, I know I said I wasn’t going to kick you out, but if I am inciting panic attacks, I cannot in good conscious allow you to keep working near me.”

“That’s the problem, though.” Akari felt miserable. She knew that something along those lines was coming. “I don’t want to stop. This morning was the highlight of the past three days.”

Rowan sighed. “I don’t know what to tell you, then. Other than, maybe, you’re a workaholic.”

“I can- It was one time. I can keep myself under control. I spent time with you all the time before this, right?”

Rowan gave a glance to Ferrothorn, who seemed to have heard enough to release Akari’s leg from her prison. It immediately began tingling as the blood flow began again in earnest.

“We'll talk about your work with me when things are more stable, I think. When that whole fiasco with... Stark Mountain gets cleared up, wait a few days before going back to the Battle Zone, maybe a few weeks. The International Police is going to be combing the island from top to bottom for a while.”

“Ah, right.”

“By the way, I called Cynthia. We need to discuss what happens next.”

Akari blinked. “Was this really such a big deal?”

“It is. We care about your wellbeing, Akari. If our thoughts are correct, then there is plenty of time to get everything we need done. Time travel can be useful, after all. No need to run ourselves ragged. Especially me.”

“Right.” Akari nodded.

“So, Akari. The other thing to discuss... Ferroseed evolved right in front of us.” Rowan’s voice was grave. “I understand that you were in a rather precarious spot emotionally, but I am still kicking myself over failing to take notes.”

“Uh.”

“Regardless, that was a fascinating circumstance for evolution, Ferrothorn.” His gaze rose to the ceiling. “Implied emotional need? He seemed to have understood both the reason and context for your actions. There’s a lot going through that one’s head, I think.”

Ferrothorn swayed lightly from his place in the eaves.

“I wonder... what was your training regiment like for him for the past week? I can’t imagine that you would go gentle on him.”

“Well, mostly it was my Pokemon trying to figure out how to help him without touching him. He’s very spiky, you know.”

“I know.”

“A lot of the training came down to Porygon-Z, Braviary, and Empoleon attacking Ferroseed from as far away as possible. He would take more and more punishment basically every day, the rate of it was rather remarkable. Though, we only got a few days to work on it before he evolved.”

“It’s possible that Ferrothorn evolved early for his species, then.”

“Is it?”

“Well, there’s not a good way to find out, with Steel Pokemon especially. They don’t tend to grow or change very much in between evolutionary stages.”

“Do we have any data on Ferroseed here?”

“Only what can be found in journals and online. Ferrothorn isn’t a particularly popular Pokemon among trainers, though. So common knowledge type information will be limited.”

“Professor?” The sound of Cynthia’s voice came through the doorway.

“Here!” Rowan crowed back. Cynthia’s head popped into view. 

“Rowan. Akari.” Cynthia slipped inside, closing the door behind her. She was dressed in her usual dress, only without her hairpieces. Instead, her hair was brought up into a high ponytail with a black band.

“Any news?” Rowan asked as Cynthia slid into a chair. Akari straightened up in her own chair.

“Well, Interpol is crawling all over the Battle Zone right now.”

“That’s no good.” Rowan nodded.

“As far as I was told, they managed to arrest at least one leader, Charon. Some high-ranking members, too. If I was reading the room right, Interpol is gonna make a big push to kick Galactic out of Sinnoh completely.”

“It makes sense.” Akari responded after a moment of thought. “If Charon was arrested there can’t be that many leaders left, right? This is as weak as they’ve ever been, I assume.”

“That’s what they’re hoping.”  Cynthia sighed. “They’re also using this as an excuse to crack down on the Galactic Energy buildings throughout the region, including the Windworks. Lots of work coming for them, I suppose. Still, this might present a small problem if we’re going to be dogmatic on keeping you away from Interpol.”

“True.” Rowan nodded. “Lots of people and companies are going to be, ah, inspected, for traces of Galactic influence, no?”

“It’s a damn witch hunt.” Cynthia leaned back in her chair. “In some respects, it’s a bit of a disaster. Though, not really. It’s like... I would prefer if it didn’t happen this way, but it’s not really that bad.”

“Why?” Akari asked.

“Well, hm.” Cynthia crumpled her face into a frown. “I placed you into our systems with a raw, new trainer ID. No accompanying information or documents. Most people don’t care about that kind of thing, but Interpol is probably going to be looking for plants and such. You look about as blatant of a spy as we could possibly make without actually making you a real spy. Recently issued trainer ID, no other records, extremely strong and flashy. Well, maybe not the flashy bit.”

Akari had fully straightened at this point. “How bad would it be for me to interact with Inter- uh, Interpol now?”

“Worse than before.” Rowan replied. “The odds of ‘Dawn’ being connected to one of the captured members of Galactic is higher than we’d like, in this case.”

“Do you know the names of the people you spoke with?” Cynthia asked.

“No.” Akari shook her head. “I probably would be able to recognize them if I saw an image, though.”

“Well, that’s troublesome.” Cynthia frowned. “I can’t exactly go over to Interpol and ask them for their records.”

“A shame.” Rowan deadpanned. “Cynthia can’t access Interpol databases. Whatever shall we do?”

“Rumor has it they have a whole department just for dealing with time travel and dimension-hopping, too. Would have been nice to get access to that task force.”

“Then, why didn’t we ask for their help originally?” Akari asked.

“The same rumors claim that their success rate at actually putting people back is close to zero. It’s a glorified immigration system.” Cynthia frowned. “Honestly, I heard that one of the people they were trying to help ended up dead, as well. I don’t like it.”

“Dead?” Akari swallowed. “Right. No, uh, no Interpol, then.”

“Well, where does that leave us?” Rowan mused. “We can’t exactly hide Akari away for months while the police oust Team Galactic.”

“Well, we really don’t need to.” Cynthia shrugged. “Akari hasn’t been arrested yet. If Interpol wants to come at her, they’ll need something to charge her with. Which is nothing. I know I said it would be a problem, but it’s one that’s handleable.”

“What about the two Galactic members I spoke to?”

“I’d put even odds of them getting out unscathed, honestly.” Cynthia shrugged. “You said they were separate from the main group at Stark Mountain, right? If you got out without issue, I imagine they did too. Interpol shouldn’t have anything.”

“That’s shaky, Cynthia.”

“It’s what we have. Unless you want to run out of the region for a few months while Interpol snoops around?”

Akari frowned. “I’m usually pretty flexible.” She admitted. “I wouldn’t mind, I think. Except maybe I want to get to the Battle Arcade before too long.” She pulled out her badge case. “Actually, does anything specific happen when I get all five gold prints?”

“Honestly?” Cynthia shrugged. “Tackling even one is a big achievement. You have the benefit of having a pretty... brutal set of skills and experience, and so do your experienced Pokemon. I’d say that you’ve proven you can handle yourself.”

“I want to take Ferrothorn, Porygon-Z, and Braviary to the Arcade, I think.” Akari mentioned.

“Fitting, I suppose.” Rowan nodded. “The newest members on your team.”

“Regardless, you get a certification that you’ve cleared the entirety of the Battle Frontier.” Cynthia continued. “The League was letting people challenge the Elite Four around here if you show up with a fullgold certification from either here or Johto. It’s how a few new people managed to challenge the League itself even when Volkner wasn’t handing out badges. I imagine now that Jasmine is in place they’ll be letting that happen less than before.”

“The big benefit is getting you into the League resources,” Rowan confirmed. “You’ll be an employee, I imagine.”

“I have an aide position I haven’t filled in years.” Cynthia confirmed.

“More pay. Also, it legitimizes you much more in the eyes of Interpol, so that will help.”

“That’s good.” Akari nodded. “What would I be doing as an aide?”

“Hm?” Cynthia raised an eyebrow. “Oh, I haven’t thought that far ahead.”

Akari blinked. “Really?”

“Well, other than those little favors I find now and again. I mentioned those earlier?”

Rowan shot her a look. “You aren’t seriously considering-”

“Well, she can do it, can’t she?”

“It would take weeks of work!”

“We have time.”

Rowan sighed. “I hate that you’re right.”

“Uh, what...?”

“Oh, I imagine she wants to ship you off to Oreburgh for a while,” Rowan replied. “You remember that Black Augurite? We handed it off to the Gym Leader there, Roark, for analysis. After he did so, he obtained a Scyther and evolved it into Kleavor, but it’s clear that he is having problems handling it. We sent over your notes, but he’s continued to have issues. You’ve worked with Kleavor in the past, no?”

“I have. They’re violent, very violent.” Akari swallowed. “They’re like Gyarados: best avoided. I really only did the bare minimum before releasing the Kleavor we had in captivity back into the wild. I don’t know how much I could help...”

“You’d still be a big help,” Cynthia replied. “All of our top trainers are currently tied up with their responsibilities, and I have Volkner assisting with Jasmine as well. We’re not expecting Sunnyshore’s Gym to accept high badge count trainers in the meantime.”

“I still say we should make Roark come to the lab instead,” Rowan said. “We’d have a much better environment to work with. If Kleavor is so difficult that a Gym Leader is having trouble, it would be safer to have a more controlled environment.”

Akari blinked, remembering something that Rei mentioned to her a while ago. “Does Kleavor have any thick trees or wood to chop? Rei told me that Kleavor spend most of their time either sharpening their axes or chopping wood. It might be feeling restless.”

“Probably not.” Cynthia responded. “I wouldn’t think that Roark would have considered it either. Oreburgh isn’t exactly known for its forests. I’ll pass it on.... Ah?”

“Hn?” Rowan gestured. “You just had another idea, didn’t you.”

“Well, maybe?” Cynthia frowned. “It depends. How long do you think it will take for Burnet to get back to us?”

“With the information we gave her? I wouldn’t be surprised if she wanted to visit herself. I imagine that she would have specialized equipment to help measure these things.” Rowan nodded. 

“How is Professor Burnet even going to help us?” Akari asked. “I know she’s supposed to be an expert on other dimensions or something, right?”

“Something like that.”

“But couldn’t we have gone looking for Giratina or Dialga or Palkia or something on our own?”

“Do you not think that was the first thing I tried?” Cynthia replied. “Getting back into the Distortion Zone takes an ungodly amount of power, not to mention the attention of Giratina. I can’t exactly walk up to Spear Pillar and ask for Giratina’s help, you know.”

“Why not?”

Cynthia didn’t seem phased by the question. “Well, because it didn’t work, obviously.” She grumbled. “And if I remembered what happened when the Red Chain shattered, Palkia and Dialga are somewhere in the Distortion Zone right now. At least, whatever power that Cyrus managed to harness was trapped in there. Remember? Giratina went chasing after the energy when it happened.”

Akari’s memories of the specifics were hazy, but she did remember large explosions of light happening after Arceus intervened for her. “I don’t have a clear memory of it.” She admitted.

“Well, we’re not sure what that means for the stability of space and time...” Cynthia continued. “Burnet asked me to take measurements. I get the feeling I’ve been doing it wrong, though. She keeps asking me to take more...”

“Maybes she just wants more data over a longer period?”

“You could just ask her.” Rowan prodded. “Seriously, it’s just data analysis.”

“Well, it won’t just be data analysis,” Cynthia admitted. “The hope is that Burnet will be able to assist in the recovery of Dawn in some way. Not that I have any ideas outside the realm of fantasy.”

“What, like opening a distortion on purpose?” Akari asked. “Wouldn’t that be dangerous?”

“The hope is that by doing it with the help of a professional, it will be less dangerous.”

“But, the last time I went through, it was Arceus flinging me around, right? Though, asking Arceus doesn’t... seem like the answer? I think Lord Arceus wouldn’t give me the mission if I could just ask to fix everything for free.”

“True.” Cynthia nodded. “At least, that makes sense logically. Though, you weren’t pulled through originally by Arceus. You were more... caught. Volo said he was the one who pulled you through, right?”

“He did say that.” Akari nodded. “I said so in the notes.”

“Well, that means that the distortions were caused by something that at least exists, if not exactly easy to get to.”

“So, we need a way to get into the Distortion World, so we can ask Giratina to help us find Dawn?”

“That’s what we’ve had Burnet working on, at least. Detecting the Distortion World itself is the first step. But that’s been slow going.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Akari asked.

“I’ll ask, but I doubt it. When we do find a way into the Distortion World, then the rescue attempt really can get started.”

Rowan nodded. “Are you feeling better?”

Akari blinked. Was she feeling better? Unlike at the start of the conversation, she wasn’t lying when she responded in the affirmative. “I guess the conversation was... familiar.” She turned her gaze back to the ceiling, where Ferrothorn was staring down at her.

“Stick around for a little bit. Visit with Johanna for a while.” Rowan suggested. “We’ll let Interpol finish up with their investigation. Then you can go and crush the last of the Battle Frontier.”

Cynthia gave Rowan an impressed glance. “That’s rather bloodthirsty, coming from you.”

Rowan shrugged. “Less bloodthirsty, more confident. If the other facilities were no issue, then the Arcade shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Thank you for the vote of confidence, Professor.”

“Oh, and Akari?” Rowan added. “I had a thought. About your uniform. You are acquainted with a professional costume designer?”

Akari blinked.

“Oh!”

Chapter Text

Akari hefted a metal Pokeball in her hand. The light of the setting sun glinted off one of the exposed metal of the button, slightly more worn down on the bottom half compared to the top. She rotated it in her hand, feeling the differences in the surfaces. It was covered in small chips and dents and was clearly well-worn. Beside her, Joha- her mother was hovering over her shoulder, clearly nervous.

“Don’t worry too much. My Pokemon won’t attack them or anything. I wouldn’t let them.”

“Oh, I trust you. I’m just nervous, I suppose.” The older woman nodded.”I think Milotic and Froslass wanted to see you again, anyways.”

“Right.” Akari quickly tossed out the two balls that were handed to her as her mother handled the others. Torterra, Froslass, Milotic, and Clefable appeared in the clearing. Torterra seemed to blink as he emerged, regarding Akari with a crane of his neck. “Hello again, everyone. It’s Akari.” She did her best to give a reassuring look.

“Milotic was a little moody when you left, you know.” her mother noted. “I imagine she would have made a better first impression than Torterra did.”

“I imagine so.” Akari smiled at the cooing serpent. “Well, I wanted you all to meet my team.” Akari held up three of the Pokeballs she pulled from her waist. Actually releasing her six Pokemon into the same clearing took a lot of room. Ten total Pokemon, all gathered in a relatively small clearing, was a sight to behold. Empoleon immediately wandered to the pool where Milotic was curled in, giving her a dismissive glance before sitting at the edge, back to the water. Froslass found herself being accosted by a curious Porygon-Z, clearly bewildered at the actions of the floating digital Pokemon. A merry game of ‘tag’ ensued, with Porygon-Z’s erratic flight contrasting with Froslass and her gentle sway. Still, she humored it as the pursuit never escalated faster than a gentle breeze, and the two danced their way between the others. Ferrothorn and Typhlosion seemed to come to the same conclusion: this was far too much stimulation for one Pokemon to handle at once. They secluded themselves near the treeline, Ferrothorn plodding along with his spiked pods. Akari noticed that Ferrothorn had indeed attempted to climb a tree, only for the tree itself to splinter and crack at the ingress. Instead, he had dug a small well in the ground and nestled himself into it.

Lilligant was immediately fascinated with Torterra’s tree. Of course, this caused Clefable to teleport to the other side soundlessly, with naught but a change in expression to give away the fairy’s intention. Lilligant perked up at the movement, curious. As she peered around the still form of Torterra, Clefable vanished, reappearing next to the lumbering Pokemon’s head. Lilligant leaped to the top of Torterra’s shell in response, lightly tapping his little tree. She sprung down in time to catch a glimpse of Clefable as she disappeared again, this time halfway between Torterra and the pool.

“Lilligant, don’t harass Clefable, please.”

Lilligant’s whistling laugh didn’t inspire much confidence, but it seemed like harmless fun.

Braviary had managed to start his usual patrol of the surrounding area and disappeared from Akari’s sightline. Still, he would be back. And that left Akari to linger with Johanna by her side. “Well, I was surprisingly tense.” Her mother commented. “But it looks like they won’t attack each other.”

“I’d keep an eye on Lilligant I think.” Akari replied. “But yeah, they look like they’ll get along.”

Alright then.” Johanna smiled. “Come help me make dinner while our friends play.”

She glanced at Empoleon, who was currently being sprayed with water by Milotic, looking rather off-put by the interaction. 

“Sure.”

-----

Akari spent three days with her mother, doing her best to relax as Professor Rowan advised. The second day, she had tried to show up at the lab, only to be shooed away by an apologetic Lucas and a much less amused Rowan. So instead, she spent the day training with her Pokemon. She wasn’t sure about letting her mother or Dawn’s Pokemon watch, but it was unavoidable if she wanted to stay within the town, given its size. Fortunately for Akari, she now had six total Pokemon to work with, so she didn’t have to physically participate in her training like she did when there were an odd number to work with. Given Buck’s reaction to how she trained, Akari didn’t want her mother to think she was hurting herself when she trained. Or that she was crazy, Either or.

That wasn’t the most difficult part of her vacation, though. The true challenge was-

“And I’m just supposed to leave it like this? For how long?”

Akari gestured with chopsticks that were much too long for reasonable use.

“Just a touch under thirty seconds. Then you start rolling from the top.”

“How long has it been?” Akari’s hand manipulated the handle of her pan over the metal grate.

Johanna craned her head over to look at the pan. “Try it now, I think.”

Akari ran the chopsticks along the top side of the pan, trying to get the little egg sheet to roll down the pan like Johanna’s did. Unfortunately, she dug in a little too far and the top half simply folded completely over, creating less of an egg roll and more of an egg rectangle. With a tear in the middle. “Oh.”

“Oh, that’s salvageable, honey.” Akari gratefully handed the pan over to her mother, who deftly poured a small amount of egg into the pan before rotating the whole thing, somehow managing to roll the thicker slab into a half-presentable shape. It wasn’t as pretty as the ones Johanna already made, but at least it was the correct shape.

“Nothing to do but to try again.” Johanna handed Akari the pitcher of scrambled egg.

Akari was getting pretty good at spreading the egg onto the pan, but- oh. She didn’t re-oil the pan... Johanna helpfully dropped a bit of butter into the egg and swirled at it with her own pair of chopsticks, which Akari took over, turning the unfortunate egg into a little fluffy pile. It was much more familiar than the neat rolls of egg that she was learning to make. The little mound of scrambled egg was placed with the rest of Akari’s attempts as she wiped out and re-oiled the pan. “How many rolled eggs do you even need?” 

Akari felt a hand rubbing her back. “Oh, I’m sure I’ll find a use for them, don’t worry.”

-----

On the screen, a younger Johanna leaned rather lazily to the left, allowing an Umbreon to sprint up from behind her. She was wearing an outfit that Akari identified as gakuran , a boy’s uniform. Of course, it was cut differently than a real gakuran , showing off Johanna’s more feminine features, but there were still long stretches of straight fabric and neat buttons. Her hair was shined and combed, giving off a strange appearance to it as if it was constantly wet.

The Umbreon was crushing dark energy between its teeth, looking rather ferocious as it used Johanna’s shoulder as a springboard, streaking dark energy behind it. Her hand was extended, allowing Umbreon to slam itself into the ground, creating a rippling wave of darkness to smoke and smolder along the ground. 

“Woah. Was this how you looked when competing all the time?”

“Not even close.” Johanna shrugged as the routine continued on the screen. Umbreon had begun firing Swifts through the low fog, causing the energy to swirl in little tornadoes on the ground, which Johanna was weaving through in a little dance number with her Pokemon. From Akari’s point of view, it spoke of confidence to dance while a Pokemon was around firing attacks every which way, but Umbreon seemed to have a handle on things.

“Is Umbreon still around?” Akari had to ask.

“Oh, of course!” Johanna blinked. “That’s right, you wouldn’t have known, would you? Umbreon and Glameow were with the Professor the last time you were here, I completely forgot to introduce you. They tend to keep to each other upstairs.”

Akari nodded. “I wonder if Lilligant would like this sort of thing.” Akari glanced outside, where a rather exhausted Clefable was asleep atop Torterra, with Lilligant leaning against the side of the lumbering Pokemon. It seemed that they managed to tire each other out in their little game.

“Well, Dawn was never really interested in Coordinating herself.” Johanna admitted. “She watched some of my old performances, but it seemed as though it wasn’t for her.”

Akari nodded. “I wonder about that. This sort of thing seems more on the personality of the Pokemon more than the trainer, no? It would take a while to find and train a Pokemon that would be willing to go through such-” She coughed. Can’t be calling her mother’s greatest success ‘pointless’, could she. “It seems like Pokemon would struggle to... understand and appreciate our aesthetic beauty.”

Johanna nodded. “With some Pokemon, that’s true.” She conceded. “But others are quite vain, you know? I also got the impression that Lilligant would enjoy doing contests. She seems quite suited to it.”

“She’s a showoff.”

“She takes pride in her appearance.”

“I personally am-” Akari frowned. “I don’t know. Pokemon battling really wasn’t a, uh, ‘sport’ for me. Even all of this running around ion the Battle Facilities, battling for fun, seems... strange.”

“Is that right?” Johanna turned to face her.

“I mean, I did train with the Security Corps and with Warden Ingo. He definitely reminds me more of the modern trainers than the Security Corps members, at least.”

“Well, that makes sense. He’s probably a person that is used to how battles go these days, even if he didn’t remember it.”

“Pokemon battling... it was always more of a means to an end, I suppose.” Akari nodded. “Have you seen me battle?”

Johanna nodded. “I understand what you mean. By modern standards, and mind you, I am a rather biased observer, but still. By modern standards, your Pokemon are mean .”

“Mean?” Akari blinked. “How so?”

“Well, they tend to act on their own quite a bit, especially closer to the end of fights. I remember seeing quite a few attacks that would be considered, ah, cheap shots. There’s nothing in the rules against not verbalizing attacks, but some trainers see it as poor form.”

“Oh, I trained them to do that.” Akari admitted. “It’s more of a, uh, policy than a battle strategy, though. If they weren’t sure an enemy was defeated, I let them finish off the opponent to be safe. No reason to turn your back on someone who might still be able to fight back.”

“Practical.” Johanna nodded. “Yet almost rude in modern battling. Your Pokemon are rude, and some people do criticize your battle style.”

“How so?”

“Well, you do nothing but attack and attack and attack some more. Your Pokemon are fast and especially efficient. Oftentimes they come across as rather ruthless. Oftentimes when Pokemon battle the way yours do, rumors spread about cruelty or being over hard and compassionless. Luckily for you, Akari, not everyone knows what that looks like. The average viewer, on one hand, would think of you as simply strong. On the other hand, I wonder if the average trainer even understands your reasoning and methodology? You put up quite a cruel front during your match in the Battle Hall.”

“It’s not like that.” Akari tried. “I-”

“I know. I don’t think people who know you would hold it against you, at least.” Her mother nodded. “I keep a finger on the pulse of the media, and people really do find you intriguing.”

“I noticed.” Akari nodded. “When I was training on Stark Mountain, the others showed me all sorts of stuff.”

“You know, now that you have an image, you need to stick to it, I think.” Her mother nodded. “Keep going to Mary. She’ll keep the image in line. I don’t expect you to learn years of public image management in a week, at least.”

“Right.” Akari preached up to fiddle with her hat.

“Speaking of image, is that hat real?”

“Real?”

“As in, an original hat worn by the Subway Boss.”

“Ah, yes? The Warden gave it to me. To help with my anxiety.”

“It’s become quite iconic to you, at least around Sinnoh. I’ll dig around and see what the Unovans think. Hopefully good things.”

“I hope he doesn’t end up tripping through time and space.” Akari rumbled. “Maybe the alternate dimension theory would make me feel better.”

“How so?” Johanna glanced at the routine on screen before turning her attention back to Akari. “And isn’t this conversation something that the Professor or Cynthia should have had with you?”

“I... mph. I guess it never came up.” Akari shrugged. “Everything is equally likely.”

“Well, wouldn’t you rather have a chance of preventing the man from falling into the past in the first place?”

“I don’t know if we can . I don’t have any ideas, at least.”

“If it were me, I would probably appreciate a warning, at least.”

“Oh, we did warn him, thankfully.” Akari nodded. “He said something about changing his vacation plans to avoid dangerous locations?”

“That’s good. Progress, right?”

“Yeah. Progress.” Akari leaned to her left, where a cushion hugged the side of her head.

On the screen, Johanna in an entirely different outfit entered from the left side, Glameow in tow.

-----

“Hello? Mary?” Johanna was holding the bloody remains of Akari’s jacket. She turned out the dark brown of the sleeve, flakes falling from the dried fabric. Blood. It wasn’t a lot, but she could see it. How many times has she washed out blood from a garment? “How have you been?” She took a small piece and dipped it experimentally into the bucket in front of her. The color was holding up. She wasn’t sure about how well the color would hold, but it seemed alright.

“I’m fine, darling. How are you? I heard you retreated back into the shadows once again. Is everything alright?”

“Yes, it’s fine.” She nodded, plunging the garment into the bucket. 

“You’re sure?”

“No, no. I’ve been good.” She frowned. 

“And how has your dearest daughter been?”

“Dawn has... Dawn has been good. As far as I know. You know how children are. Excited to go on their adventures,” The blood was soaking out of the thick fabric. Johanna ran her fingers along a tear on the inside of the left sleeve. She would have to see if she had an outdoors-rated thread somewhere. 

“Well then. You normally don’t call out of the blue. What’s on your mined, Jo?”

“I was just calling about- hm. Have you heard of-” 

“Oh, I think I know now.”

She blinked. “Well... excuse me-” She straightened, abandoning the clothing in the bucket. 

“You never told me about your older one, Johanna. What a shame, too! She takes much better after you, I think.”

“Well, there was really no hope in keeping that secret from you, is there? Yes, she’s mine.” She sighed, pulling the garment out of the bucket and into a different, empty one. She stood, stretching. 

“It wasn’t so hard to tell. Very traditional that one. Did she end up with relatives? No, excuse me. Don’t mind my speculation. I shouldn’t pry.”

“Well, since you know, I might as well ask how you thought she was doing.” Johanna paced to the wall, where she dried her hands on a side towel. Her head continued to trap the phone to her shoulder before she grabbed it with now dry hands.

“Oh, she’s wonderful. Much nicer than I expected coming from you. You were such a firecracker when you were younger.”

“I wasn’t that bad.” Johanna returned to the soaked garment, picking it up to drape across a rod at the back of the room.

“Of course not.”  

“I was just wondering if she was doing well. The most I see of her is when she’s on television in the Battle Zone. She came by for a few days because of the incident with Team Galactic. Are you safe, by the way?”

“I’m perfectly fine. And as for Akari? She’s a brilliant young lady. Rather quiet.”

“I can... really?” Johanna blinked. “I would never call her a quiet person. Measured, maybe, but not really quiet.”

“Practical, then.”

Johanna laughed. “Maybe. She’s a bit rough around the edges, but she’d be more likely to get into Contests than little Dawn, I think.”

“I like her. You’ll have to tell me more later, Jo.”

“Right.” Johanna laughed. “I was curious, really. I’m glad to see you’re doing well, Mary.” She inspected the bottle of cleaning solution she was holding, nodding before spraying at the much lighter bloodstains. Where did she leave the sewing kit, again?

“You don’t think you could convince her to do some real modeling work fro me? She’s become quite the intriguing item.”

“You’d have to ask her. I’m personally surprised I’ve only seen one mention of her in the news, or in any of the gossip rags. Not interviews either, which is a relief.”

“You know that Pokemon Trainers don’t get much press compared to coordinators.”

“Not our fault that Trainers are usually so prickly.” Johanna shrugged, even if Mary couldn’t see it.

“Well, while I have you...”

“Yes?”

“Are you planning on making another Contest appearance soon? There’s one near where you are in a few months.”

“Oh, I don’t know,” Johanna sighed. “I’ve been taking care of some Pokemon left to me by my daughter. Dawn, I mean. I wouldn’t want to neglect them.”

“I see. Well, maybe bring them along? You know that most of us would be happy to help. You can talk to at least a few of the girls from time to time, you know? Our golden girl deserves to keep up with the younger generation. Besides, I miss little Glameow. What a feisty girl.”

“Oh, Mary.” Johanna sighed. “I’ll think about it. Glameow wouldn’t mind seeing you again, I think.”

“Would any of the Pokemon you’re taking care of want to learn some Contest techniques? We could do something like that while you competed. Would your daughter mind terribly?”

Johanna thought back to Milotic and Frosslass, who both were Pokemon excellently suited for Contests. She suspected that perhaps they would do well as doubles partners, too. She shook her head. She couldn’t let her fantasies of competing interfere with her responsibilities. “I don’t know.” She admitted.

“Well, ask her and get back to me. I had a wonderful idea for a set if you wanted to do some Contest work with Akari, too, if you’re interested.”

“Really?” Johanna blinked. “Why?”

“Well, I’m on retainer for her through the Pokemon League, you know. Good money, good subject. One’s mind tends to wander. Good ideas don’t stay in the shadows, you know.”

“I’ll talk to her about it.” Johanna replied. “But she should be going back to the Battle Zone soon, to finish up the Battle Frontier.”

“Oh, I know. I’ve had a few ideas brewing for days now. Want to hear?”

Johanna smiled. “You know what? Sure.”

Chapter Text

Akari was flying once again. Braviary had taken to going higher and higher every time they went out together, spurred by Akari's own encouragement. His telekinetic grip on her remained the same, though she assumed that his control had gotten better. It was already good enough to carry her indefinitely, but she was willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. 

She was headed back to the Battle Zone after a few days with her mother, though it wasn't straight back to the Battle Frontier for her. She first had to stop by with Mary. Apparently, Mary had a few ideas that she wanted to share with her client. Akari turned her head down to peer at her phone.

MARY: Hello, darling! I've got some fantastic ideas for your final photoshoot! You should be done with the Battle Arcade in a few weeks, no?

AKARI: Yes, I should. Why?

MARY: Well, there are a few ideas I wanted to run by you, and I don't trust images when I could have you in the studio.

AKARI: I can be there. How long will it take?

MARY: Not more than a few hours, dear.

AKARI: I will be there tomorrow if that is fine?

MARY: Of course! I'll see you then.

Braviary suddenly took a rather sharp dive, though Akari really didn't feel it. The only thing she could feel different was the sudden rotation of her vision and Braviary's claws tightening around her. Was he avoiding another Pokemon? That was usually the reason for him to go into those sorts of dives. Akari let him finish his maneuvers. Behind him and at a much higher altitude, the distinct shapes of two or three Pokemon were backlit by the late evening sky. Ah, that was it, wasn't it?

"Good job, Braviary!"

"Skraw!"

His high-flying stunt only ended when the other Pokemon were mere specks in the distance. Hopefully, that would be enough to deter pursuit for now. Braviary had really stepped up his maneuverability these past few days, due to his increased psychic strength. It was something that Akari was eager to test out, how wild and free Braviary could be while still keeping her stable in his grip. She could tell his control still wasn’t perfect given how unsettled her stomach was. Still, perhaps she was simply getting used to flying with Braviary, given she hadn’t loosed the contents of her breakfast upon the hapless wilderness below.

The rest of the flight was relatively peaceful, fortunately. It was a good three hours of on-and-off flight to get back to the villa. Home sweet home, as one said.

Though, maybe, it was more lonely than she would like to admit.

-----

Akari was maybe, just a touch, a little bit concerned for Mary.

When the designer got into one of her ideas, she really went for it, it seemed. Given that Akari was currently holding what looked like a hybrid between an axe and a war hammer, that was to be expected. She adjusted the thick hat that covered her ears. "What was the theme of this again?"

"Camping! Wilderness! You wouldn't be too opposed to getting some shots out in the forest, would you? Of course not, you're a trainer, not a coordinator." Mary disappeared behind some racks of clothing.

“Uh. Sure.” She was wearing a rather puffy jacket, which admittedly seemed quite well suited to keep her warm if she was ever out in the wilderness. “Could I ask you about something?”

“Of course, of course!” Mary grinned. “I’ve got quite the spread of ideas for you, Akari, but I won’t just reject your own thoughts.”

“Right. Hold on one second.”

“Hm?” The woman paused, her head appearing behind a rack that Akari was sure she hadn’t been behind not five seconds before.

“I uh, well.” Akari rummaged through her pack, pulling out the hastily patched and modified Galaxy uniform that Johanna had stored there. The identifiable logos had been stripped off and covered, so as to prevent too many questions about the garment’s origins. Her mother was no Mary, but Johanna knew her way around a sewing needle, apparently. Akari herself was no better than anyone else with cloth repair. She knew the bare minimum to keep her clothing from falling apart mid-mission and not much else. “Here.” Mary had to emerge entirely to take the uniform from her.

“Hm?” Mary tuned over the rather ratty piece of cloth in her hands. “Oh! This is...” She rubbed the hem of the jacket between two of her fingers. “Hm.” Mary approached a mannequin that had been apparently adjusted to mimic Akari’s frame. The uniform was draped across the shoulders, then Mary took two, three steps backward, simply staring.

“I was hoping-”

“Ah, a moment, Miss Akari.” Mary glowered at the article sitting on the dummy. “I am working ...”

Akari blinked. Was she... what did she mean by that? Regardless, she let Mary stare in silence for a few minutes.

Her thoughts turned to the Battle Arcade. It was a strange name that she was pretty sure she had never heard before then. She had to look up the meaning on her phone, though the two definitions were quite different from each other. The system was definitely more of a game than any of the other Battle Facilities. Honestly, she was tempted to simply ignore the game board itself and try to power through without the boosts, but she knew that the board would sometimes give benefits to the enemy instead of her, or even swap their Pokemon. Honestly, that was the part that scared her the most. Swapping Pokemon... even if her opponent had strong Pokemon, she wasn’t confident that she would be able to direct them to beat her own... whether that was cowardice or confidence in her Pokemon... well. She wasn’t sure, but it would be rotten luck regardless.

Still, clearing the Battle Arcade shouldn’t be any more difficult than anything else she had experienced so far. Akari wasn’t expecting to be pressed by any factors outside of her control.

Still, there were things that she planned to do to make this run more difficult for herself. Braviary had some experience battling in the Battle Castle, and Porygon-Z had clearly proven itself capable in the Battle Hall. The wildcard, of course, would be Ferrothorn. There were two considerations for Ferrothorn. One, Cynthia seemed to think he would synergize well with the rest of her team. Akari herself could see it, honestly. If Ferrothorn was as powerful as Cynthia claimed he could be, then he would round out her options nicely as a more defensive-leaning Pokemon. Still, he wouldn’t be the easiest Pokemon to get battle-ready, probably. Honestly, Akari was still a little mystified by the spiky plant. He could have any number of personalities that weren’t enthusiastic about battling, and Akari would have problems telling if that were the case. So far in his training there hadn’t been any problems, but that training amounted to little more than her other Pokemon landing gentle attacks on Ferrothorn’s spiny shell and his retaliatory release of spines of the swinging of his flails. Akari had read up on the moves that Ferrothorn were known to learn and referenced them with a move database compiled by Professor Kukui. It would be slow work, but Akari had a few ideas to help, though she wasn’t sure how much time she would have to implement them before she went to challenge the Arcade.

“Right!” Mary nodded as Akari was startled out of her thoughts. “I think I can work with this.” She was now at a table, rapidly scribbling rough lines onto a notebook. “This is... yes. Thank you, Akari. I’ll get back to you in two weeks, and don’t you dare step on that stage until I get my hands on you. We can definitely make this look stunning .”

Akari blinked. “Uh, sure.”

Two weeks...? What would Akari do with an extra two weeks of waiting?

-----

The first thing she thought of, of course, was training. Porygon-Z and Typhlosion had resumed their agility training, with Empoleon nearby to make sure that Typhlosion didn’t slack off. After allowing Lilligant and Braviary to run off into the forest for their own training, Akari was staring down the stoic face of Ferrothorn. She wasn’t too worried about how Porygon-Z or Braviary would do, all things considered. Ferrothorn, on the other hand, was going to be a conundrum for her. Her initial idea for training really didn’t count as training, in her opinion. After all, she was imagining Ferrothorn remaining rock solid as he spilled his spines all over the battlefield. And, well, she had no clue how to train that sort of strategy. What she did know how to train, however, were straightforward attacks. So, that was what she was working on.

“Gyro Ball.” Akari tapped her phone’s timer as she carefully observed Ferrothorn’s limbs. One, two... a little less than three seconds before Ferrothorn’s Gyro Ball began emitting the telltale glow of Steel energy. Slow, definitely, but according to Professor Kukui’s move database, that was to be expected. Gyro Ball took time to wind up, and the longer one takes to charge it the more powerful it could be. Ferrothorn continued to spin in place, whipping dust into the air before Akari nodded. At the six-second mark, she shouted “Go!”

Ferrothorn suddenly shot forward, as if some invisible force suddenly shoved him in a straight line. The spinning mass of flails and spikes tumbled violently, crashing into a large rock and causing it to crack completely in half. A huge, serrated crater had been torn into the surface, parallel lines raking up and down the point of impact. Ferrothorn came to a sudden, tumbling halt as his momentum was arrested by the impact.

Akari couldn’t help but grin. What sort of messed-up power was that? “Defensive Pokemon”, they said? Well, that was a hell of a hit from a defensive Pokemon. “Yeah, we can definitely work with this. Good hit!” She called to Ferrothorn, who had already settled himself atop the rock he had just shattered. Of course, Ferrothorn was content to rest in that spot, but Akari had more training to do.

Her current plan was thus: Ferrothorn could hit hard. Harder than a lot of other Pokemon she knew. Ferrothorn was slow, meaning he would always take an attack at least once. Maybe when Akari could help him master Gyro Ball, he could go a bit faster, but that was for later. For now, he needed to be able to retaliate and create space. His spines were fantastic for both of those things, slowing down opponents as they tried to dance across the field littered with metal spikes. However, getting more than one hit in would be... difficult. Given that most of her experience with competitive battling has been three versus three, perhaps getting one KO would be enough. And that meant power. As much power as he could muster in a single strike.

“All right, Ferrothorn. Try spinning up for a little longer this time.” Akari allowed Ferrothorn to resettle as he slammed his pods into the ground to move to the next rock. “We’re gonna try for eight seconds this time, alright?”

Ferrothorn didn’t give any visible acknowledgment other than his pods settling his body in front of the next rock. Akari positioned herself behind him and stepped backward. “All right, let’s try it again. Gyro Ball.” Her timer began to count down. Just as before, after three seconds, Ferrothorn’s body began to glow. “...four, five, six, seven, eight. Go!”

This time, Ferrothorn’s body seemed to twist as he rocketed towards the boulder. He spiraled and tumbled with a trail of whipping wind, hitting his target on the left side and ricocheting off of it. The boulder still crumbled and sprayed a shot of fractured stone, but Ferrothorn began rolling through the dirt for several lengths before his pods gouged out furrows in the dirt before he skidded to a stop.

“Right, maybe control matters a little more than I thought. Still...” Akari glanced at the pulverized boulder. “That’s a ton of power. That’s good, Ferrothorn. You’re doing good.”

Akari jogged over to see Ferrothorn settling his body into the dirt. “Let’s keep it up, alright?”

Ferrothorn blinked.

-----

The second thing, of course, was going out into the wild to do research. However, she had just spent the past few days working with Professor Rowan on his studies in Hisuian evolution, and anything she recorded about Pokemon in modern Sinnoh would have probably been recorded already. Rowan kept very thorough records, after all. The best that Akari could feasibly help the Professor with had already been set in motion. The amount of free time on her hands was unusual, to say the least. Through the past few weeks, Akari had more downtime than she could remember. Really, in the Galaxy Team, most of her breaks outside of medical leave lasted no more than a night. The time she was under strict rest for four days, she ended up restless in a day or so. She remembered she ended up spending the whole week hanging out with Warden Ingo. It was an interesting time, at least. Warden Ingo would probably enjoy being here, battling for sport. Well, that made sense, didn’t it? If she was right, then Warden Ingo was already a man who was dedicated to sport Pokemon battling. Of course, he would have loved it here, he was here. At least, he was here right now. He might not be here in the future. And that thought was more than a little scary.

Protecting the people that might be affected by the space-time distortions... made Akari feel powerless. She had to rely on people with more specialized knowledge than she had. Her real skill was in scouting, gathering information in the field, and survival. She and her Pokemon could battle anything in the world, up until and including Lord Arceus. She was confident in that. But performing protection duty? Figuring out the space-time distortions? Math ? She had tried her hand at all of those things and came away with failure. Her own minimal amount of progress when she was researching the space-time distortions before meeting with Lord Arceus still stung a bit. Though she was thankful that Lord Arceus gave her a task that she was suited for, that she could handle. Akari could only pray that the task that Lord Arceus gave her this time was something she could handle as well.

She turned down to look at the half-carved Apricorn in her hand. She only had a few of the hard brown shells left. Hopefully, Cynthia’s resources would help Akari acquire more. In general, Akari hadn’t ever thought much of money. When working for the Galaxy Team, her daily basic needs were covered, and Beni ended up cooking the vast majority of the meals that she ate. Here in Sinnoh, Akari found herself eating a lot of the instant, pouched meals that Buck had shown her. She found a supplier in the Battle Zone that was willing to let her purchase in bulk. Her trainer card apparently contained the information she needed for purchases. Otherwise, much of her food had come from the few restaurants in the Resort Area. 

Maybe she could learn to cook? Her mother would hopefully be all right teaching her how.

Probably.

-----

“Right, here!” Mary had shoved Akari behind a screen, stripped down to her undershirt. In her hands were a few bundles of dark green cloth, a bright red kerchief atop it all. Akari found herself being dressed in a material that felt both foreign and familiar as if the cloth of her uniform was unusually smooth. It was heavy like she expected it to be, and it was definitely warm. But the material had a certain feel to it that was unusual. It was... she wasn’t sure, but it definitely felt different than her own uniform. As Mary fiddled with the details, Akari looked herself over. A pale green undershirt followed with a darker overcoat, with no insignia to be seen on either shoulder. The inside of the coat was lined in a dark gray, opening up to reveal the undershirt around her neckline. The fit was very nice, and it reminded her greatly of her old uniform. The pants were a dark brown, of similar material, and fit quite nicely if she were to be asked. 

“And the last...” Mary nodded as Akari felt a kerchief being tied around her neck, another atop her head. A simple pattern adorned her right temple, and her outfit was basically complete. She was handed new sandals...

“Oh.” It was as if she was looking into an alternate universe. There were changes made, definitely, but the uniform she was wearing was similar enough to her old one that it would be hard for her to object to the differences. She flexed her arms and legs, squatting down and reaching her hands around her back.

“Here.” Akari was handed gloves that felt like...

“Leather?”

“Of course.” Mary nodded. “I won’t settle for fake.”

Akari slipped the dark brown gloves on, flexing her fingers as the stiff material creaked. Real leather was rather expensive, given that access to the best Pokemon to harvest said leather was rather rare in Hisui. Much of the leather in Hisui was imported from outside the region, and Akari herself had never owned anything made of the stuff. It felt... different than what she expected, though it definitely seemed like good material. She took another glance at her image in the mirror. It felt... modern. She wasn’t particularly sure what that meant, but it felt right. The color was so... consistent. She remembered a stain in her uniform, some ink from an Octillery, that simply didn’t want to come out. It hit her left sleeve, and it never quite came out the way she wanted it to. That dark spray had been there ever since. She once had to repair the seam at the base of her right arm, under the shoulder. She had performed the repair herself, and she remembered the feeling of the rough repair lasted for weeks before she found the time to take the uniform to the tailor to get repaired properly. And though it really wasn’t a big deal, the right half of her underclothes were a touch shorter than the left. Or perhaps her right side was bigger? She wasn’t sure, but it was uneven and she could tell.

In contrast, Mary’s work was perfect. It almost felt... too perfect? Akari wasn’t sure. It was definitely wonderful, fantastic clothing. The sleeves reached the same point on both of her arms. The legs bent the same as each other. Her bandana, fortunately, felt about the same. Still, this new outfit...

“It’s wonderful.”

“I am of course ecstatic that you love it.” Mary nodded. “I think the look suits you quite well.”

Akari nodded. “I would want to do my hair differently, but yes. This is... it’s perfect.”

“Are you planning on using this sort of outfit in your travels?” Mary asked. “This piece is made for the rigors of adventure, of course, but I can get you some darker colors for use outdoors.”

“Yes!” Akari nodded. “I would love more of these. Maybe a black, or possibly in brown.” She mused for a second. “Probably not blue though.” Akari had to steer away from how the original uniform looked, for now. “I’ve been wearing the dark blue one for a year or so. A change in pace is nice.”

“Understood.” Mary nodded. “I can definitely get that done for you.” Mary sighed. “Oh, here.”

Akari blinked as she was handed back the axe. “Uh-”

“I already paid for it. Do you know how expensive survival equipment is these days?”

Chapter Text

Akari was confused.

Her new uniform, courtesy of a courier Pokemon that dropped off the package that morning, was comfortable on her frame. It was actually a relief to put on her clothes in the usual order, rather than the simpler outfits she had been wearing while in Sinnoh. Wrapping and layering her undergarments was a familiar routine that helped calm her nerves. After all, this was the last of the Battle Facilities for her to conquer.

Honestly, perhaps she was having more fun with the competitive battling than she thought she was. If she was just trying to clear the Battle Facilities as quickly as possible, she should have stuck with her original three Pokemon. They already knew how to work with her, and she knew they were at the level to handle the opponents present at the facilities. But instead, she was wielding Pokemon she was relatively unfamiliar with. Braviary was a Pokemon she had done research on before, but Ferrothorn and Proygon-Z were still relative mysteries. Her success wasn’t a sure thing. And still, the idea excited her, just a little bit. New battles, new Pokemon to see... 

Seeing a new Pokemon without the pressure of Lord Arceus’ mission was actually something of a relief. A lady at the resort had what looked like a living set of keys hovering next to her, and Akari had to remind herself she didn’t need to ask questions about what the Pokemon was. That research was already complete, and she didn’t need to worry about it.

At the same time, it was a little disappointing. There wasn’t much of a sense of discovery when everything was already recorded, was there? Well, not everything, she supposed. There were still Professors around, after all.

But that wasn’t what she was so confused about.

What was confusing was the reaction she was getting as she prepared to face her first opponent.

The Battle Arcade was quite flashy, with a live crowd not dissimilar to the Battle Hall. Joining one of the Arcade’s ‘shows’ meant she had to show up at a particular time, to face three opponents before getting a chance to ‘double down’, fighting three of the Arcade staff before facing Dahlia. One needed to clear the ‘Double Down’ in order to obtain the gold print. Akari noticed part of the way through this adventure that the number seven tended to come up a lot in these challenges, didn’t they?

There were only a few members of the audience who could see her at the moment, due to her position down one of the side hallways, but she could see at least a few people glancing at her.

“Please welcome to the stage! Akari!”

That was her cue.

Once more, Akari marveled at how comfortable the clothes she received were. Mary had really outdone herself, hadn’t she?

The crowd roared .

Akari found herself looking at Dahlia from the side, opposite a younger-looking boy, no older than her. He was dressed in a dark shirt and pants, covered in a cape with purple and red highlights. His bright red hair was shaped into tall spikes. All right, she had rehearsed this, hadn’t she? Akari shouldered the axe Mary had shoved onto her as she approached the stage, doing her best to smile.

“Welcome back, everyone, to the Battle Arcade!” Dahlia announced into what Akari now recognized as a microphone. “I’m your host, Dahlia. Today, we’ve got a fantastic group of Trainers here to wow us with their Pokemon and their good fortune! After all, this is the Battle Arcade. You never know what will happen!”

Akari wanted to squint under the bright lights, but Mary and her mother had both warned her that it would look amateurish, so she gave a closed-eye smile instead.

“Coming up first is actually a bit of a clash of the heavy hitters, who would have thought? To my left, in the red square! He’s got lots of dragons and even more hair gel, it’s Kennen!” The boy gave a confident grin.

“I’m gonna crush it!” He roared into the crowd, both hands pointing to the ceiling.

“And to my right, in the blue square!” Dahlia’s voice was suddenly drowned out by the crowd. She gave Akari an apologetic glance, which the younger girl could only blink at. “She’s as popular as she is mysterious! Introducing Akari!”

The roar of the crowd got even louder as Akari turned to face the audience. She lowered the head of the axe to the ground as she simply bowed. Turning back to her opponent, Kennen, Akari rested the axe against her shoulder. 

“And now, we introduce the real star! Let’s spin the Roulette!”

The screen to their left flashed as a grid of boxes appeared, with one of them flashing rapidly. The grid was filled with individual colored squares in either red, blue, or grey.

“Three! Two! One! Spin!”

The flashing yellow dot began scrolling through the symbols as Akari and Kennen both observed the board. The flashing symbol slowed, and slowed, before settling on a blue square. “Akari has won the first prize of the roulette! Each of your Pokemon will receive a random berry!”

One of the attendants nearby ran up to Akari, presenting her with a plastic case containing an Oran, Sitrus, and Pecha berry. Akari smiled. “Thank you.” She told the man, who simply nodded before running back to his position.

“And let’s meet the Pokemon competing today!”

To the side, one of the assistants nodded to Akari, who took her cue to release her three Pokemon from their balls.

“Skrrr.” Braviary immediately took to craning his neck over her shoulder, peering over at the trio of dragon Pokemon that Kennen had revealed. As usual, Ferrothorn and Porygon-Z were inscrutable. Together, the two trainers made their way to each end of the battlefield.

“Right. Please put forward your Pokemon!”

“Ferrothorn.”

“All right, Altaria!” Honestly, the three Dragon Pokemon that Kennen had were unusually cute. Flygon’s eyes had interesting covers over them, and both Drampa and Altaria were rather fluffy and soft-looking- nothing like the Garchomp that roamed Hisui. Though, perhaps Goodra could be considered cute? Maybe. Akari shook her head. “Here.” She handed Ferrothorn the Sitrus Berry, which sat atop his head impaled on a spine. Not the most glamorous hat she’d ever seen, at least.

Ferrothorn lumbered forward.

“Begin!”

Akari frowned. While of course she had trained hard with her Pokemon in preparation, facing an opponent who wasn’t holding back always felt like someone was pressing something at the base of her neck. It made her frown in contemplation. She could tell she was being indecisive because, to her surprise, Kennen had made the first move. 

“Dragon Dance!”

Akari frowned. “Right. Iron Defense.”

As Dragon energy began swirling around Altaria, Ferrothorn proceeded to plant his pods into the ground and shine with light that was inexplicably gray.

“You can’t bring your defenses up fast enough, you know. Keep using Dragon Dance!.” Kenne boasted as Altaria began strafing in circles around Ferrothorn, keeping unusually close. It made some sense, given that the fluffy Pokemon probably was preparing to use some sort of physical attack.

“Ferrothorn, let’s start.” Ferrothorn nodded, unlatching his pods from the ground. “Gyro Ball.”

Ferrothorn started spinning in place, his pods forming a ring of spiked metal around him. Altaria backed up as the wind began to disturb her flight as close as she was.

DRRRRRRRRR~

Akari could hear the crowd murmuring in wonder.

“Don’t worry, Ferrothorn doesn’t have a chance of hitting you! Get higher!”

DRRRRRRRRR~

Not a bad plan from Kennen... at least, it probably would have been fine if they were outside. Instead, the ceiling was less than twenty meters above them, meaning Ferrothorn was still clearly in range... if not the most accurate. If things went poorly, then it would take at least two or three attempts to hit the flying Pokemon with one shot, if he even could. “...three, four, five, six...”

DRRRRRRRRR~

“All right Altaria. Let’s try Sky Attack!” Altaria began to glow with a white light as she began to dive towards Ferrothorn-

“Go.”

-----

BANG

It sounded like a gunshot.

Volkner could feel his grin widening as he stared at the divot on the ground that Ferrothorn dug before his eyes snapped to the collision that had already happened. Altaria had been slammed into one of the ceiling struts as Ferrothorn rocketed into them, sending the two careening towards the ground together. Of course, Ferrothorn slammed into the ground first, but Altaria landed not a half second later. Volkner winced as he heard the rest of the crowd gasp in shock. How a slow, defensive Steel Pokemon like Ferrothorn could produce a hit like that surely had to be a surprise. Unlike most of the Sinnoh natives, however, Volkner knew exactly what to expect out of a Ferrothorn. 

There were a few things one could say about Ferrothorn in competitive battling: the first of those being how unkillable they were. Volkner nodded as Akari’s Pokemon clambered up, the remnants of the Sitrus Berry crushed under one of his pods to be absorbed. It simply settled in place as his trainer waited to see what became of the opponent’s Pokemon. He glanced up at the ceiling, where he noted one of the thick support beams had been torn, warped and ripped from the impact.

The second? No matter what it looks like, Ferrothorn was not the same Pokemon as Forretress. Ferrothorn will hit back, and it will hit way harder than people think. Volkner could only grin as Altaria struggled to get back up, seemingly off-balance by the direct hit.

“Body Press.” Akari snapped out. Ferrothorn responded in his usual slow manner, but Altaria couldn’t respond to Kennen’s cries to dodge.

And the first battle was over.

Volkner glanced at the opponent, a younger Dragon Tamer named Kennen before frowning, disappointed. The look in Kennen’s eyes was one that Volkner had seen in the eyes of challengers countless times before: despair. The look of someone who had already lost in his head. Volkner could only shake his head in disappointment.

Kennen shook himself out of his look of shock impressively well before sending out his next Pokemon, but Volkner had already lost interest in the boy and turned to observe his opponent. 

Akari seemed satisfied with Ferrothorn’s performance, so they both settled into an unsettled silence as Dahlia did her best to get the crowd cheering, which they were happy to do. She was glancing around nervously, as if she was worried about how the crowd would react to her Pokemon brutally slamming another one. But the crowd here in the Battle Area weren’t that soft. Power sold tickets around these parts, and the crowd was roaring in approval as if they cared more about the combat than the game show. Still, Akari shook her head, refocusing on her opponent.

Before meeting Akari, Volkner imagined her to be some sort of showy, proud trainer given her clear parentage. After all, being the daughter of a top coordinator surely bred a vain streak a mile wide and as shallow as her personality. Instead, he found a reserved, determined trainer who was both somewhat deficient in her knowledge and overwhelmingly ruthless in her decisions. What Volkner saw as flashy costumes and impressive photoshoots turned out to be semi-practical survival clothing and a savvy publicist. Akari was a different breed of Pokemon trainer that Volkner hadn’t seen in a long, long time. She almost reminded him of the feeling that Flint gave people: A simple, determined person that was still somehow way more powerful than one would think. Volkner vaguely remembered that he once compared Flint to a Persian, as if his laid-back posture and sharp eyes betrayed a feral Pokemon ready to tear out something’s throat. By contrast, Akari reminded Volkner more of her own Lilligant. She was razor sharp, and people could tell from a mile away. That didn’t prevent her from becoming more and more popular as she, seemingly unwittingly, created the image of an overwhelming force. And the people loved her for it. 

Though perhaps a Lilligant was still not the perfect comparison. Akari was... rougher, perhaps. No, maybe that was also wrong. Rigid? He frowned. The analogy was slipping away. Ruthless? Regardless, maybe more like a Charizard. Volkner nodded. That made sense. Everyone knew that Charizard were dangerous Pokemon, both petty and difficult to control. And yet, one of the most popular individual Pokemon in the world was the former Champion Leon’s famous Charizard. Charizard was one of the most sought-after Pokemon of all time, for both Contests and Pokemon battles, despite how difficult it was to care for a Charmander. The thrill of danger and the promise of overwhelming power was enough to keep people coming back for more.

Volkner blinked from his musing to see Ferrothorn slam one of his pods down into the flailing form of Drampa. Volkner sighed as he made his way from his spot in the back of the room to the exit. He had seen enough already: That gold print would be in Akari’s hands by the end of the day.

He suddenly felt the urge to go battle someone. After a quick text to Flint, Volkner prepared to make his way to their usual training area. He adjusted his coat around him as he exited the theater.

What a monster.

-----

TOPTRAINER - HOT POSTS

+1774 Ronin(Verified) created a post: Akari has achieved Fullgold

6 videos, 1 image

Well, that was scarily fast. When I ran the TrainerRec database update this morning, lo and behold there was a new Fullgold trainer. And who else but the enigmatic Docent, Akari? Though, most of you guys in Sinnoh probably caught the performance live, right? What an impressive performance from the mysterious Akari. This win and the one Beacon Badge has earned her entry into the Sinnoh League Conference, as announced by the Champion, Cynthia this morning[LINK] . 

[LINK][LINK][LINK][LINK][LINK] Here are her five battles against each of the Facility Heads. Notably, her battle against the Arcade Star Dahlia she showed off two new team members: a rather large Braviary that appears to be Psychic-type, and a Ferrothorn. That Ferrothorn dented one of the ceiling supports with a Gyro Ball[IMAGE], and the Braviary appeared to batter his opponents with a physical Psychic move that Akari was calling Esper Wing. 

Replies(152): 

+15 [PINNED]TrainerRecBot(Verified) said: For more information on Akari(TopTrainer[NO LINK], TrainerRec[LINK], League Register[LINK])

+144 Tombstone(Moderator) said: Investigation and speculation into Akari’s Pokemon and their moves goes into the Move Database Megathread[LINK]. People derailing the thread will receive a threadban.

+671 deep_6 said:

Expected. With the rate that Akari was blowing through the Frontier, I was surprised it didn’t happen a week ago.

+609 SubBossIngo(Verified) said:

Congratulations, young lady! Bravo!

+442 SilentSpring said:

What the hell, even more insane Pokemon? This girl is a monster. How do you guys think she’ll do in the Conference? I’m thinking probably in the top 64 at least, maybe top 32. Not much more than that though.

+150 Stinger replied:

Honestly? I could see her going anywhere from getting top eight to not even entering. She has no social media at all, and the information we do have comes from either her public appearances or through the social media of other trainers.

+53 SilentSpring replied:

Top 8? Ambitious.

+135 CobaltWindBlows replied:

I would call her overrated but then she might fire one of those Gyro Balls at my house. I prefer to not be homeless.

+315 AlcStep(TempBanned) said: Message deleted by moderator

+3 Tantrum(Moderator) replied: 

Speculating on identities and relationships that haven’t been made public is bannable. You get a temp this time, don’t do it again. The only reason why you’re not perma’d is because you are very clearly and hilariously wrong.

+189 JustCuz said:

Surprised she went with a completely new team to do the last challenge with. Though the whole team of six is terrifying, I still think I would rather fight the Porygon-Z and the Ferrothorn than that monster of an Empoleon.

+31 OfficialAlolaProfessor(Verified)(Move Database) said:

Those were some fascinating moves. I’m excited to work with you in the future, Miss!

+32 deep_6 replied:

Have you ever seen Esper Wing before, Professor? I’ve never heard of it. And you said you’re working with her in the future? There was someone else saying that she’s a researcher, is that true?

+78 OfficialAlolaProfessor(Verified)(Move Database) replied:

While this isn’t the place to discuss this in depth, I believe that Miss Akari is employing

a relatively old method of training and battling that allows one to change the tempo of their moves for different effects. It’s quite fascinating, as masters in such crafts are rare in Sinnoh these days. Actually, I believe the Rapid Strike and Single Strike schools of Pokemon Training and Martial Arts practiced by Mustard over in Galar are similar in concept, if not directly related. We can talk more in DMs or the Move Database Thread. Regardless, yes, she’s working with Professor Rowan on a few projects including those fascinating Pokemon she’s been training with. A real exciting project for sure!

+14 JeopardyJeopardy replied:

That’s really cool. I’ll keep an eye out on journals in the future.

 

+55 Emulsifier said: Okay, is anyone else getting weirded out now? A girl comes out of nowhere and sweeps the Frontier in less than half a year? I didn’t want to say anything, but like, this is getting scary. What are they feeding the kids over in Sinnoh?

+172 FireStarter(Verified) replied: Honestly, I get it. I really do. But Akari is basically a freak of nature. Honestly Buck’s a little scared of her. But she’s good people.

+68 Lucas_144 replied: Akari’s awesome, I promise! She’s been working with us down in Sandgem. You’ll probably see a paper or two coming out of Rowan’s lab with her name on it in a few months.

-----

“That’s the girl?” The woman asked.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” The man nodded. “Kukui wouldn’t steer me wrong.”

“...I can see it.” The video continued to play in front of them. “She seems like she wants to move around herself, more than just her Pokemon.”

“She’s not even trying to be subtle about it, but that’s understandable.” He smiled. “I’m still like that, I think. It’s not really a bad habit, just something that happens.” He sighed. “I want to fight her, Honey.”

“Of course you do, dear.” The woman laughed. “Though she doesn’t look like much of a fighting-type trainer.”

“No, she’s not. Doesn’t need to be. I just want to pick her brain on Hisuian Pokemon combat. She clearly had someone to teach her. When I asked Kukui-” he winced. “Ouch, that one looked painful.”

“Oh, poor thing.”

“That Ferrothorn hits like a truck.” He smiled. “When I asked, he claimed he didn’t know where she came from. Sprung up like a weed.” He scoffed. “There isn’t a chance he’s completely clueless, though.”

“At the very least, you want to give her a Pokemon.”

“I think she’d take to it.” He admitted.

“You’ve really had a fire lit under you since the last set of students.”

“I do what interests me.” The man smiled. “And right now, other than the new Sword Story, that girl is interesting.” He grinned.

“You sound like a creep, dear.”

All the man could do was laugh. “I suppose so.”

“Wouldn’t you have to get here, though? Training can really only happen here on the island. How are you planning on doing that?”

 “Oh, don’t be so worried, honey. These things have a way of working out, I’ve found.” Mustard grinned. “I need to grab Kukui’s ear for a few more minutes.”

Chapter Text

“Professor?” Akari yawned at her phone as she rose from her light nap.

“Ah, Miss Akari.” Professor Birch was wearing a brimmed hat on her screen. “If you would come down to the lab posthaste, that would be appreciated. I’ve gotten some paperwork you need to fill out, as well as some new identification cards.”

“New cards?” Akari yawned as she got up.

“We made an agreement with the League, do you remember?” Rowan raised an eyebrow. “You’re officially a League employee, answering directly to Cynthia.”

“I... no I don’t remember that,” Akari admitted. “Does that mean anything special for me?”

“Honestly? No. Just more pay and the ability to access certain information and resources. It also means you can travel out of the region easier. The League ID is pretty all-encompassing.”

“That’s good. Sounds like I’ll be making a trip soon, then.”

“In the future.” Came the reply. “Currently, getting to Alola isn’t going to be a priority for a while unless Burnet can make a breakthrough with the limited data we have. There, we can work more closely with Professor Burnet and her husband. Otherwise, I think Cynthia is planning on dragging you to Unova to meet with the Subway Bosses.”

Akari frowned. “Isn’t that dangerous?”

“Honestly, we have no idea.” Rowan sighed. “I don’t think so, not with the data we have. Part of the reason I accepted the idea was we need to collect some data from Unova regardless. It’s easier for us to get the data than for Burnet to send out another kit for the Unova League to use. Those things are expensive.” Rowan grumbled. “I would know, we’ve already broken two detectors. Also, you’ve been, ah, volunteered for the League Conference at the end of the year.”

“Er, right.” Akari nodded. “That’s the big tournament for the, er, championships.”

“That’s right. Of course, technically, you haven’t been entered officially. But there are expectations in place now that Cynthia made that announcement the other day for your candidacy. Don’t worry too much about it, you’ll be fine.”

“Yes sir.” Akari nodded. Rowan’s mustache seemed to wriggle as his eyes furrowed. “But I do remember something about Kleavor happening first, right?”

“Right, Oreburgh. You didn’t remember your job offer, but you remembered the Pokemon conversation we had immediately afterward? Somehow I’m not surprised.” Rowan nodded. “We’ve informed the Gym that you’re set to arrive sometime tomorrow. You’ll receive a briefing packet on your job when you get here.”

“Yes, sir.” Akari nodded.

“I’ll be seeing you soon, Akari. Congratulations on everything, you deserve it.” The man’s gaze relaxed into something softer.

Akari blinked in surprise. “Uh, thank you.” She smiled at Rowan’s small shake of his head, clearly exasperated.

“Take care of yourself, and I’ll see you soon.”

“Goodbye, Professor.”

Akari opened a cabinet, pulling out a packet of menu six, her preferred morning meal.

“It will be nice to get out and do some fieldwork again, I think.” She smiled to herself. “I’ll probably need to bring my thick gloves, though.”

-----

It was already eight AM by the time Akari arrived at the Oreburgh Gym. Fortunately for her, the message received only specified ‘morning’, and not when in the morning she was being expected. Though, perhaps a specific time would have been better. Why was she suddenly nervous? Maybe it was the new responsibility? She was technically now an official employee of the Sinnoh Pokemon League, answering directly to the Champion. She still wasn’t clear about how important Cynthia was to the hierarchy of Sinnoh, but she didn’t want to take any risks tarnishing her new employer’s image. She approached the doors of the Gym to find the lights off, a sign hanging from the other side of the glass door.

“Nine AM... all right, that works for me, I think.”

“What does?” A voice rang from behind her.

Akari did not jump. She did not, and nothing that Roark said was true.

“Ah, hello, sir.”

“Miss Akari, it’s good to meet you in person.” Roark extended a hand, and Akari took it in hers to shake. His hands were even more rough and calloused than her own. “You’re here to help with Kleavor, then.”

“Yes. Is Kleavor here with us or are you keeping them somewhere?”

“She’s right here.” Roark held out one of his Pokeballs.

“Right, well. Before we go anywhere, did you manage to find some wood for Kleavor to work with?”

“Not a ton, unfortunately. There’s not a lot of foliage out here. Kleavor herself hasn’t been too keen on letting us work with her.”

“Well, there’s not a lot we can do, really.” Akari hemmed. “The stated goals were twofold when I was briefed.” Roark seemed to consider her words with a touch of incredulity. “The first was to get information on Kleavor and her behavior for modern Pokedex recording. That’s going to be more of my responsibility. The second, of course, is getting Kleavor battle-ready for you.” Akari understood where those orders were coming from, at least in theory. If the Gym leaders were, at least externally, expressions of the strength of a region’s trainers, then a new, strong Pokemon would be helpful in expressing strength. Though, Kleavor were notoriously ornery and hard to work within a clinical setting...

“Let’s head into the gym, then.” Roark nodded, holding up his card.

The inside of Roark’s gym, unsurprisingly, was gussied up a lot like the wall of a strip mine. Large, flat shelves of rock carved out a gigantic set of stairs, with battle areas across the whole thing. A large set of human-sized stairs ran up the middle, while a rather out-of-place escalator ran across the right-hand side. They made their way to the leftmost field on the lowest floor, where large logs had been set up strapped to metal bases. There were shallow gashes along several of the logs, and ragged splinters of wood across the arena.

“This is where you’ve been training with her?”

“Yeah.” Roark nodded. “All things considered it’s not so bad, really. It’s not like Kleavor is being uncooperative or hostile. It seems like she gets distracted pretty quickly. I can’t keep in sync with her at all. It’s almost as if she doesn’t want to battle after a certain amount of time.”

“What was her temperament like as a Scyther?” Akari adjusted her hands, positioning her left hand at Empoleon’s Pokeball and her right firmly wrapped around her knife.

“Unsure. The breeder we got her from said she was relatively small, within the normal range for a Scyther. She wasn’t any different from her broodmates, as far as I was made aware of. Here, let’s introduce ourselves, then.” Roark tossed the Pokeball into the air as Akari readied herself, the knife already halfway out of the sheath.

“KHHHHHHHHH...” The grating of stone greeted the pair. Kleavor stood a full head taller than Akari, her axes resting on the ground. She immediately lifted one arm, dragging the other behind her as if to strike. Shit, Akari was already tense, and Kleavor had probably sensed it from her stance. She wasn’t quite sure if that was right, but she did her best to straighten up, drawing her knife but lowering her Pokeball to her waist. Kleavor shouldn’t have any adverse reaction to the knife being drawn, given the species and their knack for sharp objects.

“Hey, girl.” Akari blinked.

“Khhhhhhh.” Kleavor ground out.

“Kleavor hasn’t taken too well to my training, all things considered,” Roark admitted easily. “A lot of the work I do is underground, and my Pokemon often help with mining operations. Kleavor isn’t particularly well-suited for that sort of environment. Honestly, I was excited to work with a new Rock-type Pokemon and ignored any challenges that an unknown Pokemon would bring.” Roark sighed, moving back to the steps. “I’ll step back, for now, I think. I’d like to record if that’s fine?”

“Everything starts shrouded in mystery, sir. Go ahead and record if you’d like.” Akari slowly began to approach. “Hey, Kleavor. How are you?”

“Khhhh...” Kleavor grumbled. She dragged one of her axes across the floor, disturbing the dirt. Akari didn’t move, allowing Kelavor to slowly approach her. Kleavor’s eyes flicked to the knife in her hand as the Pokemon clambered over. “Khhhh...”

Akari began looking her over. Kleavor’s gaze remained locked on her as she slowly approached. “Will she swing at me if I get too close?” Akari vocalized without looking over at Roark.

“She should be fine. It’s not really Kleavor’s temperament, it’s more frustration.” Roark sighed. “I’m not really sure how to handle her. She’s not too difficult, but using her in battle is basically impossible. She’s powerful, sure, but she flat-out refuses to battle after a certain amount of time. Her Stone Edge can send Pokemon flying, that’s for sure, but she won’t attack you without cause.”

 Kleavor chuffed at Roark’s admission, loosening her arms.

“Okay, Kleavor.” Akari glanced at the Pokemon’s axes. “Can I check something?” She gestured to Kleavor’s axe. Kleavor, in response, hefted her arm up and exposed the stone axe to be inspected. “Thank you...” Akari nodded as she ran her hand across the edge... or rather, the lack of edge. There weren’t any big notches in the stone, but there also wasn’t any sign of chipping or sharpening, either. “Abrasions are only going perpendicular to the edge....” Akari glanced up at Kleavor’s face, who wasn’t making any threatening moves.

“Is there something wrong?” Roark asked.

“Um, yes. Maybe?” Akari shrugged. “The Scyther, it was very young when you evolved her?”

“Ah, yes.” Roark nodded. “We didn’t want any prior training to influence Kleavor’s behavior, so I asked for a young Scyther with no battle training. It’s how some trainers work with Scizor, too. The instincts can get in the way, sometimes.”

“Instincts...” Akari blinked. “No, wait. Really? I didn’t think it-”

“Miss Akari?” Roark blinked.

Akari shrugged. If she was right... “Sir, stand back a bit.”

“Er-”

Akari’s knife slowly came forward, Kleavor watching the movement intently. Akari brought the edge to Kleavor’s axe before following through in one stroke, chipping slightly at Kleavor’s still outstretched arm. Kleavor instantly backed up, swinging her other axe around at Akari. Of course, that reaction was expected, and Akari quickly fell forwards, allowing herself to roll to the side and dodge the typical follow-up strike.

“Hey!” Roark shouted.

Kleavor backed up, wary. Akari herself was spread-eagled on the ground, frowning in thought. “I know what’s wrong.”

“Yeah, I do too!” Roark groaned. “Why are you attacking Kleavor with your knife? Why do you even have a knife in the first place?”

Kleavor was staring down at her axe- clearly curious at what exactly Akari had done. From her position on the ground, Akari glanced over at a concerned Roark. “Kleavor don’t have naturally sharpened axe heads.” Akari provided. “At least, if what I’ve seen here is true, then that’s the case. Kleavor here doesn’t really have axes, just big slabs of rock, no edge to be seen. Most Kleavor spend a lot of their time either claiming territory, chopping up trees, or...” She led off.

Fortunately for her, Roark seemed to understand her meaning. “...Or sharpening their axes.” He frowned. “Kleavor hasn’t ever tried to do that once.”

“She’s got no instinct for it.” Akari breathed. “But, that doesn’t make sense at all. That’s like, the opposite of instinct. Learned behavior. The axe grinding is learned behavior?”

“I guess.” Roark shrugged. “Though if that’s the case, then we’ll need to work on her axes, get them sharp.”

“No, but that doesn’t make sense,” Akari repeated. “There’s no way that it’s learned behavior.”

“What do you mean?” Roark approached Kleavor, who was still studying the chip in her axe. “Hey, girl. You okay?” Kleavor chuffed in response, seemingly unfazed.

“Kleavor are very, very solitary. You wouldn’t catch two of them within a few clicks of each other without them, uh, you know. Otherwise, they get very violent. Untenably violent. Dangerously violent.”

“Right.” Roark frowned at her again. Were they going to have a problem? He seemed very concerned every time they made eye contact.

“So, if they’re always so solitary, then where do they learn to sharpen their axes?” Akari pondered. “We can’t exactly go out and do field work, they’re not wild here.”

“Well, we can theorize.” Roark sighed. “Though that’s out of my depth.”

“Yeah.” Akari rose from her position on the floor. “In the meantime, I could try sharpening Kleavor’s axes for you. That’s something I can do today, at least.”

“You can do that?” Roark raised an eyebrow.

“Sure.” Akari shrugged. “Kleavor’s axes are made of Black Augurite. I’ve done a little work with the material before, though Rei was always the one to actually craft interesting things with it.” She rummaged through her pack, emerging with a thin black blade. “The hairdresser in town used augurite to make her razors and such for cutting hair. It’s always good to have one on hand, just in case.”

“Is that so?” Roark walked over. Akari handed him the blade, and he ran his finger along one edge. He hissed, stuffing his now-cut thumb in his mouth. “That’s a sharp blade alright.”

“My carving set is good enough to hone a blade like that. I think I can do it if Kleavor is willing.”

Roark glanced up at the now very interested Kleavor. “What do you think, Kleavor? Want a manicure?”

“Khhh.” Kleavor glanced at the knife before nodding.

“That’s a yes, I think.” Akari smiled. “Alright, we can get started now, if you’d like.”

Kleavor glanced down at Akari’s hands, now holding her carving kit. Akari extracted her rock chisel and wooden mallet. “Okay Kleavor, I’ll need you to come over here.” Akari moved to sit on the stairs. Kleavor wandered over to lean next to the steps, allowing Akari to wedge the axe between her knees. “Alright...” Akari sighed. “Sir, you should watch.”

“Yeah,  best I do.” Roark approached. “If Kleavor doesn’t know how to do it herself, then either you’ll have to do it, or I will. And I’d feel like an idiot if I can’t do it myself.”

Akari began gently running her chisel across the surface, checking to see how her chisel’s edge was doing. All things considered, it was fine, if not perfect. After sharpening Kleavor’s blades, maybe a resharpening would be in order.”If it’s true that she doesn’t have the instinct, would we even have a way of teaching her how to? I don’t know how Kleavor sharpen their axes in the wild. We’d have to do more research. How much do you know about Kleavor, as a species, sir?”

“Only what the brief said, and your notes.” Roark sighed as Akari began working on Kleavor’s axe. “I’m honestly surprised how young you are, if I can be frank.” He frowned as Akari glanced up at him, shifting her knees slightly to change the angle of the blade. “I get that you’re old enough to travel and such, but head researcher on this whole project?”

Akari had read the brief too, listing her as the primary researcher on the ‘Hisuian Restoration Project’. She hadn’t really the opportunity or a valid reason to object, so she let it lie rather than objecting to her superiors directly. She really didn’t feel qualified to lead a whole project, but that was what Cynthia and the Professor had decided. She would just have to do her best, then. “As far as I am aware, sir, I’m the lead on this project due to my-” A sharp crack as a relatively large chip of augurite fell away from Kleavor’s axe. “Due to my experience with the Pokemon in question. I’ve worked with Pokemon similar to Kleavor and my own Pokemon for... well, more than a year. Kleavor itself I haven’t had much experience with. In my own encounters, Kleavor tend to be... territorial. Not fun to research.”

“Huh.” Roark adjusted his helmet. “I guess that’s true. I’ve definitely never seen some of the Pokemon you used before. Your Typhlosion is actually really cool. I’ve always liked purple.” Roark grinned, his glasses glinting under the artificial light of the Gym.

“As far as I am aware, Typhlosion native to H-” She tried to cover her slip by adjusting her grip on her chisel. “Native to Sinnoh are rare, perhaps even completely gone. It was a coincidence, I think, that brought me to raise Cyndaquil so close to Coronet. The properties of the mountain are still being researched, but hand-raising individual Pokemon to do exhaustive research is going to take a lot of time.” Of course, she couldn’t tell Roark that her Pokemon being entirely unique was a possibility.

“If my dad wasn’t Byron, I think I might have wanted to be a Fire-type trainer.” Roark commented.

“Fire, really?” Akari continued to chip away at Kleavor’s axe. “I would never have guessed.”

“Yeah.” Roark shook his head. “It’s not like I don’t like Rock-type Pokemon, either. I love them. But Fire types were always so beautiful... I dunno. I’ve been looking into getting a Fennekin imported from Kalos to raise. I’ve always thought Delphox was a fascinating Pokemon, and your Typhlosion sort of reminds me of that.”

“Why not get the Fennekin, then?” Akari asked. She shuffled her phone out of her pocket, typing in a query on Fennekin. She skimmed the entry before putting her phone away. “They don’t seem to be endangered or hard to work with, at least.”

“I don’t know, honestly.” Roark sighed. “Maybe because my opportunities to battle and train with one would be so limited. Maybe it’s work.” He shrugged. “I was given the position of Oreburgh’s Gym leader after Reily rejected the position a few years ago. I wouldn’t have the time to take care of a Pokemon I can’t even use for work, let alone train with it.”

“Reily...” Akari frowned, looking up at the artificial lights. “He had a Lucario?”

“That’s the one.” Roark nodded. “Originally I was going to go challenge the Frontier like you did.” He blew a puff of air through his nose. “But given my father, I couldn’t really say no.”

“Your father is Byron, the Gym leader in Canalave.” Akari stated.

“Yeah.” Roark sighed. “Yeah, he is. And I-” He gave her a wry look. “I am the Gym leader in Oreburgh.” Akari waited for him to expand on his point, but he trailed off there. Presumably, that was all he wanted to say on the topic, so Akari returned to create the edge on Kleavor’s axe in silence. When she glanced up at Roark, his gaze was directly on Akari’s hands, though his expression was clearly troubled.

Did she say something wrong? She would have to think of something...

-----

“I think you should get the Fennekin, sir.” Akari stood, finished with both of Kleavor’s axes. She shuffled her equipment back into her bag before stretching.

“Really?” Roark raised an eyebrow. He began walking to the trunk set up to the side, gesturing with one hand to have Kleavor follow him.

“I don’t think you have to let your work get in the way of what you want, I think.” Akari sighed. “I met someone who grew frustrated with his work. Now he’s doing what he wants, but he doesn’t have his old job anymore.” Akari watched as Kleavor eagerly began testing her new edges on the tree trunk, carving gashes where there were once only furrows in the wood.

Roark sighed. “While I can’t say you’re wrong, Miss Akari, I don’t know if getting a new Pokemon will fix all of my problems.”

“It might fix one or two, at least.” Akari tried. “And I find that having one or two fewer problems is always a good idea.”

Roark sighed. “Well, it looks like you did a good enough job with the edges.”

Akari blinked at the sudden change in topic. “Do you think you would be able to work with Kleavor’s axes now?”

“I think I can handle it, yes.” Roark shook his head. “How often will you be by the Gym for data collection?”

“You read the debrief, right?” Akari rolled one shoulder. “Once a week writeups with me, and I’m supposed to help you train Kleavor to get her ready for at least five-badge trainers. Preferably seven-badge, if possible.” She sighed. “I think, for now, you should work with Kleavor on her own while I watch. I’m interested in what sort of behaviors you would have to teach her in comparison to my notes. My field research was limited to a few very... specific Kleavor, so my data is a bit lopsided.”

“Right, I think we can do that.” Roark nodded. “I have a few gym challenges scheduled for today, but I’ll start training tonight.”

“I will be staying in town for the first week, observing.” Akari stated. “Sharpening Kleavor’s axes was only step one. Working on her attitude in battle is next, and it’s not really my specialty. All my own Pokemon were already battle junkies when I got them, I think.” Akari shrugged.

Either that, or they didn’t have a choice in the matter. Wild Pokemon were more aggressive than hand-raised ones, according to the research she read. All her Pokemon were captured, not raised.

“Right.” Roark frowned. “Well, I’ll work on that. Will you be around?”

“If you’ll have me, sir.” Akari nodded.

“Right.” Roark turned back to Kleavor. “All right, Kelavor. Now that you’ve got a bit more firepower, let’s try some training, alright?”

“If you need a sparring partner, my Pokemon are available.” Akari offered. “If not, I wouldn’t mind going a round or two myself.” She shrugged at her knife holster before looking back at Roark. Sparring with Pokemon hadn’t been one of her preferred exercises, but she hadn’t had nearly as much fieldwork here in Sinnoh. Besides, Kleavor was young and clearly inexperienced. Akari’s only other time fighting a Kleavor on her own was the Noble Kleavor, who was on an entirely different level. Afterward, her interaction with the gargantuan bug-type and their warden were limited. It would be nice to, ah, take on someone her own size, as they say.

“Uh, are you alright, sir?”

Roark blinked. “No, it was... nothing. Thank you for your offer, Miss Akari.”

-----

What the hell was wrong with this girl? Roark watched from his perch atop the gym, various battles going on below him. He only had two three-badge trainers scheduled to challenge him, but more than enough fresh faces to keep him busy for the entirety of the day. His reputation as the weakest of the current crop of Gym leaders preceded him, as it usually did.

The girl was seated at the edge of the field, her legs dangling off the ledge as she observed the trainers below. She was scribbling into a notebook, by hand, with what looked like a stick of charcoal or something similar. She seemed to be intent on the Pokemon battling below, and didn’t notice him glancing at her every few minutes.

Before meeting with her, Roark was sent a link of her Battle Frontier matches. All of them happened within three months or so, and all of her victories were emphatic and overwhelming. Of course, press pieces like the one his father sent him didn’t contain any of her losses, and with a bit of digging Roark did see the girl had a few failures at the Factory and the Castle, but to lose less than ten times overall in a fullgold run was unheard of. Completely ridiculous. If those wins were legitimate, then she was a once-in-a-lifetime talent, especially as this was her rookie year.

Of course, it couldn’t be her first year training Pokemon. There was no way. If anything, it would be stupid to assume that she didn’t start at eleven like every other trainer in Sinnoh. Actually, the odds of her not being from Sinnoh from the start were higher than her being simply hidden away somewhere. The girl had connections, higher than Roark knew about directly. He looked into her new position within the League when Cynthia announced it. She was answering directly to the Champion. The two didn’t look related, at first blush. Neither did the girl and the Professor. Her mother, as far as people knew, was the Coordinator Johanna, who had been coming in and out of the contest scene sporadically. She had a sister who seemingly vanished off the Gym circuit before getting her eighth badge due to Volkner.

Speaking of Volkner, he was the only person who seemed to know anything at all about the girl. Claimed he battled her once, did some training. There was an interview with him when he stepped down a few weeks ago, she was visible in one of the images. While he and Volkner were never close, Roark was surprised the man never mentioned a whisper of a trainer as seemingly brilliant as the researcher until a few weeks ago. None of the other Gym leaders he spoke to had ever even heard of the girl until she was halfway through challenging the Frontier. And now she was here, helping him train a brand-new, never before seen evolution of Scyther.

It stank of some sort of scandal if he were to be cynical. He doubted that someone as famous as Johanna would hide a daughter so closely when her younger one had been running around, challenging gyms and generally being a loud, confident, excitable young trainer. Roark vaguely remembered Dawn’s challenge, if only because she had taken more than a few tries. She was determined to win fair and square, she had that going for her. Though, given her battle strategies at the time, she wasn’t prone to planning.

Contrasting her with her sister, Akari’s battling came across as a practiced, efficient battler. She didn’t have anything fancy in the way of strategy. It was all unrestricted, rapid power. Her Empoleon employed combination attacks, sure. The Typhlosion enjoyed deceiving his opponents and taunting them, causing mistakes. But a lot of that could be, and probably should be, attributed to the personalities of the Pokemon rather than the trainer. Akari let her Pokemon do as they liked on the battlefield, and they ran roughshod over it.

If Volkner were to be believed, she’d been a trainer for only a year or so, as far as he was aware. Their first meeting was that same weekend that the interview took place. When he asked Jasmine, the new leader of Sunnyshore, she confirmed that Akari was already working for the Champion at the time Volkner met her. So, what did that make Akari?

Honestly? Nothing. Nothing he could think of short of Johanna having an affair with someone very important. And there weren’t any large holes in Johanna’s contest appearances that coincided with her having a child around the time Akari would have been born. She was making public appearances and performing contests at least once a month all the way up until she was pregnant with her second daughter, Dawn. A public figure didn’t get to hide a pregnancy for long.

And if that was true...

Where did Akari come from?

Chapter Text

Akari wasn’t sure what to think of Roark.

It wasn’t as if he wasn’t a nice person. The Rock Gym Leader was clearly a polite and kind person. He never did anything strange or suspicious while she was watching, not even when she was pretty sure he wasn’t aware she was paying attention. He wasn’t putting up an act. Her initial suspicion was that Roark was unhappy that people thought of him as weak. From what she had gathered from her conversation with him earlier that week, Roark was actually the second person considered for the position. Riley, the man from the Battle Tower, refused to lead the gym, recommending Roark in his stead. It sounded, at least on first blush, that Roark didn’t appreciate being a backup. But Roark never acted bitter towards any of the people coming to challenge his gym. There wasn’t any of the expected frustration or pride she was expecting. If he was unhappy, he was good enough at schooling his emotions to hide it.

Regardless, she found the leader to be a hard worker, if not exactly enthusiastic. He seemed well accustomed to working with the younger trainers, some of them looking no older than ten years old.

Honestly, the children running around with Pokemon were her biggest concern. Akari found herself hovering like a worried sibling as young children dragged Pokemon around, fighting the assigned Gym trainers or using the training equipment. At least three children had approached Roark to challenge his gym, and one of them even managed to eke out a win by the skin of her teeth. Some of the older trainers had brought along younger siblings to watch them battle the staff. There was a six-year-old standing not even a meter from the boundary of one of the battlefields, where a Geodude was throwing mud at a rapidly dodging Chimchar. Akari resisted the urge to pick up and move the child at least another two meters backward. Her earlier concerns were brushed off by both the staff and the children themselves.

She sighed, stretching her arms above her head. Working with Kleavor really only happened in the mornings, before the Gym was open for business, and in the evenings. She could only work with her own Pokemon when one of the Gym arena slots was open, which wasn’t often. Though she wanted to escape the Gym to go train, or at least explore, she had her mission here. Improving her own team wasn’t the goal now, training Kleavor was. The team, or at least her original team, understood the objective and had no complaints. Of course, Ferrothorn was unflappable, but she could tell Braviary and Porygon-Z were starting to get bored of showing up at this same place, doing nothing for hours at a time. Still, they got their requisite battles in during Kleavor’s training sessions and whenever the traffic to the Gym slowed down enough.

She was honestly surprised by how heavily trafficked the Gym was, in all honesty. It was relatively quiet at the moment, so she lumbered over to find Roark and ask him about it. “Sir?”

“Hm?” The man tipped up his helmet.

“Are there usually this many people around doing the Gym challenge at the same time? I would think there would only be so many people here at once.”

 Roark nodded in understanding. “A few reasons, far as I am aware. One of them is Jasmine.”

“Jasmine?” Akari tilted her head. What did Jasmine have to do with Roark’s Gym?

“Jasmine’s taken over for Volkner now, so people are finally trying to finish the Gym challenge. That means for the few people who chose to wait to finish up their challenge this year are coming out to get going. There’s a bit of a trick to it, you know? They want to hit their seven-badge threshold, I think, to face Jasmine’s strongest team. So they come by. Also, I’m right next to the biggest city in Sinnoh that doesn’t have a Gym of its own. People from Jubilife come streaming in to get the challenge done here first, so I get a higher volume of new trainers, fresh out of the school they have over there.”

“Ah, that makes sense, at least.” Akari turned back to the steps. “Does it ever get quiet around here?” A pair of trainers entered the Gym, talking to the receptionist before being pointed to one of the middle training courts.

“It does, in the offseason.” Roark approached to stand next to her, also looking down at the rest of the building. 

“It’s too bad the... the season is in progress, then.” The words felt awkward in her mouth, for some reason. “Still, I think Kleavor is making good strides.” Roark nodded before he turned his attention to a visitor climbing to the top steps, clearly a challenger. Ah, they were instructed to keep Kleavor quiet, for now. Akari nodded and excused herself as a boy about her age excitedly ran up to Roark, Pokeball in hand. 

Akari dangled her legs over the edge overlooking the second level, thinking about Kleavor and her mission. On that front, things were progressing... smoothly? It wasn’t hard to see that Kleavor wasn’t the most enthusiastic battler on the planet, at least at the moment. She was rather pleased with the sharpness of her newly-honed axes, but it was clear that her movements weren’t practiced one way or another. She was young for a Kleavor, and uncoordinated. Hand-rearing a fully evolved Pokemon from the young was a new experience for her.

Akari’s thoughts drifted to Kleavor’s origins. Namely, the idea of Pokemon breeding was unfamiliar to her. How did one even start to pair Pokemon together? The limited literature she had looked into only revealed some rather unintuitive methodology and the location of Sinnoh’s resident breeding facility. Were the parents Scyther or Scizor? Scizor were apparently very common in this day and age, given that they were used extensively in competitive Pokemon battling. How long did it take for a bug-type Pokemon to reach mental maturity? Kleavor looked to be about as tall as other, non-blessed Kleavor she had encountered, so she had to be at least physically full-grown, at least. Compared to her own Alpha Lilligant, Kleavor stood nearly at her chin when fully upright, which was an accomplishment in and of itself. Were her parents larger than average, too? Was Alph-status something that could be bred into a line of Pokemon, or was it more of a blessing like the blessing of the nobles? Well, that wasn’t really her expertise, at any rate.

A shower of small rock shards sprinkled around her as an errant rock-type attack slammed into the wall above her. Akari flinched at the sharp crack before dusting the powder and dirt off of the Warden’s hat. She took the cap off with one hand, shaking it out to extract any errant sand from the band wrapped around it.

“Sorry!” A young voice called up from the floor below.

Akari simply waved back before readjusting the cap on her head. It was nice to wear it again, after the mess of costumes and uniforms Mary had her going through. Her final victory at the Battle Frontier concluded with a simple handshake with Dahlia and a flurry of pictures on stage. Afterward, Mary dragged her to the studio, where a few hours of photoshoots managed to somehow exhaust both her and her Pokemon. Mary was at best passionate about her work, at worst an obsessive. Still, her clothing was comfortable, and that was what mattered.

Akari’s thoughts drifted to Dawn. How was she doing? Was she alive, even? Well, she had to assume that Dawn was alive, considering she was still around. Maybe. It was flimsy logic, at best. Palmer had given her a copy of the book he had read, a novel called Turn Back . It went rather in-depth on the various, contradictory forms of time travel by telling the same story seven or so times, with different rules behind the time travel involved and displaying the consequences that the main character would have on the world if his actions were essentially the same. Sometimes his actions would change the past, sometimes the changes were already there and he caused each event to happen with his presence. It was a good book for entertainment, at least, but Akari spent many an evening simply rereading certain sections of the book, taking notes. As far as she was aware, there wasn’t anything revolutionary contained within, but the idea of doing research and making some sort of progress put her at ease, even if it was simply for her own benefit. She pulled the book out of her bag, observing the edges of the pages. She could tell where the pages wanted to come apart more easily as if the book itself knew which parts of it were more popular. According to the Gym leader, he wouldn’t be done with his weaker challengers until late afternoon, and she found herself rather bored watching the same cadre of Pokemon lose in the same ways, with Roark either apologizing to devastated children or putting on a smile as he passed out badges. Beneath her arms, Porygon-Z was reading along with her. She had no doubts that the Pokemon had long memorized the entirety of Turn Back by now, but she indulged the little one regardless.

“Bweewp? Popopo?” Porygon seemed to ask if it was going to battle soon. It vibrated softly in the crook of her left arm.

“No, I don’t think so.” Akari shook her head, turning the page. “Not until the Leader is done with his duties. It should be another hour or so if his estimates are right.”

“Bweeeeow.” Porygon vibrated his head in a mockery of a nod before settling down, content to scan the pages of the book with her.

-----

Kleavor’s axe slammed into the dirt as Empoleon shuffled to the side, backing up a pace before swinging one of his arms at Kleavor’s other side. At the edge of the field, a few Gym trainers sat, watching the two Pokemon battle or messing with their phones. On the other side, Akari and Roark stood together, observing in relative silence. Roark was staring intently at the battle, following Kleavor’s movements with a timer in hand. Akari was glancing between the battle and the notepad in her hand, scrawling notes as the two Pokemon fought without direction from the trainers.

click

“One point three left.” Roark intoned.

“One point three, aye.” Akari nodded. She marked the number down in the appropriate column.

They continued to observe.

click

“Point seven right.”

“Point seven, aye.” She marked the number in the column. Empoleon dodged around the slower Kleavor, rumbling out a challenge before spitting a small bullet of water at his opponent. Kleavor threw her whole body away, skidding on the packed dirt before settling on her axes. Akari turned to her notepad. Maybe her contact area was smaller than needed? Kleavor’s traction seemed to be low without her axes in the ground. Maybe the water on the ground starting to form a fine mud was a factor? Akari’s gaze turned to the thin film of water on the ground. Would that be a problem in the future?

click

“Point nine left.” Roark’s voice rang out, drawing Akari’s attention back to Kleavor.

“Point nine, aye.”

It wasn’t much of an improvement from yesterday, all things considered. Still, that was to be expected. Kleavor’s attacks coming from the right were significantly faster. From the time Roark considered an attack to start until the swing landed was a rather arbitrary measure of speed, but if Roark was consistent with himself, Akari wasn’t in a position to argue with him about his methodology. Roark cared about reaction time and swing speed, and all sorts of things like that. Roark measured basically everything, ruthlessly and meticulously. He cared about the exit velocity of Rock Blasts. He measured the cornering speed of a Probopass and their mini-noses individually. He seemed to enjoy collecting every little bit of data he could. It was a stark difference from the easygoing, polite Gym Leader he was when the Gym was open.

“Alright, that’s enough.” Roark nodded.

“You know, sir, I never took you for a researcher,” Akari noted. “You didn’t give me that impression when we first met.”

“I’m... not?” Roark seemed confused as he ran his hands over Kleavor’s axes, checking to see how the edges were holding up.

“You take good notes and care about rather obscure measurements,” Akari replied, glancing down at the notepad, now covered in her rather untidy scrawl. “I don’t think I’ve ever tried to measure anything like this before when doing research.”

“It’s nothing special,” Roark shrugged, approaching her. Akari handed him the notepad, which he began to look over. “Lots of pros tend to look at the analytics like those. If one can measure flaws or strengths in minute ways, then improving on those things is much easier and more productive. Like how Kleavor’s reaction time is fine on both the right and left sides, but her swing speed with her left axe is a good bit slower than her right. From that, we can get her handedness, preference for how she should try to work the outside, and how she should position her feet. Alternatively, I might want to work on her left side a little more, maybe with some agility and flexibility exercises.”

Akari nodded. That made sense, she supposed. Professional battling had a lot of moving parts behind the scenes, it seemed. “Is that right?”

“We’re pros.” Roark yawned. “There’s not much else for us to do than data analysis like this, or train, I suppose. If we as Gym Leaders don’t get these little edges like this, then other people will compete, and win, and on and on. I’m not planning on losing my job anytime soon.”

“This is your job, then? Full-time?” Akari asked. “How much money does a job like this make?”

“More than you’d think, less than you’d hope.” Roark freely admitted. “I don’t got sponsors lining up outside, you know. I’m not world famous like the Elite Four.”

“I see.” Akari nodded.

Roark blinked. “Oh, don’t take me the wrong way here. I’m not destitute. My family owns the mining in this region, I don’t have another job because I don’t need another one.”

Akari blinked. “Er, right.” She frowned. 

“This is really what I do, these days. “ Roark sighed. “I used to work down at the mine, south of town. Mineral analysis and stuff. But they hired a new engineer, and then I got wrapped up in a big thing at the League, and well, here I am.”

“Do you not enjoy battling?” Akari frowned. “I guess you don’t have to enjoy your work, at the end of the day.” Akari thought back to her own work. She would call it rewarding, sure, but would she consider it fun? No, not particularly. It was painful, and boring, and humiliating, and terrifying, and so many other things that it made her heart clench. She had been dragged half-conscious out of more than one puddle by fellow members of the Survey Corps, waking up in the medical tent with half the contents of her bag spilled out across the wilderness. Joining the Galaxy Expedition team wasn’t a job, not really. It was conscription. Even when she was stumbling around, not knowing where anything was or what was happening, Pokemon was her single talent. Interacting with them, training them, capturing them, working with them. She really didn’t have another place to go... No, she can't lie to herself about that. After she got into the swing of things, Pokemon research was fun. She was having fun, it was good work. Even with everything surrounding it, the work itself was fulfilling and work pursuing. She shook her head. When everything was said and done, she did like her job. It wasn’t fun. She could agree with herself about that. But she enjoyed it regardless. She couldn’t imagine doing anything else.

She idly rubbed at the inside of her palm, feeling the scratchiness of her skin. When she first arrived, her hands weren’t nearly as tough, so she resorted to wearing gloves when it wasn’t raining too heavily. Eventually, she managed to toughen up her hands after months of working with tools and weapons, but she could still remember the stinging sensation of her raw palms the first month on the job.

“No, it’s not that. Battling is fun.” Roark shrugged. “It’s everything around the battling that takes the wind out of my sails, as it were.”

Akari felt the need to change the subject, if only so that she didn’t accidentally pry into Roark’s personal life. “How does one get ousted from being a Gym Leader, anyways?” Akari had to ask. Her only reference was Volkner stepping down, but that was an outside circumstance.

“Ordinarily? You don’t.” Roark returned Kleavor to her Pokeball, and Akari placed Empoleon back in his. “Volkner’s the first I’ve seen in Sinnoh, at least while I’ve been involved in the League. But it’s really a merit system at the end of the day. You see it more in places like Galar and Paldea, where they have regulation at the end of every season. Sinnoh is a bit more old-fashioned, where lots of Gyms are handed down from teacher to student. Volkner wasn’t expected to hand over his Gym for decades, really. Though, in the past, people have lost their jobs due to poor performance at the top level. If you don’t perform to a certain standard at the Conference at the end of the year, the League can review your candidacy. About twenty years ago, a Gym leader got removed for underperforming at the Conference, but I don’t think that was the reason. She was probably already on the out, apparently. The fact that she wasn’t the strongest trainer helped push her out of the position. Though, that was before my time.”

Akari frowned. “Volkner is strong.” That was the only thing she could contribute to the conversation. “He’ll be back, one way or another.”

“I’m not disagreeing. Jasmine is a good Gym leader. Strong, even. But she’s not Volkner. None of us are. When Volkner shakes off his funk and comes to his senses, he’ll want his job back, and I’m thinking that Cynthia will give it to him.” Roark nodded. “Question is, who’s gonna get the boot when he does get back?” Akari managed to make eye contact with Roark, however briefly. 

The storm behind his glasses told her that he already had his answer.

Akari frowned. “Did you want to keep going, sir?”

Roark shook his head, his eyes clearing up. “No, thank you, Akari.” He sighed. “I wouldn’t be focused this late. See you in the morning.”

As Roark retreated to the back of the Gym, Akari stood at the lowest level, watching the man retreat up the steps. It was a long way to the top. The red of Roark’s helmet disappeared behind the top step.

“So it’s like that, then?”

-----

BEEP BEEP BEEP

A video call came in from her Arc Phone. Akari was currently seated above the rest of the Gym, atop one of the very thick support beams that held up the weight of the roof. Braviary was perched next to her, with Porygon-Z fluttering about, observing the battles below.

“Miss Akari?”

“Yes, ma’am?” Akari straightened up, the Champion was calling.

“I was wondering if I could call you in when you’re done with Roark. Should only be a few days left before he’s ready to handle training Kleavor on his own, right?”

“Yes, ma’am. He’s basically ready right now, at any rate. Leader Roark is a hard worker.”

“Yes, he is.” Cynthia conceded. “We’ve managed to get to phase two of the research stage of the plan.”

“Saying it like that makes me think we’re not even close to finished, huh?” Akari groaned.

“You can’t rush the unknown,” Cynthia nodded. “We’ve gotten enough data for now. Next priority is getting to Unova to meet with the Subway Brothers and do data collection there.”

Right... meeting with the- the Subway Brothers. She took a deep breath, and Cynthia seemed to notice. “I-”

“It will be strange, Akari, but you’ll be fine.”   Cynthia gave her a soft look. Akari swallowed. “Would it help if it was an order?”

Would it help? Akari frowned, thinking about it. Champion Cynthia was her boss now, sure. But she was, first, a friend. Akari couldn’t really see her as an authority figure, sort of like Professor Laventon was. Technically the strange man outranked her, but he never flaunted that position he held with her.

“No, I think I can handle it, ma’am.”