Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Wrong Tracks

 Chapter 1: 'I sense a Disturbance in the Force' 

Ingo and Emmet sat idly as they waited for their next set of challengers on the Multi Line, their day so far had gone well, no defeats yet, but plenty of exciting battles.

Emmet started chatting about some ideas he had on improving the Double line. Ingo just nodded and listened quietly, admit-tingly he enjoyed these moments. He and his brother didn’t get much time to just hang out after work, so he enjoyed what time they had during their Multi Line shift.

A light above them turned green briefly before turning back to white, a silent signal of oncoming challengers. “Okay, well I’ll get back to the new cup-holder idea after this battle,” Emmet said excitedly, stretching his limbs before getting into the ‘ready to challenge position’ which Ingo was already primed for. The two stood side by side, ready to take on their rehearsed poses and sayings “So…” Emmet interrupts the silence “What takeout should we order tonight?” Ingo shifted a bit mulling over the question “Well we haven’t had any Kalsian for a while.”  

“Sounds good to me!-Oh and to make this interesting, whoever’s Pokemon faints first has to pay!”

“Deal.” Ingo replied, a ghost of a smile glancing his face before returning his usual default expression, just as the challengers entered the train car.

 “I am a Subway Boss, Ingo...”

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Meanwhile in another dimension

Kudari made his tea like he did every morning, more like tea-flavoured sugar water, but it still counted as tea, because it's hot! 

Sipping it slowly, and enjoying the taste and warmth of the drink as it went down. 

He was Kudari, one of two Subway Bosses of Nimbasa City Gear Station. The other title he held was Unova’s second strongest Psychic Pokemon Trainer alongside his twin brother, though that wasn’t saying much as Unova didn’t have a big population of Espers, as they are usually called.

He and his brother were famous for their psychic ability, being able to lift and manipulate things with their minds and other incredible feats.

But looking down at the warm mug in his hands, he sometimes wondered if he should have taken the League offer for him and his brother to become Psychic Gym Leaders...maybe life would have been a little easier if he had?...No….he shook the thought away, him and his brother have their own issues with the Pokemon League and they didn’t want to be under their thumb in anyway.

Quickly looking up at the clock on the wall, it was 6:10 am, he still had plenty of time to get to the station before his shift started. He downed his drink, relaxing against the sink as he took stock of his and Nobori’s apartment.

It was a mix of what one would consider ‘modern’ and ‘classic’ furniture, a ‘modern’ black ‘L’ shaped sofa- soft, comfortable and Pokemon durable. But the coffee table was from another time, low to the ground, with beautifully carved legs depicting the ancient dragon Pokemon from legend, in an old timely art style. It would probably have to be replaced or fixed as it was showing its age, the corners were terribly scuffed, stains from food and Pokemon trying to nibble the wood and it was in need of some wood polish, but still, with its arrangement of yellows, amber-browns, and dark wood colours it was still a very pretty coffee table, it was good bargain from the charity store.

The carpet was an uncaring grey colour that battled against a rainbow rug of amusing patterns that took up space in the centre of the room, the walls a light blue colour, that was mostly covered by framed pictures, bookcases and trophy cabinets.

They had a small balcony that was hardly used as the two hated heights, but it had a nice view of the local park that Kudari and Nobori would take their Pokemon to in their free time, a good spot to get some fresh air (as fresh as city air could be anyway) and a place for him and Nobori to practice battle strategies in the open-air battle arena.

He sighed deeply, he didn’t know why he was feeling nostalgic this morning, but it was certainly putting him in a melancholy mood, he needed to head to work soon before it dragged him down further.

His eyes soon caught sight of the light that travelled from the balcony and stretched across the carpet, stopping at the entrance to their small corridor, which hosted the airing cupboard, a small wash basin, washing machine, and dryer along with the secret base of cleaning products, that was currently locked to stop certain Pokemon wanting to have a nibble on the sponges and drink toxic cleaning potions.

‘I don’t care if it smells like lemons, it’s not a drink for Pokemon!’ Kudari chuckled as he recalled the time he had to scold his Excadrill ‘Drilly’ for attempting to down a bottle of lemon scented dishwashing liquid.

Tea sadly gone, he levitated the empty mug into the sink, giving it a rinse as he continued to get lost in thought. Past those utilities were their simple bathroom, ‘I need to brush my teeth before I leave’ he reminded himself. Then their separate bedrooms and shared study room, where they did any paperwork that they had the misfortune of having to be brought home, along with home bills.

Kudari mused for a little while longer before abandoning his task, heading over to the coat rack to grab his white hat and subway boss overcoat. Putting them on with ease as he did a last mental check

 - Pokemon? - Patting belt - CHECK!

- Keys? - Jingle from Pocket - CHECK!

- Phone? - Other Pocket – CHECK!

- Xtransceiver – Yep still on my wrist - CHECK!

- Brush teeth? -Oh right!

Quickly getting that done and out of the way he headed out, but something was still gnawing at his brain and it wasn’t a Munna, he couldn’t quite place a finger on it, but he felt like he forgot something, ‘Oh well, couldn’t have been that important’ he shrugged as he locked the door behind him.

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

He made it to the station in time, checked himself in and took a glance at the schedule that was passed to him by an employee. He would be starting out on the Red Double line and would switch to the Multi-line after lunch then at 3pm switch to the Pink Double Line and finish off at 6pm. Then, ‘hopefully’ only an hour of paperwork before going home, as long as there weren't too many issues that needed to be sorted through, but then again he had the other Subway Boss Jason there to at least do his fair share of the work.

Leaving the office and heading down into the subway, Kudari stretched his arms over his head, giving a slight yawn and a crack of his knuckles as he went to do his rounds before getting on the Double line. Today was going to be busy, but he looked forward to hopefully some fun challenges.

He briefly glanced around and was lucky to spot his brother, a looming shadow over the crowd of attendees. Seeing him in the almost black, navy uniform of the Gear Station, Private Security Team...it sprang a feeling of regret, he would have liked it if Nobori had been his Subway Boss Partner, but life doesn't always give you what you want, he thought bitterly.

He stayed to watch his brother for a moment, Nobori seemed to be searching the crowd like a Sharpedo searching for food. His silver eyes glancing over people like he was staring into their souls, his body was tense and a hand near his walkie-talkie. ‘Hmm...he must have sensed something is wrong’ Kudari thought, now immediately on alert. They did not need another Team Plasma incident this month, so help him Arceus! as he too searched the crowd. Sending out his psychic pulse to probe for trouble. Like a hand glancing over the surface of running water, he felt the current of passengers beneath his psychic presence, flitting over the energetic, the drowsy, and those determined to get on board the next train. Finding nothing unusual from those close around him, he was about to spread out his reach even further, when he felt the psychic ping of his brother ‘He’s found his target’ Kudari thought darkly as a smug grin crossed his face. He felt the energy of his brother teleport and then reappear in front of someone heading for the exit.

‘Sigh, I guess I’m going to have to deal with more paperwork today after all,’ a s Kudari made his way to where his brother warped to...

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

The assailant squawked in alarm as Nobori appeared in front of him, psychic energy flickering like purple lightning off his dark uniform, while his face wore a death glare that could scare someone into the next dimension.

The Team Plasma grunt leaped back, and started turning to try and run away, but his body suddenly locked up in place as he was pinned to the spot by a psychic grasp.

He had hoped, by Arceus he had hoped! that he had been able to get away with ‘Liberating’ stealing the trainer Pokemon on the single line, but it seems Gear Station’s notorious ‘Security Boss’ had found him.

Sweat watered down his brow as he felt the overwhelming crushing psychic pressure behind him as Nobori slowly walked into view. Ignoring the crowd that was starting to form around them, Nobori was leering down at the grunt, one hand still outstretched to direct his psychic control, the other with a walkie-talkie to his mouth, “I have found and captured the Pokemon Thief, it seems to be another Team Plasma Grunt. Yes, I’ll hold him until Officer Jeremy arrives,” the sounding ‘click’ of the device as Nobori finished had a ‘finality’ to it, that had the Team Plasma Grunt gulped in fear. ‘ Ghetsis is going to kill me for this!’

Nobori continued to have one hand still raised while the other now rested pointedly on his Pokeball belt, giving the grunt a look of ‘try anything and you’ll get worse’ as Kudari parted the crowd to stand by his brother.

“Bravo!! Deputy Nobori, it seems you’ve caught another one of these Plasma Grunts. At this rate you would think they would reconsider taking their business elsewhere?” Kudari spoke in ‘professional Boss’ mode as he liked to call it, while treating his twin brother like any other employee...which honestly felt weird doing, but it had to be done. They both had to be professional at work, no matter if they were related.

 “Yes, sir, unfortunately Gear Station is a hot target for the likes of Team Plasma. With its Battle Subway and transportation there is no doubt that we will be seeing more issues in the future, unless the Champion is able to crack down on their Leader and end the Team Plasma activities for good.” Nobori spoke seriously while adjusting his raised hand a little, again, treating Kudari as his boss and not his brother. The Grunt on the other hand just glared at the brothers, the only thing he was capable of doing was breathing, if he could move his jaw and speak, he would be cursing up a storm right now. ‘ These idiots! Don’t they see how they are oppressing Pokemon? Forcing them to fight in these battles is abhorrent!’ He continued to grumble for himself till Officer Jeremy arrived. 

The Cerulean haired, amber eyed, Officer Jeremy with a Herdier following by his side, greeted the brothers before directing his attention to the Team Plasma Grunt. “So, this is the Grunt that stole some Pokemon. Is it me or are they getting younger these days?”

“I’m afraid that with the League’s new regulations a lot of youths are turning to join Team Plasma and their ideas,” said Kudari. “While I don’t 100% disagree with all of what they have said,” he said this while pointedly looking at the Grunt, “I disapprove of how they have gone about conducting themselves and enforcing their ideals.”

Nobori chose them to speak up: “Officer Jeremy, the stolen Pokeballs are in his backpack,” Nobori directed with his free hand to the blue backpack the grunt was wearing.

Officer Jeremy nodded in understanding, before careful approaching the Grunt, his Herdier growling at his side and in a ready to fight stance in case the crook tried anything (even if he couldn’t move while in the Psychic hold, it was never a bad thing to be too careful these days). As Officer Jeremy pulled the zipper to the backpack, there was a few other items in there, some of which would be looked over later at the Police station, but the 3 missing Pokeballs (that he assumed still had the Pokemon inside them) were there at the top.

“We’ll have to have the Pokemon come out to confirm they’re the missing Mons, but we’ll do that when the trainer arrives.”

“The Trainer is currently at the Gear Station, Security Office,” replied Nobori.

“Great, call them over and we can get this sorted quickly. Now you young man,” Officer Jeremy said this while cuffing the Plasma Grunt’s wrists together with the help of Nobori’s psychic manipulation. “I don’t support Pokemon cruelty either, but there is a reason we have a phone line to call, you know? If you really believed someone was abusing their Pokemon you should call them, instead of doing this” Officer Jeremy spoke while pulling the Grunt along, Nobori having let go of his control once the grunt was fully secure. Now that his body was free, the Team Plasma Grunt started shouting and cursing, while kicking out and digging his heels into the title floor of the subway. Flashes of people’s phone cameras and Xtransceivers lit up the scene now that things had gotten interesting again.

“The League will never listen!!! You’ll continue to enslave and torture Pokemon with these cruel battles we call entertainment!!!! When will change come!? Who will speak out for those who can’t speak for themselves?”

Officer Jeremy rolling his eyes at their outburst, they were fortunate enough didn't have to drag the Grunt for long, as the other Police officers had arrived, handing the Grunt over to them, with a bit too much vigour Officer Jeremy dusted his hands of the situation for the moment and turned to Nobori.

“You should have become a true Police Officer Nobori, I’m sure you could do great work on the force!”

Tipping his hat in response, “I’m afraid, Officer Jeremy, my place is here in the Subway,” Nobori said with a chuckle, though now trying his best to wipe the sweat from his brow discreetly. He was going to need a break soon, this morning was already zapping him of most of his energy, but hopefully he could head back to the Security Office before any more trouble occurred, and recoup.

“Well, you better rest up before your next shift, Deputy Nobori,” Kudari said this with a smile, but at the same time laying his hand on Nobori’s left shoulder, giving it a gentle squeeze. ‘Dangit, he call tell I’m tired already’ Nobori thought, but turned his gaze away from Kudari, he could not let his brother see the exhaustion on his face, “Yes, sir,” was his only reply,

He could feel Kudari and his older-brotherly need to probe him further about looking after himself, but they had to keep it professional, so Kudari let go of his shoulder, waved goodbye, and left for the Double line. Which meant as soon as Nobori got back into the Security office he was bombarded by text messages from Kudari on his phone.

Sighing and taking a big breath Nobori almost wanted to ignore them, but knew his brother would track him down during either his break, or sneak off to find him during a lull in the traffic of Pokemon Challengers anyway. No matter what, he was not going to be able to escape his brother’s prying for long.

Sitting down in his swivel chair at his desk with a bit more oomph then intended as he was starting to feel tiredness sink in, he had begun at 4:30am having to do a routine security check of the the tunnels which resulted in having to scare off some Excadrill that had busted through one of the walls, that line will be out till maintenance could fix that. Then a few passengers needed to be escorted off due to their 'poor' behaviour, 'I still need to finish that report', and while patrolling the other platforms just picking up the odd piece of trash that people had carelessly dumped, using his telekinesis to handle the garbage safely 'Why can't people just put their trash away, it's not that hard?'  Then just teleporting himself around the station to deal with the reported thievery and stopping the Grunt before he could leave had left him feeling a little exhausted.   

So staring for a few seconds at the ceiling before opening up his flip-phone (he didn’t care if the phone was considered old, he liked the tactile-ness of opening the phone. Besides, he just wanted to make calls, not get too distracted with phone games...like what happened last time...sigh, gone were the days of playing Angry Pidgeys).

Getting to his messages he could already see his brother had texted him a few times...darn he was fast.

- Are you alright?

- Did you remember to have breakfast?

- I noticed the lack of dishes this morning, you better have not skipped a meal again!

- Do you have a migraine?

- Feeling lethargic again?

- Did you sleep alright?

- Was it the Nightmare again?

Breathing in deeply and scanning the room for any prying eyes, that checked Nobori started forming his plan of attack /response.

Nobori didn’t want to admit he had the bad dream again, it had kept him up most of last night...and he really didn’t want Kudari to worry anymore about him, ‘That’s what my therapist is for,’ he thought sombrely. So...not telling him about that….yes...he could reply he had breakfast, hopefully his brother wouldn’t notice he skipped over his first question.
 

- I had Breakfast, it was an energy bar and one of those Choc Miltank  protein shake drinks.

It didn’t take long for him to get a reply ‘Must be a slow day,’ he thought.

- That’s not a good breakfast for you! >=(

Quickly typing a response

- I know, but I was in a rush to get to work!

* Ping *

-Did you oversleep again?

- You only do that if you had a really bad night!

-...

- You had that bad dream again didn’t you?

* Ping *

- It was just really hot last night

- Made it difficult to sleep

* Ping *

- Hmmm I am making brotherly displeased noises at you.

- As I don’t believe you!

It was then that the quick replies came to a sudden stop, ‘Hmm..he must be facing his challengers,’ mused Nobori. Well it at least gave him time to start work on his report, writing up the important details and drinking from the bottle of water he had set up at his desk. After 10-15 minutes, the texts came back again, but still at a much slower pace. Nobori looked down at the messages, taking note he’d have to wait a bit to get the full sentences.

- We

- Are

- Going

- To Talk

- More

- When

- I am

- On

- Break

- You have been warned!

- Don’t try to flee the region =p

Nobori couldn’t help but slip a small smile at that last line, he really did appreciate that his brother cared...he just wished this wasn’t becoming more of a problem..he needed to get well again, but it was like his body was just getting sicker by the day.

It was then that Nobori felt the presence of the ‘true’ Head of Security of Gear Station enter the room and was making a beeline for him, Chief Robert. 

Ever since Nobori got dubbed by the news-press as the ‘Security Boss’ earlier this month he felt the ‘real’ boss giving him more negative vibes and disgruntled looks along with a couple of his colleagues. ‘I wonder if it's going to be Cams or a Doughnut and coffee run today?’

“Deputy Nobori.” His boss now stood behind him as Nobori pocketed his phone out of sight, before turning in his swivel seat to face Chief Robert. These were the only times Chief Robert could stand taller than Nobori, who when standing up was a head taller than the slightly portly Chief of Security and his Dallas Moustache.

 “Yes sir?”

He could feel the wave of glee coming off his boss as he brought out a list

“Need someone to do inventory,”

‘ Gosh darn it’-

“Yes Sir, I can get that done,” he spoke neutrally as he rose and grabbed the offending list from Chief Robert, doing his best to hide his tiredness and head for his newest destination. 

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Back in the previous Dimension

The battle was going excitingly, each side was down to their last Pokemon: Ingo’s Klinklang and Emmet’s Durant against Hilda and Hilbert’s Emboar and Samurott, the battle clearly leaning towards the challengers

It was in the midst of deciding his next move that Ingo spotted an odd flash of blue light coming from the left side windows, something zig-zagging erratically as it zipped alongside the train, before overtaking their car and going out of sight.

Ingo thought he must have imagined it, as it had gone by so fast, but when he heard his brother call out “What was that?-” just as chaos erupted

First it was a shockwave. He could feel the vibration through the floor before it hit, almost knocking him off his feet if his instincts hadn’t kicked in and he automatically grabbed the handrail above while reaching over and grabbing Emmet around the waist and pulling him to his side. Hilda and Hilbert were not so lucky, both had their backs to the shockwave so were pushed forward landing on their faces and front which were now bruised and scratched from the impact, their Pokemon fortunately more used to such things from many a battles, just dug in their claws and braced themselves.

Then it was the terrible sound of the subway train breaks going off, the screeching making Ingo's heart skip a beat in fright.

‘ This is Bad’ He thought, before the lights suddenly flickered off and everything went black

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Back in the other Dimension

It’s not that Nobori hated inventory, it's more that he hated it being used as an odd way to get back at him for ‘doing his job’.

He sighed as he trailed his gloved finger over the dust-covered rows of files, before picking up one and having a quick glance at the contents before placing it back in the ‘right’ category ‘Honestly someone hasn’t been doing their job down here, everything is a mess!’

Nobori then felt a rumble of emotion from his Pokmeon in their Pokeball capsules around his belt, they wanted out.

Another sigh, then speaking telepathically to his Pokemon:

// You can’t come out their isn’t enough room for you all //

 Another rumble of protest untill-

//Gabby no-//

There was a loud ‘ping’ as the Pokeball released his female Garchomp ‘Gabby’ into the cramped storage locker.

The Garchomp looked around disgruntled, barely able to fit in the space among the metal cabinets and boxes, her head nearly touching the ceiling, before glancing down at her trainer.

“Don’t give me that look, I told you there wasn’t enough space”

‘Gar-chomp, gar, gr-amp”

“I know you're disappointed that you couldn’t chase down that Team Plasma Grunt, but it would have caused more trouble than good to let you loose. We don’t want people thinking I’m letting my Pokemon run amok in Gear Station.”

‘Gar-Gar-rump’

Rolling his eyes and then focusing on the feelings from his other Pokemon, they were all itching to get out and move about too, but had more patience to wait on their Trainer’s command - unlike Gabby.

He had once been asked a long time ago if he could ‘hear the voice’ of Pokemon, his answer was a ‘no’ but he could feel their emotions and intentions. At this point Gabby had now leaned down and curled around her trainer, resting her large head on his shoulder. Nobori gently reached out and started giving scritches under the chin. Gabby enjoyed this, the scaly draconic landshark leaning further into her trainer as he tried to keep balance. 

// Once I’m on break, I’ll take you all out to the park and I’ll get you some Pokemon safe Ice-cream. How does that sound? //

Much good feelings could be felt from his team at this answer.

“Okay Gabby, enough attention for you,” giving her one last chin tickle before putting his hand back down, a swell of disappointment flowed from the dragon at the lack of tickles. “You’ve got to return to your Pokeball like the others, I’ll make sure we get on the roster tomorrow for the single line battle train, I know how much you like to fight trainers’ Pokemon one on one.”

Pleased feelings returned, along with a nuzzle to his left shoulder telling him that Gabby was happy with that, and allowed herself to return to her capsule, leaving Nobori alone once again.

He almost regretted doing that. The sudden 'loneliness' of the space seemingly sinking down on him, but he shook it off. He had his Pokemon when he needed them, they were right there, no need to feel that way.  

So back to displaced files, old batteries, lost books and other doo-dads, but the tiredness that he felt before was now creeping back on him. He found himself squinting more at the text on the papers and boxes making double and triple checks at the items he was counting having miscounted a couple already, eventually after nearly an hour of trying to work he gave up.  

'Sigh maybe I could just find a corner and snooze for a bit...not like anyone comes back here' he eyed the boxes that looked maybe comfortable enough to lie on when he felt it. 

Now how does one describe the feeling of what a distant explosion feels like, but without shockwaves, or sound? Barely a rumble of a vibration, just something going off, just ‘boom’ suddenly a huge mass of 'something' hitting into the ether nearby, the energy reacting and rippling, being distorted and changed before settling around the new mass of 'something' but still very much agitated from the sudden thing’s appearance.  

Nobori had fallen to his side on the floor in shock at the sudden wave of psychic information and then readied himself for the next wave, putting up a psychic shield as quickly as he could before the emotional chorus of the patrons came after. It's like waves on a beach, first your hit with the biggest one that bowls you over then getting splashed further back by the smaller waves after, but instead of water its a mass of fear and confusion rippling out and through him within seconds, his psychic shield lessening the impact that it would have if he hadn't. 

Once the wave of emotion passed, Nobori took a breath he didn't know he was holding, just as his Pokemon decided to ignore previous issues and check up on their trainer. The soft ping and lights flashed as he was surrounded by his team. Gabby, Shandy his *Shiny* Chandelure, Levi (Leavanny) and Sylph (Sigilyph). His Gigalith (Giga) decided to remain in his Pokeball. 

"I'm alright" he hissed, not convincing his team at all, but they did help him get back on his feet. Batting at the dust that had clung to his clothing and adjusting his hat back into place, Nobori quickly returned his Pokemon (Much to their disagreement).

// I'll get you all your own tub of Ice-cream, I just can't teleport you all at once, now I need to focus //

Quieting his mind and focusing inwards to what people would call the 'Third Eye' he needed to see what was going on.

First darkness, before the soft image of the room and himself appeared, 'Okay, now focus further ' his vision then moved like a Pidove on the wind, but moving through walls, people and other objects towards the direction of the source of the disturbance, there ahead of him was confusion and not so much chaos as he thought there would be, people were standing back or running away from- 'Why is the Multi line here?'  

The train looked oddly batted and scorched, and the people inside seemed just as scared and confused as the people gawking at the train that shouldn't be there. 'Okay, better get over there and do my job' focusing around the area and locating a space by a trashcan (Don't want to accidently teleport on top of someone) he focused his psychic 'point' there before warping

The feeling of teleporting was always a bit 'uncomfortable' the best way Nobori could describe it as 'walking off' like he just walked off backwards from a jumping board, disconnecting himself from that 'space' and reconnecting himself to his psychic 'point' before he hit the water. In that moment, you are embraced with the sudden lack of gravity and 'everything', the sort of space and sense of the 'unknown' that he didn't want to dwell on. He made certain that every time he teleported, that he held on to his 'psychic point' with an iron grip. Much like railroad tracks, that focus would keep you on course and safely lead you to your destination. However, while the ‘jump’ itself lasted only a moment, it always felt a bit longer being 'there'. 

And there, he was warping in, which always meant appearing about an inch off the ground as Nobori had a deadly fear of accidently warping his feet into the floor if he didn’t leave a gap, but it did mean having to 'stick the landing'.

With a bit of a wobble he landed, fighting back the sudden attack of vertigo on re-entering 'Maybe it was a little too soon to teleport' he thought as he raised a hand above the trashcan to steady himself 'Really, should of had a nap ' Nobori glumly mused, before quickly straightening himself up and walking onto the scene 'Hopefully no one saw that' . Scanning the patrons and only sensing minor injuries 'Thank goodness, no major injuries, no Hospital trips, less paperwork!' before bringing his walkie-talkie up to his lips: "This is Deputy Nobori, I have arrived at the destination of the disturbance, so far I only sense minor injuries, the Multi Line Train seems to be here. I am investigating further, but would like backup, Over~"

"Roger that, currently the cameras are down, whatever the 'disturbance' is has short circuited the system, we are trying to get things back online now, so watch yourself out there, backup will take a bit of time to reach you, Over~" 

"Roger, Understood, Over~" 'Good thing I have my team then' As he switched his walkie-talkie for a whistle and blew it, gaining the confused and scared would-be-passengers attention. 

"Attention all attendees, please back away from the train in an orderly manner, back behind the yellow line sir, do not make me repeat that. All injured, please-" Indicating with his free hand to a place beside him "please come here, so that you may be attended to." As he said that, his 'sixth' Pokemon appeared, an Audino with a blue first aid hat and aid kit. 'Mayday' was a special Pokemon trained to help out with giving first aid, they were not one of Nobori’s personal Pokemon, but belonged to the Private Security Force. 

As the injured quickly gathered round and Mayday did their job, Nobori focused his Psychic sense on the 'train'. The people and Pokemon inside were scared too, but couldn't get out, the electronics were shot. 'Hmmm,' he didn't sense any malicious intent. If someone had set up a trap they certainly were not present to unleash it in person. Gabby soon re-joined him, escaping her Pokeball again though this time he didn't have the will to dismiss her, subtly reaching over to lean against her body for support, feeling the smooth/rough scales beneath his glove was a comfort for him. 

//I know, girl, but we have to wait. No one is in immediate danger, as soon as someone else comes though we'll jump into action. // 

Continuing to keep his senses up, he could feel that..someone..no, actually a pair of someones were making their way through the train, the distress from the passenger’s being comforted and nulled. ‘Good, at least they're not panicking anymore, I’ll have to thank whoever is helping with the passengers later.’

‘Gar, Gar, Chomp, chomp’

“I didn’t send out a telepathic voice as I still haven’t gotten better at ‘an inside voice’ as Elesa , would say. Pokemon are more tolerant than humans. Last time I did, people freaked out more- it was not fun having to explain that mess.” 

 ‘Gar.’

“Sigh, I’m developing a migraine,” he said truthfully, while rubbing his temple, “I’m not going to push myself further, I don’t sense any need to pry on what’s going on inside. I’ll wait for backup before we move in.” 

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

On said train several minutes previously...

'Well at least we didn't derail' was the humbling thought that crossed Emmet's mind as he helped his brother off the floor, dusting some dirt from his brother's coat before being waved off. The train, despite the bumpy ride, seemed to have arrived back at Gear station. 

"We will have to reschedule our battle for another time, as me and Ingo need to go find out what's going on here, but I will say you definitely had us there! ! I am Emmet, and will see you on the next train, now let's disembark!

He then went to the door..it didn't move, he pressed the buttons to the side, still nothing, kicking didn't do anything but hurt his foot "Ingo, I think we have a problem."

"The power is out and the device we could have used to heal our Pokemon is out too," Ingo was by the healing station that the car provided for after battle, its lights clearly off.  "We’re going to have to use Durant to open the doors."

"Hey, why don't I use Emboar to open the doors!" offered Hilbert, while he and Hilda hadn’t been too badly hurt, he would be dealing with a bruised lip for the near future and Hilda had scraped knees that she was applying plaster bandages to, her Samurott lay near her on the floor, watching their trainer concernedly. 

"Because you'll have to pay for them later, it's best for Ingo and I to do this task. You make sure you and your friend are alright! Alright Durant, let’s get this door open!”

Durant’s metal mandibles were easily able to pry the doors apart ‘I wonder how much of this is going to come out of our paychecks’ Ingo thought grimly as he watched his brother be a little too gleeful at Durant’s destruction of Gear Station property. 

“Oh come on, not like you’ve never been curious if Durant could do this or not?” Emmet seemingly responded to Ingo’s expression, “‘Sides, can’t we claim the damage was done during the accident and not after?”

“Perhaps, but I’m sure the investigators will be able to tell that the doors were opened by a Pokemon, and possibly be able to get Durant’s DNA from the doors themselves-”

“Fine Ingo, we’ll mention we opened the doors” 

“Who said there needs to be a ‘we’, Durant is registered to you” Ingo said with a bit more of a smug tone, a slight tease towards his brother. 

“Well fine then, Durant don’t hold back! Give these doors all you’ve got, full steam ahead!”

Using Durant to easily open up the doors, the two traveled car to car, doing their best to help and assist any of their passengers and Depot agents that needed it, but thankfully it seemed no one got seriously hurt from...whatever that explosion was.  

Passing some of the trainers, one spoke up. 

“Hey, why don’t you guys open one of the side doors and let us out into the tunnel?”

“Because we’ll get electrocuted by the third rail,” Emmet responded bluntly.

“Oh! Right!” said the trainer, while their friend beside them facepalmed.  

Ingo told Emmet to go on ahead as he wanted to question the Depot Agents on if they had seen anything before the ‘accident’ or during the event. 

Emmet was happy to continue, arriving finally at the last car, he checked on the passengers before heading towards the doors that would open onto the platform. With a quick hand signal, Durant tore the doors open. Finally, they could be free! Although Emmet was surprised that none of their Depot Agents had come to their aid from the platform…that was going to have to be addressed in the next meeting, their response time was verrry sloppy. 

Looking around now that he was on the platform, there were tons of people just staring and gawking at him. While he was used to people staring...these were not the usual stares. 

"Er..Hello, I am-"

"Kudari?"

Emmet paused as his brother stepped out of the crowd, in what looked like a police uniform with a Garchomp following close behind.

"Kudari, how-" Almost dropping his professionalism "I mean, Sir, how are you here? You're supposed to be on the Single Line right now?!" Nobori stared, confused at the appearance of his 'brother' who looked just as confused at seeing Ingo - but now in security attire.

"Err...Ingo, my name isn't Kudari? I am Emmet? Ingo, what?-how?-are you okay? and where did that Garchomp come from!?"

'Ingo' stared at him, looking even more confused, then his face turned to scrutinizing Emmet. He saw ‘Ingo’s’ eyes glow a light lilac colour 'Okay that is new' then suddenly he felt like pressure was building up around him moving over his body like someone was very lightly patting him down before quickly dissipating 'That was verrrry weird.'

The Garchomp beside 'Ingo' made a small growl and took a step forward, intending to pass the 'Other Ingo', but he held out a hand to quickly stop it.

"He's not a Zoroark, I just checked."

Okay that didn't even cross his mind, but Emmet now felt a bit nervous, this was clearly not Ingo, but then where was Ingo-

"Emmet, who are you talking to?"

That made Emmet jump and turn to see his brother, Ingo was behind him, still in the train car ‘How- Ah, I forget he was supposed to be there…but then…who is he?’ Looking back at the ‘Other Ingo’ who was now in a more aggressive stance, he looked ready to fight and had his left hand poised over a walkie-talkie on his belt.

Ingo - not being able to see past Emmet - walked forward, concerned by Emmet's sudden speechlessness and confused expression. His brother kept looking back at him, then out at ‘something’ else. "Emmet, are you alright?" Ingo’s frown deepened as he walked over to be by his brother’s side, doing so allowed him to 'see' what had Emmet frazzled, but also allowed the growing crowd outside to see him. 

“There’s more of them?”

“Are they clones?”

“Clones don’t exist! Maybe they're weird cosplayers?”  

Ingo ignored those comments for now, filing them away for later, as his attention was very much drawn to what was before him……another him?...well a version of him in a police uniform? ‘ That 'officer' badge has the Gear Station logo...weird.’ 

"Who are you?" Ingo inquired as he stood by his brother. Emmet was thinking the same thing, his brain starting to process that, indeed, they seemed to have a doppelganger.   

"I am Deputy Nobori” ‘Not Ingo’ replied sternly, giving the two of them a once over. “And you two imposters are in trouble for stealing Gear Station property!”

“Wait, we haven't stolen anything, we run this Station!” squawked Emmet in disbelief 

“I don’t know who you are, but trying to impersonate a Battle Facility Leader is going to get you into serious trouble.” Deputy Nobori said while taking a step forward towards the duo. 

"We are not imposters, I am a Subway Boss, Ingo. He is Subway Boss Emmet," directing his hand to Emmet who seemed to have recovered from whatever form of shock he had been in. His smile returned to its usual position as he suddenly marched forward, confusion and fear out the door, as this was strangely exciting - another person that looked like him and his brother?. 

"I am Emmet, and we are the Subway Bosses! Why do you look like us?" 

‘Deputy Nobori', who had been looking ‘stern’ and maybe a little menacing, particularly when being backed up by his Garchomp looming behind him, had a sudden look of surprise at Emmet’s approach. Taking a step back, Nobori bumped into the Garchomp who didn't seem pleased by Emmet’s approach and let out another growl. Ingo quickly grabbed Emmet by his coat collar and dragged him back to his side. They watched as the 'Deputy Nobori’s’ eyes lit up. Ingo felt 'something' but it was brief, but whatever it was, it left 'Deputy Nobori' looking even more confused.

"You’re telling the truth," he said this disbelievingly, his guarded stance faltering a little as a look of confusion set in, "This doesn't make sense…” his eyes drifted to the floor away from them, lighting up again and going out just as quickly. "And he's not even back in the station yet,"

"I have to ask, but are we still in Nimbasa City?" Ingo spoke again, catching this 'Deputy Nobori's’ attention. He didn't know who 'he' was but he had a guess with how things were going right now. 

"Yes, this is Gear Station of Nimbasa City,'' seeming confused why he was even answering, "You just came off the Multi-line train-which shouldn’t even be here at this point in time…" 'Deputy Nobori' stared at the train suspiciously especially as the occupants inside had now gathered behind the two ‘Subway Bosses’ muttering their own confusion of the situation.

“There's a third one of these guys!?”

“Have they been triplets this whole time!?!”

“Oh, does this mean there's a ‘Secret’ line we get to battle that guy on?” 

Emmet almost wanted to turn around and correct the confusion, but he didn’t know if he felt safe turning his back on this doppelganger when things were so ‘tense,’ especially as his only healthy Pokemon was Durant - who he almost forgot was standing beside him this entire time. 

Durant on the other hand was getting agitated, he could tell his Trainer was getting upset too about this strange look-alike blocking their path and keeping them from departing and healing his comrades. ‘I do not know what’s going on, but I did not like this man!’ it thought as it snapped its metal mandibles a little too aggressively at the offending Pokemon. The Garchomp responded with an indignant snort.

“I would apologize, but we had no hand in this derailment” Ingo broke the silence, stepping forward with his hands raised, seemingly trying to come off as ‘non-threatening’. The Garchomp looked to Deputy Nobori, who just shook his head, the creature stayed put.    

Nobori, was feeling just a little bit frazzled, and wondering ‘Where the heck is my backup?’ He would have considered searching for them with this ‘Foresight’ but that migraine was really starting to kick in now. He really needed someone else to take the lead, but he was here, so he had to do it. Shaking his head from side to side, he returned his expression to a frown, his voice stern "Alright! Everyone depart! Single file off that train, we are going to the Security Office to sort this out! Keep your hands where I can see them and your Pokemon in their capsules!''

He said this pointedly at Emmet’s Durant, who just snapped its mandibles angrily at him in offense. 

Before any further progress could be made, there was a flash of light, and the second Subway boss of white coating appeared beside his brother. Right hand pointed down, the other forward, a stiff grin on his face that only few noticed. ‘Dang I need to practice more’ he mildly thought, doing his best not to look a little out of breath. He had overdid it, a little getting back to the station. "I am Kudari. Subway Boss of Gear Station-and What in the name of the Legendary dragons is going on here?”

//Oh thank goodness you're here..// Letting out a relieved telepathic thought to his brother, his body already relaxing a little at the presence of Kudari. ‘Everything will be fine now that he is here.’   

//Hey it’s my duty as Subway Boss to make sure no one messes with Gear Station- or my brother// Kudari briefly glanced to Nobori, giving the psychic equivalent of a reassuring shoulder pat, before returning his focus to what lay before him. 

Taking in the very puzzling scene, and doing a mental double-take, before looking at his brother.

“Their not Zaroak” Nobori replied to the silent question

“Good. Then who are they?”

“Hello, I am Emmet!” the Subway Boss responded with a wave of his hand and a little too loudly, “And I have no idea what’s going on either, but hello other me!”

Before Kudari could respond to the ‘Other Him’ another voice spoke up first.

“Well then, maybe I can answer that,'', a man dressed in black Subway Boss uniform, with black hair and bright gold eyes, came marching through the crowd followed by more security and Depot Agents.

‘Oh now they show up,’ thought Nobori. 

“Ah Jason, you’ve gotten here quicker than expected,” Kudari spoke looking down at his Xtransceiver for the time.

“Yes, well, one of my lines is going through maintenance - no thanks to Deputy Nobori’s help from this morning.” Jason glared at Deputy Nobori as he walked past. 

Nobori looked away from the approaching Subway Boss, his left fist scrunching into a ball, ‘That was not my fault, the wall was coming down anyway’ Kudari gave a quizzical look to Nobori.

\\What happened?\\

//I’ll tell you later..but it wasn’t my fault!//  

Jason turned to the ‘newcomers.’ his hand outstretched in greeting “Hello there and welcome to a new dimension, I am Jason of Gear Station, Subway Boss, and you have ‘Fallen’. ”   

End of Chapter 1

Chapter Text

Wrong Tracks

 Chapter 2: Switching tracks

37 Minutes prior…

Kudari’s mask slipped for a second, his consistent smile turning into a frown. Fortunately the challenger he was facing was paying attention to their match and not to his face, but he felt it. Something was going down at the Gear Station, a ‘disturbance.’ A ripple within the ether, but due to being halfway down the Double Line route he didn’t get the full ‘impression’ of what had just happened.

His hand began to grip the handrail a little too hard. So far no one had called him in a panic, but that didn’t mean something wasn’t wrong…so he had a choice. Finish the match, or reschedule until the problem is solved. 

Kudari looked at his opponent through the sandstorm that his Excadrill ‘Drilly’ had whipped up the previous round. His stern gaze masked by the sand, his challenger only had a Herdier and Swadloon left, ‘Heh they hadn’t even beaten my first set of Pokemon and they are down to their last two!’ he thought darkly. Then, a brief flash of an old memory…him and Nobori tag teaming with a similar Pokemon combo, but unlike this guy, they had a strategy - He could beat this trainer…also Kudari hated having to reschedule a match. 

His ‘smile’ returned before his opponent noticed there had been any change in attitude, and he gave out his next set of orders. 

“Drilly, use Hone Claws!”

Then directing to his Gliscor, “Scourge, use Poison Jab on Swadloon!” 

His opponent replying quickly in turn: “Herdier, use Reversal on Excadrill ! Swadloon, also attack Excadrill with Razor Leaf!!” 

Drilly quickly raised her claws across her chest in an ‘X’ shape, bracing herself for the oncoming attacks while quickly sharpening her metal claws against each other until they glowed a brilliant white as sparks of yellow floated off them.  

Herdier squinted its eyes as it charged, the sand, while irritating, wasn’t affecting it too badly, so it kept on target. With a burst of orange and yellow energy springing from its body as it leapt, crossing the distance between the two Pokemon, slamming into its opponent. The energy it had gathered now directed into the mole Pokemon who let out a grunt as it was pushed back by the force of the attack, which the Herdier used the momentum of to flip backwards and land on its paws, on its side of the battlefield. 

Scourge the Gliscor swooped down from above, using the advantage of the sandstorm to conceal its approach from the huddled up bug Pokemon trying to use its leaves to protect itself from the battering storm. Scourge’s tail glowed a purple aura that seemed to bubble and drip like liquid. As it swiped at the opposing Pokemon, purple energy-like globs shot forth, hitting the Swadloon and knocking it backwards. The bug landed on its side, letting out an angry cry as it got back up into a fighting stance before suddenly coughing up a purple liquid. It had been poisoned from the attack. It began to wobble for a bit, trying to stay upright but with its guard now down the sand was relentless, battering its body even more before it eventually fell face first onto the battlefield, fainted. 

Gliscor did a victory loop followed by a battlecry before returning to its comrade on their side of the battlefield. The challenger returned their fainted Pokemon, a disappointed look on his face. Now that it was 2 on 1, this battle was practically over and he knew it. 

“Drilly, use Drill Run. Scourge, Sky Uppercut!”

“Herdier, use Retaliate on Excadrill !”

Drilly leapt into the air, her body rotating at an incredible speed till it was just a blur of silver and browns, seemingly defying gravity. She zoomed towards the Herdier, the dog Pokemon did it’s best to leap out of the way but thanks to Drilly’s Sand Rush ability she was much faster, catching the Pokemon in the midsection as it tried to dodge, instead joining the spinning chaos of Drilly’s attack, becoming a brief blur before being repelled backwards and crashing at its trainer’s feet, fainted.      

Scourge did another victory loop, while he was saddened he didn’t get the final blow, any victory was better than no victory. Drilly soon landed near her hovering teammate, with a twirl and clang of her claws as she batted them together in her own form of a victory warcry. 

Kudari would have let his Pokemon revel in their victory a little longer…if he wasn’t so concerned about what was happening at Gear Station. So quickly he telepathically talked to his Pokemon. 

\\ Bravo! That was excellent form, from both of you! \\

His Pokemon looked back at him, showing clear signs they were happy with his praise. He hated having to ruin their mood.

\\ But…something is going down at Gear Station. // His psychic voice a now much more serious tone // So I need to return you two, and get back there quickly. \\ 

His Pokemon nodded in understanding, a bit deflated, but they understood, and thus with a beam of red energy the two returned to their capsules.

‘Okay now to deal with the trainer’ 

“You battled well,” he crossed the battlefield in a few quick strides, briskly took the trainer’s hand and shook it a tad too vigorously in his haste so the challenger almost fell over, “however I still came out victorious! Win 20 battles in a row and we shall fight again, I look forward to it!” He was already striding away down the train car, leaving the challenger a little stunned at the sudden conclusion of the match and the meeting with the Subway Boss. He might have uttered some kind of response but Kudari was already disappearing into the next car. Honestly, it felt unprofessional to not give his usual ‘victory’ catch phrase and the modest bow of respect, but time was of the essence. 

Placing his partner’s Pokeballs down on the healing station he switched it on, he needed his team back to full strength. This Subway Boss was not going into an unknown situation underprepared. 

Listening for the tell-tale ping of the device finishing its job, he retrieved the capsules and placed them back on his belt before looking down at his Xtransceiver, clicking for Nobori’s number and seeing that he was offline. 

‘Sigh it’s times like these I wish we were long ranged telepaths instead of short range…and of course he would leave that at home.’ He then switched to his phone as he knew Nobori had that on him at least. 

He tried texting Nobori, but found he wasn’t getting a signal ‘Odd, was something blocking it?’   He tried seeing if he could contact any one else: ‘Jason’ nothing, ‘Chief Robert’ nope, anyone he had contacts at the station? Nada. He couldn’t get through to anyone.  

‘Okay don’t panic, whatever has happened is jamming the signals…that’s not concerning at all...yes, yes it is actually, okay time to get off this train now!!’ 

Kudari then headed towards the side doors of the car. 

The world outside rushed past the windows in a blur of greens and distant mountains. This route was one of the few that had an ‘above ground section’, he looked across to the other railline that ran alongside, it was almost hypnotic, just staring at the tracks going by, but he had to focus.  

Another quick glance at his Xtransceiver for the time.

‘Yep the returning train to Nimbasa City should be going by soon.’

He sent out a psychic pulse, quickly sensing the oncoming train that should be passing him any second now, Kudari sent out a stronger pulse now, to sense for a space among the passengers. 

Unlike his brother’s ability of ‘Foresight’ which allowed him to visually see places, Kudari had what his mentor dubbed ‘Psychic Sonar.’ He may not be able to see a place, but he was able ‘feel’ a location and from scanning around further he could get a better ‘image’ of what was there: sensing the the different objects, individuals, and Pokemon within the carriage, and the general ‘space’  and ‘shape’ these thing took up. So he focused, feeling along the ‘lumps’ that were passengers until he found an opening - Good, there was a space big enough to jump to near the back of the train. 

‘Alright new Station set!’  

“Time to disembark!”

“Wait what?” Kudari turned from the window, there was a confused challenger blinking at him - his next ‘appointment’. Oh. Whoops? Did I say that outloud? Nobori has been influencing me to much lately.  

“Nothing for you to worry about,” he waved her off, then realised that he would still need to rescedule a match. Bother. “Err, I have to step out for a moment, but if you present your stamped ticket at the ticket booth and leave your contact details a new challenge time can be scheduled, I assure you that there will be no penalty to your challenge because of this delay.”

He looked back at the window then glanced over his shoulder, gauging the distance. He skipped back a few steps and prepared himself, “Sorry for any inconvenience, but you may wish to stand back” he called out casually as he refocused on his psychic ‘point’ and suddenly dashed forwards. 

Teleporting for him was also different from how Nobori did it. When Kudair teleported, his energy expanded around himself like a growing fire, bathed in his own psychic energy, it emitted a warmth and glow to those who were close enough to observe. 

Just before he would have smashed through the window of the train car, he blinked out in a bright light and into the ‘other’ space. Like Nobori, there was always a brief moment in the ‘unknown’, but the feeling for Kudari was like he was speeding forward instead of falling, albeit only for a moment before there would be another flash, a feeling of pressure as if he was pushing through something, before landing at the designated spot. 

A passenger shrieked and some gasped at his sudden appearance, Kudari landed with ease and waved a hello. The aura of energy dissipating in a harmless but startling display of fiery sparks. 

“Don’t mind me folks, official Gear Station business, carry on.” He began pushing his way past the gawkers and travelers, waving them on with a sweep of his uniformed arm. “Pardon me’ -’Excuse Me’ - Got to get to the head of the train, so please move!”  

While doing this, he scanned ahead, searching for another spot along the train that he could jump forward to, but alas he didn’t sense any as Kudari reached the door to the next train car, sliding it aside and getting more surprised gasps and comments. 

“Is that Subway Boss Kudari?”

“Are we on the double line? Oh no! Did you buy us the wrong tickets?!”

“No? I don’t know why he’s here, I’m sure he wasn’t before!”

Ignoring those comments as he passed and repeating that he ‘needed’ to get through, when one who was obviously a young Pokemon trainer stepped into his path

“I CHALLENGE YOU!”

“Sorry, I’m actually-”
“Our eyes met, and when a trainer’s eyes lock-”
Kudari internally rolled his eyes, he didn’t need this right now. “You’ll have to win 20 battles on the Double line, if you want to fight me,” He interjected, his tone a bit monotonous as he tried to get past what he would guess was a 8 year old boy - but the child side-stepped to continue blocking his path. 

“But they say when two trainers' eyes meet, they have to battle!!!” the kid shouted while pointing an accusative finger at Kudari's face. People in the car were starting to awkwardly murmur among themselves now. 

“That’s more of a ‘suggestion’ than actual rules,” Kudari responded, a little taken back,

“But I want to battle you!”

“And this is a crowded train not meant for that activity,” Kudari gestured his hand around him, trying and hoping this kid would get the point. 

“But-but the double line challenge is so hard!” 

‘It’s supposed to be’ Kudari thought, getting annoyed. He wasn’t just going to fight any trainer, he did that when he was on his and Nobori’s Pokemon Journey, and he didn’t battle someone on a train, well not until much later…before it was legal…

“I’m sure you and your team will get stronger, but I have to go now-”

“BUT I WANNA BATTLE YOU NOW!!!” The kid said this while reaching out and grabbing his coat, shaking it up and down in the throws of a tantrum. 

‘How did this kid pass the trainer examination with that attitude?’ Kudari thought while keeping his ‘smile’ on while trying to pry his coat from the grasp of a bratty young trainer. He then looked around at the crowd of people, a ‘pleading’ look for assistance, but everyone was either intently staring out a window to distance themselves from this awkward interaction…or watching it even more intently through their phone while recording it. 

‘Great this is going to go wild on PokieTube.’ With a sigh, Kudari reached down with his free arm and neatly tapped a Pokeball at his belt. A beam of red shot out at his feet and quickly expanded into a large dog pokemon, the evolved form of the Herdier he had fought - Stoutland. Kudari’s partner now loomed placidly over the child, his long mustache swishing lightly as he greeted the boy with a low “Stout”.
“Wow! Will my Lillipup get that big?”
“Maybe.” Kudari glanced to his partner,

\\ Hey Stout, mind giving me a hand here - gently. \\

The child’s eyes went wide as the bristley dog pokemon’s snout bent down to eye level and then licked him across the face with a tongue the size of a soup platter. 

“YUK!” The boy let go, reflexively wiping hurriedly at the unwanted slobber, and Kudari did not hesitate to make good his escape.
“Sorry, Station business, coming through - Stout, could you?

Stout gave a low but agreeable rumble and began gently pushing his fluffy but solid form through the passengers, easily forging a path forward for his trainer. 

***

Elsewhere, Subway Boss Jason stared with annoyance at the screens, and the chaos that he was trying to get under control. The Gear Station main computer room, normally showing an orderly array of train schedules, possibly a couple of alerts like a Drilbur on the tracks, but not today. Right now, half the mainframe was down, the air con was off, and barely anyone could get a signal in or out. It was like the station was under a bubble that was distorting information and electric signals. The readings were all wrong and some of the schedules seemed to have been switched, or were at completely the wrong times. It was like someone had gone through the whole system, ripped it apart, and then poorly put it back together again.

Thankfully, some of the damage seemed to be easily reversed, but others…not so much.

“Sir we’ve received word that Deputy Nobori is investigating the area here the disturbance originated from.” 

‘Sigh the only thing that Esper is good for is getting to places quickly’ Jason thought bitterly. He really hoped this was not another Team Plasma scheme. He just wanted the rest of the month to go by smoothly. 

The Depot Agent continued “He said the Multi Line Train was their at the platform,”

Jason turned to face the Depot Agent, “That’s not possible. It should still be on route to Striation City Station-”    

“We know sir.”

“Call him back!, and get him to confirm if it truly is the Multi Line at the station. I don’t care if he has to send me a photo using that flip-phone of his, I need proof! And can someone-”

Jason was about to say more when his Xtransceiver started to ping and seemingly spring to life on its own. The screen lit up, text started rapidly scrolling by, but Jason was always a fast reader, his eyes darted over the information quickly.

“Well, this certainly makes my day more frustrating.” 

“Who was that sir?”

“A friend from Alola.”

***

\\ Thanks again, Stout. \\
Kudari returned his partner to his side, his Stoutland giving one last agreeable rumble before disappearing in the red glow. Kudari was now standing outside the driver's compartment , he rapped his gloved knucles against the glass viewing pane of the door. Back turned away from the door, the Depot Agent inside let out a squeak of surprise and dropped the to-go cup of Sawbucks coffee in his hand. Kudari quickly caught it with his telekinesis, keeping even a drop from spilling, levitating it back to the Depot Agent who took it back without question, seeming to be still in a bit of shock at his arrival.

“Sorry about that,” Kudari said sheepishly, hoping the Depot agent would relax a little. The Agent seemed to shake off the surprise to respond, “Ah, not at all sir. I just wasn’t expecting to see you today sir…on this train.”
“Quite.”

‘Okay let’s get down to business’ Kudari clasping his hands in front of him and unintentionally loomed over the Depot Agent - which, with his height, wasn’t hard to do. 

“Have you received any word from Gear Station?” He asked with a hint of a nervous smile. 

“Oh- er just now sir, we’ve just had contact with central. The system crashed but they are gradually bringing things back online. I don’t have all the details but they said it was safe for the trains to arrive.” 

“That’s at least some good news” His smile being more genuine, before Kudari quickly looked down at his Xtransceiver for the time.

“We have a couple of minutes before we arrive, did they say where the location of the disturbance came from?”
“Er… disturbance, sir?”
Kudari didn’t need to be an Esper to read the blank expression of the Depot Agent - whatever had happened, it seemed Jason hadn’t been sharing it with the Drivers. 

‘Probably trying to keep them focused on their work. But that doesn’t help me! ’ 

“Nevermind, carry on, I’ll be reporting to central directly.”

Kudari pulled the compartment door open, but didn’t step through, instead he stepped back, allowing the fiery aura to once again envelope him while his eyes closed and his mind reached out for the familiar feel of Gear Station, in particular, it’s main computer room. 

‘Next stop -’ his eyes snapped open as he leapt forward, briefly his body soaring through the ‘other’ space and then, ‘-Gear Station!’ He landed outside the door, just as another Depot Agent was exiting - only just missing the dramatic entrance. 

“Ah, sir, if you’re looking for Subway Boss Jason you just missed him.”

“Where?”
“Heading to deal with the disturbance on the Super Multi Line.”

“Do you know if Chief Robert or Deputy Nobori are there?” 

“Deputy Nobori reported in…but Chief Robert was on a coffee break outside, he’ll be in the station soon.”

Kudari made sure his expression stayed ‘neutral’, “Did Deputy Nobori mention anything?” 

“Yes, they say he reported that their were minor injuries and that the multi line train was at the platform and he would investigate further.”

‘Why would the multi-line be there, did someone hijack the train?’ troubling thoughts rushed through Kudari's mind. Why hadn’t Nobori contacted him if there was a problem? Was he okay? What happened to the multi line for it to be that out of place? And there were injured passengers?! 

“Thank you for the update,” Kudari spoke calmly while holding a smile that didn’t match his eyes. ‘Remember to smile Kudari, if you're smiling then everything is okay’ and with that his smile went back to that board grin and he focused on his next point to jump, the psychic energy radiating off him had the Depot Agent taking a step back as Kudari broke into a run and disappeared mid-stride.

The Depot Agent stared at the spot where the Subway Boss had been for a few seconds before turning back to the controls.  

“And they said working at the Subway would be boring” 

END Chapter 2