Archive of Our Own ^beta

Saphira is kicked out of the orphanage the day after her eighteenth birthday.

Usually, it wouldn’t have happened for at least a day more. The bastard usually cites “paperwork” as the reason. But when it came to Saphira, suddenly that paperwork could be done faster. Maybe even in advance of her birthday.

She’s surprised she wasn’t booted out on the day itself. But then, the orphanage has a tradition, of sorts, where when someone’s eighteenth birthday comes around, the other children throw a celebration to the best of their abilities. Her sisters were so invested in hers, she wouldn’t be too surprised if not letting them celebrate just to kick her out a day earlier just wasn’t considered worth it.

The bastard doesn’t fold to the kids very often, so if that’s really what happened this time… well, the idea gives her some satisfaction.

Despite everything, she would’ve stayed. For her sisters’ sake. But the bastard forced her out. Didn’t even have any interest in offering continued “treatment.”

So now Saphira is on her own. Has to figure things out.

She’s at least given access to her inheritance. It’s far from life changing money— her parents may have both been paid well, but they still had three children to look after, and of course most of their material goods burned in the fire, plus the inheritance was split three ways. But it’s enough that she should be able to get herself an apartment.

But it takes some time. Apparently, apartment hunting isn’t as easy as finding an empty apartment and renting it. Landlords aren’t eager to let someone like Saphira, freshly eighteen and with no guarantee that she’ll be able to pay rent for longer than a few months, rent from them.

She spends a while sleeping in alleyways and the slums. Gets into a few fights, but she’s been through worse. At one point, she fights off two boys at once, and another, younger pair of kids that they were menacing are so grateful that they let her sleep in their corner of an alleyway.

Eventually, she manages to find a woman willing to let her rent an apartment in south Obsidia. It’s run down, and she suspects she’s being allowed to rent it out of pity, but whatever. The only other options were to keep sleeping on the streets, or to rent from the one other person who seemed open to it, a middle aged man with a wedding band who spent the whole discussion “subtly” leering at her. So this arrangement is more than enough.

From there, the next challenge is making sure she can stay in the apartment, which means getting— and keeping— a job. This proves to be even more difficult. Jobs are reluctant to hire her for similar reasons to why landlords were reluctant to let her rent, and she gets fired from the few jobs she’s hired at pretty quickly, which makes getting another job even more difficult each time.

But eventually, just as she’s starting to worry she’ll have to go back to the streets, she finds something: battling.

Reborn City is far from a hotspot for it, given both how it’s been declining more and more and the League’s collapse, but battling is known as a universal hobby, and even a universal job, for a reason. And while she wasn’t really able to engage in it often while she was in the orphanage, Saphira is still good at it.

And so are her Pokémon, she finds. Her Noibat starts off pretty weak, and her Dragonite and her dad’s Garchomp have lost strength, but that’s quickly remedied. She catches more Pokémon, too, and soon becomes known as one of the best Trainers in the city, to the point that Onyx Trainers’ School asks her to come in and do demonstrations and practice battles sometimes.

The money she gets from that, combined with prize money from battling, is enough that she can get by. She even occasionally buys some food for those two homeless kids. Gratitude, she supposes.

Most importantly of all, she’s able to visit her sisters. Not often— the bastard only lets her come around once every few months. But it’s something.

“Saphiraaa!” Charlotte calls one day, a large grin on her face as she runs towards the orphanage’s door, or more specifically, Saphira, coming in for a hug. She, of course, reciprocates. As they hug, Charlotte continues. “Do you get to adopt us yet?”

“Not… yet, no,” Saphira says, trying to keep a frown off her face as Laura approaches and joins the hug as well.

Obviously, Saphira has been putting in applications to become her sisters’ legal guardian since the moment she got an apartment. But they’re rejected every time, on the grounds that she wouldn’t be able to provide them with a stable living environment.

What a fucking joke. Sure, the apartment would be a bit cramped, but nobody is taking away her neighbors’ kids.

Whatever. She’ll just do better. Line up more gigs at the school. Maybe get licensed to use Fly outside of battle, so she can start battling in the wealthier parts of the region and make more money through it. Then she’ll find a better apartment and keep trying.

For now, she just focuses on spending some time with her sisters. And when she sees the bastard looking at her through the doorway in the back, it takes everything in her not to glare.

— — —

Years pass. Saphira is still not the legal guardian of either of her sisters.

She manages to get a better apartment. But the reason for rejection goes from not providing a stable living environment to supposedly creating an unstable one.

Complete. Fucking. Bullshit.

She can’t believe the bastard could even dare to claim that, given the show he’s running. One where children get electrocuted or isolated for the smallest things, not to mention that one little hellspawn.

Saphira plays nice, too. She’s polite to the orderlies and even the bastard himself, because as much as she’d like to rip them all to shreds, she knows she has to think of her sisters first. Has to do whatever she can to make sure there’s no trouble whenever she visits them, and increase her chances of being made their legal guardian.

Maybe it’s a savior complex. The bastard often talks like he’s the children’s only hope, and she’s even heard rumors of him turning away a girl who tried to visit a friend of hers in the orphanage, though Saphira has no idea which of the kids that is. She’s sure the only reason she herself gets to visit is because it would look bad to turn a former resident who is the sibling of two current residents away entirely.

But she can’t help but think it’s also spite. Ever since she first spoke about the worst thing he did to her, he’s had a vendetta against her. Or maybe an already existing one was just amplified. And it only got worse after she tried to tell someone from outside of the orphanage, even though she wasn’t believed. He hates her, if not nearly as much as she hates him.

But he can’t stop her from being there for her sisters. She visits them when she can, and writes to them when she can’t. And today, she’s visiting them and two others.

A couple years after Saphira got kicked out, the orphanage took in a pair of twins named Anna and Noel. Laura and Charlotte bonded with them pretty quickly, and so Saphira finds herself spending time with them as well.

Today’s actually their birthday. Laura requested that Saphira schedule her next visit for today, specifically, so she did. She even picked up some cupcakes from the grocery store on her way, and the group sits at one of the kitchen tables together, each having one.

Once they’re done, everyone decides to wash their hands before deciding what to do next. But before Saphira can stand to follow her sisters and Anna, Noel speaks. “Thank you.”

“For the cupcakes? It’s not a big deal,” Saphira says.

“For those, and just… for all of this,” Noel says. “For being so nice to Anna and me.”

“That isn’t a big deal, either,” Saphira says. “I like you two.”

It’s a bit of an odd thing to acknowledge aloud. That Saphira likes the twins. She had a few friends in the days before the orphanage, but she hasn’t talked to any of them since. She cares for most of the orphanage’s kids in some way, but not on the same level as her sisters. She’s believed for a long time that the two of them are the only people she has.

That… isn’t entirely false. Charlotte and Laura are still Saphira’s number one priority, above all else. But… she supposes she’s formed bonds of friendship with the twins. They’re pretty new in comparison, and worlds away from being anywhere close to the bonds she shares with her sisters, but they’re bonds nonetheless.

Noel stands up, as does Saphira… but then she notices him freeze up. She looks in the direction he’s staring in, and… oh.

Her.

Lin is peeking through the doorway, staring right at Saphira and Noel. She doesn’t look away even when Saphira glares.

Lin is a menace. It’s not uncommon for the orphanage kids to act up and lash out at each other, but she takes it to a whole new level. And her favorite victims are Laura, Charlotte, Anna, and Noel.

She doesn’t seem to have any interest in moving. So Saphira picks up the box with the last cupcake inside to stop Lin from stealing it, and does what she usually does when Lin gets in the way during one of her visits. She takes Noel’s hand, and walks forward, pushing past Lin without a word.

“…thank you,” Noel says as they keep walking.

“Don’t mention it,” Saphira says.

She’s already promised herself that she’ll protect her sisters from anything, and Lin is pretty high on the list of things she feels a need to protect them from. So, even if it’s not the same… she supposes she’ll protect the twins, too, when she can.

— — —

More years pass, and Saphira’s inability to become her sisters’ legal guardian stays a frustrating constant.

It makes her want to bang her head against a wall until it bleeds. The two of them seem a little more screwed up every time she sees them, and yet the bastard dares to say Saphira isn’t a fitting guardian? Fuck him. She’s already her sisters’ guardian, just not their legal one.

It hurts her every time she thinks about it, about them, and she does so often. Laura is sixteen, Charlotte is thirteen, and they both have birthdays coming up. They have more memories of that awful place than they do of the world outside it.

Of course, Saphira still applies. She could never just give up. But the rejections are nearly automatic, at this point, and she’s pretty sure the only reason she hasn’t been banned from applying at all is because of optics; the bastard worries more about looking like he cares for the children than actually caring for them.

So she starts to shift her focus to the long term. And her idea is to rebuild her family’s old house, so that there’s somewhere nice that her sisters and her can live together, once they turn eighteen.

To that end, she’s moved to Labradorra City. It hurts to be so far from her sisters, but she reminds herself it’s for the best. Her apartment is tiny and crummy, but it’s incredibly cheap to maintain, plus it lets her stay close to her work as the Dragon Type Leader of the restarted Reborn League.

Today, though, she isn’t anywhere near her Gym. Instead, she’s in another Gym entirely, that of the Steel Type Leader, Titania.

Titania’s Gym, unlike most, was only built recently. Maybe due to how difficult the whole thing seems like it would be to build. But now that all the buildings are done, she’s setting up the inner workings, and is interested in using the same machines for her Gym Trainers that Saphira uses. So she’s been asked to come out and show Titania how they work.

As the two of them start to walk through a castle to where the machines are being stored, Saphira sees something that makes her pause: a podium with some paper on it. She reads the words written on the paper.

History and literature have an awful habit of letting little girls wander past the forest’s edge,

Only to be swallowed up by any number of enchantments beyond.

“What is this?” Saphira asks Titania, who paused when she noticed Saphira had.

“Some writing of mine— an analysis on fairy tales. It’s broken up into parts throughout the Gym,” Titania explains.

“Can I read all of it?” Saphira asks.

“Sure, hang on,” Titania says, beginning to look through her bag. Soon, she pulls out a journal, takes a loose piece of paper from inside, and holds it out. “Here.”

Saphira takes the paper and begins to read the words written on it.

Once she’s done, she speaks. “…reminds me of something.”

“Does it?” Titania asks.

“Yes,” Saphira says before holding the paper out to Titania. Once she takes it, Saphira starts to walk again. “Let’s go.”

Titania doesn’t seem to mind the sudden brushing off of the topic at all, and the two keep walking.

— — —

Laura’s seventeenth birthday arrives, and so Saphira buys some cupcakes and heads to the orphanage.

At one point, again, she ends up alone at the table with one of the twins. This time, though, it’s Anna.

“I’m really glad we can all be friends again!” she says with a bright smile.

“‘Again?’” Saphira asks, confused.

Anna nods enthusiastically. “Yeah! Nostra said we were friends the first time, too!”

Ah. Nostra is the Jirachi doll that Anna always carries around. She’s always claiming that it’s a real Jirachi, and that it tells her things.

“She said that she had to rewind things a lot further than she originally thought she would, and that things have already changed some,” she continues. “So I was a little scared that, maybe, we wouldn’t be able to be friends this time, since neither of us can remember the first time. But maybe neither of us have changed from last time yet? Or maybe we remember being friends somewhere deep down, even if we don’t realize it!”

“Maybe,” Saphira says.

To be perfectly honest, she has no idea what Anna is talking about. But it’s definitely not the first time that’s happened, and past attempts to get her to explain her strange statements have only led to confusion.

But Saphira doesn’t think it really matters. Anna seems happy, and the strange things she says have never hurt anyone, as far as Saphira knows.

“And you know what? We’re all gonna make a new friend, too!” Anna says.

“…someone new is coming to the orphanage?” Saphira asks, a bit of dread rising at the idea of the bastard being in charge of yet another innocent child.

“No, it’s just…” Anna starts, looking thoughtful. “Well, it’s complicated! I probably shouldn’t say too much. But we’re gonna get a new friend eventually, and it’s gonna be great!”

“That’s nice,” Saphira says.

She still has no clue what Anna is saying. But again, she’s happy, and Saphira can’t see how the words would hurt her sisters or anyone else. So… she guesses that’s what matters.

— — —

A year later— or more specifically, a year and two days later— Saphira stands outside of her rebuilt family home, stares across the lake at the entrance of Tanzan Cove, and wonders about one thing: Laura’s whereabouts.

She turned eighteen two days ago. That means she should be out of the orphanage by now. And obviously it would take some time to get from there to the cove. But she should be here by now.

Maybe she’s just dawdling, or got held up. She would never, ever agree to the further “treatment” that the bastard offers everyone but Saphira. The two days of delay may be a ploy, one last desperate attempt by him to keep his claws hooked in his former charges, but nobody ever agrees. Laura would never agree.

But Saphira cannot help but worry.

And soon, she can’t take it any longer. She lets Dragonite out. “We’re looking for Laura.”

Dragonite understands, and lets Saphira climb onto her back before taking off, flying over the mountain.

Saphira scans the ground as they reach the other side. And she soon sees a familiar head of pink hair, and a Lilligant nearby.

“Dragonite, there!” Saphira says, pointing.

“Saphira!” Laura calls, waving as Dragonite gets closer.

The Pokémon overshoots a bit, but circles back around and descends to the ground. Before she’s even touched down, Saphira jumps off and hurries over to her sister, a small smile on her face. It’s nowhere near as large and bright as Laura’s grin, but it’s large for her.

Laura opens her arms, and Saphira immediately hugs her sister, burying her face into Laura’s hair and mumbling. “You’re home…”

Finally. Finally, finally, finally. Laura is home.

“I am,” Laura says, arms squeezing Saphira.

They stay there, still, for a couple minutes before separating. Laura waves to Dragonite, and Saphira give Lilligant a small nod in greeting.

“What took so long? I was getting worried,” Saphira admits.

“Well……..” Laura says, looking through her bag for something. She finds it, and holds it out to Saphira. “I made you a gift!”

Saphira takes the item— a perfume bottle, she quickly realizes— carefully, not wanting to risk damaging it in any way. “You didn’t have to make me anything… you’re the one who just had a birthday.”

Not that she’s too surprised. Laura’s always been the kindest person she knows. A giver.

“I knew you would say that,” Laura says, because of course she would know. She knows Saphira so well. “But I did it anyway, because I wanted to. And it wasn’t too difficult, since I got some help from a Trainer.”

“Who?” Saphira asks automatically.

“Her name was Carly. I think she’s likely somewhere between our ages? She was very sweet,” Laura says. “Oh, and she’s a League challenger, so maybe you’ll meet her eventually.”

“Maybe,” Saphira says.

In reality, she doubts it. Those who get far enough in the League to challenge her are few and far between. The only reason she gets challengers as consistently as she does is because she has a small collection of people who rechallenge her over and over, some of which have been taking on the League since it reopened. So unless this Carly happens to be in Spinel Town to challenge the Leader there while Saphira is in town, they probably won’t meet.

She’s not about to burst Laura’s bubble, though.

“Anyway, do you like it?” Laura asks.

Saphira nods and brings the perfume bottle up to her nose to smell it. In that order, because she already knows that she loves the gift, that she would even if it smelled like garbage.

It doesn’t, of course. It smells wonderful.

She puts the perfume in her own bag, then speaks. “I got you a gift, too. Let’s go home so you can see it.”

A set of gardening tools that Laura will call “much too expensive,” and Saphira will insist she deserves.

Laura nods and recalls Lilligant. Then she and Saphira get onto Dragonite’s back, and the Pokémon takes off.

As they fly, Saphira feels… not whole. She could never be, when Charlotte is still at the orphanage, with that bastard, and now without either of her sisters.

But Saphira feels… happy.

— — —

A couple days later, Laura and her Lilligant garden, using the tools the former did, in fact, call much too expensive, while Saphira watches.

“Are you sure you don’t want to do anything else?” Laura asks. “We could do some training together.”

“I’m happy just to watch you garden,” Saphira says.

“If you insist……..” Laura says.

And Saphira does. She’s happy that Laura is able to garden like this. Her room up at Charous Hall is a garden, but she was barely able to go see it, and gardening is somewhere between almost and completely impossible in the city even for someone who’s not being kept inside and monitored to the extent the orphanage’s children are.

Saphira knows that Laura missed it, though. She used to take care of the garden in the days before the orphanage. She was the only one in the family who was interested in that sort of thing.

It’s a bit ironic— of the Belrose sisters, Laura acts the least like their mom while looking the most like her. Laura has the same rose pink color to her hair, the same eye shape.

But Saphira doesn’t think she inherited even an ounce of their mom’s hotheadedness. She’s much more patient. Softer. That softness scares Saphira sometimes, makes her afraid that Laura will get into a dangerous situation… but as long as she has Saphira to make sure she doesn’t, and doesn’t fall into naivety, she should be allowed it. She seems happiest this way, after all.

Charlotte, on the other hand, looks slightly more like a mix of both parents. Her face isn’t done developing, but by now, it’s clear that she’s inherited an eye shape like their dad’s, though like all of them, she got their mom’s eye color. Her hair is more of a hot pink, but still pink, though when it gets long enough, there’s purple at the edges. Saphira sometimes wonders if there would be any blue if it grew long enough, but the bastard doesn’t let any of the children’s hair grow past a certain length.

Charlotte’s personality is definitely mostly like their mom’s, though. She’s calm by default, and even remarkably level headed for someone in her situation— yet all things considered, that’s probably because of said situation— but she can definitely get fiery in certain circumstances. If she was actually allowed to go up to her Gym, and the Leader in the city next to it wasn’t her older sister, Saphira could see her challenging the other Leader over and over again until she’s won.

Of the three of them, Saphira got the most from their dad. Her eyes are pink, but the shape matches his. She has pink in her hair, but it’s a darker shade than either of her sisters’. And of course, she’s the only one of the Belrose sisters to have his dark blue visible in her hair.

Shortly after the… incident, she found one of the few pairs of scissors in the orphanage and cut her hair short. It just felt too long, suddenly. The result got her teased, so obviously done by a frenzied teenager with scissors not meant for hair, but she had been happy with the result… until she realized she could no longer see her dad’s blue. So now, she keeps it just long enough that she can.

She’s most like him in personality, too. Even before the orphanage, it was clear she’d inherited his protectiveness. It’s only been amped up over time and through awful experiences.

He was definitely more patient, though. There are things she remembers and knows that he did that she can’t ever see herself doing. Her reaction to a challenger storming off and swearing they’d kick her ass next time after a loss would be— has been— to roll her eyes, not to decide that the challenger would be her romantic partner one day.

Not that she really thinks about romance much at all. She has more important things to worry about than the pursuit of a partner. She’s also very aware that many see already being the guardian of others as an undesirable trait in a potential girlfriend. Usually, when people think of that stigma, it’s single mothers that come to mind. But that’s basically what she is.

Besides… a partner would probably want to…

“Saphira?” Laura says, snapping Saphira out of her thoughts. “Is something on your mind?”

“Charlotte,” Saphira says. Not a total lie.

Laura lets out an understanding hum. “I miss her, too. And Anna and Noel as well. When will we be able to schedule a visit?”

“Not for a couple more months,” Saphira says.

“That’s too bad……..” Laura says, disappointed, before she seems to remember something. “Oh, but you know, the two of us will be able to celebrate your birthday together!”

Oh, right. Saphira’s birthday is… a month and a half away, now? Something like that.

“What is it you usually do to celebrate?” Laura asks.

“Nothing,” Saphira says.

“Nothing at all?” Laura asks, surprised.

Saphira shrugs. “I didn’t see a point.”

The bastard only allows her to visit once every four months or so maximum, and didn’t make an exception for birthdays. Charlotte, Laura, and Saphira’s birthdays all occur in a similar span of time. So, every year since she was kicked out, she’s alternated visiting on Charlotte’s birthday and Laura’s birthday, and then didn’t have anyone to celebrate her own with.

“Well, we should do something this year,” Laura says. “I would like to celebrate with you.”

“I’ll try to think of something,” Saphira says, because celebrating with Laura does sound nice, though she’d probably agree to make her sister happy even if it didn’t.

Laura smiles, then goes back to her work, Saphira watching.

— — —

Saphira gasps awake to Laura shaking her shoulder and calling her name.

“Are you okay?!” Laura asks as she takes her hand— ungloved, Saphira notices— away.

“Yeah, I… what happened?” Saphira asks, confused, as she sits up in her bed.

It’s obviously late. Aside from Laura’s lack of gloves, she’s also wearing her green pajamas. It’s dark, too, no light coming in through the open door.

“Y-you were screaming……..” Laura says, obviously worried. “Were you having a nightmare?”

“It was nothing,” Saphira says automatically. “I can’t even remember what it was about.”

Laura, to Saphira’s chagrin, doesn’t seem convinced. After a moment, she speaks. “……..was it about what he did to you?”

Saphira looks away entirely. “…tch.”

She’s supposed to be better than this. Shouldn’t be worrying Laura.

But it’s true. Saphira was having a dream about what that bastard did to her. The thing that he denies could even be possible, despite the fact she lived it.

She’s terrified that it will happen to Charlotte, or even one of the other kids. That maybe it already has. She’s drilled it into Charlotte’s head that no kid should ever be alone with the bastard if it can be helped, but what if that’s not enough?

“……..do you want to talk about it?” Laura asks.

Saphira scowls, and can’t stop herself from letting out a small huff. “No.”

“Okay…….. well…….. can I…….. sleep in your bed with you?” Laura asks.

She would ask to do that sometimes, before the orphanage. But that was always because she had a nightmare, not…

“You don’t have to…” Saphira says, internally cursing over how weak her voice comes out.

“But I want to,” Laura says without hesitation. “Please?”

Saphira doesn’t say or do anything for a few moments. Then, wordlessly, she pulls the covers down.

Laura climbs in, then speaks. “Thank you.”

“…thank you, too,” Saphira says.

The two of them settle down to sleep, and she thinks. Revisits some of her thoughts from earlier.

Laura… she’s strong, in such a different way from Saphira. In a way that Saphira doesn’t think she, herself, could ever be. If Laura had woken up from a nightmare about someone else, Saphira obviously would’ve comforted her sister, but she’s also sure one of her first instincts would’ve been to hunt down whoever had caused the nightmare. But Laura’s only instinct was to stay by Saphira’s side, and she suspects this would’ve been Laura’s reaction for anyone else, not just her.

She could never be like Laura, so unbreakably kind. But she can at least protect her sister and ensure that that kindness isn’t threatened. That nobody dares to take advantage of it.

And so Saphira soon drifts off to sleep, both comforted by Laura’s presence and swearing, for far from the first time, to protect her no matter what.

— — —

Saphira sits at the table in her Labradorra apartment, talking on her Pokégear with Laura.

Usually, Saphira can stay at Tanzan Cove, and just fly up here when she has a challenger. But sometimes, she has to stay up here for longer stretches of time for other parts of her work. “The boring parts,” Charlotte would say. And so, just a couple weeks after Laura came home, Saphira had to leave her.

But it’s only temporary, Saphira reminds herself. In fact, tomorrow, she’ll be able to go home.

And it’s better this way. Even so long after being split into two separate cities, Labradorra and Calcenon are often called “the business city” and “the residential city” for a reason. Her apartment can barely fit one person. Even aside from that, Laura is happiest surrounded by nature.

So Saphira comforts herself with the knowledge that this is for the best, and it won’t last much longer. Plus, she has the perfume Laura gifted her, reminding her of the faint floral scent that has permeated the house since her sister’s return.

And of course, they have calls like they are right now.

“I— oh, hang on,” Laura says. She says something that Saphira can’t make out, then her voice becomes clear again. “Sorry about that.”

“Are your Pokémon doing something?” Saphira asks.

“Oh, well, I……..” Laura starts, hesitant. “……..the truth is, I have some friends over.”

Saphira is surprised. She didn’t know that Laura has human friends, outside of the orphanage. Part of her knows that this is a good thing, but…

“Why didn’t you tell me?” she asks.

“I planned to, once you came home,” Laura says. “I…….. was scared that you would insist on coming back immediately to meet them.”

Saphira can’t honestly say that the thought didn’t pop into her mind, but… “I know I can’t leave yet. I’m too busy.”

“Once you can come home, I’ll introduce you to them,” Laura promises, sounding excited. “I think you’ll like them!”

Saphira isn’t so sure. She’s neutral on most people. But she’s not about to shoot Laura down when she seems excited about something.

“All right. I have to go now, but I’ll try to call again before bed, okay?” Saphira says.

“Okay, but no pressure if you’re too busy. Goodbye for now, Saphira,” Laura says.

“Goodbye for now,” Saphira says.

Laura hangs up, and Saphira pulls her Pokégear away from her ear. Stares at it with a frown.

She can’t help but be anxious over what she’s just learned. The idea that there are strangers in the house with Laura. A part of Saphira really does want to fly back home and meet them.

But she knows that she can’t. She really does have things to do. If she just flew back home every time she got worried about Laura, she’d end up getting fired.

If that happened… she guesses it might be all right. She could go back to making money through battling, and possibly demonstrations and battles at Onyx Trainers’ School.

But the idea is still worrying. Being a Gym Leader is undeniably a more stable job. If she lost it, she might have to rely on Laura’s money at some point, and she doesn’t want to do that. But she doesn’t think she’d be able to hold down another job any better than when she was eighteen.

And all of that aside… she doesn’t want to have to give up her Gym. Her dad’s Gym. It’s so different than the building it was back when he was its Leader, modified and added onto so that it’s multiple times bigger than when it was first built, but it’s still her dad’s Gym. The thought of that portion of it being abandoned, turned into something else, or even given to someone outside of her family…

Saphira shakes the thought off, because it’s not going to happen. She’ll just complete her work as quickly as she can, and get back to Laura.

So with that thought, Saphira stands up and leaves her apartment.

— — —

The next afternoon, Saphira flies back home on Dragonite.

She managed to finish the rest of the things she needed to do hours early. The second she was able to, she got onto Dragonite and began the flight home, not even calling Laura first.

Soon, Dragonite lands in the cove, and Saphira dismounts. As soon as she’s recalled her Pokémon, she heads into the house and calls out. “Laura, I’m back!”

“Saphira!”

Saphira freezes up in complete shock. Because that was her sister’s voice. But it was not Laura’s voice. And after a moment, Charlotte runs into the room from the hallway leading to the kitchen.

“Charlotte?” Saphira asks, eyes widening as her youngest sister rushes over. She pinches her leg, and unlike every time before, she can feel it. “What are you doing here?”

“We got out,” Charlotte says, grinning. “Some others helped us get our Pokémon back and escape.”

“‘We?’ And who the hell got you out?” Saphira asks, completely baffled.

“Hi, Saphira!” a familiar voice calls from near the doorway Charlotte came through.

Saphira looks over to see the source, Anna, as well as some others, entering the living room. There’s Laura, of course, as well as Noel, who waves.

There’s also two other girls— strangers— and Saphira instantly gives them a quick once over, attempting to memorize their faces.

The older looks around Laura’s age, or a bit older. She has long, dark brown hair and bright green eyes. She looks… not surprised, but something like it, to see Saphira. Which is odd, as she’s sure she’s never seen this girl before.

The younger looks to be more in the twins’ age range, with a long, lilac braid and matching eyes, or at least one— the other is covered by her hair.

“Okay, so… ‘we’ is you and the twins, and these other two are…?” Saphira asks.

“H-hi!” the older girl says, waving a bit with a smile. “I’m Carly!”

Saphira recognizes the name as the one Laura mentioned when she first came home.

The younger girl waves, too. “I-I’m Shelly. Nice to meet you!”

“We’ve gotten away from the doctor twice now,” Charlotte says. “Obviously he wasn’t a fan of that, so we ended up having to hide out.”

So then, Carly and Shelly got Charlotte out of the orphanage? It was supposed to be Saphira. That’s a good thing.

“…I see,” Saphira says. She looks to Carly and Shelly. “Thank you for bringing my sister home.”

“Oh, it’s not big deal, really!” Carly says, glancing away and twirling some hair between her finger and thumb.

Shelly nods in agreement. “We were just doing what’s right!”

“How exactly did this all happen, anyway?” Saphira asks.

“Long story,” Carly says.

“It’s true, I’ve heard it,” Laura says. “Maybe they should tell you over lunch?”

“…I should really eat something,” Saphira admits. She may have skipped breakfast so she could get everything done sooner.

“I’ll make a sandwich for you,” Laura offers.

The whole group ends up in the kitchen. As Saphira eats, all of the others aside from Laura tell the story of how the group ended up here, starting with Carly making a visit to the orphanage one morning.

“So I led the other four here,” Charlotte eventually says.

So then, from what’s been said… that was just over a week ago. She’s been home for just over a week, and Saphira had no idea.

She knows exactly why Laura didn’t tell her, though. If she had known one of the friends that was mentioned during the call yesterday was Charlotte, she would’ve come home immediately, ignoring any possible negative effect that would’ve had on her job.

“Any clue what’s up with the metal stuff in the mountain?” Charlotte asks.

“I have no clue what you’re talking about,” Saphira says. Whenever she enters or leaves the cove, she does so on Dragonite.

“Some men in black have built odd structures into the interior of Tanzan Mountain,” Laura explains. “Carly and I tried to take a look around, but we couldn’t get past some gates……..”

“I’m worried it’s Team Meteor,” Carly adds. “In addition to the metal stuff, things have been teleporting around in Spinel Town with no discernible cause. My money’s on a PULSE Pokémon— have you heard about those?”

“I have,” Saphira says, determination and protectiveness washing over her as she remembers the things she’s heard about the PULSEs. “I’ll go check things out.”

“At least finish your lunch first,” Laura requests. “It’s just a few more bites.”

“I’ll finish it as I walk,” Saphira says, standing up and grabbing her bag. She starts to walk towards the door. “I’ll be back when the threat’s gone.”

She heads down the hall, through the living room, and out of the house, quickly finishing her sandwich as she does. Once she’s outside, she lets Dragonite out again, and the two of them fly over the lake.

When Saphira dismounts, she recalls Dragonite, as the entrance to the mountain isn’t large enough for the Pokémon. She keeps the Poké Ball in hand as she enters and starts to walk down the tunnel to the more open area.

As she does, though, she hears something— someone. She slows down her pace both to avoid being overheard and to better focus on what’s being said.

And what she hears enrages her.

It’s not the most comprehensive rundown, clearly more of a final going over of instructions already given than anything else. But it’s enough for her to understand what’s going on. And as she reaches the end of the tunnel and looks out into the cave, she sees him.

That bastard.

Saphira almost, is just a fraction of a millisecond second away, from letting Dragonite out when she stops herself. The bastard is with several others— enough to potentially overwhelm her. She has to be smart about this.

She turns around and runs back to the cove, not caring about being quiet, as a plan begins to formulate in her head. Emerging outside, letting Dragonite out, and climbing onto her back are all done so quickly they may as well be one motion.

“Hurry!” Saphira says, and Dragonite shoots across the lake like a missile. She overshoots a bit, over the roof, and has to circle back.

Laura, Charlotte, Anna, Noel, Shelly, and Carly are gathered outside, and show various levels of surprise and nervousness at Saphira’s sudden return.

“Back already?” Charlotte asks.

“The doctor’s coming here. Now,” Saphira says. “And he’s not alone. He’s got his orderlies and a full squad from Team Meteor with him. The group is coming by foot and water both to cut off any escape.”

“What should we do?” Laura asks, nervous, as Saphira looks over the lake to see the Meteors emerging.

“There’s only one thing we can do: fight,” Saphira says, resolute, before laying out the plan.

Charlotte, Anna, Noel, and Shelly— she was technically never one of the bastard’s charges, but she’s a child, had a therapy session with him, and got kidnapped before, so Saphira’s not about to take any chances— will hide in the house. Laura and Carly will defend it.

“Nothing is going to touch my family. Understand?” Saphira asks.

“Nothing is going to touch my friends,” Carly says.

“Good,” Saphira says before looking out over the lake. The Meteors have already started on their rafts. “The doctor is coming around the long way, but Team Meteor is on the water. I’m sure they thought they were being clever. But they’ve made themselves vulnerable. I’m going ahead; I’ll take down as many as I can. You all assume your positions.”

She points to the Meteors. “Dragonite, forward!”

Dragonite takes off, flying forward as fast as she can, and soon Saphira gives another order. “Extreme Speed!”

Dragonite obeys, using the move and ramming into the man on the frontmost raft. He instantly gets knocked back into the water, and the other Meteors make exclamations and sounds of shock.

Saphira and Dragonite don’t let up from there. Dragonite flies up into the air and begins to use Dragon Pulse to attack the remaining rafts one by one, Saphira directing her. Both of them keep their focus laser sharp…

…until an electric shock hits them from behind.

Saphira falls off of Dragonite, plummeting to the water below. She’s frozen even as she breaches the surface, muscle memory causing her to respond to being shocked with a total refusal to respond, to be visibly effected, by the action even after all these years.

Just as that begins to wear off— as she begins to feel panic, realizing she’s swallowed water and that the bag on her back may hinder her attempts to swim back to the surface— a familiar paw grabs her arm. She grabs it back, and she’s pulled back up above.

Before Saphira knows it, she’s back on solid ground, on her hands and knees. Her whole body shudders as she hacks up water. Once it’s all out, she spends a few long moments focused only on taking heaving breaths.

She tells herself it is just because of the near drowning.

Once she’s calmed down, she looks up to see Dragonite staring down at her in concern.

“I’m fine,” Saphira says, pushing herself to her feet. “Thank you, Dragonite.”

Dragonite nods, and Saphira looks around. The two of them are the only ones just outside the house. So she takes Dragonite’s Poké Ball from her belt. “Return, but be ready.”

Dragonite nods again just before she’s recalled.

Saphira sprints over to the house, slamming the door open. And the bastard is in the living room, facing down Carly and a Pangoro, only to immediately turn around as Saphira enters.

“…Sigmund,” she hisses.

The bastard says her name. Says her sisters— plural— must be here after all.

How fucking dare he? He’s already screwed for trying to get to Charlotte. But he doesn’t even have any legal authority over Laura anymore.

He starts to walk around, calling out for Charlotte, and Saphira’s blood boils.

She walks closer to him, calm on the surface. “Sorry, Sigmund, there’s no one here. Only me.”

The bastard looks annoyed. Insists she call him “Doctor.”

Saphira scoffs. Takes a step closer, and takes satisfaction in the way he steps back, expression wavering if only for a moment. “You’re not a doctor, you’re a criminal.”

She takes another step forward, and he takes another step back, back bumping against a bookshelf. Her eyes find a mark on his cheek. “By the way, I heard my sister left you a nice little scar.”

She takes another step forward, and he takes a step to the side. Her lips twitch, almost forming a smirk. “‘How does that make you feel?’”

She takes another step forward, turning to face him as he steps away, to the side. She can see his composure cracking. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

She takes another step towards him, her back now facing the bookshelf, and he takes another, cowardly step back. Her expression darkens. Or just darkens further, to be more accurate. “But I remember very well how nicely you treated my sisters and I back at the orphanage.”

She takes a final step forward, and he takes a step back. Her finger finds the button on Dragonite’s Poké Ball, which has not left her hand. “I think it’s time I returned the favor. Hold still.”

She calls out her Pokémon. “Dragonite, Hyper Beam!”

With the speed at which the move is fired, Saphira finds herself wondering if Pokémon can start to charge up their moves while recalled.

The Hyper Beam hits hard; when the move has finished, there’s a large hole in the wall, and the bastard is lying in the grass outside.

“Damn,” Carly says, her and her Pangoro staring out of the hole.

Saphira recalls Dragonite and walks past the other two, a smirk spreading across her face as triumph wells within her. “Well, I think we’ve made a breakthrough this session, ‘Doctor.’ So to speak.”

Her smirk grows at the way the bastard doesn’t respond, laying battered on the ground.

That was incredible. And… maybe it’s the start of something more. If she can get proof to Reborn City officials that he’s working with Team Meteor, surely they wouldn’t be able to ignore that like they’ve ignored so many other things.

He wouldn’t be allowed to be in charge of vulnerable children anymore. There’d be a warrant for his arrest. Maybe… maybe Saphira would even be able to get away with wrapping her hands around his neck and—

“Poison Jab!”

Suddenly there’s a Seviper next to Saphira. Before she can react, it strikes at her with its tail, and she instantly falls to the ground, blacking out.

— — —

Sometimes, Saphira thinks of Titania’s writing. It was partly a knight in shining armor tale with a twist: the dragon was protecting the princess.

If not for a few key details of it, like that there was one princess instead of two, and she ended up killing the dragon, Saphira would believe that Titania had been spying on her.

She is the dragon. Her sisters, the princesses. The bastard, the man who presents himself as a knight in shining armor when he is nothing more than a metal-clad ignoramus.

That’s why, when Saphira wakes up in a cell, her first, most immediate thought is of Charlotte and Laura. When she confirms that she cannot see them, she stands… and realizes she still wears her belt, not a single Poké Ball missing.

She does not know if her captors somehow forgot to remove it, thought she would not do anything, or thought her Pokémon would not be able to break through the bars. But she proves them fools soon enough, Dragonite creating a hole large enough for Saphira to step out of. She grabs her nearby bag, then turns to her guards and sees them tremble.

Getting information out of them is easy enough. The bastard is holed up in the back of the base with some admins, behind some gates. The person who led the raid on her home, the person who shot her down over the lake, and the person whose Seviper knocked her out are the same, a man with black hair and a single red eye known as Sirius. If she wants to get to either of these men, she will first have to disengage an electrical gate in the atrium.

That is more than enough information for Saphira. So she recalls Dragonite and leaves the room, the guards not even trying to stop her.

That becomes a recurring theme as she marches through the base she’s been brought to. The Meteors she passes cower as she does. A few are brave enough to try to approach her, but are easily pushed past and brushed off.

When she gets to the other side of the base, she finds a large computer and gets to work.

Eventually, she hears the door open and picks up on a familiar faint floral scent. Her head snaps to the room’s entrance. To her relief, though, it’s not Laura who’s entered, but Carly.

“There you are!” she says as she approaches. “Are you okay?”

“Of course I am,” Saphira says, refocusing on the computer. “You shouldn’t have come.”

“Not coming wasn’t an option. We were worried about you,” Carly says.

“‘We?’” Saphira asks.

“All of us. But it’s me and Laura who are here,” Carly says.

Saphira scowls. “It would have been better just to abandon me.”

“Like I said, not an option,” Carly says.

“I can take care of myself,” Saphira says. “Now she’s put herself in danger…”

She should’ve been smarter. Shouldn’t have let Sirius get the jump on her.

“I’m sure you’re capable, and Laura knows that,” Carly says. “But we’re allowed to care about you.”

“That’s not what this is about,” Saphira says, because of course she knows that Laura cares. “Give me just a moment. I can open the central gate.”

Before Carly can respond, two Meteors enter the room, speaking in unison. “Hold it right there!”

“Buy me some time, Carly!” Saphira commands.

“Right!” Carly says, moving to do just that.

As Saphira continues on the computer, she can’t help but think about how odd Carly’s words were. Specifically, the ones about her caring for Saphira.

That doesn’t make any sense. Saphira is grateful for what Carly has done for her family, but it’s not like they’re friends. They don’t have a bond like Saphira does with her sisters, or even like she does with the twins. They haven’t been through anything together, and as far as she knows, they haven’t had similar experiences.

Saphira brushes the thoughts off. She has to focus on the computer.

Soon enough, just as Carly has beat the Meteors, Saphira has finished her own work. A message reading “ATRIUM GATE DISENGAGED” pops up on the screen.

“Blast! We couldn’t stop them,” the Meteors say.

“Do you guys practice that?” Carly wonders.

Saphira walks to Carly’s side, staring down the Meteors as they squirm. “Doesn’t matter. Because they’re right. They can’t stop us. So are you two going to run, or do you need to be burned to a crisp?”

It’s quiet for a moment. The Meteors exchange a look.

And then Saphira leans forward. “…boo.”

The Meteors shriek and run off.

“Wow,” Carly says. “Wonder if they’re ever gonna start doing that for me?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised. They’re pathetic,” Saphira says before turning to Carly. “Let me heal your team after that.”

“Thanks!” Carly says, giving Saphira a smile.

Saphira pulls healing items from her bag and uses them on Carly’s team. Once that’s done, Carly speaks. “We’re off to a room in the back, right?”

“Right, now let’s get a move on,” Saphira says.

The two of them walk back into the atrium, and immediately find Laura.

“Saphira!” she calls, hurrying over with relief obvious on her face. “You’re okay!”

“Of course I am. Was there ever any doubt?” Saphira asks.

“A little……..” Laura admits with a frown. “I heard you got poisoned……..”

Right. Of course she would hear about that and get worried.

“Sorry,” Saphira says.

“It’s not your fault,” Laura says. “But…….. now what?”

“We’re heading towards a room in the back,” Carly says.

“All right. Oh, and……..” Laura says, taking an item from her pocket and holding it out to Carly. “You were looking for this, right?”

“Yeah, thanks!” Carly says, taking the item— a Data Chip— and taking her Pokégear from her pocket. She plugs the former item into a port in the latter, staring at the screen as the information inside loads. Soon, her brow furrows. “…looks like it really is a PULSE Pokémon causing the teleportation. Look.”

Laura and Saphira both move closer to Carly and read the words on her Pokégear’s screen about the PULSE Pokémon, an Abra.

Apparently this one has been turned into a Psychic/Steel Type somehow, and its ability is Magic Guard. Its HP and attack stats are low— or at least, low by whatever metric is being used to judge them. Its special attack is high. The other three stats are average.

“‘Its body seems to reject all machine input, at the apparent cost of its psyche?’” Laura reads aloud from a summary next to the stats. “What does that mean……..?”

“I can’t be one hundred percent sure, but it sounds like the PULSE technology has been hurting Abra’s mind…” Carly says with a frown.

So, a small Pokémon that has been changed and had its mind screwed up against its will? Saphira finds herself wondering if the bastard had any part in making the PULSE, or if this is just a birds of a feather situation.

Carly soon puts her Pokégear away, and the group ends up having to split up. A strange device on the floor means that they can’t all get to the back, and the ceiling is too low for Saphira’s Pokémon to fly them there. So it’s decided that Carly will go to the back and look for a way to unlock a gate on the other side of the room, and while she does, Laura and Saphira will walk over to that side.

The two of them walk past multiple sleeping Meteors, thanks to Laura’s Lilligant, of course.

Saphira is still wary about having Laura here. But she tells herself it should be fine, as long as the two of them stick together.

When they manage to get to the other side of the atrium, they hear Carly’s voice from nearby. “Oh, I remember you… Simon, right?”

“That’s right,” what must be Simon says. “This entire base, and force, has been reduced to a pathetic set of workers, because of that woman. You know, the one with the Dragonite. You heard what happened, right?”

“Yeah, she attacked you guys on the lake,” Carly says.

“That’s right,” Simon says. “We each came on individual rafts. Pairs grouped up, partner with partner. Tara was with me, of course. And that witch decided, ‘Hey, what if we shot the sitting ducks on the pond?!’”

Saphira just rolls her eyes. She’s been called even worse than “witch,” and heard even less justified anger.

“You’re joking, right?” Carly asks, anger tinging her voice. “I don’t like violence, but you were coming to take children back to their abuser. I know you can’t just say no to orders, but what the fuck did you expect her to do?”

“I expected her not to kill us!” Simon says.

“…huh?” Carly asks, sounding rattled. “Why… what do you… she wouldn’t really…”

“She did. Tara is dead, Carly. That woman killed her,” Simon says. “Tara, and four others. Most of us were able to swim back to shore. But… I couldn’t save her. That’s twice now, that I… ugh! I’ll have my revenge on her! Somehow! Someday…”

“…I’m sorry. But no, you won’t,” Carly says.

“Excuse me?” Simon asks, offended.

“Doing anything to Saphira would just put her sisters and friends in the same state you’re in right now,” Carly says. “And even if it didn’t… if you try to hurt Saphira, I’ll stop you.”

As if Saphira needs the protection.

In truth, she has no quarrel with Simon at the moment. As long as Charlotte and Laura are not in any immediate danger, the only ones she has any vendetta against are the bastard and Sirius. She will not go out of her way to do anything for Simon, but she has no plans to go out of her way to hurt him, either.

In fact, even if she internally scoffed at his comment about ‘sitting ducks,’ she understands his rage. If their positions were swapped— if Laura and/or Charlotte were in this Tara’s place— Saphira would hunt Simon down and kill him.

This is just the way things work. Tara endangered Charlotte and Laura, so Saphira struck at her. She couldn’t pull herself to shore, so she drowned. Simon, it seems, cares deeply about her, so now he is devastated and bent on revenge.

But he will never get it. If he attempts to, Saphira will strike him down, too.

“Bye, Simon. I really am sorry about Tara,” Carly says.

A few seconds after that, the nearby gate opens. Laura and Saphira walk through, Carly meeting them with a frown on her face.

“…you probably heard all of that, huh?” she asks.

“We did,” Laura admits. “Sorry……..”

“It’s fine, but…” Carly starts, looking to Saphira. “Did you… do that on purpose…?”

“I knew it was a possibility,” Saphira says.

“Oh…” Carly says, frown deepening as she looks to the floor. “That’s… I guess I have a lot to think about, now… but come on, let’s go…”

“Actually, there’s a Light Shard over in that room, if you’d like to use it,” Laura says, pointing towards the jail room.

A Light Shard, here? Well, Saphira supposes they can appear anywhere in the region, and have become more common in the past few years.

“Thanks, be right back,” Carly says, walking past Laura and Saphira to head to the jail room.

Once Carly is back, the three of them head to the back of the room. Saphira ignores Simon as they pass by him.

There’s another gate blocking the back room, but Carly found a lock connected to it already. The group quickly finds the second lock, the few Meteors they see on the way to it getting out of the way at the sight of Saphira. Once the gate is dealt with, the group heads into the very back.

There’s what’s obviously the PULSE Abra in the room, as well as someone staring it down. But Saphira barely notices either, instead focused on the bastard standing against the back wall.

“Sigmund,” she hisses once again, her eyes narrowing as she steps past both Laura and Carly. “You’re going to pay for everything you’ve done.”

The bastard asks what he’s done, as if he doesn’t know perfectly well. Acts like he only ever acts in self-defense, or even more ludicrously, in care.

“Caring?” Saphira asks. Her voice rises in volume as she continues. “You think pinning a child down and lighting her up is caring for her?! You think HALF the things you’ve done to me were caring for me?!”

She was fifteen, almost sixteen, when she was sent to the orphanage.

She was fifteen the first time she got electrocuted by a man said to care for children.

She was fifteen when she watched her sisters, six and eight, go mute for multiple days after their own first electrocutions.

She was fifteen the first time she got into a physical fight with another child in defense of her eight year old sister, and ended up being thrown into a cell for it. When her six year old sister was thrown into a nearby cell, and they were both given another hour of isolation in punishment for trying to talk to each other.

She was sixteen when she promised her six year old sister she’d retrieve a stolen item.

When she snuck out of the cell the adults surrounding her called a bedroom and to where the bastard’s own room was.

When she found the door unlocked, and found him still awake but surrounded by empty bottles.

When he did something unforgivable to her.

“Don’t talk to me about caring, Doctor,” Saphira says, spitting out the last word. “You don’t know the meaning of the word.”

The bastard dares to grow angry. Says that he would not say such things if he were her, as if he could ever stand to be her. He steps forward, claiming that he’s dedicated his entire life to learning how to care for those around him. That he will not be disrespected by an unruly little girl.

Before Saphira can say that it’s a good thing there aren’t any of those in the room, a strange look comes over the bastard’s face. He backs up, muttering about a “Lizzy.”

Laura and Carly say something, but Saphira can hardly hear it. She feels sick. Remembers the way he said that name over and over and over again, that night when she was sixteen.

The bastard snaps out of it. Brushes it off.

“Doctor? Is something the matter?” a voice asks from behind Laura, Saphira, and Carly. They turn around to see what must be Sirius, staring at them in surprise. “…you again!”

He looks away for a moment with a grimace. “…no. There are more pressing concerns right now. Step aside.”

“No???” Carly says incredulously.

Sirius glares before scoffing and looking past the group, towards the back corner where the other Meteor and the PULSE are. “ZEL, I’ve just received a communication. Lin will be coming here shortly to observe our progress.”

The bastard mutters the second name, and Saphira finds herself confused as well. “Why does that sound familiar?”

As the others talk, she makes sure to listen, but also thinks. She knows she’s heard the name Lin somewhere before, is absolutely certain of it.

She mentally shuffles through the people she knows. Members and workers of the League, her regular challengers, her neighbors up in Labradorra. But at most, she can come up with a few names that are vaguely similar in some ways. A Lily, a Minnie. No Lin, or even anything that would feasibly be shortened to that.

That doesn’t necessarily mean that none of the people Saphira thinks of are named Lin, though. She’s not always the best with names.

“That’s enough,” Sirius says as Saphira fully refocuses on the conversation. “Focus on getting that thing tamed, otherwise Lin is going to have all of our heads.”

“Hey, we’re still busting up this party,” Saphira says, annoyed. “Don’t think you can just ignore us.”

Sirius sneers. “In that case, you can be our test subject. Go ahead, ZEL.”

“Allow me to finish what I started on the lake!” Saphira says, taking a step towards Sirius… only to hear a strange zinging sound as her entire surroundings change.

She stumbles a bit, having ended up an inch or two above the ground after… getting teleported, she guesses. Once she’s regained her footing, she takes her Pokégear from her pocket, and uses the flashlight to look around.

She’s in some kind of chasm, it looks like. There’s a lot of stone, but the only real thing of note is a bunch of containers, multiple of which spill some sort of sickly green substance on the ground that absolutely stinks.

And there’s no Laura.

Saphira tries to have Dragonite fly her up and out of wherever she is. But it’s too narrow, so she soon recalls her Pokémon and starts to walk, trying to avoid the puddles as best she can… which isn’t very easy, both from the limited light she has and the way that violent tremors start to rock the ground. She briefly considers letting out Charizard to alleviate the first problem somewhat with the light of the Pokémon’s tail flame, but decides against it when the thought that these puddles could be combustible crosses her mind.

She doesn’t find any way out of where she is. There are a few alcoves in the walls, but that’s all they are— nothing deep enough to lead anywhere. But eventually, she hears voices from up above.

“…who’s there?” she calls.

“Saphira?” two familiar voices call.

“Laura, Carly, is that you?” Saphira asks. “I’m stuck at the bottom of this accursed chasm. Fortunately the echo is enough for me to hear you two.”

This is… well, not good. It’s not good that Laura is stuck wherever this is. But it seems she’s okay, so at least there’s that.

“Are you okay?” Laura asks, clearly worried.

“I’m not hurt, but I don’t see a way up. It’s too narrow down here to fly,” Saphira says.

And then another tremor rocks the ground.

“…and then there’s that,” she says.

“What could possibly be causing these?” Carly wonders. “I assumed it was Meteor, but I didn’t see anything in the base that seemed like it could’ve been responsible. Did you guys?”

“I didn’t notice anything,” Laura says.

“Neither did I,” Saphira says. “Whatever’s causing them must be around here.”

“If we could find it, maybe we could help all of Chrysolia!” Laura says.

Of course that would be her first thought, Saphira thinks fondly.

And it’s true. These tremors started up shortly before she left for Labradorra, so she knows how disruptive they are.

“Right, take a look then,” Saphira says. “I’ll keep looking for some way to climb up.”

“All right!” Laura says.

“Be safe!” Carly says.

Saphira doesn’t need to be told… but she will.

She keeps going through the chasm, but it’s just more of the same as before, if with more and more containers and liquid.

Then, she hears Carly’s voice again. “What in the world?”

“Are you making any progress up there?” Saphira calls.

“Well…….. yes, but we’re not exactly sure how,” Laura says. “We had just turned around and there was a new tunnel. Like something really big just dug through the stone……..”

“Whatever did that would have to be extremely strong… and large,” Saphira says. As soon as she finishes talking, the ground shakes once again. “…and nearby.”

The thought is frightening. She may have no idea how large the tunnel up above is, but anything that can make a tunnel large enough for adults to walk through, in just the time the previous conversation took, must be incredibly powerful. If it finds Laura…

“Be on your guard; I’m going to keep moving,” Saphira says before starting to do just that.

“Be careful!” Laura calls.

Of course. For her sake.

Unfortunately, no matter where Saphira shines the light of her Pokégear, she doesn’t find anything new, just the pungent liquid covering more and more of the ground, to the point that she can’t avoid it at all.

“Another dead end……..” she hears Laura say from above. “Just how big is this chasm?”

“There’s no telling, but it’s putrid,” Saphira says, nose scrunching up a bit as she sweeps her light over a nearby puddle, landing it on the overturned container the liquid spills from.

“What do you mean?” Laura asks.

“There’s nothing but acid down here,” Saphira explains.

“Yeah, we saw some of that earlier, too,” Carly says. “My guess is that it’s from the Meteor base, teleported to wherever this is by Abra. Either it did it on its own to fuck with Meteor, or they’re disposing of the stuff like this on purpose whenever they can get it to listen to them.”

“In that case, we may not be far from the base,” Saphira says. She shines her light on the walls. “In fact, based on that and this stone, I’d guess that we’re somewhere in the depths of Tanzan Mountain.”

Another tremor shakes the ground.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if the sudden injection of this poison upset the wild Pokémon,” Saphira continues. “Whatever’s causing those earthquakes must just be trying to retaliate against the Meteors for this toxicity.”

“That’s terrible!” Laura cries. “So it really is all Team Meteor’s fault!”

“So then, nature’s fighting back…” Carly says, sounding thoughtful. “You know, I’ve been told it always wins.”

Saphira can’t say she understands Team Meteor, and not for lack of trying. She’s been making semi-regular calls to the Grand Hall to be updated on the group’s activities, worried that they might target Lapis Ward or even the orphanage.

It’s not like she got the most exhaustive rundown— she didn’t even know what any of them looked like until she found them approaching the cove, and obviously she couldn’t be told anything the people she talked to didn’t know. But still, what she has heard of Meteor’s actions and goals seems almost contradictory at times. And while she was thinking on the identity of Lin, she did hear that one Meteor— ZEL?— say something about the PULSE Abra’s purpose simply being to get them into a certain place. What could that accomplish?

Aside from that, what does teaming up with the bastard do for them? Apparently they stole Anna’s Pendant, and a Ring from another girl who got taken to the orphanage, but why do those things matter?

Saphira supposes she’ll just have to figure it out later. There are more pressing things to focus on.

“Regardless, keep moving,” she says. “There’s got to be an exit somewhere.”

“Right. Let’s go,” Carly says.

Saphira keeps going, only to quickly find what’s more or less a dead end, the chasm narrowing to the point she can’t continue. So she turns around and starts to hurry back the way she came, hoping there might be something the other way past where she first started.

But then there’s another tremor, this one accompanied by a scream. Saphira’s eyes widen, head snapping up. “Laura, are you all right up there?”

“She tripped, and I think she passed out!” Carly says.

Shit.

The tremors continue, and Saphira swears she senses something moving from nearby.

“Wh-what do I do?” Carly asks.

“Listen to me. That thing is moving fast,” Saphira says as something moves in the ground just beneath her feet. “Whatever it takes, we can’t let Laura—”

Her eyes widen, and she can’t help but stumble back as something gigantic breaks through the ground up ahead. “Watch out, it’s headed your way!”

She watches as a Steelix rises up, up, and up, body still emerging even after a normal Steelix would’ve been forced to stop. She takes several steps back as the segments of its body rotate, fearful that it will move a few feet her way and knock her to the ground without even trying.

“Holy shit!” Carly says in utter disbelief.

“Steady, Carly!” Saphira says. “We have to protect Laura! That’s the thing that’s responsible for the earthquakes! If we can take it down, it’ll be a huge burden lifted! Do your best to subdue it! I’ll see if I can get into position to help!”

“Right!” Carly says.

As commands and sounds of a battle start to ring out from above, Saphira’s free hand goes to her belt… only to pause as her flashlight catches on the acid on the ground, and she remembers she has no idea if this stuff is combustible. Dragon Type moves tend to have similar effects on materials like that as Fire Type moves.

With how much acid there is, an explosion could be devastating. All it would take is one small, accidental move, and it might even endanger everyone up above…

To her great frustration, Saphira is forced to rely on Carly for now. And so she waits, making sure to stay out of the way.

Eventually, Steelix lets out a loud roar, and Carly screams. “INCOMING!”

Saphira quickly darts into a nearby alcove as Steelix comes crashing down hard enough to send several small rocks on the ground up into the air for a moment.

“Are you okay?!” Carly asks.

“I’m fine,” Saphira says, stepping out of the alcove to look at the felled Steelix. “Just give me a moment.”

She makes her way to the Pokémon’s head and looks it over, then pulls a Revive from her bag. She gives it to Steelix, causing it to blink its eyes open, still seeming a bit out of it but no longer fainted.

“Hold still…” she mutters as she begins to climb. Steelix is compliant, not reacting as she climbs its rocky face, and soon she reaches the top. She grabs onto one of the protrusions on its head and tugs at it. “Up.”

Once again, Steelix complies, and soon Saphira sees Laura, passed out on the ground with Carly standing protectively in front of her.

“Giddy-up, you dumb beast!” Saphira says, a smirk spreading over her lips.

“Did you catch it?!” Carly asks in awe.

“Not yet,” Saphira says. “Grab Laura and hop on! We’re going for a joyride.”

Carly nods, turning around and kneeling down next to Laura. Thankfully, she wakes up, and Carly leads her over.

Once the two of them have climbed on, Laura speaks, shocked. “Where did this Steelix come from?”

“It’s what was causing the tremors,” Carly says. “It showed up and attacked while you were passed out.”

“And you two defeated it?” Laura asks, surprised.

“Carly did,” Saphira admits. “But now I’m going to get us out of here. Hang on.”

Once the other two are settled and holding on tight, Saphira has Steelix tunnel through the mountain and thinks about her game plan.

Eventually, Steelix comes to a sudden stop, causing Laura and Carly to let out sounds of surprise.

“Why’d it stop?” Laura asks.

“Probably because we’ve reached our destination,” Saphira says, eyes landing on the wall ahead. “Steelix, back up a bit.”

Steelix does as told, and Saphira lets out Dragonite and points at the wall. “We need a hole big enough to walk through. Hyper Beam, right there.”

Dragonite fires off the move, creating an exit. Saphira recalls her Pokémon, and the group climbs down from Steelix.

“Carly, let me heal your Pokémon again,” Saphira says, beginning to dig through her bag.

“Thanks!” Carly says, taking a pair of Poké Balls from her belt.

Once that’s done, the group heads out of the new exit, and finds themselves nearby the Meteor base.

Now that Saphira is sure she won’t need Steelix immediately, she takes an Ultra Ball from her bag. Said Pokémon has creeped forward to stare through the hole, so she’s able to simply reach through and catch it.

Once that’s done, she puts the ball on her belt and focuses on Laura and Carly. “All right, here’s the plan. Meteor still needs to be stopped, and Laura needs to be taken home.”

“It’s not that far……..” Laura says with a frown. “I can easily take myself there.”

“No chance,” Saphira says firmly. “I’m not taking any risk of you getting hurt again.”

“You did pass out for a little bit there…” Carly adds.

“All right……..” Laura concedes.

“So, Carly, I’m going to leave dealing with Meteor and the PULSE Abra to you,” Saphira says. “I’ll escort Laura home and then be right behind you. Get in there, terminate that Abra, and get out ASAP. From the sound of it, their real leader is coming any time now. If she gets here, it’s only going to be trouble for us. Understood?”

“Lin’s not their leader, but yeah, gotcha,” Carly says.

Saphira has doubts, given the way the Meteors talked about Lin, but now’s not the time to argue over titles. “Let’s move.”

The group begins to do just that, Carly soon splitting off to enter the base.

“Are you sure about this? I can still help…….. I feel just fine,” Laura says, still frowning, as she and Saphira walk.

“No, Carly and I can handle this,” Saphira says.

“I know that you’re very strong, and Carly has stopped several PULSEs already, but still……..” Laura says.

Saphira actually didn’t know that second part. The story of how the kids and Carly got to the house didn’t involve any PULSEs, though according to the others, it did also gloss over several things.

But… actually, during the calls to the Grand Hall, Saphira did hear about a Trainer who’s been consistently fighting against Meteor. She wasn’t given a name, but was that Carly?

“In that case, there’s nothing to worry about,” Saphira says. “As for you, you can take a shower.”

Laura’s frown deepens. “I don’t think I’ll be able to, until I know you’re both safe……..”

Saphira feels guilt at that. Laura’s so dirty, and she’d usually respond to that by wanting to take a shower immediately. If she’s refusing to, she must be extremely worried…

“We’ll just have to get back quickly, then,” Saphira says.

Laura still seems worried, but thankfully she accepts it.

Once they reach the cove, Saphira lets out Dragonite. Laura and her climb on and fly across the cove, then the former dismounts.

“Be safe,” Saphira says.

“I will,” Laura says.

Saphira nods. “Let’s go, Dragonite.”

Dragonite flies back across the lake, and Saphira dismounts and recalls her Pokémon. Then she heads back into the mountain and makes her way through the cave, healing Steelix with an Ultra Potion as she does.

Once she’s reached the area outside of Chrysolia Forest, she lets out Steelix again and climbs onto its head. “Come on. We’re finishing off the base.”

Steelix understands, rising up into the sky and curling around the mountain as it begins with small— for it— attacks, Saphira directing it.

“All right, Steelix, you want revenge on these guys as much as I do, right?” Saphira asks once Steelix reaches the very top of the mountain.

It lets out a roar in agreement.

“That’s what I thought,” Saphira says. “They trashed your home, so let’s trash theirs.”

But before the attack can really begin, a woman with a dark green ponytail flies up on a shiny Hydreigon and speaks in a flat voice. “Saphira.”

“Who are you?” Saphira asks, trying to take this stranger in as best she can.

The woman completely disregards Saphira’s question. “Do you believe that you can protect your sisters by destroying us?”

Saphira’s eyes narrow. “Do I know you?”

The woman’s expression is just as blank as her tone of voice, but… Saphira could almost swear her facial features look familiar. And there’s no light in her dark green eyes.

It makes Saphira think of children at the orphanage.

“Your petty family bonds are meaningless,” the woman says, as if she’s been designed to piss Saphira off.

“‘Petty?’” Saphira repeats. “If anything threatens my sisters, I’ll tear it apart. That’s loyalty. Something you’ve probably never heard of.”

Terrorists probably don’t have much loyalty to even their cohorts, after all… and there’s something about this woman that makes Saphira think that goes double for her.

“Family… loyalty…” the woman says, as emotionless as before. “It’s all meaningless. All that matters is pure, unbridled power.”

But she couldn’t be more wrong. All of Saphira’s power is fueled by her loyalty. By her family.

Before she can say that, though, the woman continues. “Hyrdeigon, demonstrate.”

And Saphira isn’t even entirely sure what happens.

Hydreigon attacks in some way that’s too fast for her to even register. She thinks, for a split second, that both the Pokémon and the woman on its back are right in front of her and Steelix, but she can’t even be certain of that much— the woman and her Hydreigon are back in place just as quickly.

But there is definitely an attack. Because Steelix immediately starts to fall.

Saphira tries to hold on, but she swears the attack hit her, too. So when Steelix’s head hits the mountain and tilts back, she slides down and goes flying.

And as she falls, her first, most immediate thought is that her sisters will weep, and have to find yet another dragon.

Then the wind is knocked out of Saphira, and it’s painful, but definitely doesn’t kill her. Her arms instinctively wrap around Dragonite as the Pokémon flies her down to safety.

Once they’ve reached the ground of the south Aventurine Woods, she dismounts. “Thank you.”

Dragonite makes a rumbling sound, and bends down to press her snout to the top of Saphira’s head for a moment.

“Our work isn’t done yet, though,” Saphira says, recalling Steelix and stopping it from dragging further down the mountain. She starts to walk back towards the entrance to said mountain. “We need to—”

She’s cut off by the way that her legs buckle, and in that moment, she realizes how weak she feels. Battered, and hungry.

“This— we need to—” Saphira starts, only to be cut off again, this time by a paw on her shoulder. She looks back to Dragonite to see a concerned expression on her Pokémon’s face.

“We need to go. The others are in danger, as long as Team Meteor is around,” Saphira insists.

But Dragonite shakes her head.

It’s silent for a long moment… then there’s a rumble from Saphira’s stomach. She sighs. “Fine. I’ll rest. But the second I’m fine, we head back to the base.”

Dragonite nods, making a satisfied sound.

Saphira finds somewhere to hide in the woods. She doesn’t have any food in her bag, but she finds some berries growing nearby and shares them with Dragonite.

She doesn’t have her Pokégear anymore; it must’ve fallen out of her pocket as she herself fell, which is unfortunate. She’s very aware that her sisters were likely observing, and it probably seems to them as if she died.

But she can’t return to the house yet. The fact is, the Meteors must think she’s dead, too, and that’s an advantage that she would prefer to not risk losing. So she’ll sneak back into the base, destroy it, and then head home… after she gets a bit of rest.

So Saphira lies down. She tells herself that she will just rest for a few minutes.

Her eyes close, and she’s out like a light.

— — —

Once Saphira sneaks back inside the Meteor base the next morning, she feels like more of a storm than a person. She lets out her Pokémon, aside from Steelix, and they begin to wreck havoc, attacking whatever they can find.

Some grunts do attempt to stop Saphira, but Dragonite alone takes down all of their Pokémon. That means they have no choice but to answer Saphira’s questions about the locations of certain people and why the group wants Anna’s Pendant and the Ring Saphira heard about.

Unfortunately, aside from Sirius, all of the important people that were here are gone. Including the bastard. And while Saphira would normally figure out if that’s true or not herself, there’s a large explosion from somewhere nearby, and the ceiling starts to crumble.

She has to go… but there’s one thing she can do before she does. Sirius appears to figure out what’s going on, and he’s clutching both the Pendant and the Ring.

She’s on him before he can do anything, socking him right in the jaw and causing him to stumble back. He doesn’t let go of the jewelry, surprisingly, but she’s able to take them from him and run. He yells out a demand that she stop, but she ignores it, stuffing the jewelry in her bag as she runs.

She recalls her team and runs to the jail room, where she stands in one of the cells for safety as she lets out Steelix. It just barely fits with enough room for her to climb onto its head, which she does. Once she’s holding on, it breaks through the wall and begins to tunnel through the mountain.

And as the adrenaline starts to wear off, Saphira… is dissatisfied.

Fucking damn it. She can’t believe she missed the bastard. If she hadn’t stopped to rest yesterday…

Next time. Next time, she swears.

For now, though, she has other things to focus on.

Like yesterday, Steelix reaches a wall that makes it stop, and so Saphira dismounts, recalls it, and has Dragonite use Hyper Beam to create an exit.

It’s much more powerful than the last time she did this, leaving multiple large chunks of stone scattered on the ground on the other side of the newly made hole. As Saphira recalls her Pokémon, she wonders if Dragonite’s frustrated, too.

That done, she walks out of the newly created exit to find Carly, staring with wide eyes.

“Well met, Carly,” Saphira says. “I hope you didn’t think I would go down without a fight.”

“Of course not,” Carly says. “But are you okay?”

Her cheeks are a bit pink. Saphira finds herself hoping that Carly hasn’t gotten sick, or anything.

“Of course, though I’ll admit that woman caught me off guard,” Saphira says. “She seemed to know about my family, but I didn’t recognize her.”

“That was Lin,” Carly says.

For some reason, the thought occurs to Saphira that that makes perfect sense.

“I see. But that doesn’t matter anymore. I already snuck back in and terminated their base,” Saphira says. “And I’ve got a present for you.”

She retrieves the Pendant and Ring from her bag as she walks over to Carly, who holds out a hand. Her eyes widen when Saphira places the jewelry into it.

“H-how’d you get these?” Carly asks.

“I wrenched them away from Sirius,” Saphira says.

“Wow,” Carly says. “He couldn’t have been happy about that…”

Remembering the words from yesterday about not liking violence, Saphira doesn’t see the point in adding the fact that she punched Sirius to get the items. There are more important things to discuss, and there’s no use in potentially starting a meaningless argument with… an ally.

Someone that Saphira has been through something with, she supposes.

“He wasn’t. Team Meteor has been desperate to seize these objects,” she says.

“Oh, yeah, me and the others think we figured it out,” Carly says. “Come on, we’ll go talk about it together with them. And I’m sure that Anna will be glad to have her Pendant back.”

But Saphira shakes her head. “To give them back to the original owners would do little but paint a target on their backs. Neither can I keep them— Team Meteor knows where I stay. I need you to take these, and leave. The rest of us will relocate.”

Carly looks surprised, but then she nods. “Right. That’s a good idea. You all will be heading to Carnelia, I’m guessing?”

“Exactly,” Saphira says as Carly puts the jewelry on. “You go your own way, and I’ll lead everyone else up there in safety. North and east of the route ahead is your way forward. Should Team Meteor pursue you for the Keys, I trust you are capable of defending them. Be careful.”

“Of course, and you all be careful, too,” Carly says. “Charlotte slept in Chrysolia Forest last night, so you’ll have to find her. And tell everyone that I’ll see you all later, okay?”

“I will,” Saphira says.

From there, the two of them split up, Saphira heading down the mountain while Carly leaves for Aventurine.

As Saphira steps through a hole in a gate that Dragonite created earlier, she finds someone standing at the bottom of some stairs carved into the mountain.

“You’re okay,” Charlotte says, staring up with wide eyes.

“Of course I am. Was there ever any doubt?” Saphira asks.

Charlotte grins. “Never for a second.”

That’s good. But maybe it’s to be expected. Charlotte’s faith in Saphira has always been unbreakable. She just needs to make sure it stays that way.

So she nods and begins to walk down the stairs. “Carly is heading on. I’m taking the rest of you up to Carnelia. Let’s go.”

Charlotte nods and follows Saphira.

When they return to the cove, Dragonite is let out to fly them over the lake.

“I told you guys she’d be all right!” Charlotte says as she and Saphira dismount, addressing Laura, the twins, and Shelly, who stare through the hole in the wall.

“But where’s Carly?” Anna asks.

“On Route 1. She’ll be continuing her journey. But she wanted me to tell you all that she’ll see you later,” Saphira says. Charlotte and her then walk through the front door— Laura probably wouldn’t like it if they walked in through the hole. “For now, though, I’m taking you all up to Carnelia. It’s not safe here anymore. So gather anything you have; for those of you without a bag, I’ll put your things in mine.”

Laura heads to the kitchen, saying she’ll make Charlotte and Saphira something to eat before everyone goes. Everyone else goes upstairs to pack, Saphira heading to her room with the twins.

“Hey, Saphira?” Anna says as Saphira opens up her bag. “When we go to Carnelia, can we stop at the circus?”

“The Agate Circus?” Saphira asks, surprised. She didn’t even know that Anna knew about that place.

But apparently she does, because she nods. “Nostra said it would be fun!”

Well… it could be, for Laura and the kids. Saphira doesn’t know about Shelly, but wouldn’t be surprised if Laura and Charlotte can’t remember ever going somewhere like that, and the twins have never been somewhere like that at all.

So Saphira agrees, Anna cheers, and the focus goes back to packing.

Once that’s done, Charlotte and Saphira go to the kitchen. They find Laura sniffling.

“Are you crying?” Charlotte asks.

“Yes…….. I’m just so happy you’re both all right, is all……..” Laura says as some tears fall down her face. Then she spreads her arms out.

“Uh, we’re both kind of dirty…” Charlotte mutters.

“I don’t care,” Laura says.

That’s a shock. She must’ve been really worried… Saphira will have to make sure a thing like this doesn’t happen again. For now, though, the sisters hug. All three of them, for the first time in… well, usually they all hug whenever Saphira visits the orphanage, but this feels different somehow.

But it’s nice.

Once they part, Saphira finds some PokéSnax in the cabinet and Fresh Water in the fridge, then takes them outside to Dragonite.

“Thank you for everything you did today and yesterday,” Saphira says as Dragonite starts to eat. After all, she did a lot. And if she hadn’t saved Saphira in the lake, or come out of her Poké Ball over the mountain yesterday…

Maybe it’s even more than that, actually. Saphira and Dragonite have been together for most of the former’s life and all of the latter’s, after all.

Dragonite lets out a happy sound, and Saphira nods, then goes back inside for her own breakfast.

As she eats, she thinks about what needs to be done once the group gets up to Carnelia. Her Labradorra apartment obviously can’t house the group, so she’ll have to find somewhere else… apartments in Calcenon, maybe? If she could work something out with someone up there…

She’ll figure it out. What matters, first and foremost, is getting to safety. For her sisters, and for Anna, Noel, and Shelly, too, she supposes.

The bastard, Team Meteor, whoever else. If anyone tries to touch Saphira’s family, she’ll stop them.

She will be unbreakable.