Mindlack

October 31

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Welp that's our flamboyant rival for you, buddy. Also taking responsibility and makings things emright after mistakes sounds better and honest, but by adding a few bad things also kinda balanced this, I guess...

The thing is, we all know Cain's supposedly doing the right thing, but I wanted to show that there are very often consequences to doing the right thing over the lawful thing... usually unintended ones. I suppose it's a very first-world-lawful point of view, but I don't think that makes it wrong.

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Honestly I wouldn't put such things in my story, as I completely changed the canon events, but after reading it, I spotted so many spots, that made no sense at all and deleted it as a result. I never though that writing a good and interesting story would be that hard *makes angry Crystal noises*

Yes, it's hard, isn't it? The thing is, it never stops being hard. I was thinking that writing the buildup to the climactic end of Part 2 (which is very close) would be easy, but... no! There are battles to write, actions to justify, and it all has to make sense! It's still difficult. And let alone said end for which I'm very motivated and nervous to mess it up...

About a "good" story: it helps a lot to have appeciative readers, such as you, but I'm starting to (very slowly) realize that I don't have to worry about whether it's good or not.

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Last thing to say is, that your story is slowly, but steady capturing both political and economic crisis of Reborn. Very impressive buddy

Thank you. To be honest, they were supposed to remain in the background, because it's mostly about Gabriel, but he needs special circumstances to take decisive action.^^

Anyway, after a tedious grinding session (and stressful Cal battle write-down, I hope it's decent but if it isn't I still have some time to fine-tune it), I'm presenting you he next chapter:

Chapter 38: Threat Thresholds

Spoiler

I went down the stairs as fast as I dared, slowly half-opened the exit at the bottom to be sure that nobody was passing through, and, gathering whichever scrubs of courage and self-consistency I had left, I went from the stairwell to the corridor on the bottom floor. For some reason, there weren't as many doors there as in the other corridors. The very high ceiling offered an explanation -- there were actual production rooms around, which needed, of course, space. If so, then any nefarious activity was certainly there.

But either the soundproofing was excellent, or little was occurring, because there didn't seem to be any activity. I walked on, scared to death of being found out. The first few paces were fine, until I came to a crossroads, and peeking at the perpendicular corridor, I spotted a Meteor agent. I withdrew instantly, wondering panickedly what to do. Going forward, or turning, would be idiotic, I had nothing to gain in being found out... Perhaps the best way would to be to lay low and wait for the guy to pass. So I went back a few steps and stood against the wall, in such a way as to prevent as much as possible them from seeing me.

I waited, feeling every beat of my heart from my chest to my head, not daring to look at the crossroads, hearing the steps of the Meteor member coming closer, sweating bullets at the idea of being found out. And then the steps receded, the Meteor was already getting farther away. Whew. I pushed away from the wall to regain a normal balance, glanced at the crossroads, saw it free, and, as quickly as I dared, trying my damnedest to not make any noise, I started crossing it.

"Who the hell..." I heard on my side, a male voice.

I mechanically turned to the Meteor guy, failed to come up with an instant excuse, and, shaking in nervosity, started running.

"Stop right now!" I heard him yelling.

I didn't bother shouting to him that this wasn't going to happen. I needed all of my breath for the dash. Already my throat was dry, my knees aching, and my bag was banging against my back and my shoulders. Why had I even brought it? I thought in a split second. But it didn't matter. There wasn't any other solution than going on.

"There's an intruder on the ground floor!"

Crap. Just... go on. I had to go on running as hard as I could, even with the knowledge that I couldn't hold on for long. It had to be long enough. I turned right at a corner because that seemed to be what was leading me to the exit... if I wasn't wrong already. Just stop the doubt, now's not the time! I ordered myself.

Going on, and on, even though my breath was coming shorter and shorter, and I didn't dare look back and lose momentum... I went straight at the first crossroads without thinking about it, only to hear another voice yelling me to stop. As though that was going to happen if I could help it... But in the brightly lit corridor, I could see a shape far ahead, a shape that was running towards me, another Meteor... But all wasn't lost, there was still a crossroads between us.

Perhaps if I forced the speed just a little more. I was gulping the air in large breaths now, too tired to go on much longer and too panicked to stop. I made it to the crossroads just in time, and abruptly turned right, and took off, pushing my weary body to accelerate as I felt the Meteor's fingers barely fail to grab my bagpack. I realized very soon that it probably was a wrong turn -- the corridor was very long, without any intersection except maybe at its end. I held on to that hope against the exhortations of the Meteors to stop "because I was trapped."

Alas, at the end of the alley, the only available direction was to the right, which was furthering me from any exit. Worse, it clearly led to a dead end. I ran into the corridor nonetheless, hoping to find any doors, but there was only one (on my right again), and I checked it was locked.

"It's over, kid." one of the Meteors who had been running after me panted. "Don't make things hard for yourself."

There were five meters of corridor between me and them -- and there was nothing but empty space between me and the wall. I didn't have a choice any more.

"Mouse, Batley, I need you!" I said softly, drawing Pokeballs.

"Come on," the other Meteor said. "It's pointless. You can't beat all of us."

"I'll give it a try." I replied darkly, hoping to sound confident enough, while knowing, in my heart of hearts, I was wrong.

"You asked for it, then." the first one said. "Machop, punch him out."

"Finneon, go." the other added.

Machop and Finneon? Something wasn't right. Or perhaps I was lucky. I had no choice but to pretend that I still had a chance. Batley's Air Slashes were powerful enough to knock the Machamp out, while the Finneon just didn't have the build or the training to go toe to toe with a heavy Pokemon such as Mouse.

"Don't get cocky, kid." the second Meteor snapped. "You're done, you just don't know it yet. You can't leave now."

He was wrong, I knew, only in that I knew I was doomed. I trusted him that they had been careful to seal the exits. But I had no choice other than keep the pretense up. It was the only way I might get out of this nightmare.

"Get out of the way." I said, my breathing stabilized, trying to radiate more than the self-confidence I could muster.

"You asked for it." the first one answered ominously, but they let me backtrack.

Again, with my heart pounding fast and on edge, I started walking briskly in the corridor, trying to devise a way out of my predicament. As the crossroads where I had decided to turn right were getting nearer again, I decided to go right again, so that I was indeed heading towards the exit...

Unless, of course, there was a squad of three threatening-looking Meteors waiting for me on that side. I hastily changed courses and started going left, once again deeper in the facility. Warned by my own nerves, I realized that one of them was following me on the same rhythm, not trying to catch me, just to be close. I forced my pace even faster, but they adjusted without any difficulty.

At the second crossroads (the one where I had previously gone straight, but I had been walking in the other direction), there were again Meteor squads making every path, but the one on my left, a danger. It surely wasn't coincidental that they led me deeper and deeper in the facility... I couldn't let them dictate my path. But one on four or five...

I broke into a sprint at the crossroads, going on the left, hoping to shake off my followers at the next crossroads by the suddenness of the move, but I stopped after only a few steps for two reasons. First, there were two Meteors with a different outfit -- with wings -- waiting deep in the corridor, wielding angry-looking Toxicroak and Mudsdale. Second, there was a strong and sickening smell in the corridor, worse than anything from Reborn City. If anything polluting the lake was in the facility, certainly something there would be useful.

"Now," one of the Meteors in front of me said, loud and clear, in a woman's voice, "I suggest that you stop here and surrender peacefully."

"We're a cut above the rest," one Meteor behind me added, and I could see his outfit had some sort of extended sleeve, allowing him to have his Pokeballs right before his right hand.

I took a deep breath.

"I can't do that. Even if you're good, I'm ready to fight." I grabbed Pokeballs, Sicy's and Batley's, for the Toxicroak and Mudsdale.

"So be it." the other Meteor behind me said.

I turned around and saw two Gravelers, one of them looking distinctly electrified. No time to plot, I thought. Not good conditions.

"Leaf, Mouse, go!"

"Batley, Confusion, Sicy, Ice Beam. Leaf..."

I hadn't even finished my sentence that the Toxicroak had rushed Batley and slammed its fist into her mouth in a powerful underhanded uppercut.

"Leaf, Double Kick, Mouse, Crunch, Batley, please hold on and Confusion."

The punch had thrown Swoobat against the ceiling, and Batley managed to regain her spirits while falling down. As the Mudsdale was already charging Sicy, she had used the Ice Beam to slow it down enough so that she (and I) could avoid the Heavy Slam, and finish it off. Furious at the loss of its partner-in-arms, the Toxicroak rushed once again onto Sicy and threw punch after enraged punch at her.

Come on, Batley!

"Toxicroak, stop!" the Meteor woman shouted. "Punch him instead!"

Crap. Again.

The Pokemon obeyed instantly, only to be hit by the psychic attack that Batley had struggled so much to prepare. Meanwhile, Leaf had used Double Kick on one of the Gravelers, which Mouse had finished off with a Crunch, even though her other foe had sent her a nasty electrical shock.

"You're not getting off this easy." one woman muttered darkly. She sent out a Gloom while her partner sent a Trevenant.

"Gothorita, your turn." the Meteor on the other side called.

I called Hex forth to help with the two Grass-types, even though Batley, now steady and focused, could hold her own. Leaf and Mouse's routine was all ready: Leaf took care of the second Graveler while Mouse Crunched the Psychic-type Pokemon, all without leaving them a chance to fight back.

I realized that it was a pretty bad plan long-term, because now the Meteors would train and get tougher, sneakier, smarter... but what choice did I have?

"Damn." the woman finally said, when my team finished dealing with their opponents. "I think there's no point in fighting on. You won."

"We can't let him go, Diana!" one of the men behind me protested. Fortunately he was facing Mouse and Leaf who had had a nice warm-up.

"Kenan," the other man said, "what's the issue? You know he won't make it." Er...

"How about we vote on it?" Diana asked. What? "Who's in favor of not obstructing any further?"

Three hands raised. "Fine", Kenan grudgingly conceded, "but you're taking responsibility for it."

"Agreed." the so-called Diana replied calmly. "Go on," she told me. "If you dare."

I didn't have any choice, didn't I? I walked on past them, my Pokemon around me, hoping they'd spot any foul play before me. At the end of the corridor, on my right, there was an open door, the only exit to the corridor.

*

The smell there was so pungent that it made me shudder. I was walking on a small footbridge above a large pond filled with a red-brown liquid. Given how it moved, it looked like water... but what kind of water could have this kind of color? This sounded as bad as...

Could this be the source of all the pollution?

"I didn't expect to see you again." a deep voice, very controlled, which sent me shivers (and another shudder when I tasted again the sickening smell of the room), resounded, forcing my attention to the room itself. It was like a network of metal footbridges above the red pond, connected to a main transparent floor in the middle of the room, with a few people working on some machines, and, in the far side of the room, on a footbridge lower and somewhat wider than the others, a contraption I didn't want to recognize...

"Gabriel is the main contributor to the destruction of the PULSE-Tangrowth project, sir. It is highly likely that his presence here is detrimental." another tall man I recognized as the insane ZEL spoke to Solaris. The former was tall, but did not radiate any kind of animosity, unlike the usual.

"I am aware." Solaris replied curtly, his voice sounding as severe as his slightly thin face looked before turning back to me. "You're an annoyance. Nonetheless, perhaps I should congratulate you for going through my underlings -- or discipline them. Here is your reward," he added, gesturing so as to indicate the entire room. But everything in his facial expression -- not least of which his dark, direct, cold eyes -- showed that that wasn't what he was thinking of. "Come, observe. Be at ease."

I knew something was wrong, but I wasn't sure what... and if I didn't know what was happening to the lake, what was the point of everything? Tense, I walked forward slowly onto the floor, and Solaris motioned me towards the platform at the end of the room. I could see that the PULSE machine was encrusted in the floor.

But the rest... was horrific.

"Have you seen this PULSE? Observe this Muk." Solaris commented dispassionately. "The machine drains its life force, suffocates its spirit. Even his body gives way as it collapses into a puddle of its own drool."

It was monstrous. Apart from the horrific smell, as expressive as a Muk could be, well... the process looked agonizing. What had happened to the lake -- a terrible, corrupting, insidious, infinitely nasty force withered Azurine from the inside -- had already happened to countless Muks, whose sole sin was existence, melting their insides, killing them slowly... even more gruesome than Spelltropy...

That begged only one question, but as I turned back to ask Solaris a question, my gaze met ZEL's, and I read sheer terror there, terror so potent it gave me a jolt of adrenalin.

"Watch out, Gabriel!" they yelled, in a voice so emotional it could only be Lumi.

I turned completely to see that Solaris had a Garchomp nearby, muscular, utterly confident, and obviously deadly, coldly staring at me. It threw itself at me just as I was taking this in, and the adrenalin somehow gave me the reflexes to escape its lethal claw, at the cost of forcing myself to lean for balance on the PULSE, which I felt was vibrating with purpose, a purpose evil beyond belief, evil for evil's sake.

"Lumi, considering that he is doomed regardless, you shouldn't have acted thusly." I heard ZEL say detachedly, doubtlessly Eve.

My heart racing, I was facing the Garchomp's jaw, the predator impassively awaiting orders. It would kill me without a hesitation if told so, I knew.

"You've just... You..." I stuttered, painfully aware these were likely to be my last words. "Why?"

"Lumi, you forgot your place here." Solaris enunciated loud and clear, his voice reproving. He then turned to me and his cold, uncaring voice made me shiver. "A pity. I would have had you out of the way. You wouldn't have felt a thing. But you decided to make matters complicated."

He paused, leaving me to wonder if I had just heard my last words. Or perhaps there was a way? If I stalled enough for Amaria to come... Just keep him talking... Maybe?

"Why... why all this?" I asked uncertainly in a very small voice, wondering if that sentence was going to get me killed. I wasn't even able to make eye contact, as I was fascinated in spite of every single cell of my body by the hunter which was about to cut my throat.

"I told you in the sanctuary. Reborn City is the city of insolence. A wretched, corrupt, faithless place, which must disappear. The city must be evacuated, and we will do whatever it takes to achieve that. If their homes are destroyed by raging plants, or they can't even drink water... The inhabitants will all leave. And since Grandview Station is destroyed, no more will arrive. This will become," he concluded, his voice growing harsher, more powerful, one might even say exalted, "a vacant, ruined city again. As it should have stayed in the first place!"

"But," I argued shily, my own experience supplying the flaw in the argument, "how would they leave if Grandview Station is destroyed? I would have left if there had been any such means."

"Patrats," he replied categorically, "always manage to desert sinking ships. You should have done the same. Had you actually tried, you would have managed. Goodbye."

I felt a minute change in the Garchomp's posture, and I knew it was going to kill me and that I couldn't do a thing.

Bow before death, Gabriel...

He's right, you know, a very pessimistic inner voice pointed out. You sort of had it coming.

Just a small comment about this chapter.

Spoiler

Originally, it was supposed to be called Blacksteam Battle and be one with what is now chapter 39. But it would have been a monster of a chapter, pages longer than the infamous chapter 14. So I had to split it. This is why there's a cliffhanger, instead of a ZEL battle, a Tyranitar, and some character rates.

October 30

Well, it looks like Felicia is having some bright prospects. A newfound friend, a new place to help and explore, a lot of Ranger experience...

What could possibly go wrong?

October 26

I meant, separate these parts from the rest of the text, with stars, tildes, or something... So that we know that it's some sort of back-and-forth, instead of happening in the same temporal succession.

I don't know what to feel about Felicia going alone to confront someone threatening to kill her. I mean, it's pretty stupid, and very human at the same time.

Very nice chapter overall. Now that Felicia's team is complete, I guess she can go to Ayrith now? But I suppose some great stuff is going to happen beforehand.

October 26

2 hours ago, Candy said:

Also I'm trying out this new thing called "indents" lmao

2 hours ago, Candy said:

She talked about wanting to help out the people in the slums and ex-gang members, but not being sure how. She talked about how the renovation of the slums was an area that was lagging behind on donations. Since 7th Street was still a thing, even when she donated some money directly to the people that lived there, she found that they tended to use it up to buy and make more “Rare Candy”.

“I’m a rare Candy, but you know it’s not me I’m talking about, do you?”

2 hours ago, Candy said:

“Candy, I’m 18 years old. I don’t play those games anymore,” I said, blushing a little.

“Then what do you do?”

“I haven’t physically trained for months now, since I’d focused on training my pokemon instead,” I prefaced. “I’d enjoy something like a boot camp. And since I’d be exercising, I think we can all agree Pikachu can join the training.”

“What? You like exercising for fun?” Candy seemed almost dizzy. “But I’m not here to judge you on lame hobbies..”

2 hours ago, Candy said:

I drank some water and wiped my sweat, and was ready for more intensive workouts.

I went outside, and called everyone to give the next instructions.

“We are going to do 100 each of the following: push ups, curl ups, lunges, air bicycles, and jumping jacks,” I said this while demonstrating the movements.

Needless to say that once the day was over, everyone, including myself, was happy it was.

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I looked around the room. There were 3 lines of long tables with pen and papers that reminded me of a classroom. I instantly panicked that we might be about to take an exam... but on what?

So many amazing findings... also, why indents?

Happy birthday Candy !!

October 24

Nice chapter. It's a good thing Kevin decided to do something to break Felicia out of her sorrow. It's much better that she managed to get better and be decisive to this Elite Ranger mission. It's yet better that Felicia finally got the promotion she desired.

But, I think, the best of the best will be when the Rangers decide to change their procedures. How about, instead, letting people sleep and not rush them into mysterious ceremonies before even breakfast as a way to announce a promotion?

Just a small writing thing (if I may): when you shift points of view and especially times (your back-and-forth between Felicia's speaking and the two Elite Rangers' dialog, in the first third of the chapter), could you mark it somehow? I found it a bit confusing at first.

October 19

Random idea: is it possible that, actually, the only reason why Wispy Tower was burnt was that Vitus (under an alias) was inside and working on some shady stuff? After all, it'd be child's play for Crescent or Indriad to strike down Nora without burning an entire tower (where she actually wasn't^^).

Also, can we really say that Crescent helped the player? Apart atop Mount Valor (and that was showing off since we know we didn't need her actually), she never helps us, rather helping herself, blasting Team Xen wherever she finds them, and making sure we see her in a good light. A far better help would have been to, well, hint at what was going on and give us the reasons why we shouldn't get involved (and why the Xens had involved us anyway). It actually seems like she's more trying to prevent us from learning anything than anything else. But of course, that could be reverse psychology.

October 19

1 hour ago, Evi Crystal said:

Gabriel is paying Cain's mistakes for, which is pretty unfair and thanks for making me dislike Cain now

(Nervous chuckle)

It wasn't intended. When you try to do what you think is the right thing, you can't consider how it's going to affect everyone tangential to the case. Otherwise you wouldn't do anything.

So yes, Cain didn't consider Gabriel's situation. It's not praiseworthy, but I think it's more than understandable, given that Gabriel is not being ECT'ed on a daily basis (now there's an idea...). Or perhaps he didn't think that it would create a political crisis which Ame would (at least partly) blame on Gabriel.

Yes, Gabriel is paying for some of Cain's actions. Yes, it's unfair, but very few can say that they alone paid for their own mistakes. That's why Part 2 ("Taking Responsibility") is about, after all.

When I thought of that arc, I reasoned as follows: if there aren't immediate political consequences to the breakout, then there's no reason to not involve the League higher-ups in the rescue (hence short-circuiting the plot and missing out on [redacted]). But it's certainly not Cain's style to think of politics before doing the right thing.

Something which I didn't elaborate on (and don't know whether I will at some point in the story, because I don't think there'll be an occasion before very long) is that Ame isn't actually that angry at Gabriel (what she told Amaria was mostly a good, long rant at how hard that thing blew up in the city government). She just knows that he's too tempting a scapegoat to associate with in times of political crisis.

October 18

On 10/14/2020 at 12:03 PM, nam23 said:

Meanwhile, GDC is free to uphold death sentences,

I can’t remember any game event that suggested that GDC could do that. What are you thinking of?

October 17

The Odd One Out is officially over one year old now. I was stunned when I saw the total word and page counts.

How, when did that happen?

Anyway, I hope you'll keep reading and enjoying it.

Also, there is this one-shot I've written. Take a look if you haven't read it!

(or tell me if it's unintelligible)

Chapter 37: Plausible Plans

Spoiler

The night air I breathed upon leaving the factory was smelly, polluted, cold, dry, and had probably dozen of other defects I would dread to know of. It still felt immeasurably better than what was in the madhouse they called the Abandoned Power Plant. But I didn't have time to appreciate that. It was maybe past eleven, kids had been abducted by a terrorist group, and I was one of the only witnesses.

It took me a couple of minutes to realize what the very best course of action was. So I took my Pokegear, and realized that I didn't have Cain's number. Which meant that I would have to hurry very fast to the tunnel if I wanted to discuss future plans with him without him running off to do something rash. I took out my bike as fast as I could (no matter how convenient these bags were, it could, at times, be unbearably slow to get the bike from them), and didn't leave at once because something else in my bag was moving.

The Egg, I realized. It had been moving in the power plant, but now its moves were more sudden, more nervous. Could it be hatching, now of all times? How unlucky could I get? It certainly looked so. Instead of weakly unbalancing its Egg, the Pokemon inside managed now to completely destabilize it, almost make it turn. Just get out now, I thought. This is no time to waste! I wanted to shout.

So, instead of watching the Pokemon Egg hatching with tearful emotion, marvelling at the miracle of new life being born, I was stamping my feet with impatience, just wishing it to be over with, so that I could get to Cain before he did anything well-meaning and thoughtless.

"Tump?" the little vegetal ghost said sadly, looking at me, then all around itself. Then it started crying softly.

So I slowly sat near the Phantump and started petting it.

"It's okay..." I said, trying to be soothing, to focus on the situation at hand, instead of being frustrated at my forced inability to take action. And, well... when you thought of it for itself, baby Phantump was adorable. Just sort of cursed. But weren't we all? Wasn't I?

"It's okay..." I muttered, cradling it. The slow rhythm, the soothing tone of my own voice, the fuzzy sensation of finding this baby adorable, like any other, and still unlike them, were steadily pulling on my eyes, making the adrenalin, the tension, the need for decisive action flow back, and I found myself longing to sleep.

But I certainly could not do that here, not so close to that madness they called a former power plant. And I didn't know either what to do with a baby Pokemon, and couldn't get anywhere to buy anything. The only solution was to get to a Pokemon Center. And the closer to the tunnels, the better.

****************************

Cain's Nidoking hadn't held back when trying to protect his Trainer, I realized, when I went back into the Abandoned Railnet, the next morning, feeling very resolute and energetic. The tunnel was collapsed rather early on, and the rock slide was impressive, at least as high than the original ceiling of the tunnel, a mixture of rock and heavy construction materials. If anything, it was a miracle that Cain's attack hadn't sunk the city.

Just looking at it, I felt I wouldn't be able to bypass the obstacle on my own. I would need specialized help, or many people, or a lot of time. Then again, I did have some tools, I remembered. I had a Mining Kit. If now wasn't the opportunity to try it out, what would?

So, slowly, carefully, one spot at a time, with the sharp edge of the pickaxe, trying to not unbalance the entire structure or even sizable parts of it, I removed some bits of rock. The process felt neither fast nor safe, and it wasn't an effective way to advance through the scree. But, among the useless materials, I managed to get a few things that were worth the effort.

But it was only so long before the mining grew too tedious for me, all the more so since I knew I was avoiding the real issue. Namely, what was I going to do for those kids? I couldn't leave them at the hands of Team Meteor, I couldn't justify it. But what else could I do? I didn't know anything about making a smaller tunnel through the fallen rock, and I certainly didn't want to try anything that might unsettle the entire structure and have the entire railnet collapse on me.

Not that it wouldn't solve a few things for you, a stubborn inner voice quipped.

I wouldn't manage it on my own. Ame had made it very clear she didn't want to see me. That left the people whose job was precisely to deal with that... the police. I wasn't too fond of the idea of involving them, as that was incriminating, but I couldn't see any alternative. And hopefully I'd convince them that it wasn't my fault.

Yes, but what of the kids? Would they go back to the Orphanage, the doctor's position strengthened by the events?

Nothing was perfect, I decided. Especially there. As I had known from the very beginning, but not voiced it in front of Shelly, there were worse places than an orphanage, even when the resident doctor was wretched. Hostage of a terrorist group intent on wiping their own city was, indeed, such a worse situation, but still not the worst-case scenario. What I was thinking of was something so horrible I would never dare utter it, but even then, it might not be the actual worst outcome.

Deep in thought, I was absent-mindedly exiting the tunnel, barely even noticing the stench of the Peridot Ward any more. I took my bike and started riding to the Jasper police station, the one I knew best, when I found myself looking at the back of a young woman whose dyed hair and height I thought I recognized.

She was walking purposefully northwards in the largest alley of the Peridot Ward. If it were her... then perhaps I didn't need to go talk to the police after all. But if it weren't, it would be pretty embarrassing. And even then, if she had something important to do...

So I cycled faster, just enough to go past her, and, with a vague sense of shame and guilt, turned around sneakily to get a peek at the young woman's face. There was no mistaking, it was Amaria. Now, to get her involved... I moved on for a few other meters, then stopped.

Amaria noticed me with a small smile, but didn't look eager to start a conversation. Maybe she did have urgent business to attend to. I didn't like it much, but I didn't have much choice. I had urgent business too.

"Hi Amaria!"

"Hey Gabriel," she said, still in front of me but not really slowing down. I would have to walk with her, then. That... was okay.

She was dressed soberly, with a black T-shirt and black trousers, with long blue shoes, maybe for mountain hiking, and there were beautifully blue bracelets on her naked left forearm.

"I... have a problem and I don't know whom to ask." I stated with some embarrassment.

"I'm sorry, I'd like to help you, but I'm on an assignment here. Perhaps later?"

"I understand, but there really is trouble," I said, trying to sound serious. "It's about Team Meteor kidnapping kid Gym Leaders."

Amaria stopped abruptly and looked at me. Almost automatically, with the long practice of the self-conscious well-meaning pupil being fairly scolded by authority, I dropped my eyes while she spoke -- until I realized what I was actually looking at, so I forced my eyes back up.

"Don't tell me this is about the Orphanage thing. Ame's really displeased about it, and quite annoyed at you in particular. The news spread to all city officials and everyone's upset. If she knew I could be talking with you, Ame would probably have forbidden me to."

"Is it that bad?" I asked in a higher-pitched, uncertain voice, trying to look reasonably repentant. Even though I hadn't done anything in that! Cain had taken action, not I! I had tried to delay him, to make him see reason!

"Yes, that is why we've advanced a little thing we had planned with Ame. We need a serious victory if we want to keep things together."

"So... you're not going to help with Team Meteor kidnapping these children." I argued uncomfortably, because I had to.

"I hadn't... you mean... the four children out of the Orphanage, and Shelly, they're... ?" Amaria was speechless at that point. She shut her eyes for a few seconds. "Damn it." she cursed under her breath. "What happened?"

I gave her the short version, omitting Mr. Shadow's madness, sticking to what had to have happened from Cain's viewpoint -- they were waiting for me to get the door open, but the Meteors were actually ready to attack on the other side.

Retelling the story made me realize just how suspicious it all was. How come the Meteors knew where to look? Why be so callous, so "small-scale", they who had aimed to wreak some much devastation with the PULSEs? And was the entire delay in the Power Plant a ploy?

You're being paranoid again, I thought. Again, why bother with children when you can level the entire city with better literal war engines?

"Right." the Water-type Gym Leader said finally. "I'd love to help you, but right now we're in crisis mode and your information is explosive. I can't do that to Ame."

"So," I sighed, "is there something you think I could do?" I had a feeling I knew that situation. Something had to be done and no one else would do it...

"I think..." Amaria hesitated. "I think you should go get the TMX Strength and use it to clear out the tunnel. The issue is, well... that Strength is held in Apophyll Academy, on the opposite shore of Azurine Lake."

"I suppose," I asked dully, wondering what kind of demented errand I had been goaded into agreeing to, "that there isn't a spare copy in Reborn City itself? Don't you or Ame have one?"

"Not that I know of." she answered, sounding at least slightly down.

"But the lake is huge..." I went on uneasily. "How wide is it?"

"It's probably over thirty miles if you walk. There used to be a ferry, but it's been cancelled months ago because of the rising toxicity of the lake."

I saw in Amaria's change of expression how disappointed, how helpless I must have looked.

"I've got a motorboat..." she offered. "But I need to complete my mission first."

"What's it about?" I asked, out of politeness and some actual curiosity, now that I knew that there was a way to solve my issue.

"It's... ever since Julia and Rini went investigating the Mosswater Factory in Peridot, we've been monitoring the pollution levels of the lake, to try and figure out its sources. And we've found out that almost all of it emanated from the other factory in the western Peridot Ward... Blacksteam Factory. So I'm checking this out today..."

"Yes," I answered, a bit ashamed at my persistance, "I see, this sounds important."

Of course, it was horrific that kids could get abducted by Team Meteor. But the perpsective of cleaning the lake... That was more important, no question.

"Do you want to maybe come?" Amaria offered.

And there I was, in the same trap I had sworn I would try to avoid. But how could I refuse Amaria, when she was offering a solution to my problem? How could I refuse to help anything, even dangerous, which would so tremendously help towards Reborn's recovery?

"Yes, of course." I said, trying to force as much good will in my voice as I could.

***********************************************************

Blacksteam Factory, in the northwestern part of the Peridot Ward, was doubtlessly its most impressive structure. It was a large piece of functional architecture, all rectangular, easily thirty feet tall, and probably well over a hundred feet large. It was bordering the lake, and, Amaria told me, it had a direct underground connection with it, as their first business used a lot of water, although it certainly wasn't as polluting.

But that one business had declined, and then, in the last decade, which I learnt had been an especially dark one for Reborn, it had gone bankrupt and it had gone through so many owners, in so many dubious circumstances, that the city hadn't even tried to untangle who the theoretical owner was -- as far as they knew, nothing had been going on there in years.

I saw an entrance, but Amaria shook her head.

"We're not going this way."

"Why not?" I enquired.

"I don't know, but I think it's occupied. We don't want to make them aware."

Oh dear. Complications. This was ominous.

"So..." I asked, trying to be diplomatic. "What do you think we should do?"

"I've checked out maps of the building. There's an entrance on the roof which would probably be less guarded, and it would be easier for us to sneak from there." She answered. "Deliverance, we'd like your help, please!" she called.

Deliverance was Amaria's Lapras, a Pokemon who radiated confidence and safety, and also a measure of certain strength. Somehow, looking at the water Pokemon's steadiness and calm, I instinctively felt absolutely protected. She wouldn't let anything bad happen.

"Deliverance, use Waterfall and Ice Beam to make a way to the roof."

The Lapras threw a huge amount of water, somehow bound as a solid, in the air, towards the building, and the water was released slowly, making, more than a waterfall, a ramp of water. Deliverance had been preparing for that exact moment: she spat a prolonged Ice Beam, freezing the water ramp in free fall.

"Wow." I said. "That's... really impressive."

"Hm... it's not finished though. We can't climb on this ramp, it's too slippery, right? Deliverance, please use Ice Shard on the ramp to make some steps."

The Lapras did her job again skillfully and fast. It took less than a minute to turn the icy ramp into icy stairs, which one could actually climb. Light-paced, Amaria went first, which left me little choice but to follow her.

The entrance on the roof was, by some unlikely chance, unlocked, and Amaria went in, while I followed her, a few steps behind. The entrance led into a narrow staircase followed by a corridor coming out on a room.

"Team Meteor." I heard Amaria, who was already in that room, say. "I should have guessed."

Oh, crap.

"Hold it right there!" I heard a man's voice shout, but he didn't sound too assured.

"No, thanks." Amaria answered. "Gabriel, are you coming?"

Although I wanted nothing to do with Team Meteor, I couldn't back off now. I hurried up and found that Amaria was already in the middle of the room, and was facing two Meteor members, who were sending a Lairon and a Golbat. I hurriedly called Leaf to fight, while Amaria chose to request Deliverance's support.

It wasn't even a battle, in retrospect. Suffice it to say that perhaps thirty seconds afterward, one grunt was muttering "There's no way..." and we were already going forward in another staircase.

"Look," Amaria explained as we walked down the stairs. "They're probably going to sound the alarm, but I'll make them focus on me because I'm the bigger threat. That should earn you some freedom to check the place out. I think that whatever's happening is closer to the ground, because of the closer connection to the lake. Did you get it?"

"Yeah." I uncertainly said. "I hope so."

"I'll go first to try and bring them towards me. You'll just have to take the opposite direction."

"Are you sure it's a good idea?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry. Good luck."

"Good luck."

Amaria didn't wait to hear my answer before rushing, Pokeballs in hand, from the stairwell and into the building. I followed suit after a couple of seconds, and found myself in a corridor with doors on both sides, most of them leading probably to offices, and some leading to a different corridor.

The steps of many people were resounding, and I heard on my left several bursts of voices. Amaria was fighting this way, so I had to go right. But Meteors were also rushing against her from the right, so I had to hastily take shelter in an office so as to not get noticed. When the noises receded, I resumed walking in the corridor, trying to not be too fast or slow so as to not attract back to myself the attention Amaria was attempting to monopolize.

But the corridor ended in a corner without stairs, and I panickedly drew back my head when I noticed the Meteor squad rushing at the help of their comrades. I went to the closest office, shut the door and crouched against the wall. With a bit of luck, they wouldn't be interested in me. But how many of them could Amaria handle? She may have been the strongest Trainer I had fought along with, but even she had limits. And what if they had remembered that there were two of them?

But I heard the Meteors walking past the office without paying attention, so I counted to ten, got up, opened the door, trying my hardest to not make any noise, checked both sides, slipped out slowly to peek at the corridor, found it empty, and then shut the door and walked briskly into this next corridor close to the wall, so as to hide faster when necessary.

I found stairs in the corridor and cautiously slipped into the stairwell. I noticed only too late that there wasn't a system to slow down the door. It slammed with deafening noise, at least compared to the surrounding stillness.

I was on my own in enemy territory.

There wasn't any way back now. I had to go on.

Character ratings:

Spoiler

Amaria: 9/10 (+2). Really nice, and actually trying to be helpful. Plus, that staircase of ice was so neat. I really wish I hadn't had to be involved with Meteors again, but, as she said it, I should have guessed.

October 15

50 minutes ago, andracass said:

i hear it has a railgun.

I feel we haven't had enough things being blasted halfway across the map at unreasonable speeds in the plot. Could we have that railgun, please?

October 14

We know that red-haired <derogatory term> is pretty OP in Rejuv, but I'm pretty sure devolving Pokemon through time-travel is a new trick. Is Anthony playing Rejuv in Extra-Hard mode? (that's a joke)

(Slightly more seriously, if she did this once, what's stopping her from doing it again at not-so-convenient times?)

Again, it's a nice chapter. I'm curious to see how you will relate the upcoming events.

On 10/13/2020 at 3:25 PM, sayar said:

btw, it was actually your reborn series and another series that inspired me to write this

I never expected to read this from anyone. Thank you.

October 13

Hi!

I have a lot of stuff to do (it's incredible how much time doing serious math takes and how much time I'm somehow managing to not do it), but I wanted to write out an idea I had had a few days ago. It might eventually serve as a prologue for a hypothetical story, but don't expect anything about that before a while though.

The title is weird, but don't worry. I think it's still understandable.

My usual "spoiler policy" applies: you may be spoiled stuff, but if you can identify the work it's taken from, then you probably already knew it.

Enjoy!

Code Review

Imagine a room.

As much as one can tell from present-day standards, it’s an impersonal meeting room. The decoration is so sober as to be insignificant. People in this room don’t look at their surroundings – they look at the people they're speaking with. Its main, almost only, feature is a large rectangular table made up of a light, artificial material – think of it as plastic. And currently, twelve people are sitting around it and doing a code review. Well, more like twelve, minus one, plus another.

Of course, they’re not actually doing what we would call today a code review. And the table isn’t plastic. Who knows what they actually are doing? Who knows what unearthly procedures they are really enacting? Who knows how they communicate? What language they speak? How they view the world, one another and themselves?

Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. Neither you, nor me, can truly understand, in full detail, what went on this fateful day. So this tale can be but an approximation, fit to our own frames of mind. We will thus pretend that these beings are people, that they are speaking, that their language isn’t so alien to us as to be untranslatable, that they’re coding for a living (in some manner of speaking) and that they’re currently doing a code review for a Project. The Project being the important part there.

It was a breath-takingly ambitious endeavor, which had gone on for decades at least. Our modern minds, especially thinking of technology, struggle with the idea that critical components can be as old as thirty or forty years old. But apparently, these people didn’t care. No advance in technology could help the Project as much as stability in the tools and methods they used.

It was because a vague scope of the Project’s scale and complexity could be loosely envisioned by imagining a group of a few hundred people trying to make our entire current software and firmware structure, without blueprints, and, using as building blocks mechanical steam-powered parts (as in, say, a 19^th-century Babbage Analytical Engine) rather than electronics. It wasn’t that their technology was primitive. It was just that the ambition had been consistently described as “insane”.

It was a secret known only to the people working on the Project, and the person who had initiated it and kept the money going, why the Project was so important. Some of them hadn’t believed at first, but it was too compelling to disbelieve for long. To be short, one prophet had seen the future, and they had feared it so much that they had spent enormous effort trying to prevent it. They were aware of the concept of paradox, of self-fulfilling prophecies, but they had decided that they didn’t care.

Hence the Project.

They had used their knowledge to get a lot of money, and attract the best workers they could find, towards a single goal: realize the Project, and make it work. They knew they probably wouldn’t be alive to see it to completion, but it didn’t matter. The Project was crucially important – time wasn’t.

Most of the workers this prophet had found were organized people with extensive technical skills, and decent communication skills. The rest was those, far fewer, tasked with managing the organization, using bureaucracy to fight the inevitably (although low enough) emerging entropy. Their work was simplified, as their group didn’t have any customers to reach, nor sales to make. It answered only to the prophet. The recruitment had gone on after the initial wave, but more slowly, more quietly, as the stability of the organization and the quality of its production were valued more than its speed. They didn’t have all the time in the world, but most of it; however, they had to get it right the first time.

Let’s come back to our table. One of the people there was older by at least twenty years than the others, we could call her Matilda. She had been working on the Project almost since its start, after only a couple of years.

Once upon a time, she had been a brilliant young woman, extremely learned, with deep and blinkingly fast understanding, driven and methodical, the one person at her workplace you could have relied on to always go above and beyond what most employees could manage to do, or want to. Then she had fallen in love, and involved herself less. But tragedy had struck – even in so remote a situation, such clichés could still hold – and the love of her life, and their baby child, had died in a freak accident. Six months later, searching for a way to stop thinking about her lost dreams and wasted life plans, she joined the Project.

Everyone else on the table was accomplished and highly skilled, but Matilda was listened to as an oracle, not simply as a team lead. She understood their code nearly as well as they did, and its relevance inside the Project far better than them. She could still regularly suggest, with little to no apparent time of thought, major improvements to her coworkers’ code.

The review was ending. Apart from one team member who had called in sick (let’s name her Agatha), and another person (that we could call, say, Magnus), everyone had explained what they had done, how they had done it, commented on their peers’ code and noted Matilda’s own suggestions. Everyone was growing restless, eager to finally leave for what we’ll call their week-end, even if they perhaps had no such concept. But when Matilda called for silence to let Magnus, the newest member of their team – had it been two years already? – show his work, all the others obeyed her.

But Magnus was clearly flunking it. Unlike his usual assured, knowledgeable, well-documented self, he sounded distant, not always consistent, almost rambling, certainly unfocused and perhaps preoccupied. It did not take long for his peers to lose interest in spite of all their professionalism, with only Matilda listening to him as intently as ever, still trying to understand his convoluted explanations for phenomena, which, she thought, she could have summarized in five sentences for anyone there.

“Magnus,” she finally cut him off. Everyone fell silent at once, recognizing an unusual event. “Is something the matter?”

Magnus looked around the table. Everyone was staring at him, and the combined weight of their expectant gazes was unsettling him. His train of thoughts had been especially unclear and certainly very preoccupied today, and he knew the reason well. It was just that he couldn’t spit it out in front of everyone, not the newest member of the team. And unless he revealed his terrifying thought, he couldn’t be sufficiently at peace with himself to finish explaining his code.

“Yes,” he sighed. “I’ve got an issue. Can I have a word with you now?”

Matilda glanced at the rest of the team. They were ready to leave. She sighed back.

“Okay, everyone, next time we’ll start with Magnus’s code. Have a nice week-end.” she sent them away. “Come into my office,” she added for Magnus.

Again, what Matilda’s office looked like wasn’t something you’d easily picture, given that neither you nor me have the proper frames of reference to understand what we would be seeing – or we even see it? We can at least say that it was impersonal in the extreme, completely functional-minded and very tidy.

“So,” Matilda asked Magnus, sitting and motioning him to sit, “what’s it about?”

“Well,” Magnus answered, “it’s about Agatha’s code from last time.”

“Yes, what of it?” She was annoyed now, if he had noticed something without raising it in code review, what was the point of it all? Hadn’t he been a member of the team for two years?

“Something, I don’t know what, something struck me as odd when she showed it last time. I didn’t have time to investigate right after…”

“I know, it’s a pretty tricky piece of code she’s been working on.” Matilda approved. “Even I don’t understand it too well.”

“So I rushed my tasks to make some…”

“How many times,” Matilda sighed, “do we have to tell you that rushing is a waste of time? So is overtime. Time isn’t important and you know it.”

“I know,” Magnus answered, looking down. “But I couldn’t shake the feeling that something wasn’t right, so in the time I created I took a look at Agatha’s code.”

“And?” Matilda pressed him further, interested. At least that youth was interested in the work of his elders, she thought. She had been working with Agatha for over fifteen years and she had always been highly skilled, although both knew that she couldn’t hold a candle to Matilda. It had better be a good reason why he couldn’t carry out the code review as usual.

“It’s very good code, very clear despite its complexity, …” he started.

“Get to the point.”

“I’m probably just not understanding it well enough, but …”

“The. Point.”

“Look at this place,” he answered after a deep breath, as if having to deliver very painful news. “This piece, just here,” he showed her, “I don’t understand what it’s doing. It looks like, apart from simply calling the core functions, the code’s doing, some, er, strange stuff.”

“Hm.” Matilda made a noncommittal noise as her eyes read the passage Magnus was speaking about. “Yes, there’s a mistake there. That’s why code reviews exist.”

“But code reviews where we all missed it? Even you?”

“I’m not omniscient, you know. Remember how last time Agatha spoke last? We’re all tired, and there’ll be a thorough test session shortly. Why did that disturb you so much?”

“I don’t know…” Magnus admitted. “But it was in a crucial part, and, I mean, it’s Agatha… I didn’t believe it was just a mistake.”

“You’re young.” Matilda observed. “You’re composing fantasy stories within your mind. You let yourself get carried over instead of focusing on your task. Yes, there’s a mistake and we’ll have to be extra careful and I’ll slip Agatha a word. Next time you spot a mistake, just do it in review and don’t look so distraught. You look like you expected someone to sabotage the Project.”

“It’s not a joke!” Magnus protested.

“Here you are,” Matilda pointed out. “You’re just living in a fantasy. If people wanted to mess with the Project, they certainly wouldn’t manage to do it through Agatha when so many other people,” she glanced at him, her eyes earnest, “would be much easier targets. Is that all?”

“Yes.” Magnus answered, somewhat sheepishly. “At least I’m relieved the mistake will be corrected. And next time I promise I won’t rush my own duties, ask for explanations in code review, and not short-circuit the usual process.”

“Then you may go. You look like your imagination overheated your brain. You need some rest.” Matilda observed.

She watched him leave. Then she looked at Agatha’s code again. She hadn’t expected anyone else to look at this part of the code, much less spot the mistake that had been obvious to her. She felt she had to do something about Magnus to make sure he learnt his lesson. Yes, she thought, I’ll slip in his code a few supplementary bugs.

It had taken decades to admit it to herself, but she wasn’t really working for the Project. It was all fake, she knew, and all a delusion of her own old imagination. The Project – the Universe, in fact – she couldn’t care less about. She worked there because she liked it and was good at it, and because it was unbearable to her that her own work, or the code she supervised, could be less than top-notch, according to her own standards, perhaps some of the most demanding in the world.

She glanced at the code again for a few minutes, thoughtful. She noticed there was an unlikely, quite far-fetched, edge case that wasn’t handled properly. Her memory supplied her with all sorts of interesting behaviors the code might exhibit given this unexpected input.

Behind layers and layers of little mind-gears and emotional walls of impassibility, built over decades of grief and professionalism and perhaps a little touch of aesthetics, a mind-reading observer might have spotted the tiniest hint of a smile.

Let’s see you deal with that, Interceptor, she thought.

October 13

Given your view count and who liked your post (I realized only a few weeks ago that you got to see that after a while), you have more than one reader. But a significant fraction of readers won't systematically (or at all) post comments about it (compare the number of comments and the number of views for most fiction, at least on this website).

That was a fine chapter (just, if I may, try to proof-read your future chapters -- there are a few mistakes, not too bad but still).

I wonder why they all call Anthony overconfident? It wasn't like he had any other choice with Iris but to go for Shadow Sneak, given that the Haxorus was faster anyway... Then again, we didn't see the rest of the battle.

(also, please, Anthony, don't leave your Pokemon to Prof. Juniper, you are so going to need them...

why do I even bother. There's a plot in motion, isn't there? )

October 13

Whoa. You got dark much faster than I expected.

Granted, it's a Desolation story, and you made it clear right at the beginning (when you mentioned Brendan) that there was a huge potential for darkness, but, again, I didn't think you'd start tapping into it so soon.

Poor Felicia... will she ever truly recover from her first encounter with evil for evil's sake (or at the very least, cruelty for cruelty's sake)? I can't help but wonder if the same kind of thing happened to the other Rangers at some point... And I wonder how some of them (or even Felicia, had it been after her adventures in Ayrith) might have reacted.

I find it interesting that you made the Joltik (now Galvantula... wait, so it's Spider-Man with Batman/Wolwerine's origin story?) able to understand some morality at (almost) birth... I have no idea how relevant that remark can actually be to the plot though.

PS: I've been trying to find the original "Awesome Adventure" and I can't find it. Did you delete it or am I just searching it wrong?

October 12

@TheHellHamster: Thanks a lot for your comment, it really pleased me. I think I probably wrote it somewhere, but I was worried about these two Shade chapters -- I couldn't bring myself to write them as just another Gym battle. So I tried to do something different, thinking it'd be hit or miss.

If you had the time and inclination to think about what, in this chapter, made you like it this much, I'd be very interested to hear it.

October 11

For a while I thought Felicia would go for the Styler kind of Rangers, and I wondered how you would make that fit in. But she captures her own Pokemon, so it’s fine.

I think Kevin needs to explain me how Alolan Rattata fit Felicia.
That’s an interesting choice from you.

I had hoped that Felicia wouldn’t be hopelessly reckless (that she might have kept the best part of her mother’s sense), but given her eagerness to raise to the Elite rank... I think it’s not going to happen.

October 9

I don’t remember Desolation well – Is Kevin an OC or a canon character?

Anyway, nice chapter. I was a bit shocked that Felicia might see “the nasty plot” at the Daycare but actually, the inverse statement would have been more surprising. And I can’t blame her for leaving after seeing a Wailord and a Skitty.

But I’m glad she found her calling.

October 8

58 minutes ago, Evi Crystal said:

So it begins...

I just can't let that one pass, sorry in advance for the source.

47 minutes ago, Evi Crystal said:

The aftermath always gets me amd makes my blood boil, just to think that cutescene

On 10/1/2020 at 8:01 PM, Evi Crystal said:

I used to simply hate Sigmund back, when I firstly played Pokemon Reborn and I was kinda easily judging them fast, before thinking twice... Only after 2 years and rewatched and reading some infos (including the original Reborn Online League stories), it opened my eyes for such reasons (even to Fern, but more to people Solaris or Sigmund specially) and trying to do some headcanon lore to fill the loopholes in my mind.

Same here. The feelings I had with Reborn were... complicated, when I first watched a playthrough. I mean, it was so... so obviously not right! So much was wrong, so many characters were screwed up beyond belief. So I googled the name and found the forums and wanted to rant I felt it all was. But I read a bit instead, I eventually calmed down, and... well, I certainly didn't think I'd end up doing a fanfiction of it at the time.

51 minutes ago, Evi Crystal said:

Hope Gabriel won't be so mentally screwed up during the operation "Orphan Rescue", because a lot of hell going break out soon. Poor Gabriel and poor Cain for intentionally trigger the "Strength Quest", because he didn't mean it at all

I'll let Caz's Desolation answer for me: 'Poor, poor Trainer.' (at least I think that's how the quote goes).

(BTW, this is exactly one of the reasons why Gabriel thought Heather better in the orphanage, for a while at least -- on her own, there was no way she could be safe).

54 minutes ago, Evi Crystal said:

Also I wonder, why would "Pirate Guy" kidnap some adorable children? I wonder why?

I wonder too. That's inexplicable! They're children, they were stuck in an orphanage, they have nothing to do with all of this! Doesn't "Pirate Guy" have nefarious schemes of grander scale to attend to?

October 8

I really should wait for a better time to do this, because there's a lot I have to do, but I'm also seriously mismanaging my time and my sleep schedule so I don't think I'm good for anything until next morning.

So, let's do something overdue.

Chapter 36: Worse Worries

Spoiler

I didn't notice when the whispers started again, but quickly they were louder and fouler, and almost spitting malice. I was sure I could see the shades, the ghosts, the spirits fueling them in a storm around me, a hurricane of chaos, of technology gone haywire, answering randomly to maliciously random prompts.

hav... hol... war...

What was the point of all that? I wondered while still walking in the dark plant, now not daring to touch the walls or the machinery any more, my sight and hearing crippled due to the rapid shifts in lighting and noise clearly wasn't as huge.

rich... poor... sickness... health... rish...

It couldn't last for long now, but what would come at the end? I really didn't want to find out. And I realized it was irrelevant -- I was simply being played with, and the game couldn't end if I kept complying with the rules. I was done obeying the commands of that mad guy or whoever he was. I had a purpose here.

"Mr. Shadow, I'm done pl-"

My voice came surprisingly shaky to my own ears, and I swiftly (and with more than a tinge of panic) cut myself off when I realized it was getting higher and higher-pitched almost on its own, because of two other events concurrently occurring:

till death us do part, the specters were now yelling.

But, what was so, so much worse, was the fourth vision. Because I had experienced it, and had nightmares of its tiniest details, yet it was even worse than my nightmares. I could see myself on the Beryl Bridge, with Corey slowly moving towards his end, and my doomed effort to catch him, in excruciating detail -- I would see my finger's minute tremor as they tried to grab his shoe, giving the impression that I could have caught him with barely more self-control...

Long time no see, Gabriel, an icy cold voice, which I could somehow hear was disembodied, spoke. At the edge of my field of vision, I could see the shadows coalescing into a dark purple shape with a nasty grin.

The first Shadow Ball struck Leaf, whose shriek of pain pierced my heart. Forgetting everything, and especially that I was surrendering control of the lighting altogether, I called her back and started to run away in a frenzy. But I could feel it didn't work, and instead of adrenalin pumping heat, drive, and life-preserving energy to my body, I could feel chill being slowly distilled to each of my limbs and organs, a deadly chill that engulfed my body, that froze my legs and made even my arms numb. I couldn't flee the shadow which was close enough for me to see.

It was a rabid-looking Gengar.

Gengar, my frozen mind kept on supplying to an otherwise useless body. Ghost-Poison. A born killer. A deadly strong special attacker, impossibly swift.

No use fleeing, no use fighting it.

Find something! I tried to urge myself, but nothing would come, and I remained frozen in place as an enhanced Shadow Ball struck me, forcing me to the ground, my breathing strained.

I can't beat it. Not on its turf.

Then change the terrain, darn ir, you moron!

What with, you smartass? I don't have anything, it's no use! No use...

The second Shadow Ball hit my head, dizzying my thoughts, weakening my resolve...

No point in me attempting anything anyway...
I knew I'd fail... Why bother trying...
I was a failure... A useless failure...
I just hope... it doesn't...
Take too long now.
Sorry, Cain, kids.

I didn't try to get back on my feet.

Sorry... Mum.

No, something pointed out in me, almost shily.
No, it seemed to resound somewhere else.
You're not an utter failure.
You've got a mission.
You've got kids to save.
And you've got to come back home for me.

That voice was unmistakeable -- it was my mother's.

But how? I protested weakly. I don't have any strength left!
You fight, of course! You don't let them win, nor do you give up or give in!
Carol, my sister...

I don't have anything remotely effective yet.
I trust you, you'll manage! That was Simon, my nine-year-old brother.

You can go fight them -- it's impossible that you don't have anything. The nuanced style of my other younger brother, Michael.

If there's no solution, then there's no problem. You can do it, son. I trust you. My father...

Slowly, I managed to push myself from the ground, with the Gengar gloating right above me starting to frown, and, before it settled on a course of action, I grabbed Sicy's Pokeball, the only hope I had left. If this place had to be impossible to see in, eerily mysterious, then let it be the light mystery instead of the mystery of darkness.

"Mist!"

The Gengar decided suddenly to attack Sicy, but it was crucial that that mist be set -- and it would only last too little time. So I sheltered Sicy with my own body. Although the attack was unpleasant, a newfound resolve, not unlike a second breath in a role-playing game, burnt in my whole being, and the move didn't even manage to unbalance me as I braced myself.

An eerie mist, vaguely pink, slightly opaque, settled all around Sicy, enveloping the ghost Pokemon as well. The result was a pleasant surprise: I could see it become less sure of itself, his movements constrained and actually strained. The simplest way to put it was that, ironically, that kind of mist seemed toxic to the Gengar.

"Ice Beam!"

Sicy was slow, and, in ordinary circumstances, the move never would have had a prayer of hitting my nigh murderer. But that Gengar was significantly hindered by the Mist, and its reflexes seemed dulled, its cunning dimmed -- regardless, it moved in a pattern so predictable that Sicy had taken it into account when aiming. It snarled viciously, and prepared a vengeful Shadow Ball, while I instructed Sicy to finish that blasted ghost off with another Ice Beam.

The two attacks collided about midway, but the mist had eroded the unpleasantness contained in the Gengar's attack, and it wasn't potent enough to resist our newly found determination. The ghost got hit by what remained of his own shadowy attack and by the Ice Beam, taking it out.

Whew...

I started retreating again, quickly but cautiously, when I heard Mr. Shadow's ominous whisper again...

Doublade.

What? It was Mr. Shadow's Gengar? If so, that changed the situation -- I wouldn't be able to flee at all, unless that insanity was defeated. I had to fight all the way through. And the Doublade, somehow mirroring my thought, was dancing, sharpening each of its blades against the other.

This wasn't good... Had I known...

"Sicy, come back! Leaf, please Flame Charge it and retreat!" I muttered.

Leaf came out, a bit rested from the Gengar's assault, and soon sped towards the Doublade, which made no attempt to avoid the move, instead trying to withstand it, and nastily struck back with its blade, filled with a spectral energy I could feel from several paces away.

"Leaf, return..." I whispered, worried.

Leaf so weakened, who could finish that monster off?

"Mouse, go Crunch it!"

The top dog -- the real one, I nearly chuckled nervously -- came rushing in anger, growling at its opponent in a deliberate effort to intimidate it. Some caveman part of my brain couldn't help but feel safer, now I knew someone this imposing was protecting me; but it was an impression I knew I had to shrug off, because I wasn't safe. Not by a long shot.

The Doublade seemed to pay little attention to its new opponent, then started slowly spinning on the ground, then quickly gaining speed. I knew what it was... it was a Gyro Ball and it had to be avoided at all costs.

"Roll aside, Mouse!"

Mouse got my meaning in the nick of time and managed to stay out of reach of the spinning blades, and instead pounced on them the second they stopped, fainting Mr. Shadow's second Pokemon.

Rotom, Mr. Shadow whispered.

And indeed, the malignant spirit of malfunctioning electrical appliances came out. Somehow, it seemed to bring in a colossal power of its own, something that made my hair stand out... Dear Lord, was it having that kind of electrical charge? And it released it in a prodigious Discharge, which simultaneously brought power back to the whole factory, turning on the lights, blinding me, and, I suppose, frying poor Mouse.

"You did well, Mouse..." I muttered. "Watt, come play thunder." I called silently.

The Ampharos stood there, not moving, facing the Rotom which, instead, moved around as if it couldn't stop. Suddenly, I felt electricity in the air again and I realized what it meant.

"Ampharos, Charge!"

Watt completed his preparation at the very moment the Rotom expelled another powerful Discharge, which, though nowhere near as potent at the first one, fried again all the machines around, plunging the surroundings in pitch darkness. And to say that before I could see somehow in there...

Apart from a small grunt, Watt weathered the electric move remarkably well, but it grunted much more when a second move, non-electrical, seemed to hit her right after. A Shadow Ball, I guessed. I couldn't leave my opponent the initiative, could I? So I asked Watt to throw Power Gems where the attacks seemed to originate, and some unpleasant-sounding noises suggested that the attack didn't completely miss.

The Rotom threw another Discharge, but this time the power seemed to be completely absorbed by the machinery to restore its functionality, and the bright light blinded me again. But Watt growled in displeasure, and I heard a fist hitting the machinery, and then sparks, and that move being repeated, with the Rotom making unearthly noises. Watt, I realized as my eyes got slowly accustomed to the light, was chain-punching Rotom... into the machines.

And suddenly, the machine itself began to whir in an audible annoyance, and I realized that the Rotom was now possessing it.

"Fry the bloody thing, Watt! You can do it!"

So Watt Thunder Punched, and punched, and punched, damaging the engine as if it was personally offending her (which it could have been), until something could be somehow felt giving way, and I somehow knew, as if my mind had sped into a subconscious fast mode, what the Rotom was going to do.

"Behind you, Watt!"

Drawing every muscle in her body, every inch of her weight, every ounce of power she could still gather, the Ampharos spun around and her right hook connected with the barely corporeal body of the Electric-Ghost Pokemon, completely dizzying it, and leaving the initiative to Watt, who, resonating with my own fear and adrenalin, started Thunder Punching even more fiercely her opponent, until it visibly gave up trying to protect itself -- until everything went pitch black again.

Banette... I heard Mr. Shadow's voice.

What had happened? It should have been obvious: the Rotom had fired a final Discharge with the last of its energy, trying to weaken Watt just a bit more, and putting the area back to darkness, an obvious disadvantage for me, my team and Watt in particular, who didn't have power to help her draw from and wouldn't be able to spot her enemy.

Already her grunt of pain showed the Banette didn't have to worry about such issues in the slightest. And Watt had done an outstanding battle, if she could just do slightly more... I she could know where to aim...

"Watt," I muttered, "you've done great. Please hold on... when you feel it coming, focus... and punch it for all you can when it's in range. If we can down it... There's a chance."

And indeed, I felt the familiar sensation of static electricity being drawn in, until it somehow all got redirected, in spectacular electrical arcs, at the Ghost doll Pokemon. Watt whimpered weakly, and collapsed.

Two more to go, I thought. Hopefully. If we were still playing by the rules...

"Hex, come on, we've got to hold on, just a little more..."

Mimikyu... Mr. Shadow called, his Pokemon out of my area of vision.

"Try to Toxic it," I whispered the Swalot, "and then hold on..."

Already I could hear ominous news as a faint, ghostly sound of blades -- the Mimikyu was strengthening itself like the Doublade, but I couldn't see it, with my eyes not half as accustomed to the darkness as they used to be.

"It's going to be coming." I muttered for Hex. "Hold on... and don't miss it... if you can, add an Acid Spray to disable its disguise."

The Mimikyu came even faster than I feared, both a malicious undead spirit concealed in a floating cloak badly mocking a Pikachu and a dreadful presence snickering in the dark at us poor mortals, but Hex's resolve was flawless, and she managed to land both hits before the enraged Shadow Claws down her. Now it was just a matter of time, and perhaps Batley and Sicy could deal with that?

"Great job, Hex." I recalled the Swalot. "Now, Batley, avoid the Mimikyu's moves, by any means necessary. Win us some time."

And out of her Pokeball Batley went, right in the air, ready to evade and avoid anything... Until the Mimikyu took her down with an Electric attack neither I nor she saw coming. Only Sicy remained now, and it was dubious she would help me against the now-monstrous Mimikyu...

I should have taken the hint then. It was a lost fight anyway. And the Mimikyu could run after me, go get me... so I couldn't flee either.

Well? I heard Mr. Shadow's voice.

No... there was no point...

I had dropped to my knees at some point, and could dimly see the Mimikyu getting closer now, clearly relishing the fatal blows it was about to deal me.

Just... make it quick, I thought, until something moved in my bag!

After the second of horrified panic, I realized, in the blasé indifference of my own death wish, that it had to be the Egg. Hatching here and now, of all possible situations. Striving for life where there wouldn't be soon any, I chuckled mentally, amused and bored. Wasn't life cute?

But while there's life, there's hope, isn't there? some other dumb place of my mind, which couldn't let go, implied.

No, no hope. Just Sicy and...

"Il fuit pour mieux combattre, et cette prompte ruse
Divise adroitement trois frères qu'elle abuse."

Spoiler

That's verse from a French 17th century play. A layman's English translation, trying for rhyme rather than rhythm, along with the two preceding lines, could be:
Strongest of the fighters, an outnumbered -- doomed -- knight,
Yet he knows how to craft a way out of his plight.
He flees as a swift ploy, so as to better fight
The three brothers, his foes', fooled thus divided might.

Ah... It might...

Final warning, said Mr. Shadow's now icy voice, the Mimikyu threateningly towering above me, still strong despite the toxins that had to still be weakening it.

I grabbed something in my bag, pushed myself on my feet, made a few swift steps backwards and called my only hope, Sicy.

"Mist!"

As soon as the new environment was set, I started fleeing for all I could. It wasn't a matter of escaping -- with the doors locked, it was impossible -- it was just to gain some more time. I gave the Hyper Potion I had just grabbed to a tired Leaf, and told her to stay and prepare in a quiet, dark corner.

The Mimikyu wasn't even running after me. It knew I was trapped, doomed to fail. But it managed to get Sicy, the boosted Shadow Claw fainting her. I had expected it, but it still was a big heartache nonetheless.

Poor Gabriel, Mr. Shadow mocked softly as the Mimikyu advanced again on me, angrier than before. But woe to the...

"Leaf, Flame Charge, now!"

Leaf, freshly (and secretly) Bulked Up, sprinted from her corner in a surge of desperate fiery energy, and struck the ghost Pikachu-wannabe in its ghostly face, once, and another time, just to make sure the thing would stay down.

Dhelmise... Mr. Shadow called.

I knew what a Dhelmise was. It wouldn't ever be able to strike Leaf. Leaf was now too robust, too strong, and too swift -- she didn't even need instructions at that point. A couple of Flame Charges took care of it indeed, and Leaf started shining with intense white light. She was evolving!

I'm not sure when it happened, the transition was so natural, but at some point during the evolution the lights turned on, and I could finally see Mr. Shadow for what it was... a ghost.

Well done indeed, it said, the voice softer now, conveying no amount of threat. Omen Badge... yours. TM... too.

What? It was a League match, with a Gym Leader? Were they completely insane???

"Um... I don't think I can accept it," I said more diplomatically. "It wasn't a, er, regular battle."

Cold world outside. Weakness warrants worries. Must be prepared... Much... deserved, was Mr. Shadow's answer. Door... tunnel... unlocked. Look!

For the first time, I could look at where I was: there was a large screen behind me, on the wall -- and -- were these the doors I had entered in?

The screen lit, and I could see from above the kids, hunched up and partly on the large tarpaulins I had bought for the group, with a large blanket I had also bought that very evening. They were probably awake, though. Cain alone was standing against the wall, facing the massive, yet derelict, slab, which suddenly opened.

But there were people on the other side.

Some wore uniforms of Meteor Grunts, there was Pirate Meteor Guy from a couple of eternities ago, and... Orphanage Orderlies? What an unlikely alliance.

"Seize them." Pirate Guy ordered.

Cain shouted in panic, retreating and pulling the blanket so as to have the children react faster, but the aggressors were just too fast. Noel, Anna, Charlotte, Heather and Shelly were taken in seconds, separated from their Pokemon, incapable of just doing anything. They then converged on Cain, who, realizing he had lost the confrontation, backed off swiftly.

Unfortunately, the Meteor grunts and a pair of Orderlies ran after him, and they were much faster. I saw Cain's panicked look, I heard his terrorized voice.

"Shoot... Nidoking, Earthquake, fast!"

No... I thought, as this was everything the group had decided to not do. The unusually powerful move, due to Cain's panic, obviously shared by his Nidoking, ended up partly collapsing the tunnel.

The good news was it made Cain escape his pursuers. The bad news was that said pursuers were safe behind walls of rock, and were detaining five kid Gym Leaders. Also, they were terrorists hell bent on destroying the city.

Shoot, indeed.

Dying souls offer the keys to your gain... Mr. Shadow said evenly, as if oblivious to the scene I had just witnessed, a rare grammatically correct sentence. Let not them suffer to the poison in vain.

Player's note:

Spoiler

I was quite scared of Shade, as I hadn't anything really super effective against him. So I grinded, and prepared, and ran calculations to be sure that it wouldn't go south, hoped against hope that their Pokemon wouldn't be too perfect, nor mine too bad...
And, well... I 6-0'd him with a couple of healing items.
Here are the highlights:

Spoiler

(I really needed that miss, I think)

(Die, you evil guilt-tripping ghost)

(OHKO is far from guaranteed without the Gem, letting all the room for the Gengar to re-try and hit Hypnosis)

(Nice hit here)

(I wasn't sure I killed with a second Discharge, so I went for Charge instead)

(A Lemonade later)

A couple of Crunches later...

Nothing much here...

(That was one Gear Grind hit, the othe just broke the disguise)

Perfect.

Nice burn after a Blaze Kick but it didn't matter ultimately.

Character ratings:

Spoiler

Mr. Shadow: 1/10 (-2). Thank goodness it's over, at least... What was that all about??

Pirate Guy: 0.5/10 (-1). I'm mean, he's a murderer and a terrorist and all, but kidnapping children like that, what's even the point?

Death count:

Spoiler

Start-Corey: 6

Corey-current: 0

Total: 6

October 7

I'm speaking about the very first sentences of the game (which are also pretty much the first sentences of your prologue):

Spoiler

"This is the world that you created. You wanted some fun, no? Just another adventure? You tried to play hero in an unforgiving world, of your own creation. Did you ever consider the consequences of what you did? All that you've done? Don't worry, I'm not so different. So then... shall we start from the beginning? Tell me your story... one last time. Start from that boat..."

October 7

So the caring parents can turn dictatorial, but they can be reasoned with. And the Nurse Joys are a dynasty..

I guess one has to take the good with the bad.

Desolation question:

Do you know when this start-of-game conversation is occurring in the Desolation timeline? Have we even reached that point? Because it sounds a little like (early e5 spoiler)

Spoiler

Aurora's early E5 "welcome to the real world" speech,

yet some of it doesn't really fit (especially the part about consequences).

October 6

Nice. I appreciate that Felicia’s parents show actual concern as to a Pokemon adventure – this is like first-class care for the Pokemon world – but it’s funny how Felicia “doesn’t get it” (although, she’s 10, it’s normal).

And yet the Desolation plot wants her to become a heroine... I’m looking forward to reading what’s going to happen!

October 3

I'd never have thought that Candy would try and deliver Lin the Queen's message. That's more than reckless! Shouldn't she, like, know better?

~~Then again, of course she's a Pokemon Champion so recklessness is literally part of the job.~~

Why does Vanilla believe the training isn't going to be pleasant?

11 hours ago, Candy said:

Real talk tho, I don't even know for sure lmao

You sort of asked for it by not waiting for E19, but I feel that's the better choice. It would lessen the fun to read (or, I guess, write) if we knew you already had the answer, instead of us knowing you have to try and accomodate an incomplete canon and tell events you don't fully understand.

September 30

On 9/28/2020 at 10:02 PM, Evi Crystal said:

Phew, never though it would be that hard to make lores for that, but I'll learn to handle it more

Yes, it is, isn't it? It's always nice to invent some, but making it rich enough and fully consistent is a complex task, which you've done quite well in my opinion.

September 30

Honestly, I didn't want the Doctor to not care at all after the children. After all, he's canonically been in the Orphanage for quite a while, so I thought it was unlikely for him not to care at all. But that's not the only reason why he acts -- like many people, he has stated motivations, motivations he knows but won't claim out loud, and motivations he's barely (if at all) aware of. So I wouldn't dare assign him an alignment -- a 'lawful' guy does not call up Meteor muscle to do something for him, when he has the law on his side. But as the head of the Orphanage (and attached to law and procedure), you can't exactly call him 'neutral' or 'chaotic' on that score. The same kind of considerations work for 'good' and 'evil'.

I'm not too sure if there's going to be significant revelations when the Belrose sisters meet again their demon, or if it's just going to be a battle to the death and Saphira is just going to fry him. I suppose I'll be glad either way.

Just a side note (and an invitation to speculate, maybe?): the Doctor still has some screen time here, though, and there are still surprises to come...

And yes, we know who's the next Meteor on screen.

Regarding who gets abducted: the reasons may get spoiler-y, and I don't want to spell it out before it's on screen, perhaps you can grasp what I'm hinting at.

Spoiler

As a game scenario, it's acceptable to make the path to saving the kids a convoluted fetch quest. But if you think about it, pretty much nothing in the quest would happen this way. I started trying to list all the ways the plot could be short-circuited, but there are way too many of them. And Gabriel wouldn't be dedicated to saving the children to the point of overcomplication. As I have a couple of ideas for ~~breaking him~~ the Apophyll arc, his (at least perceived) liberty of choice has to be constrained.

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